Sorry, I disappeared for a moment.....

Phew, back after a couple of days feeling unwell, I am glad that it waited until the Extravaganza was over!!

So I have a few more pictures of the day to share with you:

work in progress!

building up an appetite to fill their lunch tubs!

and not forgetting our special guest who I have to say is an absolute dream, so well behaved and was quite often seen in Jane's arms..

and more projects to complete after lunch..

some of the projects were designed by Jane and I don't have pictures yet but you can view them on Jane's blog here.

We also had a raffle with 3 lovely prizes and of course our usual Prize Patrol where the winners got to choose themselves a free Stamp Set!

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the whole day and from the comments I received from everyone, they enjoyed it too!  Thank you all for your support.

Easter Extravaganza

What a lovely day surrounded by lovely people, full of fun, laughter and creativity.....

The calm before the storm!

Goody bags for everyone on arrival with hidden surprises inside!

Lots of happy crafting!

Creating lots of projects:

With lots of butterflies:

and ribbon ruffles:

More pictures to follow later including one of a special little person who joined us for the day!!

Sweet & Sour

This month's projects at the "Making Gifts & Cards" Class at Alveston were both based on the same colour combinations and a bit of "Sweet & Sour" thrown in!

This was our card with a colour combo of Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red and Very Vanilla which all work beautifully together.  I have to admit I am not a great lover of Pumpkin Pie but I love it teamed with the Rose Red.  The spotty DSP is from the "Sweet & Sour" Speciality pack, these papers have a nice glossy finish to one side of each design, very lovely!  You need to see them in real life to appreciate their true beauty!

The stamp used on the Very Vanilla layer is from "Style Beautiful" stamped in Crumb Cake Ink to co-ordinate with the layer behind.  The Heart Border is created using the Small Heart Punch and then snipping up between each heart to create a beautiful edge. 

The butterfly image is from the "Butterfly Prints" stamp set, inked in Rose Red ink and punched out with the Butterfly Punch.  We used the Early Espresso Marker Pen to colour in the words "just for you" from "Afterthoughts", one of the Level One Hostess Stamp Sets and punched it out using the Extra Large Oval Punch, daubing around the edge with Early Espresso ink.

To finish we made a ribbon ruffle with the 1/4" Grosgrain Pumpkin Pie Ribbon.

Thank you for stopping by, back tomorrow with some pictures of the Easter Extravaganza that myself and Jane held today, too tired to sort out pictures for you this evening!!

A bit of Vintage

I received a swap at the Fareham Training in February with a similar layout and just loved the colour scheme too so had to do something with it, the orignal swap was from Angie Sims.  With my son being in hospital I wasn't left with much planning time for my card class so decided to go with this one which worked beautifully.

Now I know what your'e thinking, Vintage Vogue, hmmm, one of my favourite stamps and used very recently for a Make & Take, don't worry guys, I have put it back on my shelf for the time being, have so many new products to play with at the moment, but nothing to show you yet, but be patient, April will soon be here!!

So our colour combination is Marina Mist, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla and Naturals Ivory (for the base card) and not fogetting a hint of Pear Pizzazz for the leaves!

The DSP is from "Elegant Soiree" which I adore, the colours are gorgeous together and some of the patterns so elegant.

The greeting is from the Level 3 Hostess set "Occasional Quotes" punched out with the Word Window Punch then layered with a Modern Label punch out from Early Espresso cardstock.

We stamped and hand cut extra flowers which we put on the insert sheet along with more foliage stamping.

Pillow Box

Hi everyone and Happy Friday, yayyy!

I thought I would share this cute Pillow Box that I created recently.  These are great for holding little gifts such as chocolate or sweet treats or even Jewellery.

The flower and tag stamps are from "Cottage Garden" a gorgeous "2 Step Stampin' Set" which requires the use of the Stamp-a-ma-jig.  You can find this set on Page 53 of the Catalogue, Item No. 120003 £15.95 for Clear Mount or 117068 for Wood Mount.  It contains 7 lovely stamps one of them being a beautiful greeting "Love Life and it will Love you back".

My colour combination is Marina Mist, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla.  The flowers are all inked with Marina Mist and inked only once but stamped three times to create three different shades.  The outline flower image which is the second part of the "2 Step Stampin' Process" is inked with Early Espresso.  I added adhesive Pearls to the centres which are so pretty.

The tag image was stamped and then punched out using the Large Tag Punch (IB&C Page No. 106, Item No. 119876 £14.25), I just love how the punches work with the stamp sets, it makes such light work of everything!

