Throwback Thursday - Wisteria Wishes

 Thursday already! Where does the time fly? Today's card is another style that I like to do and it's simply stamping a background and then adding something to it as a focal point. Using Wisteria Wishes, I have done just what I set out to do. I think it's a simple and effective way to show  a card and the stamps that you used to its full potential. 

Enough of my banter... I used the gorgeous bright green of Granny Apple Green for the stems and a mixture of a very pale peach.. Pale Papaya, a bright yellow ...Daffodil Delight and and hint of peach with Flirty Flamingo. I used the light Pool Party Blend pen to give the background. The addition of the Pale Papaya ribbon and the sentiment in the same colour ink completes this one. 

 

  

                                                

Watercolour Wednesday - Bamboo Beauty

Hello for this lovely Wednesday for the watercoloured card. As you know, I am using Bamboo Beauty stamp set this week and I can say that I have really enjoyed playing with this stamp set. There are no dies to co-ordinate with the stamps but that really doesn't bother me at all. The pure simplicity of this stamp set, for me, just makes it perfect. 

Today's card started with 2 mats. I cut one of them by cutting a section out of it and used the hole as the mask. Using the ink pad Balmy Blue, I added some of the soft blue ink into the lid of the pad and soaked it with water from my water brush. Once the colour was ready, I washed the colour through the mask. It was that simple. After that, I die cut a circle, stamped several of the Bamboo sticks and several leaves. Then I did what I have to do. I fussy cut the lot out! 

I just love fussy cutting. I know many people think that I'm mad as they really don't like cutting out things. Not me! Then it was a case of fixing them into position. I used the new in colour Evening Evergreen for the leaves and the card mat, Crumb Cake for the Bamboo and a piece from the In Colour Vellum pack in the lovely Pale Papaya for the sun. The ribbon is also Pale Papaya and is one of the new range of In Colour ribbons.

 

 

Watercolour Wednesday - Timeless Tropical

 Well, the English weather is back to normal! Those amazing days of sunshine has led us back to our usual weather...rain and lots of it!! There's no better time to stay indoors and craft is there? Today's project using the Timeless Tropical stamp set is really a cheats way to watercolouring. I used an additional stamp called Drybrush. This stamp gives the effect of a watercolour background without any watercolouring! I know, it's a cheat but great to do anyway.

I started by taking a C6 card mat and gutting 2cm all around the edge of the mat. This left a frame which I placed over the next 4 mats. I inked the stamp using the lovely soft Balmy Blue and stamped into the centre of the 4, C6 mats. The frame that I made was also used for cards 3 and 4. I cut a further 1cm around the inside again and used them both to make card frames.

I used the centre panel that I had gutted from the frame to stamp some of the flowers on. Waste not, want not! I used the small flower in Memento Black with the Sahara Sand and Pale Papaya ink pads. The palm trees were stamped in Old Olive and Soft Suede using the Stampin' Write Marker Pens. I fussy cut the flowers and die cut the trees using the dies, In The Tropics.  

For more information on the stamps and dies that I have used, please click HERE. It will open up the link in a new page. Once there, you can look around and see all of the other amazing products that Stampin' Up! make. If you live in the UK and don't have a demonstrator of your own, please shop with us. If you don't have a NEW catalogue yet with all of the products in, please let us know and we will happily post a copy to you.

 

 

 

Card 1

 Card 2

Card 3

A simple message here and there and I had completed 4 cards really quickly. I surprised even myself! I am really enjoying this making 4 cards at a time now, it's really therapeutical!

 

Card 4

This was another great day for me, wet outside and I'm indoors making cards....perfection, The plants and garden get a well-deserved drink and I get to do what I love and share the results with you too.

Happy crafting everyone xxx

Fun Fold Friday - Lovely You

Hello again and thank you for stopping by and looking at our blog again this week. For my last card using the Lovely You stamp set from Stampin' Up! I have made a card that we made recently in one of our monthly classes. It is a very simple card with a strap across the front to form a magnetic closure. 

For more information about the stamp set or any of the Stampin' Up! products, please click HERE and it will take you to our shop where you can browse the products, get ideas, look at the clearance rack and all sorts of things. It will open up a new window for you so that you don't lose where you started.   

I started with a white card base 29.7cm by 10.5cm wide. Basically, half a sheet of A4 in the UK cut down the whole length. I scored it in half and then removed 4.85cm from one side only. The piece cut off is to make the band. I used Pale Papaya card for the mats with a touch of Granny Apple Green here and there. I added some texture by using the lovely embossing folder called Tasteful Textile. The front Pale Papaya panel was embossed then I attached a magnet to it before using Dimensionals to secure it to the front of the card. 

I took a piece of white and blended Pale Papaya ink across the centre of this panel using my Blending brush, a few more flowers here and there and then the message. The message was inked using a Stampin' Write Marker Pen in Granny Apple Green for each individual part of it. Happily no marks were made as a result of using the pen.

 I attached the strap to the inside of the card and then added a Pale Papaya mat with some little decorations on. I embossed and cut to size another piece of the card for the strap. At this point, I needed to add the other magnet. I dropped it on top of the other one and it found the correct place. Adding a glue dot to the top of it, I placed the embossed piece of card over it to pick it up. Once fixed to the panel, I added the mat to the strap, a few flowers on top and it's complete. 

 

Thank you once again for stopping by this week, I do hope that you've seen something that may inspire you. I love to create things and share them around so I am delighted that you spared some time to look. 

Cary is on holiday next week but has prepared some amazing projects to inspire you. Please stop by and see her creations. 

Until I come back, please keep well, stay safe and keep on CRAFTING. :) 

Gill xxxxx

 

 

  

Technique Tuesday - Art Gallery

Hello on this cold and very wet Tuesday. Well it is here. We are in England after all! Today's card is not exactly a technique but using the Stampin' Up! Art Gallery stamp set and a few dies, I have put together this card. A standard C6 card base is one that is a piece of card which has been folded in the centre but occasionally I do something different. Like lots of folds, a fold in the opposite direction and more panels etc. etc. I have been making cards today, for make and takes for our catalogue launch this weekend. While I was making one of them I came up with another idea. In addition to the stamp set, I have also used the Bricks and Mortar embossing folder, Hippo and Friends dies and the NEW amazing set called Beautiful Trees dies.  

 

The card base is of course Basic White and the 2 colours I have used are 2 of the NEW In Colours. They are called Soft Succulent (green) and Pale Papaya ( yellow). I think they go so well together too.

 

The additional stamp set that I used is another NEW product called Light-hearted Lines. The Happy Birthday words are on a stamp that says 'To a person who's still got it ...But might not remember where they put it Happy Birthday'. It's a brilliant set and one that I will be using a lot in the coming months. I love humorous phrases and messages.  Hence the inside message... 'Don't grow up it's a trap' That just suits my sense of humour.