Simples Sunday

What a busy week - hence no blogging!! However I am popping on quickly with a Simples Sunday card for you.
This was made using the new In Colours, Hello Honey and Mossy Meadow. The stripes across the card are a stamp from Work of Art stamped with Early Espresso, the flowers from Petite Petals punched with the co-ordinating punch and the leaves from the ever faithful Bird Builder punch. I used a card base of Naturals Ivory matted with Hello Honey and Very Vanilla and the sentiment is a very old retired SU stamp.

It is very nearly the end of the school year and is always a very busy time so I will be taking a break from blogging for a couple of weeks but please come back as I have loads of stuff to show you (just not the time!!)

Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back in a couple of weeks

Margaret x

LIM 'Earth Tones' Thank You

 

Good morning all, it's been a week since my last post but I have been so busy with commissioned leaving cards, wedding cards and Grandaughters party favours etc etc (not to mention going to work!) that I haven't found the spare time to do any blogging.

I needed to make a thank you card for a work colleague so I decided to use inspiration from this week's LIM colour challenge - Earth Tones.

I used a Naturals Ivory card blank matted with the new In Colour, Hello Honey, and Very Vanilla. The 'stripes' across the card are a stamp from Work of Art stamped in Early Espresso, as is the very old SU sentiment (but one I can't bear to part with!). Three stamped images from Petite Petals were punched out with the co-ordinating punch, fixed to the card and a couple of Mossy Meadow leaves (another new In Colour) punched from the Bird Builder punch were added. A non-SU pearl was placed in the flower centres to finish the card.

It is dark and raining here at the moment - typical weekend weather really - but have a good one whatever you are doing

Margaret x

Handbag Gift Holder

I have been busy this week and have neglected my blog so I have popped on very quickly tonight to show you a bag that we made at our class last month - the ladies loved it! Quite a long time ago I made small versions of this which held a lip salve but Elaine, at Papercraft Button, made a larger version which reminded me about them again! Elaine's version, along with all the measurements AND a video tutorial, can be found here. While you are there do have a look at the other fabulous projects Elaine has posted.
This one was made with Very Vanilla cardstock teamed up with paper from the Modern Medley DSP pack which, by the way, is only available until the end of the month so get it while you can. I have also used Flower Shop and Petite Petals with the co-ordinating punches and the handles were made with the Circles Framelits.

That's all for now, I'll be back soon

Margaret x

Guest Designer for LIM!

I was really flattered when Chrissie, from Less is More, invited me to be a Guest Designer for this week's challenge, which is to create a card Using More than One Stamp Set. I have been entering cards for the challenges right from the start and have only missed a few weeks since Chrissie & Mandi started the challenge blog in February 2011. I have to say it has become a bit of an obsession with me at 8 o'clock on a Saturday morning, when I can often be found making cards when I really should be doing something else :0)
Anyway here are the three cards I have made - Using More than One Stamp Set

My first card uses the Field Flowers stamp set for the stems and the sentiment and the flowers are from Petite Petals, punched with the co-ordinating punch. I used Old Olive for the stems and Melon Mambo for the sentiment and flowers.
To add a bit of interest I added some paper piercing using a template from the Festive Paper Piercing Pack.

My second card uses the Gorgeous Grunge set and the cute little lion and sentiment from Zoo Babies.
The Gorgeous Grunge 'splatter' was stamped in Pumpkin Pie and Crumb Cake and the lion was inked using markers in the same colours. This was punched with a Circle Punch and matted onto a Scallop Circle then fixed to the card with dimensionals. The panel was matted onto Crumb Cake cardstock and then onto a plain white card blank.

My final card uses Gorgeous Grunge (again!) and the image and sentiment from the Hostess set, Simply Sketched. I started by stamping the Gorgeous Grunge 'splat' in Old Olive on a piece of Whisper White cardstock then the bird stamp was coloured using Old Olive and Chocolate Chip markers and stamped on top of the 'splat' before colouring the bird using a Blender Pen. This was matted onto a piece of Old Olive cardstock which had been stamped with Gorgeous Grunge and the sentiment, punched with the Oval Punch, was matted onto a Modern Label.

Thanks once again to Chrissie for the invite and I'll be back soon

Margaret x

A Retirement Card, the Retiring List and a special offer!

Last week a good friend at work retired and I was asked (as usual!) to make a leaving card for everyone to sign. It was another large card - A4 - which I always find quite difficult but everyone loved it so that was ok. For the sentiment I used a couple of retired stamps and the name was cut with (the also retired) Timeless Type Junior Alphabet dies. All this was on a Whisper White Oval cut from the Ovals Framelits and matted onto a Summer Starfruit Scallop Oval, from the same set. The larger flowers were made with the Flower Shop and Petite Petals stamp sets and co-ordinating punches and the tiny flowers are from one of this year's SAB sets punched with an Itty Bitty Punch, with leaves from the Bird Builder Punch. The card was finished off with a bit of paper piercing, some scoring, a knot of Summer Starfruit Stitched Satin Ribbon and a couple of Papillon Potpourri butterflies - oh and of course some pearls!!



