South Pacific Stampin' Up!® Convention - April 2015

On Tuesday I flew from miserable Melbourne, Victoria to brilliant Broadbeach (Gold Coast) Queensland. I've been looking forward to Convention almost since the last one!! This is my 4th Convention, and each year is better than the last one, because I know so many more team members and other demonstrators now. Our team sit together, eat out together and generally look out for each other. There is a lot of socialising, mixed in with a little Stampin' Up!® business, and new products, demonstrations by the US staff and other demos from Australia and New Zealand. So much fun!!!

Tuesday night, two of the girls from Adelaide and I went to see the Australian Outback Spectacular.  Tonight I am meeting up with the members of the CASE-ing The Catty Crew. This is the first time I have met any of them face-to-face and I'm quite excited. After we check in for Convention we are heading off to have dinner and swap cards. Card swaps are an 'optional extra' at Convention. Usually you make multiple copies of a card front and swap with other demonstrators who have done the same. It's a great way to meet other demonstrators, get new ideas, cards with stamp sets you don't own. For the swap with the CASE-ing The Catty girls, we've made complete cards.

I love to layer lots of different stamps when I make my  cards. Possibly I sometimes overdo it? I began with Hardwood stamped in Sahara Sand ink onto card the same colour. Next, Gorgeous Grunge in Regal Rose and Coastal Cabana and the sentiment from Butterfly Basics. I cut a window with the Starburst Framelits (on the retired list now). Behind that is a piece of Whisper White which has been stamped with the flower, and honeycomb stamp from Butterfly Basics. The little poem from that stamp set is stamped in Stazon onto window sheet. The sequins are sandwiched between the layers.

The inside has two more stamps from Butterfly Basics, a second sentiment and those lovely fern leaves.There is a strip of the Something Borrowed DSP and a tiny bow tied in twine.

I do hope they like my card, they're all such artistic ladies, whose work inspires me all the time.

Cheers
Rachel

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

You Made My Day CTC#15 SAB Inspiration

CASE-ing The Catty is back!
While it was nice to have a break over the festive season and our summer holidays in Australia, it is very good to be back with fresh inspiration available in the Stampin' Up! Occasions Catalogue and Sale-A-bration supplement. I've been drooling over them for several weeks now and could hardly wait for some time to get inky. You've been able to order since the 6th January, so I wonder if you have some new goodies too.

CASE means to copy and share everything, and our design team CASE Stampin' Up! catalogues, hence the title of our blog - CASE-ing The Catty. Do pop over to check out the gorgeous work of the design team members.


The SALE-A-BRATION supplement is the one I've cased this week and I've used the SAB products I earned in the Demo pre-order period. The SAB free DSP (Patterned paper) is called Best Year Ever and the colours and patterns are GORGEOUS!!! I could add, "As usual," to that statement because they are always great, and FREE with your $90 order.

Best Day Ever is the stamp set I featured and I copied the colouring of the sentiment as featured on page 5 of the supplement, but then I've actually CASE-d the grey card on page 10 of the brochure, & pictured at left.

It's another great stamp set FREE with a $90 order, You Brighten My Day. Cute, isn't it?


One of the border stamps from Dotty Angles inked with white craft ink provided the background stamping - and a bokeh effect too! I don't have a sewing machine handy, so I pierced the patterned paper, after rounding off the corners with the Envelope Punch Board corner rounder. The banner was a strip with the ends cut by hand, and another layer in Coastal Cabana die cut with Starburst Framelits.

For the cute gift packaging I have CASED an idea from a UK demonstrator, Tracey May at Bedlam & Butterflies.You need an Envelope Punch Board to make this, but if you have made the Christmas Bonbon, which was all the rage Christmas 2013, this will be a breeze. It can hold a fairly sizeable gift too with a base measuring 8.5cm or 3 inches in diameter. It is 10cm or 4 inches to the neck area and would take a small jar, a packet of sweets or treats, and actually there is still space with two of the small bottles from The Body Shop. Imagine what you can do with Easter eggs!

Leave a message if you'd be interested in doing this as a class. I'm planning for the next few months and I need your feedback to share the things you'd like to make. If you'd just like to order some products to craft at your leisure, there are links below, and don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions.

