Motorcycle Birthday Card - Sorry it's late!

Whilst i was in the Isle of Wight over half term it was my father in laws birthday. Now, i assumed that hubby would take this on board and deliver a card and present - but oh no! Apparently thats my department, so yesterday we went out for a meal to celebrate his belated birthday - and i made him this card to celebrate:

To create this card i cut a piece of 'Well Worn DSP' (a new set of papers - page 99 of the catty) and layered it onto a 'Soft Suede 'cardbase. Next i stamped the motorcycle image using the fab A la Carte 'Motorcycle' stamp - using 'Early Espresso' ink onto some 'Very Vanilla' cardstock - very carefully snipped around it - and coloured it in using my 'Stampin' Write Markers' in the fab new 'in colour' 'Lucky Limeade' and the trusty ' Basic Grey' and then glued it to the 'DSP'.

Finally i stamped the birthday sentiment (perfect for belated birthday cards). It comes from one of the fab new hostess stampsets called 'Happiest Birthday Wishes' - this is a brilliant new stampset that you can get earn for FREE if you host a workshop for you and your friends. (If you think you'd like to do that then email me your number for a no pressure chat: amyjtidd@gmail.com) I punched this sentiment out using the 'Decorative Label' punch. I punched out a second 'Decorative Label' from 'Soft Suede' and mounted the sentiment on it and raised it using 'Dimensionals'.

Do you find it hard to create cards for men? Then why not check out the stampsets in the Stampin' Up! catty - there's lots of cards perfect for making masculine cards!!

Another Autumn Days Christmas Reef Card

Yesterday i shared with you a step-by-step tutorial on how to make a fab christmas reef using the 'Autumn Days' stampset.

Today i have a variation of that card to share with you, using the same technique:

I made the reef exactly the same way as yesterday, but stamped it onto a slightly larger piece of 'Whisper White' card and stamped the 'Merry Christmas' sentiment (from the 'Contempo Christmas' set) in the corner of the piece of card, using 'Cherry Cobbler' ink. I used some 'cherry Cobbler' ink and a 'Sponge Dauber' to distress the edges, mounted this onto a piece of 'Cherry Cobbler' card and then mounted it all onto a 'Whisper White' cardbase (which has been 'Sponge Daubered' again!)

I love this card and plan to make a batch of them to send out as Christmas cards!

Have you considered your christmas cards yet? Why not check out my christmas material recommendations at the top of my blog. I'm offering free P&P on all orders placed over £50 before the end of the day on the 7th November. so why not get your order in... email me today: amyjtidd@gmail.com

Autumn Days Reef: My Stampin' Up! Training Samples (With Step-by-Step Tutorial!)

Hi all, As you know i have not been well at all this week. Well today i'm finally taking a step outside my front door and popping around to my upline Cates house for a quick meet up with some of the other ladies in our Stampin' Up! team.

It's become a bit of a tradition to create a batch of cards to swap with the other girls, to share ideas. At the last meeting the lovely Fiona lent me her 'Autumn Days' stampset to have a play with:

It's a lovely stampset, you get 6 lovely stamps in the set, they are wood mounted at cost £22.95 for the set.

Now anyone who follows this blog regularly will know that i love playing around with the products to come up with alternative uses. So i used this autumnal stampset to create a Christmas design!

And i decided to do a step-by-step tutorial to show you how (Apologies for the quality of some of the pics) So here you go, this is how you make a christmas reef using this set:

Step 1: Start with a piece of 'Whisper White' cardstock and draw a circle on it with a pencil or very light pen. (You can see from this pic that i ahve found an alternative use for a 'Designer Button' pot!)

Step 2: Get the stamp shown above out of the set and load it up with some 'Old Olive' ink

Step 3: Start stamping around the circle. Stamp three times before loading up the stamp with more ink.

Step 4: Keep stamping around the circle!

Step 5: And eventually you end up with this!

Step 6: Get a 'Cherry Cobbler' 'Stampin' Write Marker' and randomly draw some berries.

Step 7: You end up with this!

Step 8: Tie a small bow from some 'Real Red' 'Taffeta Ribbon' and then stick it to the bottom of your reef using some red 'Sticky Strip'.

Step 9: Finally stick this onto a 'Cherry Cobbler' cardbase.
(I had to make 8 for the swaps for todays training and they didn't take long at all!

Why not take a look at the stampsets that you own...is there another use for them?

Want to get your hands on this beautiful stampset - why not make an order today? I'm offering free P&P (usually £4.95) on orders over £50: amyjtidd@gmail.com

Check back tomorrow, i have another christmas card i have to share with you using this Christmas Reef!

More Punchart - a card for a pregnant lady!

Hiya to all my CraftyThINKers. Hope you are all ok, i'm sure you're relieved it is Friday! I'm still not well, so today i have another card that we made on our recent craft retreat to the Isle of Wight.

This card is a punchart card - that uses lots and lots of Stampin' Up! punches. This is not an original design - we printed off a fab tutorial from Bonnie Mountford's blog. Although we did change the colours and the layout slightly. So heres the card:

The card base and 'DSP' used is 'Tangerine Tango'. We used some 'Soft Suede' to compliment it and layer the pregnant woman. The woman has been made from some 'Tempting Turquoise', 'Basic Black', 'Pink Pirouette', 'Daffodil Delight' and 'Chocolate Chip'. Her bag was made from 'Melon Mambo' 'DSP'. I used the following punches:

• '1-3/8" Circle'
• 'Large Oval'
• 'Modern Label Punch'
• 'Wide Oval'
• 'Small Heart'
• 'Ornament'
• 'Owl Punch'
• '1/2" Punch'
• 'Itty Bitty Punch'
• 'Boho Blossom'
• Round Tab Punch'

Her face details have been drawn on with a 'Basic Black' 'Stampin' Write Marker' and her rosey cheeks have been created some 'Rose Red' ink and 'Blender Pen'.

