It's sale time on selected DSP

Stampin' Up! have a sale for the whole of October on selected DSP, you can check out what on offer & what the paper swatches look like by clicking HERE

✿ Karen ✿

Starter Kit promotion ongoing for the whole of September

It's always a great time to join Stampin' Up! and if you'd like to know some of the advantages of being a SU! demonstrator please check out "Join My Team" page which is at the top of the blog. But it's an even better time to join when there's a promotion going on.

Stampin' Up! are giving new demonstrators this month the card stock already pre-cut, with instructions and an extra 2 stamp sets (So Much Love and Queen Anne's Lace) plus a pack of basic rhinestones so you're good to go for your first event.

If you have any questions I'd love to hear from you. 

Countdown to Christmas is on....

✿ Karen ✿

Bonus days are here

For every $110 we spend in July we earn an $11 voucher to spend in August (4-31 August) which is when the new Holiday Catalogue launches. So if there's something you have been thinking about buying from the new catalogue this would be a great time to buy it so you'll get a discount on your Christmas stamps. Click HERE to go shopping :)
✿ Karen ✿

No need to hop.....

... from blog to blog, here is a whole pile of fabulous cards sent to me from fellow SU! demonstrators.

It's hard to believe its been 3 weeks since the new annual catalogue went live but I thought for my Friday post I'd share the beautiful & fabulous cards I received as part of 2 demonstrator swaps one with my big stampin' family The Creative Inkers & the other swap was an even bigger swap with fellow demonstrators from New Zealand, some of them I've managed to swap with twice. Swap rules are normally pretty simple we have to use only SU! current products & this time use "something new". We all had problems because of the postal delays receiving our pre-orders & then even sending them to the person co-ordinating the swap, each group consisted of 10 demos.

I shared my swaps about a month ago & I used the new in-colour Just Jade & the Forever Greenery suite & you can see my swaps HERE and HERE.

So I have received back 18 swaps to share I'm going to link the demo's name to their blog or e-mail if they have provided it with their swap recipe plus highlight something on the card that took my fancy. I'm going to just post the cards in the order they came out of the bags & got photographed.

The first swap is from "Paula" no other info I'm guessing its Paula Reid as she likes yellow but there is more than 1 Paula that is a demo, so not a good start to linking back. I have to say that we both had the same idea for our swaps as one of my swaps was a little bit like this but I love how bright & cheery her card is using the Celebrate Sunflowers stamp & Flowers for Every Season DSP.

The next swap is from Jackie Noble and she's used the Forever Fern stamp set & spoilt us with a wee bit of gold from the Forever Gold laser cut DSP. 

Now the next card from Sarah Roche makes me smile & I'm now thinking I might actually like the new in-colour Magenta Madness, everything just pops what a fabulous colour combo of Magenta Madness, Poppy Parade, Granny Apple Green & Bermuda Bay. Sarah's also used the Field of Flowers stamp set & the new Lovely Labels pick a punch .

With the following card Gail Ruddle shows Forever Fern doesn't have to be just greens, loving it in Highland Heather!!

The next card is from Donna Headand she's used the Lovely You stamp set & she's actually sewn around the edge of my card beautifully. I am wildly grateful to have received this card, thank you Gail what a work of art.

Now a fabulous card from Karen Hadler which I just adore as she's done a watercolour wash for the background. I love how vibrant her Forever Fern stamped images are they really do pop, she's used Pear Pizzazz, Garden Green & Pretty Peacock inks.

The next card by Tash Martin is using the scrappy strip technique with World of Good DSP which is so opulent in real life with some of the papers being suede like & gorgeous gold foiling. What a fab masculine card.

Next Laurie Wilson is also using Flowers for every Season DSP strips but has weaved them to make a card that also pops off the base, loving the wee pop of Magenta Madness in the wee flower as well.

The next card is by Karin Gallagher and she has used Silhouette Scenes stamp set, the new Old World Paper embossing folder & World of Good DSP. The Magenta Madness mat highlights all the neutral papers & what a fab sentiment.

The next card by Clare Ellison shows you don't even need stamps to create a quick & easy card using the Flowers for every Season Memories & More cards & envelopes but the copper foil mat really makes it all pop & look so much more luxurious.

Emma Shewan has also used the Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set, matching die and Flowers for Every Season DSP. Loving the embossed sentiment cutting it all out has really highlighted the sentiment.

Bernice Collins has used the Flowers for Every Seasons Memories & More cardpack & a lot of Wink of Stella so its very sparkly in real life.

Kristine McNickle has also used strips of Forever Greenery DSP with the Forever Greenery DSP & has created a gold foil embellishment with the matching dies to provide some bling..

Rosie Dunn has highlighted the new in-colour Misty Moonlight & the Tasteful Touches stamp set plus In Good Taste DSP. Loving the depth to the card which is in reality an optical illusion as the DSP appears to have texture!

