Special 70th

My parents are going to lots of milestone birthday parties this summer so here is one card I have made for a dear friend of theirs.

It's using Paisley Prints papers, which I adore. There's a strip of Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon all crinkled across the join and then I took my Big Shot out and did some cutting! I used gold card for the curvey shape and Cajun Craze card for the numbers.

To make the flower so colourful I used the marker-to-pen technique and used all the different colours contained in the Paisley Prints papers to ensure the image matched perfectly. The stamp is from Ornate Flowers, I believe. I am losing the plot with names and dates this week as I have been rather worn out by a small person; who seems to be testing my patience!!

I'm quite pleased with this result and I hope the recipient will like it too.

Have you got any milestone birthdays coming up? One of mine is next March but I am warming up by attending a friend's 40th this summer. 2012 is full of important dates it seems.

Happy Scrapbook page

I love to scrap! This is a page I've put together for a forthcoming class demonstration for the local U3A in June. The brief was to have a single photograph and keep the costs down! I managed to include punches, stamping, patterned paper, ribbon, buttons and the Big Shot (for the title alphabet).

It's based on a page that was shown in the January 2011 Impressions magazine. This is a monthly publication that is posted out to all UK demonstrators and is always full of gorgeous projects! I've adapted it slightly to suit what materials I have on hand and the colours I wanted to use.

Hope you enjoyed your week and have something nice planned for the Bank Holiday weekend. We're taking it easy but there will be a match at Twickenham for DH and a family visit to my sister at her new place in London too!

Inspired by Mojo Monday

Can you believe it's Saturday? It seems like I've been making this card all week for the Mojo Monday challenge #190. Still, it's finally made and I'm just about happy with it. Click on the link to see other Mojo Monday creations.

I used the set Ornate Flowers (Friends Never Fade in the USA) as I thought the image went well with the flowers in the Springtime Vintage patterned paper. The base card is Baja Breeze and I put a layer of Naturals Ivory card that had been run through the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder on top.

The main image was inked in Versamark and then Not Quite Navy ink. Once it was stamped I added a layer of clear embossing powder and heated. This gives it a slightly raised shiny effect. A small piece of punched Always Artichoke card and a length of Twill Tape and voila la!

I'd love to know what you think so please leave comments if you can.

Today I'm going to my upline, Natalie's training event. I can't wait! There will be swaps, chatting, stamping and laughs. If you think this is something you'd like to be involved in, why not become a Demonstrator? Contact me for details blueangelcrafts@gmail.com

Hello all! It's been a busy few days. Here is a sunny card to share with you. The central flower image was shown to me by Maggie at the Make It show earlier this year. You use the flower image from Ornate Flowers stamp set and colour it using markers. In this case I used Elegant Eggplant and Rich Razzleberry markers and layered the image on Elegant Eggplant card..The base card is Old Olive and has been run through the Big Shot to emboss it. Some wide grosgrain Rich Razzleberry ribbon finishes it off. This was the card that everyone made at parties I ran last month. Obviously you "pimp" the card and add bling such as brads, glitter or buttons but I quite like it kept simple.

Today I've not bee 100% and spent a lot of time resting as I've not been functioning. Guess I've been doing a bit much. Anyway, yesterday and today my parents and sister came over to work on our garden.We have a very long garde that had been neglected prior to us moving in. Two years later and we're finally tackling it!! Above you can see DH and my Mum sorting out some shredding. We've removed the conifers that lined our back wall.Due to the hot weather we all needed to cool off. Here is my Dad showing Munchkin how to eat ice lollies! Cute!!

And of course we needed lots of sun protection - Munchkin got quite attached to the cream!!

Variations on a theme

After the card I showed you yesterday I got a real bug to make more in the same style but with different patterned papers and stamp sets! This one features Basic Black & Riding Hood Red with Very Vanilla. The papers are Newsprint & Love Letter and the stamps are Artistic Etchings (which is designed to co-ordinate with Love Letters DSP). I think this is a really classic combo and would be good for a valentine card.

This combo is using Nursery Suite papers with Forest Friends stamp set. Cute!

This one features Woodland Walk DSP and Growing Green stamp set - the greeting is from Vintage Vogue.

This last one is a bit boho even for me! It's Greenhouse Garden DSP with Ornate Flowers stamps. I took the greeting from Something Sweet. There's a little bit of Crystal Effects added for texture and the cute flower brad is so sweet!!

Lastly, since we're snowed in again today I made a start on my Christmas baking. We've added more decorations to the tree, made 2 dozen mince pies and lots of gingerbread cookies ready for icing and then hanging on the tree. Yipee!

Convention 2010

Hooray I'm home from Convention 2010. There were highs (stamping, chatting and getting ideas) and lows (no hot water and being locked out of my room!) but all in all it was truly an experience!

The best part for me was meeting so many lovely people and seeing how creative they are - hello to you ladies if you are reading this! I was lucky enough to gather around 150 swaps. Below is my swap that I gave in return:

It was stamped using Ornate Flowers. The main image was stamped using markers - Real Red and Pear Pizzazz on Very Vanilla CS. This was layered on Chocolate Chip & Pear Pizzazz CS. The background was stamped in the same colour as this CS - in this case, Real Red.

Considering I only gave myself a week to create the swaps, I was really pleased with the outcome. Before I settled on Real Red for my swaps I got a bit carrided away with my new In Color markers and cardstock and you can see the result, alongside the Real Red ones, below:

My favourite is the Conchord Crush combo. That colour has really grown on me and now I've had to order myself a whole pack of it so I can create so many more projects with it.

In the coming days/weeks I hope to replicate and share some of the ideas and swaps that I saw so watch this space!

