Just My Type

These are Just My Type of cards. Get it?!

The typewriter is part of an American SU set that wedon't have over here unfortunately, but I had to have it so thankfully a US friend sent it over to me! Gotta love international relations!

I combined it with my favourite Broadsheet Alphabet, thin Taffeta Ribbon and Twill Tape and Newsprint DSP to come up with these cards.





It was a while ago that I made them, and I'm pleased to say that one of the ladies at WI loved them as much as me and bought one straightaway!

It's nice to know I'm not alone!

Read more...

A cheeky scrapbook page

I've been scrapping a few old photos recently, and although this one is a bit embarassing, and rude, I think it's awesome so I decided to share!

No idea what's going on here, but it obviously amused my parents!



Sweet ass! I went a bit 70s (even though I'm not that old!) with the funky patterned paper.



The chipboard letters are the very fun Stampin' Up! On Board Alphabet Soup, which I coloured using the Sponge Daubers with Chocolate Chip and More Mustard, and I remembered the Fleurettes - crochet flowers - that are perfect!



I've just got a Crop-A-Dile so I had to have some eyelets somewhere! And my fave embellishment - buttons with Linen Thread.

So yeah, that's my butt!

Read more...

ILWS Sale-A-Bration Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to my turn in the In Love With Stamping Sale-A-Bration Blog Hop!
There are four rounds altogether; I am part of number two so you may have arrived from the lovely Krafty Biker page. Links to the next blog in this loop and the start of each round are at the end of my post so do take time to look at the many wonderful creations using this year's Sale-A-Bration stamp sets from Stampin' Up!

Don't forget, these sets can only be earned until the end of February and then they are gone! You get them FREE by spending £45 or hosting a workshop with product sales of £300 or more. Just get in touch to place your order or arrange your home party.

I have two cards to share, both using the beautiful Bliss set in different ways.

On the first I have gone for the faux tile look, which I posted about a few days ago.



It is quite sraightforward but involves a bit of time and patience!



First, I created the whole tile image by stamping the beautiful motif in Crumb Cake and Basic Gray on to Very Vanilla cardstock. I used my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to line them up correctly.



Then I cut this up into squares, distressed the edges a bit with the Cutter Kit and covered each one with Crysal Effects. This dries to a clear laquer, making them look like ceramic tiles. I left them overnight to be absolutely sure I wouldn't smudge them!



Then I stuck on to Crumb Cake cardstock to act as the grout and finished off with some Twill Tape, stamped with the bird image from the set, and a Neutrals Button tied on with Linen Thread.



And now for the second card. This was inspired by my SU grandma Monica and I used my favourite colour - purple!



I adore this card so expect to see some variations in future!

I started by attaching a piece of Rich Razzleberry Striped Grosgrain Ribbon and a piece of the stunning Lap of Luxury DSP to the card blank.

Then I cut four squares of Crumb Cake cardstock and randomly stamped the motif in Crumb Cake and Basic Gray. The squares were then sanded at the edges, crumpled and inked up using the amazing Distressing Kit, which I am loving as vintage is soooo my thing at the moment! On one square I also stamped the Bliss and bird images in Rich Razzleberry.



The flowers and butterfly from the set were stamped in Rich Razzleberry on Very Vanilla cardstock and cut out, which was nowhere near as fiddly as it sounds! I stuck them on with Dimensionals for added effect.



As you can see I used lots of pearls all over as they are just soooooo pretty!



So there you go, two very different cards using the same FREE stamp set.

The next stop on round two of the blog hop is at Rachel's page, so go see what she has come up with!

And here are the starting points of each:
Round one: Sara
Round two: Theresa
Round three: Keren
Round four: Kirsteen

Read more...

Scrapbook page: My trip to America

Yesterday I went round to mummy Julie's to help her out with some crafty things. We had a good natter and got loads done. While I was there she made a scrapbook page and with that and her class this afternoon, at which I will be scrapping some pics of my niece and nephew, I got home and was in the mood for getting stuck in!

So, I dug out a picture of me I have been meaning to do something with for ages. It was taken in May 2007 in a bar in Minneapolis. I had been sent to the USA on a press trip and on arrival handed the keys to a brand new Chrysler Sebring and told to drive 400 miles around Minnesota and Wisconsin! Bear in mind I had passed my test just a few months earlier and had only ever driven a Vauxhall Corsa!

