More houses

Here I’ve used just two houses from the wheel as a focal point for this card. They are mounted on some textured Bordering Blue cardstock. I love the little banner of cardstock – I’ve been meaning to do this for ages, having seen it done many times elsewhere.

Stamps: Neighbourhood jumbo wheel
Cardstock: Bravo Burgundy, Bordering Blue, So Saffron, Naturals Ivory
Ink: Basic Black ink cartridge
Accessories: Scallop Square punch, Rich Regals buttons, 5/8” Grosgrain Ribbon – Old Olive, Watercolour Wonder™ crayons, blender pens

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Yeah! It's Old Olive again!

You didn’t think I’d get through a whole workshop without using Old Olive did you? My love of Old Olive is now so well-known that one lady suggested an Old Olive event, along the lines of the Winter Blues workshop and Chocolate Night. Will have to think that one over...

This is the fourth and final card from the Masculine Cards Workshop. It was quite high-maintenance with all that colouring, which is why I kept the other three so simple.

You may be looking at this card and wondering why there’s a corner cut off the image panel. Or you may be thinking what a cool design element it is – unlikely, I know! Actually, it’s from a sheet of images that I stamped an coloured, then trimmed to make cards. This one was a bit short for some reason and I didn’t have time to stamp and colour a new one for the sample. I could stick a button on it... or leave it.

The image is stamped in Basic Gray and then coloured with Watercolour Wonder™ crayons and blender pens – my all-time favourite way of colouring. The little tab is punched with the Round Tab Punch from Sahara Sand... a colour which doesn’t see enough action, in my opinion. It’s available in the Neutrals cardstock pack and I’ve just ordered some more so you may be seeing more of it soon!

Stamps: For Father, Daily Flexible Phrases
Cardstock: Old Olive, Really Rust, Sahara Sand, Close to Cocoa, Naturals Ivory
Paper: Spiced Cider
Ink: Basic Gray
Accessories: Jumbo Eyelets, Crop-A-Dile™ , Round Tab Punch, Watercolour Wonder™ crayons – Earth Elements, Blender pens

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Good enough to eat?

Again, a variation on several cards I’ve made previously but there’s no point in reinventing the wheel, is there? The words from this stamp set fit perfectly inside the Large Oval punch so were just crying out to be used together.

The cakes are lovely to colour with the Watercolour Wonder™ crayons – I used two packs here: Close to Cocoa and Pumpkin Pie from the Earth Elements pack and Regal Rose and Rose Red from the Rich Regals pack. But I was just being picky really as I wanted to match the paper exactly.

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes
Cardstock: Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
Paper: Sweet Always
Ink: Basic Gray
Accessories: Striped Grosgrain Ribbon - Pretty in Pink, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Watercolour Wonder™ crayons – Rich Regals and Earth Elements, blender pens

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Fabulous Friend

Not sure about this one. It’s a variation on a favourite theme but I don’t think the papers worked so well. But they’re pretty much all I had left from this lovely pack!

Stamps: Oval All
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
Paper: Tea Party
Ink: Basic Gray
Accessories: Watercolour Wonder™ crayons – Rich Regals, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, So Saffron striped ribbon


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Beach boy

This is such a lovely stamp set. It’s lovely to colour, the images are so soft and gentle and there’s an image in there for so many occasions; this one for cards for small boys, a little girl, a couple for Valentine’s Day or anniversaries, a person on a boat who can be made into a man or a woman. And, of course, it’s idea for scrapbooking those beach holidays.

I coloured this image using the Watercolour Wonder™ crayons – the Earth Elements pack – and blended them with blender pens. Very therapeutic!

The paper is my first cut into a brand new pack: Spiced Cider. Very gorgeous.

Stamps: Summer by the Sea, Canvas
Cardstock: Creamy Caramel, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Confetti White
Paper: Spiced Cider
Ink: Basic Gray, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Chocolate Chip

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Use those scraps!

I took inspiration for this card from the current issue of Papercrafts (US magazine) which has a feature on using up your scraps. If you know me, you’ll know that I hate throwing anything away and always hang onto little pieces of cardstock, ribbon and patterned paper. So I dug out all the small pieces from my Sweet Always collection and came up with this card.

It has that “thrown together” look but it actually took quite a while! I wanted to make sure I didn’t cut any big pieces down if a small piece was available; I didn’t want any of the Chocolate Chip paper in there and I wanted it to look balanced – not too much Pumpkin Pie on one side, not too many flowers or stripes on one side.

I distressed each edge (well, the ones that show) very gently using the edge of my scissors and curled a few edges by hand. I wasn’t sure if this distressed look would look ok with such a clean image and such chirpy colours but I think I got away with it.

