Taking a Huge Step

On Saturday I drove our daughter Sophie to Heathrow for her onward journey to China to trek The Great Wall, all in the name of Charity.  Such a huge step for someone so young to endure, not knowing who she would be travelling with or what obstacles she might face, I'm sure my feelings of anxiety for her are natural.

Leaving her at the airport was heartbreaking, but I know that the adventures that lie ahead through the next 12 days will be ones that she will cherish forever and look back on as another of lifes great experiences.  Proud is an understatement.

My feelings of sadness became greater once I reached home and the WhatsApp messages came through, I long for her to be home and filling us with news of her adventures.

So with my son away on his holidays and Jay car racing it was just me and Alfie today.  Thank goodness for creativity, it took my mind away from my family worries for a while!

I'm spoilt for choice on products to play with.  Having the Annual Catalogue released in July then just recently the Autumn/Winter Catalogue I'm struggling to decide what to play with first!

I have a couple of favourites, in my previous post you will see how much I'm loving the "Merry Cafe" set.

Now as crafters we like to get ahead of ourselves when it comes to Christmas creating, but often I find I burn myself out by November as I've jumped in both feet first so this year I'm trying to be more restrictive on just how much time I spend creating Christmas projects, it's trying to find that balance when there's so many nice festive products arriving on my doorstep!

So today I'm going to share something festive, and although I've created tons of Christmas things already, I've not actually shared them here, so here goes.....

My card uses a set called "Carols of Christmas", love how easy this set is to use, the fact that it has co-ordinating dies makes it easy to be creative.  I love everything about this set, the deer, the trees, the ornaments and the little elements that can add some finishing touches too!

I created a really simple card, of course you could add more layers but this took very little time to create and I love it's simplicity.

A couple of mini sequins and some thread add a little glitz to sparkle things up.

So I hope I've inspired you to make a start on your Christmas Crafting if you haven't done so yet.  If you're planning on giving handmade cards this year then there's no better time to start making them than now!

If you'd like to place an online order with me, don't forget to use my Hostess Code if you're order is over £25 but less than £150

Click on any of the product images below to be directed to my shop

To say Thank You for shopping with me I will send you a hand stamped card and a gift next month in the post

Product List

Carols Of Christmas Clear-Mount Bundle [146037] £40.50	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] £8.25	Cherry Cobbler A4 Card Stock [121681] £7.25	Card Stock A4 Pear Pizzazz [131290] £7.25
Silver Mini Sequin Trim [144230] £5.50	Silver Metallic Thread [138402] £2.75	Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [139672] £7.75	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies [145372] £27.00

On Stage Amsterdam

Over the past couple of months I have been finding it hard to keep up to date with my blog, I have managed to find a better life/work balance over the past year, making time to do the things that make me happy.

My aim is to get back to posting more regularly as I am still creating oodles of projects, just not finding the time to share them here, with platforms such as Instagram, it's just so much easier and faster sharing my creations and that's kind of where I have been focussing on of late.

So today I thought I would catch up with details from the recent On Stage Event I attended in Amsterdam earlier this month.

I had the most amazing time, spent with 4 of my team.

Following from my previous post, here is the first of my swaps.  At Stampin' Up! events we do something called "swapping".  We create a card front design, make several, then swap them with others meaning you come home with a whole load of different ideas!  It's great and a part of these events that I really love as you get to mix and mingle with people you've never met before.  

For my second swap I used the "Carousel Birthday" stamps which I adore, sadly these are now on the retired list but still available to purchase at present so don't miss out, get it before it's gone!

My colour combo here is Mint Macaron and Peekaboo Peach

I like to make gifts for my team, here they are all packaged with their names on, I was excited to give these to them, will have to get a photo of the contents for you!

I attended Centre Stage, an evening and a lunch specifically for leaders.  The evening was lovely, the opportunity to chat and engage with other Demonstrators, a fabulous meal, live group, dancing, gifts and great company!

Look at the gorgeous notebook we received in our bags, and those Post It Notes, well, what can I say!!!

Such an exciting couple of days, to come away carrying the new 2017/18 is the greatest feeling, so many exciting and gorgeous new products to share with you all soon.