Alicia Yap has also used the feather from Tasteful Touches stamp set. I'm liking the little wooden "X's" from the In Good Taste elements on the card as well.

I have to say the next card is one of my fav's received. I personally really like the new in-colour Just Jade & the colours Megan Teare has used with it really highlight how opulent Just Jade is. The colours are Bermuda Bay, Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry & some champagne foil.

Dana Russell has used vellum & the new in-colour Bumblebee with one of the fabulous border dies to make a really effective thank you card.

Last but not least another card from Tash Martin, I'm liking how effective the Jar of Flowers stamp is without the jar! She's also used Flowers for Every Season DSP & the Lovely Labels pick a punch which is definitely on my wishlist as it has so much versatility.

This is what I think I can say were the recurring favourites from what I received.

Fav stamp set : Forever Ferns

Fav DSP : Flowers for every Season

Fav new in-colour : Just Jade

What are your thoughts, what are your favourites from the new annual Catalogue??

A huge thanks to all the demos that have swapped with me ; so much fabulousness & great ideas.

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend I'm off to a family christening and catching up with my upline & the Star Stampers team tomorrow for some playing which hopefully I can share next week.

Inky hugs to all; stay safe & stay warm.

Karen

More sunflowers

But this time I'm having a play with the really cute Jar of Flowers which has a coordinating punch & mason jars so you can make shaker cards.

As I'm doing a DSP share with fellow demos  & I am waiting for my share of the new DSP's until next weekend when we all meet up, I had to think a bit outside the square to make a background for the "jar of flowers". 

I stamped the sunflowers on a piece of thick whisper white 12.8cm x 8.5cm and I probably should have stamped the flowers a bit higher up as in the end there was just enough room for the jar using Memento Black ink. I also stamped on a sticky notepiece too. I then fussy cut out the flowers to make a mask. Then I stamped the Buffalo Check background stamp with Pool Party ink (I had stamped off once).

  

I then removed the mask & stored it with my stamps for future use. I coloured up the flowers with my Copics.

Sunflowers Y26 & Y28
Leaves YG03, YG23 & G05

Pink was actually the SU! Rococo Rose combo but personally I found it a bit too dark but it's my only stampin' blend so I wanted to play with it! So I used a bit of colourless blender to bleach them a bit.

Stems E43

Decided I still needed something extra on the background so added some gems from Flowers for Every Season to the outside of the card & Wink of Stella over the flowers too. 

I really like the green gems they're supposed to be the new in-colour Just Jade but in real life they are really iridescent as well.

Supply List (all SU!):
Stamps: Jar of Flowers, Buffalo Check, So Sentimental (for you saying)

Ink: Memento Black, Pool Party, Soft Suede

Card: Thick Whisper White, Crushed Curry, Pool Party
Other: Jar Punch, Pool Party ribbon (3/8" sheer ribbon), Flowers for Every Season gems, Mason Jar shaker domes, dimensionals, Wink of Stella, Stitched So Sweetly die, Crushed Curry bakers twine (retired)

The flowers have predominantly been coloured with Copics as I already own the majority of the colours of them as I have been collecting them pre Stampin' blends. I have listed the colours used above.

Sharing below a cute picture that SU! have provided which looks like the mason jar with museli in it. I definitely will add more gems to my next shaker card I KReate ;) But there are a lot of possibilities what we can add to the mason jar. This is also a very cool stamp set as it has reversible stamps in it, there are 2 sizes of jar one side of the stamp, stamps the outline, the other side can be used to add "water:"

The photopolymer stamp set and matching punch is $77.25, stamp set alone is $48, punch alone $38 (always better to buy as a bundle as you save 10%), the mason jars are $13.75 for 10 & the gems are $13.75. Click HERE if you'd like to go shopping.
✿ Karen ✿

Happy birthday you old goat

When I saw the new Way to Goat set in the new catalogue it went right to the top of my wishlist, the sayings in the set are funny & I love to colour & these scruffy looking goats are quite forgiving as I found. I started off with my watercolour pencils & watercolour brush but ended up going over it all with my Zig Real Color brushes but the pencils added a bit to the texture of the goat so all good.

Supply List (all SU! unless stated otherwise):
Stamps: Way to Goat
Ink: Mid-tone Charcoal (Hero Arts Shadow - waterproof ink), Versamark, Basic Gray Watercolor Pencils (set 1)

Zig Real Color Brushes: Blue gray, light gray, pale pink, shadow mauve, flesh color
Paper: Bermuda Bay, Picture Perfect Birthday DSP (retired), watercolor, Lemon Lime Twist (retired)
Dies: Stitched rectangles, Tasteful Touches
Other: Dimensionals, white embossing powder, embossing buddy, watercolour brush

It's a cling red rubber stamp & I think a great addition to my stamps & great value at $40, there's no corresponding dies but very easy to cut out. If you'd like to buy the set you can click on the image above to be taken to my online store. I have a promotion for June that anyone that spends over $50 in my online store & uses the hostess code 2BZCWYAR will go into the draw to win the new Hostess set Touched my Heart from me. So you'd only need to spend $10 more to be in to win.

