Announcing the new Annual Catalogue

The brand new 2012-13 Annual Catalogue is live today!  It's much bigger than last year, with so much more product and inspiration. I will give more information about some of the exciting things inside in future posts, but until then, I think you need to see it for yourself! 

My lovely customers and hostesses will be getting their own free copy of the catalogue this week.  But if you want to get your hands on one for yourself, they are £3 or free with an order of £40 or more, or if you book a party or private class for you and your friends!

 

Birthday Beer!

A quick post today to show you a quick card I made for a friend's dad!  It's made using retired stamps Happiest Birthday Wishes (hostess set) and Cheers to You.

 

Cheers to you!!

Swing fold card

I'd seen some examples of these swing fold cards and wanted to have a go, and decided to try it out on a card I was making for my friend for her Mum's 60th birthday.  I looked on YouTube for some guidance on how to do it, and found a few different styles.  I think I want to try one with more of a 'swing' action next time, but I still think this one works well!

Products used:

Stamps: Elementary Elegance (Sale-a-Bration set)

Inks: Soft Suede, Crumb Cake for edgeing

Card Stock: Pool Party, So Saffron, Soft Suede

Papers: Attic Boutique

Embellishments: Pearls, Linen Thread

Equipment: Number dies, Beautiful Wings Embosslits, Beautiful Butterflies die, Framelits

Apothecary Art and Attic Boutique

I'm still loving the Apothecary Art stamp set from the Summer Mini catalogue!  And I've also only just realised how beautiful the Attic Boutique papers (also in the Summer Mini) actually are!  I bought them ages ago but have only recently started using them. 

This card has more of the spiral flowers which I really like making...

Products Used:

Stamps: Apothecary Art

Inks: Pool Party, Crumb Cake,

Stamp write markers: Pool Party, So Saffron, Always Artichoke

Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Pool Party, Very Vanilla, So Saffron, Soft Suede

Embellishments: Pearls

Equipment: Label Framelit dies, Circle punch, Bird builder punch, Itty Bitty punches

Happy August!

Yes, I know we're well into August now (where does the time go??) but I wanted to tell you about Stampin' Up's current special offer.  It's the Reason to Smile offer and it features a brand new stamp set only available this month.

This stamp set has 7 stamps including three delicate flower outlines and their co-ordinating shading! They are so versatile as they can be coloured in, or are great for creating backgrounds.  I think they look like daisies (or gerberas) and buttercups!

There are two ways to get your hands on this stamp set.... either get it for FREE with a purchase of £60 or more, or buy it at the regular retail price of £14.95 for clear-mounted, or £18.95 for wood-mounted.

Contact me to order or why not book an August workshop or party and get even more free products as a hostess!!

Baptism card

Here's a quick post to show you a baptism card my friend asked me to make.  It was for her friends seven year old son, Elliot, and she wanted something bright and fun rather than something religious.

I used the Big Shot and letters dies to cut out the name and printed out the sentiment.  The papers are some retired ones (Play Date) and the leaves are punched out using the bird builder punch.  The owl stamp is from Fox and Friends!

I love tea!

Yes, I do love my tea!  And I love this teacup stamp which comes as part of the Tea Shoppe stamp set in the Summer Mini catalogue! 

Rather than rely on my trusty Stamp-a-ma-jig to perfectly line up each cup, I first scored my card using the Simply Scored tool to make squares which I could stamp in!  The Tea Shoppe stamps I used were clear-mounted so I could easily see where I was stamping.

Products used:

Stamps: Tea Shoppe (Summer Mini Catalogue)

Inks: Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo, Regal Rose, Pool Party

Card stock: Whisper White, Island Indigo, Pool Party

Tools: Simply Scored, Modern Label Punch, Eyelet Border Punch

Embellishments: In-colour brads, Everyday Enchantment ribbon (July freebie)

Just as an aside...I thought I would share a snapshot of my work area - this much mess was for making just a couple of cards!  Can you imagine what a 10-20 card session might look like??  Well let's just say the mess is not just confined to one table, or one room for that matter!!

Happy Birthday Nephew!

My nephew was 2 years old last weekend - this is the card I made...

Products used:

Stamps: Happiest Birthday (hostess set)

Inks: Real Red, Pacific Point

Card stock: Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Pacific Point

Papers: Big Top Birthday

Equipment: Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Simply Scored,

 Big Shot, Numbers Dies, Perfect Dots embossing folder

Ribbon: Real Red Grosgrain

Happiest Birthday Clare!

This week my good friend and workmate, Clare, celebrated her birthday and I wanted to make her a really pretty card. 

I used the Apothecary Art stamp set and Everyday Enchantment designer series papers and I took inspiration from Julie's magnificent diorama cards she showed us how to make at our last training day.  She also showed us how to make these rolled paper flowers and I have been wanted to put them on every card I've made ever since!!

I'm getting a bit panicky about running out of this fantastic paper - it's only available until the end of July so we have only 4 days left to order it.  I know it's a strange thing to say abouit paper, but I'm going to miss it!!  I'm sure there will be a new favourite when the next catalogue comes out!

Folded pocket note card holder

Here is a very cute and easy little project which is great for using up your designer series papers.  It's usually called a teabag holder because it's the perfect size for holding a teabag or two and makes a really sweet gift.  We were shown how to make this at our team training session but there are loads of videos on YouTube - just search for teabag holder for instructions.

The matching note cards use up more scraps and have a flower stamped using Mixed Bunch and punched out with the Blossom Punch - so quick - a whole stack of these take minutes to make!

The envelopes are made easy with the Simply Scored tool!  I love how you can make your own envelopes that perfectly co-ordinate with your cards - it just adds an extra special touch.

