Christmas Card Challenge - Blue and Silver

The theme this week was pretty broad and I had great fun creating this glitzy blue and silver card. 

I took a white card base and a piece of this blue and silver DSP. I wrapped a piece of silver ribbon around it before adhering it to the card base.

Next I stamped the sentiment and heat embossed it in silver before punching the end with the Banner punch. I then stamped and punched the bow from the Gift Wrapped stamp set in Misty Moonlight  and adhered everything to the front of the card.

This card lets the DSP do the work so it is very quick to make and would be a great design for batch making.

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

A Touch of Ink card (Sale-a-bration)

For our Stampin’ Birds team blog hop this month, I wanted to show off the amazing ‘A Touch Of Ink’ Sale-a-bration stamp set, and also start to use up some of the 2019-2021 In Colour cardstock since it’s about to retire.

To create this card, I stamped the butterfly, leaves and flower outlines in black Memento ink onto Whisper White cardstock and then stamped the infill colours in Seaside Spray, Old Olive and Highland Heather. I punched the images out using the Rectangular Postage Stamp and mounted them onto Old Olive.

Next I took a piece of Seaside Spray card and stamped the sentiment in the bottom right corner. I wrapped a piece of olive ribbon around it and mounted the three images across the top on dimensionals. 

Lastly I adhered the entire panel to a Purple Posy card base and added a few gems to bling it up.

I absolutely love the finished card and I can see that this is going to be one of my favourite stamp sets. 

Now please click on the button below to visit the next blog Taffy Crafting and see some more beautiful creations.

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

New House card

 This week’s Alphabet Challenge was H for a house.

A new home card was the obvious choice for this theme, so I dusted off this very old wooden stamp that was one of the very first I bought when I started making cards.

I stamped it onto scrap white cardstock using black Memento ink and coloured it in using Stampin’ Write markers. With hindsight I wish I’d used the Stampin’ Blends for a smoother finish but I don’t have as many different colours in the blends.

I then trimmed the image down to size before mounting onto green card stock and adhering to a white card base.

I stamped the sentiment directly under the image for a simple and cheerful new home card.

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

Just a note - Bee themed card

This card is from the weekly Alphabet challenge that I participate in. The theme for the week was B is for Bee.

I started by punching out loads of hexagons in any paper that was yellow or partly yellow. I glued them onto a piece of card then stamped the bee and flowers image on top using black Memento ink. This was then mounted onto black and then adhered to a white card base.

I stamped the sentiment using the Posted for You stamp set and punched it out with the Classic label punch. I punched two further shapes in yellow and used these to back the sentiment before adhering to the card with dimensionals.

This was a great stash buster to use up the DSP, but took ages so I probably won’t repeat this in future!

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

Everything Amazing birthday card

This week’s team challenge title was ‘Bling It Up’.

I thought this retired See a Silhouette DSP looked rather glam so I used this as a basis for my colour scheme. I took a Piece of Whisper White cardstock and added the DSP to the bottom half. I then stamped the image from the Everything Amazing stamp set in Rich Razzleberry (RR) and Night of Navy on the top half, before wrapping a piece of velvet RR ribbon around it and adhering the whole panel to a RR card base. 

To bling it up I added purple gems on the bottom half and little diamantés on the top half (including one to cover up a bit of a smudge!).

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

You Are Amazing card

I love a colour challenge and today’s card was made for a challenge of Balmy Blue, Bermuda Bay, and Blackberry Bliss. 

I thought this was such a beautiful combination and as I also had a new reel of Blackberry Bliss ribbon to christen, I immediately set to work!

I created a tent fold card base with a piece of A4 Whisper White cut in half lengthways and scored at 148mm. I layered this with a piece of Bermuda Bay DSP.

Next I took the You Are Amazing stamp set and created a background on a piece of Whisper White by randomly stamping the stars in Balmy Blue and Blackberry Bliss. I tied a bow in the Blackberry Bliss ribbon around it and adhered to the front of the card.

Finally I stamped the speech bubble in Balmy Blue on a piece of scrap card and the sentiment on top in Blackberry Bliss, before fussy cutting it and adhering it to the front of the card using dimensionals. A few dots to finish it off.

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

Jar of Flowers birthday card

I made this card for a special team mate’s birthday. Her favourite colour is Cinnamon Cider Magenta Madness so this was an obvious choice when planning the card for her.

