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.

New Home

A new home card made for a friend using the Stampin' Up! "Neighborhood" (note: dodgy American spelling omitting the letter "u"!) wheel. Colours: Real Red, Bashful Blue and Chocolate Chip.

We went to see James Blunt at the SECC on Friday night. I'd booked the tickets ages ago and pretty much forgotten about it, so wasn't really in the mood to go - I'm not the greatest fan. He was really good, though, albeit most of his songs are depressing! Also, the quantity of people who kept getting up and leaving their seats every two minutes (making everyone in the row move and ensuring that no-one behind could see anything much during the whole charade) was starting to drive me demented... I said to Ian that it was a bit like that children's game with the little plastic people who pop up every two seconds and you need to smack them back down with a big plastic hammer... except I didn't have a big plastic hammer (but I'd have paid good money for one).

Friends

A quick and easy card made using some items from the new catalogue, including the new scallop edge punch!

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):-

- stamps: Best Yet and Organic Grace (Level 1 hostess sets)

- cardstock: So Saffron, Whisper White, Real Red

- ink: Real Red; Bashful Blue

- patterned paper: Bashful Blue Designer Series prints

- ribbon: Bashful Blue tafetta

- other: scallop edge punch; Dazzling Diamonds glitter; 1 3/8" circle punch

Bashful Blue

I thought I'd have a go at a Christmas card using blue for the base card... I've used SU Bashful Blue with the Season of Joy stamp set. The patterned paper on the left hand side is SU Dashing. The other colours I've used are the usual suspects - Real Red and Old Olive. I've used a simulated pearl from the Pretties kit for the centre of the poinsettia.

Off the Leash!

A scrapbook page using a photo of Marley running around in the hills on Sunday... this was his first time "off lead" in such a big area with so many other dogs... he had a great time and kept running around with his tongue hanging out! The layout I've used is a Cathy Z internet assignment sketch; I wouldn't normally use such a big text box and I wouldn't normally fill the page with three full blocks. I quite like the effect, though. I've sanded around the photo and I've sanded over the embossed paper on the left.

Bergamo

This page was produced using the other sketch supplied for this week's balance and symmetry lesson... Again, the sketch was very clean; the large photo is 11" x 7" and we were to use four squares of identical size underneath (one text box and three photos)... I've cheated and I've added a title below, plus stamping, painting and distressing on the base card (kraft).

We've visited Bergamo in Italy so many times I've lost count! I'm sure it merits more than a single page, but this is the only one I've produced thus far.

Symmetry

This is another double layout for the online Cathy Z scrapbooking class I began last week... This week the theme is symmetry and balance. We've been given two sketches to produce layouts from. This sketch requires two 7" x 5" photos, three small photos and one text box over two 8.5" x 11" pages. The sketches and example layouts we've been given are very "plain" and clean, but this is about as minimalist as I can do, I'm afraid...

Photos of Marley last weekend! ;o)

I've used the Pocket Silhouettes stamp to stamp the lower portion of the layout (can't get enough of that stamp set... I'm using it on everything at the moment!). The cardstock is SU Garden Green.

World Card Making Day

Today is international World Card Making Day... I hope you find time to make some cards!

Stampin' Up! is offering a WCMD promotion from today until 11th October... There's a 20% discount on both Simply Sent Card Elements sets (pages 74 and 75 of the catalogue) and on both Simply Sent kits (page 93 of the catalogue). The discounted prices are as follows:-

Flower Power Card Elements set: £10 (normal price: £12.50)

Rock Star Card Elements set: £10 (normal price: £12.50)

Happy Day Simply Sent kit: £31.96 (normal price: £39.50)

Sending Happy Thoughts Simply Sent kit: £31.96 (normal price £39.50).

The Simply Sent kits are a bargain at £31.96; the Happy Day kit includes chalks, whilst the Sending Happy Thoughts kit includes Dazzling Diamonds glitter and a glue pen. Each kit includes three mini Stampin' Spot ink pads, brads, ribbon, cardstock, envelopes and a complete stamp set which you can keep to use with other materials in future. Each kit also include full instructions to make two different cards.

Please contact me if you are interested in purchasing any of these items. Remember that this offer is in addition to the birthday offer which is available for the whole month of October... any WCMD purchases count towards the £20 minimum purchase required to qualify for the discounted birthday sets; if you spend £20 or more during October, you are entitled to purchase one of three stamp sets (Crazy for Cupcakes, Birthday Best or Cheer and Wishes) at a 20% discount (click here for more information).

