Thursday 11 March 2010

Butterflies


I have a new favorite colour, Sage Shadow and I don't think I've used it much before, isn't that strange but now I've discovered it I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot of it lol. I've already picked out my speciality designer series paper to go with it, P74 of the catalogue, order will be put in tonight. Anyway, this is a little card I've made for my sister's birthday its using the Flight of the Butterfly stamp set and the co ordinating punch. (Check out this months promotion for a special deal)
My colour combination is Sage Shadow, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa and Very Vanilla, Mmmm the very names make me think of chocolate . I have used the eyelet border punch on the Sage Shadow and if you look closely you will see that  I have embossed parallel lines where my ribbon is going to be, I just think it looks neater and gives a more professional feel, this can be done with any scoring board or paper trimmer. I've finished the card by tying a nice knot of Very Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon, you don't have to be good at bow's as a knot looks just as good to me. I am entering this card into the following challenges:
Charisma Cardz ~ Butterflies
Colour Create Challenge ~ Mint, Chocolate and Cream
Cute Card Thursday ~ Celebrations

Friday 5 March 2010

Scallop Circle Flower



Hi, I've a little quickie card to show you today, that quick the crystal effects aren't even dry yet lol but I couldn't wait to try out Monica's flower, here is a link to her tutorial. All you need is a stampin up scallop circle punch and some cardstock, I've also added a rhinestone brad to mine but a button etc would suffice. The sentiment and stamped flower are from the One of a Kind stamp set and as you can see I've used crystal effects and dazzling diamonds on the centre of the stamped image (they are dry now and look far better lol) Cardstock~ Brocade Blue, Night of Navy and Very Vanilla.
I am entering this card into the following challenge
Crafty Creation~ One Colour

Thursday 4 March 2010

Star Book

I'm back again, like a bus you wait for ages for one then you get two at once, so this is my second post of the day. I wanted to show you a little star book I made, I love these books and they are perfect to use as little scrap books for those special occasions such as birthdays, births, weddings etc. I am using this one to take with me to my workshops, I have stamped some images from the catalogue and wrote the name of the stamp, cardstock, punches used etc on the opposite page.  Ok, I've taken a few photo's during the making of my star book to hopefully help you construct one of your own BUT to be honest there are far better tutorials on other blogs, you tube etc. this is a very brief version.

First you want to cut 7 pieces of card 12 x 4 inches, 7 pieces 10 x 4 inches and 7 pieces 8 x 4 inches then fold them all in half. (Cardstock colour is Really Rust, Pumpkin Pie and Summer Sun)

Now you want to take a piece of each size of the card and stick them together at the edges as shown above.
Do this with all the cardstock and you should have 7 of these points.

Now stick each of these points to each other but  remember leave it so it can open like a book, you don't want stick the last two pieces together.

This is how it should look when it is closed.

Cut two pieces of chipboard/strong card at 12 x4 and cover these with designer paper. Take a metre of ribbon and fold this over the front and back of your book, now stick your front and back cover onto your book securing the ribbon at the same time.

Now decorate.

As you can see I have also edged each of the pages using cardstock and my eyelet border punch, oh and this is my book hanging on the wall lol.
Hope you understand my instructions, remember there is always you tube lol.
I am entering this into the following challenge,
Cute Card Thursday~ Lucky Green

Perfect Pair Promotion

Hi, I can't believe it has been nearly a month since I blogged! I have just been so busy lately, its not that I haven't been crafting....thats just silly, I just haven't been blogging BUT I have pic's to post, it will just take me a while to catch up. First though I have to tell you about this months Stampin' Up promotion, do you love Punches? Do you love Punches that co ordinate with Stamps? Of course you do. So check out these perfect pairs.
Do you see the new heart punch? That is a definate 'Must Have' for me.  Oh and I have had a look at the new mini catalogue that will be released April 1st,  all I can say is 'be excited........be very excited lol' I can't wait to show you the new products, you won't be disappointed I promise.


