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

Any of you who saw my Facebook post yesterday will know I am officially 'IN LOVE' with the Dress Up framelits and Pop 'n' Cuts Base in the Spring-Summer catalogue. I've been resisting purchasing them since the catalogue came out - I don't know why, because it really was love at first sight - but having used them at our last training session and spent a fun few hours with my downline Barbara playing fashion designers, I have finally succumbed. I have seen so many great examples of projects made with this set and I'm excited to share these with you in future blog posts.

Today I am going to share a card I made using all three elements: the pop 'n' cuts card base, the dress form and the framelits. So not much stamping today - Big Shot definitely required! I will share some projects later in the week that show how these can be used separately; when used together, they will make a pop up card with a mannequin to be dressed as you wish. For my first card, I used some of my favourite 'More Amore' DSP along with a Pool Party card base. Here's the outside of the card that you see when the card is folded shut:

Then when you open it, the inside looks like this:

How cute is that??! Dressed mannequin, complete with pearls and pretty cardi, in front of a mirror and dresser. What little - or big - girl wouldn't want to get this in the post for their birthday? Here's one last close-up of the mannequin:

This will, I feel, be the first of many such pop-up cards; come back tomorrow to see another use for this great set. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: One in a Million

Cardstock: Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, More Amore DSP

Ink: Pool Party

Tools: Pop 'n' Cuts Base, Pop 'n' Cuts Dress Form, Dress Up Framelits, Ovals Framelits, Big Shot, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Small Heart Punch

Finishing Touches: Basics Pearls

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I was on a team training day yesterday. One of the things we like to do at these events is share 'swaps', where we each make multiples of a card or 3D project with a particular theme in mind and then 'swap' with each other. This is a great way to share in each others creativity, inspire others and to be inspired and also gives lots of items to share with customers at parties and classes. The theme for yesterday's swaps was 'masculine' and whilst I often struggle with 'grown-up' masculine, having a 5 year old son gives me plenty of opportunity to design for 'young' masculine and I'm never short of ideas. As you can see in yesterday's post, Angry Birds is an ever-popular theme at the moment, so with this in mind I worked up a slightly altered version to a card that I seem to make quite a lot of these days. Here's my original card that I've made a number of times:

And here's the slightly altered version that I made for my swaps yesterday - can you spot the key difference?

Did you spot it? Instead of sponging around a template for clouds as in the first card (I use the top of the cupcake from the Cupcake Builder Punch for this  - it makes a great cloud!) I partially embossed the background using the new Cloudy Day Textured Impressions Embossing Folder and sponged blue in between the clouds, leaving the bottom right hand corner un-embossed to allow me to stamp my sentiment onto a flat card surface. Another small difference is that instead of using Chocolate Chip cardstock for the slingshot, I used Crumb Cake, stamped in Chocolate Chip ink with the Woodgrain stamp. This last decision was prompted more by the fact that I had a large number of Crumb Cake card offcuts from a previous project that were perfect for use here (if you're reading this Chris P, this one's for you - I told you I'd find a use for those Crumb Cake offcuts!!) Punch art is great for using up all those odds and ends of cardstock left over from other projects, although having set out to make 30 of these, I did wonder if I should have chosen something a little more straightforward!

Anyway, I was really pleased with the way the all turned out. The design of this bird is slightly different to the red bird on yesterday's bookmark - I think the eyebrows make him look angrier. Here's a close up of the detail:

I love the beak too - there's just so much going on in this card, even after making so many I don't really tire of it. All my swaps were exchanged yesterday so I can't show you a photo of all 30, however I did make a few extras for some upcoming birthdays so I'll leave you with this last group shot of the little red fellas getting ready to be launched from their slingshots:

On that happy note, I'm off to start prepping; the Easter holidays are finally over and the children are back to school tomorrow. i'll be sad to see them go, but on the up side I'll have more time to spend in my craft room and I have lots there to keep me busy. I'll be back tomorrow with a new project - and possibly a 'sneak peek' of one of the cards we will be making in Wednesday's card class. So come back tomorrow and check it out; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Wacky Wishes (Hostess), Woodgrain

Cardstock: Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, Whisper White, Crumb Cake

Inks: Real Red, Basic Black, Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue

Tools: 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Small Heart Punch, Owl Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch (circle), Big Shot, Cloudy Day Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Sponge Dauber, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Finishing Touches: Linen Thread