Happy Birthday, Gorgeous

This was one of the Stamp Sets that I showcased at my Catalogue Launch events.
There are lots of great sentiments, flowers, leaves and 2 balloons in the Stamp Set and the matching die is awesome! You could just use the "Happy" or "Birthday" and stamp the rest of the sentiment.
The first card uses all of the new In Colours which I love.

One of my ladies made the second card at one of my events using Tranquil Tide for the Die Cut.

I cut out two Happy Birthdays in the next card so that the darker one would make the Powder Pink one stand out.
The butterflies are from the Papillon Potpourri Stamp Set cut out with the matching punch - both now sadly retired :(

You can see the balloon stamps in this card which match the Balloon Bouquet Punch.

The last card was cased from the Demonstrator Web Site where we are given numerous samples to use in our classes. The Die looks great cut out of Gold, Silver, Copper or Glitter Cardstock.

Stampin Up Layering Love

I really love the sentiments in this Stamp Set as they are great for Card Making or Scrap Booking.
Here are some cards that I made for some of my Customers to say Thank you for ordering from me.
I have used some In Colour Card Stock for the card bases with the Playful Backgrounds to add interest.
Papillon Potpourri and one of the Butterfly Dies have made an appearance.

I used the Love and Affection Stamp Set for the background of the card on the right and added some of the flowers from the same set.

The Background DSP in the last card is some of the Affectionately Yours Speciality Designer Series Paper.

Cutie Pie Thinlets Die

Last month I had a craft table at a fund raising  afternoon tea in Heswall.
One of the items that I prepared were cake boxes with the Cutie Pie Thinlets Die.
Above are the 10 cake boxes arranged together to form a circle.

I think that the first one, above, was my favourite. I love the subtle pastel colours,the Papillon Potpourri butterfly and the yummy Pink Pirouette Satin Ribbon to finish it off.

It had been a while since I had used the Rose Bigz Die which has sadly now retired. I cut it out in Whisper White and sponged the edge with Rose Red Ink. The sentiment stamp comes with a set that matches the Die.

This is the same box in Perfect Plum.

Another subtle colourway showcasing Blushing Bride and Pool Party and the Bow Die which comes in the set.

Early Expresso and Blushing Bride are the colour combos in the last cake slice.

Botanical Builder Framelits Die

 Next Wednesday morning I will be holding a Botanical Gardens Card Class at my house.
Below are two cards that we will be making at the Class.
I borrowed this set of Framelits off a fellow Demonstrator a few weeks ago to make a Banner for my Daughter's 21st birthday. I enjoyed making the banner so much that I had to buy my own set.
I decided to use some colours from the Subtles Family for these cards.
I sponged the centre of the flowers to add interest to the flowers.
I used a stamp from the Gorgeous Grunge Stamp Set for the background of the second card and then splattered it with some ink from the Wink of Stella Pen.

We made the third card at a Training Day that Monica Gale did for us a couple of months ago.
The butterfly was punched out using the Elegant Butterfly Punch. It was finished off with some splatters from the Wink of Stella Pen and some It's My Party Enamel Dots which are sadly retiring at the end of this month.

Recent Birthday Cards

Here are some cards which I have made for individuals recently.
First up is a 60th birthday card for a man. I love the Number of Years Stamp set and I thought that I would team it up with the Wetlands Stamp Set that I have not used in a while.
I also used the Timeless Textures Stamp Set from the Spring/Summer Catalogue.

The next card was for a friend's daughter. Again I used the Number of Years Stamp Set with the Zoo Babies set. What a winning combination for a child's birthday card.
Colours used are Pool Party, Blushing Bride and Early Expresso.

The next card was for my Son and Daughter in law's 2nd wedding anniversary.
I have not used the Owl Builder Punch in a while so it was good to get it out again and blow off the cobwebs! The branch was made by trimming the leaf die from the Rose Garden Thinlets.

I used the Birthday Bouquet colours for the the last card with the Hexagon Hive Thinlet cut out of Whisper White Card Stock ovr some of the Designer Series Paper.
I also used the Papillon Pot Pourri and Petite Petals Stamp Sets and Punches.

Circle of Spring

I have been preparing these cards for a Make and Take this week at St. Oswalds Church, Bidston.
We decided to use the Circle of Spring Stamp Set from the main Catalogue. It matches the Wondrous Wreath Dies and has a number of useful sentiments including Thank You, Happy Birthday, Happy Easter, Happy Mother's Day and Hello Spring.

