Today I'm sharing a gorgeous card using the french foliage set and using the rock and roll technique. I stamped onto white card using cherry cobbler, lucky limeade and pool party. To create the double tone style aka rock n roll-you stamp your image in one colour ie pool party then roll your stamp in a cirlce motion into another ink ie lucky limeade (see bottom leave on the left). It creates a stunning effect and I really must use it more often! I added the 'splats' stamp by stamping off the paper first in cherry cobbler so it wasn't too dark.

I then cut some lucky limeade crad stock to fit the card and tore off along the bottom. added some gorgeous crochet trim ribbon with a knot and added the greeting from curly cute in cherry cobbler!

Hope you like it x

Hi all. I have been making up alot of these little beauties for Christmas Fayre's recently and want to share with you all. They have been so popular over the years, that I make them every year now and just change the packaging slightly. Now we have the big shot and top note die, I can use this as my toppers...finally!!!
The snowman soup is made up a hot chocolate mix, mini marshmallows, a candy cane and a Hershey chocolate kiss (available in Asda now)! The poem had been printed out onto whisper white and adhered to the top note from the subtles paper stash in bashful blue.
Here is a close up of the poem;

Hello there and today I am sharing another quick 10 minute magic card. I have used the birds from the clearly for you stamp set, a greeting from teeny tiny wishes and the timeless portrait dsp paper. I cut a piece of the dsp to the desired size and added some beautiful victoria crochet trim to the top. I stamped the bird image and the greeting in cherry cobbler.
There you have it! Quick and easy all in 10 minutes or less!

I have had the pennant punch for some time now and haven't really played around with it until today. I searched splitcoaststampers.com yet again to draw inspiration and came across a lovely shabby chic card.
 I changed it slightly to make it my own so here goes.
Calypso coral was my card base and I stamped the sentiment from curly cute in crumb cake. I used the border scallop punch in early espresso and then cut some very vanilla to size, sponged in crumb cake and distressed the edges. I cut a thin strip of espresso and added it to the top of the vanilla and glued this all down onto the coral. I then punched out my pennants. I did 4 in pink pirouette card stock, 3 in wild wasabi and 2 in baja breeze dsp. I sponged all the edges again and adhered onto the vanilla. Once they were all on, I added some gorgeous pearls and a strip of baja breeze dsp underneath.

Today's card is a quick and easy card to make in less than 10 minutes! I used the forever young stamp set with co-ordinating dsp called timeless portrait. I used whisper white as my card base and cut some dsp showing the island indigo print, i made sure i left about a third free at the top for my stamped image and greeting.
i added a thin strip of lucky limeade card stock to the top of the dsp to add a splash of colour. For the image i used the frame stamp and inked this in island indigo. i then stamped the girls image onto my stamp-a-ma-jig and lined it up over the frame to make sure it would stamp perfectly! this was inked in the same colour and finally so was the greeting from teeny tiny wishes! all in less than 10 minutes!! x

Todays card was CASED from Natasha. I found her card on splitcoaststampers and adjusted it. Her website is www.inkingoutofthebox.com
 I used cherry cobbler as my base and used my square punch to punch out 4 squares. I used the top note die and bog shot and some retired Christmas dsp. I did the same process with some garden green card stock and cut off the perforated edge and cut both of them in half and adhered to the top of the card. I stamped the greeting in choc chip directly onto the garden green and again on some scrap whisper white. I cut out the 'season's greeings' part and added dimentionals to this.
I tied some early espresso ribbon around the top and sprayed some shimmer spray all over!! For the inside, I cut some whisper white and stamped the family scene in choc chip, making sure it could be seen form the 'window'. I used my blender pen and dabbed it into some daffodil  delight ink and coloured around the star for a WOW effect! Hope you like it x

I have started on Christmas cards but felt I had no inspiration, so when this happens I log into splitcoaststampers and search for ideas. I found some great cards there so then I got stampin'!


The first card I made was using the Welcome Christmas set, which I LOVE!! I used cherry cobbler as my base then ran some whisper white through the big shot with the vintage wallpaper. I stamped the wreath in lucky limeade and the word joy in cherry cobbler. I used my blender pen to colour the berries in cherry cobbler too. This was then mounted onto lucky limeade and adhered with tombow glue.
Join mme next time for another Welcome Christmas card. xx

I have been having fun with the new button buddies stamp set. It's a cute little set that can make quick and easy cards in no time and all you need to do is ink the image up, stamp and add a cute button!!
I inked the image in pool party and added 3 flower buttons and inked the greeting from teeny tiny wishes in choc chip. The last one is the large flower image.

I inked the flower first in island indigo, then in calypso coral and finally in wysteria wonder. I added a subtles button and the greeting from teeny tiny wishes inked in choc chip. There you have it!!

