Snow Front one-layer thank you cards

I actually really like Simple Stamping, although it can be a challenge at times, when you're just itching to use your shiny new products.

Thankfully, the shiny new product in this case was Snow Front, one of the most versatile stamp sets in the Autumn/Winter catalogue. It’s what I call “a stamper’s stamp set” which I know sounds a little silly because, well, aren’t they all? But there are those of us who love colouring, those who love assembling projects and those who love the art of stamping to create a scene. Or maybe it just depends on your mood at the time!

You can see from the stack of cards that they’re virtually identical. And if I tell you that I made all of these and more in half an hour, I think you’ll guess that I used the Stamparatus. It’s a real boon for bulk crafting!

You don't always have to place your card in the corner of the Stamparatus. Because my images were overlapping the edge of the project, I marked a place on my grid paper and placed my card within the lines each time. This wouldn't work for super-precise stamping (eg if you were embossing and needed to stamp exactly in the same spot) but it's ideal for a project like this, where "near enough" is good enough!
 

Magnolia Blooms note card

Introducing the Magnolia Blooms stamp set. This little set is great starter set... which is exactly why you will only find it in the new Experience Creativity brochure for new crafters.

This little publication is a great place to start someone on their crafting journey, so if you're in the UK and would like a copy to pass on to someone who needs crafting in their life, please drop me a line.

Don’t be afraid to mix and match products. The Magnolia Blooms stamp set is designed to 
co-ordinate with the Magnolia Lane Suite and the Magnolia Lane Designer Paper. However, I don’t have any of these products so used the Come Sail Away Designer Paper instead. It has a similar striped Mossy Meadow sheet which works just as well, and the fine print design is neutral enough to go with anything.

Nautical but nice in Mossy Meadow

Lovely Mossy Meadow gives you new options with the Come Sail Away Suite, instead of the predictable Night of Navy. Soft Sea foam provides the perfect contrast. What do you think? Makes a change from the traditional Night of Navy look, doesn’t it?

This card employs the “rule of thirds”, with the Designer Series Paper taking up the bottom third of the main layer. If you imagine a noughts & crosses grid splitting the card into nine, aim to have your major elements falling where the lines cross. This will give you a universally pleasing layout. 
 

Memories & More cards... not just for scrapbooking

Memories & More Cards are not just for scrapbooking; they are ideal for the crafter in a hurry.

Having said that, I added quite a few extra elements to this card so it's not exactly a Simple Stamping project. I used two cards for this project; yes, the green background is a Memories & More card, cut down to fit on the front of a standard A6 card. 

The wheel is die-cut and the anchor is from the Memories & More stickers which come in the pack of cards. The words are stamped onto a stitched circle and mounted onto another sticker from the Memories & More pack. You really do get loads of elements in these handy packs. 

The lighthouse from the Smooth Sailing dies fits this Memories & More card perfectly, so I could die-cut the lighthouse and pop it up with a Mossy Meadow background to create the popular ‘eclipse’ effect. 

Peaceful Noel tealight holder and card

Are you in a festive mood yet? I hope you will be by the end of this post as this is the first project from my Autumn All-Day Craftathon. ”Autumn” was a bit of a misnomer as two out of the three classes were decidedly Christmassy, starting with this fun card and gift set. 

The card is largely based on this beautiful project by Monica Gale. As you can see, CASEing (Copy and Share Everything) doesn’t have to be exact; I’ve taken my favourite elements of Monica’s card – the stitched circle frame, the stamped background, the die-cut words and the Pinewood Planks embossed layer, and made them fully festive with brand new products from the Autumn/Winter catalogue. These included as the lovely Farmhouse Elements, which come in grey but can easily be sponged with ink, or coloured with markers (as long as you leave them at least 20-30 minutes to dry).

Inside, the card looks like this...

At this point, I should state that every guest had the Peaceful Noel stamp set in their kit, so all the projects were geared around this set. And I believe we used every single stamp from the set during the course of the day.

To accompany the card, we made this fun tealight box, although the guests had festive apple and cinammon-scented red candles to put inside their creations, instead of bog standard white!

The candles slide out, matchbox-style, and there’s a fun lift-up lid, too...

I love this project which I made using this tutorial from German demonstrator Nicole Schlack.  For a tutorial in English, please visit the Notes section of my Facebook page tomorrow.

I hope it’s helping to put you in a Christmassy mood... but if not, don’t despair as I have a non-Christmas project for you on Wednesday.

Sneak peek: Peaceful Noel

This stamp set from the upcoming Autumn/Winter catalogue is called Peaceful Noel but I think it's versatile enough to use for much more than Christmas projects. 

Here I've stamped in Lovely Lipstick to make an everyday card with a greeting from Love What You Do. Not sure I've quite pulled off the non-Christmas effect, but it was fun trying!

Sneak peek: Peaceful Noel

Fancy a sneak peek? This is a gorgeous new stamp set from the upcoming Autumn/Winter catalogue called Peaceful Noel. Yes, it’s a Christmas set, but I took one look at it and decided it could be so much more.

