Christmas blessings to you & yours

 

On this most special of days, I'd like to send Christmas blessings & the happiest of wishes for 2013 to all my wonderful family & friends, stamping lovelies, customers, blog & fb page customers, Stampin' Up staff & anyone else I've forgotten.

Thanks very much for your love, encouragement & support this year & always. Looking forward to sharing more with you soon.

Inky wishes, Di

PS: In case you're wondering, my Christmas flower wreath is based on one shared by amazing SU Trainer, Sophie Zadeh at the Heartfelt stamping events this year. I'll provide more info about it next time.
Now, back to the Christmas fun!

Ornament Keepsakes Christmas SAS

So many Christmas projects to share, so little time. Today I'm sharing cards from my Ornament Keepsakes Christmas stamp-a-stack (SAS) on 13 October. The Ornament Keepsakes set & matching dies were my absolute MUST from the Holiday Catalogue.
First up, a clean & simple favourite in midnight muse, baja breeze & white; love this colour combination. I showed my  ladies 3 versions of this card - super simple to stepped up. This class card was version 2 - quick & easy, with some extra popped & pearly details.

Version 1  was super quick - only 2 layers - the base & stamped piece - no popped images.

 

For version 3, I popped all the ornaments, added more pearly bling & a pierced sentiment panel. I had also thought of embossing the background, but decided to leave it clean.

 Apologies for the colour - I've photographed these cards 4 times now & just can't get them looking as crisp & bright as in irl.

Ornament Keepsakes Gatefold

Regular visitors know I love using different folds, however, I normally stick to regular folds for my SAS cards, since they're all about simple & quick. This changed when I got my Simply Scored & metric plate & discovered how super quick & easy they are to make. We made 2 each of these cards....as I couldn't decide which colours I liked best....oh & the green class version included more beautiful olive Candlelight Specialty DSP, but I only had a pic with my sample card. I've included some gatefold instructions below too.

Bauble Tip - Are you wondering how I made the tiny baubles? I punched out part of a bauble image using the circle from the itty bitty punch pack. You can get all sorts of cool patterns depending on where you punch.

2 gate-fold cards - using Simply Scored & metric plate.
1 Place A4 sheet lengthways (portrait) down sheet
2. Score on 5.25cm line, down full length of card.
3. Turn card 180 degrees & score again at 5.25cm
     You will then have 2 score lines 5.25cm in from each side.
4. Using paper trimmer, cut A4 sheet in half (14.8cm),as when making 2 regular cards.
5. Fold in each side panel towards the centre front & flatten score lines for a perfect gatefold base.

Well I need to keep moving, so I'll say bye for now. I'll be back with more Christmas goodies soon.
Inky wishes, Di

Supplies
Blue Baubles
Stamps: Ornament Keepsakes, Greetings of the Season (Holiday Catalogue)
Card/Paper: midnight muse, baja breeze, whisper white card
Ink: midnight muse & baja breeze ink pad, baja breeze marker
Accessories: basic pearls
Tools: Big Shot, Holiday Ornaments Framelits dies, 3/4 inch circle punch 

Gatefold baubles 
Stamps: Ornament Keepsakes, More Merry Messages
Card/Paper: old olive, real red, very vanilla card, Candlelight Specialty DSP 
Ink: real red, old olive, ink pads & markers
Accessories: basic rhinestones
Tools: Simply Scored & metric plate, Big Shot, Holiday Ornaments Framelits dies, itty bitty punch pack, 1 inch circle punch

Clearance Rack is here!

Great news for those "wish I'd gotten that" moments! Over the next month, Stampin' Up are temporarily taking over a hundred products out of retirement with discounts up to 70% off – while supplies last. There will be a different groups of products available each week, for the next month.  
This week, you'll see lots of Christmas stamp sets at ridiculous prices, some great retired colours & a retired style stamp pad or 3, markers & lots of accessories. All clearance rack items were retired from the 2011-12 Idea Book & Catalogue, which you can view on the Clearance Rack page, if you don't have a paper copy.

 See what's available each week

Download & Save Clearance Rack documents

week 1 - 14 to 20 December

week 2    21 Dec - 3 January

week 3 - 4 to 10 January

week 4 - 11 to 21 January

Since it's such a busy time for everyone, you can place your clearance rack order for the whole month of specials with me now & I'll process them as the specials become available, or you can let me know each week. Either way is fine! I'll be placing my first order tonight, so let me know today if you'd like anything ASAP.

