Monday 31 January 2011

You're so tweet

It's Monday already! Today is another card inspired by Kristina Werner, but this time I have Sale-A-Brate'd it!!

The colour combo is Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Rose Red & Baja Breeze. I stamped the owl from Punch Bunch and the hearts were in the sentiment set So Happy For You. I wanted the specific wording for my card so I had to handwrite it (gasp!).

We had a great day today. Munchkin manage to cause minimal damage at toddler group and then we did a speedy shop. All quiet now as DH is watching the rugby!!

Sunday 30 January 2011

Hanging out the bunting

Back at last. It's been a busy few days, as weekends always tend to be. I had a lovely group of ladies over on Saturday making Alien cards, a bit of shopping, babysitting for a friend, seeing my sister and parents and having a little creative time! Phew!!

This is what I made in the short amount of creative time I had. It's inspired by one by Kristina Werner and features a variety of scraps of patterned paper. I stamped the bunting using the stamp in Party This Way stamp set in Versamark to make cutting them out really straightforward. They were each put through my beloved crimper for some texture.

The base card is Bashful Blue and then I free-hand cut the clouds from Whisper White. The sentiment is from Party This Way and I coloured it using markers that complemented the patterned papers. This was then punched out with the window punch and then layered on a piece of Crumb Cake that was punched with the modern label punch.

I couldn't resist using the cute little birdie from the Bliss Sale-A-Bration set. So sweet!! He's been stamped in Soft Suede.

Hope you've had a bit of creative time to yourself this weekend. See you again soon!!

Thursday 27 January 2011

It's Thursday! Phew what a hectic 24 hours... our heating broke (again) so there's been chaos getting it fixed, sorting out alternatives and rearranging our schedules!

Onto brighter things - I go to a weekly craft club after work on a Wednesday and we've decided to create some cards for a colleague so she can sell them to raise money for charity. This was our first session and these are the cards we came up with!

At the top are cards made by Amy. I just love her style, don't you? Always get lots of ideas when I see what she's created.

These are the cards I made. We were enjoying using the Sale-A-Bration sets (of course!) and we were proud of our creations!

Wednesday 26 January 2011

Thanks Monica

This card was based on a video I saw of Monica Gale's. I love her videos!


Anyway I was so inspired but I changed the colour to Bashful Blue base and used the lovely Sale-A-Bration set, Bliss to stamp the butterflies in Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Certainly Celery, Perfect Plum and Bashful Blue.


The sentiment is from So Happy For You and I used the same colour markers to make a rainbow greeting.


A cute little fleurette is there holding up the triangle section. Then, as you can see, I went bonkers with the old Basic Rhinestones. I think I can safely say a project is no longer complete without them or the pearls!

For all the Munchkin fans, here is another picture. It was taken at Christmas. I'll try to get some more up to date ones soon. The may issue being getting her to stay still enough to photograph!!

Tuesday 25 January 2011

Valentine Class


It's that time of year again when our thoughts go to LURVE!

So this is the Valentine class I am running this year. You make a card and this gorgeous (even if I do say so myself) gift box.

The class is running tonight at 7.30pm at my house. If you can't make it tonight I'm also running it on Saturday 5th Feb 10-12noon and Saturday 12th Feb 1pm-3pm so email me to book if you'd like to come! blueangelcrafts@gmail.com

You can also see photos of all classes (forthcoming and past) here.

Munchkin's going to play with my cousin's little girl this afternoon while I attend a meeting and she is really looking forward to it. Fingers crossed she'll be worn out from playing and will sleep brilliantly tonight.

Monday 24 January 2011

Miss Mousey a la Amy

Hello! It's Monday again and I have another Sale-A-Bration type card for you. I forgot this one on the bloghop yesterday!!

My dear friend Amy suggested this mouse design. The mouse head is a large heart in Sahara Sand on a Pirouette Pink and Pretty in Pink base. The greetings and glittery flowers are from the Sale-A-Bration set, So Happy For You.

I'm really pleased with the final card, as I rarely get an idea and make it from scratch. Hope you like-y!

Sunday 23 January 2011

Sale-A-Bration Bloghop!

Hello and Happy Sunday. If you've just joined me from Keren's blog, an extra welcome!!

I've been saving up cards made with my Sale-A-Bration sets so I have lots to share with you:

This first card is using Punch Bunch and the Nursey Suite DSP. Simple but sweet. My cousin is having a baby boy in a few weeks so I wanted a card that was baby-ish but also masculine.

