Birthday Blossoms #GDP008

Birthday Blossoms

This week I have entered into the Global Design Group Challenge -GDP008 which calls for us to CASE a beautiful card designed by Kylie Bertucci.

Click on the picture to see all the beautiful entries to this challenge or enter yourself

I also entered the card into the Just Keep On Creating link up for November - anything goes

Click on the image to see all the other entries or enter yourself

 This is the card that I have made using the Birthday Blossoms stamp set.  The colours are So Saffron and Chocolate Chip with Whisper White

Birthday Blossoms for my entry to GDP008

 I stamped the background layer with the small flowers using So Saffron ink, stamped off first.  The flowers are stamped with Chocolate Chip onto So Saffron and watercoloured a little with Chocolate Chip.  The large flowers are punched out with the matching Pansy Punch.  The circular label is stamped with Chocolate Chip and sponged with So Saffron and Chocolate Chip.

I enjoyed making it so much that I decided to make some similar ones!

Until next time.

Masculine version using Guy Greetings Stamp Set

This one is Basic Grey & Soft Sky

Elegant Eggplant and Pink Pirouette

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Crazy Crafters Blog Hop October 2015 - Fun Fold

Welcome to the Crazy Crafters Blog Hop for October. This month we are excited to show off some amazing fun folds. We hope you find great inspiration from the projects.

You may just be starting the blog hop here at my blog - Stephanie Fischer, The Crafty Thinker - or you may have come from the person before me in the list. If you get off track at any time, the full lineup below will help you to move along from blog to blog so that you see all of the projects. At the moment you are visiting Stephanie Fischer, The Crafty Thinker.

I'm a bit in love with easel cards at the moment!  They're so easy but effective and they make a nice display for the lucky recipient of the card.  There are many good tutorials available for easel cards and I don't really know to whom I should give credit for this great fun fold but, whoever you are, thank you!

The colours in this easel card are Smoky Slate, Elegant Eggplant and Wisteria Wonder.   
 

Flurry of Wishes Easel Card

 For the snowflakes I used the Flurry of Wishes stamp set (from the Holiday Catalogue), stamping with Versamark onto Silver Foil and heat embossing with Silver Embossing Powder before punching out with the matching Snow Flurry Punch.  I then used Dimensionals to adhere them to the card and placed a Rhinestone Jewel in the centre of each one.

Closed position

The greeting is from the Lots of Joy stamp set (in the Annual Catalogue), which I stamped onto Smoky Slate card and cut out with the Tags & Labels Framelits.  I added a layer of Elegant Eggplant cut with a larger Tags & Labels framelit and placed it onto the card front with dimensionals.

To create the Elegant Eggplant label that supports the easel, I cut a rectangle and then made decorative ends using the Tags & Labels framelits and the method I described in this blog post.   

Symmetrical label from Tags & Labels framelits

I'd like to thank Sheri Pearson at Inkspirations for the inspiration and technique tutorial for the pillow top panel.  Click here to see her tutorial.   

Pillow top background inspired by Sheri at Inkspirations

Following Sheri's tutorial, I scored the pattern onto the Wisteria Wonder cardstock.  Then I folded each score line and inked both sides of the fold with Wisteria Wonder ink.

I layered this decorative panel on to Elegant Eggplant before adding it to my Smoky Slate Easel front.  Once all my elements were in place, I added a dab of Dazzling Details to each intersection of the lines.  I was rushing a bit and didn't do a very neat job but it doesn't seem to matter as much as I feared it would.  I'll do better next time!

I hope you've enjoyed this card and welcome your comments.

Thanks for taking part in our blog hop. Remember that currently you are at my blog - Stephanie Fischer - so check the blog hop line up list to see who is next in the list and click on their name as you don't want to miss out on seeing any of the blogs and the amazing inspiration they contain.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Stencilled glitter Christmas cardsI

Everything except the glitter is from Stampin' Up!

This is a card that I made as a sample for one of the lessons in the nine week course I'll be teaching soon.

It uses die cutting and embossing using the Big Shot and a fun but messy technique with glitter!

