A manly birthday

Hi readers

Over at Just Add Ink this week we have a colour challenge. 




I was really excited when I saw the colour combination as I really like black, red and vanilla together and the addition of soft suede would be fun.  As it is my fathers birthday tomorrow I decided to use the colours for JAI as my starting point, as well as a card I cased from Christine Blain as inspiration.   Although in the picture you can't quite see it the card has a bit of shimmer thanks to the smooch spritz which gives it some extra zaz.


I also made a box out of my newly acquired scallop envelope big shot die.     I managed to fit two peanut slabs in it side by side and as we speak it is winging it's way (well driving) over to my dad who lives about 45 minutes away.

Anyway, hope you like.

Card recipe

Cardstock:  Soft suede, textured basic black, cherry cobbler, very vanilla, Newsprint DSP
Ink:  Soft suede, basic black, cherry cobbler
Stamp sets:  Extreme Elements, Classic stars wheel, Create a Cupcake (sentiment inside)
Other:  Clear heat embossing powder, versamark, dimensionals, smooch spritz

Box recipe:

Cardstock:  Soft suede, textured basic black, cherry cobbler, very vanilla, Newsprint DSP


Ink:  Soft suede, basic black
Stamp sets:  Extreme Elements
Other:  Clear heat embossing powder, versamark, 1 1/4 circle punch, 1 3/4 circle punch


Hope to post some more projects soon.

Happy stamping

Julz

JAI Sketch Challenge

I spent a wonderful morning crafting with a fellow team member Ali and managed to make quite a few things.   The last of these is my entry for Just Add Ink this week which was a sketch challenge.

I was initially stumped for colour ideas so turned to the trusty catalogue and to the Greenhouse Gala dsp for colour inspiration. I find that when I am in a can't decide what colour to use that choosing a dsp colour swatch is a great start.

I also had the Friends Never Fade stamp set which I purchased recently and had yet not played with. I really like what I have come up with and hope you do too. Sorry the photo is not quite the best.

Happy stamping till next time............


Julz

Recipe:

Card: Chocolate chip, baja breeze, pumpkin pie, whisper white
Ink: Pumpkin pie
Stamp set: Friends never fade
Other: Scallop border punch, Daffodil delight grosgrain ribbon, Pear Pizzaz patterns stack (hostess gift), Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Clear embossing powder, dazzling diamonds

Rainy Sunday

My goodness it's wet out there today, and rather dismal.   It's a perfect day for creating which is what I will be doing the rest of the afternoon.

I made this card a few weeks back and thought I would share it today.     A friend's gran had died and I wanted to send her a note to say I cared, the because I care stamp set was sitting there uninked and so I decided to give it some love.

Hope you like



Julz

Card front

 

 

Inside

Recipe:

Card stock:   Very Vanilla, Perfect Plum
Ink:  Perfect Plum
Stamp:  Because I care (Hostess set), Thinking of you
Other:  Chantilly Crochet Trim, Heat and stick powder, dazzling diamonds, scallop oval punch, dimensionals

Im back - at least for today

Yes I know it's been even longer of a hiatus but life has a nasty way of creeping up on oneself and getting in the way of doing the things we love.

Anyway, over at Just Add Ink this week the wonderful Paula (who just happens to be my upline and have amazing talent) gave us the challenge to use black and white.   I LOVE black and white so had to find some time to create.

Here is what I came up with.   I made the black card here first, and then decided that I needed to do a reverse design so made another using a white base.     Would love your opinion on which one you like best.

Happy card making


Julz


Recipe

Card:  Basic Black and Whisper White
Ink:     Basic Black
Stamps:   Strength and Hope
Other:  Lattice embossing folder, clear embossing powder, white embosssing powder, heat and stick powder, dazzling diamonds

It's been quite a while

Life has been busy, what with going back to university and recovering from surgery, not a lot of time has been left for stamping.

However, I was inspired by the Just Add Ink this week to Just Add Stamps.     I was invited to a 21st tonight but will be unable to attend and so wanted to send along a wee gift and card.   I had a set of note cards I had made in Concord Crush and Pear Pizzazz so decided to use that as the gift and create a card to accompany it.

Here's what I came up with, along with a stamped gift bag (shhhh it's just a brown paper bag stamped randomly).    Hope you like it.

