MALE CARDS

I've been playing with my new Cardio stamp sets again - such great stamps that allow you to make a scene but I don't have enough of them yet. However, I chose just one from a set called Garden Hosedown for my card for two challenges - Watercooler Wednesday #WWC230 who wants male cards and Addicted to CAS #163 which had the challenge word of Heat.

I started off my sponging the background with some Tim Holtz inks - Bundled Sage, Barn Door, Worn Lipstick and Fossilized Amber.  I then stamped the BBQ with Black Momento ink and added the flames in the red and yellow inks.  The smoke stamp was inked off SU Basic Gray.  The sentiments come from Clearly Besotted.  This was then simply added to a white background to keep it CAS.



 

FLORAL ESSENCES

I've been having a play with the Floral Essence stamp set and am really loving it.  I decided to pair it with some of the new Pressed Petals DSP rather than the Perennial Essence paper.

I started by stamping the flowers on some Very Vanilla using an old SU ink Rose Red.  I'm not sure if the smaller flowers are supposed to be two stamping but that's what I did with them - stamping the larger one in Powder Pink and the smaller one inside in Rose Red.  A touch of Daffodil Delight was used for the centres and I added an old Dazzling Glitter dot in yellow for the centre of the main flower.  

I layered up the DSP and used a framelit from Colourful Seasons to add the detail at the bottom.  The leaves were embossed onto Wild Wasabi with white embossing powder.  All the leaves and flowers have to be fussy cut as there aren't any framelits with this set.  I added a touch of Old Olive twine at the top.  I embossed the beautiful sentiment also in white powder and layered it all onto Wild Wasabi card stock.


I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Global Design Project - #gdp196 - Case the Designer

Inkspirational Challenge - #190 - 3 or 5 of something

Inspired By - Strawberries - I've used similar colours

Time Out Challenge 139 - Quote 

Watercooler Challenge - Feminine Anything Goes



.

SOMETHING OLD - SOMETHING NEW

My card today mixed something old with something new.  My favourite all time Christmas stamp is this lovely old image of Santa called Santa Collage from Rubber Stampede - I've had it for over 15 years and I'm always looking for new ways of adding him to a Christmas card.

I've combined it here with some of the new papers from Kaisercraft Wonderland set.  I love the colours in these papers - which is unusual for me as I'm normally a traditional red/green girl but the blues are lovely.  I've used some SU Crumb Cake for the base and for the Santa.  He was stamped with Versamark and I used some silver embossing powder.  Rounded the edges and added some Crumb Cake ink to the card and the base to distress it a little.

The papers are from Kaisercraft and I just adore those little reindeers!  I aded a Die Cut of a reindeer in silver paper and tucked it beneath the Santa.  The snowflakes inked in Crumb Cake are from SU Colourful Seasons.  The sentiment is from the Kaisercraft Wonderland pack.  


I love how this card turned out.  I'm going to add it to the following Challenges

Watercooler Wednesday - Holidays 
Cards In Envy - Favourite Holiday Card 
Sparkles Christmas Challenge - For the kid in all of us!





 

WATERCOOLER WEDNESDAY WWC139

Good morning all - its a gorgeous day here in Hampshire, England. The sun is shining and the leaves are turning.  The dogs are happy playing in the leaves and everything sounds rosy doesn't it?  

 Well the eagle-eyed among you may have noticed a slight difference to my blog and that is the omission of anything to do with Stampin' Up!  I have resigned as a Demonstrator for all sorts of reasons, none of which need to be stated here.  Suffice to say I am now free to use other stamps on my blog.  My blog has been going for over 10 years, before SU and will continue after SU.  It has become my online diary and when I look back over the years it is suprising how much has changed within blog land and even in the fashion of crafting.

My entry for the Watercooler Wednesday challenge this month is not a card - but it is something that's dear to my heart at the moment.  We all lose our mojo in life and especially in crafting.  I have made this door handle and as you can see it has two sides - one says I'm on the ball and everything in the craft room is just fabulous - the other side shows that mojo has truly left the building.

 

 The stamped image is from a Cherry Pie Art Stamp set.  I have loved these stamps for many years and, although sometimes my crafting supplies get thinned out - these never go anywhere.  And they will be making some much needed appearances in the future posts.

As I emerge from the world of SU I need to reacquaint myself with great stamps and would love any suggestions you may have.

