Stampin' Up! Australia - Expressions Thinlit Dies - Merry Christmas Card

Hi

This next card came about as a result of my inability to throw anything away....I've always been a bit of a hoarder but it sometimes pays off....as this next card will demonstrate.

Last month, I did some Christmas Treat Bags with my card making class using the Real Red Goodie Gear Simply Created Kit. The kit comes with cool adhesive red & white strips to decorate the tag (see photo below). Stampin' Up! kindly give you way more than you need in each kit so at the end of the class I collected all the off-cuts knowing that they would come in handy for a card that was yet-to-be-conceived! :)

The challenge at Less is More this week is to use 'sparkle' and the challenge at Just Add Ink is to use stars. These two ideas gave me the inspiration that I needed to decorate my card.  I cut some gorgeous Silver Glimmer Paper with my new Expressions Thinlit Dies for my 'sparkle' , then I added some stars using my Merry Minis Punch Pack. 

Hope you like my card!

Cheers

Alison

xx

Materials used:

Stamps - none

Ink - none!

Cardstock - Whisper White, Silver Glimmer Paper

Accessories - Adhesive Sheets from the Real Red Goodie Gear Simply Created Kit

Tools - Big Shot, Expressions Thinlit Dies, Two Way Glue Pen, Merry Minis Punch Pack, Wax Paper (to help get the glimmer paper out of the thinlit die). 

Stampin' Up! Australia - Stampin' Up! Expressions Thinlit Dies

Hi

Here's a little 10cm x 10cm square card that would be great for a Valentine or just a little cute note to leave for your special someone. :)

I made this for the Dynamic Duos challenge this week which is a cool "Triple Threat" colour challenge of Raspberry Ripple, Pear Pizzazz and Blushing Bride. 

I took this opportunity to break out my Expressions Thinlit Dies and have a play with them. I thought the 'love' script would look cool over a big heart shape. I took the advice of a few US demos who recommend the use of wax paper when using the thinlit dies.....put some wax paper between the die and your card stock and the card stock will come out of the die perfectly and it won't rip. :)

For my Australian followers, Coles Supermarket sell "Waxed Lunch Paper" in their baking paper/aluminium foil section. 

Here's my card....

Cheers

Alison xx

Materials used:

Stamps - none!

Ink - none!

Cardstock - Very Vanilla, Raspberry Ripple, Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz DSP

Tools - Big Shot, Expressions Thinlit Dies, Two Way Glue Pen, Stampin' Dimensionals, Wax Paper, Heart to Heart Punch (retired), Large Heart Die (non-SU, but you could use the SU Heart Framelits for this card). 

Stampin' Up! Australia - Less is More #147 - Stampin' Up! Bird Punch Christmas Card

Hi

I had seen earlier today that the challenge this week at Less Is More was to use a bird on your card. This afternoon, my little boys were playing with their box of discarded punched pieces and they were making little collages on cardboard....it was all very cute. I found this little bird that I think was punched from a random piece of card or backing of something...it's not quite kraft or Crumb Cake...it's more like thin cardboard but it has a nice colour & feel, so I picked it up from where they were playing and put it on my craft table for inspiration. 

I had already made a couple of Christmas Cards this evening and I found some vanilla card stock that had already been cut into 3 rectangles (left over from a card class kit). I put my little cardboard bird on one of them and the card just came into being from there....

If you like this card and are inspired by it to make your own, then support my business & creativity and purchase your craft supplies at my online store. :)

Cheers
Alison 

Materials used:

Stamp - Greetings of the Season

Ink - Baked Brown Sugar

Cardstock - Very Vanilla, Pear Pizzazz, Crumb Cake (for bird...unless you have some random cardboard for your bird).

Accessories - Pearls

Tools - Stampin' Trimmer, Bird Builder Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Two-way Glue Pen.

