Sympathy Foliage

Less is More is prescribing a recipe this week: use 3 of something, 2 of something and 1 of something.  At first I thought it was going to be pretty difficult and then I realised the extraordinary freedom of the challenge.  I decided to play with my much-loved French Foliage stamp set.

I used three different leaf stamps in three colours (Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze and More Mustard), a two word sentiment and two score lines to mark the panel, and all this is on a one-layer card.

Supplies
Stamps: French Foliage, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard
Card: Confetti Cream
Other: stamp-a-ma-jig, Simply Scored board, sponge daubers

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. I'm playing a bit of catch-up at the moment so apologies if I've not been to your blog in a few days... I should be round soon (so quick, tidy up!!!)

Today's cat picture really did make me chuckle when I first saw it... still does actually...

Thanks for visiting,

With Sympathy

When I started making a card using Reason to Smile, the stamp set you can get for free with orders during August, I didn't for a minute think I'd end up making a sympathy card.  It just sort of looked right when I came to add the greeting.  When you make cards, do you have a set idea of what the finished card will look like or do you make it up as you go along?

Here's the card: very simply but quite elegant, I think. (Sorry, the wonky photo fairy has been making her presence known!)

Supplies
Stamps: Reason to Smile, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Rose Red, marker pens in Rose Red and Wild Wasabi
Card: Whisper White and Rose Red
Other: Stamp-a-ma-jig

That was a short and sweet list!  I'd like to enter this card into the 'sympathy' challenge at The Sisterhood of Crafters.

Socks spent the night sleeping on the carpet outside our bedroom.  He must have wanted some space or else he'd have just jumped on the bed like he normally does, but then he can't have wanted to be far away or he'd have curled up on the spare bed.  Why he didn't just sleep in his basket in our room, I don't know, but then cats aren't well known for actually sleeping where we'd like them to!  Anyway, Socks would like to thank all of you nice humans, dogs and cats for sending get well licks his way.

As the vet's seems to be the theme of the week, here's a suitably apt photo, which was sent to me by the lovely and barmy Anne-Marie:

Thanks for stopping by today,

A Pink Bike for Hettie!

Two posts in one day... you lucky things (ahem!)... but the Olympic owls were a bonus today!

The last time I used my lovely Pedal Presents stamp set, Sam aka Hettie asked me if I could colour it in pink.  Well, it's taken me a while but I was happy to oblige especially when I saw this morning's sketch at Less is More.

So here is my take on it:

Pretty straight forward, I cut the panel right underneath the bike to ground it easily.  I filled the basket with flowers this time, mounted on some pink card and punched a border.  I wanted it to be a generic card so chose the {friend to friend} sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

Supplies
Stamps: Pedal Presents, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Basic Black, marker pens in Pretty in Pink, Rose Red and Regal Rose
Card: Pretty in Pink and Whisper White
Other: stamp-a-ma-jig, Leafy Lace border punch (non-SU)

As well as Less is More, I'd like to enter this into the clean and simple challenges at Stampin' Sisters in Christ and at Card Crafters' Circle.

Just to add my tuppence on the Olympics Opening Ceremony... I thought it was fantastic, a real tongue-in-cheek look at Britain through the years, though whether the international audience understood a lot of it is another matter.  As I used to be a Sheffield lass, I loved the forging of the Olympic rings, but other highlights were (obviously) the film with Queen Elizabeth and James Bond, Mr Bean, that fantastic Glastonbury Hill replica, the choirs from around the UK (nice to remember that there's more than just England in Team GB!), and I'm sure we all loved the incredibly beautiful Olympic flame cauldron.  I've been enjoying tuning into the rowing heats this morning, but I've caught a bit of the cycling and badminton too.  Watching these athletes is just awesome!

Another cat picture (yes, I know two in one day!):

Thanks for visiting!

Nurse Owl

I haven't touched my owl punch for a whole five minutes so I decided to have a go at making one of the nurse owls I've seen on the inter web (type in punch art into google and you will be amazed at the sorts of things you see!).  It was so easy to do:

I punched and assembled the owl as normal, and punched an extra front out of white, turned it upside down and made into a nurse's hat.  The little cross is one of the tiny Itty Bitty Shapes punches.  Clever or what?!

