Coastal Cabana Thank You Card

Hello, Crafters.

Yesterday was a day of clearing up, washing, dealing with 

queries, getting my nails done, and crafting! I made two cards, 

one of which be made into a video sometime soon, and

 a Thank You card to share with you here on my blog! I

 can't tell you how good it feels to be back! ☺

  I'm so pleased we can now buy Designer Series Paper

 (DSP) Stacks in all the colour families again. I chose 

Coastal Cabana and started with four 1.25" squares in

 DSP, and four 1 3/8" squares in Coastal Cabana Cardstock

 (CS). I adhered the squares together in pairs with Tombow. 

 Next I adhered them onto a piece of Whisper White CS

 that measured 3 1/8" square, alternating them between

 vertical and horizontal. I stamped Thank You - which is 

from the Southern Serenade Stamp Set - on to a piece 

of Whisper White CS using Coastal Cabana Ink. I punched

 it out using the 1.25" Circle Punch and adhered it to a

 scalloped Coastal Cabana circle I'd punched out 

using the 1 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch. 

 

After adhering them together with Tombow, I adhered it to 

the square using Dimensionals. I took a layer of Coastal

 Cabana CS and dry-embossed it using the new Swirls 

& Curls Embossing Folder which will be available 

in the new Christmas catalogue. 

If you have shopped with me in the last twelve months, I 

will automatically send you a free copy before the end 

of August. If you don't already have a Stampin' Up!

 demonstrator and would like to shop with me, I'll be happy

 to pop a catalogue in the post! 

Just email me your details to janb@janbcards.com.

 I added the top layer to a layer of Whisper White CS , and 

adhered a piece of our 5/8" Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon around

 the lower half, and then I added a piece of retired Coastal 

Cabana Ribbon. I tied a separate bow using a piece of 

Tuille Ribbon and adhered it using Tombow. I used 

Dimensionals to adhere the square to the card front,

 and decided it needed something to finish it off!

  I made three flowers by stamping, and punching out

 the Bunny tail from the Best Bunny Stamp Set. I 

gave the flowers some dimension before adding a 

Basic Pearl in the centre of each. I also added three

 small Basic Pearls on the sentiment. I added a layer 

of Whisper White CS inside the card but left it blank 

as it's a Thank You card and I like to leave plenty 

of space in case the message is a long one!  

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

JanB.

Southern Serenade Again!

Hello, Crafters.

I'm now allowed to talk about what's in, and what's not in, the forthcoming 2018-2019 Annual Catalogue. 
 
Stampin' Up have released the Retiring Lists for both the Spring/Summer Catalogue 2018, and for the 2017-2018 Annual Catalogue. These are the lists for the UK. 

If you would like to receive the lists in Euros, and don't already have a Stampin Up! demonstrator, please email me at janb@janbcards.com, and I'll be happy to send you the lists for the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Austria.

I'm really pleased that Southern Serenade Stamp Set is being carried forward. 
 
For today's card, I chose Emerald Envy and Peekaboo Peach for my colour scheme as both of these colours are retiring as they are 2016-2018 InColours.

I stamped the flowers using Basic Black Archival Ink, and coloured them using Marker Pens, including Daffodil Delight for the centres of the flowers.

To give the flowers a bit of background, I used the lacy stamp in this stamp set, stamped off once in Sahara Sand. 

I used Emerald Envy Ink to stamp the sentiment, which again, is in the Southern Serenade Stamp Set.

I used my favourite corner stamp from the Hold on to Hope Stamp Set - which I'm really pleased to say is also being carried forward - on both the front and the inside of the card, stamped in Emerald Envy Ink! 

Also inside the card, using Basic Black Archival Ink, I stamped the top part of the flowery stamp and coloured it in the same way I did the front of the card.

The flowers needed something to finish them off, so I stamped the bow from the Jar of Love Stamp Set, which is another set that's being carried forward!
 
I'm not sure if I was brave or foolish but when I stamped the bow using Emerald Envy Ink, I felt it wasn't dark enough!

I decided to stamp straight on top of the stamped image again! Phew - lucky!!

I really struck lucky with the three stamp sets I used for today's card.
I didn't check whether they were on the retiring list or not, before starting this project.

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

JanB. 

Feathery Friends

Hello, Crafters.

I bought the Hostess Feathery Friends Stamp Set as I thought it would be great fun colouring the stamped images, but I didn't get as far as thinking what I'd do with the images once they were coloured!  

So I decided to have a look at Pinterest for some inspiration, and my goodness, I found a lovely selection of ideas on there. 

When I closed Pinterest, I wanted to use the birds and the flowers but not at the same time!

