Tag you're... feeling better!

Hello crafting pals!

It's that time of year when the sniffles start and everyone starts stocking up on tissues. Time for a Get Well card I think! Let's face it, we know it's going to come in handy at some stage! Come and see:

This cheerful card features a striped tag from a Stampin' Up Tags and More Accessory Kit. I stamped a sentiment from a retired hostess set (Express Yourself) onto a banner left over from another kit and attached it to the tag with dimensionals.

A spray of flowers from Concorde and 9th's Enjoy it All were inked up with markers, stamped and fussy cut, and I slipped a couple of die-cut leaves and some gold thread behind it.

The tag was attached to a snippet of textured Daffodil Delight card stock with some staples I'd coloured black for another project. I added a few black enamel dots too.

This card came about because I had a peek at the As You See It challenge this week and saw that LeAnne has come up with a card recipe I couldn't resist playing along with!

I'm also linking up with Pixie's Snippets Playground as I used lots of left over bits and pieces to make this card :) Eva and I will be popping round with a get well bone for Dudley and the pups can go zoom-tastic round the playground!

AND IN OTHER NEWS
No sooner have I said goodbye to one of my sons than I get the other one back! My eldest son has come to stay as he is working nearer to home at the moment. It's so lovely to have him here and there's someone else that is delighted too...

Eva adores her family and clearly misses them all. When they come home for visits, she runs to them making little delighted sobbing noises (we call them hen noises) and doing little bunny hops because she wants to jump up but knows she isn't allowed to do that.

Thanks for coming to visit me today. I'm sending hugs to anyone who's feeling a bit under the weather and hope you feel better soon. I'll be back tomorrow with another crafty project - hope to see you then!

Retro Fresh Fabulous Florets

New stamps are food and drink to my mojo but I love my old friends too. Stampin' Up's Fabulous Florets stamp set might be on the Retired List but it's definitely in my 'favourites' category and I won't be saying goodbye to it in a hurry! Come and see what I did with it today:

I love the way this flower looks in vibrant Real Red! And the contrast with the Coastal Cabana designer paper from the retiring Retro Fresh pack makes me very happy too.

The leaves were stamped twice, fussy cut with my sharp paper snips and laid together to form foliage for the flower. Doesn't it make a great flourish?! I split the designer paper panel so that you can see the Baked Brown Sugar card stock underneath and edged the bottom half of the panel with a white  sentiment strip.

• Click here to see more Fabulous Florets inspiration! Edited to add: The wood mount version of this set has already sold out but cling is still available.

I was inspired today by the 'double whammy' challenge at CAS Colours and Sketches.

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

Stamps: Fabulous Florets (retiring) wood or cling,
Express Yourself (hostess retiring) wood or cling

Ink: Black stazon ink, Real Red marker, Coastal Cabana classic ink

Card stock: Whisper White, Baked Brown Sugar

Other: Retro Fresh designer paper, corner rounder, paper snips, linen thread, 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.

Some of the items in the annual catalogue are retiring to make way for new products. Don't miss out on your favourites! Some of these items have been discounted too - check them here.

If you're a regular reader of this blog you'll know that I adore ice cream. I don't eat much of it these days but, every now and again I discover some posh handmade dairy ice cream and treat myself. You can imagine then how excited I was when I spotted this shop in Cambridge at the weekend:

Whoopeeeee! Icecream! Only to have my hopes dashed as I drew closer! Shoes? How could they?!

See you tomorrow,

A Peaceful Petals birthday

It's definitely birthday season around here! Come and see this card I made for a friend using a combination of favourite stamp sets:

I started with Stampin' Up's gorgeous Hardwood background, inking up just a little of the image, stamping off once on scrap paper and then finally stamping onto my panel. The leaves from Peaceful Petals came next. You may be wondering what's in the water around here to make the leaves Night of Navy, but I've often noticed that vintage fabric print sometimes features things in unexpected colours so I'm borrowing the idea! Why not have a go yourself? It's fun!

The flower is also from Peaceful Petals, stamped and coloured in Bermuda Bay ink and cut out with my trusty paper snips. I decorated it with a die cut button threaded with some thin chiffon ribbon.

I started with Stampin' Up's gorgeous Hardwood background, inking up just a little of the image, stamping off once on scrap paper and then finally stamping onto my panel. The sentiment is from the fabulous hostess set Express Yourself - available only until the end of June!

I used this week's colours at the Colour Thowdown to make this card, combining them with the sketch at CAS Colours and Sketches:

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

Stamps: Hardwood wood or cling, Peaceful Petals wood or cling
Express Yourself (hostess set) wood or cling

Ink: Night of Navy, Old Olive, Bermuda Bay

Card stock: Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, scrap of Old Olive

Other: Sweet Buttons embosslits die, Big Shot, aquapainter, Lucky Limeade ribbon (retired), 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.

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

When my children were tiny I used to make sure they had plenty to do on long car trips (I sincerely empathised as I hated extended car journeys myself!) We had toys and snacks as well as a selection of music cassettes (remember those?!) I'd collected from car boot sales and charity shops. They adored nursery rhyme selections but their number one favourite tape was called Silly Songs. I always remember one called Topsy Turvy Land which went:

Wouldn't it be funny if the sky was green and the grass such a lovely shade of blue?
If cats went woof, dogs meowed and birds in the trees went moo!
Oh what a lark, what a giggle, what a laugh - wearing shoes upon your hands!
You'd be walking around with gloves upon your feet in Topsy Turvy land!

The song is quite sweet but we all doubled the comedic value by putting on arch expressions while singing it!

See you tomorrow,

Petal Parade - the leafiest of them all

If you're looking for layout inspiration, the CAS(e) This Sketch challenge never disappoints! There's another cracking sketch there this week and it immediately made me reach for Stampin' Up's Petal Parade free Sale-a-bration set. Come and see:

What do you think? I think it works really well as a mirror image!

I love the strong font from See Ya Later (another set that you can choose free as part of the promotion) and the cursive font from Express Yourself made a nice foil for it, so I used markers and a stamp-a-majig to make a brand new hybrid sentiment. This is so easy to do (click here for a video tutorial) and the possibilities are endless!

I thought this made a nice motif for a male birthday so I made a gift box to go with it. This is another useful basic box to have in your repetoire sp, if you love this idea, look out for my video tutorial coming later in the week!

These will be perfect for my father next month and I can fill the box with something delicious to eat!

Here are the sketch and colour palette I was working from today. Unfortunately I ran out of time to link to ColourQ - the challenge there has closed:

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

Stamps: See Ya Later (free with Sale-a-bration) wood or cling,
Petal Parade (free with Sale-a-bration) wood or cling, Express Yourself (hostess set)

Ink: Gumball Green classic ink, plus Island Indigo and Calypso Coral markers

Card stock: Whisper White, Smoky Slate smooth and core'dinations

Other: Labels framelits, Big Shot, Simply Scored, Essentials paper piercing template, mat and 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 A FREE SALE-A-BRATION GIFT WITH EVERY £45 YOU SPEND (excl. p&p)

That gorgeous bedroom in the ColourQ inspiration photo reminds me of a conversation I had with my daughter while looking on Pinterest for ideas for revamping her room.
My daughter: I'd like to be there... you'd get up and make yourself a cup of tea...
Me: Couldn't someone else do that?
My daughter: Well no, because then they'd come in and pester you!
Me: Well you could just hiss at them and watch them scuttle off!

