Phoenix Inspirations

Good morning everyone - how are you on this fine Bank Holiday Monday? Fancy a trip on The Open Sea? Come with me...... Here are some little note cards made using The Open Sea stamp set. The background paper is some I've had for a long time with a sea theme to it - this piece looked a bit like a maritime map which I thought was very appropriate. I chose my colours very carefully making sure that they matched my papers - Pool Party, Night Of Navy and Real Red. This can be seen better in the next photo where I have a matching pouch to house all the cards This pouch can sit on a desk or shelf but folds down flat for posting as a gift. Thanks for stopping by - enjoy the rest of your day xx

Here are the last of the cards made using the stamp set Walk in the Wild. Not so clean and simple this time as I took a bit more time to create backgrounds and I threw in a bit of fussy cutting too - take a look The first background was made by stamping Chocolate Chip ink on to Chocolate Chip card stock with the Hardwood stamp. I then used the same ink to sponge around the edges. The inside background scene was sponged on to die cut panels using torn copy paper and a fir tree stamp (one I made myself a long time ago). The images were stamped on to white card stock and then cut out and attached using Dimensionals. Hope everyone is enjoying the Bank Holiday weekend - I'll be back next week with a few more 'Man' cards - see you soon xx

Good afternoon. Well dad is out of hospital hence the missed blog post yesterday and I am also exhausted - can't keep my eyes open so I think a trip to the doctors may be on the cards. I have made some more card though - very similar to the previous ones but with a different kind of background. The first set of cards I made  HERE  used a fabulous little background stamp that looked like a water coloured brush stroke but it occurred to me that not everyone has a stamp like this and what could you do if that was the case. Here's what I came up with The backgrounds were made by inking up various sized acrylic blocks and spritzing them with water before stamping them onto card stock. The images were then stamped over the background with a Stazon ink. If you pop over to my other blog HERE  -  you will be able to see a quick tutorial on how I did this. Thanks for stopping by today - see you soon xx

Good morning all - hope the rain is not adding too much to the Monday Blues!! I'm off out later so I'm hoping it will dry up a little. Meanwhile I promised you some male cards - take a look at these These were so quick and easy to make but having the right tools for the job is essential. My new blog Crafting from the Ground Up is still in it's early stages but will start you off on the right track if you are new to crafting  -  you can find it  HERE So the above cards were matted and layered with Crumb Cake and Whisper White (Stampin' Up) and the background is a very useful little stamp from the Happy Watercolour set. It's like a paintbrush stroke and gives a graded look to your colour (Crumb Cake). I then stamped my images in a black Stazon ink - job done. Stamps used as usual Stampin' Up - can you tell I'm a fan?! - and are from the Walk in the Wild set. Ok I'm off now - dad is in hospital again having some tests for somethi...

The monthly Facebook swap this month was a card with a detachable bookmark, it had to incorporate embellishments made with paint sample cards and no other embellishments. Here's my swap It's very similar to yesterday's card card but uses the Blended Bloom stamp. Here's the lovely card I received from my swap partner Tracy Phew - a whole week of posts - lets hope the Internet behaves it's self again next week and I can show you some more of what I have been making. I feel a week of 'man' cards may be on the agenda - in time for Father's Day - see you soon, have a great weekend xx

I love making feature cards - clean and simple is great but layers, fancy folds, ribbon and bling are also great fun too! Here s one such card I have made Not only is this a Bookmark card - it has a removable corner bookmark attached to the front - but it is a tent fold card too Hope you like my effort for today - see you soon xx

Yesterday I showed you a special birthday card, well to go with that card there is a special present and I made a matching box and tag to put it in - take a look Not quite as ornate as the card it's just simply layered up with a bow made from the last of the ribbon and a little tag attached with white bakers twine. Inside is the present. This is a glimpse into one of my other crafting passions - beading. It's a necklace made in the favourite colours of the recipient with matching earrings - want to see? How nice to be able to combine both my love of paper crafting and jewellery making. Now that I'm no longer a SU demo I have a little bit more time to devote to building this up as business so watch this space for more creations! Thanks for stopping by today - see you soon xx

While I still had the Hey There Buds stamp out on my work surface, I thought I'd use it to create a special birthday card and really go to town on it - take a look The colour choice for this card started with the ribbon. It was tied around a pot plant mum bought a few days ago and matched the Soft Sky DSP rather well I thought. This time my image was mounted on a fancy scalloped mat and some of the flowers were layered up to give a more 3D effect. A couple of flowery details were added at the side and again a few gems were added to bling it up! I have a matching box to show you soon and a glimpse at my other crafting passion - hope you can join me. See you soon xx

Yes it's Monday morning again - doesn't it come around quick? I can't believe we are nearly half way through May already! So,it's been nearly a week since my last post but we have been experiencing Internet problems again. it keeps getting sorted and then it crashes again - it really is quite frustrating. But anyway today I am on and here is my card - hope you like it This card follows on from last week's post HERE  where I took a single stamp and made some quick and easy note cards. Again the image is stamped using the Hey There Buds stamp and using just two marker pens - a blue and a green. This time the card is dressed up with a ribbon and a few gems and a different sentiment taken from the Good Greetings set. I've also added some Dazzling Diamonds glitter but unfortunately this doesn't show up on the photo. Did everyone have a good weekend? I spent mine digging and sowing and now I'm quite sore! Crafting is a much gentler pass time don...

I have great fun each month joining in a Face Book card swap challenge. Last month our leader Sue set out the brief for a top folding card with a built in stand. Colours were black, white and gold and we had to add LOADS of bling. Here is the card I made And here is the lovely card I received in return Thanks for stopping by today - see you soon xx

Good morning - Happy Bank Holiday Monday to you all - would you like to see what I have been up to? I have been making some more note cards - come and see These are so simple to make especially if you love colouring your stamps with markers like I do. The whole thing is just one stamp - including the sentiment and I just coloured the stems and leaves with green and the flowers and buds with colours. These are last year's Stampin' Up In Colours - can't wait to see the new ones for this year! I loved these cards so much that I made some more but this time mounted them on matching coloured card stock with a little white bakers twine as a finishing touch.  Here's a close up of the one using Lost Lagoon - my favourite colour at the moment Thanks for stopping by today and please don't forget to pop over to my new blog Crafting From The Ground Up - you can find it  HERE . It might not be to every one's taste but it may appeal to those of you j...

Last post of the week and I think the last of my unblogged cards - you never know there may be more lurking in forgotten files somewhere but I don't think so! Today's card is quite masculine I think and I have used Mosaic Madness plus green and brown ink. Very CAS and very easily adapted to any occasion or colour combination - what do you think? I am hoping to share with you a new project I am working on next week. As I don't do any challenge blogs now and I am no longer a Stampin' UP demo I thought I'd work on something I've been thinking about for a while. It will be fairly easy to fit it around every thing else going on and there will be no deadlines to keep to - just a bit of fun hopefully! Please do join me next week and have a great weekend xx