Autumn colours with Fall Fest from Stampin' Up

Hasn't Stampin' Up brought out some gorgeous leafy stamps sets this year?! I can never resist leaf stamps and Fall Fest is a favourite of mine. I've been stamping the leaves in jewel colours like Tangelo Twist and Crushed Curry and teaming them with some gorgeous, earthy, autumnal colours!

Watercolour washes make a beautiful background but we don't all the artistic confidence to create them. Don't despair though because there are several papers in the Color Me Autumn designer paper pack that give just the same effect...

... and there's coordinating washi tape to add a bit of interest to your projects. I love to use washi in a casual 'just taped it to the card' kind of way!

There's so much movement in the Sassy Salutations sentiments and they work well with this kind of windswept image!

Here's another version using a horizontal orientation this time.

I'll be linking this card up with Less is More where it's colour challenge week and Autumnal colours are the order of the day!

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE THIS CARD NOW!
(Click on each item to find it quickly in my online shop) 

Fall Fest Photopolymer Stamp Set £13.95	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock £7.50	Color Me Autumn Designer Series Paper £9.95	Color Me Autumn Designer Washi Tape £4.50
Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	Tangelo Twist Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95

My shop is open 24/7 so you can buy Stampin' Up products from me any time, day or night.

If you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

It's Monday as I write this and it's been the kind of wet and windy day that's great if it happens at a weekend when there are tartan rugs over your knees, crackling fires in the hearth and hot chocolate at your elbow, but that are annoying during the week when there are a hundred and one things to do and you have to battle with the elements! It's all a far cry from last weekend when we were sunning ourselves in beautiful Somerset.

There was certainly plenty of autumnal inspiration walking up Bossington hill and as we gained height the views were magnificent. Nature provided plenty of snacks at the top - those blackberries were deliciously sweet! The photo bottom right is of Dunster castle, situated in the medieval village of Dunster. My husband and I were married nearby and our wedding reception was held here with the castle featuring in the background of some of our photos.

Thanks for visiting today. I'll be back tomorrow with a festive idea - hope to see you then!

A quick male card using Fall Fest by Stampin' Up

Did you see my Fall Fest card in the Artisan Design Team blog hop yesterday? I loved that fun metallic embellishment technique but today I've used this gorgeous stamp set in another way that's perfect for the time-challenged among us and suitable for men too! Come and see:

According to my market research (I asked all the males in my family!) fuss-free is the way to go for male cards but they do like a bit of colour. Well, I think this card covers it!

I stamped the sentiment first, using my stamp-a-majig to make sure it was straight, and then added the Fall Fest leaves in gorgeous, jewel-like, autumnal colours - Old Olive, Crushed Curry, Tangelo Twist, Baked Brown Sugar.

COLLECTING THE COLOUR COLLECTIONS
If you're thinking that's a lot of ink pads, I urge you to collect ALL the Stampin' Up colours as it really opens up the creative possibilities. When I first discovered Stampin' Up, my demonstrator suggested that I add an ink pad to every order I made so that I could start to build up my collection, and that's a slow but sure way of doing it.

A quicker way of getting all the colours is to buy the Stampin' Write markers first. You can use them on all but the largest stamps and they enable you to stamp multi-coloured images too. Another benefit is that you'll discover the colours you use most often and can invest in full-sized pads of those colours if you choose.

If you'd like to spread the cost of your Stampin' Up collection and get free goodies as well as other perks, you might consider joining my Stampers 6 club. Click here for more information.

I'll be linking today's card up with The Paper Players, where there's a gorgeous Fall challenge, and The Male room where they're looking for male cards with an autumn feel.

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE TODAY'S CARD NOW!
(Click on each item to find it quickly in my online shop) 

Fall Fest Photopolymer Stamp Set £13.95	Whisper White A4 Card Stock £7.50	Tangelo Twist Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95
Baked Brown Sugar Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	Stamp-A-Ma-Jig £10.95

My shop is open 24/7 so you can buy Stampin' Up products any time, day or night.

If you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

My daughter and I have always enjoyed spending Pinterest time together and I'll be sad to lose my Pinterest pal when she goes off to uni at the weekend. We've been making the most of it before she goes though and yesterday we came across this:

Yes, it appears that 'a pineapple a day keeps the worries away'. Well if only someone had told me about this earlier! Think of all that time I've spent worrying! But then we spotted this...

... and now I'm worried that for the pineapple to be effective, it must be worn like this. You see? There is no real end to the worrying!

Have a great weekend and don't forget to come and comfort me on Monday when I'll be getting used to being the only female in a male household!

Metallic blendabilities technique - Stampin' Up Artisan blog hop

It's Thursday and time for your wonderful weekly helping of Stampin' Up Artisan inspiration! Our fabulous global team has been pulling out all the stops again this week - are you ready to see those projects?!

