Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mums out there :)

Before I get onto the main part of my post I'd like to say thanks to all of you who have posted comments about the Lace Ribbon card I posted the other day, and special thanks to Kim for linking to me from Paper Punch Addiction. To all of you who have mentioned a tutorial, yes I will be working on one! Hopefully I'll have it up soon :)

Now, back to Mother's Day!

Wanting, of course, to make a special card for my Mum I went for specialty paper and used Mocha Morning. The black floral pattern is flocked and lucious, cut with one of the new Framelits dies, layered with Crumb Cake cut with another Framelits die (2 sizes smaller), some beautiful black satin ribbon and we have what I hope my Mum thinks is a classy card :)

All supplies by Stampin' Up!
Cardstock: Basic Black, Crumb Cake
Stamp set: Lovely Letters
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Mocha Morning specialty DSP, Framelits Labels Collection dies, Neutrals brads, Basic Black Satin Ribbon, Basic Black marker, dimensionals

Cinema Saturday #27

This weeks movie over at Cinema Saturday was Chocolat, another movie I am ashamed to say I hadn't seen until now! The additional recquirement this week was to use a sweet image in your creation - I don't have a lot of stamps that fit that bill and had a little cupcake and a birthday cake pulled out and hoping as I started to watch the movie. But I quickly realised I could turn to an old favourite - Like it a Latte - and it would be perfect since it caters for hot chocolate too. I tried to replicate the cups that Vianne has in her shop so I only inked up the outline and stamped another image inside. I used a strip of Chocolate Chip Patterns DSP, brayering it with Baja Breeze, to replicate the walls of the shop. And of course I had to use Riding Hood Red in honor of the mother and daughter pairs that stray from the normal path.

All supplies by Stampin' Up!
Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, textured Baja Breeze, Whisper White
Stamp Sets: Like it a Latte (retired), Lovely Letters
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, VersaMark
Accessories: Chocolate Chip marker, Earth Elements brads, Curly Label punch, Chocolate Chip Patterns DSP, brayer, sponge dauber, dimensionals
Show watched while creating: Chocolat
Other thoughts: squeaky doors

Cinema Saturday #14 part 4

This is my card for Strider/Aragorn, the third member of the Fellowship. I combined elements from his two identities, the rugged Strider for the top layers (which I heavily distressed the edges on, I also scrunched up the top Gray layer a few times after stamping on it) and "belt" and the black layer is based on his "Council Velvets", the clothing he wore to the Council at Rivendell. I did some planning for the background but in practise it didn't come out so well, I rarely used the Stamp-a-ma-jig and it shows. Oh well! I kept this pretty simple because other than the brief talk at the Council about how he is the rightful King he is Strider in character. I'm sure there are a few people who think that Handsom Hunter is a fitting cardstock for Aragorn in name alone, but I have included it for the handle of his sword and the emerald in his ring.

To get the belt buckle I had to attack a buckle from the Pewter Hodgepodge set. My humble jewellery wire cutters made a dent in the metal but did nothing for cutting the back end of the buckle off. Thankfully I have my parents visiting and Dad happened to have something a bit heftier that did the trick (I know we will have heavier duty wire cutters somewhere in the garage... but organisation is not a strong point out there!).

The quote is reminscent of something Gandalf says to Frodo while pausing in Moria, but I think it is very apt for Aragorn considering his heritage, the life he has lead to date and the state of affairs in Middle Earth during the film.

All supplies by Stampin' Up!
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Basic Black, Handsome Hunter, Going Gray
Stamp Sets: It's Your Birthday, Lovely Letters
Ink: Basic Gray, Silver, Going Gray (for distressing)
Accessories: Chocolate Chip 1/4" grosgrain (retired), Pewter Hodgepodge, Cutter Kit, dimensionals
Show watched while creating: Fellowship of course! (am I sounding like a broken record yet?)

Cardmaking, Stamping & Papercraft Vol 14 No 3

Cardmaking, Stamping & Papercraft's first big Christmas issue for the year is out now, and I am lucky enough to have been a part of the "Time Savers" section. This section focuses on Christmas card designs for mass-production, with each artist having a "simpler" design that you reproduce quite a few of in a night, and then a "stepped up" version for when you want cards that are a little more special. Here is my "stepped up" card:

For product information see CSP Vol 14 No 3!

Peaceful Flourish

Yes, we are another week closer to Christmas! This card uses the same colour scheme and stamp sets as last weeks Christmas card post, but with rather a different look. I stamped the Flourish first as I felt this would help me get the letters straight. When stamping letters like this I start from the middle, in this case "A", and then work my way out. For this card it made sense to stamp the "C" next, then the two "E"s and finish with "P". And angle of the brads makes it difficult to tell, but the rhinestones are Lilac.

All supplies by Stampin' Up!

Cardstock: Elegant Eggplant, silver (Brushed Metallics), Purely Pomegranate, Whisper White
Stamp sets: Lovely Letters, Frames with a Flourish
Inks: Elegant Eggplant, Purely Pomegranate
Accessories: Pretties Kit, Circle Ice Rhinestone Brads, 1/8" circle punch, dimensionals

Lovely Baubles

Time for another Christmas card! Quite a simple one today, stamp a few letters, punch a few circles, tie a few knots and stick it all together . The finished card is 19.7cm long so fits in a business-sized envelope (otherwise known as the DL size).

All supplies by Stampin' Up!

Cardstock: Purely Pomegranate, Whisper White, Silver (Brushed Metallics pack)
Stamp Set: Lovely Letters
Ink: Purely Pomegranate
Accessories: 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1/16" circle punch, Pewter hodgepodge, Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

Mum's The Word

The start of May means Mother's Day isn't far off, right? Here's the card I have made for my Mum this year. However, Mother's Day is further off than I thought it was! Well, not really thought it was... just half-thought... I was a week ahead of myself, but it beats being a week late! For this card I have used lots of stuff that is brand new in this years SU! IB&C. The stamp sets are Lovely Letters and the flourish-y bit is from Frames With A Flourish, cardstock is textured Pale Plum, Purely Pomegranate, Elegant Eggplant and Whisper White, and I've used some of the new Elegant Eggplany grosgrain ribbon, Fire Circle Rhinestone brads and bits and pieces from the pretty kit. Lucky for me Mum quite likes the purple section of the spectrum!