November hostess promotion!

We have a brand new promotion for November!

All workshop hostesses who host a £300 workshop from 1 November – 15 December, will receive the Paisley Petals Bundle Set and a package of Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper - up to a £33.90 value - for FREE in addition to the regular hostess benefits!

Qualifying hostesses can choose between the wood- or clear-mount Paisley Petals Set.

The stamp set is such a pretty one, and having seen the papers in the flesh I can tell you that they are lovely! The large flower head would make a lovely alternative Christmas card.

Call me soon if you'd like the chance to earn this lovely free stamp set and papers. And don't forget, that if your workshop order comes to £300 you get all of the following:

1) Paisley Petals Bundle FREE  

2) £50 in hostess pounds to spend anywhere in the catalogue

3) one item at 50% off, and that one item could be the Big Shot!

New Hostess benefits & New Recruit offer!

There is so many changes in the new Idea Book & Catalogue that it's hard to know where to start!

I am so excited about the new Hostess benefit system! The three tiered level hostess system has gone and has been replaced with four pages of lovely new stamps and papers, and the good news is that if you have a qualifying party of £150 or more, you can order any of them! Instead of the free stamp set from the previous IB&C you now have Hostess Pounds that you can either spend on the exclusive Hostess only products or anywhere else in the catalogue! How amazing is that?!

And if that wasn't enough, if your workshop is £300 or more you get one item at 50% so you could buy that Big Shot for half price! Which with the £50 you get free for a £300 workshop, would mean that you could get £90 worth of free product!!

Want more? Well, if you sign up as a demo in October and join my Inklings team then not only do you get approx £250 worth of goodies for £119 but during October only, you will also get the In-Colours bundle worth £27.95 absolutely free!

So as well as all the wonderful goodies in the Starter Kit (which you can personalise) you also get the following free:

• Pool Party Classic Stampin’ Pad
• Calypso Coral Classic Stampin’ Pad
• Lucky Limeade Classic Stampin’ Pad
• Wisteria Wonder Classic Stampin’ Pad
• Island Indigo Classic Stampin’ Pad
• A4 Smooth Card Stock (20 sheets: 4 ea. in new In Colors)

Stampin' Up! has a +One challenge for all us demos this year and the task that I have set myself is to share my love of Stampin' Up! with a new recruit. So if you are interested in finding out more and joining my Inklings team then please get in touch: emmakray@yahoo.co.uk

It's here!

The new catalogue is finally live! And I am so excited to be able to finally share it with you. I am sure that you are all going to love it as much as I do. And not only do I have a new catalogue to share but there is also an exciting new Starter Kit offer as well with even more freebies! So if you want to join me in my Inklings team then pop back later tonight when I will update you with this fab new offer.

But first, it's blog hop time! A large group of us on ILWS have got together for a blog hop to showcase some of the new loveliness from the IB&C. Hopefully, you will have arrived at my blog after visiting Caroline's. I just love her Christmas card.

As a demo we are allowed to order pre-order items before the IB&C goes live and I just had to have the Delicate Doilies set. So here is what I came up with.

 Yes, we have fabric!! Do you like my little owls. I'm not the best at sewing but these owls were so quick and easy to whip up. I adapted a tutorial from Efemera Ink to make the birds. I'll be back with instructions tomorrow.

I love fabric, it's great for adding dimension to a card, but also if you do sew, how fabulous it will be to match your present and card! You get three different patterns of fabric in each pack. I'll be showing you lots of ways to use this lovely fabric on your cards throughout October.

Have you spotted the new lace ribbon border punch too! It's lovely. You can back the doilies with different coloured card using the 1" circle punch which matches perfectly or you can even thread ribbon through it.

Card: Basic Grey & Wistera Wonder *new in-colour
Ink pads: Melon Mambo, Wistera Wonder*, Pool Party*
Buttons: from the Subtles buttons collection
Punch: Lace Ribbon Border 122362

Next is a lovely card that we made at the Stampin' Stars training session last weeknd. I love how Natalie layered up the greeting using one of the fab new doily shapes from the designer paper pack, a medallion from the new BS Perfect Pennants Bigz L die, 1 1/4" and 1" circle punches. I can't stop saying this, but I love how SU! makes everything so easy for us by making sure that the punches and stamps work together. The greeting stamp is from Happiest Birthday Wishes which is one of the exclusive new Hostess stamp sets.

