Such a proud Mummy!

No card to share with you today I'm afraid but I have some very special news instead!
Today is 'A' level results day and we have been patiently waiting to see if Alice got the necessary results from all of her hard work to enable her to take up a place at university. She only went and did it!! An incredible achievement when you consider the year that we have had. Alice worked so hard against all the odds and it paid off, she is off to Newport in Wales in a few weeks for a BA hons course in Film and Video; she wants to pursue a career in post production.
So, you can understand why I am a very proud mummy today and I hope you will join me in congratulating her.
Do you think it is too early to begin shopping for an Oscars dress? :)

Christmas Ribbon Wreath

Another team training project but a deviation from the usual cards! This Christmas wreath uses nearly a whole reel of lucky limeade ruffled ribbon wrapped around a polystyrene ring and held with glue dots. I think the poinsettias are great too and so simple to make using the five petal punch, the boho blossoms punch and a glimmer brad.

I have more projects to share with you but as it is A level results day tomorrow I am not sure I will make it here. 

Christmas Elf Boots!

How is this for a cheeky Christmas card?  A pair of stripy stockinged Elfen legs. I made this card at quarterly team training along with the gift box and I have a few more projects to share over the next few days so prepare to feel unseasonably Christmassy!
The shoes have each been made from a quarter of a top note die which was then shaped further using the ornament and circle punches, the shoes were then topped with a glimmer brad and a bow.  The gorgeous stripy stockings are from the Holly Berry designer papers and the greeting from Petite Pairs.

Christmas Gift Box

I love this box!  The lovely Amanda Fowler showed us how at our recent team training day at the end of July.
The box itself is made from just one piece of A4 card stock and created easily using the Simply Scored. The lid is made from a scallop square cut using the Big Shot.  
The completed box stands around 6 inches high and will be perfect at Christmas time, I can see that I will be making a lot of these.

A Reason to Smile

It's Summer and there are plenty of reasons to smile at the moment. We have had some great weather recently and I'm crossing my fingers that there is more to come! Team GB have done so well at the Olympic Games and have given us loads of smiles too. 
BUT Stampin Up have given us a wonderful Reason to Smile with this gorgeous stamp set that is only available during August. You can order it at a workshop or class OR you can receive it absolutely free with a purchase of £60! If you would like to add it to your collection then give me a shout. 

Square scraps

This is a great way of using up some of those scraps of designer paper.  I have used the Everyday enchantment designer paper which was on special offer last month. Just cut into squares and arranged on the front of my card, I then added a layered flower cut using the Big Shot.

To add some extra interest the bottom edge of the card is trimmed in line with the paper shapes

Beautiful Butterflies

You will find several versions of this card on various blogs, this is mine.  My base card is the lovely deep purply blue Concord Crush upon which I have layered an embossed whisper white mat.  The embossing folder is Elegant bouquet. The gorgeous butterflies, again in concord crush are created using the embosslits die which cuts and embosses the shapes at the same time.  I just glued one half of the butterflies to the card so that it looks like they just landed for a moment.

Sail Away

Again, this card was case'd from another crafter and I apologise for not taking note of who it was. The Yacht image is stamped onto the smallest of 3 squares, all the edges daubed in matching ink and twisted and layered onto the base card. The sentiment is from the Curvy Verses stamp set on a punched decorative label.

Christmas in the pink

All the projects I had to share with you from my crafty weekend away in Worthing mean I haven't yet shown you what we made at Make, Do and Send card club at the beginning of July!

Carrying on from where we left off, another Christmas card! Now that's two people who can have a card this year :)
This card is case'd from Elaine Smith, you can see her blog Sassy Stampers here. I hope you don't mind Elaine but I think this is such a great card. 
The colour scheme is Pretty in Pink and Rich Razzleberry, I stamped the background with the Serene Snowflakes then added punched baubles. Some ribbon and a few rhinestones complete the front.  The front edge is cut shorter than the back with a pretty scalloped edge so a complementary panel was added to the inside.

Bookmark swaps

A couple of Saturday's ago was our Stampin Up teams Quarterly training day. When demonstrator's get together there is always lots of swapping of projects so that we can all gain inspiration from each other. 
In case it isn't obvious, I made bookmarks this time. I made several different colourways as you can see above.

I used the scallop border punch to pretty up the edges and made rings using two of the circle punches to highlight my stamping. 

