Crafternoon Tea Class - Sweet Boxes

Here's the final item we made at the Crafternoon Tea event. Little triangular boxes, made with Sweet Shop DSP, using the Simply Scored board.

A rectangular piece of paper cut to 8 cm x 16 cm was the starting point. We scored the papers at 8 cm on the long side, and then marked the middle of the short side, at 4 cm. A score line was then made from the middle of the short side down to the fold on the long side.

The crop-a-dile was then used to make a hole in each side, and then Ruffled Ribbon was tied through and tied into a bow or a knot at the top. The Oval All stamp set was used for the sentiment, which was punched out with the Scallop Oval Punch.

I really like these, and I can see myself making a few more in the future. Any papers could be used, and they don't take long to prepare or make. We were given some chocolates to place inside them at the class, but they quickly got eaten when I got home. That thing we all do, open the cupboards, look in the fridge, sit down, then do it again hoping some chocolate has appeared...it's great having a craft room full of treat boxes like this, a perfect emergency stash that I forget is there.

 

Crafternoon Tea Class - Tea Shoppe

Here's the last card from the Crafternoon Tea class I went to. It would have been daft for Kylie not to take advantage of the lovely stamp set from the Summer Mini Catalogue, called Tea Shoppe. This is the card she designed for us to make.

The colour combo is Marina Mist and Daffodil Delight, with Very Vanilla. Three tea cups were stamped and punched out with the 1-3/8" (3.5cm) Circle Punch. These were mounted into a strip of dotty papers from the Subtles paper stack, which was the placed onto a piece of Daffodil Delight card stock, which had been edge punched with the Scallop Border Punch. The Just For You sentiment was punched using the Word Window Punch, then mounted onto Daffodil Delight punched with the Modern Label Punch. Flowers punched from the Itty Bitty Punch set were placed onto the cups. Lovely and simple!

Crafternoon Tea Class - Mixed Bunch & Everyday Enchantment

The second card we made at the Crafternoon Tea class, was using the Mixed Bunch stamp set with the Blossom punch, and the Everyday Enchantment papers that were brought back in July due to popular demand! The papers were originally available during Sale-a-Bration earlier this year.

The colour combo for this card is Pool Party, Calypso Coral and Lucky Limeade, with Very Vanilla. The circle type images were stamped as a background into the Very Vanilla card, with a strip of the Everyday Enchantment DSP placed towards the bottom. Two flowers were stamped in Calypso Coral, and punched with the matching Blossom punch, with a Lucky Limeade In Colour designer printed brad through the middle. The I'm here for you sentiment is from Petite Pairs.

Dock Street Market workshop today

I hope you are all enjoying your Bank Holiday weekend so far. It's a shame the weather isn't better, but then we are in England! What we moan about without the bad or disappointing weather.

Not to worry, there's plenty to do today no matter the weather.

I'm doing a kids craft workshop today (big kids welcome too) at Dock Street Market, Leeds. There's music and lots of other activities too, and lots of lovely food and drinks.

https://festivalofsorts.eventbrite.com/

Come along, and get crafty!

Crafternoon Tea Class - Easy Events

A few weeks ago, my friend and downline Kylie held her first official craft event. I went along for a bit of moral support, and to do a bit of crafting and eating buns, sarnies and a cuppa or two. The event went really well, and it was a full house with about 14 people attending. We made three simple projects, she'd kept them easy so we had plenty of time to eat and chat too!

The first card I'll share from the day uses the stamp set Easy Events. I don't have this set, but I love using it. There's a stamp with a sentiment for every occasion, Birthdays, Weddings, Christmas, Baby, Thank You, and lots more that could be used for any occasion. They're great images too, everyone likes a bit of colouring in now and again don't they?

The card stock was Melon Mambo, with a layer of Whisper White that had been embossed using the Big Shot and the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. I used the Hello image of a cuckoo clock on my card. A bow was tied around the image layer, using the Melon Mambo Scallop Dots Ribbon. For a bit of bling, a Rhinestone Jewel was placed on the top of the cuckoo clock image.

