Penguin greetings

As promised yesterday, here is the card I made for my friend Nathan.  I've gone a bit out of my normal comfort zone and used Night of Navy from the Regals collection, for the colour theme.

The cute little penguin is from the Zoo Review stamp set in the main catalogue, inked in Basic Black, with a party hat added (cut from a scrap of DSP) and topped with a brad.  I've added some brads to the side of the card to match and add a more masculine feel...

This card could be used for any occasion with a change to the sentiment of course!

Other materials:

Sentiment - Wacky Wishes (hostess only);

Embossing folder - Perfect Polka Dots.

Birthday bike

There are some lovely hostess stamp sets in the main catalogue, and I just love the Summer Afternoon set:

I've used the lovely bicycle image for a male birthday card, by teaming it up with some of the papers from the   Festival of Prints DSP pack in the Autumn/Winter catalogue...

The base is Basic Grey and I've used Island Indigo to matt the image to.  A few brads and it's good to go.

Birthday beers and new ink pads

Today's card includes, ribbon and DSP that is retiring at the end of the month, plus the lovely Happiest Birthday Wishes sentiment stamp set.

 



Just a couple of weeks left to get your hands on the retiring products, whilst stocks last.  Check out the latest up to date list here.

 

The card based in More Mustard from the Regals collection, with Early Espresso grosgrain ribbon around the centre, and a Curly Label punch border punched from some scraps of Well Worn DSP.  I've created a little collection of beer mugs using the 'coffee mug' stamp from the Every Little Bit stamp set, by masking each image to make them look like they are behind the front image.  and then finally the sentiment, inked in Chocolate Chip ink.

 

You may have already seen that the ink pads are all retiring.  This is due to being reconfigured - what does that mean exactly?

 

Well, With the introduction of the 2012-2013 annual catalogue, Stampin' Up! have made a very big change to their Stampin’ Pads by ...

 

introducing firm foam pads!

• Create wonderfully solid images. The Firm Foam releases more ink onto your rubber stamp than the felt pads. When using the Firm Foam pad, your stamp will get an even, solid covering of ink that you may not have been able to achieve with the felt pads. Please note: if you are using the ink pad frequently you may need to re-ink your Firm Foam pad more often. We recommend that you purchase a refill at the time of your ink pad purchase.
•  Have a crisply printed, glossy label on the top of the pad that is easier to read and that will not fade or chip off!
•  Come with colour name labels in all four languages (English, Spanish, French, and German)—just choose your language, peel it off the back, and add it to the side of the pad for easy identification!
•  Use the same patented flip-top case design that stores the inking surface upside down, so the pad surface stays moist!
•  Are available in all colours, including our exclusive In Colors!

Please note: Five ink colours have undergone formula changes to improve functionality and colour stability with the new firm foam pads. These colours are

• Basic Black
• Basic Gray
• Marina Mist
• Perfect Plum
• Tempting Turquoise

 All five colours of the reformulated inks have been fully tested and approved. While using the new ink formula in the old Stampin’ Pads is fine, we do not recommend using the old ink formula in these five colours in the new firm foam pads.

 

 

Another Tiggerbird?

I think I might have stumbled across someone more tigger mad than me!

Is that possible?  Well, these days I live in a house that doesn't have hundreds of tigger beanies stacked up on shelves in my living room, and people don't come round and take photo's of them in disbelief!  However, the poor tiggers in Tigger's car that I spotted at the weekend may get a little bit hot inside, not to mention the 'bleaching' that just isn't good for his skin - eek!

Ok, enough insanity... back to today's project!

I was going to share with you the card that I made at the craft show in Bracknell that I went along to on Sunday... however I can't actually find it to photograph, so instead I will have to share with you the other 2 cards that I could have made at the Stampin' Up! make and take stand... apologies that I can't get them to lie landscape!

Both these cards use Night of Navy, Old Olive and Very Vanilla.  I always forget about Night of Navy as it's in the Regals Collection which I always seem to neglect... but I just love this colour combination and of course the stamp set!

The Open Sea stamp set was released in the Summer mini catalogue and I really hope it is hear to stay as it's a set that is very close to my heart, with a travelling theme, and great for mens cards too!

The first card uses the background stamp with Crumbcake ink to create a panel on Very Vanilla which has then been over stamped with the ship and world images in Night of Navy and Crumbcake retrospectively.  I am never brave enough to come up with my own ideas for overstamping, but this works so well I will definitely be creating more cards like this.

