Phoenix Inspirations

It may seem to you that I don't have many stamp sets as I'm using the same ones such a lot at the moment! Well actually I have loads - they're all retired from the new catalogue though!  I've been having a good clear out in my craft room and a lot of old stamp sets have been resigned to the EBay pile! Don't lose hope though - at the beginning of next month I may have some new ones to tantalise you with so do stay tuned. In the meantime though here is anther Climbing Orchid card The flowers haven't been stamped for this card - just die cut. the middles have been stamped however but no stamping means beautiful pure white orchids. The countdown is on - only a few more days and I can reveal my exciting news - hope you can join me xx

So Tranquil Tulips was still out on my work surface today and I had a little play with it before I put it away. Wreath cards are always fun to make and this was no exception - take a look I thought that this would be a nice quick and easy make but it ended up taking over an hour as I had to use loads of post it notes to mask images off. The finished card is lovely and colourful though don't you think? The sentiment in the middle if from Artistically Asian and is one of my favourites. Phew - so my little play turned out to be a marathon of stamping! Will have to try something a bit simpler next time! Thanks for stopping by - see you soon xx

Muscari or Grape Hyacinth have always grown in great profusion in my garden and they will always have a special place in my heart. My dad hated them! The more he tried to irradicate them from the garden the more they would grow! It became a huge family joke! The stamp set Tranquil Tulips has a muscari stamp in it and today I have created this card - dedicated to my dad who sadly passed away two years ago - take a look This card is made just using the Tranquil Tulips set - there are lots of lovely elements perfect for stamping stems and grassy leaves and it makes making cards like this a doddle! All that's needed is a little light sponging. No sentiment on this card as I haven't yet decided who it is for.  Just a quick post today as I'm back at work after a lovely long weekend off. I have however got some time off in order to make preparations for something very exciting happening at the start of July - hope you will join me for that - see you soon xx

Here's a little card I made using what I thought was quite a strange colour combination The colours are: purple, mint green, hot pink and teal or - Concord Crush, Pistachio Pudding, Melon Mambo and Coastal Cabana! My background orchids are from the retired set World of Dreams and of course the pink orchid is from the very new set Climbing Orchid. The colours (which in the end didn't look so strange!) are from the challenge this week at  Color Throwdown The layout is taken from the challenge over on CAS(E) this Sketch Well it's grey and overcast here in Bridgnorth today but blissfully cool! I'm having great fun blogging and crafting and listening to Bruce Springsteen! Enjoy the rest of your weekend - see you soon xx

I am just loving creating with the High Tide set at the moment. It has lots of lovely images that work with out the focal lighthouse. Take a look at the card I have made for you today My beach scene was created by stamping the sandy bits in Crumb Cake ink. I then added my tufts of grass. I reckon it's Marram Grass - you know it's the really tough stuff and can't be pulled up but if you look inside the blades it's all spongy! Anyway - after I had stamped the grass I added the sea. This was stamped in Versamark ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder. Blue ink was then sponged over it. The sky was sponged with a pale blue ink (Soft Sky) and the birds were again stamped with Versamark and heat embossed in white. This card is being entered in to the challenge over on Make My Monday where the challenge is 'At the Beach' Thank you for stopping by to take a look - it's lovely to see you here. xx

This week at  Freshly Made Sketches  there is a lovely sketch to follow So - having the luxury of a whole weekend off work again I set to work and made this card I stamped the stem of my orchid to mirror the curve of the sketch. On one side I stamped one of the images from the Gorgeous Grunge set and then added my flowers. The orchid flowers were stamped in Rich Razzleberry with a little So Saffron while the middles were stamped with Daffodil Delight. Old Olive stems and Crumb Cake grunge and sentiment to finish it off. I've been having internet issues again - might have to stay up all night scheduling my posts for the week - need to make the most of it while it's working!! Thanks for stopping by today - see you soon xx

I am so in love with this stamp set and I've been having another play. As I was playing I decided to take some pictures so you could play along too! For this you will need the Climbing Orchid bundle, Whisper White card stock, Rose Red and Crushed Curry ink pads, sponges and a fine tip glue applicator. Choose an orchid from the set and stamp a few on to the Whisper White card stock using the Rose Red ink pad. Using a sponge and the Crushed Curry ink pad sponge the the petals leaving a white space in the middle. Using the dies cut out the petals. Stamp and die cut the middles of the flowers along with a few buds. Using a fine tipped glue applicator make up the flowers. You are now ready to design your card. For my card I used a Smoky Slate background. This had been stamped with the Hardwood background stamp and White Craft ink. I hope you enjoyed my little tutorial - thanks for stopping by. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think of my

