Occasions Catalogue Preview - Birthday Blooms in black

Hasn't time flown - tomorrow's the day that everyone can make their purchases from the gorgeous new Occasions Catalogue and earn FREE Sale-a-bration items at the same time!

I'm a bit stuck on Crushed Curry and Wink of Stella at the moment - I don't seem to be able to keep away from them!

This card started out very differently and went through several different looks before ending up here!  There are still things I wish I'd done differently ... and I will - on the next one I make!

However, here it is.

So hard to capture, but this card really shimmers in the light!

I'm really in love with the beautiful shimmer from Wink of Stella - the only trouble I have with it is that it's REALLY hard to photograph!

I added more Wink of Stella to the lighter areas of the flower.

I clear heat-embossed the birthday bloom onto Basic Black cardstock and then bleached it.  Once the bleach was good and dry, I applied a generous coating of clear Wink of Stella.  I used the Out of the Box technique to die cut the floral centrepiece with one of the Ovals Collection framelits.  

I used both sides of the yellow sheet in the Perfectly Artistic Designer Series Paper Pack (141021).  This is a FREE Sale-a-bration item (with a $90 purchase) but is only available for a limited time.  It's gorgeous, so don't delay!

I stamped random(ish) dots using one of the stamps in the Birthday Blooms set.  I did this by applying some gold Wink of Stella to the stamp, so the gold dots shimmer in the light.

I painted the flowers in the lower corners of the card with Crushed Curry ink as well as some gold and clear Wink of Stella.  

I also stamped some random little flowers onto the background with Crushed Curry ink that I'd stamped off twice.

The greeting is from the Birthday Blossoms set.

'Til next time

Stephanie

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Occasions Catalogue Preview - Grateful Bunch & Number of Years Bundle

The first family birthday of the year is just around the corner!  I wanted to make her something feminine and fitting to celebrate her 16th birthday but not too "twee".

This is what I came up with.

It's hard to see in the photo but the flowers, numbers and butterfly shimmer with Wink of Stella

What I used from the Occasions Catalogue:
Number of Years Bundle: 140811
Grateful Bunch Bundle - 140801
Wink of Stella Clear - 141897
Wink of Stella Gold - 141898

The numbers and some of the flowers are popped up on Dimensionals - a good way to use the edge pieces of the dimensionals!

I painted the gold flowers with Gold Wink of Stella - adding a little extra in places for depth.  I then decided that I'd like a bit of Bermuda Bay in the petals but didn't want to reduce the shimmer.  So I picked up some Bermuda Bay ink with the tip of the Clear Wink of Stella brush.  When I'd finished I simply squiggled the brush on some scrap paper until it was clean again.

I hope you like this card - I welcome any comments you have.

'Til next time
Stephanie

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Occasions Catalogue Preview - Picture Perfect Bird

Happy New Year!!!  Welcome to my first post of 2016!

That's exciting enough in itself but it also means that we're only a few days away from Sale-a-bration and purchasing from the new Occasions Catalogue! Yay!  Remember, from 5th January to 31st March you can choose one FREE Sale-a-bration item for every $90 you spend!

A get well card suitable for a sick male!

One of our friends is spending New Year in hospital so I made this card to cheer him up a bit.

I've used the bird from the Picture Perfect stamp set (140520) in the new Occasions Catalogue.  This set represents great value with 18 photopolymer stamps in the set!  It's also very versatile since it includes a two-step star fish, a three-step flower and this four-step bird.

Yes, that's right - this is a four-step stamp!  I must admit that I was at first a little intimidated by that - but once I inked up the stamps I found it very easy to use and it gives a beautiful effect.  The possibilities are endless with colour combinations!  This one used Smoky Slate, Basic Grey and Crushed Curry inks.

I wanted the bird to be breaking free so I used the out of the box technique for die cutting, masked the bird and sponged with Smoky Slate.

I then cut a larger piece with the Lots of Labels dies and used a mask to sponge on clouds with Soft Sky and Marina Mist ink.  The last of the Lots of Labels layers was cut from Soft Sky cardstock.

The next layer is whisper white cardstock.  I embossed it with the ElegantDots embossing folder, punched the corners with the Curvy Cornere Trio Punch (139683 in the Occasions Catalogue) and sponged the edges with Smoky Slate and Basic Grey inks before adhering it to the Crushed Curry card.

