Stampin’ Up! AWH Heart of Christmas Week 6

Stampin’ Up! AWH Heart of Christmas Week 6

This week I’ve used a sentiment stamp set from the new July-December 2021 Mini Catalogue that could be easily overlooked, but I was lucky enough to win from my upline Claire, the Well Defined stamp set.

I’m not sure why I hadn’t used this stamp set before as I love dictionary definitions. In fact, I’ve just finished reading an amazing novel called “The Dictionary of Lost Words”, based on the true story of the women who were involved in the making of the Oxford English Dictionary. It’s a part of history I had never heard of before, beautifully told in one of the best books I’ve read this year.

Although these stamps have been created to look like an official dictionary entry, I’m not sure they would have been included in either the official Oxford Dictionary or even in the Dictionary of Lost Words!

I’ve got plenty of ideas for cards to make with each of the dictionary definitions, however I’ve just used the “holiday” definition stamp today because I wanted to pair it with the Sweets & Treats stamp set for a fun, festive and food-themed card.

Stampin’ Blends in light and dark Old Olive, Real Red and Soft Suede give my card a traditional Christmas colour scheme, with scribbles of the light Crumb Cake Stampin’ Blend to anchor the images.

The sentiment is stamped in Soft Suede before being mounted onto the chopping board die from the Cookin’ Dies. I love how this little die embosses the card stock at the same time as it cuts out the shape of the chopping board.

I stamped two extra the holly sprigs from the plum pudding image and fussy cut them out to add a little more festive cheer. Red Rhinestone jewels are the perfect fit for the little holly berries and add a touch of bling to the card.

I must admit, although I adore the plum pudding stamp, I actually hate plum pudding, Christmas cake or any desserts that include dried fruit. I would, however, happily eat the cupcakes, toffee apples and definitely the cherry pie!

I had a lot of fun making this card – I hope it puts a smile on your face too!

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, Tina Gillespie, 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

Stampin’ Up! Punch and Die Art Koala Card

Stampin’ Up! Punch and Die Art Koala Card

Hello to all my crafting friends! Do you enjoy being challenged with your crafting? I certainly do!

Today I’m sharing my entry for the inaugural “G’day Fri’yay’ Card Making Challenges” group, who are hosting fortnightly Card Making Challenge with Aussie Themes.

The theme for this challenge is koalas, however, although I don’t have a current Stampin’ Up! set with a koala image I wasn’t going to let that stop me from entering.

So how did I create my koala? It was a combination of dies, punches and an embossing folder. Let’s just call it “die and punch art” and be done with it!

To make the tree I embossed some of the In Good Taste DSP with the Bark 3D embossing folder and used the long, curved Basic Border dies to create the shape of the trunk.

Evening Evergreen and Soft Succulent cardstock die cut with Forever Flourishing dies make for pretty realistic eucalypt leaves, don’t you agree? I hope the koala agrees because he doesn’t eat anything else!

I cannot believe how easy it was to make the little koala from Smoky Slate cardstock with the Pansy Dies! These Pansy dies emboss and cut at the same time, making my little koala even more realistic!

The feet of the new Penguin Builder Punch were punched in Blushing Bride for the inside of the ears.

The curve in the stem of one of the Pansy dies was die cut in Basic Black cardstock for the mouth and the nose was made by trimming a punched piece of Basic Black cardstock with the Symmetrical Stems Border Punch.

Two Matte Black Dots worked perfectly for the eyes!

I hope my “die and punch art” koala inspires you too to take a fresh look at your crafting supplies too and find new and creative ways of using them!

Thanks for visiting my blog today. I’ll be back next Monday with Heart of christmas inspiration and our weekly AWH Colour Creations Showcase – we are creating projects with Cinnamon Cider 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

Stampin’ Up! Cherry Cobbler – Week 10 AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop

Stampin’ Up! Cherry Cobbler – Week 10 AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop

Welcome to week 10 of our 2021-22 Colour Creations blog hop! Tonight we are showcasing Cherry Cobbler, from the regals collection.

I normally use Cherry Cobbler to make Christmas cards, however, as I’m already making a Christmas card every Monday for our Heart of Christmas blog hop I decided to make a non-Christmas project instead that uses the Sweet Strawberry bundle and the stunning Cherry Cobbler & Gold 1/2″ (1.3 cm) Ribbon.

Have you seen the the Scalloped Kraft Treat Boxes in the Annual Catalogue? They are covered in tiny gold foil dots and they are perfect size for packaging up a selection of 3×3 inch notecards. They also coordinate so well with the Cherry Cobbler & Gold 1/2″ (1.3 cm) Ribbon.

