Cake catastrophe - or not?

 This little cake builder punch from Stampin' Up's Spring Summer catalogue has literally SOLD OUT!! Along with the butterfly duo punch from my January make and take in a box. Although this is a bit of a shame, the good news is that the punches will carry over into the new main catalogue offering which releases on June the 1st and they may also be available again near the end of March and so they can still be purchased. What is not clear is whether the stamp sets that go with them will also carry over? However the stamp sets can still be purchased now from me and I can order the punch for you when it comes in and what is more I can offer you the added bonus of I will honour the bundle price for you if you want it. It is likely that Stampin' Up may bring in another stamp set to complement the punch but who knows? The bundle price is £29.50

In the meantime here are some cards I made for my open day back in the days when the punches were not out of stock!

I have made the cards using just one colour which I think makes a lovely mono - look. The papers and ribbons always co-ordinate and some of these on the card may be no longer available in the catalogue but as the colour stay in place (except the in-colours) the ribbons you buy from the main colour offering still are relevant to your projects.

For all of the cards shown I stamped and coloured the cards before punching them out with the matching cake builder punch. 

 Don't forget small details that bring your project that certain je ne sais quois!
In this case some strategically placed diamanté's and a ribbon wrapped around the punched out cake stand. I like the sentiment on this card - count the good times and not the candles! So to go with the sentiment make sure you utilise the little candles stamp for the top of the cake.

Or .... use the Happy Birthday if you don't know the person well enough to joke about their age!

The above card shows another way to make the card a little quirky. Add some twine around the candles and tie a bow and some flower sequins bring the card right up to date.

The sheer vellum used in the above card reflects this seasons sheer trend and I have torn the bottom edge. Vellum is harder to secure there are several ways. Above I have placed the glue under the sentiments and main image of the card. I stamped the background with the Happy Birthday stamp randomly and these peek through the vellum and make the most of highlighting the vellum on top. I also used foil card for the cake stand and the sentiment mats. Others ways to secure your vellum are sewing it, using split pins or staples, or finding some glue dots that don't show through too much. I like that the vellum curls up a bit where it is only secured in a couple of places it makes it look as if it is going to blow away!

See tomorrow's article on the latest trends and fashions as I have re-made this card in a new romantic look bringing it bang up to date for fashionistas.

To show the versatility of this stamp set I have used it here for a wedding card, or you could use it as a wedding invite! I used the big dots embossing folder on some foil card sheets for the raised effect at the bottom. This particular colour is now sold out in the sale-a-bration offering but still available in silver, gold and copper in the main catalogue. If you buy this stamp set and punch from me I will send you one 12x12 sheet of lovely lipstick and 1 sheet of grapefruit grove for FREE as I still have some left. BUT be quick!

To make this card I used 'lovely lipstick' and coloured the imaged stamped in memento black ink with a lovely lipstick stampin marker and picked out just some of the details in colour leaving the rest black and white. I think if it was totally coloured in you could lose the design under the colouring. Later next week I will show a variation of this card made by my partner at the January open house - he has CASE'd it and a number of my customers liked his version and made that one instead of this one! Just goes to show that 1 + 1 = 4 when you crash heads together you make more! (oo that rhythms!)

JoP x