Tea Cup Designs

PTI Make it Monday 29 - freestyle colouring

2011-08-25T23:49:00.004+01:00

Well, here is another make it monday challenge - freestyle copic colouring. I did a card and a set of tags, and as over at a passion for papertrey the challenge is anything goes, for there as well.

The card is super quick and simple, and apparently will work for a guy as it got my hubbies "male friendly" seal of approval.

I used up some more of my precious cool carribean retired SU cardstock for a mat, and on the main large front panel, stamped the paper airplane from the happy trails PTI set, and a nice greeting. I coloured the plane with a matching copic in quick strokes continuing out the back of the plane.

Kinda like the vapour trail.

Kinda.

Still love how it turned out!

Next was a bit of a different take on the challenge. There is a kids show called art attack on the Disney channel here, and one of the art projects it showed once was colouring with dots......... so I figured "why not?!"

I did these super cute little birthday gift tags using the PTI cupcake collection set. For the colouring I used 4 different colours of pink copic markers, and just did a largish cluster of dots. I then stamped the cupcake frosting outline ontop, then added glitter to the outline, and again around the white mat of the tag. Super cute and fun.

Hope you enjoy!

Cheers,

Karin

August 2011 PTI Blog Hop card

2011-08-25T23:39:00.003+01:00

Well, hello!

Been a bit of a break this past week, with family in town visiting, but managed to secure some time in the craft room to do a few cards, one of them for the PTI August Blog Hop. And as at a passion for papertrey is anything goes, for there as well.

Using the wonderful inspiration photo, I was drawn to the idea of a picnic, which made me think of the PTI set Little Lady.

I also used the little flourish stamp from the mat stack 2 collection to stamp onto some cream satin ribbon with red stazon ink to recreate the look of the ribbon in the inspiration photo. Love how it turned out!

Hope you enjoyed!

Cheers,

Karin

For the Boys challenge card

2011-08-18T18:13:00.003+01:00

Well, over at A Passion for Papertrey, they are having a challenge "for the boys" - to create a card for the guys.

I had been playing with the PTI Iconic Images for the PTI Make it Monday challenge (you can see that card here), and had an idea rattling around on how to use the set for a boys card, so figured I would give it a go.

I think it turned out really nice! I used nice bright colours of ink and cardstock from Stampin'Up - Pacific point, so saffron, wild wasabi - to keep it fresh and boy like.

I cut coloured strips of CS in different widths, then played with them until I got a look I liked, and stamped the image across the top of the strips of paper. The greeting I stamped in basic black.

Love how it turned out!

Cheers,

Karin

PTI Make It Monday 28

2011-08-18T17:54:00.004+01:00

Well, here we are with another PTI MIM challenge card.

I am in the process of cleaning and organizing my crafting space. I managed to get in several hours yesterday, and had room on my desk to craft, so rewarded myself with making two cards, one for the PTI MIM 28 challenge.

Very simple and elegant card, and I really love how it turned out.

I used the iconic images set as I really wanted to play with it. It is so diverse in what you can do with it. Check out my other post to see a fun boys card I made using this set.

I ruffled some of the lush Stampin'Up seam binding in baja breeze, which goes really well with the PTI patterned paper I found for the bottom. Inks used are SU Baja Breeze, pear pizzazz and Soft Sky. I used some dazzling diamonds glitter around the top edge of the die from the sending you die set.

Hope you enjoy!

PTI Make it Monday 27

2011-08-10T13:58:00.005+01:00

Colouring ribbon with copics.

I must admit, I love to do this, and am always looking for interesting white ribbons that I can colour with my copic or tria markers.

So, here is some of the fun I have been having with this challenge.

The first card is one I did for my brothers birthday. He loves guitars (owns several) and does not do "girly" at all. Which usually means no ribbon, but I figured this lovely ribbon that I striped in colours to match the card will pass.

Supplies: PTI sets You Rock and Grunge Me. Ink and card from Stampin'Up! in sahara sand, old olive and not quite navy. Copics and tria markers to match the cardstock as close as I could get with my very small collection.

Next, I dug out one of the fun ribbons I have been hording for a while. It is a satin ribbon that has been laser cut into a flower pattern. I coloured the flowers with my copics, a light and medium lilac and a light and medium pink. The bookmarks are made using the PTI bookmark die, and some simple stamping in basic black using the PTI set All Booked Up.

This final card was done to use up a little scrap of the striped ribbon from my brothers card. Could not let it go to waste. The sail boat stamp is from Stampin'Up! I am thinking I will have to send this as a belated birthday card to my step-dad. He loves sailing. I also coloured the sails white using some white craft ink, and then went over the stamped image with a very fine black ink marker to bring the detail in the sails back.

Hope you have enjoyed!

Cheers,

Karin

Thousands of coasters.....

2011-08-05T21:38:00.004+01:00

A while back, I did a HUGE share for some thin mat board coasters. There were square and round ones.

I have known for a while what I wanted to do with the round ones - actually use them as coasters!!

*shock*

Of course, they would need to be stamped, inked and coloured in different fashions, but they would live their lives as coasters.

But, if you are like me...... it is the keeping track of things in my house that can be a challenge..... so I needed something to keep the coasters in. After much searching for something that would work on the web for me to buy, it hit me one day while making lunch........ the containers of Laughing Cow cheese! They are round, will hold about a dozen coasters, and are the perfect size!

So, here are my first few sets:

The above one was done using the Stampin'Up! set Elements of Style, while the one below is Contempo Christmas.

And this final one is done using Growing Green, and I made it up for a good friend. I hope she likes :)

The only special thing I did was to paint the laughing cow container white first, and then covered the edge with some washi tape, but you can easily glue ribbon, or even stamped on regular masking tape.

The coasters have been covered with some clear sticky back plastic - the stuff you can pick up in stationary shops for covering books.

The large scallop circle on top is using the SU sizzix scallop circle die - it fits PERFECT!!

I hope you enjoy :)

Cheers,

Karin

Some miss you cards for family

2011-08-03T21:51:00.003+01:00

Well, these cards were based on the PTI blog hop inspiration photo. Sadly, I did not find the download cable in time to link in on the blog hop, so here they are instead.

The sets I used are Round & Around PTI Anniversary set and mat stack 3 set. Very simple, the border and butterfly are cut out of PTI Felt. I stamped the miss you in memento black ink.

I sent one to my mom, and one to my sister. I hope they like.

Cheers,

Karin

PTI challenge - a bit late!

2011-07-31T15:23:00.001+01:00

A few weeks ago, PTI Make it Monday challenge was dry brushing. I made this beautiful card below, then for the life of me, could not find the download cable for my camera to actually be able to post the photo!

But, here it is, better late than never!

I must confess, I did not have a stipple brush, so I had to get creative - so dug out the old toothbrush from under the kitchen sink (they are great for cleaning tile grout!) and also great for dry brushing!

I inked up my toothbrush by pressing it into my not quite navy inkpad, and dragging it along the apricot appeal card from top to bottom. Really love the effect!

I stamped the image into a die cut mat stack 3 shape, and then coloured with my SU markers (apricot appeal and wild wasabi). I stamped a strip of wild wasabi with the flower image in vintage cream (PTI) ink and the greeting in night of navy ink. Folded it to create a banner and trimmed the ends.

Drew a border around the inside of the matstack shape to give it a bit more deffinition so it did not appear to float on the page too much.

Decided it needed some sparkle, so added some random SU rhinestones near the bottom right of the card.

Done!

Very simple, and very striking. Loving the colour combo!

Cheers

Karin

Supplies:

YOF: mini set (PTI)

CS: very vanilla, apricot appeal, not quite navy, wild wasabi (all SU)

ink: basic black (SU) vintage snow craft ink (PTI)

Basic black, apricot appeal and wild wasabi markers (SU)

Rhinestones (SU)

Cigarette Mini Album

2011-07-30T14:45:00.000+01:00

Yep - you read that right - a cigarette mini album........

The little plastic box the album is in is for those old fashioned cigarette cards - the collectable ones that used to come in cigarette packs.

I came accross some of the plastic card boxes in my travels, and thought "I can do something with these" so grabbed some.

Here is the first project with them........... a mini album.

The album is 2.75" x 1.5" and is an accordion fold style.

I used some of the wonderful springtime vintage DSP in the SU mini catalogue, and took a 12" long strip cut to 2.75" wide and scored it every 1.5" and accordion folded it up. I attached two of these strips together to get the full length of the album.

I then took some basic staples address labels, (the 16 per sheet ones) as they were the perfect width, and trimmed the length down so they were just a hair shy of 2.75" and placed a label on every second panel of the album.

For the photos, I dug out my Polaroid POGO printer and printed off my photos. These photos are printed on photo stickers and are 3"x2" so I had to trim them down a bit to fit.

As they were photo stickers, I just peeled off the back once trimmed and stuck them down. Next was to do the journalling with the soft suede marker from Stampin'Up! and tie a bit of some lush Rose Red seam binding ribbon around the front. I punched out a label with the decorative label punch, attached and wrote the important info onto the label, and voila!

It has now been all packaged up and sent of to my mom back in Canada as a little memory of her time with her two granddaughters this spring. Something to tuck in her purse and look at whenever she is missing Kayleigh or Paige.

Cheers,

Karin

Some quick and simple projects

2011-07-29T15:10:00.000+01:00

Well, here are two super quick and simple projects I did over the weekend. The first is a little coin holder for when your little one loses her tooth. You can put the coin into the plastic envelope and pop it under their pillow in exchange for the tooth. Much cuter than just a single coin that can easily get lost. Besides, it is "official"! I did colour the crown yellow and the dress pink, but it got really washed out in the photo.

Yes, I know Kayleigh is only 2.5 years old, and I am quite a ways from being able to use this, but still......... had the stamp, had to be made!!

This second quick project was just because I wanted to play with my new big shot. So, I stacked up about 30 little squares of printer paper and one square of some of the gorgeous greenhouse gala DSP and sent it all through the bigshot at once. Can I just say - LOVE THIS MACHINE!!

For the covers, I put some hard plastic report covers through, then punched a hole through it all with my crop-a-dial, and put a large jump ring through to hold it all together in a little note book. Some baja breeze seam binding to finish it off, along with a little thank-you stamped in stazon. Would make for a great little gift for someone, and took about 5 minutes to make.

Cheers,

Karin

Supplies:

Toothfairy stamp (SU!)

Basic black ink

Plastic coin collectors wallet

Butterflies BS Die

Big Shot

Baja Breeze ribbon

Greenhouse Gala DSP

Stazon ink

Just Believe set (SU)

Plastic report cover

PTI Make it Monday 25

2011-07-27T14:57:00.003+01:00

Well, I have finally managed to find the cable for my camera, so can post a bunch of my recent projects - yeah!!!

Here is the one I did for the Papertrey Ink Make it Monday Challenge #25 - colouring with white ink.

I started with some plum pudding cardstock (PTI) and some wild wasabi (SU) for the leaves. I then sponged on a bunch of white ink, and stamped the large flower and the leaves from the PTI set delightful dahlia in a dark brown ink.

