LOVELY STITCHING

I'm taking a break from the Christmas stamps - yes honest - to have a go with another new stamp set I've purchased - Lovely Stitching.  At only £15 for 16 stamps this set is a real bargain and such a versatile set.  I haven't seen many examples of it yet in blogland so I think it needs a bit of TLC.

Global Design Project this week have set a colour challenge: Click on the image to be taken to their site.




 

 This is a good challenge for me as I have all of the colours - this isn't always the case - even for an SU Demo! 

 I've used all the colours in the inks as well as the cardstock and a touch of the Flirty Flamingo in that gorgeous Ruched Ribbon.


The Thank You sentiment is from Thankful Thoughts. Quite a simple gentle card and I'm pleased with it for my first play with this set.

 

Happy Crafting

 

 

GREETINGS FROM SANTA!!!

Yes you did read that right and I know - apologies are needed for doing a Christmas card in August but I'm enjoying playing with the Christmas stamps from the new catalogue.

I'm joining in with the new CASe this Sketch challenge this week - the trouble with CAS is I always feel I should put more on the card and I know that's not what I'm supposed to do but they look so bare. 

 


That was the feeling I had with this card - I had to physically stop myself from adding some embellishments, or ribbon, or bells, or twine or anything!

The colours I've used are Pear Pizzazz and Real Red.  I used some of the stamps from the Lovely Stitching set to give this a folk style feel to the card.  The Christmas stamps are from the Greetings from Santa set.  And that's it - gulp!


 

 

WATERCOOLER WEDNESDAY - WATER

Well its been a while Bloggers since I've posted - nearly a week!  That's because I've been busy playing with my new Christmas goodies from the 2016 Winter Catalogue and I've been having lots of fun.  I've had to remind myself that its not actually Christmas for another four months, but I am a bit of a Christmas fiend.

I always fancied having a year round Christmas shop - unheard of in the UK but I was delighted to find one when I used to live in Houston!

Anyway - on to my card which is for the Watercoolers Challenge this week - and Water tricky challenge it is (oops sorry for the pun)   its one layer - clean and simple!

I don't have a lot of stamps that could fit this bill of water apart from the little fish in the Jar of Love but I didn't really want to use him.

So I've been playing with the reflection technique with some of my Christmas cards for another challenge I'm doing, revealed later in September so I thought aha, this would fit perfectly.

I've kept it clean and simple - with only the one layer matted onto cardstock.  The trees are from one of the new Christmas Sets - Christmas Magic and the wording is from another new set - Banners For Christmas but this card doesn't really look like a Christmas card I don't think.  The trees are stamped in Early Espresso and I've used Pacific Point, Night of Navy and an old SU colour Bordering Blue for the blues.

There's a touch of Wink of Stella just on the water part and a little bit on the moons just to make them sparkle. Otherwise just ink and stamps!

As this is a clean and simple card I'm also putting it in for the Less is More challenge - their challenge found here is Blue and Brown.



 PS - did you spot my banner at the top of my blog - I'm over the moon to have been asked to join the Splitcoast Stampers Creative Crew Design Team for the next four months - my favourite time of the year too.  Starting in September.... keep coming back to see some fabulous projects from all the Crew!





 

SLITCOAST STAMPERS CREATIVE CREW DESIGN TEAM - SNEAK PEAK

I was blown away a few weeks ago when I received an email from the Creative Crew Design Team on Splitcoast Stampers asking me if I would like to be part of the team from September to December!!!

I'm sure they could hear the whoops of delight in the next county!

I've been a member of Splitcoast since 2005 when I first found my love of Stampin' Up! whilst living in Houston, Texas.


 
 I stopped crafting for a few years but always continued to make Christmas cards as there is just something about them and they are now part of my Christmas Traditions.  Being asked to be part of the Holiday season for SCS was even more special.

So here are a few Sneak Peaks for you for our projects which will be shown in all their glory in September, when our new Winter Catalogue comes out.

 

 

I will be holding lots of Christmas Classes in the Hampshire area so keep an eye on my website below and see if I have some slots that will suit you.  If not drop me a line and I can arrange one that suits you.

  

 

COLOUR CHALLENGE

Just popping on quickly to add my card in for Sam Hammond's Colour Challenge this week - last week I was too late to enter my card.  You'll find her challenge here -but hurry.

Sam challenged us to use the following colours - I'm not sure if we were to use all of them but I did in the end - the colours were
Smoky Slate - Mint Macaron, Sweet Sugarplum, Pink Pirouette, Emerald Envy.

I went with the Smoky Slate for my card base and I've used a piece of acetate at the front to allow the flowers to show through the card.  The set I've used is Love & Affection - I've not used it for a while but I have the co-ordinating Floral Affection embossing folder and thought this would look nice at the top of the card stock.  This card was inspired by Julie Davison on Pinterest.

