SWEET STAMPIN - VALENTINES

We are celebrating Valentine's Day here at Sweet Stampin this week. I decided to go with something slightly different with a Triple Fold card.    I've used a couple of Stampin Up sets for this - the sentiment on the front of the card comes from a retired set from Stampin Up called In This World. The You Complete Me comes from Clearly Besotted.  

The image of the couple is a very old SU set called Summer By The Sea.  I used the ink pads and a blender pen to colour in the images .  I've also used Timeless Textures to give a subtle background.  The lovely ribbon is very old SU.

I look forward to seeing all your entries - this is such a great theme and it's always nice to see how it is interpreted.




 

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

Even if you didn't know February was the month of love you'd soon realise it when looking around the challenge blogs.  We are all spreading the love.  Valentine's in the UK is really only about the love of a partner - a romantic love.  When we lived in Texas I was pleasantly surprised to see how it is the love of all things and cards are sent to all loved ones.  It would be nice if that did take off here in the UK  - it would make it more special, especially for those who may not be in a romantic relationship.  Saying that, my card is really for a romantic relationship.

I chose to use the old SU set Summer By The Sea - a goody and a favourite of mine.  I used some Crumb Cake card stock as the base  and embossed the image with some retired SU embossing powder in brown.  I then used an aqua brush and coloured in the images with some SU inks.  I used a stamp from High Tide to add the image of the water.  The sentiment is another old SU one - I'm not sure what set as I only have the one word.  I added the image to some gorgeous paper from Dovecraft and added a little heart and some ribbon to finish it off.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

The Paper Players PP427- Love is in the Air

Aud Sentiments - Love or Valentine Sentiment 

Craft Rocket Challenge - Valentine 

The Card Concept - Love is in the Air 

The Male Room - Love Your Men

Ellibelle's Corner - Something with Hearts





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COLOURFUL SEASONS

I received some lovely free goodies from an SU demo friend of mine Andrea Parr with some of the new colours and new foils and couldn't wait to try them out. I chose to use Colourful Seasons and the matching thinlets as I really wanted to use those intricate leaves.  

I started my card using some of the new Lovely Lipstick as my base cardstock and I used some Versamark to add the sentiment Thinking of you in the corners. 

I then used the two different leaf thinlets to cut the images out of some of the new Needlepoint Nook DSP.  The finer leaf was layered onto some of that gorgeous Grapefruit Grove Foil sheet - it gives the leaf a lovely shimmer.

I used a Stitched Framelit for the circle and stamped the branch and leaves on with Melon Mambo as I don't have the matching new ink yet.  The chair was cut out of Wood Textures DSP.  I added the little cup and some flowers in the Lovely Lipstick foil sheet.  A few pearls and the sentiment stamped and cut out with a stitched framelit finishes off the card.

I'm adding this to the following challenges - 

Just Add Ink #442 - I used their sketch for inspiration.

Global Design Project - #GDP175 - Down the Garden Path

Sunday Stamps -SSC197 - Pretty in Pink

Always Fun - Anything Goes






 

SU ONLY CHALLENGE #SUOC216 - FLOWERS

A challenge for you today from Stampin Up Only Challenge #SUOC216 which offers a world of possibilities - Flowers.

I've used a lovely retired set for my card called Nature's Perfection which I think was a Sale-A-Bration item back in 2017.   I inked up the big flowers in Pear Pizazz and the buds in Rich Razzleberry.  These were colour in with a blender pen just picking up the ink from the image stamped.  I used some stitched framelit dies for the sentiment in some retired  Coffee Break Series DSP.

The butterfly comes from the same set.  What I loved was I found out my retired Butterfly Punch fit this butterfly perfectly!  I inked it in Fresh Fig and Creamy Caramel and added some Wink of Stella and some tiny pink pearls.  The ribbon behind is also retired and is the Rich Razzleberry Stitched-Edge.

As you may know I am no longer an SU demonstrator which allows me to still use and show off all our retired goodies.  My Facebook Group The Joy of Sets celebrates all things SU both current and retired as well as other favourite stamps companies so if you need extra motivation and inspiration why not come and join us.

