Special Offer - Free Papers!

During the month of June, you can get your hands on a free pack of Designer Series Paper when you buy three packs.  This is a great offer, we all love to have plenty of papers to hand.  Why not buy yourself two sets of the same papers, we're all guilty of loving a set so much, it never gets used as it's too nice - use one and look at the other!

Contact me during the month of June to take advantage of this offer.

June Card Class - Baby Card

Morning,

Once again I have to apologies for my lack of posting.  My broadband is still a bit hit and miss, and after two long calls to call centres (where I couldn't understand a word of what was being said to me!), it somehow fixed itself.  I don't hold out much hope for it to be fixed permanently, keep fingers crossed please.

Here's one of the cards that I made with my class on Tuesday.  All the cards I made were using sets from the Summer Mini Catalogue.  This one uses the Baby Prints stamp set, with Marina Mist and Blushing Bride inks / card.  The Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder was used to emboss the Whisper White card, using the Big Shot, and the sentiment was punched using the Square Punch and the Scallop Square Punch for the border.  Finally, white Bakers Twine was tied around the card to add an extra element of detail. 

 

 

 

 

Card Stock / Papers - Marina Mist, Blushing Bride, Whisper White

Stamp Sets - Baby Prints

Embellishments - Bakers Twine

Tools - Square Punch, Scallop Square Punch, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Big Shot

Inks / Markers - Marina Mist, Blushing Bride

On yer bike!

When I saw the Summer Mini Catalogue for the first time, I knew I had to have the Pedal Presents stamp set. I loved it. You may have seen me post on here a few times that I've been out on my bike. I don't go out much, it's a bit of a hassle getting it up out of the basement, but when I do go out I always regret not going out more. There's a few too many hills round these parts for my liking too, it was much flatter where I grew up in Cambridgeshire!

There's a few of my colleagues from work who enjoy cycling too, so every now and again we go out on rides after work, the odd weekend ride, and even a night ride along the canal to Bingley and back to Leeds. One of my now retired colleagues set himself the challenge of riding the End to End ride, a whopping 1,100 miles from John O'Groats to Lands End over 3 weeks. Amazing! As a well done to him, and to give him a bit of sponsor money for his efforts (which went to RNLI for lifeguards and rescue at sea, and Sparks, funding medical research into health conditions affecting babies) I made this card.

 



I used Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla and Soft Suede card stock, and used the Labels Collection Framelit Dies to cut out around the bike and the border. I coloured the balloons in with Daffodil Delight, Real Red and Pacific Point markers, and used the Curly Cute stamp set for the Congratulations sentiment.

 

Card Stock / Papers - Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake

Stamp Sets - Pedal Presents, Curly Cute

Embellishments -

Tools - Big Shot, Labels Collection Framelit Dies

Inks / Markers - Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Basic Grey

Birthday balloons

I've recently moved into a new office at work, and I've been chatting away to my colleagues about my hobbies and interests. At the recent regional training event in Leeds, one of the key messages that came across was to share Stampin' Up! as much as we could, with everyone. Sometimes us crafty folk are shy about talking about our passions, for fear of looking silly, but when it's something we love, why not share it with the world. Enthusiasm is catching, and every Stampin' Up! demonstrator was once hooked because of someone sharing what they love.

As a result of talking about my cards, a colleague asked me to make a card for her Mum for her 65th birthday. I love being asked to make custom cards, it's very flattering, and I love making things to make people smile. The only specification she asked for was something bright and colourful, and perhaps with balloons.

This is what I came up with.

I used the same layout as I'd used for one of my Jubilee class cards, with the crowns from Artistic Etchings. This time, I used the stamp set Party This Way, with the 2011-12 In Colours. I used Pool Party for the card blank, with panels of Whisper White stamped with the in colour inks using the balloon stamp. Inside the card I put numbers cut with the Big Shot and the Bigz Alphabet Simple Numbers dies. The sentiment is from Curly Cute.

She was really pleased with the card, as was her Mum. I do like a satisfied customer! In fact, her Mum liked it do much she wouldn't even let her write in it!