Let's start with mine: Regular readers of my blog will know that I've totally fallen in love with the Stampin' Up blendabilities and today I'm using them with the beautiful Fall Fest stamp set to show you a couple of techniques. Come and see:

The vivid background in my card was simply made by pulling the brush tip of the blendabilities across a panel of card stock, going gradually from dark to light from the 'horizon'. I attached the panel to the card base and scored a frame round it using my Simply Scored tool.

The Fall Fest pumpkins have been attached to the background and aren't they just gorgeous? They almost glow! In fact they really DO glow...

... because they are metallic! It was really hard to get a photo of this but in real life they look almost holographic. It's really easy to get this effect - here's how:

First stamp the pumpkin on one of Stampin' Up's lovely, shiny silver foil sheets using white Stazon ink.

Once it's dry, you can start colouring. Start with the darkest blendabilities, add the medium, and finish with the lightest colour. Don't expect a smooth, airbrushed look - it gives a much more textured, arty finish.

Finally, cut the pumpkins out. Fall Fest has matching framelits but I preferred not to have a border around my pumpkins this time, so I used my sharp paper snips.

I hope you like my metallic pumpkins and give this quick, fun project a try! Now let's find out what the rest of the team have been making to inspire you. Click the button below to visit the lovely Allison Okamitsu with another of her fantastic projects:

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE TODAY'S CARD NOW!
(Click on each item to find it quickly in my online shop) 

Fall Fest Photopolymer Stamp Set £13.95	A Dozen Thoughts Wood-Mount Stamp Set £23.95	Whisper White A4 Card Stock £7.50	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Coastal Cabana Assortment £10.95	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Old Olive Assortment £10.95
Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Pumpkin Pie Assortment £10.95	Silver Foil Sheets £3.75	White Stazon Pad Refill £9.95	Simply Scored £25.95	Paper Snips £8.95

My shop is open 24/7 so you can buy Stampin' Up products any time, day or night.

If you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

Pumpkins seem to have been hi-jacked for halloween but I think they make gorgeous autumn motifs in their own right. I made today's card to send to my daughter when she's at uni because sometimes I call her my little pumpkin (amongst other, less polite things!)

Tomorrow I'll be showing you a super-quick masculine card using Fall Fest, so don't miss that!

DSP make-over - Stampin' Up Artisan blog hop

Thursday has come around again and I'm delighted to welcome you to another Stampin' Up Artisan design Team blog hop. Did you see the amazing ideas the team came up with last week? Wow! I know there's plenty more inspiration where those came from so let's get hopping to see this week's creations!

My own project came about when I opened the pack of Motley Monsters designer paper Stampin' Up had sent me and realised that it's full of gorgeous papers that are definitely NOT just for halloween! Come and see:

This paper for example, features bold trees with the odd pair of scary eyes peering out of the blackness between them! Cover up those eyes though, and you have a graphic paper design with a lovely autumn feel - perfect for making quick cards for the coming season's birthdays. I covered the eyes on my piece with this birthday banner from the Apothecary Art stamp set.

To up the birthday factor, I gave my leaves a little shine with Crystal Effects (I'm hoping you can see that in this photo!) and added a liberal sprinkling of gems.

And what about this paper?

There was a border of witches, cats and monsters on one end of this sheet but I trimmed that off and was left with this beautiful leaf design. Look at the way the leaves appear to be swirling round the card!

I used the Apothecary Art banner again and embellished the card with a bundle of leaves tied up with twine that I pulled off the new two-tone trim. The leaves have been stamped with a gorgeous new stamp set called Fall Fest and I tucked one of the fab new Autumn Wooden Elements embellishments in there too.

It was great fun taking these papers and jazzing them up a little! Are you ready for more ideas? Then you'll want to click the button below and see what the amazing Allison Okamitsu has made to inspire you!

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE THESE CARDS NOW!
(Click on each item to find it quickly in my online shop) 

Motlley Monsters Designer Series Paper £9.95	Apothecary Art - Wood-Mount Stamp £30.95	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad £5.50	Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents £4.50
Crystal Effects £5.25	Fall Fest Photopolymer Stamp Set £13.95	Autumn Wooden Elements £4.50	Natural Old Olive Two-Tone Trim £4.50
Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	Hello Honey Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	Whisper White A4 Card Stock £7.50	Early Espresso A4 Card Stock £6.25

My shop is open 24/7 so you can buy Stampin' Up products any time, day or night.

If you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

When my youngest son saw today's cards he said he really liked the sentiment. I thought he meant the gorgeous banner but it turns out that he liked what it said. "Never mind any old happy birthday," he said. "Oh no! Only the happiest birthday will do!"

We might be heading into the autumn here in the British Isles, but we're not finished with summer yet! I'll have something summery and gorgeous to show you tomorrow so do come back and see!