Thank You for coming

Hi

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to all the people who came along to my open day this morning.

The event went really well and I am so pleased that there has been lots of interest in the card classes that will start on the 18th February.

The free door prize raffle was won by Sue Helliwell.

Open Day !!!!!

Just a reminder to all my followers that my grand open day is tomorrow between 10-1 at St John's church in Churchdown Gloucester. (opp hare and hounds pub Parton Rd).

It would be lovely to see you all there. I have 3 make and takes as well as some novelty gifts and there will be a free prize door raffle.

Catalogues will be available to purchase for £3 (normally £4.95) together with my latest newsletter and booking forms for my thursday card classes.

See you there.......

Inspiring Inkin Challenge 19 (a sketch challenge)

This is my creation for the latest inspiring inkin challenge which can be found at http://www.inspiringinkinchallenges.blogspot.com/.

The main card body is basic grey cardstock, then not quite navy, bashful blue and bashful blue 1/2" stripped ribbon.

I chose to use the happy moments stamp set and used the presents stamp. I stamped this onto whisper white card using my marker pens and then onto some DP from the bella bleu range and cut out and layered onto the original stamp to give a 3d effect using dimensionals.

I used the sentiment from one of the other sale-a-bration sets (whimsical words) I love the font on this set.

My blender pens were also used for the top present together with brilliant blue ink. This ink was also brushed around the outer edge of the whisper white card using daubers.

thinking of you

I decided to be brave and use cardstock from the bold brights range on this card. As I haven't yet got any inks from this range I used Old olive, so saffron and chocolate chip.
The greens are glorious green for the base and gable green for the central panel.
I have used the funky forest stamp wheel in old olive on the whisper white card. I used the stampin' around wheel guide to get a straight edge to this.
The border punch has been used along the bottom of the gable green card and I used the piercing tool to put a hole into each scallop. I then threaded through gold elastic cord and secured at the back using sticky tape. The piercing tool and mat was also used at the top of the card to give balance.
The ribbon is 1/2"old olive grosgrain. Again bow practice!!!
I also used the trendy trees stamp set to stamp out some trees using the stamp-a-ma-jig to make sure the truck was in the correct position. These were then cut out and layered onto the card using dimensionals.
The sentiment has been stamped out using the stamp-a-ma-jig again to align and attached to the card using two brads.

Pretty purple flowers

Again I have used Pale plum and perfect plum cardstock and inks from the soft subtles range of colours.

I have used its a beautiful thing stamp set and used the stamp- a - ma-jig to layer over the second image. This tool is a must when looking to achieve this effect. I then cut out the flowers and layered them onto the central panel using my dimensionals.

I have used the paper peircing tool and mat to create a stitched look all around the card.

The sentiment is stamped onto whisper white card and layered again with dimensionals onto the oval punches. (sentiment from pocket silhouette stamp set)

I used two black brads to balance the card and a bow using elegant eggplant ribbon. (I have been practising my bows today) Kerry made them look so easy last night at her monday card class!

I used the eyelet border punch along the bottom central panel.

The sentiment inside the card comes from the whimiscal words stamp set which is yours FREE if you spend £45 or over from the current stampin'UP! catalogue.

purple flowers

I have had a lovely day just crafting....This is unusual for me as there always seems to be something else that demands my attention.

This card combines the use of the perfect plum and pale plum cardstock and inks from the soft subtles range of colours.

First of all I stamped using perfect plum ink over the main body of the pale plum cardstock. The pretty flower came from Itty Bitty Buds hostess level 2 gift. I hadn't used this set before but I think it compliments the pocket silhouette set which I have used to stamp on the scallop squares and the sentiment. The background to the sentiment is inked with pale plum ink.

I used the eyelet border punch on the central panel of perfect plum and whisper white cardstock this gives a really pretty touch to the card.

The sentiment has been stamped and then punched out using the word window punch and then layered onto the oval punches using dimensionals.

1/4" Elegant eggplant ribbon has been wrapped around the middle of the card and secured with sticky tape.

Along the top of the central panel I have used my piercing mat and tool to create three squares to balance out the overall look of the card.

I have also included a photo of the inside panel of the card which has used the Itty Bitty Buds set and a stamp-a-ma-jig.

open day make and takes

I thought I would post these two together as they show how you can use the same recipe but just change the colour combination and sentiment to get a completely different card. This is where I love stampin' UP! as they have done all the hard work and put colour combinations together for you so you know that what you choose will look lovely.

The cards have been made by cutting a sheet of whisper white card into a 4" x 4" square. (so 4" x 8" and then folded in half). I Choose chocolate chip card and ink for card one and pixie pink card and ink for card two. The central panel has come from the Tea and Crumpets DP series. As the paper is double sided the slim panel on the left of each card has come from the left overs.
The ribbon is so saffron and pretty in pink 1/2" stripped grosgrain.

I have used the dauber to ink around the edges of each card in the chosen ink and stamped the sentiment out on whisper white card. This was then punched out using the oval punch and layered onto the coloured cardstock which had been punched using the oval scallop. The sentiments came from the oval all stamp set.

I used my tombow, sticky tape and dimensionals.

