Secret Garden Swap for North American Convention

My sister attended the North American Convention with me and because she had marking and reports to do in the lead up to our leaving she was really strapped for time so I put together a quick swap for her.  She had to stick the last components together on the plane. . . a good thing that we had 24 hours of flying to our destination. . .

Here is the simple but hopefully effective card:



Base card is Crumb Cake mounted with Whisper White.  I have generation stamped the leaves in Old Olive, the flower stems were also stamped in the same colour. The little fill flowers are stamped in  Daffodil Delight. These stamps are in the Summer Silhouettes set.  I also stamped the grunge splatter in Crumb Cake ink ~ it is from the Gorgeous Grunge set.

I stamped the solid flower from Summer Silhouettes in Tempting Turquoise and the centres in Midnight Muse.

Finally I stamped the little scatter flowers from Summer Silhouette and the large solid flower from Secret Garden in Melon Mambo (I also took the flower centre stamp from Summer Silhouettes and stamped the centre of flower in Midnight Muse ink).  The large flower was cut out using the Framelit Dies which match the Secret Garden stamp set.

I wanted to add some texture hence the Crumb Cake strip embossed using the Delicate Designs Embossing Folder.  The greeting was punched out using the Large Oval Punch and the base the Scallop Oval Punch.

I snuck in some divine Washi Tape from the Gingham Garden Collection and the Epic Day This & That Collection to add further texture.

Soho Subway - So Awesome!

I am loving the Soho Subway Designer Series Paper - it is grungy, graphic and gorgeous. I am yet to make a project that disappoints!

Here is one of my recent creations:

The base card is Summer Starfruit - I love this colour! The piece of DSP is mounted on a piece of Early Espresso Core 'dinations card stock which I have embossed using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder with the Big Shot.

The stamped background is in Baked Brown Sugar for the large splotches (which remind me of blood splatter at a crime scene), Early Espresso for the smaller splotches and Summer Starfruit for the skid marks. I adore the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set!

I stamped (the Baked Brown Sugar), embossed (with black embossing powder) and fussy cut the greeting and small arrows from the Hello Lovely stamp set. I mounted these with dimensionals to give the card some depth.

Hopefully the card has a retro feel to it as well as a grunge feel.

See you soon
Shanni x

North American Convention Swap # 2 - Serene Silhouette

What an amazing experience we had at the North American Convention - Stampin' Up! is the most awesome company in the world to work for!

It was breathtaking sharing this event with so many people - 6,000 in total. It was brilliant to spend the three days with so many new friends. I befriended a heap of girls from the US, Canada, Germany, Holland, United Kingdom, France and of course caught up with my galz from Australia and New Zealand.

Here is the second swap that I shared

I was looking to create something that was simple that could endure being in luggage for 4 weeks before Convention.

I used the Medallion stamp set and stamped in Staz On Jet Black ink on Whisper White base cardstock. The greeting is stamped in the same ink. Using the Windows Frames Framelit Dies I cut a mounting board in Basic Black and then mounted the final stamped image on top.

Finally I stamped the tree image from Serene Silhouettes in Staz On Jet Black. I punched a 1" circle out of a post-it note to make the moon. Sticking the punch out partially over the top of the tree I then used a dauber to swipe ink from right to left starting with So Saffron, changing to Tangerine Tango and finally a small amount of Midnight Muse. I blended the colours using the daubers so that the colours looked more like a sunset sky. Punching the image out with a 2 1/2" circle punch I stuck it straight on the black mount.

I mounted the Basic Black base with dimensionals so that it would sit a little above the card.

I wanted the whole card to have the connotations of a  "sunburnt country". The swaps disappeared like ice in the sunshine so they must have been acceptable.

Check in later
Shanni xx

North American Convention Swap No 1 ~ Gorgeous Grunge

I have been so nervous about the swaps that I would make to share at the North American Convention because it seems to me that there are some very talented and therefore daunting demonstrators in the USA and Canada that I was over whelmed about what I could do.

So here is the first swap that I came up with to share at the BIG EVENT

This is very different from my usual style but I was thinking about suitcase space and weight and thought that I should challenge myself to do something a bit unusual (at least for me). And given that I am loving the Gorgeous Grunge set so much it seemed obvious that I should use it.

So the card is quite simply Whisper White mounted on Basic Black cardstock. I stamped the blotches stamp from Gorgeous Grunge in Tangerine Tango, the stipple splats in Gumball Green and the parallel scratches in Basic Gray.

The bright points of interest have been created with the Epic Day This and That Washi Tape and the Epic Day Daffodil Delight DSP (which I have simply torn).

The butterflies are both punched using the Elegant Butterfly Punch and Bitty Butterfly punches with the Epic Day DSP and the diamantes are of course our rhinestone jewels.

Hope that people like it. . .

Shanni x

Hello Lovely - Absolutely Lovely!

Another new set that has been making its impact on me. . . I am lovin' the Hello Lovely set. It has so many versatile stamps in it that can be used for a variety of projects.  The images are both greetings and geometrical designs.

Here is today's creation:

Base card is Crumb Cake, mounted with a piece of the new Epic Day DSP. The pre-distressed look of the DSP really lends itself to many versatile projects. I also fussy cut another piece of the DSP (with the hexagon pattern) and mounted it on top of the DSP.

To ensure that the greeting popped. I cut a piece of the Calypso Coral with the Apothecary Accent Framelit Dies and then texturised it with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. This is mounted with dimensionals. The greeting is from the Hello Lovely set and stamped in Staz On Jet Black ink and fussy cut to the exact size.  I added the Hung Up Cute Clip and knotted some Natural Trim to draw attention to the salutation on the busy card front.

Quite dramatic but very simple!

Back later
Shanni x

Gorgeous Grunge - Get it On!

One of my new favourite stamp sets in the new 2013-2014 Annual Catalogue is Gorgeous Grunge and I have been exploring a variety of applications for it. . .

Here is today's creation:

So simple and using some of the new designer series papers and washi tape - Epic Day.

The base card is Sahara Sand, the pre-distressed DSp is Epic Day and the Gorgeous Grunge stipple is stamped in Smokey Slate.  The two strips of washi tape are from the Epic Day collection and the greeting is from the Hello Lovely set embossed in Pewter.

Simple but striking I hope. . .

Shanni x

Smashed! Convention Smashbook 2013

The final day of South Pacific Convention was wonderful and whilst it was exciting it was a bit sad that the celebrations were coming to an end. I am one of the lucky ones who is going to have the opportunity to attend the North American Convention 18-20 July in Salt Lake City, Utah.

So the final pages of my "Be the Difference" Convention Smashbook:

Sophie and Olivia were so inspiring in their wow presentations on Day 3. I love how the colours of the projects all seem to go together tonally.

Julianna's bags were brilliant! And the number of MDS projects and products on display were just breathtaking.

Off the page projects were abound. So much inspiration in one location can be very powerful.

The final page of the book was the final image presented by the team from Home Office and Demonstrator Support South Pacific. These wonderful people pulled out all the stops to make sure that this year's event was the best yet. They have set the yardstick very high for future years and have helped create many memories and inspired the whole region to share what they love.

Hope you enjoyed the epic journey that was my Convention Smashbook!
Shanni x