Floral District patchwork card

This should only be half a blog post really! This was one of the cards that Kylie had in mind to make for the inspiration station, and allocated to me to make. I got half of it done, and she finished it off. I'm sure she won't mind me sharing it too.

I used the square punch to cut out a piece from every design of the Floral District papers. I tried to arrange them so the same colours or patterns were not next to each other. These were stuck onto Whisper White card stock, in a grid, and then carefully lined up on the Big Shot using the Top Note die. I also ran a piece of Baja Breeze through the Swiss Dots embossing folder, which Kylie then later edged with a stitched effect in White pen. She tied a piece of Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon around the Top Note shape, and tied a bow. Rich Razzleberry card stock was punched with the Curly Label punch, and the sentiment is from For My Family, which was punched out with the Large Scallop punch.

Shoe Box Swap - Goolish Googlies

This is the project that my Stampin' Up! mummy Julie Kettlewell made for the shoe box swap event a week or so back. The items are from the Goolish Goolies bundle, from the newly released Autumn/Winter Catalogue. This is a great value set, one of the new bundles, consisting of the Goolish Goolies Designer Kit, the Googlies (self adhesive-backed eyes) and the Googly Ghouls stamp set. You can save 15% by buying the bundle at just £18.50 for the wood set and £15.95 for the clear. Basic black card stock was scored with the Simply Scored board, and then the front cut with the Edgelit dies. Versamark ink was used to stamp the Boooo image, which was then covered with clear embossing powder, which was then heated with the heat tool. The orange and black paper is from Howlstooth & Scaringbone DSP, which then had Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon tied around. A tag was used from the Goolies kit, which had two bats stamped and cut out placed on it, with the googly eyes. To finish it off, liquorice and mints were placed in a Cellophane bag, with ruffled ribbon tied at the top. Perfect for your halloween parties!

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.

 

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!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

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?

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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 cards - Retired products

Hello,

I was going to stretch this post out into three posts, but changed my mind, as I have so many things to post at the moment, so I'll do three cards in this one.  The last Stamp-a-stack class I attended was just before the end of the Spring Mini Catalogue, so three of the cards featured products that were due to retire shortly.  They are no longer available, but luckily we've now got the Summer Mini Catalogue to get excited about.

The first card features the papers Berry Blossoms.  These were nice bold papers, and I like the layout and design of this card.  Various strips of paper were cut into strips, and cut into the flag shapes.  The sentiment is from Curly Cute, and the ribbon is the Lucky Limeade Ruffled Ribbon. Flowers were stamped onto the Wisteria Wonder card stock from the Fruit & Flowers stamp set, also from the Spring Mini Catalogue. 

I'll be using this layout again, it could be done with any of Stampin' Up!'s Designer Paper Series.

Papers / Card Stock - Wisteria Wonder, Calypso Coral, Whisper White, Berry Blossoms

Stamp Sets - Curly Cute

Embellishments - Lucky Limeade Ruffled Ribbon

Tools - Paper Cutter

Inks / Markers - Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder

The second card uses papers from Spice Cake, with the colour combo of Crumb Cake, More Mustard and Pool Party.  The Postage Stamp punch was used to cut out the squares of papers, and the new Simpy Scored tool was used to made the Flower which is made from two pieces cut with the Large Scallop Circle Punch. The sentiment is from Happiest Birthday Wishes, one of the hostess sets.

Papers / Card Stock - Crumb Cake, Pool Party, Spice Cake Designer Series Paper

Stamp Set - Happiest Birthday Wishes (Hostess set)

Embellishments - Scallop Dots Ribbon, Antique Brad

Tools - Simply Scored, Large Scallop Circle Punch

Inks / Markers - Early Espresso

The third card features the stamp set Borderlines.  I must admit to having this set, and not using it very much! I must use it to make a few cards to sell, to get value from it.  Soft Suede and Pool Party inks were used, and the Owl punch was made to use the owl, with Spice Cake papers being used for his chest.  The sentiment is from Happiest Birthday Wishes.  Linen thread was tied around the end of the card for an extra feature.

Papers / Card Stock - Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Pool Party, Spice Cake

Stamp Sets - Borderlines, Happiest Birthday Wishes

Embellishments - Linen Thread

Tools - Stamp-a-ma-jig, Owl Punch

Inks / Markers - Soft Suede, Pool Party



Party This Way balloon card

Morning,

Todays post is just a quick one.  I'm trying to catch up with the backlog of posts from the last few weeks.  This is a card that I used for the card class I held in Bradford a few weeks ago,and was based on a layout of one of the cards I made at a Stamp-a-stack class.  The colour combo is Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder and Lucky Limeade, and the balloons are from the Party This Way stamp set.  Linen Thread was used for the strings of the balloons.  A cute and easy design and layout, I'll be using this one again soon.

