New baby card using the free Simply Wonderful stamp set from Stampin' Up

The Little Ones challenge at Less is More this week gave me the perfect opportunity to use the tiny flower in Stampin' Up's free Sale-a-bration set Simply Wonderful (click here to find out how to get your hands on it!) Come and see:

I thought this card fit the challenge on many levels - it's for a little one, I used a little stamp and it features a little panel in acres of white space (well, Very Vanilla actually!) 

I adore this sweet flower with its curls and think it's perfect for a baby card. I teamed it with a greeting from the Something to Say stamp set, punched it out with the Decorative Label punch and added some decorative piercing courtesy of a template from the Essentials Piercing Pack.

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE THIS CARD NOW!
Click on any item to be transported to my online shop!
Don't forget you'll get a free Sale-a-bration item for every £45 you spend

Simply Wonderful Wood Stamp Set £0.00	Subtles Stampin' Write Markers £23.95	Something To Say Clear-Mount Stamp Set £19.95
Decorative Label Punch £15.50	Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack £7.25	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95

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.

Snow has arrived here in the heart of England and a cute little someone from our household enjoyed it no end!

The grass had been cut on the field behind our house yesterday and Eva spent an rip-roaring half hour burrowing in the snow for clumps of it, throwing them up into the air and chasing them about like a loon!

There'll be another Artisan Blog Hop going on here tomorrow. It's a new month so we've been crafting with new goodies - don't miss it!

Saying thank you with Pleasant Poppies from Stampin' Up

Today, the eleventh day of the eleventh month, it's Remembrance Day and at 11 o'clock there will be two minutes of silence to honour those who have died in the service of their country. The poppy is the symbol of Remembrance day and the two cards I'm showing you today seem appropriate.

I used Stampin' Up's Pleasant Poppies, stamping with Memento ink and colouring with the Cherry Cobbler blendabilities markers plus a little sponging for the background. The stamp is huge, so I cut a section off the stamped image and made a tag out of it using the Scalloped Tag Topper punch. The little stamped detail below the ribbon is from Hey You - it's easy to miss this useful set but you'll find it on p.103 of the Stampin' Up annual catalogue.

I couldn't waste those poppies I'd coloured so I cut the rest of them out and arranged them on a panel decorated with a washi tape border. I added curved corners and a sentiment and the card was done!


The first card was made for Addicted to CAS where the code word is Tag. I'll be romping down to Pixie's Snippets playground with my second card and it's also my entry for CAS(E) This Sketch where this is the sketch this week:

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE THESE CARDS NOW!
(Click on any item to be transported to my online shop!) 

Pleasant Poppies Clear-Mount Stamp Set £12.95	Santa Co. Designer Washi Tape £4.50	Hey You Wood-Mount Stamp Set £12.95
Scalloped Tag Topper Punch £20.95	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Cherry Cobbler Assortment £10.95	Lost Lagoon 3/8" Silky Taffeta Ribbon £5.50

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.

We attended the remembrance service at our church on Sunday. I am always so moved by it. Our rector, who was once in the army himself, reads out the names of all the dead on the war memorial. Sometimes there are two or more of the same surname and it breaks my heart to think of some poor woman opening the door and receiving the telegrams. Terrible things happen in this world and I am truly grateful for my lovely, uneventful little life.

See you tomorrow,

A gift idea using designer paper - Stampin' Up Artisan blog hop

It's that exciting time of the week again... the Stampin' Up Artisan Design Team blog hop day! Every Thursday each member of the team showcases a project we've made using supplies that Stampin' Up have kindly sent us. Are you ready to be inspired?!

BOX OF CARDS USING STAMPIN' UP DESIGNER PAPER
My own project this week came about while I was swooning over the Color Me Autumn designer series paper and coordinating designer washi tape. Oh the colours! the patterns! Come and see how I used them:

I turned them into a pack of thank you cards! All the designs in the Color Me Autumn paper pack are gorgeous but that leafy paper is so beautiful it deserves to have a whole project to itself in my opinion!

I used it to make this slim box which closes by tucking the flap under the lush Blackberry Bliss ribbon. Everything fits snugly inside...

... envelopes, thank you cards and a coordinating pen. Here, let me take the cards out to show you:

This paper was just asking to have some of its leaves cut out and used to decorate the cards - and it's a good way to use up the snippets left over from making the box too! If fussy cutting isn't your thing, you could stamp leaves and cut them out with the Fall Fest bundle or simply use the Autumn Wooden Elements to decorate.

Washi tape is one of my favourite embellishments ever and not only makes quick, easy backgrounds for cards but also effortlessly covers a pen to match a project!

I hope you enjoyed my box of cards gift set. Are you ready to see what the rest of the team has been up to?  Click the button below and hop on over to visit the amazing Allison Okamitsu:

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

Color Me Autumn Designer Series Paper £9.95	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock £7.50	Something To Say Wood Stamp Set £26.95	Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95
Very Vanilla C6 Envelopes £5.75	Color Me Autumn Designer Washi Tape £4.50	Blackberry Bliss 3/8" Satin Stitched Ribbon £7.95	Paper Snips £8.95

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 remember when my youngest son was reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, he nearly burst laughing about the formula the character Greg came up with for writing thank you notes:

Dear ____
Thank you so much for the awesome _____
I  love the way the _____ look on my_____
All my friends will be jealous that I have my very own _____

You just had to fill in the blanks. The only problem was that Greg's aunt had given him pants!

See you tomorrow,

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,