Caramel & Cream

Thank you for hopping over to my blog.  This is my first time joining in with a 'Blog Hop' and i'm delighted to be doing it with the other ladies from the 'Simply Stylish Stampers'. After being given a card making kit as a gift a few years back i found i really enjoyed creating projects. Later on i discovered Stampin Up and my love for papercraft has grown into what you might say is an obsession! My card today uses the fabulous NEW stamp set 'Wise Men From Afar' which is coming soon in the Autumn / Winter brochure. 'Star Of Light' and the coordinating thinlits dies also feature.  Taking a sheet of 'Night of Navy' cardstock i trimmed it down to 11 1/2 x 5 3/4. Then scored in half along the long side. 'Whisper White' cardstock measuring 5 x 5 inches. To create the night sky effect i used a combination of blue inks - 'Night of Navy', 'Tempting Turquoise' and 'Pacific Point'. You of cour...

The 'Colourful Seasons' stamp set is super versatile. As the name suggests it literally covers all the seasons. Before we know it the school Summer holidays will be over and we will be turning to Autumn. Winter is my favourite season but i do really love the colours of Autumn.  For this card i decided to mix things up with the leaves rather than going for traditional oranges, browns and yellows. Choosing the larger leaf image i stamped the inside first by stamping off onto some scrap paper to give a slightly lighter shade before printing over the top with the outline image.  With my second ink colour i then filled in the spaces with a smaller leaf print. My combinations are 'Fresh Fig' with 'Lemon Lime Twist' and then 'Fresh Fig' again but with 'Tranquil Tide'.  Which option do you prefer? The sentiment is also taken from the same stamp set, simply mounted onto two of the layering circle framelit dies and popped up onto a d...

Another SBS today with the 'Botanical Blooms'. As i said before i really do love this set and framelits.  I made this cute box, big enough to hold notelet cards or tea lights etc. It was decorated with the dsp that also matched this suite and then die cut flowers and leaves from the 'Botanical Builder' framelits dies.  It adds much more interest to a project i think when you layer things.  If you would like to order any current Stampin Up products you can do so HERE Rachael x

If you have been a fan of Stampin Up for some time you are probably aware that coming very soon is another catalogue. It runs alongside our Annual catalogue but the focus is on Autumn and Winter products. It's actually the catalogue i look forward to the most, i am a HUGE fan of Christmas (my birthday is also Christmas Day) and Winter. Although i enjoy the sunshine i really do enjoy lighting up the fires and having cosy nights in.  The card i have made today uses designer series paper (DSP) called 'Spooky Night' and the fabulous 'Cat Punch'. This punch has been really popular with my fellow demonstrators and i'm sure as customers you are going to love it too. Super simple and basic i put a piece of dsp onto my whisper white card blank, then using the 'cat punch' i took a black and orange cat also from another sheet of dsp.  The 'Happy Halloween' sentiment comes from the coordinating 'Spooky Cat' stamp set. If you would ...

'Gorgeous Grunge' is absolutely one of my favourite stamp sets for creating backgrounds. Even though it is now retired it is one set i know i can just never stop using.  I've paired it with 'Be The Star' stamp set here.  To freshen it up i have used current colours 'Dapper Denim' and 'Lemon Lime Twist', this combination is great for male or female cards.  I handstamped the stars then used the star framelit dies to cut them out. Much quicker than fussy cutting.  A scattering of 'Dapper Denim Enamel Shapes' and the card is complete. Perfect for birthdays, exams, party invites etc and super easy to make.  If you would like to order any current Stampin' Up! products you can do so HERE Happy Crafting Rachael x

So it's Summer but with the weather we have had the past couple of weeks you really wouldn't think it!  I saw a card very similar to this whilst browsing Pinterest, unfortunately it had no name to the creator of the card but if they happen to stumble across my version a big 'thank you' for the inspiration.  The card is created using the 'Colourful Seasons' stamp set and a sheet of 'Dapper Denim' DSP from the 'Colour Theory' stack. The dsp stack has lots of different texture patterns and i really like the way this one reminds of distressed wood...perfect for a beach chair left out in the elements. The sentiment and beach chair come from the 'Colourful Seasons' stamp set and the sun is from the 'Swirly Bird' stamp set.  For the sand under the chair i used a stamp from 'Sheltering Tree', it's really meant to be for the soil or grass under the tree from that set but as with lots of Stampin' Up! products you ca...

