Off to Madeira



Today Jay and I are travelling to Madeira for the Incentive Trip that I earnt last year.

 

I can't thank my lovely customers and team members enough for their help on my journey to earn 4 trips in the 5 1/2 years I have been a Demonstrator.

 

Of course I have to work hard too, but I have to say that I am thankful that I found Stampin' Up! and that I love my job and the best of all is that I have been able to meet so many lovely, talented, creative people along my journey so far.

 

I am looking forward to meeting up with some of my demonstrator friends on this trip, we do have an amazing adventure every year and it is also lovely to spend time with the Corporate Team from Stampin' Up! where you really are made to feel valued and appreciated.

 

So here's a little throwback to the Western Caribbean Cruise we were lucky enough to go on last year.  We really did have a lot of fun and I am glad to call these lovely people my friends, all of whom I'd never have met if it weren't for Stampin' Up! 

 

 

 

and I hope to be sharing some photos from our latest adventure in Madeira very soon.

 

I couldn't leave without sharing another card with you today, inspired by one I saw on Pinterest

 

I know I say it a lot, but I really do love Stampin' Up!, the colours, the quality, the images, and this stamp set is no exception

 

Sprinkles of Life is a fabulous set and £2.00 from every purchase is donated by Stampin' Up! to our local Ronald Macdonald House Charities.

 

It's also great that we have a matching punch called the "Tree Builder" to make things easier for us.

 

I've created a Cupcake and you can see that the "frosting" image doubles up as a cloud, making it really versatile.

 

The "Happy Birthday" greeting stamp is from the same set, there are several other greetings too.

 

 

 

I used the "Gorgeous Grunge" stamps to add some interest to the background and die cut a frame using the Deco Labels framelits dies.

 

The flowers were punched using the Petite Petals punch centred with an adhesive Pearl embellishment

 

 

Hope to see you back very soon!

 

 

 

 



 

Petal Potpourri

For my birthday last year I received the most beautiful card from Trevor Poole who is in my downline and if you have ever been lucky enough to receive a card or swap from Trevor you will know just how beautiful his projects are.  Well my card today was inspired by the card Trevor sent me.

 

I used a new set from the Spring/Summer Catalogue called

 

"Petal Potpourri"

 

and guess what, there's a matching punch that works with the large flower called the

 

"Flower Medallion"

 

If you purchase both stamps and punch together you can save 15% on a bundle offer

 

 

I love the little scallop flower image, here I stamped it in Blushing Bride Ink onto Blushing Bride cardstock and used a Rhinestone in the centre.  Thankfully our little 7/8" scallop circle punch cuts this out with ease!

 

I used the Bitty Butterfly punch with some Vellum and Blushing Bride cardstock then added some leaves using the Bird Builder Punch.

 

My crumb cake frame is from a Framelit Die set called "On Film", love this!

 

You will also see that I've used Gorgeous Grunge stamps on the background too!

 

If you would like to re-create this card, you can purchase any of the products via my online shop

 

www.stampinspiration.stampinup.net

 

or call or email with your order

 

 

Roomie Gifts for Convention

Each year when we go to Convention, we agree to make "Roomie Gifts", usually for the person you are sharing with but as there were only 6 of us we decided it would be nice to make something for each one of us.

 

So here is my gift, a bag charm.

 

I stamped onto wooden painted hearts with Black Stazon Ink using the Postage Due and Gorgeous Grunge Stamps

 

I stamped Petite Petals flowers on to the Typeset Designer Paper, covered with Crystal effects and allowed to dry overnight.  Once dry I punched them out with the Petite Petals Punch then added a Rhinestone to the centre and attached to the heart.

 

I purchased the Monograms and Droplets from my daughter Sophie who is a South Hill Designs Artist, then attached them to the heart adding a Silver 1/8th Bow and jump rings and a lobster clasp for attaching to it's final destination!

 

 

I love how we can use Stampin' Up! products for so many different creations, not just cards but for gifts and home décor too.  The possibilities really are endless!

Always to hand

You can never have too many notebooks, mine are scattered a little, one in the car, one in my handbag, one in my craftroom and one in the kitchen drawer!  You never know when something's going to pop into your head and you need to document it before it slips away!

I made some of these for team members, simply decorated in subtle Crumb Cake and Blushing Bride.  The ovals were die cut using the Framelits then stamped with the Hardwood stamp and daubed around the edge to define.

My trusty Gorgeous Grunge made an appearance on the background and the Bitty Punch Pack that I use so often, here little flowers punched from Vellum.

The framed image is from "Chalk Talk" along with the "For You" greeting.  The frame was stamped with Versamark then heat embossed with Pewter embossing powder.  This stamp set has a co-ordinating Framelit set, buy with the stamps and receive a 15% discount.

I tied Chevron around the top to make it a little prettier.

Hope you like!

Remember you can shop online via my shop here 24 hours, 7 days a week

Layout from our Boat Trip "Love U"

Back last summer Jay and I jumped into the motorhome and took a couple of days away to Shrewsbury with some friends.  We visited a Steam Rally, shopped, ate lots of lovely food and also took a boat trip which was great fun.  We exchanged photographs of each of us on the boat and surprisingly there was one with my eye's open!

This layout was completed a little while back and I can see there are a couple of things from the Autumn/Winter Catalogue on here but you can substitute them for something similar.  

I used the amazing "Gorgeous Grunge" on my background layer and also "Tape It", just to lift it a little.

I sealed a Kraft Envelope then cut off the top to create a pocket for a journaling card, tying some Bermuda Bay ribbon through a punched hole.  I stamped onto the envelope with Gorgeous Grunge stamps.

I used the Deco Labels Framelits for the Coastal Cabana Layer then punched an image from the Label Love stamp set and punched it out with the co-ordinating Artisan Punch, then added a Frosted Finishes Embellishment which sadly disappeared when the A/W catalogue finished.

I was really pleased with the finished result and love the whole concept of Scrapbooking, it's nice that a story can be carried down through generations.

Flowerfull Heart

You only have a couple of days left to order this stamp before it goes, the "Whole Lotta Love" promotion finishes on January 27th.  This single stamp is just so pretty and very useful for lots of different occasions from birthdays to weddings, anniversaries and Valentines and at just £8.95 it's great value too.

Onto my card, not the best pictures as the flash overpowered a little which didn't show up the background of the card.

The "Flowerfull Heart" is the main focal point, stamped in Pool Party and heat embossed with Dazzling Diamonds to give a lovely shimmer.  This heart is cut out using the Hearts Framelits dies.

I used "Gorgeous Grunge" with Craft White Ink on the background along with the "Simply Stars" stamps to break up the plain pool party base.

I used a Candy Dot base with brad in a co-ordinating colour, these are available in the four colour families Stampin' Up! carry.  I also slipped on a Paperclip with a piece of silver 1/8th ribbon tied around.

The sneak peak here is the embossed Summer Starfruit layer, it's a gorgeous new embossing folder that is one of the FREE Sale-a-bration offerings this year and I just know it's going to be a popular choice.

Your'e Lovely Sneak Peak

Here are the cards I made for some team members at December's monthly training, each month I recognise those who are in my top 3 for Sales with a handmade card.

This is very similar to the card in my previous post except I changed my first layer to crumb cake and stamped the Gorgeous Grunge stamp with Whisper White Craft Ink.  I covered over the word "lovely" with the word "Amazing" for the stamp set "Your'e Amazing".

I layered everything with Dimensionals for a 3D look and added some Linen Thread for texture.

And here they are all together, here you will see I used different papers from the new Sale-a-bration pack at the bottom of each card.