Three minute Good Luck card

It's always handy to have a stash of good luck cards to help your loved ones feel supported before an exam, a job interview, a driving test, a performance... well, you get the picture, there are all sorts of challenges to be faced in life! I've been using Horse Frontier a lot lately and there's a gorgeous horseshoe image in the set which is perfect for a good luck card. I made this one for my Three Minute Thursday slot today - come and have a look:

I coloured the rubber of my sentiment first, using markers, and stamped it using a stamp-a-majig to get it where I wanted it. Next came the horseshoe, which I coloured with a Sahara Sand marker, and finally the beautiful fern image, stamped off once before pressing onto the card stock.

A gem gives the horseshoe that finishing touch and that's it - a small 7.5cm square notelet that you could tuck into a lunch box, pocket or gadget case, and takes just a couple of minutes to make.

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Horse Frontier, Sincere Salutations (retired), Papaya Collage
Ink: Lucky Limeade and Basic Grey
Card stock: Very Vanilla
Other: Markers, Basic Rhinestones, stamp-a-majig
I'd be delighted to order any of these 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.

• All places on my Stampers 6 club have now been filled for February and March but if you'd like to put your name on my waiting list, please let me know.

We are in the grip of a cold spell here in Buckingham but look:

There's hope! These will turn into cheerful yellow daffodils in a month or two to brighten up the base of the hawthorn tree. We've hung a fat ball high up in the tree and it's proving to be quite a draw for local birds. Needless to say The Mighty Warrior (that's Tuppence, our cat) is outraged!

See you tomorrow,

Retiring stamps with a new twist

Well I knuckled down to make an autumnal card this morning despite the fact it's blazing hot and looking like summer! The reason is that I've been able to join in with Less is More again this week (yay!) where Chrissie and Mandi want to see one-layer cards with a Foliage theme. My card was also made for One Layer Wednesday - it's Susan's turn to host and she's challenging us to make cards for her Gratitude Campaign. Come and see what I've made:

I've used the leaf from the sadly retiring Autumn Days (just check out my alphabetical index in my side bar to see how many cards I've made with that wonderful set!) but I've given it a new look by teaming it with the jar from my brand, spanking new Perfectly Preserved set. I LOVE  this jar to bits!

To get this look, I made two masks - one where I cut around the outside of the jar and one where I cut a hole inside the jar. (There are framelits available to make cutting out all the elements in this set a doddle, but they don't work as masks.) I stamped the leaves in the jar through the negative mask, stamping the jar over the top using Whisper White craft ink, then covered the whole thing with the other mask while I sponged in the background.  To finish, I discarded the masks (keeping them in the box for next time) and added more leaves.

I'm afraid I made a bit of a pigs ear of the sentiment! I stamped it in the white craft ink but left it too long before embossing in white - I should have used versamark. The finishing touch was to add dots of versamark pen and embossing those in white to give the idea that something magical's going on - and so it is: feeling thankful for what you have, no matter how little, makes you feel great!

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Autumn Days (retiring), Sincere Salutations (retiring), Perfectly Preserved (NEW!)
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede, Old Olive, Early Espresso classic inks, Whisper White craft ink
Card stock: Crumb Cake
Other: White embossing powder, versamark pen (retiring), Heat Tool (retiring), paper snips, stamp-a-majig

I'd be delighted to order any of these 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. Click here to view my regularly updated lists of retiring stamps and accessories, some at up to 40% discount. 

Our cat Tuppence is lying comatose in the sunshine. Did anyone read the story on the news last week about the man whose aging cat had taken to falling asleep all over the place and couldn't be roused? The cat had gone to sleep on the top of his rubbish bin and a passing cat lover had gone to stroke her; the cat was in its customary deep slumber and didn't stir and the passer by phoned the RSPCA believing it had died and been put out with the rubbish! I mentioned this story to Tuppence which is why she's sticking to her favourite chair!

I'll be back on Monday when I'll have another Perfectly Preserved idea to show you. Hope to see you then,

Something old, new, pink and brown!

It seems far too long since I made a card so, when I finally emerged from under the pile of holiday laundry I popped over to the Less is More blog where I found the lovely Chrissie and Mandi are looking for pink and brown cards this week.

Stampin' Up published lists of Retiring Stamps and Retiring Accessories on Saturday (why not have a browse? - there are some real bargains to be had!) and I'm show-casing some of them this week. Come and have a look:

The textured card stock, the butterfly stamp and coordinating punch and the sentiment I've used are all on the retirement lists and won't be available after this month. I've combined them with the gorgeous flourish from Creative Elements (which definitely won't be retiring!) and something else that's brand, spanking new - the colour of the butterfly! It's called Primrose Petals and is one of the five exciting new in-colours for 2012-2014. (And yes, it IS available now!)

