Chocolate Box

Yesterday I showed you a card which I had CASE'd from a fellow team member, Aida, and I promised I would be back today to show you the matching box I made to go with it. Aida kindly said I could share her design with you which is posted on her Facebook page and can be found here.      

The box I have made is different to Aida's as I wanted it to hold a few yummy chocolates - it is approx 5" tall x 2" square. Made with the same supplies as yesterday's card, those being Naturals White cardstock, Gorgeous Grunge stamps, Elegant Butterfly punch and a piece of Crochet Trim and Elegant Eggplant Ribbon. The top of the box was shaped using the Scallop Tag Topper Punch.

I have also made a variation on this design so, if you would like to see it, then do pop back tomorrow :0)


I am back at school today after the half term break - does anyone else remember when school holidays seemed to last for an eternity? Now they seem to go in a flash. Oh well just another sign of old age I suppose!!

Margaret x

Simples Sunday

My Simples Sunday card today is one I've unashamedly CASE'd from a fellow team member, Aida Dominguez VD Veeken. Aida is a Stampin'Up! demonstrator in the Netherlands and posted her version of the card on our team's Facebook page and I thought it was simply stunning - definitely my style of card! I have emailed Aida to ask if I can share her Facebook page with you but, as yet, I've not heard back from her so until I do I will just have to say a big thank you to her for sharing her gorgeous design.
I used Naturals White cardstock, two stamps from Gorgeous Grunge, a sentiment from Express Yourself cut with the Modern Label Punch and the Elegant Butterfly Punch. Other than a few Basic Rhinestones that's it - Simples!
Please pop back tomorrow to see the matching box and, hopefully, I will have heard from Aida and  be able to direct you to her :0)   **Edited to add Aida's link - click here

Margaret x

Chocolate Wrapper

Since buying the Envelope Punch Board I have been having a go at making various things which I have seen on YouTube and other demo's blogs but, this time, I have actually come up with an idea of my own!!!!
This is a chocolate bar wrapper which makes a simple bar of chocolate into something a little bit special. I started with a piece of Pink Pirouette DSP (from the old style DSP pack) and made a simple box envelope but, instead of overlapping two of the flaps, I took them both to the centre and folded them back - a dab of glue keeps them in place. I then wrapped a piece of Pink Pirouette Taffeta Ribbon around to conceal the join and added a butterfly punched from the Elegant Butterfly and Bitty Butterfly punches.
Simple but quite effective I think (and even better that I managed to come up with an idea of my own!!!!)

Margaret x

 

Simples Sunday

Once again I'm combining the LIM challenge - 'Use DSP in a CAS Way' - along with my Simples Sunday post. Yesterday's entry was very simple and this one is just as simple!
I used a panel of Naturals White cardstock, punched three butterflies with the Elegant Butterfly punch, stamped the antennae from Papillon Potpourri and a sentiment from Four You in Crisp Cantaloupe then added three score lines. A strip of Crisp Cantaloupe DSP was fixed to the Naturals White card blank before placing the punched panel on top. All that was left was to add a few Basic Rhinestones to the butterflies.

Thanks for stopping by

Margaret x

October's Card Swap

These are the cards I received from the lovely Alison, a member of the Card Swap Group, for last month's Autumn themed swap.
How lucky was I to receive two cards form Alison? She said this was because she thought she didn't have any stamps which fitted the theme so she made the one on the left before remembering she had the Trendy Trees set, which she used for the card on the right!! I love them both Alison so thank you very much.

Margaret x

Another Splash of Colour

This is my second entry into this week's LIM challenge which is to use a splash of colour(s) on a dark background. This is also my second post of the day so scroll down for the Simples Sunday post, although this card would qualify for 'simple' just as well! Now I have to say that in real life my card looks quite a bit darker than this but I couldn't get it to photograph any better. I have used Night of Navy cardstock for the base colour and added butterflies punched with the Elegant Butterfly and Bitty Butterfly punches using Soft Sky and Night of Navy. I punched an aperture with the Modern Label Punch and placed a piece of Soft Sky behind with the (retired) sentiment stamped in Night of Navy. For the 'sparkle' I added some Basic Rhinestones.
Well it's back to work for me tomorrow - where did that week go? I can't believe that the next holiday will be Christmas - aaargh!!!

Margaret x

 

Card Swap Group

This is the card I've made for this month's Card Swap Group and is for Zoe Tant (her bog is here). It was Zoe's birthday last month so I happen to know her favourite colour is purple and, knowing that, I just had to use Elegant Eggplant. Jane, the organiser of the group, has set a little challenge to use embossing this month and this could either be dry or heat embossing - I chose the dry embossing. I started by embossing a piece of Elegant Eggplant cardstock with the Chevron Embossing Folder and, once this was done, I placed it onto Whisper White and embossed zig-zag lines on either side using my Simply Scored Borders Plate. Three butterflies were punched from vellum using the Elegant Butterfly Punch and then embossed using three different folders. The sentiment from Pennant Parade was punched with the small Scallop Circle Punch and layered onto Word Window and Modern Label punched pieces. A few Basic Rhinestones were added for the finishing touches.
Well it's Friday again, let's hope the weather is a bit better than last weekend!!

