GLOBAL DESIGN PROJECT - 072 - BEST BIRDS

I've been playing with a new set today - not new as in the Catalogues but new to me - and I've been playing with the framelits which comes with this lovely set of Best Birds.  I know this is going to be one of my favourites for a long time.

I decided to pop it into the Global Design Project 072 this week which was to CASE the designer's card.

I wanted to give this card a slightly vintage feel so I've inked the edges of the paper and the cardstock and given the bird a slightly muted colouring.

I love this burlap ribbon but do sometimes find it difficult to use but I thought it looked quite at home here on this card with the bird on top.

Here's a list of the supplies I used in making this card:

SUPPLIES

Stamp Set - Best Birds
Cardstock - Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake,
DSP - Serene Scenery
Accessories - Stitched Framelits, Basic Pearls, Best Birds Framelits, Linen Thread, Burlap Ribbon



 As usual all supplies can be purchased from me if you are in the UK and parts of Europe.



 

MASCULINE MONDAYS - YOU TUBE TUTORIALS, BOOKCASE BUILDER

Hi there - thank you for joining me on the first of my series of You Tube Tutorials on a Monday called Masculine Monday.

Each week I will be bringing you a Tutorial of a Masculine themed card - something I think we all struggle with sometimes.

This week for the video I recreated my Bookcase Centre Fold card which I recently posted on my blog.

 I think I'm on a mission to sing the praises of this versatile set as I haven't seen a lot of it used yet.  I think the images are wonderful and I love the sentiments it comes with.

Here's the video - don't forget as one of my subscribers you get the chance to win some of my projects that I have done as a Tutorial in any given month. Tomorrow's winner will be chosen and the name put up here on my blog.  Good luck and thank you so much for subscribing - its so nice to know I'm not talking to myself!

 HAPPY CRAFTING

 

POOTLERS BLOG HOP - SALE-A-BRATION - AVANT-GARDEN

Welcome and thanks for joining us on another Pootlers Blog Hop this time celebrating Sale-A-Bration 2017.

My card uses the Avant-Garden set - a wonderful set of 10 stamps with three sentiments which I know I'm going to really miss when Sale-A-Bration ends on 31st March.

I've used a retired embossing folder for the dots but you could use any folder you had to hand.  I wanted to use the dots to match up with the background dots behind the flowers.

 
 A touch of Dazzling Diamonds on the inside of the flowers adds to some sparkle and the Basic Pearls on the butterfly just lifts it.

  SUPPLIES
Cardstock - Very Vanilla, Pear Pizzazz, Crumb Cake
Inks - Pear Pizzazz, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Old Olive
Accessories - Basic Pearls, Dazzling Diamonds, Lace Trim, Bitty Butterfly Punch, 
Stampsets - Avant-Garden, Papillon Potpourri


   

 

   

An InLinkz Link-up

As usual if you are in the UK or parts of Europe you can purchase all supplies from my store - click on the link below.

There will be a video tutorial for this on my YouTube channel coming soon.

HAPPY CRAFTING


 

MEDITERRANEAN MOMENTS MEETS SWEET HOME THINLETS

How exciting - my project was chosen as one of the SplitCoast Stampers Weekly Favourites this week!!!

 

I loved this set when I first saw it - and with the watercolour pencils it was an ideal marriage.
 
I wanted to do something slightly different with it though and really wanted to get that image of the door onto our Sweet Home thinlets.  And hurrah it just about fits.

The top image has been coloured in using the watercolour pencils.  The Vespa scooter was cut out and put on dimensionals so it looks as though its in front of the house.


The house on the left here was coloured in with Ink Markers - it makes it a lot more vivid.  Still a work in progress I think

HERE'S THE YOUTUBE TUTORIAL FOR YOU TO HAVE A GO

 

BOOKCASE BUILDER -BEST BIRDS - WATERCOOLER WEDNESDAY CHALLENGE

The Challenge over at Watercooler Wednesday this week is a Masculine Challenge. 

