Inlaid blossoms Klassy case

Today, I have another inlaid embossing pocket card to show you - albeit a bit later than planned. I made this folder one back in July for Cara's BFFs birthday & was really happy with how it turned out. You might recognise too that the fun inlaid embossing panel made up of mostly 'Blossom Party' flowers was based on this card by the gorgeous Sarah Klass.(waving Sair)

 I really love the look that the embossing gives. Soooo effective. Apologies for the colour in the pic though. It was another late night/bad light creation & looks so much brigher IRL. In case you're wondering
- The words were inked & stamped separately using 'Curly Cute' & my trusty stamp-a-ma-jig. The 'th' is from 'birthday'.
- The '10' is made of 3 die cut numbers stuck together with 2 way glue.
- I embossed another little panel for the inside. Here the pic to prove it.

Anyway, I think that covers it. Hope I've given you some more ideas to try. I still have lots more to show, so hopefully I'll be back soon. Please leave a comment to say hi or ask me about anything you're not sure of.
Inky wishes, Di

PS: Girls in the know - I finally found my hiding SAMJ imaging sheet - phew & yay!!!
PPS: only 4 more days until our new Idea Book starts. Double yay!!
PPS: Hi Rachel (grin)

Supplies
Stamps: Curly Cute
Card: rose red, marina mist, certainly celery, pretty in pink, bashful blue card
Ink: rose red ink pad
Accessories: rhinestone brads
Tools: Big Shot, square lattice embossing folder, Blossom Party die, Timeless Type Junior Alphabet dies, itty bitty punch pack

Whimsical Memories

Life has just gotten in the way of blog posts again, but I really wanted to get in a quick post or two before the end of the month. Today's project is a boxed set of cards I created 2 years ago (yes, I'm that behind...or not!) using the beautiful Garden Whimsy set & Bella Rose DSP. It never made it to my blog as I'd submitted it for publication, then never got around to posting it when it wasn't accepted. My customers often mention it though & it's always been a favourite of mine, so I thought I'd post it as a farewell tribute, since Garden Whimsy retires this month (& I think is sold out too). Anyway, here's the whole set...

(click on the pic to view larger image)

The cards all include different Garden Whimsy images, but mostly the same sized card & DSP pieces & kiwi satin or riding hood red ribbon. Most of the sentiments are from 'On Your Birthday (which is still available).
Here's are all the individual projects, which may help you see the layers better.

For the 3 butterfly cards, I stamped a second image & cut out only the wings & secured them with glue dots near the body & dimensionals on the wing edges for a fun look.

The snail shells are cut out & raised on dimensionals too.

The tulip head & leaves are duplicated & raised too.

Finally, I made this box to hold all the cards.

Hope you enjoyed seeing this project, even though it's an oldie. I'm thinking I'll have to try making a new set using a new set using similar layouts - another thing to add to my list. Hope you have a happy weekend. Back soon I hope.

Inky wishes, Di

Supplies:

Stamps: Garden Whimsy, Think Happy Thoughts (retired), On Your Birthday

Cards/Paper: riding hood red, chocolate chip, kiwi kiss (retired), whisper white, Bella Rose DSP

Ink: riding hood red ink pad, kiwi kiss ink pads (retired)

Accessories: riding hood red taffeta ribbon (retired), kiwi kiss satin ribbon (retired), gold brads

Tools: boho blossoms punch, mat pack & piercing tool.

Torn frame birthday for JAI79

I'm back....& as surprised as you at this very unexpected blog post. One of today's must-do tasks was to make a birthday card for my wonderful father-in-law. So, while having a morning cuppa, I saw Kim's fab torn frame card for the new challenge at Just Add Ink - just add tearing/distressing. Regular visitors will know that tearing & distressing are very rarely used words here at colour me happy, but I thought it could work well for my FIL's card & finally give me a chance to try a JAI challenge too.

So, armed with this great torn frame tutorial by the very sweet Sharnee Torrents (who wonderfully demonstrated the technique at Convention), I went to work & this was the surprisingly quick result...

