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! Sneak Peeks

Copper embossing and accents are all the trend right now and Stampin' Up! is up there when it comes to trending! This is a simple card made using some of the new papers coming in the new 2016-2017 catalogue which launches on 1 June.  You can see the copper touches to the flowers and also the 'from all of us' is embossed in copper.

The papers are called Affectionately Yours. It's a pack of 12 sheets of specialty papers including a couple of copper printed designs.  The main Stampin' Up! colours are watermelon wonder, mint macaron, night of navy, crumb cake, cucumber crush, daffodil delight and of course copper. Plenty to get crafty with here me thinks.

If you'd like to see them in real life you can join me for my new catalogue launch party on Saturday 4 June.  Please let me know and I can add you to the invitation list if you'd like to join the party!

It's an AWESOME catalogue!

Zx

More Stampin' Up! Botanical Blooms - Do you love them too?

 Stampin' Up! UK Botanical Blooms was a big hit for me you've probably guessed and I used it for both the Mother's Day cards I made.  This one was for my MIL and featured a new technique to me shared the lovely Adeline, a member of my dutch team.  It uses ink and the large polka dot embossing folder for the matting layer and of course the leaves and flowers are from the Botanical Builder Framelits.  If you missed the card I made for my mum with the same dies you can see it here in my Stampin' Up! Botanical Blooms for Mother's Day post.

I love that you get lots of leaves and not just flowers in this set of dies and all you need to do is search pinterest and google to find lots of examples for inspiration and colour combinations.

Yesterday I visited my Dad and although physically well.  The anaesthetic and post op drugs are playing games with his mental health.  He needs drips etc to add the vital fluids his body needs, but he is wanting to pull them out and so the medicines to sedate him along with the slow exit of the operation anaesthetic are confusing him.  At least that is what we hope.  It is so hard to see him so vulnerable and frail.

Thank you for all your good wishes and messages. They really are appreciated.

Have a great week.

Zx

Stampin' Up! Butterfly Basics makes a great card by Stamping Scene

As well as Christmas Card Club, I'm also in a card swap group.  Each month the lovely Jane sets us a challenge and tells us who to send our card to.  It's fab as you receive a beautiful card every month and you get to know some really nice people as we all share a little about ourselves in the cards we send.  This is one I sent when the challenge was neutrals.

I've used Stampin' Up! stamp set Butterfly Basics, Crazy About You and Gorgeous Grunge.  The hello is a thin lit die from a set called Hello You which team up with the Crazy About You stamp set. It's one of those lovely bundles in the new Stampin' Up! catalogue that gives you 15% off the price when you buy the bundle.  I'm always up for a bargain so I was sold on it!

The stripes in the background are from the Typeset Specialty Designer Series paper which thankfully carried over from last year's catalogue as I love it.  It goes with any colour as well as a neutral theme like this.

More soon. Zx


Go bundle shopping now in my Stampin' Up!  online shop now.

A 'wow' background with Stampin' Up! UK By the Tide

Stampin' Up! UK By the Tide 

I just love this Stampin' Up! UK By the Tide stamp set and I'm going to share the technique I've used to create this effective background at my next all day class on May 9th if you'd like to come along and learn some techniques.  This will be on that you will learn so book early to avoid disappointment.

Please contact me for more information about this and other classes.

See you soon.

Zx

Stampin' Up! UK Hexagon Punch Patchwork

I love the Stacked with Love Designer Series Paper stack from the Stampin' Up! UK spring catalogue and it is too gorgeous to have just used it for Valentine's treats and then discard it so I decided that a birthday card would be a good start.  I've also used a tried, tested and age old design i.e. the patchwork quilt to make the design on my card.  I remember cutting out card hexagons at school and tacking fabric onto them to then overstitch them all together to make a quilt.  This way seems much easier, just not as good at keeping you warm. Just by using the hexagon punch I've punched out the shape in the different papers and remember the stacks are double sided so you have plenty to choose from.

To add a sentiment you just need to punch out the shape and keep the punched out piece to mark push through the aperture when your top layer is in place. Remove the top layer leaving the punched shape in place. Draw around it so that you know the limits of your stamping.  Here I used the incredibly flexible Crazy About You stamp set which is lots of words that you can put together to build your own message.

A knot of silver ribbon just adds a touch....... and you're away.  It's also flat for posting YAY!!!!

Why don't you have a go with other papers you have and maybe use up scraps that you can bear to throw away, but feel you should move them on!  Of course you could try with any other punch to build a patchwork with a different shape.

In fact why not take a look at the triangle punch in this week's weekly deals and make a three sided patchwork!

I'd love to see what you create, so please do share you designs by sending me a picture to zoetant@live.co.uk and I'll share them here.

Zx