If you've got a special occasion that you need a nice card for, please get in touch. I'd love to help you out!

 

 

 

The inside of the card

The back of the card

Stamp-a-stack 6 - Up Up and Away

At last, here's the sixth and final stamp-a-stack card (until the next class!), using the stamp set Up, Up & Away.  It's a lovely set featuring five different hot air balloon images, with birds, clouds and a few different sentiments.  I've seen some lovely cards made with this set, and I'm hoping to use it for a card at my card class next week, on the 26th June, at Dock Street Market in Leeds.  Please contact me to book your place, don't miss out!

The colour combo for this card is Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral, with a strip of designer series paper from the Sweet Shop set.  The clouds, birds and baskets were stamped onto Whisper White card stock, then mounted onto Lucky Limeade.  The hot air balloons were stamped and then cut out (no matching punch for this set!) and then placed on top of the baskets with dimensionals to make them stand out from the background. A strip of Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon was tied around the bottom of the panel. The sentiment was punched with the circle punches.

 

 

 

Papers / Card Stock - Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo, Calypso Coral, Whisper White

Stamp Set - Up, Up & Away
Tools - Circle Punches
Embellishments - Ruffled Ribbon
Inks / Markers - Crumb Cake, Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral, Island Indigo

Stamp-a-stack 5 - Bordering on Romance card

Here's the fifth card from the Stamp-a-stack class.  This one uses the Bordering on Romance set, a really pretty flowery set, that involves a bit of colouring in.  Everyone likes to embrace their inner child using this set and it keeps everyone quiet for a while! 

The colour combo is Blushing Bride, Pear Pizazz, and Baja Breeze.  The Labels Collection Framelit dies were used for the Whisper White card stock, and the main image of the flowers was also stamped onto Whisper White then coloured in using the markers.  The sentiment is from Sincere Salutations. The bow was made with seam binding ribbon, and is a lovely light material, and ties really nicely.

 

 

Papers / Card Stock - Blushing Bride, Whisper White

Stamp Sets - Bordering on Romance, Sincere Salutations

Embellishments - Rose Red Seam Binding Ribbon

Tools - Big Shot, Labels Collection Framelit Dies

Inks / Markers - Pear Pizazz, Baja Breeze, Blushing Bridge, Rose Red

Stamp-a-stack 4 - The Open Sea

Morning,

I'm trying to keep up by good blogging behaviour, so here's another post to share with you.  This is the fourth card from the Stamp-a-stack class, and I love this one.  Julie cased it from one of her downline, and I'm glad she shared it with us.  I'd just bought this stamp set, so it's great getting ideas for future cards I'll design myself.

The stamp set used for this card is called The Open Sea, and many of us demonstrators were really excited about this.  It's a great set to use for masculine cards, or where something different is required.  It can be difficult sometimes to come up with designs for men's cards.  The colours used for this card are Marina Mist, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake and Basic Grey.  The images were stamped at random to create a background on the Very Vanilla card stock, and the edges were sponged with Marina Mist.  The ship was stamped and then the Framelits Labels Collection dies were used to cut out the image.  This was mounted onto a strip of Striped Grosgrain Ribbon.  The sentiments were from the For My Family stamp set, and was punched out using the decorative label punch.

 

 

Papers / Card Stock - Basic Grey, Very Vanilla, Marina Mist

Stamp Sets - The Open Sea, For My Family

Embellishments - Striped Grosgrain Ribbon

Tools - Labels Collection Framelit Dies, Big Shot, Sponge Daubers, Decorative Label Punch

Inks / Markers - Basic Grey Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Marina Mist

Stamp-a-stack 3 - Bright Blossoms

Evening,

Sorry for the lack of posts recently.  I've been having trouble with my broadband connection, it's been a bit hit and miss, so I unplugged it for a few days, and then plugged it back in this evening, and now it seems to be working.  Maybe it just needed a rest, and was tired from all the card surfing I do!  As a result, I'm behind again with my blog posts, so I promise I'll try my best this week to get up to speed, and set up a few scheduled posts. 

