Stampin' Up! Grand Vacation Achievers Blog Hop Mediterranean Highlights

 It's time for another Grand Vacation Acheivers Blog Hop.  Thank you for popping by to see some of my memories of this amazing trip.  It was our first cruise and I have to admit I went with trepidation and wasn't at all sure whether I should really go.  I'm not a good traveler and so it really didn't appeal, but I did know it would be a good change of scene for Martin and I as the first half of the year has been stressful with my Dad being so ill.  For regular readers he continues to do ok and thank you for your messages and support.

You can quickly see a theme through our highlights.  Food, sights and best of all time together in many places familiar to us with very happy memories.  We love Florence and Italy in general, but also France although we'd never been  to Cannes or Marseille.  We made our own tours rather than those the ship had to offer and enjoyed the adventures of trains, buses etc to get us where we wanted to be.

Ice cream in the form of a Mr Whippy type on the ship caught my George Clueknee's attention as did our visit to the Santa Trinita Gelato Parlour in Florence a  favourite of ours and the children from 2011 and a special family holiday. Sorry kids we made sure we had one or two for you also!

This is a favourite memory of mine with this chap who was quite clearly very fed up just before the photo but once he saw the camera a little life returned and a melancholy pose was born.

If you fancy having the chance to participate in one of these amazing trips consider joining Stampin' Up!.  You can contact me for more details and if you're quick there's a special deal that lasts for just one more day. 

Happy Hopping and remember you're currently with Zoe Tant in the UK you can see the list below. 

Come back soon

Zx

Christmas Card Club - Cute Foxy Friends

Lovely Sylvie is our hostess at Christmas Card Club this fortnight and she set us the challenge of a cute Christmas card.  I couldn't resist a little punch art for this one and my new Foxy Friends stamps and punch worked their magic and we have this cute trio all dressed ready for Christmas celebrations.

All three are created with the fox builder punch except the rabbits ears which started life as part of the bow builder punch and a little bit of freehand fussy cutting.  My festive accompaniments are from Snow Place and sentiment from Oh What Fun.  I'm also liking the new Classic Label punch which arrived with my UPS man this week.

A bold statement background works well I think with these cute characters and it is just a piece of designer series paper from the Pop of Pink pack.  No pink here today though!

Also to add a little bit of different coloured fur to the European Badger featured I have used white craft ink and stamped with the large paint brush mark from Painter's Palette.

Please do visit the other ladies in our club who all have a cute card to share and different inspiration for you.

Happy Sunday.  Zx

Bella and Friends - How cute

As a big fan of dogs I couldn't resist this cutie. I adore this sweet little dog named Bella and her friends in the Stampin' Up! set Bella and Friends.   Such a fun set of stamps and as you can see she looks cute surrounded by pretty flowers as well as more cheeky on kraft card stock.  

Our faithful hound is Ben the Border Collie who keeps us on our toes and is never far away from mischief.

I managed to take this picture a couple of days ago holding his attention with his beloved heavily chewed plant pot.

Who's your fur baby please do share a picture.  Zx

Fathers Day Cards with Stampin Up Swirly Bird

My poor Dad has had a bit of a 'swirly' year so far so a yacht on the waves seems appropriate for this year's Father's Day.  I turned it into a spinner card too using the Sliding Star framelits in the new Stampin' Up! annual catalogue.

 Poor Dad has had a lot to deal with and he had some complications too when he had his surgery, so I wanted to remind him how much we all love him and are wishing him well on his journey through this challenge.

Combined with the Swirly Bird stamps and Sliding Star Framelits are Swirly Scribbles Framelits, Friendly Wishes stamp set, Crazy About You stamp set, Celebrate Today stamp set and designer series paper Blooms and Bliss.  

The paper was left over from my Stampin Up Floral Frames card and it is too lovely to leave bits unloved and used.  It's island indigo and mint macaron pattern here are perfect for the shades of the sea and pretty too for girly cards like the Floral Frames one I made.  Other colours used are real red, daffodil delight, night of navy and calypso coral.  

Like most girls I love my Dad and I wish him and Dads around the world a peaceful and Happy Father's Day this Sunday.  

Zx

Christmas Card Club - Star of Wonder

Another fortnight so it must be time for another Christmas Card Club challenge and this time it is my challenge. I aimed for something a bit different but then wish I hadn't as I've really struggled with Star of Wonder. What was I thinking!!!!! Martin suggested a pick of George Clooney as an alternative although I think secretly he was meaning himself as he is in jest referred to as George Clueknee on occasion.

