Love you Lots

Hi there

I'm taking a break from holiday season crafting today, to share a couple of cute cards using the 'Love you Lots' Hostess stamp set. It is so easy to forget the wonderful Annual Catalogue full of great project ideas and products. 

The 'Love you Lots' stamp set has 4 super cute images and 4 greetings.  This stamp set is only $16.00 for clear mount when you place an order of $250 or more before postage. To remind you, here it is.

For my first card I have water coloured the frog with the slightly quizzical look on its face and popped him in a frame. I've added a couple of empty frames behind him for a fun geometric look. For the background I have embossed Sahara Sand card stock with the 'Brick Wall' embossing folder. For a quick way to give the wall dimension, I've gone over the 'grout' with my Chalk Marker. 

 

The second card has lots of layers, but it all started with stamping the ladybugs and colouring them with a Stampin' Write marker - you can't get anything easier than that. I added the greeting at the bottom and then die cut with my Circles framelits. I then started at the bottom with the Watermelon Wonder card stock base to match the lady bugs and layered up the thick Whisper White embossed with the Large Polka Dot embossing folder to keep the spotty theme going. Next, I added some interest with the layered Watermelon Wonder piece that has been scored every 1/4" using the Simply Scored Board. This is a simple way to add texture and interest to card stock. Another layer on top with the floral design from the versatile Designer Series Paper stacks, a banner and finally my ladybugs. 

 

Project Details
Stamps	Lots of Love, Endless Thanks
Card stock & Papers	Cucumber Crush, Watermelon Wonder, Basic Black, Whisper White, Sahara Sand, Real Red, In Colour DSP Stack, Shimmery White
Ink	Basic Gray Archival, Basic Black Archival, Cucumber Crush, Crushed Curry, Watermelon Wonder, Smoky Slate
Accessories	Rhinestones Basic Jewels, Wink of Stella
Tools	Squares Framelits, Circles Framelits, Botanical Builder Framelits, Large Polka Dot EF, Big Shot, Aqua Painter, Chalk Marker, Dimensionals, Glue dots, Stampin' Write Marker (Watermelon Wonder)

Thanks for looking!

Another Handmade Gift

Hi there

I have another idea for colleague, teacher or stocking gifts for you today.  I was looking for some boxes in a $2 store and came across some cute Shopping List pads and immediately thought they would make a lovely handmade gift. I showed ladies in a recent class how to cover and decorate the pads very easily using some of the lovely 'Irresistibly Floral' DSP.

I went with a black cover for my pad so that it won't show up too badly, the inevitable greasy marks that come with having a shopping list pad in the kitchen. The black base also makes a great background for any lovely bright colour that can be sponged onto the 'Irresistibly Floral' DSP. If you know the person well, you could colour match the pad with their kitchen. I went with Melon Mambo (no, my kitchen isn't pink!), as it is one of my favourite colours and always looks great with black. This is the finished pad, with a bamboo pen sitting in the holder at the bottom.

I used a sponge dauber to lay down the colour over the white embossed 'Irresistibly Floral' DSP design. I have gone darker on the edges to give it some depth and once you are happy with the colour, gently rub off any excess ink from the embossed design with a soft tissue. I added a strip of Organza ribbon as a base for Dazzling Diamond Glimmer circle that the butterfly is sitting on. This panel was layered on thick Whisper White and the 'LIST' was added to the bottom using the (sadly) retired 'Little Letters' Thinlits dies.

This closeup shows up the lovely floral white embossed design of the 'Irresistibly Floral' DSP. I also added a layer of Vellum card stock under the butterfly so it didn't get lost in the detail of the background and scattered a few rhinestones over the flowers.

Finally, you can see the design of the shopping list pad and I'm sure you will agree that the floral design on the front and butterfly trim works really well with it. 

