Oooh you nautical boy!

Hello crafting friends!

The discovery of my scoreboard in the back of a cupboard yesterday has given me a new crafting lease of life! For a moment there I thought I was going to have to order some new stamps! *winks*

I wanted to make a sea-faring card and, although I'm lacking nautical themed stamps, I did have some retired designer paper with a cute boat on it. I fussy cut the bottom of the boat and gave it card stock sails and a tiny flag. Come and see what I made with it:

It was really hard to photograph this because the embossing is quite subtle, but it's quite effective in real life. The decorative plate of the scoreboard has all sorts of swirls and waves on it so I was able to emboss both a choppy sea and some scudding clouds. Once that was done, I let my little boat loose out there! Don't sink little boat!

Can you see it better in this photo? Fun isn't it? Before I did this, I tried a piece of wavy designer paper, but it was so dull my eyes glazed over and I started to think about doing the hoovering! The sentiment is a basic one from my Altenew Birthday Greetings set.

I was inspired by a variety of challenges for this card. First, this week's great sketch from CAS(e) This Sketch; second, The Paper Players, where the challenge is to make a CAS children's card; and last but not least AAA Birthday where the birthday cards this month are 'For The Boys'.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

My son is busy making plans to go to uni and came to discuss it with me. I was fully expecting worries such as 'Will I make friends?' or 'Will the coursework be manageable?' Er, no. His main preoccupation, it seems, is where he'll be getting his hair cut!

Thanks for coming to visit me today. I'll be back tomorrow with more crafty nonsense!

Moonlight DSP triangular treat pouches - Stampin' Up artisan blog hop

Hello! It's Thursday and time to welcome you to another fab blog hop full of beautifully designed projects conjured up in the minds of the Stampin' Up artisan design team! We've had some wonderful goodies in our April boxes but today we're all ganging together to inspire you with designer papers! Are you ready?

TRULY, TRIANGULARLY, TREATY!
I chose to use the Moonlight paper stack which comes in a pad of 48 double-sided sheets of designer paper. One thing I love about this is the size of the sheets - 4 1/2" x 6 1/2" or 11.4 x 16.5 cm.This is a great size for card-making but it's also brilliant for making treat boxes - like this one:

A triangular one! Isn't it cute? And the best thing about it is that you don't need to cut the paper to size - a couple of folds and you're done! Would you like to know how? It's SO simple - come and see:

Start off by choosing a sheet of the designer paper. (This will probably take you longer than making the box because there are so many delicious designs to choose from!)

Next, fold the card stock in half making sure the design you want is on the outside. Open it up again and mark the halfway mark top and bottom before folding all four corners in as shown above.

Turn the folded sheet round 90 degrees so that its widest side is facing you and take the top two corners and pull them together. Allow one piece to overlap the other slightly and fasten them together with a touch of glue.

Repeat with the bottom corners and punch a hole through the overlap at the top and bottom.

Thread some ribbon through the holes and pull gently together to close the box and add a tag - I made mine with stamps from Amazing Birthday and the gorgeous stitched satin ribbon in Blackberry Bliss.

The only trouble with these little boxes is that...

... they're ever so slightly addictive to make!

NEED A MALE CARD WITH THAT?
I've realised that I've only shown you the papers that are in Hello Honey, Basic Grey and Blackberry Bliss but, you know, there's a whole load of papers with a Lost Lagoon vibe in the same pad! You can see some of them on this inchie card I made:

I thought this would make a nice male card, one inch square samples of designer paper topped with the cute fox from the hostess set Life's Adventure holding, instead of his usual umbrella, a birthday balloon!

This fox makes me giggle - he SO doesn't want to hold that balloon! This is what our cat would look like if we asked her to wear a hat! Actually this is what our cat looks like sometimes when she just plain disapproves of us!

Would you like to see loads more ideas for using this fabulous paper stack? Well the rest of the artisan design team has that covered! Head over to the brilliant Allison Okamitsu next by clicking the button below:

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE MY PROJECTS NOW!
Click on any item to be transported to my online shop!

Moonlight Designer Series Paper Stack £6.25	Blackberry Bliss 3/8" Satin Stitched Ribbon £7.95	Amazing Birthday Wood-Mount Stamp Set £25.95	1-1/4" Circle Punch £14.25
1-3/8" Circle Punch £14.25	1" Square Punch £14.25	Balloon Bash Photopolymer Stamp Set £23.95	2014-2016 In Color A4 Cardstock £6.25

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.

Okay, I couldn't resist a pic of our cat Tuppence with 'The Look'.

Thanks for joining me today. I'm off to visit my daughter for a couple of days but I'll be back on Tuesday with some of my favourites from the Retirement List. Have a great weekend!

Celebrate Today - Stampin' Up Artisan blog hop

Yay! It's Thursday again and time for another of our weekly Stampin' Up Artisan blog hops! There are 16 Artisan designers from around the world in the team so there's loads of amazing inspiration! Come on - let's hop!

HAPPY BABY GIFT SET!