I embossed the Marina Mist Cardstock with the Decorative Dots Embossing Folder. The tiny flowers were punched out using the flower Itty Bitty Accents Punch.
The bow comes in the set.

The background for this card was some of the Garden in Bloom Designer Series Paper. I inked the edges to give a bit of definition. I added a few extra tiny flowers from the stamp set and finished it off with a bow made using the Bow Builder Punch.

Painted Blooms Class

These are the four cards that we made at my Painted Blooms Class last Wednesday evening.
We also covered a box with the gorgeous Painted Blooms DSP. I have to admit that two of the designs were cased from Pinterest so the credit goes to the people who designed them.

For this card I inked up the embossing folder before I ran it through the Big Shot. I inked up the dots stamp from the set in various colours from the Brights family. The butterflies were die cut with the Stampin Up Embosslits folder which cuts and embosses at the same time.

This card uses more subtle colours Coastal Cabana and Pear Pizzazz. The sentiment is from the Sassy Salutations set. The accent butterflies were stamped using the Papillon Potpourri Stamp set and the matching Punch.

This colour Combo is Pear Pizzazz with Calypso Coral. I used the Scallop Tag Topper Punch for the larger card with a piece of Calypso Coral Card Stock behind it cut out with the Apothecary Accents Framelits.

Stampin Up" I Like It" Hostess set.

Back to some blogging again after enjoying time visiting family.
I love the "I Like It" Hostess set and I have only just got it so I had to make a card with it.
A dear lady who lives in our road is 93 today so I have had a fun time this morning making her a birthday card and a box for some chocolates.
I used the Blendabilities to colour in the flower images from the "I like It " Stamp Set and the large butterfly from the Papillon Potpourri" Stamp Set.
The sentiment is a Hero Arts Stamp that I have had for a long time.

I measured the size of the Green and Blacks chocolates and then using Connie Stewart's Shim method I made a box with lid to contain them. I used Perfect Plum Card Stock for the base and some DSP from a retired Brights Paper Stack in Rich Razzleberry for the lid. The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes and the small butterfly from Papillon Potpourri.
The ribbon is Rich Razzleberry but sadly it was retired at the end of June.

Here is a photo to show you how well the 6 chocolates fitted into the box.

The above box was made a few weeks ago for a Craft Fair. I got the design from Pootles.co.uk. She makes tons of boxes in all different sizes.
The sentiment is the Round Array stamp set punched out with the matching 7/8 inch Scallop Circle Punch.

It opens up to reveal a scented Votive inside.

Work of Art.

I was not sure about this Stamp Set from the new Catalogue but once I started playing with it I was hooked.
Anyone can be artistic with this set. I combined Melon Mambo with Rich Razzleberry in the first card.
You will notice some shadow stamping.
The sentiment is from the stamp set. I added three flowers punched out with a soon to be released Itty Bitty Accents Punch. The flower is one out of a set of three.

The Work of Art Stamp Set includes a small circle and heart. I have used the circle to create the dotty background. I then used the Chevron Stamp in Rich Razzleberry. The Blossom Punch and the Elegant Butterfly Punches were also used.

Another dotty background in a new in colour, Lost Lagoon. Blackberry Bliss and Hello Honey also feature with the Chevron stamped in Mossy Meadow. The Itty Bitty Flower punch has appeared again! i know that this punch is becoming a fast favourite of mine.

One of the stamps was used to get the swirly flower effect. I have to confess that there are lots of cards like this out in cyberspace so thanks to all of those Demonstrators that created them!
The colours are Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey and Mossy Meadow.

Back to my own design this time and the heart stamp from Work of Art features here.
The Work of Art Stamp Set just cries out to be used for Shadow Stamping as you can see from most of the card samples featured in this post.

More Watercolour Technique Cards.

This afternoon I am holding another Watercolour Technique Class at my house. This Class will be repeated on Thursday, June 26th at 7.30pm.
We will be using a special marbling technique to colour some Whisper White Card Stock before using it to cover a Note Pad. We will then punch out some flowers using the Petite Petals Punch and use them on a card with the Flowering Flourishes Stamp Set.
The colours are Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo and the new Blackberry Bliss.

Peaceful Petals Stamp Set was used for the above two cards. I am so sad that this set is retiring at the end of the month as I love pretty Flower sets and this one is a favourite of mine.
You may have noticed that the Whisper White on the Tags has an Ombre effect on it. This was achieved with an Acrylic block, Ink Pads and a Water Spritzer.

