When Needlecraft Collides with Papercrafts...

Hi Crafters,

Today I would like to introduce a technique/ concept that you can use on your cards or scrapbooking pages... needlework! Yes, I can tell I've lost some of you already but please bear with me! You don't need to be a cross-stitch or embroidery guru to add a special touch to your creations, read on to learn how..

There are two methods of creating pinpricks/ holes in your cardstock - one is using a Paper Piercing Tool & Mat (found in the "Tools" section of my online shop) and the other is using a sewing machine. Let me take a moment to explain these two methods...

Paper Piercing Tool & Mat

These two products retail for AU$16.00 & is a cheap and effective way of creating holes or borders on your papercrafts. From time to time Stampin' Up! offers piercing templates that coordinates with their die-cut shapes (eg stars, squares, ovals etc) that make this a breeze. It ensures a regular spacing is gained, and it isn't wonky. Without the templates, it can be somewhat tricky to get a perfect line. 

Sewing Machine

If you own a basic sewing machine, this can make the job a lot quicker & easier. Ensure there is no bobbin or thread in the machine (we want to use the needle only). Placing your cardstock under the foot, you can manually spin the circular handle (located on the side of your machine) or put your foot gently on the pedal, ensuring you guide your cardstock gently as it goes to ensure a straight line. A tip is to line the right side of the sewing machine foot up with the edge of your paper, slowing down when you get close to the end. Leave the needle in the paper, lift the sewing machine foot and swivel your paper 90 degrees, drop the foot down and away you go again down another side of the paper.

Once you have got the dotted pattern/ border you desire, take a needle & some Stampin' Up! Bakers Twine in the colour you desire. In my photos, I have selected white.

Thread your needle with a single strand of bakers twine (don't make the strand too long otherwise it gets tangled easily) and then go in and out the holes created with the thread as shown in the photo above.  

Tip: Try to catch the beginning thread under your cardstock when you come back through the hole (from underneath) so that it won't come loose.  You can knot it underneath if you prefer but just try to keep the knot as small as possible otherwise it will create a bulky patch on top when you adhere the cardstock to your card.  

On the underside, ensure you "capture" the beginning and end of your thread to ensure your stitches do not come undone or loose when completed.

When you near the end of your strand of thread, on the underside of your cardstock, weave the remaining thread in and out through the lines of thread you have just sewn.  This captures it and stops it unravelling once snipped/ thread comes to an end.  Then take another strand of bakers twine and begin again until your whole project is finished being sewn.

Here is a completed Christmas card I made, CASED (copied & selectively edited) from a similar one made by Marie Meyer I found on pinterest, to show you what you can create with a threaded needlework border... 

The needlecraft possibilities are endless so why don't you pull out a needle and some baker's twine and have a go!  Try using different shapes like stars, circles, squares etc. and making borders or patterns using different coloured thread!

I hope I have inspired you to try something new this week.

Till next time,

Happy Crafting!! Lorin xx

Lots of Happy

Hi Crafters,

Never mind waiting for the postie to knock on my front door - from the moment Stampin' Up emails through the shipping confirmation, I transition to watchful hawk, waiting for that moment to pounce on the front door in eager anticipation for my order to arrive. And this past week has been just that, but this was not just any order... this was the order.  The one which you know is really special because only the Onstage attendees were privileged to preorder selective items from the new catalogue not yet released to the public.   So what are these new products?!? 

Let me introduce you to the first one... one of my favourites!

Lots of Happy Card Kit

For a card kit to be one of my favourite products is really saying something.. I have been reluctant to purchase these up until now as I have always thought the end products looked superficial in the sense of the images not giving a true stamped image/ home-made quality but I've gotta be honest, this kit has proved me wrong! The finished cards look stylish, professional and of a very good quality.  It certainly has opened up a new avenue of card making, so if you haven't tried a kit before, I would encourage you to give this one a go.

This all-inclusive kit comes packaged in a giftable craft box, and features everything you need (except for adhesive & snips) to complete 20 stunning and elegant cards with envelopes!  

