Last month, I was honoured and excited to be asked to present a workshop “wow” at the Stampin’ Up! Perth Regional Seminar – an experience that included being hooked up to a microphone, presenting on stage to an audience of over 200 of my stampin’ peers, all while having a dude with a camera hovering over my shoulder and projecting my stampin’ hands onto two big screens at the front of the room.

Five years ago, such an experience would have filled me with dread (and when I was asked to present for the very first time about three Regionals ago I truly was filled with dread and considered a polite “no thank you” response) but having had the opportunity to present at three Regional Seminars now, as well as once at the yearly national convention, I’m pleased to be able to say that I think I have conquered my long held and deeply ingrained fear of public speaking and can cross that one off my bucket list.

The projects that I presented this time around focused on the new Sticky Sheets and our range of fine Stampin’ Glitters.

The other star of the show – the one that allowed me to obtain the lacy, glittery look – was actually a length of doily, plastic-y, tablecloth-y type stuff that I got from my local haberdashery store.  That’s the only way I can think to describe it, and when I did so at the shop, the assistant knew exactly what I was talking about and took me right to it

The beauty of this stuff is that it’s reusable (the plastic-y nature of it peels right off the Sticky Sheet), it’s inexpensive and comes by the metre, so you can get as much or as little as you need, and because you’re effectively using it as a stencil, it doesn’t matter if it’s ugly gold trimmed like the one in the middle as it doesn’t actually feature in your end result.  Bonus!

The process of actually achieving this result is very simple.  Firstly you peel the backing sheet off the Sticky Sheet and adhere it to a piece of cardstock, the peel the top (red) layer off the Sticky Sheet and lay the tablecloth piece over it.  You don’t want to press it too hard, as the Sticky Sheet is super sticky and you want to be able to remove the tablecloth easily.  Pour your first colour of Stampin’ Glitter over the top and rub it gently with your finger to ensure it gets into all the tiny holes and sticks to the Sticky Sheet beneath.  Pour off the excess glitter, then peel off the tablecloth.  Now take your second (ideally, highly contrasting) colour of Stampin’ Glitter and pour it over the previous colour so that it sticks onto the exposed Sticky Sheet.  Pour off the excess again, then dust-bust your desk and fend off comments for the rest of the day about how you are covered in glitter (I did a couple of afternoon school runs after preparing my samples, so I can vouch for that from experience)

That’s all there really is to it, and the options as far as cutting shape with the Bigshot as in the butterfly example above are pretty much endless.

I had a second card sample that I handed in to Stampin’ Up! as an example of the technique that I showed and also a 12 x 12 scrapbooking layout that I created about/for my niece, so I will try and grab that back off her one of these days and snap a picture.

The fourth sample is my favourite and was created as a bit of an artwork feature for my girls’ bedroom…

This one was created using a 3D frame from the Happiest Place on Earth (Ikea for those of you unfamiliar with my Swedish furniture obsession) and this time I placed the tablecloth stencil right over the mat board and glittered directly onto it.

To keep the glitter as the star of the show and not make the whole effect too busy, I kept the centre very simple, with a chipboard butterfly from the new On Board Merry Medley set embossed with the new Melon Mambo Stampin’ Emboss Powder (let’s hear a big “YAY” for coloured embossing!!) and embossed the tiny stamped heart from the Create a Cupcake set over the top in Cherry Cobbler.

I hope you have enjoyed my samples as much as I enjoyed creating them, and that you can forgive the past two and a half months of deathly blog silence from me.  I will redeem myself, I promise

If you would like any further information on the technique I have described here, or to purchase any of the products required to achieve it, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

“Glitter Butterfly Card”
Stamps: Tiny Tags
Paper: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso,  Cherry Cobbler, 2010-11 In Color DSP Stack
Ink: Cherry Cobbler & Early Espresso (Stampin’ Write Markers)
Accessories: Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Early Espresso 1/8″ Taffeta Ribbon, Jewelry Tag Punch, Antique Brads, Sticky Sheet, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Finer Supernova Glitter (Chocolate)

“Glitter Frame with Embossed Butterfly”
Stamps: Create a Cupcake (small heart)
Paper: none
Ink: Versamark
Accessories: On Board Merry Medley, Melon Mambo and Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Sticky Sheet, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Fine Supernova Glitter (Olive)

Way back when I was in primary school, one of the games that was favoured at the time (although probably very un-PC these days and likely going by a different name) was Chinese Whispers.  The game where one person started by whispering a sentence to the person next to them, who in turn whispered to the next person and so on around the circle until it got back to the beginning, sometimes as a very different sentence to what it started out as.

