Stampin' Up! Australia - Color Coach Project #48 - Tag A Bag Gift Box in Midnight Muse

Midnight Muse #2

Hi

Here's my first 3D project on my Color Coach Journey. I don't do a lot of them as I prefer cards but the Tag-A-Bag Gift Boxes make it really easy to turn a simple present into a beautiful gift. 

A colleague at work was leaving so I made up a batch of my favourite chocolate chip cookies and put them in one of these boxes and decorated it with some Epic Day DSP, some Midnight Muse ribbon, a rolled flower and a tag. EASY!

The colour coach suggested Midnight Muse, Pool Party & Cherry Cobbler, which at first sounds weird, but it does make for an elegant combination.

What do you think!?

If I were you, I would have a stash of these boxes (they store flat) in your craft room....they really do make the best gifts if you fill them with something yummy and home-baked! :)

It's a great way to use up some of that hoarded Designer Series Paper....yes, I am looking at YOU! ;)

Note, that there are a few soon-to-be retired items in this project so have a look at the list in my online store and place an order before they run out. 

Cheers

Alison xx

Materials used:

Stamps - Label Love

Ink - Midnight Muse

Cardstock - Very Vanilla, Midnight Muse, 

Epic Day DSP, Midnight Muse DSP, Cherry Cobbler DSP

Accessories - Large Pearl, Midnight Muse Stitched Satin Ribbon, Cherry Cobbler Bakers Twine, Tag-a-Bag Gift Box

Tools - Big Shot, Spiral Flower Originals Die, Artisan Label Punch, Decorative Label Punch

Stampin' Up! Retirement List - out now!

Hi

It's that time of year again, the Stampin' Up! Retirement List is here!

Say goodbye to hundreds of retiring products from the 2013-2014 annual catalogue. You will need to get your favourite retiring products ASAP before they're gone for good! Not only that, but some of these amazing products even carry discounted prices! ALL products are only available while supplies last, so be sure to get your orders in with me early!

The Retiring Stamps list is here (PDF). A sortable excel file is here.

The Retiring Accessories list is here (PDF). A sortable excel file is here. 

You can also view the retiring list directly at my online store. Just click this link. 

Remember that once these items are sold out, that is it, they are gone forever!
 {cue foreboding music.... and lightning sounds} :)


Don't forget the Weekly Deals too.....

Click here to see them at my online store....some great bargains to be had. :)


Cheers
Alison xx

Stampin' Up! Australia - Color Coach Card #47 - Stampin' Up! Lacy & Lovely

Midnight Muse #1

Hi

I think that Midnight Muse will be one of my favourite stops on my Color Coach Journey  - it really is the most beautiful colour! 

I am using Lacy & Lovely stamp set which is also one of my favourite stamps from the current Stampin' Up! catalogue...if you have a thing for medallions or mandalas, then you will love this stamp set like I do. 

The colours on this card are Midnight Muse, Rich Razzleberry & Pink Pirouette (the candy dots). 

When I saw this week's sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch, I just knew that this stamp set would get a workout. :)

Hope you like my card!

Remember to hop on over to my online store to have a browse....don't forget Lacy & Lovely!

Cheers

Alison xx

Materials used:

Stamp - Lacy & Lovely

Ink - Midnight Muse, Rich Razzleberry

Cardstock - Whisper White

Accessories - Subtles Candy Dots, Rhinestone Jewels, In Color Dahlias

Tools - 2 1/2 inch circle punch, 1 3/8 inch circle punch, 1 inch circle punch, paper snips, Stampin' Trimmer, Stampin' Dimensionals 

Stampin' Up! Australia - Color Coach Card #46 - Chalk Talk Daydream Medallion Watercolor Notecard

Gumball Green #2

Hi

I have just realised that my numbering is a bit out on my Color Coach Journey blog posts, so for Card #45 visit here. :)

Today's card uses Gumball Green, Marina Mist and Midnight Muse. I have used one of the Watercolor Wonder Designer Notecards as my base card since it is a Gumball Green colour. 

