All about Avery

Hello!

Its Lou here with a quick (well,it was a trifle fiddly) CAS card.
When I saw these Avery Elle dies,so many ideas popped into my head-this was my first one. I wanted to make a tiny bunch of roses wrapped in 'newspaper' (a piece of book page) and tied with twine. I used tweezers to grip and roll these micro blooms and get them into the cute shape I wanted,gluing them into place as I went and finally tying a piece of twine around the cone. And yes,I couldn't resist inking them a bit ;-)

A close up...

There are SO many different uses for the Embellish It Flower die-it is awesome!

The stripes are from Avery Elle Knotty and the sentiment is from Avery Elle Oh Happy Day (OOS at the moment,but will be back in very soon). It's a veritable Avery Elle-a-thon! 

Lou

Floaty Monkey

Howdy there stampers! Hope your week is going good.

Today I'm sharing with you a card using the stamp set Up & Away from Mama Elephant.. unfortunately this set is OOS at the moment but the technique I have used could be used with any image. 

I wanted to create a sunburst behind my image using sequins to add some sparkle and shine......

Firstly I cut my card layer slightly smaller than the card base and die cut a circle, this will be from where the rays are emanating. Draw the rays and cut the pieces cutting a thin strip where your lines are. Stick these pieces down one by one adding the sequins to the gaps before you stick down the next card piece.

Hope you like the sun rays and even give it a go yourself... I would love to see yours.

Hugs Lydia xxx 

Watercoloured Embossing

In lieu of spring, maybe some fresh spring blooms are what we could do with. I thought I'd give Rustic Spring a little embossing and watercoloured treatment. I was going for the 'berry' look but maybe if I'd used purple or raspberry red, they'd have been more convincing.

Here's the set

You can see from the closeup that I've spritzed the image with a white spritz ink to give a softer look with a little shimmer too.

I need to 'shimmer' off (chance would be a fine thing!) to go and do some more stampy work. It's a hard life huh?!! Don't forget to check out ALL the new sets & suppliers here.
See you next time,


Keren xx

A Cosy Little Caravan!!!

Caravaning in this weather!!!..... some people would but it's not for me..... let's pretend it's a warm summers night in this card and you can hear the crickets chirruping, now we're talking :0)

I've used the super cute set from Avery Elle called Home Sweet Home which has three very different and fun types of dwellings to use for your cards. The inked scene behind uses trees from Mama Elephants Rustic Spring and the silver stars are courtesey of Mama Elephants Starry Night set. To create the crescent moon I punched a circle in a post it note and simply offset the positive piece over the aperture before daubing white ink through the crescent shape.

There are quite a few different sentiments to choose from in the set but this seemed to fit the space and mood I was in... yep wishing for the warmer weather but unfortunately still minus the caravan for now :0)

 

See you next week :0)

Jenny x

 

Wreaths aren't just for Christmas.....

So Flourishes week is over and we're now back to normal on the blog so I'm sure the ladies will be  bringing you lots of lovely inspiration with their new goodies this week.  I know the fact that we can no longer stock Flourishes is a big disappointment to lots of you and I will keep checking in case they change their minds, but in the meantime I am looking to see if we can find some new brands that may appeal to Flourishes fans - if you have any you'd like to see in Store then do please let me know.

Right, time for some eye candy and I've been playing with a couple of new WPlus9 sets this week and wanted to show that wreaths don't have to be only for Christmas.

For this first card I used the new Valentine Wishes stamp and matching die set.  I die cut the large wreath shape from white card and then stamped the wreath using two markers to ink up the leaves and flowers. I'll let you into a little secret though - I have symmetry OCD so found the little gap in the leaves on the right a little off-putting so I drew in a couple of leaves by hand rather than adding the flowers in the gap - easy to do if you share by compulsion ;-)  I added a sentiment to the centre and added a couple more flowers around it and added glitter to all the flowers for interest.  I stamped the sentiment that is intended for one of the ribbons just onto a band of matching colour to show they work OK without the ribbons too.  The sentiments can be used for much more than Valentines day too.

For this one, I used the delightful Fresh Cut Wreaths - you get both a heart (ideal for Valentines, Weddings and Anniversaries) and a round wreath that can be used for pretty much anything.  The flowers match both the Fresh Cut Floral sets too which gives them near endless permutations.  I stamped the wreath in green then added the pink flowers in one go (there are flowers that fit in solid stamps ready to go) and then added the purple ones individually so you can build them up where you want.  I went for a simple sentiment.  A little DP, distressed edges and some sheer ribbon and we're good to go - very quick and easy card.    

          

 

Viva La Passion!

