So Happy card

A bright pop of colour to chase away the January blues. I used the 2013-2015 colour palette. I'll be so sad to see this go in June, I love these colours.

The "Yay" is from the free Sale-a-bration You Brighten My Day stamp set (the one featured here) and the banner punch pops it out. "So happy for you" is from yesterday's featured set, Simply Wonderful & the sunburst is from Kinda Eclectic, which, as you probably know, is THE BEST STAMP SET EVAH!

If you've ever wrestled with the gold sequin trim, I find the best way to attach it to a card is to cut a new piece of card that is the width of your card & glue a length of the trim to that. Then trim the edges once it's dried. You can then stick the panel to you card without stray sequins pinging off.

Sale-a-bration stamps can be earned free with every purchase of £45 or more, until the end of March. Click on any of the items below to start shopping.

Kinda Eclectic Clear-Mount Stamp Set

£17.95

Gold Sequin Trim

£4.50

Coastal Cabana Thick Baker's Twine

£3.25

All Abloom Designer Series Paper Stack

£6.25

2013-2015 In Color A4 Cardstock

£6.25

Venetian Crochet Trim

£6.25

1-1/4" Scallop Circle Punch

£14.25

Banner Punch

£11.50

Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad

£4.95

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

Simply Wonderful (Sale-a-bration)

This is a thank you card for a Christmas present (I know, shockingly late!).

I used the free Simply Wonderful stamp set from the Sale-a-bration brochure (page 16, 139125). It's free with a spend of £45 or more & contains six really useful sentiment stamps.

 

 

All too often when buying crafting stuff we buy bits here & there. And, having got it home & sniffed & stroked & mooned over it, we find we don't quite know what to use it with. And so we never use it (trust me, I have a PhD in this). So a great way to shop during Sale-a-Bration is with a particular project in mind. Include coordinating papers, inks, cardstock etc in your main order and get your stamps from the Sale-a-Bration brochure. That way you can be sure of making a whole project.

 

For example, for this card you could buy the paper stack, one of the cardstock packs, the lace stamp, one of the ink pads and the decorative label punch for just under £46, and choose the Simply Wonderful stamp set from the Sale-a-Bration brochure.  A co-ordinated approach really will make your stash go much further!

 

 

 

Something Lacy Clear Stamp

£12.95

Banners Framelits Dies

£22.95

All Abloom Designer Series Paper Stack

£6.25

Card Stock A4 Pistachio Pudding

£6.25

Lost Lagoon A4 Cardstock

£6.25

Lost Lagoon 3/8" Satin Stitched Ribbon

£7.95

Linen Thread

£3.95

Decorative Label Punch

£15.50

Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad

£4.95

Pistachio Pudding Classic Stampin' Pad

£4.95

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

Mini book pics & a video

I finished my Mini Memories Simply Created album kit. It's a lovely little book. I've mainly used smaller photos (Pogo prints, passport side and Moos). The album covers were Kraft colour with a clear embossed pattern. I painted them in white acrylic paint then wiped it off while it was still wet, as I wanted white covers.

I used pictures from when my boys were little. It was lovely to complete. My boys are still children, but older now. It was nice to look back at a time when they enjoyed my company & would chatter away to me. These days they only communicate through a complex system of grunts, mostly based around wanting to know what's for tea.

If you currently have small children, do make sure that you photograph the living daylights out them now. Once they hit high school they'll start moaning about privacy and personal space and your pool of scrap-able photos will diminish rapidly. So until then, let them never have an undocumented moment!

Here's a video walk through of the album. (It features my usual high quality video production values, ahem)

And here's some close ups in my Flickr album.

If you want to buy the kit, you can find it here. Colourwise, it coordinates with Baked Brown Sugar, Pistachio Pudding, Crisp Canteloupe (those are all 2013-15 In Colors btw), Read Red and Summer Starfruit, so you might want to pick yourself up some coordinating elements while you're there.  And this is the clearance rack Tulle I was talking about - £2.35. Bargain!

Party favour plus sale-a-bration reminder

I made this sweet wedding/party favour today. I made the flower with the Sizzix Spiral Flower die, using two layers of Core'dinations paper. This is far and away the best cardstock to use with this die. It makes the most extravagant, textured blooms!

