Katie's birthday card

Wednesday is my God-daughter (who is also my niece) Katie's birthday, so I wanted to make a special card for her. I have used the Very Vintage wheel for the background using Basic Black inkpad with very Vanilla Cardstock, layered onto Basic Black, then layered onto Real Red. The capital K is cut out and Real Red 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon is knotted onto this and a button from the Brights collection plus fabulous pearls stuck on. Lower case letters stamped in basic black using the Schoolbook Serif Alphabet stampset.

Marina Mist Easel card

Well, after dinner, I eventually managed to get into my craft room and play a little and this is what I came up with. An easel card using Marina Mist and Crumbcake on Very Vanilla cardstock and using the Elegant Soiree DSP and Very Vanilla 3/8" taffeta ribbon. Sentiment is from Just believe stampset and punched with the Modern Label punch. Yummy!

Lost internet connection!

The lack of postings has been due to decorating our bedroom then yesterday the carpet fitters came and fitted the new carpet - but they have cut the phone wire for our internet connection!! Had no internet connection since lunchtime yesterday. After a series of tests this morning, found out that the phone wire is the problem, and it can only be that the carpet fitters have cut the wire! Have had to move the router to another phone socket and the problem is resolved. Phew! I was lost without my internet fix. Anyhow all is now resolved - we just have one redundant phone extension wire upstairs and the router thankfully is working nicely downstairs, so hope to post something later today. We need to shop for a bracket to fix the TV to the wall in the bedroom, so might have time to craft after sorting that out.

Talk to you all later.

Happy Birthday sarah-Jane

Well I am sticking to my Poppy Parade and Sunny Garden Papers and the Cottage Garden stampset.
I have used the offcuts from the tri-shutter card that I made the other day, to make this beautiful birthday card for the lovely Sarah-Jane. Happy birthday - hope you are having a lovely day!

Eileen's Special birthday

Do you know that it is Eileen's (from Demo Support) birthday next Tuesday. I was talking to her this morning, and I found out that she will be 60, so I just had to mark the occasion by sending her a card. Now this is a tri-shutter card that I had in my little "special - never to be given away" box, but I really wanted her to have a special card as she is so kind and thoughtful. As you can see it uses the (now retired) Bella Bleu DSP, but I still find it oh so elegant, I popped on the number 60 and put a few personal words on the middle panel then scooted off to the Post Office to wend its way to germany. Not sure that she will get it before she goes off on her jollies, but even so, she will have a nice surprise when she gets back.
Maybe you would like to send her a card too?

Tuesday Class cards

Here are a couple of cards that two of my Tuesday ladies did today.
The top one is Eileen's and the bottom one is Janet's - stampset Vintage Vogue - colours Melon Mambo, Basic Black and Whisper white.

Pirates

Howzabout this then!
My little kitten Lisa is with me today, she is starting preparing her swaps for Regional Training Day, but she brought along this card to show me (NO THIS IS NOT HER SWAP)
Lisa really loves her pirates - as you can see, and has used Melon Mambo and Pumpkin Pie inkpads and the Speckles wheel as a background. The Schoolbook Serif Alphabet has been used to stamp the word Pirates (notice how she has made the lower case p into a capital,
Isn't she clever - I love it!!

Thinking of You

Here's my own little creation based on the theme of yesterday's card using the Cottage Garden stampset.
Poppy Parade features again with Chocolate Chip and Old Olive. The ribbon is 5/8" satin in Real red, but I think that it blends in very well. Don't you?

Cottage Garden Tri-shutter

Whilst it has been snowing this morning I have put the finishing touches to this Tri-shutter card that I started making last night. It is very labour intensive, but the SU Paper cutter/Scorer make the precision cutting and scoring very accurate.

Here are various views of the card - it's quite difficult to photograph as well because of all the angles, but I think that you can see how beautiful it is.
I have followed Jenny Moors instructions they are available to buy and worth every penny.


































Here is the finished card and close ups of the sentiment and the decoupaged butterflies
(You can see that I only just remembered to decoupage the butterflies and add the rhinestones just to finish it off!)

Snowjoke!

It's true it's snowjoke - I got up this morning keen to go play a round of golf, and this is what I saw from the upstairs back window - SNOW!!! - and it's still coming down. No golf today! It's a good job that there are things that I can do around the house today - like a little light crafting!
Hope that the snow isn't here to stay. Sister Maggie told me yesterday that it would snow all day today and I didn't believe her - and she has to go to work - on the bus! - in this lot. I really do feel sorry for her, but am so pleased that I don't have to.
Well I had better get on with my crafting!

Cheeky Monkeys

My good friend Heather made this card tonight at Craft Class and has used the monkey stamp from Fox and friends in place of the little owl that we used in a previous week.
I think that she has done a great job - don't you!! (I am going to make one tomorrow!!

