CTC#151 Catalogue covers and Hostess sets

Welcome back to another round of blog hopping with the CASE-ing The Catty Crew. My name is Rachel, and I'm a Stampin' Up!® demonstrator in South Morang (outer Melbourne) in Australia. All of the crew members are from the South Pacific (Australia & New Zealand) so if you are looking for a demonstrator, one of us should be nearby. You can order from my online shop from anywhere in Australia and your order will be shipped straight to you, costing a minimum of $5.95.

This week is a bit different because the CTC crew are CASE-ing catalogue covers or Hostess sets. There is so much inspiration in both those areas, it will be a great blog hop. I've CASE-d the Mini Pizza Box in the picture below several weeks back with Musical Season, but this time I used the Hostess stamp set pictured, Seasons of Whimsy. I love using the quirky ornaments, the sparklers and the wreath. If your party or big order reaches $250 AU, you get 10 % in Hostess dollars to spend. This stamp set in clear mount (red rubber stamps that you mount onto acrylic blocks) is $21, and only available to hostesses - which is also you if your order reaches that amount. If you'd like to have a party, at your home, I have some dates available for the last weekend in October, and a few more in November.

I began by CASE-ing the square shape for my card. It does mean that I need to make envelopes, but that is easy enough with an Envelope Punch Board. For my first card Merry Patterns was the pick. Technically, it was a hostess set too, as it was sent free with any order reaching $450 in sales through September and October. You still have time to qualify but it might be a rush!

This card was layered with a piece of Pear Pizzazz and then another slightly smaller white square on top. I used the largest of the Stitched Shapes Circles to cut a piece in thick Whisper White, and the inside of the shape to pencil a circle as a guide to stamp the branches of a wreath. That piece is also from Merry Patterns, but I'm sure there is a suitable piece in most Christmas stamp sets.

Great news for all who like colouring their stamped images - Stampin' Up! will have alcohol markers Stampin' Blends available to you from 1st November. I bought a half dozen to try them out during the Demonstrator pre-order period, and after a little play, quickly ordered the rest. They are easy to use, and I'd love to give you a lesson if you think you need one.

  

My son helped out by taking video of me explaining a bit more about CASE-ing, and the card above was the one I was making in the video. However, as I put it together, I felt that the wreath wasn't showing enough, so when he finished filming I took it apart and stamped some protruding branches. When I reassembled the card, I placed the Cherry Cobbler banner at the bottom instead. You can see the video on my Facebook page. I'd love you to leave a comment, I know it isn't the greatest quality video, but I will keep on practising.

The stamps were still on the block so I stamped another pair to try some more fun colouring with Stampin' Blends. They are pretty luscious, aren't they?

Of course you may have noticed there are three ornaments so I can still change them about and create a nice set of cards.
You'll want to head to see what Megan has made

URYS3BV2

When you shop in my online shop, remember to use the host code, as I love to send you something from the current catalogues as a thank you gift. At the end of October there will be a special draw from all September/October online orders (minimum $50 before shipping) to win a special Christmas stamp set.

Christmas Bugle Week 15 Heart Of Christmas

Now that the Holiday Catalogue has gone live, I'm beginning to feel a lot more 'in the mood' for making Christmas cards. My first pick from the catalogue was Musical Seasons, and then when I received it, I wasn't quite sure what to do!!!
Oh, no, what a dilemna!!!

I ended up looking through the catalogue and CASE-ing (copy and share everything) another Christmas card design, to come up with this card. I wonder if anyone will work out the page I found my inspiration on, or the name of the stamp set?

Once I began with the card, it came together beautifully. The silver bugle french horn is a real eye-catcher, don't you agree? There are 24 sheets of paper in the Merry Music Specialty Designer Series Paper (DSP) 4 sheets each of 6 double-sided papers, so I know I will be able to use this quite freely. It makes a great background for many of the Christmas stamps released this year.

Another really handy addition to the Stampin' Up!® Holiday catalogue are the mini pizza boxes on page 44 of the catty, and on other pages decorated. They can safely hold your holiday baking, chocolate treats, 3" x 3" notecards or 4 tea light candles, like I have here. This fragrance is Cinammon Sparkle, and they make my craft room smell delicious!

Co-ordinating a gift and card like this does make it just a bit more personal, it's one of the advantages of hand-crafted cards and packaging. I have decided that the mini tinsel trim in red or silver is going to be perfect to finish this gift off, so I added it to my order. It will be here in a few days. Musical Season has the pretty stamp that I've stamped in red on the side of the pizza box

Also on page 44 of the Holiday catalogue, you will find the 3" X 3" envelopes that Stampin' Up! used to sell, and have brought back. YAY, so much easier than cutting and folding them all. I've added some of those to my order too, so I can make some notecard sets as gifts too.

Now if you'd like to go and check out the other fabulous Christmas inspiration, Tina Gillespie has all the links (and Tina's work is always worth looking at too).

ERBPDTEM

New Catalogue Day!

Great News!!! It is September 1st and so it's time to order your new stamps for Christmas crafting. Those of you who have passed me your orders, I will be submitting them later today. I've already had a play with a handy little selection of festive stamps because demonstrators get to order a month ahead of the catalogue release. One of the little perks of being a Stampin' Up!® demonstrator, along with the 20% discount on your purchases. Contact me if you'd like to know more about becoming a Stampin' Up!® demonstrator.

  

Musical Season is on page 25 of the new Holiday catalogue. You can buy the red rubber stamps in clear mount (you mount them on acrylic blocks purchased seperately) or wood mount (provided with the stamps). You can also bundle with the Framelit dies and save 10% overall. The dies co-ordinate with four of the stamps, and an additional two dies can be cut without stamping, a horn and a musical note. If I was a musician, I'd no doubt be able to name that note!!!

 I've played around with these stamps quite a lot, and asked my friends for suggestions and this is the result of an idea my friend Tina shared with me. Originally the drummer boy was stamped onto the base but it looks heaps better with the squares to ground him.

Inspiration for my cards came from the catalogue but I tried to put my own spin on it.  I stamped the drummer boy in black ink and poured clear embossing powder over before heat setting. Bermuda Bay was washed over the background, and the piece was cut with a Stitched Framelit square, and a larger square was laid behind. It is a simple design, and quite easy to put together. Clean and layered (like this) is my preferred style.

For this card I've attempted a collaged look, which is a bit outside my comfort-zone. In the Annual catalogue is a large background stamp called Sheet Music which has been part-stamped over the background. This time I used a larger sentiment from Every Good Wish, and some splatters from that set too. I love the ornate pattern on the instrument, which I suspected to be a Balalaika, but might possibly be a mandolin too. I've done a Google search, but there doesn't seem to be anything exactly the same. Don't forget to leave a comment if you know.

Later I went back and added some more stamping with another stamp from Musical Seasons. Do you think 

• should have left it as it was
• it is better with the mistletoe

This week in the mail I received a photo box, to help with my photography. I'm not too sure that it is helping too much yet, but we'll wait and see.....

If you prefer to make your own order, you can visit my online shop any time of the night or day, and don't forget to check out the Clearance Rack for any specials that might help your crafting.

If the orders reach $450 this month, I will draw a prize winner for this fab Christmas stamp.

Other option, gather orders from friends, work colleagues, family and add onto your wish list to total $450 retail before shipping. This is known as a virtual party, and you will be gifted the stamps plus $45 bonus to spend on more product.

Or, call me 0417 500 681, and we will hold an actual party with your friends.

ERBPDTEM