Three Timeless Portrait vintage-style cards

Isn't it wonderful to get a new pack of designer paper, spread it out in front of you and think of things to do with it?! I recently bought a pack of Timeless Portrait papers and had great fun making cards with the cameo motif. Here are a few of them:

The first is a little notelet made from Very Vanilla card stock. I masked the top of the card front and stamped the gorgeous swirl from Baroque Motifs on the bottom half using Basic Black ink. A piece of Basic Black card stock neatens the edge. You will find so many gorgeous motifs to cut out of these papers to use to embellish your cards and projects - I am particularly taken with the cameos and the beautiful Gustavian-style swirls and frames. Stampin' Up's self-adhesive pearls come in a sheet of three different sizes and the tiny ones are perfect for decorating the cameo.

There's more than a touch of the vintage ladies' boudoir about the next card I made - I was thinking damask, satin, lace, pearls... 

The black satin ribbon works well with these papers and sponging the punched flowers with Crumb Cake ink and decorating them with pearls gives them a lovely vintage look.

The eyelet border punch adds a touch of lace at the bottom of the card that I think contrasts beautifully with the classic design on the paper.

I cut an aperture in the paper using the Decorative Label punch and used it to frame my cameo.

The final card is my favourite:

I embossed only part of the Very Vanilla card stock with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder before covering almost all of one half with this gloriously understated designer paper. The join is covered with black satin ribbon and then topped with this fabulous frame:

Isn't it beautiful?! I cut it out with my sharp paper snips and added a cameo and one of my vintage-style flowers.

These cards were made with just a fraction of these papers and there are loads of different styles in the pack - here are just some of them:

Supplies needed for these cards:

Stamps: Baroque Motifs

Ink: Crumb Cake (for sponging)

Card stock: Very Vanilla

Punches: Eyelet border, Decorative Label, Boho Blossoms, Itty Bitty punch pack

Other: Timeless Portrait designer paper, Basic Pearls, Basic Black satin ribbon, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder

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. 

Today my oldest son set off for boxing club then returned within minutes. "I suppose it would help if I had some kit!" he said as he came back in. "I'm so un-organised!" My daughter looked up. "You're not UNorganised - you're DISorganised!" she said. "So actually, what you are is illiterate!" One of the lovely things about having children is that they are so entertaining to listen to!

Thank you as always for your visit today and for your comments and emails which I thoroughly enjoy reading and replying to. I'll be back tomorrow with Three Minute Thursday when I'll have not just one fast card but two bonus ones as well! Hope you can join me,

Things to do with designer paper - and a special offer!

I love designer paper! I love the variety of ways to use it on a card (stamp on it, cut bits of it out, use it as a background or as a focal point, tear it, fold it, concertina it, roll it, make embellishments with it... the list is endless! It's also indispensable for gift presentation and for 3D projects - and that's before we've even started on scrapbooking! If you love designer paper too, you won't want to miss out on my special offers, but before you have a look at those, come and see today's projects:

Every now and then I feel impelled to make a tall thin card, completely forgetting what a nightmare they are to photograph! This one uses Baroque Motifs which has to be one of the best stamp sets in the universe (oh dear, I now have an image of an alien stamping on Mars...) Just look at that gorgeous flourish! On top of the flourish - hang on, lets zoom in so that you can see...

... On top of the flourish, I've arranged some foliage from my wonderful Little Leaves die and a layered flower made with flowers punched from a paper in the Blueberry Crisp range using the Fancy Flower punch. I punched through the layers with a 1/8" handheld punch and secured them with a gorgeous brad from the retiring Hodgepodge Hardware kit.

I'm entering this card into the Less is More challenge where the ladies are aiming for 1000 entries this week. They're asking for any clean and simple cards - so do pop over and enter yours too!

Oh and before you go - come and see these little gift bags I made with the Blueberry Crisp range too:

Aren't the papers divine?!!

