Monday 29 April 2013

Bright Garden Thank You...

Hiya,

I'm popping in to share another of the cards I made on the weekend. On this one I combined the colours from Colour Q and the sketch from Create with Connie & Mary...


I had fun with this bright colour combo and multi-layered sketch!


Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Secret Garden, Blooming with Kindness
Ink: Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, Lucky Limeade
Paper: Floral District dsp, Pumpkin Pie, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Accessories: White organza ribbon, vintage faceted button
Tools: Designer Frames embossing folder, oval punch, secret garden framelits

Hope your Monday was a good one... Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Sunday 28 April 2013

Baby Boutique Mojo...


Hi there,

I took some time last night to play around with a few challenges and my paper stash so I've got a few cards to share with you over the next few days - yay! The first one is a little something I made with the Mojo Monday sketch and a new stamp set to me, Baby Boutique...


I used some Parker's Patterns dsp with my colour coach to help me come up with the colour combo (Marina Mist, Summer Starfruit, Real Red and Not Quite Navy). The images were stamped with a selection of the colours, and boat was inked with markers, then I punched out each image with the 1 1/4" square punch and sponged around each with Marina Mist ink. I layered all four onto a piece of Real Red card. The sentiment is from A Word for You, stamped with Not Quite Navy and turned into a banner. I added some Real Red brads to the sentiment flag as well as some Summer Starfruit ribbon and a silver button to finish.

Here's the sketch I used...


Thanks for stopping by... I hope you have a truly blessed week ahead!

x Amy x

Saturday 27 April 2013

Blushing Coral Garden...

Hi there,

Well this week it's my last week on the Dynamic Duos design team so I'm a little sad! But it's been a great six months with an amazing group of talented ladies - I look forward to seeing the new team of designers and what they will inspire us with in the future. This week we have a very pretty colour combo for you...

We are also taking this week to say happy birthday to the lovely and uber talented Vicki, so here's my birthday card dedicated to her...


I combined the Secret Garden stamp set with the jar from Perfectly Preserved for the main panel - the flowers were embossed on vellum with white EP then each had a different treatment : the middle one was embossed from the back with a scoring tool on my piercing mat; the one on the right was sponged on the back with Calypso Coral ink; and the one on the left was highlighted with markers on the back. I then layered them over matching die-cut flowers out of Calypso Coral cardstock. The jar was stamped in Crumb Cake and the stems in Soft Suede, then I layered a birthday greeting (from Made for You) on top (stamped in Calypso Coral on Blushing Bride and punched out with an oval punch. The dsp in the background is from Twitterpated and Floral District and I added some Calypso Coral ruffled ribbon and some pearls to finish.

I used the layout from Freshly Made Sketches to help me...
Make sure you stop by the rest of the FABulous design team and see their gorgeous creations!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x



Friday 26 April 2013

Bringing you sunshine...

Hiya,

This week's challenge over at the Friday Mashup is a fun themed one...

Here's your Mashup Challenge:
  1. Create a project showcasing "Sunshine".
  2. Create an "Easel card" project.
  3. Or Mash it Up and create an "Easel Card project with some Sunshine".
When I saw this challenge I thought of the Floral Frames framelits and had an idea to do an easel card with the largest one, using dsp and cardstock...



This is actually pretty simple - once I'd done the background I just stamped the sentiment on Whisper White with Tangerine Tango ink and cut around it freehand to make a cloud. I sponged some turqouise ink around the edge and attached it to the card with dimensionals. The inside looks like this...



Make sure you check out the rest of the sunny creations of the design team this week!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Wednesday 24 April 2013

Rose Fusion...

Hiya,

I have another quick little post for you today. When I saw the gorgeous inspiration over at the Fusion Card Challenge I knew I had to play along...

I combined the sketch with the inspiration photo and came up with this...


The lower panel was stamped with a motif from Circle Circus with Black craft ink and embossed with clear EP, to imitate the bedspread pattern. I created a flower with the Fancy Flower punch and Rose Red card and a black button and added some leaves with the Secret Garden stamp set and Basic Grey ink.

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: A Word for You, Circle Circus, Secret Garden
Ink: Basic Black craft, Basic Grey
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Naturals White, Rose Red
Accessories: Rose Red seam binding ribbon, black button, clear EP
Tools: Fancy Flower punch, secret garden framelits, delicate details embossing folder

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Tuesday 23 April 2013

Fab Retro Birthday...

Hiya,

Just popping in quickly to share a card I put together for a couple of challenges: Fab Friday and Retro Sketches...


Here's what I came up with...


Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Beautiful Birthday
Ink: Calypso Coral, Summer Starfruit
Paper: Tea for Two dsp, Print Poetry dsp, Crumb Cake, Pool Party, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Flower Trim, Pool Party seam binding ribbon
Tools: 2 1/2" circle punch, Perfect Pennants die, Bird punch, corner rounder punch

Right, I'm off to mark some assignments! Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Saturday 20 April 2013

Dynamic Elephant...

Hiya!

This week's Dynamic Duo is a monochromatic one, and we're being challenged to make it masculine...


