The Teawife's Creations

Sweetheart Treat Box

2012-01-28T18:48:00.000Z

Here's another project for our upcoming rubber stamping class. This fast and easy Sweetheart Treat Box can be made with any designer card stock or your own hand-stamped decorative 12 by 12-inch card stock.

Tools used: Sizzix die for treat box, Big Shot Pro, Stampin’ Up Sweetheart stamp set, Stampin’ Up Heart of Hearts Embosslits die, ribbon, designer card stock

Put together the box, gluing strategically.

Use the Heart of Hearts Embosslits die to cut and emboss two hearts from designer paper. Ink up the Be Mine heart stamp with Riding Hood Red and stamp onto white card stock; make two hearts; trim them.

Put together red and white hearts, and stick them on the box.

Fill the box with treats for your honey.

Close up the box and decorate with ribbon.

Valentine Calendar

2012-01-28T17:51:00.003Z

In early January, some of my fellow stamping friends were making lovely creative calendars. I wanted to make one with my stamping club, but our first class isn't until February 1st. By now, they are more interested in Valentine's cards and projects.

My husband, who is very supportive of my hobby and craft but doesn't really 'get it,' suggested: Why don't you make a Valentine Calendar? Okay, I was dismissive at first, but then I thought about it and realized, "What a clever idea!"

The Valentine's Day Calendar was born, featuring a Sizzix mini album die and Stampin' Up's You Are Loved stamp set.

Stamp Set: You are Loved

Ink: Riding Hood Red

Extras: Heart Texture Plate, Sizzix Mini Album Die, Soft Suede Taffeta Ribbon, Brads

Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Soft Suede/Tan, Decorative/Designer Paper

Die cut pieces:
1 Large Red (Back)
1 Medium Tan (Middle/Embossed)
1 Small Red (Top/Stamped)
1 Small Designer (Bottom Edge)

Use Riding Hood Red to ink up the heart stamp from the You Are Loved set; stamp onto tan (Soft Suede) card stock. Trim out the heart.

Select a texture plate with lots of little hearts or some other heart motif. Use it to run the medium-sized tan die cut piece through the Big Shot.

Take the small red die cut paper piece and stamp flowers randomly using the Riding Hood Red ink pad. Make sure some of your flowers go off the edge of the piece.

Put together the small red, medium tan, and decorative bottom edge pieces.

Make sure that the overall size does not exceed the size of the large red piece that will go on the back.

Take calendar pieces and punch holes in top corners.

Adhere the December calendar to the tan/middle section.

Use the holes previously punched as guides and punch holes through the tan section.

Add the rest of the calendar pages, ending with February on top. Clasp them in place by using the colored brads.

Attach the heart to this piece using pop up adhesives.

Finish the calendar by adding the large red piece to the back of the calendar.

Enlarge holes at the top using a hole punch.

Take the tan ribbon and add knots (so ribbon will not slip. Tie a ribbon at the front.

Taking Tea with Friends

2012-01-27T21:19:00.005Z

My sweet friend Diane sent me the lovely Stampin' Up set, Tea Shoppe, for my birthday. She knows I'm a little tea-crazy, and I love my teapots, tea cups, tea mugs, and tea.

As soon as I saw the stamp set, I knew I needed to include it in our upcoming rubber stamping class. First, I needed a little inspiration, so I visited fellow SU demo Cindee Wilkinson's Just Sponge It blog. She had used markers to color directly onto the rubber teacup to create a multi-colored image.

I decided to do the same, but I found it was easier to use the Baja Breeze ink pad to entirely ink up the rubber first. I then used an eye makeup applicator sponge to remove ink from the areas of the flowers and leaves.

Then I took Perfect Plum and Wisteria Wonder markers and colored the flowers on the rubber. I also colored the leafy bits with Lucky Limeade. Once finished coloring, cut out the teacup.

If you are not familiar with coloring directly onto rubber, you can have a look at my Tea Shoppe tutorial.

How to build the card:

You will want to use the SU scallop edge punch to create a strip of striped paper. Make sure the stripes are pointing down vertically.

This striped strip will be attached to the larger piece of green designer paper to create a nice background layer.

Now, attached a piece of Rich Razzleberry polka dotted ribbon on the seam between the striped strip and green paper. Adhere this to the folded square card.

Run the square purple designer paper through the Big Shot with a scallop frame; it should be about 3 1/2 inches square.

Create a little teabag tag by punching out a label or using an office supply tag like the one on my sample card. Use Perfect Plum ink on the small flower stamp in the Tea Shoppe set to add flowers to the tag; stamp on both sides. Use Lucky Limeade or Baja Breeze to ink up "You suit me to a tea," and stamp onto the tag.

Add pop up adhesives behind the tea cup image. Tuck the string of the tag behind the teacup, sticking it onto some of the adhesive, and then let the tag dangle over the top of the teacup.

Stick the cup onto the top of the scalloped square. You're done!

Welcome 2012!

2012-01-01T15:55:00.001Z

Wishing all my friends and family a splendid and successful new year!

I'm still trying to get my head 'round the fact that it is 2012. To start off the new year, I made this card to send out to my friends.

This is the first chance I've had to use this SU stamp set, A Cardinal Christmas, which I adore! We don't have red cardinals here in the UK, and I certainly miss them, as they are a regular fixture to bird feeders in my home state of Texas. As I was using this as my new year's card, I created a label, "Warm Winter Wishes."

I also used the SU Framed Tulips embossing folder.

Baby Booties

2012-01-01T15:40:00.001Z

Happy New Baby! It was such a joy to follow Alisha through her recent pregnancy, and she delivered a beautiful baby boy, Nathaniel, in December.

This baby card was made using Stampin' Up!'s Stitched Stocking rubber stamps and their Stocking Builder Punch, which were both available in the US Holiday Mini Catalog. Jewelled blue brads were added for a bit of special baby bling!

The booties are dangling from a window in the card made with a Sizzix die. After I made the window, which I thought was clever, I then realized that a message on the inside of the card would show through. I had to write my note strategically!

Tags For All

2011-12-19T11:50:00.000Z

The Stampin' Up! Tags For All set has been well loved and used this Christmas season. In particular, I pulled the stamps out to make about 50 tags for our school's annual Christmas Fair. Our year runs the charity cake stall, and we use these tags to help decorate the packaging of the cakes.

I like to stamp for stamping sake, but I especially love to stamp for a purpose.

In addition to the Tags for All stamp set, I also used various dies to cut out the tags, include the SU Sizzix Two Tags die.

Hot Cocoa Christmas Pouches

2011-12-14T16:11:00.001Z

When my teen-age son was young, I often sent in goodie bags to his teachers at Christmas. Now that he's older, he wants to acknowledge his teachers without making too much of a fuss and losing that cool factor. He wanted to do more than a card, and we decided that hot cocoa packets with a decorative folded cover would be just the trick -- easy and discreet to carry into class, but something special and festive.

These Cadbury cocoa pouches are available in twin packs, and when folded over, they tuck neatly into a card.

The folded cards were made with 6-inch squares of designer cardstock. The cocoa packages are a half-inch thick, so the cards will need to be scored to accommodate the thickness. I scored the 6-inch square cardstock at 2 3/4 inches, and then I flipped the card and ran a parallel score at 2 3/4 inches again.

A decorative strip was added to the sides of the card.

While this dresses up the card, my primary reason for adding the strips was to make the card a bit longer to better hide the cocoa packet.

You need two strips at 1 inch by 6 inches. Adhere these strips to the edges of the card. They will run parallel to the scored lines.

Next, cut a strip of ribbon, 30 inches in length.

Determine the middle, and center and glue the ribbon into position in the middle of one side of the folded card.

Now you'll want to add your artwork on top of the ribbon.

I've used Stampin' Up's Tags for All and colored the snowmen with markers. Obviously, you want the artwork to be small enough to fit on the folded card. Use a liberal amount of adhesive tape on the back of the artwork so that it helps to keep the ribbon in place.

Tuck the cocoa packets into the folded card. You might want to use a small amount of snail adhesive or a mini glue dot to help keep the cocoa packet in place.

Close the folded card, and tie the ribbon nicely in the back of the card.

The pouches look sweet from either the front or back!

Stocking Shaped Card

2011-11-30T15:30:00.001Z

Stockings are such a traditional part of Christmas. One of my fondest memories as a child is seeing the stockings hung on the fireplace mantel, and they would be filled with goodies on St. Nicholas' Day!

This card harkens to those traditional times and features Stampin’ Up’s Sizzix Stocking Die.

You can coordinate any of your favorite Christmas designer papers. This will be a card, so you need two pieces of the designer card stock run through the die. You will need to flip the design over when cutting the second stocking.

If your chosen designer card stock is 'busy,' you should cut a white paper insert on the stocking die, too.

Begin by adhering the heel and toe pieces onto the stockings.

Second, adhere the white insert onto what will be the inside of the stocking.

Third, add one of the tops to a stocking, which will then be your guide for the second sock. It’s important that the two socks line up. The stocking should not exceed 6 inches from toe to top (to fit in a 6 x 6 inch envelope).

Fourth, add a small amount of glue along the very top of the inside of the stocking top, and stick the two pieces together. This will now work as a hinge for the card to open up.

Create any kind of tag for the stocking. This sample uses a die cut label and two coordinated Stampin' Up oval punches.

The sentiment is stamped in SU Bravo Burgundy ink and a stamp from SU Best Yet set.

Punch two small holes in the top right corner of the stocking to insert and tie ribbon and adhered the tag.

Pennant Christmas Tree

2011-11-30T15:06:00.001Z

This Christmas tree has been made using Stampin’ Up’s Perfect Pennant Die and Petite Pennant Punch to create three triangles of graduated sizes.

You can create the decorative edges on the three triangular pennants of the tree by using an edge punch of any shape. It’s easier to see what you’re doing if you turn the edge punch upside down. Line up the point of each triangle with the guide line on the edge punch. Repeat for each triangle and glue the tree together.

Use the SU mini jewelery punch to create a trunk with the brown cardstock.

The Merry Christmas tag is created using a SU Modern Label Punch and matching SU Movers & Shapers die. Merry Christmas is stamped in brown ink. Put the two coordinated pieces together. Use an eyelet tool to create holes and insert the eyelets.

Layer the card:

Ivory folded card – 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches

Chocolate Chip Cardstock – 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches

Red & Blue Design Cardstock – 4 x 5 1/4 inches

Polka Dot Red & Blue Cardstock – 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches –
**Be sure to edge with brown ink**

Chocolate Chip Cardstock – 2 3/8 x 3 1/8 inches

Light Blue Cardstock – 2 1/4 x 3 inches

Add Christmas tree.

Merry Christmas label is stuck with pop-up adhesive

Joy of the Season!

2011-11-06T11:53:00.001Z

Stamp Sets: Stampin' Up The Sounding Joy

Ink: SU Cherry Cobbler, SU Pool Party -- Naturally, you would change these ink colors to suit your chosen designer paper

Paper: SU Whisper White, SU Cherry Cobbler, Christmassy Designer paper

Accessories: SU ribbon, any edge punch

Begin by stamping the star (from SU The Sounding Joy) in SU Pool Party ink onto Whisper White cardstock. Then overstamp Joy in Cherry Cobbler. Stick the trimmed Joy/Star onto designer paper and use an edge punch to create accent trims.

Create the background of the card by piecing together the two bits of designer cardstock, making one piece slightly bigger than the other. For example, the cards above have one strip 2.75 inches deep versus 1.75 inches.

IMPORTANT: Piece these together and then add the ribbon before putting them onto your folded card. This way, the ribbon ends are neatly tucked out of sight.

The ribbon between the two pieces serves several functions – it adds an extra dimension and also hides the edges.

A Festive French Fry Box

2011-11-06T11:39:00.001Z

Does this gift box have a familiar shape? Picture it filled with French fries!

Now imagine it all dressed up for the festive holiday season and stuffed with candy or other goodies. It’s incredibly easy to make using the Sizzix Big Shot and die.

Using designer cardstock makes this project even faster, but of course, you can stamp and create your own design.

As you can see, the box has some embellishments, including a Christmas tree edged with gold ink and topped with a little gold jingle bell.

The back is embellished with ribbon and a dangling tag from the Stampin' Up Gifted set. The Noel tag is stamped in SU Bravo Burgundy onto SU Crumb Cake cardstock. SU circular punches (sizes 1.75 and 2.5 inches) are used to create the Noel tag.

A Circular Christmas

2011-11-06T11:30:00.003Z

Circles are a perfect way to create a wreath effect on your Christmas cards. So dig out your circle stamps and circular dies or punches and get creative!

