Confetti Shower of Love

After what feels like such a long Winter, it finally feels like Spring is here and with it a card from me which is a card of love.  It was actually my Valentine's card to my husband, but it works equally well as an anniversary card too. I thought I would share it with you now as it uses the amazing Heart Confetti Punch from the Spring/Summer Catalogue 2015 which I love. Big hearts, little hearts for big love or little love sentiments all in a convenient border punch.

So with my border punch in hand you can see this design started with a simple punch along the Shimmery White cardstock. I love this card for special occasion cards and my supplies are now dangerously depleted so it will have to be on the re-order list. I saved the punch hearts and added some Real Red hearts too with some Silver Glimmer Paper hearts to make the border complete for the last section. I kept punching for some more hearts to fill the confetti envelope contents too. I won't confess here how many tiny hearts have been found on and around my crafting area since this project!

The Envelope was the main idea for the card and this is what came to me first. It is easily made with our very own SU envelope punch board. I just used the smallest envelope sizes and measurements and made it out of the Silver Foil Embellished Vellum Papers (with the sheet with silver hearts on of course!).  

I knew when I came up with the design that I wanted my envelope to open up so I left all the sides of the envelope unstuck and then I decided to use some clear Window Sheet to make a clear pocket front inside so that I could place my scattering hearts of all shapes in there and they could move around freely.  

A little tip I learnt online from another demo was when using the dimensionals to stick the pocket for free-moving objects, use a little talc powder down the sides so that the items inside do not stick onto the sides when they move about. I made my pocket and then just ran a small paintbrush with powder on along the sides before filling with my flurry of red, silver glimmer and shimmering white hearts. I used the strips of the surrounds of the dimensionals packet and trimmed these into fine thin strips to use. To secure my envelope I tied round some silver 1/8" ribbon and created my bow. 

Every gift needs a little label which I even managed to punch one of the small border punch out on one corner of. The label was needed for my sentiment from the Something to Say Stamp set 'big ways, small ways....'. Inside the card was stamped 'love you always!' to finish the saying.  

There is a strip of Read Red inside the card which lines up with the confetti border and is placed on the back card so that when the card is standing there is shadowing between the punched hearts and the back of the card.  I stuck a few scattered hearts on the open top of the envelope and stuck this to the background card.  As well as the border punch I used my small heart from the Itty Bitty Accent Punch Pack for some larger hearts.

I hope you like this one.  It sounds more complicated now I blog about it than it was to make. I think the confetti punch is going to come in very handy for all projects for love. I think I might just have to add the star border punch too to my next order before it disappears from the spring//summer catalogue.

I will come back soon as I have been busy with some more Spring products too.....

Suzanne

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For my products list:

Shimmery White A4 Card Stock	Medium Window Sheets	Silver Fancy Foil Designer Vellum	Confetti Hearts Border Punch	Something To Say Wood-Mount Stamp Set
Silver Glimmer Paper	Silver 1/8" Ribbon	Real Red A4 Card Stock	Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad	Envelope Punch Board
Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack

To place an order, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, just drop me an email at craftyinkbuds@sky.com. Remember you can now order online at anytime too.

Something (more) To Say!

Well yesterday's card was a special birthday card, today's is a celebration!  This one is the same stamp set, 'Something to Say', but with a congratulations feel.  It could be to celebrate a birthday, exam passes or even another special occasion. I have used another new colour from the In Colours for this one, Lost Lagoon and teamed it up with Night of Navy from the Regals collection for the cardstock pieces.  For the stamping I have used the slightly lighter Coastal Cabana.  The Lost Lagoon is definitely a hit and I have doubled up with the gorgeous Satin Stitched ribbon to show it at it's finest.

This card is inspired by a card from another great SU demo, Michelle Last. Michelle's card was a similar style and sentiment, but used just cut card whereas I have flipped the layout round and used the Banners Framelits for my panels.   

The stamping is similar to yesterday using the Night of Navy and Coastal Cabana with the little star from the stamp set.  Can you see I have also layered some punched stars on the card too, made with the matching punch set.  Of course, I have stamped inside too!

