CAS Greenery Wreath

Hello! 

Happy Monday! It's the first day back to school for some of our Year 10 kids today. It seems to have gone really well and the kids have enjoyed it. 

I thought today I might share another of the cards I made using the Forever Greenery DSP for my class at the weekend. This one was a little more labour intensive that the previous too but has absolutely beautiful effects!  

Stamp Set: Well Said

Ink: Shaded Spruce

Cardstock: Whisper White

DSP: Forever Greenery

Die: Circles

Accessories: Linen Thread, Champagne Rhinestones

If you've followed this blog from way back you know I'm a CAS (clean and simple) card girl at heart and I think this one is just that clean and simple. Having said that often the CAS cards are a bit more labour intensive and take longer. 

I got into my zen headspace and sat fussy cutting the leaves out if the pattern paper - you know I love a bit of fussy cutting - because I'm a bit nuts like that! I assembled the leaves around the circle die (roughly about 6cm diameter). I'd like to add that you can purchase dies that will cut out a lot of the leaves from the stamp set and the DSP for you but I haven't got them - I'm sure this card would have been a lot more straightforward with the dies! 

I stamped a sentiment in the bottom corner and added all the layers together with some dimensionals which adds a little height and shadow - I think that really adds to the CAS effect. 

Finally I added a linen thread bow and some champagne rhinestones to add some sparkle. 

I will admit this card turned out differently than I had initially intended it to. I had wanted to use the gold hoops and trim that co-ordinated with the Forever Greenery bundle, unfortunately it was on back order and would arrive in time for the class. With this in mind I had to switch it up a bit - still think this turned out gorgeous! 

The weather is gorgeous today - really warm and sunny! Have a wonderful afternoon! 

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',

Kind Ruffles

Hello! 

I hope all you British followers are having a great Bank Holiday weekend. Three day weekends are just the best. We've been doing a few jobs around the house, I've tidied my craft room a little and done some crafting too! 

One of today's makes was using the Freshly Made Sketches' sketch for the week - just in time for the deadline once again! I was really pleased at such an interesting sketch to play with.

Stamp Set: Sweet Essentials

Ink: VersaMark

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Coastal Cabana

DSP: Gold Foil Vellum, Afternoon Picnic

Big Shot: Circles Framelits, Chalk Talk Framelits

Embellishments: Gold Baker's Twine

Other: Gold Embossing Powder

The designer paper was ruffled up for a fun border - I actually had to stick 2 pieces of the paper together to make up the right length. I cut a thin strip of another pattern paper from the pack. I also added some baker's twine to the centre - it just finishes it off nicely and holds the papers in place a little better too!

I thought something light would work well for the half circle in the background. I also wanted more gold incorporated so the gold foil vellum was the perfect choice. I wanted more gold so cut out a few more hearts from the vellum sheets and added a gold embossed sentiment to the card. 

Part of me wonders if there just a little something else missing from the card but I couldn't figure out what so decided to leave it rather than risk over-doing it!

Hope you like it! 

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',

Fishin' Around....sorta

Hello! 

Wow its been pretty busy today! I had Envelope Punch Board Class here this morning followed by a goodly amount of sewing and some card making! As a result I forgot to get a blog post out so sorry that today's is a little later than usual...but I'm here now. 

Today I have an adorable little project I made a while ago but haven't gotten around to sharing it with you yet. The card was based on the super cute a la carte stamp Fishin' Around. 

And here's my version.....

Stamp Set: Pennant Parade

Ink: Tangerine Tango, Baked Brown Sugar, Pear Pizzazz, Basic Black

Cardstock: Pool Party, Whisper White, Crushed Curry, Crumb Cake, Pear Pizzazz, Window Sheet

Big Shot: Circle Framelits

Punch: Owl Builder, Small Heart, Bird Builder, 3/4" Circle

Embellishments: Dazzling Diamonds

Aren't the fish just darling?! So to make the shaped card I just made sure my card base was folded and slightly too short on the top and bottom to cut a complete circle. the white is torn to give the impression of water. The crumb cake at the base is also torn to look like sand. Everything was popped up on dimensionals in layers so I could add some window sheet over the top which really gives the impression of a fish bowl. The dimensionals really add a lot of dimension to this card which I just love. 

Just a little photos to show some of the dimension! The window sheet is adhered with glue dots along the top and then cleverly hidden with a strip of Pool Party that looks like the rim of the bowl!

I made sure that the sand layers and the white top was very slightly smaller than the Pool Party card base so it looks like an actual fish bowl. 

The branch from the bird builder punch works great for some weeds and the tiny sentiment from Pennant Parade worked perfectly on the little flag! 

Dazzling Diamonds just takes these little fishies to the next level! Oh and there's glitter on the bubbles too!

Hope you enjoyed this cute little make. 

Happy Stampin',

Getting Snappy!

Hello! 

Oh my! Can you believe its February already!?! Craziness!!

How has your week been? I had such a beautiful day yesterday - the weather was just miserable but I got to see Kathryn and Euan. They brought an awesome book (which has given me an idea for a super cool card - going to have a play around today) and some fun cars too! I had great time playing with the cars! He also showed me his fab walking skills - last time I saw him was just before Christmas and he was literally just taking his first steps! Oh he is just such a little cutie!! It was really great to catch up with Kat too. In the evening my friend Sam came over for dinner, we had a delicious homemade stirfry, played a bit of Wii and just hung out! I truly feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends in my life!

So, earlier this week I said I'd made my dad a pretty cool card (in my opinion) for his birthday and promised I'd show it later this week. Seeing as its gotten around to Saturday and its the end of the week, I thought I'd better show you folks what I made! 

