Sailboat for Boys, Tricycle for Girls

Its been quite a while since any of my cards have been selected for mention by any design teams, so it was a lovely Easter surprise when Jaydee at Paper Players picked my Sailing Along card.
You can see all the design team picks here.

I've been working on a version of this card for a baby girl, and used the Tricycle stamp from the same stamp set, Moving Forward.
It called for a different colour scheme, so Calypso Coral and Crisp Cantaloupe teamed with this cute spot from Etcetera Design Series Paper. The Window Frames Framelits were used to cut the image and a mat, the Adorning Accents Edgelits was used again for the spot and its mat, and again, thicker baker's twine from SALE-A-BRATION. Although you can hardly see it in the photo, the same 'congratulations on your new baby' from Friendly Phrases was stamped at the bottom of the card.

So there you are, one for a boy, one for a girl. Just waiting for the new babies to arrive!

Cheerio...
Rachel

Sailing Along PP #191

I rely on challenges a great deal for inspiration and usually prefer a sketch to all others. I find that it helps me to deviate from a standard card.  The Paper Players is a favourite challenge of mine, but this colour challenge by Ann had me stumped - until I took a look through the Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper Stack. Up until then I couldn't think beyond flowers but this striped paper reminded me of boats and suddenly, I remembered Moving Forward, last year's Ronald McDonald House fundraising stamp, and I knew I would be making a baby card!

After inking up the stamp with Always Artichoke ink, I removed ink from some parts with my blender pen so that I could add Calypso Coral with a Stampin' Write marker. Setting the striped paper straight didn't appeal, so I cut with the curved Adorning Accents Edgelit and then cut a mat to match from Coastal Cabana. I experimented by tilting it this way and that until I was happy with the placement, and then I did a bit more slicing. A length of the chunky bakers twine from SALE-A-BRATION was tied around one end, and knotted before the sailing boat, cut with Deco Labels, was placed on the card. Unfortunately, the 'congratulations on your new baby' is also from a retired stamp set, Friendly Phrases. It is still a favourite of mine with the two different fonts.


 Pop over to my later post to see this version tricycle-for-girls of the card for a baby girl.
Be warned that the current Ronald Mc Donald stamp set, Tag It, will be retiring at the end of June and while there is sure to be another super stamp set to replace it AND raise funds for this good cause, if you are wanting Tag It, you might be best to order it now.

Tag It

I've been for a lovely walk in the Autumn sunshine this afternoon and I'm feeling very fit and healthy!
Thanks for popping in
Rachel

Moving Forward with RetroSketches#65

Tomorrow the retiring list is released for Australia and New Zealand, but it is no secret that Moving Forward is to retire. That's because it is a special stamp set for Ronald McDonald House and $3 from each sale goes to the charity - that sounds like such a good idea! Buy stamps sets that are just so cute, AND help out a worthy cause, don't you think?

Moving Forward is an absolute favourite for me, you can use it for a wide range of events, with the tricycle, sailboat and this blimp among the main images. I've used the Ink to rubber technique for this card, check my class schedule for June if you live nearby.
Paired with the birthday greeting from Curly Cute (also retiring) and some Comfort Cafe DSP, it is based on this sketch from RetroSketches. You know, whenever I lack inspiration I go straight to a sketch or colour challenge and find that usually that will get the imagination going. I also entered it for the Make it Masculine challenge at CAS on Sunday

Just a short post today - back tomorrow with the retiring list!
Cheers!
Rachel

Curly Cute

More South Pacific Stampin' Up! Convention

Part Two

This is the 25th Anniversary of Stampin' Up! and they are celebrating BIG TIME!

Stampin' Up! always treat the demonstrators very well, and demo support, situated in Sydney, are always so helpful and friendly, so it is almost like a big family get together. They arrive en mass from the US, Sydney and New Zealand and everyone has a role to fill. They hand out our bags and greet us, they show projects they have made, they man the tills in Momento Mall. At the end of Convention they must be exhausted - I know we all were! Convention is a HIGHLIGHT of our year, and this year was HUGE!

The Show Begins!

Convention opened on Thursday 23rd May with drumming and pyrotechnics.

Then Shelli talked about why she had formed the company with her sister, when they were young wives and mothers. Their needs at the time were similar to many of our own:- social, creative and financial. The first catalogue consisted of 64 pages, probably quite large for a small-scale home business being run from the lounge of the family home.

This year, the new catalogue has 210 fantastic pages, full of inspiration and tips, as well as the goodies available for you to buy. Every year they seem to get better, we were all thrilled to be given an early peek, especially as we'd been teased with a current copy in our Convention back pack.

The first catalogue.

Naturally, not every one of those 25 years has been positive and full of growth and the company has had to make some difficult decisions along the way. We all understand that while change can be difficult to deal with, it is often beneficial, so Stampin' Up! has always tried to be positive when those tricky moments arose.



Ronald McDonald House

Ronald McDonald called in to thank us for sponsoring the Ronald McDonald houses associated with many children's hospitals. Last year was the first time we had the special stamp set for the Ronald McDonald houses in the Australia/New Zealand Catalogue. It was called Moving Forward, a great favourite of mine, but it will retire on 30th June. I have made a number of cards using this stamp set and you will find one here and another tricycle here and a boat here too. I haven't actually used the blimp yet, but I think I could before too long.

At the end of the presentation, all the demonstrators in the auditorium (and Ronald) received a copy of this years stamp set. I think it is okay for me to tell you that it is called Tag It, but I can't show you any images just yet. I can share with you that $3.00 from every sale of this set is donated to the Australian Ronald Mc Donald Houses.  I will try to get some cards made up soon using that stamp set, and I might be able to post a picture then.

