Wedding Cards !

Hello ! 
I am a little late posting today as I've had a busy one ! In fact it's been a busy weekend starting with a trip to the crafts and textiles shows at the NEC on Friday with Rosie my daughter. Then we went to see Lord of the Dance on Saturday, which is a show I have wanted to see for so long and it was certainly worth the wait; it was breathtaking and very high energy and the audience were a fun crowd especially the ladies we sat by - it was an unforgetable experience ! On Sunday, we had a nice relaxing boat trip on the Sharpness canal near Gloucester; we were blessed with warm sunny weather and enjoyed a nice on board picnic ! To complete a nice few days, today, my lovely friend Paula came for craft and some lunch which we ate in the garden as it was lovely again ! We made a start on our swaps ready for our training day in May; well, I designed mine and then fiddled around trying to find a colour combination I liked !!!!
Failing to do so, I decided to put together these wedding cards which I had already done the preparation for ! At this time of year I get asked to do quite a few wedding cards so I've been trying to be more elegant in my designs as not everyone likes Shabby Chic!

Stampin' Up supplies use to make these cards are :

Card stock : Very vanilla, smooth and textured, brushed gold.

Inks : crumb cake and whisper white

Embossing powders : silver and white

Stamp sets : You are Loved, Fresh Vintage, Oval All and Vintage Vogue

Punches : itty bitty and scallop oval

Sizzix dies : top note, fun flowers and scallop square

Pretties : Velvet very vanilla ribbon, antique brad and SU pearls.

The cream flower was made fom some very old ( hence the colour ) tracing paper and the brushed gold card from SU takes ink well and also peels apart nicely so it an be scrunched and goes twice as far !

All the stamping on these cards is embossed with the exception of the stamping on the flowers and the background on the white card; I have just looked at the preview for this post and realised that it doesn't really show up too well so apologies !

Still an embossing novice, I really like the sophistication it adds to a wedding card which needs to have a a touch of luxury which is why I added the lovely velvet ribbon to a couple of the cards also. If you have any questions about how to make these cards please do contact me via the link on my profile above; I'll be happy to help !

Thank you so much for your visit today and for all your encouraging comments; you are very kind !

Hus Jane x

Wedding Card and Fresh Vintage !

Hello ! 
What a beautiful day it has been here today; so sunny, I had my lunch outside and the doors and windows open to air the house. Now the lighter mornings are here , don't you find that you get more done - even with two hours spent on Pinterest a each day ! LOL ! The major benefit is the extra daylight crafting time ; I keep meaning to get some sort of daylight bulb arrangement sorted but honestly, I prefer crafting in natural light. I have produced some absolutely hilarious colour combinations by electric light crafting, only to discover with horror how awful they were when I looked at them the next day !
This card was made today in daylight so I think it's fine ! A dear friend of mine has asked me to make some wedding cards and this is the first of the selection !

The stamps sets used were Fresh Vintage and the label from Everything Eleanor. This card is 8 inches square and from my own stash as I wanted a big card to mount the pretty doilley onto; the centre circle of this is glued leaving the lacey bit free to add a bit of dimension to the card . I have just stamped in crumb cake ink and the card is simply lots of well glued layers; ie. doilley, vellum die cut fun flowers ( 2 large overlapped ), a punched large scallop circle in divine brushed gold card and a stamped and cut out label for the mr and mrs ! 

I discovered that I don't really own any suitable current sentiment stamps for bridal cards so used an old SU favourite which I chose for my starter kit ! I finished off the inner circle with a wreath of itty bitty flowers in tones of white. I love the brushed gold card; it has class and is so much nicer than brash shiny variety and adds another dimension to the card by catching the light. Here is a bit more detail :

The label from Everything Eleanor when cut out just fits neatly onto the large scallop circle that is in the current mini catalogue; I found this punch really useful and you can use it with the slightly smaller one to make layered flowers.

I'm off to do some prep for tomorrow now as I have so many cards and projects to do and time is running away as usual  !

