One layer speckled Summer Silhouettes

What a pleasure it is to get stamping again after a busy few weeks and, to celebrate all the gorgeous sunshine we've been having, I stamped a little garden! Come and see:

This is a one layer card but there's plenty of interest going on! The card base is one of Stampin' Up's ready-cut note cards, which are a good heavy weight and come with envelopes. I stamped the front several times with one of the splatter images from the indispensable Gorgeous Grunge stamp set and embossed with gold embossing powder.

As well as providing some lovely texture the fab gold speckles resisted the ink I used to stamp my leaves and flowers. The stamps are from Summer Silhouettes, one of my favourite stamp sets ever which, you may be interested to know, is on special offer at the moment - but hurry, because the offer ends tonight!

• Click here to see all this week's Weekly Deals - there's a bumper crop of gorgeous goodies at amazing prices!

I finished the card with a scored frame for more texture and the beautiful Happy Birthday greeting from Butterfly Basics. I LOVE this gorgeous sentiment and am currently using it for all my birthday cards!

A great big thank you to the lovely ladies at Less is More for inspiring me to get stamping today with their One Layer Splatters challenge :)

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE THIS CARD NOW!
Click on any item to be transported to my online shop!

Summer Silhouettes Wood Stamp Set £21.95 now only £16.46	Strawberry Slush Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	Pistachio Pudding Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95
Simply Scored £25.95	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder £3.95	Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes £5.50

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.

We spent the Easter weekend together as a family and had a wonderful time! I made a buffet style lunch this year and included a basketful of hard boiled eggs decorated with funny faces.

Naturally my daughter couldn't resist copying the expression on her egg!

Our annual treasure hunt went really well with the favourite clue being 'A silly clue' (which led to a window sill!) There was a new twist this year with some of the clues being Puppy Cards; this meant that the person who found the card had to ask Eva to Sit and Stay while they hid a treat and then asked her to Find It!

She loved being involved in the hunt and became very excited when we all cried "It's a Puppy Card!"

Afterwards, when the children found their chocolate eggs, she was given a frozen carrot and retired to the garden to toss it about!

I hope you all had a happy Easter. Do come and join me again tomorrow when I'll be having a baby moment!

A one layer garden with Summer Silhouettes

Today is the last day to take advantage of the latest Weekly Deals (check the list here) and I'll be back with the new deals tomorrow, so don't miss those!

Meanwhile, the stamping continues with a one layer card I made after a well-earned moment with a cup of tea in my garden yesterday. Come and see:

One of the things I love about nature is that it's very good at providing a surprise of colour and I've tried to replicate that here using Stampin' Up's Summer Silhouettes to stamp the lower flowers in Crushed Curry and a taller one in Strawberry Slush. I embossed everything with clear embossing powder because I'd toyed with the idea of adding the Hardwood background stamp to pull the flowers together. In the end, I changed my mind and grounded the flowers with a little gentle sponging.

The sentiment is a lovely dynamic one from Stampin' Up's brilliant Sassy Salutations set. I liked the way it nestled into the shape I'd created with the flowers - a happy chance!

You can see how I was inspired by this little scene in my garden!

I'll link this card up with Less is More, where the ladies are looking for one layer thank you cards, and the One Layer Simplicity challenge where the theme this month is Fabulous Flowers.

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE THIS CARD
(Click on each item to find it quickly in my shop) 

Stamps: Summer Silhouettes wood or cling, Sassy Salutations wood or cling

Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Crushed Curry, Strawberry Slush

Card stock: Whisper White notecards with matching envelopes

Other: Clear embossing powder, heat tool, stamp-a-majig

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.

CHOOSE ONE OF THESE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SETS WITH EVERY £60 YOU SPEND (excl. p&p)

I'm having a senior moment! The yellow flowers in my photo are cowslips, part of the primula family, but I can't for the life of me remember the name of the pink plant... Can anyone put me out of my misery? The pink one has gone rogue in my garden, seeding itself all over the place. I rather like it when plants do that as it's often a charming surprise, although turning up in the middle of my gravel path is perhaps a little impudent!

See you tomorrow,

A spray of turquoise ink

Turquoise is everywhere at the moment - have you noticed? I've been wearing it with a zing of coral so when I saw the challenge at Less is More was A Touch of Turquoise this week, I thought I'd try it on a card. Come and see:

I could have chosen any of the beautiful new florals from Stampin' Up's spring/summer catalogue to make this design but I was feeling wistful for an old friend so out came Summer Silhouettes.

