Friday 28 August 2020

Whale Of A Time Birthday Card

 

#thecraftythinker #stampinup #cardmaking #simplecard #whaleofatime , Whale Of A Time Suite, Simple card, Stampin' Up! Demonstrator Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW
A really easy card featuring the Whale Of A Time Suite - suitable for any age group

I always have difficulties when it comes to making cards for children - probably because, when it comes to purchasing stamps and dies, I'm drawn to things like flowers!

So when I saw the products in the Whale Of A Time Suite, I thought they could be multipurpose - and I think it works.  This card is for my under 12 great-nephew.  For a younger child, I'd feature the whale image.

Another bonus?  It's sooo quick and easy!  

I trimmed a piece of the Whale Of A Time 6" x 6" paper to fit my Pacific Point base card. Then randomly stamped the jelly fish, turtle, sea horse and fish.  I double stamped the fish so that some appear a bit further away.

Then I stamped the greeting and adhered a few of the very pretty Whale Of A Time Sequins.

All done in a matter of minutes!  .... but don't tell anyone how little effort it required - it'll be our little secret!

Thank you for visiting.
'Til next time!
Stephanie

Product List  - All available for purchase in my online store

Monday 24 August 2020

Glimmery Snowflake Wishes - Non-traditional Christmas Card

#thecraftythinker #stampinup #snowflakewishes #xmascard #cardmaking , Snowflake Wishes Bundle, Glittery Black Christmas card, Stampin' Up Demonstrator, Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW
A glimmery, glittery, over-the-top black & silver Christmas card featuring the Snowflake Wishes Bundle

I suddenly realised the other day that the Christmas cards that I'd been making so far lacked my usual seasonal bling.  I think I may have over-compensated!

However, despite all the glitter and bling, this is at heart a very easy card to make!  

I have to apologise though - until I started preparing my list of products used I had not noticed the retirement of the Silver Glimmer Paper - a sad loss!  If I were to make this card again, I would substitute Silver Foil Sheet for the Silver Glimmer Paper.

Thank you for visiting.
'Til next time!
Stephanie

Product List - Available for purchase from my online store

Friday 21 August 2020

Flowers For Every Season Memories & More: A beginner's Guide to Building and using a Craft Stash!

#thecraftythinker #stampinup #beginnersguidetocardmaking #flowersforeveryseason #cardmaking , Flowers For Every Season, Beginners Guide to Cardmaking, Stampin' Up Demonstrator, Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW
Flowers For Every Season Memories & More Card Pack and
Flowers For Every Season Memories & More Cards & Envelopes:

Warning - this blog post will be long and very image-heavy!  I've been playing with the Flowers For Every Season Memories & More Card Pack and coordinating Cards & Envelopes.  In a very short space of time, I'd created, I think, a dozen lovely cards, including some pretty Christmas cards (scroll down)!  

It occurred to me that it's a great place for the beginner to start and then I've gradually stepped up the cards along with suggestions for gradually building a card-making stash of products and tools.

For the group of cards above, I added nothing more than some adhesive - simple but very pretty and no need for any tools or other supplies.

#thecraftythinker #stampinup #beginnersguidetocardmaking #flowersforeveryseason #cardmaking , Flowers For Every Season, Beginners Guide to Cardmaking, Stampin' Up Demonstrator, Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW
The Memories & More Card Pack includes stickers
and some greetings that can be cut out and stuck on separately with some glue

Then I added a stamp set (for some greetings) and an ink pad.  (Depending on the type of stamp set, you may need to add an acrylic stamp block or two). For the cardmaking beginner, this is a good way to evolve creativity and start building a stash.  To stretch your budget as far as possible, look for a stamp set with images that you like as well as a good, versatile greeting or two.  
#thecraftythinker #stampinup #beginnersguidetocardmaking #flowersforeveryseason #cardmaking , Flowers For Every Season, Beginners Guide to Cardmaking, Stampin' Up Demonstrator, Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW
I added a stamp set and an ink pad to make this pretty card. 
I used Just Jade ink to coordinate with the cards

The next step in the evolution was to add some pretty layers which requires the addition of some cardstock (I used the 2020-2022 In colour A4 cardstock pack) and a cutting tool to the stash.  I really love my Stampin' Up Paper Trimmer that cuts and scores and is the most effective and reliable trimmer I've owned in my stamping lifetime and it's reasonably priced.  However, a craft knife, steel ruler and suitable cutting surface would suffice.

