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.