The Ribbon Reel - Challenge #14

This is my final card as Design Team member for The Ribbon Reel Challenge blog, I've had such a fabulous time and really enjoyed playing with all the different ribbons and trims. (Thanks Keilly!) There are two very talented ladies joining the team, Lenet Mos and Helen Berry. I love both their styles of work! Ok, here's this week's inspiration photo.

I kept the fresh whites as a main element of my card, added the pop of hot pink and teamed it with bright turquoise. The fabulous label is from Seasonal Remedies from Waltzingmouse Stamps, I colored it with colored pencils and a pink gel pen. I love the font combo in this!! The Turquoise Satin is from The Ribbon Reel.

Behind the label is another label/tag from Very Vintage Christmas from Waltzingmouse Stamps stamped using Memento Rose Bud ink. The paper ruffles I made from ordinary white card, here's the paper ruffle tutorial.

I'm in love with that Sheer Ruffle edge ribbon, it's so pretty, I want it in every color!! : ) The little pink roses are also from The Ribbon Reel.

Don't forget to check out the rest of the DT cards at The Ribbon Reel Challenge Blog. Can you believe it's almost November already!! Better get cracking on some more Christmas cards! I'll be back on Thursday with my CASE Study card AND for the November SOAP event with Waltzingmouse Stamps, it's a Christmas special!! : )

CASE Study #63 - Vintage golds

Hi! Sorry for the very quiet blog, I've been fighting off a bug since last weekend and I wasn't up to doing much. Feeling a bit better today. Here's my card for this week's challenge at CASE Study. It's our last week with Niki Estes as our muse, I can't believe how fast October went by!! Here's Niki's gorgeous card.

I CASEd the layout and the centre focal point for my card. The sentiment is from Christmas Nested Sentiments by JUSTRITE stampers, stamped in Coffee archival ink. I die cut the oval shape using Spellbinders Classic Ovals - Large.

I die cut a larger oval from some corrugated cardboard. (TIP: If you lightly spritz the top of ordinary cardboard with water it's very easy to peel away the top layer to reveal the corrugated card.) The little sprig of holly is from The Ribbon Reel and I just gave it a frosty look by rubbing it with a white ink pad.

The dotty paper is from October Afternoon 5&Dime. The ivory crochet lace and gorgeous antique gold seam binding are from The Ribbon Reel. The pearl centre of the bow is a vintage earring.

Now check out the rest of the CASE Study DT cards, they're fabulous! We're voting for a new president here in Ireland today, better go vote!

Chupa
Amy Wanford
Andrea Ewen
Cristina Kowalczyk
Debby Hughes
Jean Martin
Julie Smith
Teresa Kline
Teneale Williams

CASE Study #62

It's time for another new card at the CASE Study challenge, it's week three with Niki Estes as our muse. Here's Niki's fab CAS card. I love the clean lines, that amazing shade of green, the focal point of the flower and bold text. So I CASEd all these elements in my card.

For the Poinsettia I used the Big Blooms - Poinsettia stamp set from Waltzingmouse Stamps. I stamped the medium sized flower onto red card three times using brown ink. I cut out various leaves for each layer and inked the edges with Distress Ink to add depth. The centre I colored with a gold ink pen. To make the gold brighter on the red card I colored it white first, then went over with the gold pen.

The sentiment is from Say it Loud - Winter Holiday from Waltzingmouse Stamps. The green background was plain green card I stamped with the motif from Ovals - Classic Frames in VersaMagic Tea Leaves.

Don't forget to check out the rest of the CASE Study DT creations, they're amazing as always!! Lots to get done this week! Eeeek!

Chupa
Amy Wanford
Andrea Ewen
Cristina Kowalczyk
Debby Hughes
Jean Martin
Julie Smith
Teresa Kline
Teneale Williams

Cardmaking & Papercraft Mag (UK) Issue 97

Hi, just popping in with a few cards I have in the current issue of Cardmaking & Papercraft  magazine (UK). I had to make some sample cards using the free papers that came with the magazine. This poinsettia paper was my favorite. I used Holiday Labels No.14 and Compliments of the Season both from Waltzingmouse Stamps for the label. I cut out some of the poinsettias and layered them for the 3D poinsettia.