Holly Jolly Christmas

2011-11-01T11:51:00.002Z

I'm rubbing my hands together in glee because it's Christmas Card making class next week. Here are two cards we will be creating, along with their 'recipes.'

Holly Jolly Santa

Stamp Sets: Hoopla Holiday (santa) and Four the Holidays (Holly Jolly sentiment)

Ink: SU Cherry Cobbler (hat), black (sentiment and santa), and SU Craft White (swirls)

Paper: SU Cherry Cobbler, SU Whisper White, My Mind’s Eye I Believe

Accessories: SU Bigz Die Perfect Pennants (wreath circle), Sizzix Swirl Embossing Folder, White Felt, Velvet Ribbon

Directions: Stamp Holly Jolly Christmas and layer onto Cherry Cobbler paper. Stamp santa onto Whisper White cardstock. Stamp hat in Cherry Cobbler onto Whisper White cardstock. Cut out both.

Stamp santa on felt to create outline; cut felt to make a beard and hat trim. Don’t cover up moustache. Don't forget a little round puff for the hat!

Cut wreath circle from Bigz die. Use white ink pigment ink inside the swirl embossing folder, dragging the colors over the high ridges of the folder. Place the red wreath into the embossing folder and run it through the Big Shot. Weave ribbon into wreath.

Put all your pieces togther. The background paper has been adhered to a 4.25-by-5.5-inch white card. The wreath and sentiments are on pop-up adhesives.

Dangling Ornament

Stamp Sets: Tags til Christmas (ornament) and Four the Holidays (Holly Jolly sentiment)

Ink: Cherry Cobbler (ornament) and black

Paper: SU Cherry Cobbler, SU Whisper White, My Mind’s Eye I Believe

Accessories: SU Ornament Punch, Velvet Ribbon

Directions: Stamp in the Holly Jolly Christmas and layer onto Cherry Cobbler paper.

Stamp ornament in Cherry Cobbler ink onto Whisper White cardstock and then punch out.

Put all your pieces togther. The background paper has been adhered to a 4.25-by-5.5-inch white card. The ornament and sentiments are on pop-up adhesives..

Spooky Bag

2011-10-22T19:33:00.000+01:00

I've had a bundle of these lovely white paper bags with handles since I first joined Stampin' Up in 2003! Not sure about you, but I have a bad habit of holding onto some of my supplies, waiting for 'just the right project'!

However, I know that another big move is in the offing, and I've decided I need to streamline. I've been using up lots of pretty paper and designer cardstock for my rubber stamping classes; and the other day, I decided it was time to liberate some of these bags.

During class, the gals each made a bag, which features lots of dies and punches. To start with, we used the sweet Stampin' Up owl punch, which is sitting in an iridescent moon. I also used a Tim Holtz Sizzix house die, which looks great as a silhouette of black haunted houses. A piece of dark blue cardstock was the background, and the star stamp came from SU Jack of All Trades. Pretty black and white ribbon pulls the final look together.

Perfect for a Halloween gift bag or trick-or-treat bag to collect candy.

2011-10-01T09:19:00.000+01:00

The new Stampin' Up Idea Book and Catalog has been released in the United Kingdom, and it is packed full of lots of new stamps, colors, papers and embellishments! You can see what's available by clicking one of the links below:

To view the 2011-12 Catalog online, click here.

To download a copy of the 2011-12 Catalog, click here (PDF format, 20 MB).

If you live in the United Kingdom and would like to order anything from the catalog, please send me an email and I will be happy to help you!

Happy Stamping!
Kathy the Teawife

Spiders & Pumpkins

2011-09-27T13:48:00.000+01:00

This is one of the cards we will be making during stamp class next week. It features Stampin' Up's brand new set, Jack of All Trades, and complementary Designer Series Paper Frightful Sight. These products will be available in the UK beginning this Saturday, October 1st.

I prepared a recipe (in pdf format) for the class, if you'd like to print it out. It provides sizes of all the paper pieces:

Spiders & Pumpkins Recipe

Birthday Balloons!

2011-09-24T13:12:00.000+01:00

With my son Branduff celebrating his 16th birthday in September and my dear old dad Joe doing a birthday jig in October, I needed to get those creative juices flowing and make some cards!

While I have a tendency to make alot of floral and feminine cards, these had to be appropriate for the male persuasion. I used the Stampin' Up Crazy for Cupcakes because you can't go wrong with cupcakes, candles and balloons for a birthday. In this instance, I decided to use the balloon stamp in the set.

I think this card was about having the right background paper. I've had this stitched Prima paper in these sherbet colors sitting in my paper stack for ages. It's one of those papers that never gets used because I am waiting for just the right project! And this was the one! I love how the stitched print design of the paper resembles balloons with strings.

A collection of Stampin' Up cardstock was used for the balloons, which were stamped in black ink, and then trimmed out. The cardstock was too brash on it's own against the background paper, so I used a gold glimmer mist to create softness, warmth and glow. String was added to each balloon -- I used pop-up adhesives.

Light yellow vellum paper was run through the crimper to provide a subtle effect. That was adhered to Very Vanilla base card.

Once the balloons were positioned, the strings were gathered and tied with SU seam binding ribbon. As you can see from the samples, no two cards turned out the same! The cards were very simple to make.

Whimsy Wings

2011-09-12T10:58:00.001+01:00

I used this lovely SU Stamp Set, Whimsical Wings, during a rubber stamping class last year, and I do adore it! This was a UK SU hostess, and sadly, it isn't available anymore. But hey ho, I like designing with it, and I used the set to make a very special card for a very special stamper, Angie Benny, my new partner in crime! Angie has joined my Stampin' Up team, and it's so exciting to have such a motivated and enthusiastic crafter to inspire me to do more.

Angie, this card's for you! Thank you for joining my team.

I made two slightly different versions of this multi-layered card. I don't know if you all have noticed how layers have changed with the advent of more and more dies. Layers used to be simple circles, torn-edged rectangles, and squares; now we can make all kinds of embellishments and pieces with punches and die-cutting machines.

As you can see from the photos, I have used lots of scallops made with a Sizzix Bigz die and my Big Shot machine. The whimsy bird was stamped in black onto confetti white cardstock, and then spritzed with walnut ink glimmer mist; then the bird image was cut out using a scalloped metal die.

One-inch SU Baja Breeze grosgrain ribbon matches a selection of designer cardstock and SU Baja Breeze cardstock. Black die cut swirls, a bit of black gingham ribbon, and a metal button finish off the look.

Stampin' Up Retiring List

2011-09-09T21:57:00.000+01:00

On October 1st, Stampin' Up unveils its newest catalog to customers in the United Kingdom. It's always an exciting time to see what new products we'll have to play with in the new catty!

While we usher in new products, we also have to say farewell to a selection of items that will be retired. If you'd like a chance to order the stamps and products before they are gone, you can click on the following link to see the retired list as a pdf document:

Retiring Stamps & Products

If you're in the UK and would like to order any of these products, please feel free to email me and I will be happy to order them for you. Orders must be placed before September 30.

In addition, many of the stamps in the current gorgeous Mini Catalog will be going away forever, too! One of my favorites is the beautiful Strength & Hope stamp set, of which £1 of every sale goes to support The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Stamp sets retiring from the mini catalog on September 30 include:
Plane & Simple
Baby Blossoms
Summer Splash
Fish Frenzy
Botanical Gazette Designer Paper
Thanks for Caring
Sweet Stitches Designer Paper
Sew Lovely
Pattern Pieces
Strength & Hope

You can click on the mini catalog link at right to see these stamp sets.

If you have any questions or would like to order, please feel free to email.

Blue Birthday Box

2011-09-09T19:16:00.000+01:00

Here is another 3-inch-by3-inch gift card with a die-cut presentation pouch that we will be making in class at my home on September 21st. This card features Stampin' Up's new Happiest Birthday Wishes hostess set. In addition, the Scalloped Circle Punch and crimping tool were used on this project.

Gift Cards & Pretty Box

2011-09-06T15:26:00.000+01:00

Here is a photo of some of the items we will create during Rubber Stamping Class on September 21st. We will make a total of nine 3-by-3-inch gift cards (three different designs) and three matching gift pouches.

This particular gift card shown features Stampin' Up's new hostess stamp set, Faith in Nature, which will be available in the new UK SU catalog beginning October 1st (and is already available in the US catalog). The coloring technique is simple, but very effective -- using sponging to color the pear. My Sizzix Big Shot was called into action to create these pretty little boxes.

These cards with presentation boxes are the perfect gifts for friends, teachers, family, and more! Although, you might find them hard to give away!

Glittery Gift Cards

2011-07-29T19:26:00.000+01:00

The Stampin' Up Sizzlits snowflake dies are fantastic for embellishing Christmas and wintry cards, scrapbook pages, and other paper craft projects.

They also work wonderfully as a stand-alone on small 3-by-3-inch gift cards, such as the ones pictured.

In addition to the cute little SU Sizzlits snowflakes, I also used the Movers & Shapers snowflake die to create a layered effect. The big snowflake was cut from a very glimmery patterned gold cardstock. You can see that the magnetic Movers & Shapers snowflake die can be moved around in the special metal tray, economically using the cardstock.

Pearlescent cardstock was used to create the delicate Sizzlit snowflakes, which then were dabbed with a two-way-glue pen and sprinkled with Dazzling Diamonds. They were glued onto the gold snowflakes, which were applied to the card using pop-up adhesives.

A Crown for You

2011-07-23T01:25:00.000+01:00

I am currently spending the summer in our family's Colorado home. Most of the time, we are spending our time fishing, boating, walking, shopping, and just having lots of fun! As many of the afternoons have been very hot, working on crafts indoors sounds like a wonderful idea!

Today, I wanted to make a quick 3x3-inch 'thank-you' card, which you can see above. The problem is, I have very few tools and supplies here at my Colorado hideaway. While my craft space at home in England is literally overflowing and overtaking every corner of the living room, my Colorado craft room has the basic stamp pads, cutting tools, and a handful of rubber stamps (in particular, Christmas stamps).

But one thing I do have here is a Big Shot Machine! And, I just bought a few extra dies and supplies the other day. One of the neatest things I purchased is the new Sizzix Tim Holtz Bigz Tray. This special metal tray allows you to take any Movers & Shapers die and use it like a punch. The magnetic Movers & Shapers dies stick to the tray -- in any position you want -- and you can create an art element. So cool!

As you can see, I used the tray to create a label and the crown. I used an antique glimmer spray to color the crown.

I don't have any rhinestones or jewels in my art stash here, but the crown would look fab with a bit of bling. You then could print out a sentiment for the inside that says something like: You're a gem! Thanks so much!

Christmas in July; Good Cheer!

2011-07-22T00:50:00.000+01:00

I fell in love with this Stampin' Up set, Good Cheer; and it is sad that it is now retired in the US catalog. Incredibly, it has taken me a year to actually put this stamp set to use! Shame on me!

I know that most of the United States is suffering from a heat wave, and I can imagine that Christmas is the furthest thing from one's thoughts. However, what a perfect time to think of snow, ice, and santa.

SU Good Cheer begs to be made vintage. So grab your walnut ink and glimmer mists and paints to make Father Christmas and his reindeer friend look old and elegant. I also used watercolor crayons to lightly color the images.

As you can see, I used a variety of different embellishments and papers to finish the cards.

Create a Cupcake

2011-07-10T12:50:00.000+01:00

The US Stampin' Up Create a Cupcake stamp set and coordinating Build a Cupcake punch are so much fun!

I was drawn to use pearlescent cardstock, which gives off the creamy lustre of cupcake icing. The cardstock was run through the Big Shot with a texture plate. The 1 1/4-inch striped grosgrain ribbon felt the perfect match for this card.

The sentiment was stamped onto the pearlescent cardstock and punched with the SU Modern Label Punch. I was pleased to see that the slightly larger Modern Label is available as a die (SU Movers & Shapers Punch Window Set -- US catalog only).

A bit of glitter on the cherries and pearls and jeweled embellishments and you've got a fast and easy-to-make birthday card.

Purple Haze Box

2011-06-26T11:44:00.000+01:00

It's often the least expensive leftover boxes and items that are the best for altering.

Dear hubby recently returned from a business trip to Spain, and he brought me some traditional Spanish candy, which was tucked away in a cute little plain balsa wood box. It just cried out to be altered!

The box was sealed with an antique decoupage finish to make it durable.

Perfect Gift Cards

2011-06-13T13:08:00.000+01:00

I have become fascinated with making gift cards, even though the amount of work that goes into them is just as much as some of my larger card creations.

My favorite size is a 2.5 x 3.5 inch card, which is the same size as the popular Artist Trading Card. Okay, I admit that I've never really been much of an ATC fan; I always prefer my artwork to be as a card, so that the recipient can choose to keep it, use it or (heaven forbid) bin it!

