sue playingwithstampinup

Virtual Stamping Party

2011-03-30T14:09:00.000-07:00

I've been asked by a few ladies about starting up a virtual stamping party, often known in blogland as stampers 6 or stampers 10.

Sooo seeing as we've got the new mini catty being released in just a couple of days time I thought what better time than to get things up and running.

Ok, this is how it works.. as you may know when you hold a party for StampinUp if you reach sales of £150 or more you get to chose a free hostess gift and a minimum of £15 worth of free goods. Great for those who can spare an evening and enjoy the company of some friends but not so great for those who lead super busy lives or find it hard to coordinate an evening with far flung buddies. This is where the virtual groups come in, for stampers 6 six ladies & gents (yes we do have some fantastic male stampers out there) each commit to spending a minimum of £25 a month (plus postage unless local to me in Bristol and you can collect) on StampinUp goodies for 6 months then each month everyone takes a turn at being the host and earning the freebie spends and hostess gift.

Stampers 10 is the same idea but with 10 members it means a longer commitment but a smaller minimum spend of £15 (plus postage) per month.

If you'd like any more info or would like to take part please drop me a note on playingwithpaper@googlemail.com and please remember to let me know your screen name if you know me through any of the forums where I'm often found chatting.

A Dasher Good Christmas

2010-10-23T05:36:00.000-07:00

One of the worst things for me at Xmas is deciding what cards to make. So much stash, so many ideas and soooooo many peeps to make cards for. Do I bore myself rigid and make over 100 all the same or do I go through the agonising process for each and every one?

I'll admit to being a bit of a butterfly and hate doing loads of the same thing so I decided I'd chose one colour and predominently one stamp then do half a dozen of each design I come up with.

The colour I chose was blue and the stamp Dasher.

Now I can't decide between marina mist and baja blue so I'll do a mix of each lol

This is using the 3kings template from scs.

Baja blue & whisper white cs, baja blue ink sponged to make a scene which runs around all 3 sides.

Serene Snowflakes randomly stamped to create the frill. White satin ribbon sponged with baja breeze to give just a hint of colour. Base frill punched with scallop trim border punch and a few gems. Sentiment is from Contempo Christmas.

Same card & ink but this time I've used a sentiment from Curly Cute, big square word block from Season of Joy and a flourish from a retired set. All of the panels have been sponged around the edge using the daubers. Pic doesnt really show it but Dasher has lovely sparkly antlers after 1 zig 2 way glued along the stamped line and covered with dazzling diamonds.

Switching to Marina mist cardstock & ink now.

This has to be one of the easiest cards I've ever made, whisper white sponged with marina mist to create a landscape and a sentiment from Contempo Christmas. It probably doesnt show but I've dotted the sky with my white inkessentials pen.

Same ink, same card, same stamps and the same technique but this time I used the waste from a nestie to create a mask.

Tiny bow from silver elastic cord and a wee brad.

Chosing just one colour and one stamp has proven very economical.

Dasher, 116816 £7.95
Pack of 40 whisper white a4 cs 106549 £7.50
Pack of 20 baja breeze a4 cs 106565 £6.25 (marina mist 121682)
Baja Breeze ink pad, 111833 £4.95 (marina mist 119668)
Postage £4.95

Total £31.60

If you'd like to order any of the StampinUp range please just drop me a line at playingwithpaper@googlemail.com

nb, SU don't make card blanks in the size I wanted so I used various white card blanks I've had here for a long time.

More Just Believe

2010-10-15T10:07:00.000-07:00

It was mums birthday yesterday and her favourite flowers are daffodils. I've done her plenty of daff cards over the years this time I decided to use the colours found in daffs as the theme rather than the actual flower.

3 of the new In Colors fitted the bill perfectly, peach parfait, poppy parade and pear pizzazz and of course I couldnt not use daffodil delight. I teamed it with a sketch from Truly Scrumptious

In real life the daffodil delight is quite a soft colour for a yellow. I loathe yellow cardstock as a rule but this isnt too bad, will never be my favourite card colour but it doesnt offend me lol.

In colour markers used direct to the Just Believe flower. Peach parfait for the so swirly wheel. Boho Blossom punch teamed with Punch Potpourri and some old olive taffeta ribbon. Scallop trim corner punch used in the top right corner, bit of a liberty with the sketch I know but it looked better for me this way.

A couple more from Just Believe before I had to force myself to put it down and get cracking with Xmas cards.

After the card I made a couple of days ago I decided to use Lap of Luxury DSP again.

Very vanilla, & pretty in pink cardstock, concord crush and basic grey ink. Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon and the scallop trim border and corner punch with just a few gems to finish.

Now I'm hoping that the 2nd card is round the right way, it's saved properly on the pc but blogger seems to want to rotate it, odd. Edited to add, no it hasnt. Very very odd as I've tried with several different jpgs of the card. Even a new photo lol.

