Hope you have all enjoyed a restful bank holiday today; not as warm as yesterday, but still pleasant enough to eat lunch out in the garden and have a game of cricket afterwards. As many of you reading this will know, I celebrated my big 40 last year. I was always the oldest in my year group at school though, so since I celebrated my significant milestone birthday I've had many friends follow suit. Two of these friends celebrated their birthdays this month - one yesterday and one today. So today I am sharing with you the card I made for my friend who celebrated her birthday yesterday. I know I'm safe to do so, as I hand-delivered her card last week so I know she will have seen it before I write this! This is the card I made:

I used the lovely banner patterned paper from the Patio Party set as the background for this card, the design of which is carried through into my special birthday cake, complete with sparkly cake stand. Given that this card did not need to be post-friendly, I also added a double vintage button with a red centre to anchor my tailor-made 40th birthday greeting. You can just see in the foreground the envelope, which I decorated to match; I must confess I don't do this often enough, but it really does add to the presentation, so I should do it more often!

Tomorrow I'll be back to share the other 40th birthday card I made this week; this one had to be post-friendly, so no buttons allowed! Meanwhile, I have a hot date with my ironing basket (actually 2 baskets - lucky me!!)

Until next time, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Make a Cake, Memorable Moments

Cardstock: Primrose Petals, Whisper White, Raspberry Ripple, Midnight Muse

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers:  Primrose Petals, Baja Breeze, Raspberry Ripple, Midnight Muse

Tools: Simply Scored, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Finishing Touches: Vintage Faceted Buttons, Basics Rhinestones

What a lovely Bank Holiday weekend this is turning out to be, with surprisingly glorious weather! I struggled to tear myself away from the garden to blog today, but wanted to share with you another project using the same Clockworks stamp set I used on the boxed notelets set yesterday, this time a covered notebook:

To create the notebook cover, I first scored a sheet of Basic Grey cardstock in a grid pattern, then took a piece of Whisper White card and randomly stamped it all over with the Clockworks stamps, using a Stamp-a-ma-jig to ensure the numerals on the clockfaces lined up correctly with the wider at the top. The coral stamp pattern was also lightly scored for texture and the whole thing sprayed with a Gumball Green coloured spritzer mist. A large Vintage Faceted Button was added to the centre of the complete clockface, whilst a second smaller one was added to a flower made from 3 flowers punched with the Fancy Flower punch, spritzed with water then scrunched and left to dry. The flags were also hand-crimped and finished with one stamped with another partial stamp from the 'One in a Million' stamp set.

I really like the finished effect and wonder if this notepad would make a nice Father's Day gift (maybe minus the flower?!). More masculine projects to come in the next couple of weeks, so do pop back if you're in need of some Father's Day inspiration. Just a reminder too that this months 15% discount offer on the This and That journal bundle ends on Friday this week, so if you'd like to take advantage of this, do drop me a line in advance of this date to place your order. Whilst the items will still be available after this date, the bundle will be available at the full price of £ not at £29.24 with the 15% discount.

Back tomorrow with another project, assuming I can tear myself away from the sunshine! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: One in a Million, Clockworks

Cardstock: Basic Grey, Whisper White, Gumball Green, Calypso Coral, More Mustard, Pool Party

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Calypso Coral, Gumball Green, Pool Party, More Mustard, Basic Grey

Tools: Simply Scored, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Fancy Flower Punch, Spritzer

Finishing Touches: Vintage Faceted Buttons, Calypso Coral Baker's Twine

A change from owls today! I thought I would share with you one of the 'make and take' projects I made at the Stampin' Up! regional training event in Telford a couple of weeks ago, a little box made using the Two Tags die containing a set of mini notelets. So first, a close up of the box itself:

The box was decorated with a double-layered fancy flower, stamped with one of the stamps from the Clockworks stamp set and the centre and box front finished with some stamped First Edition designer series paper. An in-colour Gumball Green dahlia adds the accent colour that really makes this project 'pop'. The box contains a set of notelets, decorated with Clockworks and a sentiment from the One in a Million stamp set:

This would make a lovely gift set - it's always handy to have a set of notelets on hand. I like the flag detail on the box too; do you recognise the 'happiness' stamp? It's actually a section of the wedding sentiment stamp in the 'One in a Million' set - I've just trimmed away the first part that said 'Wishing you a lifetime of' - a neat trick to extend the versatility of your stamps.

