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November 2013
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January 2014

December 2013

Christmas Catch Up no.# 2

Have you LIKED my Facebook Page?

If not, you won't have seen these 3D Stampin' projects I created last week to help cheer up someone else's Christmas.

I love finding 3D project inspiration rather than just cardmaking ideas or scrapbooking ideas for using our Stampin' Up! products. It's always so nice to give a little handmade gift or decorate the house with unique handmade projects rather than just making cards.

So to get you inspired for next year, here's what I created.

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These little dudes have green and red M&M's in the legs and two Ferrero Rochers in the bodies (to help them sit up).

The feet are made using the Top Note Die and the Wide Oval Punch. The bows on the shoes are either just the old retired Butterfly Punch (very simple) or . . . wait for it . . . exciting!!!

Bows made with the Envelope Punch Board!!

The colours are Cherry Cobbler and Gumball Green to match the M&Ms. And did you know we can still get the extra skinny Cello bags? They are on page 160 of the Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue - just $4.50 for a pack of 50!

What else did we make?

Using the Simply Fabulous Simply Sent Kit on page 161 of the Annual Catalogue, and the Envelope Punch Board, we came up with this :

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We've gone with gorgeous soft Pistachio Pudding and Smokey Slate colour scheme and did you notice the Christmas baubles on the card are the off-cuts from the cracker?

Some very fun projects to share.

I'll be definitely showing these to the Stamp Club girls in 2014. If you've ever thought about joining a stamp club, I am planning to start a daytime one this year, in addition to my Thursday night one. Please let me know as soon as possible if you would like to be a part of it. Each stamp club is restricted to 6 members for 6 months so each member gets a chance to earn the hostess benefits for themselves.

You can text me on 0418 361 931 or email me [email protected]

Talk soon!


Holiday time is here . . . Stampin' or not!

I had every intention - with enough Stampin' projects created and photos taken, to do a blog post every couple of days until Christmas, to share with you some of my Christmas projects, and some of the antics of our hilarious little fluffball, and to start talking about and planning next year and especially Sale-a-bration, Stampin' Up!s biggest promotion of the year.

Then early in the morning on Thursday 12th December we heard tragic news which kind of threw everyone's Christmas and end of year plans into oblivion as we all swooped on Tasmania to be together with family.

Now that Christmas has come and gone (with lots of last minute shopping and frantic cooking) it's time to regroup, start planning again for 2014, catch up on some last minute tasks that got dumped in a heap a couple of weeks ago and to look forward to a whole new year.

This is how Tinkerbelle enjoyed the last few weeks - what a life!!!

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At the start of December I did a Fun Run. Now that the Christmas goodies are just about cleaned out of the fridge, its time to get out in the fresh air again and burn off a few extra calories, so I can do it again!

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And what about all that frantic creativity at the start of December? Well, this year I did manage to make around 80 Christmas cards, although they didn't all get posted!

Whilst I like to get the production line happening, this year I was all for fast, simple, clean lines . . .

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These were quick and cute, using the Merry Little Christmas Bundle on page 27 of the Holiday Catalogue and I loved the layer inside with the cute little tree stamped on it.

What little tree?

Oh, I did a few tree cards too!!

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How many?  Oh, quite a few!

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These are done with one of our hostess sets from the Holiday Catalogue. The set is called Warmth & Wonder, and its so easy to line up the little baubles over the tree to double stamp.

These made elegant single layer cards and were quite quick to do. Of course I had to do the little single tree on the inside of these ones too!

Then I got a little carried away with the other batch of cards. I wanted to use the Festive Flurries bundle of Snowflake stamps and framelits - so I enlisted hubby's help to do all the Big Shot rolling while I stamped. We did 30 sets of these : 

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. . . which as you can see, also included stamped and punched labels, and some punched stars.

The lovely big Postcard stamp also came out and got a bit of use, and the red glimmer card really shone!

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These cards also had snowflakes stamped and red glitter stars stuck on the inside . . . Loved them!

Now I am looking forward to sorting all this stuff back into the right places on the shelves in the stamping room, and getting out some new things to play with. For Stampin' Up! demonstrators across Australia and New Zealand, we have the chance to pre-order some new Seasonal Catalogue products starting on the 3rd of January and some of us have already started earning some free Sale-a-bration products.

I did a little bit of creating with some of the new paper last week - it is absolutely delicious, and I can't wait to show if off to you. In the meantime, if you don't follow my Facebook page, you will have missed the elves and another 3D project I made last week. I will post them on here tomorrow for you to see. And maybe a sneak peak of the new paper LOL.

See you then!

Kathryn


Cardmaking with Chalk Talk Bundle Part 2

I just love, love, LOVE the Stampin' Up! 2013-3015 In Colours. They are SO Gelati fresh and work so well together, or with some of the other colours in our range.

It was such a pleasure to make these four cards using the Chalk Talk bundle, starting with a similar base idea, but adding elements to each one, working with our lovely colours!

Chalk Talk Bundle Card (2)

This is Coastal Cabana, matched with a tiny touch of Bermuda Bay. It's hard to tell from the photo but the biggest layer of Coastal Cabana has been embossed with our Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder for some extra texture, and to compliment the In Colour Pattern Stacks Paper on the higher layer.

Chalk Talk Bundle Card (3)

The Strawberry Slush card has been been stepped up a little using a more decorative embossing folder - Beautifully Baroque, a bolder pattern from the In Colour Pattern Stack, and different placement of the larger Rhinestones.