The card kit contains a fabulous assortment of items that really makes for hours of crafting bliss! Items included are:

-  7 photopolymer stamps
-  Clear stamp block
-  20 printed card bases & coordinating envelopes
-  Printed, gold foil, white & vellum die-cut accents
-  White & gold foil labels
-  Basic Black Archival Stampin' Spot
-  4 watercolour pencils - 1 each of Flirty Flamingo, Lemon Lime Twist, Old Olive & Rich Razzleberry
-  Lemon Lime Twist 1/4" (6.4mm) Ombre Ribbon
-  Stampin' Dimensionals
-  Giftable kraft box

A very special bonus with this kit is it includes 2 new watercolour pencils, Flirty Flamingo & Lemon Lime Twist, that are not included in the set of watercolour pencils (available separately)!

And if 20 cards wasn't enough, Stampin' Up will be offering a refill kit which includes all you need to create a further 20 cards per refill pack for $37.00 - that works out an economical $1.85 per card! Pretty good, right?

So let's have a closer look at the cards you can make with this kit...

Card #1

This would have to be my favourite of the five cards in this kit.  Featuring an elegant background patterned card, it has exquisite layering with vellum leaves, black & white stripe of cardstock (coordinates with the envelope interior trim), watercoloured floral accent and a beautiful sentiment cased in a shiny gold circle.  Very elegant!

The card kit actually mentions in the instruction sheet that the paper provided in the kit is not watercolour paper, and they advise not using aqua painters after colouring them in with the watercolour pencils.  Personally I have found the aqua painters to release too much water for petite coloured areas (the excess water tends to run/ weep past the lines you want it to stay within) - I use a stampin' clear block and put a bit of water on it, then use a fine tip paintbrush to pick up literally a dot of water on the tip, and use this to colour the floral arrangement in.  Works a treat, even on normal non-watercolour paper.

Card #2

The 7 piece photopolymer stamp set features 7 different sentiments, suitable for birthdays, encouragement, thank you cards, just to name a few.  The clear stamp sets enable you to easily place the stamps over each pre-cut piece of card, and the fact it comes with a mini black ink pad is great.

Card #3

The colouring in shapes of cardstock are pre-cut for easy, no fuss cutting.  Each floral piece can easily be coloured in with your preferred product or colours, using the watercolouring pencils, or the new Stampin' Blends.

Card #4 & 5

Because this kit enables you to make 4 sets of the 5 cards, it works perfectly with the clear acetate boxes currently available through Stampin' Up.  Each acetate box holds up to 5 cards, and comes in packs of 10.  This makes it ideal to give as gifts, or to sell as combo kits, particularly in the lead up to Christmas.  Here is an example of a set I made up:

           

So the good news is that this Lots of Happy Card Kit and refill packs will be available to purchase from the 3rd January 2018 when the new Occasions & Sale-a-bration Catalogues will be launched, and for every $90 spend during that sale period you can select a free product from the Sale-a-bration catalogue! For now, why don't you check out Stampin' Up!'s other Card Kits here.

If placing an order through my online shop, remember to use the November Host Code CCSN3VAV at the bottom of your shopping cart to receive free rewards for shopping with me (only available in Australia).

Also be sure to check out the NEW November Craft Kit released this month - $55 including postage & handling within Australia!  

See you next time,

Lorin xx

Onstage Melbourne - November 2017

Hi Crafters,

The past few months have literally been a chaotic whirlwind of ups and downs for our family, but I am delighted to say things are finally settling down again & I'm back in the crafting seat :) And what better time.. there is LOTS happening in the Stampin' Up world so stay tuned for exciting updates in the coming weeks!

To kickstart, I want to share with you my first visit to...

Stampin' Up! Onstage Melbourne 
November 2017

It was amazing!! In all fairness, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect at one of the most anticipated Stampin' Up! events of the year but it didn't disappoint.  From meeting new people & catching up with others, to celebrating demonstrator successes & achievements, participating in "make & takes", previewing the upcoming catalogues, new product demonstrations, etc. it was a tiring but very rewarding day!  Here are a few highlights from my time at Onstage 2017...

