The Pearl and Rhinestone adhesive jewels (p140 Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalogue) are quickly moving up my list of most-used items. They're now right up there with Stampin' Dimensionals! They just seem to finish off so many projects beautifully, and who doesn't love a bit of bling?

Both the rhinestone and pearl packs have two strands of joined bling pieces, which is a very clever idea. Lining up a row of bling can be a bit daunting (not to mention time consuming!) so these strands of joined pearls or joined rhinestones are the perfect solution.

I love putting them under a sentiment or curve them to highlight a particular feature on a scrap page.

Stamp set: Extreme Elements.
Colours: Wild Wasabi, Marina Mist, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red.
Cardstock: Confetti Cream

I used to try and pull them off with my fingers, but after using these for a while now I have a much better method!

TIP OF THE DAY:

Use a paper piercing tool to gently lift the adhesive and jewel. Position it where you want and press down with a finger on top. Slide the paper piercer out. This prevents the glue dot from being left behind when you lift the bling AND it is a lot less fiddly than using fingers or nails! Use this technique for the individual jewels or the joined strand.

We are in the first week of school holidays, and already it's been eventful. I now have a 7 year old with a broken toe, right where it joins her foot, so the poor thing is hobbling around and we're busily re-evaluating our planned holiday activities! Some nice quiet craft activities could be the go for this week.

Hope you have a great week.

Happy stamping,

Tags: extreme elements, pearl jewels

Hi there! Today I'm back to share a project and also a special off-topic message.

Firstly, the project….

This is the fun little 3"x3" gift card I shared as the Make & Take at Paperific craft expo on the weekend. It was a simple project, but a good opportunity for visitors to try out the new Build A Cupcake punch and see how easy it is to use. The punch and matching stamp set were a big hit of course, with lots of people falling in love with this new tool.

Contact me to place your order and I'll get it sent straight to your door, along with a handstamped (and punched!) cupcake card.

And you know what? This punch doesn't just create cupcakes!

Basic version of the Upside Down Cupcake handbag.

I set a challenge for our team of demonstrators this month to share some of the different non-cupcake things they can make from the Build A Cupcake punch – and we had some fabulous and imaginative creations including hot air balloons, a wedding dress, fruit trees and more.

Special thanks to Jedda Couch, Delani Smith and Juliana Main for giving me permission to share their creations on my blog.

And now for something a little off-topic…

As some of you may already know, I've earned my second Stampin' Up! Incentive Trip. Yay! In October we'll be whisked off to Fiji for a week of R&R, Stampin' Up! style. This is so very exciting, and I want to say a huge big thanks to all those special people who've inspired me during the past year. I'm so very blessed, with the best team and best stamping friends a girl could have!

We often hear the words "I couldn't have done it without you" bandied around, but with these kinds of things it really is true! I count my blessings every day and will continue to do my very best to be there for my team and be there for my stamping friends (aka customers) too. My goal is to exceed your expectations!

If you've been following my blog for a while you might have read the journal I wrote on last year's Incentive Trip to Hamilton Island. At the end I wrote: "I would love to have the opportunity to do this again one day, hopefully with even more team members!" Well my dream has come true… because this year two of the fabulous girls in my team have also qualified!  This has just made it all the sweeter, because now that I know how special these trips are I want everyone to come too!  The trip is in October so we've got plenty of stamping to do between now and then, but I just wanted to say a big thank you for helping me earn this trip.

Happy stamping,

I mentioned in my last post that I love the new Sew Suite range of products in the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue. The range includes stamps, 12×12 papers (Designer Series Paper), embosslits and even a Stampin' Around jumbo wheel. I love sewing so it's not unexpected that I'd love these goodies I guess 🙂 But hey, wouldn't it be great for making cards and gifts for the sewing go-to girls in your life?

I made this embellishment holder for a few special people, and it was a lot of fun. Here's the inside:

How to make it:

This holder is based on a matchbook fold, and is created using a 6×3 inch piece of the Sweet Stitches DSP paper. You can actually make 8 of these from one sheet of 12×12 paper.

Start by cutting your 12×12 paper in half lengthwise, then score both pieces at 7cm in from the top, and 1cm up from the bottom. Once they are scored you can slice each sheet into 4 pieces, with each piece being 3 inches wide. It's a lot easier to do it this way, instead of cutting first and then scoring each piece individually.

Am I the only crazy one out there who creates projects with a mix of cm and inches? LOL. I tend to use cm when scoring but stick to inches when cutting the 12×12 papers evenly.  Oh well, hopefully you can follow along.

Insert one of the small flat Cellophane bags from Stampin' Up! (p122 IB&C) into the bottom flap, and adhere with staples or eyelets. I used Metallic Eyelets (p139 IBC&) that were set with the awesome Crop-a-dile (p149), and added some Pumpkin Pie narrow taffetta ribbon.

The top flap will fit neatly into the bottom flap to stay closed!

Embellish the front as desired. I coloured my sewing machines with Pumpkin Pie and Daffodil Delight Stampin' Write Markers, then covered it in Crystal Effects. I left it to dry well overnight before trimming out the sewing machines.

I had some more news to share with you today but will have to keep that for another day. In the meantime, I just want to say how fantastic it was to meet so many creative ladies and men at Paperific craft expo this weekend.

I enjoyed sharing some fun projects using the new cupcake punch which I'll be sharing in the next post. And I know from everyone's reaction that it's going to be a popular punch! Thanks for stopping by our stand and I look forward to catching up with some of you again in the future.

Happy stamping,

Tags: Sew Suite