Monday, 26 June 2023

Earthen Elegance for International Highlights Winner's Hop

Hello and welcome to my blog. Earlier in the month, I participated in Kylie Bertucci's International Blog Highlights and after the voting had closed I was delighted to find myself in the Top Ten!

Thank you so much to everyone who visited the gallery and voted for my card. If you missed it, you can read all about it here. I am absolutely thrilled to be eligible to take part in this winner's hop.

For my card for today I have chosen make the same fun-fold card, but I have used a different suite of products to create a card that looks different.

I selected the Earthen Elegance Suite to make my card with. It really is elegant! I took a Gray Granite card base and topped it with layers of Misty Moonlight and Earthen Elegance DSP. The centre panel has an embossed Exposed Brick layer, around which I tied some Gray Granite Baker's Twine.

There are many possibilities with the stamp and die bundle, and I have a small pile of stamped and die cut pots together with some pots cut from the DSP. Mixing and matching them together is so much fun. I selected an ombre piece of DSP for the centre front panel which is pretty, and grounds the pot so that it isn't floating. I combined die cut pot and handle elements to make a slightly taller pot which I popped up on dimensionals over some Pretty Peacock stamped foliage. I added two more die cut pieces of foliage and a simple sentiment to finish off the front.

The reverse of the centre panel provides the space for you to write a personal message.

I work with metric measurements usually, and my template for this fun-fold is shown below.

For those of you who work with Imperial measurements the Imperial version starts with a base card measuring 9 3/4" x 5 1/2", scored at 4 1/4" and 7 1/2". The cuts are at 4 1/2" and 3 1/2" - the middle panel is 1" shorter than the back, and the front panel is 2" shorter than the back. Then you add matting layers and DSP. I hope that you have been inspired by my card and that you'll have a go at making one yourself.

Click on the names below to hop around and see the other fabulous projects. Enjoy! I hope you have been inspired today - please leave a comment let me know what you think, and if you live in the UK you can purchase these products below.

Blog hop list:

If you want to purchase the items used for these cards, or any other supplies, please take a look in my online Stampin' Up! shop. You can follow the link or click on the pictures below of the products I have used today.

Stay safe and as always, happy crafting,

If you would like to order any supplies, and you live in the UK, I would love to be your demonstrator. Use the current hostess code (June 2023 code: MCFQKKCZ) to get some free product (it will follow in the post after the end of the month). If your order is over £150 do not use the code as you become the hostess and get the rewards. To place an order please visit my online shop HERE.

If you would like to join my team, you can choose your starter kit HERE and if you have any questions, please contact me at furrycatdesigns@gmail.com

All Star Tutorial Bundles

All Star Tutorial Bundles have 12 AMAZING video tutorials to inspire you each month.

Click HERE for sneak peeks or to purchase.

FREE with a purchase from my online store

There are TWO fantastic promotions from Stampin’ Up! in June.

Starter Kit+

It’s a fabulous time to join Stampin’ Up! Buying a Starter Kit is always a great offer, but this month the deal is even sweeter. This month there is even more FREE product in the customisable Starter Kit. By joining and purchasing a Starter Kit between 1–30 June, you can get ~~£130~~ £154 worth of products for only £99 + free business supplies + free shipping + all the fun being a part of Stampin’ Up!

Designer Series Paper Sale

I love beautiful Designer Series Paper, and in June, there is a 15% discount on select Designer Series Papers from our new 2023–2024 Annual Catalogue and Online Exclusives. Whether you’re a scrapbooker, a card maker or simply a paper lover, this is a great time to stock up and save on gorgeous paper in preparation for your next projects!

Today's Project

Click on the images of the products I have used today to purchase them in my online shop:

Rembember to use the current hostess code.

June 2023 code: MCFQKKCZ

Saturday, 10 June 2023

Stamping Inkspirations Blog Hop - A Tic -Tac -Toe Challenge

Hello and welcome to my blog! Today I am taking part in a blog hop with some fellow enthusiasts who love sharing their creative talents using their Stampin' Up!® products. This month the Stamping Inkspirations blog hop is a Tic-Tic-Tac challenge.

The idea for a Tic-Tac-Toe challenge is to select one line; horizontal, vertical or diagonal to serve as a starting point for a card. The grid of prompts for us this month are as follows:

I had lots of ideas for a card, however the elements didn't fall on one of the lines in the grid! Once I'd decided on the bottom row; red, circle and twine the job became easier. Red is a colour that I don't use a lot of, but I was not deterred. I took out a single sheet of Poppy Parade DSP from the Brights paper pack and created my card around that.

Initially, I was thinking that I would utilise some of the word dies and make them the focus of the card, but what I made didn't quite fit with the picture I'd created in my head. I pressed my creative pause button and had a think...out came the Zoo Crew DSP and this is what I came up with.

The Zoo Crew images are adorably cute and these ones were cut out with a 2" circle punch. I think that they'd look good fussy cut too so that they could sit on a different background. I have used the Radiating Stitches dies to create the background layers and some of the circle accents, the other circles are cut using the Stylish Shapes dies.

The little painting hedgehog cried out for the Love you elements that I had already die cut, and they were easy to adhere to the card because I'd remembered to apply some adhesive sheet to the Basic White before I did my die cutting. I tied a very large, loose bow with Baker's Twine from the 2022-2024 In Color pack. Fortunately, the Sweet Sorbet tones in well with Poppy Parade. To embellish the card I simply added some Wink of Stella Glitter to the heart.

The character on the red card makes me feel so calm! This card is constructed in exactly the same way as the first one but features the reverse, stripy side of the Poppy Parade DSP. The stripes are so dramatic. I have used White Baker's Twine, white Classic Matt Dots and die cut stars (from the Wanted to Say set) to embellish this version.

Making these cards was a creative process with quite a bit of trial and error, but I got there in the end and I am happy with the way they turned out. However, when I look at them I think that they should have created way less mess on my desk that they did!

I hope that you are inspired by my cards today and that you will continue along the hop to see what the others have created too. Enjoy the projects. We would love to hear from you and so if you have been inspired, please leave a comment.

Angie McKenzie ● Aurélie Fabre ● Karen Henderson

Jan Musselman ● Mo Rootes ● Tricia Butts

Teri West ● Annette Ball ● Linda A. Moore

Leonie Stuart ● Ann Krucek ● Judith Patterson

Do you need any of the products used on today's cards? If you live in the UK you can click on the shopping links below to add them to your collection today.

Thank you for joining us today! Looking forward to seeing you next time.

Stay safe and as always, happy crafting,

If you would like to join my team, you can choose your starter kit HERE and if you have any questions, please contact me at furrycatdesigns@gmail.com

All Star Tutorial Bundles

All Star Tutorial Bundles have 12 AMAZING video tutorials to inspire you each month.

Click HERE for sneak peeks or to purchase.

FREE with a purchase from my online store

There are TWO fantastic promotions from Stampin’ Up! in June.

Starter Kit+

Designer Series Paper Sale

Today's Project

Click on the images of the products I have used today to purchase them in my online shop:

Rembember to use the current hostess code.

May 2023 code: MCFQKKCZ

Wednesday, 7 June 2023

All Star Design Team Blog Hop - Fresh as a Daisy Suite

Hello and welcome to our All Star Design Team Video Class Bundle Blog Hop for June 2023. This month the All Star Design Team are using the Fresh as a Daisy Suite. The projects featured in the Video Class Bundle are exclusive and the tutorials come complete with photos, video directions and a supply list that includes both Metric and Imperial measurements.

Here is a sneak peek of the Fresh as a Daisy Suite bundle of tutorials.

To enjoy the tutorials you have several options:

shop with me - if you order from my online store you will receive that month's bundle for free
purchase - buy the bundle for £11.50
Join my Team - team members will receive the tutorials for free

In this six month block of tutorials we will be using current Stampin' Up! Suites to create a Video Class Bundle, each containing 12 exclusive video classes. We will be using products from both the January-April Mini Catalogue and the new 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue:

January 2023 - Fancy Flora Suite
February 2023 - Country Floral Lane Suite
March 2023 - By the Bay Suite
April 2023 - Regency Park Suite
May 2023 - Countryside Inn Suite
June 2023 - Fresh as a Daisy Suite

For the blog hop at the start of the month, each of us will create another project using the featured suite of products to give you even more inspiration. Here is my Fresh as a Suite project that I've created for this hop.

This folder was designed to hold cards and envelopes so that they could be gifted as unique present. The base is Thick Basic White card and it's decorated with Designer Series Paper from the suite layered on to coordinating Azure Afternoon card. Not only do the layers look pretty, but the folder is sturdy too.

I have taken the hotch potch sheet of paper for the basis for the cards. Chopping this paper into the designated sections enables you to make several different cards with the DSP as the star of the show and by using coordinating colours for the layers it was easy to pull together a batch of simple, yet striking, cards. The only extras I added were some twine and gems.

The first card combines Azure Afternoon and Copper Clay.

The next card combines Pretty Peacock and Wild Wheat topped with a collection of white die cut daisies.

For the third card I've used Early Espresso for the layering and trimmed the die cut label for a different look.

I hope you like my project - let me know what you think in the comments below. If you want to be inspired with more ideas using this suite you can purchase the Video Class Bundle (along with previous tutorials) HERE.

Thank you so much for visiting today. Click on the names below to hop around and see all the other amazing projects. Enjoy! If you live in the UK you can purchase these products below.

Blog Hop List:

Stay safe and as always happy crafting,