Seashells Embossing folder thank you cards

I had a splashy fun time creating these cards as customer thank yous. Pretty much everything was covered in speckles of ink by the time I'd finished.

These are just a few of the cards I made; I rashly packed up the others before I remembered to take any pix. Oops - thankfully I remembered just in time. 

I sent these out to everyone who shopped with me in March. Those who used the host code also received a thank you gift of a retiring stamp set, Parcels & Petals. This is SUCH a bargain set that I couldn't resist ordering one for everyone. Well, not quite everyone; the lady who already had one received something different. Yes, I really did go through them all to check.

I used the Seashells 3D Embossing Folder, which is a relatively new addition to my craft stash. It goes perfectly with the Friends Are Like Seashells Bundle but I haven’t had chance to use them together yet.

For these relatively quick and easy cards, I simply speckled some pieces of Basic White cardstock using a wet paintbrush to pink up ink from the ink pad lid and then spatter it across the paper.

The wetter your brush, the bigger and paler the splashes you'll get. Keep the water to a minimum and you'll get smaller, darker speckles.

 

 

I used three outgoing In Colors; Pretty Peacock, Terracotta Tile and Seaside Spray, and took the opportunity to use up as much retiring stash as possible before it goes forever.

The card bases are Terracotta Tile, with a Pretty Peacock Layer. This lovely scalloped ribbon is retiring and is now reduced to £4.50, while the Classic Label Punch has already sold out in Europe.

Carrying over into the new catalogue, you'll be pleased to know, are the Linen Thread and the Seashells Embossing Folder. 

 

There are still lots of bargains to be found on the Last Chance list and on the Clearance Rack. If you are in the UK and would like to order, please visit my store and, if you use the March host code TRPKSXWR, I’ll send you a thank you gift in May!

 

To make it easy for you, please shop using this link

Does your wish list come to more than £99? Please get in touch and I will help you get more for your money and unlock discounts all year round.  

 

Please message me via my website 

 

 

 

Enjoy the Moment - five card ideas with one stamp set

One of the things I love about papercrafting and Stampin’ Up!® projects is the versatility. You can take one design and reuse it with different products – which is why our catalogue used to be called an Idea Book & Catalogue. SU actually dropped the name because nobody bothered to say it all – we just called it the catalogue. 

This stamp set, Enjoy the Moment, is actually one of my favourites from the January-June Mini Catalogue, but I confess I haven't used it as much as I should. Fortunately, it’s carrying over into the new Annual Catalogue, which comes out in May so I will have plenty more chances to create with it. 

What I did do was spend time attempting to recreate some of the designs from my Dandy Garden Day using Enjoy the Moment instead.

Happily, many of the projects were easily adapted. This is exactly the principle of CASEin (Copy And Share Everything). You don't have to copy something exactly; you can always take inspiration from a project even if you don’t own the same stamp set, or paper, or colours. 

 

This card is very similar to the original which you can see here. I just changed the images and moved the braided linen thread to a different position. The ‘hello’ is actually from Garden Wishes and because it’s so small, I’ve stamped it three times, and I’ve coloured around the main image using the Light Pool Party Stampin’ Blends marker.

This, too, is a version of a card from the Dandy Garden Day. I created the background in the same way, using Blending Brushes and spatters of diluted ink, loosely followed the same card design but omitted the ribbon, changed the greeting panel and of course the images.
 

I love creating ‘messy’ backgrounds like this as they give your images extra depth and are of course very fun to do!

I strayed into new territory for the rest of the cards, including this note card. As you can probably see, I had begun colouring around the image in Pool Party but decided I wasn’t keen so went for the Blending Brushes instead, using much darker shades of Old Olive, Mossy Meadow and Soft Suede. 

It was a little blotchy (it looks worse in the photo, I promise!) so I attempted to disguise this with some stamping and finally by running it through the Subtle Embossing Folder (retiring soon!). It’s all set at an angle on some Dandy Garden Designer Series Paper.

Don’t give up on a project if it doesn’t go to plan. Keep sponging, blending, ageing, embossing, stamping... whatever floats your boat. Worst case scenario will see you throwing it in the recycling after all. The best case scenario will see you creating something wonderful!

