A colouring class and a thank you card

Well I don't want to bore you (I'm plenty bored with it for both of us) but my broadband has gone again. Something obviously happens on a Saturday night/Sunday morning that sets our broadband profile back to something around dial up speed. If anyone else has had this problem and knows a fix then pleeease let me know and we'll try and explain it to the BT engineers when they next call around (they'll be going on my xmas card list soon, we're seeing that much of them). This is driving DH and me just crazy. I can't manage these days without an internet connection. I really think that BT should be funding all these extra trips to coffee houses that I'm having to make.

Enough of that now though.

Last weekend I attended a craft class. I love delivering classes and sharing tips and techniques with others but it was also great to sit back and soak up the knowledge of someone else for a couple of hours. This was a colouring class using alcohol based markers (Copics and Promarkers) given by the lovely Jo. I turned one of the images I made on the night into a thank you card for her and used the MojoMonday sketch as my layout:

Jo should have received the card by now so I think I'm safe to post it. We used a variety of stamps in the class that were all non-SU but I've still been able to combine with my SU stash to create the rest of the card:

Recipe

Stamp set: Circle of Friendship

Textured Cardstock: Green Galore, Real Red, Orchid Opulence

DSP: Kaleidoscope

Ink: Basic Grey, Orchid Opulence

Punches: 1" Circle, 1-1/4" Circle

Non-SU: White card, Nestabilities, Copics, Sugar Nellie stamp

I coloured the image with Copics and then the rest is matting and layering.

Well I hope your weekend is going better than mine. Enjoy the rest of it.

Sara xx

February inspiration challenge at In Love With Stamping

Our inspiration challenge over at In Love With Stamping this month is this image of recycled silk cushions:

The top left cushion reminded me of the distressed button flowers I've seen on my many travels around blogland. I decided to push beyond my comfort zone and add them to the mix (I don't tend to do shabby or distressed).

Recipe

Stamp sets: Sincere Salutations (sentiment), Circle Circus, Seeing Spots, Circle of Friendship, Whimsy

Cardstock: Real Red, Only Orange, Yoyo Yellow, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White

DSP: Pink Flamingo

Ink: Versamark, Only Orange, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise

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

Designer Buttons: Playground

Other: Cutter Kit

I used Versamark ink and various stamps (as listed in the recipe) to watermark the yellow, orange and red layers. The button flowers were made by punching varying sizes of circle from Tempting Turquoise card and Pink Flamingo DSP, then distressing the edges with the distressing tool on the Cutter Kit. These were layered up (off centre) and a button added on top using a glue dot. The sentiment was made by stamping Birthday Wishes, then masking it and stamping the largest Circle Circus over the top. This was punched out with the 1-3/4" Circle punch, the edges distressed and sponged gently with Real Red ink. The scallop layer behind it uses the Scallop Edge punch, snipped and curved.

I'm still not taken with distressing. Maybe bright colours and distressing just don't work together or maybe I'm missing an important step. If you know where I'm going wrong then please leave me a comment to point me in the right direction.

Hope to see your own entries to the challenge in the ILWS Gallery.

Sara xx

A sketch challenge at Stamp With Us and news of the online class

I loved your entries to our last Stamp With Us challenge. The colour inspiration wasn't amongst my favourites ... until now. The results with that colour combo were stunning.

This next fortnight's challenge is a sketch and this is a great one that I'm sure I'll reuse again in the future:

I can't stop using my new (and free!) Sale-a-bration stamps but I've used just one of them as an accent today instead of making it the focal point:

Recipe

Stamp sets: On a Pedestal, Circle of Friendship, Vintage Labels (SAB)

Cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White

DSP: Spiced Cider, Tea Party

Ink: Regal Rose, Creamy Caramel, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Old Olive

Punches: Scallop Circle, 1" Circle

Other: Dazzling Diamonds, Soft Subtles Brads, Circle Fire Rhinestone Brads, Antique Brass Jumbo Eyelets, Mat Pack, Piercing Tool

The cake is "iced" with Dazzling Diamonds. Can you believe, I think this is its first time out since the Christmas cards, lol. I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to make sure the cake sat in the middle of the stand and the cherry sat on the top. The vintage label was stamped and punched with the scallop circle punch. I snipped between each scallop and shaped them for some extra dimension.

