Crazy Crafters Blog Hop with special guest - France Martin

Welcome and thank you for joining me in a special Crazy Crafters team blog hop.

We are hopping with a special guest - The talented France Martin aka Frenchie.

The theme of this blog hop was to CASE (Copy And Selectively Edit) one of Frenchie's cards.


Here is the card of Frenchie's that I chose to CASE:

I chose this card because it is using one of my favourite stamp sets, I just love the flowers from this set. And..... I am a bit of a pretty patterned paper hoarder ...ahem... "collector" (I am sure a lot of you out there know what I am talking about), so I need to find ways to start using my papers and this card fits the bill. To checkout Frenchie's card in more detail click here.


Because I love this stamp set so much, I couldn't choose which image I wanted to use so I ended up making a card for each stamp in the set.

Here are my versions:

Melon Mambo

Calypso Coral

Daffodil Delight

Wild Wasabi

To create my cards I started out by stamping all the images from the Remarkable You stamp set on some Whisper White cardstock. I used Memento Tuxedo Black for the 3 flower images and Garden Green for the leaf/branch image. I then chose my colour schemes based on my Blendabilities markers collection - I went with Melon Mambo, Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight and Wild Wasabi. Using the Dark, Medium & Light markers in each colour set, I coloured my images. I used the Medium Wild Wasabi to colour the flower stems.

Once I'd coloured my images, I searched my vast collection of stamp sets for some nice sentiments. The sentiments helped me decide which shape I would use to cut out each image. I wanted each card to be a little different so I went with a square, circle, rectangle & oval. To cut out the square, circle & oval, I used the relevant framelit set, magnetic platform & big shot. And to cut out the rectangle, I used my paper trimmer.

Once cut out, I stamped the sentiment on each using the same ink colour as the Blendabilities markers used, except for the leaf/branch image where I used the same colour ink that I stamped the image in (Garden Green). 

My sentiments all came from different sets. The sentiment on my Melon Mambo card came from the retired Floral Wings stamp set, the Calypso Coral sentiment came from the retired Simply Wonderful SAB stamp set, the Daffodil Delight sentiment is from the current Butterfly Basics stamp set and the sentiment on my Wild Wasabi card came from the retired Good Greetings stamp set.

I love to use up my scrap cardstock (another thing I like to keep, all on the off chance it will come in handy), and I found a few strips of Whisper White that were all the same width (4.5cm) so they helped me decide how wide my DSP strips would be. So I then went to my Designer Series Paper stacks and found my matching colours. I chose a different DSP pattern for each card. I cut a 4cm strip of each DSP and mounted it on to the Whisper White strips using Snail adhesive.

I prepared 4 card bases using the matching coloured cardstock for each image and then mounted the white & DSP strip to the matching card front using Snail adhesive. Lastly I mounted the cut out images on top using more Snail adhesive. All finished!

I really like the boldness of these cards and I may need to make lots more, as I have a very large DSP collection that I would like to make a bit smaller ;)

I can't choose a favourite, I love them all.

Which is your favourite?        (if you can choose just one :) )

Here is a list of the supplies and tools used to create these cards:

Whisper White A4 Cardstock (106549)
Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock (119980)
Calypso Coral A4 Cardstock (124392)
Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock (121680)
Wild Wasabi A4 Cardstock (111850)
Designer Series Paper Stack - Brights Collection (117155)
           - Melon Mambo & Daffodil Delight
Subtles Designer Series Paper Stack (130135)
           - Calypso Coral & Wild Wasabi
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (132708)
Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad (126948)
Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad (126983)
Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad (126944)
Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad (126973)
Melon Mambo Blendabilities Markers (130994)
Calypso Coral Blendabilities Markers (130996)
Daffodil Delight Blendabilities Markers (130998)
Wild Wasabi Blendabilities Markers (133624)
Remarkable You stamp set (Clear - 139894 / Wood - 139891)
Butterfly Basics Stamp Set
          (Clear - 138816 / Wood - 138813 / Photopolymer - 137154)
Floral Wings Stamp Set (Photopolymer - 139169)
Good Greetings Stamp Set (Clear - 135017)
Simply Wonderful SAB Stamp Set (Clear - 139128)
Squares Collection Framelits (130921)
Ovals Collection Framelits (129381)
Circles Collection Framelits (130911)
Magnetic Platform (130658)
Snail Permanent Adhesive (104332)

If you would like to purchase or see any of these items in more detail, just click on the relevant link above. 

