Buy it - Try it: 12 Years

It seems right to start my first blog post of the year with something I got for Christmas..... actually a little after the festivities, because I was waiting for the SU Sale-a-Bration to start on the 4th of January.  DH got me the Large Letters and Large Numbers stamps, along with the matching dies.  These are something of a considered purchase, the price tag for the lot is quite hefty.  But by waiting, I got four free SAB sets, plus making up the order to £200 meant 10% plus £20 in reward points, so I ended up being able to buy another stamp /die bundle.  Also, the SAB card tin, some A4 cardstock and a couple of pens, not shown below.

I decided to christen the letter dies, as I had a layout just needing a short title - needed to be short because the letters are large!

 

The two photos are - surprise! - twelve years apart.  DS1 on the right, DS2 on the left in both photos - the height differential has changed quite a bit! 
The main papers are from Maja Design and Studio Light, the strip is from Kaisercraft and the manufacturer strip is from Studio Light.
The smaller letters are die-cut using Memory Box Alphabet Soup.  I cut the large letters out of embossed cardstock, which flattened it a bit ..... if I had just thought it through, I could have cut the letters and then run them through the embossing folder :-)  Next time ... LOL.

Buy it - Try it: SU Moroccan nights stamp set

Something a little more current than the last post - in fact I think this might be either a first, or part of a very exclusive club LOL.  I have actually tried out a new stamp within ten minutes of its arrival!!!!
The stamp set in question is the Moroccan Nights from the latest Stampin Up catalogue.  I did hesitate over buying it, as I am not sure what I am going to do with the lantern images, but the medallion just called to me :-)
I knew I wanted to try it with gilding flakes when I first set eyes on it, so that's what I tried first.  I got an Indigo Blu starter kit some time ago, have used it a couple of times, and it's high up on my "I really must use that more often" list.  So here are Autumn Blaze, Morris Dance (both from IB starter kit) and Mulled Wine flakes from Cosmic Shimmer.  I did have a go with Chocolate Box (IB), but I stamped too enthusiastically and there was too much glue to give a good result, or even one worth photographing LOL.  I'm also including a picture of some essential pieces of kit for using gilding flakes .... First, anti static tumble dryer sheets as the stuff floats everywhere and clings everywhere it lands!  Second, a mini dustpan and brush for clearing it all up.  I got mine from the Glitter Pot, but there are a few different brands around.  Also really good for clearing embossing powder off your desk LOL.

Next up was to use embossing powder.  I had also ordered some SU embossing powders, as I wanted to try the new copper and someone had recommended either the silver or the gold, since I couldn't remember I ordered them both!  The silver didn't photograph at all well, I'll try to get a decent pic another time, but it does look fine.  The gold and copper, and indeed the silver, seem to have a matte metallic effect, although they shine, it's in a subdued kind of way :-).  They do look nice and there wasn't any shadowy residue which some brands leave behind.  The last colour to try it with was an old one - Verdigris by Stampendous.  It's a variegated powder and I wasn't sure how it would hold up to such fine detail, but it looks fantastic and is my favourite of all the embossed ones.

So I have had an experimental kind of day, it's been fun :-)

Baby Bee cards

I have made a few bee-themed cards for my colleague to give to her daughter over the last couple of years ..... now it's time for the New Baby card! 
First I made a generic mint coloured card, which she liked, but decided that she wanted to wait until she knew whether a pink or a blue card would be needed.  So I have made one of each and they are ready and waiting......
This is the mint colourway, it does look more aqua in the photo, but it is mint really LOL:

Here are the pink and blue.  I changed the design slightly and put the colour into the base mat and oval mat, instead of the background as previously.

Both the bee stamp and the sentiment are from Stampin' Up, though I did remove the 'baby bumblebee' wording, which I'm not keen on.  I used the word window punch for the sentiment. The backgrounds are embossed with a honeycomb folder and the scalloped lace mat is done with a Dienamics die.
Really pleased with these, the oval on the embossed background could be used for all sorts of other cards too.

Pin-spiration - mosaic madness cards

I decided that I really should start creating from my Pinterest board, rather than just adding to it ..... :-)  So last craft weekend, I asked Sy to pick three items from my card-making inspiration board for me to try out to see what I could come up with.

She chose these two Pins here and here based on the Stampin' Up Mosaic Madness set, sadly the stamps themselves are now discontinued but the punch and embossing folder are still available.  She did choose a third, but I didn't get around to that one LOL.

I stamped a selection of the designs, punched them out and placed on mats embossed with the Mosaic embossing folder.  The small green motif was stamped directly onto the mat and is not completely accurate as the image is not in the centre of the rubber, so I had to guess!  Next time I will stamp and use a small circle punch, then attach them.  I used the SU word window punch for the peel-off sentiment on the left hand card and the circle-punched sentiment on the right is from Lili of the Valley.  I invert-rounded the corners on one card, just for a bit of extra detail. 
They were quite fiddly to do, but the results are not too shabby!

Sheltering Tree birthday cards

I bought this Stampin' Up stamp set a few weeks ago and these cards are my first 'play' with it.

I prefer the lighter brown for the main body of the tree, I think.  The scalloped mats are made using Tonic Studio dies and the holey-edged mat (can't think of it's proper name!) is from Little B.  The sentiment stamp is from Stamping All Day.
There are some lovely examples of this stamp set online, done in autumn shades, I think I'll be trying those next :-)