A Very Vanilla card For the Newlyweds

 Hi My Stamping Friends!

We had the privilege of being present at the wedding of my husband's cousin yesterday. It was rather special, as it was in Melbourne, and now that we live here, we were able to attend!

It was an elegant wedding and I based the card on elements of the wedding invitation. It was a simple ivory invitation with beautiful calligraphy in black. So I decided to start with Very vanilla and only use this one colour with a touch of silver and black.

 

I have been enjoying embossing the flap of the Stampin' up! envelopes which are available in Whisper white and Very vanilla. Naturally for this occasion, I chose Very vanilla to match the card. I have used the Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions Embossing folder on the card and envelope. The butterflies were cut out using the Big shot and Beautiful Wings Embosslit. The embosslits cut out the shapes as well as embossing them.  The Leaves are cut using the big shot and the Little leaves sizzlit die. The sizzlit dies just cut out the shapes. I also used the Itty bitty banners framelits to cut out the "For the Newlyweds" sentiment which comes from the Teeny tiny sentiments stamp set.

The little tags were made with the Tiny tags stamp set and punch.

 The card is finished off with some beautiful Very vanilla Seam binding ribbon and a rhinestone brad.
Thanks for looking!
I've been organising my stamping desk and have some pictures to share with you over the next few days so stay tuned!
Happy Stamping!!
Love, Claire

Happy New Year!

 Happy New Year my Stamping Friends! 

I hope you had a festive New years eve celebration with your loved ones. 'Twas a quiet one for us with our three little people but I was thankful to have hubby by my side when the clock struck midnight!

This is a little New years card that I thought I would make as I have been terribly disorganised with Christmas cards this year. I figure that a new years card could be received all January long so that is what I am going for here!

I've used the Betsy's blossoms stamp set and that gorgeous and bright Floral district DSP.  The colours used here are Rich razzleberry, Baja breeze and Daffodil delight. An interesting combo but it's light and bright and a perfect way to start the year I think!

The words come from the Teeny tiny sentiments stamp set that has a greeting for almost every occasion and I have cut the words out using the Bitty banners framelits.

 

Stampin' Up! is running a sale at the moment too! Lots of amazing savings on retired items from last year's catalogue. Click here to view the lists of what is available when. The current specials finish on January 3rd, so if you would like anything please email me and let me know what you'd like and how I can contact you to confirm your order details. There are further specials available from January 4th-10th and then from January 11th- 21st and you can view all of them via the link above.

 

Happy Stamping and Happy New year!!

Love, Claire

Stampin' Up! Secret Santa

Hi everyone!

I just love my Stampin' up! team! And I love my upline, Paula and her wonderful ideas! This year Paula arranged a secret santa between our Stampin' up team which was lots of fun. We each answered a little questionnaire about our favourite colours, items and things about Christmas and then she matched us up with our secret santas who then got to read the answers on our questionnaire and make a few cards and 3-D items to send to each other.

My secret santa loves Cherry cobbler and Early espresso so I sort of worked with that colour combo plus I used some of the colours from the Comfort cafe DSP. This group of items was for the last parcel which had to include some 3-D items. I made a corner bookmark (top of photo), A little embossed envelope holding a coffee sachet using the Two tags die and new Lacy Brocade embossing folder plus a Cross over card.

I'm sorry about the photo not being up to scratch, I had to take it at night so the items could be express posted early the next morning. And we have downlights all through our house which are terrible for good photos!




It's lovely to finally be relaxing for Christmas after all the hustle and bustle of preparing. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas this year and enjoy your families and hopefully a chance to slow down and do what you love. For me, I hope that will mean a little stamping plus catching up with family and friends here in Melbourne. I also hope you will have the opportunity to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, the arrival of Jesus as a little baby - a human who was also fully God! Quite amazing when you stop and think on it. A verse that sums up my feelings on Christmas this year from the Christmas carol called "Mary's boy child" is: "Man will live forever more because of Christmas day!" Wow!
Happy Christmas!
Love, Claire

A card for my love

Hi stampers!

It's my hubby's birthday today and I thought I would share with you the card I made for him.

For those that haven't caught up with the news, we are off to Melbourne (we arrived last night!) for a new job for my husband with an airline! He'll be flying a similar plane to the one in the Sentimental journey stamp set (sadly retired) so I thought this was the perfect image to use this year.