Now last week I labelled my post 'Dynamic Duckie', this week it's 'Dynamic Elephant'... lol! I initially started off thinking this colour scheme would work really well for a CAS card - something graphic and clean for a guy... well what I ended up with is, er, NOT clean and simple at all (typical me really!)...


As I was thinking about the colours I was reminded of the grey hexagon pattern in the Twitterpated dsp pack, and began wondering whether the hexagons would match the honeycomb embossing folder we have, so I started cutting and realised that it could work... just! I cut a bunch of them out, embossed a piece of Basic Black with the embossing folder, then glued the grey hexagons over the top to make a random pattern. I then put the piece back in the embossing folder, lining it up with where I'd embossed it the first time, then ran it through the Big Shot again so the grey pieces became part of the embossed design (of course, you probably can't see any of that in the photo, so you'll have to take my word for it!). I then spritzed the background with Silver Smooch for a bit of shine.

The elephant and greeting (from You're Amazing) were stamped on Naturals White card with Basic Black craft ink and embossed with clear, then I coloured the elephant in with an aqua brush an basic grey ink. I cut this panel out with a windows framelit die, first cutting down the sides of the party hat so it could sit on top of the die and therefore creating the popped out effect. I added some silver dazzling details to the party hat and layered this panel on a piece of silver glimmer paper (clearly, I was in the mood for sparkle when making this 'masculine' card... lol!). I layered this over a basic grey shape die-cut with an Apothecary Accents die, then over a Whisper White strip and finally on to the background piece. The final touch was adding a large silver button and some Basic Grey ribbon (which I now realise is wonky and it is bugging me!!).

Ok, that's enough chatter from me, I'm off to get ready to go to a demo training day (hi Jane & Hayley!). Make sure you check out what the rest of the awesome design team have created for this challenge!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x



Friday 19 April 2013

Field Flower Sympathy...


Hi there,

Today's Friday Mashup challenge is a colour one, brought to us by Tara...

Here's your Mashup Challenge:
  1. Create a card using the colors "Sahara Sand, Perfect Plum & Wisteria Wonder".
  2. Create a card and "Mail or Deliver it to Someone Special".
  3. Or Mash it Up and create a card with "Sahara Sand, Perfect Plum, Wisteria Wonder & Mail or Deliver it to someone special".
I loved these colours together, and the soft and pretty combination I thought would work well for a sympathy card. These are cards that no one likes sending but are very needed, and I never seem to have them to hand so I thought I would make one. Although it's not going to be sent to anyone right now, I hope that when it is needed, it will bring comfort to someone...


I used the pretty Field Flowers set, stamping them first in Wisteria Wonder then Perfect Plum. I cut them out and popped them over the stems image (stamped with Sahara Sand), then stamped the sentiment at the bottom (from Hopeful Thoughts). The dsp in the background is First Edition dsp that I brayered with Wisteria Wonder ink and stamped with the flourish from Creative Elements for a bit of added detail. The Sahara Sand panel was embossed with the woodgrain embossing folder and I added some Wisteria Wonder ribbon and an antique brad to finish off.

Make sure you check out the lovely purpley creations of the rest of the design team!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Saturday 13 April 2013

Dynamic Duckie...

Hi there,

This week's colours at Dynamic Duos were lots of fun to play with (and ones I hadn't pulled out in a while!)...


I wanted to make a baby card as I have very few of them in my stash and never seem to have enough of them when needed, and I thought these colours would be cute for a 'boy baby' card so that's where I started...


I create a patchwork panel using the Patterns dsp stack, glued on Naturals White card, then ran the whole panel through th Big Shot with the Square Lattice embossing folder. The duck image is from Embellished Events, inked with markers, then with an extra duckie stamped and popped over the top. I added some silver brads in the centre of the wheels for a bit of fun. I pierced around the edges of the circle and joined the dots with a Bashful Blue marker, then layered over a doily cut with the Delicate Doilies sizzlit die. I couldn't resist adding some ribbon (white organza) with a vintage faceted button in the centre, tied with some white bakers twine. This held the ticket sentiments (from Just the Ticket) in place (one stamped on white with Pumpkin Pie, the other on Bashful Blue with BB ink). I also added three mini silver brads in the bottom corner to finish things off. I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches for my layout...

Make sure you check out the variety of lovely creations from the rest of the Dynamic Duos design team!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x


Friday 12 April 2013

Daffodil Island Mash...

Hiya,

Well, I've had a bit of frustrating morning - I wanted to revamp my blog look but in the process managed to wipe out pretty much everything on my sidebar and have spent hours trying to put it all back... grr! So that's why my blog looks rather different now! Anyway, it's Friday so that means it's time for another Friday Mashup challenge...

Here's your Mashup Challenge:
  1. Create a project using the "Sketch".
  2. Create a "Birthday" project.
  3. Or Mash it Up and create a "Birthday project using the Sketch".
 I pulled out a set I haven't used in a while and did some colouring...


