New Occasions Mini & Butterfly Basics

Every page of the new Occasions Mini which goes on sale on 5 January has something unique and beautiful. I am in love with all of the new stamp sets and have a feeling that this mini catalogue is going to be extremely popular.

My favourite set so far (we can't count our chickens) is Butterfly Basics which of course co-ordinates with the Butterflies Thinlit Dies (remember when you purchase as a bundle you save 15%).

This is my creation this week for a friend's birthday:

Base card is Blushing Bride, mounted with Sahara Sand and then Whisper White which I have stamped on using Sahara Sand and Crumb Cake ink to marry in with the divine and luscious Sahara Sand Lace Trim. . . love the typewriter set letters (Kinda Eclectic) and the netting from Butterfly Basics. The postage franking stamp is from the new set, stamped in Early Espresso.

The leaves are from the Butterfly Basics and Kind Eclectic stamp sets, stamped in Pear Pizzazz and Old Olive respectively.

I have faux stitched the top right hand corner(by piercing the card) and drawn between the pierced dots with a Sahara Sand Stampin' Write Marker. The sentiment from the Butterfly Basics set is stamped in Early Espresso - I have to say that all of the sentiments in this set are perfect.

I always need a bit of bling so this takes the form of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper cut with the Apothecary Accents Framelit die which I removed the centre from, using an Oval Framelit Die.

The butterflies are cut using the medium Butterflies Framelit die in Blushing Bride, Sahara Sand and Fancy Foil Designer Vellum in Silver. I have layered these up with glue dots and decorated the spines with Basic Pearl Jewels.

Can't wait for the mini to go live!

Blendabilities and Ornamental Pine

I have wanted to use a more versatile approach to Blendabilities and I think that I am getting a bit better!

Today I have tried to incorporate Blendabilities and the images from Ornamental Pine. Once again I have made two of each design ~ one a little more dressed up and the other a little plainer. . .

Here are today's shares:

For the first cards I stamped the leaves in Mossy Meadow on Whisper White card stock. The pine cones are stamped in Early Espresso on Crumb Cake card stock and I have highlighted areas with the White Gel Pen and fussy cut them and dimensionalised them on the leafy area.

Prior to adding the pine cones I coloured the background from the top right corner with Blendabilities. I faded from the medium Night of Navy colour through the Coastal Cabana tones - dark, medium and light. The blending isn't as smooth as I hoped but I was not unhappy with the overall effect.

I then stamped the background with the "fly poo spots" from the Gorgeous grunge set in Classic White Craft Ink. I wanted the suggestion of snow without too much ink.

The sentiment from the Ornamental Pine set is stamped in Island Indigo which I also mounted at the back of each card.  I added the sequins from the Frosted Sequins embellishment pack in the Holiday Mini Catalogue for a bit of bling and glamour.

Base card for the second creation is Garden Green, mounted with a piece of diamond Garden Green DSP from the Trim the Tree DSP Stack (daubed around the edges with Early Espresso ink).  The corners were rounded with the Project Life Corner Rounder Punch.

I heat embossed the pine leaves and cone in white embossing powder (the pine cone on a separate piece and fussy cut out). I then coloured the leaves with the Old Olive Blendabilities pens starting with the darkest and moving to the lightest overlapping all the time. I coloured the leaf stem in Mocha from the Skin Tone Blendabilities set.  The pine cone is coloured in with the darkest Crumb Cake Blendability pen and attached to the card with a glue dot.

The sentiment was stamped in Craft White Classic Ink on Garden Green and hand cut. I added the Linen Twine for texture and interest.

This card is very similar but with a different piece of DSP from the Trim the Tree DSP Stack - more Garden Green and less contrast. I changed the direction of the leaf stamp and added additional colour to the pine cone by using the Mocha and Bronze Blendabilities from the Skin Tone Set.  The sentiment was stamped on a piece of Very Vanilla card stock so that it contrasts more significantly.

The Ornamental Pine set isn't just for Christmas. Here I have used it in conjunction with my all time favourite set - Lovely as a Tree. I stamped the Lovely as a Tree horizon trees stamp in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, punched out a sun using the 1" Circle Punch and post-t notes.

I then coloured the sunset with Blendabilities from the Night of Navy, Rich Razzleberry and Pumpkin Pie Ranges. I simply blended these across the images. The post-it note masked the setting sun area (that's how I kept it white). The landscape was coloured with the Old Olive Blendabilities set.

To suggest looking at the sunset from trees in the forefront I stamped the leaf from the Ornamental Pine set across the top left hand corner. I married up the stamped image on the coloured card and the background using a Stampa-ma-jig.