I look forward to seeing all your lovely Flower cards this week.


 

ADDICTED TO CAS - BIRDS #152

The challenge over at Addicted to Cas #152 this week is birds.  I had just received this lovely little stamp set from Clearly Besotted with these super cute bird images on and just had to ink them up.  The set is called You're So Tweet II.

I started with a background stamp using SU's Winter Woods and those lovely birch trees inked in Early Espresso.  I then used some dimensionals to add an extra layer of white card stock as a frame.  The little birds were stamped in SU Pacific Point.  I then used a Spectrum Noir pen to colour them in - the pen picks up the ink but adds a shimmer to it as you colour them.  The sentiment is from the same set.  I used a circle punch to punch out the birds.  A few shiny embellishments finish the card.  



 

JOY OF SETS TIC TAC TOE CHALLENGE - GRID NO 2 - #JOSTTT002

We are on to month two for our Joy of Sets Tic Tac Toe challenge - we had a great response to our first ever challenge. This month's grid has been chosen by Andrea Parr of Crafty Little Things blog - with a nod to Valentine's Day I think.

I chose to do Heart, Pink, Lace.


I started my card by using a piece of Stampin Up card stock and using a retired hearts embossing folder direct to the card.  I then used the Pearlised Doily as a mask and sponged the image on to the card.  The backing paper is from My Mind's Eye.  The little bunny is from Reverse Confetti and was something I won in a challenge from them.  I used SU inks and a blender pen to colour her in.  I've cut out the same paper for her bows and added some sparkle with a Spectrum Noir glitter pen.  A touch of lace and some embellishments finish her off.

I'm looking forward to seeing all the different interpretations of this fabulous grid.



 

SPARKLES CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE - POINSETTIA

This proved a tricky challenge for me this month at Sparkles Christmas Challenge as I actually found I don't have any stamps with a poinsettia on it. Hunting through all my stamps I came across an old Stampin Up set Season of Joy which thankfully had one in it.  Saved!

I've used an old SU embossing folder with holly on it for the background in white.  The poinsettia was inked and fussy cut out twice and layered on top of each other - with some added yellow enamel dots to represent the stamens.  I added some extra holly leaves behind them and used the stitched framelits for  the sentiment which comes from the same set.  A little heart and some Spectrum Noir glitter pen gives the card some sparkle!

I think it might be an idea for next year to hunt out a different type of poinsettia flower to play with.  I look forward to seeing all your entries and I may get some inspiration of what stamp to get.






 

HIGH TIDE AND TIMELESS TEXTURES - GDP174

I'm joining in with the Global Design Project this week with a card made with SU High Tide.



I inked the white card stock with Bermuda Bay using Timeless Textures - such a versatile set.  I used some retired DSP Naturally Eclectic as the background for the oval and for the strip of paper underneath.  The lighthouse was inked in Bermuda Bay and Island Indigo - with Crumb Cake, Pool Party, Night of Navy and Crushed Curry for the remainder of the inks for the scene.

A touch of rainbow ribbon and some Wink of Stella finishes off the card.  The sentiment is from another retired set Yay You - I use this set a lot for its fab  sentiments.  Over at my Facebook group The Joy of Sets we champion all things Stampin Up both current and retired so you will often find me using retired sets.  



 

MAD CAT LADY

I'm known as a bit of a mad cat lady- as well as having three of my own I also volunteer for our local Cats Protection and have two cats in pens in my gardens waiting for their forever homes. It's very cold here in the UK at the moment but the cats are all tucked up with heaters which is more than I can say for poor hubby who is working out in this cold.  One of the little stocking gifts he got me for Christmas was a sign saying I was normal three cats ago!  

So why am I going on about cats?  It's because I'm joining in with Retro Rubber's Challenge today which is Valentines with Ribbons and I've chosen to use an old set from Clearly Besotted which came out in 2017 which is called Fluffy Furball. It has such lovely cute cat images but it really came into its own when I used the sentiment also from Clearly Besotted which has such great sayings in the set Say It's Love.

