Arranging the Fun Flowers

If you've been wanting to take advantage of Stampin ' Up's latest low-priced weekly deals, there are two days left to do so! Here's a reminder of what's on offer:

• Stampin' Write Markers (new colour kit) £23.95 NOW £17.96 (Includes Bermuda Bay, Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry, Island Indigo, Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party, Smoky Slate, Wisteria Wonder)
• Christmas Ornament punch £14.25 NOW £10.69
• In colour Boutique Details £8.25 NOW £6.19 
• Modern Medley designer series paper £9.95 NOW £7.46
• I Am Me designer series paper £9.95 NOW £7.46
• Fun Flowers Bigz L Die £28.95 NOW £21.71
• Afternoon Daydream Kit (digital download) £6.95 NOW £4.17

If you'd like to order any of these items at the special price, just pop over to my online shop and click on the Weekly Deals promotion picture.

If you're a fan of those fabulous Bigz L dies, the Fun Flowers die is certainly a bargain! I've layered up some of the flowers from it on this card:

It makes a real statement doesn't it?! I used lush Elegant Eggplant card stock with a matching button and finished it with a contrasting bakers twine bow.

Leaves and flowers from Stampin' Up's Peaceful Petals stamp set make a pretty background. I coloured them with markers and sponged Soft Sky ink around them.

One of the great things about these Bigz L dies is that they're happy cutting all sorts of materials as well as card stock including felt, fabric, foam, magnetic sheets, leather, craft aluminium, cork... A lovely and extremely talented friend of mine made this stunning appliquéed tea cosy using the die:

And (on a much lesser scale!) here's a corsage that I put together using fabric that Stampin' Up used to carry.

What would you make with this die? Doesn't it make your imagination run riot?!

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

Stamps: Peaceful Petals wood or cling, So Very Grateful (for the sentiment) wood or cling

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Elegant Eggplant, plus markers

Card stock: Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant

Other: Fun Flowers Bigz die, Big Shot, Regals designer buttons, Crushed Curry bakers twine from Tag a Bag accessories pack, 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.

Life is on another of its 'go fasts' here and I am as busy as a bee! Recently I helped my daughter have a massive wardrobe clear-out, taking a pile of outgrown or no longer wanted garments to the charity shops and throwing away damaged beyond repair ones. We also ended up with a pile of clothes that need adjusting and I thought it would be a great idea to teach my daughter how to do this. Neither of us have had the time yet though. " We are a busy as bees!" I said when we talked about it this weekend. "I know," said my daughter happily. "Running around pollinating all the plants and making honey!"

See you tomorrow,

Twitterpated fabric brooches

I can't tell you how excited I am - I've had a preview of the new autumn/winter mini catalogue (which will be released on 1st September) and it is chock full of loveliness! We are lucky enough to be getting this gorgeous 40 page seasonal catalogue AS WELL AS our new annual catalogue to be released on the 1st October! Of course, members of my Stampers 6 club will be receiving these as soon as I get them and won't be paying a penny for them - it's just one of the benefits of belonging to my club. Another perk is that I like to make little gifts for my ladies, which I pop into the parcels along with a handcrafted card. Here's a recent gift:

It's a little flower brooch made with flowers cut from the summery Twitterpated fabric with my Fun Flowers Bigz L die. The centre of the flower is one of the Twitterpated designer buttons layered on an Old Olive button. The whole thing is sewn together in the middle and attached to a brooch fastening.

Here I am modelling one of the brooches and looking like a loon! The reason I'm looking like this is that my youngest son was taking this photo, looking very fetching in his underpants - all my arguments have failed to convince him that this is not an acceptable mode of attire in public!

Would you like to join my Stampers 6 Club and get gorgeous Stampin' Up goodies each month for six months, free catalogues, handmade gifts and cards, the opportunity to get exclusive hostess stamps and papers and help and advice from me if you want it? EDITED TO ADD: I forgot to mention that during your hostess month you get to choose at least £25 of goodies FREE!!! I have a new group starting in September and there are three places available - do email me to let me know if you'd like one of them.

It's Three Minute Thursday tomorrow so do pop back to see my latest super fast card design!

Hugs,

PS It was sports day yesterday and IT DIDN"T RAIN!!!

Outlined Occasions valentine

If you are a regular reader of my blog you'll know that the St Lukes Charity Challenge is something I wholeheartedly support. It was set up to help raise money for the St Lukes Hospice in Sheffield which cares for terminally ill patients and their families. The hospice is only partially funded by the government and has to find a further £4 million a year to remain open. Here's how the Challenge works: Each month a new theme is set and you're invited to make cards for a chance to win a prize; the cards along with any others you can spare, can be sent in and sold to raise funds for the hospice. Do join in - you'll be doing something worthwhile as well as having fun!

