Feeling Sentimental again!

Today is my husband's 60th birthday and he will be receiving this card tonight with his presents.
The reason for that is that our oldest son is traveling up from the south coast today to be with us and we do not want him to miss out on the present opening ceremony.
I love using the Feeling Sentimental Sale-a-bration Stamp Set for men's cards.
The brown Designer Series Paper is a retired Stampin Up one but the printed one is from the First Edition Speciality Paper pack.
The numbers are not Stampin Up but I found them this week at a well known craft store!
I punched the top scallop using the Scallop Border Punch.

Stampin Around Wheels.

 I have enjoyed preparing for a Workshop coming up on Monday evening during which we will be playing with the three Stampin Around Wheels. The Jumbo, Standard and Builder Wheels.
For the card on the left I used the Music Notes Standard Wheel. Other products used include First Edition Speciality paper, Four Frames and Thank You Kindly Stamp Sets (the latter is now retired), Decorative Label, Modern Label and Bird Builder punches and some of the 5/8 inch Flower Trim from the Spring/Summer Seasonal Catalogue to be launched on February 1st.

 Raspberry Splash, Primrose Petals and Crumb Cake  card stock colours used on the next card. I used the Very Vintage Jumbo Wheel and punched the Crumb Cake card stock with the Scallop border Punch.For  the flowers and background swirl I used the Everything Eleanor stamp set. The sentiment is from the You are Loved set and then I die cut it with the Apothecary Accents Framelits.The icing on the cake is the pearls and I also highlighted areas using a Sakura Clear Star Gel Pen.

This card show cases the Baby Tees Jumbo Wheel.  I used Dimensionals to giveone of the Baby Grows a bit of a 3D effect. The sentiment is from Curly Cute and the Raspberry Ripple scalloped border was made by punching a  strip with  the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch and then cutting it in half.

I have two places spare on the Workshop so if you would like to join us to make four cards and a 3D item using the Stampin Around Wheels on Monday then please give me a call or email me.

Sale-a-bration Feeling Sentimental.

This is one of the 6 cards the ladies made at my Stamp a Stack Sale-a-bration Workshop last night.
We used the Sale-a-bration Feeling Sentimental set of stamps. This is one of the four stamps in the set.
There is also a Penny Farthing Bicycle, a Ferris Wheel and the sentiment "Celebrate."
I have seen blue versions of the telephone box on the internet for Dr. Who. I prefer the traditional red version as I am not a Dr.Who fan.I was always afraid of the Daleks as a child!
 I have used the Labels Framelits Dies and one of the three Textured Impressions Embossing Folders Adorning Accents for the white strip with the little hearts.
The Ribbon is Real Red 1/8 inch Taffeta Ribbon.
The Sentiment stamped in white and highlighted with a white gel pen gives a slight chalk board effect.
To be truly authentic it would need to have some white smudges on the black card stock!

More Amore Exploding Box.

 I enjoyed making this Exploding Box using Real Red Card Stock and the More Amore Speciality Designer Paper which is one of the new products available, from the Spring/Summer Catalogue, on February 1st.
The heart shape on the top has been carefully cut from a sheet of 16 Real Red laser cut hearts in that pack of paper.In the pack there is also a sheet of 16 laser cut hearts in Primrose Petals. The back of the hearts is white so that you can colour them to match any project!
The two tags on top were die cut with one of the Hearts a Flutter Dies as was the small heart on the side.
That little pin wheel is a Sizzlits S die also from the new Catalogue.It is so easy to thread on to a pricking tool and then put a mini brad through the tiny holes to hold it together.

There are two more layers inside the Box which have four pockets each for tags. The tags were punched out using the Creative Memories Tag Punch which also punches the hole at the top for the ribbon to thread through. I used Real Red Taffeta Ribbon and Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon.
I am doing this Box as a Workshop at my house on Wednesday, 6th February. Please contact me for further details if you are interested in making one then or buying a kit.

Saleabration old and new

I dug out one of last year's Salebration stamp sets, yesterday, called Fresh Vintage.I was going to sell this set but I am glad that I did not as I love the flowers.

The Sentiment is a Hero arts stamp.The background was die cut with a Nestabilities Die.
The colours used are Marina Mist, Calypso Coral and Wild Wasabi.





For the card below I used a set from The Salebration 2013 selection. It is called Feeling Sentimental and it is a great set for Men's cards. I used a Hero Arts Script stamp for the background.
The colours are Marina Mist, Early Expresso and Crumb Cake.

                                                                      

Stampin Up Scrap book Page.

I never thought that I would see the day when I would use any other Scrap book than Creative Memories but we did a Stampin Up Divided 12 x 12 Scrap book page at the Passionettes Training Day today!
I have to admit that I was very impressed. So much so that I will be giving everyone at my Scrap Book Day, here, this Saturday one to do!
I added the photos when I got home having decorated the page there.
We used Pool Party Card Stock, the Sycamore Street Saleabration papers, Petite Labels punch and the Butterfly punch.
The photos were taken last Summer when Aviva, Tom and I went to the Shire Horse Centre near Tarporley.
I have not given the page a title or journalled yet but I think that the photos and the colours capture the fun that we had there.

Monica came over to the Wirral today to do a training day for some of her Passionettes team in the area.
Diane Lloyd and I had the privilege of organising it.
There were ten of us altogether and we learned so much.

We made a Hostess Gift using the Diagonal Plate on the Scoring Board (One of the 17 Salebration products that you can get free from January 22nd - March 22nd with a £45 Stampin Up order.)
We used Pool Party Card Stock, some of the Salebration pack of Sycamore Street paperssome Glimmer paper and the Butterfly punch.

