A Christmas card!

Well I have finally made a start on my Christmas cards! I just haven't been able to get in the swing of things this year (note to self: avoid surgery prior to major birthdays and festivals wherever possible!!) So here's a nice and easy one I made using a sketch from Poetic Artistry as inspiration, it is for Mojo 63 here. This is a brilliant site to visit, Julee has great sketches and posts a slideshow of the cards for each sketch.

The chocolate chip base is a standard A6 size. A piece of designer paper has been added to a piece of ruby red cardstock which has a scalloped edge, and chocolate grosgrain ribbon is wrapped round this layer. The 2 white panels are matted onto olive cardstock: the tree has been stamped in olive ink , the sentiment stamped in chocolate ink. Result: a simple card that could be enhanced using embellishments to give a special card - how about some brads, glitter or a ribbon slider? The choice is yours!

Products used (all Stampin’ Up!):

• Stamps – Season of Joy, Best Yet
• Ink – Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
• Cardstock – Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Ruby Red, Whisper White
• Other - Scallop edge punch, Holiday Treasures designer paper, Chocolate Chip 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

Blue Christmas

Here is a Z-fold card that I made before I went into hospital and forgot to post. These cards are really easy to make but look a little bit different to the more common landscape or portrait layout. An A4 sheet of navy cardstock has been cut in half lengthways, folded in half and the front folded back on itself to create the card base. A piece of pale blue designer paper has been added to the card front. The sentiments panel has been embossed in silver on pale blue cardstock, matted onto a navy panel and mounted onto the left-hand side of the base. Make sure you only apply adhesive to the left-hand side of the navy panel or your card won’t open! A piece of white cardstock has been placed on the inside of the card and a swirl stamped round the outer edge in pale blue ink (leaving room to write a message).

Punches are used to create the little medallion which keeps the card shut – pale blue cardstock with a silver-embossed snowflake is layered onto white then navy scalloped cardstock. The medallion is raised on dimensionals to allow the card front to be tucked underneath.

PS Sorry for the photo quality, the weather is very dark and miserable today and my editing skills are non-existent!

Products used (all Stampin’ Up!):

• Stamps – Season of Joy
• Ink – Versamark, Bashful Blue
• Cardstock – Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Whisper White
• Other – silver embossing powder, scallop punch, 1 3/8” circle punch, 1 1/4 “ circle punch, Cutie Pie designer paper (retired), dimensionals

I am still here, just not stamping!

Sorry for being a bad blogger (again!) Hopefully I'll be recovered fully from my op soon and can stamp again - it's driving me bananas not being able to do anything! Hope you're enjoying the new SU catalogue - just e-mail me if you don't have a copy yet!

Happy Birthday Stampin' Up!

This month marks Stampin' Up!'s 20th anniversary and to celebrate, they are offering 20% off several stamp sets in the new catalogue when you spend £20.



More details are posted here. This promotion runs until October 31st, so if you would like to order anything please e-mail me.

Orchid heartfelt friendship (ILWS challenge)

This card was made for a challenge on the In love with Stamping forum, which was to use the colours elegant eggplant, certainly celery and orchid opulence. I am trying to take part in more challenges, preferably at the time the challenge is posted but I'm not promising anything! If you are stuck for inspiration, try a challenge - it can really get you thinking and using your supplies in a different way.

The card base has been folded at the top and covered with celery designer paper. The flower has been stamped on white cardstock with orchid and celery inks, and the outline stamp using eggplant and olive inks. (A stamp-a-ma-jig has been used to get the position correct). A flat-backed pearl on a small circle of eggplant cardstock makes up the flower centre. This white oval has been placed on an eggplant scalloped oval, and this glued to the base card.

A piece of white cardstock has been stamped with orchid ink using the Linen stamp, and the sentiment stamped over the top using eggplant ink. A scalloped circle of eggplant cardstock has been cut in half and attached to either side of the sentiment, and small flat-backed pearls have been added as an accent.

Products used (all Stampin’ Up!):

• Stamps – Heartfelt Thanks, Linen, Wonderful Words


• Ink – Orchid Opulence, Certainly Celery, Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive


• Cardstock – Whisper White, Orchid Opulence, Elegant Eggplant


• Other – flat-backed pearls, ¼” circle punch

Ooops, missed a few days!

