We’re up to week 23 at Just Add Ink and the girls have come up with yet another fabbo challenge to get your creative juices flowing…  Just Add DSP!

After a false start that I just couldn’t bring myself to make public, I used the opportunity to make a 12×12 scrapbook page using a photo from our recent trip to Sydney…

The great thing about Stampin’ Up! Designer Series Paper is that all the hard work is done as far as co-ordination.  No longer can I be found wandering the aisles of my local scrapbooking stores hunting down papers that will work with the one that have in my hand, that invariably doesn’t have a solid cardstock colour that matches either.

The papers in this layout are all taken from the Sweet Always pack, and I have only used seven of the 12 different designs that make up the pack, so the options for mixing and matching are pretty much endless!

Here’s a closer look at the detail…

The ribbon rose is a gorgeous idea that was detailed in our demonstrator publication, ‘Impressions’  that we demonstrators get each month.  It’s such a sweet and simple idea and a whole other way to use ribbon (and it uses ribbon, I will tell you!).

The idea of using it as a flower centre was one that I gleaned from one of the most talented scrapbookers I know, who also happens to be a Perth girl – Tanya Tahir.

I have never seen a layout of hers that I haven’t gazed open-mouthed at.  Such a talent and a lovely girl too

So there you have it – Just Add Ink Challenge #23 – a fabulous reason to hide away with some pretty papers and turn them into something prettier.

“Just Add Ink #23 – Designer Series Paper”
Stamps: None
Paper:Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Sweet Always DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip for sponging
Accessories: Top Note die, Little Leaves die, Timeless Type Alphabet Dies, Die Cut Blooms, 1-3/8″ Circle Punch, Regal Rose 5/8″ Grosgrain Ribbon, Button Latte, Linen Thread, Chocolate Chip Marker, Stampin’ Sponge, Glue Dots

It’s a couple of weeks since we returned from our Easter holiday down south  and in something other than my usual form of scrapbooking an event a good many years after it actually occurred, I have completed a page using one of the photo’s I took on the trip.

Go me!

My almost seven year old doesn’t have a scrapbook page of her second birthday yet, but at least she has a beach layout featuring herself from a fortnight ago, right?!

Here it is, the Just Add Ink theme for the week being vintage…..

The journalling reads:

She’s a few years younger than I was when I went to Dillon Bay for the first time but Hannah was just as captivated by this beautiful stretch of beach as I remember being.  Miles of baby-powder white sand and the bluest blue water you ever did see

I grunged up the picture a bit using some Pioneer Woman actions in Photoshop and also some post-printing sponged on ink around the edges, so the baby-powder-esque sand isn’t done a great deal of justice in this photo but it really is a sight to behold.

As for the layout itself, it was rather a collaborative effort, as I used elements of things that I loved from all over to put it together.

The custom made Designer Series Paper to the left of the layout was inspired by the amazing artist that is Teneale Williams.

I started out with a 12 x 5 inch piece of Baja Breeze cardstock and stamped all over it with the Sanded background stamp – first in Soft Suede, then in Versamark.

After that, I inked up my brand new Medallion stamp – also in Versamark – and stamped it in a fairly tight fitting pattern all over as well.

The whole sheet was then covered in Clear Embossing Powder and blasted with my Heat Gun.

Once it was embossed, I loaded up my Brayer with Soft Suede ink and rolled it several times all over the sheet, giving the exposed, un-embossed cardstock a gorgeous rich brown colour and leaving the embossed parts the original Baja Breeze.

This technique is called emboss resist, because the embossed part “resists” the ink that is applied.  It’s a wonderful technique

As you would very likely be aware, the process of embossing leaves quite a shiny finish and being a vintage theme, I wanted a flatter, less shiny finish, so this is where my second collaborator comes in…

I was at the workshop of a gorgeous customer and friend on the weekend and she’s one of those super clever types who tries her hand – and succeeds amazingly – at everything arty and crafty.

