Saturday 30 April 2011

Something a bit different...

Me again! Today I'm sharing my latest Calendar 365 Page. I started the challenge in January, with mentor Kathyrn, where you create a page for each month of the year and journal each day in the small sqaures. It's a great challenge and I had loads of fun doing this page:


I recently got the Suzi Blu 'Spring Flower Chic' stamp and absolutely LOVE it! It's pretty big which is perfect for journalling (my sketch book is A4 size so you get an idea of the size). I also used the ippity Alphabetically Adorable for the lettering, also a great size.

To create the page I've used red & white acrylic paint, paper pieced the lettering and image, added scraps of ribbon and vellum and done aLOT of sewing!

Thanks for dropping in,


Friday 29 April 2011

Queen of Everything!

Well I couldn't let a Royal Wedding go by without making a tribute to the event now, could I? Feeling very inspired by all the royal hype, I invested in some fancy paper and got out all the shiny things I could find. Here's what I came up with:
I cut out one of the crowns from the paper and embellished it with black stitching, silver gems and glossy accents before attaching it to more paper with foam pads:


I've added a tag from Ippity's 'Just Wanted to Say' and a sentiment from 'The Cat's Pyjamas' 'Loving Mew'.

Paper's: Teresa Collins 'Royalty Paper' & Bazzill Basics 'Black Tie'

For all us UK gals (and guys) enjoy the long Bank Holiday weekend,




Wednesday 27 April 2011

For you

Hello.


Sorry for the poor picture I cant seem to get good light anywhere today.


I have made a little card and box for it to go in.


I have used the unity store kit


The right words


Which is available here from Emily.


Thanks for looking.


Tuesday 26 April 2011

Sardine Tin Art?

Have you ever tried Sardine Tin Art? You should it is fun! I've recycled this tin with a Spring theme and using a variety of stamps available over at Make The Day Special and Ippity Inspiration.


So all you need is an empty and cleaned sardine tin, the clouds are stamps from the Unity Adventures In Happiness (which is on sale over at the shop!) and for the flower I used the {Ippity} Gurnsey Gingham and {Ippity} A Bit Of Burlap.


Have a Spring-y day!

Monday 25 April 2011

One Set, Three Ways!

Morning, hope you are all having a good Easter and eating lots of Choccy!

I like to try and get as much mileage as I can out of my stamps, sometimes it works and sometimes I always just have to have that Rubba!

Today I'd like to show you how I used One stamp set Three ways!

I have used, I think one of my most favourite stamp sets.....'The Artist In You' by Donna Downey. Available in the UK from the lovely Emily here

First up is my first card.......

Using my very favourite 'Browny' shades! The backing paper had a lighter stripe down the centre of it, so I used this to stamp and emboss the sentiment on. I stitched (albeit not very straight!!) around the words and around the backing paper and then inked the edges. When I looked at the flowers, for some reason I thought of Buttons.........who knows how my mind works!!! so I had a little rummage and found some Brown buttons to add. A little bit of Glossy Accents to highlight and some ribbon and I was done!

I decided to go a bit 'Monochromatic' with my 2nd card :-) Love Black and White! Really simple, but I think effective card......sentiment just stamped and embossed and then matted onto Black and then Black and White paper, all I needed were some flowers and little gems to finish.
I couldn't have these stamps out and not make a Tag, could I?? Really easy again!! I just stamped the leaves with 2 different colours of ink, embossed and then coloured with my little VersaMagic Chalk inks. I then just overstamped with the Scroll stamp and added some flowers and fibres, oh and the ever present Glossy Accents!
Thanks for looking, I hope you have an enjoyable Bank Holiday :-) and I hope you enjoyed my 'variations on a Theme!'

I'll catch up with you again soon, I hope.

She xx

Sunday 24 April 2011

A Quote canvas.....

Having recently seen the gorgeous work of Christy Tomlinson I felt inspired to have a go at a canvas using some of Christy's techniques but in my style. I usually like all my craft to look "clean" so this was a bit of a challenge but one that I enjoyed and U'm quite pleased with the result.

I used a 6" x 4" board canvas which I stuck patterned paper on to and then used gesso to cover it. I then stamped the sentiment from Unity's Quote Bundle Pack using black Versafine ink. I also used the grid stamp from the Unity store kit - Moments In Bloom to stamp randomly over the canvas.

