Flowery Embroidery Hoop

Hello, Crafters.

Whatever your plans are, I hope you have a great weekend.

I had a lovely day yesterday, getting my March happy mail ready for posting to my customers. 

I really don't know what happened with my order this month because it took eleven days to arrive - I think this is the first time I've ever had to wait so long for a delivery, in all my six years as a demonstrator. 

Talking with other demos, nobody else seems to have had this problem, so I'm just putting it down to gremlins in the works!
 
Between now and 1st June, 2018, I'm going to be using cardstock in the retiring colours. 

Boy, didn't I get caught out with Flirty Flamingo? 

In case you weren't following the story about my swaps, for the Onstage Convention last weekend, I concentrated on using Peekaboo Peach and Flirty Flamingo for my card front swaps.

I chose these two as they are two of the  retiring 2016 - 2018 InColours, so I thought it was a great opportunity to use my cardstock in these two colours! 
 
Except that Flirty Flamingo is coming back as one of our core colours on 1st June 2018! 

Never mind.......onwards and upwards! LOL!

Today's very simple card is in Pink Pirouette, which is retitring, and Whisper White, which is staying! 
 
You may remember I was playing with the Embroidery Hoops recently, and made a card.

At the same time, I also made this kind of half-wreath! 

I can't think of a better name for it - any suggestions?

I started with some Embroidery Hoops and a packet of the Touches of Nature Elements (neither product is being carried forward but there are some similar wood elements on the way). 

I painted on the white side of the wooden elements using my Stampin' Blends: Light Old Olive for the leaves, and Dark Pink Piouette for the centre flower, and Light Pink Pirouette for the two outer flowers.

I gave them a short while to dry off properly, and then painted over them with a thick layer of the Fine Tip Glue Pen.

I wanted enough glue for it to dry with a curve, but not so much that the glue rolled off! 

I allowed the glue to dry overnight, and the next day, I adhered the shapes in position using Tombow.

To create my card I decided the "wreath" would look best on it's own............a clean and simple card, but I have to confess, I found it a struggle to come up with a design I was happy with. 

Eventually my card came together, but it was a very slow process, which is very unusual for me.

I chose to use the Basket Weave Dynamic Embossing Folder on Pink Pirouette Cardstock (CS) as the background, and I stamped one of the images from the A Good Day Stamp Set, using Basic Black Archival Ink on Whisper White CS. 

Then I coloured it, punched it out with the 1 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, and mounted it on two layers of Dimensionals.

I laid the Embroidery Hoop onto the Basket Weave Pink Pirouette CS layer, and placed the image inside! 

This was definitely not a good idea!

I moved it away and decided to dress the Embroidery Hoop up with small pearls on the exposed part of the rim, and I added two small pearls on the outer flowers and one large Pearl on the centre flower. 

Now, my card was developing into a design I found pleasing!

I added the sentiment from the Balloon Celebration Stamp Set, stamped on a strip of Whisper White Cardstock using Pink Piroutte Pink Ink.

(I'm really pleased that this stamp set will be carried forward into the new catalogue! YAY!)

I rounded the ends of the sentiment using a 3/4" circle punch. 
 
My final touch for the front of the card was to add a small bow tied with our Whisper White 1/4" Organza Ribbon, and adhered it in place using Tombow. 

The final touches inside the card were adhering a layer of Whisper White CS, and then I stamped my favourite corner stamp from the Hold on to Hope Stamp Set, using Pink Piroutte Pink Ink.

I'm very pleased to say that this stamp set is also being carried forward!

I enjoyed playing with these wooden elements, and I must look at other ways of using them!

That's it from me today, so until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.

Balloons Easel Card Video

Hello, Crafters.

I hope you're enjoying a relaxing weekend.
 
Last Wednesday when I published my video, I said I was going to do a run of five fun fold cards, and true to my word, here's the first one!

It's an easel card where I have used balloons which look like they're floating off the card. 

I found the three-step stamping of the balloons from the Balloon Celebration Stamp Set a very big challenge, but I persevered and share how I get a good result almost every time. 

