Sweet gift wallet

This was the second project from the My Sweet Pea class. It was a lovely evening – a bit hot for me, but very relaxed... until we realised what the time was and had to hurry the final project!

This is a wallet which you can use to give gifts of cheques, tickets, money, gift vouchers etc. It’s very easy, just two scores to create the card, and a strip of cardstock to go around it.

However, don’t try to measure and score the belly band to fit as it will end up too loose or too tight. Your best method is to take the strip of cardstock and, hold one end on the front and bend it around the Old Olive card. Then, holding the Designer Series Paper strip over the top, repeat. Make sure the strips are just long enough to overlap very slightly and you can join them with tape – just make sure the tape doesn’t touch the Old Olive card and your belly band will still slide off. The join will be covered with your embellishment.

Stamps: My Sweet Pea, Tiny Tags, Sweet Stitches wheel

Cardstock: Old Olive, Soft Suede, Whisper White

Paper: Sweet Pea Designer Series Paper stack

Ink: Old Olive, Soft Suede, Pumpkin Pie

Accessories: 1 ¼” circle punch, 1 3/8” circle punch, Scallop Circle Punch, ¾” circle punch, scallop edge punch, Wheel guide

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Ribbons, ribbons, everywhere

One of my challenges as a member of the In Love With Stamping Design Team was to produce a project featuring five or more ribbons. They didn’t all have to be different but I am a bit literal sometimes so couldn’t help myself.

This card features six different ribbons. I also wanted to see if I could use lots of different shades of green on the same card – green is notoriously difficult to match up but I think they go together quite well. They are all my favourites, of course: Old Olive (naturally), Always Artichoke, Certainly Celery and Mellow Moss.

I wheeled the Whisper White strip using the Funky Forest wheel and Certainly Celery ink then layered it on some strips of cardstock from my scraps box. I end up with loads of narrow strips – they look useless but they most definitely are not. So there’s an Old Olive strip at the top of the white, a Certainly Celery strip, scalloped, at the bottom of the white. If you’re struggling for cardstock you could even make the Always Artichoke layer from two narrow strips instead of a larger piece.

The trees from Trendy Trees are stamped in various greens and cut out, then popped up on the white strip. The Mellow Moss word window completes the scene.

The pieces of ribbon are those little bits that I insist on saving, much to everyone’s amusement. I told you they’d come in useful one day!

Sorry the photo is a bit bleached out – I struggle for light at this time of year.

Stamps: Trendy Trees, Funky Forest wheel
Cardstock: Whisper White, Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Certainly Celery
Ink: Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Always Artichoke
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Word Window Punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals
Ribbons: Mellow Moss taffeta, ¼” Always Artichoke grosgrain, 5/8” Old Olive grosgrain, Moss gingham, 5/8” Certainly Celery grosgrain, Striped Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon

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Can't see the Funky Forest for the Trendy Trees?

Finally had chance to use my new Funky Forest wheel, which co-ordinates with the fabulous Trendy Trees stamp set. I had some strips of Whisper White cardstock which were about the right width so I had a practice then decided I may as well use them to make some cards. Here are two of them – I made the one with the horizontal ribbon first then decided it would look better going vertically so made another which opened at the side. The birthday card is going to a very fabulous stamper in America so no pressure there then! Hope she likes it.

Stamps: Trendy Trees, Funky Forest wheel, Basic Phrases
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Certainly Celery ink pad and ink cartridge, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke
Accessories: Stamp-a-ma-jig®, Stampin’ Dimensionals, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Chocolate Chip

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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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Wheely great

I don’t know about you but I don’t like to borrow friends’ stamps until they’ve used them at least once. Before that it just seems rude.

So I’ve been asking and asking and asking my friend Alison if she’s tried this wheel yet. In the end I decided she was never going to use it – bear in mind she’s had it since Christmas – so I decided to risk being rude and asked to borrow it. Of course then she needed it for a new home card!

But we came to an arrangement and I got to play at last. It’s lovely – you can wheel it as a border or a main image and you can cut the images out either to embellish the border, as I’ve done here or as a focal point in its own right, as you’ll see in the next few days. Love it!

Stamps: Neighbourhood jumbo wheel
Cardstock: Bravo Burgundy, Bashful Blue, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black ink cartridge
Accessories: Striped Grosgrain Ribbon – So Saffron, Watercolour Wonder™ crayons – Rich Regals, blender pens

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

Time for a Tree

I love, love, LOVE this card! Oops, shouldn’t say that about my own cards, should I? Oh well, if I don’t, who will?

The sample is flawed as the snowflake stamp had – gasp! – been put away dirty. As you can see, I’m a right-to-left stamper – I’m not Chinese so this must be due to being left-handed.

The background images are from Happy Winter – a fab little set that is such a bargain and will make you really cute Christmas cards. But the star of the show on this card is the Time for a Tree wheel. It’s wheeled in black and then coloured in with markers and blender pens. I started with Bashful Blue and Real Red and then wasn’t sure what to add – I have to credit my Mum with the idea to use Always Artichoke (“dark green” in her language). It was an inspired idea and I don’t know who was more surprised – her or me! (She can bake and she can sew – but she shuns papercrafts.)

Stamps: Time for a Tree wheel, Happy Winter
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Always Artichoke, Whisper White
Paper: Patterns - Bashful Blue
Ink: Basic Black cartridge, Bashful Blue
Accessories: Red gingham ribbon, Stampin’ Write markers, Blender pens

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

On track for scrapbooking

Scrapbooking doesn't have to be difficult. Here’s a 6x6 scrapbook page which is really easy to create. In fact, all 6x6 scrapbook pages are easy because they’re so small. They’re perfect for new scrapbookers as they’re not so daunting, and they’re idea for special albums such as a travel journal, a new baby book or a gift for grandparents.

I haven’t found a train-related photo to add to this one (although I know there’s one out there – just need to put my hands on it) but I thought I’d post it anyway. You know what I’m like – it could be months before I finish it and the Choo Choo stamp set could be retired by then!

I wheeled along the bottom of the cardstock with the Right on Track wheel. Next I stamped the engine, carriages and puff of smoke on Whisper White cardstock and cut them out. Initially I cut out the window of the engine but it was far too fiddly to do this on the carriages so I started again and left the windows in. The train is popped up using Stampin’ Dimensionals.

And that’s about it really ... when I eventually finish off, I’ll add a small amount of journaling – maybe just the location and date.

Stamps: Choo Choo, Right on Track wheel
Cardstock: Real Red, Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White
Ink: Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Gray, Basic Black (ink cartridge)
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch

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A starry New Year

This is one of Alison’s cards for the Christmas card class last Saturday – she went for a New Year theme, a radical black, red and white colour scheme and non-traditional stamps. Cool!

Stamps: Watercolour Vine wheel, In The Stars, Seasonal Wishes
Cardstock: Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White, Basic Gray
Ink: Basic Black, Real Red, White StazOn®
Accessories: Silver brads, Large star punch, white gel pen

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