A Graphic Thank You

Hello! 

I have a super speedy post today. I have a busy day and I still have to fit on packing for my few days in London at some point! Ahh! Too much to do!!

So today's card is for the Paper Player's challenge and its a colour challenge. 

This colour scheme seemed quite masculine to me and for some reason I thought it'd be neat to do a very clean graphic style card with lots of text. 

Stamp Set: Lots of Thanks, Fabulous Phrases, Banner Blast

Ink: Marina Mist, Crushed Curry, Smoky Slate

Cardstock: Whisper White, Smoky Slate

As I was gathering the bits together to make this card I was tempted to make a birthday card however I though that I'd do a thank you card. I thought this makes a great masculine thank you card, especially as I really needed one to give our neighbour who very kindly repaired our dividing fence!

I thought the ampersands and the stars just added that little extra touch to the card and fill in and break up all that text nicely! 

I'd originally wanted to stamp the entire area with thank you's  but as it was progressing I decided it might look TOO much and possibly loose the impact by having too much text. The white space around the stamping just gives the text some space to breath! 

Switching up the colour combo would give you a more feminine look too! 

I have some scheduled posts while I'm away so please do check back daily for more creative inspiration and I'll be back with my London exploits at the weekend! 

Happy Stampin',

Fly Away

Hello!

Are you having a good week? I'm having a good old craft today! Yay! Been looking forward to this for a while - for one reason or another I just haven't had much chance to get into my work room and do some good ol' crafting lately!

I thought today I'd show you a little something I made a while ago...its perfect for Spring and Summer! 

Stamp Set: Fabulous Phrases

Ink: Pool Party, White Craft

Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Pool Party, Soft Sky, Calypso Coral, Whisper White

DSP: Sweet Sorbet

Punch: Triangle, Pennant Builder, Owl Builder, Cupcake Builder

Embellishments: Cayplso Coral Baker's Twine, Basic Grey Baker's Twine (retired)

I love the soft whispy clouds in the background here. I used the frosting from the cupcake builder as a mask which I then sponged with a sponge dauber. I didn't sponge too thickly so that some of the Soft Sky colour showed through!

The triangle punch and the pennant punch were the perfect size to place together to make a kite. I used thin strips of cardstock to cover up the join. The tail bows are just two little hearts from the owl builder punch joined together. I think that works rather nicely! 

I liked the different way of compiling a sentiment that I tried out here too - stamped each word and cut it out individually - perfect for when you can be bothered or are having one of those days when you can get things lined up straight!

Happy Stampin',

All Stitched Up!

Hi there! 

I have been having such a lovely weekend! I had a lovely time at Card Club last night with my ladies (had a few new ones too which is always very exciting!!) This morning was quite chilled out, did a little crafting followed by brunch with my darling. We had waffles, blueberries (for me), maple syrup, bacon and eggs (for him) plus oj of course - it was a true feast! Yum yum! Next was a catch up with an old friend from university. It was so great to see Rachel again, hopefully now we'll stay in touch a bit more! 

This afternoon I caught up on a bit of Winter Olympics - watched the opening ceremony (I like all the random facts that the commentator comes out with)! What I love about the Winter Olympics is that it just seems a bit more "normal" - you get a few crazies and amusing people taking part with just makes it that more enjoyable! Here's a few of my highlights from the opening ceremony 

- the Pakistani who learnt to ski on a pair of wooden skis made by his uncle

- a Jamaican bobsleigh team (always going to get a smile!)

- world famous solo violinist Vanessa May competing for Thailand in the Alpine Skiing 

- Prince Hubertus von Hohenlohe of Mexico - competing in the Alpine Skiing in a mariachi ski outfit!!!

-and finally some pretty interesting country outfits, the top three that got my attention have to be the Russians (a wierd cross between Narnia and Santa outfits!?!), USA (The sweatshirts were a wierd cross between cute patchwork and a bad Christmas jumper), but first place for wierd totally goes to the Germans (I can only describe their outfits as something a unicorn has vomited rainbows over). 

