Scrappin' it & Stampin' it!

Card Class

2012-02-17T07:30:00.000Z

today is card class - can't wait looking forward to our get together and catch up with everyone's news.

No crafting was done yesterday due to going to see this guy! - love kermit.

scrunchy

2012-02-16T07:00:00.000Z

flower, after spending hours flowers I hunted about the net for more ways to use the scallop punch -m I like to get value from my punches! and found lots of flowers made using the punch and a spray of water!.When you layer them together you get a ruffled scrunchy look - the flower in the photo looks dirty - it isn't it is bad photograhy! - camera is still playing up!.

Another bag

2012-02-15T06:30:00.000Z

and card, the same style as my last ones but I used morning mocha papers, these are so beautiful and until now I have just looked at them as they are almost to nice to cut up1, they are flocked, metallic and stunning!. Anyway I braved it and snipped them with my paper snips and made more rolled flowers , this weeks favourite thing to make!,. I think I may add a gift card holder and do this as a class for my ladies, I think they will love rolling paper to create these flowers.

Little Notes

2012-02-14T05:00:00.000Z

I needed a batch of little notelets ready for the end of the week so I very quickly using the fancy flowers set , oneof the exclusive stamp sets you can get with your hostess pounds. It comprises of 5 stamps - three of which are big flowers which can be punched out very easily using the fancy flower punch,the papers are called Domestic Goddess.

still no

2012-02-13T05:00:00.000Z

snow here! - I was glad up until friday we had escaped due to the logisitcs of school and work but as it is half term and we are off for a whole week I was hoping for a little scattering so the boys could don there snow clothes and go out sledging. The sky has looked full of it for days but we haven't had a flake , I bet it will arrive at the end of the week when we don't want it again!.

I have been making lots of rolled little flowers, I have seen them all over the place and decided to give them a try, all you need is a scallop circle punch or a plain one , cut it into a spiral and wrap around a cocktail stick or if like me you don't have one a kebab skewer!. I cased this project from the lovely angela again and she very kindly send me the measurements for the card bag so I could complete the set. I used all saleabration stamps and papers - remember they are free with an order of £45 or more - get them while you can.

2012-02-09T07:00:00.000Z

what I call happy post! (as opposed to bills!), so nice to receive a note in the post especially when it is handmade. I received this lovely card from Vanessa - her link is on my side bar. It uses all su products and is lovely, I may have to case this too!. Why don't you make a card and handwrite a note someone you know this week, in an age of email, texting, socail networks and blogs how many of us actually put pen to paper any more?.

Trinkets

2012-02-08T06:30:00.000Z

While looking at the lovely angela's blog , I fell in love with a decorated simply adorned charm she had made. After a quick email to see if she minded me casing it I set to work to create the set. The charm is transformed by adding a key chain to it so you can pop it onto a handbag or even your craft bag. It would make a lovely mother;s day gift with the matching card. Please take a mionute to click on Angela's name above and look around her truly insprational blog.

Happy Post

2012-02-06T09:54:00.003Z

in my post box this week were lots of lovely cards - thankyou ladies!.

I also received a box decorated with a gorgeous blossom in my favourite su colour of the moment and when I opened it up inside was the most gorgeous of key chains.

It came from Ruth my lovely downline, she has used su stamps with shrink plastic to create the charms which all hang beautifully on ribbon and adormed with lace and a button.

If you click on ruths name above it will take you to her blog where her pictures are far better than mine.

My camera only partially works as a certain young david baily in the house was busy taking pictures of this little one at the weekend

and has broken the auto focus on my camera, but on a positive note after having a whole new heating system in october and leak after leak which last week involved digging up a concrete floor we have had full heating for three whole days, it hasn't shut down or lost pressure and we are warm , I hope this is it no more leaks!.

Please note the gorgeous new addition to the family is not ours! we have enough on our hands with two mad sheep dogs but she does belong to a close a fmaily member so there will be lots of hugs and visits, she enjoyed her outing for sunday lunch! at our house and even managed to drink a whole cup of tea!.

Still cooking

2012-02-01T07:00:00.000Z

the cakes!, now I have opened this set and baked a few cakes I am finding it hard to put away!. Another card using the cake things! - I also opend my pack of tiny brads for this project they really are tiny but are perfect for adding to the sentiment label and for the centre of the blossom that I popped on this cake. They are quite fine at the back so can easily be cut with scissors so you don't have any metal bits sticking out from your project and believe it or not they are only £2.95 for a pot of 200.

End of

2012-01-31T06:30:00.000Z

the cakes - todays offering is the last of my cupcake themed projects the stamps have been put away for a few days whicle I pick my next favourite set of products!.

What I have discovered this last few days is a real love for calypso coral - at first it was not my favourite colour choice but at the minute I am using up all the scraps until my order of a whole pack arrives! - being as fickle as I am I will probably choose a new favourite - I really should try to use up some wisteria wonder as I am struggling with that at the minute!.

Back to tdays card - it is a cake shaped card - the sizzix scallop cirle has been cut down and embossed for the topping, I angled the card to create the cake case and embossed that for more texture, I added a ribbon, a sentiment and using the boho blossoms punch created the floral embellishment complete with mini brad!.

