Phoenix Inspirations

We are celebrating in  The Male Room  this week and we want to see your celebration cards or projects. It doesn't necessarily need to be Christmas related - mine isn't - take a look I've made it as clean and simple as possible - I do like the silver cup though don't you? All the cards have to be male for this challenge but the celebration type is up to you - can't wait to see what you come up with. Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Tag It, Delightful Dozen Ink: Real Red, Smoky Slate Card Stock: Whisper White, Naturals White, Real Red, Gumball Green Paper: In Colour DSP Accessories: Big Shot, Chalk Talk, Modern Label Punch, Dimensionals (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs - thanks). You can al

This is our last challenge of the year at  Make My Monday  and we are ending on a good one - CAS Christmas. I love clean and simple so this was great for me - take a look at my card Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Bells and Boughs, Special Season Ink: Real Red, Certain Celery (retired), Crushed Curry Card Stock: Whisper White, Real Red Accessories: Big Shot, Circle Die, Dimensionals (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs - thanks). You can also shop now directly from my Stampin' Up website - click  HERE  to take a look. Please don't forget to pop over and see what the other DT ladies have to show you and I hope to be visiting your blogs soon to see what you have created -

It's the challenge of the year over on  CAS - Colours & Sketches  and we are finishing with this lovely sketch Here is my card I wasn't sure about this colour combo but I think it's growing on me now! I'm also falling in love with Every thing Eleanor again - I haven't used it for such a long time, doesn't it look good with the decorative label from Chalk Talk? Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Chalk Talk Ink: Baked Brown Sugar, Crisp Cantaloupe Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Naturals Ivory Paper: In Colour DSP Accessories: Chalk Talk, Big Shot, Dimensionals, Basic Pearls (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs - thanks). You can also shop now directly from my Stampi

We have a lovely theme for you this week at  Make My Monday , we want you to create a Frosty Scene. This is one of my favourite things to do and I had such fun creating this card - take a look I recently had the great pleasure if playing with the new Thinlits Circle card die and couldn't resist using it for this card. Loads of glitter was added to the branches of my trees and this is the first time I have used this particular stamp - isn't it lovely? Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Serene Silhouettes, Petite Pairs Ink: Island Indigo, Midnight Muse Card Stock: Island Indigo, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer Paper: In Colour DSP Accessories: Big Shot, Thinlits die, Scallop Trim Punch,Modern Label Punch, Dazzling Diamonds (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order.

That's right it's the last challenge of the year over on the  52 {Christmas} Cars Throwdown  and this time it is to choose ANY previous challenge. I have chosen the Holly theme from back in August - take a look This very nearly turned out to be a one layer card - I added the label right at the last minute as I felt it lacked a little something. Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Joyful Christmas, Bells and Boughs Ink: Certain Celery (retired), Real Red, Basic Gray Card Stock: Whisper White, Naturals White, Real Red Accessories: Dimensionals, Decorative Label Punch (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs - thanks). You can also shop now directly from my Stampin' Up website - click  HERE  to take a look.

All this week my DT posts have been popping up - well I hope they have as I have scheduled them all! Today is no exception as I am currently staying with my Mum while Dad is in hospital having his chemo. It was quite a rush getting all my cards made before I left as I am not the most organised of crafters however, here is one I really enjoy making. It's for today's challenge over at  CAS - Colours & Sketches  - take a look It's a circle swing card made by die cutting parts of the die leaving a centre panel. This is folded concertina style to make the circle 'swing'. Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Wonderful Wreath, Love and Joy, Joyful Christmas Ink: Real Red, Gumball Green Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Real Red Paper: In Colour DSP Accessories: Big Shot, Dimensionals (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar.

It's midweek motivation time over on  Make My Monday   so I have made this card for your inspiration - take a look There are more details over on the blog but here is what I used to make it Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Wonderful Wreath, Special Season Ink: Gumball Green, Always Artichoke, Real Red, Chocolate Chip Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Naturals White Accessories: Dimensionals, Vintage Brads (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs - thanks). You can also shop now directly from my Stampin' Up website - click  HERE  to take a look.