I hope this shows you that you can make the most lovely cards out of a few crafting basics.

3d boxes

Hi as promised yesterday here is a photo of one of the 3d boxes I made a few days ago. These boxes require no sticking or gluing and you can make them any size you want. The box above has been made using two sheets of 12 x 12 papers (from my craft box). The top box uses the complete 12 x 12 sheet and the bottom box usess the other sheet but you need to cut it down to a 11 x 11 sheet. The rule of thumb is to make the top box either 1cm or 1" bigger then the bottom.

You then draw a line diagonally from corner to corner to find the middle and then its just a series of folds and four simple cuts. (come along to one of my classes and you will learn how to make the folds and cuts to create this box)

Once you have mastered the skill you can make lovely boxes to put presents, chocolates, and jewellery in and also add any sentiment to make it personal.

Sorry for lack of posts

A big sorry regarding the lack of posts this week. I have been so busy getting things ready for my open day next week and of course family life doesn't always run smoothly.

I was shown how to make some lovely 3d boxes yesterday so will post some photos tomorrow for you to see. I have also been getting ready some make and take packs for next saturday. Again I will post some photos tomorrow and if you like the idea you can come along and have a go. (address and times for the open day are on an earlier post).

Well that's it for tonight I am going to enjoy my takeaway and a few Vodka and cokes..........x

all those greens 2

This is the 2nd of my mum's cards. As you can see I have used all the same colours as before and just changed the sentiment. I also used the other side of the DP.
Tomorrows post will show another variation of the same stamp sets.

all those greens

My mum commissoned 3 cards similar to one of my previous posts for her friends birthdays.
This card has been made using my favourite stamp set pocket silhouettes and oval all.
I have used whisper white, certainly celery and mellow moss cardstock together with always artichoke and old olive ink.
The DP is from the tea and crumpets range.
Accessories were the oval and scallop oval punch, eyelet border punch, gold elastic, sticky tape, SNAIL and dimensionals.
You can create so many different designs by just changing small details on the card such as the sentiment, border punch and off course colours.

a few words

Sorry that there are no new cards to view today. I have been along to our inkies team meeting today and have come back with lots of questions answered and loads and LOADS of new ideas.
I talked about stampin'up! when I collected my daughter from her cheerleading session today and have the possibility of 4 new ladies to join my monthly classes WOW and without too much effort just a smile.
Later I spent time looking at stampin'ups training events and arranging childcare cover as our Reading meeting is the same day as a cheerleading competition in Nottingham.
With all the paperwork out of the way I moved onto the more creative area and have decided on the make and takes for the 30th January. (just waiting for my UPS man to arrive with my new papers and then I can make some samples and post).
Just off too relax now with a drink........X

Down to business

I have been busy over the last few days trying to confirm a venue to hold regular monthly workshops for people to attend. They will come away with two make and takes, inspiration, new friends and the chance to take a little "ME TIME" our lives are so busy and we tend to put ourselves at the bottom of the list.

Well ladies and gentlemen the venue is now confirmed to be at St Johns the Evangelist Church, in Churchdown on normally the 3rd thursday of each month. (starting in Feb)

I will be holding a open day on the 30th January between 10 and 1pm for you to come along and find out more details.

I am so excited......

Play Time

Firstly I apologise for the quality of the above. I have tried to show all the details of the flowers but it doesn't do the finish product justice. Jo and I stamped out the flower using whisper white ink and then used a dauber to rub in the stampin pastels. Once the base colour was on we choose a colour to blend with that, then left us with a two tone effect. Around the edges we used the whisper white pastel. BUT we still hadn't finished we then took another stamp ffrom the set and added it, using the stamp-a-ma-jig and black stazon ink.
My challenge from jo is to now use these flowers in a card making project.
The stamps used above came from the greenhouse garden set. We used an assortment of pastel colours and a dauber.

The present on the side was stamped using my stampin' write markers and a blender pen (new for me as I haven't used before).

Thank You from my Friend Jo

I wanted to share this card with you. It was made by my friend Jo who is very creative and knows me well. We are having a craft evening tonight at my house so I will post our efforts tomorrow for you to see.

chalkboard techniques idea 2

Snow put paid to work today as my youngest was yet again on a "snow day" so whilst looking after her and friend for the morning I decided to try my hand at another chalkboard card. I love the way the black stands out against the range of purples and lilac. I have used that pocket silhouette stamp set again (I love it). The technique was the same as yesterday's post I have just used different inks and cardstock. For a change I stamped the central whisper white panel using the jumbo stamp handle.

Cardstock : Orchid opulence, Lovely Lilac, Whisper white and black.

Inks: Whisper white and Perfect plum

Pastels: Perfect plum and Old olive.

Ribbon: 1/4" Elegant eggplant

adhesives: Tombow and dimensionals

Accessories: scallop square punch, scallop border punch, jumbo stamp handle with its beautiful stamp and paper piercing tool and mat.

Inspiringinkin challenge chalkboard techniques

Hi there

I have had a go at the challenge set by the inspiringinkin team to design a project using the chalkboard technique. The set challenge can be found at http://www.inspiringinkinchallenges.blogspot.com Its the first time I have used my stampin pastels but I am quite pleased with my first attempt. I am going to have another go using some different colours but as Amanda said the colours really do pop against the dark background.

