Pop-Up Fun

I just have to show you the gorgeous card my nephew and his new wife bought for me while they were on their honeymoon - it doesn't look that much from the outside but when you open it up - WOW. This card was all cut and put together by hand - I'm not sure if they found it in Thailand or Vietnam - but it was such a lovely way to send flowers to a card maker!!!

I decided to use this card as the inspiration for making a birthday card for my niece in England - she's turning 18! It's sooo scary when your nieces and nephews reach milestones. Anyway - here's what I came up with....
Firstly I must apologise that most of the SU products I used are currently unavailable as they are retired - but you can adapt the ideas to sets you have!
I cut the front of the Real Red card using the Boho Blossoms Punch and then stamped a piece of Very Vanilla with the flowers from Trees Three in Real Red, without re-inking - this gives you the variety of shades. The leaves are stamped in silver - again from the Trees Three set. The sentiment is from Short and Sweet. I added thin silver ribbon to finish the front off.
I won't bore you with my attempts to recreate the paper basket inside the card - I came close and may give it another go when I get the chance - or maybe not, LOL. I ended up doing a simple pop-up vase and adding some flowers from the One of a Kind set. The flowers were put on flat, popped up on dimensionals and wired for a fuller 3D effect. I also popped in some red ribbon to fill it out. A little red sentiment from Fun and Fast Notes and I think I'm done! Now I just have to write in it, wrap the present and post it all off!

My Regional Swaps Revealed!

Well here they are - my first ever swaps! I must admit to being quite proud of them and I was rapt with the feedback I got about them at Regionals today - I'll talk more about the Regionals in the next day or so - I need to download and sort some pictures and get over the fete tomorrow first!!!

Recipe Ingredients -
Stamp sets - One of a Kind, Artfully Asian, Boho Backgrounds
Cardstock - Regal Rose, Rose Red, Certainly Celery, Very Vanilla, Whisper White
Inks - Always Artichoke, Regal Rose, Bravo Burgundy, Rose Red
Ribbon - Always Artichoke grosgrain
Punches - Tag, Boho Blossoms
Other Bits - 30 gauge green wire, Dimensionals, Dazzling Diamonds, 2 Way Glue, SNAIL, Crystal Effects, 12mm Double-Sided Tape

Here are the step by step instructions to re-create these for yourselves......

For the flowers stamp 1 set each of Regal Rose, Rose Red and Bravo Burgundy using the 3 flowers stamp from One of a Kind onto Whisper White CS. You'll also need 1 extra small pink flower. Punch out using the Boho Blossoms Punch and set the largest flower aside for another project. Also punch out some flowers from plain Whisper White CS. Cut the wire into short lengths, turn the top over to help the wire stop sliding out of the flower. Sandwich the wire between 1 stamped flower and 1 plain flower using Crystal Effects as your glue - I originally used SNAIL but the flowers tended to pop apart. I haven't tried the Crystal Effects but a lovely demonstrator at Regionals today suggested it would solve my problem. I had 1 of each size and colour wired up, and one spare small flower - this is put on last using Dimensionals. Use a little 2 Way Glue on the flower centre and dip into Dazzling Diamonds - set aside for later.

Cut some Very Vanilla to 4 1/8" x 2 15/16" - sorry about the measurements, I tend to cut to suit me and measure later - it sometimes ends up with these strange measurements!!! Stamp the flowers from the Boho Backgrounds set onto Certainly Celery using Always Artichoke ink. Cut 1 vase top out of the stamped CS using the Tag Punch. Cut 1 vase base out of plain Celery CS using just the top of the Tag Punch. Sponge Always Artichoke around the edges of both pieces.

Attach the vase base to the Very Vanilla CS as a guide. Cut 1 tag out of a post-it note and trim a few mm's off the top of the vase so your stamping doesn't stop short of the vase top. Stick the post-it note vase top in place
on the Very Vanilla.