Supplies
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Basic Black
Card: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Real Red, Whisper White, Blushing Bride
Paper: Twitterpated Designer Series Paper
Other: Big Shot, circle die, Owl Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punches


I said I might throw in the odd dog picture into the cat mix, so today's photo is a cross over.  It does at least mention a dog!

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Feuillage Francais

I have a sympathy card to share today.  Unfortunately I've had a few of these to make recently and they are so difficult to do when you need one, so I'm making a few for my box for those sad but inevitable times to come.

The CAS-ual Fridays challenge this week is to include text so I cracked out my En Francais background stamp and lovely French Foliage leaves to create this:

I began by stamping part of the script in VersaMark and then embossing in white embossing powder.  I overstamped with the leaves in Old Olive, wiping off excess ink from the embossing to keep it nice and shiny.  I distressed the edges of the Sahara Sand base and added a banner with the sentiment and an antique brad.  I added a tiny scrap of lace before adhering the Sahara Sand card to the white base.

Supplies
Stamps: French Foliage, En Francais, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: VersaMark, Old Olive
Card: Whisper White, Sahara Sand
Other: white embossing powder, antique brad, Victoria lace


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!


Today's cat picture is of the Cat-Box-Box love triangle.  Enjoy!

Thanks as always for visiting..... watching tennis now!

Hooting for the Stars!

My brother's girlfriend has just found out that she's got a 2:i for her degree and we're so proud of her!  This was the perfect opportunity to make a graduation owl like the one here.  This was soooo much fun to make!

I followed the sketch at Fetch a Sketch which I found very versatile to use.  The owl was made by a combination of the Owl Punch and the Cupcake Builder Punch (which has been retired, I'm afraid).  The owl was mostly made in the usual way, with the main owl punched out of Crumb Cake.  The wings are the icing from the Cupcake Punch.. clever, eh?!  I drew the mortarboard by hand.  The scroll is just a rolled up scrap of paper tied with linen thread.  The owl is positioned on the swirl from Everything Eleanor, which I think works ever so well as a branch.

The papers are absolutely gorgeous - the bottom layer is velvet flocked and so lovely to stroke.  The fact that it is made in the colours Crumb Cake and Basic Black makes coordination a doddle!  Here a side view that shows the dimension a little more:

Supplies
Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Basic Black
Card: Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Basic Black, Crumb Cake, More Mustard
Paper: Mocha Morning Speciality Designer Series Paper
Other: Crumb Cake 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon, linen thread, stamp-a-ma-jig, dimensionals, Owl Punch, Cupcake Builder Punch

I'd also like to enter this card into the "We're feeling punchy!t challenge at The Friday Mashup and the "For the Birds" challenge at Stampin' Up Only!

As always, if these or any other SU goodies have caught your eye, do get in touch either by phone on 07977 141605 or email.  I'd be delighted to assist you with your crafty makes and place an SU order for you.

Hope you're having a lovely weekend whatever you're up to!  Thanks so much for stopping by,

Our Wedding Anniversary

Today is one of the three occasions a year you get to see my husband's handiwork as well as my own, as today is our second wedding anniversary!

Here is Sam's masterpiece.  He took the greatest care even with the envelope:

From a clever bit of masking on the outside of the card...

... to selecting a suitably embarrassing photo on the inside!  I've airbrushed out what he wrote so you sticky beaks can't read it!!

Considering he's made about 5 cards in his life, I'm a little in awe of him!  But then he does point out that he has an excellent local SU demo!

Here is what I made for him:

Mrs. Owl even has a diamond on her ring wing:

Mr & Mrs Owl were made using my owl punch and are perched upon the swirl from Everything Eleanor, stamped in Pear Pizzaz.  The banner is made from a scrap of Twitterpated paper and the base is Crumb Cake card.  I'm not going to do my usual supplies list as we'll all go a bit mad from reading that for both cards, but do get in touch if you have any questions about what we've used!

