Bliss colour coach combo

In an effort to jump-start my creativity, I turned to my colour coach last night.  I wanted to find a combo that used a neutral with other more saturated colours.  The combo I settled on was sahara sand, bravo burgundy and pink pirouette.  Since I was also working on designs for a workshop on Saturday and I wanted to feature the Big Shot, I came up with this:

Card using Bliss SAB set and colour combo from the colour coach.

Close-up of focal image.

Trying to show the shimmer paint on the embossing!

So, when I began this card I was trying to come up with a workshop make-n-take...now that it's finished it definitely won't be a make-n-take...too many pearls!!  Here is what I did to put this together...

Starting with a sahara sand card base, I ran it through my Big Shot using my vintage wallpaper embossing folder.  I then sponged frost white shimmer paint all over the embossed surface and set it aside to dry.  I then took a piece of 2 3/4" x 3 3/4" pink pirouette cardstock and punched the corners using my ticket corner punch.  Using the flourish from the Bliss SAB set, I inked it in bravo burgundy, stamped off and then stamped on the pink cardstock, centring the image.  I then stamped the flower in full-strength bravo burgundy, the bird in sahara sand and the butterflies in sahara sand, and then again in frost white shimmer paint.  I sponged the edges of the pink piece in bravo burgundy and then sponged whole thing in shimmer paint.  I then punched two strips of bravo burgundy with my scallop border punch and adhered them along the top and bottom edges of the pink panel.  Setting this piece aside to dry, I took my embossed card base and wrapped a piece of 1 1/4"  pink pirouette grosgrain ribbon (retired, but available on the Clearance Rack online) around the card front, securing it with glue dots.  I then layered a piece of 1" bravo burgundy grosgrain ribbon over top of the pink, again securing it with glue dots.  I then took my pink panel and adhered it to the card using dimensionals.  For the sentiment, I stamped "Bliss" in bravo burgundy on very vanilla cardstock, punching it out with my large oval punch.  I also punched a designer label in sahara sand and sponged the edges of both pieces in bravo burgundy.  I layered the oval over the label and adhered them to the card using dimensionals.  The final touch on this card was the pearls along the scalloped border and in the centre of the flower...I just couldn't resist adding them, even though it made the card undoable at a workshop!  Maybe I'll use it for one of my clubs next month!  I purposely didn't add a sentiment to the inside because I thought it could work as both and anniversary and a wedding card.  We'll see what my club ladies think!

A Really BIG Thank You!

Mr. UPS came to my door today with a VERY large order for a new customer of mine.  She is a colleague at work who has been attending my monthly card classes that I hold in our staffroom after school.  She  had never stamped prior to coming to these classes, but she has certainly caught the bug!  She has placed two large orders within a couple of weeks of eachother, so to thank her I sat down tonight to make a special card.  Here it is...

Thank you card for a special customer using the Bliss SAB set

Close-up of collage detail

Inside of card

Now, this doesn't  actually say thank you...I'm going to write that myself; but it does express some of the "bliss" we all experience when we get a big new  box of goodies.  I thought the sentiment was absolutely perfect, as was the "Enjoy" inside the card.  This card came together really easily because it is a collage of various shapes, images and embellishments.  I just started with the Lap of Luxury DSP and then chose embellishments I liked that worked with the paper.  Really easy and fun to do....I think I'll try  more of this  style of card!
I hope my customer likes her card  and knows how much I appreciate not only her business, but also the thrill of introducing someone to the world of stamping.  That, for me more than anything, is why I LOVE being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator!

A long, busy week!

Why, oh why is my life so hectic?  What I would give for a nice quiet couple of weeks where nobody expects anything from me and I could just do what ever I feel like, when ever I feel like it.  Guess I should have thought of that before I got married and had a kid, huh? 
Here, finally is a new post...far later than I had expected.  A while back I mentioned I held a Sale-A-Bration Open House to kick off this great promotion and give my customers a chance to win some goodies and book their Sale-A-Bration workshops.  At that time I promised to post the two make-n-takes we did...well...FINALLY here they are:

Cheery Birthday card made using the Ice Cream Parlor DSP and embellishments and the So Happy For You set...all of which were FREE!!

Vintage-y card using the Bliss set...and two of my fav colours!

Close-up of focal image

I was really happy with both of these cards and so were my customers!  The birthday card is so bright and cheerful...perfect to wish someone a happy day.  It is based on a sketch from last month's issue of Stampin' Success, our demonstrator magazine.  I've done a couple of other cards using this sketch...check them out here.  I really like this layout because it is so versatile and is a great way to use up scraps and odd embellishments.

The Bliss card features my favourite SAB set.  It is the only one I pre-ordered, even though I knew I would earn it once SAB started...I just couldn't wait for it!  This card is very simple, yet elegant and has a touch of vintage flair.  I used two of my favourite colours:  crumb cake and baja breeze.  I also used my new favourite embellishment:  seam binding ribbon, and another fav, antique brads.  I love how the vintage wallpaper embossing folder works so well with the flourish stamp image.  So easy to coordinate...that's one of the many things I love about Stampin' Up!