See you tomorrow,

The three minute retro mouse

I loved the retro 'line art on block colour' treatment on this card I showed you on Tuesday, so I carried on with the idea for my three minute card today. Come and have a look:

The block colour background was created by sponging Soft Sky ink into a mask made with a 1" circle punch (a sponge dauber is perfect for this as it gives a nice even finish.)  I added the mouse from Life in the Forest using a stamp-a-majig to make sure he was where I wanted him. By the way, here's what I think of that little mouse: SQUEEEEEE! Sorry about that - hope I didn't hurt your ears! Now, let's take a look at some other versions I rustled up:

Here's a Pistachio Pudding one. The rule here is to choose any colour that formica kitchens were made in back in the 50s, and it will work superbly for this retro look!

I was using the Express Yourself hostess set for the sentiments on these cards and I couldn't resist using 'love you' with an added heart embellishment (from the owl punch). I love you too Mr Mouse!

• Hostess sets are gorgeous, exclusive stamp sets that are usually only available with orders of £150 or more but my Stampers 6 club members are also able to order them as a perk of their membership. If you're interested in joining my club, click here for all the information. There'll be a new group starting in April and places will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis. I'd love you to join me!

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

Stamps: Life in the Forest wood or cling, Express Yourself (hostess) wood or cling

Ink: Soft Sky, Pistachio Pudding, Summer Starfruit classic inks, stazon black

Card stock: Whisper White, scrap of Real Red (for the heart)

Other: 1" circle punch, sponge daubers, owl punch (for the heart), 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 A FREE SALE-A-BRATION GIFT WITH EVERY £45 YOU SPEND (excl. p&p)

Wouldn't it would be wonderful to have a dining set like this:

What a gorgeous splash of colour and those chairs look very comfortable! The only trouble is, I'd have to decorate the whole house to match and...

... aaaargh! Stop it! Please...

...no! It's Formica Hell!

All the day-glo formica will be swept away by tomorrow when I'll have a cute little Easter project to show you - including an easy-to-follow video tutorial. See you then,

Raising a glass or three

Today is a sad Monday because my children have all gone back to school after half term - but the news that I was the winner at CAS(e) this Sketch last week with this card has cheered me up no end! I'm always inspired by the sketches there and this week there's another great one. Here's what I've made...

... and here's the sketch I was working from:

I knew I wanted to use the lovely champagne glasses from Stampin' Up's Embellished Events stamp set  and thought sequins and bubbles would form the right sort of shape.

I thought it was going to look a little too minimilist though - even for me!  - so I added interest with a split panel. I used a combination of lovely textured core'dinations card stock and Soft Sky smooth and stamped the glasses over both.

Have you noticed those curved corners on the panel? My envelope board did those - that board has to be one of the most useful items in my Craft Square Metre!

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

Stamps: Embellished Events wood or cling, Express Yourself (hostess set)

Ink: So Saffron, Tangerine Tango

Card stock: Whisper White core'dinations, Soft Sky Smooth card stock

Other: Envelope board (used to round corners), sequin trim, 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 A FREE SALE-A-BRATION GIFT WITH EVERY £45 YOU SPEND (excl. p&p)

We had a lovely half term but why is it that everything always gets crammed in at the end? It all started in the most relaxing way but now we all need a holiday after the holiday!

See you tomorrow,

Petal Parade - or is that Metal Parade?!

It's sleepover city at our house this weekend as my children wring the last pleasures out of the holidays, but that means that no-one has noticed me sneak off to fiddle about with inks and card! Come and see what I've made:

I'm fascinated by the contrast between the masculinity of the metal plate and the femininity of the stamped flowers. You may recognise those flowers - they're stamped with Stampin' Up's Petal Parade, one of the gorgeous stamp sets you can get free with a £45 order during Sale-a-bration. Oh and there's a little flower in there from Banner Blast, another of the free sets!

I think the metal plate is quite convincing but it is in fact pierced silver foil card stock. The foil shape was cut using one of the Adorning Accents edgelit dies - so easy to use these now I have my magnetic platform to hold them firmly in place as I run them through the Big Shot! I've tried to take a close up but I'm sure I'm not the only LiMette this afternoon who has found that metal finishes are the very devil to photograph!

