lolly sticks

Somewhere while blog hopping or reading a mag I saw a picture of a card using a lolly stick and a packet of seeds and thought wow, must have a go at that. On a trip to the local craft shop I saw a bag of lolly sticks and duly bought them then as per usual couldn't remember exactly what it was I was going to do with them.

The lovely ladies at the ILWS forum couldn't help with the exact card I'd seen but they did post some lovely links where people had used lolly sticks.

Thanks to hubbies generosity in saying buy all I need (same as want in my book lol) the very nice man from DHL arrived this afternoon with a big box of goodies, including the Summer by the Sea stamp set so.. this is todays playing.

I stuck the lolly sticks to some scrap card then used the stampamjig to get the image central and straight, no cutting the image out at an angle to hide my weakness for squew any more ;o) Stamped with Chocolate Chip and used the aqua painter with the weeniest bit of ink from certainly celery, pretty in pink and apricot appeal and dragged the chocolate chip ink from the stamped image. I wasn't looking to colour, more a tint.

Mounted on Tea and Crumpets dsp, mellow moss and so saffron card. With a border made with the scallop edge punch and some pretty in pink taffeta ribbon.

Bloomin Beauty

Something a bit different today, this is using an a5 piece of Lavender Lace card stock and scoring and cutting. I then mounted some strips of white and stamped the small flower from Baroque Motifs with versamark, added poppin pastels in Almost Amethyst & Lavender Lace and a sentiment from Cheer & Wishes.

The poppy from Bloomin Beauty has been stamped on a sheet of white 160gsm laser paper before being coloured with v91 & v95 copics. The leaves are g21 & g05 and for both I picked up the darker colour from acetate with the lighter pens. Once coloured they were then cut out and mounted on the Whisper White. I've left the central block so that I can add a suitable verse at some point in the future.

Still having fun

My mate Tracy is going to be the guinea pig for my first SU party so I'm busy making up some samples.

This is using Barely Banana card with the Garden Whimsy stamp set. The butterfly has been stamped twice and mounted with some silicon glue for depth. Pic doesnt show it but I succombed to Tracys request for sparkles and added some gems & glitter to it.


This is a small box that is held together with 2 buttons and should be some gold elastic cord. I've had elastic cord on the desk for months.. until today when I wanted it!! Butterfly from Garden Whimsy stamped with versamark and embossed with gold ep on Sage Shadow cs.






This isnt a card, it's an exploding tag book. Apricot Appeal cs with the poppy from Beautiful Blooms. I used various pale reds and orange copics to colour. If I remember I'll try and photo the inside on Mon.










These are using my favourite swirl from Baroque Motifs, the first is just stamped in classic black then cut into 3 panels and mounted. Ribbon from stash and I used a corner rounder and the making memories ribbon slot punch to create the panel for the sentiment.





Orchid opulence ink, and a sentiment from Cheer & Wishes, a few gems and some organza ribbon from stash.












A couple of quick paperclip bookmarks using 2 other stamps from the Baroque Motifs set. Bashful blue, pretty in pink and apricot appeal.

I've not long had All In The Family stamp set and have fallen in love with these little stick figures.

The first is a bag made from a 6" envie and decorated with the spot on wheel using pretty in pink ink. I thought this would make a fantastic party bag that with a bit of help most children would enjoy making.

Carrying on with the party theme this is a co-ordinating invite. Same stamps, pretty in pink cs stamped with versamark. The invitation banner (Cheers & Wishes set) is attached with some jump rings.

I've already started on a cake slice box but it's still on the table to be finished.

Well that's it for tonight, I've got to be up early in the morning. I'm off to Newbury for a colouring in class or for those who'd understand it, a lesson in how to use copic pens ;o)

Been playing again

I'm having so much fun with boxes at the moment that I've only 1 card today.

Using the Fun & Fast Notes stamp set and Spot On wheel. Bashful blue & certainly celery card stock and the image is coloured with copics.








How can 2 small pieces of paper drive a person insane? Turning them into a Danish woven heart basket is how!! I haven't made one of these for over 10 years and I'd forgotten just how fiddly it is getting those last 2 strips into place.


Sweet Always paper and a bow. I've stuffed it with cotton wool to take the photo but I'll be filling it with sweeties.







Another acetate box, this time I thought it would make a cheap set of 99p pencils/pens into a great thank you gift for a teacher. Apricot appeal card stock, Spot On stamp set, some nesties, a few small jup rings and whisper white grosgrain ribbon.









I've always loved favour boxes and this one is so easy to make. Certainly celery card stock, garden whimsy stamped in versamark then dusted with gold perfect pearls. 3 ribbon roses from stash glued onto a gold nestie circle. Quick and easy, I hope the kids don't go hunting for the choccy inside.

First play with kit

My kit finally arrived on Thursday afternoon, which was quite surprising with the Easter weekend the day after I ordered.

I was like a kid in a sweetie shop unpacking all the new goodies. Trouble is what do I play with first and I've had so many ideas whizzing round my head that I didnt know quite where to start lol.

This is one of the ideas I've been dying to try for ages, a milk carton style holder. Very much a prototype to check if the template I designed fitted the lil bottles. (Travel sizes from tesco) The template works perfectly and for something very light it works perfectly cut from a single sheet of a4 card. For the lotions it needs 2 stuck together back to back and with some chipboard in between. Although I cut this one using scal it's going to be just as easy to make freehand and with the SU scallop border punch.