Have a lovely day!  Thanks so much for visiting,

Rule Britannia!

Well I couldn't stop singing Rule Britannia after yesterday's card so I thought I should create a little blue, red and white number using the same stamp set.  I do love this new set and the quality - as with all SU stamps - is superb.  They produce such crisp images that they are a joy to work with.  Here's my patriotic creation:

It was a really quick card to make.  I stamped the ship's chart twice onto Whisper White card, lining it up with my trusty stamp-a-ma-jig.  The clipper was stamped in Night of Navy, with a sentiment added from the massively useful Teeny Tiny Wishes.  I fastened two eyelets down the left hand side and threaded some baker's twine through.  I think it adds nicely to the 'sea-fayrer' look, at least to my land-locked eyes!

Supplies
Stamps: The Open Sea, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: Real Red, Night of Navy
Card: Night of Navy, Whisper White
Other: stamp-a-ma-jig, eyelets, Crop-a-dile, baker's twine

I'd like to enter this card into the Stampin' Royalty and Tuesday Throwdown challenges where it's all things masculine this week, together with the patriotic challenge at the Glitter Geeks.

Yesterday I shared a photo of our gorgeous little nephew and promised more info about what I've been up to the past few weeks.  Well, my second most exciting news is that come September, I will employed!!  Last week I was interviewed for a part-time teaching job at a lovely school where I did one of my initial teacher training placements... and I got the job!  I am thrilled to bits, over the moon, happy happy happy.....!  The fact that it's part-time means I will have chance to carry on with my Stampin' Up! business - which I absolutely love doing - as well as have more time at the weekends to spend with my husband.  Teaching full-time meant I hardly ever saw the poor man!  And of course some of the pennies might find their way to being spent on more crafting goodies......

Thank you so much for visiting today and thank you for all your lovely comments yesterday.  I have missed you all!  A special 'hello' to you today if this is the first time you've visited my square metre of blogdom.

Create A Cupcake... With Not A Cupcake In Sight

The Spring Mini Catalogue ends at the end of April and that means you only have a couple more weeks to get your hands on its contents!  One of the most popular items has been the Create a Cupcake stamp set and coordinating builder punch.  Cupcakes - or muffins, as I still insist on saying - have never been so popular so these stamps are a valuable addition to any collection.  Now I will be showing you a few cards featuring cupcakes, but for my first card with this set, I decided to have a play around and see what else they could make.

I thought the cases would make good Easter baskets in Crumb Cake (or any of the brown inks) and added in layers of grass with some torn strips of Old Olive card.  The baskets are the cupcake cases from the stamp set, with handles cut out of Crumb Cake card to match.  The hearts are one of the little toppers for the cupcakes, while the clouds are the icing.  The sky is Bashful Blue card - I wanted a nice pastel combination - and I inked the clouds in the same ink to match.  I chose the colours of the little hearts based on the lovely sorbet inspiration at Daring Cardmakers but I hope I'm still allowed to use blue - I have yet to see a green sky so there was no way round it!  I'd also like to enter this over at Simply Stampin', where it's all things Easter.

The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes, a most versatile stamp set with a sentiment for most occasions. This was stamped in Tangerine Tango to match one of the heart colours and snipped into a banner shape. The whole panel was mounted twice onto textured white card stock and adhered to a Certainly Celery base.

Supplies
Stamps: Create a Cupcake, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Certainly Celery, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Crumb Cake, Bashful Blue
Card: Old Olive, Bashful Blue, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Certainly Celery
Other: sponge daubers, Cupcake Builder Punch


As always, if you are interested in these or any other SU supplies, or have any questions, please do get in touch!


I was going to show you an actual cupcake with this set tomorrow, but I've changed my mind as I've just seen an another potential use for this set.  You'll have to come back to see what it is!

Thanks for visiting today,

Everyday Enchantment Meets Fresh Vintage

Apologies for the lack of blogging over the past few days.  I was in hospital earlier this week for an operation and while I've managed to stay relatively on top of commenting, I haven't felt up to much crafting.  I was feeling a bit brighter yesterday evening, but sadly I woke up in the night in a lot of pain and I now have an infection developing where they operated so I'm on more tablets... it's starting to look like a chemist's at our house!  Anyway, I really wanted to take my mind off the pain this afternoon so I've been making a few cards to cheer myself up!

