I managed to grab a quick hour of crafting today in between other jobs and as I debated with my self whether or not to brave the washing line or resort to the tumble dryer, the sun broke through the clouds and I had a sudden flash of crafting inspiration for this week's sketch at Retrosketches. So instead of my planned post, I thought I'd sneak this one in before the close. Here is the inspiration sketch:

Here is my interpretation of the sketch:

I have been so 'in the zone' with Christmas cards that I've been struggling to look at sketches and think about anything else. I think we can all agree that this card couldn't be further from Christmas if it tried! It cheered me up no end though - yellow is one of my favourite colours. I used some retired 'sunshine and sprinkles' DSP (eliminating the and a row of coloured overlapping circles to create a rainbow border in place of the scalloped edge. The perfect background for one of the 'Feel Goods' stamped sentiments, along with the sunny yellow of course.

Lastly, a quick reminder: only 4 more days to take advantage of Stampin' Up!'s incredible joining offer where you can sign up and receive all the benefits Stampin' Up! has to offer for just £25. Click here to read more details about this rarest of offers - I would love to welcome you to my team.

Back soon with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Today's the day - my beautiful princess turns eight years old. Where did the last year, or eight even, disappear? I can't believe how quick she's growing and changing into a (very!) young lady, but a young lady none the less. She may be another year older, but she is still my water baby and as always, there is a strong aquatic theme to our celebrations: a swimming pool birthday cake, pool party next week and in keeping with this, an 'Oh, Whale' birthday card with a difference:

I liked a similar card using this stamp set that Mary Fish had done using a Paper Pals sketch layout a while ago (you can see her card here) and knew that this layout would enable me to make the most of the patterned papers in the Sunshine and Sprinkles set, but I wanted a special sentiment for my card and this proved to be a challenge! There is a photo in the Spring-Summer Seasonal catalogue that shows a play on the word 'celebrate', where the '-ate' is replaced with a number 8 and I really liked this and wanted to incorporate something similar in my card. So armed with a couple of stamp sets, my Typeset Alphabet and my trusty stamp-a-ma-jig, I came up with 'Let's Whale-A-Br8'. Here's a close up of the detail on the flags:

Pretty cute, even if I say so myself! We really did have a great day; here's hoping the next 12 months don't fly by quite so quickly.

I'll be back tomorrow with my husband's Father's Day card, but will have some other birthday-related cards and invitations to share early next week. Until tomorrow, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Oh Whale, Make a Wish

Cardstock: Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Sunshine and Sprinkles Designer Series Paper

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Pacific Point

Tools: Oh Whale Clearlits, 1/16" Handheld Circle Punch, Scallop Edge Border Punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Itty Bitty Punches (flower)

Finishing Touches: Basics Pearls

Well, it might be May, but this is so a day of April showers! After my third trip back out to the washing line to rescue my washing from another downpour, I gave up and resorted to the tumble dryer. Not very eco-friendly I know, but with sports kits that need to be washed, dried and ironed to be back at school on Tuesday, what is a girl to do?!

Given the weather, it seems like a great oportunity to share another of my training day outputs with you:

The Cloudy Day Embossing Folder is a personal favourite of mine, and my 'go to' embossing pattern at the moment - I love the ease with which you can create the cloud effect. A nice pink umbrella, fussy cut with my trusty paper snips - who wouldn't be cheered by one of these on a showery day? - and another Cute Clip, to highlight the sentiment. There's a lot going on around the sentiment - here's a close up view:

This would be a great card to brighten someone's day - I hope it has lifted your spirits too! I'm off to do a quick hour's crafting whilst the house is quiet, as everyone else has gone out to the weekly swimming lesson. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Rain or Shine

Cardstock: Lucky Limeade, Pacific Point, Whisper White, Sunshine and Sprinkles DSP

Ink: Basic Grey, Pacific Point

Tools: Cloudy Day Embossing Folder, Scallop Trim Border Punch

Finishing Touches: Basics Rhinestones, 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon Basic Grey, Cute Clips

No stamping today! I have another Dress Up project from last month's quarterly training session: this time a lovely set of gift tags in a nice little pocket holder made using the Pop n' Cuts base again. Here's the outside of the box, decorated with its own dress on a Cute Clip hanger and another of those little filter paper flowers:

Open up the box to reveal a lovely set of dressed mannequin gift tags, each one with its own outfit:

This kind of holder is so easy to make just by adding in a couple of central score lines and box section to hold the tags; it would also make a nice notelet holder. As for the tags - what better way to ensure a gift for someone special is 'all dressed up'? My particular favourite outfit combo is the embossed filter paper sundress with the hot pink patterned bolero cardigan; leave me a comment and let me know which one you prefer, or better still how you would dress yours?

If you would like to get your hands on a gift tag set like the one above, you can do one of three things:

host a party during the month of May - this will be my hostess gift to thank you for booking a party and if you have party sales totally £300 or more, you could use your hostess credits to obtain the Pop 'n' Cuts Card base, Pop 'n' Cuts Dress Form and All Dressed Up framelit and stamps bundle ABSOLUTELY FREE!*

ask me about a class - if I have enough interested crafters, I will run a class featuring the Dress Up framelits and Pop 'n' Cuts base and you can learn how to make this set and more

contact me via joanne@thecraftyowl.co.uk to place your order today

So many choices - I hope one of them tick's your box and I look forward to hearing from you. Back tomorrow with anohter project - until then, happy stampin'!

*Hostess credits for party sales of £300 totalling £75 (£50 plus £25 bonus if you host a party before May 30th) with one item purchased at 50% discount price

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Cardstock: Marina Mist, Sunshine and Sprinkles DSP

Ink: Basic Grey

Tools: Dress Up Framelits, Big Shot, Itty Bitty Punches, Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder, Fancy Fan Embossing Folder, Heart Punch

Finishing Touches: Basics Rhinestones, 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon Basic Grey, Creped Filter Paper, Cute Clips

As promised, today I have a card to match yesterday's lovely Melon Mambo treat holder, made with the Pop 'n' Cuts base. No dresses today, but another of those gorgeous filter paper flowers, this time hand-dyed yellow to really make it 'pop': 

This flower was made using the slightly smaller Floral Frames Framelit; the flowers can be coloured in a number of different ways - to achieve this effect, the edges were sponged with Daffodil Delight ink then the layers sprayed with a homemade mix of alcohol and shimmer spray to encourage the colour to 'bleed' and shimmer slightly. So easy and each time you make one, you get a slightly different look so all your flowers are unique.

The flower definitely takes centre stage here, however the background stamping, rhinestones and cute clip attaching the flag at the top all contribute to making this a great card, and one that perfectly co-ordinates with yesterday's treat holder. Here's a picture of both items together:

Rather lovely! Back tomorrow with another project and exciting news about a special promotion valid for the month of May only. To find out more, make sure you check back tomorrow for the full low-down. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Oh, Hello

Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Sunshine and Sprinkles DSP

Ink: Basic Grey, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight

Tools: Floral Frames Framelits, Big Shot

Finishing Touches: Basics Rhinestones, 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon Basic Grey, Creped Filter Paper, Cute Clips

I'm back with more Pop 'n' Cuts to share today, but not as a card. As I mentioned yesterday, in the same way that the Dress Up Framelits can be used without the Pop 'n' Cuts base, the base can also be used without the framelits as a structure to make a pocket or treat holder. Here's an example of one such treat holder, designed by the lovely Monica Gale, that I made at my quarterly training session:

How lovely is this? it was so easy to put together: just cut a base using the die and the Big Shot, then emboss the front panel, score in the base lines and punch some ovals for handles, then decorate as desired. We used some strips of Sunshine and Sprinkles DSP and made a gorgeous flower from the filter paper that features on page 7 of the Spring-ummer catalogue. If you haven't noticed this, at £2.75 for 12 sheets it represents great value and each pack has enough to make lots of flowers in all different shapes and sizes. This flower was made with 6 layers of filter paper and the second smallest frameit in the Floral Frames set.

This treat holder would be great to wrap around a cellophane bag of chocolates or a hand-iced biscuit (that's what I'll be using mine for!) as a sweet treat for someone special. Come back tomorrow to see the card I made that co-ordinates with the treat holder that features a 'stepped up' filter paper flower. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Friendly Phrases

Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Sunshine and Sprinkles DSP

Ink: Basic Grey

Tools: Pop 'n' Cuts Base, Floral Frames Framelits, Big Shot, Ticket Duo Builder Punch, Large Oval Punch, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder

Finishing Touches: Basics Rhinestones, 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon Basic Grey, Creped Filter Paper

Today I thought I would share something a little different: as many of my followers will know, I love to design and make cards. I'm not a scrapbooker - it's just not my 'thing'. In many ways this may surprise those close to me, as we are a household of keen photographers and have a collection of literally thousands of memories captured on slide, film and digitally. I love to have photographs on display - for me though, I struggle to design a page without a specific photograph in mind.

All that being said, I made a scrapbook page at training last Sunday and I thought I would share it with you, as even though I haven't yet chosen the photos to put on it, the layout could be used and adapted in so many ways I'm sure it will inspire some of you reading this, who I know are keen scrapbookers. Here is my finished page: 

This page was designed by the lovely Bekka Prideaux and features one of my favourite current designer papers in the Spring Summer catalogue, Sunshine and Sprinkles. I also like the background stamped sheet - this is Marina Mist ink stamped straight on to filter paper.

Here's a close-up of the top section - there's so much going on here: 

Did you notice the lovely speech bubble paper clips too - aren't they cute? You may have overlooked them in the catalogue (p.28, Spring Summer Cat.): there are 2 different packs - each with 8 of 3 different designs (there is an arrow and a coat hanger in this set too) and at £4.50 per pack they represent great value. One or two on a scrapbook page or card is enough to add just the right amount of detail. One more photo - a close-up of one of the butterflies:

As Bekka herself would say, you can never have too many butterflies! I love the way the Bitty Butterfly punch is layered with the Elegant Butterfly punch to create a double one and the rhinestones add just enough 'bling' without overpowering the page. I really like this layout and there's even some space on the base page if you wanted to add some journalling or commentary. For those of you that enjoy journalling, I will have more great Stampin' Up! news coming soon - all 'top secret' currently, but watch this space - that's all I'm saying for now!

I hope you enjoyed the change in direction today; back with another card tomorrow. Unti then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Mixed Bunch, Papillon Potpourri

Cardstock: Marina Mist, Whisper White, Sunshine and Sprinkles DSP

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Marina Mist

Tools: Elegant Butterfly punch, Bitty Butterfly punch, 2-Step Bird punch, 1 3/4" Scallop Circle punch, 2 3/8" Scallop Circle punch, 7/8" Scallop Circle punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch

Finishing Touches: Cute Clips, Basics Rhinestones