This is cased from a card by Lee Conroy, her's is one of the most perfect xmas cards I've seen for a long time. I havent changed much at all.

En Francais & tree trimmings stamped with versamark and embossed with SU gold ep. Whisper white, real red & gold mirri cardstock. Base card is one I cut & scored a long time ago, I rarely if ever make a6 cards any more but it was perfect for this one. Real red satin ribbon to finish. Wish you could see the ribbon in real life as it's so rich in colour & sheen it looks incredibly expensive. Perhaps some of the relations wont think handmade cards are the *cheap* option this year.. if only they knew lol ;o)

Papertake Weekly Challenge

2010-10-12T05:08:00.000-07:00

This weeks Papertake Weekly Challenge was to chose any previous challenge, I used last weeks sketch. Loved the sketch but more truthfully was itching to get inky lol.

This is from Just Believe stamp set and has been daubed with basic grey, concord crush & pretty in pink before being stamped onto very vanilla.

Papers from Lap of Luxury DSP. Concord crush & pretty in pink cardstock with pretty in pink taffeta ribbon. Just Believe sentiment punched with word window punch. imho a really boring punch design but in practise sooo handy lol.

Undecided title lol

2010-10-11T15:41:00.000-07:00

I couldnt decide on the title for todays post.. it was a split decision between I'm a Donut and Possibly the Best Stamp Set Ever. I'll let you decide which it should have been lol.

Donut, because I've done something so stupid I really can't believe it.... I've been hankering after the bauble punch from SU since I saw it in the US catty last year. September 1st arrives and we get a sneak peak at the new catty and woohoo we've got the punch... fast forward 4 weeks and I can finally order it.. I've got my need list all tidily arranged on a spread sheet so I don't forget anything. Woohoo the very nice man from UPS arrived early this morning with a ginormous box. I was very restrained... and rammed my tea & toast down my throat, washed the raspberry jam from my fingers before hacking at the box to get in it as quick as humanly poss. Squeals of delight as I grab my new goodies then it dawned on me.. delightful decoration stamp set yes, xmas wheel yes, jolly holiday papers yes, old olive ribbon yes, where's the bauble punch..Yep I forgot to copy & paste the code number for the punch. Gutted isnt the word to describe how I felt for all of the 10 minutes it took to log in and order it (and a few other things lol).

Possibly the Best Stamp Set Ever?

This is what really lifted the disappointment.. Just Believe. I'll be honest when I first saw the catty I was so busy looking at other things this one was overlooked until I happened to be looking in the SCS galleries.. WOW. I needed this set and I needed it straight away. Not often I use the same set 5 times in a single afternoon but I couldnt help myself. I can see me playing with it some more tomorrow.

This is the first card I made and was inspired by the Saturday Challenge Blogs theme for the week, distressing. Sorry about the photo, it doesnt sag in the middle.. I took the photo at a dodgy angle and used the perspective tool in PSP to right it.. not a good idea lol

Soft suede, crumb cake, & very vanilla cardstock, early espresso, crumb cake and soft suede ink.

En Francais script background, perfect punches sentiment, Just Believe.

Very vanilla taffeta ribbon and 3 new punches, scallop trim border, scallop trim corner and curly label extra large.

I fell in love with soft suede & crumb cake a long time ago when they were US colours. Teamed here again with early espresso & very vanilla again.

The central image is from the same set and was decoupaged. The larger background image was using a 2nd impression with crumb cake.

Again the same 3 colours but I used some of the champagne glitter paint and dauber to sponge some glitz over the vase.

Not sure about the layout (sketch from stamping411). It was going to be recycled into a different card but hubby loved it so it had a reprieve lol.

Vase made with the new oval extra large punch.

This is a stamp that cries out for multicolour stamping. Markers are something that I've tended to overlook a lot lately thanks to copics but that's about to change, well when I've saved enough pennies for the SU markers in the new colours.

Just because there's been a colour renovation I still like and will use the older colours. This is using 3 of the retired greens and real red markers. Coloured on to the stamp, huffed on then stamped on to very vanilla. If you look at the leaves carefully you'll see where the shades have merged together. Lovely technique and only possible with dye based pens. Sentiment from the same set, Just Believe but the top layer was punched with the curly label extra large. The bottom layer was cut by hand very carefully lol. Old Olive cardstock.

Odd colour combo time, old olive, melon mambo and elegant eggplant. Everything screams at me that it shouldnt work but somehow I think it does, or have I just got dodgy taste lol. I do think it might have been better if I'd used old olive as a border and the melon mambo as the base, maybe next time.

Not a card, this is a rather large corner bookmark. The old olive base was stamper with versamark. The main image was using daubers to dab the three inks in place. It's a similar technique to using the pens but if you look at how the eggplant & melon have merged it's a much softer look. I'm so chuffed with how they look in real life I'll be daubing a lot more eggplant & melon. Scallop trim edge & border punches also used.

