Happy Hubby Birthday

Hi there!

This week my hubby celebrated his birthday so I needed to make him a special card... I decided to use the Paper Players sketch as well as some Sale-a-Bration goodies for this...

I was so happy to discover that the banner punch from Sale-a-Bration fits perfectly with the Outline Alphabet stamps - woohoo!! Endless possibilities with this combo! The papers are from the Sweet Sorbet dsp set (also from the SAB promotion) as is the sentiment, which I created by selectively inking words from two stamps from the See Ya Later set with a black marker and using my Stamp-a-ma-jig to position them. The tag was created using the the Angled Tag Topper punch and I added some Pool Party twine (from the Sweet Sorbet accessory pack).

Here's the sketch I followed...

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: See Ya Later, Outline Alphabet
Ink: Stazon, Basic Black, Pool Party & Pistachio Pudding markers
Paper: Sweet Sorbet dsp, Summer Starfruit, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: Pool Party twine, Epic Day washi tape, Neutrals candy dots
Tools: Banner punch, Angled Tag Topper punch

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Lovely Pink Orchids...

Hiya!

It's time for another ColourQ challenge and this week there is a very pretty combo for us to play with...

Seeing as today marks the beginning of both the Sale-a-Bration promotion and the FAB Spring/Summer catalogue, I have combined things from both for my card...

I used the Happy Watercolour set from the Spring/Summer catty for the beautiful orchids, stamping them on Whisper White core'dinations card with stazon and colouring with Primrose Petals and Pink Pirouette inks and a blender pen. The sentiment is from my favourite SAB set called You're Lovely, stamped once on Primrose Petals card and die-cut with the matching deco labels framelit, then again on Whisper White and punched with the 1 3/4" circle punch. The background is Crumb Cake card, stamped with the border stamp from You're Lovely with Crumb Cake ink, then overlaid with the swirl stamp from Everything Eleanor with white ink. I added a couple of butterflies and some candy dots to finish.

I used this week's sketch from Create with Connie & Mary (rotated) for my layout...

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: You're Lovely, Happy Watercolour, Everything Eleanor, Papillon Potpourri
Ink: Crumb Cake, Primrose Petals, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Stazon
Paper: Crumb Cake, Primrose Petals, Whisper White, Blushing Bride
Accessories: Subtles candy dots
Tools: Ovals framelits, Deco Labels framelits, 1 3/4" circle punch, Bitty Butterfly punch, Pennant framelits

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

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Rustic Daffodil Roses

Hi there!

I have been wanting to play with the new Spiral Flower bigz die that is being released in the Stampin' Up Spring/Summer catalogue on the 28th of Jan, and I was inspired by the inspiration pic over at the Fusion challenge at the moment...

Seeing as the roses are pretty bulky, I decided to make a piece of wall art rather than a card...

Aren't those roses fab?! Love this die from Stampin' Up! The roses were cut from Daffodil Delight card - the largest flower is the full die-cut, the medium sized one is half the die cut (the wider section) and the smallest rose is the other, narrower half of the die-cut. I also used the new Hardwood background stamp from the catalogue, as well as one of my favourite sets: Perfect Pennants.

Here's a close-up...

Here's the recipe: 
Stamps: Perfect Pennants, Hardwood
Ink: Stazon, Crumb Cake
Paper: Smokey Slate, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Naturals Ivory, Daffodil Delight, Crumb Cake
Accessories: Burlap ribbon, lace trim, Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon, Hard album cover (non-SU)
Tools: spiral flower die, Circles framelits, Deco Labels framelits, Little Leaves sizzlits die, piercing tool and template

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Grungy Butterflies...

Hiya!

This week we have some great colours to play with at the ColourQ...

There are lots of possibilities with these colours, and I decided to go very shabby and distressed, inspired by the sketch over at Cardabilities. Here's what I ended up with...

I started with a piece of This & That Epic Day dsp, sponged around the edge with Choc Chip ink, stamped with Gorgeous Grunge using Cherry Cobbler ink, then distressed the edges and layered onto Choc Chip card. The butteflies were stamped with Choc Chip ink on Whisper White card and embossed with clear EP. They were either punched or die-cut then coloured with a blender pen and Calypso Coral and Cherry Cobbler ink. The sentiment is from Regarding Dahlias and I stamped the chevron stamp (from Petal Parade, an up-coming Sale-a-Bration set) overlapping the sentiment flag and the white panel underneath. The leaves were die-cut from Always Artichoke and I added some detailing with a white chalk marker. The tabs on the panels under the white piece were created with the Envelope Punch board (the focus of this week's Just Add Ink challenge).

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Backyard Basics, Papillion Potpourri, Gorgeous Grunge, Regarding Dahlias, Petal Parade
Ink: Choc Chip, Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Calypso Coral
Paper: Epic Day dsp, Choc Chip, Always Artichoke, Whisper White, Naturals Ivory
Accessories: Regals candy dots, Clear EP, white chalk marker
Tools: Little Leaves sizzlit, Backyard Basics framelits, Bitty Butterfly punch, Elegant Butterfly punch, Envelope punch board

Make sure you check out the rest of the Royal Court's projects this week - there's a real variety to inspire you!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy

Sweet Baby Bunny

Hi there!

I really wanted to play along with a new challenge that started up this year - The Card Concept. I was intrigued by the descriptions of the different card making styles and out of all of them, I think I probably lean towards 'clean and layered' more than anything else (although I do love the shabby chic look, and try my hand at clean and simple from time to time) so I thought I'd use the Deconstructed Sketch (Jen always has brilliant sketches if you like lots of layers!) to help me with this one.

 I wanted to use one of the new sets coming in the Spring/Summer catty called Baby We've Grown - it has such sweet images perfect for colouring! Here's what I came up with...

I stamped three of the stamps from this set - the sentiment, bunny and little shoes - with Early Espresso ink on Very Vanilla card, then coloured with blender pen and ink. The panels in the background are: Primrose Petals card embossed with the Sale-a-Bration embossing folder, Blushing Bride card stamped with hearts from Language of Love and Crumb Cake dsp from the new Fresh Prints stack. These were all layered on Early Espresso card and finally layered on a panel of Naturals Ivory and Early Espresso. The sentiment/image was punched with a 2 1/2" circle punch and pierced around the edge. I layered the circle on a die-cut doily. I couldn't resist adding some pearls in the corners, as well as on the little shoes to finish.

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Baby We've Grown, Language of Love
Ink: Early Espresso, Blushing Bride, Crumb Cake, Primrose Petals
Paper: Fresh Prints dsp, Very Vanilla, Naturals Ivory, Early Espresso, Blushing Bride, Primrose Petals, scrap vanilla dsp for doily
Accessories: Pearls
Tools: 2 1/2" circle punch, sizzlits delicate doilies, Piercing tool & template, blender pen

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Fresh Flowerfull Love

Hello!

I ran a class this weekend based on the Whole lot of Love promotion going on at the moment at Stampin' Up, and one of the cards I made was inspired by the Freshly Made Sketch this week...

I wanted to use one of the Sweet Sayings notecards for the tilted panel, and the Flowerfull single stamp for the focal point and this is what I ended up with...

I had to adjust the position of the banner strip in relation to the tilted panel due to the size of the notecard, but I was happy with how it turned out. I'm not so thrilled about the photo - one of the downsides of the almost CONSTANT rain we are having in the UK is that there is very little natural light that is decent enough to photograph cards in, and now that I'm working full time I don't have any time from Monday to Thursday to photograph  my cards in daylight! This was taken yesterday but the weather was pretty grey and dreary so not as bright as I would like... oh well - I'd still rather have this weather than what my family have been experiencing in Australia this last week!!

Anyway, enough rambling about the weather... I wanted to use the Expressions Thinlits dies while they are still available (only until the end of this month though... boo hoo!), so I die-cut the love word from Real Red card and layered it over the Silver Glimmer paper strip. The heart was inked with markers (Pool Party and Real Red), cut out with the matching framelit and sponged around the edge with Real Red ink.

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Flowerfull, Express Yourself
Ink: Pool Party, Real Red (markers & inkpads)
Paper: Sweet Sayings notecard, Real Red, Pool Party, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer paper
Tools: Hearts framelits, Expressions thinlits dies

Don't forget that today is the end of Create with Connie & Mary's Spring Edition Preview and the last day you can subscribe for only $24.95! Today Connie has a fabulous free downloadable project as well as some blog candy up for grabs so make sure you visit her, as well as Create with Connie & Mary to check out her project and sign up for the Spring Edition.

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Simple Stems Sympathy

Hiya,

I'm popping in quickly to share a simple card I put together last night using the colour challenge over at Create with Connie and Mary, together with the sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch...

I pulled out a new background stamp coming in the Spring/Summer catalogue called Hardwood, as well as the lovely Simple Stems set...

I also used the Angled Tag Topper punch (can you tell that I rather like this punch?!). I used some Island Indigo chevron ribbon, a smoky slate button and some white baker's twine to make a bow, and added a couple of Perfect Plum candy dots.

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Hardwood, Simple Stems, Simply Sketched
Ink: Smoky Slate, Perfect Plum, Stazon black
Paper: Smoky Slate, Island Indigo, Whisper White, Naturals Ivory
Accessories: Neutrals button, Regals candy dots, Island Indigo chevron ribbon
Tools: Angled Tag Topper punch

Don't forget that during Preview Week you can subscribe to the Create with Connie and Mary Spring Edition for only $24.95 - that's a $5 discount... but only during this week! And today, Debbie and Natasha both have fabulous projects for you to download, as well as blog candy up for grabs on their blog... Head on over and check it out!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Wonderful Sorbet Tag

Hiya!

I thought I'd pop in quickly and share the card I designed for my SU team training last night...

I used this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch for the layout:

I used a few bits and pieces from the Spring/Summer catalogue as well as the Sale-a-Bration promotion, both launching on the 28th of Jan (my hubby's birthday!). The dsp is Sweet Sorbet, and the twine is Coastal Cabana which comes in a set of three as one of the Sale-a-Bration freebies. The sentiment and star is from the fab Perfect Pennants set in the Spring/Summer catty, and the tag was created with the Angled Tag Topper punch (love this!!). The sequins are also from the Spring/Summer catty (we got given a roll at Convention, which was pretty cool!).

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Perfect Pennants
Ink: Summer Starfruit, Stazon black
Paper: Sweet Sorbet dsp, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: Coastal Cabana twine, gold sequins
Tools: Angled Tag Topper punch

I also just want to let you know that there is a FAB tutorial over at Create with Connie and Mary that you can download for free today - created by Deb Currier (and she has some blog candy up for grabs on her blog!). Remember that you can subscribe to the Spring Edition for only $24.95 during this week - Preview Week.

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Hello Poppy...

Hello!

It's time for another fab ColourQ combo, and this week we've got this pretty one to play with...

I wanted to use the fabulous Happy Watercolour set from the Spring/Summer catalogue (coming on the 28th of Jan!) as well as some new papers from the same catty. This is what I ended up with...

Now, it's a bit unusual for me to leave the lovely flower image uncoloured (cos I love to colour!) but when I stamped it and placed it on the rest of the pieces it looked so striking I decided to leave it that way - always good to step outside of your usual style eh?! There's a couple of other new bits and pieces on this (oh how I love the fact that demonstrators can preorder goodies... hee!). The buttons are new, as well as the sentiment from a set called Perfect Pennants. There's also a sneaky peek of a fabulous new punch coming called the Angled Tag Topper punch - sooo clever!

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Hello Watercolour, Perfect Pennants
Ink: Pool Party, Stazon black, Basic Grey
Paper: Fresh Prints dsp, Whisper White, Basic Grey, Pool Party
Accessories: Island Indigo chevron ribbon, Silver buttons
Tools: Angled Tag Topper punch, Banners framelits

I used the Deconstructed Sketch for my layout...

Make sure you check out what the rest of the Royal Court have created this week - they always have a fabulous array of inspiration for you!

I also wanted to give you a heads-up that two of the designers on the Create with Connie and Mary Spring Edition have blog candy and beautiful projects on their blogs today - make sure you stop by and visit Melissa Davies and Nicole Tugrul and leave them some love... you may even win some goodies!

And don't forget that during Preview Week you can sign up for the Spring Edition for only $24.95! For more details head over to Create with Connie and Mary where you can find out more and register for this fabulous collection of tutorials and inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by today!

x Amy x

Lovely Butterfly Parade

Hi there!

Today I have a pretty project to share with you that I made at our Bristol Stampin Up training day on Saturday... I kinda deviated from the project design a bit and combined a couple of ideas from Hayley's gorgeous samples to come up with this...

It's hard to see in a photo the really cool layers and steps on this card, but I did take a photo with more of a side view to show you...

The background panels were stamped with one of the Sale-a-Bration stamp sets coming on the 28th of Jan, Petal Parade and the sentiment is another Sale-a-Bration set called You're Lovely. The butterflies are from the Best of Butterflies set that is available until the end of March (hard to resist a whole stamp set full of butterflies!!).

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Best of Butterflies, You're Lovely, Petal Parade
Ink: Stazon black, Wisteria Wonder, Soft Sky, Pear Pizzazz
Paper: Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White, Soft Sky
Accessories: Subtles candy dots

I also wanted to let you know that during Create with Connie and Mary's Preview Week for the Spring Edition, there are some fab tutorials and blog candy up for grabs! Today, the wonderfully talented Mary has a great tutorial on the Create with Connie and Mary website that you can download, and she is giving away blog candy - make sure you stop by and check it out! Don't forget that during Preview week the Early Bird price of $24.95 is available - after that the price will go up to $29.95, so if you like a bargain and loads of inspiration, now's the time to sign up!

I'll be back tomorrow with my ColourQ card, featuring Happy Watercolour again.

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Happy Watercolour News...

Hiya!

I have some exciting news to share today... I have been asked to be a Guest Designer for the Create with Connie and Mary Spring Edition 2014!! I was so excited when Connie & Mary asked me and I've had to keep quiet until now but now I can let you know, because today marks the start of Preview Week. During this week you can sign up for the Early Bird price of only $24.95 US (regular price is $29.95 US). You can find out more information about the fabulous projects that will be included in the Spring Edition over at Create with Connie and Mary - make sure you check it out!

To help kick off the Preview Week, the designers are sharing a project featuring the stamp set that they will be using in their Spring Edition tutorial, and for mine I will be using Happy Watercolour from the Spring/Summer catalogue (coming on the 28th of Jan), which is SO pretty and versatile. Here's a card I put together, pairing the stamp set with the coordinating papers and notecards...

The photo isn't as great as I would have liked due to the fact that I had to photograph it at night (my week got away from me!), but you can still see the details. The poppy was coloured with a blender pen and Tangerine Tango ink on watercolour card, then cut out and popped over the top of another image, stamped on Whisper White with the paint 'splodge' (not sure what to call that!) behind. The butterflies were die-cut from Tangerine Tango card and vellum, and I layered the vellum over a couple and left a couple plain - I couldn't resist embellishing with pearls!

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Happy Watercolour
Ink: Crushed Curry, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Gumbal Green, Stazon
Paper: Watercolour Wonder notecards & dsp, Gumball Green, Tangerine Tango, Smoky Slate, Whisper White, Naturals Ivory, Vellum cardstock, watercolour card
Accessories: Pearls
Tools: Decorative label punch, Blender pen, butterflies sizzlit

I used the sketch from Mojo Monday for my layout (although one of the butterflies flew out of position...).

Make sure you head over to Create with Connie and Mary to see what the other designers have created, and to check out the Early Bird special!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Sweet Sorbet Stems

Hello!


I've just finished my first full week at my new job and it's been great - love what I do - but am still getting used to being back to working full time for the first time in a few years. I did manage to put a quick card together this afternoon using the fabulous Retro Sketch this week, and I was inspired by the Curtain Call inspiration piece to use some of the Sale-a-Bration dsp coming at the end of Jan...

      

I didn't pay enough attention to the closing time of the Curtain Call challenge so missed it (duh!) but here's what I came up with...

I used some more new goodies from the Spring/Summer catalogue - a very pretty floral stamp set called Simple Stems, and a sentiment from another floral set: Happy Watercolour. The dsp is one of the freebies you can get during the Sale-a-Bration promotion (starts on Jan 28th). I added some Summer Starfruit ribbon and Pool Party candy dots (I tried putting a bunch of different things on the edge of the dsp panel like the sketch shows but couldn't make it work so I resorted to candy dots... they work every time I tell ya!).

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Simple Stems, Happy Watercolour
Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, Stazon black
Paper: Sweet Sorbet dsp, Basic Black, Whisper White, Pistachio Pudding
Accessories: Summer Starfruit stitched ribbon, Subtles candy dots
Tools: 2 1/2" circle punch, Floral Frames framelits, envelope punch board

That's all for now... I'm off to work on my swaps for an SU training day tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Lovely Summer Garden

Hi there!


This week at the ColourQ we have a pretty colour combo to play with...

I was inspired to play with some new goodies - one of the Sale-a-Bration stamp sets coming at the end of January that you can get for FREE, as well as the Hello Lovely set I received at Convention. I combined them with a favourite of mine - Secret Garden - and came up with this...

