Good evening lovely blog readers! Today I'm sharing a card (well, actually two!) that I made a little while ago but that I didn't share with you at the time. I made this card using an old Freshly Made Sketches layout - here is my card:

My card uses the Fresh Prints DSP stack - this paper stack is great value and perfect for cards and the pattern I've used on this card is one of my favourites: an Orla Kiely-inspired design I think and one that also appeared in last year's Sycamore Street Sale-A-Bration DSP pack, but this time updated with some fresh colours for the new season. I cut three panels, having centralised the pattern, and matted it on Real Red and a Pool Party base, with a Pool Party banner finished with two co-ordinating candy dots. The original sketch had only two dots and I wrestled with myself to not use three (I think things looks better in threes!) but I decided that the two dots balanced the sentiment on the top left-hand side of the card, so left alone! I stamped my sentiment in Versamark and heat-embossed with Whisper White embossing powder, because whilst I didn't want it to dominate my card, I didn't want it to get lost either. This was the card I was happy with, but I promised two cards today and thought I would show you the first one I made; it was slightly smaller in size but to the same layout, but instead of centralising the pattern on each individual strip, I simply cut a piece of paper equally into three. It gives quite a different effect - see what I mean:

This cut really didn't work for me, as I felt such a clean card need the symmetry in the pattern - hence the second version. Here are both cards in focus side by side - which one do you prefer?

Who would have thought that such a simple card took so much thought? But for me, that's the difference between a good card and a great card! Lesson over for today; I'm off to listen to the next instalment of Harry Potter, our current bedtime reading book.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper Stack	Pool Party A4 Card Stock	Real Red A4 Card Stock	Brights Candy Dots	Neutrals Candy Dots
Stamp-A-Ma-Jig	Express Yourself	Embossing Buddy	White Stampin' Emboss Powder	Versamark Pad
Heat Tool - Uk Plug

Another tulip card for you today - no apologies, I love this stamp! This card was inspired by the flecked pink tulips I received from my James juniors for Mother's Day last week. This card features this stamp used in another different way, this time to create an outlined background panel:

In splitting the tulips away from the sentiment on the original stamp, this makes it really easy to use the tulips for non-Easter cards, as I've done here. I used a Whisper White base, then stamped the tulips in Rose Red on a strip of Pink Pirouette cardstock. I then stamped the tulips again, this time in Black Stazon on watercolour paper and coloured with inks and my Aquapainter and cut out using my oval framelits and mounted on a second oval in Rose Red.

That's all for today; tomorrow's card may well have to be a 'get well soon' card as this afternoon my young son appears to have succumbed to the chicken pox - his THIRD dose in just 6 years!!! I didn't think this was even possible, but his itchy spots tell me otherwise. On the upside, at least it's the Easter holidays, so he should be over it by the time the new term starts :-)

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Blessed Easter	Aqua Painter	Jet Black Stazon Pad	Stazon Cleaner	Whisper White A4 Card Stock
Stamp-A-Ma-Jig	6 X 9 Watercolor Paper	Magnetic Platform	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Pink Pirouette Classic Stampin' Pad
Pink Pirouette A4 Card Stock	Rose Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad	Express Yourself	Ovals Collection Framelits Dies

Today I'm sharing another card from this week's classes - this time one of the scallop tag-closure cards that are all the rage at the moment in a lovely, deep purple. Here is my card: 

The card is a standard A6 size (10.5cm x 14.9cm), but instead of being scored down the centre of the cardstock, I scored at 8.5cm and 19cm, marked the centre point and having guided the cardstock over the punch guides, I punched using the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch and trimmed away the excess on either side of the punched section. I love this punch - it really is so useful for tags, bookmarks, boxes, fancy cards and everything in between!

I also used my Aquapainter to colour this card, but instead of using watercolour paper I actually used Whisper White cardstock - I wanted to show my class attendees the differences in effect when you use different paper types. The sentiment was also stamped separately and punched out, which worked better on the narrower section. We split our sentiment away from the tulips at the start to allow for more flexibility when stamping, so this was really easy with no masking required.

That's all from me today; I'm entertaining family this weekend and off to play tooth fairy to my eldest this evening, who lost another of her baby teeth today - just need to make sure she's asleep first :-)

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Blessed Easter	Scalloped Tag Topper Punch	Aqua Painter	Jet Black Stazon Pad	Stazon Cleaner
Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Stamp-A-Ma-Jig	Elegant Eggplant A4 Card Stock	Basic Black A4 Card Stock	Elegant Eggplant Classic Stampin' Pad
Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad	Old Olive 1/8 Inch Taffeta Ribbon

Another quick post from me today before I head out for my second card class of the week with another of the cards that we are making, featuring the 'Blessed Easter' stamp. This time I paired the stamp with the Hardwood background - love this stamp, especially in Smoky Slate grey:

Unlike yesterday's card, I also used my Aquapainter to blend in some Smoky Slate ink around the tulips to create some subtle shading; shading in this way really makes the flowers stand out.

