Recently one of my valued customers asked me about the Pretties Kit (IBC page 149, $55.95). She had one and was not sure "how to put it together?" So I thought I would do some samples with my Pretties Kit to show her. Unfortunately my Pretties Kit is starting to run fairly low. I don't have many of the flowers left. What I do have a lot left of is the pearls.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Pretties Kit it includes White flowers (50: 10 ea. in 5 sizes); White halfback pearls (30 small, 20 medium, 10 large); Cream halfback pearls
(30 small, 20 medium, 10 large); White round pearls w/ holes (30 small, 15 large); Cream round pearls w/ holes (30 small, 15 large); Clear round beads w/ center hole (10); Clear round beads w/ side hole (10), Clear teardrops (20), Clear round rhinestone brads (20 small, 15 medium, 15 large); Hat Pins w/ clutches
(10); Spacer beads (30). It is great value. Please note: the photo above is from the USA catalogue not the Australian one. The contents are the same but the price is different of course.

The flowers can be dyed using the reinkers or coloured with markers or the pastels. There are details on how to do this in the IBC.

Anyway so what do yo do with these. Here are some card samples I have made. There is a lot more than just cards you can do with this kit and I will put up some photos of other items when I manage to take some :-)
This was a very easy card to make but had great results. The only stamping is the dotted scallops down the bottom. I used the All Scallops (IBC page 105, $55.95) stamp set to stamp this using the Silver Encore pad (IBC page 156, $16.95) and then I embossed it using Sivler embossing powder (IBC page 154, $8.95) I then glued a single small white half pearl at the peak of each scallop. The flowers were punched using the five petal punch (IBC page 152, $30.95) in brushed silver cardstock (IBC page 130, $17.95) and vellum cardstock (IBC page 130, $12.50). I then layed them and finished them off with a large white half pearl from the kit. Oh and the base cardstock was standard Night of Navy. A very simple but very effective card.


This card is very soft and girly. I stamped the swirl image from the Priceless set (IBC page 92, $45.95) onto some vellum cardstock twice, using the Versamark pad (IBC page 156, $13.95) and then embossed it with white embossing powder (IBC page 154, $8.95). I then used the full heart punch (IBC page 152, $30.95) to punch the image out. I used some of the medium and a large half pearl from the kit to make the body and stuck the whole lot down on a sheet from the Designer Series Paper Candy Lane (IBC page 135, $16.95) that is layered on some white cardstock on a Pink Pirouette card. The greeting is from the Occasional Greetings set (IBC page 112, $60.95) stamped on white cardstock in Rose Red and punched out with the small oval punch (IBC page 152, $30.95). It is then put into a piece of the Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware (IBC page 149, $57.95) which in turn is attached to a piece of Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon (IBC page 151, $12.95).
Again this is a fairly simple but effective card and would be perfect for someone a bit girly.


Now this one is my favourite and also the most simple. It is Riding Hood Red cardstock. I just used my cheap little craft sewing machine to put a line of stitching through it. The flower is from the Blooms Again die cut flowers (IBC page 144, $16.50). One of the Very Vanilla ones. There is a large Cream coloured half pearl stuck in the middle. The greeting is from the hostess set Best Yet (IBC page 19, Level 1) stamped in Riding Hood Red ink on Very Vanilla cardstock and punched out with the new Wide Oval punch (IBC page 152, $30.95) and stuck on using some Stampin' Dimensionals (IBC page 154, $7.50) to give it some depth.

I love the monochrome colour scheme and the simplicity of this card. It is also well balanced and can be put together in no time at all.




For more ideas on how to use the Stampin' Up! Pretties kit have a look at these links:
http://geekgirl415.com/tag/stampin-up-pretties-kits/
http://stampinkins.blogspot.com/2008/11/stampin-up-pretties-kit-and-dsp.html
http://www.makeeshabyl.com.au/index.php/category/tutorials/pretties-kit-flower-hair-clips/
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?si=pretties+kit&x=0&y=0
http://www.mylifesart.com/2008/03/marker-basics-pretties-kit.html
http://www.handstampedbyheather.com/2009/04/parisian-pretty-trifold-card.html
http://lovenstamps.blogspot.com/2009/04/more-pretties-kit-flower-fun.html
http://andreawalford.com/?p=218
http://www.handstampedbyheather.com/2008/08/pretty-pop-up-card.html

