Dinoroar boys cards

Hi my stamping friends!

In keeping with the masculine theme of late, I thought I would share these boys birthday cards with you all. I have used the gorgeous Dinoroar stamp set from Stampin' up! and a really simple layout and a little colouring using the blender pens.

I love quick and simple kids cards because they are not always kept but even if they are then something like this still looks special as it is handmade :)

The scoring under the dinosaurs is a simple yet effective way to add a little extra effect to an otherwise simple card.

 

 

 

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

Sweet shop - Bring on the cake!

Hi My Stamping Friends!

I just had to share this sweet little card with you today using this new set of Designer Series papers (DSP)  called Sweet shop The set includes 8 double sided patterned papers and four sheets of embossed papers (12 sheets of 12"x12" in total). Those white hearts on the Calypso Coral background are actually raised. And there is another sensory element to this card... I have embossed the greeting with vanilla scented stampin' emboss powder! So it smells like vanilla! So much fun. I have more ideas brewing with these papers so please stay tuned!
You can find these sweet papers and scented embossing powders in the new Autumn-Winter mini catalogue on pages 22 and 23. If you don't have your copy yet then please contact me and I can get one to you - or click on the link on my sidebar to view the catalogue online.



Happy Stamping!
Love, Claire

Just add Ink 108 Colour challenge

Hi my stamping friends!

It's been a while since I have found (made!) the time to participate in a stamping challenge. I was delighted to see the fresh colours over at this week's Just add Ink colour challenge.

The colours are Pool party, Island indigo, Whisper white and Early espresso. I am so loving these beautiful blues at the moment from Stampin' Up!s current in colours.

I have used the now retired Seaside stamp set and my handy Bring on the cake stamp set for the sentiment. I LOVE the variety of birthday greetings and styles in this set. And a lovely antique brad for a little interest!

Thanks for looking! Happy Stamping!

Love, Claire

Something pretty.... and some upcoming blog candy!

Hello my friends!

I have a pretty little card to share with you today. This was made for my Mum's birthday in late May. I just love making these sweet little flowers at the moment! I have used the square lattive embossing folder for the crumb cake base of the card and there are also some stamped flourishes from the Vintage vogue stamp set there too. The other colours I have used are Chocolate chip, Very vanilla, Blushing bride and Pear pizzazz.

Here you can see the flower up a little bit closer - it is made using the scallop circle punch. You cut the scallop circle into a spiral before winding it up into the flower shape. I must confess that I learnt this technique on youtube!

I have also noticed that I am coming up to my 100th blog post so I thought that it was high time I had a blog candy competition!! I will be back in the next couple of days with more information about how you can enter to win some free Stamping items!

Stampin' up! are also offering a great promotion this month. It is a free gift with purchase promo which means that if you spend $100 you will receive a free roll of ribbon and a set of 48 designer buttons (see picture below)! Click here for more information.



Please comment or email me at clairedaunceysu@gmail.com if you have any queries about this card or this months special offer.

Happy Stamping!
Love, Claire

Wish big

I had a bit of fun making this card! It's one of those bright and cheery cards perfect for a birthday and really very quick to make using the new cupcake punch. The colours are Whisper white, Tangerine tango, Tempting turquoise and Poppy parade. I just love the ribbon I have used on this card. It is available in the five in colours and it's such a soft and delightful ribbon to use.
The sentiment is from the gorgeous Word play set which is new to our Idea book and catalogue. I also used the Scallop circle punch and the 1 3/8" circle punch here.
I found it best to use sticky strip for the ribbon to ensure it stays in place. The scallop circle has been adhered using a stampin' dimensional to give it a little lift and I have used Tombow adhesive glue for the cupcake to stick it all together.

Happy Stamping!
Love, Claire

Cupcakes!

Hello everyone!

My favourite new thing from our Autumn-Winter mini catalogue is the very cute Build a Cupcake punch. With one punch movement you cut out a cupcake base and frosting top as well as a candle with flame, cherry and sprinkles! Simply punch out a couple of colours and you can create your own cupcake.

I have used some 'boy' colours below to make a birthday card. The colours are Pacific point, Bashful blue, Real red and Wild wasabi. The strip of patterned paper is from the /brights patterns designer series paper stack. This is a really great set of patterned papers comprising 40 sheets - 2 each of 2 double sided designs in the 10 Brights colours. The papers measure 12"x12".

I have found the best adhesive to use with these little punched out shapes is the Multipurpose liquid glue which some of you may know as Tombow glue. It has a fine point tip at one end for fine pieces (like these punched shapes) and a wider tip at the other for adhering larger surfaces such as a photo.


Well I hope this inspires you a little! Happy Stamping!
Love, Claire

Something quick and fun!

These cards were so quick to make!
The key is to choose some designer series paper and use that as your colour base and then add a matching stamped image. I have come up with two very different cards here with the same layout and concept here.
The first is a friendship card which I gave to my bestie here in Cairns.





This second version is a male birthday card - the look here was a bit more rough and manly with the map DSP a bit roughed up to look like a well used road map!

And yes, you're all going to go nuts at me because neither of these papers are available any more for purchase! eek! But my challenge here is this, go dig out some of your favourite dsp and a matching stamp set and inks. Then go get crafty ~ I'd love to see your results! Leave me a link in your comments if you give this a go!

Happy Stamping!
Love, Claire

Some Birthday Cheer

Hello Girls!

Well, for those of you in blogland who have not yet heard, our dear baby boy Samuel arrived on Sunday November 7th @ 1.45am! So he is just over 1 week old and so lovely! He is going so well, feeding and sleeping wonderfully.

I thought I would pop by today to share a couple of Birthday cards with you. The first one was for a little girl at Ethan's school. It uses the stamp sets For Everything and Perfect punches. The colours are Pear pizzazz, Blushing bride, Marina mist and So saffron.

