Hello & welcome to my blog,
My name is Alison & I live in beautiful Melbourne, Australia. For those of you who have previously visited my blog & are now returning, thank you. For those of you who are here for the first time, welcome!
Here's a little bit about me. I love creating cards & gifts for my loved ones & this blog will show you how to create something special for those you love. I blog twice a week, once on a Sunday where I mainly showcase a stamp set or dies, embossing folders, projects & sometimes special DSP and Wednesday evenings when I highlight a technique, fun folds or tools & tips. I would love to hear from you if you have any questions or suggestions & my email address for that is craftedbyalison@gmail.com.
Stampin' Up® launched their new Annual Catalogue in May & it's a beauty! It's set out quite differently to previous catalogues but there are benefits to that. They now have sectioned it to have beginners, which is a step by step collection of materials in kits, then there is quick & easy where you select base materials & packs of pre-printed or diecut materials plus some stamp sets then there is create your way where you choose all the materials, stamps etc yourself & create your way! In the quick & easy section Stampin' Up® have also provided some inspiration with a colour wheel & information of various ways to use colour combinations. There is a section explaining 4 different ways to vary your colours - Monochromatic, Complementary, Analogous & Triadic. It's a wonderful tool to help with creativity & I shared my first post using it in my midweek blog of 29/5/24 but it's not what this week's post is about, that is something I will explore more in future blogs.
This week is all about the beach. My focus this week are the Beach Day stamps & dies. There are lots of dies & stamps in this bundle so todays offerings are only the tip of the iceberg. There are loads of ideas on Pinterest & Youtube but today I thought I'd start with just a couple of simple ones.
I loved creating these cards. I used a number of different techniques to get just the look I wanted. Here are more details of how I achieved each look.
My first card is the simplest. I started with a Basic Beige base & cut an extra card front so that I could create a 3D scene. I diecut a 'window' with a square Stylish Shapes die. To achieve an ocean view I diecut the wave scene in Boho Blue. The 'sand' is simply some So Saffron cardstock with some dots of Crumb Cake splattered around to create a faux pebble area. The deckchairs & umbrella were stamped in Pebbled Path & then coloured with Lemon Lolly & Shy Shamrock Stampin' Write Markers®. When using the markers the colour comes out a lot darker than the cardstock or ink as you need to go over the colour to ensure even coverage.
Once these were diecut I started layering the scene.
I adhered the waves over a piece of Blueberry Bushell so the waves were highlighted darker. I carefully adhered the sand under the bottom of the waves then adhered that behind the window matte.
The sentiment was heat embossed in gold then diecut with a smaller square from Stylish Shapes, backed with a strip of Blueberry Bushel then attached near the bottom of the card.
The umbrella & one of the chairs have dimensionals while the second chair has gluedots. This creates different heights & dimension. I wanted the umbrella to be in the scene but hang outside the window for more 3D elements. The finishing touch was some retired Faux Sea Glass embellishments. I chose these partly to tie in with the beach theme but also because I have lots left over & my goal this year is to use up my materials!
The second card was so much fun to create. I love it & hope you do to.
This all started with a Basic White cardbase. I punched a 1 3/8" circle from scrap stock & using the reverse piece I blended some Daffodil Delight, layering several times to achieve a good amount of depth of colour. I added a few little swirls of Pumpkin Pie for extra depth.
With the sun now in place I added a little bit of Stamp'n'seal to the back of the circle, taking some of the tackiness off before aligning it over the sun. I then blended the two blue areas of the sky & sea using Azure Afternoon for the sky & Blueberry Bushel for the sea.
The sand dunes were created using Crumb Cake cardstock, tearing across to create a rough edge then sponging some Crumb Cake ink across the edges. I then stamped lots of shells & pebbles in Crumb Cake as well as some grass in Early Espresso. The sentiment is also in Early Espresso. The gulls are stamped in Basic Gray then coloured with a Smoky Slate Stampin' Write marker. The two pieces were attached together with some liquid glue then added to the card front. At this stage I made sure that there were some areas left to slip the surfboards & palm trees between each layer of sand dunes.
The surfboards were stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black directly onto retired DSP & the trees are Early Espresso & Shaded Spruce. Finally, some more of the Faux Sea Glass embellishments were added to finish it all off. I love how this turned out. It's bright & cheerful & in the middle of a very cold snap here in Melbourne it helps to remind me of the warmer weather.
