Andrea Mears

Saturday, 31 March 2018

Last day of Sale-a-bration 2018

Although there's only a couple of hours left of Sale-a-bration here in New Zealand, I made this card yesterday and I rather like it, so I want to share it with you. I was having 'technical difficulties' with my blog yesterday, and I couldn't post it. So, here it is for you today.

It's understated, yet I think it's a nice card that would be good for either a male or a female.

I used the Eclectic Expressions Sale-a-bration stamp set, and I started with the Whisper White Thick cardstock, and then a layer of Night of Navy cardstock. Another Whisper White layer, and here I used Smoky Slate ink and Night of Navy ink for the circles. I just love the little circle made up of all the tiny dots.

Then I stamped the sentiment onto more Whisper White cardstock, and used the Triple Banner Punch to shape the end. I cut a layer of Night of Navy cardstock to layer behind the sentiment.

Working to get the sentiment and the layer behind it even was a bit of a mission! Thankfully I had plenty of spare scraps of both cardstocks.

I adhered both of the sentiment pieces to the card front using dimensionals to pop it out a little and highlight it.

Even though this stamp set retires at midnight tonight (it's currently 10.30pm here), I think I'm going to make a few variations of this card for the various men I give cards to. My sons might even like it (but probably in brighter colours) to give their friends on their birthdays too.

If you live in New Zealand, and would like to purchase any of these products, please click on the pictures below, and you'll be taken straight to my online shop. You've only got 1 hr, 20 minutes left to get the stamp set though, FREE with a qualifying $110 order.

I hope all New Zealanders enjoy the extra hours sleep that daylight savings ending brings us tonight!

Take care,

Andrea

Product List

Eclectic Expressions Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[147338]

$0.00

Night Of Navy A4 Card Stock

[106577]

$17.00

Banner Triple Punch

[138292]

$45.00

Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad

[131179]

$14.00

Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad

[126970]

$14.00

Picture Perfect Birthday Card

I was wandering around in Pinterest the other day, and saw a card similar to this - I didn't write down who's it was, so I can't give credit.

What it did though was made me look properly at the Picture Perfect Birthday stamp set - although I'd noticed the ability to make birthday candles on it, I had missed one very cool thing!

You can see clearly in this photo that all of the candles made in the Berry Burst ink colour, actually say 'Happy Birthday'! How cool is that!

I started with a piece of Whisper White Thick cardstock, and then cut a piece of Picture Perfect Party Designer Series Paper. Whisper White cardstock is the front of the card.

It took me quite a while to stampk as I wanted everything even. I know I didn't quite achieve it. One day I'll have the Stamparatus Stamp Positioning Tool, and it will make it easy to make this sort of thing absolutely perfectly! Check out the information about the Stamparatus here in my website. We'll be able to order it from 1 June...I'm very excited by that!

Anyway, I stamped the candles alternating between Tranquil Tide and Berry Burst, and I did the candle flames in Daffodil Delight. The senitment is in Tranquil Tide again.

And there it is - all complete. Trying to line everything up took me the longest time, but apart from that (or once I get the Stamparatus), this will be a really quick card to make.

On a different subject, I have discovered that as I've learnt more about blogging, the length of the name of this blog (www.andreamearslovestocraft.blogspot.com) is a real pain in lots of different areas.

I'm aware that I don't have terribly many followers at this point (!), so I'm going to change it tomorrow to www.stampsandrea.blogspot.com. This is neatly in line with my email address (stamps.andrea@gmail.com). I'm hoping to redirect from the old name to this one, but just in case that doesn't happen, please google it.

If you'd like to purchase any of the products I've used to make this card, and if you live in New Zealand, please click on the pictures below and you'll go straight to my online shop, where you can shop to your hearts content!

Thank you so much for reading my blog, and I wish you a peaceful Easter - two extra days off is a bit of a treat!

Take care,

Andrea

Product List

Picture Perfect Birthday Photopolymer Stamp Set

[145519]

$36.00

Picture Perfect Party 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[145559]

$21.25

Berry Burst Classic Stampin' Pad

[144083]

$14.00

Tranquil Tide Classic Stampin' Pad

[144085]

$14.00

Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad

[126944]

$14.00

A Quick and Easy Birthday Card

We had visitors unexpectedly drop in this evening, meaning that my time to create got chopped in half.

Therefore, I present you with a quick and easy birthday card to make - there are times when we just have to move fast, and today was one of those times for me!

The Designer Series Paper is one of the Delightful Daisy designs - I confess this is the first time I've used it as it's not one of my favourites, however I think it looks really good used this way.

I started with a piece of Night of Navy card stock that once folded measured 10.5cm x 14.9cm. I cut a piece of the Delightful Daisy paper to 10cm x 14.4cm. I then used the memento ink to stamp on a piece of Whisper White cardstock measuring 10cm x 5.1cm. Once I had stamped the sentiment (from the set Birthday Wishes for You), I coloured it in with the dark and light Night of Navy blender pens.

I know the blender pens aren't available until the end of May, but I want you to remember them - they are fantastic, and so easy to use.

That's the card for today. I'm not very good with embellishments, but I CASEd this card (copy and share everything), and the person I CASEd it from put some twine around the Designer Series Paper underneath the sentiment. I don't have any twine, but it's certainly a way you could add that little something extra.

If you'd like to purchase any of the products I've used to make today's card, please click on the pictures below, and you'll be taken to my online store. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I absolutely do not know all the answers, however I have a great network of people who can usually help me out!

