When the cat's away....

.
The mice make cards!! The last 'Cat's Away Challenge' was to make cards for the three lovely ladies who have been away in Noosa, and what better than some cat cards! You may recognise one of the cards - it was my entry for the Corrosive Challenge #25. These are the three cards I made for Jacque, Patrice and Rachael:


All materials are from Stampin' Up! except for the Penny Black cat stamp. The greeting and background stamped on the Kiwi Kiss card here are from the set Cheers To You, which goes perfectly with the cat sipping a mocktail.


In the next two cards I changed around the layout and colouring, using my aqua brush to get a cool (and easy!) watercolour effect from my ink pads.



I haven't decided who is getting which card yet, but I sure hope Jacque, Patrice and Rachael enjoy them and that they bring back fond memories of their time in the sun!

Corrosive Challenge #25

.
A very hurried post as I am late for my scrapbooking class! This card is part of two challenges; one for our demonstrator forum and the other for the Corrosive Challenge #25. Gotta love those cats ay!! More later, gotta run!!

Very Popular Workshop Card

.
My lovely upline Jacque and two other members of the Creative INKers team earned an all-expenses paid trip to Noosa through their hard work demonstrating Stampin' Up! products last year, and while they are away the rest of the team is keeping busy with challenges to do in their absence. Our first challenge is to blog a popular project from one of our workshops, and this one immediately sprung to mind!

This card was a very popular one at the two workshops I demonstrated it at. It features the classical set Baroque Motifs ($46.95), a stunning set for use in both scrapbooking and cardmaking.


This card was shamelessly CASED off Splitcoast Stampers, the fountain of a lot of my inspiration for the projects I make. Here is a pic of the card partially opened - I just love gatefold cards!

This card has inspired many of my customers to buy the Baroque Motifs set, and also the Chocolate Chip cardstock ($12.50 for 24 A4 sheets). Actually, Chocolate Chip is my favorite cardstock, as it goes with any other colour; it's practically neutral! The other colours used are Almost Amethyst and Very Vanilla, and I used the slit punch to create the closure for the gatefold bar. I even managed to type out some instructions for this project, so if you want a copy then please feel free to email me!

Pretty.... easy!

.
This is another card I made for the Spring Mini catalogue launch I held at my home on the weekend. Because of my supreme organisation and time management skills (NOT!!) I had to make most of my samples in a hurry at the last minute (obviously being in the Brownies and Guides with their motto 'Be Prepared' didn't rub off on me!). Luckily the stamps in the Spring Mini make it really easy for people like me to whip up a card in a hurry, which is exactly what I did!

This card uses two of the new sets; Soft Summer ($48.95) and Great Friend ($37.95). Soft Summer is a two-step stampin' set, which means you can stamp the outline and the body of the image separately (i.e. in two different colours). This is what I have done on the flower, with the image stamped in black Stazon and the body stamped in Pink Pirouette. I had originally intended to brayer or sponge the flower, which is why I used Stazon and gloss card, but the gloss gives a nice effect even if it is 'naked'! I used the body of another image from the same set to make a subtle background on the Almost Amethyst cardstock, by stamping on it with the same colour ink.


The sentiment and border from the Great Friend set is actually two stamps as well, and because the sentiment fits so tightly in the frame I needed to use a Stamp-a-ma-jig to get the positioning correct. Don't know what a Stamp-a-ma-jig is or what to use it for? Email me to find out! I then carefully cut this out and attached it to a strip of Pink Pirouette card and finished off with a flower brad (also available in the Spring Mini for $16.25 for a pack of 32). And there you have it, simple but easy peasy!!

Scary or Traditional? You Decide!

.
This fellow has caused quite a bit of debate among the other demonstrators in the team I belong to, with some saying he is scary and others liking him for the traditional feel he brings. What do you think? I was in two minds, but bought the set anyway (gotta get those Christmas cards sent early this year!) and now he's grown on me. I certainly don't think he's scary!


This was a really simple card to make, yet so effective. For the front I used Very Vanilla cardstock on Riding Hood Red, and used the matching ribbon to create a bit of elegance as well as tie the whole Christmasy theme together. The ribbon is newly available from the Spring Mini catalogue for $22.95 for a whooping 9 metre roll. To 'pop' the greeting up I covered it with Crystal Effects dimensional lacquer ($13.95), which gives a page pebble effect.

Inside the card I have used Very Vanilla for the inner panel, and have stamped the holly and greeting using Old Olive and Riding Hood Red ink. This set (Good Cheer - $46.95) is great value as you get a phrase for your card inner as well as the images.


Stay tuned for more peeks of what I've made from the new Spring Mini (have you got yours yet??).

It's a new month, and a new day, and a new catalogue

.
Oh dear, I've been a bad blogger! But it's a new month and I intend to change my ways, and what better inspiration than the new Spring Mini catalogue from Stampin' Up! I had a great launch party yesterday - wow, haven't had that many people in the house in years! I made some samples using the new sets, and my favorite one is this very masculine card:


The stamp is from the set Uncharted Territory ($40.95), which also includes a very cool lighthouse stamp. I've used the new Parisian Breeze Specialty DSP ($27.95), a textured cover-weight paper in delicious shades of Baja Breeze and Chocolate Chip, in this very simple but effective design. The yacht and sentiment are stamped onto white gloss card with black Stazon ink, and then sponged with Baja Breeze and Pacific Point inks, which are then polished off to give a soft look. The strip of Baja Breeze is attached to the layout with clear rhinestone brads and dimensionals to give additional depth. This design would be great for a scrapbooking layout too. I got it from a blog called Cat's Scratching Post.

Please contact me if you would like a copy of the new Spring Mini catalogue - it's packed full of great ideas and inspiration, and best of all it's free!