My friend Bron has a colour challenge going and I thought I would participate. You can read all about it and her Colour Tree challenges here.

 

I hate to admit how long it’s been since I used Perfect Plum and So Saffron together. It’s a lovely colour combination and I enjoyed working with it. I only used a touch of Espresso, but it added a lovely depth to the combination.

 

Here’s my creation, which features the new Helping Me Grow stamp set on page 20 of the new Stampin’ Up! Occasions Catalogue.

 

Behind the stamped Vanilla cardstock panel I added some of the lovely Venetian Crochet Trim, a matt of Early Espresso cardstock behind it, then all layered onto a larger Plum layer.

The whole feature panel was layered onto a top-fold So Saffron base card that is 5 ¼ inches square (13cm x 13cm)

 

The Thank You sentiment is stamped on So Saffron card, and cut out with one of the label dies from the new Rose Garden Thinlits. That’s a versatile die right there – I’ll be using it a bit, for sure.

There are quite a few different elements going on in this stamp set, including a row of dots. I needed just 5 dots, but found it was a bit awkward masking the dots I didn’t need, so in the end I just cut 5 dots off the row!

Two stamps now, instead of 1!

No regrets, because I know I’ll use them more this way.

 

Hopefully you can see in the photo above where I have used the short row of dots on either side of ‘You’.

Helping Me Grow is a lovely set for colouring or as outline images. I added a little touch of colour with a blender pen. But a word of warning… These are very large stamps so you will definitely want to stamp on a spongy surface, like a mouse pad or the Stampin’ Pierce Mat. This is a photopolymer stamp set – not rubber – so it just needs that bit of ‘give’ underneath it to get a good clear image.

Thanks for visiting today. Don’t forget to check out the NEW Weekly deals below (click on the image for more info). These new deals were just released on Wednesday and will be available until next Tuesday.

 

If you love flower and leaf stamps it will be hard to go past the two-step Bountiful Border set.

Thanks to Bron for the great colour challenge this week!

Happy stamping,

 

The CASE-ing the Catty crew are excited to be back in 2016 for of our weekly Blog Hop, with a whole new look and even more projects to inspire you.

Each week members of the CTC Crew create projects using the Stampin’ Up! catalogues as inspiration.

This week the CTC Crew are choosing their fave projects to CASE (Copy And Share) from the new Stampin’ Up! Occasions Catalogue. You may have arrived from Julia’s blog, or you can start your journey here.

I loosely took my inspiration from a card on page 26 of the Occasions catalogue and one from our demonstrator magazine, but mainly I’m sharing one of my favourite items which is the Botanical Builder Framelits dies. Plus a pretty cool trick!

Here are the dies…

See the long vine or leafy die? It cuts an edge and also cuts out some of the leaves.

This is what happens when you put the die on the edge of a card front:

What a great look!

Now here’s for the cool trick (well, I thought it was pretty cool when I discovered it by accident). For want of a more imaginative name I’ve called it the ‘Cut & Emboss Technique’.

The die left an indentation on my card front (it happens sometimes, no big deal) so I ran it back through my Big Shot with an extra shim and no dies. Did you know that you can remove most of the marks left from dies by doing this? Give it a try. You may have to play around with shims  (extra layers of cardstock) to get the right pressure, but it works very well. 

This time I wasn’t paying attention and accidentally had my card closed, so both the die-cut front and plain back of the card went through the Big Shot at the same time.

Like this…

I was annoyed with myself at first but then discovered that the die cut edge embossed the pattern right onto the back of the card!

So when you open the card, there is an exact replica of the die cut, with one part embossed and the other debossed. It is such a cool effect when you open the card.

 

As I mentioned, the card I made is actually a cross between one of the samples from our inspirational demonstrator magazine (Stampin’ Success) and the sentiment inspiration from this card on page 26 of the new Occasions catalogue.

I do love that sentiment, as one of my intentions this year is to do exactly that… enjoy the little things. This stamp is from a set called, appropriately, Enjoy The Little Things.

 

 

Also used on this card is the Botanical Gardens paper pack, Bakers Twine, and the Botanical Gardens cardstock pack.

I hope you enjoyed my project this week. Please leave a comment if you stopped by today – and let me know if you’re going to give the Cut & Emboss technique a go!

There’s more fun in store for you over at the next blog on our hop with the fabulous Jackie – just click on the ‘next’ box below. And if you get stuck along the way you can always visit the main CASE-ing The Catty blog here.

   

Happy stamping,

 

 

 

So excited to offer you a brand new catalogue with fantastic products to inspire your creativity. The 50+ page Occasions Catalogue will be available right through until the end of May. Don’t forget to check out the new Hostess stamps sets.  >I’m predicting the sewing one will be VERY popular.

View the catalogue on our publications page here (be patient if it’s not loading just yet, we’re working to get it online). Or see them in my online shop >here<.  You’re most welcome to ask for a hard copy if you prefer.

Today also kicks off the start of this year’s Sale-a-bration season…

 

During Sale-a-bration 2016 there are 3 different ways you can benefit:

1.  SHOP: Free products with every $90 purchase…

   That’s why it’s our favourite time of the year to stock up on crafty essentials or new products from the Occasions Catalogue. And with so many exclusive items to choose from in the Sale-a-bration brochure you are definitely spoilt for choice.
   Tip: Note that some of the SAB products are available for a specific time only within the Sale-a-bration campaign, so make sure you check the dates carefully.

2. HOST or SHOP: Extra Stampin’ Rewards

   $40 more free product to choose, with orders over $400.

3. JOIN: $290 worth of products for $169

   That’s an extra $60 value. And there’s FREE DELIVERY too!

 

Sounds great, doesn’t it?

To help avoid information overload, I’ve pulled out some of the sweet spots so you can get the absolute most out of this very special time of the year.

 

Sweet Spots

-> Order $90 worth of products from the annual catalogue or the new Occasions Catalogue and choose 1 free Sale-a-bration item.

-> Order $180 worth of products from the annual catalogue or the new Occasions Catalogue and choose 2 free Sale-a-bration items.

-> Order $270 and get 3 free Sale-a-bration items AND $27+ in free products (Stampin’ Rewards).

-> Order $400+ and get a free Sale-a-bration item for every $90 PLUS Stampin’ Rewards worth $40+ PLUS a bonus $40 in extra free product of your choice!

BEST VALUE -> Or pick up the starter kit for only $169 when joining Stampin’ Up! and choose $295 worth of goodies plus an ongoing discount of at least 20% and an opportunity to make money from your hobby. Now that’s a good deal.

If you have any questions, I’m only a phone call or email away.

Happy stamping,