Stampin' Up Australia - Color Coach Card #58 - Stampin' Up! Hardwood Christmas Card

Baked Brown Sugar #3

#ColorCoachJourney 

Hi

The color coach combo of Baked Brown Sugar, Cherry Cobbler and Garden Green say 'Christmas Card' to me....and I wanted to use the Hardwood stamp when I saw that the CASology challenge this week was 'WOOD'. 

Freshly Made Sketches have a beautiful CAS sketch that turned into a row of Christmas Trees...rather than the simple sentiment panel that I had in mind. :)

Btw, the Pennant Parade stamp set and the Champagne Glimmer Paper are retiring and today is the last day to order it so head to my online store if you need it. :)

Hope you like my card!

Cheers

Alison x

Materials used:

Stamps - Hardwood, Pennant Parade

Ink - Baked Brown Sugar, Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green

Cardstock - Baked Brown Sugar, Whisper White textured & smooth, Champagne Glimmer Paper

Accessories - Essentials Wooden Elements (wooden circles)

Tools - Stampin' Sponges, Itty Bitty Punches, Petite Pennants Builder Punch, Paper Snips, Stampin' Dimensionals. 

Stampin' Up! Australia - Komodo Dragon Birthday

Hi!

Yep - you read that right.....Komodo Dragon Birthday. :)

I was asked by a colleague at work to make a birthday card for her son .... "he loves Komodo dragons....can you do something with a Komodo dragon on it?!"

Um......well yeah I guess.....

Stampin' Up! doesn't have a Komodo dragon stamp. I don't own ANY Komodo dragon stamps!....are there any Komodo dragon stamps???

Anyway...that's where My Digital Studio comes in really handy. 

I just found an image of a Komodo dragon online, imported it into My Digital Studio and opened it in a project file. I then added a speech bubble with the birthday greeting. :)

I was very much inspired by this card by Patty Bennett....she had made the cutest squirrel card using a photo image and a speech bubble...with a cool wooden fence for the squirrel to run on. 

Patty was kind and generous enough to grant permission to me to share my card with you on my blog....I thank Patty for her inspiration! :)

The recipient loved my card by the way! :)

Cheers

Alison 

Materials used:

Stamp - Hardwood

Ink - Soft Suede

Cardstock - Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Crumb Cake

Accessories - photo, non-SU pewter brads

Tools - My Digital Studio, Stampin' Trimmer, Paper Snips

Stampin' Up! Australia - Color Coach Card #57 - Stampin' Up! Another Great Year

Baked Brown Sugar #2

#ColorCoachJourney 

Hi

The analogous colour on the Color Coach for Baked Brown Sugar is Soft Suede, so originally I was trawling my brain mojo for woodgrain type card ideas but I just couldn't come up with anything. 

When I saw this cool sketch at Deconstructed Sketches, I thought I would showcase "Another Great Year" on a centre panel with a backdrop of gorgeous DSP.....I hardly ever use my DSP and I thought this was a great way of making it the 'hero' of the card (that's a dorky "Masterchef" expression actually!).

Anyway.....graphic and clean won out over woodgrain and I'm glad. I like the way this turned out....I was going to use more stars in the corner to stay truer to the sketch, but the CAS got the better of me. :)

Hope you like my card!

Cheers

Alison 

Materials used:

Stamp - Another Great Year

Ink - Soft Suede

Cardstock - Whisper White, Baked Brown Sugar DSP, Soft Suede, Silver Foil

Accessories - Silver Mini Brads

Tools - Stampin' Trimmer, Stampin' Dimensionals, Paper Piercer, Piercing Mat, Glue Dot

Stampin' Up! Australia - Stampin' Up! Venetian Romance DSP

Hi

I made these cards a while ago when I was completely inspired by Catherine Pooler's card collaboration series (see it here). I adored her card that used the Venetian Romance DSP and all the gorgeous layering :)

Here's my take:

Hope you like them - I can't take any creative credit for these as Catherine's card was perfection to start with!

Cheers
Alison xx

Materials used:

Stamp - Positively Chevron, Itty Bitty Banners

Ink - Soft Suede, Crisp Cantaloupe

Cardstock - Very Vanilla, Crisp Cantaloupe, Venetian Romance DSP, Vellum Cardstock

Accessories - Very Vintage Designer Button, Antique Brad, Gold Sequin Trim, Pearls, Gold Metallic Bakers Twine

Tools - Heart Punch, Paper Snips, Dimensionals, Big Shot, Itty Bitty Framelits, SNAIL

Stampin' Up! Australia - Color Coach Card #56 - Stampin' Up! Longfellows

Baked Brown Sugar #1

#ColorCoachJourney 

Hi

I had such a lovely time exploring the last lot of In Colors that I thought I would jump onto Baked Brown Sugar and the other In Colors while I was at this end of the Color Coach. The colour combo for Baked Brown Sugar is Bermuda Bay and Crisp Cantaloupe. 