These miniature card creations seem to be popular among the masses, too, as they sometimes sell faster than my larger cards. I think there is some romantic and special attraction to anything that is a miniature -- think dollhouses, ponies, and miniature portraits.

These cards are based on the design from my previous blog entry, except they use pearl cardstock and a Stampin' Up punch to create the tiny flowers.

Perfect Day

2011-06-07T16:41:00.001+01:00

At last, after two month's of being AWOL from my crafting table, I have finally returned!

I can blame part of my absence on my month-long trip to Colorado. Then I came back to England, and I found myself lured away from stamping and creating because the weather was so nice and summery! I spent hours outside gardening and pottering around, and my poor craft area became dusty and disused.

But there's nothing like a deadline to beat a creative block. My parents are celebrating their 55th wedding anniversary on June 17th, so I needed to create a special card for them.

I decided to use some Sizzix die cut flowers in vellum to create an elegant and appropriate feeling. I colored the resulting flowers with Copic markers, which are almost like watercolors when used on vellum.

I never can find just the right anniversary sentiment, so I decided to make my own: A Special Bouquet to Remember Your Perfect Day. Then I made a similar sentiment for Birthday. You can click and download the jpeg of the sentiments if you'd like to use them in your design; they can be resized accordingly.

My parents' anniversary card features a white gatefold card cut from a Sizzix die. Then I adhered a piece of purple cardstock, which featured the wisteria stamp from Stampin' Up's Growing Green set. The flowers were lightly colored with shimmer paints. The card was adorned with a bouquet of the vellum flowers and a bit of ribbon.

After I made this card, I wasn't as happy as I'd like with the layout, so I worked on another version, using the birthday sentiment (pictured at the top of this blog entry). This larger square card seemed to handle the bouquet of vellum flowers better.

Now that I'm back at my crafting table, I have another card to make for my hubby, as we celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary next week. How time does fly!

Maple Village Spring Fayre

2011-03-24T16:43:00.000Z

The big day of the Maple Village WI Spring Fayre has come and gone, and I think it went well. I haven't participated in a fair in so long, and I forgot how much I love selling at them. You can see me at our display in the photo above. Sorry that my iPhone photo is not as clear as I'd like!

My stamping friend Ruthann and I made the trip to Surbiton on Saturday morning, and the setting for the fayre, inside the St. Andrew's Church, was lovely! There were about 20 stalls total, covering everything from jams and cakes to jewelry and aromatherapy. The attendance was not huge, but it was steady.

Our group of 'Chatty Crafters' was able to sell about £80 worth of our handmade cards, and we thought that was pretty good! By the time we kicked in some more money and the stall fee, that brought our total donation to £115. We decided to give all our proceeds to the Women's Institute's selected charity, Momentum (http://www.moment-um.org/). It was a good day!

Seasonal Sentiments

2011-03-24T15:54:00.000Z

When I designed the recent hydrangea cards, I was having a hard time finding just the right sentiment, in the right color, and the right font. To me, the feeling of the font says just as much as the words in the greeting.

To achieve the look and feeling, I turned to the trusty computer and some design software to create greetings of "Happy Easter," "Happy Birthday," and "Thank You." I used the font Signet Roundhand, which has an elegant, yet readable, appearance. I created a green ink color that was close enough to use with Stampin' Up's Pear Pizzaz, as well as coloring the greetings in always usable black ink.

If you would like to print and use these sentiments, you can click to open, save and print the pdf document below.

http://www.creatingcrafts.co.uk/EasterMothersDay.pdf

If you found the greeting document helpful, please let me know and leave a comment.

Baby Bundle

2011-03-13T12:02:00.000Z

This Bundle of Love (or Baby Bundle) Stampin' Up set is so precious!

I am still making charity cards for the upcoming Maple Village WI Spring Fayre, so that was a perfect excuse to whip up some 'welcome baby' cards.

I made a selection, using shades of pink, blue and yellow (naturally!).

Night & Day Florals

2011-03-09T15:41:00.000Z

I've been spending a bit of time with my new Sizzix Big Shot Pro die cutting and embossing machine. If you haven't seen this piece of equipment, it is about three feet long, is more than a foot wide, and weights around 40 pounds! I've outgrown my smaller die cutting machines, and I needed a durable machine that was easy to use and could cut the larger dies. The Big Shot Pro can cut up to 12 by 12 inch paper, cardstock, chipboard, grunge board, cork, etc., and it is able to do just about any die on the market right now.

The new machine fits perfectly with the launch of the Sizzix Big Shot and dies in the upcoming UK Stampin' Up mini catalog. I'm so thrilled that SU here in the UK has decided to introduce Sizzix products, which have been available in the US Stampin' Up catalogs for a few years.

However, I didn't find this out until a few weeks ago, and I had already purchased Tattered Flowers, a Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations Die. The new SU catty will have two different sized Sizzix floral dies.

I used the Stampin' Up Night & Day designer paper to punch out a range of black and white flowers. You can see from the photos, that the edges of the flowers are curled up; this is incredibly easy to do. I used a handy-dandy wooden chopstick to roll the ends of the flowers. It's best to use designer paper and not hefty cardstock to get the flowers to curl.

Real Red cardstock was run through an embossing folder to create a textured background for the flower.

I've become a bit infatuated with the SU Striped Grosgrain ribbon, and I've used the black striped one on this card design. To dress up the ribbon, a bit of red wire was used to pinch the ends.

Sentiments were created from SU sets Three Little Words and Happy Moments, and they were punched with the Modern Label. I tried different types of brads, eyelets and rhinestones to embellish the cards.

Baroque Card

2011-03-06T12:09:00.000Z

Here is one of the card designs that I made for the upcoming Maple Village WI Spring Fayre (see blog entry below). This particular card features the Stampin' Up Baroque background stamp.

I've made the card using two different techniques. The photo above shows the most straightforward technique, which is simply inking up the baroque stamp with Baja Breeze dye ink. This is a very fast card to make, and the Baroque stamp is so stunning on it's own that it only needs a sentiment stamp and a bit of ribbon or embellishment, and 'voila,' you're done!

The other technique is a reverse of the above. The stamp is inked with a VersaMark pad and then the image is heat embossed.

I tried two different embossing products -- 1) the clear UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel)

and 2) Stampin' Up's fine white embossing powder (below).

The UTEE gives the image a more oldy-worldy distressed look, while the detailed white embossing powder creates a crisp and sophisticated appearance.

You also will see by the cards below that I experimented with different colored inks and embellishments.

Maple Village WI Spring Fayre

2011-03-06T11:46:00.000Z

Our group of Chatty Crafters, which meets most Wednesdays at my home in Surrey, have been busy bees making cards to raise money for the Great Daffodil Appeal (which benefits the Marie Curie Cancer Care Program).

We will be selling our charity cards at an upcoming Spring Fayre, sponsored by the Maple Village Women's Institute. If you live in our area, here are the details:

Maple Village WI Spring Fayre
Saturday, March 19th
10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
St. Andrew's Church, Maple Road, Surbiton KT6 4DS

The Fayre is being held on the same day as the Farmer's Market, plus there will be about 20 stalls featuring handmade wares (including ours!). Please come if you can!

Parking is available on residential streets where permitted. Or, there is a pay and display carpark located in parallel St. Phillips Road.

Night Owl

2011-02-20T23:35:00.000Z

This card is all about punches and dies. I used some quirky DCWV Green cardstock to create the background and owl.

The owl was punched with the Stampin' Up owl punch -- gotta love it! The branch was punched from the SU bird punch. The moon was cut from a circle die.

The skyline is made from SU Crumb Cake cardstock and a wonderful Sizzix Tim Holtz edge die called Townscape. Normally, I would distress the Townscape edge, but this layout needed a clean and cute look.

Hydrangea Cards

2011-02-19T12:59:00.000Z

The hydrangea flower petals from my previous post have been incorporated into cards. As our international crafting group here in Surrey, England is trying to make lots of cards for an upcoming charity event, my hydrangea cards cover a number of holidays, including Mother's Day, Easter and birthday.

The background is made from the Stampin' Up stamp called En Francois, which is inked in Pear Pizzazz.

The script background was then run through the Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dot embossing folder. Very simple, but makes an impression! Oh, I made a pun!

As mentioned in the previous blog post, the hydrangea petals are made from the SU Full Heart punch.

I couldn't find the right stamp for Happy Birthday and Happy Easter; most of the stamps clashed with the fancy script background. As a result, I used my computer and Adobe InDesign to find a complimentary font and create a matching ink color.

However, I did manage to locate this lovely retired SU stamp for the Mother's Day sentiment (All Year Cheer). This was one of the first stamp sets I ever purchased when I joined Stampin' Up in 2003 in Houston, Texas.

Here's a tidbit for you: In the United Kingdom, Mother's Day comes more than a month earlier than in the United States. You would not believe how much of a headache this can cause my frazzled brain. From what wikipedia says, Britain's Mothering Sunday is supposed to be the fourth Sunday of Lent. This year, that would be April 3, 2011. On the other hand, the US celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May, which will be May 8, 2011. The worst thing is when I forget the US date, and my poor mom in Texas is left without a card!

Hydrangea Petals

2011-02-18T10:30:00.002Z

I love the look and texture of hydrangea flowers. When a fellow SU Demonstrator (www.craftymariasstampingworld.blogspot.com) made a card with hydrangea flowers, I had to try making them, too, and my results are shown above.

The petals are made using the Stampin' Up Full Heart Punch. I went online to find Valita's Design and Folds easy-to-follow tutorial. Valita has a wide range of tutorials, showing how to use all kinds of punches to make three-dimensional embellishments and flowers.

Take a look at Valita's tutorial: http://valitasfreshfolds.blogspot.com/2010/08/making-paper-hydrangeas-with-your-heart.html

Living in England, hydrangeas are very popular in the summer, and I think they will always remind me of Keepers Cottage (where we lived from 2000-2002). We used to have the most amazing vibrant pink hydrangeas growing in our front garden, which you can see in the photo below. As gardeners know, the chemical of the soil will determine whether the hydrangea is pink or blue.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T11:14:00.001Z

Much chocolate was given and consumed to mark this Valentine's Day. As an American living in England, I must say that the British know how to make scrumptious chocolate. There is a vast selection of choccies of all makes and tastes to satisfy even the most addicted chocoholics!

Here are some cards that I taught last week in a Valentine's stamping and crafting class.

The card above used a technique sometimes called 'inset embossing.' Little hearts were punched out using the Stampin' Up Heart to Heart punch; they were glued to the red card front, which was then run through the Cuttlebug with a texture embossing folder.The Stampin' Up eyelet border edge punch was used on the red card front, which also has been distressed by rubbing brown ink on the raised areas of the embossed design. Stampin' Up Wonderful Words set was used for the sentiment at the bottom of the card.

On the card above, the heart was cut from a Cuttlebug die. The resulting diecut was adhered to the red card front, which has already been embossed and distressed.

The card above uses Stampin' Up's Sweetheart set. It is designed to be used on its own or with the SU Full Heart Punch. In the card above, I also used the plastic treat cups that can be inserted to hold candy, confetti, or other tiny treats. Ink colors used were Real Red, Pear Pizzazz, and Marina Mist. The scrumptious card above was copied from an original designed by Stampin' Up demonstrator Brandy Cox; you can see her card on her blog: http://brandyscards.com/2011/01/january-stamp-camp-2/. Her blog is full of amazing and inspirational ideas.

As you can see, I made extra cards because our international group of around a dozen crafty ladies living in Surrey have decided to make cards for charity in spring. We were invited by the Maple Village WI to have a booth at their upcoming Spring Fayre at St. Andrew's Church (Maple Road in Surbiton) on March 19th. Our Craft and Chat group members will meet most Wednesdays to start churning out some lovely cards.

Thank you to my crafty friends for your generosity and enthusiasm in making cards for charity.

Owl Treat Jar

2011-02-05T13:05:00.001Z

Pictured is a treat jar that I will demonstrate to my stamping and crafting friends this Wednesday.

The new Stampin' Up Owl Punch is so cute that I had to find a way to incorporate it into a Valentine's project. I've also used the Stampin' Up Full Heart Punch, Heart to Heart Punch, and Scallop Edge Border Punch, as well as two Spellbinder's dies.

There's no stamping on this project. However, I did use the computer to print out a Valentine's message on some ivory cardstock. You can leave that strip blank; or stamp your favorite phrase to your intended recipient.

Fill up the treat jar with chocolate, cookies, cocoa mix, sweets, etc. Perfect to give to a loved one of any age!