The Sweet Strawberry stamp set was the perfect stamp set to be coloured in with my light and dark Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Blends. I’ve also used light and dark Old Olive Stampin’ Blends for the leaves.

There’s a lovely selection of sentiments in this stamp set and I’ve used a different one on each notecard.

Here’s a closer look at each note card. For the first two notecards I added a layer of Cherry Cobbler Cardstock behind the stamped layer and I stamped directly onto the top card stock layer.

The coordinating Strawberry Builder punch punched out the strawberry, the large and small leaf and the strawberry flower that I’ve used for these notecards below – the large flower I fussy cut with my paper snips. Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels add a tiny touch of bling.

These Stampin’ Up! square envelopes come in a pack of 40 and are designed to fit 3″ x 3″ (7.6 x 7.6 cm) notecards. To coordinate with envelopes with my Cherry Cobbler notecards I’ve simply glued a strip of the Peaceful Prints FREE Sale-a-bration Designer Series Paper to the envelope flaps and trimmed the DSP with paper snips to fit the curve of the envelope flaps.

Although this DSP has Christmas designs on one side, the other sides are all background patterns you can also use on non-Christmas cards, like I have done here, using the Cherry Cobbler and Basic Black check pattern to decorate the envelope flaps.

The final touch for my gift box of Cherry Cobbler notecards is to tie it up with the new Cherry Cobbler & Gold 1/2″ (1.3 cm) Ribbon.

Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, Rachel Palmieri. 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:

Kate Morgan

Sharon Davern 

Theresa Gerrard

Andrea Sargent  

Christine Blain 

Diane Furniss 

Tina Gillespie 

Rachel Woollard

Rosa Leyden 

Michele Taylor

Ros Davidson 

Catherine Proctor  – you are here!

Rachel Palmieri 

Caroline Manwaring



Stampin’ Up! AWH Heart of Christmas Week 5

Stampin’ Up! AWH Heart of Christmas Week 5

The new July-December 2021 Mini Catalogue and SALE-a-bration catalogues go live tomorrow so I’m sharing another card that uses some of these beautiful Christmas products.

I’m not really a sparkly girly girl at all but I just can’t stop using this FREE Be Dazzling specialty designer paper from the SALE-a-bration catalogue. I’ve taken a zillion photos of my card to show you just how gorgeous this Be Dazzling specialty designer paper is!

I’ve also used one of my favourite bundles from the July-December 2021 Mini Catalogue – the Happy Holly-Days Bundle. Last week I shared this card with you that featured the adorable bird coloured in – this week I’ve used the holly stamp and the Holly Border Punch from the Happy Holly-Days Bundle.

What’s that stunning striped Designer Series Paper I hear you cry? It’s my favourite DSP from the new July-December 2021 Mini Catalogue, called Whimsy & Wonder Designer Series Paper.

I cannot begin to tell you how stunning this DSP is. The colour combination is: Polished Pink, Blushing Bride, Mossy Meadow, Mint Macaron, Misty Moonlight and Iridescent. It is foiled on one side, with gorgeous background patterns (like the stripes I’ve used today) on the other side.

This card layout would work with any Designer Series Paper – just pick up the colours in the DSP for when you colour in the holly. I used light and dark Polished Pink, Mossy Meadow and Mint Macaron blends to colour the holly and then I fussy cut it out. If you don’t enjoy fussy cutting just use the holly punch to punch out cardstock in colours that co-ordinate with your DSP.

An added bonus of this punch is the little dots it punches out – don’t waste them! Just like I did with the Deer Builder punch on this card, I’ve used these dots as tiny embellishments.

These tiny dots can be tricky to adhere as they are so small. I find the easiest way to do this is to place a small amount of multipurpose glue onto the silicon mat and then insert the sharp tip of your “Take your Pick” tool into the glue. Use this tip with the glue to pick up the back of the embellishment, place it on your card and gently press down as you slide the “Take your Pick” tool out from under the embellishment.

Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the incredible talented Theresa Gerrard. I wait to see what Theresa 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, Rachel Woollard, and she will have the list of all who are participating.

Thanks for visiting my site. I’ll be back with another card on Wednesday. If you’d like a copy of the forthcoming July-December mini catalogue and the Sale-a-bration catalogue please get in touch.