Card stock:  Concord Crush, Pear Pizzazz, Very Vanilla
Inks:  Concord Crush, Pear Pizzazz,  Basic Black
Stamp set:  Bliss and a sentiment stamp from winter mini


Anyway, hope to blog a bit more often or at least do some challenges.


Julz

Big Shot Bookmark

Hey people out there in blog land, hope you are all well.

We had our team training for the Stampin' Up! team I am in, the fabulous Paper Divas headed by the amazingly talented Paula Dobson (you can check out her blog here ).    Each month we meet we do a team swap and the swaps we receive are always just wonderful.

This month we were challenged to make our swaps suitable for a workshop make and take.     I had seen a tutorial for a corner bookmark that was made by one of the design team over at Just Add Ink and was inspired to make one.    I had a bit of trouble (read a lot of trouble) however and after about three tries decided to figure out my own idea.      Since I love my big shot to pieces I came up with the following and I believe it works quite well.   Let me know what you think, I really love reading your feedback.

Anyway, I will leave you with some pictures of my finished project.

Happy stamping


Julz

Big shot bookmarks en masse

Close up of bookmark in action

Recipe:

Card stock:  Pear Pizzazz, Very Vanilla
Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Concord Crush, Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade
Stamp set:  Circle Circus
Accessories:  Big Shot, Top Note Die, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, 1 1'4" Circle Punch, Twine, Crochet Trim Victoria, Smooch Spritz Silver

Tangerine Valentine

The wonderful ladies over at Just Add Ink challenged us this week to "Just add love".   Check out the link to view the design teams amazing creations and the entries of others joining in for the week.

A friend of mine has been going through a really bad spot of late and I flew her down from Auckland this weekend to stay with us for a change of scenery and some pampering.    As it is Valentines day tomorrow and she is a now single woman, I decided that I wanted to surprise her with a special card to know that we care.

So here is my entry.   Hope you like it

Julz

Ingredients: 
Card:  Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Peach Parfait DSP (Level One Hostess)
Ink:  Tangerine Tango, Versamark
Stamps:  I Heart Hearts
Other:  Whisper White taffeta ribbon, Lattice embossing folder, White embossing powder, dazzling diamonds, crystal effects
Other:  Whisper White taffeta ribbon,

Saturday emergency birthday card alert!

I received a phone call this morning asking me if I could make a special card for a man turning 65.      So what to do?     The only brief I had was blue and I knew I wanted to use my newsprint dsp so after a play around with some various colours came up with the combination of Night of navy, basic grey, real red and very vanilla.    

I'm pretty happy with how the card turned out.   It was lots of fun to make and a nice distraction from what I am meant to be doing, which is a complete house rearrange/tidy.      Anyway, that's what I need to get back to now.   Will leave you with a picture of my completed card.

Julz

Ingredients:

Card stock:   Night of navy, basic grey, real red, very vanilla
Inks:  Night of navy, basic grey, real red, basic black
Other:  Newsprint dsp, hemp twine, perfect polka dot embossing folder, brad, lots of tags sizzlit die

Time for something bright and cheerful

It's been raining rather a lot the last few days and it's been quite dreary.    Thank goodness the sun has now managed to surface, must admit I missed it.

I was lucky enough to have a short play date this afternoon with the amazingly talented Ali.    Check out her blog here.  It's been ages since we have created together and although I struggled for inspiration just the act of actively putting aside time to say I was going to make something meant I managed to indeed do so.

I wanted to create a card for this weeks challenge over at Just Add Ink which was this sketch challenge.

I was fishing through my card stock for inspiration and decided that I wanted to use my brights collection to help balance the weather and bring some sunshine back.    By the time I had finished the card it was indeed sunny!

Hope you like the finished result.


TTFN..........   Julz

Recipe:  Card stock:  Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo
Ink:  Tangerine tango, Versamark
Stamps:  Scribble jumbo wheel, Occasional Quotes (level 3 hostess gift)
Ribbon:  Whisper White 5/8" grosgrain ribbon
Other:  Square Lattice & Perfect Polka Dots embossing folders, Top Note big shot die

A box for a friend

I am currently participating in an awesome pay it forward challenge that came to me via a facebook post.   Essentially it's designed to post on your profile and you promise to send a handmade gift to the first five people who comment, then they repost and spread the love.

So I have started to make my gifts and decided that I would link my first gift in with the Just Add Ink challenge this week which is to just add monochrome.