*waving Mandy*

During the make and takes, as I sipped on the Nespresso coffee that was whipped up for me (have I mentioned recently how much I love my job?!) I was browsing her collection of ATCs and cards and 3D projects and checking out her funky workspace and came across a card that looked very much like emboss resist, but with no embossing.

Mandy kindly let me know that the way to get rid of the embossing after the resisting had been done was to iron it!

I was keen to use this technique immediately, hence its appearance in this very challenge entry, and I was even more pleased to have a use for my iron, since it doesn’t see the light of day very often in a more standard role….

Basically, you just lay some sheets of copy paper over the embossed area and using your iron on high, go right over the top, thereby melting off the embossed area, which is lifted away when the copy paper is removed.

How cool is that?!

The third collaborator was another gorgeous workshop guest and a good friend of Mandy’s who is also one of those super clever crafty types.

*hi Lisa*

Lisa sent me the link to a tutorial for some particularly funky (and I thought, vintage-y) paper flowers using the Scallop Circle Punch and Crimper.

You can find the tutorial –>HERE<–

To make mine, I first stamped the Medallion onto Naturals Ivory cardstock using Baja Breeze ink, then punched out three Scallop Circles.  After following the tutorial linked above, I sponged some Soft Suede ink on the edges of the flower and added a Button Latte button and Linen Thread to the centre.

I was really happy with the way it came together, as vintage style is not something I would usually try my hand at.

If you’d like to challenge yourself to create something with a vintage twist, head on over to Just Add Ink to check out some DT inspiration!

And if you’d like any further information on my layout or the products that went into creating it, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

“Just Add Vintage – History Repeating 12×12 Layout”
Stamps: Medallion, Vintage Vogue, Sanded
Paper: Kraft, Baja Breeze, Naturals Ivory, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla textured
Ink: Soft Suede, Versamark, Baja Breeze, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Big Shot, Top Note die, Timeless Type Junior Alphabet dies, Eyelet Border Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Clear Embossing Powder, Button Latte, Linen Thread, Stamping Sponges, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Chocolate Chip Stampin’ Write Marker

My word these weeks are passing quickly and it’s time once again for a new Just Add Ink challenge.

This time it’s another sketch challenge – love these – and here it is for your inspiration…

This one shouted “scrapbook layout” to me, so after I had asked it to please use its inside voice  (we don’t shout in our house… ) I set about creating a layout according to the guidelines of the sketch.

And here it is….

You will notice that I flipped the sketch around as there was more empty space to overlap the smaller pictures on the left hand side of the large one, but other than that, I stuck pretty faithfully to the original layout.

To the left of the small pictures, you will notice some little tabs…

These were created using the “left-over”  part of the Round Tab Punch as you can see in the following “how-to”:

These tabs have function as well as a decorative purpose, as they actually indicate that the photo’s can be lifted up to reveal the journalling underneath…

The journalling is divided between all three of the lift-up photo’s and following on from the first bit that you can see above, says:

A couple of days after Christmas, we got to work on creating a fabulous ‘do’ for her.  One hour and a very patient 6 year old later, she had a head full of bouncing barrel curls.

Then it was time for the photo shoot…  Sophie hadn’t been too keen on the hairstyling thing, but definitely wanted in on the modeling action…

27 December 2009

To balance the page, I added a little embellishment in the top right, using the Eyelet Border Punch to create a pretty photo corner, then layered on some stamped images and small embellishments to fancy it up a bit more.

Truthfully, the main photo is just a tad pageant-ish for my liking, but since we were just messing about and playing hairdressers, I figured she could get away with being a bit of a diva for the camera just this once

So now it’s your turn!  Head on over to the challenge at Just Add Ink and see what you can turn the fabbo sketch into!

“Just Add Ink Challenge #6 – Stylin’ Layout”
Stamps: Framed with Love, Always
Paper: Close to Cocoa textured, Rose Red, Whisper White, Bella Bleu DSP
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White craft
Accessories: On Board Lots of Letters, Eyelet Border Punch, Round Tab Punch, Flower Fusion and Flower Fusion Too, Button Bouquet, Pretties Kit, White Embossing Powder, Stampin’ Sponges

Despite the fact that I absolutely LOVED so very many of the products in the soon to be defunct Spring Mini catalogue,  I don’t seem to have managed to blog about  them much.

I will be attempting to rectify that in the coming days as we wave a – possibly final – goodbye to the products that have graced us this Spring.

One of the things that screamed ‘Springtime’ most deafeningly to me has been the Walk in the Park Designer Series Paper.  The colours are so very fresh and pretty and Spring-y!

I thought it was about time I shared some more scrapbooking with you, so here is a layout I completed a little while ago featuring some of this gorgeous DSP and my equally gorgeous small girl.

I took the photos on a warm-ish Winter’s day in the park across the street from our house while Soph was intent on checking out the little pink flowers that were dotted throughout the grass.

The journalling reads:

Never happier than when you are communing with nature…  Sweet Sophie, my little garden girl

I used this sketch as a starting point for my layout and used a t-shirt of Sophie’s as the colour inspiration.

I’ve always loved the vintage-y look of this shirt and I think the colours are gorgeous together.

I zoomed in so you could see the beautiful detail in the image on the front of the shirt.

This happily also spares you from the assorted wrinkles and creases that are in abundance due to the fact that I don’t iron.  It takes away too much time from more enjoyable endeavours, so I have struck it from my list of ‘things that require my attention’.

I highly recommend it.

Stay tuned for some more projects involving Spring Mini stuff in the next little while, and to ensure that YOU get your hands on your must-have Spring Mini products, contact me today to get it while you still can…

“Garden Girl Layout”
Stamps: Jumbo Outline Alphabet
Paper: Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette, Walk in the Park DSP, Bella Rose DSP
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Regal Rose and Riding Hood Red re-inkers (to colour the Pretties)
Accessories: Pretties Kit, Button Bouquet, Scallop Edge Punch, Old Olive Marker (for journalling)

So I promised a story about the What Not to Wear chicks, Trinny and Susannah and here it is, with a cameo role…in fact a LEADING PERFORMANCE by none other than my very own stylin’ mum, aka Nanny.

You might want to grab a cuppa, this is likely to be a long one, but  I promise there is stamping in here too.

Somewhere.

So it starts with the news that Trinny and Susannah are doing a bit of a tour of Westfield shopping centres, and being rather long time fans, Mum and I decide that we simply MUST go along to one of their appearances.

We arrive at Whitfords shopping centre with not much time to spare and hardly any space either, since apparently there are a BUNCH of long time fans in Perth and evidently none of them have jobs, allowing them to be hanging out at a shopping centre at 10am on a Wednesday morning.

So right on time, cue those gorgeous women all their apparently flawed but well-camouflaged glory, and more than a single utterance of the word ‘tits’.

After a bit of a natter, they head out into the audience on the hunt for stage-fodder of the variety that have not a single clue of how to dress themselves appropriately.  Susannah was over on the other side of the audience and Trinny was on our side, but being well back in the crowd we figured they’d grab their victims in the first few steps and that would be that.

Wrong!

I was so busy taking random pictures above my head in case I managed to get Trinny in the corner of one of them, that I didn’t realise that it was no longer necessary as I could take this one instead…..

She was suddenly right in front of us and looking right at mum!

Next thing I knew, I was an extra handbag heavier and this was happening…

Mum was disappearing through the crowd with my style idol en-route to the stage!

Which, considering that these girls are in the business of telling people that they a bereft of any clue about fashion and personal styling, SHOULD have been a concern, but I was too excited that I had stood face to face with Trinny and mum was HOLDING her HAND!

Soon it was mum’s turn to be centre stage….

