The Stampin' Grove

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Stampin' Up! Hearts O' Plenty continued.

Please scroll down for the first post on H is for Hearts O' Plenty.

As I said at the end of the last post, I forgot to include another card I made with the Hearts O' Plenty wheel. This one features the wheel more than the last one did.

Just a simple card using Kraft and Real Red card. I stamped the wheel on to a piece of Kraft card, and then punched it out with the Heart to Heart punch. It gives quite a nice effect. This was then layered on to Real Red card, scrumptious Striped Grosgrain ribbon added, and all mounted on to a Kraft card base. The circle stamp from the Love You Much set was punched out on Real Red and Kraft, and layered up. Very simple.

Back later :)

Stampin' Up! - H is for Hearts O' Plenty

Hello Stampers - happy Tuesday afternoon. Yes..its afternoon and I'm on the computer. I've already had a very busy day. In fact, it feels like it should be nightfall already !

I had to take baby granddaughter to nursery school after lunch, for the afternoon session. It was bitterly cold outside - and we walk to the nursery. It only takes about 15 minutes each way, but by the time I got back in I was shivering - inside and out. But look what was waiting for me. And it was hot ! Straight out of the breadmaker. I won't tell you how many slices I had, smothered in butter (not me...the bread).

Now...on to the reason for the blog - the craftiness! And we are off on the Stampin' Up! Alphabet Show again. Today...

H is for Hearts' O' Plenty.

I made this card a few days ago with this post in mind, and I thought I would do something different with it, and take photos as I went along. Just so I can show you my wayward thought process lol. You really don't want to be inside my head. Lots of photos to follow. This is NOT a tutorial  - -just random thoughts as I was making the card. I had no idea of the design when I started out.

I knew I wanted to use the Hearts O' Plenty wheel, but I had to have other little bits to go on the card. So I stamped out some hearts from the Love You Much set.

I rolled the Hearts O' Plenty wheel over some Real Red cardstock.

The little hearts from the Love You Much set have a matching punch that punches out all 3 at the same time. Cute. I punched out 3 different hearts (just using a little heart punch I have) - 2 in red and 1 in black, and heat embossed them with ultra thick embossing powder a couple of times. They turned out really sweet - just like little plastic hearts.

I decided to go with the embossed hearts - I felt they would make more of an impact. I still didn't know what I was going to end up with at this stage.

I got some pieces of card from my scrap box and started putting the jigsaw puzzle together. I found a little piece of white card that I had stamped previously in black - lots of leaves & berries, and decided to use it on the card. The little hearts looked quite sweet on top of it.

At last the design was coming together.

I started playing around with the sentiment. I made the scalloped oval above, but wasn't very happy with it.

I stuck the oval on with SU dimensionals - but I still wasn't happy with it...so off it came. The card definitely called for a more contemporary sentiment stamp.

And this is what I ended up with. I used a sentiment stamp from the One of a Kind stamp set. Don't you just love the brackets ?

Thanks for coming along with me and my mind as I made this card. I usually have a plan before I make a card - some kind of vision of how I want the completed card to look. But not with this one.

I'm off now to prepare the food for this evening. If I get a chance I'll be back later to show you what else I've been up to. Something fun !

Edited to add - Oops, I completely forgot to show you the other card I made using the Hearts O' Plenty wheel. I'll do it in the next post.

Stampin' Up! Sunday Ramblings

Happy Sunday Stampers. I hope everyone is having a great day. The Stampin' Up! Alphabet Show is having a break today - the ringmaster has gone AWOL lol ! But she will be back tomorrow with the letter H.

I just wanted to show you one of the cards I made yesterday afternoon. I had a great time, and got really messy with inks, as I said I would. But those cards are for the Alphabet show and have to come later.

It's really cold here today - not nice at all. The temp is not much above freezing. I even turned the heating up a bit. Thank goodness we have the central heating. I can remember, as a child, having to huddle around the fireplace to get warm. Our bedrooms were freezing. We take so much for granted these days.

Now, on to today's card. I used a Hostess set to make this card, but unfortunately it's a retired set. Such a pity - it's a lovely set of stamps. It's called Organic Grace. You may be able to pick one up on ebay if you're lucky. So why am I showing you a stamp set that's retired ? Well...I made the card, so you get to see it !

The base card is Whisper White, and I used the huge Polka Dot background stamp on another piece of WW card for one of the layers. I stamped the leaves and the sentiment on WW card, stamped & coloured the flowers, cut them out and shaped them a bit before sticking them on with silicone glue.

I used the Eyelet Border punch, and my white gel pen went crazy making dots everywhere. I really need to hide that pen away - it has a life of it's own. 

I am going to have a little browse on the Internet now. I have blogs to visit and comment on. I'm so behind in my browsing hehe. Then I will play with my stamps while I have the chance. (Stamping is an addiction, isn't it ? ) Monday will be here soon enough and then my life gets back to it's crazy pace.

The children all left straight after lunch. My daughter's car has a flat battery, so my son has gone with her to collect it and charge it for her. Nothing worse than car trouble, is there ? I hope they get it sorted out. He thinks her battery is dead, and I know she can't afford a new one *sigh*.

