Dynamic Tree Circles...

Hiya!

It's time for another Dynamic Duos challenge and when I saw this week's colours I knew I had to make something masculine...

I knew I wanted to use Lovely as a Tree and the Comfort Cafe dsp, but I was looking for a sketch that would make it work, then I came across the Deconstructed Sketch this week and hey presto, this came together...

I started by stamping the tree with Soft Suede on Very Vanilla then punched it out with a 2 1/2" circle punch. I cut the other circles from the dsp using the Circles #2 die as well as some circle punches. The panel in the background is Soft Suede embossed with the woodgrain EF, then layered on Crumb Cake card and overlaid with a lattice die-cut. I added a ticket greeting (from a new set coming in the Spring catty) punched with the ticket punch, then a wood button with some linen thread. Three little button brads (from Vintage Trinkets) in the corner finished things off.

While I thought masculine for these colours, the Dynamic DT have come up with a variety of masculine and beautifully soft and feminine projects  - check them out by visiting their blogs on my sidebar!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, whatever you are up to.

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Oriental Mash...

Hi there,

This week's Friday Mashup challenge is an interesting one, brought to us by Heidi...

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge:

1. Make a project with a "Chinese New Year (Year of the Snake) Theme".
2. Or Make a project using the "Paper Lantern Technique".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project for the "Chinese New Year featuring the Paper Lantern Technique".

Ok, so this one had me scratching my head for a while..! I tried one idea and it looked rubbish, so in the end I reached for an old set from Stampin Up (I think my Mum got me this from Australia years ago) that I haven't been able to part with called Eastern Influences - I thought it was perfect for this theme...

I stamped the Real Red background repeatedly with the Beautiful Chinese character stamp with Real Red ink, then layered a black panel over the top that I had stamped and embossed in gold EP using the flourish from Everything Eleanor. The 'lantern' was created by stamping the flower on watercolour card with stazon ten colouring with inkpads and an aquabrush. I punched this out with a 2 1/2" circle punch and ran it through my crimper, sponging around the edge with Crumb Cake ink. I added a sparkly top to the lantern using Champagne glimmer paper and the ticket punch, then added a bow with black taffeta ribbon. The sentiment is from a Sale-a-Bration set - Vintage Verses - I embossed it on brushed gold using black EP and cut out with a craft knife and folded it into a banner shape.

The Friday Mashup team have created some fab inspiration using this technique/theme challenge this week so make sure you check them out!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Melon Starfruit Rose...

Hi there,

Another card to share today (I'm on a roll!) - this time I combined the Colour Q challenge with the sketch from Create with Connie & Mary...

When I first saw those colours I thought they were rather scary, but then I had an idea to use Stippled Blossoms, combining the red/pink and yellow-green/grey to create a flower and leaves - then this came together pretty quickly...

I used some Sale-a-Bration goodies - dsp and embossing folder as well as the butterfly stamp. There's also a little peek at something coming in the Spring catty... doilies!

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Stippled Blossoms, Especially for You, Bloomin' Marvelous
Ink: Melon Mambo, Real Red, Summer Starfruit, Basic Grey
Paper: Sycamore Street dsp, Summer Starfruit, Basic Grey, Whisper White
Accessories: Basic Black taffeta ribbon, Real Red brads, doily
Tools: Vine Street EF, bitty butterfly punch

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

AddINKtive Baby Banner...

Hello!

I'm popping in with a quick card to share that I made for a couple in our church worship team who've just had a little boy. I used the sketch/colour combo over at a new challenge site - Still addINKtive:

I pulled out a new set that it coming in the Spring catty called Hearts a Flutter and decided to make a little baby banner...

I used the Baby Tees wheel and another new set called Just the Ticket as well as two banners from Hearts a Flutter to create the banner. I added a Designer Builder Brad (also from the Spring catty) and I added a little star in the middle (from Pennant Parade), and also added a button die-cut from Tempting Turqouise card. The sentiment is from Curly Cute, embossed with white EP, then I stamped two little birds from Aviary on top with Summer Starfruit ink.

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Hearts a Flutter, Just the Ticket, Baby Tees wheel, Curly Cute, Aviary, Pennant Parade
Ink: Summer Starfruit, Tempting Turqouise, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Summer Starfruit, Tempting Turqouise, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Tools: Scalloped Square die, Hearts a Flutter framelits, ticket duo punch, piercing tool & mat, buttons sizzlit die, itty bitty shapes circle punch
Accessories: Island Indigo bakers twine, designer builder brad, vintage trinkets

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Dynamic Valentines...

Hiya!

We've got snow in Bristol - hooray!! I know those of you who have it all the time probably think I'm a bit weird for being excited about snow, but it doesn't happen often in Bristol and seeing as I have a day at home when I don't have to travel in it - I'm enjoying the prettiness of it!! Anyway, enough rambling from me - I'm here to share my Dynamic Duos card this week...

