Spring card class 1 - Swallowtail

A couple of Saturdays ago, I went to a spring themed card class at my downline Kylie's house. We made four cards, and ate two lots of cake. Perfect! I'll be sharing the four cards over the next few posts so keep an eye out if you like the card I'm sharing today.

The main product used in this card is the Swallowtail stamp. This is the same size as the large background stamps, and the detail on it is amazing. We stamped the image onto Daffodil Delight card stock using Versamark ink, and then put on Pool Party embossing powder which was then heated using the Heat Tool. This gives a lovely raised effect. We then painted on Shimmer Paint to give the butterfly a shiny sparkle. This was then mounted onto Very Vanilla cardstock and then onto Pool Party card stock.

Here's a close up shot of the Swallowtail stamped image. Isn't the detail great?

Here's a close up of the sentiment, which is from Perfectly Penned. This was also stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with Pool Party embossing powder.

January Team Training Swaps

Evening!

I mentioned in a previous blog post that I recently attended a team training event with my Julie's Jems team.  The event was cancelled a few weeks ago because of the bad snow that started the night before, and was rescheduled to a few weeks later.  This post is to share the swaps that I had made for the event.  I'd even taken the day off before the event to get all my swaps done. Never mind, at least they were done two weeks early instead!  

We had to use products from Sale-a-bration, or the Spring/Summer catalogue.  I had received the Patterned Occasions stamp set and the Sycamore Street DSP free as part of the Sale-a-bration promotion (free products with every £45 spent), and wanted to use the plaster stamp on my swaps.  I decided to make a gift box to hold a packet of pocket tissues.  I used Summer Starfruit, Island Indigo and Pool Party card stock for the boxes.  This was the first project I have made and designed the template all by myself!  I used the paper trimmer and the Simply Scored board to create the box, and embossed the lid/flap of the box with the Big Shot and the Square Lattice and the Swiss Dots embossing folder.  A strip of the Sycamore Street papers was placed around the box, which acted as a belt for the flap.

The assembled boxes.

A closer image of the Sycamore Street designer series paper.  I love the colour combo on these, and includes Island Indigo, Pool Party, Rich Razzleberry, Sahara Sand, Summer Starfruit, Tangerine Tango, and Whisper White.

A close up of the embossed Recover Rapidly plaster stamped image.  Created by stamping with Versamark ink, then covered with White embossing powder and heated with the Heat Tool.  The image was the punched with the Full Heart Punch.

The swaps all ready to go to the training event in the box.

I received lots of lovely swaps back on the training day, a few of which I can't wait to copy and share with you.  I'll be posting photos of the swaps very soon with you.

All Day Training

A couple of weeks ago, I attended an all day Stampin' Up! training session with Julie Kettlewell and 33 other members of her team.  It was my second one, and I had a great day. We made five cards with the Create a Cupcake stamps and punch, I ran out of time on the day, and haven't finished them yet, oops! We also did some workshop training, and learnt lots of good tips. I'm looking forward to putting them into practise.  There were some fantastic creations there by Sally Jo & Julie, on the Inspiration Stations. 

Everyone that attended had to make and bring swaps, the idea of this was to share ideas, and everyone gets samples of products they might not have purchased yet.  We didn't do this at my first training, so was really excited to see what everyone made. I now have even more products on my wish list!  These are the lovely swaps I received. 

This is what I made for my swaps, using the Aviary Stamp Set, and a colour combination of Melon Mambo and Old Olive, inspired by the Colour Coach.  The Top Note Die was used to cut Whisper White card stock.  Using the Stamp-a-ma-jig, the owls were stamped, and then the cages were stamped and then heat embossed with the Stampin' Emboss Powder.  It's been ages since I did any heat embossing, I'll have to experiment with it a bit more often.  The For My Family Stamp Set was used for the greeting, and then to finish it off, an Old Olive taffeta ribbon was tied around the card.  Miraculously I had exactly enough for the 35 cards I made, with none spare!

I hope everyone liked them!

Card - Melon Mambo, Whisper White
Papers -
Stamp Set - For My Family, Aviary
Embellishments - Old Olive 1/8" (3.2mm) Taffeta Ribbon

Tools - Big Shot, Top Note Die, Heat Tool, Stampin' Emboss Powder

Inks / Markers - Melon Mambo, Old Olive