Simply Swirled

Recently I demonstrated a workshop for a group of new stampers..."hello Ladies". We made two cards, and the above is the second, where I showed the ladies how to use Stampin' Up! paper punches.

I love this card for several reasons, 1. it's quick to make and can be done as a one sheet wonder, 2. It maximises the use of whisper white cardstock...so it's very cost effective to make, and 3. It's simple. I hope you like this card as much as I do.

Supplies:

* Snow Swirled & Best Yet Stamp Sets.

* Whisper White, Real Red and Old Olive Cardstock.

* Real Red & Old Olive Stamp Pads.

* Scallop Edge Punch, Large Oval Punch & Scallop Oval Punch.

* Stampin' Dimensionals.

Merry Christmas

Hello everyone,

Well, I'm back from the job hunt and am now employed again. I managed to score a finance position at my children's school which is very handy. What's even better, is I can have school holiday's off and I work predominantly within school hours.

Now that I'm somewhat settled again, I managed to find some time to stamp and scrapbook. I recently purchased some Nestabilities from my friend Marcia's online store, The Stamp Spot, and I love them. So, today I actually plucked up the courage to use one of the more intricate designs and use the emboss facility as well.

I hope you like today's card.

Supplies:
* Snow Swirled & Many Merry Messages Stamp Set.
* Old Olive, Whisper White & Real Red Cardstock.
* Old Olive & Real Red Ink.
* Old Olive Wide Grosgrain Ribbon. Stampin' Dimensionals & SAMJ.
* Kindy Glitz & Nestabilities.

Bauble Christmas Tag

I've been having so much fun lately now that I'm back stamping and doing workshops again. A big THANK YOU to all my hostesses, firstly for getting me back into the swing of things and secondly for reviving my love of stamping.

A recent hostess asked if we could make Christmas Tags...it is after all creeping up on that time of year again. Well, after some research and final inspiration from Laurie, I came up with this creation. Once again, there quick and easy to make...which I'm sure the ladies can attest too. I hope you like today's creation.

Supplies:

* Baroque Motifs Stamp Set.

* Kiwi Kiss & Riding Hood Red Cardstock.

* Encore Gold Stamp Pad.

* Round Tab Punch, Piercing tool, Gold Embossing Powder, Gold Brads, Crop-a-dile & Riding Hood Red Stripped Grosgrain Ribbon, Heat Tool & Sticky Strip.

* CM Circle Cutting System (Non SU product).

Another Christmas Card

Last night a small group of my friends got together socially to make some Christmas cards. Although invited I was very disappointed my husband was working and I couldn't attend. Afterall, someone had to look after my children :)

So, not wanting to be left out altogether, I decided to make some Christmas cards at home using up past workshop scrap's. The above is the first card I made using a new set I've recently purchased - Snow Swirled.

This card was super simple to make and took literally 10 minutes at the most. I know my friends love simple cards and I hope they like this one too.

Supplies:

* Snow Swirled Stamp Set.

* Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss & Very Vanilla Cardstock.

* Riding Hood Red & Kiwi Kiss Stamp Pad.

Fresh Cuts Christmas

Just over a week ago, I demonstrated a workshop for some lovely ladies...hello ladies! One of the cards we made was the above Christmas Card which was inspired by a similar card in the Stampin' Up! 09/10 Idea Book and Catalogue.

The card itself was just so easy to make and took no time at all. I can definitely see the advantages to using the Fresh Cut Notes for that extra WOW effect, and I know the ladies who attended loved them. I hope you do too!

Supplies:

* Fresh Cuts & Snow Swirled.

* Fresh Cut Notes, Real Red and Old Olive Cardstock.

* Real Red and Old Olive Cardstock.

* Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon, SAMJ (which is a must for this project), Gold Brads, 5 Petal Punch & Sticky Strip.

Wishing You Love

Last week, I treated myself to two new cuttlebug embossing folders. Then, while I was in Darwin I popped into Spotlight (as you do) and saw some cute polka dot red grosgrain ribbon...well, I couldn't resist buying that either.