#thecraftythinker #stampinup #beginnersguidetocardmaking #flowersforeveryseason #cardmaking , Flowers For Every Season, Beginners Guide to Cardmaking, Stampin' Up Demonstrator, Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW
I used both a large and small Memories & More card, made a base card from Misty Moonlight cardstock and cut some layers from Bumblebee cardstock.

For the next card, I used the Misty Moonlight cardstock to add a layer to the card and also added a greeting stamped with Misty Moonlight ink.  On this occasion, I used a Stampin' Write Marker as I only wanted to ink up part of the greeting on the stamp (see below).
#thecraftythinker #stampinup #beginnersguidetocardmaking #flowersforeveryseason #cardmaking , Flowers For Every Season, Beginners Guide to Cardmaking, Stampin' Up Demonstrator, Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW
I added a layer of Misty Moonlight cardstock and a partially inked greeting

#thecraftythinker #stampinup #beginnersguidetocardmaking #flowersforeveryseason #cardmaking , Flowers For Every Season, Beginners Guide to Cardmaking, Stampin' Up Demonstrator, Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW
I used the Misty Moonlight Stampin' Write Marker to add ink to part of the stamp

The next card uses ink in another of the 2020-2022 In Colours and some Blue Adhesive-Backed Gems - it's never too soon to start building an embellishment stash!
#thecraftythinker #stampinup #beginnersguidetocardmaking #flowersforeveryseason #cardmaking , Flowers For Every Season, Beginners Guide to Cardmaking, Stampin' Up Demonstrator, Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW
This Memories & More card required a little trimming before I added it to the
Bumblebee base card I'd made.  I added a stamped greeting with Cinnamon Cider ink

Now it's time for a bigger jump in the cardmaking evolution - some die cutting!  This requires the addition of a die-cutting machine to our growing set of tools but it's the gateway to a newfound creative freedom that's truly exciting!  With one of these machine you'll also be able to use embossing folders and then learn cool and nifty techniques like embossing with your dies ... but that's for another time!
#thecraftythinker #stampinup #beginnersguidetocardmaking #flowersforeveryseason #cardmaking , Flowers For Every Season, Beginners Guide to Cardmaking, Stampin' Up Demonstrator, Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW
I added a bit of die-cutting to this card, using Silver and Balmy Blue Glimmer Paper
and dies from the Beautiful Boughs and Poinsettia sets

Stampin' Up's Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine is competitively priced and comes with all the plates you'll need along with easy to follow instructions.  It's strong and well-balanced and folds for carrying (sometimes we want to craft at a friend's house!) or to take up a small footprint on the table.  It's available for purchase from 1 September 2020.

Now that we're die-cutting, we can start to look at Bundles to save ourselves 10% on coordinating stamp sets and dies!  We can get that lovely dimension onto our cards without going to the effort of fussy-cutting around the images!

#thecraftythinker #stampinup #beginnersguidetocardmaking #flowersforeveryseason #cardmaking , Flowers For Every Season, Beginners Guide to Cardmaking, Stampin' Up Demonstrator, Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW
This card adds some heat-embossing to list of techniques.  I've used the Poinsettia Petals Bundle and some gold and white heat embossing.  I also added an embellishment from the Forever Gold Specialty Paper and a Beaded Pearl embellishment

Well, I think it's time we added heat-embossing to our skill set.  For this, we'll need to add a heat tool and a Versamark ink pad to our growing stash and some embossing powder in the colour of our choice.  The metallics are always a good place to start, because it's hard to get that effect with an ink, followed by clear, black and white.

Heat-embossing, rather like adding a die-cutting machine, opens the door to whole range of creativity and possibilities.  Many cool and fun techniques involve some heat-embossing.

#thecraftythinker #stampinup #beginnersguidetocardmaking #flowersforeveryseason #cardmaking , Flowers For Every Season, Beginners Guide to Cardmaking, Stampin' Up Demonstrator, Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW
Let's start building a ribbon stash!  To my Poinsettia Petals Bundle, I've added some Snowflake Splendor and Basket Weave  & Metallic Combo ribbons

I also added some Cherry Cobbler and Shaded Spruce cardstock to the stash for these poinsettias and increased the embellishment stash with some Beaded Pearls and ribbons.  I never pass up a good ribbon!  I have loads of it in my craft room that I've collected over the years because it goes a long way!  These days I only buy Stampin' Up ribbons because I know they coordinate with the inks and papers - it's effortless!

