Hardwood and Petite Petals by Stampin' Up

The garden in summer is a great source of cardmaking inspiration and Stampin' Up has the perfect stamp sets to get me going - like the gorgeous Hardwood background stamp and Petite Petals flower sets I've used today. Come and see:

I inked up only part of the huge Hardwood background stamp so that I could leave a border either side. The label and sentiment are from a Stampin' Up set called Memorable Moments, which is really useful for personalising birthday or anniversary cards. I cut the label out in seconds using one of the framelits from the coordinating Labels set.

A mixture of washi tape and plain card stock banners add interest. I stapled the bakers twine to them and tied it in a neat bow.

The Petite Petals stamp set has a coordinating punch to make floral accents quick and easy - and, as a bonus, you save 15% when you buy the two together! (Click here to see the cling mount bundle in my online shop.) I added leaves cut with the 2 step Bird punch.

• Click here for more Hardwood inspiration and here for more ideas for using Petite Petals.

This card was inspired by Nance's gorgeous sketch at the Paper Players:

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, Petite Petals wood or cling
Memorable Moments wood or cling

Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Calypso Coral

Punches: Petite Petals punch, 2 step bird punch
Card stock: Very Vanilla, Naturals Ivory, scrap of Old Olive
Other: Bakers twine in Calypso Coral, Gingham Garden washi tape (retiring), Labels framelits, Big Shot, 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.

DON'T MISS OUT ON THESE SPECIAL OFFERS!

• Join the Stampin' Up family for just £50 - this is too good a deal to pass up!

• Shop from the Stampin' Up 2014 Retired List - don't miss out on a bargain!

Offers end at 10pm on Monday evening!

My husband came in one evening this week and announced he had a joke for us. His jokes are not always well received by the family, so there was the usual groaning, but he persevered with this:  

A man goes to the doctor and tells him he thinks he's going deaf.

'What are the symptoms?' asks the doctor. 

'It's a TV program with yellow people,' replies the man.

There was a minute while we tried to work it out and then, much to my husband's gratification, we all roared with laughter and he sailed off feeling like a top comedian! 

Have a great weekend and I'll see you on Monday,

Having a Festive Flurry with the new Stampin' Up blendabilities

Did you see my sneak peek yesterday of the new Stampin' Up blendibilities? I'm obsessed now of course so if anything around here stays still for long enough it's getting coloured in with alcohol markers! My children and the cat are too fast for me (!) so I found a stamped image to colour instead - come and see:

Blendabilities are not just for complicated images! It only takes a few minutes to blend the colours on this large snowflake from Stampin' Up's Festive Flurry set (available only until Monday! Edited to add: Stampin' Up has just announced it will be extending availability until 27th August.) and it gives it a nice shimmery effect.

I added a bit more shine with one of the reduced large gems from the Retirement List.

I'll be linking this card up with Merry Monday, where the theme is Sparkle Shimmer or Shine, and Rudolph Day where, as usual, the idea is to make two Christmas cards for your stash - like this:

• Click here to see more inspiration using Festive Flurry

• Click here to see a PDF file of all the Christmas items available from Stampin' Up until 27th August. To buy them from my online shop, click here and key the product code into the 'search the store' box.

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

Stamps: Festive Flurry wood or cling, Wishing You (retired)

Ink: Lost Lagoon classic ink (new in-colour, available 1st July 2014)
Bermuda Bay, Real Red from the Brights pack of Stampin' Write markers
Coastal Cabana assortment Blendibilities (new, available 1st July 2014)

Card stock: Whisper White

Other: Large rhinestones, 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 Stampin' Up 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 the lists by clicking on the banners below:

There aren't many snowflakes to be seen in balmy Buckingham at the moment but that's bound to change in the next couple of days. How do I know? Well the Glastonbury Festival is on and mud is traditional! My daughter and her friends have set off for the festival, armed with (or should that be legged with?!) wellies and raincoats. A hot bath and a mug of cocoa will be waiting on her return!

 See you tomorrow.