The next On Stage event is in Birmingham on 11th November, I would love for you to join me on this adventure, if you'd like to find out more about the benefits of being a Demonstrator, how you too can get sneak peaks of upcoming products, earn a permanent discount on your products and become part of an amazing community of crafters then just get in touch with me at

stampinkerry@aol.com

for a very informal chat

Nailed It Masculine Card

Wow, it's Friday again already, I'm not complaining as I love the weekend, usual routine blown out of the window, the smell of freshly ground coffee beans whilst we sit around the kitchen (I spend most of my time in here, love it).  As from next week Jack's racing series kicks off for this season which brings the two day events meaning our weekends will be a little different but we are still together as a family and that's the main thing.

Today I'm sharing a card that I made for a recent class, I can't tell you how much use I've had from this set Nailed It, I love how easy it is to create a masculine card, the co-ordinating dies make ease of cutting the tools out and I love that the set has a ruler die, fabulous.

There will be plenty more cards to follow this one using this set so do pop back to check them out.

When I first saw the Hexagons Dynamics embossing folder at On Stage in November, I was exciting to actually try it for myself and run it through my Big Shot machine.  I can't explain just how textured this folder is, it's pretty awesome and gets me every time I run some cardstock through with it, an outstanding product that is really a must, and don't just think of it for masculine products, it's way much more than that.

Our Sale-a-Bration promotion is still running and it's not too late to earn yourself some free products, simply place an order with me for £45 and choose from any of the free items on the flyers.

If you aren't local you can place an online order

If your order is over £25 use my Hostess Code below and I will send you a free gift in the post from me to say thank you for shopping with me.

March Hostess Code

J94PTK96

Product List

Delightful Dijon A4 Cardstock [138345] £7.25	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock [106550] £8.25	Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate [131291] £7.25	Soft Suede A4 Card Stock [119982] £7.25
Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [126978] £6.00	Delightful Dijon Classic Stampin' Pad [138327] £6.00	Hexagons Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [143231] £8.25	Nailed It Clear-Mount Bundle [144735] £38.50
Delightful Dijon 5/8" (1.6 Cm) Mini Striped Ribbon [141430] £7.25	Urban Underground Designer Washi Tape [142787] £4.50	Gorgeous Grunge Clear Stamp Set [130517] £18.00

Carousel Birthday hand stamped and packaged treat bags

I'm sure by now you all know how much I love to give a treat, it really is about the packaging for me, love creating it and love giving it too!

Today I'm sharing a little chocolate treat I gave to some ladies at a recent class and I loved making them so much I made a bunch for some team members as we were having a meeting!

I've used the lovely set "Carousel Birthday" from the Spring/Summer Catalogue, the greeting I used from the set is perfect for gift giving and I love the flourish that surrounds it.

It was cut out using the Layering Ovals dies which are a must have, in fact all of the layering dies are amazing, I use them so often.I teamed my black stripy cupcake holder with Delightful Dijon, created a base for one of our cello bags and then adding a banner tag with more cardstock and some co-ordinating Dijon ribbon, the little peg has sadly retired but I needed to use up my stock!

I was really pleased with how it turned out and everyone loves Chocolate Teacakes so smiles all round, pretty packing and chocolate, a great combination!

If you would like to make little creations to give as gifts, why not come along to a class or simply place an order online with me to purchase some lovely Stampin' Up! products to get creative with.

It's not too late to use February's Hostess Code if your order is over £25

Product List

Delightful Dijon A4 Cardstock [138345] £7.25	Delightful Dijon 5/8" (1.6 Cm) Mini Striped Ribbon [141430] £7.25	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] £8.25	Layering Ovals Framelits Dies [141706] £32.00
Gusseted Cellophane Bags [141704] £4.25	Tip Top Taupe Classic Stampin' Pad [138325] £6.00	Tip Top Taupe A4 Cardstock [138343] £7.25	Carousel Birthday Clear-Mount Stamp Set [142832] £17.00

NEW Sale-a-Bration items available FREE with a qualifying order

I'm excited to share with you today the release of some gorgeous new Sale-a-Bration items available for FREE with a qualifying order of £45.

You can browse them below or simply click HERE to be directed to the online PDF

The Glimmer Paper is delicious, available in a pack of 3 colours containing 12 sheets of 6x6 glimmer for your projects!

There's still time to take advantage of this month's Hostess Code, details below:

Thank you for stopping by, will be back soon!