Casually Crafting Appreciation Blog Hop

Hello again and welcome back to the Casually Crafting blog hop! This month our theme is ‘Appreciation’ whether that be a thank-you, just because, or thinking ahead to Mother’s Day!  If you are in the UK we celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday 22nd March this year!

The Casually Crafting Design Team are a group of Independent Stampin’ Up! demonstrators that want to share our love of crafting with you all.  We will be sharing what we love every 3rd Friday of each month.  Make sure you check out the rest of the Design Team’s creative projects using the photo links at the end of this post.

Appreciation

How often, other than a cursory thank-you do we actually show someone that they are appreciated?  Whether it be the receptionist in your Doctor’s surgery, your postman or a friend just for being there?  It’s something I think we do but maybe don’t do really, really well!  Bearing in mind I make cards (Surprise!) I really don’t give enough of them.  Yes, OK, for birthdays, Christmas, if you’re lucky maybe an anniversary card, and lets face it there is nothing quite as special as getting a beautiful handmade card for no reason at all!

I can’t say that one particular stamp set jumped out at me for this theme, we have such a fabulous selection!  In the end I went back to the Annual Catalogue, which we tend to forget about once we have a nice shiny new Spring Summer Mini…. BUT there are so many fabulous sets in the main catalogue and purchases from ANY of our publications during Sale-a-Bration earns you freebies!  The set I decided on was Butterfly wishes on page 18.  This is one of DistINKtive stamp sets and the detail is amazing!  You can quite literally make a beautiful card with one piece of card, one stamp set and one ink colour and it will still look fabulous!  While you might want it all you really don’t need to have it all to make beautiful cards. 

 

My Projects

This month I made three cards using this set.  Each one is rather simple, and uses only the basic tools of paper, stamp and ink!  Hard as it was I even stepped away from my punches!

Butterfly Wishes

For this first card I literally took it back to basics.  I used our super cute whisper white notecards, pretty peacock ink and the stamps of course – and just like that you have a quick and easy thank you card!

That said I do like a little more with my cards, but again the second sample is still a really simple card.  I’ve matted the whisper white with pretty peacock to co-ordinate with the ink and popped the sentiment up on dimensionals, adding a little twine for interest.  I then fussy cut two of the flowers and overlaid them.  I finished this second card with some rhinestones and a little wash of wink of stella to the butterfly wings.

For my third and final card I created a mask using a scrap of copy paper and the 2¼” circle punch.  Next using a sponge dauber I applied ink directly to my card base, which in this case is one of our cute little notecards.  Daffodil delight is the perfect choice to create a beautiful sun.  Once I had that done I stamped the image of the branch with flowers in smoky slate so it stretched from the edge of the card towards the opposite side.  Using my stampin’  write markers I coloured the different elements.  I chose soft suede for the branches, old olive for the foliage and pumpkin pie for the flowers.  This takes a little time, I’m not going to lie but the end product is so worth it.

To finish stamped the butterfly in memento tuxedo black and coloured it with poppy parade, using soft suede for the central body, I also stamped the sentiment in Memento.

I really hope that you liked my projects for this month and they inspire you to get making, I’ve listed all the products (including links) below.  I’d love to see what you make with this amazing set!

Don’t forget to click on the photographs below to continue hopping and see what the rest of the Casually Crafting Design Team have come up with!

Thanks again for hopping by!  See you soon!

Love Me x

Casually Crafting Design Team Photo Links

Click on the photos below to continue along this month’s hop from the rest of the Casually Crafting Design Team and don’t be shy about leaving comments we would love to hear from you!

 

  Product List

Clear Block I

£11.25

Linen Thread

£4.75

Paper Snips

£9.25

Paper Trimmer

£23.00

Incredible like you simply stamped

Hello!

