A quick little thank-you

I wanted to design something to mail to my customers as a thank-you, and I am head over heels in love with this little guy.

I just love the Oh, Wave! wheel too. I am thinking about doing a wheel stamp class as I have a few but I feel they often get overlooked.

This is just a little 3.5" x 5" postcard I can throw in an envelope. I am not the most confident person on the phone (I think it's the accent, it's usually a mutual confusion-fest) so I vastly prefer mail! :D

Vintage woes...

So I am not good at all at the vintage/distressed look...

But I'm game for a try at anything!

This card was for Freshly Made Sketches #75. I flipped it & rotated it!

The stamp set is Postage Due. A bit of an impulse buy. I think this one might be traded... Anyone want to swap for something else current SU!?

Special Delivery!

A friend of mine is having a baby BOY very soon. I actually must get sorted & go through all the clothes I have in the basement to give to her - I have just been stuffing them in randomly. :( She actually used to be a Stampin' Up! demonstrator too (before I met her!).

Here's her card:

See the fun bits from the "Sent with Love" bundle? It makes fab cards too! I made the "envelope" from the Scallop Envelope Big Shot die.

This card is for Dynamic Duos #41.

Anniversary Card

Every year, I forget my mum & dad's anniversary. The big day is March 6th, one day before my sister's birthday. So usually, on my sister's birthday, I remember, and of course by then it's too late!

So this year I'm trying to do a bit better with sending cards etc. As I was making my sister's birthday card, I remembered the anniversary! Brilliant! So I made this for them:

The sketch was from Mojo Monday:

 

And as I have never made a circle card (nor really wanted to - how would it stand up?!) I went with the square.

Supplies:
Ink: Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green
Cardstock: Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse, Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Crumb Cake
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes, Serene Silhouettes
Ribbon: Gumball Green stitched satin ribbon
Paper: Print Poetry stack
Other: Apothecary Accents framelits, Edgelits, 1 3/4" circle punch, Dazzling Details

Happy Mail

So - remember this card?

Or this one?

Well, on Thursday my "Sent with Love" bundle arrived. It includes a full stamp set, beautiful designer paper, and some Calypso Coral baker's twine. Well, so far I've just cracked open the stamp set - and used it to decorate the envelopes for these cards!

The envelope is another chance to make someone smile when sending a card - but I usually forget to do it. However I think I might HAVE to do them now, because I am head over heels in love with this bundle!

Check it out here. Note - you don't HAVE to buy the bundle, but with 20% off, it'd be rude not to, no? I can't tell you how gorgeous the envelopes look once you've addressed them. Super fun!

Flip-flop Alert!

OK as predicted, I woke up this morning in a MUCH better mood than last night and I am all enthused again. It might have a wee bit to do with Leo actually sleeping. He's FOUL today, but at least he slept last night!

I also woke up to two SU! orders which was LOVELY. Thanks Zhenya & Lindsay. I've also had lots of cheerleading from Z&L, as well as from my downline Laura. I was actually going to delete my post from last night but then I thought that was editing a true story to make everything sound wonderful when in reality that is not the case! Take it with a pinch of salt if you read it and be assured that my positivity is back in the driving seat today!

However, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. So I've decided to make a consistent effort to maintain my blog, post pics of my projects, and try to get back to doing some work on stamping every day. I've even thought about Meetup but I'm sleeping on that one!

Let me share with you the project we completed on Friday night. In the UK we have Mother's Day during Lent (so before Easter) and as that's the one holiday you really DON'T want to forget, I showcased a Mother's Day card:

That's the Primrose Petals version. I also did a Marina Mist version:

It's a deceptively simple card to make:

