Earth Elements

This is a very simple card, with the focal piece being the watercoloured stamped image (from the SU Summer by the Sea stamp set). I stamped the image on Whisper White cardstock with Black Stazon and watercoloured it with Earth Elements watercolour wonder crayons. The brads are SU metallic copper and the ribbon is SU Chocolate Chip ribbon. The card was created using half a piece of A4 Creamy Caramel cardstock and the panel behind the stamped piece is a piece of Taken by Teal cardstock distressed with the tool from the SU cutter kit.

Coral Cocktail

A card made for a friend's birthday today. The backing card was created from half a sheet of Stampin' Up! Cameo Coral cardstock, with Ruby Red comprising the panel behind the stamped piece and Pumpkin Pie comprising the scalloped layer. For a change, I wanted to try the Cheers to You cocktail stamp set with Earth Elements shades (as opposed to the more obvious Bold Brights which I normally use with that set). The patterned paper is from the SU set of Fall Flowers designer papers.

The "Celebrate" stamp from the Wonderful Words stamp set was stamped with Ruby Red ink to match the cardstock panel and the cocktail image was stamped with Black Stazon on Whisper White cardstock and watercoloured with Earth Elements watercolour wonder crayons. The ribbon is SU moss gingham.

Still no joy with the door company... they've completely wrecked the plasterwork and brickwork in my hall and they haven't responded to our three page letter detailing the various faults and damage etc. We've 'phoned numerous times and they've ignored most of our calls; they tried to call us once this afternoon in response to our messages and we missed the call... and they haven't called back, despite that we fact that we've since left a few more messages for them.

Thank You Tree

This is a Thank You card made very quickly on Friday night. I coloured the tree with Stampin' Up! Gable Green, Old Olive and Chocolate Chip markers and stamped it on Whisper White cardstock. The brown mount behind the stamped piece has been distressed with the SU tool. I've tied SU linen thread through the button; I really like the natural look of the thread and I seem to use it all the time nowadays.

The saga continues. Aside from the problems with the doors... we bought a new outside light (a stainless steel and glass modern coach lamp affair) yesterday. My brother was installing it for us, but the glass slipped... and smashed. It wasn't his fault, it was just one of those things. £50 down the drain, though - and we'd had it in our possession less than an hour! We had to buy a second light (an entirely different type of light - which actually looks nicer than the first one), which is now in situ. Everything I'm involved in at the moment seems to be full of problems! I'll write to the manufacturer and see whether they can provide a replacement glass cylinder... if so, we can use the light at the back door. Meantime, the light is packed in its box and it's off to the graveyard in the attic...

No Time (again)!

Another busy week... time has disappeared again.

I (finally) managed to make a couple of cards last night. This one is a birthday card for a friend who is a huge fan of orange and green... the image was coloured using Stampin' Up! Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie watercolour wonder crayons (with some Ruby Red and Garden Green) and an aqua painter. The "Celebrate" stamp is by Stampin' Up! and the flower stamp is by Hero Arts. There are self-adhesive gems in the centres of the flowers. The flower image was stamped on SU Confetti White cardstock (which is better for watercolouring with an aqua painter... it holds water better than Whisper White cardstock and the aqua painters can produce a fair bit of water!) and the panel to to the rear of the stamped image is Pumpkin Pie cardstock.

We've had a couple of new doors installed this week and the company has made a complete toss of it and needs to come back and replace them... more mess/grief!

No Time!

I'm not sure where the week has gone... it was one of those weeks. No free time. The weekend has disappeared equally as quickly. I went to see Mamma Mia at the Clydeside Auditorium (SECC) with my mum and two aunts yesterday... it was a birthday present for my mum. The show was brilliant and not at all what I expected. It was quite clever how they managed to weave so many ABBA songs through the story.

I spent much of today fighting with the Tom Tom GPS software and their web-site trying to download a map of New England (for our next trip)... what a waste of time. The software they told me to use was "too new" and I had to uninstall it and use the old software first... you'd think they could build in a feature to alert you to this to eliminate the crystal ball factor? Anyway... it took me several hours, but I managed it in the end.

