Because I Care .....

Today is the birthday of one of my downline ...... Anne.

Happy Birthday Anne ...... I hope you're having a fabulous day!!! :o)

This is the card I made for her. It uses the Level 1 Hostess Stamp set - Because I Care. The flower is my absolute favourite ever .... it's just so beautiful and so easy to use.

I've stamped the flower onto Watercolour Paper (page 87) using Versamark ink (page 103) and heat embossed it with Black Embossing Powder (page 100). I've then used the Sponge Daubers (page 103) to colour the image with Daffodil Delight, Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive ink.

I've sponged both the backgrounds. The smaller one was initially unevenly covered with So Saffron. I then added Soft Suede to the deep corners and edges, finishing with Early Espresso just on the very edges and shallow corners.

The larger background was created in a similar way, but after I covered the Very Vanilla cardstock in So Saffron I went over it with the Texture Jumbo Wheel (page 55) using Versamark ink. I heat embossed this with Clear Embossing powder (page 100) . I then sponged the Soft Suede all over, just giving it a rough coating and polished the ink off the embossing with some kitchen roll, so the So Saffron shows through. Finally, I finished with Early Espresso on the edges and corners.

I love this card .....

Teri xxx

Faux Silk - Kimono Kids

This is the last of my cards created in this month's Technique Classes - using the Faux Silk Technique.

There are a couple of ways you can do this technique. For the above card, the image was stamped and coloured on to Whisper White cardstock. A thin layer of Tombow (wet glue) was then spread all over the white cardstock. A piece of tissue paper was then scrunched up and opened out again. This was carefully placed over the image/white cardstock and smoothed down, but not so much as to remove all the wrinkles and creases from it. The excess tissue was then trimmed off.

An alternative way of doing this technique is to stamp/colour the tissue paper itself. This is then scrunched, opened out and finished off as the other was :o)

The image used is from the Kimono Kids stamp set (page 46). The colours used are Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride and Concord Crush. The ribbon is the gorgeous Stitched Poly ribbon in Concord Crush.

Teri xx

Baby Wipe Ink Pad

The Baby Wipe Ink Pad technique is yet another simple one :o) You create your 'ink pad' using a folded up Baby Wipe and add drops of ink from your re-inker bottles. You should make sure that your different colours are right next to each other on the 'ink pad', but you don't want them to overlap too much or you may get some muddy colours resulting.

This card uses the French Foliage stamp set from the current Mini Catalogue (page 15). I've said before how much I love this set and how versatile it is. Hopefully it's one that will be carried forward to our new catalogue in October ..... but if it's on your Wish List don't wait until then to get it as there is no guarantee it will stay :o)

The colours I have used this time are Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait and Concord Crush - three of our current In-Colour collection.

The background has been embossed with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. The sentiment layers were created using the Scallop Oval and Decorative Label punch.

Teri xx

August Project Class - Hexagon Box With Music Notes

My project class for this month used an assortment of products, stamp sets and techniques, but it focused on the Music Notes standard wheel (page 65). This is a wonderful little wheel for backgrounds.

The set consists of an Hexagon Gift Box, a Pillow Box Gift Box and two cards. The Square Lattice Embossing Folder is used on all the projects (Mini Catalogue Page 10). The bird punch card inspired the whole set and was based on one of Ann Schach's fabulous designs.

The colour scheme used is Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla ... one of my absolute favourites :o)

If you would like to purchase the instructions for this set, you will find the details below. The instructions will be emailed to you as a PDF document within 48 hours ...

Music Notes Hexagon Box - Class Instructions - £3.00

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Faux Mother Of Pearl

Today's card uses another quick and simple technique - Faux Mother Of Pearl. There are a few different ways to do this technique. This is what I did ........