Well if you have read this far, then thank you for popping by. As always, your comments are really appreciated. The next blog to hop to is Sally's. I am sure you will love what she has made.

The full list of the Blog Hop is below:
1. Lauralou http://airingcupboardstamping.blogspot.com/
2 AlisonP www.craftyalisoninlyon.blogspot.com
3 Glittermum http://www.mygroovystampinup.blogspot.com/
4. Theresa M http://my-next-chapter.blogspot.com/
5. SarahLP http://stampingobsession.com/
6. Sassy Stamper (Elaine) http://www.thesassystampers.blogspot.com/
7. Sarastamper (http://craftingandstamping.com)
8. JJ66 http://jan-crippin.blogspot.com/
9. Evy c http://evyscraftycreations.blogspot.com/
10. DonnaM http://www.head-over-heels-by-dlm.blogspot.com/
11. Scrappydiva http://www.stampin-divas.blogspot.com/
12. Natalie http://www.natalieoshea.co.uk/blog.html
13.Dawn http://www.tartanstamper.blogspot.com/
14. Erika (Twintrouble) http://twintroublescreations.blogspot.com/
15. Maggie (maggiemae) http://thefineartofstampin.blogspot.com/
16. Julie H (The Crafty Bug) http://www.the-crafty-bug.blogspot.com
17. Elizabeth (Stash Fairy) http://elizabethscraftroom.blogspot.com/
18. Michelle (ShellieStamps) http://michellescraftypaper.typepad.com/
19. Keren. http://www.kerenbaker.wordpress.com
20. Emma (Daisydaye) http://emma-daye.blogspot.com/
21. Rachel (Rachel) http://www.stampingurl.blogspot.com
22. Valerie (valmoody) http://stampingwithval.wordpress.com/
23. Kara (KaraM) http://karascraftycorner.blogspot.com/
24. Sarah (IOW Sarah http://www.stampinsarahiow.blogspot.com/
25. Tracey Rossos http://www.derbyshireducks.blogspot.com/
26. Jacqui (scrappy duck) http://jacquisworldofcraft.blogspot.com/
27. Patricia (Beckscraft) http://stampinbeckscraft.blogspot.com/
28. Sarah-Jane http://cardsandacuppa.blogspot.com/
29. Claire http://stampinupscrapper.blogspot.com/
30. Cupcake http://pinkycardsandcreations.blogspot.com/
31. Kimf http://kimfeecrafter.blogspot.com/
32. carolineskinner http://stampinupandbranchingout.blogspot.com/
33. Emma_H http://www.emma-letsstamp.blogspot.com/
34. Sally - Pink Sky. x http://pinkskysu.blogspot.com/
35. Carolyn http://stampaholix.blogspot.com/
36. Tina http://littlewhitehousecrafts.blogspot.com
37. Hayley (craftydevils) www.mycrafthaven.blogspot.com

Last Chance List Blog Hop

It will soon be time to say a fond farewell to some of our favourites from the main IB&C and also the mini. For the blog hop I've choosen Pattern Pieces background stamp  and Sew Lovely. I just adored these two sets when they were first released and it seems only right that I should choose them for the Say Goodbye Blog Hop. Remember, you can still order them but only until 30th September and then they will be gone forever.

If you have found me from the link on Valerie's blog then welcome. Isn't her work amazing! After you've finished here please go on to Donna's lovely blog. Thank you for taking the time to stop by and if you have time please leave a comment to say you passed by! It's always good to know that I'm not the only one reading this!

So on to the card!

Paper: Sweet Stiches - I love this paper!
Card: Rose Red and Daffodil Delight
Stamps: Pattern Pieces (122230) and Sew Lovely (123435 w or 123437)
Other: you can never go wrong with some pearls for that final bit of decoration! Although, now I am thinking about it I think I would use buttons next time!

I was hoping to show you a bit more with this suite but I ran out of time, it will have to wait till next week. Anyway, I hope you like it.

Another one going

Wow, this week has been a hectic week. In between sewing labels onto school clothes, hunting for school PE kits that have mysteriously hidden themselves over the summer holidays, I've also had the joy of the new Stampin' Up! Idea book & Catalogue arriving plus new stamps and on top of all that it's the last chance list! Phew, I think I need another holiday!

