Inspired By ....

No Fast Friday this week, instead today is the start of an occasional series called "Inspired By". I was inspired (pun intended!) by Kristina Werner's recent project when her inspiration was a duvet cover. I thought this was a clever idea and then looked at the skirt I was wearing and thought this would make the good basis for a card. So without further ado here is my card.....

Stampin' Dimensionals and the raised punched Petite Petals are very useful to cover up any less than perfect stamping (what moi?!)

I have used a number of techniques - including creating a stencil from a negative die cut and sponging the resulting image. I also used post-it notes to create masks when layering the stamped flowers over one another.

And here is the pattern from the skirt that inspired it all! What do you think?

To make this project you will need:

Cardstock/Paper: Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Strawberry Slush ♦ Stamps: Secret Garden (retiring), Banner Greetings (Hostess 2013/14 retiring), Petite Petals ♦ Ink: Smoky Slate, Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding, Wild Wasabi, Summer Starfruit marker (retiring), Pool Party, Black Stazon ♦ Tools/Accessories: Secret Garden Framelits (retiring), Petite Petals Punch, Little Leaves Sizzlets (retiring), Stampin' Dimensionals, White Chalk marker

I have used the Secret Garden stamp set and coordinating framelits which are both on the retiring list so grab them whilst you can as some items on the list have already sold out (eg: the Little Leaves sizzlet which I have also used to create a mask to sponge the outline of the leaves on the card). You can order from my online shop 24/7 or if you prefer contact me directly.

I will be back with a Fast Friday card next week.

A la prochaine! Amitiés!

Nicole

Fast Friday - Week 18

For this week's Fast Friday post I have once again turned to the current challenge at Less Is More, where the recipe is to use the colours of your bedroom. Mine is cream, white and deep pink with accents of purple and gold (just the door/furniture handles & mirror frames in case you are wondering!).

I have used one of the images from the retiring Creative Elements stamp set as the main feature on a card base of Raspberry Ripple (one of the retiring in-colours) - I can't believe what a perfect match the colour is to my duvet cover! I have heat embossed the image with white embossing powder and then used the Rich Razzleberry marker (LOVE that name [and the colour itself]!) to colour in parts of the image.

Once again I am using one of the stamps from the current hostess set Banner Greetings for the sentiment - can you tell I REALLY, REALLY like this set and am going to miss it dreadfully when the new cattie comes out next month? This set can only be purchased if either a) you host a party with sales of £150+ or b) you personally place an order of £150+. Why not have a retiring list party - contact me for more details or place an order via my online store.

The gold glitter glue I have used to accent the image is non-SU but I am pleased to let you know that when the new cattie comes out on 1 July this colour will be added to SU's Dazzling Details range - hooray!

To make this project you will need:

Cardstock/Paper: Raspberry Ripple, Very Vanilla ♦ Stamps: Creative Elements, Banner Greetings (Hostess 2013/14) ♦ Ink: Rich Razzleberry marker, Versamark ♦ Tools/Accessories: Heat gun, White Embossing Powder, Gold Embossing Powder, Stampin' Dimensionals, Gold glitter glue (non-SU)

You can order from my online shop 24/7 or if you prefer contact me directly.

Well that's another card done for an upcoming birthday! Have a fabulous weekend enjoying the gorgeous UK weather - apparently it will be hotter in some parts of England today than in Brasil!

A la prochaine! Amitiés!

Nicole

Fast Friday - Week 16

After last week's super quick card from the fabulous Hip Hip Hooray card kit, I am back with a "proper" card.

This was inspired by an idea from Connie Stewart and one of her flash cards. I have stepped it up and changed the colours, but you can still see Connie's basic layout and idea. My version was still within my 10 minute time limit though...

You are probably tired of seeing this colour combo - but I do love it so! I also love the current hostess set Banner Greetings and will really miss this when it retires at the end of June.

The challenge this week over at Less is More is a recipe to use a die cut - and as I have used one of my favourite dies - Little Leaves - this should fit the challenge perfectly!

Edited to add - just discovered the Little Leaves Sizzlets die is on the SU retiring list (sob, sob!!) - and it currently has an 25% discount so grab it while you can!

To make this project you will need:

Cardstock/Paper: Coastal Cabana, Basic Black, Whisper White, Vellum ♦ Stamps: Flower Shop, (Hostess 2013/14) ♦ Ink: Black Stazon, Versamark ♦ Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Mosaic Embossing Folder, Little Leaves Sizzlets die, Pansy punch, Heat Gun, White embossing powder, Basic pearls, Stampin' Dimensionals

You can order from my online shop 24/7 or if you prefer contact me directly.

A la prochaine! Amitiés!