So, today, with my new Swiss Dot's embossing folder and polka dot ribbon, I decided to make a card using each of these things. I only had a little time (I still had to make our Chrissie present tags from the retired 'Tags for All') so this basic card is what I came up with. Although it definitely suits a Valentines card, I think it could also pass for Christmas. But then, perhaps I'm just being too optimistic!

Supplies:
* For a Friend Level 1 Hostess Stamp Set.
* Real Red Stamp Pad.
* Real Red & Whisper White Cardstock.
* Corner Rounder.
* Swiss Dot's Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (dare I say 'purchased online') & Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon from Spotlight. Red Kindy Glitz to colour in the heart.

Holiday Cheer:
Day 12 of the Twelve Cards of Christmas.

Last night a friend of mine celebrated her birthday by having a 'stamping' birthday party (Hello Karen). Well, not only did I have a great time, but the birthday girl set us all two challenges. One a Christmas card that had to incorporate DSP, bling and be a tri-fold card. The second being a birthday card made incorporating 'blue' somewhere. Above (if you haven't already guessed) is the Christmas Card challenge.

I borrowed this stamp set from another friend (thanks Julie) and just HAD to use the little elves because I thought they were adorable. I also decided to colour my image using a blender pen and Stampin' Pastels as I don't often use them, and I think they are a great colouring medium. I hope you like this card, I was very happy with how it turned out, and even happier as this was a first attempt!

Supplies:
* Gifts of Joy and Loads of Love Stamp Sets.
* Whisper White, Kraft, Real Red and Old Olive Cardstock. Holiday Harmony & Ginger Blossom DSP (Designer Series Paper).
* Basic Black Stamp Pad.
* Stampin' Pastels, Blender Pen, Real Red Marker, Antique Brass Hodgepodge and Old Olive Wide Grosgrain Ribbon. I've also used Kindy Glitz around the elves for their 'magic' sparkle.

Merry Christmas:
Day 11 of the Twelve Cards of Christmas.

This card, using Baroque Motif's shows heat embossing clearly and I think, effectively. I've tried to keep the colours in this card simple, choosing only a gold, a red and a neutral. I've also moved the main focal image mat above the actual main card section, giving it a raised and tiered look for something different. Now the only thing left to do with this one, is find an envelope that will fit it in.

Supplies:

* Baroque Motifs & Occasional Greeting Stamp Sets.

* Encore Gold & Real Read Stamp Pads.

* Real Red, Whisper White and Brushed Gold Cardstock.

* Gold Embossing Powder, Gold Cord (retired) and my trusty SAMJ (Stamp-a-ma-jig).

Peace, Love, Joy:
Day 10: The Twelve Cards of Christmas.

For those of you who have been patiently waiting for the last 3 cards of my 12 Cards of Christmas, here's the card for day 10. I'm really happy with how this card turned out. I like it's simplicity and I'm glad that I managed to use up some scraps of DSP (Designer Series Paper) from another Christmas card I made last night. Although there's no bling as such on this card, I am happy with the subtlety of the wide Grosgrain ribbon.

Supplies:
* Lovely as a Tree and Occasional Greetings Stamp Sets.
* Old Olive & Ruby Red Stamp Pads.
* Ruby Red, Old Olive, Whisper White Cardstock. Holiday Harmony (Retired) and Ginger Blossom DSP (Designer Series Paper).
* Old Olive Wide Grosgrain Ribbon, SAMJ & the Oval Creative Memories Cutting System.

Peaceful Wishes:
Day 9: The Twelve Cards of Christmas.

Here's the last card for today that I have to show you. I've made it using only the Peaceful Wishes Stamp Set and considering I had no plan what-so-ever for this card, I'm happy with the way it turned out. The only difficult thing to do on this card was the cutting out of the holly, which was more time consuming than difficult. I've also pierced around the sentiment with a pin (I've managed to misplace my piercing tool) just to make it stand out that little bit more. I hope you like this final card I'm posting this week.

