Bunny ears bag for Easter - with video tutorial

While browsing Pinterest the other day, I saw a cloth bag with bunny ears and immediately thought how cute Stampin' Up's chevron paper bags would look with ears! I went off to see what I could come up with and this was the result:

Isn't it cute?! A pack of these chevron bags are only £3.75 and they're gorgeous and can be dressed up in all sorts of different ways if you're not a fan of bunny ears! (But of course you are!)

Have you seen that chevron ribbon - it's faintworthy! (and yes Spellchecker, I do know that's not a real word!) I can't decide which is my favourite colour but this Blushing Bride has got to be in the running.

My bag was filled with all sorts of chocolate yumminess so I stamped the tag with an appropriate sentiment from the Oh Goodie stamp set!

I made a little card to coordinate with the treat bag...

... with a hint of what's in the bag on the front!

What a fun Easter project! And the beauty of it is that it takes hardly any time at all, so it would be easy to make lots of them...

... which means there'll be lots of happy bunnies all round!

I've made a video tutorial to show you how to make the bunny ears bag, the tag AND the card:



Enjoy the comedy bit in the middle where I wrestle with the bunny!

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

Stamps: Oh Goodie wood or cling, Take Care wood or cling, Delightful Dozen wood or cling

Ink: Baked Brown Sugar, Blushing Bride classic inks plus Wild Wasabi marker

Card stock: Crumb Cake, Soft Sky, Whisper White, scrap of Wild Wasabi (for leaves)
Punches: Extra Large Oval, Large Oval, Scalloped Oval, 2 1/2" circle, 2-step bird, Itty Bitty punch pack

Other: Tag a Bag gift bags, Blushing Bride chevron ribbon, white bakers twine, Subtles Designer Paper Stack, 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.

CHOOSE A FREE SALE-A-BRATION GIFT WITH EVERY £45 YOU SPEND (excl. p&p)

My husband likes to regale the family with what he terms 'fun facts' and recently came out with the story that Mel Blanc, the actor that voiced Bugs Bunny, didn't like carrots. My youngest son seemed deeply affected by this. "How do you know?" he asked. " Oh everyone knows that!" said my husband. "Really?" said my son. "Why am I always the last to know?"

Have a great weekend and I'll see you very soon.

Hugs,

Timeless Talk - or should that be timeless hoot?!

I've been busy making birthday cards just lately and today's card was for a lovely friend who loves owls. Stampin' Up's two step owl punch is the easiest way to create a feathered hooter  - come and see:

I punched this owl out of Soft Suede card stock combined with some of the Patterns designer paper stack - I thought this pattern looked quite feathery!

He's perched on the branch from Take Care which I coloured with markers before stamping. Now, this owl doesn't just hoot! Oh no, he's a bit of a singer...

... and 'Happy Birthday' is just one song on his repertoire! This speech bubble and message are both from Timeless Talk and I used markers to colour them before stamping using a stamp-a-majig to line them up perfectly.

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Timeless Talk, Take Care
Ink: Old Olive Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede, Early Espresso in markers
Card stock: Very Vanilla, Old Olive, scrap of Soft Suede
Other: Two step owl punch, Patterns designer paper stack in Neutrals, paper snips, stamp-a-majig

You can order from my online shop 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.
• Customers placing orders of £250+ will get a whopping £65 worth of freebies during October!


We were away this weekend visiting the cities of Manchester and Liverpool as my daughter may be going to university there. It was very busy but what a wonderful weekend full of exploring, fun and laughter! My eldest son was not interested in Manchester at first but changed his mind when he saw this on the menu at lunch:

A bowl of cereal in a restaurant at any time of the day? What civilised people they are in Manchester, he declared! My daughter and I were much more impressed by the most amazing little chocolate shop where we drank real chocolate in the most gorgeous surroundings.

See you tomorrow,

Take Care little bird!

I was absolutely thrilled to win the 'Yellow' CASology challenge with this card and delighted to be asked to join the lovely ladies as a guest designer this week. The regular design team always come up with amazing samples and this week is no exception, so do pop over to take a look.

The cue word immediately made me think of the phrase 'free as a bird'.  Come and see what I came up with:

It won't be all that long before my daughter leaves home and I was thinking of her while making this. I was trying to convey the idea that the bird has escaped from the confines of the cage and is about to take flight. I used the wonderful Take Care set for the branch and the sentiment, the retiring Aviary set for the pretty cage and...

... Everything Eleanor for the cutie patoot bird which is a real favourite of mine. TIP: When stamping the second bird to pop up over the first, I inked her body up with a marker excluding the legs so I could leave a nice neat white border all the way around when I cut it out.