This fun fold is one of my absolute favourites and I often use it. To make the card I took a Magenta Madness card base and folded the front in half to make a zig zag shape. I then cut two Whisper White panels measuring 93x136mm. One was adhered to the front flap (taking care to only glue half of it) and the other inside the card directly underneath so it couldn’t be seen when the card was closed. I then layered a piece of Misty Moonlight DSP onto the front panel.

Onto a piece of Whisper White I stamped the jar and flowers from the Jar of Flowers stamp set and coloured them in using Stampin’ Blends. I punched out the jar and fussy cut the flowers before adhering them to the front of the card. The flowers were popped up on Dimensionals for a 3D effect.

Finally I stamped the sentiment in Misty Moonlight with a Magenta Madness border and punched this out with the Classic label punch before adhering it to the front of the card.

Karen if you’re reading this I hope you liked your card and had a super birthday!

Bec x

Christmas Card Challenge - Forest

The retired Festival of Trees stamp set and punch was the obvious choice for this week’s theme of Forest. I wasn’t particularly intending to use this colour scheme but when I found this piece of patterned paper in my stash I thought it would be perfect as a background.

I stamped two trees in Night of Navy on a piece of Whisper White and punched them out. I also stamped the sentiment and trimmed it.

Next I cut a silver mat for the front of the card and punched out a 2 1/2 inch circle from the centre before I adhered it to the card base. I then wrapped a piece of white grosgrain ribbon round the patterned paper before adhering it to the silver mat.

Lastly I adhered the silver circle to the front of the card and positioned the trees and sentiment on top. This was a simple card to make and I’m very happy with the end result.

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

Piano birthday card

I made this card for my piano teacher’s birthday, it was really fun to do and was made almost entirely from scraps making it a great stash buster.

I started with a black card base and added a strip of double sided sticky tape horizontally across the front about a third of the way up. I cut lots of white strips measuring 1.5cm and attached them to the sticky tape to create the white keys.

Next I took my Classic label punch and punched out the black keys. I trimmed one pointed end off of each one to make them square. These were then adhered on top of the white keys. I cute a black panel and put it across the top half of the card over the top of the keys.

Finally I stamped the sentiment from the retired Perennial Birthday stamp set and layered it onto a piece of red cardstock before adhering it to the front of the card. A bit of bling finished it off nicely.

I’m really happy with the way this card turned out and it goes to show you really don’t need many supplies to create something very personal for someone. 

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

Flower and Field DSP card (Sale-a-bration)

This week’s alphabet challenge was G for Garden. The obvious choice for this was the new Flower and Field DSP from the Sale-a-bration catalogue.

To make the card I cut an A4 piece of Bumblebee cardstock in half lengthways and scored at 148mm to make a tall tent fold card base.

I then matted this with a piece of whisper White and added the beautiful DSP on top.

I stamped the wellies and watering can images onto a piece of scrap with black Memento ink and coloured in with Stampin’ Write markers as I didn’t have the colours I wanted in Stampin’ Blends. You can see the difference it makes to use the markers as they leave lines whereas the blends have a smooth finish (I love the blends!). I then fussy cut the images out.

I stamped the sentiment from the Posted for You stamp set onto a 1/2 inch piece of scrap and punched one end using the Banner Duo punch. I layered the strip onto a punched 3/4 inch piece of Bumblebee and adhered it to the front of the card as shown.

Finally I adhered the images to the front of the card using dimensionals. 

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

You Are Amazing project kit

I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the new You Are Amazing project kit from the Stampin’ Up! Jan to June catalogue. I love all the bright colours and the stamp set that goes with it is going to be so useful.

Last night I had a craft and chat with my besties and we made the whole kit up between us. They are all beginners when it comes to card making but the kit is so straightforward with easy to follow instructions that we finished them in an hour and a half, and everyone was really pleased with what they’d created.

Here are some close ups of the finished cards.

I cannot recommend this kit highly enough for a relaxing crafting session with great results.

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

Embossed birthday card

Our team challenge this week was ‘Embossing’, something that I don’t do much of normally. I don’t have many embossing folders but I love this retired Lovely Lace folder and decided to ink it up for a dramatic effect.

I layered the embossed panel onto a Pool Party mat and mounted it onto a Whisper White card base.

Next I stamped the frame from the new hostess set Punch Party in Pool Party then the sentiment from Peaceful Moments in Gorgeous Grape. I punched it with the Rectangular Postage Punch then punched a further two shapes in Pool Party to create a border for the sentiment. 

I mounted this onto the card front and finished off with a ribbon bow.