First I made the torn frame with some night of navy & old olive card (I would have stamped it first but I really didn't think it was going to work for me, LOL). Then I stamped the navy panel with the 'Sanded' background, 'Sense of Time' clock & cog images & 'Grunge Rock'  diamonds & no.1, Finally, I distressed the edge of the navy & ivory panels with the bone folder (very therapeutic I must say). I thought the panel needed a little something extra at the bottom, so I added some striped ribbon & attached a squashed jumbo eyelet.

Back to the frame for a mo. The birthday sentiment (Engraved Greetings) is stamped on night of navy ink on naturals ivory card, which has given it a more distressed look than normal, then spritzed with the spritzing tool & old olive marker. You can see the torn frame better here...

I'm really happy (not to mention very surprised ) with how the card turned out, as well as the fact I can get it in the mail today. Hope you like it too. Please leave a comment if you need any more info, or just to say hi.

Hope you have a happy weekend.

Inky wishes, Di

Supplies: All Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Sense of Time, Engraved Greetings, Sanded Background (all on retirement list), Grunge Rock

Card: Old olive, night of navy, naturals ivory

Ink: night of navy ink pad, old olive marker

Accessories: night of navy 1 1/4 inch striped grosgrain, jumbo eyelet

Tools: bone folder, crop-a-dile (to squash eyelet!), spritzing tool

Inlaid embossing...what took me so long?

I think the inlaid embossing technique is probably the most popular new technique of recent times & I finally got to see why at the end of June, when I made this card for the same lovely friend as yesterday's card.

I can't believe it took me so long to try it....although our renovations have a lot to answer for, lol. It's a really simple technique, but I think it gives fabulous results, thanks to the magic ingredient  - the square lattice embossing folder for the Big Shot.

A couple of details - Once I embossed the panel, I added a couple of raised smaller butterflies, punched flowers & some of my fave basic pearls to finish. The birthday tag was punched with the medium jewellery tag (I made this longer). Here's a closer pic.

In the rare chance there's someone else out there still who hasn't tried inlaid embossing, here's how you do it.

1. Cut, die cut or punch out shapes in cardstock or patterned paper.
2. Glue shapes to piece of card. You can overlap layers, but don't go overboard. At this point, you may be thinking "I don't know about this" but keep going!
3. Place decorated card into the square lattice embossing folder (or other tightly patterned folder) & run through Big Shot.
4. Take out card from folder & look amazed, as you see the seemingly magical transformation of your card into a single layer. Easy!

I was really happy with how this turned out & encouraged to do some more. I've seen some phenomenal cards using this technique & next time I'll show you one I made that was inspired by some of my favourites. Leave a comment if you have any questions, tips or just want to say hi. Until next time...
Inky wishes, Di

Supplies
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Card: Marina mist, baja breeze, soft suede, very vanilla, certainly celery card.
Ink: chocolate chip (I think....or maybe soft suede)
Accessories: marina mist 1/8 inch taffeta ribbon, basic pearls
Tools: medium jewellery tag punch, itty bitty punch pack - flower, Big Shot, little leaves die, beautiful wings embosslit

Birdie gift card folder

Hi there. Today's project is a pocket gift card holder I was asked to make to hold a birthday Stampin' Up! gift voucher for a lovely friend & customer (smiling & waving at you J).

To make it, I inked up the bird (from the Punch Potpourri hostess set) in peach parfait ink, lightly sponged around the edges with poppy parade ink & stamped on white card, then punched out with the 2 step bird punch.  I then rested him on 2 punched old olive branches, backed with a circle & scallop circle.

The base is old olive card trimmed with some dsp from the in-colour hostess pack & peach parfait scallop. Here's the inside - clean & simple, trimmed with the same dsp print design, this time in peach parfait.

As I was writing this post, I realised that many of the goodies I've used will be retiring at the end of this month - the hostess stamp set & dsp, plus the 'for you' sentiment (a favourite of mine) from the Great Friend set.