Supplies needed for today's card:

Stamps: Baroque Motifs

Ink: Sahara Sand

Card stock: Sahara Sand

Other: Blueberry Crisp designer paper, Little Leaves die, Big Shot, Fancy Flower punch, corner rounder

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. Click here to view the Last Chance List - full of stamps and accessories, some at up to 40% off! These items are available only while stocks last - and some have sold out already!

Photographing today's card reminded me of a scene in the third Lord of the Rings film where our hero is presented with the legendary sword with which he will defeat his enemies. We watch as he draws the sword out of its scabbard and then the camera follows the blade up... and up... and even further up... and you begin to wonder whether the blade will ever come to an end! Now, I love this film but that scene made me giggle!

Thank you so much for dropping in today - don't forget to check my special offers if you'd like to bag yourself a bargain! I'll be back tomorrow with an autumnal colour palette and I'll hope to see you then.

Hugs,

Valentine/anniversary gift set using Baroque Motifs

Well, it's almost Valentine's weekend and I have another valentines project to show you - a simple card with a matching treat box containing three chocolate hearts. My very talented friend Caroline recently showed me some cards she'd made using strips of card as ribbon-alike embellishments and I thought it was the perfect technique to use on this card.

Here's how to make the card:

• Cut an A4 piece of Cherry Cobbler card stock in half vertically to make a card base. Mask off the bottom and stamp the swirl from Baroque Motifs in versamark ink before heat embossing it with clear embossing powder.
• Cut a very thin strip of Real Red card stock, using your trimmer, and glue it to the base of the embossed swirl. Cut another, slightly thicker strip and glue it underneath. Trim off the excess with sharp paper snips. 
• Press a versamark pad directly onto Real Red card stock and heat-emboss it with clear embossing powder. Punch four hearts out of the resulting shiny card stock. Glue one heart onto the card stock strips then add another overlapping it with a piece of dimensional. Reserve the other two to decorate the box.
• Stamp a sentiment onto Cherry Cobbler card stock using versamark ink. Heat emboss it with clear embossing powder. Punch out with the modern label punch and attach to the card front.

Supplies
Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Seasonal Wishes (retired)
Ink: versamark
Card stock: Cherry Cobbler, Real Red
Other: Clear embossing powder, modern label punch

Here's the matching box I made to house these sweet chocolate hearts. My chocolates were 3.5cm square x 1cm high but you can adapt the size depending on what you want to put in it.

Here's how to make the treat box:

• First make the insert for the box.
• Cut a 3.5cm x 14.5cm strip of Cherry Cobbler card stock and score it at 3.5cm, 4.5cm, 5.5cm, 9cm, 10cm and 11cm. Fold the card stock to make the insert (see diagram A side view.)

• Now make the box base.
• Cut a 6.5cm x 13.5cm piece of Cherry Cobbler card stock and score 1.5cm in on all edges. Fold all the score lines and make cuts as shown on diagram B. Fold into a box shape and secure with Sticky Strip.
• Now make the box lid.
• Cut a 6.6cm x 13.6cm piece of Cherry Cobbler card stock and score 1.5cm in on all edges.
• Stamp the card stock with the swirl from Baroque Motifs using versamark ink. Heat emboss it with clear embossing powder. Fold all the score lines and make cuts as for box base.
• Lay the lid flat and mark the centre with a pencil. (Find the centre by drawing two diagonal lines from corner to opposite corner and marking where the lines intersect.) Use the 1 1/4" square punch to cut an aperture in the centre of the lid. Cut a 3.5cm square piece of window sheet and glue to the underside of the lid.
• Fold the lid into a box shape and secure with Sticky Strip.
• Make a small square hole in a piece of Real Red card stock using the 1 1/4" square punch. Now position the 1 3/8" square punch over the hole and punch to make a thin frame. Glue this over the window on the lid of the box and decorate with the shiny hearts left over from making the card.

Supplies

Stamps: Baroque Motifs

Ink: versamark

Card stock: Cherry Cobbler, Real Red

Other: Clear embossing powder, window sheet, square punches

I do apologise for the dreadful photos today. It's nothing to do with my camera - it's just very difficult to take a photo of the rich Cherry Cobbler on a day of such low light levels!

