Leap Day offer

Happy Leap Day! 

You will need to scroll down for today's project post.

Being the last day of February means...

... that there is only 1 month left of the Sale-A-Bration (SAB) event where you can get a free stamp set or paper pack for every spend of £45. 

Check out more details here and at the Stampin' Up! site.

I have some great Jaded Crafter exclusive offers which will allow you to make the most of the Stampin' Up! SAB event, or why not just browse through the current catalogues, which you can access directly from the links, and place your order now before the 9th March (next Friday) and take advantage of free postage too if you live close to me (GU16) and can collect your order when it arrives.

Using templates: dresses

Quite often I find I don't have quite the right punch or stamp set to create what I need and although the web is a great place to find something appropriate to cut out and/or colour I really like to create templates of my own.

So today I have a girly card to share with you which I created by drawing a template freehand and then using this to cut out the dresses as featured...

I've teamed up Certainly Celery from the subtles collection with silver. Using the dress template that I created I have cut out the shapes from DSP and mirror card (non Stampin' Up!) and then mounted these onto separate panels with dimensionals and then decorated these wtih scraps of the DSP and a designer brad.

Stampin' Up! materials:

Whisper White card stock.

Subtles DSP pack.

Teeny Tiny Wishes stampset - for the sentiment.

Word Window punch.

Dimensionals.

Another gift card holder and upcoming classes

Yesterday I shared with you an idea for a gift card holder.  So here is another design which is slightly more masculine.  The only difference other than the colours is that I have used the Curly Tag punch and Perfect Postage punch for the tag and one of the stamps from the Perfect Postage stamp set too.



Colours are Old Olive and Basic Black with Tempting Turquoise DSP from the Brights Collection.

My next class is for Mother's Day and will be on Friday 16th March.  We will make at least 2 different designs and they can be adapted for other occasions too so why not come along and give it a try.  Full details are on my Classes page but the morning session is almost full so book your place asap by contacting me.

Then on Sunday 25th March I have an Easter class (be special request) where you can make 10 cards...

Give a gift card holder

I think people are becoming more reliant on gift cards these days rather than buying presents.  It's more convenient... but could also be thought of as impersonal maybe.  So why not personalise the gift card holder and give them something handmade in their favourite colours or with an appropriate theme.  Here's a simple gift card holder idea...

I've used Blushing Bride and Wisteria Wonder for the colour theme and the sentiment is from the Petite Pairs stamp set.

• Cut a piece of card stock 4.5" x 6.75". Score at 1.75" and 4.5".
• Turn and score 0.25" from the edges.
• Cut off all of the 0.25" section that you scored except for the sections along the 1.75" side (these will be the flaps to make the pocket in which the gift card will sit).
• Fold the 0.25" sections inward, apply adhesive to the backs of them, and then fold the 1.75" section up to create the pocket.
• Apply a 1/2" x 4" decorative strip of designer paper to the edge of the pocket.
• Cut the corners of your flap.
• Add a 1.25" x 4" decorative strip of designer paper to outside of the flap.
• Add a strip of cardstock punched with a border punch or ribbon to the top/front of the flap. Then close the flap.
• Cut 2 pieces of magnet strip and stick together and then stick one side to the flap before closing the flap to stick the other side so that you can line both pieces up correctly.
• Decorate the front with a tag.  I have used a 1 3/4" scallop circle punch and 1 3/8" circle punch.
• Attach the tag and you're done!

I've almost done a 14 hour day today and still have a call with Oz shortly... see you back here tomorrow hopefully x

Cupcake tags

I had a great afternoon yesterday out and about... and today I have more walking planned, probably the last walk for a couple of weeks however as next Saturday I have my Crafty Get Together followed by other craft related plans all weekend and the following weekend I have a charity event and a demo to squeeze in.

So a quick idea for you today using the Cupcake builder punch and Curly Label punch combined with DSP from the Brights Collection, dimensionals and eyelets... these tags are great for attaching to birthday gifts.



Errr.... a caravan card

I have busy weekend ahead... in fact not sure how I will cram everything in, but looking forward to it!

So just a quick card commission for you today, featureing a caravan (ooh - makes me feel all summery!).

I've used the striped papers from the Sale-A-Bration DSP pack, Everyday Enchantment (love it!) and teamed this with Poppy Parade and Marina Mist card stock ... the image is printed off the web and layered up to create a 3D effect.

