CUPCAKE PARTY

The Challenge over at Global Design Project here this week is the following colours

and luckily for me I just received my new Early Espresso Ink!  All my other browns were old SU colours.

I used the Cupcake Party and the Cupcake Builder punch to make this card.  The cupcakes have a touch of Dazzling Details in Silver on the cakes to make them sparkle and a touch of Wink of Stella on the icing.  Finished off with a piece of Organza Ribbon - my favourite at the moment.

GUEST BLOGGER - CAMILLE MORIARTY

Hi Everyone please join me in welcoming Camille Moriarty as a Guest Blogger on my blog today.  Camille is also a UK Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, based in a small village in Northampton.  Camille has been crafting since she was little and has been with SU for about 2 years. With a young family also she has her hands full!

Camille's card today is using the hexagonal punch.  I must admit this is not a punch I have and seeing this wonderful card I think it may have to go on my wish list. I love the colours she has used in this card and that Sentiment is also one I don't have!

It's always inspiring to see what other SU Demo's have done with the products and how we can all produce something so different.

You will find Camille's blog here - please pop over and say Hi. Here's what Camille says about her card:

Do you ever look at your craft supplies and have your mind go blank?  Or do you have a mountain of offcuts, scraps or small pieces of paper, slowly taking over your craft space?
Today's card is a great way of tackling those supplies!  All you need (in addition to your blank card, adhesives and greeting stamp) is a Hexagon Punch, two different colours of paper, and coordinating ink.

Punch out a few hexagons, arrange on your card in a similar pattern to the above picture, and stamp a greeting of your choice.  I then went on to stamp a greeting on to the inside of the card, as shown below.

I think a greeting on the inside of the card is a great finishing touch, and the Garden In Bloom stamp set does this really well.

I've been inspired by Camille's use of the punch to make this card using the scallop punches.  The papers are Designer Series Stack in Regals and Subtles - the colours used are Perfect Plum and Wild Wasabi.  The ribbon is the beautiful Organza Ribbon in Whisper White.  The stamps used are Beautiful Booms and Banner Banter.  A touch of pearls and a Wink of Stella on the flower finishes the card.

FLY THE FLAGS - BANNER BANTER

I'm flying the flags today for my daughter and her partner have just bought their first house!  At only 25 I'm so pleased to see her on the housing ladder.  So scary for people nowadays to try and buy their only place and I know she is so excited!  I thought this card would be ideal.  I used the Banner Banter set and the Hooray from Perfect Pairings.

MY WONDERFUL UPLINE - SAM HAMMOND DONALD - AKA POOTLES

A card for Sam!

My wonderful talented upline Sam Hammond Donald is celebrating her third year with Stampin' Up! today.  I'm sure most of you know her from her wonderful YouTube videos and her great Facebook page - Pootles!   What she has achieved in just three years is incredible and an inspiration to all of us who want to make our hobby into our business.

If you are not familiar with her work check out her blog here.

Congratulations Sam!

BIRTHDAY BLOOMS

A simple one layered card today which uses the beautiful rose stamp from the Birthday Blooms set and also the little dots.  I'm entering this into the Simply Less is More challenge who are looking for polka dots. You'll find their challenge here

The inks used for this card are an old SU Spectrum Stampin Pad.  It's a mixture of five inks and is an easy but effective way of adding different inks to a stamp.

The sentiment is from Perfect Pairings.  A touch of Wink of Stella on the flowers adds a touch of sparkle.


Thanks for stopping by my blog and do leave me a comment - its great to hear from my visitors.

Happy Crafting!

HONEYCOMB HAPPINESS

I do love this set but have really only used the cute little chick from it.  The Challenge over at Inspirational challenge was a tough one - an image of black, yellow, umbrellas, rain, love.

I don't have any umbrella stamps but I was inspired by one of the Design Team's cards to use yellow and black and I thought this umbrella deserved an outing.  The ink background was made by simply drawing inks from SU markers onto an acrylic block.

The heart stamp across the bottom is from Birthday Blooms. A touch of Wink of Stella on the balloon to make it pop and some rhinestones for sparkle.

You'll find the Inspirational Challenge here 

SERENE SILHOUETTES/PERFECT PAIRINGS

I've been playing with the Border Sentiment technique again - love this technique.  Think I need a few new stamps to play with though - luckily I have a new shipment on its way.  Exciting.

I'm entering this one into the CASe this sketch challenge 165 - here's the sketch and you can find the challenge blog here 

The field layering was done with three greens, Old Olive, Mossy Meadow and Always Artichoke.

The Happy Birthday was coloured over in parts with a red marker SU pen and a touch of Wink of Stella 

As usual all products are Stampin' Up and can be purchased from me direct.  The Happy Birthday comes from the Perfect Pairings set which is a Sale-A-Bration set and therefore one of the free sets if you spend over £45 - but hurry as the offer runs out 31st March 2016!


