Creation Station Blog Hop #7

The theme is 'All things party' in the Creation Station blog hop today.  I wanted to create something a little bit special for this theme so I tried my hand at a card in a box!

I've featured butterflies from the Papillon Potpourri stamp set and coloured these with blendabilities. Butterflies are very theme versatile and I've chosen a colour scheme and sentiments that could make this design suitable for a wedding, birthday, or even an achievement or anniversary.

I don't do a lot of 3D projects but this card in a box has a lot of wow factor!  I love that this particular template folds down flat to fit in a regular C6 envelope. In the image above, I've shown the back of the box which incorporates a panel for your written message if sending to someone.

But I could see myself creating these in party themes and using them as party decorations!

Be sure to visit the rest the Creation Station team and see what party inspiration they have come up with for you!

   

Creation Station Blog Hop #7

August 3, 2014

Tag a Bag Mother's Day

This stunning pattern from the Watercolour Wonder Designer Series Papers requires very little embellishment.  I featured the sentiment from the Delightful Dozen Stamp set on a banner of coordinating Smoky Slate grey card stock.  I was initially going to heat emboss the sentiment in white directly onto the grey but my children had just gone to bed and I didn't want to risk disturbing them with my heat tool, so I added a layer of vellum to the banner and stamped in StazOn Opaque White instead.  The effect is softer but works in this project.  

I then finished the card with a small embellishment - this little butterfly from the Papillion Potpourri set, stamped on the same DSP to ensure a colour match with the roses, and then punch cut and adhered over a little loop of twine to the banner.

What Mum doesn't love a homemade breakfast on Mother's Day?!  Part of my gift to my Mum was some homemade sugar-free Granola (an 'I Quit Sugar' recipe by Sarah Wilson, http://iquitsugar.com/recipe/coco-nutty-granola/).  Hidden away on page 158 of the current Stampin' Up! Catalogue are some little gift boxes. One of these made the perfect package for my little gift.  I only had a short window of time to decorate - lucky that was all that was needed!

I stamped directly onto the acetate sleeve with the "Fabulous is what you are" sentiment.  I wanted to add an embellishment to tie in with the card, so I put on same butterflies and a little vellum in the form of die cut leaves from the Secret Garden framelits collection.

Some members of the Creation Station design team showcased different uses for these Tag-a-Bag gift boxes in last week's blog hop.  To see their creations please visit here.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Tag a Bag Mother's Day

May 11, 2014

In Class - March 2014

I had a special request to feature Core'dinations in this month's class.  This thick cardstock has a canvas texture on one side and is smooth on the other.  The real fun comes from sanding, tearing or distressing the product to reveal a monochromatic colour inside.

In this first card we used the Early Espresso colour, embossed with the Scallops Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, and sanded to reveal the natural lighter tone beneath.

The butterfly is from the Papillion Potpourri stamp set and is coloured with blender pens in Pacific Point and Bashful Blue tones.

In the second project, we used a strip of Gumball Green Core-dinations.  This time embossed with the Honeycomb Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  The sanding of the Core-dinations panel subtly highlights the honeycomb lines. The colours worked in perfectly with the Watercolour Wonder designer series paper (DSP) from the current Occasions catalogue.

The sentiment comes from the Million and One Stamp set.  I love it's florish!  It has been heat embossed in black on top of the DSP to help it stand strong against the floral backdrop.

The third project we created was a Sympathy themed card.  Last month, by special request, we created a card in this theme that had a decidedly feminine feel.  I wanted to give participants a chance to create another that might be suitable for either gender.

This project features the Fine Feathers Stamp Set.  The colour pallette is warm neutral browns, very vanilla and a pop of Soft Sky blue.  I can't take credit for this design.  It is rare that I CASE a card so closely but I fell in love when I saw Nadine Weiner's original project and thought it was just perfect as is.

Our next full class is scheduled for May 31st. Full details to be released in my April e-newsletter later this week. To secure your place please email me with your booking as soon as possible.