I used the "So Swirly" Jumbo Wheel to create a background pattern on my box, for this I used the same colour ink as my card which is Crumb Cake.

The DSP (Designer Series Paper) around the centre of the box is from the Subtles Stack, of course this is Marina Mist to co-ordinate with my stamped flowers and it was layered with Early Espresso Cardstock.  To finish I tied a knot with Very Vanilla 5/8" Satin Ribbon.

If you would like to see how this is all put together, why not book yourself a Party, invite your friends around and I will do the rest!  You will also have the opportunity as a hostess to earn some great exclusive free products!

Workshop Make & Take

Do you remember "Vintage Vogue", when it was first released I couldn't put it down and had to hide it for a while as my other stamps were feeling rather neglected!!!

Well I thought that I would rescue it from hibernation and I love it just as much now as I did before!

So here is a Make & Take that was created at a recent workshop.

Our colour combo is Sahara Sand, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive and Early Espresso, teamed with Very Vanilla, gorgeous!

The background is stamped with "Sanded" using Sahara Sand ink.  The greeting is from the stamp set "Curly Cute" which is true to its name!  The decorative edge on the Early Espresso layer is created using the Scallop Trim Border Punch, one of my favourites at the moment!

If you would like to find out more information on hosting a home workshop, better known as a "Party" as it is definitely not work, just fun, fun and more fun, email me at stampinkerry@aol.com for further details on how you can earn yourself some exclusive Stampin' Up! products for free!!

Alternatively, if you would like to purchase products so that you can make the above card or would like to purchase a copy of the current Idea Book & Catalogue then please get in touch.

Stampin' Up! Regional Training at Fareham

At the end of February I attended one of the Stampin' Up! Regional Training days which was held at Fareham, these days are open to Demonstrators only and are full of business, fun and excitement, oh and should also mention free products!

I was asked to do a Demonstration using the "Business Basics" stamp set and this is what I came up with, a Post it Note Memo Holder that you can stick on the fridge!!  The demonstration went fine, although a little wobbly to start!!

The Designer Series Paper I used was "Elegant Soiree" and I teamed it with Soft Suede and Baja Breeze.  I couldn't resist using some of the gorgeous 1 1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon as it ties such beautiful bows and the Marina Mist co-ordinates perfectly!

The suspended pen has also been decorated with DSP and I have attached a little tag at the end giving my contact details.

On the back of the memo holder there is a pocket which contains several business cards so that the receiver can hand them out to her friends!

The original idea for this came from a Challenge that was set by Amanda for our last Quarterly Meeting, we were each issued with a Post it Note and the challenge was to make something useful with it!  Here is my attempt:

I have made quite a few different designs but will save those for another time!

Thanks for stopping by,

Making Gifts and Cards Class

After receiving a swap from Hayley at our Quarterly Meeting in February I just couldn't resist having a go for my 3D project at the Alveston Making Gifts & Cards Class. 

So this is my design, Hayleys swap used "Bliss" stamps which was beautiful, you can see it here.   It is so sweet, holding 3 Ferrero Rocher for your loved one or perfect as a gift for Mother's Day and really quite quick to assemble!  Everyone loved it at the class so thank you Hayley for your inspiration! 

I used the large ornate stamp from "Bliss" for the first stamped layer then added the wording from "Cottage Garden" in Early Espresso Ink over the top.  The flowers were inked in Marina Mist, only inking once but stamping three times so that you get different tones of the same colour.  This is a 2-step Stampin' set so you will need a Stamp-a-ma-jig to help you.  You stamp the solid image first in a paler colour, then use the outline stamp with a darker colour ink to complete your image.  The sweet little butterly is also included in the set and it is soooo easy to hand cut!

To embellish our box we added a bow made from the 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon in co-ordinating Marina Mist and some of the Basic Pearls which worked lovely with the stamped images.

If you would like to have a go at creating some lovely little 3D gifts and projects then why not give me a call to book in at one of my classes on 07717 068909 or email me at stampinkerry@aol.com.

I'm back......

........and so is my son!

What a relief it is to have him back home again, he now has his appetite back and is managing to get around on his crutches!  Leg is still looking very swollen but off to the Doctors tomorrow so hopefully they will say that everything is looking normal for post op!! 

It has been a very tiring week and half and I have to say I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things so with that in mind here is a card from one of the classes I held towards the end of last month.

