Simply Stars for a birthday boy

Stampin' Up has announced that the Weekly Deals will be extended:
There'll be new deals all through May! Check out the latest offers here!

It's always useful to come up with designs for males. According to my on-the-spot research (I collared my husband), there should be no frills, ribbons, bows, buttons or other 'sticky out bits', it should be direct and to the point and sludge colours are also a no-no! Right... how about this then?

This card was made with some bright chevron paper from one of Stampin' Up's brilliant Designer Series paper stacks; a frame cut with the Circles framelits; some heat-embossed stars stamped with the Simply Stars stamp set; and a sentiment, cut out neatly with my lovely paper snips and layered over the top. I worried that these would be construed as 'sticky-out bits'... Would this card get the HSA? (That's Hubby Seal of Approval in case you're wondering!)

Turns out he didn't notice that the card wasn't completely flat. "Yes, that's the sort of thing," he said vaguely and turned his attention to more manly affairs!

My starting point today was Chrissie's brilliant sketch at Less is More this week, so I'll be linking up there.

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE TODAY'S CARD
(Click on each item to find it quickly in my shop) 

Stamps: Simply Stars wood or cling, Four You wood or cling

Ink: Real Red

Card stock: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight

Other: Circles framelits, Big Shot, clear embossing powder, heat tool, Designer Paper Stack in Brights, paper snips

Click above to place an order any time, day or night,

but if you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm always happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

All the time I was making this card I was humming 'When you wish upon a star'. The Disney classic films were a staple in our house when the children were little and since I always watched with them, I must have seen them all hundreds of times over! Pinnochio wasn't a favourite though - it's really quite disturbing! - but the title song is so beautiful that it has me in pieces every time I hear it.



See you tomorrow, when there'll be cake!

A mix of Grunge and CAS

You may not think CAS and grunge styles go together at all but I thought I'd give it a whirl anyway! Here's what happened:

The background is stamped with Stampin' Up's fabulous Off the Grid background stamp, through a mask made with one of the Circles framelits. I filled in some of the squares on the grid with a black marker and I must warn you, in case you fancy a go at this, it is strangely addictive!

I loved the shape of the leaves on the sketch and noticed that the sycamore seed image in the Gently Falling stamp set was similar - yay! Love it when I find a new use for one of my stamps! The flowers are stamps from Flower Shop and Petite Petals, both of which have a coordinating punch to make life quick and easy. These stamp sets are natural partners, so if you have one, you might want to consider getting the other so you can mix flower sizes.


Today's card was inspired by Addicted to CAS where the cue word is Grunge; and also CAS(e) this Sketch where there's a fabulous sketch and an inspiration photo courtesy of the Runway Inspired challenge.

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE TODAY'S CARD
(Click on each item to find it quickly in my shop) 

Stamps: Off the Grid wood, Flower Shop wood or cling
Petite Petals wood or cling, Gently Falling wood or cling

Ink: Tangerine Tango, Cherry Cobbler, Pear Pizzazz, Sahara Sand and Soft Sky classic inks
plus black stazon and Basic Black marker

Card stock: Whisper White, scrap of Soft Sky

Other: Circles framelits, Big Shot, 1/2" circle punch, Neutrals candy dots, stamp-a-majig

Click above to place an order any time, day or night,

but if you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm always happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

DON'T FORGET TODAY'S THE LAST DAY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE WEEKLY DEALS!

Grunge and CAS, sigh. It's the difference between my idea of suitable clothing for my youngest son and his own. Why does he always manage to find the most disreputable-looking pair of joggers from the back of the drawer and team them with some shapeless sludge-coloured t-shirt or hoodie? Naturally I'd prefer him to dress like the boys in this 18th century portrait by Joseph Francis Nollekens:

And, to be fair, he'd probably be quite entertained to dress up like this for about ten minutes or so!

See you tomorrow,

Arranging the Fun Flowers

If you've been wanting to take advantage of Stampin ' Up's latest low-priced weekly deals, there are two days left to do so! Here's a reminder of what's on offer:

• Stampin' Write Markers (new colour kit) £23.95 NOW £17.96 (Includes Bermuda Bay, Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry, Island Indigo, Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party, Smoky Slate, Wisteria Wonder)
• Christmas Ornament punch £14.25 NOW £10.69
• In colour Boutique Details £8.25 NOW £6.19 
• Modern Medley designer series paper £9.95 NOW £7.46
• I Am Me designer series paper £9.95 NOW £7.46
• Fun Flowers Bigz L Die £28.95 NOW £21.71
• Afternoon Daydream Kit (digital download) £6.95 NOW £4.17

If you'd like to order any of these items at the special price, just pop over to my online shop and click on the Weekly Deals promotion picture.

