A Super Cute-Asaurus

Yey it's Friday!!!!! The start of the Weekend and my day to post here at Make The Day Special. It's Lydia here and today I have choose to have a play with my very fave Paper Smooches stamp set 'Cutasausus' ...again. I'm sorry but I just love it so so so so much and it's fab for doing guy cards. I have paired it up this time with another PS set 'Birthday Sampler'. 

I love how you can mix and match the sentiments to create a sentiment block like this, I think it looks so cool.

I hope you have a great weekend and fingers crossed we have a nice sunny one like last week.

Springtime

Hi Everyone

It's Emily popping in today.  I have a rather fitting card to share with our resent weather.

The stamp is from a set called 'Springtime' which is a Webster's Pages stamp set from Unity

I paper pieced the wellies and umbrella and left the rest of the image just in black.

Thank you for visiting today

Emily

Feel the joy

Feel the joy is the name if the stamp i used for my card today.

Its an Itty Bitty from unity.

I love any stamp with these style of flowers.

Normally i would use them as a silhouette but today i wanted a different look.

 I started by colouring the card using distress inks.

Then i coloured the stamp using zig pens before stamping onto the coloured panel.

Once the images were stamped i used a white gel pen to add some highlights to the flowers and stems.

The sentiment is from a Unity store kit called The right words.

Thanks for looking.

Flying In!

I'm 'flying' in to wish you a terrific Tuesday. This little card combines several stamps. Firstly the butterfly is from a Unity Itty Bitty set which will be back in stock soon. I've coloured it using Copic Ciao's using some of this lovely lot

 

 

The speech bubble stamp

 

is fab for lots of different things- great for scrapbooking or using as a focal point as I did with my project.

The sentiment comes from this Avery Elle set

 

I did make a bit of a mess with this one. Stamped it with Stazon because I wasn't looking & it didn't stamp properly because my Stazon is on its last legs. So I restamped with Memento ink but didn't line it up perfectly. I used a dark coloured Copic Ciao and nearly rescued it. There's always a way out of a mistake!!

 

The paper is from this delicious selection

 and I never put whole sheets on my cards so its out of my comfort zone too.

Hope you enjoyed your long weekend - back to work (or craft!) for all of us! See you next week

 

 

Keren xx

 

 

 

 

4 the love of Mondays!

Hello and welcome to the new week!  Tracy here again.. for my second time!  Still completely struck down in crafty-awesomeness of the range of stamps from MTDS!  I challenged myself with my card for today.. my challenge took the shape of "doing things I never do"!  A risky approach for my 2nd DT outing!  If I start by saying I never;

• make DL sized cards, or
• use anything other than white (or shades thereof) for my base card, and I very rarely ever
• make simple one layer cards (because I find it really hard! I have urges to fill the space, or layer, or whatever!)

So, with that in mind, I very nervously present my card for today, 4 the LOVE of Mondays (yes, I was stuck for a name for it!!)

Because MTDS offer such a wide range of products (and I luurve Paper Smooches - yes, I need therapy!).. I thought I would try and combine!!  So... here is a Unity Itty Bitty - Owl Always.. simple, effective.. the quality of the red rubber gives such a clear image... then... some Lawn Fawn! The papers... Lawn Fawn, Bright Side.. it says on the cover "36 sheets of fun".. no arguement from me.. these are so bright and lovely!   And last, but not least!!  PAPER SMOOCHES! the Love die...  this is an absolutely must.. the font, the quality of the cut (used my cuttlebug with A, B and C plates)...

I hope this card makes you love Monday 4 times more than usual!

Why not pop on over to the shop and see all the lovely.. no I shouldn't mention it.. it's not fair... oh well.. no, it is fair, I need to tell you!!  See all the lovely pre-orders for Lawn Fawn!! I couldn't resist!   (but I am weak!!)

Have a lovely day and come see us again tomorrow!
tx

Pencils on Kraft

Hello, it's Jo again but this time I thought I'd try something different from my usual and go for a Clean and Simple (CAS) card.

I stamped the flowers from Unity's Quiet Essence kit on to kraft cardstock using brown Memento ink and then coloured the image using Prismacolor pencils.

The sentiment from Unity's "A Mother's Love" kit was then stamped, again using the Memento ink.

Thanks for visiting

Jo xx

A Roaring Good Birthday!!

Good morning...Jenny here :0)

After my last two weeks of Paper Smooches fun I thought I'd have a play with my Lawn Fawn

stamps and dies, I was in the mood for some paper piecing ....

Using the dies when paper piecing takes a little longer but the effect is well worth it!! 

