No matter the weather we're friends forever

How to make a colour changing umbrella that's sure to put a smile on anyone's face

Here in the UK, rainbows have been appearing in lots of house windows to represent unity, support the NHS and remind us of hope that the virus won't restrict us forever. So with this in mind, this week I have made a rainbow colour changing umbrella card.

This card is based on the reveal wheel idea with the rainbow colours being added to the wheel. I've used Stampin' Up's 'Under my Umbrella' stamp set but actually the colourful reveal wheel would work with any small stamp you have - it could be a multicoloured leaf, flower or cat !

Follow the below link to find out how the card was made

Writing paper

Send a friend a hand written letter on your own created gorgeous paper

I had a friend write to me recently - I haven't had a letter through the post for some time. I am determined to write back but my paper is just the plain white stuff that you can buy. I therefore decided to make my paper more interesting by using stamps from my stash.

So yay - I now have some lovely paper to write back to my friend on. You could make the paper with the same image on each page or even use die cuts instead of stamps. When I write my letter and have gaps in my writing I will probably fill the spaces with either more stamps or die cuts or even peel offs. It's a great way to use those stamps you love.

You may want to make a letter and envelope set to give as a gift. You could theme the letters and envelopes so they all match. I show you how to make a basic wallet to store them in at the end of the blog.

Follow the below link to find out how the stationery was made

Ribbon and Cactus Birthday

A way of using your small scraps of ribbons to create a lovely background for any stamped image

Being in lock-down provides lots of opportunities to do those tasks you keep putting off - my task this week was to tidy my sewing threads and ribbon boxes. They do get awfully tangled ! It was then I realised how many small bits of ribbon I had and as I do not like to throw anything out.  I had to think of a way to use them, hence the card this week.

Using nesting square dies to create the base to stick your ribbons to makes a really stable background. It doesn't have to be square dies, you could use any nesting dies and even turn the item into a really cute tag - this would use up your really tiny bits of ribbon.

There are some lovely ribbons out there - different widths, textures and some even have pictures or patterns on them. Mix and match to get a lovely background.

I haven't quite got around to finishing sorting out my ribbon stash - sort of got distracted with this card !

Follow the below link to find out how the card was made

Rucksack giftbag

Use Stampin Up's 'All Dressed Up' dies to create a more masculine giftbag

This is quite a small giftbag - perfect for a giftcard or a few favourite sweets. I bought this die after seeing beautiful girly bags that other people had made but I wanted to do something a little different. So I tried to see if there was a way of giving this girly bag a more masculine look to make the die more versatile. So here is my rucksack with a little pocket for a message card.

The finished giftbag is about 9 cm tall, 8 . 5 cm wide at the base tapering to 5 . 5 cm at the top with a depth of 2 . 5 cm. It would be a fab little bag for a gift card, little notes or a few of their favourite sweets. You could make them as favour bags or for any occaision. I made another one for a going back to school bag - scroll down to the bottom to see this one.

Follow the below link to find out how the card was made

Topiary Anniversary Card

Using 'Beauty and Joy' stamp set by Stampin Up and some clever die cutting to make an aperture

I saw this technique done in a magazine several years ago and love how it creates a gap for your stamp rather than the usual matting and layering of your stamp. It's used just one stamp set to create the image and the background pattern.

I made it to be an anniversary card but with the colours I have used it could be confused as a Christmas card ! I used a 10 cm high by 7 cm wide oval die to create the gap, however change the size of this depending on the size of stamp you decide to use. The possibilities are endless and is a great way to use slightly smaller stamps as most of the card is the stamped background.

Follow the below link to find out how the card was made