Playing Favourites | Stamping Sunday

 

It's Stamping Sunday time again, welcome back. This month the team are sharing projects created with their favourite product from the Stampin' Up! 2020 August - December Mini Catalogue. I have to say picking a favourite from this catalogue is not an easy task, there are so many fabulous goodies to choose from, however it is hard to go past the Peace & Joy bundle.

With a combination of big bold words, little block sentiments and a selection of leaves and berries, the Peace & Joy stamp set is great for creating some simple card but add the Joy Dies and the fun you can have with this bundle goes to a whole new level. To demonstrate the versatility of the bundle I have created three cards, each one a stepped up version of the last.

Using just stamps, ink and paper this first card is perfect for the Beginner Stamper. The colour combo was been inspired by the new Heartwarming Hugs Designer Series Paper, which includes this gorgeous stripe pattern that I've used in the background of each of my cards.

Stepping up this next card to the Casual Stamper level, I've added some texture and dimension with fussy cut holly leaves and berries, some frayed red linen trim and clear heat embossing on the words 'Peace' and 'Joy'.

Finally I have taken this last card to the Avid Crafter level with die cut words from the Joy Dies, a second panel of coordinating DSP and some Gold Glimmer Enamel dots, coloured with blends as berries.

Thanks for joining me today. To see more Mini Catalogue inspiration be sure to check out what the rest of the team have created

- Tan xx

Peony Garden | Stamping Sunday

Hello and welcome. Well it's been a while since I've joined the Stamping Sunday crew for a blog hop but I'm glad to be back sharing with everyone today. I'm particularly excited to be sharing projects featuring products from the Peony Garden Suite from the Stampin' Up! 2020-2021 Annual Catalogue. 

Today I'm sharing three cards created the same set of supplies but each with either a beginner, casual or avid crafter in mind. I absolutely adore the soft tones of grey and Petal Pink in this suite however for these projects I wanted to try a slightly bolder colour scheme.

When creating this first card I have coloured the Basic Grey and Whisper White pattern from the Peony Garden Designer Series Paper with blends in Rococo Rose, Old Olive, So Saffron and Pool Party. Then I've layered a piece of Whisper White with a Basic Gray matt and stamped the sentiment from the Prized Peony stamps set in Basic Gray. Finally to finish it off I've added a few Elegant Faceted Gems.

  

For this second card I have created the same background by colouring the DSP with blends, however keeping the casual crafter in mind I've added a centre panel with a peony image stamped in Pool Party, some linen thread, a heat embossed sentiment and a trimmed section of a Vellum Sqaure Doily.

Finally, I stepped up my last card to a more avid crafter level by including a die cut panel and peony, some subtle background stamping and a fussy cut sentiment. As I wanted the peony in the centre to be the focal point, I only coloured the background portion of the DSP in Pool Party and left the flowers and leaves in their original colours of Whisper White and Basic Grey. Isn't it amazing how you can get two completely different looks from the same piece a DSP?

Thank you for joining me today. Make sure you check out what the rest of my Stamping Sunday friends have created with this beautiful suite by clicking the links below.

- Tan xx

Retiring Favourites | Stamping Sunday

Hello and welcome everyone. Happy Mother's Day to those of you who are celebrating Mother's Day today.

Today the Stamping Sunday crew are showcasing some of their favourite Stampin' Up! products that are retiring at the end of this month . I find this time of the Stampin' Up! to be rather bittersweet; I'm so excited to see all the new goodies in the 2020/21 Annual Catalogue but at the same time sad to say goodbye to a few of my old favourites.

While quite a few of my favourites are retiring, today I'm showcasing the Stitched Label Dies and coordinating stamp set,  Stitched All Around, along with the Garden Lane DSP. Magnolia Lane Ribbon Combo and Leaves Trinkets.

My favourite things about the Stitched Lace Dies has to be the extra stitching detail each on each of the dies, particularly the quilted effect die that I've use on the card base and die cut circle. I love the detail that this die adds and the good news is that it is still available in most markets so if you don't yet have it in your collection there's still time to pick it up.

Another item that I'm sad to see leave are these Copper Tea Tins. For the past couple of years
I have filled and embellished many of these tins as gifts for friends, neighbours and teachers and I am very glad I still have a few in my stash.

That's all I have to share today but I'm certain that the rest of the team have lots of retired items inspiration to share.

Sending crafty hugs
- Tan xx

Celebrate | Stamping Sunday Blog Hop

Hello and Happy Easter everyone. Today's Stamping Sunday Blog Hop is Celebrating with the Stampin' Up! Mini Catalogue and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to play with the Seriously The Best Project kit and coordinating stamp set.

My projects for today are divided into these three categories:

• Beginner/Simple stamping: quick, easy projects needing limited supplies; clean and simple cards;
• Casual stamping: takes a little more time, uses some tools, more embellishments;
• Avid stamping: more time, techniques and tools

At first glance the project kits from Stampin' Up! are perfect for the Beginner stamper. The cards have already been designed for you, most of the elements have been die cut and the kit comes with instructions of how to assemble the card. However this does not mean that they are not suitable for Casual and Avid crafters and today's projects are an example of this.

The first project I am sharing is one for the Beginner. I've created this card directly from the kit instructions and the sentiment suits today's "Celebrate" theme perfectly. Whether you are congratulating someone for a new job, graduation, engagement or just for a job well done, they are all reasons to celebrate. 

The second card I have created is aimed at a Casual crafter level. When creating this project I've  stuck to the same overall layout but I have changed the colours by cutting a card front panel and another card base and have added a banner is plain Vellum . I've also changed the sentiment and have heat embossed it in gold on a circle die cut. "Hello Friend" is not usually a sentiment you would associate with the "Celebrate" theme but during this bizarre time we are all experiencing friendships are definitely something to celebrate.

Lastly, my third card has been created with the Avid crafter in mind. I've gone back to the original Balmy Blue colour base and have included the same elements of the Beginners card but I have stepped it up with some vellum fussy cut gold embossed leaves, some masked stamping and I've added a die cut bird and the word "Friend" from the Family Party stamp set.

That is all from me today. To see what the rest of the team have created be sure to click on the links below

Crafty hugs, Tan xxx

Stamping Sunday Blog Roll

Breathtaking Bouquet Meets The Annual Catalogue | Stamping Sunday Blog Hop

Hello everyone and welcome back to another Stamping Sunday blog hop. This months hop is a little different as we have all chosen a stamp set from the January - June Stampin' Up! Mini Catalogue and are using it with products from the 2019-2020 Annual Catalogue. Sounds simple enough but given that I have just received my order of new goodies from the Mini Catalogue it was really tough to choose just one stamp set!! I got there in the end and actually enjoyed reconnecting with my supply of Annual Catalogue products.

So in case you hadn't already guessed the stamp set I chose was the Breathtaking Bouquet Stamp. This gorgeous floral stamp has so many uses. You can make a feature of the image by colouring with blends or water colouring, the flowers can be fussy cut out to create your own beautiful bouquet, or the image also makes a stunning background for a project.

I chose to use the image to create a background but instead of stamping on plain cardstock or colouring the images I stamped and embossed the image on a piece of Perennial Essence Designer Series Paper which added extra texture and a variation of colour to the background. 

Because there was already a lot of subtle detail in the background I didn't want the focal point of the card to be too busy so I fussy cut some birds from the Bird Ballad DSP and mounted them over a Sahara Sand and Vellum Stitched Nested Label Die cut and some White Flax Ribbon. Layering Vellum over Sahara Sand cardstock is my favourite way of softening the neutral coloured cardstock.  The sentiment comes from the Free as a Bird stamp set and the card was finished off with some Linen Thread and Pearl Basic Jewels. 

This particular card is a special thank you card for someone and I wanted to give them a little thank you gift as well so I decided to make a coordinating gift box using a Mini Pizza Box. For the gift box I stuck to the same layout and products, just using a different bird image and sentiment and the White Flax Ribbon wraps all the way around the box and secures at the side of the box with a bow.

That's all for from me today. I can't wait to see what stamp set the rest of the design team chose to feature. To follow along the hop click the links below

Crafty hugs, Tan xxx

Stamping Sunday Blog Roll

Sale-A-Bration 2020 | Stamping Sunday Blog Hop

Hi everyone and welcome the first Stamping Sunday Blog Hop for the year and my first blog post for 2020. You may have noticed that I have made a few changes to my blog over the New Year break. I hope you like my new logo and watermark. This month the Stamping Sunday team are featuring their favourite Sale-A-Bration product. Before I start showing you my creations you probably want to know what Sale-A-Bration is. It’s the biggest Stampin’ Up! sale of the year! From January 3–March 31, you get FREE exclusive products when you shop, host, or join.