This one uses one of the Sale-a-bration sets "Punch Bunch" which is unfortunately retired (boooo) but I know that most of you managed to get this one for free during the Sale-a-bration period and I couldn't not show it to you!  Our colour combination is Early Espresso, Wild Wasabi, Marina Mist and Whisper White, very manly colours don't you think?

The Happy Birthday greeting is also from the same set but the "4 You" is from the "Tiny Tags" set, punched out with the Medium Jewelery Tag punch, I love these, they are just so cute!  We tied 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon around in a knot and attached the tag to look as if it were hanging from it.

We used "Sanded" one of the background stamps to create the subtle textured look on the base of the card.

Remember that you will be able to purchase the "2 Step Owl Punch" from 1st April when the Mini Catalogue is released (yaaaay!)

Anyway, I have a busy day tomorrow so I really should think about getting myself organised!

Back tomorrow with some more samples and thank you to everyone for your get well wishes for my son.

Back with you soon!

Still at the hospital, hoping that my son will be discharged soon. At the moment classes this week will run as normal but I will keep you informed if anything changes.

March Frenzy - the latest Promotion

Just blogging quickly before I head to the hospital, as promised, details of the March Promotion Stampin' Up! have for us!!

The March Frenzy is a fantastic new promotion where you can get up to 30% off selected products as listed in the flyer below.

Click on the flyer to the right to view the products in closer detail!

If you would like to take advantage of this great offer just give me a call or email me today to place your order.  Shipping direct to you door is £4.95 or you can collect from me in person.

Hopefully back soon with some samples!

Back with you shortly

Just to let you know that i haven't disappeared off the face of the earth, my son broke his tibia and fibula on Sunday at motorcross and we are still waiting for surgery at Sutton coldfield hospital in birmingham. As most of you are aware I have had to postpone all my classes this week but everything should be back to normal next week!!

I have had a really busy couple of weeks and have lots of projects to show you in the next couple of days, including the march promotion from stampin' up! where you can get up to 30% off selected products!!

Sale-a-bration is here!!!

THIS POST WILL REMAIN AT THE TOP OF MY BLOG UNTIL 28TH FEBRUARY SO PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE RECENT POSTS

During January and February Stampin' Up! have a special promotion called "Sale-a-bration".  This is a fantastic opportunity to earn yourselves free exclusive stamp sets and there are four gorgeous sets to choose from.

Click on the flyer to the right of my blog for more information.

There are 3 different ways of earning yourself these free exclusive sets:

Spend £45 (product sales before shipping) and earn one FREE Sale-a-bration set of your choice

Host a workshop of at least £300 (product sales before shipping) and earn one FREE Sale-a-bration set of your choice

Join My Team and become a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and choose a FREE stamp set from the current Idea Book & Catalogue (valued up to £44.95)

So here they are:
Top Left is "Bliss", Top Right is "Punch Bunch",
Bottom Left is "So Happy for You" and Bottom Right is "Sweet Summer"

 

If you sign up and join my team during January or February you will also receive the "Colour Coach", a fabulous tool that will compliment your Starter Kit, this is a gift from me and is not endorsed by Stampin' Up! in any way.

The Starter Kit now has a new lower price of just £119 and is valued at more than £230 worth of products.  If you are looking to supplement your income doing something you love or would like to join to earn yourself discounts on these fabulous products, give me a call today for more information about signing up and joining my team.  I have never had so much fun earning money before and I have met some wonderful people along the way!  What are you waiting for, share what you love!

********

Sale-a-bration runs from 30th December 2010 through to 28th February 2011 so you have every opportunity of earning yourself all 4 sets!!

If you would like a copy of the Sale-a-bration flyer and you are not on my mailing list, just email me at stampinkerry@aol.com and I will get a copy in the post to you.

Back shortly with some samples to share

Save the date, Easter Extravaganza!!

Easter Extravaganza

Saturday 26th March 2011

9.30am - 3.30pm

Whitminster Village Hall

£30 to include lunch and all materials

Come along for a whole day of crafting, fun and laughter, you will learn, create and be inspired!

All projects supplied in kit form along with full instructions so no designing necessary!!  Everything you need will be on your table including project samples, all you need to supply is your favourite adhesives.

***************

Spaces are limited, booking closes 7th March, payment will secure your place!

Call me on 07717 068909 or email me at stampinkerry@aol.com for a booking form

"Bliss" Class

We all had a lovely time at my "Bliss" Class on Saturday at Whitminster, a whole morning of crafting, that is just Bliss in itself, thank you to all those ladies who came along!

