Around the World Blog Hop - Flowering Fields

It’s time for another Around the World Blog Hop, taking you on a tour of the globe without even leaving your seat. During the hop, you’ll visit a blog in each country served by Stampin’ Up!® and see some really beautiful projects by talented demonstrators.  You may have arrived here from the talented Julie Davison’s blog, but if not, don’t worry as there is a full list at the end of this post. 

Our theme this time is “floral” which, despite my brave foray into this area earlier this year, doesn’t really come naturally to me. I’m much more comfortable with leaves and animals. But for this project I dug out my trusty watercolour paper to have a play with an old favourite, the salt technique. 

For this technique, you create a watercolour wash (I used Old Olive and Island Indigo reinkers) and then sprinkle seasalt crystals on top. The salt absorbs the liquid around it, creating unpredictable and beautiful patterns. You must allow the paper to dry completely before brushing off the salt. 

On top of the dried project, I stamped flowers in Stazon and then coloured them using my Wink of Stella brush as a blender pen. Did you know you can do this? You can use the clear Wink of Stella brush pen to pick up ink from your inkpad lids and paint with it. Simply brush Wink of Stella onto scrap paper to clean it off again. So the flowers are beautifully shimmery in real life, although the photo doesn’t do them justice. 

I next stamped in Old Olive around the edges of the tag using one of my new favourite stamp sets, Timeless Textures (which I also stamped on the Whisper White card base). 

I was in full technique mode, so even dug out my heat gun to emboss the greeting. I love the look of white text on black and simply stamping is never enough. 

To make my efforts worthwhile, I made several of these tags which I have saved for future projects....

But now it’s time to head off to the next blog on your tour, which is in the Netherlands. Please check out Miriam’s project and be sure to leave her a comment! And if you lose your way, here’s the full list of blogs taking part. Thanks for visiting and enjoy the rest of your journey!

Marie-Josée Trudel (Canada)http://alapause.blogspot.com 

Alisa Tilsner (Australia) http://www.alisatilsner.com
 

Julie Davison (United States) http://juliedavison.com
 

Helen Read (United Kingdom) http://allthingsstampy.blogspot.com
 

Miriam van Eyden (Netherlands) http://miriam-cardsandscrapping.blogspot.com
 

Kristine McNickle (New Zealand) http://www.creativestamping.co.nz
 

Anke Hämsch (Germany) http://leipzig-stempelt.blogspot.com
 

Liz Goldhawk (Canada) http://lgoldhawk.blogspot.com
 

Cécile Ortiz (France) https://lezardsdecilou.wordpress.com
 

Barbara Meyer (Austria) http://barbaras-kreativ-studio.blogspot.com

Flowering Fields Clear-Mount Stamp Set [141303] £0.00	Timeless Textures Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140517] £18.00	Tin Of Cards Photopolymer Stamp Set [138946] £15.00	Chalk Talk Framelits Die [129983] £22.00	1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon [132140] £7.25
White 1-1/4" (3.2 Cm) Jute Ribbon [137904] £8.25	White Stampin' Emboss Powder [109132] £4.50	Basic Black A4 Card Stock [121688] £6.50	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush [141897] £7.25	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock [140490] £6.50
Watercolor Paper [122959] £4.50	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad [131181] £6.00	Tip Top Taupe Classic Stampin' Pad [138325] £6.00	Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad [131180] £6.00	Watermelon Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad [138323] £6.00
Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad [101731] £7.25	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad [126953] £6.00	Jet Black Stazon Ink Pad [101406] £7.25	Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [122932] £3.00	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [100531] £3.00

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Caturday: KITTENS!!!!!!

It’s Caturday again and we have exciting news from the cat shelter: TWO litters of beautiful kittens!

Mitzy, above, was bursting at the seams when I saw her last weekend and I was privileged to feel Rosie’s kittens moving... and now we have results. Mitzy’s kittens were born on Wednesday and Rosie’s arrived on Thursday. Four kittens each! From the photo it appears that Mitzy gave birth in the litter tray; at least it was absorbent!

