Lost Lagoon Raindrops

Hello, Crafters.

My big spring clean continues! I haven't reached my tray of punches yet partly because my DSP is  taking so much of my time.  This is the first time I have sorted through my DSP for nearly five years!

Another problem I encounter is that I allow myself to get distracted! LOL! The distraction yesterday was the box I keep on my left hand side on my studio desk. You may remember, this is the box I pop images, half finished cards, sentiments, die cuts, etc. in to finish "later"! Yesterday was later!

I finished three cards - two of which you may remember, but not the first one I'm sharing. For this card I used Lost Lagoon as the main colour with Blackberry Bliss as the base - both these colours will be retiring on 31st May 2016 and I'm really sorry to see Lost Lagoon going.

I started my card with a base of Blackberry Bliss, then a layer of Whisper White and a top layer of the Lost Lagoon raindrop design from the Wildflower Fields Designer Series Paper (DSP). This was available as a free product during Sale-A-Bration (SAB) 2016. As much as I love Lost Lagoon, I was never able to design a card where I thought raindrops were appropriate!

I found the laughter sentiment in my to do later (TDL) box and thought it went really well with the raindrops. This sentiment comes from the Feel Goods Stamp Set that will also be retiring at the end of May. 

It has been stamped with Lost Lagoon Ink and die cut using the Labels Collections Framelits Dies which retired last year! This means I made this image in January 2015 when I was preparing for the Make It Show.

 I was demonstrating the Irresistibly Yours Specialty DSP that was available as a free product during SAB 2015 and I made several of these sentiments so I could finish off the cards in front of the visitors............but it didn't quite work out like that! I found that the visitors were very interested in the DSP and asked so many questions that I never actually managed to finish any of the cards off! Having explained this, I really don't know why this image was in my TDL box! Surely, I've cleared this box out since then, although maybe not!

I also found the They Say It's Your Birthday sentiment which had been punched out with the Extra Large Oval Punch (also retiring). This sentiment comes from the Suite Sayings Stamp Set. Looking at it now in the light of my office, it looks as if it's been stamped with Pool Party Ink!

I found two of the flowers rom the Petal Petals Stamp Set already stamped and punched out with the Petite Petals Punch, so I stamped a third one - looks like I re-inked my pad since the first two were stamped! LOL!

To finish off my card, I adhered the two sentiments using Dimensionals and the three flowers with Tombow. The candy dots I've used for the flower centres are from the It's My Party Enamel Dots and are actually Mint Macaroon!

You may remember the second card - I posted it here on 4th February 2016. It was my effort to use the knife and fork dies that are with the Cups & Kettles Framelits Dies. The finished card looked very bland and I received some great suggestions on how to finish it off e.g. add some flowers, red rose, candles. These red hearts were in my TDL box so I used them! I'll share card number three tomorrow.

Until then, happy crafting.

JanB.

Training Day Cards - Second Set

Hello, Crafters.

I've really tried hard not to complain everyday about the problems I'm having with my new PC!


We've now reached the point where hubby is going to run diagnostic checks on my PC set up - no, I don't know what it means but it sounds like a good idea! LOL!!

Last night I had to do three complete takes for tomorrow's video! That's a first! And hopefully the last.................and it had nothing to do with my PC!

During the first take, I messed up the sentiment - it's gold embossed - so I tried the other side but, because I'd used removable tape to hold my cardstock in place, embossing powder adhered to the residue when I removed it.

Unfortunately, on this occasion, I didn't have a spare piece handy.

I started from the beginning again, and was just finishing off when the battery died.

I could have just made another video to finish off and splice to the together but one of the problems I'm having with my PC is uploading my videos  to YouTube!

I didn't want to find that splicing on my new PC is as problematic as uploading is.

I went back to the beginning and did take 3.

The time was now about 10.15 pm so I decided to set my video to upload overnight.

Imagine how I felt when I checked my PC this morning and found only 36% had uploaded.

I knew what to do the get this sorted out but it's an irritation I could do well without.

The knock on effect of this little saga was that I only managed 3 out of 4 cards for the second set of Training Day Cards!

I will do the fourth one today and share it with you tomorrow.

Like yesterday's cards, these aren't really me style but I love them.

It goes without saying that I've added my own spin to them!

