Owl

An owl birthday card made for a friend using some of the new Hero Arts stamps and Nestabilities "Labels 1" dies.

The rain seems to have stopped this evening... we'll see how long it lasts! I'm still hoping we'll get a proper summer this year and that the sunshine we had earlier in the month will return in May. Fingers crossed.

In the time taken to upload this photo, Marley has destroyed two of Ian's socks...

Fresh Cuts

A birthday card made for my mum. Happy birthday!

Products:-

- stamps: Fresh Cuts; Oval All

- cardstock: Whisper White; Certainly Celery

- ink: Lavender Lace; Almost Amethyst; Certainly Celery

- punches: Oval and Scallop Oval

- other: Pretty in Pink tafetta ribbon; Stickles Stardust glitter glue

Also... some random photos of Marley enjoying himself whilst out on a walk with Ian during the spell of good weather last week... he (i.e. Marley - not Ian!) loves to paddle in the river.

Thanks... and 3rd Birthday

Firstly, a batch of very quick and simple thank you cards I made a few weeks ago using the new Stampin' Up! Forest Friends stamp set, Sweet Always designer paper, white taffeta ribbon, the scallop circle and circle punches and Close to Cocoa and Pumpkin Pie cardstock....

Secondly, a birthday card made for a friend's three year old son. I've used Copic markers to colour the stamped image, which I can't usually be bothered to do (as it takes too long and I'm too lazy!).

Happy Easter!

Some easy Easter cards... I made a bundle.

All products are by Stampin' Up!, except the green dotted notecards (Amuse ArtStamps), which I think I bought ages ago in America...... I found them at the back of a cupboard and thought I should use them before they rotted away! I've used the Never Ending Joy and Occasional Greetings stamp sets with Soft Subtles ink pads, markers and cardstock. There's some Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the tulips.

Happy Easter! Looks like we'll get some sunshine this weekend.

4D scan

This is a photo of the baby's face taken during the 4D scan I had a week ago; it's amazing what they can do with technology nowadays! They still think the baby is a girl... I hope so, if only for the reason that if it's a boy he'll be wearing girls clothes! Despite saying I wasn't going to buy much, I've gone a bit mad and bought quite a few things...

Petal Pizzazz

Another Mother's Day card, this time made using the Petal Pizzazz stamp set from the new Stampin' Up! mini catalogue.

I've used two colours on the flowers (Real Red and Only Orange), with some Close to Cocoa. It's a bit "loud" and it hurts your eyes if you stare at it too long! The ribbon is by May Arts.

Nice sunny weather here today, which is a miracle for the west coast of Scotland at this time of year.

Mother's Day

Once again, I've lost track of time... I had intended to upload this card last weekend!

This is a Mother's Day card made for my mum using the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set, a piece of chipboard and some other bits and pieces. I've used Dazzling Diamonds glitter in the aperture at the centre of the chipboard flower.

New Products!

A quick card made using some of the stamp sets from the new Stampin' Up! mini catalogue (effective from 1st April 2009) and the new oval and oval scallop punches... I've used Soft Subtles colours.

Products used:-

- stamps: Oval All and Playful Petals

- cardstock: Almost Amethyst textured cardstock (base); Whisper White; Pale Plum

- ink: Basic Black; Lavender Lace

- ribbon: Whisper White tafetta

- punches: corner rounder; oval punch; oval scallop punch

- other: Soft Subtles markers; paper snips; Tea Party designer paper

Colour Challenge

My submission for Kristina Werner's current colour challenge (number 44)... Stampin' Up! Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa and Whisper White. The stamp set is the SU Best Wishes & More set.

Hearts

This is a card I made absolutely ages ago... but forgot to post! It was very easy to make. One heart stamped image has been cut out and layered on top of the other.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):-

- stamps: Best Wishes & More; Whimsy jumbo wheel

- ink: Bashful Blue jumbo wheel cartridge; Real Red; Bashful Blue

- cardstock: Whisper White

- patterned paper: Holiday Treasures

- other: Dazzling Diamonds glitter (in the circles on the wheeled section); red gingham ribbon

Chipboard Promotion

Effective throughout the whole of March from today, 1st March, Stampin' Up! is offering a 25% discount on all "On Board" chipboard packs. Please contact me if you are interested. There is no minimum qualifying purchase and no limit to the number of packs you may purchase. The packs are shown on pages 78 and 94 of the current catalogue.

Crab Apple Crafts

Saturday again. I'm glad it's the weekend!

I've been very slow with blog up-dates... I'll try to do better!

I was down in Cheshire at Rosemary Merry's Crab Apple Crafts shop last weekend. A friend arranged it in advance and eight of us went... their new dog, Boo, was obviously expecting us (as you can see from the dog's blog post!). We did two classes and made two mini books. One was a quadrant style book... one of those box books which "pops up" in four pieces when you open it (and you can tie it open) and folds flat when closed. I haven't finished decorating it yet - and nor have I added any photos - but I've attached a couple of photos of the part we made in the class last weekend. We used green and lilac Core'dinations papers and I think the patterned papers are mainly by K & Co.

