So Long and Farewell Blackberry Bliss

I, like many of you I suspect, have had a love hate relationship for the last two years. Blackberry Bliss has been a tricky friend! I love its rich colour, and ability to add depth to any colour combination. I have not, however, enjoyed its ability to stain everything in sight! 

When I get creative its not generally a very orderly process, (which some would say shows true creative genes..?!) but as a general rule whatever mess I have made can been easily remedied with a wipe of the craft table, wash of my hands and perhaps of wash of the clothes I've been wearing. 

Blackberry Bliss, however, has not been so willing to part company with me. My hands have regularly looked like I have had a rather unfortunate accident, or someone else just has! A favoured pale blue cardigan now has some custom sleeves with a rather unique ombre effect on the cuffs, and I have smudged more finished cards with just a spot of Blackberry Bliss for 'effect' than I can really get away with.

However this has not stopped me using this fantastic colour one more time to make this gorgeous butterfly card above. Having die cut out the Butterfly in Whisper White Card I then used a sponge dauber to colour the centre of the butterfly in Daffodil Delight. Then from the edges inwards I daubed in Blackberry Bliss, lightening the pressure so that the two colours could blend together. Three Daffodil Delight candy dots were glued down the body of the butterfly to pick up the yellow on the wings.

The Background of the card is simply stamped with the fern from Butterfly Basics in Cucumber Crush on Cucumber Crush Card, stamping and then stamping again before reinking to create depth (know as stamping off). The green card was then glued to the base card made from Blackberry Bliss.

A greeting was stamped in the corner of my green background, before gluing on the butterfly. Here I just glued the body of the butterfly, which then allowed me to shape the wings outwards to give more dimension and also the lovely shadow on the background.

I hope you have enjoyed using this fabulous colour as much as I have, and will now enjoy some of the pretty New InColours available, that will perhaps be a slightly easier friend to have in the craft room!

New Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue 2016-2017 Blog Hop!

Hooray! the New catalogue is finally here, and to celebrate I have made this fun card using one of the new hostess stamp sets, Love You Lots, and New Background stamps Playful Backgrounds.

I started with a card base of New In Colour Emerald Envy 14.85cm x 18.5cm, and scored and folded at 10.5cm on the long edge to achieve a card base which has a longer back than front.

I stamped the stripes on the inside by closing the card and making a pencil mark on the inside all the way down the shorter edge of the front. I then got a piece of scrap paper to cover the inside of the card up to this pencil mark to use as a mask. Using the stripe stamp from the New Playful Backgrounds stamp set I stamped in Emerald envy all the way down the side, over the mask and over the edge of the card so it was neatly stamped.

To finish the inside edge I used a piece of the Bronze spotty Washi tape from the Affectionately Yours Washi tape pack to just cover the inside line of the stripes from top to bottom. I then covered the front of the card in the fun filled bubble stamp from the Playful Backgrounds set, again in Emerald Envy.

Using the Bronze spot Washi tape and also the Watermelon Wonder stripped Washi tape I tore strips of tape to cover the top of the card front with in a roughly diamond shape pattern.

On a piece of Whisper white card I stamped the cute Hedgehogs from the Love You Lots set in Dapper Denim, another New InColour. Using a blender pen I coloured in the flower in Watermelon Wonder and stamped a greeting from a balloon string from the Balloon Celebration set introduced this Spring.

This was then mounted on Watermelon Wonder and attached over the Washi tape with dimmensionals.

This card is just what I wanted for a wedding invitation acceptance I have been meaning to send, as the bride is real animal lover!

I hope you enjoy browsing the New catalogue, and getting some ideas from hoping along our blogs. Please jump along next to Cat Herrington at Wiggle Craft!

If you have not yet seen the lovely work by Mandy Sullivan of Stamp with Paper Panda, then why not take a hop back and see what inspiration she has on offer.

You can also view the Blog Hop Posts directly from the links below:

Cary Buckgham & Gill Moore

Katie Jones

Lesley Lendon

Fiona Stanton

Sarah McDermott

Sara Sayers

Jay and Barry

Karen Ripley

Fiona Harris

Fiona Whitten

It's Your Big Day!

I don't know about you, but crafting for me is just that little bit sweeter when I have something to play with for free! I made this card with the New Birthday Banners stamp set that I won in a prize patrol when I went to the demonstrator conference On Stage this April (yes it is as fun as it sounds!)

I really loved the sentiment 'Time to put out this tiny fire' matched with the candy striped candle and decided that this was going to be the centre of my design. So I got out a couple of my New InColour Peekaboo Peach, and last years Incolour Mint Macaron along with Night of Navy to stamp a line of candles along the middle of my Whisper White card.

Either side of this I stamped sentiments in alternating colours, 'Its Your Big Day!' along the top, and then 'Time to put this Tiny Fire' along the bottom. 

A tip to do this is to start by stamping the middle candle and then stamping either side of it until you reach the edges. Stamp the sentiments in the same way, the first one in the middle and then fill the others in other side. This way all the images have a central focal point and create a better overall look, with any gaps at the edges being filled with partial stamps.

My background was created with the Playful Backgrounds set, using the bubble like stamp in Peekaboo Peach all over the Peekaboo Peach Card. This was then layered onto Night of Navy Card, and lastly onto a 6x4" Mint Macaron Card Base.

I liked this card design as it was simple but effective, doesn't require much equipment, and is a unisex design, which could be adapted with many colour combinations. I'd love to see any you create.

For another card using the Playful Backgrounds check out my Blog Hop post arriving on Sat 4th June!