All worries about public humiliation of the style variety were laid to rest when they announced that mum was a fabulous example of how a 60-something woman should look!  Her hair is the perfect cut and colour, her glasses the perfect shape and her t-shirt just the right shade of ‘mink’

GO NANNY!

The only shame about the whole event was that the clueless lot that were given a bit of a makeover were also given a shopping voucher and a new Nikon camera!

Westfield shopping voucher….. $250

New Nikon camera….$300

Walking around Whitfords shopping centre to the stares and whispers of those who wished that THEY had as much style as you….  PRICELESS!

Now I did promise that there would be some stamping in amongst all of this fashion and frivolity, so here it is…

This is the 12×12 layout that  I set for everyone at our team stamping day, and I made mine up with the pictures of mum’s close encounter with Trinny.

At the end of the show there were elbows and sharpie pens flying as the entire crowd descended upon the girls for autographs and photo’s.  I managed to grab Trinny on her way past and asked if she would mind having a photo taken with ‘the one who got it right’, to which she promptly and graciously agreed!

So now it’s your turn!  Do you have any close encounter stories of the celebrity kind?  Let me know all about it, or better yet, scrapbook it and leave a link in the comments!  I’d love to check them out!

Now if only I’d had my camera handy when I was chatting with Keanu Reeves 13 years ago….

“Mum meets Trinny 12×12 layout”
Stamps: Fifth Avenue floral
Paper: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Kraft, Urban Oasis DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Eyelet Border Punch, Baja Breeze Double Stitched Grosgrain, Kraft Taffeta Ribbon, Photo Corner Punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Recently I offered my newsletter subscribers the opportunity to participate in a number of product shares, which are a fabulous way to get yourself a great variety of different stampin’ things to play with, without having to shell out for entire packs of everything up front!

It also gives you the chance to see things up close and personal in small amounts so that you can decide that you really can’t go a day longer without owning the whole lot of product x, y or z.

Which brings me to my embellishment share!

I have just ONE place left to fill and by taking that one place, you will be scoring yourself the following…..

• Flower Fusion and Flower Fusion Too (Felt Flowers in Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red & Old Olive and Pink Pirouette, Baja Breeze & Chocolate Chip) – approximately 26 Flowers from each set in assorted colours and sizes for a total of approximately 52 felt flowers

• Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware – 2 pieces of each style of label holder and large decorative brads plus 20 small silver brads for a total of 60 pieces

• Pretties Kit – 10 White Flowers (2 each in 5 sizes), 12 each White and Cream Halfback Pearls (6 Small, 4 Medium and 2 Large), 9 each White and Cream Round Pearls with Holes (6 small and 3 large), 2 Clear Round Beads with Centre Hole, 2 Clear Round Beads with Side Hole, 4 Clear Teardrop Beads, Clear Round Rhinestone Brads (4 Small, 3 Medium and 3 Large), 2 Hat Pins with Clutches and 6 Spacer Beads for a total of 78 assorted pieces

The cost to you for this array of loveliness is a mere $37 (plus postage if you are unable to collect it from me in Perth and require it to be sent to you).

As I mentioned, I have just ONE place remaining in this share, notwithstanding being inundated with requests for this spot, in which case I shall open up another share!  So contact me this very second to boost your embellishment collection!

OR……  Should you have a group of embellishment-crazed mates, get your own group of 5 together and contact me to form your own share!

But most importantly, if you haven’t already, head over there ——> and sign up for my customer newsletter to ensure that you’re among the first to know about such opportunities in the future!!

At Stampin’ Up!, May is the month to celebrate the art that is scrapbooking!

You may be a seasoned scrapbooker, always on the lookout for inspiration for your pages.

Perhaps you have just started out and are building your scrapbooking confidence.

Or maybe you’re a wannabe scrapper with no idea where to start, in which case you should book a workshop with me and I’ll come along and show you how simple it can be!

But back to the promotion….

This month, whatever kind of scrapbooker you are, you can take advantage of an awesome special on the beautiful range of Stampin’ Up! Designer Series Paper!

Not forgetting all you card makers of course – the Designer Series Papers co-ordinate with Stampin’ Up!’s colour families and in-colors making them a perfect addition to your hand made cards!

From May 1st to 31st, with every 3 packs of Designer Series Paper that you purchase in a single transaction, you can choose a fourth pack for FREE!

Here is the list of papers that are included in the promotion – basically all of the Designer Series Papers, aside from the Patterns packs and the Specialty Textured pack:

Contact me today to take advantage of this fabulous special on Stampin’ Up!’s delectable range of Designer Series Paper

There are LOTS of things to be happy about now that the Retiring List is out…..

1. The new arrival of the new catalogue is closer than ever!

2. The retirement list is our LARGEST EVER, meaning that LOTS of room has been made for exciting new stuff!  The story goes that we are being brought more into line with the US catalogue – bring it ON!

3. Did I mention that the new catalogue will be here shortly…?

4.  A HUGE number of things on the list are discounted by 25%!  Designer Series Paper from $8.96 per pack.  Need I say more?!

5.  Well there IS more!  Background stamps from $25.46!  Simply Sent card kits from $59.96!  Gingham Ribbon $9.71 per roll!

6. I am beginning to feel like the shouting man on the carpet commercial.  Perhaps it is only us Perth folk that are lucky enough to have him grace our TV screens….

7. …but I digress – did you hear that the new catalogue and all its wondrous contents will be available on April 1…?

Seriously though people, now that the retiring list is out, and PARTICULARLY because so many things on it are discounted so heavily, you will need to ACT NOW to ensure that you get the things that you so dearly desire before they’re gone forever.  Items on the list are only available while supplies last.  Anybody remember the in-colour re-inker fiasco of March 2008?  That’s what I’m talkin’ about.

To see the list in all its alphabetical glory, click here.  If you’d rather sit with your catalogue and check it out by page number, here is your version.

And another little heads up for you while I’m here – seems like ink pads are going up in price to $11.95 once the new catalogue hits.  Looks like it might be a good time to stock up on your favourite colours of those in the next month too.  I’m just sayin’….

Contact me today to order your retiring gear and avoid disappointment!

And since I’m here, how about another little somethin’ with a Carousel Note.   These are another thing that will only be around until the end of the month, being that they are in the Summer Mini and made up entirely of in-colours….

And see this stamp….?

….  it’s also from the Summer Mini, AND it’s on the list for the Bushfire Appeal, meaning that you can get it from me for 20% off and you will also be supporting the victims of the recent fire tragedy in Victoria.  Speaking of which, in the two weeks since Stampin’ Up! announced the Bushfire Appeal, I’m sure you will be amazed and delighted to know that there has been almost $35,000 donated to the Red Cross.  I certainly was.

Now see the paper that I used for the title….?

It’s  on the retiring list too and it is 50% off!  That’s right – $5.98 for a pack of 12 sheets of double sided Designer Series Paper.  It was the one that was accidentally left out of the current catalogue, so if you can’t remember what it looks like, dust off your 2007/08 catalogue and check it out on page 133.  Either that or contact me and I’ll email you the image

Right, now I’m going to bed as it’s 1.30am and given that tomorrow is Sunday, I’m pretty much guaranteed to be woken by my munchkins appearing at my bedside some time shortly after 6am.  They save their sleep ins for school days, bless their little hearts.

“Sophie Carousel Note 6×6“
Stamps: Live Your Dream, Jumbo Outline Alphabet
Paper: Kraft, Whisper White, Spring Flowers DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Wild Wasabi, Versamark
Accessories: Carousel Notes, Pretties Kit, Stampin’ Sponges, Stampin’ Dimensionals

On our team forum, Amanda recently challenged us with a sketch she had tucked away in her scrappin’ archives – one that I believe is from Valerie Salmon, who is a regular contributor to my favourite scrappin’ magazine.

So here is the sketch….

