Cupcake Class

Back in January when the Spring Mini Catalogue first launched, I couldn’t wait to get started with the simply yummy Create a Cupcake stamp set and co-ordinating Cupcake Builder Punch………  So that’s what my first class of the year was based around – 5 cards showcasing all of the things you could do with that stamp set and punch…….  and there’s a lot!

I can’t believe I haven’t posted about these long before now, especially as all Spring Mini products are only around until 30th April……….  after this time you cannot order them, unless of course they make a re-appearance in the main Ideas Book and Catalogue 12/13 when it launches in October.  That’s a long time to wait, so don’t delay in getting your hands on this lovely duo :o)

As I’ve been such a bad blogger of late I am going to try and make up for it by posting all five cards we made in one hit! 

So first we have a cute little basket of flowers.  This is a 4” x 4” card base with a layer of DSP.  One of the cupcake wrapper images has been stamped in Marina Mist, then punched out for our basket.  The flowers were stamped and hand cut, and I used a Mini Glue Dot to adhere each button over the top.  Notice the little leaves still poke out from behind.  I used the sprinkles image to stamp around the edge of the Rose Red layer, which has been double punched with the 2 3/8” Scallop Circle Punch.  The simple sentiment has been inked in Rose Red and punch out with the Word Window Punch.

Next up we have three lovely handbags!  Each of the handbags is made from an upturned cupcake wrapper.  I stamped the wrapper image in Melon Mambo and Elegant Eggplant onto the same coloured card stock before punching.  The handbag flap is made from the Small Oval Punch and the handles from the Medium Oval Punch, with a Mini Brad for the fastening.  The handbags have been mounted onto a piece of card punched with the Scallop Square.  I finished the card of with a strip of Elegant Eggplant Dotted Scalloped Ribbon and the sentiment stamped in Melon Mambo ink directly onto the Crumb Cake card base.

The ballon card is one of my favourites and would make a great boys card!  I used a scrap piece of card and punched a cupcake topping, then used this as a mask for the clouds which I daubed into the Whisper White Top Note piece with Pool Party ink.  The basket of the balloon is a cupcake wrapper punched out of Soft Suede card and then run through the Big Shot in the Lattice Square Embossing Folder.  The balloon is 3-dimensional and made from 5 punched 1 3/8” Circles – 2 x Daffodil Delight / 3 x Real Red.  I linked the two up with Linen Thread and stamped the Happy Birthday in Real Red ink. 

I love the colour combination for the ice-cream card :o)  Pool Party / Island Indigo and Pretty In Pink, with a splash of Chocolate Chip thrown in.  The cone was punched using the Pennant Punch, though you could easily cut a triangle for the cone.  This was embossed like the balloon basket, then I sponge daubed over the edge to give it a more life like quality.  The ice-cream scoops are actually cupcake toppings!  The two 2 3/8” Scallop Circles help the highlight the ice-cream, and I’ve mounted it all onto a piece of Pretty in Pink that’s been embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder.  Add some Island Indigo Ruffled Ribbon, tie a bow, and pop in an In Colour Printed Designer Brad and your done!

Finally we have my favourite card – Cupcakes as Cupcakes, looking very yummy and ready to be eaten!  The base is Crumb Cake, with some scrumptious So Saffron Designer Paper layered on top.  The windows were made from a piece of Soft Suede card topped with 4 Blue Bashful squares punched with the 1 1/4” Square Punch.  A little lazy as they’d be easy to cut, but if you have the tools you may as well use them!  The awning was made with a strip of Regal Rose card, scored twice and folded, then I used the Scallop Border Punch along one edge.  I did the same with the table piece, which was a Regal Rose piece punched with 2 3/8” Scallop Circle Punch.  Then I had fun with the cupcakes, using different wrapper stamps and colours, adding multi coloured sprinkles, a cherry and some of the tiny Basic Pearls.

I really love how versatile this stamp set and punch are.  The sentiments are cute and I love the actual font, it’s delicate and refined.