A CAS card using the pretty poppies paper that also came with the magazine to celebrate Remembrance/Poppy Day in November. The sentiment is from Say it Loud from Waltzingmouse Stamps.

A card using the purple floral paper that came with the magazine, the sentiment is from Half Pint Heroes from Waltzingmouse Stamps and the label stamp is from Timeless Tags by The Crafts Meow.

In the Q&A section I was asked for a quick idea for a Christmas Party invitation. I kept it pretty simple again. The holly stamp is from Festive Foliage from Waltzingmouse Stamps. The party details are printed on the inside. Here's some of the cards in the magazine.

That's all for now, I'll be back tomorrow with my card for CASE Study Challenge. See you then!! : )

The Ribbon Reel - Challenge #13

Hi! I had a lovely day today, we're all so busy during the week it's nice to slow down and spend some quality time with Isabelle and Niall at the weekend. We took Isabelle to her favorite place, a forest park nearby. There's a lake with swans and ducks, lovely walks and a playground. Of course we brought a little picnic. You could feel a chill in the air so I was glad I packed the hats and gloves! Ok on to my card, it's for The Ribbon Reel Challenge Blog. Here's the photo inspiration, I love the colors in this!

Actually this card was made from scraps from my scrap box, I have a box of trimmed patterned papers and I also have a box of spare die cuts and stamped sentiments. They're really handy as I can play around with elements of a design very easily to see what works.

The sentiment stamped in Coffee Archival ink is from Hero Arts Live and Laugh and the little bit of text underneath is from Say it Loud from Waltzingmouse Stamps stamped in VersaMagic Oasis Green. I used the Sizzix rosette die to make the rosette.

The cute little flowers (Ivory Tea Rose and Apricot Tea Rose) are from The Ribbon Reel. I used some yellow gingham ribbon, bay leaf seam binding, peach seam binding and bakers twine.

The great big bow is white silky crush ribbon and also added some pretty white crochet lace at the bottom both from The Ribbon Reel. Don't forget to check out the rest of the DT creations at The Ribbon Reel Challenge Blog and play along to be in with a chance of winning some fab goodies from The Ribbon Reel. I thought I'd share a few photos from the forest park.

The swans were so beautiful and they came really close! We were lucky it was sunny and dry just until we made it back to the car! Then a heavy passing shower!

She loved the bridge, she could see the ducks and swans even better! Ok, that's all for now, have a great week! : ) Thanks for dropping by and thanks for all your comments, they really are appreciated!

Waltzingmouse Stamps October Release Day Blog Waltz!!

Yay! It's the Waltzingmouse Stamps October release!! I hope you're enjoying the blog waltz! Visit Claire's blog to start at the beginning. Today we're having a look at two more of the six sets being released today! They are Candy Jar Christmas and Candy Jar Christmas Fillers, these sets are just amazing, I had so much fun creating with them.

This lollipop was the inspiration for my color scheme, a fun pink and turquoise Christmas! (There's a little someone waiting for me to finish taking photos of this lollipop so she can have it!! : )

For my card I stamped the background with the swirly sweet stamp from Candy Jar Christmas Fillers, the jar and cute gingerbread people are from the same set. I colored them with acrylic paints. The sentiment is from Say It Loud - Winter Holiday. The ruffle edge ribbon is from The Ribbon Reel.

For the sweet jar I stamped the label from Candy Jar Christmas, I love all the little elements in this set!!

I used one of the oval frame stamps from Cameo Creations stamped in Memento Rose Bud. The edges are inked with Antique Linen distress ink. I added a fun label to the back of the jar too, all the stamps are from Candy Jar Christmas.

I also decorated a cookie jar using the same label, just to show you some more possibilities, the label I just cut out by hand leaving an even edge. I wrapped some organza polka dot ribbon around the jar and some fun diagonal stripe ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon.

I did actually make the cookies too!! I made some orange flavor shortbread biscuits/cookies. They're a little special.. You'll see why in a sec.

Oh, I added a little label to both jars too. The one from Very Vintage Labels No.4. Ok, back to the cookies now.

Yes I did stamp the cookies too! I've been dying to try this for ages and I was pretty happy with the results. I would recommend only using unused stamps (never been inked) for creating foodstuffs.