This evening, I'm sharing another card from the last Stamp-a-stack class.  This one was one of my favourites, I loved the layout and the design of the card.  I'll be using this layout again, it could be used with any colour combo or stamp set.

This uses the Bright Blossoms stamp set from the Summer Mini Catalogue, and the colour combo of Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry, with a touch of Old Olive.  The vase and petals were stamped onto Whisper White card stock, then punched out with the Large Oval punch, and then the flower head stamped and cut out, with a dimensional used to give it a bit of depth.  The Decorative Label punch was used for a border.  The sentiment is from Happiest Birthday Wishes, which was punched out using the 1-1/4" Circle punch, with the Scallop Circle punch used for the border.  The dotty paper is from the Brights Paper Stack. 

 

The front of the card

The card showing the folds



The inside of the card with a panel of Whisper White for writing a message

Papers / Card Stock - Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Brights Paper Stack
Stamp Sets  - Bright Blossoms, Happiest Birthday Wishes (Hostess Set)
Embellishments - Old Olive Scallop Dots Ribbon, Dimensionals
Tools - Large Oval Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 1/4 Circle Punch
Inks / Markers - Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive

Stamp-a-stack 2 - Mixed Bunch

Morning

Here's the second of the Stamp-a-Stack cards, using the Mixed Bunch stamp set.  I actually received this stamp set at the recent all day regional training day, another one of the benefits of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator - freebies! I'd previously bought the matching Blossom punch too, so that was handy.

This card uses the colour combo of Pear Pizazz, Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade and Daffodil Delight.  The flowers and shapes were stamped at random on the Whisper White card stock, and then two were stamped and punched out, and fixed with a brad.  A strip of Poppy Parade ribbon was used, and the sentiment punched with the oval and the scallop oval punch.

 

 

 

Papers / Card Stock - Pear Pizazz, Peach Parfait, Whisper White

Stamp Set - Mixed Bunch, Petite Pairs

Embellishments - Rhinestone Brad, Poppy Parade Ribbon

Tools - Blossom Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Oval Punch

Inks / Markers - Pear Pizzaz, Daffodil Delight, Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait

Stamp-a-stack 1 - Wedding Card

Here's the first of my last set of Stamp-a-stack cards. This one uses the Love and Laughter set from the Summer Mini Catalogue, and has the colour combo of Very Vanilla and Crumb Cake. The Very Vanilla has been embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, and the cake image has been stamped with Crumb Cake ink. A couple of flowers were punched using the Itty Bitty Shapes punch, and finished with pearls in the middle. I made two of these cards, one for an engagement, and one for a wedding, which I have sent to a friend of mine who got married last week. I hope she liked it.

Papers / Card Stock - Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Mocha Morning DSP

Stamp Set - Love and Laughter

Embellishments - Satin Ribbon, Rhinestone Pearls

Tools - Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder

Inks / Markers -  Crumb Cake

 

Jubilee Craft Event - Dock Street Market

Good afternoon,

I hope you're all enjoying the Jubilee weekend so far, here in Leeds, the weather has turned out to be a bit damp, I feel sorry for everyone that had street  and garden parties and barbecues organised!

I thought I'd share what I will be up to for the Bank Holiday.  I'm taking part in Jubileeds, an event at Dock Street Market, Leeds.  This is where I hold my monthly card classes.  I was approached at the last class, where I was making Jubilee themed cards, to come along to their event this weekend to host a crafty workshop.  I jumped at the chance, and have been looking forward to it since then.

I'll be bring supplies and equipment to make all the projects below.  There will be the four Jubilee themed cards, perfect for any occasion.

The four cards that can be made

These are a couple of projects that are a little less ambitious than some of the cards, and will be perfect for children (or adults that are big kids!).  There's plenty of bunting and flags everywhere at the moment, so you could make your own.  If you don't fancy that, come and make a pinwheel.

Flags and pinwheels

I hope to see as many of you as I can there, drop in and say hi if you're nearby.  There's loads of other stuff on too, for more information and times etc, see here.  Enjoy the rest of the long weekend.