National Scrapbooking Day and a limited supplies challenge at ILWS

Today is National Scrapbooking Day and we have a Limited Supplies challenge this month over at In Love With Stamping so I've combined the two for today's offering.

The Limited Supplies allowed are:

• 1 stamp set
• 3 colours cardstock
• 1 patterned paper
• something shiny

Recipe

Stamp set: One of a Kind

Cardstock: Green Galore, Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun

DSP: Night and Day Specialty

Ink: Craft Whisper White, Basic Black, Versamark

Other: Hodgepodge, Black EP

I chose a set of pix of Bess so that the limited scheme would work with them and I picked out the main colours from the photos for my paper and cardstock. Two of the photos are standard size 10cm x 15cm and I trimmed the third to be a 10cm x 10cm square to fit my layout. My 1 piece of patterned paper is a 12" x 12" sheet from the Night and Day Specialty pack and I chose this to mirror the black and white markings on Bess. Using my stamp-a-ma-jig (SAMJ) I created the corner border with Craft White ink and then stamped the large and small flowers with the same ink. These extend the pattern that already exists on the paper. The photos were matted and layered and added around the edges. The sentiment was selectively stamped by using a Basic Black marker to ink and stamp the bottom line, the stamp cleaned and then the "One" inked in the same way and positioned with the SAMJ. This was cut out and put behind the silver hodgepodge (something shiny) centred on the DSP design. Finally the large flower was stamped in Versamark on both the green and turquoise card and heat embossed with Black EP. The small flower was done the same way on Summer Sun. All were cut out and layered and adhered to the centre of the page.

Hope that you get chance to join in with some scrapbooking activities of your own today. If a 12" x 12" page seems too daunting then why not start with a 6" x 6" mini page.

My own scrapbooking efforts have made me realise that I need to get my camera out more often than just snapping my cards for this blog, lol.

Back tomorrow with another ILWS challenge.

Sara xx

A set of cards in kraft with matching punched trios

Today I've made a couple of quick cards to complete a set that I'll be giving away in my free draw at Friday night's workshop.

Recipe

Stamp sets: One of a Kind, Whimsical Words

Cardstock: Kraft, Whisper White, Green Galore/Only Orange

Ink: Green Galore/Only Orange

Punch: Boho Blossoms

The aperture is punched with the Boho Blossoms punched and then stamped and punched images matched in place underneath the apertures on the inside back of the card.

They match one I made at my Open Day:

And one of those featured on the Mini catalogue bloghop:

... to create a quick and easy set of cards that make a great gift.

Hope you like.

Sara xx

A criss cross thank you card for the SWU colour challenge

What a marvellous set of entries we had for the last Stamp With Us challenge. So many of you created fantastic christmas themed projects and I had a wonderful time browsing them all.

It's time now for another SWU colour challenge and our inspiration this time is this bag:

I'm still busy with "thank you's" and so I've used the colours to create this criss cross thank you card:

Recipe

Stamp sets: Sincere Salutations, One of a Kind

Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Summer Sun (textured), Bravo Burgundy, Whisper White

Ink: Bravo Burgundy, Summer Sun

DSP: To the Nines Speciality, Pink Flamingo

Punches: Corner Rounder, Boho Blossoms, Round Tab, Scallop Circle, 1/2" Circle

Other: Gold Brads

The To the Nines Speciality paper shouldn't really be described as a paper at all. All the SU papers are a substantial weight but this one is even thicker and slightly textured too. I love how the Summer Sun card and paper lifts the colour scheme from being too dismal for this time of year.

The insert pulls out to write a more personal message on:

Looking forward to seeing your versions of the colour challenge. Please do go take a look at the rest of the Design Team creations, they're such an inspiration.

Sara xx

A photo wallet of my little staffie Bess

I'm hoping to make some blank Christmas photo wallets for the craft market at Barnsley on the 16th September. As I haven't made one before I thought I'd have a trial run by making one to show my little puppy dog Bess.

It was a great way to use up some colours that are sometimes a little bright for cardmaking. They suit her personality and pick up the bright green of Dad's lawn and the turquoise of the toy she destroyed LOL (see photos further down).

Recipe

Stamp sets: Frames with a Flourish, Garden Whimsy, Fresh Cuts, One of a Kind

Textured Cardstock: Green Galore, Gable Green, Tempting Turquoise

Plain Cardstock: Gable Green, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White

DSP: Rainbow Sherbet

Ink: Gable Green, Tempting Turquoise

Punches: Scallop Circle, Scallop Edge, 1-3/8" Circle, Corner Rounder

The design is from Splitcoaststampers here. I've added my photos of Bess and now just need to add a little journaling to complete the Wallet.

I'm really pleased with how this turned out and it's so less daunting than a full scrapbook so hope to make a few more of these.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sara xx

A man's birthday card using the SWU sketch challenge

Our Stamp With Us challenge this week is to use this sketch:

My DT sample was very quick and simple (is there any connection there with it being a man's card, LOL - ooh wash my mouth out). The watercolouring didn't even take very long to do because I wanted to keep to just a few colours to match my DSPs. The image is from the For Father set and I can't believe that it's taken me so long to get around to using it, it's just such a sweet expression on the dog's face.

Recipe

Stamp sets: For Father, One of a Kind

Cardstock: Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Whisper White

DSP: Chocolate Chip, So Saffron

Ink: Black Stazon, Chocolate Chip, Watercolour Wonder Crayons

I used standard Whisper White cardstock for the watercolouring and used an aquapainter with the Watercolour Wonder Crayons. The key trick is to make sure that you don't get the card too wet, keep the water flow minimal and the card will stay smooth. 

I had intended to stamp the sentiment onto cardstock and put behind hodgepodge hardware but I had to run off and deal with an emergency so I simply stamped it direct to card. A shame about the hodgepodge (it's about time I used some of it) but it certainly helped keep the card quick.

Please check out the cards by the rest of the Design Team, as usual there's a huge variety even though we're all working from the same sketch. I look forward to viewing and commenting on all your challenge entries this week.

A big thank you for all the wonderful comments you keep leaving. I love reading them and really appreciate the personal messages. 

Hope you're enjoying your bank holiday weekend.

Sara xx

PS. Not sure whether anyone else is having technical problems? I can't get the Stamp With Us blog to load on my laptop this morning but it does load on my iPhone (strange). Hopefully it's just a glitch at my end and you don't have the same problem. I'll edit the post to show when I get it back. (Sunday 30 Aug, 10:18)

Think it's sorted. I cleared my cache and entered the blog address from scratch and that seems to have fixed it. (Sunday 30 Aug, 10:28)

A little card and gift set in chocolate tones

I didn't get time to post or blog yesterday because we had to take Bess back to the vets and then we had to bath her. Poor little thing is now on antibiotics and a special shampoo to try to clear up a skin infection caused by all the scratching. 

Anyhow, I decided to pop over to Mojo Monday for a little inspiration tonight. I'd already made another little Post it note holder like the one last week (details here) and wanted to make a card to go with it. This is the Mojo sketch design this week.

And here's my card and note holder:

Recipe

Stamp sets: Sincere Salutations, One of a Kind

Cardstock: So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Close to Cocoa, More Mustard

DSP: Tea Party, Tea & Crumpets

Striped Grosgrain Ribbon: So Saffron

Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon: Chocolate Chip

Punches: Scallop Circle, 1-3/8" Circle, 1-1/4" Circle, 1" Circle, Boho Blossoms, Scallop Edge

Other: Crafter's Toolkit, Bind-it-all

The card is simply punched, matted and layered. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Sara xx

Starting my mini holiday with another pink card

Yippee. A mini holiday. I'm on leave now until Tuesday when I go back to work and then have a stamp class in the evening. We'll be using the Summer by the Sea set (see some previous examples here) and there are still a couple of places left so please contact me if you're in the S36 area and would like to come along.

I thought I'd blog early today as I'm going to meet one of my downlines for a coffee mid-morning and then hubby and I are out for a fancy meal tonight. What a great start to the holiday *beaming smile on face*.

This card is one that I actually started quite a while ago. I asked my blog readers what their favourite colour combos were and said that I'd incorporate them into my cardmaking (- bet they thought I'd completely forgotten). Heather said hers was pink and so I started to put together some pink elements ... then I got side tracked. But I didn't forget and so today I finished off the first one. Heather hun (when you get back online) today's card was made with you in mind.

I started with the main panel on the front of the card and stamped the large flower from the One of a Kind set in Regal Rose ink on Whisper White card. Corners were punched with the corner rounder. After stamping the flower trio from the same set with Pretty in Pink ink on Whisper White card I punched them out with the Boho Blossoms punch and attached just the smallest ones to each corner with a pink brad from the Rich Regals collection. The centre is the dinky flower from the One of a Kind set stamped in Pretty in Pink, punched with the 1/2" circle punch and mounted with a dimensional. The whole was matted onto Rose Red card also corner rounded.