Reason To Smile

During the month of August, you can get a free stamp set, called Reason To Smile, with a order of £60, or you can buy it for £18.95 in wood, or £14.95 in clear. It's a lovely set, with background images and co-ordinating outline images. You can see from my cards, that you can use them separately, or combine the two.

These are a couple of cards I made at a recent team training event. The colour combo for both cards are Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade, and Pool Party. These cards would be perfect to use at a workshop, to demonstrate a simple quick card, with a stepped up version to show how easy it is to make a simple card a bit fancier. The fancier card has a couple of Antique Brads and some Pool Party ruffled ribbon for extra impact.

If you'd like to get hold of this set, please get in contact.

 

Craft Decathlon - Mini Photo Album

I'm quite excited about this post. It's one of the first non-card photo type project I have made and finished. I had a good session in my craft room on Sunday and tried to get a few half finished projects completed. I finished this one, and another scrap book page project that I can't wait to share, that I made at Saturday's shoe box swap event.

This is a mini photo album project. I've seen lots of these sort of things on tables at craft classes and events and I'm always impressed and want to have a go myself.

It's made with two Kraft coasters, for the back and front, like the ones I used in a previous post when I made coasters with the Everyday Enchantment papers, see here for the blog post.  Two folded pieces of card stock were cut and stuck together, and then each square covered with papers from Sweet Shop. Each panel and photo was punched eith the Corner Punch. The front cover, I stamped the words "Family Holiday" using the Just Perfect Alphabet, and the heart stamp from the new stamp set Make A Cake. A strip of Pool Party ruffled ribbon was attached so the mini album can be tied closed.

I decided to use some pictures from a trip to Australia I went on with my Mum, in 2006, to visit my sister who was out there for a year at University. It took a few hours to figure out with my computer how to get them to be resized and printed at the right shape and resolution. If any of you scrapbooks out there have any Photoshop tips, or any other software, please leave me a comment!

 

 

 

 

 

 

July Card Class - Summer Mini Milk Carton

As well as making the folding Wow card at my last class, I did a couple of other projects. One was using the Mini Milk Carton die, which I've used a few times before, for Christmas and Easter gifts. It's such a versatile product, it can be used for any occasion.

I used Pool Party card stock, and papers from Sweet Shop DSP. A clip from the Clips Assortment pack was used to secure the top, and the Just For You sentiment from Oval All was stamped onto Whisper White card stock in Wisteria Wonder ink, and punched out using the Scallop Oval Punch.

 

 

Get well soon Rusty

I don't do many non craft posts, but I thought I'd share this with you. I've had a difficult weekend, and thought a trip to the vets today might end with bad news. I've got an 18 year old cat, and he's not been too well. He wasn't too well on Thursday evening, and has spent the whole weekend in my basement, lifeless, not moving from his bed, not eating, and looking like his back legs were causing him a lot of pain. With him being old, in kitty terms, I wasn't sure what the vet would say. After a fight with Rusty to get him in his pet carrier, off to the vets we went. Two injections later, and lots of bad words from the cat, off we went home.

I returned from work to find him stood up waiting for me, with a miaow to say hello, and wanting his dinner. He seems much better, and I don't think it's his time to go to kitty heaven just yet.

Here's a few pictures of him, of course, there's got to be some connection to Stampin' Up! He likes it as much as I do!

 

 

 

Craft Decathlon - Wow card!

I think you'll all agree with me, this is a special card! I first made this at the Craft Decathlon class, and then I made it with my card class that I hold on the last Tuesday of every month at Dock Street Market, Leeds. It went down really well, and I'd like to do more 'Wow' projects with them in the future.

A 12"x12" Whisper White card stock was scored at 3" and 9" on both sides, and then diagonally at 3", 6" and 9" on all four sides, using the Simply Scored board. I'm not even going to try to explain how the folds go, it's hard enough explaining it in a class! A range of different papers from the Sweet Shop DSP were cut into squares, and then in diagonal halves. In the centre of the card, a square of Lucky Limeade and Whisper White were placed, and Congratulations from Curly Cute was stamped. Bunting flags were punched using the Petite Pennants Builder punch.

