Birthday Cake Card

I've been eyeing up the SU! 'Icing on the Cake' stamp set for some time, I thought it would be a fun set to use and I succumbed and ordered it.  I've recently received my SU! Stamparatus and I reckoned this set would be a great one to use to try out the Stamparatus.  My first impressions are very favourable indeed, it's so easy to use and I got fabulous results - I'm one happy stamper!

SU! are doing a colour refresh this year and Flirty Flamingo - which will retire as an In Colour - will be coming back as part of the core colour collection.  That prompted me to use Flirty Flamingo for my birthday cake card and I paired it with Lemon and Lime Twist.  Here's the card and the envelope front together.

Here's just the card front.  For the roses I stamped the solid background images in Powder Pink ink and the detail images in Flirty Flamingo ink.  For the leaves I used Lemon Lime Twist ink for the solid background images and Old Olive ink for the detail images.  After fussy cutting the leaves and roses, I curled up the leaves a bit, glued them to the white panel and popped up the roses.

Here's the inside of the card and the back flap of the envelope.  After I'd stamped a sentiment and a few lines of icing detail on a Whisper White panel I inked the edges with Flirty Flamingo ink using a sponge dauber.  I stamped the shell icing image twice and glued the sentiment panel over the top.  The rose on the envelope flap is popped up.  A happy and fun set to use for sure!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Icing on the Cake' set
CS: SU! Flirty Flamingo & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Flirty Flamingo, Lemon Lime Twist, Old Olive & Powder Pink
Tools: SU! Stamparatus, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dimensionals
Ruth

April 2018 Card Group Projects

Last Thursday we got together for our April card group meeting and a wonderful afternoon it was too!  The ladies had made me and Lesley some fabulous birthday cards, it never ceases to amaze us that all the cards turn out so different, all unique - they are a talented bunch but then I always say they've had a great teacher!  😀

A little while ago I made this card and flower in a pot for Emma at my Slimming World group.  I had such fun making it and I thought the ladies would enjoy it too (which they did!) so I designed one for card group.  I usually make three projects and place the kits and the items they need to complete each project in a basket.  The ladies work in three groups, each group take a basket and pass the basket along to another group when they've completed a project.  Because of this I was aware that there might be an issue with a crossover of products when it came to the matching card and flower pot baskets. I know it can be quite frustrating if you're needing an ink pad, for example, which is in a basket for a different project.  To minimise any frustration I borrowed a couple of ink pads from a friend, stamped and punched some pieces in advance and made sure to use two different sized flower dies - a smaller die for the card and a larger die for the flower in a pot - which worked a treat!

Here's the card and flower pot together.

Here's the card.  After embossing the Crumb Cake panel with the Brick Wall folder I stamped the 'Watercolor Wash' stamp over the top using Cajun Craze ink, making sure to stamp on the side with the raised bricks.  For the flowers I stamped the 'Marbled' stamp in Calypso Coral ink onto a panel of Crisp Cantaloupe CS and cut out the flowers using a die from the Spellbinders Shapeabilities 'Flower Play' set.  I die cut the leafy spray from the 'Petals & More' die set in Old Olive CS, snipped it into two pieces, glued the pieces down and added a Whisper White baker's twine bow.  I stamped the flower centres from the 'Daisy Delight' set onto Soft Suede CS using Early Espresso ink, cut them out with the 1/2" circle punch and layered them on larger punched circles of Cajun Craze CS, glued them to the middle of the die cut flowers and popped the flowers up.  The stamped and die cut sentiment label is also popped up.  I used the row of dots die from the 'Mini Treat Bag' die set to cut out Cajun Craze dots to embellish the label.

Just some simple stamping on the inside of the card and on the envelope.