After cutting them out by hand (the dies are still MIA in my craft room) I realized that you could not really tell that I had coloured the cardstock with the white ink.

So, out came my copic markers in plum and a wasabi colour to highlight where the shadows would be. Still not looking like I coloured it with white ink, so I raided my hubbies sketching pencil case for one of those hard paper pointing smudgey tools (you know what I am talking about..... right?!?!) and using that I applied some more white ink to create some white highlights for the tips of the petals.

Was finally happy with it, so added some scrunched up plum satin ribbon, and adhered my leaves and flower. Finally stamped my greeting, and a small sprinkling of glitter to highlight the centre of the flower.

Simple, and I am quite happy with the end result, despite the interesting journey to get to it :)

Cheers,

Karin

Supplies:

Delightful Dahlias Set (PTI)

Plum pudding CS and ribbon (PTI)

Wild wasabi CS and ink (SU)

Early espresso ink (SU)

Whisper white CS (SU)

Lilac glitter (unknown)

Birthday cards, take four!

2011-07-20T09:17:00.000+01:00

Well, here it is, the last birthday card from a recent class I did. This one was for a girl, young or young at heart.

I started with a whisper white base, and added some lovely making memories lilac and light aqua striped paper along the bottom. The focal point is cut in lilac paper using a papertrey ink die, then a strip of white paper with the greeting stamped in a light aqua colour along the bottom. The circular floral image has been stamped in the same light aqua ink onto white paper, then punched and matted onto some light aqua paper that has again been punched and finally matted onto a white punched circle before being adhered to the lilac focal image. I tied the dotted organza ribbon around the card, then adhered the focal bit up on some dimensionals.

As a funny side note here, keep your dimensionals out of the hands of a 2 year old sticker addict - voice of experience here, and half a sheet of dimensionals later........... well........... at least she had fun!

Cheers,

Karin

Supplies:

Cardstock from SU:

Whisper white

Lovely lilac

Cool carribean

Patterned paper: making memories

Stamps sets from SU:

Just believe

Party this way

Ink:

Cool carribean from SU.

Papertrey Ink Day - playing from home!

2011-07-17T09:00:00.000+01:00

Well, today is another papertrey ink day where a bunch of us PTI fans get together and swap projects and such. Sadly, I was not able to make it in person, so am playing from home today.

Here is the project I did up for everyone - a super cute 6x6 scrapbook page.

I am really loving the colours used - baja breeze, pear pizzaz, crumb cake and some whisper white. Now, I was planning on putting a picture of Dave in here when I designed it, but for those playing from home, you can easily girlie it up by adding some glitter - perhaps outline some of the stars with a fine line of 2way glue and some dazzling diamonds glitter. Oh, and a note, when assembling this, I designed it to have a bit of a gap between the green and blue layers, but dont worry, this gap is covered by the starry circle border :)

Cheers,

Karin

Supplies:

Cardstock from SU:

Crumb Cake

Pear Pizzaz

Baja Breeze

Whisper White

Ink from SU:

Pear Pizzaz

Baja Breeze

Stamps from PTI:

Boy basics: simple circles

Wonderful Words Additions

Dies from PTI:

Simple circles border die

Wonderful Words die

Birthday cards, take three!

2011-07-16T09:00:00.000+01:00

Here is the third birthday card from a recent class I did. This one is for all those men in our life. My guy is into photography and stereo gear, but I dont have any of those themed stamps (I see a shopping trip in my near future to fill a hole in my stamps!) so I went to an old faithful that will serve me for my brothers upcoming birthday - beer!

This is a "peek-a-boo window" style card, and once you get them figured out, they are simple to do, and have that bit of a "wow" factor to them.

I started with my blue layer, and randomly stamped the beer mug in early espresso ink, then coloured it in using copics (newest addiction!). I then punched my window into the bottom right corner of my blue layer, and holding it in place, traced around the inside of the punched out window onto my vanilla card base. I then punched the tag shape from my vanilla card base. I then adhered my blue layer to my vanilla base with a square of acetate between the two layers where my punched window is. I stamped my greeting onto this using black staz-on.

I then punched a large early espresso tag, and a small blue tag, and stamped my beer mug onto the blue tag, and coloured it in again with my copics, this time adding lots of shading and white foam with a white gel pen. I positioned it behind my window, and adhered to the inside of the card.

Nice plain looking card, but still eye catching without the use of glitter or ribbon, which I have been informed by hubby is not very "manly" on guy cards. Oh well, good thing I have a daughter and two nieces!

Cheers,

Karin

Birthday cards, take two!

2011-07-13T09:00:00.000+01:00

Well, next up is this cute cupcake birthday card for a cute little girl - or girl at heart!

I cut the shapes using the Papertrey Ink cupcake card die. I have used a vanilla card base, SU shimmer white paper, and a retired SU pink patterned paper for the wrapper.

A cute greeting from Unity Stamp Co that says "go ahead wish" and a nice simple spotty organza bow to finish it off. Super cute and clean - which cant be said for real cupcakes, well, at least not the way my little one devours them!

Cheers,

Karin

Birthday card for a little boy

2011-07-10T20:42:00.003+01:00

Well, recently I did a card class with the theme of birthday cards. Here is the card we did for little boys, although given my little girls recent obsession with trains, it will work well for anyone I suspect.

I used the Papertrey Ink set Train Tracks and the matching die. I will also confess, the entire card is very much inspired by Maile Bells card using this set. I struggle with little boy themed things (daughter and 2 nieces - give me a break!) and needed something quick, colourful and simple for the ladies in the class to make, and this fit the ticket!

Quite colourful, which is always a challenge for me. I used SU whisper white, pacific point and crumb cake, and retired past SU in colours of cranberry crisp and morning marigold. I coloured the cut out train using some assorted copic markers after I stamped it in an early espresso ink colour.

Now I just need a cute little nephew to give this card to! Hint hint to my sister or brother!!!

Cheers,

Karin

Colour Coach Blog Hop!!!

2011-06-30T23:53:00.006+01:00

Welcome to my little corner of the world wide web! I hope you have enjoyed your journey so far, and left a little bit of love for Ericas projects before coming here.

I have two projects up for your viewing pleasure on your journey.

My chosen colour combo is from the Rich Razzleberry card - rich razzleberry, pretty in pink, and early espresso.

First up, is a super sweet and simple card using one of my all time favourite sets - just believe. I have started with an early espresso card base, and put a layer of rich razzleberry and topped it off with some pretty in pink that I have cut with the wonderful top note die. I coloured the stamp with early espresso and rich razzleberry markers and stamped, then stamped the greeting beside.

To finish it off, I used some wide striped chocochip ribbon and some taffeta pretty in pink ribbon to tie a simple knot at the top of the card.

Quick, simple, and a super sweet little thank you card.

Next up is a 6x6 scrapbook page.

Working with an early espresso base, I added a strip of pretty in pink CS at the bottom that I have stamped with the scattered heart stamp from the confetti set in rich razzleberry. I stamped the swirly butterfly in rich razzleberry onto pretty in pink CS, punched, and added some rhinestones to sparkle them up.

I added a layer of ruffled pretty in pink taffeta ribbon, then matted my photo in rich razzleberry and popped it on top. The greeting is stamped in razzleberry, punched and matted.

I wanted the butterflies to keep some depth to their wings once the page was in the album, so I put popdots under the wings, and some sticky strip to the body before adhering to the page. This keeps the "body" down, and the "wings" puffy, so more fluttery like.

I hope you have enjoyed this stop of the colour coach tour. Next up is Vicky!

Some more cards

2011-04-13T15:52:00.003+01:00

Well, it has been a very long time since I have posted in general, and a crafty project in particular.

So, here we go.........

First up, a nice wedding themed card I did for a friend getting married this summer. The heart is a retired SU SAB set, and the background is a SU spotted floral stamp, again retired.

A nice simple brayered background and some crayon resist technique as well. The stamp images are all Lavinia stamps. I used elegant eggplant to brayer the background, and crayon resist to keep the wings white, as well as the toadstool a lighter colour before ironing on several layers to darken the sky, and the ground. The ground was brayered lots, with some torn paper over the sky to make the mountain effect.

A super cute and simple scrapbook page for Kayleighs scrapbook. Must work at getting more done - am about 18 months behind! Yikes. So, more simple it is going forward. This one I used some coloured flower rub-ons and the ruffled ribbon is a retired SU one. The title is stamped using Stampin'Up alphabet stamps.

A cute little button finishes it off. Simple and sweet - just like her!

Cheers,

Karin

Canadian Butter Tarts

2011-03-21T10:45:00.003Z

OK - this is another uniquely Canadian recipe. There are several minor variations to it, but it is basically all the same.

I make mini bit sized ones using my mini tart pan from Pampered Chef because I can buy the pre-made pastry block from the store, cut it up into 48 little bits, and using the PC tart thing, make my tart shells in no time flat.

To make the filling, here is a quick and easy version that requires no pre-cooking. There are other versions that require you to pre-cook the filling, but it is a bit time consuming, so I cheat.

Filling:

1 cup brown sugar (light muscavado)

1/2 cup raisins

1/3 cup butter (melted)

1 beaten egg

1tsp vanilla

2 tbsp milk

Melt the butter, add the brown sugar, add the pre-beaten egg then the rest of the filling ingredients (I use a large glass measuring cup) and mix well.

Spoon into your tart shells so they are about a third full.

Bake at 375c for 20-25 minutes, or until it is bubbly and the pastry is a nice golden colour.

Let cool and try not to eat them all at once!

You should get 4 dozen mini ones with this recipe.

Nuts & Bolts snack mix

2011-03-21T10:40:00.002Z

OK - we grew up with these as kids. At halloween we would pretend they were monster bits.

2 cups each of: shreddies, cheerios, pretzles

1/2 cup of unsalted peanuts (optional)

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

to taste: celery salt, garlic powder, onion salt, paprika

Melt the butter, add the worcestershire sauce and spices. Mix well.

In a large metal roasting dish, mix the dry cereal. Pour over the flavouring, and stir well.

Roast in the oven at the lowest temp (about 75-100F) for several hours, stirring about every 30 minutes until the shreddies are crunchie again.

Stores well in a large ziplock bag.

Cinnamon Pinwheel Cookies

2011-03-21T10:33:00.002Z

OK - here is another family favourite. I remember making these with my Grandma on the farm when I was so small even standing on a kitchen chair I was barely tall enough to mix it up in the bowl.

2 cups flour

2 tbsp white sugar

4tsp baking powder

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 egg

125ml milk (approx - depends on room humidity)

Butter, light brown sugar (light muscavado), cinnamon

Mix the sugar, oil and egg together in a bowl. Add the baking powder and mix. Then add in half the the flour and mix well. Finally alternating between the remaining flower and milk, add it in until you get a dough. You will need to use your hands to mix it.

Roll out on a floured surface so it forms a rectangle, about 1cm thick.

Spread butter over the dough surface, sprinkle on the brown sugar and cinnamon. Then, starting along the long edge, roll the dough up until you have a log. Cut the log into finger width cookies, and place flat on a cookies sheet. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Coconut Oatmeal Drop Cookies

2011-03-15T13:00:00.003Z

OK - this is currently Kayleighs favourite cookie.

