I've got that Spring feeling.....

Even though it is grey and raining outside I felt like making a Spring inspired card.



The A6 Kraft card base had a piece of Sweet Pea designer paper attached to the front and a strip of Close to Cocoa cardstock. On Whisper White I stamped the branch and blossom from the Bird on a Branch stamp set in Close to Cocoa. The sentiment is from One of a Kind stamped on Kraft CS with the corners rounded and two rows of pricking along the bottom using the Mat Pack and Paper Piercer. I punched out two pieces of Pretty in Pink with the Word Window punch to make it look like a ribbon, as I do not have any Pretty in Pink ribbon...yet. The flowers were stamped in Barely Banana and Pretty in Pink and punched out using the co-ordinating Boho Blossoms punch. I popped these up on Dimensionals.

This project was inspired by a similar card by Andrea Walford.

Jumping Frog!

The inspiration for this card came from a tutorial on You Tube by StampWithHeather. He is sooo cute!!

I punched and inked five ovals from Old Olive and one from Certainly Celery, one 1 3/4" circle from Old Olive, two 1/2" Old Olive circles and three small flowers with the Boho Blossoms punch in Certainly Celery. The head is made using an oval as the mouth and the two 1/2" circles for the eye bases. The eyes are from the Sweet Pea felt flowers and the tongue is punched from Pretty in Pink using the Word Window punch. The Certainly Celery oval is stuck on the 1 3/4" circle and a small flower is cut in half for the hands. The remaining four ovals are attached together, and then to the body, using brads. The last two small flowers are attached to the bottom of the legs AND through the card base to secure the frog to the card. As it is only the feet attached to the card, the frog with 'jump' up and down by pulling/pushing his head.



The A6 landscape card base is So Saffron and it is decorated with co-ordinating Sweet Pea designer papers.

Can't stop playing with it...................!

Sweet Pea Felt Flowers bracelet

At the NEC on Saturday I bought a modern version of the French Knitting Dolly, it is fab!! The lady on the stall had made loads of necklaces using cord, wool or ribbon. Hmmm, I thought, I wonder if I could use Stampin' Up! grosgrain ribbon??



The answer is "Yes"! I 'knitted' a length of Always Artichoke ribbon long enough to go around my wrist and then attached a Sweet Pea felt flower and leaf! Gorgeous!

NEC introduces new security checks..............

"Can I have a look in your bag, Madam?"

Altered Coffee Tin

My husband gave this tin to me and said "Can you use this?" - I wanted to say "Don't be silly I am a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, of course I can use this!", but I smiled sweetly and said, "Yes dear, thank you."



So, out came the Sweet Pea paper AGAIN (actually I haven't put it away since it was delivered!) and this is what happened.



The only problem is, even though I washed the tin, it still smells of hazelnut coffee!

All Items Stampin' Up!
Paper: Sweet Pea designer paper stack (available from 1st April)
Card: Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
Stamps: My Sweet Pea (available from 1st April)
Ink: Old Olive, Sage Shadow
Ribbon: Old Olive Grosgrain

Sneak Peek...Sweet Pea Slider Box and Cards Class

This is one of the cards that will be made in my next class. I will post the full details when the dates and prices have been finalised.

Sweet Pea note pad

Apologies for lack of posts, just recovering from the headache from hell!!

I found these little note pads in Wilkinsons and knew they would look cute covered in the soon-to-be-released Sweet Pea designer paper stack.



What do you think? I love these bird images!

Bird on a Branch Recess Card

I was asked by my Stampin' Up! Mum, Helen, to demonstrate this card at our demonstrator meeting on Saturday. We had a wonderful morning of meeting other demonstrators, chatting and stamping!! It made me realise what it means to be part of a fabulous supportive team. Become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and see what I mean.........contact me for more information!!

Many thanks Helen for organising a great morning.

All Items Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Bird on a Branch (April Mini Catalogue), Trendy Trees (sentiment)
Card: Basic Black, Whisper White
Paper: Bashful Blue designer paper
Ink: Basic Black, Bashful Blue, Mellow Moss
Mat Pack and Paper Piercer
Dimensionals

Night and Day quilling

Oh yes, yes, more new papers from April's Mini Catalogue!! Have you got the message yet that I love everything in the upcoming new catalogue??

As I was making yesterday's card I thought about this new paper which is part of the Night & Day Speciality paper pack. What makes it a Speciality Pack? As well as the expected fantastic quality double sided papers, you also get two 12cm x 12cm sheets of black spotty printed window sheets (thick acetate)!!

I made this card the same way as the Vintage Vogue En Francais card, but instead of the black strip I used a die cut shape. The sentiment from Fun & Fast Notes was punched out using the Word Window punch and layered onto some Mellow Moss punched out using the Small Oval punch.

Another skewiff photo!!

All Items Stampin' Up
Stamps: Fun & Fast Notes
Paper: Night & Day Speciality Designer Series Paper
Card: Basic Black, Whisper White, Mellow Moss
Ink: Basic Black
Punch: Word Window, Small Oval

Vintage Vogue En Francais quilling

Quite a while ago I bought a quilling book (as some of you know I adore quilling) and one of the projects just stood out from the rest. That project is my inspiration for this card.