It’s been rather a long time since I was last on here, it was one thing after another, after another and before you know it six months have passed.  At that point I decided to revamp my blog with help from the lovely Louise Sims who has created the new look that you see now.  My little sister who is super creative and a graphic designer in real life created my new simple branding and I love it.  If you are looking to relaunch or just revive your own website I really couldn’t recommend Louise highly enough.  Check out her website at http://louisesims.co.uk/

Louise finished the work a couple of months ago but I have been putting off my comeback with one excuse or another and really it was just a fear thing.  I’m not very technically minded, although I am trying to improve but I kept telling myself I couldn’t remember how to do this, or that, or the other.  Recently I’ve realised (following a quick swift in the backside) that I needed to get back and I can continue to learn and develop as I go along.

Surely it’s not just me?

Does that ever happen to you – you want to do something, you know you should and you can but that little voice tells you that you can’t or you will fail and the little task suddenly becomes a huge mountain.  The ladies that come to my classes regularly tell me that they can’t possibly make the card I’ve designed for the day.  But guess what; they can and they do, they learn and follow the  instructions so that by the end of the class they all have a perfectly hand crafted card (or three) to take home with them.

For me however the hardest thing is actually stripping it all back to basics and doing the simple stamping that Stampin’ Up! is trying to promote at the minute.  Ask me to come up with something complicated or different – no problem…. but simple seems to stump me, for whatever reason.  So this week I decided enough was enough we were going to do at least one simple stamping card at class and I was going to do at least one blog post!  Well if you’re reading this then I’m delighted to say that I have achieved both!

Anyway if you are still with me I have a card to share!

 

Now this may not look like a simple card but trust me it is!  I made a little mask from a piece of copy paper and used low tack adhesive to stick it to the centre of the card.  I then used the Incredible Like You  stamp set to create the image.  I used Poppy Parade and Granny Apple Greenwith Basic Gray for the sentiment.

Tip

Quick tip to minimise the discolouration of polymer stamps, especially when using bright colours like Poppy Parade, ink up with versa mark before the colour.  There will still be some staining but it does help minimise it.

This beautiful stamp set is one of our two step stamps and it creates this beautifully tonal image so simply!

Once I had stamped the flowers and the foliage I simply removed the mask with care, made sure there was no adhesive remaining and then stamped my sentiment.  And this particular sentiment is so beautiful and you can find it in Another Wonderful Year stamp set.  I very nearly overlooked this set and it’s a new addition to my Stampin’ library but it’s a great all round set.  You can find it on page 21 of the Annual Catalogue or click on the link to go straight to the shop!

Here’s a close up of that gorgeous sentiment…

 

If you fancy having a go at making this gorgeous card yourself  I’ve listed the supplies, including handy links to my 24/7 shop below:

Product List

SALE-A-BRATION

Don’t forget there is still just over a week left to grab some sale-a-bration freebies.  All you need to do is spend £45 in my online store and you get to chose an exclusive item for FREE!  With time running out fast you’ll be want to be quick.

Speaking of Sale-a-bration and wanting to be quick the clock is also ticking on the fantastic joining offer that we have on.  This offer ends, just like the freebies on the 31st March.  So you might ask what makes this so special and why should you want to join.   I can tell you now this is the best ever offer we have had, in my opinion anyway.  seriously for only £99 you can select products with a retail value of up to £170.  Plus you get free business supplies, but don’t let the word business put you off, I welcome hobby demo’s just as much as business on my team.

Whether you want to earn some extra money or simply get a discount for yourself now simply is the best time to join.  The gorgeous tote bag in the photograph is an additional add on only available to those than join during sale-a-bration.  This bag can be yours for an additional £25, believe me that’s a bargain! If you pick me as your demo you will receive all the help you need both creatively and otherwise to begin your Stampin’ Up! journey.  It really is one you will never regret!  If you are interested in joining my team just click the ‘Join my Team’ button from the home page.

Anyway, enough from me – for now!  I’d love to hear what you think of my new blog and this simple card.  But I guess really it’s always nice to know that we aren’t just talking to ourselves, so please drop me a comment – even just to say hi!  I’ll appreciate it and hopefully knowing you are making me smile will make you smile too!

 

Have a great day!

Gillian xxx