September Card-making Class Update

Here are a few examples of the cards made today at my monthly Friday 'Five for a Fiver' class...

Yes, that's only four! My other sample card unfortunately fell into an ink pad and is looking a little sorry for itself.. but you get the general idea I expect!

The ladies were given 4x4" card blanks in the following colours: Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry, Rose Red, Kraft and Chocolate Chip, along with smaller squares of cardstock in the same colours and pieces of Very Vanilla for stamping on.

We used the Cuttlebug and embossing folders for the middle layer and used various greetings stamps along with Dasher to create our cards. Although each lady had the same materials, every card they produced was quite unique! After a little practice, everyone got to grips with using the Stamp-a-ma-jig to align their images, using Sponge Daubers to ink the edges, and using punches in conjunction with the coordinating stamp sets.

Stamps:

• Dasher
• Punches Three
• Sincere Salutations
• Basic Phrases
• Tiny Tags

Punches:

• Scallop Square
• Scallop Oval
• Oval
• Jewellery Tag

My next class is on Saturday 18th September - 10am to 12noon and  we will be using 'Serene Snowflakes' to make two to three really special Christmas cards for your very favourite people! The price for this class is £10 and includes all tuition, materials and refreshments. To book a place, don't hesitate to call me or email me without delay.

For all the details on my classes, please check out the Cardmaking Classes page.

Thanks for reading,


Sarah x

More Christmas Cards with 'Dasher'

I love the Dasher stamp! And in preparation for my next class on Friday, I've been making a few Dasher-based Christmas cards.

You may recognise the Old Olive one at the back.. I made that one a few weeks ago.. but the two at the front are new! As before, the inspiration for these cards was from Carolyn, a fellow SU! demonstrator - you can see her boxed set of cards here.

Supplies:

Stamps - Dasher, Sincere Salutations
Cardstock - Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black, Whisper White, Soft Suede
Punches - Oval, Scallop Oval
Ink - Basic Black, Soft Suede
Other - Champage Shimmer Paint, Sponger Daubers, Black & White Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Soft Suede Polka Dot Ribbon, Diamond Stickles (non-SU!)

And finally, a couple more Dasher cards made to a different recipe:

Supplies:

Stamps - Dasher, Punches Three, So Swirly Jumbo Wheel
Cardstock - Soft Suede, Pretty in Pink, Rich Razzleberry, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Very Vanilla
Punches - Scallop Edge, Scalloped Oval, Corner Rounder (non-SU)
Ink - Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry, Bashful Blue
Other - Soft Suede Polka Dot Ribbon, Diamond Stickles (non-SU)

The first of these two was inspired by a card made by Pat, and the second one was inspired by Carol's use of the So Swirly wheel on the In Love With Stamping gallery. Thanks for sharing your cards, ladies!

So, which card do you like the best?

Sarah x

Welcome to the Two-Step Stampin' Scrappin' Blog Hop!!

Happy Sunday.. it's 1st August, which means Stampin' Up!'s 'Two-Step into Fabulous' special promotion starts today! As explained in my previous post, Stampin' Up! are offering a delicious 20% off selected Two-Step Stampin' sets from 1st to 31st August.

In Two-Step Stamping, an image is made up from two separate stamps. This enables the two parts of the image to be stamped in different colours, or shades of the same colour, giving the image that extra dimension and impact!

Though fantastic for card-making, these stamps sets are also perfect for your scrapbooking - and today I'd like to present a very special Two-Step Stampin' Scrappin' Blog Hop to show you how these lovely sets can be used on your layouts.

We have ten blogs for you to work your way round, starting here! Each blog will contain a link to the next one on the Hop.. but if there are any problems with links, you'll find the full list at the end of this post.

Meanwhile, here's my scrapbook page:

All of the papers used are from the Sweet Pea Designer Paper stack. I stamped the Greenhouse Garden flowers, starting with a pale colour, then rolling the edges over a darker ink pad to add some contrast (this is called the 'rock & roll' technique!). I then used the Stamp-a-ma-jig tool to perfectly align the second stamp on top of the first. This adds the darker details to the flowers.

I added glitter glue to the flower centres, curled them a little, then mounted them on foam pads. The chipboard letters were pressed onto a Cameo Coral inkpad, then covered in glitter glue.

