LIM - Sparkle

Over at LIM this morning they have a guest designer - Gillian from Made with Sparkle - so this week's challenge, taken from her blog name, is to make a card with Sparkle.
Not being a glittery or sparkly type of person (or crafter!) I have kept my card very simple with just hints of sparkle.
I added score lines to a piece of Whisper White cardstock before matting onto Old Olive and a plain white card blank then stamped a sentiment in Old Olive (the sentiment is now retired but one I really like). I placed some punched Christmas trees from one of the Merry Minis Punch pack, four in Old Olive and one in Glimmer Paper, just above the score lines and finished off with some Basic Rhinestones.

Have a great weekend

Margaret x

Treat Box

Last night I came across a fabulous tutorial on YouTube for these little treat boxes, made by France Martin (the video can be found here).
They are so easy to make using the Envelope Punch Board and you can fit a Snickers or Mars bar in perfectly or alternatively you could fill it with sweets or a gift of your choice.
I used some of the Seasons of Style DSP for the boxes and kept the decoration very simple with knots of Whisper White and Crumb Cake Taffeta ribbon and a sentiment punched with the smallest Scallop Circle matted onto the slightly larger scallop circle.

If you know someone who would like to receive a Stampin'Up! Gift Voucher for Christmas then please don't hesitate to contact me for details (see contact tab above) and I will be only too happy to help

Margaret x

Chocolate Wrapper

Since buying the Envelope Punch Board I have been having a go at making various things which I have seen on YouTube and other demo's blogs but, this time, I have actually come up with an idea of my own!!!!
This is a chocolate bar wrapper which makes a simple bar of chocolate into something a little bit special. I started with a piece of Pink Pirouette DSP (from the old style DSP pack) and made a simple box envelope but, instead of overlapping two of the flaps, I took them both to the centre and folded them back - a dab of glue keeps them in place. I then wrapped a piece of Pink Pirouette Taffeta Ribbon around to conceal the join and added a butterfly punched from the Elegant Butterfly and Bitty Butterfly punches.
Simple but quite effective I think (and even better that I managed to come up with an idea of my own!!!!)

Margaret x

 

Owl Santa

Here I am back again with yet another entry for the LIM challenge - A Christmas Bird. This time I have used the ever faithful Owl Builder and Bird Builder punches to make a Santa Owl. he is made from Crumb Cake, Real Red and Basic Black cardstock with a teeny piece of Silver Glimmer Paper. His hat was stamped from Embellished Events, cut out with paper snips and a bobble punched with one of the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack.
For the background I took a square of Basic Black cardstock and swiped the Whisper White inkpad across the bottom to make the 'snow' and some Dazzling Diamonds for the sparkle. As it is meant to be a night scene I used just the tree bauble stamp from Warmth & Wonder to represent lights on a Christmas tree and the twinkly stars (again a stamp from Warmth & Wonder) are stamped with the Silver Metallic Encore pad. The finished panel was then matted onto a Basic Black card blank with a sentiment from Petite Pairs, stamped in silver, added to the bottom of the card.

Thanks for stopping by

Margaret x

Simples Sunday

The LIM challenge this week is to make a Christmas card incorporating a bird so what could be more simple than to use this image from the Warmth & Wonder Hostess set? I coloured the stamp with Basic Black, Real Red and Old Olive markers, stamped onto Whisper White and cut out with the Large Oval Punch. This was then matted onto a larger Real Red Oval, cut with one of the Ovals Collection Framelits. A piece of Real Red Taffeta ribbon was fixed across a piece of white cardstock, a bow added to the oval and then this was matted onto a white card blank.
I appreciate that you may not have this particular stamp set but the real purpose of this card is to show that using a single stamp with a couple of dies or punches can make something very simple but effective.
(Edited to add - my bird, being a Cardinal, should have been red! Whoops, shows how much I know about birds!!! Thanks Chrissie)

Enjoy your Sunday and do pop back tomorrow to see a Christmas Owl!

