Out with the old ... In with the NEW

Hello! Good news everyone! (Futurama fans will recognise that one). My mojo has returned with a vengance with the arrival of my pre-order and my new catalogues. A couple of bits and pieces to share with you today, incuding a sneak peek from the new Ideas Book and Catalogue. Can't wait for this one to go "live" there are some really great new stamp sets that I am dying to get my hands on! Not to mention the new brads, buttons, in colours ....

The first card I would like to share is a farewell tribute to my beloved Paisley background stamp. One of my first SU purchases ever - before I became a demo even, it has seen good service and been embossed, kissed with, "Josephed" and generally stamped extremely well. So here is it's last "official" outing before it disappears into my private stash forever. Not really sure about this one, it's a bit "fussy" for me - what do you think?

The Paisley was embossed in Basic Grey and then elements coloured with Regal Rose and Rose Red Markers. The inspiration for the colour scheme came from a shirt that I tried on the other day (I didn't buy it - it did nothing for me! But I loved the design). The sketch is Keesh's sketch challenge #6. You can check out the other fab entries here.

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Paisley Background (retiring)

Cardstock: Basic Grey, Rose Red, Regal Rose, Whisper White

Inks: Versa Mark, Basic Grey

Accessories: Ribbon, Markers, Scallop Edge Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Eastern Elegance Rubons (retired)

Technique: Coloured Embossing

The next card I would like to share with you is a blend of old and new. I made it for a friend's 40th birthday. I wanted it to reflect her personality, bright, bubbly and fun. I used the retiring Bali Breeze DSP together with the new Cheers to You stamp set (available from the 1st April), thanks Lynda for the loan!

The cocktails are coloured directly with the markers for a more vibrant feel, then covered with Crystal Effects to enhance the "glassy" effect, then I added some Dazzling Diamonds whilst the Crystal Effects was still wet, to give it some shimmer and bling. I think you can just see a little of the sparkle in the photo.

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Cheers to You (new)

Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Bali Breeze DSP (retiring)

Inks: Stazon Black

Accessories: Crystal Effects, Markers, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Scallop Punch, 1 3/4" circle punch, White Gel Pen.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Would love to hear your thoughts on my creations, it is always great to know who has been here.

Claire

Mojo-a-gogo!

Goodness, I have just realised it has been 3 weeks since my last post! How terribly slack of me, my apologies to those of you that check in on me regularly to see what I have been up to. The answer to that question is of course - not much! Well not much crafting to be more precise. I have come to the conclusion that since becoming a Stampin' Up! Demo, I hate the month of March! There is so much hype around the retiring list and the new Ideas Book and Catalogue arriving, that my crafting mojo goes into hiding. I have sat down at my desk a few times in the last week or so, but with images of stamp sets yet to come looming large in my head, suddenly the old ones don't seem so inspiring.

Anyway, rather than disappear of the face of the earth entirely, I thought I would share with you some swap cards that I made. These swaps were made to send to a sister demo in Canada. The idea was to make 3 complete cards (preferably from sets that they don't have in their catalogue) and post them to your swap partner. I received three gorgeous cards from Cathy Jonstone a very talented SU demo in Canada, you can check out her blog, here. I will post them later in another post, it is too dark and gloomy today to get good pics.

Here are the three I made to send to Cathy (thanks to Lynda for the loan of the All Aboriginal and Happy Christmas Mate stamp sets!). I can post them here now, as Cathy has received them.

Card Recipe:

Stamps; Ocean Commotion, Baroque Motifs

Cardstock; Ballet Blue, Gable Green, Ruby Red, So Saffron

Inks; Whisper White, Gable Green, So Saffron

Acessories; Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardware, Crystal Effects, Stampin' Dimensionals

Card Recipe:

Stamps; Happy Christmas Mate

Cardstock; River Rock, Real Red, Dashing DSP, Watercolour paper

Inks; Stazon Black, Old Olive

Techniques; Markers direct to watercolour paper

Accessories; Markers, Aquapainter, Corner Rounder punch, Double Slot punch, non SU circle cutter, Ribbon

Card Recipe:

Stamps; All Aboriginal

Cardstock; Chocolate Chip, Brocade Blue, Ruby Red, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Spring Break DSP

Inks; Versa Mark, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red, Brocade Blue

Techniques; Emboss Resist

Sketch: Makeesha's Sketch Challenge No. 5

Accessories; Markers, Clear EP, White Gel Pen

Hope you like them. Please leave a comment and let me know you stopped by. It's alway nice to know who has visited. My preorder of goodies from the new catalogue has finally arrived, so I will have some new creations to share with you soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Claire

A Challenge combo

Hello, me again. Just recovering from the *shock* of the enormity of the Stampin' Up! retired list this year. My stamp collection is officially decimated! I will be particularly sad to say goodbye to my Paisley background stamp, I think I will have to keep that one for "personal use" lol! Looking forward to the new catalogue though, I can't wait to see what wonderful goodies they have replaced my old favourites with.

Now, to the real reason for this post. A challenge combo. For this card I have used Makeesha's Inkspirations sketch challenge no. 5 (to check out the other fab entries go here), along with Kristina's colour inspiration for this week. (Play along with Kristina's challenge here).

Kristina's colour challenge reminded me of some photos my Mum took on a trip through central Australia last year, lots of earthy desert colours combined with the green of the sparse vegetation and the blue of the sky. That inspired me to make this card with a set I borrowed from a friend to make some swaps. (Thanks Lynda!)

Not the greatest pic (it's late) but you get the idea! I used some of the masking and sponging techniques I learned doing Michelle Zindorf's chef tutorial (see this post) and have to say I am really pleased with the way this one turned out!

Card recipe:

Stamps: All Aboriginal, Polka Dots and Petals, Live your Dream

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Brocade Blue, Old Olive, Spring Break DSP

Inks: Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, Versa Mark, Ruby Red, Old Olive

Accessories: Markers, White Gel Pen, Stampin' Dimensionals

Techniques: Emboss resist, Masking

Hope you like it. Please leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks for stopping by.

Claire