Stampin' Up! Melbourne Regionals 2011 - Butterfly Surprise

Aside from an annual Australian/New Zealand Convention, each state hosts at least one Regional event per year. I attended my 2nd Regional event in mid-November and this year, I managed to create 25 swap cards compared to only 7 that I did last year. I got the idea for my swap from something that one of my sons did at school and a book I browsed through at Lincraft, combined the 2 ideas using Stampin' Up! products and thus achieved my swaps for this year. What do you think?

project recipe
stamps: Creative Elements (WM 124956, CM120647), Teeny Tiny Sentiments (WM 119185, CM 120024)
ink: Classic Stampin' Pad - Calypso Coral (122939), Lucky Limeade (122935)
card stock: Calypso Coral (124392), Whisper White (106549)

tools: Word Window Punch (119857), Owl Builder Punch (118074) for the medium size circle, Handheld 1/16" Circle Punch, Big Shot (113439), Beautiful Wings(118138), Top Note Bigz Die (113463), Stamp-a-ma-jig (101049), Circle Scissor Plus (112530), Circle Scissor Plus Glass Mat (112531)
the added pizzaz: Gold Brads (104337) or Silver Mini Brads (122941), Blender Pen (102845), Stamping Sponges (101610), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430), 2-way Glue Pen (100425), White Baker's Twine (124262) or thin non SU gold cord

cardessence photo tutorial

 Photo 1

• Use Circle Scissor Plus to cut out 2 pieces of 3" Whisper White card stock;
• Stamp images as per photo 1 & 2 (below).
• Sponge edges as per this photo.

Note: I stamped this piece on both sides but only sponged the top side. Reason: so that when it is stretched out, this piece is patterned  on the top and underneath - not a necessary step but a matter of preference.   



Photo 2

• Stamp, punch, colour in with a blender pen, die cut, sponge to obtain all the pieces in this photo;
• Trim the 3" WW circle piece so that it's a fraction smaller - don't worry that it's not a perfect circle as the top piece will hide the uneveness;
• Use dimensionals to adhere the sentiment;
• Use a brad to affix the butterfly layers in place on the circle piece; lastly
• Adhere them to the Top Note die cut piece.

  

Photo 3

•  Fold the first (top) piece into quarters.











Photo 4

• Use a sharp pair of paper snips and cut in an arc from alternate ends as shown in this photo.

Photo 5

• Unfold gently and assemble as per main (finished) photo.

I hope that this tutorial is easy to follow as it's my first photo tutorial. Let me know if you like this form of tactile greeting card/bauble.

Bye for now,





Creative Elements Party

As I mentioned before, September & October are very busy months for me each year. September also coincides with the release of the new Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalogue every year. Hence, I think that I'll always be late having my annual SU IB & C party as I only managed to hold my party on 22 October. Be that as it may, better late than never.

For this year's IB & C party, the lovely people who came got to play with the Creative Elements stamp set. Many of them groaned about having to cut flowers and a butterfly out but I was gleefully unapologetic. We had a lovely afternoon and at times, the silence was deafening as they concentrated on their Make & Take task. Here it is.

 project recipe
stamps: Creative Elements (WM 124956, CM120647), Teeny Tiny Sentiments (WM 119185, CM 120024)
ink: Classic Stampin' Pad - Poppy Parade (119782), Pool Party (122938), Island Indigo (122937), Stampin' Write Marker - Poppy Parade (119801)
card stock: Poppy Parade (121694), Pool Party (124398), Whisper White (106549)

tools: Scallop Trim Border Punch (118402), Big Shot (113439), Square Lattice Textured Embossing Folder (119976), Stamp-a-ma-jig (101049),
the added pizzaz: Blender Pen (102845), Dazzling Diamonds (102023), Sponge Daubers (102892), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430), 2-way Glue Pen (100425)

cardessence tips

• stamp the flower 3 times on WW card stock and cut out in 3 layers to get the 3 different flower sizes;
• for the 2 toned butterfly, I first inked it with Pool Party (always the lighter colour first) and then "rocked n rolled" it in Poppy Parade before stamping;
• don't forget to leave a thin white border when you cut out the flowers and butterfly as this technique will preserve the edges of your stamped images;
• stamp and colour your background piece before running it through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice embossing folder;
• depending on which look you like, you can daub the edges either before or after dry embossing (before embossing = soft edges, after embossing = worn look);
• I like my images precise and centred properly so I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig (SAMJ) to stamp the frame and sentiment.

Well, that's your lot for today, TTFN