Hello!

Welcome to the end of the fantastic MTDS Flourishes week! 

Today I made a tag using the gorgeous Passion Flower set

I am totally in love with this set! How about a close up...

 These stamp so beautifully,and lend themselves to so many different styles,as I'm sure you have seen throughout this week

Someone REALLY needs to take more care of their rather shabby window though ;-)

There is some good and bad news about Flourishes in the shop...

Unfortunately Flourishes closed it's wholesale programme at the end of 2013 so we will no longer be able to carry new lines from their range in the Store. We are giving the brand a last hurrah here on the blog this week and we are showcasing a different set each day from the stock we have remaining and if you enter the code FLOURISH25 at checkout you will receive an automatic 25% discount on any Flourishes product.

So a boo and also a yay-go grab what you can for fantastic prices,I know I will be stocking up!

Lou

Floral Thank You

Happy Friday fellow bloggers! I so have that Friday feeling today we have just paid the last of our holiday to Turkey... whoop whoop .. so at least I know I'll be getting to see some sun this year ;)

So as you guy know Tara has reopened the Make The Day Special Store ..YYYAAYY... and to celebrate opening and commiserate the fact that Flourishes closed its wholesale programme at the end of 2013 so we will no longer be able to carry new lines from their range in the Store. So we are showcasing a different set each day from the stock we have remaining and if you enter the code FLOURISH25 at checkout you will receive an automatic 25% discount on any Flourishes product.

The Flourishes set I'm using today is the beautiful floral set 'Thank You'...

This is such a versatile set, I mean how great would that script be as a background. I decided to go really simple and mix together my favourite things at the moment watercolouring, vellum and a little bit of stitching....

I stamped the flower on to a piece of watercolour card that I had already done a ombre blue wash on. I then coloured with pencils and attached this panel to the card. I stitched the vellum onto the card and stamped the sentiment onto it.

Hope you likie.

Hugs, Lydia xxx

Flower and Friends

Hi!  Wow, it's Thursday already! Where does the time go? I think I've been wishing the week away so it would be my turn to share my card in this wonderful Flourishes week!

I'm delighted to showcase the gorgeous Flower and Friends stamp set!

This is such a versatile set and one which can be used for so many occasions. The wonderful detail on the stamps is a joy to colour - either as little or as much as you like!

For my card I went with a simple look to convey a very special message.  Here you can see the detail of the flowers - coloured using Distress Markers - with some Glossy Accents to add some shine (although it's hard to see on the pic!)

And here is the full picture.  Simple but effective I think! 

It's a real shame that Flourishes no longer offer their wholesale programme so we can't carry any new lines in our Store.  But now is the time to get a great deal by using the code FLOURISH25 at checkout and get an automatic 25% discount on any Flourishes product.

I hope you are enjoying our Flourishes week and enjoy time spent looking around our gorgeous rebranded store!

Tracyx

Wild for Watermelon

Hello.

I hope you are enjoying our flourishes week so far ...there is still plenty more to come :)

Today i am using the Watermelon set.

I do love that flourishes stamps are very detailed and i think you can get the best results with these using pencil or watercolour.

Wild for watermelon

For the above card i have used Inktense pencils and kept it very clean and simple.

My second card is a bit different, I thought the images looked less like watermelon and more like a pizza or pie so i took that as inspiration to make a valentines card using the song "That's Amore " as the sentiment.

Again the images are coloured with inktense pencils

Unfortunately Flourishes closed its wholesale programme at the end of 2013 so we will no longer be able to carry new lines from their range in the Store. So we are showcasing a different set each day from the stock we have remaining and if you enter the

code FLOURISH25 at checkout you will receive an automatic 25% discount on any Flourishes product.

Thanks for looking.

Fly Away!

Do you fancy flying away much? Or is it just me!! As we can't fly away to the US and stock up on our favourite stamp brands you can buy them here instead!!  We're showing you lots of different sets this week. This beautiful butterfly is part of the 'Butterfly Moments' set from Flourishes.

If you didn't know-this is an exciting week-as the rebranded and restocked shop is open after a slight reorganisation. It's looking great & as a first week celebration we're all focussing on Flourishes as a design team. 

Unfortunately Flourishes closed its wholesale programme at the end of 2013 so we will no longer be able to carry new lines from their range in the Store. So we are showcasing a different set each day from the stock we have remaining and if you enter the

code FLOURISH25 at checkout you will receive an automatic 25% discount on any Flourishes product.

That's a good deal in anyones book. 

This butterfly would be brilliant stamped twice onto acetate and one of the sides flipped over to create a larger double sided butterflu. The shadow on the card isn't my lighting, it's a grey marker pen used to give the illusion of shadow!