Sneak peek - introducing the new Blendabilities from Stampin' Up

I've definitely got my colouring hat on at the moment! There was yesterday's watercolour moment and today (I am quite literally beside myself with excitement!) I've been playing with my new blendabilities from the upcoming Stampin' Up annual catalogue 2014-15. Come and see:

This chintzy floral panel was my first practice session but I quite liked the result so I turned it into a note card! It was stamped with leaves and flowers from Stampin' Up's gorgeous Peaceful Petals set and coloured with the Coastal Cabana and Old Olive assortments of blendabilities. By the way, Peaceful Petals is from the Stampin' Up spring/summer catalogue and will not be carrying over to the new annual catalogue so if you love it as much as I do, get it while you can!

It's great fun shading with the colours in each assortment - I started with little bits of the dark colour, shaded out with the mid tone and blended everything with the lightest colour. Once the flowers and leaves were coloured I sponged around them with So Saffron ink.

So what do I think about the new Stampin' Up blendabilities? Put simply: I adore them! They blend perfectly with not a streak in sight and come in my beloved Stampin' Up colours. That would've been enough for me but there are extra design features too: they are double-ended with a brush tip on one side and a fine tip on the other; they are square so they don't roll off your desk; they have special tight-fitting caps so they won't dry out. You get three tonal shades in a pack for just £10.95 which I think is a bargain, and there's a pack of 6 skin tones and a colour lifter too. My advice is to put them right at the top of your wish list!

• Click here for more Peaceful Petals inspiration

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

Ink: Coastal Cabana, Old Olive
Markers: NEW Blendabilities in Coastal Cabana and Old Olive (available 1st July)

Card stock: Whisper White, Naturals Ivory, Pool Party

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 Stampin' Up 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 the lists by clicking on the banners below:

When my children were little, they weren't fussed about colouring books. Every now and again though, I'd get one out and we'd sit and colour a picture in together. They say now that they didn't really like colouring in at all but they did enjoy sitting down and having a good old chat!

See you tomorrow.

Happiness is... Happy Watercolour by Stampin' Up

When I saw the Watercolour challenge at Less is More this week, I immediately reached for Stampin' Up's beautiful Happy Watercolour stamp set. Creating artistic effects is a doddle with this amazing set which features watercolour brush stroke images (click here for examples) but I chose to just watercolour one of the gorgeous flower stamps. Come and see:

The flower and sentiment were stamped first, then the flower was watercoloured using an aquapainter and inks. When it was dry I masked off a frame with sticky notes and sponged inside with Soft Sky ink. You can see that better if I just zoom in a bit...

The flowers were great fun to colour. I gave the petals a wash of Strawberry Slush ink and layered darker areas over them. The centres of the flowers were given a splash of Crushed Curry ink and I used my Strawberry Slush marker to add dots. I love watercolouring and can never stop at just one card...

... here's a slightly different version of the card using Wisteria Wonder ink. Moving the sentiment to the right makes for a more balanced layout I think.

Wisteria Wonder is a great colour for fragile-looking petals and again I added a zing of Crushed Curry with Strawberry Slush dots.

• Happy Watercolour is only available for one more week - so don't miss out! Click here to find it in my online shop.

• You can join Stampin' Up for just £50 this week too. Find out all about it here.

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

Stamps: Happy Watercolour wood or cling, Express Yourself (sold out)

Ink: Black Stazon, Wild Wasabi, Strawberry Slush, Crushed Curry, Wisteria Wonder, Soft Sky classic inks, Strawberry Slush marker 

Card stock: Whisper White

Other: 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 Stampin' Up 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 the lists by clicking on the banners below:

I'm getting increasingly anxious about our little cat Tuppence. She hasn't been well all through the winter but suddenly she seems to have a new lease of life and a disturbing personality change. She's gone from being our tiny, timid little housecat to some kind of gangster kitty, patrolling the street, practically wearing dark glasses and chewing gum, and terrorising other animals whether feline or canine. One of my neighbours even mentioned that Tuppence hissed at her from the top of a wall as she passed by! Help!

