Bethinking

So Lovely

I've just realised that the stamped images on this card are all available for free! I made the card using two Level 1 hostess sets; Oh, So Lovely and Party Punch. These sets can't be bought, but can only be earned through having a workshop or class at your place.

I really like the elegance of the "Oh, so Lovely" set. My husband'sfavourite part of any card is the watercolouring, and because this card is for his birthday, I wanted to include a watercoloured image.What do you think - does it work as  a male card, or is it "too girly".

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Oh, So Lovely, Party Punch

Inks:  StazOn, Really Rust, Wild Wasabi, Close to Cocoa,Pumpkin Pie.

Cardstock: Apple Cider DSP, Really Rust, Very Vanilla, Wild Wasabi, Close to Cocoa.

Accessories: Designer label punch, brads, circle punch, Dimensionals.

Happy Birthday to Jayne!

   

It's Jayne’s birthday, so we’re throwing a virtual surprise party for her because she’s a wonderful upline and friend. And because it seemed like fun! It’s my job to bring some streamers along to the party, so here’s what I’ve got. They’re bright and cheerful and birthday-ish, and there’s some noisemakers and other confetti decorations thrown in there for good measure.

 

Here’s a birthday card I made for Jayne, too. Hopefully this will reach her in real life (‘cause it looks much better in real life than in my bad photo), not just virtually!

Have a happy, happy birthday, Jayne!

To come along to the party, have a look at some of these other people's sites as well:

• Joanna

• Merryl

• Teneale 

• Alana 

• Carol  

Just a few days left...

...Of October! Hard to believe, I know. So, what does this mean for you? Well, in Stampin' Up! terms, it means you've only got until Friday to:

1. 1. Take advantage of the great 20% off special on selected stamp sets. (Including Short & Sweet, which is used in the cards pictured.)

2. 2. Enter my competition to win a Simply Sent kit - just by placing an order over $50 by Friday.

3. Sign up to my monthly newsletter and receive some yummy Stampin' Up! ribbon in the post.

So, don't delay! Please contact me on mail@elisabethstewart.com or 0412 008 027.

Beate's Sketch Challenge

There's some great card sketches on the Web if you know where to find them. One great place is Beate's Blog. Every weekend Beate puts up a sketch challenge. They're always great sketches, but this is the first time I've ever finished one in time to actually post it within the deadline!

So, here's my first card, which I was pretty happy with. Scribble This is my all time favourite stamp set, and I love how it looks coloured in and glittered - not that you can really see the glitter in the photo!

I decided to use the sketch to make a Christmas card as well, as I'm trying out some different colour combinations and layouts for Christmas stuff. I still like the layout, but I wasn't sure if this one was "Christmassy" enough - what do you think? 

The Aliens Have Landed...

Today's challenge was to come up with a card that Felicity could take to a "Space" party. I don't have any space stamps so I spent quite a while staring at my stamp collection, trying to work out what I could do! In the end, this is what I came up with...

The moon and the alien are stamped using the "Nursery Necessities" set, while the "stars" are an asterix from the Everyday Flexible Phrases set. I've stamped the background in Versamark, then embossed it in white and brayered Night of Navy ink over the top to look kind of like the night sky. I brayered a bit of Bashful Blue around the moon so that it was lighter.

To create the "spaceship" I used the Faux Metal technique, and the Happy Birthday stamp from "Family Phrases". A couple of eyelets and some silver cord, and I had something that looked a bit like an alien in a spaceship! Of course, that's just based on what I think aliens look like...

Supplies Used

Stamps: Everyday Flexible Phrases, Nursery Necessities, Family Phrases

Cardstock: Night of Navy, Wild Wasabi, Glossy white

Inks: Night of Navy, Wild Wasabi, Versamark, Bashful Blue

Accessories: Slit punch, Oval punch, 1 3/8 circle punch, eyelets, Cropodile, Silver cord, Earth Elements Brads, brayer, White embossing powder, silver embossing powder.

