It's a Countdown....5....4.....3.....2....1 !

Only 5 more days to order from the retired products and the Spring/Summer catalogue!  Here are some cards I have been making for all the little one's birthdays lately.  My little one turned 3 last month and we had a blast with the Blast Off stamp set.  I knew as soon as I saw it in the catalogue I would need to buy it for birthday celebrations for him.  I even made a rocket shaped cake based on the design, but that is a whole other story!

 

This card layout was hard to photograph for you to see all of the design and the card layout.  The middle section folds separately from the top and the bottom of the card.  The idea I had for this card was to use the Outter Space Jumbo Wheel with shimmer paint to create a planetary background with some galactic glitter. It was a bit tricky at first and I think I could have taken a bit longer to get a more even coating on the wheel probably using the brayer. 

 

The thing I love about this stamp set is the spaceship which looks great in the embossed silver.  My little alien friends are in Lucky Limeade which was a great choice of green for them to stand out - this is a colour also retiring.  I added some left over googly eyes from the Aut/Wint catalogue and there are some Brights Brads on the spaceship too. 

 

Now of course, as every mum does, I think my Son is the greatest so the top sentiment here is the single stamp from the current catalogue World's Greatest which is retiring also.  I combined it with a stamp from the For My Family set, also retiring - how will you make family cards without this set?  It's a must from the retiring sets surely!

 

Here's another layout for the card I made for one of the friends with the same set of stamps.  For the Outter Space background for this one I stamped using Versamark for the watermark look.

For all the 'Thank-You's that follow a birthday celebration, here were the little thank you cards we sent to thank everyone for the great presents received and for coming to our party.  The coloured dots on the spaceships are postal friendly for these cards - just simple punched coloured card this time.

For the cards for the girls I used the Create a Cupcake stamp set and the co-ordinating Cupcake Builder punch. I just love the stamp set where there is a matching punch it is so easy to make a card!  Of course the colour Pink features on the cards and the cakes just look good enough to eat!

Another retiring stamp set is the little trio of stamps used for the 'Happy Birthday' sentiments on the cards.  This set is called Made For You and I thought it was a fantastic value set as it has 'Thank You' and 'Especially for You' as the other sentiments in it. They are in a really lovely clear font for all occasions.  Don't forget too, the scalloped dots ribbon shown on the card is also retiring.  This ribbon comes in some lovely shades, especially those ready for Christmas (yipes! A mention so early in the year) as there is Old Olive and Cherry Cobbler versions!







The next card is possibly one of my favourites.  You will have to excuse the photography of the last few pictures as, in my haste, I used my camera phone to take quick snaps before sending them off in the post so the quality is not so good and this one is particularly blurred.

This is a CASE of a design I saw online by a US demonstrator Lisa Young   I loved the idea of cutting the castle template for a fairy princess themed birthday to celebrate.  I altered a few bits by making my turrets from the Pennants Builder Punch and I also added the Boho Blossoms to the tops of these (well a girl needs some flowers on her birthday) and some sparkles too with rhinestones.  The designer papers here are the Standard Subtles papers and the Floral District (for the turrets and scallop borders).

 

The sentiment is the Curly Cute stamp set, yes another one leaving the catalogue so get it whilst you can. There is still time to order!  The little designer brad on this card is also retiring.  It is one of the pool party dotty Designer Brads we have in the In Colours 2012-2014.

 

Did you spot those Cupcakes hiding again on this card?  There they are, the cupcake tops are white clouds on this card.

 

Last one for today is this Two By Two card for my Nephew who is turning one.  I cannot believe a year has passed already!  This stamp is gorgeous for birth congratulations (it has the sentiment 'congratulations' as part of the stamp), or as I have used it here, for a younger card theme.  Lots of lovely blues for the card with Marina Mist and Tempting Turquouise and I have teamed it up with some Real Red for the scallop circle and stitched ribbon bow.  The sentiment again here is the Made For You happy birtday.

The stamp is an outline stamp so I stamped in Staz On Black ink and then have used a blender pen with my colours to colour in the animals and the ark.  You can add as little (to make your picture more watercolour) or more if you want it a little brighter.  I love being able to create the shading on the picture with the blender pen. 

 

Tip: If you have the ink pads in the colours, just give the ink pads a little squeeze before opening to get a little ink on the underside of the lid to pick up the colour with your blender pen.  If you don't have an ink pad in the colour, don't worry, just use the inside of a lid of another colour ink pad, a paint palette or even just some plastic or perspex and colour a patch with your marker pen to get some ink to pick up with your belnder pen.

