Sweet Butterfly Bliss!

Hiya!

Back again - twice in one day! I wanted to play along with this week's Curtain Call Colour Challenge - the colours are so beautiful:

And here's what I came up with:

I used this week's Sweet Stop Sketch for the layout and used some new Sale-a-Bration goodies! I just adore this butterfly from the Bliss set - the text detail on it is so pretty, and the big flourish compliments it so well. I added some rhinestones to the body of each butterfly and added a bow with some Pear Pizzazz ribbon. The little corner piercing was created with a piercing tool and mat (couldn't find my template thingy!).

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Bliss, Notably Ornate
Ink: Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz
Paper: Greenhouse Gala DSP, Early Espresso, Whisper White, Baja Breeze
Accessories: Pear Pizzazz ribbon, self-adhesive rhinestones, piercing tool & mat, Scallop Trim border punch

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Sale-a-Bration Bliss!

Hello all!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that your New Year will be a fabulous one! I had a lovely week away with my family in the Cotswolds and we had our first white Christmas - woohoo! Lots and LOTS of snow and ice! Of course I brought some craft stash with me so I could play (heh heh!) - and I had lots of fun making some Sale-a-Bration creations. I'll be stopping in (hopefully regularly!) over the next while to share them with you, but for now here's one I made last night:

The photo's not great cos I had to take it in the bathroom (no natural light at that time!). I used my new I {Heart} Hearts stamp set along with my favourite Sale-a-bration set - Bliss. Check it out:

The colours came from SU's colour coach (Marina Mist, Real Red and Old Olive). The layout was from this month's Viva la Verve challenges.

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: I {Heart} Hearts, Bliss
Ink: Real Red, Marina Mist
Paper: Newsprint DSP, Marina Mist, Real Red, Olive Olive, River Rock, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Old Olive button, linen thread, self-adhesive pearls, Marina Mist satin ribbon, Old Olive marker, Oval punch

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Mojo Kitty Christmas...

Hiya!

I'm trying to give my Christmas stamps a bit of use before the season ends so I dug out this cute Penny Black stamp I've had for ages - just can't bear to part with it as it reminds me of our lovely cats! I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch for the layout:

I changed some of the sketch elements slightly by moving the bow and splitting the background layer into two patterns (I wanted to use both of these gorgeous patterns!). I coloured the image with copics and coloured pencils and cut out with nestabilities. The ribbon is Bravo Burgundy (retired now) and I added a few aqua buttons for extra intest. Took a while to colour this one in but it was so worth it!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Last one for this evening...!

Would you believe this is my third post in one day...?! Ah the wonders of having a bit of time to play! I actually made this card earlier in the week but didn't get a chance to post it:

I used Stacey's Curtain Call Colour Challenge to start me off - Real Red, Always Artichoke, Basic Grey and Whisper White. Perfect colours for a Christmas card! I stamped this tree from PTI on Whisper White using Always Artichoke ink then added some red buttons for the baubles. The background is a combination of Lap of Luxury DSP and some retired Ski Slope DSP. I added a scalloped border and some luscious red polka dot ribbon that is available at the moment from Stampin Up either as part of an offer (you can get it for free!) or on its own. I added some grey pearls in the corner as an extra little accent.

Signing off now... time for bed!

x Amy x

Lots of white...

Hi again!

I wanted to play along with Flourishes' Winter White Challenge, which was a BIG challenge for me as I like lots of colour, DSP, embellies etc, etc.! But hey, it's good to challenge yourself once in a while! Here's what I came up with:

I really love the work of Silke Ledlow and really admire how she uses lots of white and makes everything look so fabulous, so this was my attempt at creating something along those lines... not anywhere near as great as Silke but I do like the finished result.

The presents are from Flourishes and I coloured them with copics and cut out so I could pop them up. The layers underneath were cut with nestabilities (I drew the black line around the image with a Basic Black marker while the nestability die was still on the image). I embossed the smaller square with a snowflake embossing folder. The larger square is some Bride DSP that I had left over from last year's catty. I finished off with some white organdy ribbon. The sentiment is from SU's Season of Joy set.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

x Amy x

Penguin Christmas...

Hello all!

I've been on a Christmas card kick lately (cos I leave my Christmas card making late every year then go into panic mode in December lol!). I've had the chance to play along with a few challenges this week so I'll be popping back a bit later with a couple more creations! I played along with this week's CardPatterns sketch challenge and came up with this:

I couldn't resist this cute penguin from Taylored Expressions and this was my first chance to play with this set. I dug out some gorgeous DSP from a previous mini catalogue (one of my FAVE papers of all time!) and coloured the image to coordinate. The layer behind the oval image is a die from PTI with coordinating stamp. I added some Old Olive ribbon as well as some pearly stars to embellish. The main image has glitter on the hat and some liquid pearls around the oval.

