Monday 23 August 2010

Stampin' Pastels

My card today uses the Stampin' Pastels from Stampin' Up.  I demonstrated the Stampin' Pastels last week at a Stampin' Up party and now want to use them again - all the time!  I love that these work so well on our Whisper White card stock.  Because Whisper White is so smooth, it works really well without leaving a mess behind, like you can get with some card stock.


I have used stamps from the hostess level 2 set Itty Bitty Buds for the background, with the candle and greeting coming from the stamp set Big Bold Birthday, which is on offer this month.  Don't miss it, its down in price from £23.95 to £19.16.

The colours of Stampin' Pastels used were Summer Sun, Pixie Pink and Certainly Celery.  Ink and card stock used was Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun and Whisper White.

Have a great day.

Carole
x

Saturday 21 August 2010

My card for "HOPE"

Its been a bit of a miserable week for me, I've heard news that just sends me right down in the dumps!  I am someone who often suffers the pain of others, even if I don't know them at all well, or in deed at all!   I have also been greatly saddend this week by the news of one of my own family members doing very well who has used money "willed" to my girls and refuses to pay them their inheritance.  People have a cheek, fancy conning money out of a very sick person and making promises that they haven't kept.  I am sure my mother is turning in her grave with whats happening.

This morning in my email inbox came an email of a blog update that I follow, the lovely Keren Baker.  She writes some lovely blog posts,  I don't always stop and read the whole of her posts, but when I do I seem to come away feeling that I've learned something.  Her card today was a card of HOPE, she wrote about the rain she had endured during her recent family holiday but was grateful for the blessings in her life and she mentioned the Pakistan flood crisis. 

Her card of HOPE has helped me today, I have used her idea and CASED it, I am calling it my therapy today, I've made it for all of the following reasons:

I hope that all the people in the world who are suffering can find some peace and happiness in their lives.

I hope that all the people doing wrong, will find ways of putting things right.

I hope that everyone suffering life threatening and life limiting illnesses can make the most of each day.

I hope that the economy picks up enough so that people searching for jobs can find one.

I hope people suffering loneliness can find comfort and friendships.

I hope all who suffer depression can be gently lifted out of it.

I hope that all who are sick, in pain, or have broken bones can be healed quickly.

These are just a few "hopes" that are springing to mind today and this card is for all who feel the need for a little bit of HOPE.




If you would like to see Keren's card check out her web site here: http://kerenbaker.wordpress.com/2010/08/21/card-for-hope/

Well I'm feeling so much better now that I have counted my blessings, there are many.  Thanks to Keren for making me count them today.

Have a great crafty day.

Carole
x

Saturday 14 August 2010

Stampin' Up - Grungy

After speaking to and emailing my lovely friend and customer Lesley about my last card I made from Big Bold Birthday I came up with this today.  My friend reminded me of a class I taught a couple of years ago now, where we made icing from glue, flour and Stampin' Up re-inkers to ice a cake on a card. 

I gave it a go today and was really pleased with how this grungy card turned out.  The photo is not all that good again, but I think you can see the idea. 


I sprinked the top with Dazzling Diamonds (Stampin' Up very fine glitter) and made a button using Bashful Blue Designer Series Paper and a clear Stampin' Up buttom.  Its so easy, these button are the same size as our punches so all I did was to punch out a 3/4" circle, distress the edges with Soft Suede Ink and glued it with Stampin' Up Crystal Effects.

The main card was made using Soft Suede card stock and Bashful Blue Designer Series Paper.  The stamp set used was Big Bold Birthday.

Enjoy.

Happy crafting.

Carole
x

Thursday 12 August 2010

Boho Blossoms

I've had a lovely couple of days again, my Stampin' Up sister came over yesterday, we chatted, giggled, crafted and ate, of course!  It was great to have her attend my class last night too.  It was a particularly giggly class - not sure why, but we all did have some fun!  These two hour evening classes are a bit of a joke really, with ladies starting to arrive from 7 and are here still chatting at almost 11.  There always seems so much to catch up on and with cards to make, the time flies.