Christmas Coloring

2010-12-04T12:10:00.000Z

Sometimes, I find it can be very relaxing and enjoyable to slow down, color and paint my stamped images. This is great therapy if you've had a stressful week, and this week was one of those for me! We had lots of snow in England, and I ended up stuck in a snow traffic jam on Tuesday for seven hours. Arrrrggggggh! The best medicine for me was going to my craft table this week and stamping these sweet and gorgeous Elzybells images. Luminarte's Twinkling H20s were used in combination with Copic markers to color and paint.

Flourish of Ornaments

2010-11-21T12:03:00.000Z

With Christmas quickly approaching, my stamping friends are looking for some ideas for making cards. This is one of the cards that I put together yesterday, inspired by a gorgeous Heather Prince's card on Split Coast Stampers website.

When I recently attended the European Stampin' Up Convention at nearby Addington Palace, I saw that lots of the ladies used the new ornament punch on their swap cards. Being the complete stamping addict that I am, of course I ordered the Ornament Punch with the matching Delightful Decorations stamp set in the current SU promotion, Bundle Up for Christmas. That meant I also received a free spool of Christmas ribbon, and I picked the wide Striped Grosgrain Ribbon in Riding Hood Red. I wish this ribbon was available all year 'round because it creates quite a dramatic statement!

You can see that I tried the card with four different ribbon combinations. The wide striped grosgrain is my absolute favorite, and the little peppermint swirl brad really plays well with the ribbon.

How to make the card: Begin by using River Rock ink to stamp a script background onto natural ivory cardstock (cut to 3.75 x 5 inches). Then over-stamp portions of the SU Baroque Motif stamp using Cherry Cobbler ink onto the bottom and left-hand edges of the card. Antique all edges of the card using your favorite distressing inks.

Punch out an ornament from designer cardstock and dangle the ornament from the top of the card using a thin decorative cord. Then adhere this layer onto the same designer cardstock (cut to 4 x 5.25 inches) that you used to make the ornament.

Finally, adhere these layers to the folded card (size 4.25 x 5.5 inches) in natural ivory, and glue on a ribbon.

Christmas Card Class

2010-11-13T16:24:00.000Z

It might be quite ambitious, but we are planning on making four very different Christmas cards at this Wednesday's card-making class at my home.

Recipe for the Snow Dasher card above:

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Marina Mist, Bashful Blue
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Marina Mist, Whisper White
Designer Paper: BoBunny's Midnight Frost Crystals
Stamp Sets: SU Dasher, SU Tiny Tags, and stars from SU Wondrous Gift
Sponge Technique: Create 'mountains' in the background behind Dasher the reindeer by tearing paper to create a mask, and then sponge Marina Mist and Bashful Blue inks to make mountain peaks. The mountain range is a bit hard to see in the photo. Dazzling Diamonds are added in the foreground to create sparkling snow.
Other: Jewelry Tag Punch for the little 'merry' tags

Recipe for the Snow Bird card above:

Ink: Bashful Blue, Not Quite Navy
Markers: Rose Red, Not Quite Navy, Bashful Blue
Cardstock: Wild Wasabi, Rose Red, Whisper White, Naturals Ivory
Stamp Sets: SU So Many Scallops (sentiment stamp), SU Vintage Vogue (on the body of the bird), large snowflake stamp
Techniques: A circular window was cut out of the card by using a circular die. Interlocking circular dies were then used to create the sliver of a circular trim, which is adhered with a 2-way glue pen. Markers were used to color the sentiment stamp, which is then stamped on the inside of the card and peers through the circular window.
Other Tools: SU Bird Punch, Circular Dies, Die Cutting Machine

The Snow Pine Cone card above is simple to make, but so elegant in its results!

Ink: Soft Suede
Markers: Garden Green, Chocolate Chip
Cardstock: Ivory, Wild Wasabi, Rose Red
Stamp Sets: Pinecone is from SU Autumn Days; Merry Christmas is from SU Season of Joy
Techniques: Use a snowflake embossing folder on the ivory cardstock. Create a circular window by using a die; I've opted for something slightly more fancy by using one of Nellie's Multi Frame dies. I then used two interlocking circular dies to cut a trim from Wild Wasabi card to fit behind the fancy circular window. The pine cone stamp is colored with markers and then stamped on the inside of the card, so that it peeks through the window. Add glitter around the pine cone to create sparkling snow.
Other Tools: Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Snowflake Embossing Folder, Nellie's Frames, Die Cutting Machine

The Snow Flowers card above was described in one of my earlier blog posts.

Bundle Up for Christmas

2010-11-07T15:10:00.001Z

When it comes to buying stamps and craft supplies, I don't need much of a push. However, when there's a sale, I'm especially motivated to snap up the bargains! I'm especially tempted during the holidays because I love making Christmas cards and altered art gifts to give to friends and family.

That's why I'm particularly excited about the current Stampin' Up promotion, which features four tantalizing product bundles, just in time for making cards for the holidays.

To see the Bundle Up for Christmas flyer highlighting the special bundle offers, please click here. The bundles combine Stampin' Up holiday stamp sets with a Stampin' Around Wheel, Ornament Punch, Jolly Holiday Designer Paper, or a new Christmas Cocoa Designer Series Paper (see pictured; click to enlarge).

With each stamp set/product bundle, you will receive a free spool of ribbon from four special holiday selections, which include Mistletoe, Sleigh Bells, Riding Hood Red Striped Grosgrain, and Real Red Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbons.

If you want any more information about this or other Stampin' Up products, please feel free to email me at teawife@yahoo.com.

Snow Flowers

2010-10-30T11:27:00.000+01:00

This Christmas card features a handmade paper flower covered in 'snow,' or chunky and flaky glitter.

The card base is Stampin' Up Sahara Sand cardstock, trimmed with Wild Wasabi and Black. A faux stitch was drawn on with a thin black marker.

The lacy trimmed black embellishment was made with an eyelet border punch.

The sentiment stamp is SU's Season of Joy.

The flower is made from paper that has been punched with the 1 3/4-inch Scallop Circle Extra Large Punch. Four layers of scalloped circles were used. They were sprayed with glimmer mists and worked into the shape of a flower by rolling and curling. Chunky snow glitter and buttons tied with twine were added.

I love the simple lines, but sophisticated feel of this card, which we will be making during an upcoming class in November.

Halloween Sketch Card

2010-10-16T12:44:00.001+01:00

If you ever get a bit bored with the standard-sized card, you can try a different shape, like this Halloween scalloped circular card.

I followed a sketch challenge from the Mojo Monday blog.

As you can see, they gave the option of a traditional square card or the circle, and I decided to think outside the square box!

The circular card is easy to make by using a large plastic scalloped template. Each scalloped circle was about 5.5 inches in diameter. In other words, I was able to get four scalloped circles from a 12-by-12-inch piece of designer cardstock.

The cards are simple to stick together, and I went to Julee Tilman's blog, Poetic Artistry, for a tutorial. If you visit her tutorial, you will see that she has used a Spellbinder's Nestability die to cut out her circles. They result in much smaller circular cards, but that makes them easier to put into the traditional A2 envelope (whereas my circular cards have to go into the larger square envelopes that often require more postage).

The pumpkin on these cards is from Stampin' Up's Autumn Harvest stamp set. They were colored with colored pencils, odorless mineral spirits, and blending stumps. The cards were part of a class that I taught recently, and I showed my friends how simple it is to use colored pencils to create stunning stamped images.

Wreath of Leaves

2010-10-16T11:37:00.000+01:00

For a variation of the celebratory wreath cards created in the previous blog tutorial, you also can use the leaf stamp in the Stampin' Up Autumn Days set.

Autumn Days Celebratory Wreath

2010-10-03T17:35:00.001+01:00

Once again, I've featured Stampin' Up's Autumn Days stamp set in making this celebratory autumn wreath card.

The wreath was made by using a combination of colors to ink up the berry branch stamp -- Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Cherry Cobbler and Always Artichoke.

In the Thanks So Much card (above), the wreath and salutation have been stamped onto Confetti White cardstock, and Naturals Ivory cardstock is peeking through the back of the circle. The cardstock with the wreath has been antiqued with a light tan (in this case, craft ink, or SU's Crumb Cake).

How to Make the Wreath: Begin by drawing a circle with a pencil onto your background cardstock.

You can use a stencil or anything that has a circle shape to draw your circle. I used a plastic circle with a 3.5-inch diameter; but you also can use the inside of a tape roll, as pictured.

Stamp the berry branch in one direction around the pencilled circle. After the wreath is dry, you can erase any pencil marks.

Using a self-healing mat and a plastic circle template,

you'll want to cut out the 2-inch-diameter center of the wreath.

Then further punch or cut a 1 3/4-inch circle from that piece.

You will be stamping a greeting on this smaller circle, such as SU's Sincere Salutations, which I used. Choose your ink to match your overall layout. In both instances, I inked up with Cajun Craze.

The Birthday Wishes Wreath was layered onto Certainly Celery cardstock. The circular salutation as been adhered with dimensional adhesive to lift it slightly. Certainly Celery colored ribbon was added as an embellishment, but you could use any coordinating ribbon.

Although I have used both Confetti White and Naturals Ivory for these cards, any white or ivory cardstock will work beautifully. In both instances, I have used patterned designer cardstock to make the bottom layer of the card.

VARIATION: If you don't want to cut out a circular window on your wreath card, you can take the easier option of layering circles on top instead. The look will be a little different, but you might find it slightly easier. For example, in the card above, the Birthday Wishes circle is 1.75 inches in diameter; the plain Certainly Celery circle is about 2.25 inches.

A Pheasant Stroll

2010-09-24T19:30:00.001+01:00

I fell in love with Stampin' Up's Autumn Days and its majestic pheasant stamp the minute I laid eyes on the set and bought it at my first opportunity. I was quite gleeful when it arrived, and I spent many a day virtually drooling all over the box. However, I just couldn't figure out how to best use the stamps in a card design. This stamp set remained unused for a full year!

As I'm preparing to teach a Rubber Stamping Class in mid-October, I decided that it was well and truly time to dust off this poor neglected, yet loved, stamp set and create an autumnal card. I went to Split Coast Stampers Stampin' Up galleries for inspiration.

As I scrolled through hundreds and hundreds of cards using Autumn Days, I realized then that others must have struggled with capturing the pure beauty of the pheasant stamp, too. Other stamps in the set, such as the harvest wheat and winter pine cones, had been used to unmistakable grandeur. But the pheasant stamp had rarely been featured or shone in the best artistic light.

So . . . you can imagine my elation when I finally stumbled across Barbara Howell's creation, which you can see by clicking here. I took her card design and changed it a bit to result in my cards that you see pictured.

One of the best aspects of the pheasant stamp is that it is perfect for using markers to achieve a range of harmonic colors. I used five different shades of Stampin' Up markers. Use the lighter shades first and begin coloring the rubber stamp. Try not to cover over colors. Right before stamping the colored image on your cardstock, huff/breathe on the rubber stamp to moisten the inks.

To make the background, I used Stampin' Up's brand new designer paper, Newsprint. The technique to create the background is very easy. The berry branch stamp from Autumn Days was inked in Cherry Cobbler and stamped onto the Newsprint cardstock. Then the paper was crumbled into a ball. As I flattened out the paper, I antiqued and distressed the creased folds and edges with Soft Suede and Crumb Cake inks.

Mounting cardstock used included black, Not Quite Navy and Cajun Craze. The happy birthday stamp is a brand new Stampin' Up set called Perfect Punches, and it works wonderfully to nestle under the arch of the pheasant tale!

This card is perfect to give as an autumn card or a year-round masculine birthday card. I seem to always have way too many floral cards, and this makes a great change. Thank you, Barbara, for your inspiration!

This card will be among two other designs that I will teach on Oct. 13.

Mama-Razzi Mini Album

2010-09-14T18:26:00.000+01:00

If you are wondering why it's been so long since my last posting, I spent the summer in Colorado away from my crafting supplies. While I had a FABULOUS time in Colorado, it is nice to be home in England -- and reunited with my 'toys.'

Now that I've returned to my creative studio, the first thing I made was this BoBunny Mama-Razzi mini album, which I plan to give as a gift.

I brought six of these BoBunny albums back in my luggage from the US, and I plan to teach this class kit to some of my crafty friends here in England.

The kit comes with instructions, but I didn't always follow them -- as usual! I needed to make the album a bit more masculine because it is a gift for my son's summer fishing coach and friend.

The original instructions include flowers and slightly different embellishments and layout. The kit contains so much extra stuff that it's very easy to alter the album to your personal tastes. I had enough left over materials that I could almost make another mini album!

