Floral District zig zag fold card

Hello. I've another Inspiration Station card to share today. I'm not sure of the correct name for this card, possibly a tri fold card, but I'm going to call it a zig zag fold card! I'd made one of these before, last year using the Beau Chateau papers and the Beautiful Wings embosslit folder. For this card, I used the Floral District papers, with a Crumb Cake card blank. It's an easier fold than it looks, it's just a matter of scoring from one corner to the other on an A4 sheet of card, then scoring and folding in thirds. I put papers on the three sides that would show at the front, and used the Blossom punch to punch a shape from a stamped image from the Betsy's Blossoms set for the large flowers. The leaves were from the Betsy's Blossoms stamp set too. The centres of the flowers were cut from the same image as the big flowers and punched using a small circle punch.

Regional Training - Name Badge

Another one of the requirements to attend the Regional Training in Leeds on Saturday was to make our own name badges to bring with us.  I had too many ideas for this, and after much deliberation, this is the design I came up with.  I used the Labels Collection Framelit Dies, and cut out the largest in Pool Party and the next size down in Whisper White, which was also embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  I used the Pennant Parade stamp set and the Petite Pennants builder punch with the new In Colours to make the bunting flags.  The Just Perfect Alphabet was used to stamp the letters in Basic Gray, and cut with the 3/4" Circle punch.  Finally, the Beautiful Wings Embosslit die was used to cut the butterflies in Pool Party. 

Stamp a stack - More Butterflies

Here's the second card from the stamp-a-stack class, I'm really pleased Julie chose this one for us, as I've had my eye on it on Pinterest now for a while and was planning to make it at some point.  The colours used are Calypso Coral, with Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla.  The paper is from the First Edition Designer Series Paper, and I bought these a while ago, and not quite known what to use them with, at least I have an idea now. On this card, the Sponge Daubers were used to ink the edges of the card to give a vintage look.  The stamp set is Elementary Elegance, a set which was recently available during the Sale-a-bration promotion, which ended on the 31st March.  I'll miss using all the Sale-a-bration products for blog posts, although I'll be using them to make some cards to sell. The Beautiful Wings Embosslit die was used for the butterflies, and some bling was added using the Rhinestone Jewels. 

Papers / Card Stock - Calypso Coral, Very Vanilla, First Edition DSP

Stamp Set - Elementary Elegance

Embellishments - Rhinestone Jewels

Tools - Big Shor, Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die, Sponge Daubers, Curly Label Punch

Inks / Markers - Calypso Coral, Crumb Cake

Door Hanger

A couple of weeks ago, when I was having my crafty weekend with Kylie, I also went round to visit some friends who had recently had a baby girl. James was one of my first friends from university, and Jenny was Kylie's friend from school, so they have us to thank for meeting!

Inspired by my visit to meet their new addition to their family, I decided to make a door hanger as a gift to them. I'd bought a plain door hanger a week or so before in a craft shop in Leeds city centre. I used the Beau Chateau papers to cover the hanger, and used the sanding blocks to get a clean edge around the sides and the circle.

The door hanger covered with the Beau Chateau paper

Die cut letters from the Alphabet Simple Letters Bigz die

I used the Alphabet Simple Letters Bigz dies to cut the letters from Pink Pirouette card stock, and the Fun Flowers die to cut flowers from Soft Suede, Pink Pirouette and Beau Chateau papers. A few of the card stock flowers were embossed with the Square Lattice embossing folder. The edges of the letters and flowers were inked with Soft Suede. I then used the Beautiful Wings Embosslits die to cut the butterflies. It's a clever product, as it cuts and embosses at the same time. Finally, Rhinestone Jewels were placed on the butterflies for added bling.

I hope they like it, and that baby Hana does when she's a little older.

Paper / Cardstock - Pink Pirouette, Soft Suede, Beau Chateau DSP

Stamp Sets - N/A

Embellishments - Rhinestone Jewels, Beautiful Wings Embosslit die, Alphabet Simple Letters Bigz die

Tools - Big Shot, Sanding Blocks, Square Lattice Embossing Folder
Inks / Markers - Soft Suede

Fancy folds card 1

This is the first card I'm sharing with you that's from my recent experiments with trying out new card shapes.  This is a tri-fold card, in Marina Mist with papers from Beau Chateau DSP.  I used the Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die to cut the butterflies, which were decorated with Rhinestone Jewels. I really enjoyed making this, and I'll be using this style for cards that need to be a bit fancier for special occasions.