Another Ombre effect achieved by sponging and Washi Tape.
you may have noticed three new in colours to be released on July 1st - Blackberry Bliss, Lost Lagoon, Tangelo Twist and Hello Honey.

Ombre effect again but this time with a Baja Breeze card base. The stamp set is Simply Sketched which is a retiring Hostess stamp set.The ink colours from darkest to lightest are Lost Lagoon, Baja Breeze and Pool Party.

Random Flower Cards.

One of my favourite Stampin Up Colours is Coastal Cabana. In this card it is teamed up with Crumb Cake.I have stamped with the Petite Petals, Papillon Potpourri, Chalk Talk and Perfectly Penned Stamp Sets.

The above card is first stamped with the white tag directly on top of the Whisper White background using the Stippled Blossoms Stamp Set and then the Rose Red Tag is inserted between the two. I used the Script Stamp from the Background Builders Stamp Set down the left side. The sentiment is from the Sassy Salutations Stamp Set..

This was the last card that I demonstrated at my Watercolour Class last week. This uses the Masking Technique with a piece of paper cut out using a Floral Framelits Die for the Mask. The card was then spritzed with Bermuda Bay Ink before stamping the background with a flower from the Peaceful Petals Stamp Set. The butterflies were die cut using the Beautiful Wings Embossing Folder.

Stamp-a-ma-jig and Stippled Blossoms.

Today I have made an Anniversary Card for a friend who has been married for 30 years. That is certainly something to celebrate about!
Recently I have bought My Digital Studio and one of the first Digital Downloads I got was the Postcard for only £1.50. The Stamp is £15.50. It was so easy to choose the Multiple Output Option and copy four on to the 11 x 8 1/2 Landscape. I changed the colour to Chocolate Chip and then printed them on to Naturals Ivory Card Stock.
I then used my Stamp-a-ma-jig for some two step stamping with the Stippled Blossoms Stamp Set.
For you perfectionists out there this will get you near perfect alignment every time.
The base card is Primrose Petals on which I used the Jumbo Handle with the Very Vintage Wheel.
I added some Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon,an inked up Doily, a rose, some Pearls and some Papillon Potpourri Butterflies and voila it was finished.

Easter Blessings Class.

Tonight I am doing a simple Make and Take for the Ladies Fellowship Group at Hoylake Evangelical Church. I love the Easter Blessings Stamp so I decided to centre the cards around that.
There are going to be five tables with five ladies at each so each table will be doing one of these cards.
They will each have a different Border Punch, two Stampin' Write Markers and a Blender pen.
The latter is my new favourite tool and it is proving to be very popular in my classes too. It is so easy to get a pretty watercolour effect on your cards.

I will be taking the Papillon Potpourri stamp set with me and the matching punches.
I have aldo cut out a number of butterflies with the Beautiful Wings Embosslit which embosses and cuts out five butterflies at one sweep!
The tags were punched with the popular Scallop Tag Topper Punch and finished off with a bit of Baker's Twine tied into a bow.

Scalloped Tag Topper Punch cards and a box.

Above are two projects that my ladies will be making at a class, here, this Thursday.
I got the idea for the box from HERE
I decided to use the Hardwood Stamp, which is huge, for the background on Naturals White Card Stock.
The inks used were Strawberry Slush and Bermuda Bay.
The Owl Builder and the Bird Builder Punches were both used for the card.
I dyed the White Taffeta Ribbon by sponging Strawberry Slush ink on it and wetting it with an aquapainter to blend the colour. I then dried it by dabbing it with a piece of kitchen towel.

This is a Gatefold Scalloped Tag Topper Punch Card.What a mouthful!
The base colour is  Strawberry Slush with Melon Mambo Ribbon.
I used the lovely tulips from the Easter Blessings Stamp Set with the sentiment.
I inked up the stamp with Stampin' Write Markers and then pulled the colour into the image with a Blender Pen. I added a bit more colour for shading purposes. The colours used were Raspberry Ripple and Gumball Green. Two of the 2012 - 2014 In Colours which will retire sometime soon.
The DSP used was from the Saleabration Sweet Sorbet Pack and the Designer Paper Stack for the In Colours 2013 - 2015.
The ever useful Papillon Pot Pourri Stamps and matching Punch finished off the card.
I even took Monica's advice and punched one butterfkly out of the yummy Silver Glimmer Paper to add a bit of bling.