That's all for today; back tomorrow with another project (assuming I can tear myself away from the lovely weather outside!) - until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: One in a Million, Clockworks

Cardstock: Calypso Coral, Whisper White, First Edition Designer Series Paper

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Calypso Coral, Gumball Green, Pool Party

Tools: Two Tags Bigz Die, Big Shot, Fancy Flower Punch

Finishing Touches: In Colour Dahlia

Busy day revolving around my little ones today with music recitals, class assemblies, ballet lessons and visiting friends for tea - I swear my two have a better social life than me! Anyway, finally sitting down to share another card from this month's class with you - today, a cute baby card, complete with washing line:

I used the lovely Twitterpated designer paper for the dresses and dungarees, as the largely pastel colours suit a new baby card. I must confess to using some now retired ribbon that was lurking at the back of my drawer to edge the dresses because the pleated edge was perfect for the dress edge. The dresses and dungarees are all made from the 'waistcoat' section of the owl punch, with a few nips and tucks here and there. My most favourite thing about this card is the mini-brad dungaree buttons - I love them!

I've added a pink 'oh baby' sentiment circle to this card, but in class we made two: one pink and one blue, so that they could be added at a later stage when the recipient was known; now that's what you call organised! Back tomorrow with my last class card - until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Ciao Baby!

Cardstock: Whisper White, Old Olive, Island Indigo, Baja Breeze, Pink Pirouette, Twitterpated DSP

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Baja Breeze, Pink Pirouette

Tools: Owl Punch, Cloudy Day Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Simply Scored Borders Scoring Plate, 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch, 1" Circle Punch

Finishing Touches: 1/8" Mini Brads, Island Indigo Baker's Twine, Ruffled Ribbon (retired)

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

I've been busy card making today, but I thought it was about time I shared some of the cards that we made in this month's card class, featuring the owl punch. The class centred around the versatility of this punch and with the exception of the card I'm sharing today, the other cards we made were about using the punch to make things other than a straight forward owl. So on to today's card! This is the somewhat unassuming front of the card:

A nice woodgrained stamped tree trunk with a someone peeping out to say 'Oh Hello'. Open up the card and this is what you find:

A cute pair of owls keeping each other company, balancing on a branch. I chose to use bright colours for the owls so that they would stand out against the neutral Crumb Cake background. This would make a great card for a good friend, or even an anniversary card for your 's'owl' mate' (apologies - couldn't resist the pun!)

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

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Oh Hello, Bloomin' Marvelous (Sale-A-Bration - retired), Woodgrain

Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Island Indigo, Raspberry Ripple, More Mustard, Old Olive

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Island Indigo, Raspberry Ripple

Tools: Owl Punch, 1 3/4" Scallop Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Bird Builder Punch

I thought today I would share a card I made at my last training session which showcases a very cool technique using ink, alcohol and filter paper. Here is the finished card: 

The real focal point of this card, designed by the lovely Monica Gale, is the central rainbow panel, which is so easy to achieve. All you need to do is colour an acetate window sheet using Stampin' Write markers in sections - for this card we used Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green, Midnight Muse and Rich Razzleberry - then spray this liberally with water, or isopropyl alcohol if you want it to dry more quickly, until the ink blends. Once this happens, you simply lay your filter paper (rough side down) onto the ink until it's absorbed, then peel away from the acetate and leave to dry. Once dry, the filter paper can be glued to a piece of white card and cut to size to fit your project.

The result varies depending on the colours used and the shapes drawn onto the acetate, but that's the great thing with a technique like this - a unique output every time. I will be using this on other cards for sure and may even record a short video to demostrate just how easy it is to achieve - watch this space!

Back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Rain or Shine, En Francais, Tiny Tags

Cardstock: Basic Grey, Whisper White

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green, Midnight Muse and Rich Razzleberry

Tools: Jewellery Tag Punch, Creped Filter Paper

Finishing Touches: Basics Rhinestones, 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon Basic Grey, Alcohol Shimmer Mist

Today I thought I'd share a couple of projects that I made for my good neighbour and friend and fill you in on the story that goes with them. My neighbour is MAD about dogs! Not just a dog-lover - I mean, head-over-heels, mad about her canine friends (and other animals too, but that's a whole other story!) Anyway, anyone reading this who knows me, knows that I am SO not like this; it's not that I don't like animals, it's just that I've never really had a pet and I don't really understand the pet-owner bond; combined with my OCD cleaning obsession this means that I can't imagine having a four legged friend running round the house, as much as my children plague me to get one. As a consequence, I have been known to say the wrong thing on occasion as far as pets are concerned; I would like to think I've learned from some of my previous faux-pas though, so when my neighbour's beloved great dane, Chelsea, passed away recently I decided to do something special to remember her. I decorated a box frame to house a favourite picture of her and this is the finished result: 

You might think it a bit pink, but for all her size and stature, she was a real girly dog if there is such a thing, with a bright pink collar and always to be seen wearing a bright pink necktie. The sentiment, 'You're in my thoughts, you're in my heart" seemed so appropriate in the circumstances. Whilst Chelsea will never be forgotten, her passing has been followed by the arrival of a new neighbour; a beautiful grey baby great dane puppy called Storm. To welcome her, I made a card, similar to one I'd seen designed by Mary Fish. You can see her card here; and this is my version:

I did add some grey stitched grosgrain ribbon across the front too, but I can't find the photo with ribbon so you'll just have to use your imagination! I stayed with the pink theme toned in with grey - I love the punch art paw print, don't you? Lastly, for all you other many dog lovers reading this, I thought you might like to see a picture of the new puppy - so here she is, Storm in all her glory:

Isn't she just the cutest?! That's all for today - back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Word Play, Sassy Salutations

Cardstock: Regal Rose, Melon Mambo, Basic Grey, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers:  Melon Mambo, Basic Grey

Tools: Full Heart Punch, Owl Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, Large Scallop Edgelits

Finishing Touches: Basics Rhinestones

As promised, today I'm going to share the swaps I made to take to Telford for the Stampin' Up! regional training day on Saturday; lots of excited crafty ladies (and a few gents!) spent the day crafting, swapping and getting up to speed with all the latest news from Stampin' Up!. As is customary at these events, we all created 'swaps' to share and showcase each other's work. I often find swaps a tricky concept - the desire to create something special, but at the same time simple enough that to create a large volume of them won't take hours or break the bank.

In my wisdom, I decided I would break the seal on a stamp set I bought at the start of the year, but haven't yet used: Summer Silhouettes. I loved the look of this stamp set and have seen many beautiful examples of cards 'random stamped' with the flowers in this set. This was however, my first challenge; as my dear husband so often says to me, "(you) don't do random" - and it would seem this follows me into my stamping. I lost count of the amount of card I cut, stamped and binned before getting to a design I was finally happy with! So I ended up with this as my 'first final design' (I know, bear with me!):

I loved the stamping and fussy cut edge, along with the sentiment and pierced border to ground it. However I didn't like the position of the butterfly, but couldn't move it without removing the ribbon, so here is my final (yes, really!) design:

It took hours to finish them and I still could have made twice as many - there were so many people with great swaps! I will photograph some of my favourites and share those with you later in the week. If you would like to be one of the first to know what's going on in the world of Stampin' Up!, get free products (yes, all still to come!), great training and business advice and a permanent product discount to feed your own crafting habit, then this is a great time to join my team - until May 30th, you can get £155 of products for £99; add in a business supplies pack and you get a whopping £200 of kit for £99 - bargain! Check out the Special Offers box on the right hand side of my page or Contact me to talk about how you can sign up and start benefiting straight away; if you sign up in May, you will be one of the first to preview and order from the new annual catalogue due out on July 1st and you will have the opportunity to attend Stampin' Up's! European Convention in November, which is being held in Manchester in the UK this year.

Pop back tomorrow for another project; I have so much to share this week, including some great cards that we are making at this week's card class. Until then, happy stampin!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Wacky Wishes

Cardstock: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo, Pool Party

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo, Pool Party, Wild Wasabi

Tools: Beautiful Wings Embosslits, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack, Piercing Tool

Finishing Touches: Daffodil Delight Seam Binding Ribbon

Well, it's been a busy weekend: Stampin' Up! regional training in Telford yesterday, preparing for this week's classes today, so am rather behind with my posts. Yesterday was a great day, with lots to share in the coming weeks, however I returned home with the most dreadful headache, so couldn't focus long enough to finish yesterday's post. I will share my swaps tomorrow instead, as today's post is a timely one as it's International Mother's Day; we in the UK had our Mother's Day a while ago now, but for my American and Canadian friends celebrating today, I thought I would share the Mother's Day card I made for my Mother-In-Law, which I couldn't share at the time as she reads my blog and so I couldn't spoil the surprise! This was her card:

Very pink just about sums it up! Can you see the lovely shimmer on the butterflies? This is courtesy of the liberal spray of Vanilla Smooch Spritz - they really sparkle when they catch the light. This card would of course also make a lovely birthday card for a Mum.

One of my favourite books is 'Good Mother, Bad Mother' by Gina Ford (a modern day heroine in my view) and there is a line at the beginning that says "the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world" - I so love that line, so to Mothers everywhere, this one's for you - hope you've had a lovely day.

Back tomorrow with my Telford swaps; until them, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: En Francais

Cardstock: Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Pretty in Pink

Tools: Elegant Butterfly Punch, Bitty Butterfly Punch, Typeset Alphabet

Finishing Touches: Vanilla Smooch Spritz, Basics Rhinestones