This next card features the SAB set Bliss. I've seen many card samples a bit like this but hopefully I've changed it enough to make it my own!! The colour combo is Conchord Crush & Very Vanilla with a touch of Crumb Cake. The butterflies were made with the stamp being inked only once and then stamped three times so that the colour was paler with each press.


This next card also uses Bliss. I love using punches as they make cards super quick to create. Oh, the sentiment was from another SAB set called So Happy For You. The colours used are Pear Pizzazz, Baja Breeze and Crumb Cake.

This card above was made for a party I ran yesterday at my good friend, Amy's. We had such fun chatting and making it our own - some people really went to town with the sentiments from So Happy For You and added some of the little images from the set too. The owl is from Punch Bunch and, as I've said before, I literally cannot wait for the owl punch to come out here in the UK!! I love this patterned paper, it's called Sweet & Sour, and when you see it in real life there are sections that are clear embossed for added texture.
I gave this card to my Nanny who is currently being treated for cancer to let her know we are all here for her.

With colouring using my blender pens being my current favourite method of relaxing, I couldn't resist using Bella Toile embossed in black to give me something larger to colour! I then used the So Happy For You words for a sentiment. The colour combination here is Old Olive, Perfect Plum and More Mustard.

Lastly is this card with an embossed greeting from So Happy For You. This set of sentiments is sooo versatile! I used Poppy Parade, Pacific Point & So Saffron with Crumb Cake.

I wanted to use Sweet Summer. Many of the cards I've made with this set have used very soft subtle colours so I beefed up this card with the combination you saw before: Conchord Crush, Old Olive and More Mustard! I coloured the flowers using markers and even wrote the sentiment by hand.
This card also uses Punch Bunch along with Greenhouse Gala DSP. I'm currently loving this ribbon technique so it's being used frequently! The colours on this card are Whisper White, Daffodil Delight and Pear Pizzazz.
I hope you've enjoyed looking through my ideas - please leave comments to let me know what you think. If you like my samples you're very welcome to become a follower on my blog (see the panel on the left). I will be adding more SAB samples in the coming weeks so keep your eyes peeled! Your next stop on the bloghop is Frankie Sue's blog. Have fun hopping!!

Friday 21 January 2011

Flowery handwriting

Hello all! Above is a card I made earlier in the week using Summer Sun DSP and Peach Parfait In Color paper. Sweet. It also gave me the opportunity to use my various flower punches, pearls and some buttons etc.
I thought I'd use my handwriting on the card too as I didn't have a stamp with a sentiment that suited the card. It was pretty nerve-wracking using my own writing but now I've had a few days looking at it, I quite like it!
This weekend I am trying something new... I am taking part in a Sale-A-Bration bloghop! It starts at 10am on Sunday 23rd January; my blog will be linked to other talented SU ladies so you will be able to get loads of ideas of how to make the most of your Sale-A-Bration sets. Hope to see you then!!!

Thursday 20 January 2011

Duo of Valentines

It's nearly the weekend! What a sunny week we've had after the miserable start on Monday.
As I'm so happy I thought I would share the lurve with these little valentines. They feature Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla with a touch of Crumb Cake. Sounds tasty!! I used the Sweetheart set for the card on the left and the card on the right has a sentiment that has retired.
The right hand card has lots of Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the two hearts, so they look really lovely in real life. If only Canon would get on with that glitter setting on my camera!
Another thing that has made this week extra special is that my team has grown! I'd like to welcome Diane to my team of Blue Angels Stampin' Up! Demonstrators. Hopefully our little team will continue to grow, and if you'd like to be a part of it, please email me to find out more: blueangelcrafts@gmail.com

Wednesday 19 January 2011

Framed

Morning all! I was wandering about with my toothbrush yesterday when I realised I hadn't shared this project with you.

I made it for my DH for Christmas. He'd been to the concert and is a hoarder of tickets etc. so I thought I would use it for a purpose and frame it. I got the marketing leaftlet to add a picture and then layered musical note paper from Newsprint DSP. The stars were punched from Cherry Cobbler CS and retired More Mustard hostess paper to match the colours on the right of the ticket.

He was certainly surprised that I made this for him and has pride of place in his guitar/PC room.

And yes, this is who we named Munchkin after!!!!