To keep the white border around the edge of the image you have to fussy cut the pieces from 

patterned paper and then layer onto the white die-cut image ... the white border really makes

the colours stand out. I'd just like to add that the leaves where coloured with Promarkers on the die cut image... I didn't have the patience to snip them from patterned paper!!

The lion is from Critters on the Savannah... I was inspired by the sentiment to turn him into 

the lion from the MGM logo using a banner from Bannerific and some leafy branches 

from Blissful Botanicals... oops I've not remebered the logo very well!!
I'm probaly getting confused with a disney version!!!....he suits them anyhow :0)

Unfortunately all these sets are out of stock at this time but have you seen that you can

 pre-order from all the latest Law Fawn stamp sets and dies over at Make the Day Special here. 

The facility will stay open until the end of the week so to be sure to have a

 browse and place an order to guarantee delivery of your favourites :0)

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a 

lovely Bank Holiday Weekend

Jenny x

Happy Friday!!

A very happy Friday to you all. As I just mentioned it is Friday so that means it's Lydia here today, this week I have a super simple yet affective card that I'm going to give to Will on June the 4th for our one month wedding anniversary. Hehe I won't be doing it all the time .... but I totally love this card and want it on my mantel piece for a bit.... totally selfish reasons...lol.

Here's the card....

Just love the splash of red-

Copics used- R22, R29, R46, R59


All of the stamps I have used are from Paper Smooches and I have used two sets- both in stock !!

Flap Happy- for the super cute lil red butterfly
     and
We Connect- for the sentiment

For the sentiment I lined up the words where I wanted them to be on my block before stamping. I left off the '&' and stamped the rest in black. I then stamped the '&' on its own in grey so it looked like it was set back from the rest of the words.

Well I sure hope you likie and have a great weekend !!!!

Beach Babes!

Hi there....

She here...Today I have an ATC to show you made with the gorgeousness that is Rogue Redhead!

I made the background using a Unity stamp...'Open Bloom' Distress Inks and embossing powder.

I used the lovely 'Beach Babes'..........She is stamped onto separate card and coloured with Copics. She's stood on a piece of old book paper and washi tape. The sentiment is stamped onto Pearlescent card and coloured with Distress Inks.

Thanks for looking and I'll see you soon....











She xx

She always knew

Hello.

Trying something a little different for me today.

I used this lovely little lady with the big dreams from Unity and Clever handmade.

The image is stamped and heat embossed and coloured with copics.

I knew i wanted some flowers on this card but after sorting through all of my stash i couldn't find anything that looked right.

So made one from the denim tissue paper that Louise wraps the orders in.

I used  a small scalloped nestie..lots of times and just layered it all up. Lots of scrunching was involved and its finish with a  button and twine.

Thanks for looking.

Rocket Boy!

Hi! I thought Tuesday might need a bit of colour & life injecting into it. Or is that just me? Doing Birthday cards for boys can be tricky. That middle age from about 5-10 where cute and cuddly won't do & they're not quite ready for the dark, grunge or uber cool. These cute rocket images from the Mr.Boy set (Unity for Bella Blvd) aren't too cutesie but neither are they too old.
You can find the set here

I've used mostly Copic Ciao's to colour this in- you can get a lovely range from the shop here

I have blended some colours- adding a little darker brown for depth- but please don't look at the colouring too closely- I've still my 'L' plates- ( novice in the house!!) on.

Sadly there wasn't a 'Birthday' in the set, but I had an odd sentiment lying around the house. The set is so versatile- I've even started making a flower from one of the stamps- but that's for another post!

I've loved doing repeat stamping- sometimes I forget the simplest of techniques- then come back to them wondering quite why I've not used them in a while. The rockets are finished off with some Glossy Accents &  I just drew around a ribbon reel in pencil to get the circle & lined up the stamps. They're not clear stamps but as the shape is so distinct they're easy to line up.

Well, I'd better go & get some stamping done. See you next Tuesday!

Keren xx

For the love of Unity!

Hello!

A bit of a different post today,I am going to introduce those of you that don't know to the huge diversity of Unity Rubber Stamps. Now,I find Unity a little overwhelming sometimes and I know I'm not alone,so this post is just to showcase a few of the Unity range we stock. 

For a start,in theory,you needn't buy stamps from any other company-a sweeping statement I know,but there truly is something for every taste within the Unity empire ;-)

Shall we begin?