I just happened to have this card made ready for my anniversary - which isn't until September but call me organised lol!

I wanted to recreate the idea of two tall bookcases, which you often see side by side so I did my card as a gate fold and stamped the wonderful images from the Bookcase Builder set.  I think this set is so versatile with the images you get and I'm still surprised you don't see a lot of it around at the moment.  I'm on a mission to give it some love! 

I used the sentiment from Best Birds for the inside of the card.


 Thanks for stopping by.




 

EASTER BOXES - GLOBAL DESIGN PROJECT #GDP071

The Challenge over at Global Design Project #GDP071 this week is a 3D challenge.

Which is very handy for me as I'm in the process of organising some Video Tutorials for Feb featuring Easter Boxes.

Here's one of the first which is the very popular Origami Box.  This is not my invention - I first saw it on Dawn Griffiths' blog and she in turn saw it on Elaine's blog and so the internet twirls round!

For my twist on it - I've used some of our lovely DSP Stacks paper which has some gorgeous papers suitable for Spring and Easter.  This colour yellow is so vibrant you can't help but think of spring and daffodils (Welsh girl see) and I think its a really cheery box.

It takes a lot of folding but once you know where you are going with it its so easy to make and you can adjust the sizes.

I will link up the tutorial here cause its easier to see it being folded than try and describe.

For the flower on the top I punched out the same paper with the scallop punch and just cut it into a twirl.  I added some of the leaves from the Botanical Framelits, the only bit of stamping (!), and some enamel dots.

 

LIFE LOOKS BEAUTIFUL....ON YOU

I know... I've used Beautiful You again, but I have used a few other stamp sets to make this card.  

An unusual shaped card for me this time but that's just how it evolved.

Can I let you into a little secret as to how it became square - I actually used the reverse side of my pack of Serene Scenery DSP.  Its white and shiny and deserves to be used rather than thrown away - how's that for getting the most out of your products!  It has produced a lovely shimmery look to the card but does need a little bit longer to dry.

I've also added the dots from Painter's Palette and the reeds from Wetlands and the little Butterfly stamp with some Basic Pearls.  I had some of the cardstock left which I had inked so I used this to punch out the butterfly and edged it with Chocolate Chip.

I used Daffodil Delight, Rich Razzleberry and Pear Pizzazz for the inked background - rubbing the inks over the cardstock with an ink dauber.

The image of the girl was inked in Crushed Curry and just left without extra colouring.


 Craft Stamper challenge for January is Anything Goes so I'm going to add this into their challenge.

 As usual all supplies can be purchased from my store if you are in the UK or parts of Europe - just click on the logo below.

 HAPPY CRAFTING

 
 

BEAUTIFUL YOU - CAS CHALLENGE

I wonder if the love affair with this stamp set will wane.  If its not the imagery its the wonderful sentiments that come with it.

The challenge over at Addicted to CAS challenge this week is the word WISH.

I hope my card is clean and simple enough - 

I've used Whisper White as the base and Soft Suede as the layer for this card.  The image is from the Serene Scenery DSP.

I stamped the girl dancing and cut her out.  Quite easy to cut out really.  I coloured her in with the Watercolour Pencils in Pumpkin Pie and used one of our DSP stack papers in Pumpkin Pie to punch out the butterfly which is just balancing on her foot.

The Sentiment was clear embossed in Early Espresso and I added a heart enamel dot.

I hope you like my card and go and join in with this great challenge.




 

PICTURE PERFECT - AVANT-GARDEN - BEST BIRDS

Monday morning comes round again - normally I run a craft class on a Monday to keep away the Monday blues but everyone was busy today so I took myself off to do some crafting.

I thought I'd have a play with Picture Perfect as its been a while since I played with this set and I thought it would go well with the new Avant-Garden which is a FREE set during Sale-A-Bration - just in case you didn't know!

As I'm sure most of us are - I was inspired by a card I saw on Pinterest to give this card a vintage feel.