**If you do make a purchase, be sure to use the current Hostess Code on your order to receive a free gift from me. Click here for the current code.**

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my creations.

If you enjoyed my cards, it would make my day if you left me a comment below :)

Don't forget to continue the hop all the way around to see what the very creative Crazy Crafters team have come up with.

You are currently visiting me - Kirsten Aitchison, so checkout the list below to see who is next in the hop.

Mojo Monday # 453 | Card Sketch Challenge

In my previous post I mentioned that I'd set myself a challenge to use up, or at least make a dent in my vast collection of Designer Series Paper.

Also in my last post, I shared 2 cards I had made out of the pack of DSP I had opened and I promised to share more cards made from the same pack of DSP.

Well here is a card I created with the Mojo Monday Card Sketch Challenge # 453 in mind.

Here is my card:

Now even though this sheet of DSP is also from the Birthday Basics pack, this card is vastly different to my last 2 cards. (Don't forget this retired DSP is currently available in the Clearance Rack for a bargain price of $7.59 per pack, which is 60% off, so grab some now before it runs out).

Another challenge I have given myself is attempting to use each stamp set I own at least once. I have lots of sets (most of which are either just retired or retired some time ago) that I've been meaning to use, but just haven't gotten around to using yet. I figure if I can't come up with a card design/idea for a set, then that will help me decide which ones I keep and which ones I need to let go of.

Taking in to account my stamp set challenge, I grabbed out the beautiful Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set, as I've been meaning to use that lovely rose image.

I found the Raspberry Ripple flower sheet in the DSP pack and thought it would work well with the rose image. So I stamped the Rose on a sheet of Whisper White cardstock using my Raspberry Ripple ink pad. I then cut out the rose using a square framelit from the Squares Collection set. To give the square a bit of a border, I used one of the templates from the paper piercing Essentials pack, a piercing tool and piercing mat to create the dotted border.

I then cut 2 card front layers from some Whisper White and Raspberry Ripple cardstock. Using Snail adhesive I stuck down a strip of the flower pattern DSP at an angle onto the Whisper White layer and trimmed the edges off. Using the same line as the DSP strip, I adhered some of my Raspberry Ripple stitched satin ribbon with some double sided tape and folded the edges underneath. Using Snail again I centred the rose on top of the DSP & ribbon stripes.

For the flag at the bottom of the card, I just used a small strip of the same DSP and punched the end using the Triple Banner punch. The sentiment, also from the Fifth Avenue Floral set, was stamped in Raspberry Ripple on Whisper White cardstock and cut out using my extra large oval punch. Both pieces were then adhered to the card front using Snail.

To finish off the card I layered the white card front on to the Raspberry Ripple piece and then both on to the Whisper White card base.

I'll be sharing more of my creations using this designer series paper pack soon.

Here is a list of the supplies and tools used to create this card:
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (106549)
Raspberry Ripple A4 Cardstock
Birthday Basics Designer Series Paper (130145)
Raspberry Ripple Classic Stampin' Pad
Raspberry Ripple Stitched Satin Ribbon (126845)
Fifth Avenue Floral Stamp Set (Wood )
Squares Collection Framelits (130921)
Magnetic Platform (130658)
Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack (126187)
Triple Banner Punch (138292)
Extra Large Oval Punch (2" x 1 3/8")
Snail Permanent Adhesive (104332)
Tear & Tape Adhesive (138995)

If you would like to purchase or see any of these items in more detail, just click on the relevant link above.

