Video Tutorial

Fun with Designer Series Paper

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Hands up if you hold onto your Designer Series Paper, safe guarding it "just in case"?  It's so pretty!  I don't want to use it up!  What if I need it for another project?  And then the end of the catalogue arrives, and that DSP gets forgotten in a drawer because you've ordered new designs from the new collection.  

No more!  We buy craft materials to craft, right?  So let's get crafty with that DSP!  I'm challenging you to use as much as you can before you order any new packs in the 2019-2020 catalogue.  

I went live on Facebook a few days ago to show you some cards I've been making up in that makes a star of the Animal Expedition DSP.  Use my tips from the video to do the same for any pack of DSP and remember:

1 - make them EASY!
2 - make the DSP do the work for you!
3 - ENJOY IT!


Happy crafting,
Fiona x

Have you ordered your 2019 Annual Catalogue yet?
Click here to order yours and get a $20 voucher to spend in my store.

Shop with me
Join my team
Like me on Facebook
Watch my YouTube videos
Check out my pins on Pinterest
Send me a message

Friendship

So Happy To Have You In My Life

Monday, May 20, 2019

Create effective and colourful frames for your cards with the Rectangle Stitched framelits and a stamp set of your choice like I have done here with the Bloom by Bloom stamp set.


First cut your top layer so that it is 1/4" shorter and narrower than your base card.  Cut out the centre piece with the die.  Then stamp up your frame - I picked three coordinating colours: Mango Medley, Fresh Fig, and Calypso Coral and used the different flowers from the Bloom by Bloom Set.



Choose a sentiment that will fill your central area such as this one from the Amazing Life stamp set (one of my favs!).  I choose to colour the "happy" in Crushed Curry but do wonder if Mango Medley wouldn't have been a better choice.


You can pop the frame up with dimensionals or leave it flat as I have done.


Happy crafting,
Fiona x

Have you ordered your 2019 Annual Catalogue yet?
Click here to order yours and get a $20 voucher to spend in my store.

Shop with me
Join my team
Like me on Facebook
Watch my YouTube videos
Check out my pins on Pinterest
Send me a message


Birthday

Black and White Birthday

Friday, May 10, 2019

 The Happy Birthday thinlits make a card all on their own!  I've put the same design into three different presentations to best suit different personalities of the birthday person, but I think my favouite is the white writing on black cardstock for an elegant masculine card.  How about you?  I'd love to know your favourite - tell me in a comment below.


And here is the card with the colours reversed.  Doesn't the washi tape work marvels?


The central panel is popped up which allows the dies to be cut into the layer of cardstock and then the opposite colour inserted into the cut out area so that the end product is a flush finish.


And just for fun, I created a watercolour one.  Because I wanted these cards to be masculine I choose Pool Party, Pear Pizzaz, and Highland Heather inks.  I think it would also look good with a yellow/orange/red combination.  Note that on this card I didn't cut into the watercolour paper, I just adhered the die cut to the top.


I used rhinestones on the black and white cards and pearls on the watercolour version for variety and to suit the colour themes better.

Happy crafting,
Fiona x

Have you ordered your 2019 Annual Catalogue yet?
Click here to order yours and get a $20 voucher to spend in my store.

Shop with me
Join my team
Like me on Facebook
Watch my YouTube videos
Check out my pins on Pinterest
Send me a message

Friendship

A Flowery Hello

Wednesday, May 08, 2019

At a recent card class I showed my group how to achieve multicoloured stamping by colouring directly onto the rubber stamp.  I just love how these cards turned out with their array of colours.  Which colour base is your favourite?


I've used the Flourishing Phrases stamp set for the flower.  Each one has five different shades in it.  The sentiment is from Tabs for Everything.


This Blushing Bride card above is on an Australian card base, the others are on Amercian because I felt the shorter and wider ratio worked better for the design.


The beauty of the Iridescent Sequins is that you can pick out colours to match colour combos as I have done for each card here.


I even made a Christmas themed one, just for fun!


Why not try this technique yourself?  Just use your Stampin' Write Markers to colour directly onto the stamp itself.  Give the whole stamp a good "huff" with your breath to reactivate the slightly dried ink before stamping down and voila!  Gorgeous every time.

Happy crafting,
Fiona x

Have you ordered your 2019 Annual Catalogue yet?
Click here to order yours and get a $20 voucher to spend in my store.

Shop with me
Join my team
Like me on Facebook
Watch my YouTube videos
Check out my pins on Pinterest
Send me a message

Sympathy

With Sympathy Double Up

Sunday, May 05, 2019

I had some requests to share some sympathy cards.  They aren't the easiest of cards to design, are they?  And I'm not convinced one design suits everyone.  So I turned to Pinterest to inspire both of my cards to give you two completely different types of sympathy designs.


This first one is a CASE of a card by Elizabeth Hill Rush.  I love the black and blue combo with the hint of aqua in the watercolour.  And the bits of the dandelion which are just floating away gently is such a lovely, peaceful, thought when someone has died.

Although it's a little hard to see in the photos, the dandelion is stamped first in Stayzon and then again in Versamark and clear embossed.  The aim wasn't to have the clear embossing directly on top of the black ink but just near is that it enhanced the whispy feel of the dandelion.


The second card was CASED from Su Mohr and uses the gorgeous Butterfly Gala stamp set. The sentiment was from the Itty Bitty Greetings double stamp set which isn't retiring thankfully because it has so many great sentiments for a whole range of occasions.


I find the Blends or Markers are good for colour small areas like this butterfly.  I opted for my Blends for this one.  The background Soft Sea Foam layer has been textured using the Subtle Dynamic Textured Embossing Folder.  It just adds enough of a touch of interest so that the card doesn't have a large blank space without distracting from the simplicity of the design.


Happily neither of these stamp sets are retiring so no need to panic!  Plenty more cards with them coming to you over the next year because I love them both.

Happy crafting,
Fiona x

Have you ordered your 2019 Annual Catalogue yet?
Click here to order yours and get a $20 voucher to spend in my store.

Shop with me
Join my team
Like me on Facebook
Watch my YouTube videos
Check out my pins on Pinterest
Send me a message

Training Tutorial

My Top 5 Tips for Approaching the Catalogue Changeover Period

Wednesday, May 01, 2019

We are now into the final month of the 2018-2019 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue, can you believe it!  How you approach this time can have a big impact on your Stampin' Up! business, so take a look at my top five tips for this month to make the most of farewelling the old and welcoming the new in the video below.


I will be highlighting these points over the coming months so if you have't already subscribed to my newsletter, Facebook, and YouTube channel, now's the time to do it!  Plus, if you're in my Stampin' Up! team you'll get this training and loads more so if you're interested in joining, click here, or send me a message to chat about it.

Crafty hugs,
Fiona

Have you ordered your 2019 Annual Catalogue yet? 
Click here to order yours and get a $20 voucher to spend in my store.

Shop with me
Join my team
Like me on Facebook
Watch my YouTube videos
Check out my pins on Pinterest
Send me a message