simply stampin' challenge, week 5

Colour Challenge time!! Now this week I would like to say a special thanks to Vicky for lending me some cardstock as I didn't have two of the colours in the challenge, they just aren't colours that appealed to me, although I may be having a change of heart about one of them! 


So without further ado, here are the colours in this week's challenge...

And the outcome...

For You (Birdcages)

Stamp Set: Every Little Bit 

Cardstock: Whisper White (textured), Basic Grey, Always Artichoke, Rich Razzleberry

Ink: Versamark

 Punches: Modern Label, 1" Circle, Two Step Bird

Accessories: White Embossing Powder, Linen Thread

Extras: White Gel Pen, Paper Piercer, Tombo Mono, Dimensionals

As I said a couple of these colours, I didn't have - Basic Grey and Always Artichoke! 

I started off with a rough idea that I wanted to use images from Every Little Bit using heat embossing and and a circle punch. I decided to use the bird cage as I love the image and have yet to use it!! Can you believe it!?!  I embossed quite a few, origionally intending to have them in some sort of a 3x3 pattern but when I was laying everything out I just thought, No, this is too boring. I've done a lot of cards like that before, I guess its one of my safety layouts. So I began playing with the circles at different heights, suspended somehow and suddenly thought how cool would it be to have these little birdcages hanging with linen thread on a branch!

I didn't have a long enough branch so used three branches from the two step bird punch joined together. I finished off the card by handwriting the sentiment on the modern label punch in the bottom left hand corner. It really filled the gap and rounded of the card. 

I did say one colour is growing on me, and that one is Always Artichoke! How lovely is it!?! 

Please do let me know what you think. I love reading all your comments! They really do make my day! 

Hope you do take part in this week's challenge. For the other lovely talented design team member's designs head on over to the Simply Stampin' Challenge blog! I look forward to seeing all your entries! 

Amanda xoxo

home again! (a slightly delayed update)

So, I am home from my trip away to Chester. Let me tell you, this trip did not go quite according to plan!


First off we managed to miss place the voucher for the hotel we were staying at so ended up paying it ourselves instead - not the best thing to find out the night before you go away but still we thought we could manage it, and we had been looking forward to getting away for a while so it would have been such a shame to cancel! Stu has been working really hard at school lately and I think its really important for him to have a few relaxing days away...where no work can get in the way! (its not that we haven't been relaxing at home but he has had lots of marking to do and its good to get away from all that for a while!!)


Then on the morning we went away (Wednesday) I woke up with the most awful sore throat and earache, felt really dreadful! I was kind of feeling like we weren't meant to go or something which felt really rubbish! I had a sore throat, earache and cold etc a couple weeks ago and have just been getting over it, just had a little bit of a cough left really and then Wednesday I just got full of cold all over again! I hoped it would just clear up as the day went on but if anything it got worse! When we got to Chester pretty much all we did was find a Boots chemist, buy Lemsip capsules and water and then head to a lovely little park in the centre and relax! At least the weather was gorgeous!!


Our hotel was amazing. I might sound really naive here but I've never been to such a posh hotel before, its called Crabwall Manor Hotel (definately recommend it if anyone is thinking of getting away!!!) The Manor itself is really gorgeous and has really pretty grounds to walk in or sit in and have a drink in the evening! Our room was really something (now this is coming from someone who has always gone for budget hotels and travelodges until this point!). First you walk into a sitting room and then in another room is the bedroom with a bed as wide as I am tall!! It was all furnished really lovely as well. And then the bathroom...well its definately a lot larger than the bathroom we have in our house! It had the most enormous bath(!!!!), toilet, bday, his and hers sinks and a big shower...oh and it was all underfloor heated...what luxury!!


Anyhow, I just reaslised I'm rambling quite a lot. So now I will be brief. We had the most gorgeous weather so it was perfect for doing things outside, we went to Beeston Castle (a lovely ruin on the top of a hill with a very pleasant walk up and also a great woodland walk around the base!) and after that we cooled down by stopping by the ice cream farm and having some awesome ice cream!! Its all made fresh on the farm and after a hot day and lots of walking it hit the spot. We pigged out a bit by each having a waffle cone with 2 gigantic scoops! I had chocolate fudge cookie and pistachio (both heavenly), and Stu had malt tease and double chocolate (also heavenly!). Seriously, if you ever are up in Cheshire, you have to go there its great and good fun for the kids too...lots of play areas, baby calves and you can watch the cows being milked! 