Supplies:
* Peaceful Wishes Stamp Set.
* Kraft, Purely Pomegranate, Naturals Ivory & Vellum cardstock.
* VersaMark, Purely Pomegranate, Rose Red (marker) & Wild Wasabi Stamp Pads.
* Mat Pack, 2-Way Glue Pen, Paper snips & Gold Cord (retired).

Holiday Hello:
Day 8: The Twelve Cards of Christmas.

This card I made specifically so I could use SU buttons for the first time...YAY! I've taken the colours off the Dashing DSP - even though I haven't actually used any Designer Series Paper on this card. I just thought that Old Olive and Real Red went fabulously together and since I only have the Bold Brights buttons, the real red was a MUST. I had a lot of fun making this card. It is simple and best of all, quick to make. I've had to use a SAMJ to align all the tree's together as I'm not sure I could have 'free hand stamped' so straight. I hope you like this card.

Supplies:
* Loads of Love & Circle of Friendship Stamp Sets.
* Real Red, Old Olive and Whisper White Cardstock.
* Old Olive Stamp Pad.
* Bold Brights SU Buttons, Real Red Gingham Ribbon, Stampin Dimensional, Glue Dots, 1/1/4" & 1/3/8" Circle Punches.

Be Merry:
Day 7: The Twelve Cards of Christmas.

For those that check my blog regularly, I'm sorry I haven't posted for a few days. My husband's been home on sick leave and I'm sure you can all appreciate that he's disrupted my usual weekly routine :). He's back at work today however, so it gave me an opportunity to catch up on the last 2 days worth of posts, plus make another card today for you all.

This card some of you may recognise as I demonstrated it at a home workshop recently. Whenever I demonstrate at home workshops, I aim to make easy cards that everyone can do, but that still look (in my honest opinion) great. With this card, I specifically wanted to use some of the Holiday Harmony DSP. The technique we all used was sponging, which was done around the edge of the cardstock with the tree on it...although, unfortunately it's too subtle to be picked up in the above photograph.

Supplies:
* Lovely as a Tree & Warm Words Stamp Sets.
* River Rock, Naturals Ivory & Always Artichoke Cardstock. Holiday Harmony DSP.
* Always Artichoke & Purely Pomegranate Stamp Pads.
* SAMJ & Sponge.

Merry Christmas:
Day 6: The Twelve Cards of Christmas.

Evening everyone! Every now and then, I'm lucky enough to be invited to join a card swap with other SU demonstrators. I love doing this, but I have to admit, I do get nervous about sharing my work in case it's not up to par with the cards I receive. The above card is something I recently made for a Christmas 'Team' swap. All the ladies should have theirs by now so I feel confident posting this today for you all to look at.

As most of you know, I love simple cards that can be easily re-produced by beginner or master stamper alike. This card is no exception, and I made it hoping the demonstrators receiving it might get some workshop ideas for their own customers. The techniques I've used are dry embossing using the bone folder (which is easy to see bordering the image on white) and colouring a stamp with Stamp 'n' Write Markers. I hope you like today's card.

Supplies:
* Tags for All & Many Merry Messages Stamp Sets.
* Rose Red & Whisper White Cardstock.
* Always Artichoke & Rose Red Markers. Rose Red Stamp Pad.
* Bone Folder with 'pristine' folds.

Happy Holidays:
Day Five: The Twelve Cards of Christmas

If you've ever looked at the scallop circle punch and wondered at it's versatility or needed a reason to justify buying it, I hope this card encourages you to purchase it sooner rather than later. This adorable little santa, which I first saw on my upline Karen's blog is made using papersnips, adhesive, a black marker and the scallop circle punch. I think he's just SO cute! I hope you like this card as much as I do.

Supplies:
* Many Merry Messages & Polka Dot Stamp Sets.
* Old Olive, Real Red, Blush Blossom & Whisper White Cardstock.
* Old Olive, Craft White Stamp Pads. Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker.
* Scallop Edge Punch (soon to be released), Crop-a-dile & Scallop Circle Punch. White Embossing Powder, SAMJ & Heat Tool.

Virtual Stamping Night:

Project 2 & Card Four of the Twelve Cards of Christmas.

Well, it's 7.30pm in the NT and it's time for the final challenge of this Virtual Stamping Night. This challenge is to create a one layer card using only one colour ink that's not a traditional Christmas colour. Bonus brownie points if you can also use a reverse mask (for beginners, there's a basic and short tutorial on how to do this at the end of this post).

The card I've created was inspired by my upline Karen who showed me the reverse mask when I was a novice stamper about 12 months ago. Although her card was different, it was the basis for my card below, which incidentally is another Christmas card as I still need more for my 'stash'. Please note, if you don't wish to do another Chrissy card (if your layout card ended up being a Christmas one), feel free to make any type of card you'd like.

Here's my example (sorry about the photo quality):

Supplies:

* Lovely as a Tree & Many Merry Messages Stamp Sets.

* Pale Plum Stamp Pad & Versa Mark (cause it's not a colour...he he he).

* Whisper White Cardstock.

* SAMJ, Heat & Stick Powder, Dazzling Diamonds, Sponge, 2-Way Glue Pen.

* CM Ovals Cutting System.

How to create a reverse mask:

For those who've never done masking before, basically, a mask is placing a piece of paper somewhere we DON'T want to over stamp. For a reverse mask, were stamping within usually a boarder to 'fill' a space.

Step 1:

Please cut a piece of scrap paper to slightly smaller than the size of your card front. I do this so I can totally centre the image and can see easily where the actual card is sitting. You then need to cut out the centre of the scrap piece of paper with the shape you wish your reverse mask to be. To cut my oval, I've used a Creative Memories Oval Cutting System. For those of you that don't have this, feel free to be imaginative and trace around an object then cut out the mask with either scissors or a craft knife. Be creative, although I've used an oval, you can use a square, circle, rectangle or any other shape you find.

Step 2:

Place your cut out scrap paper on the front of your card to where ever you'd like it to sit. Temporarily secure in place using a temporary adhesive or paper clips. I've used my 2-Way glue pen as a temporary hold. Once you've positioned your matt correctly, sponge within your cut out area. I've used SU Sponges, but again, if you don't have this, perhaps a kitchen or bath sponge can suffice. Alternatively for a different look, try scrunched cling wrap.

Step 3:

Carefully remove the paper mask template to see your masked creation. Continue stamping as desired. My example, because I was using such a pale ink is difficult to see, but you can faintly see the effect...which is subtle.

Thank you for joining me tonight in my Virtual Stamping Night. I hope you've made some great cards and you enjoyed yourselves. For those that wish to show their cards, remember to either comment below with a link to your blog OR email me your pictures and I'll upload them on my blog tomorrow.

Regards, Nerine

I'm back...I have a few cards sitting in my email box, so I thought I'd take the time to upload them now. Everyone's done such a great job on their cards, you should all be super proud of yourselves.

Here's Mel's:

Here's Judith's:

Here's Karen's:

Here's Tammy's:

Virtual Stamping Night:

Project One & Day 3 of the Twelve Cards of Christmas.

Thank you everyone for joining me in my second, Virtual Stamping Night. We have about 20 ladies all stamping together tonight across the country, which for me is very exciting. I hope you like the projects I've planned for tonight, I've kept them very basic for beginner stampers, but this, of course can be built upon for the more advanced stamper. Remember though to try make each card within an hour.

Also, I'd like to take a moment to re-iterate that for those that have blogs, feel free to upload your creations if you'd like. For those that don't have blogs, again, if you'd like others to see your creations, please email me a photo of same to jasner5@bigpond.net.au making sure you leave return email details in the narrative. Uploading your card however is VOLUNTARY and please don't feel pressured into doing this.

Last but not least, I hope you all have FUN, FUN, FUN. On to the first project!!!

To get us warmed up, I thought I'd set a basic card sketch challenge. For those new to stamping, the idea of this challenge is to take the sketch and, using what ever products you wish, create a card that has the same layout as the sketch. It's a great starting point as it takes the guess work of 'where do I put what'.

