Totally Techniques Blog Hop - Colour Blocking

Welcome to our Totally Techniques Hop. You can view all the inspiration via the images at the bottom of this post.

It was my turn to pick the technique for this month and I found a super tutorial for this very simple, but effective technique on SplitCoastStampers here . It's a great technique for using up those odd bits of card that we all have and promise to use, you know the ones I mean right.

I've used some outgoing in colours of Fresh Fig, Lemon Lime Twist, Tranquil Tide, Berry Burst and Powder Pink. Which one of those will you miss the most?  For me it has to be Lemon Lime Twist or maybe Berry Burst, but then I just love this in colour selection.  Wait until you see the new ones coming in June. You're in for a treat.

Now back to the cards.  I stuck strips of card across a piece of whisper white. You don't need to measure them because you just line them up and then can cut your block to suit your project. You can then die cut an aperture if you wish or just add an image by embossing it on the top or cutting one out and adding it. I chose to die cut my gorgeous Tea Together tea pot out using the soon to return Tea Time dies.  Yes they too will be in our new annual Stampin' Up! catalogue.  I then stamped the outline of the teapot in the aperture and added a flower.  I've also stamped and die cut some flower decoration to carry the theme across the card. Now once you've cut a tea pot out of bold stripes it would be wasteful to discard it, so you can make a second card like this.

If you're on facebook you can check out another example using this technique on my page at www.facebook.com/zoetant  .

Now to carry on the hop please click on the images to go to the next blog. Enjoy our hop which is full of inspiration for you. 

Thanks for stopping by here with me Zoe Tant in the UK.

Hugs Zx

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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! Balloon Celebration Wedding Favours

Today I'm at the biannual Stampin' Up! Onstage Event at Telford International Centre.  It's a gathering of the crazy Stampin' Up! folk from all over the UK.  We're here to learn about new products coming your way in June and also to get our hands on the new catalogue.  

I'm sharing my team swaps with you today.  I've adapted the Stampin' Up! Bakers Box and added a fun twist using lolly sticks and the balloons punched out of brights card stock.  I've also used Balloon Celebrations stamp set to add some images to the black boxes.  These were stamped in whisper white craft ink, which is a pigment ink so it needs time to dry or you can use it to heat emboss adding clear or white embossing powder before the ink dries then heating with your heat gun. I choose to just let it dry and it gives a kind of chalk board effect which is fun with these bright balloons.  These would make fabulous favours for children's birthdays of weddings. 

Each box contains some treats in the form of mini Tic Tac boxes in different flavours and a mini hand cream tube.  An eclectic mix of treats true!!!

Come back tomorrow and I'll be sharing one of my card swaps that I made to share with other demos to get different ideas and inspiration in return.

Have a good Saturday. I know I will be.

Hugs Zx

Crafting with Friends

The countdown is on to this weekend when I will join nearly 400 Stampin' Up! UK demonstrators at our new twice yearly training events.  We get to share ideas, inspiration and lots more and most importantly we get to come home with the new Stampin' Up! annual catalogue for 2016 - 2017.  Guess what I'm doing on Sunday............

This is my take on a saying I saw on a bag a few weeks ago. What more could a girl want than crafting and drinking tea with friends for a little bit of luxurious therapy!  It takes a little patience, but the alphabet rotary stamp is perfect for adding your own messages on cards.

I'm so excited about the weekend mainly because I get to spend time with my lovely teamies, but also to catch up with friends I've made since I joined Stampin' Up! over 8 years ago.  It will be a crazy day and on Friday I've been invited to the Manager's Reception which is a complimentary meal, with information and the invitation says a gift also. Can't wait.  Just 4 more sleeps.

In the meantime I'm making lots of lovely projects to share over the coming weeks with you including using the fabulous A Nice Cuppa.  I love these toppling tea cups and I'm a great tea drinker too so they really appeal.  Are you a tea drinker? Are you good old Tetley/Typhoo or green tea or fruit teas?

Leave a comment and tell me what you prefer.

Zx

If you'd like to join the fun and be able to get your hands on new catalogues and product before anyone else please do contact me for more information or find out more on my Join now page.

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Stampin' Up! Balloon Celebrations

You could be forgiven for thinking I'd named this post incorrectly, but these sweet delicate dandelion head stamps are all part of the Stampin' Up! set Balloon Celebrations.  It's an awesome set of stamps that could pretty much cover most events in your annual calendar.

Here I stamped first in archival basic black ink onto whisper white card and then embossed in gold on basic black card and then raised the basic black layer with stampin' dimensionals.  I used post it notes to cover parts that I didn't want to stamp again to ensure that it appears that complete seed heads are visible, but that each part is the correct colour on it's background.

Simple, but effective.  The lovely hand scripted sentiment is part of the What I Love free Saleabration stamp set which you can have in your stash with a purchase of £45.

Stampin' Up! Balloon Celebrations along with the Balloon Bouquet punch and a couple of inks pads is one way of building a bundle of products to earn the free set.

You can buy these and other Stampin' Up! products in my Stampin' Up! online Shop.

More soon Zx

Balloon Celebrations meets Bear Hugs for fun Valentine's

Happy Valentine's day to one and all. I wish everyone a happy day.

Every year my fantastic hubby and I say 'we're not doing Valentine's' and every year one of us does. I have this time as I'm not home today, but in South Wales sharing lovely stampin' stash with the nice people of Cowbridge and the surrounding area, so I have been the one to 'do' a Valentine for my special man.

I've combined Stampin' Up! sets Bear Hugs and Balloon Celebration to make this cute card. I love bears and Martin knows that if I was home today I'd certainly be giving him a big bear hug and balloons are always good for any celebration not least our love.  Ok enough slushy stuff.  

Enjoy your day ! 

One other stamp set I've used is the FREE saleabration set What I love. Yes it is free when you spend £45 on Stampin' Up! products. I've added the first sentiment to the front of the card then folded it over onto the inside and stamped the answer.  You just need to rotate the second stamp to make sure it is stamped the right way up as it will invert when you stick it down and when the card is opened. 

Have fun.

Hugs Zx

Stampin' Up! Balloon Celebration Bundle

Stampin' Up! has produced yet another stunning Spring catalogue that I will be able to share with you from 5 January, but until then I'm only allowed to share sneak peeks.   This gorgeous bundle of  products includes the new Balloon Celebration stamp set and Balloon Bouquet punch.  They come as a bundle which makes the purchase even sweeter and it won't take up all your christmas gift money that you receive from Santa next week.

I made several of this card design to congratulate some lovely friends in my team who have recently achieved milestones or targets.  I like vibrant colours and took these from the subtles and brights colour collections.  The 'Way to Go' stamp is from the Bravo set in the annual catalogue and the scripted 'Congratulations'  is part of the new Balloon Celebration.  You'll see soon that there aren't just balloons in this set, but for the moment we're celebrating success and so balloons are just perfect.

The punch has two balloon sizes to punch and as you would expect fits nicely around two sizes of balloon stamps in the set.

Congratulations to all who are celebrating. If you'd like to know more about joining the celebration by earning your own success and rewards with my help please take a look at my 'join Stampin' Up! page' and please feel free to contact me for further information.  The new year brings lots of exciting new products and promotions so is one of the better times to join our fun, friendly team.

More soon Zx