Still Wheeling Around

The Shop Around wheel is definitely a favourite for me! This time I paired it with the Dress Up Framelit. I stamped the wheel using Baked Brown Sugar onto some brown packing paper. On the dress form I used the En Francais background stamp inked with Baked Brown Sugar, stamped off once and then stamped on Whisper White cardstock.
The doilies were cut from a piece of the Epic Day This and That DSP. I love cutting things out! And because the dress form looked a little naked all by itself, I added a sash made from Crumb Cake Seam Binding, gathered with a Very Vintage Designer Button. The button is threaded with a thread pulled from a burlap bag.
And of course, no dress form is complete without a pearl necklace!
For the base of this card I used Summer Starfruit.
And this is how it came together:

Here's the complete list of ingredients:
Stamps: Shop Around Wheel, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Summer Starfruit, Whisper White
Ink: Baked Brown Sugar
DSP: Epic Day This and That
Accessories: Very Vintage Designer Button, Crumb Cake Seam Binding, Pearl Basic Jewels, Dress Up Framelits, Word Window Punch
Other: brown packing paper, thread from a burlap bag

A new wheel!

No, I haven't got a new vehicle but I did just get a new stamping wheel! I don't use them a lot, but when I do I tell myself I have to use them more often. Wheels are a great way to make a background design very quickly.

Like this:

The wheel is called Shop Around (item # 129587 on page 98) and it reminds me of old newspaper ads. I love looking at old newspaper ads, especially for women's fashions. To use a wheel, I just roll it repeatedly over an ink pad until the entire wheel is inked and then just wheel it across your cardstock. Or paper bag! In this sample, I used a bit of the packing paper that used to come in Stampin' Up orders. I still have quite a bit of it, and it's wonderful to use for all kinds of things, from covering my table when I stamp to using it to stamp right onto. The ink is Baked Brown Sugar (item #131174 on page 141).

The image layer was then glued onto Very Vanilla cardstock (item #101650 on page 145) which was glued onto a Baked Brown Sugar cardstock (item #131296 on page 141) base. Baked Brown Sugar is one of the yummy new In-Colour collection in the brand new catalogue.

The sentiment is from Perfectly Penned (item #122892 - clearmount; #128703 - woodmount on page 95) and stamped in Baked Brown Sugar on Very Vanilla. It was then run through the Big Shot die cutting machine (item #113439 on page184) to cut it out with one of the framelits from the set Apothecary Accents (item #127003 on page 187). I then used the same framelit to cut a shape out of the Baked Brown Sugar cardstock, which I then cut in half width-wise and layered it under the stamped piece.

To balance the sentiment, I used a piece of the 7/16" Naturals Trim (item #129287 on page 173) to wrap around the corner. Then I threaded a piece of Linen Thread (item # 104199 on page 173) through a button from the brand new Very Ventage Designer Buttons (item #129327 on page169) and tied it onto the Naturals Trim.

What's the deal with Washi Tape????

Sure, I had heard about Washi Tape. Maybe I had seen samples using Washi Tape, but I wasn't really sure about it. And I didn't get why some people are so excited about Stampin' Up now carrying Washi Tape.

Well, now I get it! I finally got my hands on some and have to say, it's kinda fun! Here's what I created using the Epic Day Designer Series Paper - to make the 'cake' - and the Epic Day Washi Tape.

Also used on this card is the Banner Greetings stamp set. It's one of the hostess sets in the new catalogue. I stamped it using a brand new colour - Smoky Slate. Love this colour! I used a black Stampin' Write Marker to do the doodling on the cake layers, and then I stamped randomly over the Epic Day DSP using the fun new rotary stamp. It's so fun!! The cardstock is Tangerine Tango.

I will be using more Washi Tape. It's a quick and easy way to accent a card.

How about you? Are you crazy for Washi Tape?

What have I been doing?

Well, obviously I haven't been looking after this blog! But I have been stamping and it's time to share some projects with you.