Sentiment = Create a Cupcake set punched with the Word Window punch.

I hope you are having a great weekend... and getting some crafting done :).

Quick bookmark

I have finally had my long overdue craft fix today!  After not having any time to make anything recently I had been looking forward to my day off and going along to the Make It craft show in Farnborough.

Despite being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator I still like to see what other products are available and of course occasionally use some of them. I have being going to the Make It show every year since I moved to Surrey in 2008 and still find it a great source of inspiration.

Then, this evening a couple of other demonstrators (Amy and my new downline, Kat) joined me to prepare our projects for next weeks Crafty Get Together... so we had a fun evening catching up and playing with ideas.  So much fun that I almost forgot to blog :(.  So here is a very quick project...

The bookmark is a strip of Whisper White and I have added a piece of the striped DSP and a strip of Basic Black card stock to the base.  I have then stamped the circle image from the Just Believe stamp set in Marina Mist onto Whisper White and cut this out and mounted on Basic Black.  The sentiment is from the same stamp set and has been inked in Basic Black.

Butterfly bottle tag

I just love to find a reason to make something other than a card.  Today I wanted to share with you one of the tags we made at my accessories class earlier this month.  I tend to use these as wine bottle tags but they will also work on large presents :).

The base is actually a large white parcel tag, which you can pick up at most stationery shops.  I have then cut a piece of DSP from the 'Brights' collection slightly smaller than the tag to create the background.

For the embellishment background I have punched a scalloped circle from mirror card (not Stampin' up!) and then embossed a 1 3/8 inch circle, punched from some Shimmery White cardstock, with the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder using my Big Shot machine.

The butterfly is the 'All a Flutter' stamp on page 15 of the main catalogue inked with Chocolate Chip onto a scrap of DSP (pink).  I love this stamp... and it's a complete bargain at only £5.95.

The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes and has been inked with Regal Rose onto Whisper White and punched out with the Word Window punch... you can use whatever wordingi s appropriate for the occassion here really.



3D hot air balloon

A few weeks back I posted details of a project using the Create a Cupcake stamp set for a card suitable for men and other occasions.

Today I have a slight twist on this idea which uses Designer Series Paper (DSP) instead. 



The base is Whisper White and i have adhered a piece of DSP from the 'Subtles' collection onto this for the background.

As with the previous card idea the basket is created from the cupcake 'base' stamp inked with Chocolate Chip onto Crumbcake card stock and the clouds are the top of the cupcake punched from Whisper White.  

The sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set inked in Chocolate Chip and punched with the Word Window punch.

In case you were wondering I'm not running out of inspiration... I'm just limited on crafting time of late whilst living between 2 houses and trying to fit in my life into the weekends!  I have Friday off to go along to the Make It show in Farnborough so will find more time then, hopefully.

Some of the other demonstrators local to me will be going along so do stop by and say hi at their stand if you are passing through.

From card to tag

I didn't find time to do any crafting at the weekend as I was making the most of the reasonably good weather and getting out in the fresh air, walking mainly.

In fact I had a fabulous weekend catching up with my parents, old friends, some new friends and even managed to get some time just for me... and all without any crafting (sadly!).

So today I have a really quick project to share with you as I am back battling with life in Cambridge and didn't have time to find any photo's of other projects I was going to share with you...

I got the idea for these flower tags from a card that the lovely Amy made last month.

They are really quick to make:

- Punch 4 scalloped circles DSP, I've used the Brights Collection, and then fold each of these into quarters and then arrange into a flower shape onto another scalloped circle of cardstock (I used Crumbcake, although you can't see this in the photo).

- Glue a designee brad in the centre.  Note that the easiest way to do this is bend the prongs of the brad up and under the top and then add glue and stick to the centre of the flower. 

- Punch a hole with your Crop-A-Dile through the cardstock and one of the 'petals' and feed some linen thread through the hole.

Loads of flowers

I cannot throw anything away... so am always looking for ways to use up scraps.

The Boho Blossoms punch is great for this and creates embellishments which can be put to good use on lots of card designs.  I often just punch out a load of flowers and put them in a pot for a rainy day. 

