Stampin’ Up! Playing In The Rain notecard

 How cute is this little bunny? 

Here I show you how you can create a notecard using Stampin’ Up! Playing In The Rain cling stamps.

First stamp out the bunny and three sets of the flowers using alcohol proof ink. Colour them in using alcohol markers.

Next, use a mask to create an inked circle on the white card stock. I used the waste card from punching out a 2 3/8 circle. 

Then create the ‘splatter’ using a sparkle pen and ink around the edges with your ink pad. Add a sentiment of your choice ( I have used Stampin’ Up! Go To Greetings) and assemble the card on to the patterned paper (I’ve used Glorious Gingham 6 x 6 DSP). Use foam pads on the bunny and front flowers if you want to give dimension to the card. 

Add some gems (I used Tinsel Gems in Blueberry Bushel) and you have a really cute notecard.

All Stampin’ Up products are available via my online shop clembarkercrafts.stampinup.net

Thank you so much for reading xxx

Stampin’ Up! In The Moment book mark

 Here is an idea to make an easy book mark which makes a great gift or craft fair item.

First, stamp out the image and sentiment from the ‘In The Moment’ stamp set with alcohol proof ink and colour with alcohol markers.

Next trim the card stock to 2 1/2 x 5 3/4 inches and cut a piece from the patterned paper that is 2 3/4 x 6 inches. I have used Glorious Gingham 6 x 6 designer series paper from Stampin’ Up! Glue these together and once adhered, punch a hole towards the top with a paper hole puncher. If, like me, you can’t judge measurements by eye, mark it with a pencil first.

Finally, thread through a piece of co-ordinating ribbon and you have a lovely, hand made book mark.

The Stampin’ Up! items I have used can be purchased from my online shop clembarkercrafts.stampinup.net

Thank you so much for reading xxx

Stampin’ Up! Beautiful Balloons - four cards from a one sheet wonder

Have you ever needed to make multiple cards in a hurry? 

Here is how to make four quick cards from one sheet of stamping. 

To re create these cards you will need the Beautiful Balloons stamp set, classic Stampin’ pads (Azure Afternoon, Lemon Lime Twist and Berry Burst) and Stampin’ Blends (Azure Afternoon, Lemon Lime Twist and Berry Burst).

First, stamp the largest balloon in Berry Burst in random but fairly even intervals on an A4 sheet of white cardstock.

Next use the medium stamp with the Azure Afternoon stamp pad to stamp in between the larger balloons.

 With the smallest balloon stamp, use Lemon Lime Twist to fill in some of the spaces in between and add some of the small stars to the background.

To finish the sheet use two more of the background stamps to fill in the remaining spaces.

From this finished sheet you can create four cards (one 6 x 6 inches, one 7 x 5 inches and two 6 x 4 inches). Layer each one with card stock from the new core colours, add a sentiment and decorate inside with the four stars background stamp and Stampin’ Blends.

I hope this gives you some inspiration next time you need to batch make some simple cards.

All the products used here are available from clembarkercrafts.stampinup.net

Thank you so much for reading xxx

Becoming a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator

 On April 18th 2023 I signed up to be an independent Stampin’ Up! demonstrator. 

Why did I do this? Well, if truth be told, it made sense financially. I wanted to buy some Stampin’ Up! products for the first time. The items I wanted totalled over £130 but if I signed up to be a demonstrator it would cost me £99 and I could include all these items in my starter kit. 

Disclaimer: at the moment I do not own a single Stampin’ Up! product. Actually, that’s a lie because I do have one wood mounted Stampin’ Up! stamp that I got in a bundle from a charity shop a couple of years ago. Apart from that though…nothing. 

My starter kit is due to arrive tomorrow, I have ordered the Beautiful Balloons bundle along with a few other things from the brand new annual catalogue which launches tomorrow and I am so looking forward to having a play with these new supplies.

