Painted Blooms family resolutions - Stampin' Up Artisan blog hop

The Stampin' Up Artisan Design Team is back and we're all keen to inspire you with a whole bunch of fabulous new products from the upcoming spring/summer catalogue! Are you ready for some sneaky peeks? Okay - let's get hopping!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015!
It's the time of year for making resolutions, for changing things in our lives so that we can become happier, healthier or fitter. For my project this week, I thought it would be fun to create some resolution cards for the family that we can fill in and keep. Come and see:

I used the Envelope punch board to make an envelope out of a lovely leafy design from the gorgeous new Painted Blooms paper pack and labelled it with a panel printed from my computer. I added the year using the Metro Type alphabet ( yes, you do get numbers in that set too!) and a sprinkling of punched stars.

Inside the envelope, there are some cards which I backed with another of the Painted Blooms papers. Aren't these papers just stunning?! Every single one of the papers in this pack is utterly beautiful and everyone that sees them is immediately bowled over by them so I can't imagine they'll be in stock for long! There are coordinating stamps and an embossing folder too.

The cards were stamped with lines using the Draw the Line stamp set from the annual catalogue so that we all had lines to write our resolutions on, and I decorated one corner with leaves from the Painted Blooms stamp set. Let's take a look at some of those resolutions...

Look out folks, my youngest son plans to get big muscles this year! And it would certainly be a good thing if my husband could stick to his resolution!

But what's this? Hmm, Let's see if these naughty animals can behave this year shall we?!

I love the idea of family resolutions and am looking forward to getting them out on New Years Eve next year to see how we got on! Maybe you'll be inspired to incorporate this project into your family rituals too.

Now it's time to hop over to the lovely Allison Okamitsu and see what she's been making to inspire you!

Click above to place an order any time, day or night,

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

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

We have all got quite good at putting food out of reach of an inquisitive puppy... except my husband! There was a particularly tense moment yesterday when he found her sitting on her rug with a packet of smoked salmon in front of her and a guilty look on her face! I suggested he rapped himself over the nose with a rolled up newspaper!

I'll be back on Monday with some more sneak peeks so I'll hope to see you back here then. Meanwhile have a lovely New Year's Day and a great weekend!

Hugs,

What's new at Stampin' Up for 2015?

Hello! I'm just checking in on New Years Eve to wish you a happy 2015! (And if I've been playing around with some new Stampin' Up products, well who can blame me? There were a couple of VERY tempting boxes of lurking about on my desk!)

This card was made with new stamps from the upcoming new Stampin' Up spring/summer catalogue. I couldn't wait to get my paws on these! There are more cute characters in the set and they're all holding up placards that you can fill with a variety of sentiments, making it perfect for any occasion you could possibly think of! I stamped the year in mine using the Project Life Day to Day stamp set...

...then stamped the inside of my card with the Happy New Year sentiment from Making Spirits Bright. (LOVE this fun set with it's fab drinks images and greetings covering all occasions - but hurry as it's only available until the end of today!)

NEW STAMPIN' UP SPRING/SUMMER CATALOGUE 2015
I know what you're thinking - when can you get your hands on the new catalogue?! It will be available to view online on 6th January and I'll be posting them out to my customers in the meantime (so if you haven't received yours in the next few days, do let me know.) Can't wait for yours? Well, the Stampin' Up Artisan Design Team will be show-casing some of the new products in tomorrow's blog hop, so do come back here tomorrow and join in with that!

FREE STAMPIN' UP PRODUCTS!
Just when you thought 2015 was getting off to a great start, your happy new year just got even happier! How?

Well, the amazing Stampin' Up Sale-a-bration promotion will be starting on the 6th January too and that means you'll be able to get some wonderful goodies for free when you do your Stampin' Up shopping! There are free stamp sets, papers and accessories plus, new this year, blendabilities and project life items! YAY!

GRAB A BARGAIN IN THE SALE!
Before you get carried away with all the gorgeous new goodies on offer, don't forget that the Stampin' Up year end sale continues until 5th January! Canny shoppers can bag themselves some amazing bargains with prices slashed by up to 80%! Why not click on my shop below and have a browse?

Click above to place an order any time, day or night,

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

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

I hope you had a great Christmas. I was expecting chaos in our house with a young puppy but in fact she behaved beautifully and obviously enjoyed having the whole family together. There were some memorable moments:

My husband handing me a present that had been wrapped in small pieces of four different Christmas papers. "It's a bit eccentrically wrapped I'm afraid," he said!

My eldest son, sampling the boxing day buffet, saying "Mmmm! This is nice. What flavour is it meant to be?!"

The puppy opening her very own present very efficiently...

... and being inseparable from Pig Friend for the rest of the day!

See you tomorrow,

Hello lovely Wetlands birds!

Like most other stampers, my idea of a happy moment is to sit down to craft with no time constraints, no chance of being interrupted and lots of lovely stash to choose from! That was how this card came about:

The Direct To Card Stock ink technique is such a favourite technique of mine - You get beautiful, unique backgrounds every time and it's so simple to do! I swiped my Whisper White card stock with Soft Sky and Blushing Bride to make a background with a wintery feel and stamped the birds from Stampin' Up's gorgeous Wetlands stamp set over the top using Midnight Muse ink.