I settled for the stem with two individual flower heads, and I stayed with my normal two or three colours, although I did see lots of ideas on Pinterest that were mult-coloured! 

My first thought was Berry Burst and Powder Pink, but then I changed my mind to Berry Burst and Sweet Sugarplum. 

Although I like the result, I'm not sure if my first idea would have looked better - that's now on my list of Give This A Try!

I started my card with a Whisper White Cardstock (CS) base, with a layer of Berry Burst CS, and a top layer of Whisper White CS. 

Using Basic Black Archival Ink, I stamped my chosen image in the centre of the page, and I also stamped the curvy stem of leaves on a Whisper White CS layer for the inside of the card.

As I wanted a flower head inside the card, I decided to stamp one on a scrap of Whisper White CS, rather than stamping the flower head first, making a mask for it, and to then stamp the stem over it!

As well as the two Berry Burst and Powder Pink Marker Pens I'd already chosen, I also chose to use the Daffodil Delight Marker Pen to paint the inside of the flowers to represent the stamens, as well as the Wild Wasabi Marker Pen for the leaves and the stems.

I don't normally like a plain background and was looking through my Stamp Set Reference Folder to find somehing I could use to remedy this. 

Then I remembered that last week I'd used  a corner stamp but couldn't remember which card I'd used it on, nor which stamp set I'd found it in, so I went back to the beginning of my book!

It didn't take long to find what I was looking for in the Hold on to Hope Stamp Set, so I used Wild Wasabi Ink to stamp it in each of four corners. 
 
To help give my card some balance I needed a fair-sized sentiment, so I chose Happy Birthday from the Southern Serenade Stamp Set. 

Using Basic Black Archival Ink, I stamped the image onto a scrap of Whisper White CS. 

I wanted to decorate around the sentiment and chose to use the the single flower with two leaves stamp that's in the Southern Serenade Stamp Set.

I stamped a circle of six flowers around the sentiment. 

Staying with the same colours, I coloured the flowers and leaves, and then punched the image out using the Pretty Label Punch. 

I also punched two shapes in Berry Burst CS, cut one in half horizontally and one in half vertically.

I used all four pieces to add a layer behind the sentiment, and used Tombow to adhere them into place!

Next I adhered the top two layers together, and then adhered a piece of Berry Burst 0.5" Finely Woven Ribbon around the lower part of the card of.

After adhering Dimensionals to the back of the sentiment, I adhered it over the ribbon.

Finally I added this to the card base, and started working on the inside of the card.

I fussy cut the flower I'd coloured earlier, and adhered it to the stem.

Next I adhered the two layers onto the card base.

I did toy with the idea of adding some Berry Burst Self-Adhesive Sequins to finish off the front of the card but decided better of it. 
 
I was happy with my card and decided to leave well alone!

It feels like the weekend because hubby was working from home yesterday and it's going to be the same again today. 

Looking forward to a four-day weekend! LOL.

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

JanB.

Swaps from Team Training

Hello, Crafters.

The quality of the swaps I received at Team Training on Sunday was brilliant, and I'm sure you'll think so, too. I'll do my best to explain the products each demonstrator has used, but if I leave any gaps and there are answers you'd like, let me know and I'll try to get them. These photographs aren't in any particular order, and I think it may take a couple of days, to show them all, so please bear with me!

Rachael Berry - has used a stamp set I've used several times but not the two images you see here - it's Southern Serenade. I like how Rachael has "coloured" the flowers using the lace background image, and then painted the leaves green over the lace design.

I'm not sure what colours Rachael has used as she has put EE and WW - I think it's Wisteria Wonder and Old Olive, but I'm not 100%. Whatever the colours, it's a great card.

Anne Yates - has used my favourite bundle from the new Spring/Summer catalogue, the Petal Palette Bundle. I love how the artist has drawn these images, they all stamp beautifully, and are a pleasure to colour! 

Anne die cut the flowers, and adhered them with Dimensionals to a large Whisper White Stitched Shape Circle, which has been adhered to the card front with Dimensionals. I'm not sure how the blue background has been created, except that the roses on the right hand side side have been sponged through the Sweet Soiree Decorative Mask.  

Emma Goddard - used the Sale-a-brations (SAB) Epic Celebrations Stamp Set for the guiter image. It's been heat embossed with Silver Embossing Powder, and then fussy cut. 

The guitar has been coloured with Island Indigo and Pool Party/Soft Sky (?). 

The guitar has been adhered to a layer Vellum Cardstock (CS), on a larger circle of Silver Foil which has been dry embossed with the Simple Stripes Embossing Folder. 

The circles have been layered on to a strip of Whisper White CS that has been stamped in Island Indigo using the Diagonal Stripe Background Stamp.

