Today the Art With Heart team Colour Creators are showcasing Calypso Coral.

I find Calypso Coral a challenging colour to work with. Not that I don't like it, but its not orange, it's not red, it's not really pink, it's a kind of in between colour. And it's also a strong colour.

To show it off, for the bold colour it is, I have deliberately teamed it with just one other colour, plus the white base card, for a couple of simple projects today.

From page 16 of the Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue, I have selected the Bottled Happiness Bundle, which includes the Bottled Happiness stamp set and Vintage Bottle Punch.

I stamped the leaves with Parakeet Party Ink, then stamped the flowers and bottle with Calypso Coral. The bottle is stamped on a separate piece and punched out, then overlayed on to the card layers.

Card layers are Basic White and Calypso Coral. I was chatting to people on Zoom as I was creating today, so rather than getting out tons of supplies, I just gathered up pieces from my stash that were cut previously, and made them into new designs.

I can't believe I completed two cards while talking to people on Zoom! Just goes to show what you can create with the supplies you have at arms length.

I think these two colours look great with all that crisp white space around them. On a mantlepiece full of cards, this would surely stand out.

If you would like to see what my stamping friends have created using Calypso Coral, please click on the Next rectangle below and you will be taken to the blog of my sweet friend Sharon.

Should the blog hop have a broken link, you can find the full list of participants by going to lovely Cathy's blog here.

Enjoy all this inspiration and creativity and I will see you again soon!

Kathryn Ruddick

(Mansfield Vic.)

Product List

Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad [147101] $14.00	Calypso Coral A4 Card Stock [124392] $16.25	Parakeet Party Classic Stampin' Pad [159208] $14.00
Basic White A4 Thick Cardstock [159230] $15.25	Bottled Happiness Bundle (English) [158690] $67.50	Vintage Bottle Punch [158689] $34.00

It's time for another Social Stampers Blog Hop!

When my friend Kelly said this week's theme would be Share Sunshine, I didn't hesitate to join in! The first thing that pops into my head when I think of sharing sunshine is bright bunches of daisies.  I just love seeing gardens full of daisies with their faces turned to the sun. I am going to have a garden full of daisies one day! 

I really love that we currently have two Daisy stamp sets and two daisy punches in our Stampin' Up! catalogue!

I have left Delightful Daisy on the shelf this time and selected Daisy Lane to use. And I've used a whole mix of retiring, carrying over and NEW products!

I wonder if you can pick them?

For the greetings on my cards I have selected two different ones from the Share Sunshine Product Giveback pdf that Stampin' Up! has produced as a wonderful way to raise money for two charities who are working on the front line of containing and finding a vaccine and cure for Covid19.

100% of the purchase price of the pdf goes to the charities. You can get the pdf here.

Don't forget to decorate the inside of your projects!!! See that sneaky daisy!

For my second card I have used the same daisies stamped in Night of Navy on Whisper White, but this time I have thrown a little curveball into the mix. Can you pick it?

Yes! This time I have used a brand new paper from our demonstrator pre-order for the new catalogue which is coming in June. The gorgeous, delicate Misty Moonlight coloured Designer Series Paper I have used for the front layer on this card is from the Flowers for Every Season Designer Series Paper Stack and is part of the extensive Flowers For Every Season collection.

The fancy fold on this second card is quite easy. I have made dozens of cards with this fold. I haven't included instructions because if you google "Pop & Swing Card" you will find stacks of tutorials and videos.

You can see all the rest of the products I have used by scrolling down toward the bottom of this post. In the meantime, there are LOTS of other bloggers sharing sunshine today and you may find the full list of them at Kelly's post here .

OR you can click on the next box to be taken to Julia's post and follow the full circle.

Product List

Blueberry Bushel A4 Cardstock [146991] $15.25	Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack [144603] $15.50	Perennial Essence Floral Centers [149442] $10.50
Birthday Bonanza Designer Series Paper [151313] $20.00	Daffodil Delight 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Ruched Ribbon [151311] $13.00	Daisy Lane Cling Stamp Set [149325] $40.00
Crumb Cake A4 Card Stock [121685] $15.25	Night Of Navy A4 Card Stock [106577] $15.25	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] $17.00
Stitched So Sweetly Dies [151690] $56.00	Daisy Punch [143713] $31.00	Medium Daisy Punch [149517] $28.00

Simple Cardmaking Ideas

The Tailored Tag punch makes it simple to create a very eye-catching Quilt Pattern design on your Christmas cards using Designer Series Paper - in this case, Under The Mistletoe DSP from the Stampin' Up! annual catalogue.