Card tote gift bag

I'm sure you've all seen these "Card Tote" bags before. I really love them - they're just the right size for holding about 10 cards. This one was a gift for a hostess recently to say "thankyou" for hosting a Christmas Card stamping session at her house. I think everyone had a fun night - I know I certainly did!

Supplies Used

Stamps: Season of Joy

Cardstock: Night of Navy, River Rock, Purely Pomegranate

Inks: Pomegranate, Night of Navy.

Accessories: Punches: round tab, scallop circle, 1" circle and 1 3/8" circle. Rhinestone brads and Earth Elements brads.

A Crabby Christmas

I love Christmas, so I'm never crabby at Christmas time (well, hardly ever...)! These cards are crabby, though - made using the Crab and Company stamp set. I like how you can "Accessorise" with this set, so that just by adding a Santa hat, or a cake or party hat, you can use the crab and the other creatures for different occasions.

And the best thing about the set? That's right... it's another one that's 20% off until the end of October!

Project Details

Stamps: Crab & Company

Inks: StazOn, Real Red

Cardstock: Dashing DSP, Real Red, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Watercolour

Accessories: Earth Elements markers, Aqua Painter, Word Window punch, corner rounder punch, Earth Elements brads, Real Red grosgrain ribbon, On Board elements.

Short & Sweet

Short and Sweet is definitely the set from the Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalogue that I reach for the most. So many of the cards I make use the greetings from this set, because I love the font. It's a script type of font, which means that it doesn't need to be perfectly straight - great when you're in a hurry to finish off a card! (not that I ever leave things to the last minute...)

The images in the set are also great. They're very... sweet, as the name suggests. This card is made using only the Short and Sweet stamp set. Do yourself a favour and grab it in October while it's 20% off. It's a great set for yourself, or as a gift for someone as it has a greeting and image to cover any occasion. It's only $23.96, and contains 12 stamps. Great value!

Project Recipe

Stamps: Short & Sweet

Inks: Basic Black, Bashful Blue

Cardstock: Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Apricot Appeal, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue.

Accessories: Corner rounder, 1/2" and 3/4" circle punches, paper piercer, dimensionals, Soft Subtles markers, blue taffeta ribbon.

One Sheet Wonder cards

In my last monthly newsletter I described how to make cards using the "One Sheet Wonder" concept, where a whole sheet of stamped cardstock or patterned paper is used to create a number of different cards. These are two of the 7 cards I made from my A4 stamped sheet.

If you'd like to receive my monthly newsletter to find out more about stamping tips, what's on special, competitions, classes and Stampin' Up! products, then you can sign up via the box on the right of this page. As an added incentive to sign up, I'll be sending some Stampin' Up! ribbon out to 2 of the people who sign up for my newsletter before the end of October! (Sorry, that offer's not for current Stampin' Up! demonstrators)

Project Recipe

Stamps:Short and Sweet, Bodacious Bouquet

Cardstock: Purely Pomegranate, Pretty in Pink, Tempting Turquoise, Gable Green, Whisper White.

Inks: Purely Pomegranate, Pretty in Pink, Tempting Turquoise, Gable Green.

Accessories: Pomegrante stitiched ribbon, Corner Rounder punch, Paper piercing tool, scallop circle punch, flower punch, Blender pen.

Resist stamping!

This triangle box is one of 4 projects that we'll be making at my upcoming Christmas Projects class on November 6th. It's a bit hard to see, but the box is actually very shiny, because it's been stamped using the emboss resist technique. "The what?" I hear you ask... and so, a quick tutorial about emboss resist.

The box is made from glossy white cardstock. The snowflakes are stamped on using Versamark, then embossed with white embossing powder. After that, I've used my brayer to apply Pomegranate ink across the whole piece of card. The white images resist the ink, but the rest of the glossy card is nicely covered, but remains glossy!

I'll post some more pictures of the class projects over the next few days. Please let me know if you'd like me to reserve you a spot in the class.