Christmas Cards

I guess the desks of most stampers looks like mine at the moment

- a few finished cards amongst stamps, inks, and card scraps!

Hope you are enjoying it as much as I am!

Stampers Anonymous Blog Hop - French Style!

Welcome to our Stampers Anonymous SU blog tour! Tonight we are delighted to show you projects using products that were available to us in our demo sneak peek from the

2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue.

You may have just come from Sharon's blog, but if you are starting here, don’t worry … you can make the complete tour just by following the links at the end of each post.

There are 14 stops along the way and we hope you will visit each one to see the wonderful creations we have to show you! Please feel free to leave some comment love along the way …

At the end of each post there will be a link to take you to the next stop on the tour.

So grab a cuppa, sit back and enjoy!

At first when I said I'd join the Blog Hop,

I thought I'd make a few things specially.

Then I ran out of time ... I've been so busy...

... oh well ... I'll just have to show the one card I made with the new Artistic Etchings set ...

... which I love ...

... but then I thought about what I've been busy doing...

... getting ready for my catalogue launch ...

... and for a French night our church is holding ....

Hang on!!

That Artistic Etchings set has barely left my hot little hands

since it arrived on my doorstep a few weeks back!

So ... instead of just one card (above)

you can also see some of the other things I've been making!

For my launch I've been using Melon Mambo, Basic Black and Very Vanilla.

A great combo!

And I love the Newsprint DSP ... will be buying more of that set ...

Pillowboxes for my guests (these contain cute paperclips):

Little booklets with a stamped cover:

Decorated takeaway boxes to put all those goodies in

(boxes from a $2 shop but I would get a Big Shot die next time and make a box from cardstock, I had so much trouble with the plastic boxes splitting)

and my personal favourite - cupcakes!

Love these and will definitely use this idea again!

But hey, what's not to love about a cupcake???

For our French night that our church is running, we've plain brown lunch bags elegant with the Eiffel Tower image and the Very Vintage wheel, (sorry, no photo)

decorated chocolate coins:

and I took candles from "plain church candle" to "very French candles" in a matter of minutes

(using the tissue paper method).

For the French night we've been using a colour theme of

Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand and Regal Rose.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing what I've made with this gorgeous set - and hope that you are inspired to get it for yourself!

Now you’re off to enjoy the wonderful creations of Juliette Thanks for stopping by!

If you happen to lose your way here’s a list of all participants.

1. Fiona Harvey (me!) http://fionastamps.blogspot.com

2. Juliette Chapman http://juleskraftikrafts.blogspot.com

3. Kerry Bunting http://www.kbpapercraft.blogspot.com

4. Kirrily Matthews http://kirrilymatthews.blogspot.com

5. Lorna Casha http://www.lornacasha.blogspot.com

6. Marelle Taylor http://www.marelletaylor.com

7. Meighan Wheller http://meighanwheller.blogspot.com

8. Melissa Gillis http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/wishflowerstudios/blog

9. Michelle Marchant http://michellemarch.blogspot.com

10. Nikki Stalker http://www.nicolestalker.com.au/blog

11. Sally Williams http://www.sallycancraft.com

12. Sam Coppack http://samcoppack.blogspot.com

13. Sandy Quail http://www.scrappyhabits.com

14. Sharon Wilson http://shaz.argyle.com.au/blog/index.php

Blog Candy Winners!

STAMPERS ANONYMOUS AUTUMN/WINTER MINI BLOG HOP

BLOG CANDY WINNERS!

Many thanks to all of you who took the time to leave comments on our blogs and let us know you liked the projects we created for you using products from the new mini catalogue. We hope we inspired you and showed you that creative opportunities are endless!

Two winners of the blog candy have been drawn and they are:

PAULA FULLER and LISA MARTIN

Congratulations Paula and Lisa! Would you ladies please email Kerry Bunting to notify her of your contact details so she can get your candy in the mail.

Big Shot Autumn Wreath

Hi and welcome to my post for our Autumn Mini Blog Hop! You might have just arrived from Kerry's lovely blog, hope you are enjoying our projects! Read on to find out how you can enter to win some blog candy!