I was inspired by the sketch at Retrosketches this week....my card is a loose interpretation.....I started off with one Daydream Medallion stamp to reference the circle off to the side, but then the others just started to pile on and I liked the look of them. :)

My "Chalk Talk" tag was partly inspired by the tags from the Managers Reception gifts from the Stampin' Up! South Pacific Convention that is taking place in Melbourne at the moment. I am not at Convention this year (#sadface), but some other demonstrators have kindly shared photos and I really love the tags! :)

Hope you like my card. The Watercolor Wonder Designer Notecards really are a cool foundation for your cards...hop over to my online store and add these to your shopping cart! :)

Cheers

Alison xx

Materials used:

Stamps - Daydream Medallion, Chalk Talk

Ink - Gumball Green, Marina Mist, Midnight Muse

Cardstock - Watercolor Wonder notecard, Watercolor paper, Watercolor Wonder DSP (for butterfly)

Accessories - In Color Dahlias (Midnight Muse), Gold Sequin Trim, Mini Metallic Clothespins

Tools - Big Shot, Chalk Talk Framelits, Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals, Sponge Daubers

Stampin' Up! Australia - Color Coach Card #44 - Delightful Dozen

Gumball Green #1

Hi

Since I am coasting quite slowly on my Color Coach Journey, I have decided to skip to this year's retiring In Colors so that there's not as much pressure on myself to complete the color coach by 1 July....which by my calculations would require about 12 cards a week at this rate! Not going to happen. :)

So, I will do the 2012-2014 In Colors and then I will go back to where I left off. :)

Mojo Monday have a pretty awesome sketch this week and I thought I would pull out 

some Designer Series Paper as my background. :)

The DSP is the Gumball Green chevron pattern from the Watercolor Wonder DSP pack from the Occasions catalogue. It is so fresh & funky. I thought I would add a 'sixties' inspired flower to finish off my sentiment circle. :)

Hope you like my card!

Remember that you can order these items from my online store. :)

Cheers

Alison 

Materials used:

Stamp - Delightful Dozen

Ink - Gumball Green

Cardstock - Whisper White, Watercolor Wonder DSP, Gumball Green, Melon Mambo, So Saffron

Accessories - Melon Mambo Candy Dots (from Brights Candy Dots pack)

Tools - Big Shot, Circles Framelit Dies, Blossom Party Die, 3/4 circle punch, Itty Bitty Punch pack (for small flower), Paper Snips, Stampin' Dimensionals, SNAIL

Stampin' Up! Weekly Deals - Free Shipping*

Hi

Here are this week's Weekly Deals!

...and yes, you read that correctly.....I am offering FREE SHIPPING until 10pm Sunday 18th May on any order of $100 or more. 

This only applies to orders that are phoned through or emailed direct to me as the free shipping cannot be redeemed in my online store. 

Your order need not contain any of the weekly deals, but by all means stock up on them while they are cheap!! :)

Hope to hear from you soon. 

Cheers

Alison xx

Stampin' Up! Australia - Color Coach Card #43 - Happy Watercolour

Pool Party #2

Hi

I absolutely LOVE this stamp set called "Happy Watercolour" - the background watercolour swipes are so lovely to stamp with and they are great for backgrounds like this. 

Retrosketches have a great sketch out this week and Less is More have a one-layer-challenge to make a thank you card. "Happy Watercolour" was the perfect set to use!

This is a 'Color Coach Journey' card using Pool Party, Crushed Curry & Old Olive. They work together beautifully! :)

I embellished the middle of my flower image with Dazzling Details. 

Hope you like my card!

Cheers

Alison xx

Materials used:

Stamp - Happy Watercolour

Ink - Pool Party, Crushed Curry, Old Olive

Cardstock - Whisper White

Accessories - Dazzling Details

Stampin' Up! Australia - Photopolymer Show & Tell

Hi

This card was meant to be my Soft Sky #1 on the Color Coach journey, but I had forgotten that I had already done this combination last July. Click here to view that card.  

Oh well. 

I actually like this card more than I liked that one. :)

Just Add Ink have this really cool sketch going on this week....I love the diagonals and the sketch lends itself perfectly to my new photopolymer Show & Tell stamps.

I like that you can see through the photopolymer stamp.....in fact this was all stamped without a Stamp-a-majig (except for the sentiment which is from my Teeny Tiny Sentiments wood mount set). Pretty cool huh??!

I hope you like it and will give these stamps a try. :)

Cheers

Alison xx

Materials used:

Stamps - Show & Tell 1 & 2, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Ink - Soft Sky, Real Red, Garden Green

Cardstock - Whisper White, Soft Sky

Accessories - Sticky Strip, Dazzling Diamonds

Tools - Stampin' Dimensionals

Stampin' Up! Australia - Color Coach Card #42 - GRUNGE!

