Poppy Parade and Silhouette Sentiments

I found another sketch to follow over at the Friday Mashup.  I chose to use Pear Pizzazz, Poppy Parade and Peach Parfait.

I made a little scene using Silhouette Sentiments.  Sponging in the background with some Pear Pizzazz and Bashful Blue.  The corners were rounded and mounted onto Poppy Parade card stock.  The background paper is Poppy Parade from the In Colour Hostess Level 1 gift set.  This was attached to a Poppy Parade card base.

The sentiment was stamped in Pear Pizzazz.  It was punched out with the Word Window punch then mounted onto Poppy Parade and punched out with the Modern Label Extra-Large punch.  The Boho Blossoms Punch was used to make the little flower in the corner.  A large pearl finishes of the flower.

If you would like any of the supplies required to make this card then you order them through myself by e mail ails300@btinternet.com or calling 07827923123.  Remember you can earn the In Colour Designer Series Paper pack and the Silhouette Sentiments for free with a qualifying order.

Today was my son's Primary 7 Leavers concert.  They all performed really well and I was very proud of them all even when some became emotional they carried on like true troopers.  I'm sure there were quite a few teary eyes in the audience too, mine included, especially when they ended with "You've got a friend in me."  But hey ho onto the next chapter!

Thanks for taking the time to visit it's very much appreciated and if you leave a comment I'll be sure to come visit you. x

Lovely as a Tree gets edgy!

CASual Fridays this week is to "get edgy".  

Use your border punches, rip some cardstock, whatever your pleasure to add a fun edge to your Clean And Simple project!

For my card I decided to use Lovely as a Tree.  I stamped it in Old Olive on Whisper White.  I tore the bottom edge then sponged it with Old Olive and Pear Pizzazz using my Sponge Daubers.  I don't know what I'd do without these, they are so handy.  For my sky background I sponged some Real Red and Pumpkin Pie.  I added some Pear Pizzazz to the center of the trees.  At the bottom I added a torn layer of Old Olive following the same line as before.  This was then attached to a Crumb Cake base. 

I hope you have had a lovely evening and thanks for visiting. x 

Evening Classes and Baby Tees

Over the summer holidays, classes will be shifted to a Thursday evening 7pm till 9pm from July 14th to Aug 11th.  The individual dates are on my side bar and all you have to do is drop me an e mail to book your place - ails300@btinternet.com.  It's all very informal and hopefully you will go away having tried out a new technique or re visited an old one.

Onto todays card.  For this one I've followed the sketch over at less is more.  I quite enjoy following a sketch it gives the old mojo a boost.  Go check it out there's always loads of entries which in turn means loads of inspiration.

My card is using the Baby Tees Jumbo Wheel.  I rollered the Baby Tees in crumb Cake then cut out 3 vests.  I used my Blender Pen to add some Pear Pizzazz and Crumb Cake to the vests.  The background was made by using a template to mask off an area and sponged with Bashful Blue.  By moving around a scallop circle scrap and sponging the edges you can create a lovely cloud effect. I then strung my baby tees along a Linen Thread washing line and popped them on some Dimensionals.

And here's the inside........

........where did the linen thread go?  Well I added another piece of Whisper White, the same size, to the inside of the card and sandwiched the thread in between.  I added some decoration by creating another sky panel and a baby tee to the bottom corner.  The sentiment, Congratulations, is from Occasional Quotes.

Thanks for having a look,  I'm off to check out all the other entries.

Here's what you need to make this card -
All Stampin' Up! supplies

Card - Whisper White
Ink - Crumb Cake, Pear Pizzazz, Bashful Blue
Stamps - Baby Tees Jumbo Wheel, Occasional Quotes
Other - Sponge Daubers, Dimensionals, Blender Pen, Linen Thread

Learner Drivers!

Finally some scrapbooking!!  I can't tell you how long it's been since I last sat down to do some scrapbooking but it feels like forever!  I was soooo rusty too.

This is a page from a holiday to DisneyWorld Orlando.  We are on the Tomorrowland Speedway and Holly is in the driving seat with big brother driving in the car behind.  She was concentrating so hard and wanted to steer perfectly all the way round.  She did a pretty good job too.

