Beautiful Friendship flowerpot pocket card

It's all happening with the fancy cards this week, isn't it? Here's a flowerpot pocket card using Beautiful Friendship. 

The last time I made one of these was in June 2001 - a full decade ago! Check it out here – there's even a tutorial. For a tutorial for this specific card, please follow this link

If you prefer your card to be free-standing, simply invert the card base. Instead of folding over the flower pot rim, cut these flaps off and set to one side. Shape your card so the widest part is at the fold, then cut a slit along the fold to allow the pocket section to be inserted.

"Wow" card - Beautiful Friendship floral pop-up card

I don't often tackle fancy folds but I loved the idea of making a pop-up card using the Beautiful Friendship stamp set. What's so lovely about pop-up cards is the element of surprise – it looks like a perfectly nice but simple card on the front, then you open it and bam! You're hit by an explosion of flowers.

 Here’s a better picture but I took it before adding the greeting...

For instructions to make this card, please click here

While assembling the inner floral section, keep closing the card to check your flowers don’t spill out over the edges. Not only would this spoil the element of surprise, it would prevent your card from fitting in the envelope! 

Beautiful Friendship swap cards

I’m going to spend this week celebrating Beautiful Friendship, an oft-missed stamp set hiding on page 123 of the catalogue.  I've been using this gorgeous stamp set in all my events this month, so it was the obvious choice to use for a swap, too.

Swapping isn't usually for me but I thought I'd give it a go so I could show my customers a greater variety of project. The brief was to use at least two new In Colors, so I turned once again to Rococo Rose, Seaside Spray and Pretty Peacock and the Beautiful Friendship stamp set. 

When you need to make several of the same card, the Stamparatus really comes into its own. I set it up to stamp the background and the greeting on the stitched ovals, but stamped the foliage on the ovals freehand. 

Simple, Casual, Avid... a Beautiful Friendship card for every type of crafter

One design, three stages of crafting. A single-layer card for the time-strapped crafter, a casual crafter project with the addition of a punch and some embellishments, and one for the avid crafter who is definitely not short of supplies! Which one are you?

The same basic design can be adapted to suit your supplies. If you're just starting out, the #simplestamping project just needs a pack of Note Cards & Envelopes, one stamp set and some ink pads. But #simplestamping projects are just as useful for crafters in a hurry. If you need a big batch of these, you can stamp them using the Stamparatus and get them done in a fraction of the time it would take to stamp them by hand.  
 

Free as a Bird and Birch Background - a match made in heaven

Bird Ballad is one of the stand-out suites in the new catalogue, with loads of lovely products including this Free as a Bird stamp set and Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper. It goes perfectly with the lovely new Birch Background stamp, too; a match made in heaven!

To get a subtle look from the Birch Background stamp, I stamped it in Crumb Cake onto scrap paper once first, before stamping onto my Whisper White cardstock. This process – known as ‘stamping off’ – removes some of the ink to give you a paler look. 

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!

Beautiful Friendship with the new In Colors

I don't know why I’m not so keen on flower stamps. I love flowers in real life and I love receiving cards with flowers on. But floral stamp sets generally leave me pretty cold.

And then came Beautiful Friendship with one magical ingredient: a hydrangea stamp. I love hydrangeas... both in bloom and when they've gone past the first flush of youth to become faded and papery.

But still, I struggle with flower sets so began my travels with this stamp set by taking inspiration from the catalogue. That's what it's there for, after all!

Naturally, once I got started I went quite off-piste, but I think you can still see the resemblance.

Although hydrangeas come in many colours, Seaside Spray is the perfect place to start as it has that beautiful faded quality you're looking for.

If you position your main Whisper White layer carefully, you get a fun "dotted" border from the gingham checked Designer Series Paper in the new In Color packs.

Wedding card? It's a Piece of Cake

Pretty cards are a challenge for me so I struggled with this wedding card for my brother, who finally married his childhood sweetheart at the weekend, 40 years after they first met!

Eventually, I settled on the Piece of Cake Bundle, which has a lovely wedding cake image.

I used a watercoloured background, in Blushing Bride with a hint of Pool Party, then popped up the cut-out cake, which I'd stamped in Blushing Bride, Pool Party and the new colour, Rococo Rose. The greeting (Better Together - retiring) is stamped in Rococo Rose and embossed using clear embossing powder (the Stamparatus is invaluable for this technique).

It's all framed with a stitched rectangle frame, which I embossed using the Country Floral 3D embossing folder, a Sale-a-Bration item which is carrying over to the new catalogue.

Some self-adhesive sequins finish it all off.

2019-2010 Stampin’ Up!® In Color™ combinations are here!

New In Color™ combinations are here!

Please click the link to be taken to my Facebook post (you don’t need to be a member) to see this year’s colour charts. If you are a Facebook member, please like and share the post so that as many people as possible can enjoy the colour combinations. And if you enjoy the colour charts, please leave me a recommendation. Thank you!

In Color™ Comparisons

Lots of people ask how the new colours compare to existing and past colours, so I have made these comparison images to show you. The slightest change in shade can make all the difference to a project; for example, I think Calypso Coral is fresh and clean, but Terracotta Tile is a shade or two darker and would look more vintage. See what you think...

In Color Shares 2019

It's that time of year again! Time to introduce five new colours which will be available for two years.

This year they are muted and classy; think Farrow & Ball paints, stately home furnishings, you get the idea. And I absolutely love them!

They are:

• Rococo Rose - a gentle, dusky pink
• Terracotta Tile - a lovely, soft terracotta
• Pretty Peacock - my favourite; a rich dark teal
• Seaside Spray - a soft pale blue with a hint of purple
• Purple Posy - the merest hint of lilac

I am now taking orders for my annual In Color™ Shares and this year am offering four great-value options, each offering savings on the normal catalogue price. But hurry, slots are limited!

Please get in touch to order yours. If you need your Share posting to you (UK only), postage will be charged at cost on top of the Share price.