Retiring Products Class - card 5

Hello.........

We have come to the last card from the class I rencently ran using retiring products.  

I am planning on a few posts to showcase some of the Autumn/Winter Seasonal Catalogue products over the next week, and maybe even a sneek peak or two at some 12/13 Catalogue products too........

Oh, so much new stuff...........  it's fabulous :o)

Anyway, back to this card, which has a bit of a vintage feel to it.

The card base is Basic Gray and I have teamed it with Concord Crush, one of the retiring In Colours.  The first layer has been embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder.  

The image withint the Oval Embossed Frame is from Clearly for You.  I love this stamp set and will be sad to see it go.  I really never used it enough, and now it's just too late!

The background image was stamper in Blushing Bride, another retiring In Colour, and the blackberry image (or raspberry's when red!) were inked with markers - Concord Crush and Pear Pizzazz. 

The sentiment is from Oval All (retiring) and we added some punched little flowers with a little pearl in the centre.

Finally, we added a length of Chantilly Crochet Trim.  This is another retiring item, and I have used this a lot over the past year so will really miss it.  Thankfully the Victoria Crochet Trim is sticking around :o)

So, have you seen anything on these class cards that you didn't realise was retiring???  Have you got your orders in for all of those items you have been wanting to purchase over the past year???

If the answer is no, check out the retirement lists on the right hand side of my blog and get an order in quick.  There's only a few days left and so mcuh has already sold out........

Julie x

Julie Halls

Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

07786266722 / 01256 335270

http://www.the-crafty-bug.blogspot.com

craftybugjules@yahoo.co.uk

Retiring Products Class – card 3

Hello!

I hope you are all having a wonderful day :o)

This is the third card from class last weekend and it showcases the oh so cute, Fox and Friends stamp set…….  I’m so sad this one is retiring as my partners surname is Fox and our first baby is due in December so I was planning on using this for some scrapbooking!  I shall be holding onto this one I think!!!

This card is a base of Baja Breeze, layered with a piece of Just Add Cake DSP.  This is a lovely, colourful pack of papers which are brilliant for kids cards.  I used the Extra Large Tag Punch (not retiring) and also the Large Tag Punch, which is retiring, to punch out some additional layers of DSP and also the stamped animals, which were layered onto a piece of Poppy Parade card.  I think this was my favourite 10/11 In Colour.  So sad to see it go :o(

The sentiment is from Oval All, another retiring stamp set.  Thankfully the ever so useful Oval Punch and Scallop Oval Punch aren’t on the retirement list :o)  I really couldn’t live without that pairing!

I added some silver brads to the sentiment before popping it onto the card with Dimensionals.  The brads are also saying goodbye this month.

If you haven’t already checked out the retiring stamps list and retiring accessories list, then do so quickly!  There are links on the right of my blog to each list.

Items are selling out at a rate of knots, so contact me to place your order so you don’t miss out

With so much retiring from the catalogue I bet you can’t wait to see what’s going to be in the new catalogue to fill in all of the gaps, and to fill all those extra pages!!!  Not long to go now…….

I’ll be back soon with the final two cards

Julie x

Julie Halls

Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

07786266722 / 01256 335270

http://www.the-crafty-bug.blogspot.com

craftybugjules@yahoo.co.uk

Craft Fair - Punch Art Fun

I'm sure that is has not escaped any ones attention that Christmas is fast approaching.  I have already made mention in a few posts that I have been making lots of items to sell at some craft fairs I am attending.  Well, this is where the show and tell really begins.  Over the next few weeks I will be sharing with you lots of lovely Christmas gift items that I have spent many a late night putting together.  

At this point I have done one Christmas fair, but it was on a remarkably hot November day, and attendance at the fair was not what the organisers had hoped.  Needless to say, I don't have to rush around making loads for the next fair in just over a weeks time as I have lots of stuff left.  

