Beautiful butterfly card

 

This delicate card shows off some of Stampin' Up!'s new In Colors for 2015-2016: Tip Top Taupe, Mint Macaron and Watermelon Wonder.

 

I used the new Floral Wings Hostess stamp set to stamp the background and the butterfly- you can buy this set when your order exceeds £150 (easily done, trust me!) and I cut it out using the Butterfly Thinlits dies (although there will be a new set of dies to cut this butterfly differently in the new catalogue).

 

You can buy the Thinlits now. The inks become available to buy on 2 June (Tuesday!)

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Stampin' Up! new 2015-2016 catalogue - envelope papers (video)

I am thrilled that Stampin' Up! are introducing coordinating envelope papers. As someone who makes pretty much all my own envelopes with the Envelope Punch Board, the papers are easier to work with than designer series paper. The lighter weight means that the score lines fold a little more readily. It's also great to have a bright and jazzy liner, with a practical, plain front side. It means that you can address them & send them through the mail.

Have a look at this video - it shows you how easy it is to use them with Stampin' Up!'s Envelope Punch Board.

As always, if you want to order anything click on the link to my shop in the side bar, or email me if you have any question or would like to know how to get a catalogue.

Sam
x

New Stampin' Up! catalogue sneak peek (video)

 

It's that time of year when we Stampin' Up! demonstrators go all giddy & excitable. The new annual catalogue launch is just around the corner (2 June) & this week we got to pre-order & play with a select few items.

These cards showcase four products:

• the new 2015-2017 In Colors (a new set of colours Stampin' Up! introduces each year, available for the next 2 years)
• Cherry on Top 6x6 patterned papers
• Sprinkles of Life stamp set
• Tree Builder punch

£2 from the sale of every Sprinkles of Life stamp set goes to support Stampin' Up!'s chosen charity, the Ronald MacDonald House programme. This provides hospital accommodation for the families of sick children, so they can be together during very difficult times. It's a very worthy cause, & so it's worth buying this stamp set for that alone. It's also very cute & very versatile, with images that range from cupcakes to trees to flowers to clouds, plus sentiments too. You can see just how hard working these items are from these two cards, which use the same products but are totally different.

 

Ooh, I should add, that's the new dotted lace ribbon in one of the new In Colors.

 

Here's a closer look at the cards & the products themselves. You can buy them from my Stampin' Up! shop from 2 June 2015. In the meantime, if you'd like a catalogue, get in touch.

 

Sam x

Stampin' Up!'s 2015-2016 annual catalogue

Lovely new stuff is on its way....

Clean and Simple card using the Pictogram Punches stamp set (& video tutorial)

This handmade card features Stampin' Up!'s Pictogram Punches stamp set, which is being carried forward into the 2015-16 annual catalogue (out 2 June 2015). Hurray!

Like all good stamp sets, it has a set of coordinating punches - in this case, the Itty Bitty Accents punch pack, which consists of star, heart and flower punches.

Do you like the paper piercing round the edge? It adds a bit of interest and texture to white space. There's a new template for that in the new catalogue too.

When designing this card I used the principle of splitting the card into thirds. Apparently the eye naturally finds items placed where the thirds of the page intersect, pleasing. So the vase is at (roughly!) 2/3 across the card, and the sentiment & ribbon are roughly 2/3 of the way down. 

I made a video showing step by step how I made the card. Apologies for the poor light. I wasn't filming in my usual place, and it turned out darker than I'd anticipated!

If you'd like to purchase anything featured in this video, here's what I used:

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May card class - wedding cards

We'll be making 3 wedding cards using Stamp' Up!'s For the New Two stamp set. There'll be scope for adapting the cards if you want to give them as anniversary or engagement cards.

When: Thursday 28 May 7-9pm (ish - sometimes we overrun a little :))

Where: Heald Green

Cost: £10 inc refreshments

Anything else: I'll also be selling off retired Stampin' Up! stock to make way for the new  annual catalogue launch on 2 June, and you can also be one of the first to get your hands on a copy. Yay!

Spaces are limited to 7 so book early if you want to come. There are pictures of previous classes on my Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/stampinsam

email me bracegirdlesam@gmail.com or message me on Facebook to book a place

Floral birthday card

 

I love the Everything Eleanor stamp set, it's elegant and versatile.

 

Here I've stamped the large flower head and coloured with Blushing Bride ink & layered over the All Abloom paper for a simple birthday greeting.

 

Here's what I used:

 

 

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Balloon birthday card

 

I made this card using the partial die cut technique (only running the die half way through the Big Shot), so the balloon floats off up at the top.

 

I used a MISTI stamp positioner (an amazing tool which allows precision stamping and repeat over stamping) to mask and stamp the greeting in different colours, and to overstamp the balloon in Versamark, ready for heat embossing. I also added in the "a" from a stamp in another stamp set, Pictogram Punches, so the sentiment made sense.

 

Here's what I used:

 

 

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Shabby chic card class (tutorial)

We had a great time at my class last night, making these three vintage, shabby chic cards. It was a fast paced and fun evening, working with the lovely Everything Eleanor stamp set and a variety of punches and dies.

 

Bye bye Pistachio Pudding ink & Apothecary Accents Framelits. Missing you already *sniffle*.

 

 

 

I used some old book pages with these two cards, to give a bit of contrast to the pastel colours. I used pages from Business French for Beginners and Adventure Stories for Girls (edited by the intriguingly named "Leonard Gribble". He sounds like he should have been writing taxation manuals rather than ripping yarns for wizard "gells", but a chap's got to make a living somehow, I suppose).

 

 

 

This one has a tie closure - I glued the ribbon to the card behind the central medallion, so the glue didn't show through.

 

If you want to have a go, I've attached the instructions for making the cards here. Some of the elements I used are retiring in the next few weeks, but you can always substitute similar items. (I think you can still grab the Delicate Design embossing folders if you're quick.)

Here's what I used (current stock only)

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