Project Details
Stamps	None
Card stock & Papers	Basic Black, Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper, Vellum, Irresistibly Floral DSP
Ink	Melon Mambo
Accessories	White Organza ribbon, Rhinestones Basic Jewels
Tools	Bold Butterfly Framelits, Butterflies Thinlits, Little Letters Thinlits (retired), Big Shot, 1 1/2" Circle punch, Itty Bitty Accents (retired), Sponge dauber, Glue dots, Dimensionals, Xyron (not SU)

Thanks for looking!

Sophisticated Gift Card Holder

Hi there

Today I'm sharing my gift card holder that we made in class this week with a lovely group of ladies. I wanted a sophisticated look for this Christmas gift card holder, so I have chosen a black, gold and white theme. Of course, you can choose any colour combo, but I think it looks very elegant for adult gift giving. 

 

There are several great things about this gift card holder - firstly you can make one from a single sheet of card stock (A4 or Imperial size) and secondly, the finished size is 10cm x 12.7cm (4" x 5") so it fits into a standard envelope for posting. This is the gift card holder fully closed.  The round bauble from the 'Delicate Ornaments' Thinlits dies provides a decorative element for the front cover in black and Gold Foil, but also acts as a mechanism to keep it closed as well. I have gold embossed the greeting from the retired 'Lots of Joy' stamp set as I wanted something bold that fitted into the space.

When you open up the flap, you can see how the bauble works to keep the gift card holder closed.  The black and gold bauble is popped up and the gold and white bauble sits slightly underneath it.

 

The decorated flap folds down and you have a large decorated panel to write your greeting at the bottom and then slip your gift card into the pop-up slot in the centre. I have used the retired 'Winter Wonderland' Designer Series Paper which works beautifully with the black, gold and white theme.

You can also use a punch instead of the bauble die, such as the retired Tree punch or Cookie-Cutter Builder punch to achieve a different look for your gift card holder.

 If you are interested in making some of these for Christmas, then you can find the tutorial here.

Project Details
Stamps	Lots of Joy (retired)
Card stock & Papers	Thick Whisper White, Basic Black, Gold Foil paper, Gold Glimmer paper, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper, Winter Wonderland DSP
Ink	Versamark
Accessories	Gold flat back pearl (not SU), Winter Wonderland Washi (retired)
Tools	Softly Falling EF, Delicate Ornaments Thinlits Dies, Big Shot, Gold EP, Heat gun, Dimensionals, Tombow Liquid glue,

Thanks for looking!

AWH Blog Hop - Designer Series Paper

Hi there

Today some of the ladies from the Art with Heart Stampin’ Up! team are sharing some wonderful ideas to inspire you with our Designer Series Papers. This month is the start of the new Stampin' Up! year and we have a special promotion on our Designer Series Paper, buy 3 get 1 FREE for the month of October and there is no limit! This offer applies to the designs shown in the picture below.

You may have come to my blog from the lovely Rachel Woollard. Blogs are full circles, so you can start hopping here and then at the end of each post is a link to the next. There is also a list of participants at the end in case there are any broken links.

Using designer series paper on your cards provides a lovely focus point and does much of the 'heavy lifting', so your layouts can be quite simple, but still pack a punch. I decided to try a technique that I haven't used before, to create my card. It looks a lot like parquetry to me, with strips of DSP laid out to create a simple geometric design. This is a great way to use many of the designs in the pack. There is no right or wrong way, just place the colours and designs so they look balanced and pleasing to the eye. I have used the 'Presents & Pinecones' DSP for my card, but this technique would work with almost any set of DSP if it has a number of small prints. 

To maintain the focus on the DSP and layout, I have used the 'Noel' die cut in Gold Glimmer paper as the greeting. For the inside, I have used the Pine Bough embossing folder in the right hand corner and more of the DSP at the base with the Gold Glimmer trim to finish it off. 

Here is a close up of the paper parquetry and the lovely sparkly greeting.