I started off with a Basic Black 12" by 12" sheet and teamed the photos up with the Celebrations Designer Paper.  I used the Top Note Bigz Die to make a little feature with the designer paper using the pattern with all the arrows pointing in different directions.  This was mounted with a Real Red top note die cut.  I also used Real Red card to mount the photo of Dad and Ross driving behind.  The journalling was written on another piece of Celebrations Designer paper and again mounted onto Real Red card.  I was pleased to find that I had 3 brads in my stash which looked a lot like the steering wheel and added them to the top.

Sounds simples but it must have sat on my desk for about 3 days before finally I got it finished.  I did say I was rusty!

Anyways I hope this has inspired you to take a look at Stampin' Up! supplies when thinking about your scrapbooking pages as it's not just all about cards.

Thanks for looking. x

Materials used
All Stampin' Up! supplies unless otherwise stated

Card - Basic Black, Real Red
Paper - Celebrations
Other - Top Note Bigz Die, Brads from my stash

Giving it a Go!

I've had a brayer for quite a while and I'm ashamed to say that it's stayed in it's box.  However not any more because one of the fun things about crafting is having a go at different techniques and just experimenting.  With loads of tutorials on the internet it's easy to try out these techniques for yourself.  You can also use the brayer to ink up large stamps to give an even coverage.

I went with a simple sunset scene.  I punched out a circle from scrap to make a mask.  Then rollered with So Saffron, over this with Real Red stopping short of the bottom and finally with Rich Razzleberry again stopping a little further up.  I stamped the large ferns from Just Believe in Basic Black and mounted it onto a rectangle of Basic Black.  I added a strip of Rich Razzleberry ribbon onto the same colour card then attached this to a Basic Black card base.  The main picture was then added to the front.

Now that I've broken the ice with the brayer so to speak I'll have to practice some more.

Thanks for coming over to visit and a big welcome to Kim.  Thanks for following I hope you come by often. x

Materials Used
All stampin' Up! supplies unless otherwise stated

Card - Basic Black, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White
Ink - So Saffron, Real Red, Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black
Stamps - Just Believe
Ribbon - Rich Razzleberry
Other - Brayer

Less is More - Monogram

This week's challenge over at Less is More is a Monogram theme.  Mmmm had to get the old thinking cap on for this one.

It's a bit of an emotional card so forgive me if it gets all soppy!  I decided to make a card for my son, Ross who turns 12 in July.  He is moving up from Primary to Secondary after the summer holidays.  He's quite happy about the move up to big school it's Mum that's going to find it difficult.  Another milestone.  All the parents are invited to a Primary 7 leavers concert and I'm sure there will be a lot of teary eyes!

I took some of my inspiration from Suze's post here.  She's done a fantastic book mark in zentangle style which to be honest I'd never heard of.  However I decided to take the idea and instead of repetitive pattern, I filled my large R with things that Ross likes at this moment in time and some of his dreams for the future.  I'm not an artist but it's not really about the individual drawings more the hint of the activities/hobbies.

First of all I made a cloudy background.  To do this I drew round a large die cut R and cut out a template of it.  I then placed a rectangular template over this to make the frame.  I sponged some Bashful Blue over this and used a scallop circle scrap to make the clouds.  I outlined the R in marker pen.  I attached this to a Pacific Point card base and made some photo corners for the opposite corners.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and thanks for coming to visit. x

Edit:  Suze suggested I also enter this into the Just For Fun Challenge.  This is a new challenge for me, hope it fits the bill. x

Materials Used
All Stampin' Up! supplies used unless otherwise stated

Card - Pacific Point, Whisper White
Ink - Bashful Blue
Marker from my stash

Summer Sunshine

A bright and sunny card as Summer approaches. 

I used Daffodil Delight as the card base.  A strip of pumpkin pie polka dot from the brights stack was corner rounded and attached to the card base.  I stamped various circles from Circle Circus using Daffodil Delight.  With Stampin' Up! supplies you can use the same colour ink that matches your card stock and it'll still show up against it.  I then stamped the large medallion in Daffodil Delight on Whisper White 3 times.  Twice in Daffodil Delight and once in Pumpkin Pie.  The first layer was punched out using the Scallop Circle Punch.  The second layer was punched  out using the 1 3/8" circle and the last layer was the 1" circle.  The last was popped up on a dimensional.  Some pumpkin pie ribbon and a button finishes it off.  