I think that might be enough to go on with, thanks for passing to read my blog,
Cheers
Rachel

Moving Forward from $27.95

Birthday Tricycle PP#136

I promise this is my last post for the day!

I've had a lovely time today and I have actually done more than make cards, but that is what I concentrated on most this afternoon. Only one other family member was home for dinner tonight, so that was easy, and he has gone off to work now too. I just seem to have been on a roll with the creativity this afternoon, no idea why really.

Of course, the starting point was the colour challenge from The Paper Players. Then, there is a small person called Alice. She was born only seven days ago, a girl to a family with 2 sons already - my eldest son's family, so Alice is my first grand-daughter. I am the mother of 5 sons, and Gran to 4 boys, and was sure we'd never see a girl in this family - till Alice!
This has given my whole week a rosy glow, and I suspect inspired this wee birthday card.

So, we have a technique commonly called 'Ink to Rubber', the stamp set Moving Forward, a party banner from Owl Occasions from the Holiday mini, grass from Dinoroar and 'Happy Birthday' from Made for you. Add in a little teddy from Baby Bundle and a bunny from a long retired set and you have all the stamping sorted. I really like 'Ink to Rubber' for a change because you can use multiple colours on the one stamp, and it gives a water-coloured effect. I would be happy to teach you how to do this, if you are near to the northern suburb of Melbourne, South Morang.

 Lately, I have seen a lot of people using flowers cut with Floral Fusion Sizzlets, so I ordered them with my last order, and they appear on this card with a Vintage Faceted button on top. The middle layer of the flower and the Pool Party banner have both been dry embossed using the Square Lattice Folder.

I hope you will have some fun stamping soon, 

bye for now, 

Rachel

Moving Forward....

When I saw Retro Sketches#51 this week I immediately thought of the Moving Forward stamp set from Stampin' Up! It just might be my current favourite, I think. I can't say NEW favourite because it has been around in Australia since our Annual catalogue was released last September, but I seem to be using it once or twice each week at the moment.
The image in the sketch looks like something moving off the page, but then after I had coloured in my stamp, I couldn't quite bring myself to do that, oh dear! I probably should try that though, to push my boundaries a little, LOL.

Well, actually, I did challenge myself by using the colours presented at ColourQ#177  this week. Not at all a combination I would have readily chosen, but the Cherry Cobbler decided that I was using the cute trike image and not the sailboat! And then I needed the frog and some stems for Always Artichoke, and where to add the Pool Party?

I used the "ink to rubber" technique to colour this stamp in so many different colours. It isn't as technical as it might sound, and gives a more subtle watercolour-like finish, and Moving Forward is a perfect set to use this technique with,  even though the frog, flowers, and a little bird are all separate images to make it easier to colour them differently.
Well, you'll notice that I layered Pool Party under Cherry Cobbler and used some natural buttons and Bakers twine in Cherry Cobbler and white to finish off.

Its quite a simple little card for this challenge, hope you like it and don't forget to take a look at the challenge sites for lots more inspiration. If you're quick, you can enter too. Happy stamping!

Rachel

New Babies and Birthdays SSC35

I love 'country' colours, and when I was a patchworker I usually made quilts in these shades, so I was thrilled when I saw the colours on the Sunday Stamps color Challenge for this week. These are perfect colours for a masculine card, so I pulled out Clockworks, Daring Adventure and Feeling Sentimental stamp sets. The first two are available in the current Annual Catalogue and Feeling Sentimental is one of the Sale-a-bration stamps sets, yours free with an order of $100. With those three sets you could make an enormous range of cards.

Whoops! I nearly forgot that I also used a ticket stamp from That's the Ticket, NEW in the 25th Anniversary catalogue out now. A ticket seemed the appropriate place to stamp the other greeting, what with the giant ferris (?) wheel.The card has been finished off with bakers twine and a wooden button.

I also have been making baby cards lately, because I will need one shortly for a new family member, whose gender will be a surprise. My stocks of cards for new arrivals was running pretty low too, so I have made quite a few for both little girls or boys.

Next is a card in the challenge colours for a wee boy. Quite a simple card using Moving Forward, from the Annual catalogue and Itty Bitty Banners, which can be purchased from the catalogue for $27.95 (wood mount) or chosen as your Free selection in the Sale-a-bration promotion. I used an embossing folder to texture a piece of Marina Mist card with a zig zag pattern, so it isn't completely plain.

Exciting news for me again! 

The baby card, above, was a Sunday Stamps Top Pick!

How adorable is that sweet Sail Boat? Great use of the Challenge Colors Rachel and I really like the texture you added with the embossing folder. Congrats! 

Lastly, is a pretty card for a little girl with some of the new flower trim, tinted by rubbing on a stamp pad. I used the diagonal plate on my Simply Scored to score the card front at regular intervals, then turned it over and used the other side. I placed the tiniest of the Basic Jewel pearls on every second junction. This greeting, "baby, welcome to the world" is from another great stamp set, A Word For You, with greetings for a number of different occasions. The tiny bird is from Aviary, it looks so sweet sitting on the end of the flourish!

Remember to call me if you have any questions, want catalogues or would like to place an order. You can have your order delivered anywhere in Australia for 5% of the order value, minimum $5.95.

You can phone 0417 500 681 or email .

Happy stamping, Rachel

These are some of the stampsets used.

Moving Forward

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Clockworks

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Daring Adventure

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Aviary