I love sheep! Growing up in the country, we always had a pet poddy lamb in our backyard. Poddy lambs are what lambs are called if they have either been orphaned or rejected by their mother and the local farmers would give them to us to hand raise as pets.
My brother and I would bottle feed the lambs and as they grew they would keep our lawn permanently mowed and let us ride them like horses and even dress them up in fancy dress clothes!
For this card I’ve used two FREE SALE-a-bration products: the Counting Sheep stamp set and the coordinating Sheep Dies. These adorable sheep are the perfect size for a Floating Gatefold Card. You could also use the penguins from the Penguin Place bundle or even the Peaceful Deer Bundle.
Here’s what the card looks like when closed with the belly band on (left photo) as well as on the inside of the card with the sheep popping up (right photo).
Because this card has pop up elements inside it is hard to keep it flat when the card is closed, which is why I decided to create a belly band. This card will easily fit into an standard envelope for posting but it was tricky to photograph it closed without the belly band on!
And here is another look at the inside. Because this is quite a busy card on the inside I’d probably write on the back panel instead.
Don’t these sheep just make you laugh!
If you would like the instructions on how to make this card, they are in the August Tutorial bundle, are available on my tutorial page.
Thanks for visiting my blog today. I’ll be back this week with some more Heart of Christmas inspiration and our weekly AWH Colour Creations Showcase on Wednesday.
If you live in Australia, you can find and purchase all these products in my Stampin’ Up! Online Store. Don’t forget to use my monthly Host Code (if your order is between $50 – $250) and I will send you a thank you gift the following month. If your order is over $250 don’t use the host code because you will qualify for your own stamping rewards.
My September Host Code is WVX3UYCR and it is valid until midnight September 30.
In the meantime, wherever you are in the world, stay safe, stay calm … and keep on crafting xxx
Welcome to week 14 of our 2021-22 Colour Creations blog hop! Tonight we are showcasing Crushed Curry, a rich bold yellow from the Regals colour collection.
Do you have any colours that you rarely use, but when you do, you wonder why you don’t use them more often? Crushed Curry is one of those colours for me.
Crushed Curry is so vibrant, it immediately draws your eye and it demands your attention. And as today is the first day of spring here in Australia, I decided to celebrate the arrival of spring with a Crushed Curry sunflower card.
This card uses a favourite technique of mine: the die inlay technique. I highly recommend die inlay to anyone who enjoys doing jigsaws. It’s not a technique for fast mass production but it’s not hard to do either, and the extra time it takes is so worth it for the effect it gives.
Did you notice the background spotted DSP? It’s from the FREE SALE-a-bration Beautifully Penned 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Paper.
Once you’ve layered the spotty DSP onto the Basic Black card base, it’s time to create the die inlay sunflower. The die inlay technique works best if you adhere a piece of adhesive sheet to the back of the Crushed Curry Cardstock and Basic Black Cardstock BEFORE you die cut them.
After you’ve die cut the Crushed Curry Cardstock be careful to keep all of the die pieces together on the cutting platform and use your Take Your Pick Tool to remove the adhesive sheet from the back of the petal pieces and place them into the correct position.
The “Thanks a Bunch” sentiment from Celebrate Sunflowers has been stamped in Versamark and heat embossed in white emboss powder before fussy cutting it out.
The other great pop of Crushed Curry colour is the handmade matching envelope. Isn’t this DSP pattern just gorgeous? It’s from a host set called Pattern Party Designer Series Paper, which has black and white patterns on one side and vibrant colours on the other side.
The envelope closure was made using the same die I used for the centre of the sunflower. I cut two of these dies in Basic Black and attached them to the envelope with white square brads. White bakers twine twists around the closures to open and close the envelope.
The inside of the card was easy to decorate with leftover Crushed Curry die pieces.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the very talented Caroline Manwaring. I can’t wait to see what she’s made this week!
If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the the full list of participants below:
This week I was inspired by a beautiful card made by a Dutch Stampin’ Up! demonstrator called Berdien Weideveld. I loved the way her square card featured the Whimsy & Wonder DSP.
Berdien’s card also used a variety of retired products as well as several products I don’t own, so I’ve loosely CASED her card by changing my card to a rectangular design and only using current Stampin’ Up! products I already own.
I originally bought the Sparkle of the Season bundle with the intent to make wreath wards, but I still haven’t made one yet! I am, however, getting a lot of use out of some of the other elements in this bundle, such as the holly berry and holly leaves dies and the “Merry Christmas” sentiment on my card today.