And what's more - you can punch out dozens of the elongated hexagons in a very short time, so it's perfect for your Christmas card production line.

This first photo shows the fun I had coming up with a design for our Christmas in July class. It got better!

I loved making the samples using the new Designer Series Paper, but when it came to prepping for the actual event, because of the timing of the event vs when the new catalogue started, vs me coming back from Italy and then going to Alaska . . . I decided to use up a heap of This Christmas DSP that was already in my stash from last year! It meant changing from Real Red to Cherry Cobbler, and from Shaded Spruce to Garden Green, but I think the design still works just as well.

At the event we had several card making stations, so for each of the projects I prepared a 12"x 12" board with some basic instructions to help less experienced people get through.

It was also a great opportunity to use up heaps of that excess Cherry Cobbler ribbon I seem to have accumulated, and to use those beautiful wooden snowflakes which I was storing for "one of these days".

I'm certain all of us have Christmas paper, ribbon and embellishments in our stash that need to be used up not hoarded?

If you go ahead and make some cards like these ones, I would love to see them!

Product List

Tailored Tag Punch [145667] $31.00

Under The Mistletoe Designer Series Paper [146921] $19.25

Under The Mistletoe A4 Cardstock Pack [146923] $14.75

I'm delighted this evening to share a happy, happy blog hop with lots of stamping friends, brought together by our inspiring creative friend Kelly Kent from WA, who celebrated her 5th Stampin' Anniversary in May and wanted to send around some cheer and brightness to celebrate.

It's so nice to just create some really cheerful bright cards to counter this grey, murky Melbourne weather. I have a favourite stamp set for making bright cheery cards, it's a Go To stamp set for me and I'm so glad it is carrying over into our new Annual Catalogue!

Did you guess it is Flower Shop Stamp Set and the matching Pansy Punch?

Ive teamed it with greetings from Best Birds stamp set, Birthday Blooms stamp set and Suite Sayings. And a background stamp from Best Birds and my favourite leaf stamp from Kinda Eclectic, which is sadly retiring with the old catalogue and won't be available to purchase after today 😥

And I've loved using a mix of old and new colours. Did you notice on the 1st card I've used Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive and Calypso Coral, and on the second card I've used the new Lemon Lime Twist, Tranquil Tide and Berry Burst.

The highlights on the first and third black and white cards are Lemon Lime Twist, and the second card features Berry Burst.

These three cheery cards feature some favourite bright colours - Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo and Dapper Denim, and I pulled some rather old Washi Tape out of my collection to try to use up.

Then I pulled an old favourite layout out - this is one I use in EVERY beginner stamping class, because it's so easy but so wow factor, and again mixed old with new colours.

I really love how many different looks you can achieve with the Flower Shop stamp set and Pansy Punch!

Next you are off to Valerie's Blog - click on the "Next" picture to see it! Enjoy the blog hop!

In case there is a broken link, you can come back to this list :