My favourite product on offer in Sale-A-Bration has to be the Golden Honey Speciality Designer Series Paper.

Don't you just love these stunning black, white and gold foil patterns? The cute little bees and flowers are gorgeous but I have to admit my favourite part about this DSP is the stripe, spot and honeycomb patterns, particularly the Basic Black and Whisper White stripe which is the pattern I've chosen to feature today.

This first project is aimed at the beginner stamper and while a beginner level project is usually features only stamps, paper and ink, I just couldn't resist stepping it up slightly by adding a little ribbon, a few rhinestones and a bit of a doily. 

When creating this next project for a casual crafter I kept with a similar layout to the first card, but used both some heat embossing and embossing paste and the sentiment has been punched out with the 2" Circle Punch.

Finally the last project has been designed with the avid crafter in mind. To tie the black and white stripe in with the floral design I opted for a white embossed sentiment on a black stitched rectangle and I busted out my Paper Snips to create a little cluster of fussy cut flowers.

The other patterns that I have featured in these projects come from my second favourite Sale-A-Bration exclusive product, this ah-maz-ing Designer Series Paper Sampler and Mini Cutter bundle which is available to anyone who joins Stampin' Up! during Sale-A-Bration. 

I love how the Designer Series Paper Sampler includes a selection of DSP featured in the 2020 Occasions Catalogue. It is such a great way to get a little taste of each DSP pack .

That is all for me today. To see more of what is on offer with Sale-A-Bration be sure to check out what the rest of the team have been up to.

Brightly Gleaming | Stamping Sunday Blog Hop

Hello everyone and welcome to another Stamping Sunday Blog Hop. This month the team are showcasing elements of the Brightly Gleaming Suite in the Stampin' Up 2019 Holiday Catalogue. 

The very first time I flicked through the Holiday Catalogue particular suite stood out as a favourite and the whole range of products have been my go-to for many of my Christmas projects. I absolutely adore the suite colour palette of Night of Navy, Pretty Peacock, Old Olive, Copper and Very Vanilla but for today's projects I wanted to take a different approach and use the Christmas Gleaming stamp set with the brights collection of colours. 

Aren't they pretty? There's something about these colours arranged in rainbow order that makes my heart smile. To create each of these 3" x 3" mini cards I stamped and heat embossed the ornament image in white on watercolour paper and then I added a watercolour wash in each of the different colours.

Once dry I then mounted each image on a square of coordinating cardstock before adhering to the card front. The sentiment from Tidings All Around was also heat embossed in white on Basic  Black cardstock and I added a little bling with some Silver Glimmer paper and some rhinestones. 

That's all from me today. Be sure to check out what the rest of team have created with this amazing suite. 

- Tan xx

Mercury Glass Acetate | Stamping Sunday Blog Hop

Hi everyone, and welcome to another Stamping Sunday Blog Hop. 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. 

This time of year is my favourite for papercraft, can you guess why? If you guessed it was because it is the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalogue sales period then you would be correct. Now for most of those non-crafty people out there, it may seem ridiculous to be thinking about Christmas craft in September but I think the most of you guys would agree that it’s the perfect time to make a start. To help you all with your Christmas crafting plans the Stamping Sunday team are sharing projects featuring a new product from the Holiday Catalogue, the Mercury Glass Acetate.

Confession time, normally as part of this blog hop I’d be sharing three projects with you, one each for a beginner, casual or avid crafter but when creating these I felt that there was something about the Mercury Glass Acetate that ramped up a beginner project to a casual level and a casual card to an avid level so I left it at two project for today

This first project was designed for a beginner level in mind. I chose to use the Mercury Glass Acetate as a background for this card, adhering with Tear’n’tape and being careful to place the adhesive where it will be covered by the top layers. I took my colour cues from the plaid patterned banner from the Wrapped in Plaid DSP and thestamped ornaments and sentiment from the Christmas Gleaming Stamp Set in Night of Navy and Shaded Spruce. Lastly, to tie is the Real Red in the DSP I added a length of Real Red Cotton Ribbon.

This second project was more geared towards the Casual-Avid crafter. I chose to stick to the same, very versatile layout as the first card and I also stuck with the same Wrapped in Plaid DSP and Christmas Gleaming Ornaments. However, this time I used the Mercury Glass Acetate to create the ornaments. When stamping on any form of acetate I’ve always found it best to use Stāzon Jet Black ink otherwise you may find yourself left with a messy smudged image.

That’s all from me today, thank you for joining me. 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

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