Have a great Sunday. Hope you get some crafting done. Go on...get off the computer and get your stamps out. You know you should !  

Stampin' Up! - G is for Garden Whimsy

Happy Saturday everyone. It IS a happy Saturday for me - it's all mine. Any day that is ALL mine is a very happy day. It's cold and damp outside - and I'm not going anywhere. I'm not expecting anyone to call round; I'm hoping the phone doesn't ring; hubby is happy watching sport on the TV; I've done all my chores and now I am going to play with my stamps. Carpe Diem - Seizee the Day stampers.

In the Stampin' Up! Alphabet Show...

G is for Garden Whimsy.

Garden Whimsy is such a pretty set of stamps. It IS whimsical. It makes me think of fairy gardens - butterflies and swayingflowers. I have a notelet set planned using this set - but I want to make it in spring colours - lots of yellow and soft green. It will be a thank you gift for a friend - I might make it this afternoon (after all, this day is mine !)

This is a very simple card. I had to use my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to line the stamps up. It works every time. In fact, it's right here next to me on my workspace. I use it every day.

I stamped Butterflies in clear versamark on the Tempting Turquoise card.

Thanks for looking. The next letter of the alphabet is H - hmmmmm. I am very limited in the stamp sets I have starting with H. Have to see what I can do. I'm in the mood for embossing - and inks ! I'm off to make a mess. Have a great Saturday.

 

Stampin' Up! - F is for Funky Forrest

Happy Wednesday! It's halfway through the week, and we are up to the letter F in our Stampin' Up! Alphabet Show.

F is for Funky Forrest

Today I decided to use one of the Stampin' Up! wheels - Funky Forrest. The little row of trees is so cute. It makes a lovely border on a card or scrapbook page, but can also be used as the main feature. There is a stamp set that matches the Funky Forrest wheel - Trendy trees. So cute. 

I stamped out 3 trees from the Trendy trees set and cut them out. The little hedgehog comes from the Fun and Fast Notes set (that's an F too). I coloured the hedgehog with markers. The sentiment is from the Trendy Trees set.

Its a very simple card today - not as elaborate as the previous cards, but I enjoyed making it. I have shown the Funky Forrest wheel in a previous post. I used it in a little mini-book shown in this post here.

I must say I am really enjoying creating the cards for the Alphabet show. Usually, when I sit down to make a card, I spend ages trying to decide which stamp set to use, which paper, what colours etc. Knowing exactly which set I'm using makes life so much easier. It's just a simple matter of deciding on a colour scheme.

Youngest grandson (14) is spending the night here tonight. Yes..its a school night, and the grandkids don't normally stay here on a school night, but he really wanted to so his mother said yes. he wants some granny time. He rides a bicycle to school and it will only take him about 10 minutes longer to get to school from here as it does from his own house. So I'm off to play a game with him for an hour before his bedtime. Have a great evening.

Stampin' Up! - E is for En Francais

This card is for all of you who visit my blog - thanks ! When you visit and leave comments for me, it makes me feel great - really gives me a boost. So...thank you so much for making my days feel better.

On with the Stampin' Up! Alphabet Show....

E is for En Francais

Stampin' Up! En Francais is a background stamp. I love this stamp. It's huge ! I use it quite regularly, and I'm sure you can see why.

I cased this card from Debbi - not an exact copy, but the general design. I am quite pleased with the way it turned out.

These colours are becoming favourites of mine - Pale Plum and Perfect Plum. Love them together.  And I just love my butterfly punch.

The base card is Perfect Plum. I started off the card by stamping En Francais on a piece of Pale Plum card, and sponged the edges in Perfect Plum ink. On a strip of Chocolate Chip card, I stuck 3 scalloped squares (punched out of perfect Plum card and stamped with swirls).

To create the flowers I stamped little leaves (from the Darling Dots set featured yesterday), cut them out and stuck them together. I punched the large flower using the Boho Blossoms punch (it has 3 flowers), and stuck the flowers on top of the leaves.

The butterfly was punched out of Perfect Plum card, and stamped with swirls. I also stamped 2 little butterflies (from Flight of the Butterfly set) on to the En Francais background, and added purple gems.

The sentiment is from the Thank You Kindly stamp set.

Today is my youngest grandson's 14th birthday. He is such a lovely boy - growing up into a lovely young man. I'm very proud of him. He'll be around in a while to collect his presents and have some chocolate cake. (I'll be joining him in the cake eating hehe).

Stampin' Up! - D is for Darling Dots

On with the Stampin' Up Alphabet Show ! We're up to the letter D and.....

D is for Darling Dots

Today I thought I'd show you one of the little stamps in the Darling Dots set. This is a Hostess set and can't be bought (which is a great pity). It can only be earned by a hostess at a workshop. If you want to find out what's involved in becoming a hostess,please email me for more information. The set has 8 stamps - yes 8 - a leaf, a star, a present, a cupcake, a heart, a flower, a ladybird (ladybug in the US), and a little circle that says "be happy".

I started out trying to use a couple of the stamps on the card, but eventually settled on just one...the cupcake. It's so cute.

I stamped the cupcakes on pink card in White SU Craft ink, and embossed them with clear embossing powder. I then sponged the pink card with Pale Plum ink. Of course, the embossed cupcakes resisted the ink. This created quite a nice effect. I'm very pleased with it. I layered this on to a an A6 Whisper White card base. I used my very handy Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to position the stamps for the row of cupcakes along the top - stamped in Pale Plum. I actually can't stamp without the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig. I don't know what I did without it. It makes positioning so easy. I finshed it off with some SU Pretty in Pink grosgrain ribbon. Love that ribbon !

This card turned out very girly and sweet - just right for a sweet girl ! Let me know what you think.

I have a few things to do right now, but I am definitely going to visit some of your blogs tonight. You sweet girls keep coming over here and leaving wonderful comments for me. Thanks so much for that. I need to go and see what you have been up to.

Stampin' Up! - C is for Curvy Verses

When you look at this card, you might think I'm showing you the Flight of the Butterfly stamp set. but I'm not. We are up to C in our Stampin' Up! Alphabet, and.....

C is for Curvy Verses

This is a cute little stamp set of verses. I neglect this set - and I shouldn't because it's useful. Particularly with Butterflies. There are 6 stamps in the set - each one with a little verse for a different occasion.

I used 2 stamp sets on the card - Curvy verses and Flight of the Butterfly, and then the Polka Dot background stamp for the piece of white card. The little tiny flowers are from Flight of the Butterfly. I also used the white gel pen. That thing is a weapon in my hands. I have to control myself or I'll have white blobs and stitching all over the place.

The cardstock used is Whisper White and Perfect Plum. Stampin' Pads are Perfect Plum & Pale Plum. A lovely combination of colours. I didn't have any Plum coloured ribbon, so used a Promarker to colour a piece of white satin ribbon. It worked quite well. Punches - various circle sizes, and the Butterfly punch.

The family has all gone home - the kitchen is clean and tidy. I need to go a bath a certain little dog who is suspicious that something is up. I have to whisper the word b..a..t..h. If she hears me, she'll go and hide.. I think she can read my mind - she's avoiding me ! She really makes me laugh. Have a great evening, and thanks for all the lovely comments. I think I'd better answer them before I look for the dog.

Stampin' Up! - B is for Bloomin' with Beauty

I am frozen ! Yes...the heating is on, but I just can't seem to warm up tonight. It's been a very cold day here. In fact, we had a huge hailstorm just after lunch. It lasted almost an hour and covered the ground. Looked like it had snowed again ! Yuck.

I just spent an hour doing grocery shopping - online hehe. How handy. It will be delivered between 11 and 12 tomorrow. That's what I call shopping ! Love it.

A couple of reminders - Sale-A-bration is in full swing. Read all about it here. And I'm looking for crafters to join my Stampers 6 & Stampers 10 Clubs. (Click on the links to read all about them). The clubs will begin when all the places are taken.

Continuing with the Stampin' Up! Alphabet show...

B is for Bloomin' with Beauty

I love this set. So beautiful. I always enjoy using it. I love colouring, so the hydrangea is a pleasure to stamp. There is a beautiful poppy in the set too (you can see it here).

I made a mask for the hydrangea, and then stamped the background with another stamp from this set - the wording. The rest of the card is self-explanatory. I went a bit overboard with the green pearls lol.

I need to get a few things done now - and then knit ! Thanks very much for visiting and thanks for all your comments. I promise to come and visit your blogs as soon as I can. Next week should be much quieter for me, and I'll have more time ! 

Stampin' Up - A is for Animal Stories

I have so many posts running around in my mind - I just never seem to get them on to the Internet ! I have a limited amount of time at the moment. There is just too much going on around me - all good things - that I can't spend as much time as I would like here on the computer. I am having to force myself to walk away from it after a post, or a quick browse. Browsing is deadly ! One blog leads to another...and then another...and then - you know what its like - you do it too. Right ? Before you know it, a couple of hours have gone.

I really want to showcase the beautiful Stampin' Up! stamp sets in the 2009/2010 Catalogue. I have been giving it some thought, and I think the way to do this is to work my way through the alphabet. It saves me dithering ! And it will also guarantee that I USE each of the sets I own. I tend to reach for the same stamps over and over. Do you do that ?

So, I'm just going to start at A, make something from each letter of the alphabet through to Z, and then begin again (stopping along the way to feature special occasions e.g. Easter).

We begin at the beginning - and

A is for Animal Stories

I have shown this set recently - but it is the first on my list (yes - I have a list of all my stamp sets in alphabetical order lol !)

I was looking through my stash, andfound a piece of paper with giraffes on it - perfect for this set of stamps. There is the cutest giraffe stamp ever. I chose my cardstock to match - then a little bit of paper piercing,faux stitching, a few punched hearts and it was good to go. It was quick, and came together easily.

I have to get off this computer now. The kitchen is calling my name, I have knitting to do ! I've finished the front & back of the sweater and I'm halfway through the sleeves. It WILL be ready by his birthday ! Actually, it has to be.

If I get a chance, I'll come back on later - I still need to show the award Joanne gave me. Have a great evening.