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

Puppy Love

Another Kristina Werner colour inspiration to share with you, using these colours.



It's been a couple of weeks since I have been able to play along, and once again my card took on a life of its own! I sat down with my stamps thinking that these colours might work well for the generic child card I need to design for our upcoming Stamp-a-stacK. (You can find the details here). However, thanks to the inspiration provided by Stamphappy1650 on Splitcoast Stampers, the card evolved into something far too elaborate for a Stamp-a-stacK! I really like the principle though and may modify it for the Christmas Club group. I used paper piecing on the ute, I haven't done this much but I think I will experiment with it some more!

Card Recipe: (All products are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise mentioned)

Stamps: Loads of Love, Greetings Galore, So Many Sayings (Level 1 Hostess set)

Cardstock: More Mustard, Spring Showers DSP, Taken with Teal, Whisper White, East Coast Prep DSP, Bali Breeze DSP

Accessories: Markers, Blender Pen, Stamp-a-majig, 1 3/8 circle punch, 1 ¼ circle punch, Jumbo Eyelet, Old Olive Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by. Would love to hear what you think!

Claire

Bright and Breezy

Hello, just taking some time out from designing cards to update my display board. (It desperately needs a revamp as I have my first workshop for 2009 on Saturday! These ladies are lovely "regulars" and deserve to see something new and exciting on display) As I am on holidays, I am enjoying the opportunity to play with my stuff, in between trips to the beach and other fun family things.

Anyway, I am loving the new Bali Breeze DSP (designer series paper) from the Summer Mini. The colours are so bright and cheerful. Perfect for our Aussie summer. So, I have made a little set of 10cm square notecards to showcase the DSP and the Eastern Blooms Stamp set, also from the Summer mini. Here they are.

I will make a little box and some envelopes for them and share those later.

Card Recipe: (All products are Stampin Up! unless otherwise stated)

Cardstock: RoseRed, Taken with Teal, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Whisper White

Inks: Rose Red, Taken with Teal Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive

Accessories: Brads, Stampin' Dimensionals, Ribbon.

I also have another challenging colour scheme to take on. This one is even tougher than the last one! Thanks Kristina. You can check out the challenge here.

Please leave a comment, I really like hearing what you think. Thanks for dropping by.

Claire

A challenging colour combo

Well, as promised here is my entry for Kristina Werner's Colour Inspiration #37. Oops! I have just realized that I posted the wrong challenge at the end of my last post. THIS

is the right one!

I have decided to have a crack at Kristina's challenge as a part of my New Year's Resolution to really try and broaden my horizons with my colour combos. The challenge is a great one, and seems to attract some very talented card makers each week. (I have been stalking it for quite a while now). For those who are not familiar with it, you can check it out HERE. Basically Kristina posts a colour combo, you design a card or scrapbook page using the colours and link it to Kristina's blog, within a given time frame. Kristina then chooses her fave 10-15 submissions.

So, without further ado – here is my entry. Apologies for the crappy photo, but I'm not sure when exactly the challenge closes as it is in US time. So, I will post now, and retake and replace the pic in the morning! (Edited to add: I have replaced the pic, the colours show a little better in daylight, and at least this one is not blurry!)

Card Recipe:

Stamp Sets: Eastern Blooms (Summer mini) Paisley Background

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Soft Sky (as we don't have Baja Blue in Oz yet) Whisper White, Bali Breeze DSP

Inks: Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: White Gel Pen, Brads, Ribbon, Dimensionals

Technique: Emerging Colour

Sketch: Sketch Challenge 196 Splitcoast Stampers

Would love to know what you think, leave a comment and let me know! Really appreciate you stopping by.

Claire

Embrace Watercolouring

Hello again! I seem to have the "blogbug" at the moment, and feel the need to upload another new creation to share with you. After my recent disasters with the Embrace Life Stamp set I felt the need to have another go with it, and try and create something that I actually like! Anyway I was visiting my girlfriend Lynda recently and drooling over these images that she had coloured with Copic Markers. She was also kind enough to show me how to use them. Anyway, not owning any of these cool but very expensive pens, I blurfed (blog surfed) around a bit until I came across this tutorial for getting similar results with SU markers and watercolour paper. I have had a pack of watercolour paper in my stash for a while now, but it was very dusty, so I decided to pull it out and give it a go.

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Embrace Life (Summer Mini)

Cardstock: Rose Red, Tempting Turquoise, Bali Breeze DSP, Pumpkin Pie, Watercolour

Inks: Basic Black Ink Pad, Rose Red, Regal Rose, Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery and Old Olive Markers

Accessories: Rose Red 1" Double Stitched Ribbon (Summer Mini)

Technique: Watercolouring

Sketch: Splitcoast Stampers Sketch Challenge SC 207

What do you think? I like the intensity of the colours you get with this technique. Unfortunately I have misplaced my Stazon black ink in the hurley burley of Christmas stamping, and my basic black bled a little. However, overall it looks OK I think. Would love to know what you think, leave a comment, it would be great to hear from you.

Thanks for stopping by.

Claire

PS You might want to check back later. In line with my resolution to be more adventurous with my colour schemes, I am going to try and attempt some of Kristina Werner's Colour Inspiration Challenges. This is the one for this week. Stop by later and see what I have done with it.