Something Old and Something New

Hello!! Happy New Year. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones. Ours was perfection...a quiet Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with just the three of us hanging out in our jammies, watching movies and playing games. Then Boxing Day our extended family arrived and chaos ensued. So much fun!
Yesterday I finally had time to head down to my studio to clean up the Christmas mess and start fresh with lots of new goodies from the upcoming Occasions Catalogue. I worked on planning my winter classes and clubs...so many ideas and not enough time! One club that I am super-excited about is my new Stampin' Blends Club. This is one of the projects I designed for January's class...

This month, club members will recieve the Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive sets as well as the Colour Lifter. We're focusing on one of my favourite stamp sets for colouring: Remarkable You. The images in this set are perfect for learning to use the Blends because the have nice, thick bold lines which make it easier to colour and blend beautifully. Now, can you spot the new products I used on this card?

The embossed background is done using a gorgeous new set of embossing folders called Petal Pair. It is easy to miss on page 23 as part of the Petal Passion Suite. I also used some embellishments from that suite: the 1/4" Organza Ribbon (soooo soft and pretty!) and the Ptal Passion Embellishments. Here's a closer look at the ribbon and little metallic sprig of leaves.

You'll notice I omitted a sentiment for the front of this card, as I wanted that gorgeous bloom to do all the talking. Here is a look at the inside:

I kept it super-simple, stamping the sentiment from the Remarkable You set in Basic Black ink on a Whisper White card stock panel.

For more information about joining my Stampin' Blends Club, click HERE. It is available as both a face-to-face and/or a class-in-the-mail.

Product List

Remarkable You Clear-Mount Stamp Set [139894] $44.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $11.25	Rich Razzleberry 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [115316] $10.00	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121045] $10.00
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708] $8.00	Rich Razzleberry Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack [144602] $12.00	Big Shot [143263] $136.00	Layering Circle Framelits Dies [141705] $46.00
Petal Pair Textured Impressions Embossing Folders [145656] $11.75	Metallic Foil Doilies [138392] $5.25	Whisper White 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Organza Ribbon [145590] $8.00	Petal Passion Embellishments [145591] $10.75
Black Mini Sequin Trim [144259] $8.00

Stampin' Blends are Here!!

Happy November! Can you believe that today is November 1st??? Where the heck did October go?? I am sooo not ready for cold weather, but I suppose I should think about putting the snow tires back on my car :(
Despite the turn of the calendar to my least-favourite month of the year, there is some AWESOME news today! The new Stampin' Blends alcohol markers launch today!! I am SOOOOO excited to see these products return better than ever. The new Blends are similar to the old Blendabilities...super easy to shade and add highlights and shadows to stamped images. Check out this introductory video:

In celebration of these new products I've added a new class to my November line-up. We'll be using the fabulous limited-availability Color Me Happy kit and coordinating Color Me Happy stamp set to create these four beautiful cards:

Each card also has a beautiful colour-coordinated, lined envelope as well. So pretty and the perfect way to learn how to use Stampin' Blends. Here is a closer look at each card:

I used the Pink Pirouette marker set to colour the flowers on this card and then added some Wink of Stella so they shimmer and sparkle. Sooo pretty!

This one uses the Pumpkin Pie and Pool Party marker sets. So fun and festive (and a great break from Christmas cards!)

How cute are these li'l chubby birds? I switched it up a bit and used Daffodil Delight and Pool Party marker sets to colour these fellas.

This one uses the Night of Navy, Pool Party and Pumpkin Pie marker sets.

During class we'll be making one of each card, but the good news is that when you fall in love with them you can order your own kit and markers to make more at home! This class is FREE with a $35 order (that's about the cost of three marker sets!) or a $20 class fee. So, are you ready to join us? Click HERE to visit my events page and then click RSVP to reserve your seat.

Can't wait till class to get your hand on these brand new products? Check out the Blends brochure below and place your order today.

Click the image to learn more

Colouring 101 - Blended Blossoms

Happy Friday!  I sure hope the weather where you are is warmer than it is here!  We are FREEZING at -30C!!  Brrrr...I can't wait for spring!

Today I have some spring flowers to show you.  Yesterday I showed you a couple of projects I coloured using watercolour...today I have some done with blender pens...

Any-occasion card featuring the Love is Kindness stamp.

This is another one of the projects we'll be making at my upcoming Colouring 101 class.  I stamped the Love is Kindness tulips using black Staz-on ink on watercolour paper.  Then I used my blender pen and Strawberry Slush ink pad to colour the blooms on the tulips.  For the leaves I used Wild Wasabi and Old Olive.  I added a hint of Sahara Sand to the newspaper wrapping around the tulips.  I die-cut the label using the Deco Labels framelits. 

The background DSP is from the Subtles Backgrounds DSP stack.  I added a bit of Linen Thread by way of embellishment.  The sentiment is stamped in Wild Wasabi ink, punched with the 1-1/4" circle punch and then matted on a 1-3/8" circle punched from Strawberry Slush card stock.  I used a Strawberry Slush card base.

Here is another sample I did using the Blended Bloom stamp.  I kept the same colour scheme as the watercoloured card I showed you yesterday so that it would be easy to compare the two colouring media.

Thank you card featuring the Blended Bloom and Simply Sketched (retired) stamp sets.

For this one I used Calypso Coral and Daffodil Delight inks with my blender pen.  Once again I stamped the image in black Staz-on, which is necessary so as not to run the ink with the blender pen.  The sentiment is stamped in Crumb Cake ink, punched with the Large Oval punch and matted on a scallop oval in Calypso Coral.

Be sure to stop by on Monday when I'll feature projects coloured with Blendabilities, as my Colouring 101 series wraps up!  Have a great weekend!!

Colouring 101 - Wonderful Watercolour

Since the release of Stampin' Up's Blendabilities alcohol-based markers I have gotten away from using some of my other favourite colouring media.  It occured to me that perhaps some of you might be in the same situation, so I decided to do a series of posts highlighting different colouring media offered by Stampin' Up. 
Today I'm all about watercolour.  I have to admit this is still one of my favourite ways to colour stamped images.  It is quick and easy to blend colour and creates a soft look that is very appealing to me.  Here is a project I created using an Aquapainter and my classic ink pads for my upcoming Colouring 101 class:

Any-occasion card featuring the Bloom with Hope Hostess stamp set and sentiment from the Million and One set.

I love the sketched look of the images in the Bloom with Hope hostess set...they are perfect for watercolouring!  The key to successfully watercoloured images is to use Watercolour Paper.  Using regular card stock just leads to warped paper, poorly blended colour and generally unsatisfactory results.  On this card I stamped the flower and leaf images in black Staz-On ink.  I coloured the flowers using ink from the Rich Razzleberry ink pad and an Aqua painter.  (One may also use a small paintbrush and water for this look, but I have found it difficult to control the amount of water I am using with that method.  I much prefer the Aqua painter for watercolouring.) I added a little bit of Blackberry Bliss ink to add darker highlights on the flowers, blending it with the lighter shade as I went.  The centre of the flowers is coloured using Crushed Curry ink.  For the leaves I used Old Olive ink.

Once the images had completely dried I stamped the spatters using the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set and gold metallic ink.  The sentiment, from the Million and One stamp set, is heat embossed in gold.  The coloured panel is mounted on a Blackberry Bliss card base.

Here is another card I did using watercolour that features the Blended Bloom stamp...

On this one I used Calypso Coral ink for the petals and Daffodil Delight for the centre of the flower.

Stay tuned tomorrow...I'll have some projects coloured using a Blender pen to show you...it gives a completely different look!