Simples Sunday CASE'd Card

Whilst browsing through the lovely entries for yesterday's LIM challenge I came across a card which I loved and just had to CASE. It was made by Jenny and her card can be seen here (with another version here and yet another here) - do go and have a look they are fab! I do hope Jenny is not offended that I've called it simple but, even though it may be simple to make, I think the design is stunning.
Normally for my Simples Sunday I don't make cards that use a lot of products as I know how annoying it can be to see a card you'd like to make but not have the right dies or punches etc etc. However I make no apology today as, even if you don't own the products that I used you can easily 'do it yourself' with a little cutting. (see card below)
I used the Petite Pennant Punch for the trees, punched from Polka Dot Parade DSP, and one of the Adorning Accents Edgelits for the snow mound. The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Sentiments, stamped in Old Olive.
And here's one made with just scissors and no fancy stuff!

Margaret x

Less is More (and Simples Sunday - a day early!)

Less is More has a guest designer Hannelie (or Desert Diva) this week and, to acknowledge her blog name, the challenge is SAND. It doesn't have to be the colour, it can be anything related to sand but as you can see I have gone for the colour element!
I've kept the design simple for two reasons - one being I didn't have a lot of time this morning and secondly because I don't have a Simples Sunday card this week so this one can be doubled up as Less is More & Simples Saturday!!
If you're wondering about the colour I've used it's Baked Brown Sugar, a brand new colour from SU which will be available on Tuesday with the new catalogue launch. I took a strip of cardstock and diecut both sides with an Adorning Accents Edgelits die, then matted a piece of Very Vanilla on top before tying round some Baker's Twine. I stamped the image from Love & Sympathy in Baked Brown Sugar onto a Neutrals Ivory card blank before matting the panel on top. To finish the card a sentiment, from Petite Pairs and again in Baked Brown Sugar, was stamped on the Very Vanilla.
I have a special 'afternoon tea' to go to tomorrow (provided by my lovely sister of course!) to celebrate my Mum's 92nd birthday. She will have her two daughters, three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren there and I have a feeling it could be a bit hectic :0)

Whatever you're doing have a great weekend and I'll be back soon x

Butterflies and Cake

 

I was asked to make a 40th birthday card last week and was given a brief of purple, butterflies and a cake! Well here are the butterflies, punched with the Elegant Butterfly and Bitty Butterfly punches, in Elegant Eggplant cardstock and DSP and they are sitting on swirls from Wedding Sweet. The bottom edge of both the Whisper White and Elegant Eggplant panels were cut with a die from Adorning Accents Edgelits and embossed with the matching folder. The two tiny butterflies at the bottom were cut with the Beautiful Wings Embosslits die. The sentiment is made up with stamps from Memorable Moments using a stamp-a-ma-jig for perfect alignment. Well that's the purple and butterflies taken care of but where's the cake?

Here inside!

 

Images and sentiment from Create-a-Cupcake

LIM Again!

I have managed to get a few jobs on my list done this morning, one of them being the mammoth task of tidying my Craft room - I am such an untidy crafter!! Whilst in there I came across some punched butterflies left over from another card but surplus to requirements and an idea immediately popped into my head for the sketch challenge at LIM. So what did I do? Yes, made another mess in my newly tidied room!!! I don't kow why but whenever the room is tidy is seems to give me license to mess it up again :0)
A really simple card for my second entry into the challenge using Elegant Eggplant cardstock and DSP, the Elegant Butterfly and Bitty Butterfly punches and a retired sentiment punched with the Modern Label Punch. Just to add a bit of interest I diecut the bottom edge of the panel with one of the Adorning Accents Edgelit dies and added a bit of paper piercing using the template in the Essentials Paper Piercing Pack. A few dimensionals, to fix the panel to the card blank, and a few Basic Rhinestones and second entry today DONE!

ILWS Blog Hop

Welcome to the ILWS Blog Hop showcasing products from the brand new Autumn/Winter catalogue and the 2012-13 Ideas Book & Catalogue. Scroll down to see what I've been making.