That's all I have for you this week, I hope you've enjoyed this fun stamp & die set. It's a great set to have on hand as it's versatile for many different occasions.
Now I'd like to share some of the latest news from Stampin' Up®.
Stampin' Up® has a number of ways to purchase their lovely products. You can look through their physical catalogue or browse through the Annual catalogue online but there are also some products that are only available exclusively online that don't appear in any catalogues. These products are called the Online Exclusives & are only online. Check out the online exclusives in
my online store. Stampin' Up® adds more product items to the online shop so don't forget to keep checking the store to see what's new. There are some lovely new products now available including kits, embellishments, stamps, dies & embossing folders. Something for everyone! If you would like a copy of the catalogue please send me a message at craftedbyalison@gmail.com or on my Facebook page, craftedbyalison.
NEWS & REMINDERS:
- Stampin' Up®'s newAnnual Catalogue is live! It's a beautiful piece of artwork as well as an amazing resource for crafting. As mentioned before, it's very different to any other catalogue that I've seen from Stampin' Up®. They have changed the front cover from featuring cards or supplies to a casual stamping picture as well as a radical change to the layout of the contents. There are still lots of beautiful pics of the products & ideas aplenty, it's just set out differently. I think you'll love it. If you would like a copy of the new catalogue then send me a message at craftedbyalison on Facebook or email me at craftedbyalison@gmail.com & I'll send you one.
- Don't forget the Online Exclusive products with new products added and available now Check out my online shop here. Stampin' Up® have also released a whole lot of new items at the beginning of July. As a demonstrator I was able to order in a pre-release which is a great perk of being a demonstrator.
- Stampin' Up® have a great range of Kits including crafting, card making & gift giving. Click here to check them all out in my online shop. As Stampin' Up® have so many beautiful kits available I will be featuring a different kit in each blog so that you can see the range.
- Exciting news! For the month of July, Stampin' Up® have a rewards promotion that gives you credit vouchers to use in August! For every $90 you spend during July, Stampin' Up® will give you a voucher for $9 that can be redeemed in August. This is a great offer that allows you to buy those extra items that you might not have been able to add to your shopping list. Click here for more info.
This week's kit has a lovely old world floral theme. It's called Hello Hollyhocks & comes with stamps, an ink spot, embellishments & diecut images & sentiments plus the card bases & co-ordinating envelopes.
It features an old fashioned flower that you don't see in gardens much but it reminds me of my Mum & my childhood. Such a pretty kit.
Here's how Stampin' Up® describes the kit...
You’ll brighten up someone’s day with the Hello Hollyhocks Kit! With colourful hollyhock designs, this kit’s all-occasion cards can help you send a friendly hello or a note of thanks to flower-loving friends and loved ones. Pair the desired sentiment, designed die cuts, and images from the kit to quickly create timeless cards.
If you feel that you'd like to add this to your list then click
here to purchase one from my online store.
A lot of demonstrators use the special Host Code for their customers but I'm trying it this year as a new idea to see if this is what you, my customers would like to use. If you
shop with me then don't forget to use this month's host code
4A7DHHDV. This will allow me to pass on any hostess benefits to customers when the sales reach the required qualifying amount.
Lastly, there have been lots of great items in the clearance rack so make sure you check them out using
this link to my online store.
If you would like to purchase any of my creations that I feature in my blogs they can be found in my FaceBook shop at craftedbyalison or you can order something unique.
If you would like me to send you a copy of the current Annual catalogue then please message me via my FaceBook page, Crafted by Alison or send me an email at craftedbyalison@gmail.com.
My next blog is on Wednesday and I will be sharing another fun fold with you as they are one of my favourite ways of creating. Sunday's blog will showcase a fun stamp & die bundle called Construction Zone that's perfect for kids or the young at heart. I'm really looking forward to sharing both of these blogs with you & hope you can join me for both of them.
Well, that's it for another week. I hope you enjoyed this post & come back for more next week. Til next time, take care & keep creating! XX Alison.
Here are some links to the products I used today & some craft room essentials.
Stamps, Dies, Embossing folders & punches
Cardstock, DSP & paper goods
Embellishments
- No current embellishments were used this week
Adhesives
Posts
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