The second card uses the archor image across an Old Olive piece of card stock and then a Very Vanilla Scallop Trim border has been added.

Both cards use the sentiment from the Curly Cute stamp set which has words for a variety of occasions... you will notice some linen thread on the first card and a Antique Brad too.

Owl punch for baby shower

This morning I'm over at the craft show in Bracknell with my crafty friend Amy.  Amy had a baby shower organised for her by her sister yesterday and here is the card I made for her...

It uses the Owl punch which is currently a fabourite of both Amy and myself as there are just soooo many things you can do with it.  I'm not entirely sure this came out as well as it could have done as I was struggling to find the right sort of punches and cut all the little bits up to create the baby grow and perhaps should have just stuck to 2 colours or included more So Saffron somewhere...

Anyway, you can hopefully see what I was trying to do with the brads, although the top one makes the collar look like a bowtie!

I've had a terrible week and was complete exhausted when making it, in fact almost didn't find any time to make it at all - I'm sure Amy will appreciate it.

Materials:

Card stock - Bashful Blue, Whisper White, So Saffron;

Embossing folders - Designer frames, Perfect Polka Dots;

Punches - Owl punch (body to create the baby grow), Scallop Circle punch (to create the leg holes and punch out the corners of the Whisper White and Bashful Blue embossed panels, Word Window (for sentiment);

Accessories - Designer Brads, Designer Button;

Ink - So Saffron;

Sentiment - Teeny Tiny Wishes.

I thought I'd create some little tags for the gifts that I got and had a play around with the Teeny Tiny Wishes sentiments to get the 'Just For Baby' wording that I wanted... a length of the Whisper White Organza ribbon and that was that.

Fun flowers bookmark

What a lovely grey day... although at least I did see a little sunshine this afternoon after getting caught in a slight drizzle this morning :).  Off to a BBQ at my old work place tonight for a leaving do... so hope the weather holds out.

Anyway, I've been trying to squeeze in a bit of crafting all day but can't possibly show you any of the cards I have made as the recipients are both readers of my blog... so you will have to check back over the next couple of days to see what I've made for them.

I thought I would share these bookmarks with you instead.  My inspiration comes from the fact that someone received flowers at work yesterday... and everyone who didn't was a little put out so this is for all those friends and colleagues who I can safely say made this week very enjoyable indeed ;)!

Although I totally CASE'd the idea from this blog which has a great little tutorial.  All you need is some card stock and the Fun Flowers die which is my latest new purchase... I've had my eye on this for ages and finally got it as a treat after such a hard few weeks at work recently.

The colours I have used are Melon Mambo and So Saffron (sponge daubed with Chocolate Chip) and I've embellished with Designer Buttons, Brads and some Bakers Twine.

I've already got lots of ideas for using this including at my next class on Saturday 7th July, where we will be using the Big Shot and some of the many dies and embossing folders from the Stampin' Up! catalogue to make a selection of cards.  If you would like to come along and give it a try the class itself is just £8 and I still have a couple of spaces left, so contact me to book you place.  Or why not pay the full price of £20 and get £15 to spend in the catalogue as well as the class?

Finally, don't forget it's my Come and Craft session this Sunday from 2pm at my home (GU16) - just bring along your craft stash and come and have a play.  I'm hoping to set a couple of challenges using specific stamp sets and other items from Stampin' Up! to see what we can come up with so looking forward to sharing some new ideas.

Foiled motorcycle

The a la carte stamps on pages 14-16 of the main catalogue are very reasonably priced if you just want to build up your collection slowly, and there are plenty of choices for different occasions. 

With Father's Day tomorrow the a la carte Motorcycle stamp set is getting a bit of use, as I have it featuring on one of the cards that we will be making at my class this morning and also the card I have made for my dad (check back tomorrow).

I've created a 5 x 7 " card base from Soft Suede and then attached a piece of kitchen foil which I have run through the Square Lattice embossing folder to create the background panel.  It's a bit fiddly and you need to be careful you don't tear the foil when sticking it down, but it creates a lovely metallic effect ;).

I have then added a strip of Old Olive card stock with the sentiment from the Teeny Tiny Wishes and Happiest Birthday Wishes stamp set's inked with Chocolate Chip, attaching 3 silver brads before sticking this down.

For the image panel I have used the Labels Collection Framelits dies to cut a Old Olive frame and then a Whisper White one around the Motorcycle image.  I've inked the Motorcycle in Chocolate Chip and coloured with an Old Olive Stampin' Write marker pen and it's ready... I hope the class attendee's like it.