Treat Basket

This is a little gift basket I made as a peace offering for my 2-year old Grandaughter. Last night my Grandson (aged 4) wanted to come for a 'sleepover' (his word not mine!) with Granny and his sister wasn't very happy that she couldn't come as well. So I had this to give her when I went to pick him up, it goes without saying that she liked the contents (some sweets and grapes) better than the basket but she was swinging it round for a time before her Mummy took it off her and said it could go in her bedroom to keep her hair slides in.
These are the simplest baskets to make, a square of card which can be any measurement that is divisible by 3, score to make 9 equal squares, cut along the two score lines on two opposite sides, then draw up the two sides to meet in a point (glue together where the card touches). Hope that makes sense but honestly it is really easy. The flower on the front was made with the Blossom, 5-Petal Flower and Boho Blossoms punches and fixed in the centre with a Rhinestone Brad. The handle was made with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch again fixed with Rhinestone Brads. I added some loops of Pink Pirouette Taffeta Ribbon and a couple of butterflies cut from the Beautiful Wings Embosslits die.
* Update on the blog 'clear out' - there are now a lot of old posts which no longer have the photos but I need to set aside some time to delete them completely. Please bear with me - it's not a quick job!

Decorated Gift Tins

Last week I showed you 6 cards which I had made as part of a set so I thought I would show you the tins that the cards are going in. The set of cards I showed you were Basic Black and Crumb Cake so they are in the tin on the left of the picture above. The picture on the left is the inside of the other tin which is Basic Black and Basic Gray and you can see two of the six cards I made for that. The tins have been covered using the Mocha Morning Speciality DSP which I am fairly certain will not carry over to the new catalogue so you will only have until the end of September to buy it. Believe me it is gorgeous!!
I am having to have a 'clear out' on my blog as I have nearly used up all the storage space I am allowed so, if you look at any archived posts and the photos aren't there I apologise. I will look to see which posts are affected and remove them but, at the moment, it looks like they're all still there!

My Little People

I have actually been doing some crafting for myself and thought I would show you the fruits of my labour. Looking through the Ideas Book & Catalogue the other day I came across the Forever Young stamps which is a set I bought a long time ago but, in all honesty, I've hardly used. I was inspired by the pictures that were on the page which, I believe, are done on embroidery rings. Now as I'm someone who doesn't do any sewing it will come as no surprise that I don't have any of these lying around but, not to be beaten, I looked for and found a substitute - blank DVD's! I won't go into detail as I have used a lot of SU products and it's really a matter of choice (and what you've got). I wanted to hang the finished project in my conservatory which is browns and neutrals so the colour combo I used is Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla and Naturals Ivory and the four discs were attached to a piece of the wide Striped Grosgrain ribbon with a glue gun. Oh, and just in case you're wondering, the letters are their initials! It is now hanging up and I have to say I'm really quite pleased with it but then I am always happy to have my lovely grandchildren to look at :0)

Pink and Sparkly

 Back today with something a little prettier than my recent posts. It is my Grandaughter's 4th birthday next week (4 going on 14!!!) and she likes all things pink & sparkly - unlike Granny who hates pink and is not so keen on sparkly either! Anyway this is the card I have made for her using Pink Pirouette, Whisper White and the Pennant Parade stamp set along with the Petite Pennants Punch. The number and letters were cut with the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet die and I embossed the edge of the Whisper White card with one of the Adorning Accents Embossing Folders. The sentiment and balloons are from retired sets and for the sparkle I added quite a few Basic Rhinestones.

Six of Six and 3-2-1

What a lot of numbers - well this is the sixth card for the set I am making and I am cheekily entering it for the Less is More 3-2-1 challenge. I say cheekily because I think I may be stretching the boundaries a bit in that I am saying I have 3 squares, 2 words and 1 piece of Linen Thread, but I'm sure Chrissie & Mandi will put me right!!
To make the squares I stamped leaves from French Foliage in Basic Black onto Crumb Cake DSP, punched them out with the small square punch then matted them onto slightly larger Basic Black Squares punched with the large square punch. I cut a strip of Crumb Cake cardstock and randomly stamped the leaves in Crumb Cake and punched one end with a border punch that is now retired. Before fixing to my card blank I positioned the squares and tied a piece of Linen Thread around one end. The sentiment, from Curly Cute, was stamped in Basic Black at the bottom right.