 

JAR OF LOVE

Its cold and miserable here in the UK again, the wind is blowing and it feels like winter not August.  So I've been playing with Jar of Love again and the Serene Scenery, again!!!.... to make a lovely beach scene to make me feel like its summer.

 

I've used Bermuda Bay card stock as the base covered in some of our silver which has been embossed with the dots embossing folder.  As per Watercooler's sketch I've turned my card around and added some of the wonderful Serene Scenery DSP.  The Jar tag has been cut with the framelits from the Jar of Love series.  I cut the larger jar first in Whisper White and then another in Bermuda Bay and inlaid the smaller label to cut inside the Bermuda Bay.  A wash of Pool Party on the white jar gave us the water and I cut out two of the leaves with the framelits for the fronds for the little fish to hide in.  Dazzling Diamonds was added then I cut a piece of Window Sheet and put it all together.

The top of the jar was embossed with Silver Embossing powder and I added two of our lovely ribbons in Bermuda Bay and Silver.  I added some Basic Rhinestones to the bottom.

The label was punched out with the Decorative Label punch.  The wording is also from the Jar of Love set - I covered over the For from the FOR YOU with a bit of sellotape.  Remember though to remove the ink that will stick to the tape - which I didn't do the first time!!  A little embossed silver heart from the same set finished off the label.

This card is going into hubby's lunch box tomorrow - he's had a hard time healthwise at the moment and yesterday at work fell over and hurt his back on a steel pole.  Bless him he was back at work this morning but he's tool old to be falling over.  I'd love to see his face and the rest of the guys when he sees this in his lunch box! lol!



I'm entering my little fish into some challenges.  Watercooler Wednesday as they have given us a sketch to work with.   




 Global Design Project whose theme is Nautical










 

WATERCOOLER WINNER

I'm so excited to have won the Watercooler Wednesday challenge this week - proudly displaying my badge! Here's the card that did it for me

Here's another example of a card I've done using this lovely DSP paper.  I'm not sure what kind of fold this card is - I was inspired by Dawn Griffith - as per usual.  I love watching her videos and she never fails to cheer me up.

 I've used the Thank You from the Thankful Thoughts set - and the rose on the front is from Birthday Blooms.

Still keeping on the theme of the DSP I'm including a little Tag Top Box into the challenge for Time Out Challenges.  Their theme was inspired by a photograph which gave a wealth of possibilities - I honed in on the Bermuda Bay on those tables. Click on the photo to be taken to their challenge.






I think its ok to add 3d projects instead of just cards for this challenge.  Tricky things to photograph though.  The box is made from a 6x6 piece of DPS - in this case Serene Scenery - and the SU Envelope Punch Board.  The box was inspired by Sam Hammond who has a tutorial on her blog Pootles. The sentiment is from Jar of Love.  The ribbon is grogeous Bermuda Bay Stitched Ribbon.

These little boxes would make lovely Christmas presents, with some Christmas paper - just big enough to hold some sweets or chocolates or small soaps.  Perfect for table settings.  Sorry, I'm thinking Christmas already !!!!!

SERENE SCENERY

I'm loving this 6x6 Designer Series Paper - Serene Scenery and wanted to use it again on my card for two challenges - CAS Colours and Sketches Challenge and As You See It - both have sketches.

CAS colours is the following: click on the image to be taken to their site.


 


The butterfly is from Papillon Potpourri and punched out with our large punch.  The butterfly has been coloured in with Peekaboo Peach and Sweet Sugarplum Marker Pens and a touch of Wink of Stella. The backing paper for the sentiment is another of the Serene Scenery papers and the sentiment is from Jar of Love.

As You See It Challenge also had a sketch - click on the image.


 







I've used three of the papers from the Serene Scenery pack.  The sentiments are from Thankful Thoughts.  The butterfly from Papillon Potpourri was punched out of vellum paper.  The vellum was first inked up in Crushed Curry and left to dry.  Wink of Stella ws added to the You and the Butterfly.

 

 

 YAY- BONUS TIME!   DONT FORGET OUR BONUS DAYS ARE NOW IN PROGRESS - SO IF YOU RECEIVED A BONUS VOUCHER IN JULY NOW'S THE TIME TO SPEND IT THROUGHOUT AUGUST.  JUST CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO BE TAKEN TO MY STORE.

HAPPY CRAFTING

 

'B' FOR BIRD

The challenge over at Watercooler Wednesday this week is anything to do with the letter 'B'.  Well that gives us a wealth of ideas but my first one was the beautiful bird from Picture Perfect.  He has been in his box for a while so I thought it was time I gave him some wings again.

 I used Always Artichoke for the card base and stamped some of the leaves from this set as a background with Versamark.