I'd like to enter this into Friday Mashup which is to create a summer card and/or polka dots. 

Thanks to for looking. x 

Whole Bunch of Punches!

Isn't this little owl sweet?

He was stamped in Early Espresso from the Punch Bunch.   Then punched out using the 2 Step Owl Punch.  Although this stamp is no longer available you can still get the same effect using the punch as it punches out the eyes and the vest.  On this card his vest was punched out of Play Date Designer Series Paper.  I used the Full Heart Extra-Large Punch to place a Marina Mist heart behind the owl.  The Old Olive branch is from the 2 Step Bird Punch.  The Whisper White background is attached to Marina Mist card which I've edged with the Scallop Edge Border Punch.  The sentiment is from So Happy For You punched out with the Word Window Punch then mounted onto Marina Mist card punched out Modern Label Extra-Large. The card base is Bashful Blue.

It always handy to have a few thank you's in your card bundle, you never know when you might need one.

And a thank you to everyone who comes by for a visit and leaving lovely comments. x



Materials Used
All Stampin' Up! Supplies

Card - Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, Whisper White, Old Olive
Ink - Early Espresso
Stamp - Punch Bunch
Punch - 2 Step Owl, Full heart Extra-Large, 2 Step Bird, Scallop Edge Border, Word Window, Modern Label Extra-Large

Punch Bunch For You

For this card I've used a Concord Crush card base.  The For You stamp from Punch Bunch was stamped in Chocolate Chip, Concord Crush and Crumb Cake.  The centers were punched out using the 1 3/8" punch.  I then sponged around the edges with the same coloured ink as the image.  These were placed directly onto the card base.  The bottom half of the card was covered with Concord Crush Designer Series Paper from the Hostess Level 1 set.  A strip of Very Vanilla with some Early Espresso ribbon finishes it off.   

I'm entering this at Simply Stampin' where this week it's a colour challenge using Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Concord Crush and Very Vanilla.

Thanks for looking. x

Materials Used

All Stampin' Up! Supplies

Card - Concord Crush, Very Vanilla

Paper - Concord Crush Designer Series Paper

Ink - Chocolate Chip, Concord Crush, Very Vanilla

Punch - 1 3/8" circle 

Other - 1/4" Early Espresso Ribbon

Wheely like Wheels!!

I'm back again with another card for less is more this time using the Music Notes Wheel.  I'm hoping that this still fits within this weeks challenge of a one layer card with a frame.

For this card, I used a Whisper White card base and cut 6cm from the edge.  I then masked and used the wheel to create a music sheet going over the edge of the opening.  The notes were inked with Early Espresso.  I sponged using Chocolate Chip, Early Espresso and Soft Suede.  To try and create a vintage look to my music sheet, I tore a piece of copy paper and laid this randomly over the stamped image and again sponged.

The sentiment, for you, is stamped in Early Espresso from the Occasional Greetings set.

As we are heading towards the end of the school term, I've made this card for my Son to give to his music teacher.  I'll make a different one for my daughter to give to her teacher later.  Then I really must give the wheels back to my friend and put them on my shopping list immediately!

Edit:  Ha Ha Ha........ after all my measuring, careful placing and would you believe checking I had the wheel the right way round, I was wrong!  My music is upside down!!  Doh. I've made 4 cards like this thinking I was right way up.  Thanks Chrissie for pointing it out and letting me know what to look for, hopefully I've got it right this time.  And yes the inking is supposed to be my frame to give the illusion of an old piece of torn music.  Oh dear I'm off to have a lie down.....  

Thanks for taking the time to visit. x

Materials Used
All Stampin' Up! Supplies

Card - Whisper White
Ink - Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip
Stamps - Music Notes Wheel, Occasional Greetings

More of Funky Forest

If you saw my previous post you'll know I've been having a play with the wheels.  This one is called Funky Forest and my friend left it with me after our crafting session yesterday so I could play some more.  