The base card is Night of Navy mounted with Whisper White. I mounted the coloured, stamped image on Old Olive card stock and for the top card I actually mounted the whole card on a piece of Old Olive card stock for added weight and framing.

Enjoy!
Shanni

Trim the Tree DSP Stack & Ornamental Pine

Once I started stamping with this set I found that I was overflowing with ideas on how it could be used. Because Christmas is celebrated in Australia in the height of summer it is hard to make cards that have a Christmas appeal that seems to be associated with snow, red bows and hot apple cider. . . we are all about swimming, barbecues and cold prawn salad on Christmas day.  The Ornamental Pine set offers a bit of Chrissy versatility though and I was excited with the earthy tones that we could employ. . .

Again I have made two of each design to dress one up and to leave the other simpler. There are things that you need to consider with cards ~ postage weight and the ability to send the card without it being damaged. . . so I have tried to be thoughtful about these things when coming up with designs and layouts.

Here are today's shares:

The Trim the Tree DSP Stack is awesome. It has all of the usual Christmas colours like Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green and Early Espresso but there are additional colours like Sahara Sand, Crisp Cantaloupe and Pistachio Pudding for a touch of spice!

Base card in this instance is Whisper White. I have stamped the leaves in Garden Green and the pine cones in Early Espresso on Whisper White card stock which I then cut out quite closely. I have tried stamping the pine cones direct on the card but I really like the effect of the raised pine cones the best. I have dimensionalised them slightly for added effect.

The Real Red pennant behind both mounted images is hand cut and I matched this with the Real Red Satin Woven Ribbon from them Holiday Mini Catalogue. Do you see how trimming your ribbons slightly differently gives a different impact.

The card on the left was mounted on a piece of Real Red card stock whilst the one on the right is mounted on Early Espresso.

Using pieces of the Cherry Cobbler tartan from the Trim the Tree DSP Stack as my base I wanted this card to be classic in colour and layout. You will see that I have mounted the background pieces on the right hand side with more Cherry Cobbler card stock, including the stamped image.

The leaves are stamped in Garden Green. The ornament was stamped in Cherry Cobbler and then fussy cut. I proceeded to gloss the ornaments with Crystal Effects for a shiny effect.

On the left hand card I mounted the sentiment on a white pennant shape that I simply cut around the words and then mounted on a piece of the Cherry Cobbler Linen Ribbon.

For a touch of bling I glittered the leaves on the right hand card using Dazzling Detail.

A little more earthy and Aussie than snow cards but stay tuned as I don't want to disappoint my northern hemisphere fans.

See you soon
Shanni

Ornamental Pine Challenges. . .

I have been absent for a little while because I have been so busy demonstrating, doing classes and holding retreats. . . it has been a wonderful time but I have been neglecting my blog as a consequence!  Please don't think that I have not been creative.

I adore the Ornamental Pine set in the Holiday Mini Catalogue and have set myself a challenge of making as many different cards and projects as I can with the set to show how versatile it is. . .

In making the cards I made a basic version of each card and then added some additional card stock layers and embellishments to make the card a little more luxe.

Here are today's shares:

The base card is Cherry Cobbler and I have used the Garden Green gingham paper from the Trim the Tree DSP Stack in the Holiday Cattie. I stamped the leaves in Garden Green to match the designer series paper and the pine cones in Early Espresso on Crumb Cake card stock (which I fussy cut out).

To dress the second card up I used a Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding Ribbon and mounted the whole card on Garden Green card stock. The "Happy Wonderful Christmas" is from the Wondrous Wreath stamp set.

I stamped these images in the same colour scheme but cut them down using the Deco Label Framelit Dies. I mounted them on a different piece of the Trim the Tree DSP Stack - I love tartan patterns at Christmas. Can you believe that I have used the same pattern on both these cards - the mounting card and layers makes such a difference right?

The ribbons and the layering once again set the cards apart. I used the Cherry Cobbler Linen Ribbon from the Holiday Mini Catalogue on the left hand card compared with the Burlap Ribbon on the other. The sentiment "merry & bright" is from the Good Greetings set which was a promotional stamp set for hostesses in October and the "Christmas Wishes" is from the Ornamental Pine set.

For a slightly different approach with the third set of cards I embossed the ornament from the Ornamental Pine set in gold embossing powder then fussy cut them out. On the top card I coloured the ornament with a Stampin' Write Marker in Cherry Cobbler. The other difference is the ribbon - Cherry Cobbler but the top is Seam Binding and the bottom is the Linen ribbon from the Holiday Mini Catalogue.

You will see that the base card in both instances is Cherry Cobbler mounted with Early Espresso and Gold Foil card stock. Both have been mounted on an Early Espresso card to frame the card.

Hopefully you have found some inspiration. I will be back tomorrow with another three sets of cards.

Cheers
Shanni