Hello & welcome.
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.
This week I have some fun creations made with a super cute stamp & die bundle called Notes & Totes. There is a card as well as an adorable gift bag to pop a hand cream, lip balm or small chocolate treats into.
I'll start with the card. There are a LOT of dies included in this die set - 17 to be exact - with lots of cute details to help create beachy vibes, shopping, gym or casual weekends away inspired creations. I chose a beachy vibe for the card by diecutting a tote bag, some sunnies, a drink bottle, shells & seastars plus some timber pieces for a picket fence.
The bag is cut from On The Go DSP & the contrast detail is Pecan Pie. When you create a bag with these dies it comes out flat with all of the score lines already marked on it. One layer of it will create the Tote front as it appears on my card but cutting two pieces out will allow you to create a 3D bag which I will share for my second creation later in this post.
I cut the sunnies out in Pecan Pie, Basic Black & Vellum & pieced the different layers so that there was a frame, contrast frame plus 'glass' in the centre. The black heart shapes that were in the centre of the frame were later used for decoration.
The picket fence is Basic White & this was adhered to a matte of Beautiful Bokeh that has a sky feel to it. I also added a Pecan Pie matte behind that before adding it all to a Basic White base.
The additional elements included on the card are a scarf, diecut from the 2024-26 In Colour DSP, two seastars made with Pecan Pie & Wild Wheat, a Basic Beige shell with a little ink sponged on & a Shy Shamrock drink bottle that has some florals stamped on it.
The sentiment is stamped in Pecan Pie directly onto the DSP.
This card won't hang around for long as I will be using it (along with a matching Suitcase Treat box) today for my Sister-in-laws birthday.
So now for the 3D project that I mentioned earlier...
The bag is Pecan Pie with Very Vanilla contrasts. For a little bit of added texture I ran the cardstock through the embossing machine using the retired Tasteful Textile embossing folder.
I added a Very Vanilla pocket to the side of the bag & used a small Pecan Pie dot leftover from another diecut piece as the stud.
For a little extra detail I stamped some hibiscus flowers in Timid Tiger & Strawberry Slush as well as some Shy Shamrock leaves then fussy cut them. These were added to the front of the bag.
This was a fun project to create but due to the teeny tiny size of some of the diecut elements, you do need to have your good glasses on, an adhesive that can be applied in very small amounts such as precision glue gun and a pair of reverse tweezers helps too!
Here is a pic of one idea for gifting with some shredded tissue paper and a small tube of handcream...
And here is an aerial view...
Well, that's if for my creations. I hope you enjoyed seeing how easy it is to create some cuteness with this bundle. Now it's time to share some news & information from Stampin' Up®.
Stampin' Up® 's Annual Catalogue was released last year with a very different format & it was a beauty! It was 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. I explored this in a bit more detail in my
1/1/25 mid week blog & also in
30th April blog. The other cool feature is that they provide card sketch ideas for you. This is great for any times that you need a little inspiration.
If you'd like to browse the new catalogue online then click
here. If you'd like a copy to hold in your hands, leaf through & put little notes all over it of what's on your wish list then shoot me an email at craftedbyalison@gmail.com or message me on my facebook page at craftedbyalison.
The mini catalogue was launched on January 7th and has now retired so there is only the Annual catalogue & the Online Exclusives until the next Mini catalogue is launched in September which is not that far away!
Stampin' Up® also have loads of additional products available only online. These are called Online exclusives & have no end date, when the stock is sold out, that's the end of it.
Stampin' Up® have a great range of Kits including crafting, card making & gift giving. There were brand new kits added to the collection every month. Click here to check them all out in my online shop. As Stampin' Up® have so many beautiful kits available I usually feature a different kit in each blog so that you can see the range. This week the feature kit is Brighten Your Day which is designed to use to share your admiration or love with your friends. This is a delicate, pretty kit. There are enough supplies for at least 9 cards.
Here's how Stampin' Up® describe it...
Create easy to assemble, nature-inspired cards with the Brighten Your Day Card Kit. The delicate, organic overlays and soft pastel colours pair beautifully with friendship and encouragement sentiments.
If you feel that you need to add this to your list then click here to purchase one from my online store.
If you
shop with me then there are some new changes to the rewards program that you should know about. In the past we were able to create a host code & group together individual orders & pass on the 'hostess' benefits to customers with qualifying orders. This has now been replaced with a 'Rewards' program that gives
all customers who place an order with a
qualifying amount a credit of 10% of their order to use on future orders. This will be displayed during the checkout process or your order. Stampin' Up® feel that this is a fairer way of rewarding all customers.
Lastly, there have been lots of great items added to the clearance rack which is now called
Last Chance items 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.
I hope you've enjoyed today's post. It's great to create something totally unique to you. This bundle is very versatile & I am only sharing 2 options today.
That's all I have for you this week.
My next blog is on Wednesday & I look at a special technique called inset stamping that highlights a stamped image.
In my next Sunday blog I will share some fun creations made with a punch!
I 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.
Til next time, take care & keep creating! XX Alison.
Here are some links to the products that I used today & some craft room essentials.
Stamps, Dies, Embossing folders & punches
Cardstock, DSP & paper goods Embellishments
- No embellishments used this week
Adhesives
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