a third of my door and wreath cards

this one is a more modern door. The main reason for doing these cards are to show some of the ways you can make wreaths! This one is made from two scallop circles punches and on circle punch. "TWO SCALLOP CIRCLES?" I hear you say - YES - Stampin' Up! are introducing a larger one in the new Summer Mini which comes out tomorrow!

The best way to make a ring using punches is to punch the inside circle first then using the punch upside down you can punch the larger one nice and evenly as you can see the hole from the first punch. This method is great for any type of ring or frame you may need. I often do it with ovals when I want a hand bag handle, you could use any shape where you have two punches the same shape but different sizes. You can do so much with this method.

I used Wild Wasabi for my wreath and the awesome pearls that we have in the Idea Book & Catalogue, they just add a little something to ANY project. The door is Soft Suede and Very Vanilla, the bow is Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon and the stamp is from the Delightful Decorations stamp set which I coloured using markers - Wild Wasabi and Poppy Parade. The door handle is one of the brads in the pack that has four colours - black, white, vanilla and silver, and they come in two sizes - this is the smaller size.

Last door is tomorrow - just in time for my classes. Tomorrows afternoon class is 1.30-3.30pm - an hour later than normal as I have to collect my son from his last exam. I can't wait for these exams to be over - can imagine he is even more excited about the prospect! lol Now what is a 15yo going to do for the next 2 months before the start the new year at school?? I have a feeling I will be employing him to wash windows etc hehe

another door wreath card

this one is more traditional. I have used the Stampin' Up! bird punch to make the leaves for the wreath. The stamp greeting was from the Welcome Christmas set and the bow is made from one of the new laces that are in the new Summer Mini catalogue which goes live on 1st December - which is only 2 sleeps away! Yes Christmas is in less than 4 weeks!!!!
I used Riding Hood Red for the door and Very Vanilla for the door which was stamped in Crumb Cake with the wooden stamp. The wreath is Almost Artichoke, which I sponged the edges a bit.
Don't forget I have two more of these type cards to show you, so see you tomorrow.

wreath cards

Firstly I must apologize but I am unable to show any photo's of Friday's display and sales table at my mother's Probus group. It was such a rush to get it set up I didn't have a minute to snap a pic! But it was a VERY successful morning and my cards and gifts were flying out the door - so my bank account is looking a lot happier than before! Thanks everyone who purchased them!

Now back to crafting! I have made a series of these cool door wreath cards and I will show one a day for the next 4 days. The first one here is for a challenge on Crafters Anonymous which was to create something Christmassy and it had to have - something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. SO something old is the card base which was from my starter kit back in February 2009! Something new is the stamp - Welcome Christmas which just came out in the new Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalogue. Something borrowed is the idea for these cards. They are all over the web and my upline Jacque made one as her swap for last weeks team training event. And finally something blue - the card base again - the whole look of the card was to be blue and icy, so different to what we get here in New Zealand - where it's very hot and sunny!

One part of the challenge was it was supposed to be a 3D item - but I reckon a DOOR is pretty 3D! lol as a moderator on the site I'm not eligible to win a challenge but it's fun to get involved! hehe

sorry for no blogging

this week has flown past and I can't believe I haven't posted this week! that's a first for me. What also is a first for me is that I haven't crafted all week!
I am doing a presentation at my mothers Probus group this morning so I have been prepping for a sale table that they wanted. So I will take some pictures today of my display table and my sales table. Then back to crafting..........

thanksgiving in New Zealand

Last night I went to my up line Jacquie's place for her level one training and we had a thanksgiving dinner. Jacquie is from the US and always has a thanksgiving dinner and although we celebrated it with her a week earlier we all had a WONDERFUL time! We each took part of the meal with us - I made a dessert called "zucotta" which is a Russian for pumpkin (spelling my be a bit out) which I thought was appropriate for thanksgiving. We had a great time just chatting and laughing together. We did a make and take too, but I can't show you that or my swap I made as it's using goodies from the upcoming Summer Mini which goes live on the 1st December. But I was chuffed that the girls voted mine swap as the 'wowest' one.
So I wanted to make a thanksgiving card for Jacquie to say thanks for all she does etc, and it was a bit of a challenge as we don't have specific thanksgiving stamps in New Zealand put I managed to put this card together. I kept to more tradition colours - Soft Suede with Cream Confetti and gold card stock. The sentiment on the front is from the Sense of Time stamp set and of cause I used my favourite boarder punch - scallop trim. I stamped the big flourish from Baroque Motifs and used the mat pack for the piercing. Finally I used a bit of hemp twine and a button just to finish it off.
I think the most important part is what you personally write inside the card, this comes from the heart not some catalogue. It's a great time to sit back and think about how well we have got it. I know many of us suffer physically from one ailment or another (some of us have a shopping list full!) but most of use have a roof over our heads, food in our kitchen and the luxury of being about to create in our spare time. Lots of us have friends and family close to us, others far away that we can connect to with just a few clicks of the mouse, we have pets that give us love unconditionally and the chance to learn new things. It is for these things that we can be grateful for.

Bookmark Christmas Card

Isn't this such a great idea? it's a card with a bit more - a book mark! The card looks great by itself but with the book mark the receiver of the card has a useful bookmark that will remind them of your card and for thinking of them.

I used the new Concord Crush teamed up with the crisp Whisper White. The stamp set I used is Delightful Decorations and the Vintage Wallpaper Stampin' Up! Big Shot embossing folder. A bit of ribbon and a touch of bling and it's done.

I would love to show you how easy this card is to make, it can be made for ANY occasion. Contact me today to book a time in - the days are filling up before Christmas so sooner is better than later!! hehe I am accepting dates in the new year for workshops or other Stampin' Up! events too.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon!

another way to give at Christmas

...is to give a card WITH chocolate - aaahhhh BLISS!!!

This is another version of the Becky Roberts ones I have been making but I wanted something that would hold a thin bar like a Cherry Ripe or Chunky Cadbury bar. So I virtually redid the whole template to fit, also I tweaked it to fit New Zealand size of A4 and in metric.
The base is Soft Suede and the DSP is the Cocoa special one from the Welcome Christmas special bundle again. Poster for the special is on the right.
This is one of the projects that we are making on Saturday for my team training. We are having our first proper training session - which will include business training as well as creative training. And lots of yummy food of cause! lol I am a nibbler of a crafter. When I craft with friends I often eat pineapple lumps which for those not from New Zealand and yummy small chocolate coated bits of heaven. hehe
This project is also my submission for the current fortnightly challenge on Crafters Anonymous - which was for a 3D Christmas container. If you are a crafter and would like to join our great supportive on line community email me for an invite. julia.leece@slingshot.co.nz