Two by Two

Hi everyone, something a bit different today. Two people are leaving work to go on maternity leave soon and I was asked to make their leaving cards. They are both having boys, so I was free to use my favourite blue - Bashful Blue. This is the card I made for both of them:



I used the brilliant Two by Two stamp. I knew this stamp would be ideal, as soon as I saw it in the new catalogue. I coloured the image with marker pens and cut using the image and the blue layer, using the Framelits Labels Collection and the Big Shot:




I added a matching Bashful Blue satin bow (now discontinued) and a piece of So Saffron designer paper. The background layer was embossed using the Perfect Polka Dot embossing folder and the greeting is from the Curly Cute set. There is a 'congratulations' which is part of the image but, as I was making quite a large card, I wanted a bigger greeting. I covered up the greeting part of the stamp with a post-it while I inked the rest, so I wouldn't get any ink on the greeting.

Here's a final close up, showing some of the detail and the pearls which were added as the final touch:

This card was largely based on a card made by a very talented demo Julie Kettlewell. You can check out her blog at Julie's Japes. I was really pleased with the way these cards turned out and can't wait to make their cards once the babies are born. This stamp is only £7.95 so if you fancy it, let me know. x

Ornament Keepsakes Class - December 5th

Hi everyone, there are no card classes in Novenmber, so I'm giving you early notice that the next card class will be on Wednesday December 5th. We will be making the beautiful ornament featured on the front of the Autumn/Winter catalogue. I haven't made my sample yet but this is what we'll be aiming for:

 

 

 

 

As it happens Stampin Up' have a special offer for the stamp set and framelits dies needed. If you buy either the Ornament Keepsakes bundle, and the Candle light Christmas Speciality papers or the Ornament Keepsakes stampset and the Candlelight Speciality papers, you get the Festive Paper Piercing Pack, worth £7.25 for FREE. Click this link http://www2.stampinup.com/gb/eng/8576.asp or the picture on the right of my blog, if you would like to take advantage of this great offer. This offer is only available in November so contact me as soon as possible. I may have some issues accessing the internet in November, so please don't leave it till the last minute.

If you would like to join us for the class, cost is £12 as usual and you can book your place by emailing me: mapleleafstampin@yahoo.co.uk. Hope to hear from you soon. x

 

 

Diary class, matching card

Good morning everyone, as promised here is the matching card to go with the diary and box we made in card class:



And here's the close up:



And here are all three projects together.

The photos weren't very good, now it gets dark so early, so here's another one:

If you want to buy any of the products needed to make these projects, please contact me. I'll be back soon with more. x

2013 Diary and box class

Hi everyone, this is what we made in card class this week. We altered a diary and made a matching box so you can give it as a present. To complete the set, we also made a matching card. Here are the diary and box:



We used the Twitterpated Designer Series papers and I designed everything else around those papers, choosing to use Indigo Island as a my main colour with a bit of Riding Hood Red. This is the front of the box:



The sentiment stamp has been discontinued but it's one of my all time favourites so I'm not quite ready to let it go yet. The butterfly is from the Creative Elements stamp set and the label outline and number stamps are from the extremely versatile Memorable Moments stamp set. As you can see the stamp matches the Framelits Labels Collection:

Because I use my diary all the time at work and it's in and out of my bag all day long, I wanted to keep everything very flat. That isn't the case for the box so I was able to put the butterflies on 3D pads to give them some depth. The flowers on the diary were punched using the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack and the leaves were cut using the Little Leaves Sizzlets and Big Shot.

Here's another look at the diary:



And the matching box:



I hope you liked these. I'll show you the matching card next time. x

 

Snow time

Hi everyone, here's the last card of the three we made in card class using the Snow Much Fun stamp set. This time we used Wisteria Wonder for the base card which we embossed using the Polka Dot embossing folder:



The snow man was stamped on Whisper White and coloured and glittered, as before. This panel was layered onto Pink Pirouette card. The snowball was cut out and mounted on a 3D pad:



The snowflake was cut using the Snow Flurry die and the Big Shot (Autumn/Winter catalogue). I used some glitter paper I had anyway (none Stampin Up) and used the smaller 2 snowflakes. Here are some final close ups:
 

 

 

If you would like any of the products used, then please get in touch. In our next card class we will be decorating a 2013 diary. This would be an ideal Christmas gift, so why  not join us. Everything, including the diary will be included for only £12. The class will take place on Wednesday 31st October and there are only 2 places left, so contact me as soon as you can. I'll be back soon with a preview. x

Northern Snow Flurry

Good morning everyone. Here's another one of the cards we made in card class on Wednesday, using the Snow much Fun stamp set. The photo doesn't really do this card justice as it was so sparkly and glittery!




