A quick Reason to Smile...

I know - I shouldn't be here! I have a hundred and one things I'm supposed to be doing but I made the mistake of just quickly looking at the Less is More challenge and this is what happened:

This is a very quick sponged and stamped scene. For the flowers, grasses and 'leaves', I've used the fabulous Reason to Smile, an exclusive set which will be available during August only. (You can get it free with a £60 order or you can buy it for £18.95 wood mount or £14.95 clear mount - email me here to order, or for more information.)

The sentiment is from the lovely Trendy Trees set - which I haven't used for ages but must play with soon - and my scallops are cut with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch. You can see the lovely texture of the stamps in this photo and the way the two step flowers work.

This beautiful dragonfly is from Nature's Nest. I have a stash of these ready stamped in Stazon on vellum, so all I needed to do is to cut him out with my sharp paper snips and colour the back of him with markers. I added a little glitter to catch some of this fabulous sunshine we're having!

Oops, I forgot to mention it's a sketch challenge at Less is More this week... and what a great sketch (right) it is!

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

Stamps: Reasons to Smile (available during August only), Nature's Nest, Trendy Trees (sentiment)

Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Old Olive

Card stock: Naturals Ivory, vellum

Other: Markers,  Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, paper snips, stamp-a-majig

I'd be delighted to order any of these items for you and can have them delivered 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. Your free brad and ribbon set will be added automatically to any order of £45 or more during July only!

Did you see the Olympic opening ceremony last night? Wow! I must confess to have felt a little cynical about the whole thing beforehand but my family and I were blown away by it. It was uplifting, visually stunning, quirky, moving, funny and incredibly impressive in turns and I thought the cauldron of fire was the most astonishing piece of design work. It all made me feel rather proud to be British!

I'll be back on Monday with a male card using Reason to Smile - hope to see you then!

Hugs,

Free Minute Friday...

If you popped in yesterday expecting to find a nice fast card for Three Minute Thursday, you may have been a little bewildered. I'm afraid I was having a senior moment and got my posts all mixed up, so we'll have a Free Minute Friday today instead and order will be restored!

At One Layer Wednesday this week, the challenge is to make a one layer card featuring stripes, and that's what inspired me to make this quick card:

I often use three stripes from the Solid Stripes background stamp as a grounding device - I love the graphic look of it. Here I've used Early Espresso, Real Red and Old Olive - a favourite colour combination of mine for Christmas.

Here's a close-up of the stamped group. The tree is from a two-step stamping set called Trendy Trees where you stamp the trunk and the crown of the tree separately using a stamp-a-majig. You can line them up perfectly but I rather like the effect of stamping them slightly 'off'. The tree is finished with the smallest size on my Basic Rhinestones sheet to add a little festive sparkle.

Supplies needed for this card:

Stamps: Solid Stripes, Trendy Trees, Season of Joy (sentiment)

Ink: Early Espresso, Real Red, Old Olive

Card stock: Naturals Ivory

Other: Markers, Basic Rhinestones

I'd love to order any of these supplies for you and I 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. 

It's half term already - how on earth did that happen?! My two older children are off today and my youngest finishes this afternoon - whoopee!  - so we're thinking of celebrating with a visit to the cinema to see the Three Musketeers later.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you very soon.

Hugs,

Petite Pennant Christmas tree

Life has been a little bit on the hectic side lately but I've come up for air! And that means that I can join in with another of my favourite challenges - One layer Wednesday. The brief is to create a one-layer card incorporating something triangular - it could be a triangular stamp or elements on the card arranged in a triangle... This immediately reminded me of this speedy card I made last week when I sponged Christmas trees through a template made with the Petite Pennants punch. I had another idea for the template...

This kind of card really attracts me - an image stamped in a corner and acres of white space to draw the eye to it. Come and have a closer look:

Pear Pizzazz ink was sponged through the template, then the pine tree from Lovely as a Tree stamped over the top in Old Olive. I really like how textured it makes the tree!  After adding the tree trunk from Trendy Trees, I held some torn paper over the tip of the trunk and sponged Bashful Blue ink over it, creating the suggestion of a snowy slope. The Merry Christmas sentiment from Petite Pairs was just the right size for my scene and I liked the way the point of the tree fitted into the space created by the two words. The rhinestone on top of the tree emphasises the triangular shape of the stamped elements.

Supplies needed for this card:

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Trendy Trees, Petite Pairs

Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Bashful Blue

Card stock: Naturals Ivory

Other: Pennant punch, Basic rhinestones, stamp-a-majig

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. 

It's the weekend again and I've just remembered - I didn't tell you about the handmade and vintage fair at Olney I visited with my lovely friend Caroline last weekend. Olney is such a beautiful town with interesting architecture and gorgeous little boutiques and one-of-a-kind shops. We browsed those - along with this interesting-looking lady on the right... it must be so difficult getting matching footwear when you have feet like hers!

The fair was small but busy and full of wonderful nostalgic finds as well as handmade items with a vintage feel. I bought this lovely knitted handbag - just right for the autumn; and Caroline bought some fabulous vintage fabric which she plans to use to make some handmade items of her own. She creates the most wonderful pieces made from fabric - do check out her Etsy and Folksy stores for beautiful gift ideas and prepare to be wowed!

There's a different kind of fair coming to Buckingham this weekend - one with big dippers and dodgems! Oh dear...

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