These are the four cards which we made to go inside the box.
We used the Madison Avenue and Vintage Verses Stamp Sets which are also available only during the Saleabration period.
The colours are Pool Party, Rich Razzleberry and Summer Starfruit.

Scrap Book Baby shower Evening.

 Last night I hosted a Scrap booking Baby Shower party for my friend, Clare.
We all enjoyed preparing as many pages as we wanted so that Clare can add photos of the baby after it is born.
As we did not know whether the baby is a boy or girl we used mutual colours such as yellow, green, brown, grey and orange. Blue and pink crept in here and there.
I used the swirl from my new "Everything Eleanor" stamp set which had only arrived that day.

 This is Clare who sat at the head of the table. I am glad to say that she did a page too.

Debi finished first. She said that the Elephant embellishment was specially brought along to be used for a page.

Clare asked us all to write in a journalling box somewhere on a page.She wanted us to write something for the baby possibly including a Bible verse or poem. This gave each page a very personal touch.
My verse was from Psalm 127 verse 3 :- "Children are a gift from the Lord. The fruit of the womb is His reward."

 Sarah used the Stampin up Baby Tees Wheel along the bottom of one of her pages. Clare said that she liked the way that it faded out at the end. If we had used an ink cartridge then that would not have happened.

 Sarah (above) did two bath time pages with ducks everywhere.
I like the way that she used the wavy trimmer to give the idea of splashing and waves.

Claire J.did a Thank You page with some photos of her son  who Clare G.has child minded.I love the addition of the dragon flies at the top.

This was Helen's first Scrap book evening and she completed two pages. We had fun using the Stampin Up Scallop Trim Border punch.
There is a certain knack for getting it to line up properly.

It was good to use up some of my stash and I am glad to say that Clare is putting the pages in a 12 x 12 Creative Memories Album.
I can't wait to see it!

Bloomin Marvelous!

I have had a number of Birthday cards to make recently.
This one has been sent to my Aunt Cherry who is 83 on Thursday!
I used a stamp from the Summer Silhouettes set for the trellis behind the Happy Birthday sentiment.
The flowers, leaves, humming bird and butterflies were stamped with a combination of a Saleabration, 2013 set called Bloomin Marvellous, (and it is) Vintage Vogue and Fresh Vintage,both of which are retired.
I used the Curly Cute set for the sentiment.
The colours are Elegant Eggplant, Pink Pirouette, Rose Red and Certainly Celery.

Baby Girl Card.

A friend of mine has just had a baby girl so I enjoyed making her this card.
I dug out a Magenta Stamp, which I have not used for a while, for the frame.
The Babygro in the centre is a Hero Arts stamp.
My Stampin Up Teeny Tiny Wishes set arrived today just in time for the sentiment.
There are 24 sentiments in the set which all fit the bar punch. They can then be mounted on card stock and punched out with the Labels Punch.
I used one of the Itty Bitty Flower Punches for the two smaller flowers.
That set of three punches is a very good buy as they match a set of stamps in the Main Catalogue and a new set which will be available from February 1st in the Spring/Summer Catalogue!
The colours used are the In Colour Raspberry Ripple and Pink Pirouette from the Subtles family.

More Exploding Boxes.

I decided to make another Exploding box for a birthday present. I used the Patio Party papers with Midnight Muse and Summer Starfruit Card Stock.
There was lots of space in the centre, for two Votive candles and two tea lights, with room to spare.

I then enjoyed making a matching card. The Cup Cake stamp is not Stampin Up but it matches the papers perfectly and this is the first time that I have used it but it won't be the last!
I used the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch and trimmed the strip in half to go down the left and right hand sides.
I coloured the cup cake in using the In Colour 2012 - 2013 Stampin Write Markers.
The Happy Birthday sentiment is from a retired set of Saleabration stamps from last year.

Exploding Boxes.

 To make up for the gaps in blogging over Christmas and the New Year I have decided to blog twice today!
One of my crafting ladies asked if I could do a Workshop for the Exploding Box as she wanted to do one for someone who is expecting a baby soon. Unfortunately I could not fit in the Workshop before January 10th (the due date) as I am hosting a Baby Shower Scrap Book evening,here, on January 9th for a good friend of mine who is expecting her baby at the end of this month!
I did agree to make up a kit for her and a friend so I had to do a pilot one first. I am glad I did as it is two years since I did the original Workshop and the instructions that I had originally put together definitely needed improving!
I dug out the last of the Melon Mambo 12 x 12 card stock that I have and matched it with the Floral District Paper. I was not too sure about that paper until I made this box. I like it so much now that I have just ordered some more. Does anyone else find that happens sometimes?
I have not punched out the Tags for the pockets yet but I hope to do that tomorrow.

Exploding Box Kits (including materials and instructions) are available to buy from me for £10 plus postage.

Owl Punch

I have used the Owl Punch for this Get Well card which has been posted. I like the woodgrain embossing folder.I have to confess that this one is not Stampin up but it is very similar.
I used the Bird Builder punch for the branch.The Apothecary Framelits provided the Very Vanilla background behind the owl. I just glued it to some orange paper and eyeballed it to cut out the orange frame.
The Stampin up Paper snips are the best scissors ever for cutting out accurately. they are sooo sharp. The problem is that my daughter keeps pinching them to do Scrap booking!

I made my last thank you card for Christmas today. I could not resist the A4 piece of Rich Razzleberry Card Stock that I found in my craft room. I immediately thought of the Apothecary Accents Framelits and the matching stamp set. I do enjoy colouring in the flowers. It did not take me long to decide on pale pink for the frame. I also coloured in the thin border around the stamped image using a Rich Razzleberry Stamp n Write markerThe Itty Bitty Punches are always useful for filling in some space and gems add the finishing touch.