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 

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',

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',

Mosaic 21

Hello! 

The weekly balance has tipped, we are now on the downhill towards the weekend! Only 2 more days of school until a nice long weekend! Woohoo! Today's been a battle, we were very busy, short staffed and to top it off my head has been feeling very fuzzy, like the beginning of a migraine! I didn't sleep well last night either so I'm going to get a really early good sleep tonight! 

Today I have the other 21st birthday card I made for Bekah's birthday last week! You can see the first one I made here, as that one was really soft and elegant so I wanted something quite different, I think this hits the brief!

Stamp Set: Mosaic Madness, Remembering Your Birthday

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Bermuda Bay

Cardstock: Baked Brown Sugar, Bermuda Bay, Rich Razzleberry, Very Vanilla

DSP: Natural Composition

Punch: Itty Bitty, Decorative Label

Big Shot: Typeset Alphabet

Embellishments: Rhinestones, Crystal Effects

I pulled out one of my most favourite pattern papers of the moment - Naturals Composition. I just love the neutral colour that seems to work beautifully with any other colour. Its also got gorgeous glossy embossed designs which are just crying out to be inked up. Here I used 2 colours - bermuda bay and rich razzleberry to create this ombre type effect. By applying both colours to the centre section it really helps the 2 colours to blend together! 

I started with the 21 on the decorative label punch on the card and then worked in the other elements around it. 

I love the mosaic pattern in the paper and immediately thought that the Mosaic Madness set would pair perfectly as some scattered elements. I also decided to add a few of the 4 petal itty bitty punches to fill in the gaps, and the shape worked well with the mosaic stamps and paper too!

I wanted this card to be quite fun and jazzy so I went a little crazy with lots of little rhinestones in the centre of the mosaics and also a few just scattered on the background mosaics. Love that look, plus it just gives the card that extra special touch! 

One final special touch I added to the front of the card was to add crystal effects to the 21 - it just makes the letters look more special and blends with the glossy embossed background paper too! I think its little touches like this that really help make a card! 

The patterned paper ended up being a little larger than I thought I was going to want so I trimmed off about 5mm, I was going to throw it as it really wasn't much good for anything then thought it'd be a nice little embellishment for the inside. I added a sentiment and that was the inside sorted! 

Bekah totally loved this card and so did I! If I was turning 21 again I would be totally over the moon to get this card! Its so my style! 

Happy Stampin',

Simple Sunday - Watercolor Butterflies

Hello there! 

Another day and I'm feeling a little better still! My stack of super simple and easy cards is getting a little thin, I'd intended on stocking up on new designs this week but that didn't happen for obvious reasons! Anyway, here's a simple-ish card. 

Stamp Set: Flower Shop, Remembering Your Birthday

Ink: Early Espresso

Cardstock: Watercolor Wonder Notecards

DSP: Watercolor Wonder

Punch: Pansy, Itty Bitty Butterfly

Embellishments: Candy Dots

Did you know that you can make the pansy punch into a butterfly by cutting out one petal. Isn't it fun?

I'm loving the watercolor notecards and pattern paper - they have such beautiful watercolour looks and patterns but with none of the fuss! 

I added a few smaller butterflues and some candy dots to finish off the card. 

I'm planning to be back to work tomorrow - hoping for a better and healthier week this week! 

Happy Stampin',

Forget-Me-Not!

Hello! 

Wow its been a busy few days! Tim and Sarah's wedding was on Tuesday - the weather was absolutely gorgeous. It was such a beautiful wedding, the bride's dress was gorgeous, the flowers were so pretty...they just looked so so blissfully happy. Love it! 

I've spent yesterday and today catching up on housework and having a fun day with Kathryn and the boys! We went to the park, fed the ducks, saw lots of adorable ducklings (I was so tempted to slip a couple into my handbag!), had a picnic on the grass, did some running and played in the playground. Its such fun being a kid! 

Now its the end of the day and I am finally getting around to looking at my blog again. 

Stamp Set: Morning Meadow, Remembering Your Birthday

Ink: Marina Mist, Crushed Curry, Gumball Green

Cardstock: Whisper White, Gumball Green

Big Shot: Chalk Talk Framelits

Punch: Bird Builder, Pansy, Itty Bitty

Embellishments: Dazzling Diamonds

This is a really simple little card. I thought that the flowers looked like forget-me-nots. I love these flowers a lot and always look forward to seeing them flower each year. They're not out yet, but soon! 

I also thought that forget-me-nots would be a cute idea for the a belated birthday card! 

Marina Mist seemed like the perfect colour for the forget-me-nots and the bright yellow centres! I didn't want to cover up the yellow centres with anything like rhinestones or pearls so I thought the best way to add a little sparkle would be to use the 2 way glue pen and the dazzling diamonds glitter.

Don't the bird wings just make the most fab leaves?!

And of course a little quick stamping inside the card finished it off perfectly! 

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

Happy Stampin',

Kaleidoscope Banners

Hi! 

Sorry I didn't get around to blogging yesterday! Literally spent the entire day yesterday sewing!! I've finally got my project finished and spent today getting it washed and laid out to dry. So pleased with how its turned out.

I've had quite a nice relaxed day - spent quite a good portion in my craft room making some new cards! I made one for this week's Freshly Made Sketch and the Paper Players and set it aside to photo and upload later then completely forgot about the deadline for Paper Players today. Whoops! 

So the Paper Players' challenge this week was "Three Spree" so I'd just kept in mind that however the card turned out I wanted 3 or the main element! 

Of course Freshly Made had another beautiful sketch this week...

Here's how my creation turned out!