This month's theme is 'love and lace' and I'm also joining in with the Paper Players where Nance wants to see flowers on our cards, and Make My Monday where the theme for February is Romance and this week's challenge is 'love letters - script or verse'. Here's what I've come up with:

The script background was made by stamping some Whisper White card stock in versamark with the En Français background stamp and embossing it with clear embossing powder. It's hard to see in the photo but has a lovely shiny finish in real life. I sewed a border (not very well I'm afraid!) and distressed the edges of the card stock, then stuck the panel to my card base. It was ready to be embellished!

I do like the lacy effect you get from embossing thick vellum! This flower has been made by die cutting vellum card stock that was previously embossed using the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder. I used the largest flower on the Fun Flowers Bigs L die. The centre is a vellum button made with the  Sweet Button embosslits folder layered over a punched circle and sewn with a piece of red embroidery floss. I tucked a Little Leaves die-cut under the petals to add a surprise touch of colour to the red and white colour scheme.

This ribbon-tailed strip was stamped with a sentiment from Outlined Occasions. There are six stamps in this lovely set and you can get them free as part of the current Sale-a-bration promotion - click here to find out how!

Supplies needed for this card:

Stamps: En Français, Outlined Occasions (free Sale-a-bration set)

Ink: Real Red and Crumb cake markers

Card stock: Whisper White, Vellum, scrap of Real Red

Other: Versamark, clear embossing powder, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Fun flowers Bigz L die, Big Shot, 1" circle punch, Sweet Buttons embosslits die, Little Leaves die

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

Click here to see all the free Sale-a-bration sets and don't forget to let me know which free Sale-a-bration set or sets you'd like - remember, you get one item for EVERY £45 spent!

When I picked my youngest son up from school yesterday I asked him how his day had been. "It was great!" he said enthusiastically. "Everyone made snowmen... except me. I made a snow chair!"

The snow has been melting away but causing some hazardous conditions as the wet roads and pavements freeze overnight. There was an accident on the way to school yesterday - not serious thank goodness - but do take care on the roads today wherever you are.

See you tomorrow,

Less is More challenge 14 - white on white

Okay, okay - I definitely need to seek help! I found myself getting up early this morning because I had an idea in my head for this week's Less is More challenge and HAD to see what it looked like! This week Mandi and Chrissie have asked us to make white-on-white cards - which is a look I love but rarely do for some reason.

Naturally I got carried away and made two cards... Here's the first:

This one features my Sweet Buttons embosslits die. Have you come across embosslits? They are so exciting - not only does the die cut your shapes, it also embosses a detail onto them! There are four exclusive Stampin' Up embosslits on P.9 of the mini catalogue - do go and have a look! (There's a copy on my side bar, or ask me to send you one!)

I absolutely love this buttons one - look how detailed they are! They're also thinner than real buttons so they make easy-to-post cards and won't ruck up your scrapbook page protectors. I scored a frame around the arrangement of buttons and mounted my button panel onto another white panel embossed with the Square Lattice folder - texture is really important for white-on-white projects.

I attached the buttons with dimensionals, which also adds interest to a white-on-white design, and added this simple sentiment from Thank You Kindly in Basic Grey ink.

While I was making the button card, I picked up the Manhattan Flower and wondered what it would look like on its side. I tucked the bottom of my card base into it and ran it through the Big Shot using Chrissie's 'Roll it in, roll it back' tip. It came out looking kind of leafy and grassy so then I got very excited and thought an extravagant flower would look good with it... Here's the result:

I hunted about for some fabric and found an old school shirt, cut some flower shapes out of it using the Fun Flowers Bigz L die (another Stampin' Up exclusive), layered them together, secured them with one of the large rhinestone brads and positioned it on the card. Voila - and extravagant flower! But something was missing...

...A sentiment! I thought the Mr & Mrs stamp from Occasional Greetings would turn the card into something fit for a wedding, so I scored two lines across the card to nest it in.

And there we go! Very quick and simple.

What a lovely challenge this has been! And talking of challenges, my teenaged daughter has been away camping this weekend as part of her Duke of Edinburgh award. I really felt for her - after all the dry, sunny weather we've had over the last few months, why does the weather this weekend have to feature high winds and torrential downpours? There's no doubt it will be character-forming but she really will have earned a cup of hot chocolate and a hot bath when she gets home!

Thank you for looking at my cards today - I shall enjoy returning your visit you to see what you've been up to! I'll be back tomorrow with Masculine Monday if you have a minute. Hope to see you then,