A clean and simple sympathy card

Today's card is one of those difficult ones. Unfortunately I recently needed a sympathy card for a friend who lost her husband. I always wait a while after the event before sharing these cards so as not to upset or offend but I also know that ideas for this type of card are much appreciated.

Recipe

Stamp sets: Fast and Fabulous, Sentiment - Close as a Memory (retired)

Cardstock: Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White

Ink: Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive

Punches: Extra-large Tag, Large Tag

The card blank is an A6 portrait of Perfect Plum. I used Old Olive and Elegant Eggplant markers direct to stamp for the outline flowers and stamped them onto Whisper White card. Using Perfect Plum ink I overstamped with the solid flower stamp. This layer was matted onto Elegant Eggplant card and popped up on dimensionals on the card front. The sentiment was stamped with Perfect Plum and Elegant Eggplant inks onto Whisper White card using the rock and roll technique. This was trimmed to fit into the Large Tag punch and punched at either end. It was then matted onto Elegant Eggplant card punched in the same way with the Extra-large Tag and popped up on dimensionals below the main image.

Sara xx

Caught in Crystal with fast and fabulous

Here's another card using the Fast and Fabulous stamp set that I used yesterday, but in a totally different way. The technique challenge this month at In Love With Stamping is "Caught in Crystal". This was the first time I've played with this technique and I love it! It's a real wow effect and looks even more stunning IRL.

Recipe

Stamp set: Fast and Fabulous

Cardstock: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Medium Window Sheet

Ink: Black Stazon

Ink Refills: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Bashful Blue

DSP: Play Date

Punch: Scallop Trim

Other: Subtles Brads, Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds

The Caught in Crystal panel was created by stamping the outline flower stem in Black Stazon onto a piece of Medium Window Sheet (retain the tissue for later). Flipping it over and working on the reverse I spread Crystal effects over the whole area (using the nozzle of the container) and then painted the inks on with an aquapainter (just clean it well as soon you've finished) and swirled them lightly with a cocktail stick. Dazzling Diamonds were sprinkled over the wet Crystal effects then the retained tissue was crumpled up, smoothed out again and laid over the wet Crystal Effects. Now comes the hard part - you need to leave it to dry! I left mine overnight but a couple of hours is probably long enough.

To assemble the card I started with a portrait A6 blank of Old Olive. This was matted and layered with Pumpkin Pie card and Play Date DSP. The Crystal image was secured to Whisper White card with Marina Mist brads, then matted direct to Pumpkin Pie card. Mats of Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie card were punched at the right hand edge with the Scallop Trim Border and adhered, with the trims offset, behind the Crystal image. These layers were then popped up on dimensionals on the card front.

Hope you like.

Sara xx

Fast and fabulous sketch challenge

Another day, another challenge and today it's our sketch challenge over at In Love With Stamping:

And this is my take on it. I've used Fast and Fabulous which is a Level 2 hostess set that my friend Linda is getting for free for hosting a workshop last weekend. I know you like pinks and bling Linda, so hope this inspires you for when you get your own set later this week :-)

I also used the Shimmery White card to be able to "watercolour" the flowers. You can currently get 30% off this cardstock in our March Frenzy. It has a subtle pearly sheen to it that I really can't do justice to in the pix.

Recipe

Stamp sets: Fast and Fabulous, Occasional Greetings (sentiment)

Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Shimmery White

Ink: Black Stazon, Melon Mambo, Old Olive

DSP: Lap of Luxury

Punches: Scallop Trim, 1-3/8" Circle

Other: Dazzling Diamonds

The card blank is an A6 portrait of Pretty in Pink. This was matted with a layer of Melon Mambo and then a strip of Lap of Luxury DSP was added to the upper section of the card front. Shimmery White card was cut to overlap the DSP and then punched with the Scallop Trim Border. The outline flowers were stamped with Black Stazon and then the overstamped with the solid flowers using Melon Mambo ink. An aquapainter was used to spread the ink and liven the colour up. The stems were coloured with an Old Olive marker and painted with the aquapainter again. Using Melon Mambo ink the sentiment was stamped in the lower right corner and once dry the main image was adhered to the front of the card. The large flower head was stamped twice onto the Shimmery White card using Black Stazon. Melon Mambo solid flower heads were overstamped and painted as for the main image. They were then punched out with the 1-3/8" Circle and then popped up on dimensionals on the card front. To finish, Dazzling Diamonds were added to all the flowers using Tombow.

Please email me to place your March Frenzy order or book a workshop with me.

Sara xx

Not a hint of Baja Breeze on this flowery birthday card

Ssh, don't tell anyone, I've gone off the rails. Not only is today's card nothing to do with Christmas but there's no hint of Baja Breeze anywhere, lol.

This card is for a friend who regularly goes to the theatre with my Mum and I. She's not a crafter and I'm sure that she doesn't follow my blog, so I'm taking a chance and posting this before I've sent the card (also because that way I won't forget to photo and post it, doh!).

I've used the Fast and Fabulous set which is a gorgeous level 2 hostess set (yes you can get this set free by hosting a workshop with sales of £300 or more).

What I love about this 6 piece set (available as either wood or clear mount), is how versatile it is. You can create beautiful watercoloured effects with the 2 step stamping, quick backgrounds with either the fill or outline stamps or you can use the outline stamps on their own and colour in with your preferred medium. Thinking ahead, I can see these being great for Mother's Day cards. Just email me to book your own workshop if you'd like to earn this set for yourself.

Recipe

Stamp sets: Fast and Fabulous (level 2 hostess set), Party This Way (sentiment)

Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Whisper White

Ink: Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, Old Olive

Punches: Corner Rounder, 1" Circle, Modern Label

Taffeta Ribbon: Whisper White

Other: Subtles Brads

All the matted layers had the Corner Rounder punch applied to the top and bottom right hand corners. The card blank is a portrait A6 in Pretty in Pink and was matted with Melon Mambo and another layer of Pretty in Pink. This top layer had been stamped with the large fill daisy in Pretty in Pink ink for a soft watermark effect. A strip of Pretty in Pink card was stamped with the tall outline flower in Melon Mambo ink, matted onto Melon Mambo card, then direct to the card front. A portion of the tall outline flower was coloured direct to stamp with Old Olive and Melon Mambo markers, stamped onto Whisper White card and then the flowers coloured in with Pretty in Pink. This was punched out with the 1" Circle and glued in the corresponding place over the pink on pink image for the spotlight effect. The sentiment (from the Party This Way set) was stamped in Melon Mambo ink onto Whisper White card and punched out with the Modern Label punch. Pretty in Pink brads were added to either end and the sentiment was popped up on dimensionals. Finally a little Whisper White taffeta bow was added with a glue dot.

Recipe (inside)

Stamp sets: Fast and Fabulous, Sincere Salutations (sentiment)

Cardstock: Whisper White

Ink: Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink

Punch: Corner Rounder

On the inside I stamped the outline stamps in Melon Mambo and then overstamped with the fill stamps in Pretty in Pink.

Normal service will be resumed shortly, ie. I'll be back to Christmas or Baja Breeze before you know it, heehee.

Sara xx