You will have come to me from Laura, at http://lauracreativeideas.blogspot.com/ who's idea it was and who is the first stop on the blog hop.Thanks for organising us all Laura :0)
I won't go into too much detail as you will want to move on to see all the other projects from the lovely demo's taking part.  The first set of things are made with the Ghoulish Googlies Bundle & Howlstooth DSP
                                                                                                                           

The B&W striped Milk Carton above holds a battery nite lite and the picture in the centre shows what it looks like lit up when it's dark! Credit for the ideas of the Notebooks (top right) goes to Vicky Hayes (aka Crafting Clare) and Ange Juda (aka Chic'n'Scratch) for the Two-Fold Treat holder (bottom right). Next thing to show you are projects made with the Autumn Accents Bigz Die

Left & Right are cards made with the die cut leaves/acorns which have been sponged, scored and curled to give dimension and in the centre is a wreath made from die cut leaves and acorns which have been made in the same way. On the wreath I added some Crystal Effects to the acorns to make them a little more 3D. My final projects are showing you the fabulous new 2012-14 In Colours - Raspberry Ripple, Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, Primrose Petals & Summer Starfruit. I used the Mixed Bunch stamp set & matching Blossom Punch along with the Adorning Accents Edgelits Dies and Embossing Folders which were all in the Summer Mini but have thankfully been carried over to the main catalogue.

Right I hope you're not too bored now after this long post and you will carry on happily 'hopping'. Your next stop is Angela over at http://www.sparklycards.blogspot.co.uk/

 Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your journey :0)
Just in case any of the links aren't working, below is a list of all the demos taking part
 1 - CreativeIdeas_Laura http://laura-creativeideas.blogspot.com
2 - Margaretk21 - http://makingpapercrafts.blogspot.com
3 - Angela www.sparklycards.blogspot.co.uk
4 - Leanie - www.beautifulimpressions.co.uk
5 - Alison - www.craftingalison.blogspot.com
6 - Beckie - www.bextiesandstickytape.blogspot.com
7 - Gill - http://lilybygilly.wordpress.com
8 - Diane - http://craftwithstyle.blogspot.com
9 - Dawn - www.tartanstamper.blogspot.com
10- Zoë http://www.stampingscene.blogspot.com
11- Fiona W - http://oakfieldcrafts.blogspot.com
12- Elaina - http://moulinrougestamps.blogspot.co.uk
13- Anne-Marie - http://classycrafters.blogspot.co.uk
14- Sarah - http://esellek.blogspot.co.uk
15- Vronnie - http://vronstampin.blogspot.co.uk
16- Christa - http://serendipity-stamping.blogspot.co.uk
17- RuthE - http://pearsonifiedcrafting.blogspot.co.uk
18- CarolynUK - http://stampaholix.blogspot.co.uk/
19- Amanda - http://thecraftspa.blogspot.com
20- Patricia - http://stampinbeckscraft.blogspot.com
21- Tara - http://ihaventgotacleverblogname.blogspot.co.uk
22- Emma (Citaborca) - http://cocktailofcard.blogspot.co.uk/
23- Emma H - http://www.emma-letsstamp.blogspot.co.uk
24- Sarah Scribbles - http://card-delights.blogspot.com
25- Sarnie - http://www.kraftybiker.blogspot.com/
26- Sharon - http://all-inked-up-sharon.blogspot.co.uk
27- Lynn - http://www.heavenlycrafts.com/stampinheaven/
28- Emma - http://www.emma-daye.blogspot.com
29- Erika - http://twintroublescreations.blogspot.co.uk/
30- Elaine - http://thesassystampers.blogspot.co.uk/
31- Nicky - http://nickyjohncock.blogspot.com
33- Kara - http://karascraftycorner.blogspot.com/
34- Ally - http://www.serendipitypapercuts.blogspot.com
35- Clare (Sparkle) - http://www.sparklecrafts.blogspot.com
36- Julie H (craftybug) - http://www.the-crafty-bug.blogspot.com
37- Jane (browniow) - http://www.janeiowcraftycreations.blogspot.com/

