Simply Scored

The Simply Scored scoring pad is here! Demonstrators have been asking for a scoring pad for a while now and Stampin' Up! have obviously been listening! It comes marked in inches with an additional plate in cms available to order separately, if you prefer to use cms.

There is also a Simply Scored Diagonal plate (£10.95 available separately). The diagonal score plate goes on top of the Simply Scored board  so that you can score diagonal lines to make your own custom envelopes.  It's a recent edition and didn't quite make it into the Summer mini in time, but if you'd like to order one just send me an email to let me know.

Hopefully, if I have worked out how to embed video, there should be a useful youtube demonstration below of how the Simply Scored Diagonal Plate works. I have mine on order and can't wait to play with it when it arrives.

New Starter Kit!

 New Starter Kit just £99!

Stampin' Up! have re-launched the Starter Kit. Now for just £99 you can have £130 worth of gorgeous Stampin' Up! goodies plus all that you need to become a demonstrator!


With the new, flexible Starter Kit, you can customise your kit - your way! Each kit contains a business supplies pack (valued at £45 )—things that every demonstrator needs to start her business. After that, the choice is yours. You can choose up to £130  worth of any supplies to create a kit valued at over £175  that still ships for free! Stampin' Up! offers lots of incentives and reward programs for their demonstrators but if that's not for you, and you just want a great discount, then you can still order the kit! There is no requirement for you to host workshops or take it any further if you don't want to. If you do, however, I am here to support you all the way.

And if that wasn't enough join Stampin’ Up! during May and you will receive FREE Registration for this years Stampin’ Up! Convention held 2-3 November in Mainz, Germany, worth an amazing £149! I went to the London Convention a couple of years ago and had a blast. It's a wonderful chance to meet up with other demos, do a bit of crafting and just have a whale of a time.

If you'd like to find out more about the new Strater Kit then please drop me a line: emmakray@yahoo.co.uk

Summer Mini Catalogue Blog Hop!

Hi all. One of the things I love about Stampin' Up! is the team spirit that comes from demonstrators all over the country. The launch of new catalogues is always a great example of this and involves the sharing of designs through a blog hop!

If you have come to my blog direct from Laura  then thank you for taking the time to pop by! Laura's designs are just wonderful. It would be lovely if you could take the time to leave a comment so that I know you have stopped by. After visiting here, why not hop on over to Margaret who has some truely gorgeous cards on her blog. There are two groups for the blog hop. I'm in Group 2 and I've listed the first blogs in each group to help you navigate your way around!

Group 1: Alison's blog
Group 2: Emily's blog 

So without further ado, here is my card that I made for the Summer mini blog hop! I hope you like it. I've used the sketch from The Paper Players challenge #92. I'm loving vertical designs at the moment and I just thought this was the perfect sketch to showcase the gorgeous new stamp set Bordering on Romance.

Ohh, and I only noticed when I uploaded the photo but the flowers are pretty darn close to those on my wallpaper!

The colour inspiration comes from the Colour Coach and should have been Baja Breeze, Calypso Coral and Daffodil Delight but I have run out of DD card so I replaced it with So Saffron, which I think works just as well.

Instructions
I stamped the images in Stazon onto Whisper White cardstock. I then coloured the images in using my blender pens to using the fake watercolour technique. This is a wonderfully simple technique. You just need to squeeze your Stampin' Up! inkpad together and then it will leave a pool of ink on the lid. Pick up this ink with your blender pen and colour in your image. I then added further definition using the marker pen in the same colour and blended it with the blender pen. The whole image is then embossed with the square lattice embossing folder. There is a little pearl in the single flower on the scalloped circle.

Ingredients
Bordering on Romance stamp set (w) 125480/(c) 125482
Card: Baja Breeze, So Saffron, Calypso Coral, Whisper White
Ink & marker pens: Black Stazon, Baja Breeze, So Saffron, Calypson Coral
Other: Pearls
Tools: Blender pens, Square Lattice embossing folder & Big Shot, Scallop Trim border, Scallop Edge border, 1 3/4" scallop circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch.

Coming soon...

If you are browsing my blog today then welcome! I hope you like my designs and if you want to find out more about the products that I have used, or about my workshops held in the comfort of your own home, then please get in touch.

But ... for the really exciting news make sure you come back tomorrow! Not only will we be launching the new Summer Mini catalogue with a blog hop but there will also be some exciting news. If you have often thought about becoming a demonstrator then ... you'll have to wait until tomorrow!

Let it Snow!

Yes, I know that this post is rather unseasonal of me, but seeing as the north of England and Scotland had some snow last week, perhaps it's not that unseasonal! I suddenly realised that I'd not shared these photos with you, and seeing as this layout was done as a challenge from an American friend of mine, that was rather remiss of me (sorry Lindsay). The challenge was to use part of a Christmas card on our layout and to also include green. Now, I have to confess that I've not been terribly successful at including the green element of the challenge but there is green on the card so I hope that counts!

All the products are by Stampin' Up! I forget the exact name of the paper but it was one of the Christmas designs last year. I've also shimmer sprayed it slightly but you can't really tell in the photo. The cute snowflake was made using the 3-layer doily punch and I've also made a banner with the doily border punch. Both have been covered in dazzling diamonds of an added extra bit of bling!

It's a nice and simple layout but I hope you like it all the same!

Spice Cake going ...

I just love the Spice Cake Designer Patterned paper from our Spring mini and I'll be sad to see it go at the end of April. If you love it too, you need to order it quickly before it's gone forever more! Anyway, I wanted to share with you my version of the layout that appears in the Spring mini. I really loved this layout and couldn't wait to make it myself.

I don't have the chipboard circle that they used to mount the letters, so instead I cut a circle using the Circles die for the Big Shot and then punched out the middle using the large 1 3/4" circle. I quite like how my circle is rather lopsided!

The gorgeus velvet trim is the limited release velvet ribbon that will no longer be available after 30 April! It's such a lovely ribbon too, so smooth and the perfect width for cards.

Spice Cake Layout Recipe

Spice Cake DSP 124003 £9.95

Velvet designer ribbon 125637 £6.95

Spiced Paisley stamp set clear £16.95 125817/wood £20.95 127155

Dimenstionals

Perfect Pearls

Designer Brads

Twine

Springtime Offer!

Stampin' Up! have just launched an amazing Springtime offer. All the way through April, if you spend £45 or more, you can choose one of the following sets of Designer Speciality Paper absolutely FREE!

• Beyond the Garden – Idea Book & Catalogue, page 97 (122342)

• Nursery Nest – Idea Book & Catalogue, page 99 (122347)

• Berry Blossoms – Spring Mini,  page 15 (122350)

• Pocketful of Posies – Spring Mini, page 18 (122354)

The papers are perfect for cardmaking or scrapbooking. Contact me if you'd like to place an order.