I recently "made-over" our study with some de-cluttering, a fresh coat of paint and some rearranging of furniture. Before I painted, this room was a badly-painted icky yellow with green trim, and it was only the sheer volume of furniture in this room that put us off painting until now. I painted with Dulux "Puppy" but used Wattyl i.d. paint (low-VOC). This colour works so well with our timber furniture, especially our sideboard and piano.


"What does all this have to do with Stampin' Up! ?" You ask .... well ... after I had put up some artwork and framed some lovely old sheet music to hang over the piano I still had a blank spot over the sideboard. Having spent $$$ on paint, a new blind, and a new bookcase I really didn't want to spend any more money. But I wanted something cream-coloured and a bit 3D.

And then my Big Shot arrived in the mail! Woohoo! I've always wanted something to cut large leaf shapes so the Leaves #2 was the first die I ordered when Stampin' Up! demonstrators could pre-order from the new Autumn Mini. I pulled out some Very Vanilla cardstock and got busy cutting lots of maple and oak leaves. Then I cut a large donut shape (I traced a large plate and then a smaller plate inside) and started adhering the leaves, overlapping until they covered the donut shape.


At this stage it was looking good, but not quite what I had in mind. So I cut more leaf shapes and this time curled each one around a pencil for that "just fallen from the tree" look, and adhered them carefully to the wreath. Finally I used the Extra-Large Two-Step Bird Punch to punch some leaves and a bird and adhered those leaves around the edges of the wreath. (Loving the new style of Stampin' Up! punches!)


Fortunately I had a nail sticking out from the wall where we used to hang a picture and I've just hung the wreath on that, with the bird blu-tacked to the wall in the centre. I love that it is monochrome and therefore you can really see the light and shadows, it looks a bit like those expensive lazer-cut wall features you see in magazines! But I'm also thinking I might make another one in Autumn colours one day soon!

Total time taken: less than 30 minutes
Cost (using what I had): FREE!

And now for some exciting news for YOU: We are offering 2 lucky visitors the opportunity to win some ‘Blog Candy’ this time around. There are a few things you must do to be eligible and they are:

1. You must leave a comment on every blog in the tour. Please also leave your full name with the comment.

2. After leaving your comments, you need to email Kerry and inform her you have done so and would like to be in the running for the blog candy.

**Blog candy is available to residents in Australia only. Entry is open till midnight April 5th. Demonstrators are welcome to participate.

Well, that’s all from me. I hope you left your comment to be in with a chance at the ‘Blog Candy’. Now you’re off to enjoy the wonderful creations of Teneale. (Click here to go to the next step of the blog hop!)

Thanks for stopping by!

If you happen to lose your way here’s a list of all participants:

1. Juliette Chapman http://juleskraftikrafts.blogspot.com

2. Sue Dean http://www.addictedstampers.com.au

3. Meighan Wheller http://meighanwheller.blogspot.com

4. Chary Belfield http://charybelfield.wordpress.com

5. Nikki Stalker http://www.nicolestalker.com.au/blog

6. Sharon Wilson http://shaz.argyle.com.au/blog/index.php

7. Kirrily Matthews http://kirrilymatthews.blogspot.com

8. Rob Irving http://www.stampingitout.com

9. Sally Williams http://www.sallycancraft.com

10. Kerry Bunting http://www.kbpapercraft.blogspot.com

11. Fiona Harvey http://fionastamps.blogspot.com

12. Teneale Williams http://www.tenealewilliams.com.au

13. Liam Pucher http://www.inspirestampin.blogspot.com

14. Marelle Taylor http://www.marelletaylor.com

Sale-A-Bration Blog Hop, Vintage Style

Welcome to the 2nd Stampers Anonymous SU blog tour! You have probably just arrived from Juliette's blog, the previous step of our Blog Hop. There are 9 blogs to visit, and I can't wait to see everyone else's creations!