My base card is a landscape A6 card in Basic Black. The So Saffron paper is from the Tea & Crumpets designer paper range which I over-stamped with the En Francais background stamp in Creamy Caramel. I added a slim strip of black card to act as a background for the quilling and, in black, stamped the 'friends' sentiment from Vintage Vogue (ANOTHER set from the up-coming April Mini Catalogue!) on Very Vanilla, layered with Always Artichoke and Basic Black. I made the quilling strips from Basic Black, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla and left-overs of the over-stamped So Saffron for the flowers.

Is this photo skewiff or is it me.........?(!!)

All items Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Vintage Vogue (not available until 1st April!!), En Francais background
Paper: Tea & Crumpets DSP
Card: Basic Black, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla
Ink: Basic Black, Creamy Caramel

Bird in a box-ish!

Ok, so I can't stop using this Bird on a Branch stamp set and the Sweet Pea papers - they are absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately for you they are not available until the new Mini Catalogue comes out on 1st April!

I really love this design with the fancy fold envelope - obviously you wouldn't want to post it in this envelope, but it really looks impressive!



Inside the envelope is a 14cm square Chocolate Chip card with strips of striped paper at the top and bottom and a small butterfly image, from the same paper, cut out and popped up on dimensionals. The central branch image is from Bird on a Branch stamp set which is stamped in Chocolate Chip and the blossom is in Pretty in Pink. I stamped the bird in Old Olive, cut it out and popped it up with dimensionals. The sentiment is stamped in Ruby Red.



The envelope is approximately 21cm square with the corners folded into the centre and then folded back on itself. Chocolate Chip grosgrain is tucked under the flaps before they are fastened down with Crystal Brads. Insert the card into the centre, pull the ribbon until the envelope closes and tie a bow at the side.



All items Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Bird on a Branch
Card: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
Paper: Sweet Pea DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Ruby Red
Ribbon: Chocolate Chip grosgrain
Crystal Brads
Dimensionals

Sneak peek ...... sshh don't tell!

Take a quick look at this card then look away fast..........and don't tell anyone I showed you!!



Oooh, new bird on a branch punch? Mmm, new felt flowers? Wow, new papers? Oh Yes! But sorry, not available until 1st of April in the new Mini Catalogue, and then may only be around until the end of September - we never know what Stampin' Up! will keep on and what will go! So get ready for the rush at the beginning of April - I've already got mine, will you get yours???

My Sweet Pea spring card

Oldie, but goodie.................

I haven't made one of these cards for a long time and couldn't remember how to do it. Luckily someone made me one a while back so I took it to bits to remind me how it was done - I did put the card back together....honest!

Chocolate Chip is the base card and the new Sweet Pea paper stack (available 1st April in the new Mini Catalogue - limited stock!!) was used layered with Taken with Teal and So Saffron. On Whisper White I stamped the cute bird from My Sweet Pea (available 1st April in the new Mini Catalogue) in Pumpkin Pie first, then, on a scrap of white, I stamped the bird again in Chocolate Chip and cut out his body only and popped it up on dimensionals over the main image. The flower was stamped in Taken with Teal, for the centre I stamped the swirl from the stamp set on So Saffron in the same colour and punched it out with the 3/4" circle punch. I used the same swirl stamp, in So Saffron again, in the top corner to look like the sun! I cut a small triangle of Kraft CS, scalloped the edge, added some spots of white gel pen to the scallops and attached it to the bottom of the diamond.

All items Stampin' Up!
Stamps: My Sweet Pea
Papers: Sweet Pea Designer Paper Stack
Card: Chocolate Chip, Taken with Teal, So Saffron, Whisper White, Kraft
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Taken with Teal, So Saffron
Punch: Scallop Border punch
White Gel pen
Adhesive

Happy Mother's Day to all you crafty Mums out there xx

Swap for Sheffield Training

I went to a Stampin' Up! demonstrator training experience in Sheffield on Thursday - WOW! what an experience. Met up with some fantastic demonstrators and their work was inspiring. That is one of the most amazing things about being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, you really do feel like part of a huge, happy family and there is always someone to inspire you!!

I had to make a swap to take with me, and, me being me, left it to the last minute and then nearly fainted when I learnt I had to make 26!! This design popped into my head using Bird on a Branch stamps, one of the new stamp sets coming out in the new Mini Catalogue in April. It is absolutely gorgeous and I am sorry my poor photography does not do it justice.


In return I received lots of swaps and will post some of my favourites soon. I also won some prizes for a couple of creations!!

Anyway, now life is back to normal after such a hectic week, I can get back to crafting...............

All products Stampin' Up!
Card: Basic Black, Bashful Blue, Whisper White
Stamps: Bird on a Branch (available 1st April), Pocket Sillhouettes (sentiment)
Ink: Basic Black, Bashful Blue
Punch: Round label punch, Word Window punch
Ribbon: Bashful Blue taffeta ribbon
Black brad, Dimensionals

Itty Bitty Blooms Mother's Day card

After working so hard for my classes last week, I've had crafters block! Doing four classes in two days was a lot harder than I thought, but it was a huge success and everyone wants to come to the next one!