As we hurtle into the season of goodwill and Christmas festivities what better theme to have than Food and Drink? - which just happens to be the new theme over in  The Male Room  - here is my project I have chosen to step away from Christmas and instead show you the gift I made for my Brother's birthday. I have the lovely Traci Cornelius to thank for this project as I followed the tutorial on her blog  HERE  - please do pop over there and take a look. Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Nature Walk (retired) Ink: Various markers Card Stock: Naturals White (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs - thanks). You can also shop now directly from my Stampin' Up website - click  HERE  to take a look. Please don'

The title says it all and is the new challenge over on  Make My Monday  - here is my card A traditional Christmas Poinsettia in traditional Christmassy colours - with a few sparkly bits in the centre! Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Joyful Christmas Ink: Versamark, Chocolate Chip Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Real Red Paper: Polka Dot Parade DSP Accessories:Big Shot, Window Framelits, White EP, Scallop Trim Punch (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs - thanks). You can also shop now directly from my Stampin' Up website - click  HERE  to take a look. Please don't forget to pop over and see what the other DT ladies have to show you and I hope to be visiting your blogs soon to see what you have

Our challenge this week at  52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown  is to pick a previous theme Here is my card - I chose Wreaths from July 2012 I went a bit mad with the gold embossing on this - it really does shine in real life! Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Morning Meadow, Lovely as a Tree, Joyful Christmas Ink: Gumball Green, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Certain Celery (retired marker) Card Stock: Very Vanilla Accessories: Gold EP (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs - thanks). You can also shop now directly from my Stampin' Up website - click  HERE  to take a look. Please don't forget to pop over and see what the other DT ladies have to show you and I hope to be visiting your blogs soon to see what

We have another gorgeous sketch for our last challenge in November designed for us by the lovely  Lizy . Lizy has also set up a Facebook page for this challenge blog  HERE  so please do 'like' and stay updated. So -  CAS - Colours & Sketches  - here is the sketch And here is my card It is a little unfinished as I couldn't decide on what sentiment to stamp inside my frame - that may be added when I decide who I will send it to. Materials - Stampin Up Stamps: Papaya Collage Ink: Smoky Slate, Strawberry Slush, Pink Pirouette, Wild Wasabi Card Stoke: Very Vanilla, Basic Gray, Strawberry Slush, Pink Pirouette Accessories: Dimentionals (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs - thanks). You can also sh

Over on  Make My Monday  this week our new theme is 'CONTEMPORY CHRISTMAS' - nothing traditional - here is my card - hope it fits the bill! I've used the Mosaic Madness set and matching punch for this and added some extra bling behind my baubles with some silver glimmer paper - should have used a ruler for my hanging bits though the lines look a bit wonky! Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Mosaic Madness, Petite Pairs Ink: Island Indigo, Pool Party Card Stock: Island Indigo, Pool Party, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer Accessories: Mosaic Punch, White Bakers Twine, Scallop Trim Punch, White Gel Pen, Bitty Blossoms Punch (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs - thanks). You can also shop now directly from my

It's time for a technique themed challenge over at  5 {Christmas} Card Throwdown  and this week we are using our acrylic blocks to make backgrounds. All details are are on the blog but basically you just ink up your block, spritz it with water and press down onto card stock. Leave to dry and then stamp your Christmas images - take a look at mine I had a devil of a time photographing this and there is a lot of glitter around my windows to make it look snowy - here's a close up Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Special Season, Joyful Christmas Ink: Midnight Muse, Real Red, Versamark Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Real Red Accessories: Modern Label Punch, Gold EP (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs

We have some lovely Christmasy colours for you today over on the  CAS - Colours & Sketches  blog - take a look Here is my card Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Love and Joy Ink: Cherry Cobbler Card Stock: Whisper White, Crumb Cake Paper: Polka Dot Parade DSP Accessories: Big Shot, Window Framelits, Dimensionals (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs - thanks). You can also shop now directly from my Stampin' Up website - click  HERE  to take a look. Please don't forget to pop over and see what the other DT ladies have to show you and I hope to be visiting your blogs soon to see what you have created - Must dash - off to the Stampin' Up Convention in Manchester - such fun!

