BEFORE THE BIG SHOT!!!

Sometimes at classes when we are talking about the Big Shot we wonder what we did before we had the Big Shot.  I love the Big Shot and everyone who sees it loves it too – and wants one!!! Isn’t that right?  I was sorting through one of my big boxes of cards today and I came across some very early cards I had made.  I don’t have many left but sometimes it is good to look back at them.  I thought you might be interested.  Now I am a little embarrassed to share these but well, we have to start from somewhere don’t we.  I made these cards back in late 2008 and in 2009 in my very early days as a Demonstrator.  I remember being so proud of these at the time.  I had never done any stamping until just before I joined.  So I share these with you.  You can laugh, you can cringe or you can just ignore them completely BUT here they are for the blog world to see ……………..

This was one of my very early cards.  This was the first stamp set I bought with Stampin’ Up! that came with my Starter Kit and I must admit the first stamp set I ever owned.  This was a favourite set though ‘Baroque Motifs’.

I hardly every use Chocolate Chip now.  This is teamed with Certainly Celery.  I even added a little dazzle with Dazzling Diamonds.  No Rhinestones back then. 🙂

I don’t mind this card really but well I didn’t even own any ribbon.  I just used a thin strip of cardstock tied in to a bow.  This card was for a workshop a long time back showing the Rock and Roll Technique.  Once again using Certainly Celery. I used a lot of that colour back then.  It’s not available now and no that is not Bermuda Bay it is with.  This is Taken with Teal (retired). My first inkpad I bought.  The light flowers were stamped in Versamark onto the base card.  I had used Regal Rose (not available now) and Rose Red.

I still love the layout of this card.  I think I will have to try this one again with some new stamps. 🙂  I think I CASED this from the Stampin’ Up! Catalogue at the time??? There was no Pinterest back then either.   I used Pink Passion (no not available now either) and Elegant Eggplant.  I don’t think I have used that colour combination since.  The greeting was from ‘Sincere Salutations’ (retired).

As I think on these cards and other earlier ones I realised that I used more stamping techniques where now I rely on the Big Shot to cut and add texture.  I think I need to get back to some more stamping techniques.

But enjoy your chuckle as you look at these.  We shall move on now to new products and new catalogues.

Only 2 more sleeps until the new catalogues begin.  I am excited about this. 

See you again very soon.

Jenny

“SWEET PEA”

I have been wanting to show you this card for some time now.  Since we are now saying Good-Bye to ‘Baroque Motifs’ I think it is about time.  I am sad to say Farewell to this set.  We have had a long association together. This set has been with me since the beginning of  my stamping journey.  I have used it for weddings, birthday, Christmas, Anniversary, I think just about any occasion.  If you want to check out some of the cards I have created with this set then just click on the ‘Baroque Motifs’ tag and it will take you there – I hope!  This time I have used it for a Baby card – and I think it is a very appropriate use.  🙂

You might have seen versions of this card around your blog travels.  I wanted to make this card for a special friend who just became a Grandma.  (Doesn’t that make you feel old when your friends start becoming Grandparents???).  Anyway,  when my friend was pregnant with her own daughter many years ago she used to call her baby ‘Sweet Pea’, and she had that nickname for quite a few years.  Now when her daughter was pregnant this little baby was called ‘Sweet Pea’.  So you see, I just had to make this card.  Here it is.

Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Short and Sweet.

Card: Olive Olive, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Certainly Celery

Ink: Old Olive, Bashful Blue

Punches: Wide Oval, 3/4 ” circle, 2 step Bird Punch, 2 step Owl Punch, Boho Blossoms.

Other: Beautiful Butterflies Sizzlit, White Gel Pen, Whisper White Grosgrain Ribbon (check out the little tuft of hair!)

I hope you have got ‘Baroque Motifs’ in your collection because it is such a versatile stamp set.  Have you had a chance to check out the other retiring stamps and accessories??  Some items have sold out already so you have to be quick.  You can check it all out here.  Look down the page for the retiring stamps and accessories in the little picture boxes (if that makes sense).

Good Bye ‘Baroque Motifs.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jenny

“50TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY – BAROQUE MOTIFS STYLE!!”

Our next door neighbours recently celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary.  It was such a great milestone I wanted to make a card to mark the great occasion.  It was a couple of weeks ago now but they have been away to celebrate so I have only just made them the card AND I really didn’t know what I was going to do for it.  I have been pondering on it for a while and I went searching and I still wasn’t sure.  Then I found this idea on SplitcoastStampers.  (Oh how I love that site.  It always gets you out of trouble!!!!).  I was inspired by a design I saw by sillyfilly there.  I liked the idea of using the Top Note die.  I dug out my poor neglected Baroque Motifs set.  This set always comes to the rescue too.  This is what I came up with.