I used Glossy Cardstock (page 87) and White Frost Shimmer Paint (page 103). All you need to do is scrunch up a little Cling Film Wrap and dip it into a tiny bit of the Shimmer Paint. You then just dab it all over your cardstock. I then Brayered River Rock ink all over the top and polished it afterwards with a piece of kitchen roll. The Shimmer Paint acts as a resist for the ink so gives the finished cardstock a beautiful subtle glisten ..... like Mother of Pearl :o)

The stamp used for this card is one of the new A la Carte stamps at the back of the mini catalogue - Wedding Wheels.The sentiment is also from the mini catalogue - the new Level 2 Hostess Set Something To Celebrate.

The background is created by brayering River Rock ink inside the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder before adding the cardstock and running it through the Big Shot.

The colours used are Very Vanilla, River Rock and Basic Black.

Heat and Stick Christmas

This card uses the ever gorgeous Lovely As A Tree stamp set (page 58). Another fabulously versatile set. Perfect for all occasions from Christmas to Mens cards ...... for backgrounds - or for main images :o)

The image has been stamped onto Basic Black cardstock using White Craft ink (page 85). This was then covered over with Heat and Stick powder (page 100) and heated with the heat gun (page 100) until the powder melted. Dazzling Diamonds glitter (page 100) was then added to the melted powder and the whole thing heated very quickly again to set the glitter into the glue - a really lovely technique for everyone who loves a bit of sparkle :o)

The colours used are Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler and Baja Breeze. The sentiment is from the Occasional Greetings stamp set. The background layer was created using the So Swirly Jumbo Wheel (page 22) and Basic Rhinestones (page 99) finish off the card :o)

July Project Class - Nature Walk

This was my project class in July. It uses the Nature Walk stamp set from the Mini catalogue (page 24).

One of the many 'perks' we get as Stampin' Up! Demos is to receive a copy of the Impressions magazine every month. This is packed full of information, ideas and inspirational projects. My July class was inspired by one of the cards shown in the magazine a few months back. It used some of the Botanical Gazette DSP as the background layer. I wanted to design a class that used bleach stamping and thought it would fit in perfectly with this - so instead of using the Designer Series Paper, we bleached the backgrounds :o)

The class consists of a little gift bag and three co-ordinating cards. If you would like to purchase the instructions for this set, you will find the details below. The instructions will be emailed to you as a PDF document within 48 hours ...

Nature Walk - Class Instructions - £3.00

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Training - Make & Take

My team had our monthly training meeting on Wednesday night and this is the Make and Take card they completed.

It is based on another card by Sandi MacIver - a truly talented designer.

The colours used are Real Red, Old Olive, Very Vanilla and Basic Black.

Lovely As A Tree (page 58) has been used for the background on the tag and this has been stamped in Basic Grey. I stamped 'off' twice before stamping the card so the image would be very light. The trees are highlighted with a glue pen and Dazzling Diamonds glitter.

All the other stamps come from the Winter Post stamp set (page 27). The papers are from the Brights Paper Stack. I ran the Vanilla background paper through the Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder. This - and the Real Red DSP - were then scrunched up and daubed with Soft Suede ink to give a more vintage look. I also used the Distressing Tool on all the edges.

1/4" Old Olive Grosgrain and a piece from the Hodgepodge Hardware kit finish off the card :o)

Teri xx

Faux Pinwheel

Another technique from my last Technique's class. This one is Faux Pinwheel - another quick and simple one!

I have used Greenhouse Gala Designer Series Paper (page 89) for the little squares - punched out using the 1 1/4" square punch (page 106). This is a great technique for using up all those little pieces of DSP you collect :o)

I added texture by running the background mat and the bird's wing through the Big Shot using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder (mini catalogue).

The main colours used are Baja Breeze, Early Espresso and Pear Pizzazz. The sentiment comes from the Party This Way stamp set (page 31).