Today I am sharing a special 50th birthday card I have totally CASED from the cover of the new catalogue. It's a lady a works's special 50th birthday this week and we are doing a surprise party/meal for her on Friday evening!! She is so lovely and she really deserves to be spoilt so I spent quite a long time making this card!
I changed it to make it my own by using the top note and the greenhouse garden set and used the new in colours too. So here we go...

It was was the birthday of my Stampin' Up! Mummy last week, and I felt terrible as I did not get a card to her in time so I made an extra special effort and made this card using my fave set at the moment...
I used the Forever Young set and stamped the tree image in choc chip onto very vanilla and sponged the edges then mounted that onto pool party after placing some pear pizazz seam binding behind the image and leaving loose for the time being. I ran some early espresso through the big shot with the vintage wallpaper embossing folder. I adhered the image to the card and tied a bow but before tightening the bow I place some early espresso ribbon through the gap to add interest (I saw this on splitcoaststampers but can't remember what on!) I then stamped the greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes in choc chip and punched this out using the decorative label punch-there are so many uses for this punch I just love it! I placed this sitting under the bow and added a little subtles button with a glue dot and sponged the edges again.
Here is a close up of the beautiful card. To finish I used my white gel pen to the branches of the tree to make it look like blossom. I truely love this stamp set and will be using it FOREVER!!!

Happy Birthday Elaine, I hope you had a lovely day! xxxx

It's finally here, the new 2011-2012 Stampin' Up! catalogue is here and it's filled to the brim with beautiful new stamp sets, accessories, fabric and more!!! The hostess scheme has changed too so it's possible to earn £'s and YOU get to choose from a selection of stamps to use your £'s on. So gone are the 1-4 levels, and hello to the new choice of  stamp sets!


View the 2011-2012
Idea Book & Catalogue
online

Contact me to place your order or book a workshop-trust me, you will be spoilt for choice!!

Dates: 1-30 September 2011 With the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalogue just around the corner, it’s time to bid a fond farewell to hundreds of our favourite stamps and accessories in order to make room for exciting new products. Items on the Retired List are only available while supplies last.  Once they’re gone, they’re gone! Please note: This list of retiring products is as complete as we can make it at the present time, but items may be added to or dropped from this list. Any exchanges of these items must be made within 90 days of the shipping date. All page numbers refer to the 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue. Hostess sets do not have a price because they can only be earned by hosting a qualifying workshop. Click on the list to see which products you can’t do without, then contact your demonstrator today to place your order. Contact me to place an order before it's too late. Once it's gone, it's gone for good!! Email me lydia@championcardsstore.com for your order or any questions you may have re the last chance list.  Happy Stampin' x Thu, 18 Aug 2011 07:54:40

This card is truly stunning! I have used the clock this time from the sweet set-forever young. I have frilled this up quite alot with plenty of stamping and sponging and distressing! My card base in the new Pool Party  colour which is a really nice blue. I mounted some rose red dsp and then some of the Timeless Portrait dsp. I distressed all the edges with the distressing tool.
I used some very vanilla and ran it through the big shot with the top note. I cut it in half and stamped the background with the wording from French Foliage in the pool party ink. I then stamped the clock using rose red. I ran some pool party scrap through the big shot using the square lattice folder and tore the edges. I sponged all the edges and stuck everything down with snail.
I tied some rose red seam binding around the card and used the jewellery tag punch to punch out 2 tag and attached with a pin (non SU!). To finish off this gorgeous card, I sprayed it with the shimmer paint mix. Love it x

Hi there. Today I am sharing the same lay out from Sundays post but for a girlie card today using the stunning new stamp set Forever Young. As soon as I saw this set I fell in love with it, and it also comes with matching DSP!!!! So excited for you to see all the new goodies Stampin' Up! has in store, you will be amazed at all the new items!

Anyway, here we go. I used two new In Colours called Lucky Limeade-isn't that a cute name?! And Calypso Coral-another gorgeous name. To be honest, all the new In Colours have fab names and are some of the best colours I have seen.
I did exactly as I did before, using the square lattice embossing folder, calypso coral card stock and tearing it down the edge. I stamped the beautiful image in Calypso Coral on whisper white. This shouts out nostalgic to me, it's just so pretty. For the sentiment I stamped this in Lucky Limeade from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set. So pretty and simple-I just love it. I popped this up with dimentionals onto Lucky Limeade card stock. Thank you catherinepooler.com for the inspiration for this card!! Till next time folks xxx

Today I am sharing a clean and simple card aimed for a guy. We all know it sometimes seems impossible to come up with ideas of a hand made card for a bloke but sometimes less is more and in today's card, that is the case! I cased this off catherinepooler.com again but I used a different stamp to what she used which I can't believe I only recently purchased. The Sail Away stamp is gorgeous and you can create so much with this single stamp.