Stamp Set: Remembering Your Birthday

Ink: Versamark, Whisper White

Cardstock: Basic Black

DSP: Kaleidoscope

Punch: Banner

Embellishments: Sweet Sorbet Twine, Brights Candy Dots

Other: White Embossing Powder

My starting point was actually the black/grey coloured DSP. It's kinda plain and boring but I thought with the right treatment it could look really lovely! I added it to a black card and jut knew it had to become a masculine card. Now this was all very black and just needed a pop of colour.

The banners gives a nice height and movement to the card. Its a bit of a lighter element than a solid strip down the side like in the sketch which I think has worked out well. 

The twine knots were just a nice finishing touch for the banners. 

Hope you liked this one! 

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',

Mario

Hello! 

How's your week going? I got through Monday, just 4 more working days to go until Easter holiday! 

One of Stuart's little cousins is mad crazy about Mario Kart - literally its the only thing he talks about! So for his birthday last week I just had to make him a Mario card. In case any of you don't know Mario, here's a little pic...

I was a little pushed for time so its a pretty simple card, the stars from Banner Blast came in really handy for adding something else to the background, plus stars are always fun! 

Stamp Set: Remembering Your Birthday, Banner Blast (SAB)

Ink: Real Red, Daffodil Delight

Cardstock: Whisper White, Real Red, Crisp Cantaloupe, Early Espresso, Basic Black

Punch: 1 3/4" Scallop Circle, Owl Builder, 1 3/4" Circle, 2 1/2" Circle

When I'm making punch art I like to have the picture in front of me, I'll try and break it down in my head, and even draw a picture of all the main shapes to work from. Mario was fairly easy. 

The ears, nose, and eyes are all done with the owl builder - you know I am totally in love with that punch!! Then its just a case of the 1 3/4" circle for the head, the larger 2 1/2" circle for the hat. The hair and tash is just the scallop circle - easy peasy! 

I know its not perfect - if I did it again I'd probably make the head and hat a little larger so there was more space for the facial features. I realised after that I didn't do his blue eyes or his eye brows. Hey ho! 

And a really simple inside finished with a few stars! 

Happy Stampin',

Bubbly Celebrations

Hi! 

So the following blog post was supposed to go out yesterday but by the time I remembered I needed to photograph the card it was too dark, and I'd missed the deadline for adding my card to the Paper Players blog so I just thought as I was so tired I'd have the day off blogging and just get it out today with a decent photo...so sorry for my tardiness, enjoy!

Thank goodness its Friday! Its been a long week and I'm feeling pretty worn out. Yesterday I was not feeling very well at all - the joys of working in Student Services surrounded by kids saying they don't feel very well or telling me they've been throwing up the day before.... wonderful!!

So as a result of not feeling very well I didn't really get much done yesterday when I got home from school and playing Miriam at church for the Bible expo. I did really want to play along with the Paper Players Challenge so I just did something very simple. It was a sketch this week. 

I know that the shapes can be everything and what kept springing to mind was replace the shapes with a spray of flowers but I do a LOT of floral cards and wanted to challenge myself a bit so actually forced myself to keep the circles theme. I thought it could make quite a nice bold masculine card! 

Stamp Set: Remembering Your Birthday

Ink: Basic Grey

Cardstock: Bermuda Bay, Whisper White 

DSP: Kaleidoscope

Big Shot: Circles Framelits

Embellishments: Brights Candy Dots

I think this card turned out quite nicely. I toyed around wit the idea of rotating the sketch to landscape but eventually decided to just keep it portrait. I did think it'd have a bit more of a wow factor by being elongated. 

The sentiment is stamped on a strip which I then cut with the framelits so it'd fit over the centre section of the largest circle. I like that it toned down the big punch of colour and it was also a different way to add a sentiment to the card rather than the banner which I was tempted to do but are quite common these days! 

I added a couple smaller circles that weren't in the sketch just to balance the card out and stretch the circles out across the area more. Candy dots are a nice fin little extra touch.

  

Oh, this got the husband's sign of approval for a "manly" card! 

Happy Stampin',

Quick Boy's

Hello there! 

I just have a super quick post today. I'd intended on getting some new things made today but errands and vegging out on the couch won over! There's always this evening! 

This is a quick card I made for one of Stuart's cousins, Harry, last month. His birthday kind of crept up on me and then I forgot and needed something fun and quick.

Stamp Set: Gorgeous Grunge, Remembering Your Birthday

Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Bermuda Bay, Old Olive

Cardstock: Whisper White, Old Olive

Big Shot: Typeset Alphabet

Punch: 1 3/4" Circle

I just did a quick stamp, stamp, stamp with the splatter from Gorgeous Grunge and then added Harry's age and a sentiment. It couldn't be simpler! He loved it too.

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',

Simple Sunday - Masculine Washi

Hi there! 

I thought it was time to share another simple masculine card - around here they're always in demand and I'm constantly trying to think of fresh ideas. 

Embarrassing story time...so I made today's card at the same time as last week's Freshly Made card. Now I'm not very good at remembering to get birthday cards to folks on time so I thought having a few belated cards in stock would be good. So I'd photographed them both and stuck them in the card box. Last Sunday morning I was in a hurry to write Stuart's uncle a birthday card and reached for the one that I'd just made....unfortunately the wrong one! He opened it and said..."Its not belated, my birthday is today." Oh dear, I was very embarrassed! 

Stamp Set: Remembering Your Birthday

Ink: Baked Brown Sugar

Cardstock: Whisper White, Tangerine Tango

Washi Tape: Retro Fresh

I know I'm not a great lover of diagonals but I'm trying to explore different things and I thought this was a fun way to use washi tape. 

Starting with the stripy layered it up, one V at a time. I then used the stamp-a-ma-jig to get the birthday stamp just in the perfect position. 

What do you think? This would be fun with any of Stampin' Up!'s gorgeous washi tapes. 

Happy Stampin',