I'm off to make one more this evening!

x Amy x

Christmas Triple Play...

Hiya!

I've been making a little project or two for the Verve Project Parade going on at the moment - the challenge is titled 'Triple Play' which involves making three things that could be given as a gift set. Here's what I came up with:

I made a little 'pizza box' full of tea-lights, a fridge magnet and a matching card. I used Verve's Poinsettia Christmas and embossed the flower with gold and watercoloured with Ruby Red (retired colour). I used two on the card and one on the box. Here's the card in more detail:

I used some beautiful DSP from two years ago which I bought a LOT of cos I wanted to hoarde it! I used a doily in the background that I got from the States - gotta love these! I added some Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon and a matching pink button.

I just love this little pizza box with decorated tea lights:

To decorate the candles you simply stamp the image onto tissue paper, punch out with a circle punch then punch a small hole in the middle. Thread the wick through the hole and lay tissue paper flat on the candle surface. Heat with a heat gun until the wax melts and the tissue paper melts into it. Leave to set then wrap the outside of the candle with a strip of matching DSP. The outside of the box is decorated with some matching cardstock (Old Olive, Ruby Red and Blushing Bride). I added some chocolate pearls to finish.

To finish this little set off I made a matching magnet using Verve's Jer 29:11. I found some kitchen magnets at my local supermarket (4 for 20p!!) and stocked up BIG time lol! I cut a few nestability shapes and layered some DSP with matching cardstock and ribbon to make the magnet.

I'm so pleased with how this little ensemble turned out! I definitely will need to make a few more of these!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Merry Mojo Mittens!

Hiya!

I wanted to make a card for this week's Colour Q challenge, as the colours are just SO gorgeous! I combined it with this week's Mojo Monday sketch and came up with this:

I was fortunate enough to win this Gina K set (Winter Mittens) recently over at Stamp TV so I wanted to break it out and play. I stamped the mitten twice - once with Tempting Turqouise and once with Pacific Point. I cut out the cuff bit of the Pacific Point mitten and layered it over the Turqouise one. The layers are cut with nestabilities. The greeting is from SU's Season of Joy (my all-time fave Christmas set). The layers underneath are a combination of a stamp and dies from Papertrey. I added some glitter to the mitten for some sparkle, as well as some buttons that matched Soft Suede from my (rather large..!) button collection. Around the sentiment layer I added some tiny self-adhesive pearls (new in the SU catty). The ribbon is some Pacific Point ribbon my Mum got me from Australia last year. The Pacific Point and Wild Wasabi papers are from the current DSP colour collections - the Turqouise piece is a retired DSP.

Thanks for stopping by today! I'll try to be back a little more regularly to post my creations, but please bear with me in the meantime!

x Amy x

Wedding card... Pride & Prejudice style!

Hiya!

Sorry for the long absence between posts - life is kinda hectic at the moment with everything I'm involved in with work, study and church. I do want to post more but I literally am either too tired or too busy to get to it! I will keep stopping by and sharing when I can though... please be patient with me!

I made this card for a friend's wedding on Saturday - and I used the Cinema Saturday challenge - inspired by the movie Pride and Prejudice - as my starting point. Oh how I love Pride and Prejudice - it's a favourite of my sister and I to watch on a Saturday, vegged out in front of the tv in our pj's and dressing gowns... ah the comfort of good old-fashioned romance! There's also so many brilliant lines in it... "A single man of good fortune must be want of a wife!" and I love the "violence of my affections" line from Mr Collins (shudder..!). If you haven't watched it you simply MUST!

Anyways, enough of my rambling... Here's my card:

I went with the romance theme (seeing as I was making a wedding card!) and was inspired by the costumes and general elegance of the time period - all the satin and lace and beautiful gowns (sigh!). I used some gorgeous shimmery DSP I got in the States - black, cream and taupe with classic damask and pinstripe patterns. I added some music DSP from the same pack because I was reminded of the piano playing and singing from the film (in particular the rather awkward scenes with Mary playing!). The girl who's getting married is also part of our church music team so I thought that was rather appropriate!

I stamped a frame from Gina K in black then stamped and cut out two rose buds (from PTI) and coloured with copics and layered over the frame. The greeting is from the same PTI set (Year of Flowers: Roses). The lace was a must (part of the challenge, but so perfect for this card). I used the Mojo Monday sketch from this week for my layout.

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Welcome Christmas Mojo!

Hiya!

