Inktober day 8 - Birthday Blossoms

A quick little card today using Birthday Blossoms stamp set on  vanilla card  with melon mambo  and mossy meadow ink.

I deliberately stamped off the edge with this one and then stamped the main flower image on the card, followed by the leaves and then I stamped a second flower on a spare piece of card. I went ahead and cut this with scissors because although I do have the punch and would normally use it, the scissors were right there and the punch was not. Since I was only doing the one  and its a simple shape to cut, it was fine.

I sponged the edges of the stamped panel, matted it onto gold  foil card and then matted that onto a kraft card base. Once that was all in place, I added the hand cut flower  with dimensionals. A perfect accent dot in the centre of the flower finished the card.

Back tomorrow with day 9's project.
Until then, take care
Cxx

Inktober day 7 - Layered Letters

Its day 7 already - one whole week into October and the weather is certainly letting us know that winter will be on its way pretty soon. So I opted for some more summery shades for today's offering made using the layered letters stamp set.
I particularly like this set because it comes with two base stamps, the rectangle I used here and an oval too and these are made sized  to perfectly house the letters of the alphabet and the symbols that come in the set.

The two step stamping, layering of the letters over those base shapes allows the appearance of dimension without the bulk and with the ink colour variations available the options are endless for monochrome, tone on tone or  contrasting colour ways and because it is a photo polymer set, it is so easy to see where you are stamping.

For this card I chose to team layered letters with another stamp set to complete the sentiment of the card but it is so versatile and great for spelling out names on personalised projects.  I layered the stamped panel onto matted card in  the colours I has used and added a bow made from a piece of lace trim to finish.

No idea yet what project  tomorrow will bring, a new day and a clean sheet of paper
Until next time take care.
Cx

Inktober day 6

Back on track now... This one I started last night because I was using metallic texture paste and knew it needed a long time to dry.

I came back to it today and used a selection of inks (tempting turquoise, blue lagoon, crushed curry and melon mambo) to sponge a blended sky.

I die cut two butterflies using framelits and layered them up. I popped them on at an angle allowing the wing to fall slightly off the side and added the butterfly sentiment to finish.
I was really pleased with the end result. It can be fun to just see where the ink takes you.

Until tomorrow, take care
Cxx

Inktober day 5 ( a little bit late)

I made this yesterday and then life got in the way of the actual upload so it has been sitting on my desk patiently waiting to have its photo taken...

I haven't used them  enough since I got them, so this was an experiment using one of the Happy Patterns stencils and four of the ink pads that were on my desk yesterday. I cut my base to the size I wanted, decided where I wanted the word happy to be and taped the stencil in place over the top of my base card. Using sponges I started at the bottom and added ink through the stencil, changing colours every two rows of dots, blending where they overlapped.  I sponged some ink around the edges before matting it onto a blackberry base . The butterfly was  punched, inked and added with a glue dot.

Today's make is drying as I type and will be uploaded later.
Until then
Cxx

Inktober day 4

Day four and this is quite literally a thumbnail photograph...because I made the card landscape and had to hold it  down to take the photo.

Decided  after playing  spot the ink yesterday, that today's make should be quite heavily "inkfluenced" and so I went for a  super inky background technique with a bright bold  sentiment stamped over.

I love this sentiment... wise words indeed.

Until tomorrow
Cxx

OOps just discovered this did not publish yesterday... but better late than never I guess...

INKtober day 3 ... AND world card making day

Okay so day three and I have a  horrendous headache that woke me up and has stayed with me all day long... I am hoping it will be as sick of me as I am of it and will disappear soon...

Pain makes me ever so slightly (okay a lot)  antisocial and so sloping off to the craftroom seemed like a good idea. A little distraction crafting never did anyone any harm...

The ink is not quite so obvious on this card, but there are three different kinds of ink on here...

