Peekaboo Owl card

This is a card I made at a class where we were making cards for men and boys.  It's a really cute card, using the Owl Punch with a window created with a Circle Punch and a frame made with the Scallop Circle Punch.  The card blank is Rich Razzleberry, and the wood grain effect paper is from Natural Composition.  The sentiment from Teeny Tiny Sentiments has been stamped with Rich Razzleberry onto Whisper White card stock and punched with the Word Window Punch, then mounted onto a piece of Rich Razzleberry card stock punched with the Modern Label Punch.

Here's a close up of the owl behing the frame window.  I love how the eyes can be placed in differnt positions to create a different expression on each owl.

You can see in this picture that the owl has been placed on the inside of the card, with a little branch for it to stand on, which has been punched from the Bird Punch.



Christmas bunting card

Morning,

It's a bit chilly isn't it this week? Definitely the right sort of weather for getting in the right mood for making Christmas cards, snow and dropping temperatures! I hope you all made the most of your extra hour of sleep today, or will you spend the day, like I will, checking every clock twice and not quite trusting any of them!

Today I'm sharing the last of the Christmas cards I made a few weeks ago. This one uses retired papers, Jolly Holidays, the same papers I used on a card I shared a few days ago. This design is based on a card I made at a class last year, with the bunting flags across the card. I used Cherry Cobbler card, with an embossed Whisper White layer. I made four cards of three designs, using the embossing folders Swiss Dots, Vintage Wallpaper and Square Lattice. I stamped onto the papers with Basic Black ink using the Pennant Parade stamp set, and used the Petite Pennants punch to cut out the flags. The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes, which has changed names from the old catalogue, and is now known as Teeny Tiny Sentiments. The sentiment was punched out with the Word Window punch and mounted onto a punched out piece of Cherry Cobbler using the Modern Label punch.

Shoe Box Swap - Bow Card

Today's card from the Shoe Box Swap class was designed by Ciara Jennings. It's a really simple, but effective card, and the bow looks so fancy. Ciara had provided a template that we used to cut around the Pool Party dotty paper from the In Colour paper stack. The Crumb Cake card blank was stamped in Crumb Cake ink with the Confetti background stamp, inside and on the outside of the card. The Rich Razzleberry card was punched with the Scallop Edge Border Punch, And a strip of So Saffron card stock was placed on top. The sentiment was from Teeny Tiny Wishes and cut out with the Word Window and the Modern Label punches. A flower was punched out using the Itty Bitty punch, with a Pearl in the middle. On the inside, a piece of So Saffron cut with the Top Note die using the Big Shot was added, for somewhere to write the greeting.

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!

All Day Training Swaps

A couple of weeks ago, I attended an all day training session, with 30 other Stampin' Up! demonstrators.  It was based around the new Summer Mini Catalogue, and it was the first time I'd seen a lot of the products from the new range.  As a demonstrator, we get access to view the catalogue before it is available to customers, and we can order products early.  It's exciting knowing customers are waiting to get their hands on the catalogue and products, when we get our "sneak peak".  In the morning, we learnt lots of tips and ideas for running classes, and in the afternoon we got hands on and crafty! I'll be sharing the cards and things we made (when I've finished them!).

One of the great things about the day is that we do swaps, we each make an item, a card, or a 3d projects to share with each other.  It gives everyone a chance to have items made from products and stamp sets we might not own ourselves yet, and it really makes a difference to customers than just looking in the catalogue.

 

For my swaps, I used the Tea Shoppe stamp set, and the Twitterpated designer paper series.  Using the Top Note die, I made a tea bag gift holder. You can see in the picture below how the tea bag sits inside, attached with a sticky dot. The inside was stamped with the three small tea cups in Whisper White, and the large tea cup was stamped onto Whisper White card stock using Pear Pizzazz, Baja Breeze, Blushing Bride and Island Indigo inks.  The Just For You and A Cup Of Thanks sentiments were stamped onto the four colours, with the same colour ink, and then punched out with the Modern Label punch. The Top Note die was used to cut out the Twitterpated papers, which was trimmed around the edge, to give a border with the card underneath.  Finally, Pear Pizzazz and Baja Breeze seam binding ribbon was used to tie a small bow at the sides.  Of course, one of the cats had to get involved and help, I wonder if it was the smell of the mint tea that did it!