In Class - March 2014

April 2, 2014

DIY Card Kit Challenge - January 2014

I created this sample using one of my January DIY card challenge kits.  I love the Old Olive and Rich Razzleberry colour combination in this piece of Floral District DSP and wanted to come up with a layout that allowed it to dominate.

For more inspirational designs using these papers please visit my facebook page album featuring entries for the January competition.

DIY Card Kit Challenge - January 2014

January 9, 2014

Embossed Aluminum Foil

Stampin' Up! currently have Foil Sheets in gold (132622) and silver (132178) available in their seasonal catalogue.  These sheets add a fun metallic look to any design they feature in. While these sheets are easy to use and competitively priced, if you don't happen to have some on hand a little aluminum foil from your kitchen cupboard may be an effective substitute for adding shiny silver to your cards.

We experimented with embossing ordinary aluminum foil to make this pretty card in a workshop last night.

I can't take credit for the layout as this was inspired by a card by Susie Nelson that I had seen on pinterest.

If you have any questions about how we created this card or about hosting a workshop of your own, please contact me.

Stamps: 120024 Teeny Tiny Sentiments, 130622 Label Love, 126447 Summer Sihouettes, 123759 Papillon Potpourri.Card: Basic Grey, Textured Smoky Slate, Daffodil Delight, Whisper WhiteInk: 101406 StazOn Jet Black Ink Pad, 126944 Daffodil Delight, 126981 Basic GreyEmbellishments:  124262 Bakers Twine Whisper WhitePunches: 130920 Artisan Label, 129406 Bitty Butterfly.

Embossed Aluminum Foil

October 29, 2013

His and Hers Custom Order

Last month I received a special request - to create two large (A4 folded) birthday cards, one for her and one for him!  I love when a customer sets me a creative challenge.  She had seen one of my previous designs incorporating the black and white colour scheme and requested something similar with an additional male card in matching tones.  The below male design incorporates a faux metal embossed background which was heaps of fun to do and I can't wait to try this in class to show my ladies sometime soon!

The birthday bloke loves rock hence the 'rock' crown from the now retired Grunge Rock set.  I've added a layer of crystal effects to the crown to help it stand out. A great way to add a little 'wow' to a fairly fresh and clean design.

If you have a special card you would like to order for an upcoming event please do not hesitate to contact me.

His and Hers Custom Order

June 12, 2013

Freshly Made for the Newlyweds

We are excited to be attending a wedding this afternoon for some friends of ours.  Their wedding invitation was an elegant black and white design so I've created a card in these colours, with a touch of silver, to give to them tonight to wish them every happiness as they start their lives together as husband and wife.

The current Freshly Made Sketch was wonderfully helpful in putting this layout together.

Freshly Made for the Newlyweds

April 13, 2013

In Class - March 2013

Our creations in March incorporate more of those fun Sale-A-Bration products.  This card uses the Sycamore Street Designer Series Paper as a base.  The centre panel has been created on white gloss and coloured using the brayer and coral calypso ink then stamped over with imagery from the Secret Garden Stamp set available in the current mini catalogue.  Then I've embellished with a pretty Secret Garden flower, layered Rich Razzleberry butterfly and a 'for you' sentiment from the Itty Bitty Banners Stamp Set. 

This second card was inspired by a design on page 15 of the current Summer Mini Catalogue. It features the new Honeycomb Textured Embossing folder and cut out hexagons from patterned paper to decorate.  The sentiment is a retired one from the Grunge Rock stamp set.  It is very rare that I will use a retired stamp set in class but I wanted something that suited a male themed card and this worked in the design for me.

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The final project we made was this cute Easter card featuring the Sweet Treat Cup product from Stampin' Up!  We decorated the card with the soft egg patterned paper from the Birds of a Feather DSP and imagery from the Everybunny Stamp Set.  I taught the ladies to create this little 'secret compartment' in the card so that the Sweet Treat cup could be filled and emptied without spoiling the design.  

The cups were filled with a mix of yummy white and pink jellybeans that matched in nicely with the the colours of our papers. 

If you have any questions about these projects or about future class dates please don't hesitate to contact me.

