Throwback Thursday Sale-A-Bration

 Today I'm revisiting an old favourite... Fussy cutting! I know its a bit of a marmite thing... you either love it or hate it!! But both Gill and I love it 😀. So what will I fussy cut 🤔 well as I'm sharing inspiration with the July and August Sale-A-Bration offering I thought what better way to show how useful pattern paper it!! I chose to use the gorgeous Rings of love paper as my starting point. 

These papers coordinate with items from the July to December mini catalogue and many others from the annual catalogue.  But I feel they are stand alone and can be mixed with so many themes and celebrations. 

The patterns I chose were the mandala and the houses one. I was inspired by a card created by one of the Stampin' Up! Artisan Design team and just love the gentle colour palette. 

Are the colours just beautiful?  Gentle and subtle blues and greens. They make for an elegant colour palette. 

To start my card I fussy cut one of the mandala that was printed along the edge of the paper, wast not want not after all!! Next I decided which house to ise and cut some of the trees and a small bush as well.

I wanted the edges of the mandala to not stand out too much on my white mat so took a blending brush and the same shade of green ink, mint macaroon is it's name, and added a gentle blended patch. The blended patch extended beyond the area where the fussy cut paper was going and gently faded outwards . 

To add a little extra to the mat I took an alcohol marker in the same colour and spattered all around.

Next I adhered the mandala flat and added the house and trees with 3d foam. I created the sentiment for the card by stamping and cutting up various phrases to create my own from the Amazing Phrasing stamp set that is also an exclusive Sale-A-Bration offering. 

Once I'd stamped and cut my sentiment I took my blending brush that I'd used to create the background and gently applied a little colour arounf the edges. This ensures that the cut edges aren't quite so harsh against the background. 

I think this card would work well for a leaving card or a moving away card. 

The dimension that placing the house and trees on 3d foam give helps to make sure they don't just meld into the background. 

All in all this card came together quickly and easily. The fussy cutting wasn't hard as there weren't any intricate bits 😉

So my top tip is sometimes let the paper do the talking!!!

Tips tricks and techniques Tuesday Sale-A-Bration

 For the second day of my Sale-A-Bration inspiration week I've chosen to use one super cute set called Hippest Hippo

 I combined it with a pretty pattern paper from a pack that is also an exclusive free offer during Sale-A-Bration!! Called Rings of love . The papers coordinate with a bundle of stamps, dies and embossing folder called Ringed with nature.

Now I had the stamps and some gorgeous paper what to do 🤔....

Well as some of you may know I host a regular Facebook live over on our page every Monday at 4pm. And as yesterday was a Monday I hosted one! At the moment I'm creating a series of lives that share tips, tricks and techniques with the wonderful Stamparatus.  This great stamp positioning tool has so much to offer all crafters regardless of age or ability.

Well what did I do with all these wonderful products? I created a card of course!!! 🤣🤣🤣

Today's card uses the technique that I shared in my Facebook live to create a ring of dancing hippos!!! 

 Aren't they just the cutest? I love the way they just make me smile 😃 

The video below shows how to use the Stamparatus create a wreath/circle.

For the hippo card I've used a larger piece of card to stamp on. Onced stamped and coloured I chose which paper to use. 

I chose the shades of blues and green paper.

Popped onto a white card base waiting for the hippos. I  stamped the sentiment into each corner of the hippo mat. 

The mat was adhered using 3d foam and iridescent rhinestones scattered around to finish it.

If you don't already have a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator we'd love to be yours if you're in the UK. Just click any of the words in blue to get throught to shops for Cary or Gill . If you'd like to view a copy of the catalogues please click the links on our page.