Thank You Note Set

Today I needed to think of a gift for a friend who is turning 75 and has requested "no gifts". I've talked myself into believing that something I made  could pass as a "no gift", and wanting to do something a little bit practical, decided on a set of Thank You Notes. 

It was easy to reach for some of my old favourite stamps from Stampin' Up!® - I wanted to keep the cards simple and a bit "earthy" so settled on using some retired CONFETTI CREAM card stock as the base of the card, combined with Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke and Bravo Burgundy card and inks. 

I varied the stamp placement a little on each card, and used the STAMPIN' OFF  technique to achieve different tones of the one colour.

The images looked a little too disconnected  so I stamped the small circular image from FRENCH FOLIAGE  (p. 86) and that brought the composition together a bit more.

I'm loving the  CRUMB CAKE ENVELOPES that are available from the Annual Catalogue (p.160) Just be aware that the size is slightly smaller than the regular C6 envelope and you'll need to adjust your card accordingly. 

I made a Belly Band to hold the cards together and then made a box using the SIMPLY SCORED SCORING TOOL (p. 181). It's really great how easy it is to custom make boxes of any size to fit your gifts. The texture on the Belly Band is from the SQUARE LATTICE EMBOSSING FOLDER - this is one of the most versatile embossing folders created by Stampin' Up! - it's wonderful for cards for both genders and gives 2 different patterns depending on which side you decide to use. 

And here's the box with its lid. The lid has  Paper Piercing detail and a WINDOW SHEET  insert so the gift can be seen without unwrapping it. The flower is made from Vanilla paper using a variety of Stampin' Up! punches.

I hope our friend likes her "no gift". I sure had fun making it.

If you would like to order any of the products I've used you can ORDER ON-LINE at my new on-line store. The products will be shipped directly to your home address. When you place an order, you can request FREE the instructions for making this project. 
All the benefits that you would receive as a Hostess still apply via ON-LINE ORDERING, so make sure if your order is over $300 that you have a Wish List ready with more items. Why? Because you will get Hostess dollars to spend if your order qualifies.

Until Next Time

Stay Crafty!

Add A Little Vintage To Christmas Cards

I promised a second card in the series created for this month's Christmas Stamp A Stack using the SIMPLY SCORED  scoring tool from Stampin' Up!®, and here it is. 

This time I've used a REGULAR STAMPIN' WHEEL - named Music Notes. I inked it up with VERSA MARK and (most importantly, dusted the card with the EMBOSSING BUDDY) then rolled across the EARLY ESPRESSO  card in a freehand motion. 

I used the new scalloped EDGELITS DIE - from the ADORNING ACCENTS (you can find this in our Autumn/Winter Mini Catalogue) to create the decorative edge on the Espresso card. 

The base card is made using CRUMB CAKE  - I always want to call this biscuit for some reason! - and I've used Early Espresso Classic Ink with the beautiful EN FRANCAIS background stamp from Stampin' Up!

I'll share a little trick here. Those of you who are familiar with this very large stamp will know that it will not stamp across a Landscape version of an A5 card without a join in the middle. (If you want the writing going the correct way) So I stamped it quite lightly and re-stamped right next to it. Doing this freehand usually results in a slightly skewed alignment, so I bring out my most used stamps from Stampin' Up! - FRENCH FOLIAGE - and cover the join with a splotch! It is very Vintage and combined with some sponging around the edges makes for another interesting part of the card. 

I love the PINKING HEARTS BORDER punch and find myself using it quite often with the rosettes. The tiny pattern really lends itself to the concertina folding. Once again I used some paper from the gorgeous MOCHA MORNING  Specialty Designer Paper.

Hope you like the card and find some inspiration to get started on your own Christmas Cards if you haven't already. You can contact me via my Demonstrator Business Website if you'd like further information on any of my projects.

Until next time 

Stay Crafty and Stay Happy

Simply Christmas

With more than half the year gone already, you can Simply Score your way to beautiful Christmas cards. I'm well on the way to having my Christmas Cards ready. I hold a Christmas Stamp A Stack every 1st Wednesday of the month, and if numbers exceed spaces the class is repeated the next night. 

