Monday 27 November 2023

Softly Said Thank You for the International Blog 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 and therefore able to participate in this blog hop!

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 to use one of my brand new stamp sets - it is called Softly Said and it is one of the Online Exclusive sets, which does not appear in any of the catalogues and can only be found online! Softly Said is a collection of hand-lettered sentiments which have a watercoloured effect. They are perfect as the focal point on a card, which is exactly what I had in mind.


I stamped Thank you on Basic White card using Pretty Peacock ink and surrounded it with some mini, blossom style flowers from the Modern Garden stamp set. These were stamped off first to create a lighter more subtle shade. To this, I added layers of Pretty Peackock and an embossed layer of Basic white before adding them to the easel portion of a faux stepper card. The background of the card is decorated with one of the floral pieces of DSP from the Garden Walk paper pack. So pretty!

Finally, I added a trio of Bloomimg Pearls. They have such a beautiful lustre (and there is a great selection of colours too). The faux stepper card base looks complicated to make, but luckily it isn't! It is a very adaptable design that is becoming one of my go to card styles. It looks like this from the side:


It's easy to add an extra layer on the reverse of the card to hide the join and to write a message on.
And it squishes down to fit in an envelope!


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 this card, 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.
Remember to use the current hostess code (November 2023 code: CFMZYVJM) 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. This month we are featuring the All About Autumn Suite from the September to December Mini Catalogue.



Click HERE to purchase.

FREE with a purchase from my online store.
 
 
 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.  

November 2023 code: CFMZYVJM

Saturday 18 November 2023

Stamping Inkspirations Blog Hop - Colour 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 colour challenge.


The colour combination we have for inspiration includes Crushed Curry, Early Espresso, Granny Apple Green, Crumb Cake and Azure Afternoon.


Aren't those sunflowers just glorious? My set of Abundant Beauty masks were still sitting in their packaging - never been used, until now. This challenge was the perfect excuse to unwrap them and to play. 

I collected together ink, Blending Brushes and some Very Vanilla card, which I decided to use for its warm tone. I cut some card front sized layers of Very Vanilla and began blending the flowers and leaves. No two flowers look the same - just like in nature - with varying tones created depending on how much ink is on the brush and how long you swirl over the image. Ink collects on the mask so it can be picked up from there before it's necessary to reink the brush from the pad.

I created several sunflower trios following the layout of the mask and added texture to them using the Time Worn Type embossing folder. Then I moved on to making extra, individual flowers and leaves. I enjoyed fussy cutting them out whilst I was listening to a story on Audible! I added texture to these individual elements by curling them betweem my thumb and bone folder before adding them to the Vanilla layer using a mixture of glue dots or dimensionals to vary the height of the flowers. I think this one turned out to be my favourite!


A loose Linen Thread bow is nestled between the flowers under the sentiment from the Artistically Inked set. It is simply stamped on Vanilla card and mounted on a strip of Early Espresso. A trio of Rustic Metallic dots finishes off the card.


Before I cleaned everything away I decided to make a couple of flat cards. Using a very light touch, and without reinking the blending brush, I created a subtle sunflower background on Vanilla card. Then, I stencilled the trio of flowers over the top using more ink and swirling the ink a little more heavily. One version includes leaves, but the second one only has flowers so that I was able to utilise Azure Afternoon.

Here they are all together!


This challenge was perfectly timed to make a batch of Birthday cards as I have need of several to celebrate birthdays next week! Now, all I have to do is write them out and pop them in the post. 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  ●  Leonie Stuart

Tricia Butts   ●   Mo Rootes

AurĂ©lie Fabre  ●  Danielle Kassing

Karen Henderson  ●  Teri West

Judith Patterson    Jan Musselman

Do you need any of the products used on today's cards? If you live in the UK please take a look in my online Stampin' Up! shop or click on the pictures below of the products I have used today to add them to your collection.

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 order any supplies, and you live in the UK, I would love to be your demonstrator. Remember to use the current hostess code (November 2023 code: CFMZYVJM) 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. This month we are featuring the All About Autumn Suite from the September to December Mini Catalogue.



Click HERE to purchase.

FREE with a purchase from my online store.
 
 
 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.  

November 2023 code: CFMZYVJM

Monday 13 November 2023

Sentimental Park - Thanks


Hello! I am participating in a blog hop organised by Kylie and Bruno Bertucci as part of their Demonstrator Training Program. I am delighted to welcome you here whether you are a regular visitor or if you have hopped in from another blog. The group has demonstrators from all over the world and the training is helping us to build a successful Stampin' Up!® business and to reach some goals that we have set.  


Throughout the hop we are sharing ideas and inspiration for Thank You and congratulations cards to send to our customers and team during November.  My card today was inspired by a sample I saw during Stampin' Up!'s OnStage@Home event over the weekend. It was a virtual event, but, nevertheless it was super exciting and inspiring.


I have used a similar layout to create my card today using pretty patterns from the Inked Botanicals DSP together with the Sentimantal Park stamps and dies. The stamp set includes sentiments that can be mixed and matched for a variety of occasions. I chose to pair thanks with for all the wonderful things you do, but it would also be possible to pair let's celebrate with you are amazing.

Using one of the label dies in the set I created an aperture in a layer of DSP that had been mounted on to a coordinating layer of card (I only used adhesive around the very edge of the paper so that the die cut pieces fell apart after they were cut). After attaching these layers to the card base I was able to die cut a second time to create the aperture through the card front.


I stamped the for all the wonderful things you do on the flip side of the DSP and then adhered it to the inside of the card using the aperture as a guide for placement. The outside sentiment was stamped and mounted to mimic the other layers on the card front and attached, using glue dots, so that the inside sentiment was obscured.


Any double sided DSP will lend itself to this approach, and the Inked Botanicals set is no exception. It contains so many other pretty patterns - simply pick a coordinating colour for the layers and stamping!

If you place an order with me during November you will receive one of these cards as a thank you for your purchase together with a video tutorial bundle, from the All Star Design Team featuring the 
All About Autumn Suite, as a gift.

Thank you so much for visiting today, I hope you have been inspired! As mentioned at the beginning, this is a blog hop so make sure you hop ar0und to see the other amazing projects on the hop! Click on the links below to visit them.

Blog Hop List:

If you want to purchase the items used for this card, 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.
Remember to use the current hostess code (November 2023 code: CFMZYVJM) 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. This month we are featuring the All About Autumn Suite from the September to December Mini Catalogue.



Click HERE to purchase.

FREE with a purchase from my online store.
 
 
 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.  

November 2023 code: CFMZYVJM