CAS bauble

2010-10-08T08:02:00.001-07:00

I love clean & simple and I'm really pleased with how this one came out.

Whisper white masked with the waste from a nestie ornament and strips of torn paper. Baja Breeze sponged over for a background. I did try with some cutndry to speed things up but wont show you the dogs dinner it made. Daubers are best for this as you need to control the ink.

Lovely as a tree stamped with Pacific Point before being overstamped with versamark heat embossed with heat & stick powder then dusted liberally with dazzling diamonds. Sentiment from Contempo Christmas and stamped in pacific point. All matted on to baja breeze cs.

Mixed bag

2010-10-07T08:34:00.000-07:00

Bit of a mixed bag from me today, you've got no idea how good it is being able to play with inks again!

This one is simulating a crimper technique on SCS. I used a hougie board instead of a crimper.. next order that goes in is going to have the new A4 crimper!! All that lining up and scoring was a bit like hard work :o(

Contempo Christmas was used for the tree and sentiment (my idea of a perfect sentiment stamp, love the design)

Whisper white, garden green and real red cs/inks with just a pinch of dazzling diamonds on the star. Pic doesnt show it but it really sparkles in real life. For me real red is the ultimate in true xmassy reds and I normally use loads of it at this time of year.

Christmas colours again but this time I've used old olive, cherry cobbler and very vanilla. Cherry cobbler is a blood red in real life and has a very rich tone to it. Perfect with many of the SU greens and vanilla.

I used a couple of the stamps from Artistic Etchings and the box was cut with scal & my cricut. Very easy to make if you have a circle template. There is a step by step at scs which uses an envie template.

This has been on my to finish list for a wee while. It's a bingo board that I started at Yeovil playday with some of my crafting buddies.

There is a pic of me somewhere in the dc gallery spraying the board with gold paint, trouble was I had my hand in the cast, was spraying outside Sandras kitchen shop and it was blowing a gale lol.

One of my all time favourite stamp sets, pocket silhouettes. Rich razzleberry, soft suede, pumpkin pie card & inks. Boho blossom, scallop border (pencil holder) and bird punch. Rich razzleberry grosgrain ribbon.

A few cheap gems, ikea pencil that happened to be in my pocket and a small post it note pad.

Middlestep variation

2010-10-06T05:50:00.001-07:00

This is a variation on the sidestep/middlestep card.

I cheated and made a template for scal & my cricut lol.

Both cards are using one of the new stamp sets, Contempo Christmas as the main focal point. The tree card is a tiny 3" sqr, the bauble 5"sqr.

I've also used Joy of Season Flourish, String from Tree Trimmings, Old olive, cherry cobbler ink & cs. Very vanilla cs, baroque border & sparking wheels, versamark, gold ep, very vanilla taffeta ribbon, dazzling diamonds glitter

There is a complimentary bauble punch which fits the stamp but we werent allowed to preorder it :o( Hopefully it's winging it's way to me now ;o)

I'm back

2010-10-02T03:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been so deadly silent lately. An accident on a quad bike left me with a broken scaphoid bone in my right hand... Yes, I'm right handed, very much so.. whisking an egg was hilarious and brushing my teeth left handed was, odd! More than 8 weeks with my hand in a cast was miserable and not only was typing a major problem but stamping was a big nono. I did try left handed but I wasnt very good.

Anyways my cast is now off and just in time for the new catty I can stamp again, yay.

My big problem now is that I have more than a few new ink pads & card add that to a few of the new clear mounted sets (woohoo, yes most of the SU sets now come unmounted and ready to use with acrylic blocks) and I have a dilemna what do I play with first lol.

This is one I managed to stamp left handed. Thankfully the distressed look didnt need to be stamped as well as I normally like.

This one is a mix of the old & new.

Bella toile background stamped with versamark & clear ep on to whisper white before being tinted with baja breeze (this ink is better than lush) and pear pizazz (one of the 5 new in colours).

En francais script background stamped with kraft, sorry the new name is crumb cake, then the eiffel tower and round pattern from Artistic Etchings was stamped with early espresso & baja breeze.

White taffeta ribbon tinted with pear pizazz ink. The sentiment is from one of the new sets, perfect punches and fits beautifully with the scalloped oval punch. Sadly we werent allowed to order the new large oval punch until yesterday but now I have and once it's arrived I inted to back the sentiment with some more soft suede cardstock to match the card base.

Card set & box

2010-07-15T11:26:00.001-07:00

Earlier in the week I had some of my internet friends here for another playday. The project was a boxed set of cards. Having just taken delivery of some of the new yummy colours I just had to have a play.

I need to thank Jenny Moors from Stamping Moments for the inspiration as I fell in love with the set she made. The 2nd card in is using the same card but it's catching the light oddly.

The snowflakes are from the Serene Snowflakes set in this years mini catty. I do hope they appear in the main catty when it's released in Oct as these are my idea of the perfect snowflake stamps.

