New Arrivals, New Fold

Just a quick one today.  These two cards were commissioned by a friend of mine to celebrate two pregnancy announcements.  The two people she wanted them for (who I don't know) are very different, so each card was made with the information I had about them in mind... but although these have different styles the card structure is the same.

I had never made an easel card before when I made these, but now it's become a bit of a favourite!

         

Why I Love Colours

People sometimes ask me: "Do you only use Stampin'Up! products?"

The answer is... complicated.

For classes, yes, I generally only use current Stampin'Up! products, simply because I want people to know that they are available to buy if they want to.

However, I also have an eye for a bargain - a previous life working as a prop-maker in theatres has left me with a definite "I could use that... for something..." attitude when I see clearance sales or even just cheap and cheerful products. 

These flamingo and pineapple stickers, for example, cost me £1.  And because my son's flamingo-obsessed best friend was about to turn 4, it seemed a no-brainer.

BUT, although the focal point of these cards is not from Stampin'Up!, everything else is.  The cardstock (Island Indigo now retired 😢), the numbers (now retired 😢), the adhesive...  This is one of the things I love most about our products (oh dear, promotion alert!): not only do they co-ordinate perfectly with each other, but because we have such a gorgeous array of colours I can always find something to go with anything, because they provide such a strong backbone to my crafting stash.  Making these cards gave me a new favourite colour too - Petal Pink - which although it won't be paired with Island Indigo any more will definitely find plenty of other BFFs in my collection!

Behind the Scenes

When people visit The Sett, they often remark on how peaceful it is, using words like "oasis", "bubble" and - unusually for me, "clean"!  I'm actually quite proud that I manage to keep it that way, although there has been the odd occasion where I've let things slide just a little (last week, for example, when the hoover was full and I simply wasn't mentally prepared to tackle emptying it! 😄).

I am not a tidy person by nature, but my Sett serves a dual purpose, and the calm and clean nature of it is essential for my other job: for most of the week I am a psychotherapist and supervisor of other psychotherapists, so The Sett really does have to present a welcoming, neutral space for people to feel safe in when exploring their deepest emotions, hurts and problems.

So that's what makes me tidy.  And that's why when you arrive for a class it will look something like this (hoover status allowing!):

Between classes, and between clients, though, it tends to look something more like... well...

When I haven't got any clients for a couple of days (usually over a weekend), it tends to look as though a small explosive has gone off in a corner of the Stampin'Up! warehouse!

Well, nobody's perfect, right?  A tidy desk may equal a tidy mind, but my opinion is that a desk covered in lovely craft supplies equals an inspired mind, and I know which one I'd rather have 😉

Losing My Marbles

My last post was about my latest Birthday Club and the makes for that, so I thought I'd follow up with what we did in my Feature Class that afternoon.  I pick a different technique each month, and give everyone lots of opportunity to play with the techniques in different ways.  This time we got some gorgeous results with marbling.

Proper marbling takes a lot of time, resources and preparation.  Funnily enough I didn't have a large marbling bath just lying around, and I suspected not many of my ladies would either, so I decided to concentrate on marbling "cheats".  No temperature control, no thickening of water, no coating paper and then having to wash it off afterwards - bonus!

We tried three techniques: two types of float marbling, one using oil-based inks, and one using nail polish (we had, ahem, mixed results with that one - I suspect the warm weather perhaps didn't help).  The pictured results, though, were all achieved by using shaving foam as a matrix for the ink and in this case water-based inks, such as the ones in our Stampin'Up! re-inkers are the best inks for the job.

The card above was a "first print", ie, taken from fresh ink on a fresh bed of shaving foam.  The one below was a "third print", taken from the same foam, but once the colours had been swirled in a bit more, giving a much more subtle effect. 

I love that the same materials can produce such different results, and of course, having the inks co-ordinate with the rest of my materials made making these up into birthday cards super-simple!

Happy Crafting!

Just A Card

I don't think I need to say much here, because the picture explains it really well, but I am one of those small businesses that has been there and done that.  I have attended craft fayres where I haven't covered the cost of the stall: I've even done a few where I haven't sold anything.  I've discussed this with fellow small business owners at these events and the consensus seems to be that many people come to look, and then buy a cheap (and, I suspect, often poorly made) alternative online later.

Of course not everyone does that, so I'm going to take the opportunity to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who has bought a product, attended a class, hosted a party or just been there for friendship and support for me over the last three and a bit years.  I love you all, and I promise I don't take a single one of you for granted.

Meant to Be

When my ladies requested making this fold in one of my Birthday Club classes I had a bit of a panic.  It's simple to do, but the measurements can be a bit fiddly, and there is the potential to stamp things in the wrong place, leading to frustration when there wouldn't really be time to start again...

But then I realised that this fold is PERFECT for the stamp set I had chosen for the class.  Vertical Greetings is a set I use all the time, have had for a couple of years, and yet is often overlooked.  It is the ONLY stamp set Stampin'Up! produce that has vertical greetings, which are so useful for pennants and cards which have vertical layers.  They are really useful as well when you don't want the greeting to take centre-stage on a card.

So thank you to my ladies - you came up with the perfect combination for me to use!

Mix & Match

One of my favourite ways to play with new stamps and other goodies is to do so in conjunction with retired DSP.  This serves two purposes: first, I use up old DSP, and second, I don't inadvertently mess up and waste current DSP in the experimentation stage!

The Painted Glass suite is gorgeous, and I love the versatility of it, as well as how well it fits in with various other elements and designs.  I have to admit, at first glance I wouldn't have thought it would mix so well, but I'm pleasantly surprised, and can't seem to put it down now!

Happy Crafting!

Serendipitous Sympathy

Isn't it lovely when, in the course of experimentation, you stumble across something that serves a purpose right away?  I heard that my friend's mum had died literally hours after finishing this card, so it seemed appropriate to send it off.  Meant to be.

Oh, the Romance!

I do love a good wedding!  Unfortunately there have been a couple this year that I have been unable to get to, but I hope people know I'm thinking of them and sending all my love and good wishes along with a special card and a little gift.  Did you know that credit-card-sized gift cards fit perfectly in the silver gable boxes?  Well, you do now!

I loved hand-colouring the backgrounds here.  The flower spray is from Touches of Texture, and I coloured using a blender pen and Fresh Fig and Soft Sea Foam inks.  There are a couple of retired embellishments on there, but waste not, want not, eh?  I'm pleased with how this turned out: summery AND romantic - big tick 😀

Happy Crafting!