1. Kelly Kent - http://mypapercraftjourney.com/2017/05/31/stamping-with-friends-celebrating-5-years-part-two/
2. Billie Moan - http://ramblingrosestudio.com/kellys-stamping-friends-2/
3. Rochelle Blok - http://rochelleblok.blogspot.com/2017/05/kellys-stamping-friends-blog-hop.html
4. Kayla Renee MacAulay - http://www.stampinwithkayla.com/2017/05/tickled-pink-for-you-kellys-stamping.html
5. Jacqui Crouch - http://crouchingdoggraphics.com.au/2017/05/31/celebrating-kellys-5-years-of-stampinup
6. Tina Gillespie http://scissorspapercard.blogspot.com/2017/05/kellys-happy-blog-hop.html
7. Kathryn Ruddick http://www.katlodesigns.com/stamping_with_kathryn_low/2017/05/kellys-friends.html
8. Valerie Moody - http://www.stampingwithval.com/2017/05/31/happy-anniversary-kelly/
9. Jo Weedon- http://joweedon.blogspot.com.au/2017/05/happy-5th-birthday-kelly.html
10. Danielle Bennenk http://wp.me/p7kGAo-Dc
11. Nikki Spencer http://nikkispencer-mysandbox.blogspot.com/2017/05/kellys-stamping-friends-blog-hop.html
12. Sylvia Verhulst-Batenburg http://mijnfreubelhoekie.nl/2017/05/31/kellys-stamping-friends-blog-hop/
13. Richelle Fletcher - https://stampingwithrichelle.blogspot.com.au/2017/05/kellys-stamping-friends-blog-hop.html
14. Chloe Evans - http://chloscraftcloset.blogspot.com/2017/05/kellys-stamping-friends-blog-hop-happy.html
15. Rachael Lewsley - http://www.mystampinhaven.com.au/kellys-stampin-friends-blog-hop/
16. Lou Kitzelman - http://withabowontopbylou.blogspot.com/2017/05/kellys-stamping-friends-blog-hop.html
17. Courtenay Heuston - http://bagsthatone.blogspot.com.au/2017/05/kellys-stampin-friends-blog-hop.html
18. Denita Wright-Smee - http://denitawright.blogspot.com.au/2017/05/kellys-stamping-friends-blog-hop.html
19. Christine Blain: http://christineblain.blogspot.com/2017/05/kellys-stamping-friends-blog-hop.html
20. Martha Groeger: https://www.cookiescraftco.de/2017/06/01/kelly-s-stamping-friends-blog-hop-celebrating-5-years/
21. Patrice Easton: http://springblossommusings.blogspot.com/2017/05/kellys-stamping-friends-blog-hop.html
22. Sandra Collett: http://sanzstamps.blogspot.com/2017/05/kellys-stamping-friends-blog-hop.html
23.  Cheryl O'Bree - http://nyobre.blogspot.com.au/2017/05/stampin-friends-blog-hop.html

Hey there!

How are you going? If you are like me in Melbourne today, you are probably rugged up inside with the heating cranked up, two jackets and a beanie on, as well as thick socks and slippers, and I'm still freezing!!

Terrific weather for stamping - if you can get your frozen fingers to work!

I have had a busy month or so in the lead up to our Stamping Retreat last weekend, so I'm pleased to be finally back with another Making Merry Monday post.

This past week or so, a customer has been asking me all about the Envelope Punch Board. It's a great tool, and you don't just make envelopes with it!

Apart from making SIXTY SIX different size envelopes, did you know you could also make Christmas Bon Bons with the Envelope Punch Board?

You can make them in various different sizes, and we always have some on display at our Christmas in July events that are coming up soon. If the bon bon in this photo looks familiar to you - I made this one in December 2013 when I was in Tasmania with my sister after a tragic accident took the life of her partner. The funeral was only a few days before Christmas, and we took some time out to make some thank you cards for the well-wishers, and I was asked to show them how to make the bon bon.

Did you notice the matching card has the punched out pieces (the leftover scraps) from the envelope punch board, arranged as Christmas baubles? So clever!

That year we also used the Envelope Punch Board to create cute little snow-men gifts / placeholders.

See how the indent punch from the punch board shapes the snowman's neck as well as the hat? And the leftover pieces have become his big happy smile.

These hold one Ferrero Rocher each - a very cute treat to decorate your Christmas in July table!

I'm so pleased after all these years that Stampin' Up! still has the Envelope Punch Board in their range and carrying over into the new annual catalogue.

BUT . . . did you know . . .

We also have two other punch boards and one of those is retiring and won't be available after Wednesday when the current catalogue finishes.

That's right, the Gift Box Punch Board, which makes boxes up to 4" square will no longer be available after this Wednesday, 31st May.

You can see it, plus all the other retiring products in my online store here.

We are really coming to the end of a great annual catalogue now - just a couple more days to go and some of my favourite stamping items will no longer be available. If you have been sitting on the fence holding off from buying something that's retiring, please don't be the person to email me on Thursday and ask me if you can order one of these or one of those? Or a Gift Box Punch Board. If they are not sold out before, their item code will be switched off at midnight on Wednesday and they will be gone forever.

