It's time for some Christmas Cheer...

There are only 90 days left until Christmas.  90 DAYS PEOPLE!! It's time to think about Christmas, whether you are ready to or not!! :) 

Last Saturday I did a Christmas Workshop for one of my lovely customers Ronda. With the new Holiday Mini Catalogue (which you can view here) being released, it meant we had access to all the wonderful new Christmas products. 

I demonstrated 2 quick and easy cards both with a Washi Tape theme. One using the Tape It Stamp Set, and the other using the Seasons of Style Washi Tape.

I also showed the ladies another quick card that was very simple. I like it when I can put together a design where I am allowing the beautiful DSP or beautiful stamp set do all the work for me!  Card recipes are below.

Tape It Card

Cardstock: Whisper White (#106549), Baked Brown Sugar (#131301), Cherry Cobbler (#121681), Old Olive (#106576)

Inks: Old Olive (#126953), Baked Brown Sugar (#131174), Cherry Cobbler (#126966)

Stamp Sets: Tape It (#130715, Sweet Essentials (#126457)

Other: Chevron Border Punch (#132154), Season of Style DSP Stack (#132181), Dimensionals (#104430).

Washi Tape Card

Cardstock: Whisper White (#106549), Cherry Cobbler (#121681), Old Olive (#106576)

Ink: Cherry Cobbler (#126966)

Stamp Set: Merry Little Christmas (#131829)

Other: Chevron Border Punch (#132154, Chalk Talk Framelits (#129983), Seasons of Style Designer Washi Tape (#132155), Seasons of Style DSP Stack (#132181), Baked Brown Sugar Ruffle Stretch Trim (#130022), Simply Pressed Clay (#130685), Simply Pressed Clay Moulds (Buttons & Blossoms) (#131272), Baked Brown Sugar Ink Refill (#131163), Dimensionals (#104430).

Merry Little Christmas Card

Cardstock: Gumball Green (#127543, Whisper White (#106549)

Inks: Gumball Green (#126861), Crumb Cake (#126975), Cherry Cobbler (#126966)

Stamp Set: Merry Little Christmas (#131829)

Other: Whisper White Bakers Twine (#124262), Seasons of Style DSP Stack (#132181), Neutral Designer Buttons (#130031), Dimensionals (#104430).

Mother Daughter Date Night Recap...

On Friday night was our first ever Mother Daughter Date Night Card Making Class. I have been wanting to introduce some variety into the types of events I put on to appeal to different people and their interests. This was one of my first ideas that I have rolled out and I am so glad I thought of it. 

We had 7 lovely people come along. 3 sweet little girls and 4 adults. As part of the evening I did a demonstration to show how quickly you can throw together a beautiful card.  All 3 little girls were my trusty assistants and helped me ink up my stamps, clean the stamps on the Stampin' Scrub (#126200), and stamp some of my images. Here is the card I demonstrated.

Card recipe below.

The next thing we did was interactive and fun. I brought out all of my favourite punches, and laid them out on my kitchen bench, and had lots of pieces of cardstock for everyone to choose from. Everyone punched out shapes from all the different punches, and put their punchies in baggies to take home and experiment with! The little girls loved this the most. They were busily punching out love hearts and birds and flowers with all the pink & purple cardstock!

After a game, we did our Make & Take project!

Card recipe below.

This card was made using just ink & cardstock, and one image needed to be punched out. It meant that it was easy for all the different skill levels of my guests but there was plenty of room for personal flair & creativity. Some of the cards of the younger girls were so adorable. They of course made the card their way, and I wish I had thought to take a picture to show you! 

I am hoping to do two Mother Daughter nights a year from now on. The next class will be in the New Year! 

BUTTERFLY CARD

Cardstock: Whisper White (#106549), Smoky Slate (#131291)

Ink: Smoky Slate (#131179), Primrose Petals (#126858), Blushing Bride (#131172)

Stamp Sets: Off the Grid (#130736), Papillon Potpourri (#123759), Gorgeous Grunge (#130517), Four You (#130538)

Punches: Extra Large Oval (#119859), Elegant Butterfly (#127526)

Other: Primrose Petals Stitched Satin Ribbon (#126844), Large Rhinestones (#129324), Basic Rhinestones (#119246).