Tuesday 18 January 2011

Sunny days

Welcome to another Kristina Werner inspired card! This time I changed the style of flower and also I used different paper and added some more faux stitching.... so pretty much it's my interpretation of her card layout.
Anyway, the papers used are from a set called Sunny Garden. A sweet set a papers that has a stamp set to match. The colours are Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz, So Saffron and Peach Parfait on a Chocolate Chip base.
We had a lovely day today, with plenty of naps and admiration of the gorgeous sunset on our way home from grocery shopping. Fab! Later I'm off out with the girls and I can't wait to catch up with them all. Have a good evening, whatever you are doing.

Monday 17 January 2011

Just discovered...

Morning all. I have just discovered Kristina Werner's blog. Oh my gosh I LOVE her style. So here are a few cards inspired by ones on her blog.

Above is a card that uses up teeny tiny scraps of Blueberry Crisp DSP. On her blog Kristina used ribbon. I've just realised that the stamp set I've used it another retired one called Sealed With A Kiss. Love this set, so it's sad that it's now retired.

Anyway I was able to use Sahara Sand CS and then spritzed on top of it (there will be A LOT of spritzing in the coming posts as I'm now addicted!!) and the buttons were just ones I had lying around from clothes as my Stampin' Up! ones looked a bit large.

This is a card that is on the most recent post on Kristina's blog but I switched the Bashful Blue and Crumb Cake layers over and then used Poppy Parade to contrast. It's hard to see but there's a little bit of glitter around the edge of the heart. To follow the polka dot theme I used the background stamp Dot Dot Dot to give the blue layer a few Whisper White Craft Ink dots.

Not entirely sure what to do with all the Valentine's I've made... I might have to sell a few as I don't think my husband would be grateful if I sent them to other people!!! Any other ideas... let me know, although please don't say save them for next year as I have a stash of about 5 from LAST YEAR!!!

Have a good Monday xx

Sunday 16 January 2011

Valentine scraps

Afternoon all! Here is a little Valentine card I made the other day using patterned paper scraps - in this case it's Elegant Soiree papers. Gorgeous colours: soft suede, very vanilla, baja breeze etc. Love love love.

Even better I managed to use my spritzer tool on the background which was fun. Another addition you could add is to draw some fake stitching around each heart for a handmade patchwork look.

The sentiment I used is retired (as discovered last night by my downline!) Whoops. But I think that the 'Amour' stamp in the Artistic Etchings set would look lovely. Or the 'bliss' sentiment in the Bliss Sale-A-Bration set would be cute. Lots of options!

Saturday 15 January 2011

Embossing all over the place

A late post today as it's been a busy day. I went along to Natalie's training session today and had a fab time. We had business training as well as gaining lots and lots of great ideas for future classes, demonstrations and so on. Oh and we spent over 4 hours stamping and chatting!
(If this sounds like fun to you, why not join my team? You'd be able to attend training sessions too! Contact me for more information)
Anyway, I got back too late to photograph anything that I'd like to share so instead I have this card for you. It features a lot of embossing - the background is clear embossed using the Very Vintage jumbo wheel, the words & All A Flutter butterfly are in gold embossing powder.
The 'thanks' greeting is from the Sale-A-Bration set So Happy For You. Such a fun font, and one of the sets that you can choose for FREE with every £45 worth of products ordered until the end of February.
I've used Chocolate Chip and Rich Razzleberry to compliment the golden butterfly. Lots of distressing to the edges and sponging for texture. Currently I appear to be glued to my distressing tools...
The butterfly is attached to the card with a Dimensional that is attached to a 1p coin so that the butterfly spins along the long oval window. Sweeeeeeet! I have the adapted the tutorial I saw ages ago on Monica Gale's website and it's such an easy technique.
If you are interested in learning how to make this type of mechanism on a card, you'll love my Easter class as we'll be making a card that has the same moving part!! Click on the 'Classes' tab at the top of the page for dates.

Friday 14 January 2011

DVD labels

Our DVD collection has got out of control! Dear Hubby has bought some ugly black folders to keep the discs in, but I couldn't help pretty-ing them up. I made tags from Crumb Cake CS and then stamped in Basic Black using the gorgeous Bliss Sale-A-Bration stamp set. On some Very Vanilla I stamped descriptions in the same colour ink using Just Perfect Alphabet. Each folder has a colour and the striped ribbon, little birdie and flower were stamped in the colour. The flower was also rolled in black ink before stamping. A little bit of Linen thread attached them to the zip and voila!
Hope you have had a good day. I'm looking forward to Natalie's training event tomorrow - it promises to be great fun and a chance to catch up with pals. I'm sure that I'll have lots of new ideas to share with you tomorrow night!!