3-2-1

3-2-1 yes that's the challenge at Less is More this week and this is my card - 3 Flowers, 2 Stripes and 1 Sentiment. It could also be my '6 of 6' for the card set I am making but I've already done that! The truth is that I haven't tidied up from making the set of cards I have been showing you this week and the flowers and the black border were left over so I thought I would put them to good use. All I had to do was cut a couple of extra daisies (from the Blossom Party die) and a strip of Crumb Cake. It's all very self-explanatory I think, as well as very simple) - cut and put together 3 daisies, cut two borders (one of mine is from the Adorning Accents Edgelits dies), assemble the card and stamp a sentiment!! My card base is Naturals Ivory and the sentiment is from Petite Pairs.

Two of Six

As you read this pretend it is tomorrow (Thursday) because I meant to schedule the post for then but hit the wrong button and can't seem to alter it now!!!
Yesterday I showed you a card which was part of a set so, today, I thought I'd show you the second card - again with a colour scheme of Crumb Cake and Basic Black. I started by cutting a piece of Crumb Cake DSP and cardstock to fit onto an A6 card blank and then cut the bottom edge of the DSP with a die from Adorning Accents Edgelits and embossed the bottom edge of the cardstock with the matching Adorning Accents Embossing folder both from the Summer Mini (which incidentally finishes in just over a week on 31st August). An image from Bordering on Romance, also from the Summer Mini, was stamped in Basic Black onto the DSP along with a sentiment from Sincere Salutations and small flowers made with the Boho Blossoms punch and one of the Itty Bitty punches were placed on the stems. Tiny Basic Pearls were added to the centres of the flowers to finish the card off. I will try to be back tomorrow with card number 3.

One Layer - Feathers

Well another busy week with not much time to craft, so when I saw the LIM challenge this week was a one layer card using Fur or Feathers, I thought I'd grab a few minutes to make one - I'm not so sure I should have bothered because I'm not very happy with the result but thought I'd show you anyway!

I used a stamp from a Hostess set which was available in the Spring Mini and using my markers I coloured the stamp with three colours, I then used the smallest die from the Framelits set to emboss a frame (turn the die so the cutting side is up) around the image. Although I love very simple cards I felt this was a bit too sparse so I cut down one side with an Adorning Accents Edgelits die and embossed the opposite side with an Adorning Accents Embossing Folder. After inking around all the edges on the front of the card I masked a strip on the inside of the card and inked this as well - the small picture above shows the card when shut. Not a brilliant effort but I tried :0)

Another Reason to Smile

I have found a few minutes this afternoon to post yet another card made with the gorgeous Reason to Smile set. This time I have used Early Espresso on a Naturals Ivory card base and a piece of First Edition Speacialty paper. I stamped the outline flower/stem stamp with early Espresso onto the DSP and then used Crumb Cake on the 'fill in' stamp. The edges of the cardstock and DSP were cut with one of the dies in the Adorning Accents Edgelits set and, and then layered this onto the Naturals Ivory card base which had been randomly stamped with the outline flower. Oh I missed a bit - before layering the panel onto the base I wrapped some Linen Thread around and tied in a knot. The tags are punched with the Jewelry tag punch and the sentiments are from For my Family (part of a stamp) and Tiny Tags. Be back soon x

Just a very quick post as it's been over a week since my last one. My Dad is still in hospital so not much time for crafting and, what little time I have had, I've been frantically making 60 Mini Milk Carton Favors for a wedding next Saturday! Anyway today's card is one which I made a couple of weeks ago for a retirement using flowers made with the Blossom Party die which was available in the Spring Mini (let's hope it reappears in the main catalogue in October). The small flowers are punched with an Itty Bitty Punch and the leaves are made with the Little Leaves Sizzlits die. I used Rich Razzleberry for the main colour with a mat of Whisper White on top, the side of this was cut with one of the Adorning Accents Edgelits die and embossed with an Adorning Accents Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, both available in the Summer Mini until the end of August. The card was finished off with a sentiment and a few Basic Pearls.

