Sunday, 22 March 2015

Nobody loves like a mum

Morning all, I am off out today to enjoy a lovely relaxing time at the spa. For Christmas I received a spa day voucher from my lovely friends Kate and Iain, and I thought what better day to take advantage than the day before I start my new job? Hopefully I'll be nice and relaxed for tomorrow morning. 

With only 10 days left of Sale-a-bration, yes only 10 days to grab those goodies before they are gone, I thought I would share another card using one of my favourite SAB items this year. I really hope Stampin' Up! bring out something similar to the Irresistibly Yours paper in their annual catalogue as I have had great fun playing with this. The photos just don't do this paper justice as you can't see how the white area shines and they are just so easy to colour. If you can only afford to do an order of £45 I would definitely recommend this paper as it's so versatile you can use it for any style of card.


I know that Mother's Day in the UK was last Sunday but I didn't get a chance to share this card that I made for my Mother in law before now and it could so easily be turned into a birthday card that I felt I could still share it. My Mother in law absolutely loves pink so just had to make the background pink. For this one I used Rich Razzleberry (not technically a pink but I had to get a bit of me in there as well!) and Rose Red, I simply used sponges to rub the colour over the top. So rather than dabbing like I usually do with a sponge I wiped them over so it gave a smoother finish in the coloured areas. I'm really pleased with the finished result.


The flowers have been created using the Painted Petals stamp set which I really enjoyed working with, it's another set that allows you to easily stamp different parts of the image in different colours and to create a different picture each time. Definitely another favourite from the Spring/Summer catalogue. Although not pink I felt the Blackberry Bliss ribbon finished the card off nicely.

Well that's it for me today as I need to go and get ready for my day at the spa, I'll be back next Sunday with another creation to share. Let me know what you're up to today by leaving me a little comment underneath. Thank you for stopping in to read my blog.

Supplies:


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Friday, 20 March 2015

News and Priorities

Morning all, well it's been just over two weeks since I last posted, sorry! This is because as suggested in the post title I needed to take a look at my priorities. I found out two weeks ago that I got a job which I had applied for and will be starting on Monday. I'm really excited but it is full time which wasn't initially what I was looking for but the role itself is just what I was after. This meant that I had two weeks to sort childcare, prepare little monkey for being without me five days a week and prepare myself to be without him five days! Obviously I will still see him in the mornings and evenings but this is the first full time post I will have done since he was born so it's just going to take a little bit of getting used to. It also meant that I had to take a look at my priorities and my blog fell down the list a bit further as family time became much bigger now that I won't get to spend all day with little monkey.
 
Once I'm settled into the role and working full time I'm sure I'll get back into a routine of blogging several times a week but to start with I will try to stick to once a week on a Sunday so that I can be consistent. This also means I can continue to offer classes and parties without worrying that I need to fit blog time in too. Once I get myself organised I can then blog more often again, especially as I have lots of creations sat on my desk ready to share with you!! So that you don't miss out on those all important weekly deals I will be creating a new tab at the top of the page called current promotions. There will be a weekly deals table that will get updated automatically (I hope..!) every week with new weekly deals. I will also put in any other offers that Stampin' Up! are running e.g. Sale-a-bration (which by the way you only have 12 days left to take advantage of!!)  As there are only 12 days left of SAB I will try my best to share some more creations using SAB products to see if I can tempt you but I can't promise anything at the moment other than a definite post each Sunday.
 
Ok so that's priorities done now for lots of news from Stampin' Up!
 
Blendabilities:
 
Unfortunately Stampin' Up! have decided to withdraw their range of Blendabilities marker pens as there were quality issues that could not be resolved. I am definitely one of the disappointed ones as I loved my blendabilities pens but I am pleased they have decided to withdraw them as there is nothing worse than having a sub standard product. That's what I've always said, Stampin' Up! products are quality products and so because they weren't happy with the amount of issues (although not all pens were effected, enough were to make people unhappy) they have withdrawn them. As Stampin' Up! know how popular they were I am sure they will be working on something similar, don't forget however you can still achieve great colouring results with Stampin' Write pens, aqua painters and blender pens.
 
My Digital Studio (MDS):
 
Stampin' Up! have made the decision to withdraw MDS from sale on 31st May 2015, this means that after this date you can still use the software but nothing new will be coming out and there will be no support available for it. Until then you can still buy all of the downloads, so get shopping if you have some you've been meaning to buy....I'll be getting some more project life cards!
 
Sale-a-bration (SAB)
 
As mentioned above Blendabilities have been discontinued which means they are no longer available as SAB items, this means that all other items are available while stocks last as there may now be increased demand on these items. Equally Stampin' Up! have made some more items available to choose during SAB. Please see current promotions tab at the top of the page for more details.
 
That's it for today and thank you for stopping in to read my blog. Even though I won't be posting as much as before I have still available for classes, parties or for any queries so please do not hesitate to contact me.
 
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Thursday, 5 March 2015

Mother's Day - Part 4

Morning all, this is going to be a quick post from me today as I am very tired this morning and not sure my brain is quite functioning yet. Hubby is away on a course and I never sleep well when he's not here but to top it off little monkey decided to wake me up at 4 this morning! He went straight back to his own room and to sleep but I then really struggled to get back to sleep and was awake again by half 6. Think a nice chilled day is in order today!

Today's card is the final one in the series for Mother's Day and no surprise there are butterflies on it!


This one didn't turn out exactly as I pictured it in my head and I'm still not 100% sure I like it but it sold ok so it can't be that bad! I do love the little butterflies in the Butterfly Basics stamp set, they are just cute.

As I said just a short post from me today, hopefully I'll get some crafting time in tonight once little monkey is in bed and I will share some more on Saturday. Thank you for stopping in to read my blog.

Supplies:


Please see below links to all of the supplies I have used to make this card, please click a picture to take you straight to my shop.


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Wednesday, 4 March 2015

Weekly Deals and more free items!!

Hello again, I told you I wouldn't forget the weekly deals! This week my favourites are the Label Love stamp set and it's matching punch. I really like this set and have used it several times in the past, well worth getting!! 

Before diving into those weekly deals I have some brand new products to share with you! These are extras available through sale-a-bration. So for every £45 you spend you can choose from even more goodies! If you've been following my Facebook page you will have already seen these and I thought I'd posted them on here but apparently I didn't, sorry! I am definitely going to have to put an order in soon as I really like the 'For Being You' stamp set! Remember these are only available until the 31st March. 





Sale: £10.69
Price: £14.25
Sale: £1.88
Price: £2.50
Sale: £6.71
Price: £8.95
Sale: £7.46
Price: £9.95
Sale: £13.46
Price: £17.95
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Mothers Day - Part 3

Morning everyone! Don't worry I haven't forgotten it's Wednesday, the weekly deals will be in a separate post but I thought following on from yesterday's butterfly creation I would share the third Mother's Day card which just so happens to have another lovely butterfly on. I apologise for the quality of all of the Mother's Day card photos, these were made about a month ago when I hadn't had a chance to set up anywhere decent to take photos and well the result wasn't exactly my best. Hopefully the photo quality won't distract you from the card itself though.


Now I admit this butterfly isn't quite as pretty as yesterday's but I do still really like it. Although it looks black in the photograph it was actually cut from Blackberry Bliss card stock as this coordinated well with the Painted Blooms DSP.  


I'm not usually one for busy backgrounds but I felt this DSP worked really well behind the hexagons as it means it doesn't cover the whole of the background. The sentiment is from the Painted Petals stamp set and could easily be used for a card for a friend or for birthday's as well as Mother's Day.

Just a quick post today (ok not that quick but smaller than yesterdays!) Thank you for stopping in to read my blog. I'll be back later with some brand new weekly deals but if you can't wait until then just follow the shop link at the top of my page to take a look now.

Supplies:


Here are the links to all of the supplies I have used to create today's card, please feel free to click on them to go through to my shop.

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Tuesday, 3 March 2015

Natures Inspiration

Morning everyone, last week my Dad took little monkey and I to the butterfly house at Wisley. We had a great time spotting all of the butterflies in the hot house, there were so many different colours, shapes and sizes. It was amazing, here are my favourites of the day.


After seeing all of these lovely butterflies I wanted to try and re create their beauty, which at times is really difficult as nature has just made them perfect, but I think I may have succeeded slightly with this butterfly. 


The blue of this is inspired by the blue and black butterfly in the top right of my photos above. To create the butterfly I first stamped the Swallowtail Butterfly in Versmark and then heat embossed using the Silver Stampin' Emboss powder. I then used sponge daubers to sponge Pacific Point and Rich Razzleberry on the wings and Chocolate Chip on the body. 


For the background of this card I have tried the Bokeh technique again, I tried this once before (check out my previous post here) but I didn't have all of the right materials. This time my White Craft Ink had arrived so I had everything I needed and I found a slightly different way to achieve the technique over on a fellow demonstrators blog Stampin Alley. 


You first brush watercolour paper with water (try not to get it too wet as you don't want pools of colour, they tend to dry with funny edges and can ruin your background) then using an Aqua Painter you paint on spotches of your chosen colours. The Aqua Painter keeps the paper wet so that the colours can mingle together. Once this is dry you then use a template cut with circle punches of various sizes to sponge on White Craft Ink. I cannot tell you how pleased I am with the result of this card! I love it so much that I plan to make a video on how to make this card so that hopefully someone will CASE it.

That's it for today, I hope you like my card as much as I did. Thank you for stopping by to read my blog, I'll be back again soon with another card to share.

Supplies:


Please see below links to all of the supplies that I have used in today's card.

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Location: Waterlooville, Hampshire, UK

Monday, 2 March 2015

Mother's Day - Part 2

Morning everyone, I can't quite believe that it's Monday again already, Sunday went far too quickly! Although I shouldn't complain too much as I am meeting my lovely friend for lunch and a catch up today, definitely looking forward to it!

Today's card is the second of the four Mother's Day cards I have to show you. This one was CASEd from the Spring/Summer catalogue as I really liked the colour combinations. Another reason why I chose this one was that I hadn't tried inking an embossing folder before and wanted to give it a go!


The background piece was created by inking up a brayer and running it along the raised part of the Spring Flowers TIEF. Then when you run it through your BigShot the ink stays on the paper in the impressions created by the folder. The flowers were created using the lovely Painted Petals stamp set, the flowers and leaves are two separate stamps but fit together nicely. I personally recommend the photopolymer stamps for this set, where they are clear you can see easily where you need to stamp the petals or leaves once you have stamped the other. It makes it look like one stamp! However if photopolymer isn't for you, you could also use the Stamp-a-ma-jig to line them up nicely.

That's it for today, thank you for stopping by to read my blog, I will be back again tomorrow for the start of what could turn into a butterfly obsession! 

Supplies:


Here are links to all of the supplies I have used to create today's card, please feel free to click on any of the pictures to take you through to my online shop.

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Sunday, 1 March 2015

A little thank you

Afternoon everyone, as I expected I didn't get a chance to schedule a post for Saturday as I just really wasn't in the right frame of mind. Hubby and I took some much needed time together as a couple while little monkey had a sleep over at Nana's. I think we are both feeling more back to normal now that the date has passed and feeling very thankful for our friends and family. Which I think is probably why when I took some time out to create a couple of cards this morning I immediately reached for my thank you sentiments. 


Today's card was created using the latest sketch from the  Clean and Simple Colours and Sketches challenge blog. Here is the sketch...


....and here is the full view of my card.


I decided to use the birds from the Wetlands stamp set as the banner piece in the sketch and my sentiment for the circle. 


The panel of colour behind was created using the post it note technique, I'm not sure if there is a more technical term for this but that's what I was taught and I like it! An easy to remember name for such a simple little technique. You mask off the area using post it notes then using sponges just sponge any colours you like. Then when you peel away the post it notes you reveal a perfectly neat coloured in area. It's a good idea to using a bit of masking tape or snail on the back of your card to keep it in place on your work area 

That's it for today, thank you for stopping by to read my blog. I would love it if you could leave me a little comment to let me know you've stopped in.

Supplies:


Please find below links to all of the supplies I have used in today's card.

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Thursday, 26 February 2015

Mothers Day - Part 1

Afternoon everyone, I am popping in briefly to share with you the first of four Mother's Day cards that I produced recently when asked for some cards to sell. As before when I have done a series of cards they might not appear in consecutive order as I might find some challenges that I want to do, so you'll just have to keep popping back or follow me via email.


This first card was inspired by the hello sunshine card on page 31 of the Spring/Summer catalogue (Haven't got your copy yet? Drop me an email and I'll post one out to you) I changed the colours a little as I wanted to use the Rose Red lace from the Artisan Embellishment Kit. The flower has been done using the Crazy About You set. I stamped the flower four times, twice straight from the ink pad and twice having stamped onto scrap paper first. Then I used my matching punch to cut out the initial layer and my paper snips to cut out the subsequent layers. This was then finished off with a pearl from the Artisan Embellishment Kit. Did I mention how much I love this kit??


That's it for today. I would usually post again on a Saturday but this Saturday is a difficult day for us as a family as it is one year since we lost our baby Joshua. If I get the chance I will schedule a post for you but I hope you will all understand if I don't manage it. Thank you for stopping by to read my blog.

Supplies:


Please find below all of the supplies I have used to make the above card. The list is quite small this time round as all of the embellishments came as a kit and the stamps and thinlits came as a bundle! If you would like to order any of these products please click on the picture below or contact me using the details at the top of the page.

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Location: Waterlooville, Hampshire, UK

Wednesday, 25 February 2015

Happy Wednesday

Morning all, it's a rather dull and cold Wednesday here today, hopefully where you are there is sun! Here are this weeks weekly deals to brighten up your day and this week they've gone made on embellishments and ribbons again. I'm already wondering whether I need to squeeze in a little order to get some more ribbons or maybe the In Color sequins, especially as they are for 2013-2015 only, hmmm decisions! 

That's it for today, as soon as I can work out how to save something as an image rather than a PDF I will have something else exciting to tell you about. Thank you for stopping by to read my blog.

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Monday, 23 February 2015

Punch Art Lion

Morning all, I hope you all had a lovely weekend? We did, after our fun day out in Brighton on Saturday we then spent Sunday catching up with family and going for a lovely walk. I'll be glad when it warms up a bit though as it was rather cold and windy yesterday!

After showing you the video on how good Stampin' Up! punches are compared to some cheaper ones I thought I had better show you a card using some of them! While searching for ideas for children's birthday cards for tonight's party I came across this tutorial sheet by Debbie Naylor on how to make a Lion using Stampin' Up! punches and although I decided on a different route for tonight I really wanted to have a go at the Lion. After making the Lion itself I wasn't really sure what to do with him until I remembered the Freshly Made Sketch that had popped into my inbox. Here is the sketch that inspired me:


I thought the Lion would look quite cute on top of the slant so here is my card:


Where I used such a dark background colour I decided to use my Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder for the sentiment which I think makes it stand out perfectly and co-ordinates nicely with the strip of paper from the Gold Soiree DSP. The Lion's mane and feet have been made using the Blossom punch cut from Cajun Craze and So Saffron. To make the face I punched one 1 3/8" circle and two 3/4" circles from So Saffron then used the Owl Punch to cut the eyes and nose. To finish him off I used my Early Espresso Stampin' Write marker to create some whiskers. Excuse the smudging over his left eye, I got a little distracted by little monkey wanting to play with the Lion that I accidentally glued his eye higher up and had to try and rescue it!


That's it for today, thank you for taking to time to read my blog. I will definitely be back on Wednesday for weekly deals but if I get a chance I will be back tomorrow as there is another challenge I would like to play along with.

Supplies:


Please find below all of the supplies I have used in the above card, if you wish to order any of the supplies online simply click on the image and it will take you straight to my online shop. Otherwise feel free to contact me or leave me a comment. 
Price: £15.50
Price: £15.50
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Location: Waterlooville, Hampshire, UK
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