Next to this is a strip of the patterned Silver Myths & Magic Specialty Washi Tape, and then a strip of the 1/4" Island Indigo Ombre Ribbon.  

The sentiment is also from Epic Celebration.

Gill Moore - is one half of 2 Big Girls Crafting, and she made this truly lovely trifold, double window card. 

Gill used the Lovely Wishes Stamp Set and Pool Party ink for all the images and sentiments. 

The windows have been die cut using the Ovals Layering Framelits Dies, and these dies have also been used to die cut the window frames, too. 

Natalie O'Shea - has used the Picture Perfect Party Suite to create her card.

This is a fabulous design that can be used with any of our Suites. 

The Designer Series Paper is called Picture Perfect Party 6" x 6" DSP, and Natalie has also used Lemon Lime Twist, Berry Burst, Pool Party and Bermuda Bay CS.


The Pool Party and Bermuda Bay pieces have both been dry embossed using the Simple Stripes Embossing Folders. The Lemon Lime Twist has been used as the base to build the card on.  

The sentiment has been stamped onto a piece of Whisper White (CS), using Berry Burst Ink. I don't normally like multi-colour cards, but this just pops - I love it!

I hope you agree that the quality of these swaps is excellent, and you've enjoyed seeing them. I'll share some more with you tomorrow. Until then, happy crafting.

JanB.

Double Z Birthday Card Video

Hello, Crafters.

This morning I uploaded my video which shows how to make the Double Z Card I shared with you yesterday. 

You may remember I wrote in my blog that I could have added a flower on the front section, although I didn't specify a particular flower or exactly where.

 
Before making the video, I made another card without adding the dotty stamping, but by adding three flowers on the first section instead.

I was really pleased with the result because I felt the three flowers helped balance the whole card, and made the dotty stamps unnecesary. 

The flowers I stamped, coloured and fussy cut are the same as the flower in the third section.

I'll be interested to know what you think i.e. do you think the card is better with the dotty stamps, or do you agree with me that the flowers balance the card.

That's it from me today. I hope you have a lovely Sunday, and until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.

Double Z Birthday Card

Hello, Crafters.

I've been working on this card with a view to making a video. 

Unfortunately for me, once I start on a card, I get easily distracted, and forget what I'm meant to be doing i.e. designing a Double Z card that's suitable for a video!

I'm really happy with the end result, but there's too much stamping and colouring to use this design for a tutorial.

On the positive side, I only need to revisit the stamps and sentiment!

I made an excellent start with the chosen Designer Series Paper (DSP) , which is called Naturally Eclectic; it's so lively and summery!

The next decision was what large image, or sentiment should I use for the first section.

I've always liked this Happy Birthday, which is from the Big on Birthdays Stamp Set, ever since I first saw it. 

The flowers are all part of the sentiment  stamp, so I coloured the flowers and leaves using Soft Sky and Emerald Envy Marker Pens. 

I finished the centres of each flower using the Daffodil Delight Marker Pen.

I first saw the sentiment on the second section when I was at the Stampin' Up! OnStage Convention last November.

It's from the stamp set called Picture Perfect Birthday, which I received free at OnStage! 

Using our Basic Black Archival Ink, I stamped the sentiment onto a piece of Whisper White Cardstock (CS).

I felt the sentiment looked rather bland on its own, so I checked through my Stamp Reference File (SRF) for a stamp which would complement it.

I wanted a small flower stamp that would blend in with the flowers on the front section.

The stamp set Southern Serenade had the perfect flower, so I inked it in our Basic Black Archival Ink, and stamped it randomly around the sentiment on the second section. 

I used the same three Marker Pens that I had used on the previous flowers, and coloured these ones on the second section. 

While I was going through my SRF looking for the small flower for the second section, I also saw a single flower in the Birthday Blooms Stamp Set that I thought - hoped! - would fit the third section brilliantly! 

Again, using our Basic Black Archival Ink, I stamped the image on to a piece of Whisper White CS, and coloured with the same Marker Pens. 

Although I was pleased how all three sections were looking, I thought all the images were looking rather stark as they were all on plain Whisper White CS!

I needed a small background stamp, and found the ideal one already on my desk, in the Birthday Blooms Stamp Set. 

I stamped very randomley around all three images/sentiments using Lemon Lime Twist Ink. WOW! It made so much difference! I put the card together properly with Tombow. 

I think the card would look properly finished off if I added some 3D flowers on the first section,which will be easy enough to do.

I'll go back to the drawing board to finish this card so it's a suitable for a video!

Don't forget about the January Prize Draw I'm running - please see full details on my Promotions Page. ☺

Although it was very cold yesterday, it was very sunny and we had a stunning blue sky! I wore the new coat hubby bought me for Christmas and I didn't feel the cold at all! 