More lovely cards to share using this stamp in due course; off now to pack for my class.

Back tomorrow with another project - a rather special one too! until then, happy stampin!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Blessed Easter	6 X 9 Watercolor Paper	Aqua Painter	Jet Black Stazon Pad	Stazon Cleaner
Stamp-A-Ma-Jig	Hardwood	Scallop Edge Border Punch	Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad
Daffodil Delight A4 Card Stock	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate

Hello everyone! I can't quite believe it but James Juniors have broken up from school for their Easter holidays today - aargh! Where did that term go? Anyway, on the upside that will mean a few weeks of fun with hopefully not too much holiday homework. Today I've another quick post as I'm out hosting a crafty Stampin' Up! party this evening, so I'm blogging early (for me!) and thought I would share one of this week's class cards. In this month's classes my ladies are learning watercolouring techniques using Aquapainters and we are using the 'Blessed Easter' stamp set. All this month's cards are quite simple in design, as the aim is to spend the majority of the class time focusing on watercolouring and practising the technique rather than doing lots of stamping, cutting and sticking. Here is the first of this week's cards:

A Real Red card base and Pear Pizzazz panel, with the tulips and sentiment stamped onto watercolour paper using Jet Black Stazon and then coloured using the corresponding coloured inks and our Aquapainters. I think all the ladies in yesterday's class were pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to get a great result and the nice thing is even though everyone had the same tools, the cards all looked really different, depending on the individual shading and detail on the tulips. To finish we embellished with a piece of Real Red grosgrain ribbon.

That's all from me - I'm off to pack my bags for later. Back with more tulips later in the week; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Blessed Easter	Aqua Painter	6 X 9 Watercolor Paper	Jet Black Stazon Pad	Stazon Cleaner
Stamp-A-Ma-Jig	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Card Stock	Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Pear Pizzazz
Real Red 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon

I had a busy day in London yesterday so despite my best efforts to get ahead of myself I still didn't manage to blog yesterday and having had a class and put in my last Sale-A-Bration order I'm almost running out of time today, so before I do here is my intended share for yesterday, one of the Mother's Day cards I made in a couple of different colourways that I couldn't share before the day itself. Here it is in the predominantly pink colourway:

The card is similar to one I saw on Julie Kettlewell's blog here - I made a 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" square gatefold card and created an overlapping framed circle that I cut with my Circles Framelits and created a wreath of tiny stamped and punched flowers around the central bold 'Happy Mother's Day sentiment. I also made this card is an aqua colourway here using Coastal Cabana for the base:

The hardwood background stamp makes such a great background for the focal point and some flower stamping inside and on the envelopes along with a few rhinestones just finishes off the card perfectly.

My Mother's Day was rather unconventional and was only spent with one of my offspring, which felt slightly strange, but Rebecca and I had a great day in London (she was so excited that she got to have her picture taken in front of Big Ben!) and the bonus is we get to have another Mother's Day next Sunday altogether to make up for it!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

My Mother	Petite Petals Clear-Mount Bundle	Hardwood	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine
Magnetic Platform	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad	Melon Mambo A4 Card Stock	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad
Pool Party A4 Card Stock	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad	Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Pad
Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents	Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad	Coastal Cabana 3/8" Ruffle Stretch Trim	Card Stock A4 Bermuda Bay	Tangerine Tango Classic Stampin' Pad
Crisp Cantaloupe Classic Stampin' Pad	Pistachio Pudding Classic Stampin' Pad

Today I’m sharing my entry for this week’s Less is More challenge where you have to create a card with three of something. I decided to indulge in a spot of watercolouring and use a new stamp of mine from the ‘Baby We’ve Grown’ stamp set:

What can I say – I love this trio of owls! I’ve never purchased a dedicated baby-themed stamp set before, but I saw this set and it really appealed to me: a cute bunny, some of the sweetest baby shoes, some sentiments and well – those owls!