I designed these five wee cards using the in colour series and repeated the exact same design five times, teaming them with a box to hold them all, and envelopes hand made to match.  I wanted to try out the faux metal technique I have seen on a few blogs and so made the box in basic grey and then used silver embossing powder to make silvery metallic butterflies using the big shot and the butterfly embosslit.     The little sparkle was achieved using a bit of dazzling diamonds sprinkled on top of the embossing powder.  I really love the way they have turned out.     For the cards themselves I sponged whisper white cardstock and ran it through the big shot with the lattice embossing folder then embellished with butterflies and a sentiment from Teeny Tiny Sentiments in embossed white.   The large butterly was finished with the basic pearl jewels and the edges of the cards were punched with the eyelet border to create a pretty edge.

Box  and contents

Lid

Close up of metallic butterfly

All five cards fanned

This set will be winging it's way off to it's intended recipient soon, quite possibly along with some hand made truffles.

My challenge to my blog readers is a small twist on the original idea.  Handmake something special and gift to someone who doesn't even expect it.   Perhaps it's your local bank manager who goes out of their way to help, the elderly next door neighbour or just pop into your local hospice with some wee treats.   Spreading love isn't just for xmas, so spread some love of your own soon.   It may well be just what the recipient needs in their life just now.


Julz 

PS - which of the following individual card colours is your favourite??   I just can't choose!

Poppy parade

Peach parfait

Concord crush

Blushing bride

Pear Pizzazz

Materials used

Card stock:  Basic grey, blushing bride, concord crush, pear pizzazz, poppy parade, peach parfait, whisper white
Inks:  Blushing bride, concord crush, pear pizzazz, poppy parade, peach parfait
Other:   Whisper white grosgrain ribbon 5/8",  basic pear and basic rhinestones, butterfly embosslits, lots of tags sizzlits, eyelet border punch, lattice embossing folder, white and silver embossing powders

Im baaaaack

After a fantastic time away from Xmas to after New Years which we spent camping I came home minus my mojo.   Despite my best intentions to stamp while away and having lugged ALL my gear with me I just didn't get around to it.   I've been searching for said mojo ever since we returned home until today when I decided that rather than try and find it I would force myself to just start making and see what happened.

Using this weeks colour challenge over at Just Add Ink and with a fish around in my box of scraps I found a few bits and pieces that helped get me on my way.   Before Xmas I was making a fair few of these gift card holders and must have cut one out of Riding Hood Red.   It was sitting folded in my box so that's where I began.  I didn't have any elegant eggplant so used concord crush instead, needs must and all that.

Hope you all like the final result.

Gift card holder front

Gift card holder inside

Materials:
Card stock:  Riding Hood Red, Concord Crush, Pear Pizzaz & So Saffron
DSP:  So Saffron, Pear Pizzaz (hostess 6x6)
Inks: Riding Hood Read, Concord Crush, Pear Pizzaz, So Saffron, Versamark
Stamp set:  Cottage Garden
Other:  White embossing powder, Eyelet border punch, Square Lattice embossing folder, Linen thread




I was also very chuffed to receive an email from my awesome upline Paula the other day with a stylish blogger award.  Im supposed to tell you eight things about myself and pass it on but will leave that for my next post!!

Happy stamping

Julz

A very merry Xmas

This is my last blog post before Xmas, and the New Year as we head away camping tomorrow afternoon.  I would just like to wish those who follow my blog a very merry xmas and a bountiful new year.   To Paula my upline, thank you so much for inviting me on to your team, it's been a blast so far and Im sure will continue to be so next year.

I thought I would leave you for the year with a few pics, the last of my xmas cards followed by pictures of the table setting I was asked to design for a friend.   Hope you enjoy looking at them.

Baja breeze xmas using my well loved Snow Swirled set, baja breeze and chocolate chip cards and baja breeze dsp.   And of course the obligatory embossing!

Created for a friend who sat with me while I cut out the stockings and requested this as HER card. 

Front of card for Paula

Inside

Close up of presents

Table setting

Close up of placename boxes

Cutlery holders

Table setting:
Soft suede, whisper white and real red card
Inks: Soft suede, Versamark
Other:   Top note die, white embossing powder, gold brads
Red & gold ribbons non SU


So anyway, that's me outta here for the next week or so.   Im taking my stamping things camping so hopefully will have lots of awesome things to upload when I get home.