This month was no different even tho time is tight due to yet another Interstate trip. I used the Simply Scored scoring tool to create the rosettes out of some of the gorgeous SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER - MOCHA MORNING to form the focus of the first card, then heat embossed the filigree stamp from MIXED BUNCH using gold embossing powder on Early Espresso card.

I tied a little LINEN THREAD  around the central motif that was raised with a STAMPIN DIMENSIONAL.  The paper was punched along the edge before it was scored. This is the easiest way to create an interesting edge.

A strip of BRUSHED GOLD card was dry embossed using the VINTAGE WALLPAPER embossing folder, and the small greeting was punched out using the LARGE OVAL punch.

I enjoyed making this card, but then in my usual fashion, found myself adding all sorts of stamped images to create the next version which I will post tomorrow.

Until next time

Stay Crafty and Stay Happy

Simply Scored is Simply Fantastic

I know it's been ages since I last did a post, but I have been very busy in the crafting world - I'll be able to show you some of the projects a bit later, but for now they are just for me!!

The other day I had a chance to try out some more ideas with the fabulous new Simply Scored Tool from Stampin' Up!®. This is a wonderful new tool that you'll find in the Autumn/Winter Mini Catalogue and if you let your imagination go, you can create all sorts of decorations with it.

This is the first decoration using:

First Edition Specialty Designer Series Paper

Pinking Hearts Border Punch

Blossom Punch

4.4 cm Scallop Circle Punch

Basic Black Card Stock

Whisper White Card Stock

Pool Party Classic Ink

Don't you love the concertina effect in the rosette? It's so easy to achieve accurate fold lines using the Simply Scored Scoring Tool and that in turn makes it easy to concertina fold the strip of paper.

And here is another sample.

This time I used:

Attic Boutique Designer Series Paper

Pinking Hearts Corner Punch

Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch

Antique Brad

I had a bit of help from a friend with this one - thanks Heather for all your mathematical working out of where to punch. I can't wait to try lots of variations of this one using different corner punches and different dimensions.  This reminds me of a snowflake, and I'm excited at the possibilities of other designs.

The Simply Scoring Tool is something you just cannot do without. Once you have tried it - I know you'll love it. Feel free to contact me for further information or to order your Stampin' Up! Simply Scored Scoring Tool. 

Until Next Time

Stay Crafty

Simply Scored Embellishments for Scrap Pages

I'm so excited to have tried the new scoring tool from Stampin' Up! 

- SIMPLY SCORED SCORING TOOL. 

You can find it in our newly released Autumn/Winter Mini Catalogue and as you can see one of the prettiest scrap page embellishments is the rosette.

Here is the page I created from my April Classes Scrap Map. 

Each month I design a Scrap Map and provide a page for inspiration for the classes. As usual my page did not completely follow the scrap map, but I am a great believer in going the direction  my page takes me, rather than slavishly following a map.

I've kept the page fairly simple and let the different sized embellishments create some interest. Most of these were prepared for various other projects and it was good to be able to use them up.

The Crumb Cake Flourish was more solid, but was too heavy on the page so I cut some shapes out of the centre and added some small flowers. Small self-adhesive Pearls from Stampin' Up! add texture on selected areas.

I punched along the edge of a 12 inch strip with the PINKING HEARTS BORDER PUNCH before scoring with the SIMPLY SCORED  scoring tool. It makes a very pretty edge to the rosette don't you think? You could use a variety of border punches on these edges and get a different result every time. 

The heart is created by using the MARKER DIRECT TO RUBBER  inking technique, where you colour the rubber stamp with STAMPIN' WRITE MARKERS, give a quick huff on the image to moisten the ink and stamp as usual. I love the multi-coloured images and they are so quick to create using this technique. 

If you'd like to win a set of these markers check out my promotion at the top of the Left Hand side bar.

My original idea for this scrap map was to include a lot more journaling on the page, but it ended up being hidden behind the photo. You can just see the Vellum Tag with Vanilla Seam Binding at the top of the large rosette...

and here it is pulled out a little further.

Hope you like the page - my little grand daughter is so funny with all her faces and quirks, that she is a joy to use as subject matter. 

If you would like to learn more about the SIMPLY SCORED SCORING TOOL  from Stampin' Up! or how to create your own Scrap Pages using embellishments made with this product, please contact me via my Demonstrator Business Web Site

Until Next Time

Stay Crafty!