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

I have a couple of layouts that I did way back in September last year, around the time of my new catalogue launch, and I thought it was about time I shared them here…

This one was based on a layout I found in a magazine and loved, but do you think I can – for the life of me – find it now?!  It’s very likely to have been from the pages of a Scrapbook Trends mag (rather a fave!) and if I can track down the actual issue, I will be sure to edit this post with the info.

The oldy-worldy map paper from the Newsprint DSP was perfect for this layout about the little girl from Ethiopia that we started sponsoring last year.  The story of how it came about is written in the background of the layout and reads like this…

“For the past few months, every time the World Vision commercial came onto the TV, you would stop everything you were doing to watch.  And every time the commercial was over, you would ask “Mummy can we sponsor a child..?”  We would talk about all the things we have – simple things that we don’t even think about, like clothes, food, clean water – and how some people in the world don’t have those things. Last week the ad came on TV again, and this time, as I waited for the question to come, I thought to myself that this time when you asked, the answer would be YES.  I love the way you are so thoughtful and sensitive to the needs of others and I love that you are always looking for ways to help.  We went onto the World Vision website and found Biftu – a seven year old girl in Ethiopia, who is born on the exact same day as you.  We completed all the sponsorship details and read how the little bit of money that it costs can help Biftu with her education and her family with food and water.  When the information came in the mail, you opened it up to read all about Biftu and you put her picture by your bed.  Thank you, my angel, for having such a big, beautiful heart…”

Next week I’ll show you the other layout that is also very close to my heart

Speaking of scrapbooking, with the poppets now happily back at school, or off to school for the first time, as is the case with my small girl, I’m dipping my toes back into the waters of the stamping class!

If you get my newsletter, you will have seen in last month’s edition that I am offering two classes this month, one of which is a scrapbooking class next Monday night.

I have three places left in this class and am SO excited about the layout, so would love you to join me if you can!

Here’s a peek at the layout we’ll be doing…

I used a pic of my scrumptious baby nephew for my layout, but it’s not specifically designed as a baby layout – any pic that will fit with the delicious colours of the Elegant Soiree DSP will do the job!

The class is $15, with all materials provided and will be held at my house in Perth next Monday, 21 February at 7.30pm.  Be sure to let me know if you’d like to nab one of the remaining places!

And don’t forget to pop back here tomorrow for the latest installment of Challenge Chewsday…!

“One World 12×12 Layout”
Stamps: Circle Circus
Paper: Garden Green, Melon Mambo, Basic Black, Old Olive, Newsprint DSP
Ink: Garden Green
Accessories: 1-3/8″ Circle Punch, Scallop Edge Border Punch, Timeless Type Junior Alphabet Sizzlits, Cropadile

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