My theory is that since the next two are actually in December, then people will be more in the Christmas frame of mind........  The other two fairs are also on a slightly bigger scale, so my fingers are crossed for good turnouts.

Today I wanted to show you some punch art lolly pop bookmarks that I have made for children.  Although not a Stampin' Up! product, I have added wiggly eyes which I think makes them super cute :o)

Here is my little troupe of penguins.

The body is made with Basic Black card and the Extra Large Oval Punch, then with Whisper White and the Large Oval Punch I added a chest area.  The wings are made with the large Oval as well, and a 1" Circle Punch for the head.  The beak is a Pumpkin Pie heart punched from the Owl Builder Punch and the feet come from that punch also.

Next up are my Santa's..........  Punches can be used for so many things, it's just a case of a little imagination!

Santa's hat is 1 1/4 Square Punch of Real Red cut in half and trimmed with a Whisper White piece of card punched with the Word Window Punch.  The Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack was used for the hat bobble and also the beard pieces.

The face is a 1 3/8" Circle of Pink Pirouette and the nose a smaller circle again using the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack.

I have a few other punch art items to share with you, so check back over the coming days, or sign up to follow me or for email alerts.

Happy Crafting

Julie xxx

August Flowers

Evening, 

I been busy crafting in my hot, humid craft room to make a card for the Daring Cardmakers Challenge this week.  The first challenge of each month is based on the flower of the month, and for August it's Poppies and Gladioli................

Well, I had just the stamp in mind, which I've never even used before today.  Can you remember back to this years Stampin' Up! Sale-A-Bration????  Well, the lovely set called Punch Bunch had a stamp that looks very much like poppies........  However the stamped image is one flower front on and one from the side, so I had to use my trusty Stamp-a-ma-jig for this card.

I decided to go with an Easel Card format, made with the card cut with the Top Note Die (exclusive to Stampin' Up!)  The base is made from Green Garden and Cherry Cobbler card.  I also cut some Real Red DSP from the Brights Stack and some Whisper White with the Top Note and cut along the perforated line to make these slightly smaller.

Making up the card base was easy, some folds and a bit of red sticky and I was done.  The fun really started with the Whisper White card and getting the image I had in my head down.  

I started by using a Sponge Dauber or two to add some colour to the Whisper White.  The bottom was sponged very lightly in Pear Pizzazz and Garden Green, and the top in Bashful Blue.

I used markers to ink the large poppy flower head, Poppy Parade (of course!) plus some Real Red and Cherry Cobbler for highlights.  I stamped this and the smaller poppy image across the Whisper White.  I used the writing end of the Basic Black Marker to add dots to the flower centres, and then the writing end of a Pear Pizzazz and Wild Wasabi marker to add in some grass and stems.

Real Red 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon was then wrapped around the bottom before gluing it to the card front.

The sentiment is from the stamp set Oval All, inked with markers, stamped onto Whisper White and punched out.  I layered it onto a punched piece of Cherry Cobbler and attached with Dimensionals to act as a stopper for the card.

Here is a close up of my poppies :o)

I hope you like my creation today.  Feel free to leave a comment as I love to know what you think!

The Details: 

Card / Paper -  Cheery Cobbler / Garden Green / Whisper White / Real Red DSP Stack

Stamps / Ink - Punch Bunch (SAB retired) / Oval All / Basic Black / Pear Pizzazz / Garden Green / Wild Wasabi / Bashful Blue / Poppy Parade / Real Red / Cherry Cobbler

Embellishments - 1/8" Real red Taffeta Ribbon

Tools - Top Note Die / Big Shot / 1 3/4" x 7/8" Oval Punch / Scallop Oval Punch / Stamp-a-ma-jig / Sponge Daubers / Paper Snips / Red Sticky Strip / Dimensionals / Snail / Tombow / Trimmer / Stampin Scrub and Mist

Workshop Make and Take Number 2.........

Sorry - rather later thank planned getting this other post up!

The second card we made at the workshop in the week used the Big Shot in a couple of ways.

