I hope the Razzle Dazzle set makes it into the next main catalogue, as it’s such a lovely one both for backgrounds and focal images. Here I coloured the floral image directly with markers, then used a Stamp-a-ma-Jig to stamp over it with Versamark before adding clear embossing powder and heat setting it. The border and detail inside the card were created using small sections of the coordinating rub-ons.
DW.
I took up Les’ great suggestion from the previous post about trying the butterflies on the Sage Shadow background and am much happier with this version – thanks Les! I also dropped the circle background (too busy for the delicate butterflies I think…).
The other change is that I used the scrap piece of Tea Party DSP that was sitting on my desk to make a second set of wings for each of the butterflies. I used Mini Glue Dots to adhere the wings to each other, and to the card. Here’s a close up:
The Teletubbies are at our local shopping centre today, and since DS1 is in preschool and Liam misses him all day, I’m going to take him along for the show now.
DW.
Here’s a little gift card I made for a very belated birthday present. It uses the gifts image from the Sale-a-Bration set Happy Moments, punched out with the large circle punch and attached to a metal-rimmed tag (I’ve been using these a lot recently!). I love the greetings in this set, all of which work with the Word Window punch. The patterned paper is from the Tea Party DSP pack.
I came up with this card today but am not too sure if I’m happy with it – maybe the background is a little too bold for the butterflies? Anyway I wanted to try using circle punch-outs to create a background, and do quite like the effect. I stamped the birthday greeting from Think Happy Thoughts into the large circles (and could have placed those a bit better too!). If I get time I may try another version using more subtle colours and see how that turns out! Oh, and I cheated with the little heads and antennae on the butterflies – I looked at the stamp as a guide and then just used a black marker to draw them in 
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DW
How cute is this giant cupcake cake? It was made by the very talented Maria, who is one of my lovely customers. She’d made a similar cake the night of her workshop a couple of weeks ago and it looked (and tasted) so good that I had to ask her to make one for Jamie’s party. Jamie loved it and we all enjoyed it – a really yummy chocolate cake and delicious icing too!
The pirate party was fun. Below are the loot bags I stamped using the retired Ahoy Matey set (with two little boys that was always a set I was going to hang on to!). As we had a couple of girl guests and some older kids, I had different presents for those children so decided to make personalised name tags for the bags using our two Tag Punches. I tied them on with black hemp twine and my leftover ribbon lengths.
And finally here’s the birthday boy Jamie, little Liam, and their friend Marcus (who was on hand to help with candle blowing duties…!).
DW.
Thursday was my darling son Jamie’s 4th birthday. Gulp. I know everyone told me it would go by quickly, but seriously does he have to grow up so fast?!
He’s a great kid. The difference between turning 3 and 4 is huge though – last year he was still very much a toddler. Now I’m seeing signs every day of a maturing little boy. He’s developing his own personality and temperament: thoughtful, loving and demonstrative, shy and reserved with people he doesn’t know well but a non-stop chatterbox at home, a real thirst for learning, and just so SWEET. Yes I know I’m his Mum but I’m allowed to rave 
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He loves cupcakes at the moment, and so I knew I’d be using this image for his card. I coloured it using Read Red and Glorious Green watercolour wonder crayons. I added the sprinkles with Tombow Glue and chunky white glitter. This was my first go at using the white grommets from the Summer Mini – pretty cute, right? I drew lots of number “4s” around the image to add a background.
Jamie loves this card – I handed it to him first thing in the morning and his face literally lit up and he walked around it with all morning before leaving for preschool. I tell you, if you ever need reminding that it’s worth creating handmade cards, just make one for a child .
Anyway we’re in the midst of preparing for a Pirate Party and I’m off to pick up the cake, so I better run. Hopefully I’ll have some photos of the party goodies to share soon.
DW
Hubby’s lovely cousin Anne Marie recently bought a new home and I made this card for her using the Neighbourhood wheel. It’s one of my favourites. And colouring it with Watercolour Wonder Crayons is incredibly simple I used Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Ruby Red and Mellow Moss for the houses, Bashful Blue for the sky and Certainly Celery for the grass.