I shall try not to bore you too much in the coming weeks with olympics news - my favourites are figure skating and curling. A new interesting one is totally the slug style snow boarding - pretty amazing the height and turns they get in their jumps!! Are you watching any Olympics? What's your favourite?

Anyway, on to to the card I've got for you, its a sketch from Freshly Made Sketches this week. 

Stamp Set: You're Lovely, Fabulous Phrases

Ink: Versamark

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Gold Foil, Gold Foil Vellum, Vellum

Accessories: Pearls, Linen Thread

Other: Gold Embossing Powder, Essentials Pierce Pack, Needle

This is one of those, morning waking ideas. I've been wanting to use the pierce pack for hand sewing on a card for ages and this idea just came to me one morning. 

I was so excited to see how well the cross stitching turned out! Isn't it cute?! I thought the tone on tone linen thread and crumb cake needed something else with a similar tone. I wasn't sure a bright colour would have worked, but I still wanted something with a little "wow" factor so opted for the gorgeous gold foil vellum, gold embossing and gold foil cardstock! I have really come round to the gold look which is just SO in fashion at the moment!

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Happy Stampin',

Be an Earlybird!

Hi!

I hope you're having a good weekend! I want to know where the sun has gone! :(

A couple days ago you might remember I told you that I was going to be a guest designer for the NEW catalogue summer session in July. Well, early bird registration opens this weekend and for the first 50 people to register there is a special discount price of $19.95! (For those of you who work in pounds that's £12.85!!) I think you'll agree that is a bargain price considering everything you'll get your hands on!

Inky Fingers Club

Summer 2013 Session

July 7^th through July 20^th

All New Stampin’ Up! Products

Over 50 Exclusive Designs

Creative Card Sets & Containers

14 Daily Tutorials

Talented Guest Designers

Step by Step Directions

Lots of Photos

Daily Challenges with Prizes

Original Artwork shipped to Members

You can take advantage of this fantastic price and see what I have up my sleeve by registering today!

Here's the link, and send me a message to say you've signed up so I know you're joining in with all the fun!

And don't forget, everything I'm sharing with the Inky Fingers Club is exclusive and won't be seen on my blog so you'll have to sign up to see what I've made for y'all! I know you're sure to LOVE it!!

You can also take advantage of an Embellishment Pack which will include some of the embellishments each of the designers are using at your fingertips! 

Now for something to inspire you to be creative today! 

Stamp Set: French Foliage, Fabulous Phrases, Creative Elements

Ink: Basic Grey, Sahara Sand

Cardstock: Sahara Sand

Punch: Scallop

Accessoires: Buttons

Extras: Boutique Boxes

The Grey and Starfruit card is actually the back of the little notecards that come in the Boutique Boxes kit. The paper button was one of he embellishments and so was the Crumb Cake baker's twine! Layers were added by stamping lots of different stamps on top of one another. 

The feathers are actually the negative left from the feathers - I just cut them apart, added some 2 way glue and then used a sponge dauber to sponge some pretty feathers over the background! I just LOVE how they turned out! Its also a great way to use something that would otherwise get thrown away without a second thought! What do you think? Are you impressed at my use of scraps and throw away items? I hope that this has inspired you to think differently to some of your scraps! 

Stampin' Hugs, 

Amanda x

Feather, feather...

Hi! 

Sorry its been a week since my last blog post, I was supposed to blog on Thursday but I was attempting to tidy my craft room and got distracted and so blogging slipped my mind. 

Exams were in full swing today so I was in school for some invigillation work, gazing at the gorgeous sunshine while watching kids sitting their history exam today. It took me back to my exams...not great memories! Watching them write was much easier! 

So last week/weekend I was trying to make an attempt on tidying my craft room - its a true mess. I kept finding half finished cards or scraps/shapes that would probably have gone in the bin if I hadn't used so I ended up stopping to make something. Unfortunately that meant getting other things out to finish the project...and I was back to the beginning again. 

One of the things I discovered was the Boutique Boxes which you can find in the Spring/Summer catty. Its £7.25 and comes with LOADS of little bits. 8 precut boxes, 8 printed note cards, 16 buttons, a die cut sheet, Very Vanilla/Crumb Cake baker's twine and dimensionals. 

