Yet another wedding card

My friend Hayley seems to have gone to dozens of weddings this year. It's keeping me on my toes coming up with new cards for her to give to the happy couples!

Here's the latest one ...



I kept the colour scheme neutral with Very Vanilla and Crumb Cake and added some bling using the Gold Embossing Powder. I also used my Big Shot and the Square Lattice Embossing Folder to give texture.



The gold birdie is holding a tag featuring a sentiment from Tiny Tags and punched out with the matching Jewellery Tag Punch.



Swirls are from the Scribbles Swirls Die and the flowers are stamped in Versamark with the now retired Punch Potpourri hostess set, and embossed. The gold powder works brilliantly even on the fine details. The flowers are punched with the matching Boho Blossoms Punch.

I am reliably informed that the proceedings went off without a hitch and Hayley promises no more weddings until January!

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Tea and bunting

Tea and bunting - two things that go together perfectly, so today I have two projects to share.

First up, my very own, hand-painted teacup!



I painted it at a Buns & Roses workshop earlier this month, and we just got them back from being fired and glazed.



I've not used it yet - too scared of dropping it!

And to go with it, a bunting card from our team training.



Lovely bunting with the Petite Pennants Punch and the Just Add Cake DSP. The background is given added texture with the Square Lattice embossing folder.

Best get kettle on!

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Getting ready for Christmas!

At our Julie's Jems training session this week we were all about the dreaded C'word .... Christmas! It's only five months away, and considering I try to make all my gifts I really should start thinking about it now!

At least we got a couple of cards and a gift box done, so I can say I have started my preparations!



Here's one of the cards we made. In fact, they were both the same design but the other one didn't have the ribbon and Rhinestones.

We used the Ornament Punch to make the baubles from the Jolly Holiday DSP, stuck them down and stamped the sentiment before running it through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder.



Hopefully you can see the quilted effect here.



We also made a gift box using the Pillow Box Dies. The two boxes were just slotted into each other (one was also embossed using the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder) and this time we used a strip of the DSP to decorate and a bauble from the COntempo Christmas stamp set.



I might keep things simple this year and just make the same card and gift for everyone and mass produce these designs!

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Father's Day card and an apology

Firstly, an apology to my big bro, Matthew. It turns out he does read my blog and his wedding anniversary is not until the end of July, so I have spoiled the surprise of the card he will be getting from our mum! Sorry bro! Maybe she will send a different one instead ...

And further apologies for being a bit lax with the blogging recently. I have been super busy with one thing or another, mostly the WI! Having taken on the role of Editor of West Yorkshire News I have been chasing copy, designing layouts and battling with budgets so far this week! There is fun WI stuff happening too - today I am doing a Jacobean embroidery workshop for the day and later this week I will let you in on some super exciting Buns & Roses news!

For now though, male cards.

I was so glad to see the Plane and Simple set in the Stampin' Up! Mini Catalogue. It is ideal for my dad, as he is the treasurer of his local model flying club and loves to build, fly and crash model airplanes! It's also a good alternative to golf and beer!

Now, I'm fairly sure my dad doesn't read my blog, so here goes with the card he'll be receiving for Father's Day! If you see this dad - sorry!



I went with neutral tones and some embossing and distressing to add interest without having to go for the traditional embellishments such as buttons and ribbon. I used the Square Lattice Embossing Folder for the background piece of cardstock.



The splodges were made using the Sprizer Tool and the edges of the card were roughed up with the Cutter Kit. The label (this is one for my stash to sell hence why it says happy birthday and not happy father's day) was attached with a brad for a bit of movement.

Right, time to get busy with a needle and thread!

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Wedding cards with lots of embossing

What did I do before the Big Shot came along?! I'm not sure how I managed to cope without quick and easy die cutting and yummy embossing options!

Back to the wedding theme (is everyone getting hitched at the moment?!), here are two cards for newlyweds. Hayley asked me to make one for her sister, who tied the knot at the weekend, so I made another one to go in my craft fair box to sell.



The navy one is for Hayley's sister - that was their colour scheme. I think these Mr and Mrs hearts are so cute. For the pink one I used some of the Springtime Vintage DSP. Both have some ruffled Seam Binding Ribbon and Pearls.