To create the glittery ornament I first die cut a piece of double sided adhesive Jac paper using the Delicate Ornaments Thinlits Dies.  Having adhered one side to my label, I then peeled off the protective backing to reveal the sticky film.

I put a little soap onto the back of my stencil (in this case I used one of the Happy Patterns stencils) and placed it - soap side down - onto the sticky die cut (the soap is to make it easy to remove again).

Next I sprinkled on my first colour of glitter (in this case purple).  I rubbed it in well (burnished it) with my finger before removing all the excess glitter with a large, soft brush.  It's important to use ultra fine glitter for this technique.

The next step was to carefully remove the stencil, revealing the remaining sticky parts, which I then coated with the second colour of glitter (green) and rubbed in with my finger.  Don't worry - if you're careful to remove all the excess glitter, you won't up end up with contaminated glitter.

The last step was to add the little ornament top and a bow using the new glitter ribbon.

Here's another card I made using this glitter technique but this time I used one of the dies from the Delicate Ornaments set as the stencil.  The sentiment is from the matching Embellished Ornaments stamp set (available as a bundle with a saving of 15%).

I used a die as the stencil when I added the glitter to the ornament

My nine week course is being held at Learning in the Hills, Baulkham Hills starting Tuesday 13th October.  Places are limited so if you'd like to attend call to book your place:  (02) 9639 7918
 

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Crazy Crafters Blog Hop September 2015 - Holiday Catalogue - Poinsettia

Welcome to the Crazy Crafters Blog Hop for September!  

You may be just starting the blog hop here at my blog or may have come from the person before me in the list below.  If you get off track at any time, the full line-up below will help you move along from blog to blog so you see all the projects.  At the moment you are visiting Stephanie Fischer, The Crafty Thinker.  

This month we are excited to showcase some of the fantastic new products in the Holiday Catalogue - what a feast!  

Where has the time gone?!!  The year is disappearing so quickly and many of us are already well into the joyous swing of Christmas/Seasonal Card  production!  I love this time of year.  Christmas cards seem to not only condone but encourage the use of bling, glitter and glitz and I can be as over the top as I like!

Easel Card featuring a poinsettia created with
the the Reason for the Season Bundle

Having said that, the card I've chosen to include in this blog hop is really quite restrained (for me!) and I decided not to use traditional Christmas colours - I think I haven't quite reached the red and green stage of the year yet! 

 For some reason, I'm making a lot of easel cards these days.  Maybe because they look quite impressive even though they're so quick and easy to make!

I made the card in Tip Top Taupe and added a panel of Early Espresso followed by a panel of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper.  

I stamped and punched two poinsettias using the Reason for the Season Bundle (a 15% saving as well as everything I need to make a beautiful flower!) and then intermingled the parts - one I stamped with Early Espresso on Tip Top Taupe card

Dimensionals add enough height to
keep the card propped open. 

 and the other I heat embossed with Gold onto Early Espresso Card.  I put a Metal Rimmed Pearl in the centre for a little more restrained bling. 

The sentiments are from Versatile Christmas - heat embossed in Gold onto Tip Top Taupe card and die cut with the Project Life Cards & Labels Framelits.

I "prettied-up" the strip of glimmer paper on the inside by trimming the ends with the smallest of the Deco Labels Collection Framelits.

Alternative colours for the card

Then I used the other poinsettia to make a second, similar card.

Afterwards I wished I'd mixed up the petals even a little bit more.

I hope you've enjoyed these cards, I would really welcome your comments.

Thanks for taking part in our blog hop, there are so many amazing ideas and so much inspiration that you don't want to miss.  Remember that currently you are my blog - Stephanie Fischer - so check the blog hop line up list to see who is next in line in the list and click on their name as you don't want to miss out on seeing any of the blogs and the amazing inspiration they contain.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

You've Got This in pastel

I was very excited when Kylie Bertucci announced the launching of the Global Design Project challenge site.  The team of people involved are all SO talented that I'm sure it'll soon be a great source of inspiration to all of us.

