Merry Christmas!

 

 

Oh dear! My poor abandoned blog. I have been hopeless. The card above should have had a snowflake made with a lovely snippet of furry, flocked paper. Well it has...but I stuck it upside down!

 

I haven't really made any cards recently. I ended up making cold process soap instead and that led to me getting my safety assessments done and selling my soaps at fairs, online and in a lovely local shop. I did get a bit of label stamping done though!

 

 



 

 

 

My soaps have kept me seriously busy, but I do hope to get back to a bit of stamping just for fun! I have always been a serial crafter and I just have to follow where the latest obsession takes me. It's been great doing pottery this year followed by the all-encompassing world of soap. I do miss a bit of blog-hopping though, so will try to do more of that next year. That is my resolution!

 

I am dropping in at Pixie's Snippets Playground to send Christmas wishes to Di, Parsnip and of course, Dudley! Thank you for the lovely card, Di. I hope mine reached you! xx

 

Wishing you a lovely crafty Christmas and a very Happy New Year! April x

Petal Palette

Hello! Here is a card made using the lovely Petal Palette bundle. It was inspired by the challenge over at Global Design Project where you are asked to CASE a gorgeous card by Krista Frattin.

 

I was inspired by the sketch (although I have flipped it around) and the very pretty layering. I love the doily and have tried to include a similar effect with some die-cut vellum. I have kept to a simple colour scheme of Smoky Slate and Pool Party with a touch of silver from the sequins.

The vellum was a snippet and the Smoky Slate cardstock is my very last snippet of that colour (sob!) I am therefore sending my bunch of flowers to the Parsnip Piglet and Di over at Pixie's Snippets Playground. Happy crafting! April x

 

 



Product List

Petal Palette Clear-Mount Bundle

[145974]

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

[132708]

Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack

[145058]

Pool Party Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack

[144605]

White Vellum A4 Card Stock

[106584]

Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad

[131179]

Pool Party A4 Card Stock

[124391]

Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate

[131291]

Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies

[145372]

Dragonflies

Hello! This card is a kind of tribute to the really huge dragonfly that seems to have taken a liking to our drive at the moment. He follows you round like a small aircraft and it's slightly off-putting as he makes a bee-line for your head! I looked him up on a dragonfly identification website and he's a southern hawker apparently.

This card uses the lovely Wood Words stamp set for the background and sentiment. I really love this stamp set and have used it for all kind of cards recently. The colour scheme here was inspired by the challenge over at Sunday Stamps. Such a pretty combo of colours!

 

 

The design of my card was inspired by this week's Global Design Project where it's a 'Case the Designer' challenge.

 

 

I love this type of challenge because I tend to start off with one idea in my head and it often becomes something completely different as I go along!

 

I'm also sending my dragonfly along to see Di and Parsnip at Pixie's Snippets Playground because I've been AWOL lately. I know if there's anyone who would appreciate being dive-bombed by a large dragonfly, it's Parsnip!



Tie Dyed

Hello! This card was inspired by the sketch for this week's challenge at Global Design Project.

 

 Such a great sketch! I used two of the stamps from Tie Dyed to create the background for the label. The row of hearts comes from Birthday Blooms and the sentiment is from the Watercolour Wishes kit. I used dsp from the Serene Scenery stack and some Bermuda Bay sequins to finish it off.

 

I hope you like it!

Fabulous Flora

Hello! Thank you for dropping by. I did a bit of water-colouring with the Fabulous Flora hostess set yesterday. I used an Aqua Painter with Watermelon Wonder, Delightful Dijon, Pear Pizzazz and Pool Party inks.

The overall design was inspired by a lovely card by Louise Sharp for this week's challenge over at the Global Design Project.

 

I have kept the floral theme and also the spotty background paper and tag element. It was lots of fun to make!

 

My card was also super snippety, using up some bits of dsp and a left-over strip of Bermuda Bay cardstock that was squished through the hexagonal embossing folder. I am presenting the flower to Parsnip and Di over at Pixie's Snippets Playground of course! It's certainly nice to return to making more flowery cards as the spring weather gets a bit better. Happy crafting! April x

CCT Colour Challenge

Hello! We have a colour challenge for you at Christmas Card Throwdown and I love this particular colour combo!

 

 

Please do check out the inspirational cards from the rest of the design team. We look forward to seeing your cards!

 

I made a version of this card before Christmas and I thought it would work well in a different colourway. Here is my earlier card made with SU's Santa's Sleigh bundle -

 

 

 

 

I swapped a few things around and for my aqua and brown shades I chose Pool Party and Chocolate Chip. The card is actually Very Vanilla in real life, although it looks a bit washed out here! I've also added some Bermuda Bay sequins. I hope you like it! Happy crafting! April x



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

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

Birthday Blooms

I love the Birthday Blooms stamp set from the new Stampin' Up spring/summer catalogue and I couldn't wait to make a card with it! I started off by stamping the image twice and then layering the flowers over the leaves to give it a bit of depth. All the colouring was done with a blender pen, using Blushing Bride, Delightful Dijon and Pear Pizzazz inkpads. I've added a snippet of Pool Party ribbon and backed it all on a Pool Party card.

