swing flop flop card

This is the project we are making tomorrow at my class. Tomorrows class is the very LAST class I will have at this house - the next one wont be till 20th July which is the 3rd Wednesday of the month.

This is such a fun type of card - it's magical how the card starts with one center image but then when you open it out another image appears. I love using the new grungy stamps sets and the Newspaper dsp. The card base is Crumb Cake (aka Kraft) with with Very Vanilla and Basic Black.

If you can make it tomorrow (1st June) at 12.30pm to my place it will be AWESOME to see you. Email for any more details julia.leece@slingshot.co.nz

I will post more items from the Crafters Anonymous day on Sunday tomorrow - so come back and have a look!

my Crafters Anonymous all day craft day project

Yesterday over at Crafters Anonymous we had a marathon craft day raising money for Cancer Research in association with Australia's Biggest Morning Tea. We started at 12pm NZ time and ended at 8.30pm - yes 8 1/2 hours!! We had 6 great projects that we taught - it was so much fun, lots of laugh, lots of talk of chocolate and all the good things that go with crafting!

Here is the project I taught - my brief was 'punch art' so along with the theme I did daffodils!

Everyone joined in and made amazing pieces of art all day! I am holding another class over there tonight as we do a regular online class every Monday. If you aren't already a member email me at julia.leece@slingshot.com

my craft space and a bleaching guide

thought I would show you where I do my creating. This is the cluttered little spot I sit at at the moment. I am shifting house in a few weeks and my new craft room will look A LOT different as I will be able to teach in the same room so I won't need to have all my crafting tools 'on wheels'.

this little project on my desk is a 'bleach' guide. I wanted to know what each of the Stampin' Up! colours look like when they are bleached. I punched out each colour with a punch and then just painted bleach on. Once dry I will place them on the ring on the left and have it on hand anytime I do some bleaching.

If you would like to learn bleaching as a stamping technique (I won't come to your house and do you domestic bleaching! hehehe) then contact me and we can arrange a workshop/class at your place! email me at - julia.leece@slingshot.co.nz

black magic cup cakes

finally the last of my black magic cards - I used a white gel pen to highlight the cupcakes. I used colouring pencils again for this one, along with Pacific Point and Real Red for layering the card.

Just a quick post today but thanks for visiting.

butterflies and music

I thought we would have a we break from the black magic cards (yes I still have one to show you hee hee) and so here is a more delicate card. I made this for my niece (she's 16) who is getting baptised on this Sunday and I thought it would be nice to give her a few words on a card.

I had to use blue cause that's her favourite colour and she is really into music (what 16 year old doesn't ??) but I thought the addition of butterflies would give it a 'uplifting' effect. The lovely Hope and Strength stamp set which Stampin' Up! is using to support Breast Cancer Research - has the beautiful big butterfly stamp and the lovely words of encouragement that I stamped directly on the music DSP from Newsprint. Adding lace (which is fashionable to wear if you are 16 - who knew! lol) and blinging it with shimmer paint and pearls just finishes it off.

blue roses on black

sorry - more black magic cards. This is what I made today at our class. I used the same method as previously but I used the stamp from Elements of Style which isn't a solid stamp but works just as well. Actually I think it is even easier than the others. The greeting is from 'Bring on the Cake' from the current mini catalogue. I have teamed it up with Whisper White and Wild Wasabi.

As we made our cards bigger than the normal we also made our own envelopes to accommodate them. I made mine out of Basic Black and repeated the blue roses on the corner of the envelope.

hope you like them :)

This weeks "Deals"

here are the goodies that are on offer discounted this week. Email (julia.leece@slingshot.co.nz) or phone me to put in your order. We can order items from the current Mini Catalogue and the big Ideas Book & Catalogue.

119750	137	Daffodil Delight 5/8'' (1.6 cm) Satin Ribbon	$20.50	$14.35
119963	137	Certainly Celery 3/8'' (1 cm) Taffeta Ribbon	$16.50	$11.55
109112	139	Square Fire Rhinestone Brads	$23.95	$16.77
109113	139	Square Ice Rhinestone Brads	$23.95	$16.77

more magic cards!

as promised here is another black magic card. I really LOVE this technique and I wonder why I hadn't tired it before! hehe

This one I used the Inspired by Nature stamp set and used the colouring in pencils again. The background card is More Mustard - not a colour I usually use but gave the late summer look I wanted for this card.

