A Kinda Eclectic sunburst of Bloom with Hope

You all know by now (because I've been banging on about it!) that items in the current Stampin' Up catalogues will no longer be available after 2nd June - and that includes all the hostess sets! l've been stampin' up a storm with the fabulous Bloom with Hope, and really, really recommend that you get it while you still can! Come and see another card I made with it:

This one is SO different from yesterday's card isn't it?! It's just as simple to make though! I stamped the leaves image over the bottom of the panel and added some flowers - there are loads to choose from in this wonderful set! A frame was scored in using the brilliant Simply Scored tool and Mossy Meadow ink sponged round the panel.

The leaves were left uncoloured but I added some dramatic colouring to the flowers using Wisteria Wonder and Perfect Plum markers. To add a bit of extra depth, I used some of the images from Kinda Eclectic - that dynamic sunburst and a bit of dottiness!

The card was finished with a sentiment from the retiring Itty Bitty Banners set (still available at £11.16 wood mount or £8.76 cling mount - but hurry!)

• You can earn Bloom with Hope for free when you place an order of £150 or more. The order placed can be a single order or a group order so it's well worth stocking up on basics and/or showing your catalogue to friends and family! 

This set will no longer be available after 2nd June.

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE THIS CARD NOW!

Click on any item to be transported to my online shop!

Bloom With Hope Clear-Mount Stamp Set £15.00	Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	Kinda Eclectic Wood-Mount Stamp Set £24.95
Many Marvelous Markers £89.95	Itty Bitty Banners Clear Stamp Set £10.95	Bitty Banners Big Shot Die Framelits £12.95	Simply Scored £25.95

My shop is open 24/7 so you can buy Stampin' Up products from me any time, day or night.

If you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

I'm proud to say that my youngest son has been mingling in maths circles (and have no idea where he gets that from!) He definitely hasn't lost his sense of humour though. Yesterday he asked me why girls hang around in odd numbers. (Being me, I replied that I didn't think they did really and he had to hiss at me that it was a joke - oops!) So, why do girls hang around in odd numbers? Because they can't EVEN...! Love it!

Oh my goodness, it's Artisan blog hop day tomorrow and you may or may not catch a glimpse of some new and exciting goodies from the upcoming new Stampin' Up annual catalogue 2015! Don't miss that!

Sea Street - Stampin' Up Artisan blog hop

Today is a fabulous day for THREE reasons!
1. You can now start ordering from the brand new Stampin' Up autumn/winter 2014 catalogue - woohooo! And it's my favourite catty ever with some exciting new styles!
2. You've still got time to join Stampin' Up and get £150 worth of products for just £99 (it's the last day of the offer today though, so don't miss out!)
3. It's time for another fabulous Artisan Design Team blog hop - yay!

The team have got some fantastic inspiration for you this week so are you ready to hop?! My own project demonstrates that Sea Street isn't just for children's cards but can work well for anyone - including those tricky-to-make-for teens and males in our lives! Come and see:

If you've ever visited one of those wonderful Sealife Centres you'll know where the inspiration for this card came from! I sponged the scene using inks and a mask made from torn scrap paper, then stamped and heat embossed the creatures. Don't you think the octopus from the set makes excellent seaweed?!

The scene and the porthole were cut out with Stampin' Up's useful Circles framelits. I love how shiny the Silver Foil Sheet I used for the porthole is and you can see I've studded it with some of the Mini Brads for that nautical vibe! The sentiment is from Itty Bitty Banners, stamped twice, snipped and layered.

While I was making this card I suddenly had an idea which sent me hopping about the Craft Square Metre like a loon - this kind of scene would make a great shaker card! Naturally I had to try it out:

Stampin' Up's shaker frames and window sheets make shaker cards a doddle and a little gold Stampin' Glitter created the perfect sand. Give the card a shake and you have a magical underwater sand storm going on - maybe a shark turned up aaaaargh!

It was a whole lot harder getting a photo of this card than it was making I can tell you! Anyway, my teenage boys told me they love 'cards that work' and this one certainly went down well in our household!