Teri xx

Polished Stone Technique

This was one of the new techniques I 'discovered' last month and we did in my last Technique class :o)

It's a really quick and simple technique. You soak a cotton wool ball with rubbing alcohol and then add drops of re-inker to it. I also added a little Platinum Shimmer Paint. You then just daub Glossy cardstock with the Cotton wool :o)

I used Real Red, Regal Rose and Daffodil Delight for this card with just a touch of Platinum Shimmer Paint (page 103 £4.95).

The stamp comes from the Occasional Greetings stamp set (page 21 £30.95). You need to stamp with Stazon ink on the Glossy cardstock and because it's going on top of the Shimmer Paint.

The background stamping uses the fabulous Medallion stamp (page 61 £16.95).

Teri xx

Christmas In July - Projects

My first project uses the gorgeous Jolly Holiday Designer Series Paper. The cardstock used is Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive, with a little Very Vanilla. The set includes a beautiful gift box. 

It's a great size at just under 16cm square and 7.5 cm high. The stamp set used for the Tag and the cards is Contempo Christmas - this is my absolute favourite Christmas set in the current catalogue (page 25). It's so versatile with the tree, the ornament and sentiment stamps :o)

My second project used the Swirly Star stamp that all my ladies received in their welcome packs.

It also uses lots of the Platinum Shimmer Paint :o) 

The colours here are Marina Mist and Whisper White. 

The cracker box is made out of a sheet of A4 cardstock - no cutting, just lots of scoring :o) 

The little tags are created using the Swirly Star stamp and one of the sentiment stamps from Tiny Tags.

I found the tutorial for the last project on Angela McKay's blog here. It's a really sweet gift bag that you can create from one sheet of 12x12 cardstock or DSP.

We used a sheet of the Jolly Holiday DSP when creating this one. The stamp set used is Welcome Christmas (page 27).

If you would like to purchase the instructions for both of my two main projects, you will find the details below. The PDF will be emailed to you within 48 hours ....

2011 Christmas In July - Class Instructions - £3.00

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Christmas In July!!

I held my Christmas In July Event last Saturday. It was a lovely morning shared with 24 very special ladies :o)

They all worked hard to complete 3 fabulous Christmas projects. It was a morning full of fun, laughter and lots of festive crafting.

Thank you to everyone who came. Thank you for your orders ..... and thank you for your continued support :o) And a big THANK YOU to my wonderful daughter Lauren who looked after everything in the kitchen and the raffle ... I couldn't run these events without her!

The lady with the gorgeous smile is my dear friend Beryl ..... Another huge 'Thank you' goes to her for making the yummy cakes! xxx

This is what I gave all my ladies for coming :o) Everyone had a gift bag with some choccies in it. I made little mini cracker boxes to hold the charm. They had a personalised water bottle and a Stylish Star stamp (mini catalogue £5.95). They all also received a half pack of Jolly Holiday Designer Series Paper.

The little charms are made from shrink plastic and stamped in Stazon ink so the colours won't run. I used stamps from the Delightful Decorations and Contempo Christmas stamp sets and added a little bell :o) Not my original idea unfortunately. I was given one very similar at our Stampin' Up! convention last November - from Rose. I've been planning to use the idea since then for my Event this month :o)

Do you fancy joining us for my next Event? It will be held on Saturday 5th November - from 9.30am until 1pm at Rode Memorial Hall, Rode, Somerset. Contact me if you are interested :o) It will be a Christmas Stamp-a-Stack. We will be making lots of wonderful Christmas Cards :o)

I'll show you the projects we made in my next post .....

Teri xx

Free Gifts - From Stampin' Up!

I was so excited to see this promotion this morning! The Ribbon and Clips are amazing ..... but a Stampin' Up! branded make-up bag!!!! FANTASTIC!!!! :o)

You can get your hands on ALL of these freebies (the product alone is worth over £18) if you place an order of £75 or more ...... OR if you host a party of at least £250. The promotion only runs through to the end of August though, so you must be quick! Contact me today to place your order, or book a party for this month (my contact details are at the bottom of my blog).

Teri xxx