A little trick to make them look 3D is to place them in the palm of your hand and poke them in the centre with a pair of tweezers or scissors and then usually I add a basic rhinestone or pearl in the centre.  To create leaves punch one of the flowers out and cut the petals out individually and glue randomly to the back of the flower heads.

For this card I have used these flowers around the base of a Whisper White circle mounted on Pink Pirouette cardstock.  The easle style of card is a great way to make a simple card look more extravagant and it's literally a case of folding the front half of a card base into half and then placing the main image or panel on the folded piece and propping it up with a raised panel or similar.

60 year old beer monster

I had a great day yesterday out in the fresh air, meeting new people and generally relaxing from another hard working week :)!

And then last night I went along to my very old (as in time) friend, Graham's birthday... I haven't seen him for a few years actually but used to hang out at the pub with him and a few others in my more youthful days when I lived in Kent...

Anyway, 60th birthday celebrations meant another opportunity for a handmade card - so I made good use of the Make a Monster set that I have been playing with of late.  I have to confess that the beer mug is from a retired stamp set, but it was too suitable to not use it.



The card base is Crumbcake and I have coupled Pacific Point with Old Olive and then incorporated some of the papers from the SAB Elementary Elegance DSP pack.

Other materials:
Stripes embossing folder - Background/base panel.
Curly label punch - Elementary Elegance DSP punched twice and then Whisper White punched and layered for the numbers.
Happiest Birthday Wishes stamp set - Sentiment.
Timeless Type Junior Alphabet - Numbering.

Emboss resist

I'm back in Kent this weekend catching up with some very old friends, hopefully doing some walking and getting  fed and watered :).  So no crafting for a change - well, maybe!

Fiona, a fellow demonstrator inspired me a few weeks ago to give the emboss resist technique a go.  I thought I would start with something small so made a gift tag rather than a card:

The tag itself is a plain white parcel tag which you can pick up in packs in the post office or stationers.  I have inked up the bird image from the Clearly for You stamp set with Versamark and then embossed this with Whisper White embossing powder (clear powder will also work as it will retain the colour of the base you are using).  The sentiment was also created in the same way.

I then used a sponge dauber with Rich Razzleberry ink and covered the rest of the tag (remembering to remove the string and replace after it dried).  Finished off with a flower punched from DSP scraps using the Boho Blossoms punch and the leaves from the Bird Builder punch and a basic rhinestone in the centre.

I liked this so much I created a whole batch ready to adorn some gifts...

Do check out Fiona's blog as she has some great ideas using the emboss resist technique too.

A super hero and how to get FREE DSP

Sometimes I wish I was a Super Hero... or at least able to be in 2 places at once!

Anyway, here's a quick commission featuring the one and only Spiderman, probably one of my fav super hero's...

If you don't have a stamp set for a particular card theme than just search for colouring pictures on the web and there is usually everything you could possibly want at your finger tips.  I've coloured and layered up 3 of these images to create a 3D effect/decoupage card and matted this on Real Red and Marina Mist card stock before mounting over a strip of DSP from the 'birghts' paper pack.

The Designer Series Papers (DSP's) are almost endless - I actually still have a large proportion of the one I purchased when I signed up as a demonstrator back in August and I've used lots for demo's and plenty of cards.  There are 2 sheets of each of 2 double sided (4 different patterns) pieces in each pack in each of the different colour collections - that's 40 sheets!  The packs are ideal for splitting with a friend as you still getting a piece of everything.  RRP £19.50.

Why not check out the other DSP's on pages 96-101 of the main catalogue, which come in smaller packs.  Or better still buy £45 of products and get the Sale-A-Bration DSP pack - Everyday Enchantment FREE.  I think has a very Cath Kidston feel... it's stunning!

Contact me to find out more or place your order.

Grey is not my colour, but....

...the Fresh Vintage stamp set available FREE during Sale-A-Bration is fabulous and works so well with a grey card base - check out the card below that we made with this set at the last Blue Angels training event.

If you want to attend a similar event and share ideas with other crafters using current Stampin' Up! products, then why not come along to my next event.  I'm having a crafty get together at my home (GU16) on Saturday 3rd March from 10am to 3pm - it's FREE and full details can be found here.

I need to confirm numbers by the end of this week so just email me if you want to come along and I'll send you my address.

