Scrappy Stripes

Hello! 

Yesterday I shared with you a scrap busting weave design. Today I have another scrap buster! This one is perfect for even smaller scraps. I have two cards to show you, one using brights scraps and the other with subtles scraps!  You'll have to let me know which is your favourite! 

Stamp Set: Peaceful Moments

Ink: Bermuda Bay

Carstock: Whisper White, Flirty Flamingo, Granny Apple Green, Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight, Gorgeous Grape, Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Pacific Point

Punch: Story Label

Accessories: Brights Candy Dots

This is really simple, I layered up all the little strippy scraps that I had onto a piece of white scrap card. I made it a bit wider than I thought I wanted it and then I was able to trim it down to the size I wanted it. I decided to indent the scrappy stripes with the white card down each side popped up with some dimensionals. I think this makes the card look very polished! 

I added a sentiment on the story label punch and as with yesterday's card, added some candy dots which needed using up. 

Stamp Set: Well Said

Ink: Highland Heather

Cardstock: Whisper White, Highland Heather, Pool Party, Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride, Soft Sea Foam, Petal Pink

Accessories: Pearls

As with the previous card, I added little strips of scrap to a piece of white card and then trimmed it down so that the edges looked more polished. I added it straight to the card base and added a sentiment on a thin scrap of white card. I finished the whole thing off with a scattering of pearls. 

Do you like this scrap busting idea? I hope you do! 

Thanks for stopping by,

Take care, 

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',

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',

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',

Mosaic Flower

 Hello! 

Wow is it really only Tuesday?! I am absolutely shattered! I suppose part of it is still not feeling 100% and work all day but still, can't believe its only Tuesday! I flaked out yesterday but I wanted to share a card we made at card club this past month with the Mosaic Madness stamp set. I will be sure to share some more over the next few weeks as I just realised I have a huge bunch of projects made with this gorgeous set but haven't really shared any with you yet! What a pity!

Stamp Set: Mosaic Madness, Express Yourself

Ink: Strawberry Slush, Crushed Curry, Gumball Green

Cardstock: Strawberry Slush, Crushed Curry, Gumball Green, Pistachio Pudding

Punch: Mosaic

Embellishments: Pearls

When I was searching for ideas of different ways to use the Mosaic Madness set I came across the idea of using it as a flower. Doesn't it just look fab?! 

I really like the bright punchy colours of the flower against the muted background - really makes the flower stand out!

I was also trying to keep in mind to use the border stamps in the set and thought it'd work nicely as a little pattern and texture for the background. I used the stamping off technique to get some different shades. Also by staggering the length of the borders across the page it helps to add a little movement and flow to the card. 

And of course there's just a few pearls for a finishing touch! 

I've got some training sessions tomorrow so I need to shower and get to bed so I'm awake enough for it. Hope you enjoyed this super speedy post. I'm hoping to have some more time and energy to get into the craft room tomorrow and get making some more pretties. 

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',

Spring Blossom

Hello! 

We are enjoying another day of beautiful blue skies and sun! Its still quite chilly but I love seeing the sun - doesn't it just make the world a better place?!

Today's card is using the Freshly Made sketch. Its pretty simple but after a little bit of deliberation I just knew what I wanted to make! 

I've been enjoying all the blossom on the trees these past few weeks! It hasn't been too windy around here so the blossom has really stuck around which is just lovely! I love driving or walking along and seeing fluffy pink and white trees. They look like big balls of candy floss! So I thought I'd do a little spray of blossom....

Stamp Set: Gently Falling, Petite Petals, Happy Day

Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Always Artichoke, Blushing Bride, Primrose Petals, So Saffron, Crushed Curry

Punch: Petite Petals, Itty Bitty

Embellishments: Pearls

I wanted to create a very clean and fresh card So decided to stamp the leaves and flowers on white rather than coloured cardstock. I find that coloured card can look a little heavy and the colour can be more intense so to soften the colours I simply stamped them on the white. 

I know the Gently Falling set is designed for Autumn but I think it makes gorgeous leaves in Spring and Summer too! If I can get more use out of a stamp set, I'm pleased! 

I thought that as the leaves had 2 layers of stamping it would be a good idea for the blossoms to also have the same. I 'd noticed that there were two stamps in the Petite Petals set that were very similar to the Gently Falling so it seemed the perfect match. I love the co-ordination you get between different stamp sets with Stampin' Up! 

I felt that the centres needed some yellow and some pearls too just for a bit of an elegant pop! I also Love the little smattering of pearls across the card too! 

Have a beautiful day! 

Happy Stampin',

Hardwood Rose Garden

Hello! 

Happy happy Friday folks! So glad its Friday! Looking forward to a break from kids now as its the Easter holidays! I'm a little sad my time working front desk in Student Services has come to an end, its been very different and challenging but I've genuinely enjoyed it! I'll miss all the lovely ladies who work there too! 

Now, I've got card club this weekend, we're using Mosaic Madness as this month's set which is just beautiful! Also some manic sewing to get a project finished - I'll share it once its finished and gifted! 

 I've just got time to share with you the therapeutic crafting I did last night - it was a bit of a rubbishy day but I am so thankful to be able to come home, sit in my little sanctuary and just craft away the worries of the day! Today's card is for both The Paper Players and Freshly Made Sketches challenges!