I just had to share this card with you. Becuase I Care is my favourite out of all the 2010-2011 Hostess sets and will be going at the end of the month. I just love that large Hydrangea flower and it's such a lovely set to use for so many occassions.

I inked up the hydrangea using Pretty in Pink and Rose Red markers with Old Olive for the leaves. I then misted the stamp lightly and stamped it onto our watercolour paper to create a lovely soft image. The papers are from the Subtles Collection and it's finished off with some gorgeous seam binding ribbon in Rose Red. Don't you just love how easy it is to match colours across so many different products? Anyway, this card was for one of my hostesses. I hope she liked it.

Fond Farewell!

It's time to say a sad goodbye to some of the lovely stamp sets and papers that have been in this year's Idea book & Catalogue. But I can't stay sad for too long as I know there will be lots more gorgeous stamps and papers to replace them in the new Idea book & Catalogue that comes out on 1 October.

Would you love to see the new catalogue before 1 October? If so, make sure you email me and request your copy now for just £4.95 including postage (retail price is £5.95). Alternatively, if you'd like to get one for free then book a party with me!

The full list can be viewed by clicking the icon in the right-hand column.

Here is a layout of my two boys using one of my favourite sets Beware, Pirates! which will be retiring. I love this set, it is perfect for boy's cards and for the distressed look. I am sorry about my poor photography skills but I hope you can see my layout clearly. I may have to try and re-do it tomorrow!

It's almost time!

Can you believe that I am counting down the days until September, and not just because my youngest will start school for the first time!

On 1 September the retired list for the 2010-2011 catalogue will be out and us demos will have our first glance of the exciting new 2011-2012 catalogue! Now, I don't know what will be coming or going, but I can be pretty certain that the Designer Papers will be going. So I thought I'd show you how well they can work for your scrapbook pages. If you want to make sure you have that retired list in your hands on 1 September then drop me an email and I will make sure I email it out to you - emmakray@yahoo.co.uk

Bloom

I've had these photos of the gorgeous flowers at Knebworth House for a couple of years now (hence the half-completed date!) and I've never been able to find the right paper to show them off until this year! I just love the Botanical Gazette paper from this year's mini catalogue. There are 6 lots of paper in the set and they are all double-sided (12 sheets in total). I love how this design provide subtle background whilst letting the photos shine through. All it needed was some chipboard letters, a stamped butterfly and some ribbon roses made with the seam binding ribbon.

This set of paper will be retiring in September, so don't forget to order some whilst you can!

Ingredients: 

Botanical Gazette DSP £8.75 121783
Seam binding ribbon in Rose Red £6.25 121884
Rose Red ink pad £4.95 101778
On Board Alphabet Soup £8.95 119239
Decorative Label Punch £15.50 120907
Nature Walk clear mount: £18.95 121997, wood mount £23.95 121925

Top Note Die Star

I love the Top Note die, it's so versatile. It can be used for 3-D projects like the little train I made a while back, as well as cards.

I am going to show you how to make this lovely 'star' shape. OK, it's not really a Star but it's close! I'm trying to tidy up my blog, so if you've been following me for a while you may have already seen this tutorial before.




 

So here is how you make it.

1. Cut your cardstock using the Top Note die.




2. Rotate the card half a turn. You need to line the points of the cut card up with the pointed parts of the die - the purple card is just there to show you the die cut outline of the die.

  

3. The end result! You will end up with the lovely pointed square plus two large brackets that would be great for a scrapbook layout or to be used on another card.


I hope you liked that quick tutorial. One of my new catalogue resolutions is to start posting mini tutorials, so keep an eye out for more to come!

August offer!

Are you enjoying the sunshine and the long summer?! I don't know about you but I certainly need some time to myself during the summer holidays to keep myself sane! And what can be better than some craft time, and to sweeten it how about a freebie too?!

During the month of August, if you spend £75 or host a workshop of £250 or more, you will receive a pretty make-up bag, a gorgeous reel of Rich Razzleberry striped ribbon and a tub of assorted clips. 

Drop me a line if you'd like to place an order with me to receive this lovely offer.s

Time for a change?

It's almost the start of the summer holidays but already I'm looking forward to September - not only because both of my boys will be at school (the youngest starts for the first time!) but also because us demos will get to see the new catalogue, and just as important - what's retiring!