I hope the birthday boy Wayne enjoys his card, I'm sure it will bring a smile to his face.

✿ Karen ✿

Fabulous & Easy Sunflowers

One of the new releases in the latest catalogue is a fabulous set which I can see getting a lot of use from me; Celebrate Sunflowers (#152517) which also has matching Sunflower dies (#152704).

It was really easy to make a quick background with the stamps & then I've used 2 yellow cardstocks So Saffron as my base & Bumblebee as the outline to make a pretty sunflower to brighten someone's day.
The sentiment is from Peaceful Moments (fab set, I love the font & it has so many great sayings).

Supply List (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Celebrate Sunflowers, Peaceful Moments
Ink: Soft Seafoam, Early Espresso

Paper: Soft Seafoam, So Saffron, Bumblebee, Whisper White

Dies: Sunflowers, Tasteful Labels

Other: Subtle EF, 2020-2022 In Colour Enamel Dots, dimensionals, Tombow glue, Big Shot

Well I hope these bright, big & beautiful sunflowers will make the recipients day a happier day.
✿ Karen ✿

Another fabulous gatefold card

Julie Bocock from my Star Stampers stampin' team shared a twist or should that be popup to the gatefold card recently.

Once again we were given some cutting dimensions & then Julie demoed how to make the card.

So these were the cutting dimensions 
Base Colour :  8 1/2" x 5 1/2"

Whisper White: 5 1/4" x 1" (x2), scored at 1", 2", 4 1/4"

DSP: 5 1/4" x 1 7/8" (x2) and the pattern was to fit with a portrait card (I still cut mine wrong)
Then 2 layering squares (base colour & whisper white); base colour 2 1/2" (x2) and whisper white 2 1/4" (x2)

I hadn't clicked we were making a gatefold card, sometimes when you get it all cut up you can see what we are going to be creating. I chose to work with my new favourite DSP Forever Greenery using one of the papers that actually had a lot of ferns on it, this paper especially reminds me of our native ferns and Garden Green as my base colour.

Julie has used the American sizing for a gatefold card and we've scored 2 1/4" from each edge to make the gate. This is where the fun starts as when you open it there's two popped up squares.

I hope the image below shows how the 2 wee strips have been attached so that the squares can be glued to them. 

Supply List (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Tasteful Touches, Forever Fern
Ink: Shaded Spruce, Soft Sea Foam
Paper: Garden Green, Whisper White, Forever Fernery DSP
Dies: Layering Ovals, Layering Squares, Stitched Shapes

Other: Tombow glue

So a huge thanks Julie I love the extra pop to my gatefold card.

✿ Karen ✿

I'm in love with Forever Greenery

The new designer series paper Forever Greenery ticks so many boxes, I just love greens & blues and this DSP is full of them; Garden Green, Just Jade, Pear Pizzazz, Pretty Peacock, Shaded Spruce and Soft Sea Foam. Just like nature which has so many shades & hues so does the images in these papers, some of the images can also be die cut out with matching dies as well.

I designed this card as my second swap card and again was trying to highlight the new in-colour Just Jade with less than 2 sheets of card stock plus also have a play with the other embossing folder in the Greenery set. I have rubbed a wee bit of Whisper White craft ink using a sponge dauber over the embossed piece of Just Jade card stock. The gold trim ribbon ties fabulously. My squares are 1-1/2".

I absolutely have to say that this is my favourite of the 2 cards I'm swapping.

Supply List (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Forever Fern
Ink: Garden Green, Pear Pizzazz, Pretty Peacock, Whisper White Craft
Paper: Whisper White (thick), Just Jade, Forever Greenery DSP
Dies: Nested Labels
Other: Forever Greenery Trim, Greenery embossing folder, mini glue dots, dimensionals

This is a real easy card to whip up and the concept works well with any co-ordinating DSP. With approximately a week to go to the new catalogue launching I'm loving the stamps in the Forever Fern stamp set which are DistINKtive & these papers.

✿ Karen ✿

Introducing Just Jade

Hi everyone & have I been a busy beaver since I last reported in, my pre-order arrived with some goodies for the new Annual catalogue (which launches in 10 days time) as well as that real life is happening & finally NZ came out of level 3 so that meant I got to spend some time out of the house with Pete's mum, get my hair cut, take cats to the vet etc plus work.

