Rainbow Thank You

Hello! 

Its been a super busy week! I feel like I haven't stopped! I've finally finished decorating the hall, landing and stairs. We still have some work to do - changing up the storage solutions in the hallway but that will all wait for the new year! 

The house is now decorated for Chistmas and I'm starting to feel a bit happier that I feel ready for Christmas. First few gifts are wrapped and the first batches of cookies are fresh out of the oven! Yum!

Anyway I've got a card I though y'all might like which is pretty simple really! 

Stamp Set: Another Thank You

Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Bermuda Bay, Pacific Point, Rich Razzleberry

Cardstock: Whisper White

Punch: Itty Bitty Accessory Punch Pack

Accessories: Brights Candy Dots, Dazzling Diamonds, Crystal Effects

So the rainbow effect was really simple to do, I just used sponge daubers to apply the ink to the thank you stamp and then as you would with the markers, give the stamp a quick huff and stamp! 

I sponged scrap card with rainbow colours and punched some stars. Finally some crystal effects and dazzling diamonds gives the card a little sparkle. Oh and candy dots are always fun, right?!

Hope you enjoyed this fun and CAS card. I'm off to write some Christmas cards and then get ready for an evening out with some of my besties! 

Catch you again soon, 

Happy Stampin',

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

One awesome thing about being half American is getting to celebrate thanksgiving! Turkey, stuffing, mash, sweet potato cassarole, wild rice, spaghetti squash, roast parsnips, carrots, cranberry sauce and of course all finished off with pumpkin pie and pecan pie! 

I love that its a great time to come together with friends and family, eat good food and think upon all those many things we are thankful for! As we don't get the Thursday off work we celebrated last Saturday, and as tradition, I decorated the table!

The dried indian corn was something Stu and I picked up on our holiday this summer. It was at a place called The Corn Palace - the oddest place ever, in the middle of no-where! Its this big building with a basketball court, auditorium and museum inside and on the outside, decorated in dried coloured corn! 

Pretty table setting! I used the Gratitude for Days simply created kit. Since I'd decided not to do the project it was originally designed for I needed to find other ways to use it up. Each setting had a pocket with a sheet of the note paper inside for the guest to write what they were thankful for. The front was decorated with a bit of DSP, washi tape and some punches. 

As a little gift for coming and sharing this special time together I made everyone a box using the Curvy Keepsake Box thinlits with some cajun craze card and the Colour Me Autumn DSP. It was just the right size for 3 Lindt chocolates! 

I matched the flower arrangement to the colours in the Colour Me Autumn DSP. Love that deep purple!

Pumpkin pie - YUM!!

I hope that wether you are American or not that today you will take some time out to be thankful for all your blessings! I know that I certainly have plenty to thank God for! 

Have a great thanksgiving day,

Happy Stampin',

I Return....

Hi! 

Its been a while. What with a new job to get used to, exciting holiday in America, redecorating and now Christmas planning I'm afraid blogging and even CRAFTING has got pushed to the bottom of the list!! I'm finally getting to that stage where I have more energy (I don't come home and crash out to sleep on the sofa). I will update you further o everything that's been going on over the next few weeks but today I just wanted to get back in with a short little post!

Tonight, after work I went to Warwickshire for a Sale-a-Bration Creative tour! I've seen some gorgeous new things and I'm sure you enjoy seeing sneaky peeks in weeks to come! I feel so pepped up and encouraged! (Thanks Michelle!!)

As I can't really post without showing you something pretty...I've got a birthday card I made for my sweet godson Euan's 2nd birthday back in July to show y'all...

Stamp Set: Remembering Your Birthday

Ink: Versa Mark

Cardstock: Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey, Basic Grey, Smokey Slate

DSP: Moonlight

Punch: Owl Builder, Banner

Big Shot: Decorative Dots, Typeset Alphabet (retired)

Embellishments: Mini Brads

Other: White Embossing Powder

I used my favourite technique - selective embossing and then added some little punched dots on top for more colour. 