I added rub-ons, handmade bunting and some puffy stickers and then used a black fineliner pen to highlight elements.

Materials used:
Canvas, My Mind's Eye papers
Unity stamps (as above), black Versafine ink, black Letraset pen, green Versamagic chalk ink
Rub-ons: Heidi Grace, American Crafts, Creative Imaginations
Making Memories puffy stickers
twine


Thanks for visiting!

Jo x

Saturday 23 April 2011

Simple Saturday

Since my cardmaking breakthrough last week, I've been embracing the 'clean and simple' with the help of the Sophie's Sentiments stamp set. Who would have thought that a simple (though lovely) little sentiment set could change the way I feel about cardmaking?

Happy Birthday Card


I've made a few this morning, but this one's my favourite. I stamped directly onto my ribbon using Stazon - no bleeding of the ink! Hurrah!

Have a good weekend folks x

Friday 22 April 2011

Love Ewe

I have officially fallen in love with these adorable sheep from The Cat's Pyjamas (available here). When Emily got a new batch of stock in and I saw the sheep had returned (as a pair this time), I just had to have them! Aren't they just the cutest?

 I've made a matching tag to go with today's card using the same stamp.

Other materials: promarkers, ribbon, sewing machine, buttons, scalloped card

Wishing you a wonderful Easter weekend,

Thursday 21 April 2011

Wazzup!!

Wazzup!!  That's What this adorable Li'l Grumpy wants to know, he's from the Li'l Grumpies set of stamps by Smeared Ink. The Li'l Grumpy is stamped with a multicoloured dye ink pad, I then blended the image with a blender pen before heat embossing with clear embossing powder.  I inked up an embossing folder with the same ink, put a piece of white card stock in it, and ran it through my machine, I gave this a quick blend before heating embossing it.  I cleaned my embossing folder before embossing some purple coredinations card.  I then die cut my images, punched some circles out of the card scraps, and then played around with my layers until i was happy with the layout.

I hope this Li'l Grumpy has made you smile today!
Suzi

Wednesday 20 April 2011

Easter cards part one

Hello.

A long post coming up
I have been busy making Easter cards.

Now not actually having any real Easter type stamps this was a bit difficult.
So my first though was to make them as spring like as possible.

Then my second was Faberge eggs...i just love them.

I don't think my second idea worked out too well lol.

But i am still quite pleased with them all.

I have used Unity stamp sets


Moments in bloom.

I have kept the design very simple on all cards as i wanted the focus to be on just the stamped area.


I have used my oval nestibilities.


Alot of work went into this one,


If you like it i will show you how i made it next week.










This card uses unity stamp sets

Quiet essence

and life becoming.

The rose is stamped in two colours and the whole image clear embossed.






Another one using moments in bloom.
Slightly different from the one above.
Just change the colours and left of the crackle accents.






This is again using the moments in bloom set.
I started by spraying the card with gold glimmer mist.
Once dry i stamped the background.
Then stamped over with two colours on the stamp.
See who needs Easter stamps lol.
All stamps used are available from Emily at make the day special.
To see part two please pop over to the ippity inspiration blog.
Thanks for looking.







Tuesday 19 April 2011

A Baby Boom!

Hello everyone!

Its Emily here, shock horror I have made a card :)

It's been a bit busy amongst our friends this weekend, two little baby boys arrived to two sets of very proud parents. I have been baby shopping (got very broody) and one card has been made so here it is!




Stamp image - Unity
Stamp sentiment - {ippity}
Papers - DCWV
frame, labels and carnations dies
Stampin' up punch

Thanks for dropping by today,
Happy stamping

Emily

Monday 18 April 2011

Flourishes!

Hi there and 'Happy Monday' to you :-)

Today I have some quick 'One Layer' cards to show you..............made with my gorgeous 'Florishes' sets available from the lovely Emily here
Here they are all together......
I have used 'Gerbera Daisies' for this one. I have coloured with my Inktense pencils and just stamped and clear embossed the sentiment at the bottom.

This one is the 'Sweet Violets'
I just love the sentiment on this one.....from 'Hello Hyacinth'


Lastly the 2 Sunflowers!
I have used 'Sunflowers'....obviously for these! One I kept Black and White to show the clarity of these stamps, they really have got to be one of the best Acrylic stamps I have used.
I hope you like my little cards.....just goes to show if you have lovely stamps that give great images you don't need to do a lot to get a lovely card :-)
I hope you have a good Monday and a great week, I'll catch up with you soon.