On Friday we walked around Chester, saw the Roman sights, had a lovely boat cruise down the river Dee and then in the afternoon headed over to Ness Botanical Gardens! All the rhododendrons were out, some of my favourite flowers, and as they are way too big to ever have one in our garden, so I just soaked them all up! I'd really recommend that garden too if you want a nice relaxing place with plenty to see! 


I meant to post this last week but I was still suffering with a sore throat and had a severe migraine on Sunday. I eventually went to the doctor about my throat, earache and cough yesterday...I have tonsillitis! Thankfully now I have medication and hoping I will feel better soon, I haven't really felt like doing much of anything. 


Some good news, yesterday I finally got my passport back so today I went down to the travel agent and book myself tickets to the States next month! I am very excited as I haven't been over there for almost 3 years and cannot wait to see my cousin Rachel get married! 


Catch you later, 


Amanda xoxo

simply stampin' challenge, week 4

And this week we are back to another sketch challenge! I think I've decided sketch challenges are some of my favourite! Its really great to be challenged with a sketch design for a starting point. This week's challenge template was lovely! 

Thinking of You

Stamp Set: Silhouette Sentiments

Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper white

Ink: Versa Mark, Elegant Eggplant, Certainly Celery

Stampin' Pastels: Certainly Celery

Accessories: Whisper White Satin Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones

Extras: 1" Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Dimensionals, Sponges

I stamped the flowers in versamark on the Whisper White and them used a cotton ball to apply Certainly Celery pastel to the image. I sponged the edge with Certainly Celery ink and mounted on a piece of Elegant Eggplant cardstock. I tied some ribbon to the Certainly Celery cardbase (which I sponged the edges with Elegant Eggplant ink) before adhering the chalked flower section. I stamped the flowers and bird on separate pieces of Certainly Celery cardstock, punched them out and them sponged the edges with Elegant Eggplant ink before adhering them with dimensionals. Finally I stamped the sentiment, Thinking of You, in the bottom right hand corner, and added a strip of 3 rhinestones to the corner. One more rhinestone on the branch with the bird finishes off the card! I must just say, I am LOVING this colour combo at the moment! 

Hope you enjoyed this week's challenge entry and look forward to seeing what you all create. So head on over to the Simply Stampin' Challenge blog to enter for you last chance to win some lovely goodies. Also check out the other design team member's entries! They're fab! 

Have a great weekend! 


Amanda xoxo

floral brooch

I'm still here! After a busy week of posts everyday last week I haven't much to share at the moment, I have been busy getting all my projects ready for my May and June classes (I have some very exciting and cute projects in store so please do book your place and come along - I'm sure you won't regret it!) As a result of class planning, I haven't had much time to play (I want my class projects to be a bit of a surprise so look out for postings after my class!) 

I scoured my photo archives today just to see if there was anything I hadn't yet shared that I could put up for you all to see and I found this cute little rosette! I saw this a few weeks ago on the lovely and talented Amanda Fowler's blog, to see her tutorial on how to make them see here.

Ribbon Rosette 

Stamp Set: N/A

Cardstock: Melon Mambo

Ink: N/A

Accessories: Satin Ribbon (non SU - I wish SU sold bright pink - melon mambo - coloured satin ribbon!!!), Basic Rhinestones 

Extras: 1 3/8" Circle Punch

I cut slits in the ribbon at intervals and rounded the corners then using the heat tool heated the ribbon until it began to curl and melt a bit. When I was satisfied I covered a piece of cardstock in SNAIL and began winding and sticking the ribbon to the cardstock to form a rosette. After a while, when I was finally happy with it I cut off the excess and added a bunch of different sized rhinestones to the centre to finish it off! 

Its so gorgeous, I makes a perfect brooch or even a lovely little accent for a card!!! 

