Long fellows cut short

Hope you're having a good weekend. It's lovely to be back home though a little frantic for me now, getting all my swaps ready for convention! Hard to believe that in a fortnight it'll be all over. In case you don't know what this convention is that I'm whittering on about, Stampin' Up! hold an annual 2 day event for demos - a chance to learn new crafting techniques, be inspired by other demos, swap, swap, swap and craft, craft, craft. (If you want to come along next year then join my team). I can't wait for it to roll around but I've still got so much to prepare that it's a good thing that there's still a week or so to go.

Anyway a quick little card for you today. Although the Long Fellows stamps seem ideal for long, thin images, there's no reason you can't cut them down to size for other types of layout.

Recipe

Stamp set: Long Fellows (Level 2 hostess set)

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Wild Wasabi, Soft Suede, Pacific Point, Cajun Craze, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Whisper White

Ink: Wild Wasabi, Soft Suede, Pacific Point, Cajun Craze, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive,

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

The card blank is an A6 portrait in Crumb Cake. I punched a Scallop Square from each of the other colours and then stamped each of the Long Fellows animals (apart from the elephant) in the corresponding colour ink onto Whisper White card. For those that looked a little too plain just stamped (the alligator and the whale) I added a little more shading around the edges using a blender pen. The birthday wishes greeting was selectively stamped by colouring direct the the (tortoise) stamp with a marker. The animals and the sentiment were punched out with the 1" Circle and adhered direct to Crumb Cake circles punched with the 1-1/4" Circle. The Circles were popped up on dimensionals on top of their Scallop Squares and then popped up on the card front.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Sara xx

Loooong cats and dogs for a plain and simple card

Last night DH and I went to see Hamlet at the Crucible theatre in Sheffield. I wasn't altogether looking forward to it, more DH's choice than mine, I prefer Shakespeare's comedies to his tragedies and it's a looong play.

But I was glad I went. It was excellent (as long as you're ok with Shakespeare generally). There was a stellar cast; John Sims (Life on Mars), John Nettles (Midsomer Murders), Barbara Flynn (Cranford, Beiderbecke Affair), Hugo Ross (The Palace) and great supporting actors too. We had front row seats, which for the Crucible means really up close to the actors.

Anyway, onto another looong item. Our new Long Fellows stamp set, which is a Level 2 hostess set that you can get for free by holding a workshop. Here I've wrapped the animals around the card.

Recipe

Stamp set: Long Fellows

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla

Ink: Crumb Cake, Black Stazon, Watercolour Wonder Crayons

Punches: Scallop Oval, Word Window

I cut and folded the Crumb Cake (renamed from Kraft) to create an A6 gatefold card blank and then folded it back out flat to stamp on the cat and the dog in Black Stazon. I inked the stamps up carefully to leave off the sentiment underneath each (or you could use a mask - I got these in clear mount so it's easy to see through for masking). Using an aquapainter and my Watercolour Wonder Crayons I coloured the two of them in. I stamped the Thanks sentiment from the Perfect Punches in Crumb Cake (now also available in inks) onto Very Vanilla card and punched out with the Scallop Oval. As I didn't want this to be a thank you card I then stamped the sentiment underneath the dog (selectively inking direct to stamp again) in Basic Black onto Very Vanilla card and punched this out with the Word Window. The new sentiment was then adhered directly over the thank you and the topper popped up on a dimensional on the left front of the card. I finished the inside by selectively stamping the sentiment from the cat stamp, "hope your day is purrfect!".

Off now to get ready for tonight's crafting treat. My upline and my downline are coming round. Lots of crafting and a chance to swap DSPs so that we each have a piece of all the new ones for our sample books. I'm guessing that we'll also be making plans for the Stampin' Up! convention on 5 November (if you'd like to know more then just email me).

Sara xx

Recent make and takes

Hope you're having a lovely weekend. I had a fun afternoon yesterday, crafting with my MIL. We had a go at the same make and takes I did with my hostesses at their recent special event. The virtual hostesses who live at a distance and couldn't get to the event have now received their packs through the post, so I can share these with you now without spoiling any surprise. Why not join my Stampers 6 group (see the Spread the Cost tab at the top or click here) and as a virtual hostess you'll get an invite to the next event.

First up was this little treat holder:

Recipe

Stamp set: Long Fellows

Cardstock: Pacific Point, Bashful Blue, Whisper White

Ink: Pacific Point

Punch: Scallop Edge

(Retired) Gingham Ribbon: Bashful Blue

Other: Crop-a-dile, Blender Pen

Non-SU: Choc bar

We cut and scored a basic open-ended box 13cm x 5cm x 2cm and then decorated it before assembling. We used one of the new Long Fellows stamps which is a set of six different animals that you can earn with a Level 2 workshop (which in fact one of my hostesses did the very next day). The whale was stamped onto Bashful Blue card with Pacific Point ink and then coloured with the same ink using a blender pen. The bottom of the layer was punched with the Scallop Edge and then adhered to a layer of Whisper White card also punched with the Scallop Edge, to create the waves. We use the Crop-a-dile to punch a large hole front and back of the box and then adhered the image and assembled the box. Ribbon was threaded from front to back and the choc bar was used to push the ribbon to the end of the box before tying in a bow.

To get the choc bar out you simply pull the ribbon without untying it.

Next we made a simple Christmas card:

Recipe

Stamp set: Contempo Christmas

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla

Ink: Early Espresso

Narrow Taffeta Ribbon: Early Espresso

Other: Fine Galaxy Glitter

The sentiment was stamped onto Very Vanilla card with Early Espresso ink. The new clear mount stamps made placement very easy. Next we tore the top and bottom of the Very Vanilla layer and adhered it direct to a strip of Cherry Cobbler which we also tore along. Both layers were adhered to a Crumb Cake card blank. The bauble was stamped in Early Espresso ink onto Very Vanilla card. At the hostess event we then had to cut this out but yesterday we were able to use the new Ornament punch - so much easier and quicker. The bauble was glittered and then popped up on dimensionals and finished with a bow made from the new Narrow Taffeta Ribbon, adhered with a glue dot.

Yesterday we made a slight variation:

Instead of Early Espresso ink, we used Versamark and Gold EP and MIL had her first go at heat embossing. I think she's hooked, lol.

And she's bought the new Ornament punch - I knew she'd love it.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and please contact me if you'd like to join the Stampers 6 group.

Sara xx