The sentiment comes from Bring on the cake (y'all must know how much I love this Birthday greeting set - it's so versatile!). The background text stamp is from Daring adventure, one of my new most favourite stamp sets and the papers come from the Floral district set of DSPs. This is a good example of how floral papers can be used in a men's card especially when the papers are double sided! The button is one of the gorgeous new Naturals desinger buttons and there is a little bit of the Midnight muse satin stitched ribbon in there too. I love trying to break the rules and sneak some ribbon onto mens cards!

A roll of this gorgeous satin stitched ribbon can be yours for free when you place a $60 order this month and you can choose from 5 different colours. Click here for more information and contact me if you'd like to order. You can also visit my facebook page for regular updates and message me on there.
Happy stamping!

Betsy's blossoms and butterflies for a birthday

Hi everyone!

Today I have a pretty little card to share with you that I made for a special friend.

The background is Elegant eggplant stamped with the flowers from a new stamp set called Betsy's blossoms. The other contrasting colour is Summer starfruit, one of the new In colours available from 2012-2014. It's kind of a bit more yellow than the old colour Kiwi kiss. This has been stamped with the large blossom flower stamp from Betsy's blossoms and then some lovely ruffled wisteria wonder ribbon has been added.

The greeting comes from Bring on the cake (a wonderful birthday greetings set) and those darling embossed butterflies are made using the Beautiful wings embosslit folder on the big shot. It cuts out the butterfly shape and embosses the patterns at the same time!

 

I hope this leaves you feeling inspired to create!

Happy Stamping!

love, Claire

The farewells begin :(

It's the hardest part of moving a long distance, saying goodbyes.
It is something that I dread as I try to keep myself together in public and put on a brave face but goodbyes always undo me.
On Thursday last week we had Levi's last day of kindergarten. He has been attending a beautiful little kindy that is part of Ethan's school. I just love all his teachers, they are such a blessing and we love the way they have taught and cared for him. I wanted to get them a little something special to say thank you and of course, had to make them a sweet little thank you card too.
This sweet image of the boy is from a new stamp set called Lean on me which has four little sketched images with cute sayings. I decided to just use the image part of the stamp with some Early espresso marker ink and then coloured it using the Stampin' write markers in So saffron, Pool party and Island indigo and the blender pen. The greeting is from the Pretty postage stamp set and again uses the markers in Pool party, Baja breeze and Island indigo. 

Don't you just love that Dark brown woodgrain background? I have used the new Woodgrain textured impressions embossing folder on the also new Early Espresso Core'dinations Card stock. The Core'dinations cardstock has a light coloured core so when it is embossed and sanded it reveals that lighter colour.
 

Thanks for looking! Let me know what you think!
Happy Stamping, Love,
Claire.

Floral and feminine

 

 

Hi my stamping friends!

 

Sorry for the little blogging break there! I have been a tad busy as my hubby is in Melbourne now studying for his new job and I am sorting things and trying to get organised (and continue to live life with my three little people!) before we move in October. If you are a stamper in Melbourne - please stop by my facebook page and say 'hello' - it would be so lovely to know some stampers to meet up with once I am settled :-)

 

Today I have a couple of pretty cards to share with you from the last workshop I held here in Cairns. It was such a beautiful morning for a workshop and the hostess had the most amazing spread of yummy food and a great HUGE table so it was a fun time!

 

This first card was our make and take. Using my favourite blue, Baja breeze teamed with Island indigo ribbon, Very vanilla and Old olive for the greenery on the stamp.

We used marker to stamp for this image from 'Just believe', a stamp set I have had my eye on ever since it debuted last year. I finally ordered it in August! We stamped the image first and the sentiment and then cut that lovely label shape using our new framelits in the Big shot. Gosh, they are the handiest and most versatile tool I own yet! I love them :) And of course, like most of my cards I have managed to use that gorgeous Vintage wallpaper embossing folder! lol

 

 

The second card was one I demonstrated before our make and take. It is based on my favourite new in color, Raspberry ripple matched with Perfect plum and Crumb cake. This lovely colour combo was from the Color coach - such a fantastic tool to help you for those times when the perfect colour combo escapes you!
I started by running the pretty Love Blossoms standard wheel along the base of the card, using Raspberry ripple ink (note how the same colour ink stands out on the cardstock). The gorgeous floral image is from 'You are loved', again using markers to ink up the stamp in Raspberry ripple and Lucky limeade. I then ran the image through the big shot using the oval Designer frames folder and cut around the edge of it. The square lattice embossing folder added a little texture to the crumb cake card stock and the scallop trim border punch pretties up the edge.
 