The USA have already launched their new catalogue, and it is brimming with exciting new goodies! Unfortunately, we have no idea which of them will be making their way across the pond to our catalogue nor which ones will be disappearing for ever! The list below is the list of items that are retiring from the US version of the catalogue. But it doesn't necessarily follow that they will retire from ours! Are there any on there that you have been meaning to buy?

So Many Thanks 120173 -  £12.95 - p112
Autumn Harvest 110372 - £17.95 - p20
Gifted 116982/120480 - £26.95/21.95 - p23
Sparkly and Bright 115346 - £16.95 - p24
Holiday Hoopla 116912/120450 £20.95/16.95 - p25
Love you Much 113756 £24.95 - p19
A Good Egg 114974 £22.95 - p20
On a Pedestal 113814 - £16.95 - p30
Cheers to You 111037 - £14.95 - p32
Kimono Kids 117000/120498 - £21.95/16.95 - p46
Simply Said 106598 - £25.95 - p47
Fun & Fast Notes 113500 - £33.95 - p40
Choo Choo 113982 - £16.95 - p34
Beware Pirates 115187 - £24.95 - p41
Forest Friends 113478 - £14.95 - p35
Animal Stories 116716 - £14.95 - p36
A Flower for all Seasons 111592 - £12.95 - p53
Hello Again 113780 - £10.95 - p44
Razzle Dazzle 116714 - £18.95 - p45
Sense of Time 113804 - £22.95 - p63
Compliments to the Chef 114397 - £18.95 - p74
Fresh Cuts 111634 - £21.95 - p67
Pick a Petal 109445 - £26.95 - p67
Tart and Tangy 111514 - £12.95 - p68
Bella Toile 111598 - £16.95 - p61
Sanded 109294 - £16.95 - p61
Art by Design 109339 - £16.95 - p78
Occasional Greetings 110520 - £30.95 - p21
Schoolboook Serif Alphabet 113510 - £44.95 - p77
Schoolbook Serif Numbers 111680 - £24.95 - p77
Engraved Greetings 117116 - £12.95 - p86
Hello You 117118- £8.95 - p86
Tag Alongs 117018/120513 - £17.95/14.95 - p33

We won't know which sets are retiring until 1 September, and it may well be that there are sets retiring that aren't even on the above list. So if there are any sets on the list that you want, you may want to think about ordering them before the retired list comes out on 1st September. Once that list is up and running stamps do run out quite quickly, and once they are gone they will not be restocked. 

There are so many on there that I will be extremely sad to see go but I will especially miss Sanded background, Sense of Time and Beware Pirates go.

If you want to make sure you receive the retired list as soon as it goes live, either make sure you come by my blog on 1st September or add yourself to my mailing list!

What a hoot!

A friend asked me to make a card for one of the play helpers at our children's pre-school and this is what I came up with. I've been dying to use this cute new owl punch from the mini catalogue, and it was also a perfect excuse to pull out some bright colours. I hope she liked it.

Products:
Brights DSP
Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip & Rich Razzleberry
Stamps: Party this Way
Owl punch from the mini catalogue
Inks: Marina Mist & Melon Mambo

Father's Day with Plane & Simple

I love the Plane & Simple set from the mini catalogue. It's so versatile and great for male cards - plus it comes with 3 phrases: Happy Father's Day, Happy Birthday and Thank you, which makes it a really useful set to own! If you've got your eye on it, then make sure you pick it up before the end of September, as we never know which stamp sets from the mini are going to make it into the main Catalogue and Idea Book.

I've not taken part in any challenges for a while, so I thought I'd have a go. I've used the Simply Stampin' sketch challenge from last week along with a colour challenge from the Color Dare blog. The dare this week was to use:

Cajun Craze
Baja Breeze
Not Quite Navy

They are not colours I would normally use together but I think they work quite well. I cut the circle using my Big Shot and the useful Circles #2 die.

I then went on to play with the set a bit more, but this time I paired it with the Newsprint DSP and some of the crumb cake seam binding ribbon. The plane works so well with the map paper from Newsprint.

 And finally, for my last card I tried something a little bit different for me and did a pull tab. I also coloured the plane in using the blender pens and Cajun Craze. The pearls have been coloured in with my promarkers. I hope you like this week's cards.

