Broadway Bound Peekaboo Gatefold Thursday Trio

Just realised that I didn't share another batch of customer Thank You cards that I made the other week... These were sent out to 3 of my lovely online customers... along with a gift for each of them too...

So here you go... a further trio of Broadway Bound Peekaboo Gatefold cards with Bow Closure... click here for the Card Tutorial...

Thank you greeting a simple Thank You Thinlits Die die cut!

And the circle a simple Stitched Shapes die cut!

Star of Light Tunnel Fold Card Part 2

 

Simpler version of yesterday's Tunnel Fold card... with the colours the other way round... check out yesterdays' post for the card tutorial

Simple stamped star on the inside... Smoky Slate 8 prong one & large Island Indigo one to get the layered effect... plus Wink of Stella all over the Smoky Slate to make it all shine...just as the card says!

And a thought for all you Whovians... can't you just see the Tardis in the centre of one of these cards....!

Star of Light Tunnel Fold Card & Tutorial

Another simple Star of Light card that packs a punch...

Clean & Simple on the front... 

But opening up to a bit of paper engineering... with a 3D star to finish it all off...

Craft Spa A4 Cardstock Recipe

Island Indigo 21x14.8cm (1)

Thick Whisper White 20 x 14.3cm (2)

Smoky Slate 9.8 x 14.3cm

Whisper White 9.3 x 13.8cm

(St) Thick Whisper White 10 x A4L (6)

(D) Silver Foil 7.5 x 10cm

(D) Island Indigo 4 x 4.5cm

where (St) means for stamping on and (D) means for die-cutting

Stamps - Star of Light

Inks - Soft Sky, Island Indigo, Smoky Slate

Tools - Layering Ovals dies, Starlight Dies

Embellishment - Gemstones, Wink of Stella

And the How To...
(1) Score Island Indigo panel LANDSCAPE at 10.5cm ( ie standard A6 card blank!)

(2) Score Thick Whisper White panel LANDSCAPE at 5,10,15 cm (TIP-Don't Bone Fold yet!)
(3) Die cut largest Layering Oval centrally
(4) Stamp all over
(5) Bone Fold Valley, Mountain, Valley

(6) Stamp 3 large Island Indigo stars & die cut
(7) Score down the vertical centre axis of each star
TIP - these 2 steps are a lot easier/more accurate if you do them in reverse.... ie Score Whisper White strip LANDSCAPE at 5,13 & 21cm, then stamp the 3 stars centrally on the score lines, then die cut
(8) Valley bone fold each star
(9) Adhere right and left half-sides of 2 stars, then repeat for 3rd star

(10) Adhere right hand side of stamped white panel to inside right hand side of Island Indigo card blank
(11) Adhere 3D star to inside of card blank ( ie centre of star to centre line!)
(12) Fold flat & apply glue to top of left hand side of stamped white panel
(13) Close card over onto the glued panel

(14)Ink up and stamp front White panel - Soft Sky star spray, Island Indigo 8-prong star and greeting
(15) Die cut large Silver Foil & small Island Indigo fancy stars
(16) Adhere all parts

500...think this calls for a celebration!!

Wow... 500...
Unbelievable...
OK... what is!?
Well...
Today is the... 500th blog post since the day I started blogging in 2009...
Wow!

So I think a special round up is in order to thank all of you that have kept me going, creating and blogging all of these years...

So I bring you the Top 20 Craft Spa blog posts of all time...

Some well tried & trusted projects here for you from over the years .... click on the picture to go to the original blog post.... some with tutorials....

Sorry for the different shape & size pictures... but that is blogging over the years for you!! And... cough... learning as you go!!!!

At no 20... over 4 years ago...but... I would still love to know who created this gorgeous project... that I just had to case... still SO stunning!

At no 19 ... Nursery Suite Mini Book... still loving this mini book format...maybe time to do another!

At no 18...the wonderful Scallop Tag Topper Concertina card... thanks Julie!

At no 17... seriously!! Only no 17.... White Christmas meets Holiday Home... and All is Calm papers...

At no 16... a couple of the 40ish projects that earnt me my name of the "Scallop Square Queen".... one for Babies...one for Wedding... 

At no 15... the very first posting of my All is Calm Large Square Double Display Card... Oh and and no 11 for the Metric Tutorial here... and no 1 for the Imperial Tutorial here...

At no 14... the Newsprint Mini Book series...  still love this Trio... might have to CASE myself.... using Typeset papers of course!!

At no 13... After Eights anyone... ? Remember our first UK Stampin' Up! Convention ladies!!!? What a fabulous Gifts & Treats swap we had!

At no 12.... now this one particularly takes me back!! Particularly chuffed and amazed to see this in my Top 20... as it was my third blog post back in 2009.... and actually my FIRST creative share.... sorry can't add link to picture...so here it is!












And at no 11.. the Metric Tutorial for the Large Square Double Display Card...but I thought I should add another version of the card at this point.... or you will be looking at the same card three times....

At no. 10.... to no 2.... well here is where I refer you to the POPULAR POSTS on the LHS of my blog... the Top 10 are always shown down there...

But at no 1... beyond a shadow of a doubt.... is this card ... which is a good card for today (though it obviously has the last zero missing!!!!) along with the Imperial Tutorial for the Large Square Double Display Card within that blog post...

Wow! 500 posts  - and a memory trip... hope you enjoyed it!

Now should I do the next 20.....!!??

Another stepped up CAS Watercolour Wings

 So this is the other card I kept back from my training makes for a slight tweak....

Slightly more subtle this time....

Just inked direct with an ink pad around the mat and banner edges...and used the debossed butterflies side rather than the embossed side.

 Debossed Embossed 

And here they are side by side.... 

And here are my set of 4 cards... although I am now laughing at myself  - the 2nd set of butterflies were meant to be in blues... Pool Party, Bermuda Bay and Island Indigo - so how come I ended up with Mint Macaron & Lost Lagoon butterflies!! 

Oops - they were meant for another 2 cards we made....  oh well off to stamp more butterflies then!!!

Corner Garden - and a Tip!

Another quick share today. This is the Corner Garden stamp set that I have had a short while  - but new In colors and products intervened...so it didn't see ink... So now it has!

Well I was looking for something to quickly put on my trial of a 6" card using the NEW Whisper White Thick Cardstock... which I have to say has passed all of my tests so far!!!

I stamped and Aqua-Painted the flowers and leaves...and added my favourite Happy Birthday wording (yes again!) - but something was definitely missing...

So a quick tip for you when you just know a card needs just a little bit more... 

Get the Soft Sky inkpad out... 

Aqua Paint a faint outline around the flowers and leaves to make a shadow.  

Then pick up the little splats from the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set - and splat. 

And then suddenly it all come to life....

CAS You've Got This!

Staying on my Watermelon Wonder theme...coupled with Tip Top Taupe...with a bit of Mint Macaron and Sahara Sand thrown in for good measure...

Here is a very Clean & Simple card...just to show off a very simple technique using the You've Got This! stamp set.... use the large background image to colour in your flowers and leaves...simple but very effective.... you would pay good money to buy papers to use for paper piercing to achieve the same effect....

And ...I have to laugh at myself...  Finally I can leave some white in a watercolour effect...

Why can I not do that when armed with a Blender Pen or an Aquabrush! I know you should ...but I just can't!

 And the details... large background stamp inked and used to "colour" the flower and leaves - as well as to give texture to the background panel before stamping the flowers

Big but Clean & Simple LOVE card

More from my All Day Workshop…. you can’t get much more CAS than this… but there have been a lot of oohs, squeals and WOWs over this card! That being said it is a large card… an A5 long card… ie nearly 12” wide and just over 4” high for my imperial buddies!

Now having bought the Artisan Embellishments kit to get the flower ribbon to do one particular thing…. I had used something else to do that thing! So I looked at the stunning flowers ribbon and knew I had to come up with something else!

And so a matching card to go with yesterdays mini book came to mind…..

It particularly works as the class kit included a piece of the wonderful Canvas Creations… just gives the background a great texture… making this a card very special with incredible soft dimension…. so tactile! Both the flower letters & the background…

That being said… as a girl that is not into pinks….. I began to call this the Marmite card… I couldn’t work out whether I loved it or hated it!! Luckily everyone else LOVED it! So what do I know…..

So how are the letters done… Simples…. cut rose ribbon into following lengths, apply a glue dot to the back of each rose and arrange on the card! Lovely and quick…

4 roses x 3; 3 roses x 1; 2 roses x 3 and 1 rose x 1

L is 4 down & 2 across

V is 4 down the left and 3 up the right

E is 4 down. 2 across at top & bottom and the single in the middle

And the O is the gorgeous wreath from the Your Perfect Day stamp set. Hand-cut and 3Dd onto the card….

Think this will be my Parents Wedding Anniversary card this year….

Golden Ornamental Pines

Just a very quick share for today.

Here is a very simple card made using the Encore Gold ink, Ornamental Pines and a few splodges from Gorgeous Grunge!

I hope that you are all more ready for Christmas than I am….

I have ticked off quite a lot …but  many left to do… Next step… tree decoration ( sorry Julie W – there would only have been a bare tree photo today!!) …then house decoration!! Only 2 weeks later than usual….Ooops…

Again sorry for the bad photos… I really need Santa to deliver my replacement lights set…. not long to wait now…..

Wonderful Wreath Santa

Sorry I have been AWOL…. half term hols during which I had a fabulous week at Club Adakoy in Turkey – followed by my Christmas All Day Class last Saturday ( more on that later in the week…) With a few other things thrown into the mix to just tip me over the edge & not be able to blog!

But I just had to quickly pop on to share my latest play! Imagine the scene…. Wonderful Wreath die cut in one hand, Moustache die cut in the other….. my 2 hands came together and what did I have!!!! Yay….Santa. It just had to be done….. and I LOVE it….my inner child is fulfilled!!!

Edited to add 2015- here is the 2015 version - using the Festive Flower Builder Punch instead of the retired moustache die. Punch Art crib sheet there too...

And here is a card using the Wonderful Wreath Santa.

Now I can’t take credit for the fabulous Santa belt Fry Box base… that was made by the very talented fellow Jem Kylie Henshaw as her swap at the last Quarterly Team Training. It was one of my favourite swaps…and it was a perfect base to show you my Wonderful Wreath Santa today……Thank you again Kylie…what a partnership…..

You should be seeing a few more ideas for this Santa as the next few weeks progress….. as well as for the Moustache die – which I love!!! Loads of ideas in my head for that….just need to find a few minutes to play……

And here is another view….

Hope this fills your inner child too….!?

Thanks for visiting me today...... Amanda

Stampin᾿ Up! Supplies

Table built by craftingbecky.com

Wonderful Wreath Framelits Dies	Mustache Framelits Die	Fry Box Bigz L Die	Extra-Large Oval Punch
1/2 Inch Circle Punch	Owl Punch	Small Oval Punch	Real Red A4 Card Stock
Basic Black A4 Card Stock	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Blushing Bride	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Uni-Ball Signo Gel Pen	Silver Glimmer Paper	Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper	Wonderous Wreath Photopolymer Bundle

Note that you can either buy just the Wonderful Wreath Framelits die (first in list)  for £20.95…or get the matching photopolymer stamps for just £37.25 with the Bundle (last in list)