Using the fern-like leaf stamp from Artfully Asian stamp 3 times in Always Artichoke using the post-it note as a guide.


Colour in one of each of the leaf sections that cross over each other - this hides the messy cross overs as well as adding another dimension to the backgound.

Add 2 pieces of double-sided tape to where the vase will be. This helps hold the flowers in place as you position them.




Arrange your flowers making sure the wires are laid side by side - you don't want too much bulk under the vase. Once you are happy, attach the vase with SNAIL and pop the unwired flower onto the top of the vase.

Tie a knot in a small piece of Always Artichoke grosgrain ribbon and attach to the vase to hide the join.

Layer your floral arrangement and it's base onto 3 3/16" x 4 7/16" of Certainly Celery, then 3 1/2" x 4 3/4" of Rose Red, and finally onto the top part of a Regal Rose card that has the sentiment from One of a Kind stamped onto the bottom right in Bravo Burgundy.

I hope you enjoyed checking this out - please let me know if you give it a try, I'd love to see what you come up with.

Fete Spiders

Well, here they are - those crazy little critters that have been on many of the blogs for Halloween! In the variety of bright colours I think they'll be perfect for a school fete though - what do you think??? I'm not sure exactly where these little guys started but they are very simple to make using the Scallop Circle Punch, the Photo Corners Punch, the 1/2" Circle Punch and the 1/4" Circle Punch. I found some Ernest Hillier Christmas Mint Patties that worked well with these - but have seen them done without too.

Boxy Bags CASE

A big thank you goes out to Sam at Ryemilan's for this great project - I think I CASE'd practically the whole project from her - the idea, the colours and the designer paper - thanx Sam, you are such a talented lady!! Some of the boxes were given the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug treatment just to add variety.

I made these because we were getting a little concerned at the lack of craft appearing for the fete from parents at my son's school, so I decided to whip up a few of these (with some Christmas mints inside) to help fill up the stall. I had a few extra boxes as I had used the idea at my workshop last weekend and had gone a little crazy cutting them out for whenever they were needed - must have known!! I used the snowflake from the Season of Joy set and added some Dazzling Diamonds to the centre and the ends - they looked very cute. It's such an easy yet elegant project!

Also, a special note to Wendy and Cheryl, I'm off to put a few scallop spiders together too - I found some Christmas Mint Patties by Ernest Hillier that should work wonderfully! Will try and take some pics and post them before I hand my box of goodies in!

And here are the boxy bags I did for my workshop, one was the door prize and the other was for the hostess. As you can see, I also used a cuttlebug folder on the blue boxy bag, although this one was the snowflakes folder. They are also stamped with Season of Joy stamps - and I've popped a gold star brad on the top of the tree for extra effect.

Post-It Note Holders

I just thought I'd show you some more things I've made for my son's fete - which is this Sunday. I'll be glad to finish off and pass the box of bits on! These are post-it note holders made from acrylic picture frames and I originally found the tutorial at SCS - check out the link below. I was grateful to have my friend Deb help me out as I was starting to stress a little about all the things I had to do - and some of it was even housework and looking after the kids - LOL!!! My daughter also took time out from studying for her end of year exams to help with the colour selections - so I hope you like our collaborative effort! I was really pleased to find the mini gel pens at K-Mart at a very reasonable price.

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/acrylic_post_ittrade_note_holder/

I also wanted to give you a sneak peek at what my work table has been reduced to this week. Not only am I finishing off bits for the fete, I'm also off to my very first SU Regionals on Saturday and I'm trying to make some swaps to take with me... I'll post the finished swap later - IF I ever get them all done as it's back to work tomorrow!! I've mentioned before that I love the Boho Blossoms Punch from the Spring Mini - but think I might just give it a rest for a while after I'm done with these - LOL.