CARD: Marina Mist, Whisper White, Gold card (non-SU!)

STAMPS:  Baroque Motifs.            INK: Marina Mist

OTHER: Top Note Die, Big Shot, Decorative Label Punch, Beautiful Wings Embosslits, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Medium Sizzlits Die, Gold Cord (retired),

I even did the inside, although it is not very exciting!

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope your week is going well.  Stop by again soon.

Jenny xx

ALL ABOUT THE BOX!!

Last post I showed you the Black and White box I created for the Just Add Ink Challenge this week.  I thought I would show you now how I put all the elements together.  (As if you really want to know!!!)

This is the box.

A Black and White Box!!

I will go through each part.

BOX:

I used the box template on Keesh’s blog here.  This is how I made it.

Cut your card 21cmx21cm.  On one side score your card at 3cm, 9cm, 12cm and 18cm.  You should have 3cm left on that side.  Turn your card and score at 3cm in on both sides.  Cut all the score lines on the long side up to the score line that runs across.  Fold on your score lines.  (Before you assemble the box you need to stamp/emboss first as I have done.  I will explain that lower down**).  To assemble your box add Sticky Strip or Snail adhesive to the small tabs and adhere them together.

**Before assembling my box I stamped the swirl from Baroque Motifs in versamark and then clear embossed it.  You can see it a bit clearer in this photo.

Close up View.

BOX BAND:

The box band was done in Whisper White card measuring 21cm x 8cm.  I used the Polka Dot Embossing Folder.  It was too long to run through all at once, so I placed half the card in the folder and ran it through. Then I turned the card over.  I lined up the last line of dots on the card with the dots on the Embossing Folder and  ran the card through.   I wrapped the card around the box with the ends underneath the box.  I ran some sticky Strip on one end to join them together.

THE FLOWER:

To create the flower I stamped the swirls from ‘Baroque Motifs’ with Staz On on Whisper White card and punched out 3 scallop circles with the 2 1/2″ Scallop circle punch.  I scrunched them up several times to distress them.  I layered them together.  I find the Tombow Glue to be the best to adhere them together.  The whispy black centre was created with the Black Grosgrain ribbon.  Cut a small length of the ribbon.  Grab one end and start pulling a thread.  One end will pull more easily than the other, so if it doesn’t work try the other end.  Once you have a thread then grab it and pull for a bit to fray the ends.  Stop before you reach the end!!!!!

Here is a photo to give you an idea.

I used a glue dot to stick the end of the ribbon into the centre of the flower.

 RIBBON CURLS:

The white ribbon curls are created with the White Organza ribbon.  Use the heating Tool to GENTLY heat the ribbon.  The heat will make it curl up.  Don’t heat too long or it will melt the ribbon.  (How do I know that!!!! LOL).

Here is a picture to show you it curling up.

I did 3 short lengths and adhered them on top of the band with Sticky Strip before adding the flower.

ASSEMBLING:

I assembled everything directly onto the band.  First the ribbon curls, then some black leaves punched from the 2-step bird punch, then the flower.  The tags were created from the set “Lots of Tags” stamped in Basic Black and punched out with the tiny tags punch.  I tied them with cotton thread and adhered them with a glue dot just under the flower.

There you have it.  I think I included all the parts.  Have fun creating your own.  If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jenny xx

IT’S A BLACK AND WHITE BOX FOR JAI #71

I haven’t done a Just Add Ink Challenge for a while, although I do check it out every week.   When I saw it was a Black and White Colour Challenge I thought I would give it a go.  Black and White is not the usual colours I use but I think it can look very elegant together.  I thought about a few different ideas and thought about a few things I have wanted to try for a while AND I haven’t done any 3D projects in simply ages!!    So this idea came to me.  It took me a while to pull together today but here is my entry for the JAI challenge for this week.

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 I had to dust off ‘Baroque Motifs’.  I haven’t used that set for a very long time. There are a lot of different elements to this box and I don’t have time to explain them all now.  I just wanted to get this posted to enter in to the challenge but stop by in the next day or two and I will go through it all.

I hope you like????  🙂

Jenny

A CUTE BOX- AND A CARD!!

Just stopping by quickly.  I wanted to show you some cute projects we did last week at our play day.  I got together with some of my best stamping buddies, Andrea, Leonie and Tracey.  We did some fun projects.  I have to say though, I didn’t get as much done as the others.  I had to leave early.  They went on into the early hours!