You can receive one FREE Sale-A-Bration stamp set of your choice for every $100 you order before 31st March - details and catalogue are HERE. These stamp sets are all soooo cute, and will never be available again, so if there is 1, 2, 3 or even all 4 you would like then please email me and place an order before you miss out!

I was in a very vintagey mood when I made these cards, and was completely inspired by the Vintage Labels and Happy Moments sets. I was also dying to try out the Polka Dot background that I finally ordered (after wanting it for about a year!) That's the great thing about Sale-A-Bration - because I get FREE stamps sets with my order (and you can too!) I can justify buying all those wish-list items at last! LOL

The three cards I made are ideas you can copy, depending on how much time you have and how many supplies you want to use.

The first card is a quick and easy 5 or 10 minute card.


This birdy in a cage looks so sweet and effective stamped over a paler background stamp. Quick and easy. I rubbed the inkpad over the edges of the white card to add a bit of pink. Then I stamped the birdcage again in pink pirouette with the sentiment stamped over the top, and punched it out for a quick and inexpensive accent.

Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Happy Moments, Polka Dot Background stamp
Inkpads: Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette
Whisper White 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, 1" punch and a brad from the Vintage brads

The next card is the result of playing with a new set of stamps. I don't know about you, but when a new stamp set arrives in the mail, AND it coordinates with my punches, I get stamping and punching without any thought of a finished product! The trick I am learning though, is to use a few coordinating colours and then you can use your "experiments" together on a card (instead of putting them into that mysterious box or bag of "unused punchies/stampies" on your desk ... come on ... I know you have one too ...)


So... here we have a vintagey polkadotty pink and red card, with lots of cute layers, and all using just scraps of card left from other projects. This one probably takes about 10 minutes, counting cutting out the butterfly and playing with all those fun pieces till you feel happy just looking at them!

Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Vintage Labels, Window Dressing (hostess set), Flight of the Butterfly
Punches: Curly Label, Scallop Circle, Boho Blossoms, Eyelet Border
Inkpads: Whisper White, Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Pirouette Pink, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, Real Red
Rhinestone Brad and Whisper White 1/4" grosgrain ribbon


And lastly a card that will take a little more time to make, but think of that time as therapeutic!


Don't you wish it was your birthday, and you could cut into this big yummy cake with the shiny chocolate icing, and open those cute presents? For this card I painted on watercolour card using the both the Stampin' Write Markers and the Watercolor Wonder Crayons, one or the other, or sometimes blended, depending on the effect I wanted. I love how these media work together, especially when I use watercolour card.


Thinking of a cake got me thinking about a doily, so I used the Vintage Label round stamp to look like a doily below the cake, and repeated it in the background. I also cut out the centre of one with a 1" punch for a different effect.

Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Happy Moments, Vintage Labels, Polka Dot background
Inkpads: Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, Watercolor paper
Punches: Scallop Circle, Small Oval, 1" circle
Certainly Celery 1/4" grosgrain ribbon (my favourite!), Rhinestone brad

Well, that’s all from me. Now click here to hop to the next blog and enjoy the wonderful creations of Nikki, the organiser of our blog hop. Thanks for stopping by, and thanks Nikki! Please feel free to leave me a comment before you leave, I'd love to hear what you think of my cards.

Little Houses

Ever since I first saw this Neighbourhood stamp wheel, I've wanted it. Those cute little houses were too much for me! I held out till Sale-A-Bration came along and then I ordered it at last! In addition to receiving some FREE stamp sets, I also received FREE the Patterns Pack II Designer Series Paper (DSP) - a hostess gift - and they seemed like a perfect match! This DSP is great for stamping on or for backgrounds.

First I rolled the design onto the Certainly Celery cardstock, then I rolled again on a few different pieces of DSP and cut out selected houses with a pair of small scissors. I adhered these directly above the houses on the celery cardstock.


Then I added a sentiment from the very cute Whimsical Words set, (which I got for FREE and so can you with an order over $100!). I freehanded a black thought bubble around the words with a black marker, and floated them above one of the houses with a dimensional.