This is another fun background technique. Lots of blending with the Blending Brushes to create a dark, moody background. This has a vague ombré effect, with darker ink at the bottom of the card. On top of this I have stamped ‘Happy Birthday’ repeatedly without reinking, overlapping the words over and over again, to create an interesting effect. This really helps the seed heads to stand out; of course it also helps that I popped them up on Stampin’ Dimensionals. 

Finally I created this simple Thinking of You card using the large greeting from Rooted In Nature. I masked a vertical line and applied Misty Moonlight ink using a Blending Brush, then stamped the images on top, popping up a couple to add interest. I kept it fairly simple because I feel that cards of this type shouldn’t be brash, as their purpose is to convey sympathy rather than show off our skills!

The Enjoy the Moment stamp set is available in the January-June Mini Catalogue. If you are in the UK and would like to order, please visit my store and, if you use the April host code TRPKSXWR, I’ll send you a thank you gift in May!

To make it easy for you, please shop using this link

Does your wish list come to more than £99? Please get in touch and I will help you get more for your money and unlock discounts all year round.  

 

Please message me via my website 

 

Hydrangea Hill Kit By Mail

I really love hydrangeas. I remember seeing them everywhere when we used to visit Brittany in northern France, and we have one outside our front door. What I particularly like is the way they fade so beautifully. They’re beautiful in bloom, but as they dry to a crisp, they remain just as beautiful in my view, and look lovely dried.

The stunning Hydrangea Hill Designer Series Paper is a celebration of hydrangeas and the star of the show both in these projects and in my Kit of the Month for April.

I am currently offering monthly kits of hand-selected products, which co-ordinate with each other to save you time and money, as you can get part packs instead of investing in full packs which you may not manage to use. My kits are one-time purchases; no subscription required, so you can just hop in and out as the mood takes you.

For April, I couldn’t resist Hydrangea Hill because I know how many people love our gorgeous purples. I have made some projects with the kit to show you what you could do if you simply add Basic White Cardstock and your own greeting stamps.

 

 

This is a simple M-Fold card which looks much harder than it really is. I have a tutorial for this fancy fold here.

For the main image here I have cut out some flowers from the Designer Series Paper; it’s a bit fiddly but if you don’t have the stamps, it works pretty well. If you’d rather stamp, the Hydrangea Haven stamp set coordinates perfectly. Alternatively, you could use the retiring stamp set, Beautiful Friendship, which also features a gorgeous hydrangea stamp. 

 

To show the versatility of the kit, I made a 3D project, too. Each month I try to include something which can be used for gift packaging and this month it will be one of the retiring Mini Pizza Boxes. 

 

I’ve covered the sides with Mercury Glass Acetate Sheets, and the top with the Hydrangea Hill Designer Series Paper. It’s a really simple project, but looks effective because all the colours go together so beautifully. 

 

 

These are just two of the projects I’ve made with the kit. Everyone who purchases this kit from me will receive access to an exclusive PDF of more projects to copy or simply use as inspiration. Last month, a group of ladies who purchased my March Kit By Mail got together on Zoom to make their projects and, by all accounts, had a wonderful crafty time!

In the April Kit By Mail you will receive

- Half a pack of Hydrangea Hill Designer Series Paper, cut down to 6"x12"
- Quarter pack of Hydrangea Hill Mercury Glass Designer Acetate (one of each design, cut down to 6"x6")
- Half a pack of Pastel Pearls (not shown in pic)- 2 metres of Gorgeous Grape 3/8" (1cm) Sheer Ribbon
- 2 metres of 3/8" (1cm) Fine Art Ribbon
- 3 sheets of Gorgeous Grape A4 cardstock
- 3 sheets of Highland Heather A4 cardstock
- 3 sheets of Old Olive A4 cardstock

- 1 Mini Pizza Box

- Plus some retiring ribbon scraps in co-ordinating colours.

The price is £20 which includes postage to anywhere in the UK. Sadly I cannot ship outside of the UK. If you'd like to order one of these, please click here – registration for this kit ends at 10pm on Wednesday 7th April. If you have any questions...