New Colour Sneak Peek

I'm not really a 'pink' person myself but, if you are, then the new SU Strawberry Slush is right up your street. This is a really vibrant colour and not one of your wishy-washy pinks and has a name which sounds good enough to eat!!!
This is another very simple card using the Papillon Potpourri stamp set and co-ordinating punch for the large butterfly third from the left (the others were stamped directly onto the Whisper White panel). For the pink panel going down the card I simply shaped one edge using the Scallop Border Punch and then ran through the Stripes Embossing Folder. I added a little bit of scoring/embossing on two corners and few Basic Rhinestones were dotted around to add a bit of bling!
The new annual catalogue goes live on 2nd July so if you would like to purchase any supplies then please don't hesitate to contact me - I am offering free p&p (normally £4.95) on orders over £50 until July 31st.

LIM Handkerchief Style

The Less is More challenge today is to make 'a birthday card for Jen' and, because Jen says if she had to make a card for herself it would include dogs, cats or butterflies, I went for the butterflies.
Now a bit about the 'handkerchief style'. This is a new 'style' designed by the lovely and very talented Vicky Hayes. Please go and look at her cards they are beautiful!(just click on her name and you'll be whisked straight there). Vicky has named this because it reminds her of a folded hankie - what better reason?
I have used Whisper White and Elegant Eggplant along with the Papillon Potpourri stamps set and a, soon retiring, sentiment from Made for You.
This is a really quick card to make, made even quicker by the co-ordinating Elegant Butterfly and Bitty Butterfly punches!

Have a lovely weekend - it is absolutely pouring down here at the moment and I am being deafened by the noise it is making on the conservatory roof, but hopefully it will brighten up later! x

This is the inside of the card!

Explosion Boxes

These are the little gifts I made for the ladies who attended my class last week (and of course one for my sister who always comes to help me!) They are made from Island Indigo, Baja Breeze and Old Olive cardstock and decorated with co-ordinating DSP from the Twitterpated pack. Inside are butterflies punched with the Elegant Butterfly and Bitty Butterfly punches and Basic Rhinestones. As you can see they hold a battery operated tealight which had also been decorated with DSP and a tiny butterfly from the Beautiful Wings Embosslit die.

If you would like to order any of the supplies shown or anything else from the catalogue (links to current catalogues on my side bar) then please do not hesitate to contact me and I will be happy to help. My contact details can be found on the tab at the top of the page. 
Or maybe you have considered becoming a Stampin'Up! Demonstrator yourself - if so, now is the time to join us. 
If you join before 30th May 2013, you'll be able to take advantage of Stampin' Up's 25th anniversary promotion. For your £99 outlay, you will get to choose a whopping £155 worth of products to put in your starter kit! You'll get business stationery and catalogues worth £45 on top of that and the whole thing will be delivered to your door for free!

If you join now your first quarterly minimum is not to be reached until the end of September 2013.  We have a new catalogue launch before then so  you would benefit from seeing the new catalogue and the products a month before everyone else and be able to place a pre-order too!

Why not contact me for a no-obligation chat?

Card Swap Group

I really can't believe we are on the THIRD month of the card swap group but it's that time again and this month I have to make a card for the lovely Sue. My sister and I met Sue and her sister at a Craft Retreat we attended 2 years ago and we immediately got on really well. When we met Sue and Carole again at the Retreat last year it was like meeting up with old friends and we had a great weekend. Sadly the Retreat is not happening this year so we have to resort to keeping in touch by email, well that is until it's our turn to send a card to each other :0)

Anyway Jane has set a theme this month and that is to make a card in the recipients favourite colours and Sue's are orange and yellow. Jane's email had the comment 'can't wait to see what you come up with' and that's probably because as a regular visitor to my blog she is well aware I don't do bright colours! Well I've tried Jane :0) I have used Pumpkin Pie and Daffodil Delight cardstock along with Polka Dot Parade DSP. The Whisper White panel in the middle was embossed with the Honeycomb Embossing Folder and inked around the edges with Daffodil Delight, the butterflies punched with Elegant Butterfly and Bitty Butterfly punches, and the sentiment was punched with the Word Window Punch and matted onto a Decorative Label Punch. 

I posted my card to Sue on Tuesday so hopefully I'm not posting it on here before she's received it! Have a great weekend and I'm sure to be back tomorrow for the Less is More challenge.

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!

A very different style!