This first colour challenge has really reinforced for me the creative and growth value of doing challenges.  These are definitely not colours that I use much - either together or individually - but I like the result so much, I think I'll be using them again!

You've Got This with sentiment from Birthday Blossoms

I stamped the front flower with the new Basic Black Archival ink, masked it, stamped another flower, masked that and stamped the third flower.  Then I masked that flower too before stamping the background using the baby wipe stamping technique with the three inks; Smoky Slate, Pink Pirouette and So Saffron.

I watercoloured the flowers, using Pink Pirouette for the flowers, to which I added a little Smoky Slate for the flowers at the back.  The flower centres are So Saffron with some Smoky Slate shadows and the stems and leaves are So Saffron and Smoky Slate.

I added a little bit of Smoky Slate shading around the bunch of flowers.

The painted panel is layered onto Smoky Slate and Pink Pirouette card stock.

The sentiment is from Birthday Blossoms.  I cut it with the smallest of the rectangular Tags & Labels framelets and extended the length using the method I describe in this post.  Then I edged it with So Saffron.

Thank you for looking at my card and I would welcome any comments.

Til next time

Stephanie

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Crazy Crafters Blog Hop August 2015 - Stamp-a-stack using a Bundle

Welcome to the Crazy Crafters blog hop for August.

You may just be starting the blog hop here at my blog or may have come from the person before me in the list below. If you get off track at any time, the full line-up below will help you move along from blog to blog so you see all the projects. At the moment you are visiting Stephanie Fischer, The Crafty Thinker. This month we are excited to showcase some of the amazing Bundles in the new Annual Catalogue by creating stacks of different cards using the same bundle.  

Bundles: Vintage Leaves & Beautiful Bunch

What's better than being able to buy punches or dies to match stamp sets (for those of us that aren't natural fussy cutters!)? Buying them as a bundle and saving 15%!!  

There are loads of bundles in the new catalogue (and even more coming in the soon-to-be released seasonal catalogue!) - so there's really something to suit everybody's tastes and needs.

I've used two bundles for my stack of cards: Vintage Leaves (stamp set and matching framelits) and Beautiful Bunch (stamp set + Fun Flower punch).

Coloured leaves & dimensionals for interest

This is the first of my three cards.  I layered English Garden DSP onto a Soft Suede card base.  Then I made a square frame by layering So Saffron onto Old Olive.  Then I arranged my leaves and flower.  I used some dimensionals to add depth and interest. I stamped the frame from Awesomely Artistic in Soft Suede onto So Saffron with a sentiment from Teeny Tiny Sentiments in the centre.  I cut this out using the matching framelit from the Project Life Cards and Labels set.  I cut a banner (using the Triple Banner Punch) from Old Olive and layered the sentiment on top. I attached the banner to the card with dimensionals.

The flower:
The flower is stamped in Soft Suede onto Cajun Craze.  After punching it out, I attacked it with my bone folder to give it some dimension.  The centre is another of the stamps from the Beautiful Bunch set, stamped in Soft Suede onto Soft Suede card and punched out with the Petite Petals punch.  It received the same bone folder treatment!  I stuck a metal Rimmed Pearl in the centre.

Rich colours in the flower & leaves

The next card is very similar but the base card is Old Olive.  The frame is rectangular with So Saffron layered onto Soft Suede.  It doesn't show in the photo (because it's very subtle) but I randomly stamped some of the leaves in Versamark onto the So Saffron layer.  The flower is stamped in Soft Suede onto Cherry Cobbler but centre remains Soft Suede.  I used a different Teeny Tiny Sentiment and after cutting out the frame I sponged the edges with Soft Suede ink.  I attached the leaves and flower using some dimensionals as before.

The leaves:
I stamped out all the leaves using a mix of green inks.  I inked the entire leaf with Crushed Curry and then randomly sponged some Garden Green and Mossy Meadow onto the stamp before stamping onto my Very Vanilla card.  It looked very effective  but with all the colours I put on top later- my efforts may have been wasted! 

Finished leaves after sponging

After watercolouring: Some leaves had too
much water - but it didn't really matter in the end!

