More Mice ...

Happy Thursday :D

I hope your week is going well!

Mine is flying by lol.

I forgot to post the other two projects for my 'Merry Christmouse' class.

These guys are just too cute! 

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek! :D

Thanks ... For Being You

Happy Thursday :D

Here's the second project for my upcoming 'Thanks & Giving' class using 'Lighthearted Leaves' and 'Crazy About You'.

My 'Woodland' embossing folder is also getting a good workout!

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek ☺️

'Thanks and Giving'

Happy Wednesday :D

I didn't have the next classes projects ready to show attendees last week but I'm working on them and here's the first one.

The theme for the class is 'Thanks and Giving'.

I've used the new stamp set from Stampin' Up! called 'Lighthearted Leaves' and watercoloured my image. 

The square pillow box (a new framelit with lots of extras!) is embossed with the handsome new folder 'Woodland'.

Add a gold foil doily and you're set with a gorgeous gift box for a Thanksgiving treat!

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek  :)

CLASS DATES-

Wednesday 16th September 7 - 9.30pm.

Thursday 17th September 7 - 9.30pm.

Cost- 

$20.00 - Email to register.

'Feeling Good In The Secret Garden' Tutorial

Hello all :)

Today I am excited to share my latest tutorial ... 'Feeling Good In The Secret Garden'.
I have been working on it for a little while but it's now finished and ready to share!

I have used the beautiful 'Feel Goods' stamp set as the focal point but have teamed it up with the delightful 'Secret Garden' flowers also to decorate the cards and gift tag. Can you tell I combined the names of the two sets to come up with the title of my tutorial?!

There are five stamps in the 'Feel Goods' set and I've created five projects ... One to showcase each of the beautiful heartfelt sentiments.
I've used the delicious Sale-A-Bration DSP, ribbon and buttons to create projects that are fresh  and fun. Teamed up with water cololured flowers, these creations WOW.

Click on this link  or the Tutorial photo on the left side bar to purchase your tutorial today.

'Everything Eleanor' Embossed And Beautiful!

Happy Tuesday :)
First I'd like to apologise for the quality of the photos posted today. It has been bucketing down all day and trying to take photos in these conditions always ends in photos I'm not terribly happy with.
That being said though, I wanted to give you a glimpse of something I have been working on with new catalogue stuff!

I have used the gorgeous 'Natural Compostion' DSP as my backdrop. I've teamed it with Early Espresso and Pink Pirouette. I embossed the swirl on the Natural Compostion DSP and embossed the flowers on Crumb Cake cardstock. I then watercoloured the flowers in using Pink Pirouette and Regal Rose ink, then cut them out.
For those of you not keen on cutting images out (you know who you are! LOL), it is only four flowers... Here's a closer look at the end result...

Isn't it pretty, pretty, pretty?!

I decided to make it a wedding card but this card is stylish enough for many occasions.
Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek!

'Fancy Pants' Fun

Happy Thanksgiving day to all my American readers! I wanted to post a Thanksgiving card but didn't have any to photograph sorry. You'll just have to suffice with a Christmas Card...it's a cute Christmas card though!

This is one of the cards I am including in my 'Fancy Pants' Christmas cards class... This is the card standing. It folds up flat for easy posting ... gotta love that. I have used the very cute snowman image from the stamp set "Snow Much Fun' and the wee bird on the snowball is from the same set. I've coloured my images with a blender pen, taking ink from the inkpad lids. Add some Bakers Twine (mmmm, love the Baker's Twine), some jingle bells (for a Christmas feel) and there you have it.
Thanks for taking a peek!