The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Sentiments, stamped in Basic Black ink.

To give the bird a bit of lift (sorry - couldn't help myself!), I popped the Soft Sky layer up on dimensionals.

Dimensionals add a bit of lift to the bird

I added a gel pen dot to bring the eye to life

I hope you like this card - please leave a comment!

'Til next time

Stephanie

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Occasions 2016 Catalogue Preview - In The Meadow

If you've seen my previous posts (in particular those featuring No Bones About It), you'll know that I love to put little scenes together - so this gorgeous set was a must have for me and I've finally had the opportunity to get inky with it!

This was my first card but I'm sure it won't be my last!

In The Meadow from the 2016 Occasions Catalogue

Products from the new Occasions Catalogue are available for purchase from 5th January (very soon now!).

Remember that Sale-A-Bration also starts on 5th January and for every $90 you spend you can choose a FREE ITEM from the Sale-A-Bration catalogue.  If you don't have catalogues or a Demonstrator and you live in Australia contact me to get some.

So how did I make this card?
I started by stamping the deer in black and then masking them.
Next I stamped the mountains with Elegant Eggplant and again (without re-inking the stamp) slightly above and to the left and then a third time in between to create a range of mountains disappearing into the distance.

I coloured the mountains with sponge daubers and Wisteria Wonder ink (for the more distant mountains) and a light coating of Elegant Eggplant .  I used a little more ink in places for shadows and crags.

I used a sponge dauber and Pear Pizzazz ink to create grasslands - getting lighter near the mountains to give an impression of distance.

I added Mossy Meadow and Early Espresso inks to the tree stamp using Stampin' Write Markers  and then stamped the trees (twice).

At this point I removed the mask from the deer and watercoloured them with Delightful Dijon and Soft Suede inks.

I stamped the grass image with Pear Pizzazz in the foreground and lightly stamped this off heading towards the mountains a bit to give a bit of texture to the grasslands.

I then used the same grass stamp with Mossy Meadow to add some shadowy depth to the foreground (especially under the trees) and sponged a little Mossy Meadow to the bottom edge to finish giving depth to the foreground.

I used a sponge dauber and Soft Sky for the sky and then added a little Marina Mist to the top  edge.

The sentiment is from the same stamp set and I placed it in the grasslands with black ink.

The stamped panel was matted onto Mossy Meadow cardstock and then placed onto the Old Olive card.

Close up of the lovely deer

Well, this is my last post for this year - see you in 2016 and I wish everyone a wonderful New Year!
Stephanie

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Sale-A-Bration 2016 Preview - Honeycomb Happiness

I can't believe it's Sale-A-Bration time of year again!  And it's a really good one - this year there are lots of great products available FOR FREE with a qualifying purchase (one free product with every $90 you spend).

I've been playing with the little bird from the Honeycomb Happiness stamp set (141291).  I don't have the Honeycomb Embellishments (140566 in the new Occasions Catalogue) that are designed to sit very nicely on the little bird's chest, so I've just been watercolouring.  

Blackberry Bliss and Melon Mambo version on Shimmery White card 

Although I'm still not completely happy with my results - I thought I'd better share before it's no longer a preview!  Only 6 days until the start of Sale-A-Bration and the new Occasions Catalogue! Yay!

Pool Party and Crushed Curry (retired ribbon) on Whisper White
I hand-drew the twig

I've also used some products from the new Occasions Catalogue:
Confetti embossing folder (140592) 
It's My Party Enamel Dots (140554) which I've placed on Candy Dots bases
Shimmery White Cardstock (121717)

Sale-A-Bration is also a REALLY good time to join as a demonstrator if you'd like to get your hands on the great Stampin' Up! products at the discounted demonstrator prices or even build a business.  Until 31st March you can build your own Starter Kit with a value of $295 for only $169!!  That's a massive saving!  If you live in Australia and would like to join contact me or click on the image below.

If you'd like an excuse to meet up with your friends - host a qualifying party until 31st March and earn an extra $40 (with $400 in party sales) to put towards the products you'd like to have. If you live in Australia - contact me to discuss options. 

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Crazy Crafters and Pootlers Blog Hop December 2015 - Occasions Catalogue Sneak Peek

Welcome to the Crazy Crafters Blog Hop for December. This is a very exciting Blog Hop - it's international - since we have the opportunity to mix with a wonderful and talented group called the Pootlers who are based in the UK. This month we are providing sneak peeks at the products in the new Occasions Catalogue. We hope you like our choices and 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.