I have used Pink passion as the card base with panels of pixie pink and black. Each of the cardstock pieces have been decorated with the eyelet border punch. ( I think this gives a really pretty effect). The ribbon is called very vanilla.

I have stamped the black cardstock with whisper white ink and then used my pastels (pink passion) to colour in using a dauber. Be brave this is so simple...
The inside of the card has been lined with whisper white and then stamped with pixie pink ink as you can see in the photograph. All the stamped flowers have come from the greenhouse garden set.

Hope you like the card. I will hopefully post another creation tomorrow.

Follow your heart

Anyone who knows me, knows that purple is one of my favourite colours, so with that in mind I have made the above card. I have used Eggplant, lovely lilac and whisper white card stock. The central panel of whisper white has been stamped using the pocket silhouettes stamp set again with perfect plum and pale plum ink. The sentiment comes from whimiscal words which is yours FREE if you buy £45 pounds worth of stampin up items. I have punched out the sentiment using the square scallop punch. All the edges of the whisper white card stock have been edged with perfect plum using a dauber.

To give the card texture I have edged the eggplant cardstock with the eyelet border punch and defined the top two corners using the paper piercing tool. (the photo does not show this too clearly as the cardstock is dark).

My SNAIL, sticky strip, dimensionals and daubers have been used throughout the making of this card.

This card is so versitile as you will be able to re-create time and time again using different colours and sentiments.

All those blues!!!!

I thought a card in blue would mirror my mood today. We had a frozen washing machine yesterday that decided to pump never ending gallons of water out, whilst no-one was home. A more prepared person would have turned off the water to the machine the previous day when they realised that the water pipes had frozen. Let me tell you I learnt the hard way. Its been snowing hard here this morning and I am thinking please don't let the schools be closed tomorrow.
Well I decided to look on split coast stampers for some inspiration and found a variation of this card by ladybug 91743. I have used not quite navy, bodering blue and whisper white cardstock. The paper and ribbon were found in my old craft box. I have doted the border of the not quite navy card stock with a white gel pen. The sentiment has come from the say it with scallops stamp set and been punched out with the scallop square punch and attached with dimensionals. I have used not quite navy ink with the stamp. Simples......

Fabulous Friend

I really felt the creative juices were flowing when I started this one. My hubby was lucky that I made time to cook him some supper. I didn't want to stop.....
I have used the same cardstock as before but have slightly edged the whisper white card with so saffron ink this time and used always artichoke with the stamp sets. This time to add texture to the card I have used the scallop border punch and used the paper piercing tool to define each scallop. This tool has also been used to make a feature of each of the top corners of the card.
The stamp sets that I used for this card were pocket silhouettes and oval all. I think you will be seeing much more of these stamp sets as I try them out different designs and colours.
To bring out the so saffron ink colour I have added a strip of 1/2 " grosgrain ribbon in so saffron.
As always I have used my SNAIL, daubers and sticky strip. All of the above ingredients can be purchased from the stampin up catalogue please contact me if you would like any help in doing so.

Friend to Friend

The above card has been made using cardstock from the soft subtles range. The card base is certainly celery with mellow moss and whisper white layered on top. I have used the eyelet border punch to add some texture along the bottom and also to give definition to the central panel.
I have used the small wheel stampin around handle with the cupcakes stamp as a background on the central panel. It has been stamped using so saffron ink. The cake stamp is also in so saffron ink and has been cut out using the oval scallop punch. I have water coloured in the three cupcakes using certainly celery from the stampin write markers and a water colour brush.
The edges of all the whisper white card have been slightly marked with always artichoke ink and a dauber. The sentiment comes from the pocket silhouettes stamp set and has been cut out with the word window punch.
As always I have used my SNAIL and dimensionals. If you would like to purchase any of the materials I have used please get in touch.

Its here ready and waiting for you

Gini as promised here is a picture of your goodies waiting to be played with.

At 9.30 this morning a lovely man from UPS arrived at my door with my Stampin'up order that I placed as soon as sale-a-bration started. I have had fun sorting out my orders and looking at all the free gifts I received as a hostess. It really is worth hosting a party. I am spoilt for choice now and don't know what to do first.

I am snowed in at home like lots of other people and trying to keep the kids entertained and feed and hopefully am going to start trying out my new toys. I will show you my achievements soon.

A Final QUICK NOTE

Do you remember that plain old note pad? Well here is the revised version. I think it looks much better don't you?

I have used some 12 x 12 reversible card stock for the main part and some blue ribbon to hold the notepad closed. To add some texture to the card I have layered two flowers designed by the ladies at Bee Crafy near Evesham. The flowers have been held together by a small black brad.

The sentiment is from the stampin up set called A beautiful thing.

Let me know what you think..........

A quick note...

At the moment this is a plain old jotter pad. I have a few ideas to make a transformation, come back and see what happens.

JUST a candle?

I picked up this candle whilst in town today and thought I can do something special with this for a friends birthday in January 2010. Come back and see what I have done................