I used a piece of Bo Bunny paper for the background and sponged the edges as well as the edges of the cardstock.  I used a heart stitched framelit for the shame and used some SU colours to colour in the little kitty.  A touch of burlap ribbon and some embellishments finished off this cute little card.




 

BUSY TUESDAY!

My blog today is like buses - wait for a while and all three come at once! Three posts in one day!  As well as the challenges for the Design Team I'm on I wanted to join in with Just Add Ink's before it closes later today. 

I took my inspiration from their picture and used soft colours on my images.

I love these hares and the flowers - they were from a set I unearthed when I recently had a re-organisation of my craft room - sadly I don't have the make but the set also includes a fox and a bird.  They have a folk art look to them I think.  I've used all Stampin Up colours and some retired SU Washi Tape.  I've suddenly re-found the love of Washi and seem to be using it a lot lately. The sentiment is from the same stamp set.

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS - IC307 - ATC'S

We have this gorgeous imagery for our challenge this week at Hand Stamped Sentiments

I was making some ATC's for my Facebook Group Joy of Sets where we are doing an ATC swap and decided they were perfect for this challenge - it also makes a nice change to see something other than a card. I've used a lot of old stamps from Stampin Up and Clearly Besotted as well as some I've no idea where they came from.  #usewhatyouhave I think is the new buzz word around the crafting world.  I kept the colours to pinks and purples as purple isn't a colour I usually use.

In case you are not familiar with ATC's - it stands for Artist Trading Cards and they are quite a phenomenon with people swapping and keeping them for years. I first started making them about 15 years ago.  They are small in stature but big in art and impression.  They are only 2.5" x 3.5" and the challenge is to make art out of something that small.  They can be addictive though.

I look forward to seeing what you all make this week.



      

TRY STAMPIN ON TUESDAY - #TSOT393 - SKETCH WITH OPTION OF TINY THINGS

We have a Sketch for you this week at TSOT with the added option of Tiny Things.

I liked the idea of using tiny things and had these cute little penguins from Clearly Besotted from their Penguin Planner set. I chose to use all the little penguins who looked as though they were giving something.  There are 20 little penguins in the set to choose from.

I cut the squares out with an old Creative Memories square punch I had and used some SU DSP and cardstock to provide the layers.  The little banner is also from Clearly Besotted and comes with a matching die cut.  The little pearls are were ones I had in my stash.  #usewhatyouhave 


 

MONDAY'S MUSINGS

It's a very chilly Monday morning here in the UK - but the sun is shining and it's so much nicer than grey wet days.  I've been busy over the weekend re-siting my craft from from an upstairs room to a downstairs room.  It took both days over the weekend to get it all sorted - and quite stressful really.  The scary thing is my house is on the market for sale - I have no idea how long it will take to get ready for a house move if just moving my crafting stuff took two days-Gulp!

Anyway one good thing about having a sort out is the things you find which for me was a stamp set I'd never inked - I can't even remember where I got it and it hasn't got a name on it but it's such a lovely set that I thought I'd have a play.  It has main images of a bird, hare and a fox and I chose to use the bird for my card.

I'm playing along with The Paper Players PP426 and using their sketch.



I used some Stampin Up Card stock for my base and the papers are from Kaisercraft Take Note.  The bird was coloured in with SU In-Colours from 2016 I think - they weren't my favourite colours but they do look quite good on this bird.  I used some Spectrum Noir over parts of the bird to give it a bit of sparkle.  I'm going to be having another play with this set.

 

SWEET STAMPIN - HAIL TO BURNS NIGHT

A lovely theme for our Sweet Stampin challenge this week - Hail to Burns Night. Well, my maiden name was Wilson and my paternal grandfather was Scottish so this should have been easy for me?  Nope!  Trawling through all my old stamp sets there wasn't one I had with a Scottish connection - Welsh yes but not Scottish - so I started to think outside the box.

One of the die cuts I got from a local little shop at Christmas had this gorgeous Stag in it.  I decided to use some of the lovely tartan paper from Festive Chalkboard paper pad to layer behind the stag.

