Hellooo!!

Hello everyone! 

How are we all?? Wow I can't believe it has been so long since I've posted! Life has been a bit up and down, and very busy lately, but I have actually been crafting, I just haven't had the energy to blog as well. So I am hoping to change that somewhat and try and post some of the projects I have been making, starting with this one...

So this was pretty much the first card I made with this matching stamp and die set, Floral Phrases and Detailed Floral Thinlits. 

For this card I actually made stencils from the dies and sponged Gold Encore ink through them, then heat embossed the sentiment with Gold Stampin' Emboss. I finished with some lovely gold twine and gold gems from my stash.

So I said I have been busy and I feel I should explain. Over the last 18 months or so I have been studying to become a personal trainer, for which I qualified in February, but I didn't stop there! Nope! I also did a Level 3 in Exercise Referral, Level 4 in Obesity and Diabetes and to finish it all off, Level 3 in Ante and Post Natal exercise! So now you know what has kept me so busy! I am extremely happy to say that I have now completed (and passed!) all my studies, so I hope to have a little more time and energy to get some blogging done! 

Thank you for popping by, and no matter how busy I am, don't forget you can always order anything you need from the link on the right, including the products I used in this card.

I hope to back in the next day or so!

Happy Thursday! :)

Bloomin' Sweetheart

Good morning all!

Today I'm showing you one of my new favourite dies. You may remember it being in the Spring/Summer catalogue, and I am very excited to see it in the new annual catalogue! I have used it in a slightly different way though....do you recognise it?

The die is from the gorgeous Bloomin' Heart Thinlits. I cut the heart out of Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper. To give the heart a different shape, I die cut a sweetheart shape out of the top panel of my card using one of the new Sweet and Sassy Framelits dies and stuck the filigree heart behind it. 

Doesn't it look lovely? I finished with a simple punch Bitty Butterfly and some Basic Pearls.

I'd love it if you could join me on Friday when I will show you a 'manly' and not so 'lovey dovey' way to use this gorgeous heart.

Have a lovely day and see you soon!

WOW! 5 already!

Hi everyone!

Wow today is the 5th Birthday of one of my favourite ever challenge blogs, Less is More! I used to enter every week, often up on the dot of 8am to see what the challenge was so I could get my card made! 

Life is a little different these days and I don't enter challenges much now, but when I saw Jen at the hairdresser's this morning and she told me about the challenge I decided I had to enter! I knew exactly what I was going to make, so I made this card, without visiting the LIM blog first. The challenge, by the way, is White on White.

I used the stunning Bloomin' Heart Thinlit die for this. I die cut it from my panel then glued it to the base card. I then popped the panel back on top using Dimensionals.

I added a few die cut flowers with a touch of  clear Wink Of Stella, not that it's showing on here, but believe me, they have a lovely shimmer! The sentiment was then stamped in Smoky Slate, from the matching stamp set, Bloomin' Love, die cut and also popped on Dimensionals.

This is a really elegant card and I'm chuffed with how it turned out!

What I used today....

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

I had a lovely day in Nantwich yesterday, and had the most delicious cheese scones in a wonderful little tea room by the name of Ginger and Pickles. If you're ever in Nantwich, I strongly recommend a visit! All their food and cakes are handmade and they have a wonderful selection of loose leaf teas!

Right, I'm off to Huddersfield now to visit my parents. Have a fab Saturday and hope to see you soon! :)

A little love...

Hello everyone! 

How have you all been?? I know you're probably reeling with shock at seeing me blog since it's been such a while! I have had a lot of family difficulties over the last few weeks and had a lot to deal with, but I think I am slowly getting back on track now, so I thought I would share a card I made on Sunday...it was originally made for a commission but I loved it so much I made a similar version for my stall stash!

This is a wedding card and I used some printed vellum I've had in my stash for years...I think it looks gorgeous with the Real Red hearts underneath, don't you?

I added some of the beautiful Whisper White Organza Ribbon and a few Rhinestone Basics Jewels and there we have a classy and elegant wedding card!

I am entering this into the challenge at Less Is More, which has the theme 'Congratulations' this week, and also CAS on Sunday where the challenge is to use Vellum.

I hope to be back again very soon...have a lovely Tuesday! :)

For The New Two

Hello all!

It's time for our new challenge at CAS-Colours and Sketches, and this week we have a fab sketch!

I was a little thrown when I first saw it, but then I decided I actually quite like it!

So here is what I made...

Sorry about the photo...it was so hard to photograph the white on white....the sun has been too bright (not that I'm complaining!)

I heat embossed the sentiment, from For The New Two, with Gold Stampin' Emboss, ant the flowers are from Petal Potpourri and are stamped in Gold Encore ink. A very simply made card, but very elegant!

We're looking forward to seeing your creations!

I'll hopefully be back tomorrow with Keiran's 7th Birthday card....where have the 7 years gone??

Especially for the new two...

Hello everyone!

How has your weekend been? I had a lovely one, enjoying more quality time with my wonderful man, Mike, cooking dinner together, listening to music, chatting...just perfect! I really hope yours was as just as fab, with or without a partner :)

Today I have a commission card to show you, for a couple who got married on Valentine's Day...

I was asked for a simple designed card, and I took colour inspiration from the invitation. I used the swirl from Everything Eleanor and stamped it in Versamark all over the card panel, then embossed it with clear Stampin' Emboss.

The sentiment panel is from The New Two set, stamped in silver Encore and also embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss. After I stamped the heart with Silver, I punch a small heart out of it and added some royal blue ribbon from my stash behind it. I finished with some personalisation from my printer.

I do love making special cards for special occasions...it make it extra special, don't you think?