I like the way the flourish looks stamped in Early Espresso on the Pretty in Pink textured card stock. It's coloured with Soft Suede ink and a blender pen and I added detail with an Early Espresso marker before stamping the butterflies. The butterflies were stamped again, on Pink Pirouette smooth card stock this time, then cut out with the butterfly punch. I popped them up over the original stamped ones and added fussy cut bodies.

This lovely flowing sentiment comes from one of my favourite and very well-used sentiment sets, Sincere Salutations. It's one of a set of eight and if you've been thinking about adding it to your collection, I wouldn't delay as I can't see it hanging around on the shelves for long!

Here's what you'll need to make today's card
Stamps: Butterfly Prints (retiring), Sincere Salutations (retiring), Creative Elements
Ink: Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Primrose Petals (new)
Card stock: Pretty in Pink textured (retiring), Pink Pirouette smooth
Other: Blender pen, Early Espresso marker, Butterfly punch (retiring), stamp-a-majig

I'd be delighted to order any of these 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. If you are ordering from the Retiring Stamps list or the Retiring Accessories list, please be aware that items are only available while stocks last.

It feels so good to be creating things again although it does everyone good to take a break I think. Thank you for all the good wishes you left for me - I had a wonderful time in beautiful Kent with plenty of sunshine and the best company in the world, my family. I'll tell you more about it this week but for now, I'll leave you with some very good advice from a bench we saw in Margate outside a shop that was being renovated:

See you tomorrow,

Mouthwatering happy summer!

There's no Masculine Monday here today, but if you're looking for a summer moment you've come to the right place! I've taken the aptly-named Mouthwatering stamp set and made a delicious looking notecard with the ice cream image. Come and have a look:

I've used ice cream colours for  this card to get a real seaside feel: The framelits label in the colour of the summer sky (!) the sand-like textured So Saffron card stock, the pink of the ice cream... YUM!

I wanted to show you a close up of the ice cream - can you see the texture and dimension it has? This is all done very simply using markers - the ice cream part of the rubber stamp has been coloured with a Pink Pirouette marker and has been shaded directly on the rubber with Pretty in Pink; the cone was coloured with a So Saffron marker, again shaded directly on the rubber with More Mustard. This is such an effective technique and is yet another reason why I'm a huge fan of the markers.

I made these cards for some lovely ladies in my Stampers 6 club to wish them a happy summer!

With the autumn/winter catalogue due out on the 1st September and more excitement coming in October, you may end up with a big wish list - so you may want to consider joining my Stampers 6 club and spreading the cost, as well as getting some freebies and enjoying all the other benefits of my club (click here to find out more). There's a new group starting in October and there are a couple of spaces left so do email me as soon as possible if you'd like to join in.

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Mouthwatering, Sincere Salutations
Ink: Real Red - plus markers
Card stock: Pink Pirouette textured, So Saffron textured, Whisper White, Bashful Blue
Other: Framelits, Big Shot, Paper snips, stamp-a-majig
I'd be delighted to order any of these items for you and can have them delivered 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. If you are placing an order of £60 or more, you will receive a free Reason to Smile stamp set in your choice of wood or clear mount. The set is also available to buy for £18.95 wood mount or £14.95 clear mount.

And I'd like to wish you a happy rest of the summer too as I'll be taking another short blog break and will return with all the excitement of the catalogue launch on Monday 3rd September. Thank you so much for visiting my blog and I'll see you very soon.

Hugs,

Young Vermillion in disguise again

It's one layer week at Less is More this week and Chrissie and Mandi want to see Fur or Feathers. If you're a regular reader of my blog you'll know that I do love a bird stamp and a one layer card too, so this challenge was right up my street! Here's what I made:

This Young Vermillion single stamp is a favourite of mine and if you click on Young Vermillion in my side bar you'll see that I've used him for all sorts of different events and seasons!

To make the card, I scribbled a background with my Watercolour Wonder crayons and washed over it with my aquapainter. The bird was inked with an Early Espresso marker before stamping, so I could leave out the marking round the eye that distinguishes him as a vermillion, so now he is a thrush! I extended the branch to fit the card and coloured the bird with my Watercolour Wonder crayons and an aquapainter. The leaves are from the Confetti set of fabulous backgrounds and I finished the card with a Cajun Craze sentiment. Oh, and I added a bit of scoring - my favourite thing!