These stitched rectangles would definitely have to be my most used dies, despite the fact that they are designed to fit American sized cards, not our Aussie card bases, which are made from half an A4 sheet of cardstock.
When I lined up four of the stitched rectangles across the card front, there was a much wider border of Basic White at the base of the card compared to the top and the sides. So I used one of the Basic Border dies to turn this problem into a feature instead.
The Wonderful Snowflakes are white cardstock on one side with an iridescent foil on the other side and you get 24 in a pack. They are such a great embellishment and an easy way to quickly add texture, dimension and visual interest to a card.
This card design could be made out of any of our beautiful designer series papers (BONUS: it only uses a small amount of DSP) and the stitched rectangle dies make it so easy to line everything up!
I was soooooo tempted to add a touch of the FREE Be Dazzling DSP to my card but I resisted! I actually made 6 cards over the weekend and I didn’t add the Be Dazzling DSP to a single one. I think I might be having withdrawal symptoms though, so prepared to be dazzled again next week!
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the incredible talented Kate Morgan. It’s her birthday today. Happy birthday my friend! I can’t wait to see what Kate shares with us today!
If at any time you find a broken link please head to the blog of this week’s Host of the Heart of Christmas Blog Hop, Sharon Davern, as she has the full list of links for everyone who is participating.
You can purchase any of the products I’ve used tonight here.
Thanks for visiting my site. I’ll be back with another card on Wednesday.
In the meantime, wherever you are in the world, stay safe, stay calm … and keep on crafting xxx
Hello to all my crafting friends! I’m back with another entry for the “G’day Fri’yay’ Card Making Challenges” Facebook group, a fortnightly Card Making Challenge with Aussie Themes.
The theme for this challenge is “Surf’s UP!”. My husband and my sons are all obsessive surfers so I have a stack of surfing stamps and have made many a surfing card in my time, however, for this challenge I wanted to create a surfing card using non-surfing craft products.
Is it just me who gets a kick out of the idea that you might see penguins dressed in scarves and beanies out in the surf?
I know surfing is not the first thing that might spring to mind with the FREE SALE-a-bration DSP Penguin Playmates, but the stance and movement of these penguins reminded me of the way surfers hold their bodies while surfing.
The Misty Moonlight and white striped DSP was used make waves, with one of the Basic Border dies cut into smaller pieces to create whitewash foam on the edge of the waves.
I did use a die from my stash to use some of the Penguin Playmates DSP to create the two larger surfboards. The two smaller surfboards were just hand trimmed from this DSP. The penguin who is bodyboarding was stamped and fussy cut – the others are all fussy cut from the same Penguin Playmates DSP.The little penguin getting air is my fave – let’s just crown him the “Gabriel Medina” of surfing penguins right now! I’ve used the arrow dies from the Give it a Whirl dies to draw attention to him (I’ve also used the cloud dies from the Give it a Whirl dies). This penguin really is the “coolest” of the penguins, hence the matching sentiment!
Playful Alphabet dies form the “Surf’s Up”, leaving you in no doubt that, believe it or not, these penguins are actually surfing, not skiing. I had so much fun making this card and I hope my surfing penguins put a smile on your face too!
Thanks for visiting my blog today. I’ll be back tomorrow with some more Heart of Christmas inspiration and on Wednesday our weekly AWH Colour Creations Showcase – we are creating projects with Crushed Curry this week.
When you shop online in my Stampin’ Up! Online Store don’t forget to use my monthly Host Code (if your order is between $50 – $250) and I will send you a thank you gift the following month. If your order is over $250 don’t use the host code because you will qualify for your own stamping rewards.
My August Host Code is AHQUWNVQ and it is valid until midnight August 31.
In the meantime, wherever you are in the world, stay safe, stay calm … and keep on crafting xxx
Welcome to week 13 of our 2021-22 Colour Creations blog hop! Tonight we are showcasing Crumb Cake, a very useful colour from the Neutrals colour collection.
Crumb Cake is my favourite Stampin’ Up! colour because it is so incredibly versatile and it just works so well with every other colour. I like to think of it as the “goldilocks” of neutrals – not too dark, not too light … it always looks just right!
Because Crumb Cake looks so good with other colours, I rarely make cards using Crumb Cake on it’s own, however I wanted to challenge myself this week to find a way to really showcase this perfect all rounder colour on its own.
So my colour combination tonight is simply Crumb Cake and Basic White (not even Basic Black!), with the added sparkle of the FREE Be Dazzling DSP, because I just can’t stop using this DSP and it perfectly complements Crumb Cake.