Come back tomorrow and see another beautiful set!

See you soon,

Keren x

Garden Fresh

Hello there....we're all set for an exciting week here at Make the Day Special 

with the store opening it's doors. As you know we are highlighting Flourishes Stamp 

sets all  this week and I've got three ideas to share with you today for using the Garden Fresh set...

I just love the 'hand drawn' style of the images... just like botanical prints  

and ideal for Home Decor projects ...

I've had this plain MDF clipboard kicking around for ages with the intention of decorating it

and this stamp set gave me the inspiration I needed. Having measured and trimmed a 

piece of gridded scrapbook paper I set to work stamping and 

water-colouring the images with Distress Ink markers.

I used Studio matte medium to adhere the paper to the mdf board and then added 

Old Paper Distress Ink round the edges and through a mesh stencil for a vintage 

look. The whole piece is sealed with the same Matte Medium to protect from 

dampness and damage..... I'm sooo chuffed with how it turned out and it'll definitely 

take pride of place in my kitchen :0)

I also wanted to try stamping on sticky back canvas and using Distress Paints 

with water to colour the image for this notebook...

and finally I thought the 'peas in a pod' sentiment would make a suitable valentine 

for a garden loving guy so why not try a chalkboard effect card....

I embossed the image in white and used Prisma Colour pencils to colour.... this is

such a versatile stamp set well suited to home decorand gifts as well as card-making.

and here's a reminder why we are getting inky with Flourishes stamp sets this week...
"Unfortunately Flourishes closed it's wholesale programme at the end of 2013 so we will no longer be able to carry new lines from their range in the Store. We are giving the brand a last hurrah here on the blog this week and we are showcasing a different set each day from the stock we have remaining and if you enter the code FLOURISH25 at checkout you will receive an automatic 25% discount on any Flourishes product."

Thanks for stopping by :0)

Jenny x

Flourishes Week Guest Designer

We have someone new on the blog today - Lynne from Cards from Lynne's Loft is a huge Flourishes fan so we've asked her to join us today as a Guest Designer to bring you an extra dose of inspiration.   If you've not seen Lynne's work before do pop by and say hello on her personal blog.

If you were here yesterday then you'd know that Flourishes unfortunately closed it's wholesale programme at the end of 2013 so we will no longer be able to carry new lines from their range in the Store.   We are showcasing a different set each day from the stock we have remaining and, once the Store is back online, if you enter the code FLOURISH25 at checkout you will receive an automatic 25% discount on any Flourishes product (stamps and dies)

Here's Lynne's inspiration using Botanical Bookplates 2:

"Not sure if it`s possible to make a fussy CAS card but I think I`ve come close lol. I`ve used the beautiful Pansies from Flourishes Bookplates Vol 2.   I`ve coloured the flowers with Promarkers and Spectrum Noir pens and cut out with a nestie square.  I used the Spellbinders Lace Doily Motifs die set and cut my card base to fit before placing my image with foam pads. I`ve finished off with some lilac flat back pearls.  The sentiment is from the same stamp set."

A Week of Flourishes

Hi - it's Tara here - on a Saturday for a change - and I was hoping to say - ta-da we are open - but unfortunately there has been a hitch with the shipping rates and as I am sure you all don't want to pay ridiculously high world-wide rates when you are in the UK, I need to wait for a technical fix from our developers.  Support isn't available on the website by phone until Monday so I've got an email request in and as soon as I get an answer the doors will be open so at worst we are 48 hours away.   Sorry to disappoint......

However we had planned a week of inspiration here on the blog featuring one of our brands that you may not all be familiar with - Flourishes.  Unfortunately Flourishes closed it's wholesale programme at the end of 2013 so we will no longer be able to carry new lines from their range in the Store. 

Therefore we are giving the brand a last hurrah here on the blog this week and we are showcasing a different set each day from the stock we have remaining and, once the Store is back online, if you enter the code FLOURISH25 at checkout you will receive an automatic 25% discount on any Flourishes product.

So here is my Flourishes creation for you.  As it is set to be yet another cold and wet weekend in the UK I decided to look ahead and wish for spring....
 

This is a lovely set with 4 floral images and 5 sentiments.  I opted to play with the snowdrops and did a quick watercolour with distress markers and a waterbrush and die cutting it with a large film strip die which I inked with brilliance lightning black.  A little strip of spring-green card behind the image with a sentiment from the set head embossed in white really brings the card to life and makes me long for sunnier skies!

