Crystal Effects

One of the swaps I received at Convention was this beautiful brooch, made entirely with Stampin' Up! products (except the brooch pin!)  So many people comment when I wear it.

The most important part of the brooch design is the use of Crystal Effects to give it that beautiful shine.  Crystal Effects is only $11.95 a bottle and can be used on cards to make an image pop and shine.

I think anyone who received these brooches wanted to go home and try it for themselves.  Ebay probably had a rush on brooch pins! 

Here is one of my attempts.  The Two-Step Owl punch looks beautiful too.

Another notebook

This is a notebook I made for myself awhile ago. Scroll down to my previous post to see another. This one uses the Elegant Soiree DSP.

Regionals Tomorrow

Regional Training in Brisbane tomorrow.  It's a fun day where we learn new techniques and business ideas and catch up with other demonstrators.  One of the fun things to do is to prepare a whole bunch of swaps.  Make twenty swaps, you get twenty back.  Make 30 swaps, you get 30 back.  Make 100 swaps - you've got too much time on your hands!

I made a simple swap to show another use for the new owl punch.

Here is the owl as we know and love him.

He is perched on the branch from the Two-Step Bird Punch.

Here he is after a visit to the cosmetic surgeon.

Just a nip here and a tuck here and he becomes a penguin.  His trimmed off ears can become cute little wings or a tail.

Isn't he cute?

Birds' Butts/Rosebud

I made this card for my launch to demonstrate the versatility of the Two-Step Bird Punch.  My son looked at it for a few seconds then said, "Oh...that's the birds' butts sticking up!"  You can tell he'll be a romantic.

Here's the card.

This is not my design but I wanted to show it as it is a great example of ways to use the bird punch differently.  This is a CASE from Julia's Cards .  It uses all the parts of the Two-Step Bird punch and a little sponging around the edges of the pieces to give them depth.

Stamps:  None!
Card: Basic Black, Certain Celery, Pink Pirouette
Ink:  Certain Celery, Pink Pirouette
Tools:  Big Shot - Polka Dots Impressions Folder, Two-Step Bird Punch, Big Shot - Ovals Die, Stamping Sponges

Two-Step Bird Punch Christmas Wreath

This Christmas wreath is made using the branch from the Two-Step Bird Punch.  Wanna know how to get an even circle?

Christmas Wreath Tutorial

1. You will need Two-Way Glue, the Two-Step Bird Punch, Dotto (removeable adhesive) and a large circle punch:  I used the 1 3/4" punch.

2.  Using the circle punch, punch out a circle in contrasting scrap card. Adhere it to your card front, using Dotto.

3.  Punch out 8 branches in two colours of green - I used Old Olive and Certain Celery.  Using the Two-Way Glue Pen, adhere your first branch, lining it up with the edge of the circle.  See how the edge of the leaf and the edge of the branch are the same distance from the circle?  Make sure each branch you glue on has the same placement. (8 branches is my gestimate for this size circle.  You will need to experiment a bit to work out the spacing)

4. Continue using the circle as a guide as you line up each branch around it, using alternating colours.  Be consistent with where you place the top of your next branch in relation to the bottom of the one before.

5. When you add the last couple of branches, trim the stem so that they do not cover the leaves of the first branch.

6. Peel off your circle. Any Dotto that remains on your card can be rubbed off using your finger.

Your Christmas Wreath is now ready to decorate.  For the berries, I added small circles punched out using a 'school' hole punch and then adhered them with a Two-Way Glue Pen which allows really accurate placement of glue.  The sentiment is from Occasional Greetings.

Bird Punch CASE

Here's an example of a Bird Punch card, CASEd from the new catalogue.  Turn to Page 16 to see Stampin' Up!s version.  Check below to see mine.

Stamps:  Short and Sweet, Tiny Tags
Paper:  Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, River Rock, Old Olive
Inks:  Pink Pirouette, Old Olive
Tools:  Two Step Bird Punch, Mat Pack,  Paper Cutter
Accessories: Snail,  Dimensionals, 2-way glue pen

Keep checking in for more Two-Step Bird punch ideas.  Thanks!  Anna

Two Step Bird Punch

Stampin' Up offers a fantastic punch in the new punch style called the Two Step Bird Punch.  It's priced at $33.95 and is more versatile than you would imagine.

It punches out three cut outs - the bird's body, its wing and a delicate little branch.

These can be punches out of any of the colour selection or out of the beautiful range of Designer Series Papers.

Here he is punched out and assembled using a combination of cardstock and DSP.  You can face him either way.

Over the next few posts I'll show you a whole bunch of cards using this punch in a variety of ways.

Stay tuned! Thanks!  Anna