Sneaky peek at... Breakfast at Tiffany's

There are some things in life that never fail to make me smile. One of them is the 1961 film, Breakfast at Tiffany's, starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard. As strange as it may sound, I bought the film on video (showing my age now) before I'd even watched it, because I just knew I would love it. Soon after, I read the novella by Truman Capote and loved that too (it's a better story, but the film has Audrey so it wins hands down).

Back in 2003 I was lucky enough to go to New York and visit Tiffany & Co. on Fifth Avenue. Of course it's nothing like the one in the film, but Holly Golightly was right when she said "The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there."

This week's Papercraft Session pays homage to that film with a double 'pillow box' gift box, reminiscent of the Jeweller's iconic packaging, a simple but dramatic 'Little Black Dress' card (like the one Holly wears whilst eating her breakfast at Tiffany's) and an embossed vellum card, featuring the exclusive Stampin' Up! embossing folder 'Manhattan Flower'.

Under The Sea

A while ago I mentioned that I had a lot of cards to make soon. Well, that time has arrived and I've got a few under my belt already but there's still a lot to go. This one is for my Brother-in-law's birthday and I'd been dying to use these cheeky sea critters for a while now. They're digistamps from Digi My World.

I decided to use a 'less is more' approach with it being a male card, and then I saw that the theme for this week's challenge down at Less is More is 'Things that move' - perfect! The layout was based on two other challenges I'd seen, Tiddly Inks challenge #62 - Inch my way along and Allsorts Challenge #117 - You've been framed.

 

I coloured the images with my trusty promarkers and framed them up using basic black cardstock. Then I simply popped the frame up on stampin' dimensionals onto a basic grey card and added a sentiment from the 'Afterthoughts' Hostess set.

Inspirational and Funky challenge

Just time to show you a birthday card I made for my good friend B.

I based it on the sketch given in the Inspirational Card Sketches Challenge #127 blog post.

I've also incorporated some faux stitching, inspired by the ladies down at Fab 'n' Funky challenges and their Stitch in time Challenge (#86).

The main image is a digistamp by Kenny K which I've coloured using Promarkers. The main card is SU! Old Olive and I've used a piece of the Perfect Plum Designer Series Paper stack on the left of the card. The smaller panels are just patterned papers from my stash, backed with Perfect Plum cardstock. The sentiment is from the Hostess set 'Afterthoughts' by Stampin' Up!

Sketch Saturday #168 challenge entry

My friend had a bouncy baby girl on Saturday night and so I set to work on a card to congratulate her and her family.

I saw this sketch on the Sketch Saturday Challenge Blog and decided to give it a go. This is my take on the sketch...

The card base is Pear Pizazz, one of the In Colours for 2010/11. I wanted to pick up on the green and blue tiny flowers on the paterned paper so I also used some Pacific Point CS to highlight them. I've added a faux stiched border to the main image (a digi stamp) and used the flower from a retired SU stamp for the little circles. The sentiment (my favourite for new baby cards) is a retired SU stamp also.

Jot Jot Jot class update

It was a tense week at The Papercraft Sessions. One of my ladies was just 2 days away from her due date and we were all a little worried that she might give birth at any minute! Fortunately, she didn't, but I'm thrilled to say that she had a lovely little baby girl last night and both Mum and baby are doing well.

This week the main project was a cute double jotter pad with matching pencil and holder. I showed my age by saying it was ideal to keep by the phone... but was told that most folk have cordless phones now and so they were never in one place for long! Not restricted to phone messages though; these notepads would be great in your handbag or even for your grocery shopping lists.

Once again, everyone turned out smashing work and I just love that moment at the end when everyone's projects are put together for a photo.

The main feature of the co-ordinating greetings cards was the gorgeous flourish from the 'Baroque Motifs' set. The small telephone stamp used on the jotter cover is from a US Stampin' Up! set. The colours we used this week are, from l-r, Garden Green with Certainly Celery, Real Red with Regal Rose (2 in this colourway), Elegant Eggplant with Perfect Plum (2 in this colourway). If you're wondering why one of the last two jotters is lighter than the other, it's because one lady fell in love with the pattern on the other side of the double-sided patterned paper! I can't blame her, it's printed with the text from Shakespeare's Sonnet 83 - beautiful words.

Light Up Your Life class update

I've just realised that I haven't shared the results of my candles class last month - what was I thinking???

It was a fantastic class and everyone made really professional looking projects as you can see here...

 

It's a shame I can't say the same about my photography skills. I forgot my camera and had to take this using my phone so it's not great to say the least.

I've since heard from a couple of ladies who attended the class that their other halves assumed they'd bought the sets in a shop because they looked so good! How proud am I??

It's hard to tell from the photo but the pillar candles were stamped with the 'Ornate Blossom' stamp, which is a total bargain at £9.95. The tealight sets have a variety of images from the 'Just Believe', 'Framed With Love' (retired set) and 'Circle Circus' stamp sets.

We also used cardstock and matching DSP in Cajun Craze, Concord Crush, Elegant Eggplant, Bravo Burgundy and Night of Navy. With the Designer Series Papers being available in all the SU! colours it's really easy to make sure everything co-ordinates perfectly.

Get Set for Christmas - new Saturday class

Christmas??? But I could've sworn it was only August!! 

