Workshop cards

Whoops - I turn around & suddenly it's been nearly 3 months since my last blog post!!
Last weekend my SIL had a workshop, so I had to dust off my Stampin' Up! goodies & make some cards. At a loss where to start I found this lovely card made by Genelle so CASED it -

I haven't changed it at all just added a different sentiment. I loved the colours (Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzaz, Early Espresso) & how cute is the inlaid embossing panel Here is a close up of the inlaid enbossing made using the Boho Blossoms Punch & Little Leaves Sizzlit die - doesn't it look like a peice of patterned paper!

Thought I'd also make the same card but change it up abit by using different colours, punches & dies

For a girly twist I used the colours from the Sweet Stitches DSP in the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue along with the gorgeous Beautiful Wings Embosslit I really love the inliad embossing technique - you can hardly tell that there are four layers of cardstock on the embossed piece!

Next up for a masculine feel I used Not Quite Navy, Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard & Always Artichoke along with some different sized circle punches for the pattern.

Finally, my boyish scheme of Pacific Point, Real Red & Pumpkin Pie. I have a young chap in mind for this card so have used the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet Dies to personalise it with his initial & age.

If you live local to me & would like to make these cards, then contact me to book your own workshop - hopefully I will be back with more stampin to share in alot less than 3 months time :-)

Strength & Hope

I made this card for an INKlings swap that I took part in recently. It uses the new Strength & Hope stampset from the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue - Stampin' Up! will donate $2 from the sale of this stampset to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. I really love the new Framed Tulips ambossing folder & for this card I have sponged the embossed parts with Crumb Cake ink.

Mmmmm - think I have a bit of a 'thing' for this butterfly & the rock & Roll technique!!

I hope the swappers liked my card, as I received some gorgeous ones back in return. You can see Kari's here & I am hoping the other girls blog their cards so I can link them also.

Stampset: Strength & Hope Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Choc Chip, Crumb Cake, Whisper White Ink: Daffodil Delight, Choc Chip, Crumb Cake Accessories: Antique Brads, Framed Tulip Embossing Folder

ESAD SAB Blog Hop

Welcome to the ESAD SAB Blog Hop. What is ESAD, what is SAB & what is a Blog Hop?????

ESAD - is a group of Australian & New Zealand Stampin' Up! demonstrators. We have a fantastic Yahoo group where demonstrators can ask questions, share ideas & inspire each other. If you are a Stampin' Up! demonstrator in Australia or New Zealand you can find out more about how to join ESAD here.

SAB - stands for Sale-A-Bration & is the most exciting promotion on the Stampin' Up! calendar. During SAB (25th January to 31st March 2010) customers can choose a free SAB stamp set for every $100 spent, Hostess can choose a free SAB stamp set for every $600 in sales & new demonstrators can choose a free catalogue stampset to the value of $79.95.

For the Blog Hop, you just follow the link at the end of my post to the next blog to check out some more creations using SAB stamp sets. There are 42 blogs in total & if you comment on all of them you will be in the running to win some amazing blog candy including inkpads, ribbons, stampsets etc.

As soon as I saw these cards, I knew I had to CASE them. They are so quick & simple to make yet still look gorgeous. I have made mine in Pink Pirouette & Baja Breeze using 1/4 of an A4 sheet each, so they are a small 10.5cm x 7.5cm

Stampset: Happy Moments

Cardstock: Confetti White

Ink: Pink Pirouette, Close to Cocoa, Black Staz On

Accessories: Designer Buttons, Aquapainter, Pink Pirouette 1 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon

Stampset: Happy Moments
Cardstock: Confetti Cream
Ink: Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Black Staz On
Accessories: Corduroy Buttons (retired), Aquapainter, Kiwi Kiss Satin Ribbon

Another great thing about these cards is that they fit into one of the Stampin' Up! medium sized cellophane bags. I found some matching DSP in my stash & made a couple of bag toppers to package up my cards. If you would like the chance to win one of these card sets, along with many other great prizes then make sure you continue on the blog hop & comment on each of the blogs. The blue set will be sent to the overall blog candy winner & I will draw a winner from those who comment on my blog for the pink set.

