A ray of Sunshine

It is raining here and I am starting to feel a bit like a duck, the roads are wet and I have been watching the river (the village flooded a few years ago). To avoid the rain I have been playing with the Sunshine Wishes and Sunshine sayings  stamp and die set.

I love this set, I have had it for a long time, I think it was one of the first bundles I bought along with the Balloon punch. The Sunshine Wishes contains 7 dies, a flower, butterfly, heart and the words congrats, sunshine, love and hope. The Sunshine sayings stamp set contains 26 stamps. If you search on pinterest you will find alot of examples using the heart, therefore, whilst looking at inspiration and deciding what to make i have made more with the other dies,

The stamp set gives a number of options to create sentiments, with or without the dies. I love the versatility of the set, they can be combined with other stamps, dies or punches, or used alone. The Videos below show an overview of the stamp and dies, also the examples I have made using the gorgeous stamps and dies.

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I love this set, I am off into the craft room to play with the Sale-a-bration items. What are you playing with?

Happiness Blooms - Happy Flowers

I have continued playing with the Happiness Blooms Suite. The papers are gorgeous, it has an interesting retro look to it. I have to admit I wasn’t sure about the patterns when I first saw them. However, they have grown on me. I struggle with the bright, bright colour, you may noticed that I am not a bright kind of girl, the subtle shades are my go to suite. This DSP definitely got me out of my comfort zone. The paper is better in the flesh! I do love the amazing flower paper with tulip shaped flowers in Calypso Coral, Lovely Lipstick and Pineapple Punch on Night of Navy.

I have to confess that Night of Navy is one of my favorite go to colours, I think that its inclusion in the suite made me feel more comfortable. Normally I would try and use the matching stamp set for the sentiment. The Bloom by Bloom set is all images, therefore I have raided my stash to find sentiments. I have also been perusing Pinterest and You Tube for inspiration. Click on the box to go to the video:

• Striped Box

• Snack Box

• Little Bag

• Pouch

I think that this is the perfect paper for both male and female cards, I also think it makes gorgeous 3D items. Although I do need to make a new bag, as Tinca (my littlest Lab) ate my example. Hope you have a lovely weekend!

Hello, World!

Santa's Workshop Cards

One of the most amazing suites in the Autumn Winter Catalogue is the Santa’s workshop suite. It is a large suite with stamps, dies, a punch, ribbon and other embellishments. It is gorgeous collection, I have shown you the cards which I made using the Santa’s Workshop memories and more Cards. I have already created cards using the Memories and More pack, so I decided to play with the other items in the suite.

I had so much fun, it is so cute. one of the other Strawberries is not keen on the elves, I think they are amazing! I love the ones carrying presents and think that they make super simple, super cute. The papers can be fussy cute or some of the pictures can also be cut out using the dies, It is the perfect paper to put in your cutting machine. There is no glitter on the paper! so it is easier to scan the lines in!! But it is also easy to fussy cut.

The video below shows the examples which I have made and also gives a close up of the suite.

You can find the images in the gallery, I still have lots of ideas for this suite. I love the small santas sacks, I have cut out a few too many.

Chase and Follow your dreams

This has to be the most perfect stamp set ever! it is amazing, it is deffnetly one that everyone should have. It is not overly complicated, it is easy to use and would be a fab addition to any stash. This set was definitely the first on my list when I saw the new catalogue at OnStage in April. I have to say Stampin' Up! have created lots of gorgeous sets but this takes the biscuit.

It lends it self to be used with lots of different techniques, from embossing, to colouring on the stamp with Stampin' Markers or cutting the feathers and using blends to add colour. I also used pigment powders and have a plan to use gilding flakes. I have seen so many beautiful cards. The video below shows the gorgeousness of the stamp set and some of the cards I have used making it.

I have a new box of Autumn Winter Catalogue items, I have to test them out, I am so excited to show you what I have selected and what I am planning to make with them.

Its an Animal Expedition

I have to confess I love the animal expedition paper, I have two packs, it is definitely going to be a pack which I will hoard.It is gorgeous, I love all the papers. The stamps are gorgeous too, they look good with different colouring methods, whether it is Blends, Stampin' markers or watercolours. The dies cut the papers and the stamps and their is a fabulous trick to have the animals facing both ways, rather than just one. If you hold the papers up to the light you can see the outline and place the die on and then I suggest keeping it in place with Washy tape. To reverse stamp i used my Stamparutus to line up where | wanted my image and stamped on to a large flat stamp.

You could easily create so many cards just using the stamp set, or papers, the fussy cutting is not so difficult. As a suite it does come in to its own if you add it all together, the ribbon is gorgeous and you can create stunning leaf collages. 

All thats missing is a monkey! But the other animals are super cute. Which is your favourite?