I used our Watercolour Paper on a background card of Island Indigo card stock.  I wanted the heavy feel of the watercolour paper even though I ended up not doing any watercolouring in fact.

The background used stamps from the Avant-Garden set and one from Best Birds in Pear Pizazz, Island Indigo and Crumb Cake inks.

The flowers were coloured in using our Watercolour Pencils and a touch of Wink of Stella on them afterwards.

The bird was stamped in Crumb Cake, Early Espresso and Island Indigo and then I went over him again with the third stamp in Versamark and used our Copper Embossing Powder to give him a sheen.  A touch of our Copper Metallic Thread finished off the bottom sentiment.

The challenge over at Creative Inspirations this week is flowers so I'm going to add this one to their challenge.

As usual if you are in the UK or parts of Europe all supplies can be purchased via my store - click on the logo below.

If you are in my area of Hampshire, UK why not come along to one of my crafting events and meet like minded people.  Its great fun.

If you would love to have your own crafting business and what I do why not become a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator - now is an even better time to join.  Drop me a line and we can have a chat.

HAPPY CRAFTING

 

AVANT GARDEN- CAS COLOURS AND SKETCHES

There is a colour challenge over at CAS Colours and Sketches this week.  I do like colour challenges because they really get you out of your comfort zone and make you use colours, be it inks or papers you otherwise would leave at the bottom of the pile!

I'm not a fan of Flirty Flamingo and don't often use it  - so it was nice to have to use it in this sketch.  Mind you, you have to look hard to find it on my card.  It's actually just used on the petals of the flowers, along with the Watermelon Wonder but it has come out a bit dark in the photo.

As the challenge is clean and simple I have tried to keep this as plain as I could.  I love the flowers in this Avant-Garden Sale-A-Bration set and what's not to like when it's a FREE set!

 

 

BEAUTIFUL YOU, WETLANDS, CLEAR EMBOSSING

Its a lovely day here in Hampshire - honestly this weather doesn't know what to do with itself.  At the beginning of the week it was dull and grey and we had the January blues.  Today its crisp, frost on the ground, bright blue sky and quite warm in the sun.

It was a lovely view out with the dogs this morning

 It must have been the touch of sunshine that made me want to make this card today.  Although summer is a long way off and as yet I have no holiday booked for 2017, which is quite depressing, beaches and warm weather were on my mind.

 I've used the Serene Scenery DSP for the background here.  Beautiful You stamp set and Wetlands also.  I've used Clear Embossing Powder for the girl image and all details are on the You Tube Tutorial below.

 

INKSPIRATIONAL CHALLENGE - BEST OF BIRDS

Best of Birds is a new set for me and I just love it.  I'm just waiting for my framelits to arrive to go with this set which I think will make it even more versatile.

I do love birds and their imagery, much better than insects which I just don't do.

So I was delighted to see that the challenge over at Inkspirational Challenge is Flutter.  I had already made this card for a friend's birthday soon and I think it will fit this challenge really well.

I used some of our think Watercolour White paper to colour in the bird and used our new Watercolour Pencils and an Aqua Painter.

He was first embossed in black ink and I used clear embossing powder to emboss him.  The branch was embossed with our Copper Embossing Powder.

I fussy cut him out and this will be a lot easier with the framelits when I get them.

I used some of the gorgeous Serene Scenery DSP for the background.  The sentiment was punched out with the banner punch and some enamel dots completed the card.

 All supplies can be purchased from me if you are in the UK.  Please click on the SU Logo below to be taken to my store.

 HAPPY CRAFTING

 

WATERCOOLER WEDNESDAY - SIMPLE LOVE RED ON WHITE

It's been a while since I joined in with the challenges - Christmas got in the way.  Its nice to join in though because it keeps you motivated and challenges you to do things out of your comfort zone.

Today I'm joining in with the Watercooler Wednesday who want to challenge us to use Love Red on White - in a simple form.

I've used the Bookcase Builder again because I just love the sentiment in this stamp set.