Little Boys and Babies is the theme over in  The Male Room  this week. The challenge is open for two weeks and your card or project must be for the males of the species. Here is my card What little boy doesn't like bugs? And this set Bug Me is perfect - I love how the lovely components can also create mushrooms! Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Bug Me, Chalk Talk Ink: Real Red, Sahara Sand, Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Gumball Green, Basic Black Card Stock: Whisper White, Gumball Green Accessories: Big Shot, Chalk Talk, Bitty Punch, Dazzling Diamonds, Dimensionals (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs - thanks). You can also shop now directly from my Stampin' Up website - click  HERE  to take a look.

Yes The Big Guy has arrived at  Make My Monday  and that is the new theme this week. My Santa has been created from the Owl punch (he is so useful) and I mounted him onto a magnetic bookmark die cut on my Big Shot using the Chalk Talk dies from Stampin' Up - take a look Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Chalk Talk Ink: Real Red Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Garden Green, Midnight Muse, Real Red, Whisper White, Basic Black Accessories: Owl Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Bitty Punch, Big Shot, Chalk Talk (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs - thanks). You can also shop now directly from my Stampin' Up website - click  HERE  to take a look. Please don't forget to pop over and see what the other DT ladies have t

We have a recipe this week at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown  - Louise has been quite fiendish with this one take a look Here is my card This took literally minutes to create - a little dry embossing followed by a little sponging, adding a greeting and some sparkles - simples! Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Sassy Salutations Ink: Soft Sky Card Stock: Whisper White Accessories: Big Shot Other: Snowflake EF, Blue Gems (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs - thanks). You can also shop now directly from my Stampin' Up website - click  HERE  to take a look. Please don't forget to pop over and see what the other DT ladies have to show you and I hope to be visiting your blogs soon to see what you ha

Hello all - I'm back home now and dad is out of hospital although his treatment has left him very poorly. He now faces daily visits back to hospital for constant blood tests and check ups. I'm sure I will be popping back to see him very soon but right now I am preparing for a weekend of craft fairs and a trip to Manchester next week for the Stampin' Up Convention - feeling a little panicky as I haven't yet completed my swaps or Card Candy swaps! I also failed to show off a couple of DT cards so I'll add them now and try and get back on track tomorrow! 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown  colour challenge- open 'til tonight Make My Monday  - Anything But A Card - challenge open 'till tomorrow night.

The lovely Lizy has designed this gorgeous sketch us this week at  CAS - Colours & Sketches And here is my card Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Wonderful Wreath Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Real Red Card Stock: Whisper White, Real Red, Silver Glimmer Accessories: Mosaic Punch, Chery Cobbler Bakers Twine, Scallop Edge Trim, Rhinestones (coloured with a marker) (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs - thanks). You can also shop now directly from my Stampin' Up website - click  HERE  to take a look. Please don't forget to pop over and see what the other DT ladies have to show you and I hope to be visiting your blogs soon to see what you have created -

OK - I think I am up to date with my challenge posts now! Today's challenge over on  Make My Monday  has been designed by Fliss and is all about AUTUMN FLOWERS - here is my card Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Too Kind, Kind and Cozy (half the sentiment) Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Calypso Coral, Cajun Craze Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Naturals Ivory, Cajun Craze Accessories: Modern Label Punch, Decorative Label Punch, Dimensionals (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs - thanks). You can also shop now directly from my Stampin' Up website - click  HERE  to take a look. Please don't forget to pop over and see what the other DT ladies have to show you and I hope to be visiting your blogs soon to see what you have cr

A new challenge went live at  52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown  Saturday and here is the card I should have posted then I was following this lovely sketch designed by Louise My snowflakes were made by stamping out one the flower images in the Mixed Bunch set and then cutting away the outside of the design - I thought they made lovely snowflakes! Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Mixed Bunch, Mosaic Madness, Special Season Ink: Versamark, Pool Party, Midnight Muse Card Stock: Whisper White, Pool Party Accessories: Silver EP (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs - thanks). You can also shop now directly from my Stampin' Up website - click  HERE  to take a look. Please don't forget to pop over and see