Don't panic, it IS August, but before you know it, Christmas will be here and you'll be worrying about all those Christmas cards you need to make and write out. 

'Get Set for Christmas' (17th September 10am-1pm) is a special Saturday workshop designed to give you a head start on all those cards you'll need. You'll be provided with all the materials needed to make 10 cards (2 each of 5 designs). We'll aim to complete one of each design within the 3 hour class, so that you have a card you can copy when making the rest at home. Of course, dependent on speed, you may finish all 10 cards within the class.

This 3 hour class costs £12.50 and includes all materials, refreshments and even a mince pie to get you in the Christmas spirit. Booking and full payment is required by 10th September please.

Amongst other supplies we'll be using 'Contempo Christmas' and 'Dasher' stamp sets and the 'Jolly Holiday' Designer Series Paper, all by Stampin' Up!

If you're feeling really virtuous, you can even write your cards out as you make them, meaning that's another job ticked off your Christmas planning list ;) 

Woohoo! I'm a winner!

Just a very quick post to share my pride at having my card be hand-picked as one of the Top 3 cards (out of 40) for the DYSU challenge. I am now proudly sporting my blog badge and grinning away to myself :D

Yummy yummy colours!

It's now nearly 11pm and I've just finished a card for my Sister-in-Law's birthday. Why am I up crafting so late? Simple - the Play Date Cafe had the most yummy colours in their challenge this week and I couldn't resist entering! 

This is my entry for both the Play Date Cafe Challenge #93 and also the Sketch Saturday - Week 167 challenge, who gave this sketch as the inspiration this week...

I've used Regal Rose, Pear Pizazz and Poppy Parade CS, and some beautiful Stampin' Up! rhinestones to add some bling. The sentiment is from the Hostess set 'Afterthoughts' and the digi image is from Pink Cat Designs. The tiny tags in the bottom right corner feature sentiments from the retired US set 'Little Bit of Everything' and I've punched them out using the Jewellery Tag punch.

Sorry I'm not saying more but I can barely keep my eyes open! Night night all!

If you're reading this Charlie - look away!

Yes, you, Charlie-Louise! Close this page immediately and don't look at it until your parcel from me arrives ;)

Normally, I wouldn't post a card on my blog until I know the recipient will have received it. However, in this case I just couldn't wait to show it off and I also wanted to enter it in the DYSU Challenge #31 which closes tomorrow.

The challenge is to make a card that is Black with a Pop of Colour. I hope you'll agree that this one really does pop!

 

The front page of the card is shaped to match the top edge of the embossed roses and I've used a simple sentiment from the 'Silhouette Sentiments' Hostess exclusive stamp set. In case you're wondering, those flowers are created using the 'Manhattan Flower' embossing folder which is exclusive to Stampin' Up! 

In order to get such a bright pink on black I used Melon Mambo cardstock and inked up my embossing folder with Basic Black ink before running it through my Big Shot machine. Isn't the effect stunning?? Then I simply cut out the embossed section of the Melon Mambo card and mounted it onto a Basic Black card, trimming the top edge to match the flowers.

So simple yet so effective. Think of all the projects you could acheive with this embossing folder... (yes, I can order it for you and it's only £6.95! Just e-mail or call me). In fact, why not add a few more items to your order and take advantage of the special offer listed below. With any order over £75 (or workshop order of £250) you'll receive over £19 worth of Stampin' Up! products plus an exclusive bag that's ideal for keeping all those craft tools in.

  

Happy 70th Birthday Dad!

Life has been very busy lately and my crafting time has been limited to necessities only, like the cards I made for my Dad's 70th Birthday (one from me & Rich and one from Phoebe).

I knew I wanted to put a funny Lion on my card as my Dad loves silly animals and is a Leo. Looking at my stamps, I realised I could use the leaf in the 'French Foliage' stamp set to make the Lion's mane. I set about stamping lots and lots of leaves in Cajun Craze onto Daffodil Delight cardstock. I cut each leaf out and assembled the Lion. The face is made using the scallop circle punch and the extra large oval punch. His body and legs are made using the decorative label punch and modern label punch. I've added his features and claws with the Basic Black marker and given him a shiny wet nose using Crystal Effects.

The main card is made using Riding Hood Red, Early Espresso and Pumpkin Pie cardstock. The sentiment is from 'Perfect Punches' and fits the XL Oval punch perfectly. I love that stamp set, it has sentiments that cover so many occasions and they all co-ordinate with Stampin' Up! punches too.

My Daughter, Phoebe, was keen to make her own card for Grandad and so we set about the very messy task. Phoebe is what you might call a 'hands on' crafter...

She made a great job of creating lots of different coloured papers for me to work with and a super handprint to use as a main image. I think I have a future Demo on my hands ;) Needless to say 'Grandad' absolutely loved the card and was in stitches at the photos and video of Phoebe creating it.

Free gift with qualifying purchase - this month only!

This month only you could receive this gorgeous cosmetics bag (so handy for keeping your crafting tools in!) totally free when you order from the Stampin' Up catalogue. Not only that, but you'll also receive a reel of Rich Razzleberry striped Grosgrain ribbon and a 24 piece clip assortment. To qualify for this amazing offer you just need to place a £75 order or host a workshop with sales of £250 or more (for which you'll also receive free exclusive stamps and free products of your choice). For more details, see here.