Happy Birthday card using Timeless Type alphabet die set

Well I got a chance to use my new Timeless Type alphabet dies for a clean and simple birthday card this week.

Bright, cheery colours and an equally cheery sentiment - hopefully it will be enough to brighten anyone's birthday, no matter the weather.

Recipe

Stamp sets: Curly Cute, On a Pedestal

Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White

Ink: Melon Mambo, Crumb Cake, Pretty in Pink

DSP: Subtles Patterns Stack

Punches: Fancy Flower, Modern Label, 2" x 1-3/8" Oval, 1-3/4" x 7/8" Oval, 1-3/4" Circle, 1-3/8" Circle

Medium Sizzlits Die: Timeless Type Junior Alphabet

Other: Basic Rhinestones

Tools: Big Shot

The card base is an A6 landscape of Pretty in Pink, matted with Melon Mambo card and Pretty in Pink DSP. "Happy" letters were die cut from Melon Mambo card and adhered direct to the card front. The smaller Oval was used to punch more Pretty in Pink DSP which was then matted onto a larger Oval punched from Melon Mambo card and the layers popped op ont the card front. Using the Melon Mambo marker direct to the Curly Cute Birthday stamp, it was stamped onto Whisper White card and punched with the Modern Label before adding Basic Rhinestones and popping up on dimensionals onto the Ovals. Crumb Cake and Pretty in Pink markers were used direct to the cake stamp from the On a Pedestal set and stamped out onto Whisper White card. The cherry on top was stamped using Melon Mambo ink and the complete image punched with the 1-3/8" Circle. This was matted direct to a 1-3/4" Circle punched from Melon Mambo then popped up on dimensionals onto two Fancy Flowers punched from Daffodil Delight and offset slightly. The whole flower was then popped up on dimensionals onto the card front.

Loving this Timeless Type alpha and I can see it's going to be great for personalising cards.

Please stop by again tomorrow for our Colour Coach blog hop. We'll have lots of fantastic colour inspiration for you.

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

My clever DH made a card for his Mum

A change for you today - this card was made by my DH for his Mum. He designed it himself. I helped out just a little by demonstrating the heat embossing technique and how to use the stamp-a-ma-jig but the actual card was made by him. I'm so proud of him, I think he did a great job.

And his Mum was really impressed.

Recipe

Stamp sets: En Francais, Baroque Motifs, Perfect Punches

Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie

Ink: Versamark, Early Espresso

Punches: Extra-large Oval, Large Oval

3mm Taffeta Ribbon: Early Espresso

Other: Clear EP, Brights Brads (Pumpkin Pie)

The card blank is an A6 portrait of Melon Mambo, matted with Early Espresso card. The En Francais background and the Baroque swirl were stamped in Versamark onto another layer of Melon Mambo card and then heat embossed with Clear EP. Early Espresso ribbon was wrapped around the top left corner and a bow secured to it with a brad. Using Early Espresso ink, the sentiment was stamped onto Pumpkin Pie card and punched out with the Large Oval. This was matted onto an Extra-Large Oval punched from Early Espresso card and decorative brads added before adhering the layer to the front of the card.

My MIL isn't so keen on flowery verses so DH stamped the insert with images instead:

Recipe (inside)

Stamp sets: Baroque Border, On a Pedestal

Cardstock: Whisper White

Ink: Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo

He wheeled the Baroque Border with Early Espresso ink (he already knows how to stamp with a wheel) and then used the stamp-a-ma-jig to build the birthday cake.

I mentioned Easter last night and he asked in a shocked voice "you don't think she'll expect an Easter card as well as Mother's Day do you?"

I think he may be joining me at the crafting table more often than he thought, lol!

Tomorrow I'll show you the card that I made. Yes, my MIL still wanted a card from me too heehee, I'm not redundant yet.

Sara xx

A set of cards and matching bag made at the recent SWU online class

I'm about to set off on my way to Cardiff again this afternoon for my revision course for the June audit exams so I'm not going to get chance to play along with Mojo Monday this week (boo!).