250ml white sugar

65ml milk

50ml coco

50ml butter

pinch of salt

1ml vanilla (so just a few drops)

375ml oatmeal

50ml shredded coconut

Mix all but the oatmeal and coconut in a medium saucepan, and melt the butter. Once melted, on low-med heat, bring to a boil while stirring, and let boil for about 2 minutes for it to reach what is known as "soft ball" stage.

Add the coconut and oatmeal to the pot, mix well, and spoon onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Let set in the fridge, then remove and store in an airtight container in the fridge.

December ILWS Design Team goodies

2010-12-02T16:53:00.003Z

Well, here we are, the first of another month.

22 shopping days until Christmas.

23 days until we can legitimately open the presents we have been spending those 23 days sneaking peeks at trying to figure out what they are :)

And 29 days until the ILWS Gallery bingo begins! Woo hooo!!! Free stamps and goodies being given away by me over at ILWS!

But, onto a project for today.

We are having Christmas here in the UK this year. This will be Kayleighs second Christmas, but first where she is aware of it. Most specifically aware of the tree and all its decorations!

Now, I love my Christmas tree - I have 2 themes for it, a blue and silver one, and a pink, copper, gold and burgundy theme.

Both themes involve a lot of glass and crystal ornaments - not exactly toddler proof!

So, I have decided over the next 10 days until we actually put up the tree that I am going to make some simple paper ornaments to decorate the tree with. Yes, they will take time, but in the end, if they get destroyed by the kid, it wont matter.

So, here are two that I have done up so far.

The first I stamped and punched 6 ornaments from the Stampin'Up set Contempo Christmas in Pear Pizzaz on white cardstock. I glued them back to back with a loop of gold cord running between them. Very simple to do. You can do long ones of 3 like this, doubles with only 2, or short and sweet singles.

This next one I cut out 4 trees using the PaperTrey Ink christmas tree die, and stamped on them with wild wasabi and Baroque Motifs from Stampin'Up. folded them in half, and glued them together with some gold cord in the centre to hang them from.

The rhinestones are from Stampin'Up as well. I have coloured them using a deep red Tria marker. These are the same as Copics, so you can use those as well.

To see more wonderful creations from the ILWS Design Team, visit the gallery! To play along with them, you can view the DT challenges here!

Well, that is todays post. Hopefully it wont be 2 months until the next one!

Oh - and for the gallery bingo over at ILWS - you can get all the details here!

October 1st means a new SU catty year!!

2010-10-01T21:40:00.004+01:00

Well, it is officially live!!

Stampin'Up's new catalogue - 20 pages longer, loads of new accessories and stamps, and of course the new super exciting clear mount stamps!! I am so excited for these - I love the space savings, and cost savings as well! Same great high quality rubber, so same great high quality stamping!

You can browse the on-line version of the new catalogue and idea book by clicking on the image to the right.

Below are two creations made using some of the new goodness from the catalogue. I have used some of the fabby new greenhouse gala DSP and the new Ornate Flower stamp set for making a mini cork notice board. I have stamped the greeting with the just perfect alpha (and believe me, it is just the perfect alpha set!). Finished it off with some of the new narrow 1/8" ribbon in daffodil delight - which is just a fabulous new colour!

This luminary below is once again decorated with the scalloped circle flowers punched from the greenhouse gala DSP. I have stamped the vellum with the toile background stamp in pear pizazz(one of the new in colours!) and embossed with clear embossing powder.

Well, I hope you enjoyed, and have a look through the new catalogue on line. If there is anything you would like, contact me on stamps at continuingtime dot com to place your order!

Thanks for the memories!

2010-09-05T12:51:00.003+01:00

Well, Stampin'Up has released their retired list (see image link to the right) and to help in saying a fond farewell to some of our favourite retired items there is a blog hop!

So, welcome to my stop!

If you are arriving from the wonderful Michelle welcome! Were her cards not beautiful??? Love them!

So, here is my small contribution to the hop. I am sorry it is less than I usually do, but I have family in town, and have been busy playing tour guide!

I decided to use one of my favourite stamp sets - Live your dream - for a few reasons. One, it is a very versatile set. You get large and small images, giving you flexibility to do both large and small cards with ease. I also love the quote (personal fav!) and the journalling lines stamp in this set - the only one of its kind in the current catty! If you are a scrapbooker, you will love this set for that stamp! I use it loads! Plus, it makes a great background stamp as well.

Anyways, here is a cute note card trio - to show you how quick and easy you can do thank-you notes with this set.

I used some of the lovely floral striped paper from the retiring Tea & Crumpets DSP for the bottom part of my note card. Then, using a 2x2 square, stamped the smaller images and greeting in pretty in pink, so saffron and always artichoke inks. Matted onto some close to coco cardstock, and voila! Quick, cute and easy thank you notes!

I hope you have enjoyed this brief stop on the hop, and next up is Karen!

Cheers,

Karin

Stampin'Up Last Chance List is here!!

2010-09-01T09:56:00.004+01:00

Well, here is the official last chance list from Stampin'Up! You can download the complete PDF by clicking on the icon on the right menu bar.

Many items are retiring, including many colours of paper and inks! Stock up now while you can, because come October 1st they are gone!

Contact me to place your order.

PTI day with friends

2010-08-26T13:49:00.004+01:00

Well, on Sunday the 22 I went to a PTI (PaperTrey Ink) get together with some friends.

We all brought a shoebox swap project for the others to make, and our amazing hostess Val made up the most adorable goodie bags you could imagine full of PTI goodness :)

Below are some photos - the first of the PTI goodie bag Val did.

And here is a photo of my swap item, a 6x6 scrapbook page, and my card candy I made up for everyone for the card candy swap as well.

For my card candy I used PTI Baby button bits stamp set, and assorted cardstocks and inks from both PTI and Stampin'Up. The buttons are all from PTI.

For my swap page, I used Stampin'Up Kraft and Razzleberry cardstock and ink, and some SU naturals ivory CS for the tag and of course some SU Razzleberry dotted ribbon. The stamps are all from PTI from their "Life" and "Journaling Lines" sets. Added a bit of glitter and voila!

It was so much fun, we are thinking of holding another near Christmas, and again near Easter!

Cheers,

Karin

ps - thank-you Vannesa for letting me use your photos, as I forgot to take any of my stuff!

ILWS Design Team Challenge Page

2010-08-09T22:30:00.003+01:00

Well, a new month means a new set ILWS Design Team Challenges!

Every month on the 1st, there are 4 wonderful challenges posted over at ILWS, and a gallery full of inspiration from the design team.

This month, one of our challenges is a sketch challenge.

So, I had this wonderful photo of Kayleigh taken when we were back home visiting family, and I knew just how to scrap it!

Very quick and simple, but cute and effective! Used some of the wonderful Night & Day DSP from SU, and assorted red ribbons from my huge (and I do mean HUGE) basket of ribbons. Matted the photo on some red cardstock. The medallion in the bottom right is stamped in white craft ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. Punched some red paper, and wrote the info with a black journalling marker.

If you like this layout, you can check out the sketch that inspired it HERE along with all the other DT challenges for this month.

Cheers,

Karin

Two Steppin' in to a Blog Hop!

2010-08-01T09:00:00.004+01:00

Welcome to your next stop on the blog hop!

Wasn't Gemmas creation just wonderful !!!

Well, I am featuring the wonderfully versatile set Loads of Love, and Loads of Love Accessories.

This first one is a cute 6x6 page. The pumpkin stamp from the accessories set is perfect for the photo of my Dad, Sister, niece, daughter and I around a giant pumpkin that my dad grew last summer in his garden. We had the two babies sitting on the pumpkin - it was just so cute with the cousins together.

My dad late entered the pumpkin in the giant vegetable category at the local Fall Fair for Labour Day weekend. He came in 2nd. First was about 3 times as big as this one!

It took 4 guys to load the pumpkin into my dads pickup truck!

This second page is done to show that you can do a girlie style project with these two sets - you just have to think outside of the box...... or truck as the case may be!

I used the flowers to create some flower baskets to act as some beautiful page accents.

I really hope you have enjoyed my creations and the blog hop so far. Your next stop is Carolyn!

Have fun!

New Classes posted!

2010-07-20T23:44:00.003+01:00

OK - I have posted the details on new classes - please click on the Classes link near the top of the page.

If you are interested in a class, please contact me on:

stamps AT continuingtime DOT com

Cheers,

Karin

Sorry to be MIA for so long...

2010-07-13T23:07:00.003+01:00

But the holidays in Canada kinda knocked the socks off of Kayleigh and I.

Only now am I getting back into my rubber room :)

Nothing too flash to show right now, but here is a double page spread I did for two wedding albums I whipped up before my trip to Canada. Yes..... 2 albums. 20 pages each. Thankfully they were in very similar colours, so that really helped!

This DPS has a total of 4 photo mats for 4x6 photos, and behind each mat is a glassine bag with a tag in it with a heart attached (to help pull the tag out of the bag). These tags are for the journalling to go with the photos.

And sorry for the super small photo - I have no idea what has happened?????

Anyways, the DSP is from the lovely Night and Day pack, with some torn black cardstock for the edge. Riding Hood Red for the photo mats and heart tags.

Very quick and simple layout, but have to be when you need to do 40 pages in one weekend! I will try to post more photos of the rest of the layouts later this week.

Cheers,

Karin

June ILWS Design Team

2010-06-09T06:10:00.003+01:00

Well, here are two of my submissions to the June edition of the ILWS Design Team Challenges and Gallery.

The first is for the "stitching - real or faux" challenge.

I tore strips of black and white cardstock, and strips of the night and day DSP, then layered them, curled them with my fingers, and tore into the curled edge. I then added a strip of printed black grosgrain ribbon from my stash, and layered it all ontop of a piece of the dotted transparency that comes in the night and day DSP pack. The stitching comes into effect along the top. This is how I attached it all to the card base! Stitched it all together with black thread and my sewing machine!

This second card is based on the inspiration piece (here).

Very simple card, with clean lines. I started with a Kraft base, and took a strip of perfect plum DSP and tore one edge and adhered to the card base. I then took a second bit of Kraft cardstock, and tore an edge, and stamped my image onto it. I coloured my image with elegant eggplant and old olive markers. Then stamped my greeting with eggplant as well.

I then decided it needed a bit of sparkle to really make the plum strip of DSP stand out more, so I took my two way glue pen and ran it down the torn edges, and sprinkled on the dazzling diamonds to make it really....... well...... dazzle!

I hope you enjoy, and please do take a look at the ILWS DT challenges here!

New product blog hop...

2010-06-06T09:00:00.003+01:00

Welcome!

I hope you enjoyed the fabulous work of the wonderful Kim's blog.

Well, I have a few little samples lined up for you. First up is a mini album. This is a simple 4x6 mini album with 4 pages, plus a scrumptious cover using the Cottage Wall Printed transparent overlays. All I did was cut a 12x12 sheet of the transparent overlay into 3 strips, each 4x12, then scored and folded in half. The pages are one sheet of the A4 Razzleberry (new fav colour!) cut lengthwise into a 4" wide strip and then folded in half.

