My first day! Clean and Simple Colours and Sketches

Good morning and welcome to my first post as a member of the CAS design team. I hope you will pop over and join us as we have a fun sketch for you this week!

I actually struggled with this one so relied upon my newly discovered Post-It Note masking technique.

I cut an appropriately sized square post-it, stuck it on the card and stamped the Marina Mist flowers. I then cut a slightly smaller square of Whisper White and stamped the larger image before mounting it on the card with dimensionals.

The Flower stamps are from Bordering on Romance and the sentiment is from Perfectly Penned.

I hope you enjoy this weeks challenge and I am looking forward to many more!

Paper Piercing - Stampin' Up!

Today's post is a little more girly. It is an entry for the Less is More, week 108 challenge of Paper Piercing.

I have never tried this before, but Stampin' Up! do make it easier as they have a number of templates available as well as a brilliant piercing mat.

For my card I stamped the flower from Mixed Bunch, in Rose Red on Vellum, I speeded up the drying with my heat gun then added it to the pre pierced card with a dimensional. Topping it off with a Large Pearl.

The sentiment is from Itty Bitty Banners, cut out using my Big Shot and the corresponding Framelit.

In this case Less is Definitely more.

I hope you like it and will share your thoughts by leaving me a comment!

Pxx

Sponging for Fab Friday Challenge

Tuesday already! Had a great time with Blaze, one of my Border Collies, at his obedience class last night! He throws himself into everything so enthusiastically and without a hint of finesse. Bless!

Here is my next tree card as alluded to yesterday. The Fab Friday Challenge is a colour challenge so it is nice sometimes not to be constrained by a Sketch. I have used the Lovely as a Tree set and two techniques. Firstly I stamped the tree at the front, stamped the same image on a post it note, cut it out and masked the tree so I could stamp the other trees. I then used a sponge dauber to add foliage to the trees in the background. I also used a blender pen to add some crumb cake to the trunk of the first tree.

I matted the image on Perfect Plum, on top of Twitterpated DSP in Baja Breeze and the little embellishment is a Wild Wasabi leaf, punched out and matted on a Perfect Plum small Scallop circle.

This card is completely different to my usual offerings so I hope you like it!

Please do leave a comment.

Paula xxx

Hopeful Thoughts from Stampin' Up! PPA153

I hope everyone had a good weekend! It's such a downer going back to work! I vote for a 3 day working week!

Today is another card I created at the weekend. This one is to be entered in the PALS challenge here.

I seem to have a 'thing' going with leaves and trees at the moment, a theme to be repeated tomorrow so remember to pop back then too!

I used the Hopeful Thoughts set for the tree and the sentiment is from Bring on the Cake from the main catalogue. The flower is from the Secret Garden set in the Spring Summer mini and has been cut with the co-ordinating framelits. The colour combo is Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue and So Saffron. I used Designer Series Papers from the Subtles collection.

I accented the flower with some tiny pearls, adding the birds with a Stampin' Write Marker.

Here is the sketch - PPA153

I hope you have enjoyed today's card and look forward to you visiting tomorrow! Don't forget I love reading your comments so please share your thoughts on my work.

Paula xxx

Exciting announcement!

The card I am showing you today was going to be entered in two challenges, Freshly Made and CAS, however I have been invited to join the CAS Design Team so you will find a card a week from me on the Challenge Page to help inspire you all to enter.

I am so excited and honoured and hope I can do the team justice. It is quite a new challenge blog so please pop over and join in and enjoy the challenges we set. It is great fun and has certainly got me thinking outside my comfort zone! CAS Colours and Sketches Blog

So, back to todays card, I used the CAS colour challenge colour scheme of Tangerine Tango, Sahara Sand and Summer Starfruit and the Freshly Made Sketch

I lightly embossed the Very Vanilla with the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder and stamped the leaves from Day of Gratitide on the Sahara Sand card that I had cut with the Apothecary Accents Framelit, stamping the same ink colour gives you a subtle image on the cardstock.