After our late night last night, this morning Peg and I had a lazy start and after breakfast we crafted again and both made a card like this:



The background paper is from the Stampin' Up Night and Day collection, the flowers have been stamped in Tempting Turquoise from the One of a Kind stamp set, I snipped into each petal and embossed from behind to give them more depth.  The flower stems were stamped in Certainly Celery and the stamp used was from Playful Petals and the leaves were also stamped in Certainly Celery and is the leaf stamp out of Vintage Vogue (thanks Peg, she knew immediately which stamp set we needed for a good leaf!).  We finished off the card with the sentiment from One of a Kind and pricked the edges of the top white mat using the Stampin' Up Mat Pack.  The butterflies are from a US Stampin Up Embosslits called Beautiful Wings.

Enjoy and have a great day.

Carole
x

Tuesday 10 August 2010

Big Bold Birthday

My lovely friend Rose came over this afternoon and with inspiration evading us we decided to CASE the lovely Monica Gale's card.  After seeing her blog and video I purchased this set (which arrived yesterday) - she should get extra comission for this - as far as I'm concerned! At least its one of the sets that is 20% off this month!

Every month Stampin' Up send us information on new tecniques to try and this month they suggested we try making an ink pad using felt and Stampin' Up re-inkers.  We thought that the balloon stamp on this card would be great using this technique and here is the result:


The two cards together looked great, but after the photo was taken I moved the flower on the card on the right!  Also after Rose had left for home, I actually embellished further with Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamond glitter.

The thing that Rose and I loved the most was the colour combination - Regal Rose, Close to Cocoa & Apricot Appeal.  Two of these colours will be leaving us at the end of next month, so if you like this colour combo let me know and I can place an order for them for you.

Happy crafting.

Carole
x

Monday 9 August 2010

Flower pot treat

Gosh time flies, another week has gone by without a "new post" from me.

I had a great time over the weekend working, here is a little treat I made:


Unfortunately the photo isn't great - I keep meaning to book myself onto a photography course, but I will have to retire first, in order to have the time!

Stampin' Up products used:

Word Window punch
Scallop Circle punch
Boho Blossoms punch
To the Nines Speciality paper
Pretty in Pink ribbon and Card Stock
Rich Regals brad
Small Cellophane Bag.

Have a great day.

Carole
x

Tuesday 3 August 2010

Thank you card

I've just found the photo of another card card I made recently, it was the card I sent to my friends in Dorset thanking them for the lovely few days I spent with them last week.


The inspiration for this one came from a surfing marathon I did, sorry to say that I can't now remember where I'd seen something very similar :(  but I thought it was a really nice layout for a card. The colour inspiration came from my friends love of green and the main colour of her "feature wall's" wall paper in her newly decorated dining room.

Products used:

Stampin' Up card stock in: Whisper White, Black & Certainly Celery
Stampin' Up stamp sets: En Francais, Touch of Nature & Tiny Tags
Stampin' Up ink: Certainly Celery, So Saffron & Black

Another Stampin' Up product used, that I haven't used very much in the past was the "Watercolor Wonder" crayons, to colour the image - it was so easy, they might be might next favourite product!

Enjoy!

Carole
x

Quick & Simple

Its our friend Malcolm's birthday today.  Happy Birthday Malcolm - I hope those ladies are all spoiling you, letting you put your feet up and giving you a day off decorating!

This is the card we sent that I made. Its pretty simple really, the image is one found on the internet (he is a bit of a Poker fan, and I found this looking for funny pics of Poker - as you do!)

I used a technique that I have been wanting to try for ages - making embossed dots with the Crop-A-Dile.  I remember seeing it at the very first Stampin' Up training I went to, another demonstrator had used the idea on her swap and as I hadn't used that idea yet, I thought I'd give it a go and was pleased with the result.

Hope you like it:



The other products used were:

Stampin' Up cards stock in: Crumb Cake, Black & Real Red
Stampin' Up "happy birthday" stamp from: Occasional Greetings
Stampin' Up Marker Pens in: Black & Real Red.

Have a great day of crafting.

Carole
x