Pocket Silhouettes

I love the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set. This is one of a series of little thank you cards I've made using Earth Elements cardstock and markers. Quick and simple. I've used Dazzling Diamonds glitter around the main image and on the flower heads.

Happy (Belated) Valentine's Day

... and here's the card I made for Ian (on the day itself... a bit late, I know, but I am behind with everything because of all the work we've been having done in the house). Ian made me a very fancy lunch, which was much better than my card!

The base card is Bashful Blue and I've used Real Red and Tempting Turquoise cardstock and watercolour crayons for the squares. The stamp set is the Sealed With a Kiss set.

February

February already... and I see I've managed almost no posts during January! Hopeless.

We've been having work done to the house, which seems to be taking up most of our time. I've had my 20 week scan and everything seems to be fine so far.

It's snowing heavily today; I think the forecast is snow for the remainder of the evening and early morning tomorrow. We haven't had much snow at all this year, unlike most of the remainder of the UK.

I've attached a photo of a card made using the Botanical Blooms SAB stamp set and Earth Elements colours.

Happy New Year... and free Stampin' Up! stamp sets!

Happy new year! 2008 seems to have flown past.

Sale-a-bration has reached the UK! Throughout January and February, Stampin' Up! is offering free stamps. There are four stamp sets to choose from; click here to view the brochure.

Customers: receive a free Sale-A-Bration stamp set with every £45 purchase.

Hostesses: receive a free Sale-A-Bration stamp set with every £300 or more workshop hosted, in addition to the normal hostess benefits.

New Demonstrators: choose any retail stamp set (up to £38.95 in value) from the current catalogue when signing up during the promotion. Contact me if you're interested!

Baby

Following the theme from the last post... A new baby card made for a friend's wee boy about a month ago.

The cardstock is SU Bashful Blue and I've used the same colour of ink to stamp the little pattern stamp from the Bundle of Joy stamp set on the background. The "sweet heart" stamp in the punched circles is also from the Bundle of Joy stamp set and the stamp on the lower left is from the Best Wishes & More stamp set.

News

Well, this is why I've been "quiet" for a while... The due date is probably around the end of June.

I have a couple of scan photos, but I think this one is quite funny, as the baby has turned to stare at us - you can see the eye sockets! Cheeky. The photos are fairly poor compared with the images we saw on the monitor - we could see the arms and legs waving around very clearly!

Coldplay

We went to see Coldplay at the SECC in Glasgow last night... they were excellent, as you'd expect. Very slick and professional. The second photo above shows the band during a short acoustic set where they left the stage and stood behind us.

Here's a very lame recording of "Yellow"... love those yellow balloon beach balls! If you can be bothered to watch as far as 47 seconds, the sound improves dramatically when I remove my finger from the microphone (d'oh)!

I'm back (again)!

I've been in America (central Boston) for the last two weeks... but I'm home again. I managed to wangle a trip to see The Eagles in concert at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA (about an hour west of Boston) on Wednesday 26th November... it was excellent.

More posts to follow shortly!

The photo above shows some Christmas cards I made for a Stampin' Up! demonstrator card swap before I left. Unfortunately, I've yet to make any Christmas cards of my own... haven't had time!

Stars

As the majority of this week has, once again, been taken up with (unexpected) time in hospital and related trauma, I won't even go there... You couldn't make it up - it has the storyline of a rotten TV drama.

Instead, here's a card I made this evening to cheer myself up whilst listening to The Long Road Out of Eden album by The Eagles (the panacea for all ills!).

I've used the new SU "In the Stars" stamp set and the new Chocolate Chip double-stitched ribbon. I've used Earth Elements markers to colour the stamps to give the stars a "tie dye" effect.

Colour Challenge

Kristina Werner's colour challenge this week was an interesting one: Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red, Sage Shadow and Whisper White. If you haven't visited Kristina's blog, click here to have a look; it's brilliant!

My card is shown above. I've used the Stampin' Up! Crazy for Cupcakes stamp set, Pumpkin Pie designer series patterned paper, Ruby Red cardstock, Sage Shadow and Whisper White cardstock, Watercolour Wonder Crayons in Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red, Sage Shadow and Creamy Caramel (plus a few others to add shadow). The cake is covered in Stickles glitter glue.

Missing in Action

I haven't posted in ages... so many things going on. Then, to top it off, I managed to land myself in hospital with a urinary tract infection this week!

Here's a mug shot of Marley wearing his Halloween costume... spiderdog! His dog training class had a Halloween party on Tuesday evening.

Leaves

A birthday card made for my aunt... The leaves are from the SU All Natural stamp set and they were watercoloured with Earth Elements Watercolour Wonder Crayons... they're also covered in Dazzling Diamonds glitter, although you can't see it in the photo.

Monday...

... my least favourite day of the week! Still... at least it wasn't raining today - makes a change.

A quick card made for a friend... nice bright colours and there's glitter on the flower. The top layer was die cut from SU Pumpkin Pie cardstock and the sentiment forms part of the Best Yet Level 1 hostess stamp set.