Six stamps for the price of one!

Did you read the title of today's post? Are you amazed but slightly suspicious? Well don't be! Suspicious I mean - of course it's fine to be amazed! This is all about the In Stitches jumbo wheel on page 9 of the mini catalogue. It's a gorgeous wheel and I loved it the minute I saw it but... I knew that I would want to use each stitch separately. Well, why not? I knew that it was easy enough to unmount the wheels from talking to other crafters. Well anyway, come and see what I did:

Before we start, this isn't the In Stitches wheel (it's the whimsy wheel) but I just wanted to show what a jumbo wheel looks like!

The wheel clicks in and out of the handle and when you take it out, you can find the seam quite easily.

And if you slip the point of a sharp craft knife under the rubber at the seam, you can gently ease the rubber off the wheel. Now, if you try this at home, I can't emphasise enough that you have to be very careful and very gentle! You don't want to stretch or tear the rubber.

Once the rubber's off the wheel, you can mount it onto foam mount and cut each stitch apart with craft and rubber scissors.

They will then cling beautifully to an acrylic block. I used Stampin' Up's block measuring 14.9cm long which wasn't quite long enough, so I just trimmed the ends off the stitches. If I want them to be longer than they are, I can just line them up with my stamp-a-majig.

So - the jumbo wheel costs £8.50 and I now have six stamps for the price of one! How about that for a bargain?!

Now, I can't go away without showing you something I made with one of my new stamps! Here's a whimsical little note card:

Look how cute these fabulous leaf stitches look with one of the little flowers from the Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack! By angling the stems in, it looks as if you're lying in the garden, looking up at the sky (one of my favourite positions!) I've used Confetti card stock again - I love this stuff! - and the little flecks remind me of little flying creatures buzzing about among the flowers!

And just look at those flowers! I love this little punch and can see that it's going to get a lot of use in my craft room! (Actually it's more of a craft desk but there it is...!) I couldn't resist adding this butterfly cut with the Beautiful Wings Embosslits die - yes, I'm still obsessed with butterflies!

This gorgeous sentiment is from the Hopeful Thoughts stamp set - a real favourite of mine.

Here's how to make this card:

• Cut a 14.5cm x 19.5cm piece of Confetti White card stock. Score and fold it in half to make a card base.
• Press the acrylic block down onto the leaf stitch stamp and ink it up with an Always Artichoke ink. TIP: When a stamp is bigger than the ink pad, turn it upside down and take the ink pad to it. Stamp a stem onto the card front.
• Stamp off to clean your stamp and ink it up again, this time with Certainly Celery ink. Stamp a much shorter stem to the right of the first.
• Stamp a mid height stem in Old Olive ink to the left of the first.
• Colour the leaves using a blender pen and the three green inks.
• Punch three flowers from Daffodil Delight card stock, using the four petalled flower from the Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack. Glue these to the tops of the stems and add centres with a Basic Black marker.
• Add a sentiment in Basic Black, using a stamp-a-majig to make sure it's straight.
• Sponge Bashful Blue ink all over the card, especially at the edges. Add a little Certainly Celery ink towards the bottom.
• Finish the card with an Embosslits butterfly in Tangerine Tango, attached with a glue dot.

Supplies
Stamps: In Stitches (unmounted), Hopeful Thoughts (sentiment)
Ink: Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue
Card stock: Confetti White, scraps of Tangerine Tango and Daffodil Delight
Other: Basic Black marker, Beautiful Wings Embosslits die, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack

I'm so excited about my brand new stamp set and I can't wait to have a play with them all! What's the betting tomorrow's Three Minute Thursday will feature some stitching?!! Do come back tomorrow and find out!