Wednesday 30 April 2014

WWWU#15

This Monday saw the start of week 15 of our Jems' Team WWWU
(Wades Weekly Warm Up)
Our Stampin' Up! sister, Julie Wade, picks a colour combo and we all then
make our cards and share them on the Jems' facebook page.
This week the colours are:
 Basic Grey, Perfect Plum, Smoky Slate and Coastal Cabana. 
and here's my offering.



Stamp sets used, Gorgeous Grunge, Clockworks, Banner Greetings, 
The Chevron punch was used to cut the Perfect Plum chevrons out,
and the sentiments were fussy cut.
Thanks for the colour combo Julie - love it!!





Tuesday 29 April 2014

Rev Up the Fun again!

My good friend (and customer) Liz G has lent me her Rev Up the Fun stamp set for a couple of weeks,
so I browsed Pinterest to find some designs to make men's cards.
Here's one that I have cased from Nicole's Blog


Colour Combo is Smoky Slake, Pacific Point and White.
Stamp sets:  Rev Up the Fun and Hearts a Flutter plus matching Framelits (for pennants).
The motorbike was inked in Versamark and heat embossed in Silver embossing powder.
3/4" Basic Black Chevron ribbon cut with Vs at either end
(the ribbon is in fact perfectly straight and the same wide all the way along,
but beacause of the chevrons, it  looks wider on the right than the left-
an optical illusion!

Monday 28 April 2014

Home Tweet Home

I needed another new home card this week, then remembered that I had made this one at Chris's the other week, when we made a few cards with - yes you've guessed - the Hardwood stamp!


This one was cased from my SU Mummy, Julie's Blog
Cardstock used: Tempting Turquoise, Soft Suede, Pear Pizzazz, So Saffron, Pink Pirouette and White.
Hardwood stamp, inked with Early Espresso.
Bird and leaves cut with Bird Builder punch.  Flowers with Itty Bitty Punch set.
The sign is handwritten on a Ticket punched piece of card
and for the flower centres I have used Dazzling Details Silver Sparkle.
Thanks Julie!!

Sunday 27 April 2014

Get Well Cara

One of my Stampers 10 customers, Cara,  has recently been in hospital for over a week, 
so now she is home and recuperating, I made this get well card for her.


Colour combo is Coastal cabana, Baked Brown Sugar, Tangerine Tango and So Saffron.
The frame was fussy cut after using the  Textured Impressions Designer frames Embossing Folder, 
The flowers were stamped with Petite Petals stamp set and cut with the matching punch.
The flower centres are cut using the Itty Bitty Flower punch, and the white centre is the cut out tiny dots
after using the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch. Leaves cut with the Bird Builder punch.
Sentiment from teeny Tiny Wishes.

Here's wishing you a speedy recovery Cara!

Saturday 26 April 2014

Hello my friend.

One of my friends (and Stampin' Up! downline) Trisha, moved house recently, 
so I have sent her a card to wish her well in her new home.  


I have used my home-made diamond template again to make this pattern,
(remember I used the triangle punch to make the acetate template?)
The colour combo is Raspberry Ripple, Melon Mambo, Pink Pirouette and Black.
The stamp set is My Friend.
The only embellishments are three Basic Rhinestones.
Hope that she likes it!

Friday 25 April 2014

Triple Stamping Thank You

I needed to send a thank you card through the post, so I made this triple stamping card
 and put the sentiment on flat so that it would go at normal first class rate.



Colour Combo - simply Raspberry Ripple and White
Stamp sets used, Flower Shop and Petite Petals.
Sentiment from Itty Bitty Banners cut with matching Framelits.

(Just for a change from the Hardwood stamp!!!)

Thursday 24 April 2014

Oh no - not even more Hardwood!!

Well, I am so sorry but I am having a love affair with this Hardwood and the Flower stamps!
I really enjoy making these cards, so I am afraid you may get a little tired of them.


This one uses the Flower Shop stamp set and Posy Pynch,
Chalk Talk stamp set and matching framelits.
Watercolour Wonder Designer Washi Tape , Gold Bakers Twine and Gold Sequin Trim.
Thw Hardwood is stamped in Crumb Cake on Naturals White cardstock,
which I think gives a lovely natural look to the wood effect.
The flower and sentiment are stamped in Crisp Cantaloupe.
I think this is a beautiful colour combo.
Once again the inspiration for this card came from Monica's Blog
so thank you Nannan!!