I really wanted to play with my new goodies that arrived this week - the Welcome Christmas set as well as some brand spankin' new DSP only available with this stamp set - plus some lush new ribbon that came FREE with the bundle - oh how I love this ribbon! I wanted to play with this week's Mojo Monday sketch as well so here's what I came up with:

I used the gorgeous flocked DSP for the background - nice and touchy-feely IRL! The wreath was created by stamping it onto Pear Pizzazz cardstock with Garden Green ink then cutting out and adding some Real Red brads randomly around it. It is dangling with some gold elastic cord so it can swing back and forth, The sentiment (from Perfect Punches) is layered onto the white card underneath. The ribbon is the new Real Red polka-dot stuff that you can either get free with one of the Christmas bundles, or you can purchase them separately - I LOVE how this looks tied in a bow!

Here's a detail shot of some of the elements:

I also decorated the inside as I've seen so many lovely examples of this and I never seem to get around to it - but it only took an extra five minutes so I think it's definitely worth it! Lookie...

I had a blast making this card - can't wait to play some more!

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Welcome Christmas, Perfect Punches
Paper: Christmas Cocoa DSP, Real Red, Soft Suede, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Sahara Sand
Ink: Garden Green, Soft Suede
Accessories: Real Red polka-dot ribbon, scallop edge punch, circle punches, real red brads, gold elastic cord, nestabilities

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Viva la Autumn...

Hiya!

Sorry I didn't get back quite as quickly as I'd hoped to post my other Viva la Verve card - this week has been extremely busy with our church conference so I've not had much time to create or blog! I wanted to share this card with you cos I really had a blast making it and I love the finished result:

I used the sketch from the challenge, along with this inspiration pic:

So pretty right? I'd love to have a table setting like this in my house!!

I used the woodgrain DSP from the Woodland Walk pack for the background (to imitate the table) and I used Basic Grey for the layers behind each section to pick up the grey cupboards in the background. I spotted a leaf on the table that was orange in the middle and red on the outside so I made one in those colours using Autumn Splendour and Pumpkin Pie/Riding Hood Red ink on watercolour paper. The oval piece was stamped with the berries from Autumn Days (to pick up on the berries on the plates). The sentiment is from the fabulous Curly Cute set new to the UK cattyn and I punched it out with the Modern Label punch. I added some LUSH pumpkin pie striped ribbon with a basic grey button to finish things off.

So now you've seen a glimpse into my creative process, I would highly recommend taking part in an inspiration challenge - they are brilliant for getting you to think a bit differently from what you normally would!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

More watercolouring...

Hiya!

Just popping in quickly to share a card I made for one of the Viva la Verve challenges:

I combined the sketch with inspiration from this challenge - I took the colours and ran with them! I used some of our new in colours - Concord Crush, Pear Pizzazz and Peach Parfait. I watercoloured with markers and an aqua brush, and added a bit of Sahara Sand ink around the image to make the white icing pop a little more. The greeting is from the Perfect Punches set.

Thanks for stopping by - I have another card to share later so I might be posting twice in one day!

x Amy x

Playing with Watercolour...

Hiya!

I am so thrilled that SU are now carrying watercolour paper in our new catty - I've been waiting for this for AGES cos I absolutely adore watercolouring! There are also some lovely new stamp sets that are perfect for colouring and my favourite of these images is the flower from Happiness Shared. I combined this week's Colour Q challenge with this week's sketch from the Sweet Stop to create this:

The colour challenge was to include Concord Crush, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black and Whisper White - it was meant to be Halloween themed but I'm not into Halloween so I went botanical instead. I coloured the image with Concord Crush and Old Olive with a little touch of Pumpkin Pie in the centre of the flower. The DSP is from the Brights Patterns pack. I used the Music Notes wheel with Old Olive ink to create the background strips - love, love, love this wheel! The greeting is from Notably Ornate and I cut it out and layered it on a 'designer label' punched from Old Olive card. The Sweet Stop sketch had a twist of adding sparkle so I added some self-adhesive rhinestones to the corners of the image panel. I also added some black ribbon and olive button to finish.

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Curtain Call meets new stash!!

Hiya!

My new box of goodies from Stampin Up arrived on Monday and I've been having so much fun playing! Sooo many lovely things!! I had to use my FAVE set from the new catalogue first - Notably Ornate. When I saw it in the US catty I was desparately hoping we would get it here too and lookie - we did! I used this week's Curtain Call colours as a basis and came up with this:

I stamped the frame with Stazon onto whisper white and cut it out. The bird is stamped with Marina Mist and I added a teeny tiny pearl (from the new self-adhesive pearls in the catty) for his eye. The greeting is from Curly Cute - my favourite sentiment set in the catalogue. The background paper is So Saffron DSP from the Soft Subtles DSP collection. I added some black grosgrain ribbon (yippee - we finally have black ribbon!!) and a Crumb Cake button to finish.

