Saturday 19 July 2014

Pinkies Blog Hop: Showcasing New Annual Catalogue projects!

 
  
Thank you for joining us on another Pinkies Blog Hop! We're showcasing lots of gorgeous projects using products from the new Stampin' Up! ® Annual Catalogue. Simply use the buttons at the end of each post to keep hopping!



 
Welcome if you have come from Nina's blog!

 
There are so many lovely new things in the new catalogue and I have found it really hard to narrow down my choice for today! I decided to keep it simple  and concentrate on the new In Color collection  for 2014-2016.


I have recently been experimenting with making my own backgrounds and the following projects all utilise one particular technique which I have developed: using scrunched up brown packing paper as a "stamp" which I have then tapped directly onto the ink pad to pick up some ink and then stamped all over a sheet of Whisper White cardstock. You can use a single colour or a mixture of 2 or 3 - just make sure you use a separate ball of scrunched-up paper for each individual colour.

This first project uses the lovely new In Colors Mossy Meadow (the green) and Hello Honey (the yellow) as well as a bit of Crumb Cake on the patterned background strip:
http://paperglassstitch.blogspot.co.uk  Lucy Tustian

 
I have glued the small strip of homemade background onto a Whisper White Notecard and stamped the "thanks" from the Hip Hip Hooray card kit stamps. The Elegant Butterfly punched shape is from the new Hello Honey cardstock and sits on a mini glue dot, with a strip of three pearl gems for the butterfly's body. A very simple, quick and easy card to make, don't you think?!
Here is another card which uses the same backround - this time I have used the background for the butterfly only, with a Mossy Meadow Elegant Butterfly beneath it. I used the brush stroke stamp from the new (and very versatile) stamp set: Work Of Art; with the Hello Honey stamped three times without re-inking it (the "stamping off" technique). The "Thinking of You" is from one of my go-to stamp sets: Sassy Salutations and is stamped using the Mossy Meadow ink for the words and the sponging around the oval punched shape:

http://paperglassstitch.blogspot.co.uk Lucy Tustian

 
 One of my favourite new In Colors is the lovely deep rich purple called Blackberry Bliss - the next couple of projects use this colour on its own for the handmade background for a very striking effect:
 
http://paperglassstitch.blogspot.co.uk Lucy Tustian

 
http://paperglassstitch.blogspot.co.uk Lucy Tustian



 Have you spied the lovely ribbon on the tag? It is the utterly gorgeous new 1cm (3/8") wide Stitched Satin Ribbon in the Blackberry Bliss - it is so nice - one of my all-time favourite Stampin' Up! ribbons I think! I have secured it with a little bit of Whisper White Bakers' Twine plus a tiny bit of the same white bakers' twine that I have hand-dyed using a few drops of Perfect Plum re-inker in a very small amount of water. I have also coloured in the rhinestone jewels with the brand new Stampin' Blendabilities alcohol markers in Rich Razzleberry (using all three shades of the colour).
 
 
The circle on the card is made using another stamping technique I have been experimenting with recently - reverse kissing. I'm hoping to blog a bit more about various kissing techniques (of the ink variety!) sometime soon, so do pop back again to see!
 
 
Thank you for taking the time to look at my part of the Pinkies Blog Hop. I would love to know your thoughts on the techniques and colour-combos that I have used today, so do please leave me a comment if you have time! Hope you enjoy the rest of the blog hopping: the lovely Sarah is next! :O)
 
 
Until next time, happy crafting everyone...
 
Lucy x
http://stampinsarahiow.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/welcome-to-isle-of-wight-for-little.html

 
http://www.destempelolifant.blogspot.nl/2014/07/pinkies-blog-hop.html



Friday 18 July 2014

Project Life: Not just for memory making! #PLxSU

Hellooo...
 
Sorry I have really neglected my blog recently, life has just got in the way it seems! I am going to try and change my ways and endeavour to blog more often! Ooops! It is silly really, as I have made so many lovely things recently, with some of the fabulous new goodies from the new 2014-2015 Stampin' Up! ® Catalogue and I really should share some of them with you!
 
So, here we go!
 
Some of my favourite things from the new catalogue are the Stampin' Up! Project Life collection of products - Project Life allows you to document your memories in a quicker way than the more traditional scrapbooking method. I love it! BUT, even if you are not into scrapbooking or memory keeping, a lot of the #PLxSU products can be used in alternate ways - you can use the Card Collections and items from the Accessory Packs to make all sorts of things - come and see just a couple of examples:
 
Here is one card that I have made using the Everyday Adventure Project Life Card Collection and the coordinating Every Day Adventure P.L. Accessory Pack:
 
Http://paperglassstitch.blogspot.co.uk Lucy Tustian

Http://paperglassstitch.blogspot.co.uk Lucy Tustian
 
I am a huge fan of washi tape and I just LOVE this geometrical design in the gorgeous Bermuda Bay colour that comes in the Everyday Adventure Accessory Pack (see the close-up pic., above!).
 
I love how all the #PLxSU items coordinate exactly with the Stampin' Up! colours - see how nicely the Bermuda Bay Candy Dot matches the washi tape? Swoon! I added interest by using the fabulous new Stampin' Up! Project Life Corner Punch on just two corners of the card's layers (one of my favourite tricks!).
 
As you can see from the photograph below, washi tape has many uses! I have stuck it onto some clothes pegs (clothes pins, to my American friends!) and made a hanging weekly reminder to go onto a cork board or edge of a shelf in an office/craft room.
 
For the string, I plaited three pieces of the Silver Baker's Twine together to make a sturdy cord and then threaded this through the pegs, with knots either side, to stop the pegs from moving along the cord.
 
I have stamped directly onto the washi-taped pegs with the days of the week from the Project Life Day to Day photopolymer stamp set, using black Stazon Ink. (So easy to do with photopolymer stamps as you can see through them to place them exactly where you want them!) The little heart stamp comes from another #PLxSU stamp set: Point & Click. isn't it cute! I finished the pegs with Basic Black and Bermuda Bay punched cardstock shapes (using the Chevron border Punch).
 

Http://paperglassstitch.blogspot.co.uk Lucy Tustian
 
To complete the reminder set, I covered a small notepad and decorated it with the same cardstock, stamps and washi tape and glued a length of the plaited baker's twine under the cover, so it can hang next to the line of pegs. I clipped a small pen (also decorated with the washi tape!) onto the cord and hey presto, you have a handy hanging "to do list" reminder for every day of the week, plus a handy pen and pad of paper to jot your notes onto before you clip them onto the relevant day of the week.
 
Http://paperglassstitch.blogspot.co.uk Lucy Tustian
 
 
Http://paperglassstitch.blogspot.co.uk Lucy Tustian
 
I have given this set away... but think that maybe I should make another one for myself to keep as an "aide memoir" seeing as I have such a dreadful memory and am always forgetting things! Perhaps I might remember to blog more often if I had one of these on my pin board in my craft room or stuck onto my 'fridge with magnets.... hmmm... now there's an idea..... ;O)
 
Well, that's it for today, I think, (unless I've forgotten something!!). Do let me know if I have inspired you to use the #PLxSU items in a different way...
 
Until next time, happy crafting folks!
 
Lucy x