Festive Friday #11 - Easter!!

Hi Everyone

I'm SO HAPPY to share with you that I am one of the newest members of the Design Team for Nicole Derendorf’s Festive Fridays!! I'm so VERY excited to be part of her wonderfully talented team and to be able to share some "Festive" creations with you. Make sure you check in there every Friday to get the details of the challenge and to take a look at the lovely things on offer from the Design Team. I really hope you will play along with us!! :)

This week's challenge is EASTER!.....so of course, I'm going to do something involving chocolate. ;)

Every year, I make a little Easter present for my friends' kids and this year my own little boy will be old enough to enjoy some chocolate eggs so I'm going to make an extra special one for him too. This year, I thought I'd do up a little basket for them. These are so easy to do and they only need 3 Scallop Envelopes cut from the Stampin' Up! Scallop Envelope Die (pg 159 in the catalogue #113462). I cut them from Chocolate Chip cardstock then put them through the Square Lattice Embossing Folder and it gave it a lovely 'basket weave' look.



The decoration is some 'eggs' from the 2" Oval Punch, some Boho Blossom Punch flowers and ribbon. I also put a few flowers across the handle as an added effect. (Not sure why this next photo looks so 'blue'????)


....and yes, some eggs were damaged in the execution of this photo-shoot. :O

If you want more info regarding how to make the basket, just email me and I'll be happy to share. :)

Materials used:
Ink - Crumb Cake (for sponging around the "eggs")
Cardstock - Chocolate Chip, Everyday Enchantment DSP, Pear Pizzazz DSP, Lucky Limeade, So Saffron.
Accessories - Calypso Coral ribbon, Pearls
Tools - Scallop Envelope Die, Scallop Border Punch, Paper Cutter, 2" Oval Punch, Boho Blossom Punch, Itty Bitty Punches, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Sticky Strip, Multipurpose Liquid Glue.

Sprinkled Expressions on a Clean & Simple challenge

Dear Everyone

I love a good 'Clean & Simple' card and I saw sketch #180 on the Clean & Simple Challenge blog and just had to give it a go.

I broke out the Sale-A-Bration Sprinkled Expressions set and my 2011-2012 In Colors and had a play. I also used a strip of the Sale-A-Bration Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper across the bottom of the card. I also have to ask myself why I haven't been using more Island Indigo....it really is a stunning colour!

While it may not have as much clean white space as I had hoped, I'm pretty happy with the way this card turned out....the combo of Lucky Limeade, Pool Party & Island Indigo is quite pleasing, and the effect of stamping onto textured cardstock gives quite a 'commercial & modern' feel.

Materials used:
Stamps - Sprinkled Expressions (Sale-A-Bration), Friendly Phrases
Ink - Island Indigo, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade
Cardstock - Very Vanilla (smooth & textured), Island Indigo, Everyday Enchantment DSP
Accessories - Island Indigo ruffled ribbon
Tools - Paper cutter, SNAIL, Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Sticky Strip.

Stampin' Up! Sale-A-Bration ESAD Blog Hop

Greetings Blog-hoppers!
Welcome to Gothdove Designs!! Hope you are enjoying the ESAD Sale-A-Bration Blog Hop....and feasting on the Stampin' Up! wonderment created by the lovely ladies from ESAD....it's a fantastic group to belong to!

What is ESAD?

ESAD stands for "Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators" and it is an on-line group just for Australian and New Zealand Stampin Up demonstrators.

We so love what we do and not only do we love to share it with our customers, friends, and wonderful blog visitors, but we share our love for what we do with each other as demonstrators. We run swaps, challenges, tutorials, product know-how, and cyberstamps, and we are always there to help and support each other when it is needed.

So if you are a Stampin' Up! demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand, then please feel free to click here to join our wonderful group.

So onto my Sale-A-Bration creations......

The Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper from this year's Sale-A-Bration is BEAUTIFUL!!! So beautiful, I almost didn't want to cut it!....but I gave in in the name of creativity. When I first looked at it, the paper spoke 'folk-art' to me (in a good way!!).......you know, that wonderful vintage Ikea- Kikki K- Scandinavian-sort-of neo-folk design....but I thought I would go against instinct and use a piece of the paper in a modern way...with my Cupcake Builder Punch + a bit of bling. This card sketch is an oldie, but a goodie....so simple but still effective. I used the Decorative Label Punch to punch a piece of DSP as the base layer under a Very Vanilla strip. The bottom of the cupcake is the "blue" Everyday Enchantments DSP and what's that on top?........Is it Calypso Coral Glimmer Paper you ask?????

WELL.....for the frosting......I used a sponge dauber to apply Calypso Coral ink to a piece of the Silver Glimmer Paper...did you know you could sponge the glimmer paper!!!! Just think....Glimmer Paper in ANY of the Stampin' Up! colours!!! In my previous post, I sponged it with Daffodil Delight......so cool!!! Just a tip....wait for it to dry before assembling your project....the ink will be wet for a little while. I used this same technique for the sentiment scallop oval. It really looks VERY sparkly in real life! :)

For my next card, I used the 5-Petal Flower Punch to punch out 3 flowers from Lucky Limeade cardstock...then I sponged the edges with Versamark to give some depth....and get this...the Boho Blossom punch layers perfectly over the floral design on the blue/green/vanilla Everyday Enchantment DSP.

Layers perfectly! ! 'tis TRUE!

Add the brads from your SAB ribbon/brad kit and voila!....gorgeous little flowers! I really like the way these came up. :)

I made the stalks out of the SAB Lucky Limeade ribbon and made the Calypso Coral ribbon into a little bow for the bouquet. I put it all on Naturals Ivory cardstock with the sentiment from "Friendly Phrases" - I REALLY like this sentiment set.....you know when you think you have enough sentiment sets....and then Stampin' Up! bring out a set like this!! Put it on your wishlist now. Just do it. No arguments.

Oh and here's what you do with the other Boho Blossom flowers that get punched out while making the other card.... I am so loathe to throw punched shapes away. :)

...and finally....did you know that you can curl the SAB organdy ribbon....lookie here!! :)

My card recipes are below if you want any further info but let's get cracking onto the next stop on the ESAD Blog Hop...the very talented Corina Beyer at http://www.beyondinkstamper.com/

Thanks for stopping to have a look at my blog! xx

Materials used:
Card 1
Stamps - Create-A-Cupcake
Ink - Calypso Coral
Cardstock - Everyday Enchantment DSP, Very Vanilla smooth CS, Very Vanilla textured CS, Silver Glimmer Paper, Red Glimmer Paper
Tools - Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Cupcake Builder Punch, Sponge Dauber

Card 2
Stamps - Friendly Phrases
Ink - Lucky Limeade, Versamark
Cardstock - Everyday Enchantment DSP, Naturals Ivory, Lucky Limeade
Accessories - Everyday Enchantment Ribbon & Brads
Tools - 5 Petal Flower Punch, Boho Blossoms Punch, Mat Pack, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Card 3
Stamps - Perfect Punches
Ink - Lucky Limeade
Cardstock - Everyday Enchantment DSP, Naturals Ivory
Accessories - Everyday Enchantment Brad
Tools - Decorative Label Punch, Extra Large Oval Punch, Boho Blossoms Punch, Mat Pack

Card 4
Stamps - Perfect Punches
Ink - Poppy Parade, Versamark
Cardstock - Everyday Enchantment DSP, Calypso Coral, Red Glimmer Paper, Lucky Limeade (for flower)
Accessories - Everyday Enchantment Brad & Ribbon, Brights Brad (Real Red)
Tools - Scallop Square Duo Bigz Die, Curly Label Punch, Itty Bitty Punches, Mat Pack