Papers / Cardstock - Marina Mist, Whisper White, Beau Chateau DSP

Stamp Set - N/A

Embellishments - Rhinestone Jewels

Tools - Beautiful Wings Embosslits die

Inks / Markers - N/A 

Beautiful Wings

Hello,

I seem to be catching up with these posts at last, I'll have to start making some new cards soon instead of trawling through the backlog.

Here's a card I CASEd from Gemma Rathbone, when she was kind enough to lend me her sample books when I had my first real workshop!  It was a great help, and is always good to see someone else's ideas, and pick up different styles and techniques.

I used Rose Red, Marina Mist and Perfect Plum with Crumb Cake for this card.  I used the Beautiful Wings Embosslits die for the butterflies and the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet dies for the letters.  I'm going to have to purchase the Beautiful Wings die soon, I see it used everywhere, and it's so clever that it cuts and embosses at the same time.

Paper / Card - Perfect Plum, Marina Mist, Rose Red

Stampset - N/A

Embellishments - Rhinestone jewels

Tools - Big Shot, Beautiful Wings Embosslits die, Scallop Edge Border punch, Timeless Type Junior Alphabet die

Inks / Markers - N/A

Wedding Banner

This is a very overdue post, from the middle of last summer! I don't think I had my blog set up then, and have always planned on writing it up.  I was asked by two friends, Nev & Kate, if I would make them a customised banner for above a table at their wedding.  I'd made them a congratulations for getting engaged card as a Make and Take card, at the second Stampin' Up! workshop I attended hosted by Gemma Rathbone - check out her blog here (also when I took the plunge and signed up to be a demonstrator!).  They liked the card so much, they asked for a banner in the same style.  Naturally, I thought and planned it for months, and then left it to the weekend before to actually make it! Here's what I came up with.

Don't all those pies and pasties look tasty! Unfortunately, I was in the middle of doing Slimming World in preparation for being a bridesmaid at another wedding a few months away, so I somehow managed to resist!

For the sign, I covered a piece of plywood with Crumb Cake cardstock, then embossed Certainly Celery cardstock with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  I then cut flowers using the Fun Flowers die from the (now retired) Springtime Vintage paper from the 2011 Mini Catalogue.  I used the Big Designer Buttons in the middle of the flowers.  I used the Beautiful Wings Embosslit die to cut some butterflies, in Baja Breeze, Rose Red and either Pink Pirouette or Pretty in Pink (I can't quite tell from the picture!).   Hearts and flowers were punched using the Heart to Heart punch, and the Boho Blossoms punch and the retired hostess level one set Punch Potpourri. I finished it off with Rhinestone jewels in the centre of the flowers and on a few of the butterflies. 

I received lots of compliments for the sign, and I'm pleased with how it came out.  I did some other crafting for this wedding, but I think that deserves it's own blog post, so keep an eye out!  The wedding itself was lovely, really relaxed and casual, and the speeches certainly brought a tear to everyones eye!



Team Training

A few weeks ago, I attended a team training session at Julie Kettlewell's house.  We got to see a few sneak previews of items from the Mini Catalogue that had arrived already on the pre-orders, and this is the card and gift we made, using the My Friend set.  That's one of the benefits of being a hostess, we get to see and order the products to play with before they are released in the catalogues.

Both the cards and the gift bag used the colour combination of Lucky Limeade and Concord Crush. The butterflies were cut with the Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die.  The little flowers were punched with the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch.  We made two cards, same design, but with one showing what a difference a few extras make to it, by adding the rhinestones jewels and the Scallop Dots Ribbon, it does make it look that bit more special I think.

The gift bag was made with two Scallop Circles using the Bigz die, and contains a cello bag inside which could be used for sweets or other small gifts.

Card Stock - Lucky Limeade, Concord Crush, Whisper White

Papers -

Stamp Set - My Friend

Embellishments - Rhinestone Brads, Scallop Dot Ribbon, Ruffled Ribbon

Tools - Big Shot, Crop-A-Dile, Decorative Label Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch

Inks/Markers - Lucky Limeade, Concord Crush