Au, Get Away from My Gold!

I've been thinking a lot about gold (on cards) this week for one reason and another, so it was with a little smile that I saw the new colour challenge at Less is More.  Especially as I had just got back from a visit to the craft shop at Lancaster to purchase some gilding flakes.  Fate or what?  So in between baking bread and toffee bars, and cooking rumblethumps (ask Di) I came up with this:

This was a nightmare to photograph and this was the best I could do!  I die cut a circle and then stamped the image from Simply Soft three times in Basic Black.  Once the ink had dried, I added glue to the flowers and then rubbed gold gilding flakes on.  The lovely big gold band at the back was made by sticking double sided adhesive sheet onto the card base and then rubbing flakes into it.  That's all there is to it really, but it sure is sparkly!  Here 's a little close-up:

Supplies
Stamp: Simply Soft (hostess)
Ink: Basic Black
Card: Whisper White
Other: circle die, Big Shot, stamp-a-ma-jig, glue pen, double-sided adhesive sheet, gold gilding flakes (non-SU)

As always, if these or any other SU supplies have caught your eye, do not hesitate to get in touch with me on 07977 141605 or by email.  I will be delighted to assist you with your crafty makes and place an SU order for you.  Remember that if your order comes to £45 or more, you earn 2 9-yard spools of organdie ribbon and a box of Everyday Enchantment brads for absolutely free!

Socks has been hard at work this afternoon as Chief Guard Cat.  It's a good job nobody dared to knock at our door...

Hope you are all safe from adverse weather.  Thanks for visiting,

Dynamic Snippets

Today's card is a very simple one, using up some more snippets to play in Di's playground and to join in with a new challenge Dynamic Duos.  This new challenge has had my attention from the start because I struggle so much getting colour combinations right off my own back.  So anything to help me in the right direction is very welcome :)  Well, I love pink and kraft.  It's one of my very favourite colour combinations.  But I'm a bit scared of grey and have loads of grey card stock that I haven't even touched so thought it was time to face my fears!

Here we go then:

The beautiful stamp is from Simply Soft, a hostess set which you can get for an absolute steal if you host a qualifying party (real or virtual) or place an order of £150 or more.  It's a two-step set, but this time, instead of overstamping, I coloured in the blooms directly with a Regal Rose marker pen.  I coloured the leaves by scribbling on a craft sheet and then picking up the colour with my blender pen and adding it a little bit at a time for a softer look.  The pot was created by cutting a pot shape (by eye) and then embossing it with my lattice embossing folder, adding a snippet of Regal Rose patterned paper and a linen thread bow for detail.  This was then mounted on Basic Grey card and again onto my Whisper White base.  The hexagons are snippets from the new Twitterpated Designer Paper Series and the sentiment is from Petite Pairs (that most beautiful of sentiment sets).  All finished off with three rhinestones.

Supplies
Stamps: Simply Soft (hostess), Petite Pairs
Ink: Basic Grey, marker pens in Regal Rose and Basic Grey
Card: Whisper White, Basic Grey
Paper: Regal Rose from the Brights Designer Series Paper stack, Twitterpated
Other: linen thread, lattice embossing folder, stamp-a-ma-jis, rhinestones

As always, do get in touch if any of these goodies have caught your eye.  Just send me an email or give me a ring on 07977 141605 and I will be delighted to help you!

Rather than rabbiting on anymore I'll leave you with a photo from our garden yesterday.  We had a new duck record!

Thanks as always for visiting,

Springing into Spring!

It's Make My Monday today where I am privileged to be a Guest Designer this month.  Continuing the 'Spring' theme, this week's challenge is to make a 'spring fold' card.  If you've not come across one of these before, check out this great tutorial written by Jacqueline.  I don't usually go in for fancy folds, though I am trying to get out of my comfort zone more and experiment, so this was a challenge for me.

I decided to use the Simply Soft stamp set to create this little floral scene.  This is a 2-step stamp set, meaning you get the outline and the flower, giving you lots of versatility in terms of colour, design and layout.  The blooms are stamped in Crumb Cake, before being overstamped in Perfect Plum.  I added yellow and green highlights with my blender pen together with Old Olive and So Saffron marker pens.  The background was sponged with Bashful Blue ink to create a peaceful looking sky.  I did a similar stamped panel for the bottom of the spring fold card, and the triangles are just sponged in blue.  Each piece is mounted onto Perfect Plum card stock - isn't it great that with Stampin' Up! everything coordinates?!

Here's the bottom panel for a closer look:

Supplies

Stamps: Simply Soft (hostess set)

Ink: Crumb Cake, Perfect Plum, Old Olive, So Saffron, Bashful Blue

Card: Whisper White, Perfect Plum

Other: Stamp-a-ma-jig, blender pen, sponge daubers

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me (email or phone 07977 141605) if you have any questions or if you would like to order some Stampin' Up! goodies.  It's still Sale-a-bration so you can earn free stamp sets/designer paper with every £45 you spend.  Not only that but I have a prize draw running until the end of March to win a set of Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper, and I am offering free P&P for my first 3 customers!!  What are you waiting for?!

I've had a lovely weekend, travelling over the Pennines to spend it with my family.  Spring really does seem to be happening now, doesn't it?  Lovely blue skies here today and I fear it may be the inaugural lawn mowing day!  Hope you've all had a nice weekend - and were treated if you are a Mum!

Thanks for visiting today.  I will be posting again later on today - with a rather strange creation - so do pop back if I've piqued your interest!