If you haven't been over to SWU in a week or so then you may have missed the announcement that the next Stamp With Us online class will start on Sunday 31 January. These classes are jam packed with tutorials and tips from the team and inspiration from both the team and participants alike. I'm looking forward to meeting up with new and existing friends and hope to see you there.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Sara xx

Congratulations for an engagement for the Stamp With Us challenge

Our challenge this week on Stamp With Us is the theme Congratulations. I've made this card as an engagement card.

Recipe

Stamp sets: Cheers to You, Circle of Friendship

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Blush Blossom

Ink: Versamark

SU Markers: Blush Blossom

Other: Gold EP, Dazzling Diamonds, Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon

Punches: 1", 1-1/4", 1-3/8" circle

The champagne glasses from the Cheers to You were stamped onto Very Vanilla card in Versamark and heat embossed with gold embossing powder. I then coloured the "champagne" with Blush Blossom marker to add a bit of shade to the liquid. Because I didn't want a full on layer of glitter I spread a little Tombow onto some acetate, then used a brush to dilute it with a little water and paint the mixture onto the glasses. Dazzling Diamonds was sprinkled over and allowed to dry. The circles were punched and lined up. The centre circle frame was made by punching the 1-1/4" circle from Blush Blossom card then centred the aperture and punched with the 1-3/8" circle. 

Now I'd like to introduce you to the new addition to our family - Bess.

She's a rescue dog found on the streets of Leeds. She's about 3 years old, a small Staffordshire Bull Terrier and likes a lot of fussing and loving. Perfect for us.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sara xx

A flowery thank you card in amethyst and chocolate

Another thank you card today (you'll be fed up with thank you's by the end of the week, lol). 

For this one I used the sketch over at Sketch Saturday:

For the colour scheme I actually got my inspiration from a car dealership we drove past last week. It had promotional flags flying and I thought "ooh, Almost Amethyst and Chocolate Chip, that's a nice combination". Hmm, perhaps crafting has taken over my life, lol.

Recipe

Stamp Sets: Bloomin' with Beauty, Circle of Friendship

Cardstock: Almost Amethyst, Lavender Lace, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

DSP: Tea Party

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Stampin' Write Markers

Narrow grosgrain ribbon: Chocolate Chip

Rhinestone Brads: Circle Ice

Punches: Scallop Edge, Scallop Circle, Boho Blossoms

Other: Nesties

The central image is "watercoloured" with Markers. All the punched flowers were snipped between petals and the petals were then shaped around a crafter's needle.

I'm sure this won't be the last time I use this colour combo.

Sara xx

Birthday card and mini cupcake box for my SIL - Happy Birthday Zoe

Today's my sister-in-law's birthday and I made this little card and gift set for her. The card is CASEd from the lovely Monica. The box is from the Stamp With Us on-line class. Apologies - I forgot to photograph the card separately before sealing it in the envelope but I think you can still see it fairly clearly in the photo above.

Recipe

Stamp set: Crazy for Cupcakes, Circle of Friendship, Sincere Salutations

Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip

DSP: Sweet Always

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Rose Red, Stampin' Write Markers

Ribbon: Rose Red double-stitched grosgrain

Punches: 1" circle, 1-1/4" circle, 1-3/8" circle

The top thread of the ribbon was pulled to create the canopy.

Here's the inside of the card:

The balloon was paper pieced.

And now the box:

Recipe

Stamp set: Crazy for Cupcakes, Oval All

Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White

DSP: Sweet Always

Ink: Rose Red, Stampin' Write Markers

Ribbon: Regal Rose wide grosgrain

Punches: Scallop square, 1" circle, Scallop oval

Other: Waxed paper, label, mini muffins

The box was made following the Stamp With Us instructions and then decorated.

Here's what's inside:

Shop bought mini muffins/cupcakes I'm afraid. Bit too busy crafting to be baking as well. I lined the inside of the box using waxed paper and put my own hand-made seal over it. I stamped the sentiment from Oval All onto a printer label and punched it out. It's difficult to peel the label from the backing so I scored the backing lightly with a craft knife to get the backing off.

Yummy!

Have a great weekend.

Sara xx

Birthday cupcake card for a male relative

I made this card for my Mum to send to my cousin for his birthday and chose the colours to meet a colour combination challenge over at In Love With Stamping. Not a colour combo I would have gone for but the Pumpkin Pie livens it up in just the right way.