Thank you for still visiting and I will try to post again as soon as possible :0)

Thank you

 

The card today is very apt as I wanted to begin by saying a big thank you to all those people who have still kept visiting, and leaving good wishes, despite my distinct lack of blogging! Unfortunately this will continue for a while yet as my Dad is still very poorly in hospital and, as the time goes on, life gets even more hectic.

Anyway onto the card - being the end of the school year I have been asked by several colleagues for thank you cards so I have been frantically trying to put a few together and this is one of them.

The stamp is from the Simply Soft Hostess set, stamped in Certainly Celery and, as this is a 2-step set, the flower part stamped in Rich Razzleberry using a stamp-a-ma-jig. The bottom section of the card was cut at an angle using one of the Edgelits dies in the Summer Mini and then embossed with an Adorning Accents Embossing folder before layering onto Rich Razzleberry cardstock. This was matted onto a card blank and a sentiment added which was punched with the Word Window punch and layered onto a Modern Label.

I have more thank you cards to share with you so, as soon as I find a bit of spare time to show you, I'll be back.

Simply Stampin' Sketch

Oh dear, my posts this weekend are a bit like buses - nothing for ages then two come along at once! I have had a bit of extra crafting time this weekend due to the fact that I had to wait for someone to come and have a look at my conservatory roof which, in all this wind, has decided to come adrift. He has now been and inspected it and has to 'send the boys in' another day - just what I needed :0)
Anyway onto the cards which I made for the Simply Stampin' challenge. The first one is made with Perfect Plum as the card base with a strip of Elegant Eggplant, cut with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, placed across the card. The central panel is a Whisper White Top Note embossed with the Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder, inked around the edge and glued in place onto the card base. I added two flowers to the top left corner made with the 5-Petal Flower punch and two smaller flowers in the bottom right corner punched with the Boho Blossoms punch. The sentiment is from the retired Create-a-Cupcake set.
The second card was a bit of an experiment and I'm not overly pleased with it (think the added circles were a step too far!) but thought I'd show you anyway. I made a base card with Naturals Ivory cardstock and layered on a piece of DSP from the First Edition Speciality pack which I had overstamped with images from French Foliage in Basic Black. The strip across the middle is the negative part of a piece of cardstock which had been cut with one of the Adorning Accents Edgelits dies, I used the negative part because I thought it looked more manly than the piece you are supposed to use! Three tags, stamped with Tiny Tags and cut with the Jewelry Tag punch, were added to the central strip and I think this is where I should have stopped. However, because the sketch required circles I stamped two of the French Foliage leaves and punched them out with a circle punch and overlapped these onto two slightly larger circles punched from Basic Black cardstock.

LIM - Something Shiny!

Well it's been a while since I entered the Less is More challenge, for no other reason than lack of time or circumstances! So this week I was determined to join in again and discovered that this week's challenge is 'Something Shiny' and here is my effort.

I used the Love & Laughter set from the Summer Mini and embossed the dress, sentiment and heart in silver then, just to add a bit of interest, I shaped two sides using the Adorning Accents Edgelits die (also in the Summer Mini). I used the die again to shape a piece of Brushed Silver cardstock and cut this slightly larger to enable me to layer the image on top and leave a border. After matting this onto a card blank I punched three flowers from Itty Bitty Shapes pack from some card stock which I had previously spritzed with Platinum Shimmer paint and leaves from the Bird Builder punch in Brushed Silver and added these to the top corner. Basic Rhinestones were placed in the centre of the flowers and the heart to finish the card.

Well the weather here is really miserable again - very windy and dark so I guess we're in for yet more rain very soon! Whatever you are doing this weekend have a good one x