Reminder and preview for Crop and Class next Saturday 11 June

Just a quick stop by to remind you that my regular Crop 'n' Class is next Saturday 11 June.

The "Crop" (just a name for our crafting get together, doesn't have to be scrapbooking or even cardmaking just anything crafty) is 11am - 4pm, drop by for the whole day or just a few hours. Refreshments are provided but please bring your own lunch.

The "Class" (very informal, honest) is 1.30pm - 3.30pm and for June we'll be covering the Faux Leather technique to make a masculine gift card holder (we can change the sentiment inside from Father's Day to something else if you prefer).

And we'll be using the Waterspot stamping technique to make a card.

If time permits then we'll also make another couple of cards with the same techniques (can you spot a sneak peek of one of the others, lol)? If we run out of time then we'll stamp the images and you can take the materials with you to finish at home.

Regular members - please remember to bring your technique book, no other previous materials needed this time.

For more details about the Crop 'n' Class please click here.

Hope to see you next Saturday.

Sara xx

Craft stamper magazine single layer card - my take

Finally I got around to having a go at this. The June edition of Craft Stamper featured a one layer card that used the masking technique (the July issue goes on sale today so sorry if you missed it). One of my lovely hostesses drew my attention to it when she showed me some gorgeous cards that she'd made using the same article for inspiration (thanks Emma).

And here's my version:

Recipe

Stamp set: Nature's Nest, Sincere Salutations

Cardstock: Whisper White

Ink: Black Stazon, Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery

Markers: Pacific Point, Garden Green

Tools: Sponge Daubers, Color Spritzer

The card blank is an A6 landscape of Whisper White. A portion the width of the dragonfly was masked off on the lower half of the card and the three upper dragonflies were stamped with Black Stazon. These were then stamped again onto sticky notes, cut out and used to mask the ones stamped on the card. Tempting Turquoise ink was sponged on with a dauber, building the intensity near to the masked off strip and fading it away further from. Certainly Celery ink was sponged over the top in the same manner but even more lightly. Using the Color Spritzer tool, Pacific Point and Garden Green inks were lightly spritzed over the top. After peeling away the masks the dragonfly was stamped again in the centre of the unmasked panel. The sentiment was inked with Tempting Turquoise and then a dauber was used to add a little Certainly Celery ink to the stamp before stamping direct to the front of the card.

And then because I just couldn't resist add some shimmer to the dragonfly wings (though I did hold back and confine it to the main one):

Recipe (additional)

Other: Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds

I covered the main dragonfly wings with Crystal Effects, sprinkled in some Dazzling Diamonds and left to dry.

Which version do you prefer? With glitz or without?

Have a great weekend.

Sara xx

A wedding acceptance in hot pink and black

A friend at work is getting married soon and has kindly invited DH and I to the evening reception. This was our invitation:

And so I designed the Acceptance in a similar colour combo:

Recipe

Stamp set: Wedding Sweet

Cardstock: Basic Black, Melon Mambo

Ink: Versamark

Punch: Designer Label

Satin Ribbon: Basic Black

Other: Black Embossing Powder, Brads (Neutrals)

The card blank is an A6 landscape in Basic Black. A mat of Melon Mambo was stamped with the large flower from the Wedding Sweet set in Versamark and then heat embossed with Black EP. Basic Black Satin Ribbon was wrapped around the top corner and a faux bow secured over the top with a Black Brad before adhering the layer direct to the card front. The sentiment was stamped onto Melon Mambo card with Versamark and heat embossed again with Black EP before punching out with the Designer Label. Another Designer Label was punched from Basic Black card, cut in two and adhered behind the sentiment before popping up on dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sara xx

Earn extra hostess benefits when you have a workshop in June and July

Click on this link to read the flyer.

Host a £250 workshop between 1 June–31 July 2011 and earn an EXTRA £20 in hostess rewards!

Yes that's in addition to the normal rewards that you can earn.

Live too far away? Don't want to open your house up to guests? Then why not have a virtual workshop? Share the catalogue with your friends (I'll send you a proper paper copy), collect up their orders and payment and add to your own, send them to me and you still get all the usual hostess benefits. And if the orders total more than £250 then you'll also get the extra £20 in rewards if you submit them in June or July.

Email me to book your your real or virtual workshop now.

A Spring card with lots of cake

Hope that you've had a relaxing bank holiday.

I had a great time with Jan and Joanne yesterday, planning where we'll stay for the SU! convention. We've decided on the Sequoia Lodge and travelling there by train and Eurostar. There'll be a whole bunch of us demos on the Eurostar and there have already been some comparisons of it ending up like the train to Hogwarts. Heehee, I feel sorry for the non-demos that end up on the train with us, it's likely to be a giddy journey. Don't forget that there's still time for you to join us, just take a look at joining my team here.

Jan brought me an absolutely gorgeous distressed card when she stopped by. You can see it on her blog here. I must get my distressing tools out again soon.

But for now I've gone for a more clean and simple look using an old favourite card fold that I was reminded of when browsing the SUDSOL pattern library:

Recipe

Stamp sets: Itty Bitty Bits, Cute by the Inch, Cupcakes

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, So Saffron, Very Vanilla

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Cherry Cobbler

Punches: Petal Card, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, 1/2" Circle

The card blank is a 10" x 5" base of Crumb Cake, cut and folded into a Spring Card. The front was matted with So Saffron and Cherry Cobbler. Using Chocolate Chip ink, the cupcake image from the Cute by the Inch (level 2 hostess) set, was stamped onto Very Vanilla card, cut out and adhered to the centre of a Petal Card punched from Crumb Cake card. This was folded closed and adhered to the card front. The cuppa and the cupcake from the Itty Bitty Bits set were stamped onto Very Vanilla card using Cherry Cobbler and Chocolate Chip inks. These were all then punched with the Circle from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack. Cuppas were matted onto 1/2" Circles of So Saffron card and cupcakes were matted onto 1/2" Circles of Crumb Cake card and then all were adhered direct to the card front spacing them evenly around the edges. Small triangular mats of Very Vanilla card were stamped with the Cupcakes wheel using Chocolate Chip ink before adhering them to the base of the card front.

Here's the little Petal Card opened up:

And (because I got pulled up recently for not making inserts, lol) here's the "inside":

Recipe (inside)

Stamp sets: Itty Bitty Bits, Afterthoughts

Cardstock: Very Vanilla

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Cherry Cobbler

The sentiment was stamped in Chocolate Chip ink onto Very Vanilla card and then the cuppa and the cupcakes from the Itty Bitty Bits were stamped at the points of the diamond with Cherry Cobbler and Chocolate Chip inks.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday.

Sara xx

A calming card with lavender overtones

Hope you're looking forward to the long weekend. I know I am. My team mates Jan and Joanne are coming round tomorrow morning for us to plan which hotel to stay at when we go to the Stampin' Up! Convention at Disneyland Paris in November! Woohoo!

It's not too late to join up and come along with us if you fancy a couple of days of crafty play at a great location. Just click here for more information about the benefits and goodies you get when you join my team or email me with any questions and I can either email back or give you a call and talk you through it all.

Now onto the crafting and for today's card I used a layout from the SUDSOL group that I'm a member of. They have an online chat and challenge twice a week and while I couldn't get online at the time for the chat, I just loved the layout they used for the challenge and so decided to play along after the event. Pocket Silhouettes was already out on my workspace and I remembered my MIL saying that this particular flower image from the set reminded her of lavender, which was how I got to my colour combo this time around :-)

Recipe

Stamp sets: Pocket Silhouettes, Curly Cute

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Wild Wasabi, Perfect Plum

Ink: Wild Wasabi, Perfect Plum

Punches: Scallop Oval, Large Oval, Scallop Edge Border

Embossing Folder: Perfect Polka Dots

Other: Brads (Subtles)

The card blank is an A6 Portrait of Very Vanilla card and the Thinking of You sentiment from the Curly Cute set was stamped using Perfect Plum ink direct to the card. A mat of Wild Wasabi was cut short (to reveal the sentiment), punched with the Scallop Edge Border (retain the offcut strip) and run through the Perfect Polka Dots folder on the Big Shot before adhering direct to the card front. Using the Mat Pack and Paper Piercing Tool, the Brads were set evenly spaced onto a mat of Very Vanilla card. The offcut strip of Wild Wasabi card from the Scallop Edge Border punch was adhered above the Brads. This mat was adhered direct to the card front. Using Perfect Plum and Wild Wasabi Markers I coloured the flowers direct to stamp, huffed and stamped them onto Very Vanilla card three times, then punched out with the Large Oval. These were adhered direct to three Scallop Ovals punched from Perfect Plum card and popped up on dimensionals on the card front.

Have a relaxing bank holiday weekend.

Sara xx

A few pics from Sunday's Stamptacular

As promised earlier in the week, I've got a few pix to share with you today from Sunday's Stamptacular.

We covered three full projects on the day ... plus a bonus project.

We started with the little purse portfolio (pictured below) in the morning, then after lunch Jan demonstrated a bunch of punch art animal toppers, sooo cute (there's a sneak peek on her blog here). This is everyone hard at work making them:

Then we moved on to a chocolate treat holder and matching card, before finishing with a real whirlwind demonstration of a mini brag book made from a single sheet of DSP.

This is the purse portfolio:

which opens up to reveal two inner liners filled with cards, sentiments and tags:

We made a small batch in blues:

And one in oranges:

... all using the resist and baby wipe techniques.

Back soon with another project (just as soon as I've got my breath back, heehee).

