40th Birthday CTC #190

Welcome back to another week of CASE-ing The Catty. The crew is made up of Stampin' Up! demonstrators from all parts of Australia and New Zealand.You are at the blog of Rachel Palmieri, Independent Stampin' Up!® demonstrator. I run classes at my home studio in South Morang, Victoria, share Stampin' Up!® products and tools at parties for my customers, coach my lovely team and create cards and the occasional 3D project.
 

Artistic Impressions, pages 127-141 is the section we are CASE-ing this week for CASE-ing The Catty. This must be my favourite section, as I own a lot of stamp sets from here, including all three pictured below.

The mint macaron card on the top left inspired me when I was asked to make a fortieth birthday card for a commission. The recipient was described as a fun-loving blonde, who loves the good things in life. I decided that sparkle and bubbles was the way to go, and my customer agreed.

Playful Backgrounds is a handy photopolymer set of 4 stamps, that provide some nice backgrounds for your cards. I used two of them on Shimmery White card, one embossed with copper, and the other stamped in Petal Pink. Sponging also added texture to the background. The champagne glasses is a long-retired set that I've hung onto, because it comes in handy from time to time.

Stitched All Round has some very pretty dies including the one used to cut this fancy label. Memorable Moments is recently retired, and again, another stamp set I hang onto.

Rhinestones and glimmer paper add even more sparkle and shine to this celebratory card.

Make sure you check out the lovely card Rebecca Scurr has made this week using the lovely Color Your Season stamp and dies, only available during August.

You can share your CASE of projects from pages 127 - 141 on the facebook page here.

GR9CWSP3

Weekend Catalogue Launch

Every year on June 1st, Stampin' Up!® releases a new Annual catalogue. That's around 250 pages full of colour and inspiration, exciting for crafting addicts. When one of my team was just a customer, she used to be forever asking me when there'd be a new one!!! I ended up recruiting her so that she'd be amongst the first to know, and buy. So even if it's not the most exciting thing this side of Christmas for you, there are many who just LOVE a catalogue launch.

If you follow my blog, you possibly already know that I had the honour of being one of the display artists at our last convention (and Annual Catalogue release for demonstrators) last April in Sydney. In February I received a lovely box of products to create with, and no Pinterest to go to for inspiration, because the products were all brand new. Most of the samples in the photo above had already previewed in Sydney.

The In Colors were sort of new to me though as I had received three colours of embossing powder, and those same colours in ribbon, but a pack of clips which showed the 5 colours. I made the jar card after I'd ordered the inks and a  pack of mixed card colours.The cycling card was made using Enjoy Life, the 5 In Colors and a technique with the Stamparatus.

 I was shopping for birthday gifts when I spotted a couple of these vases and asked the shop assistant to find me a 3rd, which she did.

They seem to complement the invitations I sent out to my event, don't you think?

I hung a couple of my scrapbooking layouts so my guests could see how you can incorporate stamping into scrapbook layouts. The one on the left was the piece I used in my submission to be selected for the gig, and the one with two boys is the one displayed in Sydney. The left hand one uses Labeler Alphabet, Crafting Forever and Playful Backgrounds. The other used Love What You Do, Lined Alphabet and Sitting Pretty. Sitting Pretty had two great sentiments - best friends & Anywhere with you is better than anywhere without you. Aren't they perfect for a pair of close brothers?

I forgot to let my guests know that ALL the Stampin' Blends are in the warehouse and ready to be shipped to you now. Check out pages 204-205 for a full list of colours. In August, you will also be able to increase your colour collection of Watercolour pencils with 10 NEW colours.. I've been hanging out for that for ages!!!

There is nothing better than getting to try something out before you buy it. I saw the Stamparatus demonstrated late last year and after seeing the step-stamping, I was prepared to order it without ever touching it. I gave my ladies the chance to see it demonstrated in several different ways on Saturday before showing them how to make their own project. If you weren't able to get here last Saturday, you could gather some friends for a party at your place and request that I demo the Stamparatus. Or perhaps you'd prefer to book in for a private class, one hour is $20 and 2 hours is $30. We can look at stamp sets you are interested in and/or tools you want to check out. 

 I think you can see where the inspiration for this two-step flamingo card came from. I've had Fabulous Flamingo for a couple of years and actually made the invitations for my catalogue launch in 2016 with this one. I have to say, it is so much easier to line the pieces up with the Stamparatus.

Some of the quicker ladies even moved on and made a second card using Various Vases. This card was designed by a demo friend of mine, Rachel Woollard, and shared at a team day we had in May. I'm sure some of you who follow Stampin' Up! demos will have heard of Mary Fish, a top-selling demo in the USA. She recently reached a million dollars in sales, and those who do are given the opportunity to meet with the company artists to design a stamp set. Mary suggested these vases for her stamp set and there is even a punch, which we used to punch the solid coloured vases. There are stamps to colour the flowers too, but I kept it simple as we had some absolute beginners on Saturday. Of course, it's easy enough to colour with a flick of the stampin' Blends, Stampin' Markers or Watercolour pencils. So many options, what's your favourite?

This is a wordy, picture-heavy post, well-done you if you've read to the end. I'll be back tomorrow night with an Art With Heart Blog Hop.

