Baby's First Birthday Card

A sweet first birthday card for you today, with the cutest cuddly rabbit toy stamp lent to me by a friend. I have coloured the stamp using pencils and added details such as the lace ribbon punched card across the centre.

A close up of the pencil coloured image for you, where you can also see the embossed edges of the white oval.

I hope you like the card, and the recipe for it is below:

Recipe:

Stamp Sets: Cuddly Toy (non SU)

Inks: Basic Grey

Card Stock: Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Soft Suede, Certainly Celery, Vellum, patterned paper (non SU)

Punches & Dies: Lace Ribbon, Scallop Circle, Circle, Oval (non SU), Scallop Oval (non SU)

Ribbon: Linen Thread, Bashful Blue

Other: Pearls, Outline Stickers, Colouring Pencils (all non SU)

Happy Crafting!

Becky

Vintage Patchwork Card

I totally fell in love with the most beautiful card by Julie Kettlewell and she very kindly granted me permission to CASE (Copy And Share Everything) it! Julie is a very talented lady as you can see from her creations on the blog: juliesjapes.

Julie's card is pictured below:

And here is my version of the card:

I have not done stitching like in Julie's card, instead I have embossed the whole panel to create a quilted feel to it. I swapped out the bow for a button, and changed to a different ribbon and stamp on the label. I also chose to match the patterned papers to Wild Wasabi green, opposed to Julie's blue colour scheme.

Another thing I LOVE about this card is that it is great for using up those tiny scraps left over from other projects - I had loads of the Springtime Vintage patterned papers left over, and now they are retired I can't demo with them...

Why not leave me a comment saying who inspires your creative juices?

Finally I am entering a single challenge with this card:

squiggle stamps - stash attack! Fairly self explanatory methinks... 

Happy Crafting...

Becky

Recipe:

Stamp Sets: Four Frames, Elementary Elegance

Inks: Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Rose Red, Wild Wasabi

Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Wild Wasabi, Very Vanilla

Punches: Decorative Label

Other: Springtime Vintage DSP, Button (non SU), Ribbon, Embossing Folder (non SU), water brushes.

New Classes

Hello my lovelies, I am so excited to present to you my new class timetable! There are a whole variety of projects, from men's cards to fabric jewellery to cookies... why not see if there is something that interests you?

Click HERE to view the new schedule.

I hope to see some of you soon!

I leave you with a photo of a much grown Odelle enjoying the weather:

'Official visitor greeter and tail wagging welcoming committee'

Happy Crafting

Becky

Dragonfly Card

I LOVE this card, it uses alcohol inks, acetate, embossing and stamping to create a gorgeous dragonfly that really pops with vibrant colour, and the technique to create the water ripples is a winner... It is really easy as well, making use of the Blossom Punch and the Mixed Bunch stamp set. Look out for my NEW feature coming up called "WOW! HOW?" where I will take you step-by-step on HOW to make something WOW! The first one will be how to make one of these gorgeous shimmery dragonflies, inspired by those seen at the London Wetland Centre - if you are abound London at all this summer it is well worth a visit:

Here is the view of the dragonfly from the side, so you can see the distinct layers, one of stamped and coloured acetate and the other of mirri-card. The dragonfly is mounted onto an embossed panel of Pool Party card stock, inked with Pool Party inside the embossing folder - actually a wood grain design, but it works really well as water ripples I think!

A front view for you finally, so you can see the glitter I added to accent the design, and the beautiful rhinestones that have been stuck along the body. You can see the ripple pattern from the embossing in the background as well:

I hope you like the card - I have used several of the Stampin' Up!® In Colours for this card, but the Concorde Crush (that beautiful deep blue used for the background on the main card) will be retiring this year so get your hands on it soon if you love it!

The recipe is below, but don't forget to check back soon for the NEW "WOW! HOW?" feature.

Happy Crafting!
Becky

Recipe:
Stamp Sets: Mixed Bunch, Everything Eleanor
Inks: Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, StazOn, various alcohol inks (non SU)
Card Stock: Concorde Crush, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Mirri-card (non SU)
Punches: Blossom
Other: Rhinestones, glitter (non SU), acetate (non SU), Woodgrain embossing folder (non SU)

I am entering this particular card into 4 challenges:
inky impressions challenges - use dies or punches I have used the blossom punch and coordinating Mixed Bunch stamp set to qualify for this challenge.
lej designs challenge blog - #13 - bling-bling Glitter and Rhinestones, what more can you ask for!?
my time to craft challenge - #183 - make it wet This challenge is anything to do with water, so a dragonfly should be perfect!
always crafting - #12 - Water another one based around Water, I entered this challenge a few weeks back with a masculine card: take a look at it by clicking HERE!

Triple Treat Flower

A simpler style of card for you today, but really fun and contemporary - I like it! A really quick and easy card to put together also makes it a handy one to have up your sleeve if you need a card in a hurry...

