Spiced Paisley in the Park

Another New York layout, again using Spiced Paisley stamps and the Spice Cake papers.  I love how these papers have a mixture of colours and patterns that are both suited to masculine and feminine projects.

The photo is taken at Battery Park, New York where we took a boat to see the Statue of Liberty.  It was a pretty grim day, a little damp and dreary and those hot nuts were just too inviting!  The park was full of squirrels which were amazingly tame and very cheeky!

We used the Fun Flowers die to create the flower rosette in the middle of the layout adding some of that gorgeous spotted scallop ribbon in co-ordinating More Mustard.

The word "Park" is die cut using the "Alphabet Simple Letters" set which is perfect for Scrapbooking.

Spring Mini Spectacular, just one week away

Looking out of my window this morning, there is a real Spring feeling in the air which is just in time for my Spring Mini Spectacular which is being held next Saturday, so just one week to go ladies!

Booking has now closed and all spaces have been filled so I thought I would give you a sneak peak of what we will be doing, albeit a bit blurred!

I know we are going to have a great day full of fun, laughter and creativity and I am really looking forward to it.  Everyone attending will be receiving an email very soon for the final details of the day, so keep a look out for that.

Back soon with details of another new class on 24th March, "All about the Boys" so save the date!!!

Scrapbooking, all spiced up!

I have been so busy with other things I completely forgot to show you the layouts from January's Class, so here is the first one.

I love the Spice Cake Product Sweet, the stamps, the papers, the fabric and those gorgeous Designer Buttons.  I wasn't a fan of More Mustard but it has really grown on my the last few months and I just love this colour combination with a hint of Pool Party mixed in.

These photographs were taken at Christmas whilst on holiday in Cape Verde (Cape Verde is situated off the West coast of Africa,  not many people have heard of it when I speak about it!).  I haven't added any journalling to the Pear Pizzazz "Top Note" piece yet but on this we stamped using the "Charming" stamp set and spritzed too.  You will need to click on the layout to get a closer look as it is difficult to see.  The background flowers on the More Mustard base is also from the "Charming" set.

Another stamp we used which co-ordinates with the Spice Cake Paper is the "Triple Treat Flower" A La Carte stamp which works with the Fancy Flower and 5 Petal Flower punches.  We also used the new 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch which can be seen at the top left of the layout.

The title was die cut using the "Timeless Type" sizzlits set with the Big Shot Machine.

Elementary Elegance

Onto another Sale-a-bration stamp "Elementary Elegance" along with some of the Everyday Enchantment DSP for this next card.

Here I have used the "Elementary Elegance" SAB set with a colour combo of Poppy Parade, Pool Party and Soft Suede.  The paper at the bottom of the card is also a SAB freebie, Everyday Enchantment and they are truly gorgeous with some great In-colours thrown in.  The top part of patterned paper is from the In-colour stack so it co-ordinates beautifully.  If you spend £45 between now and 31st March you can earn this stamp set or patterned papers for FREE, its such a great offer.

Elementary Elegance co-ordinates with the Curly Label punch which you can see below.  Also don't throw away the centre of the frame stamp as you will see I have used it here with Pool Party ink to create a plain background for my greeting.

We created a sprial flower with Pool Party Cardstock then using the new Postage Stamp Punch from the Mini Catalogue, punched one out in Very Vanilla and cut off all four corners then snipped down each groove towards the centre to create this new style flower.  This is something Shelli showed us at Convention in Disneyland Paris last November.  It adds a real dimension to the card.

I gave the flower some ribbon tails using the Chantilly Lace Ribbon and Old Olive 3/8" Taffeta.

The horizontal border was created using the Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch and this has to be one of my favourites.

So if you and your friends would like to earn some FREE Stampin' Up! goodies, get creative and be inspired, why not book a party and I will share what I love about Stampin' Up! with you!