So, the base card for this sample is a piece of Basic Grey card stock that has three medallions stamped on it in Basic Grey ink. The piece of Whisper White card stock has been stamped with Pear Pizzazz and stuck onto a piece of Pear Pizzazz card stock, before adding it to the Basic Grey base leaving a little of the medallion poking out.

The Pink Pirouette flower was made by punching some card stock with the Fancy Flower punch. I only punched one but then scrunched up the flower. If you do this a few times the paper will start to fray at the edges. You are then able to pull the flower apart into two layers and the inside looks like suede. This is a great way to give added texture to a card. The flower was finished off with an Antique Brad.

The message at the bottom comes from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set and the tag was finished off with a couple of the mini pearls. This is a simple card that could be used for a number of different occassions and the sentiments in the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set (of which there are 24) is a great buy as they cover so many different events.

Remember if you spend £45 between now and 31 March you can get your choice of Sale-A-Bration stamp sets or paper pack FREE.  Choose from any of the following with every £45 worth of orders:

Fresh Vintage
Sprinkled Expressions
Outlined Occasions
Elementary Elegance
Everyday Enchantment DSP pack

Baby Jamie's Christening

Sorry for the late post today - it's just taken me over 3 hours to get home and with no internet access at my abode in Cambridge yet, and working longs hours during the day, I'm struggling to keep the memento going.

Anyway, enough of the excuses (and moaning!)...

I went along to a Christening/Baptism on Sunday for my good friend Vicki's son 'baby Jamie'.  If you recall I created all the invites a while back (see here).

Here's the card I made ...

I've created the base from Whisper White using the Scallop Edge Border and a bit of freehand magic on the corners ;)... then I have added a couple of 1cm strips of Bashful Blue which I've run through the Square Lattice embossing folder using my Big Shot machine.

The main panel is brushed silver card stock cut with the Scalloped Circle die and then embossed with the Elegant Bouquet folder (both using the Big Shot machine again) and mounted with dimensional sticky pads.  The Bird Builder punch created a quick embellishment in Bashful Blue which I have layered up, again with dimensionals.

Finally the sentiment is just printed on Whisper White using my pc and then punched out with the Scallop Circle punch and I've added some Basic Pearls to the flower centres of the background.

Missing you on Valentines Day... and every day

Well Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

Valentines comes a close second to Christmas on my occasions calendar as sadly it’s that time of year when those who are not here are on my mind slightly more than normal L.  So today I have my very last Valentines card for 2012 to share with you ...



It's made using one of the stamps from the Ain’t Love Grand stamp set (hostess pounds only), I have teamed Pink Piroutte with Chocolate Chip... so it would work for a male or a female really.

I have punched out 3 hearts using the bird punch and then run these and the pink central panel through the Square Lattice embossing folder and then adhered these to the Chocolate Chip base panel.

The image has been inked on Whisper White card stock and coloured with blender pens using markers and then mounted onto a piece of DSP from the ‘Brights’ paper pack and then mounted on a further piece of Chocolate Chip card stock.

The sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set and punched with the Word Window punch. 

The great thing about this card is that the image can be inked so that the banner is blank and you can either insert a sentiment (quite a few of the Teeny Tiny Wishes fit) or hand write your own.



Valentines monsters

I absolutely love the make a monster stamp set and have been toying with allsorts of ideas since I borrowed it... but this is my favourite, which I have CASE'd from 'justcrazy' on splitcoaststampers.com.

The card is also in support of my lovely demo friend Amy, as it's her stamp set that I borrowed and her Design Team (I didn't forget - I was saving this one up :)!) over at the Crafty Boots Challenge - 'Valentines' where I have entered this card.

I've used 2 different shades of 'pink' DSP from the brights and subtles ranges on the heart and for the base of the easle card.  Everything else is:

Base - Whisper White cardstock.

Panel - Real Red with Whisper White piece for images.

Heart and sentiment - cut freehand from subtles DSP and Whisper White card and mounted onto Real Red card.

Flowers - Real Red punched with Boho Blossoms punched and a basic rhinestone in the centre.

Tomorrow will be Valentines Day and the last of my romantic cards... so get ready for a whole lot of other ideas in the coming week. 

If you have a stamp set and want some inspiration for it, why not drop me an email and I'll make something using it and post it here as I just love trying out new ideas :).

Happy Birthday Maureen...

