Bethinking

Family Album

This photo shows the cover of an album that I've made for my Mother In Law for Mothers' Day. It's a 6 x 6 album which was fairly quick to bring together because I stuck to a basic colour scheme and pattern. I used four colours; Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Mellow Moss and Close to Cocoa, and Very Vanilla as my neutral.

Most of the accents and embellishments, including the patterned paper, were created using the "Priceless" stamp set. Have I mentioned already that it's my current favourite from the new Idea Book and Catalogue?

If you'd like to complete this album, either for yourself or for a Mothers' Day gift, then please come along to the class on Thursday, 8th May 7:30pm at my place in Turramurra. The cost is $20 which includes materials. Obviously you'll need to supply your own photos!

RSVP via mail@elisabethstewart.com by May 5th.

Family Favourites

I'm sure lots of you will remember the All in the Family special promotion that we had last November. Just released in the 2008/9 Idea Book and Catalogue is a new stamp set that coordinates with All in the Family, called Family Favourites. This card was made for Jaron, who was turning 1. He was having a Teddy Bear's Picnic birthday party, so it was great that the family favourites set included a teddy bear, a picnic basket, a balloon and a party hat. Perfect!

The image was stamped with StazOn on watercolour paper, then coloured with ink. The card colours are Tempting Turquoise, Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie and Soft Sky. My next project with this set is to make something for my 3 year old using the ballet tutu - so sweet!

Fall Flowers

This flower tin has two purposes: to be decorative (which I think it achieves nicely!) but also to be used as a way of people choosing prizes at my Catalogue launch last week! I covered the tin using paper from the "Fall Flowers" range, which is currently my favourite paper from the Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalogue, although I'm sure that will change!

I wanted the flowers to match the colours of the papers, so I used Really Rust, Soft Sky, Old Olive and Sahara Sand, with a bit of Purely Pomegranate thrown in to brighten them up a little bit. I used the Scallop circle punch, some chipboard and images from In the Spotlight and Bodaceous Bouquet to create the flowers. I added some embellishments in the form of buttons, half pearls from the pretties kit and sparkly rhinestone brads. All of these products are available in the new catalogue, so please contact me if you'd like to have your own copy!

Time Well Spent

I do agree with the sentiment expressed in this Stamp Set, that "Time Spent with Friends is Time Well Spent". This set is one of the current Stampin' Up! Hostess sets that you can earn if you hold a Stampin' Up! workshop with me.

I used this card as an invitation to my Catalogue launch party - and you're invited, too! It's on next Thursday, 17th April at 7:30pm at my place in Turramurra. It will be a fun night, with a chance to see and buy new products, win prizes, take home some goodies and of course make some projects. The cost of the night is $10, which includes a copy of the catalogue, but is refundable if you book a workshop or place an order over $100 on the night.

Please RSVP soon if you'd like to come along: mail@elisabethstewart.com . I look forward to seeing you there!

Garden Whimsy

This stamp set is called "Garden Whimsy", and it's one of my favourites from the new Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalogue. I've used the butterfly image and stamped it in Rose Red then added some glue and Dazzling Diamonds glitter to highlight its wings. The little bugs across the bottom are Old Olive, to match the cardstock. I used the Polka Dots and Petals set on the Pumpkin Pie card, then mounted that onto So Saffron, which was highlighted with some fake stitching.

The inspiration for the colours came from the front of the new Catalogue - it's probably not a combination I would have thought of, but I liked how they used it!

Of course, when I was trying to take the photo, my cat thought that she should be the focus, not the card, as you can see from the second picture! 

Crayon Resist technique

The crayon resist technique is one of my favourites to use. The leaf stamps from this set were stamped onto glossy white card, then coloured in with a normal white wax crayon, stolen from my daughter's collection!

I then sponged Ruby Red and Really Rust ink over the card, and the crayon areas "resist" the ink, but the rest of the white gloss cardstock picks up the colours. This card is an Artist Trading Card that I did recently for a demonstrator swap - all of us created a different card using this technique.

The stamps used are from Artfully Asian, with the background being from Looks Like Spring and the word from Everyday Flexible Phrases. I'm waiting for my order of new catalogue goodies to arrive, so am trying to keep myself occupied by being creative in the meantime!

2008 2009 Idea Book and Catalogue

Many of you probably know that I joined Stampin' Up! mainly because I saw a Catalogue and wanted to own every product in it! So, you can imagine how pleased I am to be able to genuinely say that the new catalogue, which starts today, is even better than the previous one!

The stamp sets are gorgeous - there's heaps of new ones and some of my favourites that were in the last Spring Mini Catalogue have also made it in.There's also great Accessories - lots of gorgeous papers, textured cardstock, new punches, yummy new ribbon varieties, rub-ons, chipboard and sparkly rhinestone brads. There's also six new "In Colours" to play with, which look fabulous - I can't wait to start using them.

If you'd like to have your own copy of the Idea Book and Catalogue, you can easily get your hands on one by doing one of 3 things:

1. Host a workshop and receive a free copy. The new hostess sets are even better than last year's, too!
2. Come to my Catalogue launch party on April 17th at 7:30 pm. Please contact me for more details.
3. Purchase a copy of the Catalogue during April for the special price of $10 (RRP $12.95), or $15 if you'd like it posted directly to you.

Orders from the new catalogue can be placed from today, so please let me know when you'd like to see your copy of the new Idea Book and Catalogue!