Number of Years – 95

Posted on October 5, 2016October 5, 2016 by Mo Rootes

Today I have been making a very special card for a very special person. My father in law, Basil will be 95 in early Nov, though you would never think it to look at him. He still lives independently and manages really well with a little help from my sister in law Kate and nephew Chris. He loves his Jazz music, reads a lot, walks his dog and is looking forward to his party.

I wanted to do a special card for him and was trawling through Pinterest looking for ideas when I came across a card designed by Amanda Bates of The Crafty Spa – http://thecraftspa.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/number-of-years-double-z-joy-fold-card.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+TheCraftSpa+(The+Craft+Spa)

I loved the elegant look of the card and thought it looked great in masculine colours, so I got out my Number of Years stamp set and the co-ordinating Large Number Framelit dies and started to look through my dsp. I really liked the Dapper Denim papers in the By The Shore dsp pack and chose the thick stripes and the ombre blue paper pattern for my panels.

I made the card base using Soft Sky cardstock. The stamped panels are Very Vanilla and the main stamped panel is layered onto Dapper Denim.

The numbers 9 and 5 are stamped in Dapper Denim ink onto Very Vanilla and die cut using the Large Number dies. I stamped the ‘look whose turning’ sentiment, from the same stamp set, using the same ink colour. I though this looked a little plain so added the star banner from Tin of Tags stamp set in Soft Sky and Dapper Denim ink. I used the same banner image on the 2 smaller panels of Very Vanilla and added the ‘Happy Birthday’ from the Confetti Celebration stamp set to finish the card off. I made an envelope for the card using the same pack of dsp and the Envelope Punch Board.

I really like the way the card came together, it looks fantastic and thank you Amanda for the idea. Hope my father in law likes it.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today. Hope you like the project I shared and that you will drop by again soon

Mo x

Cookie Cutter Mummy

Posted on September 21, 2016September 21, 2016 by Mo Rootes

So, trawling through my stamp sets looking for inspiration this morning – I need to make a get well card for a friend having surgery – my eye was caught by the Cookie Cutter Halloween stamp set. I bought this set on a whim as I have loved using the Cookie Cutter Christmas stamp set and the co-ordinating Cookie Cutter Builder punch and the punch goes with the Halloween set as well………what’s not to like. However, in the UK we are really not big on Halloween so this set has been sitting on the shelf gathering dust. But, the little mummy image wrapped in bandages seemed perfect for a get well card.

For the first card I used a Thick Whisper White card base and stamped the little mummy image from the Cookie Cutter Halloween stamp set using Basic Black Archival ink onto a scrap of Whisper White and punched it out with the Cookie Cutter Builder Punch. I then took my Smoky Slate inkpad and an Aquapainter and added some shadows to the bandages, really simple but so effective, then I coloured the little face with a Blushing Bride marker pen.

I cut a panel of Whisper White cardstock and stamped the sentiment from the Designer Tin of Cards stamp set in Watermelon Wonder ink. I stamped the a cluster of small stars using a stamp from the same set using the same inkpad on the top right and bottom left of the panel and adhered the mummy image on top with Tombow liquid adhesive. Using the Project Life Corner Rounder I rounded the top left and bottom right corners and mounted this whole piece onto a panel of Island Indigo card stock. I added this panel to the card base over to the left side with Stampin Dimensionals and slid three thin scraps of card – Watermelon Wonder, Island Indigo and Garden Green -with banner ends underneath for some added interest. I loved how this card turned out.

For the 2^nd card and stamped the mummy in Basic Black Archival in the bottom right hand corner of a piece of Whisper White cardstock and coloured it in the same way as the previous card. I added a little Smoky Slate to the bottom of the stamped image to ‘ground’ it. The sentiment is from the My Hero stamp set and is stamped in Watermelon Wonder ink. Using the Cookie Cutter Builder punch and a scrap of Watermelon Wonder cardstock I punched out a tiny heart and added it to the image with a dab of Tombow liquid adhesive before mounting the whole panel onto the Tip Top Taupe card base. I really love all the white space on this card.