...I hope you have a great day!

I didn't get this card in the post in time so what better way to ensure she 'gets' it... although it will be waiting on the doormat when she gets home tomorrow. 

The card above has been made from the Everyday Enchantment Sale-A-Bration papers and using one of the hostess stamp sets, so you just need to host your own workshop during the Sale-A-Bration event (which is running until 31st March 2012) to be in with a chance of getting your hands on all the products you need to make this beautiful card!

I love these papers so much, they are featuring on lots of my cards at the moment and that is a real change for me as I don't normally like to use a lot of the flowery papers or images.

I've teamed up the papers with Poppy Parade and Lucky Limeade cardstock which feature in the designs.  The image is from the Happiest Birthday Wishes stamp set (hostess pounds only) inked with Poppy Parade and stamped onto Very Vanilla and then punched out with the Curly Tag punch, along with 2 pieces of Lucky Limeade and then mounted with dimensional sticky pads.

Don't worry, my Valentines week posts will continue tomorrow with a very special card that I have been saving up especially to enter the Crafty Boots Challenge.

Loving colours

Yay it's the weekend... but I don't have much time to blog so have another scheduled post for you today!

This valentines card uses one of the Sale-A-Bration stamp sets (Sprinkled Expressions) which you can get for free with an order of £45... but only until the 31st March!

Materials:

Base - Melon Mambo card;

DSP - Brights DSP, Old Olive piece;

Panel - Elegant Eggplant card;

Ink - Versamark (clear) ink embossed with White embossing powder using a heat gun.

I love this colour combo and the white embossing powder creates such a lovely effect - my favourite is the clear powder but I'm really getting into the white too.

Valentines gift boxes

Only 4 days left until Valentines.  So don't forget to make something to put those little gifts in for Valentines too...

The trusty pillow box die comes to the rescue all the time for gift boxes.  And created in a nano second!

Here I have used Very Vanilla card teamed this with Real Red DSP and ink.

Stamp sets - Every Little Bit and Tagtastic (hostess only);

Sentiments - Teeny Tiny Wishes, Just Believe;

DSP - Brights;

Ink - Real Red and a blender pen to colour/shade.

Don't forget that I am having a crafty day on 3rd March 10am-3pm and everyone is welcome - see more details here.

Valentines balloon for him or her

Just back from Cambridge... and realised my scheduled post didn't work this morning.  So...

Today's Valentines offering would work for a male or a female and is a take on one I posted earlier this week (see here).  It uses the Aint Love Grand stamp set which is available with hostess pounds if you hold a workshop - check out details on my Home Parties page.

I've stamped the image onto DSP and cut out the sections of the balloon and then stuck them onto the image stamped on the Whisper White panel then the rest of the image has been coloured with markers using blender pens.

Materials:

Designer Stack Paper (DSP) - Brights - 'Real Red' and 'Regal Rose' striped and dotty;

Scalloped border punch;

Square Lattice embossing folder - for the white strip across the middle which has been punched with the border punch;

Sentiment - Teeny Tiny Wishes;

Hearts - using the heart die from the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet set and also run through the square lattice embossing folder.

And another challenge entry to the Dream Valley Challenge - 'Valentine'

Animal lover

Day 2 of my Valentines offerings.  And this card is almost identical to one I made recently (see here) for a birthday... only I have changed the colour theme to Real Red instead and the images are all from the Every Little Bit stamp set.

Materials:

Cardstock - Real Red and Very Vanilla.

DSP - Real Red and Regal Rose from the brights paper pack. Cheerful Treat (hostess only) DSP - Melon Mambo spotty paper punched with the scalloped circle punch and cut into/layered up.

Punches - Scalloped circle, 1 3/8 circle, eyelet border, curly label punch, word window punch.

Sentiments - Tagtastic for the border and For My Family inked in Real Red. Note the 'happy valentines day' sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.

Other - Chocolate Chip marker, blender pen, basic pearls.

I made a little pillow box to match.

As there are so many Valentines challenges around at the moment I thought I would enter this card into the following:

Stamps R Us - 'Valentine/Love'

One Stitch at a Time - 'With Love'

Valentines countdown

Ooh I've had an eventful last couple of days.  After getting stranded in the snow on Sunday night and having to be rescued by the AA (and the police!) I finally got to Cambridge in the early hours and then yesterday I had allsorts of trouble getting the keys and access to my new house!

