Bike Ride Easel Card

Hi Crafty Friends,

Tomorrow we are celebrating a special friend's birthday.  I love my extended crafty family and always try to give them something that they will cherish.  This is the card that I made for her.  There is a tutorial for this available here.

Below are the steps for this card. I hope you like it and give it a go yourself.

My fur babies are growing so much every day.  They are now able to walk a little and are starting to want to venture the outside world.  I just love them so very much.  One look into those beautiful round eyes and I'm gone.  We will be adding to our Fur Family at the end of January.  My daughter is going to get her very own fur baby and we can't wait.

Until next time,
Stay crafty,
XO Tan

Ingredients:

Cardstock –

Whisper White  – 6 x 12 (15.3 x 30.5)

                                    5 ¾ x 5 ¾ (14.6 x 14.6)

                                    Plus scraps for stamping

Old Olive  -     5 ¾ x 5 ¾ (14.6 x 14.6)

Silver Foil  -    6 x 6 (15.3 x 15.3)

Inkpads –

Memento Tuxedo Black

Soft Sky

Old Olive

Sahara Sand

Soft Suede

Real Red

Smokey Slate

Dapper Denim

So Saffron

Calypso Coral

Stamp Sets & Dies –

Bike Ride S/S

Sheltering Tree S/S

Birthday Banners S/S

Bunch of Banners Framelits

Layering Ovals Framelits

All the other bits and pieces –

5” Mini Sequin Trim (Silver)

Mini Dimensionals

Stamp N Pierce Mat

Tombow

Sponges

Snips

Trimmer N Scoreboard

Bigshot

Copy Paper

Washi Tape

The Simple Steps –

1.     Score the 6” x 12” Whisper White piece at 6” & 9” on the long side.  Fold piece in half and the half again on one side.

2.     Take the 6” x 6” piece of W/W and secure to your work surface with a small amount of snail on the back.

3.     Tear the copy paper in a curve so that it looks like a hill.

4.     Secure the lower portion of the hill on the lower third with washi tape.

5.     Use a section of sponge and blend Soft Sky ink in a gentle swirling motion.

6.     Remove the lower section of copy paper and place the other piece over the top of the sky you just created.

7.     Repeat this process using Old Olive ink for the grassy area.

8.     Stamp grassy areas with the stamp from Sheltering Tree in Old Olive  randomly throughout the hill.

9.     Gently remove the inked panel and centre on the Silver Foil panel.

10. Place the largest Scallop oval die in the centre of the panel. Run through the Big Shot together.

11. Take only the inked panel and place the largest oval die and centre it over the previously cut scallop oval. Cut in the Big Shot.

12. Adhere the sponged piece to the foil piece.

13. Place sponged image on top of the folded easel piece.  Using a pencil, trace the aperture. Using the same scalloped oval that was used on the foil piece, cut out this folded piece.

14. Adhere the sponged piece to the cut easel piece using Fast Fuse.

15. Take the scrap pieces of Whisper White and stamp the bicycle parts using Memento Tuxedo Black.

16. Stamp the highlights for the bicycle using Soft Sky

17. Stamp the basket and dog using Sahara Sand

18. Stamp the apples and any other items you want to include in your card.

19. Put your bicycle together using Tombow Mono.  Adhere the bicycle using dimensionals in the centre of the card so that it rests just under the oval aperture.

20. Add the front and back baskets using extra dimensionals.

21. Stamp a banner from Birthday Banners using Dapper Denim Ink.

22. Stamp the ‘Happy Birthday’ greeting in Real Red, curving it as needed to fit within the banner. Attach with Dimensionals.

23. Adhere the Old Olive piece to the large open square of the easel piece using fast fuse.

24. Stamp a greeting onto the bottom half of the Old Olive piece.

25. Place some stamped and die cut flowers on either side of the stamped greeting.

26. Place 3 gems above the greeting to function as a stopper for the easel.

Enjoy!

Say Cheese!

Hi Crafty Friends,

Wow! I am so overwhelmed by the support I've had for my Advent Calendars.  I can't wait to see how everyones turns out.  These really come together quite quickly and are such a lovely addition at Christmas.  Tonight is the night when my children and I fill our calendars and really start the Christmas excitement.

I have been busy creating again.  When my daughter went on her year 5 camp to the snow this year, I wanted to give her a special album.  I came up with a box that looks like a camera but on the inside, there is a mini album.  I wanted to keep things simple and this is her special place for her favourite photos from her camp.  You can make this in an evening and it is a great way to showcase all the gorgeous papers that we all love so much.  I know I have a bit of a paper addiction,  I am working through it though.
I will produce a tutorial shortly for this, so stay tuned.

Our gorgeous Cavie puppies are getting bigger each day.  Their eyes have all opened now and they are trying to walk.  So darn cute.


