Summer Scrapbooking

I have been spending time scrapbooking lately and I have completed quite a few layout I will share with you soon.  These photo's are from my mum's garden in June this year, usually there is a lot more colour in her garden but many of the plants have not bloomed as well as usual due to the wet weather this year.

I have used the pretty hostess exclusive papers Cheerful Treat for my layout, with Rose Red, Elegant Eggplant, Pear Pizzaz and Whisper White.

I used a retired stamp set to stamp the background flowers with Rose Red ink.

Here are the pages together, I made a few paper roses and used the Bird Punch to make the leaves.

I used the Labels Collection framelits dies and Apothecary stamp set for my journalling, colouring the flowers with Stampin' Write marker pens.

I have wanted to make a layout of my mum's garden for quite some time but I never got around to taking photos at the right time - my mum does all of her own gardening (there's a lot of grass to cut too) and  prefers "cottage garden" style flowers. 

Angela x

Reason to Smile limited offer for August

Anniversary Card

I have been sorting my files with recent photos on my computer and found this picture of the card I made in July for our wedding anniversary.

I used Pedal Presents stamp set, adding the hearts to the basket  this is a lovely set but will only available until 31st August.  I used my colour coach to select the colours for my card - Baja Breeze, Poppy Parade and Crumb Cake. I embossed the card base with the Adorning Accents embossing folder, the sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set, layered with the modern label and word window punch.

Angela x

Rainbow Ribbon

I spent last night with a lovely group of ladies re-visiting one of the stamp sets they bought when I did a workshop using the lovely Greenhouse Garden stamp set.This is a "two-step" stamp set and the group decided they would like to have a refresher class using it. 

I showed the ladies how they can create their own custom ink pad colours using Stampin' Up! re -inkers and a baby wipe. 

The cards are very "clean & simple"  we used Regal Rose card for the base with  Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist and Regal Rose re-inkers, the detail is stamped with Basic Grey ink.

There was quite a lot of cutting out of  flowers and we made a matching gift box with a tag as well.

Look at the gorgeous "rainbow ribbon" - it seemed a shame to waste the ink left on the baby wipe and as I only had a small length of Whisper White satin/taffeta ribbon left I thought I would see what happened when I placed it on the ink. The result this gorgeous ribbon that perfectly matches the flowers!!

Here is the set we made altogether.  Why not get your friends together and book a workshop with me and I will share some "wow" techniques using Stampin' Up! products.  

The NEW Autumn and Winter Seasonal catalogue from Stampin' Up! will be released on 1st September for customers to order from, as a demonstrator I have the privilege of ordering before it is released - what an order it was too!!  I know you will love the new products - email me to find out how you can get your copy.

Angela x

Vintage Wedding

I thought I would share a boxed wedding card I was asked to make before the school term ended, now the wedding has taken place.

I made a matching box for the card, distressing the edges with Crumb Cake ink to give it a "vintage" feel.

I was fortunate to see one of the invitations the "bride to be" had made so I knew this would be a good match for her chosen theme.  The rosette was made using the Stampin' Up! Simply Scored board.

The card front has a ruffle of Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon and some vintage tags, stamped with the Tiny Tags stamp set, the crochet trim works well with a Vintage theme.  I added a layered frame with a First Edition paper heart - something else I spotted in her wedding theme. This is a large concertina style card, allowing enough space for all of the teaching staff at school to write their good wishes.

I placed my pre-order early this morning from the new Stampin' Up! Autumn & Winter seasonal catalogue - one of the many "perks" of being a demonstrator, I was also fortunate enough to receive a FREE product bundle from this new catalogue.  Now I'm trying to be patient while I wait for it to arrive!!!!

If you would like to find out more about joining my team of Sparkly Angels contact me to find out how you can choose £130 worth of products for just £99 with a FREE business pack to turn your hobby into a business.

Angela x

What a Night...

It was a late night last night, as I watched all of the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics and what a show it was!!  I thought it would be difficult to "top" the opening ceremony but I loved every minute of last night!!  It was sad to see the flame extinguished at the end of the night - but what an amazing result for team GB and the organisers of the games.

So on to my project for today, a set of mini cards and envelopes in a really quick & easy to make (no gluing) holder made with First Edition designer paper, held together with some Basic Black taffeta ribbon.

I used the pretty Bordering on Romance stamp set, stamping directly on to Sahara Sand card.  The flowers are coloured with Whisper White ink first, then with Stampin' Up! marker pens to make the flowers "pop". 

I added some Crystal Effects to the buds and pearls for the flower centres, along with more Basic Black taffeta ribbon.

 I won't be too far away from my computer today as I'm hanging around waiting for the Paralympic tickets to go on sale - so far I have had no luck in finding any wheelchair accessible tickets??  I guess it will be another day "on hold"!!  We will be in London while the Paralympic games are taking place so its the perfect opportunity for us to see the action?!!