The sentiment is from the same stamp set and is cut out using my Bitty Banners framelits. The colours I have used just as an accent , the larger flower is the 3 elements of the Floral Fusion Sizzlits, the smallest element, repeated at the bottom of the card is a flower from my Itty Bitty Shapes punch set.

I hope you like the card and will pop back tomorrow for my next challenge entry!

Double Challenge Entry

You know how it is... you're snuggled up under the duvet when a burst of creative ideas explode in your head. You can't shake them, but all you want to do is sleep. An hour later you can't resist any further and you 'have' to get up and put the idea down on paper. Or in my case on card!

I had two challenges I wanted to enter and had this explosion of inspiration at 11:15pm, when I should have been asleep for an hour!

The two challenges were (click on the images to visit the challenge pages):

My take on the combined challenges is this. So I managed to incorporate the Cloud option too!

I used the Hearts a Flutter Framelits to make the clouds and used Basic Black to define the edges, and the edges of the circle. The sentiment is from Petite Pairs and the ship is from The Open Sea. I thought the Bakers Twine added a nautical touch too and the little silver button from the Spring/Summer Mini keeps it nice and masculine.

Inside the card I stuck a Top Note roughly stamped with the globe from The Open Sea.

I hope you like it. I was really pleased with my nightime activities and returned to bed around midnight and went out like a light!

I am just relieved I am posting in time to meet the Dynamic Duos deadline of 12 noon PST!

Paula xxx

Less is More Challenge 107

Today I am making two entries into the Less is More challenge for this week. Mainly because I had to try out both of the ideas I had!

If you want to find out more about the challenges you can click on the picture below...

 

The brief was 'Up in the Air'.

So I only have one stamp set with an aircraft, have none of the balloon sets and wondered how I could meet the brief. I momentarily contemplated butterflies but thought I had done enough of those... when I first started using Stampin' Up! products I swore blind I wasn't interested in Stamping I just wanted punches. That soon changed but my love of the punches hasn't.

So I thought I would use two of my favourites for my challenge entries!

The first is the Owl punch.

I also used the Decorative and Curly Label Punches. My trusty Bakers Twine and the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Sentiments.

The owls wings were made from a Scallop Circle punch.

I just love this it is soooo cute!


My second card is made using the Bird punch.

More Bakers Twine and the banner this time was cut using my Big Shot and the great dies from the Summer Catalogue, Hearts a Flutter, it has a corresponding stamp set and can be purchased as a bundle saving 15%! I sponged a little Marina Mist to match the birds and help give the banner definition.

I'm off to take one of the dogs and the cat for their annual boosters. Then I am going to spend the evening chilling! A glass of red calls me!

Paula xxx

CAS Challenge #12

I wondered if this may be a little too simplistic. But then I realised that sometimes in life it is just the sentiment that matters. So the only stamping on this card is the sentiment from the Teeny Tiny Sentiment set.

It is my entry for the CAS challenge this week. And this is the sketch. Click on it to visit the challenge page/blog

And here is my card...

I have used my Simply Scored Borders plate for the waves and the two smallest Scallop Circle punches - each embellished with a scallop circle Itty Bitty Button tied with co-ordinating Bakers Twine. It is hard to see from the picture but I have used all 3 colours that co-ordinate with the card stock.

You could probably even send this card to a man as I don't think it's too 'girly'.

This week I will also be entering challenges from Mojo Monday, Dynamic Duos and Less is More. So pop back in the next two days to see those entries too! I have had great fun with these cards. Can't wait to share!

See you tomorrow!

Paula xxx

Chalkboard Technique and Challenge Winner!

Hope you are well and apologies for not having posted since Wednesday - I have been so busy it is unbelieveble.

I have been so busy I didn't even realise I had been selected as one of the CAS challenge winners. Top 3! How fabulous is that, I didn't expect it at all and am so pleased!

I promised the ladies who came to the Candle Making party on Friday that I would post some pictures of the card I made using the Chalkboard Technique that seems to be all the rage. It is my first attempt and I love it!