I have to confess I ran out of time this week and only made my card this morning before I began work. In a way, it was fortuitous that I left it to the last minute because my FREE SALE-a-bration Delicate Dahlias stamp set arrived yesterday and it was the perfect stamp set to make a quick and easy card.
The Delicate Dahlias stamp set has four sentiments and both outline and solid stamps for the flowers and the leaves. You can stamp the outline and solid stamps together to create coloured in flowers, or use them separately in a variety of ways.
The outline stamp can be coloured in with your favourite colouring tool and method or you can use both the outline and the solid stamps separately but together on the one card, as I have done with this card.
This card is basically simple stamping with some fussy cutting and it’s a design you could recreate in any colour you want.
The background layer is Crumb Cake ink stamped onto Crumb Cake card stock using a mixture of the solid stamps.
My top layer flowers and leaves were stamped in Crumb Cake ink onto Basic White cardstock using the outline stamps and then fussy cut out using my paper snips.
I stamped the largest flower twice and fussy cut a second smaller flower layer to add dimension to the flower.
A 10mm strip of the Be Dazzling DSP lies across the middle of the card and die cut and punched circles of Be Dazzling DSP form the centre of the flowers.
The sentiment was white heat embossed and die cut out with the banner die from the Tasteful Labels dies.
Some more simple stamping decorated the inside of the card and the envelope too.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the very talented Theresa Gerrard. I can’t wait to see what she’s made this week!
If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the the full list of participants below:
When I was a child my mum had a box of vintage Christmas cards that I used to love looking at and tonight I’ve combined a few different stamp and die sets to try to recreate this vintage vibe.
This style of card making is a lot of fun but also a little bit risky as I really have no idea what my final card will look like. I gradually add and remove different elements to build up the scene as I go.
I originally intended to use the Christmas Season bundle but the scale just didn’t work with the little bird from the Birds & Branches stamps. So these are the stamp and die sets I’ve used instead.
Sparkle of the Season bundle
Birds & Branches stamp set
Christmas to Remember
Birds & More dies
The shading on the card base is created with a blending brush and Bermuda Bay ink pad. Add ink to your blending brush and then start in the middle of the card and swirl outwards, gradually building up the colour.
The speckled effect is easy to create. Once you’ve finished blending your background use the inner tube of a Stampin’ Spritzer to gently tap to drop water onto the blended background.
The bird was stamped in Pale Papaya and Poppy Parade, the pine needles in Just Jade and the pinecones in Cinnamon Cider. The branch was stamped in Cinnamon Cider and also die cut from Cinnamon Cider cardstock, trimmed to fit my card.
I die cut a wreath and holly leaves in Just Jade cardstock and then cut them up randomly to add texture and dimension to the card. The holly berries are die cut in Poppy Parade cardstock.
A touch of Wink of Stella adds subtle sparkle and shimmer to the little bird.
The Christmas to Remember sentiment stamp set has a lovely mix of fonts. I used two different stamps to mix up the fonts for my Merry Christmas Sentiment.
A bow of linen thread was the final touch.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the incredible talented Tina Gillespie. I wait to see what Tina shares with us today!
If at any time you find a broken link, please head to the blog of this week’s Host of the Heart of Christmas Blog Hop, Tina Gillespie, and she will have the list of all who are participating.
You can purchase any of the products I’ve used tonight here.
Thanks for visiting my site. I’ll be back with another card on Wednesday.
In the meantime, wherever you are in the world, stay safe, stay calm … and keep on crafting xxx
Welcome to week 12 of our 2021-22 Colour Creations blog hop! Tonight we are showcasing Coastal Cabana, a colour from the Brights family.
Did I hear you say “step away from the Be Dazzling DSP, Catherine”? Well, sorry, not sorry, I just can’t seem to stop using this SALE-a-bration specialty DSP!
Tonight’s Coastal Cabana card pairs something old (the All Things Fabulous stamp set and the Fabulous Floral dies) with something new (the FREE Be Dazzling DSP). The colour combination I’ve used is one I’m always drawn to for summer dresses, scarves and earrings: Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay, Gray Granite, Basic White and of course, the gorgeous champagne gold sparkle of the Be Dazzling DSP.
The largest flowers on my card are stamped using 3-step stamps that gradually layer up the colour of the flower – each level of stamp is numbered inside the stamp case. There are so many different colour combinations you can create with this type of stamp. Here’s how I inked up my flowers for this card.