Tea Light Candles Holders

The idea for these came from a candle holder designed for Halloween. I had a workshop today and wanted to take along something new and seeing that we were making things in a Christmas theme I decided to go with the flow and create Christmas candle holders. These are really simple and yet soo effective - the link to the tutorial is below. I used Real Red Cardstock and cut the scallop using the corner punch. (Watch for the Scallop Punch release in the next mini - it will make this job a breeze!!). I also added some extra detail by punching the small holes along the scallop using the small hole punch in the Cropodile - one of my favorite tools! The Stamp sets I used were Festive Favorites and Lovely as a Tree. The tree is the small lone pine in the middle of the group of trees, I used my black marker to color it and stamp it as a solo tree. I popped on a few rhinestones for Christmas sparkle - this looks great when the candles aren't alight but they don't really show up on the lit candles - you can see the difference in the photos. I'm off now to enjoy my dinner by festive candlelight - hope you give these a go if you like candles as much as I do!

http://www.scor-pal.com/oct2_magazine/index_files/Page425.htm

Bag, Tags and Cards

I recently held a couple of classes teaching this little set - and it's really rewarding to see people leave your house happy with what they've achieved. On a previous post I put the links down for making these cute little bags so check it out there. This stamp set does have the added tags and I just couldn't resist using them as individuals. The stamp set I used was Festive Favorites - they are such cute stamps. They were subtly coloured using blender pens (aren't these the BEST!) and a mix of watercolor pencils, markers and inks. The tag holder was made using a 4 1/2" x 4 1/4" piece of Purely Pomegranate cardstock. The actual pocket was made by cutting a piece of River Rock card to 4 1/2" x 4". I then scored at 1 1/2" with the card in landscape position, and folded it up to form a pocket. I was in a bit of a rush the day I made this and stapled the edges together - most of the ladies in my classes opted for using brads instead once I showed them the difference.

Colours - Purely Pomegranate, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla and River Rock


DP - Holiday Harmony

A Couple of Card Sets

Anyone who knows me well knows I love "sets" of things. I also love boxes or containers - so you put the 2 things together and add some cardstock, rubber stamps and ink - this is the sort of thing you end up with!

This set was made before I joined the Stampin' Up team. I had ordered the Rich Regals mixed cardstock and the Garden Whimsy stamp set. I had also found a great little tutorial for this 3"x3" Note Card Box on Splitcoaststampers. I decided to challenge myself with colours I wouldn't usually use together - Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, More Mustard and Old Olive. I inked the box with Versamark and decided it was a little too light - so used the only other inkpad I had for the cards that was a close match - Really Rust! A bit of cuttlebug embossing, a few pearl stick on embellisments and some punching with the scallop punch and circle punch and I was done. I wasn't completely sure if I liked the combination at first so I put it away for a bit before I decided it wasn't too bad!http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ee/index.php/resources/tutorials/3x3notecardbox/

This next set is one of several I have made over the past few weeks. Firstly because I just love the little Double Pocket Bag, and secondly because my son's school is having a fete next month and 2 of my dear friends are running the craft stall. The Double Pocket Bag tutorial comes from the Spiltcoaststampers website and the cards are cut at 4"x width of A4, and then folded in half. You can easily fit 6 to a bag - I first saw the idea to pop the cards in the bag when Yvonne Campbell showed her version at the workshop she was doing for me before I joined her team. I used the Season of Joy stamp set with the Holiday Harmony DP. The colours are Always Artichoke, Purely Pomegranate, Very Vanilla and River Rock.

I'll post pictures of another set soon using the Festive Favorites stamp set and the Holiday Harmony DP again.

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ee/index.php/resources/tutorials/double_pocket_bag/

Back pack

I just can't tell you how cute I thought this little backpack was when I first saw it on the very talented Nicole Stalker's blog - I just HAD to make one. I tracked down a video tutorial at Stamp Happens (click on the link below if you want to make one of these too!) Beware though - this will become another of your favourite blogs!

My daughter was watching me put all the bits together - she was fascinated to see what I was up to and loved the result. I also made a matching card to pop in the front pocket. My plan is to make one in Christmas colors and fill it with yummy chocolates or homemade fudge for my children's teachers.