The boxes turned out to be pretty small (great for a very small gift but I just wished they were bigger), as a result I had planned to give away the leftovers - I'd made up two boxes and notecards with a few of the die cuts for my downline at team training but there were tons left over and I was just feeling uninspired. Mainly because I was looking at them as boxes, not card potential! 

Roll in a facebook update from the lovely and talented Teneale Williams. I just fell in love with her use of the feathers and it inspired me to have a go myself and do a CASE of it. I got a little carried away and ended up with 25+ cards using all the bits and bobs in the kit! LOVE IT!!

Stamp Set: En FRancais, French Foliage, Pennant Parade, Fabulous Phrases

Ink: Sahara Sand, Basic Grey

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand, Summer Starfruit

Extras: Boutique Boxes, Sewing Machine

What do you think? I just love these feathers and sewing them on just adds depth and texture! The background has lots of depth to it by lots of layers of stamping, sponging. 

Did you enjoy today's share? Please do leave me a comment and let me know what you think of them!

Have you ever sewn cards with your sewing machine before? Not crossed your mind? Want to see more of it? I've got more to come. For more information on sewn cards check out tomorrow's post! See you there! 

Stampin' Hugs,

Amanda xo

Share What You LOVE!!

Hello!

Wow its been a long time! Sorry for being AWOL - I'll try and be a bit better and more consistent from now on! 

On Saturday I went to Telford for a Stampin' Up! training day. It was awesome and so inspiring!! I think it was just what I needed to get me motivated to try something new and get excited about stamping again. We all need a pep talk every now and then and I am so thankful to work for such a great company as Stampin' Up! who organise such wonderful events as these to help renew our creative juices, meet other crafty ladies, make and renew friendships and offer us some business tips too! 

If you're wanting to get a discount on all your crafty goodies, see and play with new products first and get peppered with loads of inspiration and new techniques, then being a Stampin' Up! demo is just the things for you!! 

Being a demo also gives you the opportunity to earn a little extra cash by simply sharing Stampin' Up!'s products with your friends and family - there's a variety of ways to do this through workshops/parties, classes and clubs. I love that I can earn a little extra cash for holidays and special treats and I can work it around my busy life and previous commitments. 

I'd recommend it to anyone!! I don't regret joining one bit and I'm sure you wouldn't either! If you're interested in finding out more, get in touch I'd love to have a chat with you about the wonderful opportunities Stampin' Up! has for you! 

Until May 30th, Stampin' Up! has a special sign up bonus!!! Sign up for £99 and instead of choosing £130 of products they are giving you an EXTRA £25 of product to choose! So for your £99 sign up cost you will get to choose an awesome £155 of products!! Plus you'll get a business kit full with catalogues and order forms perfect for giving out to your friends and family or for kick starting your business!! The choice is yours!

Part of the fun of a Stampin' Up! training event is making and swapping SWAPS! You make a bunch of swaps (card fronts or small 3D items) that are all the same, then swap them with other demos to get a ton of new creative ideas!! Would you like to see mine!? 

Part of Stampin' Up!'s statement of the heart is to "share what you love" so that's what I did, I am in love with the honeycomb embossing folder, quilts, and Sunshine and Sprinkles designer paper!!! Dare I say Sunshine and Sprinkles is my most favourite paper EVER!?! Oh my it is SO gorgeous!!!! 

Sunshine & Sprinkles Honeycomb Quilt 

Stamp Set: Fabulous Phrases

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Lucky Limeade

Cardstock: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Lucky Limeade

DSP: Sunshine & Sprinkles

Big Shot: Honeycomb TIEF, Floral Fusion

Accessories: Large Rhinestones

We also were asked to make our own name tag! Well, I wanted to make something bright and cute that would match my swaps....

Sunshine & Sprinkles Name Tag

Ink: Melon Mambo, Lucky Limeade

Cardstock: Melon Mambo

DSP: Sunshine & Sprinkles

Big Shot: Honeycomb TIEF, Floral Frames

Ribbon: Marina Mist Stiped Organdy

Isn't it just so bright and fun?! 

I hope you enjoyed today's share. 