Lots of xmas wishes


Julz

Wow - thank goodness that's over!!

What a week it's been.   I feel like I have been a card making machine although looking at all the pictures now it doesn't look like I have done as much as I feel I have!

Anyway, I took lots and lots of pictures of the cards I have been creating.   Firstly my xmas cards which can be found here -  http://flickr.com/gp/julzbutler/m59082 and then the cards I was asked to make for my daughters cheerleading prizegiving which are here - http://flickr.com/gp/julzbutler/fo4n87    I have popped a couple of my favourite pictures at the end of this post for you to see as well.

It's been a mammoth few days and while I still have a few xmas cards to finish and upload over the next day (and then post!!) I am largely finished.   Still have the table settings I have designed for a friends xmas table to make, along with a squash book I am working on for a gift - oh and the rest of the xmas shopping to do.    IS there a chance someone could stop the world for an extra few days please??

Julz

10 sleeps till Santa

Ok - hands up who HASN"T finished getting ready apart from me.   Its been a mental week so far - so much to do so little time.

Anyway I still wanted to enter the challenge over at Just Add Ink which this week was a colour challenge to use Tempting Turquoise, Basic Grey, Daffodil Delight and Riding Hood Red.  Because I didn't quite manage to enter last weeks critters challenge I had this card in mind and the colour challenge helped considerably in pulling the elements of this card together.

As well as the JAI challenge my week has been full of card making.   I am working on a total of 23 cards which I have been asked to make for my daughters Cheerleading Prizegiving on Saturday, and a friend asked me just a couple of days ago to make some gift card holders and cards so she can take them away when she leaves tomorrow for her holidays.   As well, today my young neighbour came over to make a start on her Xmas cards (her pic is underneath my JAI entry)

So as you can see, busy busy.   Will update soon with some pics of all the gorgeous cards I have been making


Ciao

Julz

Happy birthday

So regular readers and friends should remember the little girl Hope who has featured on my blog before with her "stamping".  Well tomorrow is her 3rd birthday and she came over today for a bit to give her mum time to attend school interviews and so got her presents early and had some cake.   Well there was more cake on her than the plate which ended up necessitating a bath but we had a lovely time.

Anyhoo, I finished her card tonight (it wasn't quite ready in time so will go over tomorrow with it and the lollipop I promised her for her birthday) and as I hadn't entered the Just Add Ink  challenge for this week which was an inspirational sketch challenge decided I may as well use it as a guide to make designing easier.

Anyway - here's the card I designed, and a picture of the adorable wee girl enjoying her cake.

Julz 
 
Materials:  Melon mambo, orchard opulence (retired) and whisper white card stock.  Melon mambo, concord crush and basic black inks, sentiment stamp from the hostess gift Occasional quotes,  Sprinkles (retired), eyelet border punch & Embosslits Beautiful Wings

Fire!

No not really.   But I am heading to a friends 40th later today and wanted to create him a really special card.  He is a firefighter so I thought it fitting to make him a fire themed card.

After searching the net for ideas I found this and used it to create the inspiration for the following card.

Sponged in a combination of So Saffron, Daffodil Delight,  Blushing Bride, Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango and Real Red to create the background I then printed the fireman out on to white paper, used my tombo to create a removable template and cut the fireman out before adhering onto the background with some dimensionals.  The inside is a plain whisper white insert with the birthday greeting from Sincere Salutations stamped in Real Red.  I can't wait to give it to him tonight.

Anyway thats all for now, although given that I yesterday received all my new toys - read big shot and heat tool plus new card and inks, I imagine I will be blogging again really soon!

See yas, have an awesome weekend.

Julz

Who wants Christmas?

So anyway, it's been a few days.   I had my first workshop on the weekend and it went pretty well I think.  The ladies seemed to enjoy themselves, sales were good and I had four workshop bookings so it was a great day.   I spent Tuesday with another SU demonstrator and we had just over six hours in her studio creating.   One of the things I made was this card, which meets requirements for this weeks Just Add Ink challenge to Just Add Christmas.   I used Old Olive card, ink and DSP, the So Swirly stamp set and a little dazzling diamonds to create this simple card.    Hope you like it.   Have had a few other creations which I will blog over the next few days most likely but wanted to get this up in time.

Julz x