There are four small circle stamps in the Candy Jar Christmas set, I used these for my cookies! I would also recommend chilling your dough in the fridge before cutting your circle shapes, stamp them then chill again for about 30 mins, this gives the best impression and stops your cookies from spreading too much. Brushing the surface of the stamp with flour prevents any sticking.

For my matching banner I used the Vintage Banners set, the cute little gingerbread person and swirl sweet are from the Candy Jar Christmas Fillers set. They were very easy to cut out and I attached them with foam pads. I didn't have the right shade of turquoise ink so I mixed some acrylic paint to stamp the banner and I did the same for the gingerbread person.

Next on the hop is the lovely Kelly, can't wait to see what she's made!! Oh yes there'll be a prize of a stamp set of choice from a random drawing from one of the Design Team's blog. You have until October 17th 11:59pm GMT to comment to be in with a chance of winning. I hope you enjoyed my samples!! : )

Waltzingmouse Stamps October Release Preview - Day 3

Today is day three of the previews we've been having for the Waltzingmouse Stamps October release. (All six sets will be available to purchase tomorrow the 15th of October) Today we're looking at 2011 Holiday Ornaments and Santa's Coming to Town (I've just used the Holiday Ornaments set here). Both of these sets are compatible with Spellbinders 2011 Heirloom Ornaments Dies. Yay!

I played around with lots of different layouts but I really liked the negative space created when I arranged all the ornaments together. I thought it made a nice pattern. I went for nice warm colors and tones. The background papers are from the BoBunny Blitzen Collection, that's also where I took my color inspiration from. I used some of the medium and smaller ornament stamps from the 2011 Holiday Ornaments set.

The nice big sentiment is from Say it Loud - Winter Holiday stamped in Coffee Archival Ink. I attached all the ornaments with foam tape to add some dimension. The deep burgundy color paper is from Basic Grey Jovial paper pad. I love how you can stamp the little tops of the ornaments separately.

Ok, for my next card I went for a frosty blue and white color scheme with touches of silver. I used one of the large ornament stamps from 2011 Holiday Ornaments for my card.

I made the silver holly using the solid holly stamp from Festive Foliage, embossed in silver tinsel and cut out. I couldn't resist adding a few silver bells, I love a card that jingles!! : )

The 2011 Holiday Ornaments set comes with two similar sentiments, one normal and one bold. 

I stamped the ornaments using Memento Summer Sky ink. Using a glue pen I picked out some of the details and sprinkled with silver ultra fine glitter. I stamped the ornament three times, scored the centre of each and glued the sides to each other.

I hope you enjoyed having a look at 2011 Holiday Ornaments, it really is a fabulous set. Now check out the other Design Team ladies sharing previews today. I'll be back tomorrow for the Waltzingmouse Stamps release day blog waltz!


Anya Schrier
Becca Feeken
Belinda Chang Langner
Julia Aston
Jennifer Holmes
Kate Whelan
Kelly Schirmer
Laurie Schmidlin
Lynn Mercurio
Mona Pendleton
Niki Estes
Sandie Dunne
Tosha Leyendekker
Claire Brennan (Owner)

CASE Study #61

Hi! It's week two at CASE Study Challenge blog with Niki Estes as our fabulous muse. I love Niki's card this week, I love how the touches of red in her card work together, teamed with Kraft card, the fab texture of the canvas, the sentiment stamped on colored card and the beautiful bloom of course!

I CASEd the layout (flipped upside down), the bold color teamed with Kraft card, I used a rosette instead of a flower on my card. I added some texture to the background using the Swiss Dots embossing folder.

I used the Sizzix larger rosette die to make the rosette from hot pink card, I cut a circle for the centre, the background is stamped using Text-It from Waltzingmouse Stamps and I stamped one of the silhouettes from Cameo Creations in the centre. The trinket pins I made.

The sentiment is from Hero Arts Live and Laugh stamp set. I don't know why I don't stamp on colored card more often!

I used some pretty white ruffle edge ribbon from The Ribbon Reel, love this stuff, I have it in a few colors! Check out the rest of the CASE Study DT creations, they're amazing!! I'll be back tomorrow with some of the previews from the October Waltzingmouse Stamps release.

Chupa
Amy Wanford
Andrea Ewen
Cristina Kowalczyk
Debby Hughes
Jean Martin
Julie Smith
Teresa Kline
Teneale Williams