Wednesday 23 April 2014

All Occasion Card

My greeting card tin is getting a little short of all occasions cards i.e. cards where I can simply
add a greeting suitable for the occasion (as opposed to general birthday cards)
To out it right I have made a few of these today.
Chris (sis-in-law) has been over today and she made 5 cards whilst I only managed 4!
I'll show you two of them.


This first one is cased from my Stampin Up sister and fellow Julies' Jems team member, Julie Wade.
You will have seen that she does a weekly colour combo challenge for us every week -
Wades Weekly Warm Up or WWWU as we call it.
This week she had challenged us to use the Convention goodies that we received in November
(these were basically gold items) along with black.
She shared the card that I have cased (with her permission of course) 
above, with a slight alteration to the flower centres



And here is another one where I have swapped the colours around somewhat
i.e. black for white and white for black.
Don't know which one I like the best.
I have left them without a sentiment, and will just add one as and when I send the card.
I Used Basic Black, Whisper White and Brushed Gold card stock.
Versamark and Gold Embossing Powder for heat embossing the flowers
which were stamped with Flower Shop stamp set and cut with Pansy Punch
and Petite Petals with matching punch. 
 The Lattice Bigz die was used with the Brushed gold card.
The flower centres were punched with the Itty Bitty Circle punch and a 1/4" circle punch
in Brushed Gold card and shaped.

Tuesday 22 April 2014

Congratulations Stephanie!!

Some of my followers will know who Stephanie is - she gave up smoking 
36 days ago - so I am sending her a congratulations/celebrate card to encourage
her to carry on with the quitting!!
Here it is 


Cased from my Stampin' Up! Grandmother Monica's Blog 
I have tweaked it a little to make it my own and obviously it is
personalised for Stephanie.
Colour Combo is Naturals White, Crumb Cake, Marina Mist and Gold.
Flowers stamped using the Flower Shop stamp set
and cut out using the Pansy Punch,
sentiment from Express Yourself (Hostess) stamp set.
Background stamp - Hardwood!  Just can't stop using it!!
Gold Bakers Twine and Gold Sequin Trim embellishments.
Watercolour Wonder Washi Tape.

I am sure that Stephanie will see this, I have posted it today, but it will take a while to arrive with her
and I do so want to cheer her on and share in celebrating her success
in quitting the weed (and I speak as an ex- smoker myself so I know it's not easy!)
Congratulations Stephanie!!

Monday 21 April 2014

My Friend

Can you believe that it is WWWU#14 ?  How time flies!
Julie challenged us to use our Convention Goodies (which were all Gold!) with Black this week.
Here's what I came up with.


Black square base card, My Friend stamp set, inked with Versamark and
heat embossed with Gold Embossing powder.
Watercolour Wonder Designer Washi Tape down the left hand side.
I originally used the gold striped washi tape, but it didn't show up very well on the black,
so I put a strip of plain gold washi on top of it.
A strip of Gold Sequin Trim down either side of the washi tape
and three "Beautiful Wings" butterflies die cut out of Gold foil sheet,
the only embellishment it needed.

Saturday 19 April 2014

Rev Up the Fun!!

At our Team Monthly Training, we made two cards,
 here's the first of them - I'll post the other one later.  
We used the Rev Up the Fun stamp set and the Positively Chevron stamp.

Card with slider tab closed

Card with slider tab pulled,

 Colour combo of Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede, Pool Party and Island Indigo.
The pull tab was punched with the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, 
the Pumpkin Pie chevrons were cut out using the Chevron Border Punch.
Natural 5'8" Chevron Ribbon was added and hastened with Linen Thread.
Thank you  Julie for giving us more inspiration for men's cards!!

Friday 18 April 2014

And there's more! .......

I can understand why this Hardwood stamp is so popular, once you start  making cards with it, 
you just can't stop - so here's another card that I made at Christine's on Wednesday.


Colour Combo is Old Olive, Daffodil Delight and Crushed Curry
The fence is Crumb Cake cardstock with Early Espresso Ink
using the Hardwood stamp.
The large flowers are stamped in Pistachio Pudding using the Betsy's Blooms stamp set
Flowers are from the Flower Shop stamp set cut with the Pansy Punch
and Petite Petals cut with the matching Punch
and the tiny flowers cut with the Itty Bitty Flower punch
flower centres embellished with tiny Basic Rhinestones.
Leaves punched with the Bird Builder punch.
Sentiment from Petite Pairs.