Vintage Butterflies

This is the first card from my monthly Card Class at Whitminster, the butterfly panel was inspired by a picture in the Sale-a-bration Leaflet.  You can view the free stamps and papers here

I am so loving "Fresh Vintage", it is just so pretty when you colour in the flower image using Marker Pens, the result is stunning.

So as you already know, Fresh Vintage can be yours for FREE when placing an order of £45 and this offer will run through to 31st March.  The co-ordinating papers are also a Sale-a-bration item and they are gorgeous too, I will be sad to see them disappear at the end of March so you will be seeing a lot of them whilst they are around!

Back to the card, with a colour combo of Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Poppy Parade and Calypso Coral which are all In-colours in case you hadn't noticed! I have thrown a bit of Crumb Cake in there for some neutral base and to break up the colours.

The butterfly is cut using the "Beautiful Butterflies" Bigz Die and we stamped it in VersaMark ink using the heart stamp from the "You are Loved" set then heat embossed it with Clear Embossing Powder, the result is really pretty.  You can see this closer in the picture below.

The greeting is from the "Create a Cupcake" set, stamped in Early Espresso ink finishing with some daubing of course!

Back later!



Fresh Vintage Sale a Bration Set

Fresh Vintage has to be my favourite Sale-a-bration stamp set, it is just so versatile and of course can be yours for FREE if you place an order with me for £45.

Here it is:

and here's a really quick card that I have made using it



My colour combo is Melon Mambo, Pool Party and Lucky Limeade teamed with Whisper White, quite bright for me but I really like it.

I have used the co-ordinating Postage Stamp Punch which layers nicely onto the 1/38" Square Punch.

The greeting is from "Petite Pairs" which works really well with the small oval punch then added an Itty Bitty Flower punched out in Lucky Limeade with a rhinestone added for a bit of bling!

The sweetest thing.....

Before I show you some Sale-a-bration samples I really should show you the final projects from the Big Shot Class, again using the Petal Cone Die, it's quite amazing what you can turn this die into!  I am sure you have seen these Ice-creams before but I think they are just so sweet and as suggested by Hazel would make a great party invitation!

Your Big Shot Machine will really take your crafting to the next step, it is an investment you won't be disappointed with.

Here we have used a couple of Embossing Folders, the Square Lattice and Vintage Wallpaper to add texture to make this ice cream look more realistic.

The Cherry on the Top is punched out from the new Glimmer Cardstock sold in a pack of two 12x12" sheets, it is really stunning and will add that touch of glam in an instant.

The greetings are all from the stamp set "For My Family" and the flag banner is die cut from the Perfect Penants Bigz Die.

Our final project was the Spice Cake Cupcake Card!

More embossing and sweetness with Cherries on top and of course an appearance of the gorgeous Spice Cake Designer Paper from the Mini Catalogue which encouraged my colour scheme of More Mustard, Pool Party and Soft Suede.  So simple yet of course, so sweet.....

........why not join me in getting the most out of your Big Shot, the next class is on Wednesday 1st February at Alveston where you can create all of these projects or at Whitminster on 14th February where we will be using another die to great some fabulous projects.

Let's Sale-a-Brate!

Today is the launch of Stampin' Up!'s 2012 Sale-a-bration and the promotion runs right the way through until 31st March.  This is a great offer and I am really excited to share it with you.

If you are new to Sale-a-bration this is how it works as there are different ways you can earn these free goodies plus more:

1. Place an order for £45 between now and 31st March and you can earn yourself exclusive Stamp Sets and Designer Paper packs for FREE
2. Be a Hostess, host a party with sales of £300 or more and choose any SAB item for FREE
3. Join my team during SAB and not only will you get the Starter Kit for an amazing £119 but you can also choose any stamp set of any value from the current Catalogues for FREE.  This means that for £119 you will be getting products worth over £290, what amazing value that is.

