I'm Dreaming Of A ... Pixie Pink Christmas!

This is my DT card for Di Hickman's Sketch this week but I wanted to show it here as a change from the 'proper' stamped cards I've been posting of late. I think this one nicely shows the combination of stamping & collage, which is where I started out (just wait 'til I have SU! designer papers! LOL) & if you'd like to make it, here's how:

1. Cover your card blank (or cut one 6.5" x 5" folded ... so a 10" x 6.5" piece of cardstock) with striped paper ... mine is Bo Bunny, Teen Chic: SU! Petal Party designer pack would be good!
2. Stamp the trio spot design from the Seeing Spots set randomly over a 4.5" x 3" piece of white cardstock with Pixie Pink ink. Stamp the dotty circle design twice onto white cardstock & the solid centred circle once. Punch the three circles out with a 1.25" circle punch. Edge all the white cardstock pieces with olive ink.
   
3. Cover a 4" x 2.5" piece of scrap cardstock with green patterned paper & cut your sentiment (0.75" tall letters) from pink. My letters are a template ... you could stamp yours or handcut them ... edge them with a journaling pen.and affix them to the green panel.
   
4. Machine stitch (optional) around the edges of the two oblong panels & then stick into position on the card base.
5. Thread embroidery floss through the three buttons & knot. Trim & fray the edges. Use a glue dot to fix a length of embroidery floss to the back of each, making sure that the frayed ends will all face in the same direction. Attach evenly along the bottom edge of the sentiment panel.
   
6. Add buttons to the centres of the cardstock circles. Then attach to the card with foam pads, sandwiching the floss ends between the circles & the foam pads . Finally, thread small lengths of 3mm wide ribbon through the holes in 3 jewellery bells, trim the ends at an angle & attach the bells to the top edges of the circles with glue dots.

Would you like to get the Seeing Spots stamp set for free? Host a qualifying workshop (or virtual workshop/catalogue party) & you could claim it free as part of your hostess reward. Email Mad Mumma for details.

A Few More Fast & Fun Notes

Today's cards are a variation on the ones I've been showing for the last couple of days. These have been double-matted onto a piece of torn cardstock with a length of grosgrain 1/4" Whisper White ribbon stitched across before the panel is stitched to the card base. The flat bow is made by taking a small length of ribbon, placing a glue dot at the centre & then bringing both ends into the middle. The bow is attached over the ribbon strip with a glue dot & a button attached centrally with ... another glue dot! Super-easy but looks great I think. The rhinestone brads would look good atop a flat bow too methinks!
The hedgehog card is pretty quick & easy (or fast & fun! LOL) too. The image is coloured with markers direct on to the stamp & matted right of centre before stitching to a torn cardstock base. The base strip is then stitched in place (I use a li'l bit of tape behind it ... just in the middle to hold it still) & the buttons stuck on with glue dots (or you could stitch them on if you like).
Last but not least, these two cards are again coloured directly onto the stamp, matted & affixed centre top of the card base. I made a faux bow by tying a loose knot in a short length of ribbon & then threading a longer piece through the back of the knot before pulling it tighter to secure. the whole piece can then be attached to your card with double sided tape & trimmed at the ends. 'Tis Done!!
Don't forget to follow Mad Mumma's blog to get the latest updates as soon as they are posted & to be in with a chance of winning a li'l selection of cards handmade my yours truly at the end of the month (wow! this year has just flown by!!)

More Fun & Fast Notes

Here's another bunch of cards, again using the Fun & Fast Notes stamp set & Spot On jumbo roller. I tried using the roller with the standard ink pads as I only had access to the real red cartridge ... it wasn't too bad although a li'l more time consuming than the cartridge was ... ho hum! I'm gonna need to buy all the cartridges now too! LOL. Anyway, I mostly used the Green Galore ink pad for these cards, although I did have a li'l play with the Pixie Pink too .... luuuurve pink! The image on the get well card was coloured directly on to the stamp using SU! markers ... I like the soft, hand drawn effect you get from that.

The next picture is the same card, just in different colours ... wanted to have a play & see howm much using a different combi would change the 'feel' of the card.

Same thing here ... same card design, same image but different colours. So it really is easy to make a whole bunch of cards that are the same ... but different.
If you'd like to buy any Stampin' Up products that I've used, e-mail Mad Mumma & she'll be happy to help, alternatively, why not join the Thursday Top Ten club to build your supplies monthly & grab a few freebies!