The original card I made yesterday for less is more is shown next as a rescue card.  This one is my second attempt at this design.  The challenge is to make a one layer card with a frame. 

I used a Whisper White card base and masked off an area to roller the trees in Old Olive.  I then made a dotty frame using an Old Olive marker pen.  The center was sponged with Old Olive and Real Red.  

Thanks was stamped below in Old Olive from the So Happy For You set. 

And here is my rescue card.  I cut out the central image and mounted it onto Old Olive card.  The was placed onto a Whisper White background using dimensionals with the sentiment stamped below. This was then attached to an Old Olive card base. 

 I like the way that they have both come out.  Hope wherever you are you are having a great day and finding some time to craft. x 

Materials Used

All Stampin' Up! Supplies 

Card - Whisper White, Old Olive

Ink - Old Olive, Real Red

Stamps - Funky Forest Wheel, So Happy For You

Other - Sponge Daubers, Dimensionals 

In the Frame

I had a fun afternoon crafting with one of my friends.  This is one of the cards that I made.  

I started off by masking two sides of the Whisper White card base.  Then using the Funky Forest Wheel I stamped the trees in Old Olive.  I added the Thank You sentiment from Just Believe.  The image was covered with a post it note square and the edge sponged with Old Olive and Real Red to create a frame.  

Many of you will have guessed by now that I had this weeks challenge over at less is more on my mind.  The theme is to create a one layer card with a frame.  

We would like to see a frame of some sort or something in a frame... we'd like you to be as inventive as you like.

You could doodle, draw, emboss, ink, paint, colour, print, stamp, emboss resist,  mask or any other method you can come up with to get a frame of sorts into your design.

I ended up making a few cards which I'll show at another time.  In the mean time I hope you enjoy and have a good week. x

Materials Used

All Stampin' Up! supplies

Card - Whisper White

Ink - Old Olive, Real Red

Stamp - Funky Forest Wheel, Just Believe

Cas-ual Fridays - tic tac toe

Go check out this weeks challenge at CAS-uals Fridays, it's a really fun one.  You get to play a game of tic tac toe by choosing a line and making the card with the elements in that line.  I chose Gems, Punch, Flowers.  So many different variations.....

A friend saw the little pink thank you card that I posted earlier and asked for one in blue.  I decided to make one for the above challenge this time using Pacific Point.  The Tiny Tags little flower makes a trellis down one side and I've added a gem for a little sparkle on the middle tag. 

Materials Used

All Stampin' Up! supplies

Card - Whisper White, Pacific Point

Ink - Pacific Point

Stamps - Tiny Tags

Punch - Jewellery Tag

Other - Basic Rhinestone 

Rocking the Mashup and Owly Thanks

Wow I'm so surprised to have my card chosen for Friday's Mashup.  Thank you very much, it really cheered my day! You can see my card here.

Now onto another little card to share with you. 

I made this as my Thank You card for my Stampers 6 Club.  Each month I put in a little note card to say thanks.  

The owl is stamped in Chocolate Chip from Punch Bunch.  He was punched out using the two step owl punch currently in the mini catalogue £15.50.  I then punched out his vest from the Hostess Level 1 Designer Series Paper Pack.  This is a superb hostess gift set and I've found myself using it a lot lately.  The pack is 6" by 6" and consists of 60 sheets of double sided papers in the 5 In Colours.  This colour I've chosen is Peach Parfait and I've mounted him onto a circle of the same coloured card.  I've said it before, I love how everything co-ordinates.  It makes your projects so much easier! The little heart is also part of the two owl punch and doesn't he look cute with it?  This was then placed on a Whisper White card base.  

Well it's almost the weekend, hope you all have a great day. x 

Materials Used

All Stampin' Up! supplies

Card - Whisper White, Peach Parfait

Paper - In Colour Designer Series Hostess Stack

Ink - Chocolate Chip

Stamp - Punch Bunch

Punches - Two step Owl Punch, 1 3/4 Circle Extra-Large

Wedding Wheels in monochrome

Another one for less is more - colour challenge.  This week it's monochrome, so for this card I went with brown and cream.  