A card base of Whisper White was run through the Big Shot using the Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder.  Sponge Daubers were then used lightly over the embossed image to add some colour to the flowers and  leaves.  We also used the Big Shot with the Beautiful Wings Embosslit to cut and emboss those gorgeous little butterflies that were added to the card with Mini Glue Dots.

 

 

The sentiment is from the Oval All stamp set, inked in Perfect plum and punched out with the Oval Punch.  This was then layered onto a piece of Perfect Plum card punched with the Scallop Oval Punch.  This was added to the card with Dimensionals.

I have another workshop tonight and just because I like a good challenge, I have created new Make and Takes to do tonight :o)

The Details: 

Card / Paper - Whisper White / Perfect Plum

Stamps / Ink - Pear Pizzazz / Blushing Bride / Perfect Plum / Oval All

Embellishments - Butterflies from the Beautiful Wings Embosslit

Tools - Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder / Oval Punch / Scallop Oval Punch / Glue Dots / Dimensionals / Snail / Stampin Scrub and Mist / Trimmer

Happy Birthday Rachel!

It's my lovely Niece's birthday today.  I'm really hoping she'll love this card as it was a really tough one.

Obviously I had to make her a card from myself and my other half, but then I also got asked to make cards for Rachel by my mum and also my brother.

This card is what I created for my mum to give to her.  My mum asked if I could do something related to horses!!!!  Well, I'm not one to step away from a challenge.  I do however have to own up - I did not come up with this idea, it's something I got from a blog by a lady called Lynn Pratt.

In all fairness, the actual card didn't take long to make, it was just working out what punches to use for all of the elements.  The snout of the horse (it's probably called something completely different!) was meant to be the Wide Oval Punch, but I don't have that and the smaller oval really wasn't right, so I had to improvise.

I used tracing paper and drew round the Wide Oval Punch in the IB&C, then cut it out and used it to draw round onto the River Rock card.  It's not perfect like if it were punched out, but not half bad I didn't think!

Happy Birthday Rachel - enjoy your day :o)

Check back soon as I'll be doing a punch art piggy card for a friends birthday in August!

The Details: 

Card / Paper - Soft Suede / River Rock / Basic Black / Whisper White

Stamps / Ink - Soft Suede

Embellishments - Black Brads

Tools - White Gel Pen / Circle Punches Galore!!!! / 5 Petal Flower Punch / Sponge Daubers Dimensionals / 2-Way Glue

Happy Fathers Day!

I have been waiting to post these cards on my blog for three weeks.

Now it's Father's Day I can put them up as the originals have all been received!

The first card I made for my brother, his girlfriend and my gorgeous nephew to give to my lovely dad.

He's got a big fish pond in the garden and loves his fish, so having seen the Build a Blossom stamp set used to make various fishy cards on the Internet, I thought I'd have a go too.

I used the Just Believe stamp set to get the foliage, and the sentiment is from Something to Celebrate (Level 2 Hostess) - much used by me!!!!

The second card is for my brother (his first Fathers Day!) from my lovely 5 month old nephew Ethan.

I wanted to go with something simple and quite child like, so CASE'd a design I'd seen on the Internet some times ago - really sorry, but can't remember who's design it was........

I used various punches to put together a little sailing boat, added in some little hearts cut from DSP and the sentiment is again from Something to Celebrate.

I really hope everyone likes the Fathers Day cards I made.  I certainly enjoyed making them all.  It was quite a challenge making so many and trying to make them all different, especially as boys cards are something I find pretty tough.  

