New Autumn Winter Catalogue is on its way...

...and as a demonstrator one of the perks is getting to order certain items from the catalogue early.

Now I can't show you the catalogue until it goes live on 1 September but there is an amazing Christmas ornament on the front page using some new stamps called Ornament Keepsakes. Unfortunately the stamps were not included in the pre-order this time, so I will have to wait until 1 September to get hold of them. But in the meantime I thought I would see what I could come up with along the same lines, using some of the new products that arrived today.

Autumnal mini wreath/ornament

The new products I used were the Autumn Accents die (which has 5 different leaf shapes, and there is also a matching stamp set) and the Cherry Cobbler Scallop Tulle ribbon that is just lush. I also used a little strip from a sheet of Candlelight Christmas Speciality DSP.
The leaves were stamped using stamps from the French Foliage set.

The card stock is More Mustard and Old Olive.

If you'd like a step by step tutorial please let me know by leaving a comment and I'll see what I can come up with over the weekend.

Unfortunately everyone needs a sympathy card now and again and this first one was made using the set Everything Eleanor. The card base is River Rock and the image is stamped on Naturals Ivory Card using Early Espresso ink. The sentiment is from a retired set.

This card is based on Sharon's shoebox swap at our first ever Tartan Stampers mini convention. If you sign up with me you would be eligible to come along to all Tartan Stampers events (space permitting). Look up for more information on signing up online in the next day or two!

And the main floral image on this last card is from a stamp set that you will be able to get for FREE starting from Wednesday. Check back then for more details of this special offer.

Thinking of You...

Just a couple of quick cards for you today. The first uses stamps from French Foliage and Sincere Salutations. The flower is made using the Fancy Flower punch. To get the softer effect all you need to do is punch out the flower twice. Crumble it up lots until you break down the fibres in the paper then gently ease the two layers apart. You will then have four flowers you can layer up.

For this next card I dug out my pastels that I got with my stater kit way back when (February 2008 to be precise). I haven't used these in such a long time and they were languishing at the back of my craft supplies.

I stamped the dress and sentiment from the Love and Laughter set using Whisper White Craft ink on Basic Grey paper. Then I used a sponge dauber to gently pat some yellow pastels over the stamped images. I used some hairspray to help set the pastels after I was finished and I had gently brushed away the excess pastels.

A small heart, scallop trim border and some satin ribbon all in Daffodil Delight complete the card.

As promised here are a couple of quick cards using the Beautiful Wings Embosslit die. These are so quick and easy to make - really handy for that last minute card you forgot about!

I used the script stamp set from the French Foliage set to stamp the background using Crumb Cake ink. I'd completely overlooked this set until I was at Tartan Stampers training last year and Sharon had made her shoebox swap and also her scrapbook class layout using this set. It is really versatile - great for adding texture and interest to the background of your card or scrapbook page. It's on page 59 of the current catalogue and definitely worth a second look.

 

The flower is stamped in Pool Party ink and is from the ever useful Just Believe set. The butterfly is cut from Pool Party card stock using the Beautiful Wings die and the base of the card is Confetti White card (pg 95 - 106557 £8.25 for 40 sheets). I added some pearls too to complete the butterfly, and finally stamped the sentiment using the Birthday Wishes stamp from the Sincere Salutations set.

And here is the card made up using Wisteria Wonder instead of Pool Party.

A quick word about Sincere Salutations - This is one of the sets that I got in my starter kit - way back in February 2008. It's been used over and over again. But as it's not in the new US catalogue I wouldn't be at all surprised if this one retires at the end of September. So please don't delay if you need this very versatile set of greetings stamps.

To place an order please email me at: thefineartofstampin@gmail.com.
Remember the Everyday Enchantment offer is still available until the end of July with free ribbon (two full rolls) and brads if you order is £45 or more.

Yet more swaps

This is a very pretty, delicate card that uses a small stamp set that I think often gets overlooked called French Foliage. Its a fantastic set great for adding backgrounds to cards and scrapbook pages as well as using the leaves to go with all the various flower sets.

This next card has a really interesting fold that I hadn't seen before and I loved the bright and cheerful colour combination.

And inside the card...

The last card I'm sharing today was designed by Lorraine and uses the Apothecary Art and Curly Cute stamp sets (although I added the Curly Cute stamp later at home). I loved the little rosette flower that was included in this swap as I hadn't made one of these before and I was pleased at how easy it was to get a good result. I'll definitely be making more of them.

The card also uses the brushed gold card. I have to admit here that I am not a big fan of gold so this was one product I hadn't yet seen in real life. However I was pleasantly surprised to see it is a very subtle gold, not particularly shiny, so I may well buy some of this after all!!

Check back again tomorrow for more Everyday Enchantment projects!