Roses in Winter - can you get enough

I certainly can't - i love their fragrance and they just make me think of the heady days of high summer and cricket and bees and trees in the wind and Wood Pigeons cooing!!!

This stamp set is my all time favourite - and is in fact a surprise to me as I thought I would hate it! Just shows you what a difference getting your hands on things and having a play can make to what you do and don't like.

I did this as a demo card at one of my parties and so had two in the end - handy for mother's day really!!!

The base card is Brocade Blue and the layering Perfect Plum. The stamping is of course on whisper white in Perfect Plum, Always Artichoke and Brocade Blue with a touch of Summer Sun for the flower centres.

The patterned paper is the Designer Series in Always Artichoke.

Rachel

Chin Chin

Or Cheers to You!

Cheers to You is a really lovely set and I could almost taste the strawberry daquari as I was stamping and colouring these!

The papers are Petals and Paisleys and the card is Cable Green and Pixie Pink with Certainly Celery 1/4 inch Ribbon to finish. I have used a flower stamp on the background card with versamark although it doesn't show up particularly well in the picture. The one I used was from the In the Spotlight Hostess set but really any would suffice as it is purely to add texture.



And Look a BOYS card - how often does that happen then! Not very often for me - Well I like the pretty things in life!!! This one uses the same papers and Handsome Hunter for the card base and So Saffron for the matts and scalloped shape. With a snip of Whisper White grossgrain 1/4 inch to finish - yes I make boy cards with flowers and ribbons!!!




Using Bravo Burgundy Card stock and Cutie Pie Papers for matting and layering, then hunter green for the scallop shape at the bottom and a So Saffron Brad and slither of Whisper White Grossgrain 1/4 inch to finish. All the images on this page were coloured using Pencils and Odourless White Spirit to blend the colours and I am really pleased with the effect - this was my first attempt at this technique and I much prefer it to straight pencils. It is easier to control than watercolour as well.

These are very simple stamps that can be used in a variety of ways but I think they look best lightly coloured.








Next we have a....well I am not sure but it has fruit and an umbrella so it has got to be impressive ....right???

This card is on the Handsome Hunter again and uses the Cutie Pie papers in a gorgeous blue and green spots and flowers design. This paper set is just so versatile and has so many colour ways it is hard to find something that won't match!

Matting with Cable green and then some Certainly Celery 5/8 Grossgrain ribbon and matching buttons from the Rich Regals button set.

I used the corner rounder punch on all the layers and the card itself for a really cute finished look for this tiny card.




Finally a little card and gift tag set. The card base is Ballet blue along with some of the matting and then some Rose Red card for Matting highlights and the Scallop shape on the edge of the card. Cutie Pie papers for more layers and for the base of the tag - I double folded this so the same paper is back and front) and then some Whisper White Grossgrain in 1/4 inch to finish.

I hope you are enjoying all these samples I am doing - I certainly am!

Don't forget if you are interested in a Catalogue or hosting a Party, please get in touch (top right of blog) and I will be more than happy to chat further to answer questions you may have.

Rachel

Patterns and Pockets!

Yes some more. Another card from a challenge elsewhere as well but still all Stamping Up. This time I used stamps from a wide range of sets which shows how easy it is to mix and match sets together as well as just using the one set. The sets used here were Cheers and Wishes for the Greetings, Year on Year for the Flowers on the front and seeing Spots for the Flower in the circle on the tabs. All stamped with Always Artichoke ink.

The papers used were Autumn Flowers again very versatile as they are double sided and they all match with one another and the highlights were hand drawn. In fact only one sheet of paper was used for this card. Punches used were the corner punch and the scallop punch.

To create the card I used two white square blank cards and stuck two sides together. I then used a large piece of patterned paper to stick to two of the sides to form the inside and pockets - I just kept the paper deliberately long and folded it up to create the pocket. The scallops were punched from the patterned paper and then white circles punched from whisper white card. I stamped the circles afterwards which is why they are artily off centre (oooh but I now have a stampa-ma-jig and how did I live without it I want to know). The tages were cut from Blush Card and stamped with the flowers in always artichoke and the flowers added to the top as a tag pull. I just decorated my tags but you could stamp them with a greeting, message fun voucher or even add photos if you wanted. The front was simply stamped and mounted and highlights added in black pen - very straight forward.

My hints and tips are
1. When lining a card don't put the paper right up to the centre fold - allow a little space so the card still folds well and
2. Use your bone folder on creases to ensure a crisp finish.

This design could so easily be used to scrap pictures for a special memory card for a special birthday and I think that could be a very special card that someone would love to keep and show others.

Rachel

Sample Time, Cutie Pie Papers

Well mainly anyway! I really like these template style cards so here is another one this time with a tag that can be used as a book mark. The Card and Papers are all SU. Papers are from the Cutie Pie range which is really versatile and the Card is Ballet Blue. Brads are Rose Red and the Ribbon is White Grosgrain. Sentiment is from Cheers and Wishes and stamped in Rose Red. I just love spots and stripes and can see me ordering some more of this paper very quickly. At £8.50 for 12 double sided 12 x 12 cardstock weight sheets I think it represents a good price.









Here are some pictures of the inside and the back as well. Next time I will put the brads through before putting the flap down - I had to "fix" this one :-).

I have my first workshop tonight so you may not hear from me till later on if at all - depending on how worn out I am by all the manic new stampers.

See you all soon

Rachel

Samples Time, Patterned Paper

SU have some really lovely papers - they are far better in real life than in the Catalogue and as soon as I can I will be ordering lots more to make sure I have some good samples and can do some little sample tags which I have already done with the card colours. I think these will be really popular with scrappers and card makers.

This one is made with the Fall Flowers selection of papers. They are all double sided and some of the patterns I used are from the same sheet. The stamp sets were Cheers and Wishes for the greeting and Seeing spots for the two flowers. The Inks were Always Artichoke and Certainly Celery. I really like these two colours can you tell. The tab at the top was a scalloped punch folded in half and a small slit made through which I poked a ribbon loop. The band was just a strip of paper loosely held around the card and glued together. The deco is the scallop punch in patterned paper with a whisper white centre circle. The white card is so good at taking the dye ink evenly. You can really see this on the tab insert and the solid stamps.

The card shape was made cutting two pre-made cards on the slant and then sticking the two backs together to form the three folds.



My Sample this time was prepared for the DCM Dare of which I am a new Design Team Member - toot toot me!!! Everything is having to be multipurpose at the moment as there are not enough hours in the day! The template idea came from Split Coast Stampers but to be fair I have seen it elsewhere as well - maybe without the band etc.

Morwenna's comment has prompted me to add that the message panel is loose and the left hand triangle is indeed stuck down on mine to form a more sturdy pocket.

Rachel