This is the one-and-only Halloween card I made this year. And I didn't even send it to anyone, LOL! I really like the Spooky Bats Punch so I bought it bundled with the coordinating Spooky Sweets stamp set. I also bought the Black Foil Sheets, which is what these bats are punched from, though it was hard to capture their glossiness in the picture. That's all the Halloween stuff I bought this year. No Designer Series Paper, no embellishments. In large part this is because I knew I wouldn't be set up to hold classes yet, but also because Halloween is not widely celebrated here in Australia. Shops are trying to get it going, but it's definitely a North American holiday!
So to make a card I had to be creative. I used the starry background from the Bokeh Dots set and Basic Gray ink applied with a sponge dauber on Whisper White card stock. I matted it on Basic Gray card stock and added the bats with Mini Stampin' Dimensionals. The sentiment from Spooky Sweets was stamped in Pumpkin Pie and cut with a Layering Circles Die, and mounted on Basic Black card stock cut with the next larger die and popped up with Dimensionals. A Pumpkin Pie card base ties everything together. So for all my friends and family in the States, here you go...may you get many more treats than tricks today! Here are the products I used to make this card. Click on any image below to go to my Online Store and order. Explore Stampin' Up!
If you live in Australia and are not working with another Stampin' Up! demonstrator I'd love to be your creative coach! Let me know and I'll send you both the Annual and Holiday Catalogues. In the meantime, click on each cover to view online!
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I am playing along with the CAS(e) This Sketch Challenge #295 this week. I had fun with it, although I'm not sure it qualifies as a Clean-And-Simple design.
I started by cutting a piece of Joyous Noel Specialty Designer Series Paper on the diagonal to get my corner stripe element. To make it simple I used one of my Layering Squares Framelits dies and then sliced it in half on my Paper Trimmer. The sentiment is from the Timeless Tidings set. For both it and the Dashing Deer images I used a Sponge Dauber to put Copper Shimmer Paint on the stamps. This makes a softer image than VersaMark and Copper Embossing Powder, but works just fine (which is good because my embossing powders are still in my shipping container on the Pacific!). The tree is from Winter Woods, stamped in Tranquil Tide, and is cut out with the coordinating die from Woods Framelits. Everything is layered onto a rectangle of another piece of Joyous Noel DSP, and matted on Tranquil Tide card stock before being layered onto a Merry Merlot card base. I'm loving these rich colour tones for the holidays...how about you? Here are the products I used to make this card. Click on any image below to go to my Online Store and order. Explore Stampin' Up!
f you live in Australia and are not working with another Stampin' Up! demonstrator I'd love to be your creative coach! Let me know and I'll send you both the Annual and Holiday Catalogues. In the meantime, click on each cover to view online!
I'm playing along with the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge again this week! The theme is "All About Holidays" and I've jumped into Christmas for the first time this year.
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The playful Mr. Claus in the So Santa stamp set is too cute! For the last 7 Christmases I've lived in a warm climate, but not at a beach. Now it will be officially summer at Christmas, though perhaps not much warmer than Christmas in Arizona. It will all depend on which way the breeze is coming from, I understand. Nevertheless, there is surfing at the beach in Melbourne even if it's not as well-known as at our warmer neighbours to the north,
I stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and then coloured with Stampin' Blends. I chose a piece of the Tropical Escape Designer Series Paper to go with the beach-y theme. The card is 10.5 cm square. Here's the inside:
There are still a few days left to play along...why don't you give it a try?
Here are the products I used to make this card. Click on any image below to go to my Online Store and order. Explore Stampin' Up!
If you live in Australia and are not working with another Stampin' Up! demonstrator I'd love to be your creative coach! Let me know and I'll send you both the Annual and Holiday Catalogues.
Before I get to today's card, I just wanted to pat myself on the back for a moment. I was chosen as a Watercooler Rocker for this card that I made for the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge last week! Very fun, and much appreciated.. Again, I urge you to play along with some challenges and see what you can do!
In the last couple of months before leaving the U.S. to move to Australia one of the hardest things was not getting to play with some new stamp sets. I had a couple of boxes from Stampin' Up! awaiting my arrival in Melbourne, and in them was this great host set, Hand Delivered.
This photopolymer set is see-through, which makes lining up the elements a total snap. I didn't have to use a Stamparatus or Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to get the balloons and arms to line up perfectly with the legs and skirt. Likewise, the sentiment was easily positioned.
I coloured in the picture with Stampin' Blends...not my best colouring jobs (use the bullet tip instead of the brush tip to go around the outline to avoid bleeding outside the line!), but still a cheerful card to send out. Did you notice that I stamped the balloons in VersaMark on the Lovely Lipstick card base? I could also have used Lovely Lipstick ink for a similar, but slightly darker, effect. This set, or any of the other host sets, can be yours with purchase of AUD$250 or more. You will receive 10% of your purchase in Stampin' Rewards which can be used to purchase anything in any catalogue...but the host sets can only be purchased with Stampin' Rewards. Check out these sets on pages 226-229 of the Annual Catalogue, or pages 54-55 of the Holiday Catalogue. Here are the products I used to make this card. Click on any image below to go to my Online Store and order.