I signed up for 2 demonstrator swaps with other Stampin' Up! demos which is where the fun & the angst comes in, shipping and mail to NZ is not really back to normal so by the time we got our goodies it seemed like everyone had already blogged what they were doing with my favourite set that we were allowed to pre-order.

I also wanted to highlight one of the new in-colours but I stuffed up my pre-order & only ordered mixed packs of the new in-colours and one of those packs was earmarked to go out with the new catalogues to my customers so I had 4 sheets of Just Jade to play with so I have been super creative with it and I actually still have 1 sheet left after making 22 swaps.

Anyhow this is my first design; I hope highlighting one of the new in-colours for 2020-2022 Just Jade.

Supply List (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamp: Forever Fern
Ink: Garden Green, Soft Sea Foam
Paper: Very Vanilla, Just Jade, Soft Sea Foam, Garden Green, Forever Greenery DSP
Accessories: Greenery embossing folder, Forever Flourishing dies, Gold Hoops, Gilded Gems, Forever Greenery trim, circle die

Forever Greenery DSP has some papers to die for but I felt this sheet highlighted Just Jade the best, the gold hoops are actually a really nice touch of bling & they are really thin & have been attached with 2 mini glue dots. The embossing folder is a set of 2.

Here are all the swaps laid out & ready to be packed up.

I have to admit I bought the Forever Greenery Suite as I loved it and it came with EVERYTHING! So I got the stamp set, the embossing folders, the DSP, gold hoops, gold laser-cut specialty paper, the ribbons (also a set of 2).  Or you can also just buy the Forever Fern bundle which is the stamp set and matching dies and is 10% off. All the items & the bundles can be seen on pages 108-110 of the new catalogue when it goes live on June 3rd. If you don't have a demonstrator in NZ and would like a copy contact me & I can get one in the post for you ASAP.

I taken a few pictures to show Just Jade compared to our current greens & greeny-blues. I personally don't feel it actually resembles any past colours but others may disagree, I also think its actually got quite a lot of blue in it as the colour I think it is closest to but totally different is Bermuda Bay!

Top row: Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay, Mint Macaroon
Middle row: Garden Green, Old Olive, Shaded Spruce, Granny Apple Green (Just Jade lying on top)
Bottom row: Soft Sea Foam, Pear Pizzazz, Mossy Meadow

I actually think it's in the same intensity of colours as the top row of all the colours (Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay, Mint Macaroon, Just Jade)

And these are the 6 colours in the Forever Greenery DSP with Whisper White (L > R : Soft Sea Foam, Pear Pizzazz, Shaded Spruce. L > R : Garden Green, Just Jade, Pretty Peacock)


✿ Karen ✿

My first Christmas card for 2020

I thought it seemed a good idea whilst in lockdown & presented with just a few "ingredients" for a mystery class that I might as well start on a Christmas Card.

Wow lockdown has zoomed by where did 7-plus weeks go?? A huge shout out to my upline Rhonda Fawcett & my Stampin' team the Star Stampers they have provided a real crafty fix for me whilst locked down. This is something I want to pursue I just need to work out how to do Facebook Live! I love seeing how everyone's cards turn out when we all have the same set of what to cut out but we don't really know what we're making.

So Rhonda sent the list of what we had to prepare before the live session.

3 pieces of a main colour:
21 x 10.5 cm, score in landscape at 6 cm
21 x 6 cm, score in landscape at 10.5 cm
13.5 x 6 cm, score in portrait at 2 cm (this is the piece that becomes the stand for the card)

2 pieces of white or vanilla card both the same size; 10 x 5.5 cm. Plus a scrap piece big enough for you to stamp and cut out an image on to go on the front of the card. They will go on one of the pieces of DSP in portrait position.

Second colour 14.4 x 10 cm. 

This can be embossed with your choice of embossing folder. OR you can use a piece of DSP 14.4 x 10 cm instead of embossed card stock.

Designer Series Paper: 2 different patterns of DSP cut to the same size 10 x 5.5 cm. One piece will go in landscape position and one in portrait position so check your patterns!

Plus  a pencil, ruler, rubber and a trimmer plus your adhesives.

Colours were chosen that matched the DSP. To me it's almost the starting point of the recipe. I actually chose Whisper White to be my 2nd "colour".

In this card I cut the Santa on his couch out of the DSP.

The cards come together really easy once cut out.

This was the only tricky step making a stand out of card stock so the card stands upright.

Supply List (all Stampin' Up! apart from the images that were coloured up last Christmas with Zig Real color brushes)
Stamps: Signs of Santa (retired), Oh, Goodie! (retired)
Paper: Real Red, Wild Wasabi (retired), Whisper White, Santa's Workshop Specialty DSP (retired)
Embossing Folder: Softly Falling (retired)
Other: Dimensionals

✿ Karen ✿