This week I am enjoying creating using new products from the Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue, being inspired by projects and pages straight out of the catalogue (or Casing the Catty - as we call it), and sharing that inspiration with members of our wider Art With Heart Stampin' Up! team in a "Case the Catalogue" Blog Hop.

If you have arrived here from my lovely friend Kathryn Manglesdorf's blog, welcome. If you are starting here, grab a cuppa and follow the next button on each blog to do a full circle of creativity. And please leave us comments! We love to hear what you think.

Last week I was on our casual kiosk at Chirnside Park shopping centre all day Friday, and as I was packing my stuff on Thursday night (and trying to think what I would stamp all day Friday at the kiosk), my mum brought over Sweet Storybook Stamp set and framelits bundle and says, "You do want to stamp mice all day tomorrow, don't you?"

Oooh my! Yes Please!!!

Here's the super cute picture that is on page 160 of the Annual Catalogue. It's really hard to make out what format the cards take (which type of fold) because of the very light colours against the white background, but that gave me lots of scope for using my imagination in coming up with my own projects.

I stamped and stamped and cut out mice and leaves and had a fabulous day working with these gorgeous colours and these super cute images. I decorated four gift bags and made 3 cards.

The ribbon on the bags is Granny Apple Green. A lovely splash of green to match the leaves of the vine image.

I had a great deal of trouble stamping the little red flowers because of the string handles and the extra layer of strong reinforcing card on the inside of the top of the bag - made my image miss-stamp each time, and because it was such a tiny stamp it was very easy to get an ink halo.

I discovered later that it was much easier to get an awesome image of the flowers by putting all 3 flower stamps on a block at once. There is also a framelit for each of the flowers so you will see that the cards I completed next have the flowers stamped and cut out separately instead of being stamped direct on the background like I tried to do with the bags.

Here's some close up's of each one.  The first was just a normal fold A5 card, but with 3 layers on the front being 4 Stampin' Dimensionals deep.

The next card was a tri-fold card with a window through the first two panels to show the inside of the card.

And lastly I created a diorama card with 3 layers which will fold flat to fit in our standard envelope.

All of these projects are made using Whisper White Card stock, Soft Sea Foam Card stock, Granny Apple Green Classic Ink Pad, either Lovely Lipstick or Calypso Coral Classic Inkpads for the top of the mushroom and the flowers, Crumb Cake Ink painted on with an Aquapainter for the mushroom stem, and a combination of Crumb Cake or Gray Granite Ink for the mice, with outline stamps in Momento Black.

Aren't these just too cute?

Product List

Sweet Storybook Photopolymer Bundle [148409] $77.25	Soft Sea Foam A4 Cardstock [147012] $14.75	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Pad [147095] $13.00
Lovely Lipstick Classic Stampin' Pad [147140] $13.00	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [147116] $13.00	Blender Pens [102845] $21.00

 If you've left me a comment (thank you!!) and are ready to continue on in the blog hop and see what everyone else has created, then please click on the next blog picture here and go see what gorgeous projects talented Kate Morgan has created!

Catherine Proctor
Kimberly Hern 

Monika O’Neill

Caroline Manwaring

Kathryn Mangelsdorf 

Kathryn Ruddick 

Kate Morgan 

Alisha Watson

Rachel Palmeri 

Andrea Roberts 

Ros Davidson

Rebecca Jacovou

Rachel Woollard

Tina Gillespie

Well, it's that time of year again for our wonderful Christmas in July card making and papercraft event.

This is an event where several of my Stampin' Up! team members work together to bring you a variety of Make & Take projects, awesome display of projects and products, a sumptuous afternoon tea and the opportunity to make an extra card or two for a deserving charity.

I have been researching on Pinterest (wink!!) all sorts of amazing Christmas projects using some of the stamp sets and tools which you may have purchased from your demonstrator last year - so you will get a whole range of new ideas for using products already in your collection. Or if you haven't already got them, these are products which carried over into the new annual catalogue, so you can still order them.

Here's a screenshot of some of the ideas I have been gathering - thanks to the clever demonstrators who created them for sharing such fun ideas!