Back to the crafters block - I decided to just 'play' rather than try to make anything, so I got out a colour I very rarely use, Bravo Burgundy. On my desk was my Big Shot and embossing folders, Whisper White and a couple of scraps of Kaleidoscope DSP left over from my classes. This is the result................



I have made it as a Mother's Day card and actually think it is rather cute!!

Stampin' Up! items
Card: Bravo Burgundy, Whisper White
Paper: Kaleidoscope DSP
Ink: Brave Burgundy, Pretty In Pink, So Saffron, Mellow Moss
Stamp Sets: Itty Bitty Blooms (Hostess Level 2), Occasional Greetings
Mellow Moss taffeta ribbon, Linen thread

Misc
Swiss Dots embossing folder, flower pot punch

A Rose is a Rose Stamp With Us challenge

This is my entry for Stamp With Us' sketch challenge. I really love this stamp set!! The sketch below is the inspiration.



The 14cm square base card is Basic Black. I stamped a piece of Basic Grey card with the small flower from the stamp set using Basic Grey ink. The rose images are stamped on Whisper White card with Stazon Dove Grey and Basic Grey ink, and the leaves are stamped on Whisper White card using Mellow Moss and Always Artichoke. I attached the roses to a piece of Whisper White sticking some flat and some popped up on dimensionals. A scrap of Basic Grey taffeta ribbon was stuck on the side of the rose images and a length of white satin ribbon was wrapped around the card. A few extra rose images were added to the ribbon.

All items Stampin' Up! unless stated
Card: Basic Black, Basic Grey, Whisper White
Stamp Set: A Rose is a Rose
Ink Pads: Basic Grey, Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke
Ribbon: Basic Grey taffeta, Whisper White satin

Misc: Stazon Dove Grey

Really Nervous!!!!

My first Stampin' Up! workshops start today and over the next two days I have fifteen crafters coming to create a gorgeous project. I hope they all have a great time and I don't make too many mistakes!! Here is one of the bags they can choose to make.

Wish me luck and hope I won't be cowering in a corner eating all the chocolate biscuits!

Crackled Touch of Nature

I've been wanting to have a go at this technique for a long time and I really like it.

The Chocolate Chip base card measure 14cm square and the Very Vanilla layer is 13cm square. I stamped the gorgeous Bella Toile background stamp in Chocolate Chip onto the Vanilla layer, colouring it slightly with Old Olive ink and I then wrapped a piece of Chocolate Chip striped grosgrain ribbon around it before attaching it to the base card. The bird image is taken from the Touch of Nature stamp set and stamped with Chocolate Chip ink onto a scrap of Very Vanilla card. I coloured the bird and leaves with Old Olive and a little Creamy Caramel. Out came the Big Shot to die cut the image and a contrasting Old Olive piece.

The Die cut image was covered with Versamark and then embossed using clear embossing powder five times. After the last layer I left it to cool and then put it in the freezer for about half an hour. Had a cup of tea and a couple of biscuits!! Once out of the freezer the nerve-wracking moment had come - I started to gently bend the image and was quite surprised how easy the embossed glaze cracked. As the image was a bit mishapen after being heated, frozen and bent(!!) I had to attach it to the Old Olive layer using super-strong Sticky Strip tape and then popped the whole thing up on dimensionals on the front of the card.

Phew, would I do it again?..............definitely!

Trendy Button Trees

I ordered these buttons to make up my last order that would qualify for a free Sale-A-Bration kit. Wasn't sure what I was going to do with them, so I sat them on my desk and waited.............. Playing with the Trendy Trees stamp set yesterday and suddenly it hit me - some of the buttons would look good as trees!!

The Chocolate Chip card base is a regular A6 size and I tore a strip about 1.5cm wide off the front. I stamped on a 2cm piece of Ruby Red (in the same colour) the swirly tree from Trendy Trees and stuck it behind the torn edge. I used the Eyelet border punch along the bottom of pieces of Very Vanilla and Old Olive DSP. With the help of my trusty Stamp-A-Ma-Jig I stamped the tree trunks from Trendy Trees on the Very Vanilla card and, after tying a knot of linen thread through the holes, I then stuck on the buttons to make the trees. A scrap piece of Old Olive DSP was cut into hill shapes and stuck just over the bottom of the trunks. I tied a knot of Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon around the Very Vanilla and stamped the 'for you' sentiment, from Fresh Cuts stamp set, in Ruby Red. I sat looking at the card for a while as there was something missing.............. that's when I drew a few little birds flying in the sky!!

Please leave me a comment to let me know what you think (be gentle!!).


All items Stampin' Up!
Card: Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Very Vanilla
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red
Stamps: Trendy Trees, Fresh Cuts
Paper: Old Olive designer paper
Buttons: Designer Buttons 'Playgound'
Eyelet border punch
Linen Thread