 HAPPY CRAFTING

 

Watercooler Wednesday #WWC134 - "Anything Goes"

Our challenge this week at Watercooler Wednesday is Anything Goes. Well if you are anything like me this is the hardest challenge as there is so much to choose from - where do you begin?

I actually chose to use the Coffee Cafe stamp set for my card - this has been a difficult week for me home wise and also my heart is breaking for my old neighbourhood of Sienna Plantation in Houston, Texas where I was fortunate to live for nearly 3  years.  They have been devastated by Hurricane Harvey and, having lived through Hurricane Rita back in 2005 which was no where near as serious, I know how scary Hurricanes can be.

I really like the Designer Series Paper in this series which is known as Coffee Break  - the colours are so pretty and work well with earthy colours which are my sort of colours.  The Coffee Cup Framelits make it easy to punch out the coffee cups and also some of the little cups out of the DSP.  I've added a touch of some of our new Sheer Ribbon in Old Olive along the side and the cute little Corrugated Elements just finish this off.


I look forward to seeing all your designs - thanks for stopping by my blog and do leave a comment - I love to hear from you.

HAPPY CRAFTING

 

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge - WWC133 - Penny's All About Christmas

 Hello and welcome to another Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.  I'm so excited to share this project with you as I'm actually giving you a little sneak peak of two of our new Christmas stamp sets.  These two were my favourite out of the new catalogue which goes live on 1st September and, although they don't necessarily go together, they make a great match!  All will be revealed on 1st September.

I've used some gorgeous Night of Navy as my background cardstock and all the elements have been embossed with Silver Embossing powder.  I've used Whisper White cardstock and tore the edges to give the effect of a snowy background and just did a little light sponging around the edges at the top with the Night of Navy.  The houses are stamped using Crumb Cake and I've coloured in some of the windows with a touch of Daffodil Delight to represent lights.  The Trees are stamped with Pear Pizazz and the cute little smoke out of the chimenys is Basic Grey.  

I hope you visit the rest of the Design Team and leave a comment - we love to hear from you all.  I look forward to seeing all your lovely Christmas cards - its getting closer!!!! 


I'm going to add my card into the Addicted To Stamps challenge which this week is Anything Goes and Inkspirational Challenge - which is asking for a wave.  My torn paper looks like a snow wave! Is there such a thing?

 

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge - WWC131 - Kath's "All About Birthdays" Challenge

The ever popular Birthday Challenge is our Challenge this week over at Watercooler Wednesday.

Well, what little story can I tell you about this card - well for a start the background was a complete mistake.  You know we never make mistakes in craft world right?  They are always Embellishment Opportunities or, in my case, Background opportunities. 

I had already stamped the very gorgeous Hello stamp from Floral Statements on to a piece of Very Vanilla and it was sitting on my desk, minding its own business, ready for me to do something with it.  My mind, meanwhile, was on a different card and I had been using a lot of Emerald Envy ink and cleaning my stamps with a baby wipe.  It, and my fingers, were covered in ink - I admit I had gone a bit overboard on the ink.  I just pushed my babywipe to the side of my desk, yes I am that tidy crafter (not!)

Imagine my horror when I realised my very wet wipe had landed on my nice clean piece of Very Vanilla which I had carefully stamped.   I was just about to groan and throw it away when I said - hang on a minute I rather like the look of that background - it is as if I planned it! lol!  So the colour combination for my card was actually decided right there.

 I used some of our watercolour pencils to colour in the flowers and added some of our lovely new ribbon which is Crinkled Seam Ribbon also in Emerald Envy.  I repeated the background for the inside of the card and used Birthday Blooms for the flower and the sentiment. 

 


Phew - I hope you stayed with me through all that long explanation - just goes to show where we get our inspiration from!

I'm looking forward to seeing all your creations - do pop along to the rest of the Design Team and leave them a comment - we do love to hear from you.

The challenge over at SUO Challenge blog #180 this week is also birthdays so I'm going to add mine into their challenge also.

 

HAPPY CRAFTING

      

WATERCOOLER WEDNESDAY CHALLENGE #124 - FIONA'S MASCULINE "ANYTHING GOES" CHALLENGE

 

I'm the hostess for the challenge this week at Watercooler Wednesday and this week is a Masculine "Anything Goes" challenge.