I coloured the images – which are lined up with the Stamp-a-ma-jig® - using Watercolour Wonder™ crayons and blender pens. I only have the Rich Regals and Earth Elements packs (SO FAR!!!) but that was fine as I used Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive (for the olive!) from the EE pack and Regal Rose and Rose Red from the RR pack.

So, dig out your scraps and get using them!

Stamps: Cheers to You
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
Paper: Sweet Always
Ink: Basic Gray
Accessories: Earth Elements Buttons

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Gentle blooms

This is another of the cards we made at the workshop on Monday. This time we used the blender pens with Watercolour Wonder™ crayons – which, I have to say, is my favourite way of colouring.

We stamped the image in Basic Gray then coloured in. Some of the ladies stamped the image again and decoupaged on top – very impressive!

The base card is Confetti White which is lovely because it has bits in it! And great for watercolouring or colouring with anything “wet” as it’s absorbent.

Stamps: Soft Summer
Cardstock: Confetti White, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink textured
Paper: Sweet Always
Ink: Basic Gray, Regal Rose
Accessories: Striped Grosgrain Ribbon - Pretty in Pink, Scallop Edge Punch, Watercolour Wonder™ crayons – Rich Regals, blender pens

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Completing the shell collection

My last Seaside card for a while and, as a finale, I really went to town, using all of the stamps from the set, arranged (and some popped up) on a piece of Kraft cardstock. I inked the edges of the Kraft with Close to Cocoa ink and then distressed the edges to shabby it up a bit.

Canvas provides the background on the Kraft piece (subtly) and the Close to Cocoa card base (more obvious) and a rectangle of Cameo Coral, with scalloped edges, provides a hint of colour.

Ooh, this set is a new favourite!

Stamps: Seaside, Sincere Salutations, Canvas
Cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Kraft, Cameo Coral, Very Vanilla
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Basic Grey
Accessories: Watercolour Wonder™ crayons, blender pens, scallop edge punch

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Collecting shells

Still staying on the Seaside theme, I decided to step things up a little by adding some more shells to a card. 

After colouring the images with Watercolour Wonder™ crayons and blender pens, I cut them out and arranged them on some Confetti White cardstock, popping up the starfish to add dimension. 

I thought the linen thread looks suitably seaside-y and masculine (this card is for a man), and the Canvas background on the Close to Cocoa card base looked a little like fishing net. Again, I was going for an uneven finish with the Canvas background, so pressed harder in certain places. I added some extra ink around the edges to give it a shabby feel.

Stamps: Seaside, Sincere Salutations, Canvas
Cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Ruby Red, Confetti White, Very Vanilla
Ink: Basic Grey, Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Watercolour Wonder™ crayons – Earth Elements, blender pens, linen thread

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Starring starfish

Here’s another of the gorgeous Seaside images. For this card I stamped the card base with the En Francais background stamp, then inked around the edges to “dirty” it up a bit.

The image is stamped in Basic Grey on to Very Vanilla and then coloured with Watercolour Wonder™ crayons and blender pens. I cut out the image and then popped it up on to some Confetti White cardstock, which is layered on to some Kraft.

Stamps: Seaside, Sincere Salutations, En Francais
Cardstock: Ruby Red, Kraft, Confetti White, Very Vanilla
Ink: Basic Grey, Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Watercolour Wonder™ crayons – Earth Elements, blender pens, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon – More Mustard

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Beside the seaside... and a date for your diary

What a gorgeous set this is – and perfect for honing my blender pen skills in readiness for my May workshop.

Yes in May I finally launch my monthly workshops. They’re at the usual venue (please email for details) and will hopefully eventually take place every fourth Monday of the month, although getting the hall that day every is proving tricky.

So the May workshop will not be on the fourth Monday but on Monday, 18th May, 7.30pm-9.30pm and the topic will be colouring with blender pens. The cost is £5.50 per session, which includes three or four projects (occasionally two, when the projects are larger), all materials, equipment and refreshments (please bring your favourite adhesive). There will also be a Loyalty Card system – earn a stamp on your card every time you attend one of my events for which you pay a fee and, when you have five stamps on your card, you’ll get a free gift of Stampin’ Up!® ribbon, ink pad or cardstock.

If you want to come along, please email me to let me know as payment is required at least a week before the workshop to allow me to buy the supplies. See side panel for dates of future workshops.

But back to this set... isn’t it lovely? I’ve always been a sucker for seaside images so I don’t know how I’ve resisted it for so long. It’s called Seaside and features various shells... more of which you’ll see on projects over the next few days. I coloured the images with Watercolour Wonder™ crayons and blender pens.

The base of this card is made with Kraft cardstock, which I’ve stamped with the Canvas background stamp. I don’t have a Creamy Caramel inkpad (yet!) so used Close to Cocoa, stamped off... ie I stamped it on to scrap paper first. I didn’t want an even stamped effect, so gently laid my card on to the inked stamp then dabbed at the areas I wanted inking, which was round the edges with a bit in the middle. I quite like this shabby look. Then I gently went around the edges of the card using the direct-to-paper technique, which is when you apply your ink pad directly to the cardstock. I was careful, though, as I didn’t want large amounts of Close to Cocoa on it.

A bit of punching, a bit of distressing and that’s about it really. This is a good luck card for someone at work – we have several people leaving this week but one of them is so close to retiring age that, for him, it will just one long holiday... hence the seaside theme.

Stamps: Seaside, Basic Phrases
Cardstock: Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Bordering Blue, Confetti White
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Basic Grey, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Scallop edge punch, blender pens, Watercolour Wonder™ crayons, linen thread, handheld hole punch

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Cakes... and a winner

For this card I borrowed a friend’s Crazy for Cupcakes set. It's for a pre-teen girl; a difficult card category, I find, but nobody ever outgrows cakes so I thought I was on to a winner.

Talking of winners, I have some good news for Helen J, of Borrowash, who is the winner of my prize draw. I sent out craft surveys to people on my emailing and snail-mailing list and drew one of the surveys at random (using www.random.org) to find a prize-winner. Helen wins a Botanical Blooms stamp set, which she’ll be receiving shortly.

If you’d like to receive regular updates from me about Stampin’ Up!® offers and events, just email me and say so, and I’ll stick you on the list. And if you’re reading this but receive my updates in the post, please please please send me your email address as I’ve just spent a very laborious couple of hours stuffing envelopes and I'd love to cut that job down a little! 

Back to today’s project, here’s the recipe:

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes, Basic Phrases, Daily Flexible Phrases
Cardstock: Regal Rose, Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla
Paper: Sweet Always
Ink: Basic Black, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Watercolour Wonder™ crayons, blender pens, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Chocolate Chip, scallop edge punch

Summer elegance

And now for something completely different... no rabbit, no owl, no Earth Elements... just very plain and clean pastels. 

This stamp set is so elegant that it needs no adornment so I kept this card really simple to show off the beautiful image.

There are many ways to use this two-step stamp set; you can colour the solid image using markers, Watercolour Wonder™ crayons, go monochromatic with a single colour from an ink pad...

On this occasion I just used the outline image, stamping in beautiful Basic Grey which is more subtle than Basic Black and almost gives a pencil-drawn effect. I coloured the image with Watercolour Wonder™ crayons (I used Regal Rose and Always Artichoke – looks like I forgot to colour the middles of the flowers, although I may have used So Saffron) and then blended with blender pens. I cut the whole image out using my fabulous paper snips and then popped it up to make it stand out.

But what really makes this card stand out is that I’ve used textured cardstock which is absolutely gorgeous – don’t know why I don’t use it more often!

Stamps: Soft Summer
Cardstock: Whisper White, textured Whisper White, textured Pretty in Pink
Paper: Tea Party
Ink: Basic Grey
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Pink gingham ribbon, Watercolour Wonder™ crayons, blender pens

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Blending blossoms

I love this blossom image from the Soft Summer stamp set. It’s a two-step stamp, with a solid image in the same shape in the set, too. But I just used the outline image for this card, stamping it in Basic Gray then colouring with Watercolour Wonder™ crayons and blending with blender pens. I used Regal Rose on the flowers and Always Artichoke on the leaves and stem. Then, to add some depth, I went around the whole of the image with a Bordering Blue crayon and blended.

Not sure if you can see but I Versamarked all over the background with the other image – sprig thingy - from this set.

Stamps: Soft Summer
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Always Artichoke, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink
Ink: Basic Grey
Accessories: 5/8” Grosgrain Ribbon - Certainly Celery, Watercolour Wonder™ crayons – Rich Regals, blender pens

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Mother's Day tin

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers! I made this for my Mum and, now I’ve delivered it, it’s safe to post it here (despite her total lack of interest in crafts, she does visit my blog). It’s a Maya Road lunch tin which I’ve filled with cards for different occasions – I’ll show you these over the next few days.

The image is from a gorgeous new stamp set from the forthcoming Mini Catalogue. It’s called Soft Summer and features two sets of double-mounted Two-Step Stampin’® stamps plus two sentiment stamps.