If you're a fan of those fabulous Bigz L dies, the Fun Flowers die is certainly a bargain! I've layered up some of the flowers from it on this card:

It makes a real statement doesn't it?! I used lush Elegant Eggplant card stock with a matching button and finished it with a contrasting bakers twine bow.

Leaves and flowers from Stampin' Up's Peaceful Petals stamp set make a pretty background. I coloured them with markers and sponged Soft Sky ink around them.

One of the great things about these Bigz L dies is that they're happy cutting all sorts of materials as well as card stock including felt, fabric, foam, magnetic sheets, leather, craft aluminium, cork... A lovely and extremely talented friend of mine made this stunning appliquéed tea cosy using the die:

And (on a much lesser scale!) here's a corsage that I put together using fabric that Stampin' Up used to carry.

What would you make with this die? Doesn't it make your imagination run riot?!

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE TODAY'S CARD
(Click on each item to find it quickly in my shop) 

Stamps: Peaceful Petals wood or cling, So Very Grateful (for the sentiment) wood or cling

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Elegant Eggplant, plus markers

Card stock: Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant

Other: Fun Flowers Bigz die, Big Shot, Regals designer buttons, Crushed Curry bakers twine from Tag a Bag accessories pack, stamp-a-majig

Click above to place an order any time, day or night,

but if you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm always happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

Life is on another of its 'go fasts' here and I am as busy as a bee! Recently I helped my daughter have a massive wardrobe clear-out, taking a pile of outgrown or no longer wanted garments to the charity shops and throwing away damaged beyond repair ones. We also ended up with a pile of clothes that need adjusting and I thought it would be a great idea to teach my daughter how to do this. Neither of us have had the time yet though. " We are a busy as bees!" I said when we talked about it this weekend. "I know," said my daughter happily. "Running around pollinating all the plants and making honey!"

See you tomorrow,

April baubles

It may seem crazy to make Christmas cards in April but a couple a month means I'll have quite a stash later in the year. And anyway, it's Rudolph Day over at Stamping for Pleasure and it's always fun to join in there! My card is made with the Christmas Ornament punch, one of this week's special offers - come and see:

Those branches at the top of the card are stamped with the fir tree from Stampin' Up's Lovely as a Tree - that set is such a favourite of mine!

I added the Christmas sentiment from That's the Ticket which punches out neatly with the coordinating punch. I love stapling these tickets onto projects or attaching them with safety pins.

The baubles were given a bit of texture with the Northern Flurry embossing folder before punching out with the Christmas Ornament punch and I snipped the top off each and replaced it with a silver version. They appear to be suspended from the branches with a line of piercing - made easy with one of the Essential piercing templates.

The Rudolph Day challenge requires two cards, so this photo is to show that I'm not cheating!

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE THIS CARD
(Click on each item to find it quickly in my shop) 

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree wood or cling, That's the Ticket wood or cling

Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Cherry Cobbler

Card stock: Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, scrap of Brushed Silver

Punches: Ticket punch, Christmas Ornament punch
Other: Basic rhinestones, Essentials piercing templates, mat and tool, Northern Flurry embossing folder, Big Shot

Click above to place an order any time, day or night,

but if you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm always happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

Never mind April baubles, it's April showers we'll be looking out for this weekend, so have your rainbrellas at the ready ladies! Have a lovely weekend and I'll see you on Monday.

Happy Day - an embellished smile

After several occasions of forgetting to make a one layer card for Less is More's one layer challenges, I've accidentally come up with a one layer card for this week's Makes Me Smile theme when it's not required! Come and see:

This brilliant sentiment from Stampin' Up's Happy Day set always makes me smile - the power of suggestion perhaps?!

These Boutique Details embellishments come in all five of the latest in-colours and you get four different designs in each colour. I adore them and they're on special offer at the moment so that's definitely a reason to smile! (Check out the latest special offers here.)

Washi tape also makes me smile, and the corner rounder that's part of the envelope board... okay, let's face it, ALL of my Stampin' Up stash makes me smile!

Edited to add: Thank you LeAnne for pointing out that this card works for the current Washi Tape challenge over at the Paper Players, so I shall link up there too.

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE THIS CARD
(Click on each item to find it quickly in my shop) 

Stamps: Field Flowers wood or cling, Happy Day wood or cling

Ink: Gumball Green, Early Espresso

Card stock: Whisper White

Other: Boutique Details embellishments, Gingham Garden washi tape, envelope board (for rounding corners), stamp-a-majig

Click above to place an order any time, day or night,

but if you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm always happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

Did you know that if you smile, even when you're feeling down, it can improve your mood? I'm just off to do some hoovering so I'll try the smiling trick and see if it works... Perhaps someone recommended it to this lady?!



See you tomorrow,

The latest special offers from Stampin' Up

Stampin' Up have announced some great new special offers for this week! Look:

Stampin' Write Markers (new colour kit) £23.95 NOW £17.96
(Includes Bermuda Bay, Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry, Island Indigo, Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party, Smoky Slate, Wisteria Wonder)

Christmas Ornament punch £14.25 NOW £10.69
In colour Boutique Details £8.25 NOW £6.19
Modern Medley designer series paper £9.95 NOW £7.46
I Am Me designer series paper £9.95 NOW £7.46
Fun Flowers Bigz L Die £28.95 NOW £21.71
Afternoon Daydream Kit (digital download) £6.95 NOW £4.17

Some great bargains there! You can buy these products at these special prices until Tuesday 29th April from my online shop - and there's lots more to see while you're there including online-only stamps!

Now, I think it's time for a bit of stamping! I love the Modern Medley range of designer papers and used one of them to form the background on this card:

Collage-style stamping works well on this kind of paper and what better set to do that with than the gorgeous Papaya Collage stamp set?!

You can see how I built up a background of leaves and speckles from Gorgeous Grunge. I stamped these in Crushed Curry which is the perfect colour for a subtle bit of zing. I stamped my bird over the top, quickly heat embossing him with clear embossing powder before the ink dried.

The sentiment is from the Hostess set Morning Meadow, stamped onto a strip of card stock trimmed into a banner and I mounted my panel on a card base made with the subtly textured core'dinations card stock.

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE THIS CARD
(Click on each item to find it quickly in my shop) 

Stamps: Papaya Collage wood or cling, Gorgeous Grunge wood or cling
Morning Meadow (hostess set) wood or cling

Ink: Gumball Green, Early Espresso, Crushed Curry

Card stock: Very Vanilla smooth, Crumb Cake core'dinations

Other: Modern Medley designer paper, versamark, clear embossing powder, heat tool, stamp-a-majig

Click above to place an order any time, day or night,

but if you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm always happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

I'm still chuckling over our Easter treasure hunt. One of the clues was 'Highly strung' and was hidden on one of our roman blinds. As the children went off to find it I heard my oldest son say: "There must be a harp in the house somewhere..!"

See you tomorrow,

Last chance for bargain Stampin' Up products!

I'm back to remind you that today is the last day to take advantage of these fabulous deals:

Crisp Cantataloupe 3/8" stitched satin ribbon £8.25 NOW £6.19

Silver Glimmer Paper £4.50 NOW £3.28
This and That Epic Day designer series paper £9.95 NOW £7.46
Afternoon Picnic designer series paper £9.95 NOW £7.46
Polka Stampin' Around builder wheel £3.95 NOW £2.96
Fancy Flower punch £15.50 NOW £11.63
Floral District photobook template (digital download) £12.50 NOW £7.50

Pop over to my online shop if you fancy any of these and perhaps take a look at the Clearance Rack while you're there?!

Click above to place an order any time, day or night,

but if you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm always happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

I haven't had time for any crafting over Easter as we've been out and about but I thought you might like to see one or two photos of our Easter:

A touch of spring at the lunch table with some flowers tucked into a bow made with Stampin' Up's beautiful Daffodil Delight stitched grosgrain ribbon.

The most wonderful Easter hen, beautifully made for us by a lovely and incredibly talented friend. Just look what's inside...

... oh stop it now! There's only so much cute we can take! These gorgeous little chicks contained chocolate eggs - but have you seen their little beaks?!

Every year I devise a treasure hunt for my lovely children. I know they're hulking great teenagers, not toddlers, but I get a lot of pleasure out of making it and they love rampaging around the house looking for clues!

This was our favourite clue this year! There was a great outcry when they saw it but my oldest son finally got it:

There it was, tucked into the base of my ampersand!

We passed a very pleasant evening with a rousing game of Masterpiece. When we first set the board up, we planned to have a photo taken as the characters in the picture - we'd even decided that Tuppence  (our cat) was going to be the dog!

Time ran away with us though and we got caught up in the game. Wheeling, dealing, bluffs and counter bluffs... yes, my youngest son proved he was the expert!

See you tomorrow when I'll have details of more Weekly Deals.

Happy Easter with hanging treats for the tree!