**If you do make a purchase, be sure to use the current Hostess Code on your order to receive a free gift from me. Click here for the current code.**

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my creation.

If you enjoyed my card, it would make my day if you left me a comment below :)

The Paper Players #300 | Clean-and-Simple Challenge : Celebration

I have set myself a challenge.

My challenge ...should I choose to accept it... is to use up, or at least make a dent in my vast collection of Designer Series Paper.

I've decided, what is the point of having sooooo much pretty paper if you can't share it with others by creating and sharing cards. And I want to join in on the #loveitchopit fun.

Well a couple of days ago I grabbed out a pack of retired DSP and I want to use up the entire pack by making a bunch of cards.

So here are few I have made so far, and I think they fit in with The Paper Players Clean-and-Simple Challenge #300 : Celebration.

Here are my cards:

Bermuda Bay

Summer Starfruit

My cards use a combination of current & retired Stampin' Up! items.

The DSP pack I pulled out was the Birthday Basics Designer Series Paper (while this is a retired product, it is currently available in the Clearance Rack for a bargain price of $7.59 per pack, which is 60% off, grab some now before it runs out).

I chose my colour schemes from the DSP's co-ordinating colours. I went with Bermuda Bay & Summer Starfruit with Very Vanilla for the card base.

For these cards, I chose the cute balloon sheet from the DSP pack and cut 2 squares using my Square framelits, magnetic platform & big shot. Then using the next size up square in the framelit set, I cut out a square from a sheet of Bermuda Bay cardstock and Summer Starfruit cardstock.

I adhered the DSP to the cardstock square using Snail and then trimmed 1 side off so the DSP was on the edge. The squares were then adhered to the Very Vanilla cardbase using more snail, lining up the DSP with the edge of the card.

My sentiment came from a retired set called Geometrical. The sentiment was stamped in the matching ink (either Bermuda Bay or Summer Starfruit) onto a sheet of Very Vanilla. I then used the banner from the Mini Treat Bag thinlits set and my magnetic platform to line up and cut out the stamped sentiment.

I created a double sided thin banner using banner thinlit from the Gift Card Envelope & Trims thinlit set. I ran the thinlit most of the way through the big shot and then reversed it so I could turn the thinlit around and cut the other end to match (I only ran it part way through again so I didn't get the flat end cutting my banner in half).

Using Snail again, I adhered the 2 banners together and then layered them on top of the DSP square.

To finish off the card, I created my own little candy dots from my matching cardstock sheets, using the tiny circles from the Build-a-cupcake punch. I adhered 3 circles of each colour to the top and bottom of each card using a little bit of Tombow glue.

I'll share more of my creations using this designer series paper pack soon.

Here is a list of the supplies and tools used to create this card:
Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock (106550)
Bermuda Bay A4 Cardstock (131286)
Summer Starfruit A4 Cardstock
Birthday Basics Designer Series Paper (130145)
Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad (131171)
Summer Starfruit Classic Stampin' Pad
Geometrical Stamp Set (Clear 133161)
Squares Collection Framelits (130921)
Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies (137547)
Gift Card Envelope & Trims Thinlits Dies (135854)
Magnetic Platform (130658)
Build-A-Cupcake Punch (121807)
Snail Permanent Adhesive (104332)
Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue (110755)

If you would like to purchase or see any of these items in more detail, just click on the relevant link above.

**If you do make a purchase, be sure to use the current Hostess Code on your order to receive a free gift from me. Click here for the current code.**

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my creations.

If you enjoyed my cards, it would make my day if you left me a comment below :)

Wedding Congratulations

Everybody loves congratulating a newly wed couple. So here is a card I created to Congratulate some friends who tied the knot.

This card also fits in nicely with this weeks Just Add Ink Challenge # 316 : Stripes

Here is my card:

I'd heard that there was a blue theme for the wedding, so I decided to use Very Vanilla and Pacific Point for my colour scheme.

