For the non-romantics

I had planned to make this card as a Valentine's Day card, but didn't get it finished in time. I thought it was ideal for those romantics in life who hate slushy sentiments!

A card base of Crumb Cake cardstock, some black Urban Underground speciality DSP and a panel of Whisper White cardstock (embossed with the Hexagons dynamic embossing folder) provides the background. Sentiments from the Nailed It stamp set have been embossed in white onto Basic Black cardstock, then die cut using one of the dies from the Build It framelits set. Another die from this set has been used to cut the saw from silver foil and Soft Suede cardstock. I even added some cute little silver nails to the bottom sentiment panel!

I'm really sorry to post this after some of the retiring items sold out so quickly - I really thought this suite would carry over to the Annual catalogue :( I think I'll be hanging onto mine for a long time to come, those pesky men are hard to cater for!!

Hooray!

New stamping goodies are in the building!! Quick post with a few cards I've not yet blogged, then off to play LOL!

Products used (all Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise stated):

• Stamps: Wishes Your Way
• Ink: Basic Black
• Cardstock: Marina Mist, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight
• Other: Brights Designer Paper stack, Cloudy Day embossing folder, Pinwheel Sizzlits die, Adorning Accents edgelit, Marina Mist 3/8” striped organdy ribbon, cocktail stick (non-SU!)

Products used (all Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise stated):

• Stamps: Blooming with Kindness
• Ink: Midnight Muse
• Cardstock: Midnight Muse, Very Vanilla, Summer Starfruit
• Other: Print Poetry Designer Paper stack, Honeycomb embossing folder, Beautiful Wings embosslit, Extra Large Oval punch, Gumball Green 3/8” stitched satin ribbon, Pearl jewels, dimensionals.

Oh whaley?

I think this cheery paper is the only thing keeping me going through our miserable weather at the moment :( We're lucky that we haven't had snow recently but it's been so cold. This time last year, I got sunburnt on a day out in Scarborough!
The layout was inspired by the Just Add Ink sketch challenge here, but as usual I missed the deadline LOL!

I started with a gray cardbase, covered with white cardstock which has been embossed with the cloudy day embossing folder. Can you see the cute little clouds? (Wish our clouds were like that, instead of a big gray blanket!!) I added a panel of the umbrella paper, and added the stripey paper to a piece of daffodil cardstock. The whale has been inked in Pacific Point ink, then cut using the matching clearlit die. These dies have a little window that allows you to line up the image exactly - fab idea! The sentiment is stamped in gray ink on white cardstock, punched with the word window punch and mounted onto a limeade label shape. A small disaster ensued - I left the components of my card on the dining room table whilst I cooked tea, and DS1 managed to get black paint on the edge of my card!!! The ribbons are a last minute addition to hide the little black splodge I couldn't get off :) 

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

• Stamps: Oh, Whale!
• Ink: Pacific Point, Basic Gray
• Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Gray, Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade
• Other: Happy Whale Clearlits die, Sunshine and Sprinkles designer paper, Cloudy Day embossing folder, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, Striped Organdy ribbon, dimensionals.

Happy birthday sis!

I've finally found a bit of time to blog! The kids have been hogging the computer lately - I think I'll have to ration them LOL! Here's the card I made for my sister's birthday last month.

I've started with a base of naturals ivory cardstock and a layer of melon mambo designer paper. I embossed a piece of espresso core'dinations cardstock using the vintage wallpaper embossing folder, then sanded the surface. This removes the top layer of cardstock to reveal the inner core to give a distressed, antique look. I also added some dotty scalloped ribbon, turned over to hide the dots! The sentiment has been stamped using espresso ink onto a die cut of ivory cardstock, and flowers stamped in melon mambo ink have been cut out and adhered using dimensionals. Flower centre pearls and a snippet of crochet trim add the final touch.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

• Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Sincere Salutations (retired)
• Ink: Early Espresso, Melon Mambo
• Cardstock: Naturals Ivory, Early Espresso core'dinations
• Other: Labels Collection Framelits, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Cheerful Treat Designer paper (retired), Scallop Dots ribbon, Crochet Trim, basic pearls, dimensionals.

A birthday tree

I seem to be on a roll with masculine cards at the minute. Here is a birthday card, featuring one of my most-used sets in the catalogue, Lovely as a tree.

I embossed a piece of espresso cardstock using the square lattice embossing folder, then added eyelets using a crop-a-dile. Some twill has been threaded through the eyelets and tied in a knot. I made a little tag for the sentiment using the modern label punch and crumb cake cardstock, and attached to the twill knot with linen thread. The tree stamp has been inked using markers and stamped onto watercolour paper. I've then used an aquapainter to spread the ink a little to create a watercolour effect, then torn the paper on two sides.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

• Stamps – Lovely as a Tree, Occasional Quotes (hostess L3)
• Ink – Old Olive, Early Espresso
• Cardstock – Old Olive, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake
• Other – Modern Label punch, Square Lattice Embossing folder, Watercolour paper, Aquapainter, Jumbo Eyelets, 3/8” Twill, Linen thread, dimensionals.

Short and Sweet

The photo doesn't do this card justice - it looks really elegant in real life and is really easy to make! I've used it for thank you cards and birthday cards so far.

A layer of white cardstock, partially embossed with the vintage wallpaper embossing folder, is added to an olive card base. Rose red seam binding, folded into rough pleats, covers where the embossing stops on the cardstock. The sentiment and frame have been stamped in black Stazon, then carefully coloured using a blender pen and rose and olive inks. A punched mat of olive cardstock has been cut along the length then stuck to the sentiment layer so it only shows on 2 sides.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

• Stamps – Four Frames, Fresh Cuts
• Ink –Stazon Black, Old Olive, Rose Red
• Cardstock - Old Olive, Whisper White
• Other – Vintage Wallpaper Embossing folder, Decorative Label punch, Blender pen, Rose Red Seam Binding ribbon, Sticky Strip, Mini Glue dots, dimensionals.