Class details:

Wednesday 14th / Thursday 15th December, 7 - 9.30 pm
Cost: $20.00, email to register

Welcoming Fall

Happy Thursday people :)
It's been a busy week with the kids back at school and setting up routines again.
When I took my youngest DD to the bus stop I noticed the changing leaves and realised Fall (or Autumn as I call it) has come our way. Fall is my favourite season so I made this card to announce it's arrival.
I used some of the new goodies from the Holiday Mini. I kept the card really simple with only a few embellishments. I water coloured the image and cut it out. Yes it did take a while but I had seen it in the new Mini and loved the effect. I hand stitched (yes with a needle and thread) the stitching on the very Vanilla card stock.
The card base is textured 'More Mustard' card stock. I rarely use the textured stuff but I do like it. It means I can add a little "something something" without having to stamp or find some matching DSP. I did use a small amount of the new 'Spice Cake' DSP under the image but not my usual amount.
Here's a close up...
Thanks for taking a peek!

In Colour Tea Cups

Cups of tea make me think of the start of the day. Mine always begins with a cup of Earl Grey Tea!
I just love this tea cup stack from the 'Morning Cup' stamp set from SU!. I haven't water coloured for ages and wanted to try out some of the gorgeous new colours being released next month and tea cups came to mind. The fact that I was drinking a cup of tea at the time might have had an influence on my choice LOL.
The original idea for the card wasn't mine. Thanks Krista for the inspiration! I tweaked the colours and orientation to make it my own.
To colour my cups and saucers I have used three of the new colours and 'Garden Green' from the current range. Can you see why I love the new colours so much?! Lots of turquoise/aqua based colours, mmmmmm!
The DSP I have used is retired but the colours in it reminded me of a few of the new ones and it was a good excuse to use up some of my stash.
Thanks for stopping by and Happy Saturday :)

Sunshine and Spring

Happy Sunday everyone :).
It is a glorious Spring day here so this is a quick post before we head out to enjoy the sunshine.

I love pairing Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive together. There is something about the richness of the colours that strikes me. I've paired them together here for this Spring time card for a friend. I water coloured the stamped image and cut it out with the Butterfly die in the Big Shot. There was a small piece of water colouring leftover so I punched out two tags to add to the ribbon. I stamped the background with 'En Francais' and sponged around the edges. I also sponged around the tags and the butterfly, adding some linen thread to make the antenna.
Thanks for taking a peek!

I'll Be Checking Your Homework!

Over the weekend I held my water colouring class for beginners and it was lots of fun. The class was probably the quietest it has ever been but then they were all hard and work. At the end of the class I gave the girls some stamped images to take home to practise. I told them that it was their homework and that I expected to see some results brought back to me (harsh I know!).
Not to be outdone I thought I had better do something with the images I had water coloured during the class.
Here's what I came up with:
I gave each attendee the tree and bird image seen here and a cat image from the same stamp set. I had already started the raccoon so instead of the cat I used him. Critter cute don't you think?

Another image used in the class was the beautiful Poinsettia from the 'Bells & Boughs' stamp set. The class included a card that used the image the ladies coloured in, but I had a spare one so this is what I did with it:
So ladies, next time you're in, bring me your samples. If you're happy for me to post them on here I will, otherwise I can just admire them on my own :)

The Wonderful World of Watercolouring

I have been busy beavering away on some cards for a long overdue Watercolour class that I have had many requests for. Since doing a custom water colouring card order of thirty, I feel I have a pretty good grasp on all things water coloured now!

For the class you'll make three cards and learn basic water colouring techniques - how to watercolour using watercolour pencils, markers and ink pads.

CARD ONE...
As soon as I saw this set in the new catty, I have wanted to water colour it! For this card you'll be using watercolour pencils. I found the tiny end of the pencil lead great for the smaller areas.
Don't those cakes look good enough to eat?!

CARD TWO...
This gorgeous card uses the Stampin' Up! markers to achieve the rich and vibrant colour required to imitates nature's beautiful Poinsettia. I think it is absolutely stunning.

CARD THREE...
Isn't this too cute? For this image I have used ink pads. It might now be Fall but this card is a wee reminder of Summer days.

Given the nature of the class I will be running it on a Saturday as an extra to my regular bi-weekly schedule.

Date: Sunday November 7th, 1 - 4pm.
Cost: $30. (This includes an Aqua painter that you will keep after the class).

PLEASE NOTE: Because I have to pre order the Aqua painters, payment is required when you register for the class, and registrations close Friday 22nd September.

Oh baby, baby!

