Two days & counting...

Two days & counting until the new Stampin' Up! annual catalogue goes live!  As a demonstrator I can pre-order items from the catalogue so I get to play with them so I can show you what the products can do!  I've been playing with the Build a Birthday stamp set, some gorgeous Cherry On Top paper and of course the new in-colours.

I love, love, love the new in-colours and I can't make my mind up which is my most favourite - it's between Mint Macaron and Watermelon Wonder.  I wonder which will be your new favourite colour?

The Adventure Begins...

I've been working on a new proposition behind the scenes for Brides to be which I know they will absolutely love, so my card today has a really apt sentiment!  It's been a busy week writing newspaper articles, preparing a fundraiser for my son's nursery & making things for my stall at the Craftettes Summer Fair.  So it has been lovely to get back to the pleasure of making a card.

I've used the Adventure Awaits stamp set, it retires on 2 June 2015.   I've really enjoyed using it in both my card making and scrapbook layouts so had to get this card onto my blog before it vanishes.  I've used Gold Encore to burnish the camera die cut and the arrow.

Tomorrow I am holding my customer appreciation event and new catalogue launch open house.  I've been busy preparing lots of samples to show my customers with some of the new stamp sets and the 5 fabulous new in colours - I've totally fallen in love with them!

Will be back next week with some snaps of my open house event and the samples I made, thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend.

Dreaming of holidays...

Can you tell I have been dreaming about my holidays?  It's less than a month away and I am very giddy!  So I've been playing about with a watercolour background and using sea salt.  The salt soaks up some of the ink and creates a mottled effect which I absolutely love.   This stamp set, Adventure Awaits, retires on 2 June 2015 so you need to hurray with your order if you want one, I use it all the time on my cards and also my 12x12" scrapbook layouts.  In this case I have used white Staz-on and stamped the image onto some window sheet and mounted it with see-through pop dots.  I free cut the fish from the Adventure Bound paper stack and then just threaded the fish onto the linen thread using a darning needle.  Back later in the week with some more cards made with this stamp set, thanks for stopping by.

So in love...

So in love right now with hot smoked salmon, washi tape, chocolate banana cake and this devine stamp set 'Indescribable Gift'!  It was so absorbing sat in my craft room with my aqua painter and my ink pads colouring in this image, it was like being back at school!

 I've used one of the On Film framelits to frame my image, I love how it also embosses too.

The sentiment is from the Crazy About You stamp set and co-ordinating dies, which I am really pleased has made it into the main catalogue.

Thanks for stopping by, back later in the week

Indescribable Gift

We have sunshine here in Adlington today, a complete contrast to the downpour earlier in the week.  Talking of gifts, I absolutely love this stamp set from Stampin' Up!, it will retire at the end of this month so if you want to get your hands on it, you'll need to be quick.  I've simply stamped the image in memento black and then used a combination of Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake & Early Expresso to create splatters around the flowers using the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set.  The Sahara Sand lace trim is to die for and I've wrapped a piece around the bottom of the card along with a piece of wash and the sentiment.  Back soon with another card made using Indescribably Gift, thanks for stopping by. 

Messy stars

It's been pouring down most of the week in Adlington, so plenty of time to craft inside.  I've had so much fun messing about with my craft stash in my craft room, and getting my hands filthy!  On this card I've applied texture paste through one of Stampin' Up!'s decorative masks onto watercolour paper and then let it dry.  I've then sprayed the panel with water and applied colour directly from the re-inker bottle.  The sentiment is from the Pictogram Punches stamp set which I am pleased to say has made it onto the catalogue again this year woo hoo!  The little row of stars is from the Mini Treat Bag framelits dies and I think they are so cute, I've finished the card by added a silver glimmer star and some metallic bakers twine.  Thanks for stopping by, see you again soon

Spraying stamps with water

I have been playing with my stash today and wanted to create a water coloury effect.  It's been a while since I tried this technique and now I wonder why as I love the results.  All you need to do is ink up your stamp as normal and, before you stamp it onto your watercolour paper, give it a quick spray with water.  I've used the Hardwood background stamp to create the frame and added a few splatters with Gorgeous Grunge.

Back later with some more photos of my messing about in the craft room!

Spring has arrived...

Well, spring has finally arrived with a lovely long weekend with sun and showers.  Inspired by the colours in my garden I have created a birthday card using the Butterfly Basics stamp set, which I am really pleased to say has made it into the new annual Stampin' Up! catalogue.  My colour scheme is Soft Sky, So Saffron & Wild Wasabi.  I've coloured the flower with my aqua painter with ink from the lid of the ink pad.  I've raised the flower on dimensional and finished with a label and linen thread.  

Back later with another card...