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