I used the crop-a-dial to punch two holes through everything, and threaded some of the spotty razzleberry ribbon through them and tied a little bow.

Finished off the mini album with some of the Cottage Wall DSP (new fav paper) and some photo mats for wallets and trimmed down 4x6 photos. Now all I need to do is add the photos - once those arrive from the printers!

This next project was done as I needed to create a luggage tag for my trip to Canada. Needed to be unique, so hand made fit the bill perfectly! And, what better excuse to play with new goodies then an "I HAVE to make this - I need to - honest!!!"

Very cute and simple. The base is some of the cottage wall DSP, and I stamped the greeting from Live your Dream across the top in Razzleberry ink. The circular tag in the centre is made by folding a strip of DSP in half, then punching it out, but leaving a gap at the top when you punch so when you open your punched shape, it opens like a card, with the two sides still attached at the spine. I stamped on the front of the punched circle again in razzleberry using the live your dream set. The inside I punched two smaller circles out of some plain sticky lable paper (you know - the ones you use for mailing lables) and wrote my contact details on there - Canada on one side, the UK on the other!

And, if you have stuck with me this long, here is the last project.

A nice and simple 6x6 card done with Kraft cardstock as the base, and stamped with white craft ink and soft suede ink using the little flower from the one of a kind stamp set. I then took a strip of melon mambo CS and punched one edge with the spiral punch, and then stamped the row of little flowers in white craft along the top, and tied a ribbon around it.

The large flower is stamped in soft suede onto Kraft cardstock, and then the centre is stamped in suede onto some melon mambo, then cut out and mounted ontop. The greeting is simply stamped and cut by hand. A very quick and easy card, but I do love the tone on tone of the Kraft and Suede colours, and adding some melon mambo to really make it pop. A little goes a long way with this colour!

I hope you are enjoying the blog hop - Sarah is up next !

2010-05-14T09:25:00.002+01:00

Well, here are two easy but elegant scrapbook layouts that I did for the May Design Team Challenges over at In Love With Stamping.

They were both done as part of the not-so-limited limited supply challenge. I say that because while we were limited in what we could use, there was still loads of flexibility to create so much variation in the challenge samples. You really should check out the DT Gallery.

This first scrapbook page is a 12x12, and done with a Kraft base, and brocade blue, very vanilla cardstock and some of the wonderful Bella Blue DSP. Love this paper pack, one of my favourites.

Very simple to do, just tore strips of paper for the top (hint: save on paper by only doing skinny strips of the blue and white, they do not have to be full width!) and cut two photo mats to put some 4x6 photos on. This is another page for my wedding album. I am trying to get it done. We are coming up on our 5 year wedding anniversary, and I still have not finished our wedding album. Have done many others in those 5 years for family and friends, but still working on ours.

Anyway, the greeting and roses along the bottom are stamped in versamark, then I used some cream embossing powder that had some gold glitter in it, and heat set it. Once the embossing powder was set, I took my versamark pen and coloured in the roses to give them a bit of depth. See - there is a great use for the versamark pen!

My next layout is a 6x6 one, and uses the Vintage Vogue stamp set. Again, a Kraft CS base, with a very vanilla mat, and again the Bella Blue DSP with some Not Quite Navy cardtock as well. I stamped the Friend stamp onto some very vanilla CS and cut it out, with the word friend separate. For the large flower from the set, I inked it up with not quite navy ink, and stamped off onto some scrap paper, then rolled the edges of the flower again in not quite navy ink to give it a graduated two-tone effect. This technique is called rock'n'roll.

I finished it off with a blue rhinestone brad in the centre of the flowers. Again, a very quick and simple layout to do, but I like quick and simple, or easily elegant as I call them!

Cheers,

Karin

May ILWS Design Team Challenges

2010-05-10T13:26:00.004+01:00

Well, as many of you know, on the first of the month, the ILWS Design Team releases 4 challenges on the site, and a gallery full of ideas and inspiration to help you get crafting for the challenges.

One of May's challenges was brayering. While I have played with this technique a few times in the past, it is only with this challenge that I have pushed myself out of my comfort zone with the challenge.

So, my first card is using the divine Vintage Vogue stamp set from the current SU mini catalogue. This set has become my new go to set. Love it. Have to force myself to put it away and not use it on everything I do!

Anyway, the card uses riding hood red and pink pirouette, two of the new colours we will be getting with the Stampin'Up colour renovation in the new catalogue.

I have taken a panel of whisper white cardstock, and brayered it up with pink pirouette, and then riding hood red on the outside edges. Now, to get a nice soft even colour with no lines from the edge of my brayer, I first inked the brayer up, then took off all the excess ink onto a scrap piece of paper by rolling my brayer in one direction only. This is the trick as it then takes the ink of evenly. I then start at the outside edge of my white card, and brayer again rolling my brayer in one direction only - top to bottom - then picking the brayer up and returning to the top to do the next "layer" of ink. I do this slowly working my way to the centre of the card.

It is a bit slower going this way, but it is so much easier to add more ink than it is to take the extra off the paper.

So, with the pink, I went to the centre of the paper, and with the red I just did the outer edges. I then stamped my images with pink in the centre, and red along the outside to create the vine like frame. The rest is stamped onto white and cut out and popped up using dimensionals with some small flat back pearls for the centre of the flowers.

This card uses the same brayering technique as described above, but I used perfect plum and elegant eggplant inks.

The stamps are from Lavinia stamps, but everything else is from SU.

So, would you like to see some more wonderful samples from the ILWS Design Team?

If so, you can visit the DT Gallery, and play along with the DT challenges!

I cant wait to see what you create!

Cheers,

Karin

Chalked thanks

2010-05-06T13:28:00.002+01:00

So - how many of you have the wonderful Stampin'Up chalks? How many of you hardly ever use them?

Well, as part of the April Design Team challenge at ILWS, we were challenged to dust of those chalks and use them in any way we wanted.

So, I call this technique the "bulletin board chalk technique". It is the same as the blackboard technique, but because I used Kraft card instead of black, it looks like a bulletin board instead.

Anyways, you stamp your image with white craft ink on your dark coloured cardstock, then using you chalk and a cotton swap, apply your chalk by dabbing it onto your white stamped image.

The end result is a soft cloud looking image as the chalk leaves different levels of colour intensity. Give it a quick dust with a dry paint brush to remove any excess chalk, and finish your card as desired.

Supplies: All from Stampin'Up.

Kraft CS, Whisper White CS, creamy caramel classic ink, kraft taffeta ribbon, white craft ink and taken with teal chalk.

11 New and Exciting Products!

2010-05-02T12:47:00.004+01:00

Well, Stampin'Up has just release 11 new and exciting products for us!

This lovely new coordinating set of products feature 3 of the new colours we will be getting in the new catalogue on October 1st! Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry and Soft Suede.

Here are the colours. We will be getting A4 cardstock, matching inks, ribbons, DSP and printed window sheets! All just divine!

Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Soft Suede

Some of the wonderful new spotty grosgrain ribbon above, and the delicious new Cottage Wall designer patterned paper below.

And of course, how can I forget the divine new printed acetate overlays??

If you are interested in any of this exciting new product from Stampin'Up, please contact me for ordering details!

Kids birthday card

2010-04-28T19:44:00.002+01:00

Well, one of Kayleighs friends from toddler group turned one last month, so of course I had to make the card. But, I have to be honest that despite the fact I have a little girl, I really do not have that many "kids" themed stamps. Hmmmmm....... excuse to go shopping I think :)

Anyways, I did manage to get a cute (if I do say myself) birthday card made.

Started with a white base, and trimmed a bit off the edge. Scalloped a strip of green galore cardstock, and attached. Then, using the balloon image from Crazy for Cupcakes, I stamped it 3 times with basic black ink right onto my card base.

I then stamped it again onto scraps of turquoise, pink and purple, and then coated with a nice thick coat of crystal effects. Once dry, I cut out the balloon and adhered over top of the plain stamped balloon on the card base.

Stamped the greeting onto s strip of yellow card, and did a ribbon tail snip on one edge, and adhered to the card. Finished it off by taking a bit of turquoise ribbon and tying it around a small paperclip, and slipping the clip onto the greeting.

All in all, a cute, bright, cheery kids birthday card.

Hope you enjoy!

Cheers,

Karin

Scrapbook page and Card for a challenge

2010-04-19T12:12:00.002+01:00

OK - so here is a wonderful scrapbook page I have done for our family photo - when we get the photo taken that is! But, once we do, I have got the layout done at least! So half way there!

This lovely layout is done using a sheet of bashful blue DSP and not quite navy and old olive CS for the photo mat. I stamped the large swirl from Baroque Motifs in not quite navy straight onto the patterned paper. This adds some nice patterned detail, and looks eyecatching when done on DSP. I used some of the deliscious wide striped old olive ribbon along the bottom.

The flower stems are just super thin strips of old olive cardstock that I have twisted and twisted and twisted. I glued them down using some tombow. The leaves are from the 5-petal flower punch - I just trimmed them off to create a leaf.

The flowers are punched with the boho blossoms punch and then inked with some not quite navy ink and adhered. Finished it off with some buttons, and a stamped and punched butterfly from flight of the butterfly.

Now, for a special twist, I have done this card based on one of the ILWS Design Team challenges and the above scrapbook page.

Same basic idea as the above scrapbook page, however for the ILWS challenge of "two brads, two buttons and ONE stamped image" I used two of the wonderful filligree brads as flowers. One of the buttons is actually a clear button with a rub-on transfer flower on it.

If you have seen anything that you like, contact me to place your order!

Cheers,

Karin

Registration deadline extended

2010-04-15T18:34:00.002+01:00

OK - there are still a few spots for my Scrapbooking class on May 1st. So, to give you a chance to get those seats, I have decided to extend the registration deadline until April 21st. This is the latest I can leave it and still make sure you get all your kit supplies for the class.

So, if you are interested, please contact me.

Same extended deadline for my open house and Vintage Vogue class, so register while there are still spaces!

2010-04-12T12:12:00.000+01:00

For my upcomming scrapbook class I have been working on various samples and templates.

Here are two using the wonderful Love Stories simply scrappin kit.

If you are interested in taking my Scrapbooking for Beginners class, then here are all the details:

Date: May 1st - International Scrapbooking Day

Time: 11:30 to 3:30

Location: LeMarie Centre, Watford (lots of free parking in ASDA right behind the centre)

Cost: £60

The cost of the class includes the following:

Your choice of 4 custom starter kits containing:

Cardstock

Patterned paper

Adhesive

Journaling pens (one black, one white)

Scissors

Ribbon

Self adhesive die-cuts

Brads, buttons, and other embellishments

Optional extras of an album (£20) and paper trimmer (£17)

If you would like to take this class, please RSVP by the 18th of April to reserve your seat as spaces are limited. For those that RSVP and pre-pay on time you will receive a special gift from me, and be entered into a special prize draw.

Contact me to register for this class now!

Stampin'Up Colour Renovation!!