I made the Pool Party card first, but I felt it looked over-crowded with five balloons. I only made  three balloons for the card on the video and thought it looked much cleaner.

I'm really excited that my Stamparatus is out for delivery on Tuesday. 

I don't start showing projects with new products until they are available to customers within seven days, and the Stamparatus is just the same.

However, getting one now will give me a chance to practice before it's available in the new 2018 - 2019 Annual catalogue. 

If you have any questions about the Stamparatus that you'd like me to check out, please let me know. 

That's about it from me today. Until tomorrow, happy Sunday and happy crafting.

JanB.

Pot of Spring Flowers Video

Hello, Crafters.

Earlier today I published my video which shows how I made the Spring Pot of Flowers card I shared here last Monday. 

For the video, I changed the contrast cardstock from Sweet Sugarplum to Perfect Plum. 

I also made another card, just before videoing, and used Tempting Turquoise. 

I love all three colour schemes. 

The main difference between all three cards, is the positioning of the flower pot image. 

I felt the image in the first card, Sweet Sugarplum, was too high, so I lowered it when I made the second card, Tempting Turquoise. 

Although I prefer the way I did the sentiment on this one, I didn't like how low the flower pot was. 

For the video, I planned I would concentrate on getting the image down from the top by half an inch for the third card. 

I've shared a photograph of all three cards together to help you have a proper look and make your own decision which way you like most.

(Please note: the Circle of Spring Stamp Set is not being carried forward!)

I had a very successful class yesterday, and I have another class today.

But before that, I have my regular chat with my elderly Mother who lives in Australia.

I wish you a very happy Sunday. 

Until tomorrow, happy crafting.
 
JanB.

 

Pot of Spring Flowers

Hello, Crafters.

Today I feel like I'm beginning to get back to normal! Yesterday I still felt pretty rough but improved greatly as the day wore on and the antibiotics did their work!

After we had enjoyed a quiet relaxing dinner last night, I came up to my craft room and created today's card!

I cased it from a card I've seen in the new catalogue but I've used totally different stamp sets. 

Three of the four stamp sets I've used for this card are being carried forward - the one that isn't is Circle of Spring. 

Using Basic Black Archival Ink, I started by stamping the flower pot, which is from the Sitting Here Stamp Set, onto a piece of Whisper White Cardstock (CS). 

 After I'd finished colouring the first image I'd stamped, I painted a small Crumb Cake area around the base of the pot to ground it - so far, so good!

Then I felt I wanted to "edge" the main image so I painted around the image using my Soft Sky Marker Pen. 

It looked OK but I didn't think it looked great!
 
For the second attempt, I started by stamping the Whisper White CS first, using the splatter stamp from the Touches of Texture Stamp Set, and Sahara Sand Ink. 

I stamped off three times, and this gave me the depth of colour I was looking for, and therefore I stamped a fourth generation image.

The amount of times you'd need to stamp off depends on how moist your ink pad is. 

I suggest you do what I did to begin with, which is, stamp off on a scrap of paper and count how many impressions you need to get the right depth of colour you'd like.

I painted my flowers, leaves, pot and grounding using the following Marker Pens: Sahara Sand (pot), Crumb Cake (grounding), Old Olive, Rose Red, Pink Pirouette and Sweet Sugarplum. 

I die cut the image using the second smallest circle Stitched Shapes Framelits Die, and layered it onto a scalloped circle die cut with size 5 of the Layering Circle Framelits Dies. 

I adhered the two together using Tombow. 

I took a strip of Whisper White CS and stamped a light Sahara Sand background on it in the same way I did for the main image.

Then I stamped the sentiment from the Balloon Celebration Stamp Set, using Basic Black Archival Ink. 

I took a strip of Sweet Sugarplum about the same size and fishtailed both pieces.

To put my card together, I started with a card base of Sahara Sand CS, with a middle layer of Whisper White CS, and a top layer of Sahara Sand CS. 

Using Basic Black Archival Ink, I stamped the wreath stamp from the Circle of Spring in a central position towards the top of the top layer. 

Then I adhered the three layers together using Tombow, and then I adhered the main image using dimensionals. 