Stamp the largest flower stamps (1A, 2A and 3A) in Coastal Cabana, stamped off once
Stamp the middle stamps (1B, 2B and 3B) in full strength Coastal Cabana
Stamp the smallest, top stamp (1C, 2C and 3C) in full strength Bermuda Bay
The leaves were stamped in Gray Granite, both at full strength and stamped off. I also die cut a few leaves from the Be Dazzling DSP and added 5mm strips of the Be Dazzling DSP at the top and bottom of my card, sitting beside the largest, intricate lacy die (from the Fabulous Floral dies) that has been cut in half and placed either side of the main front panel.
I used some left over stamped and die cut sprigs and leaves to decorate the inside of my card.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the very talented Caroline Manwaring. I can’t wait to see what she’s made this week!
If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the the full list of participants below:
Do you use your Stampin’ Up! catalogues for inspiration? I find them such a wonderful source of ideas and this week I’ve taken my inspiration from the 2019 Stampin’ Up! Holiday catalogue.
The 2019 Stampin’ Up! Holiday catalogue had very clever instructions on how to use your paper trimmer and the small Gleaming Ornaments Punch to make quick and easy Christmas crackers. As these ornament punches are currently available to purchase in the clearance rack (on sale for $35.40) I thought I would adapt this design and make a set of Christmas Crackers using the FREE SALE-a-bration Peaceful Prints DSP.
I’ve used 6 of the patterns from the Peaceful Prints DSP to make 6 crackers – I will make another 6 crackers using the reverse sides of this DSP before Christmas.
Here’s my template to make the crackers using the small ornament punch.
Trim a sheet of DSP to 9 x 8 inches
Score along the 8 inch side at 1 inch (this creates the flap for adhering the sides of the cracker together) and score again at 3, 5 and 7 inches
Fold along all these score lines
Fully insert small ornament punch to the edge of the DSP, ensuring the score line is in the centre of the ornament
Punch every score line at both ends of the DSP
Also punch at the 9 inch edge, lining up the centre of the punch with the edge of the DSP
Now score in the opposite direction, along the width of the cracker at the top, bottom and the centre of the punched out areas (see photo above) and then fold these score lines as per the photo below.
To assemble the cracker, fold up the 1 inch fold flap so that the DSP side that will be on the outside of the cracker is facing up.
Place Multipurpose Liquid Glue on this flap and fold over the cracker at the 5 inch fold, lining up the punched out areas. Press together to adhere.
Cut ribbon of choice into 14 inch (36 cm) lengths and tie into a bow at each end.
You can decorate the crackers any way you want. I used the Peaceful Deer bundle, the FREE SALE-a-bration Be Dazzling DSP and the Tailored Made Tags Dies to create coordinating deer tags for my crackers. I used some Sahara Sand twine to attach them to one end of the cracker, but you could also simply adhere them to the top of the cracker.
These crackers are empty right now because I am going to fill them with yummy treats closer to Christmas, such a Ferrero Rocher chocolate, Lindt Balls and little jokes. To fill them at a later time, simply untie the bow at one end, pop the treats inside and retie the bow.
You can make these Christmas crackers out of any DSP to match your Christmas table decoration.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the incredible talented Michele Taylor. I wait to see what Michele shares with us today!
If at any time you find a broken link please head to the blog of this week’s Host of the Heart of Christmas Blog Hop, Sharon Davern, as she has the full list of links for everyone who is participating.
You can purchase any of the products I’ve used tonight here.
Thanks for visiting my site. I’ll be back with another card on Wednesday.
In the meantime, wherever you are in the world, stay safe, stay calm … and keep on crafting xxx
Hello to all my crafting friends! Have you ever tried to use Christmas paper to make a birthday card?
Today I’m sharing a custom birthday card I made using Stampin’ Up!’s new Christmas Designer Series Paper called Sweet Stockings. It might seem strange at first to use Christmas paper for a birthday card, but if you read on you’ll understand exactly why I used this DSP.
I made this birthday card for my very special friend and “crafting partner in crime”, Jenny, who has has an utterly adorable labrador/golden retriever called Nigel. As soon as I saw this labrador/golden retriever paper in the Sweet Stockings DSP from the July – December 2021 Mini catalogues I knew I had to use it for Jen’s birthday card, even though it is Christmas paper. This labrador/golden retriever looks so much like Nige!
Jen has the most beautiful vintage caravan called Sylvia that we craft in together, so I wanted to make a caravan birthday card for her. I searched for caravan templates on Pinterest, printed one out and used it to make cut a card in the shape of a caravan. Of course, this caravan had to have a labrador/golden retriever looking out the window!
The card fold is at the top of the card – I adjusted the size of the caravan template on my computer to fit the width of a piece of A4 Pool Party cardstock, traced the outline of the van onto the card stock and scored across the the card stock at the top of the caravan. I folded at the scoreline and then cut out the caravan shape through both layers of card stock, making sure to leave a fold at the top.