Finally I have managed to move in and get some bedding and a few bits to make it feel a bit more like home... however with no internet and almost no phone signal there I am now frantically trying to blog before I get stuck into today's workload... it's going to be a very long week!

So, as promised here is the first Valentines card to share with you.  I will be posting Valentines ideas daily until the 14th so if you don't like this time of year, close your eyes (maybe?)?



The card base is Basic Black and I have teamed this with Real Red and Whisper White ... I was asked to make this card, featuring a Mole for someone's other half - something to do with a nickname, but I didn't ask anymore :).

Materials:

Designer Stack Paper (DSP) - Brights - 'Real Red' striped;

Scalloped border punch;

Square Lattice embossing folder - for the white strip across the middle which has been punched with the border punch;

Perfect Postage punch - I've cut into the punched shape to create a smaller sentiment panel and stuck this on with dimensional sticky pads;

Sentiments - Teeny Tiny Wishes and Aint Love Grand (hostess only);

Hearts - using the heart die from the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet set and also run through the square lattice embossing folder.

I hope Mole likes it ...

Thanks

Tomorrow I have the first of my Valentines week cards to share with you... so, sorry in advance to those who are not particularly into the celebrations associated with February the 14th.  I promise to be back straight after with more Sale-A-Bration samples and of course the usually flurry of other projects that I have come up with.

So, before that, this is my last non Valentines post.  It was made by my lovely friend and fellow demonstrator - Amy, to thank me for helping out at her recent workshop. 

Amy has used 3 of the stamps from the Charming stamp set which you will find in the current Spring Mini catalogue.  The colour scheme is Cajun Craze (base) from the Regals collection and Soft Suede from the Neutrals collection.  This is such a great colour combo...

Using Stampin' Write marker pens Amy has created the flower image in 2 colours (Cajun Craze and Wild Wasabi) after inking the background image in Crumbcake, all on Whisper White card stock.  Using the patterned circular stamp she has created a background on the Soft Suede card stock and then finish off the sentiment (punched with the Word Window punch, NB the sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set) with a couple of basic pearls.

I will definitely be CASEing this card :0).

My favourite SAB set

Back off to Cambridge, although I probably didn't plan this trip too well and should have left earlier to avoid the icy roads.

I've got my car stashed full of the usual crafting caboodle so will be making the most of it if I get snowed in whilst there - fingers crossed :)!

Today I have the last of the SAB stamp sets to share with you, there will be more samples to come using this set over the coming weeks. 

This is the 4th limited edition FREEBIE set that you can get when you spend £45 until 31st March.  The other sets are Outlined Occasions, Sprinkled Expressions and Elementary Elegance. 

So here is the Fresh Vintage set:

This is definitely my favourite for the 4 sets. It was when I first saw them and it has remained so after I had made some samples... it is just beautiful and co-ordinates with the Everyday Enchantment. papers brilliantly!

This card uses almost ALL the stamps in the set, so it's quite advanced!

The base is Tangerine Tango with the border stamp inked in the same colour,

 
Then on a rectangle of Whisper White stamp the flower image several times, using Red Riding Hood and Pear Pizzazz marker pens.

Punch out two strips of Pear Pizzazz using the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch and layer the Whisper White over these.

Run a piece Red Riding Hood card through the Big Shot using the Beautiful Butterlies Die the stamp it randomly with the flower stamp using Versamark ink and then Clear Embossing powder.

The central image is stamped onto Whisper White card using Tangerine Tango ink and then also in Pear Pizzazz punching out the central circle using the '1/2" circle punch. These were then raised on the centre of the card using a dimensional sticky pad to give them a 3D effect.

Birdy-Bration

OMG what a day...

This morning I had my Sale-A-Bration coffee morning and then this afternoon my accessories class, then this evening I had visitors who also gave the make and take from this morning a go... so it's been a day of crafting and I haven't actually made anything myself yet.

I'm in for a night of crafting now as it's all out all over the dining room table - so saves me clearing up!

Thank you so much to all of those who made it along over the course of the day and a special thanks to Amy who not only turned up to help, but also brought samples along to share.

