Matching Stampin' Up! card for a little gift ....

Last week I challenged myself to make a matching card for this book of inspirational quotes I had purchased as a gift. I loved the colours in the book jacket, and wanted to replicate them in a card. Here's what I came up with:

 

and here's a closer look at the card:

 

The colours I have used are Soft Suede, Basic Black, Gold and Very Vanilla. The Soft Suede base piece has been clear embossed with the Belle Toile background stamp. I love the look this stamp gives clear embossed.

The other trick I did with this card was a variation of a trick they showed at Convention, to just emboss part of a piece of cardstock using the Framed Tulip Embossing Folder. I precut the piece of cardstock so that it fit in between the two shorter ends, but only covered one of the longer ends as shown here:

 

I'm sure some of you have been doing this trick for ages, but I was rather impressed with myself, lol.

Have had a couple of creative days putting together some tips and tricks and a new step by step card for my newsletter. It will be going out in the next day couple of days, so there is still time to subscribe for this month (sign up box is up there in the top right).

In other news, Oscar the puppy is no longer a puppy but a very active 6 month old dog, who happily greets us like this, regardless of what time of night or day we venture into the kitchen. It's play time 24 hours a day when you are a young energetic dog!

 

Now I know the girls who came to convention may struggle to believe it, but it was a glorious sunny day in Melbourne today, with not a cloud in the sky. I spent it chatting to my lovely downline Di Gill and admiring her gorgeous creations, and then had lunch with my lovely friend Leanne at the Kuranda Native Nursery in Mt Evelyn. It was absolutely beautiful and we had fun wandering around picking up some natives (of the plant variety!) after lunch. Such a lovely relaxing day.

Better get to it, things to do and places to be . Hope your week is happy :)

Claire xx

JAI 69 - Fussy Cutting

So lovely to catch up with lots of the Just Add Ink  girls at Convention. They inspired me to have some fun doing some more of their challenges. I had a creative streak on Friday night and actually managed to make 5 cards, including this one for JAI 69 - fussy cutting, using the bright and cheery Sweet Stitches DSP from the Stampin' Up! Autumn Winter Mini Catalogue.

 

The greeting is from one of my favourite stamp sets Great Friend. The ink and cardstock colours I have used here are the colours that are included in Sweet Stitches DSP, Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight,  Very Vanilla. The other colours in this gorgeous bright DSP are Tangerine Tango, Tempting Turquoise, Wild Wasabi and Melon Mambo.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to get stuck into a couple more challenges this week. I'll definitely be back to post some of the cards I made last week though. I have been having lots of fun creating cards for friends and family. That's what it's all about right?

Have a happy week,

Claire xx

 

Another brighter Stampin' Up! Basic Gray combination .....

Now lets try a brighter Basic Gray colour combination shall we? This card is based on this weeks Sweet Sunday sketch number 118. This is one of my favourite sketches, always great designs and samples.

In this card I also wanted to try out a new way at ruffling ribbon that the fabulous Teneale showed us at Convention. You must check out her blog for the amazing way she works with ribbon. I haven't quite mastered it yet as my ruffle is a bit uneven, but it was fun trying something new.

My colours here are Basic Gray, Old Olive, Melon Mambo and Daffodil Delight.

 

The flowers here are from Stampin' Up!'s Silhouette Sentiments hostess set. I used my markers direct to rubber, and also Melon mambo prints DSP and Daffodil Delight satin ribbon.

Hope you like the bright colours on this one! After all this brightness and boys colours, I think I feel a vintage card coming on!!

Happy stamping,

Claire xx

Stampin' Up! Basic Gray Colour Combinations ....

I was chatting to one of my lovely customers this week (waving Liz!) and she mentioned she doesn't use Basic Gray much, so I thought I would challenge myself to make a couple of cards using Basic Gray as the base colour, as it's a colour I really like.

My first card was based on this weeks Clean and Simple 141  card sketch. I love this single stamp from Stampin' Up! called Sail Away in the current Stampin' Up! Autumn Winter Mini (email me if you would like a free copy sent out). My colours here are Basic Gray, Marina Mist, Baja Breeze and Whisper White.

 

Other supplies used on this one are the Scallop Border Punch, 1" and 1 1/4" circle punch, Versamark, White Embossing Powder, Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Basic Gray ink and linen thread.

I hope you like this one! Back in a tic with a brighter colour combo for another challenge.

Claire xx

Stampin' Up! French Foliage ...

I loved this gorgeous French Foliage set as soon as I saw the Stampin' Up! Autumn Winter mini. I have seen some absolutely gorgeous cards made with this set. I finally inked my set up on the weekend to make a couple of birthday cards.

This set lends itself to lots of layering in autumn colours. I have used More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke, Early Espresso and also a bit of Elegant Eggplant in the second card. I'm not sure I'm that keen on that version, but thought I would put them both up here anyway.

 

 

If you haven't got yourself this gorgeous Autumn inspird set - what are you waiting for? The clear version shown below is just $31.95 and you can grab yourself some cardstock weight Autumn Spic DSP for $22.95 for 12 double sided sheets. Just what a girl needs for some autumn crafting :)

Hope you are having a happy week,

Claire xx