So we created three beautiful 3D cards and a Box Envelope all using the lovely Sale-a-bration set "Bliss".  You have until 28th February to earn this stamp set for FREE with any £45 order placed with me.  I just love the butterfly stamp in this set, it is so pretty and easy to hand cut enabling you to give a 3D effect.

Our colour combination is River Rock, Riding Hood Red, Early Espresso and Very Vanilla.  The DSP is from "Love Letter" which is gorgeous.

Here are the cards in closer detail, sorry for the poor picture quality the sun was shining through the window when I took them!

We also used another one of the Sale-a-bration stamps called "So Happy for You" for our greetings.  We used the Early Espresso Marker Pen to ink up separate words on the greetings to enable them to be punched out.

The ribbon used is the 5/8" Satin which makes lovely bows and is perfect for creating the ruffle effect.

We added Basic Pearls to every card to add that bit of class!!

Here is the Box Envelope we created, perfect for holding any one of the above 3D cards to give to that special person:

I am re-running this class at the end of the week at Alveston so those of you booked in are up for a fab afternoon of crafting, fun and laughter.

More Class Projects - Hopeful Thoughts

The second project at February's card classes was this lovely birthday card using a colour combo of Rich Razzleberry, Tempting Turquoise and Pear Pizzazz which everyone loved.

We used a combination of stamps, the Leafy Floral Stamp is from "Hopeful Thoughts" which you can find on Page 73 of the IB&C priced at £25.95 for 5 stamps.  The set also includes a lovely Tree image and three thoughtful greetings too.

We used the marker pens to ink up the main floral image which worked beautifully and the Ornament Punch (see it's not just for Christmas!) to create our vase, we just trimmed off the bottom part of the punch out to create a flat bottom!  We stamped onto this with one of the flower stamps from "Sweet Summer" using Rich Razzleberry Ink and then daubed around the edge before adhering to the Whisper White Panel.  The butterfly is also from "Sweet Summer".

The Designer Series Paper is from Greenhouse Gala and this was adhered to the left panel followed by three punched flowers from the Boho Blossom Punch with Basic Pearls (these are adhesive!) attached to the centres.

We used the gorgeous Scallop Trim Corner punch to create our decorative corners, this is just such a pretty punch.

The greeting is another "Sale-a-bration" stamp set called "So Happy For You", I love the style of the font with these greetings and the set also includes some small shapes such as hearts and flowers too!

If you would like to earn yourself one of these "Sale-a-bration" sets for FREE, all you have to do is email/call me with a minimum order of £45.00 (plus s&h of £4.95 direct to your door) and I will do the rest.  Remember we only have a couple of weeks left until this fabulous promotion ends.

Email me at stampinkerry@aol.com or call/text me on 07717 068909 for more details.

Thanks for stopping by

Febrary Class Projects

The first of our class projects for February.  I just had to use the "Owl" stamp from the Sale-a-bration set "Punch Bunch" for one of our cards as he is just so gorgeous.  I really can't wait for the co-ordinating 2-step punch to be released in the Mini Catalogue in April.  If you are loving this Owl as much as I am then why not earn the set for FREE with a £45 order placed before 28th February! 

Just change the colours to subtle Pretty in Pinks teamed with Certainly Celery and you have yourself a very feminine version of this card, it could suit so many different occasions.

The foliage at the top of the card was created using one of the stamps from "Sweet Summer", another Sale-a-bration set that you can earn for FREE!!  We coloured in the image using the Stampin' Write Marker Pens.

My colour combo here is Old Olive, Not Quite Navy and Cherry Cobbler teamed with Very Vanilla, quite manly colours but it suits well and could easily pass for a Valentines Card!!  The "just for you" greeting is from "Just Believe" punched out using the Word Window Punch and layered onto a Modern Label punch out in Cherry Cobbler.  The ribbon is the 5/8" Satin in matching Old Olive.  The piece of Designer Series Paper is from "Jolly Holiday", a Christmas themed pack which can be used all year round!

If you would like to order any of the products we used at the Class or would like more information about Stampin' Up! products just email or call me.

"Bliss" Class

For those who haven't received flyers and emails!!!

As we are into our second month of Sale-a-bration I thought that I would hold another Class showing just how beautiful these stamps really are.

Bliss Card Making Class

Whitminster Village Hall

Saturday 19th February 2011 - 10am-1.00pm

Alveston Methodist Church

Friday 25th February 2011 - 1.30-4.00pm

£17.50 to include £12 worth of Stampin' Up! products plus your card kits, all you need to supply is your favourite adhesive!