Popular trends. Unity is right on the pulse with these,belting out lots of different ways to explore current trends. The simple chevron,for example. We stock several types of chevron stamps,from different companies,but Unity go a little further bringing you brilliant background chevron stamps like Urban Chevron and Poppy Chevron(currently out of stock,due to its awesomeness)below 

Another trend you might not think to look at Unity for is the Instamatic/Polaroid frame and camera. The Susan K Weckesser Insta-cutie has everything you need,how gorgeous is this?!

So as you can see,Unity offer a lot of very current style stamps with those clean and simple lines that make for gorgeous unfussy cards,and there are many more,just go look

They also cater for vintage lovers (like me :-D )

with gorgeous designs like these from Iron Orchid:

Yum yum,these literally make me giddy with inspiration.

There are also the cutesy drawn type stamps that make brilliant cards:

Nikki Sivils

My Little Shoebox

Cosmo Cricket

    

There are many more,just make a cuppa,set half an hour aside for drooling purposes and check out this link

And what are Itty Bitty's you might ask? Don't get me started on these little gems! One Itty bitty will see you through a tide of quick and simple cards and tags,and at £4.20 each,they are a very affordable introduction to the vast Unity family. Again,they have every taste provided for and all are red etched red rubber-making perfect impressions in a variety of inks. There are two kinds of Itty Bitty's,some designed by co-brands,some in-store designed. Co-brands are here and store brand are here

Well,there you go! Just a teeny tiny sample of the awesome Unity range. I hope you go check them out-you will not be disappointed!

Lou x

More Unity tags

I have a stack of tags already coloured with either Dylusions inks or distress inks and turned to those today to make a couple of Unity stamps tags.

The main tag was coloured with Dylusions inks and then the sentiment from Bold Insight was stamped using grey Memento ink. The dragonfly from the same set was stamped on to card coloured with distress inks before being cut out and adhered to the tag.

This second tag is slightly smaller but made the same way. The sentiment is from Moments in Bloom and the flowers are from Bold Insight. I added a tiny rhinestone to the centres.

As always, thanks for visiting!

Jo

Exploring A Hot Spot (part 2)

Good morning :0)

Okay, first I have to apologise for the title of these posts... it's a bit suspect

 verging on the cheeky but hey it got your attention though didn't it!! :0)

So, I'm back again, as promised, with a couple more cards to share with you using the 

Paper Smooches Hot Spots Large Base Die and first up is a New Home card that 

uses the die as a Polaroid style frame....

 

The retro photograph is still a very popular trend, well it is in my stash *wink*....and there are 

many dies on the market but by using the Hot Spots die to make your own you can have 

rounded corners both inside and out!!

Here's how I did it...

The smaller of the two dies cuts a rounded rectangle that is an exact fit for the space in the 

large die so it can be used to extend the size of the hole in the base die... as shown in the photo :0)

Did you see the grey faux washi tape?? To make it I used the row of dots from the Alphadot set and inked the back of the stamp with Memento London Fog then used it the right way round to stamp the dots on top in Flannel Grey and by stamping across a torn piece of copy paper you get the faux ripped edge too :0)

My next card uses the large base die as is and cut from Patterned Paper,

makes the focal panel for my card...

The window is perfect for framing a scene using Paper Smooches characters, even cheeky monkeys like this little fella who's hanging around!! The ladybird was an afterthought!!....you'll have to pretend he's either in a zoo or it's an exotic little bug :0)

Well I hope I've given you some inspiration for using this die and if you missed part 1 it's here

Stamp sets used: Vogue Abode, Zoo Crew, Love Monkey, Simply Said

Thanks for visiting and hope you have some crafting time this weekend :0)

Jenny x

Purple Paper Smooches

Good morning stampers!!!! It's your 'Girl Friday' Lydia from Love Lydia here. Today I'm sharing a card using a few... ok, five Paper Smooches stamp sets. 

I went with a grey and purple colour combo and I think it really works. 

On the base layer I used the really pretty leaf from the Leafy Greens set stamped in grey. On the sentiment band I used a further four sets - Flap Happy, Salutations, Birthday Sampler and Pretty Phrases.   

I'm totally loving how great these butterflies look just quickly coloured with Copics, they are sooooo versatile and can be used for any occasion- a must have for you stampy stash :)

Have a great day all !!!! Hugs, Lyd xxxxx 

Milliner Miss!!!

Hi there...

She here.....Today I'm going to show you a little card made with some of my very favourite stamps....I know, I seem to say that every week!! But these really are!!! Red Rubber and Ladies :-) How much better can you get???!!!

They are 'Milliner Misses'  by the wonderful Rogue Redhead.....

