Blog changes and another house card

I’ve made some changes to the blog which you may or may not have noticed. I now have pages! I want to make my tabs look nicer but that sounds like it might be hard so it can wait. But along the top you can see my new tabs which will take you directly to info about, among others, Sale-A-Bration, Help For Haiti and my events. So click around and let me know what you think!

Meanwhile, here’s another card made with Good Neighbours. Click the Sale-a-Bration tab (!) to find out how you can get your hands on this set for free!

This started off as a standard card but then I scored down the centre of the front panel and folded it back on itself. Very simple but gives the card lots of dimension. This is one of Kelly’s favourite colour combinations at the moment so I thought I’d give it a try.

Stamps: Good Neighbours
Cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Mellow Moss, Basic Gray, Very Vanilla
Paper: Patterns – Bashful Blue
Ink: Bashful Blue, Close to Cocoa, Basic Grey, Mellow Moss
Accessories: Eyelet Border Punch, Mellow Moss taffeta ribbon, pale blue gingham, moss gingham

All products by Stampin' Up!®

A cute stamp set that's free!

I do adore this stamp set. It’s very, very cute and you can earn it for free during February if you spend £45 or more. Click the Sale-A-Bration link to find out how!

I made this card with one of my downlines, Kelly, who is a very inspirational stamper. Check out her blog, here.

You stamp the house pieces separately, so a Stamp-a-ma-jig® comes in very handy. I stamped the house itself in Rose Red, the roof in Basic Gray and then the tree next to it in Old Olive. It’s all punched out using the 1 ¾” circle punch and simply rested under the ribbon, popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals. A really easy card.

Stamps: Good Neighbours, Polka Dot background stamp
Cardstock: Old Olive, Kraft, Whisper White
Ink: Old Olive, Rose Red, Basic Gray
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Striped Grosgrain Ribbon – Old Olive, 1 ¾” circle punch

All products by Stampin' Up!®

Cutting the grass

Oh, I love this card design. And I can say that because I totally copied it from Kelly, one of my downlines. She is a really clever stamper and totally shakes my ideas up because I do tend to get stuck in a rut sometimes. You can see her version of this card here. Please visit and leave her a comment!

I changed the colours but kept the design the same. You can’t quite see the white clouds but they are there, honest!

Someone asked me how I made the “grass”. Did I have a special tool because I surely couldn’t have made all those cuts by hand? Er, unfortunately, yes I did cut them by hand. It soon became evident that it was a bad idea but there was no going back!

To find out how you can earn this fab stamp set for free, please click here.

Stamps: Good Neighbours, A Bit of Birthday Cheer
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Whisper White
Ink: Old Olive, Rose Red, Basic Gray, Whisper White craft
Accessories: Pale blue gingham ribbon

All products by Stampin' Up!®

Yes, another chipbird...

It’s hard to tell on this photo but the branch of chipboard is Old Olive and the bird is... wait for it... Bordering Blue. Yes, the pale one from Rich Regals. It’s embossed with clear embossing powder which, strangely, only serves to make it even darker.

What a difference from the last project, on which the bird was also inked in Bordering Blue! The difference was this time the ink was applied directly to the bare chipboard, whereas on Tuesday's journal, there was a layer of Whisper White craft first.

As the bird turned out so dark, to liven it up a bit, I added some white gel pen (then heated it gently again to set – don’t know if it worked though, I daren’t touch it).

Stamps: Happy Everything
Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Always Artichoke
Paper: Kaleidoscope
Ink: Bordering Blue, Old Olive, Really Rust
Accessories: Always Artichoke marker, White gel pen, Black marker, clear embossing powder, So Tweet Chipboard

All products by Stampin' Up!®

Chipbird journal

You may or may not have noticed from the pink logo on the left that I am now a member of a Design Team! Shocking, eh?

The Design Team is over on In Love With Stamping and I have to come up with several projects every month for six months. How very scary.

One of the first challenges was to produce something using the colour combination Old Olive (hurray!), Close to Cocoa, Bordering Blue and either Whisper White or Very Vanilla.

So, as I needed a last-minute gift (is there any other kind with me?), I made this journal.

To get the chipboard bird this lovely Bordering Blue, I first inked it with Whisper White craft ink all over, then heat set it. Next I inked it with Bordering Blue ink - to do this, it's safer to use a brayer, just in case the craft ink isn't fully dry. You don't want it to contaminate your Bordering Blue ink pad! (Ask me how I know.) The wing used the same method but Brocade Blue ink and the bird's eye is simply inked with a black marker.

Next I took a gamble and pressed the whole lot into my Versamark pad. To be honest, my Versamark is so old and grubby that it doesn't matter but it didn't seem to make it any worse. Then I used clear embossing powder to give it this lovely sheen. I used several layers - if you work quickly you can sprinkle new powder on before the previous layer has set and it saves having to add new Versamark.

To make the journal itself, I used this method mainly because, by the time I'd added all my layers, the cover wouldn't fit in my Bind-it-All!

Why not check out the other Design Team creations in the gallery, here?

Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, textured Bordering Blue, Close to Cocoa (inside)
Paper: Spiced Cider
Ink: Whisper White, Bordering Blue, Brocade Blue, Close to Cocoa
Accessories: 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon - Old Olive, 1/5" Grosgrain ribbon - Chocolate Chip, Stampin' Write journaller, clear embossing powder, heat gun, So Tweet Chipboard

All products by Stampin' Up!®

Chipbird!

This is a variation on a theme – this card to be precise. I wanted to have another go using the Pink Flamingo papers, which are very exciting actually. Very bright and cheerful.

Wish I'd given the bird a constrasting wing though.

Stamps: A Bit of Birthday Cheer
Cardstock: Cameo Coral, Tempting Turquoise
Paper: Pink Flamingo
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: So Tweet Chipboard, wide striped Grosgrain Ribbon - Basic Black

All products by Stampin’ Up!®

Faux buttons

This is one of my projects for my Sale-A-Bration workshops. Actually, it’s not, as I’ve adapted it to use A Tree For All Seasons but this is how it started out.

Yes it’s another variation on the little square card with the circle element but if it works, why not keep using it? The new element here is the faux button, made from cardstock, paper and Crystal Effects. Here’s how:

1. Punch several circles of cardstock – I’ve used the ¾” circle punch which is small enough to be realistic but large enough to accommodate the holes.
2. Glue these all together using a strong adhesive such as Tombow Multi
3. Punch another circle from Designer Series Paper and stick it to the top of your cardstock circles.
4. Punch out two holes using the Crop-A-Dile™ which, as we know, will punch through almost anything.
5. Cover the top with a layer of Crystal Effects® and set aside to dry.

When this is dry – I would leave it at least an hour, if not overnight – you have a shiny button which will match your project perfectly.

Stamps: Happy Moments (SAB), Whimsical Words (SAB)
Cardstock: So Saffron, Pink Passion, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White
Paper: Kaleidoscope
Ink: Basic Gray, Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: ¾” circle punch, Crop-A-Dile™, Crystal Effects®, Grosgrain Ribbon - Tempting Turquoise, 1 ¾” circle punch, linen thread, eyelet border punch

All products by Stampin’ Up!®