Capture some texture

There's nothing quite like the touch of texture to add interest to life and, more importantly, cards. Ok...so I've exaggerated my priorities a little *grin* I love the feel of clean flannel sheets during winter - the softness of the brushed fibres accompanied by its warm embrace as soon as I slide into bed. Aaahh! Instant comfort! ZZzzzzzz... *hubby nudges me to stop snoring* Doh! I'm awake again - probably a good thing since I haven't finished this post.

I've made the following card for the June INKlings Cybercrop, this time hosted by the Queen of Purple, Carol Dunstan. She posted a colour challenge first and it comprised Basic Black, Brocade Blue, Perfect Plum, Tempting Turquoise and Very Vanilla. I used some Stampin' Up! textured cardstock for the very first time and wonder why I waited so long to do so. Then I remember my tendency to hoard and try to forgive and kick myself simultaneously. It is a rather tricky combination to execute successfully, to be honest.


Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Basic Black
Brocade Blue
Perfect Plum
Tempting Turquoise

Stamps:
Carte Postale set
Mostly Flowers set

Cardstock:
Basic Black
Brocade Blue
Perfect Plum Textured
Very Vanilla

Accessories:
Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware
Very Vanilla Grosgrain


Don't you think the textured cardstock just adds that something extra? *pssst* Say yes.

What are the textures that you love most? Please share with us in the comments, if you are willing of course!

PS: Many thanks to Marcia for reminding me to indicate that it was a colour challenge! I do hope you get much better soon, Marcia.

You're not the emBoss of me!

I've recently been playing around with my heat gun...Don't we all have moments when we point them at our hubbies/partners/passing postmen and yell "Your money or the family jewels get it"? But I'm not talking about that sort of playing. I mean, actually trying to use it for what manufacturers intended - which is heat embossing, of course!

I use the term "trying" in two senses of the word...as in I tried and it was trying. I tried a layer of black UTEE on cardstock after stamping with one of the Mostly Flowers stamp set in VersaMark. When I set the heat gun on it, the UTEE bits started blowing away. The strange thing is you would think that I would turn the heat gun off at this point. But, no. Twenty seconds later, black UTEE all over my work surface, the carpet, on my new pale pink OTT-lite, in my hair, on my hubby (as he reminded me in the comments) and surprisingly very little on the cardstock. I suppose it's not THAT surprising when I take into account how much of the UTEE actually escaped.

The next experiment was with white embossing powder (EP) on dark cardstock. How hard could it be? The first layer was easy... a little patchy but nothing that another layer wouldn't fix. Pour more EP, tap, tap the card and ... tap tap ... tap tap tap TAP. Ack! Time to get out a brush and painstakingly sweep stray grains of EP away. Twenty minutes later. Blast with the gun and bemoan the appearance of black specks of UTEE in what should have been a perfectly white shiny product. Waaaaaaah! *sniffle*

Since the embossing was resisting my best efforts, I decided to try out an emboss resist. Hah! You're not the boss of me, EP!

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Cameo Coral
Summer Sun
VersaMark

Stamps:
Artfully Asian set
Itty Bitty Backgrounds set
Mostly Flowers set

Cardstock:
Cameo Coral
Summer Sun
Whisper White

Accessories:
Clear Embossing Powder
Heat Gun
Sponge Daubers
Whisper White Grosgrain
White Embossing Powder

June So Soon

I can't believe how quickly 2008 has gone by, so far. I think it's either that I've had so much fun working on my Stampin' Up! business and there has been so much to do or the older you get, the slower your senses and therefore it just seems like time goes faster - perhaps it is a bit of both...

I remember when every morning at school would drag on and on and, just when it seemed like I could wait no more, it would be morning recess. All the girls would stream out of the classrooms and queue for melted cheese buns which would sell out faster than Guitar Hero III did before Christmas - so you had to get there first unless you had inside connections such as your mum being on tuckshop duty. Another favourite was cream donuts sprinkled with sugar and accompanied by a dollop of jam. Such gourmet delights combined with a bit of shrieking, giggling and running around and the next long wait until lunch would start straight after recess.

