A rose is a rose in shades of yellow

Ok so the score is one out of two so far, for my predictions of retiring stamps ... and on to the next challenge over at In Love With Stamping, which is:

Tone on tone - a light and dark tone of a colour, but your choice of colour.

I chose yellows for my Rose is a Rose card:

Recipe

Stamp sets: A Rose is a Rose, Sincere Salutations (sentiment)

Cardstock: Barely Banana, Summer Sun, Whisper White

Ink: Barely Banana, Summer Sun

Other: Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool

I started with a 5" square card blank in Barely Banana. Using the small detail flower stamp with Summer Sun ink I stamped a random pattern onto Summer Sun card to use as a background layer. The top layer of Barely Banana was paper pierced around all edges with the mat pack and faux stitching added with the fine end of a Summer Sun marker. I added the sentiment in Summer Sun ink. The base roses are stamped in Barely Banana ink onto Whisper White card and then overstamped with Summer Sun using a stamp-a-ma-jig for alignment. They were cut out and popped up on dimensionals.

... and A Rose is a Rose is retiring ... and as Meatloaf famously sang, two out of three ain't bad!

Have a great weekend.

Sara xx

A rose is a rose birthday card

Another training day done! My brain is still pretty fried with accounting ratios but I head back home tomorrow evening and I'm looking forward to a weekend with DH and Bess and lots of time for crafting to chill out after all the studying ;-)

For now here's a quick card that only needs limited supplies (I stamped it at the weekend and then brought it with me to finish and assemble).

Recipe

Stamp sets: A Rose is a Rose, Sincere Salutations

Cardstock: Rose Red, Regal Rose, Whisper White

Ink: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose

Double Stitched Ribbon: Regal Rose

Other: Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool

Using my stamp-a-ma-jig I stamped the rose using the 2-step stamping method to get the variation in shading and then cut it out. The small flower in the corner was then stamped in the same way and then balanced with the sentiment in the opposite corner. I used my paper piercing tool and mat pack to add the decoration and then assembled all the layers. The ribbon is tucked behind the Regal Rose layer so that the ends are secured out of sight rather than ending on the inside of the card.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sara xx

A ribbon and rose card and news of Sunday's blog hop

A quick post before I set off travelling back home today. I'll be glad to get back to DH, Bess and all my crafting stash - I'm having serious withdrawal symptoms, had to buy a craft mag yesterday just to get me by, lol.

I only realised a day or so ago that I never got round to sharing the other card that I made for my entry to the ILWS Design Team. The first one was the wedding anniversary card shown here, that was created to fit the challenge of embossing. The second challenge I opted for, was to use five ribbons on a card, they could be all the same or all different. I decided to keep some of them the same so as not to make the card too busy.

Recipe

Stamp sets: A Rose is a Rose, Fresh Cuts (sentiment)

Cardstock: Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White

DSP: Tea Party

Ink: Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Always Artichoke

Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon: Certainly Celery

Wide Grosgrain Ribbon: Old Olive

Other: Hodge Podge

The roses and leaves were stamped onto Whisper White in co-ordinating colours using my stamp-a-ma-jig to get them aligned. They were then cut out and popped up on dimensionals on the Tea Party DSP. The ribbons were layered up with a Hodgepodge sentiment at the bottom and a lush bow at the top for balance.

Not sure whether you noticed the news on the top right hand side menu but some crafting pals and I are having a blog hop this Sunday especially to showcase all the Sale-a-bration stamps for you. There'll be plenty of inspiration for how to get the most from these free, limited edition stamp sets, so make a note to set aside some "me" time and come back for a good browse.

Off to get my train now.

Sara xx

A recipe challenge using roses for Stamp With Us

I should have posted this yesterday but I was still in Harrogate at the Crime Writers Festival. It's been a brilliant weekend. On Saturday evening we had Lee Child (of the Jack Reacher novels) speaking and yesterday it was the creators of the Wire (DH's favourite TV series).

Anyway back now to real life. The challenge set at Stamp With Us this week is to use:

2 patterned papers

1 ribbon

1 piece of hardware

This was my take on the challenge:

Recipe

Stamp sets: A Rose is a Rose, Fresh Cuts

Cardstock: So Saffron, Almost Amethyst, Whisper White

DSP: Tea Party

Ink: Almost Amethyst, Lavender Lace, Certainly Celery, Mellow Moss

Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon: Certainly Celery

Other: Hodgepodge, Crafter's Toolkit

Non-SU: Nesties

The roses and leaves use two step stamping which works best with a stamp-a-ma-jig to get the positioning spot on. The larger surface area stamps are stamped first (with Almost Amethyst or Certainly Celery depending on whether flower or leaf), then the detail stamp is used over the top (with Lavender Lace or Mellow Moss). I used the Fresh Cuts set just for the sentiment, which fits in the oval hodgepodge perfectly.

For those of you who like to play along you'll be pleased and relieved to know that Mr Linky appears to be working again (which should also make it easier for me to get to look at all your creations).

Have fun.

Sara xx

Chocolate roses with a pink bow

Well that's been another busy and fun few days. I went with my Mum and a friend to see Brief Encounter at the theatre on Wednesday. Not at all what I expected but so enjoyable. There were some musical numbers, some comedy and a brilliant mix of cinema and theatre, with actors walking through the projection screen "into" the film. Then last night was a barbecue and demonstration of belly dancing. And no, I didn't get up and have a go - I'm a complete wuss.

Bess is continuing to settle in. She likes strawberries, lol. She saw me picking some from our garden so she dived in and ate one straight off the plant - she figures she likes it. Not sure how many we'll get now between Bess, the birds and the slugs. Oh well, back to the supermarket.

Today's card is a fairly quick one to make. I really enjoy the challenge of very involved cards, those requiring a lot of colouring or engineering but sometimes you need something a little more straightforward - especially if a birthday creeps up on you. Anyone else have that happen? I check my diary and know at least a fortnight ahead that I need a card. The next thing I know it needs to be posted tomorrow or even today!! How does that happen?

Recipe

Stamp sets: A Rose is a Rose, Oval All

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Whisper White

DSP: Chocolate Chip

Ink: Versamark, Basic Black

SU Markers: Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Yoyo Yellow

Wide Grosgrain Ribbon: Regal Rose

Punches: Large Oval, Scallop Oval

Other: Clear EP

I stamped the large outline rose from the set in Versamark on the card blank and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. A strip of stripey DSP was added across the bottom of the card and the join was covered over with the ribbon. The sentiment was stamped, coloured, matted and popped on with a dimensional.

Wishing you all a restful and sunny weekend.

Sara xx

Coming up roses for a trio of challenges - DT Call

Since I had my A Rose is a Rose stamp set out yesterday I thought I'd continue with it and try following the example of one of my stamping heroes - Kate. She takes a trio of challenges and uses the same stamp set and colours to make all three cards. I don't think I've quite got the hang of it yet and probably made it more difficult for myself by opting for challenges that aren't all based on sketches but I'm sure I'll get better with practice.

I started by stamping out a sheet of various size roses and leaves. These were plenty for the three cards I've done and there are still a few more left over ready for last minute cards or tags.

Recipe 

Stamp set: A Rose is a Rose

Card: Whisper White

Ink: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, Old Olive

The first challenge was a sketch one over at Sketch Saturday

And my card ...

Recipe

Roses (as above)

Stamp Set: Sincere Salutations

Cardstock: Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White

DSP: Sweet Always

Ink: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose

Taffeta ribbon: Pretty in Pink

Punches: Scallop edge

Others: Cuttlebug embossing folder, Cuttlebug label die

The next challenge was an Inspirations and Themes one set by the same Kate over at In Love With Stamping. This was the photo used as inspiration:

And this is my card...

Recipe

Roses as above

Stamp set: Oval All

Cardstock: Regal Rose, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink

DSP: Sweet Always

Ink: Regal Rose

Punches: Scallop Oval, Large Oval

Other: Crafter's toolkit

The Whisper White mat is paper pierced with faux stitching added.

The third challenge is over at the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge where the theme is shaped cards. They also have a DT call out and I'd love to be considered.

And here's my card ...

Recipe

Roses as above

Stamp set: Oval All

Cardstock: Regal Rose, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink

DSP: Sweet Always

Ink: Regal Rose

Punches: Scallop Oval, Large Oval

This is a stair step card and I got the dimensions and technique from over at Splitcoaststampers.

Hope you like them.

Sara xx

A chocolate rose card decorated with pearls from the pretties kit

The chocolate cupcake card I made earlier in the week for the Stamp With Us challenge seemed to be a bit of an easy option, design wise.  I thought I'd have another go, to show that you don't need a cupcake stamp set to create an effective card in chocolate colours.

If you remember the colour inspiration was this:

Here's the latest card I made:

Recipe (All Stampin' Up!):

Stamp set: A Rose is a Rose

Cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel

DSP: Chocolate Chip

Ink: Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Versamark

Embossing powder: Clear

Narrow grosgrain ribbon: Chocolate Chip

Other: Cream flat-back pearls from the Pretties Kit

The rose was stamped with versamark and clear embossing powder in the top right cornert. It was then stamped onto Creamy Caramel card with inks, using the stamp-a-ma-jig and decoupaged over the central strip. The pearls were added with glue dots.

And on the inside:

Recipe (All Stampin' Up!):

Stamp set: A Rose is a Rose, Sincere Salutations

Cardstock: Very Vanilla

Ink: Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip

Punches: Corner Rounder

Thanks for stopping by.

Sara xx