The bird in the card looks as if she's going to untie the cage before she leaves and send it crashing to the ground but I'm rather hoping that my daughter hasn't got anything dramatic planned for her departure!

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Take Care, Everything Eleanor, Aviary (retiring)
Ink: Smoky Slate classic ink, markers
Card stock: Pacific Point, Gumball Green
Other: Linen thread, paper snips, stamp-a-majig
I CAN ORDER STAMPIN' UP 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 FIND OUT MORE OR TO PLACE YOUR ORDER, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL OR GIVE ME A CALL ON 01280 820593.
• To make way for new items some of our favourites are retiring. Click the links to see STAMPS and ACCESSORIES available, while stocks last, until 30th June.

Thank you so much to all the lovely people who have been so kind about my sewing accident. My finger seems to have taken being stabbed with a sharp implement in its stride and is behaving pretty much like a normal finger now!

See you tomorrow for something completely different!

Bank holiday weather - somewhere else!

It's a bank holiday weekend in the UK so naturally I thought it would be the perfect time to make a Christmas card! The challenge at Less is More (where I was delighted to discover I'd been showcased!) is Humour this week and the ladies at the 52 {Christmas} card throwdown would like to see some Bakers Twine so I put them together to make this card:

I have now photographed this card three times and I cannot get the photos to look white and clean! Anyway, I hope you can see through the murk: The sentiment was computer-generated using a font called 'Give you Glory' - it says 'Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow... somewhere else!' I stamped the branch from Stampin' Up's Take Care set and loaded it with 'snow', heat embossed with white embossing powder. The same technique was used to add snowflakes around it, then I sponged over it with Pool Party ink and wiped the image clean.

This little owl shivering away on the branch is from the Aviary set. I stamped him onto designer paper and defined his eyes with a marker and then snuggled him up in a bakers twine scarf and a little hood made with the Christmas ornament punch in my Merry Minis punch pack. Isn't he a cutie?! I just want to pinch his little cheeks!

I shall also be entering this card in Sandra's Rudolph Day challenge (kindly set up to encourage us to get at least some of our Christmas cards made throughout the year!)

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Take Care, Aviary, (computer-generated sentiment)
Ink: Soft Suede
Card stock: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler
Other: Basic Black markers, scrap of Patterns designer paper, paper snips, stamp-a-majig, Cherry Cobbler bakers twine, versamark, white embossing powder, heat tool
I CAN ORDER STAMPIN' UP 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 FIND OUT MORE OR TO PLACE YOUR ORDER, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL OR GIVE ME A CALL ON 01280 820593.
• Get more for your money this month: Place an order for £250 and choose £65 worth of products free! Or join SU and get £155 worth of products for just £99! Offers end 30th May 2013

People sometimes ask me where I get my inspiration from and I have no hesitation is saying that today's owl looks how I felt yesterday (except that my skin was blue!) It was like November here! The sun has come out today but I don't trust it... I'm certainly not about to go trotting outside with my swimming cozzy on!

Hope you enjoy your weekend - an extra long one if you're in the UK! I'll be back on Tuesday with the first photos of my This and That journal. Hope to see you then.

Celebrating a fantastic downline

When I decided I was ready to help other people run a Stampin' Up business, I chose to name my prospective team 'the INKredibles' and little did I know how apt that name would be. My team really are the most incredible bunch and I am in awe of their collective talent, creativity and energy. I was lucky enough to get together with a few of them last weekend at a Stampin' Up demonstrator-only event in Telford, and we had a brilliant time! Here we are at the end of a busy day:

Inkredibles (from left to right) Victoria Jeffries, Jacqueline Dee, me and Helen White

Do go and check out their blogs and leave them some love: Victoria at Furry Tale Cards and Crafts; Jacqueline at Deezinesart (you may know her as founder of the Make My Monday and CAS Colours and Sketches challenges); and last but not least, Helen at TiaraHelen.

Badges of honour
I'd made some gifts for these special ladies:

Badges made with card stock and copper tape (the stuff you put round plant pots to deter slugs and snails!) that ran beautifully through my Big Shot using the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder. I punched out bird shapes using the 2-step Bird Punch, glued them together and gave them a pin on the back. The badges were presented on a tag cut with the Two Tags Bigz die, stamped with the lovely Take Care stamp set and finished with the glorious stitched satin ribbon in Gumball Green, tied up with a little linen thread. And yes, I know it looks as if we're called 'the inky birds' but that's not quite as classy!