3-2-1

3-2-1 yes that's the challenge at Less is More this week and this is my card - 3 Flowers, 2 Stripes and 1 Sentiment. It could also be my '6 of 6' for the card set I am making but I've already done that! The truth is that I haven't tidied up from making the set of cards I have been showing you this week and the flowers and the black border were left over so I thought I would put them to good use. All I had to do was cut a couple of extra daisies (from the Blossom Party die) and a strip of Crumb Cake. It's all very self-explanatory I think, as well as very simple) - cut and put together 3 daisies, cut two borders (one of mine is from the Adorning Accents Edgelits dies), assemble the card and stamp a sentiment!! My card base is Naturals Ivory and the sentiment is from Petite Pairs.

Five of Six

A bit of a fun card today to go with my set of six. All fairly self-explanatory I think so I'll just give you the basics. The base is a Top Note diecut which was embossed with the Stripes Embossing Folder and a hole cut with a circle punch - the same circle punch was used to punch a black circle to fill in the hole. The owl was punched with the Owl Bulder punch using Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip DSP Whisper White and Basic Black. The leaves and wings were punched from the Bird Builder punch and the banner is just a thin strip of Basic Black cardstock with a non-SU pearl fixed to the top. The sentiment is a retired stamp on Very Vanilla and cut into a banner shape with scissors.

One more to go!!

Four of Six

 

Back again with card number four - again using the colour combo of Crumb Cake and Basic Black but this time with a bit of Very Vanilla. For the panel I've used my favourite stamp set of the moment 'Reason to Smile' (only available until the end of August) - I've tried putting it away but somehow I just keep getting it out again :0) I stamped the small flower solid stamp in Crumb Cake and then overstamped with the outline stamp in Basic Black, this was on Very Vanilla cardstock which was then matted onto Crumb Cake. Before fixing to my card blank I tied a knot of Crumb Cake Taffeta ribbon around the panel and added a sentiment from Perfect Pairs which I punched with the Oval Punch and matted onto a Crumb Cake Scallop Oval. Two Basic Pearls were added and the card was done - very simple!

Three of Six

As I messed up my scheduling yesterday and posted two cards I thought today I would show you a third card for the set I am making. This is such a simple card to make, and an idea which I have used a few times before, but I love the effect the embossing gives - it makes it look like the punched circles are actually printed onto the cardstock. You simply take your piece of base card and arrange punched circles (which also uses up all those scraps) in any way you want to, glue them to the card, trim off any that are overlapping the edge and then run the whole thing through your die cutting machine using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. For this particular card I matted the embossed panel onto some Crumb Cake DSP and layered onto a plain white card blank. I stamped the sentiment from a retired set and punched with a circle punch then matted onto larger circles of Basic Black and Crumb Cake, this was then laid onto a piece of Basic Black Grosgrain Ribbon and a loop made one side and the other side cut at an angle. I finished it off with a tiny black heart punched with the Owl Punch.
I have always used circles when making this design but you could use any punched or die cut shapes you fancy - one with different sized hearts would be very effective for an engagement, anniversary or wedding card. Back tomorrow to show you number 4 :0)

Two of Six

As you read this pretend it is tomorrow (Thursday) because I meant to schedule the post for then but hit the wrong button and can't seem to alter it now!!!
Yesterday I showed you a card which was part of a set so, today, I thought I'd show you the second card - again with a colour scheme of Crumb Cake and Basic Black. I started by cutting a piece of Crumb Cake DSP and cardstock to fit onto an A6 card blank and then cut the bottom edge of the DSP with a die from Adorning Accents Edgelits and embossed the bottom edge of the cardstock with the matching Adorning Accents Embossing folder both from the Summer Mini (which incidentally finishes in just over a week on 31st August). An image from Bordering on Romance, also from the Summer Mini, was stamped in Basic Black onto the DSP along with a sentiment from Sincere Salutations and small flowers made with the Boho Blossoms punch and one of the Itty Bitty punches were placed on the stems. Tiny Basic Pearls were added to the centres of the flowers to finish the card off. I will try to be back tomorrow with card number 3.

Triple Treat

Just popped on here to show you a card I am making as part of a set to go in a decorated tin. If you are a regular visitor to my blog you will remember a while back I made a decorated tin of cards to give to a friend - well she asked me to make two more as gifts. I have managed to make one set (although the tin isn't yet finished) and this is the first card for the second set. I have covered the tins in some of the gorgeous flocked paper from the Mocha Morning Speciality DSP and this one is for the Crumb Cake and Basic Black tin. I have used the Triple Treat Flower stamped in Crumb Cake and Basic Black and punched with the Fancy Flower, 5-Petal Flower and Circle punches. SU have just announced (early) that the 5-Petal Flower punch is no longer available - apparently it was going to be retired at the end of September anyway but stocks have run out and they are not replenishing. Such a shame because it is a lovely punch but sadly if you haven't already got it then you won't be able to now. Having said that it is not too difficult to cut out by hand, just not so quick :0) Back to the card - the flowers were assembled and an Antique Brad was added to the top flower, these were positioned onto a strip of Crumb Cake DSP punched with the Scallop Border with a thin strip of Basic Black cardstock at the top. The sentiment from Curly Cute was stamped in Basic Black onto Crumb Cake and cut into a banner.
Times are changing for SU in the UK - a brand new seasonal catalogue will be available on 1st September as will the retiring list from the current annual catalogue. If I'm right, there will be quite a lot of products on that list this year so, if you have a wish list, make sure you check out what's retiring because these products will not be available after 30th September.