Morning everyone. Today as my post title suggests is going to be a day of catching up. My poorly husband is on the mend although we have a hospital visit tomorrow afternoon for some more tests. We have also had some very bad news about my Dad. His cancer has progressed and has become quite aggressive and therefore he is going to have some pretty intensive treatment. He is looking at 4 months of intense chemotherapy with long stays in hospital ending with a 3 week stay in the QE hospital in Birmingham for stem cell treatment. So, with both hubby and Dad in and out of hospital I think I am going to be a bit busy for the foreseeable future. I have been working hard over the weekend making as many of my DT cards as possible so hopefully I can keep up with that. If I don't get around to commenting on your work as often as I should - please don't be offended. A lot of my post will be scheduled ones so although it may look as if I am around I may not be. Thanks for understanding. *

My fellow team mates on the DT at  Make My Monday  will not be surprised when I whine and moan at the subject of this week's challenge - STEAMPUNK!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't do Steampunk as a rule as I don't really understand it however, here is my card for this week - what do you think? Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps; Best of Butterflies, The Open Sea, Papaya Collage Ink: Black Stazon, Crumb Cake, Real Red, Versamark Card Stock: Basic Black, Real Red, Crumb Cake,Naturals Ivory Paper: Modern Medley DSP Accessories: Scallop Trim Punch, Gold EP, Big Shot, Dress Up Framelits, Apothecary Accents, Dimensionals (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers above in the top tabs - thanks). You can also shop now directly from my Stampin' Up web

Sorry this is late folks - been looking after a poorly husband this weekend. He's a little under the weather and needed some TLC. Back to business though and here is my card for this week's  52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown  - the theme this week (if you couldn't guess from the post title) is 'Fancy Fold Cards' This really isn't that hard to do. The main card was decorated and the fold out part was made by concertinaing a piece of black CS and then placing it on a tag die with the folds lined up above the bottom cutting blade. I used the retired Stampin' Up Two Tags die and my folds were placed on the die just above the half way mark - in this case there is a fold line on the die so it was easy to see. Decorative pieces were added to the extra long tag and some sentiments and then it was folded up and attached to the front of the card with some ribbon to keep it closed. Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Joyful Christmas Ink: Real Red

Good morning - it's Thursday and that must mean only one thing........ a new challenge over on  CAS - Colurs & Sketches . This week we have a sketch for you - take a look This one had me thinking I can tell you but it just so happened that a new stamp set landed on my desk recently so I thought I'd have a go with that  It was going to be ultra CAS and a one layer card until I messed up my sentiment! So I quickly saved what I could, added a red background and didn't attempt the sentiment a second time! Materials - Stampin' Up Stamps: Daydream Medallions Ink: Versamark, Real Red Card Stock: Whisper White, Real Red Accessories: Gold EP, Big Shot, Floral Frames, Basic Rhinestone (To order any of the above current items or items from the Annual Catalogue please e-mail me on deezinesart@gmail.com - a catalogue pdf can be found in the side bar. Items can be delivered direct to you - just £4.95 p+p any size order. Also see the special offers abo

Morning all - it's time for a new challenge in  The Male Room  and this week's challenge is NATURE. Take a look at my card I have been having fun with my brayer again - it really is one of my favourite things to use and gives such a beautiful effect. I have a confession to make too - the stamps are not Stampin' Up!!!!!!!!! However I do think they compliment my Stampin' Up colours perfectly and I have had my eye on those hares for a long time now. Here's another piece I did with them - this isn't a card but I have framed it as a picture This was a practise piece as I followed an on line tutorial just to get the feel of the stamps but I loved the result so much at the end that I have framed it to go on my wall! Stampin' Up Materials Used Stamps: Everything Eleanor (Bird on the wire) Ink: Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive,Soft Sky, Not Quite Navy (retired) Midnight Muse, So Saffron, Black Stazon Card Stock: Wh