The front of the card looks nice but I did manage to get ink absolutely everywhere including the back of the card so it will require a bit of surgery onto a new card base before it gets sent to anyone. I think my embossing skills could certainly do with a bit of practice!!

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

Teddy card using the Ice Cream Cone builder

I enjoyed taking on this challenge with a bit of a twist this week. I had to create something using a stamp set and punch/die from one suite and a DSP from another.

I used the Ice Cream Cone builder punch to punch three shapes from the In Good Taste DSP which I arranged to form the shape of a teddy bear then drew his features on using a black Stampin Write marker. I used a different piece of DSP to punch a cone for a party hat. 

Using Petal Pink I stamped the sprinkles across the background piece of DSP in a random pattern. This was layered onto Whisper White then onto a Petal Pink card base. The teddy was mounted centrally on top.

Finally I stamped the sentiment in Early Espresso onto a piece of scrap white which I layered onto the DSP  and adhered to the bottom of the card.

I’m not crazy about the final result but it was fun to challenge myself to use the punch in a different way. 

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

Berry Blessings (Sale-a-bration) Card

I was delighted to receive my Stampin’ Up! Order on Thursday, containing all my Sale-a-bration goodies. Of course, I couldn’t wait to use them so I started with this quick card showing off the Berry Blessings stamp set and matching DSP.

This quick card starts with a Granny Apple Green card base with a white mat on top. In the bottom right corner I stamped the sentiment in Rich Razzleberry. I cut a panel of the DSP and layered it on top, then covered the join with some Rich Razzleberry velvet ribbon. This is a really easy card and displays the beautiful DSP nicely.

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

Christmas Card Challenge - Twelve Days of Christmas

 This week’s Christmas card theme is the Twelve Days of Christmas.

To created this card, I started with a Real Red card base and matted it with Whisper White.

Onto scrap card, I stamped the partridge, wooden sign, and pears using Stampin’ Up!’s Arrange a Wreath stamp set and die cut them with the matching dies. I also cut the wreath and flower shapes using the die set.

I adhered the wreaths to the front of the card, and popped the partridge, pears and sentiment up on dimensionals to add a bit of interest. 

I’m not always a big fan of die cutting but this is definitely one of my favourite die sets and it makes a stunning card.

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

Whale Done Birthday Card

I participated in a challenge this week to make a card using any two of Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay, Pacific Point and Balmy Blue.

As I love all shades of blue I quickly grabbed my Whale Done stamp set and matching DSP!

To create this fun fold I cut a sheet of A4 Balmy Blue cardstock in half lengthways and scored it at 74mm and 111mm from each end. I then folded it as shown in the picture. I cut two pieces of DSP for the front panels measuring 68x99mm and lightly stamped some seaweed across it in Basic Gray. I cut a piece of white cardstock the same size for the centre panel and stamped the sentiment and fish before adhering it inside the card.

I stamped the first whale in Pacific Point and punched it out with the coordinating punch. To create a whale facing the other direction, I stamped it in Coastal Cabana onto a gel press then pressed the white cardstock onto the gel press to transfer the image. 

Finally I stamped the sentiment in Pacific Point and adhered it to the front as shown.

This card will be going to my nephew who turns 8 next week 😍

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

Alphabet Challenge - Fire

 This week’s alphabet challenge was really tricky - F for Fire.

I didn’t think I had any fire related stamps or dies then I found this tiny stamp of a fireplace and Christmas tree. It was a bit small to be the centrepiece of a card so I had the idea of seeing the fireside scene through a window.

To create the card I started with a white card base and covered the front in this brick effect DSP to represent the wall of a house.

On a small white rectangle I stamped the image in black memento ink and coloured it using Stampin’ Write pens. I normally prefer the blends but with the image being so small I needed a bit more accuracy!

I adhered two vellum pieces on either side of the image to look like curtains, then finally added strips of wood effect DSP around the edge to make a window frame. The panel was then mounted to the front of the card. 

I wasn’t sure where to put the sentiment so after trying various spots it ended up slightly offset. It’s interesting how some cards seem to come together really easily and others not so much. I’m not overly happy with the finished result of this card, and probably won’t use this stamp again in a hurry.

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

Balloon Adventures Card

I set myself a little target of using every single stamp set I own this year to make sure I don’t neglect any of them, so I am gradually working my way through my alphabetically ordered shelf. This week was the turn of Balloon Adventures.

This retired stamp set has a coordinating die set which can be used for making pop up cards but I find this a bit fiddly so I cut out the panel from Misty Moonlight cardstock and trimmed it to mat on Whisper White before adding it to the front of a Coastal Cabana card base.

