If Carlsberg Made Blog Posts........

The post title refers to this just about being the BEST blog post I could ever write ;0)

If you are all wondering where my blogging has disappeared to. Well let my photos explain...

My beautiful and perfect Summer Rose arrived at 13.23 last Friday (May 11th).

Sam and I are about as proud as parents can be and are still wrapped up in our own little new family bubble at home. We've been home since Sunday so still finding our feet a bit what with the new routines and endless amounts of washing (who knew something so small could create so many loads of washing? Still, it makes the house smell lovely so who am I to complain?)

I am so overwhelmed by the kindness of everyone who has sent cards and gifts. I have my thank you cards ready to write but please bear with me as it might take a little while (I spent a vast majority of my day watching a sleeping baby and when I am not doing that I am playing with and chatting to an awake baby- which doesnt leave a great deal of time for anything productive like getting dressed or crafting or writing cards!)

Looking forward to updating again soon. Hopefully I might even get some pics on of all the lovely Stampin' Up! baby cards I have been receving from some super talented crafters ;0)

Happy Crafting (or not in my case!)

-XxX-



Two Birthdays

Firstly, I must start by apologising today as both todays cards are Stampin' Up! inspired but they are not strictly all SU product and also utilise retired stamps too. Since being on leave from work I have been going through old stash and having a play and these are two of my results. Hopefully we might see a few of these fab products return in the new main catalogue in October.

I couldn't share my Dad's birthday card with you on his actual birthday yesterday due to the blog hop. So I thought I would share the birthday tidings today with my sisters card also. Dad's card was inspired by this incredibly creative creation over onVicky's blog. As soon as I saw it I realised I would have to have a go for my Dad as he is an avid stamp collector. I love how these punched stamp shapes all fit together so perfectly. I went through all of my stamps to find an appropriately masculine image to include on the stamped images and came up with this now retired set from last years Mini catalogue. I stamped them tone on tone in Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Island Indigo, Pumpkin Pie and Elegant Eggplant.

Happy Birthday to my sister, Sophie, whose birthday it is today. Her card was inspired by the little owl image in the Aviary stamp set. I came across some old (non-SU) papers in my crafting cupboard and thought they would be perfect for her (covered in glitter and mini cupcakes). I matched the colours of the owls to the colours in the papers. I embellished with a flat bow made from Blushing Bride Stitched Poly Ribbon and a Happy Birthday stamped in matching ink from the Curly Cute stamp set. I, like all crafters, have amassed a lot of lovely papers and products over the years,  I love to sometimes challenge myself to match up Stampin' Up! colours and accessories to papers I already have. And I guess this card is a simple example of how complimentary Stampin' Up's stamps and embellishments can be.

In other news, I am still on a countdown to my 40 weeks next Tuesday. Fingers crossed it will be any day now ;0) And if my blog goes quiet, you'll know where I am....

-XXX-

New Summer Mini Catalogue Blog Hop

Happy May 1st and welcome to my little part of the In Love With Stamping Summer Mini Blog Hop. A group of Stampin' Up! demonstrators have organised this hop to celebrate the launch of Stampin' Up!'s first Summer Mini catalogue which is live as of today. I thoroughly recommend taking in the hop as a whole as I am sure there are a hundred and one different creative ideas to see and you'll get a fantastic introduction to all the lovely new stamps and products too. You should have joined me today from Pat's blog which I am looking forward to hopping too very shortly.

And now for something completely different. I have participated in several catalogue launch blog hops before and always completed a card or scrapbooking project. I've never been brave enough to try something with the beautiful Stampin' Up! fabrics before. I wish I could take the whole credit for todays project. But due to my current status as 39 weeks pregnant I had to enlist the help of my lovely Mum for this hop offering. My Mum and I have been teaching ourselves to quilt since I started my maternity leave. So armed with my Mum's sewing machine and a rough idea of the size jacket we needed, and of course a pack of the lovely Twitterpated Designer Fabric from the Summer Mini, we (mainly Mum) created this beautiful quilted baby jacket.

I wish I could've found a way to make the photos do the jacket (and the fabric prints) justice. But the light was fading before I had a chance to take these photos so they are slightly darker than I would have liked.

The jacket uses all three fabric designs. The beautiful floral print is perfect for the outer of the jacket with the pink pattern forming the lining and stripey accessorising the jacket's trim. Mum did such a lovely job creating this and now all I have to do is wait for my Little Miss to finally make an appearance so she can wear it ;0)

This final photo is to show how Mum created a tie for the jacket using the striped fabric.

Hope you've enjoyed your Isle of Wight stop off on todays hop and that you're inspired to try something new with the beautiful Stampin' Up! fabrics. The next stop on the hop today can be found here with the lovely Sue.

-x-