Friday, July 26, 2013

Bloomin' marvellous

There are blooming flowers everywhere over at the Less is More blog and they are not just there for the weekly challenge - they are also there to celebrate Chrissie's birthday. 
 
Coincidentally, a have a dear friend named Chrissie who is also celebrating her birthday today, so Happy Birthday to both of you and I hope you are having blooming marvellous days.
 
Time was running out for me to join in this week but luckily I managed to find time to plant a few flowers of my own.
 
 
                                             Stamp:   SU Bloomin' Marvellous (retired)
Card:   SU Early Espresso; Blushing Bride; Sahara Sand; Cherry Cobbler
Other:  Big shot; honeycomb embossing folder; lace punch.
 
Cheers
Mary
 

Scrapbook Boutique Tilda

I love the beautiful cupcake images that Evelyn uses as inspiration for Scrapbook Boutique's monthly challenges.  This month's colours are quite stunning together so decided to have a go.

The card ended up larger than I originally intended but even so I have just realised that I didn't leave enough room for a greeting.

 
Stamp:    Magnolia Tilda
Card:   SU chocolate chip and pool party
Other:    Big shot; honeycomb embossing folder, pool party seam binding, pearls
 
I don't get around to using Tilda as often as I should.  Hope you like her in aqua.
 
Mary

Happy flutterby

What a challenge this week at Dynamic Duos!  Calypso Coral and Black!  The colours certainly are stunning together and the team made it look easy- ha ha - guess that's why they are on the team.

I did have something in mind when I started, but the end result is nothing like the original vision - funny about that!
 


Stamps:    SU Papillon Potpourri and Oh Happy Day(retired SAB)
Card:   SU Whisper White; Glossy White; Calypso Coral; Black
Other:    Big shot; fancy fan embossing folder;  scallop trim border punch

I was told that it is better to use a black background when photographing cards with white on them and I guess the two shots above prove that. 

Thanks for fluttering by,
Mary

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Skating birthday

Seize the Birthday are hosting their own birthday party and not only does it last all month, it's also "anything goes"!   So woo hoo, here goes.

The current craze seems to be roller skating as I was asked for two cards for skating parties a week apart.

 
Ingredients used are mostly SU - the DSP has been retired for a long time now.  I really have to stop hoarding designer papers and start using them more often.
 
Just a fun card with lots of glitter for a little girl.
 
Mary

A little bird

Over at Just Add Ink the challenge this week is to use three of the lovely new Stampin' Up In Colors - Baked Brown Sugar, Very Vanilla and Coastal Cabana on a card.  As I haven't ordered any of these colours as yet, I have used Crumb Cake and Pool Party.
 
I was taken with the simplicity of the card Jo Eades made and decided to go for a clean and simple card for a change.  Now that I look at my card I realise that it has turned out to be pretty much a case of Jo's sample, although that was not my intention as all of the ingredients are completely different. 



All SU supplies used on this one except for the little sentiment.
 
Cheers
Mary

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Special Blend

The team at Less is More are looking for a shaped card this week - not square or rectangle!! 
 
Now I know why they call them challenges!!  A shaped card! hmmm ... I do have one set of framelits but as someone had already used that set I had to really put my thinking cap on. 
 
I decided to make a champagne bottle, totally forgetting about the one layer part of the deal, so to overcome that I decided to print my "greeting" direct to the cardstock.  I then stamped the square for the label and the little vine and then masked those sections off before sponging the pink champagne.  I used a SU gold marked to simulate the gold foil and the silver marker to make the wire lines.


 
The ingredients were mostly SU: Whisper White card;
Forever with you stamp set;
Pink Pirouette ink;
Raspberry Ripple and Gold and Silver markers.
The square stamp is an unknown one that I have had for years
and never previously used.
 
I do hope that the computer generated "greeting" has not breached any of the rules of the challenge.
I did have fun with this one.
 
Mary

Monday, July 8, 2013

A Little Less Grey

I love the beautiful clean lines of cards that fall into the category of "less is more", and have been trying to create some of them recently.  I start out ok but am never happy with them and so they end up in the pile of UFO's (unfinished objects). 

I have been stalking  enjoying Jen Nelson's cards for some time, and decided to try the challenge at "Less is More" where the theme is Shades of Grey.  Probably not such a good one for me to start with, but at least it took me less time to think about colours.
 
 
 
Supplies:
Stamp:  Party Animals by Annabelle Stamps
Card:   SU Whisper White
Designer paper:  SU  Howlstooth and Scaringbone
Ink:   Memento Tuxedo Black; Copics C3 and C5
Tools:   Big shot; Framelits Labels
 
Yes, it definitely is Whisper White cardstock.  Photography is clearly not a skill I have mastered, but today I had more trouble than usual. 
 
I am looking forward to seeing all the other cards and hopefully I will pick up some pointers. 
 
Thanks for the challenge Chrissie.
Mary

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Oh Hello Cover

Oh Wow, was my first thought when I saw the challenge over at Just Add Ink this week.  I think I may have taken it a bit too seriously, but it was a lot of fun to make.  It is certainly only a challenge card as I can't think of any occasion I could use it for.  If I was anything other than a hobby demonstrator it could be used for display purposes, but that's about it.

 
All supplies are SU:
Stamps:  Oh Hello; Just Perfect Alphabet
Ink:  Daffodil Delight; Primrose Petals
Card:  Whisper White; Daffodil Yellow
Tools:  Big shot; Petite curly label punch; Tulip embossing folder
 
The Tulip embossing folder hasn't seen the light of day too often but I thought it was perfect for the frame.
 
Hope you like my take on the new catalogue cover.
Mary
 
Edited to add:
 

Really Pink

I'm entering this very pink card into the sketch challenge at Seize the Birthday.  Like Topsy, it just grew, and it got rosier as I added layers.

 
All supplies are SU:
Stamps:  Secret Garden; Itty Bitty Banners
Ink:  Melon Mambo
Cardstock: Whisper white; Melon Mambo
Tools:  Big shot; Fancy fan embossing folder; Bitty Banners Framelits
 
Hope this finds everyone "in the pink"!
Mary

Friday, July 5, 2013

A Sunny Bird

Doing a last minute dash for two challenges.  I knew I didn't have time to complete two cards, but I think I have managed to combine the two challenges in this card.

The Paper Players have a Tic Tac Toe challenge which is closing today and I chose the top line of birds, blue and birthdays and teamed it with the sketch at Sunny Challenges and Creations asking us to use retiring products.  Apart from the card stock, all the ingredients have now officially retired.


Stamps:   SU Nature Walk; French Foliage; SU Music wheel; Itty Bitty Banners
Ink:   SU Marina Mist and Soft Suede
Designer Paper:   SU First Edition
Tools:   Big shot; Bitty Banner Framelits

Nature Walk is a really lovely set of stamps but it has been sadly neglected by me, so I am very happy to finally get around to using it.
 
Thanks for popping in,
Mary

Edited to add:


thank you, I am delighted to be a ray of sunshine, but I won't get too big a head as there were not many entries this week.