Most of you will likely know I am a part of The Crazy Crafters, a team lead by the dedicated & lovely Kylie Bertucci (who sadly wasn't present as she is currently overseas).  One of my absolute highlights was finally putting faces to names of people I have gotten to know online over the past year & a half, forming new friendships & reconnecting with some I haven't seen ìn months.  Here are a couple of pics taken throughout the day...

So thankful to have enjoyed Onstage with fellow demonstrators & friends - Carolina Evans,
Irene Rahman, Michelle & Sharon.

 Top left: Carolina, Irene, Michelle, Sharon & I
Top Middle:  Rosalie Desmond & I
Top Right:  Sharon, Jessie Holton, Irene Rahman & I
Middle Left:  Amanda Shields & I observing a presentation
Bottom Left: Jacalyn Slegtenhorst, Carolina Evans & I
Bottom Right (from left to right): Irene, Michelle, Sharon, Lorin (me), Amanda & Jacalyn

One particular part of preparing oneself for the Onstage event is getting ready for "swaps".  You make a number of one particular crafty item, be it a card, gift box, gift tag, etc. and you swap them at the event.  This is an awesome way of meeting new people as well as getting some incredible inspiration from others, not necessarily from just your team. Here are the cards I made to swap..

The key thing with swaps is to keep it simple, particularly when making quite a few.  For the cards I made, I used a distressing tool to create the two tone blended backgrounds - the one combination was powder pink & melon mambo, the other combination was Bermuda Bay & Island Indigo.  I adhered this to the card & scored each side to create an elegant but simple effect, finishing off with gold embossing for the sentiment from the "Beautiful You" stamp set.  If you are considering attending Onstage at some point in the future, I'd really encourage you to participate. You don't need gazillions of card swaps - I made 27 and that was fine, so don't feel pressured to make hundreds, it's completely up to you, but definitely do take part!

And these are the amazing swaps I received...

Pretty amazing eh? Some of the talent and creativeness that fellow demonstrators possess just blows my mind! And if you think that is awesome, check out these beautiful freebies we received from Stampin' Up!...

One of the best parts of Onstage is being the first to get your hands on the upcoming catalogues, and this year's ones are superb!! As is the usual case each year, January sees the launch of Sale-a-bration - a fabulous time to get free products for every $90 spend, and bonus stamp sets if you decide to join as a demonstrator (for personal use to get the discounted products or to kickstart this as a business, the option is entirely yours).  I will likely do a blog post soon on the new catalogues and products coming soon, but for now check out the covers.. aren't they beautiful?!?

2018 Occasions Catalogue

2018 Sale-a-bration Catalogue

Throughout the event we got to participate in Prize Patrol - a highly anticipated round of obtaining a free stamp set depending on your allocated number (obtained when you signed into the event).  I was very thankful to receive a new stamp set "Perennial Birthday" featuring some beautiful floral stamps and a selection of sentiments, making it perfect for any occasion.  Stampin' Up! are a very generous company to be a part of, and they really did bless us with not one but four new stamp sets, products being released in the next catalogue and more! These were the free stamp sets I obtained:

Stamp Sets (from top left): Petal Palette (2 stamp case set), Picture Perfect Birthday, Bird Banter & Perennial Birthday.

And last but not least, we got to participate in "Make & Takes" - a selection of 4 beautiful items to create ourselves, using products from the new catalogues.  Here were the ones I made:

Stamp sets used include: Cake Soiree, Petal Palette, Fruit Basket & Bubble Over

This is just a condensed version of some of the highlights throughout the event but I hope I have given you some insight into this event and inspired you to attend in the coming months/ years.. it certainly isn't one to be missed!  And if you didn't attend Onstage, don't despair! These amazing products will be launched on the 3rd January 2018, so stay tuned as I will be sharing some sneek peaks in the coming weeks of some of the fabulous products on offer!

But for now, farewell till next time :)

Lorin xx