Well, the weather here has been dreadful here but yesterday our monster home-grown pumpkin was harvested during one of the day's few dry spells (photos to follow!) and today we went to the theatre to watch 'Dinosaur Zoo', so all in all not a bad weekend. Today I've a change from Christmas cards for you: I thought I would share a birthday card commission I made for someone whose birthday it is today. Another football-mad Chelsea fan, so here's what I came up with:

 I used my 'Great Sport' football stamp to decorate a background base panel, then created a central panel with some great football paraphanelia: a trophy, a shirt with the recipient's player number (not age, as one of my eagle-eyed offspring was quick to point out!) and a football and finished the panel with some co-ordinating bunting, Chelsea blue, of course.

If you're a stamper and wondering where I got the trophy stamp from, it's from one of the stamps in the 'Tag It' set. I've just covered the wording with a DSP 'ribbon' so that it fits with my football theme.

Hope you like the card; tomorrow I'll be sharing another birthday card; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

It's the weekend and today I have the last of the cards from this week's class to share with you. This time another Merry Little Christmas, but with spots instead of stripes:

This time I used two of the stamps in the Merry Little Christmas set, and stamped the 'Merry' part of the main stamp again in Gumball Green and cut out with paper snips into a little banner to add some dimension. I also embossed the background piece of Cherry Cobbler with the Stylish Stripes embossing folder to add texture. Another simple yet effective design.

All the ladies at this month's classes were very pleased with their makes and we are already looking forward to next month when we will be adding to our Christmas card collection. If you would like to join us, please contact me for more details.

Back tomorrow with a birthday card; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Today I'm sharing another of this week's class cards using the Festive Flurry stamp set and framelits bundle. Another simple layout featuring the Winter Frost paper stack. Here's the card we made:

This time we layered the snowflakes and overstamped on the top one (the snowflake was stamped in Smoky Slate, having been stamped off once first onto scrap paper to give a softer background). Bermuda Bay cardstock adds a real striking background and gives this colourway quite a modern feel. Some silver Dazzling Details on the tips of the snowflake adds a little finishing sparkle.

We used both of the seasonal colourways in our class, and I'm really undecided as to which one I prefer most. Which one do you like the most?

Back with another card tomorrow; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Today I'm sharing another of this week's class Christmas cards. This one uses the 'Merry Little Christmas' stamp and some of the papers in the Season of Style paper stack:

I love that the designer series paper stacks in the seasonal catalogue enable you to make some great cards with minimal stamping as the paper does a lot of the work for you in terms of colour and pattern; at £6.25 a stack they are great value for cardmakers too, and each stack has 4 different paper designs to choose from. For this card we stamped a simple flag and layered on some DSP edged with Chocolate Chip and created a couple of smaller flags made from offcuts from other projects. Did you notice the little button beneath the twine bow on the card? We were aiming to keep all of our cards post-friendly and largely flat in design, so instead of adding a real button we instead used a cardstock button made with the Sweet Buttons Embosslits to allow for added detail but without the bulk.

I had my second class of the week last night with a great bunch of ladies, who made me laugh so much my eyes watered! I was also delighted to see some of the great cards they've been making with My Digital Studio having downloaded their 30 day free trial. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, so couldn't take any pictures but will be sure to get some next time to share with you. I was particularly pleased to hear them say how easy they found it to use, with no prior knowledge or experience. If you haven't downloaded your copy yet, I urge you to go to my online store and download your free trial version today. Equally, if you would like to join one of my monthly card classes, do get in touch for more details.

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

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Stamps: Merry Little Christmas

Cardstock: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Cherry Cobbler, Season of Style DSP

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Cherry Cobbler

Tools: Sweet Buttons Embosslits, Big Shot, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Finishing Touches: Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine

A quick post from me today as I'm out again this evening preparing for our school annual bonfire and fireworks display. I promised to share a card with you today, so thought I'd share this lovely festive flurry card that we made in my card class yesterday:

This is a case of a Mary Fish card (you can see her original card here) minus the frosted finish embellishment. Whilst I love the embellishment and you will see them on future blog cards, our class cards are all intended to be post-friendly, so the frosted embellishment on this card had to go! We replaced with a large rhinestone instead to give a little sparkle but not add too much bulk. I love the Winter Frost colours of this card - they have a real fresh and modern feel.

Lastly, it's Tuesday, also known as Digital Download Day. Click on the link below to see all of the new digital downloads available in the online store this week:

There are some great new downloads this week, including calendar and photobook templates that would make lovely Christmas presents. Why not have a click and take a look?

Back tomorrow with another card; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

So I almost didn't blog today for the second day in a row, I've had such a busy couple of days (husband's birthday, daughter's hockey match and swimming gala, birthday lunch, theatre outing and more!) but since today is World Cardmaking Day, I felt I couldn't end the day without sharing a card.

Here's one I made for one of the childrens' friends who celebrated his 8th birthday this week. He was having a spy-themed birthday party, so since we had decided on a suitably themed gift, I had to make a card that was in keeping too. This is what I came up with:

A simple black card base, with a 'Top Secret' stamp on a label fixed with dimensionals and a magnifying or 'spy' glass, made using my Circles Framelits and a piece of clear window sheet. The inside of the card is stamped with 'Happy 8th birthday' which is visible through the magnifying glass. This is quite a cute little card and I'm not sure the photo does it justice; also made a nice change as it's been a few weeks since I last made a boy card!