Retiring items from this post:

Curly Cute stamps
Made for You stamps
World's Greatest stamp
Two-By-Two stamp
For My Family stamps

Designer Brads
Shimmer Paint
Floral District DSP
Lucky Limeade products
Regal Rose/Pretty in Pink products
Scallop Dots ribbons

To place an order, book a party or come to a workshop email me at craftyinkbuds@sky.com

Floral District Celebrations

Today's post is of a lovely gift idea to show off the beautiful designer papers from Stampin' Up!  It is the last week of the retirment list items being available and in my next few posts I am going to be showing you as many as I can of the great products which are only available now until the end of the catalogue to make sure you don't miss anything!

 

This project is a notebook I picked up in a supermarket which was reduced as a clearance line. It had a sturdy hardback cover and spiral binding, but a not very inspiring cover design, so perfect candidate for some DSP love.  I loved covered pencils idea too ever since I saw it online - just purchase some round wooden pencils and wrap your DSP round them - easy, and they look something special all dressed up!

The papers I have used for my gifts are from the Floral District pack.  Lovely bright designs (not that my photography shows it too well with the poor lighting conditions today!) which are bolder than my usual choices, but I was drawn to the colours used in these papers and the flower blooms on them.

One of the colours in the palette for these papers is Baja Breeze which is a colour leaving us in the refresh.  It's sad, but there are some lovely new colours coming, including some new blues to keep us all happy.  Now, I have used the Pool Party ruffled ribbon on my notepad, not a true colour co-ordination, but I just love this ribbon (this too is retiring) with the end of the catalogue.

A lovely layered Big Shot Fun Flower on the notepad shows off the rest of the designs in the pack as do the Boho Blossom smaller flowers. I finished off the flower with a button from the artisan kit and a large pearl.  For the 'Notes' heading I have used the Broadsheet Alphabet stamp set which is retiring.  This a fantastic alphabet set and each letter is a beautiful unique design. It has been great for initials on cards and projects whilst it has been in my collection as the letters work so well just on their own as stamps. 

The label and sentiment for the pencil box were from the Just Believe stamp set, yes yet another one on the retirement list. 

The second project to show you today, using the same papers, but with an alternative palette is this lovely birthday card I made recently.  I love the colours on this.  The green is the Lucky Limeade which is also leaving us in the refresh.  I really wasn't sure about this one in the In Colours 2012-2013 set, but it really did grow on me and I think I will miss it's vibrance.  Here I have teamed it up with Rose Red for my birthday card.  This card was made on a not-too-sunny day I remember feeling lifted by the colour combination.

The stamps for the 'tweeties' are from the Aviary stamp set,  also retiring at the end of the catalogue period next week.  I think there will be some tweet love still in my house as I don't think I am ready to part with this set just yet.  The banner is made from simple Pennants from the Pennants Builder Punch and the flowers are from the Big Shot Floral Fusion sizzlits.  This card was a really quick win for a birthday celebration and I was really pleased with the results and how easy it was to put together.

That's quite a list of items which I have used for these projects which are retiring, but to list them all in one place, they are:

Notebook
Floral District DSP Papers
Baja Breeze Colour items
Ruffled Ribbon - Pool Party
Broadsheet Alphabet stamp set
Just Believe stamp set

Aviary Card
Aviary stamp set
Lucky Limeade colour items
Floral District DSP
Made for You stamp set


Remember, the retiring items are only available whilst stocks last and until 30th June.  Don't miss out if there is something here you have loved and have not realised is going.

To place an order, book a party or come to a workshop just email me at craftyinkbuds@sky.com

Mother's Day - It's a Hoot!

A lovely Mother's Day start with a special card made with love by my litte one (with a little help from the Daddy Design Team!).  Owls are favourite in our house, with a life-long supporter of Sheffield Wednesday they are bound to be. Our little one is being brought into the Owls Supporters fold starting with the SU Owl Punch!  A card, all the more special when you know it's been made by that special someone.

Inspired by my card, I had a commission for my nephew for a card for my sister.  He is only 8 months old so too young to be crafting with me just yet (!), but I am sure this is just what he would have designed though.  So easy to put a design together with a few punches. 

Some designs actually come from making a bloop and that is what happened for the top border on this card.  I accidently used the cut blade and not the score blade on my trimmer when creating the card base so I quickly created a strip with a fold to cover it and make the folded card again.  I used the scallop border for the edges before sticking and it worked a treat!

For these cards we used:

Punches: Owl Punch, Boho Blossoms, Small Heart, Scallop Border, Pennant Builder
Big Shot: Little Leaves, Alphabet dies (retired)

We are off for a Mother's Day lunch now, hope you are all having a lovely special day too!

To place an order, book a party or come to a workshop email me at craftyinkbuds@sky.com