CASE Study have THE cutest card to inspire this week. I just love it! Less is More are also challenging their follows to use water colouring in a clean & simple style.

The CASE Study card features an adorable little dachshund so it prompted me to revisit a vintage Stampin' Up! set called "Longfellows". This card is one of the reasons that I will never part with Hostess sets....they are so rare, but often they are some of the cutest stamp sets you will ever see. The balloons are from "Pedal Presents" another vintage hostess set. 

Moral to story....

1. acquire all the SU Hostess sets!

2. Never part with them!

Here's my card:

Hope you like my card! It is going to a friend who LOVES dachshunds who also happens to be a mum-to-be!

Cheers

Alison x

Materials used:

Stamps - Longfellows, Pedal Presents, Itty Bitty Sentiments

Ink - Stazon, Bermuda Bay, Crisp Cantaloupe, Baked Brown Sugar

Cardstock - Watercolour paper, Very Vanilla, Baked Brown Sugar

Tools - Big Shot, Itty Bitty Framelits, Stampin' Trimmer, Fast Fuse (NEW!)

Stampin' Up! Australia - Yoda Birthday card

Hi

I made this card for the son of a friend of mine - he is a big Star Wars fan and flipped out when he opened this card. 

I can not take ANY credit for the design of this card - it is a complete CASE of Sarah-Jane Rae, a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator in the UK who was kind enough to give permission for me to share this card. 

Visit her blog post here - she is so generous and gives a step-by-step tutorial on how to make this very special Star Wars card + a recipe for supplies.....use the Force!....you should make one too!

May the Force be with you!

Cheers
Alison xx

Stampin' Up! Australia - Everything is Awesome Lego Card

Hi!

EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!!! Hands up if you've heard that phrase a million times this year and your kids (and yourself for that matter) are obsessed with Lego!?

I was a complete Lego fanatic when I was little....I loved it!....so once I had little ones of my own I couldn't wait to get new sets and create fun things with them.  

I took my son to The Lego Movie and he absolutely loved it.....it made him realise that you don't HAVE to make the kits exactly to the instructions...in fact, you can make anything you like....he has been making really cool things and letting his imagination run wild....I really am so proud of him. :)

Anyway....the card....when I saw the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches, I saw a bunch of Lego blocks ....but that is probably symptomatic of my geekish tendencies right?? 

I punched out 121 little circles and glued them to the rectangle and square shapes.

 

Yep - 121 punched circles!

I used the middle sized circle from the owl punch as it was the perfect size to fit my shapes. 

Here are some measurements in case you want to have a go:

The card base is 13x13 cm square.

Black base is 12.5 x 12.5 cm 

Red squares are 2 x 2 cm

Rectangles are 2 cm x 7.5 cm

Green Square is 7.5 x 7.5 cm 

Circles are from the Owl Builder Punch (the middle size circle) 

The sentiment was made using my funky & retro Dymo label maker (which incidentally was referenced in the closing credits of The Lego Movie.....yep - told ya I was a geek!). 

Hope you like my card! :)

Cheers

Alison xx

Materials used:

Stamps - none

Ink - none

Cardstock - Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red, Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green

Accessories & Tools - Dymo label maker & black tape, Owl Builder Punch, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Stampin' Trimmer

Stampin' Up! Australia - Gold Wedding Card - I Love Lace - Fusion & CAS(E) This Sketch

Hi there

Fusion and CAS(E) This Sketch have a fun challenge at the moment because they have COMBINED challenges!! YAY!

When I saw the inspiration image, I immediately thought of a golden shimmery wedding card. There's also a sneak peek stamp from the NEW 2014-2015 Stampin' Up! catalogue! :)

I used quite a few different elements on this card....a tag....stamped in gold and then clear embossed, ribbon, linen thread, an embossed & layered butterfly, vellum, foil, sequins AND smooch spritz!!! 

Not very CAS, but it looks so nice in real life, very golden and shimmery. :)

Hope you like my card. :)

Visit my store while you are here!

Cheers

Alison xx

Materials used:

Stamps - I Love Lace, Sweet Essentials, Papillon Potpourri

Ink - Versamark, Encore Gold Ink

Cardstock - Whisper White smooth & textured, Gold Foil, Vellum Cardstock

Accessories - Whisper White Organza Ribbon, Linen Thread, Gold Sequin Trim, Gold Smooch Spritz (vintage SU!)

Tools - Heat Tool, White Embossing Powder, Clear Embossing Powder, Embossing Buddy, Paper Snips, Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stampin' Trimmer, SNAIL, Glue Dots, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Bitty Butterfly Punch

Stampin' Up! Australia - Color Coach Card #55 - Stampin' Up! I Like You

Raspberry Ripple #2

#ColorCoachJourney 

Hi

It took about 3 different cards to realise this colour combination of Raspberry Ripple, Pink Pirouette and Old Olive! Seriously man! Pink & green shouldn't be this hard! LOL

Anyway, CASE Study came to my rescue....when I saw Pamela's wonderful card, I knew exactly what I wanted to try. I'm also submitting this for consideration as a Guest Designer at CASE Study.....love that challenge! 

This is a new stamp set called "I Like You" - it contains some beautiful folk-art inspired line art flower stamps....which are perfect for colouring with the new SU Blendabilities and I have seen a few cards on the internet that use it in this way....I wanted to use it in a different way though....and use the traditional blender pen way of colouring. 

I stamped the flowers in Raspberry Ripple using a post-it note as a mask to leave a centre panel for my sentiment. I used my blender pens to pick up Pink Pirouette and Raspberry Ripple to colour in the petals. Old Olive was used for the leaves. 

The 'Just Because' sentiment is from A Dozen Thoughts. 

Hope you like my card!

Cheers

Alison xx

Materials used:

Stamps - I Like You, A Dozen Thoughts

Ink - Raspberry Ripple, Old Olive, Pink Pirouette

Cardstock - Whisper White

Tools - Stampin' Trimmer, Stampin' Dimensionals, Post-it Notes, Stamp-a-majig (essential!)

Stampin' Up! Australia - Color Coach Card #54 - Sneak Peek 2014-2015 Annual Catalogue!

Raspberry Ripple #1

#ColorCoachJourney 

Hi

It's nearly here!!! The 2014-2015 Annual Catalogue is nearly here!! :)

My swag of new goodies turned up on Friday and I was so excited to break out a new stamp set. :)

When I saw the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches, I knew that it would be perfect for an ombre type effect using this brand new stamp set called "Work of Art". The Color Coach for Raspberry Ripple asks for Raspberry Ripple, Perfect Plum and Crumb Cake. 

Do you like the card? That horizontal 'paint stroke' is a single stamp and I just stamped it in Raspberry Ripple and kept stamping until the ink ran to nothing. I did the same with Perfect Plum. 

The heart behind the sentiment is Crumb Cake stamped off once. The sentiment in the stamp set actually says "You are a fabulous work of art", but I only wanted to use the "You Are Fabulous" words so I used my Raspberry Ripple marker selectively on those words and they stamped beautifully! :)

The sentiment was punched out using the Bracket Label Punch (available now from the current catalogue!). 

There's only a couple more weeks left to get the retiring In Colors and Raspberry Ripple is one of them, so click through to my online store to order it before it is never seen again!! **GASP**

Cheers & thanks for visiting!

Alison xx

Materials used:

Stamp - Work of Art

Ink - Raspberry Ripple (ink pad & marker), Perfect Plum, Crumb Cake

Cardstock - Whisper White

Tools - Bracket Label Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Stampin' Up! Australia - Color Coach Card #53 - Stampin' Up Label Love Baby Card

Primrose Petals #3

#ColorCoachJourney 

Hi

Primrose Petals' complementary colour is Pink Pirouette....so what better to do with these two colours than to make a baby card with them! 

I had some Primrose Petals Core'dinations paper and I hadn't yet used the fabulous Ampersand Embossing folder so I embossed it and then sanded the paper back to reveal a distressed lighter core colour. 

I mounted this on some Pink Pirouette DSP with some doilies poking out to soften the edges. 

I stamped the "Cutest Baby Ever" stamp from Label Love with Primrose Petals ink and then punched it out with the Artisan Label Punch. I embellished with a little "Itty Bitty" flower in Pink Pirouette, a pearl, and some Primrose Petals stitched Satin Ribbon. 

Cute huh!?

Click through to my online store to grab the Primrose Petals line before it retires. The Ampersand Embossing Folder is in the current Occasions catalogue. 

Cheers

Alison xx

Materials used:

Stamp - Label Love

Ink - Primrose Petals

Cardstock - Whisper White, Pink Pirouette DSP and card stock,Primrose Petals Core'dinations card stock

Accessories - Tea Lace Paper Doilies, Pearl, Primrose Petals Stitched Satin Ribbon

Tools - Big Shot, Ampersand Embossing Folder, Artisan Label Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Stampin' Up! Australia - Color Coach Card #52 - Happy Day Butterflies

Primrose Petals #2

Hi

The Primrose Petals Color Coach card calls for Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit and Basic Grey. Here is my next Color Coach Journey card......

I was inspired by the image that Stampin' Up! displayed in my project ideas on my Stampin' Up! website.

I loved the watercolour wash background and the acetate & vellum layered flowers....so many different textures, but they came together beautifully!

Hope you like my card!

Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit, In Color Dahlias, Quatrefancy DSP (for the acetate), the Beautiful Butterfly Bigz Die, and the Happy Day stamp set are all on the retired list so if you would like to purchase these then hop to it and put them in your shopping cart asap! 

See you at my online store!

Cheers

Alison xx

Materials used:

Stamp - Happy Day

Ink - Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit, Basic Grey

Cardstock - Very Vanilla, Watercolour Paper, Vellum cardstock, Quatrefancy Designer Series Paper (for the acetate butterfly layer)

Accessories - In Color Dahlia (Primrose Petals)

Tools - Big Shot, ButterflyBigz Die, Aquapainter, Glue Dots, SNAIL

Stampin' Up! Australia - Confirmation Card - Fresh Prints DSP

Hi

This is a 'Confirmation' card that a lady at work asked me to make. Her 8 year old nephew was being confirmed last week. I realised that once you put a cross on a card, it is REALLY hard for it not to look like a sympathy card....so I dipped into my Fresh Prints DSP (see image below) and found some bright but tasteful designs that would suit an 8 year old boy and complement the crumb cake cross. 

I made my own stencil by cutting a cross shape into a post it note....sponged in Crumb Cake and stamped over the top in the Hardwood background stamp. The sentiment from Sweet Essentials is heat embossed with White EP on Coastal Cabana CS. 

I confess that this card to ages to get out of my head onto paper.....but I am pleased with the final result.

Here's the Fresh Prints DSP.....it is beautiful!......and only available until 30 June!

Hope you like my card!

You can shop any time at my online store - the retirement list is up so don't forget to stock up on those favourites and finish up that wish list! 

Cheers

Alison xx

Materials used:

Stamp - Sweet Essentials, cross was a home-made stencil, Hardwood Background stamp

Ink - Versamark, Crumb Cake

Cardstock - Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Fresh Prints DSP

Accessories - Silver Mini Brads

Tools - Stampin' Trimmer, Embossing Buddy, Heat Tool, White Embossing Powder, Piercing Tool, Stampin' Pierce Mat, Paper Snips

Non SU tools - Post it notes

Stampin' Up! Australia - Color Coach Card #51 - Sassy Salutations Birthday Card

Primrose Petals #1

Hi

Primrose Petals is my next colour on my Color Coach Journey......I was inspired by the image and sketch at Fusion this week, and by a card by Catherine Pooler where she made this card with a cool geometric strip down the side.

The Fusion image features a beautiful almost ombre cascade of flowers.....I loved the look but my Color Coach colour combo asks for Primrose Petals, So Saffron and Garden Green so I threw the green in instead of the orange tones. 

I sponged over a stencil (non-SU) - the green/saffron and saffron/primrose blended beautifully....then I combined some Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder with some Black Embossing Powder to create a sparkly sentiment.

Here's a close up so you can see the sparkle on the sentiment....

Hope you like my card!

Primrose Petals is on the retirement list so don't delay...order this colour now before it is too late! Kaleidoscope Designer Series Paper is only available until 30 June. The Itty Bitty Punch Pack is on this week's Weekly Deals, so check that out too. :)

Cheers

Alison 

xxx

Materials used:

Stamp - Sassy Salutations

Ink - Primrose Petals, So Saffron, Garden Green, Versamark

Cardstock - Whisper White, Primrose Petals, Kaleidoscope Designer Series Paper

Accessories - Rhinestone Jewels

Tools - Stampin' Sponges, Stencil, Embossing Buddy, Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder, Black Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, SNAIL