Can you see them?...actually a little clue would be that one of them is pretty much invisible ;)

Until tomorrow

Cxx

INKtober ...day 2

For day two of INKtober I have made this simple card

I die cut the  butterfly in plain white card and adhered it to the white card base using Tombow glue.

The I squished my ink pad to get some ink on the lid and used the blender pen to add colours through the die cut butterfly.

A few gems and stamped sentiments was all that was needed to finish it.

Day three tomorrow... will need to get my thinking cap on because I want to use this month to try to find lots of different ways to use ink on my projects...and they will not all be cards for sure.

Until tomorrow..
Cxx

"INKtober" - day one

It's October and all around the world artists are taking part in the INKtober Initiative and creating a new inky drawing every day of the month

Now I can't draw for toffee but I do use ink so I decided I would try to  keep pace and make one inky project every day for the month of Oct/INK- tober..Starting with this card I made for a friendship swap.

I brayered ink on the embossing folder before I ran it through my big shot, lightly sponged ink over the embossed area afterwards, stamped the images on top and used the blender pen to add colour to the flowers. I stamped and clear embossed the wording for a tone on tone effect and used markers and sponge ink on the hand cut dragonfly.

So a really inky start to the fist of the month...  Tomorrow is another day ;)

Take care
C

Seeing the woodland for the trees

I have been absent for a while. At the end of June, my lovely Mum was suddenly taken ill and we were stunned to discover she had terminal cancer ... to make matters even worse, five days after Mum was diagnosed, my husband had a heart attack right in front of me... thankfully he survived and is doing okay now...but my Mum died exactly six weeks after being  diagnosed. As you can probably imagine, crafting took a back seat.


I promised Mum I would be okay (being Mum she worried about her children right until the very end)  and we agreed that crafting would be my saving grace in tough times...and it will be, so I am back...

I know I am late to the party and  the web is filled with sample projects.  It  would seem the festive season is  coming at us like an express train...so I would like to slow things down a bit and  go through the actual seasons in the correct order...It is still technically British Summer time  after all....and  you can tell that from all the rain we've had this week!

So my offering is more autumnal because I fell in love with the new Woodland embossing folder and I can see this featuring in a lot of my makes - not only this autumn and winter, but all year round.

One of the things I really love about this particular folder is how it lends it to self to background brayering.

Both of these sample cards were made using plain white card.  I simply used the brayer to apply ink over the inside of the embossing folder before I ran it through the big shot machine. This gave the blue background and the stark white relief of the trees in the first card and  for the second card I loaded three shades of ink in yellow and orange shades to get a more graduated background. The possibilities are endless...

You could also opt to add ink to the embossed image after running it through the machine and use shades of browns and neutrals for a more natural tree effect. Going in afterwards with a marker or gel pen can highlight the marks on the bark too.

And of course it doesn't stop there. I added birds to these cards but butterflies, leaves, hearts, Christmas baubles or just about anything you like can be hung from the branches...you can leave it plain or add a simple sentiment... I just love it when my crafting goodies are so versatile and can really pay for themselves.

Anyhow that it is for now. Take care until next time,
Christa  xx

These are a few of my favourite things....

So... the new annual catalogue launched this month and before my  first order of new goodies arrived, illness descended upon our house - and you'll get an idea of just how ill I was when I tell you that the delivery came and it was three full days before I even opened the box (shock horror) but Thankfully we are on the mend again now and I have opened the box, prepped all my new stamps sets and applied ink...

After my restraint on pre-order (one stamp set, one punch and all the new in-colour card and ink) I had a little fun with my first full order and I got quite a few stamp sets this time round. It was still hard to choose from all the lovely new stuff available.


I have a new clear favourite right now and that is the gorgeous Awesomely Artistic set (on page 125)
It has nine stamps in total and coordinates with  the 1" circle punch and the project life labels framelits that I already own.

I love this set so much already that I chose to use on the birthday card I made for my Mum....who loves nature and muted colour tones.

I used my ink pads and blender pen to add a light colour wash to the leaves and flowers and lightly ink edged the central panel using sponges. The finished card was a  big hit with the birthday girl!

The second set that is going to be so useful for so many projects is the Layered Letters Alphabet photopolymer set (on page 133).

This set has all the letters of the alphabet,some punctuation marks  and also comes with two solid block stamps...one is a circle and the other a rectangle and they are perfectly sized to fit the letters.

This set gives so many possibilities. In this card I chose to overlap the circles in one colour and stamp the letters in another colour, but you could opt to stamp each one differently, alternate colours, choose tone on tone... basically the sky's the limit with this one... and the letters are a good size for all manner of projects.



These are a couple of my new favourites... I will be back with some of the others in the next few days...As always if you have any questions, would like a copy of the new catalogue or if I can help with anything, please do get in touch

Bye for now

Christa   xx 

New Catalogue Launch and a little Blog Hop

It's here...the new annual catalogue launches today and always is filled from cover to cover with great products and fabulous project ideas.

As demonstrators we are lucky enough to be able pre-order a selection of products a month before the catalogue launches. This gives us time to try them out and prepare some projects to share with you all....and what better way to showcase some new products than with a little blog hop.

I always look forward to seeing the new in-colours and I always  fall in love with them as soon as I start to use them...and this years offering is no different in that respect - so I decided to focus all my projects using  the new in-colours as well as a few new products. The new in-colours are Cucumber Crush, Delightful Dijon, Mint Macaron, Tip Top Taupe and Watermelon Wonder

My first project  is this card and matching envelope...made using the new envelope paper pack. Yes...paper specifically to make perfect envelopes. Its double sided - plain on one side and patterned on the other - is 12x12 size and you get 20 sheets.

This card I made as  5x5" and the envelope was simple to make in minutes using the envelope  punch board...and I decided to use a  strip of the envelope paper on my card too.

The stacked cupcake was made using the Sprinkles of Life stamp set... this is the RMHC stamp this year and I love it. It is so versatile and you will find it on page 189 of the catalogue... its definitely worth checking it out.  It also coordinates with another great new product - the tree builder punch...Love this punch already. It punches clouds, the tree and  a couple of really cute little elements to finish your projects.

My second project uses the Sprinkles of Life set and tree builder punch again. This time I stamped and embossed the clouds in silver (to match the sentioment about clouds hvaing a silver lining) and embossed the tree using versamark ink and  cucumber crush ink on cucumber crush card.

The stamp set is photyopolymer which made stamping the grass and flowers so easy too.

For this next project I decided I would try out the new cotton paper (page 148) This comes in four gorgeous colours - three of which I have used here.  I have to admit that when I saw cotton paper I was expecting some thing that felt like fabric... but this is so much nicer. It has a soft silky feel and  while light, is quite strong.

I decided to test it out  with some dies and made some flowers by layering up elements  cut using flower fair  framelits - these I will use on top of small gift boxes.

For my final; project I used the Butterfly Basics stamp set and Butterfly Thinlits for this card.

I used watermelon wonder for the base card with a panel of very vanilla onto which I stamped the background using butterfly basics stamp set.

I cut all three butterflies from cotton paper at the same time and layered them up using glue dots along the body of the butterfly. The paper is light and so lifts and spreads easily revealing the layers beneath and making beautiful delicate butterflies. I finished them off with a row of rhinestones.

And that is about it from me for now. I hope you have enjoyed your visit. If you would like to return to the beginning of the hop or go back to the previous blog please use the buttons below to navigate your way

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As always if you have any questions about any of the products or the projects featured please do getin touch

Until next time

Christa   xx 

Celebrate with cake...

Big Day is one of the fabulous freebie stamp sets available during the Sale-a-bration promotion and as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have it....

 I am well known for wishing every one I know a Happy Cakey Birthday and so this stamp set is just perfect for me... especially because it also comes with a Happy Birthday sentiment  and a stamp that reads and perhaps a little ice cream... and anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE ice cream , possibly more than I love cake. Thank  goodness don't have to choose!