“I went to the beach last week” could easily have become “I ate a peach with my beak” depending on the size of the circle and the listening skills (or not) of the small folk involved.

A more fun and current version of this game (at least as far as I’m concerned) is the one that transpired last week in my own circle of stampin’ friends and family involving a single card as the first inspiration that through the wonders of the internet and text messaging became a “same but different version” of the card once it has passed through several people a mere few days later.

The starting point was this lovely card…

…that my friend and A Klass Act team member Tracey used as inspiration for this card that she made as a swap for a stamping evening we had at her place last Friday night…

Not having seen the original inspiration card at the time, I used Tracey’s card as my starting point for this one that I set as the make and take in my workshop the following day…

…which I attached to a text message to send to my lovely Aunty Mair, who in turn used it (not having seen the original or Tracey’s card) as inspiration for this delightful creation that she posted to her friend that she had enjoyed lunch with the previous day…

Isn’t this FUN?!

It’s truly one of my favourite things about stamping and creating – the process of being inspired by fellow stampers in a large or small way, and thereby never having to reinvent the stampin’ wheel as it were.

Have you played any games of Stampin’ Chinese Whispers lately…?

“My Stampin’ Chinese Whispers card – Thinking of You”
Stamps: Silhouette Sentiments (L1 hostess)
Paper: Naturals Ivory
Ink: Soft Suede, Early Espresso
Accessories: Pear Pizzazz, Poppy Parade & Peach Parfait markers, Basic Pearls, Pear Pizzazz Stitched-Poly Ribbon, Decorative Label Punch, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Stampin’ Sponges, Stampin’ Dimensionals

These past few days, I have watched more daytime TV than could usually be considered healthy, thanks to a dose of shingles that started out in my right eyebrow and has made its was onto my eyelid as well as spreading its painful feelers across my forehead, temple and cheek.

Not to mention that its allowing me to do a very passable impression of the Elephant Man thanks to the swelling around my eye.

Yep, I’m smokin’ HOT right about now, let me tell you…

So I have been spending quite a bit of time inside, partly because I have been feeling so wretched and partly so as not to give nightmares to any small children that I might cross paths with on the street.

I thought it might be an ideal time to get on  here with some stamped creations that I made some time ago and have photographed, edited and all, just not managed to share.

This card was one that I made for a very special wedding back in January – one of the five weddings we went to between September last year and February this year (never have I been so very aware of a “wedding season” in my life..)

The gal getting married was someone I have known since she was about four years old and her dad used to coach my brother’s junior cricket team.  Her parents and mine are still the best of friends all these years later – wonderful people, all of them

With so many weddings to go to, I found myself with a go-to card design that I made for a couple of them, but for this one, I wanted to do something a bit different and special.

I started out (as I very often do) at the Clean and Simple Stamping blog and used this sketch as my starting point…

After changing the orientation, I set about deciding what to decorate my four squares with and hunted through  my stamp and embellishment collection for anything ‘”wedding-y”.

Here’s a closer look at the combination of elements I ended up with…

It was one of those times that I was happy to have a variety of embellishments on hand, as it was the little touches that finished if off I think.  Things like the Dazzling Diamonds glitter in the champagne glasses and the tiny heart-shaped clear button with a punched out Cherry Cobbler heart stuck on the top.

If you’d like more details on any of the products or techniques I’ve employed on this card, please don’t hestitate to get in touch.

And who knows, depending on what Brooke is up to these days on the Bold and the Beautiful, I may even be back later with more…  (Assuming that Brooke is still around that is – surely she’s not finished marrying every bloke on the show yet…?)

“Congrats Nat & Dave – Wedding card
Stamps: Cheers to You, Always, Simply Said, Occasional Greetings, Playful Pieces (L3 hostess), Basic Phrases
Paper: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Whisper White, In-Color Patterns DSP (Blushing Bride)
Ink: Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: 1-1/4 and 1-3/8 Square Punches, 1-1/4 Circle Punch, Two Step Owl Punch (heart), Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Early Espresso Marker, Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin Dimensionals

These past few days, I have been giving my Create a Cupcake stamp set and matching Build a Cupcake punch from the brand spankin’ new Autumn/Winter mini a serious workout, and inspired by two different challenges this week, came up with this little card…

It was based on this Clean & Simple Fall-to Layout #134…

…which in and of itself is clean and simple indeed, but by the time I had finished stamping and punching all six cupcakes, white embossing all the “bows” deciding on each of their embellishments, putting them in order, sticking them down and wondering where on earth I was going to fit the sentiment (you will note that I went with a strip of vellum overlaying the bottom row of cupcakes so as not to obscure them too much…), well let’s just say that whoever gets this baby outta feel really loved.

