Language of Love Florals

Hey! 

As promised, I'm back today with some details for card I shared yesterday plus another one too! 

Both these cards are using the Language of Love stamp set. Neither are at all romancey - yes I wanted to get more use out of this cute stamp set. You can still order this set which is in the Spring/Summer catalogue until the end of the month. 

Stamp Set: Language of Love, Happy Day

Ink: Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz

Cardstock: Whisper White, Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz, Silver Glimmer Paper

Punch: Bird Builder, Small Heart, Owl Builder

Embellishments: Linen Thread, Subtles Buttons

Here I used the sweet little small hearts to make some sweet flowers. I love the patterns on then and look great. I decided I wanted the leaves to have some texture to match the flowers so I used the spotty banner and punched after. I know the banner isn't quite large enough to cover the whole branch but it doesn't look too bad. 

Buttons, a little linen thread bow and glimmer heart are cute finishing touches for this clean and fresh card! 

Stamp Set: Language of Love, Happy Day

Ink: Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz

Cardstock: Whisper White, Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz, Silver Glimmer Paper

Punch: Bird Builder, Pansy, Fancy Flower, Owl Builder

Embellishments: Linen Thread, Subtles Buttons

Yes this is quite similar to the other card, same colour scheme, but just using one larger flower. I used the love text heart to make my own pattern paper by nesting the heart together a couple times then punching in the centre. If there's a little overlap, it doesn't matter all that much as the button can cover it. See the image below.

The fancy flower punch is retiring at the end of this month so get in quick if you want it before it's gone for good! Doesn't it layer beautifully with the pansy punch?!

I used the wing from the bird builder to make the leaves. Again button, linen thread bow and a glitery heart are sweet finishing touches.

Hope you're having a great day. 

Happy Stampin',

Masculine Chevrons

Hi! 

Well, my plans went out the window! I got a text from mum really late Sunday night asking for help getting the house cleaned and ready (their house is split in two and they sometimes rent out the other side to people who need temporary accommodation). She had a teacher from school who needs somewhere to stay for the next 7 weeks. Anyway she was way behind on getting things sorted before he arrived on Tuesday. 

Monday morning he asked if he could come today...not tomorrow. She needed all the more help so I went over after school and didn't get back til late. I was completely shattered and ended up going straight to bed. 

This evening I went for a nap and woke a lot later than intended then I spent the rest of the evening making favour boxes for a client's wedding. I'm at 50 now so I thought it was time to stop for the night, get into bed and write a super quick blog post. 

Stamp Set: Happy Day

Ink: VersaMark

Cardstock: Basic Black, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry

DSP: Kaleidoscope

Punch: Banner

Other: White Embossing Powder, White Gel Pen, ZigZag rotary cutter

This was a really  quick and simple card I made for my brother-in-law's birthday last week. I'm really loving black for guy cards at the moment! The border was marked out lightly with pencil and then hand drawn over the top with a white gel pen. 

I white embossed the sentiment on the rather boring looking black grid pattern paper. I think it works really well on this card though as it really highlights the bright colour accents. The chevrons are punched out with the banner punch, same as this card. The banner punch was a sale-a-bration item, but will be available again for purchase in the new annual catty beginning July 1st!

Okay so I need some sleep, night all! 

Happy Stampin',

Simple Sunday - Happy Sparkles

Hello! 

Its been a while since I last did a Simple Sunday post! Its a new month and now that work is less up in the air I'm hoping my emotions can become a bit more settled and I'll get back to blogging daily! 

So today I have a Simple Sunday card for you today using a few left overs.

Stamp Set: Happy Day

Ink: Rich Razzleberry

Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Crumb Cake

DSP: Natural Composition

Embellishments: Gold Sequin Trim

I had this triangle piece of Natural Composition left over from another project and I really wasn't sure what to do with it. I've seen some cards using diagonals around the net and while I find things on angles really annoying I wanted to give it a go. I added some rich razzleberry ink to the pattern paper and added it to the card. Around the edge of the pattern paper and crumb cake I did a little hand drawn line as it really added a nice finishing touch. 

