A Sweat Treat Balloon

I have been wanting to do a class using the Sweet Treat Cups from Stampin' Up! for some time and I finally got around to coming up with the cards we will be making.

I was really pleased at how this first card turned out it uses the A Little Treat Stamp Set and the Sweet and Sour Speciality Designer Series Paper (apologies it was a dull day when I took this photo, the colours are much brighter IRL).

There are lots of things that you can put into the Sweet Treat Cups, including lollies, stationery items, buttons, or do what I did and visit the cake section of your local supermarket, there you can find lots of types of sprinkles and things to put on top of cakes that make perfect additions to the Sweet Treat Cup. I'll be back with another Treat Cup creation in a couple of days.

A Vintage Picture

I was experimenting the other day with using the clear blocks as a stamp to create a background. I had also just received the Clearly for You stamp set so put the two together and I came up with this little set.

This is a technique I learnt recently at a fun team day where we get to share some great ideas through a 'shoebox swap'.

I stamped the clear block in Sahara Sand ink then 'stamped off' before stamping onto some Very Vanilla cardstock. It creates a great background for this little stamp from the Clearly for You stamp set. The stamp was coloured using markers and stamped on top of the background.

After distressing the edge of the cardstock it was the perfect size to go on the front of an Always Artichoke mini milk carton. I teamed this with some lace, a mini peg (non SU), a mini safety pin and a tiny tag.

The card uses the same products, but I used a larger piece of Very Vanilla to make the image more of a focal point.

Black Magic Technique

This is a card I created for a Technique Class I held the other week. It uses the Black Magic Technique.

To create this effect you simply stamp in Whisper White ink onto Basic Black Cardstock (tip: make sure the white ink is dry before proceeding - a heat gun can speed up the process). Then using the Stampin' Up! Watercolour Pencils I coloured in the image. Using multiple colours gives more depth to the image.

End of Financial Year finally came

You may remember in a previous post I mentioned that work was crazy and I had so many deadlines for the end of Financial Year (or end of June). Well the end of FY, and my deadlines finally came - thank goodness, as my waistline was not going to handle the stress too much longer. As a result I finally had my annual leave day on the 1st July (the one I was supposed to have a couple of weeks ago but had to work) - YEAH. I had so much fun, I spent all day Friday playing, and boy was it fun.

I have wanted to try the Faux Mother of Pearl technique for a while now and finally had the chance.

To create the effect I stamped the hydrangea image from the Because I Care Hostess Stamp Set in Black Staz On and coloured the image with Marina Mist, Night of Navy, Wild Wasabi and Always Artichoke. Then using a sponge I applied some Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint in a 'bouncing' motion, followed by Frost White Shimmer Paint.

I layered my image on Not Quite Navy Cardstock and then on a base of Crumb Cake that I had covered in hydrangeas in Crumb Cake Ink.

I also did another version using Perfect Plum and Elegant Eggplant and layered on Elegant Eggplant cardstock.

It is a bit hard to photograph the effect (it looks better IRL), but with this photo I managed to capture some reflection of light on the image.

Baby Shower Gift

One of my lovely class ladies is expecting (very soon) and had a baby shower and this is my little gift for the little one. She is picking this up tonight at class so I can now show you.

I chose yellow and green for my colours as she doesn't know what she is having. The card uses a Crumb Cake base, a Whisper White mat, So Saffron and Nursery Suite DSP and some Pear Pizazz ribbon, all from Stampin' Up!. The pram is from Stampin' Up!'s Baby Bundle Stamp Set (this is a great stamp set to colour). Inside the card I added some of the little images in the corners.

In the box is a little rabbit, a classic pooh onesie, and some baby massage oil.

The box was made from a 12 x 12 sheet of Crumb Cake - scored at 3" on all sides. I then added some So Saffron Patterned Designer Series Paper and some Nursery Suite Specialty DSP and finished it off with some Pear Pizazz ribbon.

When Kathryn receives this, it will be wrapped in cellophane (I didn't want to squash bunny with a lid).

I want to play

Do you wish sometimes that you don't have to do anything else but 'play' - unfortunately that doesn't happen, for me Work is always getting in the way - LOL. For some reason everything at work has a deadline of the end of financial year (what's the deal, I'm not an accountant!) and it is approaching faster than I would like, aahhhh.

Anyway on the long weekend I decided to make a set out of a card that I created some time ago (see here).

The colours are Marina Mist and Baja Breeze, Old Olive and Certainly Celery, Rich Razzleberry and Rose Red, and Daffodil Delight and So Saffron.

These were so quick and simple to make.

Finally Back Creating

I know it has been a long time. It actually feels like ages since I have been able to play in my craft room but finally this weekend I was able to - yeah for long weekends.

For this set I pulled out a stamp set I hadn't used yet - Growing Green. As the creative juices were a little slow to get started I went with something simple.

I started with a base card of Whisper White cardstock and used Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi, and Rose Red cardstock. I clear embossed the image onto the coloured cardstock. On the Wild Wasabi and Rose Red cardstock I also used the masking technique. I then went around the outside of the image with the Versamark pen to add some more definition.

I used a strip of Crumb Cake and Whisper White to add the sentiment using the Curly Cute Stamp Set. I used my bone folder to add some curl and only adhered one end to the card.

I have a couple more things to share so will be back soon.