Using a my retired Your Perfect Day stamp set, Pacific Point ink and 2 pieces of Very Vanilla cardstock, I stamped the cake image from the set in the bottom right corner of the larger piece of cardstock and the Congrats sentiment on a smaller piece.

I ran a piece of Pacific point cardstock through my Big Shot with the Happy Heart embossing folder. I trimmed the embossed cardstock to be 3 hearts wide by 10 hearts long. This was adhered with Snail adhesive to the larger Very Vanilla piece with the cake image.

I then looked through my ribbon stash and found that my wide striped Pacific point ribbon worked best with the size of the sentiment piece. Unfortunately the ribbon has Whisper White instead of Very Vanilla, but I think it works well anyway (If I'd found my ribbon first I would have used Whisper White as my base instead).

Using Snail I adhered the ribbon across the front of my cake & heart piece of cardstock with the ribbon edges tucked around the back. I then stuck the sentiment on top of the ribbon.

I then adhered the card front to my Very Vanilla cardstock base.

To add a little something extra, I used 2 small clear adhesive rhinestones in the middle of the hearts at the top of the sentiment.

Our friends are a fun & relaxed couple and to add a little humour to the inside of the card, I used a super fun stamp from the retired It All Adds Up stamp set.

To stamp the image in 2 colours, I used a small piece of a post-it note to cover up the heart, then stamped the image in Tuxedo Black ink. I then removed the piece of post-it note and coloured the heart using my Real Red Stampin' Write marker.

Here is the inside:

I really like the simplicity of the card, and it suited the laid back style of our friends while still being a beautiful card for such a special occasion.

Here is a list of the supplies and tools used to create these cards:

Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock (106550)
Pacific Point A4 Cardstock (116202)
Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad (126951)
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (132708)
Real Red Stampin' Write Marker
     (Sold in sets, either: Brights Marker set - 131259 or Many Marvelous Markers set - 131264)
Happy Heart Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (137364)
Snail Permanent Adhesive (104332)
Rhinestone Basic Jewels (119246)
Your Perfect Day stamp set (Photopolymer 137160)
It All Adds Up stamp set (Wood)
Pacific Point Striped Grosgrain Ribbon (132981)


If you would like to purchase or see any of these items in more detail, just click on the relevant link above. 

**If you do make a purchase, be sure to use the current Hostess Code on your order to receive a free gift from me. Click here for the current code.**

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed my card.

If you did enjoy my card, it would make my day if you left me a comment below :)

Birthday Butterfly

Today's post is to share a card I made for my long time best friend for her Birthday a little while ago.

I have also decided to enter it in the Stamp, Ink, Paper Challenge # 52 : Card Makers Choice.

Here is my card:

This card has been created using a few of my favourite stamp sets and dies. And my love of bright colours.

I started by cutting out the largest butterfly from the Butterfly Thinlits die set on a piece of white cardstock. Using the negative image of the butterfly I was able to get a rough idea of where I wanted my splatter pattern to be so I could see most of the colours. Then using the splatter stamp from the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set I stamped the image slightly overlapping in a light green, light pink, yellow and light blue ink on a smaller piece of white cardstock. I then centred the splatter patterned cardstock underneath the cardstock with the cut out butterfly and adhered them with Snail adhesive. Then using more Snail, I adhered the card front to a yellow cardstock card base.

Using a couple of small glue dots underneath the body of the butterfly, I attached the butterfly die cut to the splattered cardstock lining it up with the butterfly cut out.

Using the same yellow ink, I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment from the retired Label Love stamp set on some white cardstock and then punched it out with the co-ordinating Artisan Label punch. I also punched out an extra shape from the same yellow card stock as the card base, to mount underneath the sentiment. I cut the yellow punch out in half and using Snail layered it so that part stuck out at the top and bottom of the sentiment label. I then adhered the sentiment to the card front using some dimensionals to make it stand out.

Lastly to add a little bling, I found a larger clear adhesive rhinestone that I added to the body of the butterfly and 3 smaller adhesive rhinestones in matching colours of green, pink & blue for the bottom left of the card.