Stampin' Up! Australia - You Are My Sunshine Stamp

Hi

Recently on StampNation, there was a challenge called "Outside My Window"....well I live in Brisbane, Australia and at the moment there is crazy amounts of daily thunderstorm activity and last night there was even a tornado in the next town over. Thunderstorms are commonplace in tropical Brisbane, but tornados are not. 

This photo wasn't exactly "outside my window" but it was taken by a storm-watcher not far from my place last week....look at that amazing storm cell structure!!!

So I set about trying to create a card inspired by this photo.

The other day, I caught a post from CASE Study and realised that I had never entered one of their challenges.....mainly due to a lack of confidence as their CASE Study muses are always SO talented. This week's challenge was no exception, but I took the FB post as a bit of a "sign", got up the courage, and thought about how this card below 'spoke' to me....well, it was the chevrons of course...but also the partially obscured flower features. It is very modern & cool. 

...and so my card was born....the fluffy white clouds against a sunshine-y sky.....with the chevron and  flower references....and a sentiment that promises love despite whatever struggles may appear before us. :)

Hope you all like it! Please comment if you do. :)

Materials used:

Stamp - Sunshine (single clear stamp), Positively Chevrons

Ink - Basic Grey, Stazon

Cardstock - Whisper White, Basic Grey, Summer Starfruit, Silver Glimmer Paper (on button). 

Accessories - Summer Starfruit button & die-cut doily (from a kit that's now retired)

Tools - Big Shot, Cloudy Day Embossing Folder, Edgelits Adorning Accents, Glue Dots, Paper Snips, Stampin' Trimmer, Boho Blossoms Punch, SNAIL. 

Stampin' Up! Australia - Stampin' Up! Eastern Elegance Christmas Card

Hello!

I made this card for the Dynamic Duos challenge this week but I'm too late blogging it to enter it into the challenge...oh well. I've still published it in time for the Mojo Monday Challenge #320 so all is not lost! :)

The talented Catherine Pooler shared a card recently on StampNation where she made an aperture with a die cut and layered an interesting glimmer texture behind it....it looked really cool and when I made yesterday's cards, I had a groovy square piece of card stock with a lovely snowflake shape negative. I decided I would use it on this card. 

Hope you are on track with all your Christmas card making & projects. Give me a yell if you need any supplies....I'd be happy to help you put your order together. :)

Cheers

Alison xx

Materials used:

Stamps - Happy Day, Joyous Celebrations (retired)

Ink - Basic Black, Smoky Slate, Illuminate ink

Cardstock - Whisper White, Smoky Slate, Eastern Elegance DSP, Silver Glimmer Paper

Accessories - Glimmer Brad, 1/8" Basic Black Taffeta ribbon

Tools - Stampin' Trimmer, Big Shot, Snow Flurry Bigz Die, Corner Rounder Punch

Stampin' Up! Australia - Stampin' Up! Christmas Card

Hi!

Just a quick blog post from me...here's a Christmas card based on a sketch by Catherine Pooler - it's a fun clean & simple design and one that can be used with an array of Designer Series Paper.

Mine is from my scraps pile....I think I got it for free with a magazine years ago...I just liked the purple-ness of it. :)

Cheers

Alison x

Materials used:

Stamps - Snow Swirled, Greetings of the Season

Ink - Versamark

Cardstock - Whisper White, Silver Glimmer Paper, misc Christmas patterned paper

Accessories - retired SU rhinestone brads

Tools - Stampin' Trimmer, Heat Tool, Embossing Buddy, Silver Embossing Powder, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Paper Piercer, Envelope Punch Board (to round corners) , Big Shot, Snow Flurry Bigz Die (retired).

Stampin' Up! Australia - Color Coach Card #25 - Stampin' Up! Heart of Christmas

Perfect Plum Card #3

Hi!

Two posts in one day!?...yes, I've been busy....and there still may be a third yet!...stay tuned....

I made this card for my Color Coach Challenge. The Color Coach card for Perfect Plum suggests Perfect Plum, Marina Mist and Rose Red as a colour combination....when I first saw this I thought maybe a baby card?....or a soft Mother's Day card??....but Pinterest seems to be all the rage with non-traditional Christmas Cards right now so I thought I would throw the festive spirit at it instead. :)

This fabulous sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch provided good inspiration!