2010-04-08T12:08:00.004+01:00

Stampin' Up! announcement a shake up of the Standard Stampin' UP! colour families and individual colours. What this means is we will be getting 15 NEW COLOURS!

Now, in order to make room for these 15 new colours, we do have to say a fond farewell to some colours. But, not to worry, this will not happen until the new catalogue comes out in October, so you have lots of time still.

If you are building up your colour collections, you may want to take a look at the list below and only buy colours that are staying.

If there is a colour that you love which will be retiring at the end of September, you've got six months notice to fill up on your inkpads, refills, cardstock colours before you won't be able to get it again.

Here is a look at the colours we will be saying farewell to at the end of September:

And here is the colour chart showing you the new "Colour Collections" - can you spot the 15 new colours?

And, as if that was not enough - we will be getting IN-COLOURS!!

We will get 5 new exciting and fresh in-colours in October, and they will stick around for 2 years. Then, next year we will get 5 more new in-colours that again will stick around for 2 years. So on the 3rd year, the first set of 5 in-colours will retire, and we will get 5 more new colours and so on!

I am super excited about this!!

But, dont forget, we have also just received our new spring-summer mini catalogue - so there is still 6 months to go!

New Classes!

2010-04-08T11:59:00.003+01:00

OK - my new classes have been posted - you can get all the details here

First is a vintage vogue class featuring a lovely vintage style.

The second is a beginners scrapbooking class.

RSVP by April 18th for your class, and get a special thank-you gift from me at your class!

New goodies from the new mini

2010-04-07T12:17:00.004+01:00

Well, here is a super sweet 3x3 note card I made to feature the wonderful new bird punch.

The base is sage shadow, with natural ivory mat. I used the new choco chip satin ribbon, and stamped the greeting below from Vintage Vogue. I also used the boarder from the same set along the top again in sage shadow ink.

I punched the bird and branch from the To the Nines speciality DSP and the wing separately from the naturals ivory CS.

Cheers,

Karin

April Cup Challenge!!

2010-04-03T13:55:00.003+01:00

Just a reminder that this evening is full of fun challenges and chatter over at ILWS with our April Cup Challenge.

Registration starts at 5pm, and the first challenge is posted at 7pm. All the fun goes until midnight, so please join us :)

Cheers,

Karin

Mini Blog Hop Time!!!

2010-03-28T09:00:00.006+01:00

Welcome welcome!!!

I hope you have had a wonderful hop so far, and have been super inspired by what you have seen! Was Hayley's project not just amazing?!?!

I have to admit, I had a hard time deciding what to show you from all the wonderful little goodies I have made with some of the exciting stuff from the new mini.

In the end, I kept adding photo after photo.......

................ so enjoy!!!

Above: a wonderful 12x12 scrapbook layout done with pale plum and going grey textured cardstock, and perfect plum striped DSP. I used the very vintage wheel and basic black in to put its lovely distressed pattern ontop of the stripes. Stamped the dreamy large flower from Vintage Vogue in Perfect Plum and Pale Plum inks onto whisper white CS and cut out. Finished with some moss taffeta ribbon, some silk flowers that I dyed with Perfect Plum re-inker, and some clear rhinestone brads to add that all important bling!

After the Vintage Vogue stamp set, I firmly believe that the heavenly Night & Day DSP is my number 2 pick from our new mini! It is a must! Here, I have layered it behind the Fresh Cuts die cut note card. Makes for super simple and elegant thank-you cards.

And number 3 on my must have list from the new mini is the Sweet Pea Stitched Felt! I have used it here to brighten up an altered mini note book from SU along with one of our rub-ons. This stitched felt is so wonderful, you dont even need to stamp!

Finally, what would a blog hop be without some chocolate???? Here are some pink and red chocolate candy hearts in one of the wonderful new Sweet Treat cups!! Talk about the ultimate way to make one of a kind party favours with these! Here, I have place it in the centre of one of our scalloped circle cards, and embellished the front with the Vintage Vogue stamp set (I think my new go to set!) and some lovely flat back pearls from the pretties kit.

Overall, this new mini has something for everyone, no matter your taste, style, or the occasion. So, if you have seen something you like, contact me to place your order!

And now off to Michelles blog for some more wonderful ideas that are sure to inspire :)

Olympia Stitch & Craft show

2010-03-20T21:59:00.001Z

Have had a wonderful time at the show - and to everyone that I met there, I hope you did as well!

If you are interested in anything from our chats on the stand, please contact me to discuss further :)

Cheers,

Karin

Perfect Pairs!

2010-03-01T21:41:00.001Z

Stampin'Up is having a wonderful promotion for the month of March - buy a qualifying stamp set and receive the coordinating punch for 20 percent off!

Plus, be the first to purchase the brand-new Full Heart punch—now available in the United Kingdom for one month only (or while supplies last)! This punch works beautifully with the Simply Said stamp set.

For the complete list of stamp sets and matching punches, view the flyer below.

To place your order, please e-mail me

Decorating Kayleighs Room

2010-02-26T12:29:00.004Z

So, I was busy while my mom was here - she wanted to do some crafting projects. So, I hauled out what I had to alter to decorate Kayleighs bedroom.

There were 2 projects I had - letters for her name, and a paper lantern light cover for the bare bulb hanging from the ceiling.

This paper lantern globe I picked up at Ikea. For the past year, Kayleigh has had a bare bulb hanging from the ceiling. So, I thought "its about time I fixed that - wonder what I can do for cheap" as we are renting. During a trip to Ikea to get a toy box for Kayleigh, I saw these, and had a light bulb moment (ha ha ha, could not resist!)

Sponged with some blue ink, then stamped the flower butterfly in rose red onto some pretty in pink CS and punched out with butterfly punch. Curled the wings with a pencil, and adhered to the sponged globe with some glue dots. Glued 2 back to back with some pink taffeta ribbon in the middle to have hanging from the bottom.

Now, Kayleigh just loves this - every time we go into her room, she looks up with a huge smile at her light cover, reaches for the dangling butterfly, and says "pretty". (her Grandma taught her that). Just warms the heart!

The next project we did was the letters for her name. I decided to do her name on the wall for one main reason - so she learns what it looks like. This was prompted by a comment that the doctor made last year when I took her for her 6 week checkup "she is going to hate you when it comes time to learn how to spell her name." I just had to laugh because several family members made the same comment.

Still, I love the spelling, so thought I would give her a head start with her name on the wall above her crib.

Very simple to do, but I do recommend you get some latex gloves to protect you fingers. Using the re-inkers and a sponge, just wipe the colours straight onto the letters. Stampin'Up classic inks dries very fast, so there is no waiting for things to set before you can move onto the next stage. I used some bright colourful prima flowers from my stash, and added some flat back pearls from the SU pretties kit. Adhered to the letters with a glue gun. The letters are mounted on the wall with 3M command adhesive as we are renting.

Now, I left these letters mat, but did find that some ink came off onto my fingers as I was adhering them to the wall, so I might take them down and paint with a coat of crystal effects. This will add some shine, and protect my fingers next time I have to handle them.

Diary of a Newborn Parent

2010-02-01T20:25:00.003Z

So, for the ILWS Design team challenge of using 5 or more ribbons, I did this wonderful scrapbook page. There are 25 ribbons on it to make the fluffy ribbon cluster in the bottom.

The pull-out page behind the photo contains all the journalling - a 24 hour day in the life of a newborn parent as survived by Dave.

Here is the journalling:

0614 - Kayleigh woke up crying; dirty diaper. Changed it, cuddled and went back to sleep. She's so cute.

0616 - awake again, crying; diaper again. Need to wait longer next time. Sound asleep.

0627 - crying again; diaper. Hmm, need to run to the store tomorrow; about to run out. Cuddled, kept

crying, fed, burped her, and cuddled and she's back asleep. I hope she sorts this out.

1048 - Crying again; reminded myself that it's her method of communication. Diaper clean. Still crying. Boob, bed and asleep. Caught a couple of hours sleep. What a little angel.

1423 - almost four hours since last feed. Soiled diaper, changed. Cuddled and back to sleep. This is easy (though expensive); guess we got one of the good ones.

1919 - wow, five hours! fantastic; she is a gift from heaven. diaper and boob did the trick; sleeping soundly!

2302 - feeding and changing time; four hours this time. Wow!

0115 - awake and crying, dirty diaper. She crapped on my hands, and her clothes and the carpet as I was

changing her diaper. New diaper and clothes. More food, burping; she's probably done

0123 - finished scrubbing the carpet; am looking forward to 3+hours sleep.

0144 - awake and crying; comforted for 20 mins, back in bed now; sheesh...

0208 - crying; diaper clean and not hungry; finally just nodded off; what the ?????

0239 - started crying the second my head hit the pillow; spent last 20 mins walking the floor; asleep now.

0242 - *&%(“)*&”!.

0323 - diaper - again! she's asleep, wish I was.

0328 - she hasn't woken up yet; I think it might be safe...

0332 - she moves every 30 seconds and lets out a squeak; she's taunting me, I know it

0351 - she's toying with me, I know it. The second that I go to bed, she'll start wailing again. I refuse to give her the satisfaction; I will not go to sleep until she wakes up!

0418 - Please wake up, oh god make her wake up; I'm begging you; I'll do anything, just let me get back to sleep!

0426 - Woke up with sore neck; was sleeping with chin on edge of crib. I give up, going to sleep now, I think that she's *finally* down for the night.

0427 - *”&(“&$(“$”&”^^!%£%!!

0431 - finally stopped crying; I should probably go deal with Kayleigh now

???? - don't know the time, don't care; I think it's sunday, or maybe wednesday... though saturday sounds almost right too. ran out of diapers; used a t-shirt; only thing clean was my favourite; baby is sleeping with

satisfying grin on face. That should annoy me but I'm so tired that I can't remember why; going to sleep.

0614 - Kayleigh woke up crying; dirty diaper; mom changed her this time. For some strange reason, I can't find my favourite t-shirt; Kayleigh is all smiles this morning; I can't put my finger on why but that irks me; I feel guilty.

1048 - Crying again; reminded myself that it's her method of communication. Diaper clean. Still crying. Boob, bed and asleep. Caught a couple of hours sleep; what a little angel...

Note: At the time of this writing (Jan 30, 2009), Kayleigh is 5 days old... or so I'm told.

Love Daddy (Dave)

Welcome to the next pit-stop on the SAB Blog Hop

2010-01-23T22:04:00.004Z

Did you not love Bekka's samples? I know I did!

Here are my two wonderful little samples using the vintage labels SAB set. I love this set very much. So many uses, and I have loads of ideas to use these frames for scrapbook pages.

But, for this road-trip, I have some wonderful cards to show you.

The first is using some bright colours - not the normal for me.

Summer Sun base, with turquoise and cameo coral stripes, and finally some of the delicious summer sun patterned paper from the Pink Flamingo DSP collection.

The circular label is stamped in tempting turquoise onto a large metal rimmed tag, and a 1" circle of cameo coral is mounted onto with pop dots. The greeting is stamped in turquoise, as is the little flourish above. I got the flourish by colouring one of the "points" from the circular label punch with a turquoise marker, then stamping onto the top of the cameo coral circle.