The sentiment is from the retired 'Occassional Quotes' stampset - as that's what i had to hand - but there's plenty of sentiments you could use in the current catty! I finished it off with a bit of 'Pumpkin Pie' 'Grosgrain Ribbon'.

This card took forever because of all the componants!!! But i hope you will agree it's a fabby card! Ruth also had a go at making this card so here's our cards together:

Why not treat yourself to a few punches and have a go at some punchart?! Not all designs are as complicated as this one. Check back at some of my previous posts to see other punchart creations (see yesterdays post where i made a punchart christmas tree)

 If you would like to make an order i'm offering free P&P (usually £4.95) on orders over £50 until the 7th November. Email over your order today: amyjtidd@gmail.com

Heart Punch-art Christmas Tree!

Hi all. Still not feeling well, not up to crafting and relying on my backstock of creations that i made whilst in the Isle of Wight last week.

Today i have a christmas tree card made using the 'Large Heart Punch' in a very clever way:

This card was made very easily by punching out 10 'Large Hearts' from some 'Old Olive' card and arranging them to create the tree. The trunk of the tree was made by punching the 'Modern Label' from some 'Early Espresso' card. All of this was glued to a 'Whisper White' cardbase. The Baubles on the tree have been made from some 'Real Red' card, punched using the 'Owl Punch' (The eye part of the punch) and the bow has been created from a small snippet of 'Real Red' 'Tafetta Ribbon', stuck in place with some super red 'Sticky Strip'. Finally the sentiment has been stamped in the bottom righthand corner. It comes from the 'Contempo Christmas' set and has been stamped using 'Real Red' ink.

These cards are so quick to make, you could easily create a batch!! The wonderful thing about this design is the versatility of the 'Heart Punch' - you can use it all year round - valentine, wedding, anniversary and birthday cards! Why not treat yourself? Email me over your order today - i'm offering free P&P on orders over £50 (usually £4.95): amyjtidd@gmail.com

To my lovely customers...

Hi everyone, hope you are all well. I'm really not feeling well at the mo. Went to the docs on Monday and i have a throat and ear infection and on antibiotics. I really haven't felt like doing ANYTHING and fortunately have a backstock of projects photographed from our craft retreat to the Isle of Wight to keep the blog going until i'm back up and creatively functioning.

You may remember that on the 22nd October i held a very successful crafty open day at my home, we got lots of orders and raised just over £50 for the Phyllis Tuckwell hospice!! The delivery arrived yesterday and i have made some thankyou cards to thanks my lovely customers:

This card has used the lovely new 'in colours'. The cardbase is 'Pool Party' and i stamped the sentiment (from the 'Sweetheart' stampset) in 'Island Indigo'. Next i cut a strip of 'Whisper White' and stamped the small heart (from the 'Every Little Bit' stampset) three times using 'Calypso Coral', 'Lucky Limeade' and 'Wisteria Wonder'. I then mounted this onto a slightly wider strip of 'Island Indigo'. Before gluing this to the cardbase i punched out a 'Decorative Label' from some 'Calypso Coral' cut it in half, gluing them to the cardbase and then placing the strip of hearts over top.

Nine lovely ladies made orders at my workshop so i had to make lots of these but fortunately they were actually very quick to make!!

These cards were nice and quick to make and i hope my lovely customers like them!! Thankyou to everyone who supports my Stampin' Up business. If you would like to make an order please email me: amyjtidd@gmail.com

Also get in touch if you would like to hold a workshop and either earn money for yourself to spend in the catty or fundraise some money for your favourite charity!!!

I have dates available through November and December - Stampin' Up! goodies are perfect christmas gifts so why not arrange a christmas shopping evening where each attendee can even make a handmade christmas gift for a loved one FOR FREE!! (and there is a special hostess offer for November and December!!!) Email for details: amyjtidd@gmail.com

New offer from Stampin' Up!! Free Stampset and Paper!

News just in!

This morning Stampin' Up! announced a new offer:

If you host a workshop with sales of £300 or more (before P&P) between now and 15th December, Stampin’ Up! will give you a Paisley Petals Bundle Free!!

This great bundle comprises the lovely Paisley Petals Stamp Set (in your choice of either wood or clear mount) and the also the lovely coordinating Paisley Petals Patterned Papers! The bundle is worth up to £33.90 and is in addition to the regular hostess benefits!

So to clarify, when you host a Stampin’ Up! Party between now and 15 December, when your sales reach £300 or more you will get the following

• A Paisley Petals Stamp Set in either wood or clear mount – FREE
• A pack of Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper – FREE
• £50 Hostess Pounds to spend either on the exclusive hostess stamp sets or on the products of your choice - FREE
• 1 item of your choice from the Idea Book and Catalogue at half price

It's worth considering even if you don't think you can reach the target sales level as with the run up to Christmas people will be looking for gift ideas for their creative family and friends... plus perhaps thinking about making their own cards and gifts for the festive season.

  

And even if you don't, it's a lovely reason to get friends/family together for a couple of hours!!

Click here for more details and then drop me an email to arrange a date for your free workshop! amyjtidd@gmail.com