I've included photos of a couple of cards I've made this weekend... The card above uses three of the stamps from the Stampin' Up! Cheers to You stamp set (which is one of my favourite sets), some ribbon scraps, a scrap of patterned paper and SU Only Orange and Pixie Pink cardstock. The other card (below) says "Leanne" in large letters. The colours and style were "by request" for a 19 year old's birthday card. I've used Stardust Stickles glitter glue in each of the holes and it's much more glittery in the flesh. The letters were cut using the Quickutz Revolution Spotlight cookie cutter alphabet dies.

Mini Book

A mini book made from two blank white greeting cards tied together with some Basic Grey "Infuse" fibres. I've used K & Co "Roam" papers (from a 6" x 6" pad which I must have picked up in America... as I don't recall buying it!), various Hero Arts stamps and several chalk inks (including the Forest "Queue" by Colorbox). The photo above shows the front cover. I intend to insert photos and journalling, although I haven't had time.

Pages 1 and 2; pages 3 and 4 (centre pages); and pages 5 and 6...

... plus the rear cover.

Black(bird) Magic?

I'm not sure how this bird got into our kitchen nor when it came in... perhaps it can walk through walls? To be fair, the bathroom window was open a tiny sliver (about 2 inches) for a short time, but that seems very hard to believe (but easier to believe, perhaps, than a blackbird with magical powers which can walk through walls).

I thought I heard a bang in the kitchen earlier... we went downstairs and a blackbird (I think that's what it was) was throwing itself at the window trying to get out. It defies belief, really. I've never seen anything like it. The poor thing must have injured itself as it kept throwing itself head first at the glass, which made me feel terrible. We opened the window and it eventually worked it out and flew out, although it spent quite some time sitting up at the top of our units staring at us first of all. I managed to take a quick photo, but it's a bit blurred. We now need to fumigate the kitchen, of course, as who knows what germs it has left behind. It's funny as we were about to start chucking stuff out anyway, as we signed a deal yesterday afternoon to have our (tragic) kitchen re-done. Perhaps it was a special motivational bird sent by the kitchen company?

I'm glad I have a photo (blurred or otherwise) or I'd start to wonder whether I'm delusional...

Unbelievable.

Birthday Cheer

I haven't had a free minute all week, hence the distinct lack of posts... I'm completely behind on everything.

There are several birthdays during April which I need to make cards for - this is the first one. I used Stampin' Up! markers to colour the flower stamp (from the Heartfelt Thanks Level 3 hostess set); there's a tutorial on Splitcoaststampers at the moment about the "thumping" technique (click here to view it) and I suppose that's what I've used here... albeit I didn't know it had a formal name! I coloured the flower heads with the mustard shade first of all and then added some chocolate to give more dimension.

I used the distressing wheel on the SU cutter tool to "rough up" the edges of the Chocolate Chip panel. I inked the edges of the white panel with some mustard ink.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):-

- stamps: Heartfelt Thanks; Birthday Cheer & Wishes

- cardstock: Sage Shadow; Chocolate Chip; Whisper White

- patterned paper: Brocade Background

- markers: More Mustard; Sage Shadow; Chocolate Chip

- ink: Chocolate Chip

- other: Earth Elements brads; More Mustard Ribbon; Hodge Podge Hardware metal spiral

By Special Request...

In response to a couple of requests, here are a few more photos from The Eagles gig at the 02 in London. These photos aren't great; I didn't have my tripod with me and it was difficult to hold the camera still enough to deal with the light properly. I'm afraid the best photos are the few I've already posted. Full points to anyone who guesses the song from the backdrop of the first photo below...

Number Three...

This is the third of the three cards rolled with the Watercolour Joy wheel and Pumpkin Pie ink yesterday evening... as you can see, I've distressed the edges with brown ink (I used one of the Tim Holtz distress inks and Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip ink, but you could use any brown ink) and a sponge dauber. It gives a completely different effect.

The ric rac is a piece of die cut card (made by Bazzill) sponged with ink. The ribbon is by May Arts. The ribbon is by May Arts.

Lastly, here's a small card made with the same background wheel, one of the Whisper White Love notes, the scallop punch, 1 1/8" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch and one of the stamps from the Sending Happy Thoughts Simply Sent kit. The orange ribbon is a scrap I picked up in America. The cardstock colours are Old Olive and So Saffron, with Pumpkin Pie ink.

Pumpkin & Olive

I seem to use the Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive colour combination a lot... and last night was no exception. I had to make a Sympathy card and a Birthday card (arguably a strange mixture, I know - but I needed both). The fact that I knew I would be making a Sympathy card was my initial reason for chosing the Close as a Memory stamp set to work with, although I've since decided that I like the flower image regardless and I'd probably use it for just about anything. The stamp was inked with Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie markers.

I've recently bought the Stampin' Up! Watercolour Joy wheel and Pumpkin Pie wheel ink and I wanted to test those too... I started off rolling three plain white square card blanks (front and back) with the wheel and Pumpkin Pie ink - and I rolled matching envelopes by placing a piece of scrap A4 paper under the envelope flap and rolling the remaining top portion (see the photo below).

Both cards are fairly similar, but the Birthday card has Dazzling Diamonds glitter around the Old Olive panel and I've used Old Olive wide grosgrain ribbon. I've also stamped the flower image a bit darker on the Birthday card (and I used Whisper White cardstock which takes the ink much better than average cardostck); I didn't add brads or a button to the Birthday card as I think the flower image is much more of a focal point than it is on the Sympathy card.

I've added Old Olive brads and a matching button (threaded with linen thread) to the Sympathy card and I've used some scallop ribbon which is slightly lighter in shade than Old Olive. The edges of the strip of Pumpkin Pie cardstock on each card have been distressed with the tool from the Stampin' Up! cutter kit. The birthday sentiment is from the Sincere Salutations stamp set.

I haven't finished the third card, which is completely different... I've distressed/aged the edges with some Tim Holtz distress ink and Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip ink. I'll post a photo when it's finished (which I don't think will be tonight - I don't feel as though I have a single creative bone in my body this evening!).

Matthew's Birthday!

A card for Matthew, the son of one of my friends, who is 2 today. Happy birthday, Matthew!

I've used two blue Stampin' Up! inks (I can't recall precisely which, to be honest, and I don't have the card to hand) and the matching cardstock. The numeral "2" was cut with a Quickutz die. The ribbon is by Bazzill. The punches are by Stampin' Up! and I've used the 1 1/8" circle punch, the 1 3/8" circle punch, the corner rounder punch and the scallop punch. I've stamped the elephant from the Year After Year set with Black Stazon and it was coloured with Stampin' Up! chalks (Stampin' Pastels). The "happy birthday" stamp is from the Occasional Greetings set.

Spring Foliage

A spring birthday card for a friend, made entirely with Hero Arts stamps... I like the colour scheme and I'll definitely use it again.

The scalloped piece was handmade with a punch. The base notecard is a lime green Hero Arts notecard with matching envelope.

The flower branch stamp was stamped with White Stazon on a piece of acetate and adhered (on the left only, underneath the circle punched image) on top of a piece of green card. The transparent green button on the lower left was also stamped with White Stazon.

Driving by...

A birthday card for a male relative... I suppose it could be more masculine. I've avoided obvious frilly things and glitter, though. I really like the twill ribbon, but I wonder whether the recipient will think it's a piece of bandage?! The card was quick and easy to make.

I didn't initially plan to use the Soft Subtles shades of Watercolour Wonder Crayons to colour the truck, but I started making the card at my mum's house a few nights ago and she has a choice of Soft Subtles or Soft Subtles in crayons at the moment, so it wasn't a difficult decision...

I've "roughed up" the green cardstock behind the stamped piece using the SU distressing wheel from the cutter tool.

