Designs by Michelle

 My daughter, Michelle, has really got the Stampin' Up! bug.

For my birthday treat I requested a trip to Auckland with her and my friend Val, while my husband, Phil, looked after our grandson for the day.

They all went along with this idea, and everyone was happy doing what they like to do.  A lot of men  hate shopping, and will do anything to get out of  it, but in Phil's case it was a day made in heaven. 

It so happens that Michelle was cooped up in the back of the car with my copy of the new Idea Book & Catalogue, nose well and truly buried,  and on the way home she announced that she was interested in hosting a workshop.  Well, you could have knocked me down with a feather, she hadn't even been to a workshop.  The workshop went ahead, and was a great success.

 

These are two of Michelle's first card designs and I was blown away.

She puts it down to Stampin' Up products being so inspirational.

Michelle has always been creative and has produced beautiful work ever since she was a child.

As you can see her SU style is CAS (clean and simple) of which I very much approve.

Supplies used:     Pocket Silhouettes

                               Circle Circus

                               Office Accoutrements (retired)

                               Scallop Punch

                            

More by Michelle

This is Michelle's interpretation of the Fresh Cut Notes card we did at her workshop.

She stamped the white card with the Fresh Cuts Stamp Set using Baja Breeze Stampin' Pad for the main image and Chocolate Chip for the words.

She used her new  5-Petal Flower punch and layered it, using a brad, with the small Fresh Cuts flower in Kiwi Kiss.

The inside layer is Riding Hood Red CS.  And there goes the Chocolate Chip flower from Office Accoutrements again!  Talk about versatile.

Guess where the punched out flower went..........

on another card, of course, layered on top of the Office Accoutrements large flower, stamped in Riding Hood Red, and guess what - that great little Chocolate Chip flower again!

For someone who said she wasn't into making cards, I think her first SU attempts are fabulous and have that WOW factor.

Stampin' Up Workshop

My daughter, Michelle, hosted a Stampin' Up! workshop on 17th May at her home.

She and her husband built their straw-bale house in a beautiful rural setting, including Highland Cattle.  Having a workshop in their living area made it very cosy and friendly.

Michelle had 14 guests and we had great fun making new friends and sharing ideas.

The demonstrator was Jacquelyn Pederson who came up from Auckland, and as usual she gave us four wonderful projects and lots of ideas and techniques to stimulate our creativity.

Here are the first three projects.

Coaster Mini Book

This mini-book was the last of the four projects we did at the SU Workshop hosted by my daughter Michelle.

I love this little book, and the colours used.

 

Pyramid Card

I found this design on  Makeesha Byl's Blog.

Makeesha's Blog is a wonderful source of Stampin' Up! ideas.  Here is my interpretation.  I made it to congratulate Jaquelyn Pedersen on becoming New Zealand Stampin' Up Demonstrator of the Year at the SU Convention in Australia.

Supplies used:

Stamp Set:           It's All Good (retired)

Cardstock:           Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss

Stampin' Pad:     Night of Navy

Other:                  Scallop Punch      

kwernerdesign color inspiration #51

 

Supplies Used:   

Stampin'Up Inspired By Nature stamp set

Cardstock:  SU More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

Ink:  SU Chocoate Chip, Versa Color Old Rose

Other:  Own Rose Paper and Ribbon

Pull Out Flower Pot Card

This card was designed by Stephanie Luman.

She gives detailed instructions on how to make this card at the link above.  It was so much fun to make and is not as complicated as it looks.   This is my interpretation of it.

I made this one for AnnD, a friend of mine, who has recently had a major operation and will be laid up for six weeks. She is a keen embroiderer and to keep her busy during this lay-up she asked me to stamp out some flower images that she can transfer to her embroidery project.  I love the flower sets produced by Stampin' Up so this was another opportunity to have them used in another way.

Products:      All by Stampin'Up

Cardstock:   Whisper White

                         Creamy Caramel

                         Kiwi Kiss 

                         Pink Pirouette

                         Ruby Red

Ink:                 Chocolate Chip

Ribbon:         Groovy Guava (retired)

Stamps:          Embrace Life

                         Pick A Petal (retired)

                         All the Best (retired)

Designer Series Paper:  Ginger Blossom (retired) 

Jacquelyn Pedersen

This gorgeous, gorgeous card was made by my friend, Jacque (see link below - Stamp Happy), and sent to another friend of mine to say thank you for hostessing a workshop.  I loved it so much that I simply had to take some photos.

All the products are by Stampin' Up, the stamp set being Brocade Basics, now sadly retired.  How come I didn't notice how great this set is until it's gone?  Fortunately there are still lots of other beautiful sets to be had.

I will tell you the story of how I came to meet Jacque.  I was trolling through TradeMe, as you do, about 18 months ago, and came across her listing for the SU Ideas Book and Catalogue and thought "now I wonder what that's about, it looks quite interesting?".   I bought it and fell head over heals for the products and stamping ideas and spread the news to my friend, Val.   We got in touch with Jacque, who is an SU Demonstrator and lives in Auckland,  and have since been to lots of her workshops up here in Whangarei. 

She is a terrific demonstrator, and we have loved everything we have made with her.  We have also made lots of new friends and rediscovered old ones at these fun events.  So here we are, poorer but happier, stamping and creating to our hearts content.  I am now on my third SU Ideas Book and Catalogue, the new one having just arrived at the beginning of this month.

Val McGunnigle Designs

My friend Val makes cards to order and these two give you an idea of her versatility. 

She uses Stampin' Up card for all her designs and a variety of images to suit her customers' needs.

We both find that the range of Stampin' Up colours cannot be beaten, and are building up a good supply of their stamp sets.

The images on SU stamps cover and wide range of stamping styles and are of excellent quality.

kwernerdesign color inspiration challenge # 50

For Challenge # 50 I have used one of my latest Stampin' Up purchases 'Organic Outlines'.  Having seen this set on US blogs for ages I could not wait for it to come to New Zealand.  I must say that not having 'exact' Stampin' Up colours for this challenge made it a little easier for me, not harder as I expected it to be.  Long may the challenges continue. 

GUEST ARTIST MICHELLE

It was my birthday yesterday and my daughter, Michelle, gave me this stunning memory book. I can't possibly describe how it felt to receive something made with so much love and artistic effort. I could not decide which of the pages to show you, so have selected a few of them to give you an idea. The stamp images are from the 'Office Accoutrements' and 'Itty Bitty Backgrounds' stamp sets by Stampin'Up and the tabs are made with SU 'Round Tab' punch and all belong to me (although I am beginning to wonder),and I did not know what they were being used for when Michelle borrowed them. She is now a convert I think!

Nowadays Stampin'Up products are at the top of my Wish List, and I have sold off quite a lot of other brands on TradeMe. I have kept my favourites by Stampington, Oxford Impressions and Paper Bag Studio as I cannot bear to part with them.

I hope you enjoy this look at Michelle's work and gain some inspiration from it. It sits on my workstation as inspiration to me.

Memory Book Inside Pages

Memory Book Inside Pages

Birthday

This is the birthday card my friend and stamping buddy Val gave me yesterday.

The cardstock and ink are Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip.  Val knows this is one of my favourite Stampin' Up colours.  I won the Stampin' Pad at one of Jacque Pedersen's workshops up here in Whangarei and realised just how good they are, so I am now a convert and use the pads in preference to any other.  

The 'Friends' stamp on the card front is by Hero Arts and the ones on the inside are by Stampin' Up.

Guest Designer Val McGunnigle

I would like to introduce  my friend Val McGunnigle.

She is a prolific stamper and card maker.  She uses a variety of stamp brands and has her own unique style of cardmaking.  The layouts come together so easily for her, and I love watching her work.

Even though it's the wrong time of year I just could not resist showing these two Christmas cards.

I love the composition and use of embellishments.

The images Val used on both these cards are from the 'Season of Giving' unmounted rubber plate by Oxford Impressions.

Val Too

Val gave me this extra large card for my birthday.

The stamps used are from the 'My Story' unmounted plate by Oxford Impressions

This card shows Val's use of Cuttlebug embossing in one of the layers.

Val Again

These two cards use Stampin' Up

 'Heartfeld Thanks' stamp set.