Bingo Mojo

Whenever I want to make a card 'just because' I like to look at the Feline Playful blog for challenges to inspire me. I was spoiled for choice this week and opted for two challenges.

 
I've worked to a sketch from Mojo Monday challenge #221 and also the BINGO challenge #50 at Ladybug Crafts Ink.
 
I tried to go for a 'full house' but didn't have any charms or buttons that fit the bill. I've managed three lines though; Felt, Flowers & Pearls, Felt, Ribbon & Embossing and Ribbon, Flowers & Die Cuts. I didn't have any pearls either but I had a little trick up my sleeve that I'll share later.

 

First of all I cut out my card base (Tempting Turquoise) using Sissix Framelits and embossed it using the Stampin' Up! polka dot embossing folder. I cut oiut more layers in White, Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate Chip.

The image was stamped in three steps, first the flowers in Melon Mambo then the stems in Old Olive (2nd stem added after masking off flowers and 1st stem) and finally the sentiment in Black. The set is 'Daydreamer' by Papertrey Ink. I added two types of ribbon, including the gorgeous Choc Chip scallop dots ribbon from SU!, and then added felt flowers in two colours. 

The 'pearls' on the flowers are actually brads that I've pearlised myself. I did this by holding the brad 'legs' with a pair of twezers and covering the 'head' in Versamark ink before dipping it into silver pearl embossing powder. Keeping hold of it with the tweezers, I heated the brad with my heat gun then immediately dipped it back in the embossing powder to add a second layer. I repeated this step several times until I was happy that I had a thick enough layer to make a convincing pearl. Neat eh?

A Gem of a Challenge #36

After all the Christmas cards I made it was a welcome change to have a birthday card to make instead. I chose to base it on the sketch provided for the Pink Gem Challenge #36.

As the birthday girl's name begins with A, I decided that the Cheerleader Anya digi from The Greeting Farm was just the job for the main image.

I coloured Anya with my trusty Promarkers and added a bit of bling to her pom-poms with a glitter gel pen and some rhinestones.

I stuck her, using Stampin' Dimensionals, onto a Lucky Limeade circle with a patterned paper mat. That is placed on top of a square of Rich Razzleberry card that I've embossed with the new Stripes embossing folder. I embossed it twice to give a chequered effect, which you can see better in the pic below.

I've made my own background paper using a stamp set from Papertrey Ink and Rich Razzleberry ink. I've added some details with a Lucky Limeade marker.

Finally I added a sentiment, made using the Basic Phrases set and Word Window punch, and some tiny flower accents.

Catch up on cards

I realised that there are a few cards I've made recently and not posted on my blog so I'm catching up and putting that right.

First up is a card I made for my Sister-in-law's birthday. One of my fave colour combos is Melon Mambo and Black as it just POPS!

I have a stamp set from the US called Up Up and Away, which features hot air balloons. However, I really wanted to see if those balloons could be used as petals on a flower and yes they can! I stamped each one and added ink to the edges and lines to the middle to add depth. I cut them out then curled them slightly with my bone folder. I stamped the large flourish from Baroque Motifs and assembled the flower at the top using Stampin' Dimensionals and Tombow glue, adding a black faux brad as a centre.

For my Father-in-law's card I chose a masculine combination of River Rock and Night of Navy, with accents in Basic Gray, River Rock, Soft Suede and Night of Navy. The accents are stamped using the Circle Circus set and punched out with a circle punch.



Finally, I was challenged to make a card featuring snowflakes and lots of sparkle. I followed a tutorial from the latest Impressions magazine (exclusive to Stampin' Up! Demonstrators) that showed how to make a snowflake using the Lace Ribbon Border Punch. For the base of the card I embossed some Whisper White card with a snowflake background and then highlighted some of the snowflakes by adding glue and a mixture of Tempting Turquoise embossing powder and glitter. The main card is Pool Party cardstock and I've added a pretty bow from matching Ruffled Ribbon.