Angela x

Saltburn

I have just found this photo of a layout I made at a training day back in May run by Stampin' Up!  I have to admit I wouldn't have chosen this picture for the layout but I just took a couple of "Summer" photo's along and hoped they would work, thankfully it did!!

The photo was taken in late April 2011 on a surprisingly hot and sunny day with beautiful blue skies.

The layout uses some of the gorgeous Twitterpated papers with the Blossom punch and 5-Petal Punch, the flags were hand cut, the background card was stamped with the lovely Mixed Bunch stamp set.

There has been some much talked about "yarn bombing" at Saltburn this year.  A length of the pier has been decorated with all kinds of knitted dolls and accessories celebrating the Olympics.

There has been TV crews and many reporters visiting Saltburn as the "yarn bombing" has made global news and no doubt brought many new visitors to this lovely Victorian seaside town.

I think this is what most of us have found our selves doing!!

Sadly not everyone has respected the work that the secret knitters have done - a few weeks ago some of their work was vandalised, so everything was taken down - but not to be beaten the knitters returned their work with a knitted CCTV camera just in time for the start of the Olympics.

After fish & chips on the pier (a seaside must!!) Lucy decided to have a paddle in the sea. I managed to get some good photo's of her - so I think there will be more Saltburn layouts soon!!

Angela x 

Birthday "Smiles"

I needed a quick Birthday card this week, so I used the lovely FREE Reason to Smile stamp set, that will only be available during August - so be quick if you want to get this stamp set!!

I stamped the flower with Pumpkin Pie and Tangerine Tango ink by colouring directly on to the stamp with marker pens to give a "shaded" effect, then I used my stamp-ma-jig to line up the next stamp to add detail to the flower. I added a button for the centre and layered the flower with punches. I stamped the outline image on to some script paper adding a small scalloped border with the Ribbon Border punch, the sentiment is from the Curly Cute stamp set.

If you would like to get your FREE stamp set during August contact me to place an order for £60 or more before delivery.

Flower Frame

This pretty flower frame was a last minute make for my Sister's birthday a couple of weeks ago.  I really needed a glue gun - but mine is no where to be found???????  I now have a nice new one sitting in a box on my desk - I'm sure the old glue gun will turn up just as soon as I have used the new one?!

I used a 6 x 6 box frame to put my flowers in, covering the back of the frame with some Wisteria Wonder paper.  The flowers are made from two different tutorials I bought here from A Diary of Two Crafty Girls.

I was intrigued by the pine cone in the Elegant Holiday Bouquet, I knew I "needed" to find out how it was made, the tutorials are excellent with a lot of step by step photos and tips to make your creations look real.

I also bought the beautiful Summer Bouquet tutorial, I made the anemone and ranunculus flowers from this one and it was also my inspiration for the colours too. The flowers are made using a lot of different Stampin' Up! punches and card many of the edges have been lightly sponged with ink, then I gave the flowers a spritz of shimmer mist made with Platinum shimmer paint & rubbing alcohol.

I hope to make a start on the Christmas bouquet now I have my glue gun!! I think they will make lovely gifts at Christmas, I have been making a start on some Christmas projects this week as I want to try not to be last minute with everything this year?!

Angela x

More reasons to smile

Here are some more cards made with the beautiful Reason to Smile stamp set that is available FREE with any £60 order during August.

I used Regal Rose card for my base with the wonderful Diagonal Score plate that fits over the Simply Scored board to create the background, adding a little glitter here the score lines cross. My flower was stamped on to Whisper White card with Regal Rose  and Lucky Limeade Stampin' Marker pens, then I added the detail stamped in Basic Grey with the stamp-ma-jig. I added some pretty scallop dot ribbon with a tiny scalloped border made from the ribbon border punch.

My second card uses Tangerine Tango card for the base, along with the scallop dots ribbon in Tangerine Tango. I randomly stamped the flowers with Regal Rose and Tangerine Tango ink on to Whisper White card, using a circle punch to round one of the corners.

If you would like to add this "time limited" stamp set to your collection, contact me to place your order.

Angela x

A Reason to Smile

A new month and another fantastic offer from Stampin' Up!

This month you can get an exclusive stamp set Free with an order of £60 or more. This gorgeous stamp set will only be available during August.

This is a lovely stamp set for all of your summer projects. A Reason to Smile is a "2 step stamping"  set and will really make your projects come to life with the awesome details on these stamps!!

You can also buy this stamp set at the regular price with no further purchase required for £18.95 wood mount or £14.95 clear mount.

 I made this card using the Reason to Smile stamp set, the flowers were coloured using Stampin' Up! marker pens and a blender pen.  I stamped the outline flowers in Rich Razzleberry ink to match the card base, adding some First Edition paper and crochet trim, a really quick and easy card to make.

If you would like to get your inky fingers around this exclusive stamp set contact me to place your order.

Angela x