The same stamp set but used slightly differently for Addicted to CAS challenge whose word this week is Delicate.  I thought this card looked rather delicate so I'm putting it in for the challenge.  You'll find the challenge here 

Simply Sketched - Saturday Challenge

 
Hi everyone - welcome to the Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge. Thanks for stopping by my blog.

This is my first time joining in with this great group.   Our sketch challenge this month was designed by Justyna.  Here's her basic sketch for us to work with.

I've used the Serene Silhouettes for my card here - using SU markers to colour the tree in Chocolate Chip and the birds in Rose Red.

The papers are from the Designer Series Paper Rose Red, Blushing Bride and Soft Sky and the card stock is Soft Suede.

The outside of the circle was decorated with some Dazzling Diamonds and the inside of the flowers have a touch of Dazzling Details in Cherry Cobbler.  A touch of Wink of Stella on the birds finishes the card.

At first I wasn't sure if I liked this card, but its growing on me!

Check out all the other great cards on the blog hop!

Click on Previous to go back to Sally's Blog or click on Next to go on to Toni's blog.

Happy blog hopping!

PERFECT PAIRINGS/SERENE SILHOUETTES - BORDER SENTIMENT

I've just found this new technique and love it.  Known as Border Sentiment I think its great especially for cards which only want one layer.  I've added the butterfly just because I had it and its lovely but it would be equally nice without an embellishment.

Simple technique - just simply stamp your sentiment and draw a line with a ruler.  Mask this off then with some post it notes or masking paper and stamp away.  Simples!  But effective! I'm going to enter this into the Less is More challenge which is asking for views outside your window - the weather here in the UK is so lovely today I actually saw a butterfly outside my window.  Shame the rain is supposed to come just in time for Easter :(  you'll find the challenge here

I'm also adding this card into the CASology challenge here where the theme is weather.

I've used the Perfect Pairings for the sentiment and Serene Silhouettes and also some of the little flowers from Birthday Blooms.  The Kindly word has been gone over with a red marker pen and, of course, a Wink of Stella just to finish it off.

All supplies are Stampin Up and can be purchased direct on my website - www.fionawhitehead.stampinup.net

GRADUATION CARD - PERFECT PAIRINGS

I know it's a little early in the Academic calendar but I thought this was a fun card and could come in handy for lots of people over the next few months.

Its known as a Spring Card and I've turned it into a Graduation Cap - the wording from Perfect Pairings is...well... perfect for this card!

A touch of Wink of Stella on the 2016 makes it shine.

The tutorial for this card is here 

SERENE SILHOUETTES - EVENING SKY

Its been a busy couple of days in our household with birthdays and lots going on but have managed to find time to do a bit of crafting today.  I've been experimenting with paper tearing and making some sunsets.  I've also used the tree from Serene Silhouettes - I think this would make a good masculine card.  

The Birthday on the greeting has been stamped but extra colouring of the yellow used in the sunset has been edged around it just to make it pop a bit more.  

BOXES AND CARDS

Something a bit different from me today - I've been playing at box making.  There are hundreds of videos on you tube on how to make boxes like this.  This one is a lidded box and uses two pieces of card stock 6" x 6".  The base is scored all the way round at 1", the lid is scored at just fractionally under the 1" to give a nice tight fitting lid.

The base is made from Pacific Point card stock and the lid is Whisper White.

The flower stamp is from Birthday Blooms and it has been stamped in Pacific Point ink and Island Indigo.  I then used a Stampin' Up blender pen to colour in the flowers. 

As well as box making I've also been playing with the Brayer tool again.  Making a sunset style card using Serene Silhouettes.  Sorry but I've used some old SU inks here - More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip and Bravo Burgundy.  These old inks I've had since 2008 so shows you what great value SU inks are!

SERENE SILHOUETTES - SHADOW EMBOSSING

I've been inspired by Dawn at Dawn's Stamping Thoughts again to do some shadow embossing using the Serene Silhouettes.  I've used the tree here because I haven't really used it that much yet.  I love how this card turned out - the ribbon is so lovely. The shadow is done with Versamark and white embossing powder and the help of the Stamp-a-ma Jig.  A touch of pearls and some Wink of Stella finishes off the card and gives it a lovely shine. I'm entering this card into the Global Design Project No 027 the theme is thanks.  You'll find the blog here 


Here's another example but with different colours and sentiments.
The wording is from Perfect Pairings. I think it pops more with the white embossing rather than the clear embossing. I'm entering this one into the SUO challenge blog who want some Spring cards.  We very nearly had Spring here in the UK at the beginning of the week - the sun was out and was even a little bit warm - lovely blue skies.  But now its back to its usual grey.  You'll find SUO challenge blog here 

Details of the stamps are all as before but I'll pop some info on the ribbon I used - I didn't even want to throw away the small bit I cut off.  How sad is that.

Just a little tip from me but I'm sure we all do it anyway.  When I'm layering cards I always feel guilty about all that card stock at the bottom layer which isn't going to be seen so I use my punches to cut out various shapes for later use.  That way I'm not wasting precious card.