So, without further ado here is the make and take project:

The base is Very Vanilla (an A5 piece folded in half to create an A6 card) and for the background piece I have cut a 14.5x10cm piece of Real Red cardstock and run this through the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder (using the Big Shot). 

For the background panel I have used the top note die to cut a piece of Very Vanilla and Real Red and then run the red piece through the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder so that the raised image falls on the top left hand corner.  I have then lined up a piece of Very Vanilla (also embossed with the Elegant Bouquet folder) which the background and then punched the moon using a 1 3/8 circle punch.  The effect doesn't show up too well in the photo but here's a closer look which shows it slightly better:

After sticking the moon down I've cut round the perforated edge of the top note shape of the red card and then adhered this to the Very Vanilla piece.

The owls were punched with the Owl punch from Basic Black cardstock and then the leaves are from the Bird punch... both these are my favourite punches as they can create so many different things, like the pig from the owl that I shared with you previously - just check out the relevant links for these punches on the right hand side of this blog for more of these ideas.

And finally the sentiment ... using the stamp set that has something for any occasion, Teeny Tiny Wishes, punched with the Word Window punch.

The card is ideal for Valentines day which is what a few attendees adapted them for by changing the sentiment... there was also a wedding card included amongst the batch made over the course of the morning.

However I have been dying to share this adaptation with you all day, but I had to wait until everyone had gone. 

My good friend Elaine finally made it along for the first time today and although she was a little reluctant to give it a go, she actually went away having really enjoyed it.  And best of all she added a twist of her very own ... without any hesitation she dived in to use the bird punch instead of the owls. 

You really wouldn't believe that this is the first card she has ever made...!

Thank you scraps

Don't forget it's my Sale-A-Bration coffee morning tomorrow 10-12, so if you want to come along just let me know.

Yesterday I shared with you a great way to use up scraps of card and create ribbons.  Today I've got lots more of ideas to use up leftovers :0). 

I do really like the brights colour collection and my favourite combo has to be Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive, the first 2 Stampin' Up! ink pads I ever owned... and of course I have lots of scraps in these colours as I use them all the time. 

I've stuck with one stamp set to create these little notecards which are made from a base measuring 3.5 x 7cm - Easy Events.  A nice quick stampset where you can mix and match the sentiments with the images or just stamp the stamp as is.

There are a variety of other tools used here: Eyelet Border punch, top note die (using the Big Shot machine) and blender pens.

Event reminder - Sat 4th Feb

Sale-A-Bration coffee morning this Saturday 10am to 12 noon.  At my home (GU16).  Just let me know if you intend to come along so I can ensure there are enough bits and pieces for the make and take project.

Please scroll down for daily posts...

Fake it ribbon

Here we go... Sale-A-Bration samples now located as I am back at home :).

So far I have share with you 2 for the stamp sets that you can get free with and order of £45, Outlined Occasions and Sprinkled Expressions, and of course those fabulous papers Everyday Enchantment.  So today a stamp from one of the other 2 remaining sets - Elementary Elegance:

So here is a sample:

It uses the new In Colours Calypso Coral (base), Island Indigo (fake ribbon), Pool Party (frame) and Lucky Limeade (sentiment).

Note that the frame co-ordinates with the Curly Label punch.

To make the paper ribbon you simply take a strip of card, fold it under and then back out and cut a 'v' in each end. Here the label panel has been stuck over the top of the ribbon and raised up with dimensionals which works really well.

So, if you don't have the right colour ribbon then you can have any colour you like using this technique and it's great way to use up all those scraps that you never throw away!

Charming animals

Morning all!

I was hoping to share with you another of the Sale-A-Bration samples that we made at team training... however I have forgotten to bring the photo's with me so you will have to check back tomorrow when will be home.

So instead here is a cute card that couples the dog and cat stamps from the every little bit stamp set with one of the stamps from the charming stamp set which features in the current Spring mini catalogue.

Materials:

Cardstock - Rich Razzleberry and Very Vanilla.

DSP - Rich Razzleberry and Regal Rose from the brights paper pack.

Punches - Scalloped circle, 1 3/8 circle, eyelet border, word window and curly label punch.

Other - Chocolate Chip marker, blender pen, basic rhinestones.

Note that I free handed the 'daughter' sentiment as my for my family stamp set is out on loan, but actually I think it works quite well - you just have to be brave enough to go for it when handwriting.