This Natural Composition paper is one product I am seriously going to miss - yes its on THE LIST! If you're going to miss it too why not stock up on another pack before its gone! Its even reduced - £8.05 from £11.50!! 

The stamp-a-ma-jig really came in handy to get the sentiment perfectly positioned and parallel to the pattern paper. I accented it with a few scattered sequins! 

Hope you're having a beautiful end to your weekend - the weather has been gorgeous today! 

Happy Stampin', 

Scattered Mosaic

Hello! 

Ugh! Another awful day...I shan't go into it, I'll skip the drama and head straight to the card. I have another cheery number for you.

Stamp Set: Mosaic Maddness, Happy Day

Ink: Strawberry Slush, Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry, Island Indigo

Cardstock: Island Indigo, Whisper White

Punch: Mosaic, Itty Bitty

Big Shot: Modern Mosaic TIEF

Here's a card we made last month at card club using the Mosaic Madness stamp set. Its really a fun and easy card which showcases the embossing folder, stamp set and punch co-ordination perfectly! 

I love the scattered look of the mosaics and those bright colours really pop against the white background. 

I made sure I used a mixture of sizes - large medium and small for more variation. 

I wanted the sentiment to be kept pretty simple so its been stamped in white cardstock and just added to the card - the banner end just adds a subtle little finishing touch. 

As the card base was dark I added a white piece of card inside and seeing as I had a bunch of stamps and inks out thought it'd be fun to quickly do a little stamping detail. 

Hope you enjoyed today's share. 

Happy Stampin',

Spring Blossom

Hello! 

We are enjoying another day of beautiful blue skies and sun! Its still quite chilly but I love seeing the sun - doesn't it just make the world a better place?!

Today's card is using the Freshly Made sketch. Its pretty simple but after a little bit of deliberation I just knew what I wanted to make! 

I've been enjoying all the blossom on the trees these past few weeks! It hasn't been too windy around here so the blossom has really stuck around which is just lovely! I love driving or walking along and seeing fluffy pink and white trees. They look like big balls of candy floss! So I thought I'd do a little spray of blossom....

Stamp Set: Gently Falling, Petite Petals, Happy Day

Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Always Artichoke, Blushing Bride, Primrose Petals, So Saffron, Crushed Curry

Punch: Petite Petals, Itty Bitty

Embellishments: Pearls

I wanted to create a very clean and fresh card So decided to stamp the leaves and flowers on white rather than coloured cardstock. I find that coloured card can look a little heavy and the colour can be more intense so to soften the colours I simply stamped them on the white. 

I know the Gently Falling set is designed for Autumn but I think it makes gorgeous leaves in Spring and Summer too! If I can get more use out of a stamp set, I'm pleased! 

I thought that as the leaves had 2 layers of stamping it would be a good idea for the blossoms to also have the same. I 'd noticed that there were two stamps in the Petite Petals set that were very similar to the Gently Falling so it seemed the perfect match. I love the co-ordination you get between different stamp sets with Stampin' Up! 

I felt that the centres needed some yellow and some pearls too just for a bit of an elegant pop! I also Love the little smattering of pearls across the card too! 

Have a beautiful day! 

Happy Stampin',

Dot, Dot, Dot

 Hello! 

I hope you had a good beginning to the week! Yesterday was not exactly as planned. Stuart managed to scrape off the surface of his nice new smart shoes on Sunday evening playing football (men never learn!!) anyway so we spent the day visiting shop after shop trying to get another pair! It was a stressful ordeal and I'm glad its in the past now. 

The wedding rehearsal was last night and he's been given all his orders now. Big day is today! So I have a very speedy post as we need to be heading out and there's lots to do.

Stamp Set: Geometrical, Happy Day

Ink: Bermuda Bay, Gumball Green, Crushed Curry

Cardstock: Gumball Green, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White

Big Shot: Chalk Talk Framelits

Punch: Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border

This is a card we made back in February at card club, I just haven't got around to sharing it with you until now! I love the pattern we created by just stamping the dot stamp over and over - all the shades were created by restamping without reinking! 

