joy

Joy?  This medallion stamp brings me joy... I'm obsessed with it!  It's so versatile... I've been using it for scrapbook page backgrounds too.  

I thought I'd have a go at making some Christmas cards with it and this is the first of the batch.  The "joy" stamp is from the Perfect Presents stamp set.  There's a thick stripe of Dazzling Diamonds glitter along the left hand side of the Merry Moments patterned paper... again, I've used the new glue pen. 

If you'd like to purchase the medallion stamp, please contact me by clicking here. 

Thanks for looking!

stuff for sale

I have a few old Stampin' Up! stamp sets for sale.  You can view them on the side bar of my other blog by clicking here.  Thanks!

joy

This is the last of the batch of Christmas cards made last week using the Season of Joy stamp set and So Swirly background stamp.  To be honest, I'm not so keen on this one....  I think it is the red ink sponged around the focal stamped piece which doesn't do it for me!  I do sponge and distress everything to death, but I don't like the effect with red ink (well, not on this card, at least).

I do like the strip of Dazzling Diamonds glitter along the top of the scallop edged border, though - I used the new chisel tip glue pen to draw a line of glue and sprinkled the glitter over it.

cocoa christmas

Another Christmas card made at the same time as the other batch last week.  Again, I've used the Season of Joy stamp set and the So Swirly wheel.  The base layer was made from Close to Cocoa cardstock and the card itself was made from Naturals Ivory cardstock (my favourite!).

I've stamped the poinsettia stamp in Old Olive and cut out some extra petals to use as leaves.  The tree was coloured with markers and stamped; you can see the use of the two shades of green markers (Old Olive and Garden Green) much better in this photo. 

double layer tree

Another easy Christmas card using the Season of Joy stamp set.  I've coloured the tree with markers twice (two shades of green for the tree itself - Old Olive and Garden Green)... one tree was cut with paper snips and layered on top of the other.  I've layered the second tree slightly lower than the first tree using Dimensionals and I've covered it in Dazzling Diamonds glitter.  The Real Red base card was stamped using the So Swirly wheel stamp with versamark ink to give a scroll effect watermark... love those wheels... so quick and easy!

I've used Close to Cocoa card to mount the sentiment and the tree (both of which were stamped on Whisper White).  The patterned paper is from the Merry Moments set.

Have a good weekend!

tree trimmings

I love this new Tree Trimmings stamp set!  I finally managed to mount the stamps and use it a few days ago.  For this card, I've cut out the baubles and mounted them using Dimensionals foam pads.  The swirl on the base card was stamped with Chocolate Chip ink using the swirl stamp from the Season of Joy stamp set.  I also love the new Old Olive stripe ribbon... so glad we've got it in our new catalogue; I've been using it on quite a few of my Christmas cards.

silent night

At last... I've made a start on my Christmas cards!  I've used the Silent Night stamp set for this one.  The image was watercoloured with Earth Elements watercolour wonder crayons and I've used Dazzling Diamonds glitter (applied with the glue pen) for snow.

The base card was made using Old Olive cardstock and I've sponged Chocolate Chip ink around the edges.  The strip of patterned paper is from the Merry Moments pack.  I'm really pleased with this card... I'm definitely going to make a few more the same!

daylight and sunshine!

At last... seem decent daylight (with sunshine - as opposed to grey cloud) to take a photo of this card!   The card was really easy to make, but I quite like the effect.  I've used the new Retro Remix wheel with a Close to Cocoa ink cartridge on the whole of the base card... a cheap and easy way to make your own background paper.  I've sponged around the edge of the card using the same colour of ink.  I'd sponge everything given half the chance, so sometimes I need to restrain myself!

I've used the new 1 3/4" large circle punch (ideal for layering with the other circle punches), new word window punch and the 1" circle punch... also the Hello Again stamp set (for the flower)... such a cute and useful little stamp set for £9.95.  The sentiment is from the Trendy Trees stamp set. I've also used the new mat pack and paper piercing tool to make holes around the edge of the Close to Cocoa layer... easy and effective.

Lovely and sunny today... it was nice yesterday too, but I think it's to rain tomorrow, which is a shame.

Secondly, another quick photo of a card I made a couple of weeks ago... the photo was taken at night, unfortunately, so the rotten light and use of flash has bleached the image a bit.  I've used the new Circle Circus stamp set and the Good Friend stamp set for the sentiment... again - quick and easy!  Still guilty of over-use of those Earth Elements colours, I'm afraid... I'm using them for everything at the moment. I'll try to use something different in my next post (but not guarantees!).

Have a great weekend.

autumn...

Another autumnal card... and another birthday card (well, two, in fact - I made two the same, one for each of my aunts!  They're coming to visit tonight, so it was a bit of a "Last Minute Larry" job on my part... just made it in the nick of time).  I love autumn, so it's a great excuse to use Earth Elements cardstock and inks for just about everything at the moment.

This card is fairly basic to make.  The only remotely time-consuming thing was cutting out the frame.  (Yes, I DID deliberately cut off the little twirly bits at the top and bottom of the bracket - I wanted a cleaner looking bracket frame for this card!).  I've sponged Chocolate Chip ink around each of the layers.

