Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator Catherine Carroll

Blog Hop for World Card Making Day 2015

Welcome to another Pinkies Blog Hop! As it's World Card Making Day today, we hope everyone will get some time to craft, and we've created some lovely projects to help inspire you to create your own beautiful card. Simply use the buttons at the end of each post to keep hopping!

While I love Autumn (the colours, the clear but cooler days, cinnamon in everything being completely acceptable), I never really get on with those colours in crafting! So here is something completely un-seasonal as inspiration for some bright and cheerful crafting on World Card Making Day.

The flowers are stamped in Soft Suede (stamped off first to make them form more of a faded background) using an outline stamp from the Garden in Bloom stamp set. I know they are perfect for two-step stamping, but sometimes the outline on its own is very useful. The sentiment is cut using the Greetings thinlits from Melon Mambo cardstock.

I grabbed some time last weekend to prepare my project for this blog hop, and I've since seen a couple of cards with this kind of pleated DSP as a pretty feature. It's so simple and an effective way to show off a teeny bit of the "other" side of our lovely DSPs. This pattern is from the English Garden DSP, which coordinates with the Garden in Bloom set.

I started by cutting 2½" strip from a piece of 12"x12" paper (make sure you choose one that has two patterns that you like - it's not usually that hard!).

1. Score at 4".
2. Move your paper along ¾" and score, then move it along 1½" and score.
3. Repeat step 2.
4. Move your paper along one more ¾" and score.
5. Cut a diagonal line from the edge of the paper at the second score line (at 4¾") to the end of the DSP strip, finishing roughly halfway along the width of the strip. You'll be cutting over the scored part of the paper, rather than the bit that's left flat.
6. Stick to your card, and trim off the excess DSP after the last pleat.

If you're using a scoreboard instead, your score lines will be at 4", 4¾", 6¼", 7", 8½" and 9¼".

Why don't you give it a go?

Next on our blog hop is Hannah, and I know you are going to love her project!

 

 

 

 

Blog Hop for the Autumn Winter Catalogue

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

I love the build up to Christmas, don't you? Waiting to see shops put out the Christmas stock, planning parties, and working out what to make for everyone's presents. But if you're anything like me, one second it's back to school and the next it's December and you haven't managed any of it. I'm determined it'll be different this year and at least I have one Christmas card made and ready to share with you today.

I'm a sucker for a good Christmas tree set, and Peaceful Pines (with matching Perfect Pines framelits to make life easier) was the first thing on my wish list. I've also used the Gently Falling textured embossing folder, layered over some Lost Lagoon cardstock. You can just about see the snowflakes stamped in Lost Lagoon from the Holly Jolly Greetings stamp set underneath the vellum layer. The Dazzling Diamonds glitter strips on the Smoky Slate label layer were created using double sided tape to give even strips without too much effort.

The pine itself is stamped in Mint Macaron - a perfect grey green to match with the Lost Lagoon and Smoky Slate. The sentiment is also from the Holly Jolly Greetings set. I added Silver Cording Trim and one of the lovely Winter Wonderland Embellishments to finish it all off.

Next stop on our blog hop is Tracy, and I know she has a lovely project to share with you!

 

 

 

 

Pinkies Annual Catalogue Blog Hop

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!

You should have joined me from Caroline's blog - I am now more in love with the new Watercolour Wings set than ever.

I have been completely overwhelmed by the choice of styles and options that all the sets in the new catalogue give us. I must also admit that I got excited about many sets that I thought were new, only to realise they had been in last year's catalogue too.... does anyone else feel the same? However, one of the sets I was most pleased to see was Endless Birthday Wishes. I LOVED Endless Wishes from the first time I saw it online shared by a US demonstrator, and I was again jealous when they got a birthday version. And have you spotted the Endless Thanks set too? That's next on my list!

I think the script is just beautiful (wish my handwriting was like that!). I've used Mint Macaron and Tip Top Taupe, my new favourite colours and of course two of our new In Colors.

The sweet little gift bag is made with the (also) new Gift Bag Punch Board. I really need to be careful when I'm demonstrating this as the words tend to come out in a random order... gift board punch bag anyone?!

As I haven't got round to ordering any of the new Designer Series Papers I used some of the new envelope paper to make the banners as well, using the Banner Triple Punch to get those pennant points perfect!

Thank you for visiting today, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the blog hop. The next stop is Lizy, and she has something simple yet so effective to share.

 

 

 

 

Pinkies Sneak Peak Blog Hop

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!

If you're following our blog hop around, you should have joined me from Sarah's blog. I was already sad to have missed the Telford event but now I'm even more disappointed that I missed her amazing projects and presentation.

I've chosen to use the Friendly Wishes stamp set, which calls out to be used on chalkboard style cards, don't you think? I used some Crumb Cake notecards I found (yes, my craft room is still a mess, and no, I can never find anything I want when I need it!) and made a gift set.

Embossing any of the sentiments in white on Basic Black cardstock gives a quick and effective result. I wasn't quite happy with how "clean" the Basic Black cardstock was, so I dug out some baby powder and made it a bit more chalky by dipping my finger tip in a really small amount of powder and gently rubbing it over the embossing.

The bright and cheery paper is from the Cherry on Top designer series paper stack, which comes in the new size of 6"x6". It makes it much easier to cut up and use than the 12"x12" sets! 

I'm addicted to putting banners on everything, and the Banner Triple punch has made them a lot quicker to make - no more measuring with rulers and throwing away strips when I don't get the "v" perfectly in the middle....

Kim's the next stop on our blog hop today - not only has she got a lovely card to share with you, but it's her birthday as well!

 

 

 

 

 

Showcasing the New Spring Summer Catalogue from Stampin' Up!

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

The current cold weather is perfect for staying in and crafting, don't you think? So what better to inspire us all that a fun blog hop to celebrate the launch of the new Spring Summer catalogue. Even though we might not feel very spring-like...

I am really looking forward to finishing off my Perpetual Birthday Calendar kit, but it has taken me a while to get through all the months. So with the stamp set on my crafting table I wanted to see what else I could make with it, and here's one of the cards I created:

All of the small patterns are so useful in creating textures and patterns. I'm now looking at it as a kind of "tidy" Gorgeous Grunge set - just perfect for making the background a little bit more interesting, or adding a bit of extra decoration to an envelope. 

Do you want to know the best thing about embossing on vellum? You can stick it on to your project much more easily because you can hide the glue behind the embossing!

I have to admit that the Hello You Thinlits are driving me a little bit crazy, but that's only because I want to use them on everything and I've managed to lose my roll of wax paper to help pop the words out once they've been through the bigshot... It's taken a lot of prodding with my stylus and very careful poking with my paper-piercing tool to get them out! But I think it's worth it.

Next stop on our blog hop today is Lizy, but I hope you find time to see all of the lovely projects my fellow demonstrators have put together for you today.