I'm running a card class tomorrow night - it's a Stamp-a-Stack, which means each attendee will make 9 cards over the evening. I have 8 people coming, so together (including me making the demo cards), we'll make around 80 cards in a couple of hours. No time for chit chat! It does mean that I might not have a chance to blog tomorrow evening, but I'll be back on Thursday 29th March (NZ time)

Take care,

Andrea

tams# 21528

Product List

Birthday Wishes For You Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[145742]

$25.00

Night Of Navy A4 Card Stock

[106577]

$17.00

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

[106549]

$19.25

Night Of Navy Dark Stampin' Blends Marker

[144039]

$9.50

Night Of Navy Light Stampin' Blends Marker

[144036]

$9.50

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

[132708]

$12.00

Delightful Daisy Designer Series Paper

[144137]

$23.50

A bit more from Memories and More

I've made another quick and easy card using the Sweet Soiree Memories and More cards - I think you'll agree, it's a lovely card to send to someone you love. These cards are only available until 31 March. They're FREE when you spend $110.

I started with a Fresh Fig card (measurements below), and placed a mat of Old Olive on top. I then placed two of the Memories and More cards on, and finished off with a quick wrap of the Fresh Fig sheer ribbon.

That's it! How simple is that! I'd be very happy to receive this card in the mail though - wouldn't you?

Measurements

Cardstock

Fresh Fig 14.9cm x 10.5cm (once folded in half)

Old Olive 14.4cm x 10cm

Ribbon

Fresh Fig Sheer Ribbon

If you live in New Zealand, and would like to purchase any of the products I've used to make this card today (or any other Stampin' Up! products), please click on the pictures below, and you'll go straight to my online store.

Sale-a-bration is only on for 6 more days. For every $110 you spend in your order, you can pick one free Sale-a-bration item. See here for details. This is only until 31 March.

The other amazing special that runs until 31 March, is that you can join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator, and receive nearly $400 worth of free product, all for $189. Again, this is only good until 31 March. See here for more details.

Well, that's it from me. I hope that you've enjoyed this blog, and it's motivated you to go get yourself some of the Sweet Soiree Memories and More card pack.

Take care,
Andrea

Product List

Fresh Fig A4 Cardstock

[144248]

$17.00

Old Olive A4 Card Stock

[106576]

$17.00

Sweet Soirée Memories & More Card Pack

[147353]

$0.00

Fresh Fig 1/8" Sheer Ribbon

[144174]

$12.75

SNAIL Permanent Adhesive

[104332]

$12.00

Stampin' Trimmer

[129722]

$60.00

My Pinterest Browsing over the last week

Most of us do it - there's nothing wrong with it! I use pinterest for inspiration as much as I ever did. As I become more confident in my crafting I find I'm using other people's projects as a starting place for my own, except I may use a different stamp set or different Designer Series Paper, or different colours. In fact my card may end up not looking much like the other person's at all, but it's where I got my inspiration from.

Here's some of the cards I've seen on my Pinterest journey this last week.

I love all of these cards - Stampin' Up! makes it easy to create beautiful projects, whether you've been crafting for years or are a beginner, whether you're amazingly creative or like to think you are (like me!!!). The quality products, product coordination and many many sources of inspiration make it all possible.

I hope you've enjoyed my blog this evening - It's rather late here (11.30pm), so I had better get going and get to bed.

Take care,

Andrea

Tranquil Tulips took my fancy this afternoon - #FMS329

Tonight I'm entering my card into a sketch challenge - Freshly Made Sketches. They put up a weekly sketch, and this on (#FMS329) is a good one! Here's the sketch:

I find these sort of challenges great, as they give me heaps of scope to create, while also giving me an idea. It's all very well to CASE people (Copy and Share Everything), however it's also good to create by yourself. Having said that (!), this card was inspired by Mary Anne Cowan. Here's my version of it:

I've had this set for a while (Tranquil Tulips), and it's the first time I've played with it. I pretty much like everything on this card. The Berry Burst and Lemon Lime Twist go together so well, it's like they were made for each other!

Measurements will be towards the end of the post, but I started with a Berry Burst card front, and made a mat of Lemon Lime Twist. I then left a larger mat and used another piece of Berry Burst card, and I finished up with a piece of Whisper White card on the very front.

Next I started stamping - the stamps are made with that water colour look - I didn't do anything fancy with them at all. The tulip flowers are a two set stamp, and I think they look amazing together. I love the detail as well - with the little stamens there to really make it look real.

Once I had done all the stamping (using Lemon Lime Twist and Berry Burst inks, I stamped the Sentiment (from Daisy Delight stamp set) in Memento ink, and then adhered the Lemon Lime mini striped ribbon. The bow didn't take me too long to make - I think I'm improving!

That was all I did - no embellishments apart from the ribbon - I think it's enough as it is, and I think the simplicity of it is a major contributor to it's beauty.

Measurements

Cardstock
Berry Burst card front 14.9cm x 10.5 cm
Lemon Lime Twist cardstock 14.4cm x 10cm
Berry Burst cardstock 13.4cm x 9cm
Whisper White cardstock 12.9cm x 8.5cm

Ribbon
I cut only enough to wrap across the front of the card, then some more to make the bow.

How's that for a lovely but relatively quick card? Pretty simple, but still think how nice it would be to have that turn up in your mailbox one afternoon.

If you live in New Zealand, and you would like to purchase anything I've used here today, please click on the pictures below and you'll be taken straight to my online shop.

I hope your day is calm, and kind to you. My husband and children are away on a Scout camp this weekend, so I'm by myself! I'm going to try to get ahead with my upcoming classes, and my creating. Good luck to me!