Lovely as a Tree

Rain rain go away! Haven't we had enough rain?! Now, lets get on with summer sun and fun!!!

Ok, this is one of my new stamp sets - Lovely As A Tree. This set has been around for a while now but just finally decided that I needed this set, and I have quickly fallen in love with it.

This card here, made by Stacey, was a swap card I received from her at Regionals. I just realized that this isn't a great photo, the colours are not true to life. The tree image was stamped in VersaMark and then coloured with our Stampin' Pastels using the Poppin' Pastels technique. The Weathered background stamp(retired) was stamped in Handsome Hunter on Sahara Sand and Happy Fathers Day from All Year Cheer II(retired) was stamped at the bottom in Basic Black. To tie it all together she has added a piece of black grosgrain ribbon with a small piece of Hemp twine knotted over top. The card colour is Handsome Hunter.

This next card was created by Lucie, another demonstrator in my group. For the background Lucie used different leave prints from the Lovely As A Tree to create the colour on colour (Creamy Caramel)background. The tree was stamped in Basic Black and then coloured with a Blender Pen and ink. The tree is matted on Chocolate Chip and Naturals Ivory. 'Dad' was stamped using the Collage Alphabet set(retired). Accessories used were Antique Gold brads and Hemp Twine wrapped around the bottom of the tree. Also notice the tearing technique used along the bottom of the matted picture.

This last card is one I created using Bravo Burgundy. I stamped the background with VersaMark just using different leaf prints from the set. I stamped the tree in Basic Black and then coloured it with Blender Pens and ink. I matted the tree on Handsome Hunter and Night of Navy cardstock. To add a little pizzazz I punch the corners with the Ticket Corner punch and added a small piece of ribbon from the Prep School ribbon set (retired). The sentiment is from the retired Warmest Regards hostess set.

Till next time,

Alicia

On Board Accents

Finally took the time to play around with chipboard. Chipboard is basically a heavy cardboard that is fun to decorate and adds great shape and dimension to your card. Chipboard is very very versatile - you can colour with Craft Ink, cover it with designer papers, combine it with lots of different embellishments, etc.

I used a flower piece from our new On Board Blossoms & Basics set. This set includes more than 200 elements and works well with the Pick a Petal stamp set.

I covered the chipboard flower with Apricot Appeal Print Paper just by using a glue stick. To remove the excess paper I just used my paper snips to cut around the edge of the flower and then used my sanding block to smooth the edges. The center of the flower is a 1 1/4" circle that I stamped with an image from the Pick a Petal set. Behind the flower is Almost Amethyst Print Paper. Along the edge of the Certainly Celery cardstock I did some faux stitching (love this technique). The saying from Curvy Verses is stamped in Apricot Appeal . I also attached a simple piece of Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon to finish it off.

Like everyone else, Isaac and I are trying to stay cool in this wicked heat. No, this is not a complaint...we have a pool to cool off in when it gets unbearable.

Alicia

Introducing our new Catalogue!

This new little beauty arrived last week. I've been so busy reading it from cover to cover, over and over again, that I haven't had time to tell you about it!!

One word - excellent!. This catalogue is jam packed full of great new stamp sets along with some very exciting new accessories! To have a look at the catalogue follow this link http://www.stampinup.com/

Although it's very tough as a demonstrator to see your favorite stamp sets retire from year to year it's always easy to move on and find new favs! Granted, there is always the odd stamp set I just can not part with regardless of it retiring.

Stampin' Up! has introduced new textured paper in all colour families but in 12x12 size only. The majority of the Simply Scrappin' kits are new and oh, are they nice! There is just oodles of new designer series paper which I am having a very tough time deciding on just a couple to begin with.

We have a new In Colour family for this catalogue. The colours are: Groovy Guava, River Rock, Blue Bayou, Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky and Purely Pomegranate. Are these not fun names or what!!

Here is a card I designed for our June swap. I used the new stamp sets Pick A Petal and Hugs And Wishes. This card is very simple and doesn't use much paper or ink; Regal Rose, Very Vanilla and Basic Black. To give that swirly effect to the wings of the dragonfly I used the faux shaving cream technique. To do this ink up your solid stamp and then take another solid stamp and just rub it or swirl it across the inked stamp. Notice the bling bling for his eyes - I added rhinestone brads! To soften and blend everything together I sponged the edges of the very vanilla cardstock with regal rose.

Well, keep checking back for new and fun card samples. I will be hosting an Open House in August to allow everyone a chance to see the new and exciting products. I will also have many many stamp sets to sell at a reduced price along with ribbon samples and other retired products.

Enjoy the beautiful warm weather that seems to finally have arrived!

Alicia