Enjoy Life

Gosh it's been ages since I've posted here, but I assure you I have been creating cards - just not taken the time to post.  Mostly I've been making Christmas cards - my favourites really - but today I am taking part in Eureka Stampers 7-day challenge celebrating World Card Making Day!  Simone Bertrum does a fabulous job of organising other SU demos to get making, so I'll do my best to join in every day.

Day 1 - is to use a never-before inked stamp - so mine is the bicycle and sentiment from Enjoy Life:

For my clean and simple card, I've used the masked circle technique, to add interest to the focal image of the bicycle.  I also stamped the sentiment 3 times so that I could cut it up and place it along the bottom.

Hello Little One

My card today is a very clean and simple one - to welcome a new baby, and also to join in the challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.

Here is the sketch:

and my interpretation:

Supplies:

Stamp:Stampin' Up! Little Elephant

Ink:  Rich Razzleberry, Blueberry Bushel

Punch:  Two elephants

Embossing Folder for card front:  3D Subtle

Wishing You all the Best

Today's card uses the limited stamp set and bundle - Blended Seasons - a beautiful set for using with blend markers or any other kind of colouring medium.  this set is only available till the end of August, or when supplies last, so if you are interested, don't wait too long to purchase it.

The stamps are made of red rubber, so perfect for using with Stamp and Write markers and the Stamparatus.  Just colour the lines as desired, huff on them, then stamp - and repeat.  I tend to colour the stems and leaves first, as you can colour as often as you wish - no need to hurry, as the card is always in the same position - this way you can colour up as much or as little as you like - it is a lovely way to achieve a soft watercolour look.  In fact, I did use my aqua brush a little, to smudge or blend the colour out.

Can you see the lovely white stitched frame behind the flower spray?   That is from the coordinating framelits - I cut 3 and glued them one on top of the other, for depth.  There is no die for these flowers, but they didn't take long to fussy cut out.  The butterfly is a die from my stash - just to balance out the design.  It is very difficult to see, but the front of my card is covered with the large dynamic folder - called Subtle - it has the look of a linen card and I love it.

CASEing a card by I'm in haven and some new products

I'm very fond of the Clean and Simple style of card making, and my first card typifies this.  It is CASed from Pinterest - I'm in haven - and although it uses the retired Petite Petals stamp and punch, the sentiment is very new - from Blow Out the Candles, and the ink colours are all current - Lemon Lime Twist, Bermuda Bay, Call me Clover.  The tiny flowers are mounted on the smallest square from the Square framelits.

My next two cards use the Beautiful Bouquet Bundle - lots of lovely flowers and stems.

I cut these pieces from white card, then lightly watercoloured them in lilac tones and blue/green.  I used a stitched rectangle to emboss a subtle shape on the front.

Same bundle used here but the different design and colours used make it seem totally different.  I love the combination of Smoky Grey, Real Red and white, but heat embossed the wrapper with Silver  embossing powder.

3D Embossing Folder - Lovely Floral Dynamic

I was enthralled recently watching Jennifer McGuire use embossing folders and ink to create interesting and subtle cards - you can click on the link to her blog post HERE.

As I have now acquired the beautiful 3D embossing folder in the new catalogue at Stampin' Up! called Lovely Floral Dynamic, I thought I'd give her techniques a try.

 The first card uses only SU products, except for the frame - I don't have a frame large enough to feature the flower, so used one from my stash.  If I was holding a class, I'd find some other way around this.  The paper is from the paper pad - Tropical Escape, the die cut word is from Celebrate You thinlets, You from Sunshine Sayings and I used thick Whisper White for my card base.

For these two cards I used some card embossed with Swiss Dots and used the reverse side - coordinating with the dye ink I used on the embossing folder - Hero Arts Mint Green and Versacolour Petal Pink.

I did not achieve the perfect results that Jennifer managed (isn't she wonderful?) but I am very happy with them.

Slimline Folio

Today I am featuring a nifty idea I saw on Sam's blog - Mixedupcraft - a few days ago.  It is a very handy folio for odds and ends of papers we all have a habit of collecting - using some DSP and a laminator and folder.  You can see Sam's tutorial here.  The size is ample - it uses one A4 laminating cover, and is slightly smaller than A5 when folded up. (The front is 8" x 5.5")

I have made a folio for myself (as a trial) and this one is for a friend who regularly has a lot of papers to gather together as she organises excursions for her club.  I hope she finds it useful!  The laminated cover means it is sturdy as well:)

I've used retired DSP (I have plenty!) and the large letter dies.

Inside there are two pockets into which those endless bits of paper can be stored.

Tuscan Vineyard

What a picturesque stamp set the Tuscan Vineyard is!  My card uses one of the images, mounted onto Kraft card - but Crumb Cake would be equally good - and coloured with some Stamp n Write markers directly onto the red rubber stamp.  This is the best thing about red rubber stamps - you can colour on the stamp, and using the Stamparatus, can repeatedly colour and stamp until you are happy with your result.

The oval was cut with a stitched frame lit, and the base of the card is stamped with the olive image.