I had an idea in my head for ages for this one - as soon as I saw the colours I wanted to try the Chalkboard technique that is so popular at the moment so that's where I started...

I loved how the chalkboard came out! First I stamped the greeting from You are Loved on black card and embossed with white EP, die-cut it with a labels framelit, then I added some doodled stitching and a xo with a white pencil. I also coloured a strip of white across the middle with a white pencil, and finally stamped the greeting again, this time with white ink, slightly offset against the embossed one so it looks like a shadow.

The background is a combination of First Edition and Candlelight Christmas dsp, together with Naturals Ivory (I sponged around the edges with Crumb Cake to distress a bit). I added a strip of black card, die-cut with an edgelit and embossed with the coordinating embossing folder, then layered with lace trim and some red taffeta ribbon (with a little vintage safety pin trinket attached to the bow). I finished things off with a heart (coming in the Spring/Summer catalogue) stamped with Real Red, die-cut, then decorated with a vintage faceted button and linen thread.

I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch for my layout...

The design team have some fab red and black creations for you this week - you can check them out at Dynamic Duos or click on the links on my sidebar.

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Retro Birthday Balloons...

Hello all!

It's time for another Friday Mashup challenge, and this week Holly is bringing the birthday cake!

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge:

1. Make a project with a "Birthday Theme".
2. Or Make a project using "Brads".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Birthday project with some brads".

I went with a birthday card that would work for a boy (not a forte of mine but I'm really happy with how this one turned out)...

I used the You're Amazing stamp set for the balloons and sentiment, and combined some International Bazaar and Twitterpated dsp for the lower panels. I added some Daffodil Delight brads to the sentiment panel (die-cut with one of the Apothecary framelits dies and pierced with the coordinating template). I used the Paper Players colours as well as the Retro sketch this week to help me out...

Make sure you check out what the rest of the Friday Mashup team have created this week!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Sweet Bloomin' Cafe...

Hello!

Just popping in quickly to share a card I made using some new goodies (Sale-a-Bration and Spring catty... both coming soon!). I combined the Sweet Sunday Sketch with the colours over at the Play Date Cafe for this one...

The colours reminded me of the Comfort Cafe papers so that's where I started, and ended up with this...

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Bloomin' Marvellous, Vintage Verses
Ink: Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit, Soft Suede
Paper: Comfort Cafe dsp, Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit, Very Vanilla
Accessories: flower trim, lace trim, pearls
Tools: bitty butterfly punch, bird punch, 2 1/2" circle punch, Delicate Doilies sizzlit

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Saffron Secret Garden...

Hiya,

It's time for another fab Dynamic Duos challenge and this week we've got some beautiful and soft colours to play with...

My pre-order goodies from the Spring catty coming in Feb arrived this week and I knew which set I had to get inky first... Secret Garden! This set is so gorgeous, with oodles of possibilities but my first card had to use colouring - my favourite thing!

How pretty are those flowers??! I'm gonna be using those a LOT! I stamped them on watercolour card a couple of times each, die-cut both then hand-cut an inner layer for each to give added dimension. I coloured them with So Saffron ink and an aquabrush, together with a So Saffron marker, and added some dazzling diamonds to the centres. The leaves were stamped with Certainly Celery and die-cut with the matching die (so cool that there are matching dies for this set!!). The background was created with the Very Vanilla card and the honeycomb embossing folder (LOVE!!!). I added a little bee (from Nature's Walk, stamped with Crumb Cake and coloured with a So Saffron marker) and some Very Vanilla seam binding ribbon and brads to finish. The sentiment is from Itty Bitty Banners, hand-cut and layered on a coordinating die-cut.

The layout for this card is from the sketch over at IN{K}SPIRE_me this week...

The Design Team have really knocked it out of the park this week - their samples are AMAZING! Make sure you pop over to Dynamic Duos to get inspired and to play along.

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Mojo Patterned Mashup...

Hello!

I'm this hostess this week at the Friday Mashup and I've got a fun colour challenge, with the addition of multiple patterns...

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge:

1. Make a project using "Different Patterns".
2. Or Make a project with the three or more colors from "Summer Starfruit, Tangerine Tango, Island Indigo, Early Espresso and Sahara Sand".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Patterned Project with the Challenge Colors".

I have to admit to choosing these colours with a view to using some of the fab Sale-a-Bration dsp coming towards the end of this month... lots of fun and colourful patterns are in this pack!

I matted each layer of dsp with Early Espresso card to make them pop, and added a little butterfly (from a SAB stamp set) punched out with the bitty butterfly punch coming in the Spring catalogue next month - woohoo! I also added some SAB ribbon and button, tied with Island Indigo bakers twine.

I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch for the layout...