How are you spending the Valentine's weekend? If I'm not whisked away to Paris on a swirl of rose petals (and let's face it, what are the chances of that?!) I think I'd like to curl up by the fire watching romantic films and eating chocolates!

Shall we have a look at the Punch Bunch Sale-a-bration set next week? I have a feeling you're going to need that set too!
Have a lovely weekend,

Three Minute Thursday - using Sweetheart

Good morning! Welcome to Three Minute Thursday - the place to come for speedy but (I hope!) interesting cards. Since time is ticking on towards valentines day, I thought we'd better crack on with some hearty cards! How about this romantic little number:

The designer papers come from the Play Date range and if you were only going to invest in one pack of papers this season, I'd recommend this one because there are so many different types of design in it. You could cover almost every occasion with these papers.

This could have been a rather fussy design, but the monochromatic colour scheme calms it down. (It was quite hard to get a realistic photo of this - in reality, the stamped heart is quite defined but in the photo it seems to blend into the background.)

Here's how to make this card:

• Cut a piece of Whisper White card stock 9cm x 18cm. Score and fold in half to create a card base.
• Cut an 8cm square piece of heart designer paper and attach it to the card front.
• Use a stamp-a-majig to stamp the heart outline using Cherry Cobbler ink.
• Cut a heart out of the tiny polka dot paper using the large heart punch. Stamp a flourish onto it and fix it inside the stamped heart with dimensionals.
• Stamp the word 'love' onto Riding Hood Red card stock using Whisper White craft ink and cut out. TIP: I used the Jewellery Tag punch and trimmed the edge to make a nice neat rectangle. 
• Attach the Love tag to the heart with a piece of dimensional.

Supplies
Stamps: Sweetheart, Baroque Motifs, Tiny Tags
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White craft ink
Card stock: Whisper White, Riding Hood Red
Other: Play Date designer paper, large heart punch

The main components of this card are the large heart punch £15.50, the Sweetheart stamp set £22.95 and the Play Date designer paper £8.75 - which, totted up, comes to £47.20. And, with the Sale-a-bration promotion, your money will stretch even further as you get to choose one of the four exclusive Sale-a-bration stamps absolutely free! To find out more, click here for details; and to order click here to email me.

I hope this card has got you in the mood for romance because love will definitely be in the air over the coming weeks! But don't worry if you don't make valentines cards - you can always adapt the cards for other occasions - and I'll be showing you examples.

See you tomorrow with more of my paper moments!

Three Minute Thursday - using Baroque motifs and Gifted

Good Morning! It's time for another Three Minute Thursday card and I know that a lot of you will be wanting to add to your stash of cards waiting to be mailed out pretty soon now. Today's card is an easy-to-post, one-layer card - come and see:

When making Christmas cards I tend to reach for Old Olive or Always Artichoke so today I thought I'd live a little dangerously and try Wild Wasabi instead. And I'm glad I did! Teamed with Real Red and Whisper White, there's something quite Scandinavian about this colour combination which I like.

Regular readers of my blog will know that I'm a big fan of the one-layer card and, if you like this look too, my biggest tip is to make friends with the stamp-a-majig. This is a simple tool which enables you to stamp an image, or any part of an image, exactly where you want it to be. The bauble on this card comes from a stamp in the Gifted set - can you spot it on the polka dot stamp? The stamp-a-majig enables you to use your stamps in more than one way so it's a brilliant investment. If you'd like to buy one, just send me an email by clicking here.


Here's how to make this card:

• Cut a 9cm square card blank out of Whisper White card stock.
• Ink up the swirl from Baroque Motifs with Wild Wasabi ink and stamp the image diagonally on the card front.
• Use a Real Red marker to colour the little bauble on the Gifted stamp and use the stamp-a-majig to place the image so that it looks as if baubles are hanging from the branches of the swirl.
• Stamp a sentiment in Real Red ink.

