Black Ice Technique and Falling Flowers

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Today I am sharing the  Black Ice Technique – it gives such a unique focal point to a card.  It uses the foil card, I used the Champagne Foil  but  to be honest it was hard to stop making them and it works perfectly on the Silver, Gold and Copper Foils as well.

I think you could use any stamp set for this technique ~ I chose Falling Flowers Stamp Set

Oh! and I am so glad that Stampin’ UP! are bringing back  Black Stazon – because this is a solvent based ink it dries very quickly allowing you to complete the technique so much quicker. 🙂 Continue reading →

Fond Farewell – Tempting Turquoise

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Today’s card is a fond farewell to one of the retiring colors from the SU family and the 1/8 silver ribbon. I love this bright and cheerful color – it always reminds me of summer!  I have to say I will miss the 1/8 silver ribbon – it was one of my ‘go to’s when I wanted a little bling on my card.

I have used the Flourishing Phrases Stamp Set which has the lovely swirly stem of flowers as well as that cheeky little ‘Hello’ that could work for almost any occasion. Continue reading →

Multi-layered Cards ~ Pick a Pattern DSP

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Last week I was ‘letting my fingers do the walking’ (showing my age quoting the old Yellow Pages advert!) and came across a post from Pootles, a UK demonstrator.  She had taken some Designer Series Paper and cut it up to create a number of very pretty layered cards.  The idea appealed to me very much – but instead of cutting up my DSP I used the scraps that were left over from previous projects. As a result I made about 2 dozen cards in total and although they followed the same formula every single one is different.

I set myself a couple of rules, the layering pieces of card must be the same color as the card base and each card needed to have 3 pieces of DSP.
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Mastering Ribbon # 2 ~ Quick and Easy Coloring

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Stampin’ UP! has the most amazing selection of ribbons and trims ranging from twine  up to 1/2 inch wide and the selection of textures and colors that coordinate with other products makes it so easy to decorate cards and other paper crafting projects.  But sometimes you need a color or width that is not available, but all is not lost – in this post I am sharing how you can have ribbon in any of the colors in the Stampin’ UP! families. Continue reading →

The Perks of Being a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator

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Oh I do love being a demonstrator, where else could I spend time playing with paper, ink and stamps, enjoying a 20 – 25% discount on all my supplies and still be able to tell people I am going to work!  I have met folks, made friendships and visited places that always bring back happy memories and stay in my heart.  It also gives me a chance to get my hands on new Stampin’ UP! goodies ahead of the official launch.

When I was at OnStage at the begining of April, (our biannual conference) everyone got an advance  copy of the brand new Annual Catalog , which is now well thumbed,  and  we were able to purchase a selection of items early ahead of the June full release.  As a demo  I got to shop from the whole Share What You Love suite. And so could you, starting today!

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Share What You Love ~ Limited Time Bundles

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Stampin’ Up! have a new annual catalog coming out on June 1st – but they are giving us the wonderful opportunity to buy the Share What You Love Suite ahead of time.  They are offering the most wonderful bundles – ranging from “Just getting Started’ to ‘Gotta have it All’

Each bundle has FREE stuff and are only available from May 1st thru 31st.  After that the individual products will be available but no FREE stuff – so you don’t want to miss out! Continue reading →

Lovely Wishes~Ink and Share Blog Hop

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Today I am thrilled to be taking part  in the Ink & Share blog hop again.  You will have arrived from Linda Handford’s post.   This month’s theme is anything from the Occasions Catalog ~ and I have chosen Lovely Wishes because I just love the  swirls and the organic ‘feel’ of the images, looking at my card I kinda have a ying-yang thing going on here.  The stamp set also has some greetings  so meets my goal of using just one stamp set for each project .  Continue reading →

Touches of Texture Sympathy Card

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Sympathy cards are some of the hardest cards to  make and send – because it recognizes sadness.  But they can also bring comfort to the person on the recieving end as well as for the sender of the card – that they have acknowledged the loss of a loved one and the sorrow they are experiencing.

Today I chose to use the Touches of Texture Stamp set, because I just love the ‘cornflower’ image and the ‘scattered dots’ stamp within in the set. Continue reading →

Sweet and Simple ~ Truly Tailored

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Today’s card is another in my Sweet and Simple series where I have set myself a little challenge using a small amount of equipment and supplies – kind of like one of those cookery shows where you are given 3 or 4 ingredients and you have to turn it into a spectacular 4 course meal!

Well today’s specatular card also bids a fond farewell to Emerald Envy – about to retire at the end of May.

I chose the Truly Tailored Stamp Set from the Occasions Catalog – perfect for guy type cards, birthday as well as for Father’s Day coming in June. Continue reading →

Good Day Baby Card

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Ooppss………………. I did it again!  A new baby arrived in the neighborhood and I STILL don’t have any new baby stamp sets!  So once again I have improvised and found a couple of really cute images in the Good Day stamp set that fit the occasion perfectly….. and coupled with the Balloon Bouquet punch I feel happy with the result. Continue reading →