Neutrals and Concord Crush

Today Chris B and myself have spent the day with Chris G (sis-in-law).
We spent a little time talking all things Stampin Up and what we are all ordering next, did some crafting, had lunch and drank coffee (with a little help from Mr Kipling!)
We all made the basic card, then put our own little twist on it.
We used the Neutrals Designer Paper stack, and cut it into strips 1.1/2 cm wide, then wove them to make the background. Matted this onto a piece of Concord crush. Sentiment from Sincere Salutations stamped in Concord Crush onto whisper white. Scallop corner punch used on two corners only. Vintage Vogue flowers stamped in Concord Crush and cut out, then popped up on Dimensionals,a dazzling rhinestone plced in the centre of the flower. Leaves punched out using the Extra large Bird punch. Whisper white 5/8* satin rubbon inked with Concord Crush inkpad to match.
Love it!!





















Zoom in on the picture to see the detail of the woven paper strips.

Fox n Friends Card Candy

My Tuesday class have really enjoyed making card candy and asked if they could do a childrens set, so here is the version that I have cased from karen one of my SU family.
Karen you are really so clever - thanks again!

Growing green

Here's the second photo that I promised to post.
This is the first time that I have used the Growing Green stampset and I am really pleased with it. The flowers are stamped in Basic Black on to Watercolour card and coloured in using the Aqua painter and the Daffodil Delight inkpad. They are then cut out and stuck onto a mat of Chocolate chip card edged with the scallop corner and scallop border punches. This is then layered onto a piece of Woodland Walk DSP, the greeting (from Sincere Salutations) is stamped onto Very Vanilla cardstock, then the whole thing layered onto Wild Wassabi cardstock.
I have cased this card using the instructions available from the lovely Jenny Moore's blog. Thank you Jenny - fabulous!

A card for Patrick

Another busy weekend - hence no postings - but to make up for it - I'm posting two piccies for you instead.
Friday night Emma, Tony and good friend Heather came down to our house to assemble Emma and Tony's Evening Reception invitations along with the RSVPs. We have now finished them all and I will post piccies once they have all been sent.
Saturday was golf - it wasn't too cold so I braved the elements and enjoyed the game. To say that it was the first game I have played this tear, I didn't play too badly. Barry and I played with Brother-in-law Gerald and friend Patrick.
Saturday night we went out for a night at the Dogs would you believe. !0 of us went to celebrate Emma's birthday. I placed a £1 bet on every one of the 12 races and guess how much I won. Absolutely nothing!
Totally exhausted yesterday so I had a little lie in, then went shopping for a new "Spring" weight (rather than "Winter" weight) Duvet.
Cooked Sunday dinner, then spent the evening in the craft room prepping for todays class at Thorpe Hesley.
Here is the first card that I have to show you. I made this to congratulate Patrick on his installation at the Masonic - he is now Worshipful Master of Regent Lodge for this year. I don't have any Masonic stamps, so I stamped this little teddy raising his glass- Cheers Patrick!!

Reverse stamping

A friend has asked how I managed to reverse stamp the cats on my Kate's Kittens card, so I thought there may well be others who are unaware of the technique used.
There are two ways of doing this.
Method 1 uses the flat stamp in the Distressing essentials kit. First you ink up the cat stamp in Basic Black and stamp it onto the flat stamp - then quickly stamp the flat stamp onto your whisper white card and hey presto you have the mirror image of the cat stamp. For you techies out there - this is known as Lateral inversion! For the rest of us - its reverse stamping!
Method 2 uses a brayer. Again you ink up the cat stamp in Basic black and place on your workspace, roll the brayer over the inked up stamp, then quickly roll your brayer onto your whisper white card - hey presto - another mirror image.
Good innit!!

Another kitten!!

Today I have been busy again, one of my Wednesday craft class ladies wanted to sign up as a demo and so I have spent the best part of the morning with her, and she is now my 5th Kate's kitten. My family grows daily!
Shirley is now waiting eagerly for her starter kit to arrive in a week or so's time, Lisa and Chris B are expecting their starter kits tomorrow, and Chris (s-i-l) has been using her starter kit for a week now! Hey Ho! I'll be like the old woman who lived in a shoe - remember her?

Another Birthday Card for Richard

Chris (sis-in-law) and Chris B came over today to have a quick training session on the website and ordering. Chris (sis-in-law) placed her first order - which was quite exciting, especially as she saw how many free stamp sets she was getting!! She now can't wait for this order to come. We made a quick phone call to Demo Support, when Chris spoke to Chris and then passed him on to the other Chris - it was so funny - 3 Chris's together. Anyway, Chris from demo support was able to tweak the system to make both the other Chris's appear in Demo Locator - in his usual efficient fashion - he is so helpful.
Chris (s-i-l) brought her not quite finished card over and borrowed my star punch to put the final touches to her birthday card for Richard (my nephew in Australia) and I asked her if I could share this with you - and here it is. I think its lovely, it uses the Cheers to you stanpset and the (now retired) Sweet Pea papers.

Happy Birthday Gemma

Today is my SU sister Gemma's birthday. I have cased some of Karens card candy (from the card candy swap the other week) and made Gemma a birthday card with it!!
Thanks Karen - my Tuesday ladies thought this was fabulous - they made a birthday card and Valentine/Anniversary card this afternoon.
Hope that you have a lovely day Gemma - Happy Birthday.