The stamp set that I've used is sadly retired, but Joy to the World from the current Holiday catalogue  (Wood 131796 $37.95 AUD or  Clear 131799 $29.95 AUD) would be a perfect substitute! 

If you like this card and are inspired by it to make your own, then support my business & creativity and purchase your craft supplies at my online store. :)

Cheers!

Alison 

Materials used:

Stamp - Heart of Christmas (Retired)

Ink - Rose Red, Marina Mist

Cardstock - Whisper White, Perfect Plum, Rose Red, Marina Mist

Accessories - Perfect Plum brads (or Candy Dots), Tea Lace Paper Doily, Perfect Plum Taffeta ribbon

Tools - Big Shot, Fancy Fan Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Labels Collection Framelits, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Stampin' Sponges, SNAIL, Stampin' Dimensionals, Two Way Glue Pen, Owl Builder Punch (for hearts), Multipurpose Liquid Glue

Stampin' Up! Australia - Color Coach Card #24 - Stampin' Up! Snow Swirled

Perfect Plum Card #2

Hi!

I have jumped around the strict Color Coach order on my self-imposed Color Coach Blog Challenge so if you are looking for the Perfect Plum Card #1 it is here. This card uses Perfect Plum & Elegant Eggplant. The tree was stamped in Perfect Plum first and then rolled in Elegant Eggplant around the edges.

A colleague at work bought my Artichoke Christmas Card and asked if I could make another one in purple...so I CASE'd myself and here it is...

If you like this card and are inspired by it to make your own, then support my business & creativity and purchase your craft supplies at my online store. The 'tree' stamp on my card is now retired but the Special Seasons stamp set would be lovely I think as a substitute!

Thanks for visiting!

Cheers

Alison xx

Materials used

Stamp - Snow Swirled

Ink - Perfect Plum & Elegant Eggplant

Cardstock - Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum DSP, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer Paper

Accessories - Whisper White Organza Ribbon, White Bakers Twine, Paper Doily

Tools - Stampin' Trimmer, SNAIL, Big Shot, Stylish Stripes Textured Impressions Embossing Folder,  Merry Minis Punch Pack (star punch), Glue Dots, 1/2 circle punch, Crop-a-dile

Stampin' Up! Australia - Pink Christmas Card

Hi

I liked my pink birthday card so much that I made this Christmas Card too. 

It's a non-traditional Christmas card that was inspired by THE most gorgeous card that Catherine Pooler shared at StampNation. She used a lovely pink festive DSP and it really looked amazing.  

This isn't entirely Stampin' Up! but we all have some stuff laying about from pre-SU days don't we!!?

Hope you like it. :)

Cheers

Alison xx

Stampin' Up! Australia - My Digital Studio - Amped Up Ampersands

Hi

I was having a bit of fun with My Digital Studio today and thought I would put a little 'mantra' on my page in homage to the latest Fatboy Slim single. 

My Digital Studio is lots of fun and is easy to use. You can create digital scrapbook pages, cards, party favours, name tags, pennants, table settings....the sky is the limit. Just download it from the link above. 

My page today used the Amped Up Ampersands Digital Kit which is full of groovy ampersand images and background pages. 

Cheers
Alison xx

Happy Birthday Anne Marie Hile!

Happy Birthday Anne Marie Hile!!!!

**This card was inspired by a card by Catherine Pooler over at StampNation.

I hope this card gets to Texas in time for your birthday Anne Marie!

You are a 'one-of-a-kind' person....so supportive, encouraging and creative. It has been fantastic getting to know you over the inter-webs at Dynamic Duos. Love your work! xxx

Love

Alison xxx

Stampin' Up! Australia - Stampin' Up! Undefined Stamp Carving!

Hi

Yesss! The "Undefined" Stamp Carving Kit is finally in Australia!

