Three Minute Secret Garden

It's Three Minute Thursday here at Crafting Clare's Paper Moments and since my gorgeous Secret Garden stamp set is out on my desk, I decided to see what I could come up with in just a few minutes. So how about this:

I've mentioned before that Stampin' Up have a great range of floral stamps at the moment but if you're looking for a set with lots of different kinds of flowers capable of making a focal point, Secret Garden has to take the biscuit! This set has a coordinating set of dies too so if you wanted to pop your flowers and leaves up on dimensionals you wouldn't even need to cut them out by hand!

For this card, I stamped the flower and then, using a marker, inked up a petal on one of the other flowers and used it as a leaf. Everything was coloured in with a scribble of the aquapainter and I dotted the flower centre with my marker (but wouldn't it look fabulous decorated with a sprinkling of pearls?)  The sentiment is a lovely strong, simple one from the Essentials set on page 22 of the spring/summer catalogue.

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Secret Garden, Essentials
Ink: Pacific Point, Midnight Muse
Card stock: Whisper White, Island Indigo
Other: Gumball Green marker, corner rounder, stamp-a-majig
I'D BE DELIGHTED TO 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 PLACE YOUR ORDER, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL OR GIVE ME A CALL ON 01280 820593.

It looks as though spring might finally have sprung in Buckingham, with temperatures reaching a dizzy 12 degrees yesterday! I always used to tell the children this rhyme:
Spring has sprung,
The grass has griz
I wonder where the birdies is?
They say the bird is on the wing
But that's absurd
From what I've heard
The bird ain't on the wing at all
The wing is on the bird!
They thought it was hilarious, although to be fair that could've been because I recited it in my best New York accent (which would probably sounds Asian-Irish to your average native New Yorker!)

Tomorrow I'll have something special to show you, made for one of my girlfriends.  Do come back and see!

Pinstriped Fine Feathers

During my wanderings around Blogland (yes, that bewildered-looking lady is me!) I've been noticing loads of great challenges. Make My Monday, for example, has a fabulous Pink and Black colour challenge this week and then there's Addicted to CAS where the cue word is Masculine. Are you wondering how on earth those two challenges would go together? Well come and have a look:

I've been inspired by the popular 'dark suit with a pink shirt' look for men! The background paper is the stripe in Pink Pirouette from the Subtles Patterns designer paper stack, stamped on in black with the fabulous Fine Feathers stamp set. These Patterns stacks come in all the Stampin' Up colour families and the in-colours too, and there are four monochromatic designs in each colour. They're brilliant for stamping on as well as for using as decorative paper in its own right.

To keep the card CAS I needed a very simple, bold sentiment. This one is from the Essentials stamp set in the spring/summer mini catalogue, punched out with a circle punch and matted onto a slightly larger black circle using dimensionals. Three strands of bakers twine add a little extra interest.

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Fine Feathers, Essentials (sentiment)
Ink: Black stazon
Card stock: Basic Black, scrap of Whisper White
Other: Subtles Patterns designer paper stack, 1 3/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, white bakers twine
I'D BE DELIGHTED TO 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 PLACE YOUR ORDER, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL OR GIVE ME A CALL ON 01280 820593.
• Add a free Sale-a-bration item from this list for every £45 you spend!

Just in case you remain unconvinced about pink for a guy, I spotted an amusing story in the Mail Online recently (there was obviously no news that day!) which claimed that men who wear pink shirts 'earn £1,000 a year more than those who don't' and 'tend to be confident and get more compliments from female colleagues'. Hmmm. As a final test, I asked my husband how he'd feel if I gave him the card. "I'd be pleased," he said looking at it. "But it's not my birthday..."

It's Three Minute Thursday here tomorrow and I'll be back with a fast card. Hope to see you then!