Till next time,
Stay Crafty,
XO Tan

Makin' Minis

Hello Crafty Friends,

It's been pretty hectic here. From puppies to paper, we've been making something.  I have been busy making mini albums again. These take me back to my happy place. I am slowly converting all my store bought albums to handmade mini albums.....and I love them.  This way I can share my creativity for years to come. With each turn of the page, there is loads of colour and individuality.  I am able to store all kinds of memorabilia's as well as the all important photos.  I am completely in love with Stampin' Up's range of patterned papers.  They fold beautifully without cracking and look amazing.  Tell me what you think? What is your favourite paper?

Till next time,
Stay Crafty,
XO Tan

Advent Calendar Craftiness

Hello Crafty Friends,

It's been a busy week here at the Zoo! We are once again on puppy countdown with only a week to go. Also with a week to go is Onstage Local.  I will be going up to the Gold Coast and can't wait to see other crafty friends at this amazing event. I will also be visiting my Son who lives up there. He has just had a birthday and it was the first time I haven't been there for his birthday. They grow up so quickly.....
Now, on to seriously crafty business.....
......Advent Calendars
I have had so much fun with these. Advent calendars are a tradition in my family. My three children have a fabric calendar that I made 12 years ago for them and every year on the 30th of November, we fill our calendars with sweets. It is one of the things my children look forward to about Christmas.

This year I decided in the theme of all things crafty, I would make one out of cardstock.  I was inspired by a picture I saw on the web, as soon as I can find it I will link to it.
The cover is made with thick chipboard and all the boxes are made with regular SU! cardstock.  These calendars fold to look like a book and they open up to display 24 little boxes where you store your treats.

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Hi Crafty Friends,

Yesterday I shared with you my top 10 retiring stamp sets.  Which one will you miss most.  As promised, I got crafty and made some cards using these stamps as well as other retiring products.

Which one is your favourite?  As you can see, I'm loving watercoloring at the moment.  I just adore the depth of colour you get from the reinkers.  Make sure you stock up now because a change is coming.....

This is from the new Catalogue.....Too cute.....

I hope this has inspired you to get inky.
Until next time,
Stay Crafty,
XO Tan

Hi Crafty Friends,
OMG! The retiring list is live. Ive already placed one order, how about you?  Make sure you check it out and see all the amazing products that are sadly retiring this year.  There are so many. Classics such as Papillon  Potpourri, Something for Baby, and Gorgeous Grunge just to name a few. 

Items are already running out so you need to be super quick. If you have any questions, please ask me and I'm all too happy to help.

Remember, The hostess code for April is EGREXP6F.  
Any order over $50 entitles you to a free gift from me. I truly appreciate you business and would love to be your demonstrator if you don't already have one. 

Stay Crafty guys,
XO Tan

OnStage Sydney 2017

Hi Crafty Friends,

On the weekend my bestie and I went to Onstage Local in Sydney. It was held at Luna Park and it was Ah....May.....Zing! As always, there was tons and tons of awesome new products but this was incredible.  We got to check out and play with lots of the new products and I have started planning and saving and already have lots of extraordinary ideas for you to come.  I have just uploaded a tutorial video showing how I created my swaps for OnStage.  Please check it out if you have a chance. Also, make sure you subscribe so that you never miss a new video.

I want to give a special shout out to all the talented demonstrators I met on Saturday. There is something special about a Stampin' Up! demonstrator.  Everyone is so kind and lovely, not to mention , some of the most gifted crafters around.  We stayed at the Meriton in North Sydney and it was awesome.  It's the first time I had stayed with them and it definitely won't be the last.  One word, LUXURY.

On the way home, we had to do a minor pit stop.  Last year, one of my fur babies had her own fur babies.  I stopped off to visit one of the puppies and see how she is doing.  Maggie, the first born and such a sweet, yet feisty, Tricolour Cavalier is gorgeous.  She has maintained her incredible nature and is so loved by her new humans. I couldn't be any happier.  She is just the sweetest.

I have already started planning for the next event in November.  I can't wait, but I'm sure I will keep busy in the meantime.

Tomorrow, the retirement list comes out.  Make sure you are quick as products sell out quickly.  Most items will be discounted and Inks and paper are usually the first to go.  I will keep you up to date with all the changes going on, so stay tuned.

Until next time,
Stay Crafty,
XO Tan

Swaps for Onstage Sydney

Hi Crafty Friends,
I've been busy the past few days getting all my swaps done for Onstage in Sydney. This time next week we will be getting to meet some old friends and make lots more new ones.  I attended my first ever onstage event last November when Stampin' Up! had their live event in Brisbane.  All I can say is, it was Awesome!! I am well and truly hooked. So now I'm getting prepared for the new catalogue reveal as well as seeing the great new products first hand.
This event, I decided to feature the marbling technique.  This is such a fun and easy technique, You only need, shaving foam, reinkers and card stock.  Each card will turn out a little differently to the one before and it is heaps of fun to do.
If you are at onstage next weekend, please come and say hi!

Unfortunately, I won't have my gorgeous little helper with me.