A Cherry Cobbler Wedding!

I was at my cousin's wedding (which was held in a tithe barn in Gloucestershire) a couple of weeks ago and as well as being a guest I also made the place cards, table numbers and table plan using SU's Cherry Cobbler (don't you just love that name?!) card stock and ink as well as the Vintage Vogue stamp set.

Alex and her (then) fiancé (now husband!) had a basic idea of what they wanted as they really liked the engagement card I made for them (shown in this post here).  I made up several designs of the place cards, photographed them and them emailed them for Alex and Nev to choose from as we live 90 miles apart (ahhhh - the wonders of modern technology!).  Once the design for the place cards was agreed, I then carried the theme through to the table plan and table numbers.  We did have a few dramas of additional names and last minute drop outs in the last week, so I decided to leave it until the day before before I finally stuck the table layouts to the plan.  I was even prepared and had a few blank place cards made up in case there were any last minute changes in guest name(s) - and there was!

You can click on the photos to see more detail (I have blurred the names on purpose by the way!)

Recipe
Cardstock: SU Whisper White, SU Cherry Cobbler
Stamps: SU Vintage Vogue
Ink: SU Cherry Cobbler

As you can see Alex loves red and this was a theme she carried throughout the wedding in different ways.  Here is a photo of the happy couple just after they signed the (fake) register (as you are not allowed to photograph the actual signing of the (real) register)!  As well as the gorgeous couple you can see the fab flowers - if you are interested more details can be found on the florist's blog.

Also, do look at the amazing wedding cake that my gifted aunt made (you should see the cakes she makes for Christmas each year as well as for any special family occasions!).  Both Alex & Nev LOVE, LOVE, LOVE chocolate so they had a wedding cake with a difference!  As a result my aunt told them they couldn't get married until school had broken up (she is a primary school teacher) as she would only be able to make the cake a couple of days before the actual wedding.  The cake had 3 different layers - chocolate fruit cake, carrot cake, and chocolate sponge cake - all covered in chocolate.  As well as the chocolate roses decorating the cake, there were also chocolate horses (for Alex) and chocolate cars (for Nev).

For making the place cards & table plan, Alex and Nev very kindly gave me a donation for a charity close to my heart - The Eve Appeal (coincidentally they have red in their logo - but it is more like SU Real Red!).  It was certainly a learning curve doing a table plan and place cards for a wedding but having done one I would be happy to do so again, so please contact me via email for any commissions.

Well I am sure my aunt is giving a huge sigh of relief that the stress is now over - her 2 daughters married within 2 months of one another!  And of course I HAD TO HAVE 2 different wedding outfits (well some of the same people were at each of the weddings - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it)!  This is the card that I made for the couple (which is based on the last one shown in this post).

Receipe
Paper/Card: SU Whisper White, SU Cherry Cobbler
Stamps: SU En Français, greeting (non-SU)
Ink: SU Cherry Cobbler, Versamark
Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Butterfly die (non-SU), SU Rhinestones, SU Whisper White organza ribbon, SU stampin dimensionals, silver embossing powder

Best wishes to Alex & Nev for their future life together and also to Tamsin & James (their wedding card was featured in this post here, which I have updated with a photo of the happy couple and another of my aunt's cakes - a more traditional wedding one this time!).

A la prochaine!  Amitiés!

Nicole

July Offers

The Stampin’ Up! Catalogue is jam packed full of craft supplies, from rubber stamps to cardstock, glitters to inks, yummy ribbon and beautiful papers for you to start creating with.

Fancy a party?  Then why not host a Stampin’ Up! workshop at your home and invite your friends.  Depending on sales you could earn FREE product!  Workshops are suitable for those new to crafting and also experienced crafters.

If you are tempted then all you need to do is give me a call and request a copy of the idea book catalogue. Catalogues are £3.00 (RRP: £5.95) or FREE if you book a workshop.  Workshops can be arranged evenings or weekends to suit.

And if you host a workshop in July you will have the chance to earn EXTRA FREE product if the workshop is £250 or more!!!  For example, with a £250 order you get a free stamp set plus £45 worth of free merchandise of your choice!

In addition to the SU promotion, I have my own offers in July:

·           If you place an individual order of £50 or more will you will also get a FREE pack of Rhinestones or Pearls (worth £4.50)

·           All orders in July are eligible for entry into a prize draw to win the Build a Blossom stamp set and co-ordinating punch (value: £35.45)

For full details of any of these offers, please contact me.


This post will remain here until 31 July 2011, so please scroll down for my latest posts.


A la prochaine! Amitiés!


Nicole

July Classes

Just a quick post with details of my latest classes to be held at my home:

Big Shot Class - Tuesday 26 July – 7.00 pm – 9.30 pm

• Come and have a go at using the Big Shot die cutting machine with exclusive SU dies and embossing folders!

Christmas in July - Saturday 30 July – 10.00 am – 12.30 pm

• Get started on your Christmas projects early!

In each class you will make a minimum of 3 items, including one 3D project.  Cost is £7.50 per class including tuition, all supplies & complimentary refreshments.  Alternatively the class is FREE if you place an order of £30 or more during the class.

Booking is essential as places are limited

Don’t miss out!

For full details, please contact me!


A la prochaine! Amitiés!


Nicole

Shades of Blue

The latest challenge over at Less Is More is a colour one and the theme is shades of blue.

