Birthdays Three (or is that four?)

Hi again,

My good friends have 3 birthdays in 3 days, four if you count Wes' twin sister Annette (and Netty, you certainly do count). They are having a party on the 15th May, so thought I'd better get cracking on some cards. I saw these cute kids cards on Andrea Walford's blog. She is a wonderful resource. I have been hangin' to use my new 'Lots of Bots' stamp set, it is so cute. I didn't get the 'Pony Party' set so went with 'Crazy for Cupcakes' for Livi. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out (best thing about CASEing, they usually turn out ok)!

Ethan's Card:

Livi's card:

Now Wes is into gardening and making their house look nice, so I thought I'd use the (now retired) SAB set 'Good Neighbours'. As usual, I CASEd the card, coming across the original here on the ever useful Splitcoast. I figured that a ribbon & bow weren't very 'manly' so I used a strip of DSP and one of the new pieces from the 'Soho Designer Hardware'. Very easy to apply using the 'Crop-a-dile'. i do wish I'd left off the sponging, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Well, I've also made a 'Get Well' & a 'Thinking of You' card, and still need to do Mother's Day' and two more birthdays. Phew. It is fun to be making cards for people though. While I love doing challenges, it is nice to actually plan a card with a particular person in mind.

Catch you soon with more cards,

Cheers,

Fi x

Recipes:

Card 1:

Paper: Taken with Teal, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White CS, Sweet Pea DSP (USA only)

Stamps: Lots of Bots, On Your Birthday

Ink: Basic Black, Taken with Teal, Pumpkin Pie, Marker Pens, Encore Silver

Accessories: On Board chipboard, Crystal Effects, Mini Glue Dots

Card 2:

Paper: Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White CS, Sweet Pea DSP (USA only)

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes, I {heart} Hearts

Ink: Basic Black, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Marker Pens

Accessories: Rose Red Ribbon, On Board chipboard, Pink Supernova Glitter, Tombow Glue Pen, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Sprinkles (non-SU)

Card 3:

Paper: Taken with Teal, Kraft, Whisper White CS, Sweet Pea DSP (USA only)

Stamps: Good Neighbours, On Your Birthday

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Taken with Teal, Old Olive & Pumpkin Pie Marker Pens

Accessories: Designer hardware (Soho), Dimensionals

Jenn's Forty & Fabulous

Hi,

Wow, its been a while since I was last here. What, with a shocking roster for the first few weeks, and lots of April and May birthdays, I've actually been stamping & creating rather than blogging! My best friend Jenn recently had her 40th birthday & I wanted to make her a special card, (I couldn't show it before now just in case she wandered past here). I saw this card by the very talented Tracey Old and knew straight away that I wanted to CASE it for Jenn. I changed the colour scheme as Jenn is more into country style/shabby chic. I always think that she would like 'Bella Rose' DSP, so went with that. Also, I bought her a nice pair of simple but elegant earrings (I hope she thought that, and not that they were boring) and made a little bag to put the box in. I got the idea from Petronela and just made it a bit smaller. It is so easy to make.

Here are some pics of the card.

Front view:

And side view to show the recessed card front & layers of the rose:

It took me quite a while to make. I've never had success with layering or 'tole-ing' the 5th Avenue rose before. Thankfully it worked rather well this time. I used 'Bella Rose' DSP for the rose, as well as the background, just to add some interest. The chipboard numbers from the "On Board" series, are inked in 'Riding Hood Red', covered in glue and 'Dazzling Diamonds' cause a girls gotta have a bit of bling. I then dyed a white 'fleurette' with Pink Pirouette re-inker so that I could have a pink flower, so versatile.

And now the little bag:

The 'Happy Birthday" is from PTI, otherwise it is all SU. I layered the large, scalloped and wide oval punches for the sentiment. They are a cute little bag. However, I put in an order this morning for the new "Fancy Favour" die. Figure it'll get some use when my own big birthday comes around in a few months.

Thanks for calling in. I plan to post a few of my other cards over the next few days.

Happy stamping,

Love Fi x

A Zindorf CASE for Nicholas

Hi Guys,

Two posts in 2 days, and a clean bathroom. Must be a good week LOL. My cousin's middle son, Nicholas, turns 8 in a few weeks. I have been hanging to use my new 'Extreme' stamps (see thispost). I searched on Splitcoast for some ideas & saw this card by the incredible artist Michelle Zindorf. She is so generous and includes tutorials for all her projects. It was only after I had finished that I looked at her pics again, and realised I use my brayer the wrong way. I was rolling it down the paper, rather than across. Next time I will try that LOL.

Here's my card. I really hope Nicholas likes it.

