Simply Stampin' Colour Challenge

Good Morning,

A big thank you to everyone who entered the sketch challenge last week, it was my turn to choose the Top 3, and you guys certainly made it a difficult job! Hope on over to the Simply Stampin' Challenge to see if you're on it.

This week its a colour combo, and if like me you seem to have made mostly Christmas cards lately this colour combo may get you thinking outside the Christmas box.

I am definitely loving this bright combination, and it also gave me an excuse to ink up a set that I bought but haven't used yet, (what with all the Christmas preparation) it's called Everything Eleanor and it is beautiful!!

I started with a Concord Crush base, then stamped the flourish from the set in Lucky Limeade onto Whisper White CS, I then inked the edges of this panel with Melon Mambo and adhered. Next I stamped the main banner shaped in Concord Crash, and stamped the sentiment (one of the retired hostess sets from last year, Afterthoughts) in Whisper White ink (hopefully you can see it if you look closely) before cutting out. I added Jumbo Eyelets to each end so I could thread the beautiful Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon through. Finally I added some stamped flowers and finished then off with sparkly Glimmer Brads!

Can't wait to visit you and see what you come up with using these beautiful colours, xx

Mixing Old With New

Hello there,

Hope you are having a good week so far!

Every so often I am asked to make cards, usually by people at work, and a little while a go I was asked to make a garden/autumn card for a colleagues friend. She had seen a card I had made with an old retired set called Scene in a Garden. So I thought I would mix this with a new stamp French Foliage to give an autumnal feel.

I really Love how this set can be used to make it look like you have stamped a forest floor with all the leaves turning their autumnal colours. I hope that her friend Jacqui enjoys her birthday and more importantly her card!

Don't forget there is still time to enter this weeks sketch challenge over at Simply Stampin', xx

Simply Stampin' Sketch Week

Good Morning!

We had a fabulous response to the 'Leafy' challenge last week, it was great to see so many of you joining us, I hope that you will enjoy this weeks Simply Stampin' challenge just as much! This week we have a sketch for you.

I have made my card for a friend at work, Margaret. Who will be celebrating her birthday on Monday, she already has the card because she's taking a well deserved week off, enjoy it Margaret! When I make cards for birthdays I like to monogram them and the Broadsheet Alphabet is perfect for the job.

As you can see I have changed the sketch slightly going for a square card blank, and adding the monogram 'M' for extra detail, I can't wait to visit you and see what you come up with, but if you need a little more inspiration why not check out what the rest of the DT have come up with!

Looking forward to seeing your sketch creations! xx

Recycled Embellishment

Hello there!

Every so often my fabulous friend Ruth sends me some 'happy mail' and she always takes the time to decorate the envelope of the card (and usually makes me a gorgeous gift, I'm sooo lucky!) just as beautifully as the card itself. It was my birthday a few weeks ago and Ruth sent me the most beautiful birthday card with gorgeously decorated envelope! I always keep my hand made cards on the wall in my craft room, they really brighten the place up on a gloomy day. I felt silly keeping the envelope but didn't want to throw it away, so I decided to recycle it, I hope Ruth doesn't mind.

Do you see the cute little birdie holding the little happy birthday banner? That was the embellishment Ruth had lovingly made for the envelope of my card, I'm sure you'll agree that I could not throw that in the bin! I've pulled out a set that I haven't used for ages Circle Circus, and got inking with the new in-colours minus Calypso Coral and added in Melon Mambo. What do you think? I do hope Ruth will approve!

Don't forget to check out this weeks Simply Stampin' 'Leafy' theme challenge! xx

Simply Stampin' Leafy

Good morning!

I hope that you all have a fun filled weekend planned, with plenty of craftiness! Saturday has come around again which can only mean one thing........ its time for a new challenge over at Simply Stampin'. There were some fab entries last week, but I'm hoping that you'll wow us again this week which some more stunners!

The challenge is.............Leafy!

Every year, I start making my Christmas cards, but something happens and I get distracted, and then the night before last post I'm rushing to get my cards done, well this year, I'm trying not to let that happen, so I thought I would try to make as many cards for the design team showcase Christmas themed ones. Now you're probably thinking, how can you make leafy into a Christmas card, well I knew exactly what I wanted to do, I just wasn't sure if it would turn out the way I wanted it to, here's my card

I made the leaves into a wreath! I'm really pleased with this card, and even happier with my bow, check out that baby!!!! To make my wreath I used the tiny leaf from the Lovely as a tree set (I'd never even inked it before, but I can see a few more of these being made now) and autumn ink colours, More Mustard, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, and Sahara Sand, plus my trusty stamp-a-ma-jig.

If you need a little more inspiration, why not pop over and check out the rest of the DT's projects. Can't wait to see what you come up with with your own leaves! xx

Mocha Morning Gift

Hello there!

When I opened the new catalogue the first thing I HAD to have was the beautiful Mocha Morning DSP, they are just so pretty with the gold details and flocking, when they arrived me and my mum opened and stroked them arguing over which ones were the prettiest.

So when I went on a trip to a craft store and found a square chipboard tissue box I knew I had to make one for my mum. I started by painting the base black,

then I chose three of the papers, (not an easy task in itself) rounded off the corners, and inked the edges for that vintage feel, then stamped the beautiful flourish from Baroque Motif set in Staz on ink, before giving the whole thing a spritz with shimmer paint for added sparkle. The lid piece is one of the flocked paper that just begged to be touched!

I'm sure my mum will love this gift, but I think it may still need something, maybe an embellishment to one of the sides? What do you think?

Plus don't forget there is still time to enter this week's Simply Stampin' colour challenge!
Hope you are having a fab day, xx

Colour Combo Time

Good Morning,

This week over at Simply Stampin', your challenge should you choose to accept it (I hope you will!) is a colour challenge.

Now those of you who know me will know that I have an orange phobia, and my first thought as I found out which colours we were working with this week was eeekk!
But I calmly sat down with the colours in my lap and started to look through the catalogue to find colour matching stash that I have ( I find it easier to look through the catalogue than search through my craft room), I wanted to use my new Young Vermillion stamp, so I also had that in mind.

Here's what I came up with, I started by stamping my Young Vermillion birdie, I got the Many Marvelous Markers for my birthday just over a week ago, so I HAD to use those! Water colouring, that's what my birdie needed, this was soooo much easier than I thought it would be any any detail that I lost I roughly drew back in with the fine end of the marker, perfect! Next he was cut out and popped up onto dimensionals, to be layered over a piece of Vanilla CS stamped with images from the Nature's Walk stamp set, and then I used my spritzing tool with all 3 of the colours to give an aged effect. The DSP used for this card is called Domestic Goddess, and this card just goes to show that you can use the DSP with any of the stamp sets, so think outside the box.

I hope you'll pop over to see what the rest of the DT have come up with, and give the colours ago yourself! Can't wait to see what you come up with!! xx