The paper is from the gorgeous Serene Scenery 6x6 Designer Series Paper pack.  Oh my this paper is so lovely if you haven't tried it yet I would urge you to.  It really is paper you just want to look at but I now make myself use it!

The touch of our new Burlap ribbon seems to blend in with the mood of this card.  The bird was initially stamped in Smoky Slate, then Early Epresso then Pear Pizazz and cut out and I added dimensionals to give him some movement.  A touch of Wink of Stella to make him sparkle.

I'm singing along to 10CC whilst writing this - one of my favourite bands in the 1970's yep I'm that old lol! and it's so good to hear them again!

 
 

THANKFUL THOUGHTS

Well what can I say about my card today - I think I was having a bit of a lightbulb gone out moment.

My plan was to join in with the Inkspirational challenge - they had given us a photo inspiration as shown below.  With me so far?





There was some great inspiration from the Design Team - mainly with buildings.  I don't have any building type stamps but I thought I would do something quirky like use word stamps upside down
 ...... like this.....

 Something a bit different don't you think?  Not really conventional to have the words going up!  The Thank You sentiment is from Thankful Thoughts - the flowers stamped are from Jar of Love and Birthday Blooms and the flower in the middle is from the Botanical Framelits.  I've used just three colours here - Very Vanilla on Early Espresso card stock.  Early Espresso Ink, Peekaboo Peach and Pear Pizazz.

However - my lightbulb moment came when I decided to watermark my card and suddenly the card turned round and looked like this: Conventional.Doh!

 

 
 

BIRTHDAY BLOOMS

Do you feel sometimes when a new catalogue comes out that old favourites get left behind?  That's how I felt about Birthday Blooms so I thought I would re-visit the set for Pootles Colour Challenge  004 this week.  You'll find the challenge here.  Sam had challenged us to use the following colours - So Saffron, Sweet Sugarplum and Soft Sky.  Luckily three colours I have in my set, although my So Saffron is over 10 years old but still going strong!

This was quite a tricky challenge for me - but hey that's why they are challenges!  These are not colours I would normally work with but I love how soft they are and what a delicate card they create.  The background was stamped with two of the stamps from Playful Backgrounds in So Saffron and Soft Sky.  The cardstock is So Saffron.  The flower from Birthday Blooms was stamped in Sweet Sugarplum and I used an SU Blender Pen to colour it in.  The Hello sentiment is from the Jar of Love set. I edged the Whisper White with a touch of Soft Sky just to soften the harsh white edges.

As usual all products can be purchased via my store - click on the catalogue and don't forget about our Bonus Days during the month of July.

 HAPPY CRAFTING

 

SHOOTING STAR

I've had an on/off relationship with this stamp set lol!  As I don't have the framelits to go with it I've probably not been using it to its full potential.  I've loved the bees and the hive that come with it but today I thought I'd give the star some love!

A plain and simple card for a couple of challenges.

Simply Less is More are looking for something tactile and simple so I've simply done some white embossing here.  The Celebration stamp is from one of the Project Life sets - Remember This.   These sets have great sentiments in them and I'm sure they sometimes get overlooked in the catalogue but I love them.

 The start and the other sentiment is from Shooting Star.  The cardstock is Pacific Point.

Case This Sketch have given us this sketch to work with.  Click on the sketch to go to the challenge.

 
 


 I think my card fits this challenge. 

Happy Crafting

 

 

SIMPLY SKETCHED SATURDAY CHALLENGE

Hi Everyone and welcome to another Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge.   We’re so excited to be sharing this hop with you. The products used are all available in the current Annual, or seasonal, Stampin’ Up!® Catalogues*. Simply use the buttons at the bottom of the post to keep hopping!

Our Sketch this week was chosen by Louise Thomas of Whiteflagdesigns.  What a tricky sketch this one turned out to be for me.




 Here's my take on the sketch.  I used one of the New Colours Flirty Flamingo for my card base. 

The flowers are from the Botanical Builder Framelits. I used some Designer Series Paper in Mint Macaron for the leaves.  The Hello Friend is from the Jar of Love set.

 You know when you do something and then you think oho - that's not right - that's what happened with my card and the framelit from Botanical Builder.  I used the edging one but realised I had done it the wrong way.  However, - I re-cut it on some white card stock - added that to the edge of the inside of the card and Voila - it was as if I'd planned it that way and I actually love how its turned out.  Its like a mini jigsaw puzzle!

You can see the edging strip better on the inside of the card!

 I used the Botanical Blooms stamp set with some Versamark on the outside of the card and on the inside.  The sentiment is from Birthday Blooms.

Do pop along and see the next great card at Jillian's blog or pop back to Sally's  if you're going the wrong way!

HAPPY CRAFTING