So I thought it was about time I started with some Easter cards, otherwise it will be here before we know it and I won't have shared any ideas with you. I took the opportunity to play with my Simply Scored Borders scoring plate today and used it to decorate some Easter eggs for my newly hatched chicks:

It's taken me a while to get used to the new scoring plate, but now that I have I'm finding it useful for all kinds of things. Stampin' Up! have made a great video tutorial showing how to use the new plate, which does work differently to the other plates as it has an overlay guide too - click on the video link here if you'd like to know more.

In case you're wondering where the chicks came from - they are the bird from the two-step bird punch, sponged around the edges to add definition. I love punches like this that have multiple uses!

The children had a Spring Fayre at school yesterday and won a runner-up prize in the Easter Egg Hunt of a chocolate egg and a chocolate rabbit - they were delighted and as they devoured the egg this afternoon, decided Easter has officially begun! I'll be back tomorrow with another Easter card; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Wacky Wishes

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Wisteria Wonder, Island Indigo, Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo

Tools: Simply Scored Borders Scoring Plate, Ovals Framelits, Two-Step Bird Punch

Finishing Touches: Linen Thread

Something different for today: anyone who lives in the UK will know today is 'Red Nose Day' or Comic Relief Day, where we all don red noses, host bake sales and generally do something funny for money. You can find out more about Comic Relief and their work, including make an online donation, here but meanwhile having sent my two children to school dressed as heroes, made 35 red nose cake pops (with faces!) and chocolate mini muffins with red noses, of course, I thought I would create my very own red nose punch art card to celebrate the good work that Comic Relief does both at home and abroad. So here it is:

I made my own punch art versions of this year's red Noses with Toes: TSpex, Triceytops and Dinomite. The sentiment is from a retired set, but I thought it was perfect for this card - laughter and smiles is what Comic Relief is all about.

I hope you've all had plenty of red-nose fun today - I'm off to tune into the BBC1 coverage now for the rest of the evening. Just watching Peter Kay's exploits travelling by couch from Belfast to London - hilarious!!

Until next time, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Sprinkled Expressions (retired)

Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red

Stampin' Write Markers: Basic Black, Real Red

Tools: Itty Bitty Punches, Scallop Circle Punch, Mixed Bunch Punch, Circle Punch (various sizes), Merry Minis Ornament Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Trimmer

Today we are back to tea cups! This time another modern card in some bright colours to get me in the mood for spring, rather than the freezing sub-zero temperatures outside - I'm trying to think myself warm! This is my finished card:

I used Very Vanilla and Gumball Green as my main colours, with some So Saffron and Melon Mambo on the other two cups. I used my square scallop-edged punch for the first time today and I think it gives a really nice mount for the tea cups - what do you think? Another Itty Bitty flower and pearl and some co-ordinating ribbon for a finishing touch and done - this card could be used for so many occasions; I'm not a huge fan of green, but I took this suggested colour combination from my colour coach and I love it! One more tea cup card for tomorrow I think - a fancy fold card, then it's time to move on to Spring proper.

So until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Tea Shoppe

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Gumball Green, Melon Mambo, So Saffron

Ink: Gumball Green, Melon Mambo, So Saffron

Tools: Itty Bitty Punches, Scallop Square Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Simply Scored, Trimmer

Finishing Touches: Pearl Basic Jewels, 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon

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

More cups of tea today - now I've started with this stamp set, I can't put it down! Today an altogether more modern take on afternoon tea compared to the last couple of blog posts. This is a case of a card designed by Mary Fish - you can see her original card here. I've stamped mine in a slightly different colourway as I had some retired DSP that I wanted to use for the envelope and changed the card colours to coordinate. My finished card looks like this:

This card measures 4 1/4" square and I think the colours bring a really fresh look to this stamp set. The small tea cups are on a single stamp, but it's easy to colour them individually using marker pens, stamp them and trim them to fit on a card of this size. The pearls, heart and flower just add a few interesting details to finish the card.