 

This was sadly my last Cairns workshop :( I am going to have to have a little break from workshops as we move and settle in Melbourne and shall see where we go from there. I just love sharing this craft with others, it's such a joy to see people amazed at what they have created!

I can still place orders or have a catalogue sent directly to you so please don't hesitate to contact me if you would like me to do that for you.

 

I also have a couple of sales happening over on my facebook page - some Retired Stamps and some Hand made cards. Click on the links if you would like to have a look :-)

 

I hope you have enjoyed a little bit of pretty inspiration for your day... hoping you find some time to create soon!

 

Happy Stamping!

Love, Claire

Vintage Apothecary Arts

Hi my stamping friends!

Time to share a card with you that is a little bit vintage. I am loving these Label shaped framelits and the Apothecary arts set. It's so simple to use them together for a beautiful effect. You just stamp your image and then place the frame over the image and run it through the big shot to cut it out.

Apothecary arts is a beautiful set for watercolouring. Here I have used a combination of Stampin' write markers and aquapainter to colour the image.

I have also embossed the Crumb cake cardstock with my favourite, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and sponged it lightly with Whisper white craft ink. 

The ribbon is the Chantilly crochet trim, only available until August 31, 2012 and is finished off with a charming rhinestone brad.



Don't forget to place your order for retiring items. Some items have sold out already!

Happy Stamping!
Love,
Claire  

Something "manly"

Hi my stamping friends :)

I truly used to fear making mens cards but over the years I have realised that they are actually quite easy! I have a few key tips for making mens cards:

• Rough it up a bit. Distress the edges using not too sharp scissors or our Cutter kit (p.149 of the Idea book and catalogue)
• Ink up the edges using a Stamping sponge or sponge dauber and the same colour ink as cardstock. This just gives a bit of an antique/aged look. 
• Add some metal. Stampin' up!s Metallic Brads are perfect! 
• Add some texture. I have to hold myself back from using my square lattice embossing folder on every mens card I make! 

The card pictured is one that we made on Friday evening at an in home workshop. The hostess asked for some ideas for mens cards and this one I felt was fairly neutral and could work for different ages. See, you can even make a man card without a car or a boat stamp in sight!

We used the super fun Grunge rock stamp set and some of the girls who knew guitar playing men decided to add a little stamped and hand cut guitar image from the same stamp set to their cards. I love seeing the creativity expressed at workshops! It's awesome.

If you'd like to host your own workshop (and request a theme) then please let me know as I would be thrilled to help you out! Don't forget until the end of July we are still showing our hostesses how much we love them by giving them an extra $90 to spend when sales reach $650!

Happy Stamping!
Love Claire

Friendship card using Tea Shoppe

Hi my stamping friends!

Just a little friendship card to share with you today. I just love this sentiment,
"Stay is a charming word in a friend's vocabulary".

It's always nice when a friend says, "Stay just for one more cuppa." I know I have a few close friends
who would be nodding in agreement there! ;)

I have used the lovely new Tea shoppe stamp set on this card with that beautiful big tea cup stamped up in Island indigo. The lighter blue background is called pool party.

I hope this card inspires you a little, either to do some stamping or to have a friend pop over for a cup of tea!
Happy stamping!
Love, Claire

Tea Shoppe easel card

 

Hi my stamping friends!

Today I have a little easel card to share with you made with our new Label Framelits.I've used one of my most favourite stamp sets here, Morning cup and a sentiment from the new Tea Shoppe stamp set. You can also see a little of the new pleated satin ribbon hiding in there :)

The inside sentiment is from "Tea Shoppe", heart embossing from the new Adorning accents embossing folders and an Antique brad holds the card open when it is standing.

 Please ask if you have any questions!
Happy Stamping!
Love, Claire

New mini and a stamping class!

Hi my stamping Friends!!