Meanwhile, please come back later this evening as I am taking part in another Around the World Blog Hop. It will begin at 8pm GMT, so that all the participants can have their posts appear in waking hours! See you later!

A Nice Cuppa for Mother's Day

It was Mother’s Day (sorry, Mum – Mothering Sunday!) here in England at the weekend. I kept my card quite simple this year but thought it was the perfect opportunity to use this product bundle, with it’s made-for-the-occasion wording and lovely teacup shapes.  The little heart of steam is great when done in wispy vellum, and Baker’s Twine is just made for the teabag string.

I have a class coming up with these products in April, so if you’re on my mailing list, watch out for the announcement next week. If you’re not on my mailing list and would like to be, just click the link at the top left of the blog!

A Nice Cuppa Photopolymer Bundle [141074] £34.75	Tip Top Taupe A4 Cardstock [138343] £6.50	Card Stock A4 Blushing Bride [131287] £6.50	Have A Cuppa Designer Series Paper Stack [140567] £7.25
White Vellum A4 Card Stock [106584] £6.00	Tea Lace Paper Doilies [129399] £2.75	Twine Baker's Whisper White [124262] £2.75	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] £7.25

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Mix It Up Monday: Summer Silhouettes

It’s Mix It Up Monday and time for another colour combination from my In Color charts.  

Today I’ve stuck entirely within the 2015-17 In Color range, with Watermelon Wonder, Mint Macaron and Tip Top Taupe, all held together with some Very Vanilla. 

This stamp set, Summer Silhouettes, is a timeless classic, which I hardly dare hope will survive the new catalogue overhaul that’s coming our way in a few months. I began by stamping Hardwood in Tip Top Taupe onto Very Vanilla - I deliberately kept this “rough and ready”, allowing the stamp to miss the cardstock in places. The flowers and leaves are then stamped on top, and it’s all finished off with some strands of Burlap Ribbon and a tiny greeting. Hope you like it!

Summer Silhouettes Clear Stamp Set [126447] £18.00	Hardwood Clear-Mount Stamp Set [133035] £13.00	One Big Meaning Clear-Mount Stamp Set [139420] £17.00	Window Word Punch [119857] £14.50
Watermelon Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad [138323] £6.00	Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad [138326] £6.00	Tip Top Taupe Classic Stampin' Pad [138325] £6.00	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock [106550] £7.25
Watermelon Wonder A4 Cardstock [138341] £6.50	Tip Top Taupe A4 Cardstock [138343] £6.50	Tip Top Taupe 1" Dotted Lace Trim [138422] £5.50	1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon [132140] £7.25

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Caturday - Alfie

Alfie is a distinguished old gentleman of 19 who was rescued by Woodland Nook when his owner decided he was no longer welcome. He’s a lovely old fellow who loves attention, and just wants a nice quiet home to see out his final months. He really is a sight to behold; I have never seen such a brightly coloured ginger cat!

In The Meadow Z-fold card

Aw, I do love this deer image, it’s so restful. I made this as a welcome card for the very first man to join my stamping team: please check out Ian’s blog.

It’s a simple twist on a standard card - just score at the halfway point down the front panel and fold it back on itself to create this fun fold. A little flag of frayed burlap ribbon adds a rustic feel, and the lovely leafy patterned paper is one of my favourites from this particular pack. 

In The Meadow Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140754] £18.00	Perfect Pairings Clear-Mount Stamp Set [141261] £0.00	Botanical Gardens Designer Series Paper [140583] £10.00	Circles Collection Framelits Die [130911] £24.00
1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon [132140] £7.25	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock [140490] £6.50	Cajun Craze A4 Card Stock [121683] £6.50	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] £7.25
Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad [126965] £6.00	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad [126953] £6.00	Tip Top Taupe Classic Stampin' Pad [138325] £6.00

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com