Sara xx

A birthday cake card for the Mojo Monday challenge

Much as I love my new Big Shot and all the dies and embossing folders, it's nice to do some plain stamping now and again too. I hadn't actually planned it that way, it just sort of came together when I worked on the sketch for this week's Mojo Monday challenge:

Here's my take on it:

Recipe

Stamp sets: On a Pedestal, Afterthoughts

Cardstock: Perfect Plum, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White

Ink: Rose Red

Markers: Rose Red, Perfect Plum, Pretty in Pink, Crumb Cake, Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie

DSP: Subtles Patterns Stack

Punches: Scallop Edge Border, Fancy Flower, 1-3/4" Circle, Jewelry Tag

Seam Binding Ribbon: Rose Red

Other: Subtles Brads

The card base is an A6 portrait of Perfect Plum. The birthday cake was built up by stamping the pedestal with Rose Red ink onto Whisper White card and then using markers direct to stamp together with the stamp-a-ma-jig to add the other elements. This image was matted onto Perfect Plum card and then adhered direct to mats of Pretty in Pink DSP and Whisper White card that had been punched with the Scallop Edge Border along the bottom. Rose Red ribbon was wrapped around the layers. The cherry was stamped onto Whisper White card and punched with the Jewelry Tag. A brad was used to secure a faux bow and the tag over the top of the wrapped ribbon. Two Fancy Flowers were punched from Pretty in Pink and Perfect Plum, adhered together and popped up on dimensionals on the card front. The sentiment from the Afterthoughts set was coloured with markers, stamped onto Whisper White card, punched with the 1-3/4" Circle and then popped up on dimensionals in the centre of the Fancy Flowers.

Hope you like it.

Sara xx

Quick and easy wedding invites

Just chilling out now after a great day with a great bunch of ladies (my feet are killing me - didn't realise quite how long I was stood or walking around, lol). Had a really fun day at our Stamptacular today. As always, we tried to fit too much in and ended up rushing through the last few projects, but hope everyone was pleased with the value for money! Heehee.

I'll share some pix of the Stamptacular over the next few days, but in the meantime this is a quick wedding style invite that I shared at a workshop on Monday. It's quick and easy to produce in the large batches that you need for such an occasion.

Recipe

Stamp set: Four Frames, Sincere Salutations

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Early Espresso

Ink: Early Espresso

Punch: Decorative Label

Embossing Folder: Elegant Bouquet

The card blank is an A6 of Early Espresso. The mat of Very Vanilla was run through the Big Shot with the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder before adhering it direct to the front of the card. Using Early Espresso ink, the Four Frames flourish was stamped onto Very Vanilla. Using the Stamp-a-ma-jig, the sentiment was stamped in the centre in the same ink and the complete image was punched out with the Decorative Label. Another Decorative Label was punched from Early Espresso card, cut in half horizontally and matted behind the sentiment, before popping up on dimensionals on the card front.

Inside:

Stamp set: Cornelli Lace

Cardstock: Very Vanilla

Ink: Early Espresso

The text of the invite was computer generated and printed onto Very Vanilla card. The Cornelli Lace jumbo wheel was stamped along the edge of the insert in Early Espresso ink before adhering to the inside of the card.

Hope you had a great weekend.

Sara xx

Stamptacular sneak peek and this months batch of thank yous

The little glimpse above is just a sneak peek at one of the projects that we'll be making at Sunday's Stamptacular. In the card at the front you'll see that we're using the Fine Flourish background stamp. Everyone who attends the Stamptacular will get a goodie bag that includes this fabulous stamp along with another surprise item!

It's not too late to book but I do need to hear from you very soon, so that I can make sure that we cater for enough people. Just use the Paypal button on the right to book your place (£30 for a single ticket or 10% off when you bring a friend). More details about the day are here.

Now, on to today's card and this is my batch of thank yous that are going out with everyone's order this month. I loved the faux dry embossed technique so much, that I used it for these cards and just kept swapping which of the little flowers from the Pocket Silhouettes set I used on each one, so this is one of four designs:

Recipe

Stamp set: Pocket Silhouettes

Cardstock: Basic Black, Pear Pizzazz

Ink: Basic Black, Pear Pizzazz, Craft Whisper White

Punches: Modern Label, Word Window

The card blank is a Square of Basic Black. The chosen flower was stamped in the bottom right corner of a square of Pear Pizzazz using the faux dry embossed technique and then matted direct to the card front. The same flower was stamped in Basic Black ink onto Pear Pizzazz card, matted onto Basic Black card and then popped up on the left of the card front using dimensionals. Using Basic Black ink again, the sentiment was stamped onto Pear Pizzazz card and punched out with the Word Window. This was matted direct to a Modern Label punched from Basic Black card. The right side of the sentiment was popped up on a dimensional and the left side was adhered direct to the raised image.

If you'd like a demonstration of the faux dry embossed technique then please email me.

Here's the first batch that I made:

Hope to see you at the Stamptacular on Sunday.

Sara xx