Wonderful Romance in Calypso Coral

Last week was my monthly Crafty Friday event, where we used the new Wonderful Romance stamp set.

This has a variety of sentiments, for weddings, anniversaries, Valentine’s, even sympathy (see above), but can be used for any occasion, even a simple notecard, as below.

We coloured the image above using ink pads and Blender Pens. Come back later in the week to see another version coloured with Stampin’ Blends.

All the products to make these cards are available at my online store

A celebration in Bermuda Bay

This card was heavily inspired by Yana Smakula and I just knew the Bermuda Bay would be perfect for my friend and downline Kelly.

I brayered the whole piece from top to bottom using Coastal Cabana and Bermuda Bay (Kelly’s favourite SU colour), then embossed in copper using the spots from Dragonfly Dreams. I couldn’t find any word stamps in my collection which were big enough to stand out in the centre of the project, so die-cut the “celebrate” from copper foil instead. 

Some of the leaves are cut from the Delightfully Detailed laser-cut DSP, while others are die-cut using the Tropical Thinlits.  Hope she liked it!

Sneak Peek: Rooted in Nature

How I love the new Rooted in Nature stamp set. I’ve always been more about trees than flowers so this stamp set could have been made just for me.

I’ve had this set under wraps since February and have loved creating with it for my Display Board at Telford OnStage, so when I discovered there were Framelits to go with it as well, I was delighted.

I’ve mixed things up here by stamping the trees in Berry Burst, then sponging some Blackberry Bliss ink around the edges of the stamp to give it a little lift. Talking of lifts, the top tree is popped up.

Hope you get chance to get out among the trees on this Bank Holiday Monday!

Waterfront “painted” beach scene

Inspired by US demonstrator Tami Hewlett, I just had to have a go at her fabulous beach scene using the gorgeous, must-have Waterfront stamp set. I don’t love mine as much as I love Tami’s but it was fun having a go!

Mix It Up Monday: Winter Wonder Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Bring out the Powder Pink for another colour combination from my In Color charts and another Mix It Up Monday project. 

I had a spot (or two) of bother with this card as the unlucky recipient will notice. I managed to get Tombow EVERYWHERE and, in the case of Silver Foil, nothing will clean it off. I didn’t have time to start again so only managed to produce a card suitable for posting thanks to the power of photo editing.  

This is the Winter Wonder Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. If you’ve seen it in the Autumn/Winter catalogue, then I salute you because it’s almost as if SU don’t want anyone to buy it, it’s so hidden away. (Page 37, if you’ve given up looking). It’s gorgeous, it will make your Christmas cardmaking an absolute breeze but my top tip is this: if you’re using Silver Foil, stick to SNAIL rather than Tombow.  

Mix It Up Monday: Tranquil Tide with Vintage Leaves

Tranquil Tide goes brilliantly with copper, so I placed some Copper Foil behind this die-cut piece to create a contrasting border for this Mix It Up Monday project. 

The dies are in the new Card Front Builder set, which is an Autumn/Winter catalogue product available a month early. It’s part of the festive Carols of Christmas bundle but there’s not reason you can’t use it all year round. 

What I like about the border stamps is that it only die-cuts one end, so you cut one end and then run it through the Big Shot again to cut the other. This means it fits our card sizes in the UK as well as those in the US, which are proportioned slightly differently. 

For autumn (which I’m afraid to say is looming large), there’s no finer stamp set than Vintage Leaves and this is a pretty good colour combo, too, if I say so myself. It comes from my In Color charts, which feature 50 colour combos using the latest In Colors. 

I sponged the top image in Cajun Craze and Early Espresso onto Very Vanilla, with leaves die-cut from the two colours of cardstock in the background. That’s it, quite a simple card, topped off with a greeting from Better Together (a must-have, in my opinion). 

Daisy Delight with fun sponging technique

This was one of our creations from last week’s Crafty Friday event, where we spent a couple of happy hours playing with Daisy Delight and the co-ordinating punch. 

It’s a variation of a card made by my friend and helper, Kelly, but to save her DSP, we sponged the cardstock before punching it out. This one is combination of Flirty Flamingo, Calypso Coral and Crushed Curry. The flower is then deconstructed to create this fun design.

There wasn’t quite room for the “Thank you” stamp from this set, so we turned to another new set, Better Together, to provide the greeting. It’s a must-have set, in my opinion, as there are so many useful sayings in it, each with a co-ordinating stamp for the inside. 

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