The leaves and flowers were stamped in a triangular shape using two of the turquoise-ish colours: Coastal Cabana and Island Indigo. The banner is from one of the stamps in the Apothecary Art set. It was too long so I cut it down and hid the join with the fussy cut sentiment. No-one would ever know...!

The sketch I used comes from the ever-inspiring CAS(E) this Sketch.

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE THIS CARD
(Click on each item to find it quickly in my shop) 

Stamps: Summer Silhouettes wood or cling, Apothecary Art wood or cling,
Sassy Salutations wood or cling, 

Ink: Coastal Cabana, Island Indigo, Early Espresso, Calypso Coral

Card stock: Whisper White, Pool Party

Other: Paper snips, stamp-a-majig

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.

The Easter holidays have begun so life has gone into overdrive again! My youngest son took pity on me and offered to go to the supermarket for me today. I rummaged around in the cupboards to see what we needed while he wrote the list. "We'll need sprouts," I said. "How many?" asked my son, writing it down. "Hmm, let's see - about 16," I said. "And we'll need a couple of parsnips." He looked up. "Two?" he asked. I nodded. "Yes, and could you get a pat of butter? Just one." He twinkled at me and launched into song: "And a partridge in a pear tree!"

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. I'll be back on Monday when I'll be turning my attention to birthdays! Hope to see you then,

Welcome with Summer Silhouettes

As the holidays draw to an end and autumn approaches, I find that this is a great time of year to sit back and take stock of life, to work out what's working and what's not, and make a few adjustments.

One of the things that definitely IS working for me is being a Stampin' Up demonstrator. I love the way it enables me to make money doing something I love; fits around my family life; satisfies my need to create; and introduces me to lovely people who share my passion.

Perhaps you've been wishing for something like this in your life too? Maybe you've been wondering about joining Stampin' Up but aren't sure if it would work for you? If this is you, I'd be more than happy to chat about it with you, let you know how it works, and answer your questions. Just give me a call on 01280 820593 or email me here.

It's so exciting deciding what you want in your starter kit (it only costs £99 and you get £132-worth of Stampin' up goodies as well as your business supplies!) and it's like Christmas opening your box when it arrives! I like to welcome new members of my team with a gift too. Here's one I made earlier on in the year:

As well as my exclusive Inkredibles handbook that I've written to help you get started, you'll get colour swatches of all the current card stock, plus...

... a notebook to keep track of all your amazing ideas and...

... some chocolate to keep your strength up - after all, unpacking all those goodies from your starter kit is exhausting! This one's wrapped in the gorgeous Polka Dot Parade designer paper and decorated with punched flowers and leaves and some beautiful stitched satin ribbon.

No gift would be complete without a card of course! This one is made using one of my favourite colour combinations as well as one of my favourite stamp sets of all time - Summer Silhouettes.

Isn't this a lovely sentiment?! It's one of the clever stamps from the useful Occasions Alphabet set which fit perfectly in the Ticket duo builder punch.

• If you'd like to join my team of Inkredibles, click here and follow the links.

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Occasions Alphabet
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green, Cherry Cobbler plus Island Indigo for sponging
Card stock: Whisper White
Other:  Pumpkin Pie taffeta ribbon, Ticket duo builder punch
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.

It's been a holiday weekend here and we drove to Somerset to visit family. The place we stayed in featured a surprising bead curtain leading through to the bathroom. My husband disapproved of this, much to my amusement. "You feel as if you're about to have a tarot reading every time you go to the loo!" he grumbled.

See you tomorrow,

A Summer Silhouettes hello

I have so many new stamp sets to play with I'm as happy as a pig in clover (although hopefully just a little more elegant!) But sometimes you see a challenge, like the wonderful ColourQ palette this week, and a favourite set that you've had for ages immediately jumps into your mind. Summer Silhouettes is a real 'must have' stamp set in my opinion and I adore it in this colourway. Come and have a look:

This really is the simplest of cards: I stamped a border of leaves and flowers down the left of the front panel and added a tag from the Tag-a-Bag accessory kit...

... stamped with my favourite 'hello' from the new Four You sentiment set. The stamping and the label were linked with a fussy-cut flower, left over from another project, which I decorated with a black candy dot. The card was finished with some more black dots doodled with the fine end of my black marker.

I'm pleased with this layout which I shall definitely use again. I provided a sketch in case you fancy using it yourself.