All of the cards are using nowt but soft suede (woohoo, I've been after this colour since it was launched in the US last year) with a pearlescent cream card stock that I've had for yonks, soft suede ink (2nd impression for backgrounds) and either kraft or very vanilla taffeta ribbon. I've also used the scallop border punch and made dipdots with the champagne shimmer paint. The light isnt catching them very well as in real life they're a lovely soft gold colour but the sparkle is amazing. I wish this had been out when I was deeply into parchment craft as it knocks spots off of the very expensive dipping ink I used to buy.
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This one isnt making it into the box set as it doesnt quite match with the others but I had fun making the dip dots using the mat pack as a placement guide. This time I used white craft ink and 3d'd the centre.

This is the box I started on Monday using rich razzleberry (the other colour I've been desperate for) with bashful blue. Not so sure that the colours work or it could be that I need to stamp the snowflake again but this time have less of the blue showing.

Hubbys birthday card

2010-03-03T11:15:00.000-08:00

This whopper (8" square) is for hubbys birthday tomorrow using a layout from Sketch & Stash blog. I really must invest in a light box so I can take photos on an evening as the colours look a bit wishy washy here when they're quite butch in real life.

I've used my brayer with bashful blue, brocade blue, night of navy & pretty in pink to brayer the sky and water and garden green for the hills.

Lovely as a tree was reverse stamped into the water with the brayer and the stampamajig used to position the main tree. Sponged with various greens & choc chip watercoloured over the trunk. Sentiment from Circle of Friendship & punched with 2 of the SU circle punches.

Mounted on to night of navy and papers from Nouveau Chiq & Tea & Crumpets. I used my new martha stewart punch around the page set to add a decorative border.

Finally brocade blue grosgrain ribbon with a few gems.

Sketch & Stash challenge

2010-02-25T11:36:00.000-08:00

This is using a stamp from Autumn Days set. In truth I wasn't too keen on it and only really bought the set for a couple of the foliage stamps. But after seeing the stamp used with reinkers to create a custom ink pad I had to grab it from my neglected pile and have a play.

Reinkers used, so saffron, handsome hunter, elegant eggplant and taken with teal. Cut with nesties label 4 which was sponged with some creamy caramel ink. The elegant eggplant card has been stamped with versamark and gold ep using my favourite background, En francais. Mounted on handsome hunter cardstock with choc chip ribbon and a feather from an old (an unused) duster. Once I'd decided on colour & cardstock everything just fell into place for the sketch & stash challenge blog.

Lovely As A Tree

2010-02-21T11:14:00.000-08:00

I've had this set a lil while but hadn't got round to inking it.

A few minutes in the gallery at SCS and I was in 7th heaven. All photos were taken in artificial light so havent photoed as well as I'd have liked.

This one is using the scalloped circle punch to create clouds. Bordering Blue & Night of Navy ink. Dazzling diamonds along the edge of some white pearl cardstock.

This one just goes to show how different cardstocks effect ink. I stamped baroque motifs with versamark, heat embossed with clear then brayered taken with teal over some white gloss from Clarity Stamps. Instead of that wonderful teal colour it's gone more of a light navy blue. The base is sponged around the edges with taken with teal but this time on whisper white. What a difference it's made.

The colours have came out dreadfully in the artificial light so I may have to redo the pic.

Brayered pale plum with elegant eggplant and a light sponge with bashful blue.

Trees stamped in basic grey. Sentiment from Season Of Joy.

This is my version of a card made by Rox71 on SCS. She used a variety of tree stamps. This one is just using the one xmas tree.

Sponged with summer sun, pumkin pie, bashful blue and night of navy.

Forground trees stamped in handsome hunter with choc chip applied with a water colour brush along the trunks. If anyone is thinking that I've left too much snow come back and see the card when it's totally finished in Apr ;o)

Wedding invite samples

2010-02-19T05:46:00.000-08:00

Hubby has kindly offered my services to his niece for her upcoming wedding. All she knows is that she wants red & white with a top fold.

These are 4 I knocked up in a few minutes using Mr & Mrs set & coordinating wheel with real red and basic grey ink.

Seeing as these are just ideas these will be binned within a few weeks so I've only used cheap card & ribbon. I havent been none to precise with the stamping either.

A few more

2010-02-19T05:35:00.000-08:00

While at Michelles blog I fancied having a go at these 2.

The first is 5 different red, orange & yellow SU inks sponged over some whisper white before being stamped with baroque motifs in chocolate chip. Michelle uses a fabby heart stamp for the central motif but sadly it's not available in the UK.. (yet)

The 2nd uses the oval punch to create 2 vases with wheat ears from Autumn Days and a leafy stamp from Pocket Silhouettes. Instead of stamping onto whisper white I've stamped onto some bashful blue dsp before sponging the edges with choc chip and distressing them. Sadly the pattern of the paper is playing havoc with the auto focus on my camera and it looks a lot better in real life.

While in a red and apricot mood I got the brayer out and had some fun with real red, ruby red and apricot appeal. The wheat ears were masked before brayering then I triple embossed the entire image, left it to cool then cracked the embossing. Choc chip ink was rubbed into the cracks before being buffed away. Kraft satin ribbon bow is holding one of my teeny bulldog clips which in turn is holding an oval all sentiment stamped on to acetate and punched with the oval punch. Mounted onto choc chip & kraft. I'm not too sure about this one though.

Brayering gone wrong

2010-02-16T09:39:00.000-08:00

I love Michelle Zindorfs blog, for those who don't know her she's a US Stampin'Up! demo and is amazingly talented with a brayer. While admiring her blog for the gazillionth time I decided to get the brayer out and have a play. 1, because I love my brayer and 2, we're having a brayer play day in Yeovil next month and I don't want to embaress myself ;o)

I loved a card she'd made a tut for but not having the bare tree stamp available in the UK I decided to use a frondy type stamp from Autumn Days to mimic a couple of rushes. Everything started out ok but as with my normal skim read of instructions I didnt quite get the inks in the right places then when I went back in to sponge some detail I had the worst accident possible... the moon mask ripped the top layer of whisper white. Typical, right in the middle of the moon where it stuck out like a sore thumb. Here's were I should have started all over again but no, not me. I struck on the bright idea of sticking the paper back and stamping a silhouette of a bird over the top. I've got 100s of stamps and the only one half suitable was from a donkeys years old and dirt cheap grab bag. I'd never even inked it before, and once I'd stamped I realised why it was dirt cheap and had never seen ink. It's not as bad as it could be but I think this one is one of those cards that I ought to learn by but wont ;o)

Taken with teal & apricot appeal cardstock and ink with bashful blue & pumpkin pie ink. White inkssentials pen across the water.

Yeovil girlies look away now.

2010-01-21T03:37:00.000-08:00

There are a load of us docraft members meeting up for a playday in Yeovil in a few weeks and we're making 3 projects using the following 2 stamp sets. Soooo if you're coming to Yeovil look away now ;o)

One of the great things working with SU papers is that I can work at night and know that the colours will always match. Not like a few xmas's ago when I sat and cut 50 bookatrix cards while watching a film. I was horrified the next morning when I realised the white hammer cardstock wasnt all the same shade! It should have been as it had all been bought from papermill but it wasnt and it was glaringly obvious.

This is playful petals co-ordinating with it's DSP paper set Tea Party. Stamped onto whisper white before being coloured with markers and 3d'd.

My favourite SAB set, whimsical words sentiment stamped on so saffron before being attached to the main image with some rings.

This was supposed to be the project for Yeovil but our loud mouthed spidy had to say "but what about making it into an easel card"!

Well this one is Kraft & bella bleu dsp with playful petals stamped on whisper white & ballet blue before 3d'ing.

I opened my precious pot of filigree brads to make the drawer handle.

Here is the project we are making albeit we're using different colours.

This is an unusual combo of colours, taken with teal, very vanilla and mellow moss cs and Nouveau Chic dsp. Again playful petals has been 3d'd and I used oval all sentiments with the plain and scalloped punch.

Another of my precious filligree brads for the handle.

Top tip for anyone making these small treat boxes... decorate before you make the box.. makes life easier and you can use the stamp a ma jig to centre things, oops lol.

Almost amethyst & perfect plum card with perfect plum, bashful blue, lavender lace inks. Sentiment is from Vintage labels, flowers from playful petals, flight of the butterfly stamps and matching punch. Scalloped circle and 1 3/8ths circle punch.

Wow, huge recipe list for a box that only measures 2" lol

I love playing with backgrounds, this one was made by dapping on several colours of inks before spritzing with water and more dapping whilst still damp then triple embossed with clear ep and a dazzle versamark ink pad.

Craft white ink stamped onto vellum before being punched and a very fine edging of dazzling diamonds. Matted onto elegant eggplant over whisper white which had been ran through a cuttlebug folder. Scallop punched border and some elegant eggplant grosgrain ribbon.

This is the top secret project for Yeovil, a zig zag card using pocket silhouettes & flight of the butterfly.

Certain Celery, almost amethyst and whisper white cs with lavender lace, pretty in pink, certain celery ink. This is much easier to make than a trifold shutter but you have to be precise with the measurements.

Playing with background stamps

2010-01-21T02:50:00.001-08:00

It's been good to get back to playing with rubber & ink now that the havoc xmas & snow creates is well and truly gone. This week I've been playing with background stamps and a couple of new stamp sets. There's a fair few so I'll split it into a couple of posts.

These are all made with background stamps.

A very very quick basic card using Medallion, stamped in chocolate chip on kraft cs and matted on very vanilla & chocolate chip. I used the eyelet border and word window punch to add some detail.

Another medallion but this one was a bit an experiment that had an accident.. I'd forgot to clean the stamp and had coloured the outer ring with a couple of water colour wonder crayons before misting with cleaner (couldnt find my water spray and I was only really looking to see how the crayons liked the stamp).

Once stamped onto whisper white the brown ink came through and muddied the colours in a way I wouldnt have expected but I kind of liked the look.

Matted on perfect plum then over whisper white with baroque motifs stamped in pale plum and scallop border punch over pale plum cs.

I don't do distressed as a rule but french script just lends itself so well I find I can't help myself.

French script stamped in creamy caramel over very vanilla the the ink pad was dragged over the edges and sanded down. Baroque motifs stamped in chocolate chip over the corners. Oval all sentiment with the scalloped and plain oval punch with some wide gros grain chocolate chip ribbon and a few gems.

I wasnt that struck when I saw Bella Toile in the catalogue and it was relagated to my would like but not desperate group. D'uh, that was daft! Now I've got it I'm in love with it, beautiful pattern and it stamps like a dream.

This is elegant eggplant stamped on very vanilla matted on elegant eggplant. The sentiment is from one of the exclusive SAB sets, vintage labels and is matted over very vanilla ribbon. The eyelet border punch finishes off the edges.

This one uses pale plum ink & perfect plum, pale plum & whisper white cardstock. The flower is from Garden Dream (a hostess set) and has been watercoloured with ink from the pale plum pad.

Eyelet border again and white grosgrain ribbon.

This is why you should never photo a card in artificial light. Bella Toile has been stamped in chocolate chip on pretty in pink cs and in real life is very pale.

Oval all sentiment and oval & scallop punch with pretty in pink taffeta ribbon.

This was my first play with whisper white craft ink and as a parcher the hunt has always been on for a decent white ink pad which will dry on vellum and OMG I've finally found one.

Bella Toile was stamped in whisper white on some black vellum I've had lying around for years. It's not a perfect typex white, that's technically impossible for a thin enough ink to stamp with, but this is not far different to using pergamanos tinta white with a dipping pen.

I used whisper white ink with a flight of the butterfly stamp on to parchment paper before using a grid and embossing & perforating. The butterflies where then punched using the new butterfly punch.

All matted on to whisper white and basic black card stock with whisper white taffeta ribbon.

Sale-A_Bration promotion

2009-12-09T08:50:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again when details of Stampin'Ups! fabby sale-a-bration promotion is launched.

From Dec 30th until Feb 28th 2010 for every £45 worth of products bought (on a single order) you can chose 1 free set of stamps from the 4 yummy sets shown below.

If you'd like any more information about the offer or Stampin'Up! products please email me.

stationary box

2009-10-13T17:34:00.000-07:00

I had a great time on Monday when a few docraft buddies joined me for a play day making stationary boxes. Here's the one I made and finished decorating today using my two all time favourite stamp sets and some yummy paper that I've never found a project special enough to cut into them.

Baroque motifs stamped in mellow moss onto so saffron cardstock. Tea & Crumpets papers used to decorate throughout.

This inside with a covered notepad, pencil, tags, bookmarks & cards with envies.

Notepad covered with dsp, scalloped and plain oval punch with pocket silhouettes stamped in pretty in pink onto pretty in pink cardstock. Pretty in pink taffeta ribbon to hold a plain pencil tinted with mellow moss ink.

Lower section holding the tags & bookmarks.

Mellow moss pocket silhouette stamped onto whisper white.

Pocket silhouette again but this time the mellow moss was stamped onto scrap paper first to give a softer image.

Sentiment from Best wishes.

Seeing spots stamped image, scallop circle punch and the 1 3/8ths and the 1 1/4 circle punchs. Giant paperclips from an office supply shop.

Christmas Wreath

2009-10-08T10:59:00.001-07:00

Thought it was about time I decided on this years main xmas design, something that was going to be quick and easy to make and I wouldnt get bored by making 100 of. After seeing a wreath made from Pocket Silhouettes I decided to give it a try and think I've found my design for this year.

This is using a stamp from Pocket Silhouettes (stamped in garden green) one from Autumn Days (stamped in real red) and the central sentiment from Spotlight on Christmas, punched with one of the SU punches. Real red and whisper white cs with some generic 300gsm white card for the base. Now I just need to get an order in for a reel of real red 1/4" grosgrain ribbon as I don't like the organza ribbon I had in my stash. While I'm ordering I think I'll get some tempting turquoise and some pale pink gingham and vary my colour combos. Shame SU don't make the grosgrain in lavender lilac but I'll resort to using my SU markers to colour some whisper white.

New catolgue out now

2009-10-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

If you read my other blogs you'll know I havent dropped off the face of the earth but have been super busy with my surecutsalot designs and new webshop. Well, Christmas is approaching and I need to get cracking on some cards otherwise I'm going to be mightily ashamed of having to buy cards for the first time in about 13 years!

I've got something special planned as a one off for hubbies work colleages (instead of making 30) but once I saw the new catty I knew that nothing but the new snow burst set would do. As soon as the catty went live I ordered it and as soon as it gets here (and plenty more) I'll be finishing the card, all 24 layers of it ! If you want to see what set I mean or look at the new catty click on the picture over there ----->

If you want to order anything just drop me a quick email and I'll be more than happy to help.

mini backpack

2009-06-27T14:34:00.000-07:00

I found a fab template on scs to make a mini backpack and this is my first attempt.

Chocolate chip and barely banana cardstock, the french script background stamp in chocolate chip ink. Flowers from the Three for You punch set. Diecut letters from a sissix extended die.

Looks complicated but it was really easy to make.

Layered box

2009-06-27T09:47:00.001-07:00

Never ever again am I going to make a layered box. This one took 2 afternoons to make!!

Wasn't that it was complicated, it's nothing more than 3 box bases and a wrap around case. The big hassle was all the measuring as it had to be accurate otherwise it wouldnt close smoothly. Then the enormous amount of sticking together with strong ds tape.

The box measures a smidge over 4" each way with the inner layers being 4*4*1 and 4*4*2

Fawn brown & pearl card, gold pearl paper punched with MS doily lace punch. Circular flourish image from Mr &Mrs stamp set and embossed with gold SU detail ep. Circular buttons are white gloss card with orange and so saffron SU ink blended with gold alchie ink and alchohol blending medium. Punched with the 1" circle punch, stamped with chocolate chip ink then triple embossed.

3" notelet set

2009-06-22T04:18:00.000-07:00

There are so many fab tutorials on splitcoaststampers that it's hard to chose which to do but I had a set of 3" notelets in my starter kit that have been waiting to be played with.

This notelet caddy tutorial is from Regina but hers looks much better than mine.

Ruby red, pumpkin pie and chocolate chip card & ink with some cream card from stash. Pocket Silhouette stamp set, SU scallop border punch, fiskars corner punch oval nesties, a few gems and a couple of brads. It took a fair bit of measuring but I'm really happy with the finished result.

As it turned out I didn't use the notelets and made my own with pumpkin pie card stock.

bad blogger

2009-06-20T05:03:00.000-07:00

I've been a bad blogger lately, too many new books from amazon and a missing mojo doesnt help.

This is one I've been meaning to finish for a while. Bloomin beauty turned into a shaker using seeds. Coloured with copics and highlighted with dazzling diamonds. Certain celery & so saffron card and ds paper.

Sadly the colours havent photoed well on this one. I've used versamark to stamp baroque motifs on glossy card then used a brayer with bashful blue & pale plum ink to make the image appear. The image was restamped slightly off centre with perfect plum to create a shadow. Flowers stamped and punched with a retired but still available Three for You Punch Set. Small blue stones added to the flowers.

I've struggled for fathers day this year, and this one is inspired by Maureen Fergusons card on splitcoast stampers.

Baroque motifs stamped in chocolate chip on bashful blue with some silver mirri and a peel off sentiment. I didn't think fil would appreciate the dark purple I used on my other blog but so hubby could tell me fil is colour blind and wouldnt have known what colour I'd used. Oh well, I'm happy with this one.

Tomorrows demos

2009-05-16T04:47:00.000-07:00

These are 2 of the inexpensive gifts I'll be featuring at the openhouse tomorrow.

A cheap 48p candle from the supermarket. Image from Summer by the Sea and stamped onto tissue, coloured with watercolor wonders then melted onto the candle. Simple acetate box made from a single sheet of chocolate chip card and the scallop edge punch. A small strip of acetate which I often get from packaging but this piece is courtesy of a good mate. Raffia is cheap to buy although this bit was part of the packaging from a set of teatowels.

These are 4 small jars of jam and cost 80p. The box is made in 2 sections from a sheet of chocolate chip cs then both attached to a heavy weight card covered with dsp. I used an image from fast & fun notes and it's sentiment seperately. Would make a great pressie or even for fund raisers.

3 new cards

2009-05-14T07:05:00.001-07:00

I saw a circular penny slide card while blog hopping a while back and thought I'd see if it would work in acetate. Yep, it works although I could have done with a larger bee stamp and a larger channel for the penny to run around.

Everything was cut using scal & the cricut (I know I'm lazy lol) then I used an image from Pocket Silhouettes and Orchid Oppulence to create a pattern around the frame. The flower is doodled on with sakura tiara pens and the bee from Bloomin with Beauty is coloured with markers from the Bright selection.