Here's the flower in the pot.  I die cut two 'Marbled' background flowers and layered each of them onto a Calypso Coral flower cut out using the SU! 'Blossom' punch.  I used mini glue dots to help keep the baker's twine in place while I wrapped it around the pot.  I tied a separate bow and attached that with another mini glue dot.  I cut a bamboo skewer so it was about 4 1/2" long and sandwiched the skewer between the flower layers using a large glue dot and placed Dimensionals between the six petals.  I die cut two Early Espresso CS circles, stamped one with a dotty texture stamp a few times, glued the circles together and pierced a hole in the centre.  I pushed the skewer through the circle pierced hole and slid the circle up the skewer so it rested right under the petals.  I punched a couple of 1 1/2" Early Espresso CS circles, pushed one into the base of the pot, glued the second circle on top and placed a big blob of Blue Tack on top of the circles.  I then pushed the skewer into the blob of Blue Tack and slid the Early Espresso circles down the skewer until they rested on top of the pot.  I was chuffed to bits to find that one of the dies in the 'Layering Circles' die set is THE perfect size for this!  I punched out a couple of Old Olive leaf sprays and glued them to the skewer to finish off.  One of the ladies had some tiny, self adhesive, wooden ladybird embellishments and added one of those which was just adorable!  Another lady suggested a bee which got me thinking.  I'm going to try that idea next time, maybe using a strip of acetate so it looks like the bee is hovering near the flower.

Here's a picture of the pot from another angle so you can see the 'soil'.

The next project uses some sadly neglected items from my stash - the gorgeous lacy die from the Tim Holtz Sizzix 'Mixed Media #2' die set, my Distress Inks and my Inkylicious ink duster brushes.  I chose three Distress Inks - Mustard Seed, Salty Ocean and Picked Raspberry - and applied them quite lightly to pieces of Whisper White CS.  These ink colours are bright and vibrant but using only a gentle pressure on the brush and just swirling the inks lightly onto the piece of CS resulted in a soft, muted look.  Because the Distress Inks blend beautifully you end up with a range of shades even though you used just three ink colours.  I applied the inks to a larger piece of CS to act as a background for the lacy overlay and to a second, smaller piece for the butterfly. 

I stamped the sentiment at the bottom of a panel of Whisper White CS and then die cut the lace.  I adhered the inked piece of CS behind the lacy portion, glued the whole piece to a mat layer of Basic Black CS and glued that to a white A6 sized card base.  I die cut the solid butterfly from the smaller inked piece and added a Basic Black CS outline butterfly and an antenna.  I glued the butterfly body flat but popped up the wings on half Dimensionals with the backing paper left on.

Here's a closer look at the delicate inking.  The brilliant thing about this was that each card looked different, there were no identical panels or butterflies!

Here's the inside of the card and the envelope.  I used the Poppystamps 'Bellina Butterfly Ribbon' die to decorate.

Well, this was a complete and utter hit with the ladies - so much so that we're making another 'Mixed Media' die cut out card next month - I'll be using a different die though!  One of the ladies made both me and Lesley a double dutch fold birthday card which got a lot of attention so we'll be making one of those next month too!  

Supplies for flower card and flower pot:
Stamps: SU! 'Watercolor Wash' & 'Marbled' background stamps, SU! 'Petal Palette' & 'Daisy Delight' sets
CS: SU! Cajun Craze, Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Old Olive, Soft Suede & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Cajun Craze, Calypso Coral, Early Espresso, Old Olive & Soft Suede
Tools: SU! 'Brick Wall' embossing folder, Spellbinders Shapeabilities 'Flower Play' die set, SU! 'Petals & More' die set, SU! 'Circle Layering' & 'Mini Treat Bag' die sets, SU! 'Blossom' punch, various circle punches, Woodware leaf punch
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Whisper White baker's twine, SU! glue dots, Dimensionals, mini flower pot, bamboo skewer

Supplies for lacy background butterfly card:
Stamps: Clearly Besotted 'Happy Birthday' set
CS: SU! Basic Black & Whisper White
Ink: Ranger Tim Holtz Black Soot, Mustard Seed, Picked Raspberry & Salty Ocean Distress Inks
Tools: Sizzix Tim Holtz 'Mixed Media #2' die set, Memory Box 'Isabella' & 'Pippi' butterfly dies, Poppystamps 'Bellina Butterfly Ribbon' die, Inkylicious ink duster brushes
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dimensionals
Ruth

Daisy Congrats Card & Flower Pot Gift

A couple of weeks ago at our Slimming World meeting we celebrated our group's Greatest Loser of the year.  The winner, Emma, has lost over 8 stone and she is such a gorgeous, sweet woman and she has been a wonderful help and inspiration to me.  I just had to make Emma a card to congratulate her on the amazing success she's achieved!

