Love Is In The Air!

Bet you didn't think you would hear from me again so soon did you! Well I had my first class for the year today and it was themed 'Love Is In the Air' with Valentine's Day just around the corner. I know I promised to show you my backlog of stuff in order but I really wanted to share with you what we made today and maybe give you some inspiration for your own creations.

Now we didn't just focus on Valentine's Day but instead created cards for some other 'Love' occasions like wedding, anniversary and Christmas. What? Did she just say Christmas? Yes I did! Some of the ladies in my class always run out of time later in the year for Christmas cards so they have requested I include one at each class so that by the end of the year they should have a good head start. So to tie in with the theme I used the Love & Joy stamp in the Holiday Catalogue. Now just a heads up, if you would like anything from this catalogue you better get cracking because it finishes on 1st of February.

I got the idea for this card from one I saw a few months back by Rochelle Blok. I changed the orientation and simplified it a bit but was really happy with the outcome. This would be a great one to mass produce as it's super quick and easy.

The second card we made was an Anniversary card as most of us need one of these on hand. I saw two similar cards on Pinterest, one by Beth McAlexander and another by Wendy Weixler. I really liked elements from each so I used those along with my Night of Navy, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla colour combo to come up with this.

 

The third card we made was a wedding card as it's always good to have one of these on hand also. I stuck with the classic combo of Basic Black and Very Vanilla with the Modern Medley Designer Series Paper then added some bling with the Silver Glimmer Paper and Rhinestones.

 

 

What do you think? You could easily add a bit of colour especially if you wanted to customise it to match the wedding but I think this is really elegant.

 

Last but not least is our Valentine's card. This one was based on one by Dawn Olchefske but I've just mixed it up a bit and utilised current products.

 

 

Well I hope you have enjoyed seeing my cards as much as I have enjoyed sharing them with you. If there is anything you would like to know like measurements, products used etc please leave me a comment and I will send the details through to you. I'll be back soon to show you some of the other fun things we got up to in our classes last year. Take care!

 

Marsha xx

It's here...Washi Tape!

Hey Sminkers

Well what an enormous week it been! After taking part in my first ever Blog Hop, I had to knuckle down and finish preparing for my Catalogue Launch Party which was held last Saturday. It was a fabulous afternoon full of fun, laughter and of course stamping! Everyone was super impressed with the new products on offer in the catalogue and one which definitely grabbed my interest was the introduction of Washi Tape.

So what is Washi Tape? Well it first originated in Japan and I suppose the best way to describe it is that it feels like masking tape, but way prettier! You can get it in more colours and patterns imaginable and Stampin' Up! has started off its collection with the introduction of Epic Day This and That (left) plus Gingham Garden (right).

        

Now I must admit I honestly didn't see what all the fuss was about when I first started seeing Washi Tape around the crafting world but after getting the Gingham Garden with my preorder and having a play I must admit I'm a little hooked!

When it came to making the display samples for my launch party I did have to enlist the help of Google to see how people were using it on their cards and projects. One of the simplest ways I believe (and I saw a lot of it online) was to just place strips of the Washi Tape onto the cardstock and then add any additional embellishments you like to jazz it up which is what I did here.

I honestly couldn't believe how quickly I put this card together. Washi Tape definitely adds a WOW factor using minimal time and effort! The other ways I saw people using this versatile product was by applying it to die cuts. Now I tried it two ways, the first was cutting the shape then applying the Washi Tape and the second applying the Washi Tape to the cardstock then cutting it out using a die and the Bigshot. Both methods worked but I prefer the second way then you don't have to go back and recut around the shape after applying the Washi Tape. Hmm I hope that made sense. So here are the card two cards I made using this method.

 

So what do you think? Have I made you want to run out and grab yourself some Washi Tape :) Well if I have you can head over to my online store and grab some here. It's great value at $8.95 for 3 rolls. The lovely ladies who came along to the launch on Saturday had a play with the Washi Tape and used it to decorate some magnetic pegs. If you would like to be shown some of the awesome Stampin' Up! products come along to one of my classes or better still get some friends together and I can come and do a workshop for you all in your home.

Well I better get back to prepping for tomorrow class, Christmas in July. If you would like to join us please contact me for details. I'll be back soon to show you those creations and more from the Launch Party. Until then stay warm and have a great weekend!

Marsha xx