Starburst Birthday

We celebrated the birthday's of two little girls who enjoyed a joint 'colours' themed party this weekend. What could be more colourful than a rainbow?  In this design I've pulled together a bunch of colourful off cuts of designer series papers and brought them together to create a background in a starburst pattern. This is my first try at this technique and I will be practicing with it a little more as I really like the effect.

The main image and adjoining sentiment come from a retired set called Easy Events.  I've done some soft colouring with blender pen in colours that tie in with those in the background.  The cupcake top is decorated with crystal effects and some dazzling diamonds glitter.

Starburst Birthday

November 2, 2013

Pattern Play #1

I have an embarrassingly large box filled with pretty paper scraps that I have decided to start putting to good use! To keep me motivated I have signed on to participate in a class by OnlineCardClasses.com called Pattern Play.  This first card incorporates a tip from trainer Kristina Werner.  She says to create a well balanced card using patterned paper you should use a large/medium pattern + a small pattern + a solid or tone on tone pattern to create good contrast.  I dug through my box of scraps and pulled out these papers to create this card in line with this tip.

All products Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Easy Events
Paper: Very Vanilla Card Base, Attic Boutique (retired) for the 'large' font pattern and the 'small' soft suede pattern at the bottom, Subtles Designer Series Paper Stack (So Saffron Stripes) for the 'solid' component, Soft Suede Card Stock for bordering and Sahara Sand for the semi-circle feature.
Embellishments: Designer Button (Brights Collection), Linen Thread.

Pattern Play #1

March 21, 2013

A Variation...

Friends recently celebrated the addition of a beautiful baby girl to their family.  At the time I created this card for them I was preparing the kits for my December class and it struck me that one of the class cards (shown below) which featured a lot of Stampin' Up!s Old Olive would be nice to alter for the baby card I needed.

So I made an extra kit and used the 'For Baby' stamp from the Easy Events stamp set instead of the 'Merry Christmas'.  I changed the embossing in the background to be dots which I find more suited to a baby design than the vintage wallpaper, and I turned the Old Olive Patterned Designer Series Paper over to use the text pattern so that my lettering of the baby's name 'Olive' would stand out to advantage.

It was nice to be able to share this variation with class participants who were already prepared for their 2012 Christmas cards by the time they arrived in December's class.

A Variation...

January 7, 2013

Baby T

I made this design for friends who recently welcomed a beautiful baby boy to their family.  It features an image from the versatile Easy Events stamp set that has been hand coloured using blender pens and ink.  I've added some Crystal effects to add a touch of lacquer and dimension to the main image.

Baby T

January 4, 2013

In Class - December 2012

All the cards in our last class for the 2012 featured this year's new Stampin' Up! in-colours.  The first design was this Christmas themed card decorated with the Christmas imagery from the Easy Events Stamp Set.

I have replaced the red from a typical red and green Christmas colour combination with Raspberry Ripple.
The main image has been coloured in a combination of blender pen with Raspberry Ripple ink for the berries and Old Olive Stampin' Write Marker for the leaves.  The berries were finished with a touch of Crystal Effects to give them shine and texture.

I scored some of the matching Stitched Satin ribbon in last month's promotion and thought it was a pretty embellishment to finish this design.

The second card we created was this elegant Summer Starfruit, Black and White design featuring the Snow Swirled Stamp Set.

One of the prominent techniques shown here was how to use the embossing folder with ink to help create a contrasting piece of patterned card stock.

The final card is one that has previously featured on this blog before.  Not only is it the Christmas season but it is also the season for Weddings and so Wedding anniversaries too.  This design which uses the new Midnight Muse in colour in conjunction with soft browns, was created with this in mind.

Class participants created the decorative background piece themselves using hand stamped imagery from the  French Foliage Stamp Set and with some shimmer paint applied with cling wrap.

If you have any questions about these projects or about future class dates please don't hesitate to contact me.

In Class - December 2012

December 17, 2012

How to Make a Magic Slider

In classes this month I featured this Magic Slider card.  Here the black and white tree image 'magically' becomes coloured as you slide up the tag.

I first saw the concept on Amy Wanford's blog.  She provides a detailed tutorial here: http://craftingconfessions.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/colour-my-worldill-show-you-how.html
As I didn't have any of the dies Amy used I created my own die-free version of the magic slider pocket and wanted to share it with you here.

Step One - Create a pocket

How to Make a Magic Slider

September 28, 2012

Paper Players 113

I had a strip of this pretty Comfort Cafe Designer Series Paper left over after making another project and as it was the perfect size for a banner I thought I would quickly put together another card for the current Paper Players Challenge.

Paper Players 113

September 21, 2012

Hello Baby

I'm really enjoying playing with my new Easy Events Stamp Set.  The current Just Add Ink challenge is to create a Baby/Children's card so I've chosen the little duck from this set to feature on this design.  I have fussy cut the image out and layered it up on dimensionals.  I've coloured the image with blender pen and added a little crystal effects to the umbrella and beak for shine.

I've used the new Stampin' Up! Primrose Petals Pink as my main colour with a dash of So Saffron Yellow and Baja Breeze Blue on a base of Very Vanilla to create a lovely soft colour palette perfect for a baby theme.

To finish the card I added a little string of banners to the top corner.  The Paper Players challenge this week inspired this thought.

After sticking the banners down in place I paper pierced a trail along the top and then drew some lines between each hole to create a faux stitching effect.

Hello Baby

In Class - September 2012

In class this month participants will make three cards featuring imagery from the Easy Events Stamp Set. 

During class all students are given the opportunity to chose which stamp they will use from the Easy Events set with each card.  The first design has a very soft colour palette that could easily suit just about any event. 

The layout for the card was inspired by the Freshly Made Sketches blog challenge.  It incorporates Comfort Cafe Designer Series Paper and the main picture is coloured with a blender pen and given a touch of 'wow' with some strategically applied Crystal Effects.

The second design has a 'magic slider' technique whereby the featured image initially looks black and white until you pull up the tag and reveal the colouring:

The third design has been previously featured on the blog and is this pretty card also incorporating Comfort Cafe DSP.

All in all a fun, versatile collection of cards.  If you have any questions about these projects or about future class dates please don't hesitate to contact me.

In Class - September 2012

September 14, 2012

Wedding Wishes - Retro Sketches #28

I was very excited to receive my first delivery of new catalogue products yesterday.  The beautiful paper in the background of this card is from the new Comfort Cafe Designer Series Paper pack.  The imagery comes from my new Easy Events Stamp Set, which I've coloured in with blender pen and matching inks.

I've applied some Crystal Effects to the heart and the wings of the birds to achieve that lovely raised laquered look. This is a new technique for me and I'm loving it at the moment.  I think it really adds some wow factor to the finished design.

The layout of this card was inspired by the current Retro Sketches Challenge.
 

Wedding Wishes - Retro Sketches #28