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.
Today I am sharing how to create different colours using the one ink pad. I have chosen the gorgeous Brushed with Beauty suite as my beginning as it has lots of pretty floral DSP.
Stamping off is simply the process of stamping once on scrap (or on cardstock for another project) then stamping again without re-inking to produce a lighter version of the original colour.
Here is my finished project...
I love how it turned out & will now walk you through how I achieved it.
I started by gathering together some supplies - cardstock, DSP & inks. I chose a lovely off cut of DSP from a previous project & built my creation around that.
As the colours are a little dark with contrasting cream blooms I chose to use Very Vanilla cardstock, one that I don't use a lot, with Mossy Meadow & to soften it a little I added some vellum. I also grabbed some scraps of Very Vanilla for the stamping & made sure I had a fresh sheet of grid paper under my work. You'll understand why in a minute.
To re-create the bloom from the DSP I first tried stamping the old colour Whisper White on Very Vanilla but it didn't show up very well so I switched & chose Basic Beige. The stamp sets I used are Petals of Beauty & Words of Beauty with the Petals a two step stamping process. In the following pictures you can see that I stamped the first, solid image off on grid paper then onto the scrap cardstock for a lighter colour then I stamped the second, detailed image in full strength.
This combination worked out perfectly for the effect I wanted so I went ahead & stamped a few flowers in Basic Beige then added some leaves in Mossy Meadow with the outline stamped off & the inner veins of the leaves stamped in full strength.
These images were then diecut with the matching dies & adhered in a small bouquet arrangement.
To assemble the card I added the strip of DSP to a Very Vanilla matte then adhered that to a Mossy Meadow matte. I made the matte smaller than the front of the card so that I had room to add the bouquet & sentiment.
The vellum strip was added next with the glue added along the right side so that it wouldn't show through the vellum. I also sponged a little in two areas along the left side just to help keep the vellum in place.
The bouquet was added next with glue dots.
For the sentiment I selected two words & carefully aligned them so that they would fit inside the oval shape I had diecut with the Traditional Labels dies. I added a Mossy Meadow matte behind the sentiment & an Early Espresso & Old Olive Linen Thread bow behind before adding it with dimensionals.
The final step for the front was to add some Low Profile Sparkle dots.
The inside was then decorated with a Mossy Meadow matte, a Very Vanilla matte & a finishing sentiment in Mossy Meadow. A matching image was added & the card was finished!
I love how the card has turned out. Simple but elegant. The DSP is stunning but the vellum adds a little softness to the darker colours in it.
That's it for my creation today. Now for some news from Stampin' Up®.
Stampin' Up® have many ways of shopping with a physical catalogue, online shopping & in person events. When items are about to be retired or are running low they are put on the 'Last Chance' list which means that there is limited stock & when it runs out, it's gone.
Stampin' Up® 's Annual Catalogue is 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 & scrapbook layout ideas for you. This is great for any times that you need a little inspiration.
If you'd like to browse the 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 is now available online & in printed form. There are loads of gorgeous new products in there. There's scrapbooking ideas & products, great tag dies & lots of Christmas themed products ranging from cute to elegant & traditional to modern. If you'd like me to send you a copy then send me an email at craftedbyalison@gmail.com. This catalogue will be retiring soon though to make way for the new mini at the beginning of January so don't waste time if you want to grab any items from this current mini catalogue!
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 follows on from the last two kits I have featured. It is a card organiser kit called Handmade & Heartfelt & has supplies to make cards & a box to hold them in as well as other cards you want to store.
Here's how Stampin' Up® describe it...
The Handmade & Heartfelt Kit proves that the art of writing a personal card is alive and well. So slow down and enjoy creating with peek-through cards, layering pieces, sentiment stamps, and a built-in organisation station to help you make, sort, and send cards with ease. Share handmade joy from one convenient box and turn every card into a heartfelt connection.
If you feel that you need to add this to your list then click here to purchase one from my online store.
EXCITING NEWS!
I started a Web design course a few months ago as I want to create a website for my business & am not very tech savvy & needed professional help.
The course runs until the end of the year so I'm nearly ready to share my brand new website where I can have my blog, a shop front to sell my products & links to a newsletter.
Currently I blog via this site - Blogspot - my products are available on my Facebook page & I don't have a newsletter yet. Moving to the new platform will enable me to have all of these goals realised & everything in the one place.
This is a work in progress & I am close to being ready to go live! It's very exciting but also a little scary.
I've learned a lot & have progressed along the course & can't wait to share it with you in the new year! 😁
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.
There are some new ways to craft on offer at the moment which I will go through one at a time.
Ready?
1.Stampin' Up® held it's first ever Online Craft Class with the Traditions of Christmas craftalong & followed that up with a Brushed with Beauty Suite on November 21st and will be holding more events like this in the new year. I have started to create the projects from the Brushed with Beauty session & will share them with you in coming posts. Keep your eye out for more news of future dates.
2. Stampin' Up® will be holding a Virtual Card Making Retreat in January 2026. It has been designed for experienced or advanced crafters in mind but will also have a heap of tips & ideas for those wanting to explore more detailed card designing. To participate you just need to purchase the Retreat kit ($288AU) & this provides you with all of the materials you need & access to an exclusive FaceBook group where the event will be held. It sounds like a bit of expense but from past experience, what you take away from these type of events is well worth it. Here's some more info on how to join this retreat.
To craft along with the Stampin' Up® presenters and make 15 beautiful, all-occasion cards, you’ll want to purchase the 2026 Virtual Card Making Retreat kit. Everyone who purchases a kit will receive a link to the exclusive Facebook group where the live event will stream. We only have a limited number of kits, so make sure to order yours ASAP!
3. Starting from this month, Stampin' Up® will be featuring a special 'Product of the Month' item that is only available with eligible purchases. There will be a new item every month with no clues as to what the item will be. It could be stamps, dies, papers - a complete surprise every month. You will be able to receive each month's product for just $9 when you spend $125 in one order. I have been able to order the first offering for December which is some lovely blue toned DSP. I will playing around with it over the Christmas break & will share some creations with you in the new year.
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 as there will be more added in the coming weeks as Stampin' Up® gets ready to clear out the retiring products from the current mini to make way for the products in the upcoming mini.
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.
My next post will be on Wednesday & I have a pop up funfold for you.
In next Sunday's post I will feature some more creations made with the Brushed with Beauty suite & the craftalong event that Stampin' Up® recently held.
I hope you can join me for both of them & come back for more.
Til next take, 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
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