Sweet and Simple

I like simple unfussy cards best of all but I find it difficult sometimes to stop myself adding more bits and pieces and risk overloading the card.

With this in mind, I decided to make a set of four small simple cards, same style but with different colours and sentiments. And then to make a very simple box to put them in that was easy to wrap. 'Uncluttered' was my watch word!

I apologise for the photos not being better -I just propped them on my bedroom mantlepiece!

Touches of Texture is a fabulous stamp set from the latest Stampin' Up catalogue. It has so many interesting stamps including several different textures, a two-part flower and a charming spray of simple flowers. Not to mention a sweet little bee and dragonfly. It's one set that's really worth the money.

I started by making four  4" square base cards in Smoky Slate, Blushing Bride, Mint Macaron and Wisteria Wonder.

I used the flower spray stamp to print the whisper white card mounts with either smoky slate or wisteria wonder ink. As the wisteria wonder was a little darker than I wanted, I stamped the first print on scrap paper before stamping on my white card.

I also printed inside the base card with small elements of the flowers to link everything together.

I used coordinating colour markers to colour just the centres of the flowers and then heat embossed the sentiment in silver.

After sticking the piece of card onto the base, I attached a few tiny pearls to the centres of some of the flowers. Hard to see in the photos but a lovely touch in real life.

I then made a very simple box using Wisteria Wonder card to fit the little cards into. There are many videos online to show you how to do this and i managed to make it from one sheet of A4 card. Before sticking the box together, I printed the same flower spray over the card and silver embossed two little bees.

I hope you like this simple idea. I think it will make a lovely small gift for someone, especially if you wrap it beautifully and add a nice tag and ribbon and little cards like this are always useful.

Thanks for dropping by and if you are interested in buying any of the products I used, please visit my online shop.

Jane



Product List

Wisteria Wonder A4 Card Stock

[124389]

£7.25

Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate

[131291]

£7.25

Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock

[138344]

£7.25

Card Stock A4 Blushing Bride

[131287]

£7.25

Touches Of Texture Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[143251]

£30.00

Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad

[131179]

£6.00

Wisteria Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad

[126985]

£6.00

Pearl Basic Jewels Embellishments

[119247]

£4.50

Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder

[109131]

£4.50

Blooms & Wishes Photopolymer Stamps

[141784]

£19.00

Thoughtful Branches Photopolymer Stamp Set

[143539]

£24.00

Come with me to the Kasbah!

There is a fabulous new set of stamps in the new Stampin'Up catalogue called Moroccan Nights. It is paired with a great Designer Paper Pack to continue the Moroccan theme, and I used some of the paper from it in my last blog.

This time I have used not only the paper but also the stamps and it is fast becoming one of my favourite sets in the new catalogue.

First of all, unusual for me, a "man card" made for my husband's birthday.  I always find cards for men difficult because I don't like lots of the stereotypical "man" themes - golf, fishing, cars - you know what I mean.

These geometric patterns and the mosaic type stamp seem suitable for both men and women to me.

So, using Early Espresso card stock as a base, I mounted a sheet of the Moroccan Nights DSP. This paper is grey and black diamonds and take my word for it, it is even more striking in reality. I can imagine using it for lots of cards or gift wrapping tags, bags,  boxes, etc. 

I embossed a piece of very vanilla card with the gorgeous new copper embossing powder. The greeting is from the Cottage Garden stamp set. The two lanterns were cut out by hand - not difficult shapes - and attached with foam dimensionals. I pasted a piece of vanilla cardstock inside the card (not shown here) stamped with the sentiment "you light up my life" and a couple of star shapes from the set. Finished! Simple and strong.

The second card I made with this stamp set couldn't be more different. Again, unusual for me, it is quite fussy but I think the geometric pattern can take it.

The card base is made with Sugar Plum card stock, one of the new In Colours. Again, my photos do not do the colour justice. I stamped the large mosaic design in the coordinating ink on Whisper White card and added a few ink spatters from the fabulous Timeless Textures stamp set.

I used a piece of sugar plum ruched ribbon across the centre and attached a matching scalloped oval decorated with star shapes from the Moroccan Nights set and embossed in gold with a sentiment from the Suit Sayings stamp set.

The whole thing finished off with two butterflies stamped with patterns from Papillon Potpourri and punched out with the Bitty Butterfly punch and the Elegant Butterfly punch.  I highlighted a few spots on the butterflies with a gold pen to link them to the other gold details, and arranged a small twist of gold metallic thread to peep from behind.

Last but not least, and you can't say I don't give you value for money, another card using the same set.

These Moroccan stamps have a very exotic and sumptuous feel to them and I think they suit the strong jewel colours on offer this year.  So, a Very Vanilla card base, with a mount of Emerald Envy - another of this year's In Colours.  I printed the mosaic pattern in a similar fashion to the previous card but this time I printed it with Versamark and embossed it using the transparent embossing powder. In real life, this gives a gorgeous super shiny effect - subtle but very eye catching.  Again a few ink spatters from Timeless Textures (what would we do without this fantastic set?) and a few gold embossed stars.

Next a strip of stunning gold glitter washi tape - sadly unavailable at the moment but I am very hopeful they may reintroduce it for Christmas.  Then a small strip of Very Vanilla card, printed with the tile motif in Delightful Dijon.  This mustardy yellow is not to everyone's taste but it goes great against the emerald colour and is used in the coordinating Designer Paper Pack.  All topped off with a small strip of Emerald Envy, gold embossed with a sentiment from the Made with Love stamp set. Both the cream and green strips are raised with foam dimensionals.

If ever you are in doubt about colour combinations, you cannot go wrong if you look at the catalogue or the matching DSP paper and see the colours that have been put together by the Stampin'Up designers.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you like the cards. If you would like to purchase any of the products, please visit my online shop.

Jane

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

Early Espresso A4 Card Stock

[121686]

£7.25

Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock

[106550]

£8.25

Sweet Sugarplum A4 Cardstock

[141423]

£7.25

Emerald Envy A4 Cardstock

[141420]

£7.25

Moroccan Nights Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[141718]

£16.00

Moroccan Designer Series Paper

[141645]

£10.00

Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder

[141636]

£4.50

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

£3.75

Cottage Greetings Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[139962]

£17.00

Sweet Sugarplum Classic Stampin' Pad

[141395]

£6.00

Sweet Sugarplum 3/8" (1 Cm) Ruched Ribbon

[141428]

£7.25

Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder

[109129]

£4.50

Timeless Textures Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[140517]

£18.00

Embossing Buddy

[103083]

£5.50

Suite Sayings Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[140712]

£19.00

Layering Ovals Framelits Dies

[141706]

£32.00

Papillon Potpourri Clear Stamp Set

[123759]

£14.00

Bitty Butterfly Punch

[129406]

£14.50

Elegant Butterfly Punch

[127526]

£14.50

Gold Metallic Thread

[138401]

£2.75

Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder

[109130]

£4.50

Delightful Dijon Classic Stampin' Pad

[138327]

£6.00

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

[106549]

£8.25

True Blue

Shades of blue and navy are very fashionable this summer for clothes and interior design and it is only natural that cards should  follow this trend too. Stampin'Up keeps an eye on new trends and their range reflects current styles. 

Blue is not the first colour you think of when making a floral card, but when I look around my garden, I see that I have very many blue flowers, not to mention bluebells and forget me nots.

With this mind, and trying to get yet more mileage from the same two stamp sets, Petite Petals and Flower Shop, I made the following two cards.

First off, an amazingly simple 'half and half' card using the Dapper Denim card stock from the new range.

I made a card base using Dapper Denim, one of the new In Colours introduced in the new SU catalogue. I then made a mount in Whisper White card and covered the bottom half with paper from the Neutrals Designer Paper Pack. I chose a soft silver paper with white dots, but other papers would also work - obviously not a floral one though or the punched flowers will get 'lost' against the background.

I used a length of the new Dapper Denim ruched ribbon to conceal the join. This ribbon is gorgeous -not too wide and the ruching gives it a built in texture. It can be a bit tricky to tie a neat bow though.

The greeting I used, stamped in Dapper Denim ink, is from the Suite Sayings stamp set, which has some really useful greetings.

I had already stamped several flowers from the Flower Shop set and punched them out with the coordinating pansy punch. I used a couple of different blue shades - Marina Mist and Dapper Denim, and arranged three different flowers on the left hand side of the card. Only the central flower is elevated by a foam dimensional and highlighted with a White Perfect Accent stud.  I added one tiny Petite Petal flower to balance the group, with a tiny rhinestone in the centre.

With dark coloured card, I always paste a piece of lighter coloured paper inside so that the salutation and message can be seen.

*********************

The second variation is made with Very Vanilla card stock and I covered the front completely with some of the new Moroccan Designer Paper Collection.  This is an absolutely fabulous range of paper designs.  I am not so keen on the Moroccan Tile patterns but the reverse sides are small geometric patterns which are gorgeous and even better in the flesh. Beautiful strong jewel like colours which will be marvellous for Winter cards and 'man cards' as I call them.

I used a band of Dapper Denim card along the bottom half and arranged several large flowers from the Flower Shop set and a few smaller Petite Petals flowers on the blue card. Only two of the large flowers are lifted with foam dimensionals and all the small flowers.  I used a blue enamel dot in the centre of one of the large flowers,  just to fill the centre!

I cut a strip of Very Vanilla card and printed a greeting from  the Cottage Garden stamp set in Dapper Denim and used clear Embossing Powder to highlight it.

**********
With the scraps left over, I  made a simple matching gift tag using the scalloped tag punch, the same flowers and stamped the word "Gift" from the Perfect Wrapping stamp set and embossed it with silver embossing powder.  The blue strip is only attached at the very top so that it hangs loose and I used the ruched dapper denim ribbon with a tiny bow of silver ribbon through the loop.

I'm getting in my stride now with this blog and hope you are enjoying what I've made.  I don't claim to be an expert cardmaker or stamper but hope that you will see that you don't need to be, to create some nice examples. The co-ordinated inks and papers from Stampin'Up do half the work for you.

Thanks for stopping by.

Jane

Product List

Dapper Denim A4 Cardstock

[141419]

£7.25

Dapper Denim Classic Stampin' Pad

[141394]

£6.00

Dapper Denim 3/8" (1 Cm) Ruched Ribbon

[141424]

£7.25

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

[106549]

£8.25

Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock

[106550]

£8.25

Neutrals Designer Series Paper Stack

[138435]

£20.00

Marina Mist Classic Stampin' Pad

[126962]

£6.00

Suite Sayings Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[140712]

£19.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

£3.75

White Perfect Accents

[138416]

£4.50

Petite Petals Clear Stamp Set

[133155]

£11.00

Petite Petals Punch

[133322]

£11.50

Flower Shop Clear Bundle

[132726]

£27.50

Cottage Greetings Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[139962]

£17.00

Perfectly Wrapped Photopolymer Stamp Set

[141960]

£15.00