Not that I have anybody in mind at the moment, I’m just sayin…

The colours were inspired by last weeks colourQ combination:

I took a bit of artistic licence with this, as technically the Cherry Cobbler that I used for my flower and cherry decorations and the So Saffron brads as the flower centres were not officially part of the line-up, but I’m pretty sure I can make out some So Saffron sprinkles on the bottom left cake in the above pic, as well as a couple of specks of Cherry Cobbler too.

At least that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.  Just as well we’re not playing for sheep stations here…

The other little project I have been having fun with involving the cupcakes is the project I’m demonstrating at my workshops this month.  Super cute, it must be said

With several workshop dates already booked and Easter looming, I have limited workshop opportunities left this month, but if you want to see this gorgeous set of products put through its paces (AND keep the cute project for yourself!) contact me asap and we’ll work out a date!

“Challenge Chewsday Cupcakes!”
Stamps: Create a Cupcake
Paper: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Whisper White, Vellum cardstock
Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Pink Pirouette, Certainly Celery, Cherry Cobbler, Versamark
Accessories: Build a Cupcake punch, Subtles brads, White embossing powder, Colour Spritzer and Crumb Cake Marker, Crystal Effects, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I said earlier that I’d be back later with my workshop projects for this month, so being later, here I am!

I’m not long back from coaching at my girls’ gymnastics classes, which follows on from a 6am workout in the park, canteen duty at school, and some work in the afternoon, so if I stop making sense (you know, more so than usual) chances are my head has hit the keyboard, so forgive me.

I had an absolute blast with my workshops this month, all of them centered around the Itty Bitty Bits stamp set and matching Punch Pack and Bitty Buttons.  It’s such a totally cute stamp set and I was really happy with the projects I made with them and gave to my hostesses.

I was determined to work Poppy Parade into this month’s colour scheme and was happy to land on this combination, which actually includes four out of the five In-colours, plus Baja Breeze.  Bright and colourful and perfectly suited to the Itty Bitty range.

Here’s the first one…

This first example shows just the stamping aspect of the set – at least the ones that I demonstrated at the workshops did…  This sample of mine has a stuffed up Poppy Parade flower under the punched out one, but imagine if you will a Poppy Parade flower stamped directly onto the circle of Whisper White just like the other two.

Thanks

For the second sample, I busted out the co-ordinating Punch Pack for this, my favourite of the bunch…

Same colours as before, just in different proportions – something I have been doing in all my recent workshops to show the versatility of a combination of four or five colours

For the third sample, I popped on some of the delightful Bitty Buttons for some added cuteness and dimension…

Same colours again, a bit more of the polka dot theme that I seem to have going on, plus a Sale-a-bration set (last day to get yours tomorrow!!) for good measure

At $55.85* for a stamp set, pack of three co-ordinating punches and 64 buttons, you really can’t go wrong, unless of course you don’t act before tomorrow evening, as these sweet products are set to become unavailable as soon as the Summer Mini finishes its reign.

If you’d like to add this set of lovelies to your order of the Square Lattice embossing folder from earlier, you’ll need to get in touch asap to make sure you can get them!

Alternatively you can wait until tomorrow and order at the last minute, as I’ve got something to show you that might have you adding the Aviary stamp set as well…

* Cost for clear mount stamp set not including shipping.  The total of all the products inclusive of the stamp set in woodmount is $59.85

“Itty Bitty Bits of loveliness”
Stamps: Itty Bitty Bits, Teeny Tiny Sentiments, So Happy for You
Paper: Baja Breeze, Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz, Blush Blossom, Whisper White, In-colour DSP stack,
Ink: Baja Breeze, Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz, Blush Blossom, Peach Parfait
Accessories: Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Scallop Edge, 1-1/4″ Square, 1-3/4″ Circle & 2-3/8″ Scallop Circle Punches; Timeless Type Junior Alphabet Sizzlits, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Pear Pizzazz Stampin’ Write Marker, Blush Blossom Stitched Poly, Basic Rhinestones, Bitty Buttons

I can’t remember when or where I first saw the inlaid embossing technique, aside from it being some time in the past couple of months and on any one of several blogs and forums that I may have visited during that time.

It seems to be the “it” technique of the moment and it’s no wonder as far as I’m concerned as it doesn’t happen very often that I see a technique that I haven’t seen at any point prior and that literally makes my jaw drop.

I made it the focus of my workshops last month, so that all my February hostesses and workshop guests got to see this fabulous technique in action and the hostesses got to keep the cards that I made.

Want to see what has me in such a spin?!

This…!