I used Pink Passion cardstock and Berry Bliss DP. The little accents used Boho Blossoms and Choc Chip Cardstock.

I also have a great recipe for Bailey's Fudge - which is what I might make to fill these little bags up - here's the recipe if you want to try it out yourself, I'm not exactly sure where it came from - I pulled it out of a magazine ages ago. I'd recommend wrapping the pieces individually and keeping them in the fridge until you need to put them in the box. I'm also planning to include a copy of the recipe with the gift - it's always nice to be able to make it yourself if you like it!

Baileys Chocolate Fudge
Ingredients
1 x 395g can sweetened condensed milk
100g butter, cubed
255g (1 ¼ cups firmly packed) brown sugar
2 tblsp glucose syrup
150g finely chopped dark chocolate (not cooking choc)
¼ cup Baileys

Method
Brush a 20cm square cake pan with melted butter. Line base and 2 opposite sides with non-stick baking paper allowing it to overhang.
Combine the condensed milk, butter, sugar and glucose syrup in a saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves (~ 3min). Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring constantly, for ~15mins or until mixtures thickens and turns a deep caramel colour. Remove from heat.
Add the chocolate and liqueur, stir until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Set aside to cool.
Remove fudge from pan and cut into portions – you may need to keep fudge refrigerated.
Enjoy!

http://www.stamphappens.com/stamp_happens/2008/08/mini-backpack-v.html

Guest Book

Hi Guys - Well here is something a little different to show you. I have my nephew's wedding in a couple of weeks and asked if they would like me to put a Guest Book together for them, and they said Yes! They are both avid photographers so I added a few pages of their favourite photos at the start - in a scrapbook/gallery theme. Their colours are red, black and white. I used the Always stamp set on several of the pages, especially the sentiments - it is such a classic stamp set and sooo right for a wedding!

I also must credit doing the book as the incentive for me finding out about Stampin' Up. I was at my local Srapbooking shop (a recent addition to my list of crafts!), and one of the ladies was showing us an album she had done and she had used these wonderful tabs - I just had to ask her where she got them as I knew they would be great for the book!! They were made using the Stampin' Up Round Tab Punch!! After this I looked into having a workshop so I could get one, had the lovely and very talented Yvonne Campbell come and do my workshop - and ended up joining her team!!!

It was sooo much fun to work on the book and I know both Adam and Naomi appreciated which makes me feel great. My next job for them is their wedding cake - my house will be smelling of chocolate mud cake very soon - YUM!!! I really need to give up my day job and concentrate on CRAFT!!!

A Couple of Birthday Cards

Last month not only saw me joining Stampin' Up, it also saw me making cards for a couple of birthdays using my wonderful new stamps and cardstock. I discovered I REALLY liked the One of a Kind 3 blossom stamp teamed with the Boho Blossoms Punch from the Spring Mini. I stamped a couple of sets in each colour stamp pad I had onto a sheet of A4 Whisper White and punched away - I didn't have too many colours then! I ended up with a little bowl of flowers that I could reach into to create little gardens on my cards. I have several new stamp pads now and am going to spend an evening stamping and punching out all my new flowers.

This first card was for my friend Deb A. I love texture on card so I used a crimped piece of Whisper White for the background. I then popped some of the Boho Blossoms up on Dimensionals and left some flat. If you use 2 Dimensionals under some of the flowers you can get 3 different levels.

This second card I made for my mum's Birthday. We made last minute plans for dinner and I only had a few hours to buy her present and make a card. I delved into my bowl of blossoms and Voila - and my mum loved it! The whisper White background was also stamped using another favourite of mine - the Jumbo So Swirly Wheel. I rollered on Versamark and then used a glittery embossing powder I've had in the cupboard for years. It just gave the card the right amount of Bling. This piece of card was actually a leftover piece from the boxes I made for my daughter and her friends to celebrate their Debutante Ball.