You distress the black card with some ink from your white craft pad, a gentle dab on the ink pad with a sponge is enough. Then I stamped the Beautiful Birthday sentiment and the Flowering Flourishes with Versamark and added white embossing powder, heated and Voila.

I thought it needed something else so I added a hint of colour to the flowers using my Stampin' Up! Watercolour Pencils.

I used a white pencil to outline the board.

I just love how it turned out and expect I will have a go again soon!

If you would like a party or to order Stampin' Up! supplies I can deliver anywhere in the UK!

Call me on 07786 860438 or email me from my contact page.

I am planning on entering a couple more challenges this week so pop back and check what I've been up to!

Paula xxx

Paper Players Challenge #132

My challenge entry today is a colour challenge from the Paper Players.

My card uses Summer Starfruit as a base with a white mat. I have punched the bottom of the mat with my Scallop Border Punch. I then added a layer of Print Poetry DSP in Midnight Muse, with the same Scallop Border, then added a wide strip of white, scalloped again and embossed with the Fancy Fan embossing folder.

I used my new Ovals Framelit dies to cut Primrose Petals then a sheet of white card patterned using the shaving foam technique and Summer Starfruit and Primrose Petals re-inkers. It's dead simple. Just squirt shaving foam on a plate, add a few drops of re-inker, swirl slightly with a spoon handle, press on the cardstock, remove, wipe clean and you are left with this fantastic swirly effect! I then stamped the image from Just Believe.

The sentiment is embossed in white and a few pearls have been added for a bit of 'Bling'.

I hope you like it! Don't forget you can buy everything you need to make these cards from me.

Come back tomorrow and see what else I have to share!

Paula xxx

CAS Challenge #11

Today hubby finally had his MRI scan so we should soon know what is causing him so much pain. Hopefully the doctors will be able to put him right and our world will return to normal.

In the meantime I am sleeping in my craft room so I am having to tidy it up every night. Not necessarily a bad thing as I struggle to focus among chaos! That'll be my ADHD.

Anyway, today I am entering another challenge, this time from Colours and Sketches.

This was the colour scheme:

I worry sometimes that my creations are very plain when I see some of the intricate cards other people have made. I do like simple designs.

 

The base is Crumb Cake as is the Seam Binding behind the butterflies with a mat of Very Vanilla.

The butterflies, from Papillon Potpourri are stamped in Perfect Plum on Very Vanilla cardstock and the edges sponged with Perfect Plum using a sponge dauber. The sentiment is also Perfect Plum using the Curly Cute stamp set.

I used a 1" punch to cut the squares and my trusty Stamp-a-majig to get the sentiment straight.

I hope you like it! As always I love your comments!

Paula xxx

Double Challenge Entry

I hope you enjoyed the Pinkies Blog Hops this weekend. We had great fun and I was so impressed with everyones projects.

I have been enjoying challenges so much I am being brave and combining two challenges today!

I have really focused on all the new Spring/Summer products so today I have incorporated a couple of old favourites!

The stamped flower is from the Love and Sympathy set, the sentiment from Petite Pairs.

The DSP is the Natural Composition Speciality Designer Series Paper, cut with the Adorning Accent Edgelit, embossed with the corresponding Adorning Accent embossing folder.

The patterned paper is Comfort Cafe, the ribbon and buttons are Sale-a-bration items. You can get these free with a £45 order! The little pearl is from my stash. It just matched so perfectly!

A little tip for threading your buttons... thread a needle with normal thread, go in and out of the same hole in your button leaving a loop. Thread the end of your ribbon through the loop, pull the cotton taut and pull the loop through and the ribbon will come too!

I hope you like this one - do let me know. I love to get comments!

The first challenge is Dynamic Duos Colour challenge you can visit their blog here - Dynamic Duos

The second is the Mojo Monday Challenge 280 you can visit them here - Mojo Monday

 



Come back and visit soon!

Paula xxx

Pinkies Blog Hop - Part One!