Tearing around again!

After spending a very long, very hot day gardening I needed a bit of relaxation (my idea of relaxation is doing something I enjoy not sitting around doing nothing!) so I had another go at the LIM challenge of 'Tearing'. This one was a very quick and easy card to make using Vellum Cardstock, Chocolate Chip cardstock, Early Espresso Taffeta Ribbon, 3 Metallic Brads, French Foliage and Sincere Salutations stamp sets.

The vellum and ribbon were attached to the cardstock using brads as I did not want glue showing through.
The panel is matted onto a Naturals Ivory card base.

Tearing

I hope you are enjoying what they are promising to be the hottest day of the year so far. I was up with the lark and out tackling my garden which, at the moment, is masquerading as a jungle but by lunchtime it was far too hot for me so I came into the cool and made a card for the LIM challenge. This week the theme is 'Tearing' and this is what I've come up with - using THAT stamp set again (Reason to Smile). I inked the stamp using Calypso Coral and Lucky Limeade markers and stamped the image three times, I then lined up the edge that I wanted torn with a piece of Lucky Limeade cardstock and randomly tore both pieces of card at the same time. I then trimmed the Whisper White cardstock just enough to leave a green border when I layered the two together and, before positioning onto a card blank, I wrapped some Lucky Limeade ribbon (no longer available) round, tied in a bow and added a sentiment tag. Two butterflies, cut with the Beautiful Wings Embosslits die, finished the card off.
Have a great weekend and hopefully I'll be back soon x

Family Tree

 

  

Today I thought I would share a project I have been working on, something different but still using SU products. This is a photo Family Tree that applies to my son & daughter and spans 6 generations on my side and 5 generations on their Dad's side. For the background I used two sheets of 12"x12" cardstock - one in Chocolate Chip and the other in textured Crumb Cake which was cut at an angle and laid over the Choc Chip and then I filled in the two corners with squares of Chocolate Chip. I mounted some of the photos and cut others with either the Circle die or the Large Oval punch. The lettering is from the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet dies and the leaves are Little Leaves Sizzlits die or from the Bird Punch. I didn't want it to be too fussy so I left the decoration at that. I apologise for the watermark across my grandchildren's faces but, with the internet safety how it is today, I did this deliberately! This is just another example of how SU products co-ordinate beautifully and do not have to be used just for cardmaking :0)

Swing Card & Treat Box

I have a little gift set to show you today, made with a mish-mash of products and stamp sets (but serves to show just how good SU products are to mix'n'match!) The swing card is made using the Framelits dies and is not as complicated as it may look, there are a variety of instructional videos on YouTube if you want to have a go yourself. The little Treat Box can be made in various sizes by simply using different size dies.
I won't bore you by going into great detail but the supplies I used are as follows; Old Olive cardstock and Taffeta Ribbon, Twitterpated DSP, Framelits dies, Bird Punch (leaves), Boho Blossoms punch, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, Basic Rhinestones.
I have been overwhelmed by the number of good wishes I have received in the past weeks whilst my Dad has been in hospital, lots from people I don't know but who I feel like I know. Crafters are such a lovely bunch of people aren't they? He is still there and, like I've said before, it's going to be a long haul but we'll get sorted in the end I'm sure. Thanks again everyone x

 

This will be short & sweet but I finally got round to making a long overdue card to send to a lovely lady who I met through Stampin'Up! still at least I have another card to show you!

I stamped the flower from Reason to Smile which had been inked with Calypso Coral and Lucky Limeade and coloured with a blender pen then cut out with a Framelits die. This was matted onto the next size frame which had been inked around the edge, a loop of Calypso Coral Ruffled Ribbon attached to the back and fixed onto a card blank with dimensionals. The tiny flower was made with the Boho Blossoms and Itty Bitty punches and the tags are stamps from Tiny Tags, punched with the Jewelry Tag Punch and a tiny piece of Bakers Twine threaded through a hole in the top

One Layer - Feathers

Well another busy week with not much time to craft, so when I saw the LIM challenge this week was a one layer card using Fur or Feathers, I thought I'd grab a few minutes to make one - I'm not so sure I should have bothered because I'm not very happy with the result but thought I'd show you anyway!

