beach party!!

as promised, here are the pictures from a recent party. it was a joint celebration for my parents silver wedding anniversary and my sisters 21st!!

 

for mum & dad's (fruit) cakes I flat iced it, first in marzipan, then sugar paste. I added two colours of ribbon to the base of each tier. I then piped on the coral. I added flower paste shells, I made by pressing the paste into a chocolate mould, (bought at the cake decorating store.)

 

 for abbie's cake I made a topper with little beach huts. it was all made edible with sugar paste and brown sugar as sand.

 

pinwheels were bought from pipii.co.uk

ice-cream  cupcakes (which my dad loves... he thinks cupcake cases should be banned and only cones allowed!!) traditionally you would add a chocolate flake, but those are a little messy, so I think the chocolate wafer(from Tesco) was the perfect finishing touch for these.

 

these beach cupcakes use some brown sugar as sand a sugar paste towel and a paper drinks umbrella I got from asda

 

hope you like all the beach themed sweet ideas if you want any more details just leave a comment and ill help as much as I can...

 

Mx

skip to it !!

 

stamps: papermania mix 'n' match borders, petite pairs by stampin up! and skipping from LOTV

inks: tuxedo black memento ink pad, sekura glitter pen and promarker pens 

punches: large oval, scallop oval and scallop trim border from stampin up!

 



I kept this one simple, with the cute LOTV image as a focal point. the embellishments are kept to a minimum, with the accent of pink on the side trim and message, then using the stitching to define the edges of the central panel. overall I think this makes for a more grown up feel

 



'pretty in pink'

 

Mx

bloggerversary !!

 

I made this tag to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of my blog ! this is just a quick one tho as im busy at the moment with family celebrations!!





inks: archival ink pads in magenta hue, aquamarine, venetian orange and jet black and a sekura glitter gel pen.

stamps: raining flowers and wacky wishes by stampin up!

punches and dies: adorning accent edgelits, typeset alphabet bigz, bitty butterfly and elegant butterfly by stampin up!.

Mx



Christmas in july !!

 

 for those of you who like to be prepared.. here's an idea that gives you 5 months to get making !!

 

 

stamps: polar party from stampin up!

inks: memento(tuxedo black), archival ink(jet black), distress ink pads from tim holtz (festive berries & crushed olive), promarkers and copic spica glitter pens (http://theglitterpot.co.uk/products/Copic_Spica_Glitter_12_Pen_Set_B/21255/1040). 

card: digi cardstock from craftwork cards, 4 x 4" card blanks from craft uk limited

other: scallop circle and circle dies from sizzix and the big shot machine. 

 



 

start by making the toppers, I did this in stages to make multiple cards. stamp the trees with memento then die cut using the appropriate size circle. find a scalloped circle to layer under and cut as needed. I coloured mine with the promarkers to match the image, but you could obviously use coloured card instead. colour the images next, if you are making several card use the same colour on each image before moving on the next one ( do every bauble, then every trunk, every star etc) . accent  the tree decorations and snow using the glitter pens for that special festive sparkle. glue the layers of the topper together with

double sided tape.

 stamp a background onto your card blank in archival ink to decorate. I picked the little stocking from this set, and coloured them in a variety of ways to coordinate. I chose to watercolour, by picking up the pigment from the distress ink pads (don't do this directly, instead you need to squish some of the colour onto a brown craft matt, acetate or clear stamping block) using a wet brush, for a softer look. if you don't fancy doing this, you would need to stamp onto cardstock and colour with promarkers, then layer the piece onto the card blank. as you can see I have left the centre blank (nobody can see the bit under your topper, so you might as well save time and resources!!) all that's left to do then is stick down your topper and add a sentiment inside if you like

 

if I haven't explained anything well enough, feel free to ask ... there's plenty of time before Christmas !!

Mx

flutterbys

stamps: blooming with kindness, papillon potpourri, mixed bunch from stampin up!
inks: worn lipstick and black soot distress inks by tim holtz and tuxedo black memento
other: scallop trim border punch and elegant butterfly punches from stampin up!, adhesive stones and digi card stock from craftwork cards

 

I coloured the base card with pink, then cut the border from black card. I layered them with a white matt, decorated with the flowers. I stamped the message in the bottom corner. the black butterfly was laid flat to act as a drop shadow for the dimensional patterned butterfly layered on top. the stones were added as a finishing embellishment.

 



 stamps: blooming with kindness and papillon potpourri from stampin up!
inks: tumbled glass, faded jeans and mustard seed distress inks by tim holtz
other: elegant butterfly punch from stampin up!, adhesive stones and digi card stock from craftwork cards

similar to above, i inked the base card and then layered a further colour in digi cardstock on top. a white layer was added and stamped onto with the flower and message. i then stamped the patterned butterflies in coordinating colours and cut them out with the punch. these were then positioned and glued in the centre to allow the wings to stand free of the card. rows of stones were added for detail and sparkle.

 

Mx

bottoms up !!

got dad a bottle of booze for fathers day and thought it would be nice to wrap it up and decorate it with a bottle hanger. used stamps from lili of the valley, the bear was perfect holding his glass and the new bottoms up just finished it a treat !!

 

 

stamps: set 43 statement stamps, set 26 simply sophisticated and cheers bear from LOTV

 

tools: promarkers and cobalt archival ink pad, tuxedo black memento ink pad, xcut corner rounder, sizzix big shot machine with circle die

 

other: blue card, digi cardstock from craftwork cards, bakers twine and blue tissue



june 'use a sentiment' challenge !!

wood and wisdom !!

 

so I was having a play around with my owl punch and thought I would do a couple of card designs using similar products and the same colour scheme to show how versatile the products can be. I went for neutral green and browns here as I think it works with the imagery and goes for either gender, (especially good for couples) but it would also work in other colours.

 

 

stamps: petite pairs, beyond plaid from stampin up!,wallpaper and wood from stampers anonymous tim holtz collection.

punches: scallop trim border, owl builder, large oval, scallop oval all from stampin up!

inks: brushed corduroy & peeled paint tim holtz distress ink pads, memento in rich cocoa.

other: big shot and sizzix circle and scallop circle dies

 

this is a 4x6 inch kraft card. I cut the aperture through the front of the card to reveal the owl inside, as I thought this would make a cute feature. I have added detail to the design with three little hearts from the owl builder punch. I cut all the pieces from digi cardstock, that I coloured and then stamped with the beyond plaid stamp set to make my own patterned paper.

 

inside

 

stamps: language of friendship

inks: tim holtz distress markers in brushed corduroy & peeled paint and ink pad in the brushed corduroy

 

I made this insert as I think it decorates the inside of the card nicely. its cute to see the owl peeping through the card, but I popped him on a branch so he wasn't just floating inside. I think it works well as there is still just enough room to write a message!!

 

 

stamps: made for you, French foliage, beyond plaid from stampin up!

punches: scallop trim border,owl builder from stampin up!

inks: brushed corduroy & peeled paint tim holtz distress ink pads, memento in rich cocoa.

other: big shot and sizzix circle and scallop circle dies, woodgrain embossing folder from stampin up! and some ribbon and twill.

 

this is a variation on the design, this time on a 6x6 card. the little water marks are stamped to create a subtle background. I embossed the wood, instead of stamping, to add texture. I then layered the owl on sizzix circles as a topper for the card. the border punches in green define the edges of the centre piece, with the ribbon and twill as a finishing touch. this one is a thankyou card, but of course you could change the sentiment depending on the occasion.

 

hope you found the ideas of how to vary a design useful (or just like the cards)

please let me know what you think to the new recipe inspired layout ... thought I would try something new.

comments welcome !!

Mx