Secret Sister « Nicole Stalker

Timeless Portrait

September was the last month for the Secret Sister Swap so this gift has more Stampin’ Up product than past months.

As we’d just had the release of the new IB&C 2011|2012 we had new Designer Series Papers and I chose to use the Timeless Portrait pack. I actually forgot to even photograph this set before giving it to Julie so she graciously took photos for me.

All the items have been decorated or made using the Timeless Portrait DSP. The bag has a cover which fits over the handles made using cardstock and then decorated. I’ve wrapped some DSP around a bottle, there’s a slider on the left, a small box and lid and then another items that’s been wrapped in dsp also.

Here’s a photo of what was inside them all.

We have 2 Stampin’ Wheel storage containers (1 standard & 1 jumbo), a textured impressions embossing folder, a sizzlits die, a stampin’ around wheel and the covered bottle is????? Can you guess??

Yes that’s right a refill bottle of Stampin’ Mist.

So that made up my final gift for the last round of Secret Sister Swap on Stampin’ Up in Oz.

Come back tomorrow for some more creations.

Till next time…..

Ornate Love Letters

No this post has nothing to do with Love Letters as such but the ‘now retired’ Love Letters DSP and Notably Ornate Stamp Set.

This was my July gift to my Secret Sister, Julie Price.

I made a box using the Love Letters DSP and some Basic Black cardstock which I then decorated with images from the Notably Ornate stamp set. I’ve tied it all together with some Basic Black Satin Ribbon.

From memory the card was a sketch challenge at the time (no idea where from now though….lol). The sentiment is a retired Rub-On.

I cannot remember what I put inside but it was full of items that Julie had listed on her Wishlist for the swap.

I have one more month to share with you tomorrow so come back and check out her final gift.

Till next time…..

Autumn Spice Set

I was cleaning out some of my old photos yesterday and came across the items I’d made in the last round of Secret Sister for the Stampin’ Up in Oz group. I’d actually thought I had posted some of these but was pretty sure not all of them. After checking this morning I realized I hadn’t posted any of them so to try and get myself back into regular blogging I’m going to set up some posts for the next few days (this should also give me time to create some more items) and hope for the best. I have created lately as I had a workshop on the weekend but the whole creating, photographing, editing and then blogging just isn’t coming as naturally as it did at the beginning of last year.

My partner for this last round of Secret Sister, which was for June/July/August, was a close friend of mine named Julie Price. You may want to check out her blog as she does beautiful work with Copic markers and ‘other’ brand stamps but she does quite often use Stampin’ Up card and accessories too.

Here’s the full set of what I made for her.

I’ve used the Autumn Spice DSP which was in the Autumn/Winter Mini catalogue at the time (we’re almost up to this year’s one now) and I’ve teamed it with the French Foliage stamp set and the Leaves Die.

From the back left going clockwise we have ‘the card’, a Tea Bag Dispenser, a coaster set and a Box #2 Die.

The Tea Bag Dispenser was from a tutorial I found online but I have no idea where from right now. I’ll make a note to check on that and update in the next couple of days.

The Coaster Set is made by covering a cheapish purchased coaster set with DSP and then embossing with clear embossing powder. You could of course do the same with the blank chipboard coasters and adhere some felt or cork to the underside and then hand make a box to present them in.

Inside the Box I think was some ribbon that Julie had on her wishlist.

I know she liked this as it’s sits on her kitchen bench.

Tomorrow I’ll share her July gifts. So come back and check them out.

Till next time….

Secret Sister Part 3

I meant to post this last week but I got tied up with a few things. Firstly I took my girls shopping for new clothes on the Wednesday which was the last day of school holidays, took myself on the Thursday so I could actually try things on and also went to the movies to see Fast and Furious 5, Friday I had a few things on then Saturday we picked up my brand new car. I’m so excited as I’ve never has a brand brand newy before. That new car smell is wonderful. So of course since then I’ve been running around a little more getting the feel of the car but also getting some thing done before heading off to Melbourne next week.

I’m stuck at home today as we are getting our solar panels put on today so I’m hoping to not only get a few posts up today but to also create and have some more ready for over the following few days. I’m also hoping to come up with a quick card idea for some swap cards for Convention. If I’m not successful then this will be the first Convention I haven’t made any swaps for. You know what? If that’s the way it ends up I’m not really bothered. No point in stressing myself out this late in time.

Enough rambling, now on to my gift for April.

All my April requirements were actually hand delivered together.

Seeing how April was the month for Easter this year I wanted to make a little something extra for my partner and her children.

This is the 1st card I made.

I’ve used the new Eat Chocolate stamp set from the Autumn/Winter Mini and the layout is a sketch from Clean & Simple. The colours I’ve used are from the Colour Coach and are Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink & Very Vanilla.

The Eat Chocolate set also has a new punch that coordinates with some of the images and that is the Modern Label punch also available in the Autumn/Winter Mini.

For my partners children I CASED some Top Note Bunnies from Tammy.

In the back there is a cello bag with some small Easter eggs. My partner has a son and daughter so I placed a bow on one for her daughter.

For my partner I’d purchased a small box of Cadbury Easter eggs so I made a box to present them in which coordinates with the rest of her months gifts using the Elegant Soiree DSP.

I’ve used another image from the Eat Chocolate stamp set. The circles are from the Circle Die for the Big Shot.

So that covers the Easter portion of the months gifts. Now to share the rest.

As mentioned I’ve coordinated the remainder of the gifts using the Elegant Soiree DSP. I’ve used a mixture of new stamp sets and an oldies but much loved by both my partner and myself.

The card is a Triangle Star card which I came across on Frances’ (AKA Stamp Owl’s Studio) blog which she has graciously shared a tutorial for here. Here’s a close up of the front and also one of the card opened.

The next item I made was the Keeping Tabs box which is one of Lauren Meader’s Time Templates.

I’ve used Crumb Cake cardstock to make the main box and then decorated with the Elegant Soiree DSP. I’ve stamped the cotton reel and tape measure images from the new Sew Suite using coordinating colours and used these to embellish the front of the box. The ribbon is retired Kraft Taffeta.

Inside the box I’ve placed samples of product into cello bags which I’ve tied with either Kraft Taffeta ribbon or Daffodil Delight Taffeta ribbon. On the right side the cello bags contain Paper Daisies and 1/8” Taffeta ribbon samples. The left side contains samples of Pom Pom trim in all 3 colours along with samples of the Sweet Stitches Designer Big Buttons.

This last box was made to fit the Spritzer Tool and Basic Jewels – Pearl pack which completed my gifts.

So that completes Round 4 of our Secret Sister Swap on Stampin’ Up in Oz. The next round will start in June with sign-ups being taken now. If you’d like to participate, just pop over to Stampin’ Up in Oz and request to join. You do need to live in Australia to join this group but you don’t have to be a demonstrator, just love using Stampin’ Up products. Upon requesting to join you will be sent a pendingmembership.doc from yahoo so keep watch as I can’t approve anyone until this is read and returned with requested information.

Till next time….

Secret Sister Gifts Part 2

I’m back today to share the cards & gifts I created for my partner for the month of March.

Another DSP she listed as a favourite was the Sunny Garden DSP. I hadn’t used this yet and at first found the colours a bit of a challenge. Seeing how this DSP coordinates with the Cottage Garden stamp set I’ve used that also in my creations.

This is my gifts and card, these were actually sent as the second mailing for the month, that I made.

I was quite happy with my end results. Here’s some more photos to show you what the gifts actually are.

The item in the front right of the picture above is a chocolate holder. I found this idea on Marelle Taylor’s site a little while ago. It holds 4 of the ALDI Moser Roth chocolates.

The inside of the box on the left in the 1st picture looks like this. It was made to hold 4 Ink refills. Each of the flaps is decorated with coordinating DSP and fold in over each other.

The other card I made to fulfil my March requirements I’ve used the same colour scheme from the DSP but have used one of my partners favourite stamp sets, Vintage Vogue. This card was actually the first thing my partner received during March.

I really like how this turned out. I’ve stamped the images randomly over a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock, then run it through the Big Shot using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. I’ve then stamped a few extra small flowers which I’ve mounted on the card and then added some Pearls.

Tomorrow I’ll share the final months gifts and cards.

Till next time…..