I  know you'll be dying to see what the rest of the amazing Artisan Design Team have been up to! Allison Okamitsu is next up, so click the button below and prepare to be wowed:

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE MY CARDS NOW!
(Click on each item to find it quickly in my online shop) 

Sea Street Clear Stamp Set	Silver Foil Sheets	Silver Mini Brads	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder
White Stampin' Emboss Powder	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad	Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad
Gold Stampin' Glitter	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Shaker Frames	Medium Window Sheets

My shop is open 24/7 so you can buy Stampin' Up products any time, day or night.

If you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

My eldest son was always a gentle, cuddly boy as a tot (and still is!) I remember when he started school and the children were welcomed with a teddy bears' picnic. They were told they could bring any little animal, not just a teddy, so my son decided to bring his bathtime shark along.

I suggested that some of the children might not feel quite comfortable eating their picnic with a shark, but he looked at me with his clear blue eyes and told me that 'Sharky would never hurt anyone'. Hmm, I suppose Sharky has his mouth open like that to show everyone how white his teeth are!

See you tomorrow,

Bright birthday with Bright Blossoms by Stampin' Up

Have you checked the Stampin' Up retirement lists yet? Loads of items are retiring to make way for new items in the new catalogue and there are some real bargains up for grabs! Are any of your favourites on the lists?

One of the sets on the Retiring Stamps list is Bright Blossoms. I find this set handy for a whole range of cards, from summer invitations to Christmas cards! (See more of my Bright Blossoms ideas here.) Today it features on a bright, happy birthday card - come and see:

I've been cutting up some card stock to use to make my own Project Life cards (see this post for why!) and of course they come in very handy as card toppers too! This one's 4" x 3" with rounded corners and I love the way it contrasts against the Wild Wasabi card base.

I used a stamp-a-majig to position my flowers and leaves and drew in a stem with a marker. The flowers are grounded with the wonderful Gingham Garden washi tape (also retiring and a bargain at  just £3.15 for three coordinating reels!) I embellished the flowers with candy dots and added a banner-style sentiment from Stampin' Up's Itty Bitty Banners stamp set.

The inspiration for this card came from the layout at Retro Sketches and the colour palette 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: Bright Blossoms (retiring) wood or cling, Itty Bitty Banners wood or cling

Ink: Tempting turquoise, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi

Card stock: Wild Wasabi, Whisper White

Other: Markers, Bitty Banners framelits, Big Shot, Gingham Garden washi tape (retiring), Brights candy dots, 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.

Talking of bright, I thought you might like to see a book that my husband recently found in a second hand book shop and brought home for my youngest son to read.

As well as such essential skills as polyphany and wireless telegraphy, the 'bright boy' is expected to excel at all forms  of sports and the book recommends building up the muscles for this...

... although I can't help thinking that the local farmers would take a dim view of their methods! There's also a section on 'mumming'. Isn't that my department?!

See you tomorrow,

Happy birthday with Epic Day inchies

I've gone square today!  Come and see:

I think the Epic Day designer papers are my favourite of this year's Stampin' Up offerings and I have very little left. There are lots of colours in the pack but I picked out just corals for this card - and just look at the different patterns! The 1" square punch is so handy for cutting these out.

Once I'd laid my inchie grid out, I embellished it with this large sprig of orchid-style flowers from the Peaceful Petals stamp set. I stamped it in Wild Wasabi ink, coloured it with my Stampin' Chalk marker and added speckles with Pool Party and Calypso Coral markers. It was cut out with my paper snips which make short work of an intricate job like this!

The birthday sentiment from Itty Bitty Banners was stamped, cut out and stapled to the panel before the card was assembled.

It was my bloggin pal Irene from All Occassion Cards Papers and More who got me going with inchies and once I'd started I was hooked! There is something very satisfying about punching out snippets of designer paper and card stock and putting them together so go on! why not give it a try?!

I'm long overdue a visit at the Snippet Playground so I'll be linking this card up there.