To fancy up the envelope I used my retired "Happy, Happy Birthday" jumbo wheel and stamped it across the flap of the envelope in yellow.

The splattered pattern behind the butterfly was inspired by a card I found via Pinterest that was created by Becky Cowley, click here to see Becky's card.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed my card.

If you did enjoy my card, it would make my day if you left me a comment below :)

Simple No Stamp Card

Hello and welcome :)

Today I am sharing a card that I made with a few challenges in mind.

Here are the challenges that inspired my card:

Challenge: Must use current products and a general sentiment. This was a little tricky since the new 2016 - 2017 catalogue went live yesterday, but I did have a few products that are carrying over to choose from.

Click Here to view the other amazing Crazy Crafters projects and to vote for your favourite projects. (Link goes live 3rd June at 6.30pm AEST)

The Paper Players #297 | Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge

I have used the Masculine, Die-cut, Sequins combination

Global Design Project #038 | Sketch Challenge

I recently created a card for the Crazy Crafters Blog Hop with Special Guest Dena Rekow and I used the colour combo of Basic Black, Whisper White & Tempting Turquoise. I thought the colour combo worked so well on my card that it has become a new favourite. So I decided to use the same colours for this card. Click here if you would like to check out my Blog Hop card.


Here is my card:

I started with Basic Black cardstock for the base. Then I found a scrap strip of Whisper White that happened to be the perfect width of just over 2", which meant I was able to use my 2" Circle Punch to punch out a circle at the bottom of the strip and then I punched out a smaller circle using my 1-3/4" Circle punch from another scrap of Whisper White. I used Snail to adhere the Whisper White strip to my card and then attached the punched 1-3/4" circle in the middle of the 2" hole to give a black circle outline.

Using some Tempting Turquoise cardstock, the banner from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlit Dies, Big Shot & Magnetic plate I cut out the banner. Then using the "for you" thinlit from the same set and my magnetic plate I was able to line up the "for you" in the middle of the banner and run it through my Big Shot. I then adhered the Turquoise banner in the middle of the circles on the strip (making sure that the negative image was only on the white circle and that you couldn't see any black). Using the for you die cut piece as a template I was able to glue down the floating cut outs that frame the words in the negative image.

To finish off the front, I found 2 white stars and 1 black star from my Metallics Sequin Assortment container and glued them down.

I continued the stars inside the card by using the row of stars thinlit also from the Mini Treat Bag set on the white cardstock inside the card.

It wasn't intentional when I started that this would end up as a no stamp card, but it just worked out that way. I was going to use the "you" from the Hello You thinlits and the "FOR" from the Crazy About You stamp set, but then I found my Mini Treat Bag thinlits and thought the "for you" thinlit was a little more on the masculine side so went with that instead.

I quite like this card as it is not too fancy, but not too plain - a perfect masculine card. And the "for you" sentiment means it can be used for any occasion.

Here is a list of the supplies and tools used to create this card:

Basic Black A4 Cardstock (121688)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (106549)
Tempting Turquoise A4 Cardstock (108598)
2" Circle Punch (133782)
1-3/4" Circle Punch (119850)
Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies (137547)
Magnetic Platform (130658)
Snail Permanent Adhesive (104332)
Metallics Sequin Assortment (138390)
Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue (110755)

If you would like to purchase or see any of these items in more detail, just click on the relevant link above.

**If you do make a purchase, be sure to use the current Hostess Code on your order to receive a free gift from me. Click here for the current code.**

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my creation.

If you enjoyed my card, it would make my day if you left me a comment below :)

Mother's Day

I am a little slow in sharing these cards I created for Mother's Day which was a few weeks ago now (oops), but better late than never I like to say :)

One of my all time favourite flower stamps is from the retired Indescribable Gift stamp set. It is a beautiful image and one I really enjoy colouring in.