I you have been pondering on getting these items, then I hope seeing these cards might have helped you realise you NEED them!  I sincerely hope they make it into the Main Catalogue in October.

Have a fabulous Saturday

Julie x

SAB – Fresh Vintage

Hi, I hope everyone is having a good weekend. 

I have a few more Sale-a-bration creations to share today.  I know with so many of us having attended Cate’s baggie book event, you will probably have seen these cards numerous times over if you hop across a lot of SU Demo blogs!  So, you’ll probably be pleased to know that after this post I shall be showcasing cards from my last class based around the Create a Cupcake stamp set and Cupcake Builder Punch, plus some other lovelies……….

So on with the show:

The first card uses the flower image to create a gorgeous background on Pool Party card.  The base is Crumb Cake and I used the Ribbon Border Punch to create a little scalloped edging at the top and bottom where the Pool Party meets the Crumb Cake (quite hard to see in the picture though).  The butterflies have been punched from some Everyday Enchantment DSP with the Butterfly Punch, then a bit of Linen Thread tied round and a Basic Pearl added.

The second card has a Basic Gray base and the circle image from the set has been stamped in Versamark down the left edge three times.  Some Whisper White has been mounted on Pear Pizzazz card, then the floral image stamped on top.  The Fancy Flower punch was used for the two flower layers in Pink Pirouette.  The top flower has been scrunched, then an Antique Brad put through them both.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes, made into a banner and Basic Pearls added to each end.

The next card has a base of Pumpkin Pie onto which the wavy design stamp in the set has been added for a background.  Onto this is a panel of Whisper White which like the first card is edged top and bottom with the Ribbon Border Punch.  The floral image has been inked using markers to get the different colours, then stamped in two corners.  The butterfly is cut using the Big Shot and Beautiful Butterflies Die, then it has been stamped with the floral image and Versamark ink.  This is then heat embossed with Clear Embossing Powder. 

The final card is probably my favourite out of every card we made.  I’m not usually a fan of Whisper White card bases, but it works so well with this card.  It is teamed with Soft Suede for a centre panel with another strip of Everyday Enchantment DSP.  The bottom section of the card has been embossed using the Big Shot and Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder.  The stamp image has been inked with Poppy Parade ink, then trimmed square and mounted onto a Scallop Square of Soft Suede.  Finally Hello was stamped in Soft Suede ink.  Simply gorgeous!

So if you have been inspired and really would love to get your hands on one (or all!) of the Sale-a-bration sets, then get in contact.  I can certainly help you with information on any items you might be interested in, or if you are new to Stampin’ Up! products then why don’t you come along to one of my classes and get your hands on the products – try before you buy so to speak!

See details about upcoming classes HERE

Have a fabulous evening xxx

Finally the last card from class!!!

Oh my, oh my.................  it's only 3 days left until Christmas and I have been such a bad blogger of late that I'm sure to be crossed off Santa's list!!!  I hope it doesn't work like that.........

I'm finally getting around to posting the final card from my Christmas Card Class at the end of November.  Since then there has also been a December class where we did thank-you cards, and I will try really hard to get those posted before the New year rolls around.

Unfortunately I'm working between Christmas and New Year, but I hope to have a play with loads of NEW Stampin' Up! goodies that have been arriving these past few weeks on my doorstep.  I;m sure it hasn't escaped anyone's attention that Stampin' Up! are for the first time ever releasing a SPRING MINI catalogue on 4th January!  There are lots of lovely things, and I hope to post a few sneak peeks for you over the next week.

However, on with today's card.................

A lovely Christmassy Santa Owl punch art card that was inspired by a card I saw on a sample board at Convention.  I'm not sure who's the card was, but I changed mine up a little.