For the 3^rd card I stamped, punched and coloured the image in exactly the same way as for the 1^st card. I then stamped the umbrella image from the My Hero stamp set using Perfect Plum ink onto Whisper White cardstock and added the handle in Basic Black Archival ink. I stamped the handle again on a scrap of Whisper White and fussy cut the end with a pair of scissors before adhering it to the mummy’s hand and adding the mummy to the stamped panel with Tombow Liquid Adhesive. I mounted the stamped panel onto a layer of Perfect Plum cardstock before adding it to the Tip Top Taupe card base. As a final touch I added a little Smoky Slate ink with an Aquapainter so that he was dangling in mid-air. Loved this card also.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today. Hope you like the projects I have shared and that you will drop by again soon

Mo x

Supplies used:
Stamp Sets
Cookie Cutter Halloween, Designer Tin of Cards, My Hero
Cardstock
Thick Whisper White, Whisper White, Tip Top Taupe, Perfect Plum, Watermelon Wonder, Island Indigo, Garden Green
Whisper White Envelopes
Inkpads/markers
Basic Black Archival, Smoky Slate, Watermelon Wonder, Perfect Plum, Blushing Bride
Tools
Stampin Trimmer, Cookie Cutter Builder Punch, Stampin Scrub + Stampin Mist, Project Life Corner Rounder, Scissors, Bone Folder, Clear blocks D, C and A
Tombow Liquid Adhesive, Stampin Dimensionals

Jar of Love

Posted on August 11, 2016August 11, 2016 by Mo Rootes

This week’s class projects used the gorgeous Jar of Love stamp set and co-ordinating Every Day Jars Framelit dies. Jar of Love is such a great value set with 37 beautiful and very versatile photopolymer stamps and if you add the 17 framelit dies in the Every Day Jars set and you have an absolute bargain.

The first card is a straight forward jar full of flowers. We used the medium sized jar and stamped it with Smoky Slate ink. The foliage was stamped directly over the jar using Pear Pizzazz and Wild Wasabi ink; we also added some extra stems by partly inking the foliage stamps to give a fuller effect. We added the water in 2^nd generation Soft Sky ink and the twine effect wrap around bow in Night of Navy.

The larger flowers were stamped in So Saffron & Real Red and Sweet Sugarplum 1^st & 2^nd generation. The smaller flowers in Perfect Plum 1^st & 2^nd generation and Peakaboo Peach 1^st & 2^nd generation. The little sprigs of flowers was stamped in Perfect Plum. All of these were then die cut using the Every Day Jars Framelits and the BigShot. All that was left to do was a little flower arranging, the flowers were added using dimensionals and the sprigs using Tombow. The greeting was then stamped in Night of Navy ink. The whole panel was added to a piece of Night of Navy cardstock then adhered to a Thick Whisper White cardbase.

For the second card we stamped the smallest jar in Smoky Slate ink onto a small panel of Whisper White cardstock and added the handle. The water was stamped in 2^nd generation Soft Sky. We stamped the fish using Peakaboo Peach ink, die cut it out then added Clear Wink of Stella to make it shimmer. We stamped the bow in Night of Navy and die cut it out. Using the bubble image from the Playful Backgrounds stamp set we added Night of Navy bubble to the Soft Sky card base and the stamped Whisper White panel. We rounded opposite corners of the stamped panel using the Project Life Corner rounder. Using the Banner Triple Punch to flag the ends of the Whisper White and Night of Navy pieces and adhered then onto the card base using Tombow. The stamped panel was added using dimensionals.

The third card used a Thick Whisper White card base. We stamped the group of stars from the Perpetual Birthday calendar stamp set using Peakaboo Peach, Sweet Sugarplum and So Saffron ink. The large jar and the jar lid were stamped in Smoky Slate Ink. The outside and inside of the jar plus the lid were then die cut, we also die cut the jar from a piece of Window Sheet. Using a thin drizzle of Tombow glue we adhered the Window Sheet die cut to the back of the jar frame then added the lid to the front. We wrapped the Night of Navy twine around the top and tied a small bow. The ladies loved the new dimensional strips we added to the back of the die cut jar; they are so flexible and easy to use. We added some star shaped, sugar cake decorations onto the stamped card front roughly where the jar was going to go to check position, so kind of Morrison’s to provide them in just the right colours for the card….. When we were happy the backing of the dimensional strip was removed and the jar placed over top of the stars. The whole panel was then added to a layer of Night of Navy then to the Thick Whisper White cardbase.

I absolutely love this set, so many pieces to play with and so much you can do with it.

Hope you like the projects and visit again soon.

Mo x

Supplies
Jar of Love stamp set
Playful Backgrounds stamp set
Perpetual Birthday Calendar stamp set
Every Day Jars Framelits
Whisper White Cardstock – Thick and Regular
Soft Sky Cardstock
Night of Navy Cardstock
Window Sheet
Smoky Slate Inkpad
Pear Pizzazz Inkpad
Wild Wasabi Inkpad
So Saffron Inkpad
Real Red Inkpad
Perfect Plum Inkpad
Sweet Sugarplum inkpad
Peakaboo Peach inkpad
Night of Navy inkpad
Night of Navy Twine
Stampin Trimmer
Bigshot + Multipurpose Platform
Acrylic blocks A, B, C, D, E and H
Scissors
Bone Folder
Stampin Scrub and Stampin Mist

Thoughtful Branches Team Challenge

Posted on August 6, 2016August 6, 2016 by Mo Rootes

Our team challenge this month asked us to create a project using only a currently available bundle, either a stamp/die combo or a stamp/punch combo. I chose the Thoughtful Branches bundle which is only available until the 31^st August. It is an incredibly versatile stamp and die combo and can be used for multiple occasions, including Christmas and comes with some lovely sentiments. We were not allowed to use any dies or punches that were not included in the bundle.

I opted to make a ‘screen style card’ to show off some of the many things you can do with this set.

Having made this card I decided to step it up by decorating the screen base. I used the Envelope Punch Board to create the breaks in the top of the card and the Decorative Label Punch to create the legs.

Supplies

Thoughtful Branches Bundle
Acrylic Blocks A, B, C, D, E and H
Crumb Cake Cardstock
Early Espresso Cardstock
Whisper White Cardstock
Early Espresso Inkpad
Pear Pizzazz Inkpad
Cucumber Crush Inkpad
Crushed Curry Inkpad
Bermuda Bay Inkpad
Rose Red Inkpad
Cajun Craze re-inker
Crushed Curry Re-inker
Cherry Cobbler re-inker
Cucumber Crush re-inker
Stampin Trimmer
Bigshot + Multipurpose Platform
Precision Plate
Simply Scored Scoring Tool
Bone Folder
Stampin Scrub and Stampin Mist

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today, see you again soon

Mo x

Watercolor Wings classes

Posted on July 26, 2016July 26, 2016 by Mo Rootes

Lovely classes this month using the Watercolor Wings stamp set and the Bold Butterfly and Basic Butterfly framelits. We made a lovely ‘book style’ box with 4 matching cards and envelopes.

I really wanted to use Sweet Sugarplum as my main accent colour and much to my surprise ended up choosing Chocolate Chip cardstock for the box itself. Chocolate Chip is my least used shade of brown, don’t know why but it really goes well with the sugarplum, the colours look gorgeous together.

The inside pockets of the box were made using Sweet Sugarplum cardstock. The right pockets holds 4 decorated cards using the same stamp set and the left pocket holds 4 co-ordinating envelopes.