Nicole

Fast Friday - Week 14

This week I once again needed to make the project very quickly as I have been working very late in the day job most of the week so I looked to Pinterest again for inspiration (whatever did we do before  Pinterest?) and also looked at some part-finished projects on my craft table. Et voilà!

Firstly I found a card blank that I had already made with Crumb Cake cardstock with a white circle background. This had been made by using a sponge dauber and "stamping" Craft Whisper White ink in a pattern over the card base - super quick to do. I also had the banner stamped and cut out ready to use. So all I needed was to quickly use my Big Shot to cut out the black leaf using my favourite go-to Sizzlits die and stick this on the card base. The finishing touches were some sequins cut from the Gold Sequin trim ribbon which is in the Spring/Summer catalogue and then I added a swirl of linen tread. And here's the close-up (aka arty photo)!

To make this project you will need:

Cardstock/Paper: Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Whisper White ♦ Stamps: Banner Greetings (Hostess 2013/14) ♦ Ink: Black Stazon, Craft Whisper White ♦ Tools/Accessories: Little Leaves Sizzlits die, Gold Sequin trim, Linen thread, Sponge daubers, Stampin' Dimensionals, Glue dots

You can order from my online shop 24/7 or if you prefer contact me directly.

Today it is bright and sunny (although very windy) here in my part of the UK which is a big improvement from yesterday when it rained all day! I felt very sorry for the Women's Bike Tour which came through our town centre as part of the 2nd stage (appropriately an Italian won the stage as we have a large Italian population in the town). Despite the horrendous rain it was an amazing sight to see as I peered out of the office conference room window! Hope you have a good weekend!

A la prochaine! Amitiés!

Nicole

Fast Friday - Week 11

As you will know from my recent posts I was on a crafty retreat in Birmingham last weekend with some fellow demonstrators. As always when getting together at such event we make swaps so I thought you might like to see my swap. This was the intended swap for everyone:

The idea for the card came from one I cased by Hannelie which I had seen on Pinterest.

Because of the patterned paper inside the card, I stamped one of the images from Four Frames onto a label and then cut this out with the matching Decorative label punch - now there is the perfect space to write a greeting!

As I had not quite finished the swaps before I left for the weekend (yes I know I am so last minute dot com - LOL!), I decided I would finish them off the night before (I was staying with my cousin and her husband). Unfortunately, when I went to finish the swaps I discovered I had left the stamp I needed for the greeting behind! Eek! So what's a girl to do? Improvise! So I used one of the greetings from the Too Kind set instead. These were the resulting swaps:

They came out ok, but I still think I prefer the original - what do you think?

To make these projects you will need:

Cardstock/Paper: Whisper White, Polka Dot Parade DSP ♦ Stamps: Banner Greetings (Hostess 2013/14), Four Frames Too Kind ♦ Ink: Black Stazon, Rich Razzleberry, Marina Mist, Real Red, Old Olive ♦ Tools/Accessories: Bitty Butterfly punch, Circle 2½" punch, Circle 1⅜" punch, Decorative Label punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Window Sheet, Rhinestones

You can order from my online shop 24/7 or if you prefer contact me directly. Don't forget to check out the weekly deals in April!

A la prochaine! Amitiés!

Nicole

Fast Friday - Week 8

I needed to make a card for a lovely customer this week who lives in Lancashire so rustled up this super quick card using one of my favourite stamp sets from the current Spring/Summer Seasonal Catalogue 2014 - So Very Grateful. I used one of the great notecards that SU sell (envelopes included) as my card base - just perfect for a quick project like this.  I used one of my favourite tools at the moment - the white chalk marker. Just love the effect this gives.

Incidentally, the layout is one you will see all over the internet on crafting blogs at the moment.

And here is a more stepped up version that I did with the more standard sized card for a friend's birthday. This time I used Crystal Effects on the flowers to give some added dimension as well as using one of the current hostess sets - Banner Greetings.

The actual making of this second card didn't take much longer, but drying time was needed for the Crystal Effects.

To make these projects you will need:

Cardstock/Paper: Old Olive, Notecards, Whisper White ♦ Stamps: So Very Grateful, Banner Greetings (hostess) ♦ Ink: Black Stazon ♦ Tools/Accessories: White chalk marker, White gel pen, Basic pearls, Stampin' Dimensionals, Crystal Effects, Stamp-a-ma-jig, ruler

You can order from my online shop 24/7 or if you prefer contact me directly. Don't forget you can choose a free product from the Sale-a-Bration promotion for every £45 (before P&P) that you spend on catalogue items until 31 March 2014 - hurry that's only 11 days away!

A la prochaine! Amitiés!

Nicole