The card base is Old Olive, with a night sky layer of Night of Navy.  I stamped some snowflakes in Whisper White from Serene Snowflakes stamp set.  The roofing is Basic Gray card, punched with the Scallop Border Punch and dauber with Whisper White ink.  The Chimney is a 1 1/4" Square of Textured Cajun Craze, lined up with another piece punched with the Word Window Punch.  Again these were daubed for a snowy effect.

My owl was punched from Chocolate Chip card.  I stamped the Santa Suit image from Tags til Christmas and punched it using the Owl Punch for the chest piece, and added eyes and a Santa hat.  The present is simply a piece of Daffodil Delight punched with the 1 1/4" Square and then tied with some Linen Thread.

I used this design for another card which I will show you before the year is out.  One of the girls at work asked me to make cards for her Grandsons.  One of them has never had anything with his name on as they can never find it.  I also had a very strange request for a Christmas card relating to peanuts!!!!  I worked with it and was really pleased with the results.............  Check back to see what on earth I am talking about!

Shine a Light..............

Hello,

I have been having so much fun recently making lots of candle gifts.  Most were for show at my catalogue launch party, but I did a couple of different ones (stupidly didn't take pictures!) for a couple of lovely girlies at work.  They loved them............

First I decided to make some gift boxes to pretty up basic tea lights.

These boxes, once I got the dimensions right, were quick and easy to assemble.  You could make them from any colour card stock and with so many different packs of Designer Series Paper, the options are endless.

I used Pretty in Pink and Wisteria Wonder card for one, with Flirtatious DSP and the sentiment, inked in Wisteria Wonder on Whisper White card, from the Oval All stamp set.  This was mounted on a Scallop Oval of Wisteria Wonder.  The 1/2" Circle Punch was used to punch the end tabs to enable you to pull the tea lights out.

The other box was made with Real Real and Wild Wasabi card, with DSP from the Just Add Cake pack.  I used the ornament image from Tags til Christmas stamp set, inked in Real red and punched out with the Ornament Punch.  This was tied to the box using Linen Thread.

I then moved on to stamping directly on candles.  I thought this was going to be quite tough and time consuming, but I was so wrong!  This is the most simple thing ever, and really quick too.

I got plain white pillar candles, some tissue paper that matched the white candles, and then basic grease proof paper from the kitchen drawer.

It's best to use bright, vibrant colours, and solid images for this technique as they show up best.

Stamp your image onto the tissue paper and then roughly cut around the edge, don't leave too much excess.

Lay this onto the candle where you want it, and then wrap a piece of grease proof paper around the candle so you can grab the ends and wrap it tight.

Use a heat gun and go over the image that you can see through the grease proof paper.  As it sticks to the candle you will notice the image take on a glassy appearance (you will notice a change).  Once it's changed all over it should be done.  Gently peel back the grease proof paper and your image should have melted into the candle!  If an area is still loose, just re-heat gently a second time.

With this candle, after stamping the image, I embellished using Clear Rhinestone Brads of varying sizes to match the flower sizes.

It was stamped all round, about 6 images in total, but here you can just see two. The Island Indigo worked brilliantly.

I then went to town and tried it with other colours, did a bit of rock n roll technique with the butterfly's, and even some masking with the hearts images.

As you can see, the Delicate Doilies images don't stand out quite as well.  The images are quite delicate, as the name suggests, and I also used lighter colours with Calypso Coral and Pool Party.

The tall pillar candle with the I (Heart) Hearts images, was inked in Real Red, Poppy Parade and Cherry Cobbler. The butterfly images from Butterfly Prints was inked in Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry.

Don't you think these would make great, inexpensive, gifts for friends and family this Christmas????

Why not give it a try and let me know how you get on, or even better, send me a picture of your gorgeous candles to craftybugjules@yahoo.co.uk

Just be safe with those heat guns!

Julie xx

Training Day Swaps

Good Morning,

Today I am off to join about 30 other lovely ladies, and I believe one man also, for Team Training.

I'm actually gate-crashing as I'm not officially part of the team, but did receive an invite by way of Elizabeth Shannon.  It's a bit closer to home for me so works out well.

