'monochromatic - and way to go'

hi all and happy Sunday

Hope you have had a fabulous week and managed to enjoy the lovely weather.

In my family we always talk about this sort of late summer weather as very  'Septumnal' - still nice and sunny but a little cooler and definite touch of Autumn about it!.

..and my card this week definitely smacks of a warm 'Septumnal' colourway - in my book, what do you think?

It's to say  well done to my dad's niece-in-law... We have just heard she has graduated from uni   with a fabulous 1st for her nursing degree.

Everyone is so proud of her - so just had to make a card.

I went for tone on tone - with the lovely Blackberry Bliss from the 2014 - 2016 In-colour range  and so thought I would link it with the current challenge no. #75 over at Whimsy Stamps where they want to see 'Monochromatic!'

Both my sentiments come from the absolutely brilliant 'Bravo' Photopolymer stamp set - with 13 ways of saying just that!
It was my my first real try at using these and must say,  lining them up is certainly easy with their 'see-through' look.

I used the flutterbies  to echo the - the 'way to go' theme as they fly off the card and I opted to give dimension to 3 of them with the addition of a smaller matching, punched top layer, though not exactly as clear as I meant.

..and with toning ribbon and an ever present bow, it was nice, but thought it lacked something in that bottom right hand corner.. well, with the ease and convenience of the Photopolymer stamps, I just love the way you can, within reason, bend them and shape them to fit.

a bit of sponging for edge interest to complete the look.

Overall,  I think it does fit the family's 'Septumnal' scheme - what do you think?

Stampin' Up! supplies for these cards:

Stamp Sets : Bravo,  Papillon Potpourri

Inks:Blackberry Bliss
Card stock:Whisper White

Thinlits Dies/Punches: Chalk talk thinlits, BItty Butterfly

Other Essentials: Sponge Daubers
Blackberry Bliss ribbon 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon

Just click on the items to easily access them in my on line store  to place an order and have  them shipped straight to your address.

Am happy to answer any questions you may have - if you would like to find out more or would like me to place an order for you, you can email me or contact me on 01438 820829 if you would rather.

Well now that the children are back at school and himself is finished his minding duties  am currently on the hunt for a late holiday deal.  But,  a colleague has told me that by end of next week,  the temperature is supposed to be in the mid 20's here, so perhaps staying at home may be the better option and give me some time for a bit more stamping.

til next time - Have a lovely week,

with best wishes
Jan

... none for ages - then two at once !

hi all

yes don't worry, its not  Sunday,  (my usual day for putting digit to keyboard) honest,
but have just finished a card for my  friend to thank her for all she did in the run up to my big '0' day, so thought I would share.

I chose the very popular Hexagon Hive thinlits die as the main focus of the card, with my two must have, go to,  colours of the moment. Namely,  Lost Lagoon and Hello Honey from the current 2014 - 2016 In-colours.

My sentiment came from the 'A Dozen Thoughts' stamp set and a bit of careful inking/masking and Stamp-a-majigging to get the wording where I wanted it - along with some strategically placed flowers,  stamped from the 'Something to Say' set and punched with the matching punch from the Itty Bitty Accent Punch pack, completed the look.

and here we are -

A bit of sponging in Hello Honey to complete the card - and I was really pleased with the finished result.

...and of course being the frugal person  I am - I  just had to find something to do with all those punched hexagons that you end up with after using the Hexgaon Hive thinlit die.

A fellow sewer at my weekly needlework class is also about to reach the same birthday milestone as me -  - well to me, all those little shapes just cried out pieced 'Grandma's flower garden and being as she is a  keen quilter,  I thought this very apt!

With a little bit of arranging of those hexagon offcuts  and a few more of the same punched flowers,   a 'Happy 60th Birthday' sentiment from the Memorable Moments Stamp set, which I die-cut using the 'Chalk Talk' thinlits and I had another card which came together really quickly.  Shame about the slight pink cast which am still puzzling over though!

and with the birthday in mind thought I would link it to the current challenge being run by the lovely ladies over at  Fashionable Stamping Challenges where their Challenge #80 is a Birthday card for someone special

I used the opposite colourway for my sponging this time with Lost Lagoon, and finished it off with the toning ribbon trim.