The door, windows and wheel are hand cut and die cut from silver foil and Basic Black cardstock, with the curtains and the stripe down the side of the caravan made using another pattern from the Sweet Stockings DSP.
The curtain tie back bows are a stamp and die from the All For Baby bundle. I used a blending brush to add dimension around the edge of the caravan and a Matte Black dot made the perfect door handle!
I hand cut the inside card layer in Basic White and shaded some more Pool Party Ink around the edge. Both the dog in the window on the front of the card and the dog inside the card were fussy cut from the Sweet Stockings DSP, as were the fairy lights for the inside of the caravan. The sentiments are both from the Art Gallery stamp set.
I also handmade a matching envelope using the same Sweet Stockings DSP I used for the curtains on the front of the card.
Even though I can’t see Jenny in person ATM, being able to post a special handmade card to her was a great way of letting her know that I was thinking of her on her special day and missing her so much!
Thanks for visiting my blog today. I’ll be back next tomorrow with some more Heart of Christmas inspiration and our weekly AWH Colour Creations Showcase on Wednesday, when we will be sharing projects made using Coastal Cabana.
When you shop online in my Stampin’ Up! Online Store don’t forget to use my monthly Host Code (if your order is between $50 – $250) and I will send you a thank you gift the following month. If your order is over $250 don’t use the host code because you will qualify for your own stamping rewards.
My August Host Code is AHQUWNVQ and it is valid until midnight August 31.
In the meantime, wherever you are in the world, stay safe, stay calm … and keep on crafting xxx
Welcome to week 11 of our 2021-22 Colour Creations blog hop! Tonight we are showcasing Cinnamon Cider, one of 2020-22 In Colours.
I’ve gone a bit berserk with the “Feels Like Home” stamp set today, making not one but four different cards. This stamp set is a free SALE-a-bration stamp set and I wanted to show four different ways of using it, including a “non colouring” option for crafters who don’t feel confident or don’t enjoy colouring.
This beautiful stamp set does all the hard work for you, making you look like an artist. Let me show you how.
Card 1 Watercolor Card
Water colouring is easy with the right tools. Stamp with Stayzon Ink onto either watercolor paper or Shimmery white paper. Either use your inkpad lids or acrylic blocks to pick up ink from the ink pad and then paint the ink onto the image with the finest tipped Water Painter.
I still need a lot of practice with water colouring, but the great thing about water colouring is that there really are no mistakes – at least that’s what I tell myself, ha ha!
The Stitched With Whimsy dies show up really well on this watercolour paper and after embossing the paper with the largest die in this set, I held the die down on the paper and tore the paper around the edge of the metal die to add a lot of texture to the card.
The free SALE-a-bration Beautifully Penned DSP is a lovely neutral black and white, so it is perfect for making a handmade envelope to match a colourful card front like this one.
Card 2 Stampin’ Blends
I’m a lot more confident colouring an image with the Stampin’ Blends – don’t forget to stamp in Tuxedo Black Memento ink when using any alcohol marker, such as Stampin’ Blends. I also experimented a bit more with my colour combinations on this card, using light Gray Granite and Pale Papaya for the brick wall around the Cinnamon Cider door. I quite like this colour combination!
The second largest Stitched With Whimsy die perfectly framed the image and I deliberately didn’t add a sentiment so I could use this card for a variety of purposes.
Card 3 Monochromatic note card
Only colouring in with one colour (the light Cinnamon Cider Stampin’ Blend) on the image stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink really showcases Cinnamon Cider and makes for a fast, easy and effective colouring technique.
Cardstock layers die cut with the stitched rectangle dies in Basic Black and Cinnamon Cider keep a restrained monochromatic colour scheme. I’ve adhered another strip of the free SALE-a-bration Beautifully Penned DSP to the back flap of a notecard envelope to coordinate.
Card 4 Simple Stamping
Okay, yes I did quickly run this card through the sewing machine, but apart from that, it is just Cinnamon Cider stamped onto Basic White cardstock – this image is so lovely I don’t think it really needs anything else. I love the sepia effect Cinnamon Cider gives to this card! I had a bit of fun tearing the Basic White paper and curling the edges with my paper snips – such a simple way to instantly add texture and interest.
I hope my cards have inspired you to give this stamp set a go, even if you don’t feel confident with colouring! Which one do you prefer?
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, Claire Daly. I can’t wait to see what she’s made this week!
If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the the full list of participants below:
