"Poinsettia" Christmas tags - we all need to have some on hand!

I made these little flowers to add to the card I posted yesterday but then changed my mind and added the ribbon and brad instead - so what to do with pretty glittered flowers??

I punched the shapes out of patterned paper, the stamped some "To: From:" sentiments on plain white and punched those out and sandwiched them together to make them a bit firmer.

Then it was all a matter of arranging the flowers and various leaves, adding the gold cord and hey presto, they were finished.

Leaves punched with Bird punch

Leaves hand cut - freeform.

I made the green shape {looks a bit like a heart} from spare wings punched with bird punch.

What I used:

Card: Old Olive, Riding Hood Red

Ink: Old Olive Stampin' Write Marker

Tools and other fun stuff: 1 3/4" circle punch, Boho Blossoms punch, Ornament punch, Decorative Label punch, 1/16" punch, non SU cord and patterned paper, MS gold glitter.

Delightful Decorations

I was having a look over at Splitcoast Stampers yesterday and came across a couple of sketches that I thought would be great with the Delightful Decorations set - I'm always on the lookout for new ideas to use this set.

Afterwards I realised I sort of amalgamated two different sketches SC356 and SCS290 - but here is the result anyway.

I used the red 'sticky tape' to attach the glitter and it is just fabulous - nothing falls off it!  I also run the 2-way pen around the circle of DSP and added some more glitter to that - what I meant to do and forgot was to add some gold cord to 'anchor' the decorations the the Top Note diecut.....

What I used:

Card:  Riding Hood Red, Old Olive, Very Vanilla

Ink:  Riding Hood Red, Old Olive

Stamp Set:  Delightful Decorations

Tools and other fun stuff:  Ornament punch, Top Note die, Vintage Wallpaper EF, 3/4" circle punch, sticky tape, MS Gold Glitter, 2 way pen.

Punch Art birthday card

A few days ago Dawn Olchefske published a video tutorial on 'viewmaster cards' and it looked quite simple and fun so thought I'd try it out.  Of course I soon realised I didn't have any number stamps for my age wheel so had to die cut some and glue them through the whole - not so much fun!

The night before I had made a little creature - I think he's a teddy bear - so slowly it all came together, though the teddy evolved from an Old Olive one (which explains the Old Olive 1/2" circle under the brad!) so then I had to add a strip of the same colour at the bottom just to balance things out.... and yes, I'm rambling on again!

My biggest fan is my 4 year old and he DEFINITELY approves of this one, I can assure you it has been  thoroughly child-tested and nothing has fallen off so far - that's a relief!

What I used:

Card:  Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, White, Pool Party

Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip Marker

Stamp Sets:  Bold Birthday (retired)

Tools and other fun stuff: 1" circle punch, Ornament punch, Word Window punch, 1/2" circle punch, 1/4" circle punch

Soon to retire - Eastern Blooms

A very short post today!

Here a a few cards I made this past year using the Eastern Blooms set retiring at the end of this month.

It is a lovely set and quite versatile, if you'd like to order one please get in touch with me.

Bright and Cheerful Fish!

I made this card purely for the joy of it, I saw this inspiring colour combination at Diva Coffee Break and just had to try it.  I still remember my first reaction when I saw Stampin' Up!s bright collection early last year and thinking OMG they are so bright, I'll never use those and purchased a pack of Rich Regals instead... and guess what?  Little by little my card collection has grown and now it's mostly brights!!  You just have to love those cheerful colours, so full of life.

When I posted my Eastern Blooms for a Friend card earlier on I was reminded that I could also use my Large Ornament punch to make fish, I had seen quite a few examples of this punch art technique but had never tried it myself until now.  I think they turned out really cute, the scales are made with the 'offcuts' from the scallop punch - I had originally intended using the scallops instead but then chose the 'scraps' to adorn my fishies - the scallop was used at the bottom edge instead!

For the 'fish tank' I embossed the background with dots, then cut wavy slivers of Old Olive and Certainly Celery for the 'seaweed', and finally glued a strip of scalloped Peach Parfait at the bottom for 'gravel' (and to hide the ends of the 'seaweed')

 The fish all ready to 'swim' in their new tank!

The completed card, the fish are popped up with Dimensionals for a slight 3D effect.

What I used:

Card:  Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Peach Parfait

Ink:  Basic Black Stampin' Write marker

Stamp Set: None

Tools and other fun stuff:  Large Ornament punch, Heart to Heart punch, Scallop Border punch, swiss dots embossing folder.

Baby's first Christmas

Hi again!

A very dear friend had a wee baby boy just before Christmas and I thought I'd combine a baby card with a Christmas card and this is the result!  I had this adorable stamp set on my wish list for a very long time and now I finally have it, I think it will be well used and loved by myself and master 3 as well!

He is reasonably well trained not to touch 'mummy's things' as I have a workstation set up in the living area, but every now and then he just can't help himself!  I've had a jar of glitter emptied on the carpet (some of it is still embedded in the carpet...), and some of my nicest Stampin' Up! cardstock has been punched by him - right in the middle as well - but even though I growl at him at the time I can't help but smiling after as I remember these mini disasters... who can blame him for wanting to play with all my stuff!

What I used:

Card:  Pacific Point, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie

Ink:  Pacific Point, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie

Stamp Sets:  Fox and Friends, Sweet Sentiments (retired)

Tools and other fun stuff:  Large Ornament punch, 1 3/4" circle punch, 1/8" Old Olive taffeta ribbon, Swiss Dots embossing folder (non SU), Scallop Oval punch, Large Oval punch, Stampin' sponges.

Eastern Blooms for a friend

Hi again!  Hope your weekend has started well.   Carlos has been busy this morning finishing off the first coat of paint on the house as they have announced heavy rains for later today, it's looking rather grim out there right now actually, dark clouds everywhere.... good day for crafting though!

I've just finished this card 10 minutes ago, I followed another Clean and Simple sketch AND a Color Lab challenge as well - this is incredible!  From being totally fazed by sketches I've embraced them wholeheartedly - after all they take the hard work out of card making, which for me is coming up with new ideas all the time!  ( Sorry Color Lab, I don't have any More Mustard ink but thought the Pumpkin Pie was a pretty good substitute in this case).

I really enjoyed making this card, I must use that {friend to friend} sentiment more often!

If you'd like to join me on my Facebook page click on this link - look forward to seeing you over there.

What I used:

Card:  Pacific Point, Very Vanilla, Old Olive

Ink:  Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Write markers, Old Olive ink pad.

Stamp Sets:  Eastern Blooms, Teeny Tiny Sentiments.

Tools and other fun stuff:  Large Ornament punch, Scalloped Edge punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stampa-ma-jig, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder.