* Get started on SPRING early with this awesome CLASS! 

 The  EASY to follow instruction  will leave you in possession of a most beautiful Gift Set -

my GARDENS BLOOM GIFT SET CLASS can have a spot waiting for you!  Early Bird price of $20 from Feb 1 - 26th {my birthday!} 

with the price commencing at the regular rate of $25 afterwards 

till Class Schedule Begins in MARCH!  

I designed this project to give you ABSOLUTE FUN  creating your very own lush floral pattern using the 2-Step Stamping Technique and the GARDEN GREENHOUSE Stamp Set!!! 

This technique - stamp set  is a go-to winner because the options available are so many - all with lovely results - just think of the colour combinations alone!  

Wouldn't the above look just lovely if I had chosen a purple-blue combination such as 

Wisteria Wonder and Bashful Blue - or how about So Saffron / Regal Rose !  

Embossing with White will have to be in another class - that would be darling!!! 

SEE THE CLASS DETAILS IN MY NEXT POST!

CLICK ON PHOTO FOR CLOSE-UP

Hi ladies!

Let's honour our retiring Lavender Lace and Passion Pink cardstock!

Today's card is about trying out a new lay-out which I will simply call "Open Window"

From seeing a drugstore card, I tweaked around with the idea at home. 

Thee's one flower to each window but slightly off-set  

so that  both flowers become visible from the front of the card. 

 I chose a stem and even hand-wrote

part of one message using my markers.

Another point was to use the white gel pen to make stitching lines around a window...

.....the idea is to have fun!

Inside, one card I wanted to use a scrap piece of vellum with the following greeting...

but when I put the vellum up against the pink cardstock, I thought it looked

a little bland. Part of that is because the letters were very close

to the colour of the cardstock. As well, phantom words had 

been on the vellum in the background, and parts of those are visible

making it even more dicey.

My solution was to use a scrap of lighter coloured cardstock 

behind the vellum and then hightlight the "Wonderful" word.

To hightlight the word, I used pastel chalk, and created 

a small ribbon of hot pink chalk - see pic.

And here it is, pretty simple, huh?

Of course, I need my bling!

Bring out the gem brads to the rescue! 

I love to use gem brads in place of the 

letter 'o' all the time!

Now, its got a home on the inside which completes my sentiment....

"Because of you, its a Wonderful World"

My Happy Birthday was stamped on the opposite side. 

And a few more embellishing went on....

Basically, the same card in Lavender Lace. But I chose to

have more fun with glitter on this one.

Those glue pens work great for doing fine glitter work! 

Another thing, I like to tie in my handwritten notes to the card.

I use the stamps from the card, to stamp the paper I write on - 

nothing too crazy, just one corner works great! 

I think these are the things that make the recipient feel special -

its like getting candy on your pillow at the hotel, a small gesture

but works at making you feel nice :)

So there you have it.....so make someone feel nice by 

receiving a card from you - no reason needed, just a friendly hello!

CHEERS :)
Beverly


- LEARN HAND-MADE CARD IDEAS - 

Look at this great idea. Our ORNAMENT PUNCH has been featured by many talented crafters as a means to make a ROSE FLOWER!
How neat is that!

Sooooo...I have been on a creative roll lately, plus I wanted to make something special for a friend of mine, Caroline. And I wanted to have a good challenge.

Now there are several ways to use this punch as a flower - many of which are a lot simplier than what I have done.  But if you've been a crafter for awhile, you should challenge yourself especially if you give classes - you can't expect it from others if you don't do it yourself!

It took me awhile - the petals were the most challenging. I was working 'blind' - no template, no instructions...and so each petal was a small engineering job in itself. Do I roll the petal this way or fold it that way? Should I tilt it this time or lay it straight...and so on.  To make matters interesting - I chose to make another at the same time, using crushed paper {I took a paper and squashed it over and over, then inked the creases with a sponge to distress it ....continue till the paper is 'pliable'}.  It was easy because while one flower was waiting for some glue to dry, I worked on the other one.

Before the night was done, I was finished both. However, for my gift flower, I moved on to the next part, placing it in such a way as to make a nice presentation. And in the end, the teacup flower was born!

Well - its done, and I believe she really liked it!

 I am totally going to make more of them. :)

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Punch - Ornament (NEW from Christmas Mini Catalogue), Trio Flower (mini pink flower)

Equipment - The Big Shot

Dies - Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit Die (NEW from Occasions Mini Catalogue),

Bigz Beautiful Butterflies Die, Scallop Circle Die (green collar), Bird with Leaves and Flower (stem),  

Cardstock - Bridal Specialty Paper {white}, various Good Neighbour Patterns, Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink (for flower in background)

Stamp - Well Scripted (Occasions Mini catalogue) 

Ink - Melon Mambo

Other - tiny gems, ceramic teacup votive candle holder.