Hugs, 

Amanda xx

Amore

Hello!

How is your weekend going? I hope you are having a good one! I have my in-laws and a couple friends from church coming for lunch today so I better get my skates on, but first I wanted to show you the last of the cards from this month's card club. T think this might be my favourite. I say might because I love them all so much! 

 

Stamp Set: Fabulous Phrases

Ink: Real Red

Cardstock: Crumb Cake

DSP: More Amore

Accessories: Vintage Faceted Buttons, Paper Doilies

Baker's Twine: Whisper White

Big Shot: Needlepoint Borders

Punch: Corner Rounder

The large heart and the little round scallop circle are both from the More Amore pattern paper - you get 2 of these die cut sheets, they are all joined together but are easily snipped apart. If you don't have a big shot and want the die cut look, this paper is awesome!!! The paper doily, faceted button and needlepoint border finishes off the card. The very final touch is to round the corners, I love rounded corners, don't you?!

I actually didnt have enough of the faceted buttons for all my ladies to add to their cards so we altered it slightly and used the flower trim instead. One of thise sweet little flowers looked just darling as a replacement. 

Happy Stampin',

Amanda x

Hearts a Fluttering

Good morning! 

Saturday already! Wow! Can't believe its the end of half term already, its been so lovely having Stuart home with me this week, I'll be sad to have to send him back off to school next week! 

I've got a couple more of the card club cards for you today, both using the Hearts a Flutter stamps and framelits. They're both clean, bright and fresh! 

Stamp Set: Hearts a Flutter, Fabulous Phrases 

Ink: Pool Party, Raspberry Ripple

Cardstock: Pool Party, Raspberry Ripple, Whisper White

Big Shot: Hearts a Flutter framelits, Needlepoint Borders 

Accessories: Vintage Faceted Buttons

Baker's Twine: Pool Party

This one is so clean and simple! Little banner and heart finished off with a tiny faceted button. Add the needlepoint border for a little texture and a sentiment and you're done! You could whip up a little batch of these for last minute cards in next to no time!

Stamp Set: Hearts a Flutter, Fabulous Phrases

Ink: Melon Mambo, Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight 

Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White

Big Shot: Needlepoint Borders, Hearts a Flutter framelits

Accessoires: Rhinestones

We had great fun using the hearts to make our own patterned paper background. Its finished off with a cardstock heart, sentiment and rhinestone. Oh and the little needlepoint border - I am totally loving the needlepoint borders, they really finish off a card! 

I'm off to my Mom's this afternoon for a Stampin' Up! party she's hosting. I've got some lovely projects to show her and her friends so stay tuned to see them sometime next week! I know you're going to love them too! 

Happy Stampin',

Amanda xx

Hearts Shaker Card!

Morning!

So I totally meant to blog a bit over the weekend, but as you might have been able to tell, that didn't happen! It was nice however to have a little more relaxed weekend, even if I did spend much of it in bed nursing headaches. 

So the new Spring/Summer Catalogue released on February 1st! How exciting! Have you seen it yet? Oh my, there are so very many gorgeous things in there - so, so hard to choose what to get - so yeah I probably got too much. Much more than I was intending but hey, it was all so pretty! (I think I'm a complete magpie for paper and stamps!)

I have a heart themed card for you today, I actually made this one a few weeks ago for a challenge on another blog and I forgot to photo and post it in time - this seems to be the story of my life! 

Stamp Set: Hearts a Flutter, Fabulous Phrases

Ink: Raspberry Ripple, Pool Party

Cardstock: Pool Party, Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals, Whisper White, Window Sheet

Punch: Owl Builder

Big Shot: Hearts a Flutter Framelits

Buttons: Itty Bitty

Baker's Twine: Pool Party

There's window sheet covering the hole in the white cardstock and a ton of hearts (from the owl punch) underneath. The depth behind the window is made up using the long edge strip from the dimensionals all the way around all four sides - seals everything in and gives the depth for the hearts to flutter down! 

Wouldn't it be fun to stick other thing in a window like this too?! What about sparkly glitter!?! :D 

Have a fabulous Monday! 

Amanda xo

One More Day!

Hey!

