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Friday 29 January 2010

Chinglish Valentine

This is a valentine that isn't really a valentine. It was created for my daughter who isn't really into all frilly heartsy stuff, but who is a big fan of 'Chinglish' - that is English using Chinese idiom. The bizarre sentiment on this card is a well-known phrase meaning 'keep off the grass'. Isn't that just beautifully put? Anyway it will make Nina smile.

The sentiment was created on the computer and printed it onto Stampin Up Very Vanilla CS. I sponged the edges with blush blossom and love the way it gives a vintage feel (although I'm not sure if you can see that very well on the photo - I am photographically challenged!). I used an Inkadinkado stamp for the heart flowers and decorated the bottom of the card with strips of DP and CS.

This is the first time Chinglish has made an appearance on one of my cards but I don't think it will be the last. After all 'Slip and fall down carefully' and 'Don't forget to carry your thing' are much more entertaining than 'Caution, slippery surface' and 'Don't leave your bags unattended', so what do you think happy birthday or merry Christmas would translate as?

I'll leave you to think about that.
Bye for now.




Thursday 28 January 2010

A Valentines day thought

Today I thought about Valentines day - and the thought was that it will be here any minute so I'd better get a move on with some cards and treats!

I am a big fan of clean and simple cards and this one certainly fits that description. The swirl from Stampin Up's Baroque Motifs is stamped in Old Olive ink twice for colour variation on Whisper White and matted on Rose Red. The hearts were punched from Rose Red CS with a heart punch and popped up on dimensionals. The sentiment is from the Stampin Up set Seasonal Wishes.

Hope you like this card. I'll be back with more Valentines tomorrow.
Do come and see!

Wednesday 27 January 2010

Let it NOT snow!

It's so cold here today and I've found myself singing "Well the weather outside is frightful..." To be honest I think we've had quite enough bad weather so please - do NOT let it snow!

This snowy scene was made as a thank you card for a family friend but I ended up using another one as I couldn't bear to part with this little fella. Does that ever happen to you? No? Oh dear...

I made it using the masking sponging technique that I'm so fond of. The cat is a gorgeous little unmounted stamp from The Rubber Stamp Gallery that I've used again and again. The trees are from Stampin Up's Lovely as a Tree set and the plants in the foreground are a stamp from the 2007/8 hostess set Garden Silhouettes that I find myself using a lot too.

Okay. That's enough snow now.
Thanks for looking.

Tuesday 26 January 2010

Moving to a new home

My lovely friend has moved to her new cottage. She had stayed temporarily in a house round the corner from me and was an absolute trooper when my pipes froze. I miss her being there but hope she will be very happy in her new home.


I made her this card with my new Good Neighbours set - free with the Stampin Up Sale-a-bration promotion. As soon as my fabulous demo Michelle dropped off my goodies, I was straight to work on it. I love the muted colours. Oh and the buttons (from my extensive collection!) Those free stamp sets are gorgeous. I also have my eye on the Vintage Labels set...

By the way, I read on SCS that you can use the stamps without mounting them onto the wooden blocks: without removing the backing paper, put a little temporary adhesive (I used Pritt Stick) onto the stamp, pop it onto an acrylic block and away you go. I was sceptical but it definitely works! The Pritt just wiped away with a baby wipe. Think of the storage implications!

Monday 4 January 2010

The january image for my calendar

Last year I couldn't find a calendar that I liked that was the right size to fit in the space I have in the hall. So I decided to make one.

I didn't make an actual calendar, just a page a month. That way it didn't take up all my time and it meant that I could get a feel for the seasons as I went along. I enjoyed doing it so much that I'm carrying on.

Here's January! And only a tiny bit late...


...and here's a close-up.



The backing paper is by Basic Grey - I adore their papers. I layered on some torn grey-blue vellum to give an icy look and stamped seed heads and grasses by SU in black. Then I punched snowflakes in thin paper so they'd curl a little and drew detail on them with a silver gel pen. I glued the small ones on and attached the larger ones with a silver brad. Once I'd added a little silver detail on the grass heads and matted the whole thing onto some Real Red cardstock I was finished. (You can click on the image to see the detail if you like.)

Now my calendar is up to date - ha! A pun!

See you soon.

Sunday 3 January 2010

Thank you cards

It's the last day of the holidays today so naturally the children are writing their thank you letters! And since it's much more fun saying thank you in a card I rustled up these three designs for them.

The first card was for my elder son who adores dogs so it was easy to think of a design for him.


I was really pleased with the way this turned out. It was very simple - just masking and sponging the grass and sky, then stamping the bushes. The dog was stamped and then cut out and glued on and the sentiment stamped on to finish.

For my younger son I was going to do a card with fish on it but he informed me that he'd sent fish last year and added that he thought it had been fish the previous year too! Feeling chastened I produced this simple card - three cupcakes, stamped with SU Chocolate Chip and coloured with SU markers.


My daughter needed something with a bit of impact (like her!) and I think these Petal Pizzaz stamps from SU really fit the bill. The set is retired now much to my astonishment as I love it.


The flowers called for some sizzling hot colours which I thought worked quite well. I layered the images using masks then just added the sentiment at the end.

Hope you like them.
Thanks for looking.

Saturday 2 January 2010

New years day


What a beautiful day! It's one of those bright, frosty, winter days with a clear, bluish light. Here's a picture of our lunch table - all white and cream and gold. Spending the day with my lovely family today but see you tomorrow for crafting.