Another hint of Christmas

Another Christmas card - I'm on a roll LOL! The snowflake image has been embossed with white embossing powder, then cut with the scallop circle punch. The bird has been stamped using Island Indigo on white cardstock, then cut with the 1" circle punch and popped up on dimensionals in the centre of the embossed snowflakes. The rest is pretty self-explanatory, I think! Please get in touch if it's not :) 

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

• Stamps: Four Seasons (hostess), Wacky Wishes (hostess)
• Ink: Pool Party, Island Indigo, Versamark
• Cardstock: Island Indigo, Whisper White
• Other: Top Note die, 2 3/8" Scallop circle punch, 1" Circle punch, White embossing powder, In-colour 11-13 designer paper, In-colour printed brads, dimensionals.

Halloween

Here's a quick post with a Halloween treat I made. I started making the treats, then realised that I would have no-one to give them to as the boys are at Gran's house and I'm on a late shift so won't see any Trick or Treaters! The original plan was to fill them with some orange-coloured chocolate balls I'd seen in the supermarket but as they won't be used as treats, I've substituted a chocolate drinking straw for demonstration purposes :)

Front

Back

The new skinny cello bags are great for little treats, and the topper can be changed to suit the occasion. 

Hope you have a fab Halloween, back soon!

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps: Mixed Medley (hostess A/W)

Ink: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie

Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Whisper White

Other: Two Tags Bigz die, 1 3/4" Scallop circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/4" Scallop circle punch, 3/4" circle punch, Cello bags.

Goodbye simply soft

This is one of the Hostess sets that are retiring this month. I had plans to make lots of cards with these stamps – I didn’t get round to making most of them but I’ll be holding on to this set for my personal use as it’s gorgeous and I can’t bear to part with it :)

Products used (all Stampin’ Up!):

• Stamps: Simply Soft (hostess), Petite Pairs
• Ink: Black Stazon, Concord Crush, Wisteria Wonder, Pear Pizzazz
• Cardstock: Wisteria Wonder (textured), Concord Crush, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White
• Other: Designer Paper (In-colour 2011-2013), Labels Collection dies, Scallop Edge border punch, 1 ¼” circle punch, 1 3/8” circle punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch, Pear Pizzazz Seam binding, Basic pearls, Aqua Painter, dimensionals.

Bye bye July (almost)

July has thundered along at an alarming rate, as usual! The last few weeks at school are always full - fun and fitness day, discos, performances etc. Then there's birthdays and holiday preparations. This year we've had my niece's emigration to add to the mix so parties, photos and kids bonding-time had to be squeezed in there somewhere. Crafting has taken a backseat this month :)
I have made a few cards to show you though. This one was for Sophie, who has been helping James with his literacy for a few months. She has really boosted his confidence, and he's not quite so nervous of going to big school now! A little pressie and card were definitely required as a thank you for all her hard work.

Products used (all Stampin’ Up!):

• Stamps: Just Believe
• Ink: Lucky Limeade, Concord Crush
• Cardstock: Lucky Limeade, Melon Mambo, Concord Crush, Bashful Blue, Whisper White
• Other: Cheerful Treat Designer Paper (hostess), Fancy Flower punch, Bird Builder punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, Scallop Trim border punch, Concord Crush stitched poly ribbon, stamp-a-ma-jig, dimensionals.

On your bike

I’m trying to participate in more challenges at the moment, but unfortunately I don’t often get them finished and photographed in time :) I created this card with the ColourQ challenge 137 in mind.

I started with a gray card base and panels of turquoise, limeade and wisteria cardstock with the corresponding designer paper. The bike has been stamped using gray ink on white cardstock with a gray layer underneath as a mat. The presents have been coloured using inks and an aquapainter for a little pop of colour.

I thought the white layer looked a bit bare, so I added some wisteria bakers twine, a green (old olive) button and turquoise brads – I think it might be better with the image off-centre and a ribbon/twine trim. I stamped the sentiment on white cardstock and cut into little banner shapes.
Products used (all Stampin’ Up!):

• Stamps: Pedal Presents, Happiest Birthday Wishes
• Ink: Basic Grey, Tempting Turquoise, Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder
• Cardstock: Basic Grey, Tempting Turquoise, Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White
• Other: Designer Paper (Brights, In-colour 2011-2013), Wisteria Wonder Bakers Twine, Designer Buttons (Brights), Brads (Brights), Aqua Painter, dimensionals.