Thursday 13 January 2011

Owl-licious

It's Thursday already! Can't believe how fast this week has passed...
This is a card I made using the fabulous Sale-A-Bration set, Punch Bunch. I am totally in love with this little owl and can't wait for the punch to be released in April. Another new product is on this card, the fleurette II. These little crochet delights add a touch of class to projects and you can even colour them with reinkers. I added a Basic Rhinestone to the centre of the flower to hide the hole at the centre of the flower.
The get a two-tone colour to the owl, I stamped him in Early Espresso on Whisper White CS and then stamped him again on a piece of Pretty In Pink CS. I cut out the owl's chest from the pink piece of CS and adhered it to the brown owl. Love him!!
Sentiment came from another Sale-A-Bration set, So Happy For You. The font is really sweet and fun, which was perfect for a card like this.

Wednesday 12 January 2011

Because I care

Hooray for Wednesday! It's been a funny sort of day... mainly because I "accidentally" got back into bed after dropping Munchkin at the childminders - and woke up at lunchtime! Whoops!!

Anyway this card was made with the Level 1 Hostess set called Because I Care. At first I was not interested in this set at all but now I am a convert. There are so many cool things that you could do with them - the colour combinations are never ending. Plus it's a set that begs to be coloured in. Definately going to give that a try soon.

I've used Pretty in Pink and the In Color Pear Pizzazz. I'm loving combining my Window punch with the Modern Label punch. The papers are from the Subtles Paper stack. Gosh I love those papers. They are so fabulous for creating co-ordinating patterned backgrounds. Yumster!

Tuesday 11 January 2011

Blissful

Hello there friends! Hope you've had a good day. We had fun doing our weekly shop today - Munchkin always livens up proceedings!!

This card was made with another of the fabulous Sale-A-Bration called Bliss. The swirly stamp was stamped with Whisper White Craft Ink and then embossed with white embossing powder to really make it *pop*. Hope you like!

I seem to be in a real craft groove at the moment and I can't wait to share all my creations with you in the coming days....

Monday 10 January 2011

All A Flutter

Hello! Hope you are well. I am back with another card featuring the lovely paper daisies. Love them! The stamp used on the card is called All A Flutter and is an a la carte stamp that you can buy individually (you can see them right at the back of the current catalogue). Such a fantastic image and super useful.
I layered a piece of vellum over the Baja Breeze layer and stamped the sentiment from the Level 1 Hostess Set in Early Espresso to match the card base. A little bit of linen thread and an Early Espresso button and bobs yer uncle!
I'm hoping to make some more cards using the fabulous Sale-A-Bration sets to share with you soon. It's been a long day as Munchkin had THREE jabs today and has been feeling a bit worse for wear ever since. Poor little mite.

Sunday 9 January 2011

Just Because

Happy Sunday! Apolgies for my absence - I've had a bad few days with my eyes which has prevented me from crafting much but they're on the mend now.
I got the layout for this card from SCS. It's great because I got to use my two new stamps: Notably Ornate and Music Notes wheel. They were gifts from my lovely husband!! Along with the Modern Label punch and the paper flowers. What a sweetie.
The base of the card is Crumb Cake, combined with Soft Suede, Baja Breeze and a touch of Very Vanilla. Mmm nice and vintage-y.
Don'f forget that Sale-A-Bration continues and you are welcome to contact me if you'd like to place an order. blueangelcrafts@gmail.com

Thursday 6 January 2011

Naughty cat birthday card

This is a card I made for my father-in-law on his birthday last month. It's based on one from SCS. Using punches makes cardmaking really quick and easy. I used various punches to create the cat: 5 petal flower punch, 1/2" circle, large oval and the window punch. The treat cup has some fish stamped in it from Something Sweet stamp set, then I put a white chocolate fish inside as a little extra gift.

The patterned paper was from the Brights stack - these are an absolute bargain. Check them out in the catalogue!

We've not done too much today which is nice as yesterday was pretty hectic. There are still places on my Alien cards class this Saturday morning if you'd like to join me!

Wednesday 5 January 2011

Sailboat birthday

Happy Wednesday! Today I've got a quick little card that I made with some scraps while I was tidying my craft room.

The boat is made from pieces of Celebrations DSP with a scrap of Real Red CS for the sails to hang from. The top looked a little bare so I added an Old Olive button threaded with a little bit of linen thread.