There are 4 lovely stamp sets to choose from, all exclusive of course and the most delicious pack of Designer Series Paper that co-ordinates with one of the stamp sets. You can view the stamps here

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Stampin' Up! is offering a great opportunity for you.  You may not be looking to build a business like myself, you may just want to earn a great discount on your products to help feed your hobby so here's a little bit of info to help you out:

• Discounted Products: You will get 20% off any products you buy and if you place an order for a minimum of £150 during the first 45 days of signing up you will get an amazing 30% off. 
• Want to earn some extra cash: There's every opporunity for you to earn yourself some extra cash, whether you want to run your own business and do house parties and classes or if you just want to show the catalogue to your friends to gain orders on a regular basis or just be your own best customer, the choice is yours and the opportunities are there for you.  You can choose the hours you want to work, as much or as little as you like, it is so flexible you can fit it around your family or part time job.
• Free Products: You can earn yourself free stamp sets during your first 6 months as a demonstrator, get the cost of your Starter Kit back along with the opportunity of an all expenses paid trip for you and a guest to Salt Lake City, Utah in 2013, wow!!
• Support: As your upline I will be there to provide you with any help and support you may need along the way whether you just want to be a Hobby Demonstrator or want to set up your own business.  Stampin' Up! also offer you support with guidance to help you on your way when you get started through to Regional Training Days around the country.

 If you would like to know more about signing up as a Demonstrator, call me on 01452 740532 / 07717 068909 for an informal, no obligation chat about the opportunities that there are for you

 

Petal Cone Die

Here is the first project from this month's Big Shot Class, we concentrated on using the Petal Cone Bigz Die and in total we created two cards and this gorgeous cone shaped box.

My colour combo was inspired by the new "Spice Cake" designer papers and consists of Soft Suede, More Mustard and Pool Party.

The greeting flag is also part of the Petal Cone die and is I have used this so much recently on my projects.

More new products here, the Spiced Paisley stamp set which is just so versatile.  Here we stamped and layered two different stamps in Soft Suede and More Mustard, punched them out using co-ordinating Circle Punches then die cut that gorgeous Scallop Circle from the Perfect Penants Bigz Die in Pool Party cardstock, just so simple but perfect for this cone.

Here is how it opens:

The Pool Party scalloped edges around the top of the cone are also die cut from the same Petal Cone die, it couldn't get easier!!

To finish we punched holes and threaded Seam Binding ribbon through to secure.

Back later with the other Big Shot projects.

Perfect Postage

So with my previous post in mind, I set my creativity into "productive mode" and continued to follow the same sketch and produce similar but different designs with it.

This time we have a Valentine's Card, quite bright and cheery using Melon Mambo, Pool Party teamed with Crumb Cake and Whisper White.

Again I have used the Perfect Postage stamp set and this time I embossed the heart images with Melon Mambo embossing powder, it really adds an interesting feature and is so simple to achieve, just stamp with VersaMark Ink, pour powder over the image then heat with the Heat Tool, the second pictures shows this much more clearly.

The oval greeting is from "Petite Pairs" stamped in Pool Party ink and the ribbon flag greeting is from "Teeny Tiny Wishes" which is a really great set as it caters for so many different occasions.

I am really liking this set, quite versatile and great that it has the co-ordinating "Postage Stamp" punch too.

A New Arrival

On Monday evening, Jason's nephew's wife gave birth to "Jensen" and here is the card I have made for him.

I have been playing with the "Perfect Postage" stamps and came across a sketch which worked really well and here is how it turned out.

I am loving the new In Colours and chose Island Indigo, Pool Party and teamed it with some Crumb Cake and Whisper White.

I used another new product, the Postage Stamp Punch which of course co-ordinates with the Perfect Postage stamp set, another punch which has many uses.

The letter "J" is from the Timeless Type sizzlits set and I die cut it out using the Big Shot Machine.  I also embossed the Pool Party layer with the Stripes embossing folder, loving this one, so versatile and very classy!  I tied linen thread behind my squares to add some texture and bring in the Crumb Cake from the base card.

On the inside I used a greeting from "Bundle of Love" and stamped a Babygrow because it is sooo cute!!  I added more DSP and a Pool Party border to finish it off.

The new Sping Mini Catalogue is here.....

So here it is, our first ever "Spring Mini Catalogue", full of so many gorgeous new products that you will love I am sure, including the new "Simply Adorned" range of chains, charms and baubles perfect for jewellery making, home decor and of course papercrafting.  I have been so excited about this since Convention in November and being a Demonstrator I have been able to pre-order items a whole month in advance so have already been playing with some of those goodies.

Click here to go direct to the online pdf version or simply call me today and I will pop one in the post to you.

Spurred by the release of this new mini I have arranged an all day event in March, details as follows:

SPRING MINI SPECTACULAR

SATURDAY 3RD MARCH 2012

WHITMINSTER VILLAGE HALL

10.00am - 3.00pm

£35.00

INCLUDES A GOODY BAG WITH £28 OF PRODUCTS INCLUDING YOUR OWN STAMP SET TO USE ON THE DAY

LUNCH AND LIGHT REFRESHMENTS

SPACES ARE LIMITED AND AVAILABLE ON A FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED BASIS

DEPOSIT OF £18.00 REQUIRED BY 28TH JANUARY 2012

BALANCE DUE 11TH FEBRUARY 2012

Call me on 07717 068909 / 01452 740532 to book your place

Back soon with some samples to share

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I know I am a little behind schedule but here goes:

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL

and thank you for your support in 2011

Well I am officially back at work today, busily planning for upcoming classes and events.

I can't wait to share the new Spring Mini Catalogue with you tomorrow so stay tuned to view the online version before you get to see the real thing in person at the next class or workshop. 

If you are planning on attending the Spice Cake Desk Tidy Class at Alveston on 14th January booking closes today so don't delay in contacting me!!

Here is a sneak peak:



Not Just for Tags....

Another tag using the Two Tags Die, this time a bit more decorative and it would make the perfect partner to a co-ordinated gift wrapped present.  Isn't it nice to gift wrap those special presents with hand made tags and wrapping.  Again,  more of the previous post using "Tags till Christmas" for the Bauble image and "Polar Party" for the greeting.

So here you see the Two Tags Die is not just for Tags!  A cute little gift bag that perfectly fits two Ferrero Rocher chocolates.   This gift bag is so easy to put together, it simply uses two die cut tags which are then stuck together and folded in towards each other along the pre-scored lines to create the bag.  These would also make great name place settings too.

Gift Tag

Using the Two Tags Big Shot Die I created a cute Gift Tag and then made a pocket to encase it!  More Holly Berry Boutique Patterned Papers along with Glimmer Brads and Spotted Scallop Cherry Cobbler Ribbon.  The slim "Merry Christmas" tag was die cut using one of the Sizzlits (slim) dies from the "Lots of Tags" set.

 The "just for you" image is from the Hostess stamp set "Tagtastic" which has a very vintage feel and I love how you can cut out the centre piece and raise it using a dimensional.  Here I stamped the image in Cherry Cobbler and punched it out using the XL Oval Punch then daubed in Early Espresso ink around the edge to give a more vintage feel.

"Tagtastic" isn't available to purchase unless you are a Hostess, so why not book yourself a party, invite some friends around and earn yourself some lovely exclusive Stampin' Up! products for free or just simply host a virtual party if you don't have the room to entertain, alternatively join one of my virtual stampers/marker clubs to get your hands on exclusive hostess goodies.

Here is a close up view:

Tags Till Christmas

Sorry for the lack of posts, we have been away for Christmas and just returned this morning.  I still have a few Christmas products to share with you so thought I should do this before it is too late!!!  Of course you could always make an early start ready for next year and get crafting now!!

Another project created at the Bags, Boxes and Tags Class.  That gorgeous Ornament (Bauble) image is from the "Tags Till Christmas" stamp set which contains images that can all be punched out and used as tags.