Fun and Freebies
Some of you have asked what we got up to at Telford. Well, it was a chance to have plenty of giggles, meeting up with like-minded people, many of whom have become friends over the last three years; we swapped items we'd made which always revs up our creativity; there were wonderful displays of creations using current and new products, inspiring presentations on stage and some exciting pieces of news from Stampin' Up (which have to stay under wraps for the moment!); we had a delicious hot lunch, did some crafting together (well some of us did LOL!), enjoyed the excitement of freebies being handed out randomly throughout the day and finally were all given a gorgeous new stamp set!

Come and join in!
Doesn't it sound fantastic fun?! Well, the Inkredibles is a friendly team and there's always room for a new member, so if you've been considering joining Stampin' Up why not join us? There's a warm welcome for both hobby demonstrators and those wanting to start a business in my team - I'm fully committed to supporting you whatever your reason for joining, and you don't have to be local to me either! Have a browse of my team page to find out more and do feel free to phone me on 01280 820593 with any questions or just to have a chat.
• By the way, this month is a great time to join Stampin' Up as you'll get £155 worth of products in your starter kit for only £99! (Offer ends 30th May)

Hugs,


I CAN ORDER STAMPIN' UP 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 FIND OUT MORE OR TO PLACE YOUR ORDER, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL OR GIVE ME A CALL ON 01280 820593.
• Get more for your money - place an order for £250 and choose £65 worth of products free! Group or individual orders apply.

When you go down to the woods tonight...

I always love the sketches at CASE this Sketch and there's another gorgeous one this week. As soon as I saw it I knew exactly what I wanted to do but naturally I had to wait for the time to do it...

 Those strong verticals in the sketch reminded me of tree trunks in the woods, and the woods reminded me of the midsummer balls held in all the fairy stories of my childhood, so off I went to set the scene! Come and see:

The branch image in Stampin' Up's Take Care set took care of the tree trunks. I embossed them with clear embossing powder and then sponged in the mysterious-looking background, carefully wiping any excess ink off the trunks with a tissue afterwards.

I snipped some bunting out some snippets of More Amore designer paper using the tip of my Pennants punch and doodled in the string with a Crumb Cake marker. Any minute now, the guests will start arriving in their gilt chariots, drawn by silvery moths...

I used a gorgeous colour scheme I'd seen at CAS colours and sketches - Rich Razzleberry Pool Party and Primrose Petals (although I can't link it up as I've also used Soft Suede for the trees!) and since this is a birthday card, I'll link it up to CASual Fridays where they're having a birthday bash - happy birthday Michelle!

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Take Care, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Pool Party, Soft Suede, Primrose Petals
Card stock: Whisper White
Other: Crumb Cake marker, corner rounder, More Amore designer paper, versamark, clear embossing powder, heat tool, Petite Pennant punch, stamp-a-majig
I CAN ORDER STAMPIN' UP 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 FIND OUT MORE OR TO PLACE YOUR ORDER, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL OR GIVE ME A CALL ON 01280 820593.
• Get more for your money - place an order for £250 and choose £65 worth of products free! Or join SU and get £155 worth of products for just £99! Offers end 30th May 2013

I grew up in the wilds of Exmoor where the nearest neighbours were three miles away and an older brother and sister didn't necessarily relish the company of small fry, so I relied very much on my imagination for entertainment. I devoured the books of Enid Blyton, immersing myself in her world of pixies and fairies and although I knew such creatures didn't really exist, I wished they did. My favourite story was of a little girl who had a toy stove and was asked to lend it to a fairy living in her garden as she was giving a party for other magic folk and hers had broken. I remember to this day how fervently I wished a fairy would contact me. Bless the small me's cotton socks!

I shall be in masculine mode tomorrow with a card I'm very exited about. See you then,

Happy Easter!

I've been mulling over the challenge from CASology this month where the cue word is Hope and then it suddenly occurred to me that a Christian Easter card would be perfect with its message of hope for mankind. Come and see:

I've used the branch from the wonderful Take Care stamp set to make this card. I think the leafy branches in the shape of a cross are perfect to say that while Jesus died on the cross, it was not the end.

I inked the branch up with markers before stamping a few times and fussy cutting. Linen thread is tied around the join and gives the look of a cross.

I made the frame using my Simply Scored tool and the 'green hill far away' with the Borders plate. The areas were coloured in roughly with an aquapainter and ink and the sentiment added with a stamp-a-majig for accurate placement.

