Stars for a man's card for the Mojo Monday challenge

Oh dear - well there was certainly a lot of shouting at the TV on Sunday. And now that England have gone out I'm still not free and clear of all the football. DH is just as keen to watch all the other games. Ah well, more time for crafting at least.

Last night I had a go at the MojoMonday challenge:

Showing unusual patience for me, lol, I waited until this morning to take a pic so that I wouldn't go smudging the Crystal Effects. I liked the colour combo of Soft Suede and Tempting Turquoise that I used on Sunday so decided to stick with it for my square take on the sketch:

Recipe

Stamp set: In the Stars

Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Soft Suede, Whisper White

Ink: Soft Suede, Tempting Turquoise, Stampin' Pastels

DSP: Autumn Meadows

Punch: Large Star

Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon: Soft Suede

Other: Dazzling Diamonds, Crystal Effects

Non-SU: Circle die-cuts

I sponged the DSP around the edges with Soft Suede. The stars and the sentiment were stamped with Soft Suede onto Whisper White card and matted onto Soft Suede. They were then chalked with a combination of Taken with Teal and Tempting Turquoise Stampin' Pastels to just soft the white a little. The sentiment star was stamped with Tempting Turquoise onto Whisper White and punched out with the Large Star. I used the narrow nib of the Tombow to draw around the edges of the star and then applied Dazzling Diamonds. When that had dried I then applied a generous layer of Crystal Effects. I think next time I'll try heat setting with Versamark and clear embossing powder first to see if that prevents the ink bleeding - I love the glossy effect but the text is a little too washed out for me here.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sara xx

Bright polka dot set using printed window sheets

Back again and catching up on sleep. I never seem to sleep well when I'm working away (and yet I sleep so well if I'm away on holiday - guess it's my frame of mind). Still my visit to Cardiff gave me chance to meet up again with a crafting friend from the ILWS forum and have a great evening chatting crafting - thanks Dawn!

Today I have a matching set of cards that make a great gift set when packaged up. They're ideal to keep in for a last minute gift or to sell at craft fairs or school fetes. I've put mine in a clear plastic box that I got through a recent share but you could easily make a gift bag or a sized up mini pizza box to package them in.

All the cards use the printed window sheet from the Night & Day Specialty Paper pack and I got four cards from 1 sheet with a spare strip left over. The other papers in the pack are great for monochrome cards and items or they can be transformed by brayering coloured ink over as I did here.

The set started with this card that I blogged last month. Click here for the full details.

Recipe

Stamps: I {Heart} Hearts, Tiny Tags

Cardstock: Real Red

DSP: Night & Day Specialty

Ink: Basic Black, Versamark

Punches: Full Heart, Medium Jewelry Tag

Gingham Ribbon: Red

Other: Black EP, Linen Thread

The standard A6 card blank in Real Red was wrapped with the printed Window Sheet. Again, my wrap doesn't go all the way around, just about 1cm or so around the back, secured with Sticky Strip. Red gingham ribbon was tied around the card front and wrap and stamped sentiments from the Tiny Tags set (punched with the Medium Jewelry Tag) attached with twine. I stamped the Friend heart with Versamark on Real Red card, heat embossed with Black EP and punched it with the Full Heart before sticking to the front of the Window Sheet.

Recipe

Stamps: In the Stars, Tiny Tags

Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black

DSP: Night & Day Specialty

Ink: Basic Black, Versamark

Punches: Large Star, Medium Jewelry Tag

Other: Black EP, Black Brads (Vintage), Linen Thread

This time I stamped the Tiny Tags onto Tempting Turquoise card and again punched them out with the Medium Jewelry Tag. I matted Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise (cut slightly smaller on all edges) and the Window Sheet and secured with Black Brads in each corner (this secured the Window sheet without having any glue showing) also pinning my Tiny Tags into the top left hand corner. These layers were then adhered to the front of the Tempting Turquoise card blank. The Wish for You star was stamped with Versamark on Tempting Turquoise card, heat embossed with Black EP and punched with the Large Star before sticking to the front of the Window Sheet.

Recipe

Stamps: Oval All, Tiny Tags

Cardstock: Green Galore, Basic Black

DSP: Night & Day Specialty

Ink: Basic Black, Versamark

Punches: Large Oval, Medium Jewelry Tag

Other: Black EP, Black Brads (Vintage)

The Green card is made the same way was the Turquoise one but switching Tempting Turquoise for Green Galore in all cases and using the Just for You oval stamp with the Large Oval punch.

A simple, quick and effective way to use those window sheets I think.

I'm at St Saviour's at High Green again tomorrow so may see some of you there *waves*. Don't forget to bring your Silent Night stamp set if you want to join in making some Christmas cards.

Have a great weekend.

Sara xx

Its In the Stars for the Stamp With Us challenge

Tomorrow is the start of a new Stampin' Up! offer.

Buy one of these qualifying stamp sets and get 20% off the co-ordinating punch!

• Simply Said - Full Heart punch*
• In the Stars - Large Star punch
• Flight of the Butterfly - Butterfly punch
• Say it With Scallops - Scallop Square punch
• Oval All - Scallop Oval punch

* The Full Heart punch is only available while stocks last and will not be available again until the release of the 2010-2011 catalogue. Pop over to my offers page for the more details.

Today we have a new sketch challenge for you over at Stamp With Us and this is it:

I've used the In the Stars set with the co-ordinating Large Star punch for my sample:

Recipe

Stamp set: In the Stars

Cardstock: Sage Shadow, Basic Gray

DSP: Nouveau Chic

Ink: Versamark

Punch: Large Star

Wide Striped Grosgrain Ribbon: Basic Black

Other: White EP

I stamped both the stars in Versamark on Basic Gray card and heat embossed with white EP for them to stand out. The smaller stamp uses the discounted Large Star punch. All the matted paper comes from the same Nouveau Chic set, the dark layers setting off the coloured layers. The striped ribbon is only a small scrap, it's so wide that you only need a small piece.

Please go check out all the other Design Team's wonderful creations.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Sara xx