Circle of Spring

So today I decided to set myself a challenge. I bought Circle of Spring and the corresponding die set, Wonderful Wreath Framelits as part of my starter set. My lovely mentor and mama duck, Susan, gave me the Wonderful Wreath stamp set so today is the day I get to play. I've been wanting to experiment since they arrived but a temporary work contract and visit to see my daughters conspired against me.

I can see these two sets being used a great deal, there are some fabulous ideas on Pinterest. So many ideas, so little time.

First of all I decided to start with the Spring set. I stamped and heat embossed using white onto vellum before using the marker pens to colour from behind to give a very delicate image and then die cut it out.

At this stage I still only had a rough idea of how I wanted the finished card to look but I do tend to "wing it" with most of my designs.

Pear Pizzazz

Calypso Coral

Well, I appear to have departed from the look I was going for; I wanted the circlet to stand out a little. I chose Calypso Coral and Pear Pizzazz, colours I'd used from the subtle markers. Being very new to Stampin' Up, although I have all the card stock colours, I haven't yet bought any patterned papers, so to tie the colours together I used the small flower stamps and created my own to co-ordinate.

Now to put the elements together.....

Still contemplating a butterfly. Watch this space. ;)

Abigail's Birthday Card

It was my daughters birthday last week, so what better excuse than to take myself off to the craft room. Abby's friends and fiance call her A-bee, so I had an obvious starting point! I decided to use the Flower Shop stamp set and Pansy punch along with Hexagon Hive thinlets dies - now sadly discontinued. So Saffron, Bermuda Bay and Melon Mambo cardstock proved to be a great match for the 2 patterned papers I found amongst my stash.

Bermuda Bay

Melon Mambo

So Saffron

Of course it wouldn't have been complete without a bee and the Shooting Stars bundle has 2 really cute bees - both stamps and dies.  It also has a hive so I know what my next card for her will have on it.  Talk about getting ahead of myself!

Shooting Stars

Thoughtful Branches

Thoughtful Branches will be available to buy for a limited time from 2nd - 31st August (or until stock lasts). It consists of such versatile stamps and dies that co-ordinate to create truly professional looking designs. Buy as a bundle to save money.

Exciting Times...

Eek, it's finally arrived! I'm so excited to get my Stampin' Up starter kit. It was quite difficult to choose what to include even though I was able to take advantage of the 2 extra stamp sets. I know I'm going to love using the dies and stamps I chose and am looking forward to getting the chance to play and experiment.