By the way, the class kit contained:

•Mama-razzi Paper Collection

•Mama-razzi Cut Outs and Combo Sticker Sheet

•6" x 6" Inserts

•Assorted ribbon, flowers, buttons and bling, and metal binder rings

•Full page color instructions

•Text Sheet

Art of Life

2010-06-15T17:25:00.004+01:00

I must admit that I have a hard time putting down my Copic alcohol markers when coloring in stamped images. However, I do also love my Stampin' Up Watercolor crayons, which I've had for about five years. There are some stamps that naturally lend themselves to watercoloring, especially floral stamps.

One of my favorite stamp sets is an old Stampin' Up Hostess Set called Art of Life. It was one of the first stamp sets I acquired, and I still love using it. To provide more stamping accuracy and flexibility, I've taken the stamps off their original wooden mounts, and use them with acrylic block handles. I've even cut the flowers away from the stems, and this enables me to color the two parts differently.

I began by stamping a watercolored image of the stems, first using a paler shade of green and then having the central, focal stem in a darker green. The flowers were stamped similarly with the background flowers slightly lighter, and the central flower a darker pink.

There are a couple of ways to use the watercolor crayons. I prefer using a sponge to lightly dampen the rubber stamp. Then I rub the chosen color or colors over the rubber. You can use more than one crayon color to provide two tones or shading/highlights. Or, you can stamp the image a second time with a different shade. The watercolor crayons are so versatile, and every image you stamp comes out slightly different. The amount of water used also will affect your results, so play around!

As usual, I'm never happy designing just one layout, so I've made several different cards. In almost all of them, I used the SU watercolor vine wheel with Mellow Moss ink.

Father's Day Card

2010-06-10T23:28:00.004+01:00

I used the Stampin' Up Loads of Love stamp set to create this year's Father's Day card for my dad in Texas. I also made a similar card for dear hubby.

The wide open images of this stamp set lend well to shading and coloring with alcohol markers.

I also made a more general card with a tag, Loads of Love. I liked the way the DCWV patterned paper sort of looks like a highway with another piece resembling the trees!

These were fun cards to make, and I sure hope the Father's Day card arrives in Texas in time! Love ya, Dad :-)

A Quiet Life

2010-06-01T12:46:00.006+01:00

Let's face it . . . I need another stamp like I need a hole in the head! However, being addicted to stamps, this set of four English cottages by Crafty Individuals was more than I could resist.

After an idyllic visit to Shere in Surrey, just a stone's throw away from our home, I came away with lots of inspiration on making these cards. Shere, which has been used for a handful of film sets (including The Holiday), feels like a village stuck in time with charming cottages, traditional pubs and tea rooms, and majestic old church.

I cobbled together a few elements to make these cards, including the Crafty Individuals stamp set and a gorgeous Stampin' Up stamp called Very Vintage, which is sold as a stamp wheel. I also remembered in my vast stamp collection a Stampin' Up set called A Quiet Life, which has the perfect sentiment: 'What sweet delights a quiet life affords.' - William Drummond

I began by stamping the cottage stamps onto Whisper White card stock and then coloring with alcohol markers. The look was still too stark for this nostalgic design, so I put the cottages onto thin cardboard, gluing them down and then glazing them with an antique decoupage finish.

The cards were enhanced with shimmery brown ribbon. But the crowning glory were some vintage buttons, which I procured from a fellow artisan (Creative Crucible) selling her wares in Shere at a village fair. I love buttons, and I find each one a treasure that has its own story and can complete a craft project that is otherwise lacking.

Altered Tins -- Again!

2010-05-28T15:06:00.003+01:00

My crafty friends know that I love to create altered art. I can take a discarded tea or chocolate tin or an old box and turn it into a decorative and functional item.

I used to make a lot of altered pieces, which I would use as end-of-year teachers' gifts -- usually the boxes and tins would be stuffed with chocolate. However, my moody teenager son told me that they don't do gifts for teachers any more. That would be the height of embarrassing to tote in gifts. Poor teachers!

However, I've been itching to do some more altering, and I've been saving some perfectly sized boxes and tins for the last year. I decided to show some of the ladies in my crafting group how to alter using glue and designer patterned paper.

One of my friends, Ruthann, picked out some gorgeous paper to use on her box. I loved it so much that I had to copy hers! The altered tea tin that I made was inspired by Ruthann's design.

Home Tweet Home

2010-05-09T12:14:00.006+01:00

I had a chance to pull out my Copic markers and color some images after downloading them from a cool website, Pink Petticoat.

For those of you addicted to coloring with alcohol markers, you know how they can transport you to your childhood, when you were allowed to endlessly scribble in coloring books! It's quite therapeutic coloring with these markers, and I love to participate in art swaps featuring Copic markers.

The backing papers for most of my cards are from Stampin' Up, and they seem to match the funkiness and quirkiness of these Petticoat houses.

You will notice that I haven't used a lot of sentiment stamps on the cards. I've discovered lately that I never seem to have just the right card with the right sentiment when I need it. Therefore, I decided to keep these simple, and I can add sentiment stamped images later.

These happy and springy cards are perfect to send for any occasion.

New Stampin' Up Colors

2010-05-07T13:56:00.003+01:00

Oh my gosh! I haven't posted here in a long while.

My family and I were among the thousands that ended up taking an extended spring break holiday when our flights back to London were canceled due the the Icelandic volcanic ash. We finally got home a week later than planned, and I am just now getting back into gear. In fact, after I finish this quickie blog, I plan to spend some time coloring with my Copic markers. Yippee!

When I was gone, I discovered that UK Stampin' Up is planning on introducing new colors in the fall. They will be discontinuing quite a few colors and replacing them with newer shades. This is all very exciting, and I hope to share more with you about it later. In the meantime, you can see the colors that are being added and retired by clicking below:

New Colors

Retiring Colors

If you want new colors NOW, Stampin' Up is introducing three new colors straight-away: Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, and Soft Suede. You can order ink pads, paper, ribbon, and coordinated designer paper in that range. To see the promotional flyer about these new products, you can click on the link below and it will open a pdf:

Stampin' Up UK New Products

If you live in the UK and would like me to order any of the new products, or if you are interested in a catalog, please send me an email at teawife@yahoo.com. Thank you!

Vintage Faces

2010-03-21T18:28:00.006Z

Another art swap this month with the England Stampers has a theme of Vintage Ladies, made as a card or ATC.

My creation is a card, but smaller than usual at 3.25 x 4.25 inches. I had a particular Magenta stamp of a woman's face that I wanted to use for this project. Instead of stamping onto cardstock, I used 2 x 2-inch cardboard tiles.

Before stamping the image, I dabbed the tile in Stampin' Up Very Vanilla, which has great coverage. The tiles were allowed to dry naturally overnight.

In the morning, I stamped the face with Memento brown ink, which provides very nice detail and dries quickly. The lips and eyes were colored with alcohol markers, but the rest of the tinting was accomplished with SU chalks. Crystal Effect was used to seal the tile when finished. This takes quite some time to dry; don't force it! When dry, the gold edge was applied. a gold acrylic paint works great.

While everything was drying, that was a perfect time for me to use a die stencil to cut out and emboss the keys using SU gold cardstock. The keys were distressed with brown ink afterward.

Flowers were adorned on the side of the tile to give an illusion of a flower behind the girl's ear. While one flower was purchased, the other five-point flower was made with a SU punch and grunge cardstock. It was colored with stamp ink, coated with clear crackle paint, allowed to dry, distressed with brown ink, and enhanced with crystal glitter. A pink rhinestone was added, too.

Vintage Teddy Bear

2010-03-21T16:26:00.005Z

In one of our latest art swaps at England Stampers, we are creating cards with cute animal images and stamps.

Once I started to plan out my design, I realized that I have very few cute animal stamps! I guess my issue is that, although I like cute animal stamps, I'm very picky and I don't like images with big eyes and naive drawings. I even went in search of digital images that I could color, but I struck out on that front, too.

Finally, I found in my stash a Penny Black clear stamp set with teddy bears. The teddy is wearing a little sailor top, and it so reminded me of an antique child's bowl with teddy. I guess this indicates how often I watch antique shows -- from Bargain Hunt to the Antiques Road Show!

I decided to take this image in my head and try to make the cute teddy look vintage. However, if you are wanting to make a quick and easy card, this is not the project!

You can see I made several variations of the card. I began by stamping my image and coloring it with Copic markers. Blue glimmer spray was sponged on to create a bit of blue sky in the background.

Then, I tried a couple different methods to make the image look old, like a nicely worn and loved child's bowl. I used VersaMark and thick embossing crystals in one image, and I cracked the piece when it was cool and dry and applied brown stamp ink to antique. I didn't like the results that much, so I switched to a clear crackle paint, which takes ages to dry. Once it did, I could rub in the brown ink. I had best results when I rubbed the brown ink around the edges of the image instead of all over the face of the teddy. Oh well . . . live and learn . . . creating is a very fluid process!

I had recently used the background designer paper for another project, and it really felt right for this one, too. You can see, I tried lots of different layering options, including using a die frame to create frames.

I tried out different embellishments to finish off the card. I liked the image of the bear and the effect of the layering, so I decided not to use a sentiment on the front of the card. That gives me the option to add something inside the card before I send it.

Whimsical Wings

2010-03-08T14:15:00.003Z

Our Rubber Stamping Group will be making these cards on Wednesday. The cards feature one of my favorite stamp sets from Stampin' Up, Whimsical Wings. It is a hostess set in the current UK Stampin' Up catalog. It is simply delicious!

You don't have to use the same designer cardstock that I chose, but you do need to have some coordinating papers.

The bird image was stamped in pigment ink -- Stampin' Up's Craft Close to Cocoa, and then the image was heat set with SU gold embossing powder. A sponge was used to apply SU Creamy Caramel ink, which was burnished into the paper using a circular motion.

Other Stampin' Up stamps were used to create sentiments that were added to the card.

Easter Scrapbook Layout

2010-03-08T10:46:00.004Z

This is a scrapbook layout that I designed for an upcoming class for the American Women of Surrey. It features some gorgeous paper called Moravia from SEI.

The photos are of my dear son, Branduff, and they were taken last Easter during a mini-holiday that we had in Lyme Regis in Dorset. These photos were shot in the garden of Forde Abbey. You can click on the image to see it larger and in more detail.

Flocked paper seems all the rage right now, and this designer paper has two different styles of floral flocked images. I used one of the designs, a tan and ivory floral, as the embellishment on the page. The flocked leaves were trimmed out of the designer cardstock.

The Moravia series also has a die cut 12 x 12 sheet, which I trimmed and used as a background on one side and a border trim on the other side.

The Stampin' Up Sizzix die, Top Note, was used to create two frames for the layout.

The background 12 x 12 cardstock is Kraft from Stampin' Up.

Journaling and titles can be added to the edges of the layout.

Happy Birthday, Germaine & Beckie!

2010-02-22T12:00:00.006Z

Two of my favorite stampers in crime, Germaine and Beckie, share a birthday -- February 23. They are both members of our Stampers of England Yahoogroup.

In making these birthday cards, I wanted to try out two new products that I purchased -- Nellie's frames and a tulip embossing stencil, all of which can be used in your favorite die cutting machine. The Nellie's frames are quite special because the nesting dies are decorative.

The darker background cardstock was run through my die cutting machine with the tulip embossing stencil. Then, I took a fine sanding block and rubbed it in a circular motion over the raised image to distress the background and make the tulips more apparent.

I've used the Stampin' Up Birthday Best set, and quickly colored the cupcake with alcohol markers. So easy! It was adhered to some designer cardstock, which had been trimmed with a decorative scallop punch.

The 'happy birthday' sentiment stamp came from the Happy Moments stamp set, which was a special stamp set available through Stampin' Up's Sale-A-Bration.

Wishing both Germaine and Beckie a very happy birthday, with lots of pampering and crafty gifts, of course!

A craft space reborn!

2010-02-14T12:30:00.018Z

I have been very busy in my craft space over the last week . . . but not creating as much as I've been organizing.

I know you all have been at this place where you simply must re-organize your craft space. Perhaps you no longer can see the table for the amount of stuff strewn over the top. Or, maybe you've lost your mojo because you can't find anything any more.

In my case, I felt the feng shui of the space was just wrong! Nothing was close at hand. I spent so much time up and down, looking for bits and pieces, grabbing necessary tools, that I wasn't able to smoothly craft.

We've been living in our England home for 1 1/2 years. It is much smaller than the large two-story, four-bedroom apartment we had in Abu Dhabi. And it is a lot smaller than the home we had for nearly five years in Spring, Texas. As a result, our furniture is sort of exploding from the rooms, and my computer and craft space take up half of the living room. It's not ideal, but my husband is very patient and puts up with the creeping crawling overflow of craft stuff!

