February and March, are busy times for me with many family and friends birthdays and not forgetting Mothers’ day too (for us in the UK). All those occasions gave me the perfect excuse to get out this brand new suite of products called Irresistible Blooms and have a play!
Originally, I was making this set of cards to coincide with a blog hop, but due to a technical issue, I was unable to set it up and participate. However, I did still want to share my makes from this set with you!
The products that I used were from the Irresistible Blooms stamp and die set (not available until 1st March 2023) and the coordinating Hello, Irresistible designer series papers. The colours that I used are Petal Pink, Flirty Flamingo and Daffodil Delight. There are other colours that also coordinate with this DSP, a couple of which are colours that are returning retired colours, so watch out in May to see what they are!
Did you know that every pack of Designer Series Papers made by Stampin’ Up! tell you on the reverse label which colour card stock coordinates? Isn’t that a fabulous idea?
Emboss Resist
Have you tried the emboss resist technique? I did for this card. I stamped my images in versamark ink, added white embossing powder, heat set and then used my blending brushes,dabbed onto ink pads, to colour the stamped images. A final ‘polish’ with a soft cloth or tissue removes the ink from the embossed areas to give a crisper outline. I think it gives a much softer feel to the card. In general, I’m not a flowery person, but must say I love this set!
The card above is my first card using this suite, and then I just couldn’t stop. Below are more cards I made using the same Irresistible Blooms stamps and dies and also the Hello Irresistible papers.
I do hope you enjoyed looking at my creation and it would be great if you could leave a comment – I love to read them!
Find Out More
Love the products that you’ve seen me use? You can order from me here ( but not until March). I will be running a workshop in March using products from the online exclusive offer. To find out more check out my classes and events page.
Buy from me
If you would like to purchase from my online shop, then please use the host code for the month
Host code for February is;
X2NDQ6RK
If you wish to order via my online shop, then please use the Monthly host code shown below.
Its now the second and final month of Sale-a-bration, and as is usual with Stampin’ Up, more products have been added to the offering.
Take a look below at the new products that are from either the annual catalogue or the January to June mini catalogue that you can now get FREE with a £45(or £90) spend!
Each month a lovely group of talented Stampin’Up! take part in a themed bloghop….its a great way to share our creativity with lots of people and hope you will follow the ‘hop’ by clicking on the links below. Some months I join in, but not always…..depending on other committments.
The theme for this months Bloghop is Love
I used the sentiment from Best Butterflies stamps and dies from the Give it a Whirl set for my card, and the colour palette of Sweet Sorbet and Parakeet Party. There is a full list of products that I used at the bottom of this post.
My card is inspired by my lovely friend, who is always bright and colourful and loves her ‘bling’.
The central panel is die cut using one of the Basic Border dies on a 5 1/2cm panel of designer series paper (DSP), from the Butterfly Kisses paper selection.
The back layer is using DSP from The Tea Boutique and the gorgeous Sweet Sorbet colour which I also used for the stamping on the front, inside and on the back panel.
I also added a panel of DSP to the inside of the card, but before adhering in place, I die cut 2 hearts from the edge of the panel, and then die cut a large heart in Sweet Sorbet and a smaller heart in Fresh Freesia and once the panel was stuck in place, I inlaid these hearts into the pre-cut ‘gaps’.
I die cut more hearts to embellish the front of the envelope, and then stamped on the back of the card with one of Stampin’ Up!s copyright stamped images. ‘Made with Love’ was very apt!!¬
I do love this years In colors and in particular, the lovely vivid Parakeet Party green and Sweet Sorbet. I used some of the Parakeet Party Metallic woven ribbon to embellish with a bow. I also added some Incolor Matte dots,
I do hope you enjoyed looking at my creation and it would be great if you could leave a comment – I love to read them! Don’t forget to support other demo’s by hopping over to their blogs using the links below;
Love the products that you’ve seen me use? You can order from me here or alternatively by clicking on any of the products that I’ve used that are listed below.
October already, and I’ve been rather lax at blogging lately, but alas, I’m back!
The theme for this months bloghop is ‘For the Men’ and I decided on an almost monochromatic style for this card.
The ‘He’s All That’ stamp set and the co coordinating ‘All That dies’, all part of the ‘He’s The Man suite’ in the 2022/23 annual catalogue, seemed perfect for my idea. My original idea was to not stamp on the card front, but as the card evolved, I decided to add some stamping too.
I had a basic black layer and die cut shapes from the ‘All That’ dies in basic gray, Smoky Slate and Gray Granite card stock. I played around with the shapes, layering some on top of each other until I was happy with the layout. But then I thought it all a little ‘flat’, so I embossed the Black layer with the ‘Brick and Mortar’ embossing folder and one of the circles with the retired ‘Painted textures’ embossing folder. This added some depth to the card but felt it still needed more.
I stamped the ‘no1’ stamp from the ‘He’s All That’ stamp set onto one the hexagons and the ‘compass’ shape onto a fresh piece of paper. I then die cut the compass with a circle from the ‘All That’ dies.
