Blog Hop: Celebrating my corner of the world for World Card Making Day

Happy World Card Making Day! 

Today I’m excited to be taking part in another international blog hop. This time we are celebrating World Card Making Day by showcasing projects which represent our corner of the world. I can’t wait to see what demonstrators from all our different global markets have made.

I live in Derbyshire, a beautiful county in the middle of England. We have rolling hills, lots of lovely green spaces and, in the north of the county, the Peak District National Park. 

Here’s a pic I took on a walk recently, with a dry stone wall in the foreground and view of Crich Stand, a war memorial, in the distance. From the top of the stand you can see eight counties, and in turn you can see this famous landmark from miles around, triggering a popular saying “you can see Crich Stand from here”. 

A more common saying is “Ey up!” and it is this I have chosen for my card. It’s a common greeting in Derbyshire, in common with many counties in the Midlands and north. It can be extended to “ey up mi duck” (hello my duck, ie friend) and you can also use it as an expression of surprise, as in “ey up, who’s eaten all the cobs?” Cobs: that’s what we call bread rolls. You can find many more expressions and dialect words in this excellent book, Ey Up Mi Duck.

I created the words in Misty Moonlight cardstock using the Playful Alphabet Dies. Seriously, if you only invest in one product used on this card, make it these dies. You will NOT regret it. 

But make sure you order the Foam Adhesive Sheets at the same time as they are a real game-changer. They mean your letters come out of the die-cutting machine ready backed in foam adhesive, so no fiddly trimming of Stampin’ Dimensionals. 

For my background, I’ve used the Stacked Stone stamp to represent the dry stone walls which are common in Derbyshire. I stamped it in Misty Moonlight onto Seaside Spray cardstock.

 

A sheep from the Yuletide Pasture stamp set – we have a lots of sheep in Derbyshire – stands on a hill (Waterfront stamp set) to represent the rolling hills of Amber Valley where I live, as well as the Derbyshire Dales and the Peak District National Park. I stamped this in Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured it using Stampin’ Blends.

 

The sheep’s feet were floating around a little so I covered them up with some flowers from the Friendly Silhouettes Dies. As the card progressed, I began to wish I’d used some pine sprigs instead because, unfortunately, this sheep is dressed for Christmas.

Rather belatedly, I decided to shoehorn in a festive theme (you think my projects are planned? You must be thinking of somebody else). I didn’t have a small “Christmas” stamp because I foolishly didn’t order Itty Bitty Christmas in the sale last week, so scoured the sentiment sheet from Trimming the Town Designer Series Paper until I found suitable words to cut out.

And there we have it; a Derbyshire-themed Christmas card. Now please make your way around the rest of the blog hop... and the world!

Artist Appreciation Blog Hop: Warhol-inspired Yuletide Pasture card

Everything around us can inspire us to create fabulous projects, and particularly the “proper” artists! For this reason, I was excited to take part in an Artist Appreciation Blog Hop.

The challenge was to create a project inspired by a favourite artist. I have to say this is easier said than done but, after an aborted attempt to recreate a David Hockney in stamps, I came up with this colourful Andy Warhol-inspired Highland Cow card.

Careful fussy-cutting turned this Christmas image into an all-occasion bovine. I simply trimmed off the baubles from the cow's horns. How now, brown, yellow, pink and blue cow?

 

I can’t lay claim to this being a particularly unique colour combo as it’s just four of our five new In Colors! It’s not often you’ll see me voluntarily using Magenta Madness, so don’t get used to it. 

To create a background reminiscent of Warhol’s original pieces, I used a small clear block as a stamp, inking with Memento Tuxedo Black. As this is a linen pad, it transferred the linen pattern to the block and, in turn, to the cardstock.

Please check out the other projects in the hop! Head around the world for some more artist inspiration.

My first Christmas card of the year, using Yuletide Pasture

I’ll be honest, I’m not really ready for Christmas cards... although you may have gathered that from the sentiment on this card...