 

 

We’re so glad you could join us on Part 1 of the Pinkies Spring/Summer Blog Hop. We are showcasing lots of gorgeous projects using products from the new Stampin’ Up!® Spring/Summer Catalogue. We have so much inspiration to share with you we will be offering two Blog Hops - Part 2 will be tomorrow (Sunday 10th February). Simply use the buttons at the end of each post to keep on hopping. Do come back tomorrow to see what Part 2 has in store. We love comments, so please tell us what you think!

 

If you have arrived from Nicole's Blog, I hope you enjoyed her focus on the Just Married stamp set. These Blog Hops are such a source of inspiration!

 

I have focused on some cards using the Secret Garden Bundle. It incorporates the Stamp Set and Framelits, buying as a bundle also saves you 15% on the price of the items bought seperately. There are 3 cards for you to try at home.

My first card also uses the Top Note Die, Organza Ribbon and large Pearls. The colour scheme is Rose Red and Pretty in Pink. I coloured the flowers using a Blender Pen and ink from my pads - to do this you press on the pad when it is closed and it deposits some ink on the lid for you to pick up with the tip of the blender pen. Simples!

The sentiment is from the Bring on The Cake set.

My second card is yet again pink, but this time I have used the In-Colour Primrose Petals Ink Pad. I have cut out an aperture in the card using a Window Frames Framelit and used a slightly smaller one for inside the card. One of the fantastic things about the new style ink pads is the coverage, it means you can stamp again without re-inking and get shades of the same colour - which is how I have ended up with so many different coloured flowers.

The sentiment is from the Just Believe set.

On a similar theme I created an aperture in my final card using one of the Labels Collection Framelits, the colours are Wild Wasabi and So Saffron. The Secret Garden set means you really have plenty of scope to jazz up the cards as much as you like!

The sentiment is from the Petite Pairs Set. And that gorgeous stripy Designer Series Paper is from the co-ordinating Subtles pad of 12x12 papers. Don't despair - If you don't have a Big Shot - you can still snip out these little beauties by hand!

I hope you have enjoyed my projects as much as I enjoyed making them. If you would like to know more about Stampin' Up! Would like to hold a party, or place an order, go to the links at the top of the page and get in touch.

Do take the time to carry on round the Blog Hop and leave messages when you find something you like. We all love to hear what you think of our projects and whether you have been inspired by something you have seen.

The next stop is Diana's Blog, why don't you go and take a peek at what she has been up to?

Thanks for stopping by!

Part 2 of the Pinkies Blog Hop starts HERE so why not have a look around that too! There are loads more stunning projects to see. Have fun! xxx

Pals Paper Arts Challenge - PPA152

Today we had some good news - Hubby has an emergency appointment tomorrow with a specialist to look at his back. Hopefully he'll get fixed as I'm not sure how much longer either of us can cope with his pain levels... for different reasons!

Todays Pals Challenge is a colour challenge. A card using the following 3 colours.

 

I have made my card using Real Red as the card base, I then added a piece of Pool Party Core-Dinations card stock, this is fabby stuff as the inner layer is lighter so you can use the Stampin' Up! Sanding System to gently remove the top layer and reveal the lighter colour below. I did that at each end where I had embossed the layer with the Adorning Accents heart folder.

Next I added a wide band of Real Red with a layer of DSP from the Print Poetry set in the new catalogue, it just happened to be Real Red and Primrose Petals!

On the band I stuck a scallop oval in Real Red and a sentiment from Petite Pairs stamped in Real Red on Pool Party and cut out with the Oval Punch.

Finally I used my Versamark to stamp one of the Papillon Potpourri butterflies on Primrose Petals card stock and embossed it with the lovely new Pool Party Embossing Powder. These were punched out with the corresponding Elegant Butterfly punch and added to the card.

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed todays offerings and if you would like to order any of the products, join my team or just find out a little more about Stampin' Up! Visit my contact page and get in touch! And pop back on Saturday for our Blog Hop!

 

Paula xxx

 



Freshly Made Challenge #72

My entry for this weeks challenge from the Freshly Made team is a simple card, I have used Rose Red and Pink Pirouette, teamed with the Two-Tone ribbon from the new catalogue. To give it a bit of extra luxury I also added some of the Organza ribbon. I made the bow using one of the gorgeous Antique Brads.