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Wildflower Meadow, Four You
Ink: Gumball Green, Tangerine Tango, Summer Starfruit classic inks, Stazon black
Card stock: Whisper White
Other: Basic Black marker, Tag from Tag-a-Bag accessory kit,  Neutrals Candy Dots, paper snips, 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.

We had a wonderful weekend in Cumbria at a large 'cottage' we'd hired and with family arriving from all over the country. We were back very late so there'll be no wittering today but I'll have photos tomorrow. See you then,

How to use Stampin' Up's new in-colours

Each time a new annual catalogue is launched, I'm always thrilled to work with the new in-colours. I was bowled over by this years new colours and have spent some very happy paper moments getting to know them. Come and see:

Pistachio Pudding
This gorgeous new green has quite a lot of blue in it so will pair best with blues, purples and the bluer pinks and reds. It's a lovely ice-cream shade too so other ice cream colours will work well with it. For my tonal sample I chose Garden Green as the darker shade.

Stamped with Summer Silhouettes

Crisp Cantaloupe
I love the vintage feel of this gorgeous colour. It's quite ice cream-ish too (or am I just feeling a bit peckish?!) so the Pistachio is a nice partner for it, and I love the way it looks with browns too. For my tonal sample, I brought in Calypso Coral and Cajun Craze for even more depth.

Stamped with Stippled Blossoms

Baked Brown Sugar
This fabulous new brown is as rich and golden as its name suggests. Try this with pretty much any other colour and it will look wonderful! For my tonal sample I gave some other browns a work out - Crumb Cake, Soft Suede and Early Espresso.

Stamped with Fine Feathers

Coastal Cabana
Blue greens are so 'now' and this beautiful colour works with so many of Stampin' Up's existing shades! For contrast, hot pinks, reds, yellows and oranges will give a lovely tropical feel but if you want to bring the temperature right down, Pool Party is its paler partner for an icy look. I chose to add in darker shades for my tonal sample with Bermuda Bay and Island Indigo.

Stamped with World Treasures

Strawberry Slush
The fifth new colour has another delicious-sounding name. It's a pink quite different to any in the existing range but is closest to Primrose Petals, though much brighter. I like it with Pacific Point, Midnight Muse, Gumball Green or Crushed Curry. For my tonal sample I gave it a background of Pink Pirouette but Blushing Bride would work well too.

Stamped with Mosaic Madness

The new in-colours come in:
• Smooth card stock
• Core'dinations sandable, textured cardstock
• Ink pads and ink re-fills
• Markers
• Designer paper stacks
• Stretch ruffle ribbon
• Boutique buttons
so there's plenty of room for coordination there!

This has been a pretty long post so I won't bore you with details of the cards. If you have any queries though, or if you'd like to place an order with me, just send an email.
• Don't forget that during the month of July, you'll get a free catalogue with an order over £30, plus a handmade gift from me!

I'll be back tomorrow with a fast card for Three Minute Thursday. See you then!

Three Minute Summer Silhouettes border

Of all the stamp sets in the Stampin' Up catalogue at the moment, Summer Silhouettes has to be one of my favourites and most used. But if you thought the set was just about flowers, think again! Come and see the fast card I made for my Three Minute Thursday slot today:

That little garden trellis in the set can turn into a rather interesting quatrefoil border! I stamped it in Gumball Green ink and coloured it in with markers. I chose these sugary colours but you could easily use more masculine colours for a male card.

The sentiment is from Delightful Dozen and used to say 'Thank you so, so much' until I doctored it with my craft and rubber scissors! I think it's important to make your stamps work for you. I added a die-cut butterfly (I keep these ready cut in a jar in every colour) and topped it with a gem to finish the card but again, a button would work for a male card or, if you had more time, you could stamp the border on scrap card and cut one of the shapes out and pop it up over the original with a dimensional.

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Delightful Dozen
Ink: Gumball Green classic ink, black stazon
Card stock: Whisper White
Other: Markers, Big Shot, Beautiful Wings embosslits die, Basic rhinestones, 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.
• It won't be long before the new annual catalogue is here and, to make way for the new items, some of our favourites are retiring. Click the links for lists of the STAMPS and ACCESSORIES that are retiring - some at amazing prices! Sale items are never around for long, so contact me as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

My favourite story all over the internet this week is the one about PC Peach - have you seen it? Apparently the crown prosecution service demanded a written statement from PC Peach, despite being told several times he was a police dog, so eventually police submitted the requested statement:

Picture from Twitter

Unfortunately the prosecution service were unable to see the funny side of it (what?!!!) but it certainly brightened up my day!

