Ink Blending

 Happy New Year folks! (Albeit rather late)

I hope you all had as good a Christmas and New Year as could be considering the current circumstances. My parents, brother and his girlfriend came over to ours for Christmas day. I cooked a huge feast and we all had a really lovely time including a video call with the American family. Isn't it such a blessing to live in an age where we can see and speak with people on the other side of the world at the click of a button?

So, its now January and we are back in another lockdown. Things do seem pretty bleak at the moment but to cheer us up Stampin' Up have a new mini catalogue which launched on January 5th. It's also Sale-A-Bration during January and February which just means extra loveliness and freebies!! Woop woop! 

The new mini is full of gorgeous new stamps, dies, accessories and tools! One of my absolute favourite new tools is the blending brushes! Oh my goodness, these are AMAZING! I have spend the last few weeks ink blending practically everything I've made! This tool makes ink blending so super easy and transitioning between colours so seamless! 

I would suggest 1 blending brush per colour group - Blues, Greens, Yellows, Reds, Purples, Browns etc, as this will ensure each of your colours stays bright and fresh. 

Ink: Pacific Point, Gorgeous Grape, Memento Black

Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White

Punch: Story Label

Accessories: Black/Pool Party Baker's Twine (retired), Matte Black Dots

Tools: Blender Brushes

This card is pretty simple and really showcases the beautiful ink blending using the new blending brushes. Unlike sponges which can leave harsh marks, these brushes are made up of super soft bristles which gives a really soft, smooth finish. 

Apply the ink in a gentle circular motion overlapping the two colours in the centre of the card. The brush applies thin layers of ink which means it can be blended out very easily to either create an ombre effect or blended with other colours. Applying more layers of ink on top of one another will intensify the colour. Here I blended Pacific Point and Gorgeous Grape together over Whisper White cardstock. I love the additional colours created where these two colours overlap and blend.

After I had finished blending the colours I sprinkled water over the card, left it for a moment then used a tissue to soak up the excess water. This draws some of the colour back out of the cardstock and makes a lighter effect. 

I wrapped some of the retired black/pool party bakers twine I had around blended card and tied it into a bow. 

I stamped my greeting in black on a spare offcut of the blended background. I layered this on a black story label punch. I adhered this with a dimensionals over the twine just below the bow. 

To finish it off I added a spattering of the new matte black dots across the card. I just think these look lovely and have a way of tying everything together. 

I have enjoyed ink blending so much I can't wait to share this new technique with my lovely ladies that attend my virtual Craft Together sessions. This is one of the cards we will be making this month! 

Stay safe, 

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',

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',

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',

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',

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',

Floral Spray

Hey! 

So, I'm not at school today - just too unwell! Ugh! I was up half the night and just feel totally rough. I've managed to sleep most of the morning but now I've been up an hour or so I'm starting to feel pretty awful again. Gonna have another sleep after I've written this blog post for you!

Despite these last couple days being sick, I think I'm finally getting back into the groove of participating in challenge blogs! The last few weeks I've been a bit flakey and I've missed it. Today's share is the Colour Q challenge. It's a totally beautiful colour combo! 

Love, love, love purple and yellow together. ITs not a colour combo I use often but it just looks so bright, cheerful and fresh! It reminds me of crocuses! 

Stamp Set: Express Yourself, Hardwood

Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Crumb Cake

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz

Big Shot: Little Leaves, Blossom Party, Floral Frames Framelits

Punch: Boho Blossoms, Itty Bitty

Embellishments: Candy Dots, Vintage Faceted Buttons, Whisper White Baker's Twine

I wanted the elegant eggplant and daffodil delight to have a real colour hit on this card so I thought it'd be nice to do a big blossom with some little white and yellow flowers scattered around. For this big blossom I used the blossom party die for the outer layers and floral frames for the yellow centre. I used the bone folder to split the card into 2 layers. I love the light fluffy texture it gives the paper. To give all the layers I scrunched the layers for that little variation in different sizes. For the centre two layers I actually cut the petals up into individual pieces and adhered as it kept the flower a little neater and flatter. 

I hadn't used the vintage faceted buttons in ages and thought it'd be the perfect touch here. It'd add that sparkle and wow to the card without taking away the punch of colour. 

I realise that I used a lot of candy dots here but they work so well for the centres of the little blossoms. Candy dots are certainly one of my favourite  embellishments of the moment! 

The hardwood background adds the needed texture and seems to fit so well with flowers - like a wood panel fence.

Okay, I need to get off for a sleep. Have a great day! 

Catch you again tomorrow! 

Happy Stampin',

Butterfly 21

Hey there!

It was Stuart's cousin Andrew's girlfriend's 21st at the weekend, a whole big group of us all went out for a meal to celebrate last night - it was good fun and many laughs were had! Anyway, my MIL had asked if I could make a special card for them to give Bekah so I got busy designing a couple pretty 21st cards - obviously I needed to make one for us to give her too! I gave her both so she could choose, here's the one she picked. 

Stamp Set: Express Yourself

Ink: Pool Party

Cardstock: Soft Sky, Silver Glimmer Paper

DSP: Venetian Romance

Big Shot: Beautifully Baroque, Typeset Alphabet, Ovals Framelits

Punch: Elegant Butterfly, Bitty Butterfly

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

I started making a card with a window similar to this petite petals blossom one. I just wasn't liking how it was working so seeing as I hadn't stuck anything down yet I cut off the card front with the window in it, embossed it, sponged it to help bring out some of that gorgeous texture and mounted it on another card base! The sponging REALLY lifted the card!

 Then I could add the glittery 21, sentiment and lots of pretty butterflies. 

21 is a pretty special birthday in the UK so I went a bit nuts with all the pearls and added lots of scattered pearls to the background too!

I wanted to do something a little different with the large butterfly rather than a pearl so I thought a button and baker's twine would be a cute little addition. 

I'm just loving all the soft colours here. I haven't really played too much with the new colour Soft Sky. I wasn't really sure about it, its quite pale and similar to Pool Party. But I've grown to love it after having a bit of a play with it. If you haven't played with it yet/much I'd really recommend giving it a go! I think you'll like it!

I'm back to work tomorrow so I'm enjoying my last day of holidays - I've been to coffee morning at church, looked at some new phones, had lunch with Emma and now I'm going to have a relaxing afternoon of stamping! 

Happy Stampin',

Watercolor Poppies

 Hey! 

So I don't know what happened to yesterday....I met up with an old school friend I haven't seen in several years, it was meant to be a coffee which turned into a full day of shopping and a turkish restaurant for lunch. It was lovely but I was shattered and had sewing to crack on with when I arrived home. 

So today I thought I'd share a pretty and simple card that I made a little while ago. 

Stamp Set: Happy Watercolor

Ink: Versa Mark, Calypso Coral

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Crisp Cantaloupe, Whisper White

Big Shot: Beautifully Baroque TIEF

Embellishments: Baker's Twine

Other: White Embossing Powder

The embossed is the simple background for the main focal point of the card. This is just a little bit of white heat embossing of the flowers which I then coloured in with a blender pen and some calypso coral ink for a watercolour effect. 

There's something quite aesthetically pleasing about allowing images to run off the edge of the card. I keeps the eye moving and to me, it looks as if it were a small snapshot of a garden just bursting with flowers! Do you enjoy letting your images run off the edge? 

This doesn't need pearls or anything fancy. Baker's twine and a simple little sentiment are the perfect finishing touches for this card.  

Have a great day!

Happy Stampin',