Slightly later than planned, a picture of Pepper and another card. She has gone to live with a lovely couple who already have 2 dogs, the 3 year old will now have a playmate and leave the 14 year old alone! The house seems very quiet without her - well, as quiet as it gets with 2 boys running around!

And on to the card.

The olive branch has been stamped in black Stazon on watercolour paper and coloured using a watercolour pen and inks. The edges of the panel have been sponged using olive ink to create a softer look. The panel underneath has been created the same way, with the sentiment stamped on black Stazon and the panel edges sponged with olive. Four silver brads have also been added. Both panels have been matted onto eggplant cardstock, and the branch layer has been attached to the base using dimensionals. The olive card base has been stamped using the leafy frond in olive ink.

Products used (all Stampin’ Up!):

• Stamps – Touch of Nature
• Ink – black Stazon, Old Olive, Elegant Eggplant
• Cardstock – watercolour paper (non-SU), Old Olive, Elegant Eggplant
• Other – silver brads

Sorry!!

I'm such a bad blogger! Why is this time of year so frantic? End of school activities, a holiday and being short-staffed at work results in no tome to blog - oh, and a lost camera. I found the camera so hoping the weather will be reasonable enough tomorrow to get some photos taken (the cards are made, honest!) We've got a dog show first, with someone coming to see our foster dog. I think they'll fall in love with her, she is SO pretty - will try to post a picture of Pepper too tomorrow. Our dog will certainly miss her if she goes - she doesn't give him a minute's peace!!! See you tomorrow, hopefully.

Simply pumpkin

This is a 5” square card made using pumpkin cardstock. A piece of olive designer paper has been added, and a small strip of pumpkin designer paper added to one side with a small piece of olive ribbon tucked underneath. The flowers have been stamped in black Stazon on white cardstock and coloured using a blender pen and inkpads. All three of these layers have been matted onto black cardstock to provide definition. The sentiment, which is from the Three for You punch box, has been stamped in black Stazon in the bottom right hand corner of the card.

Products used (all Stampin’ Up!):

• Stamps – Simply Said, Three for You punch box
• Ink – black Stazon, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive
• Cardstock – Whisper White, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie
• Other – Blender pens, Designer Paper (Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive), Old Olive 5/8” grosgrain ribbon

plum carte postale

Today’s card has a monochromatic look. The base card is Perfect Plum covered with a piece of pale plum which has been stamped with the script background stamp in pale plum ink. The square flower image has been stamped 3 times with pale plum ink and 6 times with perfect plum ink. The paler flower image has been cut using a 1¼” circle punch and placed over the darker stamped image using dimensionals. The small flower has been cut out of the remaining 3 darker images and positioned in the middle of the pale flowers.

These 3 squares have then been attached to a piece of white cardstock (stamped with linen in pale plum ink) on a layer of perfect plum. The sentiment has been stamped in perfect plum on pale plum cardstock, and layered onto a larger circle of perfect plum cardstock. A metal embellishment (tied with white ribbon) attaches the sentiment to the card.

Products used (all Stampin’ Up!):

• Stamps – Carte Postale, French Script, Linen
• Ink – Perfect Plum, Pale Plum
• Cardstock – Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Whisper White
• Other – White grosgrain ribbon, Hodgepodge hardware, 1 ¼” circle punch, 1 3/8” circle punch
  
  

Sympathy card

No-one likes sending sympathy cards, but letting someone know that you are in their thoughts can be very comforting.

This card is a standard A5 card made using caramel cardstock. The flowers have been coloured using burgundy and olive inkpads and stamped onto white cardstock – this is a bit fiddly and would be a lot easier with markers, but unfortunately I don’t have them yet so I used the inkpads. The edges of the cardstock have been sponged with caramel ink before being matted onto burgundy cardstock. The sponge daubers make sponging very easy - just pop one onto your finger, tap onto an inkpad and sponge the colour onto your image. The sentiment has been stamped in burgundy ink on white cardstock, which has then been matted onto olive.