Are you wondering what I've been doing with my brand spanking new stash? Well, I've been putting it away on my shelves and stroking it and if I haven't been able to resist using some of it on a card made for tomorrow, well who can blame me!

See you then,

Summer Silhouettes card and gift box combo

I've always thought the old saying about blue and green never being seen together without another colour between them is bonkers! I love Blues and greens together and for today's project chose to combine Midnight Muse, Pool Party and Old Olive...  come and see what you think:

The leaves from Stampin' Up's Summer Silhouettes stamp set were stamped first and I added some trendy banners, one plain and one in a gorgeous herringbone pattern from the Comfort Café designer paper range. The sentiment is from Made For You - I love that curved feature.

I topped the banners with the large flower from Summer Silhouettes, stamped, fussy cut and centred with a brad, then linked the banners and the sentiment by stamping three of the tiny flower from the set.

The coordinating gift box has a lid in the same herringbone design, and I added a die-cut label stamped with Summer Silhouettes and a couple of sentiments put together with my stamp-a-majig.

Mounting the label on dimensionals allowed the taffeta ribbon to slide underneath so that I could tie the box closed with a bow. Are you wondering what's inside?

Rich, dark Green & Black's chocolate... oh yum!

Here's what you'll need for this project
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Made For You (+  Friendly Phrases, Sassy Salutations for the box)
Ink: Old Olive, Midnight Muse, Pool Party
Card stock: Whisper White, Midnight Muse
Punches:  Corner rounder, square punch
Other: Simply Scored, Big Shot, Labels framelits, Comfort Café designer paper, Whisper White taffeta ribbon, paper snips, 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.

• Get more for your money this month: Place an order for £250 and choose £65 worth of products free! Or join SU and get £155 worth of products for just £99! Offers end 30th May 2013

I'm so sorry if you were wondering where my blog post was yesterday morning. I had scheduled it as I knew we'd be on our way back from Somerset where we'd been visiting relatives, but something went wrong (now I could blame blogger for this but, to be honest, it's much more likely that it was something I'd done!) We enjoyed our trip to the west country but I'm getting the impression winter is following us around; we arrived on Saturday in blazing sunshine but the next day turned wet and wild - it really could have been November!

It's Three Minute Thursday here tomorrow so why not join me for a quick card? Hope to see you then,

Another way with Stippled Blossoms

You may just get a bit fed up with hearing me go on about how gorgeous Stampin' Up's Stippled Blossoms is... I keep thinking of new things to do with it and loving it even more! If you're after a showy bloom, that large flower is a must but the smaller flower is quite capable of carrying a card too. Come and see:

My usual thing is stamping a panel and mounting it onto a plain card base but I decided to turn that idea on its head for this card!  I stamped a floral design over the card base with the solid flower and small leaves, then placed a plain panel over the top featuring just the sentiment, a fussy cut flower, a scored frame and plenty of white space.

You really do have to get some of these little dahlias - quite a bit of the time it took to make this card was spent squealing over them! They come in all the latest in-colours and are gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! The fussy cut flower is given more importance than the background ones by having the detailed line image stamped over the top in a darker colour. (I used Primrose Petals and Raspberry Ripple which make a perfect pair) and by giving it a dimensional centre.

This happy birthday from Curly Cute makes a good strong focus to the card. There are rumours that this wonderful set of sentiments might retire quite soon so I would advise you to get it soon if you're a fan!

I thought I might link this card up as a second entry to Addicted to CAS where the challenge is Birthday and the fabulous new (to me) CAS on Sunday where the team is looking for Pastel Pretties.

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Stippled Blossoms, Curly Cute, Summer Silhouettes (background flower centres)
Ink: Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple, Gumball Green, Garden Green, Summer Starfruit
Card stock: Whisper White
Other: Simply Scored tool, paper snips, In colour dahlias, 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.
• Get more for your money - place an order for £250 and choose £65 worth of products free! Or join SU and get £155 worth of products for just £99! Offers end 30th May 2013

It still appears to be winter in Buckingham this week but what I don't understand is that the garden has decided to ignore this and press on regardless. "The garden needs an assault," said my husband yesterday. "Salt?" I said, mis-hearing him and thinking of triffids. "Isn't that a little drastic?!" 

I'll have more floral loveliness to show you tomorrow I think. See you then,