Clean & Simple 132

I am really loving this sketch at the moment. It makes for simple, quick but effective cards. This is the same sketch I used yesterday for the candles card. Today I have used it to make two more birthday cards.

Charlotte is going to two birthday parties tomorrow! Both very dear friends of hers, so I wanted two bright and cheerful cards. A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Taylor and Rachel!

The first card uses the Simply Scrappin' Kit, Petal Party (retired). This was a very quick and simple card, as it used DSP, die cuts and only a teeny bit of stamping! I added some Daffodil Delight Cardstock, instead of the So Saffron that is in the kit.

 

The second card uses the Good Friend stamp set (retired) and my fave Sweet and Sour DSP. I have used the rock and roll technique when stamping on this card. Can you see the graduation of colour on the outside of the dandelion tops? This was the first use of my Daffodil Delight ink pad. Not a colour I use very often.

 

There is bit more stamping on this card, but still a quick and simple one.

Materials:
(All SU unless otherwise stated)



Petal Party Card:
Stamp sets: Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Cardstock/ DSP: Petal Party Simply Scrappin' Kit
Inks: Melon Mambo
Accessories: Satin Ribbon (Pretty in Pink, Daffodil Delight), Curly Label Punch, Brad (own stash), Linen Thread

Dandelion Card:

Stamp sets: Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Cardstock/ DSP: Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, Very Vanilla, Sweet and Sour Specialty DSP
Inks: Rose Red, Pink Pirouette, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Grosgrain Ribbon (Pumpkin Pie), Curly Label Punch, Brad (own stash), Linen Thread

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Candles for Erik

It's been a bit quiet on here lately. Sorry, I've been busy with other things, will try to be better this week. :)

Before I get into it I would like to apologise for the photo today. My camera battery had died and I had to get the card to the party, so I took the photos on my iPhone. Not that great I'm afraid, but still better than nothing.

This card was for Charlotte's little friend  Erik who turns 6 this week. Luckily we got his party in at the park this afternoon before the rain. Happy Birthday Erik!

I used the Clean & Simple sketch #132 and the colour inspiration is from The Play Date Cafe Colour Challenge 74.

I had seen these clever paper candles made by Jen over at i{heart}2stamp and just had to try them. When I looked at the Clean & Simple Sketch I thought that they would work well together.

 

The candles are made from rolling a piece of DSP and inserting the wick. Jen used baker's twine for the wicks of her candles, but since I didn't have any, I broke a real candle apart and used a real wick!

The colours are Pacific Point and Concord Crush. The Concord Crush is looking very blue in this photo, it is more of a purple IRL.

There was hardly any stamping on this card, only the sentiment! Once again I have used Perfect Punches.

Materials:
(All SU unless otherwise stated)
Stamp sets: Perfect Punches
Cardstock/ DSP: Pacific Point, Concord Crush DSP
Inks: Concord Crush
Accessories: Poly Ribbon (Concord Crush), Large Oval Punch, Button (own stash), Linen Thread, Wick

Please contact me if you require any info and feel free to leave me a comment, I love reading them!


Hopefully I'll be back soon.
Thanks for stopping by! 

The Paper Players - A Cut Above

I woke this morning to a very exciting email containing this:

The card that I entered into The Paper Players Colour Challenge #38, was chosen as a cut above. Each of the design team, of which they are 7, pick their favourite card of the challenge. Nance chose mine, thanks Nance!

Here is another look at my card.

 

This was another card that I wasn't sure about when I first finished it! So I was very surprised to see that it was a winner.

I am very honoured to have my card chosen amongst such talented ladies. Please click here to go over and have a look at the beautiful work in the winning cards. So gorgeous!

Thanks for stopping by,

A New Look Blog

Hi there!

I have wanted to change the look of my blog since I first started it, as I used one of the pre-set design templates. Today while blog surfing I came across this beautiful website 'Cute 'N' Cool Blog Stuff' by Itkupilli. The very kind owner of this website has lots and lots of free blog backgrounds, buttons, banners and headers for you to use on your blogs.

A lot of it isn't my style but there were a few that I found very beautiful, including the one I chose and feel in love with. Please pop over and have a look at Itkupilli's beautiful work! 

So what do you think? Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think of the new look.

Psst...Di, it's pink! ;)

Thanks for stopping by,

Easter Blossoms for Easter...finally!

Hi there!

Today's card once again uses the Easter Blossoms set, but this time, actually on an Easter card. This card has been entered into the I {heart} Sketches Challenge over at I {heart} 2stamp, and the Colour Challenge #73 over at The Play Date Cafe.














I'm not too sure about this card. I'm not totally in love with it, not even sure if I like it. I think it is the colour palette. The orange is a little too much with the other colours I think.

Although, I wasn't too sure about Friday's card, and it has grown on me and now I really like it.....so you never know. I don't think this will be the case with this card though, but never say never.

The colours are Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie and Orchid Opulence. I have used the Easter Blossoms set and the sentiment is from the beautiful Well Scripted.

Oh well, we all have off days, don't we?

Materials:
(All SU unless otherwise stated)
Stamp sets: Easter Blossoms, Well Scripted
Cardstock/ DSP: Orchid Opulence, Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie
Inks: Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, Sweet Always DSP (retired), Cottage Wall DSP (retired)
Accessories: Satin and Taffeta Ribbons (Rich Razzleberry and Pumpkin Pie),  Dimensionals, Scallop Circle Punch, Button (own stash)

Please contact me if you require any info and feel free to leave me a comment, I love reading them!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Wow...my blog has won an award!

I would like to send a great big thank you to Helen Heil over at H2 designs for awarding me the Liebster Blog Award. She saw my work in the Inkspirations Challenge and checked out my blog. I am very honoured that she obviously likes my work, especially since she does some gorgeous work herself. Please go over and have a look.

I know need to nominate 3-5 blogs for the award. They must have less than 300 followers, and/or be newish blogs.

One blog which I definitely would have nominated is my very talented up line Di Barnes over at colour me happy, but Helen nominated her as well! :) Do go over and check out her beautiful work!

So here we go....I award the Liebster Blog to (drum roll please!, hehe).....

1. Sarah-Jane Kale over at Janeybell Designs .

Sarah-Jane does the most beautiful work and I am an avid follower of her blog.
Must be in the name, from one Sarah Jane to another! ;)

2. Karen Thomas over at Luv to Stamp.

I have followed Karen's blog for a few years now. She closed it down for a while, but luckily for us she is back in blogland! Some inspiring work will be found here!

3. Lyndell over at Lyndell's Card Corner.

Lyndell is a member of the same SU! team as me, Diamond Stampers. She is new to blogging and hasn't put up a lot of posts, but she does some gorgeous work! I am a big fan! Maybe you can leave her a few comments to encourage her to post more often  :), I would love to see more of her work!

Please click on my links and visit these very talented ladies! If you are as impressed with their work as I am, please leave them some comment love!

Thanks for stopping by,

Pretty Patterns Sketch Challenge

Today's card is for the Pretty Patterns 01 challenge over at My Time Made Easy. Here is the sketch.

This sketch really caught my eye so, I thought I would use the opportunity to make some Easter cards at the same time.  I also took some inspiration from a lovely card by the very talented Teneale Williams.

I started with a Crumb Cake base, sponged around the edge with Crumb Cake ink. I then took some Baja Breeze, Regal Rose and Orchid Opulence cardstock and stamped the flourish from Easter Blossoms in Versamark. I sponged these around the edge with the co-ordinating ink.

I layered two pieces of Very Vanilla card, one punched with the Scallop Border Punch and one stamped with the same flourish and the sentiment, also from Easter Blossoms. These were stamped in Crumb Cake, but I stamped them off on a scrap piece of paper first to lighten the image.

I then stamped the eggs in the same colours as the background cardstock, cut these out and raised them with dimensionals. The ribbon and bows are Very Vanilla and I added a pearl as an extra feature.

I wasn't sure about this card when I first finished it, but it is growing on me.

Materials:
(All SU unless otherwise stated)
Stamp sets: Easter Blossoms
Cardstock/ DSP: Crumb Cake, Regal Rose, Baja Breeze, Orchid Opulence, Very Vanilla
Inks: Crumb Cake, Regal Rose, Baja Breeze, Orchid Opulence, Versamark
Accessories: Satin Ribbon (Very Vanilla),  Dimensionals, Scallop Border Punch, Sticky backed pearls (own stash)

Please contact me if you require any info and feel free to leave me a comment, I love reading them!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Saturday Sketch Challenge #194

Hi there!
Today's card is for the Stamping Sketch Challenge #194. I changed the sketch a little, as I am yet to own any square punches. Therefore I thought this stamp set, Punch Bunch (Sale-a-bration) would be perfect. I also added a little ribbon and a rhinestone bow.

 

I used the Pear Pizzazz, Regal Rose and Concord Crush markers to ink up the stamp. The cardstock is Crumb Cake and Concord Crush and the DSP is a piece of Concord Crush from the In Colour DSP Stack.

 

The sentiment is actually on the stamp, I just didn't ink it up the first three times. Sorry about the photo, another dull day, but I did my best.

Materials:
(All SU unless otherwise stated)
Stamp sets: Punch Bunch
Cardstock/ DSP: Crumb Cake, Concord Crush Cardstock and DSP, Very Vanilla
Inks: Concord Crush, Regal Rose, Pear Pizzazz
Accessories: In Colour Poly Ribbon (Concord Crush),  Dimensionals, Scallop Circle Punch, Clear Rhinestone Brad

Please contact me if you require any info and feel free to leave me a comment, I love reading them!

Thanks for stopping by! 

With Sympathy

Sympathy cards are never fun to make, but none the less are unfortunately a part of life.

This card is to send thoughts to a friend whose daughter has lost her boyfriend at 20 years of age. So very sad, both for the young girl whose heart has been broken and for her family who have also suffered in the loss. They are also feeling helpless as they watch their daughter/sister suffer, so my thoughts and prayers are with them all (as well as the young man's family) at this time.

So with that said, on with the post...

This is a case of a card by Dani Holland over at Inky Fingers, who had cased it from the very talented Danielle Daws. It was for the Just Add Ink, Just Add Danielle/Amanda Challenge.

As soon as I saw it I knew that its simplicity and grace made it perfect for a sympathy card.

I changed it up a little by altering the colour scheme, bow and border punch. This card uses the So Happy for You and Bliss stamp sets and the colours are Whisper White, Crumb Cake and Pretty in Pink. I have used the Eyelet Border Punch and the Lots a Tags Sizzlit for the sentiment, which I then sponged around the edge with Crumb Cake ink.

Materials:
(All SU unless otherwise stated)
Stamp sets: Bliss, So Happy for You
Cardstock/ DSP: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Pretty in Pink
Inks: Crumb Cake
Accessories: Striped Grosgrain Ribbon (Pretty in Pink),  Dimensionals, Lots a Tags Sizzlit

Please contact me if you require any info and feel free to leave me a comment, I love reading them!

Thanks for stopping by! 

One Card, Three Challenges

My card today is to enter into 3 different challenges.

The first is over at Crazy 4 Challenges, and is in honour of International Earth Day. Your entry needs to have an image of a tree on it somewhere, so the Love Defined set was perfect!

The second challenge is at The Paper Players, and is Challenge #38, Ann's Colour Challenge. The colours are Baja Breeze, Blushing Bride, Early Espresso and Very Vanilla. Yummy!

The third challenge is the always beautiful Sweet Sunday Sketch, over at 'the sweetest thing'.

I made this card last night and wasn't very happy with it to begin with, but in the morning light it is growing on me.

I have used the Love Defined, Itty Bitty Bits and Perfect Punches stamp sets.  I don't have a large scallop circle die, so I used the Scallop Circle Punch to cut out lots of shapes, I then cut them in half and glued them around my circle for a fancy border!

 

Pop on over to the challenges to see the other lovely creations that have been entered, or to have a go at one yourself! :)

On a different note, my card is up at Crafty Picks. Pop over and have a look, there are lots of beautiful creations up on display! Tiffany is going to do her Crafty Picks every Sunday, so keep an eye out, she has chosen some lovely things.

Materials:
(All SU unless otherwise stated)
Stamp sets: Love Defined, Perfect Punches
Cardstock/ DSP: In Colour Collection Patterns DSP Stack, Very Vanilla, Blushing Bride, Early Espresso and Baja Breeze
Inks: Early Espresso, Blushing Bride
Accessories: Satin Ribbon (Early Espresso),  Dimensionals, Clear Rhinestones, Curly Label Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, Scallop Circle Punch, flower and button (from own stash)

Please contact me if you require any info and feel free to leave me a comment, I love reading them!

Thanks for stopping by!

Just Add Ink Inspiration

Hi there!

Today I have another card made using the Easter Blossoms Set. I have used a sketch from over at Just Add Ink for inspiration.

I just love this sketch it really caught my eye! And now for the card....

 

I have used Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla and Rich Razzleberry for this card. I started with a Crumb Cake base and stamped the blossoms in Crumb Cake ink. I then used the Top Note Big Shot Die (LOVE this!) to cut a piece of Rich Razzleberry cardstock, which I then put through the Big Shot once more using the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder. 

The girl was stamped in Chocolate Chip ink onto a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock and mounted onto a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock. I once again covered the eggs in the basket with flowers. These were inked in Rich Razzleberry and stuck onto the basket with some dimensionals. The DSP at the bottom is from the Brights DSP Stack and was punched using the eyelet border. 

I have used satin ribbon (Rich Razzleberry) to tie a double bow and have secured them together with a Clear Rhinestone Brad, put through a small Crumb Cake flower.

This week I am aiming to use the Easter Blossoms set to actually make some Easter cards! But I love the images and how versatile they are.

Materials:
(All SU unless otherwise stated)
Stamp sets: Easter Blossoms
Cardstock/ DSP: Brights Collection Patterns DSP Stack, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Rich Razzleberry
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Satin Ribbon (Rich Razzleberry),  Dimensionals, Clear Rhinestone Brad, Eyelet Border, Top Note Die, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder

Please contact me if you require any info and feel free to leave me a comment, I love reading them!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Successful Challenge!

I was very honoured this morning to sit at my computer and find that my card had been chosen for the Stamper's Showcase over at Stamping 411.Out of 56 entries the team had chosen 5 to showcase and mine was one of them!
I was very happy with this card, and am glad to see that others have also taken a liking to it! Thanks to everyone that has left a comment for me! You are very kind and I love to read them all.
Now to part with this card!! My daughter tried to claim it for a birthday card for one of her friends today....but I am not ready to let go of it yet. :)

This card is also going to feature in Crafty Picks #7 over at My Crafty World tomorrow. So keep an eye out.

Thanks so much to everyone who visits my blog. I am really enjoying this, should have done it sooner!

Diamond Stampers Christmas Challenge

Back before Christmas, my Stampin' Up! team, led by the lovely Di, had a Christmas card challenge. We had to produce a Christmas card using a non Christmas stamp set. The only Christmas stamp we could use was for the sentiment.

 

I used the Artistic Etchings set to create Christmas baubles. The round image was used for the ball and the top is made from the crown stamp cut out and placed on the top, upside down. I didn't have the Love Letter DSP at this time, so I made my own with cardstock, stamps and white craft ink. 

The sentiment was once again from Perfect Punches.

Some inspiration in case you are super organised and already getting ready for Christmas! :)

Materials:
(All SU unless otherwise stated)
Stamp sets: Artistic Etchings, Perfect Punches
Cardstock/ DSP: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White
Inks: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White Craft ink
Accessories: Taffeta Ribbon (Whisper White),  Dimensionals, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch

Please contact me if you require any info and feel free to leave me a comment, I love reading them!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cased

Today I have a cased card. It was inspired by the amazing Teneale Williams. This is one seriously talented woman!!
I needed an engagement card and this was just perfect! I have changed the colours up a little, using Regal Rose, (love it!)  Chocolate chip and Very Vanilla Cardstock. It uses the Sweet Summer stamp set (Sale a bration) and once again the beautiful Well Scripted for the sentiment.The hearts are made by using my newly acquired Heart to Heart Punch....so cute!

 

I just love the scallops at the bottom of the card. I think they really make it. They have been stamped with the same image on the front of the card, using Versmark and sponged with Regal Rose ink. The DSP comes from the Brights Patterns DSP stack. 

The inside is decorated also, using the same elements as the front. I just love casing Teneale's work. I have another one earmarked to do soon, so keep an eye out.

Materials:
(All SU unless otherwise stated)
Stamp sets: Sweet Summer, Well Scripted
Cardstock/ DSP: Brights Collection Patterns DSP Stack, Very Vanilla, Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip, Veramark
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Regal Rose, Old Olive
Accessories: Taffeta Ribbon (Very Vanilla),  Dimensionals, Heart to Heart Punch, Scallop Edge Border, Sticky backed pearls, Blender Pens

Please contact me if you require any info and feel free to leave me a comment, I love reading them!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sketchbook Saturday Challenge and Totally Hues

 
I'm getting game now! Today I have incorporated two challenges into the one card. I didn't think I was going to pull this one off, but I am quite pleased with the result. I was very unsure about using these colours together (Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango, Baja Breeze and Tempting Turquoise) but in the end I think I have found a good balance.

I have used the first sketch from Chupa's new challenge, Sketchbook Saturday, (I just love this girls work!) combined with the Totally Hues Colour Challenge.   

 

 I have added Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla as my neutral colours. 

 

I started with a Tempting Turquoise base and used the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder on the Baja cardstock to add interest to my background.  I have used the a la carte All a Flutter stamp and the Artistic Etchings set. The sentiment is from the lovely Well Scripted from the Summer Mini. I just love this set!! 

I have stamped the butterfly in black Staz On and coloured it using stamp pads and Blender Pens. I then used Crystal Effects on the top to brighten the colours and give a glossy effect. 

The sentiment was layered onto a tag made with a Lots a Tags Sizzlit. 

I have decorated the inside very simply.

A late addition: These cards have also been entered into 'The Kraft Journal's' Spring Fling Challenge.  The brief is to use Kraft cardstock and to use the inspiration of the Spring Fling theme.

Materials:
(All SU unless otherwise stated)
Stamp sets: All a Flutter, Well Scripted, Artistic Etchings
Cardstock/ DSP: Very Vanilla, Tempting Turquoise, Baja Breeze, Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango, Crumb Cake
Inks: Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango
Accessories: Taffeta Ribbon, Dimensionals, Crystal Effects, Lots a Tags Sizzlit, Large Oval Punch, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder




Thanks for the comments you have been leaving. I love to read them!
Please contact me if you require any info and thanks for reading!

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