Products used (all Stampin’ Up!):

• Stamps – Close as a Memory
• Ink – Bravo Burgundy, Creamy Caramel, Old Olive
• Cardstock – Whisper White, Bravo Burgundy, Creamy caramel, Old Olive
• Other – Sponge daubers

Summer's finally here!

The beautiful weather has inspired me and the card below is what I came up with. The little girl reminds me of lovely sunny days and carefree summer holidays - those were the days!!

I chose colours from the Soft Subtles colour group to give a light feel to the card. The little girl was stamped on white cardstock with black Stazon and coloured using inkpads and a watercolour pen. A small mat of lavender cardstock makes the image 'pop' against the celery designer paper. The sentiment is from the same stamp set, and the colours of the layers under it tie in with the colours used on the image (the scallop has been raised on dimensionals). A wire spiral with a small piece of pink taffeta ribbon attached finishes the card off.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

• Stamps: Summer by the sea
• Ink: black Stazon, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Lavender Lace
• Cardstock: Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Lavender Lace
• Other: Certainly Celery Prints designer paper, Hodgepodge Hardware, Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle puch, scallop punch

Chipboard flower

Here is a very simple card made using chipboard. The 'love' sentiment was stamped using olive ink on white cardstock. The chipboard flower has been covered in rose red designer paper and trimmed to give a neat edge, and the leaf done the same way using olive designer paper. These have then been positioned on the card so that the sentiment looks like the flower stem. The cardstock has been pierced in the corners, then added to the rose red card base.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

• Stamps - Wonderful Words
• Ink - Old Olive
• Cardstock - Rose red, Whisper White
• Other - Prints Designer paper (Rose Red and Old Olive), Chipboard (Blossoms and Basics)

Many thanks!

I decided to make several cards with the same design, but using different colours of cardstock and ink. These would be ideal to package as a small gift, and altering the sentiment would mean that the recipient has a supply of ready made cards for several occasions ready to hand. There is a card for each colour family, each card using several colours from that particular family.

The flower stamp has been inked using a colour for the flower and green for the stem, then stamped several times on white cardstock. The ‘heartfelt’ sentiment has been added using black Stazon, the image matted onto matching green cardstock then mounted onto the coloured card base using dimensionals. The ‘thanks’ sentiment has been stamped in the matching ink for a subtle effect. A small piece of grosgrain ribbon has been tied to the oval-shaped clip, which has then been added to the side of the image panel.

Products used (all Stampin‘ Up!):

• Stamps – Heartfelt
• Ink - Pixie Pink, Green Galore, Pale Plum, Mellow Moss, Ruby Red, Old Olive, So Saffron, Always Artichoke, black Stazon
• Cardstock – Pixie Pink, Green Galore, Pale Plum, Mellow Moss, Ruby Red, Old Olive, So Saffron, Always Artichoke, Whisper White
• Other – Hodgepodge Hardware, ¼” grosgrain ribbon

Fluttering butterflies

This card was inspired by one in an older Stampin' Up catalogue. The card base is sage with a strip of vanilla added to the bottom. The join is hidden by a piece of chocolate grosgrain ribbon which has been threaded with a piece of hardware. The sentiment is stamped in chocolate, and the bottom butterfly in sage. The butterfly above the ribbon has been stamped in chocolate on close to cocoa cardstock, then cut out and attached with dimensionals to give a bit of height. The flowers have been stamped in chocolate on vanilla cardstock, the centres coloured with sage ink and a watercolour pen, and placed onto the card (one of the flowers is also on dimensionals). If I was making this card again, I would probably use a background stamp (perhaps Canvas or En Francais) to add some texture.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

• Stamps: Touch of Nature
• Ink: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow
• Cardstock: Sage Shadow, Very Vanilla, Close to Cocoa
• Other: 5/8" Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, Hodgepodge Hardware

Another oak card

Here is another card made using the Lovely as a Tree set. As I said in a previous post, this set really lends itself to many occasions and is brilliant for a man's card, whether it be birthday, anniversary, thank you etc.

The oak leaf and acorn have been coloured using watercolour crayons on white cardstock. 2 jumbo eyelets have been added to the green panel, and a piece of string (non- SU!) has been threaded through them. The rust card has been stamped with rust ink using the Sanded background, and the sentiment stamped in black Stazon to make it more prominent.

Products used (all Stampin' Up! unless stated):

• Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Sincere Salutations, Sanded BG
• Ink: Black Stazon, Really Rust
• Cardstock: Really Rust, Garden Green, Whisper White
• Other: Watercolour Wonder Crayons, jumbo eyelets, string (non-SU)

Brown silhouettes

Here is a card I made using Garden Silhouettes. This is such a beautiful set of stamps which can be used for a wide variety of cards but, as it is a Hostess set, you can only get receive it by holding a qualifying workshop. So what are you waiting for?! Book a workshop with a Stampin' Up demo today and get your hot little hands on this set!

The image was stamped in chocolate ink onto pink cardstock, then stamped again without re-inking the stamp. This produces a paler image and is known as 'stamping off'. This layer has been lightly sponged using chocolate ink to soften the edges slightly, and the corners have been cut using a circle punch to show off the pierced corners of the chocolate layer underneath. This has then been placed on a white cardstock base, with the sentiment stamped in chocolate. A square spiral (is there such a thing?!), complete with a knot of pink taffeta ribbon, has been to added to complete the card.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

• Stamps: Garden Silhouettes, Sincere Salutations
• Ink: Chocolate Chip
• Cardstock: Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip
• Other: Hodgepodge Hardware, Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon

Kickstand card

Here is a slightly different card style for you to try, it is called a kickstand card. The card base is folded at the top and a portion of the bottom of your card front is cut off, then a panel added. The panel can be any shape you like - round, oval, square, or rectangular as seen here.

A piece of Cutie Pie designer paper has been added to the front of the rose red card. The image, stamped in black Stazon on white cardstock, has been coloured using inkpads and a watercolour pen, but markers could also be used. This has been matted onto a piece of banana cardstock, and the bottom edge lined up with the bottom of the card base to ensure the card stands securely. Make sure you don't place any adhesive on the bottom part of the panel or the card won't open - trust me, the voice of experience! The sentiment was stamped in black Stazon on celery cardstock and placed on the kickstand panel.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

• Stamps: Simply Said
• Ink: black Stazon, Rose Red, Certainly celery
• Cardstock: Whisper White, Rose Red, Barely Banana, Certainly Celery
• Other: Cutie Pie designer paper

Watercoloured oak tree

Here is a card I made using one of the stamps from Lovely as a Tree. This set is really versatile - it can be used for Christmas cards, sympathy cards and cards for men (always difficult!)




The oak tree has been stamped on watercolour paper with black Stazon, then colored using watercolour crayons. These are really easy to use and blend beautifully. The colour can be added in several different ways:

• draw over the image with different coloured crayons, then use a watercolor pen or brush to blend the colours together,
• run the damp watercolour pen or brush over the crayon and use like proper watercolours.

The main image has been layered onto mustard and green cardstock and added to the navy card. A strip of mustard cardstock, with the sentiment from Sincere Salutations stamped in navy, has been added to the side of the image. The leaf from Lovely as a Tree has been stamped in navy ink over the navy card, though this is difficult to see in the picture.

Products used (all Stampin' Up! unless stated)

• Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Sincere Salutations
• Ink: Not quite Navy
• Cardstock: More Mustard, Garden Green, Not quite Navy
• Other: watercolour paper (non SU), Watercolour Wonder Crayons

May special offer

Here's a great special offer from Stampin' Up! During May, if you buy a pre-selected stamp set, you will receive the co-ordinating jumbo wheel at half price. Here are the sets included in this offer:

• Carte Postale bundle - includes Carte Postale stamp set and the Leaves a la Carte jumbo wheel (pages 56-57) £29.93
• Seeing Spots bundle - includes Seeing Spots stamp set and the Spot On jumbo wheel (page 52) £19.93
• Polka Dots & Paisley bundle - includes the Polka Dots & Paisley stamp set and the Petals jumbo wheel (page 51) £22.93
• Close as a Memory/Vine bundle - includes the Close as a Memory stamp set and the Watercolor Vine jumbo wheel (page 40) £22.93
• Close as a Memory/Joy bundleIncludes the Close as a Memory stamp set and the Watercolor Joy standard wheel (page 40) £21.93

The wheels are really easy to use - simply place the wheel on the correct size handle, roll over your inkpad, then over your cardstock. Alternatively, ink cartridges are available to produce a continuous image - this enables you to use the wheels for your scrapbook pages or to create your own customised wrapping paper.