Wednesday 10 February 2010

Clean and Simple

This is a card that I've made for this weeks Clean and Simple Challenge FTL77. I thought the little swirl stamp from the Seasons of Joy stamp set go perfect with this Designer Paper and then I've used the gorgeous One of a Kind stamp set for the flowers, inked in Ruby Red, punched out with the Boho Blossoms Punch and a little silver brad popped in the middle. The colour combo for this card is Old Olive, Very Vanilla and Ruby Red. Oh and I managed to get a photo of my little easter baskets, the eggs managed to stay inside for the photo but two little faces watched eagerly for the click of the camera then in a  flash the eggs disapeared lol.
I will try and get a tutorial done for these little baskets, a few people have asked me before how I make these because they can be adapted for lots of things, click here and here for examples.


Enjoy the rest of your day. x

Sunday 7 February 2010

Card Bag and Cards


Hi, hope you all had a lovely weekend, mine was very quiet but I'm not complaining about that lol. This is a little card bag I made using my Sunny Day Simply Scrappin Kit, I've also made a cute little Easter basket but I haven't got the eggs to put inside it yet so I'll wait till I get those before I take a picture. Anyway, if you fancy making a little bag for your cards to give as a present click here for the tutorial. Do you know I still haven't made a scrapbook page with this kit yet and that was the main reason for buying it but I've made everything else but a scrapbook page lol. I'm entering this into the following challenges:
Stamp Something~ Love Something
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge~ Love is in the Air
The Crafty Pad Challenge~ Fancy Edge, Hearts and Papers
Happy Crafting x

Saturday 6 February 2010

Love is in the Air

With so many Love/Heart/Valentines challenges going on I thought I would make a couple of cards something like the one I made earlier in the week, as I loved this little heart from the Darling Dots stamp set ( A Hostess Level 1 Set ) together with the Designer Paper from the Merry Moments set. The cute little dots on both the stamp and the paper go perfect together. So I am entering these cards into the following challenges:
Creative Card Crew~ Valentines
Charisma Cardz~ I love you
Cute Card Thursday~ Spots and Dots
Crafty Calender Challenge~ Love and Friendship
Stampin For The Weekend~ Love is in the Air
Stamp Something~ Love Something
Our Creative Corner~ Masculine Valentine
Secret Crafter~ Monochrome Tones

Wow, I think this must be a Challenge record for me. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. x

Thursday 4 February 2010

One of a Kind


A card using my newest stamp set, One of a Kind, I love it! I know I'm going to get a lot of use out of this one, especially because it has the Boho Blossoms Punch that coordinates with it. The colour combo I went with is Ballet Blue and Night of Navy, unfortunately I didn't have any Night of Navy ink or I would have introduced that colour to the flowers too, Love the silver brads with these flowers they are the perfect finishing touch.

Sale a bration Stamps

Hello! I'm on a roll this week with my cards, I've managed to get quite a few posts up and challenges entered. This card is for two challenges that are new to me the first is Inspiring Inkin Challenge and they had a fabulous sketch to follow, a nice simple one, the type I like and the second one is by a very talented lady, Linda/Purely Stamping, (her blog is like the best crafting magazine you could buy) anyway, Linda's challenge was a colour challenge, here are the colours:

 
I have used stamps from two of the Sale a Bration sets, Whimsical Words and Good Neighbors, remember you can get these for free up until the 28th February so don't miss out. Contact me for more details or click here
Enjoy the rest of your day.x

Wednesday 3 February 2010

Darling Dots and FTL 76

Hi Crafters, I've just discovered a new challenge blog called Clean and Simple Stamping and they had a fabulous sketch this week to follow, now I'm not a big fan of sketches to be honest but when they are simple one's like this, then they are great. (Its circles I don't like....don't know why, just don't like them on sketches)
Anyway, I have used a stamp from the  hostess level 1 stamp set called 'Darling Dots' so you know what to do if you'd like this set for free.......just contact me for the details. I have also used Merry Moments Designer Paper on the squares, see Merry Moments isn't just for Christmas! The colour combo is Real Red and Very Vanilla, I was tempted to add some bling but then decided against it, thought it was lovely the way it was. I think I will use this as my Valentine card for my partner, so thats 1 down just another 5 to make...... I'm only joking!