The sentiment for the first card actually reads "Wishing you all the beautiful blessings of Easter"  but for this card, the instructions were to ink the first, fourth and fifth lines using the Basic Black Marker Pen.

With the sentiment we were left with meant it would be a great baptism card, so I added "For your baptism" at the bottom, right hand side.

The flowers are all from Botanical Blooms Stamp Set and the three punched out flowers are from Pictogram Punches Stamp Set.

With the second cars, some of the images are stamped straight onto the card base and some are die cut.

I added the word YAY from Party Wishes.

On the third card the original sentiment was Celebrate You but I changed it to Happy Birthday. 

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

JanB. 

More fun with the Little Furballs!

Hello, Crafters.

The card I made on Thursday with the You Little Furball Stamp Set was amazingly well received yesterday.

I love cats and couldn't resist having another play with it!

For yesterday's card I decided to use the Woodland Embossing Folder because I wanted to put one of the cats up a tree!

I think maybe I should have done the trees a bit darker or the cats a bit lighter but overall, I'm pleased with the end result.

I started with a base of Whisper White Cardstock, with a layer of Soft Sky and a top layer of Whisper White.

I embossed the top layer with the Woodland Embossing Folder and then adhered the two layers onto the card base using Tombow. 

I used Sahara Sand and a Dauber to sponge over the trees and the branches.

The remaining spaces between the trees was stark white so I toned it down by sponging the top areas with Soft Sky Ink and a Dauber and the bottom half with Wild Wasabi Ink and a Dauber.

Then I went all over the trees and branches with Sahara Sand Ink again to tone down the areas on the trees that had taken too much Soft Sky or Wild Wasabi.

Using Chocolate Chip Ink I stamped two each of the different shaped heads and one of each of the three different bodies, plus one fish! Then I fussy cut all eight pieces.

I adhered the stalking cat on the tree branch first, after having first cut a slit between his legs so I could slide the fish in between to make it look as if he is actually holding it.

I put the male cat - sitting with legs apart - on the right hand side with the female cat on the left hand side.

Such is the skill of the Stampin' Up! designers that one head can look so feminine on a feminine body yet masculine on a more masculine body!

The fourth cat is a head only because he's playing hide-and-seek! LOL!

I adhered all the bodies using my Two-Way Glue Pen and all the heads with Dimensionals.

Using Chocolate Chip ink I stamped the sentiment I Think You're Purrrfect! onto a scrap of Whisper White.
 
As the sentiment is so narrow, I cut the strip freehand to the size I wanted and adhered it to the card front using Dimensionals.  

The main sentiment is the only part I have any doubt about!

I couldn't decide if the sentiment looks better stamped in Soft Sky Ink and a Chocolate Chip or a Soft Sky background, or stamped in Chocolate Chip on Chocolate Chip or a Soft Sky background. (See photographs 1, 6 and 7).

I have shown photographs with three of the options just by laying the options on top of my chosen combo.

I decided on Chocolate Chip Ink on Soft Sky background - do you agree that one looks best?

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

JanB.

Not a good day!

Hello, Crafters.

I hope you had a much better day than I did yesterday! I count my blessings that it's not often I have days like that and when I do, it serves to remind me that I do have a lot to count my blessings for. 

There were a lot of things that went wrong which, on their own, were pretty minor but there was just one after the other. The most frustrating point was when I had a telephone call from my credit card company telling me they had blocked my card because of suspicious transactions!

It's great that credit card companies are on the ball but when these transactions are me trying to pay Stampin' Up! for an order, it adds to the frustration.

The story in a nutshell is that my credit card is due to expire at the end of March and I do have my new one. As I hadn't updated the new details on my SU profile, I tried using the older one - it was still in date! The system didn't like it.

I tried updating my profile - the system still didn't like it! I made a third attempt - the system didn't like that either!

Then I received the phone call! Security had seen my three attempts and also a much larger payment going out about twenty minutes earlier - so they blocked that, too!

My account was unblocked and I was able to pay SU without problems. I investigated the large payment that had been blocked and that was my three year subscription for my website hosting and ancillary support! I had to get in touch with them and pay for my subscription.

Another big frustration yesterday was trying to upload today's video onto YouTube! I succeeded in the end but not before I started pulling my hair out! Being one of life's optimists, I know today is going to be a good day!