Did you know I can make Stampin' Up! gift cards for any occasion. Contact me for more info. You can also find a Christmas pocket gift card folder here, & more oldies here & here.
Next time....I'm not sure, maybe another gift card holder...or some inlaid embossing...or both. If you have any questions, just leave a comment....or leave a comment anyway. I love to hear from visitors.
Inky wishes, Di

PS:  Just a quick update on the retirement list - as of today, all jumbo eyelets & the metallic brads are sold out, so check out the list if you haven't already. You can find the retirement list here.

Supplies:
Stamps: Punch Potpourri (hostess), Great Friend
Card/paper: old olive, peach parfait, bashful blue, whisper white card, pear pizzazz & peach parfait in colour DSP
Ink: old olive
Accessories: pear pizzazz poly twill ribbon
Tools: 2 step bird punch, 2 3/8 inch scallop circle punch, Big Shot & circles #2 die (2 inch circle)

Time to Say Goodbye

It's time again for Stampin' Up! to make some room for lots of the new products coming in our new Idea Book.

You can see & download the huge list of what's not going to carry over HERE. There's everything from stamps, wheels, designer paper, ribbons, punches, Big Shot dies & lots more.

I'm still taking in some of the detail, but from first impressions, there are lots of things (sob) that have jumped out at me, that you won't want to miss. I'll be back through the month with more.

Stamps
So Swirly jumbo wheel - This is my all time favourite & most used wheel, seen most recently on my triangle box. Perfect for just about any occasion.
Simply Said - this was the first SU set I ever bought & is still a fabulous & flexible floral set.
Sanded - an essential for male projects & any time you need an aged look.

Accessories
Lots of ribbons will be retiring in certain colours. Some of the ones I'll really miss are rich razzleberry (in most varieties), old olive 3/8 inch taffeta ribbon, marina mist (satin & taffeta) & very vanilla (3/8 in taffeta).
Jumbo eyelets - another fave for male cards & mini-album binding.

So, download the list, check it out & contact me if you have any questions or would like to place an order.
Inky wishes, Di

PS: If you're on facebook & haven't noticed the link to my Stampin' Up! facebook page on the left column, then check out & 'like' the page to keep up to date with what I'm up to.

Hello & goodbye Blossoms

I'm back again to show you another class project from last Saturday using the cute & very flexible single stamp, Hello Blossoms. I made 2 similar cards & couldn't decide which one to make with the girls, so I let them choose . Here's the first version (which is my fave)...

They're both very clean & simple, but I wanted to focus more on the techniques we used, namely omitting with markers, paper sueding & ruffling ribbon. The first includes more of these techniques than this simpler version.

There are a couple of differences - some more obvious than others:
DSP - the first is a fun print from the Nursery Specialty pack & the second is from the Sunny Garden pack. It's amazing how it changes the look.
Ribbon - The first has taffeta ribbon, which we ruffled - I showed the girls how to do this by fraying an end & pulling a centre thread to gather. The second is poppy parade poly ribbon, tied in a simple knot - quick & easy
Flowers - The flowers on the first card have a soft distressed look thanks to the paper sueding technique. On the second, the flowers are simply punched & the petals flicked up. the yellow flowers are textured card, which I really like.
You can see the detail better here. As an aside, I didn't realise when I took the pic in a hurry that the flowers had been a little flattened, but I haven't had a chance to take another pic...trust me, they look even cuter with a bit of flicking on the edge.

Here's the inside. Simple, but I think sweet. The flowers are sueded too.

Before I forget, I really wanted to show you my inspiration for the sueded flowers, which came from none other than the fabulous Shelli Gardner at Convention. The card below is a complete copy of Shelli's card except for the friend sentiment. Shelli used the hello letters from the flower centres to say...hello, but I wasn't that patient (lol). I really love love love this card, which is weird as it includes two things I very rarely do - tear paper & tilt panels, but go figure!