The Play Date Cafe Challenge PDCC109

As soon as I saw the colours for this week's challenge at The Play Date Cafe I felt all warm and fuzzy. Their choice of Smokey Purple, Blush and Champagne is so rich and reminds me of cashmere pashminas. For the purple hue I instantly thought of Wisteria Wonder, the new In Colour from Stampin' Up! I teamed that with some patterned paper in Blushing Bride and added Crumb Cake to the mix for the Champagne hue.

I've been dying to use my 'Beautiful Wings' Embosslit and thought this was the perfect project. All you have to do is pop your choice of paper into the little metal folder, run it through the BigShot and, voila!, you have a clutch of beautifully embossed butterflies already cut out for you! I made two lots of butterflies in both the patterned paper and the crumb cake cardstock and trailed them up the card. The sentiment is from a US Stampin' Up! set called Up, Up and Away.

 

It's A Date! - Class Update

Last Thursday was the last Papercraft Session of 2011 and I decided to push the boat out with regard to the choice of stamp sets available to use. We were making mini desk calendars and I brought in a total of 20, count 'em, stamp sets for everyone to play with, together with inkpads and markers in every single colour in the Stampin' Up! range!! I think some of my ladies were a bit overwhelmed by the choice, oops!

Although the desk calendars didn't look anything special when we started, by the end of the evening everyone had produced 12 individual pieces of art to see them through 2012 in style. I'm so proud of everyone for the designs they came up with; I was blown away by some of them. Typically, I forgot to get pictures so I'm afraid you'll just have to manage with my offering -sorry! Here's what all 12 months looked like together...

...and the following are my personal favourites...

 

The Papercraft Sessions will be back on Thursday 19th January and I'll be posting details of the 2012 sessions next month.

Although the Sessions are taking a break, I will still be crafting away and posting my efforts as always so please keep popping back!

'Cracking Up' Class Update

I loved this Papercraft Session as everyone was able to make the projects right from start to finish due to it being a smaller group than usual.  I'd deliberately brought a selection of stamps and colours for everyone to choose from and it was great seeing everyone's take on the design.

For the main image there was a choice between Young Vermillion (as used on my card shown) and the Pear image from Faith in Nature.

The background was stamped using the small flower from the Baroque Motifs set in Chocolate Chip ink. All the flowers are the same ink but I've given them a different look by stamping the images several times before re-inking, resulting in a lighter shade each time. I used Baja Breeze cardstock for the base and Chocolate Chip card punched with the Lace Ribbon Border Punch. See that ribbon? I love the pretty scalloped edge and those funky dots. The best thing is it's available in 10 different colours!

The mosaic itself was made by firstly stamping the image and watercolouring it using an AquaPainter brush. Once dried, the image is then overstamped with Versamark using an acrylic block covered with offcuts of foam mounted rubber. Clear embossing powder is added and heated with a heat gun. Finally, a dark ink is applied all over using a sponge dauber and then wiped off with a paper towel. The ink is left in the spaces between each embossed section, giving the mosaic effect.

Here you can see what my lovely ladies made with the materials. I love how the Whisper White looks on both the Cherry Cobbler and Island Indigo cardstock.

Sneaky peek at... Cracking Up

From the moment I saw this Faux Mosaic tutorial by Beate Johns I wanted to try it out. It's not the easiest of techniques to perfect, and there's a lot of preperation involved, but it's so worthwhile.

For this week's Papercraft Session, we'll be using the Faux Mosaic technique to create a card and gift bag. Here's a sneak peek at the bag...

That elegant bird stamp is from the new Stampin' Up! catalogue and it's called Young Vermillion. I've watercoloured it using the Aqua Painter brush and various inkpads. I'll give more detail on the technique in my class update post.

Terrifying Treats class update

Had to share this picture of everyone's Halloween treat containers from last week's class. What a ghoulish bunch!  Mind you, I think some of them are just too cute to spook :)

Sneaky peek at... Terrifying Treats

With Halloween approaching I decided that a spooky session was in order. This week we'll be looking at novel ways to give out little gifts to the little Trick or Treaters in our lives.