On this card (one of seven that  I made for a swap) I used assorted markers to colour the various words on the focal stamp and blendabilities to colour the cake itself.  The lace is a new product in the spring summer catalogue (it is gorgeous) and I used the banner punch to make the little bunting banners along the top from the pink card of the scalloped mat and gold glimmer card to provide a little extra sparkle... after all everyone needs a little extra sparkle in their life.

I am working my way through my new products and formulating a new my favourites list ... which hopefully will be featured here shortly - along some samples featuring some of those new favourites

But for now, and until next time, take care.

Christa   xx 

Happy Happy sale-a-brate a new catalogue

Today's the day...and these Cheerful Critters herald the launch of the new Spring& Summer catalogue and the start of Sale-a-bration 2015.

The new catalogue is jam packed with lots of lovely new products and of course during saleabration you can earn free product for every £45 you spend (before shipping) form a great selection of stamp sets, designer papers and accessory kits.
As demos we get to preorder and try out some of the products a month before the launch and as always there are some great offers to anyone wanting to join up during saleabration.

All the details can be found HERE and as always if you have any questions or would like a physical copy of the catalogue rather than the online version please do let me know 

This is just a  quick happy hooray from me for now, but I will be back soon with more product and projects to share.

Until next time,. take care
Christa   xx 

Year End Bargains

For the first time in the UK, Stampin' Up! is holding an end of year sale with some fabulous bargains - perfect for Santa's list for you, Secret Santa gifts  for a crafting pal or great as stocking fillers.
The sale runs until January 5th but when its gone...its gone so check it out,so you don't miss out if  one of your wish list favourites is in the sale.

As always if you have any questions or need any help please do get in touch

Until next time, take care

Christa   xx 

White Christmas

I still love the idea of a snow covered Christmas but the reality of cold slippery pavements holds no  joy (especially hazardous when I am still on crutches) ... but the White Christmas stamp set is my  a different matter altogether and has quickly become new favourite,...I LOVE it and  once I started I just could not stop using it.

It is perfect for creating cards that need to be flat for posting, depth and interest can be built it with the stamping.

In this first one I added the Santa sleigh from the
Holiday Home set

All of the cards were made using ink and sponges and marker for detailed colouring.

On the second one I went heavy on the kraft ink when stamping the snow to give a textured effect and I used a sentiment in the snow at the bottom.

I used real red cardstock to mat the snowy scenes to give it a bit of a pop in all of the samples here.

In the final card of the three I used a kraft card base, stamped the snow with white kraft ink onto the real red card and then matted the image onto red and popped it up with dimensionals. A star punched from gold glitter card finished it off.

I love how easy these cards were to make. the colouring is minimal - a little soft suede on the tree trunks, pumpkin pie for the carrot nose and a pop of chosen colour  for the  snowman scarf and hat. I opted for traditional red and green but you could choose anything at all to match your colour scheme.

I am horribly late making my cards this year but I have the perfect stamp sets to whizz through them in the next few days.

As always if you have any questions about any of the products or projects please do get in touch

Until next time,take care

Christa   xx 

Christmas Tag

It has been so long since my last entry that you might be forgiven for thinking I had fallen off the face of the planet... not so, I just took a tumble down the stairs and unfortunately hurt more than my pride. ...But I'm  happy to report I have finally  been able to get back in the craftroom for short periods  - which is a good thing because I was having serious withdrawals.


So my first offering for a very long time is this Christmas tag. I made it for a one to one swap I signed up for before my tumble - and it made a nice starter project.
I used chipboard as a base for my tag and I used  some distress paint as a base. For the front of the tag I  made a mask to sponge the moon and then  used the White Christmas set and stamped the snow (using white craft ink) , then the reindeer,which I coloured with soft brown sugar marker. I added the wording and stamped the word Joy in real red. Final touch was a quick dab on the reindeer's nose with the real red marker.