This is another image from Pocket Silhouettes stamped with Chocolate Chip onto Blush Blossom. I used the stampamajig to keep things straight. Wish SU would invent something that guaranteed by matting and layering would be as straight or my photography ;o) Chocolate chip cs to layer and ribbon to match. Then I ruined it all by not washing the ink off of my hands. Thankfully butterfly punches are dead handy to hide dirty marks.

You must be getting used to this image by now. I didn't think that much of it in the catologue but I keep finding myself reaching across the table for it.

I don't normally do distressed/vintage, mainly because it always looks a mess when I have a go instead of being artistically aged. Really chuffed with this one though. I didn't intend to give it a distressed look it's just once I'd overstamped the En Francais backing I couldnt help but think it would be perfect for a scrap book page of a WW1 soldier.

Enough with the waffle, here's how. Poppy stamped with classic black onto whisper white cs. I then stamped again onto layout paper to cut the mask. (layout paper is really thin so you get more detail around the edges when you over stamp.) Using the stampamajig to keep the writing straight I over stamped with Close To Cocoa. I then used berry red & orange promarkers with g21 & g05 copics to colour. Once I'd allowed the inks to dry thouroughly I used a cotton ball and some blush blossom pastel to age the writing but stayed well away from the poppy as I wanted the colours to remain vivid. Then I sanded the edges until they started to rip then wiped them over the close to cocoa inkpad. From there I didn't even bother matting or layering, just added some of the wide Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon and stuck the image straight down. Few blood red gems added to the corner to give it a bit of balance.

Open House

2009-05-07T06:18:00.000-07:00

If you're in Bristol on Sun May 17th you're invited to join me and a few friends at my first open house.

With the school year drawing to a close I'm going to be featuring inexpensive but quick & easy presents to make for the teacher and cards to match. You don't have to have school aged children as these gifts are perfect as all year round or xmas pressies.

If you'd like to come please email me and I will send the address and directions.

spinner card

2009-05-06T10:12:00.000-07:00

While watching create and craft earlier they had some spinner card blanks for sale. Seeing as I'm particular about the card I use I decided to see if I could make my own template. 10 mins with paintshop pro and voila 2 templates, 1 that I used for this card the other with a circle in the middle.

Pixie pink cardstock stamped with the hearts from Loads of Love using versamark to create a background. Lorry & sentiment also from Loads of Love stamped on whisper white and coloured with Bold & Bright markers applied with an aqua painter. The lady is from the Loads of Love accessory set and I matted on Tempting Turquise card. The sentiment was looking a bit bleak so I stamped the hearts around the edge using Pretty in Pink inkpad. Surprisingly quick and fun card to make.

Attention span of a gnat

2009-05-02T04:10:00.000-07:00

I'll admit I have a very short attention span when it comes to new stash. I start playing with one thing then veer off to something totally different and before I know it I'm knee deep in a pile of boxes, inks & stamps and the table is covered with bits of dst backing.

This is using lavender lace & mellow sage shadow stamped with Baroque Motifs and versamark with an image from Blooming With Beauty. Coloured with f&c watercolour pencils, think I used mauve, olive green yellowish and light ultramarine.

This is a case for me to store my embroidery needles and is nothing more than an a4 sheet folded into 8 and cut to create pockets. Perfect plum and pale plum cs, image stamped in perfect plum using thefrom the Mr & Mrs set and the matching wheel using versamark. Organza ribbon from stash.

Not too sure on this one, same stamps as the last but stamped in bashful blue and matted with brocade blue and designer papers in bashful blue. Scallop edge punch and I used a white gel pen to add some detail. I did add some to the dots from the pattern wheel but think it's ruined it... I might see if I can repair the damage by adding a whitewash in some of the flowers.

Pocket Silhouettes this time and I've used the Stampin' Up! markers to colour the stamp as well as the white grosgrain ribbon. Lovely lilac and green galore are the colours used with Lovely Lilac and Chocolate chip cs.

I don't normally do bright primary colours but with the lorry image from Loads Of Love I couldnt resist. Brilliant blue, tempting turqouise & real red cs with the same coloured SU markers. Those eagle eyes might be noticing the sparkle on them... winsor & newton Iridescent medium.. painted over the top of the image before I 3d decoupaged it. Fab stuff and because the pigment level in the markers is so high it doesnt water them down at all. Scalloped square punch, sentiment, parcles and man in lorry from the Loads Of Love accessories set and a cuttlebug folder.

I've been missing my cricut and scal so decided it was time to make a babys bottle template.

Bashful blue cardstock, pram from Fun & Fast Notes, Baby from All in the Family. White grosgrain ribbon and some lace trim from stash. Doesnt really show on the pic but the handle from the pram didn't survive the knife so I used a small piece of wire instead.

lolly sticks

2009-04-27T10:57:00.001-07:00

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

2009-04-27T10:57:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-25T14:20:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-20T07:44:00.001-07:00

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

2009-04-19T09:05:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-11T11:10:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-09T08:21:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-07T07:26:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-07T04:55:00.000-07:00

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...