Note: shipping & handling on each week's order will be $5.95 minimum, or 5% of the total for orders over $120. I will combine orders being shipped to me, to reduce postage costs where possible.

Any questions about Clearance rack or anything else, just give me a call.
Inky wishes, Di

Scentsational Season - Christmas SAS 1

With only 2 weeks until Christmas, it's well & truly time to share some Christmas ideas with you.
Today's cards are from my first Christmas Stamp a Stack  (SAS) class on September 15th. This was our first chance to play with the Scentsational Season stamp set & matching Holiday Collection framelits dies (Holiday Catalogue), plus a few more new goodies. My lovely ladies made 8 cards, 4 each of 2 designs - good start for their Christmas cards list. First up, a pair of cute gingerbread guys.

The soft suede gingerbread were cut with a matching framelit (yay -no scissors!). The gorgeous swirly cherry cobbler coloured background is the new Lacy Brocade embossing folder (Holiday Catalogue). The sentiment is a new fave from the More Merry Messages set. Here's a close look at the gingies, so you can see their little eyes & buttons, made using the eyeballs from the owl punch & attached with two way glue. You can also see the pierced circle (Essentials piercing template).

Next up,  a Christmas tree version in gumball green.

We varied the layout a bit by adding a banner tail & delicate doily border behind the circles & changed the DSP to another print from the 'Be of Good Cheer' pack. Here's a close up of the tree to show a bit more detail.

The star is punched with the star punch from the merry mini's punch set, which matches the star in Scentsational season. There is a star die in the framelits set, but using the punch made it a little quicker for all the ladies. This was also my first outing with our new style ink pads & I'm so happy with how fantastic the solid tree image stamped on the vanilla card. Oh, I also coloured the tree trunk with a choc chip marker.
While these were the 2 class cards, I made a couple of others to show other variations....which some of the ladies decided they wanted to make. For this one, I used the candy canes.

 

This final card was a result of me playing with some of the scraps on my desk after the first 3.

Thanks for visiting. Hope you liked these projects. Leave a comment oif you have any q's or just want to say hi. I'll be back with more Christmassy projects soon.
Ink wishes, Di

PS: If you're wondering what a Stamp a Stack  (SAS) is, it's a class where we make mostly quick & easy cards, that are easily duplicated, generally with just stamps & ink (& maybe some quick extra bling), so that we can make lots in time we usually make two. Perfect for Christmas, where you need lots of cards & time is short.


Supplies
Gingerbread
Stamps: Scentsational Season (Holiday Catalogue), More Merry Messages
Card/Paper: cherry cobbler, riding hood red, very vanilla card, Be of Good Cheer DSP
Ink: soft suede, early espresso ink pads
Tools: Big Shot, Holiday Collection Framelits, Lacy Brocade embossing folder, Circles #2 die (largest circle), 1 3/4 inch circle punch, owl punch, Essentials piercing pack, piercing tool & mat 
Tree
Stamps: Scentsational Season, More Merry Messages
Card/Paper: gumball green, cherry cobbler, very vanilla card, Be of Good Cheer DSP
Ink: gumball green, cherry cobbler, early espresso ink pads
Accessories: basic rhinestone
Tools: Big Shot, Holiday Collection Framelits, Circles #2 die (largest 2 circles), Delicate Doilies sizzlit,owl punch, square punch, merry minis punch pack (star), or star from framelit.
 Candy Canes
Stamps: Scentsational Season, More Merry Messages
Card/Paper: cherry cobbler, riding hood red, very vanilla card, Be of Good Cheer DSP
Ink: cherry cobbler, early espresso ink pads
Tools: Big Shot, Holiday Collection Framelits, Lacy Brocade embossing folder, Circles #2 die (largest circle), 1 3/4 inch circle punch, owl punch, Essentials piercing pack, piercing tool & mat
 Cane medallion
Stamps: Scentsational Season, More Merry Messages
Card/Paper: gumball green, cherry cobbler, very vanilla card, Be of Good Cheer DSP
Ink: cherry cobbler, early espresso ink pads
Tools: Big Shot, Holiday Collection Framelits, Circles #2 die (largest 2 circles), Delicate Doilies sizzlit,owl punch, Essentials piercing pack, piercing tool & mat, square punch

Owl for the boys

I'm back again with the second card from my Father's Day/Masculine card class...

