Stampin' Up! - World Card Making Day - Blog Hop

Welcome to another Pinkies Blog Hop! As it's World Card Making Day today, we hope everyone will get some time to craft, and we've created some lovely projects to help inspire you to create your own beautiful card. Simply use the buttons at the end of each post to keep hopping!

I am spending the day in my studio, but I wanted to share something stunning. The original idea was from fellow Pinkie Sam Donald - of Pootles fame!

I haven't changed it much but this was closest to her original design.

The silver on black is stunning and I loved the use of the glimmer paper with the Ovals Framelits.

The sentiment and flowers were from the Wondrous Wreath set. It's easy to overlook old favourites when you have so much lovely stuff in the seasonal! Black and silver seemed such a 'classy' touch for Christmas.

I then thought I would do something a little more traditional in red and gold.

The flowers this time are from the Itty Bitty Accents punch pack - if you would like to know how I got the shape - leave me a comment if you would like a tutorial.

Keep on hopping and visit the other posts on today's hop for a little more inspiration!

Stampin' Up! - It's All White

Well it's another gorgeous, sunny rotten, dark, dreary, wet, miserable Bank Holiday! I somehow acquired a shin splint on Friday so am relying on friends to walk the dog for me.

I did manage to get hubby to give me a lift to the wine bar yesterday afternoon for a little tipple (or 4) but it has meant I'm 'confined to barracks' - and the studio! So I have some awesome creations to share!!!

As promised on Thursday - here are the other 2 white on white cards...

The first using the 2 Way Glue Pen and silver glitter.

There are 4 layers, the top being cut with the heart from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits, the next with the Sweetheart Punch and the third, with the heart from the Itty Bitty Accents punch pack. All layered on the card base.

The second card made use of all those cut outs.

I'm a little disappointed the Dazzling Details doesn't photograph well - I can assure you these cards are just to die for! I love the 'Congrats' from the Cottage Greetings set.

I would really like a good all round sentiment set in a nice 'swirly' font including ones suitable for Thanks, Birthdays, Weddings, Invitations, Christmas, Good Luck and Congratulations... But not too small... I know there's LOADS in the catalogue so why is it I always want more?

Probably because Stampin' Up! are so good at delivering! I just LOVE the font used for the 'Thankful' hostess set sentiment in the Autumn/Winter seasonal... Speaking of which! You'll have access to it here on-line tomorrow!

Enjoy your Bank Holiday (if you have one today!) xxx

Challenging times

Well I can't understand where the last week has gone! Am I the only one who takes time off work only to discover it's time to go back again and I've done nothing?

My crafty mojo went on holiday without as much as a By Your Leave! So rude.

Tomorrow is the last day to book a class for August, so don't miss out! If you haven't been before I don't bite (unless it's chocolate or cake), it would be lovely to see some new faces and the progress on the studio is tremendous so I would love to show you!

In search of my mojo I decided to try something I've not done for a long time and visit some challenge sites. Today is a card I created for the Less is More challenge of "Snippets". I wasn't entirely sure what they were looking for, so I just stuck to the general ethos of 'Less is More'.

Real Red and Bermuda Bay are a stunning combination and I combined Gorgeous Grunge with the Tin of Cards stamp set, punched the flower using the Itty Bitty Accent flower and die cut the butterfly with the Bold Butterfly framelits.

Notice anything unusual about the Butterfly (and the flower)? Well there's more to come soon!

I'll be back tomorrow with another challenge so pop back and see what I'll have for you then.

P xxx

Got the kit?

I mentioned I was going a little 'Off Piste', so here's the first post showing some new things I'm trying...

Firstly - Card kits - this brilliant kit - the Hip Hip Hooray card kit is on sale as part of the retiring list, and never having tried out one of the kits before I thought I would give it a whirl.

This first image shows the 20 standard cards you can make with the kit, there are 3 sentiments in the kit - but as you know... I like to say Thank You so have made them all with that sentiment.

The kit comes with everything you need except scissors! So you can buy one of these kits, pop it in your luggage and have something to do wherever you go, if it's raining, on the train... You name it!

There are a few extra elements too - and not one to waste anything I decided to see how many more cards I could make.

 The answer was FOUR, the only things I added were the Gorgeous Grunge stamped images on Crumb Cake card stock, a couple of hearts punched using the Itty Bitty Accents punch pack and two arrows using the What's Up! punch (also retiring)

So - while you have the chance, why not grab yourself a bargain and try one of the kits?

Thank You Gift

My poor dog was injured earlier in the year and has been having Hydrotherapy from the most lovely compassionate, gentle lady. So I wanted to say Thank You.

I made her a little gift and matching card.

It is a little box (that I made) containing some scented Tealights, I used Chalk Talk for the label and the Itty Bitty Accents flower punch. The leaves were from the Bird Punch. I love the Organza ribbon too - it's such a useful size!

The card was made using the Swallowtail butterfly, sentiment from Sassy Salutations, Apothecary Accents dies and flowers punched from Something to Say, Petite Petals and Flower Shop using the coordinating punches.

As well as a couple of Rhinestones I also added Dazzling Diamonds to one of the flowers... I do love that stuff!