This next little card was made for a good friends little boy who turned 3 a couple of weeks ago. I love all the blues that we have in the Stampin Up! Colour collections now but my favourite would have to be Marina Mist. This card uses the stamp sets Teeny tiny sentiments and Fox and friends. The colours are Bashful blue, Marina mist and Tempting turquoise.

I have had my gorgeous sister Laura here for the last week and she has been a wonderful help to me as well as a great companion. Tomorrow we have to finish making 100 Christmas cards for her to send to her customers and friends! Wow! We'll be busy that's for sure. I will take some photos to share with you all next time.

Happy Stamping!

Love, Claire

Vintage birdie

Good morning my stamping friends!

It's a beautiful day here in Sunny Cairns - the birds are singing, butterflies floating about and it's not too hot - yet! And on top of that I am preparing to head off to one of my new team member's homes for her first workshop! A great morning planned.

I just had to pop in and say hello though and share this little card with you. I have used a few of my favourite things of the moment to create this one. I just love the bird punch and am loving inking up Vintage Vogue at the moment too! Plus these new colours of Pear Pizzazz and Concord Crush are sooo lovely.

Stamps: Vintage vogue, Perfect punches

Colours: Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz, Crumb cake, Whisper white, Concord Crush.

Accessories: Eyelet border punch, Two step bird punch, Wide oval punch, Concord Crush Stitched Poly ribbon.

THANKYOU also to Tennille from Stamping With Tennille for sharing this Blog award with me! I can now pass the award onto 8 of my blogging friends! So please go and find some new and fresh inspiration from the following bloggers - who always inspire me!

Makeesha Byl
Paula Fuller

Danielle Daws

Tania Gould

Melissa

Christine Henderson

Kirsty Jeffery

Claire Daly

Oh and there is no baby news yet... still all snuggled up and waiting for this little one's arrival!

Happy Stamping my friends!

Love, Claire

Birthday Bakery at Just add ink

There is a very delicately sweet colour combo challenge over at Just Add Ink this week. The colours are Pretty in pink, So saffron, Certainly celery and Crumb cake (used to be called Kraft).

So what a perfect opportunity for me to create a card with the equally sweet new Hostess stamp set called Birthday Bakery! My order from the new Idea Book and Catalogue landed on my doorstep yesterday so after assembling my stamps and unwrapping everything yesterday I had fun creating today! I also couldn't resist using a little of my new roll of Pretty in pink taffeta ribbon.

This was also doubly enjoyable as I was stamping this card for a good friend who lives up in the Northern Territory serving with her family up there as missionaries. It was her birthday in August but I knew of something she was excitedly wanting from the new Idea book so I am sending her a late birthday gift.

Cardstock: Pretty in pink, So saffron, Crumb cake, Whisper white

Ink: Basic black, Pretty in pink, Certainly celery, So saffron

Stamps: Birthday bakery, Perfect punches

Accessories: Taffeta ribbon in pretty in pink and whisper white, Scallop oval punch, Wide oval punch, Mat pack, Blender pens, Snail adhesive.

Happy Stamping!

Love, Claire

Just Add Ink 31 - Colour challenge!

Good Morning Ladies!

Last night I found an ounce of energy so I decided to stay up past my bedtime (8pm!) and do some stamping. :) It was so fun and this weeks colour challenge from Just add ink was the perfect inspiration (I love these colours):

I decided to use the beautiful new stamp sets Cottage Garden and Heard from the heart. I just love these new sets. Cottage Garden is a two step stamping set which is one of the first things that I loved about Stampin' Up's range of products. To stick with the colour challenge I stamped the second part of the two step (the solid flower) with real red ink stamped off once. I think this worked okay.

I was feeling fancy so I pulled out the heat gun and did a bit of heat embossing on the greeting (hard to see in the photo unfortunately). To achieve this with SU inks you need to ink up in Versamark and then coloured ink and then stamp, sprinkle with clear powder and heat set.

The little butterfly has been given a similar treatment but I used heat and stick powder and dazzling diamonds on it instead of the clear powder.

The ribbon is 5/8"chocolate chip ribbon from SU - only available until August 31st!

I hope this gives you all a little creative inspiration for your day!

Happy Stamping! Love Claire

Sunny Fox and friends - Just add ink 27

It is time again for a little challenge over at Just add ink. This week is a sketch challenge. Click here to check out the current challenge and why not give it a go yourself?

I just love these little animals from Fox and Friends, a new stamp set in our Autumn/Winter mini catalogue. They each have such different personalities which makes for a very versatile set or you can use a few together like I have today.

This is my first version of the card using a Tempting Turquoise background. I have used DSP from the Sunny Days Simply Scrappin' kit (also in the current mini catalogue) and have used the colours from this pack in my choice of ink and cardstock (Tempting turquoise, Pink passion, Old olive and Pumpkin pie).

My second version is oh so close but uses a Pink passion background for a more girly version. The sentiments are stamped from the set called Teeny tiny sentiments. I love a simple card!

Happy Stamping!

Love, Claire

Little girl bird-day card!

Hi girls!
Bird-day - get it? Haha.... ahhh... (I'm so funny...)
Just a sweet little girly card to share with y'all using one of my favourite sets, Cheep talk. I made this for a little friend of ours who had her birthday party on Saturday and turned three! Happy Birthday Ruby :)

Supplies: Stamp sets: Cheep talk and Vintage Labels (SAB set available til Mar 31)

Ink: Pink passion (original and stamped off for the lighter pink), Green galore (marker) , Close to cocoa (marker)

Cardstock: Pink passion, Green galore, Whisper white

Accesories: 1/4" Pretty in pink grosgrain ribbon

Happy Stamping! Love, Claire