As a demonstrator we get to see and preorder items before they are released to the general public. Since the NEW Autumn / Winter catalogue has been launched to us I had placed my order which arrived yesterday. Wow i can't even begin to tell you about all the fabulous bits and pieces i have in my box of goodies. Within my Christmassy preorder though i had also got the 'Oh so eclectic' stamp set, matching 'Eclectic layers' framelits and the new embossing paste (all in our annual catalogue). Why did i wait so long to get my hands on these? I'm totally in love with the new paste, so easy to use and such great effects for texture on cards.  The paste comes in a tub and is white, but as you can see in my project i have coloured it using my ink refills. It may seem obvious but better to mention it than have a major oops moment...colour just a small amount of the paste once you have taken it out of the tub..otherwise all of your paste will be that colour and you ...

Botanical Blooms i think has to be one of my favourite floral themed stamp sets from Stampin' Up!  I love the way when you mix it with the matching 'botanical builder framelits' you can create amazing  3D projects with texture. Equally the stamp set on it's own can create beautiful images on the front of cards. This is a simple project but really has a wow factor. I used the 'clear tiny treat boxes' (still available) and decorated it with flowers cut using the dies and big shot.  Choosing the colours 'Berry Burst' and 'Lemon Lime Twist' i wrapped a piece of DSP around the box and a strip of the silver sequins. These larger sequins are no longer available in this size but we do have some super cute mini sequins which would work just as well to recreate the same effect. Using double sided DSP is great as you get to see a hint of the other side through the clear box.  Using glue dots to attach the flowers and leaf i then added a basic...

Two blog posts today, this one is to show you a card I made for our team challenge. I am part of a lovely group of ladies called Simply Stylish Stampers. Our team leader Caroline (from Crafty Caroline Creates) set us a friendly challenge to create a project on the theme of Summer. I decided I was going to use the z fold as my base, I love the way it creates a picture / scene within a card.  Dapper Denim was my chosen base colour with a piece of colour theory paper layered on top. Then I mixed up a few stamp sets to get my by the sea / beach design.  The lighthouse and birds come from 'High Tide', a photopolymer set which is great for the two step layering needed for the lighthouse. I chose 'Smokey Slate' and 'Real red' as my colours for this and the birds are also stamped in 'Smokey Slate' The beach chair is from the 'Seasonal Layers thinlits', super easy to just run through your big shot.  'Weather Together' is the stamp set u...

I really love the 'Coffee break suite'. The colours aren't girly so perfect for the men in our lives too but also it's so versatile it can be used for lots of different occasions.  Stampin' Up! have done their usual fab trick of making sure the stamp set, dies, designer series papers and embellishments all match perfectly making it super easy for crafters with or without experience to be able to create the perfect project.  On this card i have chosen two pieces of DSP, layering a smaller strip over the top of the larger piece to break up the background. I stamped the simple coffee cup shape and lid before running it through my big shot with the framelits. I decided to flip the lid of one of the coffee cups and created a bowl from it. Using the small heart stamp (also in this set) i randomly created a pattern and then stamped the little coffee beans and cut those out to create the effect of a bowl of beans.  The final touch was the sentiment 'Thanks...

Wow this year is flying along isn't it? Already in August and even though most of you will be enjoying the Summer holidays, as a crafter we are also looking ahead to Christmas. With this in mind Stampin' Up have treated us to an early offer and released a fabulous new stamp set called 'Carols of Christmas' It has matching thinlits dies and if you buy the two together as a bundle you can save 10%   Don't forget if you earned any bonus coupons during July now is the time to use them. Stampin' Up! will have sent your coupon codes direct to you via email. You simply add them on when you place you order to redeem them.  Please remember the bonus coupons can not be carried over, they must be used in August.  So what are you waiting for? Place you order now and get ahead with making those Christmas cards.  Rachael x