My card is CASEd from this card that Jackie Bolhuis made.  I just loved the way Jackie added colour to the brick wall by stamping the Watercolor Wash stamp over the top of the embossed panel - quick, easy and very effective!  Jackie has a video on her blog post showing how she made her fab card.

After I'd made the card I wanted to try to make a faux flower in a pot.  I got lots of these tiny plant pots last year at the end of the summer when they were reduced in the end of season sale because I thought they'd be perfect to make cute faux flowers in pots.  Naturally, they have sat on a shelf in my craft room, untouched, ever since!  So here is the card, envelope and flower pot all together.

I used Crumb Cake CS for the A6 card base and for the embossed brickwork panel and the mat layer is Cajun Craze CS.  When I was ready to stamp on the brick wall panel I made sure I had the panel with the raised bricks facing up (you don't want to stamp on the raised mortar) and stamped the 'Watercolor Wash' stamp using Cajun Craze ink.  I stamped the daisy layers in Crushed Curry ink onto thick Whisper White CS, added Daffodil Delight ink to the petals and then Crushed Curry ink to the petal tips using sponge daubers.  The flower centres were stamped with Early Espresso ink onto Soft Suede CS and cut out with a 1/2" circle punch.  I hand cut stems and used a leaves stamp from the 'Painted Harvest' set which I cut out with the SU! 'Leaf' punch.  I stamped the leaves onto Pear Pizzazz CS with Old Olive ink and inked the edges with Old Olive ink using a sponge dauber.  I stamped the sentiment in Early Espresso CS, trimmed it to a rectangle shape, inked the edges and popped the panel up.  I completed the card front with a bow made from Linen Thread.

For the inside I used a die from the Concord & 9th 'Select a Size Edge' die set to cut a fancy white panel.  I adhered a piece of Cajun Craze CS at the bottom and added a line drawn with an Old Olive marker.  I stamped sentiments from the SU! 'Sunburst Sayings' set and added three gold star Metallic Enamel Shapes.

A stamped, punched and layered daisy adorns the envelope flap.

Here's the faux flower in a pot.

I used a 'Circle Layering' die to cut out 4 Early Espresso CS circles and I glued those together.  I pierced a hole in the centre and then inserted a bamboo skewer to act as a flower stem.  I cut the skewer to the height I wanted and attached two stacked daisy layers back to back to the skewer using large glue dots.  I used PVA glue to adhere the stamped and punched leaves. I stamped the top circle with a speckle stamp from the SU! 'Gorgeous Grunge' set for the soil.  I placed a few punched circles in the base of the pot, added a blob of Blu Tak, stuck the skewer in the Blu Tak and pushed the stack of Early Espresso CS down the skewer until they rested on top of the pot.  To echo the card front I tied Linen Thread around the pot in a bow and secured it with a mini glue dot.

Here's a side view of the pot.  I saw that the white backs of the daisies were visible from the front when I went to  attach the back to back stacked daisy layers.  I got my sponge daubers out and inked the backs with Daffodil Delight and Crushed Curry inks so that no white was visible - much better!  The flower pot was cobbled together as I went along but at least I'll be prepared for that issue next time!

As well as celebrating the group's biggest loser we also had a food taster session.  I made mini spiced orange cakes  topped with vanilla flavoured quark followed by a drizzle of Orange Spice Choc Shot.  Here's a photo of just three of the baby cakes on one of my pretty china tea plates.

I also made one of my favourite Slimming World friendly recipes, Carrot Cake Baked Oats, but I didn't have time to take a photo.  It comes out like a carrot cake flavoured bread pudding and it is yummy!  I'm happy to report the cakes and the crafty items were very well received!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Daisy Delight', 'Tin of Cards', 'Painted Harvest', 'Sunburst Sayings' & 'Gorgeous Grunge' sets, 'Watercolor Wash' background stamp
CS: SU! Crumb Cake, Cajun Craze, Pear Pizzazz & Whisper White (thick & regular)
Ink: SU! Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso & Old Olive
Tools: SU! 'Brick Wall' embossing folder, 'Daisy', 'Leaf' & circle punches, 'Layering Circle' die set, Concord & 9th 'Select a Size Edge' die set, paper piercer, sponge daubers
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Linen Thread, Metallic Enamel Shapes, Dimensionals, glue dots, mini plant pot, bamboo skewer
Ruth

Flourishing Phrases Motivation Packet

Another motivation packet I've put together for one of my Slimming World buddies.  Before I went to my first Slimming World meeting I fully expected to really dislike the group aspect.  I thought it was only fair to give it a try though so I decided to stay for a few weeks and then decide after that if I would stay to group every week or go home after being weighed.  Well, I was so wrong, it didn't take long for me to realise how beneficial staying to group is - especially with the fab bunch of people that are in our group.  We have such a lovely group, such supportive cheerleaders who are willing you to succeed, to pick you up and encourage you when you're struggling and we always have fun too!  I love going to group, it's a really positive, uplifting experience for me, a highlight of my week in fact.  Even better if I'd had a loss!

For this packet I took inspiration from this trio of cards I made a while back using a colour combo of Night of Navy, Peekaboo Peach and Pool Party and the Flourishing Phrases stamp set. The 'friends are kind to each other's hopes & cherish each other's dreams' sentiment seemed perfect to use for a motivation packet to gift to one of my group friends!  I stamped the Peekaboo Peach flower twice, once in full strength ink and again in stamped off once ink and I stamped part of the flower in Night Of Navy ink so I could have a dark centre for the flower.  I fussy cut the flower layers, stacked them, stamped and fussy cut the leaves, adhered the leaves behind the flower and popped the whole thing up.

Here's the packet and the index cards tied together with a ribbon.

Here are the index cards fanned out.  I included 'goals', 'I will', 'things I wish to improve', 'dear self' and 'things I love about me' cards and I also included two blank cards, so seven index cards in all.  

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Flourishing Phrases' & 'Garden in Bloom' sets, AlteNew 'New Me' set
CS: SU! Night of Navy, Peekaboo Peach & Whisper White, index cards
Patterned paper: SU! 'Floral Boutique' DSP pack
Ink: SU! Night of Navy, Peekaboo Peach & Pool Party
Tools: SU! 'Mini Treat Bag' Thinlits die set, MISTI
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Pool Party ribbon, Dimensionals
Ruth

March 2018 Card Group Projects

These are the three cards the ladies made at our March card group meeting today.  After giving them an easy time in February I thought it was time I challenged them a bit - there's fancy folds, apertures, masking, heat embossing, watercolouring and the much dreaded Stamp-A-Ma-Jig!

The first card features the beautiful SU! 'Petal Palette' stamp set and an Elegant Eggplant and Wisteria Wonder colour combo.  The pretty border die cut was made using a die from the 'Petals & More' die set that matches the 'Petal Palette' stamp set.  I stamped the roses onto watercolour paper using VersaFine Onyx Black ink, sprinkled on clear embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool.  I used Old Olive and Elegant Eggplant inks and an aquapainter to colour the image and I then die cut the shape.

This photo shows the card open and you can see that I cut an aperture and frame using two 'Lots of Labels' dies.  I popped up the roses image with Dimensionals.

Here's the inside of the card.  I applied Wisteria Wonder ink to a white die cut label shape using a sponge.  I stamped the sentiment and dotty border, glued the label in place so it matched up with the aperture and added three silver sequins.

For the envelope I stamped the roses in Wisteria Wonder ink, cut part of the image out using a circle punch and layered it onto a larger Elegant Eggplant punched circle. 