A Sense of Time

My husband is going to be 40 this Saturday! Doesn't time fly! I wanted to use one of my favourite stamp sets, A Sense of Time. It's such a great set for male cards. I've paired it with the distress kit from Stampin' Up! and the Square Lattice embossing folder. The Lattice folder is one of my favourites, I just love the texture it gives. It's great for distress effects but also wonderful for a basket weave! Anyway, I hope you like the end result!

The lighting is not great, so you may want to click on the photo to get a better view.

A more detailed description follows below.

 

Stamps: Sense of Time, Sanded background

Card: Not Quite Navy, Chocolate Chip & Very Vanilla

Inkpads: Early Espresso, Night of Navy, Cajun Craze

Tools: Distressing kit, Big Shot & Square Lattice Embossing Folder

How to!

1. Card: ink up the small cogs stamp in NN and stamp on the right hand side.

2. Ink up the Sanded background stamp in EE and stamp on to some VV cardstock. The stamp the clockface using NN and two small cogs using CC.

3. Using the flat stamp from the distressing kit, gently ink up the sides using the Blue inkpad from the kit. I did the corners first and then rubbed along the sides when there was less ink on the pad. When using the flat stamp you want to start off your card and then rub on in a circular motion. Then go around the edges again and into the middle of the card using the flat stamp and the Tea Stain inkpad (making sure you've used your Stampin' Scrub to clean the stamp first!

4. When you are happy with the distressed appearance, put it in the embossing folder and run it through your Big Shot. 

5. Mount onto Chocolate Chip card and create the greeting.

6. You can then decorate the envelope using the small cog stamp!

Stondon Stompers Home Shopping Night

Sorry to have been absent for so long but I've been having computer woes! The lesson is to always remember to renew your antivirus protection! So after spending money attempting to fix it, I have a new computer that refuses to work with my old monitor - don't you hate technology sometimes!! So I am around, but only when I can get on to a laptop in the evening.

Stondon Stompers will be having their first ever Home Shopping Night on Thursday 12th May at 8pm in the village hall on Hillside Road, Lower Stondon. Tickets are £3 and there will be lots of lovely stall holders selling products that you can't find in the shops, including of course, Stampin' Up! As well as having a stand displaying some of the the lovely cards and products that we sell, I'll be doing a card class. The class is £5 but is refundable if you spend £15 or more in the catalogue, or if you book a party - refund will be given on the night of the party. I hope some of you can come. If you'd like a ticket then just drop me a line.

Swap frenzy

One of the things I love most about being a Stampin' Up! demo is how supportive and inspiring other Stampin' Up! Demos are! As a prelim to the huge marathon of the mini catalogue blog hop that took place on Saturday , I organised a card swap amongst fellow demos on ILWS. So many gorgeous cards kept falling through my postbox each day! Sadly, I was only able to keep hold of one group of swaps and the rest had to go on to other homes, but I wanted to take a photo of the amazing cards that were made. They are not shown at their best here but I hope you can get an idea of just how wonderful they are. There are a couple from each group that didnt' make it in time but I will try and post a separate photo of them when they arrive. If you took part in the blog hop yesterday then you may already be familiar with some of these cards - aren't they gorgeous!

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part. If you are coming to my Open House on Saturday 9th April, then you'll be able to see some of these lovely designs in the flesh!

Thank you also, to everyone who took the time to visit my blog yesterday, especially if you were kind enough to leave a comment, it really is appreciated.

Mini catalogue blog hop!

It's here! The 2011 mini catalogue has been launched and to celebrate the xx pages of loveliness, some of the demonstrators on In Love With Stamping have decided to have a blog hop. Of course, we all wanted to take part in such a fun event, so there are 3 groups for you to enjoy.

I am taking part in Group One which started with Erika, and you should have come to me from the very talented Gemma. Aren't her designs gorgeous!

Sew Lovely

I loved the Sew Suite set the first time I saw it on the American demo's blogs and I am so excited that we have it in our new mini! Best of all, not only does it come with paper and stamps but there are buttons and wheels as well!

Colours: Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie
Stamps: Sew Lovely, Pattern Pieces background stamp
Paper: Sweet Stiches DSP
Buttons: Brights buttons

Birthday Train

Now, if you've read my post from yesterday (or already been blog hopping) then you'll already know our exciting news - we have the Big Shot! And with it are lots of exclusive Stampin' Up! dies. The Top Note die has to be one of the most versatile and I have a couple of projects to share with you. It's my nephew's 3rd birthday party today and I wanted to make him something special. I first saw this train idea on American demo Lisa Young's website, and just adored it. The little carriages are perfect for filling with sweets or little presents.

