Baby Bear Girl

As this recent commissioned card has a few too many non-current Stampin' Up! items on I thought I'd put it over here which, yet again, has been a little neglected.

I have been doing some quilling recently although some of it is secret for now but I will report on it later in the year.

This fab bear is Baby Bear from Stampin' Up!.  The thinlits she's mounted on are discontinued but were ideal for this card.  I've used the set Something for Baby for the background and the sentiment is also from the bear set but the die cut letters are non-SU.

Anyone for Basketball?

And another one ... this time for my nephew.
He is a very sporty type and is pretty good at Basketball.  You wouldn't believe it (!) but I found a set of stamps the other week that I bought cheap at a show - found just in time although I had forgotten I had bought them!!

So, I used most of the stamps on his card!

I've stamped some on orange card and cut or punched out, some are 3D'd on to the card, some are stamped straight on the card.  I also cut out different numbers from the stamp for the top as he was 10.

He thought it was amazing so I was pretty pleased with that.

Happy 30th Balloons

Happy 30th Birthday to my cousin (and God-daughter!) Katie today.

This card is mainly Stampin' Up! supplies but not 100%.

I've used the stamp set Celebrate today from SU which I'm really pleased isn't going to retire because I love it and it's really useful.

I've used different colour inks and stamps to make the balloons and cut them out with the matching framelits.  The banners & bow were also cut with framelits.

The numbers were cut from a retired SU numbers set and the background stamped with some stars from Pictogram Punches before bakers twine was added to the balloons and gathered under a bow to finish.

Workshop Cards

I can't believe I hadn't shared the cards I made at a workshop organised by Liberty Craft in Exmouth a few weeks ago.

It was a great day and we had 3 mini workshops during the day.

We had one session with the lovely Janet that used to own Japonica, one with Debbie who was Janet's assistant and Dorothy from Woodware made the very long journey down south for the day.

These 2 cards are from Debbie's workshop.  It was a lot to do in the time but I loved the cards.

The backgrounds used different stencilling, sponging and stamping techniques and the stamp set is one of those that looks nothing until you use it and then you have to buy it!

The set is called 'Doodle a Flower' and contains several stems, petals and flower centres for you to build a flower literally one petal/leaf at a time, great fun.

Do have a look at Liberty Craft particularly if you are on Facebook they have a page, as do Jan-Debs-Dayz with details of more exciting workshops.

Stampin' Up Christmas Extravaganza

So, I may do a little more holiday recap another day.

Had a busy few days with cards to finish, my printer was pronounced dead so had to spend some time rustling up another and had to book a little break to accommodate some Commonwealth Games tickets for next year (amongst other things).

Today I must mention yesterday's Stampin' Up Extravaganza with the lovely Jenny.

As I was away for the local version last week myself and Mum went to Jenny's group so we didn't miss out!

For those that haven't seen, this is what we made:

Firstly we made a card and decorated the large box.  Then we decorated the long, slim box which I think is great for a gift (and very reasonably priced) and lastly we decorated the little box and made 3 cards to go in it.

I love the colour combo on all these.

Jenny's days are always very labour intensive but this time we could be a little more leisurely and had time to chat, have lunch and watch the arrival of the bride in the church next to the hall where we spent the day!

We sat with two lovely ladies but they probably won't sit with us again as we swept up the table prizes and also both won on the raffle.  Mum asked me to make special mention to Janet and Val who recently saw her and commented on their improved chances of winning as we didn't go to the local day!

Mum always wins - I was going to stop taking her!!

I got caught this morning in my dressing gown having a leisurely start to the day catching up with some blogs (not quite done everyone yet but had quite a good browse) and sorting through some e-mails.

Could do with a couple of extra weeks in October if anyone finds any!

Jill

Box Cards pt2

What a lovely (if exhausting!) weekend.

A visit to the gorgeous garden of Sue from Crafty Bunch yesterday which was open as part of the national gardens scheme where we met a few people we knew and had to partake in tea and cake obviously.  Then an evening do for some friends that recently got married in Scotland.

A rather late night followed by far too early a morning to head to the Sincerely Yours show in Taunton where we had another lovely day catching up with crafty friends and stallholders I've got to know over the years.  Saw many local friends and was great to bump into Shirley from Nannieflash blog again and be able to introduce her 'in person' to Anne from Stamps and Paper who has been following her blog for a very long time.

Anyway, a penultimate box card post (I'm off for an early night).

I thought I'd make a male version of the box card.  Typically this turned out differently to what was in my head when I started, partially because of papers etc I found whilst trying to find other things!

Under the Happy Birthday on the front I've added a little card hinge attached with velcro for a more manly element than ribbon.

The paper on the front is from an Anna Marie pack and I have 3D'd quite a few of the footballs.
The inside has some paper from a Papermania pack and the decoupage footballer is from the same range.

Sentiment is SU from the punch bunch set and punched out with a scallop square.

SU punches also used for the borders on the box inside the card.

The other card I made in this size (nearly A5) is rather more girly. 

Card from my stash, the flower/sentiment stamp is from SU punch bunch again and the flowers are from the Mixed Bunch set.  I've punched out the flowers with a plain one for backing and a green version cut up is used for the leaves.