For the reverse of the tag I  used my favourite Visions of Santa stamp set. I stamped the  main wording panel using antique distress  stain and stamped the Santas around the edges, finally adding the Tis' the Season line in Memento black at the bottom. I coloured the Santas with blendabilities and chalk marker and added a smudge of shimmer here and there.


And that's it from me for today. I truly hope that normal crafty service will soon be resumed.
Until then take care
Christa   xx 

Graduation - all about the hat!

I was recently asked if I could make a graduation card. The only remit was that it should                                    
 "be about the hat"

So armed with my supplies I set about making this cute  pop up mortar board card.

This was actually the first time I had made one of these and I was surprised at how simple it was to make with just some black and some white card, a scoring board and some adhesive.

For my card I opted to use some white cord so that the tassel would stand out. I made the tassel from a piece of scrap black card which I cut with the fringe scissors and rolled. I adhered it with sticky strip (red line tape) I punched a small hole, threaded the cord though and taped it on the back and used a black brad for extra security -  knowing that pretty much everyone who sees it will be tempted to touch the tassel!

On the base I stamped the greeting and the recipients name  but the sender also wanted to include a personal message and the thing with these types of cards is  that unlike a normal open fold card, there often isn't anywhere obvious to write a private message...so with that in mind I printed the message onto vellum and while it was fresh from the printer I added embossing powder and heat embossed it. I then cut it out and rolled it up to form a scroll which I  tied with some gold bakers twine. I fixed a small looped band of black card to the mortar board and slid the rolled scroll inside.... and the end result was a mortar board pop up with a graduation scroll message.

I was happy with the finished card and the customer was delighted too so i thought I would share this one today.

Until next time, take care

Christa   xx 

Super offer stock up and save

Fantastic offer from Stampin'Up with extra discounts across a range of products  with 20% off selected stamps, plus 15% off a whole range of basics like ink pads, A4 cardstock, envelopes and fast fuse adhesive.

Please be aware this is a time limited offer and only runs until 6 October 2014

If you want to take advantage of this offer to stock up and save then please get in touch or go to my online store where you can place an order at any time 24/7.

If you have any questions about this offer or any  products  or promotions or if I can help with anything else please do get in touch
Until next time
take care

Christa   xx 

Birthday Card

I was asked to make " a sort of  funny but I'm not sure what he likes" birthday card...and since don't know the recipient at all and so I can't help on that front, I played it safe with this slightly "cheesey"  card.

I used a kraft base with a decorative dots embossed white panel and yellow as the core colour and the cute little mouse from the life in the forest stamp set, some gorgeous new washi, the sentiment from  Just Sayin' set  was cut using word bubbles framelits and the stars were cut using the Little Pieces embosslits.

For the inside I used one of the image stamps from Giggle Greetings  which I stamped onto whisper white card, cut out and adhered to the inside of the card...and I teamed it with with one word stamps form Age Awareness photopolymer set.

A bit cheesey perhaps but I think it works...

Until next time, take care

Christa   xx 

MDS to the rescue again

Yesterday I got a call with a last minute request to make a couple of cards that needed to be ready by tonight. This is the first time I have been asked for this type of card and so it was MDS to the rescue once again...


There was a very short amount of time to make these cards and as the two young people are part of the same family and the message  and wishes are the same for each, I kept the design the same and just changed the colours.


 The more I use MDS the more impressed I am with just how simple it is .  I can do the whole layout, change the colours, add elements so simply and can check it all before I save the project.  It is a far quicker process than if I stood in my craftroom surrounded by all my supplies...  and the end result - two cards ready for the young people who are about to set off to start their life adventures at University.

Of course MDS will never replace the pleasure of designing and making things from scratch in the usual way in my craftroom, but when time is short or the project is very specific, MDS is an extra tool available for me to use.

If you still haven't tried MDS you can download a trial version for free via my online store. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. As always if you have any questions please do let me know

Until next time, take care

Christa   xx