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

Stamps: Peaceful Petals wood or cling, Itty Bitty Banners wood or cling

Ink: Basic Grey, Wild Wasabi classic inks, plus Subtles markers

Card stock: Whisper White smooth and core'dinations

Other: Bitty framelits, Big Shot, Epic Day designer paper,  1" square punch, paper snips

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)

Hope you had a good weekend. After another busy one here I'm wistfully thinking about holidays... the kind where you do lots of lazing about in the sunshine or wandering about very slowly looking at things! There's no rest for the wicked though and I must have inadvertently misbehaved very badly because there's plenty of housework to do here today!

See you tomorrow,

So Very Grateful for a happy birthday

There's a fabulous new lot of Weekly Deals up for grabs today! Come and see:

Beautifully Baroque embossing folder £7.50 NOW £5.63
Wildflower Meadow embossing folder £7.50 NOW £5.63
Champagne glass glitter £3.25 NOW £2.44
Melon Mambo embossing powder £3.95 NOW £2.96
Pewter embossing powder £3.95 NOW £2.96
Wild Wasabi embossing powder £3.95 NOW £2.96
Heat tool (EU plug only) £25.95 NOW £19.46
The Man, The Myth board book template (digital download) £10.50 NOW £6.30

Click on any of the items to see them in my online shop - they're available at these prices until next Tuesday 13th May 2014.

And now for a little stamping! The beauty of a set like Stampin' Up's So Very Grateful is that it takes on a whole new look depending on the colours you use. It appeared on yesterday's card full of glowing sunshine colours but today it's showing a more delicate side! Come and see:

The flowers were stamped in Early Espresso ink and coloured with beautiful Pink Pirouette, Blushing Bride and Pear Pizzazz markers. A Sahara Sand card base really brings out those soft colours.

This was a fun way to use the Itty Bitty Banners stamp set: I stamped the happy birthday sentiment in two different inks, cutting the middle of the Early Espresso one out and layering it over the Sahara Sand one. I'll definitely do this again.

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

Stamps: So Very Grateful wood or cling, Itty Bitty Banners wood or cling

Ink: Early Espresso, Sahara Sand classic inks, Subtles markers

Card stock: Whisper White, Sahara Sand

Other: Bitty Banners framelits, Big Shot, paper snips

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)

Yesterday, while chatting to my daughter, I mentioned the old fashioned idea of waking people up with a cup of tea in the morning. She stared at me in disbelief. "No-one's got time for that!" she said. I agreed that a cup of coffee was pretty much the only incentive for me to make it downstairs in the morning but she brushed this irrelevance aside. "If people want to wear rubbish clothes all day, they can go ahead and have their cup of tea in bed!" she said.

See you tomorrow,

So Very Grateful for the sunshine

I love the colour yellow - it's the colour of sunshine! To make today's cards I used Stampin' Up's So Very Grateful stamp set from the spring/summer catalogue to stamp a whole sheet of Naturals Ivory card stock with flowers and then coloured them in using yellow markers. This is a very therapeutic activity and you end up with pretty floral card stock!

I used mine to make this vintage-style card. The delicate scallop trim is one of the decorative blades you can use when you convert the Stampin' Trimmer into a rotary cutter with the rotary addition.

I loved the way the curvy banner from Itty Bitty Banners looked with the vintage-style flowers.

Here's a slightly different design made using the same goodies - the one sheet wonder technique is perfect for making a whole set of cards as a gift.

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

Stamps: So Very Grateful wood or cling, Itty Bitty Banners wood or cling

Ink: Basic Grey classic ink, plus markers

Card stock: Naturals Ivory, Very Vanilla

Other: Bitty Banners framelits, Big Shot, Stampin' Trimmer rotary addition, Small Scallop rotary blade

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 FREE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SETS WITH EVERY £60 YOU SPEND (excl. p&p)

We've been in beautiful Somerset over the weekend and enjoyed plenty of sunshine. On Sunday it was May 4th, or Star Wars day as my boys like to call it (as in may the fourth be with you!) How very apt then that we lunched in the ancient Ship Inn at Porlock and were seated in an area that had framed Star Wars posters on the wall!

I know, Star Wars posters and this beautiful building wouldn't appear to mix would they?! We had an excellent roast lunch there though and the staff were friendly and helpful, so we'll definitely go back.

See you tomorrow,