I really appreciate your visit today and a special hello to those of you who haven't visited before. Welcome and please do visit again !

Hugs Jane x

Happy Mother's Day !

Hello !
It's Mother's day here in the UK so to all the Mums - have a wonderful day, I hope you are being thoroughly pampered and waited upon !!!! I found a lovely quote for you which is a bit of a tear jerker but so very true -
" Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever."  Author Unknown. 
Now to the crafty bit ! I have a Mother's day card for you today which I hope you like , using the lovely stamp sets -Blessed Mother and Letter It.  The card is A4 and made from very vanilla textured card stock. The inks used are - lucky limeade, baja breeze , river rock , pool party and wisteria wonder. I couldn't resist adding some itty bitty flowers too !!!

It's such a simple card which I have edged with the scallop trim border and embellished with two dotted scallop ribbon borders laid side by side and old olive ribbon ( now discontinued ) as it was just right. This little stamp set was so inexpensive but is such a useful addition to my stamp collection and the flowers are so pretty. This simple card just showcases the set at a very basic level; there is so much more that could be done and I think the flowers would be lovely on  wedding stationary.

There is still time to take advantage of the fabulous offers in the SALE - A - BRATION which ends very soon !!! It is the very best time to become a demonstrator as the offer coupled with my own little extras mean that you would receive crafting goods for which you would be paying a little over a third of the actual value ( this figure depends on your choice of free stamp set but the value is amazing ) ! On this subject , we went out to supper yesterday evening at the home of some very dear friends and after several e-mails and phone calls from work during dinner due to a rather contentious issue which is proving hard to deal with, my poor friend was on the point of tearing her hair out !!! Then, I suddenly heard myself saying " Why don't you become a Stampin' Up demonstrator, it would be far less hassle ! " At which point everyone collapsed into fits of giggles ! Ok , so it doesn't pay as much as being a lawyer but you get to meet some lovely people, get lots of free or discounted craft stash, work from home and fit around your family to name but a few benefits !!!!

Have a great day and happy crafting !

 Hugs Jane x

A Miscellany of Tags !

Good Morning !
I have been a very bad girl of late and have been playing on Pinterest far too much; be warned, it is very addictive but at least I haven't been eating so much chocolate !!!
I have however, been using up all my bits and bobs and have some little tags to show you today ( these are the last paper crafts I will show you for a while using this colour combination !!! ). I will list at the end of the post all the stash and tools used as it is quite long ! The tags are vintage in style and use quite a lot of the free products available during the Sale - a -Bration. These are mixed in with some of my favourite Stampin' Up products from the current catalogue. The tags were bought from my local office supplies shop. These finished tags are suitable for a number of uses and can be used to make a detailed card toppers.

The list of supplies is endless so here goes ! 

STAMP SETS : Elementary Elegance, Fresh Vintage, Tiny Tags, Nature Walk and Artistic Etchings.

PUNCHES : itty bitty, bird builder,  jewellery tag, scalloped oval, fancy flower, decorative label, scallop trim border and eyelet border.

INKS : pretty in pink , bashful blue, soft suede, crumb cake 

and riding hood red.

PRETTIES : antique brads, mini vintage tag, Chantilly lace, crumb cake seam binding, very vanilla grosgrain ribbon and pink pirouette taffeta ribbon.

Now to go off to get ready for an afternoon with my lovely friend Paula who kindly gifted me some of the lovelies I have used to make these tags ! Also to plan some new projects with a new theme/colour scheme !!! I have been stuck in a vintage rut of late !!!

Thank you so much for your visit and to those of you who leave me such lovely comments ! They are very encouraging and make me happy !

Have a good day wherever you are ! 

Hugs Jane x

Elementary Elegance !