  

Project Details
Stamps	None
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Emerald Envy, Real Red, Gold Glimmer
Ink	None
Accessories	None
Tools	Pine Bough Embossing folder, Wonderful Wreath Framelits, Big Shot

 

My second project uses one of my 'go to' layouts for using designer series paper as the focal point of the card. It is clean and simple and it always looks great. Just pick out which colours in the DSP you will use as highlights and the rest is a matter of construction. This card uses the 'Candy Cane Lane' DSP with Early Espresso highlights.

For the inside, I 've used Crumb Cake as the mat with some of the lovely spotty washi tape from the Candy Cane Lane set and a cute gingerbread man finishing it off.

 

Here is a closeup of the lovely greeting with the 3 thread bow of Candy Cane Lane Baker's twine and the cute enamel heart.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Cookie-Cutter Christmas
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Real Red, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake
Ink	Early Espresso, Soft Suede
Accessories	Candy Cane Lane Washi, Candy Cane Lane Baker's Twine, Brights Enamel Shapes
Tools	Cookie Cutter Builder punch, Tags & Labels Framelits, Big Shot, Dimensionals

 Now it's time to hop over to see what the lovely Rachel Palmieri has to inspire you. Click on the arrow below.

 

Here is the full list of participants in today's blog hop, so make sure you hop around to everyone and leave them some blog love.

1. Judy May   <----------- You are here!
2. Rachel Palmieri
3. Tina Gillespie
4. Ros Davidson
5. Monika O'Neill
6. Kate Morgan 
7. Kathryn Mangelsdorf
8. Rebecca Jacovou
9. Claire Daly
10. Rachel Woollard

 

Thanks for stopping by!

CASE-ing the Catty - Presents & Pinecones

Hi there

Tonight at CASE-ing the Catty we are celebrating 100 blog hops as we  look at the Presents & Pinecones section of the Holiday Catalogue. How amazing is that - 100 and still going strong! 

You may have come here from Bronwyn's blog, but if you are visiting me, you can start your journey here and continue by clicking on the buttons at the bottom of the post. We also have a guest designer this week so make sure you hop all the way around.

I have been looking at this sample on page 24 of the Holiday Catalogue for ages. I have only recently purchased the Santa's Sleigh bundle after procrastinating forever.  I don't why, as I love it now! 

I have created a 3D style project with the Santas' Sleigh bundle but as a card in a box. I decided a rectangular box would work best and I sized it to fit the elements I wanted to use.The basic box does fit into a standard envelope, but to have everything in proportions that I liked, it is too tall. However, for a special card I don't think a bit of extra postage is too much to ask. So here is the finished card. I was really happy with the way it turned out.

I have used the 'This Christmas' designer paper on the outside panels of the box and the back of the box has the writing panel also trimmed with the striped DSP. 

Here is a closeup of the layers in the box. I die cut the sleigh twice and adhered them together to make it more robust. The images were coloured with a blender pen and ink pads as were the highlights added to the reindeer. The trees also have two layers with the dual purpose of adding extra dimension and robustness. 

Finally, here is a side view of the box.

I had some ladies make this project in class last week and they were very happy with the finished result. It does take some time, but definitely worth it. If you are interested in making this project, I have a tutorial over on my tutorials page.

Project Details
Stamps	Santa's Sleigh, Presents & Pinecones, Wondrous Wreath
Card stock & Papers	Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Garden Green, Wild Wasabi, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Shimmery White, Gold Foil, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer, This Christmas DSP
Ink	Basic Black Archival, Early Espresso, Garden Green, Wild Wasabi, Real Red, Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede
Accessories	Gold flat back gems (not SU)
Tools	Santa's Sleigh Thinlits, Apothecary Accents Framelits (retired), Big Shot, 1 1/4" Circle punch, Dimensionals, Blender pen

Now it's time to click on the Next button below to head over to see what fabulous project Kathryn has for you today. 

 

                             

 

We would love you to link up your CASE from the Presents & Pinecones section by clicking on the button below to add your project.

You can see the full list of the CTC Crew participating this week over at the CASE-ing the Catty blog.

Thanks for visiting today!