Thursday 17 April 2014

More Hardwood

Yesterday I went to Chris's (sis-in-law) to spend time crafting with her.
here's one of the cards I made


Chris had found the original of this card on Pinterest (how did we manage before?)
Once again we used the Hardwood stamp and the all time favourite
Petite Petals and the matching punch, and a splash of Gorgeous Grunge. 
The base card was made in Naturals White and cut with the Circle Flip Card Die.
The leaves were cut using the Little Leaves Sizzlit.
The sentiment is from Express Yourself stamp set.
I really enjoyed making this card and am so pleased with it.

Wednesday 16 April 2014

Owl Get Well card

Last Thursday, my friend Carol found a card on Pinterest that she wanted to case for a 
Get Well Card, so when she had done it I asked if I could photograph it so that I
could case it too. I have just changed the "Bed Linen" on my version below!



Top Note Die used to cut the "bed"
Gingham Garden DSP used for the bed linen.
Punches used - Owl Builder punch, Itty Bitty flower punch,
Modern Label punch and Word Window punch, 
the Nurse's hat is made from 1/4 of a 1.3/8" punched circle.
The ribbon is from my stash of (sadly retired) Stampin' Up ribbon.
I have a few friends who are under the weather at the moment, 
so I may make a couple more of these to cheer them up!!

Monday 14 April 2014

Happy Birthday Kerry

Tomorrow is my daughter-in-law Kerry's birthday.
Here's the card I made for her.


Kerry was stamped in Crushed Curry ink using Morning Post Alphabet
then fussy cut out.
Three happy birthdays were stamped from Banner Greetings and and again fussy cut.
Four Petite Petals were stamped and cut with the matching punch.
The background is from Gorgeous Grunge.
Basic Rhinestones used for embellishments.
Kerry doesn't blog, so I think I am safe in posting this tonight.

I would like to enter this in
Crafting From the Heart Challenge #14 - Anything goes /use yellow

Sunday 13 April 2014

Scribbled Happy Birthday for Cara

Here's the card I mad for my friend Cara who's birthday was on Friday.
Couldn't post this til I knew she had received it,


It's another resist emboss technique using blender pens and In Colours inks:
Primrose Petals, Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit and Raspberry Ripple.
Ink scribbled over sentiment from Perfectly Penned, stamped
in Versamark and heat embossed with white embossing powder
Gorgeous Grunge stamp set and Basic Rhinestone embellishments.
These colours will be replaced with new ones when the Annual Catalogue launches in July
so I am making the most of them while they last.
Hope you had a great day Cara! xx









Saturday 12 April 2014

Quarterly Training Day Swaps

Really quick post today as I am off to Pudsey for our team's (Julie's Jems) Quarterly Training
Today it's male themed, so all our swaps have to be male themed too.
Here are mine

All lined up and ready to go



Cardstock used - Bermuda Bay
Stampin' Pad -Basic Black
Sentiment from Another Great Year stamp set
Silver Glimmer Paper
Merry Minis Star Punch
Hope they like them!

Friday 11 April 2014

Chris's Get well soon

Spoke to Chris (sis-in-law) on the phone this morning and she is not feeling well at all!
Thought that I would make her a get well soon card.....
and here it is.


Colour Combo is 2013-2015 In Colours
Pistachio Pudding, Strawberry Slush, Coastal Cabana, Baked Brown Sugar and Crisp Cantaloupe
Sentiment from Hopeful Thoughts. stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with White EP.
Scribbles drawn using Blender pan and In Colour ink pads as above.
Lines and splats from Gorgeous Grunge stamp set.
Flowers cut with Itty Bitty Flower punch and tiny Rhinestone centres.
Hope that at least is she's not feeling any better, this will cheer her up.
Get well soon Chris!!


Wednesday 9 April 2014

Hardwood

Whilst I saw many cards made using this stamp and lusted after it with a passion, 
I have to confess to not having done much with it - until today.
Chris (sis-in-law) had been over to craft today and had brought pictures of cards
she wanted to case, using  the Hardwood Stamp - amongst other things.
So we have both made a few cards - here's the first.


Not sure where this was cased from - possibly Pinterest.
The Hardwood stamp was stamped in Smoky Slate onto Naturals White card stock.
Then the fence pieces were cut and arranged onto the card.
 I Stamped the flower sprig from Happy Watercolour stampset
and coloured in using re-inkers with an Aquapainter.
The creeping vine was cut with the Bird Builder punch
and the butterflies stamped using the Papillon Potpourri stamp set
 then punched with the Bitty Butterfly punch.
The sentiment is from Banner Greetings.
(I stuck this onto a cocktail stick to look like a flag!!)

