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',

Pink Wedding

Hi!

What a day! We've had just about everything weather-wise today! Sunshine, heat, rain, hail and torrential rain. I was having a nap on the couch this afternoon, after school and the rain was so loud it woke me up! 

So I thought it was about time that I shared the wedding card and tag I made for Tim & Sarah's wedding last month. 

Stamp Set: Label Love, Sweet Essentials

Ink:Pink Pirouette, Rose Red

Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Rose Red, Whisper White, Vellum

Big Shot: Apothecary Accents Framelits

Punch: Small Heart, Owl Builder, Artisan Label, Itty Bitty

Embellishments: Whisper White Baker's Twine, Pink Two Tone Ribbon

If you remember the baby card I made for Seabrook last month then you'll probably remember the twist on the scattered frosted embossing technique. If you don't remember it, check it out here. I decided to also add some little punched hearts, some I added in the rose red under the vellum for a paler frosted look! Looks great, dontcha think?!

The vellum is attached with piecces of glue dots under the frosted hearts and also a strip along the top which is cleverly hidden with the baker's twine. I was having a little trouble getting my bow just right and hang nicely, in the end I very carefully added tiny pieces of glue dots to the tails and stuck them in place. 

A simple little label and some banners is all the sentiment this needed. 

I made a nice little label that matched the card. I used some leftover Pink Pirouette/Rose Red two tone ribbon to tie around the gift - worked perfectly with the tag and card! 

It was such a lovely day and they both looked so so happy! 

I'll be sure to share what I made them for their special gift later this week. 

Happy Stampin',

My Digital Monday - Hush-A-Bye Baby

Hello! 

Afraid I wasn't feeling too great yesterday and blogging took a back seat. But I'm back today and have a nice digital scrapbook page for you today. I took this photo of Arthur last time Kat and the boys were over here. He was just looking so adorable asleep in his car seat I just couldn't resist taking a quick snap. 

Digital Files

Stamp Set: Banner Blast

Cardstock/Ink: Basic Black, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Green Galore, Tempting Turquoise, Concord Crush, Cherry Cobbler

Punch: Scallop Border

I just loved the colours in the photo and I often like to try and incorporate some of the colours into the decoration and background of the page. The real stand out colours in the photo were are the rainbow hedgehog. I thoght it'd be nice to do a band of the scallops in colours similar to the hedgehog and keep the rest of the page quite plain and muted. 

I finally got a chance to play with the Sale-A-Bration brush stamp set Banner Blast for a few banners and hearts to finish off the page along with a simple title. 

I'll be back tomorrow with something new to share! 

Happy Stampin',

Watercolor Bird

Hi! 

Well yesterday was an odd day. Busy day at work, absolutely shattered in the evening but just couldn't get to sleep, think it was gone 5am when I finally managed to get off. Oh dear! 

I got some good news yesterday, the job I applied for at school, well, I have an interview next Friday! Super happy and also very nervous and worried about the entire thing! Eeek! 

Stamp Set: Simply Sketched, Express Yourself

Ink: Baked Brown Sugar, Gumball Green, Black Stazon

Cardstock: Baked Brown Sugar, Gumball Green, Watercolor Paper, Very Vanilla

Embellishments: Naturals Chevron Ribbon, Antique Brads

I wanted to watercolour the bird - with the aqua painter and a little ink its easy to create a beautiful no mess, no fuss watercolored image. I decded to tear the bottom edge rather than cutting a banner end which seems to be the easy fall back option these days. I also thought it'd be nice to have the matt layer as a strip that just peeked out the top and bottom. 

Now it was despirate for an embellishment and I happened to have the chevron ribbon on my desk and thought that and the antique brads would pair really well with the natural colours of the bird and reeds. 

For some background texture I stamped a side border of leaves and positioned the watercolored bird layer off to one side. 

For a bit of decoration inside I stamped the same branches along the bottom edge. 

Catch you tomorrow for a Simple Sunday card. 

Happy Stampin',

For my Mum

Hello! 

Today hasn't been a great day - feeling a bit rubbish and didn't have the best day at work. I'm completely shattered so this will just be a super speedy post as I really need my bed. 

I've got a card for the Paper Players' challenge this week. The challenge this week is to make a "mother" card - seeing as American mother's day is this Sunday it fits well although British mother's day was back in March. Anyway I haven't actually shared either mother's day cards I made for mum or mother-in-law so I thought I'd share one I did for my dear mummy!

Stamp Set: Something to Celebrate (retired), Beautifully Baroque

Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Versamark

Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz, Very Vanilla, Crisp Cantaloupe

Punch: Bitty Butterfly, Elegant Butterfly

Big Shot: Beautiful Butterflies

Accessories: Subtles Buttons, Whisper White Baker's Twine, Pearls

Other: White Embossing Powder

My mum likes butterflies so I thought a pretty card with lots of layered butterflies would be perfect. The baroque stamp just adds a really elegant touch to this card. 

