Stampin’ Up Saturday ~ Monochrome….

….and the art of mass production.

Christmas card making has been in full swing this week. The most time consuming part, for me, is coming up with a design. Once the first one is done, I can usually knock up a set quite quickly, but after about the tenth I get bored with the repetition.

Time to change it up. That’s what I’ve done here. I took the original design, swapped the red ink for blue, inked up the opposite side of the embossing folder and used seam binding instead of tulle. A very different feel, using the same main ingredients.

• Pool Party cardstock and ink
• Whisper White cardstock
• Morning Post alphabet stamps
• Lacy Brocade embossing folder
• Postage Stamp punch
• 1 1/4” square punch
• seam binding

If you have any questions you can find me at angelfishcrafts{at}gmail{dot}com

I’ll be placing an order on Monday (10th) which will probably be my last before Christmas. If you need anything let me know.

What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday #182

Neither the kitchen table or the ironing board today. Not enough room on either so I’m spread out across the lounge floor instead. Well not me, the fabric, obviously.

I’ve been searching local charity shops for pillowcases, for a while, with no joy. Yesterday I found this 2 yard length of cotton fabric for £2.50, which will be perfect to make a couple of pillowcase dresses for Dress a Girl Around the World.

The pattern is printed out and the fabric is on the line. If rain doesn’t stop play, then I’ll be cutting the dresses out later.

For more desks and maybe a couple of floors head on over to Julia’s place.

Stampin’ Up Saturday ~ Morning Post

I love alphabet stamps for making titles on scrapbook pages and they can be used to great effect on cards as well. Not just for personalising them, although I often do that for baby cards and special birthdays, but as the focal point of the design.

These colours have become my go to combination for this year’s Christmas cards. Kraft and ivory with varying amounts of red and sometimes, as here, a touch of gold.

Still using the postage stamp punch, I’ve made another which is much quicker to mass produce. That script stamp comes in handy for so many different occasions.

For both cards:

• Crumb Cake cardstock and ink
• Ivory Naturals cardstock
• Brushed Gold cardstock
• Postage Stamp punch
• 1” Square punch
• Merry Minis (star) punch

With the addition of:

• Cherry Cobbler cardstock and ink
• Morning Post alphabet stamps
• Lacy Brocade embossing folder
• Cherry Cobbler tulle
• Twine

for the first card and:

• En Francais background stamp

for the second.

I am loving the new Scalloped Tulle Ribbon. Along with the brushed gold cardstock, it lifts a fairly simple card and turns it into something much more luxurious. A little goes a long way. You can find it on p.4 of the Autumn/Winter catalogue.

As ever you can find me here angelfishcrafts{at}gmail{dot}com if you have any questions, or leave one in the comments and I’ll get back to you, as long as you’re not a ‘no-reply’ blogger. I’ll be ordering again next week if anyone needs anything.

Have a great weekend. I’ll be back on Tuesday with more on the Flower Garden block. It’s progressing nicely.

PS If you’re wondering why Crumb Cake ink is listed for the ‘Noel’ card (although you probably aren’t!) I used it to ink the folder before embossing the cardstock. It doesn’t really show up in the photo, but gives the background more definition.

What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday? #181

I’m taking a leaf out of Jaki’s book today and keeping it short and sweet.

Christmas card production is stepping up around here and I was feeling fairly smug, until I read Julia’s blog. Head over there to see more desks and many more words.

OK that’s it from me. See you Friday!

The ‘Love What You Wear’ Project ~ I’m in!

In a change to the scheduled Flower Garden block post, I’d like to talk about something else this Tuesday. Something new that I’ve signed up to this month.

The ‘Love What Your Wear’ Project is the brainchild of Morwhenna Woolcock, a Bristol based artist, designer and maker. She has pledged not to buy any new clothes (apart from shoes and underwear) for a whole year, from 1st November 2012 until 1st November 2013. I’ve decided to join her, along with 20 odd others….so far.

It doesn’t mean that we can’t add any new clothes to our wardrobes during that time, just that they cannot be bought brand new from a shop. They can be thrifted from charity shops and jumble sales, bought pre-loved from dress agencies or ebay, swapped with friends, or even sewn for ourselves.

I’ve made my own clothes before and quite a few dresses for my daughter, when she was younger, as well as all the usual fancy dress that is required at school for performances and book days. I haven’t made an actual item of clothing for myself, from scratch, since I sewed my wedding outfit. That was a while ago now.

I discovered the project on Twitter. I’m a recent convert. I joined a couple of years ago, but didn’t really ‘get it’ and I’m not saying I totally do now, but I love it! I was already following Jen from My Make Do and Mend Year and Louise who co-ordinates Dress a Girl Around the World in the UK, that’s how I found Morwhenna.

I’m so looking forward to what this year will bring. I hope to rediscover and brush up on my dress making skills, meet like minded folk and have fun along the way. My first project is to make an A line skirt like the blue one (second from the end on the washing line) that I love and am gradually wearing to death. I’ll keep you posted.

Stampin’ Up Saturday ~ Merry Minis

As soon as I saw these tiny stamps in the catalogue, I knew they would be perfect for clean and simple Christmas cards. Matching punches were the icing on the cake.

Once you have all the pieces stamped and punched, it only takes a few minutes to assemble the finished card. You can even leave out the stamping stage and add the shapes punched from coloured card instead, to speed things along.

For these mini cards I reversed the colours so that the edge was white and mounted on coloured card and kraft. They would make good gift tags too. Very quick to do.

• Merry Minis stamps
• Merry Minis punch pack
• Raspberry Ripple ink and cardstock
• Gumball Green ink and cardstock
• Summer Star fruit ink and cardstock
• Whisper White cardstock
• Crumb Cake cardstock
• Curly Cute sentiment stamps
• Early Espresso ink

If you would like more information on any of the products then the online catalogue can be found here and you can contact me at angelfishcrafts {at} gmail {dot} com Apologies for the awful photos, it’s so dark here today. I’m looking forward to a cosy card making session at the kitchen table. How about you?

Friday Find ~ Advent Garland

If you’re looking for an advent calendar that also makes a cute decoration, then this could be the one.

It’s easy to make with only a small number of readily available supplies. Perfect when time is short. The instructions can be found at Bugs and Fishes along with templates for all the shapes. The designs would also be great for simple Christmas cards to make with your children to give to their friends.

Laura has lots of great tutorials and if you’re a fan of felt, you’ve probably already come across her blog. If not, then go check her out. What are you waiting for?

I’ll be back tomorrow with a Christmas card design of my own.