Today is another one of Have a Seat cards using the gorgeous elegant soiree dsp. I CASED this from www.catherinepooler.com and I just love the simplicity of it.
I used crumb cake as my card base just cutting in half length ways and then scoring in half. I stamped the cute little chair in baja breeze onto very vanilla and the greeting from my personal collection in crumb cake. I adhered this down with snail and added the dsp. To finish I tied some marina mist around the card. Thank you Catherine Pooler!! x

I am sharing a card I made using a very simple lay out. I recently got some new stamps from my Aunt in Canada (SU! of course!) and i wanted the share what I have made. I have stamped onto whisper white a gorgeous image of a bench from a set called Have A Seat in basic grey. I then used the bird image from a retired set and stamped that in the bold melon mambo, then from curly cute, I stamped the greeting in basic grey too.
Hope you like this and I will share another one tomorrow x

This card is showing a technique I learnt at regional training called cracked glass. I had seen this done on the internet several times but was amazed when I saw it done right in front of my eyes as the end result is stunning. I used soft suede as my card base and used my big shot with the wonderful top note and some baja breeze dsp. I sponged the edges and stamped the greeting from curly cute in soft suede too.
For the image, I stamped the cute little birds and the no.5 from clearly for you in soft suede and the butterfly image in baja breeze. I then used my spritzer tool and my soft suede marker pen and did a light spritz and punched this out with the extra large oval punch. I sponged the edges and then got going on the effect!! I covered this in versamark and sprinkled CLEAR embossing powder over it and heated it up with the heat gun. The trick is to keep repeating this at least 7 times, and I found you have to work quick as you want to keep covering it in clear embossing powder when it's really hot and the powder is just melted. You also want to use tweezers too as the heat gun is pretty powerful and gets very hot!!
Once you have done at least 7 layers, you will be able to notice it has become very shiny and thick. Now you have to put it in the freezer for a minimum of 10 minutes. Once it starts to curl, you know it's now cold enough to get out of the freezer and this is the magic part...simply bend the card and it cracks!! You can bend it several ways to create the desired effect. The photo doesn't give the justice to the cracked glass effect but i hope you get the idea! I used some marina mist ribbon and ruched it using sticky strip and added a subtles button-for the fake white thread look, I used my white gel pen!! This was attatched using a couple of glue dots and there you have it! I will be using this technique alot more from now on!! x

Today I am sharing a cute little baby girl card I made for a friend of mine, and I am getting to see baby Charlotte today!!! I used the nursery suite dsp and the fox and friends stamp set with the greeting from my personal SU! collection.
I used regal rose for the card base and cut it in half length ways. I then folded it in half and cut off some extra unwanted card stock then used my scallop border punch. I used the bunny dsp and positioned this to sit under the scalloped edge and used some snail to adhere down. I tied some retired ribbon around to add interest. I then cut some whisper white to fit inside the card, 1/4" smaller so the regal rose was still showing around the whisper white. I stamped the giraffe and greeting in certainly celery and the white card simply slots in and out! I added a heart from the heart to heart punch at the end. Bye for now x

Hi there, it's been a while, yes I know. But as it's the school holidays I have a 4 year old to entertain on a daily basis for the next few weeks! I am however enjoying meeting with friends and letting the kids go off into their little worlds while they play together! Anyway, I have also been busy with some wedding invites which is what I will share today. The colour scheme is purple, so I went with perfect plum as the main colour and added some lap of luxury dsp and some embosslits butterflies. The bride to be also wanted the pocket fold design for her invites so here goes...
This photo shows the closed and open invite. I made a little pocket from perfect plum card stock to fit in the inserts which are very vanilla with the RSVP details and the blank one is for directions. I ran the main insert through the big shot using the manhattan flower folder.
Here is a close up of the invite. I am really please how these turned out and I wish the future Mr & Mrs a wonderful wedding day. x

Extra, Extra Hostess Promotion

Hi there and today I want to share a cute easel card I totally cased from Monica Gale's blog;  http://monicas-passions.blogspot.com/
I had been asked last year to make a new born baby triplets card and they are now turning a year old so I have been asled to make a birthday card for them!! The idea of this was perfect as it has 3 animals from Fox and Friends in little train carriages made from the curly lable punch.