DW.
I was lucky enough to earn this stamp set for free last year, and until recently hadn’t used it much. But then my lovely customer Sue asked for some sophisticated card designs for her upcoming workshop, and I thought Flower Fancy would fit the bill nicely. Now these are not the workshop cards (they’ll be a secret til after the workshop in a couple of weeks!), but while I had all the supplies out I thought I’d make some extra cards and here’s what I came up with.
I don’t do enough “2-step stamping” – it’s so easy with a Stamp-a-ma-Jig – and gives such a nice effect. Great for getting that water-colour look without having to actually colour anything! You can’t see it in this photo, but I added a strip of Chocolate Chip with the Eyelet Border punch detail on the inside of the card and it’s really pretty when the card is folded. I couldn’t resist adding one of the white crochet flowers (from the Spring Mini) as the shapes just matched the stamp design perfectly!
I’m loving using the large background image from Friends 24-7. It makes a gorgeous subtle patterned background. As with the first card I was playing around with stamping the images onto scrap cardstock and then using pieces of them on the card front. I tend to use entire images for my focal point, so it was fun to do something a little different with these two.
Supplies
Stamps: Flower Fancy, Friends 24-7
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss, Versamark
Card: Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White
Accessories: Eyelet Border Punch, Crochet Flowers, Stampin Dimensionals, Blender Pen, Cutter Kit (distressing tool).
DW.
As well as anniversaries and Valentine’s Day, February is also very special because it’s my eldest son Jamie’s birthday month. His birthday isn’t until the 25th, but some of our friends from Mothers’ Group have already celebrated their 4th birthdays. One of those friends is Marcus, and this is the card I made for him using Pun Fun. I recently got this set after one of my lovely customers ordered it and when I saw it in the flesh I just had to have it too!!
Isn’t this a great colour combo for boys?
Supplies
Stamps: Pun Fun, Think Happy Thoughts
Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Pacific Point, Whisper White, Real Red
Paper: Washington Apple DSP
Ink: StazOn Black, Read Red, Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie
Other: Blender Pen, Small Star Punch, Circle Punches, Pumpkin Pie Striped Grosgrain Ribbon.
DW
Yesterday was our 8th wedding anniversary. Guess that means we successfully made it past the 7 year itch?! February is full of significant dates for us. In a couple of weeks we celebrate 10 years since we officially started dating – but actually we’d been falling in love (Jane Austen-style) for a while prior to that. So as I type this I realise we’ve been part of each others lives for nearly 14 years. That’s a long time! And yet every day I discover more reasons to love and be grateful for hubby.
So here’s the card I made, using the I {Heart} Hearts stamp set and the greeting from A Happy Heart. It’s definitely a challenge making romantic cards for men! I used Kraft, Chocolate Chip and Baja Breeze, and stamped the hearts in Choc Chip. Isn’t the woodgrain heart cute? Thought that was a good one for a blokey card. The hearts are mounted on Kraft scallop circle punch-outs. I used the small circle punch to make the holes in each scallop, but you could also use a paper-piercing tool.
DW.
Everyone loves Sale-a-Bration! Starting today you get a free Sale-a-Bration stamp set of your choice for every $100 you spend. There’s no limit! Hostesses and new demonstrators who join during the promotion also benefit, so be sure to check out the gorgeous SAB catalogue here.
As a Demonstrator I was able to pre-order one of the SAB sets and boy was it hard choosing. I selected Happy Moments as it’s a really versatile set and one that’s handy for making quick thank you and birthday cards (the type we need all the time, right?!). I went for Tangerine Tango as the base and also used Kiwi Kiss and Washington Apple DSP. The images are coloured with inkpads and a blender pen. The greetings are designed to fit the Word Window punch, so again it makes it really easy to pull a card together using just some basic tools and scrap cardstock and DSP.
Stampin Up are also currently running a promotion to benefit the Haitian Relief effort. $2 from the sale of every I {Heart} Hearts stamp set will be donated to the American Red Cross’ Haiti Relief and Development Fund. Your support for this cause will be much appreciated. You can read all the details here.
DW.