Although I signed up for financial reasons, I have been inspired by what I have seen so far, both from Stampin’ Up! as a company and from the friendly and talented team I have joined so now I am really excited to be a part of it. Over the coming months (and hopefully years) I will aim to pass on this inspiration and enthusiasm through my blog and other social media platforms. 

If you are thinking of becoming a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator yourself or you would just like to see how I get on with this new crafting venture, please consider following my blog. If you have any questions about the process or Stampin’ Up! products, please don’t hesitate to contact me and I will answer as honestly as I can. If you would like to purchase from Stampin’ Up! and don’t already have a demonstrator, I would be really honoured if you became a customer of mine.

Thank you so much for reading xxx

 

Pennant style craft room sign

Hello there. 

Today I am sharing a pennant style craft room sign I made using dies and some scrap bits of paper.

I used the Summertime Pennant die set and Caring Thoughts 6 x 6 paper pad from Crafter’s Companion. The alphabet dies are by Lisa Horton.

The idea behind this project was not just to brighten up a plain white door but also to use up some of my paper in order to make room for some new goodies I’m expecting to arrive any day (more about this another time!). It was really simple to make, just die cut all the pieces and assemble together in order.

 I did use an adhesive foam pad on the back of the centre circle to add a bit of dimension.

I do love this paper pad as the colours are so pretty, I think they have a sort of shabby chic look.

It’s been a lovely warm day here in South Yorkshire today. Wherever you are in the world, I hope you had some sunshine in your life today too.

Thank you for reading xxx

Shaving foam technique with watercolour inks

 Hello and thank you for joining me on my blog.

Today I’m sharing how I make my inky backgrounds, like the one on this card I recently made for JMC Designs using the Woodland Tots collection.

It is a really easy technique to do but it can be a bit messy! First I spray shaving foam into a container with sides. It doesn’t need to be any particular shaving foam (I just use a supermarket own brand) or any particular container (I use a foil roasting tray, just because that’s what I have to hand), it is better if it has sides though so the foam doesn’t go everywhere! 

I smooth off the surface a little and then drop the watercolour ink in. I use Cosmic Shimmer pearlescent watercolour inks which have a handy dropper attached to the lid.

I use a poky tool to ‘swirl’ the ink around, going up and down to create a marbled effect and then place a piece of watercolour card face down into the foam.

I gently press the card down so that every part of it makes contact with the foam then carefully lift the paper out. This is where it can get messy so I make sure I have kitchen roll or a cloth to hand! I then use a metal ruler to scrape the foam away from the card.

Once it is all off I end up with a beautiful ‘marbled’ piece of card stock, I leave it to dry for a little while before I use it on my project.

I hope this gives you some inspiration to try this technique. If you do try it, I’d love to hear how you get on. If you are an old hand at it, maybe you have some tips of your own to share? 

Thank you so much for reading xxx

Time for Tea Designs - Butterflies birthday card

 Good morning and thank you for visiting my blog.

Today I’m sharing my first ever card made using the ‘Butterflies’ stamps and die sets from Time For Tea Designs

First I stamped out the cute girl and butterfly using alcohol proof ink, coloured them with alcohol markers and added highlights using a white Gelly Roll pen.

I then used the small heart stamp to create the background, coloured them all in with alcohol markers and made a faux stitched edge using a black artliner pen. I layered this background onto a piece of orange card stock which I again created the faux stitching on and then onto a black card stock mat.

I stamped the grass border and sentiment stamps directly onto the die cut circle, coloured with alcohol markers and added a pale blue background using opaque pigment ink. I then layered this onto scalloped nested die cut circles. 

I then assembled the card together using some foam pads for dimension and added a ribbon bow and flower gems.

The alcohol markers I used are Spectrum Noir Tri Blend Brushes. The colours I used are;

Skin - FS6, FS7, FS8

Cheeks - PP3

Hair - EB1, EB2

Dress - BP5, BP6

Butterfly - BO3, BO4, BP4

Background hearts - BP5

Thank you so much for reading xxx