My owlie card was adapted from this cute owlie Christmas card by First Hand Emotion. To create rustic tree background, I roughly inked up the new woodgrain embossing folder (Holiday Catalogue) directly with a soft suede ink pad, before putting the fold through the Big Shot with soft suede card. It really made the ridges stand out. Then, I created a torn frame in the embossed panel for owlie to peek through. The leaves were cut with the 'Little Leaves' sizzlit & I added texture with my stylus & piercing mat.
You can see more detail in this pic....inlcuding the cute googlie eyes (Holiday Catalogue).

 

Today's Tips
- For a more even look when inking embossing folders, use a brayer to roll the ink.
- Check out this fab torn frame tutorial by Sharnee Torrents if you'd like to learn more about this technique.

I think that's all I wanted to cover, but if you have any q's, just leave me a comment.
Thanks very much for visiting. Hope to see you here again soon.
Inky wishes, Di

Supplies
Stamps: Best Dad Ever
Card/Paper:  early espresso, more mustard, soft suede, crumb cake, old olive, naturals ivory card, Patterns DSP (Regals)
Ink: early espresso, soft suede ink pads
Accessories: cajun craze brad (Regals), googlie eyes
Tools: Big Shot, Woodgrain embossing folder, Little Leaves sizzlit, owl punch, square punch

Up Up & Away for the boys

Today's projects are especially for the boys - from my Father's Day/Masculine class at the end of August ( I know - bad blogger!). First up, a card using 'Up Up & Away' & some new colours (at that time) - midnight muse & gumball green, teamed with baja breeze on a crumb cake base.

 

A bit more about the card - I've been quite obsessed with tails or flag-ends, banners or whatever else they're called for a while & thought they'd be good for to add a bit of extra interest here. I popped the balloons & happy birthday panel are popped on dimensionals. I stamped some clouds & birds (trust me - the original has birds. Must have forgot to put them on this one). Speaking of the original card - I made it first with the similar colour combo of night of navy, wild wasabi & bashful blue, but decided to give the new in-colours (& new style ink pads) a  whirl for the class version.
Looking back at the card, it could be very easily changed for a girl...or anyone with a colour change....& a maybe a punched flower in each balloon (like the second card in this post).

Father's Day Chocolate Slider
Here's another quick & easy (but yummy) project we made at the class - a chocolate slider in the same midnight muse & gumball green combo.

We stamped the ties & 'Best Dad Ever' sentiment from the 'Best Dad Ever' stamp set (which also has the Happy Birthday stamp used on the card). & attached it to a gumball green box, decorated with a strip of Comfort Cafe DSP. This size fitted a large Lindt bar (extra creammmmy), but I've made lots of other sizes too. Here's a pic showing the lovely contents.

I know my lovely class ladies have been making lots of these sliders since the class too, so it was obviously a hit with them.
Anyway, it's been a long day, so I'm off to bed...after adding the supply list. Until next time...
Inky wishes, Di

Supplies
Balloon Card
Stamps: Best Dad Ever, Up Up & Away
Card, crumb cake, midnight muse, whisper white,gumball green card, baja breeze Patterns DSP (Subtles)
Ink: gumball green, midnight muse, marina mist ink pads
Tools: piercing tool, Essentials piercing template, piercing mat

Chocolate Slider
Stamps: Best Dad Ever
Card, gumball green, midnight muse, whisper white card, Comfort Cafe DSP
Ink: gumball green, midnight muse ink pads
Accessories: black satin ribbon (retired)
Tools: piercing tool, Essentials piercing template, piercing mat, 1/2inch circle punch

Papillon potpourri patchwork

I'm back!! I can't believe my last project post here was more than 2 months ago. I didn't intend a long break, but it's been such a busy time, both with life & creating. Thanks very much to anyone who's still visiting me here.
Anyway, onto a project....finally. I wasn't sure where to start again, so I'll just try to pick up where I stopped & see how it goes. I made today's card way back in September for my friend Jo's birthday (*waving*), using my (at that time) new butterfly stamp set, Papillon Potpourri....with matching punch (yippeeeeeee).

I had an idea to make a patchwork landscape background using some Patterns DSP & a square punch. Can you see the green grass, blue skies & a yellow sun in the corner? I added some subtle faux stitching with my new Essentials piercing pack & a crumb cake marker . It's mounted on a die cut scallop square. The beautiful butterflies are stamped in not quite navy ink & coloured very roughly with markers, then punched out (the small one is hand-cut). You can hopefully see the detail better in this pic.