I layered it onto some Night of Navy card stock from SU and added a sentiment at the top and an extra piece of the tartan paper at the bottom with a banner.  The Happy Birthday is from Clearly Besotted and the sentiment on the banner is from SU Feather Together.   I have a person in mind that this card is going to and it will suit him down to the ground.

I look forward to seeing your take on this theme.  Thanks for popping by and leaving a comment - I love to hear from you.



 

RETRO RUBBER - BLACK AND WHITE - #RRCB102

I'm playing along with Retro Rubber today - their challenge is Black and White 





It just so happens that on my Facebook Group The Joy of Sets I have set up a Technique Challenge album and our first challenge was Black and White.  I have used an old Stampin Up set here called In this World and have used the image of the grid and the butterfly.

I don't actually have any black card stock in my stash so I improvised by adding a white layer and adding some Washi Tape at the top and the bottom.  The butterflies were cut with an old SU punch out of some Designer Series Paper which has black on it and I've added a few black embellishments.  The sentiment was one from my stash of stamps.  I thought this looked rather a sombre card.  I don't often use black so this really took me out of my comfort zone.

I'm also adding this into a new challenge I've found called Little Red Wagon which is asking for Washi Tape.

 

SUOC CHALLENGE - BIRTHDAYS

Our challenge this week at Stampin Up Only challenge is birthdays.  On my Facebook Group The Joy of Sets we have a birthday group - members add their names and addresses and look forward to gorgeous hand made cards from people they only have 'met' on line and who could be from any  part of the world - our members hail from the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand as well as many other parts of Europe and the rest of the world.  There is nothing more exciting than seeing a card pop through your door.  We also have a general RAK (Random Act of Kindness) group so you could be lucky and receive lots of cards.

So why am I telling you all this -mainly because I send out birthday cards for the group and with postage costs in the UK more expensive if the card has embellishments on it I'm learning ways to make one layer cards for posting.

My card today has used Dandelion Wishes - it's nice to put the Christmas stamps away for a while and rediscover old favourites.  With one layer in mind I masked off part of my white card stock.  I inked it up with Soft Suede and an old SU colour Really Rust using a sponge.  I then added one of the stamps from Timeless Textures - the little dot ones in Soft Suede.  The Dandelions were inked in Rich Razzleberry as well as the sentiment which is from Beautiful You.  Some enamel dots were added to the centre of the dandelions - I don't think these will cause too much problems with the post.  A touch of Wink of Stella on the ends of the dandelions gives the card a bit of sparkle.

I look forward to seeing all your ideas for Birthdays and seeing what sets you have used.  


 

JOY OF SETS BLOG HOP - EASEL FOLD CARD

Happy New Year everyone and welcome to a new Blog Hop from Joy of Sets members for 2019.  For those of you that don't know Joy of Sets - it is a facebook group I set up in 2017 when  I was a Stampin Up Demonstrator to be able to showcase retired stamps as well as current stamps from the SU range.  I am no longer a Demonstrator but the group is for all who love Stampin Up and as we have grown we have included a lot of other stamp companies that we love to ink.  If you would like to join the Facebook Group click on the logo above.

Our Blog Hop has been organised this month by Andrea Parr who has taken over from me and made the Blog Hop her own baby.  And what a great job she has done with lots of lovely inspiration for you all.

Her theme this month was Easel Fold card with a slight difference of using a free product.  I used some stamps I got free with a magazine.

My card is an Easel Box card which was inspired by someone on You Tube who didn't give her name or her blog which is a shame.  I used Stampin Up Soft Sky for the base card stock and some retired DSP Naturally Eclectic.  I love the colours in these papers.

 The box was made first with its little drawer so you can add some goodies  I've used a retired Antique Brad from SU for the drawer handle.  The ribbon is some retired SU.

The card is then made and clued to the top of the box - the stamps were free from a craft magazine and were small enough to use on this little box.  The buttons help to weigh it down so it stays and the little button above the Happy Birthday acts as the stop for the easel card.

For more inspiration for easel cards pop along to Andrea Parr next.

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