Super quick SAB cards and perfect punched cards with our two step owl

I had a great afternoon crafting with my MIL when they visited at the weekend and we enjoyed using the new Two-step Owl (MILs ordered her own now!).

It prompted me to dig my Punch Bunch set out again. This stamp set was free with orders over £45 during Sale-a-bration. Although it's no longer available, I do have a set left to give as a hostess gift for the next person that books a workshop with me (please email me to book and be sure to mention the Punch Bunch offer so that I put it to one side for you).

The set is ideal to make very quick cards such as this one:

Recipe

Stamp set: Punch Bunch (retired)

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Whisper White

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise

DSP: Play Date

Punches: Square Scallop, Two-step Owl

The card base is a 10cm square of Chocolate Chip matted with a square of So Saffron popped up on dimensionals. Smaller squares of Play Date DSP were adhered direct to opposite corners. The sentiment was stamped onto Whisper White card with Tempting Turquoise ink, punched out with the Square Scallop and popped up on dimensionals on the card front. The owl was stamped onto Whisper White card with Chocolate Chip ink, punched out with the Two-step Owl (aligning it as shown below) and also popped up on dimensionals. Done!

If you didn't grab this set while Sale-a-bration was on and you're too far away for a workshop with me, then you can still create a similar card but it will take a little longer. You can still order the punch from me if you live at a distance and I can get it posted to you (please email me to order yours).

Recipe

Stamp set: Party This Way (sentiment)

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White

Ink: Tempting Turquoise

DSP: Play Date

Punches: 1-1/4" Square, Square Scallop, Two-step Owl

The card base is the same again - a 10cm square of Chocolate Chip matted with a square of So Saffron popped up on dimensionals and smaller squares of Play Date DSP adhered direct to opposite corners. This time the sentiment was stamped a line at a time onto Whisper White card with Tempting Turquoise ink and punched out with the 1-1/4". This was matted onto a Scallop Square of tempting Turquoise and popped up on dimensionals on the card front. The owl body and the middle size eyes were punched from Chocolate Chip card, the vest was punched from Play Date DSP and the large and tiny eyes were punched from Whisper White card. The owl layers were assembled using Tombow and then popped up on dimensionals. Cutesy.

And this punch isn't just for owls! I'll be posting some alternative ideas over the coming weeks so please pop back soon.

Sara xx

Red flowers three different ways

Another Sale-a-bration card for you today. This time I'm combining two sets and adding some pretties.

Recipe

Stamp sets: Punch Bunch, Sweet Summer

Cardstock: Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White

Ink: Real Red, Versamark

DSP: Lap of Luxury

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

Other: Black EP, Flower Brads, Basic Pearls

The card blank is a 5" square of Real Red cardstock. The round flowerheads from the Sweet Summer set were stamped 4 times onto scraps of Whisper White card with Versamark and were heat embossed with Black EP. Each flowerhead was coloured with a Real Red marker then punched out with the 1" Circle and matted onto a 1-1/4" Circle of Real Red card. The flowers from the Punch Bunch set were stamped in Real Red ink onto a scrap of Whisper White card and punched out with the 1-1/4" Circle. This was matted onto a 1-3/8" Circle of Basic Black and then a Scallop Circle of Real Red card. A square of grey Lap of Luxury DSP was matted onto a larger square of Basic Black. The stamped flowers were popped up on dimensionals onto these layers and then Flower Brads secured through the layers before popping them up on more dimensionals on the card front. Basic Pearls were added to the centre of each Flower Brad to finish.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sara xx

Ruffled ribbon with no stitching

Hope that you're having a relaxing Saturday. My downline Jan and I were planning on getting together this afternoon to enjoy a bit of a craft and catch up, but we've got snow and it's not showing any signs of stopping, so we may have to rethink.

We have a regional training day coming up in a few weeks time (with a preview of the Mini catty coming out in April - can't wait to see!) and its another chance to do card swaps with our friends - but we need some swaps ready to exchange, lol. Hopefully we'll get a few made today, whether it's crafting together or separately.

In the meantime, while Sale-a-bration is still running and you have a few more weeks to get hold of these fabulous sets for free, I thought I'd share a few more ideas for using them.