Baroque motifs with bashful blue & barely banana, versamark & poppin pastels.

I did say you'd be seeing a lot of the Baroque Motifs set, this time on Pretty In pink stamped with versamark and a dash of poppin pastels. I've always disliked chalks but I have to admit I'm loving these. Beaded wire handle and border created with versamark and more poppin pastels. Top tip... dont smoosh paper into versamark, it gets a wee bit too wet.

This handbag does open but at only 8cm wide and 3cm deep at the base it's too small for anything other than a couple of lippies.

Time for a card, this is an a5 sheet of perfect plum folded to create a tall slim card and using the garden whimsy stamp set. Stamped with versamark and the small insects with a section masked off to add the greeting. The tulip is pretty in pink & green galore on whisper white matted on pretty in pink. I havent got the scallop border punch yet so had to use fancy edged scissors, what a palaver!!

This is a mini wallet card using bashful blue cardstock stamped with the Spot On roller wheel & versamark then dusted with going gray poppin pastels. The birthday cake image is from the Fun & Fast Note set, coloured with chalks and matted on perfect plum cardstock. A small piece of silver organza ribbon from stash.

You can just see the inside of the card in this photo. The card was made from a 9cm by 27cm strip which was scored, folded and stuck together to create a flap inside so it could hold a voucher. I continued the theme inside and added a small border using a wee strip of perfect plum.

This is a very quick and simple card using the pram stamp from the Fun & Fast Notes set. Barely Banana and lavender lace cs, some of the lovely ribbon and the image is coloured with copics. I used my Spot On roller wheel and versamark on the bottom to match in wiht the dotty theme of the pram.

Sweet little jar from Ikea (4 for £2.79) but I've used my nesties to pretty them up a bit. Bashful blue and pretty in pink with Seeing Spots stamp set.

I was using this 29p set of cotton buds with the poppin pastels and couldnt stand looking at the boring lid any longer so a 2 minute makeover lol. Nothing more than 2 pieces of Sweet Always paper, one cut using a template from HOTP. Mounted on whisper white and a doodle edge using one of my sakura pens.

Waiting impatiently

While waiting for the kit I've been playing around with my single solitary pack of Sweet Always paper, Bloomin With Beauty stamp set and Baroque Motifs stamp set and the odd thing from my stash.

I've never made a coaster box before, think I made a few mistakes with this one. Would probably have been better if I'd used a pritt stick instead of book binder glue and hadn't tightened the knots until each side was in place. Still it's the first I've ever attempted and can be rectified when I get my whispers white ribbon. Not sure yet which stamp I'll use to add a bit of interest, I keep looking through the catologue and changing my mind lol.

Bit of a trial run to see what would need tweaking on this phone caddy. By adding a larger border to the wrap I wouldnt have needed to use as much paper for the liner and the ribbon could be placed better.

Learnt my lesson with the bookbinder glue and used pritt stick before pressing everything firmly in place with a bone folder.

The wrap is made with 3 pieces of thick chipboard pinched from the back of my watercolour pad, joined with wet gummed tape and scored while still wet.

By leaving off the back of the inside box it's going to mean I can get to the bottom post it notes without having to shake it upside down.

The 3 sided box was made by scoring 4cm away from 3 edges of card, 12.5cm by 16.5cm to make an 8.5cm box.

Another one to finish off when my kit or first order arrive.

Here's my revised diagram to allow for the extra border. You will still need to cut an inner piece to cover the inside of the lid and spine, but be careful not to go over the edge wear the box sits or when you tie the ribbons together the spine wont pull in nicely.

I can't help sometimes but go back to a bit of decoupage and the flowers on this stamp were crying out for a bit of silicon. To colour the flowers copic pens on 160gsm laser paper. rv000, rv10 & rv 21 and yg11 and yg41 for the leaves. I didn't have the right tones for the vase so I used polychromo pencils with sansodor, dark cadmium yellow, dark chrome yellow, cadmium orange and dark cadmium orange.

Sweet Always papers to mat & layer with a few gems and an organza bow.






The burning question on this one is does embossing powder go off or was it the paper used to make this bag?

Ok, I admit it's a pergamano gold detail embossing powder that I've had about 12 years but it went a dark brown with no hint of metallic. As it is it doesnt look out of place but that's not the point.

Using 3 stamps from the Baroque Motifs stamp set, I'm a bit of a flourish addict so expect to see a lot of this stamp.

woohoo

It's all official now, SU have received the paperwork and hubbies debit card has paid for my kit so I'm now officially a demonstrator for SU, woohoo. I'm hoping that the SU staff realise that my kit is the most important thing in the world and break the record to get it to me but with it being Easter tomorrow chances are I wont get it for a week or so. While I wait I'm spending hours (and lots of hubbies money) drooling over the catologue deciding what I'm going to add to my first order as well as thinking of all the cards I can make with the sets from the kit.

Have a good Easter.

My first ever SU card

My decision to join SU was nearly finalised when I went to a make & take session organised by Tanya from the Docrafts forum.

This is the card we all made. I should have taken note of the colours and stamp collection but in truth we were having such a good laugh I didn't really take much notice. Ooops.

First post new blog

Woohoo, just made the decision to sign up as a stampin up demonstrator. So I'll be using this blog for my SU cards & news.

Counting down the days til I get my kit...