This morning, I successfully published my video called Embossed Circle of Spring. It shows how I made the Soft Sky card I posted here last Thursday, 25th February 2016. In the video I changed the colour and used Mint Macaroon.

Because I needed to prepare the painted image ahead of time, I was able to make two Mint Macaroon cards, so I used Rhinestones on one and Pearls on the other - I used Rhinestones on the original card.

I changed the butterfly stamps from the flowery ones to the ones that have a solid line around the outside. I also changed the Petite Petals flower from the small dotty one to the one that has straight lines and has a coordinating stamp in the Flower Shop Stamp Set - I'm not sure I've explained that very well!!

On the original card I used Blushing Bride for the pink flowers but changed to Pink Pirouette and I also changed the sentiment.

On the original card I used Happy Birthday from the You're So Lovely Stamp Set but on the new one I used They Say It's Your Birthday which is from the Suite Sayings Stamp Set.

The little hearts I added to the sentiment (off camera) are leftovers from some hearts I punched in the five new In-Colours that came in June last year - Cucumber Crush, Delightfully Dijon, Mint Macaroon, Tip Top Taupe and Watermelon Wonder. 

Once I'd punched several out in each colour, I covered them in Crystal Effects and left them to dry overnight.

Initially I made them for a video I made - Glazed Hearts - but I decided to make several in each colour so they were ready as and when I wanted them!

I've posted photographs of all three cards today so you can see what subtle changes I made.

I'm going to be working in overdrive today, to make up for yesterday! LOL! Until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB. 

New Baby Cards

Hello, Crafters.

I hope you've had a great weekend.

When I first saw the Easter Lamb Stamp last November, I knew it would make a fantastic new baby card.

So when I bought the wood mount stamp, before I mounted it, I cut the HAPPY EASTER off, then I adhered the lamb to the wooden block.

The sentiment was then adhered to one of the flat sides of the block.

I started my card with a Whisper White Cardstock card base with a layer of Blackberry Bliss and a top layer of a design from the Wildflower Fields Designer Series Paper (DSP).

This is currently available as a free product during Sale-A-Bration (SAB) which continues until 31st March 2016.

I stamped the lamb onto a piece of Whisper White using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink.

I coloured her in using Pink Pirouette Ink and a Blender Pen, and I used Old Olive for the grass.

The sentiment is from the Suite Sayings Stamp Set and was stamped in Blackberry Bliss Ink.

I layered the image onto a piece of Blackberry Bliss.

I attached the DSP to the Blackberry Bliss layer using Tombow.

Then I tied a ribbon around the lower part and tied it in a bow.

I put Tombow on the back of this, making sure I put some on the ribbon, and adhered it to the card base.

I added the image to the card front using Dimensionals.

I wanted to do a boy card in Lost Lagoon but found it something of a challenge trying to find a nice DSP in Lost Lagoon.

The only complete Lost Lagoon design on the Wildflower Fields DSP had rain drops/tears on it - neither of which I thought was very nice for a new baby card!

There are some lovely designs in the Going Places DSP Stack but felt they were also unsuitable for my purpose.

The design I settled on is from that Stack and I cut it so that I was able to keep the amount of black visible to an absolute minimum!

I'm not 100% happy with it but it does work.

Last week I saw a photograph of a stunning Easter card that had been made by a lady called Sue Farrant, who's from Surrey, BC in Canada.

Sue has used the Easter Lamb Stamp but instead of colouring in the lamb's wool, she had coved the area with small pearls.

I really wish I had a photograph I could share with you because it was just so beautiful. What an ingenious idea?

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

JanB.

Flowering Fields

Hello, Crafters.

Yesterday I started a weekend-long online course organised by an US demonstrator on ways to build a Stampin' Up! business. I've seen the videos about Memory Making classes -  this is a far more apt name for scrapbooking - and will certainly consider introducing a Memory Making Club.

When I was a child I used to make scrapbooks by cutting out pictures of our Royal Family from newspapers and magazines and sticking as many on a page as I could. They were nothing like the beautiful creations that are made today! LOL! 


Natalie, our team leader, has organised another training session for Sunday, so I shall be going to that. I still have to make the swaps, so that's what I'll be doing today as well as catching up with the online course - needless to say I've fallen behind because of the time difference.

Anyway, I did have some lovely time yesterday in my studio creating this birthday/Valentine card. It also shows how you can use up another small scrap. If that's what you're keen to do, decide on the scrap you'd like to use and colour the flowers to co-ordinate with it!

I started my card with a base of Whisper White Cardstock with a layer of Rose Red and topped with Whisper White. All three  were adhered together using Tombow.

I stamped the five flowers from the Flowering Field Stamp Set using Tuxedo Black Memento Ink.(This stamp set is available free during Sale-A-Bration with an order over £45, until 31st March 2016). I used the Pink Pirouette and Mint Macaroon Marker Pens to colour the flowers.

Using Rose Red Ink I stamped the sentiment which is from the new stamp set called Suite Sayings. I cut the strip of Rose Red and Whisper White hearts, from a sheet in the Love Blossoms Designer Series Paper Stack. I adhered this to the card front using Tombow.

On a scrap of Whisper White and using Rose Red Ink, I stamped one large and one small butterfly from the Papillion Potpourri Stamp Set and punched them out - the large butterfly with the Elegant Butterfly Punch and the small butterfly with the Bitty Butterfly punch. I adhered the two together along the bodies. Before I adhered them to the card I stamped the antennae in position where I was going to put the butterfly - the stamp is also from the Papillion Potpourri stamp set.

For my final step I painted all the hearts, the edges of both butterflies and on some petals of the flowers with Wink of Stella. I think you can just about see it in the hearts but no where else - it looks lovely in person!

Until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.

In the Meadow, again!

Hello, Crafters.

After Wednesday's In the Meadow card I had to have another go with it to see how much of a difference colouring the image would make! My conclusion is that  the image looks just as good as line art as it does as a painting. What do you think?

I found that the Designer Series Paper I'd used for Wednesday's card really didn't suit yesterday's card. So I chose a design from the Wildflower Fields Designer Series Paper (DSP) which is available as a free product from the Sale-a-bration catalogue (one free product for every £45 you spend - offer lasts until 31.03.16). 

I made a card base using Shimmery White Cardstock, then a layer of Basic Black and a top layer of Shimmery White. Using Tuxedo Black Memento Ink, I stamped the deer and then covered them with the mask I'd made yesterday and stamped three sets of the trees.

I painted the trunks using my Soft Suede Marker Pen. Then using my Mossy Meadow Marker Pen, I painted small random lines over the trees almost following the directions of all the small black stamped lines but I added extra where I thought it was appropriate. I didn't want the trees to be solid green so I deliberately left gaps.

I also followed the lines of the grass deliberately going by the sides of them. I used Crumb Cake Ink and a Blender Pen to colour the deer, which is my preferred  method of colouring when I want to have some shading.

I lightly sponged from the grass upwards using Soft Sky Ink and the from the grass down using Mossy Meadow Ink. I wanted to add a bit of colour but dismissed the idea of pink blossom on the trees and chose to go with red fruit. This I did with a Real Red Marker Pen.

I stamped the sentiment, which is from the Perfect Pairings Stamp Set (which is another Sale-a-bration product) using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink onto Shimmery White Cardstock and rounded the corners using the Project Life Corner Rounder. I assembled the card the same way as I did yesterday's card except with today's card, I lined the torn DSP to the edges of the Shimmery White Layer and not the Basic Black layer as I did yesterday. 

Photographs 4 - 6 today, show the card I made with my first attempt at colouring this image! It wasn't a huge success which is why I had to cut it down so I could use it. LOL!! But at least it gave me a chance to play with the trees remaining on my offcut to try a few different ways of painting the trees.
Just a couple of notes about the last card. I die cut the image using die no 6 from the Circles Collection and the Crumb Cake circle was die cut with die no. 7 and embossed with the Woodgrain Embossing Folder. 

The deer were coloured with Sahara Sand Ink and a Blender pen and the DSP is from the Going Places DSP Stack. Stampin' Up!  recommend this to go with Sahara Sand Cardstock but I think it looks better with Crumb Cake. Finally, the sentiment is from the Suite Sayings Stamp Set.

That's about it from me today. Have a great day and until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.

Cards Using Designer Series Paper

Hello, Crafters.