The brand new catalogue will be here soon but, in the meantime, the Retiring List is now available. There are lots of stamp sets and accessories, some at reduced prices. Click here to see them. These products are only available while stocks last so get them while you can! I am offering free postage & packing on all orders over £35 until the end of June so, if you would like to take advantage of this, please contact me at margaretk21@hotmail.co.uk or telephone 01933 663477 leave a message and I'll be very happy to help (Only applies to orders placed through me, not any online orders)

Margaret x

This is one of the projects we made at last week's class - a card and matching money/gift card holder. It uses Summer Starfruit cardstock and ribbon and some of this year's SAB designer paper.
The flowers were stamped with an image from Flower Shop and one from Petite Petals and punched with the co-ordinating punches. The sentiment on the card is from Field Flowers and was punched out with the Small Oval Punch and matted on a Modern Label. The closure for the money holder was diecut using one of the Labels Collection Framelits (sentiment and punch on holder are now retired).

The weather here has been atrocious today, it hasn't stopped raining so I have been busy making a commissioned engagement card and 'practicing' projects for my next class. Maybe it will be dry tomorrow :0)

Margaret x

Little gifts!

A very quick post from me to show you some little gifts I made for my class ladies last week. A few weeks ago I came across these little bath confetti pods (above right) and, as they were in SU colours, I couldn't resist them!
The little boxes were made with the Envelope Punch Board and each one held two of the confetti pods. They were decorated with matching DSP, a Bitty Butterfly, a little bit of Petite Petals stamping, a sentiment from Chalk Talk, an Itty Bitty flower and finished with co-ordinating ribbon.

I am on half-term this week and yesterday I came down with a cold - why does it always happen when I'm on holiday??

Bye for now

Margaret x

Simples Sunday meets Frugal Friday!

Firstly I must explain the title of today's post. I came across a new challenge the other day set by Lizy, a fellow SU team member, called Frugal Friday where she is challenging people to use up those scraps lying around on your desk. Well I think I have enough scraps lying around to make enough cards to open my own shop so here is just one card that I have put together this morning using the scraps at the top of my pile (Lizy also wanted us to post a photo of the scraps on our desk, so you can see that below)
My card base is Naturals Ivory, matted with Wisteria Wonder and a Very Vanilla panel stamped with the Woodgrain stamp. The tag was made with the Scallop Tag Topper punch and decorated with Petite Petals, a sentiment from Four You and a scrap of Wisteria Wonder Ruffled Ribbon. Three Bitty Butterflies were added along with a few Basic Pearls. The only thing that was done especially for this card was the stamping of the sentiment and the addition of the pearls - even the card base was lying around waiting to be used!!
Why not set yourself the challenge and then post your card on Lizy's blog (link above).
All that leaves is for me to wish you a great Bank Holiday weekend and a photo of my (untidy) desk!

 

 

Margaret x

Makes me Smile!

The theme over at LIM this week is - 'Makes me Smile' which took a bit of thinking about. There are lots of things that make me smile but how to show them in a card? Well this is my way of doing it -
All of my family & friends make me smile so the sentiment is dedicated to each and every one of them
Flowers always make me smile so here they are on my card
Clean, simple and orderly makes me smile (and being a tad OCD that's not just in my papercrafting!) and that is the overall card.
Just to prove that flowers make me smile I thought I would share a photo of the beautiful flowers my 3 year old Grandaughter chose for me for my birthday a couple of days ago

Oh and I really can't forget the other thing that makes me smile (my birthday present from my 5 year old Grandson) Chocolate of course!

They know me too well!!!!

Have a great weekend

Margaret x

For My Mum!

This is the card I made to give my Mum on Mother's Day, using my two favorite stamp sets of the moment! The background for the flowers was done with stamps from Gorgeous Grunge, stamped in Real Red and the flowers are, of course, from Petite Petals punched out with the co-ordinating punch. The sentiment from Teeny Tiny Sentiments, punched with the Word Window Punch and matted onto a Modern Label Punch. I finished the card with a few Basic Pearls.

Can you believe it's April already - where is the year going to??

Margaret x

Treat Box & Matching Card

This is a matching treat box and card we made at a class today and the box is similar to the one I posted a few weeks ago which can be seen here. (The card was CASE'd from Jill Franchett)
The idea came about when I was doing some instructions for another box which we also made at today's class and, whilst checking them over, this idea popped into my head. The box measures approx 2" wide and 5" high so is just the right size for a few sweet treats.
It is made in Smoky Slate cardstock and decorated with DSP from the Watercolour Wonder pack. Of course it has to have some Petite Petals flowers (I don't seem to make much these days that hasn't got these little beauties on!!) and they are stamped in Daffodil Delight and Smoky Slate then cut out with the co-ordinating punch. A few leaves from the Bird Builder punch and some colored paper cut with the Fringe Scissors finished the project.
If you would like to order any Stampin'Up! supplies then please do not hesitate to contact me and I'll be happy to help

Margaret x

One for the Mum's!

I was asked by a friend at work if I would make her a Mother's day card and this is what I've come up with. Using my favourite stamp sets of the moment - Petite Petals and Gorgeous Grunge!
A very simple card using squares of Whisper White matted onto slightly larger squares of Tangerine Tango cardstock. The flowers were stamped, again in Tangerine Tango, punched out with the co-ordinating punch and shaped to give them a bit of dimension. The ribbon is now retired, the sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes and there is the addition of a few tiny Basic Pearls.
As this has three squares I am entering it into the LIM challenge as well!

Margaret x