Same flowers in different colour combos inside and a punch around the page border punch used for the box.

Back for a final post on these samples tomorrow!

Box Card No.1!

Earlier in the year I went to a workshop at Japonica in Exmouth and made a box card with Jane Gill -I'm afraid I only finished sticking the flowers on this week as they have been awaiting some stickles!

I took the card to Crafty Bunch as a suggestion for the ladies to make but, of course, Karen and Anne were many steps ahead of me & already had them on the agenda - but it did mean I volunteered to make some samples.  They have both added their lovely samples to their blogs today so do pop past to admire them.

This is the front of the card I made in Exmouth.

Some backing paper is placed on the front of the cover (remembering to add ribbon first!) and a distressed doily is topped by 3 lovely stamped flowers from a Jane Gill Woodware set onto patterned paper.  These were cut out, lightly shaped and eventually stickles and a pearl were added.

Sentiment was supplied at the workshop.

The inside is really easy to make (after the first one), I'll add a shot another day from the side for anyone that isn't familiar with this style of card.

The 'box' element is four scored and folded pieces of card that are interlinked and glued together.

This frame is backed by a piece of card, in this instance overstamped with another Woodware stamp called 'Vive La Plume'.

More stamped flowers and leaves and the sentiment was printed on to shrink plastic, something I hadn't used for a very long time.

I shall add pics of my other samples tomorrow.

Another grand day out!

So, for yesterdays road trip I pottered off to Exmouth to some workshops organised by Janet who owns Japonica in the town.

It was a great crafty day out and I learnt lots.  We had three 2-hour workshops through the day, needless to say I haven't quite finished a couple of bits from 2 of these (opportunity for more blog features) but I did finish the cards on the last one which was taught by Francoise Read.

Francoise is a very talented lady who designs for Woodware and makes the most lovely cards.

Funnily enough the cards used the latest spring release stamps!
The backgrounds of the main panels were covered in paper then stamped on with flowers from a couple of different flower sets.  The words were then a further stamp on top - you will notice I wasn't quite persuasive enough on the 'smile' stamp and could of done with my stamp-a-ma-jig - but you get the idea.

We also heated up the ribbon lightly with a heat gun, something I had never done before and I thought this was a great effect.  The tip (I think) was that the ribbon has to have a high polyester content, think that is the right way round - always worth testing a little bit to see if it melts first!!

Some card candi turned up again too - that does seem to be embellishment of the moment I fancy.
In between the Mothers Day cards I shall try & finish my other projects to share.  

Thanks a ton!

This card is a bit snazzier than I would usually try but it is rather fun.

The Stampin' Up followers amongst you will know how I came by this set called Patterned Occasions.

The card is based on a design from Jenny over at Stamping Moments but with a few supplies swapped around to suit what I had.

Embossing folder is SU, as is the border punch on the pink card and the label punch which is folded in half on the side of the top layer.  Button from my stash with some SU twine through it.  Some tiny brads are used in the flower centre (made of two teeny punched flowers) and for the elephant eye.

Funnily enough the large scallop punch the elephant is on is also SU!  They have a lot to answer for.

Poppies

Many happy returns to Margaret from Crafty Bunch today who has a special birthday.

We have an ever-growing box of Stampin' Up goodies to borrow from at the group and I currently have the very large poppies stamp to play with.

I stamped the top part of the image twice so I could colour the flowers in copics, cut them out separately and 3D them on for added effect.

Layered on red & white card with a little ribbon added.
Computer generated sentiment, also layered with some card candi to finish.

You light up my life!

A teeny card today.  Another request for a little jokey valentine card.

I didn't want to use hearts or be too lovey-dovey so this stamp from the SU 'Furnished with Love' set was ideal.

I've just stamped the light & double stamped the shade for a bit of dimension, oval punched and mounted.

The sentiment punched & mounted on another SU punch.
It proved ideal for the requirement and gave us all a chuckle.

How many punches?

The challenge over at Jo Dumbleton's Stampin' Up Facebook page this weekend is to use punches.

This card turned out to be a bit of a punch extravaganza.  
I used Bravo Burgundy ink on white card for all the stamping.  The stamp set is in the current catalogue and is called 'Language of Friendship'  The bird, leaves and flower stamps are all in the set and have corresponding punches.

Sentiment is from another set, which I've punched out and layered & corners from a retired SU punch added.  The bird is layered on circles and I've added a couple of layers of the burgundy & white card to the base card to finish it off!

Hydrangea

Sticking with some simple but effective cards I have made this card for my Grandma who is 97 this week!

I've used Marina Mist & Wild Wasabi ink and stamped out the image from the SU set Because I care.

I double stamped the leaves and cut those out & layered them and used the separate individual flower stamp and punched out mini flower heads using an SU mini punch.  I added a touch of icicle stickles to the middle of these.

I've then layered up in matching card, finishing the bottom layer with a punched bordered.

Sentiment from SU perfect punches layered to match.
On to the next one tomorrow after a night at the theatre.

Happy Birthday

A simple but effective card today.