Trying to figure out how to best utilize this space has been a challenge, but I think I'm relatively happy with the results, which are pictured.

The above photo shows my craft space front on . . . lots of paper crates are underneath the table, by the way. Speaking of the table, I love mine! It's actually our breakfast table, and it is a circa 1950s oak dining table from England. No, we didn't buy it here in England! We purchased it in Houston around 1996. As our current home has a built-in large granite table in the kitchen, we didn't have room for our beloved antique table. We certainly didn't want to put it outside in storage. I was really happy to have found a way to incorporate it into my craft space.

The baskets on the table have cardstock and also paper remnants. Whenever I cut up a piece of cardstock, I always save the extra bits.

On the other side of the table, I have my stamp library. Many of my stamps are off their wood mounts, so that I am able to get a lot more of them into a smaller space. Even with unmounted stamps, I have overflowed the shelves.

I also have clear stamps in this basket, which is a great way to store them. In fact, I like baskets for lots of my storage solutions! Believe it or not, this basket contains nearly 100 clear stamp sets.

I know you're probably wondering why have a huge carved wooden cabinet, matching mirror, and a hanging silk rug in my craft space.

Well, in a perfect world, this would be part of the living room or a sitting room, and you'd be able to enjoy the beauty of this hand-carved console, which we purchased in Abu Dhabi. I do still enjoy it, and I find it incredibly handy to store away lots of my crafty things. When we move to a larger home, I promise this cabinet will have the majesty it deserves.

You probably have noticed my paper racks. Many of my stamping/crafting friends have been very envious of them. LOL! I bought them while living in the US, and nothing like this is available here in the UK . . . at least I haven't been able to find them. If you have a source for paper racks in the UK, please let me know! Anyway, if you live in the US, you can order paper racks from Media Shelving.

Near to my workspace, I have a massive bookshelf, which used to be one of my hubby's prized possessions. However, this was the only space in the house to put it. As you can tell, we badly need another reception room/family room/living room in this house. However, I've made very good use of this furniture, indeed! Lots of baskets!

I also acquired a number of leather ribbon keepers that I love. One of my most recent additions was a ribbon purse that I bought (along with a lot of other crafty goodies) using a very generous birthday gift coupon from some of my friends here in England. Thank you my wonderful stamping buddies for my wonderful birthday gift!

At my left hand, I have access to critical tools -- from punches to my Stampin' Up ink pads to Copic markers. One of my best purchases of recent were these reasonably priced wooden cubicles made by QuicKutz. They are perfect for my punches (or standard size ink pads). You will also see that I have used wooden orange crates (available from Hobby Lobby, etc.) to create shelving.

I hope you have enjoyed this virtual tour of my newly organized craft space. Now, I hope that it motivates and encourages me to be more creative and productive.

Welcome New Baby!

2010-02-10T12:09:00.004Z

Friends of the family, David and Paula, have just welcomed into the world their first-born child, Benjamin, born on Wednesday, February 3. Very exciting times for them!

I made them a card, like the one here in blue, using two of Elzybell's stamps and colored the image with copic markers.

As I was in the mood to color these precious baby images, I made a couple of extra cards to keep at hand.

More 3x3 Cards!

2010-02-04T12:15:00.003Z

At this week's Rubber Stamping Class for the American Women of Surrey, we were making cutie pie 3x3-inch cards and envelopes for every occasion. I offered a tutorial for making 3x3-inch cards on a previous blog.

This time around, we were using the versatile Stampin' Up set, Fun and Fast Notes, which features eight different sweet images and sentiments.

I've taken many of the Stampin' Up stamps in my library off their wood mounts so that I could use them on acrylic blocks. This enabled me to cut the sentiments from the original image, giving me the flexibility to use the sentiments on any project.

All the designer cardstock is Green Woodland Animals from DCWV. The envelopes are made of a plain white 12x12-inch paper. You can download the template for the envelopes by clicking here.

As you can see from the samples, there are lots of variations that you can make with this stamp set and these cards. Make a whole bunch of them to keep at hand, and you always have a small card to give to a friend with or without a gift! You also can package up some of these cards and give them as gifts for your friend to use!

Valentine's Day Cards

2010-01-25T10:37:00.003Z

We're having an art mingle in our England Stampers yahoogroup, and these are the Valentine's cards that I am making for the recipients.

The cards feature one of my favorite Stampin' Up stamps: If the Halo Fits. I have decided to use the sentiment stamps from another SU set: For a Friend.

The angel is simply colored with alcohol markers. A piece of SU Groovy Guava ribbon compliments the designer cardstock.

Lilac Lemon Lovely

2010-01-06T09:51:00.005Z

Happy New Year!

It's been a while since my last post as my family and I have been thoroughly enjoying the holidays. As it has been snowing for more than 12 hours today, it looks like our holidays have been slightly extended. Dear son managed a day back at school yesterday, but we are all well and truly snowed in today.

Before the snowfall, I managed to mail off this New Year's card to all of my wonderful friends in my stamping and scrapping class. The card features this lovely art deco image, which is on one of the stamp sets created by my friend Beckie of Lilac Lemon Designs.

The image was colored with Copic markers, and then I antiqued the image with glimmer spray and pearlescent paints.

I just can't say enough about this stunning stamp. I love it! Thank you so much Beckie for gifting me with this set at Christmas :-).

Copic Colour Challenge 43

2009-12-07T21:28:00.011Z

I was quite tickled when I was invited to be a guest designer for the Copic Colour Challenge Number 43.

For those who know me, this is my favourite time of the year. I can't get enough Christmas music and the sights and sounds of the season. I love the weather, the fairy lights on the tree, the uplifted moods, and time spent with family and friends.

Considering my love of Christmas, I was happy to see that the chosen Copic colours were very much indicative of the season, namely:

The Copic shades above lend themselves very well to creating Christmas cards, which I have done for this challenge.

My first card features Stampin' Up's Silent Night. In addition to using the challenge Copic colours listed above, I also used a wide array of harmonic shades. The sky was created using the markers, a sponge and the Copic blending pen.

The Warm Winter Wishes card features a sentiment from Inkadinkado and a gorgeous robin stamp from Craft UK. Copic markers bring out the beauty of this winter friend in our English gardens.

And lastly, I have a multi-textured snowman card, which began with a simple and humble snowman from Inkadinkado. He was colored with a selection of Copic markers, including the shades of this challenge. But that was only the beginning. I've used quite a few techniques and products to create this card, including gesso, glimmer spray, heat-set embossing, glitter and H20s. I'll leave the tutorial for this card for another day!

Yummy Gingerbread Card

2009-12-06T15:16:00.003Z

I recently bought some of Martha Stewart's felt gingerbread garland. While the box recommended edging your holiday table with the garland, I immediately thought: Christmas cards!

I used a matching gingerbread man from a Martha Stewart clear stamp set. The Be Merry sentiment comes from imaginisce. The snowflakes stamped on the red background paper are from Stampin' Up! The snowflakes are actually a jumbo wheel stamp, which I removed from its wheel to use as an unmounted stamp.

Very simple card, but the felt gingerbread really make it special.

I've attached two photos -- one with the flash and one in natural light. Hope you are enjoying the prelude to the holidays!

AWS Stamping Class on Nov. 11

2009-11-08T14:45:00.004Z

Below are the three cards we'll be making during our stamping class on Wednesday. There are two holiday cards and one birthday card.

The first Christmas card features three triangular trees that have been textured and distressed with gold ink in the Cuttlebug. You'll also be punching a border with a Martha Stewart snowflake edger. The sentiment stamp, 'A Very Merry Christmas,' is from the SU Punches Three. After stamping, it was punched out with an SU scallop square. The SEI red glitter paper makes a stunning background!

The holiday card was made with the SU Season of Joy Christmas tree, which was stamped in Wasabi ink onto Whisper White card stock and then trimmed out. Happy Holidays sentiment stamp is from SEI, and it was stamped with Memento Lady Bug Red onto a gorgeous Bazzill gold toned cardstock. In addition, a Spellbinder ribbon buckle in gold adorn some double dot BoBunny green ribbon. Creative Imaginations whimsical Christmas paper creates the background.

The quirky and fun birthday card features a QuicKutz die and DCWV Green Woodlands Bird paper. The sentiment stamp is from Inkadinkado.

Santa Calling!

2009-10-03T13:04:00.005+01:00

This latest card features BoBunny papers and their sweet nostalgic Santa Dear collage stamp, as well as a Stampin' Up sentiment stamp.

After Santa Dear was stamped in memento ink, I then colored him using Copic markers. The paper was then torn and antiqued using Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distressing Ink. BoBunny dotted red ribbon was used an embellishment, and a green button was sewn on. The Stampin' Up sentiment, 'a very Merry Christmas to you,' was stamped, and several oval punches were used for layering. The BoBunny snowflake trimmed paper was punched with a Martha Stewart lacy punch.

The inspiration for this card came from BoBunny.

We will be making this card at our upcoming Wednesday Rubber Stamping Class.

BoBunny's Falling 4U Clear Stamp Set

2009-09-28T14:29:00.003+01:00

I knew I was going to love this stamp set the first time I saw it used on the BoBunny blog spot.

The owl is really cute and quirky . . . and I love that the leaves and the tree are two stamps, so that you can use different ink colors. Very clever the way the leaves looks like a chrysanthemum.

Around the time I received the Falling 4U stamp set, I had a mingle card to make for an art swap with our England Stampers Yahoogroup. The theme is trees of any type. Also at the same time, I saw two Michelle Zindorf projects that featured a similar tree, but from Stampin' Up. If you go to her blog, you will see the two tutorials I used to create the two cards attached.

Direct to Paper Mountain Scene

In addition to the BoBunny Falling 4U stamp set, I also used the sweetest SU set called, Best Yet. I love this set of six sentiments, which include this stamp that says, "So Glad We're Friends," and another that says, "Just Because I Care." These are perfect sentiment stamps when you are mailing a note, card or small gift to a friend.

Windy Tree

I plan to offer to teach the card above to my rubber stamping class on October 7.

Scary cat & pumpkin

2009-09-20T19:38:00.003+01:00

In the UK, they call these stamps Stick Leg Chicks; in the US, they are known as Karen Stolper's stamps. Whatever you call them, I am sure you'll agree that they are quirky, unique and worth a giggle!

I used Karen Stolper's scary cat and pumpkin stamp to create these very spooky ;-) cards for an art swap with my friends in the England Stamping yahoogroup.

In addition, this will be one of the cards available to make at my October 7th Rubber Stamping class for American Women of Surrey.

For those of you planning to attend the class, you will have a chance to color with Copic markers and cut out and antique a die cut pumpkin.

Autumn Notebook

2009-09-05T16:04:00.004+01:00

There's a change in the air and the kiddos have returned to school . . . enter my favorite time of the year: autumn

With that in mind, I decided to create an autumnal notebook. This will be the free make-it-and-take-it project that I will demonstrate for my Introduction to Stamping Class, which I am offering through the American Women of Surrey.

I've used Inkadinkado clear stamps, Bazzill Cardstock, and Stampin' Up ribbons to create this easy-peasy book.

Elzybells Challenge 26

2009-08-29T21:38:00.005+01:00

Elzybells Blog Challenge 26 is to create your own stamped patterned background paper.

Yesterday, I ordered some of Elzybells brand new stamp sets, which feature my favorite things: stamping and crafting! I had to have them (especially the stamp that says: My husband lets me have all the craft supplies I can hide). I was thrilled when they arrived in the post this morning -- all ready! Yippee!

As you can see, I used Elzybells new stamp sets to create this card. I love the manic crafter!

The patterned background features Nancy Judd's Scrappy-Spots technique published in Techniquejunkies newsletter, and it is a type of masking.

The primary colors used are Stampin' Up's Barely Banana, Really Rust, and More Mustard. A selection of Copic Ciao markers were used to color the Elzybells image.

More 3 by 3 Cards!

2009-08-22T12:40:00.005+01:00

I've been working on projects for my autumn paper crafting classes.

Here are three 3 x 3-inch cards, which come with handmade envelopes, that are using some brand new Imaginisce clear stamps. In particular, I love the little polar bear!

I used Copic Ciao markers to color the images. As you can see with the polar bear, much of the coloring is a slight shade on the edge. Very easy.

I cut out all the pieces for my future students; these cards with envelopes will be a snap to put together.

New Magpie Storage System

2009-08-20T11:34:00.005+01:00

My stamping friend Beckie of Lilac Lemon Designs sent me a link for the Magpie Nesting Storage System, which I wanted to use some of my heavy punches and a selection of ink pads.

I purchased these early in the week from Crafts U Love and received them a couple of days later. I'm thrilled with the units, which are a heavy-duty wood, which should last forever and withstand lots of crafting abuse!

These (grainy, sorry) photos show my workspace. I use some wooden craft crates and the new Magpie storage system to hold a number of my tools for quick access. I also have a bookshelf in back of me that holds other items, such as ribbons, die cutting machines and dies, stamps, embellishments, and lots of other products. It's too messy to photograph right now!

The Magpie Nesting Storage System comes with handy nesting tins that are suppose to hold 2x2 inch Quickutz dies. However, as you can see, I've adapted the cubbyholes for other purposes. I'll use my nesting tins to store embellishments.

Pumpkin Patch

2009-08-17T22:20:00.006+01:00

I realize that the sun is still shining and the summer is still in full force. However, I decided to break out some autumn stamps to prepare for some classes that I hope to teach in the Fall.

I love Karen Stolper's Stick Leg Chick Stamps, and I purchased a dozen of them recently from sirstampalot.co.uk, which is based in England.

I used the Pumpkin Patch stamp to create this card, which features Stampin' Up designer paper and cardstock. The image was stamped with Memento rich cocoa and colored with Copic Ciao markers.

Caroline's Cupcake Card

2009-08-16T13:23:00.006+01:00

Caroline, a fellow stamper, celebrated her birthday this past week. Happy Birthday, Caroline!

Here is the cupcake birthday card that I sent her; it features Stampin' Up's Crazy For Cupcakes stamp set.

I have a few different versions of the cards, as you can see. The designer papers are from BoBunny.

The cupcake was made by stamping onto an ivory cardstock using a Chocolate Chip SU ink pad. It was heat set with a pearlescent embossing powder. A second cupcake was embossed onto the coral colored BoBunny paper. I cut out the bottom of the cupcake from the coral colored paper and glued it onto the cupcake stamped on the ivory paper; I then cut out the cupcake.

Creamy colored Copic Ciao markers were used to color the cupcake icing. A selection of other Copic Ciao markers were used to color the candle, sprinkles and flame.

The circular cutout was made from ivory cardstock and a Spellbinder's Nestability die. I used Stampin' Up Groovy Guava to distress a Cuttlebug embossing folder, sandwiched in my die cut circle, and ran it through the Cuttlebug.

The Make a Wish stamp is from Woodware. It was inked with Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip ink and heat set with a pearlescent embossing powder.

BoBunny gingham green ribbon was used on one card; the two other cards have Stampin' Up Groovy Guava ribbon.

Lady Bug Card

2009-08-07T13:42:00.004+01:00

This is one of Elzybell's latest clear stamp sets, Spring Cubes. I adore this set! It has great sentiments, too.

The white card stock was first run through the Wizard with a small square Spellbinder's Nestability die to create a peek-a-boo window.

The image was stamped inside the card, so it would show through the window. It was colored with Copic Ciao Markers.

Then I made a curtain template and used designer paper to cut out pretend curtains. I thought that red polka dots would complement the little lady bug.

Copic Colour Challenge - Guest DT Call

2009-08-06T16:05:00.005+01:00

I can't stop coloring! I just can't stop!

Pleaaaazzzzze help me!

Fortunately, I am not alone. Yes indeedy, there are other coloring fanatics out there who are addicted to Copic Markers. You can find a lot of them posting their artwork on the weekly Copic Colour Challenge blog.

Currently, they are seeking out a talented and enthusiastic crafter to be a Guest member of their Design Team. To be considered, we have been asked to link our fave Copic Marker creation. Here is my latest, which features a Craft UK stamped image that has been colored with a myriad of Copic Ciao markers.

I'm very happy with the way the coloring turned out on this project. First of all, I wanted the door to have a feeling of 'life,' showing reflections of light and weathering. In such a situation, you wouldn't want to just stick with red tones. The door was colored by strategically applying a pale yellow (Y11) and then a golden yellow (Y17). Then, the two reds (R17 and R27) where used to color the door, with the darker tone used for creating shadows. Finally, I ran the Y17 yellow back over some spots to create even more of a highlight, or light bouncing off the door.

Here are some other images I've recently colored with my Copic markers:

This mermaid comes from Fred-She-Said, and it is absolutely perfect for coloring. You can do a lot to create tones in the tail by using yellow, turquoise and pink.

And here is something completely different! This is a photo stamp of an angel that I used on a card for a recent art swap. I used a Memento ink pad, the photo stamp, and glossy paper. Since Memento ink does not smear when using Copic markers, I was able to take some of my paler tones and tint this image. Using alcohol markers is a much easier and subtle way of coloring photo-realistic stamped images.

Dressed to Impress

2009-08-03T10:41:00.005+01:00

The latest mingle over at England Stampers is Dressed to Impress, incorporating a die cut dress into our card layout. This is the type of card that can be really frilly and girly and summery!

The template used on this card was inspired by Patty Bennett at Patty's Stamping Spot. You can find her tutorial for the dress card here.

To begin with, I used the largest scalloped circle die from my Spellbinder's collection, and I ran through my colorful pink Prima paper to create a scalloped circle. Then I used Patty's dress shape to cut out my dresses.

The stamp is from Stampin' Up . . . the little rose and the designer patterned paper is from Prima . . . isn't the paper GORGEOUS?! It's their flirty collection.

Shimmery Mingle

2009-07-17T11:17:00.004+01:00

I love shimmery things! I use my glimmer mists a lot when I create cards; in particular, I like Lindy's Moon Glow Glitz Spritz products.

Jan of Persnickety suggested doing a shimmery card for a summer artwork swap, and I had to play!

The rust brown cardstock was first sprayed with a gold glimmer mist. Then the butterfly or dragonfly stamp was dipped into a diluted bleach mixture and stamped on the shimmery paper, while it was still damp. It was over-stamped in vanilla pigment ink, while the paper was still damp. This technique makes a subtle shadow, creating a dimensional final image. Other colors of glimmer mist and pigment ink can be used.

I used these dragonflies and butterflies on an earlier art project a couple of weeks ago. The stamps are "On Gossamer Wings" from Stampin' Up.

The friends stamp is from Inkadinkado; it was stamped onto a gold embossed domino game piece.

These cards will be sent to my stamping friends Phyllis, Barb and Sue.

Copic Colour Challenge 21

2009-07-09T14:19:00.005+01:00

We are having an art mingle on our yahoogroup, England Stampers, and it requires using our alcohol markers to color images. I had been sort of stuttering and stumbling with this project . . . I had something in mind, and it was just not gelling. So I finally tossed that idea aside -- along with all the scraps of paper and images -- and started over.

Ahhhhhh . . . I feel much better now. I reached for my trusty Elzybells Art Stamps, which work wonderfully with alcohol markers.

Then, I popped over to the Copic Colour Challenge to see what colors they were suggesting this week. I then discovered that Elzybells is the sponsor of the Week 21 Copic Color Challenge!

Here are the recommended colors.
Yes, I really had ALL of them, and used them in my artwork. The Smoky Blue is one of my favorite Copic blue shades, and I use it all the time.

In addition to the Elzybells Art Stamp, I also used Creative Imaginations gold embossed tea party paper, Prima flowers, and Stampin' Up ribbon.

I'll mail the cards to the mingle recipients tomorrow, and I'm so much happier with the results!

Dragonflies, Damselflies, Butterflies

2009-07-08T11:52:00.005+01:00

Here are two different Artist Trading Cards that I made for the Dragonflies, Damselflies and Butterflies Mingle of England Stampers.

Enjoy the Simple Things is a sentiment stamp from Elzybells. The rest of the stamps are from Stampin' Up, including Botanical Blooms and Watercolor Minis.

The other artist trading cards feature Stampin' Up's On Gossamer Wings retired stamp set, which has always been one of my favorites. It is one of the most realistic and amazing sets for capturing the spirit of real-life butterflies and dragonflies.

This ATC was made by first spritzing rust-colored textured cardstock with gold glimmer mist. Bleach and vanilla pigment ink were used to stamp the images. The word stamps are from Inkadinkado Inchies collections.

Chocolate Bar Sliders

2009-07-06T18:59:00.005+01:00

This coming Friday, my dear teenage son Branduff will finally be free for the summer! I'm sure he is very relieved to have a break! He is wrapping up his first year at City of London Freemen's School in Ashtead, Surrey. Next autumn he will return to Year 10 (or Lower 5) to begin his GCSE coursework.

For now, it's time to say good-bye to his teachers in Upper 4.

In England, you can buy really HUGE and chunky Cadbury chocolate bars, which are perfect gifts to wrap up and turn into 'sliders.'

A decorative ribbon serves as a pulley to slide the chocolate bar up and out of the wrapper.

While usually I would stamp images, I had some really cute summer stickers that I've wanted to use for a long time. They worked perfectly to adorn the wrappers of the chocolate sliders.

I hope all of you have a great summer, too!

Copic Colour Challenge 20

2009-07-03T11:24:00.008+01:00

Above is a card that I made for my friend Cheryl's birthday and the Copic Colour Challenge No. 20, which is featuring these Copic Colours:
As usual, I seem to be missing the key colours noted in the challenge, but I was able to use many of the related colours to create this birthday card. Some of the Copic ciao markers that I used were YR23, Y21, Y17, Y15, Y02, Y00, R02, R05, E00, E02, E08, E31, E35, YG03, YG63, YG67, BG93.

The stamp is Zinnia from the Flower Fairies collection that is based on the works of Cicely Mary Barker.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHERYL!!

Copic Colour Challenge #18

2009-06-18T19:34:00.005+01:00

This week, I made a birthday card for my stamping friend, Linda, of Linanna Designs. I had in my mind exactly the Elzybells stamp and the BoBunny patterned cardstock that I wanted to use.

However, I also wanted to play the Copic Colour Challenge #18, and although this week's colours were close, they didn't quite match my cardstock.

They suggested using the following colours.
In the end, I used the Y15 Cadmium Yellow, but I used different blue tones -- B12 Ice Blue and B93 Light Crockery Blue. I did use a touch of the R85 Rose Red, but I also used RV42 Salmon Pink and some other pink shades that I forgot to record!

I pulled out my Wizard and Spellbinder's Nestabilities Circles to create the interlocking circles on the birthday card. The birthday circle stamp is from Inkadinkado.

While I was making cards, I also made a few spares with Elzybells sentiment: May all your days be filled with flowers.

Copic Colour Challenge

2009-06-09T18:45:00.005+01:00

I just love this Whipper Snapper Design 'Feel Better Chicken' stamp. He is just way too cute! Also, Whipper Snapper Designs lend themselves to coloring with Copic Markers.

I colored the image earlier in the week, and then I discovered I had used the colors specified in the Copic Colour Challenge! I put the finishing touches on the card this evening and entered it into this week's challenge, which suggested that we use R39, Y06 and R11 (I didn't have the R39 so I used R29 as a highlight on the wooden bed frame). I used other colors as well.

You can play along, too . . . if you love Copic Markers, visit Copic Colour Challenge every Wednesday to see the new challenge! I know I'll be there!

June is for Weddings

2009-06-07T10:03:00.006+01:00

June is the time that many people walk down the aisle and take their vows. My parents, Joe and Bobbi, did exactly that on June 17, 1956. and they are still going strong after 53 years of marriage!

I made this card for them using one of Elzybells stamps and some new Basic Grey Wisteria patterned paper and Prismatic solid cardstock. I colored the images with Copic Ciaos onto silk/glossy paper. (BTW: I had challenges with the black/charcoal on the slick/glossy paper. This project definitely would have worked better on matte white cardstock.)

While I was coloring and cutting out the Elzybells images, I also made a couple of wedding cards, which I will donate to Wildlife Aid's Open Day and Charity Event on Sunday, June 21.

Hubby Niall and I also celebrate our 23 years of wedded bliss on June 14. Although that's a lot of years for marriages these days, it doesn't even come close to comparing to my parents' anniversary!

Congratulations, Mom and Dad.
We love you very much!
Kathy, Niall & Branduff

Bride & Groom and Congratulations stamp are from Elzybells; Happy Anniversary is from Ink N Rubber.

Father's Day Frame

2009-06-06T10:17:00.008+01:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was doing a random search online for Spellbinders Nestabilities, and I stumbled across the Prairie Paper & Ink's blogspot and a precious Father's Day Frame. I couldn't help myself; I had to make one for my dad, who lives in Texas. Above is my interpretation of the project.

I currently don't own the Nestabilities scalloped squares, which is one of the things I was trying to source online. Therefore, I created my scalloped edge by using my new Stampin' Up scallop edge punch.