Thanks for hopping by, make sure you continue on to Amy's blog for the rest of the ESAD SAB Blog Hop.

Circle Punch Flowers

I've been making afew quick & easy flowers using up some of my left over DSP & a couple of Circle punches. I have used the new 1 3/4" Circle punch in the Summer Mini Catalogue along with the 1 1/4", 1" & 3/4" Circle Punches.

Here is a close up of one of my flowers. To make the leaves I have folded a 2" strip of Old Olive cardstock in half & put it through the crimper on an angle, then cut out some half circles. Once you fold out the cardstock you get a great leaf shape. The buttons I have used are from the new Playground & Sherbet Designer Buttons.

Kraft cardstock is such a great colour & goes with anything, so I just had to change the DSP & ribbon I used for afew different cards. This one is in Tempting Turquoise.

For my Pretty in Pink & Bashful Blue versions I also added a cute little butterfly using the new Butterfly Prints stamp set & matching punch.

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Oh Dear ..........

I've been MIA for so long, I'm sure all my readlers have moved on. Never the less, I have made a New Years Resolution to blog frequently again. Life has been quite busy since I last posted - we have visited friends in Sydney, went for a camping holiday on the beach & I've generally been busy chasing around kids & working. We were also lucky enough to spend Christmas with my parents on the Gold Coast, which was lovely.

Although I haven't had alot of time to do much stamping, I did make these frames for the kids Grandmother & Great Grandparents using some of the fun Double Sided Papers from the new Summer Mini Catalogue.

Sam's frame uses the new Tall Tales DSP - I kept it very simple & just cut out a couple of trees, added his name using the Jumbo Outline Alpha & the year using a retired numbers set.

For Josie's frame I cut out some flowers from the new Kaleidoscope DSP - the colours matched her pink shirt perfectly. Once again I used the Jumbo Outline Alpha for her name & a retired numbers set for the year, I also added a rhinestone brad on top of the "i"

Thanks for stopping by, I promise it won't be another 3 months before I post again.

Choo Choo

I made this card last month for an INKlings card swap. It uses a fun new set from the Spring Mini Catalogue - Choo Choo & the matching Stampin' around wheel - Right On Track.

To create the cloud background I punched out a scallop circle, placed it on the card base & sponged baja ink over the top.

Stampsets: Choo Choo, Loads of Love Accessories, On Your Birthday

Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Bella Rose & Sweet Slumber Specialty DSP

Ink: Baja Breeze, Basic Black, Tangerine Tango

Accessories: Old Olive, Summer Sun, Real Red & Choc Chip Markers

Ribbon Tags

I first saw these cute little ribbon embellishments here. I have posted a card using them before, but thought I'd give them a rerun & add some of the gorgeous new corduroy buttons A fun thing to do is dye your corduroy buttons. I used a sponge dauber & then touched up the buttons using my markers. You will need to make sure the button you want to dye is lighter than the colour you want to change it to - I have dyed a gray button Choc Chip & a Baja Breeze button Rose Red.

Stampsets: On Your Birthday, Trendy Trees, Fresh Cuts

Cardstock: Whisper White

Inks: Choc Chip, Baja Breeze, Rose Red

Accessories: 1" Stitched Grosgrain, Hemp Twine, Corduroy Buttons

Corduroy Button Share

Have you seen the new corduroy buttons in the Spring Mini Catalogue? They are just gorgeous & really add a special touch to any project. If you would like a sample of all three colours that are available, then join in my corduroy botton share - for $15 you will recieve 18 buttons, 2 of each design in three colours, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss & Basic Gray.

I have used the gorgeous Baja Breeze corduroy buttons on this card - it is a sketch challenge from a recent cyberstamp I joined in.

Stampset: Great Friend, Cute & Curly

Cardstock: Kraft, Baja Breeze, Pretty In Pink, Whisper White

Ink: Baja Breeze, Pretty In Pink, Close to Cocoa

Accessories: Pink Striped Grosgrain, Baja Corduroy Buttons, Designer Flower Brad, Curly Label & Eyelet Border Punch

Stampin' Up! Spring Mini available now!

