Get Stampin' Up embossing folders for less!

If you're a fan of embossing folders (and who isn't?!) you'll be over the moon at Stampin' Up's Weekly Deal bargains in my shop this week. There are no fewer than six different folders all down 25% to £5.63! I've used one of them on my card today - come and see:

The circle that forms the basis of this card has been embossed with the Tiny Triangles folder - I love how the triangles echo the shape of the tree. I kept most of the card white on white and added splashes of colour with the tree and the greeting.

I love how quick and easy it is to create the tree using the Tree punch. I cut one in Chocolate Chip card stock and another from a snippet of paper from the All is Calm designer paper pack, trimmed the trunk off the paper one and glued it to the card one. It wouldn't be Christmas without baubles of course, so I trimmed my tree with Real Red candy dots!

Embossing folders are great for adding texture to a card. For even more texture, I added a bit of scoring to the bottom of the panel and embellished with the fab snowflakes from the Frosted Sequins.

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

Tiny Triangles Textured Impressions Embossing Folder £7.50	Frosted Sequins £4.50	Tree Punch £15.50
Simply Scored £25.95	Brights Candy Dots £5.50	Real Red 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.

I've still got heaps of Christmas cards to make! During a puppy snooze time this weekend, my youngest son and I made some together. "Could you pass me some red ink please," he said at one stage. "Real Red or Cherry Cobbler?" I asked. "Oh Real Red!" he said. " I'm not having any of that pretend red!"

Thank you for coming to visit me here today. I'll be back tomorrow with more crafting fun - see you then!

Going round in circles with Timeless Talk

I know it's supposed to be Three Minute Thursday here today but I got an exciting idea which I really, really HAD to try out - I thought that if anyone could understand that, it would be you! Come and see:

I started by embossing my panel with one of the circle framelits - oh yes, they're not just for cutting you know! (This is the sandwich I use for embossing with framelits in my Big Shot (from bottom to top): multipurpose platform closed, crease pad, my card panel, the framelit blade facing up, a scrap piece of card stock, cutting pad.) The designer paper was cut with the same framelit and I sliced the top off and glued it onto the embossed circle before stamping my penny farthing.

The penny farthing was stamped again onto scrap card stock so I could make separate wheels. I used various circle framelits and punches for this (I've listed which ones underneath the product list for anyone that's interested.) The wheels were glued over the stamped ones and decorated with Basic Grey candy dots.

I've had circles on the brain ever since I saw Less is More's Round and Round challenge this week but I shall also link this card up with Make My Monday which is looking for Male cards, Addicted to CAS where Wheels is the theme, and Addicted to Stamps and More where the lovely ladies want to see CAS cards.

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

Stamps: Timeless Talk wood or cling, Teeny Tiny Wishes wood or cling

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Basic Grey

Card stock: Whisper White, Basic Grey

Other: Circles framelits, Big Shot, 1 3/8" Circle and 3/4" Circle punches, Epic Day designer paper, paper snips, stamp-a-majig

How to make the separate wheels for this card
The large wheel cuts out with the third smallest circle framelit and the small wheel with the 3/4" circle punch. To make the large tyre I cut a circle into Basic Grey card stock with the 1 3/8" circle punch and then cut round it with the third smallest circle framelit; to make the small tyre I cut a circle into Basic Grey card stock with the smallest circle framelit, then cut round it with the 3/4" circle punch.

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.

Returning home with my daughter in the car last weekend, we stopped at the lights and watched while a young lad zoomed over the crossing on his scooter. At the other side, to our astonishment, he leapt off the scooter and twisted it around his head with a practised flick of his wrist. After this move, he peered anxiously into our car to make sure we were impressed, only to find my daughter convulsed with laughter in the passenger seat. Poor chap - I hope he managed to convince himself that she just wasn't worth it!

See you tomorrow, when I'll have an exciting new video tutorial for you! (Hint: Easter is coming up and I have a thing about ears!)

Petite Petals for a happy mother's day

When I woke up this morning I wondered if I'd been transported to another country in the night (what do you mean?! It COULD happen!) It's been so dark and wet and gloomy in the heart of England but today it's blue skies and sunshine all the way - and what a perfect spring colour challenge at Less is More to go with it - green and yellow. Come and see what I've come up with:

I wanted to play with flowers today and I've gone for a combination of Stampin' Up's Peaceful Petals, for the leaves, and Petite Petals for the flowers. There's a punch to cut those pretty flowers out so it was quick and easy (and if you buy the stamp set and punch together you get a nice 15% discount!)

The background was made by inking up one of my acrylic blocks and stamping it onto the card base. I coloured the leaves in with a blender pen and some Gumball Green ink - my goodness, I will miss this colour when it retires at the end of June!

I decided this design would be nice for mothers day - coming up on the 30th of this month in case you were wondering! The sentiment was made by combining the 'happy' from Happy Watercolour and the 'mothers day' from Teeny Tiny Wishes. It's so easy to do this with a stamp-a-majig!

• I've made a short video tutorial to show you how to combine stamps using the stamp-a-majig. Click here to watch it.

