Sorry about the delayed posts. For some reason, scheduled posting isn't working on Blogger so I keep typing up my posts at night, setting them to post at 7am, then forgetting to check if it's worked. 
And now for something completely different. I was inspired to create this card by the not-so-new craze for inchies. If you aren’t familiar with inchies, they are exactly what they sound like – one inch squares of cardstock, decorated how you choose. People swap these – I don’t, as I’d just lose them – and they’re really popular, as are twinchies which are, you guessed it, two inch squares.
We made this card at my pocket cards workshop on Monday. It was a craft-packed event as we squeezed three very complicated cards into the evening.Start by scoring the A4 sheet in half, along the width – ie at 14.8cm. Then cut the sheet in half along the length to create two pieces measuring 10.5cm wide.
The band is ideally cut from a sheet of 12x12 cardstock – I used textured on this card – and measures about 3cm wide but just cut yours as wide as you like. It only just reaches around the card and you’ll want your join to be behind the front accent, so start by deciding where that is going to go and work from there, gently folding the band around the card and only creasing when you’re sure it’s right. You can stick the band together with a small piece of tape as this will be covered. Now add the ribbon if you’re using it and stick your accent on top, if using.
I have a tutorial for you today - this shows you how to make a fab pocket card in the shape of a flowerpot. If you're coming to my Pocket Cards Workshop on Monday, you'll be making something similar to this!
1. Score your largest piece of cardstock at 10cm. Then turn it over and score again at 20cm. Fold so that the two “squares” (they’re not quite) meet and fold the flap down in the opposite direction, to create a “Z” shape.
2. Now, with the cardstock folded, measure 2cm from each edge, along the bottom fold, as shown.
3. Cut from this mark up to the top edge on both sides – but don’t cut the front flap. You should now have this shape.
4. Trim the front edge with the Scallop Edge Punch. Now apply Sticky Strip down the side edges on the inside of the card. Get it as close to the edges as you can. There’s no photo of this as I took one and the tape didn’t show up against the red cardstock!
7. Create the insert by layering the white cardstock onto the coloured cardstock and stamping a greeting at the bottom.
9. To create the leaves, you can hand-cut them with scissors or do what I did here. I punched with the large oval punch, then stuck the ovals with temporary adhesive on to a sheet of scrap paper, then punched again, as shown.
You didn’t think I’d get through a whole workshop without using Old Olive did you? My love of Old Olive is now so well-known that one lady suggested an Old Olive event, along the lines of the Winter Blues workshop and Chocolate Night. Will have to think that one over...
Here’s another card from the Masculine Cards Workshop. Lovely as a Tree – as well as being a beautiful stamp set – is perfect for masculine cards. Here we stamped it in Versamark® and then used the Poppin’ Pastels technique to colour the image with chalks. Very easy and very effective. 
Saturday morning was my Masculine Cards Workshop attended by 10 eager stampers. We were there to make four cards suitable to be sent to men – for Father’s Day, birthdays, thank yous etc. I try to provide a variety of greetings so that people can choose the occasion.
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Again, a variation on several cards I’ve made previously but there’s no point in reinventing the wheel, is there? The words from this stamp set fit perfectly inside the Large Oval punch so were just crying out to be used together.
Not sure about this one. It’s a variation on a favourite theme but I don’t think the papers worked so well. But they’re pretty much all I had left from this lovely pack!
This is such a lovely stamp set. It’s lovely to colour, the images are so soft and gentle and there’s an image in there for so many occasions; this one for cards for small boys, a little girl, a couple for Valentine’s Day or anniversaries, a person on a boat who can be made into a man or a woman. And, of course, it’s idea for scrapbooking those beach holidays.
I’m sure I’ve posted something very similar to this before so I apologise... but I’m still posting it! It’s for a workshop where the hostess wanted to see Watercolour Wonder™ crayons. And you can’t show these fabulous crayons without demonstrating the misting technique!
I can never understand the outrage when someone has their card copied – or CASEd as we call it in the strange world of cardmaking. If you don’t want people to copy your ideas, don’t show them to anyone! Which rather defeats the object of making cards, doesn't it?
Come on, admit it... when was the last time you used Yoyo Yellow? There’s a lot of prejudice against this colour but I like it! And it’s perfect for this simple lemon card – teamed with Basic Black, the Yoyo Yellow is quite striking, don’t you think?
Here’s another way to use those scraps – only this time it’s the ribbon stash that gets a clearout. I’m sure people roll their eyes when they see me saving the tiniest pieces of ribbon but here’s my “I told you I’d use them!” card! The pieces don’t even have to be long enough to go all the way behind the image – you can join them behind the green panel. Remember one of my many stamping mottos: if you can’t see it, it’s not there.
I took inspiration for this card from the current issue of Papercrafts (US magazine) which has a feature on using up your scraps. If you know me, you’ll know that I hate throwing anything away and always hang onto little pieces of cardstock, ribbon and patterned paper. So I dug out all the small pieces from my Sweet Always collection and came up with this card.
There’s a story behind this card. We’re having some friends to stay on July 4th and I jokingly said we should have an American (ie Independence Day) themed barbecue. They ran with the idea and now I’m frantically (well, not that frantically, to be honest) trying to find authentic recipes that can be recreated with British ingredients! Not to mention the fancy dress... don’t ask... unless you can lend me a cowboy hat. 
This is a congratulations card for a friend who has, after a very long haul and a lot of ups and downs, adopted a little boy. He’s a beautiful little fellow and I’m thrilled that he’s been given the chance of a loving, stable home and that they have been given the chance of a family.
Old Olive again, eh? And why not? There’s nothing wrong with Old Olive! After all, green goes with everything – you don’t see the grass clashing with the flowers...
The second card is what can happen when you step things up a little with Designer Series Paper and some embellishments. I changed the image, too, for variety, but it’s basically the same card. I’m looking at this card now and thinking of more things I could add to it... but I won’t because it’s late here (you don’t really think I type these blog entries at 7am do you?) and my stamping tote is already packed for the party.
I have some great news for hostesses this summer! If you hold a Stampin' Up! party in June or July with sales of £250 or more, you will earn an extra free background stamp... on top of your usual hostess freebies!