Avid Cards - The Songbird Stamper

Abundant Beauty Christmas Card – Stamptastic Friends Blog Hop Nov ’23…

Hello and welcome to our Stamptastic Friends Blog Hop, and my Abundant Beauty Christmas Card tutorial. Our theme this month is CASE a Stamptastic Friend, and I chose to CASE the lovely Ginny Harrell. The Stamptastic Friends is a group of Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators from around the world who love to bring you fresh and creative ideas for your papercrafting, you can hop through all of this month’s posts using the links at the bottom of the page. Here is a picture of Ginny’s card that she made using the Abundant Beauty Decorative Masks, isn’t it gorgeous, and I do […]

Watercoloured Flowers – Creativity Abounds Blog Hop Jun ’23…

I think I am in the zone with watercolouring at the moment, what with my watercolour cardmaking course in full swing, so I couldn’t help but bring you these amazing watercoloured flowers from the Fresh as a Daisy suite today. This suite is so versatile and the stamps and dies are just so easy to work with. The Creativity Abounds team are a super talented bunch of Stampin’ Up! demonstrators from around the world who come together to bring you tutorials and creative inspiration, as well as our brilliant Stamp Camps. The next one is on the 8th July (though […]

New Colours from Stampin’ Up!…

I don’t know about you, but it normally takes me a year or so to really get into any new colours from Stampin’ Up! but this year I have vowed that I will introduce them more quickly into my crafting, and I think the key is learning which colours go with each other, to make gorgeous colour combos. I did a little bit of exploration this week, trying to see which colours paired with each other, and focussed my efforts on the new In Colours. I created this fun chart, to help me see which colours might suit which others, […]

Fresh as a Daisy suite from Stampin’ Up!…

The Fresh as a Daisy suite from Stampin’ Up! was one of the first suites that jumped out at me from the upcoming 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue, and I can certainly say that it didn’t disappoint! With its beautiful papers and gems, fun stamp set and GORGEOUS dies, this suite is fantastic for any level of crafter. Our Creativity Abounds July Stamp Camp is using this Fresh as a Daisy suite, so if you think you might like it, why not come and join us? All you need to do is purchase the suite (£69.50) through me, when the catalogue goes […]

How to use the emboss resist technique in cardmaking…

Going through my stamp sets for inspiration for my YouTube live, I realised I hadn’t ever used the gorgeous Pretty Medallion stamp, so I thought what better than a little tutorial using this background stamp with the emboss resist technique, both with watercolouring and with ink blending too. Heat embossing is still like magic to me every time I do it, and I love how many different techniques you can use with it too. These are two fairly simple techniques but ones that really add a little wow to your finished project. The pretty medallion stamp set is perfect for […]

Spring Themed Card – Tech 4 Stampers Blog Hop Mar ’23…

The theme for this month’s Tech 4 Stampers blog hop is Spring, and I really enjoyed making this Spring themed card, though I must say at the time of creating it we were feeling any but Spring like here in the UK! I decided to use the Nested Friends bundle, mainly because it has been sat unloved on my shelf since I bought it, but also because it really is a sign of Spring for me when the birds start nest building. We are lucky to have a birds nest in our hedge, and excited to see if they come […]

Regency Park Suite – Artisan Design Team Monthly Post Jan’ 2023…

Hello, and welcome, I am so excited to share these projects that I made with the Regency Park Suite, as this was my first post as for the Artisan Design Team this year! I must say, these really aren’t my go to colours, so I was definitely out of my comfort zone working here, but sometimes it is good to push ourselves though, don’t you think? The Regency Park suite is actually what I call a Mega Suite, as it has two stamp sets, a punch, dies, papers, speciality papers, ribbon and embellishments. You really have a lot to play […]

How to colour flowers quickly with watercolour…

Last week on my YouTube live I played with the new Fragrant Flowers stamp set, colouring it in with my alcohol markers, but this week I wanted to demonstrate how to colour flowers quickly with watercolour, as we don’t always have the time to spend colouring so neatly. I hope this video and blog post will show you that you can achieve great effects really quickly! To learn more about watercolouring, and all the techniques and tips that I have, why not think about joining my watercolour cardmaking course. You can find all of the details and the link to […]

Colouring Flowers with Alcohol Markers…

One of my favourite things to do in my crafting life is colouring flowers with alcohol markers; I just love the effects that you can create and how beautiful they look when you are finished. It is also one of the techniques that I share on my Stampin’ Blends Alcohol Marker Course, along with blending different colours together too, like I have done in the project below. I am actually taking bookings for my next Stampin’ Blends course now, so why not head over to my page for more information, or to book your spot! I used the upcoming Fragrant […]

Inky Embossing Folder Technique – Tech 4 Stampers Blog Hop Dec’ 22…

I think I am a little bit obsessed with this inky embossing folder technique at the moment, but it is such a good one I can’t help but share it with you today. I have used the upcoming Queen Bee stamp set for this card, available to customers from the 5th January 2023 in the new Jan – Apr Mini Catalogue. I love the Tech 4 Stampers Academy, run by Louise Sims, our tech guru. Without her support I would not have this website and I would not be able to share my creations with you all in this way, […]