From Diane

This card was made for me by my lovely friend Diane (of Crafty Ducks fame)



The Baroque Motif swirl was clear embossed onto Pool Party and was teamed with Night of Navy and More Mustard for a sophisticated colour combo.

The flower image was made with a single stamp: Triple Flower. The stamp works with three different punches which is great in terms of versatility.

Thanks Diane!

Everything is Rose-y

Any of you with little ones probably recognise the reference to a children's tv programme! I thought it suited this scrapbook page. I love these Springtime Vintage papers from the Mini catalogue and it's great to use lots of them here. I based this layout on one I saw on Michelle Last's blog (I think). It's great because you get to use a Big Shot, Baroque Motifs swirly stamp plus punches!!

I had the best day today. I went to have my hair cut, pedicure and waxing! What a relaxing time I had. My DH is just the best to babysit and give me such luxurious me-time. Love him! Hope you have had a chance to chill out today!!!

Journalling my Christmas

Hello and happy Saturday. We awoke in good spirits as it's the end of term and we have 2 lovely weeks to look forward to. And it was SNOWING! Well, to be honest the novelty of that has already worn off but we managed a speedy trip to Sainsburys before we locked ourselves in. Poor Munchkin is pukey - and I don't think it's through too many mince pies.

Above is a scrapbook page for my first day of my Journal Your Christmas 2010 album. This is an online class that Shimelle.com runs and I love it. I bought a fab 12x12" polka dot album from SU and am lovingly filling it up.

This first page is my manifesto of what I promise myself to focus on during the festive season. It's made from a 12x12" piece of Very Vanilla CS and then I stamped with the swirly stamp in Baroque Motifs stamp set in Crumb Cake ink. There's some Jolly Holiday DSP and cute pearls and of course some glitter. Very simple and quick, just like all the pages I make for this month-long project.

Above is another festive project - Christmas chutney. I took the recipe from Nigella Christmas cookbook and filled up a variety of jars that I collected throughout the year. Then I got some red polka dot fabric and tied it on with some raffia. The tag is punched with my SU punches and a piece of Jolly Holiday DSP and a star (I bought a box of these from somewhere ages ago - too long ago to remember, I'm afraid).

More festive posts to follow...

Jammy-licious

One of my colleagues kindly gave me a bag of damsons so I cooked up some jam! This is the finished result. I used some retired Old Olive DSP and layered on Pale Plum CS stamped with Elegant Eggplant ink using Just Perfect Alphabet stamps and then finished with Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon.

You can barely see the top of the jar but I stamped with Old Olive ink using a stamp from Baroque Motifs and then layered it on a scalloped circle of Pale Plum CS.

Now I've been given another bag of damsons, I'll have to think of something else to make!

Wedding Weekend

This weekend we went to the wedding of a dear school friend of mine. We don't see each other much as she lives in NYC but our friendship has endured. We had a great time and the happy couple looked fit to burst with joy.

For their wedding present I wanted to make a gift that they could keep and look back on their happy day. Or I guess they could add honeymoon pictures. The book is made up with a monochrome theme, featuring the DSP in the Spring Mini catalogue. Just over a month left to get your hands on these papers before the Mini is withdrawn! I also used some gorgeous rub-ons and ribbon for texture.

As you can see the book unfolds a lot. I also decorated the pages with some double-sided stickers and flocking (sadly not yet available from SU!) for extra texture.

It was great to use the rub-ons. These are another supply that I don't make the most of. This central flap is one big rub-on that I simply cut out to make a tag.

The matching card also used Bride DSP paper. I love love love this paper as it is so beautitfully textured. I showed this to the ladies at my class on Thursday and they liked how the paper has a nice sheen to it too. The design of the card is stolen totally from the current Ideas Book and Catalogue, and I loved using my Pretties kit.

The envelope and inside of the card were stamped in Basic Black ink with Baroque Motifs and a little Dazzling Diamonds glitter. All matching, just how I like it!

Fingers crossed the happy couple get joy from the gifts!!!

Just a touch of pink

This is my entry on the Shimelle Crop featuring a touch of pink. Usually when I use pink I go overboard and there is complete pink overload! This challenged me in trying to use a moderate amount.

The shade of pink used is called Rose Red but it's not red at all. It's a gorgeous deep rich pink colour. The background of the card uses Old Olive (of course!) with some retired DSP in the same shade and the swirly image is from Baroque Motifs and is embossed with white.

Not being content to make cards one at a time I decided to try some other colours. So Brocade Blue, Pumpkin Pie and Perfect Plum had an outing too!

Chocolate Favours

A simple but stylish table decoration is a chocolate favour. These are made with 3/8" circles that have been stamped with a co-ordinating colour. These are mounted on circle scallops and these sandwich Elizabeth Shaw after dinner mints. You can buy these from most supermarkets and come in mint and orange flavours.

You can embellish the stamped images with brad and glitter. You could even print the bride & groom's initals if they were for your wedding table. The perfect accompaniment to after dinner coffee no matter what the occasion!