Saturday 24 March 2012

Happy Birthday

Hi everyone, I've just typed a whole paragraph about how this card is different as there are no Sale-A-Bration freebies in it, when I realised that the greeting stamp is from the Sale-A-Bration set Outlined Occassions -duh!! Anyway, I made this card for one of the ladies who always attends my card making classes, as it was her birthday a couple of weeks ago. This is what I made for her:



I love these banner cards and they are really easy to make but eye catching. For this one I used the Flirtatious Speciality papers. These papers are lovely, they come with 2 sheets of cut out doily papers and they match the Delicate Doilies stamp set which I used on the inside: 


I stamped the greeting with Black Stazon ink and then coloured it in using my marker pens:


The base card was Pretty in Pink with a Pumpkin Pie layer. Why not have a go at making one of these? Also, remember it's not too late to place a £45 order to get your own Sale-A-Bration freebies. Just get in touch. x 

Thursday 22 March 2012

Mother's Day -- Take two

Good morning everyone, I have now seen my mother-in-law for Mother's Day so I'm safe to post this card. She actually comes to my classes so she made the flip album and matching card last week but I decided to re-make it anyway in a different colour scheme:


For this card I used the Beau Chateau designer papers and Pretty in Pink cardstock for the base card and for the flowers. I used Soft Suede for the leaves and to stamp the greeting. The card was made in the same way as I described in my previous post here.
Now for the close up of the sentiment:


I used pearls instead of rhinestones for the flower centres as I thought it created a softer look. To be honest I think I prefer this more subtle colour scheme. Let me know what you think. x
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Tuesday 20 March 2012

Mother's Day Flip Album

Hi everyone, I know you've already had a little look at the Mother's Day Flip album but I thought I would share this in more detail. Now I certainly didn't design this myself - there are lots of examples of Flip albums on the internet but this is the tutorial I used. Here is what the from cover looked like:


I'm using past tense for this as I wasn't very happy with this cover. The flowers seemed too small and out of propotion with the rest of the album. After much thought, I eventually changed it to this:



I know the changes are quite subtle - I used the Blossom Party die and the Big Shot to cut the flowers instead of the Boho Flower punch, and I stuck to using just Calypso Coral cardstock, instead of multi coloured flowers. I also changed the sentiment plaque and used the Oval Designer Frames embossing folder in the same way as I did on the card. I think this works much better - let me know what you think. So, now some photos of the inside:




I've not decorated or stamped the inside too much as it depends on my photos and I'll probably add flowers etc over the photos. I did want to show you the final version, complete with photos but had a bit of printer trouble. I was going to use pictures of my mum with me and my children, and I wanted them in black and white, so the colours wouldn't clash. For some reason my genuine HP ink, when printing black and white, just smudges... I couldn't work out why my cutter and my fingers were covered in black mess! Anyway, luckily I have some extra time as I don't need this till May,so I can sort it and show you a photo at a later date. 

Here are a couple of photos of everyone who did the class. Do you think we need a bigger table? Everyone was really working against the clock but all produced lovely projects by the end of the evening. They didn't all make the album and card for Mother's Day - they're very versatile and can be used for any occasion. If you would like to join us for future classes, please get in touch. x







Sunday 18 March 2012

Happy Mother's Day

I know it is more like Happy Mother's Day evening, but thought I would share this card anyway. This is the card I made for my mum, to match the flip album which you've had a glimpse of. My mum lives on the continent and they actually don't do Mother's Day till May but I think I'm safe to share this as she doesn't look at my blog - at least I don't think so....
Here's the card:


I used Lucky Limeade for the base colour and punched 16 squares using the 1 1/4" square punch from the Everyday Enchantment FREE SAB papers. Remember you only have to spend £45 to get these gorgeous papers for free.

I then embossed the oval designer embossing frame using Very Vanilla, and tore it into a rough oval shape. I stamped 'To my Mum' using the All in the Family stamp set. The flowers were cut using the Blossom Party die and the Big Shot. I wet the flowers using a misting spray and then scrunched them to give them a more vintage look. The leaves were punched using the Bird Builder punch.