My first card with this set and I love it - can't wait to play some more!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Distressed Etchings...

Hiya!

Are ya impressed with the amount of posting in the last few days?? I guess I'm making up for the woeful last couple of weeks lol! I made another card for a colour/sketch challenge combination tonight - love these! I combined the Stampin Royalty colour challenge (Concord Crush, Tempting Turqouise, So Saffron and Chocolate Chip) with this week's Sketch for You to Try. Here's what I came up with:

I started out with the SFYTT but kinda went a bit off track when I put the whole thing together - oh well! I used one of the new sets in the catalogue - Artistic Etchings. I've used three stamps from this set - the Eiffel Tower, the round medallion (for the ruffled flower) and the accent element on the Tempting Turqouise card (look closely...). I stamped the white background with French Script background (thought that would be appropriate considering the main image!) then dragged the So Saffron inkpad around the edges. See that lovely punched edge? That's the FAB new border punch in our UK catty - woohoo!! The greeting is from Oval All and stamped in Concord Crush. The panel down the side (also Concord Crush) was stamped with the border from Vintage Vogue for a bit of added interest. I added a Saffron button to the centre of the flower and a little piece of Concord Crush ribbon to finish.

Thanks for stopping by...!

x Amy x

Mojo Trimmings...

Hello again!

Two posts in one day - good grief what's going on lol?! I've had a wonderfully productive weekend so far and have managed to make quite a few things - as well as catching up on several hours of lectures that I've missed this week!

I wanted to play along with this week's Mojo Monday sketch and I really wanted to make it a Christmas card as I'm beginning to get {slightly!} concerned about the amount (or lack thereof) of Christmas cards that I have made so far this year... must get cracking! I saw a beautiful card on Ilina's blog that used a combination of Blushing Bride, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla - it was so gorgeous that I had to case that colour combo. I used the Tree Trimmings set and came up with this:

I stamped the ornaments with Versamark then Blushing Bride/Soft Suede then I embossed them with a mix of Heat & Stick powder and Dazzling Diamonds glitter, then embossed again with clear EP - lovely and sparkly IRL. The sentiment is from Occasional Greetings and punched with the 1 3/4" circle punch. The Blushing Bride piece in the background was stamped with the snowflakes from Serene Snowflakes. The DSP is the fabulous Newsprint pack - love, love, LOVE this stuff! I added some twill tape and a filigree brad with a rhinestone brad through the middle.

I'm loving how this turned out! Will definitely be using this colour combo again!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Greenhouse Birthday...

Hiya!

I made a little something this afternoon for the Inkspirations sketch challenge along with the Colour Q challenge... Here's what I came up with:

The colours were Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie and Pear Pizzazz - aren't they lovely together? The photo doesn't really do it justice as the light was fading and I had to adjust some of the colour/light properties with my photo editing software - doesn't quite look like the real deal though!

The flowers (from Greenhouse Garden) were stamped first with Baja Breeze then with Pacific Point. The stems were added with Pear Pizzazz. I added little pearls to the centres of the flowers (I'm so exciting about getting my hands on SU's new self-adhesive pearls!). The background paper is from the Greenhouse Gala pack and included the perfect colours for this challenge. The ribbon is white organza - gorgeous!

I'll be back later today with my Mojo card for this week - see ya!

x Amy x

Golden Leaves...

Hiya!

I actually got a chance to sit down and just PLAY with paper, stamps and ink last night for the first time in ages (I always seem to be preparing for a class or workshop which is fun in itself...!). I wanted to play along with the Verve sketch challenges that were going on for World Card Making Day - I ended up making four cards last night - was on a bit of a roll! I'll share the others in the next few days but here's one I combined with this week's Curtain Call Colour Challenge:

The colours were More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Old Olive and Crumb Cake (still getting used to not saying KRAFT!). These colours were so autumnal I had to go with the lovely Autumn Splendour set of leaves. I embossed each leaf in gold on a different colour cardstock then cut out. The background is Crumb Cake stamped with Crumb Cake ink and the Baroque Motifs swirl (my go-to background element!). The sentiment is from Trendy Trees and I added some lushious Old Olive striped ribbon to finish.

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Long time, no see...!

Hiya!