Recipe

Stamp set: Crazy for Cupcakes, Circle of Friendship

Cardstock: Brocade Blue, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White

Ink: Black stazon, Chocolate Chip, Stampin' Write Markers

Punches: 1" circle, 1-1/4" circle, 1-5/8" circle

Other: Crafters toolkit

I stamped the image in Black stazon so that the image wouldn't bleed as I coloured and shaded it with the markers. The dinky cupcake on top of the birthday message is the top one from the stack in the image, stamped again, coloured and cut out individually. The Pumpkin Pie mat was paper pierced.

Sara xx

A tongue in cheek birthday card for a beloved boss

When I sat down to make a card for my old boss (as in previous rather than aging, though he's over 50 and that's as much as I'm saying heehee), I knew that I wanted to use one of the new Golden Oldies stamps from the Mini. These are a bit cheeky though and to soften the blow I decided to use it on the inside.

Recipe

Stamp set: Golden Oldies

Cardstock: Very Vanilla

Ink: Basic Grey

Watercolour crayons: Soft Subtles

Other: Aqua Painters

For the outside I thought I'd stick with the theme of cards as I know he enjoys a game of poker with friends. Sorry but I did need to use a veriety of stamps from different sets to get this look.

Recipe

Stamp Sets: Paisley, Circle of Friendship, Cause for Celebration, Seasonal Wishes

Cardstock: Brilliant Blue, Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Gable Green, Pixie Pink

Ink: Basic Black, Real Red, Brilliant Blue

Punches: Corner Rounder, 1" Circle

Other: Hodgepodge, copy paper

To keep the weight of card on the front to a reasonable level I stamped the Paisley onto copy paper, punched it and stuck it to the front of the "cards". I used the dinky heart from Cause for Celebration for the front playing card and the capital A for the Aces is from the Happy New Year sentiment in the Seasonal Wishes set. The stamp-a-ma-jig helped me place the elements exactly where I needed them. A black marker was used to edge the "casino chips".

Thanks for stopping by.

Sara xx

Stamp With Us challenge card

I get to have a full day crafting today so I thought I'd take part in this challenge over at Stamp With Us. They'll be offering new challenges (usually each Sunday), rotating between Sketch, Theme, Colour and Recipe. As this is the first one they're giving us a bit longer than usual to enter, we have until midnight, Saturday 11th April. They also have a call out for crafters to join their Design Team so why not give it a go. This is the first sketch:

As soon as I saw the sketch I knew I wanted to use my background stamps. I started with a card blank of Certainly Celery. Using Perfect Plum ink I stamped the Friendly background stamp onto Pale Plum card, then matted it onto Perfect Plum card. I stamped the Paisley background stamp in Always Artichoke ink onto Certainly Celery card, then matted it onto Always Artichoke card. Certainly Celery narrow grosgrain ribbon was wrapped around the matted layers. To keep the friendship theme going, I stamped the Thinking of You sentiment from the Circle of Friendship stamp set, using Perfect Plum ink on Whisper White card. I punched this out with the 1" circle punch. This was matted onto Pale Plum card punched with the 1-1/4" circle punch. A dimensional was used to stick it to a scallop circle punched from Perfect Plum card and the whole embellishment was added over the ribbon, raised on more dimensionals.

Right, I'm off now to open my parcel of goodies from the new mini. I had to delay my order until nearer payday because I wanted so much, heehee. I'll show you what I bought tomorrow.

Have a great weekend.

Sara xx

A sandy coloured, summery birthday card

Now I know that I haven't posted as many card ideas this week as usual. Hubby and I had the week off work and we went up to Scotland for a few days to visit relatives. The modern miracles of laptop and hotel wifi made it possible to post one or two entries but I didn't take my craft warehouse (seems like, haha) with me and so it has been a bit more limited. We're back home again now so it should be back to normal service.

I made this card for my friend's little boy for his birthday. The card blank was Summer Sun. I stamped the little boy on the beach from the Summer by the Sea set using More Mustard ink (sandy coloured) on Very Vanilla card. Using More Mustard card I used the scallop edge punch along both long edges and then scored double lines top and bottom with my Paper Cutter and Paper Folder. This gave a frame for matting the image.

I stamped the Birthday Wishes sentiment from the Circle of Friendship set using More Mustard ink on Very Vanilla card again and punched out with the 1" circle punch. I punched a 1-1/4" circle from More Mustard card and a scallop circle from Summer Sun and layered these up. Finally I created a loop of Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon, stuck this to the card and added the circles over the top using dimensionals.

Now I'm off to finish tidying the house before my in-laws arrive for dinner. Regulars to my blog will know that this means transforming my craft room back into a dining room - but don't worry, I'll have it back to crafting tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by.

