Hello New Annual Catalogue!

Hi!

How exciting - Stampin' Up!'s new 2014-15 Annual Catalogue went live today.  One of the perks of being a Demonstrator is that we get access to some of the new stuff a month early.  One of my favourite new products is the Blendabilities Markers.

This was my first attempt at colouring. We were given the Calypso Coral Markers and Blended Bloom stamp at Convention and I couldn't wait to get home and get colouring.  My only trouble was that I didn't have the required Momento Ink pad.  No worries - I heat embossed the image in black embossing powder and I was set!

I paired the flower with the leaves from Kinda Eclectic and the now-retired Modern Medley DSP.  A great combination, I think!

I've been doing lots more colouring with the Blendabilities - now I just need to make some cards to put the gorgeous blooms on!

Bye for now,

Tina

Farewell Modern Medley DSP

Hi!

Returning to my series of farewells, today I'm saying goodbye to the Modern Medley DSP.  I thought it was a fun pack, and one that was easy to play with.  On today's card I left it as it is, but I have also coloured over it in the past to create a different look.

This card was made as a sample for a recent Flower Cards class.  I was using the new Fringing Scissors to show how you could use them to make a daisy-like flower.

I love the way the Modern Medley DSP provides a nice background for the flower to sit on without detracting from the flower.  I will miss the papers, but there is an even nicer pack of similar papers in the new Catalogue, so I don't think I'll be sad for too long. Oh, I just realised that the Jumbo Rhinestones that I used in the centre of the flower are retiring too.

This photo was to show how much depth there was in the flower.  After we adhered the strips around the circle we curled up the edges to give it more dimension.  Definitely NOT a card for mailing!

Another cute stamp set that is retiring - Express Yourself.  I really loved it for the variety of smaller sized sentiments.

Have a great week!

Bye for now,

Tina

Just Add Ink #209: Just Add Layers

Hi!

Woo hoo!  It's Friday and there's only one more day of Daylight Savings to go!  I'm so over Daylight Savings right now and when you add that to the end of term.... Anyway, enough of my whinging, let's get on to the Just Add Ink challenge!

This week Delys has challenged us to Just Add Layers to our projects.  I had a plan to do a layout, but time got away with me and so I went with a card. I was inspired to make it after coming across some pattern tissue paper that had been used a package my Secret Santa gift last year.  I decided I'd try stamping on some and then using the piece to make a faux silk type panel.

I really love the way it turned out!  I then used some more of the tissue to create the flower.  I simply folded some up and punched it using my scallop circle punch.  It didn't really punch too well, if I did it again I'd probably die cut the flower.  Not counting the flower, there are 9 layers on this card!  I think this fills the brief quite well, don't you?

A few more layers on the inside too :) And there's more of the off center sentiment stamping that I'm loving so much lately!!

I hope you can find time to play along with us at Just Add Ink this week - it's a great challenge!

Bye for now,

Tina

Modern Medley Gift Box

Hi!

As a change from the cards I thought I'd show you a gift box I made to house a Secret Santa gift.  The recipient has guessed I was their Secret Santa, so I'm going to go ahead and show you the gift box as it won't ruin any surprise.  The idea for this box came from Shelli Gardner (CEO and founder of Stampin' Up!) herself - she showed us a similar project at the very first Convention I went to in 2011.

This gift box started life as a roll of packing tape.  Once I had used all the packing tape I kept the cardboard roll, thinking that it might come in handy one day.  I'm a bit of a hoarder of things like that!  The roll was a little tall for my purposes so I drew a line around it in pencil and then trimmed it down with a strong pair of scissors.  I then coloured the edges black using a permanent marker and covered the inside and outside with a layer of Modern Medley DSP.  A circle of Basic Black card stock was glued to the bottom and a second circle was scored and partly glued to the top to provide a lid.

I made the flower on the top from about 10 layers of Creped Filter Paper, held together with a black Glimmer Brad and then scrunched up.  It's such a pretty, soft flower.  I also tied a bow around the gift box with a length of 1/8" Basic Black Taffeta Ribbon.

Here is the box open.  I placed a small tub of lovely smelling hand cream inside it for my recipient.

I love upcycling, although I probably should do some more as my pile of things that might come in handy is getting quite big!

Bye for now,

Tina

Strawberry Slush Modern Medley

Hi!

I really love the Modern Medley DSP in the new catalogue.  I decided to have a play one day and see what the paper looked like in colour.  What do you think?

To get the colour I simply brayered the Strawberry Slush ink over the Modern Medley DSP.  I love the result.  I think the card looks a bit like lingerie - I think it's the lace and black ribbon!

A bit different to my usual card making style, but sometimes it's fun to experiment.

I hope you have a great week.

Bye for now,

Tina

Welcome to the New Annual Catalogue!

Hi!

Stampin' Up!'s new Annual Catalogue begins today!  Lots of yummy new stuff to play with.  Being a demonstrator I get to order some of the new products a month early and I have been able to have a play.

On this card I have used a new stamp set called Happy Day.  Don't you just love the medallion image?  I coloured it with my Basic Black and Riding Hood Red (now retired, sob) markers to get the two colours.  I finished it off with a Basic Black Glimmer Brad.

The DSP is also new to the Catalogue.  It's called Modern Medley and is a lovely mix of Basic Black and Very Vanilla patterns. Can't wait to play some more with it!

The flourish under the sentiment is also from the Happy Day stamp set - another pretty image.

Stamps: Happy Day, Curly Cute (retired)
Ink: Basic Black, Riding Hood Red (retired)
DSP/Cardstock: Modern Medley DSP, Basic Black, Riding Hood Red (retired), Very Vanilla
Other: Basic Black Glimmer Brad, Dimensionals, Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon (retired)

Bye for now,

Tina