I then took another piece of Whisper White and stamped three balloons in Crushed Curry, Calypso Coral and a gorgeous Grape. I punched these out using the balloon punch. Lastly I stamped the sentiment and die cut it with the coordinating die.

Finally I adhered all the pieces to the front of the card as shown.

This was not a quick card to make due to the numerous parts but it has turned out bright and cheerful and reminded me how much I like this set!

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

Hey Girlfriend Card

 This week’s Stampin’ Birds’ Monday challenge was a colour challenge. 

The three colours I had to play with were Shaded Spruce, Grey Granite and Melon Mambo.

This colour combination was pretty tricky, as I would never put Shaded Spruce and Melon Mambo together normally! I started with a Grey Granite card base and matted it with a piece of Melon Mambo DSP from the Plaid Tidings collection.

I then took a piece of Whisper White and stamped the image from the new Hey Girlfriend stamp set in black memento ink. I coloured it in with Stampin’ Blends giving the dress a gorgeous Shaded Spruce colour.

Finally I stamped the sentiment from the retired Balloon Celebration stamp set, punched it with the Banner Duo punch and layered it with another piece of the Plaid Tidings DSP. I adhered the sentiment under the girl image using dimensionals. 

I mounted the image on to a piece of Grey Granite before adhering the whole piece onto the front of the card. 

This card is for my teenage niece’s birthday so I made sure the girl’s hair was coloured in the same gorgeous auburn colour as my lovely niece’s hair.

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

Football Birthday Card and gift

I had great fun this week playing with some free stamps I received with a magazine. One of my son’s best friends is a huge football fan, Everton in particular, so I created this birthday card for him in his team colours.

I cut an A4 piece of Pacific Point cardstock in half lengthways to create the base. Taking a piece of Whisper White cardstock I stamped the grass along the bottom using Garden Green, the net in Smoky Slate and ‘Goal’ in black. On a piece of scrap card I stamped the scarf using Pacific Point, and the football in black and fussy cut them out.

To create the goal posts I just cut thin strips of Whisper White and stuck them round the edge of the net. I then added it onto a black mat and centred it on the front of the card. Finally I added the ball and scarf using dimensionals.

To complete the inside of the card I stamped a football shirt and the number 8 in Pacific Point.

Finally a special birthday needs a special present. Whilst browsing on Pinterest for ideas I saw a T shirt which I thought would be perfect. It was really easy to recreate with my Cricut and I think he will love it.

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

Christmas Card Challenge - All White

 Here’s another card for the weekly Christmas Card Challenge, the theme as you can probably guess was ‘All White.’

To create this card I started with an A4 piece of Whisper White, cut in half lengthways and scored at 148mm. I cut a separate piece of card measuring 148x105mm and carefully cut a rectangle from the middle to create the frame. 

Using the retired ‘Bethlehem’ dies I cut out the two street scenes and the star from more white cardstock. Then I assembled it as shown using glue and dimensionals. 

I normally put a sentiment on the front of cards but I decided that it would spoil the symmetry of the piece, so I left it without.

Thanks for reading, 

Bec x

Christmas Card Challenge - Ugly Jumper

 Despite the title of this blog, I think this jumper is rather cute!

The theme for this week’s Christmas Card challenge was Ugly Jumpers. As I am a keen knitter as well as a papercrafter, I decided to knit a teeny weeny jumper to go on the front of my card. Once the jumper was finished, I embroidered a Christmas tree on the front, and fashioned a teeny weeny hanger out of a paper clip.

The rest of the card came together very easily. I used a Misty Moonlight card base to complement the colour of the yarn. I layered some patterned snowflake paper on top then stuck the jumper on very, very firmly indeed!

I stamped the sentiment in Misty Moonlight to coordinate with the card base and popped it up on dimensional.

This was quite a labour intensive card due to the knitting, and it is definitely one of a kind never to be repeated!

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

Christmas Card Challenge - Baubles

 Today’s card is on the theme of baubles.

This card really shows off the gorgeous saturation of the Stampin’ Up! Ink pads. I took a piece of white cardstock measuring 130mm x 87mm and using Real Red stamped a single bauble from the retired Contempo Christmas stamp set. From the same stamp set I stamped the sentiment in black. Then with Shaded Spruce added the branches from a magazine freebie stamp set.

I carefully drew a line from the bauble to the branch with a Real Red Stampin’ Write Marker, then added a bow to finish it off.