- LEARN CRAFT IDEAS LIKE THIS ...COME TO CLASS! - 

Hello!

Here is my latest....a Spring Card! I have Candace to thank for this, she was curious to know about this technique and so I set out to do my own. I will post a tutorial here by tomorrow - so check back!

I made this card with a pink and a orange flip side - so it can show how the two sides appear when folded - there are 2 corners that get snipped off and rather than waste them, I glued them on the base. I might still find a little something to decorate the base - seems like it needs it.

Sometimes I like to take my time to make something - I once made a painting that took me about 7 years to finish, and I started a pine cone topiary a looooong time ago that is still requiring one side of it to be completed - yikes, better get started. Maybe I'll actuallly have it ready for Thanksgiving!

But I digress....so, this "spring" card - so named because the lower back folds allow the front of the card to be perched on an angle - and the card can be folded flat, yet will 'spring' back up again when released! It behaves like a lovely display.

I shall return to this and try to make it as a 'frame' with a photo - anyone with other ideas?

After watching an old fashioned movie, I suddenly felt like making a ' busy floral ' card - I guess it was due to all the chintz curtains, flower gardens and straw hats in the film (a Miss Marple film! :)).....so there I was ... late at night... making this card.

I think the biggest part came when I decided to make a black brad fashioned out of a silver one, and then to coat it with black glitter. And it wouldn't photograph right - sorry! I merely 'inked' the brad with Staz On in Jet Black colour and after drying, coated it with glue and dipped it in black glitter. Oh, it might be a lot of fuss but I really felt like having a black brad! What's a girl to do?

I hoped I stopped this card from feeling like 'Fall' with the dash of polka-dotted pink, and do hope everyone likes its lay-out. One should try out different things - right?

Ooops - I forgot to add another frog we own. The statue frog is our latest tho!

Here is a Mosaic card - because we use a strip of Stampin' Up!'s Sticky Pages (VERY tacky adhesive paper) and small pieces of beautiful paper and glitter to create a "mosaic" which we then feature on our card front. To this we add the beautiful image of a butterfly and a gem brad - its just a lovely, lovely technique! Don't you think so?

I like it very much and have used it in various projects around my house! Plus it's a neat way to use up 'scraps' of paper - scraps that you'd rather use than throw out no matter how small!

GOD’S BEAUTY MOSAIC CARD Tutorial

SUPPLIES:

Cardstock (all Stampin' Up!)
8 ½ x 11 in. green ex) Kiwi Kiss

3 ½ x 3 ¼ in. pink ex) Pink Piourette
3 x 2 ¼ Whisper White

¾ x 2 ½ Whisper White (optional for expression)

Scrap Paper -

small scraps of paper with pretty design, we used SU's Designer Series 'Walk In The Park' papers in pieces of green and pink,

Accessories
1 ½ in x 4 in. strip "Sticky Pages' (stampin' up!)

God’s Beauty Stamp Set (stampin' up!)
Pink Passion Classic Ink Stamp Pad (stampin' up!)

Old Olive Classic Ink Stamp Pad (stampin' up!)
Gem brad (co-ordinating color, ex) pink)

Silver Chunky Essentials Glitter (stampin' up!)
Double-sided adhesive

piercing tool for brad

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fold large green paper in half. Score fold.

Mosaic Strip:

Take 1 strip of Sticky Page + pull off one side of the backing papers. Set on work surface with the exposed sticky side facing up.

Cut pieces of green + Pink patterned paper + use them to cover Sticky strip – leave areas between ‘mosaic’ pieces exposed . Overlapping edges can be trimmed later.

Take “ mosaic strip” over to glitter tray, and pour glitter all over – so it fills in all remaining gaps of the sticky page strip. Press to secure. Shake off excess.

Holding strip by one of the paper pieces, pull off last remaining backing paper and carefully lay down the ‘glittered mosaic strip’ onto card, left side .


Stamp whisper white 3 x 2 ¼ in cardstock with butterfly in Pink Passion ink.
And “stamp off “ the stamp to the surrounding sides so image repeats itself in lighter shades.
Adhere to the pink 3 ½ x 3 ¼ pink cardstock.

Pierce hole in upper left corner through both cardstocks and attach gem brad. Attach the completed piece to the card, overlapping the mosaic strip ‘slightly’ – use double-sided tape.

Optional - stamp sentiment “Beauty is God’s handwriting”. Ralph Waldo Emerson, ...in Old Olive ink to small white strip and trim. Attach to lower right corner, overlapping the butterfly/pink cardstock using strong adhesive or double-sided tape.

*Note: Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette are to be discontinued by June 30 - I'd order these if you would like them as soon as you can as the 'retiring' products are only til the end of the month.