FLOWER CARD

Cardstock: Whisper White (#106549), Strawberry Slush (#131300)

Ink: Raspberry Ripple (#126859), Strawberry Slush (#131178), Gumball Green (#126861), Summer Starfruit (#126991)

Stamp Sets: Betsy's Blossoms (#126006), Four You (#130538)

Punch: 1" Circle Punch (#119868)

I love Mini Muslin Bags!

I love these little bags. They are so cute, so versatile and so user friendly!  

It costs $16.95 for 8 bags. They are stampable, 100% cotton with a drawstring 

closure (10.2 x 14cm). They can be found in the new Holiday Catalogue here.

Here is a whole bunch of beautiful ideas that I found of how to use them!

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My green glass collection

I love green glass. My love of green glass stems from my love of green. My house has green dotted all over it. Lucky my hubby has a love of green also.

A couple of years ago I bought the large lime green jug on the left in the picture above on a whim. I just loved it. It was green, gorgeous, and I had to have it.

And then shortly after buying my first item of green glass, I saw this photo on Pinterest.  And I knew I had to start my own green glass collection.

Ever since then I have been on the lookout for more. 

I love the piece above. It's the darkest piece in my collection and I found it in an Op Shop for only a few dollars.  My favourite kind of find!

My aim with my collection is to have quite a variation in colours, sizes, shapes etc. I don't want my collection to just consist of bottles, jugs & vases.  I am on the lookout for pretty much anything green!

Recently we got a new dining suite and I'm so pleased to have a special place for all my green glass to live now, right under my green collage fabric canvas! 

Do you collect coloured glass? 

Or maybe you collect something else. 

What is it?

A tutorial: How to make your own Woodmount Case Covers

First and foremost, have you heard about the *NEW* Woodmount Cases? 

They are fabulous! It means that you can now change over all your woodmount stamps from those dinky plastic cases to these awesome cases.  They are the same design as the clearmount cases (similar to a DVD case) but are alot deeper, to accommodate a woodmount stamp. The price is excellent, at only $11.95 for a pack of 4 cases, which works out to only $3 a case.  BUT, there is a downside. No sticker or case cover which has the name of the stamp set on it. But do not fear, you can just make your own case cover!

So here we have the before.  A stamp set in a new case, but with nothing there to identify it. Now to make your own cover.

Using Whisper White cardstock (#106549) cut it to 15.9cm x 17.8cm.  And then score it on the longer side at 3.3cm. 

Using your Brayer (#102395) ink it up with your Wild Wasabi ink pad (#126959). I used another piece of cardstock to mask along the top about 3.5cm down. Run the brayer up a few times until you're happy with the colour intensity and coverage. 

Next, using your Alhambra Jumbo Wheel (#126940), ink it up with your Gumball Green ink pad (#126861) and run it across the green strip. 

Next, using your StazOn ink pad (#101406) stamp the images of the stamp set onto the front cover.  I am making a cover for my Perfectly Penned stamp set (#128703). 

Now to add the name of the stamp set to the cover across the top and also on the side spine. I used my new Simply Serif Alphabet (#126360) mini stamp set, once again using StazOn black ink. 

And then put it in the plastic cover, put in your stamp set and you're done!

How great does it look! I have about 10 that I have made up so far, and I love them.  Certainly looks better than a boring clear case!

Moulding Clay Tip!

We've all heard about the amazing new Simply Pressed Moulding Clay, & Clay Moulds right? 

I love the stuff. I love how easy it is to work with.  I love how the options are endless with what you can make out of the clay.  I love that I can make the clay any colour I want it to be.  I love that one small packet of clay never seems to run out.  I love those moulds, oh so much.  They are so sweet. 

But, there is one thing I do not love about Moulding Clay.  It takes at least 12 hours to dry.  

Recently I held a Workshop where everyone needed a large clay flower for their project.  Due to the drying time, it was necessary for me to pre-make everyone's clay flower beforehand. I needed 8 flowers, which meant I needed to get started making them about a week before the Workshop.  I had a plan to put clay in the mould each morning, and let it set during the day and overnight, and each morning, pop out the flower and put in new clay. I did this for two days... and then promptly forgot, until it was the day before my workshop.  I needed 6 more flowers! How was I going to make 6 flowers in 24 hours? Let me explain how.