2BEUMMY3
until 4th July

End Of Year Gifts

Thankfully, I've had some time while off work caring for post-op husband, to pop into my craft room and make some end of year projects which I will now share with you. Of course there is lots more still to do, but at least I've made a start!

I've made a bag and card as a teacher gift, birthday cards for grandson and his little sister, a gift and card for a crafty friend and a scrapbook page for my sweet youngest grandchild.

Mainly these stamp sets, Crafting Forever and Pieces & Patterns along with about a quarter pack of Pick a Pattern DSP and some matching card were all I needed to make these, proving you can do a lot with minimal supplies. I did pull a few other stamps off the shelf to help out, but was pleased to feature mainly two.

 I really enjoyed making this gift for a friend, because I know she'll appreciate it. I'm waiting on my pre-order to deliver, when I will decorate some long notecards and envelopes to place in this box. It's a sneak peek from the Occasions catalogue, beginning 3 January 2018. It seemed appropriate to add the pen to the box, and the acetate window with the word framelit was my addition to this project.

I also added a few extra pens to the pot and enjoyed colouring with Stampin' Blends.

This bag and card is for one of my grandsons to give to his teacher. This is a project which I may have to repeat for the others, but it will be my pleasure. Pieces & Patterns really came to the fore here, with the sentiment and of course the fabulous co-ordinating paper. My Gift Bag Punch Board has paid for itself many times over, as I am always putting together a gift bag in minutes for smaller gifts.

I thought the lines  were going to be helpful for my 7 year old grandson to write his own message to the teacher, but I'll check with my D-I-L about the mr. 6.

Isn't the paper perfect for a kid or teacher?

  This is another of the papers from Pick A Pattern DSP but perfect for a little girl turning 5. The bold Happy Birthday greeting is from Birthday Delivery, a very cute stamp set with co-ordinating paper from the Annual catalogue.The primitive flowers are from Pieces & Patterns.

This card is a standard size and can be posted for the usual rate, but with the four panels, it has a bit of a bang! I decided to leave the images black & white as no doubt a 5-year-old girl might like to colour her own.

 But I couldn't resist and had to add some colour and sparkles here on the front!

Now, big brother is very cool. Nothing too baby-ish for him. I've made mistakes in the past and been growled at because he's not a baby! OMG, I think cash might be the only thing to make him happy.

I'm hoping the jeans pocket with green check is okay for Mr Cool.Again, this check patterned paper is fromthe Pick A Pattern DSP, but the other strip is not. Those numbers are from my most-used dies, Large Numbers.

My littlest grandie always makes sure that Gran gets a lovely calendar each Christmas, so I have made a layout for his scrapbook, to remember the Fridays he spends with me. We usually do some sort of craft each week, and cutting paper is currently his favourite. We do stamp from time to time, and he wants a stamp with his name on it like Gran has. I made his name up with the Labeler Alphabet (first time I've used that stamp). Stamped some lines for jounaling with Playful Backgrounds, and then some primary sploshes, from the same stamp set. This time I really let loose with Stampin' Blends to colour the pot of brushes.

While I had the DSP out, I've put together very simple cards using the co-ordinating stamp, Pieces & Patterns, which I'm sure one of the daughter-in-laws will take off my hands for the many birthday parties their little social butterflies attend.

Let me know if you'd like some advice on making these projects, and I'll try my best to assist. If you'd like to shop with me for your craft needs, I will send you a gift when you use the Hostess code at checkout (if your order is less than $250).

ZTQVTQPR

Holidays and Birthdays.CTC#138

Welcome back to another blog hop with the crew from CASE-ing The Catty. Do keep on hopping along, to see what else the crew are sharing. Our challenge this week is to CASE from the NEW Annual Stampin' Up!® catalogue, Holiday section, from page 112-125.

Although I'm holding Christmas classes in July, I haven't really got into the mood for Christmas cards as such yet. I had no difficulty CASEing page 118 of the catalogue for another birthday card. You've Got Style recently arrived in my studio, and the first stamp I used was the sentiment on this card. Love it! "Hope your birthday is as bubbly as you are! Happy Birthday!"

Bubbles from Playful Backgrounds decorate the art piece, with a section left clear for the flute glasses, which are from a retired stamp set, Making Spirits Bright. If you're after something current, Mixed Drinks (page 60) has a single flute, a wine glass, beer mug and one of those jars you put a straw into. Just a whisper too, the new Holiday Catalogue has another stamp set which includes different types of wine glasses, flutes etc. Let me know if you'd like a Holiday catalogue when I get my hands on them. They go 'live' on September 1st.

Petal Garden Designer Series Paper Stack (that means there are 48 6 inch square sheets of pattern paper) has some really unusual colour combinations. Rich Razzleberry with Pool Party and Calypso Coral with Pool Party and Old Olive are a couple which I find really striking. I used a sheet as the background on my card, and then chose ribbon and card to tone.

These Glitter Enamel Dots are so pretty. You can almost catch the glimmer, but I had no luck picking up the Wink of Stella champagne!

The card I CASEd is the red & white stripe one. First I tried to put the banner across the middle of the art piece but it just didn't work. I did however CASE the ribbon behind, which I wouldn't normally do. I'm great at buying ribbons and all things pretty but a bit hopeless at using them.

Next stop along this blog hop is the very clever Fi Cobbin. She has CASEd the same card as I did, but put her own slant on it. Such a cute reindeer.