simply stampin' challenge, week 22

This week's challenge is a Sketch! With no further introduction, because its VERY late, I haven't packed yet and I'm off on holiday in the morning, here is the sketch and card for this week! 

Hello Autumnal Flowers

Stamp Set: Basic Phrases, Greenhouse Garden

Ink: Riding Hood Red, More Mustard, Versamark

Cardstock: Sahara Sand, More Mustard, Riding Hood Red

Accessories: Pearls

Extras: Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack, Corner Rounder

Very simple, I stamped three flowers in the background overlapping one another, and then stamped and embossed some more flowers, cut them out. I did a long line of piercer dots along side the 3 flowers and then added the embossed flowers over top. Lastly I stamped the sentiment, added some pearls and rounded the corners! 

I hope you were inspired by this card and head over to the Simply Stampin' Challenge blog to see the other design team's creations and enter yourself! Don't forget that the added bonus of the Forest Friends stamp set is still up for grabs to all who submit an entry...worth getting the creative juices going for because they are just too cute for words! Please do leave a comment.

Apologies again for such a rushed blog entry this week....summer is almost over and then I promise to get back on track and give everything more time! I an just rushing like crazy at the moment. Still trying to get my cousin's wedding present finished for Monday...eek! 

Hugs,

Amanda xxx

more stencilling!

Following the stencilling we did at class on Saturday I thought I would show you another stencilled card! It really didnt take very long to do and the brilliant thing about stencilling is they make very cheap, lightweight and uber flat cards - ideal for the post! 

Thank You Floral Flourish

Stamp Set: Vintage Vogue, Because I Care (Hostess Only)

Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Early Espresso

Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Early Espresso

Punches: 1 3/4" Circle, Scallop Edge, Corner Rounder

Extras: Copy Paper, Sponge

I punched out the circle and lined up the copy paper with the cardstock and sponged in so I had the circle shape. Before I removed the mask I stamped on the floral flourish from Vintage Vogue, the stamp was wider than the circle so by leaving the mask on it masked off the edges too leaving a nice clean and simple decorative circle. I then added the sentiment below and as I hadn't quite got my circle positioned in the centre I added some scallop edging to balance up the card. Finally I rounded the top left corner to mimic the curves in the circle and scallop edge! 

I hope you enjyed this really quick card - its a great card to whip up a few to have on hand as thank you's or even birthdays for those last minute in a rush cards! Thanks for visiting, please do leave a comment. I'd love to know what you think

Come back tomorrow for another creation.

Hugs,

Amanda x

awesome august

A few days ago was my August class. This month's class focused on punches! I love punches so to do a class on punches was just so much fun!! Here are the project we did...

Flutter Away Butterfly

A cute card using the stencilling technique. To finish it off we added a fe punched butterflies out, this made it look like the butterflies were flying off the page! 

Flower Box

This was the main project we focused on this time as it involved rock and roll, glittery, glossy butterflies, gorgeous rolled roses, and fluffy 3D flowers! 

If you would like to have a go at learning these techniques and doing these projects yourself please get in touch for a catch up class, I have several people who have expressed an interest so please don't hesitate, contact me now, at amanda_burditt@hotmail.co.uk

I hope you enjoyed seeing what I and six lovely ladies got up to on Saturday, and I would love to share it with you too. Please do leave a comment.

Hugs,

Amanda

xxx

for grandma

Last month was my Grandma's Birthday (just shows how hopelessly far behind I have gotten with blogging!!). She lives in America so I don't get to see her very much, but last year she braved the long flight and her breathing conditions to come over for Stuart's and my wedding! It was so lovely that she could make it, and she arrived on her 80th birthday! Well, a year has gone by and here is the card I made for her this year...

Grandma's Springtime Flowers

Stamp Set: Baby Blossoms

Ink: Not Quite Navy

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Baja Breeze

DSP: Springtime Vintage

Punch: 5 Petal Flower, Itty Bitty Pack, Boho Blossoms, Circle Punches

Extras: Dimensionals

I punched out a bunch of different flowers in the Spingtime Vintage DSP. I layered them all up including making some little rolled roses to add to the centres. I wrote a sweet quote I found on the internet on the label  from the Baby Blossoms and added it to the card with flowers around it. A pretty simple card really! 