Push your clay into the mould, and PUT IT IN THE FREEZER! Yep, you read right, the freezer. Leave it in for 30 mins, pull it out and quickly pop it out of the mould and then place it somewhere safe to dry. You have to remember to act quickly though. It literally freezes the clay, just enough, so that you can easily pop it out of the mould to complete it's drying process. If you don't pop it out of the mould straight away it starts to return to room temperature and will pick up your finger marks. 

I was able to make all 6 remaining flowers in a couple of hours, and they were dry, and ready to go for the Workshop on the next morning!

If you have a great Moulding Clay tip to share, I'd love to hear it!

To read more about some of the fun things you can do with Moulding Clay, go here.

Mickey Mouse Punch Art

A couple of weeks ago I did a workshop for one of my lovely customers.  One of the things she asked to learn about is punch art, and more specifically, how to make Mickey Mouse punch art, as her son is a huge fan! I came up with a couple of options and wanted to share them with you.

#1 - Large Mickey Face  

Head: 2-1/2" Circle Punch (#120906) 

Ears: 1-3/8" Circle Punch (#119860).  

I have used Basic Black cardstock (#121688)   

Using your 2 way glue pen (#100425), stick his ears to his head.

Eyes: Extra Large Oval Punch (#119859)

Eyeballs: Small Oval Punch (#120908) 

Pupils: 1/2" Circle Punch (#119869).  

For his "skin colour" I use Pink Pirouette cardstock (#116203)

Whisper White cardstock (#106549) for his eyeballs

Stick down all the pieces using your 2 way glue pen. 

HINT: I find it easier to glue down everything as it's punched out so I don't lose any of the little pieces!

Mouth: 3/4" Circle Punch (#119873) in Pink Pirouette

Tongue: 1/2" Circle Punch (#119869) out of Real Red cardstock (#106578). 

Nose: x3 Large Oval Punch (#119855) 

Small Oval Punch (#120908) in Pink

1/2" Circle Punch (#119869) in Black  

Glue down your mouth pieces using your 2 way glue. 

Glue all three of the larger oval pieces together, but use Dimensionals (#104430) to stick down your smaller oval and the black nose. 

Next you glue the mouth to the nose.

For finishing touches use your White Uni-ball Signo Gel Pen (#105021) on his eyeballs, nose & tongue. He's a nice big size so he could really be used for anything.  I just thought he looked sweet on my Kraft Gift Box (#124106).

If you love Mickey, but want less work involved, try making his silhouette.

#2 - Mickey Silhouette

Head: 1-3/4" Circle Punch (#119850) 

Ears: 1" Circle Punch (#119868)  

I have used Basic Black cardstock (#121688)   

Using your 2 way glue pen (#100425), stick his ears to his head.

And you're done! I put together this sweet simple card in a few minutes. 

#3 - Small Mickey Face

And another little Mickey face, this time, he's a little smaller. He would be great on a toothpick for some party food bunting, he'd work well on a card, or gift box.. it really is up to you.  Here's how to make him.

Head: 1-3/4" Circle Punch (#119850) 

Ears: 1" Circle Punch (#119868)  

I have used Basic Black cardstock (#121688)   

Using your 2 way glue pen (#100425), stick his ears to his head.

Eyes: 3/4" Circle Punch (#119873)

Eyeballs: 1/2" Circle Punch (#119869) 

Pupils:  Hole Punch  

For his "skin colour" I use Pink Pirouette cardstock (#116203)

Whisper White cardstock (#106549) for his eyeballs

Stick down all the pieces using your 2 way glue pen (#100425).

Mouth: 3/4" Circle Punch (#119873) in Pink

Tongue: 1/2" Circle Punch (#119869) in Red

Nose: x3 Small Oval Punch (#120908) 

1/2" Circle Punch (#119869) 

Using your 2 way glue pen (#100425), stick the tongue pieces together, and then stick the two pink "cheeks" together.  Stick down the two nose pieces using Dimensionals (#104430). Then glue your mouth to the underside of the nose.  I've used my White Uni-ball Signo Gel Pen (#105021) to add some little finishes touches.

I love this little guy, he is my favourite of the three.  

Enjoy making your own little Mickey's!!

Christy xo