As with most Stampin Up meet ups, there is the option to take part in swaps.  It's a great way to see what ideas other come up with, to see how a stamp set you have no inspiration for, or don't currently own can be used.  And it's just great fun!

I want to keep my swap fairly simple as I didn't have a lot of time to get them done.

I unwrapped my Beautiful Butterflies Die for this one which was really fun.  Teamed with the Blueberry Crisp DSP the butterflies look gorgeous.

I have popped to different sizes together with a glue dot and then wrapped Linen Thread around the centre to act as a body and antenna.

The sentiment is from Just Believe, inked in Pacific Point, and I have scored two lines in the Very Vanilla card, though I'm not sure it shows in the pictures.  

The Pacific Point / Not Quite Navy mount has been embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots folder, and then the whole thing has been mounted on Sahara Sand card.

I hope everyone likes them.  I can't wait to see what everyone else has come up with.

Have a wonderful day :o)

The Details: 

Card / Paper - Sahara Sand / Very Vanilla / Pacific Point / Not Quite Navy / Blueberry Crisp DSP

Stamps / Ink - Pacific Point / Just Believe

Embellishments - Linen Thread

Tools - Beautiful Butterflies Die / Perfect Polka Dot Embossing Folder / Glue Dots / Dimensionals / Snail / Trimmer / Stampin Scrub and Mist

Speedy Mojo Time.....

Good Morning!

I just wanted to post this quick Mojo Monday card that I made.  This week is was a sketch that could either be round or square.  I think next time I'll try a round one as I've not made a round card before.  However, this time I went with the square design.

Really clever idea, take some DSP and cut a square, then cut it along both diagonals and flip two sections over to create a frame with an altering pattern.  I used the Greenhouse Gala DSP and then did some embossing of one of the images in the lovely Ornate Flowers stamp set.  I used Pear Pizzazz for the base and the background for embossing, with White Embossing Powder and mounted on Pumpkin pie.

I added a tiny sentiment from Tiny Tags punch set, and used the Jewellery Tag Punch and popped it on the front of the card with a Designed Button and Linen Thread.

So quick and simple, but I really like the look of this card.

What do you think?

The Details: 

Card / Paper - Greenhouse Gala DSP / Pear Pizzazz / Pumpkin Pie / Whisper White

Stamps / Ink - Ornate Flowers / Tiny Tags / Versamark / Pumpkin Pie

Embellishments - Linen Thread / Designer Button

Tools - White Embossing Powder / Heat Gun / Jewellery Tag Punch / Glue Dots / 2-way Glue / Trimmer / Stampin Scrub and Mist / Paper Piercing Tool / Mat Pack

Big Blossoms......

Time for a colour challenge me thinks!

I went on over to Simply Stampin Challenge Blog where this week the colours are Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie.  You are allowed to substitute colours to the nearest you have so I added in Crumb Cake as the neutral for my card.

I've seen lots of cards that people have CASE'd and thought I'd take a look through the Mini Catalogue and see if I could find something to make my own.  I decided to go with the Build a Blossom stamp set and the image on page 18.  The Build a Blossom set and the Blossom Petals Punch are so fabulous to work with, and are so versatile as well.  I used my paper piercing tool to do the stem, and instead of stitching I just used the writing end of the Old Olive marker pen to add a touch of colour.  The sentiment is from the Curly Cute stamp set.  So many sentiments in this set, all of them bold and loopy!  Brilliant for any occasion :o)

The Details: 

Card / Paper - Crumb Cake textured card / Very Vanilla / Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive DSP

Stamps / Ink - Build a Blossom / Curly Cute / Old Olive / Crumb Cake / Pumpkin Pie

Embellishments - Linen Thread / DS Button Daffodil Delight

Tools - Piercing Tool and Mat Pack / Blossom Petals Punch / Stamp-a-ma-jig / Stampin Scrub and Mist / Trimmer / Snail / Glue Dots