Using fabric for a more tricky challenge

One of our challenges this month over at In Love With Stamping is to:

use fabric - not ribbon or flowers, but real fabric in some way

On the down side I found this quite a tough challenge as the techniques I wanted to use would have worked better with ribbon and so I had to rethink how to tackle this one. On the up side I had to go hunting for material and found plenty of stash to use with my new sewing machine just as soon as I cam find some spare time :-)

This is what I came up with:

Recipe

Stamp sets: Vintage Vogue, Tiny Tags

Cardstock: Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, Night of Navy

Ink: Old Olive

Punch: Butterfly, Jewelry Tag

Other: Flower Brads (Brights)

Non-SU: Fabric

The card blank is an A6 landscape of Old Olive. Fabric was wrapped tightly over a panel of scrap card and secured behind with Sticky Strip. This fabric layer was matted onto Tempting Turquoise card and then Night of Navy. The sentiment and the tag shape were stamped onto Old Olive card with Old Olive ink and punched out with the Jewelry Tag. Two more tags were punched out of Night of Navy Card. A slightly larger panel of Old Olive card had butterfly apertures punched out and was stamped with the foliage spray stamp from Vintage Vogue in Old Olive ink. This was placed over the other layers and secured with the Tempting Turquoise flower brads, with the tags added to the bottom left brad.

The aperture and fabric combination give a great textured feel to the card:

Can't wait to see what you make of this challenge.

Sara xx

A door hanger gift for my valentine

Our sketch challenge this month over at In Love With Stamping is for a door hanger. I decided to turn mine into a sweet treat for my Valentine:

And I've made video, walking you through the project, so that you can make your own :

All the materials and tools are listed at the end of the video, as well as when they are used, and they're on my recipe list below as well.

Recipe

Stamp set: Love you much

Textured cardstock: Real Red

Plain cardstock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla

Ink: Real Red, Early Espresso

DSP: Play Date

Punches: Corner Rounder, Scallop Circle, 1-3/8" Circle, 1-1/4" Circle, 1" Circle, Heart to Heart

3mm Taffeta Ribbon: Real Red

Other: Small Cello Bag

Non-SU: Heart chocs

Please email me if you'd like to order.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sara xx

February colour combo challenge at ILWS

Our colour combo challenge this month over at In Love With Stamping is:

Perfect Plum, Pear Pizzazz and Baja Breeze

I've gone with a fairly simple design for a friend's birthday that's coming up:

Recipe

Stamp sets: Punch Potpourri, Curly Cute

Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz, Perfect Plum, Whisper White

Ink: Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz, Perfect Plum

Punches: Eyelet Border, Butterfly

Other: Basic Rhinestones

The card blank is an A6 landscape of Baja Breeze. The central panel of Whisper White cardstock was stamped with the sentiment in Perfect Plum ink. This was then matted with thin strips of Perfect Plum card top and bottom. Pear Pizzazz and Whisper White strips were punched with the Eyelet Border and adhered direct behind the top of the panel. Plain narrow strips to match were adhered behind the bottom of the panel which was then adhered direct to the card front. The butterfly was stamped twice in each colour, once onto Whisper White card and once on matching card and then punched out. The coloured card butterflies were adhered direct to the central panel. Matching white card butterflies were adhered over the top of each with a glue dot and each was finished with a body of three rhinestones snipped from the strip.

Here are the butterflies close up:

I've been working on a Valentine's project recently and shot the video last night. The plan is to edit it tonight so it will hopefully be ready to share with you tomorrow.

Sara xx

Sneak peek and reminder of technique class on 12 Feb

This is a sneak peek at just one of the projects that we'll be making in the technique class on Saturday 12 March(1.30pm-3.30pm at St. Saviours, High Green). As some ladies couldn't make the last class I agreed to hold it over to this month (we made a box project instead at the last one).

So if you'd like to have a go at

• Kissing; and
• Emerging Colour

then please email me to book your place.

Everyone who comes along to the technique class will get an SU! product (this month it's a stamp) included in their class fee (as well as technique instruction cards and materials to make the projects). By booking in advance I can ensure that you have everything you need on the day. If you can't commit and just want to turn up on the day, then you'll be very welcome but you'll have to share my supplies and pick up your product at the next class (or collect from me).

Don't forget you can also come along to the crop as well/instead on the same day. Details are here.

Hope to see you on the 12th.

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

My own card to my MIL with a perched bird

As promised, here is the card that I made for my MIL's birthday at the weekend. I also went with Melon Mambo and Black, I'd actually forgotten what DH had used (I showed his card yesterday) but luckily they didn't turn out too similar. It's a lovely bright combo and I went with an easel card to make it a bit special.