My frame is a bit easier because my Die Cuts With A View cardstock is pretty sturdy. This is my recipe:

Two 6 by 6 inch cardstock pieces in one color/pattern for the backing
One 6 by 6 inch thin cardboard to go between the two pieces above
One 6 by 6 inch piece of cardstock for the front scalloped frame
One 2 by 2 inch piece of plain cardstock for your sentiment

I used a corner rounder on the two pieces of matching cardstock and the thin cardboard that will go inbetween. The cardboard makes the backing firm. I used double side adhesive to stick the three-piece sandwich together.

The top piece of patterned cardstock was run through the Wizard with a Nestabilities square die. Choose one big enough to leave room for your stamped image. I ran the frame through a second time with a slightly larger square die to emboss the frame hole.

Cut a piece of complimentary solid cardstock and stamp your favorite sentiment. Of course, this is where you could use a favorite photo of your loved one instead. This makes such a super gift, regardless what you put inside the frame.

The sentiment stamp I used is from Elzybells.

Vintage Tags

2009-06-04T10:32:00.005+01:00

Here is more art from a recent swap on our England Stamping & Crafting Yahoo Group.

The art mingle featured vintage tags, and we made two different tags for three recipients.

One of them features a bride stamp, which is absolutely gorgeous! I bought it from my friend Beckie. The stamp is huge, but I was determined to use it on the tag mingle. I stamped the image onto Shrinky-Dink and colored it with Tim Holtz distress inks and chalks. The heart on the tag comes from a new prima product, stitched mulberry paper, which is beautiful stuff! Prima Flirty paper and flowers were used for embellishment.

The other tag features a Magenta rubber stamp, which comes as a set of four female faces. I recently unmounted and cut the stamp so that I could easily use each of the faces individually. This tag might look familiar as it is the same stamped image and paper that I recently used when making an artist trading card. The princess and word stamps are from Stampin' Up.

If you think that our art swaps look fun, I invite you to join our Yahoo Group -- Stampers and Paper Crafters of England. We have an easy-going group of very friendly ladies. Click to join Stampers & Crafters of England

3 x 3 Cards with Envelopes

2009-06-02T18:22:00.010+01:00

Our England Stamping Yahoo Group recently had an art swap featuring some really cute 3-by-3-inch cards with matching envelopes.

If you are interested in the envelope template, you can find it on an earlier post by clicking here.

Once I got started making these cards, I couldn't stop, and I had to try out all kinds of combinations.

One card design features a Cuttlebug butterfly die cut, which was then sandwiched into an embossing folder colored with ink. The ink sinks into the low areas of the embossed image.

Another card features a Stampin' Up flower stamp, which has been colored with Copic markers and cut out.

Another is a bee from a Close to My Heart set, and it has been embossed with thick UTEE embossing powder to give it a glass effect.

And finally, I used Spellbinder's dies to cut a window into a card and used a Lost Coast dictionary stamp and Stazon to stamp on acetate. The flower on this card was handmade by cutting out Spellbinder's scallop circles.

Bright & Bold Notepad

2009-05-29T11:39:00.007+01:00

One of my favorite paper crafting companies is BoBunny, and their creative people recently had some great teacher appreciation gifts on their blog.

If you scroll down BoBunny's blog, you will see where I got the idea for the notepads that I've made and displayed here.

The flowers are all from Stampin' Up rubber stamp sets. The images have been colored with Stampin' Up! ink pads and Copic Ciao markers. Then they were cut out, so they could be easily moved around and displayed. The bit of flourish is a clear stamp set by Amy Smyth and Inkadinkado.

I used my ProClick to bind the notepads, which are made from 12 x 12 pieces of black cardstock, which has been cut into quarters (6 x 6). White copy paper was then cut into squares. If you don't have a personal binding machine, buy notepads and adhere the cardstock and embellishments to them.

When making the notepads, I discovered that I didn't have stamps that were large enough to create the word 'notes.' I tried free-handing and using stencils, but alas, nothing looked right. In the end, I created a piece of faux notepaper and computer-generated the image, which I have posted below. You can save and use them in your own notepad project.

I have posted in two ways: 1) notepaper with the word 'note' and 2) notepaper only, so that you can stamp the word 'note' if you have large enough alphabet stamps.

Degree of difficulty on this project: super easy

Amount of time: Very time-consuming and fiddly; however, it gives your hands something to do if you are sitting in front of the television!

Buzzing Around

2009-05-17T09:34:00.005+01:00

Here's another piece of artwork made for a Persnickety group art mingle with a bee theme.

I love this Close to My Heart bee stamp, so I was glad to have an excuse to use it! The card also has a circle stamp from Stampin' Up!, which I punched with my Creative Memories circle punch. You can tell that I am an equal opportunity spender! LOL!

I did two different backgrounds for this card -- one is simply stamped with the bee and black dye ink; the other uses the stamp and adds doodles. Sometimes, you need to take a photo of your artwork to really see which one works better. I think the doodle helps to add visual interest to the card, whereas the bee without doodle might be too plain. What does your eye tell you?

The monotone background was perfect for allowing my featured bee to pop off the page. First of all, I shaded the bee with Copic markers. Then I used a very old technique of embossing over the image with thick clear UTEE embossing powder. I actually do this alot because I love the way the VersaMark embossing ink and the UTEE powder actually change the color, tone, depth and texture of the stamped image. Hint: Cut out the bee AFTER you have heat set and embossed it.

Velvet ribbon in yellow and black gives a feel of the bees fuzzy body.

Sweet Child ATC

2009-05-10T14:30:00.005+01:00

This is an artist trading card that I made for the May art lottery with the stamping e-group, Persnickety.

The theme is "children." This is a Magenta Style Art stamp, which used to be part of four vintage faces. I took the rubber stamp off the wood mount and cut up the images so I could use the stamps individually.

The image is tinted with Copic Ciao markers.

I prefer to stamp my photo image stamps with StazOn black or brown ink onto silk or glossy white stamping paper. I have found that StazOn picks up much more detail in these realistic stamps. However, StazOn ink on glossy or silk paper will smear when using Copic markers. To get around this problem, I embossed the top of the image to seal it.

I will create a tutorial *eventually* to demonstrate this process:

Use a rubber brayer
Roll it on top of a VersaMark pad to liberally coat it
Roll the brayer over the image to cover it with VeraMark ink
Dust the image with fine clear embossing powder
Heat set

You can now use Copic markers to color the image. As they are alcohol based, they will be permanent -- unless you use the Copic blending pen to move, blend or "erase" the color. When tinting, I used markers directly onto the image, and I also used a spongy eye make up applicator to move and mix colors.

Making 3-inch Cards with Envelopes

2009-05-09T21:47:00.007+01:00

Making square envelopes from scratch is actually quite easy after you've made a few. This particular tutorial demonstrates how to take a 12 by 12 inch piece of designer cardstock and turn it into:

Two 3-inch-square cards
Two matching 3 3/8-inch square envelopes

Pick your 12 by 12 inch cardstock.

Cut it into four 6-inch squares.

Set aside two of those squares to make two envelopes.

Take one 6-inch square and cut it into two 3-by-6-inch strips. Once folded in half, these are your 3-inch square cards. You will be layering and embellishing these cards to your heart's content!

Back to the envelopes . . .

If you have a Helix Craft Room Envelope Maker, you don't require the template. All you need to do is line up the 6-inch square of paper on Line 3 and score the four sides. You will cut the notches where the lines cross.

If you don't have a Helix Craft Room envelope maker, I have created a template that you can download and print. It is available by clicking here.

I have included two templates in the Adobe pdf file above. One includes the dimensions of the envelope and the other is blank. You can take the blank one and print it directly onto your cardstock, cut out the notches, trim off any black edges, and score on the lines (which will not show when the card is folded).

You can see a sample of the template below. This photo will not print to the correct size, so please use the pdf link above to acquire the template.

Once you print out the template, cut out the black notches and trim off the black edges. Now you can lay the template over your 6-inch square cardstock and trace the notches and then cut them out. It will become obvious how to fold the envelope once you’ve trimmed the notches.

I’ve used a corner rounder on the top flap to make it look neater.

You will need to glue down the other three flaps – just like folding a diaper. LOL! The Art Institute’s Art Glue works great for this or any strong double-sided tape.

You can use envelope glue (such as Lick and Stick) on the top flap. Or leave it without glue.

Here are other cards and envelopes that I made. They have yet to be embellished.

Make Cards for Wildlife Aid

2009-05-03T20:38:00.002+01:00

Make Cards for Wildlife Aid

Wildlife Aid is having its annual Open Day and Charitable Event on Sunday, 21 June, at their centre in Leatherhead, Surrey, England. Many people are familiar with the wonderful work of Wildlife Aid as it's depicted on the documentary Wildlife SOS, shown around the world on the Animal Planet Channel.

I am asking my stamping and paper crafting friends to make cards that will be sold to raise money during Open Day. If you would like to donate some of your handmade cards, please email me for details: teawife@yahoo.com

Please spread the word to your stamping and crafting friends.

Thank you so much!
Kathy the teawife

Simply Thank You

2009-04-29T18:25:00.005+01:00

There's nothing better than brand new product to inspire my creativity! I just received some new Prima flowers, and I put them to immediate use on two Artist Trading Cards.

The one at top, featuring miniature butter-colored rose buds, was made for the England Stampers & Crafters April Lottery. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up.

The following ATC features the new Artistry Prima flowers and was made for the Persnickety Stampers April Lottery.

The designer paper came from my friend Germaine. She used it to wrap up a gift for me, and I recycled it on this layout! I think the colors match perfectly!

Vintage Children Card

2009-04-28T17:11:00.003+01:00

After a solid week of spring cleaning our home, I finally finished and decided it was time for ME today! Yippee!

I made a similar card for two different monthly card lotteries.

The theme is "children" for the England Stampers' card lottery . . . I soon realized that I don't own any rubber stamps featuring children! Once upon a time, I had plenty of stickers for scrapbooking when my teen-age son was younger. But I never seemed to acquire much in the way of rubber stamps featuring children. The only ones I have are a few Magenta stamps, and that is what I used to make this vintage card, featuring to precious wee girls!

For the Persnickety Stamping Group, I took the same basic card but altered it to say "Thinking of You," which is the theme of the card lottery for April. I recently received some brand new Prima butter-colored roses, and I just had to use them!

Floppy Easter Bunny

2009-03-28T19:33:00.007Z

Whipper Snapper Designs has some truly adorable stamps, and I just couldn’t resist this one of the Easter Bunny flopped out in a basket! I decided to use this one as my primary Easter card that I was sending some of my stamping friends.

One of the reasons I purchased the Whipper Snapper stamps was to use the Copic Ciao markers. The WSD stamps are very open, leaving plenty of room for colouring.

I began by shading the edges of the bunny. I wanted him to stay a white bunny, but the shading gives him a dimension and depth. I experimented a little with the colours, using a flesh coloured beige on some of the rabbit images and using a fleshy pink on others. I think I like the fleshy pink the best. I used a light peachy marker to colour the ears, nose and pads of the paws.

The Easter baskets were coloured in Pale Yellow Y11. Then, to make them appear as a wicker basket, YR23 (a orangey gold) and Y28 (a tan) markers were used selectively. Use short strokes to pull the two colours through the basket.

The bow and eggs were coloured in with a variety of spring colours.

At this point, you could leave the background of the image white. However, I decided to add background colours by masking, brayering and sponging on stamp ink.

To mask the image, use as scrap piece of cardstock and stamp your image. Cut it out, including those pesky open spaces inside the stamped image.

I used pigment inks for the background because they are more forgiving and can be ‘moved’ a bit after they are applied to the cardstock. A light blue was used on the sky and a bright but light green was applied to the grass. Torn paper was used as a mask to create a more natural skyline.

A make-up sponge was used to apply the blue in-between the basket handle and the bunny ears. The sponges were also used to add in a medium blue ink into the sky and a medium green into the grass to provide more dimension.

The finished image was adhered to a pink card and flowers were added to embellish the piece. I only own two “Happy Easter” stamps, which I stamped and added to the bottom right corner of the card. I think I like the Stampin’ Up script one better.

All in all, a very fun card to make!

Altered Easter Eggs

2009-03-27T14:55:00.004Z

I have a penchant for altering anything that stands still long enough! I've had these papier mache eggs in my storage cabinet, and I decided to alter a few of them to send to some of my stamping friends for Easter.

A couple of years ago, I altered some of these with less than stellar results. This time, I wanted to try something slightly different, and I was much happier with my results!

I began by tearing up tissue paper and gluing pieces onto the egg with my Royal Decoupage finish. Afterwards, I allowed the eggs to dry over night.

Once dried, I took a gold ink pad and sponge it all over all the eggs. Once again, I allowed the eggs to dry for a while. Finally, I added different embellishments to each egg, such as beads, glitter, microbeads, and flowers.