Embossed Kissing

What a great new technique "Embossed Kissing" which was brought to my attention in today's SCS technique challenge. Here's the challenge thread with a 'how to' from Joan Ervin.

I used my Ornate Blossom solid stamp with the Finial Press embossing folder. I love how this turned out! Here's a close up of the embossed kissing :

Recipe
Stamps : Ornate Blossom
Ink : Blushing Bride, Baja Breeze
Cardstock Blushing Bride, Baja Breeze, Shimmery White
Accessories : Scallop Square Bigz Die, Big Shot, 1/2 Pearls, Finial Press EF, 1 1/4" Square Punch

Simple Birthday Icecreams

I needed to make a birthday card today and the sketch seemed nice and simple (right up my alley) so I put together this card using the summer set Sunny Fun and the Nursery Nest DSP. I trimmed the image with Ruffled Ribbon and hey presto, job done :)

Recipe
Stamps : Sunny Fun
Ink : StazOn Black
Cardstock : Shimmery White, Nursery Nest DSP, watercolour paper
Accessories : Island Indigo Ruffled Ribbon, Watercolour Wonder Crayons, Aquapainter

Memory Book

... actually, more like photo album! These are so easy to make and I love how you can personalise them for any occasion! Sarah took tons of photos while she was with mum & dad in England this June. Mum's been asking DAILY when she can have a few of the best ones ... so rather than just e:mail them, Sarah printed off her favourites and I made this book up.

The photo pages are the SU clear envelopes, they stack beautifully on top of one another, then I made a front and back sheet and scored about 3/4" in from the end. Then just use a Crop-a-dile to make the jumbo eyelet holes and tie with ribbon. EASY! And Mum & Dad love their book. I made a second one of photos from Jersey .... try one, whoever you send them to will be THRILLED!

Sweet 16

My lovely daughter, Sarah, celebrated her 16th birthday on Tuesday! Roy and I can't believe how quickly the time has gone ~ she's turned into a truly beautiful (inside and out) young woman and we are so proud that she's our daughter. Here she is with her boyfriend, Tyler, tucking into a Birthday Breakfast ....

Instead of a Birthday Cake, I ordered a dozen cupcakes from DC Cupcakes ~ these things are WICKEDLY WONDERFUL ...

We celebrated at a local restaurant, put on our posh outfits and had a fabulous evening together ~ here's Sarah with her Daddy, and then another pic with Tyler.

Happy 16th, Sarah. We love you <3

A Sketch for Dad's Birthday

This is today's sketch over on Splitcoast. I was happy to see it would work perfectly with the SU sailboat stamp "Sail Away", it's my Dad's birthday next week and he's as nuts about sailing as I am about stamping!!! I thought this would be perfect for him.

I used the soon to retire Nautical Expedition Designer Series Paper along with 'Sail Away' stamped in Not Quite Navy Ink. The strip along the bottom is the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Punch with Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine glued to it.

Recipe
Stamps : Sail Away, Happiest Birthday Wishes
Cardstock : Not Quite Navy, Nautical Expedition DSP, Shimmery White
Ink : Not Quite Navy
Accessories : Scallop Circle, 1" Circle, 1 3/8" Circle & Dotted Scallop Ribbon Punches, Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Blender Pen

Colour Challenge Christmas!

Colour Challenge over on Splitcoast today is "Kraft, Yellow & Red" so I chose Crumb Cake, So Saffron, Cherry Cobbler. My new Holiday Mini order arrived recently, so I thought I'd take advantage of the red and make a Christmas card. I don't think yellow is particularly Christmasy, but I like it!!! Here's a closer look at the central image. Isn't that Cherry Cobbler embossing powder fabulous?

Recipe
Stamps : Bright Hopes
Ink : Versamark, Crumb Cake
Cardstock : Crumb Cake, So Saffron, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories : Big Shot, Circles #2 Die, Lace Border Punch, 1/2 Pearls, Cherry Cobbler EP & Heat Gun, Dimensionals

.... one more New Home

I couldn't stop at one, so here's the 2nd House & Home card CASE'd from the Idea Book & Catalogue ... I tried the 'kissing' technique on the lamp shade. It looks pretty funky & retro, don't you think?