So sorry for the long absense on blogland - I've been very busy preparing for the new catalogue launch on the 1st of October and a lot of the stuff I've been making I can't share till then so hence the lack of posts! I did make a little something this evening that I thought I'd share - I combined this week's Taylored Expressions sketch with the Colour Q challenge this week. This is what I came up with:

The colours are Old Olive, So Saffron, Poppy Parade and Peach Parfait. I stamped the butterflies with Early Espresso and sponged on So Saffron, Peach Parfait and Poppy Parade inks. The sentiment and background stamps are sneaky peekies...! I finished things of with some rhinestone brads and Old Olive satin ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Old meets new...

Hiya!

I was able to play along with my two favourite Sunday Challenges this week (albeit on Tuesday, and didn't get around to posting til Friday!!). I combined Stacey's Curtain Call colour challenge with Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch to create this:

The colours are Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait, Wild Wasabi and Pink Pirouette - these are all new colours coming in the UK catty in October (I just received my pre-order stuff so was able to play!!). I used a retiring stamp set - one of my original favourites and part of my starter kit when I joined SU - A Touch of Nature. The flowers were stamped on watercolour paper with Stazon and coloured with an aqua brush and inkpads. The Pink Pirouette panel was stamped tone-on-tone with the butterfly from the same stamp set. The greeting is from a really useful little set called Wow Flowers that is also retiring - I've used this set a LOT! The flourish at the side of the image is from Frames with a Flourish (also retiring...) - I stamped it with Peach Parfait and cut out with my paper snips. The white panel in the background is some Bride Speciality DSP - which is sadly also going boo hoo! I added some pearls to the centre of each flower (from the Pretties kit which is also not going to be in the new catty) and some white satin ribbon (this baby's going nowhere!).

I've got the day off today so I'm hoping to play some more with my new goodies!

Thanks for stopping by...!

x Amy x

Creating Diva Butterflies...

Hiya!

Weird post title I know but I had a chance to play along with two new (to me!) challenges today - Create with Connie & Mary (a sketch) and the Diva Coffee Break challenge (a colour challenge). Here's what I came up with:

This is much more my 'cup of tea' than yesterday's attempt!! I LOVE these colours together (Baja Breeze, River Rock, Rose Red and Not Quite Navy - all will be available in the new catalogue in October). I used the little butterfly a-la-carte stamp in the mini catalogue and coloured with blender pens then painted with shimmer paint for a lovely shimmery effect. I added rhinestone brads to the body for extra bling! The Baja Breeze panel was stamped with the Medallion background stamp and the River Rock panel was stamped with the Friendly background stamp. The sentiment is another a-la-carte stamp - love the cute font! I added some white taffetta ribbon to finish things off.

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

My attempt at CAS...

Hiya!

I thought I'd have a go at today's Clean and Simple challenge over at SCS today - it was a sketch (my fave type of challenge!). Now anyone who knows my style knows that I'm not exactly a Clean and Simple kinda gal! But I thought I would use the opportunity to use some more of my retiring stash. Here's what I created:

I used some Sweet Pea designer paper that I have been hoarding (couldn't bear to cut up the butterflies!). I cut out one of the butterflies as the focal point (there are so many images in this DSP stack - well worth getting before it goes!). I added some Choc Chip satin ribbon which is retiring (boo hoo!) as well as some Pretty in Pink buttons (also going...). The greeting is from One of a Kind (also saying farewell) and punched out with the oval punch.

My hand kept twitching wanting to add something else but I left it at that! What do you think??

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Playful Colour Q...

Hiya!

Two posts in one day - my word! The wonders of having a day off completely free from other demands - have made four cards today and had a marvelous time! I've been using more of the retiring goodies from the catalogue and combined this week's Colour Q challenge with Jen's Sketch for You to Try for this card:

There were a lot of colours to use in this challenge! Some new ones (Cherry Cobler, Daffodil Delight and Tangerine Tango) as well as Bermuda Bay (I substituted some DSP from the Kaleidascope pack) with Kraft and Very Vanilla. I tried a bit of ruffled ribbon using the widest twill tape (retiring from the catty boo hoo!) and some sticky strip. The flower was created with Playful Petals (retiring...) by stamping the flowers on different colours of card then cutting out smaller layers and building it all up - lots of fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Retiring Goodies...

Hiya!

Stampin Up released the retiring list of stamps and accessories in the Uk on Wednesday and there is a LOT on there!! I had a class last night showing some some of the lovely things that are going and thought I'd make another card this morning based on the Inspiration Challenge over at SCS. I chose this inspiration piece and here's what I came up with:

I used LOADS of stamp sets on this one (got a bit carried away...). The main image is from A Rose is a Rose (retiring), the greeting is a mix of True Friend and Framed with Love (both retiring) and the background is a combo of En Francais, Baroque Motifs and Season of Joy (thankfully none of which are retiring!!). Oh and the butterfly is from A Touch of Nature - yep also retiring!!