WHISPER WHITE ORGANZA RIBBON15 YARDS - £5.50

WEEKLY DEALS

Don't forget to click on the Weekly Deals page on the top of my blog and see what goodies are on offer this week.  And talking of ribbon - there is some on special for this week only

SMOKY SLATE 5/8" CHEVRON RIBBON - £4.88 instead of £6.50

HONEYCOMB HAPPINESS - SERENE SILHOUETTES

Two examples of the versatility of this little chick.

The first one is quite straight forward, some stamping and layering.

This one has been used with one of the stamps from the Serene Silhouettes stamp set.  The flower stamp was inked with SU markers and the little chick stamped and then masked so that he is in front of the flowers.  The chick was then watercolored and some extra watercoloring added around the flowers to blend it in.  The Spring sentiment is an old SU stamp. A little touch of pearls finishes the card.  All supplies can be found on my SU website.  I'm going to enter this Spring one into the Fantasy Stampers Challenge no 58 they are asking for Easter cards - you'll find them here. And also Artistic Inspirations - where Anything Goes/ Easter - you'll find them here 

CARDS AND BOXES AND SOME CHALLENGES

Two different projects from me today - one a card - one a 3d box.

The box is a self closing box - there are all sorts of youtube tutorials on how to make these - I followed Dawn from Dawn's Stamping Thoughts.net as I love to watch her and her Hi Stampers always brightens my day.  I've used the Designer Series Paper in Regals Colouring and used Island Indigo along with Crushed Curry card stock.  The Balloon is from Honeycomb Happiness and the sentiment is from Banner Banter - great for adding small sentiments to projects. This one is going toe filled with little chocolate eggs for.... Easter! I'm entering this little box into the Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge - find it here - they are looking for the use of dies or punches.

The Card has used the masking technique to make the background for the flower from the Birthday Blooms set.  I love the soft image the inks have produced here.  The wording is from Perfect Pairings.  I'm going to pop this one into the Allsorts Challenge - you'll find them here .  They are looking for Spring inspiration.

As I'm sure you know all Stampin Up products can be found on my website here.  Don't forget if you do place an order to use the hostess code shown on the side of my blog.

BIRTHDAY BLOOMS - TWO WAYS

 
Here are two cards just to show how different a stamp can look depending on its colours.

The first one I call my Yellow Rose of Texas - I  used to live near Houston, Texas for a few years and so miss those wonderful warm evenings and the noise of the cicadas!    The wording on this card is taken from the Perfect Pairings set - a free set until the end of March. I'm putting this one into the Anything Goes challenge over at Crafty Friends and the Flower Power challenge over at Stamping Sensations 

The pink rose has been embossed in pink ink then embossed in clear and watercoloured with a touch of sparkle added to the middle.  I'm entering this one into the  Alphabet Challenge Blog which is A  All about the Pink.

SERENE SILHOUETTES - INCHY CARD

I used to run an Inchy challenge blog for a few years - it is amazing what you can do with an inch square of paper and stamps and imagination.

I found a lovely example of a card on youtube and thought it was a great use for the Serene Silhouettes stamp set.  At first glance of this set you wouldn't think you could get decent images for an inch but its surprising how you can.

I used an old SU square stamp I had to make the background images in the ink but you could use a clear block stamp, ink and a bit of water from a spritzer.  The Very Vanilla card stock was scored 1/2" all round to create a frame.  The Just For You is from the Banner Banter set.

I can see I'm going to be playing with this idea a lot!

Hope you like it.

Serene Silhouettes Wood Mount Stamp Set £22

PERFECT PAIRINGS, SERENE SILHOUETTES

Less is More blog here is asking us to use Citrus in our cards today.  The colours rather than the fruit.

Not a colour I use an awful lot unless its an accent colour but I adored one of the Designer's cards Sharon from From My Craft Desk so I used her technique as my inspiration.

I've used Serene Silhouettes Stamp and Perfect Pairings for the Hooray.  The Spring is an old SU stamp - wish they'd bring those back too!

Thanks for stopping by and

Happy Crafting
Fiona

PERFECT PAIRINGS - SALE-A-BRATION SET

I've been playing with ribbon cards again.  I love this technique and this time paired it with the free set of Perfect Pairings - part of the Sale-A-Bration offers.

I've used Very Vanilla card stock and Subtles Design Series Paper.  The ribbons are just little scraps found in the bottom of my ribbon box - I'm sure we all have them.  All paper supplies and stamps can be found on my website - here 

I'm going to enter this one into this week's Global Design Project  026 where they have given us a sketch as an example.


Happy Crafting
Fiona

LUNAR HARE, ANDOVER

 CraftyStamping held its first Coffee and Crafts morning at our local establishment called the Lunar Hare in Andover.

Four ladies attended to have their first play with Stampin' Up!'s products - one lady in her 70's had never crafted before and believed she couldnt' do it.  She was a natural and made three beautiful cards.

Its a monthly occurance and the ladies all enjoyed themselves.

We played with the Honeycomb Happiness set, the Cupcake Builder Punch and the Banner Banter set.  The little chick from Honeycomb Happiness was a firm favourite - what a surprise.