Stampin' With Michelle Pepper

 The festive Brightly Gleaming Specialty Designer Series Paper is a keepsake! Click here for the supplies that I used   This is one of my favourite go-to mini albums to make. All our Designer Series Papers (DSPs) are so beautiful and one awesome way to show them off is in a keepsake album (it measures about 6"x6" or 15.2cm x 15.2cm). Also, this can be a great card option - you know, when you need a card that has enough space for lots of people to write on.   The album is easily adjustable - here I have used 5 pieces of DSPs for the pages (with pockets for extra journaling, photos or memorabilia), but if you prefer less you can certainly alter that. The whole album is held together with our gorgeous Old Olive/Pretty Peacock Reversible Ribbon (#149496).   Did you also notice that the cover was actually just t he design of the card I posted here ? Why not eh - it'll make a great card and album gift too!   Hope you like looking at pictures because now I will show yo...

A Nativity Christmas Card...     ... and a stepped up version! Dry emboss, and heat emboss in Gold.   Click here for the supplies list for this card     Those who attend the Auckland Extravaganza events (3 times every year - in March, July and November) always get to make five fabulous projects. Judith and I taught this Peaceful Nativity card at our most recent November "Christmas" Extravaganza. Peaceful Nativity is literally the only stamp set you need for this project.  Michelle's Top Tip: To "zush up" a white or predominantly white card, I think you need texture, texture, texture! You'll see here that the frame is embossed with the Subtle 3D embossing folder, and of course, heat embossing in gold also provides texture. Thanks for popping by today to see my card creation. As always, if you have any questions, I am happy to help you. Until next post, have fun stamping! *** Do you have a huge Stampin' Up! wish list? Then our fully customisable Starter Ki...

A Christmas Card in Real Red and Very Vanilla   Click here for the supplies list   Recently, I attended Stampin' Up!'s first virtual conference (you know, a Covid-19 thing in 2020!). So thankful for Stampin' Up! to adapt and be creative and therefore us demonstrators did not have to give up meeting and connecting altogether due to lockdowns and social distancing. Typically, we get to see new products coming out and even stamp with some. This card below was one of the "stamp and share" projects. I didn't have the new products (which I could have pre-ordered) so instead I followed along but I used different supplies. Ta-da - the above Monochromatic Merry Christmas card was born!       Michelle's Top Tips:    - If a layout doesn't quite work with the supplies you have to use, try turning the orientation of the layout as I have done in today's card.    - A monochromatic card is a great idea if you have limited supplies. - 2"x2" squares of DSP...

Deck the halls with boughs of holly...   Click here for the supplies list   The inspiration for this card came from my Team Leader Jacque William's Forever Fern Bumblebee Card . I love Jacque's card so much I decided to do a Christmas version. You will see that my card is exactly the same layout, but with using a different suite and colours, it looks very different to Jacque's.  Michelle's Top Tip:  Whenever there's a bundle - get them all then everything co-ordinates! This card came together easily with the Christmas Gleaming Variety Bundle which includes the Christmas Gleaming stamp set, the Gleaming Ornaments Punch Pack and the Brightly Gleaming Specialty DSP.    Until next post, have fun stamping! *** Be ready with your order for our Merry and Bright Online Extravaganza - 24 hour sale only on 24th November 2020. For current specials, click this link https://michellepepper.stampinup.net/special ***

When contemporary meets tradition...   Click here for the supplies list     When I saw the card on page 35 of the August-December 2020 Mini Catalogue I knew I wanted to have a go at making it. Fortunately, we are provided with the supply list for every project sample in our catalogues, so there was no need to guess what colours were used in the card sample. So ta-da, here is my re-creation of the original sample.   I started with a 14.5cm x 10.2cm Petal Pink card stock, then sponged on Highland Heather, Balmy Blue, Misty Moonlight, Night of Navy. The water splotches are made simply by flicking water onto the card stock after it has been sponged.   Michelle's Top Tips:   1. A big tip about sponging - be patient! Start off lightly, layer the colours on from light to dark, but then also "smooth" it all with a layer of the light colour. For this card, you won't need to sponge right to the bottom since it will be covered up with a piece of Whisper White or Shimm...

The Feels Like Frost Specialty Designer Series Paper is perfect for # SimpleStamping     I "chopped" the paper (hence #LoveItChopIt) so that it is the size of a standard card front ie, 10.5cm x 14.8cm. You can adhere this straight on top of a standard card base, but I decided that the silver foil side is too stunning not to show as well on the same card.  And this is today's    Michelle's Top Tip:   Cut the front of the card base so there's about a 3cm flap. Then I adhere the Feels Like Frost paper on top of that flap. Ta-da, now you get to see the other side of the paper. Hopefully this clip below shows clearly what I mean.     As shown, I have adhered a piece of the pretty paper (same side as the card front) on the middle panel but it would totally look fine too "naked".  The sentiments (don't you just love the font?) came from the lovely and versatile Seaside Notions stamp set. I have also used the branches die from the Christmas Layers Di...