Post-it Note Holder

Today I'm showing you a post-it note holder that I made from a tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers. The colours are Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz and Very Vanilla with a hint of Chocolate Chip. Yum! Sounds like a dessert, doesn't it?!
The holder is simply a few folds and then a couple of pieces of tape. Simple but effective. The edge has been punched with the eyelet border punch. I think this is a cute little gift, and who doesn't need post-it notes!

This is a side on view so you can see it a bit closer. The stamp set used for decorating is Ornate Flowers and it's really versatile. Love it!

Today we're having a quiet day. Immy seems to be teething so she's worn out, poor lamb. Have a fun Monday!!

Sour cream container

This is a simple lil box. I love sour cream containers. They are so satisfying to create and they always look gorgeous. This one is made from Daffodil Delight CS stamped in the same colour ink using Ornate Flowers stamp set. The scallop circle punch was used to cut out Pear Pizzazz CS and layered on that was another flower stamped and then and yellow one cut out and layered on top. To finish was a simple piece of 1/4" Whisper White Grosgrain ribbon. Voila!

Today has felt a bit like Christmas is here! We made rich fruit chutney, festive seasoned salt and planned all sorts of tasty treats for Christmas. I'm looking forward to decorating all the packaging to the hilt now I have so many punches and colours to choose from! I've also been toying with the idea of making Super-sized *pimped* sour cream containers as gift wrapping this year... watch this space, as I am sure to share them with you if I do give them a try.

Hope you've had a good Monday, and see you again soon.

Hello! Hope you are having a good Tuesday. This morning I took Munchkin to my cousin's house and she played with her little girl. The two toddlers were sooo cute together!

This is a card I put together when I was making samples for my Catalogue Launch Party. It features DSP called Greenhouse Gala in Daffodil Delight that has been matted on a piece of CS in the same colour. The flower embellishment is Marina Mist CS that has been stamped in the same colour ink using the Medallion background stamp. I then white embossed a flower image from Ornate Flowers and punched the whole lot out with the flower punch.

The base of the card is in Crumb Cake (formerly Kraft) that has been stamped with Versamark to get a cool watermark background. A piece of Marina Mist taffetta ribbon goes around the card. The sentiment is from a fab set called Trendy Trees. Oddly I seem to use the sentiments more than the trees themselves! The sentiment was punched out with the window punch and then a button to the left of the sentiment was added (sadly this button is now retired).

It looks like a simple card but there are plenty of details. Hope you like!

Moooorning! Hope you are enjoying some sunny weather where you are.

This card is a design I've adapted from Splitcoast Stampers (again!) but I have changed the design little. The colours I've used are Rose Red, Certainly Celery and So Saffron. I stampde the flower images using Ornate Flowers on Whisper White. Then I cut them all out and layered them on scalloped flower squares, also in Whisper White.

The coloured stripes are pieces of Rose Red and So Saffron and then at the bottom there is a single layer of Certainly Celery 1/4" grosgrain ribbon. I stamped the greeting in Early Espresso, and although it says "Happy Birthday" you can imagine that many other greetings could be used.

Right, I am off to my day job now but I will be back with something new tomorrow!

Catalogue Launch Party

Where has the weekend gone? I am so sorry for going AWOL for a few days. As you will see, I have had Stampin' Up! at the forefront of my mind all weekend...

Since there was the new catalogue to celebrate I held a Catalogue Launch Party and invited those people who had ordered from me in the past year. In total I think that there were 16 or 17 people. To be honest, it got a bit crazy at one point and the house was just FULL!

Above you can see a display I had of the new clear mount stamps. Everyone seemed to really like them, particularly the cool DVD case storage. Small storage and easy to find DVD storage units. Surrounding the display are some 3D projects that I either have received in swaps from various people or made myself. (I am sure that I will be posting pictures of these in the coming days) We began the party with a catalogue treasure hunt. There was a lot of concentration required, as you can see! It was a fun and light-hearted start to the event, and I was surprised at the competitive streak some of my dear friends showed!! As well as their own copy of the NEW gorgeous catalogue (see on the right for an electronic version) everyone got a goodie bag with various flyers, punched shapes and a pen and notepad set. Each pen is filled with a piece of Greenhouse Gala DSP in Daffodil Delight. The notepads had the person's name on them or friend, depending on how long I knew they were coming in advance!! The notepads are covered in Whisper White CS and stamped with an Ornate Flowers stamp in Pear Pizzazz and Poppy Parade (In Colors). I hand drew the faux stitched edging in Basic Black and then stamped the person's name/friend in Daffodil Delight. using my Simply Perfect alphabet stamps. The final stage was a small piece of Poppy Parade CS and voila!
Everyone also had the opportunity to get inky! You can see how lovely and tidy the Make & Take table looked shortly before everyone arrived. Here is the Make & Take project. It's features Baja Breeze (blue), Chocolate Chip and Whisper White and is stamped with Serene Snowflakes stamps. Simple but effective. I think I have a few Baja Breeze converts on my hands!!
Then there are the refreshments! My Mum is a saint and she baked lemon drizzle cake and flapjacks, which complemented my pumpkin blondies and Chocolate chip cookies beautifully. If you look carefully you can see that I even managed to bring Stampin' Up! to this corner of the party too, as I made name labels for the cakes using my supplies!!

And lastly this is the youngest member at the party... Little Alexander. What an angel. Amazingly he slept through quite a bit of the party (read: noisy women squealing) and enjoyed his toys in between that!!

So, another fun Stampin' Up! afternoon. By the way, if you fancy ordering but want to avoid the postage and are happy to pick up your own order, I will be placing an order on the last Sunday of each calendar month for my own supplies and will allow you tag your order on. However if you can wait, you can just go mad and order from me now!! Your order could be with you within days!!