Flourishing Phrases

Hello, Crafters.

I hope you've had a great weekend. 

Today's card is very similar to the card I shared on Saturday, which I called 

Petals & More Thinlits. They are also similar in as much as the Petals & More 

card I used the branch and leaves Thinlits die for the first time, and with the 

Flourishing Phrases, this is the first time I used the branch, leaves 

and flowers stamp, although I have used other stamps in this two box set!

I've used Pink Pirouette and Wild Wasabi again as they are on the retiring list,

 but yesterday I stamped with the Basic Grey Archival Ink because it dries 

to a beautifully soft colour. When I first saw this stamp, I knew I wanted to

 stamp the flowers again so I could fussy cut them, and adhere them on 

top using Dimensionals.

I wasn't sure what to do about the grey spots, and my first thought was

 to punch some small holes to adhere on top to cover them over. Another

 option was to put some Fine-Tip Glue on top, but I decided to paint

 some large Basic Pearls using the Dark Pink Pirouette Stampin' Blend. 

Through choice I would have preferred to use the medium size Basic Pearls

 but they wouldn't have covered the Basic Grey dots completely.

Although the sentiment looks nice and straight in this photograph, it isn't

 really!  I was going to use the Happy Birthday sentiment that's in the

 Hostess In the City Stamp Set, but I decided it was too small. I chose to 

use the one that's in the Rose Wonder Stamp Set; both of these sets

 are photopolymer!

When I took the Solid Baker's Twine out of the bag, it looked like a 

superb match, but as soon as I had downloaded the photographs from 

my camera, it looked anything but! I've decided to leave it as it

 still looks good in real life!

To make the double bow, I used two strands of the Baker's Twine and 

made a bunny's ears bow as normal! The three butterflies are from the 

Sharing Sweet Thoughts Ronald McDonald Stamp Set. All three are on 

one stamp, but personally, I don't think they are positioned correctly 

to stamp and leave. I think they have to be fussy cut, which is fine for 

me, but it's not everyone's cup of tea!

So the question is, which card do you prefer? For me, as much as I'm 

into using the wooden elements, I much prefer the stamped branch, leaves 

and flowers. Oh, by the way, I ran out of time yesterday, and didn't 

decorate the inside of the card - hopefully, I'll remember to do it today! 

That's about it from me today. I hope you have a great day, and until

 tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.

Petals & More Thinlits

Hello, Crafters.

I hope you're enjoying your weekend, with weather equally as lovely 

as ours - sunshine, warmth, blue skies! We're making the most of it 

as this is unusual for April, and I'm sure our normal 

April showers will arrive soon!

Yesterday when I was making tomorrow's video, I was showing  the dies 

I was going to use from the Petals & More Thinlits, and 

showed the die cuts on the back of the magnetic sheet that was holding the dies.

 I made a comment about the stand-alone dies i.e.

 those that don't have a co-ordinating stamps, and it occurred to me that, apart

from the long decorative die, I don't think I've played 

with any of them. I decided there and then I would remedy that for 

today's card!

I carried on and finished recording the video, and once I'd set it up 

to start downloading onto YouTube, I set about make my card. 

 I decided to use the large die, and die cut the branches and leaves 

in Wild Wasabi Cardstock (CS), which I adhered onto a 

layer of Whisper White CS. It was like looking at a blank canvas,

 trying to decide where to go from here! The obvious choice was fruit, 

as in the Fruit Basket Stamp Set which has four 

co-ordinating punches, or flowers, like blossom, which made me 

think about the two new packets of the Touches of

Nature Wood Elements that were sitting on my desk - I was off!

 I chose Pink Pirouette as my co-ordinating colour, which, like Wild 

Wasabi, will be retiring on 31st May 2018! I coloured the 

white side of five of the small wooden daisy-like flowers using the Dark 

Pink Piroutte Stampin' Blend, and then adhered them in strategic 

positions using Tombow to hold them in place. Another product 

I've been enjoying using recently is the Fine Tip Glue Pen, 

which I used to paint over the daisies, 

On three of the flowers, the glue formed beautiful mounds, and

 on the other two it spread into one large covering, and went

 into the centre hole as well, blocking it up! Although the 

branches, leaves and blossom were looking good, 

the card front needed something else i.e. more than just 

a sentiment, and I thought of the three 

butterflies from the Sharing Sweet Thoughts Stamp Set. 

I stamped them onto a piece of Whisper White CS, using Jet 

Black Stazon Ink, and I coloured them using my Wild Wasabi and 

Pink Piroutte Marker Pens. To finish the card front, I fussy cut the 

butterflies, and adhered them using Dimensionals. Next I adhered small

 Basic Pearls in the centres of the daisies, and painted the 

wood elements with a second coat of the Fine Tip Glue.

