Wednesday 28 August 2019

Embossing | Be Inspired Blog Hop


Hello everyone and welcome to another Be Inspired Design Team Blog Hop. This month myself and my fellow designers are sharing projects that feature embossing. 

There are a few different ways you can emboss projects, dry embossing with an embossing folder or dies and an embossing mat, embossing with a paste or heat embossing with powders and a heat tool. I chose to feature heat embossing for my project as it is by far my favourite embossing technique. The effect that can easily be achieved with some Versamark ink, embossing powder and a heat tool never fails to give your projects wow factor.  



These gorgeous baubles are from the Christmas Gleaming stamp set that is featured in the new Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalogue and for this project I have stamped and embossed them in white before going over the panel with a watercolour wash in Pretty Peacock. 

Given the focus of this project was embossing I chose to add a little more embossing, this time in silver with a panel of stripes below the sentiment. Normally I wouldn't include so much embossing on the one card but I thing with Christmas you can get away with it. 

Next up in the hop is the fabulous Monica Gale, I just love her creative style and I'm sure you will too. 



Be Inspired Design Team Blog Roll

Tanya Rees (You are here)


Thanks for stopping by

- Tan xx

Sunday 25 August 2019

ESAD 2019 Holiday Catalogue Sneak Peek Blog Hop


August isn't too early to be talking about Christmas, is it?? No? Oh good. Well, today I'm delighted to be joining the ESAD (Extra Special Australiasian Demonstrators) team in Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalogue Sneak Peek Blog Hop, where we are all sharing projects created with products from the new Holiday Catalogue that goes live to customers on Wednesday 4th September. 

There are so many gorgeous new products in the new catalogue that it was almost impossible to chose one to focus on. In fact the card I'm about to show you includes a couple new products. 


If you have been following me for a while you may have noticed that this colour combo of Pool Party, Poppy Parade and Granny Apple Green is a favourite of mine for Christmas so of course it was my colour combo choice for the first Christmas project for 2019.

The holly image and sentiment come from the Christmas Gleaming Stamp Set which is part of the Brightly Gleaming suite. This stamp set was at the very top of my wish list when I first saw the catalogue and I can guarantee you are going to see a lot more of it on my blog over the coming months. 

Another detail that you may have noticed on my project is the embossed background. This particular pattern has been created with the new Stylish Scroll Embossing Folder that is part of the Monster Bash suite in the Holiday Catalogue. While Halloween is starting to become more popular in Australia it is not a holiday that we celebrate in our family (much to my children's disgust) so usually I skim past the Halloween section of the catalogue. However this year the suite really appealed to the party planner in me and so I took a little more time to look at that part of the catalogue and was delighted to discover this versatile folder. 

That is all from me today but if you follow along the hop there is a heap more Holiday inspiration to be found. Next up is Sandra Mastello, I can't wait to see what she is sharing with us today.




Blog hop participant list:


Thanks so much for stopping by

- Tan xx



Monday 19 August 2019

Use Up That DSP | Let's Get Hopping #23


Hello everyone and welcome to another Let's Get Hopping Blog Hop. Okay, now before I get to today's projects it's confession time. Hands up if you have a stash of Retired Designer Series Paper gathering dust you your craft room? Me!! Every year I just can't wait to play with the new Designer Series Paper each time a new catalogue comes out and when it arrives the paper stash I already have gets neglected until eventually it gets moved to the overflowing kids craft cupboard. Sound familiar?? Well after today's Let's Get Hopping Blog Hop this will be a thing of the past as this month we have been challenged to use retired Designer Series Paper with current stamps and tools. Here's what I've come up with. 


As I indicated earlier I have huge stash of retired DSP so I wanted to make the most of the challenge decided to create a bunch of cards. I also wanted to create a supply of cards that I could go to when one of my children get invited to a birthday party so I needed to create something that would work for  both boys and girls as well as a variety of ages. Given the cards were for a birthday, the DSP I chose to use was the Brights 6" x 6" DSP stack from the 2018/2019 Annual Catalogue and I decided to team it with the Broadway Birthday stamp set and coordinating Broadway Lights dies.


To add a little extra background detail I randomly stamped the diamond stamp is Versamark over the DSP panel and then heat embossed them with Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder and I complimented the metallic detail with a couple of candle embellishments. 



Finally I added some clear Wink of Stella to the die cut 'Wish' to add a little extra sparkle. It's a bit tricky to see here in this picture but the shimmery sparkle of Wick of Stella is the perfect finishing touch.

So, what if you don't already have this retired DSP in your stash? Well the beauty of this particular design you could substitute this striped pattern with almost any fun patterned DSP including this new Brights 6" x 6" DSP stack available in the current Stampin' Up! Catalogue.


Next up in the hop is the amazing Nina McMillan. I can't wait to see what she has created to inspire us to use our retired DSP. Make sure you follow the hop all the way around to see everyone's amazing projects.


Thank you for joining me today.

- Tan xx

Friday 16 August 2019

Stampin' Up! Artisan Blog Hop - Shimmer Detailed Laser-cut Speciality Paper


Hello everyone. It's that time again, another blog hop with the Artisan Design Team. This month we are highlighting this gorgeous Shimmer Detailed Laser-cut Speciality Paper.