Here is a card I made using the Leaves a la Carte jumbo wheel.

The wheel was inked using a Rose Red inkpad, then rolled over the white cardstock. This was trimmed and placed on a mat of Rose Red cardstock, then a piece of white 1/4" grosgrain ribbon was tied round and knotted. This was then attached to the coral cardstock base, and the sentiment (from Sincere Salutations) stamped in Rose Red to complete the card. Nice and easy!

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

• Stamps: leaves a la Carte, Sincere Salutations
• Ink: Rose Red
• Cardstock: Whisper White, Cameo Coral, Rose Red
• Other: white 1/4" grosgrain ribbon

Baby bears

Here are two cards I made in different colours using the same stamp and layout.

The bear image has been stamped in black Stazon on white cardstock, coloured using a watercolour pen and inkpads, then mounted on a mat of Brilliant Blue or Rose Red cardstock. A piece of Petals and Paisley designer paper in the appropriate color has been added to the Bashful Blue/Pretty in Pink cardstock base, with a piece of the blue/pink taffeta ribbon knotted just above the designer paper.

The sentiment has been stamped in Brilliant Blue/Rose Red, then punched out with the 1 1/4" circle punch and mounted on a 1 3/8" circle mat of Brilliant Blue/Rose Red. An eyelet enables the tag to be suspended from the ribbon using a silver thread.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

• Stamps: Bundle of Joy
• Ink: black Stazon, Brilliant Blue, Rose Red
• Cardstock: Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Brilliant Blue, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red
• Other: Bashful Blue and Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon

Coral Lovely

Here is a card I made using the hostess set Oh, So Lovely. Old Olive cardstock has been used for the base, with a piece of the Olive Prints designer paper matted on black cardstock forming the next layer. A smaller piece of coral cardstock has been stamped with coral ink using the Canvas background stamp to provide a subtle texture, then matted onto black cardstock. The sentiment was made using two stamps from the Sincere Salutations set. There are several ways to get partial images from a stamp:

• use markers to colour the part you want to stamp
• mask off (or cover) the part of the image you don't want to stamp, then use your inkpad as normal. Remove the mask then stamp.

The image, stamped onto white cardstock, was then coloured using a watercolour brush with the coral and olive inkpads. This was then layered onto black cardstock and mounted using the foam pads to create dimension.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

• Stamps: Oh So Lovely, Sincere Salutations, Canvas
• Ink: Black Stazon, Cameo Coral, Old Olive
• Cardstock: Cameo Coral, Old Olive, Whisper White, Basic Black
• Other: Old Olive Prints designer paper

I'm still here!

Sorry it's taken me so long to update my blog but I've had some computer problems, then a bad cold/chest infection drained what little energy I've got. I'll try to do better in future!

Bad blogging coming up!

Hello and welcome to my blog! I hope to post some of my cards, detailing methods and materials used, and hope that some of it may inspire you to create your own. I will apologise now for the quality of the photos, I am hoping to improve my photography skills this year (along with a million other things!) Please feel free to comment, but don't be too hard on me!

Thanks for popping in.

Carte Postale card

The background was made by stamping French Script in Chocolate Chip ink on white cardstock. The smaller images were then stamped - the leaves with Old Olive, flowers in Cameo Coral and the bird in Chocolate chip. The bird was stamped again, cut out and raised on dimensionals to give a 3D effect. The edges are sponged with olive ink for a softer effect, and the sentiment stamped in Chocolate Chip on Cameo cardstock and placed in the metal frame (one of a variety of metal embellishments in the Hodgepodge Hardware).

Here's a great tip - if you don't have ribbon in the correct colour for your project, just make your own! Simply run your ribbon over the inkpad of your choice and allow to dry. I used this method to change my white 1/4" grosgrain ribbon to coral, then placed this on top of some 5/8" chocolate chip ribbon and wrapped this around my background. The card base is chocolate chip cardstock, standard A6 size.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

• Stamps: French Script, Carte Postale
• Ink: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Cameo Coral
• Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
• Other: ribbon, Hodgepodge Hardware