The card bases are made using Thick Whisper White cardstock. Each card has a panel of either Chocolate Chip cardstock or Sweet Sugarplum cardstock. The images are stamped in Blushing Bride, Sweet Sugarplum and Chocolate Chip ink onto regular Whisper White cardstock and I added some iridescent sequins from my stash for a bit of sparkle.

We die cut a butterfly for the front of the box using my Big Shot and added a Vellum filigree die cut butterfly over the top to give added dimension. The box is closed using some of the gorgeous Sweet Sugarplum ruched ribbon which ties beautifully.

To purchase any of the products used go to http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/crafty-rootes/ – click on the Shop Now tab. If you would like to join my team go to – http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/crafty-rootes/ – click on the Join the Fun tab.

Thanks for stopping by my blog, hope to see you again soon.

Mo x

Hooray for Confetti Celebration

Posted on July 12, 2016July 12, 2016 by Mo Rootes

I’m still playing with the Confetti Celebration stamp set and have CASE’d another card inspired by a card made by a German demo called Christina, check out her website at https://finepaperarts.wordpress.com/2016/05/11/mein-erstes-werk-mit-den-neuen-farben

I love the large ‘hoorah’ stamp from this set and like Christina I chose one of the new 2014 – 2016 in-colors for my card base, in my case Dapper Denim and in hers Sweet Sugarplum. I stamped the ‘hooray’ on a piece of Whisper White cardstock in Emerald Envy, Crushed Curry, Dapper Denim, Rich Razzleberry, Real Red, Night of Navy, Watermelon Wonder and Smoky Slate inks.

I added a piece of dsp from the retired Cherry on Top stack to the bottom, cutting it at a slant and topped it with a small strip of Dapper Denim cardstock to cover the join. Adding this piece to a layer of Dapper Denim cardstock pulls the whole topper together. I then stamped the ‘hooray’ again in Dapper Denim ink and punched it out using the 2” circle punch and backed it onto a piece of Dapper Denim which I die cut using a circle from the Layering Circle Framelits and adding to the card front using dimensionals.

This makes a really cute, quick and easy card.

Having made this card using a lot of ink colours I thought I would strip it back and make a card using just one inkpad and a couple of pieces of cardstock.

I chose Night of Navy ink and stamped the ‘Yay’ sentiment on Whisper White cardstock punching it out using the Medium Star punch. If you don’t have the punch this is a really easy image to fussy cut……got to love a straight edge. Using the little star from the Confetti Celebration stamp set I stamped stars diagonally from the right bottom corner to the left top corner and added a scattering of punched Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer cardstock circles from my stash using Tombow. I had punched a pile of these for another project using the ½” and ¼” Handheld Punches; they were perfect for this card. The punched star was added using a dimensional.

Whilst looking for a big enough piece of Night of Navy cardstock on which to mat the stamped piece I came across the slightly shorter, wider piece I ended up using. I really liked the quirky look it gave to the card. I had planned to use a Thick Whisper White card base but I just didn’t like the way it looked and went with Crumb Cake cardstock instead. A really lovely masculine card and again quick and easy to make, great for a beginner.

To purchase any of the products go to http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/crafty-rootes/ – click on the Shop Now tab. If you would like to join my team go to – http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/crafty-rootes/ – click on the Join the Fun tab.

Thanks for stopping by my blog, hope to see you again soon.

Mo x

Building Foxy Friends

Posted on July 7, 2016July 7, 2016 by Mo Rootes

Oh my word………… I have finally had time to try out the Foxy Friends stamp set and the Fox Builder Punch and I LOVE them.

For the first card I kept it simple stamping the fox in Cajun Craze ink onto a small piece of Whisper White cardstock. I stamped the head again onto a piece of scrap Whisper White and punched it out with the Fox Builder punch. I stamped the wider of the ‘faces’ with Basic Black Archival ink and added it to the stamped fox using Dimensionals. So cute, I love him …. and it is definitely a him. I rounded the upper left hand corner and stamped the sentiment from the Banners For You stamp set using the Basic Black Archival ink. I layered the stamped piece onto some Cajun Craze cardstock leaving a 1/8” border.