See the image panel there with the Little Leaves die and the Itty Bitty Bits flowers that’s also embossed?  That there is the inlaid embossing technique – sticking some punched or die cut shapes onto a background the whacking the whole lot through the Bigshot inside an embossing folder with a nice and closely repeated pattern (the Square Lattice folder from the Summer Mini is perfect).

That is quite literally, all there is to it and of course I was immediately bustling about my craft room, excitedly trying out all combinations of shapes and colours and giving my Square Lattice embossing folder the workout of its life!

Here is my second workshop sample…

I loved this one the most as the number background – easily replaced with alphabet letters from the same Timeless Type Sizzlits set for a fabulous teacher card or in pastels for a baby card or just some gorgeous brights for a school aged birthday party (somebody stop me!!) – is as simple as cutting out a bunch of numbers in your choice of colours and sticking them randomly to make a background.

I started in the bottom left corner and stuck alternating numbers and colours to fill in the space before popping it all through the Bigshot.  Easy peasy!

Here’s the third one…

For this one, I stuck to the same colour scheme as before and this time cut out an assortment of flowers using my Blossom Party Originals Die and some different sized circles using my punches.

I also wanted to play with this technique from a scrapbooking perspective, so I got out every circle punch I own (also known as every circle punch in the catalogue…) and made myself a range of different sized and coloured circles and rings, which I stuck in no particular order onto Whisper White before embossing it and coming up with this…

…which may lead you to ask how I embossed such long pieces of cardstock when the embossing folder is only around the size of a card front, the answer to which is that I embossed one end first, then put the other end of the cardstock in the folder, being careful to line up the pattern on the folder with the previously embossed part and Robert’s your mother’s brother

As you can see, when I get excited about a particular new technique or idea, I do it to the extreme, but you can see how amazingly versatile and impressive but incredibly simple this technique is, and how the sky is the limit as far as what you can do with it.

Pivotal to the whole idea though is the Square Lattice embossing folder – the one that I think gives it the best outcome, and being that this folder is in the Summer Mini catalogue (page 17 for those of you playing along at home) you have only until tomorrow evening to secure yourself this fabulous little tool and have yourself hours of fun coming up with your own combinations of shape and colour!

Although you may want to wait until later to contact me for yours, as I’m going to show you what else I’ve been doing with Itty Bitty Bits and the co-ordinating Punch Pack and Bitty Buttons at this month’s workshops, and you might want to grab them at the same time.

Just a thought…

Inlaid embossing technique”
Stamps: Occasional Greetings, Perfect Punches, A to Z, Itty Bitty Bits
Paper: Pear Pizzazz, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, Brights DSP stack, Play Date DSP, Whisper White
Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Melon Mambo
Accessories: Square Lattice embossing folder, Scallop Edge, Eyelet and Scallop Trim border punches, Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Wide Oval PunchTimeless Type Junior Alphabet Sizzlits, Blossom Party originals die, Top Note die,  Little Leaves Sizzlit, Daffodil Delight 1/4″ grosgrain, Pear Pizzazz Stitched Poly, Brights brads

This week’s challenge over at Just Add Ink seemed like a bit of a no-brainer at first glance….

Just add stamps.  Okay, so that’s what I would have been doing anyway, where’s the challenge in that..?!

Then of course once I took the time to read past the title of the post, I realised that the emphasis was on the just.  As in nothing but stamps.

No DSP, no ribbon, no buttons or brads, no punches or die cuts, no fancy schmancy techniques, just stamps and the cardstock they are placed upon.

Once I got going with my idea (and managed to bust it out in no more than three and a half  minutes) I realised that the JAI gals might be onto something…

While I love nothing more than getting a swag of new products and things to play with (got some just last week from the upcoming Autumn-Winter mini catalogue in fact – ssshhhhhhhh!!) there’s something to be said for heading back to the bare basics of stamps, ink and cardstock.

And the time factor – or lack of time taken – is a definite bonus!  I’m heading off to make some more of this particular design to send out randomly in the next week or so.

Check back over the next couple of days, as I just realised how close we’re coming to the end of March, and therefore the end of Sale-a-bration AND the Summer Mini!  I think this may just have been my favourite ever mini and I have some things to show you that I haven’t managed to get up here yet, so tune in for a last minute flurry of Summer Mini activity in the coming days…

“Just Add Ink #61 – Just Add Stamps!”
Stamps: Growing Green, Apple Blossoms
Paper: Naturals Ivory, Soft Suede
Ink: Soft Suede, Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso
Accessories: Stampin’ Sponge (hope that’s allowed!!)