I like to add just one or two little details to my cards to complement the stamping and here I chose a line of piercing and one of the Essentials hardware clips with a tiny bakers twine bow tied to it. I love these little clips - they're flat so they don't add too much bulk and with an arrow and ampersand to choose from, as well as the paper clip I used today, they're bang on trend.

The card was finished with this sentiment from Happy Day. It usually says 'Hello there' but using my Midnight Muse marker and a stamp-a-majig I was easily able to use just the part of the sentiment I wanted.

Here's what you'll need to make this project

Stamps: Wetlands, Happy Day

Ink: Midnight Muse, Blushing Bride, Soft Sky

Card stock: Crumb Cake, Whisper White

Other: Midnight Muse markers, Essentials hardware clips, Calypso Coral bakers twine, Essentials piercing template, piercing mat and tool, stamp-a-majig

You can order from my online shop any time, day or night,

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

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

After a great New Year's Eve celebration involving music, dancing, fireworks (on the telly - there was no way I was going out there!) and the enthusiastic clinking of glasses (some would say the over-enthusiastic clinking of glasses!) we are slowly getting back to some kind of normality here (and no sniggering thank you!) On New Year's Day, my husband and I were treated by our fabulous children to a three course meal. They planned it, shopped for the ingredients and made it together (with no rows!) while we sat back and enjoyed a film. And then for the 'tada' moment:

It was all absolutely delicious. They'd come up with some fabulous dishes like the hazelnut, pear and rocket salad starter shown above and I particularly appreciated details such as the beautiful table setting.   Some people start 'grateful for' diaries in the new year - and I think it's a great idea to help us focus on the things that are good in our lives; if I kept one of these, my children would loom very large on every page I assure you!


See you tomorrow when I'll have a special gift to show you.

Hugs,

Happy 2014 - wishing you a happy Stampin' Up new year!

In all the excitement of preparing for Christmas you may easily have missed the gorgeous new releases Stampin' Up brought out in December! I've been using some of them today - come and see:

You might be wondering why I've been making all these New Year cards... well, it occurred to me that while I was writing Christmas thank you notes I could be sending happy wishes for 2014 too!

I used the Sweet Sayings card bases and the globe from the fabulous new Love You More set, proving that there's much more to Valentines stash than romance. The numbers from Memorable Moments team beautifully with the pre-printed card bases and it's easy to stamp the year 2014 neatly using a stamp-a-majig.

I'm loving the card bases. They are the perfect start to any kind of card and conveniently come with envelopes in coordinating colours - you get four each of Real Red, Crisp Cantaloupe and Coastal Cabana in this pack for example. In the photo, I teamed my card with the lush Coastal Cabana envelope but they're all as fab as each other!

If you'd like to send out some special thank yous, what could be more perfect than Stampin' Up's little Monster Hugs? How cute are these?!

The new Stampin' Up releases are available only until 27th January 2014 or until stocks last so don't miss out! See all the new stash here.

There's a New Year card theme at CAS on Sunday and  CASual Fridays at the moment so I'll link this card up with them.

Here's what you'll need to make today's card

Stamps: Love You More, Memorable Moments

Ink: Real Red, Baked Brown Sugar, Coastal Cabana

Card stock: Sweet Sayings card bases/envelopes,

Other: Basic rhinestones, stamp-a-majig

You can order from my online shop any time, day or night,

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

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

It's definitely time to take down the Christmas decorations now and clear the decks for a nice uncluttered new year celebration. Last year's delicious meal, prepared for the family by my three children, was such a success that they've offered to do it again - yay! My husband and I will have nothing to do but arrange ourselves on the sofas and talk about home improvements (which we'll probably never get round to doing!)

Wishing all my customers and readers a very happy new year,

A Clockwise countdown to 2014

Have you had a lovely Christmas? We certainly have! But it's over now for another year and in just a few days time, 2013 will draw to a close and a brand new shiny new year will start! I've been making cards to celebrate - come and see:

This design is based on Stampin' Up's fabulous Clockworks stamp set along with some die cut numbers but I've added elements from other stamp sets too...

... So, for example, I've sprinkled a little Coastal Cabana magic using Gorgeous Grunge, added my favourite arrow from Hello Lovely, used the Hello from Four You and the perfect new year message from Remembering Christmas. It's great fun making collage-style cards - as my daughter would say: "10 out of 10 - highly recommended!"

Here's what you'll need to make this project

Stamps: Clockworks, Gorgeous Grunge, Four You, Remembering Christmas

Ink: Summer Starfruit, Elegant Eggplant, Coastal Cabana, Pumpkin Pie

Card stock: Elegant Eggplant, scrap of Whisper White

Other: Notecards with matching envelopes, markers, Big Shot, Timeless Type sizzlits alphabet (retired), paper snips, stamp-a-majig

You can order from my online shop any time, day or night,

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

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

Top moments from our Christmas? Of course there are far too many to choose from but I loved it when all my children ganged up together in the kitchen on Christmas Eve to make special truffles for me...