The sentiment is from a super useful new set (with a great font) called 'Made for You', which I punched out with the curly label punch & placed under some fun new wild wasabi stitched ribbon.
Before I  go, here's the inside of the card. I carried over some elements from the front, but kept it very simple. By the way, the finished card front is around a 14.5cm square.

It turned out totally different to my initial idea, but I was really happy with it. Hope you like it too. Thanks again for visiting. I really appreciate you being here.
Until next time, sending warm & inky wishes.
Di

Today's Tip - 'Made for You' is a super useful sentiment set, which includes the birthday stamp I used here, plus 'thank you' & 'especially for you' sentiments. It's a total bargain at only $16.95 (AU) in clear mount.

Supplies
Stamps: Papillion Potpourri, Made for You
Card/Paper: baja breeze, whisper white card, Subtles Patterns DSP (marina mist, baja breeze, so saffron, certainly celery, Brights Patterns DSP (daffodil delight)
Ink: not quite navy ink pad, pretty in pink, bashful blue, so saffron markers
Accessories: basic pearls, wild wasabi stitched ribbon
Tools: Big Shot, Scallop square die, Essentials piercing pack, Piercing tool, Piercing mat, Curly label punch, Butterfly punch, 1 1/4 inch square punch

Free ribbon & some fun

My 2 fave words for today....& this whole month - Free & Ribbon!
Get a free roll of new gorgeous stitched satin ribbon with every $60 order (excl shipping). Easy huh? The ribbon is available in our 5 fab new in-colours. Click on the pic for more info.

 

Click on the pic for more info. 

 ....And some fun. I think the free ribbon may have sent SU a little crazy.....or maybe it could be a good school holiday project? lol.  In any case, check out the ribbon in the vid, pick your faves & give me a call or e-mail today to get your freebies. I'll be placing my next order tomorrow.

Hope you have a happy day. I'm off to find my food processor ;0)
Inky wishes, Di

World's Greatest Dad

I'm tired & getting a bit headachy tonight so lets get straight to my project - a Father's Day card made for my darling husband.

 

This was one of those rare cards (for me lately anyway) that came together really quickly & even better, I love the final card. I was playing around with my Labels Framelits dies & liked how the vertical frame & a horizontal label looked together, especially with the piercing made with another favourite new item - piercing templates. I stamped 'World's Greatest' on the label & again on some crumb cake card, which I cut into a banner shape, then added the die cut Dad. You can see the layering better below....& also the cool Comfort Cafe DSP - perfect for masculine cards.

I think that's just about all I wanted to say, except thanks for visiting & leave me a comment if you have any questions or would just like to say hi. I hope you liked the card. I'll hopefully be back next time with the projects we made for my Fathers Day-Masculine class in August, once I take some better pics. Until then...
Inky wishes, Di
Supplies (All Stampin' Up!)
Stamps: World's Greatest
Card/Paper: crumb cake, soft suede, cajun craze, naturals ivory, baja breeze, old olive card, Comfort Cafe DSP
Ink: cajun craze, not quite navy ink pad
Accessories: vintage brad, dimensionals
Tools: Big Shot, Labels Framelits, Piercing Tool, Piercing Mat (Annual Catalogue), Festive Piercing Pack (Holiday Catalogue), Timeless Type Alphabet dies (retired)

Blossom the Lion

I'm so behind & out of order with showing you projects, that I wasn't sure where to start, but seeing my friend Kim's cute lion card today reminded me that I made my own lion card back in June & I thought he might go well with my punch monkey card too. Credit for this cute idea goes to Kim Gavarra for the cute lion she showed at SU Convention.

This card was part of a series I made to show at my friend Susan's workshop in June, featuring lots of ways to use the fabulous blossom punch & Mixed Bunch stamp set. Susan has 2 cute kids, so I thought she'd like at least 1 kids project.
Can you see the blossom punch has been used for his mane & paws? Here's a closer pic...

