BLOG HOP...

Tomorrow morning I am helping organise a Blog Hop with some of the very talented Stampin' Up! Demonstrators from ILWS. This is the biggest hop that we have done so far and I think when you see what we are using you will understand why. We have used the new products that were released at the beginning of last month this includes Inks, Card, DSP, Ribbon and Velum... We had to create a project or a set of cards using these and a stamp set or two and we will be posting them tomorrow morning at 10.00am - so check back then and there will be lots of great projects for you to look through. Grab a brew and an hour and have a good look around the blogs!

Stamp With Us Challenge...

I have managed to fit in a bit of crafting this weekend as we have had a poorly son - Joshua and we have not ventured far from the house - having him poorly is bad enough but he flatly refuses to take any medicine and will just whimper in pain - bless him he is full of a head cold and had a headache for a couple of days. I am just trying to decide if I can hide a dose in spaghetti on toast! Here is a card that I have made using my favourite colour combo this combination is what i have chosen for my latest swaps over on ILWS. I love the garden whimsy set and have not used it for ages. I have changed the sentiment that I used in my swaps so that I could enter this in the challenge on Stamp with Us! A simple card to make and it literally takes just a few minutes.

I have stamped the image in rose red on whisper white and rounded the edges and also inked them. I have then added another butterfly stamped in the same colour cut out and stuck with dimensionals to the top of this image. I have added a panel of bashful blue card stock and to decorate added a piece of certaqinly celery ribbon to the top of the panel. This is then mpunted onto a certainly celery card blank and I have rounded and inked the edges. The sentiment is stamped in rose red.

STAMPSET - garden whimsy

INK - rose red, certain celery

CARDSTOCK - rose red, bashful blue and certain celery

RIBBON - certain celery

ACCESSORIES -dimensionals, corner rounder, dauber

I hope you like the card and thanks for looking your comments are appreciated - Debbi x x x

INWS Challenge Cup!

Last night was the first ever Challenge Cup over on ILWS we had to register at 5.00pm and we were assigned teams and then be ready at 7.00pm to begin the first challenge - this for me was no mean feat. For those of you that know me you will be aware that all my crafting stash is stored under my bed except my tote and my SU brad and button caddy! So yesterday consisted of sorting out my bedroom after the aftermath of Christmas and not being able to do any cleaning or hoovering in the run up to it. Let me tell you it was a long job! I thought there was no way that I could take part in the challenges if I was running up and downstairs all night! Even before I started I was loving it - all my crafting gear to hand and my laptop set up too ans camera at the ready...

Once we had registered we all started threads so that we could chat amongst our teams which was great fun I have never seen so many people on ILWS and it was running rather slow - poor server!

The first challenge was a sketch challenge which we had to copy and I have included a photo of I love following sketches and adding all the different elements and then comparing this to what other people complete. Check out the galleries today if you get chance there is some amazing work being showcased. For my card I used one of my favourite colour combinations tempting turquoise and black, they are so stiking together. I have stamped the image from the SU stampser Whimsical Wings in staz on and then inked the edges of the image. I then mounted the image on tempting turquoise cardstock that I had stamped randomly with the flower outline from the same stampset. I added a border of black cardstock and three white card candy mounted on dimensionals. You cannot see it very well on the picture but I have also used a copic glitter pen on the bird in the main image. I hope you like it...

The second challenge that we had to complete was a little bit of a challenge for me - one stampset, one colour ink and one colour cardstock - no embellishments. For this card I decided to use circle circus (this was the stampset we were given at convention last year and I haven't really used it) I used pretty in pink to randomly stamp a sheet of whisper white, I then mounted this on a border of DSP pink flamingo which was double mounted on a contrasting piece of regal rose cardstock. For the main image I used the same stamp punched it out added a larger punch and then punched out a piece of the DSP with a scallop. This is then mounted on whisper white and again regal rose. I also inked the edges of the card blank with pretty in pink. I hope you like it.

Challenge Three was a colour combo (for me this really was a challenge!) We had to use Old Olive, Apricot Appeal, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Regal Rose and Cameo Coral. So for this card I mounted a piece of Bashful Blue on to a card blank then created a border using coral and pink glitter DSP then added a strip of yellow DSP and a corally pinky ribbon. I added three buttons to the right and left of the card and added a sentiment stamped in pink, mounted on pink DSP, then on green card and then pink. I stamped a forever friends image quickly (very quickly coloured this with my pro markers mounted this on regal rose and certain celery cardstock inked with old olive. I hope you like the card.

The final challenge was to use the masking technique and then add an element to what you produced that was recycled. I managed to find a keyring out of a cracker off the dining room table and for the second card I added for this challenge I found some christmas wrapping ribbon in the bin - not the normal bin I might add, the recycling. So for the first card I masked the heart punch and daubed then all over a card blank I then had a piece of whisper white and daubed the smaller heart to that. I attached the keyring using some ribbon with hearts on and then double mounted this on real red cardstock. I cut out some DSP with the word love on and mounted that on real red card and the added that to the card blank. I also added three hearts covered in glossy accents to the side of the card. I hope you like this card.

I have also added the two extra cards that I completed using loads of love stampset and again whimsical wings. There are also before and after shots of my dressing table! not my crafting table - loved it, the whole evening was great and there was great chat with the BOLD BRIGHTS the team I was on! I hope you liked my cards and thanks for looking - Debbi x x x

Christmas Swap...

I have organised a Christmas Swap on ILWS over the last few weeks the cards have to be in in the next few days... there was only one stipulation - Christmas themed from the current catalogue - This is a sneek peek of the cards I have created and I have had a lot of time on my hands this week being poorly, hence my choice for the image! and I hope the ladies in my group appreciate how much time it has taken me to paint the image! I will post a picture of the completed cards once they have been posted to the rest of the group!

I hope you like my sneek peek and thanks for looking! Debbi x x x