Today I'm sharing a card that I made a few weeks ago, but couldn't share at the time. I actually made this card for my husband's birthday, but as he photographs all my cards for me I couldn't share until after the event. I used my This and That DSP as the inspiration for the colour scheme for my card (it's not just for journaling with!) and a stamp from the retired set 'Word Play' as the feature for this card:

I chose the hexagon map paper to fit with the globe in the sentiment; I stamped the sentiment twice and punched out one of the globes and coloured it with markers before putting on a dimensional. A nice shiny button tied with twine and done; these buttons are now available on Clearance Rack for only £2.19 - bargain!

Hope you like it; back tomorrow with another rather special project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Back again with the last of my teacher cards (I think!) this year - this time a pop-up card using my dress up framelits. The credit for this design goes to Fran Sabad; you can see her original card, a teacher birthday card, here. If you're looking for ways to use your Dress Up Framelits, I thoroughly recommend you check out Fran's blog - she has made some amazing cards using the Pop 'n' Cuts base and co-ordinating framelits. I thought this card would work equally well as a teacher thank you card with a few minor alterations and give me yet another opportunity to get stuck in to my Storytime DSP. So here is the outside of my card:

It's the inside that is the real star of the show though - a teacher mannequin in her classroom, in front of a traditional blackboard:

I absolutely love this card, complete with all the little details - check out the apple on the corner of the teacher's desk - how cute is that?! In case you're wondering about the glimmer paper 'brooch' pinned to the teacher's blouse, I know it looks a little out of place against the muted colours and traditional classroom feel, but Rebecca's teacher has what can only be described as a glitter obsession - she can't complete an art project without using tons of the stuff, so I know she wouldn't think this card complete without just a little bit of 'bling'. I wish I could convert her to the benefits of SU no-shed glimmer paper; well, Ben is likely to have her as his teacher the year after next, so there's still time!

The funniest thing about this card was when I showed it to Rebecca to see if it met with her approval; she said, "I love it - but why is there a blackboard? We've never had one of those in the classroom Mummy, all our classrooms have interactive whiteboards". What can I say? A sign of the times and made me feel quite old!

Back tomorrow with something different; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Word Play (retired), For My Family (retired)

Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Baja Breeze, Wild Wasabi, So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Pink Pirouette, Gumball Green, Crumb Cake, Storytime DSP

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Cherry Cobbler

Tools: 1 3/4" Circle Punch, 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, Large Scallop Edgelits, Dress Up Framelits, Pop 'n' Cuts Card Base

Finishing Touches: White Baker's Twine, Silver Glimmer Paper

Last night's card class was fun as always but too late for a blog post and today has been another busy day making birthday cards for the young lady of the house and some Father's Day cards, ahead of the big birthday weekend. I'll share these in the next few days, but meanwhile tonight I thought I'd share the last of the Golden Anniversary cards I made recently. This one is quite different to the previous two; instead of leading with a 50th Anniversary sentiment, I used one of the stamps from the retiring Word Play set as the focus:

I've never used this stamp before, as it never seemed right for anything I was designing. I have toyed with using it as a feature stamp on a scrapbook page (a project for another time though!) then as I was thinking about what it would be like to celebrate 50 years of marriage myself (believe me, that is a LONG way off!) and it struck me how appropriate this stamp would be for a milestone anniversary card - 50 years is a lot of memories!

I decided to use white and brushed gold cardstock again and leave the layout quite simple, with Oval and Label Framelits making light work of the layered front. You can see the lovely gold embossing in this photo too - it adds a real shine. I finished the front with a fussy organza double bow then stamped the inside with my congratulatory anniversary message:

So that's all my Golden Anniversary cards for the time being - which one do you prefer? The other big news of the day is that registration for this year's Stampin' Up! European Convention opened today. Better still, this year convention is being held in Manchester in the UK. I've signed up already; if you would like to enjoy two days of stampin' fun from 22nd-23rd November, contact me for a chat about this and the other benefits being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator can offer.

