Hydrangea Hue

My time-saving tip is to punch from a piece of card the same size as your block and use this template to line up 3 sentiments to stamp at the one time.

You can then turn the punch over to check position is correct and stamp all three sentiments at the same time. Banner Sayings and the punch are available at a 10% discount if ordered as a bundle.
 

 

Square Snippets DSP is already in Last Chance at a discount despite featuring the lovely new In Color, Hydrangea Hue. Joyful Squares stamp set provided the larger sentiment here but there are some great dies too if you prefer to get the whole bundle. Usually when they are in Last Chance, it will be more beneficial to order them separately, but in this case they are 10cents cheaper if you order the Joyful Squares bundle. I've linked to all options so you can decide for yourself.

Colour Creations Blog Hop - Week 24 - Flirty Flamingo

 Contributors to this blog hop are all members of Claire Daly's Art With Heart group. Every Wednesday night at 8p.m AEST we feature a fabulous Stampin' Up! colour, in alphabetical order. 

This week the star of the show is the flamboyant Flirty Flamingo!

Only Flirty Flamingo and white appear on my card this week. After applying a wash of Flirty Flamingo ink with the largest water painter to thick Basic White, I stamped a magnolia image in Flirty Flamingo.

This stamped image was die cut, and another of the detailed image in white to provide a background of foliage and flowers.

The font in Magnolia Mood is a fine script but it shows up well when heat embossed in white on a strip of black card stock.

Magnolia Mood is an online exclusive bundle with beautiful blooms and thoughtful sentiments in a pretty font. As well there are some intricate flower dies (see in the background) as well as those for cutting the stamped image.

Next talented AWH team member sharing a creation is Di Furniss

If at any time you find a broken link or would like to see a full list of participants, please head to the blog of our host of the AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop, Catherine Proctor.

Happy crafting,

 

Beautiful Birthday and Product Club

I keep a tub of partly finished cards, and from time to time, set myself a challenge to get them finished. In addition to holding home classes to allow others to create with Stampin' Up!® inks, stamps and card, I also sell completed cards. Sometimes it is hard to keep up with demand, hence the need to finish partly made items.

This card uses a flower:- one of 11 stamps belonging to a hostess set, Bloom With Hope, from the previous Stampin' Up!® catalogue. The newer You've Got This would probably make a lovely substitute for this flower. I had coloured some of the white embossed DSP that was available during SALE-A-BRATION but hadn't been used. Luckily, we have something similar to this in the Annual Catalogue, look for Color Me Irresistible on page 142. This seemed to suit the flower, placed on a circle of  Bermuda Bay with some white baker's twine to dress it up. The sentiment is from Birthday Blossoms, a recent addition to the range, but snapped up by me quickly for the sentiments in beautiful fonts. Check it out on the product list at the end.

Today is Wednesday so new Weekly Deals. If you are ordering something from this week's Weekly Deals, or online shop, the Hostess code is 36JSEMF6

Product Club

You can order Hostess stamps if you are Hostess of a party selling at least $250, or you could also participate in a Product Club. Briefly, you would be part of a 'virtual party' as you would not be obliged to attend an event, and would order online. You commit to place an order of minimum $50 for 5 months, and for one of the months you will be the 'Hostess'. So you do spend the qualifying amount, but it is spread out over several months. Might not be too hard with the Mini Catalogue out in September!!!
 In the month that you are Hostess, you get to spend 10% of the total for the month (at least $25). If you think this is something you MIGHT be interested in, send me an email and I will give you more details, without obligation to sign up. I arrive home from my holiday today, so you might need to allow for a day or two of jet lag, but I will contact you!

Cheers
Rachel

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Beautiful Blue Balloons

When I saw the balloon dies on the live telecast of the catalogue launch, they were the first thing on my order. Yes, I do know that you can make balloons with a circle and the owl feet. but I want easier than that even.

There is a stamp set called Celebrate Today, which has a plain balloon and another with 'happy'. Then there are big spots or a scattering of small stars to place on your balloon, and two different banners. You can even make your balloon into a hot air balloon! In my opinion this stamp set and its matching framelits are the must have item from the new Occasions catalogue.

