Stampin' With Michelle Pepper

With 6 weeks to go till Christmas, my calendar is fast filling up - how about you? As my to do list gets longer and the deadlines get shorter because there is more of an urgency at this time of the year, I see my blogging is suffering, for it's been more than a week since my last post! That won't do, so just a quick one today. I love this card - I hadn't planned for it to be a vintage card, but I love the end result! I was so impressed with the technique after watching Catherine Pooler's video that I couldn't wait to try the technique out myself. I experimented a bit with different Embossing folders, and different colour combinations so that eventually I found myself with a stack of background pieces. These have been so handy to have. As you can see from this card, it needs only very few embellishments and snap, you got a card all ready to go :-) Hope you are inspired by this technique too - have fun playing!

This card showcase a different way to use Embossing Folders. I have used the Woodgrain folder here as a stamp! Don't you love it when you realize what you have has multi purpose uses to it? First, sponge on the Whisper White layer any color combination you desire. I love the Coastal Cabana/Strawberry Slush/Daffodil Delight combo and I love the way it turned out in this card. Sponging is probably the coloring technique I fall back on time and time again. I'd love to show you how if you don't know what it is. Back to the card…next, you take the embossing folder of your choice and spritz water on the raised side. You want it fairly wet. Then lay your sponged piece on the side with no water, colored side up. Firmly press close the embossing folder together. Open the folder and voila, you will see the imprint of the folder's design on your sponged card. It gets more pronounced by the second, literally, as the card dries. With such a pretty background, you won...

I have heard it said that Sympathy Cards, for some, are hard to make when there is need for one, so the recommendation is to make them when there's no actual need for one.  This week I needed to make one :-( I found the design process actually quite a special time. As hard as it was to believe that life can slip away so suddenly, even when it wasn't unexpected, the reality is, we are confronted with the undeniable fact that now this life doesn't exist anymore in this world. While making this card, I found myself wrapped up in the thoughts of who this person was, the beauty within and without, and of all the many different ways she would be missed by all who knew her. These thoughts guided the design elements of the card. At one point I felt to use bright colours because when you saw Billie's smile, and she always smiled, you can't help but feel happiness and joy, that your day was brightened somehow. In the end I chose the muted pinks and yellows with...

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, ...

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!

When the workshop for card making is over a lunch hour, you know that it will be a rush so the cards will need to be simple. Embossing Folders are the answer for quick and simple yet beautiful cards. TIP: see that row of pearls? It was placed there strategically - to hide a little stamping mistake I made when stamping that "journey" statement. End result is a beautiful card though, so I am pleased.

Known by a variety of names, mainly swing and flip flop, these interactive cards are back in popularity. Now with Stampin' Up!'s new Thinlit card dies, these cards can be made quickly and easily. Confession: I made today's feature card the conventional way as I haven't got these new products yet, and I knew I wouldn't get it before Grace's birthday. There are many youtube videos out there showing how to make these, but this one I found the most efficient, short and sweet :-) So, here it is, a precious little card for my precious little niece: My own added feature to the interactive card is the square tag with the cupcake image. Inside is where I will be able to write a birthday message to Grace. Circle Card Thinlits Die (133480) $67.95                                                            Label Card Thinlit...

A good friend and customer suggested awhile ago that I make a card with the 2013-14 In Colours so that it would be handy to give to customers to see what these colours look like in card stock, not just from the catalogue pages. Time passes, there's always a growing list of things to do...you know how it goes... Then one day, since a lot of stamping tools were already out, and I remember a card I saw in the  blogworld that fellow SU! demo Emily Campbell had made, I set to work to cross this off the list. Well, I got one card made, so now I just have to make a bunch of these to give to customers.  Thanks for stopping by today. Bless you heaps. Now if you haven't already seen it on my Promotions page, this month Stampin' Up! has a special Butterfly Bundle offer that I'd like to bring your attention to:

This was my entry in a recent Sage Kimble's card making contest which got a honourable mention - it got the most Likes on her Facebook! That coloured butterfly there, was my first attempt at the stained glass technique I mentioned here . Well, instead of making a card tonight, I have been on the internet. I worked on the Header... boy, was it a tedious process, going back and forth, testing each image. After many hours, this is the look I have decided upon, for now. My conclusion: since this blog will be image rather than writing driven, a clean Header (and indeed overall blog look) is actually quite good. That way your eyes will be immediately drawn to the image of the first post as you enter this site. (But it was still hard not to choose an image that would somewhat scream ME! Besides it's not much to show for 2 hours of work, lol.) In my internet rabbit trail tonight, I did come across Amy Lynn Andrews of Blogging with Amy fame. She was a "non techy" goog...