Products:-

- stamps: Loads of Love; Loads of Love Accessories
- ink: Black Stazon

- cardstock: So Saffron; Very Vanilla; random piece of striped paper; Mellow Moss (thin strip)

- other: Watercolour Wonder Crayons; button; glue dots; Dimensionals; SU linen thread (through button); twill ribbon; SU cutter tool (distressing wheel); two SU vintage brads (wheels); SU corner rounder

NB: the spider is STILL on the kitchen ceiling.

Arte Y Pico award

I've received an Arte Y Pico (Art & More) award for my blog from Lainy... how kind of her! You can visit Lainy's blog by clicking here and the Arte Y Pico blog by clicking here. If you can read any of the Arte Y Pico blog, let me know... I can't read the majority of it!

Yoo Hoo (Number Two)!

Another owl card!

All stamps are by Hero Arts. The crimson notecard with white inner is also by Hero Arts; the front section has been cut back and an acetate overlay (stamped with white Stazon) adhered on top.

Uploading this card has temporarily distracted me from my predicament: a spider the size of a small tarantula on my kitchen ceiling. I can't reach it! It has an odd "two hump" body and it's massive. I could use a zoom lens to take a photo, but I don't think I could stomach looking at the photo on my blog. Not sure how to resolve the situation... I may try to Dyson it off the ceiling!

Birdie Promotion

A card made for a friend who has been promoted... I found some Junkitz Salsa patterned paper covered in tiny hats almost identical to the stamped bird's hat!

Cake!

I love this little fairy cake stamp from the Happy Day stamp set (which forms part of the Happy Day Simply Sent kit). I thought I'd try using it with some of the Soft Subtles range and I like the end product even more than I thought I would.

I'm also a huge fan of chipboard and I love the SU "On Board" chipboard, particularly the Blossoms and Basics set. The set is good value, in my view, as there are six 22.9 cm x 22.9 cm sheets in the set for £12.95; I know I've bought packs including six or ten small chipboard shapes for £2 or £3 in the past. I coloured the piece of chipboard with a thin wash using an Old Olive Watercolour Wonder Crayon; the net effect gives a colour more akin to Mellow Moss, which co-ordinates well with the other colours used in the card.

The base card is Pale Plum (half of an A4 sheet folded in half), with a layer of Barely Banana (stamped with the Paisley background stamp using Pale Plum ink) adhered to the left hand side. There's a thin strip (approximately 2cms) of Perfect Plum card on top of that and I've used my paper piercing tool to pierce holes on each side of the Perfect Plum strip.

I stamped the cake with Black Stazon on Whisper White cardstock and, after colouring it with Soft Subtles Watercolour Wonder Crayons, I punched the image with the scallop punch. I used the scallop punch as I think it makes it easier to adhere the punched image to the piece of chipboard - I tend to use the "petals" from the scallop as some extra cardstock to use as a base for for glue. Have a look at the photos below. (You could punch a circle instead, but the scallop petals are handy to use for glue application; alternatively, you could cut a rough circle slightly smaller than the chipboard scallop, but I'm too lazy!).

I've used Dazzling Diamonds glitter (adhered with a glue pen) around the chipboard scallop and I've added some dots on the "petals". The white flower and simulated pearl are from the SU Pretties kit and the ribbon is Elegant Eggplant. I've stamped "happy day" using Pale Plum ink in the lower right hand corner of the base card; it gives a pale watermark effect if you use the same colour of ink/cardstock.

All products by Stampin' Up!

It must be a mistake or an April Fool...

My entry was picked by the random number generator as the "winner" of Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge (No. 41) yesterday! Click here to have a look. Make sure you have a look at Beate's blog, Fresh & Fun too... it's brilliant and really inspirational. Also, if you have time, it's well worth having a look at all of the entries for each of the Weekend Sketch Challenges (you can see the entries for No. 41 by clicking here) - there are so many talented people out there and I always enjoy browsing the entries.

I never win anything!!