Unfortunately, I won't get to show you any more from Hello Blossoms, so I'll just leave you with a few more ideas to try yourself...
1. Use markers to ink up the ink up the stamp with different colours. Quick & very effective.
2. Omit part of the images to build a different look. As on these cards - ink the stem & scallop with an old olive marker & omit the flower heads. Add punched flowers, buttons or any other stamped flowers.
3. Omit some of the flowers to make a smaller pic - as I did for the inside of the card.
4. For the flower centres, use a simple punched circle, brad, rhinestone or pearl.
I'm sure there's lots more, but I'm out of time for now.

Just a final reminder that Hello Blossoms is only available until Sunday (for just $13.95 - bargain!) & I don't think it will carry over into our new Idea Book. I'd be very happy if it does though. Contact me for more info & leave a comment to say hi.
Until next time...
Inky wishes, Di

Supplies
Class Cards
Stamps: Hello Blossoms, Perfect Punches (birthday & friend sentiments), On Your Birthday (inside card)
Card/Paper: certainly celery, poppy parade, peach parfait, whisper white card, Nursery Suite Specialty DSP, Sunny Garden DSP
Ink: old olive marker
Accessories: basic pearls, celery taffeta ribbon, poppy parade poly ribbon
Tools: boho blossoms punch

Shelli's Card
Stamps: Hello Blossoms
Card/Paper: rich razzleberry, old olive card, Patterns DSP - Brights (olive & razzleberry), Newsprint DSP
Ink: old olive
Accessories: basic pearls, antique brad
Tools: designer label punch, boho blossoms punch

Strength & Hope... just in time

It doesn't seem long since we welcomed the Autumn/Winter Mini & now there's only a few days & it will be gone. So, I thought I'd better get to showing you some more projects using the goodies I got...other than cupcakes of course.  I feel like I haven't had time to have a good play with my sets & none more so than the beautiful Strength & Hope. I decided I HAD to use it for one of my class projects from last Saturday. Here it is!

I went with a perfect plum & pink pirouette colour scheme - girly, but not too girly. I stamped a butterfly & flourish in pink pirouette ink on the same card, stamped & cut out a plum butterfly, added some pearls (what did I do before these?) The butterfly is attached with a glue dot in the centre & dimensionals on the wings.

For the scallops, I layered pink & plum Patterns DSP scallops on the bottom of the panel, flicked them up for some added texture, then added a final touch of pretty in pink taffeta ribbon. Here's a closer shot:

On the inside, I added a pink panel & cut another butterfly, but forgot to take a pic.

Before I go, I'll just share a final reminder about Strength & Hope. As you might remember, this set helps raise funds for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation & will only be available until the end of this month. It's not in the new US Idea Book, & I think likely it won't be in ours either when it arrives in September. So if you love it & would like to support this truly worthy cause, order it this month.

If you'd like to know more about the Stampin' Up! Strength & Hope campaign, check out this video from the amazing Shelli Gardner, Stampin' Up! Co-founder & CEO.

If you'd like any more info or would like to order Strength & Hope, just contact me by Sunday afternoon. I'll be back next time with another Autumn/Winter Mini project from my last class. Until then...
Inky wishes, Di

Supplies
Stamps: Strength & Hope, Great Friend
Card/Paper: perfect plum, pink pirouette, whisper white card, Patterns DSP (subtles - plum & pink pirouette)
Ink: perfect plum, pink pirouette ink pad, perfect plum marker
Accessories: pretty in pink taffeta ribbon, basic pearls
Tools: Big Shot, Elegant Lines embossing folder

Cupcake triangle box

Hi again. Today I have the last of my cupcake workshop projects to show you - a triangle box with cupcake tag to co-ordinate with the melon cupcake card in this post. 
Triangle boxes are one of my favourite quick box projects - they're so simple to make -  you don't even need any adhesive - but look much more complicated. I showed 2 versions at the workshop, first, a quick limited supply version using only Create a Cupcake & matching punch...

