Monday 29 October 2012

A Quilt For My Sweet One.

A quick change of direction. I thought I'd share the quilt I made for Little Miss, I'm sure it will be the first of many, but this was supposed to be her first Christmas present. I finished it some time in June... 6 months later then planned, but hey! Life happens:) I made it almost entirely out of my treasured Heather Ross Far Far Away, cotton double gauze which is just the softest fabric you can imagine. The pattern, is a free download from the Amy Butler website which I have had sitting around for while, I just knew it would suit this fabric line. The fairy tale fabric is just so perfect for my little girl and my favourite part is the Princess and the Pea print that I used for the border. It took some fussy cutting but was so worth the extra time and effort.The borders and binding are in Kona Solid Cerise, I'd Ummmmd and Ahhhhhd about using just double gauze for the whole quilt and was going to do the borders in a purple flower print from the Far Far Away line but opted for the Kona as I felt it added some solidity to the delicate surrounding fabric. I took these pics while we were in Italy, such a beautiful inspiring location even with such a reluctant model. I wish I was still there!  I hope this quilt snuggles my little one and keeps her warm for years to come.
Yes the back is upside down but you get the idea :)

Sunday 28 October 2012

Pumpkin Treat

We don't really celebrate Halloween enough in our house, for me to justify getting a stamp set solely dedicated to the holiday, since the arrival of Little Miss however, I have felt the urge to celebrate it in some way. On our family night we take time to remember members of our family who have gone on ahead. Daddy did some pumpkin carving yesterday and whipped up some pumpkin pies. I roasted the pumpkin seeds in a little olive oil and sea salt for us to enjoy over the weekend, and made these Pumpkin Lollipop Holders for Little Miss to give any Trick or Treaters who might happen past the house on Wednesday.

     The holder was made using the scalloped tag on the Two Tags Bigz Die. The pumpkin is so simple to make, I just punched three Extra Large Ovals out of Pumpkin Pie Card stock (of course!) inked around the edges with some Soft Suede Ink, then stuck two of the ovals to the back of the other. The leaves are from the Bird Builder Punch. On the first pumpkin I traced and cut out a face from some Early Espresso Card stock but the thought of doing that for all of them quickly had me reaching for a pen! I finished it off with a small amount of Old Olive Taffeta Ribbon knotted around the bottom of the lollipop stick.

  I'm hoping to get a tutorial made up for the lollipop holder before December as I'm using the same design to make my advent calender this year, so keep tuned!

Thursday 25 October 2012

Little by Little.

I had seen divided page protectors for sale in a craft shop and had fancied trying them, so when I saw them make an appearance in the new Stampin' Up! Catalogue I had to order a set and give them a go. What appeals to me is that sometimes a whole 12" x 12" page can seem overwhelming, and a lot of space to fill all at once, with these you can work on a little section at a time, the whole page can link up or each section can have it's own little theme, trying out a new stamp set in one, some punch art in another, maybe a section dedicated to journaling and telling the story. While I don't think this page flows very fluently, I had a lot of fun making it, playing with each little rectangle. I can't wait to try my hands at the different combinations that are in the pack. 
 
You may also have noticed that the albums are now Ring Albums instead of Post Albums. This was a change that I was delighted about, while there seems to be more variety here in the UK when it comes to Post Albums, I prefer the Ring style because it makes accessing your pages so much easier. You just turn to the page you want and pop the rings open. The amount of time I have wasted trying to reorganise my pages or add one in, unscrewing the posts, pages slipping everywhere! If you haven't tried Ring Albums before, give these a try you will not be disappointed, they are excellent quality, really sturdy, and come in two sophisticated neutrals. I went for the Crumb Cake 12"x12" but am sure that an Early Espresso 8"x8" Album will be sneaking into my collection fairly soon.

Saturday 20 October 2012

Look At You GROW!

Since Little Miss was born I have taken literally thousands of pictures. The pile to be scrapped grows by the day and yet my free time is virtually non existent . Here I have tried to keep the layout really simple and it came together in around an hour. I love my new alphabet dies as they are going to save me a fortune in alphabet stickers as you can cut out only the letters you need and don't end up with loads of useless V's and Z's!

Monday 15 October 2012

10 Minutes and Counting!!!

It's my Dads Birthday today, I wasn't supposed to be seeing him until this afternoon so I thought I would have plenty of time to sit and make him a really special card. But, as is the way with this crazy thing we call life an early morning dash to the doctors with my Little Miss and quite a long wait once we got there meant that I was left with all but 10 minutes to create a master piece! And this is what I whipped up, inspired by a picture I saw here I hand drew the guitar body and winged it from there:) I love you Dad, I hope you had a lovely day!