Its a very simple card really, I like the small scallops which mimic the dots in the background and on the colourful strip. I also like the chevron which has a stronger geometric line to it which breaks up all the dots! 

Sorry for being so quick today, 

Hope you enjoyed the quick share! 

Happy Stampin',

Summer Silhouettes

Hello there!

Woah, bit of an interesting day! I got offered a job! So its just a temporary job for a couple weeks working in the student services department at the school that I've been invigillating at. Its not much but I'm quite excited to try something new! It'll be a tiring few weeks though juggling this new job, Auntie Lil, Stampin' Up stuff plus I'm playing the role of Miriam in the church's Bible exhibition for local school kids next week! 

Do you have stamp sets that you got thinking you'd love them and use them ALL the time but rarely pick up? I sure do! One of those sets for me is Summer Silhouettes. I thought it was a really pretty set and I just loved the leaves in it, I've often gotten it out to use but just haven't made it work in the card. Anyway I decided I was determined to make some cards using this set, I'd gone on google image search to collect a few ideas - try and get myself out of the mental block I seem to be having with the set. I came across a really simple and sweet card by Julia and knew I HAD to CASE it. You can see her card here. The colours were just fabulous!

Stamp Set: Summer Silhouettes, Happy Day

Ink: Pistachio Pudding, Pear Pizzazz, Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay

Cardstock: Whisper White, Coastal Cabana

I kept the card quite similar to the one I was CASEing. I really loved the look of this homemade pattern paper (DSP) and really wanted that to be the focal point of the card. Its really quite a simple little card that you could make using some DSP.

This piece was one whole piece that I stamped and then cut afterwards so the flowers match up. Quick tip for knowing where you should stamp the sentiment, place the the "DSP" pieces loose on the card base where you'd like them then use a pencil to lightly draw a line where the gap between the two pieces of "DSP" will be. You can then remove your "DSP" and stamp between the two pencil lines. Rub them out and add your DSP with some dimensionals for a bit of added lift.

Happy Stampin',

Love-ly Spring-y

Hi there! 

Happy Friday!!! This is my second day in London and another scheduled post for y'all! My friend Emma (who I am staying with) and I are hitting the art galleries today. Its been quite a while since I've been to galleries so I'm looking forward to reliving my student days and seeing some art! 

Stamp Set: Happy Day, Language of Love

Ink: Melon Mambo, Island Indigo

Cardstock: Whisper White, Pear Pizzazz

DSP: Gingham Garden

Punch: Postage Stamp, Small Curly Label, Small Heart

Other: White Gel Pen

I hope this card goes to show that the Language of Love set isn't just for "love" cards. With this colour combo, the card just screams spring!! I think this is just a bit of a different take on a spring card - generally we think of them as being very floral so I like this with the hearts. 

This was actually a card we made back in January at card club - that was a while ago, huh? I thought I'd wait for Spring to come to show you this one though!

I think it really is the the Gingham Garden DSP that makes this so spring like. Its got to be one of, if not my favourite, paper of this year! 

The dash dot is a cute touch that just adds a little extra finishing touch. I love this technique which is so easy and cheap to do and gives a great finished look. 

Hope you enjoyed this. I'm back from London tonight so hopefully if I'm not too shattered and busy I'll have something new for you tomorrow! 

Happy Stampin',

Kaleidoscope Guy FMS124

Hi!

I'm back today with a Freshly Made Sketch. I actually struggled with this sketch for quite a while - sometimes when you've got too much choice its difficult just going of something with confidence!

Stamp Set: Hello Lovely, Happy Day

Ink: Crushed Curry, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Versamark

Cardstock: Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise

DSP: Kaleidoscope

Embellishments: Brights Candy Dots

Other: White Embossing Powder, White Gel Pen, Zig Zag Paper Trimmer Blade

I'm actually really liking this card....now. It took quite a while - I must've repositioned those striped pieces of DSP about 10 times! I got them in the wrong order so the stripes didn't line up - they were pretty well stuck down  so removing them was not an easy task. Eventually they got there though. I purposely chose a paper that looked so fun and dramatic but also really quite scary to use - its very in your face! The white lines around the edge is a great way of making a faux layer and is such a simple way of just adding a little something to the card! 