I just love this paper and the banners look so fun and celebratory.

I'm planning to wean myself back into blogging, creating shorter blog posts which hopefully will be easier to maintain in my busy life I appear to be leading at the moment! 

I'm off to bed as I am completely wiped out!

Have a great day!

Happy Stampin',

Amanda 

Language of Love Florals

Hey! 

As promised, I'm back today with some details for card I shared yesterday plus another one too! 

Both these cards are using the Language of Love stamp set. Neither are at all romancey - yes I wanted to get more use out of this cute stamp set. You can still order this set which is in the Spring/Summer catalogue until the end of the month. 

Stamp Set: Language of Love, Happy Day

Ink: Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz

Cardstock: Whisper White, Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz, Silver Glimmer Paper

Punch: Bird Builder, Small Heart, Owl Builder

Embellishments: Linen Thread, Subtles Buttons

Here I used the sweet little small hearts to make some sweet flowers. I love the patterns on then and look great. I decided I wanted the leaves to have some texture to match the flowers so I used the spotty banner and punched after. I know the banner isn't quite large enough to cover the whole branch but it doesn't look too bad. 

Buttons, a little linen thread bow and glimmer heart are cute finishing touches for this clean and fresh card! 

Stamp Set: Language of Love, Happy Day

Ink: Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz

Cardstock: Whisper White, Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz, Silver Glimmer Paper

Punch: Bird Builder, Pansy, Fancy Flower, Owl Builder

Embellishments: Linen Thread, Subtles Buttons

Yes this is quite similar to the other card, same colour scheme, but just using one larger flower. I used the love text heart to make my own pattern paper by nesting the heart together a couple times then punching in the centre. If there's a little overlap, it doesn't matter all that much as the button can cover it. See the image below.

The fancy flower punch is retiring at the end of this month so get in quick if you want it before it's gone for good! Doesn't it layer beautifully with the pansy punch?!

I used the wing from the bird builder to make the leaves. Again button, linen thread bow and a glitery heart are sweet finishing touches.

Hope you're having a great day. 

Happy Stampin',

Super Duper Quick

Hi! 

Just a super duper quick note and piccy for you today. Last minute plans with Sam after school today, and she didn't leave until near 11pm. I am shattered and off to bed. I promise I'll have something more substantial for you tomorrow! I'll leave you with just a little something...

I'll share more details of this and another similar card tomorrow! 

Happy Stampin',

Floral Quatrafancy

Hello!!

Its been a while hasn't it!! Did you miss me?! Life has been totally manic around here lately and I'm afraid doing much of anything in my craft room or on the blog has had to take a bit of a back seat. 

Today was my first day on the new permanent job as a Learning Mentor. Its quite different to working in the manic Student Services and I'm still not entirely sure what to make of it. I just want to get properly stuck in to the job now and its a bit frustrating as I don't have any students to see as my group of kids don't start school until September. 

Anyway, I've also been super busy finishing off a million and one wedding things for a client - 90 favour boxes with bows, tags, menu cards, table plan, table numbers, orders of service....as you can imagine, I've been very busy! 

Now that the wedding is over I'm hoping to have a quieter few weeks where I can get creating beautiful things for you. I have a bunch of new goodies from preorder that I haven't even touched yet!! Scandalous I know!!

Stamp Set: Remembering Your Birthday

Ink: Strawberry Slush, Pear Pizzazz

Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White

DSP: Quatrafancy, Gingham Garden

Punch: Bird Builder, Pansy, Blossom

Embellishments: Brights Buttons, In-Color Buttons, Brights Candy Dots

Other: White Gel Pen

I totally love these bright happy flowers. The patterned papers are beautiful and I will really miss both the Quatrafancy and Gingham Garden papers when they retire next week! 

Buttons and candy dots are the finishing touches this card needs. I also added some cute doodles too! 