The co-ordinating envelope was a breeze to make with my Simply Scored scoreboard - sometimes it's easier to make an envelope for an unusally sized card and a patterned paper can really finish things off. I'm thinking of making a short video on how to make envelopes with your scoreboard - let me know if this is something you would find useful and I will get on to it!

Lastly today, I promised an update on the Mother's Day activities in the James household: well, I awoke to my very own cup of tea in bed, but didn't have time to drink it today as it was accompanied by a hand-drawn treasure map and a trail of carefully cut out footprints the size of my offspring leading me downstairs to my lovely pile of cards. The handmade ones from school were very glittery (must remember to introduce Rebecca's teacher to our no-shed Glimmer Paper before this academic year is out!!) but all cards thoughtful and sent with love and written with the very best handwriting! A lovely roast dinner and afternoon of crafting, with the best still to come: my gift is a course at the Biscuiteers School of Icing learning to ice Easter biscuits in a couple of weeks time - I'm so excited! So all in all, I end today feeling loved and appreciated - makes being a Mum so worthwhile! So to mothers everywhere - I hope you too enjoyed your day.

Until next time, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Tea Shoppe

Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise, Pear Pizzazz (retired), Poppy Parade (retired), Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper (retired)

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise, Pear Pizzazz (retired), Poppy Parade (retired)

Tools: Itty Bitty Punches, Small Heart Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Simply Scored, Trimmer

Finishing Touches: Pearl Basic Jewels

I've another Tea Shoppe card to share with you in today's quick post. I made a shaped hinged card with the large teacup:

I stamped in Pink Pirouette and coloured the edges using Primrose Petals and the rock 'n' roll technique. I stamped the flowers separately and cut them out individually to add interest and sponged a 'Just for You' tag and added it to the front of the card.

A few of these cards would make a lovely set of notelets; I made this one to use as a gift tag.

That's all from me today; I will be back tomorrow with another card and news of the Mother's Day exploits of the James household; my 5 year old son has been planning (or should I say scheming!) for 2 days now and is so excited you'd think it was Christmas! Whatever does tomorrow have in store ... until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Tea Shoppe

Cardstock: Whisper White

Ink: Pink Pirouette, Primrose Petals

Tools: Stampin' Dimensionals, Sponge Daubers

I've been making lots of cards with my Tea Shoppe set this week, so I thought that today I would share the card I made for my Mother for Mother's Day on Sunday. I'm safe in sharing, as I know she won't see my blog. As for my Mother-in-law, don't worry if you're reading this - yours will look quite different! 

I made a larger card than usual (A5), so that I could fit a nice stack of the large tea cup stamp. Using a Very Vanilla base, I thought this card would look nice in shades of blue. I stamped the cups in Marina Mist, Pool Party and Bashful Blue and I masked the top two, so that they looked like they were balancing in a stack. I raised the central panel and used a piece of the More Amore Designer Series Paper on the base as it co-ordinated perfectly. The card was finished with some Marina Mist ribbon and a sentiment from the 'For My Family' stamp set; this is a great stamp set, allowing you to build a sentiment for any occasion. A few pearls on the flowers to add detail were added to the cups and there you have it. This card could just as easily be used for a birthday card or other femal occasion card, not only Mother's Day.

If you like this card, be sure to come back to see what else I've been making with this set. I'm off to the land of nod now (it's been a long week!) Until next time, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Tea Shoppe, For My Family

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Bashful Blue, More Amore DSP

Ink: Bashful Blue, Pool Party, Marina Mist, Basic Grey

Tools: Large Oval Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Sponge Daubers

Finishing Touches: Marina Mist 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon,  Pearl Basic Jewels

Well, not doing so well with the blogging this week - I've no shortage of things to share as I've been a very busy bee - just short on time!