Again we used the Holly Berry Boutique papers with co-ordinating colours of Cherry Cobbler and Wild Wasabi.

We used the Big Shot Dies Perfect Penants and Petal Cone to create the Crumb Cake Scallop Circle and Flag Banner to which we stamped a greeting using "Polar Party" Stamps.  We spritzed this with a Cherry Cobbler Marker Pen and Spritzer Tool.

We used a glimmer brad attached to a Boho Blossom flower and some of the Spotty Scallop Ribbon to create a closure for our box.

More Cherry Cobbler Boho Blossom flowers with Mini Silver Brad centres are attached to the centre of the Bauble to finish.

Bags, Boxes and Tags Class

Last week I held a selection of Christmas classes, the "Bags, Boxes and Tags" was one of them.  The class was based on the Holly Berry Bouquet Designer Paper so our colour combo was Chocolate Chip, Cherry Cobbler and Wild Wasabi.

Here is what we created during the class, I had several samples on display with instructions and everyone chose what they wanted to make.

The first is a little gift bag that could contain anything from a couple of sweet treats, to make-up or jewellery.

The greeting is from "Polar Party" that cute little Christmas set and the ribbon tail flag was die cut with the Big Shot using the Petal Cone Die.  We stamped the greeting in Chocolate Chip ink then using the Cherry Cobbler Marker Pen spritzer over the top.

Of course some co-ordinating Spotted Scallop Ribbon is making an appearance and attaching it a Glimmer Brad, you can't appreciate just how gorgeous these are until you see one in the flesh!!

Back with some more projects soon.

Embossing with Stripes

Don't you just love the Textured Embossing Folders that Stampin' Up! have, they give such a deep embossed texture and transform a simple piece of cardstock into something great!  This card features the new "Stripes" folder, perfect for those manly cards but still add a touch of class to any occasion.

My colour combo here is Pool Party, Island Indigo and Certainly Celery.

This cute little hippo is from the stamp set Kidoodles, the images are cute and great for colouring/watercolouring.  This card wasn't my idea, I saw it whilst blog hopping and loved how simple it was, just perfect to case for one of my 6 cards.

I used Blender Pens with the ink in the lids of the Ink Pads to colour in the hippo image.  Although these images all have a greeting attached to each stamp you can of course use a marker pen to use either the image or the greeting separately.

The lovely scallop trim circle was die cut using the Big Shot with the "Perfect Penants" die, this die also for creating Bunting!!

That lovely decorative border at the top is from the stamp set "Creative Elements" which I received at Convention, it is such a beautiful set consisting of 8 stamps.

6 Cards Class projects

Our first card at November's 6 Cards Class was this, the idea came from Jane, we made a similar version at our Pyjama Shoe Box Swap in our rooms at Disneyland Paris.  I didn't steal the whole idea, just took the colours and sketch then added my own stamps.  Thank you Jane for the inspiration.

So I chose the stamp set "Nature Walk", a really versatile set that even works for man cards too as you can create some lovely collages with it.  We used Marker Pens to colour in the image to give a multi-coloured effect.

I have a new Marker Pen starting soon, still have a couple of spaces left so if you are interested in spreading the cost of the whole set then just get in touch.

The greeting is from "Perfect Punches" and as it's title tells, each of the greetings co-ordinate with Punches.

Season of Joy!

"Season of Joy" is one of my all time favourite Christmas stamp sets, I love it even more as it can be used for non-Christmas cards as the Poinsettias can easily pass for flowers if using subtle colours and that swirl just has so many uses.

My colour combo here is Real Red, Old Olive and Whisper White.  That spotty scallop ribbon is making an appearance again, can you tell that I love it, the Cherry Cobbler version is even more delicious!!  Such a sweet and simple design here.

The Poinsettia's have been hand cut and layered using Dimensionals to make them stand out and on one I have added some of those cute little mini silver brads, they are just £2.95 for 200 of the little beauties and I have been using them on everything!!

Back soon with some piccies of my birthday trip to New York and Canada!