Paris in springtime with Stampin' Up!

On my return from Tynemouth yesterday I checked out the Less is More challenge and got quite excited - it's all about the movies this week! The film I've chosen is a romcom called French Kiss - do you remember it? Like all the best romcoms it stars Meg Ryan and they've paired her with the fantastic Kevin Kline. If you need your memory jogging there's an amusing trailer at the bottom of this post but first, come and see my card which, I remembered just in time, has to be one layer this week:

I've used Naturals White card stock for this card, used a few images to make a simple collage and chosen colours that give it a slightly retro feel - So Saffron, Island Indigo and Calypso Coral. Stampin' Up has a bit of a love affair with the Eiffel Tower and it appears in several sets...

... I chose this beautifully detailed one from Artistic Etchings, which I stamped over the circular decorative image in the set. I added birds from Up, Up and Away and a lovely sentiment from Perfect Pairs. This sentiment set consists of sentiment pairs which can be used together or alone; this one, for example, has a partner that says 'to make it better' designed for a get well card, but by just using the first part, it's perfect for a romantic message!

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Artistic Etchings, Up Up and Away, Perfect Pairs
Ink: So Saffron, Certainly Celery classic inks, Black stazon
Card stock: Naturals White
Other: Island Indigo and Calypso Coral markers, Basic Pearls, Owl punch (for the tiny heart), stamp-a-majig
I'D BE DELIGHTED TO ORDER STAMPIN' UP ITEMS FOR YOU AND HAVE THEM DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR ADDRESS IN THE UK. I'M COMMITTED TO PROVIDING EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE AND AM ALWAYS HAPPY TO OFFER HELP AND ADVICE. TO PLACE YOUR ORDER, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL OR GIVE ME A CALL ON 01280 820593.

Do take a minute to watch the trailer. There's a sequence in a restaurant that reminds me of a moment in my dim and distant waitressing past... and I have sometimes FELT like behaving like that in various reception areas but am much too well-behaved to have done so. Yet. Just wait until I'm seventy...!)

Have a great Monday. I'm off to put the house back together after the holidays!
Hugs,

FRENCH KISS: Movie Trailer. Watch more top selected videos about: Movie Trailers, Timothy Hutton

Sweetheart with a heart-shaped window

Good afternoon! Yes, I did see the Less is More challenge this morning but it's taken me this long to get my head round it! Chrissie and Mandi are asking for cards with an aperture - and that's definitely out of my comfort zone. I like classic cards and don't often make shaped or novelty cards, but a challenge is a challenge! I'd also had the CAS-ual Fridays 'penguin awareness day' challenge going around in my mind which is why my card ended up in crisp black and white. Come and see:

I started with a black card base with a white front added before punching my heart shape through the two layers. The beautiful heart frill is from a lovely set called Sweetheart (which also contains one of my favourite leaf images as used here) and I positioned it over the aperture using my stamp-a-majig.

The amour sentiment was stamped into the aperture with versamark and heat embossed with white embossing powder - I love how dramatic it looks against the black card stock! The card was finished with a loop of white grosgrain ribbon embellished with a small black heart and a pearl.

Supplies needed for this card:

Stamps: Sweetheart, Artistic Etchings

Ink: Basic Black, versamark

Card stock: Basic Black, Whisper White,

Other: Large and small heart punches, Basic pearl, white 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, stamp-a-majig

I'd be delighted to order any of these supplies for you and can have them delivered to your address in the UK. I am committed to providing excellent customer service and am always happy to help and advise. Just send me an email or give me a call on 01280 820593. 

We've all got colds again and my poor youngest son has conjunctivitis too. Nothing can keep his spirits down for long though and he's still up for a joke: "Mummy - vy didn't the viper vipe 'er nose? Because the adder 'ad 'er 'anky!" 

I hope you're feeling much better than we are and having a great weekend! I'll be back on Monday with a male card, and on Tuesday when all the fun of Sale-a-bration starts. Hope you can join me!

Hugs,

Having a go at Steampunk

One of my favourite things to do is to make a card for a challenge - I find it leads me to do things I wouldn't necessarily have otherwise tried. That's definitely the case for today's card! I made it for this week's Make My Monday which is challenging us to make Steampunk artist trading cards (ATCs). Come and see what I've made:

I've never made an ATC in my life, but all the measurements are there on the MMM site and it was just like creating a small-scale card really. I made it by layering various pieces of my Newsprint designer paper, colouring some parts with ink and watercolour pencils, overstamping with the Eiffel Tower image from Artisitc Etchings, then embellishing with eyelets, piercings and a piece of knotted silver cord.

Here you can see how I squashed the eyelet by forgetting to change one of the settings on my cropadile...  Oops! I quite like the bashed-up look though!

Do you like the way the map is looking like smoke coming from the top of the tower? I got all excited when I saw that! I adore these jumbo eyelets and am so sad to see them leave the catalogue. I would be urging you to grab them from the Last Chance List while you can - but you can't because they were the first thing to sell out!

I didn't want to just leave my ATC loafing around my Crafting Square Metre so I made a card out of it! The card base is Crumb cake card stock swiped with Whisper White craft and Marina Mist classic ink pads and sponged with a little Chocolate Chip ink.

Supplies needed for today's card:

Stamps: Artistic Etchings

Ink: Basic Black, Marina Mist, Chocolate Chip Bravo Burgundy, Whisper White craft ink

Card stock: Crumb Cake, Basic Grey, Chocolate Chip

Other: Newsprint designer paper (retiring), mat pack and piercing tool, 1 3/4" circle punch, cropadile, metallic eyelets (retiring) jumbo eyelets and silver cord (sold out)

You can buy any of these supplies from me and I can have them delivered to your address in the UK. Just send me an email or give me a call on 01280 820593. Click here to view the Last Chance List - full of stamps and accessories, some at up to 40% off, available only while stocks last.

I've been thinking for a while that my Crafting Square Metre is bursting at the seams and looking a bit tired - well, on its last legs really! So I've had a little chat with my husband and put a few ideas forward. My craft area is in our living room so it's important that it stays tidy and looks good - wouldn't this fabulous storage solution be fantastic? My husband isn't quite so keen (I expect he saw the price tag!) His idea is more like this:

Thank you for popping over to my blog today. Do leave a comment if you'd like to and I'll look forward to returning your visit. Have a great weekend and I'll see you very soon.

A vintage wedding with Artistic Etchings

A vintage moment usually means nodding off gently in front of the telly at 10pm - but not today! No, I have been inspired by the latest challenge at Make My Monday to create a vintage-style card using brown, cream and either blue or pink. And I managed to prevent myself from reaching for my beloved French Foliage too (well, nearly...!) Come and have a look:

I had enormous fun making this card with Artistic Etchings, a beautiful set that I don't use often enough.
I used Confetti Cream for the panel, to add to the aged effect, and mounted it on a Very Vanilla card base. The starting point was clear embossing the script and then layering the other images over the top using shades of brown. But hang on a second, I hear you say - there IS no script stamp in that set! I know (hanging head in shame), but French Foliage was there on my desk and it seemed so perfect...

Okay - moving swiftly on - do you like the ribbon treatment? My cropadile was on my desk too and it seemed like a good idea to weave the ribbon through some holes. This is seam binding in gorgeous Baja Breeze which is perfect for vintage styling - or anything else come to that!

Here's a close-up of some of the details - distressed and sponged edges, curled corner (I stamped the other side of the curl with the script image), the broken images stamped over the embossed script - it's a little hard to see that actually. Let's zoom in a bit:

Can you see it now? You can see the Amour sentiment better in this photo too and those beautiful flowers! They were stamped with the little border detail image in the Artistic Etchings set and cut out with one of the flower punches in the Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack - these little punches are SO useful. The centres were stamped again, punched out with the large hole on my cropadile, glued onto the flower base and finished with a tiny pearl.

Supplies needed for this card:

Stamps: Artistic Etchings, French Foliage

Ink: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Baja Breeze 

Card stock: Confetti Cream, Very Vanilla

Other: Baja Breeze seam binding, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, basic pearls

You can buy any of these supplies from me and I can have them delivered to your address in the UK. Just send me an email or give me a call on 01280 820593.

I seem to have written a small novel today! Sorry about that and thank you for bearing with me. And, while I'm on the subject of thanks, it's that time of year in the UK when our thoughts turn to thanking our wonderful teachers for all that they do, so do pop back tomorrow when I shall be making one in three minutes! Hope to see you then,