The Pink Pirouette card has been cut with the Large Scallop Edgelits and embossed with the Delicate Designs embossing folder. I rounded the corners of the card with a circle punch.

The sentiment is from Bring on the Cake and is stamped in Rose Red.

You may not see very well from the image but the lower half of the card stock is watermarked with one of the flowers from Secret Garden. You do this by stamping in the same colour ink as card stock.

I hope you like it and would love any thoughts or comments you would like to share.

I did warn you I was getting hooked on these challenges!

Paula xxx

 

 

Here is the Sketch... Don't forget to come back on Saturday for the Pinkies Blog Hop!

 

Stampin' Up! - Mojo Monday 279

Well I finally got my Mojo Monday Challenge entry completed last night. Poor hubby is crippled with back pain so I am having to stay home and help him today. It does mean I have 5 minutes to update my blog.

Quite a few Stampin' Up! demo's have been using a lot of Pool Party the last week or so and it helped me decide on a colour scheme for my entry.

Here is the Sketch we needed to follow:

 

And here is my entry:

 

 

 

I started by matting Comfort Cafe DSP on Pool Party card stock. I then cut a square of Whisper White and sponged the edges with Pool Party ink. I embossed the strip of Pool Party card stock with the Chevron embossing folder and added a piece of Whisper White, cut with the Large Scallop Edgelit and embossed with the corresponding Delicate Design embossing folder. I sponged the raised elements with Pool Party too! It just adds a little definition.

 



 

 

 

The scallop oval was sponged on the edges with Island Indigo and the sentiment was from Petite Pairs, stamped in Island Indigo ink. The pretty little rose is from the new Spring Summer Catalogue - Flower Trim. I sponged the rose with Pool Party just to give it a little accent of colour and used a mini silver brad to attach 2 Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon 'leaves'. 

 

I hope you like it and will join myself and some more of the Pinkies for our Blog Hop on Saturday!

 

I am hoping to enter a couple more challenges this week so please pop back!

 

Paula xxx

Extra FREE Stampin' Up! product for new recruits!

Sorry I haven't posted for a few days. My poor husband has injured his back so I am running round like a loon, trying to work, look after him, the animals and everything else. The poor chap is in agony!

I want to share a quick piccy as no post is complete without one! These are the Thank You cards for this weeks customers. Aren't they cute!

Now these cards are based on some little notelets we made as one of our Pinkies projects at Quarterly Training.

We also had monthly training last night and made some more gorgeous projects. Believe it or not I stopped talking for long enough to make them... well nearly!

Joining the Pinkies is a great way of becoming part of the Stampin' Up! Family. You don't have to be local - Michelle Last even runs training in the Netherlands for the Dutch Pinkies. There is a get together scheduled in Birmingham and even if you can't attend training there are 170 people in our team who all belong to a Facebook Group exclusive to the Pinkies Team.

We are a friendly, supportive and knowledgeable lot and I haven't had a question yet that at least one of the team couldn't answer!

Sale-a-bration is a great time to join as Stampin' Up! are offering new recruits 25% extra FREE in their starter kit. So you get £162.50 worth of goods for £99.

Stampin' Up! and the Pinkies recognise that not everyone who joins wants to build a business empire, and that is fine! You will have all the help, support and incentives to help you achieve your goals, but there is no pressure! You can buy product just for yourself and friends. If you don't meet your quarterly target, no-one is going to chase you or push you to do so. Just be aware that you will automatically drop a month later if you haven't met your target. You still get to keep everything in your starter kit.

The benefits are 20% off product, lots of free goods, early access to and pre-ordering from the new publications and if you like, the support, knowledge and warmth of a great team!

Please do get in touch if you have any questions, believe me there is no hard sell - I am here to support you in making the choices that suit you. All my recruits get a little something special from me too!

01844 342494
07786 860438

mailme@paulaknall.co.uk

I hope to hear from you soon!

Paula xxx