Traveller

Hello and a Happy Easter! We've had our Sunday lunch and hot cross bun, so it's time for a blog post. This is a card that I have made for my mum's cousin. My friend Ruth kindly lent me the Traveller stamp set, as I don't really do 'male' cards as such.

I used a stamp from Timeless Textures to create the sky and sea background in Soft Sky, Pool Party and Lost Lagoon. I have to say I really like this ship stamp even though I'm not particularly mad about ships!

I missed playing around in Pixie's Snippets Playground last week. The time just seemed to run away from me. I was even late with my DT card for 52CCT, which was a first for me. I can only say in my defence that I have a very special and exciting creative project on the go at the mo...all will be revealed soon! It might be time for more Easter egg now. See you soon! April x

52 CCT Technique Challenge

 

 

Happy Easter! Our challenge over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown this week is a technique one:

 

 



I have to say this is one of my all time favourite techniques. I have used a Hunkydory stamp (Rudolph's Sleigh) with patterned papers from My Mind's Eye. The sentiment is from SU's Oh What Fun stamped in Calypso Coral and I have sponged the edges with Sahara Sand and added some Brights sequins.

I hope you will have a look at the DT's gorgeous paper-pieced cards and post your own festive creations! April x

52 CCT Theme Challenge

Our theme challenge over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown this week is to make a Christmas card with a funny sentiment.

This cute digi from Tiddly Inks makes me laugh as it reminds me of our two cats and their experiences with the Christmas decorations when they were kittens. Fortunately they seem to have grown out of it now and just occasionally bat a bauble around.

I do hope you will join us for some festive humour this week! April x

Flutterbies

Hello! This was inspired by a lovely card in Stampin' Success, but has turned out very differently! You start off by cutting a stencil from a butterfly framelit and sponging ink on a piece of speciality dsp. I decided to then use the inlaid die technique to return the butterflies to their spaces and add some glimmer paper bits to make a much shinier effect. I also added some white sequins for extra blinginess. I hope you like it! April x

My flutterbies are flying off to Cards in Envy - Beautiful Butterflies and Di and Parsnip at Pixie's Snippets Playground - the snippet of dotty speciality dsp was searched for high and low at Snippet Mountain! (mind you, I found lots of things I'd forgotten I had in the process!) :-)

Pedal Pusher

Here's a card I've made with the Pedal Pusher stamp set - available free with orders of £45 during Saleabration. I love it! You can change the contents of the basket to French bread or a pile of hearts. There are eleven photopolymer stamps in the set. Very cute indeed!

Do let me know if you would like to order any Stampin' Up products or join my friendly team. During Saleabration, which ends on 31st March, you can get an amazing £160 worth of products for only £99. Great for starting your own business, or for building your own collection of crafty stuff.

I've coloured my bicycle with a blender pen and added some washi and glitter tape. Very quick and easy! April x

52 CCT Colour Challenge

 
Hello! It's a colour challenge over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown and our hostess Julie has chosen a combo of green and white (with a nod to St Patrick's Day).

I really enjoyed stamping this misty forest of Christmas trees in Cucumber Crush and Mint Macaron. The tree and moon stamp is from Moon Gazer by Lindsay Mason (for Personal Impressions). Although it is meant to be a moon (complete with a moon-gazing hare!) I think it looks more like a pale winter sun here. I have also added some Glimmer Paper stars and a piece of washi tape as the finishing touches.

Such an intriguing colour combination to work with! I do hope you will join us. April x

A last gasp of an entry for Pixie's Snippets Playground (sorry Di and Parsnip!) The glimmer paper is a snippet. The Cucumber Crush card wasn't exactly a snippet, but it was an unloved piece of cardstock, if you see what I mean. I do like green, but Cucumber Crush is a bit too green sometimes!

52 CCT Sketch Challenge

Hello! Over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown , Julie has chosen a super sketch for us this week:

 

 

You are welcome to rotate the sketch (as I have done!) and add any embellishments you like. I decided to use this cute Penny Black stamp called Snow Family which I have coloured with Copics. It was a good choice as we had our very first snow this morning (sadly it didn't stick!) 

 

I do hope that you will join us over at 52CCT, April x

Botanical Blooms

Hello! I made a thank you card today. It is for a fellow demo who showed us how to make this lovely windmill box at our last team training meeting.

I love it! (I needed lots of help though!)

My card uses SU's Botanical Blooms stamps. I have used a colour combo of Perfect Plum, Pool Party and Early Expresso. I clear embossed the sentiment and added some washi tape and sequins. I used a snippet of Go Wild dsp left over from the scrapbook layout in my last marathon post! I am therefore sending my card off to Di and 'Parsnippet' at Pixie's Snippets Playground. Have a great weekend! April x

Display Stampers Submission



Hello! This is my entry for Stampin' Up's Display Stampers. I have made three greeting cards, two 3-D items and a scrapbook layout. I hope you like them! I certainly enjoyed making them :-)

 

 



 

Starting off with something fishy...this card was made using the Friends and Flowers stamp set and co-ordinating Festive Flower Builder Punch. The fish were stamped in Pumpkin Pie ink on Whisper White cardstock and I cut the frame and panel in Pool Party cardstock, using the Project Life Cards & Labels Framelits. I then added the detail of the bubbles by punching circles of Dazzling Diamonds with the Owl Builder Punch and covering the larger ones with Itty Bitty Accents Epoxy Stickers. The 'With Love' sentiment is from 'You're So Sweet' and I have tied Basic Black/Mint Macaron Baker's Twine around the inner panel.

A really quick and simple birthday card! I used the lovely Balloon Celebration bundle to stamp and cut balloons in a combo of Mint Macaron, Sahara Sand and Blushing Bride with a couple of balloons in silver Glimmer Paper adding a touch of bling. The Happy Birthday sentiment was cut using the Washi Label Punch. I wonder where that stray balloon is drifting off to?

I love tropical colours often seen with the Botanical Builder Framelits, but for my first play with this gorgeous set I wanted to try a very different colour combination - Basic Black, Blushing Bride, Real Red and Smoky Slate, with a few small blossoms in Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper. The Designer Series Paper I have used is from the Go Wild stack and I have backed the blooms onto a piece of vellum from the Botanical Gardens Designer Vellum Stack. The sentiment is from the very versatile Saleabration stamp set, Sky is the Limit.

Back to Friends and Flowers for my first 3D item, as I love this very versatile stamp set. Cucumber Crush meets Bermuda Bay for an Easter Bunny treat box! Shine On Speciality Designer Series Paper makes a great base for the box, which was cut using the Fry Box Bigz L die. I have added leaves in Cherry on Top DSP and Bermuda Bay cardstock flowers cut with an Itty Bitty Accents punch. The banner is a cocktail stick wrapped in Cherry on Top washi tape with Bermuda Bay sequin trim and linen thread. The Easter sentiment is from Circle of Spring and is stamped on a banner cut from Cucumber Crush envelope paper.

A big birthday box for stuffing lots of presents in! I have used the Cherry on Top Designer Paper stack, combined with a big bow tied with Tip Top Taupe Dotted Lace Trim. The banner tag combines the Pretty Thankful stamp set with a sentiment from Circle of Spring.

Finally, my scrapbook layout which is a traditional 12 x 12 page celebrating Chinese New Year. I wanted to include a card pouch to hold the lucky money envelope that my daughter is clutching in the photo! I used Botanical Builder Framelits to cut the detailing at the top of the pouch and to make the cluster of flowers. My colour combo is Basic Black, Real Red, Tip Top Taupe, Calypso Coral and gold Glimmer Paper with sequins. This choice combines lucky Chinese colours with colour elements of the dragon.

I hope that you've enjoyed my Stampin' Up projects. I'm now itching to start my swaps for Telford! April x