I was lucky enough to celebrate a special birthday recently with my lovely family. It was a wonderful (HOT) day and we had a room to ourselves at a restaurant situated in an historic bluestone cottage on farmland at the edge of a river gorge.
Because my six grandchildren are aged from 7 months up to 7 years, I knew that balloons were sure to be a hit with them. I took strips of Pool Party and Bermuda Bay to the balloon shop, the baker and my friend Sally, who made the sweet treats.  Fiddly Bits is her business, making invitations, treats and all sorts of creations from paper. We had these cute Skinny Treat bags made and filled with blue and white jelly beans to give out at the end of the afternoon.


The two four-year-olds from each family took home the balloon arrangements. They loved Gran's cake with blue spots on top and stripes on the bottom and yummy chocolate mud cake inside. We all loved the blue and white jelly bean sweet treats! To keep up to date with my scrap booking, I've used Project Life. It's a great relief that Stampin' Up! sells this memory keeping system now. It helped me to catch up four years worth of scrapbooking over a couple of weekends.

Now I'm waiting on a new album to arrive in an order to begin the next four years of memory keeping.

Thanks for dropping by

Rachel

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

More Christmas Cards - by Stampin' Up! - And Me!!

It's probably safe to share my bulk Christmas card as most recipients would have received them by now (or aren't likely to read this blog). It is a shame the lighting was a bit  'off' for this picture. 

Blue is my favourite colour although probably Pool Party through to Bermuda Bay would top the list. For this card I picked Sky Blue and the Seasonally Scattered stamp set. This is a great stamp to do this quick little technique with. It is often referred to as 'thumping'.You ink the stamp up in a light colour, and then use darker Stampin' Write Markers to thump more colour on randomly. I grabbed Night of Navy, Island Indigo and Bermuda Bay.

The sentiments in Endless Wishes are fabulous for matching up with either the stamps in that stamp set, or with others just like here with Christmas stamped out in Cherry Cobbler. The combinations are endless, just like the stamp sets name suggests. A scattering of rhinestones finishes them off with a little bit of sparkle. I made twenty of these cards, but I knew it wouldn't be enough, and last night I've had to whip up some more to get in the post. I do hope they get there before Christmas day! 

I should point out that the wood-mount Seasonally Scattered is in Year-End Closeouts for $34.39, not $42.95! Might be worth ordering for next year!!!

In the afternoon I planned to make my Christmas cake. My mother would be telling me that I've left it too late, but better late than never, and I haven't made a 'proper' one for a few years. Two kilos of dried fruit, ginger, glace cherries had been soaking in sherry for 24 hours, before I began creaming the 500grams of butter and 3 cups of sugar. Even with an electric beater, my arm was aching. I called William to help break the eight eggs in, one at a time while I kept beating. Then he took over for a while till his arm was aching and we'd changed to the wooden spoon. I called Aaron to help, as we added all that fruit in and we're smiling because we were wondering if we would be able to keep it all in the bowl! Next time I might have to get a new bucket for the job!!!

Are your holiday preparations going well?

Rachel

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Happy Birthday Dear Isaac! CTS#102

In a week, the second of my little brood of grandchildren, turns 5! Yay!

Being so close to Christmas, we try to make an extra effort to remember his special day, so next Thursday I will drive 2 hours down to the coastal town where he lives, to celebrate with him. Unfortunately, his Pop can't have a day away from work, but luckily, it isn't one of my working days. Now, Isaac is a boy with an enquiring mind, and I have visited the National Geographic Store to select a gift, and it's not a robot. If it was, he would probably need to take it apart, like his Uncle Sam did when he was a young boy. Boys will be boys, always!

When I was studying this sketch at Cas(e) This Sketch, I thought of the robot in Boys Will Be Boys moving across a floor. I've kept the colours subdued and 'shadowy'. There is a shot of colour with the red frame and the rhinestones coloured with Blendabilities. I've been looking forward to using the cork numerals from Project Life, perfect for a birthday as well as an Advent project, don't you think?

This is a lovely sketch, it could be used with so many different images:- flowers, stars, candles. Are you going to share your card?
Cheers,
Rachel

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog