Wednesday 31 August 2016

Up, up and away!

A simple  birthday card today, that I think could be suitable for anyone, whatever age.

As I specialise in small cards, I find images of balloons difficult to 'squeeze in', but they are such a symbol for happiness and celebration that I felt I must persevere!

I didn't want a card that looked particularly "childish", so I chose a base card in Basic Grey, which is a soft charcoal grey colour, darker than my usual grey.



I chose Soft Sky - an obvious choice - as a square mat on top.  The clouds are heat embossed with white on Vellum paper which gives them a lovely subtle transparency and they look 'light as air', and I punched them out using the tree builder punch  from SU.  I positioned one cloud to overlap onto the grey card to demonstrate the opaque quality and because I like images to be unconfined by the frame.

The balloon is actually a deeper shade than appears in the photo using the Balloon Celebration stamps and heat embossed in silver on Pool Party card.  Then punched out with the coordinating punch and positioned with a foam dimensional; the 'string'  stamped  directly onto the card.

My favourite are the bunting flags.  I cut these from a sheet of paper from the Little Foxy DSP paper stack.  They were quite easy to fussy cut, being straight lines.  The first string of flags were glued directly onto the card but I wanted the larger string to stand out more and appear to be flying off the page, so I roughly cut the image and carefully glued it to plain white card, then fussy cut it out.  This made it less flimsy and I managed to fix strips of foam dimensionals on the back and attach it to the card. This bit was a little tricky and I'm horribly aware that you can see tiny bits of foam peeking out!  (note to self: must try harder).

The obvious choice for the banner would have been Calypso Coral to coordinate with the flags, but I like to add an 'edge' sometimes so chose Bermuda Bay, a deep turquoise-y green which toned with the blues used.  The greeting was heat embossed with silver and a couple of stars added.

Sounds  complicated and a bit fiddly, but the elements can be made separately and then assembled so less chance of messing it up!  I glued a rectangle of Whisper White card inside and stamped a bit of cloud and a ballon at the edge to bring the whole thing together.

Hope you like this card and remember, if you add your email address for updates, I will be picking one at random at Christmas and sending the winner some Stamping' Up! goodies.

Thanks for dropping by.

Jane


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Tuesday 16 August 2016

Totally Awesome Totally Trees!

In every catalogue there are always a few stunning stamps that hit you right between the eyes.  Well this set is not one of them!

This set, which is a preview from the forthcoming Autumn/Winter catalogue, seems unassuming and low key at first glance, but this is just the sort that I like because very often you find you get far more mileage out of them.

It has to be said I like trees.  Because they are not as "girlie" as flowers and butterflies, they are suitable for men and women alike and as they are not too "cutesy", they are perfect for acquaintances you may not know so well and  want a slightly less personal card for.

This set has a variety of tree styles to play with and by changing the colours, you can give the card a sense of the different seasons adding blossom for Spring, golds and yellows for Autumn and bare branches for Winter.  There is even a palm tree and coconuts for a jungle or beach look!

Here are four small cards made as a set. Different colour bases, but all with a Whisper White mat mounted on Chocolate Chip card.  The colours have been chosen to link the cards together and in each case, one tree has been fussy cut and elevated with foam stickers to add dimension. The background tree colour has been stamped on scrap paper first to fade the colour slightly.

The sentiments are neat and small in keeping with the card size and I have used a little strip of copper washi tape or a twist of gold thread to add interest. Oh and I almost forgot, a few spatters from the tried and trusted Timeless Textures!

All the products I used are at the end of this post and I think it is easy to see which colours are which.




Now all I need to do is make a small matching packet to put them in and they will make an excellent small gift or stocking filler for someone.

I hope you like these cards and feel inspired to go "Totally Trees"!  If you would like to purchase any of the supplies, please use my online shop. The Autumn/Winter catalogue will be available online from September and it is full of beautiful Halloween and Christmas ideas plus special embellishments and a some other new stamp sets which I hope to showcase soon.

Thanks for dropping by and I hope you will add your email address to receive updates as I shall draw a name from a hat at Christmas and send the lucky person a small gift of Stampin'Up! goodies.

Cheers

Jane !-------- TAMS Start ----------> Product List

Saturday 13 August 2016

Happy Accidents with Touches of Texture

This two box stamp set is amazing. At first glance it seems to be 15 unconnected stamps but when you start to play around with them you realise how much potential they have.

This is exactly what happened when I made the following two cards. I was just trying out the different stamps and playing with the textures, liked what I saw, tried another colour etc and then realised that I had made a nice background for a card. A happy accident.



First card is made using Lost Lagoon card stock which is now retired unfortunately but there are plenty of other colours to try. The small piece of card printed with the sentiment is actually Pool Party, so that would be an obvious choice.

No explanation necessary really. White card printed with background 'spatter' stamps in Soft Sky and Pool Party inks, overlaid with the flower element stamp using Lost Lagoon, Pear Pizzazz and Pool Party.

Little bee gold embossed, as too the sentiment, and I also used the flower centre stamp to highlight the flowers with gold embossing powder.  I spattered the small piece of card round the edges too, just to help it link in with the background.


Second version, alternative colours - Tip Top Taupe card base, Blushing Bride mat, then white card printed with Smoky Slate, Tip Top Taupe and Blushing Bride inks. The sentiment used is from Cottage Greetings and this time I used a lovely little butterfly from the Grateful Bunch stamp set, which looks fabulous when embossed.

As always, my photos don't do them justice! They are really effective in the flesh and have quite a 'modern' abstract feel about them.

Thanks for dropping by and I hope you have some happy accidents too.  If you would like to buy any of the products listed, please visit my online shop.

Cheers

Jane
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