Supplies: CardStock: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Basic Black, Soft Suede, Whisper White. Bakers Twine. Brads. First Edition Specialty DSP. Snail Adhesive, Sticky Strip.

Saturday 13 October 2012

A Most Excellent Workshop.


I had a delightful afternoon today spent stamping in the company of some lovely ladies at my first Christmas Workshop. We made 4 projects: and I started by walking them through how to make a very quick and simple but no less attractive, Christmas favour box. Next they tried their hands at the Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamp Set which I knew they would enjoy as much as I do. It  is such a great set for making impromptu gifts, or festive treats for a Halloween or Christmas party. Later we sat down to some card making. I showed them how to make two of the cards from the Autumn/Winter Catalogue.
We listened to carols and shared Christmas Stories and now I feel like I have made a good start on my card making, and can't wait to wade headlong into the ever growing list of projects that need to be completed by December.

Sunday 7 October 2012

Creative Elements Card.

   The Creative Elements Stamp Set is such a versatile set. The flourish stamp looks beautiful as a background stamp, and would dress up any scrapbook page, and of course that beautiful butterfly looks equally stunning in any number of colours and I've also seen it where the individual pieces have been coloured using the Stampin Right Markers which picks up the pattern on the wings so sweetly.
    On this card I have shaped the bottom edge using the Adorning Accents Edgelits Die, and did the same with a strip of Very Vanilla which I adhered to the bottom. I then punched a strip of Riding Hood Red with the Scallop Trim Border Punch and using some Sticky Strip I roughly pleated some Crochet Ribbon across the top. The embellishments were made using the Boho Blossoms punch, the Scallop Oval punch and the Labels Collection Framelits. Some Pearl Basic Jewels gave it a finishing touch.
    The Layout was a CASE from a card I saw on the SoShelli Blog. Her Card layouts are always so organic, and I love how unstructured and textured they are. Who do you enjoy drawing inspiration from? There are so many wonderful artists out there!

Thursday 4 October 2012

Tea Shoppe Treat

   I bought the Tea Shoppe stamp set simply because it was pretty, I didn't really know what I was going to do with it; I'm not a tea drinker, nor are my family and friends, but it was just SO pretty! However with the current trend for all things vintage and especially all the beautiful china tea sets being used to make anything from candles to cake stands, this set is bang on trend.

   Here I have whipped up a very quick card focusing on the main large tea cup stamp, I stamped this in Early Espresso onto a piece of Very Vanilla Card that I cut out using the Labels Collection Framelits.The background is Wisteria Wonder, as is the bakers twine. The finishing touches are a Pink Pirouette Beautiful Wings Embosslits Butterfly, and three of the smallest flower from the Boho Blossoms Punch in Wisteria Wonder, Island Indigo, and Riding Hood Red.

Tuesday 2 October 2012

Just For You Card.

I was so happy to see that one of my favourite paper sets from the Summer Mini Catalogue had made it into this years Catalogue. The beautiful Twitterpated DSP has such a lovely modern/vintage colour palette. I shaped the bottom part of the card using The Adorning Accents Edgelits, embossed the frame in Riding Hood Red using the Designer Frames Folder, then punched out a Very Vanilla Extra Large Oval, which I stamped with the flowers and sentiment from the Tea Shoppe Stamp Set. I aged the edges of the frame and the oval just by scraping the edge of my nail around the outside of the shapes. A few rolled roses, Baja Breeze Seam Binding Ribbon and leaves punched from the Builder Bird Punch finish it off.

Free Paper For SIX Months.

Yep you heard me right. If you sign up as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator any time between now and the end of November you can enjoy a free pack of Designer Series Paper for the next SIX MONTHS! On top of the already generous benefits of being a demonstrator this offer really is the cherry on the top. Contact me TODAY to find out more about signing up. Which papers do you think you would like first!?

Monday 1 October 2012

The NEW 2012-2013 Stampin' Up! Catalogue!

Introducing the brand new 2012-2013 Stampin' Up! Catalogue! I have been so exitcited for this catalogue to launch it is full of so many fabulous new stamp sets, a set of 5 new In Colours, and so many new dies and accessories for the Big Shot that you won't know where to start first. I can't wait to share with you all the projects I have planned. This is going to be a GREAT year. There is also a tempting offer for everyone that signs up as a Demonstrator during October and November. Check back tomorrow and I will fill you in with all the details. But for now enjoy perusing the link to the new catalogue, and let me know which of the stamp sets you are most looking forward to trying!

You can order your very own catalogue from me today for just £4.50 you can have it delivered to your door so you can enjoy all the products and ideas in the comfort of your own home.
See here for details on how to order.