So when Mother's Day rolled around this year, I decided to pull out this stamp set and my retired Blendabilities and make my Mum and my Mother-in-law a card.

I made 2 versions of essentially the same card, just using different colours.

And here they are:

For both I used a piece of Whisper White cardstock and stamped the flower image using my Memento Tuxedo Black ink. Then using the "happy" thinlit from the Hello You thinlits dies, my magnetic platform and Big Shot, I created a negative "happy" cut out at the bottom (keeping all those little bits from inside the letters - to be used later).

Then came the time to choose my colours.

I decided on creating one in Rich Razzleberry and the other in Calypso Coral. So I grabbed my Rich Razzleberry & Calypso Coral Blendabilities marker sets. For the flowers on each card front, I used the Light, Medium & Dark markers of each colour, as well as the Medium Old Olive maker for the leaves and the Bronze marker from the Skin Tone Assortment for the branch. I sparkled up the centre of the open flowers using some Dazzling Details (sadly just retired). Using the corresponding coloured ink pad and the Crazy About You stamp set, I stamped "Mother's Day" in the bottom corner of each. Then I grabbed the matching coloured cardstock for my card base and using Snail, attached the white card front to the coloured base. I then glued each of the loose pieces from the "happy" die cut in place.

And there you have it, relatively simple but beautiful cards (if I do say so myself :) ).


Now I am a bit of a perfectionist, and while making my Calypso Coral card front, I stamped the sentiment a little crooked (always the way, if you are going to mess up a card it is going to be as you are making the finishing touches). Anyway, I had stamped an extra card front (just in case), so I decided to re-do the Calypso Coral one. Which left me with a beautiful card front that I couldn't use in its current state, and I put it aside in my unfinished card pile to do something with later.

After checking out the challenge over on the Just Add Ink blog, I decided to pull out my card and finish it off.

This weeks Just Add Ink challenge # 313 is a "Just add B" challenge. So make anything about your project relate to the letter B.... could be colours, animals, sentiments, whatever we like.

Now this I could do, and I had a great card already started that just needed some finishing off.

So here is the finished product and my entry for this weeks JAI challenge, a Birthday Card:

So to finish off (or should I say fix) my card, I stamped the "Birthday" sentiment also from the Crazy About You stamp set using Calypso Coral ink on a scrap of Whisper white cardstock, which I punched out using the Word Window punch. I adhered this to a piece of colour co-ordinating DSP but ended up trimming it down to just bigger than the word punch so you can't tell that it was DSP and I could have just used Calypso Coral cardstock. I also found some thin Calypso Coral ribbon in my stash which I taped down on the card to hide the "Mother's Day" sentiment that is underneath and then taped the "Birthday" sentiment on top. Voila! A perfectly usable (and Beautiful) Birthday card, and not a half finished project in a box on my shelf :)

Here is a list of the supplies and tools used to create these cards:

Whisper White A4 Cardstock (106549)
Rich Razzleberry A4 Cardstock (119981)
Calypso Coral A4 Cardstock (124392)
Rich Razzleberry Classic Stampin' Pad (126950)
Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad (126983)
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (132708)
Crazy About You Stamp set
  (Photopolymer 137137 / Clear 138859 / Wood 138856)
Hello You Thinlits Dies (137363)
Magnetic Platform (130658)
Snail Permanent Adhesive (104332)
Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue (110755)
Indescribable Gift Stamp set (Clear 138575)
Rich Razzleberry Blendabilities Markers (131003)
Calypso Coral Blendabilities Markers (130996)
Old Olive Blendabilities Markers (130999)
Skin Tone Assortment Blendabilities Markers (129370)
Word Window Punch (119857)
Dazzling Details (124117)
Calypso Coral Ribbon

If you would like to purchase or see any of these items in more detail, just click on the relevant link above.

**If you do make a purchase, be sure to use the current Hostess Code on your order to receive a free gift from me. Click here for the current code.**

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my creations.

If you enjoyed my cards, it would make my day if you left me a comment below :)