The rose was created by stamping Ruby Red first then Bravo Burgundy, and the leaves are Mellow Moss and Always Artichoke (Ruby Red and Mellow Moss are both going). The background is Blush Blossom (also going..!) and I've stamped the swirls in either Sahara Sand or Basic Grey. The butterfly was stamped with Soft Suede and sponged with Blush Blossom. I covered the leaves, rose and butterfly with clear embossing powder so they are nice and glossy. I added a few Ruby Red buttons to finish (pretty much the last of my stash in that colour!).

If you live in the UK and are interested in purchasing any Stampin Up products, particularly those on the retiring list as they won't be available after September, do get in touch. If you live in the Bristol area and would like to host a party (and get some free goodies!) I have a number of incentives running at the moment - just ask for more details!

Thanks for stopping by today...

x Amy x

Curtain Call Farewell...

Hiya!

Welcome to another fabulous Curtain Call challenge - and what will be my (and the rest of the current Crew's) last challenge as a design team member. I have had such a blast playing along and creating for these challenges - I love, love, love colour and I so enjoy having my creativity stretched and being inspired by the rest of the crew. I will miss being part of the Curtain Call Crew but I'm sure I'll find the time to play along in future challenges!

Here are this week's colours:

I actually got carried away and made two cards for my last hurrah! Here's the first:

I wanted to do some colouring but I don't have the inks for the new colours (just a sample of the cardstock!), so I improvised by mixing some reinkers - lots of fun! To get Concord Crush I mixed two drops of Brilliant Blue with one drop of Elegant Eggplant - in real life it is pretty much a perfect match! To get Pear Pizzazz I mixed two drops of Certainly Celery with one drop of Wild Wasabi - again, a great match - hooray! I used an aquabrush and watercolour paper and stamped the image (from Soft Summer) using Stazon. Have I mentioned how much I love colouring?? I used Kraft DSP as well as some random K&Co stuff that seemed pretty close to Pear Pizzazz and Concord Crush. I added a double bow thingy with Kraft taffeta and some buttons (of course!) as well as some liquid pearls around the main image panel and in the centres of the flowers.

My other card is for the amazing Stacey, as well as all my fellow 'Crew' members who have been a real inspiration over the last six months:

I used another of my new toys from CHA - the Lily of the Valley set from PTI. I stamped it on white cardstock then watercoloured with my 'Concord Crush' mix around the outside of the image. I filled in the leaves with copic markers and added glossy accents over the flowers so they're nice and shiny. I kept the layout simple and added a lace bow and (surprise, surprise...) button! The greeting is from the Violets set from the same PTI series called Year of Flowers.

Make sure you check out the rest of the current Curtain Call crew for their creations - and check out Stacey's blog for the list of the new design team - who are awesome!!

Stacey Schafer at Stacey's Stamping Stage

Andrea Roose at Andrea's Scrap- und Stampel Blog

Iwona Palamountain (Chupa) at Random Acts of Creativity

Julie Smith at Paper and Such

Lea Lawson at Lea's Cupcakes & Sunshine

Marisa Ritzen at Rosemary Reflections

Melissa Hubert at My Paper Obsession

Shelley Germann at Stampin' Garden

Sue Kohler at My Inner Reflection

and our Guest Designer for August...Teresa Kline at Enjoy the VA Sunshine
...then play along with us and post your Curtain Call Color Challenge: Act 45 creation using Mr. Linky at Stacey's Stamping Stage.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you'll keep on visiting...
x Amy x

Eastern Pacific Birthday...

Hiya!

Just a quick card to share with you today that I made during the week for the colour challenge over on SCS (Rich Razzleberry, Pacific Point and Old Olive).

I combined the colour challenge with the Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge but I flipped the sketch to accomodate the image I wanted to use. This gorgeous flower comes from the Eastern Influences SU set that was in the Aussie & US catty (managed to get my Mum to buy me a set last Christmas and I'm so glad I did cos I LOVE to watercolour this image!). I used Pacific Point and Old Olive reinkers to colour this along with an aquabrush. The papers are from the lush Cottage Wall DSP pack that is available while stocks last from Stampin Up. I added some Old Olive satin ribbon and some buttons to finish.

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Happy Anni-verve-sary!

Hiya!

Just thought I'd pop in quickly and share the cards I made for the Verve sketch challenges last week to celebrate their 3rd anniversary. I had lots of fun with these as Julee's sketches are always FAB!