A multitude of pearls, white embossed sentiment and button in the centre just make this a wow card. 

Sorry to be so brief, I'm off to bed, have a nice evening, I'll be back tomorrow! 

Happy Stampin',

Stitched Confetti Shaker

Hi! 

Well I totally forgot yesterday, I was really in the crafting groove plus I had a last minute card a friend asked me to make for her so was wrapped up in getting that sorted and then it got late so I just went to bed and completely forgot about blogging! Anyway I am here today and have a pretty little something to share with you!

Today's been a busy day at work, glad to be home now. I'm going shopping with my friend Ally. We haven't hung out in ages so it'll be really great to see here again, get some dinner and mooch around the shops! I seriously need some work clothes! I don't have many suitable clothes so I think that's a very good excuse to shop! 

Stamp Set: Geometrical

Ink: Bermuda Bay

Cardstock: Bermuda Bay, Wisteria Wonder, Coastal Cabana, Smoky Slate, Vellum, Silver Glimmer

Punch: Itty Bitty, Cupcake Builder

Big Shot: Chalk Talk

Accessories: Metallic Mini Clothes Pegs

I know I have a major peeve about cards with things on a wonk, I am really trying to get over this peeve and actually found this card working better with the sentiment working on an angle in conjunction with the mini clothes peg. 

I've been really wanting to do more sewn cards and as I had free time on Monday I thought it'd be a good chance to whip the sewing machine out and do this card. I just placed the vellum over the top and sewed it almost all the way, posted the "confetti" through the gap then sewed it up the rest of the way. I've got to admit I really like the frosted confetti floating around.

A few little confetti pieces placed over the top  just lift the card and bring little pops of colour to card. I really like the sparkly dots of glimmer paper in the centre as a change from rhinestones or pearls. 

Do you ever sew on cards? I'm actually amazed at how easy it is - the machine seems to take to the paper really well and its such a fun look. Also, its a pretty cheap way of jazzing up a card. 

I'm off for my evening out now, catch you again tomorrow with something else new! Have a lovely evening too!

Happy Stampin',

Kind Ruffles

Hello! 

I hope all you British followers are having a great Bank Holiday weekend. Three day weekends are just the best. We've been doing a few jobs around the house, I've tidied my craft room a little and done some crafting too! 

One of today's makes was using the Freshly Made Sketches' sketch for the week - just in time for the deadline once again! I was really pleased at such an interesting sketch to play with.

Stamp Set: Sweet Essentials

Ink: VersaMark

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Coastal Cabana

DSP: Gold Foil Vellum, Afternoon Picnic

Big Shot: Circles Framelits, Chalk Talk Framelits

Embellishments: Gold Baker's Twine

Other: Gold Embossing Powder

The designer paper was ruffled up for a fun border - I actually had to stick 2 pieces of the paper together to make up the right length. I cut a thin strip of another pattern paper from the pack. I also added some baker's twine to the centre - it just finishes it off nicely and holds the papers in place a little better too!

I thought something light would work well for the half circle in the background. I also wanted more gold incorporated so the gold foil vellum was the perfect choice. I wanted more gold so cut out a few more hearts from the vellum sheets and added a gold embossed sentiment to the card. 

Part of me wonders if there just a little something else missing from the card but I couldn't figure out what so decided to leave it rather than risk over-doing it!

Hope you like it! 

Happy Stampin',

Snappy Birthday

Hey! 

Jon Richardson last night was brilliant!! He's such a funny guy! The show was at Stuart's old university - Warwick. We decided to have some dinner nearby once we got there, so we're happily munching our way through burgers and salad and a family from his old church sat at the table next to us! What a coincidence! It was lovely to see them again and catch up, albeit brief as we were running short on time! 

Well its been a busy day here today - grocery shopping, hall cleaning at church, and running errands. We went to a DIY store and picked up a few things we've been needing for a while - all pretty boring - outdoor broom, rotary washing line, clothes pegs, herbs, new doorbell. Boring I know but I'm actually oddly excited about having a washing line for my washing after almost 4 years of living here! 

Now I know its getting pretty late in the day but I think there's time to share a quick something with you....

Stamp Set: Around the World, Remembering Your Birthday

Ink: Basic Grey, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive

Carstock: Basic Grey, Basic Black, Whisper White

Punch: Notebook

This is a quick masculine card I made a while ago for a cousin's birthday. He likes cameras so I thought it'd be fun to make an old fashioned film reel and decorate with lots of cameras. 

That simple right? Yep! I keep forgetting I have these cute cameras in the Around the World set but I shall have to try to remember as they work well for camera crazy folk's cards.

Sorry I'm so brief today, pretty tired and heading off for an early bed as I woke insanely early this morning! 

Happy Stampin',