Urban Garden & Upsy Daisy

If you are a regular blog surfer you have probably come across the name Andrea Walford before. Andrea resides in Canada but through her talent and website assists demonstrators all over the world with her Class & Workshop Planners. I purchased some of her planners a while back and hadn’t made time to create them. Recently I purchased a few more (you know how it is new creations, papers, stamps and you find one you must have now) and on Saturday night I finally completed one. Right now I’m just creating from myself but next year I will be making these sort of classes a regular monthly event so keep watch for more details towards the end of the year.

The one I’ve created to share with you is the Upsy Daisy Card & Box set which is actually from September 2008 so you’ve quite possibly seen this around by now. Andrea makes the instructions very easy to follow but I raced ahead on the last card and then had to improvise a step, but that’s one of the joy’s of stamping. I made a couple of other small alterations too.

 

So what change did I make?

See the Baja Breeze Birthday Celebrations card. The ribbon had to be added differently. I’m happy with the adjustment and if I hadn’t of said anything you may not have even realised.

Supplies: All Stampin’ Up!
Stamps: Upsy Daisy
Card: Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, Urban Garden DSP
Ink: Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Not Quite Navy, Basic Gray
Accessories: Baja & Kiwi Kiss Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Silver Brads, 3/4” & 1” circle punches, Slit Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Horizontal Slot Punch, 2 Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Stamp-a-ma-jig. 

Happy Stamping

Nikki

Kiwi Fancy

Well yes I do have a ‘fancy’ for Kiwi Kiss as I think it’s a lovely colour but that’s not the ‘Fancy’ I’m talking about. Today’s card was made using the Flower Fancy stamp set. This set is a reasonably new purchase of mine and it has seen ink before this card, I’m just not sure if I was happy enough with my results to share it here. I’m not wrapped with this card either but I don’t totally dislike it. The colours are a Stampin’ Up suggested In Colour mix combination and yet again I’ve used another Mojo Monday Sketch.

So here’s the card.

 

 

What do you think?

The Mojo Monday sketch I’ve used is Week 30 and the colour combination is Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Perfect Plum and Pale Plum. I’m thinking what I don’t like is the Kiwi Kiss Patterns DSP.

I might have to have another play with this one. Maybe change the colours around.

Supplies: All Stampin’ Up!
Stamps: Flower Fancy, Kind Thanks
Card: Chocolate Chip, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Watercolour Paper, Kiwi Kiss Patterns DSP
Ink: Stazon Black, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: Slit Punch (for corners), Sponge Dauber, Aqua Painter, Stampin’ Dimensionals.

 

Happy Stamping

Nikki

Baja Thanks

 

I don’t know about any other bloggers out there but I find one of the hardest things to decide on is the ‘post title’. If I always used the stamp set as the title I’m sure you’d see the same thing over and over again and think ‘I’ve already seen that one’ even though it’s a ‘new’ post….

Anyway I’m going with Baja Thanks today as the colour that is used the most is Baja Breeze and the sentiment is Thank You.

This card came about after seeing this lovely card on Lynn Put’s blog. You all know I’m not too fond of Bold Brights and Lynn hasn’t used them either but her card is lovely and bright. My card doesn’t resemble the layout or colours of Lynn’s. I did want to do something bright and cheery like Lynn’s but I couldn’t find a colour combination that I liked so instead I went with a blue version and also changed to a different Mojo Monday Sketch to that which Lynn has used.

So here’s my card.

See. Nothing like Lynn’s gorgeous card apart from the flower arrangement although I’m quite happy with it.

This stamp set, Enjoy Every Moment, is one I purchased when it first came out in the Spring Mini 2008. I didn’t buy it immediately it was only after seeing some lovely creations others were making with it. Guess what. After I purchased it I never used it.  Well that is up until last night. I say this every year but I really am going to try this time and make sure I have used every stamp set I own more than once. Of course you have your favourites that you make heaps with but I’m hoping to even that out a bit this time.

The sketch I’ve used is Mojo Monday Week 17 and the colours are from SU Color Combo’s site. I think I selected Whisper White and Kiwi Kiss and it came back with lots of choices but I decided on the one that added Baja Breeze and Pacific Point. I haven’t used a lot of Pacific Point yet so it was nice to not only use a ‘new’ stamp set but some new colours too.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m decorating the inside of my cards now. I used to create inserts on the computer for my cards (I still do occasionally) but it really finishes a card off when you do the inside too. It doesn’t have to be much but it keeps the theme going.

 

 Supplies: All Stampin’ Up unless specified.
Stamps: Enjoy Every Moment
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, Baja Breeze Patterns DSP
Ink: Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: 1” & 1 1/4” Circle Punches, Scallop Edge Punch, Rhinestone Brad, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Nestabilities Circle Plain & Scallop.

 

Happy Stamping

Nikki 

Fun & Fast Notes

I received this stamp set as part of Convention 2008 and I’m embarrassed to admit I don’t think I’ve used it since. Now if you are a regular visitor to my blog you might realise that it’s not really a ‘me’ set.

Back in June another demonstrator invited me to come along to her team meetings. I’m not part of her downline but I have known her for a little while and she knows the situation with my upline. I feel very privileged to be included and I just want to stress to anyone considering joining SU or any other company to put some consideration into who you sign up under. Not everyone joins a company for the same reasons and not all offer extra help/guidance. Don’t sign up under someone just because you consider them a friend do some research and make sure you have someone that’s right for you.

Anyway back to the team meeting. In June those who attended where given ‘homework’. Can you believe that? I’ve been long out of school….lol  Okay, no it wasn’t that sort of homework. We were all given a left over class kit and we had to create something using the pieces in the kit. We could add to it if we wished. This needed to be brought along to show at the August meeting which was earlier this week. Part of the reason for this was because no one took anything for ‘Show & Tell’ at the June meeting either so at least if no one did for August we still should have our homework to show.

My kit contained an A5 card in Almost Amethyst, a strip of So Saffron, a Whisper White piece for an image and a slightly larger piece of Lovely Lilac to layer the image onto.

Not colours I’ve used for a while but not colours I dislike either. Looking at the pieces I decided I’d use my long forgotten, very neglected, Fun & Fast Notes stamp set. You probably worked that one out already though seeing the title of this post…..lol

So would you like to see the very quick and simple card I created.

I was quite happy with this card. Quick and simple isn’t usually me either but that’s because I’m so used to layering that to not layer too much seems like more work for me.

I’ve used the Watercolor Joy wheel and Almost Amethyst inkpad over the bottom of the main card. Then added the So Saffron strip. The main image has been stamped using Stazon Black onto Whisper White and then coloured using a Blender Pen and inkpads. I’ve used So Saffron for the bird along with a tiny bit of Apricot Appeal for the beak, Certainly Celery for the flower stem, Almost Amethyst and Lovely Lilac for the flower with a touch of So Saffron for the centre.

After making this card I decided to make another and ‘Step It Up’.

For this card I decided to stamp onto Watercolor Paper instead of Whisper White. I left the words off the main image and stamped those separately onto Watercolour paper and punched out using the word window punch. Instead of using a strip of So Saffron cardstock I used So Saffron 1/2” Striped Grosgrain Ribbon. I created a window in the front of the card using the word window punch and adhered the words inside the card so they can be seen through the window. The main image is coloured using an Aqua Painter and inkpads with a So Saffron brad for the centre of the flower.

And here it is.

In the end I used a couple of things I have not used for a while. The stamp set of course, the Watercolor Joy wheel too (I tend to use the Jumbo wheels more than the standard when I do use one) and my word window punch hasn’t been used in this way for a long time.

So what do you think? Did I do okay? 

hey there!

That’s one of the stamps in the Really Retro stamp set by Stampin’ Up!. I think it fits perfectly with the card I’m going to show you today. Today’s card is another mixed card which I’m really happy with. The layout is from Mojo Monday Week 43.

For this card I chose to use the Haiku DSP. When using my Copic Markers to colour I always select my DSP first as it makes selecting my marker colours much easier.

 

Supplies:
SU items -
Stamp set: Really Retro
Card: Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, Haiku DSP
Accessories: Old Olive Brads (Earth Elements pack), Stamp-a-ma-jig, Stampin’ Dimensionals
Non-SU items -
Stamp: Tatiana Ketto (Stamping Bella)
Card: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers
Accessories: Nestabilities.

Something a little different

Almost everything I share on my blog is made using Stampin’ Up! products only apart from the occasional tool I might use such as Nestabilities in a card here and there. I love Stampin’ Up! and their products but sometimes it’s nice to use other things too. About 12 months or so ago I purchased a few Copic Markers locally but due to the price of them and me wondering whether or not I’d use them I didn’t buy any more.

If you follow Makeesha Byl’s blog at all you might recall not too long ago she purchased some Copic Markers. After seeing her lovely creations and how she combined them with SU products I decided to take the plunge and purchase some more myself, and then some more, and maybe a few more…lol. Of course I then had to purchase some stamps from Stamping Bella and also some Sugar Nellie stamps too to use with my new Copics. 

Since joining Stampin’ Up! back in June 2006 I don’t think I’ve spent much money at all on anything bar SU products so this was a bit unusual for me but I think it was just what I needed. I’m in the process of making some changes to my SU business so the past 2 months have been a bit different for me and my enthusiasm has died a little. Doing something a little different is helping get me back on track.

The card I’m going to show you today, and the one tomorrow, where both made a few weeks back. I’ve been a bit slack with photographing and editing the pictures to share with you all. Hopefully I’ll be back on track soon with more regular posts and I sure hope you don’t mind seeing a combination of SU and other items in some of my posts.

Today’s card layout was a past Bella Sketch. I’m still not sure if it’s missing something though. I just feel the bottom right corner is a bit bare (picture the watermark not there) but I can’t work out what I could put there. Maybe it’s just me. Please let me know if you have any suggestions.

 

I knew I wanted to use the gorgeous Raspberry Tart DSP as I love the colours in it. The stamp is Imeldabella which I just had to have after my good friend recently had a shoe splurge. Now how many pairs did she buy? 10 or was it 12? Maybe it was more? It was during a sale though, so why not. After all ‘it’s a girl thing’….

Supplies:
SU Items-
Stamps:Sanded
Card: Real Red, Kiwi Kiss, Pretty in Pink, Raspberry Tart DSP
Ink: Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Flower Designer Brads, Stamp-a-ma-jig
Non-SU items- 
Stamps: Imeldabella, It’s a Girl Thing (Stamping Bella)
Card: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers

Tri-Shutter Cards

I’m sure you’ve seen some of these Tri-Shutter cards around by now especially if you’re a regular visitor to Splitcoaststampers. Two weeks ago in the SCS Weekly Inkling the Tri-Shutter Card was the featured tutorial. I’d been meaning to try these for a little while but my stamping has been a bit sporadic over the past 2 months or so and I’ve only just had a go over the weekend.

I made 3 in total, 2 similar, all made using the Great Friend Stamp set from the Spring Mini combined with the coordinating Walk in the Park DSP, but there’s a bit of a story to go with this.

I started making my 1st card on Friday afternoon. I wanted to get a start on it before my fortnightly stamp night with friends that night. I chose the DSP print that I wanted to use along with the base cardstock. I then made the base card up. Next I decided to put a stamped piece in the middle front section and add some DSP to the top and bottom of the  front base piece. I also covered the back fold with the same DSP print. Once this was done I chose a print for the middle top and bottom sections. Then I came to a halt. I kept looking at it thinking ‘not sure if I like this’. I ended up putting it aside, took it out for stamp night, showed the ladies what I’d done so far but wasn’t sure about it. Nothing more was done with it that night.

Late Saturday afternoon I decided to make another using a different colour combination. It was inspired by this card made by Vera Schoeters. I finished this card while stamping with my good friend that night. So this is really my first completed Tri-Shutter but I’m still calling it my second…lol.

 

Supplies:
Stamp set: Great Friend
Card: Basic Gray, Walk in the Park DSP, Whisper White
Ink: Baja Breeze, Basic Gray, Versamark
Accessories: Basic Gray Taffeta ribbon, Trio Flower Punch, 1/2 backed pearls (Pretties Kit), White Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Rub-on (retired SU)

 

After completing this one I pulled the first one back out. My friend made a few suggestions and away I went. I was happy with the end result. I liked the one above but I think I like this one more as it’s much more colourful and to think it almost went into the garbage. So glad I decided to hold on to it for a little and relook at it.

 

Supplies:
Stamp set: Great Friend
Card: Baja Breeze, Cameo Coral, Whisper White, Walk in the Park DSP, So Saffron DSP
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, So Saffron, Cameo Coral, Basic Gray
Accessories: Button Bouquet, So Saffron 1/2” Striped Grosgrain, Clear Embossing Powder, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin’ Dimensionals.

 

I had a reason for making this card which meant it wasn’t staying with me (hence the blank cameo coral piece so I could write a message on) so I decided to make another. I made a few changes as you will see below.

 

Supplies:
Stamp set: Great Friend
Card: Baja Breeze, So Saffron, Whisper White, Walk in the Park DSP
Ink: Cameo Coral, So Saffron, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: Button Bouquet, Baja Breeze 5/8” Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots.

 

So which one do you like? Leave me a comment and let me know.