May I introduce you to Marvin the Mummy and Vlad the Vampire Bat...

Marvin the Mummy is a pillow box containing chocolate ghosts and Vlad is clutching a bag of chocolate eyeballs - yum!

Happy Birthday Daddy

Just a quick post to show you the card I made for my Husband's birthday, from our Daughter. He's been working on his vintage Rover P6 a lot over the past year so this digistamp from Di's Digistamps was just the job.

 

The card is made from a base of Riding Hood Red, which I've scored down the left hand side to add interest. The main image, which I coloured using promarkers, is backed by an Old Olive panel that I've run through my BigShot with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. The sentiment (from a retired SU set) has been cut out using the Decorative Label punch and mounted using Stampin' Dimensionals. I made the spanners from textured Basic Gray cardstock and the Word Window punch & 3/4" Circle punch.

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I'm entering this card into the Crafty Catz Happy Birthday Challenge #104 and Sweet Sketch Wednesday Challenge #124 as well as Susanna's Birthday Challenge over at Papercraft Planet.

'Turn Up The Heat' class update

Last week's Papercraft Session saw us dig out the heat gun again for some heat embossing. I've always used heat embossing mainly for bold images, such as those in the 'Just Believe' stamp set, so I wanted to try a more subtle look for a change.

The first card we made was based on a design a featured in my last post, but instead of using the Big Shot and dry embossing the background, I used the large stamp from the Style Beautiful set. I applied the stamp to Certainly Celery cardstock using Versamark ink, then heat embossed using clear embossing powder. Because the design of this stamp is a dotted line, each little dot was picked out beautifully by the fineness of the powder. That's what I love about Stampin' Up! embossing powders, they're really fine and so you don't lose detail like you do with some other powders.

I then stamped the flower outline from the Hostess set Simply Soft. I inked the stamp up first with Versamark, to get the stickiness I needed, then Basic Black for colour. Don't try this the other way around or you'll end up with a messy Versamark pad!  After heat embossing that image with clear powder, I stamped the second part of this 2-step stamp, the flowers, using River Rock ink. I didn't want it to line up precisely for this design, so I stamped by eye, but if you did want perfect alignment I'd recommend using a Stamp-a-ma-jig. I coloured the leaves using a Certainly Celery marker.

After matting the image with Chocolate Chip CS and applying it to the Celery layer, I applied Sticky Strip across the bottom and added some Grosgrain ribbon in a pleated effect. I tucked the ends to the back of that layer and adhered it to another Choc Chip mat and finally to my textured River Rock card base.

The second card we made featured the striking tree image from the new Forever Young stamp set. The 'Life is Beautiful' sentiment (from the Style Beautiful set) was stamped in Versamark onto Choc Chip card and then heat embossed using the new Wild Wasabi embossing powder. Having used this colour and Melon Mambo, I can't wait to try the other new colours! Once again, the gorgeous Lace Ribbon Border punch is used to add interest to the left hand side - so simple!

Time to play!

Apologies in advance for a lengthy post. I suggest a cup of Chai Latte and at least 3 biscuits for this one...

Last week I was able to find some time to have a proper play with some of the fab new products I bought from the 2011-2012 Ideas Book & Catalogue (click on the link on the left to view it).

I am REALLY loving the new In Colours, especially Calypso Coral and Island Indigo. I used the latter, together with Lucky Limeade to make this cute card featuring the new stamp set, Everybunny. The bunny is coloured using a Pool Party marker.


I also used Island Indigo for this birthday card which uses the new a la carte stamp, Elebration.

The base card is Certainly Celery and I've layered up with Island Indigo and Chocolate Chip cardstock. That beautiful border is created with the new Lace Ribbon Border punch, which is definitely a new entry on my fave products list (up there with the Stampin' Scrub LOL!).The sentiment is from the 'Heard from the heart' stamp set.

Next up is a card that I'm very proud of because it was my first attempt at watercolouring.


I wanted a real impact so I chose Melon Mambo for the base card and the Lace Ribbon Border punch accent. I stamped the Lily image from the US set Fifth Avenue Floral in Versamark onto Whisper White cardstock and applied Melon Mambo embossing powder. Once I'd heated it with my heat gun I set to work watercolouring with my Stampin' Write markers and an Aquapen. I then cut out the flower and mounted it onto Basic Black cardstock. The sentiment is from the retired set Basic Phrases. For the finishing touch I threaded some black 1/8" Taffeta ribbon through the punched section.

Back to the new In Colours and a spotlight on Calypso Coral. I love this colour and wanted a design that would really show it off. I decided to use Basic Black to contrast and used my Square Lattice Embossing Folder to create texture on the background layer.The image is from the new Hostess set, Simply Soft; a 2-step stamp set that has such delicate, almost oriental images. Once again, the black 1/8" Taffeta ribbon provides an excellent finishing touch.

Last but not least is the anniversary card I made for my Husband for our 6th Wedding Anniversary. I was inspired by Caroline Skinner's gorgeous card and wanted to make a version with Lovebirds on it instead. Calypso Coral came to the rescue as the perfect shade for their heads, together with Lucky Limeade for the bodies and Garden Green for the wings. The heart frame is made from branches cut from Real Red card using the 2-step Bird Punch. The whole thing is layered on Calypso Coral and Crumb Cake cardstock.

Phew! Well that's it for this post (finished your tea yet?) but I'll be back soon with an update on our 'Turn Up the Heat' class and a sneak peek at next week's 'Terrifying Treats' papercraft session.

Goodbye Farewell class update

As we had a lovely shiny new catalogue launch on the 1st October, it meant that we had to say Goodbye and Farewell to some of the stamp sets and products from the previous catalogue.

To make the most of some of the stamps we were saying goodbye to I held a class using some of my favourite products that were retiring.

The cute deer is from the Forest Friends set and the sentiment is from the retired Hostess set Afterthoughts. The lighter pink background is created using the Bella Toile background stamp stamped in Perfect Plum onto Pretty in Pink cardstock.We all used the 'kissing' technique to create a 3D flower with the Bella Toile pattern on it. This was attached using a rhinestone brad.

Although some of these items are now retired there are plenty more gorgeous items that have been introduced in the new catalogue. If you would like to have a browse, just click on the button in the left hand column to view the new catalogue online. Alternatively, you can request a hard copy from me here for just £4 including p&p.

A huge thank you to my lovely Hostess, Bee, who helped me out by holding the class at her house because the Village Hall was double booked. We all had a great time and I would love to see you at the next class!

Big changes and a new catalogue!

I am so genuinely excited about the changes that have been made at Stampin' Up! this month that I can't type fast enough!!

First and foremost is the shiny new catalogue, released yesterday. A whole 133 pages of ideas and inspiration plus some of the most gorgeous new stamp sets ever! Normally I'd rave about all the ideas it will give you for your cards and papercrafting, but this catalogue has something new and even more amazing than that...

Fabric!!!!

We now have a range of printed 100% cotton fabrics that coordinate perfectly with the new Designer Series Papers and stamp sets, as well as the range of SU! inks and cardstock.

As if that wasn't enough, we also have 5 gorgeous new 'In Colors' added to the range! These 5 colours will stay in the range right through to 2013, which I'm really happy about as I love them. They join the 5 existing 'In Colors' which will retire at the end of September next year.

The new colours are Calypso Coral, Island Indigo (my fave!), Lucky Limeade, Pool Party and Wisteria Wonder. These new colours are available as inkpads and ink refills (acid free, dye based), dual tipped markers (acid free, xylene free, water based dye ink), heavyweight smooth or textured cardstock (218gsm, acid free, lignin free), Patterned Designer Series Paper, 3/8" Ruffled Ribbon, 1/2" Stitched-Poly Ribbon and Designer Printed Brads. How's THAT for coordination?!

If you love those 'In Colors' then you'll be delighted to hear that you can receive the 'In Color Kit' (rrp £27.95) containing all 5 Classic Stampin' Pads and 20 sheets of A4 cardstock (4 each of all 5 colours) for free when you join Stampin' Up! as a Demonstrator this month! This offer is limited to October so if you'd like more information on joining my team of 'Stampin' Sessionistas' just e-mail me.

Which reminds me...Stampin' Up! have also improved the Starter Kit that every new Demo gets, so that there's now £250 worth of products for just £119. No catch, no obligation to hold workshops or classes, and no obligation to buy any further products. Of course, if you do want to buy more (and you will once you see that catalogue!!) you'll receive an instant income of 20% on your net sales, with an additional 10% on your first order (30% instant income on your first order of £150+ placed in the first 45 days as a Demonstrator). I haven't even mentioned the 'Stampin' Start' programme, which allows you to earn free stamp sets, a £40 product bonus and even £119 cash bonus - that's your Starter Kit cost back in your pocket! It really is the best possible time to become a Demo so just get in touch if you need more information.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better....there's a new rewards system for Workshop Hostesses which allows a Hostess of a qualifying workshop (£150+ workshop sales total) to get 'Hostess Pounds' to spend on anything in the catalogue! Workshops with total sales of £300+ also qualify the Hostess to choose one (or more, dependent on sales total) item at 50% OFF! What more excuse do you need to get your friends round for a fun night of crafting?

Sweet Stampin' Challenge entry

The ladies down at the Sweet Stampin' Challenge Blog have gone fanatical about flowers this week! I loved their optional sketch and made a cute card with a floral panel based upon it.

I had great fun colouring this image with my trusty Promarkers and various gel pens for a bit of added bling.

Annoyingly, the angle I took the photo at makes it look a little skewed, but it's not in real life - honest!

I've fallen for the Naturals Ivory Cardstock I bought recently from Stampin' Up!  It's a really nice weight and perfect for using as a base card as I've done here. The brown cardstock is SU! Chocolate Chip, and the sentiment is from the Level 2 Hostess Set 'Something to Celebrate' (mini catalogue). Don't forget that the mini catalogue is only valid until 30 September 2011, so don't miss out - get your order in now by e-mailing me.

Ribbon Girl Colour Challenge #11

I've been practising with my Promarkers recently and I'm really chuffed with how this project turned out. I made a plaque to remind me to take time out to relax now and again and this stamp summed it up perfectly.

I took colour inspiration from the Colour Challenge #11 over at Ribbon Girl's blog, where the theme was Greens and Browns. I've always found these colours calming and relaxing so it seemed a perfect choice.

I wish it could be Christmas every day

Hmm, maybe not every day, but I do confess to getting all excited when the weather turns colder as it means that Christmas is getting closer.

I really enjoyed the taste of Christmas I got this weekend at my 'Get Set for Christmas' Papercraft Session. Spending a chilly Saturday tucked away with friends, crafting and listening to carols whilst nomming on mince pies - what could be better? Here are some of the cards we made on the day...

Everyone made cards in five different designs and some even managed to get all ten cards completed in 3 hours - that's good going!

I had some good news this week too. The card I made for the Last Chance Blog Hop was picked as one of the Top 3 in the Simply Stampin' Challenge Blog #23. This is the second time I've made the Top 3 so I'm doubly thrilled!

The Papercraft Session planned for 29th September will now be held at a different address so be sure to let me know if you'd like to book so that I can let you know where it will be. We're going to be making the most of those products which are retiring at the end of this month, and so will no longer be available. So many lovely stamp sets have already sold out, including one of my faves - Forest Friends, so be sure to get in quick if the one you want is on the retiring list.