I love that we have more satin ribbon back in this year's catalogue.  It is provides a neat finish if you can carefully use a lighter to seal the ends of the ribbon.  

My Circles for the 'Now Go Change The World' sentiment on the card were cut using another great collection of dies for the Big Shot, the Circles Collection. That is two great reasons in this post alone to take a closer look at the Big Shot promotion this month.  See how easy it is to cut your different layers and shapes with the use of the cutting tool and the ever expanding collections of dies we offer! The Banner Framelits are currently on offer too, so get them at a discounted price whilst you can.

To place an order, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, just drop me an email at craftyinkbuds@sky.com. Remember you can now order online at anytime too by just clicking the link at the top on the blog page.

Products Used:

Something to Say 134177 (wood)

*** On Offer ** Banners Framelits 132173

Circles Collection Framelits 130911

Itty Bitty Punch Pack 133787

In Colour 2014-2016 A4 Card Stock 133687

Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock 106577

Satin Stitched Ribbon (Lost Lagoon) 133672

Plus Inks:  Night of Navy, Coastal Cabana

Click on the links to go to my store to see any of the product in more detail

Something To Say Folded Card

With everything that leaves the catalogue that you fear you will never be able to replace, along comes another must-have product or stamp set that fits into the space left behind. Today's post is of a card I made with my lovely group of regular ladies who just loved the new in colours for this one, Blackberry Bliss and Hello Honey.

This was a simple folded card with an overlap closure that I secured with a decorated belly band. I used a single sheet of A4 cardstock and cut at 14 cm along the short edge for the full length. I then scored and folded at 9cm , 18cm and 27cm using the whole long length of the card.  I folded the card and rounded all the corners to soften the shape.  I used the corner punch on the back of the Envelope Punch Board for my corners.

Now the stamps for this card are the 'Something to Say' set from the new annual catalogue. This is a set I ordered initially to fill a gap in the general celebration and occasions selection after the recent retirements. It has birthday greetings, friendship, kind words, and celebrations, what more could you need? It also comes with it's own sweet trio of a star, a heart and a mini flower. Now if you know me, you know I love anything small, petite and cute (probably something to do with my own 'compact' size)! Even better, there is a matching punch set for the little trio too!!  

The layers of the card inside were then the lovely Natural Ivory cardstock (108630) which can be found on page 193 of the main catalogue. Sometimes you get so used to the white or cream layers you forget that we have a variety of speciality card an paper too which can be used. I love the speckled neutral shades of this paper as a change to the brilliance of the Whisper white or the smooth creamy Very Vanilla cardstock I usually use.  

Inside my card as there were three spaces for inserts I used three sayings from the set,  'Big Ways, Small Ways', 'Love You Always' and 'Happy Birthday'. For each insert I then used one of the three of the trio, the flower, the hearts and then the star. I stamped each randomly in Blackberry Bliss and then again as a shadow effect to the original stamp placements with the second colour, Hello Honey.

For the Belly Band it was the co-ordinating designer paper band which was then decorated with a collection of punched pieces. I used the Decorative Label layer at the back in Hello Honey, then the 1 3/4" Scallop Circle in Blackberry Bliss to surround the sentiment from the 'Label of Love' stamp set. I stamped the sentiment twice and just used snips to cut the centre out of the Hello Honey version. The petite flower on the belly band are a perfect partner with some of the smallest pearls.

There's so many other ideas for the 'Something to Say' set and I have plenty more to show you.  I am still crafting through the holidays where I can in between some kiddy crafting with my little one to keep him amused, not to mention playing with my new Seasonal pre-order items which have arrived! 

Suzanne

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Products used:

Something to Say 134177

Label Love 130619

Itty Bitty Punch Pack 133787

In Colour 2014-2016 A4 Card Stock 133687

Naturals Ivory A4 Cardstock 108630

Designer Series Paper In Colours 2014-2016 133705

Decorative Label Punch 120907

Scallop Circle Punch 119854

To place an order, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, just drop me an email at craftyinkbuds@sky.com. Remember you can now order online at anytime too.

