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!!