A close up of the layers of the flowers. Each flower and the leaves have been punched from the same stamp, just using different colours. Extra interest is created by added texture in the form of a simple scored border around both the red and white panels.

Well I hope you like it, and the recipe it listed below. If you love this stamp like I do, you might want to check out some other things you can do with it by clicking the link HERE.

Happy Crafting!

Recipe:

Stamp Sets: Triple Treat Flower

Inks: Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade

Card: Poppy Parade, Whisper White, Lucky Limeade

Ribbon: Lucky Limeade Baker's Twine.

Punches: Fancy Flower, 5 - Petal Flower, Crop-O-Dile

Tools: Cuttlebug, Perfect Polka Dots (Embossing Folder)

Other: Brad (non SU), foam pads.

Something for the Men...

Wow, have I had a busy week! It was the Guide Dog Social at the weekend and it was great to catch up with everyone. Unfortunately Odelle started her first season last week which meant that we could not take her to the event with us as she would have proved very diverting for the other puppies! I will see if I can pop some photos of the event up here later.

In the meantime all this rain has put me in a nautical frame of mind, so I thought I would share one of my personal favourites with you today, a card using the Sail Away stamp:

So how did I do it? First I stamped the image using StazOn black ink onto watercolour paper, before using masking fluid to paint in the sails. Masking fluid is a great substance available from most art and craft shops, that prevents water based inks (and other inks for that matter!) from reaching the paper underneath. Once the fluid was dry I applied a wash of various Stampin' Up! blues and greens with the brilliant water brushes. Again allow to dry, then simply rub off the masking fluid with your fingers!

Ripped edges to the card add to the rustic feel, and the linen thread from SU! makes the most fantastic nautical 'rope'. Eyelets coloured white using white StazOn are reminiscent of portholes, and the little charm is one from my stash (sorry but not SU).

Let me know what you think of it!
Becky

Recipe:
Stamp Sets: Sail Away
Card Stock: Night of Navy, Crumb Cake, Watercolour paper.
Inks: StazOn (Black and White), Old Olive, Night of Navy, Marina Mist, Baja Breeze, Pacific Point
Ribbon: Linen Thread
Other: Eyelets, Crop-a-dile, charm (non SU)

I am also entering this make in just the one challenge today:
Always Crafting - #11 - for men
A self explanatory topic for this challenge! Take a look at the DT work some great colouring skills on show there!

Contemporary Birthday Wishes

My ladies who attend my classes almost unanimously voted this card their all time favourite, so I thought it was high time I shared it with you!

Do you like it? It makes use of the now retired Simply Said stamp set, but you could use the new Bright Blossoms set in a similar way or even For Everything, both of which are currently available.

I have layered up the different components with Stampin' Dimensionals - that's foam pads for those who are yet to convert to SU! See my recipe for the ingredients below:

Recipe:
Stamp Sets: Simply Said (Retired), Four Frames, Fun & Fast Notes
Card stock: Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Whisper White.
Inks: Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Whisper White, Regal Rose, Basic Black.
Punches: Decorative Label, Modern Label, Word Window, Corner Rounder.
Ribbon: Tempting Turquoise
Other: Basic Rhinestones, Blender Pens.

I have entered three challenges with this card, details of which are listed at the end of this post.
Happy Crafting!
Becky x

PS: Bonus points to the first person to spot my not-so-deliberate mistake on the card... :) Leave me a comment if you think you have guessed it!

Challenges: Just 3 this week, and all new to me, I love all the DTs work, why not take a look yourself?

Card makin mamas - #49 RUBBER - break out the rubber stamps for this challenge - no digi's allowed!

Craft Punked - #28 SUMMERTIME - bold flowers and bright colours are the signs of summer to me! Unfortunately as a UK resident I cannot accurately say summer this year has had any really sunny weather though...

Raise the Bar Challenge - #108 RED, WHITE AND BLUE - Ok, so I have used Pink instead of Red... I hope they don't mind me bending the rules slightly... I mean pink is just a pale red right?

Party Fun!

I love to share what I do, and one of the ways that I do that is by running parties and workshops for my customers. Hostessing a party also means that you have the chance to buy exclusive hostess only products, and access to special hostess offers! For example if you book and host a workshop before the end of July 2012, then you could earn an extra £30 in FREE products when your workshop reaches £325 in sales - that's ON TOP of your normal hostess benefits!

Below is a picture of some of the projects we completed at one party! Everyone got to make the little bag for themselves and take it home with them. Best of all, the event is completely free and I provide all the tools and materials that you and your guests need. Book your workshop with me today to grab your extra £30 of FREE spending money...

I hope you like them, here is a close up of the bag on the right, and the list of products used to create it is listed as the 'Recipe'

Recipe:

Stamp Sets: Just Believe, Greenhouse Garden.

Card Stock: Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, So Saffron, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight.

Inks: Certainly Celery

Punches: Boho Blossoms, Modern Label, Word Window, Scallop Border.

Other: Basic Pearls, Organza Ribbon (non SU).

Happy Crafting!