Stampin' Up! Apothecary Art with Labels Framelits

stampin' up! apothecary art stamp set with labels framelits

Oooh, oooh I love this beautiful stamp set. It's so pretty and of course fits the framelits perfectly.  You can mix and match your layers and add them to the lace border punch, pleated baja breeze ribbon and very vanilla card stock.  You can also use your punched lace border strip as a stencil to create your own pattern on your base card.  I sponged tone on tone using my stencil and it gives a really pretty effect. 
Stamp your flowers with soft suede ink and then gently colour them using your blender pen taking ink from the lid of your ink pads which you've squeezed gently before opening half way. 
You can't quite pick up the dazzling diamonds glitter which is added to the centre of the flower.  So elegant and pretty it's fit for a queen!
All the stamps in the set are gorgeous, you're only problem will be choosing which one to use first!

More soon
Zx

Little Miss Muffet

stampin up demonstrator zoe tant

Good morning all.  For the last fortnight Olivia has been appearing in the local theatre company's panto.  This year it was written by David Ireland one of the company and it was Little Miss Muffet.  Olivia was one of the dancers and as such the girls and boys decided to buy a gift for Nancy the choreographer and I was asked to make a card.  Life was a bit hectic, but I put this together which fell in well with the theme.

I used punches for the spider,  his legs were the photo corner punch with each piece cut in half and I managed to find a use for Sweet Summer another of our gorgeous SAB free gift stamp sets for the flowers and butterflies.  The tree was hand cut and I stamped it with a retired US background stamp, Crackle Glaze and used the pine tree from Lovely as a Tree for the branches.  My crimper came in handy to add a bit of texture to the grass and more punches and a sentiment from Thankyou Kindly gave it the right message.  Basic pearls are as ever so useful with such a project and I love the new daffodil delight taffeta ribbon.  Little Miss Muffet and ribbon slider were lurking in my stash. 

I understand it went down well with Nancy and the cast.  I was thrilled when my friend and good customer Wendy, who was the director said " I would have liked a handmade card!"  Unfortunately another part of the cast organised her thank yous, but we've promised to make something special for her to store some photos of the show.

I'll be back soon to share a birthday card I've made for another friend's hubby, as we're all grateful for inspiration for cards for the men.

Happy crafting

Zx

Birthday Wishes for Rosella

My children are currently at Rosella's birthday party.  I decided that whilst Rosella is such a beautiful name the chances of getting badges, mugs or anything with her name on would be limited and probably non-existant unless you make them yourself.  Having posted my dream sign on the previous post I started thinking what I could do beyond just a card with her name on.  Also one of the greatest things about being a demonstrator is that not only do you get all your stash at a  fabulously discounted rate you also earn lots of free stuff and don't always have the time to use it and so I decided to use up some of my retired as well as current supplies on this sweet little girl's birthday and make her a sign to hang in her bedroom.

A sign, I hear you cry!  Yes a sign because once opened she will be able to remove the bottom portion and it will turn into a sign with her name on because I used the perforator from our cutting kit to enable this to happen and attached a ribbon through eyelets on the inside of the card as you can see below.

I think it's kind of clever and I'm really hoping she likes it. Report back from Olivia today who has been to panto practice with Rosella.  She told Olivia "Your card is fantastic!" Good news!

The rest of the card is fairly simple and I've used the current Brights DSP stack to stamp the balloons and cut them out and attached them to stamped images on the card base allowing the strings to remain in tact.  Being a very girly, funky girl, Rosella that is, I've done a 'pink' job with sparkly rhinestones and dazzling diamonds glitter.  Rub-ons have been used for the sentiment with the spritzer tool and my own 'smudging' to finish it.

Now whilst I have used chipboard before I've not really covered it with dsp before or glitter so this is my try something new for a challenge on Shelli's blog.  I've also used my new crimper again and I got it straight this time remembering a tip from the lovely Pam Morgan at Convention; start to run the cardstock through a little then reverse slightly before you send the whole piece back through the crimper.

Have a great weekend and imagine that your only trouble this weekend is to browse the sale-a-bration brochure and decide which set you want to earn next!

Hugs Zx

Pinch punch, first day of the month!!!!

Did you get caught out by that old little saying today?? My hubby got me and usually does, but I find the response 'a slap and kick for being so quick!' works wonders for getting him up to make the tea!!

So it's already February and even though it is still freezing we Independent Stampin' Up! demonstrators have our minds set on 'Love'. Yes Valentine's day is fast approaching and so I've made a couple of cards to get you in the mood! I'll just share this one with you today.

This is very simple and took only a few minutes. I've used the hearts punch in whisper white and kept the punched shapes. I've cut an oval out of the middle of the same piece of whisper white and mounted it onto a real red card blank. In the centre of the oval using my stamp-a-ma-jig I've embossed a white frame from Frames with Flourish and also text from Sealed with a Kiss set. The saved white hearts have been adhered above and with the two way glue pen I've added dazzling diamonds glitter. A red gingham bow has added the final touch to quick and easy card.

I've more to come with a mini tutorial so check back soon.

Hugs Zx

Scandanavian Season & Dazzling Diamonds

Here's another simple Christmas card which creates a great effect and will give your recipients the wow factor. Just stamp the tree from Scandanavian Season in real red. Pat versamark ink all over the piece of cardstock and then cover with heat'n'stick powder. Heat gently just until the powder begins to melt. Cover with dazzling diamonds and then reheat to just set the glue & glitter. Matt your image onto a piece of more mustard that is long enough to have some wording stamped on it in real red. I used celebrate from Wonderful Words. A piece of 5/8'' real red grosgrain ribbon finished my piece before I matted it onto a base card of garden green. The glitter looks fab on this type of project and you can you this process with sets like Silent Night where you can colour the church windows trees to give greater depth. Below is a similar example where I stamped the tree in choc chip and then coloured in parts of the design. Love you is a rub on that was trying to escape from my pack and so rather than waste it I've put it on here with a little gingham bow. Gone on have a go it is really easy!

Time for challenges at last!

After last week's sad news it always seems slightly odd that the world carries on as normal. Of course it does and the moment passes although the memories linger.... You find yourself contemplating your own position in life and reassess what is really important, but in the melee of school finishing, booking holidays, catching up with chores etc. life goes on more rapidly than we might sometimes like and time for reflection is limited. We will say our farewells and give our support to Ann-marie on Monday. Hopefully all the family and friends around her will help her to get through this nightmare.
The opportunity to pursue card making and relaxing sessions in my craft hideout have been limited since term ended. However I have finally managed to find a few minutes to put together a card which I hope satisfies two challenges this week. One is over at The Corrosive Challenge Blog and the other at Stamp with us. SWUS have a colour challenge based on the picture below

Whereas The Corrosive Challenge is a sketch shown below.
My recipe for my card includes
bashful blue, pumpkin pie, real red and whisper white cardstock
summer picnic designer series paper
boho blossoms, 1/4'' circle, corner rounder punches
Garden Whimsy, Basic Phrases and Live Your Dream stamp sets
old olive brads
gel pen
dazzling diamonds
I don't have nesties and so I cut two ovals one slightly larger and used my corner rounder with the guard off to achieve the scallop edge. I'm really pleased with my card and found it fun to do. I've got a hankering to craft a bit more now so maybe be back with more soon.
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs
Zoë x