1. Cut your card base to 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" from your desired coloured cardstock and score down the middle.
2. Cut a mat 5 1/4" x 4" from Naturals White cardstock (Item number 102316; $7.50 for 40 sheets). I like this as it's a bit sturdier than Whisper White for card bases, and it gives a lovely speckly effect.
3. Take your mat and using Scotch Blue Painter's Tape (available at all good hardware stores! Ha!) mask off the areas you'd like to leave white. Grid paper (Item number 102787; $9.95 for 100 sheets) really helps here as it allows you to get nice straight lines parallel to the edge of your cardstock.
4. Using the Gossamer Lace stamp (129050, $9.95), stamp randomly over the bare portion of the cardstock. To get the variations in colour, "stamp off" some of the images. This means to ink up your stamp, then do the first impression of that inking off the page - another great use for the grid paper!
5. Using a sponge, gently rub your ink onto the bare area to give it an all-over shade.
6. Carefully remove the masking tape. Stamp your chosen sentiment onto Whisper White cardstock. These two examples are both from the fantastically versatile Delightful Dozen (WM 122650; $32.95, CM 122652; $24.95).
7. Punch your sentiment out using the Decorative Label punch (120907; $16.95) and adhere with a couple of Dimensionals (104430; $3.95 for 300).
8. Cut about 4" of your chosen ribbon, fold it over and use a Vintage Trinket (118764; $5.95 for 48) to catch the fold. Place a Glue Dot (103683; $4.95 for 300) low on the back of the ribbon to stick it to the label.
9. Finally, bling it up a bit with Rhinestones (119246; $4.95 for 150) and/or Pearls (119247; $4.95 for 150) then stick the mat to the card base.

Wasn't that easy? You could easily substitute a stamp from Circle Circus or Delicate Doilies to get a similar effect, and of course, the colours & sentiments are easily swappable.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and I'll see you tomorrow! 

Hoping for some nice, boring days!

Aaaaaahhhh.....

Christmas is done, we are back in the States and getting more or less organised to resume normal life! It is so nice to relax after the hectic holidays.

Whilst we were in the UK over Christmas, we held Leo's Christening at St. Columba's church in Omagh, Co. Tyrone. It was a wonderful service and a really lovely day. It also meant we got to catch up with loads of people all at once!

I've made a couple of thank-you cards tonight to give to the minister & organist (handily, they're married!) and Stew's parents for organising the do. Here they are!

This one is for the minister & his wife. I used supplies from January's Simon Says Stamp kit, and the awesome "Swallowtail" stamp from SU!. I am seriously addicted to those ribbon slides too...

...as you can see! A much simpler card for Stew's parents and this one's SUO. I coloured the ducks (geese?) in using a blender pen & SU! inks.

Finally a quick snap of my gorgeous boys just before the Christening (whilst they were still looking smart!):

Girly Toddler Card

A friend asked me to make a "girly card with a big number 2 on it"!

Colours are Primrose Petals, Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White. I used Silver Glimmer paper for the number 2, and sponged it with ink to give it a soft colur. Then I doodled white gel pen on the Primrose Petals, and die cut the "today". I used the Memory Box "Piestra Tile" die for the lattice, then stamped & punched some vellum butterflies from Papillon Potpourri. Finally, I used Liquid Pearls to make the butterfly's bodies (and hide the adhesive), and antennae.

I am NOT a purple fan, and as this was evolving I thought I was headed for disaster, but I actually quite like it, as did the friend who requested it!

I also had a go at the Freshly Made Sketch for this week. Play along! It doesn't close until Monday.

ACAD CASE

This week's challenge for Card a Day bloggers is to CASE a fellow blogger. I chose this card from Andrea:

Isn't it the cutest? I decided to do a Fall version with Perfectly Preserved:

Supplies:
Naturals Ivory cardstock (101849, $7.50, 40 sheets)
Very Vanilla cardstock (101650, $8.50, 40 sheets)
Lucky Limeade cardstock (122926, $6.95, 24 sheets)
Orchard Harvest DSP (126895, $10.95, 12 sheets)
Perfectly Preserved framelit & stamp bundle (129943, $44.95, WM; 129944, $38.95, CM)
Ribbon Slider (127834, $4.95)
Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon (122977, $9.95)
Sentiment from Pennant Parade stamp set (122740, $21.95, WM; 122742, $16.95, CM)

Christmas in September

Only 3 months left of CCC12! That's Christmas Card Challenge 2012. If I haven't mentioned it before, this is a monthly challenge on Splitcoast where you commit to making a certain number of Christmas cards each month, so that when December rolls around, you are all set just to write & mail them. It's awesome, this is my second year of it now and I can't tell you how fab it is to open the box and see all your hard work!