Hope you've all managed to get more cardmaking done than me today - good job I have a few in reserve! Hoping that I'll manage to squeeze in some time tomorrow to do a little more.

Happy World Cardmaking Day and until next time, happy stampin'.

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Today I'm sharing a card that I made for a friend of mine who had a very special day today. She is beginning a new chapter in her life and today marked a key milestone - the opening of her new beauty salon. I wanted to make her a card to wish her luck and encourage her look forward and not back. This is the card I made for her:

It's a simple card using the two-stepped stamping of the Too Kind stamp set in Crisp Cantaloupe and Calypso Coral, on a white background that I cut out with a Circle Framelit and part-pierced to add a little interest and draw the eye to the flagged sentiment. The flag is finished with one of the in-colour embellishments. I used the week 139 #10 sketch at Less is More as my inspiration for this card:

As for me, I hand-delivered this card to the recipient today as I was booked in to have a manicure at the same time - too good an opportunity to pass up I think! If you're local to Northampton, I would recommend you check out Pamper Me Beauty - you can link to their Facebook page here and find out more about the services on offer. My nails look lovely; I might have to shoot a video tutorial for you so that I can show them off - any preferences on what you would like to see?

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

A quick post from me today to share a wedding card and gift box I made for my friends and neighbours, Annette and Jason, who got married at the weekend. The theme of the wedding was bright pink and the gerbera was a feature flower, both in the bridal and bridesmaids bouquets and on the invitations and wedding favours. Having made the wedding invitations (I will share these in a future post - I have 'mislaid' the photographs I took on completion!), I decided to make a wedding card that was pink but not flower-themed, but I did design a gift box that complemented the overall décor to house their gift.

Here is the card, using the lovely 'From This Day Forward' stamp, inspired by a similar card by Monica Gale here:

I also created a gift box with a belly band with a gerbera design, that echoed the design of the wedding stationery and favours. My box was inspired by this mini version by Sam MacDonald of Pootles Paparcraft here, and although whilst the shape is the same, the overall dimensions are considerably larger! here is my full size version:

Very large, with a 9cm x 9cm square base, and very pink, but more sturdy than a gift bag and much more personal. I finished it off with some retired Melon Mambo organza ribbon (currently available to purchase on the Clearance Rack!) and a die-cut flower with co-ordinating Chalk Talk gift label. here's a close up of the detail:

The sun shone and the wedding day was perfect - what more can you ask for? Congratulations to the new Mr & Mrs Harrison - wishing you a happy future together.

Back tomorrow with another project and the detail behind the 2 week £25 sign up offer that begins on October 7th; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies Used (for the card only):

I promised a creative post today (technically this is a bonus, as I already shared some MDS creativity with you earlier, but I'm not one to split hairs :-)), so here it is. I was inspired by the fabulous autumnal cards I'm seeing on the internet at the moment and when I saw the colour challenge at Create with Connie and Mary this week I thought I'd join in. So here's the colour palette for this week's challenge:

I don't own any of the lovely leafy stamp sets in the current annual and seasonal catalogues (shock, horror!), but I am still the proud owner of a retired 'French Foliage' stamp set, so I combined this set with one of the fabulous new thinlits to create my card:

I stamped off the leaves on some scrap paper first to give a less intense colour, then used the 'thankful' thinlit, layered on some burlap and chevron ribbon to create the true focal point for my card. I love these thinlits and think the 'thankful' just pops on this card in the Bermuda Bay colour cardstock! My top tip to release the cut card easily from the thinlit is to line it with waxed paper first, which enables it to press out easily.

I am also linking this card up to CAS(E) This Sketch #47 this week, where the layout sketch is as follows:

If you would like to purchase any of the supplies used to make this card (except for the stamp set, although there are lots of similar current sets available) please click on the item links to my online store below. My children have a harvest festival at school today and this reminds us all it is a good time to give thanks. I'm sure you, like me, have lots to be thankful for so readers, crafters and customers alike - this card is for you! Back tomorrow with more creative loveliness! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Well readers, it's the first of the month and there is lots of news, so there will be a few posts from me today, but you're going to want to read them all as there is lots of great product and promotional information, so bear with me and stay tuned! I promise I will also do a creative post too, as I have a fabulous autumnal card to share with you today. So first up - there is a new 'Best of' anniversary set this month; this time it's the turn of 'Best of Sale-A-Bration', featuring some beautiful flower images:

If you would like to order this stamp set, then either give me a call in the conventional way and I would be happy to place an order for you or hop over to my online store and place your order today. Don't forget, the other 'Best of' sets are also still available - you can see these by searching under the 'Promotions' category in the box to the right of my blog page.

From today, I will be issuing a mystery hostess code at the start of each month for my online store; if you add this code to your online orders, you will be entered into a draw at the end of the month to win the total hostess credits for all orders placed online during that month. So make a note - this month's hostess code is as follows (valid until 30th October):

4DS9WR2Q

So tell all your friends, as the more orders placed, the more hostess credits that will be accumulated - it's like hosting a party, without having to invite your friends round!

Please check the 'Party More, Get More' blog post today to see another special 25th anniversary offer for hosting a party this month. The additional hostess credits will also apply to online orders, so October is a great month to start accumulating some great benefits.

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