I followed Kim G's suggestion to give more depth by sponging the punched shape edges in the same colour ink as the card & think it really made a difference. The other techniques that added to the finished look were using my bone folder to curl up the petal edges & adding dimensionals to pop the head from the mane. I used some different punches for the face pieces - like the heart shaped nose. The complete list of punches used is listed under supplies. The rest of the card is very simple, but if you have any q's, just leave me a comment or drop me a line.
I'll post the other Mixed Bunch / Blossom Punch projects I made for the workshop once I figure out why I don't seem to have pics of them. Until then, thanks for visiting & hope you liked Blossom the Lion.
Inky wishes, Di

Supplies (All Stampin' Up!)
Stamps: Party This Way (retired)
Ink: more mustard, so saffron, chocolate chip ink pads, chocolate chip marker
Card/Paper: more mustard, so saffron, old olive, daffodil delight, baja breeze, whisper white card, Patterns DSP (Regals - more mustard)
Tools: sponge daubers, Big Shot, Tasteful Trim die (zig zag)
Punches: Blossom (mane & paws), 1 3/8 in Circle (head), 3/4 in Circle (cheeks), Word Window (ears, sentiment), Owl (outer eye, heart nose), Cupcake (sprinkles - inner eye), itty bitty punch pack flower (tail)

Triple Time goes square for Megan

I don't think you could miss the triple time stamping craze that has swept the stamping world after the legendary Dawn Olchevske shared her original fab creation, but if you haven't - you must!....after you've seen this card I made for my SIL Megan's 40th birthday.

Megs is not a pink, girly girl, so I wanted to make something elegant & a triple time card fitted the bill nicely....plus I'd been dying to try it. I made a square version using the new Daydream Medallions stamp set I received at Convention in May (cool huh!). The set has a series of floral/swirly elements which I think were perfect for the technique. I have the clear mount version & happily discovered the smaller stamps can be placed on the block inside the larger flowers, making it even quicker & easier to stamp.

Dawn's triple time refers to the quick technique used to stamp 3 pieces of card, which are laid on top of one another & stamped at the same time. You then separate the stamped layers & add a mat layer between each of them. For this card, I added 2 mats for each layer, to add a bit more colour. Then I couldn't resist adding a bit of pretty with the scrunched flower & pleated ribbon. My finished card front was 13.5 x 13.5cm. I have a list of layer measurements...somewhere, so I'll add to this post when I find them.

Finally, I apologise for the picture quality. I finished the card late the night before I needed it, so the colour is very blah in the night-time pic. However, it was either these or nothing, so I hope you've enjoyed seeing the card anyway.
It's well & truly bedtime now, so I'll say bye for now. Thanks for visiting & I'll be back soon.
Inky wishes, Di

Supplies (All Stampin' Up!)

Stamps: Daydream Medallions, Friendly Phrases
Card/Paper: night of navy, baja breeze, whisper white card
Ink: night of navy classic pad
Accessories: circle rhinestone brad (retired), pleated ribbon (retired)
Tools: doily triple layer punch (retired), boho blossoms punch, decorative label punch

Retired Goodies Sale

Good morning Monday!
Just popping in quickly to let you know that I've sorted out all my retired stamps to make way for all the new goodies I want from our new Catalogues. I've already let my customer mailing list know, but thought a general call-out might be helpful too.
Everything for sale is listed in For Sale albums on my Facebook Page, with pictures, descriptions and absolute bargain prices - most are 50% off the original price or more. Prices are in Australian Dollars and I can only ship within Australia.
Note: You can view all the albums even if you're not on Facebook

See what's for sale - There's also a permanent link to the albums directly under my blog header.

If you have any questions or would like to buy any of the goodies, just leave me a comment on my page, or send me an e-mail. I'll be back later hopefully with a project to share.
Inky wishes, Di

PS: Don't forget to 'like' my facebook page while you're there, if you haven't visited before. 

Centre-step Monkey for Sarah

Today, I have a cute little project to share. One of Cara's BFF's loves monkeys, so I wanted to make her a monkey themed birthday card. I found these cute punch monkeys by Dawn Olchevske & decided to make a girly version. This is the card I came up with:

I used textured card for the monkey face & added a girly flower, made with the boho blossoms punch, flower brad & rhinestone. You can see her better in this pic.

As you can see, I'm still loving the centre-step card. I decorated this one with some pretty DSPs from the Cheerful Treat hostess pack. The sentiment is also from a current hostess set. I carried the monkey theme to the back of the card, with some cheeky monkeys from Fox & Friends

I'm now realising how much of what I've used is retiring in just a few days. It's sad to say goodbye to many of these lovely goodies, but I'm super excited about so much in our new Annual & Holiday Catalogues.....which start this Saturday...eeeeeeeee! As usual, I've listed the supplies used on this card below & I've also noted if they're retiring, so if there's anything you need, please contact me ASAP & no later than Thursday, so you don't miss out.
Cara's friend loved her monkey card, so hope you do too. Thanks very much for visiting & a special extra thanks to everyone who takes the time to leave a comment too.
Until next time, inky wishes
Di