It's April! Time for a new mini catalogue! YAY!
Oh and it's so beautiful... please click the link to the right of this post to see the lovely new Autumn-Winter mini catalogue. I had to seriously hold myself back from buying almost everything in this one!

Below I have a little card which uses a few new products!

We have a gorgeous new set of diecutting frames for the big shot. They are called Framelit labels and come in a set of 6 so you can cut out and layer them! And, of course, it wouldn't be Stampin'up! without a co-ordinating stamp set! The lovely Apothecary Art set works delightfully with the framelits. The stamp set includes four label shaped stamps of different sizes and two greetings, "Happiest birthday"and "So grateful".



In this next photo you may also notice some divine new pleated satin ribbon in Baja breeze as well as that dainty little patterned paper down the bottom there which is from the Twitterpated range that includes DSP (Designer series papers), Designer fabric, some flowery little designer buttons in Blushing bride and Baja breeze and of course that ribbon! Yummo!

 

You can see here I have also had some fun with the Vintage wallpaper and Square lattice embossing folders and the sweet little Scallop trim border punch. The little flower comes from the Boho bossoms punch and has a little pearl as the centre.
The colours used on this card are Whisper white, Lucky limeade, Basic Gray, Calypso coral, Poolparty (marker), Baja breeze (ribbon and DSP).

I will be running a stamping class next Thursday evening, April 19th at 7:30pm. And this is one of the cards we will be making on the night. If you can make it along please RSVP by April 16th.

Thanks for looking and Happy Stamping!
Love Claire

A pretty patchwork Berry blossoms card

Hello!

Whilst I was making a birthday card for my little sister I also had my Mum in law on my mind as it is her birthday in March too! The Berry blossoms DSP is just so pretty and cute and like I said in my previous post I love the colour combination.
I have wanted to try one of these patchwork top note cards and thought this was the perfect opportunity. I have used different patterned papers from the DSP and also a few squares of embossed cardstock (petals-a-plenty folder) in Calypso coral, Wisteria wonder and Lucky limeade.

Happy stamping!
Love, Claire

Christmas photo card using Crayon rubbed embossing

Sometimes it's nice at Christmas time to send your loved ones a card with a family photo on it. This is a card that we made at a recent workshop which was quite a quick and simple card to do. We used the crayon rubbed embossing technique which I found a tutorial for here. And then cut the piece into a Top note shape using the Big shot die. Apart from that little process the rest of the card was very simple and straightforward!
The colours used are Whisper white, Real red and Old olive.
I hope this gives you a little bit of inspiration for your Christmas cards this year :)
Happy Stamping!
Love, Claire

Something for Christmas with embossing, markers and shimmer

More Christmas! Can't get enough of it really :)
Here I have used the Vintage wallpaper embossing folder to create that beautifully textured background and the lovely new Something for Christmas Alacarte stamp with markers. The colours used are Very vanilla, Old olive, Cherry cobbler and Real red.

I don't know if you can see in the picture, but I have used a little bit of the vanilla smooch spritz on this stamped and hand cut decoration from the Tree trimmings stamp set. It just adds a little shine to the card! 

Happy Stamping!
Love, Claire

Something Traditional for Christmas

Here is a quick little card that we used at a recent workshop. I just love this Vintage wallpaper textured folder for the Bigshot and you may notice in the close up that the pattern pops a little on this card as we inked up the folder before doing the embossing (using real red - same colour as the cardstock). I really love this effect. 

Another popular effect I have noticed lately and that I have been using myself is this ruffled ribbon look. It's very easy to achieve - simply use a strong adhesive such as sticky strip by placing a strip on the card where you want your ribbon to go and then gather your ribbon by pinching it as you put it on the card. As long as you use a strong adhesive it works perfectly every time!

And the stamp we used is the Something for Christmas, one of the new alacarte stamps in the current Stampin' Up! catalogue. It's a very versatile stamp but here I've just used it with our Stampin' Write markers. 

The colours are Real red, Whisper white and Old olive.

Happy Stamping!

Love, Claire

Friendship card using flirtatious fabric and Wisteria wonder

Following on from my pretty little hair accessories the other day is this card which also uses the Flirtatious Designer Fabrics from Stampin' Up! 

The base of the card is Wisteria Wonder and the darker purple ink and cardstock is Elegant eggplant. I have always loved using Elegant eggplant and the new In color, Wisteria wonder is a beautiful shade to pair with it.