The Celebrate Today stamp set from the Stampin' Up spring/summer catalogue was designed to mark a variety of occasions - new babies, birthdays, graduations, weddings! I've come up with a little baby birthday set - come and see:

Clean white with So Saffron, Cherry Cobbler and a zing of Tangelo Twist - don't you just love these fresh happy colours?!  And this colour scheme means that this little gift set could be made in advance where the gender of the new baby is to be a surprise!

I love the bold balloons in the Celebrate Today stamp set and there's a string included which you can stamp straight or, because this is a photopolymer set, curved - whichever way you want it! I cut out a balloon using the coordinating framelits and used it to masked my stamped balloon so that I could stamp the dotty border.

The new Berry Basket Bigz die makes a cute basket that's the perfect size for a onesie. Before assembling the basket, I stamped the sides with the dotty stamp. then after assembly I gave the top a deep trim with So Saffron card stock. It's easy to do this by cutting two pieces of card stock just like the trim on the die, but wider. My strips measured 20.5cm x 5cm (8" x 2") and were scored in half lengthwise at 2.5cm (1") and widthwise at 9.75cm and 19.5cm (3 3/4" and 7 5/8")

You can see from this photo that I folded the trim over the top of the basket, tucked the tabs in at two of the corners and secured it with sticky strip. That gave a nice, neat finish and then I decorated it with stitched satin ribbon in mouthwatering Tangelo Twist.

A present of money or a gift card is often given on a little one's birthday so that the parents can get exactly what the baby needs,  so I designed a little gift card/money holder to go with the set.

Isn't this a fun way to use these stamps?! The balloon makes deep scallops and the tassel and bow stamps are perfect for decorating it.

Inside, the dotty theme continues on the pocket where you can tuck your gift card or a bank note or two.

I hope you enjoyed my happy baby project today. Now it's time to gather up your skirts for a gigantic hop across the water to Canada where Allison Okamitsu is waiting to wow you! Just click the button below.

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE MY BABY GIFT SET 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

Celebrate Today Photopolymer Bundle £32.95	Berry Basket Bigz L Die £34.95	Tangelo Twist 3/8" Satin Stitched Ribbon £7.95
Tangelo Twist Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	So Saffron A4 Card Stock £6.25

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.

It was stormy here in the heart of England yesterday morning but my pup isn't concerned with weather so I wrapped up in warm waterproofs and took her out for a good old romp over the fields. The wind almost knocked me off my feet and freezing rain lashed in at us horizontally. When we returned (she with a big grin on her face, me like a miserable drowned rat!) there was a final squall and then, almost as soon as the front door closed, the sun came out and the sky became clear blue and cloudless. Ah the joys of dog walking!

See you tomorrow,

A birthday with Freaky Friends - Stampin' Up Artisan blog hop

Hello! I'm delighted to welcome you to another Stampin' Up blog hop brought to you by our lovely group of designers from around the world. Each member of the team are sent boxes containing the same Stampin' Up products and I'm constantly amazed by how differently we all use our goodies!

FREAKY FRIENDS FOR A BIRTHDAY
My own project this week is a simple card using the cute Freaky Friends stamp set. Come and see:

The little monsters in this set just make me melt! I let this little chap loose on a Project Life-style panel made with Coastal Cabana card stock, a strip of designer paper and rounded corners.

Let's take a closer look at that little cutie! I stamped him in Tangelo Twist ink and gave him a bit of shine with clear embossing powder. For extra detail, I stamped him again in black ink on crumb cake, and popped up his little face over the orange one. Don't you think it looks as if he's wearing a onesie?!

He was such a good little monster that I gave him a balloon!

It was made with one of the Word Bubbles framelits dies! I tied a piece of bakers twine to it and glued it into place before stretching the twine down, threading it into a pierced hole under the monster's hand and taping to the back of the panel.

I think these little monsters make great cards for small boys (or even grown-up ones!)

READY TO HOP?
Now the rest of the team have got heaps of ideas to show you, so click the button below and hop over to see the lovely Allison Okamitsu's fab project!

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

Freaky Friends Wood-Mount Stamp Set £19.95	Freaky Friends Clear-Mount Stamp Set £14.95	Amazing Birthday Wood-Mount Stamp Set £25.95	Amazing Birthday Clear-Mount Stamp Set £18.95	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad £5.50
Tangelo Twist Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	Word Bubbles Framelits Dies £20.95	White Baker's Twine £2.50	Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana £6.25	Whisper White A4 Card Stock £7.50
Card Stock A4 Crushed Curry £6.25	Crumb Cake A4 Card Stock £6.25	Motlley Monsters Designer Series Paper £9.95	Project Life Corner Punch £7.25	Paper Snips £8.95

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.

When my boys were little they would amuse themselves for hours with a balloon. One rainy afternoon I went to investigate a terrifying disturbance upstairs and found that they had somehow managed to drag the beds to the edges of the room and made a 'net' in the centre of the room with a bench. They had devised their own form of volleyball! They called it Ballyball and it became a regular feature of their playtime together. They made up all sorts of complicated rules for it and the only problem was that the ball would gradually become smaller and smaller as the air leaked out!

Do come back and visit me tomorrow when I'll have another new project to show you!