Edited 16 Sept 2014
You can now download a pdf tutorial for this size centre step card in this post.
Hope you enjoy :-)
PS: See the updated lists of retiring items on the Stampin' Up! website

Supplies:
Stamps: Perfect Words (hostess - retiring), Happiest Birthday Wishes (hostess - retiring), Fox & Friends (retiring)
Card/Paper: smooth crumb cake, pretty in pink, melon mambo card, chocolate chip, pink pirouette textured card (textured card retiring)
Ink: melon mambo, chocolate chip classic ink pads, chocolate chip marker
Accessories: olive satin ribbon (retiring), flower brads (retiring), basic rhinestones.
Tools: 2 1/2 inch circle punch, petal card double punch, 1 inch circle punch, 1/4 inch circle punch, owl punch (small circle), boho blossoms punch, heart to heart punch (small heart - retiring), oval punch

Simply a great day

I was very happy to find the Simply Sent Great Day kit I received at Convention last year in a recent Stamp room tidy up. I haven't had much time to create lately & thought it would be great to have some quick ready to send cards. The kit includes all you need to make 8 complete cards. You can follow the suggested layout or give them your own twist. Add a sentiment of your choice & you're done. Here's what I came up with.
I started simply by mostly following the kit sample & then added my own simple twists & scraps. Number 1 has a sentiment (from Petite Pairs) on a scrap of pretty in pink card & some pearl bling, which I used on all the cards.They just add so much with so little effort.

 Card 2 is a portrait version with punched flower bouquet flower & a fave sentiment from the Thank You Kindly set....and yes, its the same gorgeous font as my favourite Fabulous Phrases set.

Cards 3 and 4 have a punched scallop edge & I've used some pretty in pink, bashful blue & so saffron Patterns DSP scraps (all from the Subtles pack). The blue version is one of my favourites.

For cards 4 & 5, I added a bit of extra colour.

For the final card, I cut a tag using Two Tags die & mounted it on a so saffron base. This one was my favourite, so I made another one with the last card base.

I'm generally a pretty slow cardmaker, so I felt so productive making 8 cute cards in one go. I think I'll be carefully looking for some similar new options in our brand new catalogues coming in September. Stay tuned!

So, do you want to know more about the Great Day kit?
It includes everything you need to make 8 cute cards - pre printed bases, die cut accents, ribbon, buttons & envelopes & instructions. Perfect for a gift too. Most importantly, it's retiring this month & has been discounted by 25% to a fantastic $16.95. That's just over $2 per card!  See the kit in the online catalogue.

Thanks for visiting & an extra thanks if you take the time to leave a friendly comment. If you'd like to order a kit or would like more info about my cards, just drop me a line or leave me a comment.
Back soon with a fun kids card.
Inky wishes, Di

Supplies
Stamps: Petite Pairs, Thank You Kindly, Friendly Phrases, Create a Cupcake
Card/Paper: Simply Sent Great Day kit, Subtles Patterns DSP, pretty in pink, so saffron card
Ink: rich razzleberry classic ink pad
Accessories: basic pearls
Tools: 1 3/8 inch & 1 1/4 circle, triple flower bouquet punches

It's retirement month

Our new Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue starts in September, so August means it time to retire lots of stamps & accessories to make way for lots of great new products. As in past years, there are 2 lists of retiring products which you can download:

Download retiring stamps List

Download Retiring Accessories List

You'll see there’s LOTS on the lists so I thought take some time to break down the list & share some info to help clarify some items. I’ll also highlight some of my must have picks. Contact me with any questions or to order your retiring favourites.

Stamps

There are sooo many stamps on this list & many that I’ll really miss, but if you twist my arm, these are some of my all time favourites. Make sure you don’t miss out on yours.

• Baroque Motifs (that perfect swirl....sob)
• Fifth Avenue Floral (flowers – love!)
• On Your Birthday (birthday sentiments)
• Party This Way (fun birthday images & sentiment)
• Fox & Friends (cute for kids & babies)
• Many Merry Messages (Christmas sentiments)
• Season of Joy (Christmas images & sentiments)
• Upsy Daisy (floral & sentiments – great for so many techniques)

I will also be selling some of my own collection of retired stamps in September, but my customers will be able to get in first to reserve their choices at my August classes. Contact me for more info.

Note: Retiring Stampin' Around® wheels are on the Accessories list!

