Festive Friday Challenge #25 - Stampin' Up! Baroque Motifs

Hello

Here is another Festive Friday Challenge creation.....this time it is a sketch challenge....here is the sketch.

Originally I was thinking "ornament punch", "baubles" etc.... but then I thought of doing those wonderful poinsettia flowers using the 5 Petal Punch. I'd seen them on various blogs before and thought they looked so lovely! 



For my poinsettia flower I used the Red Glimmer Paper....SO SPARKLY!! I consulted my Stampin' Up! Colour Coach and had a look at the various 'red' cards and the combination that jumped right out at me was the "Riding Hood Red" card which suggested Riding Hood Red-Lucky Limeade-Perfect Plum....how gorgeous!! What do you think?.....

I used my new Simply Scored Scoring Tool to creat a nice border around my vanilla cardstock and inked up the "Seasons Greetings" from Curly Cute by rocking & rolling in Perfect Plum and Riding Hood Red....I think the effect is quite lovely. I lightly sponged the vanilla card with Perfect Plum, concentrating on the bottom a bit more than the sides and put a gorgeous little silver glimmer brad through my flower. I then mounted the main panel onto a piece of Riding Hood Red cardstock.     

Hope you enjoy my card and please play along with us at Festive Friday Challenges!! :)

Materials used:
Stamps - Baroque Motifs, Curly Cute
Ink - Lucky Limeade, Perfect Plum, Riding Hood Red
Cardstock - Red Glimmer Paper, Very Vanilla, Riding Hood Red
Accessories - Silver Glimmer Brad
Tools - Simply Scored, 5 Petal Punch, Mat Pack, Stamp-a-majig, Dimensionals, SNAIL, Paper Cutter

Festive Friday Challenge #23 - Stampin' Up! Contempo Christmas

Hello


Todays card for the Festive Friday Challenge was an Inspiration Challenge based on this image....

I have to say that yet again, I was a bit stumped by the challenge set for us....I stared at the picture for aaaages before I came up with a few things. I decided to use the bowl of Christmas peppermints as a starting point....in part mainly due to the fact that at the Stampin' Up! Convention last week, Carrie Cudney from the US head office showed us how to make little peppermint embellishments. I thought I would give it a go.....much harder than she made it look when she presented on stage, but I did about 3 of them and this one seemed to 'sit' ok. I will have a bit more of a play and put up the dimensions when I get it right. :)    

I thought I would also take the 'picture frame', the 'white & red ribbons', the 'snowflakes' and of course the Baja Breeze colour of the wrapping paper as my design cues. 

Hope you like my card!  :)

Materials used:
Stamps - Contempo Christmas (sentiment), Snow Swirled
Ink - Baja Breeze, Real Red
Cardstock - Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Baja Breeze DSP from the Subtles stack, Real Red DSP strips from the Brights stack.
Accessories - Frost White Shimmer Paint, Dazzling Diamonds, Whisper White Organza ribbon, Cherry Cobbler Bakers Twine.
Tools - Big Shot, Framed Tulips Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Stampin' Sponges, Two Way Glue Pen, Stamp-a-majig, Build-a-Brad (retired), Mat Pack, SNAIL, Paper Cutter.     

Stampin' Up! Long Fellows - ColourQ Colour Challenge #140

Hello!

Today's card is brought to you by the creative colours on offer at the ColourQ Colour Challenge #140. Here is the glorious colour palette....

...and here's my card...

I actually made 2 versions of this card....one for a very dear friend of mine who moved away some time ago and is working herself to the bone and didn't really get a chance to enjoy her birthday....and to top it all off I forgot to send her a card.....I am a 'bad friend'!! I phoned her though and we had a lovely long chat. I miss her dearly and I hope she gets through this tough period of work.

The 2nd card is for another Stampin' Up! demonstrator Rochelle Blok. Rochelle is on the Facebook page 'ESAD' which is a Stampin' Up! demonstrator-only group where we share stories, exchange ideas & offer advice to each other....it is a beautiful sisterhood of Stampin' Up! demonstrators and one of the many ways that we support one another and offer encouragement. One of the things that we do is send each other birthday cards, but I was so caught up in the Convention the other week that I forgot poor Rochelle's card.     

Given that both cards are for belated birthdays, I used the gorgeous image from the Stampin' Up! Long Fellows stamp set. Unfortunately, the set is retired....as it was a hostess set from the 2010-2011 catalogue....it enforces the fact that if you see hostess set in a catalogue, you'd better snap them up as they are often the best stamps in the catalogue and never-to-be-repeated. I love this set...I will never part with it!! :)

Take care & Happy Stampin'!!
Cheers
Alison xxxx

Materials used:
Stamps - Long Fellows
Ink - Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo, Tempting Turquoise, Stazon
Cardstock - Whisper White, Watercolour paper, Real Red, Lucky Limeade, Tempting Turquoise DSP from the Brights stack, Island Indigo
Accessories - 3/16" Real Red brads from the Brights Brads pack, Fine Galaxy Glitter (Champagne).
Tools - Two Way Glue Pen, Mat Pack, Aquapainter, Stazon cleaner, SNAIL, paper cutter, Dimensionals.      