Tag

A little tag made with the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set. I've used a similar format to the card shown in yesterday's post, although the base card is Ruby Red (stamped with the Boho Friend wheel using the Close to Cocoa ink cartridge) and the ribbon is Pumpkin Pie.

Pocket Silhouettes

This birthday card was made using the new Stampin' Up! Pocket Silhouettes stamp set... I love this stamp set! It's a bargain at £15.95. I've stamped the envelope to match the card. The mustard coloured ribbon was a scrap from one of my ribbon jars; I'm not sure about the brand. I've used Stardust Stickles glitter glue around the heads of the seed pods.

Products used (Stampin' Up!):-

- stamps: Pocket Silhouettes; Boho Friend wheel; Occasional Greetings

- cardstock: Confetti White; Whisper White; Chocolate Chip textured cardstock; So Saffron

- ink: Chocolate Chip; More Mustard; Close to Cocoa

- other: linen thread; hole punch; Pretties kit (flower and simulated pearl); antique brads; distressing tool from cutter kit; Very Vanilla C6 envelope

Oh, and... Happy Birthday, Helen! 21 again! ;o)

Launch Day

Well... today is the 1st of October and the launch day of the new Stampin' Up! catalogue! If you don't yet have a copy and you'd like one, please get in touch. Orders from the new catalogue can be placed from noon today.

The little card shown above was made using the True Friend stamp set, Boho Friend wheel, Ruby Red carstock, So Saffron cardstock, Chocolate Chip textured cardstock, the distressing tool from the cutter kit, Earth Elements markers and Pumpkin Pie ribbon... very quick and easy.

There's a special offer during the month of October to celebrate Stampin' Up!'s 20 year anniversary, namely 20% off three stamp sets if you spend £20 or more.

- Crazy for Cupcakes (page 32) - £16.76 (normal price: £20.95)

- Birthday Best (page 33) - £8.76 (normal price: £10.95)

- Cheer & Wishes (page 58) - £11.96 (normal price: £14.95)

Another explosion card...

A square Christmas explosion card... this is another of the cards I made for demonstration at the Stampin' Up! Training Day.

I've used the Season of Joy stamp set once again. The swirl stamp is brilliant (and can be used for any type of card, not simply Christmas cards); I've covered the entire Whisper White base card (except the front diamond-shaped panel) with the swirl stamp using Old Olive ink..... a quick, easy and inexpensive way to turn a plain piece of cardstock into something much more impressive! I've used silver brads for the bauble on the tree. The tree trunk was made from a small section of self-adhesive brown cardstock from the Simply Scrappin' Home Again hostess kit; you could use any brown cardstock. Again, I've used Dazzling Diamonds glitter around the front panel.

Today is the last day of September, which means that tomorrow must be 1st October... and the launch day of the new Stampin' Up! catalogue! If you'd like to order from the new catalogue and be amongst the first to receive your new goodies, please get your orders to me no later than this evening to enable me to order them tomorrow when the ordering system goes live. You can contact me by email by clicking here.

Christmas cracker cards...

This is one of the Christmas cracker cards I demonstrated at the Stampin' Up! Demo Training Day the Saturday before last. It's a variation of the explosion card shown in earlier posts. Although I like the effect of the square explosion cards, I wanted to find a way to make the cards fit a standard Stampin' Up! rectangular envelope.

I've used Old Olive cardstock for the base, with Dashing patterned papers. The central piece was made using a stamp from the Season of Joy stamp set with an eyelet and two scallop circle punched pieces of Real Red and Old Olive cardstock. I've used Dazzling Diamonds glitter around the front panel.

The card has two "extension" pieces at either end. I've used Real Red cardstock for this one. Each piece is 4" x 3", which adds one inch of extra cardstock at each end. When the card is folded flat, it fits a standard sized C6 envelope (including the Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla and Whisper White envelopes).

True Friend - Plum

I've used the Stampin' Up! True Friend stamp set and matching wheel for this card; the stamp set will be available for you to purchase soon.... the new catalogue launches on 1st October next week! I have received my pre-ordered copies of the new catalogue; please contact me if you would like a copy.

I'm really pleased with the finished article (for once!).