For today's colour combo I started with the idea that I wanted to use the Striped Ribbon in Pumpkin Pie, then I used the fabulous Colour Coach to suggest the Real Red and Pacific Point combo with it. The Coach is a great tool for kickstarting your mojo when you need it ;-)

Recipe

Stamp set: Punch Bunch

Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Pacific Point, Real Red, Whisper White

Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Pacific Point, Real Red

DSP: Sweet and Sour Specialty

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

Striped Grosgrain Ribbon: Pumpkin Pie

Other: Flower Brads (Brights)

The base card is an A6 landscape of Pumpkin Pie. For the card front I cut a piece of the DSP into three and adhered it first to a layer of Whisper White and then Pacific Point card. The ribbon is about two and half times the length of the card and was frayed at one end to find a central horizontal thread. By pulling this thread you can gather the ribbon without the need for stitching. The ruffled ribbon was adhered to the front of the card and secured behind the layers with Sticky Strip. Holes were pierced above and below the Sticky Strip and Flower Brads pushed through, gathering the ribbon before opening the brad legs on the reverse of the layers to secure. These layers were popped up on dimensionals on the card base. Markers were used direct to stamp for the flower image, stamped onto Whisper White card and punched with the 1-1/4" Circle. This was adhered direct to a 1-3/8" Circle of Pacific Point card then popped up on dimensionals onto a Scallop Circle of Real Red card before adding to the card front with more dimensionals.

If you want to get your free Sale-a-bration sets before they're gone or you'd like to know how to join me in getting a sneak preview of the mini catty then please email me.

Have a great weekend and keep safe and warm.

Sara xx

Batch and a simple thank you all using SAB sets

I hope you're all having a great weekend. I've had a lovely day today.

This morning Joanne (my upline) and Jan (my downline) popped around for an hour or so. Joanne and I were helping each other out swapping spare/duplicate stamp sets that we've got. Of course we also found time for a little crafting as well. Joanne showed us a great little minibook that I think will be part of our next Stamptacular lineup. I also finally gave them the card candy that I owed them from our swap before xmas *blushes*. We'll be having a mini bloghop to show those sometime soon, hopefully next Sunday.

Then this afternoon I went to the cinema then out for tapas with my DH. We watched Natalie Portman and Vincent Cassel in Black Swan. We'd read that it was a thriller. I wouldn't class it as a thriller myself but we enjoyed it even so - I've got a much better idea of what Swan Lake is about now, lol.

For now I've got a few thank you's to share with you. First up is my batch thank you's that I've sent/am sending to all my customers this month. As usual I'd already sent some of these out before I remembered to photograph them.

It uses one of the free Sale-a-bration sets; Sweet Summer:

Recipe

Stamp sets: Sweet Summer, Punch Bunch, Pocket Silhouettes (sentiment)

Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Concord Crush, Whisper White

Ink: Concord Crush, Pear Pizzazz, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight

Punches: Corner Rounder, Scallop Trim Corner

The card blank is a small square of Daffodil Delight. Mats of Concord Crush and Whisper White were punched with the Corner Rounder on two opposite corners and with the Scallop Trim Corner on the other two opposite corners. The frondy stem was stamped in Pear Pizzazz onto the Whisper White layer and coloured in. The sentiment was stamped in Concord Crush in the bottom right corner. The Whisper White layer was adhered direct to the Concord Crush layer and then popped up on dimensionals on the card front. The semi-circular flower head was stamped 3 times in Tangerine Tango, coloured in, cut out and popped up on dimensionals on the main image.

And a quick and simple thanks:

Recipe

Stamp sets: Punch Bunch, So Happy For You (sentiment)

Cardstock: Basic Black, Very Vanilla

Ink: Basic Black, Real Red

DSP: Love Letter

Punch: 1-3/4" Circle

1.6cm Grosgrain Ribbon: Real Red

Other: Stampin' Pastels

This is a non-standard size card blank (3-1/4" x 6") of Basic Black. Strips of light and dark Love Letter DSP were adhered direct to a mat of Basic Black. Using the stamp-a-ma-jig, I stamped the sentiment in Real Red ink in the bottom right corner of the layer. A simple knot was tied in a length of Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon and was then wrapped around the join in the DSPs. This layer was popped up on dimensionals on the card front. The owl was stamped in Basic Black onto Very Vanilla card and punched with the 1-3/4" Circle. This was chalked with Crumb Cake Pastels to give it the same aged feel as the DSP and then popped up on dimensionals on the card front.