I'm loving how this one turned out! I started by stamping a background on the piece of Basic Grey using a couple of the motifs from Hello Lovely. I created a grid using my Simply Scored tool, then lined up the images with the grid and stamped repeatedly - one in Whisper White ink and the other in grey (you can't see much of that one in the card!). I then layered a piece of Summer Starfruit core'dinations card that I had embossed with the Woodgrain embossing folder and sanded, over the top, followed by a Cherry Cobbler textured card panel (both of these were layered on Whisper White to make them pop a little more). The sentiment is from the Sale-a-Bration set You're Lovely, embossed with black EP on Whisper White then die-cut with the smallest deco labels framelit and coloured in a little with markers. 

The flowers were stamped on Watercolour card and embossed with white EP, then die-cut using the matching framelits (the outside flowers) and coloured using an aqua brush and ink pads. I used a combination of Tangerine Tango and Real Red to achieve the poppy colour, and used Cherry Cobbler instead of Bravo Burgundy. I stamped each flower a few times then fussy-cut the smaller layers to pop over the top to get a 3D look. The leaves are also from Secret Garden, stamped with Summer Starfruit onto Whisper White then die-cut. 

I used this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch for the layout (I just rotated it... and added flowers!!):

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: You're Lovely, Hello Lovely, Secret Garden
Ink: Versamark, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Real Red, Tangeine Tango, Summer Starfruit, Smoky Slate, SU markers
Paper: Basic Grey, Cherry Cobbler Textured, Summer Starfruit core'dinations, Whisper White, watercolour
Accessories: White & black EP
Tools:  Deco labels framelits, Secret Garden framelits, Simply Scored,

Make sure you check out the creations by the rest of the Royal Court this week - you're sure to be inspired!


Thanks for stopping by...







x Amy x

The Power of Two...

Hiya!

I have a little something to share today that I made using the colour challenge from Create with Connie & Mary this week. I discovered today that it is also perfect for the Paper Players challenge this week to use the chalkboard technique!

I wanted to use a new stamp set to my collection - Yippee Skippee - so I chose my favourite sentiment from the set and paired it with the Flowerfull stamp from the Whole lot of Love promotion, and came up with this...

I embossed one heart with white EP on Strawberry Slush card, and the other with black EP on Bermuda Bay card then both were die-cut with the coordinating hearts framelit. The chalkboard was created by sponging some white ink onto the black card, then stamping the flourishes with white ink on the corners. The sentiment was stamped with Versamark and embossed in white. The little banners are a sneak peek of a set coming in the Spring/Summer catty at the end of this month (we got given this set at Convention as an all attendee giveaway!).

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Flowerfull, Yippee Skippee, Flowering Flourishes, Language of Love
Paper: Basic Black, Bermuda Bay, Strawberry Slush
Ink: Versamark, Whisper White
Accessories: Black EP, White EP
Tools: Hearts framelits, Envelope punch board (for rounding corners)

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Flowerfull Anniversary

Hi there!

I started my new job today - yay! I've been looking forward to this day for a long time now so I'm thrilled to be working somewhere I love, doing a job I enjoy with people I like hanging out with! I'm working full time now, so I'm not sure how that's going to impact on my stamping time, but I shall certainly be trying to fit in creative time wherever possible. Speaking of creative time, I took a few moments yesterday to play along with the Sweet Sunday Sketch this week...

I wanted to use a couple of the Whole Lot of Love products so here's what I came up with...

I started by embossing the Flowerfull heart into Real Red card with Pool Party embossing powder then I cut it out with the coordinating heart framelit. The Pool Party card in the background was stamped with En Francais with Pool Party ink; the panel on top is one of the Sweet Saying notecards, cut down to size with one of the card borders trimmed and layered over the bottom edge. I added a few die-cuts from the Thinlits card collections (the xoxo from Real Red card, the little Whisper White banner at the top, and the Crisp Cantaloupe little banner behind the sentiment). The sentiment is from Express Yourself and is layered over some silver glimmer card for a touch of sparkle. I added a couple of Real Red candy dots to finish.

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Flowerfull, Express Yourself, En Francais
Ink: Real Red, Pool Party, Versamark
Paper: Sweet Saying notecard, Real Red, Pool Party, Whisper White, Crisp Cantaloupe, Silver Glimmer
Accessories: Brights candy dots, Pool Party EP
Tools: Thinlits card dies, Heart framelits, Oval framelits, piercing tool & template

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x