Here you can see some of the embossing a bit better. It would still be cute without it, but the Big Shot and embossing folders just add that extra something - a bit of texture can work wonders, especially when you don't want to go overboard with colours.

On the Mrs I used the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder to give her dress a pattern. The Mr's jacket and the background were run through the Big Shot in the Square Lattice Embossing Folder.

Thank heavens for the Big Shot!

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Getting back on board with blogging

I've been a bit of a naughty blogger reently and not managed to update as often as I would like. In a way it's a good thing as it means I'm so busy, but it also means that my busy-ness hasn't been through cardmaking, which I am sad about. I hope to have a good session this weekend though and build up my cards for upcoming craft fairs, so I should be able to build up a stock of photos to share in future!

It's my dad's birthday today. I sent his pressie and card in the post so I hope they arrived safely and on time! I got him a Lewis Hamilton McLaren baseball cap, which I know he will appreciate and use. He likes to wear a cap when he flies his model airplanes. I bought him one from the MotoGP at Donington Park many years ago, but it is a bit knackered now, to say the least! So the new Hamilton one should keep him the sun out of his eyes this summer.

I also sent him a card using the Motorcycle stamp from Stampin' Up!, but I have already shared that with you (it was the swap I made for the Jems when the Mini Catalogue came out).

So instead, here is a card I made for Helen's dad, who had his birthday a few weeks ago.



This is the Sail Away stamp, another of the single ones in the new Mini Catalogue. I knew the page from the Newsprint DSP with the maps on would be perfect, but unfortunately I only had two tiny scraps of that one left, so I just scrumpled and inked them up and had them poking out from behind the image.



I used the Top Note Die and Square Lattice Embossing Folder in my Big Shot to make a nice background. Then I used the Jewellery Tag punch to make the label and attached it to a button with Linen Thread.

Daddy Helen was pleased with it, I am told!

I have lots of exciting WI news to share with you, but I think I will leave that until tomorrow as we have our Buns & Roses meeting tonight and there'll be more gossip from that too!

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A little something for my SU daughter

On Tuesday evening my lovely downline and friend Alex came round so I could help get her started as an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

There was no time for crafting unfortunately, as we focused on business things, but we had a good time nonetheless.

I had made her a little something to say welcome to the Gem's Gems team and here it is ...



A little gift bag using the Scallop Envelope Die on my Big Shot.

These are really fun and easy to make - simply cut out four envelopes and stick them together so that the flap becomes the bottom of the box and the scallop bit is turned down over the top edge. Then decorate as you wish.



I used the Springtime Vintage DSP and added flowers made with the Fun Flowers Die and a bow from Seam Binding Ribbon.



I then filled it full of goodies - loads of bits of ribbon and a pot of buttons and brads.



The little pot is an empty SU one, which I just covered with another flower made using the Fun Flowers Die. I have also added texture by running the shapes through the Big Shot with an Embossing Folder - Square Lattice and Perfect Polka Dots.

Being an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator is great fun and a fantastic way of making some money from being crafty. The Starter Kit costs just £119 for £230 of goodies and has everything to get you started.

If you'd like to find out more about joining the Gem's Gems just ring me or send me an email and we'll have a chat.

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Stampin' Up! Mini Catalogue workshop

Last night I held my Mini Catalogue launch workshop. Big thanks to all my good friends for coming along - I hope you had lots of crafty fun!

Despite being called Stampin' Up! we didn't do any stamping! So it was just Up!, as Hayley pointed out!

Our focus was the Big Shot and the fab range of dies and embossing options. We had lots of play time and the girls all made some fab cards.

Here is my sample card.



I used the Fun Flowers die, Square Lattice embossing folder, Swirls Scribbles die and Timeless Type Alphabet dies with the Springtime Vintage DSP.

These all make for lots of texture and interest, without taking ages to make or being overly fussy or complicated.



Here's a close up so you can see the different elements.

Of course, everyone made their card differently, as we used bits of the Springtime Vintage DSP and several colour combinations. And the alphabet meant personalised cards are really quick.

I forgot to take pics, but Maria put her husband's name on for their wedding anniversary today, Alex made her's as a wedding card for friends with their initials, Kylie's was for her nanna, Sam put her own name on and Helen stuck with just saying Hi. Hayley was awkward as usual and didn't finish hers off but took it home to add some other bits!

I've just managed to tidy up the living room and packed most of my stuff away now!

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