Materials (all Stampin' Up!):-

- stamps: True Friend; Boho Friend Stampin' Around wheel

- ink: Close to Cocoa; Perfect Plum

- markers: Perfect Plum; Pale Plum; Mellow Moss; Old Olive

- cardstock: Perfect Plum; Pale Plum; So Saffron; Naturals Ivory; Very Vanilla

- other: 1 1/4" circle punch; 1 3/8 inch circle punch; linen thread; Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon; rhinestone circle brad

Finished!

I've managed to finish the page shown in the earlier post... here it is. I'm quite pleased with it.

ps - I've just found this blog... really clever use of the Pick a Petal stamp set (little mice!). Have a look if you have time.

Saturday

Very glad it's Saturday... and I have some free time (!).

A couple of photos... the first one is a photo of Marley caught in the act last night - he found himself a nice roll of Charmin and destroyed it whilst I wasn't looking. I think he did a good job for a 16 week old pup.

The photo below is a work in progress. I've signed up for an internet Cathy Z scrapbook course... it's called "Design Your Life" and it kicks off next week. I blame Helen for this... although she has a better excuse for doing the course than me, as she's bought it as a birthday present for herself! My birthday has been and gone... so I'm doing the course because I'm a lemming.

Before the course starts, we've to do two pages, the bits and pieces for one of which are shown above. We've to use browns, red and greens. The boxes are to be no larger than 3.5" x 3.5" and the base cardstock for the page is Bazzill kraft. That aside, it's pretty much free reign. When it's finished, (apparently) it will be nine boxes saying something about me. Look how tidy my desk is(n't)! The course runs until 25th December, so it should be interesting and it'll give me a boot into action to get something done - an achievement in itself.

Demo Day - Box

This is the second of the two make and take projects we made at the Stampin' Up! Training Day last Saturday. If you need a copy of the template to make the box itself, please get in touch.

The stamps used for the box and the tag are part of the new Level 2 hostess set called "Fall Flair". I love the new stitched ribbon... it's a new product available in three shades from 1st October.

Baroque Christmas

I can't decide whether I like or loathe this card... I had all the pieces on my desk and I liked the concept... but looking at it assembled with the pieces stuck down, I can't decide! I won't be replicating it, put it that way.

The base card is SU Ruby Red over-stamped with Ruby Red ink using the background stamp from the Baroque Motifs stamp set. The Season of Joy front panel has been coloured with Ruby Red and Old Olive chalks over Versamark ink.

Roses - Demo Day

This is one of the two make and take projects we made at the Stampin' Up! Training Day last Saturday. The stamp set is a new one called "A Rose is a Rose" - it's a large set of 14 stamps and it's one of the "two step" stamp sets... we used a couple of shades of green and pink to build up the different layers of the roses and leaves.

The torn edge at the bottom didn't quite work, in my view... although it looks interesting, the card wasn't able to stand upright, because the front was shorter than the rear! I've since added an extra piece of Confetti White cardstock under the front torn edge... and that seems to do the job. The pink scalloped section on the lower part of the card was created using the new scallop border punch.

Award Tags!

These little tags were attached to two individually packaged cream coloured gerbera flowers given to me by the UK Stampin' Up! country manager last Saturday in recognition of two awards I'd somehow managed to earn...

I love the colours - So Saffron and Perfect Plum. A wet watercolour wonder crayon has been used to create the "spatter" effect on the tags... and I see they've used my favourite eyelets! The flowers were lovely, but I like the tags even more - not least because they'll last longer!

Samples

Some photos of the various displays at the SU Demo Training Day last Saturday... I think the majority, if not all, of these samples were made by UK demos, but I'm not certain. If you click on the photos, you'll be able to see larger versions (and the same applies to any other photos on my blog).

Another one...

Another little pouch card! This one is a bit different, as both sections of the top part are level and the tag sticks out of the top. The base card is So Saffron and the cardstock has been wheeled with the new Boho Friend wheel (available in the new catalogue from 1st October - it matches the True Friend stamp set) using Close to Cocoa ink. I've used Dazzling Diamonds glitter in a few places on the front panel. The ribbon is kraft taffeta. I love the large eyelets... I've been using them on just about every project lately.

