Thank You Cards

Hello, Crafters.

Well, it finally happened!

To make this month's Thank You (TY) cards I decided to use the Thank You So Much stamp from the Thankful Thoughts Stamp Set. I only wanted the Thank You so I decided to cut the bottom half off. It all went well until I decided to trim off what I considered to be excess rubber around the edge! Then it happened! I cut part of the cross bar to the letter T off.  Talk about lucky! If I didn't tell you I had done it, you might not notice. If you have a look at the stamp set in the catalogue, page 39 - it's the largest stamp in the centre. See how long the cross bar on the T is, then look at my Thank You cards. Phew! Will this stop me from doing this again? No, I'm afraid it won't!

(IMPORTANT NOTE: if you decide to seprate stamps, or trim excess rubber off the edges, it will make your guarantee with Stampin' Up! null and void because you have effectively damaged the stamp yourself. The reason I don't worry about this is because the quality of our stamps is second to none and I don't expect to have any problems, apart from self-inflicted ones, with the stamps).

Yesterday, I didn't have any idea for a design for my TY cards and decided to do something that would use scraps of Designer Series Paper (DSP). I used my Triple Banner Punch and punched out 3" long banners. This left plenty of room for me to stamp Thank You at the bottom, below the banner. All the DSP I used was from the Affectionately Yours Specialty DSP. I decided to have a look through the box I keep on my desk where I keep stamped, punched, die cut shapes and images that were left overs from previous projects, to see if anything would inspire me. I found so many that would be suitable that I decided to use them all! 

I was happy with them when I'd finished, but they were missing something! Then I saw a Copper Embossed Bow that was a leftover from yesterday's Christmas card. It went beautifully with the bird and two others - details below. For the others, I stamped the bow from the Holly Berry Happiness Stamp Set and punched them out with the co-ordinting Holly Berry Builder Punch. The bows finished my cards off beautifully!

Photograph 1 Bird - the DSP was the copper embossed sheet from the pack that I had coloured using Sharpie Pens. The bird is from the Best of Birds Stamp Set.

Photographs 2 - 4 Grapes - I created these when I was playing with the Limited Edition Thoughtful Branches Stamp Set (only available until 31.08.16). I used some to decorate a Tag-a-Bag I was giving to someone as a gift but I had leftovers that I never got round to using, until now, that is!

Photographs 5 - 6 Cats - these were left overs from the Kitties on the Wall card and video I made.  I used the Layering Circles Framelits Dies to die cut the two cats in photograph 5, as well as Whisper White scalloped circle for the layer. The pink cat in photograph 6 was already die cut in a circle, so I die cut it in a smaller circle and layered it onto a Whisper White scalloped circle. I did the same for the right hand cat except I used the Layering Square Framelits Dies.

Photograph 7 Cows - the first cow was too small to die cut in a square so I used circles but unfortuantely it mean't she lost her tail! The grey cow had been fussy cut so had to be adhered to a square first and then a layer. The third cow was a straight forward square die cut with scalloped square layer. I made these when I was working on the birthday cards that had the added sentiment "HAVE AN AWARD WINNING DAY".

Photograph 8 Made with Love - I made the first two images when I made the New Baby spinner card and video. The blue bunnie on the right hand side had been fussy cut and was for a New Baby card. I adhered him onto a Night of Nave square and then a Pool Party scalloped circle. This is one of the images that I used a copper embossed bow, but the outline image this time.

Photograph 9 Frog and Deer - I made the frog when I working on the cards using the fabulous hostess stamp set called Love You Lots. The Little Dear, which is from the Made With Love Stamp set was made when I was working on some new baby cards. This one also went well with the Copper Embossed bow as there is some copper embossing in the sheet of DSP I used for the Banner.

That's the first batch of TY cards made, today I will making another batch. I need to make sure they are all made by the end of the month so I still have quite a bit of time left.

Until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.

New Baby Slider Card Video

Hello, Crafters.

This morning I uploaded my video which shows how to make slider cards using the Stampin' Up! Sliding Stars Framelits Dies.

I've shared photographs today of the three sliders I've made so far. 

They are the paper aeroplane, the bees, and the new baby card. 

They are just so easy to make using these dies.

The Sliding Star Framelits Dies and the Shooting Star Stamp Set are currently available in the 2016 - 2016 Annual Catalogue as a bundle which saves 10% off the price. 