So instead I thought I'd share with you a set that I made recently as part of the Stamp With Us online classes. The classes are usually offered once a quarter and are great fun and great value so please look out for the next set.

This was just one of about 15 different projects, techniques and tutorials. I chose a different stamp set and a different colour combo to that used in the project sheet (which is the point of the classes - you swap stamps and colours to suit what you have available).

Recipe

Stamp sets: On a Pedestal, Paisley, Fun and Fast Notes (sentiment only)

Cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White

Ink: Close to Cocoa, Melon Mambo

DSP: Pink Flamingo

Punches: Scallop Edge, Square Scallop, Large Oval, Scallop Oval, Word Window, Scallop Circle, 1-3/8" Circle

Polka Dot Ribbon: Melon Mambo

Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon: Tempting Turquoise

Non-SU: Die-cut ovals

As we don't have any Melon Mambo DSP yet I made my own for the bag using the Paisley background stamp. I brayered the stamp with Melon Mambo ink to get a good even coverage over the large stamp.

Here are pix of the cards and bag individually:

Hope to see you at the next class.

Sara xx

A birthday card in pinks and greys for the Mojo Monday sketch challenge

Can it really be Monday already?

Saturday night's theatre was brilliant. We went to see Calendar Girls and it was funny and very sad and moving all at the same time. Hats off to Lynda Bellingham, Letitia Dean and the rest of the ladies. I think they're very brave performing in front of a live audience when you can't be absolutely sure that the props will behave as they should (they stayed where they should on Saturday though). Another one I can recommend.

As a wind down after work today I thought I'd play along with the Mojo Monday challenge. The sketch this week is this:

And here's my card:

Recipe

Stamp sets: All for Friends, On a Pedestal (sentiment)

Cardstock: Regal Rose, Whisper White, Basic Gray

DSP: Nouveau Chic, Sweet Pea

Ink: Black Stazon, Craft White, SU Markers

Wide Grosgrain Ribbon: Regal Rose

Gingham Ribbon: Light Pink

Punch: Scallop Edge

Other: Clips Assortment, White EP

Non-SU: Die cuts

I love pink and grey as a combo and so I teamed up papers from the Nouveau Chic set and the Sweet Pea stack. Lots of matting and layering and plenty of ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sara xx

A cased card for my MILs birthday and her latest stamping results

Did you enjoy our bloghop on Sunday? From the hits to our sites, I'm guessing you did. (Just in case you missed it you can always scroll down to Sunday's post to catch up). There were some fantastic creations and I can't wait for a bit of free time to CASE some of them. I'm just glad that I managed to get mine finished on time and didn't let the others down. It was pretty touch and go at one point. I'd been away in Hastings all week and then on Friday night I was out presenting a workshop (I'll share more of that later in the week), then Saturday morning I was busy finishing my MIL's birthday card before she and my FIL arrived to spend the afternoon with us.

Thankfully I've got my MIL hooked on crafting too and after a delicious fish and chip lunch (we're lucky enough to have an award winning chippy just a short drive away), we spent the afternoon crafting while DH and FIL played on the Wii and watched the football. A happy bunch all round.

The card I made for my MIL is the one I was lucky enough to win as a project kit with instructions, from Elaine's Creative Musings on another recent bloghop.

Recipe

Stamp sets: On a Pedestal, Queue Up (Level 3 hostess set), Whimsical Words (SAB)

Cardstock: Almost Amethyst, Pretty in Pink, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White

Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Markers

DSP: Tea Party

Taffeta Ribbon: Pretty in Pink

Gingham Ribbon: Light Pink

Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon: Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant

Brads: Soft Subtles, Square Fire

Now my MIL mainly loves 3d items. She isn't so keen on stamping so far because she reckons her stamping never works out properly. I did talk her into giving it another go though on Saturday and she made this card:

Recipe

Stamp sets: Whimsical Wings (level 2 hostess set), Oval All

Cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Ruby Red, Whisper White

Ink: Ruby Red, Markers

Punches: Scallop Oval, Large Oval

Taffeta Ribbon: Chocolate Chip

I'm not sure where she's coming from. I think her stamping is great. Don't you just love her robin? So cute.

Thanks for stopping by.

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