Tea bag inside the holder

The inside, stamped with Whisper White ink

The pile of swaps



The swaps, boxed and ready to go

Blushing Bride tea cup

Pear Pizzazz tea cup

Island Indigo tea cup



Rusty providing assistance!

I hope you like these new products, I can't wait to share some more things with you.

Stamp a stack - Motorbike card

Morning!

What strange weather we're having at the moment, I was applying suncream on Sunday when I went on a 32 mile bike ride, and then last night as I left a team training event in Pudsey, it was snowing. Crazy! I remember my Mum telling me she's got photos of me as a child in the snow with my Easter eggs, maybe that will happen again this year!

Here's the third card from last weeks Stamp-a-stack class.  It's a great card for men, or ladies who like bikes, I don't want to be sexist!! The stamp is called Motorcycle, and is one of the A la Carte stamps, and is a bargain at only £7.95.  I love the sketched effect, and the clarity and quality of Stampin' Up!'s rubber stamps really shows with this image.  I learnt a new technique with this card, using a small circle punch in the top corners of the Whisper White card stock, to make a crescent for the mini brads.  I've only ever seen that done with a special punch, it's good to learn new ways of using products to their full capabilities.



Paper / Card Stock - Basic Black, Basic Gray, Whisper White

Stamp Sets - Motorcycle, Party This Way, Dot Dot Dot

Embellishments - Satin Ribbon, Mini Brads

Tools - Stamp-a -a jig, Paper Piercing Tool, Extra Large Oval Punch, Modern Label

Inks / Markers - Basic Gray

Cupcakes Set

These are a few cards that I made when I first got the Create a Cupcake stamp set and the Cupcake Builder Punch.  I used the colour combos of Soft Suede, Marina Mist, Pink Pirouette and Very Vanilla cards stock, based on the Beau Chateau papers. 

The first card used the Square Lattice embossing folder to emboss Soft Suede card stock. The Scallop Edge Border Punch was used on the Marina Mist card stock to create a border on the Very Vanilla card stock strip.

The second card has Marina Mist card stock embossed with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder, with the Beau Chateau paper. 

The third card has Soft Suede embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, and a piece of Pink Pirouette with the edge punched with the Scallop edge Border Punch to make it look like a cake stand.  The three cupcake tops have Dazzling Diamonds glitter to give them a bit of sparkle.



The fourth card has Pink Pirouette card stock embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, and I've used the Petite Pennants punch to cut out a cone stamped with the Pennant Parade stamp set.  The cupcake tops have been placed to look like ice creams. The Modern Label punch was used to cut out the Happy Birthday sentiment.



Don't forget, these products are only available until the end of April, as they are from the Spring Mini Catalogue.  These have been popular products, but there's no guarantee that they will be rolled over into the 2012-13 Catalogue, so don't wait too long if you've had your eye on it!

Paper / Card Stock - Very Vanilla, Pink Pirouette, Soft Suede, Marina Mist, Beau Chateau DSP

Stamp Sets - Pennant Parade, Create a Cupcake

Embellishments - 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter, Eyelets (retired)

Tools - Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Square Lattice embossing folder,

            Cupcake Punch, Petite Pennants punch, Scallop Edge Border Punch, Modern Label Punch,

            Crop-a-dile, Sponge Daubers

Inks / Markers - Soft Suede, Pink Pirouette, Marina Mist

Love cards

These are cards that I started when I first signed up to be a demonstrator, and I found them recently half finished.  I think I had been waiting for the ribbon to be delivered and put them away to finish later.  I've finished them now, and here they are.

I used the I {Heart} Hearts stamp set, with Pretty in Pink and Marina Mist papers from the Subtles paper stack.  The sentiment is from the Pennant Parade stamp set, and has been cut out with the Modern Label Punch, with ink applied around the edges with the sponge daubers.

Paper / Card Stock - Subtles Paper Stack, Whisper White

Stamp Sets - I {Heart} Hearts, Pennant Parade

Embellishments - 1/4" (6.4mm) Grosgrain Ribbon, 5/8" (1.6cm) Satin Ribbon

Tools - Modern Label Punch, Sponge Daubers

Inks / Markers - Pretty In Pink, Marina Mist

Fancy Folds Card 3 - Easel Owl Card

Here's the third in my fancy folds cards - an easel card.  It uses the colour combo of Perfect Plum, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla.  I used the Woodgrain background stamp with Crumb Cake Ink to create a wood effect on the Very Vanilla cardstock on the front of the card, as well as on the Crumb Cake base. An owl was punched using the Owl Builder punch, and I added some Rhinestone Pearls to look like a necklace.  I used the Word Window Punch and the Modern Label Punch with a sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes, and added a couple of the Stampin' Dimensionals to make a raised section where the top of the card rests to make it stand up.