Tuesday 2 February 2010

Happy Mail

Hi Crafters, I'm back today with a  little card and cute mailbox (template by Lauren Meader) wouldn't this make a lovely Thank you gift for someone? Hey how about the postman lol well he/she deserves a little treat for all the hard work us crafters give them with our constant craft orders. (Personally i like to just keep them in work so I see it as doing my bit for the community) Anyway, I had a lot of fun making these projects, again using the 'Flight of the Butterfly' stamp set. I love this colour combo from the rich regals family, Taken with Teal, So Saffron and Rose Red, it just makes me think of the summer, oh roll on summer!
I am entering these projects into these challenges
Dutch Dare Card Challenge~ Summer in Winter
Happy Crafting x

Monday 1 February 2010

Keeping my hands busy.

Hi Everybody, February at long last lol, hasn't January gone slow? Well it has for me anyway, maybe its because I've been counting the days from when I quit smoking, did I say days? well...days, hours, minutes.. To be honest the last few days have been easy, I haven't given the dreaded weed much thought, so onward and upward.  As you can see I've been keeping my hands busy, these are a few cards I had on order and I'm really pleased as to how they turned out. For the top one I used a retired stamp set that I still love called 'Best Blossoms' and I have used a technique called 'Gradation' this is when you use two or more colours and gradually blend them together where they meet on the stamp, you can get some gorgeous results especially when you use the Stampin' Write markers and a sponge dauber.

This second card is made using a technique called 'Spotlighting' this is when you take a section of an image and 'spotlight' it in some way eg. I took stamped a section of my main image and coloured it using the Stampin' Write markers, I then layered this onto some real red cardstock and using dimentionals I have placed it ontop of my main image. Just another cute technique to add to your collection and a totally new look for your stamps.


No special technique to this card, just plain matting and layering with a bit of embossing here and there but I love these colours together, they aren't colours I would use often but I think you'll be seeing a lot more of them from now on, they are Ballet Blue, Night of Navy and Very Vanilla. The stamp set used on this card is of course the Flight of the Butterfly, I love the swirling sentiments that come with this set and the fabulous butterfly punch that coordinates with it. I am entering these cards into a few challenges they are:
Creative Card Crew~ Punch it ( Big wave, hello girls!)
Cute Card Thursday~ Blooming Gorgegous
Dutch Dare~ Summer In Winter
Secret Crafter Challenge~ Hearts (Heart embellishement on Wife card)
One Stop Craft Challenge~ Make it Personal (big wave again)

Thursday 28 January 2010

Close as a Memory

Hi there, hope your having a creative Thursday! This is a card I made last night using a stamp from the  'Close as a Memory' set, the sentiments from this set are for sympathy cards but the flowers can be used for anything, just add another sentiment and it can be used for birthdays, anniversary's etc this sentiment is from a retired set called 'Best Yet'.

Well do you like my little flower? I made this using the Boho Blossoms punch, cute eh? The 3 little flowers come from one punch and then I've just sponged some Cameo Coral ink around the edges, layered them up and added a little Old Olive button from the Playground Designer Button Pack. I'm entering this card into the Cute Card Thursday Challenge the theme is Blooming Gorgeous.  Right, off to watch Big Brother and maybe get a card made during breaks lol. Enjoy your evening. x

Wednesday 27 January 2010

Fun & Fast Notes


Hi everybody, just thought I'd share a little card I made using the Fun & Fast Notes stamp set. This was one of the first stampin up sets that I got and its been a while from I've used it. The image is coloured using my Earth Elements markers, love these! and I've just matt and layered Really Rust and Summer Sun cardstock (also from the earth elements family) I seem to be doodling alot on my cards recentely, even trying out different faux stitches lol. I've took a few pictures of how I put my ribbon through my card so that my button doesn't sit out too much, you probably already knew to do this, so for those that didn't....
Punch two holes wide enough apart so that your button can fit snuggly.  Thread ribbon through and cut. Using a glue dot place button between the ribbon. (Instead of trying to match up thread, cut a thin piece of matching cardstock, thread this through the button as I have done on my card)
I am entering this card into the following challenge
Crafty Creations ~ Celebration

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Tuesday 26 January 2010

Animal Cards

Hi Peeps, I can't believe its been so long from my last post! Its not that I haven't been crafting because I have, I just haven't been posting thats all. To be honest quitting smoking is really taking it out of me, I am totally exhausted and I feel so yucky I'm finding it hard to get myself motivated to do anything! Thought I was supposed to feel great! Well I'm staying positive and I KNOW I'm going to be feeling great any day now......do I sound convincing? lol. During a surge of energy I had, think it was day 23 and lasted about 4 hrs lol, I made a batch of cards to give to a local animal sanctuary so I took some quickie pics to show you, they are all animals and are coloured using different techniques, inks, pencils and markers etc. So here they are:
I have used the same colour combo with these cards, I think More Mustard and Ruby Red look great with the animals, all from the Earth Elements set.
How sweet are these little bunnies?

I've coloured these cats with markers and gone with a different colour combo, Old Olive and Ruby Red. There was also a lot of doodling going on in all these cards, especially faux stitching. I am entering these cards into a few challenges:
Penny Black Saturday~ Something Sweet

Thursday 14 January 2010

Trendy Tree's


Hi there, hope your having a good week so far, to be honest I'm struggling a bit today with my quitting smoking campaign, I still haven't touched one, just feeling pretty low and agitated but I've been here that many times before I know what to expect so I'm trying to keep myself busy and positive. (Oh but its ssooooooooo difficult!!! A cigarette would cure it allllllllllllllll...........lol ) Anyhoo, what do you think of my Trendy Tree's? I really love this card, love the colours and the cute little stamps, I was thinking that I would maybe make some of these up and put them in little frames in the kitchen. Well off to make my daughter Natasha a birthday card, she is 24 tomorrow..........oh I'm so old...........where are those cigarettes!!!!!!!!
Catch ya later!

Stampin'Up Items used on this card:
Stamp Set~ Trendy Tree's and sentiment from Seasonal Greetings
Ink~ Old Olive, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Chocolate Chip
Cardstock~ Very Vanilla, Real Red and Tempting Turquoise
Ribbon~ Red Gingham Ribbon

Tuesday 12 January 2010

Tree's Tree's and more Tree's

Happy Tuesday to ya, hope your having a good week, so far its been a good one for me.(Day 12 of not smoking!)  Right now my daughter Rebecca is doing her Maths GCSE so my thoughts are with her, I know she will do fantastically (She takes after her father as far as Maths is concerned which is a good thing for her.) So while Rebecca was revising last night at the kitchen table, I sat quietly and made some fabulous tree cards, I really love nature stamps especially tree's! I am entering this one into this weeks Stamp With Us Challenge which was a colour challenge. The Stamp set is of course 'Lovely as a Tree' and I have used a selection of  SU earth element markers to ink up this little tree.

Moving on to the next card, same stamp different season lol, still using my earth element markers only this time sticking to Old Olive and Chocolate Chip.


And one for luck! Very natural, twine instead of ribbon and a bit of hand doodling around the frame of the close to cocoa cardstock. Enjoy the rest of your day whatever your doing, I'm thinking of hitting the sales in town as my sister has just shown me a lovely pair of boots she got yesterday, should I? .........watch this space!


Monday 11 January 2010

More Butterflies today.

Just a quickie card today using the 'Flight of the Butterfly' stamp set again, this time I have layered the butterfly with velum, its hard to notice it on this photo but its lovely in real life, I also added 3 little gems from my stash for the body, cute eh? Well I made this card for a challenge I have just found called Sweet Stampin Challenge and this week the theme was a colour combo, I've used Rose Red, Pretty In Pink and Certainly Celery. This is going to be a very short post as I'm being tortured by my 5 year old son to help him with the playstation lol Sometimes its just easier giving in! Enjoy your day. x

Friday 8 January 2010

Flight of the Butterfly


Hi Peeps, as you can see I've been playing with butterflies, I made this little card and box the other day, now, I don't know if its just me ( as I've not smoked in 7 days) but ........does that little box look like a cigarette box to you? lol Well it was intended to put these little cards in but would be just as nice filled with sweets or some other gift. I love the way stamps and punches can coordinate and this set 'Flight of the Butterfly' has a coordinating butterfly punch but not only that, this set is also a two step stampin set so you can perfectly stamp spots, flowers, dashes ontop of your basic butterfly image ( Remember the Stamp ma Jig will help position your image perfectly ) Ok, I have to venture out into the snow now, wouldn't mind if I just had to walk but I have to take the car, would much prefer a sleigh. Enjoy the rest of your day whatever you are doing and keep warm. x

Products Used:
Stamp Set~ Flight of the Butterfly
Punches~ Butterfly Punch, Word Window Punch and Eyelet Border Punch
Cardstock~ Lovely Lilac and Very Vanilla
Ink~ Chocolate Chip and Elegant Eggplant
Ribbon~ Chocolate Chip
Sponge Daubers for Distressing with Ink and Stamp a Ma Jig for Perfect positioning.