What does this mean!?...

Have you ever wanted a stamp but couldn't find the perfect image? Maybe you have a special family logo or a sketch you would like to have as a stamp. Well now you CAN! Undefined is Stampin' Up!'s new stamp carving product line. You define the rubber stamp any way you want.

When you carve your very own stamp, you will have an entirely new and different creative experience. And when you're finished, you will have created a one-of-a-kind stamp!

Here's a video to show you what you can do....




Here's the codes you need...
133402 Undefined Stamp Carving Kit $34.95
134808 Undefined Refill Kit $16.95 (you'd better get one of these!)
124236 Clear-Mount Cling Foam* $18.95

*Add a sheet of Clear-Mount Cling Foam to create your own clear-mount stamps. Mounting your stamps on the cling foam allows you to make stamps any size you want, not just what will fit on the blocks in the kit.

Included in the Stamp Carving Kit:
2 carving tools
7.6 x 10.2 cm rubber
7.6 x 10.2 cm foam
4 wood blocks (various sizes)
1 Island Indigo Stampin' Write Marker
3 postcards
Instruction sheet
Stamp image templates

Included in the Refill Kit:
7.6 x 10.2 cm rubber
7.6 x 10.2 cm foam
4 wood blocks (various sizes)
Instruction sheet

Express your personality, thoughts, feelings, etc. with a stamp you've carved all on your own! I know you'll have a 'look what I made!' moment.

Stampin' Up! want to see what you make with your kit. Please e-mail Stampin' Up! a photo of your creations and any projects you make with your carved stamps to undefined@stampinup.com so Stampin' Up! can pin your photos to their Undefined Pinterest Board. 

You can order your kit at my online store or call me on 0413 405 139 or email me with your order. :)

Cheers
Alison xx

Stampin' Up! Australia - Color Coach Card #23 - Less is More - Baby Wipe Technique

Rich Razzleberry Card #2

Hi

I've neglected my Color Coach Challenge Journey somewhat, but I'm back on the wagon with this card. I wanted to play along with the One Layer Challenge at Less is More this week AND when I looked at the Color Coach colours of Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie....it said "Thanksgiving" to me.

Now....if you read my blog carefully you will figure out that I am in Australia where we do not celebrate 'Thanksgiving'....so why would I make a Thanksgiving card you may ask?.....well, I have a couple of very lovely and totally fantastic friends from the US....one of which lives in Brisbane and the other returned to Ohio a few months back, so I'm going to send them this card. I think 'Thanksgiving' is a wonderful tradition.....I wish that Australia had something similar....preferably in our Autumn! :)

Here's my One Layer Card....yes, it is definitely one layer...there's a couple of techniques going on here...Baby Wipe & Masking. 

Baby Wipe Technique:

I dropped ink from my reinkers onto a baby wipe that I just folded onto a saucer. I took my 'Four Seasons' stamp and used the baby wipe like an ink pad. It gives a lovely marbled effect and looks so much better in real life. :) I don't know why it took me so long to give this technique a try!

Masking:

Now I confess that the border was a 'mistake cover-up'! *GASP* 

Originally this was a plain white card and I felt that the border needed something so I drew some lines freehand around the border with my Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive markers. I wanted it to look like a beautiful doodled masterpiece but it just looked wrong. So I got a couple of post-it notes and stuck them down about 5mm from the border and sponged quite heavily around the edges with Rich Razzleberry. I drew a few more lines and lo and behold it looked like a wooden frame. Don't you love it when a mistake gives birth to a card that you didn't even imagine!?

Anyway....I hope my friends like their card....and Happy Thanksgiving to all my US blog followers and all my US Pinterest followers! :)

Cheers

Alison xx

Materials used:

Stamps - Four Seasons (retired), Day of Gratitude (retired)

Ink - Rich Razzleberry (inkpad, marker, reinker), Old Olive (inkpad, marker, reinker), Pumpkin Pie (reinker). 

Cardstock - Whisper White

Accessories - none!