So the gastro fairy visited our house this week.  Without going into a whole bunch of detail (you’re welcome) I have been wary of eating anything much these past few days, so energy reserves have been on the low side to say the least.

On a related but much more positive note, I finished my first book club book in three days.

My challenge card this week is a sketch – one that I came up with based on a card in the current Idea Book & Catalogue.  I think I might do more challenges based on samples from the IB&C as you really don’t need to look much past there for buckets of inspiration.

The card I used as a starting point is this one from page 86…

…which I turned into this sketch…

…and in turn, this card…!

Here I used the very sweet Sweet Summer and So Happy for You Sale-a-bration sets, which are two of the freebie stamp sets on offer with your order of $100 for only a couple more weeks!  This is also my workshop make and take for the month

You can see how the final card is based on the layout of the first one, but with a few tweaks, which is the whole idea behind CASEing*.  Sometimes it’s easier to turn the original idea into a two-dimensional sketch first as I have done, that way you don’t “see” the original card quite so clearly and it can be easier to tweak and put your own spin on it.

I’m off to finalise my swaps for my team stamping night tonight – can’t wait to catch up with my gals!  We’re doing Easter themed swaps this month, so I will have a whole lotta Easter inspiration by tomorrow!

* What’s your definition of CASEing?!  I have heard of two things that the CASE acronym stands for – Copy And Share Everything and Copy And Selectively Edit.  I think either could apply, but which one do you think it stands for, or are there others?  Discuss…

“Sketch Challenge #1 – CASEing page 86″
Stamps: Sweet Summer, So Happy for You
Paper: Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Old Olive
Ink: Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, Regal Rose
Accessories: Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, 5/8″ Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon, Scallop Edge Punch

So I’m a whole day – almost two – late with my Challenge Chewsday entries, and although I had them all stamped and photographed yesterday, falling asleep on the couch at 8pm won out over editing and uploading them.

I’m here now though, albeit after another busy day, but I’m determined to get these up (preferably before the opening bars of Farmer Wants a Wife) so let’s get this show on the road…

This week’s challenge over at Just Add Ink is to case the two gorgeous and talented stampers who started the site a year ago now and have just stepped down (handing the reins to two equally gorgeous and talented stampers, I will add).  The most challenging part of this challenge was deciding which of their amazing creations to case!

But decide I did, and here’s what I came up with.  This card is based on this beauty from Danielle’s blog…

And the next one is based on this little bit of delight from Amanda’s blog…

If you want to play along, you’d better be quick as I’m pretty sure the challenge is only open for another hour or so, and if you live over here in the West, there’s less than half an hour 15 minutes ’til Farmer, so you have even less time

Even if you don’t play along, I’d encourage you to head on over to Danielle and Amanda’s blogs to check out their wonderful talents and to say hi

“CASEing Danielle”
Stamps: Awash with Flowers, Woodgrain, Apple Blossoms
Paper: Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Blushing Bride, Whisper White
Ink: Crumb Cake, Regal Rose, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Blushing Bride (Marker), So Saffron (Marker)
Accessories: 5/8″ Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon, Top Note Die, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Stampin’ Dimensionals

“CASEing Amanda”
Stamps: Sweet Summer (Sale-a-bration), Tiny Tags
Paper: Crumb Cake, Pear Pizzazz, Watercolour Paper
Ink: StazOn Black, Baja Breeze, Marina Mist
Accessories: Aquapainter, White Gel Pen, Two Step Bird Punch (stem), Stampin’ Dimensionals

So I’m wrapping up the bonanza – brief as it has been – with a card that I made for the little man of some dear friends of ours who turned one at the end of December.

I wanted to do something bright and funky, and I also wanted to make use of the Party Hearty stamp set.  Inspired by this card that I found on Splitcoast Stampers, which in turn had been inspired by this card by my lovely friend SJ (gotta love the inspiration merry-go-round that makes up the creative process!), this was the result…

I was super happy with how it turned out, and you’ll note that I added some Daffodil Delight and Early Espresso to my go-to boy colour combination of Blue, Red and Green

I’m off to enjoy this lovely long weekend that stretches before us in WA, starting today in fact, with a pupil free day for my gals at school, followed by a workshop with a great bunch on Saturday afternoon, and some serious chillin’ on Sunday and Monday.

Let me know if there’s anything you want/need to know about how this card went together, and I’ll see if I can delve into the recesses of my memory from late December to help you out!

“Happy 1st Birthday Richie”
Stamps: Party Hearty
Paper: Pacific Point, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White
Ink: Pacific Point, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight (Markers)
Accessories: 3/4″ Circle Punch, Small Tag Punch, 1-3/4″ Circle Punch, 1/4″ Daffodil Delight Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals