It’s the first Monday of the month and that means it’s time for another IDEAS blog hop. Like other Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators around the world we’re looking forward to a new catalogue, and the best promotion on the Stampin’ Up! calendar; Sale-A-Bration. When you can get exclusive free products just for placing a qualifying order, what’s not to love? So the IDEAS team decided that this month we’d showcase Sale-A-Bration products. For my projects I couldn’t resist pairing the free Driving By Stamp Set with the amazing New Horizons paper from the Mini Catalogue.

If you’ve been following me for a while you’ll know that every year I make myself a little notebook to keep in the car. In it I record my journeys, fuel purchased etc. I suspect Stampin’ Up! knows this as there’s always a stamp set that’s perfect for my vehicle notebook. So you can imagine how excited I was this year to see the Driving By Stamp Set in the Sale-A-Bration Brochure. To get it all I had to do was spend $60CAD (before shipping and taxes) and choose it as my free Sale-A-Bration item.

KEEP ON DRIVING

What really drew me to the Driving By Stamp Set was the two classic VW vehicles, the beetle and the van. I couldn’t decide which one to use for my notebook and so I ended up using them both!

I started with a piece of Basic White Card and a Tuxedo Black ink pad. For my idea to work I would need to use my Stamparatus stamp positioning platform. I placed the card on the platform and then put the two clean stamps face-down onto the card. Then I closed one of the hinged plates to pick them up. After inking up the stamps I closed the hinged plate to stamp the two images onto the card. Then I opened the plate, but leaving the stamps and card where they were, I cleaned the stamps with a Simply Shammy.

Now it was time to get colouring and I decided to use Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers. These are a firm favourite with me, especially when colouring larger areas. This is because Stampin’ Blends don’t leave those tell-tale lines you often get with regular markers. They’re not just great for blending you know.

Anyway, first I scribbled light So Saffron over the windows on both vehicles. Then, concentrating on the van, I used dark Smoky Slate for the tyres, with light Smoky Slate for the wheel rims, exhaust pipe and bumpers. Then using dark Pool Party I drew a diagonal line at the front of the van body, then coloured in the rest, leaving the roof and little triangle area white. I even coloured in the hub caps to match the paintwork. Finally I finished the van with a tail light in dark Poppy Parade.

BLACK ON BLACK

Then I turned to the VW beetle. Once again I used dark Smoky Slate for the tyres. This time though I coloured the wheel rims, hub caps and bumpers all in light Smoky Slate. Then for the car body I used light Basic Black. Of course in doing this I obscured the stamped details, but I had a plan…

Because I’d left the card and stamps where they were on the Stamparatus while I was colouring, it meant that I could stamp the images again in exactly the same place. I decided not to do this with the van so removed that stamp from the hinged plate. Then I inked up the VW beetle stamp using VersaMark ink and stamped onto the coloured image. After taking the card from the Stamparatus I sprinkled the sticky ink with Black Stampin’ Emboss Powder. Then I tapped off the excess and removed a few stray specks. Once I was happy I melted the rest of the embossing powder with my Heat Tool set on 2 (high). Suddenly all the details reappeared on my black car. With both vehicles done I used Paper Snips to cut them out and set them aside.

Now I needed a notebook and I found a 3-1/4″ x 4-1/2″ mini composition book I’d bought in the Dollar Store.

For my cover I chose one of the watercoloured backgrounds from the New Horizons 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper (DSP) pack. Using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I stuck the sheet onto the front of the book. Next I trimmed off the excess paper with Paper Snips, using the edge of the cover as a guide. Then I repeated the process on the back of the book.

With that done I used more liquid glue to add the van, and the car to the scene.

That just left the sentiment, and from the Driving By Stamp Set I chose “Driving by just to say hi”. Using Tuxedo Black ink I stamped it onto a 3/4″ x 2″ strip of Basic White Card. Then I mounted the sentiment onto a 7/8″ x 2-1/8″ piece of Basic Black Card, before attaching it to the front of the notebook with liquid glue.

I have to say that I’m delighted with how this project turned out. I can’t decide which I like the best, the notebook or one of the two Driving By / New Horizons DSP cards I designed for the IDEAS Tutorial Bundle.

LOVING SALE-A-BRATION TUTORIAL BUNDLE

So let me tell you a little more about the tutorial PDF. The January IDEAS “Loving Sale-A-Bration” tutorial bundle contains 77 pages, featuring more than 33 projects from 15 different designers. There’s cards, boxes, treat packaging ideas and more, and every item from the Sale-A-Bration Brochure is represented. The collage below provides a little sneak peek of what’s inside.

If you’d like a copy of the instructions for these projects for your own personal use, or even to use in your classes, there are three ways to get it:

• Place an order via my online store for $45CAD (before shipping and taxes) using my January Host Code GJ92RNPU. Make sure to allow Stampin’ Up! to share your contact details so I can e-mail the tutorial to you. If your order is over $200CAD don’t use the Host Code or you’ll miss out on Stampin’ Rewards. However, so long as I have access to your contact details I’ll still send the PDF to you.
• Join Stampin’ Up! and my Crafty Canadians team, and you’ll get this IDEAS tutorial for free.
• Buy the tutorial. Contact me at tutorials@papercraftwithme.com for more information.

So that’s it from me for today please be sure to visit Sigrid Joch on the next leg of today’s blog hop by clicking on the ‘NEXT’ button below.

PRODUCT LIST