Contain Yourself

This was the main project at my Contain Yourself workshop; a covered Altoid tin with a tiny concertina album inside. This can be decorated further with small photos ... or anything else which takes your fancy.

We used an all-new colour combination (for me) ... So Saffron, More Mustard and Very Vanilla.

There’s a tutorial about covering the tin here.

The mini album to go inside was very simple – just a 3.5” strip of cardstock, scored at 2” intervals. I just used one strip from a sheet of A4 cardstock but you could add another strip if you wanted more “pages” I kept mine very simple – just stamped a bit of foliage on each “page”. The bottom piece is stuck inside the tin with Sticky Strip, so that won’t be going anywhere any time soon.

Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes
Cardstock: More Mustard, So Saffron, Very Vanilla
Paper: Patterns Designer Series Paper – So Saffron
Ink: More Mustard, So Saffron
Accessories: 1 ¼” circle punch, 1 3/8” circle punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - More Mustard and Very Vanilla, Sticky Strip.

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Jelly belly (that's me by the way)

This test tube filled with jelly beans is one of the projects we made at my Contain Yourself workshop last night. I’m a bit sick of jelly beans to be honest as I couldn’t help eating the odd one (hundred) as I was devising this project.

Thanks to everyone who came along – hope you enjoyed it. I certainly enjoyed the cakes that Alison had made for us!

So basically, this is just making a tag, which can be as simple or elaborate as you like. This is made from a strip of Sage Shadow cardstock, cut ever so slightly narrower than the tag punch cuts. This means you can feed one end only into the punch and make a longer tag. It’s embellished with the Scallop Oval Punch and Large Oval Punch, along with their sister stamp set, Oval All. I stamped the image twice – once on the Rose Red cardstock, which I punched out with the scalloped punch, and then again on Whisper White, which I punched out with the plain oval punch. This means you can layer them up and still get the full benefit of the cool little stars that fit so neatly into the scallops.

The ribbon is very simple. I just cut a short piece (or use some from my army of much-mocked scraps) and loop it through the tag’s hole. Then remove the test tube lid, poke the ends in and replace the lid, which will hold the ribbon in place. Then just tie a bow around the whole tube, secured at the back with a tiny piece of tape or a glue dot to stop it slipping down.

Stamps: Oval All
Cardstock: Sage Shadow, Rose Red, Barely Banana
Ink: Basic Gray, Rose Red
Accessories: Large Tag Punch, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Crop-A-Dile™, blender pens, black gingham ribbon.

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Three for the price of one!

These 4in square Fresh-Cut notecards are perfect for putting together quick and easy cards. Here are a few simple ways to use them. Of course, you don't need to use the Fresh Cuts stamp set - you can use any stamps you have.

This first one is the method I use most. I use Versamark to stamp the large image from the co-ordinating Fresh Cuts stamp set on a piece of Whisper White cardstock measuring 3 ¾” square. Then I do the Poppin’ Pastels technique (click here for details) to chalk the image in various colours. Then I decorate the centre of the flower using whatever I feel like – in this case the 5-Petal Flower punch, the Boho Blossoms punch and a brad. As the notecard is made from the lovely and smooth Whisper White cardstock, it’s perfect for stamping on, too, so here I’ve stamped the corners of the card with Cameo Coral and the spriggy image from the same stamp set. I’ve overstamped the words with Chocolate Chip.

Stamps: Fresh Cuts
Cardstock: Whisper White, Cameo Coral, Mellow Moss, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Versamark, Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Stampin Pastels, Fresh-Cut Notes, 5-Petal punch, Boho Blossoms punch, Rich Regals brads, Moss gingham ribbon


Here’s an even simpler and quicker way – this time I’ve used Designer Series Paper behind the die-cut to create a bolder background. Again layered up with punches and, for a more luxurious feel, a felt flower from the Flower Fusion pack and a rhinestone brad.

Stamps: Fresh Cuts
Cardstock: Whisper White, So Saffron, Always Artichoke
Paper: Brocade Background
Ink: Always Artichoke, So Saffron
Accessories: Fresh-Cut Notes, Mellow Moss Taffeta Ribbon, 5-Petal punch, Boho Blossoms Punch, Flower Fusion Felt Flowers, Circle Fire Rhinestone Brads


This card is even bolder – with the large image stamped on the front of the card for a change. Behind the aperture I placed some Old Olive cardstock and then layered it with a Pumpkin Pie punched flower and a huge felt flower. Not one to send to a shrinking violet, for sure.

Stamps: Fresh Cuts
Cardstock: Whisper White, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive
Accessories: Fresh-Cut Notes, 5/8” Grosgrain Ribbon – Old Olive, 5-Petal punch, Flower Fusion felt flowers, Circle Fire rhinestone brads

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Here's one I made earlier...

This is a fun 3D item to demonstrate at a workshop – not least because putting it together neatly when all eyes are upon you is a nerve-wracking experience! This was the “here’s one I made earlier” for a workshop I did last Friday night. It’s filled with sweets and I explain how to make one here.

For this one, I dug out all my circle punches, starting with the scallop for the Always Artichoke layer and ending with the half-inch punch to top it all with a small circle punched from the Designer Series Paper.

Stamps: Circle of Friendship
Cardstock: Always Artichoke, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Whisper White
Paper: Summer Picnic
Ink: Always Artichoke
Accessories: ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Always Artichoke, Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon - Bashful Blue, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8” circle punch, 1 ¼” circle punch, 1” circle punch, ½” circle punch, crafters’ toolkit for piercing.

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

Free catalogue with Crafts Beautiful

If you're a Crafts Beautiful reader, you may want to get your September issue from Tesco because you'll get a free Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalogue with it! The September issue is on sale at the end of this month - but remember you must buy it in Tesco to get the free catalogue.

Distressing circle flowers

Everyone’s making these distressed circle flowers lately so I thought I’d better have a go, even though I’m not sure if like them or not. Well, put it this way, I like other people's better than my efforts!

After all that fiddling with circle punches, distressing and layering, I thought I’d better keep the rest of the card simple and just sponged chalk around the edges of the Very Vanilla background, which I layered onto Bravo Burgundy and Kraft.

The Brocade Blue Grosgrain Ribbon is 5/8” wide but, as there is already so much distressing on this card, I thought the fraying wouldn’t matter if I cut it in half lengthways to make this narrow flag.

Stamps: Fresh Cuts
Cardstock: Kraft, Bravo Burgundy, Handsome Hunter, Night of Navy, Ballet Blue
Ink: Bravo Burgundy
Accessories: 5/8” Grosgrain Ribbon - Brocade Blue, Rich Regals buttons, Boho Blossoms punch, 1 3/8” circle punch, 1 ¼” circle punch, 1” circle punch. Stampin’ Pastels

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Menagerie a trois?

A ropey picture but quite a fun card, I thought. The Stamp-a-ma-jig® came into its own to place the animals just where I wanted them. The Pumpkin Pie strip is scalloped at each end and folded over to create a novel vertical element, topped with a button.

Stamps: Wild About You
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Whisper White
Ink: So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Earth Elements buttons

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Oh Christmas Tree...

Finally, the last project from my Christmas in July event. This is quite a simple card but I think it needs to be simple due to the “busy-ness” of the Scandinavian Season stamp used on the tree. We stamped the image and then cut out the tree shape, losing the trunk. The snowflake was stamped on Whisper White and then cut out using the fabulous Paper Snips. Much glitter was applied.

The star is stamped in White StazOn® and then glittered.

The “snow” is simply a piece of torn Whisper White cardstock on a Night of Navy background.

On the day we used the “Merry Christmas” stamp from Seasonal Wishes which is a lot more swirly and more suited to the card I thought.

Stamps: Scandinavian Season, Season of Joy
Cardstock: Ruby Red, Night of Navy, Whisper White, Sage Shadow
Ink: Always Artichoke, Ruby Red, White StazOn®
Accessories: Silver brads, Stampin’ Glitter,

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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

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Christmas trees

Lovely as a Tree is a must-have stamp set in my opinion; the perfect stamp set for Christmas cards, birthday cards, masculine cards, sympathy cards, scrapbooking... you name it. It’s a beautiful set and you will not regret buying it, I promise!

We stamped the trees at random along the bottom of the Bordering Blue card, then added a strip of Designer Series Paper with some cardstock, ribbon and a tag. Of note, I used to think that Bordering Blue was a horrible, dirty colour which had nothing going for it. And then I saw it with Real Red and was completely sold! Another U-turn, eh?

Tricky bits? I cut the scallop square down a little but you don’t need to – I only did it because initially I made this with the small tag punch. To get the “hole reinforcer” on the tag you can do it one of two ways:

1. Punch the small hole in a piece of red cardstock using the large hole punch on the Crop-A-Dile™. Then, with your punch upside-down, punch the half-inch circle over the top to create the doughnut shape. Then attach to your tag.

2. Punch the half-inch circle and stick it to the tag. Then punch the hole using the large holde punch on the Crop-A-Dile.

The linen thread is actually in two pieces – the first is a short piece tied around the red ribbon. The second is just a loop, attached behind the ribbon. No clever tying required!

Naturally, the ribbon doesn’t go all the way around the card – the ends are hidden behind the Designer Series Paper. Waste not, want not!

Oh, one more thing. At the workshop we used the hostess set Best Yet, which has a Christmas stamp which fits the tag punch perfectly.

Stamps: Lovely As a Tree, Daily Flexible Phrases
Cardstock: Bordering Blue, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Whisper White
Paper: Ski Slope
Ink: Bordering Blue, Real Red
Accessories: Tag Punch, ½” circle punch, Crop-A-Dile™, Scallop Edge Punch, Scallop Square Punch, Corner Rounder, 5/8” Grosgrain Ribbon – Real Red, Linen Thread

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