I had also previously prepared the ribbon by stamping the For You sentiment from the One of a Kind set in black Stazon onto Regal Rose, wide grosgrain ribbon.

When I came back to it this morning I decided to switch from a portrait (vertical) to a landscape (hoizontal) style card. Using my scallop edge punch I added a border of Rose Red Designer Paper to the front and to the inside of the card on opposite edges and also punched the opening edge of the card to reveal the paper. I wrapped the stamped ribbon over the front paper border. The main panel was added on dimensionals and then the card was finished by adding the Birthday Wishes sentiment from the Sincere Salutations to the inside.

Hope you like it Heather.

Sara xx

Earth Mother's Day card using gatefold design

Another very busy week for my day job - I've been busy travelling around the country, more than planned, so sorry for the lack of blog entries this week. I've just made my Mother-in-law's Mother's Day card this morning so I thought I'd share it with you.

I've used mainly tones from the Earth Elements family and I started with a card blank of Old Olive, using a sheet of A4 card folded in a gatefold design. Each half of the card front was matted with Pumpkin Pie card and one of the Haiku Designer Series Papers. Using the Happy Mother's Day sentiment from the Occasional Greetings stamp set, I stamped with Really Rust ink onto Whisper White card. I matted this onto So Saffron card and added a faux bow of Pumpkin Pie narrow grosgrain ribbon. I call this a faux bow because it is not tied, just pieces of ribbon, wrapped and stuck. The ribbon is secured with a medium rhinestone brad from the Circle Fire collection. This was matted onto Pumpkin Pie card with dimensionals. The whole was added to the left hand front of the card, again with dimensionals.

Using More Mustard ink, I stamped the trio 

of flowers from the One of a Kind stamp set onto So Saffron card and punched them out with the Boho Blossoms punch. Using just the largest flowers (and stashing the others to use elsewhere) I added brads to the centre from the Earth Elements collection. The flowers were added to opposite corners of the card with dimensionals, doubling them up for extra height on the central one.

I added an insert to the card with Very Vanilla card. The bottom of the insert was stamped with the same trio of flowers from the One of a Kind set, using So Saffron ink.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sara xx

A card in spring colours to welcome my downline

I mentioned the other day that Julie is the first Stampette to join my little team. Before dashing down to London for a few days, for the work that is my day job, I made a card to welcome Julie (I also posted her a birthday card, but that was from my dwindling stock of cards that I've already blogged). I chose Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue and Lovely Lilac for all the elements, as I think they make such a cheerful spring colour combo.

I started with Lovely Lilac card as my base and matted Certainly Celery card and Bashful Blue, Patterns Designer Series Paper onto it. Using markers I stamped the leafy flower from the True Friend stamp set onto Whisper White card. I added a medium, blue rhinestone brad from the Circle Ice collection to the centre of the flower and matted onto Lovely Lilac card. Using Certainly Celery narrow grosgrain ribbon, I tied a small bow and stuck it below the main image using a glue dot. Finally I stamped the trio of flowers from the One of a Kind stamp set three times, using Lovely Lilac ink on Lovely Lilac card. I used the Boho Blossoms punch to punch them out. I added Certainly Celery brads from the Soft Subtles collection to the centre of each of the largest flowers and attached them to the card with dimensionals (saving the other flowers for a future project - waste not, want not).

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great weekend.

Sara xx

A couple of ATCs in red and black

I'm a little late posting tonight because I've just got a new computer and so I've been copying files across from the old to the new. I tend to get a little paranoid over backups these days as I've lost files in the past - better safe than sorry now.

These are a couple of ATCs that I made for a swap a short while ago. The red one is Ruby Red card as the base. Using the dinky heart from the Cause for Celebration set (level 2 hostess gift), I stamped with Pretty in Pink ink onto Whisper White card. This was tied with Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon and topped with a Ruby Red heart stamped with the Polka Dot Punches heart and embossed with white embossing powder.

The black ATC was Basic Black card. Using the flower trio from the True Friend set I stamped with Basic Black ink onto Whisper White card. I sponged the edges to reduce the contrast a little. I also stamped the True Friend sentiment and matted that over the flower trio. To fill the final bit of (too white) space, I used the solo flower from the One of a Kind set.