I used this gorgeous sketch from CAS(e) this Sketch today.

And my card can also be my second entry into the CAS Addicted to Stamps and More challenge!

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, Petite Petals wood or cling,
For the sentiment: Happy Watercolour wood or cling, Teeny Tiny Wishes wood or cling

Ink: So Saffron, Crushed Curry, Gumball Green plus markers (Neutrals)

Card stock: Naturals Ivory, scraps of Very Vanilla

Other: Petite Petals punch, blender pen, Candy Dots (Subtles), envelope board for corner rounding, 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)

Here's someone else enjoying the sunshine this morning.

She was sitting out there as a dark warning to small birds and unsuspecting rodents... but they all laugh at her knowing that she's an old lady with very few teeth, who expects choice viandes to be chopped up for her and would prefer to be fed by hand only she can't get the staff!

Hope you're having a lovely weekend - see you soon!

Birdies bearing gifts

I was delighted to see that the challenge at Make My Monday this week is birds. Stampin' Up have lots of gorgeous ones, but I'm show-casing the gorgeous Love You More stamp set this week and there's a fabulous bird in that set. Come and see what I've done with him:

There's something a bit cheeky about this little retro-style bird! He normally wears his heart on his beak but I took that off him and gave him a flower to hold instead - using markers to ink up an image makes it easy to leave parts of the stamp out.

I masked and sponged a 'ground' for him to hop about on, added the sentiment and finished with a candy dot in the centre of the flower.

It occurred to me that you might want to see the original bird: This young lady is dressed in Rich Razzleberry and Melon Mambo plumage with Daffodil Delight tights and matching beak-stick; she carries this season's must-have accessory in Real Red!

Here's what you'll need to make these cards

Stamps: Love You More, sentiments from Teeny Tiny Wishes and Simply Sketched

Ink: Markers in Pacific Point, Garden Green, Early Espresso, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight

Card stock: Naturals White, Very Vanilla

Other: Candy dots, 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.

The description of the second bird brought back a vivid childhood memory for me of a visit to the Bath and West agricultural show which takes place in Somerset where I grew up. In the 70s, these shows were all livestock and tractors and, to be honest, there wasn't much going on there for a little girl whose passions were drawing and reading. There were stalls selling dog leads and horse blankets as well as the odd novelty stall but amongst all of this I remember discovering a fashion show! For a giddy half hour, I sat wide-eyed in a stuffy tent smelling of manure mesmerised by glamorous ladies floating about in the very latest 70s fashions while a lady with clipped BBC accents described the ensembles over a microphone. What a very long time ago that seems!

I'll be back tomorrow when it'll be Three Minute Thursday here and I'll have some quick cards to show you. Hope to see you then,

Contemporary Merry Minis Christmas trees

Once again the challenge at ColourQ has spurred me into action! The colours gave me the perfect opportunity to whip up a quick contemporary Christmas card. Come and see:

This card relies on that gorgeous textured card stock which gives the punched Christmas trees the perfect subtle background somewhere between smooth and embossed. Core'dinations card stock comes in all the Stampin' Up colours and I love it to bits!

The sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes was stamped onto Whisper White card stock, cut out with the Decorative Label punch and glued under the textured panel.

I was inspired today by this fabulous colour palette (I used Old Olive instead of Kiwi Kiss which has never been available in the UK.)

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

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Tangerine Tango

Card stock: Whisper White plus scraps of Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive and Tangerine Tango. Early Espresso core'dinations

Other: Envelope board (for rounding corners), Decorative Label punch, Merry Minis punch pack

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.

I'm always fascinated by contemporary Christmas trees like these from Craft Project Central:

Or this fascinating wall tree I saw on Pinterest:

But I'm a traditional girl at heart so our own Christmas tree is always decorated with creams and reds and glowing Christmas lights:

Please don't worry for our sanity, this was last year's tree and although there have been some suggestions that we get one early this year, so far I've resisted!

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

A three minute bit of a Postcard

I do hope you're being entertained by this week's posts about Stampin' Up's Postcard stamp! I'm loving using it and it has proved to be amazingly versatile.  So far I've made actual postcards, a collage-style card and a Christmas card with it and today, as it's Three Minute Thursday here today, I've got an idea for something fast! Come and have a look:

When I made these layered cards I stamped an extra postcard image so that I could double up parts of the image. There was lots left over and of course we don't like waste in the Stamping Square Metre, so I've used a pretty off-cut to make this notecard!

The flourish makes a beautiful feature, especially when mounted on some beautiful textured core'dinations card stock, and this sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes fits underneath it perfectly. The card was finished with the little flower from Everything Eleanor, stamped in Crisp Cantaloupe ink, given a quick colouring with a blender pen, and decorated with little pearls - guess which bit took the longest time?!!

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Postcard, Everything Eleanor, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Early Espresso, Crisp Cantaloupe
Card stock: Very Vanilla smooth, Basic Black core'dinations
Other: Basic Pearls

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.