I've also used the Top Note die to create a really quick party invitation. If you have 15 plus invites to send out, then you really want something nice and quick that is also flat to post, and this is perfect. If you wanted to make it even quicker you could just stamp the train in one colour rather than using the markers to colour it in like I've done. The party detail stamps are from the really useful Cheers & Wishes stamp set.

And last but not least I have one more card to show you, which again shows off the lovely Top Note die.

This time I've used the totally lovely Baby Blossoms stamp set. It's a two-step stamp set so does require a bit more time, but I hope that you agree it's worth it. I love how Cath Kidson it is!

Stamps: Baby Blossoms

Ribbon: NEW Seam binding ribbon in Rose Red
Paper: Subtles DSP pack


Now I bet you're looking at it and thinking, but that's not the Top Note die, ahh, but remember I mentioned how versatile it is! Well here's how you do it:

1. Cut your cardstock using the Top Note die.

2. Rotate the card half a turn. You need to line the points of the cut card up with the pointed parts of the die - the purple card is just there to show you the die cut outline of the die.

3. The end result! You will end up with the lovely pointed square plus two large brackets that would be great for a scrapbook layout or to be used on another card.

If you are still reading at this point, thank you for stopping by my blog, and if you like what you've seen, please leave a comment, it's so nice to know that people have stopped by. Then it's on to the lovely Rachel for more gorgeous cards.

If you've enjoyed the blog hop so far, then don't forget to take a look at the other groups taking part - perhaps with a nice cup of tea and slice of cake to hand!

Group 1 (the group this blog is in)
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4

New Mini Catalogue!

Mini catalogue link

I love April, not only does it mean Spring is here and with it lots of pretty flowers, but it's also the launch date of the 2011 Stampin' Up! mini catalogue. This year's edition is a bumper one with 31 pages of gorgeous new stamps, punches, papers and ... the BIG SHOT!!

You read it right, we now have the wonderful Sizzix Big Shot, and with it lots of lovely exclusive Stampin' Up! dies. I'll be demonstrating it at my workshop on Saturday 9th April but if you can't make it, then why not book a workshop and I'll show you all sorts of lovely cards and 3-D items that you can make with this beauty!

One of the perks of being a demo is that you can get your hands on some lovely new products before they are released. I'm taking part in a Mini Catalogue Marathon blog hop tomorrow, so if you pop back then you'll be able to see what I've come up with and visit lots of other SU demo blogs full of gorgeous cards!

March Frenzy!

After Sale-a-bration, what could be better but another fab offer?! Stampin' Up! are offering up to 30% off a select list of products, but be quick as the discount only applies whilst stock lasts. Drop me a line if you'd like to order anything.

Bliss!

Bliss is the top selling stamp set from Sale-a-bration. I just love this set, that scroll is gorgeous and best of all it is free! If you've not got your set already then make sure you do so by the end of the month! All you need to do is place an order with me for £45 and you can have it free - either as a clear block mount or wood mount set.

I've used one of my all time favourite Stampin' Up! colours, Cherry Cobbler. This colour along with Old Olive and Chocolate Chip is one I turn to time and time again. This time I've paired it with Basic Black and Very Vanilla for a bit of old fashioned elegance.

I've stamped the gorgeous En Francais in Chocolate Chip on to Very Vanilla. I've then stamped the lovely scroll in black on to some of the Stampin' Up! white vellum paper and sewn the two together. I've also distressed the edges using oen of the metal files from the distressing kit. It's mounted on to some Cherry Cobbler which has been punched with the scallop trim border, and again distressed using a metal file. The ribbon is some of the gorgeous Red Riding Hodd ribbon that was available as part of last year's Christmas Cracker offer. I've added a couple of flowers on dimensionals decorated with some basic pearls, and of course the lovely butterfly. I was really pleased with how this butterfly turned out. I've stamped it once on Very Vanilla, and then again on the vellum paper using some crystal effects to attach it to the first butterfly.

Anyway, I hope you like it and come back soon to see some more birthday cards made with this lovely set.