 

As soon as the postage rate issue is fixed, I will get the store open and will add another blog post, a Facebook post and send out a newsletter so you won't miss it!   In the meantime we have a guest blogger tomorrow with more Flourishes inspiration and then the regular DT will be bringing you a Flourishes post each day until Saturday.

Thanks again for your patience - I promise we're almost there!

Tara
 

Welcome Baby Card

Whoo-hoo all I can say is thank crunchie is Friday. My little ones have had colds this week so it will be nice not to have to do school runs for a couple of days..... fingers crossed a pj day is on the cards :) Movies, pjs, hot chocolate and maybe a spot of stamping...... one of my favourite kind of days spent with my minis. 

Well anyway it's my day to post over at Make The Day Special, hands down my number one place to get my stamps in the UK. Although the store is still a little way from opening back up it is very nearly there....and I'm so excited to see all the new goodies that Tara is bringing to the store.

Today I've chosen to play with the small elephant set from the Lawn Fawn Valentine's release....  

I teamed up one of the cute little elephants from the Lawn Fawn 'Love You Tons' with one of the sentiments from the ever useful Paper Smooches set 'Salutations'. 

I stamped in Archival black ink onto water colour card so I could add just a touch of colour using a water brush and some Distress Inks.

Have a great Friday!

Hugs, Lydia xxx 

Its your birthday

Hello.

I'm still in a lawn fawn kinda mood, cant help it with so many cute stamps to choose from :)

I made this birthday card using lots of Lawn Fawn.

Sets used are ....

Bows and holly

Year three

Quinn's capitals abc

Admit one

All images are coloured with pro markers.

Thanks for looking.

3D Rustic Spring

 Following on from the Mama Elephant challenge that Tara mentioned, I too have prepped a card that would suit the challenge. Despite the inspiration photo being really pink, fluffy and sparkly, I've pared it back to the basic elements- the pink, a touch of sparkle and the pearls/gems

I love that you can be inspired by one photo and have a totally different response to it. I wanted to add a really 3D element to my project- and on the main pic you can't really tell the dimension, so here's a close-up. The substantial stacked 3D foam pads were showing a little, so that's why I added a small piece of pink glitter to hide the 'struts'.

We're so very close to opening..hold on for a tiny bit longer! Can you smell the polymer from here?!!

Keren x

Feel Good Sunshine!!!

Morning everyone....apologies for my midday appearance!!
I've managed to make a card that fits the sunny weather today using the Picture inspiration over at Paper Smooches Sparks challenge .....

Aren't those Paper Smooches cloud dies clever how you can use different colours for the inside and edge of the shape!! The large grey cloud is inset which is easily done by placing a thin piece of card behind the raised panel to stick the cloud too.

The lovely golden sun is stamped using a solid circle from the PS set called Hullabaloo and the rays are from Green Thumb, the sentiment is from Salutations.

I think this would cheer any recipient up... nothing like some warm sunshine to help you feel good :0)

I hope you're enjoying some rays today too :0)

Jenny x

Stellar Birthday

I'm sorry that the shop doors are still closed - we're getting very close to the ribbon cutting ceremony I promise - there are just a few technical issues beyond my control but I'm working very hard to get them all sorted as soon as possible and I hope to be open in a few days now.

In the meantime here's a card I made for the current Mama Elephant photo challenge but instead of going romantic I took my inspiration from the colours and bling and went for a star theme.

I stamped and embossed sentiments from Good Times and Say What first in silver and then with "vodka sparkle" embossing powders from WOW onto some pink cardstock.  Then I went to town with my die cutter and a couple of star shaped dies (MFT I think).   I used silver card, pink glitter and plain pink.  To get some very sparkly stars I embossed a couple of the silver ones with "bling bling" again from WOW.    Now I'm normally a CAS girl but clearly I didn't know when to stop with the stars and went for more is more this time!  I think it would be a suitable card for a tweenager though - they all love pink and bling right????

I'll be back for an update on the shop in a few days just ahead of the doors opening so keep an eye on the blog and facebook and form an orderly queue....

Sew lovely,so colourful!

Hello! 
And a happy sunny (in my neck of the woods,at least!) Saturday to you :-)

I'm sure you are all champing at the bit for the store to open again and to spend your Christmas pennies-keep them safe,it will be open soon and you are in for such treats :-)

Today's post is a tag I made a little while ago from the gorgeous Lawn Fawn Sew Lovely set. There is SO much you can do with this set,I love love love it!

This was stamped onto watercolour card and misted with Distress Inks. Then when fully dry,I stamped the images on and highlighted bits with Distress Markers and Copics. I made the top ribbon by mopping up all my excess misted ink with seam binding. Easy peasy!

Hope you like it!

Lou