Sara xx

What is your favourite colour combination?

Yes - it's another pink birthday card today, a combination of Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose and Rose Red. Pink's a favourite with me so I'm afraid that you'll just have to get used to it and if you don't like it then at least it's easy enough to substitute your own favourite colour combination.

What is your favourite colour combination? Please leave me a comment to let me know and over the coming weeks I'll incorporate your suggestions into my cardmaking.

Anyhow - onto the recipe. I started with Rose Red as my card blank and stamped the flower trio from the True Friend stamp set in Rose Red ink along the edges of the card as shown. Using markers direct to the stamp I inked up the stemmed flower from the same set and stamped onto Whisper White card. This was matted onto Regal Rose and the edges of the mat were swiped with Rose Red ink. The matted flower was stuck to the card with dimensionals. I next punched an aperture in the bottom right hand corner of the card using my 1-1/4" circle punch. Using the scallop circle punch I punched a flower of Regal Rose card and created the same aperture in the same way in the centre. I paper pierced the flower with my Crafters Toolkit and stuck it to the aperture on the card. Inside I added an insert of Pretty in Pink (light enough to write on easily) with the corners rounded with the corner rounder punch. Finally I stamped the Birthday Wishes sentiment from the Circle of Friendship stamp set in Rose Red ink onto Whisper White card, punched it out with the 1" circle punch and stuck it with a dimensional through the aperture onto the inside of the card.

Looking forward to hearing your favourite colour combos.

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 sunny birthday card on a grey day using a free stamp set

Well, the good news is that I'm feeling a whole lot better today. The bad news is that means that I'll have to go back to work tomorrow. But at least it's nearly the weekend.

It's been a miserable grey day here today and so I decided to make a card in warm sunny colours to try to balance things out. I took the layout from a sketch challenge over on Splitcoaststampers.

I started with Old Olive cardstock as my base and matted it with So Saffron card and paper from the Haiku Designer Paper Series. Two more strips of a different paper from the same collection were matted onto Old Olive. 

Using the 5 petal flower from the Polka Dot Punches set (click here to found out how to get this for free) I stamped twice each with Old Olive ink onto Old Olive card and with Really Rust ink onto So Saffron card. I then used the 5 petal flower punch to punch these out. A More Mustard brad from the Earth Elements set was added to the centre of each flower and leaf set and the whole was stuck on with a dimensional. I used the Happy Birthday stamp from the Circle of Friendship stamp set with Really Rust ink on So Saffron card and the large spiral flower from the Polka Dot Punches stamp set on the same. I punched the spiral flower with the Scallop Circle punch and punched a plain scallop circle in Old Olive. The two scallop circles were rotated and matted. I punched the Happy Birthday with the 1" circle punch. The Happy Birthday was raised on a dimensional.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sara xx

A floating butterfly card and a very Happy Birthday to my mum-in-law

Today is my mother-in-law's birthday. Happy Birthday Marianne. I hope you have a great day.

I always like to do something a bit special for family and close friends and so I decided to add a bit of movement to this card by "floating" the butterfly over the top of the flower.

I used Lavender Lace as my base cardstock . Using the two little bugs from the Garden Whimsy stamp set I inked them using markers (Pixie Pink and Pink Passion) and stamped them three times onto Whisper White card. I trimmed this to a narrow border and stuck it to the back of the card. I then trimmed the same amount from the front of the card so that the border is fully visible when the card is closed. Again using markers direct onto my stamp I inked the flower from Garden Whimsy with Pixie Pink, a little Pink Passion (for the halo) and a blend of Sage Shadow and Old Olive for the leaves and stem. This image was punched with the corner rounder and matted onto Pink Passion card, also corner rounded.

For the little flower embellishment I used the Scallop Circle punch on Pink Passion card and just snipped in between each petal and shaped them a bit. I used the Birthday Wishes sentiment from the Circle of Friendship stamp set and stamped that using Pixie Pink ink on Whisper White cardstock. This was punched out with the 1" punch and matted onto Pixie Pink card punched out with the 1-1/4" punch. The combined circles were mounted onto the flower using a dimensional and the whole embellishment added to the corner of the flower image.

 The butterfly is also from the Garden Whimsy stamp set and was stamped onto Whisper White cardstock with Lavender Lace. The normally white spots were coloured in with Elegant Eggplant. After cutting out the butterfly it was stuck to a narrow strip of acetate and the rest of the acetate strip was fixed to the inside of the card with sticky strip, positioning it so that the butterfly hovers over the flower. 