All Spruced Up!

It's v. busy here at casa Todd with Christmas preparations underway. Here are the batch made tags & cards that I created on my last playdate with Mad Mumma ... love that she lets me play with her SU! kit - LOL. These were sooooo quick to make ... especially when done conveyor belt style. The cards & tags are from my stash & all the finished goodies are going to be packed up for DS4's school Christmas Fayre on December 5th (I'm helping out all day)
So to make them en masse, start by stamping, colouring & matting the images then set them aside. Prep the card blanks & tags (or cut & fold your own) by rolling the Spot On roller stamp along the right edge (you'll want scrap paper/craft mat etc to protect your work surface & keep it clean). For the cards all you need to do is attach the matted image left of centre & you're done. For the tags, attach the images centrally toward the top & add ribbon/button detail toward the bottom. Et voila!
I probably need to make a few more batches ... particularly of the tags ... wonder how many I can do in a week!

Fast & Fun Notes

I made this li'l Christmas set with goodies from Mad Mumma's SU! starter kit for a workshop next Friday. Really quick & easy to put together! The tag is a manilla luggage label ... I have a ton of these! LOL. The design isn't really mine I guess as it is very similar to one of the ideas on the leaflet that comes with the kit.
I entered a bit of a stampin' frenzy really & made, over the course of a couple of evenings, a total of 24 cards & 6 gift tags (I might even show them to you over the next few days!) ... all from the same stamp set (Fast & Fun Notes) using the Spot On jumbo roller stamp. I tell you, I'm loving the roller stamp ... makes backgrounds & borders fun & super-quick!
Everything you need to make this is in the starter kit ... save from markers (I already have some) & I had to add buttons & ribbon from my own stash ... I don't have SU! ones yet ... but it won't be long! lol. Have you joined the ribbon round up yet? I'm just waiting for it to fill up so I can have all the colours in one go!!
So I guess you'll want the details!
SU! supplies: Spot On jumbo roller stamp & Real Red ink cartridge; Fast & Fun Notes stamp set; Green Galore ink pad; Gable Green & Real Red A4 cardstock; SU! markers
Other: American Crafts red grosgrain ribbon, red button, manilla tag

Follow Me & Everything Is Alright

Those of you who know me will also know that I'm a bit of a monkey for giveaways, RAKs, draws & competitions ... & my behaviour will be no different here! LOL.
So to get mum's new blog off to a great start, I'd love to see lots of new people following her blog. All you have to do is click on the 'follow this blog' link up in the top right corner - if you don't have a blogger/gmail account I think you'll be prompted to start one (it's free ... go on, do it! LOL) & sign up ... then every time either of us update the blog, it'll be there right on your dashboard.
Every month, we'll do a prize drawing from all the followers that are signed up here & send them a li'l RAK ... & for this month, I thought you might like a li'l bunch of handmade cards & matching envelopes. These are soooo tiny - just 3" square. The two shown are both thank you cards but I'll put together a selection of 10 assorted - hows that? (the ribbons/sentiment stamps aren't by SU! & everything else is now retired I think)
Mum put this blog live today ... I wonder how many followers we can get by the end of the month ... please don't make me RAK cards to myself! LOL
Oh! & if you'd like another chance to win a li'l RAK ... Check out my blog on this post (I'd like more followers too! LOL)

Ribbon Round Up

If you are like me, you'll love the Stampin' Up! 1/4" gosgrain ribbon (pg. 80 in the current catalogue) but maybe unlike me, you can't imagine using an entire spool of every colour. Join the Ribbon Round Up & get just two metres of every colour (including new Chocolate Chip - 11 colours/22metres) for £7.90 (the price of 2 spools) post free.
I can only offer this deal if 5 people sign up but I will offer it as many times as I have sufficient people to run it. And if you'd prefer 4 metres (or 6 or whatever), you can take more slots at £7.90 to get the amount you'd like.
Of course, I can also supply you with full spools at £3.95 each if there are colours (or the full set) that you'd like in larger quantities (13.7m per spool). I think the white is particularly useful as you can dye it with the ink refills to get any colour you desire!
To sign up for the list, e-mail me & I'll be in touch when we are ready to go!