The image is the fantastic Wedding Wheels stamped in Soft Suede on Very Vanilla and mounted onto Chocolate Chip.  The background is Crumb Cake embossed with the Manhattan Flower Embossing Folder.  I overlapped the bottom corner with the image.  Then added a Congratulations sentiment from Occasional Quotes Hostess Level 3 set stamped in Soft Suede. I trimmed the edge of the sentiment using a 1 1/4 square punch by just placing the end into the edge of the punch. 

This is such a fun wedding stamp, I'm sure I'll be using it a lot more. 

Thanks for looking today. x 

Materials Used

All Stampin' Up! products

Card - Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip

Stamps - Wedding Wheels

Ink - Soft Suede

Tools - Manhattan Flower Embossing Folders, 1 1/4 square large

Father's Day Gift Wallet

This is a project that I saw on Tracey's Blog here.  I've adapted it slightly but the principle is the same.  A wallet to hold a gift card on one side and a photo or message on the other.  This could be an alternative to a card as with a white gel pen you write a message below the opening for the gift card.  Here's the inside - 

To make this I cut a rectangular piece of Chocolate Chip.  I corner rounded the corners.  I went round the edges with my white gel pen to make some faux stitching.  Then I embossed it with the square lattice embossing folder.  I added a strip of crumb cake punched out with the word window punch with a brad before attaching it half way down the side of the wallet.  The inside was decorated with Daffodil Delight designer paper from the brights stack.  The bottom half was covered with some more Chocolate Chip card.  Both were corner rounded.  I added some faux stitching again using the white gel pen.  The side for the pocket was only stuck down on 3 sides leaving the top for the gift card to slide in.  The opposite had a window made with Chocolate Chip card and some acetate.   I decorated the front with the Father's Day stamp from Occasional Greetings and mounted it onto some Chocolate Chip card. 

Of course this could be adapted for lots of occasions and makes giving a gift card that little bit more special.  

Thanks for looking.  x 

Materials used

All Stampin' Up! unless otherwise stated

Card - Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

Ink - Chocolate Chip

Stamps - Occasional Greetings

Paper - Daffodil Delight Designer Series Paper Stack

Tools - Word Window Punch, Corner Rounder, Square Lattice Embossing Folder

Other - Acetate, Brad from my stash

Happy Birthday Balloons

Oh my this is a second post from me today!  Scroll down to see my first one.  

This card was inspired by the sketch at the CAS-ual Fridays challenge blog.  This week they have given us a sketch to follow and for some reason when I saw it I thought of balloons.  Rather a lot of balloons!  Must be a big party or celebration Lol!  Here's the sketch - 

I just had to decorate the inside with some more balloons floating away.

Before I tell you all the details of the card, the colours were chosen from  another challenge blog - The Friday Mashup.  I know two challenges with one card, so unusual for me! So here's the rules for this challenge

Make a card using the above colours, make a card for Kids or mash it up and make a card using the colours and for kids.  Fun huh! 

So here's the details of my card.  I've used a Tempting Turquoise base.  I then stamped the balloon from the Party This Way stamp set in Real Red, Daffodil Delight and Pacific Point.  Following roughly the curve in the sketch.  I then popped one balloon onto dimensionals.  I made a scalloped border in Daffodil Delight using the Scallop Edge Border punch and attached this to the top.  I added some Daffodil Delight ribbon (this is the ribbon I currently have on as a ribbon share, have a look at the post below) along the border then attached the panel to the card base.

This was such a fun card to make, check out the other entries in the challenges.  There's loads of inspiration.  x

Materials Used

All Stampin' Up! supplies

Card - Tempting Turquise, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight

Stamps - Party This Way

Ink - Real Red, Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight

Ribbon - Daffodil Delight

Punch - Scallop Edge Border 

Ribbon Share/Extra Extra

Introducing my first ribbon share!  

Would you like to have some of each of these colours for your projects?  It's great to be able to put your hands on the colour of ribbon you want to give a little finish to your cards or scrapbook pages.  

