Monday 31 March 2014

Grateful Bouquet

Hello!

It's time for another fun ColourQ challenge and this week's combo is so pretty...



I was inspired by this lovely floral bedding and decided to use one of the pretty floral sets from the Spring/Summer catalogue So Very Grateful and had lots of fun colouring in...

I stamped the image on Naturals White and coloured with River Rock, Primrose Petals and Calypso Coral inks and a blender pen, then cut out with my trusty paper snips. I used a couple of different dsps in the background, and the front panel is Primrose Petals core-dinations, embossed with the honeycomb embossing folder and sanded.

I used the PPA sketch  for my layout...


Here's the recipe:
Stamps: So Very Grateful
Ink: Stazon, River Rock, Primrose Petals, Calypso Coral
Paper: Afternoon Picnic dsp, Epic Day dsp,  Primrose Petals core-dinations, River Rock, Whisper White, Naturals White
Accessories: Whisper White organza ribbon, white button, silver baker's twine
Tools: Honeycomb embossing folder

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

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x


Smoky Starfruit Fusion

Hi there!

When I saw the current Fusion challenge I was inspired to combine it with the colour challenge at Create with Connie and Mary...


I was inspired by the dress form along with the sketch and so took out some dsp and my Dress Up framelits and came up with this...


Oh how I love that big fat bow!! I recently ordered some striped Summer Starfruit ribbon from the Spring/Summer catty and this was my first opportunity to use it on a project... love! The dress form was created with Naturals ivory card, stamped with the large stamp from Postage Due, then sponged with Summer Starfruit and Smoky Slate inks.

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Postage Due, Petite Pairs
Ink: Stazon, Pacific Point, Summer Starfruit, Smoky Slate
Paper: Sweet Sorbet dsp, Modern Medley dsp, Naturals Ivory, Smoky Slate, Pacific Point, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Summer Starfruit striped ribbon, Very Vintage designer buttons, silver baker's twine
Tools: Ovals framelits, dress up framelits, Thinlit card dies, piercing template and tool

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Sunday 30 March 2014

Card Concept Birthday set

Hello!

I've been on a mission to make some more birthday cards for my stash, so when I saw the current challenge at Card Concept I thought it was a great opportunity to create some cards for my collection...


I was inspired by the flowers, the fab frosted cake and the woodgrain in the background, and so came up with this...


I used a combination of the Blossoms originals die as well as the pansy punch to create the flowers with Real Red and Strawberry Slush and Pool Party card. I added a Naturals button in the centre of each. I had so much fun making one card that I ended up making some more...


I think these definitely fit the 'clean and layered' card style!

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Hardwood, Blooming with Kindness
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake
Paper: Naturals White, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Real Red, Strawberry Slush, Pool Party, Pear Pizzazz
Accessories: Naturals buttons, Crumb Cake seam binding
Tools: Angled Tag topper punch, Beautifully Baroque EF, Little Leaves sizzlit, pansy punch, blossoms die

These also fit with the Paper Players challenge this week:


I've followed the top line: a birthday card using the tag topper punch, pansy punch and blossoms die with some ribbon!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x



Tuesday 25 March 2014

Sweet Zoo Babies...

Hiya!

This week's ColourQ challenge is so pretty...


I was inspired to make a baby card using a couple of baby-themed stamp sets, Zoo Babies and the new Baby We've Grown...


I was searching around for a sketch to use and as soon as I saw the Paper Players layout this week I knew I could play with that one:


Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Zoo Babies, Baby We've Grown
Ink: Smoky Slate, Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana, So Saffron marker
Paper: Retro Fresh dsp, So Saffron, Smoky Slate, Coastal Cabana, Whisper White, Silver glimmer
Accessories: Coastal Cabana ruffled ribbon, rhinestones, white embossing powder
Tools: Starburst framelits, circle punches, oval punch

I'm sorry to keep it brief tonight but I'm having a hectic week so need to get some things done before getting some sleep! I hope you're having a great week so far...

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Sunday 23 March 2014

Mojo Farm Bouquet...

Hiya!

I'm just popping in quickly to show you some cards I made yesterday for a couple of challenges: Mojo Monday's sketch and the inspiration from Curtain Call...


I was determined to make the same card several times to add to my stash of birthday and thank you cards (I realised the other day how few I have left!) so I came up with this design:


 And then I made a few more...


I'm gonna keep it short and sweet tonight cos I've got a bunch to do before bedtime and I'm getting sleepy...

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Best of Flowers (only available until the end of this month!!), Hardwood, Petite Pairs
Ink: Stazon, Crumb Cake, Midnight Muse, Cherry Cobbler, Crushed Curry, Old Olive
Paper: Afternoon Picnic dsp, Crumb Cake, Midnight Muse, Soft Suede, Naturals Ivory, Watercolour, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Midnight Muse ribbon
Tools: On Film framelits, delicate doilies sizzlit, 1" circle punch

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Wednesday 19 March 2014

Amazing butterflies...

Hiya!

I'm excited to be playing along with this week's Color Throwdown challenge as their Guest Star Stamper... woohoo!


Here's the lovely colour combo this week:



I really wanted to make my Mum a thank you card for spoiling me rotten on holiday recently, and when I saw the two blues I thought it would be perfect for creating some butterflies like we saw in Key West (so, so beautiful!). So I started with those and ended up here...



I stamped the butterflies from Backyard Basics on watercolour card, die-cut with the matching framelit then coloured with a blender pen and inks (Bermuda Bay and Pacific Point) and added some detail with a Pacific Point marker as well. The only Perfect Plum is the flower (from Regarding Dahlia) and the candy dots (Mum is more of a 'blue' person than purple!). I created the background with Bermuda Bay core'dinations card, scrunched up then sanded, then flattened out again - love that effect!

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


Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Backyard Basics, Regarding Dahlia, You're Amazing
Ink: Pacific Point, Bermuda Bay, Perfect Plum, Stazon
Paper: Bermuda Bay core'dinations card, Pacific Point, Naturals Ivory, Very Vanilla, doily
Accessories: Regals candy dots
Tools: Backyard Basics framelits

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Tuesday 18 March 2014

Mother's Day Silhouettes...

Hi there!

It's time for another fabulous ColourQ challenge and this week the colour combo is sooo pretty!


I realised recently that I have no Mother's Day cards in my collection so I thought I'd better start making some (for my Mum and Mum-in-law as well as for the church bookshop if they request some to sell!). I pulled out Summer Silhouettes and paired it with Gorgeous Grunge and came up with this...


The idea for this definitely came from the sketch I chose to work with: Chupa's gorgeous Sketchbook Saturday layout:


I started by stamping one of the Gorgeous Grunge splatters on Whisper White using Smoky Slate ink (which I stamped off on scrap paper first, to get a lighter impression). I then stamped the stems and blossoms over the top then ran the panel through my Big Shot with the woodgrain embossing folder. I then added some leaves and a flower, both fussy cut (gotta love my paper snips!) and layered on with dimensionals. I added a strip of Watercolor Wonder dsp, some torn vellum cardstock and a strip of Smoky Slate card in between, on which I stamped the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes. The die-cut xoxo is from one of Thinlits card collections (they are so versatile!). I finished things off with a few butterflies cut from Calypso Coral core'dinations card using the Beautiful Wings embosslit, then sanded lightly to get some shading. I couldn't resist adding a few pearls at the end!!

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Summer Silhouette, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Gorgeous Grunge
Ink: Old Olive, Smoky Slate, Calypso Coral, Island Indigo
Paper: Watercolor Wonder dsp, Whisper White, Calpyso Coral core'dinations, Island Indigo, Smoky Slate, vellum
Accessories: pearls
Tools: Thinlits card dies, Woodgrain embossing folder, Beautiful Wings embosslit

Make sure you check out the fabulous creations of the rest of the Royal Court this week!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Thursday 13 March 2014

Smoky Happy Sunshine

Hiya!

I snuck in some time to create a little something when I should have been in bed asleep last night... I wanted to play with a couple of challenges and had an idea floating around in my head that I'd seen many examples of so I thought I'd have a go. I combined the colours over at the Paper Players with this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch...


Here's my version of the 'banner sun' idea...



The sentiment (from one of the Sale-a-Bration sets, See Ya Later) was stamped on Crushed Curry with Versamark ink and embossed with white embossing powder. It was then punched out with the 1 3/4" circle punch then I glued little banners to the back, punched from dsp using the little banner punch available for FREE during Sale-a-Bration. The background panels are both Smoky Slate dsp - one from Eastern Elegance in the Annual Catalogue and the other from Watercolour Wonder from the Spring/Summer catty. I layered them both on Marina Mist card then onto a white card base. The Marina Mist panel behind the sun is core'dinations card, embossed with the Decorative Dots embossing folder (also a Sale-a-Bration freebie) and sanded. I added some gold sequins and bakers twine to finish off. I kinda wish I had left the largest panel in the background as Smoky Slate card cos I'm not sure about all the patterns together, but oh well - was too tired to try to fix it!

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: See Ya Later
Ink: Versamark
Paper: Eastern Elegance dsp, Watercolour Wonder dsp, Marina Mist core'dinations, Crushed Curry, Marina Mist
Accessories: White EP, Gold sequins, Gold baker's twine
Tools: banner punch, 1 3/4" circle punch, Decorative Dots embossing folder, sanding block, envelope punch board

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

x Amy x



Tuesday 11 March 2014

Waterlily Notebook

Hiya!

This week over at the ColourQ we've got a fun colour combo for you that includes a GREAT new element...


How fun is the newsprint element?! I wanted to create something other than a card this time, so I pulled out a plain notebook to alter, and came up with this...


I started with one of the fabric banners from the Sale-a-Bration Heartfelt banner kit, and I stamped the letters from Outlined Alphabet with stazon then frayed the edges a bit to a add a bit of 'shabby'. The flower is from the single stamp People Like You, which I stamped with Old Olive twice and cut, once with the complete flower then again with the foreground petals, and layered over the top with dimensionals for a 3D effect.

The Old Olive panel was stamped with the Hardwood background stamp with Whisper White ink, and the Crumb Cake panel behind was stamped with the largest flourish from Flowering Flourishes with Crumb Cake ink. I added some newsprint (Modern Medley dsp) and some Old Olive buttons and twine (also from the Heartfelt banner kit).

I used this week's Seize the Sketch for my layout...



Here's the recipe:
Stamps: People Like You, Hardwood, Outlined Alphabet, Flowering Flourishes
Ink: Stazon, Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Whisper White
Paper: Modern Medley dsp, Whisper White, Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Naturals White
Accessories: Old Olive buttons, twine, Heartfelt banner kit
Tools: Circles framelits
Other: 9x7" notebook

Make sure you check out the creations from the rest of the Royal Court this week - they've always got something to inspire you with!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Sunday 9 March 2014

Mojo Daffodil Petals

Hiya!


Well I'm back from my holiday - it was amazing! Was totally spoilt by my Mum and by the exceptional service on the Holland America cruise ship, and had a blast shopping in New York (clothes in the US seem to suit me so much better than those in the UK - size, style and price lol!). Was interesting trying to get everything back afterwards - thank God for sympathetic baggage check-in staff!! Hee...


Anyways, I've had two weeks without playing with my stamps and paper so I had to find some time to play this weekend. I was looking at some of the current challenges and decided to combine the Mojo Monday sketch with this week's Colour Throwdown combo...


I wanted to play with a new stamp set in my collection from the Spring/Summer catalogue: Peaceful Petals. With that in mind, I started playing and ended up with this...


I used Old Olive instead of Lucky Limeade and added black and white as my neutrals. The dsp in the background is from the Fresh Prints pack and I layered some Naturals White over the top, layered on Basic Black and punched the corners using the rounding punch on the Envelope Punch board. The flower was stamped on watercolour paper with stazon then coloured with ink and an aquapainter and cut out with my paper snips. I stamped and coloured some leaves on Whisper White card, cut out and layered behind the flower and over a film strip die-cut. The sentiments are from Peaceful Petals and Hello Lovely, both stamped in Old Olive.

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Peaceful Petals, Hello Lovely
Ink: Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Stazon
Paper: Fresh prints dsp, Naturals White, Basic Black, Whisper White, watercolour
Tools: Envelope Punch Board, On Film Framelits, Itty Bitty Banner framelits

That's all for now... I'm going to have an early night and try and beat the jet lag before starting work tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x


Saturday 8 March 2014

Mini Memories part 6...

Hiya!

I'm back for the final installment in my Mini Memories Album project...

How fab is that little die-cut camera?! It's from the On Film framlits set of dies - I die-cut it from Baked Brown Sugar card then used the thin end of the matching marker to draw in the debossed lines - such a great effect!

The page above shows one of the table clusters at the reception with one of the {many} placecards I made for the event! I stamped 'welcome' on the gold arrow (also cut with one of the On Film framelits) using one of the Hostess stamp sets (Sweetly Framed), and the 'celebrate' is also from a hostess set (Express Yourself) - if you live in Bristol (or nearby) and want a host a party and have the opportunity to get one of these sets for free, just let me know!


This is the final double-page layout to share. The one on the left you may have already seen on my blog - featuring the thank you banner I made. The one on the right is the other gold foiled vellum page, with a frame cut using the largest On Film framelit (the frame was cut with both gold foil and black, with the gold layered inside the black frame, then the photo cut slightly smaller [3x3"] and layered on top) - love this effect.

Well that's all from me and my album... I hope you've enjoyed the journey through my little attempt at a mini album and perhaps have been inspired to make one of your own. At only £12.50 for this kit, it's an absolute bargain!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Thursday 6 March 2014

Mini Memories Album part 5...

Hi there!

I'm back with a few more pages from my album today...

The one above is on the back of the foiled vellum that I showed in my previous album post. I added a few gold sequins from the album kit to carry the gold theme through.

This one was very simple - just a half-doily and a little die-cut label. Doesn't have to be complicated folks!


This is another double-page spread showing my Dad's side of the family with a Word Bubble framelit (I actually had this left over from another project and thought it looked cute with the family photo!). The opposite page is the wedding car (chosen by the groom!) and a pic he took on his phone on their way from the wedding to the photo shoot - he posted this on Facebook with the comment 'I have a wife!' - so sweet!!

I'll be back shortly with the last couple of pages...

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Tuesday 4 March 2014

Film strip thanks...

Hello!

I'm popping in with my ColourQ card this week, and this is the colour palette we are playing with...


I thought the combination of greens, grey and black would make a great masculine card, so that's what I ended up with...


Pretty CAS for me eh?! I'm really loving playing around with the On Film framelits at the moment (as you can see from my mini album pages I've been sharing) and I thought I could use one on this card, pairing it with a sentiment from Yippee Skippee. I added a bit of Gorgeous Grunge (my go-to accompaniment set for guys' cards) as well as a leaf from Wonderfall, rock 'n' rolled with Gumball Green and Garden Green.

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Wonderfall, Gorgeous Grunge, Yippee Skippee
Ink: Basic Grey, Garden Green, Gumball Green
Paper: Basic Grey, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: Neutrals candy dots
Tools: On Film Framelits, Autumn Accents bigz die, Envelope Punch board

Hop over to the ColourQ and check out the inspiration from the rest of the design team this week - I'm sure their creations will give you lots of creative ideas!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Saturday 1 March 2014

Mini Memories Album part 4...

Hiya!

Are you ready for another couple of pages from my album? Today I'm sharing my favourite double-page layout, featuring the On Film framelits and gold foil card... love how this turned out!


The gold foiled vellum comes with the album kit and so I used some gold foil sheet to cut some film strip shapes to frame the photos on the other side to link the two pages together. Here's a close up of the first page...


I used the Banner framelits to cut the white banner in the background, as well as the sentiment from See Ya Later - a Sale-a-Bration set (stamped on vellum with Stazon).

That's all for today... thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x