Thank you for looking.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Sara xx

SAB blog hop, put your feet up, grab a cuppa and have a browse

Hi and welcome to our Sale-a-bration blog hop. A bunch of us from over at the In Love With Stamping Forum have joined together to put on a major hop for you today. A big thanks to Pat for organising this.

If you've joined me from Laura then thank you for stopping by. If you're starting here then you'll be able to work your way around this loop of 9 or 10 blogs until you get back here and then you can skip to one of the other loops if you like (the links are at the end of this post). If you get here early then we may possibly have a few glitches with the links (for example one of our girls is poorly and has had to drop out - get well soon Debbi!) but please persevere or pop back later, it will be well worth it and we do get them all ironed out as quickly as we can.

Our aim is to provide you with lots of inspiration for using our Sale-a-bration sets - the sets that you can get free with a £45 order from our Idea Book and Catalogue (see the link on the right hand side menu) - and don't forget that there's no limit to the number you can qualify for, so spend £45, get one set, spend £90, get two sets etc so you can collect all four! Just email me to place your order. Hopefully today I've got a little something for everyone, I've used each SAB set and have a mix of cards, scrapbook page and 3d items, some using bright colours and some are more monochrome.

First up for you, I've made a little set of all occasion cards:

Recipe (All)

Stamp set: So Happy for You

Recipe (Butterfly)

Cardstock: Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, Whisper White

Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum,

Punch: Butterfly

Recipe (Star)

Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White

Ink: Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy

Punch: Star

Recipe (Heart)

Cardstock: Blushing Bride, Rose Red, Whisper White

Ink: Blushing Bride, Rose Red

Punch: Full Heart

Recipe (Clover)

Cardstock: Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Whisper White

Ink: Wild Wasabi, Garden Green

Punch: Small Heart, 2-step Bird

Recipe (Flower)

Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, More Mustard, Whisper White

Ink: Daffodil Delight, More Mustard

Punch: 5-petal Flower

Each card is made in the same way. A 3-1/2" square card blank of the lighter colour is matted with a 3-1/4" square of the darker colour. A 3" square of Whisper White card is stamped with the sentiment in the darker ink in the bottom right corner and then randomly with the background stamp in the lighter ink. This is adhered direct to the card front. A matching shape is punched from the lighter cardstock and popped up on dimensionals in the centre. (To get a closer match for the flower I reinserted each petal back into the punch reversed and punched again). The envelopes are stamped with the matching background stamp.

I then boxed them in a mini pizza box:

Recipe

Cardstock: Basic Black, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White

Ink: Perfect Plum, Baja Breeze, Blushing Bride, Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black

Punches: 1" Circle, 1-1/4" Circle, Small Oval, Large Oval

I used this tutorial here to make the mini pizza box in Basic Black cardstock, then matted it with Squares of Tangerine Tango and Basic Black. A square of Whisper White card was stamped with all the images from the cards. Using a marker direct to stamp I selectively stamped the "for you" sentiment and punched it out with the Small Oval. It was adhered direct to a Large Oval of Tangerine Tango and popped up on dimensionals on the box top. Tangerine Tango strips were adhered to the front and sides of the box.

Using the Punch Bunch set I made a little Post-it note key chain to keep in my handbag:

Recipe

Stamp set: Punch Bunch

Cardstock: Early Espresso, Very Vanilla

Ink: Early Espresso

3mm Taffeta Ribbon: Early Espresso, Very Vanilla

1cm Taffeta Ribbon: Very Vanilla

Other: Crystal Effects

Non-SU: Keyring, Mini Post-it notes

About a third of the mini Post-it notes were separated off and wrapped with Early Espresso card. A small mat of Very Vanilla card was stamped with the owl in Early Espresso ink and then adhered to the cover of the notes. The eyes of the owl were covered in Crystal Effects to make them shine (you can just see that in the photo). A hole was punched through the "book" with the Crop-a-dile, a keyring fastened through and the ribbons tied onto the keyring.

I think the Bliss set is ideal for scrapbooking wedding photos as well as using on cards and went with a sepia tone photo for this:

Recipe

Stamp set: Bliss

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla

Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso

Punches: Scallop Oval, Large Oval

Other: Basic Pearls

I used the stamp-a-ma-jig to position the large stamp to create the background. The sepia tinted photo was matted onto Early Espresso card and adhered direct to the page. Using the rock and roll technique with Crumb Cake and Early Espresso inks I stamped the flower three times and the butterfly once onto Very Vanilla card and cut them out. Small pearls were added to the centres of the flowers. The sentiment was stamped with Early Espresso onto Very Vanilla card, punched with the Large Oval and matted onto a Scallop Oval of Early Espresso card. These elements were then arranged around the photo to further frame it.

Finally, as part of my MIL's birthday gift I created this packaging:

Recipe

Stamp set: Sweet Summer

Cardstock: Basic Black, Melon Mambo, Whisper White

Ink: Versamark, Black Stazon, White Gel Pen, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, Basic Black

Punch: Petal Card

3mm Taffeta Ribbon: Basic Black

Other: White EP, Filigree Brad

Non-SU: Velcro

I used Carol's quirky little box tutorial here for my box. The box sides are made with Basic Black card and were stamped with the leafy stems in Versamark and then heat embossed with White EP. The full flower heads were stamped twice in Black Stazon and then coloured with markers before cutting out then popping up on dimensionals at the top of each leafy stem. Two Petal Cards were punched from Melon Mambo. One was adhered to the base of the box. The other had the small butterfly stamped with Black Stazon on one peta and was coloured with the White Gel pen. This was used to indicate the opening for the box. A hole was punched in the centre of the lid using the Crop-a-dile and a Filigree brad attached with a loop of Black taffeta ribbon. The back petal was adhered to the back of the box. A sliver of velcro was used to fasten the box lid at the front. You'll have to stop back another day to see what was inside it.

Well I hope that you've enjoyed my creations and I'll pass you on now to Alison. She has some wonderful step cards to show you.

If you'd like to look at the other loops, then here are the links:

Loop 2

Loop 3

Loop 4

Don't forget that if you want to place an order to get your free set then just email me.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Sara xx

Blog hop on Sunday and Mojomonday challenge today

Sorry I've been missing this week. I've been poorly. Too poorly even to craft, that's how bad it was, lol. But I'm better now and looking forward to a packed crafting weekend.

Today I've managed to play along with the Mojomonday challenge. Tomorrow we've got MIL and FIL coming over. It's MIL's birthday on Sunday and I've got a few new box ideas to show her - she loves boxes and bags. Then on Sunday we've got a major blog hop for you. There'll be around 40 of us in total from the In Love With Stamping forum, on 4 loops of 10 (don't worry, if you don't have much time then you can always look at one loop and come back and do the others later) and we'll be showcasing the Sale-abration stamps sets that you can get free with a £45 order (email me to get your free set).

If you haven't been round a blog hop before then just stop back here on Sunday after 10am. My post will link to another, then their's to another and so on until you come back round to me and know that you've finished that loop. We'll also have links to the other loops for a really inspiring day of it.

Back now then to today's card. The Mojomonday challenge this week is this:

And I rotated it to create this:

Recipe

Stamp set: Punch Bunch

Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Basic Gray, Concord Crush

Ink: Concord Crush, White Gel Pen

DSP: Lap of Luxury

Punches: Scallop Edge, Boho Blossoms, 1" Circle, 1-1/4" Circle, Crop-a-dile

Taffeta Ribbon: Pretty in Pink

Other: Mat Pack, Piercing Tool

The card blank is a landscape A6 of Pretty in Pink. A square of DSP was matted onto a square of Concord Crush. This was then matted onto Basic Gray card and faux stitching was added around the exposed area using the piercing tool, mat pack and white gel pen. A strip of Basic Gray was wrapped with Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon and adhered to the left front of the card. A flat bow was added with glue dots. A 12" strip of DSP was punched with the Scallop Edge punch, concertina folded along each scallop and joined at the ends to create a tube. The unpunched ends were squeezed and pushed into the centre to create the flat flower and secured with a 1" Circle covered in Sticky Strip. The True Friend sentiment was stamped in Concord Crush onto Whisper White card, punched with the 1" Circle and matted onto a 1-1/4" Circle of Concord Crush. This was adhered over the centre of the folded flower. Boho Blossoms were punched from Concord Crush and Pretty in Pink card. The petals were snipped and the flowers shaped then layered in alternate colours. The large hole of the Crop-a-dile was used to punch card for the centres of each flower and these were popped up on dimensionals on the card front.

Hope you have a great weekend and please pop back on Sunday for the blog hop.

Sara xx

Soft pastels for a new baby gift box using SAB sets

I had a wonderful afternoon yesterday crafting with DH! Yes, hubby joined me for a crafting session. My MIL spotted his handmade christmas card to me, when they visited and insisted that he make her a card for her birthday later this month.