Recipe

Stamp sets: Punch Potpourri (Level 1 hostess), Sincere Salutations

Cardstock: Basic Black, Melon Mambo, Whisper White

Ink: Versamark, Melon Mambo

DSP: Brights Patterns Stack, Neutrals Patterns Stack

Punches: Scallop Circle, 1-3/8" Circle, Two-step Bird, Scallop Trim Border

Polka-dot Grosgrain Ribbon: Melon Mambo (retired offer)

3mm Taffeta Ribbon: Basic Black, Whisper White

Other: Dazzling Diamonds, White EP, Basic Rhinestones

The blank easel card is Melon Mambo and the card front is Basic Black. Melon Mambo and Basic Black Patterns DSP were adhered to the top and bottom of the card front and a 1-3/8" Circle punched from the top right corner. The same Circle was punched from Basic Black card, centred within the Scallop Circle and punched again to get the trim to adhere over the aperture. Using Melon Mambo ink, I stamped the bird onto Whisper White card and punched it out with the Two-step Bird. Dazzling Diamonds were added over the swirls on the bird's breast and a rhinestone for the eye. A plain bird of Melon Mambo was punched out with the Bird punch and the layers were adhered over the front and back of the aperture on the card front. The sentiment was stamped in Versamark onto Basic Black card, heat embossed with White EP and punched with the 1-3/8" Circle. It was matted onto a Scallop Circle of Melon Mambo and popped up on dimensionals in the opposite corner of the card front. Narrow strips of Melon Mambo and Basic Black card were punched with the Scallop Trim Border. The melon was wrapped with 3mm Basic Black Taffeta Ribbon. I dyed a small length of Whisper White ribbon to match my card by dragging it over my ink pad, trapped between the pad and a sponge. Once dry I wrapped that around my Basic Black Trim and adhered them both to the card front. Sticky Strip was placed across the centre of the card front and the Polka-dot ribbon gathered onto it before securing on the reverse. The entire card front was adhered direct to the bottom half of the easel card blank front.

The bird has a bit of bling when viewed up close.

And here's a view of it propped open to show the inside:

Recipe (inside)

Stamp sets: Afterthoughts (Level 1 hostess)

Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Whisper White

Ink: Versamark

DSP: Brights Patterns Stack

Punches: Scallop Square

Other: Black EP

A mat of Whisper White had a strip of Melon Mambo Patterns DSP adhered to it. The sentiment was stamped in Versamark onto Melon Mambo card and heat embossed with Black EP. It was then punched with the Square Scallop and popped up on dimensionals onto the decorative strip.

This was the matching box that I showed on our blog hop on Sunday. And inside ...

... some brads and ribbons for MIL to use on her own projects.

Thanks for stopping by.

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

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 Vintage Vogue Mojomonday

My card today is a little thank you to the ladies who came to my Crop and Class yesterday. We were a small group but had a really good gossip and craft, it was a lovely day. I look forward to seeing you again on 12 February - and we'd love to welcome any new members who'd like to join us.

It's a switch back to one of my favourite stamp sets for this thank you and a belated try at the MojoMonday sketch that came out at the beginning of the week:

I decided to go for softer pastel colours than I usually use with this set:

Recipe

Stamp sets: Vintage Vogue, Tiny Tags (sentiment)

Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Baja Breeze, Whisper White

Ink: Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Always Artichoke, Pacific Point

DSP: Subtles Patterns Stack, Greenhouse Gala

Taffeta Ribbon: Pretty in Pink

Other: Subtles Brads

Non-SU: Die cuts

The card blank is an A6 landscape of Pretty in Pink. This was matted with Pink Pirouette DSP from the Subtles Patterns stack. A panel of Baja Breeze was matted with two different pieces of Greenhouse Gala DSP. The join on the papers was covered with Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon and a bow of the same ribbon was secured with a blue brad from the Subtles collection. Two pink brads were attached to the bottom right of the panel. An oval die cut was stamped with the leaves from the Vintage Vogue set in Always Artichoke ink (stamped off first so that the ink isn't too dark) and the sentiment from the Tiny Tags set in Pacific Point (Baja Breeze matches but is a little too subtle to be readable). This was matted onto a slightly larger oval die cut of Pretty in Pink card. The flowers were all inked with the rock n roll technique, first with Pink Pirouette ink and then rolled in Pretty in Pink ink, then stamped onto Whisper White card and cut out. A small and large flower were layered up and secured to the ovals with a blue brad. Three small flowers were secured to the left of the rectangular panel with blue brads. This panel was popped up on dimensionals on the card front. The ovals were then popped up over the top with more dimensionals.

If you'd like to recreate this card then the key items would be enough to gain you a free Sale-a-bration stamp set (see here to choose from the four sets on offer).

Shopping list

Vintage Vogue (clear mount) - £17.95

Greenhouse Gala DSP - £8.75

Subtles mixed cardstock - £6.25

Subtles brads - £6.25

Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon - £6.25

Total - £45.45

SAB set - FREE

Of course this is just one suggestion and you could swap any of the items out for any other products in the catalogue. Please email me to place your order.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Sara xx