I did use the sketch at Atlantic Hearts this week...still a few hours to enter if you fancy a go!

I'll be back tomorrow to show you the Valentine's card I made for my love man! :)

Something borrowed...

Good morning everyone!

I hope you had a good weekend! I had a lovely time with my girlies, but not much time for crafting! So last night, I popped into my craft room and made this...

I have used the gorgeous new For The New Two stamp set, which is perfect for all those wedding cards you'll need to make this year! I stamp my sentiment in Gold Encore onto Vellum cardstock, then I heat embossed it with clear Stampin' Emboss. I find it gives a softer look than the Gold Stampin' Emboss.

I stamped the beautiful background with the new Something Lacy background stamp in gold Encore ink...isn't it lovely?? I punched a heart with the Sweetheart punch and also stamped the same background. I looped some Linen Thread around the back of the heart before adding it to my card.

See this gorgeous embellishment?

It's one of the Something Borrowed Embellishments, which are beautiful and sparkly, and a little bit vintagey! Before I threaded the Sahara Sand Lace Trim through it, I rubbed it with a little gold encore just to dull the silver a little and make it even more vintagey (it is a word!) Doesn't it look pretty!

Hopefully I will be back tomorrow if I feel up to it...this cold is sending me to bed early! Have a lovely day!

Happy Wedding!

Good morning all!

I am quickly typing this after a very late night last night, and today I have a very long day at a craft fair! But for those of you who want to know, my date went pretty well last night, and I think there will definitely be a second date! :D

Anyway, it is Saturday so that means it's Sketch Saturday time! So here is this week's sketch...

I used the sketch for a wedding card commission I had, as I thought it would work well for it. The image was a freebie from a magazine years ago, but I used Fancy Foil Designer Vellum and 5/8'' Organza Ribbon from my online shop, along with Hearts Framelits, Word Window Punch, and a sentiment from Teeny Tiny Sentiments. This is actually a 7x7in card...a bit larger than usual, but not huge!

I printed the image onto Whisper White...isn't it lovely?

Like I said, I have a busy day today so I better get going! See you tomorrow if I have the energy left to blog! ;)

HapBEE Wedding day!

Hello!

I was asked to make a wedding card featuring 2 bees, and as I have no stamps with bees, I had to get somewhat creative! So I decided to make a punch art bee couple!

I used the Ornament Keepsakes Framelits for this little project, along with circle and oval punches.

I used Vellum Cardstock for the wings, then I made a top hat for the groom and a veil from some Organza Ribbon. The background is created using the Hexagon Embossing Folder.

I quite enjoyed making this one...it's a little different for me!

It was sports day yesterday for Keiran, and I was very proud of him! He came 1st in the running, and second in the sack race and obstacle races! :)

Here he is winning his running race!

I hope you have a wonderful day today...enjoy, whatever you're doing!

Lots of Bundles in a card in a box!

Good morning!

Did you have a good weekend?

Did you watch the football?? I did...I thought we played better than we have done for a long time...shame the result didn't reflect it!

Ah well...back to something we all love...crafting! Here is a card that was a commission for a couple who got married this weekend...

I was given a brief of bunting, spots and stripes, and informal...I think I covered it!

I used the Banner Greetings stamps from this year's Sale-a-bration for the bunting.

I then used a few bundles to create the flowers and the sentiments. Flower Shop, Petite Petals, Secret Garden and Label Love. These bundles are all 15% cheaper when you buy the stamps and punch/framelits together, but do hurry as some of them retire as a bundle on 30th June. (You will still be able to buy some of them individually, just not as a cheaper bundle).

I really enjoyed making this card...in fact, I love making Box Cards lots, I just don't have the time to make them with everything else!

I have Keiran's Sports day today, so I shall be dashing there after work today! 

I shall be back tomorrow, so if you like what I posted today, why not become a follower by clicking on one of the links in the sidebar on the right >>>

I'd love it if you did! :)

Wedding invitation design

Good morning!

I am posting this very quickly, again before work! 

As you may remember, I was designing wedding invitations, which obviously I can't show you yet, but I can show you one of the designs she didn't choose...

I used the very elegant Mr & Mrs stamp set which I stamped in Silver Encore then embossed in Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder.

I also White embossed a Flowering Flourish onto the front before adding my embossed panel.

These are very elegant and could be made in many different colours to match the wedding colours.

I'm sure I will be back soon with the actual design...when I know they have been sent out!

I'm off now so have a fab, fun crafty/family Sunday!

A Stashy Wedding Card!

Good morning Sketch fans!

We have a new sketch for you at Sketch Saturday, this time design by Alex...

My card has used up lots of stash, so I am feeling quite smug with myself!

Sadly, I can't say where any of these items have come from, except the sentiment, which is from Stampin' Up!

It is a cute image though isn't it? 

I hope you enjoy playing with our sketch!

A Happy Couple

Hi there!

Well, here is the last of the wedding cards for now...I love getting these commissions...to know that is years to come the happy couple will look through their memory box from their wedding and find this card again...I hope they love it!

This one is, again, using some of the retired products, but although they are retired, they are definitely not out of date!

Challenges

Seems a Little Sketchy - #45

Hopefully I will be back tomorrow!

Have a lovely day :)

Two Hearts

Good morning!

Here is one of the commission cards I made last week, that I think I am ok to show you now!

I kept it quite simple and elegant, again using up some retired Designer Paper. I also used the Lacy Brocade EF, hearts from I{Heart}Hearts and a computer generated sentiment.

I am entering this into the challenge at Deconstructed Sketch #112

I shall be back tomorrow with another of the commission cards!