Tools - Stampin' Trimmer, Baby Wipe, Stampin' Sponges. 

Stampin' Up! Australia - Stampin' Up! Christmas Card

Hi

This is a more traditional style for me.....a few layers....the peep of a doily (thanks Catherine Pooler!)...some DSP and some ribbon.

My card uses the colours from Dynamic Duos and the sketch from Mojo Monday.

If you like this card and are inspired by it to make your own, then support my business & creativity and purchase your craft supplies at my online store. The 'tree' stamp on my card is now retired but the Special Seasons stamp set would be lovely I think as a substitute!

Thanks for visiting!

Cheers

Alison xx

Materials used

Stamp - Snow Swirled

Ink - Always Artichoke

Cardstock - Crumb Cake, Always Artichoke, Whisper White, Champagne Glimmer Paper

Accessories - Always Artichoke Seam Binding Ribbon, Twine, Paper Doily

Tools - Stampin' Trimmer, SNAIL, Big Shot, Stylish Stripes Textured Impressions Embossing Folder,  Merry Minis Punch Pack (star punch), Glue Dots, 1/2 circle punch, Crop-a-dile

Stampin' Up! Australia - Stampin' Up! Delightful Dozen

Hi

I created this card for a couple of challenges..... CASology and CAS(E) this Sketch. There was also a challenge on StampNation to use gradient colours so I had a go at that. 

I hope you like my card...I used the gradient technique on both my card stock and my sentiment - using the ink pads to slide on the ink rather than stamp directly onto the ink pad with my stamp. 

Cheers

Alison xx

Materials used:

Stamp - Delightful Dozen

Ink - Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Early Espresso

Cardstock - Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Early Espresso (textured & smooth)

Tools - Stampin' Trimmer, SNAIL, Stamp-a-majig. 

Stampin' Up! Australia - Stampin' Up! 40th Birthday Card

Hi

This card is a modified CASE of a card by the very talented Brian King. Brian has such an impressive artistic flair and he showcases endless innovative ways to use Stampin' Up! product. His original card is here.

My best friend turned 40 on the weekend and I wanted to give her a card that reflected her own elegant style. I loved Brian's card - he uses the Etcetera DSP so beautifully, so I emailed him to get permission to show my modified card on my blog. He was generous enough to give me his blessing. :)

I didn't have the exact same DSP panel in my stash so I used another feature panel and layered my '40' over the top....I wanted to alter the sentiment slightly so I added an ampersand from the "Hello Lovely" set to make a new greeting. 

Hope you like it!

Cheers

Alison 

xx

Materials used:
Stamp - Million & One, Hello Lovely (the ampersand)
Ink - Night of Navy, Baked Brown Sugar
Cardstock - Very Vanilla, Night of Navy, Baked Brown Sugar, Champagne Glimmer Paper, Etcetera DSP
Tools - Big Shot, Stampin' Trimmer, SNAIL, Typeset Alphabet Bigz Die
Accessories - Ruffle Trim Ribbon in Baked Brown Sugar

Stampin' Up! Australia - Stampin' Up! Season of Style DSP

Hi

Just a short blog post today so that I can show you a couple of really cool & quick Christmas Cards that I did using the Stampin' Up! Season of Style Paper Stack from the Holiday Catalogue. 

The layout and idea came from the very talented Catherine Pooler over at StampNation - she's so great and shares the most creative stuff with us on the StampNation forums. It really gets my mojo peakin'! 

Very easy to mass-produce!

If you like this card and are inspired to make your own, then support my business and purchase your supplies from my online store.  All the elements can be found in the store (except for the bird wreath which is retired, but any wreath stamp would be great....the 'Wonderful Wreath' #132748...would be perfect for this!)

Cheers

Alison 

Materials used:

Stamps - Four Seasons, Greetings of the Season

Ink - Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso

Cardstock - Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Season of Style Paper Stack

Tools - Stampin' Trimmer, Paper Snips, Dimensionals, SNAIL

Accessories - Rhinestone Jewels, Pearl (coloured with a sharpie).