This share is all bagged and ready to go.  Each bag contains a meter of each of the colours.  That's 13 meters in total!  There are 2 shades of blue, 2 shades of green, orange, pink, red, yellow, purple, brown, black, cream and white.  The ribbon measures 1/4" (6mm) grosgrain ribbon making it a great size for 3d projects too.  

The bags are £4.88 if collected, add £1 if you wish it posted out to you.  I can accept cash, cheque, bank transfer and paypal (add 5% to cost if paying by paypal).  Please note that I am unable to accept credit or debit cards for this share.   E mail me on ails300@btinternet.com if you are interested in this share and advise me of which method of payment you have decided on. 

 I look forward to hearing from you and I'm sure you will make lots of lovely projects using these ribbons.  x

EXTRA EXTRA 

Now onto this fabulous promotion from Stampin' Up!.  You may have noticed the flier on my side bar which you can click on to get the full details.

During June and July, Stampin' Up! are rewarding Hostesses with an additional £20 to spend in the catalogues, over and above the normal hostess benefits, if they have a party with £250 of sales.  That's almost double the normal amount to spend!  

You can book a workshop with me if you live in the area.  I'd love to be your demonstrator.  Remember you don't need to have an actual party to benefit, instead you can gather orders from friends/family/neighbours/colleagues as long as your sales reach £250.  You can e mail me on ails300@btinternet.com.

Look forward to hearing from you, thanks for taking the time to visit. x  

Tiny Tags Thanks

Hi there, Monday again.  Aren't the weeks flying past?  Soon be the summer holidays.

Today for the less is more challenge I've made this card.  The theme is colour this week and it has to be monochrome.

I've chosen Melon Mambo.  This is a tooty card, only 3" by 3" but perfect as a little thank you.  I've mounted Whisper White on a square of Melon Mambo which is then mounted on to a Whisper White card base.  I used the Tiny Tags stamp set (there's a massive 17 stamps in this set!) to create a little background for my tags.  The Melon Mambo tags were firstly stamped using the same colour ink to create an outline then punched out using the Jewellery Tag Punch.  A third tag was stamped with the thanks so much stamp on Whisper White then punched out.  Viola one sweet little card.

I love doing monochrome cards as you will see from previous entries.  I think they really stand out and Stampin' Up! makes this so easy with the card, ink, ribbons etc. all matching.

Hope you have a great week and I'm looking forward to catching up with the Limettes entries this week.

Big welcome to Mustavcoffee (love that name!) thank you so much for following me.  I'm delighted.

Materials used
All Stampin' Up! supplies unless otherwise stated

Card - Whisper White, Melon Mambo
Ink - Melon Mambo
Stamps - Tiny Tags
Punch - Jewellery Tag

Less is More - Pick a Square

I'm really late entering the challenge over at less is more this week, but couldn't let it pass without putting in at least one card.  This week you had to pick a square for your design to sit in.  It could be in any of the four corners or the middle. 

This is a 6" by 6" card and I've used the Motorcycle and embossed it in silver.  I then matted it on a square of Real Red and then another matt of Basic Black.  The card base is textured card stock in Basic Grey.

This is to show the shiny embossing.  The silver really suits this image.


Thanks for taking the time to look and to everyone who also takes the time to leave a comment.  i really appreciate it.  Unfortunately this week I have been really busy preparing for a craft fair so haven't got round all your lovely entries.


Also a big surprise from the ladies at Simply Stampin Challenge, I was placed in the top 3 for this entry.  Thank you very much. x

Complimints Tote Case

Good evening everybody.  I haven't blogged this week because I've been busy getting ready for a craft fair on Saturday.  Well two as it turns out and on the same day!  

Here's one of the little items I've made.  

This is a complimints mint tin filled with breath freshening mints.  I've covered the front and back with some Love Letter Designer Series Paper.  I cut round the edges then sanded to give a neater finish.  I added a couple of strips of the alternative side of the paper and ribbon for the handles  

Hopefully I'll be able to blog some more of the items I've made soon.

Thanks for looking. x 

Materials used

All Stampin' Up! unless otherwise stated

Paper - Love Letter Designer Series

Ribbon - Basic Black 1/8"

Tape - Red Strip 

Other - Sanding block, complimints tin