Finally I layered the cardstock onto a black layer, then a red card base.

This #simplestamping card took only a few minutes to put together and would be great for batch making. 

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

Alphabet Challenge - Earth

One of my favourite crafting groups on Facebook runs a weekly alphabet challenge, and every Tuesday there is a new word to inspire a card, following through the alphabet. This week was E is for Earth: this could be earthy colours, peace on earth, or however you like to interpret it. 

I immediate thought of this globe stamp. I decided it would make a great Bon Voyage card and that this fun swivel fold would show it off well.

To make the card I took an A6 card base in Balmy Blue and folded the front flap back on itself. Using a square die I cut half a square out of the front fold to create the swivel section. 

I cut two white squares in the same size and one slightly larger. I stamped the images on the squares and coloured using Stampin’ Blends. I used a vintage map to layer on the card base and form the background.

Lastly I adhered then white squares onto the card to finish off. I did feel a bit naughty cutting up the map but I loved the end result!

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

Whale Done card

Hi everyone,

Today I am sharing a card I made using the Whale Done bundle from the current Stampin' Up annual catalogue. I bought this stamp set because it comes with a co-ordinating punch and I just LOVE punches for cutting out. 

This card uses the stamp set, punch and DSP from the bundle and really couldn't be easier to make. I used half a sheet of Balmy Blue cardstock to make the card base, layered with a piece of Whisper White and topped with some of the DSP (Design Series Paper).

I stamped the sentiment directly onto the DSP using Pacific Point. I often forget that I can stamp straight onto DSP but it worked perfectly with this image.

I punched the whale shape from another piece of the DSP and the little splash shapes from a piece of Pool Party. I adhered the whale to the front of the card using dimensionals to make it look like he was swimming.

In all, this card took less than ten minutes to put together. Perfect for those last minute emergencies!

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

Something old, something new...

This week’s Stampin’ Birds Team Challenge was a tricky one. It was my suggestion to do this particular theme, but when it popped up this week I immediately regretted setting it! The theme for this week was:

Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.

Here is the card that I came up with.

Something old - I used a very old Sizzix die to create the dress shape and handbag.

Something new - a brand new juicy ink pad in Seaside Spray.

Something borrowed - a paper bun case from the kitchen, to make the frill on the dress.

Something blue - a Balmy Blue card base and a blue dress.

Once I’d figured out which elements I was going, to use the card came together pretty quickly. The borrowed item was the hardest one to think of, but I was making a cake for my son’s birthday and spotted the bun cases in the cupboard. Once I’d decided to use one of these I put together the other items very easily. 

As the bun case is a curved shape it was really hard to adhere it straight on the hemline. After several attempts I gave up and decided to leave it a bit wonky! It was fun to make though and I will definitely be looking for other things around the house that can double up in the craft room.

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

Minecraft Birthday Card

Today is my youngest son’s 8th birthday. Like every other child, he’s celebrating his birthday in a bit of a different way than usual this year. Tonight we’ll be getting a takeaway pizza and he’s having a ‘Zoom’ baking party with his friends on Saturday. As well as loving baking, he’s a huge Minecraft fan so I’ve made him this creeper card for his birthday.

To create this card, I cut lots of 1cm wide strips in various shades of green card. I wove them together and stuck them down onto card and trimmed into a square. I then layered this onto black and white mats to create the border. I cut the black creeper face and adhered it on top of the green woven panel.

Next I took a black card base and stamped the word Birthday on the bottom right corner in Whisper White. I die cut ‘8th’ and adhered it above the birthday. Lastly I added the creeper onto the black card base. 

This was a fun card to make although it involved a lot more sticking than I usually go for!

Thanks for reading,

Bec x

Christmas Card Challenge - Holly

 A very Christmassy theme this week - holly and red berries. 

Now despite my massive craft stash I struggled to find anything on this theme, but I found this tiny holly stamp so I started by stamping randomly around a white rectangle in Garden Green. When the ink was dry I added berries to the centre of each leaf cluster with 3D Pearl effects, and set aside to dry.

Next, I stamped and punched the sentiment in Real Red using a stamp from the Christmas Traditions punch kit. As it’s quite a small sentiment I punched another shape in Real Red cardstock and layered it behind the sentiment to make it stand out.

To assemble the card, I wrapped the white panel in red ribbon then adhered it to a silver panel before mounting the whole thing on a green card base.

I am enjoying feeling Christmassy all year round with this weekly challenge!

Thanks for reading,

Bec x