Yesterday I held a class attended by a lovely group of ladies to make this waterfall album designed by Becca Prideaux:

The album opens up to reveal a waterfall of pockets that can be used for all kinds of things: photos, recipes, journalling, a birthday calendar ... the possibilities are endless! It also makes a nice Mother's Day gift and there will certainly be some lucky recipients following yesterday's class.

There was lots of cutting, punching, stamping and gluing, and enough of that lovely silver glimmer paper to add some real sparkle. Thank you to everyone who attended - it was a very fun evening. If anyone following my blog would be interested in attending any of my classes, do drop me a line for more information. There will eventually be a full schedule available on my website which is still currently under construction, but if you'd like to know more in the meantime, do give me a call or drop me a line and I can share with you my schedule of both card and project classes.

Back tomorrow with a Mother's Day card for you; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Bloomin' Marvelous

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Sycamore Street DSP

Ink: Crumb Cake

Tools: Bitty Butterfly Punch, Elegant Butterfly Punch, 1 3/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch,  1 3/4"scallop circle punch, 2 3/8" scallop circle punch, scallop edge border punch, Stampin' Trimmer

Finishing Touches: Silver Glimmer Paper

I've been out a wedding fair all day today but as I haven't blogged for a few days, thought I'd do a quick post to share with you some thank you cards I made for the lovely ladies who placed orders at the last party I ran. I wanted something simple as I had several to make and decided to use the Sale-A-Bration Bloomin' Marvelous stamp set as many of them had chosen it as their free gift with a £45 order and I wanted to give them a little inspiration. So this is what I came up with:

I love the effect you can get by using a frame within your picture to add focus, and by stamping the third butterfly and punching out it looks like the butterflies are almost flying off the page. A little sparkle adds a finishing touch. I also used the precut notelet and envelope sets to make these (card measures 12.7 x 8.9cm), so I didn't even need to cut and score the basic cardstock - super quick. If you would like this stamp set, Sale-A-Bration is running for another 19 days so drop me a line if you would like to place an order. That's it for today - I'm off to soak my aching feet!

Until next time, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Bloomin' Marvelous

Cardstock: Pool Party, Whisper White

Ink: Pool Party, Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple, Island Indigo

Tools: Bitty Butterfly Punch

Finishing Touches: Dazzling Details, Whisper White Notelets and Envelopes

So the saying goes that 'Elephants never forget'; if only the same could be said for me! I'm usually pretty good at remembering birthdays, but with such a busy start to this year I must confess to having forgotten not one, but two birthdays! Well actually only one was truly forgotten (apologies Belinda - the card is now in the post!); the other was my good friend Barbara who actually kept her birthday date very much to herself - then wondered why she didn't receive lots of cards and birthday wishes!

Anyway, this led me to thinking about belated birthday wishes, and I just knew that elephant from the Sale-A-Bration Patterned Occasions set would have to make an appearance. I made two slightly different cards, each using the same colourway of Pool Party, Island Indigo and Rose Red. The first one was a herd of elephants marching, with one raised on dimensionals and carrying a punched flower. On both cards, the stamps were coloured with markers to allow the sentiment and flowers to be omitted.

Whilst I liked this card when finished, it felt a little busy. So, take two still on the elephant theme but something much simpler:

This card is much more me and I love the finish of the ruched Raspberry Ripple ribbon that adds a touch of luxury. So which one do you prefer? Leave me a comment below and let me know.

Let's hope these are the last belated wishes I send this year (although somehow I doubt it!). On the up side, at least I kept to my resolution to send only handmade cards this year.

Until next time, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Cardstock: Pool Party, Island Indigo, Whisper White

Stamps: Patterned Occasions, Itty Bitty Shapes. Sentiment - Birthday Wishes (hostess - now retired)

Ink: Pool Party, Island Indigo, Rose Red

Finishing Touches: Raspberry Ripple 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon, Rhinestone Basic Jewels

Tools: Stamp-a-ma-jig, Itty Bitty Punches