But I’ve not used the two-step feature on this project, I’ve just stamped the apple blossom outline image with my new Basic Gray ink pad and then coloured it with Watercolour Wonder™ crayons and blender pens. I used the Regal Rose and Always Artichoke crayons from the Rich Regals set. Then I cut out the entire image and mounted it with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Tins are really easy to cover – and I only used one sheet of Designer Series Paper – it’s double-sided so I just flipped it over for the contrasting top half.

I covered the top of the tin with textured cardstock – this is available in colour family packs of 12x12 and I love it!

Stamps: Soft Summer
Cardstock: Basic Gray, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Whisper White, textured Certainly Celery (for lid)
Paper: Tea Party
Ink: Basic Gray
Accessories: Watercolour Wonder™ crayons – Rich Regals, Striped Grosgrain Ribbon – So Saffron, Crafters’ Toolkit

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Masculine card problems solved

Do you struggle to make masculine cards? This stamp set could be just what you’re looking for. It’s called For Father, although there are no references to fathers in it. This is one of the three images, which are lovely to colour in. I stamped it in Basic Gray, which is a permanent ink and looks a little softer than Basic Black, giving the image a pencil-drawn appearance.

To colour the image, I used Watercolour Wonder™ crayons and blender pens. I used the More Mustard crayon on the dog, with a combination of Close to Cocoa and Chocolate Chip on the boots. Then I cheated and opened my Rich Regals box, too, to add a shadow of Bordering Blue around the edge of the image to give it some depth.

The background is stamped with En Francais, a beautiful French script stamp – but you do have to take care not to stamp it upside-down.  The other stamp set I’ve used on this card is Circle of Friendship, which fits perfectly in the 1” circle punch; the centre fits perfectly in the ½” circle punch. 

Stamps: For Father, Circle of Friendship, En Francais
Cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Confetti White
Paper: Patterns Designer Series Paper - Chocolate Chip
Ink: Basic Gray, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Watercolour Wonder™ crayons – Rich Regals and Earth Elements, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - More Mustard, 1” circle punch, ½” circle punch, crafters’ toolkit

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Shades of autumn

Edited to add: Forgot to say - Happy World Card Making Day!

I thought I’d give you a break from the Real Red … but not from the Old Olive because I just love that colour!

I made this as a sample to show off the technique I was demonstrating at the Papercraft Show last Sunday. We all took turns to demo a technique and mine was Watercolour Wonder™ crayons. I love these – they are so nice and smooth to use. In case you haven’t worked it out from the title, they are like watercolour pencils… but they’re crayons!

All you do is scribble a little on the area you want to colour, then blend it in using your favourite from the following: blender pens, Aqua Painter™ or simply a wet paintbrush. I prefer blender pens for small areas and because they are so easy – just whip them out of the drawer and off you go.

For fine detail, you can apply your blender pen/Aqua Painter™/paintbrush directly to the crayon to pick up the colour.

I stamped on Naturals Ivory which I find the best cardstock for colouring with any “wet” medium, although blender pens work fine on small areas on Whisper White/Very Vanilla, too.

This is my favourite image from the For Father set – I’ll have to make some cards with the other images soon.

Stamps: For Father
Cardstock: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Ruby Red, Naturals Ivory
Ink: StazOn® Black
Accessories: Hodgepodge Hardware® - Pewter, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Always Artichoke

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Blending with watercolour crayons

This was one of the demos I did at a workshop last week. It’s a very quick and easy card (my favourite kind!) and uses the Watercolour Wonder™ crayons which I love so much.

I stamped the image in StazOn®, which is instantly waterproof. Then I coloured small areas on the right of the image – a bit of Rose Red on the petals, a little Always Artichoke on the leaves. Then, using the blender pen, I spread the colour around the image, leaving the right hand side slightly darker, for shadow.

Finally, I applied a very tiny amount of Brocade Blue crayon all around the image, then blended that in, to give the image some depth. It’s remarkably easy – what makes it easier is the use of the Naturals Ivory cardstock, which is not as smooth as Whisper White or Very Vanilla so therefore more absorbent. Whisper White and Very Vanilla are fabulous for stamping on but Naturals Ivory is better if you’re using blender pens, aquapainter or watercolour brushes. It’s all a matter of finding the right tools for the job.

Stamps: Doodle That (p55)
Cardstock: Brocade Blue, Rose Red, Naturals Ivory
Paper: Cutie Pie (p73)
Ink: StazOn® (82)
Accessories: 3/8” Grosgrain Ribbon - Brocade Blue (p86), 1 3/8” circle punch (p80), Scallop Circle Punch (p80)

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