I'm waving to Di and sending the flower to Parsnip (so he can wear it behind one ear) over at Pixie's Snippets Playground. I'm also going to have a cup of tea and a gander at all the lovely cards there!

Happy crafting! April x

52 CCT Technique Challenge

Hello! Hard to believe that we are nearing the end of another year of challenges at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown! I hope that we have helped you make a pile of cards all ready to send off (if you can bear to part with them that is!) I love being part of the lovely Design Team and am already looking forward to next year's challenges. However, we still have a couple of challenges left to go, starting with this fab technique challenge -

 

 

 

I love creating inky backgrounds! On my card I have sponged a mixture of Soft Sky, Pool Party, Tempting Turquoise and Pistachio Pudding, using a ripped piece of copier paper as a mask. I then added some snowflakes in white and stamped the trees using SU's Wonderland. A bit of messing around with a chalk marker, the fine tip glue pen and some glitter, and I was done!

 

 

 

I hope that you will join us over at 52CCT and feel inspired by the DT's inky creations!

 

I am doing a last minute drag of my trees (for Parsnip to climb) through the gates at Pixie's Snippets Playground even though my snippetage of the week just involved a mask of copier paper (part of a shopping list!) Di very kindly had my Tic Tac holders as one of her picks last week which made my day! April x



Mother's Day Card

Although I make lots of cards for workshops, challenges and design team stuff, I never seem to have the right card for real life occasions! I have been more organised this year and I definitely thought I would get (slightly) ahead of myself and make a Mother's Day card for my Mum.

I'm entering this in the Colour Me challenge because I felt inspired by the colour combo of Pool Party, So Saffron and Real Red.

 

What a great choice of colours! I have used drops of Pool Party re-inker on a chevron embossing folder. It was spritzed with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist (Pearl) and watercolour paper placed on top. I have stamped the blossoms in So Saffron and Real Red using SU's Flower Patch. Finally, I added the sentiment and a few pearls. I really like the subtle colour scheme combined with the touches of Real Red. April x

Ornamental Pine

 

Here is a card using the Ornamental Pine set that I am entering in two challenges today. The sketch is from 52 Christmas Card Throwdown and the colour combo of Pool Party, Very Vanilla and Baked Brown Sugar is for Nacho Average Challenge #114. This is a much bigger card than I usually make, using a whole piece of A4. I have resist embossed the pine needles with clear embossing powder and have then sponged a background using Pool Party. The pine cones look more three-dimensional in real life, as they are stuck on with foam pads. I have used Gorgeous Grunge to stamp a Pool Party/silvery spattered background. I do love spattery looking cards and pine cones, so it's the perfect card for me really! Hope you like it, April x

A Technique and Sketch Challenge

 

I love this technique! This week's technique and sketch challenge at The Friday Mashup! 180 calls for the marble rolling technique. My background is gently rolled with Pool Party re-inker. The flowers were cut from a more frenetically rolled mixture of Coastal Cabana and Strawberry Slush. I love the scribbly effects you can produce and rolling marbles around in re-inker is very therapeutic! April x 

Sketch Challenge

 

Here is my entry for the NAC#75. The central stamped image is from Peaceful Petals. I embossed the image with clear embossing powder and sponged Pool Party on top. The DSP is from the Fresh Prints stack and the cardstock used is Perfect Plum. I've added some silver glimmer paper on the butterflies. I hope you like it!

A Tutorial

Here is a card front that I am taking to our next team meeting in December. I thought that I would share the tutorial with you, as my photo really does not do justice to the sparkle! All products used are Stampin' Up and can be ordered from me.

1. Create your background by rubbing a sponge on Pistachio Pudding, Pool Party and Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pads. Rub the sponge on a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock.

2. Using a Baked Brown Sugar ink pad, stamp over the background with the Post Card stamp.

3. Using a Whisper White ink pad, stamp a snowflake from the Snowflake Soiree set (the third in size) on the left of the postcard. Stamp the smallest snowflake twice on the right.

4. Using Versamark, stamp the snowflake from the Hostess set, Warmth and Wonder about four times and emboss using Iridescent Ice Stampin' Emboss Powder and a heat tool.

5. Randomly stamp the snowflake across the card using Coastal Cabana.

6. Cut out the postcard.

7. Using a Perfect Plum ink pad, stamp the reindeer from Warmth and Wonder on a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock. Cut out using the Postage Stamp punch, then stamp the snowflake in Pool Party in the corner. Sponge Baked Brown Sugar on the edges of the stamp and adhere to the corner of the card. Embellish with some rhinestones.

8. Stamp the sentiment from Warmth and Wonder and then you are done! Ready to turn your postcard into the finished card of your choice.

I hope that you enjoyed my tutorial! April xx