Golden wedding anniversary card... and out of my comfort zone!

Ha! Bet you never thought you’d see a card like this at All Things Stampy, eh? Not my usual style at all, is it? And, I have to confess, it was really hard to do, even though I was practically CASEing this project by Heidi Weaver. 

I tried using the spiral flower die to create the flowers from vellum but, of course, the vellum was too stiff. So I dug out some filter paper and tried again… but got in a terrible mess and ended up burning my thumb with the hot glue gun (that hurts!) 

Eventually I settled on simply punching out the filter paper and scrunching it up to create flowers. Happily I had exactly three tiny brads left, and just one gold sequin from an old kit, so could hold the flowers together easily. 

I don’t think I’ll be doing it again in a hurry, but then 50th wedding anniversaries don’t come around that often, so I think I’m safe. The alphabet dies are retired, by the way; I don’t make a habit of using retired products but these are too useful to get rid of and too perfect not to use. 

Something To Say Clear-Mount Stamp Set [134180]	Ovals Collection Framelits Die [129381]	Decorative Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [133520]	1-1/4" Circle Punch [119861]
Pansy Punch [130698]	Builder Bird Punch [117191]	Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack [133787]	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708]
White Filter Paper [129393]	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549]	Gold Glimmer Paper [133719]	Gold Foil Sheets [132622]
Basic Black A4 Card Stock [121688]	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock [140490]	Tea Lace Paper Doilies [129399]	Silver Mini Brads [122941]
Typeset Alphabet Bigz Die [127553]

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Sneak Peek: Do bears? (Thankful Forest Friends)

Have you ever sat at your crafting table and thought “I wish Stampin’ Up! made a stamp of a …”? I’m sure you have; as varied as the offering is, we always seem to want more. 

But have you ever ended that sentence with “pile of poo”? That’s the situation I found myself in when making this cheeky card for the teenage son of a friend. We all know what bears do in the woods, so when I found myself in the happy position of having a gorgeous new woodland embossing folder and a cute new bear stamp, I knew exactly what card I wanted to make. 

So, without looking at the supplies chart below, can you guess which stamp set I used to make the bear’s “leavings”?

This is, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, your first sneak peek from the new Autumn/Winter catalogue, which goes live on 1st September. You’ll love it. It has a bear stamp in it, and a woodland embossing folder… and so much more, including an acorn stamp (that’s on next month’s order) and wooden embellishments and and and… and that’s even before I mention the dreaded C word! Just wait until you see the gorgeous festive Edgelits! 

Want a catalogue? Anyone ordering from me this month will get a free one with their order, so just drop me a line!

Meanwhile, I should tell you that I inked the embossing folder with Tip Top Taupe ink and a brayer before embossing the cardstock (bit of trial and error here as I always seem to end up inking the wrong side; in future I might just do both to save time). Also, I cut a slit in the embossed cardstock so that I could slide the bear behind the tree. 

Thankful Forest Friends Clear-Mount Stamp Set [139723]	Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [139673]	Ovals Collection Framelits Die [129381]	Tip Top Taupe Classic Stampin' Pad [138325]	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [126974]
Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad [126965]	Tangelo Twist Classic Stampin' Pad [133646]	Project Life Journaling Pens [135304]	Sprinkles Of Life Photopolymer Stamp Set [139971]	Early Espresso Stampin' Write Marker [119680]
Mossy Meadow A4 Cardstock [133683]	Tangelo Twist A4 Cardstock [133684]	Sahara Sand A4 Card Stock [121695]	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock [106550]

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Ornamental Pine Takeout Box for Around the World Challenge 31 (AW31)

For the latest Around the World Challenge, I revamped an earlier project. This is a quick and easy way of giving a project a new look although, in my case, I admit it’s not a particularly radical new look!

I have always loved dark red and dark green for Christmas, so Cherry Cobbler and Mossy Meadow are perfect. Add a splash of bling in the form of Gold Glimmer Paper and what could be more festive?

The AW31 challenge was to create a project inspired by this photo, which should be easy for everyone to have a go at in time for Christmas! Go on, give it a go... but not until you’ve taken a look at the other projects. I haven’t seen all of them at the time of typing this, but the one by French demonstrator Cécile Ortiz just blew me away! She’s so talented!

135107	133455	135827	127003	129381
133705	133719	133704	133787	121681
106550	133670	133645	126966	101731

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