Recipe
Stamps : House & Home, Fabulous Phrases
Ink Poppy Parade
Cardstock : Very Vanilla, So Saffron, Poppy Parade, Domestic Goddess DSP
Accessories : Designer Frames EF, Big Shot, Poppy Parade Ribbon, Stampin' Write Markers

New Home

My parents have been friends with the Murthwaites since I was 2 years old when Brigitte found me down by the river in my sleep-suit ... oh my, I was a hyperactive toddler!

Mum & Dad STILL don't know how I got out ... The Murthwaites lived down on the Dee Peninsula in the Wirral, over-looking the river, Mum & Dad were about 6 houses up the road on Park West. I must've got out of bed, climbed down the stairs, out of the front door, down the drive, down the road, down the STONE steps onto the beach and then onto the river shore. Luckily for me, Auntie Brigitte spotted me from her bedroom window and ran down to the beach before I got into trouble!!! She knocked on a few doors asking if anyone knew who I was and eventually found our house ... mum was so horrified that she forgot to thank Brigitte, so went looking for her the next day ... faux pas no. 1 was that she was asking for the pretty French au pair who may live nearby ... when she found Uncle Colin, he corrected Mum, Brigitte was his new wife, not the au pair!!! A firm friendship was cemented that day, and I always refer to Brigitte as my favourite French Auntie who, probably, saved my life that day!

Crikey, that was long-winded .... Mum told me this week that Colin & Brigitte have moved house so I wanted to put a card together for them. Brigitte is probably the most talented crafter I know and influenced both my sister and me heavily when we were children with her knowledge of everything crafty! One summer when our families were vacationing together in France, Brigitte just ran up a dress for my Sister with no pattern in about 2 hrs. We still have that dress to this day. Anyway, I hope she likes this cute little card ... I'm sure she'll let Mum know!

Here's a closer look at the main focal point of the card. The design was CASE'd from page 52 of the Idea Book & Catalogue.

Recipe
Stamps : House & Home, Fabulous Phrases
Ink : Lucky Limeade, Pool Party
Cardstock : Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla
Accessories : Sewing Machine, Linen Thread, Mini Clothespins, Stampin' Write Markers

20th August Card Class

Here are the cards we'll be making at my next Card Class. If you'd like details, let me know and I'll e:mail them through. This first card is based on a design by my friend, Debra, the tag at the top is a magnetised bookmark ~ genius!

A Special Birthday

I got new stamps on Wednesday from the upcoming SU Holiday Mini. This one is part of a Valentine Set called "You are Loved". I really love it! I decided to pull out some neglected tools, the background is a texture plate and the circle inside the scallop is made using the Circle Scissor Plus.

I popped up the flower centres with dimensionals. This is very simple but I love how it turned out.

Recipe
Stamps : You are Loved
Ink : Poppy Parade
Cardstock : Poppy Parade, Shimmery White, Peach Parfait
Accessories : Perfect Details Texture Plate, Big Shot, Circle Scissor Plus, 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, Dazzling Details, Scallop Square Bigz Die

Beau Chateau Engagement

Sarah has a wonderful flute teacher who got engaged while we were away in England. I'm a bit late, but I made her this card to celebrate. Sarah has learned so much from Kinuka and we truly appreciate everything she has done for her. Congratulations, Kinuka, we hope you'll be very happy!

Recipe
Stamps : None!
Ink : Baja Breeze (sponging)
Cardstock : Shimmery White, Beau Chateau DSP
Accessories : Baja Breeze Seam Binding Ribbon, Flower Garden EF, Big Shot


ETA : Patsy ~ the instructions will be available shortly on the sidebar of my blog under 'free tutorials' ... thanks for the interest!

Nature's Pace

I love, love, love this new stamp set called Nature's Pace. I used it for my New Catalogue swap card too ... this is based on that swap which I'll post here once they've all been sent out. had a lovely long chat with my Mum today and she said that Auntie Sue isn't feeling 100% ... I think this may cheer her up a little and let her know I'm thinking about her.

Not sure if you can tell from the pic, but the teeny weeny bee in the middle is popped up on dimensionals. It looks pretty good in the flesh!

Recipe
Stamps : Nature's Pace, Sweet Floral (Background Stamp)
Cardstock : Very Vanilla, Rose Red, Soft Suede
Ink : Basic Black, Crumb Cake
Accessories : 1/2 Pearls, Scallop Trim Border Punch, SU Markers, Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon