Cards for February 2023 Classes

Hi there Creators,

Now we have the new Mini and Sale-a-Bration Catalogues out, of course I've been inspired to use new stuff....lol

Classes are Wed 1st, at 10.30am and Thursday 2nd at 7pm in Laanecoorie then Saturday 4th 10.30am in Maryborough.  Class Cost $20 for the 4 cards. Don't forget to book your place.

I will admit I had a struggle to know what to use (there's just so much and so little time!)

Anyway, the Owls called to me (hoo? 🤣)  How cute is this little guy?  you can get the Adorable Owls stamp set for free when you purchase $90 of goodies (in fact that's the only way to get it, as it's one of the Sale-a-Bration offerings)  I've teamed it up with the Heart punch pack, and the Stampin' Blends (alcohol markers), and discovered that my Rustic Metallic bling slipped (oops)

The next card I made is this one (which I think is really lovely in "real life" just hard to photograph well)  This also uses a Sale-a-Bration set: Beautifully Happy, and I will admit we're not using it to the full extent of it's abilities, but I really love the contrast you get of watercolour pencils on black cardstock.  to get this set as it's quite extensive, you'll need to purchase $180 of goodies, then pick it for free.  I've also used some of the gorgeous Dry Burshed Metallic Cardstock oooo shiny....

Card #3 is this one using the beautiful Fancy Flora Designer Paper, I've teamed it up with the Two Tone Flora stamp set and the Something Fancy stamp set for the saying (which conveniently fits onto the larger Dragonfly punch😉) and added a few of the Iridescent Pastel Gems (umm bling..)

And on to the last card using the By the Bay designer paper - Oh wow (have I ever mentioned I love Gold?🤣)  I think this might be my favourite card, I've teamed up the designer paper with the Brushed Metallic Cardstock, the Balmy Blue & White Variegated Ribbon, and stamps from Charming Sentiments.

I hope if you can't make it to class these inspire you to create in your own space.  

And if you're placing an order do use this host code to be entered into the draw for the free host benefits: D4KMXY6C

God Bless love

Heather xox 

Something Saturday - What can you do with your Ink pads?

Hi there Creators

After using the small ink spots to create the triangular effect on this card from last week:

It got me thinking what else could I do with just my ink pads or spots, so, me being me, I played around and came up with these ideas (I'm sure there are many more.....)

My first card uses the big (main) inkpads to dip the edge onto the cardstock then keep turning till you get the star burst effect, I kind of felt like it was celebratory, hence the "so proud of you" saying from Celebrating You stamp set.

then I moved onto the mini ink pads (Ink Spots) which you can buy as a pre-inked pack of basic colours: Classic Stampin' Spots Assortment, or you can buy Un-inked stampin' spots which come as a pack of 5, and ink them yourself so you have a variety of colours (which is what I've done), it's a great way to get a heap of colours, plus if/when you do buy the main ink pad colours you'll then have the re-inkers already for them too (win win!)

Anyway this is my attempt with the small ink pads, I kind of felt like they were like fireworks with the small star-bursts hence the "happy new year" saying!

After that I played around with swiping my mini ink pads, and as I love rainbows (Thankyou God for creating rainbows 😊)  I thought I would be lovely to swipe a rainbow!

This is the first one I made in the video, and I wanted the word to match the rainbow, so I've used the mini ink pads to do that too, then I have taken some of the Rhinestone basic Jewels and coloured them using Stampin Blends (alcohol markers) so the colour stays on them

 Then this is the second attempt in the video, which I decided would look great as a rainbow waterfall

ironically I realised after I'd put the card together that the rainbow words go in the other direction (ah well never said I was perfect 🤣)

 

and the last card I made up using the swipe'ing again (you can also swipe in wavy lines)

If you missed the video, here it is:

I hope this inspires you to have a go with popping your ink pads directly onto paper too😊

God Bless love

Heather xox

Something Saturday - A spot of Watercolouring

 Hi there Creators

Today I thought I'd have a go at watercolouring and see if I can inspire you to have a go too.....

My theory was that I was trying for "No-line" watercolouring which I've seen done, however it wasn't until after I'd finished the video that I remembered you're meant to stamp off the inked up image once on scrap paper before you stamp it, so that it's a really faded image (oopsie!)  But, as it's not something I do very often (watercolouring) I'm kind of treating it like a "paint by numbers", where I've picked my own colours 🤣  I do love the Water painter brushes they are so easy to use and very handy having their own reservoir of water (I used to let my kids use these when they fancied doing watercolouring, much less mess!)

Having said that I'm quite happy with the way the images turned out, but you're not here to hear me waffle on, so lets move onto the photos.....

The first 2 are done using Stampin' Up!'s Shimmery White cardstock which is actually designed to take a fair bit of water! I have to admit I would never normally pick out a stamp set like this to use: In the Country Sale-a-Bration set (you can opt to have it for FREE with a $90+ order from 5th Jan till 28th Feb), Having seen someone else's rendition of it, it whet my appetite.   My favourite image is this first one with the staircase, If you watched the video and hung around right till the very end you'll already know how I created the criss cross effect using mini ink pads at the top and bottom of the card (it's kind of an "added extra" at the end of the video.)

This image just felt "relax'ish" hence pairing it up with this saying from In the Moment.  I will admit I actually cut my stamp some time ago, so I could use Relax on it's own or with the rest of the words (I'm still glad I did!😁)

These other 2 cards use Stampin' Up!'s Watercolor Paper (which is obviously designed for watercoloring!)

After remembering that you're meant to stamp off once I then moved on to make this card, which is definitely more "no lines"ish, I've used In the Moment for the main main girl image, then True Beauty for the flowers and saying, which I thought blended nicely with the soft effect.

What do you think, are you going to give it a go? which is your favourite card out of these?

In case you missed the video, here it is:

 I hope I have inspired you to create,

God Bless love

Heather xox

Something Saturday - Simple but effective card

 Hi there Creators,

Happy New Year! (or at least New Years eve😍)

Today I'm showing off how to create another card design that I was sent for Christmas, I can see so many ways to use this throughout the whole year, and it's such an easy card to make (don't you just love that?!)

With this card I'm doing a bit of a sneak peek (not that far in advance now as it'll be available on 5th January)  I'm using the Alphabet a la Mode Dies, such a great die set and I love that it has numbers as well as letters.

As you can see I made one each up for my kids for Christmas.  Ben even commented that it was a great card and would be good for all year round (high praise!)

I've actually used the Storybook Gnomes Designer Papers in the background which amazingly are still available despite being reduced on the retiring list! (from $21 down to $12.60)  check them out through the link they're available till 4th January, not long to go!

Here is the inside of Sam's card, I've added a layer of white over the back of the front of the card (ha that makes sense 🤣) but it covers the edges of the Window Sheet (and the not so attractive gluey bits that show through it)

Then the middle of Ben's card...

And lastly Josh's card.......

You can probably see from the photos how to create these cards, but just in case you missed it here's the video:

 

You can make these cards with any alphabet dies, just adjust the gap between the top and bottom of the dies to suit your card.

I hope this inspires you to create.

God Bless love

Heather xox

January Mega Class

Hi there Creators,

Well on 21st January I'm holding my usual Mega Class in Laanecoorie from 10.30 till 3.30pm (or by mail, in which case you'll swap out lunch for postage), we're doing Men's cards this time, I can't wait, I love the sets we're using and I'm really happy with the cards I've designed, we have one fancy fold card and another special window card, along with 10 others, so 12 cards in total. 😍

If you are keen to come and haven 't booked your spot yet, you only have till 4th January, as I'll be ordering everything on 5th when the catalogue goes live.  The cost for the class (includes lunch, stamp sets and more) is $125, unless you're one of my team members in which case as you'll be ordering your own stamp sets, it's only $57.   I do also have an alternative offer if you're not keen on the sets we're using (see below)

Anyway, who wants a bit of a peek of the cards we'll be creating?  Oh I'm so glad you said yes lol 🤣

As part of the class you'll be receiving 

• 2 stamp sets (Legendary Ride and Thanks a Bunch) from the new upcoming catalogues
• 
• 1/2 pack of Ready to Ride Specialty Designer Series Paper
• 1/3 pack of Adhesive Backed studs
• 1/2 pack of Bakers Twine essentials
• All your card-stock cut and scored for you and envelopes
  
• Full written instructions (and me there on the day for any extra help)
• Lunch and more
• You can add on the legendary Ride Dies, which go with the stamp set (usually $56 for only $46 if you want to, needs to be done when you book your place) 
• 

If you do book to join in, you'll need to bring with you:

• E Block (possibly others if you want a selection)
• Silicone Mat for gluing
• Glues (I definitely recommend having tombow with you, or the fine tip glue to glue intricate cuts) plus dimensionals
• Any other stamping tools you like to use

I mentioned that I do have an alternative offer; 

Someone asked if she could come along to have the social day and lunch, bringing her own stuff to work on, which as currently our numbers are fairly low, I decided it would be kind of nice to have extra people, so if anyone else is keen on this idea, let me know I'll be charging $25 to do this, you will need to bring your own things to work with, but you'll have lunch provided and still be getting a couple of goodies from me, but I wouldn't be providing you with the papers or accessories the rest of us would be using.  (if you pick this option and there is anything I have that you'd like to try out, do ask me to bring it) - you will still need to book your place so I know you're coming, but as I won't have to order your goodies please book by 13th January.

 Look forward to seeing those who can make it.

God Bless love

Heather xox

Something Saturday - Butterflies

 Hi there Creators,

Umm well I hadn't intended for this post to be a Christmas eve post, (thought I had an extra week up my sleeve 🤣)  However as I mention in the video, people still have birthdays this time of year too......

Having said that Merry Christmas! (I'll do the Happy New Year next week...)

So, today I'm showing you this really cool way to use your blending brushes so you can end up with a heap of different colours on your stamps, and I happen to think the butterflies ink up beautifully like this.

I've used Butterfly Brilliance stamp (set)  I say "set" but actually it's one stamp all the butterflies joined together, which then cut out with a big die: Brilliant Wings Dies, which doesn't just have the one big die, it then has a heap of more intricate butterfly dies too, which make excellent masks as you'll see.....

Anyway you're not here to hear me waffle on, lets get to the cards:

Card number 1 was this one, at this stage I was just thinking of showcasing the butterfly (and also a couple of the random dies (the sort of splatter and the bricks), as you can see I've taken the intricate die cuts and used them as a mask for the background, after taking the photos I did think I should have added bling, so if you end up with one of these cards, there will most likely be bling on it too 😁)  And if you're wondering where the words came from, it's a sneak peek of a new Sale-a-Bration set which you can pick for free when you order $90+ after 5th January.

Then I moved onto this card, which is when I started thinking I needed to add more butterflies to my cards or I wasn't going to get through them all lol.  Again I've used the intricate die cuts as stencils for the background of my card (I love this effect, and it's such an easy but effective background)  As you can see I've curled the butterflies leaves, and I've added a dimensional under the wings to keep them lifted up when the card gets squashed in the envelope, hopefully it works!

The next card finally ended up with the intricate die cuts on it too (I had actually cut them from vellum originally thinking the vellum would look nice overlaid on the stamped butterflies, but it obliterated the delicate ink, so that didn't work!)  the background of this card is very simply scored at regular intervals  I found this easy to do using my Simply Scored board (did you know there's a metric board as well that overlays over top of the main board?)

 

Then I realised there was still a random die I hadn't used, and with 3 full butterflies remaining........

 

Lastly I had 3 more intricate cuts to use up, so these I decided could be just on a plain very vanilla thick card, but I couldn't help adding a touch of gold on the ends of their wings (hey they needed blinging up, heaven only knows why I didn't feel that way about the other cards 🤣)  So I've used the Gilded leafing, I actually think this card might be my favourite, which is yours?

 

 

If you missed the video, do check it out here:

 

I hope this inspires you to create!

God Bless love

Heather xox

Something Saturday - Interesting Card design

 Hi There Creators,

Today I'm showing off a card I received from a friend, who happens to also be, one of my talented down-line.  I loved the card so much I asked if I could use it for a video, which she kindly consented.

Here's the card Lee-Allan sent me:

 

And here's my first attempt at the same design - I was feeling like I hadn't used this cute North Pole Mischief Stamp set enough before it's retired at the end of the month (at the time of writing it's still available to purchase, but as with all retiring products - stock levels can rapidly disappear, so if you see anything you're keen on, check out the links on here to see if they're still available and get them ordered!

I also used the Storybook Gnomes Designer Paper which is fabulous and (at time of writing) still available (and discounted) 

On  a bit of a side-note I actually made these cards the other night with the Story book Gnomes Designer Paper (the only stamps were for sayings) the Gnomes and the toadstool houses cut out from the paper and some of the other paper used for background - really simple to pop together and I just love how cute and effective they are.

And on to the last card in this "Interesting Card Design" post:

This is the one I make up in the video using the gorgeous (but I think overlooked) Festive foils specialty card (retiring and reduced), and the sadly retiring Christmas Lights Bundle (best to buy this as the bundle, as the individual items haven't been reduced, so you still get 10% off with the bundle price)  Oh and I used the (also retiring and reduced) Wonderful Snowflakes (ooo so pretty - iridescent)

Anyway on to the measurements I used:

Take your piece of A4 card and cut in 1/2 length ways at 10.5cm

Take one of these halves and cut again length ways at 5.25cm, (you'll end up with 2 lengths of 5.25cm x 29.7cm) fold one of these in 1/2 width ways at 14.8cm

Take the 10.5cm x 29.7cm piece and cut off 7.4cm from one end, then score at 3cm and 6cm, concertina'ing these to create the front step of your card, then fold the remainder in 1/2 to create the wider back step. (it would be at almost 14cm the last fold but it's easier just to do it by hand and bone scorer)

Decorate up the fronts of the 10.5cm piece of card and the 5.25cm strip

Then attach them together, here's the video if you want to see how: (you can fast forward to the exciting bits 🤣

I hope this has inspired you to create, do share what you make if you have a go, I'd love to see.

God Bless love

Heather xox