Oh, what fun it is to play...

...with my stamps on Christmas Day!
Merry Christmas everyone!  I hope your day has been filled with loved ones, good food and good company.

Christmas in the Girsa household is a day I look forward to all year.  We are as low-key as it gets.  Our 3 year-old is  still working on unwrapping his presents...and it is nearly 6 pm!  He just has to play  with every single thing he opens and there is NO rushing him!  We've been asking him all afternoon if he'd like to open some more presents and we keep getting a polite "no thank you" in reply.  We will be unwrapping presents on New Years at this rate!  None the less, we have had a quiet day at home, no one has gotten out of their jammies and it has been absolute heaven!  No place to go, no one expecting us, just a calm, relaxing day at home.  Ahhhh....

And then there's the stamping...

Today was the first time in months that I have been able to just sit and play and boy, did I have fun!  While my son and husband played air hockey (one of many gifts Santa brought) behind me, I played with some of my neglected and unloved stamps.  I completed a few projects but I have to save some for later.  Here is my favourite of the bunch...

Card using faux mother-of-pearl technique

Close-up of new trinket keys from the Occasions mini...oooh I love 'em!

Close up of mother-of-pearl background and my fudged embossing that I actually kinda like!

Inside of card with sentiment from the Notably Ornate set.

Close up of inside sentiment

Ok, so remember how I mentioned my stampin' buddy Christine came over to play last week?  Well she showed me this cool technique that apparently is "everywhere" but I somehow missed.  It is called Faux-mother-of-pearl.  It looks so cool IRL, the photos just don't do it justice.  Here is how to create it:
Start with glossy white cardstock.  Using a bunched-up piece of plastic wrap (the kind you wrap your leftover turkey in) dab white frost shimmer paint randomly all over the cardstock.  Let the paint dry COMPLETELY and then sponge your choice of classic ink all over.  You can also use a brayer, but mine is currently dirty, so I used a sponge!  For this card the ink colours I used were Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink and Perfect Plum (in that order).  I love the soft, aged look that results. 

For this card I did a 3 1/2" x 3 1/2"  mother-of-pearl panel and then stamped the flourish image from a new set available FREE during Sale-a-bration called "Bliss".  I have to say that I am in L-O-V-E with this set!  Anyhow I digress...I stamped the flourish in Versamark and then embossed it with silver EP.  I forgot to use my embossing buddy (REALLY important because the shimmer paint is quite tacky and the EP sticks to it!!).  I tried to brush off as much as I could and then went ahead and heated it.  The result was a less-than-perfect image I actually quite like.  I think it works quite well with the background.  I mounted that on a brushed silver cardstock mat.  To put the card together I used Concord Crush cardstock and the DSP that comes in the Level One hostess pack.  The little flourishes on the Concord Crush at the bottom are from the Tiny Tags set and are stamped using White Frost shimmer paint again.  I like the way they tie in with the focal image.  My favourite thing about this card are the embellishments.  I love the shimmer brad (from the subtles set, available in the current and the up-coming Occasions Mini), the Basic Gray satin ribbon (retired from last summer's mini) and most of all, the trinket key (also available January 4th in the Occasions Mini.).  The keys are beautiful and so detailed...a truly lovely addition to any project.
As most of you know, I like to make the insides of my cards as pretty as the outside, so I stamped the same flourish vertically in concord crush that I had stamped off once.  The sentiment is from the Notably Ornate set and is stamped in full-strength concord crush, punched out with the modern label punch and then layered on a wide oval and a decorative label.  To add a bit of sparkle to the inside I added a couple of basic rhinestone gems. 
Not exactly a quick and easy card, but one I would love to give (and receive!).

Tomorrow we are heading to my parents' place up north for a couple of days, celebrating a belated Christmas with family.    No boxing day sales for me this year! 

Plays well with others...

One of the things I love most about this hobby is the social aspect and the opportunity to just sit and play with ink and paper while hanging out with  friends.  Today one of my stampin' buddies came over to play and we had fun experimenting with my Occasions Mini pre-order stuff.  She also taught me a cool new technique that I used to make a wedding card for a colleague who is getting married next week.  I can't post that card till after the wedding to ensure she doesn't see it before her big day, but I do have a card that my buddy Christine made using some of my new stamps.  Check this out!

Pretty vintage style birthday card using a new set called "Bliss" available for FREE during Sale-a-bration.

Close up of the sentiment from the retired Watercolour Trio set.

The butterfly is stamped in Bravo Burgundy and then sponged lightly with Champagne shimmer paint...unfortunately the sparkle doesn't show up in the photo!

Isn't this such a pretty card?  Christine is not an embellishment kinda gal...I, on the other hand, can't seem to stop adding stuff to my cards.  So I just kept suggesting things she could add and ways she could layer.  She certainly was pushed out of her comfort zone, but I think she was happy with the end result!  Thanks, Christine,  for an afternoon of stampin' fun and for the sweet treats too!