I don't actually have any masculine stamp sets per se so had to think outside the box for this one a bit.  I chose Bookcase Builder as I love all the images in that set and lots of them could be for a masculine theme.  Here I've taken two blue coloured cardstocks for the layers and stamped the stag head from the set just randomly over Soft Sky card stock with Basic Gray ink.  A touch of red for the heart just lifts the images a bit.  I've used the Stitched Framelits for the sentiment and the sentiment comes from Colourful Seasons.  

Hubby is going to get this one one day when he's least expecting it because he does still make me smile, even after 36 years together.  Maybe I'll put it in with his lunch and embarass him at work - what do you think?

 For all the challenge details and to share your project, visit Watercooler Wednesday Challenge by clicking the image at the top of the page.  We'd love to have you join us.

 HAPPY CRAFTING

 

WETLANDS MASCULINE CARD - WATERCOOLER WEDNESDAY

 

Just before I start my post I just wanted to share our fantastic news - Stampin' Up! won Papercraft Brand and Retail of the Year for 2017 here in the UK.  What fantastic news - especially when you bear in mind we are not strictly a retailer and you can only purchase from your fabulous local Independent Demonstrator!

The challenge over at Watercooler Wednesday for this week was Anything Goes - Masculine Cards. A great challenge for me as I do Masculine Monday You Tube tutorials.

Once again I have turned to Wetlands for my masculine card.  I love this set because its not obviously a masculine set and therefore very versatile.  But I think it lends itself to masculine cards without being in your face - if you get my meaning!

I used Early Espresso cardstock for the base and the Designer Series Paper is from the gorgeous Falling in Love from the Spring/Summer catalogue.  Not probably your first thought for male cards as it has a lot of pink in it but that's the beauty of our Designer Series Paper - they are double sided and I loved the neutral background on this paper.  The opposite side is quite pink as you can see from this little picture below.

I used our Watercolour Pencils and a blender pen to colour in the goose and marker pens to stamp the ferns with the two colours.  I edged the top of the DSP and the greeting with a touch of Tangerine Tango and Rose Red ink just to give a hint of a sunset.  A touch of the Burlap Ribbon, one of my favourites and the Decorative Punch label for the sentiment completed this card.  This was all made with one stamp set!

Thank for stopping by and leaving a comment.  I love to hear from you and it does make blogging worth while.



iF YOU LOVE TO CRAFT AND LIVE IN MY AREA WHY NOT COME ALONG TO MY CLASSES.  THEY ARE HELD DURING THE DAY AND IN THE EVENINGS AND ARE GREAT FUN.  ALL THESE LADIES WERE BEGINNERS JUST A MONTH AGO AND ALL THOUGHT THEY COULDN'T CRAFT. BUT WITH STAMPIN' UP! YOU REALLY CAN.

HAPPY CRAFTING

 
 

HEY CHICK

I'd resisted this little set from Sale-A-Bration in my first set of orders.  But I've see so many cute little projects made with it that I took the plunge and its growing on me.  Funny how some stamps can do that to you.

I'm way out of my comfort zone here and am joining in with the Less is More challenge this week which is one layer with the provison Opposites Attract and Watercooler Wednesday which is sparkle CAS. 

I used Hey Chick and Jar of Love for the flowers and the bee as well as Papillon Potpourri for the butterfly.

This would make a cute Easter Card, athough I must admit I don't normally send them out.  I'd love to know how many of you still do?

I stamped the hen and the egg in Early Espresso and used Daffodil Delight and Tangerine Tango.  I used a blender pen to colour in the chick and the egg and Wink of Stella to make it all sparkle a little.

 

TOTALLY TREES - DELICATE DETAILS - SALE-A-BRATION - WATERCOOLER WEDNESDAY

This week's challenge at Watercooler Wednesday is a sketch challenge - I love these - really makes you think outside of your usual box. This is the sketch for us to work with.

 

 I turned to Totally Trees for my card.  I've done a purple card for a change - its not my normal choice of colours but my daughter has Epilepsy and purple is the colour for the charity.  This month they are holding Purple Days to raise money and awareness for this condition so I will be making a lot of purple cards for her.

I used Rich Razzleberry on the tree here and then embossed over it with our Copper Embossing powder - this is so lovely!

The edging was done with one of our Sale-A-Bration FREE sets - did I mention it is FREE if you spend £45 on one order.  This set is called Delicate Details and has some gorgeous lacey images which look so lovely when embossed - embossed here once again in the Copper Embossing Powder.