This is one of the first projects we did. Andrea showed us her cute box she received recently from Lynda.  We got to make one.  Thanks Lynda for the inspiration!

EDITED TO ADD:  Lynda and Andrea let me know that the little box is by Dawn Griffiths.  This is her blog.  Go and check out all her amazing creations.

Here is my creation:

For this I have used the flower from the Sale-A-Bration set “Bliss” directly on the cardstock.  I have used Marina Mist.  I have just discovered this colour.  It is such a lovely colour.  The scallop circle ‘For you’ is from another Sale-A-Bration set “Punch Bunch”.   I used the markers direct to rubber to colour the flowers and words and punched the circle with the 1 1/4″ punch.  This was layered on a circle punched from the 1 3/8″ circle in Marina Mist.  I then inked up the stamp in Regal Rose and punched it out using the Scallop Circle Punch.  These were all adhered together and layered in mounting tape.  I added an adhesive pearl in the centre of the flower.  This is such a cute little box.

I can show you a card I made that day too but I have to say I really struggled with this and I am still not that happy with it.  This one was a White is White Challenge over at Cupcake Craft Challenges here.  We could add another colour but the project must be predominantly white.  In the end this is the end result.  Sometimes what you have in your head just doesn’t come out right!!

I used the Heat and Stick Powder and Dazzling Diamonds on the Baroque swirls to add some bling.  It is a bit hard to see here.  I added some adhesive pearls to the sentiment oval.   Go and check out the entries to this challenge.  There is some absolutely gorgeous designs there.  I didn’t even bother adding mine!!

I have another project we did that I will show you shortly.  That’s enough for one day.  Enjoy the rest of your day.

Jenny xx

STAMPING BUDDIES!

It’s always a lot more fun to get together with friends to stamp.  Yesterday we had a stamping day at Leonie S.  I went along with Andrea and Leonie and I met up with Tanya who had come from WA, and I met Lisa too.  Lots of laughs and stamping.

Here are some of the projects we made.

Leonie S. showed us how to make this cute little box using the Big Shot and the Scallop envelope die.  It’s a great size to add a few choccies as a small thank you to someone.  It is so quick to make.  Thanks Leonie!

The next project was this gorgeous card shown to us by Lisa.

The photo doesn’t do it justice.  The flowers were created by punching out several scallop circles from the scallop circle punch.  The black circles were distressed and scrunched, and unfolded and scrunched some more until the layers separated.  This created a faux suede effect.  It was a bit time consuming but is very effective.  The Kraft scallops were stamped with the swirl from Baroque Motifs.  Then they were all assembled together to form this lovely flower.  The vanilla card was stamped with the En Francais script in Sahara Sand and the edges sponged.  The edge of the Vanilla and the black was punched with the Eyelet border punch.  Some Kraft taffeta ribbon was scrunched and adhered to the card.  Those black leaves with the flower wer made using the Big Shot ‘Little Leaves’ Die.  This was all assembled on a Kraft card base which had the swirls from Baroque Motifs stamped around the edge.  Thanks Lisa.  I think I will be making this card again – perhaps in some other colour combos?????

I will just show you a few photos of our busy group.

Andrea and Leonie N. busy creating!

Andrea and Tanya!

A quick group shot as we dash out the door!

 Thanks for stopping by and seeing all our antics!  It’s so great when we can catch up with friends we meet on our blog travels.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a good day.  🙂

FOR THE HAPPY COUPLE!!

I had to quickly whip up an engagement card for some lovely friends of our’s.  It was the same couple I recently made the housewarming card for here.  Isn’t it always the way – they get the dog, the house and then get married!!!  I didn’t have any specific stamps for engagement so I wasn’t sure what to do.  I came across a card similar to this the other day in my blog travels, but I’m not sure where it was now.  I did change it a bit.  I dusted off the old Baroque Motifs set which I haven’t used in ages.  It always gets you out of trouble!  I hope it wasn’t too pink for them!

Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Warm Words, Teeny Tiny Sentiments.

Ink: Pretty in Pink, Rose Red.

Card: Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White.

Other: Eyelet border punch, Boho Blossoms Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Big Shot – Lots of Tags, Pretty in Pink Taffeta ribbon, sponge, 2 way glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds. 

Here is the inside.

I should have taken a photo of a close-up of the flowers and forgot.  I punched out the flowers with the Boho Blossoms Punch, and sponged the edges.  I layered them together and then added some DD with the 2 way glue pen.  Just a bit of bling for the happy couple!