I was inspired today by Less is More where the challenge is to use Metal on a card (I'm hoping my faux metal will pass muster!) and by this week's fabulous Colour Q colour palette (you may notice I've swapped the peachy colours for corals instead.)

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

Stamps: Petal Parade (free with Sale-a-bration), Express Yourself (hostess set)

Ink: Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, Summer Starfruit, Always Artichoke

Card stock: Whisper White, Silver foil card stock

Other: Large oval punch, Adorning Accents edgelits, Big Shot, magnetic platform, Essentials piercing templates, mat and tool

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 A FREE SALE-A-BRATION GIFT WITH EVERY £45 YOU SPEND (excl. p&p)

All this thinking of metal reminds me of a time my boys turned into metal detectors. We'd gone to a beach when they were small and I was lying in the sun while my boys built a sandcastle nearby. I smiled as I listened to them happily weaving stories of pirates and treasure. After a while, a note of unbridled excitement crept into their game and I looked up to find that they were digging a good deal more frantically than usual and had accumulated quite a pile of loose change - I suppose they'd been building on a site where a dad had been buried in the sand and had lost the contents of his pockets! The boys' booty probably amounted to less than a pound, but their enthusiasm for sandcastle building became quite obsessive from then on!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll see you very soon,

Congratulations with Secret Garden

When I first joined Stampin' Up, I certainly couldn't have imagined that I might build a team and help others to start their own businesses too. But, as I began to learn about how Stampin' Up worked, I became enthusiastic about sharing my experience with others and that's when I started my fabulous Inkredibles group. I love getting to know my team and working out how best to support them - whether they want to earn some money or simply enjoy Stampin' Up as a hobby. I'm always delighted when they reach a milestone so I thoroughly enjoyed making today's project for the lovely Jan to celebrate her promotion just before Christmas. Come and see:

It's always lovely to get a handmade something through the post, and a promotion is the perfect excuse to send a card and little gift to say congratulations!

The card was made with Stampin' Up's beautiful Secret Garden set, stamped onto Core'dinations card stock to give a nice textured look. This stamp set has coordinating dies so that you can cut the elements out neatly without scissors if you choose.

I cut out one of the flowers to embellish the scored sentiment banner on this card. I've used the beautiful Express Yourself hostess set again as I think it has to be my favourite sentiment set of the moment! And can you see the piercing round the edge of the panel? I always think a pierced frame adds a nice bit of subtle detail and a neat finish and it's so easy to do with the Essentials piercing templates.

I was really pleased with this little box, made to house one of my team bracelets and a charm. The belly band was made out of Colour Collection designer paper - these amazing stacks come in ALL the Stampin' Up colours and are so useful! The box was tied up with 1/8" taffeta ribbon with two branches from the 2 step bird punch tucked into it, and embellished with one of the tiny flower punches from the Itty Bitty punch pack.

• There's always room for more members in my team and I'd love to welcome you aboard. Click here for more details or give me a ring on 01280 820593 for a no-pressure chat.

Here's what you'll need to make this project

Stamps: Secret Garden, Express Yourself

Ink: Early Espresso

Card stock: Very Vanilla smooth and core'dinations, scraps of Garden Green and Rich Razzleberry for  box embellishments

Other: Secret Garden framelits, Big Shot, 2 step bird punch, Itty Bitty punch pack, Basic pearls, Colour Collection designer paper (regals), Rich Razzleberry 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Essentials piercing templates mat and tool, Simply Scored, 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.

I'd invited all my children to see the Desolation of Smaug at the cinema yesterday but, since my eldest son got a better offer (!) and my daughter ended up working instead, my youngest son turned out to be my sole companion. He suggested that we watch Frozen instead as we both love a good animation. Sadly it turned out to be a pretty mediocre film in terms of plot and character but it really was a visual treat.  The only problem was that the theatre was a bit on the nippy side and I'd left my coat in the car so all the ice and snow was probably the last thing I needed!

See you tomorrow when I'll have another special gift to show you!