Cards for sad times....

We all have these cards to send from time to time. 

This one is for a friend who's Step Father passed away last weekend. He would have loved this as he was a great card maker himself. Making Christmas cards to raise funds for a charity close to his heart after his wife died. Frank was in his 90's, he had a heart of gold, an infectious chuckle and was up for most things any day of the week. He will be much missed by his friends and family. R.I.P.

Daisy Lane without the daisy!

I have a lot of floral stamps as have many of my customers but often these sets have a leaf or squiggle that is suitable to make a man's card with no floral images. This one is all about the ink.

How many shades of green do we have in the Stampin'Up colour family without the 'In colours". 

They are all here with the lovely fern leaf stamp. The fussy cut leaf is in the very beautiful 'Soft Sea Spray colour. You will be seeing a lot more of this.

A little twist of braided twine around the centre with a sentiment to finish.The card base and matt layer are Mossy meadow and Granny Apple Green.

A Soft Sea Foam stamp on the inside to finish it off

A little salute to beautiful Designer Paper

Do you have those days when you are desperate to get into your craft room/space then when it happens all those ideas you had run away? Thats where I am at the moment. When I am putting satinwood on the skirting board or cleaning windows the ideas seem to come thick and fast but once I make time to sit in the space I have created to craft my head is empty.
Today I put a pack of designer paper on my desk - Perennial Essence.

I thought I would make 2 cards, using one sheet as both sides are so pretty. I also got out a pack of Stampin'Up note cards and envelopes as they are that bit smaller so simpler cards are better.

My creations.....

I started with the purpleish designer paper first, love this one, I should have used Blackberry Bliss and Petal Pink card but I don't have any left of either of these colours so I have used Rich Razzleberry and the new Incolour 'Purple Posy'.
My base cards are very vanilla so I picker ribbon to match. That is edged in gold which linked in the yellow centres of the flowers and then added a gold faceted gem to the centre of my daisy which has been fussy cut from the stamped Daisy Lane set. I have also daubed the end of the petals. The sentiment is from the  Itty Bitty Birthdays set. To finish the card off I covered the envelope flap with matching designer paper.

The second card uses the same paper but the other side. So two great designs on one sheet.

Again I have matched the card colours, Flirty Flamingo and crushed curry. I wasn't so keen on the as matt layers so I used the lovely pink and my matt layer on its own then a thin strip of the crushed curry to mount the sentiment on. This sentiment is from the Frosted Blooms set which is another of my favourites. Another fussy cut daisy from Daisy Lane this time I have daubed the centre of the flower and just the tips of the petals. I have used the Wink of Stella pen on the centre of the flower. Once more I have added the designer paper to the envelope flap.

There are five other sheets to check out in the pack. I think these would make a lovely little set of cards that fit in one of my tins. So maybe there is more to come on this story.

Shopping

Perennial Essence designer paper  149100
Gold faceted gems                           144141
Daisy lane stamp set                       149325
Wink of Stella                                 141897
Gold edged vanilla ribbon.             144146

If you do shop online please use the hostess code 4K2RVXMV if your order is over £25 I will send you a gift at the end of the month. If you would like a new Stampin'Up catalogue get in touch.

Colour challenge Tuesday

Sometimes a colour challenge can get you going when the mojo just isn't there. Even when you haven't got those colours of ink!
The challenge is to  use these three colours:- Early Expresso, Gray Granite and new in-colour Seaside Spray,  with any neutrals added.....

Yes a challenge. Particularly as I didn't have any of the Seaside Spray ink ink. The middle colour is  Gray Granite which I have not used before. The third colour is Early Expresso which I love. 

What to do, I looked through my stamp sets and found a new set that I got at On Stage and hadn't opened. Its called 'Daisy Lane'. It works with the Daisy Delight which has carried over into this catalogue and there is a new smaller punch for the small daisy in this new set so I highly recommend it.

And my card

and the envelope

and the inside

I have added a little Wink of Stella to the centre of the daisies. The base card, the fern and the stems for the daisies are Gray Granite, the flowers and sentiment in the Early Expresso.

Shopping

Daisy Lane stamp set and punch bundle.       151118

Seaside Spray ink                                           150085

Seaside Spray card                                         150889

Early expresso ink                                          147114

Early expresso card                                         121686

Gray granite ink                                             147118

Gray granite card                                           147008

Very vanilla card                                            106550

Wink of stella                                                 141897

If you do shop online please use the hostess code 4K2RVXMV if your order is over £25 I will send you a gift at the end of the month. If you would like a new Stampin'Up catalogue get in touch.

Tea Together

This stamp set and dies have been on my desk since Jan/Feb and the packet hasn't been opened. So the time had come. The inspiration for this card was from Patty Bennet  It's not identical but nearly. However that has got me going with this set.

I have used a 'flat lay' photograph to show the products I have used.  There are a lot of retired products on the card but the stamp set and dies are in the new catalogue on page 113. The teapot, cup and saucer have been stamped with momento (I still can't find the stazon ink)onto some retired vellum, then dried with a heat gun very gently! These have been die cut and an image has been die cut in whisper white. I have put the two layers together with glue dots.

The shelf on which they sit is a piece of now retired marbled designer paper and the ribbon is the petal pink /whisper white variegated ribbon, which I seem to have quite a stash of!
In the centre of the flower on the front of the card I have used a clear epoxy  droplet. These have carried into the new catalogue which I am really pleased about they come in three sizes and the frosted ones look good to. You get both sorts in one pack.

The colouring of the flower with the sentiment and the flowers inside has been done with a few 'Blends'. These pens are lovely to work with. They have a very soft brush end which only needs a light touch.

Shopping

Tea Together Stamps                      148779

Tea Time dies                                 149697

Epoxy droplets embellishments     147801

Rich Razzleberry Ink                     147091

Rich Razzleberry Card                   119981

Glue dots                                        103683

If you do shop online please use the hostess code 4K2RVXMV if your order is over £25 I will send you a gift at the end of the month. If you would like a new Stampin'Up catalogue get in touch.

Tis the season.......

No not that season, its the wedding season! Last weekend I attended the wedding of a very old friend, infact Steve was best man at my wedding and last weekend my OH returned the favour. I got to make the wedding stationary, which was brilliant.
After some discussion about style, the colour being settled very early on, the wonderful couple decided on the Dandelion wishes with a bit of a twist....

I changed the dandelion seeds to little silver hearts. (Please excuse the handles they belong to another item!)  I used the stamparatus to stamp the dandelion which made creating 100 so much quicker and more accurate.

                                 

The wedding was being held in the council chamber at Islington Town Hall, I have to say it is a beautiful room. 

Then I worked on the Order of Service.

The name cards for the tables at the reception

Finally we had goody bags to do. In each bag was a piece of wedding cake in a silver box and a bottle of Espensen Spirit, True Romance, Sloe, vodka liqueur. I made the tags with a couple of tiny silver embossed hearts.

Then the bags....

A lovely suite of goodies for a wonderful wedding.

If you know anyone who would like handmade unique wedding stationary please get i contact. I had a wonderful time making these.

From Stamping Up.
Dandelion wishes Stamps  151345
Night of navy ink               147110
Night of navy card             106577
Silver embossing powder   109131
Stamparatus                        148187

If you do shop online please use the hostess code 4K2RVXMV if your order is over £25 I will send you a gift at the end of the month. If you would like a new Stampin'Up catalogue get in touch.