In the new catty there is the cutest wee set called 'Hand Knit'. Being a knitter it caught my eye and I couldn't resist ordering it.
As soon as I saw the wee sweater image I knew it would be perfect for some baby cards I had been meaning to make (Now, where I come from we call this item of clothing a jersey or a jumper, but I would be talking in a foreign language if I used those terms here in Canada, so sweater it is).

I water coloured the sweaters, cut them out and raised them with dimensionals. I cut a hole through the top layers on the front of card so when you open it, the image is on the inside. It's a great way to jazz up a fairly simple card.


I'm really happy with how these turned out. Pretty in either pink or blue!

Butterfly Beautiful

I was asked recently to create a Thank You gift for a woman who loves butterflies. Immediately I thought of using 'All a Flutter' (from the Summer Mini) and casing an idea I had seen on Splitcoast Stampers a while ago that caught my eye.
I wanted 2 butterflies for each card and one for the card holder so I stamped them with Basic Grey ink (my stock standard version of "black") on water colour paper and began the process of colouring each one in.

My experience at water colouring is quite limited but I am thrilled with how these winged wonders turned out.

The next step was to stamp the background and sponge the edges to give them an aged look. Because I cut the water coloured butterflies out, I needed to stamp the image on the background so I could get antennas. To do this I stamped the image on a scrap piece of card stock and cut them out. I adhered them to the background piece where I wanted my butterflies to go and then stamped my background image. I did this for each card and two of them were less successful than the others, but thats what you get with hand crafted masterpieces right?!
Now it was just a matter of matting my pieces and adhering them to their bases. Simple!
I love how the butterflies seem to float above their backgrounds.
This is the finished product ... simply Butterfly Beautiful!

I've picked you a Bunch of Roses

Ok, I may not literally have picked a bunch of roses as I don't have any in our garden, but I think this card looks like a posy of roses I'd love to give.
This beautiful stamped image is from the 'Elements of Style' stamp set in the new Summer Mini catalogue. I have water coloured (my third water coloured card) and added some shimmer paint to give it a bit of a shine.
I have used several shades of pink to colour the roses (starting with Pink Pirouette, Pretty In Pink, Rose Red, Regal Rose and a hint of Rich Razzleberry) to try and create a more natural look. I've also "aged" the edges of the cardstock with good ol' Creamy Caramel ink. I love the look it gives and it's so easy to do. This is one colour I will miss when SU! retires some of their range in July. Here's a close up:

Water colouring is certainly labour intensive but the results are so worth it. The depth of colour you can achieve is stunning and when I water colour I feel like a bit of an artist. An artist that is colouring in between the lines, but an artist nonetheless!

For such a Little Card, it's Big on the Details!

This weeks PPA challenge is all about blue. Light blue, dark blue, midnight blue, all kinds of blue. It's also the first colour that springs to mind for me when I think of boys (blue and dirt colours but that's a whole different topic!) so with a boys birthday card to make, this challenge was perfect.
I have a friend back in NZ with a gorgeous boy who's turning five this month. I minded him for a short while and it always amazed me at his attention to detail. He would notice the smallest (often overlooked) things! So when I thought about making his birthday card, I wanted to put as much detail (and as much blue) as possible on it.
So here we go William, this card's winging it's way to you ... brads,embossing, dimensionals, water colouring, piercing, and shading - all just for you. And one more thing, "Happy School Days!".

Beary Birthday Wishes

This is the beary sweet card I made for an upcoming birthday tomorrow. Purple is the recipients favourite colour so I've incorporated it into the card for her.

The card design is an easel card so it lies flat for sending but you can stand the front of the card up with the base becoming the easel stand. The card front remains in this upright (albeit slanted!) position as it rests against the border I have added above the 'happy birthday' sentiment.Pretty clever I thought!

I tried my hand at water colouring also and I have to say it is more difficult than I thought. You have to try and be less fussy with colouring in, something I struggled with!
I have to work on shading to give the cute wee bear depth, but I am happy with it as my first attempt!
All supplies are Stampin' Up!
Thanks for taking a peek :)