This picture shows the card laid flat for placing in an envelope.

Card / Papers - Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Perfect Plum, Chocolate Chip, Subtles Paper Stack

Stamp Sets - Woodgrain background stamp, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Embellishments - Rhinestone Pearls

Tools - Owl Builder punch, Corner Punch, Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch

Inks / Markers - Perfect Plum, Crumb Cake

Sunflower cards for Mother’s Day

Inspired by a card I found on Pinterest, I've made two cards using the Flowers, Daisies #2 die to make sunflowers. They use the colour combo of More Mustard, Soft Suede and Crumb Cake.

The first card has one large sunflower. The middle was cut with the 1-3/4" Circle Punch, and embossed with the Square Lattice embossing folder. The Modern Label Punch and the Word Window punch were used for the Happy Mother's Day sentiment, from Teeny Tiny Wishes, and the Crop-a-dile was used to make the holes where the linen thread was placed though.

The second card has three of the medium sized flowers, and the centre was cut with the 3/4" Circle Punch. The Bird Punch was used to cut leaves from Certainly Celery card stock, and the Scallop Oval Punch and the Large Oval Punch were used to cut the Just For You sentiment, again from the Teeny Tiny wishes set.

I'll be making these again, perhaps next time I'll use a brighter yellow, So saffron or Daffodil Delight for a more summery feeling.

I'd better get up now, this is a scheduled post I wrote on Saturday, as I didn't want my Mum to see her card before she opened it! I'm at hers for the weekend, and we're off to see some lambs today at Wimpole Hall.  No doubt there will be photos, I'll have to think of a sheep related card I can make.

Paper / Cardstock - More Mustard, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Certainly Celery

Stamp Set - Teeny Tiny Wishes

Embellishments - Linen Thread

Tools - Big Shot, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Bird Punch, Flowers Daisies #2 die, Crop-a-dile

Inks / Markers - Soft Suede, Crumb Cake

Trendy Trees

Today I'd like to share with you a card made with one of the very first stamp sets I bought from Stampin' Up! Trendy Trees, I loved it straight away.  It's one of the Two-Step Stampin' sets, and works well with the Stamp-a-ma-jig.  If you've not heard of this before, I'll explain a bit more below.

I used a Crumb Cake base, with a Certainly Celery sheet from the Subtles Designer Series Paper Pattens Stack.  The trees were stamped in Old Olive and Certainly Celery, and the trunks in Soft Suede.  This is where the Stamp-a-ma-jig comes in handy.  It's a tool for lining up Two-Step Stampin' sets, in this example, the tree tops and the trunks are two separate stamps, and it can be difficult to get them lined up in the right place.  The Stamp-a-ma-Jig can also be used to line up sentiments, or make sure you're stamping in the right place.  It's definitely an essential tool to own.  If you'd like a demonstration of how it works, please contact me to book a workshop.

Papers / Card - Crumb Cake, Subtles DSP Patterns Stack, Very Vanilla

Stamp Sets - Trendy Trees,

Embellishments - Pear Pizzazz Seam Binding Ribbon

Tools - Scallop Edge Border punch, Modern Label punch

Inks / Markers - Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Soft Suede

Cupcake card three

Here's another card to share with you that uses the Cupcake set.  Are you starting to want these products yet??

This time, I've used the Cupcake builder punch to create clouds.  See, I told you it was versatile!  The basket of the hot air balloon was made using the punch too, and then embossed using the Square Lattice embossing folder to create a basket effect.

Card / Papers - Soft Suede, Bashful Blue, Real Red, Whisper White

Stamp Set - Create a Cupcake, Dot, Dot, Dot Background Stamp

Embellishments - Linen Thread

Tools - Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Square Lattice Embossing Folder,

            1-13/4" (4.4cm) Circle Punch, Large Oval Punch, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Cupcake builder punch,

Inks / Markers - Soft Suede, Real Red