Then, I demonstrated this stepped up but still very simple version. It's wheeled with the So Swirly jumbo wheel & choc chip ink & the cute scallop tag is made with a few more punches.

The So Swirly wheel is my all-time favourite wheel. it's perfect for so many occasions - birthdays, Christmas, engagements, weddings, babies - & it's so forgiving if you make a rolling boo-boo.

These boxes were made with half an A4 sheet & are perfect for holding some chocolates (isn't everything?), or as wedding favours. Smaller boxes, using a quarter A4 sheet are great for jewellery or other little goodies.

The picture below shows the basic scoring template for making a triangle box. You can easily change the card dimensions, so long as you follow the basic principles.

You can see some more of my triangle boxes (including some Christmas ones) from a long long time ago here.

So, which one do you like, the simple or stepped up version?  Mine is the stepped up version - love rolling the wheel & of course playing with my punches!

If you haven't tried making one of these boxes, have a go & I'm sure you won't stop at one. Leave a comment to say hi or if you have any questions.
That's the last of my cupcake projects for a little while at least. Back with something different next time.
Inky wishes, Di

Supplies:
Both boxes
Stamps: Create a Cupcake
Card/Paper: choc chip, melon mambo, whisper white
Ink: choc chip, melon mambo
Accessories: white taffeta ribbon
Tools: Build a Cupcake punch

Extra supplies - stepped up version
Accessories: basic rhinestone
Tools: itty bitty punch pack (flower), 2 3/8 inch scallop circle punch, 13/4 inch circle punch, paper piercing tool & mat

A Cupcake workshop or two

Continuing the cupcake theme, I have some cards to show you from some cupcake themed workshops I ran for some lovely ladies in June (waving at you Alison & Corinne). Most guests were completely new stampers with kids, so I wanted the cards to be quick, easy & fun. This was the make & take everyone made:

Both colour combinations are from the Brights collection - melon mambo, rich razzleberry & regal rose for the girl version, pacific point, tempting turquoise & pumpkin pie for the boys, with some Brights Patterns DSP. To add a bit of interest & help take the detail to the inside, I trimmed a little off the right edge & punched with either the scallop edge or pinking hearts edge punches. On the inside, I added another cupcake - because clearly one is not enough! Here's the inside of the girly version:

I made a gift box for each hostess with more cards inside to show some more cupcake ideas in a range of colours, Here's one of the sets. The box can be used on a desk once the cards are used. 

...and here are some of the other cards inside - these mainly use colours again from the brights collection again:

For this one, I put the cupcake on a plate made with 2 oval punches.

This one has a more neutral colour palette...& much better colour IRL - late night photo!

Another pink version - love that colour combination.

For this one, I placed the cupcake on a 1 3/4 inch circle & a 2 3/8 inch scallop circle (punched twice to form the spiky edge). Then I added a couple of brads instead of punching the edge & a flag end.
I hope these give you some more ideas for using Create a Cupcake or colour combinations to try....or something. Just drop me a line if you have need any more info. I still have my workshop demo project to show you, but I'll have to do that next time. Until then, bye for now.
Inky wishes, Di

Supplies
Make & Take - Both
Stamps: Create & Cupcake,
Tools: Build a Cupcake & word window punch
Make & Take - Pink
Card/Paper: Pink version - melon mambo, regal rose, pretty in pink, whisper white card, Brights Patterns DSP - rich razzleberry, regal rose.
Ink: rich razzleberry, regal rose, chocolate chip
Accessories: basic rhinestones
Tools: scallop edge punch
Make & Take - Blue
Stamps: Party This Way
Card/Paper: Blue version - pacific point, tempting turquoise, pumpkin pie
Ink: pacific point, choctempting turquoise, chocolate chip
Tools: pinking hearts punch
Hostess Box
Card/Paper: Ricj razzleberry, melon mambo, whisper white card, Brights Patterns DSP - rich razzleberry

Tools: Big Shot, Timeless Type Alphabet, XL scallop edge punch, paper piercing tool