Pool Party #1

Hi

I've skipped a Soft Sky card on my Color Coach challenge, but don't worry, I will come back to it.

I just had an idea in my head for a card and this Pool Party combination was the perfect fit. 

For my other two Soft Sky cards, visit here and here (one of my most pinned cards ever...and one of my personal favourites). 

For my other Pool Party card, visit here. 

I was surfing the other day for more sketch/inspiration challenges and re-acquainted myself with Addicted to CAS . Their code word this week is GRUNGE!

Here's my card....

It's a card that is WAY out of my usual style, but I had the idea so I ran with it...

There are 3 references to 'grunge' on this card....can you see them?

Scroll down for the answers...

Have you guessed yet?.....

Scroll a bit more....

1. Plaid background....a reference to the flannel shirt popular at the time of the grunge period. I brayered my own background using Pool Party, Wild Wasabi and Chocolate Chip. 

2. Lyrics from 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'...the anthem of grunge.....printed with my motex label maker. 

3. The date stamp on the right hand side.....5th April...a reference to the date that Kurt Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana died in 1994.......and some would say the day that grunge culture began its twilight days. 

I hope you like my card.....it isn't CAS in the sense that there is lots of white space...but the background is one pattern and the embellishments modern. I'm pretty happy with it. :)

Cheers

Alison 

Materials used:

Stamps - Remember This & That Rotary Stamp (for date), Sanded (retired)

Ink - Pool Party, Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip

Cardstock - Whisper White

Accessories - Essentials Wooden Elements, Motex label maker & tape

Tools - Brayer, Multipurpose Liquid Glue

Stampin' Up! Australia - Color Coach Card #41 - Memorable Moments

Island Indigo #3

Hi

I'm breaking out more of the Quatrefancy Specialty Designer Series Paper - it is SO lovely...I really can't believe I haven't used more of it before!

This Color Coach card uses the complementary colours of Island Indigo and Pool Party....very pretty together. 

My sketch is based on this one from the deconstructed sketch challenge. I knew that I wanted to use Quatrefancy DSP for its Island Indigo and Pool Party features and after that it was pretty obvious that I would use a Mosaic Madness stamp/punched image for the 'circle' element. One of my banners is Silver Glimmer Paper and the other is stamped with one of the horizontal stamps from Mosaic Madness - it really is lovely in real life!

I'm not entire happy with my stamping of the sentiment.....I do like the two-tone look of the inking but the placement is way off.....I even used the Stamp-A-Majig if you can believe it...but somehow my 'Happy' went too high on my label piece. Oh well....

Hope you like my card and are inspired to place an order! :)

Cheers

Alison xx

Materials used:

Stamps - Mosaic Madness, Memorable Moments

Ink - Island Indigo, Pool Party

Cardstock - Whisper White (smooth & textured), Island Indigo, Pool Party, Quatrefancy Specialty Designer Series Paper, Silver Glimmer Paper

Accessories - Rhinestones

Tools - Big Shot, Labels Collection Framelits, Mosaic Punch

Stampin' Up! Australia - Color Coach Card #40 - Stampin' Up! Papillon Potpourri

Island Indigo #2

Today's card is brought to you by the Colour Challenge at Less is More this week (to use 3 colours), and my Color Coach! Island Indigo, Pool Party & Calypso Coral are the suggested colours. They look lovely and fresh together I thought so a CAS card was the way to go. 

The Colour Challenge at Less is More this week is to use 3 colours together so these are the ones I am using. 

PS - can anyone who photographs white cards often tell my why my cards 

seem to throw a 'yellow' tinge??? It is driving me crazy!

Anyway, a bit about the card. I used Papillon Potpourri and inked the butterfly in Pool Party. I then got my Island Indigo marker and drew vertical lines on every second linear pattern. I did this six times and punched out my butterflies. 

I also punched the same shape three times from some vellum card stock. I layered the butterflies to make them a bit 3D. The vellum layer is in the middle of the Pool Party/Island Indigo layers. 

I stamped the antennae onto the card in Calypso Coral and stamped the sentiment. My butterflies were adhered with Stampin' Dimensionals. 