  I tied a piece of retired Pink Piroutte Ribbon into a bow, around the card front, 

and stamped HAPPY BIRTHDAY from the Hostess In The City 

Stamp Set in Wild Wasabi at the bottom of the card front.

 I had already adhered a layer of Pink Pirouette and Whisper White

Cardstock inside the card, but couldn't decorate it yet 

 without the risk of smudging the daisis. The final touch was 

painting the three butterflies using my Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Pen! 

 A very pleasing card methinks! 

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

JanB.  

Amazing You Birthday Card

Hello, Crafters.

I'm pleased to say that yesterday I was able to my accounts organised ready for my accountant to do my tax return for me.

It is said that if you set goals, you're more likely to succeed if you write them down, as well as telling somebody. 

Therefore, my goal for the next tax year, which ends for me on 31st March 2018, is to have them ready for my accountant within four months, that is by 31st July 2018. 

Eeek! I've told you!! I have to do it now!! I'll put it on the calendar, so I have no excuse for not doing it!

Hubby has a day off work today, and we're going into London to see Cirque de Soleil at the Royal Albert Hall, and then out for dinner! 

It's years since we've done this! 

Anyway, it means I had to be super organised, and have two blogs scheduled! 

This morning's blog happened on time, and I'm about to write my blog for tomorrow moning! 

The card is ready, so I should be fine! Let's see if I can do it!
 
For today's card I used the beautiful Sale-a-bration (SAB) Stamp Set called Amazing You. 

There's a fabulous card sample in the SAB catalogue (page 16) showing how this stamp has been used to stamp several images on the top layer of the card - it's stunning!

Using Basic Black Archival Ink on Whisper White Cardstock (CS), I stamped two images, and coloured them using my Tempting Turquoise Marker Pen.

I die cut them both using the Stitched Shapes Framelits Oval Die no. 3, and then adhered them on scalloped Tempting Turquoise ovals I'd die cut using the Layering Oval Framelits Dies, scallop no. 5. 

I chose the Happy Birthday sentiment from an hostess stamp set that's in the Annual Catalogue called In the city. 

I die cut it using the smallest oval die from the Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies. 

Next I adhered the sentiment to a Tempting Turquoise CS scalloped oval. 

I started with a Whisper White CS card base, with a layer of Tempting Turquois CS, and a top layer of Whisper White CS, which I dry embossed using the Petal Burst Embossing Folder.

I adhered all the layers together using Tombow. 

Using Dimensionals I adhered the two Amazing You Flower images to the card front, making sure I left enough space to fit the sentiment in without them over-lapping each other. 
 
Before I adhered the sentiment to the card front, I added a strip if Tempting Turquoise CS across the centre of the card.

This is a technique I often use if I don't have any ribbon in the correct colour! 

Finally I adhered the sentiment over the "ribbon" using Dimensionals. 

To decorate the inside of my card, I adhered a layer of Tempting Turquoise CS, and then I adhered a layer of Whisper White CS on top. 

Using Basic Black Archival Ink, I stamped the flower in the bottom right-hand corner.

I already had a third painted flower, which was leftover from the beginning when I'd stamped three images, so I could have some practice getting some dimension on the flowers using my Tempting Turquoise Marker Pen! 

Rather than waste the flower I fussy cut it, and adhered it on top of the unpainted image - I think it worked well. 

I did think about adding some Basic Rhinestones to the front of my card, but I hesitated - at least it's something I can add later if I change my mind.

I really like Tempting Turquoise but I don't use it any where as near as I should do! 

Before I go, I'd like to remind everyone about the two part Prize draw I'm running during January 2018. The full details are on my promotions page - just click the tab above.

Briefly, part one is for everyone who shops in my online store during January. 

Everyone's name will go into the draw, with extra entries for every €65/£50 spent. 

This figure is cumulative during the month. 

One lucky winner will get the Large Letters Framelits Dies and the co-ordinating Letters for You Stamp Set.

To be able to shop in my online shop, you need to have an address in the UK, the Netherlands, France, Germany and Austria. (Unfortunately, these are SU rules - I'm sorry)

Part 2 is for everyone outside the area I'm allowed to sell Stampin' Up! products. 

All you need to do to enter, is to leavea comment in the box below, and I will put your name in for a chance to win a box of my hand made cards, and a surprise gift that is something typically English.

Don't forget to check my Promotions page for full details. ☺ 

I hope you have a great day, and until tomorrow, happy crafting!
 
JanB.