With the original Michelle used Elegant Eggplant & Perfect Plum. I decided to make it a bit more boyish & like twilight (the time of day, NOT the movie, LOL), so used 'Night of Navy' and 'Baja Breeze'. Otherwise I made it the same as the tutorial. I added a black chipboard number 8 from SU's 'ON Board Timeless Type', rubbed it over my black ink pad & covered it in 'Crystal Effects'. It was a fun card to make, although I did get ink everywhere. My stamping desk is a disaster, think a tidy up is called for.

Must run & go buy some groceries.

Thanks for stopping by,

Fi xox

Keesh's Inspiration Challenge #20

Hi Guys,

Am finally on days off again. My roster is a bit atrocious at the moment, only rostered 2 days off instead of 3 for 2 weeks in a row (1st day is a sleep day, thus only giving 1 full day not at work). However I have found time to make 2 cards recently.

I had to have a go at Keesh's latest challenge. Especially since she pointed out that the inspiration pic challenges get less responses than the sketch or colour challenges. I really rather like them. I'm the sort of crafter who needs inspiration! Here is Keesh's inspiration image:

And here is my attempt:

As soon as I saw the photo I thought of using the 'emboss resist' technique & 'Upsy Daisy'. I clear embossed the 'Upsy Daisy' image onto 'Very Vanilla' CS. I then took my brayer & covered the whole image with 'Chocolate Chip' ink. When that is done, wipe over the image & the embossed image emerges. A great way to get a light coloured image on a dark background. I used my 'Sanded' BG stamp with 'Close to Cocoa' ink on 'CtC' CS. This is to emulate the creased look of the bottom of the doona cover (sometimes I think I am far too literal in these challenges). I added a layer of VV CS, and some 'Chocolate Chip' ribbon, tied through a small vanilla grommet. The greeting, also from the 'Upsy Daisy' stamp set is stamped in CC ink onto a label I made with the new 'Lots of Tags' die for the Big Shot. A simple card but I think it is in keeping with the inspiration.

Thanks for calling in.

Have a great day,

Fi xox

Mum's Easter Box

Hi there,

I hope you've had a Happy Easter & are not chocolate-d out. I worked the 4 nights of easter but had a lovely evening last night with Mum & Dad, my Aunt & cousins. At least it should be a good pay, some small compensation for no break over the longest long weekend of the year!

Every year Mum tells me not to buy her too much chocolate, but it always feels a bit mean not to give her much. As I've mentioned before, I'm currently enrolled in Ustamp, and when I saw this box, designed by Tracey Old, I knew it would make a lovely gift box to hold some Cadbury Caramello eggs (Mum & I love caramel).

I decided to use the new Cottage Wall DSP and the matching Cottage Garden stamp set. I also used the new Window Sheets to make the box lid. This new mini catty has so many awesome things in it that it probably is good that I worked the whole of Easter! Anyway, I really hope that Mum liked it. I had fun creating something to make her little treat a bit more special. Love ya Mum, xox.

Must go & do some washing, cleaning etc. Not enough days off this week :-(

Cheers,

Fi xox

Keesh's Sketch Challenge #20

Wow, two posts in one day. This getting up early makes me quite constructive LOL. I had a play with Keesh's latest sketch challenge. I used some of the lovely products out of the new Autumn-Winter mini (see this post for more details of mini cat). This was a lovely sketch.

I brought out my new Rich Razzleberry CS and combined it with Orchid Opulence CS. I used the new Cottage Wall DSP (love it!) and the beautiful Vintage Vogue stamp set. I also had a play with my new Sizzlits 'Little Leaves' and "Lots of Tags" Dies for the Big Shot. They are exclusive to Stampin' Up! and so cute. The ribbon is Rich Razzleberry and is plain on the reverse side (which maybe I should've used).

Here is my card:

I saw the idea for the ribbon trim on this blog and have been wanting to try it (just realised I've also used the same paper and stamps, didn't mean to, just remembered the ribbon detail from seeing it a few weeks ago). This is probably the happiest I've been with a sketch challenge card. Just love these colours & stamps.

Must go & do something, have to work tonight so I hope the roofing guy finishes in time for me to have a nap, otherwise I'll be up for about 26 hours (uugh).

Catch ya,

Love Fi xox

The Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue is here!!

Hi Everyone,

Well, the Summer Mini and Sale-a-bration have come to an end but that means its that exciting time again! Yes, its time for a new mini cat, and what a catalogue it is. As the new IB&C won't be released until September, allowing us to fall more in line with the USA catalogue, SU have outdone themselves with this mini. It is choc full of wonderful new products. Take a visit via this link to download the PDF, or use the link to the right (see catty pic) to view on-line, and check out the Big Shot die-cutting system, the clear-mount stamps that are great for easy storing and the best acrylic blocks you'll see anywhere!!!

The stamp designs are just gorgeous. There are also three new in-colours and beautiful DSP. It is impossible to resist!

Have a fabbo day and a great Easter,

Cheers,

Fi xox