Stuart and I are going away to Chester for a couple days, using our wedding present from his brother Richard and cousin Andrew which was a afternoon tea for two and overnight stay at this fancy hotel. Looking forward to relaxing and getting away from it all for a bit and spending some quality time with my lovely hubby...I'm a little nervous leaving all my creative things at home and no access to them 'till Friday night...I'm well and truly an addict!!! Seriously I am! EEK!! 

Finally, I just want to let you know I have another workshop scheduled for Friday May 6th at mine at 7:30pm so please do come along! I'd love to see you there! 

Also, don't forget to book your place for my May class! I am soo excited!!

Take Care, 

Amanda xoxo

simply stampin' challenge, week 3

This week's Simply Stampin' Challenge is a themed challenge. And I was very excited to see that it was an Easter theme! Any excuse to decorate the house...and I'm there! I remember as a kid my mum, brother and I would decorate eggs with food colouring and wax resist. So when I was thinking about this challenge I considered trying something similar...for old time's sake with re-inkers. However at the moment I only have Marina Mist and lets face it, one colour can only go so far...so that idea is on the back burner 'till next year when hopefully I'll have more re-inkers! 


The project I did this week was inspired from an idea that was shared at the Stampin' Up! training day I attended last month, and here it is...

Easter Tree

Stamp Set: N/A

Cardstock: Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Pink Pirouette

DSP: Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Pink Pirouette, Marina Mist, Perfect Plum 

Accessories: Whisper White 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Whisper White Satin Ribbon

Extras: Eyelets, Crop-a-dile, Corner Chomper, Crimper, Sticky Strip

Other: Chocolate Eggs, Chick Marshmallows, Flower Pot, Stones, Twigs

A bit different to what I normally do hey? I thought Id make a "Easter Tree".  On It are hung lots of little boxes which I made (so simple to do and really cute) and decorated with some Brights Collection DSP. Inside each box are little treats, tiny foil wrapped chocolate eggs and marshmallows. I shredded some carstock and crimped it to add inside the box to pad out the treats and make them look extra special - like they're sitting in a little nest! Finally I added some satin ribbon bows to the twigs just to fill it out a little more and make it look extra cute! Below are additional close ups of the tree and boxes! 

I intend on giving these little gifts to guests who visit us over the Easter period...a cute little surprise for them! (Anyone who came to my workshop last night got to choose one!) 

Please don't forget to head over to the Simply Stampin' Challenge blog to see what the other lovely talented design team members have created. Also enter your own creation for your chance to win some lovely goodies (for more details, check out the simply stampin challenge blog!).

Until next time, 

Amanda xoxo

cravendales milk

Anyone who knows me will know that I am a sucker for a GOOD advert! One of my favourite ads at the moment is the Cravendale's Milk ad....and I thought I would just share it with you! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! I think its really clever and funny!

Hope you like it! 


Amanda x

finally friday

I only have a little card to share with you today (I'm actually writing this post the night before, nursing my arm which is really hurting after burning it on the oven! Ice is helping a little but still hurts! booo). Its a little monogrammed notelet. 

"A" Monogrammed Notelet

Stamp Set: Broadsheet Alphabet, Punch Bunch (SAB), En Francais

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Certainly Celery, Rich Razzleberry

Accessories: Basic Rhinestone

Extras: 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Eyelet Border Punch, Dimensionals. 

I stamped the background with the En Francais background stamp. I stamped the scalloped circle for you stamp from the Punch Bunch in Rich Razzleberry on razzleberry cardstock, I then punched out the centre so just the scallop edge remained. On a separate piece of Very Vanilla I stamped the enitial "A" and the adheredit to the centre of the scallop circle. I adhered narrow strips of Certainly Celery eyelet border to the top and bottom of the razzleberry strip. Finally, I finished off this little notelet with a rhinestone on the monogram. This would make a really cute little monogrammed gift set which is what I intend on doing with this...watch out for the finished gift sets soon! 

I hope you have a great Friday! If you're in the area, tonight, I am having my workshop so please pop along, there's a extra little something in it for all who attend!! 

One more thing, its your last chance today to enter the Simply Stampin' Colour Challenge...a new challenge is released tomorrow so please head on over, enter for your chance to win some lovely goodies!!! 

Take Care!

Amanda xo