Another Men's birthday card

I have been asked by my crafting ladies to do more men's cards, which as you all know isn't easy, so I thought that I would do the same card in a different colourway.
This time it's done in those good old favourites - Chocolate Chip, Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie, and another well used sentiment "Happy Birthday" out of the Punch Bunch Sale-a-bration stampset. So glad that I picked this set!

Anniversary and Valentine's cards

I thought that I had better send my beloved a Valentine Card, and I had a couple of spare swaps from my all day training last week - so here's what I did with them. I made one into a Valentine's card and the other an Anniversary card.
Just a quick bit of printing on the computer and Bobs your uncle!!

Emma and Tony's wedding invitations

Today I have to concentrate on finishing prepping my neice (and God-daughter) Emma and Tony's Wedding Invitations. I did the "Save the Date" cards last year and now we have to get the Day invites done as their wedding is on the 18th June. Emma and Tony plus sister Maggie, and my good friend Heather, are coming along on Tuesday evening to help with the assembly of the invites, and hopefully I will have finished all the prepping before then.
Tomorrow it is my Aerobics for the over 50's session (no laughing!) at Metrodome in the morning, plus my last ever Golf Club Committee Meeting in the evening (where did my year as Lady Captain go?). Tuesday I have my Gilroyd class in the morning and my usual Tuesday craft class in the afternoon - so it really means that I have to buckle down and get all the card and ribbon cutting done today! The inserts are all printed and only need cutting to size. The menu choice inserts are jigged on the computer and just need approving by Emma, then printing off. Should be able to get all this done today! I do enjoy a challenge - focuses the mind somewhat!
Wish me luck.

First of many birthday cards this month

Well I have so many cards to make this month that I need to do one practically every day, so here goes with number one. I have CASED this from someone's blog, but cannot remember whose, so if it's yours, please let me know and |i will link this to your blog - and thanks for the inspiration - I need it!!
Colours are Pretty in Pink, Basic Black and Whisper white, stampsets Vintsage Vogue, sentiment from Sale-a-bration So Happy for you, leaf punched from Two step Bird punch.
Embellished with those beautiful flat back pearls.

Kate's Kittens thank you card

Hello again - here's the card that I will be sending to each of my new recruits - as you can see there are 4 kittens on this card - one for each of Kate's Kittens.
This is from "All in the family" stampset and i have stamped them in Basic black on Whisper white , cut out and matted onto scallop punched squares in Pretty in Pink cardstock, then layered onto Black cardstock on top of a base card of White.
I have stuck two lengths of Pretty in Pink 1/4" grosgrain ribbon onto the card then punched out "thank you" (from Just Believe) using the Modern Label Extra-Large punch stuck on top of a Pretty in Pink punched Modern Label
Embellished with the beautiful rhinestones. Perfick!!

Kate's Kittens!

Well what a busy time I have been having.
Sale-a-bration has been particularly successful for me and my friends, as I now have 3 new recruits who have signed up with Stampin up during the last week - 2 of these signed up today. I am not sure whether or not I told you that Chris (sis-in-law) signed up last Friday, but she did!. This morning I posted off my friend Lisa's application form and this afternoon when my friend Chris B came for lunch and a chat, she signed up as well and has posted off her application this afternoon.
I am already a Stampin Up mummy to the lovely Anna, so now I have a family of 4 stampin Up babies who will become Kate's kittens!
I have to make them all a welcome to the team card, which I will set about after tea, then I'll post a piccie, and you can all come back later to view.
What a day!! Absolutely fabulous. Think of all the free stampsets!! Drool!!

Welcome to your new Home!

Today I am meeting up with my very good friend Jackie, and it will be my first visit to her and Tom's new home. They have moved from a 3 bedroom detached house with attic, cellar, garage, orangery (think thats how it's spelled) and a fabulous garden, to a two bedroomed apartment, so it's been a big upheaval for them.
I have seen the apartment from the outside, so it will be nice to see the inside of it today.
I have made this New Home card for them both and have used the Neighbourhood Jumbo wheel and my trusty blender pens to colour in.
Hope that they like it!

Richard's Birthday Card

I have a nephew who lives in Australia (Sister-in-Law Chris's son) and it is his birthday on the 19th, so I have made this card for him and will have to get it in the post soon so that he gets it on the day.
Colours used are Daffodil Delight, Cherry Cobbler (again!) and Night of Navy - cardstock and inkpads, and of course Very Vanilla used for stamping on. Once again I have used the Sale-a-bration Punch Bunch Happy Birthday sentiment. I stamped Richard using the versatile and much used Schoolbook Serif Alphabet.

Punch Bunch - Man's birthday

Here's the card that I made using some of the Men's Card Candy.
All you need is the scallop square punch, three different colours of card (plus whisper white of course) and the same coloured inkpads.
Colours used on this card are Cherry Cobbler, Marine Mist and Pear Pizzazz.
Mmmmmm!