Last Chance Blog Hop

Hello to anyone arriving here from Theresa's Blog. I hope you're enjoying the Blog Hop so far!

I was gutted to learn that the gorgeous 'Bella Toile' background stamp was retiring this year so I simply had to give it a final farewell in the blog hop. I've stamped it in Perfect Plum on Melon Mambo cardstock and layered it onto Perfect Plum cardstock. The main image is the uber cute deer from 'Forest Friends' and a sentiment from the Hostess set 'Afterthoughts'. This is framed with Bashful Blue card.



I've used the kissing technique to transfer the Bella Toile pattern onto the 'Flower Accent' stamp (another fave sadly retiring). I've then cut it out and set it off with one of the stunning brads from the 'Hodgepodge Hardware' kit.

See what I mean? So many stunning sets are retiring, but the good news is that they're still available - while stocks last-  until 30th September. To order just e-mail me.

Next on your Blog Hop journey is the talented Val's blog.

Sneaky peek at... Breakfast at Tiffany's

There are some things in life that never fail to make me smile. One of them is the 1961 film, Breakfast at Tiffany's, starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard. As strange as it may sound, I bought the film on video (showing my age now) before I'd even watched it, because I just knew I would love it. Soon after, I read the novella by Truman Capote and loved that too (it's a better story, but the film has Audrey so it wins hands down).

Back in 2003 I was lucky enough to go to New York and visit Tiffany & Co. on Fifth Avenue. Of course it's nothing like the one in the film, but Holly Golightly was right when she said "The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there."

This week's Papercraft Session pays homage to that film with a double 'pillow box' gift box, reminiscent of the Jeweller's iconic packaging, a simple but dramatic 'Little Black Dress' card (like the one Holly wears whilst eating her breakfast at Tiffany's) and an embossed vellum card, featuring the exclusive Stampin' Up! embossing folder 'Manhattan Flower'.

Under The Sea

A while ago I mentioned that I had a lot of cards to make soon. Well, that time has arrived and I've got a few under my belt already but there's still a lot to go. This one is for my Brother-in-law's birthday and I'd been dying to use these cheeky sea critters for a while now. They're digistamps from Digi My World.

I decided to use a 'less is more' approach with it being a male card, and then I saw that the theme for this week's challenge down at Less is More is 'Things that move' - perfect! The layout was based on two other challenges I'd seen, Tiddly Inks challenge #62 - Inch my way along and Allsorts Challenge #117 - You've been framed.

 

I coloured the images with my trusty promarkers and framed them up using basic black cardstock. Then I simply popped the frame up on stampin' dimensionals onto a basic grey card and added a sentiment from the 'Afterthoughts' Hostess set.

Inspirational and Funky challenge

Just time to show you a birthday card I made for my good friend B.

I based it on the sketch given in the Inspirational Card Sketches Challenge #127 blog post.

I've also incorporated some faux stitching, inspired by the ladies down at Fab 'n' Funky challenges and their Stitch in time Challenge (#86).

The main image is a digistamp by Kenny K which I've coloured using Promarkers. The main card is SU! Old Olive and I've used a piece of the Perfect Plum Designer Series Paper stack on the left of the card. The smaller panels are just patterned papers from my stash, backed with Perfect Plum cardstock. The sentiment is from the Hostess set 'Afterthoughts' by Stampin' Up!

Sketch Saturday #168 challenge entry

My friend had a bouncy baby girl on Saturday night and so I set to work on a card to congratulate her and her family.

I saw this sketch on the Sketch Saturday Challenge Blog and decided to give it a go. This is my take on the sketch...

The card base is Pear Pizazz, one of the In Colours for 2010/11. I wanted to pick up on the green and blue tiny flowers on the paterned paper so I also used some Pacific Point CS to highlight them. I've added a faux stiched border to the main image (a digi stamp) and used the flower from a retired SU stamp for the little circles. The sentiment (my favourite for new baby cards) is a retired SU stamp also.