Here's what you'll need to make today's card:
Stamps: Young Vermillion, Confetti, Sincere Salutations
Ink: Lucky Limeade, Cajun Craze
Card stock: Naturals Ivory
Other: Watercolour Wonder crayons, Early Espresso marker, Simply Scored, stamp-a-majig
I'd be delighted to order any of these items for you and can have them delivered 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. If you are placing an order of £60 or more, you will receive a free Reason to Smile stamp set in your choice of wood or clear mount. The set is also available to buy for £18.95 wood mount or £14.95 clear mount.

We were supposed to be travelling to Somerset to visit relatives today but it's been cancelled, so I've had some unexpected crafting time! The sun is shining into my living room, the French doors are open and there's a very relaxed holiday atmosphere in here. Outside though, there's obviously a full-scale water fight going on - my youngest son has just come into the garden to fill up his water pistol at the tap and I've just sent him off into giggles by flinging my hands in the air and shrieking "Aaargh! Don't shoot!"

Hope you're having a lovely day!

Stampin' Up - your way

It was two and a bit years ago that I joined Stampin' Up and I can quite honestly say that I enjoy it more than ever. Sharing a passion for stamping is a dream job especially when you add this to the equation:

• A starter kit for just £99 - and you get to choose what's in it!
• The pleasure of using top quality products
• Working from home at whatever times suit you
• Holidays when you choose to take them
• 20% instant income from all orders, including your own, plus other earning opportunities
• A brilliant support network plus a dedicated demonstrator support line
• A comprehensive, easy-to use website for orders, news, training etc
• The option to attend demonstrator-only events
• The opportunity to earn free products
• The chance to earn all expenses paid holidays for two

... and that's just off the top of my head! If you think being a Stampin' Up demonstrator might fit into your life, why not give me a call on 01280 820593 or send me an email? I won't pressurise you to join but I can give you all the information you need to make up your mind, in your own time, about whether it's right for you.

One of the stamp sets I chose in my starter kit was Sincere Salutations and I'm still reaching for it regularly! Come and see my most recent creation using it:

The card happened when I made a scored card base for something else, then didn't use it. It was lying on my desk when I took my Mocha Morning papers out and I liked the way this one looked inside the frame.

I love the way you can add interest to these sentiments using markers before stamping - and all eight of them fit beautifully into the labels from the Four Frames stamp set.

This card incorporates some of my favourite design features: a scored frame, a ribbon tailed banner, these gorgeous flowers made with one of the Itty Bitty punches and the incredibly useful Little Leaves die.

Here's what you'll need to make today's card
Stamps: Sincere Salutations, Four Frames
Ink: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake (for sponging edges of DP and card stock)
Card stock: Crumb Cake, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Early Espresso
Other: Markers, Early Espresso brads, Itty Bitty punch pack, square punch, Little Leaves Sizzlits die, Simply Scored, Mocha Morning designer paper, stamp-a-majig

I'd be delighted to order any of these items for you and can have them delivered 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. If you are placing an order of £60 or more, you will receive a free Reason to Smile stamp set in your choice of wood or clear mount. The set is also available to buy for £18.95 wood mount or £14.95 clear mount.

I've not had any time to watch the olympics but, if I can stay awake, I do like to catch up on the day's action with Gabby Logan in the evenings. I was so delighted to see that Beth Tweddle won a medal as she retires from gymnastics and much amused that when reporters asked her father what he'd been going through this past week he replied that he'd been laying a patio! What a lovely down-to-earth man!

Have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you next week.

Hugs,

A great big Less is More thank you!

Well this is rather a late entry from me as it's been quite a day here... (more about that at the end of the post.) I was so excited to see that the challenge at Less is More today is to make a card inspired by the blog's lovely header and also that Kim S, whose work I've admired for ages, is guesting! My card is dedicated to the brilliant Chrissie and Mandi, who work tirelessly to make this challenge such a fun and friendly one - thank you ladies! Come and see it:

I've always admired the LIM header with its flourishes, flowers and musical score and the colour scheme is beautifully understated too. I knew just which stamps I'd use to recreate the feel - out came my Music Notes wheel, my Apothecary Art set and my Sincere Salutations sentiment set! Here's a reminder of the header:

... and here's a close-up of the detail on the card:

First, I heat embossed the sentiment and cut it out with the Decorative Label punch, then mounted it onto Brushed Gold card stock and cut just outside the shape to create a mat. This was attached to a textured black card stock strip and decorated with punched gold flowers and rhinestones. Next, I wheeled the Music Notes across a Whisper White panel. The beautiful frondy flowers on one of the Apothecary Art stamps were added by colouring the rubber with a Basic Black marker and using a stamp-a-majig to position it where it was needed. Finally, the sentiment was added to the front of the white panel and it was attached to the card front.