Stampin’ Up! Calypso Coral – Week 9 AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop

Stampin’ Up! Calypso Coral – Week 9 AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop

Welcome to week 9 of our 2021-22 Colour Creations blog hop! We are showcasing Calypso Coral, from the subtles collection.

My Calypso Coral card showcases a FREE product from the upcoming SALE-a-bration catalogue, available from 3rd August. The Summer Shadow dies are free with any purchase of $180 and there are 11 dies in the pack.

Although 3 of the 11 Summer Shadow dies die cut the flower and sprig images from the Shaded Summer stamp set (p75 of the annual Catalogue) I’ve deliberately made a card that uses the other 9 dies to show why these dies are still worth getting even if you don’t own the Shaded Summer stamp set.

My card design was inspired by a gorgeous card that Artisan Design team member, Martin Stone, made using the now retired Brushed Blooms bundle. As well as using different dies for my card, I’ve changed his Night of Navy card base to Basic Black and used different colours for my flowers and leaves: Calypso Coral, Petal Pink and Old Olive.

The white dots on the Basic Black layer were made with the Chalk Pen and the sentiment is from the Shaded Summer stamp set.

These Summer Shadow dies would also be perfect for the die inlay technique or they could also be used in a single layer, instead of layered as I’ve done on this card. I’ve used the smaller flower and leaf dies to adorn the back of my envelope.

When I made this card I just wasn’t happy with it but I couldn’t work out what I needed to fix. After I slept on it I realised the middle of the flowers needed another colour and the Matte Black dots were the perfect embellishment to finish my card. Embellishments really can make or break a card!

Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, Rachel Palmieri . 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:

Sharon Davern 

Theresa Gerrard 

Andrea Sargent  

Christine Blain 

Diane Furniss 

Amie McIlroy 

Tina Gillespie 

Rachel Woollard 

Vicki Boucher 

Rosa Leyden 

Michele Taylor  

Ros Davidson 

Catherine Proctor – you are here!

Rachel Palmieri 

Caroline Manwaring

Kate Morgan 

Kristine D’Auria 

Stampin’ Up! AWH Heart of Christmas Week 4

Stampin’ Up! AWH Heart of Christmas Week 4

I’m loving the challenge of creating a Christmas card each week and I hope you’re being inspired to create some too.

If you enjoy colouring techniques the Happy Holly-Days stamp set from the forthcoming July-December 2021 mini catalogue is a must!

Both this bird stamp and the holly stamp could be coloured using a variety of watercolour techniques or the Stampin’ Up! watercolour pencils, but for my card today I’ve quickly coloured the images in using our Stampin’ Blends.

The holly is coloured in using light and dark Soft Succulent and light Poppy Parade Stampin’ Blends, while the bird is coloured with Light and dark Crumb Cake, light Flirty Flamingo and light Poppy Parade Stampin’ Blends…love this colour combination!

The softly patterned Sahara Sand DSP is from the Tidings of Christmas 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper – on sale until August 2.

It was very easy to fussy cut both the bird and the holly. This Happy Holly-Days stamp set is actually part of a bundle with the holly border punch, but I only used the stamp set on this card.

To ‘anchor’ the bird onto the card I used the light Crumb Cake Stampin’ Blend on the Basic White cardstock layer that has been die cut using the second largest Scalloped Contour die.

I inked up the word ‘Happy’ from the “Happy Christmas’ sentiment and stamped it first and then inked and stamped the word ‘Christmas’ below it. Crumb Cake twine wrapped around the card and tied into a soft bow finishes off the card.

Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the very talented Ros Davidson – I can’t wait to see what Ros 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.

Thanks for visiting my site. I’ll be back with another card on Wednesday. If you’d like a copy of the forthcoming July-December mini catalogue and the Sale-a-bration catalogue please get in touch.

Stampin’ Up! Cajun Craze – Week 8 AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop

Stampin’ Up! Cajun Craze – Week 8 AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop

Welcome to week 8 of our 2021-22 Colour Creations blog hop! We are showcasing Cajun Craze, from the regals colection.

Cajun Craze is not a colour I reach for very often but the stunning In Bloom Suite and Welcoming Window bundle made it super easy to create with this colour. I had so much fun creating this slimline card (10 x 20 cm) – I chose the slimline format to I could fit as many plants as possible onto the brick wall DSP layer!

This brick wall DSP and most of the plants in this card have either been die cut of fussy cut from the beautiful Bloom Where you are Planted DSP. I’m going to buy another pack of this DSP this month while it is 15% off.