Spice cake

A simple and self-explanatory card today - spice cake DSP on mustard and soft suede cardstock layers. A panel of DSP on soft suede cardstock across the middle with twill tape knots. A tag of soft suede cardstock with punched-out layers of very vanilla, pool party and more mustard cardstock, stamped with soft suede ink. The tag is removeable, so can be used as a bookmark etc.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

• Stamps: Happiest Birthday Wishes (hostess set)
• Ink: Soft Suede
• Cardstock: Soft Suede, More Mustard, Pool Party, Very Vanilla
• Other: Spice Cake DSP, Two Tags die, 1 3/4" Scallop Circle punch, 1 3/8" Circle punch, 1" Circle punch, Twill tape, dimensionals.

Bright butterfly birthday

I saw my first butterfly of the year today, so I thought I'd show you a card with butterflies. I made this earlier in the year when there was snow on the ground - Mother Nature obviously ignored my hopes for some warm weather for quite a long time!

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

• Stamps - Punch Potpourri (hostess L1), Occasional Quotes (hostess L3)
  
• Ink - Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise
  
• Cardstock - Whisper White, Melon Mambo
• Other - Scallop Edge Border punch, Butterfly punch, 1 3/4" circle punch, Corner rounder punch, Designer Series Paper Patterns stack (Brights), stamp-a-ma-jig, dimensionals.

A soft wedding card

Pink isn't one of my favourite colours, perhaps because I wasn't really a girly-girl growing up (I swapped my Teeny Tiny Tears doll for some marbles - oh, did I get into trouble for that one!!)

So I'm quite surprised at how often I am drawn to this sort of colour scheme (see here too).

As usual, what you see is what you get. Crumb cake card base with layer of vanilla cardstock, trimmed with scallop trim border punch. Layer of blushing bride designer paper, and pear pizzazz stitched ribbon. The heart stamp is from the level 1 hostess stamp set, Punch Potpourri (contact me to learn how you can get this set FREE!) The flowers and leaves have been coloured using ink and an Aqua Painter, then the image punched out with the full heart punch. A few pearls have been added before the heart is attached to the card using dimensionals. The sentiment, stamped in rose red ink and punched with the word window punch, has then been added to a crumb cake mat, punched with the modern label punch. More pearls have been added before using dimensionals to attach the sentiment.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

• Stamps - Punch Potpourri (hostess L1), Special Blessings
  
• Ink - Crumb Cake, Rose Red, Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz
  
• Cardstock - Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla
• Other - In-colour Designer Paper stack, Scallop Trim Border punch, Full Heart punch, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, Pear Pizzazz 1/2" stitched poly ribbon, Aqua Painter, Pearls, dimensionals.

Wait long enough, and you'll get a Free card!

Oh dear, it appears I've been neglecting my blog! Sorry for the lack of posts, but not much has been done in the last few months craft-wise. It seems the cold weather totally sapped my inspiration :( The days are getting longer again so hopefully Miss Betty will let me craft in peace (I'm being extremely optimistic there, LOL)

Here's a card made using stamp sets that you can get for free! (costing nothing, gratuitous, without charge, freebie, complimentary, gratis, on the house, without compensation, FREE OF CHARGE!) Don't you just love those words! Please contact me for further details on how you can earn these sets too!

The main panel has been stamped with the scroll stamp from the Bliss stamp set in crumb cake ink, and the flower in 'stamped off' soft suede ink. The quote in the top left corner was stamped with soft suede ink. The edges have been distressed using one of the files from the distressing kit, then sponged with crumb cake and soft suede inks. A ruffle of vanilla grosgrain ribbon was added before the panel was adhered to a soft suede card base. An espresso oval and a soft suede scallop oval provide mats (and depth) to the sentiment, stamped in soft suede ink on a vanilla cardstock oval.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

• Stamps: Bliss (SAB), Occasional Quotes (hostess L3)
  
• Ink: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede
  
• Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Early Espresso
• Other: Distressing kit, Sponge Daubers, Extra Large Oval punch, Extra Large Scallop Oval punch, Large Oval punch, 5/8" Very Vanilla grosgrain ribbon.