Did you know you can make a card that meets the requirement of multiple challenges? While I was mulling over my design choices for the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge 192 "Masculine Anything Goes," I came across the CAS(e) This Sketch #294 Challenge. CAS in this instance does double-duty for Clean-And-Simple and Copy-And-Share (everything). Here's the sketch:
My card started with the Twinkle Twinkle Designer Series Paper, which I think works well for a masculine card. I layered it on a piece of Whisper White that I ran through the Big Shot with the Subtle embossing folder. The sentiment was cut with the Happy Birthday Thinlits Die out of both Whisper White and Night of Navy card stock, and snipped the words apart.. Tip: use the Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets on the back of the card stock before cutting - makes it an easy-to-place sticker! Add a Night of Navy card base and there is my clean-and-simple masculine birthday card.
Everything I used to make this card is listed below. If you live in Australia and would like to purchase any or all of these items just click on one to go to my online store.
Speaking of my store, SU! has a 24 hour sale on tomorrow! Click on the graphic below to get your copy of the list of stamp sets that are on sale. Place your order in my online store and save 15% Tuesday only!
In my last post I talked about how having a card kit on hand can be helpful when you want to create but are needing some inspiration. This week I was reminded by a new friend and fellow demonstrator, Tristan Dawes, how great card challenges can be for this, too! She's a member of the design team for the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge, so after checking it out I decided to play along.
The theme for this week's challenge is "Masculine Anything Goes," As we card crafters know, it's more challenging to come up with cards that the guys will really like, so it's great to have them in our stash.
For this card I wanted to use the Enjoy Life stamp set by Stampin' Up! I really like doing silhouette stamps against a watercolored background and played around making a couple until I got one I really liked with this stamp. My favorite technique is to smoosh ink pads onto a clear block, then spritz with water before pressing it onto a piece of Whisper White card stock. Once it was dry I stamped the image 3 or 4 times with Memento Tuxedo Black using my Stamparatus. I love how I can get a really opaque image this way. The sentiment only needed one stamping to come out nice and crisp and dark. I kept everything simple by mounting the image directly to a Cajun Craze card base.
Why don't you play along, too? Don' have a blog to link? Please send me a picture of your creation:nhoetker@mac.com.
If you live in Australia and would like to purchase any of the supplies I used to make this card, click on the image below and go straight to my online store.
1) You want to make cards, but don't have a lot of supplies.
This could be because you're just getting started with card crafting. Or because you're traveling/moving. Either way, an all-inclusive card kit is the perfect solution because along with a bit of adhesive and some paper snips you have everything you need to create a small stash of cards. Plus, you then have another stamp set and Stampin' Spot ink pad to add to your stash - double win!
2) You feel like crafting, but are out of ideas.
Pull out a card kit and make a couple just like the directions say. Then challenge yourself to mix it up on a couple...be a rule-breaker! The cards shown in this post are are a combination of by-the-book and alternative designs, based on my personal needs.
3) It's a great activity to do with family and friends.
Family visiting? Rainy day? School holiday and the kids are bored? Sit down with a card kit and some yummy snacks and connect in a new and creative way. Challenge each other to make creative use of your kit's supplies and have fun!
4) Makes a great gift.
Whether you're an advance-planner type or looking for something at the last minute, card kits can be a great go-to gift for friends and family. In addition to the kit, you can include a note that offers to host a crafting get-together!
5) You want to make a lot of cards in a short amount of time.
I confess, I am determined to send handmade Christmas cards to all 150 people on my list each year, but often run short of time...fortunately Stampin' Up! has a great card kit to help boost my card count! Likewise, a more general kit (with alternative designs) can generate a nice collection of thank-you cards if needed. Bonus: most of our kits now come with refills - so you can make even more of a good thing!
The cards shown in this post are from the Soft Sayings Card Kit. I brought it with me during my move to Australia, and while all of my crafting supplies were either jumbled into one suitcase or still in my shipping container crossing the Pacific, this was how I got my crafting fix. I have used many of the cards already to thank various people who have been helpful in our transition to our new life, or to reach out to friends back in the U.S.
Check out all the great card kits Stampin' Up! offers.
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Current PromosTutorialsCataloguesMeet NancyI've been paper-crafting since 2006, and an Independent Stampin' Up! demonstrator since 2010. I love sharing my craft with others, either through classes or by creating special cards and gifts that meet their needs. Join me in creating fun! Archives
January 2021
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