Back tomorrow with another project - until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Word Play, Memorable Moments

Cardstock: Whisper White, Brushed Gold

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Versamark

Tools: Ovals Framelits, Labels Framelits, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Finishing Touches:  Gold Embossing Powder, Whisper White 5/8" Organza Ribbon

As promised, here's the second card from last week's Owl Punch card class - this time Nurse Owl coming to wish the recipient 'Get Well Soon':

I've seen these little nurse owls lots of times and think they make a great focal point for a 'get well soon' card. The nurses hat is made from an upside-down 'waistcoat' piece of the owl, whilst the cross is punched with one of the punches from the the Itty Bitty Punches set. This is the only card from our class that we made that wasn't an original design of mine. Jo Dumbleton shared this card on her Facebook page recently and as I was planning my class, with my owl punch, cloudy day embossing folder and 'sick' stamp at the ready, I knew her card would be perfect to showcase all three - and I didn't feel I could improve upon it. I hope you like it too.

Back tomorrow with another of our class cards - and it will be an owl, but not as you know it; you'll have to pop back tomorrow to see what I mean ... until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Word Play

Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Brights DSP, Polka Dot Parade DSP

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Night of Navy

Tools: Owl Punch, Large Oval Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch, Cloudy Day Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, 3/16" Corner Punch

Finishing Touches: 1/4" Night of Navy Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon

Today's card is one I made as a commission for a friend of mine, who wanted a 'thoughtful' sentiment and bright blues, yellows and oranges. I love rising to the challenge of working to a specific brief and actually used it as the basis for a number of very different cards. I'll share the others with you some other time, but here's one of them for today:

The sentiment is from a set called 'Word Play' and is the perfect size for one of my oval framelits, which also made creating a frame for it a breeze. I used a strip of striped brights DSP to tie the frame to the card background, then used the Beautiful Wings butterfly embosslits to make a variety of butterflies and really create a strong focal point. I love these butterflies - well, I love all butterflies, but these have lovely textures and are great for using with plain coloured cardstock. A cheery card that meets the brief - job done!

There are lots of other great sentiments in the Word Play set, so I've included an illustration of the whole set below. They are suitable for so many occasions and work for both for cards and scrapbooking.

A quick post from me today - I have a Parents' Association meeting at school to attend, so am rushing out the door. Back tomorrow with another project - until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Word Play

Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Brights DSP

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Tempting Turquoise

Tools: Ovals Framelits, Beautiful Wings Embosslits

Finishing Touches: Basics Rhinestones

I thought we would have a change from tea cups today: I had such a lovely response today to a card I had sent to someone I just had to share it with you.

For those of you following who know me, you will be familiar with the love of water-based activities in the James household: Daddy is a PADI scuba diving instructor in his spare time, Mummy is a keen fair-weather diver (warm seas only, preferably the Carribean!) and both James Juniors are keen swimmers and have been since 2 months and six weeks old respectively. Well, Rebecca recently competed in her first ever development swimming gala with Poppy, another member of her new swimming squad. It was a big deal for the girls and they did incredibly well in all their races, but it was just as big a deal for the staff at their swim school Aqualight, based in Northampton, and its founder, Emie Kitson.

Emie is an internationally-recognised expert who specialises in the teaching of baby swimming; you can learn more about her techniques and the work of Aqualight Babies and Aqualight UK, her junior swimming section, on her website here. I feel fortunate that our paths crossed when Rebecca was so young; I'd never heard of baby swimming back then but was keen for her to be comfortable and confident in the water, otherwise family holidays were going to be something of a challenge! Luckily both of my children LOVE the water and are keen swimmers and I wanted to send a card to recognise Emie's achievement in turning her own dreams into a reality - especially as Poppy, aged 10, was one of Emie's first ever babies that she taught to swim. To that end, I made her this card to mark this milestone:

This sentiment from the Word Play stamp set was just perfect for the occasion; I used blue to echo the colour of water, with just enough orange to provide contrast and popped the arrow onto a dimensional to make it stand out.

Emie loved her card and it left me with a warm glow to know that receiving my unexpected card had made her smile today. So congratulations Emie (and Rebecca and Poppy) - here's hoping Aqualight continues to go from strength to strength.

Back tomorrow with the last of the tea cups - until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Word Play

Cardstock: Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, Brights Designer Series Paper, Sycamore Street Designer Series Paper

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango

Tools: Trimmer, Dimensionals

Finishing Touches: Rhinestone Basic Jewels