Supplies
Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Gifted, Contempo Christmas (sentiment)
Ink: Real Red, Wild Wasabi
Card stock: Whisper White

Now, I'm off into the kitchen to get my Christmas puddings made. Do you like the blasé way I said that? Actually I've never made a Christmas pudding in my life! But my friend has given me her recipe which she tells me is so easy that ANYONE could make it and that, in my book, is tantamount to flinging down the gauntlet! I'll let you know how it goes...

Tomorrow I have a card to show you which is the result of an experiment which went right! Hope to see you then. Enjoy your day!

Halloween card using Baroque Motifs

Ok, I freely admit it - I don't get halloween! We don't celebrate it in my family and I am bewildered every year by the increasingly ghastly array of costumes in the supermarket... But if I DID do halloween, I would send cards like this:

And, I have to confess, I really enjoyed making it! The bat was made by folding a piece of black card stock in half, cutting the bottom diagonally with the scallop square punch and then making a few judicious cuts with my lovely sharp paper snips. The background is just sponged in - very quick and simple!

Here's how to make this card:

• Cut an 8.5cm square piece of Whisper White card stock.
• Sponge it lightly with rough lines of Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Perfect Plum and Not quite Navy ink, overlapping them to blend. Go darker towards the edges of the card stock.
• Ink up the Baroque Motifs swirl with Basic Black ink and stamp over the background.
• Add a sentiment using a stamp-a-majig for accurate position.
• Mount the panel onto 8.8cm Tangerine Tango card stock - you only want a hint of this showing round the edges - and attach to a 9cm square card blank made with Basic Black card stock.
• Make a bat (as described above) and add to the card with a piece snipped off a dimensional.

Supplies
Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Occasional Greetings
Ink: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Perfect Plum, Not quite Navy, Basic Black
Card stock: Basic Black, Whisper White
Other: Scallop Square punch,

Well, I hope everyone that does celebrate halloween has a fabulous weekend!
I'm going to be talking about gift wrapping next week - and we could see the return of the fabulous bag-a-lope - yay!
Hope to see you then,

Three Minute Thursday - using Baroque Motifs

Hello and welcome to another Three Minute Thursday - the place to come for fast card inspiration! All this week I've been showing projects made with the beautiful Stampin Up ribbons in my special offer ribbon assortment packs (click here for more details). There are three colours of the wide, striped grosgrain ribbon in the packs - Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive and Night of Navy. Today's card features the classic Navy version:

This is one of those incredibly useful cards that takes minutes to make and can be used for almost anyone on any occasion - male, female, birthday, thank you, get well, wedding, anniversary, notecard etc.

Here's how to make this card:

• Cut a 3" square piece of Patterns designer paper in Night of Navy.
• Apply Snail to a length of striped grosgrain ribbon and wrap it around the designer paper, securing at the back.
• Stamp the image in Night of Navy ink on a scrap of Very Vanilla card stock and trim around it. Pierce the centre of the image and decorate with a brad from the Hodge Podge hardware kit. Apply dimensionals to the back of the image and attach to the designer paper panel. 
• Fix the panel to a Very Vanilla card base using more dimensionals.
• You could add a sentiment centred below the focal panel if you wanted to.

Supplies

Stamps: Baroque Motifs

Ink: Night of Navy

Card stock: Very Vanilla

Other: Patterns designer paper in Night of Navy, striped grosgrain ribbon in Night of Navy, brad from the Hodge Podge hardware kit

You may be wondering what the text on the paper says... well it's one of Shakespeare's sonnets - this one:

I never saw that you did painting need,

And therefore to your fair no painting set;
I found, or thought I found, you did exceed
The barren tender of a poet's debt:
And therefore have I slept in your report,
That you yourself, being extant, well might show
How far a modern quill doth come too short,
Speaking of worth, what worth in you doth grow.
This silence for my sin you did impute,
Which shall be most my glory, being dumb;
For I impair not beauty being mute,
When others would give life, and bring a tomb.
There lives more life in one of your fair eyes 

Than both your poets can in praise devise. 

Isn't that beautiful?!