To keep the card closed, a band was made using a strip of 12"x 1.5" card, with a strip of the Sweet Shop papers. Ruffled Ribbon in Pool Party was placed under the strip, so that the band could be tied in a bow. A flower was stamped in Pool Party with a flower stamp from Mixed Bunch, and punched with the Blossom punch. Another flower was punched from the Sweet Shop papers and placed behind and a Jelly Bean brad placed through the centre.

I'm looking forward to the next special occasion where I can make this card. I made another one a week later at the team training event, in Christmas colours. I'll save that one for another blog post.

 

 

 

 

Craft Decathlon - Mouthwatering Cherries

This is the second time I have written this blog post! Argh. The Blogger App on my phone was playing up, so I closed it down, and lost this post. So I'm writing them all in the Notes App on my phone, and keeping my fingers crossed I don't lose it again!

This is another card made using the Mouthwatering stamp set, but with the cherries this time. The cherries image was stamped onto the Whisper White card stock with Lucky Limeade ink, and a Jelly Bean brad placed near the leaf. Eight cherries were stamped in Real Real card, using the 1" (2.5cm) Circle Punch. One was placed flat on the cherry, then the other three stuck together to create a 3-d raised effect. The White uni-ball Signo gel pen was used to create a shine. I've used lots of white ink pens before, and this one is by far the best. The cherries paper from Sweet Shop was placed over a strip of Real Red card stock, which had been punched with the Scallop Trim Border Punch. The Just for You sentiment from Oval All was stamped in Real Red, and punched out with the Large Scallop punch, and mounted onto a Lucky Limeade Scallop Oval Punch piece of card. The Birthday Wishes sentiment is from Sincere Salutations. The Lucky Limeade marker pen was used to create a stitched image around the edges of the Whisper White card layers. For anyone who hasn't used the markers, they are dual tip, with a fine end for writing and a brush tip for colouring images and stamps. They match all the papers and card that Stampin' Up! offer. They can be bought individually, in sets of 10 in the colour families, or as a full set.

 

Craft Decathlon - Mouthwatering

Evening!

I'm pleased with my blogging process this week, and I feel like I'm catching up at last. I hope it lasts, I've still got plenty of cards and projects to share. I went to a Shoebox swap event today, so I've got lots of lovely things from that.

Here's another card from the Craft Decathlon class. The Sweet Shop papers were used again, with the stamp set Mouthwatering. To get the cone, ice cream and the cherry different colours, the marker pens were used to colour the stamp. On the Wisteria Wonder card, the Adorning Accents embossing folder was used to make the embossed hearts. These are thin embossing folders, which just give an extra level of detail to your cards and projects. The Adorning Accents Edgelits Die was used to make the scalloped bottom on the panel. The sentiment You're So Sweet is from the Sweet Cake stamp set, cut out with the oval punch and mounted into a piece of Pool Party card punched out with the Scallop Oval Punch. Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon was tied around the card, as well as around the corner of the ice cream image, and a Jelly Bean brad was attached.

A lovely summery card, don't you think?

 

 

 

Shoe Box Swap event

Morning,

I'm off to a Shoe Box swap event today. What's that you ask? Well, it's like a card class, but everyone brings a box containing all the card, papers, stamps, ribbons etc, and we'll be swapping boxes around the table, and making each others cards. Sound fun, I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else has come up with.

This is my design. It took me all afternoon yesterday, I wasn't feeling very inspirational! I'd been off all week, and should have got my kit out and had a play earlier. After sitting on my craft room floor for far too long, I made it up to the desk and got going.

I used two new stamp sets a sneak peek from the Annual Catalogue, called Make A Cake, and Itty Bitty Banners. The Stamp-a-ma-jig is a must for this set, with all the stamps designed to be used together to create an image. Two step stamping it's called. I used Island Indigo, Pool Party and Rose Red ink. The Scallop Border Punch was used to create the edge on the two layers of card stock, and a piece of Pool Party bakers twine was wrapped around the centre of the card a few times and tied in a bow.