Hello ! Just a very quick post today whilst dinner is cooking in the oven ! You know how much I love pleated paper and usually make rosettes but I thought this little pretty could just sit on the edge of my card; it looks a bit like a curtain pelmet but I think it adds a nice bit of texture ! As if that was not enough I also added a row of scrunched up seam binding ribbon in crumb cake. My lovely upline Jo uses this technique on her cards a lot so thank you Jo for the inspiration ! ( Jo's is always applied very neatly I have to say, unlike mine ! )

The stamp set used - Elementary Elegance - is one of those which you can earn free with every £45 you spend before the end of this month; so hurry because you know how time flies ! The paper is from Beau Chateau and the  inks used are bashful blue, soft suede and early expresso. I have added some of my signature flowers punched from scraps using the itty bitty punches and a bird edged in bashful blue ink and punched using the bird builder punch. The blue layer of DSP has an embossed frame for more texture created with the designer frames set.

I stamped the bird too and punched it out so I could see where the stamped design sat within the blades of the punch and twiddled it around until I was happy  ( can you see the little crown on the tip of the wing ? ! ) the main card is made from textured very vanilla card stock and the card measures 6x6 inches ( 15x15 cms )

Must go and rescue dinner !!!

Thank you so much for stopping by ! BTW before I go , you can now follow me on Pinterest ! I joined at the weekend and I have to say it is very addictive but so much fun. For those of you who do not know ( and I know many of you do because I am following you !!! ) it is an online pinboard where you join up and then create your own set of pinboards which express your creative style and interests and allow you to display all your gorgeous finds in one place ! What is more you get to share them with others who can  'pin' from your boards onto theirs as well as from other sources. It's a lovely way of sharing ideas and getting new ones; sometimes it's just nice to look at lots of gorgeous pictures !

Just click on the button on the right hand side bar and it will take you to my boards and then you can have a look at the whole site; there is lots of lovely inspiration there.

Hugs Jane x

Beau Chateau Revisited !

Hello ! Hope you are having a lovely weekend ? Aren't Saturdays busy ? I have been running around all day and finally have a few moments to myself to post on my little blog which has been sadly neglected this week ! Life is rather busy at present and I'm not getting the time to do much crafting but did get round to making a birthday card for my lovely daughter Rosie this week. She is nineteen today !!!! I can't believe it; where did all those years go ??? Her card is a revisit to my favourite DSP from the current main catalogue ( I hope she like shabby French vintage !!! ) - Beau Chateau which I haven't played with for a while. Click on the photos for a larger view !

This card is huge ( about 10 x 7.5 inches ) and after all the small cards I have been making of late I found it quite a challenge ! This is one of my " choose a colour for the background, make up lots of components and then fiddle around until you are happy adding bits in to balance mistakes " kind of cards !!! Do you ever make ones like that or are you too disciplined and  organised !!!

The card used is pink pirouette and naturals ivory with pretty in pink to accent.

Making these flowers is a bit of an obsession at the moment so Rosie gets one on her card with an antique brad ( how did I craft without these ! ). My components are made from using several stamp sets : You are Loved, Artistic Etchings, Nature Walk, Four Frames and the sentiment is from the Sale - a - Bration set Elementary Elegance. I also threw in a piece of DSP cut using the top note die .

I love to layer and stamp in between; I know it's a bit messy for some but it's my style of crafting and that's very much what it's about for me - finding your own style ! I used two inks : chocolate chip and soft suede and enjoyed adding punched edges using just about every edge punch I own from SU : eyelet border, scallop trim border and corner and the dotted scallop ribbon border. The flowers were punched using the scallop circle, fancy flower and itty bitty punches . In addition I used the decorative label punch to shape the sentiment and used my new favourite toy - my Sizzlits Junior Type Alphabet dies to make my letters and numbers ! Phew ! I think that's all ! It's almost taken me as long to list all the materials and tools used as it did to make the card in the first place !

The SALE - a - BRATION continues to the end of the month so still plenty of time to join up or get your freebies; please contact me via the link on my profile if you wish to take advantage of these very generous offers !

Off to get ready now; we are out for dinner tonight at our favourite bistro to celebrate Rosie and Richard's birthday's  ( no cooking for me ! LOL ! ).

Thank you for stopping by; it is so sweet of you to visit ! 

Hugs Jane x