I also couldn't resist showing you this little parcel I sent over to a friend yesterday. The brown paper is stamped with the same motif as I used on today's card. The Tempting Turquoise ink looks fabulous against the brown paper - any colour from the Brights collection would work well. I added a tag made from Crumb Cake card stock and stamped with a matching motif. One of the gorgeous adhesive rhinestones adds the finishing touch.

Hope you've enjoyed today's speedy projects. Tomorrow I'll be showing you a project using the stunning Concord Crush stitched-poly ribbon which I have absolutely fallen in love with! Have fun today and hope to see you tomorrow!

Three Minute Thursday - using Baroque Motifs and silk flowers

Hello! Welcome to Three Minute Thursday where I pass on my ideas for making swift cards each week. Today I've come over all neutral!

I rather like this colour combination - Black, White and Crumb Cake (oh yum - don't you love the new name for Kraft!) with just a touch of sparkle. The flowers and brads are from the Pretties kit, which is only available until the end of September. It's NOW ONLY £11.63! and is SO worth it as it's crammed with silk flowers, rhinestone brads, pearls in different sizes, crystal beads, pins and all sorts of gorgeousness. It's like the Magic Porridge Pot (remember the fairy story?) of the crafting world as it just seems to last for ever - I've had mine for over a year, use it all the time and it still has heaps in it! If you'd like to order it - or anything else for that matter! - just email me, or phone me on 01280 820593.

Here's how to make this card:

• Cut a 9cm square card base from Crumb Cake card stock.
• Ink up a background stamp with Basic Black ink and stamp directly onto the card base.
• Stamp a sentiment in Basic Black using a Stamp-a-majig for placement.
• Layer up some silk flowers from the Pretties kit and secure with a clear rhinestone brad.
• Attach to the card with dimensionals.

Supplies
Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Occasional Greetings
Ink: Basic Black
Card stock: Kraft (soon to be known as Crumb Cake!)
Other: Silk flowers and rhinestone brads from the Pretties Kit

Here's another one with a slightly different combination of flowers:

You could make a set of these using the same colours but different background stamps... Oooh! I've inspired myself now! Sadly I don't have the time to rustle them up now as duty calls but they will be appearing on this blog soon!

Thank you for visiting me here today. I really appreciate you taking the time to have a  look at my  projects and I love to hear what you think so do leave a comment if you have a minute!

I'll be back with some colour tomorrow.

Hope to see you then!

Birthday card using Something Fishy wheel

The sun's shining today - it's as if Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde are in charge of the weather! (Or should that be IS in charge since he's one man... ?) So I'm back to summery cards. Today's card has lots of fun techniques in it, but doesn't take long. Look:

Here's how to make this card:

• Cut a piece of Whisper White card stock 6 cm square.
• Use the heat embossing technique for the seaweed: stamp the swirl from Baroque Motifs into versamark ink then straight into Always Artichoke ink, then onto the card stock. Sprinkle with clear embossing powder, set with a heat tool, then enjoy the magic as the image turns raised and shiny. The image will be waterproof so you can stamp on top and it will resist ink.
• The background uses the 'ghosting' technique - stamp the bubbles from Circle Circus with versamark ink and rub Tempting Turquoise ink over the top with a sponge dauber. Even without heat setting, the versamark resists the coloured ink.
• Stamp the fish on a scrap of Whisper White card stock using the Something Fishy jumbo wheel. Cut them out with sharp paper snips and pop them up on dimensionals. 
• Mount the panel onto 6.5 cm square Always Artichoke card stock.
• Stamp the sentiment onto a 9 cm square Whisper White card blank using a stamp-a-majig for placement. Now attach the main panel to the card base.

Supplies

Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Circle Circus, Happy Moments

Ink: Always Artichoke, Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo, versamark

Card stock: Whisper White, Always Artichoke

Other: Something Fishy jumbo wheel, clear embossing powder

This card reminds me of honeymooning in Mexico where the sea was like taking a warm bath and we went snorkelling amongst all the brightly coloured fish. Oh happy times!

Hope the sun has found you today.

See you tomorrow!