You can order your Stampin'Up products through me and get them delivered straight to your door, book a workshop or join my team, get in contact @
donnaferguson55@yahoo.co.uk

Thursday 7 January 2010

Sunny Day

Hi Crafters, the title should really read Snowy Day instead of Sunny Day lol, are you enjoying all this lovely snow? Well, if your tucked up in the house with nowhere to go I'm sure the answer is yes but I really don't like driving in it at all, the main roads seem fine but I live in the country ontop of a hill, not too good unless you have a sleigh lol.  Well I have eventually got round to posting some of my latest projects, I decided that I have not been doing enough scrapbooking, I save everything for my scrapbook, tickets, invitations, newspaper clippings, you name it I save it. SO, I ordered myself the lovely 'Sunny Days' simply scrappin kit...........and what do I do............make cards lol oh and little gifts.......well I couldn't help it and anyway there is loads of stuff left for my scrapbook.....I will eventually get round to it! But aren't these colours just GORGEOUS! Love them! and the cardstock that comes with the kit is textured, beautiful! If you have never had one of the Simply Scrappin Kits before here is what you get
3 sheets each of two designs of fabulous double sided designer paper (12x12)
2 sheets each of 4 colours of textured cardstock
2 sheets each of 3 designs of self adhesive die cuts
and everything is coordinating!

On the top picture you will see a little pot I made for a candle, I came up with this design last Christmas when I needed pots for plants I had bought for the childrens teachers, I sat with a 12x12 piece of paper, twisting and turning until eventually I got the pot I wanted and no glue or cuts is needed! I will come back with instructions for this as its so handy and easy to make in any size. Above you can see a little easel calender card I've made, this is my first easel card, think I must be the last person to try this out lol. Everything used is from the Simply Scrappin Kit except for the little happy day stamp.


And last but not least is my little tweet treat bag, I've seen these little bags on a few blogs, I've heard them called Diaper Fold Bags but for this one I was inspired by Monica Gale who made a little tutorial on the In Love With Stamping Forum. Loved how Monica used the word window punch to close the little treat bag, great idea.
I'm entering these projects into the following challenges
Cute Card Thursday Challenge~ All New (My new Sunny Day simply scrappin kit)
Stamp Something Challenge~ New Somethings
Daring Cardmakers~ New Beginnings
A Spoon Full of Sugar~ Hearts (Hearts on my tag )

Remember you can order all your Stampin'Up products from me and get them delivered straight to your door and don't forget to claim your free stamp set (check out post below) Contact me on donnaferguson55@yahoo.co.uk

Sunday 3 January 2010

Its Sale-a-bration time!

Don't you just love the January sales? Well, you know whats even better than a sale? Free Products! From now until the 28th February 2010 you can earn your free stamp sets by
1- Spending £45 on Stampin Up products means your entitled to 1 set of the sale-a-bration stamp sets for free. Remember too that you are not limited to one set! With every £45 spent you can pick yourself another set.
2 - Maybe you would prefer to Host a workshop to earn your free stamp set. All you need to do is host a workshop of at least £300 and ontop of all your usual hostess benefits you will also get your free stamp set. Woo Hoo!
Or
3 - Join Stampin'Up as a demonstrator and you can choose any stamp set from the current idea book and catalogue up to the value of £38.95.

Love this Good Neighbors set, I have so many idea's for this one and the little tree's are so cute! My fav....I think!

I have seen some gorgeous samples made with the Happy Moments set, a great set that will suit so many different occasions.
I know this labels set is going to be very popular.
Ok...changed my mind....this is my fav!

You can place a your Stampin'Up order through me and get it delivered straight to your door. Flick through the online catalogue or you can order your own catalogue through me. All queries to donnaferguson55@yahoo.co.uk