More from the Country Birdhouse bundle

 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 & also in my midweek blog of 24/7/24 but it's not what this week's post is about, that is something I will explore more in future blogs.

This week's creations are the second I have created using the Country Birdhouse stamps & dies. Last week  I made 2 cards, one a gatefold with a belly band & the other used the birdhouse as the main focal point to the card. This week I'm focussing solely on the birdhouse, but in a slightly different way. The birdhouse is the card itself! 

Here are the 6 mini cards I made as friendship notelets. They're soooo cute!

As the birdhouse is so cute I decided, why not make it the whole card? With this thought I then did a partial diecut of the birdhouse by lining up the die over the edge of the folded cardstock. This way there is a little hinge at the top. You can see this in the following pictures.

The next step was to create a faux wood exterior by diecutting the birdhouse from Country Woods & Country Lace DSP.

I kept the little circles that are cut from the centre of the birdhouse as I've got some ideas for future cards - waste not, want not!

I then stamped a lot of images on scraps of Basic White cardstock then had a whole lot of fun colouring them in with blends...

The birds are stamped in Early Espresso, Pebbled Path & Memento black.

The leaves were next, coloured with Lemon Lime Twist. The small flowers use yellows & oranges.

I used many colours for the mini bouquets to give an orange, purple & red option.

Here are the steps of diecutting - adding more details with birdhouse surrounds & lots of Old Olive & Granny Apple Green leaves.

The final step was to assemble them with some birds peeking through the centre hole, others sitting on the ledge. All have a mixture of leaves & flowers and all feature the same sentiment - Hello Friend.

With all the bright colours in the flowers there was really no need to add any bling!

I love how cute they turned out. Very bright & cheery.

That's all I have for you this week. 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: 

1. Stampin' Up®'s newAnnual Catalogue is 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. 
2. The brand new Mini catalogue will launch on 4th September! There are lots of gorgeous items ready to inspire your creativity. If you would like me to send you a copy when it goes live, send me a message on my facebook page or email me.
3. 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.
4. 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. 

Visit my online store for more details.

This week's featured kit is a Christmas kit! Kits are a great way to create lots of cards or to have on hand to create with friends or family, especially with Christmas only 15 weeks away. Once we get to September it's wise to start thinking of preparing for Christmas, there's so much to do!!

Here's how Stampin' Up® describes the kit...

Share Christmas cheer with handmade gift tags! It’s easy with this all-inclusive Festive Tags Kit. The cute wreath, snowman, holly, ornament, and Christmas tree will bring instant Christmas spirit to your gift-giving. The kit includes printed die cuts, embellishments, and twine—no stamps or ink needed, so you can assemble these almost anywhere in almost no time. Just adhere the die cuts and embellishments and finish with a twine tie. You’ll have handmade tags for the holidays in minutes! 

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 E49P6DHD. 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 share how to create your own gift bags using DSP. Gift bags are always handy for any occasion so it's great to know how to make your own.

Next Sunday's blog will continue with the spotlight on preparing for Christmas with a simple card layout to help you make lots of Christmas cards quickly.

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.

Shop with me

Stamps, Dies, Embossing folders & punches

• Country Birdhouse stamps
• Country Birdhouse dies
• Country Birdhouse bundle

Cardstock, DSP & paper goods

• Basic White Thick cardstock
• Basic White cardstock
• Pebbled Path cardstock
• Gray Granite cardstock
• Early Espresso cardstock
• Crumb Cake cardstock
• Old Olive cardstock
• Granny Apple Green cardstock
• Country Woods DSP
• Country Lace DSP

Inks & Markers

• Memento Tuxedo black stamp pad
• Early Espresso Classic Stampin' pad
• Pebbled Path Classic Stampin' pad
• Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends
• Pecan Pie Stampin' Blends
• Peach Pie Stampin' Blends
• Lemon Lime Twist Stampin' Blends
• Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Blends
• Lemon Lolly Stampin' Blends
• Pretty In Pink Stampin' Blends
• Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Blends
• Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends
• Highland Heather Stampin' Blends
• Natural Tones Medium Stampin' Blends
• Natural Tones Medium-Light Stampin' Blends

Embellishments

• No embellishments used this week

Adhesives

• Multipurpose liquid glue
• Tear and tape
• Dimensionals
  
• Mini Dimensionals
  
• Foam adhesive strips
• Mini Glue Dots
• Adhesive sheets

Tools

• Paper Trimmer
• Take Your Pick tool
• Paper Snips scissors
• Stampin' Cut & Emboss machine
• Heat tool
• Blending Brushes
  
• Embossing Additions tool kit