This card is based on some I've 'cased' from various Stampin' Up galleries.

I've used the Bright Blossoms stamp set in old olive & pumpkin pie and cut out using a circle punch.

The flowers are finished with a little gem.

I've mounted this on a scalloped piece of matching card (not SU unfortunately!), added to white card and layered on more of the orange which is mounted on a base white card.

Sentiment stamped to match using the curly cute Happy Birthday.
Lots of cards required this week so should have more items to post.

Woodworking

Another last minute request for a Grandad card.

The recipient enjoys a bit of woodwork so I used this lovely stamp from a Buzzcraft set.

I've cut out a shaped piece of card using an x-cut die and stamped on to it, coloured with copics and sponged the edge lightly.

This is mounted on a piece of blue card, as is the peel off sentiment.

Card candi and little gems have been coloured using a copic pen to match.

Writing Set

My latest commission was a request for a writing set for someones family who likes to write letters - I obviously said yes before I'd thought it through!

After some trials I ended up with a wallet that could fit A5 paper, which was part of the request, and could be made from one sheet of A3 card.

There are one or two tweeks I would make if I made another from scratch like this but it fulfils the brief.

Sorry the pic is a little wonky.

After much testing I decided to use the Stampin' Up Baby Blossoms stamp set which I haven't used for a while and really love.  I was going to use shades of pink but didn't have enough contrast in my inks so stuck with my favourite lilac/purple combo.  The front, back and lip of the wallet are layered with card and topped with a stamped piece.

The blossoms are two-step stamping so I had much playing with stamp-a-ma-jig.  These are then interspersed with leaves from the set.

There are 20 pieces of paper in the wallet, with 20 envelopes.

I used a scalloped oval punch to take a section from the wallet so you can reach in for the paper and envelopes.

Each piece of paper is sponged round the edge with lilac ink.  I have then stamped an oval at the top of the page and added the stalks & blossoms from the set to every page.

The envelopes are decorated once on the front and once on the back with just the blossoms.

The wallet closes using velcro and I've finished it my using a couple of Nellie's dies in the matching card, topped with another blossom that is cut out using the SU scalloped oval punch.

I have just remembered I was going to add a pen with matching paper in the barrel so I must sort that out!

Paint the Town

A commissioned card today for someone I work with.

This lovely stamp is a Penny Black transparent one from the set 'paint the town' and ideal for the recipient who is a bit of an artist.

The request was a bit last minute so I didn't get round to adding a sun in the picture or any sparkle to the background as I might of done with a spot more time!

I've covered the card in some flowery paper from the stash.   The image is coloured in copics and I double stamped the snail on the pot and the brush pot twice so I could 3D them.

Sentiment computer generated and both layered on pink cards to match the backing.

Tomorrow I will post the stationery set some of you might know I was experimenting with last week.

Furnished with Love

Yesterday Jo finished another challenge on her facebook page (I was lucky enough to have been picked out of the hat last week for my kraft & white CAS card).

This week the theme was love.

I decided to make a quick card using a Stampin' Up set I acquired recently called 'Furnished with Love.
It has a few images and amusing sentiments in it - I will try & make some more to post sometime.

For this card I have layered some heart paper on red card and cut an aperture in it before layering that to the base card.

I stamped the toaster image, coloured with copics and punched out, layering on another punched circle in matching red card.

The sentiment has been stamped, punched out and layered with another SU punch.

Hope everyone is keeping warm - will be interesting to see what the weather is doing when I wake up for work tomorrow!

Coaster Set

Another week bites the dust.

Today's post is a present I have finished this week.

I've had these coasters a while - because of the paw prints I decided to add some stamped pictures with a cat & dog theme for a present.

I have used Penny Black transparent stamps from the Bubbly & Critter Party sets.  I've then coloured them with copics and on 3 of them have added some glossy accents for a bit of shine.

I made the box with the help of my lovely SU simply scored - the base is light blue which matches the layers on the top.

I've then used the leaves from the bird punch and the blossom punch and some circles to finish off the decoration on the top which snuggly houses the set of coasters.

Clean and Simple

A very quick & easy card today.
Whilst trying to get a bit of order to my crafting I have been browsing on blogs and facebook pages.

I have been keeping an eye on Jo Dumbleton this week as she has been selling some of her old SU stamp sets - like I need any but I had to have a look.  It has inspired me to dust down some and have a play.

On Jo's facebook page she set a challenge too yesterday for a CAS (clean and simple) card.  I have actually been playing with a few commissions today (in between some constructive craft tidy) so literally made this quickly.

I also wanted to try the kraft/white colour scheme as I saw some cards at Christmas that used it and they were lovely.

I have used the Happy Birthday from the SU Sassy Salutations set which I've heat embossed with some fab fine white WOW powder.  I've layered this up and put it over a strip of punched dotted scallop ribbon border and finished with the now discontinued SU photo corner punches.  It's not amazing but it's ok and I will definitely use the colours again.

I am also entering this for Addicted to CAS Challenge 4 - Embossing.
Karen over at Serendipity Dragonfly is the host for this challenge - I might even try another!