We will be making 3 cards and a 3D project using "Bliss", one of the Sale-a-bration stamp sets that can be yours for free with any £45 order from the Idea Book & Catalogue.  Here is a sneaky peak:

Spaces are limited at both of these classes

Booking Closes Sunday 13th February for the Whitminster Class

and

Booking Closes Friday 18th February for the Alveston Class

If you would like a booking form please email me at stampinkerry@aol.com for more information, remember that your place is not secure until I have received your completed booking form along with your payment.

NEW Stampin' Write Marker Share

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE RECENT POSTS

THIS IS THE SECOND SHARE
3 SPACES ARE ALREADY TAKEN, 1 SPACE REMAINING
I WOULD LIKE TO CLOSE THIS SHARE BY 9TH FEBRUARY SO LET ME KNOW ASAP IF YOU ARE INTERESTED

Hello everyone, I wanted to let you all know about a new share that I am running.

Would you like to own the whole set of Stampin' Write Marker Pens complete with their Carry Case and spread the cost over 4 easy monthly payments?  Those of you coming to my classes and workshops this month will see how great these pens are, double ended with both fine and brush tips, perfect for colour in your stamped images, use them to ink up your stamps and also fab for journalling too!  And don't forget the Colour Spritzer tool, create endless backgrounds with multi colours using the markers, I just love them and use them all the time!

There are 4 spaces on this share, 3 have already gone which means there are 1 left!!  If you sign up to this share you are committed for the whole 4 months.  Each month you will receive a colour family of marker pens and by the fourth month you will have received all four colour families of pens along with the Carry Case and 5 In Colour markers which will give you a total of 43 markers, wow, just think of all the colour combinations you can create with all those colours!  There are compartments left available in the carry case to store the new 5 In Colours that will be released in October 2011! 

To enable this share to run fairly and smoothly I will require 4 post dated cheques of £26.65 (includes s&h to me) which will be processed each month before I order the markers (or if you are a regular at one of my classes you can hand deliver your payment each month!)  If you are not within easy travelling distance from me then postage will be charged at cost to deliver each monthly offering.

I am also offering a free "Sale-a-bration" set of your choice to each person taking part in this share so when you contact me have your choice in mind!

If you would like to take part please contact me on 07717 068909 / 01452 740532 or email me at stampinkerry@aol.com

Scrapbooking Class

One of our layouts from February's Class showing pictures of the fantastic hotel we staying in at Las Vegas last year, I can't believe it was nearly a year ago that we were there!  We used the gorgeous stamp set "Cottage Garden" with a colour combo of Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso and Whisper White.

"Cottage Garden" is a 2 Step Stampin' set which means you need to use the Stamp-a-ma-jig to layer up your images.  We used the Stampin' Off technique to create three different depths of colour with the Wild Wasabi Ink, a great way of getting more use out of your ink pads by using them to create different shades of one colour.

The tiny flower images were stamped directly onto the Marina Mist base layer in Early Espresso ink and we added some Basic Pearls to make them stand out.  We used the "Oval All" stamps with Kraft White Ink onto Early Espresso card, punching out with the Scallop Oval Punch then punching a smaller oval in Whisper White and adhering over the greeting to hide it.  These were all then placed just under the Wild Wasabi Designer Paper layer down the left side of the layout.

The title was stamped using my favourite alphabet stamps "Broadsheet" which is available in both Wood and Clear Mount.

Here are the stamp and paper supplies we used:

• Cottage Garden Stamps - Page 53  Item No. 117068 £18.95 Wood Mount or 120003 £15.95 Clear Mount
• Subtles 12x12" Assorted Cardstock - Page 83 Item No. 119708 £8.75
• Neutrals A4 Assorted Cardstock - Page 85 Item No. 121699 £6.25
• Basic Pearls - Page 99 Item No. 119247 £4.50
• Subtles Designer Series Paper Stack - Page 91 Item No. 117152 £15.50
• Broadsheet Alphabet - Page 76 Item No. 118724 £44.95 Wood Mount or 120585 £36.95 Clear Mount

Remember, if you place an order with me for £45 by 28th February you can choose yourself one of four FREE exclusive stamp sets! 

Why not get your other half to order something for you as a Valentines Gift, just give them my email address along with your Wish List and I will do the rest!!

Contact me at stampinkerry@aol.com for more details.