Stampin' UP! a storm.....

Wow another week has passed and here we are again taking a peek at the desks of the creative curtesy of Julia over at Stamping Ground

As you can see the desk is still looking pretty tidy, I just wish I had remembered to take a photo when it was at its messiest this week. I really do make a mess sometimes honest!

To the left is a scrapbook page of my Nanna and Grandad on their wedding day which I am working on. I reached the point of 'do I need anything else on there' so decided instead of fretting about it I would catch up on some admin and give my brain time to rest lol. I find that the best way to asses things and so busied myself with sorting out my cardstock according to the new colour refresh we are undergoing. It should help me use up cardstock before it retires. 

Also on the desk are 40 (!) swaps for Sun and some booking forms for future craft fairs. 

The eagle eyed among you might have spotted something floral at the back of my desk and this is one of the display items for Sun when I can finally reveal all the Shhhhh! projects I have been working on.

Be sure to pop back next week to see them all revealed.

Till then Happy Crafting and Hopping

Sneak Peek and WOYWW - 200

Its been another crazy week here by the sea and this little mermaid is shattered.... No rest for the wicked though and the desk is ready for another secret project which I will be able to share after the 14th April. 

All this loveliness going on and I cant share any of it.... Sorry folks!

However if you want to see what everyone else is up to be sure to head on over to Julia at the Stamping Ground and see the desks of the creative around the world.

I will leave you with a sneak peek of the Wedding Cake I was busy with last week...

Be sure to pop back after the 14th April to see this and the other secret projects in better detail.

Hope you all have a fab Wed and remember to fit in some crafting - its good for the soul

WOYWW - 199

Wow another week has flown by and here we are again looking round the desks of the creative folk with Julia at Stamping Ground  

My desk this week is looking a bit on the bland side and again its another project in the making. A wedding cake this time all made from cardstock and papers. As you can see the bottom tier is assembled and I just have another 3 to go before I can start adding detail. A friend and I sat last night and punched hundreds (and I mean hundreds!)  of Itty Bitty flowers, hearts and butterflies. Hopefully I will have it finished in time for next weeks visit.

 Last week I had a beach hut half formed and I am pleased to say this is how the mini version turned out. The big version is just waiting for its life ring which I will be adding this morning as a punch arrived yesterday that I needed. Funny how you never have the right diameter circle punch to hand despite owning more than I should lol.

And here is a pic too cute to resist... Even my little boy gets fun out of my craftyness!

Hope you all have a fab week and please be sure to leave some comment love so I can return the visit.

Shhhh its a surprise!

Its Wednesday again folks and that means time to whizz round the world one desk at a time with the lovely Julia from WOYWW

Its been a while since I joined in as I've been soooooooo busy and although I am busier than ever I am determined to find time on a Wed to travel the desks.  

Here is my desk looking very busy this morning. I'm preping for a very special display and that's all I can say for now! I have been enjoying getting messy with some new techniques as you can probably tell from the  2 A4 sheets of acetate to the left of my desk. 

No self respecting Mermaid would be without a holiday hideaway so the beginnings of a beach hut are there too.

I hope you have a lovely Wed wherever you are and happy hopping

Simply Stampin' Up!

The sun is shining here by the sea and I have been busy crafting away getting ready for the Alford Craft Fair over Easter weekend.

Now anyone who know me knows my usual style is about as far removed from the CAS style (clean and simple) as you can get but I decided to challenge myself with these little notelets which come in packs of 20 with envelopes for just £5.50 from Stampin' UP!

I have divided them up into packs of 5 and these will be on sale at the craft fair.  

I kept to the Subtle range of colours and each pack contains the same design but in 5 different colours. For this first pack I punched a Decorative Label from a piece of scrap paper and used the negative to sponge through. The butterfly is from Papillion Potpourri and is stamped onto a piece of white cardstock, punched out and adhered in the centre only to give the wings a bit of lift.

This close up shows the dimension of the wings in greater detail.

This next pack uses the Reverse Masking technique which is like the technique above only you also use the negative to stamp through so you only get the image you stamp contained within the area you punched out. A fancy name for a simple technique!

I used Serene Silhouettes and the Subtles colour palette again to achieve a softness to these notelets. I used Basic Grey ink instead of black to keep the image soft.

Here you can see the sponging in greater detail. I love how you can get such a variation in tone using this effect.

I was pleased with how they turned out and for once didn't feel the need to add more to fill the white areas.

I hope you enjoyed my CAS attempts and if you would like to know more about these techniques or where to get the products used then please contact me using the button on the right. 

Stampin' Up! Springtime....

The weather here in the UK and in particular by the sea may not be very spring like but with the gorgeous colours from Stampin' Up! and the Subtles range I am able to bring you a little spring sunshine this morning.

These adorable little guys are chicks, enjoying the fresh spring air, made from Stampin' Up!s Build a Bird punch. Just a small tweek to the tail and hey presto Easter Chicks! 

Here they are in full view and the rest of the page too. 

This is my design for a Spring themed challenge set by one of my lovely friends.

You can't see very well in this photo but I sponged Craft White over the Bashful Blue to give the effect of soft spring clouds and then sponged Certainly Celery onto the Certainly Celery cardstock to give the effect of grass. The eggs are punched from DSP using the small oval punch and the bows stamped on from the Create a Cupcake Stamp set. 

The bunting is from the Pennant punch and will have the title put on when I find the right photo. The Very Vanilla mat is where the photo will go and it tucks nicely behind the grass.

Finally a few flowers scattered around punched from the Itty Bitty Punch

I hope this brightened up your day and spring arrives with you all soon x   

Catching Up...

Apologies for the absence but Feb is always a busy month for me, esp the second half, as I get myself organised to welcome a lovely group of ladies to my house for a whole weekend of crafting and laughter.

This retreat was no different to the others and we crafted, chatted and laughed together till the wee hours.

I thought I would share with you a couple of pics of the projects we completed over the weekend. I certainly kept the ladies busy although we still found time to visit a lovely Cupcakery which has just opened in town!!!

This first project was a card file and 8 cards with decorated envelopes. This shows my sample in Not Quite Navy but the ladies had a selection of Regals colours to work with. It also used the FREE stamp set they received 'Kindness Matters'.

 On Saturday afternoon, after our visit to the cupcakery, the ladies got to grips with this little Envelope Album. They all enjoyed the freedom they had to create their own pages from the kit which included a quarter pack of Comfort Cafe DSP along with other lovelies.

Each album turned out differently and it was fun to see them swapping ideas and learning from each other.

That for me is the best part about crafting.... Sharing what you love with others who understand your passion.

Thank you to all the ladies who made the weekend so much fun and if you would like to know more about crafting by the sea then be sure to check out the Retreat tab at the top for details of the next weekend.

Hugs

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