I hope you liked today's simple share. There's more to come in the days ahead as I try to catch up on my blogging! Please do leave me a comment and let me know what you think, I love reading your comments. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Amanda xx

simply stampin' challenge, week 21

So sorry its so late, as my previous post said, a lot has been happening! This week's challenge is a themed challenge and the theme was

Punch it Up 

I love punches and use them on a daily basis so I was wondering how I could make a card a little differently than my normal excessive use of punches. Therefore I thought I'd show you a card using a technique I saw in the Stampin' Up magazine that all the demos get on a monthly basis, its also a technique we did at class this month! 

Hi There Stencilled Flowers

Stamp Set: Basic Phrases

Ink: Rose Red, Garden Green

Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Wild Wasabi

Punch: Modern Label, 5 Petal Flower

Accessories: Basic Pearls

Extras: Sponge, Yellow Permanent Marker, Copy Paper, Dimensionals, Tombo

I punched out the flower shape from copy paper and then using the left over copy paper temporarily adhered it to the card with tombo. I then sponged over the top, peeled off the mask to reveal stencilled images! I free hand drew and cut the curve of the card as there was a lot of dead space, it adds a bit of a different quirky look to the card also! To define the edge of the card I sponged around the card, added a sentiment on the modern label punch. Lastly I coloured in some pearls with a permanent marker and added them to the centre of the flower! 

I hope you liked this week's challenge design, I feel like I have lost my mojo a bit with everything going on this month and desperately trying to regain it again! Please do head over to the Simply Stampin' Challenge blog to see the other design team entries. Don't forget to enter yourself for your chance to win the gorgeous Forest Friends stamp set which is currently being given away! I only wish I was able to win it as they are so cute, but alas, as I am on the design team I can't so one of you lovely ladies has the chance to win it instead! :D 

Thanks for stopping by,

Amanda xoxo

birthday, big shot and bunny plus some class bits

Its been an exhausting few weeks, this week especially. Sorry I haven't updated for the Simply Stampin' Challenge, I promise I will do it later, I originally intended for this to be a short personal update followed by the challenge but after writing this post I just haven't the inclination or energy to follow up with the simply stampin'! Later.

It was my birthday on Thursday, my hubby got me a Big Shot!! I was so excited, so naturally I had to have a play. My mum came over for lunch and did some crafting with me and then in the evening Stu cooked me a nice meal, only hitch was that he miss calculated how long the food was going to take to cook and we ended up eating at 11:30pm!! Well it was really nice in the end and he went to a lot of effort, I was really quite impressed!

I don't know how Friday turned out to be such a busy day but it did, and as I was writing instructions for class the following day at midnight I got a message from my brother saying my lovely little bunny, Somkey, was really ill and I should come and see him. (He's 8 years old and just couldn't handle moving out of my parents' house) So we trotted on over, resulting in a second rather late night and early start on Saturday.

Saturday was class, I had six ladies and we had lots of fun! We were focusing on punches this month, so we did punch stencilling, some gorgeous rock and roll, punched, glossy and glittery butterflies and 2 types of 3D flowers which we covered a large paper mache box in! I love to see how awesome and different everyone's creations turn out! And its always a joy to see people having fun. I will post photos of the class creations later (when I am a little more with it!).
After that we went over to my parents' house for a birthday BBQ party and games. It was so much fun, we played bowls on the lawn, wordy board games inside, empires, and a game of hide and seek for objects my dad hid around the garden (a lot more fun than I've just made it sound!!). I got rather into it and tired to dodge my friend to get to dad for the next object, he blocked me and then decided to get out of the way, I dodged, tripped, went flying. My cheek smashed into the wooden garden chair leg, then my cheek, shoulder, taking a majority of the impact dived into the lawn and skidded along quite a distance! I was told it was quite a spectacular fall. So I had frozen peas on my face after that. My cheek and shoulder are still a little sore but at least Joanna and I won!! :D
After everyone left we stayed behind to see Smokey, I cuddled him for ages and then tried to put him back in his house, everytime I tried to close the door he would move his body so that we couldn't. I think he knew it was the end. So I just ended up sitting cuddling him watching Mulan and shopping channel tv with him, gently comforting him until it was time for him to go. I am going to miss him INCREDIBLY! He was the best pet you could have asked for. We were definitely his family, he felt responsible for us and he was always there for me! He knew when I was sad and down, stressed, ill or just needed some company and was always willing to give a cuddle and a good licking!

Baby Smokey 8 years ago! 

A Favourite: antenna ears, big toothy expression and sniffles! 

 Sorry for ranting.

simply stampin' challenge, week 20

Just not with it yet! I've been super busy with rabbit sitting, 3 workshops and other life happening that I just haven't had time to focus on my blog lately...whoops! Anyway I managed to sort of do the Simply Stampin' Challenge this week. By this I mean that I got it made and submitted just in time but was lacking inspiration slightly!! So I did a really simple card, sorry its nothing to write home about. It wasn't 'til I looked at the other entries today that I realised I used the wrong colour. Some how I read Pink Pirouette not Pretty in Pink, so sorry about that. So, moving on, this week's colour challenge colours are...

Hello Flower 

Stamp Set: Tiny Tags

Ink: Early Espresso, Pink Pirouette, Pacific Point

Cardstock: Whisper White, Pacific Point, Early Espresso

DSP: Pink Pirouette

Punches: 5 Petal Flower, Boho Blossoms, Jewellery Tag 

Accessories: Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Brad

Extras: Sponge, Paper Piercer, Dimensionals

So now you've seen my uber simple effort this week please visit the Simply Stampin' Challenge blog for more inspiration and to enter. Weeks 20-23, there is also a chance to win a stamp set! Its is the uber cute Forest Friends, so for your chance to win please do enter! 

Take care,

Amanda xx

its been a while!

Well, it sure has been a while since I did much to my blog, apart from some scheduled posts! Life has been a little bit busy of late!

In July I had been having lots of fun at quite a few Stampin' Up! parties, running classes and then I was off on holiday! I had started some scheduled posts but ran out of time to finish them for the entire time I was away as I had intended to do! Sorry about that! Just means more loveliness for you to come over the next few weeks!

Stu and I went to Cornwall on holiday for a week, it was really lovely. We had lots of sun, picturesque views and fantastic food! (Not good for the figure though! Eeek!) Anyway, a couple of days after our return, was Stu's cousin's wedding. It was a really great day, fantastic weather, and Nay and Phil just make such a sweet couple!

The day after that was back to business with another Stampin' Up! party, followed by a second on Monday and a third to come tomorrow! Woah 3 in a week! What fun! :D Tomorrow is a special one actually as Rhoda (my downline) is down from Shetland so we are hosting a joint one together. I'm looking forward to getting together with her tomorrow and doing some good quality crafting and getting to know her a bit better. My life seems to have a theme of distance, when I was young we lived in Pakistan, then all my grandparents, cousins, uncles, friends all lived VERY far away! Not to mention my family in the states who are still REALLY far away and now my upline lives FAR FAR away. At least my life is consistent! Haha! So if you are around and fancy coming to a Stampin' Up! party tomorrow night at 7pm at mine please email me on amanda_burditt@hotmail.co.uk. Please RSVP by the end of the day! Look forward to seeing you there!

I will have more to come over the next few days but for now,

take care,

Amanda

xx

simply stampin' challenge, week 19

Another sketch challenge over at the Simply Stampin' Challenge blog this week. I loved doing this sketch challenge and can see it becoming a firm favourite of mine to use. So without futher ado, here is the sketch and my card...

Fun 4th Birthday 

Stamp Set: n/a

Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise Texture, Chocolate Chip

DSP: Play Date

Punches: 1 3/8" Circle, 1" Circle

Extras: Brown Pen, Dimensionals

I've been trying to make a few more kids cards recently and thought this sketch would lend itself perfectly to the Play Date dsp. I cut a strip of the numbers in the chocolate pattern and then punched out a 4 in the coloured pattered paper to layer over the top. I used half a circle in another of the patterns to write my sentiment, birthday on it. I finished off the card by drawing on some hand stitching lines to pull everything together. 

I love all the bright colours in this card, but what do you think? Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think. 

Hugs, 

Amanda x