Happy crafting!

Rachel

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Happy Day SSC82

Who appreciates your handmade cards most? Is it your girlfriends, children or the men in your life? I'd have to say that my most appreciative audience are female & interested in some sort of crafting - it doesn't have to be papercrafting or stamping.

Naturally, they're the ones I most enjoy making cards for too.

In the new annual Stampin' Up! catalogue there are two paper stacks with 48 sheets of paper measuring 11.4cm by 16.5cm (about the size of a card front). One is Moonlight, which has been so popular that it is currently on backorder in Australia. The other is All Abloom, which has provided three of the four strips at the top of this card. They've been cut in varying widths and layered. I chose my colours from the floral piece (Strawberry Slush, Blushing Bride and Pistachio Pudding) and used Starburst Sayings, Petite Petals and And Many More to stamp.


I do have a recipient in mind for this card. It is so much easier when you know who you are making the card for!!!!





Then I had the sweet sketch at Sunday Stamps to kick-start my imagination and ...voila! (I watched Two Days In Paris last night, love an English/foreign  language film) my card is done. Yes...it is okay to rotate the sketch.

Very happy to report that this card was a Sunday Stamps Top Pick!



Thanks for dropping by my blog
Rachel

All Abloom Designer Series Paper Stack

$11.95

2013-2015 In Color Backgrounds Designer Series Paper Stack

$37.95

Starburst Sayings Wood-Mount Bundle

$77.25

Starburst Sayings Clear-Mount Bundle

$69.50

Starburst Sayings Wood Stamp Set

$44.95

Starburst Sayings Clear Stamp Set

$35.95

Kinda Eclectic Wood-Mount Stamp Set

$48.95

Kinda Eclectic Clear-Mount Stamp Set

$34.95

And Many More Wood-Mount Stamp Set

$65.95

And Many More Clear-Mount Stamp Set

$46.95

Petite Petals Wood Stamp Set

$27.95

Petite Petals Clear Stamp Set

$21.95

Petite Petals Punch

$18.95

Rhinestone Basic Jewels Embellishments

$8.95

Silver Baker's Twine

$5.95

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

Amazing Birthday FMS144 HSS189

In case you don't know, I have a large family, so almost every month there is a birthday, and often more than one! August is a free month at the moment, but September has number 2 son celebrating, while a week later in October, it's number 4 son.
Now, after that long lead-in, I'm not sure if this is 'manly' enough for one of them, but it might be if there's some cash inside!
I mentioned last post that I could see some great ideas for the Large Polka Dots Embossing Folder and here is one of them. Using the negative dots, stamp an image into the circle. In this case I alternated the three colours and stamped with the cute little star from Something to Say.

Stampin' Write Markers and the ink to rubber technique on the happy, happy, happy greeting from Amazing Birthday, produced the jazzy greeting. I could have stamped three times in three colours and layered, but since it was to be layered onto a banner, I kept it simple. The celebrate is part of Starburst Sayings, cut with matching framelits. Amazing Birthday has three circular greetings too which would be just as super, however, I do like the jagged edges of this little greeting.

I have been working ever-so-slowly through different colour combinations with the new In Colors, so this challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments was perfect, and the sketch from Karren at Freshly Made Sketches began the design ideas pumping for me.

Must away...
Rachel

You Make Me Happy, Logan

Here is the second card I've made with the Pop 'n Cuts system. Again, it is for a very special family member, Logan, who headed to hospital the same day his cousin left there. Logan had to have his tonsils removed, as he is always unwell and has no appetite. He appeared to come through with flying colours, judging by the upbeat conversation I had with him, but there are bound to be some low points too, over the coming days.

I made him this bright little card to cheer him up. He'll be able to wiggle it about until it comes apart, I guess. Sadly, Logan prefers diggers, but this police car will have to do I'm afraid. I layered up 2 Deco Label Framelits for the inside this time and stamped with the SALE-A-BRATION stamp set See Ya Later.
The sun is simply cut with a Starburst Framelit in the appropriate size and then various DSP in shades of yellow were punched with the Banner Punch - which has been included in the new catalogue!!!!!! There are a couple of stamp sets which co-ordinate too.