This is also for the Great Outdoors challenge for Card a Day.

Urgh - really bad photo! Sorry! This stamp is from the super cute "Wonderful Winterland". I think it's my first stamp set with actual people on it. I coloured it in with SU! markers. The DSP is from Festival of Prints:





Only $6.95 for 48 sheets of 4 1/2" x 6 1/2" designer paper. It's perfect for cardmakers. My favourite thing about it is the combination of traditional and non-traditional colour schemes & designs.

Torn Paper

I was chatting with a fab friend today whilst we went around Artsfest at Anne Marie Gardens, in Solomons, MD, about how I really struggle to do "messy" and "vintage". I kind of like everything squared up and neat. So the Torn Paper challenge for Card a Day was a little bit of a nightmare.

 

This uses a new stamp set called Serene Silhouettes. It's very pretty! I have made this for a friend of mine who has a poorly husband. I'm going to package it up with some cookies for them both. I've also used the new Coredinations SU exclusive paper with the Woodgrain embossing folder. Finally, the ribbon was FREE with this month's Back to Spool promotion. Gotta love free.

As for the card, it's a bit "meh". Next time, I'd raise the sentiment up about 1/3 of the way up the card. I'm not sure I'm a fan of torn paper! :D

Whilst I remember...

Whilst I was walking with Leo this morning we walked across a little bridge beside a soakaway place (I think that's what they're called - it's a field type scenario where water soaks away in storms?). The summer's long grass had turned to straw, and I spotted a BRIGHT yellow butterfly fluttering across the field.

Please excuse the mess in the background. Must tidy up!

The card base is Sahara Sand, on which I stamped the Sweet Floral (122857 $13.95 CM, 122855 $17.95 WM) background stamp in Early Espresso. Then I overlaid some vellum, stamped it with a sentiment from Delightful Dozen (122652 $24.95 CM, 122650 $32.95 WM) in Early Espresso. I hid the adhesive under Summer Starfruit stitched satin ribbon (FREE this month with a $40 order) then stamped a butterfly from Papillon Potpourri (123759 $14.95 CM 123757 $18.95 WM) on Whisper White cardstock in Summer Starfruit. Finally I punched that out using the coordinating Elegant Butterfly punch (127526 $15.95) and added a few Basic Jewel Rhinestones et voila! I'm really chuffed with this one.

Catching up some more!

OK So tonight I've caught up on all bar one of the Card a Day challenges. I'll try to post them in order of the challenge being set... so, a blast from the past for you CAD'ers, Office Supplies!

Sorry again for the lousy photo. We went to see our new house today and I am excited to get my light tent out again... until then, it is what it is!

This card looked a lot better in my head! It uses the Hostess-only stamp set, Priority Mail. This costs $12 in hostess dollars. How on earth do I get those, I hear you cry. Well, there are TWO ways. Either you order $150 of stuff all on your own and get Hostess Dollars to spend how you like, OR you could have a party. I'd love to sort something out with you. You don't even actually have to have a party - you could have a "book" party, where you pass around the catalog to friends and collect orders. Let me know if you're interested!

New Sets...

I went a bit crazy on my last order and bought loads of stamp sets. Because it was my first order since re-signing up again in August, SU! very kindly gave me an extra 10% instant income, so I had a bit of a splurge. Anyway, I have lots of new sets to play with!

One of my favourite ways to get to know a new set is to CASE the catalog sample made with it. So here we go...

I can see myself using Fine Feathers (126515 $16.95 (WM), 126517 $12.95 (CM))A LOT for masculine cards, notecard sets, all sorts really. I loved the catalog sample so much that I stuck pretty closely to it - the only real change I made was the addition of two extra buttons. Well, it kind of wasn't intentional - the Certainly Celery one is covering up a smudge! Then the teeny tiny one was added for balance.

 







This one is a card for my best friend Jen who lives in England. So it's nice and flat for mailing. To get the smudgy effect on the foliage, I sprayed the stamp after inking with some shimmer mist. The set is called Summer Silhouettes (126445 $24.95 (WM), 126447 $17.95 (CM)) - another great one for notecard sets, sympathy cards, girly cards...

Super Excited!

So, tonight I am having a few friends over to glug wine & make a few things. I could call it a "workshop" but that doesn't sound too much fun! I am really excited about the projects I have made, which I will share with you AFTER this evening as I don't want to spoil the surprise!

I just wanted to post this:

It's the free tray kit you get if you sign up as an SU! Demo before 11.50pm MT on Sunday, 16th September. How lush is it? Jacob and I worked together on it, it was so easy & fun to make and I absolutely LOVE the result. Especially the picture of Jakey in his dragon costume from last year.

I've put it in my hallway and I have to keep going and checking it out, that's how much I love it.

The kit truly is comprehensive, it has EVERYTHING (bar ink- but you only need black & Old Olive) you need to complete the project - including a full pack of Lucky Limeade baker's twine, a full pack of Basic Jewel Rhinestones, all the adhesive and components you could possibly need (in fact, two lots of the printed parts - in case your four-year-old helps you too!) AND the full "Toxic Treats" stamp set. To top it all off, you get $125 worth of WHATEVER YOU LIKE from the main catalog and the Holiday catalog for $99...

It's an amazing deal and I wanted to share my excitement and enthusiasm with you all. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about signing up, or just DO IT! The button's at the top right... :D Be quick though, this deal runs out on Sunday night....

At long last!

Aaargh I've wanted to make something since I got back, but haven't got around to it until tonight. I am shattered too, so I only managed to crank one card out. Here it is!

We've been in dire need of this card for Stew's parents - they wouldn't accept any money for the rental of the villa in Florida so I wanted to send them a thank-you card as soon as I got back.

I have packed up my "light tent" and "photo studio" (think white box on the dining room table surrounded by desk lamps and you're pretty much there) until we move or the house gets let. It isn't the most compact or attractive set up. So this is an iPhone snap - sorry!

I've been really busy since I got back, settling Leo and Jacob back into their respective routines, and also I bought a whole heap of meat from the wholesale store - I use "Don't Panic - Dinner's in the Freezer" to make the preparation of dinner infinitely easier! So I've been cooking it up. We have Lime Ginger chicken, Stuffed Meatloaf, Bombay Curry... lots and lots, hopefully enough to last us well into October. The only thing I need to do now is a huge bag of green beans. Tomorrow!

Supplies for 10th September 2012 - Autumn Thanks:
All supplies Stampin' Up and available NOW in my SU! online store! 
Naturals Ivory, Cajun Craze cardstock, Kindness Matters and Fabulous Florets stamp sets, Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon, Very Vanilla medium envelope, Bitty Banners Framelits, Cajun Craze, More Mustard and Cherry Cobbler ink, 3/16" Metallic Brads.

Zonko Malonko

Is what we say when we're SUPER TIRED!

But on the plus side, we're off on our holidays (vacation for all you Yanks!) a week from today! Woooooooooo! If things go to plan, we will be in Emporia, VA this time next week on the long drive down. We're breaking it up over 3 days to make it a bit of a "Road Trip" and to make it easier on the boys. I am very excited, but I really need to get packing. Not sure what exactly to pack into, usually when Brits go on vacation we pack suitcases because we're getting off the island by hook or by crook. However, a driving vacation is a different kettle of fish!

Anyway, I'm sure you'd like me to stop wittering on and show you what I've made today! As I'm tired, this was HARD. But I like the result, it contains a really weak pun, the colour green, and chevron paper. What's not to love!?

Couldn't even be bothered to get the light tent out, so you can't see that the green banner thing is popped up with the pear. Still debating putting a teeny-tiny "You're" on this. But we shall see.

This is ALMOST all SU!. The paper is from the Summer Smooches DSP pack (125409 $10.95). I used Certainly Celery, Lucky Limeade and Always Artichoke. The stamp is from the Perfectly Preserved bundle (it has matching Framelits - squeeeee!). I wasn't sure about investing, but I can think of loads of uses already. And I think there is lots more scope for my side-splitting puns. (129944 $38.95 CM, 129943 $44.95 WM) I've put a diamante (ooops, sorry, rhinestone!) on the pear. Finally the letters are from Basic Grey. I wish SU! did letter stickers. They are fabulous for when you want an unusual and hilariously punny word! :D

Quick Chrimbo

I had done four Christmas cards (towards my target of 6/mo) and spotted Limeade and Gumball Green scraps on my desk. As you may know, Jacob isn't the only one in our family who LOVES green. So I knocked a quick card together from mainly scraps.

Colours are Real Red, Gumball Green, Lucky Limeade, Chocolate Chip, and that fabulous Champagne Glimmer Paper again. I just love "En Francais" background stamp - it works for loads of different occasions. I love it stamped in Real Red on Very Vanilla cardstock as here. In case you are wondering what ribbon I used, it's Scallop Dot Ribbon in Chocolate Chip. Because the dots are Whisper White, and I used a Very Vanilla card, I flipped it over to the plain side. It's like a BOGOF!

I usually make my Christmas cards in pairs - really, you might as well. :D Once you've cut your card base, you've automatically got two. It really doesn't take much longer to knock another one out!

Festive Banners

Big news - Leo has a tooth! We have had some bad nights of little sleep, but we now know why - a wee tooth! It's his front left bottom tooth. Poor monkey.

Here's my second Christmas card for August.

It's inspired by a card by Kristina Werner, just Christmas'd up! I used a Cherry Cobbler card base, with Very Vanilla and Gumball Green. The colour combination came from the DSP, Be of Good Cheer, as did all the bannery bits. I used some Silver Sparkle Dazzling Details and Linen Thread knots (just stuck on with Mono Multi!) to put the finishing touches on it. Finally, the sentiment comes from Chock-full of Cheer.

I really like the Be of Good Cheer paper. Because it only has three colours, it is super easy to coordinate with. It's also an excellent choice if you're new to Stampin' Up as there isn't a huge amount of outlay to get all you need to make tonnes of Christmas cards!

Colour Challenge

Francesca threw down the gauntlet in my blog group this week with this fabric swatch:

The colours are: Baja Breeze, Calypso Coral, Poppy Parade, So Saffron, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Lucky Limeade and Tangerine Tango.

Well, about this time of the month, I start thinking about the month's Christmas cards. If you didn't already know, I take part in a Christmas Card Challenge throughout the year on Splitcoast Stampers. The idea is, you make a certain number of cards each month, so that there is no panicking in November. Works for me, last year I sat down to a lovely box of handmade cards. Some people even write them as they go along!

Anyway! I decided that this colour scheme wasn't too far from festive, so here's what I made!

 

The card base is Chocolate Chip, then the snowflake circles are in Poppy Parade, Tangerine Tango, Baja Breeze and Lucky Limeade. Finally the "tag" is in Soft Suede (didn't have Creamy Caramel) with gold embossing powder and backed by the irresistible Champagne Glimmer Paper. Finally, a bit of Lucky Limeade ribbon and some Early Espresso baker's twine. The stamp set is a retired hostess set called Northern Hearts. I doubt I'll ever part with it as it's kind of Nordic which I love. You could get pretty much the same effect using "Snow Swirled", a current set. I punched them out using a "best fit" philosophy which has kind of a neat effect.