As I was putting fairly dark card onto a black background, I used the black dimensionals (check them out here if you haven’t seen them), as I really don’t like seeing white dimensionals on a dark background!
I layered it all onto a Gray Granite card base, added the ‘hooray’ from the co coordinating paper pack (already die cut and ready to use) and then popped a few Matt Black Dots
When it came to inside the card, I used a layer of Smoky Slate and masked off some of the words on one of the ‘He’s All That’ stamps and then added on ‘Happy Birthday from the ‘Go to Greetings’ stamps. I layered this onto a piece of Basic Black before adhering it into the card.
Its fun to play with just the dies….why don’t you give it a try and then add a few extra embellishments as need to finish off?
Want to see more ‘For The Men’ cards…don’t forget to click on the links below to see other fabulous ideas!
If you’d like to make a card like this one, below you will also find the ingredients needed, which you can order from my shop by clicking on the products listed. Don’t forget to use the ‘host code’ for this month…you can find that below or in the side bar!
For the very first time, I’ve decided to join in the Tech 4 Stampers Academy bloghop. The theme this month is Pretty in Pink and there are so many pretty pinks to choose from from Stampin’ Up! The Sweet Ice Cream stamps and punch I thought were perfect for this, especially with the better weather approaching.
After much deliberation and playing with lots of shades from my collection, I plumped for using the soon to be retired Magenta Madness ink and card stock. Unfortunately, since I made my card, the Magenta Madness ink has sold out, but this technique would work with any bright shade of pink…..Polished Pink, Melon Mambo etc.
I wanted to make a birthday card for an Ice Cream loving friend, so opted for the Sweet Ice Cream stamps and punch.
I began by tearing a sheet of copier paper carefully in a zigzag motion to give a ragged edge to the paper. Starting at the top of a piece of basic white cardstock, I placed the jagged edge on the card and using a blending brush covered the visible card with Magenta Madness ink. I kept moving the card down and in different angles and used the other piece torn from the paper and turned them over to give different waves until all of the card was covered.
I stamped the cone for the Ice Cream in Crumb Cake ink and punched it out with the co ordinating punch. The Ice creams again are in Magenta Madness, but you may notice that the colour looks a little different. This is because I used Wink of Stella on them after I had punched them out and this softens the colour but gives a lovely glimmer to the Ice Cream.
I added an Early Espresso flake to my Ice Cream – you can’t have an Ice Cream without!!
The sentiment too is in Magenta Madness, and then the card was layered onto some basic white and black card, and finally adhered to the Magenta Madness card base.
On the inside I added a basic white insert and stamped a little greeting and some ‘sprinkles’, all from the same stamp set.
This Photopolymer stamp set is currently in the sale, and also features Ice Lolly stamps. Want to find out more, then click here.
I hope my friend loves it…..I might take her an Ice Cream around with her birthday card…that would be fun!
Today, I was due to hold a workshop demonstrating the different ways to use the new Butterflies and Flowers layering masks (from the January to June mini catalogue)., but unfortunately this had to be postponed due to storm Eunice! I wanted to show several different mask techniques.
All the sets of masks available from Stampin’ Up! are shown below and all of the techniques I was going to demonstrate (and will when I reschedule the event) can be used with any of the masks.
These were my first play with the masks. Its very much trial and error, working out colour combinations and which tools to use, but lots of fun!!
Blending brushes…
Simple blended backgroundsDaisy mask and Daisy punchesTwo step butterfly mask
Simply using one, two or three coloured inks to make some stunning backgrounds, and then embellish as needed.
Die cutting machine…..
Embossed through die cutting machine…the image on the right was spritzed with alcohol and gives a deeper impression. Check your machine for which plate combination you need….and remember, if its very tight, then don’t force it…you have the wrong combination!!
Heat embossing……..
Gold heat embossing on black background, Black embossed sentiment on gold background
Embossing paste and re inkers……
Layering two masks at the same time and applying embossing paste that is coloured with a reinker. Don’t forget to mask off around the image you are using. You can see from my photo that I didn’t on my first attempt! I used an acetate card box for the design on the right.
Rubbing alcohol, shimmer paste and a spritzer…..
Spritzed background through maskClose up to show the shimmer
I pulled out my old retired Shimmer Paint for this. After fastening the mask down I sprayed a mix of alcohol and shimmer paint onto Night of Navy card. Love the effect I got!
Then after lots of playing, this is my favourite!
Blending brushes, Embossed and sponge daubersClose up
The ‘leaves’ mask was put through the embossing folder and leaving the mask in place I used a sponge dauber to carefully put ink onto the raised leaves. TIP; hold the mask carefully and dab the sponge dauber onto the leaves going along each tendril one at a time – they bend quite easily.
The masks are cleverly designed so that the leaves that are on a separate mask fit perfectly around the flowers. I used Soft Succulent and Evening Evergreen for my leaves giving a subtle difference.
I made this card for my Granddaughter’s birthday using the gorgeous Awesome Otters stamp set. This is one of the items you can get for FREE with a £45 order! Yes, FREE!!
