cute fawn christmas card

Here's another card using the Kitsch Christmas stamp set by Avery Elle & the O Christmas Tree stamp set by Concord and 9th. I  think they work together so well.

I used the Cable Knit embossing folder from Stampin' Up!'s 2016 Holiday catalogue to emboss the circle. It gives a very deep, textured effect - it really looks like a jumper, I love it!

Lots of cutting done using my new Scan n Cut. I must say, I've moaned a bit about it in previous posts, but it does cut the deer, bells and holly like a dream. You can set it to cut with a broder round the stamped image, but I set it to cut with no border and you can see that it's absolutely bang on the line.   

 

It cut the glitter card quite well - I had to increase the blade depth to 7 as the card is quite dense, and even then it took two repeat cuts to go all the way through, all the way round, but it took less than a minute and i got a crisp and even cut.

 

Cheerful Critters pop up card (video)

Right. First off, please excuse my grebby nails in this video. I had intended to re paint them beforehand, but, well, frankly I just couldn't be bothered. I'd love to say they don't normally look like that...

Anyway, here's how to make the Cheerful Critters pop up card from earlier in the week. I must admit I've struggled a little with this stamp set. I'm not used to working with cartoonish images & it's been a challenge to work them in in a way which I'm happy with. But I really love this card, & I think they work so well with the So You stamp set.

The ribbon & patterned paper for the dress & pink frame are available for free during Sale-a-bration, for every £45 you spend. There have also been a couple of lovely new additions to the free items so check them out here*. Sale-a-bration only lasts to the end of March, so why not treat yourself now?

*please note the Blendabilities are not currently available to order

Measurements:
Base card 11" x 4 2/8"
Inner  10 6/8" x 4"
Cuts from crease line: 
1st step 1 2/8" from left and right edges, 1 1/5" up
2nd step  1/2" from left & right edges, 1/2" up

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Hello December!

December, eh? Where did that come from?

Luckily, my December Daily album is ready to go!

Cover

Inner cover

Front page

Day 1 

I had to take the photo in poor light, so some Photoshopping was needed to brighten it up a bit. It went more orangey red than I would have liked - my pages are pre prepared & the rest of the page is a cooler blue/green, so I brought the colours together with a little red on the blue part & some green & black on the red. 

I used the Bokehful app to add the twinkles to the front of the card. It's great for adding extra interest.

This page took me just 10 minutes to complete - if they're all like that I'm certain I'll complete this album. Prepping in advance & using colour matched journal cards & accessories really speeds things up.

If you're doing December Daily leave me a message - I'd love to see what you did.
 

Espresso 6" X 8" Project Life Album

£8.95

Hello December Project Life Accessory Pack

£12.95

Hello December Project Life Card Collection

£8.50

Project Life December Wonder Photopolymer Stamp Set

£13.95

Variety Pack 6" X 8" Project Life Photo Pocket Pages

£4.95

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

Decorative star mask bokeh (video)

I've been messing around with masks today. At £2.75 for the two, the Hearts & Stars decorative masks are a bargain.

I accidentally stumbled on an effect similar to bokeh, in photography. Bokeh is "...the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by a lens". Of course it is.

If you know your way around a camera you can create the effect yourself. Since I take most of my photos on my iPhone, I just use an app, Bokehful, to add the effect in later. I've used it round the edges of the photo above.

You create the effect by applying ink lightly through the mask, then going back in in certain areas with a heavy application. I used Real Red, Crisp Cantaloupe and Bermuda Bay. 

It's quick, & makes a really pretty background for a card.

Stand by for an instructional video:

Items featured:

Hearts & Stars Decorative Masks

£2.75

Lost Lagoon A4 Cardstock

£6.25

Lost Lagoon 3/8" Satin Stitched Ribbon

£7.95

Pictogram Punches Clear-Mount Stamp Set

£14.95

Apothecary Accents Framelits Dies

£20.95

Crisp Cantaloupe Classic Stampin' Pad

£4.95

Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad

£4.95

Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad

£4.95

Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack

£15.50

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

Project Life - 2 days & counting...