This one uses some new PTI sets I picked up in Chicago - Baby Button Bits and A Little Argyle. That background paper is in fact hand-stamped! Gotta love background sets that enable you to make papers that match your colour scheme perfectly! I added my fave embellishments: ribbon, button and lace! The sentiment is from Verve.

This one uses the Blue Skies set that I won in a Mojo Monday contest a few weeks ago - I was so excited cos I've been wanting to get this set since it was release - love the sentiments in it and I think this one is my favourite! I used some lace trim I picked up at a little market stall on holiday in the Lake District - gotta love the Kraft lace hey??!

This one uses some Webster's Pages papers that my sister got for me last year I think... They're so pretty I have hardly used them as I can't bear to cut into them!! Silly I know but that's me! The sentiment is from Verve as well as the flourishes and butterfly. Once again some lace was added (my word I'm really on a lace kick at the moment!) as well as some overlapping buttons.

This last one is my favourite... I guess you could say it's a 'me' card lol! I love drama and this background paper is LUSH - it is flocked so feels amazing IRL - unfortunately the camera just doesn't capture how gorgeous is it! The cake has liquid pearls and glitter on it and I've added black stickles to the edge of the scallop layer around the cake. Both the sentiment and cake are from Verve's Birthday Wishes set. I've added some Real Red ribbon that was in a kit in the first UK catalogue that I've had floating around for a while!

That's it for today folks - thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Curtain Call Balloons...

Hiya!

Welcome to another Curtain Call colour challenge! Sorry for not posting this week but I went back to work (albeit only two days a week!) and had our living room replastered so life has been a bit hectic!

Anyways, check out this week's colours:

Such bright and fresh colours! Now in the UK we don't have the new colours yet.... BUT... my fab friend Vannessa has managed to get her hands on some from the US and she very kindly sent me a sample of each - yay! So I was able to play with the exact colours - although I had to ration my useage of them due to not having a lot to play with! This is what I came up with:

I used the balloon from Crazy for Cupcakes and paper-pieced the balloons with Poppy Parade and Daffodil Delight cardstock and coated both with crystal effects. I used the sketch from The Sweet Stop this week - love their sketches!! Their 'spin' was to 'think school' and I thought my primary colours on the card was a bit of a school link (primary school... ok a bit tenuous but it works in my head!). I added some white satin ribbon with a PTI button and a bunch of piercing to finish.

The Curtain Call Crew has samples to show you today, too, so make sure you stop by to see:

our fab leader: Stacey Schafer at Stacey's Stamping Stage

Andrea Roose at Andrea's Scrap- und Stampel Blog
Iwona Palamountain (Chupa) at Random Acts of Creativity
Julie Smith at Paper and Such
Lea Lawson at Lea's Cupcakes & Sunshine
Marisa Ritzen at Rosemary Reflections

Melissa Hubert at My Paper Obsession
Shelley Germann at Stampin' Garden
Sue Kohler at My Inner Reflection
and our Guest Designer for August...Teresa Kline at Enjoy the VA Sunshine

...then play along with us and post your Curtain Call Color Challenge: Act 44 creation using Mr. Linky at Stacey's Stamping Stage.
Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Curtain Call Dream...

Hiya!

It's that time of the week again! Time for another Curtain Call colour challenge, and this week's colours are bright and cheerful:

I have these colours from old in-colour packs my mum got me from Australia so I could play along with the exact colours this week - yay! Here's what I came up with:

The colours came up really strangely on the pic (had to use hubby's phone to take it as I can't find our digital camera amidst the chaos of having our living room replastered - joy!!). It looks just the right side of bright (KWIM?) in real life! The flowers are from the Live Your Dream set (selectively inked with large inkpads... which was fun!). The flowers were stamped a second time and popped up for added dimension. On the Kiwi Kiss panel I stamped the vine border along the side from Vintage Vogue using Kiwi Kiss ink. I added some Tangerine Tango ribbon and a pin from the Pretties Kit - LOVE these things!! Just wish the camera would capture how pretty it is IRL! I used this week's SFYTT for the layout.

The Curtain Call Crew has samples to show you today, too, so make sure you stop by to see:


our fab leader: Stacey Schafer at Stacey's Stamping Stage

Andrea Roose at Andrea's Scrap- und Stampel Blog

Iwona Palamountain (Chupa) at Random Acts of Creativity

Julie Smith at Paper and Such

Lea Lawson at Lea's Cupcakes & Sunshine

Marisa Ritzen at Rosemary Reflections

Melissa Hubert at My Paper Obsession

Shelley Germann at Stampin' Garden

Sue Kohler at My Inner Reflection

and our Guest Designer for August...Teresa Kline at Enjoy the VA Sunshine
...then play along with us and post your Curtain Call Color Challenge: Act 43 creation using Mr. Linky at Stacey's Stamping Stage.

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Doggie Sketch...

Hiya!

I picked up this cute stamp from Taylored Expressions at CHA - couldn't resist it! Thought it would be perfect for an anniversary card (which I realised the other day I have hardly any of!!). I used this week's Taylored Expressions Sketch for the layout and came up with this:

I used some papers from the 6x6 pack from Kaiser Craft that we were given for free at CHA - it has some great die-cut tags and borders and things at the back that came in handy for the scallop border. I used some Twill Tape from SU and a couple of PTI buttons (couldn't resist!). The sentiment is from one of the Fillable Frames sets from PTI (also picked up at CHA). The image was coloured with copic markers. Am loving how cute this card is - will have to find a cute couple to give it to!

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Colour Throwdown meets new stash...

Hiya!

I'm on holiday at the mo in the Lakes District (one of the most beautiful places on EARTH!) with my hubby for the week, but I've managed to bring a load of crafty stash (basically all my new toys from the States plus some staple supplies!) so I'm still crafting! Our little cottage has wi-fi (when it's behaving itself) so I can blog too... hooray!

I've made a few cards already which I'll share in due course, but I thought I would show this one that I made last night for the colour throwdown challenge this week: Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight and Old Olive. Here's what I came up with:

I had to improvise with the colours as I haven't got all my cardstock colours with me so I used a mix of DSP. The butterfly is cut from felt from PTI with their butterfly die - soooo pretty! I added a button to the middle from my {mega} stash hee hee! (BTW - my hubby couldn't quite believe I'd taken ALL my buttons with us on hols... I tried to explain that I needed the full selection of colours but he didn't really get it... lol!). I used a mat stack die from PTI to cut out the Tangerine layer behind the butterfly then layered a 1 3/4" circle on top with some buttons either side. The ribbon is So Saffron (closest I have to the new Daffodil Delight colour I think). The sentiment is stamped in Old Olive and it's from PTI's Everyday Button Bits set. I used a paper doily for the background (got these at Michaels - 30 in a pack for silly money hee hee!) and another sketch from the Go To Sketches mag... so pleased I got that in the US!

That's all for now - might even post again today with another card - we'll see how the wi-fi holds up!

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Curtain Call Double Fun...

Hiya!

Welcome to another Curtain Call challenge! Check out this week's colours:

In the UK we haven't got the new colours yet (bring on September when demos get to preorder lol!). I had to substitute Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip and Wild Wasabi but the colours ended up pretty close to the inspiration pic so I was happy! I got a bit carried away with my new stuff and decided to make two cards - here's the first:

I used the Bird on a Branch set (which is on sale during August) to create the scene - gotta love the Stamp-a-ma-jig for lining up images properly! The orange bird is stamped seperately and cut out and popped up next to the brown bird. I thought these two looked like a cute little old couple - perfect for an anniversary card! I've just gotten my hands on the Pumpkin Pie big striped ribbon and had to try one of those big luscious bows I've been admiring on many of Stacey's cards - love putting a button in the centre too! I sponged around the edges of the background and main panels with Choc Chip ink to grunge it up a little. The background panel was stamped with the Medallion stamp with Wild Wasabi ink.

I had to play with my freebie PTI set I got at the CHA show so I whipped this one up as an added bonus:

This set is so easy to use! The leaves are a big stamp and you just choose one of the four flower stamps to fit over the ends of the stems - so cute! I used PTI's Linen and Canvas impression plate to add some texture to the image panel and added some Tea Dye ink around the edges to distress a little. The sentiment is from the same set. I added some stitching, lace and buttons to finish off.

For both of these cards I used sketches from the Go to Sketches magazine that I picked up in the States - it is FABulous! I've seen bits and pieces from it on the 'net for ages so I was really excited to be able to pick up a copy myself.

The Curtain Call Crew has samples to show you today, too, so make sure you stop by to see:
our fab leader: Stacey Schafer at Stacey's Stamping Stage
Andrea Roose at Andrea's Scrap- und Stampel Blog
Iwona Palamountain (Chupa) at Random Acts of Creativity
Julie Smith at Paper and Such
Lea Lawson at Lea's Cupcakes & Sunshine
Marisa Ritzen at Rosemary Reflections
Melissa Hubert at My Paper Obsession
Shelley Germann at Stampin' Garden
Sue Kohler at My Inner Reflection
and our Guest Designer for August...Teresa Kline at Enjoy the VA Sunshine

...then play along with us and post your Curtain Call Color Challenge: Act 42 creation using Mr. Linky at Stacey's Stamping Stage.
Thanks for stopping by!
x Amy x