Using the new Petal Burst embossing folder, I ran a 2” wide piece of Crumb Cake cardstock through the Big Shot. I adhered a thin strip of Cajun Craze down the long side of the debossed side of the Crumb Cake panel then added it to the left side of a Thick Whisper White card base before adding the stamped panel with dimensionals.

I made a landscape version for my second card. I added a thin piece of Old Olive cardstock to the embossed Crumb Cake panel and stuck it to the Thick Whisper White card base. I stamped the walking fox image in Cajun Craze and the tree trunk in Soft Suede onto scrap Whisper White card and fussy cut them out using scissors. The tree trunk was added to the card base with Tombow adhesive and the fox with Dimentionals. The mushrooms were stamped in Blushing Bride, Crumb Cake and Soft Suede ink.

The third fox was stamped in Calypso Coral ink and Basic Black Archival ink with the legs added in Soft Suede. I used a 2” punch to cut out the image. I backed this panel onto a circle cut from Soft Suede cardstock using the Layered Circles Framelits. The dsp comes from a retired pack called Best Year Ever and was added to a thin strip of Soft Suede card. I wrapped Linen Thread around the dsp panel before sticking it to a Crumb Cake base. The stamped circle was added with dimensionals. I stamped the sentiment from the Baby Bear stamp set in Soft Suede ink.

I really, really, really like this stamp set and its co-ordinating punch, so many other creatures to make. Watch out for more projects using this in the future.

Thanks for stopping by my blog, hope to see you again soon.

Mo x

Places You’ll Go

Posted on July 5, 2016July 5, 2016 by Mo Rootes

We have had some very good news this past weekend. Our son, after a long and difficult journey and subject to a final medical, has been offered a place at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Whoop whoop…….this is the first step to his becoming an officer in the Army and because it’s what I do I wanted to make him a card to congratulate him.

I chose the Places You’ll Go stamp set which seems appropriate and stamped the stand image in Basic Black Archival ink onto a piece of Whisper White card. The globe image was then stamped in Island Indigo ink, love photopolymer stamps, so much easier to line everything up. I thought it looked a bit bare so added some spots in Cucumber Crush, Pool Party and Chocolate Chip ink using the splatter stamp from the Timeless Textures stamp set. I added the sentiment in Island Indigo ink below the stamped image and as an accent I added a strip of Blooms and Bliss dsp to the bottom of the stamped panel.

I adhered the stamped panel to a smaller but longer piece of Basic Black card; I think it looks really quirky. I rounded the upper right corner of the stamped piece to balance it out before adding the whole piece to the Island Indigo card base.

I made a second version with a piece of retired Lost Lagoon washi tape instead of the dsp.

I hope you like the cards.

To purchase any of the products click on the Shop Now tab. If you would like to join my team go to – http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/crafty-rootes/ – click on the Join the Fun tab.

Thanks for stopping by my blog, hope to see you again soon.

Mo x

Confetti Celebration CASE’d

Posted on June 30, 2016June 30, 2016 by Mo Rootes

Whilst scrolling through Pinterest last week I came across a card that really attracted me. It was made by Marelle Taylor, an Australian demonstrator, using two of the new in-colours for 2016 – 2018, Dapper Denim and Emerald Envy plus the Confetti Celebration stamp set from the new annual catalogue. I love this colour combination, so strong and bold.

I decided to make the card myself, with a few changes…… I took a piece of Emerald Envy cardstock and added a smaller piece of Whisper White on top, adhering it down lightly with Snail adhesive. With the Dapper Denim ink I stamped the really cute string of baubles onto the Emerald Envy cardstock making sure that a couple of loops crossed the Whisper White piece. I removed the Whisper White piece and continued to stamp the baubles down the Emerald Envy panel.