I simply stamped the image onto watercolour paper and coloured using my Aquapainter and a range of browns and pinks – this card is heading for my ‘baby girl’ pile – and mounted on a mat of Baked Brown Sugar and a card base of Blushing Bride.  Well, this is ‘Less is More’ after all! I'm still a novice at this compared to some, yet I love the blending I get with an Aquapainter - here's a close up:

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

Stampin’ Up! Supplies Used:

Baby, We've Grown	6 X 9 Watercolor Paper	Jet Black Stazon Pad	Aqua Painter	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad
Card Stock A4 Blushing Bride	Baked Brown Sugar Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Baked Brown Sugar

It's all go in the office of The Crafty Owl - I've been busy finishing my last Mother's Day cards today and I've recorded two video tutorials, along with all of the other things mothers do in a day. I won't bore you with that list, but I'm sure lots of you are reading this thinking "I know what you mean!" :-) Anyway, today I have a Mother's Day card to share with you, which I made using this week's sketch over at The Paper Players. This is Sandy's sketch:

I loved the layered circles on this sketch and it allowed me to get out on paper an idea I've had floating around in my head for a while (love it when that happens!) So here is my card:

I used Coastal Cabana for my base, then cut out a 'window' using my Word Bubble framelits through to the stamped sentiment "You're the best!" on the inside, used my largest circle for my bespoke 'Mum' sentiment where I used two circles cut with my Circles framelits to create an inset so that I have a border without an extra layer here. I then added an ‘xoxo’ cut out with my Circle Card thinlit set, attached with rolled glue dots, and lastly my final layer with the ‘love ya’ word bubble, stamped, cut and mounted with dimensionals for height. The cut-out on the front gives a glimpse of what’s inside – here’s the close-up:

Now I know this is not such a typical Mother's Day card: not traditional colours, no flowers in sight. It's quite clean and graphic in nature, but I really like it! I think it’s a great card for a Mum who likes something a little different; I for one would be thrilled to receive this card (hint, hint James Juniors!)

That’s me for today; come back tomorrow to see my entry for this week’s Less is More challenge. Until then, happy stampin’!

Stampin’ Up! Supplies Used:
 

Just Sayin' Clear-Mount Bundle	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Magnetic Platform	Abc-123 Sketch Alphabet & Numbers	Perfect Pennants
My Mother	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana	Pacific Point A4 Card Stock	Real Red A4 Card Stock
Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad

Another busy day today and my third night out in a row: today to a school concert, which was very entertaining with lots of singing and instrumentals. Now I'm back and today's card uses the colours over at Dynamic Duos this week, where it's actually 'Triple Threat' week and this week's sketch over at Retrosketches, which has an interesting decorative element:

And here is my card:

My card uses a single flower from the 'Simple Stems' stamp set and I printed the offset flower head on the base layer and the stem on a layer of Soft Sky, having cut out the area around the flower using the co-ordinating Secret Garden framelit. The Soft Sky layer was layered with dimensionals to give depth and allow a simple white baker's twine bow to be wrapped around the base.

As Pale Plum is a retired SU! colour, I substituted with Perfect Plum. I was a little concerned that it wouldn't have enough pink in it to work with the Rich Razzleberry, especially I had decided to experiment with stamping the Rich Razzleberry onto the contrasting Perfect Plum cardstock. I don't generally take two tones of the same colour and use them together in this way, but I quite like the effect - the Razzleberry 'warms' the Plum I think. I thought I would include a picture of my test card to show you how the effect differs depending on the colour ink you use:

The flowers are stamped clockwise from bottom left in Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum then Rich Razzleberry on Perfect Plum cardstock - it's interesting to see how different they each look, don't you think?

Anyway, back to my card! I finished it with a little 'get well' sentiment that I stamped in Versamark and heat embossed in white. This card will be sending get well wishes to one of my lovely customers who is having major surgery at the end of this week; if you're reading this Chris, I hope you're up and about again soon!

That's all from me today - I'm off to catch up on my beauty sleep! Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Simple Stems	Secret Garden Framelits Dies	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Magnetic Platform	Perfect Plum A4 Card Stock
Rich Razzleberry Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Soft Sky	White Baker's Twine	White Stampin' Emboss Powder	Versamark Pad
Stamp-A-Ma-Jig	Heat Tool - Uk Plug

Good evening lovely blog readers - a quick post from me today as I've been out and had a full-on day today. I finally found the time to make a card for this week's challenge over at Create with Connie and Mary. They have a great design team with inspiring sketches and designs; this week it's a sketch challenge:

I decided to make an Easter card using the egg stamp from the Eggstra Spectacular stamp and designed a card that is entirely faithful to the sketch layout - here it is:

I made a 5" x 5" square card and using a piece of the lovely Watercolour Wonder DSP as my focal background and layered with some simple card stock strips, picking out the colours in the paper. I finished with an oval featuring the 'Happy Easter' stamp which I inked up with my Stampin' Write Markers in the same 3 colours as my paper strips. I inset this oval inside a larger one in Tangerine Tango as opposed to mounting it onto a base layer, as I wanted the oval to sit flat across the strips underneath. Here's a close up:

Hope you like today's card; back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Eggstra Spectacular	Watercolor Wonder Designer Series Paper	Daffodil Delight A4 Card Stock	Calypso Coral A4 Card Stock	Tangerine Tango A4 Card Stock
Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Magnetic Platform	Ovals Collection Framelits Dies	Subtles Stampin' Write Markers
Brights Stampin' Write Markers