Here's a close up of the sentiment:


I'll show you details of the flip album later and this card in a different colour scheme. I hope you all had a lovely day today. See you soon. x 

Saturday 17 March 2012

Cupcake Class 28th March

Hi everyone, this is just a really quick post to let you know that the next class will be on Wednesday 28th March, 7.00-9.30pm. We will be using the Create A Cupcake stamp set and the matching punch, to create a variety of cards, using the stamps and punch in different ways - not just to make cupcakes.

I'll post a preview soon and there are more details on my Classes page - the tab is at the top of my blog. There are also details of a special offer - so check it out.

I've spent all day doing a fair today which was great fun and I met some lovely people. However, I'm exhausted now, so look out for a 'proper' post tomorrow. x

Friday 16 March 2012

Owl party

Hi everyone. Where has the time gone? This week has flown by. Everyone had a great time on Tuesday making their Mother's Day cards and Flip Album and I will show you pictures of that later. I've got  something a little bit different to show you this morning. I found some very cute little owl lip balm pots in my local shop and they immediately made me think of the very similar colours of Stampin' Up! cardstock. So I bought them and made little boxes for them, ready to sell at a fair I'm doing on saturday. I then realised I had a similar coloured owl money box and so grouped them all together for a 'party' photo:


The colours I used are Melon Mambo and Concorde Crush and for the other set (you can just see them peeking out of their boxes), Island Indigo and Lucky Limeade. Here's a better view of the flowers on top of the boxes and the little owls:


The boxes were made using the Mini Milk Carton die and the Big Shot and the lids were cut and scored by hand and then punched using the Scallop Trim Border punch. To get the small box shape, you only die cut the bottom half of the mini milk carton. The flowers on top of the boxes were cut using the Flowers, Daisies die and the Big Shot again:
 
Posted by PicasaI hope you like these and that it shows you just how versatile the dies can be. Ofcourse, I am working on a matching card but haven't finished it yet as I've been busy making things for the fair, so, watch out for the card later. If you would like to come and see me at the Beeston Fair, it's being held at the Pearson Centre in Beeston, 10.30-4.00pm on Saturday 17th March. Have a great day. x

Tuesday 6 March 2012

You can never have too many bags

Hi everyone, I wanted to share this little bag with you all. If you've been surfing blog land you'll have come across lots of these as quite a few demos have been making them recently. This is certainly not my original idea and you can find a tutorial and video on how to make these here.



I used the SAB Everyday Enchantment papers (again) and matched the papers with Peach Parfait and Pool Party cardstock. Here's a side view:



The bag only uses a 6" x 6" square of designer paper so you can make 4 out of 1 sheet. I also used the matching designer brads to hold the gorgeous Pool Party ruffled ribbon handles in place. When you open it up, there is just enough space for a small gift or a credit card gift card:



The bag is held shut with a velcro self adhesive dot and the flower was cut using the Big Shot and my new favourite die, Blossom Party. This die is in the Spring mini catalogue and only available till 30th April, so if you like it, don't delay.




Now, I'm doing a couple of Spring Fairs soon, so I thought these little bags are an ideal way to use up some retired designer papers. Here's my collection. Unfortunately you can't get these papers anymore but imagine how gorgeous these bags would be in the current papers especially the flocked Mocha Morning papers. I may make one soon to show you. In the meantime, I hope you like these.



These red ones are my personal favourites:



Why not have a go. They are really easy. x
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Thursday 1 March 2012

Mother's Day Class

Hi everyone, I'll be holding a Mother's Day class where we'll be making a flip album and  a matching card. Here's a sneak preview:


Now, at the moment I am slightly unsure about the date. The possible dates are the 7th March, 13th March or 14th March. I'm going to see when most people can attend and then hold the class on that date - possibly 2 dates. If you're interested in making this lovely album which you can then fill with beautiful photos, let me know which dates you can make. Price is £12 as usual which includes everything you need to make this album with a matching card.

If you don't want to make this album for Mother's Day, you don't have to. You can make it for anyone you like -just change the wording. Get in touch soon, so I can finalise the date. I will publish details and more photos of this project after the class, although there is another photo on my classes page - the tab is at the top of the blog. x