One thing I've been doing is playing with new techniques. I've seen a lot of samples using a technique called Faux Linen. This card I made was inspired by all the samples I've looked at, especially one done by Julie Olivier who shared her creation on our Stampin' Up demonstrators' web site.

For this card I used one of my favourite stamp sets - By the Tide - and one of my favourite cardstock colours - Crumb Cake. The faux linen technique involves rubbing an ink pad all over a piece of Glossy cardstock. Sadly, this cardstock is being retired and had already sold out. The ink I used - More Mustard - is also retiring at the end of this month. After the ink dries, I lightly dragged a sanding block across the surface, which creates little lines through the ink.

Next, I stamped all over the background with the text image from the By the Tide stamp set. The fan coral stamp was done with black Staz-on. Then I stamped the little sea-horse stamp on top of the coral image and finished with the Nantucket seal stamp in the top left corner. The image panel was mounted on Midnight Muse and I popped it up on the Crumb Cake base with dimensionals.

A very quick card to do, and could be used for a thank-you note, or thinking of you, or just about any occasion.

I like this technique and have lots more ideas for using it. Hope you are inspired to try some Faux Linen!

How can it be December already?????

I guess it's a sign of how busy life is when the months seem to fly by. So I've been working on Christmas projects, like this Paper Cone Christmas Wreath. It's very easy to do, if a little time consuming. But I love the finished product!

All the paper used is from the Be of Good Cheer DSP from the main Stampin Up catalogue. The little pine cone embellishments are items I saved from Thanksgiving party crackers we had a few years ago at a family dinner. I made everyone give me all the little goodies that decorated the outsides of the crackers. Glad I finally found a project to use them on!

In the middle is a rosette finished off with a Vintage Faceted Button for a little sparkle, and a pearl - all surrounded by Cherry Cobbler scalloped tulle. Here's a bit of a closeup of the middle part.

This was a lot of fun to put together and they can be made for any season or time of year just by changing the paper. I can see some more of these in my future!

All new products!

I've been so busy playing with new toys that apparently I haven't had time to post any of my creations! Another endeavour that has been taking up my time is the annual Night Market season here in Sechelt, BC. It runs every Thursday night from the middle of June until the end of August.

This card attracted a lot of lookers and sold pretty quickly. It uses my favourite technique of watercolouring, and features a Hostess Set from the 2012-2013 Catalogue called Summer Afternoon. Very appropriate for the season!

Everything on this card is new - except the Watercolour Paper. The base of the card is a new In-Colour, Summer Starfruit. The Designer Series Paper is Comfort Cafe. The wooden-looking frame highlighting the image is cut from the wonderful Natual Composition Specialty paper. It's very cool with glossy, raised patterns printed on heavy-weight natural paper. I cut the shape using a Framelit from the Labels Collection.

The image was stamped on the Watercolour Paper using Black Staz-On ink and watercoloured with markers.

From background to focal point!

Pleasant Poppies is a brand new background stamp from the 2012-2013 Stampin' Up Catalogue. And it's available in clear mount!

I decided to make it a focal point and to use some of the new 2012-2013 In-Colours: Midnight Muse and Summer Starfruit. Here's what I came up with for my first try with this stamp:

I used some other brand new products on this. See the greeting stamped on the cool-looking curvy banner? It's from another brand new set, Bitty Banners and the shape is from the brand new Bitty Banners Framelits. And the designer paper is from Comfort Cafe DSP pack.

There are many more possibilites for using this wonderful background stamp. Check back to see my next projects. I will be teaching a class on Tuesday, July 3 at the Fibre Expressions Quilt Shop and plan on doing at least one project with this stamp.

Stamps: Pleasant Poppies background stamp, Bitty Banners

Ink: Midnight Muse

Paper: Summer Starfuit, Midnight Muse, Comfort Cafe DSP

Tools: Bitty Banners Framelits, Big Shot