This second SAB card is done with a Kraft base, and Not Quite Navy and Old Olive cut out in the shape of the top-note die. While I do not have this die, I do have a PDF of the shape that I print out onto my cardstock, then cut out by hand. So cards made with this are special given the time involved. Did some paperpiercing along the edge of the old olive stripe to give it some extra dimension.

The curly square label from the vintage labels set is stamped in Real Red on Whisper White and cut out by hand. The For You greeting from the set is stamped with the Whisper White craft ink onto the red cardstock, then punched out with the word window punch. I think next time I will emboss the greeting with white embossing powder. Got to add that to my next order now!

Finished it off with one of the yummy crochet flowers and a red rhinestone brad.

I hope you have enjoyed this pit-stop on your SAB blog hop. Next up is Abi - so get ready to feast your eyes on some more wonderful creations!

Cheers,

Karin Fidler

How you can help Haiti

2010-01-23T10:54:00.003Z

From now until 28 February, 2010, Stampin'Up! will be donating £1 from every Greenhouse Gardens stamp set you buy to the American Red Cross’ International Response Fund. The Red Cross is already well-established in Haiti, and this money will be used to provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need.

As an added incentive, I am going to donate £5 to the DEC in your name if you purchase this set from me between now and Feb 28th.

Stampin'Up is doing this in every country that it is in. So this is a global effort. In addition to this, Stampin'Up has also put together 500 emergency hygiene kits to send to Haiti - you can read about it here on Shelli's blog.

To place your order, please e-mail me.

Want to help Haiti?

2010-01-19T12:00:00.002Z

Want to help those in Haiti and get some Stampin'Up Stamps at the same time?

Stampin'Up! will be announcing soon a special "Help Haiti" fund-raising drive.

In the past Stampin'Up has donated proceeds from the sale of a selected stamp set to a disaster relief fund. Previous campaigns have included the Twin Towers, Hurricane Katrina, the Tsunami Relief Fund, and the Australian Wild Fires.

Once I have all the details from Stampin'Up later this week, I will let you all know how you too can help the survivors of Haiti recover from this disaster.

ILWS Cup Challenge!

2010-01-01T22:17:00.003Z

We are having an evening of stamping fun over at ILWS on the evening of the 2nd!

All the fun starts at 5pm with registration, and lots of exciting stuff happening every hour until it is time for bed!!!

All the details can be found here!

Come and join in the fun!

2009-12-22T22:05:00.004Z

OK - so here is a picture of Davids Birthday Card.

I kept it simple, framed the greeting with some hodgepodge hardware that I trimmed on of the brad holes off using my SU craft & rubber scissors - they cut through anything!!

The handprint on the inside is Kayleigh's contribution to her Daddy's birthday card. I inked her hand up using a babywipe that I put a few drops of SU classic ink onto from a re-inker. Love that SU classic ink is non-toxic so I can do fun stuff like this with it!!

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone

Christmas Madness!

2009-12-14T21:22:00.003Z

Well, it is Christmas once again!

Let the insanity ensue!

Personally, I love the madness - it is a great excuse to go a bit mad yourself!!

So, I have been madly making Christmas gifts and such. Here are two of the most recent ones.

First, it is a wonderful name plaque for my adorable little niece Paige. Found some wood letters, painted them white, then stamped them with the Baroque Motifs set using orange and pink. Embellished with some of the orange and pink felt flowers and some more orange and pink retired DSP. Now, while you will NEVER find orange in my home décor - my sister LOVES it!! It is her favourite colour. I still thank the gods for intervening and her giving up on orange bridesmaids dresses at her wedding.

Next is much more my style.

With the new addition of our daughter Kayleigh to the family, she of course required a Christmas stocking that went with Mommy's and Daddy's. So, our stockings are ones that I made in 2002 for our first Christmas in our new house. His is burgundy, black and gold. Mine is in plums with silk ribbon embroidery and pewter charms.

So, what to do for Kayleigh's? I did not want to go with traditional colours, and wanted it to be fun and vibrant (no orange allowed!).

So, here it is, in all its pink and green cotton candy Victorian Christmas glory!

I have done some embroidery with some pink ribbons and pearls, and stitched on some mini jingle bells (under the bow) and added some silver snowflakes.

To make it really "bling" I did her name using rhinestone letters!! Her middle name was supposed to hang gracefully, but I think the weight makes it tilt to much, so will have to stitch the cording and letters in place now.

But, isn't it just GORGEOUS!!!!

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful and Happy Christmas!!

Hugs,

Karin

Last Chance List from Stampin'Up!

2009-09-01T04:49:00.002+01:00

Well everyone, here it is - the last chance list from Stampin'Up!

This year, there are some extra discounts from the last chance list, so take a look!

As a note - Stampin'Up will not be carrying over items again at the back of the catalogue like they did last time - this time once gone, they truly are gone!

So, take a peek - you can download the PDF here:
http://www2.stampinup.com/gb/eng/6219.asp

And, I have seen some of the sneek peek sets, and we are in for a wonderful new catalogue come October 1st! So, dont forget to pre-order your catalogue now!

E-mail me for all the info!

New Catalogue!!!

2009-08-20T18:22:00.002+01:00

So, do you want the new Stampin'Up Catalogue right away????

If so, I am taking pre-orders now so that as soon as I recieve my cases of catty around the 27th of September, I will ensure yours are first in the post the day I get them!

Pre-order cost is £4.50 - this includes your catalogue, postage, and a bunch of special coupons for you to use throughout the year!

So, to place your pre-order, e-mail me today!

Ribbon Fringe

2009-08-11T22:50:00.001+01:00

OK - so I have been playing and learning lots of cool things you can do with ribbon! Here is one of them:

August special from Stampin'Up!

2009-08-01T19:57:00.003+01:00

This August, when you make a purchase of £45, you will get FREE from Stampin'Up a twin pack of limited edition ribbons. This pack includes one spool of 5/8" so saffron grosgrain ribbon and one spool of 5/8" certianly celery poly twill ribbon as well. There is 9.1m on each spool.

This is a wonderful offer from Stampin'Up!

To place your order, please contact me today!

Started on Christmas yet???

2009-07-30T10:33:00.003+01:00

Well, I have made my first Christmas card of the year!

I did it as part of the anything goes challenge over at In Love With Stamping - make a christmas card using pink! So, here it is :

Nice and quick using the rose red DSP, old olive and regal rose CS, and matching inks. I used the super simple masking technique for the ornaments.

If you would like more information on the masking technique used to make this card, or ordering the stamp set used - Hung up on the Holidays, please contact me!

folded flower

2009-07-23T16:12:00.003+01:00

Here is one of my latest cards. I love making these medallion flowers. You punch a circle, fold in half, then open and fold in half again the opposite way. You then fold from the bottom crease line to the first edge crease line, then line that folded edge up with the center fold. Repeat on the other side of the circle, and you get a flower petal

Line up eight of these petals in a circle to get a giant flower medallion. Add one of the flat back pearls from the pretties kit, and add to a card. The flowers add so much, the card base can be quite simple. Stamped the thank-you greeting from Curvey Versus from Stampin'Up

Cheers,
Karin

Summer Design Challenge - an extra incentive from me!

2009-07-03T13:26:00.002+01:00

So, to get your creative juices into high gear for this summer design challenge, I am offering an extra special incentive to you - my customers!

Your chance to win - from me - an amazing goodie bag consisting of:

Rich Regals Brads
Rose Red Stitched Ribbon
Rose Red classic ink pad
Rose Red Designer Series Paper

For your chance to win, all you have to do is send me a picture of your Summer Challenge entry submission. I will pick the winner at random from all the entries I recieve!

And, if your entry is selected as a winner by Stampin'Up! I will send you the set "Cheers to you" as an extra special congratulations from me!

e-mail a picture of your submissions to me at stamps AT continuingtime.com

Remember to e-mail me your submission by August 31st. I will announce the winner on September 5th on the blog here, and prizes will be shiped to you by the 15th of Sept.

Good luck everyone!

Summer Design Challenge - WIN £150 of SU stamps!

2009-07-01T12:11:00.003+01:00

This summer you can win free stamp sets when you participate in the Summer Design Challenge. Simply create a summer-inspired project using Stampin' Up! products and submit it no later than 31 August, 2009 for your chance to win!

Prizes

* First Place: 150£/180€ worth of stamps sets
* 2 Runer up prized: 50£/60€ worth of stamps sets

Summer Design Challenge Rules

* Projects must be created using only Stampin' Up! products. So, if it is not in the catalogue, dont use it!

* Only one project per participant will be accepted.
* Projects can be cards, home decor, scrapbook pages, or 3D items. But, the 3D item must be made from ALL SU! stuff - so no altered tins/bags/boxes/frames etc.
* All projects must be summer-themed.
* Projects must be unique, and created for the Summer Design Challenge. Do not just recycle your old projects.
* A list of products used must be included with the project submission.
* Full contact information, including your full name, address, phone number, and e-mail address must be included with the project submission.
* Projects will not be returned as they may be displayed at future Stampin' Up! events or on the Stampin' Up! web site.

Please contact me for further details if you have any questions, as well as the full terms and conditions PDF file from Stampin'Up!.

Happy Canada Day

2009-07-01T10:56:00.005+01:00

Well, being Canadian, I had to wish everyone a Happy Canada Day! And, here is my current class schedule, as well as the sample for the School Days 6x6 Scrapbook. If you would like to register for any of my classes, please e-mail me at stamps AT continuingtime.com. July 7 – Mini Album 7:30pm to 9:00pm cost: £10
Just bring 8-12 wallet sized photos with you, and a paper trimmer and adhesive if you have some.

July 21 – Birthday cards for Girls 7:30pm to 9:00pm cost: £18 or £28 with the stamp set for you to keep. You just need to bring a paper trimmer and adhesive with you if you have it. You will make 9 birthday cards. You must register and pay by the 13th of July.

July 22 – Birthday cards for boys 7:30pm to 9:00pm cost: £18 or £28 with the stamp set for you to keep. You just need to bring a paper trimmer and adhesive with you if you have it. You will make 9 birthday cards. You must register and pay by the 13th of July.

August 1 – 6x6 scrapbook – school themed. 2:00pm to 5:00pm cost: £25. Please bring about 15-20 school themed photos of your child, along with a paper trimmer and adhesive if you have some. If you would like a 6x6 linen album, please add £15 to the class fee. You must register and pay by the 20th of July. Here is a sample of the school themed 6x6 scrapbook you will make in this class.

Payment methods: I am happy to accept, cash, cheque or paypal payments.

Successful Surgery!

2009-05-03T10:42:00.002+01:00

OK - the surgery to remove my gall bladder went really well on Friday - so yeah me!!

Just waiting for the incisions from the keyhole surgery to heal, then I hope to be able to cuddle Kayleigh again soon!

But, the big thing is I can eat a normal diet - including chocolate!!!

Yum!!

Happy stamping everyone :)

blog candy

2009-04-30T10:28:00.001+01:00

I have found some amazing blog candy from an amazing stamper - thought I would share :)

Take a look!

http://passionforcrafts.blogspot.com/2009/04/blogoversary-candy.html

Cheers,
Karin

Love SU and Scrapbooking???

2009-04-29T21:24:00.002+01:00

Then May is really the month for you!

SU is celebrating international scrapbooking day of May 2nd with some fabulous offers for the whole month!

The first is the scrapbooking papers promo - buy 3, get the 4th one for free! This includes all the scrapbooking papers in the main catalogoue, the mini, and the retired ones at the back of the main catalogue.

Then, as if that was not enough......

Stampin'Up has introduced a special scrapbooking starter kit for the month of May - so, if you have been thinking of becoming a demo, but were hesitant because you did more scrapbooking than card making, then this is the chance for you!

The scrabooking starter kit is £99 and includes:
Craft and rubber scissors
Short order alphabet stamp set**
Petal Party simply scrappin kit*
Pumpkin Pie ink pad*
12x12 textured earth elements cardstock pack*

(*These items are recommended; however, recruit may select other like products)
(**Recruit may chose any stamp set of equal or less value)

Plus, you get all the following business supplies:

Idea Book & Catalog (8)
2009 Mini Catalogue (8)
Getting Started DVD
Getting Started Guide
Guest Invitation Postcard (100)
To My Hostess envelopes (10)
Project Sample Sheet
Recruit Brochures (20)
Hostess Brochures (20)
Hostess Benefits Forms (10)
Customer Order Forms (50)

So, if you have been thinking of joining, but scrapbooking is more you, then now is the time!

Plus, I am offering any new recruit that signs up with me in May and purchases the SU scrapbooking starter kit a FREE 6x6 linen album as well. Contact me for all the details, or to join, on stamps @ continuingtime.com

Cheers,
Karin

May Specials!

2009-04-19T17:01:00.004+01:00

Well, first, let me apologize for being completly absent. With the new baby, and the move, have been much busier than I thought I would. Amazing just how much of your time such a little person can demand!

But, I hope to get back into stamping and, more importantly, scrapbooking baby photos come May! And what better way to get back into the swing of things with a fabulous May offer from Stampin'Up!

Buy 3 packs of designer series paper, get a fourth free! This amazing offer from SU includes all the papers in the main catalogue, the retired ones at the back of the current catalogue, AND the ones in the new mini!!!

Now I really have no excuse to not get back into scrapbooking with this special!

And, as May is my birthday month, I am offering a special of my own - %10 off Stampin'Up scrapbooking albums or refills AND free shipping on orders of £60 or more!

Now you dont have any reason to not start scrapbooking either! Contact me on stamps @ continuingtime.com to place your order!

Cheers,
Kairn

Kayleigh Mackenzie Fidler

2009-02-05T13:37:00.002Z

Well, here she is - all 7lb 8oz and 22" of her!

Kayleigh Mackenzie arrived on January 26th at 12 minutes past noon, and decided to show off her vocal skills right from the start!

Mom is looking for the instruction manual, Dad is looking for the refund policy - Grandma is keeping us all sane :)

In all seriousnes, Kayleigh is an absolute delight, despite the fact that she has her days and nights mixed up, and mommy and daddy have NO idea what they are doing - thank the heavens my mom (aka Grandma) is here to keep her alive. Dave and I struggle with keeping plants alive!

I have decided that I would give my right big toe for a tumble dryer right now given the amount of laundry Kayleigh can produce in one night! BTW- dont trust pampers - I much prefer the no-name diapers as they have not leaked on us yet!

Hope you enjoy the pic :)

Cheers,
Karin

I will be MIA for a while

2009-01-25T16:17:00.002Z

Sorry to say, but I will be MIA for about another week, as I have now gone into labour!!

New baby less than 24 hours away now!

However, I do have projects to post, and will do so, but detailed directions will be scarse -but I do promise photos at the least!

Cheers,
Kairn

Happy New Year

2009-01-12T19:31:00.003Z

OK - so I will admit, this is a bit late. With being 38.5 weeks pregnant, things slip my mind all the time, and with trying (sometimes very unsuccessfully) to get everything ready for the baby, I have really been neglecting my blogging duties.

But, here is a cute project I came up with. I have "grand" plans of making a bunch of these to send to family back home in Canada with pictures of the new baby. The "grand" part comes in where I "plan" on sending family a new 6x6 page to update their calendar every month!

Might be a bit ambitious, but I will give it a go!

Anyways, the complete directions can be found on the website In Love With Stamping by following this link for the 6x6 Calendar Tutorial. If you have not registered on the site, I highly recommend it!

Cheers,
Karin

Sale-A-Bration is here!!! FREE SETS!!

2008-12-31T20:48:00.002Z

Promotion Details:

For more than ten years, the Sale-A-Bration promotion has been one of Stampin’ Up!’s biggest promotions of the year.

Customers: Receive a free Sale-A-Bration product for every £45 purchase. There are 4 wonderful stamp sets for you to choose from.

Hostesses: Receive a free Sale-A-Bration stamp set with £300 or more workshop, in addition to the normal hostess benefits.

Recruits: Choose any retail stamp set (a value up to £38.95) from the current catalogue when signing up during the promotion.

Please contact me for more details, or if you would like to place an order!

stamps @ continuingtime.com
or 07842 392 933

hate being sick!

2008-12-10T22:20:00.003Z

For the record, being sick is never fun for anyone. I have always hated it - especially when I have the flu and am throwing up - like I am now.

However, here is a card that I did over the weekend before I got horribly sick. I have a few more in the closet in case I don't recover quickly :)

Very quick and simple card. I created a mask, and sponged the inside with bashful blue ink. I then stamped the snowflakes in bashful blue and almost amethyst inks with the mask still on.

Once I removed the mask, I stamped the large snowflake and the word Joy in night of navy ink. The Joy ended up crooked as I coughed while I was stamping. If I had only known what that one cough would lead to...... oh well!

Tied some bashful blue taffeta ribbon around the top into a knot - I cant tie nice bows - and done!

Very nice no-layer card that will be nice and easy to post to family overseas back home in Canada. This past weeks challenge at In Love With Stamping was to create a no-layers card - you can view the challenge thread HERE

All supplies from Stampin'Up. The snowflake spot stamp set was used.

Something Girlie!

2008-12-07T13:20:00.006Z

Well, I needed a break from doing christmas cards, so I decided to make this wonderful wedding card for a friend.

I stamped the En Francais background stamp with white stazon onto the acetate, and layered that over the blue background that I have stamped the swirley Baroque stamp onto. I used some blue ribbon to cover the glue that holds the acetate down. The flowers are from the SU pretties kit. I sponged them with bashful blue to get them to match. The more sponging you do, the darker they become.

Added the greeting in some styled silver hodge podge hardware with some crystal brads and a nice ribbon bow. The flowers with pearls are attached with glue dots to the acetate.

Voila! Beautiful girlie card for a friend! And a wonderful break from doing christmas cards! Below is a close up view.

Cheers,
Karin

well.... no videos :( But some cards instead :)

2008-12-02T20:09:00.008Z

Well, aparently I need some software to make the video I took of the tutorial more compact (lower resolution) so it can be posted.

And, for that, I need to get the hubby to help out, as I have absolutley no idea what to do with it once I even get it installed!

I apologize!

However, here is a card.... or 4..... to make up for the past ummm...... 2 weeks? Sorry!

All images, paper and ink is from Stampin'Up!

Card 1: bravo brugandy, always artichoke, mellow moss. Stamp set is Season of Joy

Card 2: Ruby Red, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
Loads of Love stamp set

Card 3: Bashful Blue, Almost Amethyst, Night of Navy
Snowflake Spot stamp set

Card 4: Certanly Celery, Real Red
Stamps: Typeset Alphabet Upper and Snow Burst

video huh????

2008-11-18T09:40:00.000Z

So, I know I said I would attempt a video tutorial. And I did - unitl we discovered that we had lost our net connection, and I had no way of posting last night!

So, I will post it tonight when I get home from work :)

Cupcakes!

2008-11-16T21:21:00.004Z

So, I got the new Crazy for Cupcakes set - I needed something that was cute and fun for birthday cards, and this set really fits the bill!

The background for the top part of the card is made using the ribbon string from the balloon stamp and sage shadow ink onto the sage shadow cardstock base.

The image is stamped in night of navy, and watercoloured with the aquapainters and watercolour crayons. Matted onto night of navy cardstock.

The greeting is stamped onto some sage card stock with night of navy and framed using some of the new hodgepodge hardware, and secured with some pink taffeta ribbon.

So, I discovered at work the other day that not everyone knows what English muffins are. I offered my colleague an English muffin (pregnancy craving - love nutella!) and she accepted. I asked if she wanted nutella or butter, toasted or not toasted. She asked for it plain with, with a confused look on her face.

So, I brought her a plain English muffin - and she goes "this is not a muffin".

We all had a very good laugh as we explained the difference between English muffins and "regular" muffins.

Watch out tomorrow - I am going to attempt a video tutorial!

Babywipe background technique

2008-11-12T12:31:00.003Z

So, I made this card a while ago to try out the baby wipe technique. There are several different ways of doing this technique, and the one I attempted requires a more solid image stamp - so I hauled out my Baroque Background SU stamp.

To do the technique, you take a baby wipe and put a few drops of re-inkers in 3 or 4 different, but coordinating colours, onto the bunched up baby wipe. You then sponge the inked up baby wipe directly onto the stamp. Once all inked up, place your glossy card stock onto the background image (much easier than stamping onto the paper) and rub over with a piece of scrap paper to protect your fingers from getting covered in ink :)

Lift your paper up off the stamp, and voila - a beautiful marble look background. To take this to the next level, add a drop or two of metallic re-inkers for a stunning effect that is wonderful for winter cards when done with blues and silver.

Card supplies:
Elegant Eggplant
Mellow Moss
Whisper white
Watercolour crayons & aquapainters
Baroque Background
Always in my Thoughts set
Asst ribbon for tags
Scallop border punch

Stampin’Up Specials!

2008-11-11T13:04:00.003Z

Stampin’up has two wonderful specials going on right now.

The first runs until the end of the year. If you hostess a party that reaches £150 in sales, you get to pick a FREE set from the 6 that SU has on offer. All the details are on the flyer below. Don’t want to hostess a party? Not a problem! You can still earn this extra free set by placing an order totalling £150 on your own!

This second special runs until the end of November.

Spend £20, and get to purchase as many of these items as you like for 20% off! Up for offer are the rub-ons and the colour family packs of 12”x12” textured cardstock. There are no restrictions on how many of each you can purchase at the 20% discount, so why not stock up and get them all?

Please contact me via e-mail on talarria AT gmail DOT com if you wish to take advantage of any of these specials!

Class Schedule

2008-11-09T11:43:00.005Z

OK - here is my new class schedule.

If you are interested in taking a class, please contact me on talarria AT gmail DOT com for location and payment details.

Christmas Card Extravanganza: November 21, 6pm to 9pm. Cost £20 RSVP by 18th November. We will be making 10 christmas cards (2 each of 5 designs) and 10 gift tags (2 each of 5 designs).