I also have a Christmas card to show you today, made for Sandra's Rudolph Day challenge and inspired by the 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown where they want to see cards featuring ribbons and bows. Here's my effort:

I used Stampin' Up's Beautiful Season holly and bird and added my favourite embellishment of the moment...

... yes! It's a bit of scoring using my beloved Borders scoring plate! My Cherry Cobbler seam binding fits perfectly in the middle of the two scored borders and I've added a showy double bow and a delicate sentiment from Petite Pairs.

It's Good Friday so I'm not going to add a list of what I used to make these cards but if there's anything you'd like to know about, or you'd like to place an order with me, do send me an email.

I shall be taking a break from blogging over the coming week so that I can romp about with my lovely family but (always assuming there are no bones broken!) I shall be back with more crafting fun very soon. Thank you so much for coming to visit me - I really do appreciate all your comments and emails and look forward to catching up with you soon.

Happy Easter everyone!

Take Care Easter eggs

It's Easter at the end of this week but still looking ridiculously Christmassy here! Despite all the snow this month, I pressed on and made Easter cards for my lovely Stampers 6 club ladies this month. Come and have a look:

I don't seem to have been able to get any decent photos but this is actually one of my favourite card designs of the year! It uses a gorgeous little stamp set called Take Care (find it on pages 90 and 91 of the Stampin' Up annual catalogue) along with the beautiful 'Happy Easter' from the Delightful Dozen sentiment set.

The branch was inked up with markers and stamped, and the sentiment added before that border was scored using my Borders scoring plate. I liked the way the swirl of the 'y' in happy overlapped the scorelines. In fact, I love the effect of these borders and how easy it is to put them in wherever I want them - I just hope that you're not getting fed up of seeing them!

The nest and eggs were  fussy cut with my sharp paper snips...

... all six of them! I quite enjoy cutting things out actually and anyway, nothing's too much trouble for my lovely club members!

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Take care, Delightful Dozen (for the sentiment)
Ink: Baja Breeze, Lucky Limeade, Soft Suede, Early Espresso
Card stock: Very Vanilla
Other: Simply Scored, Borders score plate, markers, paper snips, stamp-a-majig
I'D BE DELIGHTED TO ORDER STAMPIN' UP 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.

One of the advantages of giving my wardrobe a massive spring clear out at the weekend is that I've discovered new combinations of things to wear. I've been showing my 'new' outfits to my daughter and made the mistake of asking the old question 'does my bum look big in this'! "Yes," she told me, without hesitation. "But it's fine," she added. "I mean, it's not so big it's blocking out the sun and killing the dinosaurs or anything!" Oh well, that's fine then!

See you tomorrow, when I'm hoping to show you my Easter baskets. Happy monday!

Take Care anniversary lovebirds

I'm just back from Buckingham's Christmas parade which brings the community together with a cavalcade of brilliantly made floats, pipe bands, dancers and other displays all to raise money for various charities. It was a bright, sunny morning which really brought the crowds out and there was a lovely atmosphere. Now I'm back, there's just time to whip up a card for the Less is More challenge before I fly out and get some last minute shopping done. The theme at the site today is Anniversary - come and see what I came up with:

See that branch? That's from my fabulous new Take Care stamp set and I'm very excited about it! I bought the set thinking it would come in handy for Easter with its sweet nest and eggs but the image I love the most is this branch - just think of all the things you can perch on that!

For this card I brought in a couple of the birds from my Aviary set - aren't they cute?! I stamped a heart from my Little Additions set between them and it amuses me how startled they look!

The sentiments from Teeny Tiny Wishes are always lovely and neat and understated, allowing the image to take centre stage.

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Take Care, Aviary, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Little Additions (tiny heart)
Ink: Marina Mist, Raspberry Ripple classic inks plus Lucky Limeade, Soft Suede and Early Espresso markers
Card stock: Whisper White
Other: 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 +44 (0) 1280 820593. Check out current special offers here.

My husband doesn't normally get involved in our family silliness but whenever he does it's always a cracker! Yesterday he looked over at me when we were watching TV and, with a completely straight face, asked me: "Do you know what time Andy Murray goes to bed?" When I replied that I had no idea he smiled with satisfaction. "Tennish," he said. This was to pay me back for a time about twenty years ago when he accused me of being up to mischief. "You're looking positively elvish!" he said. "What?" I said. "Elvish Preshley?!"

Anyway, enough of all this rambling... any minute now it'll be Christmas so I'd better get sorted! I'll be back next week to show you the rest of my festive makes - including some very quick ones for anyone who fancies making a batch of Christmas cards in half an hour! See you then,