 

Please message me via my website 

 

 

Three 3D projects using the Boho Indigo Product Medley Refill Kit

I’m back with some more Boho Indigo projects. Did you know, the Boho Indigo Product Medley was the top-selling kit in the UK last week? And the Boho Indigo Product Medley Refill took the second slot! That’s no April Fool and neither is the fact that these amazing kits are only available while supplies last!

I am not surprised they are so popular as they are absolutely beautiful and I can only hope they have not sold out by the time you read this.

As part of our Zoom class on Saturday, we made several cards which you can see here and some 3D projects.

 

We began with the covered wooden heart ornament, which would make a lovely home décor item or gift tag. How about using it as a bottle tag?

It’s pretty simple; you just draw around the heart on the back of your chosen Designer Series Paper, cut it out with scissors, apply adhesive all over and stick to the heart. Trim off any excess paper with scissors then sand/file the edges so the paper sits smoothly and neatly.

We decorated it with paper flowers, using three different methods to create them. 

 

One is simply cut from the Designer Series Paper three times then layered up, offsetting each layer slightly to create the appearance of more petals. 

The second is punched using the Small Bloom Punch, which is currently reduced to £7.20 and only available while supplies last. We punched three flowers from Very Vanilla, then a fourth from Misty Moonlight. This blue one was snipped using scissors to create a fringe effect and scrunched up before adding it to the stack. Once they are stuck together you can snip the ends of the blue petals a little more if they appear too large, then top off with a Basic Rhinestone or other embellishment. 

 

The third flower is create from a roll of Designer Series Paper. These can be made from a square of any size, but we found about 6.5cm (just bigger than 2.5in) was about right. 

 

1. From the square of Designer Series Paper, cut a spiral leaving a disc at the centre about the size of a 5p coin.

2. Freehand cut a wavy line close to the outside edge until you get to the centre. Discard the smaller, narrower piece.

3. Starting from the pointy end, roll the paper to create your flower, using the centre disc as the base. Seal with wet glue or a hot glue gun. If using wet clue, you do have to sit and hold it for quite a while but I still find that easier than hot glue for such a small item. 

We made a few flowers at this point and held one back for this lovely Acetate box to hold our cards. These C6 Acetate Card Boxes are carrying over to the new Annual Catalogue, I'm delighted to say.

The box is decorated using two strips of embossed cardstock, joined together to make one long enough to go round the width of the acetate box. There is one join at the back and the other is at the front, but covered by the tall leaf and other embellishments.

 

The third 3D project is this really simple pouch which again can be made from any size square. It’s really easy to make and Dawn Olchefske has an excellent picture tutorial here.

In my class everyone received half of a refill kit and were impressed at just how much there was in it. A full refill kit, or the full medley, will enable you make dozens of beautiful projects.

I honestly cannot recommend these products highly enough. I don’t usually do the “hard sell” because I personally find it off-putting and also appreciate that everyone has different tastes, but these are truly beautiful products and right now the The Boho Indigo Product Medley is reduced to £39, making it a fabulous bargain. For this price you receive stamps, dies, ribbons, papers, label/image sheets and embellishments. 

 

For just the consumable items, The Boho Indigo Product Medley Refill Kit remains at its original price of £21. This is still excellent value for just the papers, label/image sheets and embellishments... but when you can get the stamps and dies for an extra £18, I know I wouldn't be able to resist.

If you are in the UK and would like to order this fabulous product medley, refill kit or indeed anything else, please visit my store and, if you use the April host code TRPKSXWR, I’ll send you a thank you gift in May!

To make it easy for you, please shop using this link

Does your wish list come to more than £99? Please get in touch and I will help you get more for your money and unlock discounts all year round.  

 

Please message me via my website 

 

Easy cards with the Boho Indigo Product Medley Refill Kit

Let’s talk Boho Indigo. And let’s gloss over the fact that I completely overlooked this fantastic Product Medley when it launched last June and only just got round to using it a few weeks before it retires.