You can download a PDF file by clicking here, or send me an email with your addres & I'll pop a hard copy in the post - stamping@alanagalagher.com

Cyberstamp Colour Challenge

Last weekend a demonstrator group that I am a member of held a cyberstamp. It was great fun to chat with some lovely demonstrators around Australia & also participate in some fun challenges. One of the challenges was a colour challenge of So Saffron, Basic Gray & Whisper White, so I thought I'd break out some more goodies from the upcoming Spring Mini Catalogue to create this card...

There is some new DSP - Walk in the Park, new stampset - Oval All & the latest punch - scallop oval, it is a perfect match for our large oval punch. I've used my scallop edge punch to make the scallop square mat, you can see a tutorial here if you would like to make one too.

Here is a closeup of the scallop oval. I have used my inkpad & a blender pen to colour in the birds chest & the flower.

Stampsets: Oval All, Friends 24-7
Cardstock: So Saffron, Basic Gray, Whisper White, Walk In The Park DSP
Ink: Basic Gray, So Saffron
Accessories: Scallop Oval, Large Oval & Scallop Edge Punch, Soft Subtle Brads, Dress Up Ribbon Originals

I will post some more of my cyberstamp creations over the next few days.

Spring Mini catalogue is almost here!

The Stampin' Up! 2009 Spring Mini Catalogue goes live on Sat August 1st. It has some really lovely stamp sets in it & my fav - gorgeous corduroy buttons. Another favourite of mine is the Great Friends stampset, I just love the butterfly.

Stampset: Great Friend

Cardstock: Basic Gray, Whisper White, Bella Rose & Urban Oasis DSP

Ink: Basic Gray, Regal Rose

Accesssories: Gray Taffeta, Kiwi Kiss Corduroy Button, Eyelet Border Punch

Ooops........it's been awhile!

Gosh, the time just seems to slip away lately & before I know it almost a month has passed & my poor little blog has been left neglected :-(

The INKlings seem to have abit of a baby boom going on at the moment with Dani, Clare & Mel all welcoming little girls into the world over the last couple of weeks, so I thought I'd break out my new Build-A-Roo stamp set.

Stampset: Build-a-Roo
Card: Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip, Watercolour Paper, Pink Flamingo & Bella Rose DSP
Ink: Black Staz On
Accessories: Paper Piercer, Button Latte

Stampset: Build-a-Roo
Card: Regal Rose, Riding Hood Red, Pink Flamingo DSP, Watercolour Paper
Ink: Black Staz On, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Cutter Kit, Button Bouquet


I've seen afew of these cute crocheted flowers around the internet lately, so bought a book & followed this tutorial along with another video tutorial I now can't find & taught myself how to make them. The first few were abit rough, but I think I'm getting the hang of them now :-)

I still have one card to make & also have to get them sent out........soon :-)

More Raspberry Tart

I've been having more fun using the gorgeous Raspberry Tart papers - they are so bright & fun.

Stampset: Trendy Trees

Card: Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red, Raspberry Tart DSP

Ink: Rose Red

Accessories: Pink Pirouette Striped Grosgrain, Button Bouquet, Eyelet Border Punch

I made the corner decoration by layering one of the photo corner punch outs onto a scallop square punch out & hand cutting off the bits of the scallop square that I didn't want.

Stampset: Define Your Life

Card: Kiwi Kiss, Regal Rose, Rose Red

Ink: Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss

Accessories: Rose Red Brad, Eyelet Border Punch, Scallop Square Punch Photo Corner Punch

Raspberry Tart

Did anyone even notice my HUGE error ...... I said in a previous post that I was using Urban Garden DSP when in actual fact it was Urban Oasis DSP - what a twit! Anyway, I've now moved onto Raspberry Tart!

Stampsets: Eastern Blooms, Upsy Daisy

Card: Rose Red, Regak Rose, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, Raspberry Tart DSP

Inks: Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red, Regal Rose

Accessories: Kiwi Satin Ribbon, Fire Circle Rhinstone Brads, Flower Fusion

Ounches: Whise Oval, Designer Label, Large Oval