Tools & Accessories

Ink pads

From September, our large ink pads will have a new firm foam pad, which will make it even easier to stamp great images. All current fabric ink pads & colour collection packs are retiring & are discounted by at least 25%.

Stampin’ Spots (little ink pad packs) will now only be available for the Getting Started collection, so all other colour collection packs are discounted by 25%.

Markers

Single markers will only be available in Getting Started colours from September, so you may like to  fill any gaps in your colour collections this month. Markers will remain available in collection packs in the new Catalogue.

Cardstock

12x12 inch cardstock packs will be available in a smaller range of single colours & assortment packs. Smooth A4 cardstock will remain available in single colour & assortment packs.

Textured cardstock will no longer be available.

 In-colours

After 2 years, we say goodbye to all products in poppy parade, pear pizzazz, peach parfait, blushing bride & concord crush, including ink, card, paper, brads & ribbon. Most items are discounted by 25-40%.

Papers

Most current patterned paper packs will retire & are 25-40% off. Bargain!

All current Simply Scrappin’ kits & Simply Sent™ card kits will retire & are discounted by 25%

Accessories

Ribbons – All Satin, ¼ inch grosgrain & striped grosgrain ribbon are retiring. Some are 25% off.

Brads etc – you’ll find lots of lovely brads & embellishments on the list & some are discounted by 25%. My faves are the rhinestone brads & filigree brads.

Punches

I’m sad to see the triple layer punches & lace ribbon punch are retiring....& of course the butterfly punch (& its matching stamp sets).

Big Shot dies

You’ll find boxes, flowers, letters & more on the list. My top pick is the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet ( you know I’ve used this one heaps!) which is discounted by 25% to $104.96. Stock of this one won’t last long.

Fabric

Two of our fabric packs are 75% off...yes, just $4.99. These have Christmas names, but are perfect for year round projects.

Tools

Some items have been redesigned for our new Catalogue & some are just discontinuing. These are some of my favourites:

Paper cutter – our current paper cutter is being replaced by a new model but you can get this one for $29.96 (25% off). If you already have this one, make sure you order some replacement blades.

Mat pack & paper piercing tool – these are 2 of my essentials & definitely. There’s a new version coming, so these are 25% off.

Stampin' Scrub® - a new bigger scrub is coming, so you get this version for $21.71 (25% off).

Crop-a-dile – I’m really sad this is being discontinued. Definitely another of my essentials & a bargain at 41.21(25% off).

There are too many other great items on the list to talk about now, so download your lists, have a read & e-mail me with any questions or if there are any items you need to get.

I'll be back next time with some projects.

Inky wishes, Di

Never Ending Baby Birdies

A customer friend was blessed with a beautiful baby girl recently, so I wanted to make a special card to celebrate (smiling & waving P). I know she loves the Aviary birdies & I do too, so I made her a cute birdie themed never ending card. If you haven't seen a never ending card before, they cleverly fold to show 4 different views. 

This is the front. I stamped Aviary birdies & used some matching Nursery Nest DSP & a little bling (you do need to keep the layers flat so that it turns properly). The sentiment is from my favourite 'Fabulous Phrases' set. You then fold the fronts to each side to see the second view.

I've coloured the 'Packed for Baby' stamp here & used more birdies, words & DSP. The white panel is for a message. To see the third view, you flip the 2 centre panels over. The flowers are from the itty bitty punch pack, with cupcake sprinkle centres.

Then you open each side to reveal the final view, which shows more birdies from the DSP pack & a special message for baby Eva. Fold each side back & you're back at the front. Hours of entertainment LOL.

Making your own never ending card

Never ending cards can be a little tricky to make the first time, but once you get the hang of them, it's hard to stop. Fortunately, there are lots of videos out there that show how to make them, as I think this is one card where you do need the visual clues to get started.

I tend to cut & score my cards a little differently to the tutorials I've seen though. I prefer to score the whole piece before cutting as it's quicker & more accurate. 

This is what I do for this approx 14cm square card.

1. Cut A4 sheet to 28cm x 14.1cm.

2. Score 3.5cm in from edge down each long side.

3. Turn card & score at 3.5cm, 10.5cm, 17.5cm, 24.5cm. 

4. Cut into 7cm wide pieces. You will then have 4 pieces that are 7cm x 14.1cm.

This template shows where the score lines (broken lines) & cut lines should be:

 

To put together your card, follow one of the the videos I've linked to:

The original video by Dawn that showed me how to make them
These 2 videos make a different sized card using the same principles:
Stampin' Up never ending card video
Another video by Dawn
You might also like to see my other never ending cards.

