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

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

I know Valentine's Day is done and dusted, but this month I also celebrated my wedding anniversary, so forgive the hearts but I've another romantic card to share with you today.

The design of this card is cased from Brian King; you can see his original card here. I loved this card the first time I saw it and knew that I was going to have to re-create it. As I don't have the Hearts Framelits, my method was slightly different; I used a large heart punch to make the negative heart shape on the central panel, with the pink heart cut out using one of the Hearts a Flutter framelits and the white heart in the centre using the small heart punch. The winning element for me is the sentiment though - it summed up my thoughts perfectly and seems as appropriate after 14 years of marriage as it would on a wedding day. The colour combination also ticks my box; I find myself using lots of Grey and Melon Mambo lately.

Hope you like it; I'll be back with something different tomorrow. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Basic Grey, Whisper White

Stamps: One in a Million

Ink: Melon Mambo

Tools: Large Heart Punch, Hearts a Flutter Framelits, Small Heart Punch, Big Shot

Today I thought I'd share with you the 'make and take' card that I made with all the lovely ladies who attended my first party recently (Hello ladies, if you're reading this!). It's similar to something I saw whilst browsing on Pinterest, but with my own twist and designed to make the most of some of the lovely goodies that are available free during Sale-A-Bration. It uses four of the possible 17 items on offer - see if you SU! fans can spot them all!

We stamped a greeting from Bloomin' Marvelous and a simple flower from the Madison Avenue stamp set onto Whisper White card stock, then layered this piece of card using dimensionals onto a Crumb Cake card base, having first adhered a couple of coordinating strips of Sycamore Street DSP along each of the vertical outer edges. The flower was finished with a button threaded with a piece of contrasting ribbon from the matching accessory pack. I sized the card to fit the new Crumb Cake medium envelopes and we stamped a flower onto the front of the envelope for a finishing touch.

A great night was had by all: thank you ladies for being kind to me on my first outing. If you love to craft, need a reason to get together with some like-minded friends and would like to host an evening to make this card or something similar, do get in touch - there are great additional hostess benefits during Sale-A-Bration too, the perfect way to grow your own craft stash!

Until next time, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Madison Avenue, Bloomin' Marvelous

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Sycamore Street (DSP)

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango

Finishing Touches: Sycamore Street Ribbon and Button Pack, Medium Crumb Cake Envelopes

Finally back with another card after a few days away from my blog. Not that it's been a few days away from crafting, far from it - I've been very busy designing and making, just not managed to get it all phototgraphed and on the blog! This is such a busy time of year, with Mother's Day and Easter just around the corner, not to mention all the usual birthdays and other events that I've been making for. On the up side, there will be lots to share in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

Today I thought I would share with you a very pretty yet simple birthday card I made for a little girl I know, using the cupcake stamp from the Patterned Occasions stamp set and more of the lovely More Amore designer series paper. 

I layered a piece of DSP on a Pool Party Base, then coloured the cupcake image on the stamp with Primrose Petals, Pool Party and Real Red markers and stamped onto a 1 3/4" circle of Whisper White cardstock, layered on a larger circle and attached with dimensionals to give some lift. A Pool Party ribbon and bow adds a finishing touch.

I also stamped a co-ordinating cupcake on the front of the envelope - it's always worth thinking about ways in which you can add a little detail to the envelope, just to finish everything off.

If you like this stamp, it's part of the Patterned Occasions set available during Sale-A-Bration, free with any £45 purchase until 22nd March - just contact me if you'd like to order.  Hope you like the finished card - lots more to share this week, so until next time, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Cardstock: Pool Party, Primrose Petals, Whisper White, More Amore (DSP)

Stamps: Patterned Occasions

Stampin' Write markers: Pool Party, Primrose Petals, Real Red

Tools: 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Circles #2 Originals Die, Big Shot

Finishing Touches: Pool Party Ribbon - Sycamore Street Ribbon & Button Pack

Today it's the final instalment of the Feeling Sentimental notelet set - this time the turn of the penny farthing bicycle.

I used a crumb cake card base this time (I love this card - so versatile, I get through tons of it!) and experimented again with the 'rock and roll' stamping technique to add some interest. The first card I stamped, which is actually the one on the right of the picture - I stamped in crumb cake straight onto the card and left it at that; I personally much prefer my second attempt, where I stamped in a combination of chocolate chip and crumb cake and matted with a chocolate chip card base, which gives much better definition and makes the image much stronger. For completeness, here's a picture of the whole set of notelets:

I still think this phone box is crying out to be made into a tardis, Dr Who-style - maybe that should be my inspiration the next time I get this set out .....!

I'm off to get some card making done now, as I've lots of birthdays coming up and am behind with my making; shocking for a paper crafter, I know! On the plus side, there will be lots to share with you over the coming days and weeks, so keep checking for lots of ideas.

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Feeling Sentimental

Cardstock: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip

Ink:  Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip