Owl's Birthday Greetings

Hiya!

I'm writing this post ahead of time seeing as I'll be off on holiday for a couple of weeks... Looking forward to seeing some sunshine and experiencing warm weather!!

This week's ColourQ combo is a cute one with lots of possibilities...

I wanted to play with an idea I've had since seeing the Just Sayin' set in the Spring/Summer catty - I wanted to pair the set with the owl punch, and here is the result...

Hee hee! I love how this turned out! The owl was made using Crumb Cake, black and white card, with the waistcoat punched out of some Coastal Cabana dsp (from the Retro Fresh dsp). The speech bubble was stamped with Summer Starfruit on Whisper White and die-cut with the matching framelit. I used another of the framelits from the Word Bubbles set to cut out the clouds from Naturals White card, then embossed them with the Decorative Dots embossing folder. The sentiment is from Express Yourself, embossed on Basic Black with white embossing powder then cut out with one of the Window Framelits and popped under a strip of Whisper White card then added some Summer Starfruit ribbon.

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Just Sayin', Express Yourself
Ink: Versamark, Summer Starfruit
Paper: Retro Fresh dsp, Crumb Cake, Coastal Cabana, Basic Black, Summer Starfruit, Naturals White, Whisper White
Accessories: White EP, Summer Starfruit ribbon, Neutrals candy dots
Tools: Word Bubbles framelits, Owl punch, Window Framelits, Decorative Dots embossing folder

I used the sketch from Fab Friday to help me with the layout:

Make sure you check out all the fab creations from the rest of the Royal Court this week!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Flowers & Framelits...

Hiya!

It's time for another fun ColourQ challenge, and this week's inspiration and colours are so pretty together...

I wanted to build a multi-layered flower and combine it with a fun frame idea I had played around with last week, so I ended up with this...

The flower was created by embossing the smaller images from Daydream Medallions on Real Red card with white EP, then I die-cut them with the matching Floral Framelits. I added another flower in between these (the script flower from Flower Shop punched with the pansy punch) and added a Soft Sky button in the centre. I added some leaves cut with the Little Leaves sizzlit die using Naturals White card, and I added some Dazzling Details to the leaves for a bit of sparkle.

The frame behind the flower was created by first die-cutting a piece of Pool Party cardstock with one of the Labels framelits, then a window cut from the middle with one of the deco labels framelits. This frame was popped up with dimensionals on the Whisper White panel. The inner part of the frame is a piece of Soft Sky card, cut with the same Deco Label framelit as the inside of the frame, then embossed with the Sale-a-Bration dotty embossing folder. This was then glued into the middle of the frame, and the flower popped over the top with dimensionals.

The sentiment is the only touch of Pacific Point - stamped with a sentiment from Express Yourself.

I used this week's Case this Sketch to help me (but admittedly, there's not much CAS about this card - apart from the white space maybe!)...

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Daydream Medallions, Flower Shop, Express Yourself
Ink: Versamark, Real Red, Pacific Point
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Soft Sky, Pool Party, Naturals Ivory
Accessories: Subtles buttons, rhinestones, White EP, Dazzling Details
Tools: Little Leaves sizzlit, Floral Frames Framelits, Pansy Punch, Deco Labels Framelits, Labels framelits, Decorative Dots embossing folder

Make sure you check out the rest of the ColourQ designers' fab projects this week!

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

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

ColourQ Hydrangea

Hiya!

This week at the ColourQ we have a soft and pretty colour combo inspired by this lovely patchwork quilt...

Now I didn't have most of these colours as Peach Parfait, Kiwi Kiss and Lovely Lilac have all retired and I generally tend to use just current product, so I used Crisp Cantaloupe and Wisteria Wonder instead of Peach Parfait and Lovely Lilac, and I made my own version of Kiwi Kiss using a mixture of Old Olive and Summer Starfruit reinkers!

When I saw the lavender/green combination I thought of the beautiful Best of Flowers set - thankfully the wonderful Claire who lives round the corner from me was kind enough to lend me hers so I could play! I used my 'kiwi' ink mixture to colour the leaves and stem with a blender pen (I also coloured some Modern Medley paper with the ink then cut into banners using the Itty Bitty Banner framelits) and coloured the flower with Wisteria Wonder with a touch of Marina Mist. I added a bunch of faux stitching with a Basic Grey marker and my favourite embellishments: ribbon and candy dots!

I used this week's Paper Players sketch for my layout...

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Best of Flowers, Express Yourself
Ink: Stazon, Old Olive, Summer Starfruit, Wisteria Wonder, Marina Mist, Basic grey marker
Paper: Modern Medley dsp, Venetian Romance dsp, Basic Grey, Naturals White, Watercolour, Whisper White
Accessories: Wisteria Wonder chevron ribbon, subtles candy dots
Tools: Thinlets Labels dies, Itty Bitty Banner dies

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

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Amazing You

Hello!

It's time to share another ColourQ creation, and this week we've got a palette featuring some of the new Stampin' Up In Colours...

As soon as I saw this week's CAS(E) this Sketch, I knew what I wanted to do and this came together pretty quickly...

I used Strawberry Slush and Baked Brown Sugar markers to ink up the flowers and leaves (from Hopeful Thoughts), then added some shading with the BBS marker onto the stamped image. I also added some Dazzling Details to the centre of each flower (which you can't really see in the pic!). The butterflies were die-cut from Calypso Coral card. The card base was made with the Bigz Oval Accent die and Night of Navy cardstock, and I layered a shape cut from Strawberry Slush cardstock with one of the Apothecary Accents dies, then added a couple of candy dots to finish.

Here's the sketch that inspired me...

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Hopeful Thoughts, Express Yourself
Ink: Night of Navy, Baked Brown Sugar & Strawberry Slush marker
Paper: Whisper White, Strawberry Slush, Night of Navy, Calypso Coral
Accessories: Dazzling Details, Regals candy dots
Tools: Beautiful Wings embosslits die, Oval Accent bigz die, Apothecary Accents framelits, Labels framelits, Itty Bitty banners dies

Make sure you check out the creations from the amazing Royal Court this week!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Strawberry Tulip Backyard...

Hiya!

I've been playing with the Backyard Basics set this week and I decided to play along with this week's Paper Players colour challenge...

I hadn't used the tulip image from this stamp set so I stamped a couple and got colouring, and came up with this...

I love the matching framelits that go with this set - makes things so easy! I used some Pear Pizzazz core-dinations card for the layer behind the tulips, scored around the edges and sanded lightly. The dsp is from Quatrefancy and I layered it on some Strawberry Slush cardstock and then onto some Naturals White that I embossed with the woodgrain EF. The sentiment is from Express Yourself, stamped on Whisper White with Strawberry Slush and punched out with the decorative label punch and tucked behind the Pear Pizzazz panel. I couldn't resist adding some white organza ribbon to finish off!

I'm linking this up to CAS(E) this Sketch! as well, as I did use the sketch as my starting point, even though I didn't really keep it CAS, and I added an extra panel... oh well!

Well that's all from me... thanks for stopping by today!

x Amy x

Cantaloupe Flower Shop...

Hiya!

I couldn't resist playing along with the pretty sketch and colour combo over at Create with Connie & Mary...

And I came with this...

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Flower Shop, Flowering Flourishes, Amazing You
Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral
Paper: Epic Day dsp, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, Naturals White, Whisper White
Tools: Ovals framelits, Labels framelits, Pansy Punch, Bird punch, Simply Pressed molds & clay

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Calypso Butterfly Banners...

Hi there!

I whipped up a card last night for a couple of challenges: the PPA sketch and the Dynamic Duos colour combo...

This one came together pretty quickly with the suggested 'butterfly theme' from Dynamic Duos!

I stamped the Calypso Coral card with the flower from Blooming with Kindness using Calypso Coral ink repeatedly to create the background pattern. The banner strips are from the Modern Medley dsp and I layered a sentiment banner from the hostess set Amazing You over the top one. The butterfly is from Backyard Basics, stamped and embossed with black EP on watercolour paper then die-cut and coloured with an aqua painter and Calypso Coral ink. I layered it on a 1 3/4" circle punch that I pierced around the edge, then onto a doily shape (from the Delicate Doilies Sizzlit die). I couldn't resist adding a few pearls to finish.

That's all for now... I hope you have a wonderful week ahead!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Elegant Eleanor...

Hi there,

I made a quick card this afternoon for a couple of challenges - when I saw the CAS(E) this Sketch challenge and the PPA colour challenge I saw them working together really well...

I used the Everything Eleanor set and kept it pretty simple (well as simple as I get!)...

I stamped the label image with Midnight Muse on Very Vanilla then embossed over the top with one of the designer frames folders. I stamped a couple of flowers with Cherry Cobbler and cut out with my paper snips. The sentiment is from the new hostess set Amazing You, stamped on Naturals Ivory with Midnight Muse. I stamped the swirl with Versamark and embossed with clear EP for a subtle background, then added a few pearls to finish.

That's all for now - hope you had a good weekend wherever you are!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Wildflower Backyard Mashup...



Hiya!

 

It's time for another Friday Mashup challenge and this week we've got a lovely colour challenge featuring some new colours...

 

Here's your Mashup Challenge:

1. Create a project using the colors "Pool Party, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral & (Smoky Slate or Soft Suede) ".
2. Create a project with a "Nature Theme".
3. Or Mash it Up and create a "Nature Themed project using the Challenge Colors".

I used a panel that I had stamped and embossed at a training event recently with the Wildflower Meadow stamp and coordinating embossing folder...



 

I added a doily, some Pool Party cardstock, smoky slate chevron ribbon and some Calypso Coral candy dots. The bird is from Backyard Basics, stamped in Stazon on watercolour card and coloured with an aqua brush and reinker. Gotta love the matching framelits for this set!

This card also fits in with this week's Just Add Ink challenge to add water.

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

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x