I used a stamp from a Hostess set which was available in the Spring Mini and using my markers I coloured the stamp with three colours, I then used the smallest die from the Framelits set to emboss a frame (turn the die so the cutting side is up) around the image. Although I love very simple cards I felt this was a bit too sparse so I cut down one side with an Adorning Accents Edgelits die and embossed the opposite side with an Adorning Accents Embossing Folder. After inking around all the edges on the front of the card I masked a strip on the inside of the card and inked this as well - the small picture above shows the card when shut. Not a brilliant effort but I tried :0)

'That' Stamp Set Again!

 

I just love the Reason to Smile stamp set - can you tell?? This time I've used it with the En Francais background stamp which I stamped in Early Espresso onto a square of Whisper White. The outline flower & stem stamp was stamped in Versamark and then heat embossed using white embossing powder before sponging all over the panel with Wisteria Wonder. A quick 'polish' on the embossed flowers was all it needed to remove any excess ink and then I layered the panel onto Wisteria Wonder cardstock, wrapped a piece of Wisteria Wonder Ruffled Ribbon across, matted onto a card blank and added a sentiment from Petite Pairs, again heat embossed in white and punched with the small oval punch.

Thank you to all who have sent good wishes to my Dad, he is still in hospital and it looks like it's going to be a long haul so will post as and when I can (and thanks for sticking with me!)

Another Reason to Smile

I have found a few minutes this afternoon to post yet another card made with the gorgeous Reason to Smile set. This time I have used Early Espresso on a Naturals Ivory card base and a piece of First Edition Speacialty paper. I stamped the outline flower/stem stamp with early Espresso onto the DSP and then used Crumb Cake on the 'fill in' stamp. The edges of the cardstock and DSP were cut with one of the dies in the Adorning Accents Edgelits set and, and then layered this onto the Naturals Ivory card base which had been randomly stamped with the outline flower. Oh I missed a bit - before layering the panel onto the base I wrapped some Linen Thread around and tied in a knot. The tags are punched with the Jewelry tag punch and the sentiments are from For my Family (part of a stamp) and Tiny Tags. Be back soon x

A Reason to Smile - Two posts in one day!

   Well I certainly have a 'Reason to Smile' not only have I managed TWO posts in one day I've also made a card to enter into the LIM challenge - Blue & Green. Regular visitors to my blog will know that, for the past 7 weeks, my Dad has been in hospital so I have had practically no time to craft and no time to even look at my favourite challenge sites. However today I have managed to find a couple of hours to play with my new stamp set Reason to Smile (see posts below for more details) and I also dared to have a quick look at the LIM challenge. I understand that some people do not like these two colours together but I think, providing you use the right shades, it can be a lovely colour combo. Anyway onto the card - I chose Old Olive and Pacific Point using three of the stamps from the set and, as this is a 2-step set, I used a couple of the 'fill in' stamps and one outline stamp randomly stamped onto Whisper White. The 'fill in' stamps are not completely smooth but have a sort of linen effect finish so I did not need to stamp off to achieve the nice subtle colour. This panel was then matted and layered onto Pacific Point and Certainly Celery cardstock leaving just a tiny border around so as not to overpower the stamped panel. After positioning onto a square white card blank I added a banner with a sentiment from Curly Cute. 

I have another busy week ahead of me so who knows when I'll be back but I will do my best to visit a few entries - however please accept my apologies if I don't get time to comment.

Need a 'Reason to Smile'?

I don't have a lot of spare time at the moment but I did manage to grab an hour this morning to mount, and use, my new stamp set - Reason to Smile. This is a promotion set and is only available during August - either to purchase or to get absolutely free (see post below for more details). I also don't have time to write a lot but I thought maybe you would like to see some cards rather than nothing at all!! The sentiments are from different sets, as is the background stamp on the Wisteria Wonder card (En Francais) and the swirl on the layered card (Everything Eleanor). I'll be back as soon as I can and, once again, thanks for sticking with me during this period of not much crafting and not much posting :0)

August Promotion from Stampin'Up!

Well it's August already and Stampin'Up! have come up with another fabulous promotion -if you spend £60 on products between 1st-31st August you will receive the Reason to Smile stamp set absolutely FREE. If you would like the stamps but do not want to spend £60 at the moment then, the good news is, you can purchase it for £18.95 (wood mount) or £14.95 (clear mount).
I have just received mine but, unfortunately, not had time to play yet however Vicky, over at Crafting Clare's Paper Moments, has been showing some fabulous cards using the set so why not pop over and have a look. You can get toVicky's blog here 
If you would like to order anything from the catalogue then please get in touch with me, contact details can be found by clicking on the 'Contact me' tab at the top.