I really like how this card came together....the butterflies were a bit of an accident...I was trying to draw a chequered pattern with the two tones and my marker slipped to make a vertical line....I stamped it to see how it would look and it looked COOL! :)

I love those happy accidents. :)

Cheers

Alison xx

Materials used:

Stamps - A Dozen Thoughts, Papillon Potpourri 

Ink - Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Island Indigo Marker

Cardstock - Whisper White, Vellum

Accessories - Rhinestone Jewels

Tools - Elegant Butterfly Punch

Stampin' Up! Australia - Color Coach Card #39 - Sassy Mosaics!

Island Indigo #1

Hi

I was inspired by the sketch at Clean & Simple today. The Color Coach  suggestion (Island Indigo, Rose Red & Garden Green) freaked me out a bit but when I saw the vertical patterned layer on the sketch, I knew exactly what to do.

I don't use enough patterned paper on my cards, yet I have stacks of the stuff. I really love the Quatrefancy Designer Series Paper...the patterns are glorious and one of the colours is Island Indigo so that suited me to a tee!

Even though these are all colours from the Regal Colour Family, this came up as a bright vibrant card. I LIKE it!

The Rose Red border was made using my Rotary Trimmer attachment and the Small Scallop Trimmer blade. The mosaic element was stamped from Mosaic Madness, punched out and then layered onto a wooden starburst embellishment . 

I'm also linking up this card to the Seize The Birthday challenge...which is 'Anything Goes!' :)

What do you think? Do you like it!?

Cheers

Alison xx

Materials used:

Stamps - Mosaic Madness, Sassy Salutations

Ink - Rose Red, Garden Green

Cardstock - Quatrefancy DSP, Whisper White, Rose Red, Garden Green DSP

Accessories - Essentials Wooden Elements, Rhinestone Jewel

Tools - Mosaic Punch, Rotary Trimmer Attachment and Small Scallop Rotary Blade

Stampin Up! Australia - Color Coach Card #38 - Stampin' Up! Zoo Babies

Pacific Point #2

SCROLL DOWN FOR EDITED PART OF POST 07/05/14


Hi

For this Color Coach Journey card, I was a bit stumped by the colour combo of Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight and Rich Razzleberry. 

I had a long think about it and thought that a card for a little boy would work. 

I pulled out Zoo Babies as I knew that they would look cute in these colours. I'm not overly fond of the layout of the card....I was originally going to go portrait and in hindsight I wish I had. 

I curved the corners of the card as there were some frayed edges that I had made during some 'aggressive trimming' of the card stock....again I wish I had  maybe just torn the corners rather than curved them - the border now looks too narrow. 

Oh well! I really like the animals inked up in those colours and I DO like the wooden embellishment....I think that sentiment is cute coming from the giraffe. 

Materials used:

Stamp - Zoo Babies, Pennant Parade

Ink - Pacific Point, Rich Razzleberry, Daffodil Delight

Cardstock - Whisper White, Pacific Point

Accessories - Essentials Wooden Elements

EDITED 07/05/14

I decided that this card needed a do-over....

Here's my updated version:

While the photo isn't great, the card itself is an improvement :)

Stampin' Up! Australia - Color Coach Card #37 - Ink Ribbon Technique

Tempting Turquoise #3

Hi

Recently on StampNation, Catherine shared an ink pad to paper technique inspired by May Day ribbons swirling. 

So when I saw the sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch this week, I was reminded of swirly ribbons so I thought this would be the perfect card to try it. 

Tempting Turquoise is paired with Soft Sky on my Color Coach Journey card today. They blend together really well. 

I swiped my ink pads directly onto my whisper white card stock using the corners - this is a fun technique and you never get the same result twice. This was actually my first piece and I liked the design...especially from the Tempting Turquoise swirl. 

I liked the arty result so I framed it using my Squares Framelits Dies. 

By the time I finished, it had departed somewhat from the original sketch idea, but I guess it is still 'inspired' by and the swirls go from one side of the card to the other so I will submit it anyway. 

I thought these colours suited a sympathy card so I just added a simple sentiment from Teeny Tiny Sentiments. No embellishment required. 

The card is an odd size 10cm x 12cm - this was to suit my original coloured piece. 

Hope you like my card.

Cheers

Alison xx

Materials used:

Stamps - Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Ink - Soft Sky, Tempting Turquoise

Cardstock - Whisper White (textured & smooth)

Tools - Big Shot, Square Framelit Dies