I hope everyone at the event likes my card.

 

Craft Decathlon - Sweet Shop lolly card

The Summer Mini Catalogue is full of lovely things, including the bright and summery papers Sweet Shop. This is another card I made at the Craft Decathlon class last month. The papers were punched with the 1-1/4" Circle punch, and arranged in a spiral with a Jelly Bean brad through the middle. The sentiment is from Sweet Cake.

 

 

Craft Decathlon - Mixed Bunch Easel Card

Here's the second card from the Craft Decathlon class, this one uses the Mixed Bunch stamp set and Blossom Punch. I received this stamp set for free when I went to the Regional Stampin' Up! Training day in Leeds in May.

Island Indigo card was used for the main card, and was scored with the Simply Scored board. There's so many different things to use the board for, it's an essential item! The Labels Collection Framelit dies were used to cut out the sentiment and border to place on the base of the card so that the easel part stands up. Three flowers were stamped in Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder and Island Indigo ink, and punched out with the matching Blossom punch. Three Lucky Limeade flowers were punched out too, and then these were put onto a large frame cut with the Framelit Dies. To finish it off a bow was tied from Pool Party ruffled ribbon.

 

 

 

Craft Decathlon - Diorama card

Last month I attended a fun class run by my Stampin' Up! upline Julie Kettlewell. Even though I'm a demonstrator and run my own classes, it's still good fun to go to other classes, for ideas and to meet other crafty people. The decathlon was a full day of 10 different projects (some of which I've not finished yet-oops)

The first I'm sharing is a diorama card, and it's so effective and a little different to a normal card. The Simply Scored board was used to score the folds in the Island Indigo card stock, and the Labels Collection framelit dies were used to create a window and the panel for the back of the card. The stamp set used in this card was Bordering On Romance, with sentiments from For My Family and Petite Pairs. The In Colour inks were used with the blender pen to colour the flowers and leaves. Finally, a couple of flowers were punched from the Itty Bitty Punch, and a couple of sprinkles of Dazzling Diamonds to give the card a bit of sparkle.

 

 

 

 

 

June card class - Up Up and Away

Afternoon!

I've got a week off work this week, and I'm determined to catch up with my blogging, and I need to fix my photos on a few posts. I got a bit over keen one day and deleted some pictures by accident! Oops. I'm also determined to get my silly broadband fixed too.

Here's a card from my June card class, using the Up, Up & Away stamp set from the Summer Mini Catalogue. It's a great set, with lots of different hot air balloons, and birds, clouds and sentiments too. This card uses Pool Party, and Poppy Parade card stock, and then I used the markers to colour in the balloons to make them different colours. The stripy balloon was coloured with Wisteria Wonder and Pool Party, the spotty balloon was coloured with Poppy Parade, and the checked balloon was coloured with Pool Party and Lucky Limeade. I used scraps from the Subtles Paper stack to cut out some hills, and stamped the sentiment onto one of them.

There's not long left now to get hold of products from the Summer Mini, do if you've got your eye on anything, don't leave it too long!

 

 

June Card Class - The Open Sea

Hello!

I've come to the conclusion that technology hates me. I'd just written this post, I went to attach the pictures and the app shut down and lost the post! I'd written all about how my broadband isn't working too well, and that's why there's been a lack of posts recently! This one better work else I'll really be mad!

Here's an overdue post sharing a card I made with my card class back in June. It uses the Open Sea stamp set, available from the Summer Mini Catalogue, until the end of August. Don't miss out if there's anything you've had your eye on.

The card uses Crumb Cake, Not Quite Navy, Bashful Blue and Very Vanilla card stock, with Crumb Cake, Bashful Blue and Basic Grey ink. The Crimper was used to give texture to the panel across the middle of the card. The Just For You sentiment is from the Just Believe stamp set.