Well, it feels like morning recess today! There are two Stampin' Up! promotions which we don't have to wait for ... the first being the eScape bundle (code: cream donuts) and the second being the Extra, Extra Hostess Promotion (code: melted cheese buns). So, check them out as they are great ways to make your next Stampin' Up! experience just that little bit more special.

Unwrapped

As promised, the Under Wraps competition came to a close on May 31st, 2008 and the revelation...

Congratulations to the two of you who subscribed to my newsletter and e-mailed me with the correct guess of 102283 VersaMark as the item under wraps. I'll be contacting you to find out how you would like to take delivery of your prize.

For those of you who missed out, you are most welcome to subscribe to my mailing list which includes a monthly newsletter detailing the latest Stampin' Up! promotions and featuring whatever useful stamping tips and techniques I can muster. The June edition is in the works.

Tag-A-Delic - Tags! I'm it!

I've been tagged by Elisabeth Stewart of Bethinking fame. Thanks for the honour! *grin* The rules are...

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I'd like to post a picture of a tag to accompany this post but I'm too afraid that Beth's other tag-ees will snaffle the blogs that I am intending to link to whilst I am making one! So, I will add a picture soon...

As for the seven facts, you can blame Beth for unleashing the following:

1. I attended my first two years of primary school in Malaysia. The teachers had a knack for cruel and unusual punishments including making you run in your underwear when you forgot to bring your sports briefs. I still remember mine were made of pink mesh with white polka dots (accompanied by a couple of holes) and it was a cold and foggy morning - I only forgot once.


2. I met my hubby through ballroom dancing - his mother and I were students at the same studio. When I first saw him, I thought he was his mother's brother. What can I say? He was bald and it was dark! Of course, now, I think he is the cutest.


3. I loved a cartoon called Mission: Magic when I was a child and I loved the main character, Rick Springfield, even more. I remember dedicating wishes on birthdays to making him real. I was completely blown away when "Jessie's Girl" was released since I found out that he was! Now that I'm an adult, I wonder:
   (a) why did I waste those wishes on something so unnecessary?
   (b) what was I thinking as the age difference would have been such a huge hurdle, anyway?
   Weird in more ways than one, huh?


4. I collect miniature perfumes - I have over a thousand in storage.


5. I used to collect shoes. My favourite designer is Giuseppe Zanotti and some of his shoes are so beautiful that I can't bring myself to wear them since they look their best when they are pristine.
   To the right is a picture of one of a pair of Zanottis that I actually wore, quite possibly, twice. Each shoe has a highly reflective silver heel with a gorgeous rhinestone butterfly on the vamp.
   Now, I'm too poor to buy designer shoes so I collect patterned paper instead.


6. I have a girly voice which is made even higher-pitched by recording devices and phones. I often get telemarketers asking to speak to my mummy or daddy.


7. When I play RPGs (Role Playing Games), I usually take the role of a monk (if they can channel chi) or a mage (since they get to wear cool robes and rely on their intelligence for magical abilities). I can be such a wannabe!

There were a few blogs that I wanted to tag but were tagged previously. So, my select list of blogs (I'm three short of the requisite seven) that I regularly visit (and that, as far as I know, have not been tagged before) are:

• Belle
• Michelle Dyson
• Dani Fender
• Susan

Have a great read!

OTT + UTEE + fer mi! = FREE! TOUT TIME

I love pale pink, perhaps not as passionately as purple, but pale pink is the colour of pretty, epitomises the sweet creaminess of strawberry ice-cream, and evokes the blush of youth and femininity. So, imagine my delight when my free OTT-lite arrived, only days after extending my subscription to Stamping and Papercraft, in PALE PINK. Too pretty and so useful ... no more nights cursing the orangey hue cast by our red fabric covered lamp on coloured cardstock and asking, "Is this Barely Banana or Apricot Appeal?" or actually believing that Pink Passion and Summer Sun make a lovely subdued combination in the light of day.