We arrived at the Royal Albert Hall in plenty of time for the start of Cirque de Soleil OVO, and sat enthralled at the amazing skills of the performers. After the show, we went for a fifteen minute walk to the Buigis Street Restuarant and enjoyed a superb Malaysian meal! It was such a relaxing afternoon and evening, and time was our own!

I hope you have a lovely weekend, and until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.

A Good Day Scallop Circles Video

Hello, Crafters.

I hope you're enjoying a good weekend.

This morning I uploaded my video showing how I made the the three scallop circles card I shared on Thursday. 

I included a quick two minute tutorial after I'd finished the card to show how to colour our ribbon using our Stampin' Blends. 

I used Light Pool Party and the effect was gorgeous! 
 
After I referred to my Stamp Reference File the other day, one lady asked if I could show my file on a video so she could see how I keep a record of my stamp sets for easy reference. 

So I also showed that and my Dies & Embossing Folfder Reference File to. 

I didn't do anything to get them spruced up for their video performance, I showed them exactly as they are! LOL! I surprised myself with the amount of hints and tips I've put in this video - I hope you enjoy them!

I wish you a very happy Sunday. Until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.

A Good Day with Berry Burst

Hello, Crafters.

My Stampin' Up! delivery yesterday included the two new scalloped circle punches, and I wanted to play with them straight away!

They co-ordinate with the Good Day Stamp Set brilliantly so it was easy to decide what I was going to base today's card on!

After a lot of fun stamping and punching images, using different inks, and different cardstocks, I knew which direction I wanted to go in. 

The scalloped circles produced by these punches are 1 1/8" and 1 3/8", and a lot of the images in the Good Day Stamp Set can be punched out with a 1" Circle Punch. 
 
When these stamped images are layered on to the larger scalloped circles, they leave a good 3/8" scalloped edge visible. 

I'm really taken with the border on the Just Because Stamp, because it's something different, and with the inner circle being just 1", it will take one of the little images. 

I stamped three Just Because stamps using Basic Black Archival Ink, on Berry Burst Cardstock (CS), and rather foolishly punched them out before colouring them!

It made painting the little "raindrops" that were decorating the outside rim, that more difficult, but I persevered with my Berry Burst Marker Pen. 

Normally I would have gone for my white gel pen, but I do try to be unpredictable, and I do think on this occasion it was a good decision to bypass it in favour of my Marker Pen!

Using Whisper White CS, and Basic Black Archival Ink, I stamped the rabbit, the tree with the swing and the sunshine stamp.

Using my Marker Pens, I coloured the images, and then punched them out using the 1" Circle Punch.

The first two fitted in the punch beautifully, but the last one had a sentiment going in a half circle over the top of the image, rather like a rainbow; I was careful as I did it and succeeded!

I took a Whisper White CS card base, and adhered a Berry Burst CS layer on the front and on the inside. I dry-embossed the front Whisper White CS layer with the Petal Burst Embossing Folder, before adhering it onto the Berry Burst CS layer. 

Next I added Dimensionals to the three Berry Burst Scalloped Circles, and then adhered the three images to them, again using Dimensionals.

Finally, I adhered them in a horizontal line across the top of the card. 

I chose the Happy Birthday sentiment from the Sorthern Serenade Stamp Set, and stamped it on a piece of Whisper White CS, using Basic Black Archival Ink. 

I used one of the the Stitched Shapes Oval Framelits dies to die cut the sentiment, and adhered it to a scalloped oval in Berry Burst CS which I'd die cut using the Layering Oval Framelits Dies.
 
I folded a piece of the Berry Burst Metallic Ribbon like a breast cancer ribbon, and put a Glue Dot where the two pieces crossed over each other, and then I added some Tombow, to make sure the ribbon didn't go walkabouts.

Using Berry Burst Ink, I stamped two little flowers from the Sprinkles of Life Stamp Set onto a scrap of Berry Burst CS, and punched them out using the Tree Builder Punch.

Using more Dimensionals, I adhered them onto the sentiment oval, and added a Basic Pearl to the centre of each.

To complete the card, I stamped the Bring on the Sunshne image on the Whisper White CS layer inside the card using Basic Black Archival Ink.

I coloured  the image in the same way I did on the front of the card. The only question mark I have over this card is, should I have cut the ribbon both ends instead of having a loop at one end?

I think it would look better, but if I try it and I'm wrong, I'm snookered! What do you think?

I've thoroughly enjoyed creating the last two cards......can I make it a hat trick today? Time will tell! Until tomorrow, Happy crafting,

JanB.