The police car comes from a stamp set called You're My Hero which also has a fire engine and an ambulance, but it too is retiring. That will mean there are no current vehicle stamps for small boys, so sad.

I colour all these images with Stampin' Write Markers to get the variety of shades. Looks cheerful, doesn't it?

The white cloud is a scalloped oval, daubed with Smokey Slate and the Smokey Slate clouds are punched using the Cupcake Builder Punch. That's a useful punch for a few different things. The cupcake piece makes a nice handbag and the clouds/icing/ice cream probably have more uses too! I noticed at least one new stamp set that will use this punch and the current one, Create a Cupcake, is retiring.

I cut the outside of this card using a long-retired DSP with red stars, and I haven't decorated that yet, but I'm thinking a banner with his name too.



Logan's parents have no qualms about their son's image being "out there' so meet Logan, 4 and a bit, prior to surgery.

Hope you enjoyed my post, thanks for dropping by,

Rachel

Cool Kitty's Birthday RS#113

Today I have created a birthday card for a little girl using Cool Kid stamp set, and the soon to retire Bring On The Cake. At the top, pinning the sketch is 'celebrate' from Starburst Sayings. Of course, the Starburst Framelits Dies make it super-easy to cut the image out crisply. The colours I've used are Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding and Crushed Curry, quite a nice mix, I think. I especially like Strawberry Slush with some texture, so a piece of card was popped through the Big Shot with the Arrows Embossing Folder.






A tiny flower punched with an Itty Bitty Shapes Punch makes a flower to adorn kitty's head, and inside the card is another wee flower to finish off the strip with matching daubed spots.


Another great sketch from Retro Sketches, and you should see the gallery over there. Plenty of fabulous cards to inspire you!

Happy stamping,
Rachel

Stars Card in a Box

It was a lovely card class here on Friday night, with the girls making Card In A Box cards, all individual and all beautiful creations. The trouble with working at night is a) tiredness b) difficult lighting! We all agree that my electrician son should install some more down lights in the craft room, but trouble is, he doesn't work in the trade anymore because he doesn't like getting into the ceiling space.
The conditions weren't really ideal for photographing their creations, but earlier I had taken a reasonably clear photo of the back of a card being created for Mother's Day which has a Travel/French theme. The front was gorgeous too, but by the time it was finished , it was VERY late! We had some lovely floral fantasies for special birthdays, and a small boy's first birthday card. I'm sure the recipients will be thrilled!
If the ladies email me photos of their finished card, I will edit them into the blog, how about it girls?

Genella's card above and below

During the week before the class, I decided to put together another variation of this fun card. Simply Stars and Starburst Sayings featured heavily in this production. The Starburst Sayings stamps are a breeze to cut out, with their matching Framelits, and you know, if you bundle the stamps and framelits, key in the right code (wood 134817 $77.25: clear 134818 $69.50) you save 15%. If you do it before Monday 31st at 11pm, you'd only have to buy another $20 (approximately) to earn a FREE SALE-A-BRATION item. $90 before shipping qualifies. After Monday, it's all over for another year!

I'm lucky enough to still have a retired star punch, which punches the larger star from Simply Stars. I sell off some of my retired stock to help finance the next purchases, but some things are just too good to let go. I do hope star punches return, or maybe there will be framelits for those in the new catalogue, released July 1st in Australia. The Circle Card Thinlets Die has a star and a heart included, and they were well used in the class.

Label Something stamp set provided the greeting and just like all the stamps in Label Love, it can be punched out easily with the Artisan Label Punch. My girls love Label Love, it has stamps for babies, weddings, birthdays, just for you and more. I've forgotten to point out to them that if they buy the stamp set and the Artisan Label Punch together in a bundle, they can save 15% on the cost as well. It jogged my memory when another clever customer put her order in today, so I'm just pointing that out too. The prices are actually slightly lower than shown in the current catalogue, a lovely surprise when you enter the following codes, although the prices I've entered here are correct - wood mount bundle 132723 $60.25: clear mount 132722 $52.50.