I layered up lots of the flowers for a really full effect - love it! I used the wing from the bird punch to make some large leaves. I also decided I wanted a little more body and texture so added some curly twirly sprigs too! 

For a smaller little flower in the centre of the pansy flower I cut the petals apart and layered four of them on top to make a smaller flower. The button just covers up the joins in the centre.

Right, I am off to have a run. I'm back to trying to get through the couch to 5k challenge. I feel like I've been lazy of late and really need to get into some exercise again. 

Catch you again tomorrow,

Happy Stampin',

Masculine Chevrons

Hi! 

Well, my plans went out the window! I got a text from mum really late Sunday night asking for help getting the house cleaned and ready (their house is split in two and they sometimes rent out the other side to people who need temporary accommodation). She had a teacher from school who needs somewhere to stay for the next 7 weeks. Anyway she was way behind on getting things sorted before he arrived on Tuesday. 

Monday morning he asked if he could come today...not tomorrow. She needed all the more help so I went over after school and didn't get back til late. I was completely shattered and ended up going straight to bed. 

This evening I went for a nap and woke a lot later than intended then I spent the rest of the evening making favour boxes for a client's wedding. I'm at 50 now so I thought it was time to stop for the night, get into bed and write a super quick blog post. 

Stamp Set: Happy Day

Ink: VersaMark

Cardstock: Basic Black, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry

DSP: Kaleidoscope

Punch: Banner

Other: White Embossing Powder, White Gel Pen, ZigZag rotary cutter

This was a really  quick and simple card I made for my brother-in-law's birthday last week. I'm really loving black for guy cards at the moment! The border was marked out lightly with pencil and then hand drawn over the top with a white gel pen. 

I white embossed the sentiment on the rather boring looking black grid pattern paper. I think it works really well on this card though as it really highlights the bright colour accents. The chevrons are punched out with the banner punch, same as this card. The banner punch was a sale-a-bration item, but will be available again for purchase in the new annual catty beginning July 1st!

Okay so I need some sleep, night all! 

Happy Stampin',

Simple Sunday - Happy Sparkles

Hello! 

Its been a while since I last did a Simple Sunday post! Its a new month and now that work is less up in the air I'm hoping my emotions can become a bit more settled and I'll get back to blogging daily! 

So today I have a Simple Sunday card for you today using a few left overs.

Stamp Set: Happy Day

Ink: Rich Razzleberry

Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Crumb Cake

DSP: Natural Composition

Embellishments: Gold Sequin Trim

I had this triangle piece of Natural Composition left over from another project and I really wasn't sure what to do with it. I've seen some cards using diagonals around the net and while I find things on angles really annoying I wanted to give it a go. I added some rich razzleberry ink to the pattern paper and added it to the card. Around the edge of the pattern paper and crumb cake I did a little hand drawn line as it really added a nice finishing touch. 

This Natural Composition paper is one product I am seriously going to miss - yes its on THE LIST! If you're going to miss it too why not stock up on another pack before its gone! Its even reduced - £8.05 from £11.50!! 

The stamp-a-ma-jig really came in handy to get the sentiment perfectly positioned and parallel to the pattern paper. I accented it with a few scattered sequins! 

Hope you're having a beautiful end to your weekend - the weather has been gorgeous today! 

Happy Stampin', 

Frosted Sympathy

Hi! 

I'm back from a very lovely and relaxing few days away with Stuart. We had a really nice time in Chester - went to the zoo, did some walking and wandering around pretty gardens. Everywhere seems to be overflowing with gorgeous rhododendrons at the moment (some of my fave flowers). Now I'm home and we're back to work Monday! 

A while ago I had to make a few sympathy cards. I really hate making them and didn't want to share them too soon, but I think enough time has passed now. Its also using some very pretty products that have hit the retirement list as of yesterday! Ruffled ribbon, Venetian Romance designer paper and the Petals a Plenty embossing folder are all on there! Get them before they're gone forever! 