Birthday Blooms stamp set & Perfectly Artistic DSP available from 5th January 2016
.

We are also combining our hop with a challenge of sorts - we were challenged to use just one: just one ink, one stamp set, one DSP set etc.  It was a great learning experience for me - I hadn't realised just how much I normally rely on using a mix of colours.  BUT there's sooo much to love in the new Occasions Catalogue that this imposed discipline really was a good thing!

My Just One is:

• The Birthday Blooms stamp set (140658 available 5th January 2016 from the Occasions Catalogue)
• Pool Party Glitter Ribbon (140561 available 5th January 2016 from the Occasions Catalogue)
• Deco Labels Collection Framelits
• Pool Party Ink
• Perfectly Artistic DSP (141021 available FREE from  5th January to 15th February 2016 with an order of $90 of products)

To this I added a little black ink and some basic rhinestone jewels.

Close up of the Wink of Stella glitter on the flowers

The glittery effect on the petals and leaves comes from the new Wink of Stella Glitter Brush in clear (141897 available 5th January 2016 from the Occasions Catalogue).  I LOVE this product because it makes it so easy to apply the glitter to exactly the spot you want it!

I stamped the flower onto Shimmery White cardstock (121717 available 5th January 2016 from the Occasions Catalogue) and watercoloured it using the Pool Party and black inks - I'm so excited about this cardstock and much prefer it to watercolour paper.

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

The Pool party glitter ribbon is just gorgeous.  The DSP is edged with Pool Party ink to match.

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.

'Til next time
Stephanie
                                               
Sam Hammond Donald

Angela Lorenz
Angelina Clark
Nicole Spicer
Lea Denton
Bruno Bertucci
Angela Westland
Wendy Boag
Jessie Holton
Camille Moriarty
Stephanie Fischer
Ania Krol
Emilie Robinson
Hannah McCurley
Michelle Mills
Vicki Hunter
Sara Evans
Carolina Evans
Kate Benade
Katie Kaup
Kathleen Rintoul-Waite
Sue Vine
Louise Thomas
Kylie Bertucci
Fiona Bradley
Rosalie Desmond
Sarah Burnett
Lisa Whitehead
Maddy Smith
Suzanne Hullah
Justyna Cieslinska
Karen Coulter

Bloomin' Love - Occasions Catalogue Sneak Peek

Time for a sneak peek at one of the many really great items in the new Occasions Catalogue - available 5 January 2016.

This is the Bloomin' Love stamp set and the Bloomin' Heart thinlits dies which are available as a bundle at a saving of 15%.

Bloomin' Love Bundle with the First Sight stamp set

NEW PRODUCTS FEATURED: (available from 5th January 2016)

• Bloomin' Love Bundle                     140818
• First Sight stamp set                      140688
• Wink of Stella Clear Brush              141897
• Large Numbers Framelits                140622

This is in fact a gift card - I didn't take a picture but inside there is a pop up gift card holder.  It's amazingly sparkly and over-the-top but I think just right for a Christmas gift card present for my lovely niece.

The main card is made from Blushing Bride cardstock to which I've added a layer of Cherry Cobbler.  I stamped an image in black ink from another new stamp set called First Sight and then I mirror stamped it on the other side.  Once the ink was dry I added a little sparkle with the Wink of Stella Clear brush (also in the new Occasions Catalogue).

I used the Bloomin' Heart thinlit die to cut the large heart from Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper.  I stamped the flowers from the Bloomin' Love stamp set onto Whisper White cardstock with Watermelon Wonder ink and cut them out with the small dies from the Bloomin Heart Thinlits and stuck them onto the larger heart.

I stamped the banner from the Bloomin' Love stamp set in Cherry Cobbler ink onto Blushing Bride cardstock and added a sentiment from Watercolor Wings (currently available in the Annual Catalogue).  Then I cut out the banner with the matching die from the Large Numbers Framelits die set and stuck it onto the heart.

The finishing touches were the sequins from the Brights Sequin Assortment and I placed a small Rhinestone Jewel (both currently available in the Annual Catalogue) in the centre of each.

Stay tuned for more sneak peeks!
Stephanie

uilt for Free Using: My Stampin Blog