Stampin' up a Storm Christmas Cards: November 29, 1pm to 4pm. Cost £20 RSVP by 25th November. We will be making 10 christmas cards (2 each of 5 designs) and 10 gift tags (2 each of 5 designs). These cards and tags will be different from the Card Extravanganza class cards.

I Wish Christmas Scrapbook: December 7, 2pm to 4pm. Cost £20 RSVP by 25th November so I can ensure I have enough kits for everyone. You will be making a 12 page 6x6 scrapbook designed to hold 4x5 photos that you can quickly and easily add once you get your christmas photos! Make for great gifts for grandparents!

All classes require pre-payment by the RSVP date. I accept payment via paypal (class cost plus paypal fees) or via cheque (in the post) or cash in person.

All classes will be in the Ealing area of London, and I will confirm location via e-mail on the RSVP date. Large classes will be at my office, and small ones in my house.

Cheers,
Karin

Christmas Card Making Extravaganza!

2008-10-31T10:58:00.004Z

Here is a sneak peak of two of the five Christmas cards we will be making at my Christmas Card Making Extravanganza on the evening of November 21st

We will be making 2 each of 5 designs for a total of 10 cards, plus 10 gift tags.

If you are interested, please e-mail me for all the details.

If you would like to atttend, please RSVP to me by the 18th of November to reserve your place.

Location: Ealing, London
Date: 21 November
Time: 6:00pm
Cost: £20 (you will make 10 cards and 10 gift tags)
RSVP: November 18th

Special: If you RSVP and pay by the 14th of November, you will recieve a special gift from me!

Contact me on: talarria AT gmail DOT com for details or to register!

Christmas Card Making Extravaganza

2008-10-31T10:53:00.002Z

Starting with christmas

2008-10-28T21:13:00.002Z

OK - I am finally making a start on my christmas cards. This is a fun one using the leaf shadow stamp from the Shapes & Shadows set.

Stamp it in red and green, then colour the base using the black marker, and add your string. Then, stamp some sprinkles and your greeting!

Voila, a quick and simple no-layer card!

Early Start on Valentines!

2008-10-18T10:03:00.002+01:00

Well, I got the set Sealed with a Kiss, as well as the new scalloped border and square punch from SU, and wanted to see what I could do.

I used the XOXO stamp to create a background on natural confetti paper by stamping it over and over again in real red ink. I then stamped the LOVE square onto the natural confetti paper and using my new papersnips (highly recommends them!) cut the image out very close to the border.

Attached the stamped background to the top of the card base, and then decided to use some chocolate chip CS with a scalloped edge for the bottom part with some read red grosgrain ribbon tied in a knot around it.

I then layered the cut out image onto some real red CS that I had punched with the scalloped square punch and attached it to the card front with pop dots so it has a bit of 3D effect to it.

Overall, a very nice Valentines card!

Can you tell that I am procrastinating with the Christmas Cards :)

2008-10-13T20:29:00.002+01:00

So, a while ago, I visited my friend Jana in Germany, and while there, she gave me one of these GIANT clothes pegs that she was sent by a friend from the US.

I have finally decorated it!

Jana - you would be so proud of me :)

The patterned paper is is from the Fall Flowers DSP from SU.

Regular white grossgrain ribbon, and metal rimmed tag with the Too Cute stamp set stamped onto the tag.

Have no idea really what I will use the clip for, but was thinking I could use it to showcase any of the latest SU specials when I do classes or workshops.

Cheers,
Karin.

Sponged silhouette

2008-10-12T14:35:00.002+01:00

So, this is another card I did for the ILWS world card making day challenge.

Using a glossy cardstock, I sponged pale plum, perfect plum, and Eggplant, starting from the centre and working my way out from light to dark.

Then, I stamped the image in black and matted onto black CS, tied some eggplant ribbon around it with one of the new ribbon sliders from the styled silver HPH in the new SU catalogue.

Finally I matted it onto an elegant eggplant cardbase.

Cheers,
Karin

2008-10-11T20:31:00.002+01:00

So, over at In Love With Stamping (ILWS) we had some on-line challenges to celebrate world card making day.

This is my shaker card that I used as the sample for the challenge.

The patterned paper is from the Home Again Simply Scrappin Kit, and the cardstock is chocolate chip and kraft.

The shaker box has celebrate stamped from the wonderful words stamp set in chocolate chip ink. I used one of the new rub-ons that we got in our new SU catalogue and put it on the acetate so the glitter flakes appear behind the rub-on. Very nice effect in real life.

All supplies: Stampin'Up

2008-05-05T10:48:00.001+01:00

OK - so I know I have been MIA for quite a while ......... but want to see what I have been working on?

Take a look......

www.inlovewithstamping.com

Have fun!

2008-05-05T10:48:00.000+01:00

OK - so I know I have been MIA for quite a while ......... but want to see what I have been working on?

Take a look......

www.inlovewithstamping.com

Have fun!

As promised......

2008-04-07T19:08:00.003+01:00

Finally got all 80 of these suckers done! Phew! I will be getting the RSVP postcards from the printers on Wednesday, then I can ship it all out to her back in Canada.

Then, I have until July 15th to get all the thank-you cards and wedding favours done so I can take them over in my suitcase! Talk about sisterly love!

The size is 6x6, and it is done in a pocket style. I cut an angle along the front so the daisy shows nicely.

Stamped in versamark and embossed the swirly stamp from Baroque Motifs with clear embossing powder, then folded the card front over and adhered to create the pocket. Believe me, that took lots of adhesive! 80 invites, 10" of adhesive per pocket, plus the insert part was about another 4". I need to find a good adhesive that does not cost an arm and a leg!

Anyways - the insert is just a piece of 5.5" square wild wasabi with a 5.25" square white card stock with the details of the wedding printed on it. Attached the daisy in the top right with a yellow center and a silver brad.

Tied some stitched wild wasabi around the card, and used the ticket punch with the 1" circle punch for the "happily ever after" sentiment. I punched two slots on the ends of the ticket punch so I could thread the ribbon through it, then tied around the card.

Voila done!

I really hope she likes!

Love you lots baby sis!

Cheers,
Karin

sorry for being MIA for so long

2008-04-04T19:13:00.005+01:00

But here are some cards to make up for it!

The first, a no layers card, is possiably my favorite card I have made to date.

The next, is a card that quite surprised me. This spots set came with my starter kit, and I was not sure if I liked it or not. However, I have to say, this card has completly changed my mind!

And finally, a simple card using some of the wide chocolate chip grosgrain.

I hope you enjoy, and I will post pictures of my sisters wedding invitations on Sunday after a wild weekend of making 80 wedding invitations!

Cheers,
Karin

Olympia Stitch & Create Show March 27-30

2008-03-29T18:16:00.002Z

Well, I have been busy at the Olympia Stitch & Create Show, one more day left to go, and I must say, I am so glad!! I dont think my feet can take it much more!

I have met some wonderful people, and if you are in the London area, I am setting up a monthly stamp club.

What happens is a group of 8 people get together once a month for 8 months, and take turns being the hostess. You commit to the full 8 months, and to spending £20 a month. When it is your turn to be hostess, you are guaranteed a level 1 hostess set, and £15 in free Stampin'Up! merchandise of you choice from the catalog.

If you are interested in joining this club, please let me know, and I will add your details to the list. We will most likely meet at my house in Ealing on either a Saturday or Sunday, depending on what works best for the club members.

I promise new card photos tomorrow!!

Cheers,
Karin

2008-03-26T21:02:00.003Z

OK - last one for tonight!

Shapes and Shadows is probably my all time favorite stamp set. This set, combined with the Sincere Salutations greeting set, and you have every occasion for the whole year covered.

The Shapes & Shadows set has a flower, snowflake, tree, and leaf images and shadows, along with some small "sprinkles" to create cute backgrounds with.

Sincere Salutations has eight greetings, that cover the whole year.

Two sets, a pack of paper, some inks, and you have a whole years worth of cards and events covered!

Cheers
Karin

2008-03-26T21:00:00.003Z

Quick card using the Stipple Celebrations hostess set.

Pale Plum and Perfect Plum for the paper, and pale plum, perfect plum, and pretty in pink for the inks.

I really like this set, as you can use the stamps to create all sorts of tiled looks.

Cheers!

2008-03-26T20:56:00.003Z

One of the things I really love about SU is how the cardstock, inks and even patterned paper all match colors!

Criss-cross cards are fun to do, but do take up some extra material.

Here is the complete tutorial.

This card uses SU patterned paper Petals and Paisly, and the Simply Said stamp set.

Cheers!

2008-03-26T20:53:00.003Z

OK - I know this is not exactly Christmas time, but I just love this card, and found it in my stash of cards while looking for something else.

So saffron, always artachoke and bravo burgandy cardstock. I cant recall what the background stamps are, but the current BG from the UK catalogue that would look nice are sanded and paisly.

Stamped the tree in artachoke onto some whisper white CS, and the greeting in burgandy. A bit of ribbon tied thru some hodgepodge hardware and done!

Enjoy!

2008-03-26T20:50:00.003Z

Cute lovey card to give to that special someone. The background technique is polished stone. Basically, you take a baby wipe, and put several drops of coordinating inks from re-inkers onto it, then kinda blot it onto some glossy cardstock. Finish it off with some metallic reinker.

I stamped the hearts from Happy Hearts set onto whisper white using different color inks. Cut them out, and place into a vellum pocket. Attach the velum pocket to some CS with brads and some glue (hide the glue behind the hearts) and done.

Enjoy!

2008-03-26T20:41:00.004Z

Simple card made using some of the SU designer series paper, and the wonderful saying stamp that I just love! Color it in with the markers, and it can have such an amazing look.

Finish it off with some of the wide chocolate chip satin ribbon from one of the ribbon orriginals packs, and voila!

so..... long time, no post... :)

2008-03-19T16:04:00.003Z

Well, what can I say other than I am quite sick right now with a super nasty sore throat and cough.

Of course, that means extra stamping time - provided I can stay awake! Amazing how even the 'non-drowsy' medication can still make you drowsy!

Well, here is a little sample of something I made - more to follow tonight and tomorrow, once I take photos :)

Very quick and simple 3"x3"note card.

Strip of the celery DS paper along the top, with some white ribbon tied around. Stamped the flower from Shapes and Shadows in pale plum, then perfect plum for the line part of the flower. Cut it out, popped a silver brad through the center, and mounted on a pop-dot.

The sentiment is from Simply Said and stamped in perfect plum.

Now, you might be thinking "that ribbon does not look white to me - Karin must be in some kind of drug haze from the decongestants" - and you would be right!

......... about the ribbon not being white part - not the drug haze part!

What I did was take a piece of white grosgrain ribbon, and using the brush tip of my celery marker, I ran it along the edges of the ribbon - which resulted in the wonderful striped effect that matches the celery patterned paper perfectly! Got to love Stampin' Up for that!

Supplies used are all from Stampin'Up:

Shapes & Shadows
Simply Said
Whisper White
Celery Designer series patterned paper
Silver brad
Stampin Dimensional
White Grosgrain ribbon
Celery marker