Chalkboard Birthday

Another stamp set from my SU prize, this set is called Another Great Year. I used white ink and white embossing powder for a chalkboard effect.

The chevron papers are by Pebbles. I bought them on-line and did not realise they have a crease down the middle to be used for card blanks, hence covering the crease with baker's twine ;)

Mother's Day

 My SU prize arrived just in time for me to make this card for Mothering Sunday. The circle and scallop dies are Spellbinders and the butterflies are Memory Box, everything else is by Stampin' Up!

Sending kind thoughts to anyone who needs them this Sunday, for whatever reason, xxx.

Thinking Of You

Don't know why the ribbon looks very odd on here, it does 'go' better in real life and doesn't look so lost! How strange (I think I need to learn how to take photos, my snap-and-go is just not cutting it, is it?)

Sentiment die is by Tattered Lace, 'Willow Twigs' stamp is by Inkylicious

Stampin' Up! goodies

Just sitting down with a cuppa for five minutes and the doorbell went. It was the postman and he handed me a huge padded envelope.
I couldn't think what it was as I knew I wasn't expecting anything but then I wondered if I'd actually ordered some stash without realising!

I'm on the email list for a couple of hundred craft shops and now and again when I've had an email about exciting new stock I'll pop things in an on-line basket but then not go through to the payment stage, asking myself  "Do you really need this?".

Anyway I opened this packet, a bit confused and a lot concerned.
Initially concerned in case I had spent money that I hadn't accounted for but then when I realised it was all Stampin' Up! supplies I was very worried that someone had made a mistake with my name and address and had sent me someone else's stash.

If it was just one small item I might not have thought too much about it, although would still have been confused, but I quickly totted up what I thought this lot might be worth (2 x ink pads @ £5 each, paper pack @ £10, some cardstock, ribbon, one of the stamp sets is about £22...)

And then, I found this, sticking to the bottom of a pack of cardstock:

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I won a prize!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can actually keep the stash, how cool is that??
I never normally win anything so it was such a nice surprise. Well I have won stash before but it was from sending in cards/ letters/ tips to magazines, I've never won anything from just entering a prize draw.

I did go through a phase once of sending things to magazines, and found they vary in what they give you for any contributions. My craft club was featured in Docrafts magazine years ago and they sent free copies of that issue, a different craft magazine (think it was Cardmaking & Papercraft) also featured our club and sent about £50 of free stuff so that was nice.
Tips were usually worth about £5-£10
A card I made -  £25
Another card (Crafts Beautiful) won a massive box, £100 of mixed stash, had fun opening that one.

I haven't sent anything in for ages but might start again, I've tried encouraging my craft club ladies to do so in the past but I don't think any of them have as yet.
Right now I think I ought to make Papercraft Inspirations a thank you card, they've made my morning :)

Hello

Anchor and sentiment die are both Memory Box

Hugs

Sentiment die is Simon Says Stamp
Doily die is X-Cut
Spritzing ink is gold Artiste by Docrafts

Hugs

This is the die-cut related to the previous post, die is by Simon Says Stamp.
I used spritzing ink by Docrafts and the left side of the card had a heavier layer of ink so I chopped it off and re-mounted it to the right for a bit of interest before adding some sequins.

Hugs

The 'Hugs' sentiment was made by spraying ink through the negative of a die-cut.
The die itself is by Simon Says Stamp, I'd cut it to use on another card but rather than throw the negative away I was experimenting with a new bottle of spritzing ink.

The ink is from Docrafts Artiste, colour is 'mint', and it has a lovely shimmer to it that the photograph does not show. It's the first time I'd used this product, I think it's good value at £4.95 a bottle.

I know some people aren't keen on Docrafts, when I first started crafting it was so readily available that I bought a lot of it (Anita's peel-offs and rubber stamps that I couldn't stamp without getting a halo round each image!). My local garden centre is just over a mile away from our house and they stock Docrafts so it's really handy for nipping in for basics.

The other dies I used for layering are by Quickutz and the butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch.

Birthday

Image is Lili Of The Valley
Embossing folder is Papermania

Birthday

Sticker is by Penny Black, I've mounted it using Nestabilities.
The sentiment is a Tattered Lace die.
Faux stitching  -  I use a Stampin' Up! paper piercing set to do this, very useful.

Thinking Of You

Memory Box die (sorry can't find what it's called)
I cut it three times; once on pink, once on white, and once on black cardstock.

I think it might have worked better if I'd offset the white or pink, perhaps one third pink to two thirds white?
Because, after I'd attached the pieces together, I struggled to find a stamped sentiment that would then fit where I wanted. In the end I found a pack of stickers in my stash and, in the absence of anything else, stuck them on!

On a side note: no idea what brand the stickers are but they were 49p, other sentiments were in the same pack too, so a bit of a bargain. They were from a craft outlet shop in Spalding, Lincs.
The shop had plenty of branded stuff ie box sets of three Hero Arts stamps for £1.99, worth a look if you are in the area (but probably one of those places where you either come away with armfuls or nothing at all).

Love

Not sure about this one, perhaps a candidate for the reject pile.

The paper on the left is recycled (Emma Bridgewater catalogue) and the 'love' die is Simon Says Stamp.
I die-cut the sentiment five times and stacked them together, then added Glossy Accents to the top layer.
The card didn't look right so I tried embossing the right-hand side...anyway I still don't like the finished result but there we go!

Thanks

Die is Simon Says Stamp
I used gilding flakes on double-sided adhesive paper.

(After I took the photo I did neaten the card up a bit, sorted out that top ribbon and glued down the sticky up 'k')

Birthday

Sentiment is a Tonic die. It's a bit bigger than I expected it to be (ordered online and no sizes given) so I think I might need to go 7 x 7 in future rather than my usual size of 6 x 6 inch card.