In Class - March 2013

March 17, 2013

In Class - December 2012

All the cards in our last class for the 2012 featured this year's new Stampin' Up! in-colours.  The first design was this Christmas themed card decorated with the Christmas imagery from the Easy Events Stamp Set.

I have replaced the red from a typical red and green Christmas colour combination with Raspberry Ripple.
The main image has been coloured in a combination of blender pen with Raspberry Ripple ink for the berries and Old Olive Stampin' Write Marker for the leaves.  The berries were finished with a touch of Crystal Effects to give them shine and texture.

I scored some of the matching Stitched Satin ribbon in last month's promotion and thought it was a pretty embellishment to finish this design.

The second card we created was this elegant Summer Starfruit, Black and White design featuring the Snow Swirled Stamp Set.

One of the prominent techniques shown here was how to use the embossing folder with ink to help create a contrasting piece of patterned card stock.

The final card is one that has previously featured on this blog before.  Not only is it the Christmas season but it is also the season for Weddings and so Wedding anniversaries too.  This design which uses the new Midnight Muse in colour in conjunction with soft browns, was created with this in mind.

Class participants created the decorative background piece themselves using hand stamped imagery from the  French Foliage Stamp Set and with some shimmer paint applied with cling wrap.

If you have any questions about these projects or about future class dates please don't hesitate to contact me.

In Class - December 2012

December 17, 2012

Elegant Congratulations

I have a workshop next weekend and the request was for an elegant card that featured shimmer paint.  Here the shimmer paint has been applied to the background using some kitchen cling wrap.  I've also added some stamped imagery from the French Foliage set to the background for some added interest.  The main panel features a pretty butterfly from the Papillon Potpouri set layered over a die cut Beautiful Wings Embosslit.  With the special ribbon offer from Stampin' Up! available at the moment I thought I would showcase the Midnight Muse Satin Stitched ribbon from this promotion.  The finishing touch was the little library clip - I love these embellishments.

Layout inspired by the current Connie and Mary Sketch Challenge.

Elegant Congratulations

October 21, 2012

In Class - October 2012

This month we created four projects inspired by Stampin' Up!'s Floral District papers and colour schemes.
The first design was this pretty card.  The background Baja Breeze blue card stock has been lightly sprayed with shimmer mist for a lovely soft sparkly effect (for instructions on how to create your own shimmer mist see this tutorial).  A butterfly was punched in the decorative panel of Floral District Designer Series Paper using Stampin' Up's new Elegant Butterfly Punch.  This panel was then lifted up on Stampin' Dimensionals over a bordering piece of Rich Razzleberry purple card stock - 'revealing' the purple butterfly through punched shape. Sentiments on banners are really popular right now so I incorporated this little 'happy birthday' from the Teeny Tiny Sentiments set on a handcut double sided banner.

Next we created this large 13.5cm square card featuring a rosette.  While there are now great dies available to help you get the perfect base for a rosette, we created ours from scratch by punching the border of a piece of Rich Razzleberry card stock with the Scalloped Edge Punch and scoring our fold marks with a paper cutter and bone folder using the scalloped edges as a guide for where to put the lines.  These papers were then fan folded and put together using hot glue to hold everything in place.  A white embossed butterfly from the Papillion Potpourri Stamp Set sits on the front of the rosette.  We used the same happy birthday stamp for the sentiment as the previous card, also on banners but this time each word was given it's own banner and then we did a faux stitching look to 'hold' them in place.

When you cut a square card from an A4 piece of card stock you always have a strip left over.  We used this strip to make two different types of gift tag/card.  This first was cut using the Two Tags Die.  A white panel was also cut with the die, stamped with the flower stem from the Summer Silhouettes Stamp set and stuck down to the top.  The little flowers were stamped using the 'baby wipe' technique to achieve the multi coloured effect.  The sentiment here is from the Friendly Phrases Stamp Set.

This little 7.5cm square gift card was made using what remained of the card stock strip after making the above tag.  It features imagery from the same Summer Silhouettes Stamp set with the baby wipe technique being used again to create the pretty multicoloured flower.

If you have any questions about these projects or about future class dates please don't hesitate to contact me.

In Class - October 2012

October 20, 2012