To see the full list of retiring stamps and accessories, check out the link below...

GOING, GOING, GONE!!

Stamp Set: Thoughts & Prayers

Ink: Pistachio Pudding

Cardstock: Pistachio Pudding, Very Vanilla, Vellum

DSP: Venetian Romance

Punch: Bitty Butterfly

Big Shot: Petals a Plenty TIEF

Embellishments: Gold Baker's Twine, Pisachio Pudding Ruffled Ribbon, Pearls

There's the scattered frosted embossing technique I'm loving at the moment! I'm going to miss this embossing folder that just works so perfectly with this technique! 

I'm also really going to miss the pretty ruffled ribbon - I think a lot of us were pretty shocked to see it added to the retirement list! It and the baker's twine work great at hiding the adhesive along the top. I also added glue dots behind some of the flowers to keep the vellum from curling towards the bottom.

I kept the sentiment nice and simple and added a little bit more of a sentiment to the inside. I'm afraid I'm not very good at these difficult to say cards. I struggle to know what to say in a birthday card let alone a card of substance! 

Shortly after this first card Stuart asked if I could make one for soneone who'd lost a family member at work. I though I'd do pretty much the same design but just bigger for more space for everyone in his department to write a message.

I concertina'd a full sheet of card into three sections which definately gave more than enough space of everyone to write, apart from that, the card is pretty much identical, only taller! 

Hope you're having a great weekend! 

Catch you tomorrow! 

Happy Stampin',

Orange Poppy

Hello! 

Wow has it really been a week since I last blogged?! Last week was really crazy. If you remember, I told you that I didn't get the job I applied for at school. On the Tuesday I got told Friday would be my final day working in Student Services - sooner than I had originally been told I'd be leaving so that came as a bit of a shock. Everything was just going really wrong but I was trying to pick myself up and just to my best til the end of the week. I think all the stress and disappointment really made me tired and although the headaches has finally subsided I was sleeping a lot. 

So roll on 7pm on Thursday night, we'd had dinner and I was curled up having a nap on Stuart's lap watching some tv when the phone went, much to my surprise it was the head teacher on the phone wanting to speak to me. Anyway, he basically offered me a job! Not at all what I was expecting to happen and not even a job I had at all considered. This job is as a Learning Mentor. Well you can imagine how happy this made me, and after a night of sleepless consideration, excitement and a chat with the current learning mentors at he school I accepted! Absolutely thrilled to have a permanent full time job! I'll tell you more about it later as this is already getting quite long and I'm sure you'd rather skip to something pretty! 

The card I have for you today reminds me of my Granny - she had these beautiful, big, bright orange oriental poppies in her front garden that she used to love. They were so bright and punchy - I actually have some of them in my garden now - like a little remembrance of her.

Stamp Set: Simply Sketched, En Francais

Ink: Crumb Cake, Baked Brown Sugar, Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, Black Stazon

CardstockL Very Vanilla, Baked Brown Sugar

Big Shot: Circles Framelits

Embellishments: Brights Buttons, Gold Baker's Twine

Other: Essentials Pierce Pack

I started off with stamping the poppy with the stazon ink on the vanilla cardstock, and used blender pens to colour it in. I then stamped over the top with the En Francais background stamp for a little subtle pattern/texture. 

I used the framelits to cut out a frame for the poppy panel to sit behind, ensuring that it was just big enough to fit the poppy and a sentiment in the frame. I wanted a little extra detail for the circular frame so used the pierce pack to do a little bit of paper piercing around the edge. I think it really finishes off the frame nicely. 

I used the leaves to add a little more pattern to the top and bottom opposing corners in a tone on tone colour. 

Love the final detail of the little button and small knot of baker's twine! 

Inside as it was quite a dark card base I like to add a white or vanilla insert. Of course a little stamping just pretties it up and only took a moment! 