And as a special thank you for shopping with me, you'll get a free gift and a handmade card when you place your first online order with me during September.


If you were reading my blog on Monday you may remember me mentioning my vulgar son suggesting that the teacher's initials DHU stood for 'don't have underpants'! Well yesterday I discovered that they are in fact the initials of the headmaster... aaaargh! I can never look him in the eyes again!

See you tomorrow,

Simply sketched with a bit of washi

I'm always fascinated by embellishments and how they can change the look of a card and washi tape has to be one of my favourites. Today's card, inspired by Less is More's washi tape challenge this week, shows how washi can give a modern twist to a traditional style of card. Come and see:

I'd been dying to make a scene with this little bird from the Simply Sketched hostess stamp set ever since it arrived in July. The background was made with a bit of quick sponging then the bird image was stamped over the top. TIP: don't forget you can turn the image upside down and stamp the stems too!

To give a bit more depth, I added a few 'grasses' with a light touch of the side of an ink pad, and some more frondy ones with that useful grassy stamp from Wetlands. The bird was coloured with a few strokes of an aquapainter.

The sentiment was heat embossed in white on black card stock to give a ticker-tape feel and the panel was attached to the card base with the gorgeous coral washi tape from the Epic Day set (Stampin' Up washi tape comes in sets of three coordinating tapes.)

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Simply Sketched, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Wetlands
Ink: Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Soft Sky, Baked Brown Sugar
Card stock: Whisper White, Basic Black
Other: Versamark, white embossing powder, heat tool, Epic Day washi tape, markers, aquapainter
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.

Birds are funny old things aren't they? I could watch them all day. While we were on holiday in Kent we were entertained by this pair of seagulls having a fight over a morsel of food.

They were like a pair of enraged old ladies, screaming and scolding and slapping each other with their wings and they just wouldn't let it go! Of course I know just how I'd feel if someone nicked a spoonful of my ice cream sundae without asking!

See you tomorrow,

Morning Meadow in a planter

If you've been following my blog this week, you'll have noticed that all the cards have been made using Stampin' Up's beautiful new Morning Meadow hostess set. Here's another clean and simple card I made using the set:

This flower image makes a great background image when stamped in one colour but when it's inked up with markers it really does step up and take centre stage. It can look bright and clean cut when stamped in bright colours on Whisper White card stock but I've softened it here by stamping onto Naturals Ivory which has a lovely, suede-like finish.

The planter was made with core'dinations card stock. I decorated the top of it with the Scallop Border punch and sanded it gently to give a bit of texture before adding some linen thread for a rustic look. The card was finished with a sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes and some gems.

• The Morning Meadow stamp set is available at just £13 wood mount or £10 cling mount exclusively to customers who order £150 or more or the host of a qualifying workshop - but you can also get hold of it as a member of my Stampers 6 club! Have a look here if you'd like to know more.

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Morning Meadow, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Early Espresso classic ink, Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive markers
Card stock: Very Vanilla, Naturals Ivory, Early Espresso core'dinations
Other:  Scallop border punch, linen thread, Basic rhinestones, 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.

Yesterday I took my youngest son to see Despicable Me 2 which we both adored. So often these series of films are just cynical money-makers but we both found this one very funny and laughed aloud throughout the whole thing. My favourite joke was when the teenage Antonio tells the adoring Margo: "My dream is to one day play video games for a living." Margo gazes at him. "Wow!" she breathes. "You are so deep!" My son's favourite jokes were the earthier kind!

It's Three Minute Thursday tomorrow and I'll be back with a quick one layer card. Hope to see you then.

Watercolour Wetlands

The moment I saw Wetlands in the new Stampin' Up catalogue, I guessed that it would become my new favourite stamp set - and I wasn't wrong! Come and see what I've done with it today:

This card was inspired by any number of beautiful seascape/bird artworks that you see in the galleries of smart seaside towns in the UK. To get the textured background I pressed an acrylic block into my Soft Sky ink pad and then into my So Saffron pad, spritzed with water and stamped onto watercolour paper. It gives the effect of sparkle caused by the sun shining on wet sand!

When it was dry I added the birds, using markers to isolate a group of three from the image. This photo gives you a clearer view of that textured-looking background and the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes stamped off-centre. I used my Simply Scored to emboss a frame on a Naturals Ivory card base and mounted the image into it.

I think I'll enter this watery card into the challenge at Addicted to CAS where the cue word is Water!

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Wetlands, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: So Saffron, Soft Sky, Basic Grey
Card stock: Naturals Ivory, Watercolour paper
Other: Simply Scored, acrylic block B, markers, 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.

One of the reasons I love the Wetlands stamp set is that it reminds me of the avocets on the North coast of Norfolk where we used to holiday every year when the children were tiny. "Mummy," said my daughter once. "You are as lovely as an avocet!" What a cutie!

Thank you so much for your kind messages about my father in law. He's now perked up considerably thank goodness and although the hospital are keeping him in for a while, it sounds like a blessing in disguise as he'll be getting physiotherapy which will hopefully help him become more mobile.

See you tomorrow,