Card two is a 5 1/4" square easel card made using the SU! 'Waterfront' stamp set (what a wonderful set!)  The colour combo is Crumb Cake, Tranquil Tide and Very Vanilla.  The mountains are Soft Suede (second and third generation stamping), the grass is Lemon Lime Twist, the water is Marina Mist, the trees are Tranquil Tide and the sun is Crushed Curry.  I stamped the mountains onto Post It Notes and fussy cut them so I had masks to use for stamping extra mountains and for the sun.  I stamped the front portion of the easel card with the 'Burlap' background stamp using Soft Suede ink.  I embossed a strip of Tranquil Tide CS with the 'Seaside' embossing folder and popped up the sentiment label to act as the stop for the easel.  I tied some jute twine around the embossed panel to finish the front.

I cut a Very Vanilla panel to go on the bottom of the card, stamped a strip of 'Burlap', added a line drawn with a Soft Suede marker and stamped the sentiment in Tranquil Tide ink.  

For the envelope flap there is a stamped scene cut out with circle punches.  Not sure what's got into me but that's two month's running I've included a card suitable for a male!

Card three is my CASEd version of this fab and fun card made by Wendy Lee - I couldn't resist it when I saw Wendy's card on Pinterest!  I've had the red and black dotty paper in my stash for years and it has escaped every one of my paper purges and I thought it was time to actually use it instead of just hoarding it!  I used the SU! 'Circle Layering' dies to cut out the aperture and frame.  The stamped and die cut label is popped up with Dimensionals.  I added red die cut dots to the label to finish off the front.

Here's what you see when the card is opened.  I mistakenly ordered the wood mount 'Party Panda' Sale-A-Bration set but that actually turned out well as I was running out of acrylic blocks!  Also, I needed to use my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to ensure perfectly placed pandas and I cut a square piece of vellum stamped with the pandas and I can store the sheet with the stamp set for future use!  I made a present for the second panda to stand on - just a scrap of Real Red CS with two lines drawn with a black marker and I added a bow using a die cut from the SU! 'Sweet Cake' set of dies.  I coloured the polka dots on the hat and the heart on the envelope using a Real Red marker.  Some of my panda eyes came out too black with no white visible so I punched 1/16" circles out, glued them in place and added black dots using a fine tipped black pen.  Yes, fiddly but worth it I think!  I used the same fine tipped pen to scribble a few lines on the envelope one of the pandas is holding.  I used a light grey alcohol marker on all the pandas to add just a bit of shading.

Here's what you see when the previous panel is lifted up.  I used the smaller balloon from the SU! 'Balloon Bouquet' punch to cut out the red balloon.

This photo shows how the card is made.  I scored an A4 piece of CS in half along the long side, scored in half along the short side and removed the top left panel.  So easy to create this nice little fun fold card!

Here's the envelope with that oh, so cute party hat panda!

Well, my ladies said this afternoon was challenging but they all managed to make all three cards - I knew they could do it 'cos they're superstars!  🌟🌟🌟 The pandas card was definitely the favourite, followed by the rosy aperture card - the scenic easel card did result in a few issues so that wasn't universally popular!

Supplies for rose cluster aperture card:
Stamps: SU! 'Petal Palette' set
CS: SU! Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder & Whisper White, watercolour paper
Ink: SU! Elegant Eggplant & Wisteria Wonder, VersaFine Onyx Black
Tools: SU! 'Petals & More' Thinlits & 'Lots of Labels' Framelits die sets, circle punches, heat tool, sponge
Embellishments & accessories: SU! silver sequins, Dimensionals

Supplies for scene easel card:
Stamps: SU! 'Waterfront', 'Rose Wonder' & 'Blooming with Kindness' sets, 'Burlap' background stamp
CS: SU! Crumb Cake, Tranquil Tide & Very Vanilla
Ink: SU! Crushed Curry, Lemon Lime Twist, Marina Mist, Soft Suede & Tranquil Tide
Tools: SU! 'Seaside' embossing folder, 'Rose Garden' Thinlits die set
Embellishments & accessories: SU! jute twine, Dimensionals

Supplies for pandas three panel card:
Stamps: SU! 'Party Pandas' set, Hero Arts 'Sending You Love' & 'Yummy Treats' sets
CS: SU! Real Red, Basic Black & Whisper White
Pattered paper: Junkitz 'Love Line Polka Dots'
Ink: SU! Basic Black Archival, Real Red marker, Basic Black marker, fine tip black pen, Cool Grey 1 ProMarker
Tools: SU! 'Circle Layering' Framelits, 'Mini Treat Bag' Thinlits, 'Sweet Cake' Thinlits die sets, SU! 'Balloon Bouquet' punch, Hero Arts 'Small Tag Frame' die set, 1/16" handheld circle punch
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dimensionals
Ruth

Watercoloured Yellow Rose Birthday Card

A day off from work meant a nice leisurely breakfast which gave me time to browse Pinterest.  Being a chilly mortal I'm not fond of the cold and snow so I was extremely happy to stay snug and warm in my craft room today!  After I came across this lovely card made by Patrice Halliday-Larsen I headed off to the craft room and got creating.

Spring can't come fast enough for me and while I love the soft pink that Patrice used I chose to go with a typical spring combo of yellow and green.  Patrice has this video showing how she made the card and I followed her very helpful instructions.  I used SU! Shimmery White CS and coloured the leaves with Pear Pizzazz ink and the rose with Daffodil Delight ink.  I put drops of re-inker on a ceramic tile and picked up the colour with an Aquapainter.

Unfortunately, after positioning the die cut and cutting round the rose and leaves I discovered a splodge of green ink on the card front so I must have put my hand on the tile at some point and transferred some ink. 😞  After all that work I wasn't going to start again so I stamped and fussy cut a bee to cover the splodge - embrace the embellishment opportunity I say!  I used a clear Wink of Stella pen on the bee's wings and popped the bee up.  I stamped the sentiment and added the rhinestone jewels to finish the front.

Here's the card open so you can see it's a gate fold card.

Here's the cut away rose side of the gate fold.  It's really not that bad to trim around the die cut shape.

Here's the inside of the gate fold card.  I used oval 'Stitched Shape' Framelits dies for the sentiment and added three rhinestone jewels.

Here's the back of the envelope.  I die cut the leaves in Old Olive CS, trimmed a bit off, glued the shape to the flap and coloured in the leaves with Pear Pizzazz ink using the Aquapainter.  I die cut the small rose using a die from the 'Sweet Cake' die set and I glued a 1" punched circle to the back to keep all the pieces in place.  I coloured in the rose with the Daffodil Delight ink and the Aquapainter and popped the rose up.

Many thanks to Patrice for sharing her card and instructions and for the inspiration, I had a very happy time in my craft room - even with the ink splodge incident!  

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Rose Wonder', 'Birthday Blooms' & 'Dragonfly Dreams' sets
CS: SU! Shimmery White & Old Olive
Ink: SU! Daffodil Delight & Pear Pizzazz, VersaFine Onyx Black
Tools: SU! 'Rose Garden' Thinlits & 'Sweet Cake' & 'Stitched Shape' Framelits die sets, 1" circle punch,  Aquapainter
Embellishments & accessories: SU! rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals, clear Wink of Stella pen
Ruth

Butterfly Basics Motivation Packet

Here is another motivation packet I've made.  As I said in this previous post I'm planning to make a few of these to be given away.  I really enjoy putting these together!

I used the gorgeous SU! 'Butterfly Basics' set and opted for a Rich Razzleberry, Sweet Sugarplum and Old Olive colour combo.  I think the 'There is nothing in the caterpillar that tells you it is going to be a butterfly' quote is ideal for those of us on the Slimming World journey!  I've used a gold clip to hold all the cards together in this packet.

Inspirational quotes on card 1.

Card 2 is new me goals.

Card 3 is things I wish to improve this year.

Card 4 is this year I will.

Card 5 is dear self.

Card 6 is things I love about me.  I couldn't resist adding a couple of  teeny tiny hearts as a sweet extra touch!

Cards 7 and 8 are decorated but without words as I thought a couple of blank cards might be useful.

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Butterfly Basics' & 'Watercolor Wings' sets, AlteNew 'New Me' set
CS: SU! Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! 'Blooms & Bliss' DSP
Ink: SU! Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry & Sweet Sugarplum
Tools: SU! 'Mini Treat Bag' Thinlits, 'Butterflies' Thinlits & 'Stitched Shape' Framelits die sets
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Gold Library Clips, Dimensionals
Ruth