I suspect that the OTT in OTT-Lite really does mean "Over The Top". After all, how many mere mortals would be prepared to hand over $59 for a light bulb? Anyway, I only have to cross that bridge after 10,000 hours of use since did I mention that I got it FREE! If you are a fan of the magazine and considering a subscription, the lamp comes free along with two additional copies of the magazine if you act by June 9, 2008 [offer code: SP365b].*

To celebrate my OTT-lite, I made the following card using Pretty in Pink and UTEE (since it rhymes with free):

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Certainly Celery
Pretty in Pink

Stamps:
Artfully Asian set
Canvas background
Greetings Galore set

Paper:
Certainly Celery Prints DSP
Pretty in Pink CS
Whisper White CS

Accessories:
Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardware
Certainly Celery Grosgrain
Scallop Punch
Whisper White Grosgrain


A Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirl folder was used for the embossed Whisper White.

I know the title of the post is a little obscure but the "fer mi" is supposed to sound like "for me" with the first half in a Scottish brogue and the second half in really bad Spanish - hey, it's difficult coming up with good blog entry titles! Especially anagram ones...

Stampin' Up! Australia is running out of stock of the Prints DSP sampler pads so put your orders in soon!

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* No demonstrators were hurt or paid in the production of this blog entry.

Gettin' made

I had been putting the finishing touches on my workshop preparations (read: Aaarrgh! What am I going to demonstrate?! *panic*), when a stray sheet of striped So Saffron Prints Designer Series Paper Sampler strayed on to a stray sheet of Blue Bayou cardstock ... I know there's a lot of strays and straying going on but it's my euphemistic way of letting you know that my workspace is a little (read: a lot) chaotic. When I noticed this lovely harmony of light and dark and complementary colours, I thought "Ooooh! That's nice!" and resumed my workshop panicking planning. Or so I thought...

The idea of bringing these two sheets together in a card just niggled incessantly at me the whole time I was trying to create a couple more projects. I mean, in the midst of all that panicking and planning, for the niggle to register, it had to be pretty insistent! I tried chastising the cardstock with "Stop pestering me you...Blue Bayou..you!" Needless to say, it just looked at me dolefully (after all, it is always blue). I tried turning over the sheet of striped So Saffron DSP but it didn't help as it was double-sided! When I couldn't stand the distraction any longer, I decided a card just had to be made.

So, here it is, a marriage of Blue Bayou and So Saffron. May their bond last long and true - a testament to Stampin' Up! glue:
Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Glorious Green
Purely Pomegranate
So Saffron
Wild Wasabi

Stamps:
Heartfelt Thanks set
Paisley background

Paper:
Blue Bayou CS
So Saffron Prints DSP
Whisper White

Accessories:
Blue Bayou Double-Stitched Grosgrain
Mat Pack
Stampin' Dimensionals
Phew! Now I can get back to my panicking, undisturbed.

Container challenge

Continuing on the INKlings May cyberstamp, the third challenge was a One Sheet Box by the inventive Beate Johns. Just to confuse things, I made this project second. Actually, the reason I left the first challenge for last is that I still have to find some photos for a scrapbook layout. Anyway, here's my attempt:
Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Close to Cocoa
Purely Pomegranate

Stamps:
Artfully Asian set
Boho Backgrounds set
Carte Postale set
En Français background

Cardstock:
Close to Cocoa
Purely Pomegranate
River Rock
Very Vanilla

Accessories:
Antique Brass Hodgepodge
Purely Pomegranate Double-Stitched Grosgrain
Scallop Punch
Very Vanilla Grosgrain

The real challenge, imho, is in coming up with an appropriate name for this container. I mean, is it a box or a bag? Since it seems to be a cross between the two, should it called a bax or a bog? Well, since bog is already taken, I bags¹ bax. But bax sounds like "backs" and could lead to confusing craft conversations such as -

Lin Mei: Hey, how did you make your bax?
Buffy: Huh? I only have one back and I certainly didn't make it.

Lin Mei: Excuse me, would you please pass my red bax from over there?
Miss Muffet: Are you nuts? I'm not touching any spiders², especially poisonous ones!

Lin Mei: Holy aadvark snacks, Batman! There are ants all over your bax!
Batman & Robin: *trying to look at backs whilst flicking off imagined insects* Wha...where?

Lin Mei: Oooh, girlfriend! Your bax side is just amazing.
Beyoncé: *slap* Stop that, you perv!

I think I'll just stick to calling it a container for the moment.

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1. Bags - Australian and British slang for laying claim to something first.
2. Redbacks - Dangerous spiders native to Australia. Scary looking too! Although their colour combination is particularly striking...