This was such a fun project to make & I hope the receipients enjoy turning it around & around & around as much as I do.  Thanks very much for visiting. If you have any questions or would just like to say hello, leave me a comment.

Inky wishes, Di

PS: I just realised that the Packed for Baby stamp I used here is from the Autumn/Winter Mini & only available until the end of today! Let me know ASAP if you'd like to order it or any of the other fab goodies in the Mini.

Supplies:
Stamps: Aviary, Fabulous Phrases, Packed for Baby, Curvy Verses
Card/Paper: certainly celery card (base), whisper white, pretty in pink card, Nursery Nest DSP
Ink: perfect plum, marina mist, certainly celery, pretty in pink, so saffron, bashful blue ink pads or markers
Accessories: basic rhinestones,
Tools: itty bitty punches, cupcake punch, word window punch, Big Shot, Timeless Type alphabet dies

Just Add Cake Mini Album

I haven't scrapped in a long while, but lately I've been feeling like I'd like to start again.  Last month, a scrappy friend asked me to run a workshop for her & I thought it would be fun to make a scrap themed gift. I'd pinned this cute little mini fold book ages ago (as you do) & thought it would be perfect. I made my version with 9 x 9cm square pages & here it is.

The base album is totally made with crumb cake cardstock, The colour palette had to suit boys & girls (my friend has 1 of each) so I thought the Just Add Cake DSP pack fitted the bill perfectly. I covered the base in different sheets from the DSP pack (so easy when they all match). I kept the embellishments flat & simple using stamped words representing family & love (from Fabulous Phrases) punched with the modern label to let the pics & words star. Here are some more pics...

 

Sorry the pics are a bit dark The weather was unfortunately very blah at the time & it very tricky to hold & photograph! I had such a blast making this little book, so I will definitely be trying more. My friend said she loved it too, so I was very happy all round.

Well it's my bedtime now, so thanks very much for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed seeing my little book. If you have any questions, just leave me a comment.

Inky wishes, Di

Supplies: All Stampin' Up! except noted

Stamps: Fabulous Phrases

Card/Paper: crumb cake, certainly celery, marina mist, poppy parade cardstock,  Just Add Cake DSP

Ink: early espresso classic ink pad

Accessories: poppy parade ribbon, button (marina mist)

Tools: punches - scallop circle, modern label, 1 3/8 in circle, 1 1/4 in circle, 1 in circle

Other: velcro dots (not SU)

Casing Shelli - Bright Blossoms

I was fortunate to go to part of the fantabulous SU Convention in May & especially grateful to see SU founder & all round amazing lady, Shelli Gardner's stamping presentation. If you read Shelli's blog post, you'll know that it didn't go quite as she had planned, however she shared many wonderful ideas. One project I really loved was a very simple but elegant & clever card made with the Bright Blossoms set from the Autumn/Winter Mini. So, when I was making a card for my lovely friend & fellow demo, Leanne, I decided to case Shelli's card. I'd show you the original but my pic turned out terrible. It's very true to Shelli's design though, except for a bit more background texture.

Isn't it a clever idea? The colours are crumb cake (kraft) & elegant eggplant & the 'tablecloth' is made with the 2nd smallest label framelit. The flower vase was inked stamped in white craft ink & eggplant markers. The stamped panel is double matted, to give a little more depth.
Back to Shelli's presentation for a mo. As I sat with around 500 other demo's watching Shelli experiencing what what is probably my worst Demo nightmare, I was so impressed by her grace & sense of humour in the face of disaster & that she just kept going. I think everyone in the room wanted to hug her & tell her that it was OK, as we all mess up sometimes - thankfully, not always in front of 500 people. It was a much needed reminder to me (as a self-named 'disorganised perfectionist') that we're all human & not perfect....& that's OK...both in SU & life in general.

Anyway, I digress....as usual. I hope you like Shelli's card as much as I did. If you have any q's, just let me know. Thanks very much for visiting & I hope to see you here again soon.
Inky wishes, Di

Supplies (All Stampin' Up!)

Stamps: Fabulous Phrases, Bright Blossoms
Card: crumb cake, whisper white, elegant eggplant card, Patterns DSP (eggplant)
Ink: elegant eggplant classic ink pad & marker, whisper white craft ink pad
Tools: Big Shot, Square lattice embossing folder, labels framelits