The little bird is from the Best Birds Framelits. I used a white gel pen to go over him and give him some stitching marks to match the Stitching Framelits.

SUPPLIES USED:

Cardstock - Wisteria Wonder - Blushing Bride
Inks - Perfect Plum Elegant Eggplant, Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry
Stamp Sets - Totally Trees, Delicate Details, Jar of Love (For You sentiment)
Framelits - Stitched Framelits, Birds and Blooms,  Bunch of Banner Framelits
Accessories - Copper Embossing Powder, Enamel Shapes, Sequins Trim, Very Vanilla Lace Trim, Wink of Stella (on bird) 

Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment - its great to hear from you

HAPPY CRAFTING 


 

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.




 

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
 
 
 

WETLANDS - WATERCOOLER WEDNESDAY CHALLENGE

A suitable stamp set for the Watercooler Wednesday challenge this week don't you think -  Wetlands! 

Their challenge this week is a Fall challenge, known as Autumn here in the UK, but also simple stamping - no folders, embellishments, tags.  You'll find their challenge here

I love the imagery of this Wetlands set and have seen some lovely examples of the little birds on the Serene Scenery DSP.  I've used the Goose here though - just before he flies away for the summer!  This could also be quite a good masculine card - something we are always on the hunt for.

 

WATERCOOLER BLOG HOP

 


I've really enjoyed playing along with the Watercooler Wednesday challenge every week and I'm delighted to be part of the Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop for August 2016. This is our theme and this was our brief:

THEME:  Stepping it up:  One, Two, Three!

RULES:   Project one:  The simple, “I’m in a hurry” card.  Project two:  A look at the same card, stepped up a bit, “I have a bit more time to fuss” version.  Project three:  The same card again but this time totally stepped up, “Let’s see how fancy I can make this card” version.

Pop along our blog hop and see all the great creations the team has done for you.  Click on the images below to be taken along on a fabulous creative ride.

Sorry to show you Christmas in August but I've been using some of our new stamps from our Winter Catalogue and once you start you just can't stop!! You can start purchasing from 1st September and if you're in the UK all products can be found on my Website.

So my basic card is a gatefold card which uses one of the framelits from the Botanical Builder set.  The cardstock is Old Olive.  The two images on the front were made with one of our new sets Merriest Wishes and the Merry Tags framelit dies which match.

STEP ONE - BASIC CARD

The inside of the card has been layered onto some of our This Christmas Designer Series Paper and stamped with a sentiment from the Merriest Wishes set.

 Just a little tip here but I'm sure you all know it.  When I'm using some paper as a background, and to not waste every little scrap of DSP or cardstock I cut out images or shapes from the paper before I layer it.

As you can see here - the cut out images are covered but I have some more pieces to use at a later date.

STEPPING IT UP - STEP TWO

I've added some more details to my card in Step Two.  The cut out that we used above has been cut and glued onto the reindeer and the trees to co-ordinate with the background DSP and to add some extra interest to the beautiful reindeer bauble.  I've used another stamp from the Merriest Wishes to the Glad Tidings and popped the sentiment up on a dimensional to add some extra interest.

 Here you can see the DSP cut out and glued onto the Reindeer and the Trees.

STEPPING IT UP - STEP THREE


So now I've gone all out with the added extra interest.  I've stamped another of the stamps onto the bottom of the bauble.  I've added some Warmth and Cheer Designer Washi Tape to the edges of the cardstock so that they meet in the middle and a touch of our new Candy Cane Lane Baker's Twine which is whisper white with a thread of metallic red running through it  to add some glitter along the side of the card.  There is a touch of Wink of Stella on the Reindeer and the Trees to help the bling along.

Inside I've added Ho Ho Ho which comes from the new Greetings from Santa set.
Some Basic Rhinestone on the top of the Be Joyful adds a touch more bling.

And here you can see the finished card in all its glory.

 

THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG - NOW HOP ALONG TO HEIDI'S BLOG TO SEE WHAT SHE HAS IN STORE FOR YOU

 

 

 If you're going backwards through our blog hop pop back to Marie Green's blog to see what she has done for you

IF YOU WANT TO POP BACK HOME - JUST CLICK BELOW TO BE TAKEN TO THE START OF THE BLOG

 

 HAPPY CRAFTING