I've been making layouts using the new Stampin' Up! Project Life Everyday Adventures kit, which becomes available to buy this Tuesday 10 June!

Meet you back here tomorrow for more photos and a video.

Join Stampin' Up! for just £50

Joining as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator usually involves purchasing a starter kit for £99. However, for a limited time you can join Stampin' Up! for just £50.  You'll receive a starter kit worth up to £55 and all the usual Stampin' Up! benefits (discounted prices, commissionable earnings, exclusive events & offers).

Join up now and you'll be able to pick preview items (up to the value of £55) from the new 2014-2015 catalogue to include in your starter kit. These include products from Stampin' Up!'s new Project Life range, Blendabilities (Stampin' Up!'s new range of alcohol markers), the new 2014-2016 In-Color cardstock and inks, and selected new stamp sets.

These items will not be available to the general public until July (except the Project Life preview elements which will be available to buy in the UK 10 June)  but as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator you get to play with them a month early.

Once you're a demonstrator there's no obligation to hold workshops or sell to customers (although you can do that if you like). You can simply take advantage of purchasing Stampin' Up!'s great products at discounted prices, for your own use. There's no obligation to keep buying either, your demo-ship simply lapses if you don't meet minimum quarterly sales, and you can rejoin again at any time.

Summary - you should take advantage of this offer if you:

a) want to become a Stampin Up! demonstrator for almost half the regular price of £99
b) want to get your hands on new catalogue products a month early.


If you decide to join up & want to include these new products in your starter kit you'll need to email me BEFORE you sign up, as the item codes are not on the website yet :)

Digital Project Life

If you're a digi scrapper then you'll want to check out Stampin' Up!'s new digital Project Life downloads. 

Three downloads are currently available:

Everyday Adventure digital Project Life cards 137345

Download includes

* 53-piece SVG stamp brush set
* 204 embellishments:
-52 filler card embellishments (3" x 4")
-80 journaling card embellishments (3" x 4")
-8 filler card embellishments (4" x 4")
-16 journaling card embellishments (4"x4")
-13 journaling card embellishments (4" x 6")
-12 filler card embellishments (4"x6")
-23 title card embellishments (4" x 6")

Colours:
Blasic Black, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Pear Pizzazz, Pumpkin Pie, Strawberry Slush, Whisper White

Day To Day Digital Project Life Stamp Brush Set 137348
Download includes * 46-piece SVG stamp brush set

Point & Click Digital Project Life Stamp Brush Set 137347
Download includes * 24-piece SVG stamp brush set Download these sets & get your Stampin' Up! Project Life off to a flying start. All you'll need is a computer and an understanding family that actually allows you access to it RATHER THAN HOGGING IT UP PLAYING MINECRAFT & TF2 AT ALL HOURS OF THE DAY & NIGHT!! Honestly... The rest of us will be able to get our hot little hands on Project Life card, paper & stamps very shortly. Subscribe to this blog or like my Facebook page if you want to know more as soon as I do!

In praise of Color Coach

I laughed my leg off when I first saw Color Coach in the annual catalogue.

It's billed simply as a "Swatchbook with a card for every colour in our collections". What's the point of that? You'd have to be an SU fan of stalker-ish proportions to pay £13.50 for what is essentially an advert for more things you can buy from SU. 

Anyway, having now played with it, it turns out I was wrong. Color Coach is actually an immensely useful little tool, particularly if, like me, you're a bit 'chromatically challenged'.

I have a problem putting colours together  & the process can often take over an entire crafting session. I've got a colour wheel & a very good book on colour theory, but none of it has sunk in. I need a system which basically tells me what to put with what. Colour for Dummies. Color Coach is that system.

What you get with Color Coach is a swatch book, with a page for every colour SU currently features across its product ranges. The really useful bit is that when you flip each card over, printed on the reverse are 3 suggested colour combinations featuring that particular colour. So, if you've got a particular ink or DSP you want to work with but you don't know where to go next, Color Coach acts as your jumping off point.

You don't need to own the entire SU range to use it (imagine that, though...). If you've not got the colour specified on the card, try substituting a similar one. 