This is the Double Flip Top Box I taught my Team Members in our September Team Meeting. And I have a video tutorial for you too! The video shows how to construct the box, and I used a different colour scheme in the video. Well, it was my first attempt at using iMovie, so let me know what you think. https://youtu.be/dG_tb5uyTzw One of the first reasons I fell in love with papercrafting, is the ability to transform card stock into gift boxes! Seriously, look at this - this box was made basically from an A4 cardstock and a 12"x12" Designer Series Paper (DSP) pictured below!  Ok, actually, I used about half of a second A4 card stock to hide the flaps by which I adhered the lids on to the bottom of the box. Depending on how you actually decorate the outside of the box, you may have to cut into a third A4 card stock. This is the box when the lid opens up, even the inside is pretty! I first learned how to make these boxes from another Demonstrator Erin Gunson, about 2.5 years ago. I...

Spring is in the air... Did you know that we have a Tulips stamp set and a Tulip punch? You can buy them separately or buy them as a bundle and save 10%. Check out the Timeless Tulips Punch Bundle on my online shop.   If you are a card maker, where do you get your inspiration from? This is how the story goes that resulted in the creation of this card:   Discovered/noticed on 29th August 2020 1) I recognised the tulips foliage in one of my pots in the garden. This was an amazing discovery, because I haven't done anything in the garden for most of this year. And when I discovered that there was actually a bud, I was feeling very blessed that day...And since then I have been watching and monitoring its growth. When I made this card, it was my "therapy" for impatience. I wanted the flower then! So I turned to my stamps, ink and paper. And I can have more than one tulip on my card, and I can have a variety of colours! 2)  Have you noticed that Slimline Cards are all the rage ...

Oh my - Forever Gold Laser-Cut Specialty Paper! Click here to see the list of supplies I used.   Today's card came together fairly quickly, thanks to the fabulous Forever Gold Laser-Cut Specialty Paper! No intricate die cutting required because it's all there ready to pop out when you are ready :-) Forever Gold Laser-Cut Specialty Paper The poinsettia was fussy cut out of the Poinsettia Place Designer Series Paper - again, how easy is that, no colouring required either because it's all done! The Crumb Cake Plaid paper is a quarter of a 6"x6" sheet of paper (you can view the video I linked to in my previous post ).  Michelle's Top Tip:  To add further interest and texture to the card, I embossed the Whisper White layer with our Subtle 3D Embossing Folder, and then brushed over with the Clear Wink of Stella. I didn't capture it on the photo, but it gives a little sparkle and shine to the layers without competing with all that gold on the card. So what do ya...

This is the Father's Day card that my 9 year old helped me make in the weekend! The supplies list for this card can be viewed by clicking here.   Our Plaid Tidings 6"x6" DSP is a 48 sheets pack (4 each of 12 double sided designs) in plaids of all colours! Plaids are not just for Autumn and Christmas projects though, and in this card I have combined it with the adorable Pampered Pets stamp set to make a fun card for my husband for Father's Day which we celebrated in the weekend in the South Pacific. For a fun fact I just learned, New Zealand is one of 4 countries (Australia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea) that celebrates Father's Day on the first Sunday in September.  I just love the sentiment from the Pampered Pets stamp set because I think it can be used for a variety of occasions. I might just make up a few more of this cards - in all the different colourways of plaid paper from the Plaid Tidings DSP! Michelle's Top Tips Today: If you look closely, I didn't ...

My first play with the Fancy Phrases stamp set! For the list of supplies I used in these cards, please click here.     How did these cards come together? I can tell you it wasn't a linear process (A then B then C) but a back and forth of "let's do some blue flowers", "oh, I haven't used my old favourite colour Pool Party in a while!", "what DSP do I have?", etc. I was fascinated by my own internal dialogue (ok, possibly spoken out loud) in my creative process. I also spent some time choosing the right sentiments as I had specific people in mind for these cards and specific reasons for sending the cards.  I have used Stampin' Blends to colour the floral images in Pool Party, Blackberry Bliss, Old Olive and a smidgen of Daffodil Delight. The background is Gray Granite patterned papers from the Peony Garden DSP.  The labels were die cut from the Tasteful Label Dies.    Michelle's Top Tip Today: "Celebrating another year of happiness...

Well, it seems August 26th is Dog Appreciation Day! And I remembered that I still haven't shared this card which Claire Hill and I taught at the Auckland Extravaganza back in July! We used everything in the Playful Pets Suite in this card - the stamps, dies, Designer Series Paper, Trim and Trinkets! And wow, you can use this one code to order all the products in this suite .   Check out the full list of supplies here .  Below is the same card, standing on display. Here, here, three cheers for our family pets ! I made a short video tutorial on how to make this fancy fold card. In the video, I did not walk through how I decorated this card. I wanted it to be a short video. I know the card looks complicated, but hopefully my video will show you that you can easily re-create this card. Enjoy!   Until next post, have fun stamping!  *** Do you have a huge Stampin' Up! wish list? Then our fully customisable Starter Kit is for you, check it out now! For current specials, cli...