... simple but effective and so easily done with my Stampin' Up! stamps, punches, and dies

Stampin' Up! supplies for these cards:

Stamp Sets : A Dozen Thoughts,  Something to Say, Memorable Moments

Inks:Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey

Card stock:Whisper White
Thinlits Dies/Punches: Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack,  Hexagon Hive Thinlits Die 
or Honeycomb Hello Clear Mount bundle

Chalk Talk Thinlit Dies or Chalk Talk Clear Mount bundle
Other Essentials: Stampin' Up! dimensionals, Stamp-a-Ma-jig, Sponge Daubers
Lost Lagoon ribbon 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon

Just click on the items to easily access them in my on line store  to place an order and have  them shipped straight to your address.

Am happy to answer any questions you may have - if you would like to find out more or would like me to place an order for you, you can email me or contact me on 01438 820829 if you would rather.

Well, my partner survived today's  'great-niece' invasion and lives to tell the tale.
I understand a rather lengthy trip to the park took up quite a substantial amount of time.
Am not too sure who enjoyed the roundabout more - him or they!

Til next time and have a great week
with best wishes
Jan x

happy birthday cupcakes!

hi all

I seem to be in birthday card mode at the moment - but then March and April are quite busy in the birthday dept. for me..

Well, hot on the heels of Mother's day- we're also just about to celebrate her birthday this week.

...and what better reason to give the Create a cupcake stamp set and matching punch, an airing.! So yes, I created a few!  and as her birthday is Tuesday am going to link this to the current 'Seize the Birthday' challenge where they want to see Buttons and Rhinestones' topping's - in my case I opted for 3 rhinestones!. and 'Simon Says' where Happy Birthday really is the order of the day.!

Being still in my 'Crisp Cantaloupe phase' - made all the more easier - as stuff was still out on my desk following my foray into the delights of last week's Sweet Sorbet designer series paper and accessories... but mostly inspired by this lovely lady Sandi and her fabulous card in a box colours.

So, herewith, cherry cupcakes galore, stacked down one side,

My sponged sentiment was die-cut using one of the Chalk Talk framelits and framed with the help of the Scalloped Tag Topper punch. (My very grateful thanks to Linda for her video on how to do this - brilliant!)

and with a touch of toning ribbon and my customary 'bit of bling ' to complete it.

But when I had finished it, I thought there was just too much 'white space' and it needed something else.


So I cut and coloured a few candles from the Cycles Celebration set (Vicky, my lovely up-line would be proud of me with all that cutting out!) and the coloured dots were just the waste from punching a border with the daisy scallop punch (sadly retired though!) which I had used to decorate the inside of the card.

..and of course a matching envelope which I opted to decorate with a label from the Label Love stamp set and matching punch and some trim.

Stampin' Up supplies for this card:

Stamp Sets:Create A Cupcake, Cycle Celebration, Label Love

Inks: Crisp Cantaloupe

Card stock/Paper: Very Vanilla, Crisp Cantaloupe, Birthday Basics Designer Series Paper

Framelits/Punches: Build  a Cupcake Punch, Scalloped Tag Topper Punch,  
Artisan Label Punch, Border punch, Chalk Talk Framelits,
Other Essentials: Stampin' Up dimensionals, toning taffeta ribbon,rhinestones, 
blender pens, sponge daubers

I can order Stampin' Up Products for you, shipped straight to your address and am happy to answer any questions you may have - if you would like to find out more or would like to place an order you can email me or contact me on 01438 820829

or why not visit my on line store 

 
.. of course I had to have a go at making one of those delightful boxes myself.

- thanks so much to both Monica and Sandi for the idea for them. I unashamedly cased Sandi's virtually wholesale - with very few of my own touches.. I just love how it turned out.

and the fact that it all fits in an envelobox for posting.. I worked out the dimensions, but the envelope punch did all the hard work!
Will definitely be making more of these 'cards' am sure...

well sad to say - the lawn mower really had reached a grass length too far after last week's trek into the uncharted territory that is our back garden. so am now the proud owner of a new one .. now quite honestly I can think of far more interesting things to spend my pennies on and lawn mowers are just not it!

til next time

Bye all and have a lovely week.  

Jan x