Anyway, it was so much fun and I survived going the wrong way down a one-way street, the lack of roundabouts and being shouted at for doing U-turns and "parking improperly".

For this page I focused on the awesome Newsprint DSP. This is totally me and I use it as much as possible. This background sheet is just perfect for scrapbooking.



I matted the image on to Pacific Point card, which is pretty close to the colour of my top, and used the Spiral Border Punch to make it look like a notebook page. I added a paperclip from the Clips Assortment. The typewriter is from an American SU set called Puns From The Past. The ribbon is Basic Black Striped Grosgrain and Twill Tape, stamped onto randomly with the Just Perfect Alphabet.



The map is actually another design in the Newsprint DSP stack. I went to town with the Distressing Essentials kit, using the sanding block to roughen the edges and the Tea Stain Ink Spot to age it.I stamped USA with the Broadsheet Alphabet. I used brads and some Linen Thread and 3mm Taffeta Ribbon to decorate and marked the places I stayed with Xs. The arrow is a piece of chipboard from the On-Board pack, covered in Blueberry Crisp DSP.



The journalling is done on the oval stamp from the Notably Ornate set, framed with more chipboard pieces, this time covered in another pattern from the Newsprint DSP.



Finally, I decided to highlight some of the super adverts on the Newsprint DSP. Again, I used the Distressing Essentials to rough them up.



This one is my favourite!



I definitely have the scrapbooking bug now so expect more layouts soon!

Read more...

A Newsprint meander book

Yesterday before my SAB workshop I sat down for an awesome craft session and decided to make a meander book. I saw the idea at the blog of a fellow SU demo Peg Coombes. She made this and it was so lovely I had to give it a go.
Luckily the actual pocket pages are really easy to do with a piece of DSP, then it was the decorating and filling that took the most time!
Here is my effort, using my favourite Newsprint DSP and my newest stamp set Notably Ornate.

This is the front, and no surprise I have also used the Twill Tape stamped with the Music Notes Wheel and the beautiful Striped Grosgrain Ribbon.
Controversially, the back is decorated in portrait orientation.

I have used the pearls all over as they are just too damn pretty.

This is how it looks inside. The DSP is folded to create five little pockets.

And these are the tags. I have done it as a kind of life book for 2011, with words to inspire and motivate me. I have space for one more though so suggestions on a postcard please!
If you would like to have a go at making one go here and ask Peg nicely! Thanks again to her for making the tutorial!

Read more...

Convention gift swaps

Here are the items I made for a gift swap at Convention earlier this month.
I used some Twill Tape to make little brooches. I stamped the cotton tape with the So Swirly Jumbo Wheel and folded it over at the ends. I then added a folded piece of 3mm Taffeta Ribbon and fastened on a couple of Neutrals Buttons with Linen Thread.
The backing cards they were presented on used the beautiful Newsprint DSP and Broadsheet Alphabet.
I kept one for myself, which I wear all the time, and gave one to Shelli Gardner, the co-founder of Stampin' Up!
I love being able to use the SU products for things other than cards - it is all so versatile and you just need a bit of imagination!

Read more...

Another bookmark

Last night I had some of the lovely WI ladies round for my monthly card class. We drank tea, chatted lots and made several projects.
This was my favourite - a bookmark. It uses the beautiful Love Letter DSP and I punched out a little heart and added some sparkle with the amazing Rhinestone Jewels. I love little touches like that, it really sets the whole thing off. The monogram is from Broadsheet Alphabet, of course, and once again I wheeled the Music Notes Wheel on to Twill Tape.
Now I need another book and some extra hours in the day to read it!

Read more...

Newsprint bookmarks

Now Convention is over I can show you some of the swaps and gifts I made for people. Well, I have actually posted a couple already without saying cos I loved them too much!
I made these bookmarks for an organised 3D swap, and also did one for mummy Julie, my roomie Joy and the lovely Vicky Hayes, whose blog never fails to inspire me. And I sent one to my mum as well!
They were really easy but fun to make as there are several elements but nothing too complicated. The base is a piece of textured River Rock card and Newsprint DSP on a mat of Basic Black Card. The bottom was shaped with the Eyelet Border Punch. At the top, I had wheeled the Music Notes on to a piece of Twill Tape and threaded it through a punched hole several times. Then, stamped the recipient's initial using Broadsheet Alphabet, cut out and layered on. I added a bit of 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon and a Neutrals Button with Linen Thread.
I kept one for myself so now I just have to find time to read!

Read more...