I ran a Zoom class with the refill kit on Saturday and everyone was in agreement; that these are some of the most gorgeous papers Stampin’ Up!® has ever produced.

Before we get to the projects I must warn you now that this is on the retiring list and only available while supplies last.

Find the Boho Indigo Product Medley here

The Boho Indigo Product Medley (pictured above) is reduced to £39, for which you receive stamps, dies, ribbons, papers, label/image sheets and embellishments.

Find the Boho Indigo Product Medley refill kit here

 

The Boho Indigo Product Medley Refill Kit (pictured above) remains at its original price of £21, which is still excellent value for just the papers, label/image sheets and embellishments... but when you can get the stamps and dies for an extra £18, well... why wouldn’t you?

Everyone in the class received half a refill kit plus the consumables to make their projects, which was a challenging list of four cards plus some 3D items. I’ll just show you the cards today, otherwise the blog post will go on forever! Please come back Thursday for the 3D items. 

 

 

First up are these two lovely cards using the embossed sheets which come in the kit. From a demonstrator point of view, I loved that these were embossed as it saved me having to do it when packing all those kits! And from a crafter’s point of view, they just look really lovely as a backdrop to the green and gold elements.

What I love about this kit is that the Designer Series Papers are all Misty Moonlight and Very Vanilla, but the elements which come in the pack are Garden Green and gold, providing a beautiful contrast.

This card uses one of my favourite designs of paper, with a cluster of elements surrounding the stamped label. I stamped mine with Sweet Strawberry, which happily is carrying over into the new Annual Catalogue in May.

As you don’t get ribbon in the refill kit, I used Very Vanilla Scalloped Lace Trim, which is also carrying over. The gold flower and leaves are pop-out elements, while the small white paper flower is part of the kit and the blue flower is fussy-cut from Designer Series Paper.

This card also uses one of my favourite designs of paper – in fact I’d go as far as to say it is my favourite from the pack so even now I’m questioning the wisdom of covering so much of it up.

I’ve used a tag AND a label on this card, partly because I was just not getting through them all – and remember this was from only half a pack! You get two of every element sheet in the full refill kit. 

 

Again, this is decorated with pop-out leaves and a selection of flowers, some little paper embellishment flowers and some cut from the Designer Series Paper. This time I used Misty Moonlight In Color Ribbon which sadly and inexplicably is retiring soon, along with its sister ribbons from that range.

We made two more cards with a Thick Very Vanilla cardstock base and let the Designer Series Paper do all the heavy lifting here.

Aha, my favourite design gets a bit more of a showing here in this patchwork-style card. To create this, I cut a piece of Misty Moonlight cardstock about 1cm smaller than the card front. To create the ‘patchwork’ pieces, I began with the greeting label and used this to inform the width of the two panels above and below. I then measured the remaining space and cut a strip just a little narrower for the left. I tell you this rather than actual measurements as it should help you to recreate a similar design for any size cardstock. I’m not a big measurements person; I prefer to work by eye. I also appreciate that card sizes vary around the world... by which I mean literally everyone uses A4 except the USA!

This is a really simple and popular card design which adapts well to any Designer Series Paper. Again, a Misty Moonlight panel cut just smaller than the card front, then cut three equal strips of Designer Series Paper to fill. Ribbon around it before you stick it down, the label and flowers on top. Boom!

With my leftover supplies I quickly put together these three cards. One uses the three panels of Designer Series Paper on a portrait card, while the other two use the The Tailored Tag Punch (carrying over –phew!), which is ideal for using up any leftover scraps of Designer Series Paper.

‘Just a Note’ comes from the Simply Citrus Kit and the stamped feathers are from Tasteful Touches (carrying over).

I hope you love these projects and products as much as I do. On Thursday I will show you the box we created for the cards, plus a little pouch and hanging ornament.

If you are in the UK and would like to order this fabulous product medley, refill kit or indeed anything else, please visit my store and, if you use the April host code TRPKSXWR, I’ll send you a thank you gift in May!

To make it easy for you, please shop using this link

Does your wish list come to more than £99? Please get in touch and I will help you get more for your money and unlock discounts all year round.  

 

Please message me via my website