Clearly For You and more business

It's still busy, busy, busy in the life of Gemma!

I was a very good girl yesterday and got a lot of work done (while also managing to watch the MotoGP, The Spy Who Loved Me and have a soak in a bubbly bath with my book for Buns & Roses WI Book Club). Productive or what?!

I needed to do this as today it was the Home Economics & Handicrafts Committee meeting at the West Yorkshire Federation of WIs. As always, we nattered and drank tea and got a lot planned. We have lots of great things to organise, including my own card making workshop next year and our slot at the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate this November.

So I still could do with a few more hours in each day!

Unfortunately I've not had a lot of time to do much papercrafting recently. But I must get back on track as I have craft fairs and a market stall to prepare for!

PLEASE can I have more time?!

I do have a few photos stored up still though, so here's a card using the Clearly For You set.

This was one of my very first must-haves from the 2011 Stampin' Up! Mini Catalogue as I love vintage things and the way you can mix up the different stamps within the set.



For this one, I cut out the squares and rolled half with the Sanded Wheel in Basic Grey ink to give texture and the other half I used the rectangle pattern image from Clearly For You.

I used the decorative elements in Melon Mambo and Old Olive on some of the squares, then scrunched them all up and distressed them by randomly inking in Basic Grey. Simply rubbing the ink pad gently over the card stock does the job.

This one has already come and gone as one of my fellow WI members bought it for a wedding card! I hope the happy couple liked it!

Time for another early night now so I have enough energy for all the things I have planned for tomorrow! The to do list includes work, stitching, card making ...

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Another wedding card and the WI

The fun never stops around here at the moment! I am still mega busy with all sorts of things going on in the next few weeks. Can I go back to Denman College for a break please?!

Today's card is another that went to my friend Georgie on her wedding day. I made it on behalf of my friend Sam with one of the new Stampin' Up! sets Clearly For You.

I went for a vintage look (surprisingly!) and used lots of my favourite things.



The background is a piece of the Newsprint DSP, which I scrunched up and inked a bit using the Distressing Essentials kit. I then stamped randomly with some of the smaller images from Clearly For You - a crown, butterfly, cherub and ladybug.



The focal piece uses the rectangle background stamp and the birds on a branch. Again, I just coloured in two of them using a Stampin' Write marker pen. I wrapped some Linen Thread around and included a tag made using the Jewellery Tag Punch and phrase from the Tiny Tags stamp set. The ribbon is the amazing Crumb Cake Seam Binding.

I hope George and Brendan liked it!

Today I am out at the West Yorkshire Federation of Women's Institutes AGM. As well as running a craft stall, singing Jerusalem and eating cake with the ladies, I am giving a presentation on my visit to Denman College! I have made a slideshow of some of my pics and will have my embroidery on display.

And the rest of this week is just as crazy - lots of work to do, my Stampin' Up! Mini Launch Workshop on Thursday evening, a craft fair on Saturday! I really need more hours in the day!

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Clearly For You cards

I fell in love with everthing in the new Stampin' Up! Mini Catalogue straightaway, but Clearly For You was a particular favourite.

I'm totally into the vintage look at the moment, and Stampin' Up! has brought out some wonderful goodies that are ideal for this trend.

Today's two cards are pretty similar, but you can see that by changing colours and embellishments you can create all sorts of different looks.



I'm still on a Night of Navy ride here! I stamped the rectangle pattern all over the cardstock in Versamark to create a subtle background. The strip of DSP is from the Springtime Vintage range.



To add a splash of colour I used some Daffodil Delight cardstock behind the frame, and stamped the birdies in yellow too. And check out the mega Night of Navy Big Button! Of course, there is some ruffled Seam Binding too!



The second card also uses a Night of Navy base. This time I have added colour using Rose Red ink for the birds, some DSP from the Subtles DSP Patterns Stack and Seam Binding (ruffled, obviously!)



I also used some Crumb Cake Seam Binding and a piece of cardstock in the same colour, scrumpled up and inked for the vintage feel.

Tomorrow we're off to the Baby Blossoms stamp set.

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Stampin' Up! - More than just card making

I hope you managed to get through the ILWS Mini Blog Hop yesterday. Wasn't it amazing?! So many talented demos out there with such great ideas!

As you may have guessed, I have been scheduling all these posts. Partly so I can make sure I have covered everything and partly because I am so busy and about to go away! Oh, and yesterday I would have been at my friend Georgie's wedding so today I am recovering!

Tomorrow, I head down to the Women's Institute's Denman College near Oxford. I was lucky enough to receive a bursary to study Elizabethan Embroidery for a week. I am so excited and can't wait to spend a few days stitching and talking!

Anyway, on to today's goodness.

As promised, I am going through the amazing new Stampin' Up! Mini Catalogue and showing off some of the yummy new products.

Today I want to share the Beveled Windowpanes.

I have been doing a few bits of jewellery and accessories recently and these are just perfect.



Basically, you stick a piece of DSP or cardstock on to the backof the acrylic frame. I use Crystal Effects to do this.

The images are from the Clearly For You stamp set. The background pattern is the same size as the largest windowpane and the birds fit across it just right! And the new Seam Binding fits through the holes exactly. Easy peasy!



I just looped the ribbon through and decorated it with a button and brads.

Of course, the windowpanes look great on cards too and you can simply wrap the ribbon round the cardstock to attach it.

I have scheduled several posts for this week with more Stampin' Up! Mini Catalogue goodness, but I will also try to check in with tales from Denman along the way.

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In Love With Stamping forum Mini Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to my little section of the ILWS Mini Blog Hop!

There are more than 50 demos taking part, so loads of yummy projects for you to admire!

You may have come to me from the lovely Alison. If so, I hope you enjoyed her work and are ready for more! If not, be sure to use the links at the bottom to complete all the rounds!

I am sharing a really sweet card I made for my friend Hayley's sister's wedding.

She asked for a navy colour scheme, so I teamed Night of Navy with Rose Red and Crumb Cake. I think this is a really lovely combo.



I have used a few new Stampin' Up! products here. The main stamp sets are Clearly For You (the birds) and Baby Blossoms (the frame and roses).

There are actually three birds on the stamp, but I just coloured the two in with my markers. I threaded some Linen Thread over the top for their wire and hooked on to that a little tag from the Tiny Tags stamp set, made with the Jewellery Tag Punch.

The little roses are so sweet and not as fiddly as they look! The set is one of the Two-Step Stampin' range, which is so clever and great for adding depth. You just stamp the background in a lighter colour and the detail in a darker one over the top, using the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig for placement.

The background image is the beautiful (and big) Bella Toile, inked with Versamark for a watermarked effect on the cardstock.

And at the top, the gorgeous new Seam Binding in Crumb Cake, ruffled up by gently pulling out one of the strands from the middle.



Phew! I hope you got all that!

The next stop on the ILWS Mini Blog Hop is Emma so get over there and see what she has come up with!

There are four rounds to the hop so it is a bit easier to get round them all in batches!

Here are the starting points of each:

Round 1 Erika
Round 2 Angela
Round 3 Rita
Round 4 Karen

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