 I changed it a little and used subtles buttons for the wheels and I wrote their names in the white gel pen from SU! I used my earth elements marker pens to colour in the animals. I added some crumb cake seam binding which is what the card rests on to stand up, it then folds down flat. I stamped the greeting in baja breeze from the curly cute set using my stamp-a-ma-jig as I needed to leave enought space for the "1st" 1" circle to fit. I cut this out using my paper trimmer and cut the corners using my 1-1/4" square punch.
The card stock I used was so saffron, certainly celery and whisper white. For the carriages I used, regal rose, so saffron and chocolate chip.
I'm sure the triplets will love it in years to come just as much as I do! xx

Our other Christmas projects were 3 cards and we kept to the colour scheme of the jolly holly dsp-old olive, cherry cobbler and very vanilla. Our first card was a really quick and easy one,

We used the 1-3/8" square punch to punch out 4 squares from the dsp then adhered them to the cherry cobbler. We adhered that to the old olive card base and stamped the greeting in cherry cobbler as well as the reindeer! To finish, we tied a bow with old olive satin ribbon.


The next card was gorgeous-we used the chipboard letters again and Amanda had covered hers with some of the jolly holly dsp but again, me being me, I changed mine and added tombow glue and sprinkled the very sparkly champagne glass glitter to mine!!

Last but not least, here is the last card we made...
We used all the same materials but added the ornamant punch and punched out our greeting with one of my favourites, the decorative lable punch and again finished it with some old olive satin ribbon. I forgot to tie some gold cord onto my ornament and sponge my greeting but it still looks good!!

Well, I hope you like all the samples and next time I will share some of the stunning work the other demos shared on the inpiration stations!! xx

http://blog.stampwithelaine.com/
http://www.inspiringinkin.com/

So sorry to have not blogged ALL MONTH!! I don't know where the time is going! I have been busy with work and getting my son prepped for "Big School" come September, so everything is going very fast at the moment!
I attended my uplines quartly meeting on Saturday and it was fab! We didn't stop all day and it was a race against time to get all the projects finished that Amanda Fowler had kindly put together-who is my uplines, upline!! To start with Elaine (my upline-stay with me, it's quite straight forward!) made a cute covered note book for me to write all the info in that was shared on the day.

Isn't it cute?! The projects were all Christmas themed and my favourite thing was a gorgeous bunting! We used the Jolly Holly DSP with chip board letters, jumbo eyelets, old olive satin ribbon, the circle die, cherry cobbler card stock and very vanilla card stock. The letters were sponged with old olive first to give them some colour and then I always like to mix things up and change mine from the original so for the 'Noel' letters, which Amanda had used crystal effects on, I went one step further and sprinkled dazzling diamonds onto my crystal effects while it was still wet. The result was stunning...
A close up of one of the letters...

Isn't it devine??? Well, I have so much to share this week so keep coming back to check what else we got up to on our fun traing day! Until next time xx

Morning all and it's another sunny day. We had a thunder storm yesterday and it has semed to clear the air...finally!! I am sharing childrens cards today using the fox and friends set-which i love so much!! I have used a collection of subtles dsp and card stock with co-ordinating inks. The first card is this one..
I have used pink pirouette as the colour used throughout and punched out the fox with the extra large oval punch and added a couple of dimentionals to raise it. I stamped the happy birthday from curly cute in the same colour ink.
Here are all the others I made...
I used marina mist with the monkey, certainly celery with the lion, rose red with the turtle and daffodil delight with the owl. They all look so cute don't they!!
Have a lovely day and till next time xxx's :)

Hi there and I hope you are enjoying the amazing sunshine we are having this weekend. I went to my wonderful friends house yesterday who I have known since school, and a few of us Mummys and our kiddies got together for a BBQ and a good catch up! It was so lovely to see her and I will share a sweet photo of her and her cute little bump!
Gorgeous Bryony and her bump! My son had a great time also as the garden was nice and big for him to run and play outside all afternoon!!
So my project for today are bookmarks. These have been popular recently on other blogs so I thought I would have a turn! I used the Fun Flowers and the big shot and used perfect plum card stock and wild wasabi card stock. I sponged the edges in the same colour ink as the cards stock and then I used tombow to layer the petals ontop of each other and once they were attatched I used a subtles button attached with a glue dot and I tied some twine in a bow through the holes.
For the perfect plum bookmark, I used a rose red button and then on whisper white card stock I stamped the block image from clearly for you in perfect plum (stamping off a couple of time to lighten the ink) then stamped the for you sentiment also form clearly for you, in rose red. I punched this out with the jewelry tag punch and attatched to the botton with another glue dot. I attatched some retired rose red ribbon to the bakc of the largest flower with sticky strip and cut at an angle at the bottom.
I finished both bookmarks with a good spritz of shimmer paint for sparkle!!
I used the same process for the wild wasabi bookmark but used the hand crafted stamp from tiny tags as the sentiment for this one. I love how these look and thank you to whoever came up with this wonderful idea!!! Enjoy the sun everyone ;)