Blackberry Bliss Petite Petals Butterfly

Today we have been out enjoying the fabulous sunshine (when it finally arrived) and sitting watching the Farnborough Air Show as the planes flew over.  Unfortunately after a busy theme park day for my little one yesterday and a late drive back he fell asleep way before the Red Arrows display he had been waiting for started.  Oh well, another chance tomorrow to see them if he can stay awake!!

Today's card is a simple design using some of the new In Colours 2014-2016 again.  I have layered in Smoky Slate and Whisper White with a circle cutout with the Circles Collections Framelits dies.  I have left off all the dimensionals or any embellishments on this one so apart from the butterfly there is nothing standing out to cause the extra postage.

I simply stamped using the Petite Petals with the colours Blackberry Bliss, Lost Lagoon and Hello Honey in a random pattern.  I have been using only one or two of the flower designs so I had purposefully picked out one of the other designs for this card and I am glad I did.

The 'Thank You' comes from the Something to Say stamp set which is already proving very useful for a number of occasions and celebrations.  You can never have too many thank you cards lined up ready to send.  The butterfly, of course, you will recognise from the Papillon Potpourri set as it has made a number of appearances, but with all these flowers in the garden in bloom and watching the wildlife each day it is hard not to put the two together too when crafting.

I love the new colours and I am loving finding new combinations with them with both my existing stamp sets and the new ones I have to show you too.

Don't forget to drop by again soon for some new inspiration. 

Suzanne

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To place an order for any of the products I have used, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, just drop me an email at craftyinkbuds@sky.com. Remember you can now order online at anytime too by just using the online shop link at the top of the blog page.

Confessions of the New Catalogue Addict

What a wonderful few days I have been having! I have been busy beavering away at that stash of birthday cards to make for the family birthday run in July, but I have also been able to enjoy some memorable family time sharing those birthday moments with those dear to me.

It is all the birthday for my Mum, my sister and me in the first few weeks of July and as it was a special birthday this year for my Mum we all booked ourselves tickets for the flower show at Hampton Court Palace.We had a lovely day enjoying all the beautiful flowers and the colour inspiration from the displays was just stunning!

A confession to make though was that our day did involve quite a bit of food as well as flowers. Well not so much food, but more specifically cake! We took Mum for an Afternoon tea near by and that was after we had sampled a little late morning tea and cake at the show.  As we made our finally way round the show in the afternoon we did our best to sample as many of the fine food wares from the stalls as we could and came home laden with goodies to stash in the fridge and cupboards! I think there may have to be some rationing to make them last!

After all that colour inspiration I also had another day of crafting inspiration joining my extended crafting family for a fantastic day of training with our lovely crafting 'Mummy'.  I came home with lots of ideas and samples and realised just how naughty I have been enjoying my new catalogue products and not sharing them all with you, up until now that is......

Here are the New In Colour 2014-2016 collection colours from the new catalogue on a simple card I have made to show them off.

The new colours in the collection are called Mossy Meadow, Lost Lagoon, Tangelo Twist, Hello Honey and Blackberry Bliss.  I can already tell you my favourite is Lost Lagoon.  No surprises there as it is always the blue tones I seem to love the most!  Blackberry Bliss is gorgeously rich in colour though and a very close second.

Which one do you like best?  Leave me a comment with your choice as I would love to know.

This card is using the dotty Petite Petals flower, but can you see the new stamps on it too?  There is the little flower centre on the Blackberry Bliss flower at the end of the row and the 'Happy Birthday'. These are both in a new set from the catalogue called 'Something to say'.  As well as lots of useful sayings in the set there is a little heart, a little star and the little flower.  In true Stampin' Up! style there is the Itty Bitty Punch pack to co-ordinate for instant punching (we love this!)

A really simple Happy Birthday card and the colours are so vivid against the Whisper White.  I am not sure why my birthday sentiment is looking a little wobbly though I think I may need to go back and check my mounting on that one.

Well I am sitting here with the french doors open enjoying the burst of sunshine coming through and the day is calling me away from the computer to enjoy it some more.  Back soon with some more inspiration and colour to brighten up your days I hope.

Suzanne

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To place an order, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, just drop me an email at craftyinkbuds@sky.com. Remember you can now browse the products and order online at anytime too.