We won't necessarily be making all of these cards exactly but they are a great source of inspiration and we will have some lovely variations! There will also be some new Christmas products on display.

So, if that has whetted your appetite, you'd probably like to know some of the details right?

WHERE: ParkLife Church Cafe, 1 Saint John's Road, Wonga Park Victoria (easy to find, off street parking, accessible).

WHEN : Saturday 7th July 2018 from 12 noon until 4pm.   Afternoon tea is quite lavish, so feel free to have just a light lunch or brunch before you come and use some of the time in the afternoon to enjoy a cuppa and refreshments while catching up with your stamping friends in between making cards and Christmas projects.

COST: $40 each - tickets to be purchased via Eventbrite prior to the event. Buy Now.

WHAT TO BRING:  Your basic tool kit - pencil, scissors, adhesive, babywipes, bonefolder, etc named and in your little pencil case. No need to bring large tools.

Any questions?

Contact me on 0418 361 931, or via Facebook Messenger.

 Exploring the Stampin' Up! Colour Families

Hello Again Colour Lovers!

This week the Art With Heart Team Colour Creations Ladies are exploring Basic Gray, one of our long term standard colours. Do you ever use any of the grays in your projects? They are a great neutral if you are looking for something a bit softer than black.

I went for something a bit different this week - I decided to work with our gorgeous new cardmaking kit - Notes of Kindness which is on page 7 of the new Annual Catalogue. This has got to be my favourite Stampin' Up! card kit ever! It's designs and colours are so soft and pretty.

First I made up one of the cards from the kit, exactly according to the instructions.

It's a very pretty simple card just as it is.

Then for a bit of pop, I added a Basic Gray card stock layer to all of the pieces, and stamped a greeting from the Enjoy Life stamp set in Basic Gray ink.  The kit comes with a Basic Black stampin' spot, but I like having a neutral that isn't quite as in your face as black.

Don't you love how those layers make a massive difference to the card?

 If you can't wait to get your hands on the gorgeous kit, or you need to add Basic Gray or Granny Apple Green inkpads to your collection, click on any of the thumbnails below to be taken to my shop.

If you'd like to see what the other Art With Heart ladies created with Basic Gray, you can find the list of links on Cathy's blog here.

Product List

Notes Of Kindness Card Kit [148266] $61.00

Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad [149165] $13.00

Granny Apple Green Stampin' Pad [147095] $13.00

With the new Stampin' Up! annual catalogue and the amazing colour refresh comes the excitement of focusing on what Stampin' Up! are most known for : their fabulous coordinating colours.

This week, along with some of my Art With Heart team stamping buddies, I'm excited to introduce a brand new colour, Balmy Blue.

And I've selected a colour combination using the new updated colour coach to choose for me. Love the combo of Night Of Navy, Balmy Blue and Granny Apple Gree.

I've made a really simple card, featuring a returning stamp set - Daisy Delight and a brand new stamp set, Enjoy Life.

Don't you just love how the Night of Navy is definitely the new black! And how is that pop of Granny Apple Green in the middle of the punched Daisy?

See how on the petals of the punch daisy I have used the new Balmy Blue marker to add a tiny touch of shade. It's great because if you are lighthanded, you don't need a blender pen or aqua painter to give a subtle shade.

As I mentioned earlier, a  few lovely ladies on the Art With Heart Stampin' Up! team are also exploring Balmy Blue today. If you'd like to see their creations, their links are all on my friend Catherine's blog here.

And of you NEED to buy any of these supplies, they are available now on my online shop. Click on any of the thumbnail pictures below to see them and order. 

Product List

Daisy Delight Photopolymer Stamp Set [143669] $30.00	Daisy Punch [143713] $31.00	Enjoy Life Photopolymer Stamp Set [148190] $44.00
Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad [126970] $11.50	Granny Apple Green A4 Cardstock [147014] $14.75	Balmy Blue A4 Cardstock [147007] $14.75

We're planning on coming back about quite regularly to show case one of our favourite Stampin' Up! colours, hope to see you again then, with ink on your fingers!

Kathryn Ruddick

Croydon North VIC