I'll be back tomorrow with a sneak peek of one of my favourite products from the upcoming new Stampin' Up annual catalogue! Hope to see you then,

Get well soon with World Treasure from Stampin' Up

In all the excitement about the upcoming new Stampin' Up annual catalogue, it would be easy to miss a treasure on the Retiring List - like the beautiful World Treasures stamp set I've used today. Lots of the current Stampin' Up stamp sets and accessories won't be available after 30th June, and some have been reduced! So don't miss out on your favourites - and when you place an order for £50 or more with me before the end of June, I'll send you a brand spanking new Stampin' Up catalogue 2014-2015 free of charge! Click here to shop for retiring products.

LET'S GET STAMPIN'!

I've used an uplifting combination of Old Olive, Crushed Curry and Night of Navy for this get well card - come and see:

The stylised floral spray in this set is fabulous! I stamped it in Old Olive ink and added colour to the flower heads using a sponge dauber. The sentiment was borrowed from another favourite Stampin' Up stamp set, Hopeful Thoughts, and I used my stamp-a-majig to position it exactly where I wanted it.

I still can't get over how brilliant it is to have all your inks, markers, card stock, designer paper, embellishments and everything else coordinating - it's one of my favourite parts of Stampin' Up products! I chose Night of Navy for the sentiment and the candy dots in the centres of the flowers.

• Click here for more World Treasures inspiration.

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

Stamps: World Treasures (retiring) wood or cling, Hopeful Thoughts wood or cling,

Ink: Old Olive, Night of Navy, Crushed Curry classic ink,

Card stock: Very Vanilla, Naturals Ivory

Other: Regals candy dots, sponge daubers, corner rounder, 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 Stampin' Up 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 availability by clicking on the banners below and click here to buy retired items from my online shop.

The exams are finally over and there is a holiday feeling in our house, heightened by the sunshine and only slightly tempered by England leaving the World Cup early. The players were predictably described as 'gutted' by the press but never mind them, I feel sorry for the publicans of England who were doing a roaring trade until Luis Suarez dinked that second goal in!

See you tomorrow.

Sneak peek! Something for Baby from the new Stampin' Up annual catalogue 2014-15

There's nothing more fun than making a baby card. No wait - making a baby card with a brand new stamp set from the upcoming annual Stampin' Up catalogue is even more fun! As a demonstrator, I get my hands on some of these items way before they go on general release and I love that! If you'd like that too, why not join Stampin' Up UK yourself? Until the end of June, you can join my team of Inkredibles for just £50 and get a starter kit containing £55 worth of goodies plus free catalogues and stationery AND free delivery too! Find out more by clicking here.

NEW BABY STAMPS FROM STAMPIN' UP

The stamp set I'm using today is in my opinion, the best baby set that Stampin' Up has ever come up with! Introducing...

... Something for Baby! It features the cutest pram, baby toys, little baby clothes as well as a whole load of extras! I've used the onesie here, decorated it with a little flower from the set, and hung it on the sweet hanger. I hooked my clothes hanger on a line made with floss from an old Stampin' Up kit, pulling it down slightly for a suggestion of weight. Let's take a closer look:

The print on the onesie was made by sticking strips of washi tape onto a piece of card stock, stamping the image on the back, and cutting it out with my sharp paper snips. I used my favourite Gingham Garden washi tape - it's retiring and you'll find it in the Retired List section of my online shop along with lots of other bargains!)

I adore the double sentiment from another sneak peek set called Something to Say. A little something cute...

...for your cute little someone! Squeeee! How cute is that?!

I'll be linking this card up with Make My Monday, where the challenge is Pretty in Pink, and I used Lori's fabulous sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.

       HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE THIS CARD

(Click on each item to find it quickly in my shop) 

Stamps: Something for Baby (available 1st July) wood or cling, Something to Say (available 1st July) wood or cling, 

Ink: Smoky Slate, Blushing Bride

Card stock: Whisper White, Blushing Bride

Other: Gingham Garden washi tape (retiring), Basic pearls, 3/4" circle punch, corner rounder, Blushing Bride paper from Subtles DSP stack, SU floss (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.

Some of the items in the annual Stampin' Up 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 availability by clicking on the banners below and click here to browse retiring products in my online shop.