Tuesday 8 April 2014

March Thank you cards.

Each month I do thank you cards for my customers who placed orders.
Here are some of this months batch.

Using flowers from Morning Meadow stamp set

Using Flower spray from Fabulous Florets Stamp set.
As you can see I have used various colour combinations for each of these cards.
I'm not sure which one I like best - what do you think??

Monday 7 April 2014

WWWU#12

It's that time of the week again - time for  Wades Weekly Warm Up #12
This week the colour combo is Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight and Old Olive.
I do love these bright colours!  Here's what I made.


The Melon Mambo looks a little bit orangey in artificial light, whereas its 
really a zingy shade of pink.  Still you can see it's a bright colour combo.
Stamp sets used are Flower Sho (with matching Pansy punch)
and Petite Petals (with matching punch).
Sentiment from Blooming with Kindness.
The leaves are cut using the Bird Builder Punch.
The flower centres are Itty Bitty Flowers punched, with"knots" made from slivers of Daffodil Delight card stock.
Stylish Stripes Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.

Sunday 6 April 2014

Darling Wife

I was asked by a friend to make a birthday card for his wife.
Here's what I came up with.


Colour Combo is raspberry Ripple, Silver and White.
Flowers stamped using "Flower Shop" stamp set and cut with matching Pansy punch.
"Petite Petals" stamp set with matching punch.
Basic pearls for flower centres
Leaves punched with Bird Builder punch.
Textured Impressions Fancy Fan embossing folder.
Circles cut with Circle Collection Framelits.
Sentiment computer generated.
I am quite safe posting it on here as she doesn't blog.
All products Stampin' Up!

Saturday 5 April 2014

Knitted Novelties

When I went to the hairdressers on Thursday, I found these lovely little Easter knitted novelties
 for sale    They were the last few left, and I couldn't resist buying these cute little things for 
mine, Chris's and Mag's grandkids - even if I am tempted to keep them all myself!!
Apparently a 94 year old lady has knitted these to raise funds for the Childrens' Hospice.



Aren't they sweet - thought that you would like to see them too!!
I love em!!

Friday 4 April 2014

Carol's Card

Last Saturday my friend (and down'line) Carol came to my Saturday morning Monthly workshop.
She had seen a card on Pinterest and fancied making it.
When she had finished it, I asked if I could photograph it for my blog as 
I thought it was a fabulous card to share - I shall be casing it myself!!


Isn't it just fabulous - she has used the resist technique and scribbled blocks of
colour using the In Colours Stampin' Write Markers!
Itty Bitty flower punches and Hello, Lovely stamp set.
Great work Carol.

Thursday 3 April 2014

Alan and Dad

Today I have two mens' cards to show you.
The first one is the one that I made for our good friend Alan's Birthday
and the second one, Jan from Wednesday class made (Dad's birthday).

My card - Midnight Muse and White

Jan's card - Always Artichoke and White.
As you can see Jan did the same design but simply changed the colours.
The small stars were punched using the Itty Bitty Star punch - it's so useful!!
The names were diecut.

Wednesday 2 April 2014

SummerSilhouettes

I have been meaning to do this card for a long time - it's cased from a swap
 that I received at Regional Training in May last year from Sally Bowman
 (who was inspired by Dawn Griffith)
So thanks to both of you - I have enjoyed getting inky fingers with this one!!


Colour combo is Pool Party, Marina Mist and Pacific Point.
I used Watercolour Paper with an aquapainter.
I wet the paper, then, using re-inkers, picked up ink with the aquapainter
and applied it in a scribbling fashion across the page with each colour.
When the ink /paper had dried, I over stamped with stamps from
the Summer Silhouette stamp set in Black.
Matted and layered onto Pacific Point, then White card stock
and finally onto a Basic Black card base.

Mmmm - must try this again with different colours and stamps!!




Tuesday 1 April 2014

Tag Topper Punch Easter Chick

Thought that you might enjoy seeing this seasonal offering.

Front View

Side view
This has been cased (with permission) from my good friend

And if you pop round to Amanda's blog, she has very kindly done a tutorial
so that you can make this cute little chick yourself!
All materials and punches are identified in the instructions
- all products (apart from the Creme Egg) are Stampin' Up!