Is it me but has it been a bit hot lately?! It's been too hot for me to craft I know that. My craft room is in the garage and it gets full sun all day and by golly it gets like an oven in there! I have a day off work tomorrow but I think I'm going to get up early and hope that it's a bit cooler in there in the morning! The card I have to show to you today is another using High Tide - take a look It's a centre step card made with Crumb Cake card stock. The scene was stamped on to Whisper White card stock and the lighthouse and sentiment were stamped separately and added 'off the edge'. This was so I could enter it in to the challenge over in The Male Room Here's a view from the side And when it's flat Thank you for looking today - hope you like my card. See you soon x

I was lucky enough to receive the Tranquil Tulips as a gift recently. It's a Stampin' Up Hostess set and can only be purchased with orders of £150 or more. I was over the moon - I love this set and got straight to work making a card with it - take a look I used Pumpkin Pie ink for the flowers and Old Olive for the leaves, Very Vanilla and So Saffron card stock. This card will be entered into the challenge over on Freshly Made Sketches Thanks for stopping by today - see you soon x

Today's card has been made with a stunning stamp set. When I saw it I knew I just had to have it! It's called Climbing Orchid and for me there's just so many possibilities - I just wonder if I'll have to time to try them all out!! Here is my card These beautiful stamps enable you to create a lovely 3D orchid in two different styles and two sizes - there are loads of stamps in this set. There is also a co-ordinating die set which cuts the petals out perfectly. Now I'm a girl who normally loves cutting out and I don't usually but the dies but as I have already said - there are so many possibilities for this so stay tuned. I've made 3 flowers for my card using Whisper white card stock and So Saffron ink. My background is Blushing Bride and my sentiment is Pear Pizzazz. This card is being entered into two challenges today: CAS(E) this Sketch Color Throwdown OK so I'm off to work now - can't wait to get home again and

I'm in a Facebook group where crafters make a few cards and then send to others in the group on a monthly basis. Last month I made my cards with Blended Bloom - take a look I used varying tones of pink and purple ink  so each on was different. Glittered butterflies were also added and the main flower was attached with 3D foam pads. Here is one in close up This is using Rich Razzleberry ink. The line border was drawn in using the fine tip of the Rich Razzleberry marker. it's nearly time to make my June cards - better get a move on! Hope you like my cards today - hope to see you again soon x

High Tide is fast becoming one of favourite sets. I love creating scenes - of an artistic nature!!!! and this set makes it so easy. Take a look at my card So this time when I stamped the sea I did it with Versamark ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. This gives the sea lots of foamy waves! The seagulls were also heat embossed this time with white embossing powder. Lots of foliage was stamped in the foreground along with a few colourful flowers to finish off the seaside scene. I'm so glad you stopped by today - I hope to see you here again soon x

As I mentioned in a previous post my internet was playing up all last week so the cards I made for challenges didn't get posted because I missed the deadlines!! Would you like to see them anyway? - Take a look This card has been made with a set called Painted Petals - it's retired now so I thought I'd give it one more airing before I put it up for sale on Ebay! I also used it for this card too This one is a bit more colourful! Thanks for stopping by today - see you soon x

In my previous blog post I did a step by step tutorial (HERE)  on creating an atmospheric mountain scene complete with a majestic stag. Here's the card I made with the completed scene The scene was mounted on to a piece of Smoky Slate card stock. Before sticking down I die cut a decorative label on my Big Shot, cut it in half and attached it to my scene. A small circle was also die cut and cut into quarters. These were then added to the corners. A simple sentiment was added to finish the card off. I will be entering this card into the challenge over in The Male Room You can find my tutorial -  HERE  - enjoy! See you soon x

Hello - I'm here today with a step by step tutorial for you. Today I've used the Large Deer from Lavinia Stamps to create an atmospheric mountain scene - here goes I drew a rough plan on scrap paper of how I wanted my scene to look. This gives me an idea of where to add my stamps and sponge my mountains. On a piece of white card stock I placed a post it note moon. With a speedball brayer I added Smoky Slate (pale gray) ink to the top and the bottom covering the moon. With a torn piece of post it note I began to sponge my background. Using more post it notes and my drawing as a guide I built up my mountain background. This is all done with the Smoky Slate ink pad. I then ripped more post it notes and created a rocky out crop in the foreground. For this I used Basic Black ink. Remove all the post it note masks. Some trees were added again using Basic Black ink. Stamp a few again before re inking to create some perspective. The stag was stamped on top

I've had a few internet problems this week so I've been unable to blog - also work, but today it's working  so here is my card The flowers for this card are taken from the set Jar of Love. I've stamped and cut them out along with some leaves. In the background I stamped some foliage and heat embossed them with white embossing powder. Although I'm rather late with this I am entering it in this week's challenge over on  Mojo Monday So I'm working again today so no crafting for me although I hope to back tomorrow with another step by step tutorial for you - see you soon x