Check the retiring list here to make sure you don't miss any favourites.

I'll be back with a reminder on Wednesday for those who are happy to order online.

R.S.V.P. to 0418 361 931

or email [email protected]

A Holiday Catalogue Blog Hop with ESAD

Today I am celebrating the Stampin' Up! 2015 Holiday Catalogue with some of my ESAD friends and we welcome you whether you are starting here at my blog, or have come to me by following the blog hop links, with the last stop being Rochelle Blok.

If you started right at the start of the blog hop, you are about half way thru already. If you'd like to join in and see what other demonstrators have created, there is a next button at the bottom of each post to take you to the next lot of creative projects.

You've probably seen a LOT of Christmas projects by now, so I thought I would do something different today.

About a month before a new catalogue comes out, demonstrators are able to purchase items from it on pre-order so we can make samples etc to show you prior to the catalogue going live for customers. One of the things that many teams do is product shares, so that we can get lots of samples of things like the new papers/ribbons/embellishments without having to win tattslotto to pay for it.

I love participating in these product shares as it's a great way to get just enough of all the papers and ribbons to have a bit of a play with them and see which ones you just need to have full packs of. However, this year we had a funny bit of a conversation about what on earth are we going to do with that really ugly Into The Woods Designer Series Paper, apart from file it in the round filing basket.

Because I can never bear to throw anything out, I decided to challenge my team on our team forum to create something really cute with it just so that we are using it up instead of keeping it in our stash for that rainy day that never eventuates.

My team girls came up with some really cute projects and made the most of this difficult paper and so when I was planning for this blog hop, I decided to focus on the paper too - along with our other difficult to use paper Happy Haunting Designer Series Paper which has gorgeous Tangelo Twist and Basic Black colour scheme, but Halloween patterns which we really don't do a lot of.

So what did I create?

Lately I have been making stacks of cute little bird cards - and since the cards are Note size, they go beautifully in these gorgeous bags which were inspired by Caroline Hallett in the UK - here's the link for her video for these bags.

There's four cards and envelopes in each bag - one set is done with Whisper White to link with the patterned paper, the other set is done in Very Vanilla.

Another new product I have used here which has been very popular is the Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. I have brayered the inside of the folder with Perfect Plum ink to get the shadow between the trees.

On the second lot of cards, I brayered the inside of the same folder with Sahara Sand. It's so soft on the Very Vanilla card base.

Here's a close up of each bag.

Aren't they just the cutest things!

But that's enough from me - I should send you on your way to visit the other ESAD girls.  And in case you have just joined us here and are wondering what is ESAD??

ESAD stands for "Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators" and is a facebook group just for Australian and New Zealand Independent Stampin' Up! demonstrators.

We love what we do & love to share with our customers, friends and blog visitors. We also share what we love in our ESAD Demonstrator community, through swaps, challenges, sharing knowledge, ideas & friendship and we're always there to help and support each other.

So if you are a Stampin' Up! demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand then please feel free to leave me a comment with your email address then I'll contact you with information on how to join our group.

The next blog on the blog hop belongs to Monique Fielder. Click on the next button to go there.

Don't forget to leave a comment below, and if you do get lost, here are all the links in the blog hop so you can come back and try to find your way.

1. Libby Dyson

2. Paula Reid

3. Keryn Campbell

4. Carly Middleton

5. Rachael Lewsley

6. Narelle Fasulo

7. Emily Campbell

8. Emma Palonek

9. Jo Weedon

10. Rebecca Scurr

11. Andrea Buckland

12. Rochelle Blok

13. Kathryn Ruddick

14. Monique Fielder

15. Bernie Collins

16. Liv Ingle

17. Sally Williams

18. Ria Kaire

19. Delys Cram

20. Jessica Williams

21. Lou Kitzelman

22. Barbara Williams

23. Kelly Kent

24.  Jenny Hayward

This week is my Stamp Club night - it's normally the third Thursday night of each month, and it's a night I really look forward to each month.

The Stamp Club ladies have become firm friends, and I really love planning special projects just for them each month.

Last month we were really getting into kicking off our Christmas crafting (you know how close it's getting, right??) and so we started with a really busy Stamp Club night, where I confess I cracked the whip a bit, getting them to make THREE Christmas Gift Tags and FIVE cards each!