This is why I chose it for my upcoming All-Day Craftathon - everybody who attends will receive this set in their kit, and we’ll be using it during the day to make festive projects as well as non-Christmas projects such as this one.

Not everybody was impressed with my efforts though... Hamish just loves to photobomb when I’m trying to sort out my project images.

I love this colour combination, but I have to confess it’s the first outing for Pacific Point for absolutely ages. I don’t know why; it looks lovely with Mint Macaron here. Maye that’s why? Maybe I needed Mint Macaron and Mossy Meadow to come back (I’m so pleased they did).

Mix It Up Monday Oh My Goodies and Something to Say

It’s Mix It Up Monday and time for another colour combination from my In Color charts.   It’s a holiday here in the UK so let’s hope the weather holds (it never does for bank holidays though!).

Another outing for Oh My Goodies and the matching Decor Labels Framelts, along with my most-used punches – the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack – before they are gone for good.  Plus there’s the Color Me Irresistible Designer Series Paper, too – this is a lovely mix of embossed papers, half in In Colors and half in white so you can colour them yourself. I’ve used Watermelon Wonder here, to fit in with my colour combination. 

I struggled a little with this as I don’t have a Mossy Meadow marker, so I compromised with a pool of ink from a refill bottle, and a blender pen. It’s a bit smudgy but it’ll do. 

Only one Mix It Up Monday project left to go from this set of charts – phew! 

Oh My Goodies Clear-Mount Bundle [140253] £32.25	Something To Say Clear-Mount Stamp Set [134180] £20.00	Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack [133787] £15.50	White 1-1/4" (3.2 Cm) Jute Ribbon [137904] £8.25
Pearl Basic Jewels Embellishments [119247] £4.50	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad [131179] £6.00	2015-2017 In Color Stampin' Write Markers [138333] £13.50	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock [140490] £6.50
Card Stock A4 Pear Pizzazz [131290] £6.50	Mossy Meadow A4 Cardstock [133683] £6.50	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] £7.25	Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate [131291] £6.50
Color Me Irresistible Specialty Designer Series Paper [138439] £11.75

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Don’t miss out on your favourite 2014-16 In Color products

The time is coming... the retiring list is on its way soon, in readiness for a new catalogue at the beginning of June.

While I can’t predict what will be on the retiring list (well, I can hazard a few educated guesses but please don’t hold me to them), I CAN tell you that the products pictured below will definitely be on their way out. Yes, the 2014-16 In Colors will be going (*sob*) to make way for a new set of In Colors. I know LOTS of people will be particularly sad to see Blackberry Bliss and Lost Lagoon go, and I will mourn the loss of Mossy Meadow, so now is the time to start stocking up on ink refills, cardstock and ribbon if you want to hang onto your favourites.

Why now? Because from the moment the retiring list is released, items will only be available while stocks last... and people around the world will be rushing to place their orders. Seriously, they will. And there’s absolutely no need to leave it until then because we KNOW that the In Color 2014-16 products will be going. You can most likely add to this list:

• ALL the Designer Series Papers (and definitely those featuring In Colors)
• Possibly all the washi tapes (because they usually co-ordinate with DSPs)
• Gorgeous Grunge (that’s just a hunch)
• Tap, Tap, Tap (another hunch)
• Sprinkles of Life (because we usually get a new RMHC stamp set every year)
• Modern Mosaic embossing folder (another hunch)
• Plus, of course, many items from the Spring/Summer catalogue

So there you have it: buy now and you’ll miss the rush, and avoid the risk of being disappointed. Don’t tell me I didn’t tell you so!

More about the In Colors 2014-16

In Colors 2014-16 colour combinations

Blackberry Bliss A4 Cardstock [133682] £6.50	Hello Honey A4 Cardstock [133685] £6.50	Lost Lagoon A4 Cardstock [133686] £6.50	Mossy Meadow A4 Cardstock [133683] £6.50	Tangelo Twist A4 Cardstock [133684] £6.50
Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad [133642] £6.00	Hello Honey Classic Stampin' Pad [133643] £6.00	Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad [133644] £6.00	Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad [133645] £6.00	Tangelo Twist Classic Stampin' Pad [133646] £6.00
Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [133648] £3.00	Hello Honey Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [133649] £3.00	Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [133650] £3.00	Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [133651] £3.00	Tangelo Twist Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [133652] £3.00
Blackberry Bliss 5/8" Striped Cotton Ribbon [138421] £6.50	Hello Honey 5/8" Striped Cotton Ribbon [138417] £6.50	Lost Lagoon 5/8" Striped Cotton Ribbon [138418] £6.50	Mossy Meadow 5/8" Striped Cotton Ribbon [138419] £6.50	Tangelo Twist 5/8" Striped Cotton Ribbon [138420] £6.50
2014-2016 In Color A4 Cardstock [133687] £6.50	2014-2016 In Color 12" X 12" Cardstock [133680] £9.00	2014-2016 In Color Designer Series Paper Stack [138433] £20.00	2014-2016 In Color Stampin' Write Markers [133654] £13.50	2014-2016 In Color Designer Washi Tape [138382] £7.25

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