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',

Masculine Chevrons

Hi! 

Well, my plans went out the window! I got a text from mum really late Sunday night asking for help getting the house cleaned and ready (their house is split in two and they sometimes rent out the other side to people who need temporary accommodation). She had a teacher from school who needs somewhere to stay for the next 7 weeks. Anyway she was way behind on getting things sorted before he arrived on Tuesday. 

Monday morning he asked if he could come today...not tomorrow. She needed all the more help so I went over after school and didn't get back til late. I was completely shattered and ended up going straight to bed. 

This evening I went for a nap and woke a lot later than intended then I spent the rest of the evening making favour boxes for a client's wedding. I'm at 50 now so I thought it was time to stop for the night, get into bed and write a super quick blog post. 

Stamp Set: Happy Day

Ink: VersaMark

Cardstock: Basic Black, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry

DSP: Kaleidoscope

Punch: Banner

Other: White Embossing Powder, White Gel Pen, ZigZag rotary cutter

This was a really  quick and simple card I made for my brother-in-law's birthday last week. I'm really loving black for guy cards at the moment! The border was marked out lightly with pencil and then hand drawn over the top with a white gel pen. 

I white embossed the sentiment on the rather boring looking black grid pattern paper. I think it works really well on this card though as it really highlights the bright colour accents. The chevrons are punched out with the banner punch, same as this card. The banner punch was a sale-a-bration item, but will be available again for purchase in the new annual catty beginning July 1st!

Okay so I need some sleep, night all! 

Happy Stampin',

Simple Sunday - Happy Sparkles

Hello! 

Its been a while since I last did a Simple Sunday post! Its a new month and now that work is less up in the air I'm hoping my emotions can become a bit more settled and I'll get back to blogging daily! 

So today I have a Simple Sunday card for you today using a few left overs.

Stamp Set: Happy Day

Ink: Rich Razzleberry

Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Crumb Cake

DSP: Natural Composition

Embellishments: Gold Sequin Trim

I had this triangle piece of Natural Composition left over from another project and I really wasn't sure what to do with it. I've seen some cards using diagonals around the net and while I find things on angles really annoying I wanted to give it a go. I added some rich razzleberry ink to the pattern paper and added it to the card. Around the edge of the pattern paper and crumb cake I did a little hand drawn line as it really added a nice finishing touch. 

This Natural Composition paper is one product I am seriously going to miss - yes its on THE LIST! If you're going to miss it too why not stock up on another pack before its gone! Its even reduced - £8.05 from £11.50!! 

The stamp-a-ma-jig really came in handy to get the sentiment perfectly positioned and parallel to the pattern paper. I accented it with a few scattered sequins! 

Hope you're having a beautiful end to your weekend - the weather has been gorgeous today! 

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',

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',