She is coloured in with Copics and I've cut a Nestie shape for her to sit on....

The card is quite small....about a 5" square, but I had enough room to add my tatty flowers and of course my ribbon!

Thanks for looking and I'll see you soon...






She xx

Welcome baby girly

Hello.

My card today uses lots of Paper smooches products.

I was playing with the paint palette die and couldn't decide what to do when it hit me that i could just use the paint brush to make it look like the sentiment had just been painted.

I started by stamping the sentiment. 

I used Salutations, Word up, and Little lady.

I heat embossed the sentiment as i thought it would make it easier to add the glitter to the word "Baby".

I have ended up wearing most of the glitter! So think i will just use stickles from now on lol.

The hand that is holding the paint brush is from Helping hands. 

I stamped, cut then added a small cut in the card just above the top finger where the die cut paint brush just slides in.

Thanks for looking.

Big Thanks!

Good morning & Happy Tuesday.
Guess I should introduce myself really.
I'm Keren & you can normally find me here . I'm joining the rapidly expanding group of girls (& not their waistlines- just the number!) on this Design Team. Whilst I'm no stranger to stamping, I've only recently found Make The Day Special (I know, where have I been looking?!).
Suffice to say, 'Big Thanks' are due to Lou for inviting me.
Onto the important stuff-
Firstly, this stamp set is from

 If you are looking for a fantastic clean and simple style set of stamps- then have a nosey. There's bound to be at least one that you fall in love with.

The papers are from Lawn Fawn here

The big flower (to match the 'big' sentiment) was just lots of little squares of Lawn Fawn paper, trimmed into a square-ish petal shape, rolled & then just glued around a tightly rolled inner petal. It's exactly the same technique as used to make sugar paste icing flowers. The leaves are cut freehand too. The flower is a little fiddly but well worth the final result. Just try and fit this card into an envelope!!

Looking forward to 'seeing' you again next week,

Keren x 





Awesome Chemistry

Hello everyone!  I would love to say a big happy hello from sunny Scotland but… it’s freezing today!  And we’ve even had some sleet and snow!   It’s Tracy here from Bluedaisy Designs and I’m delighted to be a new member of the design team here at Make the DaySpecial!

Two things inspired me to make this card.  The first is my all consuming addiction to Paper Smooches stamps!  And the second… hexagons, hexagons, hexagons!!  I just love them!  But I don’t enjoy cutting so when I saw this amazing die from W Plus 9 I just had to have it! The set is called Quilt Cuts 1 and it’s made up of three dies.  Not only do you get the hexagon shapes, you also get the outlines – this one is like a honeycomb!  

The mad, quirky and very enigmatic little scientist is from Paper Smooches Great Chemistry.  This is a gorgeous set with lots of little extras, like the bubbles! 

I’ve used Pro Markers to colour him, and then just layered him up to make him stand out – although I think he does that well enough himself!

 

I hope you like my card for today. Why don’t you pop on over to the shop and see all the gorgeous goodies!  Thanks for looking, have a wonderful day and see you again soon!

Love Life canvas

Well, after missing posting last week due to a case of nothing going right with my make I'm back this week to share a canvas with you.

This started off as a 6" x 4" canvas board from The Works (great value at 99p for a pack of 5). 

I coloured the background with Derwent Artbars which I then blended using a baby wipe.

The Love Life stamp from Unity's Love Life set and the butterfly stamp from Unity's Life Becoming set were stamped on to patterned paper then cut out. 

I used K and Co printed die-cuts, metal embellishments , Prima lace, a beaded string from a Christmas decoration and more to embellish.

Thanks for visiting

Jo xx

Exploring a Hot Spot!!

Hello there...

As the title suggests I decided to have a play with the Paper Smooches

Hot Spots large base die that is available in the store.

It's actually a versatile shape with many creative uses and you can let your 

imagination run with it :0) I find the easiest thing to do is cut out the pieces in scrap card

so you can play with the shapes and stamps to generate some sparks of creativity.

I don't know about you but when I was a child I used to love, and still do, a new pack of coloured pencils or crayons... all those rainbow colours and sharpened points, not to mention the lovely smell so seeing the window in the larger die, I set about stamping the pencils from I Heart Art in a rainbow of colours to make a teacher thanks card.You can use the same die for the acetate and base layer and just turn them upside down so the window is hidden at the base of the box.

I added shading to the pencils with coloursoft pencils so they look more 3 dimensional and cut them out all together in one piece :0)

I also wanted to use the zig zag shapes in the smaller die... these little pieces can be so fun to play with!!