I adhered the sentiment strips together wusing Tombow, and then adhered them to the card front using Dimensionals. 

I added a bit if bling by adding three Rhinestones in a row along the bottom of the Sweet Sugarplum strip.

I stamped about a quarter of the wreath stamp onto a piece of Whisper White CS in the bottom right hand corner, and, after allowing it a few seconds to dry, I adhered it inside my card.

That's about it today. I hope you're enjoying thi wonderful Easter weekend. Until tomorrow, happy carfting.

JanB.

Shooting Star Spinner Card Video & Peaceful Peachaven

Hello, Crafters.
 
What an absolutely lovely time I had in Peacehaven yesterday. It was a lovely group of ladies, and everybody enjoyed the three projects I'd arranged for them - especially the 3D project, as they received a bar of chocolate to go with it! 
 
Before I headed home, I stopped at the top of the cliffs to breathe in some lovely sea air and to enjoy the view - see photograph number 4!

This morning I uploaded my video called Shooting Star Slider Card. I'm so pleased at how this card turned out because it slides side to side brilliantly. 

I also found the Confetti Stars Border Punch really came into its own on this card as well!

The first card was without any additional stamping because I was concentrating on making sure the mechanics would work alright. See photograph 3. 

The big secret for success using the die from the Sliding Stars Framelits Dies is to  cut the "slide" as a smiley face not as a scowling face! On the video, I showed the difference in the quality of the slide between the two - you may be amazed!  

On the second card I made, I stamped some stars on the layer behind the slider as well as on the top layer using one hollow and one solid star from the Shooting Star Stamp Set.

I think it made my card look more interesting than the first card. See photograph 2.

I changed the stamped stars on the card I made on the video because I wasn't sure that I liked the hollow stars on card number 2. The stars I chose for this card are from the Perpetual Birthday Calendar Stamp Set and I'm really pleased with the effect! See photograph 1.


There are two other extras I put on card number 1, which you may have noticed in photograph 3. On the sentiment I adhered some of the Dapper Denim punched out hearts. I also added extra Delightful Dijon stars on the tail of the shooting star - I'm planning on adding extras to cards two and three as well!


In yesterday's post I shared one of the cards I'd planned for the Peacehaven ladies and said that I would arrange the ribbons slightly differently and share a photograph of it today - please see photographs 5. I much prefer the three straight lines, what do you think?

That's about it for today. Until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.

Jar of Love Card 2

Hello, Crafters.

Yesterday, I decided to have a play with the flowers in the Jar of Love Stamp Set and they are gorgeous. For the larger flowers I used Sweet Sugarplum stamped off once, and Rich Razzleberry with Basic Grey for the centre stamens. The leaves and stems are Pear Pizzazz and the small flowers are Archival Basic Grey. 

Whilst I'm happy with the overall design of my card, it would look better if I'd used a smaller jar - there are three in the stamp set to choose from. If the jar had been smaller, I would have made the overall image smaller and would have been able to show more of the stripey layer.

The way it is on this card, it's out of proportion but I'm not going to beat myself up about it. I will have another play with this today and although I won't re-do this same design, I might test what I've said about the jar and the surround!

I started today's card with a base of Whisper White Cardstock, with a layer of Sweet Sugarplum and a top layer of the Sweet Sugarplum stripe design from the 2016 - 2018 InColour Design Series Paper (DSP) Stack. I adhered them together using Tombow.

Using Archival Basic Grey Ink, I stamped the largest jar onto a piece of Whisper White. For the water in the jar, I used Soft Sky Ink stamped off once. Then I used the sprig of leaves and stamped two images. Finally for the greenery, I stamped three separate stems making sure all the stems reached into the water!

I stamped and die cut three of the large flowers and five of the small ones. I adhered the three large flowers using two glue dots for each and I cut some small pieces of Dimensionals for the small flowers.

I used my (now retired) Two Way Glue Pen on the water in the jar and sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds all over it. As much as I love Clear Wink of Stella Gitter Pen, you can't beat Dazzling Diamonds for real sparkle!