Many of the plants and pots in this DSP can be cut out using the Perfect Plants Dies from the Plentiful Plants Bundle or they can be easily fussy cut using paper snips. Top tip – turn your paper rather than your snips for easier and neater fussy cutting.

This big pot plant (bottom left) was fussy cut and I used my fingers and bone folder to curl up the leaves. The other plants on this bottom row are stamped and die cut.

This photo on an angle shows you better how much dimension this card has. It is so easy to get this dimension by curling the leaves with your finger and bone folder and using dimensionals to attach them to the card. It really makes these plants look so life like!

The middle row has more fussy cutting, stamping and die cutting – I’ve mixed and matched pots and plants between the Plentiful Plants Bundle and the Welcoming Window bundle.

The top row features the adorable macrame pot holder – I love this die! The middle plant is fussy cut from the DSP twice and layered and leaves curled to really make it pop. There was just enough room to add the “thank you” sentiment from the Plentiful Plants Stamp Set.

Can you see all the incredible dimension on the photo below? The card base and the “wooden” shelves are Cajun Craze – this colour goes so well with Cinnamon Cider (the colour of the brick wall DSP) and all the other colours in the stunning DSP.

Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, Ros Davidson. 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:

Sharon Davern

Theresa Gerrard

Andrea Sargent

Christine Blain

Diane Furniss

Tina Gillespie

Claire Daly

Caroline Manwaring

Rosa Leyden

Michele Taylor 

Kate Morgan

Catherine Proctor – you are here!

Ros Davidson

Rachel Palmieri

Stampin’ Up! AWH Heart of Christmas Week 3

Stampin’ Up! AWH Heart of Christmas Week 3

Are you ready for some more Christmas inspiration?

It’s pretty cold here in Sydney at the moment so I’ve made a very wintery card for you today using a new bundle from the forthcoming July-December Mini catalogue.

I have to confess this card wasn’t meant to be this simple – I had intended to make a shaker card using the new cloche shaker domes that match the Classic Cloche bundle but I forgot to order them! Luckily, this bundle really lends itself to both simple and more complex cards.

I fell in love with this little snowy town which is why this bundle made it to the very top of my wish list. There is also an adorable pair of birds sitting on branches in the stamp set and plenty of dies to create different scenes – I’ve only used the cloche die in this this card and I can’t wait to play with the other dies on some more Christmas cards soon.

The little village image can either be used on its own and hand coloured, or you can use the 3 layer stamps as it I’ve done in this card. I stamped the cloche outline stamp and the village line image stamp in Tuxedo Memento, the background stamp in Balmy Blue and the stamp that shades the houses in Misty Moonlight.

The Wintry embossing folder was the perfect background layer for my snowy village. This embossing folder is available now and it is one of a pack of two – they will be getting a lot of use on my Christmas cards this year.

The Balmy Blue Adhesive-Backed Gems were the perfect embellishment to highlight the middle of the snowflakes on the embossed layer.

You don’t always have to use Christmas paper to make a Christmas card – this spotted DSP is from the You’re a Peach Designer Series Paper (currently on sale) and it reminded me of snowflakes! I really love this sentiment from the Classic Cloche stamp set.

Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, our very talented Art With Heart team leader, Claire Daly. I can’t wait to see what Claire 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, and she will have the list of all who are participating.

Thanks for visiting my site. I’ll be back with another card on Wednesday. If you’d like a copy of the forthcoming July-December mini catalogue and the Sale-a-bration catalogue please get in touch.

Stampin’ Up! Bumblebee – Week 7 AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop

Stampin’ Up! Bumblebee – Week 7 AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop

Welcome to week 7 of our 2021-22 Colour Creations blog hop! We are showcasing Bumblebee, a 2020-22 InColour.

Have you ever made a one sheet wonder? I’ve never made one before but as Stampin’ Up! has nine different packs of DSP on sale at the moment I thought it was a great opportunity to show just how far you can make your DSP go!

There are lots of different templates for one sheet wonders for both 12×12 and 6×6 papers – just take a look on Pinterest or Google “One Sheet Wonder Template”. This is the template I used to cut my 12×12 DSP.

Because we are showcasing Bumblebee this week I chose this design from the Sweet Symmetry Designer Series Paper. Isn’t it pretty? Its colour combination pairs Bumblebee with Night of Navy, Flirty Flamingo, Just Jade and Basic White.

So just how many card can you make from one sheet of DSP? Well, I made 14 and here they all are!

The beauty of a One Sheet Wonder is that you can do it with any DSP and use the embellishments, ribbons, die cuts and punches you already have on hand. I made up these designs for my cards as I went along using a variety of Stampin’ Up! products.

