Beautiful Friendship in subtle shades

 

As regular readers will know, I don’t get on with floral stamps but something drew me to Beautiful Friendship and think it's going to turn out to be a favourite. This card is a vague copy of the card on page 123 of the catalogue... but I made so many changes in the end that you probably wouldn't notice.
  

To get a border around the Pretty Label Punch, punch twice from a piece of coloured cardstock and stagger them behind the Whisper White. You won't see the join!

Celebrating 10 years with the new Rooted in Nature stamp set

How amazing is this? My downline Tracey has just celebrated her 10th anniversary as a Stampin’ Up!® demonstrator. Tracey joined not long after I did, and I’m so happy she chose me as her upline. I remember her sitting in my kitchen, testing out the rubber stamps and being really impressed by the quality. It’s fantastic that she’s stuck around for so long. Congratulations, Tracey!

To help her celebrate, I sent her a gift and this card, which uses one of my favourite new stamp sets, Rooted in Nature. I teamed it with the Hardwood background stamp and the new Artisan Textures stamp set to distress the edges.

Some flowers from Best Birds give the project a pop of colour, and the Champagne Foil die-cut word adds some celebratory bling.

Mix It Up Monday: Jar of Love

Another Powder Pink project? Yep, it must be Mix It Up Monday and an attempt to work my way through my In Color charts, this time with a long overdue congratulations card for a pink-loving friend, heavily inspired by AmyK. 

Foxy Friends baby card

I have a confession to make. I have had this stamp set for over a year and it’s barely seen any ink. Shocking, I know. It’s not that I don’t like it – I love it! I honestly don’t know why I haven’t used it, because it’s really sweet.

I do feel I’ve redeemed myself slightly with this card but it still works out as quite a pricey card so I will have to knuckle down and make lots more.

Who had a baby? One of my downline has just welcomed another grandson into the world and he’s gorgeous. If that’s not reason to celebrate, I don’t know what is.

Sweet Sugarplum baby card

When I create projects for Stampin’ Up!® parties, I try to hold back on using too many products, so guests aren’t overwhelmed.

But when I create projects for personal use, then there’s no holding back. This is why this card uses not one, not two but three stamp sets. Can you guess what they are?

I am not a big fan of pink, but Sweet Sugarplum is just right for baby girl cards, and this gorgeous paper from the Succulent Garden DSP pack is ideal. Mint Macaron is the perfect, gentle green for this  job... just be aware that it’s part of the In Color pack which is retiring at the end of May, so stock up now if you’re a fan!

So, the stamp sets. I know you’ll have worked it out but, just in case, the sheep comes from Barnyard Babies, the clouds from Lift Me Up and the sentiment from Bookcase Builder.

I Think You're Great card with cotton paper flower

June is busting out all over and that means you don’t have long to wait to start ordering from the new catalogue! Yes, it’s out tomorrow and you need to know that this is going to be the best day of the year to order! Why? Simply because for one day only, on 2nd June… 

• You can order from the new catalogue
• AND the old catalogue
• AND the Spring/Summer catalogue
• AND, if there’s a price increase in the new catty, you’ll get it at the old price

How’s that for fab news? To order, all you have to do is visit my online store, or simply email me. If you want to collect it from me and avoid shipping charges, get it to me before noon please! If you want it shipped elsewhere, it will be £4.95, regardless of the size of the order, and you need to get it to me, with payment, by 8pm. 

The excitement is really building for the new catalogue so yesterday afternoon I had some craft therapy and finally got round to playing with the new colours, in a physical sense, that is. I did lots of playing around with them in a virtual sense when I created these colour combinations. 

And it was these combinations which inspired me because I had the brilliant idea of actually using them instead of just looking at them. I can’t promise I’ll make something using every single combo but I’m giving myself 12 months to try. I’ve made an optimistic start by using the very first one on the list to create this card. There’s nothing like an impossible challenge for boosting your morale, is there? 

You’re going to love the new Cotton Paper; you’ll soon be asking me why it doesn’t come in more colours! It’s wafer thin. No, it’s much thinner than a wafer, it’s barely there at all, and so very, very smooth. Here I cut a 2” wide strip from the 12”x12” sheet and folded it into six to punch out with the Pansy Punch. I stapled the centre to make a fun flower, which holds its shape beautifully. 

The thread is White Jute Ribbon, cut lengthways to isolate a single strand. Again, this holds its shape beautifully and I have to thank a demonstrator presenter at SU Regional Training in Telford (sorry, can’t remember which one!) for this fab idea. 

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Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Dreams come true

I made this for a friend’s daughter, who achieved outstanding GCSE results – 10 A*s and one A! She’s really bright (evidently) so I’m sure all her dreams will come true.

Stamps: In The Stars
Cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Paper: Tea Party
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose
Accessories: 5/8” Grosgrain Ribbon - Chocolate Chip, Scallop Edge Punch

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the link on the right to view it online.