Birthday Bling PP152

You can't ever have too much bling can you?  Yes, that's what I thought too, so this is what I came up with!

We are so lucky to have so many shades of blue in the Stampin' Up! range but I chose three for my ink and added in another for the card base.

I broke out Daydream Medallion for a change of pace, and overlapped the two large ones. The biggest is stamped with Midnight Muse, the medium one is Bermuda Bay and for the tiny layered ones I used Soft Sky. Maybe it is a little light in colour , it looks quite pretty IRL tho'.
I found that the little, fancy medallion punched out quite nicely with the 1¼ inch scalloped punch and the smallest stamp in the set, with the ¾inch circle punch. The card front has been de-bossed with the Fancy Fan Embossing Folder and mounted onto a card cut from Coastal Cabana.And then I went crazy with rhinestones, placing them on the fancy ends of the larger medallions, the large ones in the centres of the small medallions. and a row to emphasise the greeting.

It's funny when I do these Tic-Tac-Toe challenges - I always get confused! I ended up not being sure if I was working on the centre line down Blue-Bling-Friendship or the diagonal one Birthday- Bling- Embossing and I've used the rather neutral greeting 'to my friend' but the good thing with that is I have two greetings for inside which could suit and are in the same font: 'happy day to you' or 'Thanks so much'!

The latter doesn't belong in Friendly Phrases, but since all are retired now, I have grouped them. I'm not ready just yet to let this old favourite go!




If you are quick, there are a few more hours left on this Paper Players challenge, why don't you see what you can come up with?

Happy stamping

Rachel

Moving Forward with RetroSketches#65

Tomorrow the retiring list is released for Australia and New Zealand, but it is no secret that Moving Forward is to retire. That's because it is a special stamp set for Ronald McDonald House and $3 from each sale goes to the charity - that sounds like such a good idea! Buy stamps sets that are just so cute, AND help out a worthy cause, don't you think?

Moving Forward is an absolute favourite for me, you can use it for a wide range of events, with the tricycle, sailboat and this blimp among the main images. I've used the Ink to rubber technique for this card, check my class schedule for June if you live nearby.
Paired with the birthday greeting from Curly Cute (also retiring) and some Comfort Cafe DSP, it is based on this sketch from RetroSketches. You know, whenever I lack inspiration I go straight to a sketch or colour challenge and find that usually that will get the imagination going. I also entered it for the Make it Masculine challenge at CAS on Sunday

Just a short post today - back tomorrow with the retiring list!
Cheers!
Rachel

Curly Cute

60th Wedding Anniversary SSCC#47

What a gorgeous combination of colours at Sunday Stamps Color Challenge#47!

I needed to make a 60th Wedding Anniversary card this week for a lovely Italian-Australian couple, who are having a celebration party the weekend I am away in Brisbane for Stampin' Up! Convention, so my husband will attend on his own.

This couple were great friends to my in-laws and have been there for our family since my in-laws passed away. She is an absolute dynamo! Recently celebrating her 80th birthday, but still frequently out and about, running messages or driving "the old people" around. Her husband is not quite so lively, but neither is he incapacitated, he just loves being at home.

We haven't made a decision yet on what their gift should be, but I decided the silhouette of the bridal couple from Marry Me (retired) was perfect, stamped with Versamark onto Pretty in Pink card (retiring soon). If you are just beginning your stamping journey, you won't have all the matching stamp pads, so Versamark is perfect, because it stamps on any colour about one shade darker than the card colour (like my bridal couple). You can also use it with clear or coloured embossing powder for a different look.

I mounted the pink onto Midnight Muse, which I had edged with the Scallop Trim Border punch and the Scallop Trim Corner punch (both retiring at the end of this catalogue too).

The Framelits Window Frames Collection cut a beautiful shape from Shimmery White Card for the greeting stamped with Memorable Moments in Midnight Muse and mounted on the next size of Window Framelit cut from Champagne (gold) Glimmer Paper.To finish the card I cut three of the sweet little Vintage Flower Trim blossoms and its finished on the outside.

 With all these amazing events I'm making cards for lately like this momentous wedding anniversary and the recent Hundreth Birthday, along with the children's cards and other special birthdays, I don't know what I would do without my Memorable Moments stamp set. It was one of the gifts for attending Stampin' Up! Convention last year in Canberra - I wonder which of the new stamps we will receive this year?

 In a fortnight I will be flying up to Brisbane for 5 days of fun with lots of Stampin' Up! Demonstrators from all over Australia and New Zealand, so exciting!

Hope you are enjoying my blog and getting some stamping done too,
Rachel

CCMC244 Feeling Sentimental

This lovely set of stamps, Feeling Sentimental, will not be available in just a few hours. Such a shame, because it has been really popular as a masculine stamp, with the Phone Box/Dr Who thingy (sorry, my Dr Who expert is out tonight!), Ferris Wheel and Penny Farthing stamps.

I am entering my card for the challenge at Create with Connie and Mary, check out the other submissions too.

I will certainly continue using my stamps, and hopefully something similar might be included in the Annual catalogue, when it is released at the end of June.

 I can't remember where I read that it is possible to emboss stamping done with the new ink pads, it was on someone's blog I think, but I went back re-reading for a couple of weeks worth today, so I could credit the person who brought it to my attention, but no luck, unfortunately. I tried it today, and of course you use the clear embossing powder so the original colour shines through. I've tilted the card this way and that, to try to pick up the glistening effect with the camera, but cannot do that either.

Next I sponged the phone box with Marina Mist, before 'lighting it up' with Daffodil Yellow, and a little Crumb Cake on the ground. I did substitute the Not Quite Navy with Midnight Muse, they are quite close really, and Midnight Muse was my new, juicy stamp pad, and it needed to be new so I could heat emboss.

The background has been done on glossy card stock, using blues and a black, and is another sample for my April class "polished stone" technique. It was inspired by a card I saw on Pinterest, by Rachel Tessman, Stamp your Art Out. I'm having trouble linking to her card, but this is Rachel's website. 

Finally, I stamped just the 'hello' part from the Oh, Hello stamp set, which is available in the 25th Anniversary mini catty till the end of June.

Hope you have a great weekend and take some time to do things you like, with those you love, that's my plan anyway!!!

Take care,

Rachel