It's time for me and my family to hunker down for our annual Easter get-together but before I show you today's project, let's have a look at the latest Weekly Deals from Stampin' Up! This new set of offers will be available until end of Tuesday 22nd April 2014:

Crisp Cantataloupe 3/8" stitched satin ribbon £8.25 NOW £6.19

Silver Glimmer Paper £4.50 NOW £3.28
This and That Epic Day designer series paper £9.95 NOW £7.46
Afternoon Picnic designer series paper £9.95 NOW £7.46
Polka Stampin' Around builder wheel £3.95 NOW £2.96
Fancy Flower punch £15.50 NOW £11.63
Floral District photobook template (digital download) £12.50 NOW £7.50

Pop over to my online shop to order any of these and if you're in the mood for a crafty bargain, why not have a look at the Clearance Rack while you're there?

What's the Easter Bunny been up to?

The idea behind today's project was to create something you could hang on an Easter tree. Come and see:

The basket is made by putting together a simple box, attaching ribbon to it, then covering with card stock that has been embossed with the Square Lattice embossing folder. You'll notice that the cute little bunny from Life in the Forest has made another appearance - what a little star he is!

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE THIS PROJECT
(Click on each item to find it quickly in my shop) 

Stamps: Life in the Forest wood or cling

Ink: Baked Brown Sugar

Card stock: Daffodil Delight, Whisper White plus scraps
Punches: Two step bird, 1 3/4" Circle, Itty Bitty Shapes

Other: Square Lattice embossing folder, Big Shot, 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Candy dots

Click above to place an order any time, day or night,

but if you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm always happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

We always put up an Easter tree - just a few twigs in a jug.

I often decorate it with a theme - birds or butterflies and ribbons one year, flowers in ice cream colours another. This year, it's decorated with all our little bits and pieces we've collected over the years.

The children squee'ed over all their old friends!

Oh dear, little Miss Pink Rabbit is looking a tiny bit grumpy... I think she had ambitions to be the Christmas tree fairy!

It always seems like a miracle to me that you bring some dead-looking twigs indoors and they burst into leaf and, as my daughter observed, who can feel sad when there are fluffy rabbits and choccley eggs in the world?!

Have a very happy Easter and I'll see you next week.

A pampering gift from the Secret Garden spa!

What could possibly be better than getting the crafting goodies you want? Getting them at a discount of course! Today is the last day to get the items below at the special Weekly Deals prices:

Secret Garden framelits £20.95 NOW £15.71
Dress Up framelits £20.95 NOW £15.71
Festive Flurry framelits £20.95 NOW £15.71
Needlepoint Embossing Folder £7.50 NOW £5.63
Flower Garden Embossing Folder £7.50 NOW £5.63
Framed Tulips Embossing Folder £7.50 NOW £5.63
Blossom Party Originals die £15.95 NOW £11.96
Recipes by Design (digital download) £6.95 NOW £4.17

I made a gift for a friend using the Secret Garden framelits. Come and see:

The box is made using smooth and core'dinations card stock, with a window cut out of the lid with a large framelit from the Circles collection. I laid the white face cloth inside for a spa look and arranged the beautiful skincare products on top.

The larger flowers and leaves were stamped using colours in the product packaging and I cut them out with the coordinating Secret Garden framelits. The Magnetic Platform is so useful for this as it holds the framelit firmly in place as you run it through your Big Shot. I added some tiny white flowers, cut out using one of the flower punches in the Itty Bitty punch pack, and some pearls.

If you'd like to see how I make basic boxes with perfectly-fitting lids, check out my video tutorial.

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE TODAY'S PROJECT
(Click on each item to find it quickly in my shop) 

Stamps: Secret Garden wood or cling, Morning Meadow (hostess set) wood or cling

Ink: Pacific Point, Wild Wasbi

Card stock: Whisper White, Wild Wasabi smooth and core'dinations

Other: Big Shot, Magnetic Platform, Circles framelits, Secret Garden framelits, Window sheet, Itty Bitty punch pack, Basic pearls

Click above to place an order any time, day or night,

but if you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm always happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

When I was a little girl I was obsessed with beauty products and longed for a boudoir decked out with cut crystal perfume bottles and jars of luxurious creams and lotions. I was always trying to make some scented lotion with flower petals, water and talcum powder although the resulting messes dampened my enthusiasm a little. My daughter once applied a homemade face mask while getting ready for a special party. It made her feel really pampered, she told me, until she caught a glimpse of herself sitting in the bath with cold, dried porridge on her face!

See you tomorrow - with the latest Weekly Deals!