A month of birthdays!

February is a busy month in our household. Not only is there Valentine's day and my own birthday (although fortunately I don't need to make a card for the latter!) but we also have lots of other birthdays to celebrate. Which is when my big box of stamps comes in handy! I'll hopefully be showcasing some of the cards I've made this month over the next couple of weeks - of course, without mentioning who they are for, just in case they are reading!

Here is my first card then. I love tools that make my life easier - especially when I have lots of cards to make. My favourite tool at the moment is the Color Coach which arrived last week and I'm kicking myself for not ordering sooner! This handy little tool makes colour selection a doddle. You just choose the main colour that you want to use, flip the card over and it gives you two colour combinations to choose from. Watch out for Shelli's favourite dream combos. For this cute cat image from the Level Two hostess set Long Fellows, I knew I wanted to use Cajun Craze. So I found the card, flipped it over and went with the lovely colour recommendation of:

Cajun Craze, Old Olive and Baja Breeze.

I've coloured in the funky cat using the blender pen and ink palette technique that I highlighted at my last Open House. I've then matted him, popped him up on some dimensionals to add a bit of depth and added it to the card. I love buttons and these gorgeous olive buttons are from the Brights tub. You get 72 buttons in 6 colours for £7.75.

Sale-a-bration blogathon

Hi and welcome to the Sale-a-Bration blogathon! If you have come to my blog from Theresa's site then you are doing it in the right order! If not, then head back to Theresa for the start of the blogathon and some really gorgeous cards. Firstly, I apologise for the poor photography - it's something I need to improve on!

I've used the lovely Sweet Summer set for my first two cards. This has to be my favourite from the free sets, although they are all pretty cute! I've stamped the banner of Rose Red cardstock with the vine in versamark and then I've scored some lines two-thirds across. You could also use the Stampin' Up! paper crimper to do this for some added dimension. The vine in the main image has been stamped with Certainly Celery and then I've gone over the stamped image using the same ink but with my blender pen. The seed head flower has again been coloured using those fabulous blender pens, and mounted with dimensionals. For an extra little touch I've added a button from the neutral set and added a tiny tag. I just love Tiny Tags, it's one of those sets that at first I wasn't sure I'd use, but now it's one of my most reached for sets.

The second Sweet Summer card is a nice simple card that just uses the three flower heads, with a tiny flower added with a dimensional, and of course decorated with a tiny basic pearl.

Bliss! How gorgeous are these little butterflies?!

And my final for today is one that was inspired by one of Mary Fish's cards, I've just shrunk it down a bit. I love this colour combination of Concord Crush, Pumpkin Pie and Bashful Blue.

Thank you for visiting. I hope you've enjoyed the cards and find lots of inspiration on the blog hop.The next person in the link is the super-talented Natalie.So head over to her blog for some gorgeous cards.

There are four rounds in this blogathon, I'm part of the second group.
Round one starts over on Sara's blog.
Round three starts with Keren's blog.
Round four starts with Kirsteen's blog.

New year, new you, new stamps?

I have to confess that I don't tend to make new year's resolutions, they always seem to be something that I don't want to stick at like losing weight, eating less chocolate and so on. But one resolution I always have on there is to craft more - I like to have at least one resolution I know I can stick to! So if you've already made yours and you want to have more quality time for yourself, craft more, get out and meet people, or even just take on a role that fits around your life, why not take a look at the Stampin' Up! starter kit.

Or do you have a wish list of £100 or more? If so, you can stil take advantage of all that the Starter kit has to offer.

In Jan and Feb you get: £275 worth of items for just £119!

You can adapt it to suit your tastes

Choose the stamp sets & colours that suit you!

Choose an extra free stamp set up to £45

During SAB you can add on an extra stamp set for free!

Enjoy Demonstrator benefits

When you purchase the starter kit you automatically become part of my team and enjoy all the benefits that being a demonstrator has to offer. You are not obliged to purchase anything further, you do not have to hold workshops or sell products. You can just purchase the Starter Kit for the great discount that it offers.

You have till June to test-run the Starter Kit

Join during SAB and you have until June to decide whether you want to continue as a demonstrator. If you decide not to continue, then the starter kit is still yours. There is nothing to pay back! If you want to continue as a demonstrator you can do so with sales of £250 per quarter. That includes your own purchases.