Tree Explosion

This is one of the "explosion cards" I demonstrated at the Demo Training Day on Saturday. This particular card is square (approximately 4" x 4" when closed), although I also demonstrated a means of extending the basic width of the card to 6" to make it a perfect fit for a standard SU (C6 size envelope). I'll post the other cards over the course of the week. Please get in touch if you need instructions.

I've used the Lovely as a Tree stamp set for this card. The base card is Whisper White cardstock and it is 4" x 12", which means you'll be able to make three cards from one sheet of 12" x 12" cardstock. Whisper White cardstock is ideal, as it's easy to fold. I've added two strips of Chocolate Chip textured cardstock down the sides of the end panels.

I've stamped the end panels with the acorn and leaf stamp from the stamp set using Chocolate Chip ink. It was supposed to be quite heavily stamped (and the images a bit obscured) to give some balance to the card when it is open (bearing in mind that I've left the white sections between the front panel and the end panels unstamped). I've used some gingham ribbon and those large eyelets again.

The central tree image was stamped on Naturals Ivory cardstock and mounted on Chocolate Chip textured cardstock. I've used Earth Elements markers to colour the tree before stamping. I coloured the trunk of the tree and part of the lower branches using Chocolate Chip. Thereafter, I coloured the whole upper portion of the tree with the Old Olive marker and then "thumped" the Old Olive portion with the Garden Green marker and some more Chocolate Chip (to give some depth and an illusion of additional branches peeking through the leaves). The "thumping" technique involves taking the marker and holding it on its side and tapping randomly against the pre-coloured section - it's really easy and effective. Lastly, I spritzed the tree with water and then used an aqua painter brush to colour the trunk slightly and to draw some shadows under the tree. The Naturals Ivory cardstock is ideal for use with water. (Whisper White cardstock is brilliant for stamping - the best cardstock I've ever used - but not ideal with water as it's a bit too smooth and has a slight sheen... the water runs off!).

True Friend

Some pouch cards made with the new True Friend and Totally Tabs stamp sets... I'm using these as little thank you cards to pop in bags with orders or to deliver with the new catalogues.

An odd colour scheme, but I like it! Real Red, Bashful Blue, Whisper White and So Saffron.

Swap Cards

This was my swap card for the SU Demo Training Day in Glasgow yesterday. I received loads of really nice cards in return.

We had a great day and had the chance to make some projects using lots of lovely things from the new catalogue. My pre-ordered catalogues are now on their way to me from Germany and I should have them next week. Please contact me if you would like a copy. Existing customers: your new catalogues will be with you as soon as I can get them to you! Orders can be taken in advance, but cannot be placed until noon on 1st October... lots of new goodies to choose from!

I was really pleased to be asked to do a demo as part of the Training Day and I decided to demonstrate an "explosion card" made to fit a standard size SU or other C6 envelope. I'll post the information and my samples within the next day or so.

Demo Day

Well... today's the day! At long last the day of the Glasgow Stampin' Up! demo training day has arrived! We'll be given a copy of the new catalogue... I can't wait to get my hands on mine!

I've prepared this post in advance to ensure that I don't forgot to upload photos of my submission for the demo card "competition". We've been asked to submit an entry of our choice... no criteria. I've made a card, as I didn't really have time to do anything particularly fancy.

I've used the Season of Joy stamp set and various punches. I'm really pleased with the front of the card and I'll replicate it again, I think, with different stamps. I've used the spiral stamp from the Season of Joy set with versamark ink on the base card to give a watermark effect on the background... it's not terribly visible in the photo, but gives a nice touch to the card.

The inside of the card is shown below; I saw a card using little spirals on the inside of a card on one of the American demo blogs, but it didn't say who came up with the idea. There were no instructions, so I don't know how the blog card was made... I just made up my technique as I went along! The card I saw had little cut out butterflies on the spirals. I've changed the concept slightly by adding the punched circles and ribbon etc... the little flower punches added to the spirals are double-sided i.e. a flower has been adhered on each side (so you have something nice to see no matter which angle you view it from!).

Happy Anniversary

Ian's anniversary card! I've used the dog stamp from the For Father set... it doesn't look like our springer, but we're fans of golden retrievers and I couldn't resist. The other bits and pieces (except the eyelet) are from the Home Again Simply Scrappin' hostess kit - I love the Stampin' Up! textured cardstock and can't wait to be able to buy packs of it from the new catalogue!

Happy anniversary, Ian. :o)