 The inks I've used are Real Red and Cherry Cobbler.  Very simple and very quick.

HAPPY CRAFTING
 
 
 

THANKFUL THOUGHTS, AVANT-GARDEN,

They say there are no mistakes in crafting, only creative opportunities.

Well, that's what happened with this card today.  I wanted to make a Thank You card and use the Thankful Thoughts stamp set.  I stamped it first in Early Espresso but it missed a bit on the stamping.  I then tried to restamp it - tricky with rubber stamps and of course it didn't work, but what it did do was create a shadow.  Which I liked.  So I re-did it and added the shadow.

I added some of the flowers from the Sale-A-Bration set Avant Garden - a FREE set if you spend £45 on either of our catalogues.  I also used some of the Botanical Builder Framelits to add a flower.

I'm not a peach lover - well not since the 1980's when I actually had it as wallpaper gulp!  But actually I think it looks quite nice against the black here and with the Early Espresso ink it gives the peach a bit more punch.

Are you a lover of Peekaboo Peach?

 HAPPY CRAFTING

 

TOTALLY TREES, LOVELY STITCHING, DANEBURY IRON AGE HILL FORT

HA! I bet that heading made you look twice - not often you see an Iron Age hill fort on a crafting blog.  But I thought I would share some pictures with you.

I'm lucky enough to live near one of the most important Iron Age Hill Forts in my area in Hampshire, UK, called Danebury.  Its a lovely place to walk my dogs and the views are wonderful.  You can see why they built their fort though thousands of years ago.  Its also a very peaceful place.

I love trees, especially Yew trees and there are some magnificent samples at Danebury. Here are my dogs around one particularly wonderful Yew Tree.














There are even wild ponies on the fort.














The Inner Ring of the Hillfort

 
  













It got me thinking of making a tree card when I got back home so I turned to Totally Trees for some inspiration.
 

I've used Island Indigo cardstock and ink and a gatefold card (I think that's what it's called) which I had left over from making some of the mice cards at Christmas.  I've added some Blooms and Bliss Designer Series Paper which looks a bit like leaves I think.

The image was stamped with Island Indigo Ink and then double stamped with the detailed image in Versamark and embossed with our goreous Copper Embossing Powder.  I've also added some of our Copper Metalic Thread around the cardstock.

If you can see I've used the square Stitched Framelit but turned it into a rectangle thanks to Dawn Griffith's instructions.

I used the Lovely Stitching for the sentiments and also embossed them in the Copper Embossing Powder.  I've used one of the Banner Framelits to cut out the smaller sentiment.  Popped onto dimensionals just left of the tree it helps to keep the card closed.

I love the look of this copper on the Island Indigo - I can see I'm going to be doing this a lot!

As always all products can be purchased from me if you are in the UK.  Just click on the logo below to be taken to my store.

 HAPPY CRAFTING

 

GLOBAL DESIGN PROJECT - SHADOW STAMPING - BEAUTIFUL YOU

The Challenge over at Global Design Project this week is a sketch.  Quite a simple straightforward sketch and sometimes these can be tricky!

We were allowed to change it round a bit so I've turned mine upside down slightly and used the Shadow Stamping Technique with the Beautiful You stamp set.  This card was all about the greys - must be the weather here in the UK.  Although the inked background for the embossing was actually Soft Sky but it turned out rather grey. She has Wink of Stella on the main image which really makes it shine.

The sentiment comes from the Love and Affection stamp set and I used the Banner Framelits to cut it out.

This technique uses Embossing resist - stamp your main image and then, using a Stamp-a-ma-Jig reposition the same image in Versamark ink.  Then simply ink over however you prefer - direct with ink and a sponge dauber or watercolouring.  You will find that the Versamarked image pops.

We will be trying this technique at class next week with my regular ladies. If you are in my area and would like to come and craft do get in touch - I hold classes regularly at my home.

 Check out my YouTube Tutorial to show how I made this card.

HAPPY CRAFTING