So today will be a short and sweet post as I am super busy preparing for the Spring/Summer Catalogue Open House at my home tomorrow. You are most welcome to come and see LOADS of samples, view the new seasonal catty in person (its always so much better in the flesh!) and have some delicious baked goodies along with your cuppa! 

Stamp Set: Fabulous Phrases

Ink: Pool Party

Carstock: Whisper White, Pool Party

Punch: 1 1/4" Scallop Circle, Bird Builder, 2 1/2" Circle

Extras: Essentials Pierce Pack

Acceessories: Whisper White Baker's Twine, Madison Avenue Button, Paper Doily

Snip in between each scallop to make a scallop circle into a sweet little flower (perfect way to stretch your punch!!) The 2 1/2" Circle fits perfectly in the middle of this little doily! I just love the white on white look with a little bit of pool party! A very clean and crisp look! 

Hope you enjoyed today's sneaky peak, if you want to see more pop over to mine to see lots more gorgeous new goodies! More details about my open house can be found in this previous post!

Now I am off to spend the day finishing off samples, tidying and baking!!

Happy Stampin',

Amanda xx 

Pappillon Potpourri!!

Afternoon! 

So, now you've had a day to look at the Sale-A-Bration goodies, how are you liking them? They're fabulous aren't they?! And if you haven't seen them yet, what are you waiting for?! Grab a cuppa, sit down, put your feet up and relax for a few minutes and have a good browse!! 

So to get your day started I've got a cute card I demo'd for a bunch of lovely ladies back in October! Man it was that long ago?! 

Stamp Set: Papillon Potpourri, Fabulous Phrases, Alehambra wheel

Ink: Raspberry Ripple, Daffodil Delight, Primrose Petals

Cardstock: Whisper White, Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals

DSP: International Bazaar

Punch: Decorative Label, Elegant Butterfly

Extras: Essentials Pierce Pack

Embellishments: Dahlias

So, this is a bit more of a complex card as I really wanted to show off lots of the awesome new things in the annual catty but a simplified version of this card would be equally effective. I think the two things that I love about and really make this card stand out to me is the paper piercing (a very cost effective way of adding detail to a card) and the different uses of the decorative label punch! I adore that punch and definitely recommend it to anyone that is starting out and looking for one or two punches to get them going!! 

So, how about a simplified version of this card - 

Decorative Label Punch (£15.50)

Essentials Pierce Pack (£7.25)

DSP (£9.95)

Coloured Cardstock (£6.25)

Rhinestones (£4.50) 

Dimensionals (£3.25)

= £46.70 and get the Bloomin' Marvelous stamp set for free! 

It's got both images and sentiments in it so is the perfect SAB set for someone getting started on card making! If you don't have any ink you might want to think about adding an ink pad (£4.95) to this bundle instead of the rhinestones! 

The DSP used here was the Birds of a Feather which is very light, pretty and cutesy style!

I hope you enjoyed this card and the simplified SAB bundle version! 

Catch you again tomorrow! 

Amanda x

window card

I am really loving the Papillon Potpouri stamp set and coordinating butterfly punch at the moment! 

Another of my new loves is the International Bazaar designer paper! If you haven't seen it yet, you really must! So pretty!!

Stamp Set: Papillon Potpourri, Fabulous Phrases, Summer Shilouettes 

Ink: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Summer Starfruit, Whisper White

DSP: International Bazaar

Accessories: Dahlias

Embossing: Clear

Ribbon: Lucky Limeade Ruffle

Big Shot: Apothecary Accents Framelits

Punch: Elegant Butterfly

The tiny flower from the Summer Silhouettes was stamped over the background. In the bottom corner I punched out a butterfly - a strip of the designer paper inside the card shows through when the card is closed! a little banner popped over the butterfly with a sentiment on it too! I used the same paper pattern with the Apothecary Accents, layered some paper and ribbon banners over top and on top of that a butterfly embossed with clear embossing for a subtle pattern. The centre is accented with a Summer Starfruit dahlia. 

Did you see that the butterfly pattern is the same as the pattern on the designer paper? Talk about coordination!! 

Happy Stampin',

Amanda xo