Once again Sale-a-bration has started, this time running from January 4th until February 28th. During this period, any purchase from current catalogues (annual, Jan to June mini or purchases for online exclusives ie kits) that exceed £45, entitles you to choose from a selection of products from the Sale-a-bration catalogue. Spend multiples of £45 and get 2 free items or a higher value item (catalogue price excluding shipping and handling).
Anyway, back to my Granddaughters birthday card. She particularly loves Sloths, but as I don’t have a sloth stamp, I figured a cuddly otter would make her just as happy…hope I’m right! This set is soo cute! Three different otters and sentiments that are actually pretty usable. I think so many sentiments are too Americanized and not what we use in the UK. (I wonder if the Americans actually do use them on their cards?)
Awesome Otters Sale-a-bration stamp
I used Stampin blends to colour the otters and used blending brushes to soften the water around them. The background paper is retired incolor papers although the colour (Misty Moonlight) is still current until June this year.
On the inside I used sentiments from ‘A Grand Kid’ stamp set and just had to pop another otter in their!
So, don’t forget if you love this Awesome Otter, you can get it for FREE with an order of £45 or more. So you too can make an Awesome Otters birthday card!! To find out more email me at [email protected].
If you don’t have the latest January to June Mini catalogue or Sale-a-bration catalogue and live in the UK, again drop me an email and I will get one to you [email protected]. Alternately, you can see everything in my online shop here
Anyone else have birthdays straight after Christmas? I now have son-in-laws card to make and post!!
During the past week, I have run a workshop demonstrating four fancy fold Christmas cards. In fact, the workshop extended into another session, as I didn’t take into account how much work we actually had to do! (Note to self, 2 fancy folds is enough in one session!)
This card is one of the ones we made. Probably the most technical and certainly a challenge to follow my own hand written instructions!
Lots of the materials were from the Whimsy and Wonder suite. I used 12 x 12 basic card stock for the base, but because it is not very stiff, I used lots of layers to help support it.
I wanted a cracker like feel to the card. The Basic edge dies were perfect to achieve this effect, and this is what took a lot of time….12 edges to die cut for each card!
I didn’t use Stampin’ Up! dies for the central aperture, as they were not big enough for it.
The gorgeous Whimsy and Wonder specialty designer series papers were used to decorate this fancy fold card. They are foiled on one side and so pretty. In fact they are so beautiful that its hard to decide which side to use, and in fact, some of the workshop attendees used the opposite side to what I used in my sample card. I stamped some of the Whimsical trees and the coloured baubles on to the central panel. To finish I added some Crystal Shimmery effects to make those pretty baubles shimmer.
To order any of the products used to make this fancy fold card, click on the images below.
Today I sat and looked at all my stamps and thought…..what haven’t I used recently? Its way too easy to forget about those stamps you bought when they launched and then have pushed them to one side once new stamps are released. So, I flicked through my pile of stamps and decided to use a couple of stamp sets that I haven’t used for quite some time because before we know it another new catalogue will be out and again those unused stamps will be pushed to the back. I also didn’t want to use the main focal images on the stamps, but I did want stamped textured background on a birthday card. So, I used Tasteful Touches and also used Free as a Bird stamps.
Pretty Birthday Card with Tasteful Touches stamp
I used Gorgeous Grape and Granny Apple Green for my card layers and stamped onto some basic white in Memento black and Granny Apple Green. The flowers are stamped onto some white card, coloured with Stampin’ blends and then fussy cut – who doesn’t love a bit of fussy cutting? And then, I cut slightly into the centre of some flowers and gently eased the petals to give some dimension. I layered one flower on top of another, making sure NOT to line up the petals for a more realistic effect.
The square shaped ‘blocks’ add a lovely bit of texture and interest to the background.
I added a mat layer inside and stamped and coloured one of the flowers inside too.
What do you think to this birthday card with Tasteful Touches?
Shop any of the products I used by clicking on the images below
If you were at this weeks Coffee and a Card, then you will have had the opportunity to make this card.
Do you think you would like to make cards like these? Live local to Boston, UK? Why not pop along to The Mallard on a Monday morning and join our friendly group? Please note; from November 8th we will be meeting at 11:30AM due to winter opening hours.
If you are a complete beginner to card making and papercrafts and would like to learn more, watch out for beginners card making classes starting in the New Year. Sign up to my newsletter (at the top of this page) to keep informed.
Tuesday 19th October 11pm until Wednesday 20th October 10:59pm
A limited range of cling stamps are being offered for sale for just 24 hrs.
Have you seen a stamp set that you’ve been stalling over purchasing? This sale could be just what you need!
Their is quite a range of stamps included in the sale, so check out to see if that one you’re wanting is included.
If you live local to me, you can place an order by contacting me directly before 10pm on the 20th October and I can order for you, other wise visit my shop to order for yourself – don’t forget to use this months host code (9PXNMN3E) at checkout to get a thankyou gift from me (orders over £25).
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