I loved the choice with the paper players challenge this week. I chose to use the 3 boxes down the left hand side - Birthday, Yellow and Paper Piercing. 

Such a cute sketch and thought it'd work well with the vision I had for the Paper Players challenge too! I love it when things just work out like that!

Stamp Set: Remembering Your Birthday, Hardwood

Ink: Versamark, Baked Brown Sugar, Crushed Curry, Strawberry Slush

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Baked Brown Sugar, Blushing Bride, Crushed Curry, Strawberry Slush, Gumball Green, Vellum, Gold Foil

Punch: Petite Petals, Itty Bitty

Big Shot: Little Leaves Sizzlit, Spiral Flower

Other: Fringe Scissors, Essentials Piercing Pack, Gold Embossing Powder

Embellishments: Pearls

I realise there's a lot going on here but I kind of think everything works! In all honesty I got some new toys - Hardwood, spiral flower, fringe scissors....I just HAD to play! 

I thought the vellum would be nice as the over layer as I didn't want the top layer to be heavy - the hardwood and flowers were the real stars of the show. When I stamped and embossed the sentiment in gold it looked brilliant but a little lost on the size of vellum so I went back in with the versamark pen (unfortunately SU no longer sells it but I still have mine kicking around) which I used to hand draw in some cute little hearts! 

I thought I'd add just little pops of yellow - the crushed curry is a really powerful colour so just a little still has a big impact! 

The rose is so pretty, isn't it? I sponged crushed curry on the inside edge and strawberry slush on the outside edge to make the flower look more realistic! the centre is a rolled up strip of the fringe strip. after the flower was rolled up and glued I went back in and used some tweezers to fold back the petals. I thought the addition of gold leaves with green was a nice touch to marry the gold sentiment and flowers together. 

I hope you enjoy this. It definitely made me feel better! 

Happy Stampin',

Spring Get Well

Hello! 

Its a long and busy week this week, not much time for crafting and blogging I'm afraid. I'm super busy at school each day, plus helping Aunty Lil and my parents' church has a Bible exhibition on this week with live actors of which I happen to be one. I'm not much of an actor but anything to help them out and the local school kids attending seem to be really enjoying it too which is nice to see! 

Oh and to just add a little more interest to my week, I've got a bit of an eye infection. I went to see my friend Emma at the pharmacy and she was able to give me some eye drops so I'm hoping this will work. 

I have another get well card I made a little while ago for a friend having an op.

Stamp Set: Petite Petals, Thoughts and Prayers

Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Crisp Cantaloupe, So Saffron

Cardstock: Crisp Cantalouope, So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz, Pistachio Pudding

Embellishments: Pearls

Punch: Bird Builder, Itty Bitty, Petite Petals

This is pretty similar to previous cards I've shown you. I used the scoring stylus and the foam sheet to give the flowers some body. 

I'm just loving the Pistachio Pudding and Pear Pizzazz together, I think they really play off each other so well.  The dashed line is just a nice simple detail around the outside edge of the card. 

The itty bitty flowers are stamped with the Petite Petals flower and just the middle punched out. I really like doing this as it just seems to blend and tie the card together that extra little bit. 

Lots of little leaves finish it off with some pearls for a finishing touch.

Inside is just another bit of a sentimen and a few more flowers. I used the stylus to add some shape bit left the pearls off so that it didn't bulk up the inside of the card. 

Happy Stampin',

Birthday Cupcake

Hello! 

So first day of new temporary job was yesterday. Absolutely loved it. Feeling pretty shattered - so much to take in and learn. I even conquered my fear of phones to call some parents to chase up some kids' absences!  

Just wanted to remind you there's only a week more days left of Sale-A-Bration! If you want to get some (or even MORE) of the gorgeous SAB goodies, you don't have long left to put your order in! If you live local to me you can place an order through me - I'll be putting an order in on 31st so email or call with your order and I'll be sure to add it. Alternatively if you live a little further afield, you can order online from my shop. 

Stamp Set: Create a Cupcake, See Ya Later (SAB), Remembering Your Birthday

Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, Rich Razzleberry, Baked Brown Sugar

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla

Punch: Cupcake Builder

Ribbon: Pistachio Pudding Ruffle

Embellishments: Pearls

I cracked out another set that's been gathering too much dust of late - Create a Cupcake! Such a sweet, yummy set! I used the stamp-a-ma-jig to get the cupcakes perfectly aligned in the background. 

Love how different the cupcakes in the background look to the popped up one by just stamping them on different coloured card! 

If you don't like fussy, intricate cutting the punch is a total gem! I did add the flower which I hand cut but you could add a candle or cherry that comes on the punch instead! 

Just a little quick stamping inside to pretty up things a little more! 

Not sure where I got the idea of this colour combo, but it kinda works. The razzleberry really stands out amongst those pastels and neutrals. What do you think? Like the combo?

No I'm off to do some baking, tidying, a little crafting and then hit the hay! Thankful for a better night last night, I didn't sleep well Thursday, it was really disturbed and I seemed to have nightmare dreams about being chased....oh dear!  

Happy Stampin',