Welcome to A Spot of Stamping

Infinity or Never ending Card

Have you heard of Infinity, or Never ending cards?  

At my class last month I taught this one using the Gingham Gala suite from Stampin' Up!.  We also used the Botanical Butterfly Designer Series Paper which you can earn free with Sale-A-Bration until the 31st March.

The measurements I used came from a Splitcoast Stampers tutorial but I changed them to suit what I needed as they were in imperial measurements. 

After teaching the class, I also created a video showing you how I made this fun card.  Check it out below

 

The second project we made used the Emboss Resist technique.  We heat embossed the butterflies from the Butterfly Gala stamp set with white embossing powder and then sponged the ink over the top.  

My samples were Lemon-Lime Twist fading into Daffodil Delight and Highland Heather fading into Coastal Cabana.  The photos are a little over exposed and you can't see how pretty they were.  During the class we had some Highland Heather into Pear Pizzazz, Balmy Blue into Grapefruit Grove and Balmy Blue into Daffodil Delight and they looked awesome.

 

This month we'll be making a sympathy card using the Lasting Lily from Sale-A-Bration and a masculine card using the Classic Garage suite.  Feel free to join us - see the Upcoming Classes page here on my website, or the Events page on my Facebook Page for details.

It was my Mum's birthday this week.  I couldn't decide which way around I wanted to colour my flowers so I made two cards and will keep the other for my sample board.

I used Stampin' Blends (alcohol markers) to colour the images.  I do enjoy using these markers, they colour so beautifully and smooth and I find they blend nicely for some shading.  

The pink foil is the Lovely Lipstick foil which is one of the free offerings in the Sale-A-Bration catalogue when you spend $110.  

The stamp set is one of the new cling stamps from the Occasions Catalogue (pg 11) called Wonderful Romance and it is part of a beautiful suite called Floral Romance.  Whilst I haven't used them on this card there is a set of framelits that coordinate with it too.  

Have you noticed that whilst I have used the stamp to stamp and colour the main image, I have also used it to create a subtle embossed look to the card base using VersaMark ink?  This technique is easy to do and adds to the overall effect of your finished card.

Talk to me about how you can purchase this set and get the free Lovely Lipstick foil.  

Supplies:

Cardstock: Soft Sea Foam, Whisper White, Lovely Lipstick Foil

Stamps: Wonderful Romance, Picture Perfect Birthday (sentiment)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Lovely Lipstick, VersaMark

Blends: Granny Apple Green, Balmy Blue, Lovely Lipstick

This week is my Nephew's birthday.  Both he and his brother play cricket so I got some punches out to make his birthday card.

To make this card I sponged the sky with a sponge and Balmy Blue ink.  The trick is to place your cardstock on some scrap paper and start sponging on the scrap first, then work your way in circles onto the cardstock.  Each time you reink your sponge start off the edge again.  

The wickets, ball and balloon I punched with punches.  I did use some retired punches - the Owl punch for the ball, and the Word Window (narrowed down) for the wickets.  You could easily use the Classic Label instead.  Sadly the Little Numbers dies are also retired but they were just the size I needed.  

The Take Your Pick Tool was invaluable for picking up those tiny little pieces - the top of the wickets particularly - and securing them into place.

Check out the list below for a full list of the supplies used.

Supplies:

Cardstock: Whisper White, Granny Apple Green, Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler

Ink: Balmy Blue, Granny Apple Green (sentiment), Smoky Slate (string of balloon), White pen

Punches: Balloon Bouquet, Retired: Owl Builder, Word Window

Dies: Little Numbers Thinlits (retired)

Stamps: Tabs for Everything (sentiment on balloon), Balloon Celebration (balloon string)

Sale-A-Bration is Here!

Well I see I've been very slack in updating this blog. Not so with my Facebook Page and my Newsletters, but I resolve to be better this year at keeping this updated too.  

Now is the best time of the Stampin' Up! year.  Why?  It's Sale-A-Bration time. Sale-A-Bration is a promotion that runs from 3rd January to 31st March.  During that time there are some amazing deals to be had. Keep reading to find out more. 

There are three parts to Sale-A-Bration.  

The first is SHOP.  Every time you place an order during the Sale-A-Bration period that is over $110 (before shipping & handling) you may choose one free product from the Sale-A-Bration catalogue.  Spend $220 and you'll earn one free product of a higher value or TWO of the lesser.  The rewards are compounding so the more you spend, the more rewards you earn.  

The second is HOST.  Get even more for free when you host a qualifying party during Sale-A-Bration.  On top of the usual rewards for hosting a workshop, during the Sale-A-Bration period you can earn an extra $45 of rewards.  These rewards may be spent on anything you choose in any of the current catalogues, or they may be put towards your Starter Kit to become a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

The third is JOIN.  Sale-A-Bration is all about MORE:  more free, more rewards, more fun!  When you join as a Demonstrator during Sale-A-Bration, you get two Starter Kit options to choose from.  

Option 1:  Get $375 worth of Stampin' Up! products of your choice and pay only $189.  That's an extra $90 more than usual.

Option 2: Get $375 worth of Stampin' Up! products of your choice + the exclusive Craft & Carry Tote (valued at $105).  That's $480 worth of value and you'll pay only $240.

To view the new Occasions Catalogue click here.  To see some of these brand new products, check out this fun video by Stampin' Up!

Here are a couple of projects from the Catalogue that I really love - what do you think?

Of course there are some things from the Holiday Catalogue that we just can't say goodbye to yet.  Click Here to see the list.

Fathers Day cuteness

Father's Day is the beginning of September here in New Zealand but we had a delayed celebration for my Dad.  His favourite colour is green so I used a new colour called Shaded Spruce and one of my favourite new stamp sets called Postcard Pals.

This set is perfect for colouring with Stampin' Blends (alcohol markers) as I have done here.  I've also used the bottlecap die from the Bottles & Bubbles Framelits dies to create a masculine embellishment with the word 'Dad'.  

For my Father-in-law's card I actually used a Christmas set from the new Holiday Catalogue called So Santa.  By colouring it in non-Christmas colours and covering up the holly on his hat, he doesn't look like Santa.  That makes this set a whole lot more versatile for me.

I'll be looking forward to colouring him in Christmas colours to make him a Santa again soon.  

Supplies:
First card
Cardstock: Shaded Spruce, Whisper White, Woodgrain DSP
Stamps: Postcard Pals, Pick A Pennant 
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Whisper White Craft, Stampin' Blends (various)
Dies: Celebrate You Thinlits, Bottles & Bubbles Framelits, Layering Circles

Second card
Cardstock: Blueberry Bushel, Whisper White, Best Route DSP
Stamps: So Santa, Thoughtful Banners. 
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Blueberry Bushel, Stampin' Blends (various)