I hope you enjoyed this card. I really love the Simply Sketched set which is a hostess set and will only be available if you host a party before the end of June! 

Now Stuart is taking me away to Chester for a couple nights (as its school holiday this week!), I should be back sometime on Friday. I'll be taking the laptop with me but not sure I'll get much time to blog - it is a holiday afterall! 

Have a lovely week! 

Happy Stampin',

Scattered Mosaic

Hello! 

Ugh! Another awful day...I shan't go into it, I'll skip the drama and head straight to the card. I have another cheery number for you.

Stamp Set: Mosaic Maddness, Happy Day

Ink: Strawberry Slush, Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry, Island Indigo

Cardstock: Island Indigo, Whisper White

Punch: Mosaic, Itty Bitty

Big Shot: Modern Mosaic TIEF

Here's a card we made last month at card club using the Mosaic Madness stamp set. Its really a fun and easy card which showcases the embossing folder, stamp set and punch co-ordination perfectly! 

I love the scattered look of the mosaics and those bright colours really pop against the white background. 

I made sure I used a mixture of sizes - large medium and small for more variation. 

I wanted the sentiment to be kept pretty simple so its been stamped in white cardstock and just added to the card - the banner end just adds a subtle little finishing touch. 

As the card base was dark I added a white piece of card inside and seeing as I had a bunch of stamps and inks out thought it'd be fun to quickly do a little stamping detail. 

Hope you enjoyed today's share. 

Happy Stampin',

Bright Silhouettes

Hi guys!

I am so very sorry for going AWOL for almost a week. In all honesty its been a pretty pants week. I was feeling really anxious about my job interview for the Pastoral Support job I'd applied for at school, I really, really wanted it was loosing sleep over the whole interview thing. Anyway the interview day didn't go entirely to plan, I had a bit of a melt down. Anyway I didn't get the job.....totally sucks!! Saturday I was out all day at Stampin' Up! regional training event in Telford - I'd been looking forward to it for months, unfortunately I had a migraine all day and really didn't manage to enjoy myself. Yesterday I spent in bed still suffering with headaches. I managed to drag my butt to school today but maybe I'd have been better off at home - more headaches and another melt down ensued when I got home. Thank goodness for my lovely mum who very kindly offered to come over and just "hang". It did feel nice to just chill and chat with her. I'm feeling a lot calmer now, I just need to pick myself up and carry on now. 

Anyway, enough of me babbling about my rubbish week, I hope the rest of you enjoyed the weekend - it was glorious weather!! To go with this beautiful weather and to cheer one else up who might be having a bit of a rubbish day, I have a happy and bright duo.

 As I've said previously Summer Silhouettes is a set I thought I'd love and haven't really used much. I've been forcing myself to have a play and experiment. I ended up fussy cutting out a ton of little flowers and came up with these two little flowers. 

Stamp Set: Summer Silhouettes, Express Yourself

Ink: Strawberry Slush, Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay

Cardstock: Whisper White

Punch: Decorative Label

Embellishments: Pearls

White on white is such a subtle and elegant frame for the sentiment and gave a platform for a few little flowers. 

Along the bottom I just used a bunch of the flowers and leaves to make a sweet summer floral border. 

I ended up having a few flowers left over and seeing as I'd spent that time cutting them out I didn't want to just throw them away so I came up with this second card - more subtle but still just as lovely in my opinion. 

Stamp Set: Summer Silhouettes, Express Yourself

Ink: Strawberry Slush, Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay

Cardstock: Whisper White

Punch: Decorative Label

Embellishments: Pearls

Other: Clear Emobssing Powder

I clear embossed a "meadow" of leaves and flowers along the bottom. I love the subtle shine the clear embossing gave here. 

The pop of colour is focused around the sentiment with some more of the bright and bold flowers. 

Of course both cards needed a little bling so I added plenty of pearls. 

Come back tomorrow for something else. I promise I'll try to be better at blogging. 

Happy Stampin',