For anyone who doesn't know my dad.... He is totally NUTS and taking photos! He hardly goes anywhere without a camera in hand or slung over his shoulder. Now, I love taking photos but not to the extreme of taking thousands in a day!! Anyway, what better card for my daddy than a camera!!

(I'd just like to note, I do love Dad very much despite is obsessive photo taking!!)

Stamp Set: Simply Sketched, Around the World

Ink: Basic Black, Smoky Slate, Daffodil Delight

Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Window Sheet, Gumball Green

Big Shot: Circles Framelits

Punch: Itty Bitty Circle, Owl Builder, 1" Circle, 3/4" Circle, Envelope Punch Board

Embellishments: Jumbo Rhinestone

Other: White Gel Pen, Blender Pen

Before any camera enthusiasts criticise me for my inaccurate camera, I know it's not exactly right but I followed the basics of my camera and added/removed bits at my discretion. I tried to add enough details to make it interesting and fun but not too much to send me crackers punching tiny little details.

If you were wondering what else, apart from super cool envelopes, the envelope punch board can make, how about a camera?! Its perfect for making the little tab at the top here! 

The lens was a bunch of circles cut with the framelits and stacked using dimensionals (these were actually rogue black dimension pads left from before I joined Stampin' Up! I've got to admit the black came in handy as they really blend in well!)

The cameras from the set Around the World came in very handy for a little stamping embellishment for the inside. I'm glad I saw them in my stack of stamps as I almost forgot I had them! 

I got a recent family photo my dad took of us all, he's not much into taking selfies so this is a rare photo he is actually in too! I just sized it and printed it to fit the back where the LCD screen would be!

All the little details are hand drawn using a white gel pen.

I hope you're having a nice weekend. I'm home alone today as Stuart is at a stag party for his friend Tim who is getting married soon. I think its going to be a day of pottering and crafting for me! 

Happy Stampin',

Petals MM330

Hello! 

I'm trying another challenge today. I've followed and admired the creations on the Mojo Monday blog for quite a while but never got the courage up to enter something of my own. They have lovely sketch challenges, this is this week's...

What a great challenge to make a tall and skinny - so often its tempting to just make a standard sized card so to have the challenge to make a different size is fun! 

Stamp Set: Petal Parade (SAB), Express Yourself

Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, Pool Party, Summer Starfruit

Cardstock: Whisper White, Pool Party

DSP: Sweet Sorbet (SAB)

Punch: Fancy Flower, 2 1/2" Circle

Big Shot: Circles Framelits

Embellishments: Sweet Sorbet Accessories (SAB)

I reversed a couple elements on this card to fit in with my incredibly narrow card. I've got to say I didn't really know where I was going with this card. It was one of those cards I just fiddled with until it looked right.

I've used a whole host of Sale-A-Bration products here - the DSP, Petal Prade stamp set and the accessory pack! 

I am totally LOVING the cork embellishments in the Sweet Sorbet accessory pack - love the mixture of flowers, diamonds, scallops! Also in the pack is three twines. This Summer Starfruit twine is three pieces knotted together and then I unravelled them so they'd spread out more. 

For the flower, it was punched and then I used the bonefolder to break down the fibres of the card until it separated - its softer, creates more layers and created a beautiful suede effect. The leaves are just folded and cut tear drop shapes, then sponged a little. 

Hope you enjoyed this creation. Do you ever make tall and skinny cards?

Happy Stampin',

Inky Fingers Challege 2

Hi there! 

I've had a super weekend. It was Stuart's birthday yesterday so we had a weekend of celebrations - dinner out, friends over, cake(!!!), watching Monster's University on dvd and eating Ben and Jerry's....yum! Stu got a mandolin for his birthday so there's been a fair amount of strumming and playing going on too!

Well, here we are a week on and today there is another Inky Fingers Challenge for you all! Did you enjoy last week's challenge? 

Today is a sketch challenge, they can be a bit tricky but so rewarding when you look at what you've created and think wow, I would never have thought of a card like that without that sketch! Its such a great feeling and true of my creation for today. 

The layout looked quite easy and simple but I was determined to do something different and not follow the sketch to the letter! (Yes, its okay to switch up a few things on the sketch as long as the main basis of the sketch can be seen and is being witheld! This is something I didn't realised for ages!)

Stamp Set: Express Youself, Petal Parade (SAB)

Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe, Black

Cardstock: Crisp Cantaloupe, Whisper White

DSP: Sweet Sorbet (SAB)

Big Shot: Circles Framelits

Accessories: Sweet Sorbet Accessory Kit (SAB)

Yes I'm still having a bit of a nuts rave with Crisp Cantaloupe! I'm liking the Sweet Sorbet SAB designer paper - there's some beautiful florals and geometrics in there - a great mix. The centrepiece flowers were all fussy cut out of the designer paper, it took a while but the effect is great! 

I like how the flowers really pop against all the other elements on the card. The strip of designer paper, sentiment and twine are lovely and work so well on the card, tone on tone with the background. 

I just wanted to share a quick trick with you for the perfect bow. Wrapped the twine around the card and taped it on the back, tie a bow and use a glue dot to attach it to the front of the card in the perfect position. Its such a stress free way to get a perfect bow, facing the correct direction without all the fiddling and twisting.

I made a co-ordinating envelope by stamping the Petal Parade stamp set (co-ordinates with the Sweet Sorbet DSP) all over the envelope flap in Crisp Cantaloupe. 

I hope you'll have a go at making a card using this sketch from Inky Fingers, if you do, be sure to upload it to the blog so we can all appreciate your work! I can't wait to see what you all create! It can be as simple or elaborate as you like! 

Happy Stampin',

Amanda xx