Thanks a Latte

Hello blog friends!

It has been some time since I last posted. We've been on holiday, had a few classic car rallies and I've been busy with magazine work. I've been doing Christmas stuff since May and the last half of the year is always extra busy as we have a couple of extra issues to get out, so that means tighter deadlines.

I made a fun little card for some dear friends, so this is what I want to show you today.

What you need...

Cardstock: Kraft, white

Stamps: Cool Beans ST-17-43 - Avery Elle; Breakfast Club - The Alley Way Stamps; Shadows - Paper Smooches

Dies: Cool Beans Ellements D1743 - Avery Elle, 3 Nested Squares Small 18009 - Gina K; Stitched - Paper Smooches

Ink pads: Smokey Gray, Vintage Sepia - Versafine; Extreme Black - My Favorite Things

Copics: E23 Hazelnut, E25 Caribe Cocoa, E27 Milk Chocolate, E29 Burnt Umber, B0000 Pale Celestine, B000 Porcelain Blue, R24 Prawn, R27 Cadmium Red, R29 Lipstick Red

Adhesives

What you do...

1 Stamp the cup, labek, large heart, a double and a single coffee bean in black ink onto white card and colour in.

2 Die cut the stamped images.

3 Die cut the largest of the stitched squares in white card. Stamp a shadow in Smokey Gray at the lower right corner and a coffee stain at the lower left and upper right in Vintage Sepia. Stamp the sentiment in black in the upper left corner.

4 Assemble the coffee cup and fix to the lower right over the shadow, place the coffee beans around the base. 

5 Die cut two stitched lines approximately 1cm and 2cm up from the bottom of an 11cm x 13cm top fold Kraft blank. Fix the coffee panel above.

6 Finish with two coffee stains at the lower right corner.

And there you have it, a perfect card for coffee lovers. Sadly The Alley Way Stamps is no longer in business, so this stamp set is no longer available. You could draw in some coffee stains or dip the base of a small glass or espresso cup into brown ink and 'stamp' the stains.

John & Peter were thrilled with the card as I was thrilled with the handmade chocolates they got me for my birthday.

Well, that's me for now. I will try and post again soon, thanks for stopping by! 

Much Appreciated

Hello blog friends!

I hope you are all well. I'd like to say a warm welcome to my new followers!

I thought things were going to calm down magazine wise after the extra Christmas and Winter Specials but I'm busier than ever. Not that I mind it keeps me out of trouble, the only thing is I don't get as much time to create for me. Saying that I've managed to get in a cute thank you card for a friend.

I love birds (which is why I have chickens running around the garden) and I love cards which feature birds, especially comical ones, hence this card...

What you need...

Card stock: white

Stamps: Many Thanks - Paper Smooches; Bird Brain - Tha Alley Way Stamps

Patterned paper: Blessed 6.5" Paper Pad - Kaisercraft

Alcohol markers: Honeycomb, Budding Rose*, Rose Pink, Trick or Treat* - Promarkers; Jasper BG57 - Copic Sketch

Ink pad: Onyx Black - Versafine

*Limited edition colours

What you do...

1 Stamp four birds on top of each other vertically and colour in. Trim the panel to 3.5cm x 15cm and attach centrally down a top fold A6 blank.

2 Attach two coordinating papers at either side of the stamped panel. Trim away the excess paper and card.

3 Stamp the sentiment onto white card, trim and attached across the bottom of the blank.

I actually extended the length of the legs of the bottom bird with a fine liner. I based this card on the sketch by Retrosketches. Sadly the blog hasn't been updated since December 2016, but you can still access all the sketches. Click here to take you to the sketch I used (RS#184) and many, many more.

Sadly another stamp company that is no longer in business is The Alley Way Stamps. You can use any birdie stamp set that you have in your stash for this project. The one used in the Retrosketch is one bird with very long legs!

I hope you like my fun little make and thank you so much for stopping by. TTFN!

Cosmic Colours Challenge #9 - Warm Thoughts

Happy Sunday my lovelies!

Finally! I got to do my take on this month's colour challenge. I love the Christmas holidays, but it does throw your head out a bit regarding days and dates, I'm sure I'm not the only one :o)

I hope you all had a lovely time over Christmas and are ready and raring to go for another year of yummy crafting.

Without further ado do, here is a reminder of the colour palette...

Comfort Tones - Design Seeds®

and here is my card...

What you need...

Stamps: Breakfast Club - The Alley Way Stamps; Sentiment Sampler - Paper Smooches

Dies: circles

Embossing folder: Circle Background - Darice

Card stock: brown, pale pink, white

Ink pad: Onyx Black - Versafine

Promarkers: Duck Egg, Fresh Bloom, Rock Pool, Walnut

Washi tape: blue houndstooth

Buttons: blue, brown, pink

Baker's twine: blue, pink

Hemp cord: brown

Gems: pale blue

Adhesives

What you do...

Stamp a mug, shadow, sentiment and steam onto white card. Die cut into a circle. Stamp the mug again, colour in and cut out. Mat over the first mug with foam tape.

Emboss the circle background onto pink card, trim so it measures 10cm x 12.5cm and mat onto the top of a 12.5cm square blank. Add a strip of Washi tape directly under it.

Fix the image to a larger circle of brown card and attach to the lower right of the blank. 

Thread and tie twine through the buttons and glue to the lower left of the circle. Add a gem to the heart on the mug and four to the steam.

Oooh!  This card puts me in the mood for a nice hot mug of cocoa which would be perfect today as it is cold, bright and frosty.

Click on the colour swatch above or here to take you to the challenge and the linky (I've also added a picture of my make to the challenge post).

Thanks for calling by and I'm looking forward to seeing all your scrummy designs. xx

29 Again?

Afternoon peeps!

Well it's another wet, miserable day here in Norfolk. We can't complain too much, because until yesterday the weather here has been glorious. The chickens don't like this rain though, they've been sheltering in the shed :o(

Anyhoo! I'd like to show you the little card I made for my mum's birthday. Thankfully my lovely mum has a great sense of humour. I apologise for the quality of the photo, it was quite a dull day and I needed to get it posted to my mum, so I had no choice but to snap it when I could.

So here it is...

What you need...

Stamps: Bird Brain - The Alley Way Stamps; Birthday Sampler - Paper Smooches

Card stock: white

Ink pad: Onyx Black - Versafine

Patterned paper: Zip-A-Dee Doodle 6x6 Pad - Bo Bunny

Promarkers: Apple, Duck Egg, French Navy

What you do...

Stamp the bird onto white card and colour in.

Trim to size and attach to the top of a white top fold blank 10.5cm x 15cm.

Stick co-ordinating papers either side of the image.

Stamp the sentiment underneath, to the right.

I love this stamp set, the faces on the birds are so comical. I based the layout on Retrosketches #46.

My mum loved the card...phew!

Okay, I'm off now to get on with magazine commissions. Thanks for popping by and enjoy the rest of your day. xx

What's Perking?

Good afternoon :o)

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend! We're off out with some friends tonight to go and see Mrs Brown's boys D'Movie and then go on for something to eat. I know Mrs Brown's boys isn't to everyone's tastes, but we love it...can't wait :oD

Here is a little card I did for the 'Stamping with Style' Masterclass for the April 2014 issue of Crafts Beautiful.

What you need...

Stamps: Breakfast Club - The Alley Way Stamps

Patterned papers: Color Crush 6x6 Pad - KI Memories

Card stock: white

Promarkers: Cool Aqua, Magenta, Pear Green, Turquoise

Ink pads: Onyx Black, Vintage Sepia, Smokey Gray - Versafine

Embossing powder: Detail Clear - Stampendous

Ribbon: turquoise velvet

Adhesives

Heat gun

What you do...

Stamp three mugs and steam in Onyx Black ink, apply embossing powder and heat. Colour in the images and cut out.

Stamp three shadows in Smokey Gray ink along a piece of white card 7cm x 15cm. mount the mugs onto the shadows using foam pads.

Stamp the 'What's perking?' phrase with Onyx Black and heat emboss. Over stamp the coffee stain with Vintage Sepia. Punch or die cut into a circle and mat onto a larger circle of aqua paper. 

Cover a 15cm square blank with a slightly smaller piece of dotty paper. Mount the mug strip onto aqua paper 7.5cm x 15cm and adhere across the blank.

Finish by attaching the sentiment to the top right and a length of knotted ribbon along the bottom of the mug panel.

The lovely thing about this paper pad is that it is double sided; on the reverse of each patterned sheet there is a co-ordinating plain colour.

Check out the Crafts Beautiful website for more ideas, inspiration, projects and free downloads - you won't be disappointed.

So, that's me for now, thanks for popping by and I'll be back soon.

Oooh! Don't forget that this month's challenge ends tomorrow at 11:55pm (GMT+1), so you still have time to get those entries in. xx