Here is the sketch:

And here's my example:

Supplies:

* Carte Postale Stamp Set.

* Always Artichoke, Purely Pomegranate and Naturals Ivory Cardstock. Holiday Harmony DSP.

* Purely Pomegranate Stamp Pad.

* Gold Cord (unfortunately retired) & Stampin' Dimensionals.

Good Luck, have fun until 7.30pm CST when I'm back with project 2!

We have our first card finnished. Congrat's Mel for your wonderful card.

Here's Tammy's

Here's Karen's:

Here's Judith's:

I hope your all very proud of the cards you've created, these are just fantastic!!!

Love, Peace & Joy:

Day 2: The Twelve Cards of Christmas

I saw this layout on another blog recently and thought I'd give it a go with my new punch. I've also used the remaining pieces of Rose Red and Certainly Celery DSP from yesterdays card but had trouble choosing the actual card colour. I've used watercolour wonder crayons and the aqua painters on watercolour paper for the main image and the ribbon is from the retired 'sweet shop' range from last years SU catty. I hope you like today's card.

Supplies:
* Loads of Love & Circle of Friendship Stamp Sets.
* Basic Black & Rose Red stamp pads.
* Basic Grey & Rose Red Cardstock. Watercolour Paper.
* Certainly Celery & Rose Red DSP.
* Sweet Shop Ribbon (retired), Stampin' Dimensionals, 1" Circle Punch & the soon to be released Square Scallop Punch.

Celebrate the Holidays:
Day 1: The Twelve Cards of Christmas.

As promised, here's the first of 12 Christmas cards I'll be featuring over the next 12 days. I've started with a card that requires colouring the rubber stamp with Stampin' Write Markers. This allows me to NOT mask but still achieve different colours on the same stamped image. I've then stamped again onto a separate piece of Whisper White and cut out those images so that I could raise them from the page using Stampin' Dimensionals. I hope you like this card.

Supplies:
* Hung Up on the Holidays & Labelicious Stamp Sets.
* Rose Red, Certainly Celery & Whisper White Cardstock. Rose Red & Certainly Celery DSP.
* Rose Red, Basic Black & Certainly Celery Markers.
* Stampin' Dimensionals, SNAIL & SAMJ.

A Christmas Dahlia:

Each month, I hold a technique workshop for a dedicated group of stampers. This month, one of the attendees requested we make a card using the Dahlia Fold. As this is the last month of the Spring Mini, and the fact that we can all use an extra Christmas card in our collection at this time of year, I came up with the above.

This was my first attempt at the Dahlia fold and although I found it a little fiddly, it was very easy. I've kept it simple and used the 1/3/8" circle punch, however for those more advanced folders, you can use the scallop punch for a frilly but stunning effect. The remainder of the card I've kept rather plain as I didn't want to take away from my Dahlia focal point. I hope you like today's card.

Supplies:
* Sincere Salutations & Canvas Stamp Sets.
* River Rock & Purely Pomegranate Cardstock. Holiday Harmony DSP (Spring Mini).
* River Rock & Purely Pomegranate Stamp Pads.
* Brayer, 1/1/4" & 1/3/8" Circle Punches. Pretties Kit & SAMJ.

Distressed Gift Card:

Well, I'm starting to get into a routine, and today I managed to fit in some stamping after doing the housework...YAY! So, I decided to join in Mel's weekly challenge with the above. Some of you may recognise this gift card as I demonstrated it at a workshop recently. However today, I've distressed the edges and added an eyelet as per Mel's instructions.

This gift card was so quick and easy to make, and I just love this set (Tags for All) as well as my colour scheme Naturals Ivory, Old Olive and Purely Pomegranate. I am definitely going to miss this years in colours when they change in April 09!

Supplies:
* Tags for All Stamp Set.
* Naturals Ivory, Old Olive and Purely Pomegranate Cardstock.
* Old Olive Stamp Pad.
* Metallic Eyelet (Antique Brass) & Linen Tread.
* Crop-a-dile.