She xx

Sunday 17 April 2011

Birdy tag

I have a tag to share with you today using the 3 Unity store kits - Moments in Bloom, Quiet Essence and Life Becoming.

I covered the tag using papers before stamping the quote stamp from "Moments in Bloom" and part of the background stamp from "Quiet Essence".

I stamped the bird from "Life Becoming" on to shrink plastic using Stazon ink and then added them to the tag. Lace, ribbons and some roses cut from patterned paper were then added as final embellishments.

Materials used:
cardstock, Crate Paper Portrait papers
Unity stamps (as above), Versafine ink, Stazon ink, shrink plastic
lace, ribbon


As always, thanks for visiting

Jo xx

Saturday 16 April 2011

Clean & Simple Card Making

Just popping in to show off a little card I made for one of my bestest friends this week. She's had a little girl and I felt that something appropriately pink and pretty was in order.

I'm still developing my style as a cardmaker, but I am finding that 'clean and simple' seems to work well for me, so I kept it simple and used my new Sophie's Sentiments set.

Clean & Simple

This one sentiment actually uses three stamps from the set, but there's lots of ways the sentiments in the set can be combined and they're extremely easy to line up correctly. A couple of additional embellishments and I was done.

Simple. And...um...clean :)

Friday 15 April 2011

Baby Boy Blue

I continue to showcase the fabulous Unity Store Kit 'The Right Words'. This week, it's a baby card. I've combined it with Ippity's Moonbeams and Heartstrings, (also Unity stamps and available over at Emily's other Site Ippity Inspiration) which seemed a perfect match to me:

 I stitched round the left moon and added glossy accents to bring out the image. 

Do check out the other gorgeous Unity Store Kits. At £16.50 per kit, they're great value. 

Thanks for dropping by, 


Thursday 14 April 2011

I Love Suzi Blu

Good Afternoon All, Today I'd like to share a fun card I've made featuring the 'Queen of Glitter' image by Suzi Blu.  I stamped the image three times onto white card stock, coloured each girl to coordinate with my papers, and then cut them out.  I chose papers from Echo Park's Playground Collection, I created a little backdrop for the girls, before sticking them to the card.  The only real embellishment on this card is the bunting which is cut from one of the patterned papers.  I figured there was so much going on with all the bright colours that the card didn't need anything else.  Hope you like it!
Enjoy the rest of your Day
Suzi

Wednesday 13 April 2011

Hugs and kisses

Hello.

Today i wanted to show you the new dies from the cats pajamas.

I have used the ticket dies.

These are really cute and can be used with any stamps.


They cut really well too.

Ive used stamps from the cats pajamas.



and



This die also comes with a stencil so there are lots of possibilities to how you can use it.


Check them out here at make the day special.


Thanks for looking.

Tuesday 12 April 2011

A Butterfly Is Stealing My ATC!

I'm a bit distressed today - well my ATC is! I've used one of my favourite Unity kits Key to Joy.


The background has been stamped in Distress embossing powder on a Gesso treated collage background. The butterfly was stamped onto Modeling film and coloured with alcohol inks.


That's it from me this week. Catch you next week.


Monday 11 April 2011

Daisy, Daisy!

Hi there!
Emily has got some lovely new 'Flourishes' stamps in stock on the website here Couldn't resist them really!
I have used the 'Gerbera Daisies' set...........love ♥♥♥ them!I kept the card and the colouring very simple as the stamps are so lovely that I didn't want anything too fussy! I just coloured very lightly with my ProMarkers and matted the image onto a piece of background paper that I put through my ribbler. I have used the smaller 'bunch' on my card blank and just randomly stamped all over and clear embossed...........it wouldn't be me if a little embossing wasn't on it!! I stamped the saying and used my new punch to stamp it out. Just lightly coloured with Distress Inks all the way round the card, matt and image and saying. All that was needed then was a lovely piece of satin ribbon.
I have not used the Flourishes before and I am so impressed by the clarity of the images, do check out the Make The Day Special website, Emily has some great stamp ranges and she is always good on delivery :-)  I have got a few more Flourishes sets to play with, so I will be sharing more, hopefully in the coming weeks........

