Sunday, February 7, 2010

Sale-a-bration Play


Hi everyone

Had a bit of time this weekend to play with a new box of goodies which arrived earlier in the week, including my sale-a-bration freebies (sprung! - put in a $400 order and got 4 free sets, in addition to a hostess level 1 set and another $40 of free product sighhhhh).

25 January to 31st March is a great time to purchase Stampin' Up! items as it is "Sale-a-bration time". You earn a free stamp set exclusive to the sale-a-bration for every $100 you spend on anything in either the 2009-10 Idea Book & Catalog, or in the current Summer Mini (also available until 31st Mar). The more you spend, the more you get free! If you host a workshop generating $600+ sales during this time (excluding gst, p&h), you will also get a free set. You don't even need to host a workshop - I accept orders via email or over the phone (I will ring you for your credit card details - don't put them in your email). There are 4 exclusive sets to choose from. Click here to check them out.

I personally wasn't particularly excited by them until.... I saw Danielle Daws' stunning crayon resist cards using the flowers from the Happy Moments set, and I can assure you I have had a long happy moment playing with this set all weekend! It was the colours Danielle used which grabbed my attention first, and from there I was inspired to create some cards a wee bit different to hers. I made up one A4 sheet using the method outlined in her tutorial and the same colours - So Saffron, Baja Breeze, and Mellow Moss. Then I punched out 2 different sized squares of flowers using SU's larger (3.5cm) and smaller (3.2cm) square punches. I mounted 3 of the larger square flowers onto a 6x10.5cm strip of Basic Black cardstock, and punched the 2 longer sides with the Spiral Punch to turn it into a film strip. Mounted that onto A6 textured Baja Breeze base card.

Not being one to waste lovely colourful paper, I filled some of the empty areas around the stamped flowers with "Happy Birthday" from the same Sale-a-bration set using Basic Black ink. I used the Word Window punch to punch them out. I mounted one of these onto the base card using dimensionals to give it some height. Finished it off by trimming an extra flower head attached to some leaves from the remaining scraps and mounted it with dimensionals on top of the same image so that the leaves slightly overhang onto the black film strip. Too easy!

For my 2nd card I used a So Saffron A6 base card. I mounted 3 of the smaller punched square flowers onto 3 larger punched squares of black cardstock which made a 25mm border. I think black makes a terrific border colour. I always arrange (and rearrange) the elements before sticking them down to ensure I like the look. Just as well, as I thought this card looked a bit stark with just the 3 squares on it. I inked up my favourite background stamp - En Francaise - with S.Saffron, and stamped the front of the card. I made a mental note to use my stamp positioner next time as it was ever so slightly not quite straight (no one else may notice but I can - even from 50 paces!!!). Then I stuck down the 3 squares, followed by the same birthday sentiment used above.

I had lots of leftover black mounted flower squares, so I whipped up a couple of really simple 7cm gift cards using a 14x7cm piece of Mellow Moss cardstock. Quick, cheap and easy!

I also punched out some butterflies using the new Butterfly punch in the Summer mini. Easy! I wrapped a 10cm piece of hemp twine twice around the butterfly, tying a knot at the top, and trimmed the ends leaving about 1cm - these ends become the butterfly's antenaes. I stuck it onto a 7cm square card of Basic Black cardstock using 1cm orange sticky strip under the hemp twine (catching the knot to hold it down more securely), and 1/2 a dimensional under each wing. Added yet another pithy birthday sentiment and voila - another easy peasy gift card. I do like my gift cards - I make heaps for school fetes. You get 6 per A4 sheet

Would you believe there were still some empty areas left to use from that one A4 sheet of paper I decorated earlier? Leftover pieces were getting smaller so I used the 1.3cm circle punch to punch out some button sized circles. These I will turn into matching buttons another day. Oh, you can see how to make matching buttons from yet another brilliant Danielle Daws tutorial here! Ok, ok, you know I'm a fan - that's why her blog is listed in my "Places which inspire me"..... One thing to note when making these buttons is to complete them the same day. Each layer is stuck together using a glue stick. After it has dried you pierce 2 holes so it looks and works like a button. I found that it was fine to pierce even when it was still slightly damp. But when I returned to complete the rest of the buttons the following day when they were really dry, I found that the pressure of pushing the piercer through the layers caused the glued pieces to come apart. Of course this may just be a reflection of me not using enough glue........

Well that's enough for today. Had better go and think about feeding the hordes.

After dinner I am going to play with the my other Sale-a-bration stamps. I can't believe I wasn't very excited about them. LOL! Stay tuned for more, and thanks so much for dropping by.

Cheers
Jenn

3 comments:

  1. Hi Jenn! Wow - I'm so flattered, I don't know where to begin! After I read your post I went in to my husband and said, "You won't believe what's been written about me!" - I'll be coming back to re-read this again and again, I'm sure! Thankyou.

    I love the cards you've made, (I'm going to case some of yours now!), especially the gift cards - they're so elegant! The hemp twine around the butterfly is gorgeous too.

    With the buttons, I always have that problem with the layers coming apart when I'm piercing the holes. I use the Anywhere Glue sticks (like you mentioned) because it stays a bit tacky while I'm manhandling my buttons, and I pierce the holes straight away. It's a bit sticky to push through, but solves the problem of the layers coming apart. And I put the Crystal Effects on pretty much straight away too. I smear a little around the edges, squishing the button as I go (do I still sound inspiring?? lol), then apply the top layer. It seems to work for me! My biggest problem is I'm too impatient to want to put them on my work!!

    I'm absolutely thrilled to see my humble blog listed amongst the other amazing sites you have in your sidebar. I hope I can keep up with them!!

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  2. Great cards Jen, love the butterfly as well.

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  3. I just love your crayon resist cards. I think I'm going to have to CASE it!!! TFS

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