In the card below, I wanted to use up some green Old Olive paper from Polka Dot Parade DSP (126902). I wasn't seized by the colour combinations on the back of the Old Olive swatch card, so I flicked through the pack until I came to the reverse of the Pool Party swatch card.

This suggested mixing Old Olive with Crushed Curry & Pool Party. I didn't have any a crushed curry or Pool Party cardstock, but I did have Daffodil Delight & Coastal Cabana. They were similar enough to substitute &, after throwing in a bit of Real Red to make things pop, I ended up with a very pleasing colour combination that had taken minutes to put together. 

 

 

I won't need Color Coach for every project. But when I'm short on time & inspiration, I know it will guarantee great results in minutes.

Products featured 

Color Coach

Polka Dot Parade DSP in Real Red & Old Olive

Make a Cake stamp set (126742)

Ink pads in Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight, Real Red

Postage Collection stamp set (happy birthday sentiment - hostess set)

Coastal Cabana DSP from 2013-15 in Color pack

Daffodil delight cardstock

Arrows textured embossing folder 

Decorative label punch

Scallop trim border punch (cut into snippets & used to frame label)

Word window punch (sentiment & pinwheel)

Whoop! Whoop! ALERT! ALERT!

The 2014/15 annual catalogue will see Stampin' Up! team up with Project Life!

More information here http://t.co/ss1JbcB9mY

And information from Becky Higgins, originator of Project Life, here

http://beckyhiggins.com/project-life-by-stampin-up/

The annual catalogue will be available in the UK from 1st July 2014. 

Owl punch pop up

 

Another owl punch card, this time a pop up.

 



 

I made not one, but TWO videos. I had SUCH important things to say about it!!

 

A proper look at the card...

How to cut a window in the front of the card so that you can see the pop up element behind (in this case, the owl).

 

Stuff :

Owl punch (118074

Lacy & Lovely stamp set (item no 122887)

Summer Silhouettes stamp set (126447)

Hardwood background stamp (133035)

Label Love (130622)

Little Leaves  Sizzlits die (114511)

 

Not shown

Sizzix Pop 'n' Cuts card base die (130099)

Sizzix Pop 'n' Cuts label insert (130160)  

 

 

Buy any of these items from my online store - click on the links to go shopping. And spend £45 or over in one transaction & select FREE stuff from the Sale-a-bration catalogue (offer ends 31 March).

 

 



Hip Hip Hooray! I done a video today!

Right. If rambling, out of focus video reviews are your thing, then run, don't walk, to watch my considered reflections on Stampin' Up!'s new Hip Hip Hooray card kit!

One day, I will learn how to talk about something AND point the camera at the thing that I am talking about, at the same time. Until then...

The item number for the Hip Hip Hooray card kit is 134998. You can buy it here.

Hip Hip Hooray!!

Now this looks interesting.  A card kit that makes 20 cards for less than £20 (it's £17.95, to be precise). And as well as all the cardstock, envelopes stickers & embellishments you'd expect, this kit includes a mini ink pad, 3 stamps AND an acrylic stamp mounting block. 

That makes it a perfect little starter kit if you or someone you know is new to stamping. 

Combine it with a few other bits and bobs to make a total spend of £45 before 31 March and choose more stamps, a punch or papers FREE from the Sale-a-bration catalogue.

I've just ordered one I'll let you know how I get on.

And if you're tempted too, remember that if you combine it with a few other bits and bobs to make a total spend of £45 before 31 March, you can choose more stamps, a punch or papers FREE from the Sale-a-bration catalogue.

CAN YOU HANDLE ALL THAT VALUE? CAN YOU??

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! Perfect Couple stamp set

Although it contains several bride & groom type sentiments, consider using the Perfect Couple stamp set (133197) for general wedding stationery too.

Here I've stamped & heat embossed the champagne glasses for a wedding invitation response. 

The diamond ring & "I do" stamps from this set would look equally stylish for wedding invitations & even engagement parties. Heat embossing is quick & gives a crisp, professional finish. Excellent if you have a lengthy guest list & need to mass produce.

The envelope is made using the Simply Scored board (122334) with the diagonal insert plate (125586).

Buy from my Stampin' Up! online store. Click on the links to get started.