I have given this post it's title because, for me, that's exactly what it is - a very different style. Having said that, I really enjoyed making it and am surprisingly pleased with the finished card. It does look so much better in real life as the butterflies and leaves are both curled to stand out a little which gives more dimension than you see in a photo.
The reason behind the making of this card is that a demo on ILWS has decided to set up something new called 'Pinterest Challenge' whereby someone chooses a card they've seen on Pinterest and the challenge is to replicate it using SU products.
And this is the first one (far right)
The one thing that does annoy me about Pinterest is that when things are repinned so many times it can take a long time to get back to the original - if at all. However I think that the credit for this particular card should be given to someone called Nataliya Serova, but I could be wrong!
I'm sure you don't want to be bored by me giving you step by step detail of what I did so I will just tell you the products and leave it at that
Stamp sets - En Francais, Summer Silhouettes, In Stitches Wheel (which has been taken apart to make separate stamps), French Foliage and a retired sentiment
Elegant Butterfly Punch, Autumn Accents Bigz die
The background which the distressed panel sits on is a piece of Basic Black DSP from the Neutrals stack which has been sponged all over with Lucky Limeade - something I've never thought of doing but it does give a really nice effect.
If you would like to enter the challenge, or just take a look at what others have done, this link will take you there http://www.inlovewithstamping.com/forum/showthread.php?p=238630#post238630

I hope the next challenge card inspires me as much as this one did!

Two Boxes

Last week two of my grandchildren came to see me and they wanted to 'make somefing' - my grandaughter announced that she wanted to make a jewellery box! Now, thinking that was a little ambitious for a 2 and a half year old, I persuaded her and her 4 year old brother to do some stamping on a lunch bag and then cut out the letters in their name to stick on with the promise that Granny would make her a jewellery box. Working on the basis that a box made from card wouldn't last 5 minutes in the hands of a toddler I hunted around for a suitable box to decorate and found this (along with several others that have been sitting around in cupboards for a very long time). By pure chance the Scallop Circle die fitted perfectly so I cut one in Pretty in Pink DSP and glued this to the lid. I punched out some butterflies in cardstock and DSP, using the Elegant Butterfly and Bitty Butterfly, to decorate. The butterflies around the box were glued straight on but I thought the ones on top needed to be a bit more substantial so I covered them with Crystal Effects and sprinkled with Dazzling Diamonds. When they were dry I assembled them and added a Basic Rhinestone before fixing them to the lid. It must be the Granny in me because I don't like to give one without the other so I made this 'treasure chest' for my grandson with a similar box and decorated with the Owl Builder punch.

I have to say they were both thrilled with them and soon had them filled with treasure - albeit the jewellery box was soon home to micro machine cars rather than jewels! Before I left my grandaughter said 'Granny you're special' - I'm not too sure what she meant by that :0)

Beads and cards with a difference!!

When I saw the Less is More challenge this week was 'Use Beads' I decided this wasn't the week for me. I don't even own any beads, let alone use them (or so I thought!) so I took myself off to my craftroom to have a go at making another 'notecard' for my class next month. You can see that one below. After making that I decided I would make a wedding version, for a friend of my daughters who is getting married in a couple of weeks, and I suddenly remembered that somewhere I had an old SU Pretties Kit lurking (never used might I add!) Perfect - a card 'with a difference' made and an entry into LIM!!! I made an open top envelope and used one of the Apothecary Accents Framelits to cut the shape in the top. The insert was made from Brushed Silver and Whisper White and the sentiment silver embossed. The outside was decorated with two punched butterflies, Basic Rhinestones, Whisper White Taffeta ribbon and a stick pin with BEADS!!!! Both of these 'cards' fit into a standard C6 envelope.

This is my original version made in the same way, using Pool Party and Whisper White for the colour scheme along with Basic Pearls. The sentiment is from Friendly Phrases. Can you see how the size of the sentiment framelit has been reduced? Well there's a brilliant tutorial on YouTube, by a demo named Tanya Bell showing you how to do it - take a look here

And just to finish - this is what I woke up to this morning and it's still snowing. Did someone say it was Spring????

My card today is one that I CASE'd from Dawn Griffith (her card can be seen here). I loved the way she had shaped the cardstock and when I worked out how to do it I had to have a go at making one. For those of you who want to know, a strip of card is slotted a little way into the Elegant Butterfly punch so it just punches the top of the wings (the bottom piece is done in the same way but turned upside down) The cardstock is Rich Razzleberry, the large butterflies are punched with the Elegant Butterfly punch in a design from the Sycamore Street DSP and the small butterflies are Pool Party cardstock cut with the Beautiful Wings Embosslits. The sentiment is from a Sale-a-Bration set called Vintage Verses and is stamped with Rich Razzleberry.
I'm so glad to see the back of all that snow but, at the same time, really feel for all those that are now affected by the awful floods. I hope you're not one of them! Take care and I'll be back soon x