He chose the colour combo and designed the layout and I just provided a little tutoring (he learned heat embossing and how to use a stamp-a-ma-jig) and I was also on stamp cleaning duty, lol. I'm really proud of his results but you'll have to pop back after the 23rd to see - can't risk MIL spotting her card.

The light had gone by the time I got round to my own crafting so I had to wait until today to take pix of the little "new baby" gift box I made using two of the SAB sets:

Recipe

Stamp sets: So Happy For You, Punch Bunch (choose one set free with every £45 order - details here)

Cardstock: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink

Punches: Eyelet Border, Extra-Large Tag, Large Tag, Word Window

3mm Taffeta Ribbon: Daffodil Delight

The base box is the 2-5-7-10 box from the Splitcoaststampers site here. On a base box of Whisper White card and using the dinky background stamps from the So Happy For You set, I randomly stamped the flower with Daffodil Delight ink, the 4-leaf clover with Certainly Celery, the heart with Pretty in Pink and the butterfly with Bashful Blue. The box flap was punched with the Eyelet Border and a narrow strip of Daffodil Delight, also punched with the Eyelet Border was adhered below it. The Welcome Baby sentiment from the Punch Bunch set was stamped in Daffodil Delight onto Whisper White card and punched with the Large Tag. This was matted direct to an Extra-Large Tag punched from Daffodil Delight and then popped up on dimensionals on the front of the box. The So Happy For You sentiment was stamped in

Certainly Celery on Whisper White card and trimmed by inserting the ends of the sentiment into the back of the Word Window punch to trim them to shape. Another Word Window was punched from Daffodil Delight card, cut in half and adhered behind the sentiment. 3mm Daffodil Delight ribbon was threaded through and used to tie the box closed.

I love how these Sale-a-bration sets are going to work year round. They're all so gorgeous that I had to get them all but which is your favourite?

Sara xx

Three ways with ribbon for the Mojomonday challenge

I've been busy for the last few days, preparing for next Saturday's Crop and Class (click here for details of how to join us for the Crop, Class or both) but I made a bit of time this morning to play along with the latest MojoMonday challenge.

The sketch this week is this one:

I decided to have a dig through my stash and use up some of my retired bits and bobs, combining them with some new, including one of the new SAB stamps. I wanted to feature ribbons and looked for different ways of using them to create this:

Recipe

Stamp sets: Punch Bunch (get the set of 5 stamps free with a £45 order - details here)

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Peach Parfait, Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Cajun Craze

Punches: 1-3/4" Circle, 1" Circle, Eyelet Border

1-1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon: Pumpkin Pie

Double-stitched Grosgrain Ribbon: Chocolate Chip (retired)

Taffeta Ribbon: Chocolate Chip (retired)

Other: Earth Elements Buttons (retired), Linen Thread

Tools: Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Crimper

The card blank is an A6 portrait of Chocolate Chip. This was matted direct with a layer of Peach Parfait that had faux stitching added round the edges with Chocolate Chip marker followed by sponging with Cajun Craze ink. A piece of Double Stitched Ribbon was trimmed at each end and adhered to the card front with Sticky Strip. A square of Cajun Craze card was matted onto a layer of Chocolate Chip and more faux stitching in Chocolate Chip ink added before popping ip on dimensionals on the card front. The main motif was made by punching a 1-3/4" Circle of Chocolate Chip card, covering it with Sticky Strip and adding the twisted taffeta ribbon, round and round from the central area. Leave a small space in the centre, this way you don't waste ribbon that won't be seen and have a better surface for the dimensional supporting the sentiment. (Tip - work on the backing to a sheet of dimensionals so that your sticky circle doesn't stick where it shouldn't). The True Friend sentiment from the Punch Bunch set was stamped in Chocolate Chip on Very Vanilla card and punched out with the 1" Circle before popping up on a dimensional in the centre of the twisted ribbon flower. A strip of Peach Parfait was punched with the Eyelet Border, edges sponged with Cajun Craze ink and then put through the Crimper before adhering to the back of the twisted ribbon flower. The whole flower was popped up on dimensionals. A large square Vanilla button was tied with Linen Thread around a trimmed piece of Striped Pumpkin Pie ribbon and attached with glue dots. Three small Vanilla buttons were tied with Linen Thread and also attached with glue dots.

Have a great weekend.

Sara xx