So I hope that that has given you some ideas of what to do with your Pretties Kit. I will be making some more samples when I get a new kit and I will post some new photos then.
thanks for looking
Mel

These are the cards I have been doing in my workshops during May and June. The butterflies are stamped using the Gradiation technique which provides a blended change of colour from one to another. The first one didn't work so well but still looks great. The back ground is simply pieces of Designer Series Papers (IBC pages 132 - 135, $16.95 - $22.95) layered with some plain co-ordinating cardstock. The greeting is stamped inside a layered cut out made with the large and small oval punches (IBC page 152, $30.95). The stamp sets used were Garden Whimsy (IBC page 85, $45.95) and Basic Phrases (IBC page 117, $58.95).

If you would like to book a workshop feel free to contact me and I can show you how to make this simple but effective card.




This second card is simply the same card in different colours. It has been "stepped up" to give it that bit of extra something. In this case that something is some bling. I used the Sticky Cuts Sweet with the Fine Supernova Glitter (IBC page 145, $17.50 and $26.95 respective) to create the little glitter heart. I stuck this on the a plain piece of Whisper White cardstock cut out and layered it up with some Kiwi Kiss cardstock using the the 1" and 1 1/4" circle punches (IBC page 152, $20.95 and $30.95). I then put this on some of the Pacific Point Striped Grosgrain ribbon (IBC page 150, $19.50 a roll). If you would like to get some of this ribbon in all the In Colors but don't want to spend $117.00 for 6 full rolls of ribbon you will probably never use have a look at my Ribbon Clubs on the bottom right hand side of this page.

All in all these cards are so simple but so effective to make. Thanks for looking.

My class this month is a project class. We will be doing mini scrapbooks. These scrapbooks are so cute and easy to make. They make great gifts for Grandparents or you can give them to friends without photos for them to put their own in.

This is the scrapbook folded up. The ribbon just slips over the top. The one I saw made at convention just had a piece of designer series paper inside the frame on the front but I wanted to use all three of these gorgeous photos so I picked one that was mostly a silhouette for the front. I used the Sweet Always Designer Series paper (IBC page 132, $16.95) throughout the album and just picked up the colours from that.
The front and back covers of the album are pieces from the On Board Essentials (IBC page 147, $23.95) covered with the DSP on both sides. The colours from the DSP I used, Regal Rose and Pumpkin Pie went well with the clothes in the photos. On the cover I used some of the Flower Fusion (IBC page 144, $29.95) and a Rhinestone Fire Circle Brad (IBC page 149, $19.95) for the little flower on the front. The leaf is from the Planter box Rub-ons (IBC page 139, $19.95) on Pumpkin Pie card stock and cut out. The ribbon is just a piece of the Regal Rose 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon.

This is the scrap book folded out. Inside has two trimmed down photos. The verse is one I found on the Internet , edited and printed out on some vellum Card stock (IBC page 130, $12.50). I love to use the vellum for this sort of thing as it allows the colour of the card stock behind to show through. I also used some of the Planter Box Rub-ons on it as embellishments. I punched some pieces of the Sweet Always DSP and put them behind the photos as faux photo corners. I was pleased with that, it gives the photos some framing without obscuring any of the photo. The flower is another of the Planer Box Rub-ons on Pumpkin Pie Card stock cut out with one of the white Button Latte (IBC page 151, $15.50) in the center to finish it off. The leaves were put straight onto the Regal Rose card stock that is the body of the album. The only stamping was the saying that is cut out and put under the second photo. It is from the Stem Sayings stamp set (IBC page 96, $39.95) and says "i made a wish and you came true!" which was perfect for how I feel about my daughter.

The back isn't pictured here but it is the circle frame piece from the On Board Essentials just covered in the same strip paper from the Sweet Always DSP as used for the photo corners with a piece of pumpkin pie in the center. I added one of the spare flowers I had made from the Planter Box Rub-ons on Regal Rose card stock in one corner just to finish it off.

I was really pleased with this little scrapbook and I can't wait to see what people attending my class this month come up with for them selves. If you are interested in attending the class please feel free to contact me.