 



Cupcakes card

Here's another card from my crafty weekend at Kylie's. It's been CASEd from Julie Kettlewell, I saw this card at the last Stamp-a-stack class I attended and thought it was amazing.

The colour combination is Pink Pirouette and Pool Party, with a touch of Crumb Cake and Rose Red. To make the awning, I used the Word Window Punch. The stamp set is the Create A Cupcake set, and the Cupcake builder punch was used to cut out the pieces. I used the Square Lattice embossing folder to add some detail to the bottom of the card, and added a Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon bow and a sentiment punched with the Large Oval Punch and the Scallop Oval Punch.

It was a really fun card to make, and I love the colours.  I said it before, don't wait to get this set if you're lusting after it, it's not around for much longer.

Papers / Card stock - Pink Pirouette, Pool Party, Whisper White

Stamp Set - Create a Cupcake

Embellishments - Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon

Tools - Cupcake Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Word Window Punch

Inks / Markers - Rose Red, Crumb Cake, Pool Party, Pink Pirouette

Final Stamp-a-stack card

Phew! I've got to the end of the six cards that I made at the Stamp-a-stack card class. This one uses the Sale-a-bration papers Everyday Enchantment, with the colour combo of Poppy Parade and Pool Party. The Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border was used for the border around the sentiment, and the flower cut from the Blossoms Party die from the Berry Blossoms product suite in the Spring Mini Catalogue. It was finished off with a Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon, and a Red Rhinestone Brad. The sentiment is from the Sincere Salutations stamp set.

Papers / Card - Everyday Enchantment, Pool Party, Poppy Parade, Whisper White

Stamp Set - Sincere Salutations

Embellishments - Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon, Rhinestone Brad

Tools - Big Shot, Blossoms Party die, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Punch, Paper Piercing Tool, Mat Pack

Ink / Markers - Poppy Parade

I hope you've enjoyed these six cards from the Stamp-a-stack class.  If you'd like to learn how to make any of them, please contact me to book your workshop or class.

Celebrate Sale-a-bration

Afternoon all,

I hope you are all well this lovely sunny spring afternoon.  I've just found the first daffodil in my garden, so that's pleased me.  I've got a Stampin' Up! workshop this evening, I'm really looking forward to it.  Hopefully, everything is packed ready to go, and so far, I've not forgotten anything.  I've got a few crafty things I've been working on that I'll be putting out on display this evening, I can't wait to show you on here what they are. 

 

On Tuesday, I attended a team training event run by Julie Kettlewell and other members of her team.  There were a few new faces around the table, so it was nice to meet them, as well as hear stories of how well other demonstrators are doing.  It's great to know how they run their workshops and classes, and knowing that they love Stampin' Up! as much as I do is a relief that I'm not the only one obsessed!

As well as the business training side of the get together, we also get hands on and do a bit of crafting.  As we've still got a month of Sale-a-bration left, we used the Outlined Occasions stamp set.  Julie loves the bunting cards as much as I do, so we made another bunting themed card.  We focused on the 2011-2013 In Colours, and just used the markers for these two cards.

 

We made a fancier version of the card, using the Everyday Enchantment papers, and added extra bling with the Rhinestone Jewels and ribbon.

I love these cards.  It's amazing the difference a few extra products can make to a card, to add that extra wow factor.  If you fancy having a go at making these cards, you can get your hands on all the products you need for just £46.25 for the first card.  That includes a pack of the In Colour card, the In Colour markers, a pack of Whisper White card stock, The Itty Bitty punches, a Basic Gray ink pad, and you'd get the Outlined Occasions stamp set for free.  For the second card, for another £45.20, you'd receive the Word Window punch, the Large Oval Punch, a pack of the ruffled ribbon, a pack of Rhinestone jewels and the linen thread, and you'd also get the Everyday Enchantment papers for free.  If you are interested in making these cards, please let me know.  If you've already got some of the items, you can always swap and change to another product.

We also made a gift bag at the training session.  It's a style I've never seen before, and I was impressed at how simple it was to make.

Don't forget, these papers and stamps are only available until the end of March, so get in touch if you'd like to get your hands on them.