Here's what you'll need to make this card:

Stamps: Apothecary Art, Music Notes wheel, Sincere Salutations

Ink: Basic Black

Card stock: Whisper White, Brushed Gold, Basic Black textured

Other: Decorative label punch, Itty Bitty punch set, Basic Rhinestones, versamark, clear embossing powder, heat tool, Stamp-a-majig

I'd be delighted to order any of these items for you and can have them delivered 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.

Would you believe I was halfway through making today's card when my husband came in from a bike ride with my youngest son, blood everywhere, babbling about an accident. My lovely son was still smiling but minus half of his two front teeth, and two minutes later we were on our way to the emergency dentist and I was hearing all about the magnificent dive over the handlebars! He really was so brave while being patched up but unfortunately one of his teeth was shattered vertically and will need quite a bit of treatment. So it looks as if I'll be continuing to live at the dentist for the forseeable future - but with some excellent company this time!

Hope you're having a great weekend. I shall be back tomorrow with an exciting announcement, so do come back then!

Hugs,

Three Minute Button Buddies

Can you guess what I think of this week's ColourQ colour palette? Yes, there are no prizes for working out that I love them as usual! There's a great inspiration photo too. I really like the floral pillow case and one of the flowers on it reminded me of the fabulous stylised flower in the Button Buddies stamp set. That flower coordinates with the small scallop circle punch which makes for a very quick and easy card! Come and have a look:

After I'd stamped the flower and cut them out with the punch, I stamped the flowers again - this time in Lucky Limeade, and cut the middles out with my 3/4" circle punch. These make lovely flower centres and add a bit of interest to the card when they're popped up with a dimensional.

The sentiment is from Sincere Salutations which is a very faithful servant to me!

Here's what you'll need to make today's card:

Stamps: Button Buddies, Sincere Salutations

Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade

Card stock: Whisper White, Basic Grey

Other: Scallop circle and 3/4" circle punches, stamp-a-majig

I'd be delighted to order any of these items for you and can have them delivered 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.

I'm loving having my teenage daughter home on study leave as she does some of her revising with me while I'm working and is great company. While she's at my desk I get her to pass me things which can be quite entertaining. Yesterday, for example, when I asked her to pass me my Snail adhesive, she made it slide along the sofa and added slimy noises!

Thanks for popping in today. I shall be back tomorrow with an idea I had using the new Labels framelits and you're very welcome to join me!

The Open Sea goes feminine

I was up bright and early this morning to see my oldest son off on a paintballing mission. Where do they get their energy? I felt exhausted even thinking about it! No-one else was stirring, so I popped over to the Less is More site to see what Chrissie and Mandi have up their sleeves today... and found that the challenge is to make a one layer card using exactly three stamps. This is exactly the kind of thing I like! Come and see my card:

I'm delighted with the background stamp from The Open Sea! It reminds me of the script stamp in French Foliage - so useful that it might as well stay out on my desk all the time!

It's some sort of ancient list designed to go with the masculine nautical images in the set, but it works brilliantly with everything else too! Here I teamed it with these gorgeous flowers from Everything Eleanor. They were stamped and coloured first, then covered with versamark pen before heat embossing with clear embossing powder.

I forgot that stamping the sentiment over the stems would result in the sentiment disappearing behind them but actually I rather like the effect!

I'd like to dedicate this card to a wonderful woman, Janelle Hayes, who lost her battle with a brain tumour on Thursday. I 'met' Janelle through her blog Show and Tell, which I loved not only for its inspiring creativity but also because her lively personality shone through it. I will really miss her.

Here's what you'll need to make today's card:

Stamps: The Open Sea, Everything Eleanor, Sincere Salutations

Ink: Crumb Cake, Not Quite Navy

Card stock: Naturals Ivory

Other: Markers, corner rounder, versamark pen, clear embossing powder, heat tool, stamp-a-majig

I'd be delighted to order any of these items for you and can have them delivered 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.

I completely got the weather forecast wrong didn't I? Perhaps I was watching last week's by accident! This is the view over my garden fence this morning and I feel I should probably put the heat tool away and get on out there! I'll be back on Monday when I'll be guesting at Make My Monday where the floral theme will be continuing with a new challenge. Do check out the details on the site - it would lovely if you could join in!

Hugs,