Festive Friday Challenge #21 - Stampin' Up! Edgelits Christmas Card

Hello!

When Nicole set this colour challenge for us at Festive Friday Challenges , my heart started to race and my palms got sweaty.....you see....I'm a little afraid of Regals....especially CAJUN CRAZE!!!

It is scary stuff it really is! :)
Seriously though....you must have colours that you just don't use or don't 'get'.  I don't even know if Regals are really the problem....I tend to use Cherry Cobbler, Riding Hood Red and even Bravo Burgundy quite a bit especially in my Christmas Cards....they are fabulous earthy colours! I think I'm just not used to handling and seeing the more autumnal colours in the flesh....Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Always Artichoke.... they make me nervous. :) 

Anyway.....as I declared on Facebook after I made this card...."I am no longer afraid of Cajun Craze".... 

What do you think? I really love the colours together - there is a strong but clean balance between a Subtle/Neutral/Regal.


I used the fabulous new Stampin' Up! Edgelit dies and the Adorning Accents Embossing Folder to finish all the edges. They layer so beautifully! To finish off my main panel at the top (it was looking a bit 'bare'), I just used the Simply Scored to make two score lines....it balanced it out against the edgelit. As my festive 'flourish', I sprayed the card with Frost White Shimmer Spray.
 

I hope you give this colour combination a try....and let me know how you go with conquering your colour fears.....what colours are you scared of....go, on...confess....leave me a comment. :)

Materials used:
Stamps: Curly Cute, Snow Swirled
Ink: Cajun Craze, Baja Breeze
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Grey, Baja Breeze, Cajun Craze
Accessories: Whisper White Organza Ribbon, Frost White Shimmer Spray (made from Frost White Shimmer Paint)
Tools: Big Shot, Paper Cutter, SNAIL, Dimensionals, Stamp-a-majig, Adorning Accents Edgelits Dies, Adorning Accents Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (Bracket), Sticky Strip, Simply Scored.  

Stampin' Up Convention 2012 - Snow Swirled and Pedal Presents

Hello!


I write this post with great excitement as tomorrow I am off to Canberra (or should I say Canbrrrrrr) for the Stampin' Up! Australia Convention 2012!!!!

It is my very first Convention and I am popping with anticipation!!! :)
 
Stampin' Up! Convention is 3 days of pure Stampin' Up! awesomeness. Demonstrators from all over Australia and New Zealand come together to learn more about the Stampin' Up! craft, meet one another, discover new products and see exciting 'sneak peaks'. Shelli Gardner, the founder & CEO of Stampin' Up! will also be there to talk to us all. There is an awards dinner that celebrates the achievements of Stampin' Up! demonstrators....it is going to be fabulous!! 

During Convention it is customary (but not compulsory) to take 'swaps'....where you make a number of the same card so you can swap them with other demonstrators at Convention. The idea behind this is to swap ideas and that you end up with cards featuring stamp sets that you may not own so you can show them to your customers. I can't wait to see what the other demonstrators have come up with. I promise to take photos and put them on my blog. :)

I thought I would share my card swaps with you here. My first swap is based on this card that I made earlier this year as part of the Festive Friday Challenge.

I removed the bow and the 'sanded' stamp that I used in the original. Instead of the background stamp, I used the 'direct to paper' technique, where I dabbed the Crumb Cake inkpad directly onto the Very Vanilla cardstock....it creates a lovely effect I think. :) 

This is my second swap....I used Pedal Presents from the current Autumn/Winter Mini catalogue. A very simple design that fits on a notecard sized card. You can't see it in the photo very well but I sprayed the Crumb Cake layer with some Frost White Shimmer Mist.

I will be back after Convention with more news, photos and a tutorial on how I made the small rectangle on my first card using the Framed Tulips Textured Impressions Embossing Folder....stay tuned!! 
Love
Alison 
xxx

Materials used:
Card No . 1
Stamps – Snow Swirled
Ink – Not Quite Navy, Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Champagne Shimmer Paint
Cardstock – Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Not Quite Navy
Accessories – Pool Party Seam Binding Ribbon, Antique Brad
Tools – Big Shot, Framed Tulips Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Stamping Sponges, Stamp-a-majig, Paper Cutter, SNAIL Adhesive, Paper Snips.

Card No. 2 
Stamps – Pedal Presents
Ink – Stazon, Frost White Shimmer Paint (as Shimmer Mist)
Cardstock - Whisper White, Basic Black, Crumb Cake
Accessories – Rhinestones
Tools – Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Stamp-a-majig, Paper Cutter, SNAIL Adhesive.