Sale-a-bration ends this week so if you want any of the free stamp sets (click here if you have no idea what I'm talking about!) or the designer paper I've used with this card, NOW is the time to get in touch!  I would hate for you to miss out on free goodies!  Just send me an email or give me a ring on 07977 141605 and I will make sure your order gets through to Stampin' Up! before the end of Sale-a-bration.

Right, to the card:

I have discovered a few new challenge blogs recently and one of them is Simply Stampin'.  This week they have a sketch to follow.  I don't tend to do lots of sketch challenges - something I am trying to change - but this sketch seemed really quite versatile.  I stuck with the sketch pretty much as is, although I don't have a scallop punch (yet!) so I left the bottom edge straight.

The paper from the Everyday Enchantment series was cut to size and then inked all round with Crumb Cake ink.  I stamped the bloom from Fresh Vintage and sentiment onto Whisper White card stock, adhered it, and then cut another strip of patterned paper, also inked, to divide the two stamps.  I secured Whisper White satin ribbon over the top and tied a bow.  That's pretty much all there is to this card.  Nice and simple (like me, my mother would say!)

Here's a close-up:

Supplies

Stamps: Fresh Vintage (Sale-a-bration freebie), Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Real Red, Crumb Cake

Card: Whisper White

Paper: Everyday Enchantment (Sale-a-bration freebie)

Other: Whisper White 5/8" satin ribbon, Stamp-a-ma-jig, sponge daubers

Socks is currently snoozing in the sunshine, having had a tiring morning snoozing on our bed, followed by some noshing and some more snoozing.... it's a hard life, isn't it?

Thanks as always for visiting,

Christmas Vermillion

Gosh, I'm late blogging today.  I have had a very personal battle with a petrol lawnmower, but I'm pleased to say I won although I was covered in grass by the end of the afternoon.  It has been gloriously sunny up here in Lancashire today, and I hope it has been where you are.  It's days like today that make me feel so much more upbeat!  Spring is here!

Today's card features Young Vermillion again, but this time as part of a Christmas card, which I'm entering into the 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown Animals (& Birds) challenge.  I've not got any Christmas sets from SU (YET!) so I wanted to make the most of being able to enter a Christmassy card!  I also note that the ABC Christmas Challenge this fortnight is F is for Furry &/or Feathered Friends, so it will fit in nicely there too.

I inked up Young Vermillion with Early Espresso, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake and Cherry Cobbler markers before stamping him where I wanted onto my Very Vanilla card stock.  I lengthened the branch a little so it went off the panel... I didn't want him floating in space!   I added more colour for depth using markers and my blender pen, as I wanted him to look more like a robin than a Vermillion Flycatcher.  I'm not quite there yet, but getting closer!

The rather lovely pine cones are from Autumn Days which I inked up with Early Espresso and Always Artichoke markers before stamping around the edge, not always inking up each time, again for depth.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes, but I split it onto two lines using my Stamp-a-ma-jig... if you don't have one of these yet, I would heartily recommend one.  Not only are they fantastic for making sure you stamp where you want to every time, but you can also divide up your sentiment stamps, meaning you get even more use out of them!

This panel was then mounted onto Cherry Cobbler and Always Artichoke card, then more Very Vanilla and the card blank made from textured Early Espresso card.  I wanted to mount on all these colours because I'd used them in my stamping.  Here's a closer look:

Supplies
Stamps: Young Vermillion, Autumn Days, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke
Card: textured Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla
Other: Stamp-a-ma-jig

Don't forget that you have just over 1 week left to benefit from Sale-a-bration, where you earn free stamp sets and designer paper for every £45 you spend.  I also have a prize draw running for a set of Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper and free P&P for my first three customers.  Please do not hesitate to get in touch either by email or by phone on 07977 141605 if you have any questions or if you would like to order some Stampin' Up! goodies.