I have one more card for tomorrow so see you then.

how about a little black magic???

Black Magic is a cool technique that uses white craft ink, black card and colouring in pencils.

I love using Stampin' Up!s Watercolour pencils, the blend into each other so well.

You start by stamping a solid image with White Craft Ink onto the Basic Black card. When it's dry (you can use a heat tool to speed it up!) you can colour over the white. It probably would work with any dark card stock but with the bright colours against the black makes it all pop.

This set is Flight of the Butterfly stamp set which is so perfect for this technique.

I did try wetting the colour after it was on the butterfly but it seemed to dilute the colour. I also tried watercolour crayons (pastels) and re-inkers but none of them gave the brightness I wanted.

I am teaching this at my class at home this Wednesday, 18th May. There are still some spots available so email me for more information or book your spot. julia.leece@slingshot.co.nz

I have a few more examples of this technique to show so come back tomorrow!

butterfly - futterby

ever since I saw Bronwyn Eastley (click on here name to go to her blog) created these amazing butterfly easel cards I knew I had to make some. They are made using the lovely Bigz Stampin' Up! Big Shot die and I used embossing folders and the Beautiful Wings embosslite. There is SO many versions of them it's unbelievable!!

for (one of) the golfers of the family

It's my brother's birthday next week so I thought I would have some fun with his card. The ball is the reverse of the 'lots of dots' embossing folder. The tee is made using the large oval punch. The golf club is also the large oval punch. I just had to add the wee worm as the the golf ball looked lonely with it! hehe

The background is Old Olive embossed with the lovely textured embossing folder - it is one of the most useful embossing folders to have! The stamp set is Bugs & Kisses - isn't it cute!! I also used Basic Grey and Real Red ink and card stock.

Don't forget to keep an eye on the weekly 'Deals of the Week' from Stampin' Up!, if you aren't on my email list then contact me today julia.leece@slingshot.co.nz

sorry for no posts

but I have been at a workshop for two days learning how to get the most my crafting tools. It was a great two days, learnt heaps, met lots of lovely people but I am SOOOO tired now. Hopefully I will be back into the blogging routine in the next few days.

But meanwhile here at this weeks DEALS OF THE WEEK which run thru till Tuesday night next week.

120963	142	Stampin Pastels New Color Kit (19)	$34.95	$27.96
115957	151	Thanks Embosslits Die	$26.50	$21.20
114513	151	Sweetest Stem Embosslits Die	$26.50	$21.20
113483	155	Pennant Bigz XL Die	$91.95	$73.56

Happy Mother's Day!

one of my favourite days of the year - breakie in bed, out for lunch, nana nap in the avo while children wash car and prepare dinner, nibbling on chocolate while watching Time Team on TV - how wonderful it is! hehe Might not be to everyone's liking but to me it's as near a perfect day I could get!. Just add some crafting and I would be on cloud nine! Pity that I had a late night last night at the Kristine Fashion Show or I would be crafting - not recovering! hehe

Anyway here is the card I made for my mum to go with the bouquet of chocolates. This is another card stock rose but this is not watered. I love it in Rich Razzleberry! I have used a retired DSP for the background but all the rest is current. I even decorated the inside of the card - I always think having a nice inside makes the card super special and complete!!

To make the butterfly I used the Bigz butterfly Big Shot die and stamped it with the butterfly from the new Hope and Strength set. It doesn't fit very well so I used my stampin-ma-jig and some scrap paper and was able to position the wings so it stamp at an angle. Of cause I used shimmer paint on the butterfly and the rose.

chocolate bouquet for Mother's Day

this is what I made for my mum for Mother's Day. It contains 10 Ferror Roche chocolates. I used ballo0n sticks to hold them all together (and trusty hot glue gun!!).