No rain here today... a proper autumn day.  Cold, but not too cold... and lots of leaves on the ground - brilliant!

Products used:-

- stamps: Autumn Days; Frames with Flourish; A Bit of Birthday Cheer

- cardstock: Whisper White; Ruby Red textured; More Mustard

- inks: Chocolate Chip; More Mustard; Really Rust

- other: Pumpkin Pie stripe ribbon (love this!); antique brass large brad; stampin-ma-jig (to line up the birthday sentiment in the frame)

thanks so much

I had to try out my new medallion stamp and eyelet border punch straight away... so used them both (and the new Pumpkin Pie striped ribbon and word window punch) on the same card!  Again, Earth Elements colours for the main image layers.  I've stamped on Naturals Ivory cardstock (which is a really rustic cardstock - nice and thick and a totally different effect from the much smoother Whisper White/Very Vanilla cardstocks which are designed for clean stamping).  Colours soak or "bleed" into Naturals Ivory cardstock, which gives a nice effect and is useful for watercolouring.  

The base cardstock is SU Real Red and is approximately 4" x 4.5".  I've inked the medallion with Ruby Red and Pumpkin Pie (and was going to use Ruby Red as my base cardstock, but just fancied the brighter Real Red; Ruby Red would have co-ordinated better, but Real Red is a bit brighter and livens up the card!).  The Close to Cocoa strip was cut from a sheet of 12" x 12" textured cardstock.

Can't get enough of the medallion stamp...

good friend

A really quick and easy card made using some of the circle stamps from Circle Circus and the "good friend" sentiment from the stamp set of the same name.  Again, I've used more-or-less Earth Elements colours... I can't see past those colours at the moment (it's the "autumn feeling"!). The base card was made using So Saffron SU cardstock.

major excitement...

A new box of SU goodies!  My UPS man came late at 3.30pm... it was very much a case of "watched kettle doesn't boil"/"watched doorbell doesn't ring"... I was starting to hyperventilate!  Then, when he did eventually materialise, I almost didn't answer the door... I couldn't see his van through the glass (it turned out he had parked it at a distance) and assumed it was another junk caller trying to sell me monoblock cleaning or tree cutting services that I don't want (but, if I did, I wouldn't buy it from a bloke who randomly turned up at my door anyway... funnily enough).

Can't wait to play with my new things!  I've got the medallion stamp... excitement!  And... the new border eyelet punch!  Now I just need to find some free time to play with everything... that's the hardest part. 

cupcakes

I've been busy cutting out cupcakes... 12 large ones and four small ones!  One or two doesn't take too long, but 16 takes a fair while.  I've made four of these cards, you see... three for birthdays and one to keep as a sample.  I'm really pleased with the colour scheme... I've used Earth Elements, which wouldn't be the most obvious colour scheme to use with cupcakes... but I was thinking "autumn" and thought I'd give it a try.  I used the Stampin-ma-jig to line up the "happy birthday to you" sentiment to make a circle... the idea came to me in a flash of inspiration and it worked!

Gone are the days when I used to make one of each card. I've been making cards for 20+ years and I never, EVER used to make more than one of the same card... but for the last few months I've been making multiples of most cards - it saves time and time is something most of us don't have much of (or, at least, much to spare!).

Products used:-

- cardstock: Close to Cocoa textured cardstock; Whisper White

- stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes (page 32 of the catalogue)

- ink: Black Stazon; Close to Cocoa

- Patterned paper: Spiced Cider

- punches: scallop circle; scallop border; 1 3/8" and 1" circles

- ribbon: Chocolate Chip tafetta

- other: Stampin-ma-jig; white gel pen; glue pen; Tombow mono multi glue; Dazzling Diamonds glitter; Earth Elements watercolour wonder crayons

new catalogue

At last we have a brand new Stampin' Up! annual catalogue!  It was launched on 1st October (whilst I was on holiday - good timing on my part!) and it contains some great new things... I'm really glad that we have the Flight of the Butterfly stamp set and matching butterfly punch, as well as 12" x 12" packs of kraft cardstock, the eyelet border punch and the word window punch.  Click here to view the catalogue on the Stampin' Up! website.  Please drop me an email if you would like more information.  I have purchased catalogues for all existing customers... your free copy of the new catalogue will be with you shortly, if it is not already.  Otherwise, please contact me if you would like to purchase a catalogue at the reduced price of £4 inclusive of postage.

changes...

I've been on holiday for the last week in a place called Gardenstown on the Aberdeenshire coast.  I've posted about it here... I now have two blogs!  My other blog, Carpe Diem, will become the repository for my ramblings, scrapbooking photos, general photos and other random stuff.  This blog will become my Stampin' Up! blog from today onwards, so this will be my last "non-Stampin' Up!" post.  I've moved my lovely cow banner to my other blog (which is now the Carpe Diem blog).  All a bit confusing for now, I know, but it will make things easier in future and I've been meaning to get this sorted for a long time... but just haven't had time.