Isn't the detail in this paper absolutely stunning? What you can't see in this picture though, is the beautiful shimmer finish. One side of the 12 x 12 sheets is Vanilla with a touch of shimmer and the reverse is white so the images will coordinate with any project. 

While the floral pattern page is so pretty, I chose to focus on the page that features a range of different decorative patterns. 


This intersecting circles pattern reminds me of a stained glass window so I chose to replicate a stained glass window effect for the base of my first card. 


To achieve this effect first I layered the laser-cut paper over some Whisper White cardstock and temporarily secured it using some washi tape. Then using the pattern as a guide I coloured in the pattern using Stampin' Write Markers in Highland Heather, Gorgeous Grape, Poppy Parade and Mango Melody. Once all coloured I removed the laser-cut paper and coated the Whisper White panel with Versamark and heat embossed it with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder. I then sponged the laser-cut paper with Memento Black ink and heat embossed it with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder before securing over the Whsiper White Panel. Here is a close up of the card which shows the stained glass window effect a bit better.


As the background panel is so detailed I wanted to keep the rest of the card fairly simple with some layered Stitched Nested Labels and a sentiment from the Rare Blessings Stamp Set


For my second card I chose to emboss the laser-cut panel with Black Stampin' Emboss Powder and I carried across the same colour combo of Highland Heather, Poppy Parade and Mango Melody with some flowers from the Inspiring Iris Stamp Set. 


Lastly I've created a gift box using a Mini Pizza Box as a base. Continuing with the window theme I die cut a square from the top of the Pizza Box and layered some Vellum cardstock underneath the laser-cut paper that has been sponged with Memento Black and heat embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder. Once again I've stamped, coloured and fussy cut some flowers from Inspiring Iris and added a sentiment from Rare Blessings. 

Well that is it from me today, thank you for joining me. Make sure you follow along the hop and see what the other girls have created with the Shimmer Detailed Laser-cut Speciality Paper. Next up is my friend Angela Meiritz-Reid from New Zealand. I simple adore what she's created.


Until next time 
- Tan xx

Supplies used
Stamps: Inspiring Iris, Rare Blessings
Card: Whisper White, Highland Heather, Saraha Sand, Basic Black, Thick Whisper White, Vellum, Shimmer Detailed Laser-cut Speciality Paper 
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, HIghland Heather, Mango Melody, Poppy Parade. Pear Pizzazz, Versamark
Accessories & Tools: Stitched Nested Labels Dies, Stitched Shapes Dies, Highland Heather Stampin' Write Marker, Mango Melody 
Stampin' Write Marker, Gorgeous Grape Stampin' Write Marker, Poppy Parade Stampin' Write Marker, Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker, White Stampin Emboss Powder, Black Stampin Emboss Powder, Silver Metallic Thread, Basic Black Satin Ribbon, Purple Posy Scalloped Linen Ribbon, Mini Library Clips 



Sunday 11 August 2019

All Tied Up | Stamping Sunday Blog Hop


Hi everyone, and welcome. I'm a tad (okay maybe a lot) excited to be joining the Stamping Sunday Blog Hop team today. For those of you who are unfamiliar to the Stamping Sunday Blog Hop, it is a hop hosted by the extremely talented Sara Levin and features so many amazing demonstrators from across the globe. 

If you are stopping by my blog for the first time, welcome, I hope you like what you see. I am a Stampin' Up! demonstrator from Bendigo, which is in Central Victoria, Australia. I am currently on the Stampin' Up! Artisan Design Team and I cannot not imagine my life without Stampin' Up!

Enough about me though, lets get to the fun stuff. This month's focus is ribbon and the design team are all sharing a variety of ways you can include ribbon in you projects. I love love love ribbon, so much that each time a new Annual Catalogue comes out I just HAVE to have every new ribbon available. (Don't worry, I'm not drowning in metres of ribbon, thanks to my annual ribbon share offer) For this particular challenge I decided to feature these few different ribbons, Mint Macaron Textile Ribbon, Rococo Rose Scalloped Linen Ribbon and Very Vanilla Scalloped Lace Trim.   


When creating this card and pillow box set I didn't actually have a receiptant in mind so I opted for this sentiment from the Woven Heirlooms Stamp Set so that they could be used for a range of occasions.


For the card I chose to feature a cluster of ribbon secured with some Linen Thread and given the vintage feel of the Woven Threads DSP and Heirloom Frame I could resist adding a key from the Bird Ballad Trinkets. If you look closely you may notice that I have cut the Rococo Rose Scalloped Linen Ribbon in half, this is a great way of making your ribbon more versatile. 


Another great way to use ribbon is for gift packaging and these Kraft Pillow Boxes are my go-to gift boxes for a smaller item or gift card. I did, however, feel that the white dots didn't really fit the vintage feel I was aiming for with this set so I carefully pulled apart the seam of the box and turned the box inside out. Once again I've used the same selection of ribbon and secured another of those cute lil' keys with some Linen Thread. 

Thank you for joining me today. Please make sure you click on all the links below to check out what the other design team members have come up with. 

-Tan xx


Stamping Sunday Blog Hop Roll