We used the Festival of Trees stamp set and punch bundle from Stampin' Up! and then mixed it up a bit with a new set called Lots of Joy which has some some really nice greeting stamps in it, as you can see from the photo.

We also enjoyed adding in the star elements using the Confetti Stars Border Punch and a small star punch.

I have a couple of spare seats in my Thursday night stamp club, so if you are interested to find out more about it, please give me a "Hoy" either by emailing [email protected], phoning or texting me on 0418 361 931 or leaving a comment below in the comments box.

We had such a busy month in July with our Christmas in July event and trying to kick the Christmas crafting into gear, that I still have a couple more projects I haven't shown you close up!

This first one is such a fun gift!

In the basket is a stack of Chocolate Sliders.  What is a chocolate slider? Well, essentially it's a cute cover with a bow attached that you pull, to slide the chocolate out from the cover. It's a really cool way of giving someone what is in essence, a really simple gift, but it's been personalised in a really special way for them.

I don't have a template for this, because each time I have made chocolate sliders, I have purchased the chocolate block first, then made a new template in the matching size - in other words, I get out a steel ruler and make the cover from scratch each time depending on the size of the block.

Can you see that the snowman on the Soft Sky chocolate slider (and the coordinating card in the background) is made entirely from different Stampin' Up! punches?

The 1" square for the hat, the Word Window for the hat brim, a circle punch for his head, two scallop circles for his body, the Tree Builder punch for his arms and the hearts on his chest.

The Santa's body Chocolate Slider uses a circle punch and the 1" square punch too.

Let me know if you'd like to attend a class to make these. They are such fun to make, and to give as gifts, I'd be happy to schedule a class to teach you how.

Related articles

Christmas in July - Blog Hop

Christmas in July Event

Awesomely Artistic - ESAD Blog Hop

Last year I particpated in a 12 month Mystery Box Swap where we worked on a set range of projects, to our own theme, over the whole year and at the end of the year, exchanged them with another stamper.

My theme was Black and White, and one of the projects towards the end of the year was gift tags. I never did get around to showing off my tags, because by the time the projects were exchanged, the 2014 Holiday Catalogue had finished and the gorgeous stamp set Festival of Trees and co-ordinating Tree Punch were no longer available to purchase.

But, NEW Annual Catalogue, and which lovely bundle of products has re-appeared?

Yes, that's right! The Festival of Trees Stamp Set and matching Tree Punch!

And yes, these are the three tags I completed for the Mystery Box Swap.

When I was planning for my team's Christmas in July event last month, I remembered that some of my lovely stamp club ladies had asked if we could do tags like these, so with the new catalogue in hand, and a list of replacement product options for the Designer Series Paper and the fabulous Banner Bigz L Die which were no longer available to purchase through Stampin' Up!, I sat down and created three more tags that the ladies could create as a Make & Take project at our fantastic event.

Without the Banners Die, the shape was going to be different, and I decided to go with the awesome Tag Topper punches, the Scallop Tag Topper and Ornate Tag Topper which meant the tags were also much smaller. I wanted to keep the overall design simpler because there were so many projects for the ladies to create at the Christmas in July event, that these needed to be easy to make.

So I eliminated the extra banner shape layer and also the stamped greeting. I love how striking they are with the Cherry Cobbler, Black and silver colour combo.

Shortly after this (before I had finished packing away all the equipment and materials from that event), I promised to put in an entry for a colour challenge on one of our demonstrator forums. The colours were Island Indigo, Old Olive and Silver and the sample card was Christmas themed.

Right away I thought of recreating these tags again, but with a new colour combo. This was fun, and I just love how they came up.

Did you know that the Festival of Trees Stamp Set and the Tree Punch are still available as a "Bundle and Save 15%" item in the Annual Catalogue? In fact there are 35 stamp sets available in 65 Bundle options in the Annual catalogue, where you save 15% by purchasing the coordinating items together. That is totally awesome!

I will be featuring lots of these bundles during August, so click on the subscibe button at the top of my blog page to enter your email address to make sure you don't miss out on seeing any of these bundles in action!

Related articles

Christmas in July Event

Christmas in July - Blog Hop

Awesomely Artistic - ESAD Blog Hop