The Details: 

Card / Paper - Sahara Sand / Pear Pizzazz Smooth and DSP / Peach Parfait / Whisper White / So Saffron Smooth and DSP / Bashful Blue

Stamps / Ink - Build a Blossom / Something to Celebrate (Level 2 Hostess) / Just Believe / Pear Pizzazz / Peach Parfait / So Saffron / Certainly Celery

Embellishments -  Bitty Button / Basic Rhinestones / 1/2" Pear Pizzazz Seam Binding Ribbon

Tools - Lattice Square Embossing Folder / 1 1/2" Scallop Square Punch / 1 3/8" Circle Punch / Small Heart Punch / 1 3/4" x 7/8" Oval Punch / Scallop Oval Punch / Trimmer / Stampin Scrub and Mist / Snail / Sticky Strip / Dimensionals

ILWS - Swaps Galore!

I did my first swaps a few weeks ago when I went to Team Training, and I think it is a fabulous way to get new ideas and inspiration, and also to see how stamp sets I may not own can be used.

In Love With Stamping (ILWS) is a forum site for card crafts, mostly Stampin' Up! related, but not always.

Well a lovely lady started a thread to see if anyone was interested in doing a swap of cards from your favourite stamp set, so I grabbed the opportunity and signed up.  I went with Fox and Friends, it a one of my favourites and I always think it works brilliantly with the Brights colour family.

We had to make 10 full cards not just the card fronts, send them to the lovely Linda, who grabs one of each and posts 10 different ones back to everyone.  Simple!

Here's the cards I made - all lined up!

I picked out five of the animals in the set and five of the Brights colour family.
The base card for all of them is Textured Crumb Cake and I also added some 1/4" Early Espresso Grosgrain Ribbon to each of them.


Here's one close up.

I love the look you get with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder.

I'll post a picture of the swaps I get back, hopefully in the next week or so :o)

Please let me know what you think by popping a comment at the bottom of this post.  It's lovely to read everyones comments.

The Details: 

Card / Paper - Brights DSP / Crumb Cake Textured / Whisper White / Tempting Turquoise / Rich Razzleberry / Daffodil Delight / Old Olive / Pumpkin Pie

Stamps / Ink - Fox and Friends / Something to Celebrate (Level 2 Hostess) / Tempting Turquoise / Rich Razzleberry / Daffodil Delight / Old Olive / Pumpkin Pie

Embellishments - 1/4" Early Espresso Grosgrain Ribbon

Tools - 1 3/4" x 7/8" Oval Punch / Scallop Oval Punch / Sticky Strip / Dimensionals / Snail / Stampin Scrub and Mist / Trimmer / Square Lattice Embossing Folder

Sweet Sunday - on a Thursday!

Hello.....

So I realise it's Thursday evening, later than I hoped to post, but I had a last minute trip to the hairdressers after work!  I've been trying all week to complete a card for the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge blog, that as you might guess, publishes it's sketch on a Sunday!

If you go and look at the challenge sketch you will notice that I turned it upside down for my card.

I absolutely love the Fox and Friends stamp set, and stamped a couple of cheeky little monkeys in Chocolate Chip and cut them out. Only fiddly when I got to the tails!  I punched the branches from the Bird Punch in Pear Pizzazz.  I just thought it worked well to make them look like they were having a great time swinging from tree to tree!

I added in some Pear Pizzazz DSP (Level 1 Hostess) which has a leafy type pattern on it, and the back drop cloud design paper is from the Sweet Pea DSP Stack that is now sadly retired. The colour is Sahara Sand, so if you wanted to try making this you could always use the Sahara Sand DSP in the Neutrals stack.

The card base is textured Marina Mist card stock, and the sentiment is mounted on a Marina Mist Scallop Oval.  The Happy Birthday is from the Something to Celebrate stamp set (Level 2 Hostess), inked in Chocolate Chip.

The Details: 

Card / Paper - Marina Mist textured & smooth / Chocolate Chip / Pear Pizzazz smoth and DSP / Sweet pea DSP (retired)

Stamps / Ink - Fox & Friends / Something to Celebrate / Chocolate Chip

Embellishments - None

Tools - Bird Punch / Large Oval Punch / Scallop Oval Punch / Trimmer / Stampin Scrub and Mist / Snail / Dimensionals