But it was a fun opportunity to use three new Stampin’ Up!® products; the fabulous Yuletide Pasture stamp set and some lovely polka dot paper from the Trimming The Town Suite from the new August-December Mini Catalogue and, from the still newish Annual Catalogue, the must-have Playful Alphabet Dies.

I began by stamping the Yuletide Pasture sheep in Gray Granite, then gently colouring her in using Stampin' Blends alcohol markers. It can be challenging to achieve subtle colours using Stampin’ Blends so I did this by using Smoky Slate Light with Ivory on top, then toned it down with the Colour Lifter.

Just so you know, you can’t really use the Colour Lifter as a blender pen because it simply doesn’t work that way. It’s a bit of a misnomer actually because the Colour Lifter doesn’t lift; rather it pushes some of the ink through to the back of the cardstock.

Image coloured, cut out using Stitched Rectangle Dies and mounted on some Old Olive cardstock, it was time to create my sentiment – and this was something I’d had in mind from the moment I saw this stamp set.

Out came the Playful Alphabet Dies and a brand new adhesive to go with them. I have only just purchased the Foam Adhesive Sheets but they really are a game-changer. Stick your cardstock to a sheet (or piece of sheet) and die-cut it all together. It’s an absolute boon with small dies such as these as you get a perfectly cut Dimensional to make it really easy to stick your letters down.

So there we have it. I bought the Yuletide Pasture stamp set with this card in mind and now just need to come up with some other ideas for the rest of the images. Actually, I already have done ... and you can see the Highland Cow in action on Thursday when I take part in another blog hop. Please come back to see the cow like you’ve never seen it before – and are never likely to see again!

Designer Series Paper only ‘almost’ perfect for your project? This is the issue I had here. I loved the polka dot paper from the Trimming the Town Designer Series Paper pack but I found the white letters didn’t stand out quite as clearly as I’d like against the white. To keep the pattern without the contrast, I simply brayered over the top using Poppy Parade ink.

No brayer? No problem, just use a sponge instead. No sponge either? Try the direct-to-paper technique, swiping your ink pad over the paper... just be aware that this will give you a much more intense effect, as long as your ink pad is well inked.

New August-December Mini Catalogue goes live today

It’s beginning to look a lot like... there’s a new catalogue! Today is the day when you can order from the brand new August-December Mini Catalogue from Stampin’ Up!® And it’s packed to the drawstring with gorgeous projects for autumn, Hallowe’en and – gulp – Christmas.

You can see – and shop – the new products here

Here are just a few of the products which have my name all over them...

The Gilded Autumn Suite – gorgeous! I loved this so much that I bought the whole Suite. The punches are so cute and the paper is currently too nice to use...

In The Pines Bundle – well you know I’m a sucker for trees, and especially pine trees as I’ve just returned from a week in the Abernethy Forest in the Scottish Cairngorms. They’re really good for you, too – they emit chemicals which boost your mood and your immune system. Clever things, trees. 

Coming Home Bundle – such a fun bundle, comprising the Coming Home stamp set and the Home Together Dies. Add the paper for even more fun. Best of all, if you purchase this stamp set, £2.50 will be donated to charities devoted to adoption, foster care and infertility. 

Yuletide Pasture stamp set – well, what can I say? It has a cat in it! Along with a sheep (baa humbug cards coming soon) and a Highland cow. I can see me combining this set with In the Pines for a truly Highland Christmas card. 

Christmas Countdown advent calendar kit – yes, it’s back! This was SUCH a popular kit last year and there’s plenty of mileage left in it yet. As you can see from this photo, you don’t have to make a Christmas project; use it with any Designer Series Paper or stamped images to create a year-round décor or storage item. And guess what? You can decorate BOTH sides of those boxes, so you can make your advent calendar on one side, and something else on the other. It’s a twofer!

Which ones are on your wish list?