I joined during Sale-a-bration last year and I haveloved every minute of it. If you'd like to find out more, or simply just treat yourself to the Starter Kit then drop me a line!

More Sweet Summer fun

If you've opened the flyer for Sale-a-bration on my website, you may recognise these two cards. They are just such pretty cards that I could not wait to case them.

If you don't have patterned paper you can improvise and use the bloom flower head in the set, and stamp it on a strip of melon mambo using the white craft ink pad. I then created a faux line of stiching using my paper piercing tool and mat pack.

Still not got your own copy of this lovely stamp set? Then call me to place an order of £45 or more and you can get it for free!

Sweet Summer fun!

Summer may be a long way off but that doesn't stop us having fun with this gorgeous, limited edition set from Stampin' Up! This has to be one of the most versatile sets on offer in Sale-a-bration.



I demonstrated this technique at my open house on Friday. It's made using the brayer resist technique.

Ingredients :
Brayer
Classic stamp pads: Bashful Blue & Rose Red
Staz on
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Glossy White
1/2 inch stiched poly-ribbon in Pear Pizzazz
white crayon
Basic Rhinestones
Sale-a-bration free set Sweet Summer
Eyelet border


Start off by randomly stamping the branch stamp from Sweet Summer in stazon on your glossy white cardstock. Use a careful touch as the smoothness of the cardstock can make the ink slide if you are too heavy-handed. Put it to one side for a moment or two to let it dry. In the meantime stamp some of the spiky flower images on to another piece of glossy cardstock, again using stazon. When both pieces are dry, use your white crayon (I borrowed mine from my son's pencil case!) to highlight certain parts of your stamped images.

Now for the fun part - the brayering. Ink up your brayer with the Bashful Blue ink. Making sure that you spin it every now and then to make sure there are no lines on the brayer when you are inking it up. Then starting off the cardstock run the brayer over the top of your images. Repeat a couple of times until you have the depth of colour that you want. Then take a piece of kitchen towel to wipe off the excess ink over the white crayon marks and you should really see them pop. Repeat with the Rose Red ink pad and the flowers.

Stamp your greeting at the bottom of the page. I used a greeting from Just Believe. Then make the rest of the card up as you see in the photo, making sure you add those wonderful Stampin' Up! rhinestones to the centres of your flowers.

Please get in touch if you'd like to order any of the items I used to make this card.

Gorgeous new SAB stamps

Mmm, this post appears not to have gone live, so if you don't want to click on the link to the right to see all the lovely SAB goodies then here they are! Take a look at my post early today to see one of the cards I have made with the Sweet Summer set.

Happy New Year!

I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and are relaxing after the big celebrations of new year! We don't really celebrate New Year in any big way but spend the evening celebrating with friends, swapping resolutions and predictions for the year ahead (and of course looking back on the ones we made last year). One of my resolutions in 2009 was to spend more time making cards and scrapbooking. I think I can safely say I managed the first part but my poor scrapbook is looking rather neglected - something I need to combat in the next couple of months!

What better way to start the new year than with some gorgeous new exclusive stamps, and best of all you can get them for free! I am so excited about this year's Sale-a-bration. The stamps are gorgeous and I know you will love them too. From the 1st January till 28 February, your purchases can earn you free stamps! The stamp sets are only available during Sale-a-bration and will not appear in any of the future catalogues.

There are three ways that you can benefit during Sale-a-bration.

1. Spend £45 in products (before shipping costs) and earn one free Sale-a-bration stamp set of your choice!

2. Host a workshop of at least £300 (before shipping costs) and earn one free Sale-a-bration stamp set of your choice in addition to the generous hostess benefits! That's on top of any stamp set you've already earned from your personal purchases!

3. Join. Would you like to have the benefits of being a Stampin' Up! demo and be one of the first to see the new releases? Well, if you join my team during Sale-a-bration you can choose one stamp set up to the value of £44.95 from the Idea Book & Catalogue for FREE! If you'd like to take advantage of this offer then give me a call or drop me an email and I'll happily talk to you about the benefits of being a demonstrator.


Click on the little icon of the Sale-a-bration flyer in the top right corner to see all of the gorgeous stamps on offer. Pay close attention to the little pink ring around the owl in Punch Bunch! If you have the Idea book and Catalogue then you'll know what that little pink ring means ...