Well, that was a very long-winded way of letting you know that I think the gorgeous Flowers For Every Season Memories & More Card Pack and Cards & Envelopes make an inexpensive and beautiful starting place for craft collection (or a great addition for the time-pressed avid crafter like me!). 

You can certainly build your craft stash in a different order, depending on your priorities and crafting interests - the point is, you can take it slowly - just add a little bit at a time - and your hip pocket won't suffer too much!

Thank you for visiting.
'Til next time!
Stephanie

Product List - All products available for purchase from my online store

Monday 17 August 2020

Christmas Card, Easy & Quick with Poinsettia Place Papers

#thecraftythinker #stampinup #cardmaking #christmascard #poinsettiaplace , Poinsettia Place, Easy Christmas card, Stampin' Up Demonstrator, Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW
The Poinsettia Place Suite of Products makes Christmas cards quick, easy and elegant!

Continuing on with singing the praises of the Poinsettia Place Suite of products! See here, here and here for others.

For this super quick and easy card, I used one of the coordinating Poinsettia Dies to cut out a flower from the Poinsettia Place Designer Series Paper.  Just look for the flowers that have clear space all around them (see below).

#thecraftythinker #stampinup #cardmaking #christmascard #poinsettiaplace , Poinsettia Place, Easy Christmas card, Stampin' Up Demonstrator, Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW
Cutting flowers from the Poinsettia Place paper - look for the flowers with a space all around - the Poinsettia Die will cut these flowers perfectly!

Below, I've included the link for the Poinsettia Place Suite but the items are also available separately or bundled.

Thank you for visiting.
'Til next time!
Stephanie

Product List - All available for purchase from my online store

Thursday 13 August 2020

Stampin' Dreams Blog Hop - Mini Catalogue: Poinsettia Place Suite - Plush Poinsettia die cut

Welcome to the monthly Stampin' Dreams Blog Hop.  This month we are showcasing products from the new August-December 2020 Mini Catalogue.

You are currently visiting Stephanie Fischer (The Crafty Thinker) from Australia.  I hope you enjoy my card and then click on "Click here to enter" and click through the little images to see all of the other great projects in the hop!
#thecraftythinker #stampinup #xmascard #plushpoinsettia #cardmaking , Christmas Card, Plush Poinsettia, Forever Gold SDSP, Subtle Embossing Folder, Stampin' Up Demonstrator, Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW
Incredibly quick and easy Christmas card made with Stampin' Up products 
from the August-December 2020 Mini Catalogue

As always with metallic cards, I had enormous problems photographing this card! I haven't done it justice - it looks so much prettier in person!
#thecraftythinker #stampinup #xmascard #plushpoinsettia #cardmaking , Christmas Card, Plush Poinsettia, Forever Gold SDSP, Subtle Embossing Folder, Stampin' Up Demonstrator, Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW
Such an easy but elegant Christmas card! 
Forever Gold and Plush Poinsettia Specialty Papers,  Poinsettia Die

This card continues with my exploration of the Poinsettia Place Suite and the more I use it, the more I love it!  See more here and  here.

This card was sooo quick and easy!  

I made a base card with Thick Whisper White card, then cut layers with Gold Foil Sheet and normal Whisper White.  I gave the top white layer some texture with the Subtle Embossing Folder and then adhered the gold centre piece from the Forever Gold Specialty Paper.  

TIP:  To minimise usage, I like to cut out the centres of my metallic layers, leaving a frame shape which is covered by the top layer!

#thecraftythinker #stampinup #xmascard #plushpoinsettia #poinsettiaplacesuite #cardmaking , Christmas Card, Die cut flower from Plush Poinsettia,  Stampin' Up Demonstrator, Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW
With the coordinating Poinsettia Dies, it's so easy to cut out soft, velvety Plush Poinsettias!

The flower was really easy to cut from the Plush Poinsettia paper using the coordinating Poinsettia die.  Then I just added one of the Beaded Pearls to finish it off!

All of the large poinsettias on this sheet fit the die.

I hope you've enjoyed the card you've seen here on my blog today.  You are currently visiting Stephanie Fischer.  

Please click on "click here to enter" below and click on each of the little images to hop through all of the people on the list to see all our projects.  You don't want to miss any!

Thank you for visiting.
'Til next time!
Stephanie

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
Product List - All products are available for purchase from my online store