 My next step was to watercolour the leaves using a mix of Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, Garden Green and Mossy Meadow ink and I took no care at all!  Once they were dry, I felt they lacked vibrancy so out came the sponge daubers and I sponged on some Cucumber Crush and Garden Green, using a little Cajun Craze here and there to define them and give them a bit of life.

Versamark stamping in the background for subtle elegance

This is the last card I made.  After cutting out the DSP for the previous two cards I was left with a strip of it that I decided to use for this card.   So I layered it onto a leftover piece of Soft Suede.  I randomly stamped leaf images onto a piece of Mint Macaron with Versamark and then inked the edges with Mint Macaron ink.  I layered that onto a base card of Mint Macaron for a subtle and elegant appearance.  I positioned my DSP strip and then went to work with my leaves and flower!  This flower is also stamped in Soft Suede onto Cherry Cobbler card with a Soft Suede centre and another Metal Rimmed Pearl.

I hope you've enjoyed these cards, I would really welcome your comments.

Thanks for taking part in our blog hop, there are so many amazing ideas and so much inspiration you don't want to miss. Remember that currently you are at my blog - Stephanie Fischer, so check the blog hop line up list to see who is next in the list and click on their name as you don't want to miss out on seeing any of the blogs and the amazing inspiration they contain. 

See you next time

Stephanie

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Woodland 3 ways

The Woodland Embossing folder is one of the great new products in the 2015 Holiday Catalogue which will be launched on 1st September.  One of the benefits of being a Demonstrator is the pleasure of pre-ordering from new catalogues.

I can't believe that I nearly didn't buy this beautiful embossing folder!  It took me a while to see its versatility and what I could do with it.  I really had a lot of fun with it yesterday!

There's a masculine feel to this card

 I thought this would be good for a masculine birthday card.  I embossed some Lost Lagoon card and then sponged the trees with Lost Lagoon and Soft Suede.  Then I layered it onto a piece of Soft Suede before adhering it to my Island Indigo card.  I stamped, coloured and fussy cut the stag from the Wilderness Awaits stamp set and then stamped the greeting from Tag Talk in Soft Suede onto Sahara Sand card and punched it out.   

"Hello up there!"

   This time I embossed Whisper White cardstock.  I ran my 2-way glue pen over the embossing and then sprinkled with Dazzling Diamonds glitter. Then I layered this onto my card of Thick Whisper White.  I stamped the bear from White Christmas, added a little shading with Soft Sky ink and fussy cut him before sticking him down.  He's looking up at the bird from Santa's Gifts which I stamped onto Whisper White, Coloured and cut out.  The greeting is from Happy Scenes - I just manipulated it to fit into the banner from Project Life Hello December 2015 (one of the advantages of photopolymer stamps!).  I coloured it with Soft Sky and Pool Party inks and cut it out.  I placed it at an angle in the corner to complete my triangular composition.

Let's go, Rudolph!

I inked my embossing folder with Soft Sky ink before I added the Whisper White card and ran it through the Big Shot to get a coloured background.  Santa and rudolph are both from the Santa's Gifts stamp set.  I added some Dazzling Diamonds to Santa's fur and Rudolph's nose.  The greeting is from Petite Pairs which I punched out with the Large Oval punch.  The base card is Soft Sky. 

I hope you enjoyed these cards.

 The Holiday Catalogue is being launched on September 1st 2015! Would you like a copy now so that you can start looking at all the amazing new products (not all limited to Seasonal products)? You can! Please ensure that you read these requirements - 

• Australian Resident
• Currently NOT a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator
• If you have a demonstrator that you order through - to be fair to both them and me, please ask them for a catalogue.
• You are happy to order product through me

If you can't wait - then join now and shop for new Holiday Catalogue items right now PLUS at a discount! $235 of ANY product you like and you only pay $169 PLUS free postage. Its such a great deal - you then get 20% off any items you purchase after you sign up for the starter kit. There is no obligation to sell - you can join just to get great products cheaper.

'Til next time

Stephanie