By cutting the panel in three different blues I could make this pattern, the zig-zags fit snugly together and each die cut actually gives you 5 strips by snipping out the remaining two zig-zags from the panel when three have been removed.... neat eh??!!

I needed to make a card with a specific request for a seal on it and I thought this pattern would make great looking water in an ice hole for Mr Seal... I think he looks quite happy perched there :0)

Has that got you thinking?? I have a couple more ideas that I want to turn into cards this week to show you next Saturday, hope to see you then !!

Thanks for stopping by

Jenny x

Stamps used : I Heart Art,  Chilly Chums,  Birthday Sampler,  Smarty Pants

A Dino Sailor ?!?!?!?!?!

Hey there fellow ink lovers!!! It's Lydia here from Love Lydia, I have been asked by the lovely Lou to be her 'Girl Friday' over at the Make The Day Special blog... and how could I say no when MTDS started me off on my Paper Smooches addiction?!?!? I'm so excited to be part of the MTDS crew and also pretty stoked about the card I'm sharing today.

I have used the inspiration from over on the PS Sparks blog - nautical . As I don't have any nautically PS stamp sets ( slaps own wrist and shakes head disappointed) I thought I would use my fave Paper Smooches stamp set- 'Cutasausus' and add a folded paper boat.

And a side view, so you can see the dimension...

As you can see I went a little folding crazy and made him a lil hat.... I mean I didn't what him to get sun-stroke...

The sentiment is also a PS set, Birthday Sampler. Hope you likie and don't forget to check out the Make The Day Special store and check out all the other fabby stamps just waiting for you to play with them.

Have a super great day!!!!!

How Beautiful A Day.....

Can Be When Kindness Touches It......

Hi there......She here....with apologies! This is the little card that I should have posted last week.....

I've used a set from one of my favourite stamp companies.....'Flourishes'.........The set I have used is 'Zinnia' available here....

Stamped, clear embossed and coloured with Spectrum Noir pens. I've then used glossy accents over the top (which the camera doesn't like!)....

These stamps are so lovely, you really don't need to do an awful lot more with them.....So I just matted it on a couple of layers of coordinating card and found a fancy edge card blank.......

Thanks for looking and I'll see you soon...

She xx

Reach for the sky

Hello.

My card for today uses Lawn fawns Sunny skies.

As the UK is back to being grey after out fabulous bank holiday weather i wanted to make something bright and cheery.

In the end i didn't even use the fun sun image from this set,

Instead i paper pieced the kite and birds with lawn fawns brightside petite paper pad and Daphne's closet paper pad.

I made the cloudy background using a punched scallop circle  a light blue inkpad and a sponge dauber

I used some Lemon lawn trimmings for the kite string.

Thanks for looking.

Just Breathe

Hello! 

 Today's card is made using the awesome, Phyllis Harris set 'Just Breathe'. If you are unfamiliar with Phyllis Harris,she is an artist and illustrator and designs for magazines and Unity Stamps. Her beautifully drawn stamps capture the all innocence and joy that a childhood should be full of,and are a delight to watercolour. Being made by Unity means the deep etched rubber stamps well even on bobbly watercolour paper without gaps and skipping-just remember to use an archival waterproof ink,or your outlines will run into the watercolour!

'Just Breathe' has several sentiments included,to make the set very usable for all types of card or layouts. I chose the 'how could i ask for more?' set,because my daughters delight in the fact that Spring seems to have finally arrived has filled the house and they spend every waking moment on the lawn in the sun-this picture and sentiment sum up their Spring 2013 perfectly  :-)

The twine I used is the gorgeous Lawn Fawn lemon twine.

Hope you are having a great start to Spring too!

Lou x

Trolley Towers!!

Hi there.... Jenny here, hopefully at the start of a sunny Bank Holiday weekend!!

I'll say no more, I don't want tempt fate :0)

For my card today I've used the Paper Smooches Shopping Trolley die but 

I wanted to see what else I could do with it other than the obvious.

All those little squares and rectangles looked like windows to me and when I sliced up

the basket section it made a few great shaped buildings....

To give the windows a bit of glare I used a shimmery opaque vellum behind the buildings

and then added a few highlights with a white coloursoft pencil.

To add an extra pop of colour I used small enamel dots and drew in a string to turn them 

into balloons..... I'm thinking this could be for a New Job or New Home, hubby even suggested 

they look like school/uni buildings so possibly a new Graduate Card ???

Well that was fun... I love a bit of recycling!!

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by :0)

Jenny x

Sentiment from Paper Smooches 'Salutations'