Although we didn’t have to stick exactly to the layout, we could adapt it to 12×12 or whatever, I chose to pretty much do it as it appears here, and so begins my newfound love affair with scrapbooking in A4!

These pictures of Miss Sophie were taken within moments of each other and perfectly convey her monkey-ish-ness!  The journalling at the side reads:

…actually just one face and what a sweet face it is too!  So expressive my gorgeous Sophie girl…

I am not especially happy with the way the photos printed – you may be able to see a greenish cast to the pictures from about eye-level upwards.  No idea what this is, but I just stuck the pics down with the minimum amount of adhesive so that I can re-print them and fix it up.  What I DO like is how it looks as though she has a big orange flower tucked behind her ear….!

“Sophie Faces Layout”
Stamps: Defining Alphabet
Paper: Rose Red, Taken with Teal, Bali Breeze DSP
Ink: Taken with Teal, Pumpkin Pie (to dye the flower)
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Paper Piercer, Pretties Kit, 1″ Circle Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, On Board Lots of Letters, Stamp-a-ma-jig

I mentioned yesterday in the post of mum’s colour inspiration card how much I LOVE these colours and I had a blast playing around with them in a 12×12 layout last night.  I spent pretty much all evening on it, as the only starting point I used was the colours, whereas usually when I scrapbook I start with a sketch or layout idea as well.  So the page evolved over a number of hours, but I thoroughly enjoyed the process and am also very happy with the result…

I started out making the flower using Pick a Petal with the co-ordinating On Board chipboard, stamping the petals onto Whisper White, then glueing them onto the chipboard and sanding the edges.  I am demonstrating different uses of the chipboard at my team stamping day tomorrow, so this layout will now be able to serve double duty – as my entry for the colour inspiration and also as a demonstration sample.  A Klass Act girls, if you’re seeing this here, you will have a minor case of deja vu tomorrow, but don’t worry I have other unseen samples too

I have actually done things back to front compared to how I would usually make a layout, as generally I pick the photos, then build everything up based on them, but this time I started with the challenge colours and looked for some pictures that would work.  This series of photos are some adorable snaps of my little one and our Ridgeback X, Luke, in the park recently.  Happily, Sophie’s top can pretty much pass as Regal Rose, and I just LOVE these photos, so they worked perfectly!

The rest of it kind of just happened as I played.  I love making my own flowers with the Pick a Petal set and when I was messing about with the style of the flower I thought about having one petal dropping off, like the old “he loves me, he loves me not” ritual of pulling a flower apart to figure out if your true love loves you back!   I thought this would work well as a theme, as Luke and Sophie have a very sweet relationship! It started out with her being scared to death of him, but now they potter around in the backyard together and she feeds him biscuits through the gap at the bottom of our back door, so he’s delighted with the arrangement!  Last week in the park after we had played on the swings, we were headed home and Sophie decided she wasn’t finished playing, so headed back in the direction of the playground.  Luke trotted off after her and ran around her in a big arc, kind of rounding her up – SO sweet!  So I made sure that the number of petals equated to “he loves me” and made that the title too

For the title, I stamped onto some of the Sage Shadow patterned paper from the Spring Fling pack of DSP using the Jumbo Outline alphabet, then cut them out.  The heart is another bit of chipboard covered in Rose Red cardstock, then with a layer of Crystal Effects to make it nice and shiny

I think I will actually add a second page to the layout so that I can add some journalling in, as I’ve kind of run out of space with the oversized flower taking up most of the page!  I’d love to record the little details of Luke and Sophie’s friendship for her to read when she’s older

“He Loves Me 12×12 Layout”
Stamps: Pick a Petal, Jumbo Outline Alphabet
Paper: Sage Shadow, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Rose Red Prints DSP, Spring Fling Prints DSP
Ink: Regal Rose, Sage Shadow
Accessories: On Board Chipboard Blossoms & Basics, Trimmings (upcoming Spring Mini!) and Accents, Small Corner Rounder Punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Crystal Effects