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Bloomin' Marvelous, Beautiful Birthday
Ink: Island Indigo, Tangerine Tango
Paper: Sycamore Street dsp, Early Espesso, Sahara Sand, Whisper White
Tools: Window Frames framelits, 2 1/2" circle punch, bitty butterfly punch
Accessories: Tangerine Tango ribbon and button (Sycamore Street pack), rhinestones, island indigo bakers twine

Make sure you check out the fab creations of the rest of the Design Team - they really rocked this challenge!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

CR84FN Fab Composition...

Hiya,

I've been playing around with the Naturals Composition dsp this week (I have a class this weekend showcasing this paper) and I combined the CR84FN colour challenge with the sketch at Fab Friday to get me started...

And here's what I came up with...

I know the background looks blue at the top, but it's actually Elegant Eggplant! I won't go into too many details as I'll be teaching this at class, but here's the recipe for you..

Stamps: Papillion Potpourri, Perfectly Penned
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Raspberry Ripple, Wisteria Wonder
Paper: Naturals Composition, Crumb Cake, Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White
Tools: Delicate Doilies sizzlit die, buttons sizzlit die, butterfly punch
Accessories: Raspberry Ripple ribbon

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Naturals Greenery...

Hi there,

Just popping in quickly to share a card I made using the lovely Colour Throwdown colours this week...

I was inspired by the pretty flowers and they reminded me of the flower and jar from Perfectly Preserved...

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Perfectly Preserved
Ink: Crumb Cake, Lucky Limeade, Soft Suede
Paper: Naturals Composition dsp, Comfort Cafe dsp, Naturals Ivory, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla
Tools: Small oval punch, large scallop edgelit die, Cannery framelits
Accessories: lace trim, pearls

That's all for now... Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Wedding Sketch Mashup...

Hi there,

I'm back with this week's Friday Mashup card... this time on time! This week Lili's got a great sketch for us...

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge:

1. Make a project using the "Sketch".
2. Or Make a project featuring "Hearts".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project using the "Sketch and Hearts".

I went with a wedding theme so I could include the 'hearts' element...

I started by stamping the cake from Love & Laughter with Primrose Petals then cutting it out and sponging with matching ink (I masked each portion of the cake with a sticky note to create the three-tiered look). I added some rhinestone strips to each part of the cake and a couple of layered hearts (using the Fashionable Hearts embosslit die) on top. I layered the cake on a Very Vanilla panel embossed using the dotty EF. The dsp in the background is from Comfort Cafe and the banner strip is Pool Party card embossed with the stripes EF, to compliment the striped dsp. I added a couple of embossed hearts as well as a seam binding bow to finish things off.

I used the colours from the Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge for this card...

Make sure you stop by the Friday Mashup to check out the rest of the DT's creations!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

New year, new post & holiday news!

Hiya,

Happy New Year to you all!

Sorry for my absence over the last couple of weeks - my Mum gave me an amazing Christmas present, which was to fly me to Australia for two weeks to spend Christmas with my family over there, and I just got back yesterday! It has been 12 years since I was last in Australia, having moved over here over 14 years ago, so there were members of my extended family that I hadn't seen in 12 years - cousins I remember as children are now grown men that I hardly recognised, but it was great seeing them and catching up after all this time. The weather made a nice change as well!! Not too hot, but I got to wear summer clothes for two weeks which was nice lol. My Mum spoilt me rotten (she is an amazing Mum!) and I ate WAY too much... some sort of diet needed now I think! The reason I didn't post anything about this on my blog before I left was that this was a big surprise for most of my family (only one sister knew along with my mum), and I thought my crafty sister might check out my blog and see what was going on so I had to keep quiet... let's just say that my family have had enough surprises in the last two weeks to last a long time!

Anyway, I'm popping in to share my Friday Mashup project with you... on a Wednesday! (how bad is that?!). This week we've got a great colour combo for you...

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge:

1. Make a project using "Snowflakes".
2. Or Make a project with the colors "Whisper White, Pool Party, Midnight Muse, and Basic Black".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Snowflake Project with the colors Whisper White, Pool Party, Midnight Muse, and Basic Black".

I wanted to make an altered notebook for my friend Helen to let her know how amazing she is, so here's what I came up with...

I used an exercise book from a bulk pack I bought a while back and covered the front and back with Comfort Cafe dsp and the spine with some new dsp coming in Sale-a-Bration. I added a strip of Midnight Muse punched with the scallop trim border punch, then some Pool Party ruffled ribbon, tied in a double bow. The sentiment is from You're Amazing, stamped with Midnight Muse and die-cut with an Apothecary Accents framelit. I coloured the lower half of the 'amazing' letters with a Pool Party marker, then layered this shape onto a black piece cut with the Oval Accent die. I created a flower using the Blossom Party die and Pool Party card and dsp, adding an antique brad in the centre and some Midnight Muse leaves underneath (cut using the Little Leaves sizzlit die). I couldn't resist addings some butterflies to finish!

No mash on this one - sorry, but I couldn't find a way of using snowflakes on this project! Make sure you check out the rest of the team's fab creations over at the Friday Mashup!

It's great to be back... Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x