I adhered the image to a layer of Sweet Sugarplum using Tombow. I cut a length of Sweet Sugarplum  Ruched Ribbon and tied a bow half way along using my bow-maker. I adhered the centre of the bow in place with a Glue Dot  then wrapped the ends around to the back onto some Fast Fuse.  Then I glued this to the card base.
 
Using Archival Basic Grey Ink, I stamped the sentiment from  the Balloon Celebration Stamp Set onto a piece of Whisper White, which I then layered onto a piece of Sweet Sugarplum. I adhered this in place using Tombow. 

My final touch was to go over the small flowers and the Rich Razzleberry part of the large flowers with my Wink of Stella! 

I'm looking forward to playing with this stamp set again today! Until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.

Congrats card and pressy

Hello, Crafters. 

I recently had a reason to send one of my friends a congratulations present and card. 

My gifts fitted into one of our Kraft Tag a Bags so I decided to decorate one. 

I was doing this on the same day I was making the Thank You cards I shared with you yesterday.
I'm sure you can see the connection! LOL! 

If you saw my blog yesterday, you will have seen that I stamped some Elegant Eggplant trees. They were to go with a One Sheet Wonder Thank You Card Wallet I'd made in the same colour, but found it looked too dark if I stamped it the same way I'd stamped the Garden Green trees.

I was experimenting with various combinations of stamping off once, twice, etc. 

Eventually, I had so many stamped images on my desk, I started to see bunches of grapes! Ta-da - another idea was born!!

I stamped on some Crumb Cake cardstock with the Hardwood Stamp using Crumb Cake Ink.

I made it into a tag using the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch. 

Then I punched another tag in Elegant Eggplant Cardstock, cut the top off and cut it in half vertically. 

I glued the two parts onto the Crumb Cake Tag so just about an eigth of an inch was visible on each side. 

I fussy cut round two bunches of grapes and then stamped four leaves in Garden Green Ink on Whisper White Cardstock. 

All the images are from the Limited Edition Thoughtful Branches Stamp Set which goes on sale today. 

(Please note, this bundle is only available between 2nd- 31st August 2016).

There's also a coordinating die set so I was able to die cut the leaves. 

The sentiment is from the Over the Rainbow Stamp Set and I stamped it on Whisper White Cardstock using Elegant Eggplant Ink. 

Unfortunately, I wasn't planning to show these projects on my blog and I used three retired products. Ooops!!

The first item is the punch I used for the sentiment - I can't remember what it's called. The second item is the cotton trim which is in Concord Crush and lastly the Washi Tape I put around the top of the bag! 

For the congratulations card, I stamped the Baby Bear, which is a three step stamping image and then  fussy cut him. 

I used Pool Party for the bow and also fussy cut that, too. 

The sentiment is from the Balloon Celebration Stamp Set and I stamped it in Soft Suede Ink.

I added the little line of dots using the pen end of the Soft Suede Marker Pen. 

As I wanted to write a little note to my friend, I used one of our Notecards & Envelopes which is what I use for my Thank You cards.
 
That's about it for today. Until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.

Elephant & Balloons

Hello, Crafters.

I hope you had a great weekend. 

We were at home over the weekend because hubby was working. 

Yesterday I was working on the fancy fold card I want to make for Wednesday's video.  If you saw my video where I shared the swaps I received at Convention in April, you may remember me showing you a card that opened with a trianguler fold that came down and formed a "floor".

I don't know what this card is called but I'll probably call it something like corner pop-up box/card.I saw someone make one on YouTube but mine never works out quite right!

I've tried five or six now and I need to do some extra cutting to get the kind of result I expect. Eventually, I gave up trying yesterday, feeling very frustrated.  However, I'll carry on today. 

If I do successfully make a video, I'll show the ones that haven't gone very well. Because my mind was turning the fancy fold over and over, I found it difficult to switch off and think about a card for today. 

I decided to go for some fun and chose the elephant from Love You Lots. I'd been thinking about using balloons for my fancy fold card and still had Balloon Celebration Stamp Set on my desk. So decision was made.

I started today's card with a base of Pool Party Cardstock, followed by a layer of Whisper White and topped with a layer of the Pool Party script design from the Subtles Designer Series Paper (DSP) Stack. I adhered them together using Tombow.