The flower was made using the Originals blossom party die on the big shot and held together by a lovely little Wisteria wonder printed designer brad. 

Any questions, please just ask!

Happy Stamping!
Love Claire

Flirtatious Fabric gifts

Hello girls!
I feel like I have released my inner girl in the last few days creating these sweet little items! She has been hiding since I gave birth to the first of three boys almost 7 years ago! LOL!
Seriously though, these were so much fun to make, so simple and so effective! I made this little head band and hair clips for a loyal hostess of mine who has 3 little girls. I have used the beautiful new Designer Fabrics from the current Stampin' Up! idea book and catalogue which was released in September. These colours and patterns are just so pretty and girly. This set of three patterns you see pictured are called Flirtatious.
The flower shapes are cut using the Originals blossom party die.



I had to purchase a glue gun for this project - wow, aren't they a fun tool to use! Hehehe! You might also notice in the picture the hair clips have the little Rhinestone brads and on the hair clip I have used the new printed designer brads in Wisteria wonder, one of our new In colours. So cute and fun - you just have to give this project a go!
If you aren't into such girlie colours the fabrics are also available in a range of other colours and patterns (check out the catalogue for details).
Happy Stamping.... or Happy Hair Accessory Creating!!
Love, Claire

Christmas Card Making Kits with Stampin' Up!

Hello!
To make your Christmas card making easier this year Paula and I have come up with two card kits to help you make 20 cards and 10 gift tags. All the instructions, cardstock, ribbon, stamps and inks you need are in the kits. So not only will you be able to make beautiful cards with these kits but you can keep the stamps and inks to use on your other beautiful creations :)


 
Snow swirled Card making kit:
This first kit features the Snow swirled stamp set and the colours are Cherry cobbler and Old olive. You will receive the stamp set and two ink pads, Cardstock to make the 20 cards and 10 precut tags, Ribbon and full instructions on how to make the cards. All these items are yours for $102.10 including Stampin' up freight. If you are outside of the Cairns area please let me know your postcode and I can let you know how much it will cost for me to send your kit to you.
Suggested add ons for this kit are Dazzling diamonds glitter ($8.50) with the multipurpose adhesive ($7.50) or maybe some Rhinestone brads ($19.95 for 84).

Something for Christmas Card making kit:

Our second kit features the lovely new Something for Christmas Alacarte stamp and the colours are Real read, Lucky limeade and Concord Crush. You will receive the stamp and three Stampin' write markers (You can colour directly on to the stamp using the thick end of these markers and can use the thin end to write in your cards or do your scrapbook journalling), Cardstock to make the 20 cards and 10 precut tags, Ribbon and full instructions on how to make the cards. All these items are $59.60 including Stampin' Up! freight. I can also do a freight quote on this kit if you live outside of Cairns.

Suggested add ons for this kit is the Crystal effects liquid ($11.95) - you squeeze it on to the stamped image like glue and it sets clear and raised up like glass. And don't forget your adhesives. I would suggest Snail adhesive ($12.95 for a 12 metre roll or $8.50 for a refill) or Multipurpose liquid adhesive ($7.50).

If you are interested in either of these kits please just drop me an email at clairedaunceysu@gmail.com 

Happy Stamping!

Love, Claire

Something NEW for Christmas

Hello my stamping friends!

Just thought I would pop in to share a card with you as it has really been too long between blog posts. Whilst I have been busy it hasn't stopped me stamping, but my dear camera has definetely died so I am relying on my trusty iphone as a camera and it really doesn't cut it with photo quality... so we are on the lookout for a new camera... but in the meantime I hope you can cope with some very average picture quality!
Here is one of the cards we'll be making this Saturday at our New catalogue Launch. I've used a brand new A la carte stamp here called Something for Christmas with the lovely Stampin' write markers directly on the stamp. Some gorgeous new Cherry cobbler striped grosgrain ribbon and the (new to me) Vintage wallpaper embossing folder in the Big shot.
I am running this launch with my friend and upline, Paula and she will be sharing another cute and New card with us all. If you haven't reserved your spot at this workshop yet then make sure you email or call me in the next day so we can make up your kits for you!

I have lots of new ideas here that I just have to photograph and then I can share with you all! Until then,
Happy Stamping!
Love, Claire