The nearest thing to a baby in our house is the sister of my daughter's boyfriend - and at three years old, she's not a baby any more! My daughter was invited to an antique fair the family was attending and the little girl came to the door when they came to collect my daughter. "Hurry up Nina!" she told my daughter in an excited voice. " We're going to the ant fair!" Someone must have tried to explain that she'd missed off the 'ique' in antique because later on she was heard to say how much she'd enjoyed the 'eek fair'!

Thank you for dropping in to visit me today. Have a lovely weekend and I'll see you on Monday with more crafting fun.

Last chance to get Simply Sketched by Stampin' Up

We're all so excited about sneak peeks from the upcoming new Stampin' Up annual catalogue (here and here) but I don't want you to miss out on items that won't be available after 30th June - like the hostess sets for example. Of all Stampin' Up's fabulous hostess sets this year, Simply Sketched is one of my favourites. I've had a bit of a watercolour moment on today's card. Come and see:

I chose Naturals Ivory as my card base with its soft suede-like texture and subtle flecked surface. The poppy image was stamped twice off the edge of the card front using black stazon ink and I added one of the sentiments from the set too.

To bring the image to life, I coloured it with an aquapainter and inks. This card stock isn't designed to take water (Stampin' Up's watercolour paper is brilliant for that) but I find that if I put the card under a pile of heavy books, it sorts out most of the warping! I finished the design with a little sponging and a frame of piercing.

I'll be linking this card up with Less is More where this week's challenge is a one layer, Off the Edge card; and also the One-Layer Simplicity challenge where the theme this month is I've been Framed.

• Simply Sketched is a hostess set, one of a group of specially-priced, exclusive Stampin' Up sets available to those placing orders of £150 or more. Group orders also apply so why not club together with friends and family?

• To see more Simply Sketched inspiration, click here

• Current hostess sets will no longer be available after June. You'll find them all on the Retirement Lists below - don't miss out on your favourites! Click here to buy retiring items in my online shop.

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

Stamps: Simply Sketched (hostess, retiring) wood or cling

Ink: So Saffron, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz classic ink, Stazon black ink
Card stock: Naturals Ivory

Other: Stamp-a-majig, Basic Black marker, aquapainter, Essentials piercing template, 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.

The exams are dragging on here but even through all the hard slog my daughter remains an utter sweetheart. I had some unpleasant tasks to do this week and as I was reluctantly leaving the house one morning, my daughter gave me a hug. "Chin up!" she said. "Would you like me to send pictures of bunnies to your phone every hour?!"

See you tomorrow with one of those tricky cards for a young boy's birthday!

A bright smile with Happy Day by Stampin' Up

The sun is shining, my daughter and I have just come back from a sizzling zumba session, we're all infected with Brazil fever... what is a girl to do? Reach for Stampin' Up's most vibrant colours and make a card of course!  Feel the heat in this one:

I had a little of the Gingham Garden washi tape left and wondered what it would look like on lush Strawberry Slush card stock. Adding a black card base and sentiment and a bright yellow flower created this hot, gypsy look.

These colours are so bright and happy and you'll find the washi tape on Stampin' Up's Retiring Accessories List, a bargain at just £3.15 for these three fab designs! Smile? Oh, go on then!

The Pansy punch has a gorgeous coordinating stamp set, Flower Shop, but for this card I punched a flower straight out of plain Daffodil Delight card stock. The centre of the flower was decorated with one of the in colour Boutique Details. I adore these and now you can find them on the Stampin' Up Retiring Accessories List, reduced by 30% - now only £5.78! Another reason to smile!

I'll be linking this card up with Freshly Made Sketches where I was inspired by this fabulous sketch:

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

Stamps: Happy Day (retiring) wood or cling

Ink: Basic Black

Card stock: Strawberry Slush, Whisper White (inside panel), Daffodil Delight smooth,
Basic Black core'dinations

Other: 2 step Bird punch, Pansy punch, Gingham Garden washi tape (retiring), in-colour Boutique Details (retiring), 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.

I was busy in the kitchen at the weekend when I heard my daughter calling from the living room. "Come here!" she called. "Come quickly, it's urgent!" I dropped everything and ran through to her. "Look!" she said, indicating the computer screen.

This is what she wanted to show me:

"How is this urgent?" I said. "But it's so fluffy!" she explained.

See you tomorrow,