I stamped the Elephant onto a piece of Whisper White using our Archival Basic Black and then fussy cut it out leaving a white edge all around.

I stamped one large and one small balloon from the Balloon Celebration Stamp Set onto a piece of Whisper White. I used a sentiment from the Circle of Spring Stamp Set inside the large stamp and a sentiment from the Ready To Pop Stamp Set for inside the small balloon. 

Then I stamped one large and one small balloon onto a piece of Pool Party. I chose the same sentiment for the large balloon and another sentiment from the Ready To Pop Stamp Set for the small balloon. 

For the fifth and final balloon, I stamped the large balloon onto a piece of the Pool Party spotted deisgn from the Subtles DSP Stack. In the centre, I stamped a sentiment and a small decoration from Ready To Pop Stamp Set inside the balloon.

I punched all the balloons out using the Balloon Bouquet Punch.

I arranged the balloons how I thought they looked nice on my card and adhered them with Tombow. As I adhered the lowest four, I slid a short piece of Linen Thread just under the the tip of the balloon. Then I tied and glued very small Linen Thread bows on the ends of the balloons.

I adhered the elephant to the card using Dimensionals and cut a very thin piece of  Dimensional to fit on the trunk. I gathered the four strings together and made sure they were all anchored under the Dimensional. 

Do you think anyone will notice that they're five balloons and four strings?

I think that's about it for today. I hope you have a good day. Until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.

Rodent Problem!

Hello, Crafters.

Oh, dear! My car had to go in for repair yesterday because I noticed my engine management light was on, when I drove to work on Tuesday. 

It would appear a rodent has chewed through one of my electrical cables!!

I have to wait until the electrician has had a look at my car on Monday - and hopefully repaired it - to find out how much the rodent's meal is going to cost me! 

This is a real risk for my car because it lives in the garage and I only use it three or four times a month! 

Hubby is now on a mission to find out how we can reduce the rodent risk! 

If anyone has any suggestions, short of not leaving the car in the garage (it saves on my insurance LOL!), I'd love to hear from you. ☺

On a happier note, I had another successful day in my studio yesterday. 

Sunday's video has been recorded and uploaded and is now waiting to be edited. 

For today's card, I started with a card base of Crumb Cake cardstock, with a layer of Whisper White and a top layer of Crumb Cake. 

I stamped the top layer using Sahara Sand Ink and the Hardwood Stamp. 

I chose two sentiments for my card, both of which I stamped directly onto the top layer using Soft Suede Ink. 

The top sentiment is from the Sitting Here Stamp Set and the bottom sentiment is from the Balloon Celebration Stamp Set. 

I adhered the two layers to the card base using Tombow. 

The fox has been made from punch art with the exception of the face which is from the Foxy Friends Stamp Set. 

I stamped the face using our Basic Black Archival Ink. 

The tree trunk the fox is sitting on is also from the Foxy Friends Stamp set and I stamped it on Whisper White Cardstock using Soft Suede Ink and then fussy cut it out.

The two colours of cardstock I used for the fox are Calypso Coral and Whisper White.

I used the Layering Ovals Framelits Die to die cut a straight-cut oval in Crumb Cake Cardstock and a scallop-cut oval in Whisper White. 

I adhered the two together using Tombow and then adhered the tree trunk also using Tombow. 

The final step was adhering the fox to the oval using Dimensionals and then adhering the completed oval to the card front using Tombow.

As we started doing Christmas Craft Shows last year, I made a framed picture of various Christmas owls I'd made using the Owl Builder Punch, to use as a decoration for my stall. 

People were fancinated by it and I made up my mind to make another one during the year but non-Christmas. 

It's still on my to do list! 

When Stampin' Up! brought out the new Fox Builder Punch, I thought I'd like to make a framed picture of foxes, and other animals, made with the new punch, too. 

Rather than having that sitting on my to do list with the owls, I decided that, whenever I make a fox or a different animal using the Fox Builder Punch, I'll make a spare one until I've made enough for my framed picture. 

So I now have my first fox ready for my new framed picture!

That's it for today. I hope you have a great weekend and until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.