I mounted 3 of the sentiments from the Confetti Celebration set onto a single acrylic block and using the Dapper Denim and Emerald Envy Stampin Write Markers, coloured in the words before stamping them onto the panel of Whisper White. Using the same markers I coloured the baubles on the Whisper White cardstock. I added the Whisper White panel to a piece of Dapper Denim cardstock and added a 3 inch piece of Dapper Denim ruched ribbon to the top of the panel in the centre with a Mini Glue Dot then added the whole piece to the stamped layer of Emerald Envy using dimensionals. The ribbon was stuck to the back of the Emerald Envy piece using sellotape and the whole topper was attached to a Thick Whisper White card base.

Love how the card turned out, a great masculine option. This would also be a really versatile set for a new crafter. Check out Marelle’s blog for more ideas using this set – http://www.marelletaylor.com

Thanks for stopping by my blog, hope to see you again soon.

Mo x

Birthday Fiesta – Loving the Llama

Posted on June 24, 2016June 24, 2016 by Mo Rootes

Birthday Fiesta was the first set in the new catalogue which caught my eye, maybe because it is at the front …… and maybe because my family and I have been fortunate enough to travel around South America and have seen llamas and alpacas in their natural habitat and it is definitely the llamas that make this set for me.

It is my daughter Camilla’s birthday this week and I couldn’t wait to make her card using this stamp set.

I stamped the llama using Soft Suede ink onto Crumb Cake card stock and die cut it out using the co-ordinating Fiesta Time framelits. I wanted some banners across the top of the card and, after a lot of playing decided to ink up the Boho Chic embossing folder using Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Calypso Coral and Watermelon Wonder ink pads direct to the embossing folder, adding a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock and sending it through the Big Shot. I then used the embossed card to die cut my banners using the Fiesta Time framelits. I love the effect these gave, really bright and party like. The llamas back cloth was stamped in Watermelon Wonder onto Very Vanilla cardstock and fussy cut out. I added the llama to a panel of Very Vanilla cardstock using dimensionals. The banners were adhered using the Tombow liquid glue and the sentiment from Designer Tin of Cards stamp set was stamped in Watermelon Wonder. The whole panel was added to a piece of Watermelon Wonder cardstock and added to a Crumb Cake card base using dimentionals. I absolutely love this card, the llama is so gorgeous. I hope Camilla likes it.

The second card was made using a similar layout. The llama was stamped in Archival Basic Gray onto Smoky Slate cardstock and die cut as before. This time I stamped the streamers across the top of the Whisper White panel using Island Indigo and Night of Navy ink. The llamas back cloth was stamped in Island Indigo onto a scrap of Whisper White and fussy cut. After adding the llama to the stamped panel, I added it to a piece of Smoky Slate cardstock and adhered the whole piece to an Island Indigo card base using Tombow. The sentiment comes from Designer Tin of Cards. This would make a great masculine card.

The last card of this batch uses a Bermuda Bay card base. The llama is stamped in Tip Top Taupe ink onto Whisper White cardstock and die cut. I cut a circle from Watermelon Wonder cardstock using the Layering Circle Framelits and used the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set and Watermelon Wonder ink to add some texture. I choose a piece of dsp from the retired Cherry on Top pack and added it to a layer of Basic Black cardstock. The circle was glued to the right side using Tombow and the llama added onto the circle using dimensionals. The back cloth for the llama is a piece of dsp from the same pack which I fussy cut and adhered on with Tombow. The whole topper was then added to a Bermuda Bay card base using Tombow. I stamped the sentiment in Watermelon Wonder ink onto a scrap of Whisper White cardstock and used the Banner Triple punch to shape the end, this was attached using Tombow. Love this card it is so bright and cheerful.

Thanks for stopping by my blog, hope to see you again soon.

Mo x