I hope you have a good Monday........I was hoping to do some gardening today, but the sun has gone in.........might just have to go to my craftroom instead!!!............

I'll catch up with you soon.

She xx

Sunday 10 April 2011

Spaced!

Another layout to show you this week...this is an 8" x 8" using the My Cute Stamp set Spaceships and robots.

I used a space themed paper by DCWV at the bottom of the layout and stamped the spaceship with Versamark before heat embossing with silver embossing powder. I then used various planets, stare and the "far out!" stamp again with Versamark but heat embossed these with white embossing powder.


Materials used:
DCWV cardstock and papers
My Cute Stamps (as above), Versamark ink, white and silver embossing powders
American Crafts Thickers, Creative Imaginations and Around The Block brads.

Jo x

Saturday 9 April 2011

Thinking Of You!

My new sets of stamps from Make The Day Special arrived this week, don't you just love good mail days? I swooned a little when I opened them!

Thinking Of You Main


Today I'm sharing just one of the projects I've used them on this week - a little card for my sister who's a bit fed up with being ill and off work. A 'Get Well Soon' card didn't seem appropriate but, luckily, the Sophie's Sentiments set from Lawn Fawn has something that will work for almost any card.

Thinking Of You


I've used the 'Thinking Of You' sentiment, along with one of the stamps from the Naturally You set - which is just peeking out behind the embellishments. (This set is only available in stores, so snap yours up and be the envy of all your friends!) So simple, but oh so lovely.

Friday 8 April 2011

Friendship

Have you checked out the new stock of Unity Store Kits of the Month? They're FABulous! One of my favourites is the gorgeous 'The Right Words' set, full of great sentiments. This week, I've made a card for a friend by paper-piecing the letters with some colourful card:


Wishing you all a happy weekend, 

Thursday 7 April 2011

Today's card featured the beautiful 'You Are Loved' stamp from Suzi Blu.  I stamped the image, and coloured it with Prismacolour pencils; I then cut the sentiment from the top and bottom of the image, and trimmed round the frame of the image to give more focus to the image.  I chose a mix of papers to coordinate with my colour scheme, and used my cropadile to add some decorative holes.  I trimmed the sentiment, added some colour, and then arrange it on my card.  Finally I added a few pearls for a bit of bling.

Have a great day
Suzi

Wednesday 6 April 2011

A little party

Hello.

I have two cards to share today.

Both using one of my favoutite Itty bitty stamps from Unity.

A little party.

Kept them both very simple.

Top card is matted onto card with some machine stitching ,

coloured with pro markers

and finished with bakers twine.

This card has loads of embossing

some machine stictching and again coloured with pro markers.

This stamp and the other itty bitty stamps can be found here.

Thanks for looking.

Tuesday 5 April 2011

Weddings

Hi All, today I have got a little shaped Wedding card for you with Fhiona and Finn on their wedding day!

These guys are from a Your Next Stamp set and are at half price, well worth a look-see!


Have a happy Tuesday!
Kim

Monday 4 April 2011

The Artist In You!

Morning!
Today I have a little Plaque and a very quick and easy card to show you.........
Firstly my card......
I seem to be in my Green phase again with this one! For the background I have used a Green spotty paper onto which I have over stamped the Vine from one of my favourite sets 'The Artist In You' available from the lovely Emily here I have also use the Grid stamp from 'Moments In Bloom'. I have also used this set for the focal image, stamped onto a die cut and embossed. The sentiment is from 'The Artist In You' I used my lovely new Circle punch, as there is no way I could cut out a circle!! All I needed to do was to add a bit of ribbon and adhesive gems.........told you it was quick and easy!!

I had so much fun painting my Heart last week, I decided to try something different this week.........I found this little Porcelain Plaque, I wasn't sure that paints would work on it, but I knew Alcohol Inks would!

It started as a White Plaque........I coloured it with my favourite colours of Alcohol Inks. I then stamped the sentiment and rubbed off the ink to reveal the White base. The leaf at the side is stamped with VersaMark ink and I've gone over it with Perfect Pearls. I then went a bit mad and put several layers of clear embossing over it until it was very shiny and very hot!!

Thanks for looking, I hope you have a good Monday..........I am (hopefully) scheduling this post as for the first time in ages I am working Monday and the last time for a while, as I like my Mondays off!!

I'll catch up with you soon.

She xx