It was sent off today, so I hope they liked it.

Thanks for stopping by.  🙂

HEARTFELT!!!

I recently borrowed “Heartfelt Thanks”  set from Ness.  I thought it would be a good 2-step set for my family stamping this week.  This is the card we ended up doing.  It is a very simple one.  I love this colour combo.  I use it quite a bit.

Stamps: Heartfelt Thanks, French script.

Card: Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip.

Ink: Ruby Red, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip.

I stamped the “French Script” background stamp on Ruby Red.  I scalloped a strip of Chocolate Chip card and adhered this above the Ruby Red.  I stamped the solid flower image in Baja Breeze and then used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the outline in Chocolate Chip.  The greeting was stamped in Ruby Red on Baja Breeze  and the edge was sponged in Ruby Red ink.  This strip was raised on mounting tape over the flower image.

This is the second card I made.

On this second card I stamped the flower head image 3 times in Regal Rose and then stamped the outline in Rose Red.  I matted it on Certainly Celery.   I used the scallop edge punch to scallop the edge.  I then adhered this to Rose Red card.  I stamped the text in Rose Red on the Certainly Celery card.  Some Rose Red Double stitched ribbon finished it off!

Stamps: Heartfelt Thanks, Baroque Motifs.

Card: Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Regal Rose, Rose Red.

Ink: Regal Rose, Rose Red.

Other: Mounting Tape, Rose Red Double Stitched Ribbon.

There you go.  Some simple cards with a set that is not used very often now.  I had fun playing with them though.  I hope you like!!!!

Happy Stamping!

SALE-A-BRATION IS HERE!!!

Sale-A-Bration starts today!  This is one of the best times of the year!  You might be joining me here from  Gardenia’s blog  as part of the ESAD-SU Sale-A-Bration Blog Hop, or you might be starting from here.  Either way, Welcome to my world!  

If you have just joined in then let me fill you in!  I am a member of  an online YAHOO group – ESAD-SU.  This stands for EXTRA SPECIAL AUSTRALIAN DEMONSTRATORS FOR STAMPIN’ UP!   This group is for Stampin’ Up! demonstrators in Australia and New Zealand and provides great support, information and often challenges, swaps and cyberstamps.  If you are a demonstrator and haven’t joined in yet why not stop by.  Leonie S will have all the details there as to how to join.

This blog hop is to showcase the great sets in the Sale-A-Bration catalogue. You can receive one of these sets for FREE with a $100 order.   How exciting!!  Just place your order with your local demonstator. 

On this blog hop there are over 40 blogs for you to visit.  Each one will show a  different project.  Now you can go in the draw to win some great blog candy by visiting all these blogs.  What you need to do is stop by EACH one and leave a comment on EACH blog.  Then email Leonie at leonie@stamp-a-latte.com to let her know you have completed the hop and have left a comment with everyone.  Now I would suggest you grab a drink now because you are going to be here for a while, but I’m sure you will come away with lots of inspiration!!!

Now on to my project.  I am using the “Happy Moments” set.  This is a lovely set with lots of different images and greetings for many occasions.  When I first saw this set, this idea popped into my head and  I don’t usually do “arty” style cards.

This is the card:

I stamped “French Script” background stamp in Creamy Caramel on Very Vanilla Card.  Stamped Baroque Motifs swirl in Chocolate Chip over the card (Don’t you just love that Set!!).  I sponged around the edge in Chocolate Chip ink.   I inked the Birdcage stamp with Chocolate Chip and Tempting Turquoise markers and stamped it on scrap card and cut it out and mounted it with mounting tape.  I stamped the greeting in Chocolate Chip, punched it out with the Word Window Punch and sponged the edges.  I added 2 silver brads and raised that with dimensionals.  I wrapped twine around the brads and wrapped it around the card.  This card was mounted on Chocolate Chip card base.

I stamped up the inside too.

I made a matching tag:

This is similar to the card.  I inked up the birdcage in Tempting Turquoise and mounted that with mounting tape.  I still think maybe I should do the cage in Chocolate Chip????  I scalloped the edge of Tempting Turquoise card and adhered that piece under the Vanilla card.  The greeting was stamped in Chocolate Chip and punched out with the word window punch.  I added one silver brad to it.   I punched out a circle in Tempting Turquoise and adhered this at  the top, punched a hole using the Crop-a-dile and threaded through some more twine.

Now catch your breath and you can move on to Julie’s blog and see her wonderful creations.  Don’t forget to leave a comment first to enter the draw to win some great “candy”!!!!

I hope you enjoyed your visit, please come again!!!    🙂