They melted dark chocolate, whipped it up with double cream, left it to set in the fridge and then rolled balls of the mixture in chopped nuts, chopped coconut or cocoa powder - I nearly fainted with pleasure when I tried them!

Then there was the bit when my youngest son, who was already sporting a striking onesie and furry slippers ensemble, unwrapped this frog hat from his uncle...

 and declared his Christmas outfit complete!

And then there was the moment when our spoilt puss looked under the Christmas tree and seemed outraged to discover that there were no pampered pet pouches for her!

At the risk of sounding sentimental, the best bit was spending time relaxing with the people I love best in the whole world (ahhhhh!) Hope you had a lovely Christmas too and are looking forward to a shiny new year.

No holiday would be complete without a moment or two spent playing with my gorgeous new Stampin' Up stash so I'll be back in the next day or two to show you what I've been up to! Happy holidays!

Three Minute Thursday snowdrops

Good morning! It's Thursday and that means a fast card here at Crafting Clare's Paper Moments! I got quite excited about the card I designed for today - it's one of those cards that led on from another idea and came together quite suddenly! Come and have a look:

Do you remember the 'black magic' technique? You stamp in White pigment ink on dark card stock and then colour it in with watercolour pencils. Well this clean and simple card borrows a little from that idea!

The pretty flower sprig is from the Fruit and Flowers stamp set in the new spring mini catalogue; I've stamped it in Whisper White craft ink onto Crumb Cake card stock and added a sentiment using my stamp-a-majig to make sure it's nice and straight. By the time I'd done that the flower was dry enough to colour. I wondered if a Lucky Limeade marker would work instead of a pencil - and it does! I added highlights to my flowers using a white gel pen and then blended it with my white watercolour pencil.

The result is a luminous-looking flower that looks rather like a snowdrop - perfect for this time of the year! Does it sound as if it takes ages? Well I promise you it doesn't! Why not have a go - and do let me know how you get on!

Supplies needed for this card:

Stamps: Fruit and Flowers, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Concord Crush, Whisper White craft ink

Card stock: Crumb Cake

Other: Lucky Limeade marker, white gel pen, watercolour pencils, corner, rounder, 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. 

My daughter is home from school and is talking to the cat. "Ah Tuppence!" she says, "You are ma petite crevette!" I ask: "What's a crevette? Is it what posh people wear round their necks?" We go off into gales of laughter and then my daughter says: "No, it's what French people call babies when they're fed up of calling them chou-fleurs!" 

What storms we're having here in Buckingham! Wherever you are, keep warm and enjoy your crafting! I shall be back tomorrow with something quite different...

Hugs,

New year, new look blog, new stamps...

Hello! I'm just popping to wish you a happy new year as I know I'm not going to have a spare minute in the next couple of days. I adore Christmas but am always quite happy to put away the decorations and embrace the new year - it's a time for new beginnings, fresh ideas and a good old clear out!

You may have already noticed my new-look blog and there'll be more new things on the way too as Stampin' Up are publishing a brand new mini catalogue at the beginning of 2012... I've seen it of course, and I can tell you it's bursting with exciting new goodies! I can't wait to show you! I've used one of the new stamp sets to make a little new year card to take to a lovely friend of mine who hosted a party this week, so here's a sneak preview for you:

The misty floral panel is made with three of the flowers from a gorgeous new set called Fruit and Flowers. I love the effect of stamping onto Crumb Cake card stock using Whisper White craft ink and mounted the panel onto vellum to add to the translucent look.

This beautiful brad from the Antique Brads collection makes a lovely focal point on the ornate label from Everything Eleanor that I use so often. Aren't these brads wonderful? They come in several designs and look like elegant designer jewellery to me!

You can start ordering from the mini catalogue on 4th January when you'll be able to see it in my side bar, but do let me know if you'd like me to pop a paper copy in the post for you.

Supplies needed for this card:

Stamps: Fruit and Flowers (available 4th Jan), Everything Eleanor, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Poppy Parade, Crumb Cake, Whisper White craft ink

Card stock: Crumb Cake, Vellum

Other: Antique brads, corner, rounder, stamp-a-majig, paper snips

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. 

I hope you had a lovely Christmas. Ours was wonderful - although we were a little surprised to be woken up at 6am - not by an excited 10 year old but by my hulking great 16 year old daughter! It was perhaps a little earlier than I would've liked but the five of us soon got into the Christmas spirit! There's nothing like being snuggled up together in a warm house, enjoying giving one another presents, eating excellent food and spending time doing the things we don't usually have time to do - jigsaw puzzles, watching old films on TV, going for long country walks, playing board games... My youngest son who thrashed us all at Trivial Pursuits stunned us all by going on a roll and getting three 'pies' in succession! "You'd better watch out boys!" he said in his best gangster voice. "I'm the new janitor and it's clean-up time around here!"

Thank you for popping in today. Have a great new year's weekend and I'll see you very soon!

Hugs,