This is my entry using the negative of the exclusive SU Little Leaves sizzlit die:

Card Receipe
Paper/Card: SU Whisper White, SU Night of Navy, SU Pacific Point, SU Tempting Turquoise
Stamps: SU Clearly for You
Ink: Versamark
Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, SU Little Leaves Sizzlit die, SU corner rounder (punch), SU heat gun, SU Rhinestones, SU White embossing powder, SU stampin dimensionals

This is an arty farty angle, which shows the depth by raising the die-cut negative with lots of foam pads and some lovely bling!

I did have a couple of other attempts!  This second one I like but could image Mandi & Chrissie telling me off for not enough white space!  Also I don't think it has the wow factor that the first one has. So what do you think?

Card Receipe
Paper/Card: SU Whisper White, SU Marina Mist, SU Pacific Point, SU Tempting Turquoise, SU Night of Navy
Stamps: SU En Français
Ink: SU Night of Navy
Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, SU Little Leaves Sizzlit die, SU Rhinestones, SU Whisper White organza ribbon

This last one I really liked but felt was too much of a CASE of card by Carly Robertson and therefore was not appropriate to enter into a challenge. Nevertheless thanks for the inspiration Carly!

Card Receipe
Paper/Card: SU Whisper White, SU Marina Mist
Stamps: SU En Français, SU Curly Cute
Ink: SU Night of Navy, SU markers: Night of Navy, Not Quite Navy, Tempting Turquoise, Marina Mist, Pacific Point
Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Butterfly die (non-SU), SU Rhinestones, SU Whisper White organza ribbon, SU stampin dimensionals

If you are interested in how you could get hold of the SU exclusive Little Leaves sizzlit die, why not contact me to find out more as I have special offers for July - please see this post for more details.

A la prochaine!  Amitiés!

Nicole

Fun Recipe!

I made this for my cousin's 40th birthday last weekend - hopefully he should have received his card by now (and I doubt very much if he reads this blog!).  I usually find masculine cards quite difficult, but this one was fun!  This is for the latest A Passion for Papertrey challenge (I haven't played along for quite a while).

This time we have a "recipe" and the following ingredients are required:

• a dollop of colour (3 colours plus neutrals if required) - check!
• a sprinkling of buttons (2 buttons) - check!
• a pinch of ribbon (1 ribbon) - check! 

Recipe
Paper/Cardstock: SU Whisper White, SU Basic Black, SU Real Red, Grey card from stash
Stamps: PTI
Ink: SU Basic Black, Red & Grey ink from stash
Tools/Accessories: SU Basic Black 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, SU Stampin Dimensionals, Buttons from stash, Card confetti (40) from stash, PTI dies & impression plate

The card was inspired by a card created by Lisa Johnson.

I've just realised that this card has used my blog colours - coincidence honest!

A la prochaine!  Amitiés!

Nicole

Birthday Butterflies & Two Challenges

Yes I know - a card with more butterflies!  I do love them.  However, this time it was compulsory for me to use them as this is the theme for the latest Less is More challenge!  I have been following this blog since it started, but it is the first time I have entered one of their challenges.  I am also entering the card in the latest CAS-ual Fridays challenge where you must use "bling" - which I have done with the different colour pearls.

I visited my local garden centre over the weekend - just to buy a tomato plant which was a bargain at 99p (particularly as it is a hard to find variety and was quite well grown already).  However, it turned out to be a bit more expensive than that as I also bought ... some lilies, a pot to put them in as well as some gorgeous wrapping paper! So it was not quite such a bargain tomato plant in the end!  Does that ever happen to you?  Anyway I am sure you are wondering where I am going with all this - there is a connection (honest!).  Besides selling plants and anything horticultural, this particular garden centre also has a fabulous homewares department.  One of their latest additions is a range of gorgeous ecru cushions with pastel images appliqued on.  They were rather pricey so I didn't buy one but they did give me the inspiration for this card instead.

Card Recipe
Cardstock/Paper: SU Crumb Cake, SU DSP Springtime Vintage
Ink: SU Whisper White Craft, SU Basic Grey Marker
Stamps: WMS Frame-It
Tools/Accessories: SU Embosslits Beautiful Wings, SU Basic Pearls, Assorted coloured pearls from stash, Signo White Gel pen (available from SU), SU Sponge Daubers, SU dimensionals

As you can see I have once again used the SU Embosslits Beautiful Wings die.  To create the 4th butterfly, I drew dotted lines around a spare die cut with the white gel pen (available in the SU catalogue) and then I used the negative of the die to make a mask which I then sponged with white craft ink (I did it that way round to ensure it lined up correctly with the other butterflies).  In order to ensure the butterfly wings stay slightly raised when I post this card, I have stuck small pieces of SU dimensionals under the butterfly wings.  One other tip - I have lightly curled the top edge of the wings using my "pokey tool" (officially known as a paper-piercing tool).

Did you know the Beautiful Wings die is exclusive to Stampin' Up?  Also it both cuts and embosses at the same time - how cool is that!  If you would like to own this gorgeous die please email me to find out more.

A la prochaine! Amitiés!

Nicole

Wedding Day

My cousin got married at the weekend, so of course I had to make her and her new husband (by the way this is her first and (hopefully) only husband!) a card to celebrate their wonderful day!

Recipe
Card/Paper: SU Shimmery White cardstock, Silver satin card from stash, Printed vellum from stash
Stamps: PTI YOF: Roses
Ink: Versamark
Tools/Accessories: SU Beautiful Wings Embossilits, SU Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder, SU Basic Pearls, Silver embossing power, SU Dimensionals

Hope they have a long & happy future together!

I am submitting this card for the latest challenge at the Lily Pad, which is to make a card using embossing (heat or dry or both - (I managed both!)).

EDITED TO ADD: A photo of the happy couple and the amazing cake made by my aunt!

Amitiés! A la prochaine!

Nicole