Party pages

Another double page layout inspired by the Jubilee. The top note die makes a great mat for photos doesn't it and look, I managed to make my bunting line up beautifully across the two pages!
That's it! the last of my crafty weekend away.  Thanks so much for all the inspiration Elizabeth I had a great time, roll on next year :)

Scrapbook pages to fill

I am almost at the end of my Worthing craft weekend projects, there is just one more to share tomorrow. This was another class from Elizabeth, she created these scrapbook layouts which I can fill with my own photos later.
Taking the Jubilee as inspiration there is a red, white and blue colour scheme and some lovely bunting made by using the pennant punch.

Flowers and Diamonds, a girl's best friends

Another scrap book page! I found this one quite hard, anyone who knows me will know that I really struggle with the whole tearing technique. It just feels so wrong to tear or scrumple such pretty papers. Believe it or not I began with a plain white page and took my inkpads to the edges. I then added some strips of First edition designer paper, again daubed straight from the inkpad, to make a border. The paper layers are a mixture of punched paper and torn circles then I but some shapes from the remaining paper. The flowers are cut using a big shot die from designer paper and layered up and compiled with a very blingy brad. A final touch of some embossed butterflies flying through the  page from bottom left to top right. There's a lot to look at on this page and yet the focus remains on the photo of my beautiful daughter. 

Sunshine from Tenerife

I can't believe I am still sharing projects from my crafty weekend away!  I achieved so much while I was there. 
I don't know about you but I don't think we have had nearly as much sunshine as we need this year so I dug out some photos of our trip to Tenerife a couple of years ago to scrapbook.
I created the spotty border by making a template, I punched a lot of holes in a scrap piece of card with my cropodile and then sponged the ink through the holes. I was pleased with the effect as it was a little random and gives some lovely texture. Te flowers began as plain white paper flowers but by pressing them into my inkpads I was able to coordinate them to my page. 

Happy Birthday!

Well, the lady in question should have received this by now so it's ok to share with you. I made this card for the birthday of one of my downline, Happy Birthday Val :)
The image is from a new stamp set that is available FREE in August with a qualifying spend and is called Reason to Smile. So if a free gift isn't reason enough to smile then a birthday certainly is.

Completing the set

We have reached the end of our sea voyage with this card. Again this card looks so much more tricky to create than it is, simply layer the card and stamp on the top layer. Then, before adhering to the base card pop it inside the textured embossing folder and run through the Big Shot. Some ribbon and an antique brad and there you are :)

Open Sea

I think this is one of my favourites from the Open Sea set of cards from Worthing.  This one makes use of both the framelit dies and the edgelit dies. It was a little tricky to get it all lined up but it looks great and is well worth taking time over to get right.

More Open Sea

Another Open Sea card. This one uses the "negative" of the top note i.e. the piece of card that is left after you have cut out the top note shape. It makes a great window don't you think?

Sea through the window

Another card form the Open sea set, this one took a little more time to create because of the shaped layers.  The top two layers have been cut using the top note die in the Big Shot, we first cut in one direction and then turned it through 90 degrees which created the squarer shape. The bottom layers of First Edition designer paper and the chocolate chip layer, which has been stamped, have been cut using the framelit dies. However, only one end of the paper has been shaped which gives a great window shape.

Sea squared

Now this is a great template that could be used for many different stamp sets and occasions.  The images have been stamped onto First Edition designer paper as well as plain coloured card stock and cut using the square punch.

Sail away

Here's the first card from the Open Seas boxed set.  I love the simple colour scheme of Chocolate chip and Marina mist. This stamp set has such an "olde worlde" elegance, perfect for the gentlemen in your life (or the pirate!).

Open Sea Box set

Today I have another class from my weekend away to share with you. Elizabeth created all of these beautiful cards, you can see her blog here.
The class consisted of 6 cards and a box to keep them in.

Have a closer look at the detail of the box.

The whole project has been created using the Open Seas stamp set and a simple colour scheme. I'll share the cards over the next few days. 

Album for your handbag

This is just perfect to pop in your handbag once you've added your photos. Made from card which was cut using the framelits and decorated with Attic Boutique designer paper and images from Apothecary art.  There's lots of room for your favourite photos, maybe of your children or grandchildren, then pop it in your bag ready to show whoever you might meet when you're out and about. simples!!