All corners were punched with the corner rounder punch.

Keep stampin'

Sara xx

A yummy thank you gift in chocolate, orange and caramel

One of my colleagues at work (and a great friend) stood in for me at an important meeting when I was snowed in, so I made this little thank you for her.

The outer box was made with Chocolate Chip cardstock.  Using Chocolate Chip ink I stamped the Little Something from the free Yummy stamp set onto Only Orange card and matted it onto Creamy Caramel. The corner rounder punch was used on the matted layers. I then stamped the blossoms from the One of a Kind stamp set in Only Orange ink onto Whisper White card and punched with the Boho Blossoms punch. The inner case was made with Creamy Caramel card. 

I chose all the colours to reflect the contents of the box - Orange and Cappuccino flavour Kit Kats. 

Yummy!

Sara xx

Single sheet paper tote bag with jewelled handles

This tote bag is large enough to carry standard size cards (A6 UK size). I got the design for the bag from the fantastic Chic n' Scratch blog by Angie. 

I used Spiced Cider Designer Series Paper for the main bag. The handles are two strips of Rose Red card with thinner strips of matching Spiced Cider paper matted onto them. The Boho Blossoms flowers from the One of a Kind set were stamped in Rose Red ink onto Whisper White card and then punched out with the Boho Blossoms punch. I used the larger flowers on the outside and the small ones on the inside to reinforce the handles. Circle Fire rhinestone brads go through all layers to attach the handles to the bag.

The birthday sentiment from the Circle of Friendship stamp set was stamped in Rose Red ink onto Whisper White card and was punched out with the 1" circle punch. This was layered onto Regal Rose card punched with the 1-1/4" circle punch and then Rose Red card punched with the Scallop Circle punch. The embellishment was stuck onto the bag with a few dimensionals for depth.

Hope you like it.

Sara xx

A Very Happy New Year

I wish you all a very healthy, wealthy and happy 2009.

In case you haven't come across it, Kristina Werner has a great blog in which she sets a weekly colour challenge. You can get to it here. I like it because it uses Stampin' Up! colours (but if you don't have them then you can just go with your nearest match). Her colours this week are these:

I don't often get time to play along fully because her posting window is quite short but I'm going to make more of an effort this year.

Here's my take on this colour challenge.

I  went with the One of a Kind stamp set to make this card. With Old Olive cardstock as my base I covered it with a couple of different designer series papers also in Old Olive. Pretty in Pink ink was used to stamp the two smallest flowers of the trio and I punched these with the Boho Blossoms punch (so much easier than cutting every individual flower). They are arranged along the join of the two papers (can be useful hiding any problems you have with the join) with the alternate flowers raised on dimensionals. I stamped the large flower with Rose Red onto Whisper White card and cut and layered that onto Pretty in Pink and then Rose Red cardstock. The central flower was secured with a Fire Circle Rhinestone brad and is also raised on dimensionals. The sentiment was stamped with Old Olive and framed with Hodge Podge (but I swapped in a couple of Old Olive brads instead of the silver ones supplied).

Wow - bling brad and Hodge Podge. I'm on a roll. Told you I'd start using my stash.

Now to link this post to the challenge ...

Keep Stampin!

Sara xx

Wow - what a week!

Hope all your preparations for Christmas are going well. I've been super busy this week. I got back from holiday on Sunday night, went to the theatre with my Mum on Wednesday to see the Witches of Eastwick (very good, though rather raunchy) and then with my hubby to the see the Kings of Leon on Friday. 

Saturday was my Open House and I demonstrated a few cards as well as boxes and treat holders - thank goodness I'm catching up on my cardmaking because I'll soon have to post them off.

My mum needed a 60th birthday card to send, so here it is.

The card is for a vibrant lady and so I used Pixie Pink textured cardstock from the Bold Brights range. The birthday cake is from the Fun and Fast Notes stamp set, coloured with markers and matted on Night of Navy. The sentiment is from Garden Whimsy and is a personal favourite (it works for all sorts of occasions). The dinky flower is from One of a Kind. I die cut the numbers from Night of Navy using a Cuttlebug.

You can't see from the outside but I also added a white insert and stamped that with the birthday wishes stamp from the Circle of Friendship set. I also used that on the envelope in place of a postage stamp as I knew the card would be hand delivered.

Keep Stampin'.

Sara xx