Chalk Talk Bundle Card (4)

In this card, two of our In Colours - Calypso Coral and Baked Brown Sugar have been combined for a bit of extra contrast, a banner added behind, and the In Colour Boutique Details embellishment adds extra interest.

Chalk Talk Bundle Card (7)

I love Pistachio Pudding and this time I decided to turn the card to landscape instead of portrait and add a big delicious bow from our Chevron Ribbon range. Again I've switched embossing folders, and added a Boutique Detail embellishment.

I am pretty convinced that I haven't finished using these colours - not by a long shot! Can't wait to see what comes in our new Seasonal Catalogue in February that I can co-ordinate with these five lovely colours!

I created one other card for my poster, and I'll show you that now too - although you'll have to excuse the photo - the colours are so light, it was hard to get a good clear image.

Chalk Talk Bundle Card (5)

This Smoky Slate, Coastal Cabana and Whisper White card is one of my favourites for all it's layers and for the fun Paper Clay flowers that give it lots of texture.

Don't you LOVE the Delicate Designs Embossing folder for the scallop border, teamed with the Doily?

I tried something new for this card which I will definitely be doing more of in 2014 - the lovely double bow with our seam binding ribbon. Seam Binding isn't the most fun thing to tie bows with - but boy does it look awesome when its done! LOL

Well, as you've seen over the last few days - I really had a ball using the Chalk Talk stamp set and framelits and our lovely colours to make a collection of varied cards.

We'll be at our kiosk at Chirnside Park shopping centre this coming Friday 13th December if you'd like to see some of the Christmas goodies we've been making.

See you soon with ink on your fingers!


More 2013 Cardmaking Ideas in Review

Having had the Stampin' Up! stand a two major shows in October, there was plenty of need for creativity and lots of cardmaking ideas being worked on during September and October.

One thing everyone having a part on the stand must do is contribute to the displays and we make the set up and pack up of the stand easier on ourselves by all producing posters full of cards that can just be velcroed onto the stand walls.

This year I chose to do a poster using the Chalk Talk Bundle stamp set and Framelits. You may have seen my complete poster a few weeks back. Well, today I wanted to take another closer look at some of the cards on the poster.

Chalk Talk Bundle Card (1)

I just love this one using Daffodil Delight, Basic Black and Whisper White, and whilst there are a few components on the card, the design is really quite simple.

Its a single layer base card, embossed with the Modern Mosaic Embossing folder and then the elements just layered on.

Very cheerful colours!

Chalk Talk Bundle Card (6)

Here's another single layer card - just build up with Gingham Garden Washi Tape, and a popped up element in the middle. Love the fresh colours and simplicity of this design.

The last one I'll show you today contains a few more embellishments in the form of our Rhinestone Jewels, Frosted Finishes embellishment and White Organza Ribbon.

Chalk Talk Bundle Card (8)

I just love the Smoky Slate and Crushed Curry colours in the Eastern Elegance Designer Series Paper pack and have made lots of projects in the past few months with this colour scheme or slight variations. This is definitely a colour palette I will take with me into 2014 for more beautiful creations.

I'm loving the Chalk Talk stamp set and Framelits - and I also love how the framelits fit many of our other stamp sets too.

I'll be back soon to show you five more cards I made, including using our five 2013-3015 In Colours with the Chalk Talk Bundle. Love Them!!


Cardmaking Ideas from 2013 to take into next year

Before I truly get into posting about Christmas cards, and all the projects we've been making, I thought I might just revisit some of our favourites from 2013.  When I look back, I realise what a creative year we've had with such beautiful papers, fabulous range of stamps, and not to mention all the inspiration from attending two Stampin' Up! Conventions in one year!

It's hard to come up with ideas for masculine cards, but with the Soho Subway Designer Series Paper, it's hard to go wrong! This tri-fold (or Gate card) is perfect matched with the Open Sea stamp set.

Soho Subway, The Open Sea Card (1)

The front is pretty much just the gorgeous printed paper and some Linen Thread. Then on the inside we have more of the DSP and a stamped panel for writing our message.

Soho Subway, The Open Sea Card (2)

This is quite a simple card, but I think any man would be impressed if he were the recipient.  I can't wait to try a few more like this in the New Year when the red and green and gold is all packed away!

I'll be back soon with some more cards from this year. See you soon.


Stampin' In December

Hi there!

I should be stamp, stamp, Stampin' away with lots of card making ideas for Christmas, but I really needed to do a bit of a catch up here!

So, tell me, are you the kind of person who likes to make Christmassy projects all through December, or are you done and dusted and all your handmade Christmas cards went in the post on December 1st (or earlier!!)?

I've been terrible this year at even planning my Christmas cards, although I have done heaps of cute Christmassy projects for Stamp Club, a few parties and for our little kiosk at Chirnside Park. Might have to resort to just sticking some of my sample cards in the mail for the family!

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I am keeping quite busy, but it looks like I might have to get with the program and start a production line real fast! I'd hate to have to go out and BUY Christmas cards!!

How have you gone with your Christmas cards this year? I'd love to hear. Why don't you leave a comment below with how many cards you've created - if you created any - or how many you plan to make if you are running on the same schedule as me LOL.

I'll post a packet of Stampin' Up Basic Pearl Jewels and some Christmassy ribbon to my favourite response.