The sentiment was a rub-on from a pack called Bday Party, which has images as well as sentiments that are perfect for boys and girls cards. I rubbed the words onto a scrap of Whisper White and attached them with Dimensional foam pads. Finally I drew fake sewing with a white gel pen and voila!

Tuesday 4 January 2011

Flowery thanks

Hello hello! Hope you are having a happy Tuesday. We've had a quiet day, just a quick trip to the library as we're all still under the weather. Back to work tomorrow though!!
This is another Sale-A-Bration card using Sweet Summer. The colours used are Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight & Wild Wasabi. Nice and bright.
I've been working on my Easter class (weird, I know seeing as there is Mothers' Day and Valentines' Day sooner but the mood took me!). So I'll be able to share that with you soon.

Monday 3 January 2011

Get well soon

Happy Bank Holiday Monday! Hope you are doing something lovely with your extra day off. We went to my parents for a lovely roast dinner, and although Munchkin is still unwell, we managed to have a nice time together.

Another person who's been unwell is my Nanny, who is currently recovering from a major operation. I made this card for her this morning based on a few I saw on SCS. It's made with the set Growing Green (or Going Green as I stupidly call it in the labels at the bottom of the posts) and Sincere Salutations.

The idea was an art deco look with the Daffodil Delight, Basic Black and Whisper White. I felt a bit worried afterwards that I'd gone a bit overboard with the black but I hope that the yellow is cheerful enough to balance it out.

If you are looking for some inspiration I have planned 3 new classes. You can find out more by clicking here. If you can't make the dates but have a group of 4+ friends I am happy to run a private class for you at the same price per person.

I'm just waiting for my FREE Sale-A-Bration sets to arrive so I can share them with you but I will be back with some more Sweet Summer samples soon.

Sunday 2 January 2011

Sweet Summer

Ahh if only it was summer! Normally I enjoy the cosy feeling of this time of year but with all the sickness and cabin fever I am ready for spring!! I got this Sale-A-Bration set out for some use to cheer me up. It's called Sweet Summer and is just great for colouring in. I used my inkpads and blender pens to add a soft coloured look. the base of the card is Baja Breeze and the grass is cut from Pear Pizzazz cardstock. The flower heads are raised up with foam pads for dimension. It's a pity my camera doesn't have a glitter setting as you can't see the Dazzling Diamonds well but in real life they add some gorgeous sparkle.
The sentiment is from my current favourite, Curly Cute sentiments. You could really put any sentiment with this card though as it's pretty generic in who it would appeal to.
So here is a picture of Munchkin. She's barely been dressed in the past 5 days as she's had a raging temperature among other ailments, poor lamb. Amazing that she still looks so cute in photos, hey?! She is sat next to one of her favourite Christmas presents, a talking/singing teddy bear from her Great Aunt!

Saturday 1 January 2011

Sale-A-Bration is here!


Hooray hooray Sale-A-Bration is here! I know I went a bit AWOL just before Christmas but I am back now. It is my absolute favourite time of year in the Stampin' Up! calendar. I have been saving up for a blitz and my Christmas money is burning a hole in my pocket.

Yes here it is, Sale-A-Bration. The stamp sets this year are the best ever. I know you'll be like me and want them all!! You can click on the picture above for an A4 sized brochure explaining Sale-A-Bration.


So here are the fabulous stamp sets. All of them are available in clear-mount or wood, depending on your preference. All of them are useful and would also make fantastic gifts (if you can bear to part with them LOL!).
An exciting piece of news is that in the Punch Bunch you may notice that there is an owl.... YES! The owl punch will be appearing in the Mini catalogue in April! Soooo exciting.
Here is how to earn FREE stamps:
  • Spend: For every £45 you spend on products (excluding shipping) you can choose a Sale-A-Bration stamp set. So if you spent £90 you can pick 2!!

  • Host: Host a party during January or February and for every £300 of sales you can choose a Sale-A-Bration stamp set in addition to the regular hostess benefits.

  • Join: Now is the best time of year to join Stampin' Up! as a Demonstrator. As a new recruit during this period you can add an ADDITIONAL stamp set to your starter kit from the current catalogue up to the value of £44.95. To be honest, the starter kit is great value at £119 in itself but this just makes it a steal! Contact me with your phone number if you are interested and I'll give you a call for a no pressure chat.
I'll be back to share some creations I've made using the SAB sets in the coming weeks.