I Think You're Great card with cotton paper flower

June is busting out all over and that means you don’t have long to wait to start ordering from the new catalogue! Yes, it’s out tomorrow and you need to know that this is going to be the best day of the year to order! Why? Simply because for one day only, on 2nd June… 

• You can order from the new catalogue
• AND the old catalogue
• AND the Spring/Summer catalogue
• AND, if there’s a price increase in the new catty, you’ll get it at the old price

How’s that for fab news? To order, all you have to do is visit my online store, or simply email me. If you want to collect it from me and avoid shipping charges, get it to me before noon please! If you want it shipped elsewhere, it will be £4.95, regardless of the size of the order, and you need to get it to me, with payment, by 8pm. 

The excitement is really building for the new catalogue so yesterday afternoon I had some craft therapy and finally got round to playing with the new colours, in a physical sense, that is. I did lots of playing around with them in a virtual sense when I created these colour combinations. 

And it was these combinations which inspired me because I had the brilliant idea of actually using them instead of just looking at them. I can’t promise I’ll make something using every single combo but I’m giving myself 12 months to try. I’ve made an optimistic start by using the very first one on the list to create this card. There’s nothing like an impossible challenge for boosting your morale, is there? 

You’re going to love the new Cotton Paper; you’ll soon be asking me why it doesn’t come in more colours! It’s wafer thin. No, it’s much thinner than a wafer, it’s barely there at all, and so very, very smooth. Here I cut a 2” wide strip from the 12”x12” sheet and folded it into six to punch out with the Pansy Punch. I stapled the centre to make a fun flower, which holds its shape beautifully. 

The thread is White Jute Ribbon, cut lengthways to isolate a single strand. Again, this holds its shape beautifully and I have to thank a demonstrator presenter at SU Regional Training in Telford (sorry, can’t remember which one!) for this fab idea. 

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Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

All packed up and ready!

I have a class here this evening which should be really fun; a small group (necessitated by the size of my table) will be playing with the cute little stamp set, Springtime Hello. Everybody is getting a stamp set in their kit so there will be no waiting around for stamps at least!

I’ll start showing you the projects on Sunday, if I get time to post – I will be heading off to the Food & Craft Fair at Broomfield Hall, so please pop into say hello as I will be delighted to see a friendly face! 

Here are this evening’s kit bags, all packed up and ready to be delved into. I used some of the Brights DSP Patterns Stack and made a name label in My Digital Studio. The finishing touches were a punched butterfly and a paper flower made using the gorgeous new Spiral Flower Die. 

After my initial reticence about this die, I had another play and fell in love. Yes, another U-turn to add to the growing list! So I just had to order it in my final Sale-a-Bration order of the year. You do really need a hot glue gun with this die and I realised that my hatred for hot glue guns was deeply unfair, as I had only ever used a cheap one from Home Bargains. Once I’d had a go with a good quality model, I was hooked - so I’ve ordered one of these today, too. 

Today I learned that it’s not possible to mend your rubber gloves with hot glue! I cannot bear to wash up without rubber gloves, as I have such dry skin, and was horrified when the inevitable hole appeared (always the right hand, so if anyone has a collection of right gloves to go with my array of left gloves we could arrange a swap!) and I had no spares available. 

Nothing ventured, I thought, so I attempted a repair with my (cheap Home Bargains) glue gun. It lasted for the washing of two cups and a spoon, then simply floated away. 

Product List

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Spiral Flower debut

I love this gorgeous Hardwood background stamp and wish I’d ordered it! Fortunately, my friend Kelly has it so I had a go with it and made this very simple card. 

The most complicated element on it is the paper flower, which I made using the fabulous new Spiral Flower Originals die. My flower isn’t perfect but a) it was my first go and b) does it really matter? For the record, I deliberately “smashed” it, to make it look a bit more shabby chic! Then I covered up the uneven centre with an oversized pearl. As the saying goes, “there are no mistakes, only opportunities for further embellishment”. 

I’m still loving my Fringe Scissors - that little pop of coloured fringing really finishes off the card, I think. 

Stamps: Simply Celebrate, Hardwood

Cardstock: Summer Starfruit, Baked Brown Sugar, Naturals White, Gumball Green, Raspberry Ripple

Ink: Black Stazon

Accessories: Gold thread (from Good as Gold SAB kit), Spiral Flower Originals Die, Large Pearls, Fringe Scissors