The back of the card is reasonably plain, another star punched out and 'Make A Wish' sentiment from the Perfect Pennants stamp set. That can be bundled with the Pennant framelits for a 15% saving. You just need to find the Bundle and Save  boxes throughout the large annual catalogue or the thinner Occasions catalogue.

You can see a floral card here, or another floral in a different color scheme, plus some childrens cards here.

If you and a friend would like to make your own card in a box, and South Morang, Victoria isn't out of your way, email me for a day or night. It takes about 3-3½ hours. The 8th and 9th April are good for me at the moment, daytime or evening.

Hope you're having a great weekend,
Rachel

Celebrating You!

I have just arrived home after a rather busy weekend and found this card, still in pieces on my desk. I remembered that I was making it for Try Stamping On Tuesday challenge, the sketch is below and use stripes and squares. I'd taken a while to hunt down a piece of masculine striped paper and match the other colours with it on Friday before I went away, so it seemed a shame not to complete the challenge.
This piece of patterned paper was out of the Print Poetry Designer Series Paper Stack which is in the Clearance Rack at the moment. The reverse of this stripe is a gorgeous pink and yellow spot, so there's something for everyone in this stack.
Its always easier when you have a sketch to go with, or so I find. I thought straight away of the cute shapes in the Starburst Sayings stamp set and the framelits which cut them out so beautifully. For the greeting I picked one from Remembering Your Birthday. It echoes the 'celebrate' theme of the middle Starburst, plus it's no-nonsense, really suitable for a male. All the greetings in this stamp set are partnered with another, making it a simple task to finish off the inside.
The colours on this one are Midnight Muse, Gumball Green and Summer Starfruit.

Hope you've enjoyed your weekend too
Rachel

Thank You Banners

Do you have a favourite stamp set in the Occasions Catalogue? I'm beginning to think mine just might be Happy Watercolor. There are just so many different ways to use those two flower stamps and the font on the words is such a nice one. I've put together a card today using both the flowers, for a thank you card. I hadn't planned to combine RetroSketches with the colour challenge at Create With Connie and Mary, or the Paper Players 'thank you' challenge but somehow the three of them just came together!

I have resolved to try to use Summer Starfruit more frequently, and it seems that those who dream up color challenges have the same mindset too - how strange!

I also thought I would give my Starburst Framelit Dies a rest, and pulled out the Banners Framelits Dies. I KNOW they will be a big favourite too, especially when I start using the Perfect Pennants stamp set with them.

Paper Players are thankful for spring, and I totally understand that, after the horrible winter they've had in the northern hemisphere. Those of us in the southern hemisphere (I live in Melbourne, Australia if you don't know yet) are thankful for autumn and some respite from the heat and  bush fires, and yet our temperatures are still over 30°celsius!

Thanks for dropping by my blog,
happy crafting,
Rachel

So Happy ColourQ #230

Wow!

 Love these colours at Colour Q , absolutely electric! (The shoes are pretty amazing too.)
I've had a night of creating (my husband is away for the weekend) and it is amazing when you get on a roll, you just can't stop. Only fatigue and my aching back will make me call it quits.

I am going to wait till morning to photograph my card, but I did enjoy playing with these colours. I've had to substitute Coastal Cabana for Cool Caribbean. The ladies in my stamp class last night also love Summer Starfruit, and yet when we first saw it, everyone was a bit half-hearted. I've reminded them, it will be a retiring In-color very shortly, but I can see myself using this combo again before long.

Happy Watercolor was my choice of stamp for this card (again) and just a greeting and a single poppy were stamped onto the die cut circle. I ended up stamping with Gold ink the stamp that is a little like confetti onto the Crumb Cake strip,(very hard to see) and then some on the lighter die cut circle too. I had misted a series of circle shapes with a pale blue wash earlier in the evening, but again, it is so subtle, you can't really see that in photos.        A second circle was cut in Summer Starfruit using one of the Starburst Framelit Dies, still out from my last card. Summer Starfruit looks a lot like gold foil too. A piece of the lovely silky Summer Starfruit ribbon knotted around the Crumb Cake card and a scattering of loose sequins are the finishing touch.

Cheerio, happy stamping
Rachel