Stampin' Up! Australia - Stampin' Up Thinlits Card Dies

Hello!

They've been called flip cards, flip flop cards, swing cards, and more-but they have always been a bit tricky to create. Not anymore! Stampin' Up!'s amazing new Thinlits Card Dies cut and score to create a card that flips in just one step.

133479 Label Card Thinlits Die $55.95 
133480 Circle Card Thinlits Die $55.95 

There are some products you just have to see in action before you realise how much you need them, right? This is one of them! Here's a cool video....




These new card dies come with extra die pieces that have versatile designs, so you can use them on other projects, not just flip cards. (The Circle Card Thinlits Die comes with 10 total pieces; the Label Card Thinlits Die comes with nine total pieces.)

With the number of dies you're getting, plus the die that creates the card itself, the price is a great value--especially to create an interactive card!

These card dies would make great announcements, invitations, or Christmas cards. 

The main shape in the cards (circle and label) can work with a lot of our stamp images so you can create tons of different kinds of cards using many different stamp sets. Here are just a few suggestions to get you started:

Label Card Thinlits Die (item 133479):
Happy Day Stamp Set (item 130294 W item 130297 C)

Circle Card Thinlits Die (item 133480):
Worth the Wait Stamp (item 131091 W)
Five-Way Flower Stamp (item 131088 W)

Both card dies pair well with:
Oh, Hello Stamp Set (item 131931 W item 130733 C)
Yippee-Skippee! Stamp Set (item 131341 W item 131344 C)
Really Good Greetings Stamp Set (item 130330 W item 130333 C)
Regarding Dahlias Stamp Set (item 130324 W item 130327 C)

These dies also work well with the new magnetic platform (item 130658) so you can place the dies exactly where you want them!

To order your Thinlits Card Dies, head to my online store! :)

Cheers
Alison xx

Stampin' Up! Australia - Tag It Bundles - 20% off!

Hi

Stampin' Up! have just released a couple of very cool bundles which will make your gift giving this year a whole bundle of 'pretty'!

These bundles are available from 29 October to 30 November 2013.

135811 Holiday Tag It Decorative Box Bundle $34.95
contains:
Stamp a Tag Kit
Cherry Cobbler 1" Stitched Edge Grosgrain Ribbon (10 yards)
Decorative Window Gift Boxes (6 boxes)

135812 Holiday Tag It Extra-Large Box Bundle $32.95 
contains:
Stamp a Tag Kit
Cherry Cobbler 1" Stitched Edge Grosgrain Ribbon (10 yards)
Extra-Large Gift Boxes (3 boxes)

Order now at my online store! :)

Cheers
Alison xx

Stampin' Up! Australia - My Digital Studio 30% Off Sale

Hi

Yes, it IS INDEED the most wonderful time of the year.....30% off select seasonal downloads! (until 30 November 2013).

Stampin' Up! have a variety of festive downloads to help you get a head start this busy season.

See them here!

Remember also to visit MyDigitalStudio.net regularly to see what the design team and other people are creating with these MDS products! Get inspired! :)

If you don't have My Digital Studio yet, you can download the free trial or the actual software here.

Cheers
Alison xx

Stampin' Up! Australia - Best of 25 Years - Best of Sale-A-Bration

Hi

1st November sees the release of this month's 'Best of' set. This one is called "Best of Sale-A-Bration" so you may remember some of these images from previous years....my favourite is that 'Bliss' sentiment!

About the "Best of" stamp sets...

• All Best of stamp sets will include 3-5 images, including a never-before seen image, and will be priced at $25.95.
• While Stampin' Up! is releasing just one Best of stamp set per month (with a new theme each month) until April, all of the Best of sets will be available until April 2014.
• All Best of stamp sets are available in Clear-Mount only.
• The stamp images may be sized differently from the original stamp sets.

To order this set, click here to be taken directly to this item in my online store. :)

Cheers
Alison xx