Sending Love and Hugs

Today I'm sharing a card I CASed from Leonie at Stamp a latte .  I needed a card in a hurry (don't we always need to make one especially?) for a friend who was struggling with some disheartening health results, and when I saw her card published the other day, I knew it was the one for this occasion!

Now Leonie was actually showcasing the 'ink smooshing' technique, but I chose instead to use colorburst powders, but in almost every other way, it is a direct copy of her lovely design.  I have popped my love die cut up on fun foam to ensure this sentiment stood out!

Stamp:  Sunshine Sayings
Die:  Sunshine Wishes

Joy at Christmas

I've had a lot of fun playing with the new stamp set and suite - Cheers to the Year, and today I decided to stretch an ornament die from last year to add to this suite. I like to re-use my older products in another way - for my own cards, not to demonstrate of course.

I think the embossed snowflake makes the perfect background for last year's Merry Little Tags, with this years gorgeous DSP behind the little tree.  Amongst my stash I found some Ranger embossing powder in the colour of Terra Cotta, and it coordinates perfectly with the paper.

Day 7 and World Card Making Day

The challenge is to make a card - but also to send or give it to someone.  This was easy - I've made a pretty card to give to a lovely gentleman who is selling his car to our daughter, after her car was written off after a recent accident.  Thankfully, she was not badly hurt, and this car will be super for her!  So she picked flowers from her garden, and I made this quick and simple card for him to take to his dear wife when he visits her in care tomorrow.

The stamp set is Watercolour Wings, with Work of Art for the sentiment.
Inks:  Powder Pink, Flirty Flamingo and Melon Mambo with Berry Burst for the sentiment.
Stitched square die over a strip of Fresh Fig card stock.

Challenge Day 6

And today it is to use your favourite Stampin' Up! product!  Not so easy, because we all know how great Stampin' Up! products are and we fall in love with them all quite easily.  However, I have chosen to feature the bird punch - now sadly retired after many years - but this was the first product I bought - at a craft show, and I have loved it ever since.  It is so versatile, but I'm sure you know that.

 Current products used include the patterned butterfly from Butterfly Basics - to add interest to the wings, sentiment from Teeny Tiny Sentiments and washi from the Cheers to the Year suite.

Day 5 Challenge

Yesterday's was the oldest stamp set, and today it is to use your latest purchase.  This is easier!  My latest purchase was the Cheers to the Year stamp set, because I had already fallen in love with the DSP and realised how much better it would be to have the stamp too!

So here is my card for today - and loving the impetus that this challenge has given me!

A clean and simple - but still elegant I feel - wedding card.  The DSP is absolutely gorgeous, and the stamp set has the simplicity I prefer - a perfect match!  My sentiment and fancy circle are both stamped and embossed in silver, to coordinate with the sparkly paper.  The foil motif behind is also part of this suite.

Day 4 Challenge

Day 4 and it is to use your oldest stamp set which is still current.  I only separate my newest stamp sets, as all the rest are stored alphabetically, but I think one of my oldest still current sets must be Sheltering Tree.  I have to admit to never using it as a tree - instead, I use the outline of the branches to stamp over a sponged leaf shape, to appear as if it is veins of the leaf.  I saw this ages ago on Pinterest and always use it for Gratitude sentiments ever since.

The inks I used for spongeing are:  Lemon Lime Twist, Calypso Coral, Wisteria and Berry Burst.  I stamped over with the tree outline using Archival Black ink.

I've cut the square to fit inside a 10 x 10cm square top fold card.

Day 3 challenge

Day 3 brings the challenge to use every stamp in a single stamp set.  Wow!  Most stamp sets have several images, as we know, each one useful, but not usually used all together.  Thanks Simone for testing us with this one!

I have used Awesomely Artistic, as I couldn't for the life of me to see how to use sets with many sentiments - they just wouldn't make sense, would they?  So this one had one sentiment, but lots of stamps - 9 in all, I think.  So not my usual CAS style here, but the restrained colour palette made it work OK - I hope so anyway!

 Inks:  Wisteria Wonder and Smoky Slate, then a little Pear Pizzazz for the leaves.    I used Memento Tuxedo Black for the flowers and coloured them with ink from the pads using my Dove blender pen.

Added a few small rhinestones and mounted on Fresh Fig card over a white card.

Thanks for visiting, and as always, let me know if you have any requests for products.

Celebrating World Card Making Day with specials from Stampin' Up!

Stampin' Up! have some great specials happening in October - check out the flyers below and let me know if you are interested in purchasing anything - the Fast Fuse offer is a particularly good one - a saving of $22 each time you buy one Fast Fuse runner!  If you've ever used it, you will know what a powerful adhesive Fast Fuse is - especially good whenever you don't want anything to come apart!

We didn’t come up with World Card Making Day, but we are thrilled that it’s a thing! It’s a day dedicated to doing what you love most—making handmade cards! It celebrates the creativity and personal connection handmade cards create between loved ones, and it’s a great time to offer your customers a chance to make their own cards to send to their family and friends.

This year the world celebrates the day on 7 October, but one day wasn’t enough for us. For ten days (1–10 October), you and your customers get 15% off Notecards & Envelopes and select stamp sets. Also, when you buy Fast Fuse Adhesive, you’ll get two refills for FREE! These items will help you and your customers celebrate the best hobby of all—cardmaking!

Click on this link to view all the specials 

Deck the Halls

A challenge over at Eureka Stampers is to create a card each day for the first week of October, so I'm trying to meet that challenge.  And what better way than to make a start on Christmas cards?

The theme for today was to use the largest stamp in your collection, so my choice was Carols for Christmas - a lovely traditional stamp set, with the sentiment featured here, plus Peace on Earth and some small images, such as the holly, which I've used to create a wreath on this card.

My first card below uses the same images, but this time the holly is scattered over the card front, to add interest.  I tied the green into the sentiment by stamping again in green and cutting out the centre line.  

This is a beautiful red rubber stamp set - next time I'll use the hanging ornaments also included.

Thanks so much for visiting!  I'd love you to leave me a note to say you were here, and don't forget, if you are interested in purchasing any of the products used here, let me know in the comments and I'll be in touch:)