However I've persevered and have come up with this card using the fab 'star' from the Kinda Eclectic stamp set. The stars, stipples and sentiments are from Holly Jolly Greetings and Crazy About You sets.

I started the card by embossing the big star with clear embossing powder and then used a sponge to add layers of ink onto a piece of Stampin Up  whisper white card.  I started with the palest colour soft sky and then moved through the shades of pool party, marina mist, dapper denim and ending with night of navy.  I also used the night of navy marker to gently put colour on the very edge of the card.  Using my embossing buddy I finally added some stars and stipples in versa mark and then embossed with silver.  The design is then matted onto night of navy card and then on a pool party base.

What do you think of the ruched new ribbon in dapper denim and the cute enamel stars?

Having realised I was struggling I added  a let out for the challenge of anything goes so you might see some different themes from the ladies, but they are so organised they probably had theirs done weeks ago and maybe more stars. Do take a look around as we all have very different styles and I'm sure you'll find some inspiration.

Have a great Sunday, and don't forget if you are in Hampshire come and see us at the Sincerely Yours craft show at the Mountbatten centre 10am to 3.30pm.

Zx

Stampin Up Foxy Friends you will love them all

When I saw this frame demonstrated on the Stampin' Up! cruise I knew I had to have a go, but I've added a new little fellow to the gang in the form of Badger.  My lovely friend Emily over at Stampin' Mermaid and I played about to get his stripes.  We don't have skunks, racoons or bears living wild in the UK, but we do have foxes and badgers.  You possibly can't see the badgers dark eyes, but they worked really well with just a dot of the fine tip glue.  To make his stripes I cute a second head in black and cut down from either side of the ears to create his stripes.  Now you may think like my family that badgers don't have tails, but they do.  He could so with some flecks in his fur too so I'm going to play about with him further, but I wanted this to have on my display at the Portsmouth Sincerely Yours craft show on Sunday.

The creatures are made with the new Fox Builder punch and also the Foxy Friends stamp set. You can buy them as a bundle and save 10% off the price of the individual items.  Always good to have a discount!

Come see us at the show on Sunday and you'll see us making Mr Fox.

Zx

Music Theme at MAWTT

It's time for another challenge at MAWTT and our theme is Music.  I've used a digi image from the retired Stampin' Up! MDS package and then enhanced it with stamps from the new awesome stamp set Touches of Texture along with a little Gorgeous Grunge. These sets are so good to use to add pattern, texture and interest regardless of colour or type of card you make.

The rock genius is made up from Painter's Palette and Crazy About You stamp sets and I've added a few stars in emerald envy from the new in colour enamel shapes.

You can see all the new products in my online shop HERE

Back soon

Zx

Happy Birthday Olivia

It's birthday time in our house today. It's Olivia's 17th birthday and she is out on her first driving lesson. I'm patiently waiting for her return although I'm guessing that she hasn't actually done much of the driving on this first session.  

My card today was a bit of a happy accident.  I stamped the red balloons onto watercolour paper and then spritzed probably a little too much, but salvaged it with kitchen paper and then added the stamped out lines by masking each balloon.  Using an aqua painter and soft sky ink from the ink pad lid I colour washed some sky and then matted the dried piece onto a slightly larger matt layer.  Adding a 'shine' mark on the balloons brings them alive I think and a simple sentiment makes the message clear. 

Happy birthday to my wonderful, amazing, funny, ditsy gorgeous girl Olivia.  

Hugs Zx

Stampin Up new catalogue - I love love love it!

Stampin Up Floral Phrases with Timeless Love Anniversary hand made card

So back from my first ever cruise courtesy of Stampin' Up! and back to a new annual catalogue and wow is it amazing or what!  I fell instantly in love with the Floral Phrases stamp set the rest of the Floral Boutique suite.  Here I've used the detailed Floral Thinlit Dies to create a very simple, but wow factor card.  I cut a piece of designer paper from the Blooms & Bliss pack and die cut both ends with the Floral Thinlits.  I then also cut some gold foil using the same dies and pieced the pieces back into the DSP.  It took a while, but was easy enough to do and wow look at the effect.

I was lucky enough to receive this and lots of other product as pillow gifts whilst on the Stampin' Up! incentive trip around the Mediterranean.  

I shared a few photos whilst on the trip when internet allowed, but will share a few more once I've worked out how to get them off my phone. Techy NOT!!!!

The new catalogue is now open for business and you can order from my Stampin' Up! online shop.

HERE

You can browse an online catalogue via the link on the catalogue page above or contact me for a personal copy.

Enjoy shopping!

Zx