Margaret x

Christmas Robin

As soon as I saw the LIM challenge this morning, which is to make a Christmas card using a bird, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. This little robin, made with the Bird Builder punch, is something I have done many times before but I do love him. Really simple to make - just punch out the bird using Crumb Cake cardstock and ink him however you wish using sponge daubers. My little bird is sitting on a Pear Pizzazz wreath, made from the Stippled Blossoms leaf stamp, and the 'baubles' are blobs of Dazzling Details. A sentiment from Petite Pairs, stamped in Real Red, and a bow of Linen Thread were added before matting onto a panel of Pear Pizzazz cardstock and then onto a Crumb Cake card blank.
Have a great weekend and, hopefully, I will be back tomorrow with a super easy 'Christmas bird'

Margaret x

Candle Boxes

Some more 'little packages' made for a Christmas Present Evening recently held at a friend's house. These boxes hold a larger tealight and were made with some current products as well as some retired ones.
The two boxes at the top were made in a 'drawer' style and the bottom two were made in a slightly different style (the lid is lifted up to reveal a fixed box). The candles were decorated with strips of DSP to match the boxes. I don't have any measurements for you as I just measured the candles and made the boxes to fit!!

Until next time - keep warm :0)

Margaret x

Decorated Notepads

Just a quick post to show you some decorated notepads that I made for a Christmas Present Evening I went to last week. They are a 'pocket' size and just right to keep in your handbag. I won't go into any detail about the supplies I used as some are retired and anyway you can use up any scraps you have to hand as well as any stamps/embellishments. They are very easy to do and make a nice little token gift - always handy to have ready for emergencies!!!

Margaret x

    Occasionally I get a request to make something out of the ordinary and this is one of those times - a money wallet that resembles a famous brand, black wax jacket! I found a picture on the internet to guide me and this is what I came up with. I started by making a money wallet with the Envelope Punch Board and added pockets, a belt, a zip (drawn with a silver marker pen), buttons made with mini brads and silver eyelets. All supplies are SU but some are now retired.

I do like a challenge and I hope this fits the bill!

Margaret x

                   

Simples Sunday

Once again I'm combining the LIM challenge - 'Use DSP in a CAS Way' - along with my Simples Sunday post. Yesterday's entry was very simple and this one is just as simple!
I used a panel of Naturals White cardstock, punched three butterflies with the Elegant Butterfly punch, stamped the antennae from Papillon Potpourri and a sentiment from Four You in Crisp Cantaloupe then added three score lines. A strip of Crisp Cantaloupe DSP was fixed to the Naturals White card blank before placing the punched panel on top. All that was left was to add a few Basic Rhinestones to the butterflies.

Thanks for stopping by

Margaret x

DSP for LIM

The challenge at LIM this week is to use Designer Paper in a CAS way and this is my super quick card.
I simply took a piece of DSP from the Modern Medley pack and cut out three baubles using a die from the Holiday Ornaments Framelits (carried over from last years winter catalogue). Before fixing the baubles to the card I stamped three bows, from Create a Cupcake, using the Silver Encore Metallic inkpad and a sentiment from Greetings of the Season (also carried over). The baubles were added with a Basic Rhinestone at the top, the panel matted onto Basic Black cardstock and then onto a white card blank. What could be simpler?
I must apologise for my lack of comments on last week's challenge entries but it has been a busy week and I just couldn't get round to it - will try harder this week :0)

Have a great weekend

Margaret x

 

Happy 100th!!

This is a commissioned card which I have been asked to make for a lady who is celebrating her 100th birthday and it needed to be 'oversized'. The finished card is an A4 size so the card blank was made with an A3 sheet of white cardstock.
As the card needs to be sent through the post I had to be careful to keep it as flat as possible so most of the flowers, large ones from Flower Shop and small ones from Summer Silhouettes, have been stamped directly onto the card using Raspberry Ripple. As I wanted to overlap the flowers and leaves (from Summer Silhouettes) I cut out several masks from post-it notes so that some of the flowers and the leaves look like they're behind the others.
The Raspberry Ripple Scallop Oval and Whisper White Oval were both cut with dies from the Ovals Collection Framelits and the sentiment is made up from the Memorable Moments stamp set. I placed a piece of Rasberry Ripple Stitched Satin Ribbon across the card before matting onto the card blank, positioned the ovals on top and added three flowers, punched with the Pansy Punch, using dimensionals and a few leaves from the Owl Builder Punch. A bow, a butterfly from Papillon Potpourri and a few Basic Pearls finished the card.
I have to say this took quite a long time to make (especially as I had to make an envelope for it as well!) but I was quite pleased with the finished result - something that rarely happens :0)

Tiny Treat Bags

These are some tiny treat bags I made for the guests at a Christmas Present Evening I attended last weekend - all 24 of them! Each one held an individually wrapped chocolate truffle. Some of the supplies I have used are retired stock as I have such a lot of it that needs using up so I won't go into detail and you really can use any supplies you have to make similar bags. They measure just 3.5cm wide x 7cm tall so they really are diddy :0)

Margaret x