Many thanks as always for visiting,

Out of Season

When I saw the inspiration photo at For Your Inspiration, I positively leaped for joy!  I love rich autumnal colours and while it might not be the season for them, I just had to play along.  What a beautiful Oriental garden; I can just imagine myself on that bridge!

This inspiration photo was also the perfect opportunity to play with the gorgeous leaf designs of French Foliage.  I started by stamping leaves randomly onto a piece of Very Vanilla card stock.  The colours I used are Cherry Cobbler (which I LOVE!), More Mustard, Cajun Craze and Early Espresso.  I then stamped the splodges in Crumb Cake.  I can see these splodges being very useful!

The stamped panel was then mounted onto textured Very Vanilla card stock (a trick I picked up from my upline Vicky's blog), with a length of Cherry Cobbler seam binding secured underneath.  I wanted an 'off the page' look, so I didn't fasten the binding on the right, but rather left it loose.  The sentiment was then stamped beneath in... surprise surprise... Cherry Cobbler!

Here's a close-up of those lovely leaves:

Supplies
Stamps: French Foliage, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake
Card: Very Vanilla, textured Very Vanilla, Confetti Cream
Other: Cherry Cobbler seam binding

You can order these and any other SU supplies easily just by sending me an email or giving me a ring on 07977 141605.  It's Sale-a-bration so you earn free stamp sets and designer paper for every £45 you spend.  I have a free P&P offer running for my first three customers and a prize draw to win a set of Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper.

I got very excited yesterday as we had a pair of grey wagtails flitting about the beck.  It looked like they were investigating the bank so I hope they nest!  We are really lucky to enjoy some fantastic wildlife in our garden, including a kingfisher and a pair of dippers. We even saw a weasel once.

Join me again tomorrow to see a Sale-a-bration stamp set with some oh-so-strokable paper!

Thanks for popping by today,

Fresh Vintage Mother!

In case you're unaware or undecided about the gorgeous Stampin' Up! Sale-a-bration goodies, today's card features the beautiful main bloom from the 'Fresh Vintage' set and the 'Everyday Enchantment' Designer Series Paper.  I have been asked to make a "colourful" Mother's Day card and I couldn't think of anything brighter than these stunning papers!

I used the Postage Stamp punch (that I feel is going to become a firm favourite) to create a patchwork effect background.  I cannot speak highly enough of SU punches - they are so easy to use with no need to stand up to give it extra welly!  I coloured the bloom with my Stampin' Write marker pens and look how gorgeously crisp the image is:

The Everyday Enchantment papers are mostly using the In Colour range of colours, but I don't have these markers yet, so I used the next closest alternatives to coordinate with the paper.  The sentiment is stamped in Old Olive, with a couple of lengths of linen thread tied around the middle.  This was all then mounted onto Sahara Sand card stock and popped up on dimensionals.

Supplies

Stamps: Fresh Vintage, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Real Red, Baja Breeze, Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive markers, Old Olive ink pad

Card: Whisper White, Sahara Sand

Paper: Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper

Other: Postage Stamp punch, linen thread

I'd like to enter this into the Creative Inspirations 'Something for Mum' challenge and the Glitter Geeks' 'Spring is in the air' challenge.

How would you like to get your hands on Fresh Vintage stamps and Everyday Enchantment paper for ABSOLUTELY FREE?  As part of SU Sale-a-bration, for every £45 you spend on products in any current catalogue, you can choose a Sale-a-bration stamp set or designer paper for FREE!  Not only that, but every order I receive until the end of March will be placed into a prize draw to win a set of Everyday Enchantment paper.  AND I will pay P&P (£4.95) for my first three orders!  Ordering couldn't be easier: just send me a quick email or give me a ring on 07977 141605 and I will place your order with Stampin' Up! for you.

Yesterday I went up to Edinburgh to see an Italian friend of mine who is over in the UK.  As she is supervising a school trip, I accompanied their visit to Holyrood House which is a fascinating place.  It's a long time since I've heard that much chatter in Italian though!  The highlight of the day had to be when one girl asked me if Italian was my native language!  I was chuffed to bits!

Thanks so much for stopping by today,