The main products used throughout are:

  • Pierced Blooms dies as their shapes perfectly match the pattern in this DSP
  • Sentiments from In Symmetry and Peaceful Moments stamp sets
  • Bumblebee Gingham Ribbon and White Bakers Twine
  • Bumblebee, Night of Navy, Flirty Flamingo, Just Jade and Basic White card stock
  • Greenery and Dotted Embossing folders
  • Stitched Rectangle dies
  • Holiday Rhinestone Basic Jewels
  • Symmetrical Stems Border Punch

Lets see how my cards turned out. I’ve listed them in numerical order as per the numbers on the pieces in cutting template – to see which piece of DSP to use for each card refer back to the numbers on the cutting template.

Card 1

Card 2

Card 3

Card 4

Card 5

Card 6

Card 7

Card 8

Card 9

Card 10

Card 11

Card 12

Card 13

Card 14

You might be wondering where the other number 14 piece went? I used it to decorate the inside of the front flap on Card 11 (the front panel attached to the left flap folds over the right side flap) but it could be used to make a 15th card too!

Using a One Sheet Wonder Template is a great way to get more cards from your DSP – why not grab a packet of DSP while it is on sale and build up your supply of handmade cards?

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:

Michele Taylor 

Kate Morgan

Andrea Sargent

Ros Davidson 

Sharon Davern

Di Furniss 

Rachel Woollard

Tina Gillespie

Claire Daly 

Christine Blain

Theresa Gerrard

Rachel Palmieri

Fiona Ryan

Catherine Proctor – you are here!

Caroline Manwaring

Vicki Boucher 

To purchase any of the products used in my cards today you can add them to your cart here.

Stampin’ Up! AWH Heart of Christmas Week 2

Stampin’ Up! AWH Heart of Christmas Week 2

With our Art with Heart Team Christmas blog hop providing Christmas card inspiration for you every Monday night I should have all my Christmas cards made by December – I just need to remember to send them in time!

My pre-order of Christmas products from the July-December mini catalogue and the Sale-a-bration catalogue arrived this week. That’s right, Stampin’ Up! is holding TWO Sale-a-bration periods this year – this second Sale-a-bration period starts on August 3, the same day as the July-December mini catalogue.

I’m so excited to share a card I made using one of these FREE Sale-a-bration products, the Be Dazzling 6″ X 6″ Specialty Paper.

Isn’t this Be Dazzling 6″ X 6″ Specialty Paper so stunning! It will definitely make any card feel extra special. The colour is hard to describe – it’s sort of a pale champagne colour that will coordinate with either silver or gold, as well as many of the neutrals, including Sahara Sand and Crumb Cake.

The other new products on this card are from the Peaceful Deer Bundle, which includes the Peaceful Deer Stamp Set and the Deer Builder Punch, both available from August 3.

At just $62 for the bundle, this is such an affordable and a versatile set. The Peaceful Deer Stamp Set has great sentiments and a good variety of images, including a deer that coordinates with the punch – perfect for crafters who don’t own a die cutting machine.

The beautiful Designer Series Paper I’ve used as my background is not a Christmas paper from the forthcoming July-December mini catalogue, however, I think it works really well on this card.

This Bloom Where You’re Planted Designer Series Paper is available now and on sale for $17.00 – I’ve used the sheet shown on the bottom left.

Stampin' Up! Bloom Where You're Planted Designer Series Paper

I wanted to add a few embellishments to my DSP as it is such a dark background. Looking at the scraps on paper on my craft desk I realised there is a very small circle shape in the Deer Builder Punch. I think it is meant to be the deer’s eye but I used it to punch out my own embellishments.

I love the effect of these embellishments – it’s a great way to use up the scraps! This photo – taken outside in a brief moment of sun on this rainy day – shows my embellishments close up, as well as how sparkly this paper is.

I stamped the inside of the card to match, using another sentiment and one of the tree stamps from the Peaceful Deer Stamp Set as well as adding a narrow strip of the Be Dazzling paper top and bottom.

To get the three shades of green for the trees on the back of the envelope flap, I stamped the tree stamp once at full strength in Evening Evergreen and then a second time and a third time without re-inking the stamp.

Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the very talented, Sharon Davern. I wonder if she will share another fabulous fancy fold card with us?

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.

Thanks for visiting my site. I’ll be back with another card on Wednesday. If you’d like a copy of the forthcoming July-December mini catalogue and the Sale-a-bration catalogue please get in touch.

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