Inspired by chocolate packaging

While out shopping for gifts for a friend I suddenly found myself in Hotel Chocolat - I know, I've no idea how it happened! They certainly know how to present their goodies in there and I found myself quite inspired... So inspired in fact, that I based the gift wrapping for my friend around a box of chocolate buttons! Come and see:

The packaging was a gorgeous soft blue - very like Stampin' Up's Soft Sky. I stamped the panel with the swirl from the Creative Elements stamp set using Soft Sky ink which gives a lovely tone-on-tone look. Before attaching the panel to the card front I wound some white bakers twine round it...

...and topped it with a chalkboard style sentiment. This was made by stamping the Happy Birthday from Perfectly Penned using versamark ink and heat embossing it with white embossing powder. I always use my embossing buddy to do this so that I don't get unsightly white specks all over the place! Once the embossing was done, I cut the sentiment out with a die from the Apothecary Accents pack of framelits. Isn't it a gorgeous shape?! And it has a coordinating template in the Essentials piercing pack too so it was easy to add a pierced frame for a bit of extra detail.

I made one of my simple boxes out of the Soft Sky card stock and topped it with a panel stamped with that Creative Elements swirl again. I had some black satin ribbon (sadly retired now) which I thought looked rather swish...

...  and I added a little tag made with an image from the Chalk Talk stamp set which tied in rather nicely with the whole chalkboard theme.

Here's the box of chocolates that set me off - they were chocolate buttons in the shape of vintage buttons for goodness sake! How fabulous is that?!!

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

Stamps: Creative elements, Perfectly Penned

Ink: Soft Sky

Card stock: Soft Sky, Whisper White (for the lining)

Other: Versamark, white embossing powder, heat tool, Apothecary Accents framelits, Big Shot, Essentials piercing pack mat and tool, white bakers twine, 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.

The word 'buttons' always makes me laugh: One of our neighbours acquired a kitten some years ago -  a tiny ball of grey and white fluff. They named it Buttons and it really was as cute as a button. Fast forward a few years and you should see it now! It's a great bruiser of a cat, with a cauliflower ear and cross eyes, who terrorises the neighbourhood with his gangster ways! Whenever we see this animal we cast our eyes to the sky, shake our heads and mutter "Buttons! I ask you!"

Have a great weekend and I'll see you very soon,

Three minute notelet - and a new stampin' Up catalogue

As the evenings begin to draw in and autumn approaches, Stampin' Up has produced a fabulous new catalogue to cover all the events of the season. As always, there are plenty of exciting new goodies and some gorgeous projects too! Click the picture of the catalogue below to have a browse and get in touch. to order items or if you'd like a copy to curl up with.

And there's MORE exciting news today with a very special offer involving butterflies. Check it out on my Special Offers page.

We're definitely feeling the onset of autumn now with only one more week of the school holidays left. I love the holidays although it can be challenging - relaxing with the family one minute and struggling to catch up with life the next! Today's  little notelet was made in one of the frantic moments - but that's what Three Minute Thursday is all about: cards in minutes! Come and see:

The moment I saw the new Off The Grid background stamp, I wanted to try it with a floral! I stamped it on a card base made with core'dinations card stock to emphasise the griddiness (yay! it's a new word!) of the image and added the scribbled-style flower from the Flower Shop set with a matching candy dot. This bold, flowing sentiment from Perfectly Penned finished the card off.

I was so pleased with this little card I made three more of them in different colours - which just proves how speedy they are!

Here's what you'll need to make this set of cards
Stamps: Flower Shop, Off The Grid, Perfectly Penned
Ink: Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, Crushed Curry, Wild Wasabi, Bermuda Bay, Rich Razzleberry
Card stock: Whisper White core'dinations
Other: Candy dots, stamp-a-majig
I CAN 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 FIND OUT MORE OR TO PLACE YOUR ORDER, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL OR GIVE ME A CALL ON 01280 820593.

Talking of speedy, the children and I were watching a film the other evening when a large spider strolled out from under a chair to join us. He wasn't entirely welcome (!) and I banged the floor behind him to send him towards the open French windows. This had the desired effect and he took to his heels and galloped outside. "My goodness," said my older son with respect. "He really can move can't he?!" I nodded. "I expect they call him Spidey Gonzalez!" I said which, I reckon, was pretty speedy of my poor brain too!

See you tomorrow,