Contact me if you would like instructions!

Easy events and wedding wishes

At last I've got my hands on some stamps I've wanted for a while.  Easy Events are a set of eight stamps for different occasions and are so cute.  And they're probably the most versatile set in the current catalogue.

Easy Events Stamp Set, Main Catalogue page 43

The designs are outlines so you can stamp and leave them blank or colour them in using the stampwrite markers or blender pen (or even the water colours or pastels!)


I made a wedding card this week using this stamp set - I just love the birds!  I added colour using a blender pen with the ink pads.

Products used:

Stamps: Easy Events, Baroque Motifs

Inks: Basic Grey, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo, Regal Rose

Equipment: Framelits, Perfect Dots Embossing Folder, Itty Bitty punch

Embellishments: Rhinestones

I know I'm going to get a lot of use out of these stamps!!

Congratulations card

Last weekend I received this gorgeous vintage style card from Julie for getting my first Stampin' Up! promotion last month!  It was easy - I just bought loads of nice things from the catalogues so that I could make even more beautiful cards and gifts.

This card uses one of my favourite stamp sets Apothecary Art.  It's a really popular stamp set and you can find it in the Summer Mini catalogue (see links on right) until 31 August.

Thanks Julie - I love it!

Christmas swaps

Once a quarter, Julie Kettlewell hosts a team training day for her team - Julie's Jems.  Since joining Stampin' Up! in February I have missed a couple of these, but managed to get myself booked onto the most recent one in July.  It was really great to meet other demonstrators in the team, and to get lots of tips and ideas from Julie.  We did lots of crafting too, and there were gorgeous cupcakes which seems to have become a tradition at these events.

There was a Christmas theme at this training day, and we were asked to make some Christmas swaps using a non-Christmas stamp set!  I used  Everything Eleanor, including the little bird which I coloured as a robin, and some festive colours (Real Red and Old Olive) to create my swaps...

Products used:

Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Petite Pairs

Inks: Old Olive, Soft Suede, Real Red

Card stock: Real Red, Very Vanilla

Ribbon: Very Vanilla Satin

Punches: Large Scallop Circle

It was great to swap these for some really lovely and unique projects from the other ladies!  It certainly got us thinking about Christmas and all the exciting things that will be coming in the new Autumn/Winter Seasonal Catalogue which will launch on 1st September!

More decathlon projects

Following on from yesterday's post - here are the other 9 projects we completed in the Craft Decathlon!

A lollipop card using a circle punch

Up Up and Away

Diorama Card stamped with - oh my goodness I can't remember

A coaster book - I will add photos of Cornwall inside this!

Owl punch

Fold-out box

Mixed bunch easel card

Mouthwatering Stamp Set

At the start of the day we were given a pack of Sweet Shop Designer Series papers, some co-ordinating Jelly Brads also from the Summer Mini Catalogue, and a reel of ruffled ribbon.

It was an exhausting day's crafting but well worth it - such great projects to come home with.  And the reward....

... a well deserved chocolate gold medal!  And I haven't even eaten it yet!

Julie's Craft Decathlon

I recently attended an all-day craft decathlon in honour of the Olympic games, and organised by Julie Kettlewell in Pudsey.  We completed 10 events - cards and 3d projects - over the day and each won ourselves a chocolate gold medal.  It was a really great day, complete with lunch and cupcakes, and thankfully plenty of tea, to get us through the events!

Below are pictures of my favourite project of the day - a very fancy fold out card - which I will definitely be replicating for those extra special occasions when a little more effort is required!

The card is made from 1 sheet of 12"x12" card, scored and folded and decorated with scraps of patterned paper (in this example we've used the yummy Sweet Shop designer series papers).  I love how it opens out to reveal the message hidden among all the cakes and sweets!

Do you want to have a go at making this card yourself?  If so, come along to the monthly card class at Dock Street Market in Leeds next Tuesday 24 July where Alex Spence will show us how it's done. I'm going along for extra practice, so see you there!

Crafternoon Tea - a successful first class!

Hi!  Just wanted to say thanks again to the 14 lovely ladies who came to my Crafternoon Tea class in Calverley this afternoon.  You made it so much fun and your creativity was outstanding!  And thanks to Lisa and Rebecca at Cafe Village for providing sustenance in the form of tea, sandwiches and delicious cup cakes!

These are the projects everyone made...

Triangle Treat Boxes

Paper: Sweet Shop Designer Series Papers

Ribbon: Ruffled ribbon

Stamp: Oval All

Punch: Scallop Oval

Cupcake Card

Stamps: Easy Events

Ink: Basic Grey

Stamp Write Markers

Dotty ribbon in Melon Mambo

Cards stock: Whisper White and Melon Mambo

Mixed Bunch Card

Stamps: Mixed Bunch, Petite Pairs

Inks: Poppy Parade, Lucky Limeade

Card stock: Pool Party, Very Vanilla

Papers: Everyday Enchantment Designer Series

Tea Cup Card

Stamps: Tea Shoppe

Inks: Marina Mist

Card Stock: Marina Mist and Daffodil Delight

Punches: Scallop Border, Modern Label, Word Window, Circle, Itty Bitty

Papers: Subtles Paper Stack

Yum!

Even more butterflies...!

Happy Sunday to you!  I am just getting ready for my Crafternoon Tea card class this afternoon (excited!!!), but just wanted to quickly share some new cards with you...

I made a stack of new butterfly cards this week - all using the in-colours and the Everyday Enchantment designer series papers which are back in stock for July only!!!   Can you tell they are a favourite of mine?

This last one is stamped on the background with one of the stamps from the Mixed Bunch set.

I guarantee there will be more butterflies coming soon!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!