The Real Red flower is the Stampin' Up! scallop circle die with about an inch cut down between each scallop to create the petals. Hot glue the chocolate on the top, wrap the petals around it then hot glue the flower to the top of the balloon stick.

Then to hide the round part of the balloon stick I used Old Olive card punched out of the largest scallop circle punch Stampin' Up! in New Zealand has. I snipped in between the scallops on that too, I also punched a hole in the middle for where the stem of the balloon stick. To enable it to slightly cave I sniped one of the petals I had created on the Old Olive scallop circle right to the center hole - this created the cone as two petals meet as shown in the last photo. This of cause was hot glued on to the base of the balloon stick base.

I wrapped each flower in a small piece of clear cellophane then wrapped the whole bouquet in a clear cellophane that had gold stars on it. Finishing with a bow and ribbons the bouquet is ready for my mum. Oh yes I did make a greeting which I popped into the bouquet too.

I worked out that this bouquet cost less than $10 to make and saw similar ones in the Mall which were selling for $45!!! So I am very pleased with my effort - just don't tell my mum I only spent less than $10 on her for Mother's Day! lol

Tomorrow I will show you the card I made for her.

my attempt at carnations!

these flowers are created by wetting card stock, scrunching it up and then unravelling it. I still don't think I have the knack for it yet but it's still fun trying! These flowers are Blushing Bride and the card base is Concord Crush. I love the addition of En' France' background stamp to add some class to the card.

I have a lovely fun project to show you - lets just say it involves chocolate (of cause!) so drop by tomorrow.

flower power

This is my first attempt at these type of flowers. The are made from punches, spritzed with water and molded. I added some Champagne Shimmer paint too to give it some sparkle!!

the leaves are scallop ovals punched, folded in half and placed on an angle thru the crimper. This will be for my MIL for Mother's Day which is this Sunday in New Zealand.

I have another card similar to this but with different flowers to show tomorrow - see you then! I'm off to help the local mall recover from the deadly tornado by doing some shopping and having a coffee!! hehe

we had a weird afternoon yesterday!

Yesterday just before the kids were being let out from their schools a 220km ph tornado swept through Albany. It came down just a few hundred meters from my sons school and then made havoc around the Albany shopping mega centre and Westfield Mall. Unfortunately one person was killed when some he was picked up and slammed into concrete, heartfelt sympathy to his grieving family and friends. Many people were injured with sheets of flying roof iron around and cars were lifted and dumped meters from where they were parked.

Thankfully we were about a 500 meters from the path and to be honest I didn't believe it had happened until I saw it on TV!! My son came home from school feeling sick and so my daughter and a friend was going to do his paper run but they were too freaked to go out in the weather!

SO thank you to all those who phoned or texted to see we that we were ok! We really appreciated your thoughts. Our house and the kids schools weren't harmed at all.

Needless to say I haven't had a chance to take photos of what I have to show you today - so come back later today for the 'floral fantasy' card I made which my class is doing this afternoon.

my mum's birthday card

Sunday was my mum's birthday and here is the card I made for her. Now I am not a 'blue' girl and other than jeans I NEVER wear it but I love giving myself a challenge which was to do a ONLY blue card.

The base is Not Quite Navy and the DSP is Blueberry Crisp. The bird is from 'Nature Walk' and the sentiment is from the new stamp set 'Bring on the Cake'. I did some sponging, some paper piercing and used my white gel pen to add some depth to the card.

My mother loves crafting too so she got a nice little pile of Stampin' Up! product for her birthday - shes SO easy to buy for! lol

I have nearly two weeks now before my next family birthday - my other brothers on the 16th - so a wee brake for making birthday cards but of cause it's Mother's Day this weekend in New Zealand so still in card making zone!

Have a great Tuesday and happy stampin'!!!

NZ Woman's Day - 3 cards in this weeks copy - YAHOOO!!!

Another exciting day today for me - firstly it is my mum's birthday but you will have to wait till tomorrow before I show you her card - but more importantly (well mum might debate that) I got 3 more cards into print!!!

I made these card's with a 'British' theme which was fun! So go and buy a copy (dated 9th May) and turn to page 104 and you will find them!

Here are some close up pics of the cards.