The first card I made was the paper aeroplane flying around the globe. 

I had an Australian friend very much in mind when I made this slider. 

Last week, Carol had asked if I've made a Bon Voyage card using Stampin' Up! products. 

The answer was no but it started me thinking and this is the result. 

Unfortunately, I didn't have a Bon Voyage sentiment so used a birthday greeting but the idea is there!


The main thing I learned from making this slider is that our one-penny pieces here in the UK are too big for the images in the Shooting Star Stamp Set.

They're three quarters of an inch in diameter, which is approximately 2 cm. 

I had to punch a circle to go behind the plane to conceal the coins. 

After this, I went onto using our five-pence pieces which are a tad over half an inch, approximately 1.5 cm.

I then made the bee's slider card and am totally in love with these images! 

There are dies to cut them out, which makes life delightfully easy! 

I chose to use Delightful Dijon because I had a few 6" x 6" squares of the Moroccan Designer Series Paper (DSP) left over from our recent Team Training. 

The design is absolutely spot on for this card. 

I decided to make the New Baby Slider Card for the video because I wanted to show the versatility of Stampin' Up! products. 

You can use the dies to make the slider cards and then choose any stamp set that has suitably-sized images. 

I decided to use the cat from the Made With Love Stamp Set, the boottees and bow from the Something For Baby Stamp Set, the ducks from the Barnyard Babies Stamp Set, and the sentiment from the Baby Bear Stamp Set. 

I think they have worked well together. 

Now I have this set of dies, I won't be getting rid of them, ever! 

They will always come in handy for cards for all occasions. 

I already have my eye on Foxy Friends and the Fox Builder Punch, flowers from the Flower Shop and Petite Petals, flowers from the Botanical Builder Dies, the baby snowman from the Snow Place Stamp Set for Christmas. 
 
The possibilities are endless!

That's about it for today. I'm off to work now and will be back later.

Happy crafting.

JanB.

Made With Love - Boy

Hello, Crafters.


Sale-A-Bration ended yesterday and I'd like to say a big THANK YOU to all my customers and new recruits who took advantage of the great Stampin' Up! offers that were available during the past three months.


I have a busy day ahead of me today!


One job I must do is to make my video for posting on Sunday.


I also need to finish getting my projects ready for two classes tomorrow which are going to be relatively quiet events this month.

Historically, I've found that classes are smaller when the weather gets nicer.

Understandably, after being couped up during the winter, it's so good to be able to go out and about when Spring arrives.

Although it's a beautiful sunny day today, there's still frost on the cars this morning!


This is considered to be the beginning of Spring for us here in the UK. Here's hoping!

Many thanks for the thumbs up yesterday for my "in your face" card I shared. I'm back to feeling happy with my card again!

On Tuesday I shared my new baby girl card I'd made using the Made With Love Stamp Set.

Today I'm sharing my boy card - well, I had to, didn't I?

I kept to a very similar style as far the mounting of the image is concerned.

I started with a card base of Whisper White, with a layer of Soft Sky, and a top layer of a Crumb Cake design from the Love Blossoms Designer Series Paper (DSP) Stack.

I stamped the bunny image from the Made With Love Stamp Set, using Basic Grey Archival Ink on Whisper White.

I used Smokey Slate Ink and a Blender Pen to colour the image.

I punched the image out with a Circle Punch and adhered it  to a Soft Sky Scalloped Circle using Tombow.

Using my Paper Piercer, I pierced holes in the middle of each scallop.

For the background layers I used the Deco Labels Collection Framelits - I used another Crumb Cake design from the Love Blossoms DSP Stack for the top layer and Soft Sky for the layer at the back.

I adhered the two together using Tombow.

The next step was painting the exposed Soft Sky on both parts using Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Pen.

I adhered the image to the base using Dimensionals, and then the base to the card front, also using Dimensionals.

I used the same sentiment and styled it in the same way I did for the as I did for the girl card which is also from the Made With Love Stamp Set.

The shape and size of the image on today's card, really called for a vertical card which meant the whole layout would differ from the girl's card.

Bows are perfectly acceptable on this kind of  masculine card! LOL!

I made mine using Pool Party Seam Binding - the colour match is brilliant.

I think that's about it for today. Until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.

Made With Love - Girl

Hello, Crafters.


Yesterday, I used the Made With Love Stamp Set for the first time.  It's a really delightful stamp set for new baby cards but can be used for birthday cards for toddlers.

Yesterday I used it to make a new baby girl  and a new baby boy card. Today I'm sharing the girl card.

I started with a card base of Shimmery White card stock, a layer of Blushing Bride Cardstock and a top layer of one of the designs from the Birthday Bouquet Designer Series Paper, which is in the Spring catalogue.

I used our Archival Basic Grey Ink and stamped the cat onto some Shimmery White Card Stock. Then I punched it out using the 1 3/8" Circle Punch and painted him using a Blender Pen with Smokey Grey Ink. I also punched out two Blushing Bride circles using the 1 3/4" and 2 3/8" Scalloped Circle Punches. Using my Paper Piercing Tool, I pierced a hole in the centre of each scallop on both circles. I adhered the cat to the small scalloped circle and then adhered it to the larger scallop circle using Dimensionals.

Using the Archival Basic Grey Ink and White Shimmery Cardstock, I stamped two of the sentiments from the stamp set, one above  the other. I cut this into a strip and cut another strip in Blushing Bride that was 1/8" larger all round. I used the Triple Banner Punch to fishtail the ends of both strips and then adhered them together using Tombow. I adhered this to my card front using Dimensionals and then I adhered the cat in the same way on the left hand side of the banner. With it in-situ, I carefully painted the smaller scalloped circle using my Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Pen.

The final touch was to add narrow strips of the Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper and a strip of White Metallics Glitter Tape - this is one of the free products available as part of Sale-A-Bration 2016 which ends on 31st March 2016. To see how to cut this tape and washi tape into narrow strips easily, check out my video Glitter Tape Wedding Card.

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

JanB.  

Week 9 Challenge: Select One Punch

Hello, Crafters.

I had a late night last night which is very unusual for me but it was for an excellent cause. The new Christmas Catalogue will be launched on 1st. September and as a SU Demonstrator, I'm able to pre-order during August.

It gives demonstrators a chance to play with the new products so we're in a good position to answer customers' questions when the catalogue does go live. I had my order ready and I made sure I was ready for bed as soon as I had finished!

Yesterday was the first day of my Week 9 Challenge and I chose the second suggestion on Veronica's list. It reads "To select one punch, and again, use in as many ways as possible". I chose the Tree Builder Punch which has been designed to go with the Sprinkles of Life Stamp Set.

Therefore, it's ideal for creating cakes and trees. For my first project, I decided to use the tree trunk as a branch and make a New Baby card. I've seen the idea of using the tree as a branch on Pinterest and put my spin onto it.

To make this card I started with a card base of Pacific Point Card Stock, with a layer of Very Vanilla Card Stock  followed by a layer of DSP from the Cherry On The Top Designer Series Paper stack.

I cut a square of Soft Suede, layered it with Vary Vanilla, followed by Pacific Point. The top layer was Very Vanilla and I embossed it using the Happy Heart Embossing Folder.

I stamped the tree from the Sprinkles of Life Stamp Set using Soft Suede Ink on Soft Suede Card Stock. I punched it out with the Tree Builder Punch.

In my Pacific Point cardstock wallet, I found a small piece that had been embossed at sometime with an embossing folder which is now retired. I punched out the cloud using the same punch and also cut a thin strip.

I punched a small circle in Pink Pirouette Card Stock for the baby's head. For his feet, I punched out two flowers from the Itty Bitty Accent Punch Pack flower punch. I trimmed both sides of each flower so I had two feet. I used a permanent pen to draw the eyes and the mouth of the baby.

In my folder for the retired Poppy Red Card Stock, I found a red heart that had been punched from paper embossed with the same folder as the Pacific Point piece I used for the "cloud". I adhered everything together. The sentiment is from the Made With Love Stamp Set, stamped in Pacific Point Ink and layered onto to Soft Suede Card Stock.
 
If I decided to make this card again, I wouldn't use the stripey DSP I used here. The uneven lines of the design make my image look crooked, or should I say, more crooked than it probably already is! LOL! Overall, I like this card and will, more than likely,  make it again. How about you?

Until tomorrow, happy crafting!

JanB.