Stampin' With Michelle Pepper

This one was made earlier this month for a friend's daughter. Sparkly ice cream cone card makes for a perfect 3 year old girl birthday card, right? Especially when the colours are inspired by neopolitan of brown, pink and vanilla! A sweet card for a sweet girl :-) And now, for the first of the swap cards I have permission to share with you... This one is from a Stamp Nation member Izitjo: Can you spot all the trendy things going on in this card? Burlap, Word Die, Banners, "Splatters" - WOW!

Here finally is the card I made for the Stamp Nation Swap in February, which I mentioned here . Tip #1: Effective use of card stock that will be covered up See that bit of card stock underneath the Baja Breeze blue layer? It's not pretty under there, it has the "holes" left behind from the two butterfly punch outs and a mini circle punch out which was used in the Build a Brad (retired product that I have a stash of). The butterflies then became embellishments on the card to add interest. Tip #2: Tying in the project The butterflies aren't plain Daffodil Delight butterflies, they have the details from the Hello Doily (#128610 WM or #122847 CM) stamp image. As does the circle used in the Build a Brad. So these yellow embellishments "belong" to the card because they have the same detail as the subtle image on the background of the card. To complete this card, I also stamped the Hello Doily image on the inside of the card, which you can see peeking

In the last post I asked you to guess what else were in the upcycled gift bags I recently donated to the Auckland Home Educators Art & Craft Fair. The answer is, of course, some hand made cards :-)  Well, I wanted to add some hand made cards too, and of course, I didn't think of the idea till the last minute, so I put these together the night before the event. Fortunately, these came together very quickly - thanks to beautiful patterned paper and punches.  I made a set of 3x3 cards and a set of 4x4 cards, dictated by the amount of matching patterned paper that I have. This retired DSP, Love Amore, is an old favourite. The co-ordinating envelopes were a breeze to make with our Envelope Punch Board - love that tool! Some close up pictures for your enjoyment :-) This next card features the Banner Blast stamp set and its co-ordinating Banner Punch that you can get for FREE during Sale-a-bration (SAB) time. Spend $110 during SAB and you'll get one free item, $

I love making these bags, as it appeals to my love for recycling/upcycling. I made these from old Stampin' Up! Seasonal Catalogues, using the Simply Scored Scoring Tool, which makes projects like these a breeze to make. This was the recent Holiday catalogue which has 40 pages, so 10 bags can be made out of one catalogue. You can view the tutorial here or you can attend my next craft class to learn how to do it :-) So, these are the two prize packs I recently donated to the Auckland Home Educators Art & Craft Fair. It seems only fitting to reward winning entries with vouchers to redeem for craft supplies. As you can see, the SAB brochure peeks out of the bag, as did the custom created voucher. Can you guess what else may be in the bags? All will be revealed the next post :-)

I am so excited about showing Michelle S' version of the original card in my Mum & Me class in March. It is amazing how using a different colour combination on the same card design gives a completely different look. She needed a card for her godson's christening the following day, so we put phrase together using the Fabulous Phrases stamp set. We didn't think the Primrose Petal card base was suited for a baby boy, so we opted instead for the Wisteria Wonder...and finally, with the Silver 1/8" ribbon (#132137), we were able to keep ribbon design element, and it was the perfect finishing touch to the card. Now, there was actually a slight blemish in the way of a faint but noticeable ink smudge, which after careful placement of the silver bow, is now completely hidden. It is always satisfying to redeem a slightly blemished card :-) Is this a sweet little card or what? I would say it is perfect for a baby boy's christening :-) Same card design, with a

Stamp Nation (SN) founder Catherine Pooler, affectionately known by us SN members as "Queenie", has done it again! This time, she has teamed up with Maureen Merritt and Iwona Palomountain, to release the latest Online Card Class, Basics & Beyond. Click on the image above and let Catherine tell you what this class is all about.  I am truly enjoying the class...I know, I don't consider myself a beginner card maker, but you know, you just shouldn't neglect the basics and sometimes we need a little reminder of the basics right?  Well, one of the basic card designs was the inspiration for this card that I designed for my "Mum and Me" class in March.  I thought it would be great to teach some basic/handy information to the children (and the mums, too, heehee) like that the card stock we get in NZ is the standard A4 size which is 21cm wide therefore to half it lengthwise you measure and cut at 10.5cm then score and fold each piec

This is a FAB FAB FAB new product that we have been wanting and now Stampin' Up! has delivered! This kit has EVERYTHING you need to make 20 cards. (Well, everything assuming you already own a pair of scissors. If you don't well, you will want a pair of Stampin' Up!'s Paper Snips.)   It also comes with full colour instructions on how to put together 20 different cards. If ease and convenience is not enough, then how about the price deal? At only $38.95, or about $2 a card which will be HAND MADE, by YOU, this is an AWESOME offer!   These are the three stamps that are included in the kit: And here are 20 examples of what you can make with this kit: This will be FABULOUS for anyone and everyone: * Beginner crafters - no investment in tools (eg paper trimmer, punches, etc) required to complete 20 hand made cards. * Experienced crafters - even you need quick and easy cards to put together, right? Of course, this will also be an

It has been a busy February in that we had another camping trip, and I was also trying to sort out our homeschool curriculum this year. I got some crafting time in but I couldn't feature a project yet on the blog as it is for a Stamp Nation Swap. When the swaps come back to me, I will not only be able to blog about the card I made, but you, my blog readers, will have a feast for the eyes as I will show you all 14 cards the other participating swappers would have made! So watch this space.... Today's card I am a little late in featuring. It was made by Irene at my monthly class in February. Inspired by my sample, Irene took on the challenge in the class to make this one for her friend having a new baby. A posie of flowers, how cute!