Painted Petals notecard

This is another note card made with the limited supplies I took on holiday. I stamped the rows of dots by stamping off, ie repeatedly stamping without re-inking.  You can’t see it too clearly on the photo but I have scored a few lines along the bottom edge, to add interest, too.

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Painted Petals card with simple trellis

This Painted Petals stamp set is proving really popular, so I decided to showcase it at a party last week. It also proved ideal to take on holiday with me over Easter, as with a few ink pads and a pack of Whisper White Note Cards and Envelopes, I managed to produce quite a few cards. 

This stamping technique is fun to try with the long striped stamp; just stamp it repeatedly horizontally and then again vertically, to make a simply trellis effect. 

I finished off with some gold ink (retiring!) and Gorgeous Grunge splodges. 

I am now taking name for my next Virtual Hostess Club. Please do get in touch if you would like some more information. It’s a great way to spread out your spending and to get a little stamping treat each month.  

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Caturday: Lake District cat

This is a lovely chap we met on a walk around Ambleside the other week. He was very friendly and happy to be stroked. He rolled on his back for a tummy rub, so I obliged... and then he bit me. Our short but beautiful friendship over, we walked on... only to discover that he was following us! Fortunately he got distracted and we managed to shake him off.

Painted Petals thank you card

IMPORTANT: Very many retiring items are already sold out. Please check here for the latest information, but bear in mind that items may have sold out since this was updated yesterday.

At last I have a project to show you. I’ve learned two things over the past couple of weeks and they are:

1. I should take pictures of my projects as I make them.
2. I should not be trusted with a fancy phone. At the very least, I should (and now do) keep it in a very sturdy case.

I’ll let you fill in the gaps. Suffice to say, I am now once again with camera/phone and can take pictures to my heart’s content. 

Friday night was the final party for my Virtual Hostess Club… well, for this round at least. I’m now taking names for a new club to start when the new catalogue comes out, so please shout up if you’d like some information. You don’t need to live near me as, thanks to the hostess code system, we can have it shipped to separate addresses (£4.95 shipping).

I showed the ladies the Painted Petals stamp set, which proved very popular. I kept the Make & Take really simple, using Whisper White Note Cards and Envelopes as the base, and just a splash of Blackberry Bliss cardstock as a mat. The panel looks like DSP but it’s stamped. 

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VIDEO: Some favourite retiring products

Online store up and running again

Good news! The online store is up and running again. Go directly to the retiring products by clicking here. Thanks for your patience!

Stampin Up! retiring list 2015

The Retiring List is here! Check it carefully because anything you want from that list will NOT be in the new catalogue, and will only be available while supplies last.

Click HERE for the list!

I may be ordering later today but after that, if you want something, please order through my online store.

UPDATE: It's currently 5.30pm and the system is down for maintenance. Please be patient while this is resolved and try your order again later.

Watch this space...

... the retiring list is coming soon! Check here, or the SU website, tomorrow!

Caturday: Maud

Today’s Caturday is the third of the Staffordshire triumvirate who rule the house of my colleague Jane. Maud is eight years old and, according to my records, likes shiny things, open spaces and wet dishcloths. She dislikes “mild racism and fact-based literature”.

Eagle-eyed readers will spot a Stampin’ Up!® card in the background of this pic. Remember this one? I gave it to Jane for her birthday and she was most entertained by the shaker element.  A bit like a cat, in fact.

AW39 - Around the World Challenge mixed media project

It’s Around the World Challenge time again! And this month I was asked create a project inspired by this image:

I decided to take my inspiration from the colours of the flowers and foliage, so began with a watercolour-style background. This one uses a fun salt technique which was shown to me by Karina Goodman at Studio 61 here in Derbyshire. 

TIP: If you want to play around with this kind of project, make a few backgrounds at a time, so you can get started quicker next time. 

So, how did this card happen? I really should start writing these posts immediately after creating this sort of project, as it’s hard to remember all the many steps that go into them, but here goes… and please bear in mind that I am still learning this technique so some of the steps are purely experimental.

1. Take a piece of watercolour paper and wet it, with a brush, aquapainter or with a spray bottle
2. With a paintbrush or aquapainter, drop or swish some ink so that the colours blend
3. While the ink is still wet (this is important) sprinkle some coarse seasalt on top. I did this on the red section only.
4. Allow to dry completely before brushing away the salt. You’ll see that it has absorbed the ink and leaves paler spots behind; it’s a little unpredictable but you can get some amazing patterns this way. 
5. Now you can begin adding some fun elements to the project. I began by cutting and tearing strips of Typeset DSP and laying them across the left hand side of the project. This was inspired by the March page from this lady’s smash book.  
6. With the brayer inked up, tap just the edge of it onto the project, to create vertical lines - you can make flower stems, grass or patterns this way
7. Stamp around the top using Gorgeous Grunge and red and black inks
8. Using the brayer, colour a piece of Typeset DSP in red… and another in purple. Alternatively, if your ink pad isn’t too wet, you can simply press the paper into it. Don’t worry about perfection; it’s over-rated. 
9. Using the bird punch, punch out six wings from each of the coloured pieces of DSP. Trim the purple ones down so they’re slightly smaller, then arrange both sets in a flower pattern. 
10. Now you can decorate the petals as you wish, by outlining them in black pen, white pen (or both) and adding dots and lines. I also hand-drew the stems and a leaf, doodling dots along the stem and colouring the leaf white with the Chalk Marker. 
11. I created a third flower with the Itty Bitty Accents Punch pack flower, but cut out the petals individually (you may need to punch two or more flowers), again arranging them in a flower pattern and inlining them in black pen. 
12. All three flowers are topped with a circle of gold glimmer paper.
13. Next I added some white splodges of various sizes, simply freehanding them with the chalk marker. I outlined them in black pen. This was inspired by this lady’s project. 
14. I found words from two different stamp sets, stamped them in black and cut them out roughly. Once stuck down, I outlined them in black pen. 
15. Individual sequins were added with Glue Dots. I haven’t found anything else which will stick them down successfully.
16. Finally, I spritzed the whole project with Vanilla Smoosh Spritz for a gentle shimmer.

Now it’s your turn to create a project inspired by the photo. It doesn’t have to be as complicated as this one - take a look at what the rest of the team made for some more ideas.

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