As promised, Interlink Express delivered my parcel yesterday well within the one hour time slot they'd promised! My two units were flat packed - aarrghh! - but never mind, I have my own pink tool kit! LOL no surprises there!

Each unit has 10 screws and the first four were fine, then the soreness started but I'm not a wimp, I carried on.........then it blistered! I gave up with four screws in properly and four halfway in! I had to leave it for hubby to come home, who told me I'd used the wrong screwdriver. Errr? Wrong screw driver? I needed a Philips and I used a Philips?? Hubby finished the job off for me in about 10 minutes!  I've decided I need another two units. Oh, no!! Another job for hubby...........I'm sticking to card making!

On a more successful note, today's cards come under two headings: Cards In A Hurry and Using Scraps. The Blackberry Bliss card uses a design from Wildflower Field Designer Series Paper (Sale-A-Bration catalogue) and the Pool Party card uses a design from the Birthday Bouquet Designer Series Paper (Spring catalogue).

This is one of the beauties of Stampin' Up! Designer Series Papers. So many of them are like pictures in their own right. I chose just two but there are many other designs that'd lend themselves to this style of card.

I'm planning a video of this technique so I can share the measurements. On my videos I have started to show metric measurements as well as inches! Although I'm in the UK, metric is still very foreign to me but I have been requested to quote metric as well, so I'm having a go. Who knows, maybe I'll actually get a handle on this foreign measurement!! LOL!!

For the Blackberry Bliss card, I used the Birthday Blooms Stamp Set for the sentiment. The flowers were from the Pictogram Stamp Set and punched out using the little flower punch in the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack. I finished them off with a pearl in the centre. I die cut the sentiment using the second to largest label die from the Tags & Labels Framelit Dies.

I layered it onto a Piece of Whisper White Cardstock I'd die cut using the largest label die from the Tags & Labels Framelit Dies. Before I layered them together with Dimensionals, I sponged the edges using a dauber and Blackberry Bliss Ink.

For the Pool Party card, I tied a piece of retired Pool Party ribbon around the layers before adhering to the card base and position the bow between the second and third panels.

 I stamped the sentiment from the Suite Sayings Stamp Set and used the Extra Large Oval Punch to cut it out. I also used the Decorative Label Punch to cut a Pool Party layer. I sponged both pieces with Pool Party Ink, adhered the sentiment to the label with Tombow, and then adhered to the card using Dimensionals.

That's it for today. I hope you have a great weekend. Happy crafting.

JanB.

Bloomin' Heart Wedding Card

Hello, Crafters.

Today's card was inspired by something I saw on Pinterest.

It's a really simple but stunning wedding card which uses the new Bloomin' Heart Thinlit Die, which will  be available in the new Spring catalogue that goes live on 5th. January, 2016.

I used the Precision Base plate and one cutting mat to run the heart die and the Whisper White Card Stock and the Heart Die through the Big Shot.

I ran it back and forwards four times and then I used the new Sizzix Big Shot Die Brush to remove all the bits. It's absolutely fantastic.

I started the card with a base of Whisper White Card Stock, followed by a layer of Mint Macaroon and a top layer of Whisper White - it was this top layer I die cut the heart from.

I attached this top layer to the Mint Macaroon using Tombow. I also used Tombow to adhere the heart die cut back into the aperture that it came from.

Then I tied some Mint Macaroon Dotted Lace Trim around the lower part and tied it into a double knot. I cut fishtails into both ends so it resembled a bow. I then adhered this to the card base, again using Tombow.

I had a look through the new stamps sets I bought on pre-order to find a new sentiment for my card. I found FOREVER BEGINS TODAY in the Suite Sayings Stamp Set.

There are ten brilliant sentiments on this set, including: Peek-a-boo to someone new; My heart smiles just thinking of you; Wishing you all the beautiful blessings of Easter; Thanks to you, I grew up loved; Thanks for being you.

Quite often with stamp sets like this, I only like two or three of the sentiments but I can't see any in this set I don't think I'd use.

Today I have my upline and friend Kim coming over for some two way training! Kim's going to explain the new reports to me and I'm going to tell Kim all I know about videoing tutorials! I think this is the fourth time we have tried organising this get together and there has always been a spanner thrown in the works from somewhere!  Fingers crossed for today!
 
Until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.