I made the tags from scraps of Sweet Pea papers, rounding the corners and inking the edges. The scalloped part was made using the Scallop Oval punch and folding in half. 'Photo' was stamped with the Just Perfect alphabet stamps. I love this set - it's just perfect for titles!


OK.. so your next stop on the Hop is to Stamping Scene, where Zoe will be using Greenhouse Garden and Big Bold Birthday stamp sets.

In case you get lost on the way, the full list is below:


1. Seaside Stampers (Sarah) - Greenhouse Garden
2. Stamping Scene (Zoe) - Greenhouse Garden
3. Creativity Is Key (Emma) - Loads of Love
4. Cards and Creations (Pat) - Trendy Trees
5. Stampin' the City (Cheryl) - Bird on a Branch and Tiny Tags
6. Taylor-Made Cards (Debbi) - Trendy Trees and Tiny Tags
7. Make, Do and Gem (Gemma) - Greenhouse garden
8. Tea Cup Designs (Karin) - Loads of Love
9. Stampaholix (Carolyn) - Greenhouse Garden
10. Feeling Crafty (Bekka) - Greenhouse Garden, Tiny Tags and Bird on a Branch

Have fun, and thanks so much for your visit!!

Sarah x


P.S. There'll be another Hop on 15th August.. hope to see you then!

Thank you, teacher!

It's the last day at nursery for my boys tomorrow, so I made a couple of quick Thank You cards for the staff who have been wonderful this year.

The first one was totally inspired by a box of chocs I spotted in the Co-op yesterday.. and just had to buy for Charlie's teacher, mainly because of the matching-card-making potential.

I was instantly thinking colour schemes.. 'Hmm, looks like Choc Chip, Cameo Coral and Very Vanilla'... shortly followed by.. 'Hey, I can use my new So Swirly wheel!'

Here's what I came up with, anyway. I couldn't resist adding a splash of Old Olive and some Sweet Pea felt pieces.

Supplies:

Cardstock - Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Old Olive
Stamps - So Swirly wheel, Sincere Salutations
Inks - Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip
Punches - Scallop Edge, Oval, Scallop Oval
Embellishments - Sweet Pea felt pieces, green rhinestones (non-SU!)

My second card had to be super-quick as I was running out of time this afternoon.

 Supplies:

Cardstock - Old Olive, Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie
Paper - Sweet Pea Designer Series Paper Stack
Stamps - Flight of the Butterfly
Punch - Butterfly
Embellishment - green rhinestones (non-SU!), Diamond Stickles (non-Su!)

You know what? In hindsight I think the second one is a bit plain.. it could do with something else.. more butterflies maybe.. perhaps a scrap of the patterned paper with a bit more 'going on'? Oh well, too late - it's been handed in!

Dashing through the snow...

I've just made my first Christmas card! Totally inspired by a beautiful card I spotted on Carolyn's blog, it uses the adorable Dasher stamp (£6.95 in Stampin' Up!'s mini-catalogue). Items from the mini-catalogue are only available until the end of September so if you would like your own Dasher stamp, better order it quickly!

My next card-making class is on Friday 10th September, 10am - 12noon, and you can bet we'll be making cards with this stamp! If you'd like to come to the class, please email me to reserve a place. Contact details are on the 'Cardmaking Classes' page.

Supplies:

Cardstock - Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive
Stamps - Dasher, Sincere Salutations
Ink - Chocolate Chip
Punches - Oval, Scalloped Oval
Ribbon - 1 1/4" Chocolate Chip Striped Grosgrain
Adhesives - Snail adhesive, Stampin' Dimensionals foam pads

Baroque Motifs.. my new favourite stamp set!

This morning I held my second card-making class, this time in the comfort of my dining room! I had three ladies - Jo, Michelle and Joan - and we had a lovely time making some beautiful cards with (my new faves) the Baroque Motifs stamp set, along with Sincere Salutations for the greetings.

 

The cards made by the ladies were fantastic - all made to the same recipes but each made unique by the ladies' colour choices and addition of ribbons and gems. I wish I'd taken photos of their cards but I forgot - so here are some pictures of the ones I made...

I am also LOVING the Oval punch combined with the Scalloped Oval punch - together with the Sincere Salutations stamps, they are the perfect way to add a classy greeting to your cards.

 
Thanks for looking!

Sarah x