Scrapbook pages

Last Saturday was my scrapbook class and, although one item on the page is no longer available, I still wanted to show you the pages we did.   I try and vary  the colours we use so always look back to see previous pages we did.  It was a very hard decision as we have made so many...lol.

Anyway, I decided to go with the colour combination of Cherry Cobbler, Wisteria Wonder and Pink Pirouette.  I liked the way these colours went together.  The darkness of the cherry cobbler made the other two colours really stand out.

I have seen on many cards and scrapbook pages the layout as though the picture were in the middle of a sunbeam.  So I thought I'd give it a go.  I got a piece of scrap card that comes with 12x12 papers and just cut it so that I got several pieces that I numbered 1-14, these were my template for the sunbeam effect.   I then layered the pieces on the card stock I was using, drew around them and cut them out.  

Now, because I wanted a kind of monotone look with the sunbeams I used cherry cobbler core'dinations card which, when embossed using the Chevron embossing folder and sanded down, did the job very well I thought.  The next bit was easy, I just stuck the pieces down, now if you are doing this method don't be put off by how untidy it looks in the middle as this is covered up with your picture.  Initially my hubby turned his nose up but when he saw the finished product he was impressed.

As you will see this page only had one photo on it and who better to be the center of attention (well not quite but that was deliberate) than my lovely blue eyed boy, Leo.  He's getting big now, he will be 2 in a couple of weeks, how time flies.  Also on this page are the now retired bottle tops.  I'm sorry to see these go as they were so versatile.... oh well never mind,somethings got to make way for all our new stuff hasn't it ladies?

Now on to page 2. I wanted to use more than one photo on this page but still use the same colour scheme as it was a double page for my scrapbook.  So, I thought, who's cute, got lovely blue eyes and warms my heart every time I see him, no not hubby, although he comes a close second, but my little man again.

You can see from the picture that I stamped all the pieces of card in their corresponding ink.  I used the Mixed Bunch set that has remained in the catalogue to do this.  I wanted to keep it fairly simple but show how inquisitive Leo is getting.  These sets of pictures were taken a on Fathers day when we were all out in the garden.  Leo takes after his mum for following his granddad around, trying to mimic him as that's what Nicola did with her granddad down the allotments.... oh the memories :)

Finally here are the two pages together, I hope you like them?

If you would like to order any of the products I have used, except the bottle tops, please see the list below and just contact me to order.

Til next time

Hugs
Tracy -x-

Products used:
Card stock - Cherry Cobbler, Pink Pirouette, Wisteria Wonder and Cherry Cobbler Core'dinations
Inks - Cherry Cobbler, Pink Pirouette and Wisteria Wonder
Stamp sets - Mixed Bunch - Clear set
Other products - Wisteria Wonder ribbon, Cherry cobbler and Wisteria Wonder marker pens, Clear blocks, SU paper cutter
Punches - Scallop boarder punch
Big shot with Chevron embossing folder
No longer available - bottle tops

New 2013/2014 Catalogue is out now

Hello everyone,

It may only be July but Stampin'Up! have decided to launch the NEW Annual Catalogue a whole 3 months earlier than usual.  Why I hear you asking?  Well they wanted us, the distant relatives from over the pond lol,  to be on the same catalogue as our American cousins for a little longer than usual.  So, in June they launched the catalogue in the USA and Europe follow in July with 2 seasonal catalogues to follow.

There is so much more on offer including My Digital Studio which allows you to create online pages for scrapbooks and cards.  As yet I haven't had the time to try it out but the reviews already from other demonstrators is very promising.

However, I have used the new embossing folders and some of the papers from the new catalogue.  As a Demonstrator you can order select items prior to the launch of the catalogue so I thought I'd make hubby's fathers day card for last month using my new toys and this is what I came up with....

I have used the new mosaic embossing folder and punch along with some of the new designer series papers and washi tape.  To give the pattern detail I emobossed the core'dinations cardstock in Early Expresso and sanded it down.  After I'd finished it felt like velvet.  I then took some of the DSP, Soho Subway to cover the other side of the card and to punch out the mosaic sections in blue.  Having stamped the sentiment from Really Good Greetings stamp set i punched it out with the label punch and did the same in very vanilla to put round the original shape for a bit of depth.

Some of you would have spotted the Epic Day This and That Designer Washi tape on the top right of the card.  It is clearer in real life and this picture was taken when the sky was over cast, sry.

If you would like to order anything out of the catalogue, or to do this project, just drop me a line and I will put it through for you.  My details can be found at the top of the page.

Hugs
Tracy -x-

Products used
Inks - Whisper White
Cardstock - Island Indigo, Very Vanilla, Early expresso core'dinations
Paper - Soho Subway
Stamp Sets - Really Good Greetings
Tools - mosaic embossing folder, mosaic punch, Big shot, Decorative Label punch, Needle point embossing folder, sanding block
Ribbon - Epic Day this and that designer washi tape

Patterned Party

Hello everyone in blogger land,

I hope you are all well and busy crafting?  Today is full of sunshine but it is rather on the chilly side don't you think?  I remember how hot is was on the 16th May 1989, not like today, as it was the day my eldest daughter was born :)  So I have been up since 8.30 this morning doing her card.  I tried over the last few night but nothing seemed right, no matter what I did, so I packed it all in and went to watch some TV before I threw everything in the bin...lol.

So, despite having older things to show you I'm going to show you the card I've just finished making for her. I have a few stamp sets that have never been used and one of them is Patterned Party so I decided to use this one.  Its a stamp set that shouts fun at you with the bunting, balloons, numbers etc.  I had already chosen the colour scheme as green and purple as I feel they compliment one another.  The other reason was that, at my recent scrapbook class my sister and sister in law used this combination and Nicola commented on how nice it looked together.

Ok here is the card for Nicola's birthday today:

I have used Perfect Plum, Whisper White and Wild Wasabi card-stock.  On the Apothacary Accent Framelit I have used one of the brilliant builder brads, don't you just love them.  I personally think they make a card seem very elegant.  The whisper white card was embossed using the hexagonal embossing folder and looked a bit empty when I put it on the card so I punched out some tiny hearts and stuck then inside one of the hexagonal shapes. Just what was needed I thought.

Below is the inside of the card and I have used Bring on the Cake stamp set for the sentiment.

I hope you have enjoyed looking at my creations and if you have I would appreciate it if you could leave a comment to show you have passed by.

Hugs

Tracy -x-

Products used which can all be purchased from me, just get in touch as I'd love to hear from you,
Card -  Whisper White, Wild Wasabi, Perfect Plum
Stamps - Patterned Party, Bring on the cake
Inks -  Wild Wasabi, Perfect plum
Tools -  Big Shot, Hexagon embossing folder, Apothecary Accent Framelits, Stampin scrub and cleaner
Accessories -  Build a brad,  Elegant Eggplant spotted scallop ribbon

Punch Art

Hello everyone,

Sorry about my absence for so long, I don't have any excuse other than life goes by so quicly... Anyway, I'm here now and that's all that matters, isn't it?  I have lots of projects to show you that go back to March and I am on leave this week so I've no excuse not to post ...lol

 To start us off I'm going to show you a card that my daughter asked me to make for one of her friends at work. If you are like me I tend to give cards that reflect the person's hobbies or interests and so I asked my daughter what her friend liked.   This made her laugh and I couldn't understand why until she told me that her friend liked cows!!!   OK I thought, how am i going to overcome this one when none of my sets of stamps have a cow in it?  Easy, punch art.

So I used my trusty Google site and searched under images for  SU punch art cows and hey presto some came up, plus lots of other punch art images.  The one I chose to CASE was off a very talented ladies site, Andi Potler http://www.absolutekreations.com, and was this my end version:

As you can see I only changed the style of the card , mine wasn't an easel card, and the sentiment at the top of the card to reflect the occasion. My daughter said her friend loved it so thank you Andi for coming to my rescue.

I've listed the products I've used below so if you would like to order any of the products please get in touch. I'll be back soon, promise, with more creations. So until then stay safe and happy crafting.

Hugs

Tracy -x-  

Stamp Sets: Itty Bitty Banners
Card : Real Red , Pretty In Pink , Basic Black, Very Vanilla , Whisper White
Ink:  Real Red, Pretty In Pink , Chocolate Chip , Basic Black 
Punches: Modern Label , Word Window, Curly Label  Boho Blossoms, 5-Petal Flower, Heart to Heart , Itty Bitty Bits , 3/4″ Circle , 1/2″ Circle , Extra-Large Oval , Large Oval , Owl Builder , Cupcake Builder
Tools: Big Shot, Stripes Textured Embossing Folder, Sponge Daubers , Paper Snips Paper Cutter
Accessories: Stampin’ Dimensionals, Silver Brads

More Male cards

Hi again,

Well spring didn't last long from my last post did it...lol  Anyway as you may have read, about a week ago I posted some cards for my husband's birthday.  I showed you 2 one that was from me and one from little Leo, although he's not so little now... he's two in July where does the time go?

So back to birthday cards, I needed to make 2 for my daughters to give to dad.  Obviously I couldn't make two the same so needed to come up with two more ideas for male cards.  Whenever they are for the girls I always let the first one here chose.  Nicola was the first one to chose this time and chose one where I had used the New Sizzlits S die - pinwheel.- from the spring catalogue (pg 33).  I also, for the first time despite having it months, used the big square scallop die to create the wavy edge boarder and went around them with crumb cake ink.  The ribbon was initially whisper white but, having rubbed it along the Cajun Craze ink pad and leaving it to dry, it became the same colour as the card, just perfect.  The name "dad" was from the set For My Family

Next is the card that I gave to Kirsty for her dad.  Again it was difficult thinking up a front but I found the template for this card among several I have saved in the past.  I usually struggle with the layout of a card so templates are brilliant for me.  So here I used the stamp set The Open Sea.  The embellishment in the top left corner is one of the new bottle top embellishments we have in the Spring/Summer catty on pg 24.  I put it through my big shot to flatten it and then added the stamped image after.  The one inch circle punch is a perfect fit for the larger bottle top and the half inch circle for the smaller bottle top.

The ship images was stamped and then die cut using Floral Frames Framelits, which are another new product, but this time can be found in the main catty on pg 191.  The sentiment is again from For My Family as its hard to get individual "names" in sets don't you think?

Well I hope you have liked looking at my creations and all the mess in the background...lol.  Sry but its been a bit of a hard week for me one way and another and I have only just realised I haven't cropped the photos....doh.

Til next time 

Hugs

Tracy -x-

Is Spring finally here ????

Hello,

I can't believe it we actually have some sun and a bit of warmth, well it is when you are in the sun, bit chilly when you aren't.  But its just lovely to see a bright fresh day.  I think it cheers everyone up don't you?  Hubby is currently in his greenhouse pricking out over 300 plants and I'm about to do some crafting and it is so nice to have the conservatory door open to hear the birds.

Well I have that many cards to show you I really don't know where to start so I think I'll spoil you and combine a couple in the same post.   It was my hubby's  birthday last weekend and, as you can imagine, I had quite a few cards to make.  I generally find it difficult making cards for men  but for these I just found a couple of sketches that I had save and worked from there.

The first card I'm going to show you is the one from me.  Anyone who knows my hubby will know that he is a tea-a-holic.  So what better set to use then the Tea Shoppe stamp set.   Stampin' Up couldn't have made a more apt set for him.  You don't realise until you use this set just how detailed the large cup is.

Now a blokes card, to me,  means mens' colours so I used Pool Party and Island Indigo (both from the 2011-2013 in colours) along with Whisper White card and here is the end result:

I stamped the image onto Island Indigo card-stock with Whisper White ink and put it to one side to dry.  Whilst the image was drying I cut out one of the sizes from the Labels Collection Framelits and then embossed it with the Perfect Polka Dots Folder.  By now the image had dried so I used the next size down
(I had already measured it check the image fitted) and die cut the image.  The rest is pretty much straight forward.  The two sentiments were from both from the  Tea Shoppe stamp set.

Now for the second card.  This is one that Little Leo sent his grandad.  Boy is he getting big now and his speech is coming on in leaps and bounds.  It helps that his mum interacts a lot with him and doesn't just sit him in front of the TV, they are always doing something :)

Anyway, Leo wanted to do a quite simple but colourful card for his Grandad so chose to use the Pennant Parade stamp set to create a party hat card.  The colours were Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo, Pool Party and Calypso Coral, well in fact all the in-colours for 2011 to 2013

Its the first time I have put all 5 colours together and I think they look good.  The sentiment is from the stamp set For My Family a very useful set to have.  The punches used were Curly Label and Decorative Label.  Also used was the 1/2" punch to make the pom poms on the hats.

Well I hope you have liked my double post.  I'll be back soon to show you the cards I made for the girl to give to Dad.  Until then take care and look after yourself and your family.

Oh I forgot to show you that Leo even signed the card himself...... don't you just love those memories?

Take care

Hugs

Tracy -x-

Something different

Hello everyone, 

I hope you have all had a nice Easter and you are ready to go back to work tomorrow?. 

Today I'm going to show you a card that I made for my mum to give to Kirsty when she turned 21 in February this year.  As it was a memorable birthday I wanted to make a special card that she could keep.  I'm not sure what the style is called, and I think I made my first on like this at one of Julie Kettlewells' training, but what I do know is that its very fiddly to make.

The main body of the card is made from one sheet of 12x12 card-stock and the DSP Patio Party (pg 165 main catty).  You will need an additional strip of 12 x 12 card-stock to make the band.  Using the cotton Ribbon (pg 35 summer catty) I stamped the Happy 21st Birthday message in Night of Navy with the stamp set Memorable Moments (pg 139 main catty).  I have also used one of the quaint little charms from, Tea Time Trinkets,  (pg 1 of the summer catty).

When you remove the band holding it all together it kinda spring open like an Explosion box.  As you can see I have decorated all of the inside edges too with matching DSP.  I have used the retired Just Perfect Alphabet stamp set to stamp out Kirsty's name and a stamp from the now retired, but wasn't when I made the card, Sale-a-bration set called Vintage Verses.  Both my mum and Kirtsy liked the finished product,

I hope to be back soon as I have lots of cards to show you and, maybe ,a sneak peek for the end of the months scrapbook pages.    If you would like to purchase any of the items I have used please do not hesitate to ask and I will gladly order them for you.  Likewise, if you would like to participate in one of my classes then please get in touch so that we can arrange somethings.

That's if from me so until next time take care and happy crafting,

Hugs
Tracy -x-