We used Bashful Blue for the base card and the new embossing folder Northern Flurry to emboss the Whisper White layer. This embossing folder is beautiful with snowflakes in the corner and room for a stamped image.

We used the Big Shot to cut the 'doily' circle using the Perfect Pennants die and stamped, coloured and glittered the image as described in Tuesday's post. If you would like to buy the Snow Much Fun stamp set, please get in touch. x

Stocking time

Morning everyone, here's the first card we made at card class last Wednesday. We used the Snow Much Fun stamp set and lots of glitter:




We used Baja Breeze for the base card and a piece of designer paper from the Snow Festival papers. The image was stamped with StazOn ink and coloured with markers. We then covered the image with Versamark,covered it with Heat 'n Stick, heated it with the heat  gun to melt the powder and then covered it with Dazzling Diamond glitter. We then heated it again which sets the glitter so it doesn't come off when you rub it. This photo gives you a better view:

 

Using Heat 'n Stick is a very effective way to apply glitter that doesn't come off and all the ladies love using this technique. Mind you, you should have seen my dining table and floor by the time they were finished....
I'll show you another card we made soon. x 

Tea for Two Gift

Our last project from the Tea Shoppe class was a small gift which contains two tea bags - a great present to give to a friend. This is how the outside looks:
 

And this is the inside:
 

The paper is from the Twitterpated Designer papers and I used Blushing Bride for the outside. Here are some close ups of the front panel:

 

 

I used Red Riding Hood ink and a blender pen to colour the flowers and used my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig and the masking technique to stamp several flowers in the cup. A few rhinestones completed the panel. Here's a last look at the inside, with some tea bags in place. 

 

I hope I've shown you how versatile the Tea Shoppe stamp set can be and how it can look both modern and more vintage. This set is in the new 2012-13 catalogue, having previously been in the Summer mini, so let me know if you want your own Tea Shoppe stamps. x 

Glittering Fun Class - preview

Hi everyone, here are some sneak previews of the class on Wednesday. We will use the Snow much Fun stamp set and lots and lots of glitter.

 

 

If you fancy joining us, contact me on 07970 708348. x
 

A Cup of thanks

Hi everyone, this is the second card of  the Tea Shoppe card class. I love this colour combination of  Summer Starfruit, Elegant Eggplant and Baja Breeze. Here is what we made:



I used my Stamp-A-Jig to stack the tea cups and the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack to make some flowers:



We created another tiny 'fork' bow in Baja Breeze seam binding and punched the greeting using the Modern Label punch pack.

 

 The edging was created using the Eyelet Border punch which has unfortunately been discontinued. The background paper is from the Patio Party designer papers. I hope you like this card. The last project is a little gift so check back soon for the details. x 

Next Class - Snow Much Fun - October17th

Hi, our next class in on Wednesday October 17th. This is only a week after the last one, but gets us back into the correct pattern of dates, after I had to cancel a class.

 

This week's class will be using the stamp set Snow Much Fun. This is a lovely set with fun images and I'm planning to use the Heat 'n Stick and lots of glitter - back by popular demand.

 

 

 

I will be posting pictures of the samples soon but wanted to give you as much notice as possible about the class.  Let me know if you want to join us. x

Stay for Tea

Hi everyone, this is one of the cards we made on Wednesday. It uses the lovely Tea Shoppe stamp set which has now become a real favourite of mine:

 
Each tea cup was stamped in a different colour of pink - Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple, and Regal Rose. As you can see these colour all matched beautifully.

 

Each cup square was punched using the 1 3/8" square punch and then mounted on a slightly larger square of the matching colour. We punched some flowers using the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack and made tiny little bows using Rose Red seam binding and a fork. If you want to know how to do this, just google it. It worked like a treat and the bows were sooo cute: 

I hope you like this card. Let me know if you want to buy the stamp set. x
 

Owl birthdays

I have just realised that I haven't actually shown you a 'proper' project for a couple of posts, so today you can have 2 posts on the same day. You may remember me saying I had made some birthday cards with the Owl Occasions stamp set, and here they are. The colour scheme for both of them was based around Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo and Daffodil Delight:






 

 

 

 I absolutely love this stamp set. Hope you do too. x