Well tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn I am heading to the airport for this years Stampin' Up! Convention in Brussels. There will be 700 of us all mingling, swapping, crafting and seeing new products and techniques. It's so exciting!

Tomorrow here I'll be sharing the Pillow Gift I have made for my room mate, this is a Stampin' Up! tradition, Friday I'll be sharing my swaps that are just for other members of the Pinkies (Over 70 of us will be there!) and on Saturday I'll be sharing the 'General' swaps I made.

The idea of swapping is to give and receive small items made with current products that you can use as inspiration or to share as samples with your customers. I'm sure I'll be sharing some of those next week! xxx

Sad Occasions

Sorry I have been absent - my Mojo took a holiday.

What got me crafting again was some very sad news, that a lovely lady I know is fighting a losing battle with cancer. She is the same age as me, in her early 40's and was only recently diagnosed. Please spare a thought for her and her family.

Obviously I wanted to create something beautiful for her and put in as much love and care as possible. Sometimes a sad occasion calls for something beautiful to bring a moment of cheer.

Out came the Blendabilities and the Blended Bloom stamp. I also used a folded card I had not tried before.

I also used a stamp from Flowering Flourishes and you can just make out the glitter here on the edges of the folded petals. The little punched flowers are from the Itty Bitty Accents punch pack.

The sentiment is from Hopeful Thoughts and really expressed what words alone couldn't. Here you can see the fold.

I've been away in the caravan this weekend with no internet - though the peace was shattered by the pub next door who had a barn dance and fireworks all last night! It will be nice to be in my own bed tonight!

Hot Diggity Dog class - 26/08/14

So here I am with time on my hands and crafters block again! Must be the lure of the sunshine...

I have a couple more cards I made using the Hot Diggity Dog stamp set - we are using this in class on the 26th and I still have a space if you are interested!

***EXTRA DATE NOW AVAILABLE - 1st SEPTEMBER 7:30PM - Contact me to book ***

The kit for the class includes the stamp set, ink pad and Stampamajig... if you have any of these elements you can change them for something of equal value for your kit.

The first card I admit I cheated and used my retired wheel for the pawprints... it had to be done!

I used Blendabilities to colour the Pug's face - ain't he cute?

Next one uses the Big Shot for the Labels Framelits and the Beautiful Wings embosslit...

Lastly I used the Windows Collection Framelits and the Itty Bitty Accents punch pack for this card.

Hope these give you a little inspiration and look forward to seeing you at a class - or sharing your projects!

I am placing an order on the 10th, so if you can collect from me give me your order and you'll save postage!

Pinkies Blog Hop - 2014 Annual Catalogue

Thank you for joining us on another Pinkies Blog Hop. We're showcasing lots of gorgeous projects using products from the new Stampin' Up! annual catalogue. Simply use the buttons at the end of each post to keep hopping!

I hope you are enjoying the hop so far, if you are starting here please check out the rest of the Hop!

I have so much gorgeous new product that it was hard to choose what to focus on - I have chosen Hot Diggity Dog as it is what we're using for our August class!

The first card features the Scotty dog, I coloured his jumper with Stampin' Up! Blendabilities, the apertures were cut using the Ovals Framelits and the mat was embossed with the Woodgrain embossing folder.

I used the Stampamajig to get the head positioned perfectly and then the sentiment was punched out using the Word Window and Modern Label punches.

If our Scottie dog wasn't cute enough here is a super simple card made using the Dachshund... and when you open it up!

That was so much fun to make and took minutes! The last card is one of my Pop Up cards, I did a tutorial for these - this one however has a twist! I used the Poodle this time, the star stamp from Something to Say and the co-ordinating star punch from the Itty Bitty Accents punch pack. The decoration on the belly band is punched with 3 different size Circles and one of the Scallop Circle punches.

So here's the surprise - can you see what I've done?

I've reversed the images - come back Monday for the first of two techniques in my Back to Basic series that show you how to stamp mirror images.

Hot Diggity Dog Wood-Mount Stamp Set

£26.95

Hot Diggity Dog Clear-Mount Stamp Set

£19.95

Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Daffodil Delight Assortment

£10.95

Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Coastal Cabana Assortment

£10.95

Ovals Collection Framelits Dies

£22.95

Woodgrain Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

£7.50

Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

£10.95

Word Window Punch

£14.25

Modern Label Punch

£15.50

Something To Say Wood-Mount Stamp Set

£26.95

Something To Say Clear-Mount Stamp Set

£19.95

Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack

£15.50

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Framed Prints...

If you recall I was asked to be part of the design team for the Stampin' Up! Regional Training in the UK...

Here is a little something I put together... so I have had a couple of stabs at scrapbooking... It's just this was on a very small scale to showcase the new stamp set - Something to Say and the Itty Bitty Accent punches that coordinate with some of the images in the stamp set.

This was another of those Box Frames that I bought. Do you notice how I was able to stamp in Versamark on the frame and heat emboss those cute flowers?

I used the Ovals Collection framelits too. As well as a Scallop Circle and Circle punch.

I love the shape of the little heart - and the new big Sweetheart punch is a similar shape.

I'll be back soon with a picture of my Dad's Birthday Card.