Please leave me a comment to let me know what you think of it.

Keep Stampin'!

Sara xx

A patchwork birthday card - making use of paper scraps

Today's card is one that I made for Kristina Werner's Colour Challenge and also with an upcoming friend's birthday in mind.

These are the colours that Kristina set this week. Now we don't have Baja Breeze in the UK Stampin' Up! catalogue (at least not yet) and so I substituted Bordering Blue.

I've noticed so many machine stitched cards in the SU Idea Book and Catalogue and it finally inspired me to get my own sewing machine out. This is the first time it's been out since we moved into this house which is 8 or 9 years ago now (oops). And it was just like riding a bike ... well almost. I was on automatic pilot for threading the machine up and operating it but I think I may need to fine tune the tension on the zig-zag stitch :-).

I decided that making a patchwork quilt of Designer Series paper squares would be a good way to use up some of my scraps. You do know that I hoard everything don't you - even left over scraps. If they're big enough to punch Boho Blossoms out of then they're worth hanging onto *smiles*.

The base card is Bordering Blue textured cardstock cut and folded to 5" square. I used papers from Sweet Always and Old Olive Patterns and cut these to 4cm squares (a smudge over 1.5") and snail taped these to white cardstock to hold them in place while I stitched. The central square was plain Chocolate Chip cardstock to give focus to the sentiment. Using the Birthday Wishes stamp from the Circle of Friendship stamp set I stamped in Chocolate Chip ink on Bordering Blue cardstock (plain rather than textured this time), punched with the 1" circle punch and mounted using silver Hodgepodge. For those who are keen on friendship quilts, the Thinking of You - Friendship sentiment from the same stamp set would have worked really well with this (but I knew I needed a birthday card).

Having had a go at this I would love to do some more stitched cards but ...

... as I turned off the sewing machine lamp, the button went all the way in and stuck there. I'm now waiting for hubby to get home to see whether he can salvage my machine for me. Watch this space.

Thanks for dropping by.

Sara xx

Plain and simple sympathy card

This is one type of card that I don't enjoy making - I don't suppose that any of us do. If we need to send a sympathy card then it's a sad occasion. On the other hand I do want to show bereaved friends and family that we care and that we are thinking about them. One of my husband's friends just lost his father at the beginning of the week and I was quite touched when my husband asked me to make a sympathy card to give.

This did present a small problem as I don't actually have any sympathy stamps at the moment. Stampin' Up! have a several appropriate stamp sets including Always in My Thoughts and Close as a Memory, but they're still a little way down my stamp shopping list. So I had to improvise. I used the single flower from the Garden Whimsy set and coloured the stamp directly with my markers and then stamped onto Whisper White card. I inked just the Thinking of You text from Circle of Friendship (again using markers - the only way to ink something so small and detailed) and stamped that below, using my Stamp-a-ma-jig to position it correctly. I used Pale Plum for the base cardstock and matted the image onto Sage Shadow.

I just hope that I don't have need to make another one for quite a while and I hope that you don't too.

Thanks for dropping by.

Sara xx

Window variation

On Sunday I posted instructions to make a snowflake window card. You can follow along here.

This card design isn't just for christmas though. It works great for birthdays, thank yous ... basically any occasion, just by substituting different stamp sets.

For this card, instead of the snowflake, I used the circle flower from True Friend in the windows. The christmas tree was replaced with the leafy flower from the same stamp set. Finally the Holiday Hello was substituted with Birthday Wishes from the Circle of Friendship set.

I've used Regal Rose and Always Artichoke textured cardstock (this gives a real luxury feel to the card) . Inks are the same colours and also Rose Red.

Thanks for looking.

Sara xx

Christmas trio

I love a bit of bling in my crafting and so I thought I'd combine silver embossing with some hodgepodge.

I've used Whisper White, Bordering Blue and Night of Navy cardstock, Night of Navy and Versamark ink and silver embossing powder.

Stamp sets are Season of Joy for the card and the gift bag, Circle of Friendship for the hanging decoration
and Seasonal Wishes for the sentiment on the card.

I used the scallop edge punch to trim the flap on the gift bag and the scallop circle for the decoration.

The decoration has a chocolate mint sandwiched between the two scallop circles. 

I haven't quite decided who is going to get this yet but I need to start wrapping presents tonight so I guess I'd better make my mind up soon.

Keep stampin'.

Sara xx