I debated about what to add on top of this background - I knew I wanted a strong pop of colour. I finally pulled out a stamp set I got at convention and just haven't played around with much. I also decided to keep the sentiment monochrome so it would blend with the background and not distract from the colourful elements. The candy dots seemed to finish it off nicely adding little dots of colour around the card to balance it. 

I'm super happy with the end result - it would make a very funky masculine card! I always need those!!

Hope you enjoyed this. Do you play along in challenges? If so, which? 

Happy Stampin',

Inky Fingers Challenge 7

Hi!

Today is a another Inky Fingers Challenge, its the third week in the month which is also know as stamp set challenge! 

We've got a beautiful stamp set for you to play and create with this week, Flower Shop!

Stamp Set: Flower Shop, Gorgeous Grunge, Happy Day

Ink: Marina Mist, Wisteria Wonder, Pear Pizzazz, Pistachio Pudding, VersaMark

Cardstock: Marina Mist, Wisteria Wonder, Pear Pizzazz, Pistachio Pudding

Punch: Pansy, Bird Builder

Embellishments: Pearls, Tea Lace Paper Doilies, Baker's Twine

Other: White Embossing Powder, Blender Pens

So the flowers are embossed in white on coloured cardstock, for a little more dimension I coloured the flower in with blender pens. It worked really well! 

I had pretty much everything on the card and it was just looking a bit flat, thankfully I hadn't actually stuck everything down yet so it all came off and I added some splatters in the background with the Gorgeous Grunge set. I had toyed with stamping some tone on tone flowers all over the background but I was afraid it'd be too much and I really didn't want to detract from the main focal point. 

The leaves are actually the wing from the bird builder punch. To help them fit in with the flowers I sponged around the edge.

I went a little crazy, stamping, embossing and colouring in some flowers inside the card too! 

I hope you'll hop on over to the Inky Fingers blog to check out what the other talented design team members have made for you and then get creative. Make a card yourself and upload it. I would love to see your creations!

Happy Stampin',

Double Rainbows SUO89

Hi there! 

Today's creation is for the SU Only Challenge. What I love about SUO Challenges is that they are bi-weekly so it really gives a bit more time to ponder and think about the challenge and come up with something creative! This time the theme is a One Layer card. I think pretty much everyone struggles to make one layer cards - its just too tempting to pile up a few layers of paper and punches. One layer cards aren't very forgiving to mistakes. 

I had a long and hard think about what to do and in the end came up with this bright and cheery number...

Stamp Set: Happy Day

Ink: Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Pacific Point, Rich Razzleberry, Crumb Cake

Cardstock: Crumb Cake

Embellishments: Dazzling Diamonds

My best friend for this card was my stamp-a-ma-jig. For those of you who haven't been intoduced to the stamp-a-ma-jig, it is a tool for perfectly positioning your stamps! A must have stamping tool! 

I thought it'd be fun to use just one sentiment and repeat it in a rainbow of colours! The flourish at the bottom just finishes this card and adds a touch of elegance to quite a minimalistic funky card! 

For just that extra little touch and a bit of sparkle I used a 2 way glue pen to carefully trace over the letters of just the Pacific Point sentiment and added some dazzling diamonds glitter.

What I love about this card is that it could be easily replicated with a different sentiment, or in different colours for a whole different look at no extra effort! 

Here's another "stepped up" version of the rainbow sentiment card...

Stamp Set: Remembering Your Birthday

Ink: Melon Mambo, Real Red, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Bermuda Bay, Pacific Point, Rich Razzleberry

Cardstock: Whisper White

DSP:  Polka Dot Parade

Punch: Banner

Hope you enjoyed both these cards today and maybe I've inspired you to have a go at repeating sentiment as the main focal point of the card, or indeed making it a one layer card! 

Thanks for stopping by,

Happy Stampin',