The main image (from Bordering on Romance) was stamped on watercolour paper with Versamark and embossed with white EP, then coloured with an aquabrush and inkpads. The dsp in the background is from Floral District and I jazzed it up a bit by stamping the flourish from Elements of Style on top with Daffodil Delight ink and embossing it with clear EP. The sentiment is from Apothecary Art and I added some Lucky Limeade ribbon and bakers twine with a vintage faceted button, along with a few rhinestones to finish.

I used the colours from Hand Stamped Sentiments to help me with this one...


Make sure you check out the fab creations from the rest of the design team this week.

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Wednesday 10 April 2013

Clockwork Fusion...

Hiya,

Just popping in quickly to share a card I made using a sketch from a new challenge site: Fusion Card Challenge...


Although I LOVED the inspiration pic, I was prepping for a class called Lads & Dads using Parker's Patterns dsp and didn't really fit with the lovely colours and flowers, so I just went with the sketch...


There are plenty of chevron patterns in this dsp pack and that was my inspiration for the centre panel on the sketch - I added a clock (from Clockworks) and a compass (from The Open Sea) on a pop top. The background was stamped with an element from Clockworks and I added a sentiment from Best Dad Ever. A bit of Silver Smooch spray grunged things up a little to make it more masculine.

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Tuesday 9 April 2013

Thinking of You...


Hello!

I took some time last night to create a card, combining a few challenges: The Play Date Café colour story and the sketch from Fab Friday...


I loved the soft colour palette and wanted to capture that with my card, so I used Naturals Ivory, Soft Suede and Basic Grey as my main colours...


Here's the recipe:
Stamps: French Foliage, You are Loved
Ink: Soft Suede, Basic Grey, Crumb Cake, So Saffron
Paper: Naturals Ivory, Soft Suede, Basic Grey, Very Vanilla, doily
Tools: Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch
Accessories: pearls, antique brad

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

x Amy x

Saturday 6 April 2013

Fabulous Party Dress...


Hi there!

It's time for another Dynamic Duos colour challenge and this week features two of my favourite colours together...

I recently got my hands on the Dress Up framelits and have been wanting to make a dress using fabric, so that's where I started...


I was pretty happy with how it turned out in the end! I basically folded a torn strip of fabric (from More Amore) over so there was a bit of a gap (where you can see the back of the fabric at the bottom) then stitched some linen thread along the top and pulled it together so it ruffled, then tied it at the back, layering some lace over the top for the waistband. The bodice is Pool Party card with a few pearls attached. I used some First Edition dsp and Cherry Cobbler patterns dsp for some of the panels, and for the background I stamped some doilies onto Pool Party card and sponged around the edges with Crumb Cake ink. I thought this sentiment from Create a Cupcake was perfect for the dress!

I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch for the layout (I flipped the sketch and yes, covered quite a bit of it with the big poofy dress!).

Make sure you check out the fabulous creations of the rest of the design team!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Friday 5 April 2013

Spring Umbrella...

Hiya!

I'm feeling nice and rested after my week off, and although I haven't been doing a lot of crafting, I have managed to attack some of the clutter and mess around our house lol! Not my favourite job (understatement of the century!!) but it does make me happy when I see my craft desk without a huge pile of stuff on it and my kitchen cupboards nicely ordered! Hubby has been painting our bedroom (under my close supervision lol!) so hopefully that will get completely sorted in the next week... Gotta love weeks off for getting stuff done! Anyways, enough rambling from me, it's time for another Friday Mashup challenge...

Here's your Mashup Challenge:
  1. Create a project using an "Umbrella Image".
  2. Create a "Double Z Fold Card".
  3. Or Mash it Up and create a "Double Z Fold Card with an Umbrella Image".
 I've had my eye on the cute umbrella stamp set in the spring catty but haven't managed to get it yet, so I had to improvise with a circle punch, wheel and scissors...


I created the umbrella by rolling the Viola's Lace wheel on some Baja Breeze card with Not Quite Navy ink, then punched out a circle with the lace strip in the middle and then trimmed along the bottom of the lace with my scissors - voila! {Can I just interrupt the description here to say that I am GUTTED then Baja Breeze is retiring... it is my favourite colour... BooHoo!!! The only consolation is that Pool Party is staying... but am still sad!} I created the handle of the umbrella by hand cutting some silver glimmer paper and sponged around the umbrella with NQN ink for a bit of extra definition. The dsp in the background is from Fan Fair, layered on Very Vanilla then onto the card base made with Primrose Petals core'dinations card. The sentiment is from Word Play, stamped over an Apothecary Art image stamped with Sahara sand. I added a few butterflies from Kindness Matters with some little pearls trails to finish.

I decided to play along with the Paper Players challenge this week, with was a fun tic-tac-toe one...


I chose Spring/Blue & Pink/Ribbon - how is this Spring related you might ask...? Well in England, Spring = rain... hence the umbrella! And also, I thought of the phrase 'under the weather' and that's why I paired the sentiment with the umbrella... ok maybe that's just how my brain works lol!

I also am linking this up to Stampin' Royalty's challenge this week, which was to use ribbon and pearls.

Make sure you check out the creations of the rest of the FM design team - I'm sure you will be inspired!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x