The embossed pattern is a freebie from the Sale-a-Bration catalogue (Decorative Dots embossing folder). Free when you spend £45 in a single order. Be quick, the offer ends 31 March 2014.

In related news, my Vagabond electronic die cutter finally conked out today. I wish I could say it was a dramatic end, but in truth there was just a discreet "pop", a wisp of smoke & 'twas gone. 

I'm not too sad. We had a good four years together. Be glad that it happened, not sad that it's over & all that.

Anyway, dead Vagabond can only mean one thing - NEW DIE CUTTING MACHINE SHOPPING!!!

And it goes without saying I shall be purchasing this beast...

Stuff I used

Sizzix Spiral Flower die (129379)
Core'dinations cardstock (129958)
Decorative Dots embossing Folder (133520)
Very Vanilla cardstock
Scallop Trim Border Punch (118402)
In Colour 2013-2015 designer series paper  (130136)
1 1/4 inch Scallop punch (127811)

Stampin' Up! owl punch

This card shows off just how well the Stampin' Up! colour families match across different product ranges.  I used Designer Series Paper, cardstock & ink from the 2013-2015 In Color range. Using colour products from a single Stampin' Up! colour family makes putting together a card or project so simple.

The cheeky fella was made using my beloved owl punch (118074) which I will NEVER part with. It is my third baby. Fourth, if you count the cat (I do, she doesn't). 

I  also used the Hardwood background stamp (for the branch)(133035), Label Love (130622) & Gorgeous Grunge (130517) stamp sets, and the Little Leaves  Sizzlits die (114511). (Please note, all links are to cling and not wood mounted rubber stamps.)

Order any of these items from my Stampin' Up! online shop. Click on the link to get started. Don't forget that until 31 March spend £45 & choose a free item from the Sale-a-bration catalogue. 

Stampin' Up! Make a Cake stamp set

A quick card made using the Make a Cake stamp set layered up for a bit of depth. I stamped a couple of images from the Label Love stamp set & cut them in half  & placed them peeping out behind the image to frame it. I'm very mean with my stamps & like to squeeze every last ounce of use of them, lol.

Label Love stamp set 130622

Coordinating Artisan Label punch 130920

Make a Cake stamp set 126742

2013-2015 In Colour cardstock & ink bundle 131293 (inks & cardstock available to buy individually) 

2013-2015 In Colour Designer Series Paper 130136

Buy from my Stampin' Up! shop - click on the link to get shopping. 

Sunday best

Another card using the same products as yesterday. The blue, brown & green patterned papers are from the In Colour Designer Series Paper stack. A little goes a long way, 

Here's what I used... 

Hardwood stamp 133035 

Label Love stamp set 130622

Coordinating Artisan Label punch 130920

Gorgeous Grunge stamp set 130517

Little Leaves Sizzlets die 114511

Sizzix Spiral Flower die 129379

2013-2015 In Colour cardstock & ink bundle 131293 (inks & cardstock available to buy individually) 

2013-2015 In Colour Designer Series Paper 130136

Linen thread 104199

Buy from my Stampin' Up! shop - click on the link to get shopping. 

Just for you...

I've made no secret of the fact that what I like most about Stampin' Up! is the way they colour match across all product ranges (cardstock, patterned paper, ink, embellishments), & this card shows that. The cardstock & ink are the 2013-2015 In Colours & the colour match is spot on! 

Look at the way the brown ink (Baked Brown Sugar) used on the Hardwood background stamp simply blends into the backing card. I could spend hours hunting through my existing (non- Stampin' Up!) stash & not come anywhere near a decent match. As it was, this took minutes.

Here's what I used... 

Hardwood stamp 133035 

Label Love stamp set 130622

Coordinating Artisan Label punch 130920

Gorgeous Grunge stamp set 130517

Little Leaves Sizzlets die 114511

Sizzix Spiral Flower die 129379

2013-2015 In Colour cardstock & ink bundle 131293 (inks & cardstock available to buy individually) 

Buy from my Stampin' Up! shop - click on the links to get shopping.