More cake

2012-01-30T07:00:00.000Z

another cake inspired project.

This little gift bag uses two sizzix scalloped circles which I have embossed with a folder.

A cake was stamped, punched and added to the front, it is held together with a little metal librrary clip which has two pieces of ruffled ribbon tied to it - a very quick little bag for a small guft or a chocolate or two or three!

Let them

2012-01-28T07:00:00.000Z

eat cake! - I decided to take a closer look at the cupcake stamp set and punch.

I love the cards that I have seen on the net so far with this set but for me it wasn't working at all my cakes were all a bit undercooked!.

Normally I take instant inspiration from my colour coach but I have sitting on craft room shelf a whole jar of vintage cotton reels in various colours and after a recent shake up looking for that pefect cotton match to mend one of the boys torn shirts I threw them in and on the top were three reels which I have likened to pool party, so saffron and calypso coral, my colour combo was born!.

I pinched a technique used on the sale a bration cards of stamping in versamark on card to create a subtle watermarked background, it also works well when you use the same colour on colour on card ie so saffron ink on so saffron card. The layout was also inspired from a training card we made - all the cards used the cupcake punch to create different punch art(another post needed for those!)

It is a very simple card the cake is stamped and then punched - no fiddly cutting for me! and I added a pool party cherry and a bit of ruffled ribbon.

Last One

2012-01-27T07:00:00.000Z

from my sale a bration makes! - this cute little bag was made from a youtube tutorial from this ladies blog here.

It uses just one piece of 6 x 6 paper and is big enough to pop a chocolate in.

If you want all the supplies to make this bag please take a look the last two days posts as the product bundles allow you to make the cards and the bag.
Don't forget that joining su during sab gives you an extar stamp set worth up to £44.95 free - please see my joining page and email me of you want to chat about anything su!.

2012-01-26T06:30:00.000Z

Elementry Elegance, This card uses the same layout as yesterdays card but has been stepped up a bit with a few little extras.

Added to it is a piece of everyday enchantment paper, a vintage tag, a designer brad and a couple of blossoms from the blossom party die.

Supplies needed for this card:
yesterdays elementry elegance bundle and
blossom party die £16.50
in colour brads £7.25
mini vintage tags £4.50
extra large oval punch £15.50
Total is an extra £43.75 - both bundles = £90.60
EVERYDAY ENCHANTMENT PAPERS FREE
EVERYDAY ELEGANCE STAMP SET FREE
also if you order the doubnle bundle with two free sets I will include free p&p worth £4.95 and a free Stampin' Up reusable tote bag worth another £3.95.
email to order - quoting DOUBLE BUNDLE!.

Elementry Elegance

2012-01-25T06:30:00.000Z

now you have had a chance to look at the wonderful sale a bration items you can get - you have looked haven't you!?, How does one choose between gorgeous things?.

As a demo we are able to order some of these goodies so we have time to use them before a promotion begins, I ordered the papers and decided to leave the stamps until I could earn them this month as Father Christmas had up lots of funds this year!.

The scrapbook page I did previously used some of the papers but I was itching to use the stamps and at a recent training event I was able to try them as the projects all used the elementry elegance set.

It has crowns, birds, butterfiles and all manner of vintagy things.

The card is a very simple one and uses the calypso coral, poppy parade, crumb cake and pool party combo.

Supplies Needed for this card:
1 pack of in colour A4 card (20 sheets) £6.25
1 pack of crumb cake A4 card £6.25
1 reel of calypso coral ruffled ribbon £8.95
curly label punch £15.50
poppy parade ink pad £4.95
crumb cake ink pad £4.95
Total £46.85
ELEMENTRY STAMP SET FREE
Want to order drop me an email quoting elementry elegance bundle

Sale a bration

2012-01-24T06:30:00.000Z

Yeah it is finally here!.

The best freebie promotion is here, hands up if you love free crafting products (me!)

SAB is the one time in the year where you get unlimited free products.

It works very simply, for every £45 you spend you can choose a set of stamps or paper from a special selection, I think this years are amazing and I want them all!.

It runs until March 31st after that they will not be available - get them while you can.

You cannot buy them you can only earn them with product purchase.

Another great advantage of SAB is that if you join the Stampin' Up! family during the promotion you can choose an extra stamp set worth up to £44.95 for FREE how's that for a bargain only £119 for over £300 of stamping goodies.

Please take a look at my joning page for more info but plesae feel free to email me if you any questions or you want the forms to sign up for this incredible chance to get your hands on a big box full of stash.

You are under no obligation to make any further purchases you can take the kit and enjoy it or you may decide to take another path and that is the beauty of su you can make it work for you whatever road you take.

Lovely Crafting

2012-01-20T16:23:00.001Z

Today was our first crafty get together since christmas, it seemed like forever since we met last and I suppose it was as our last meeting was last year!.
It was lovely to catch up with everyone, the next class is Feb 17th.
I made sure everyone knew that sale a bration was on it's way as I don't want anyone to miss out on the great benefits, a whole SAB post will follow in the next few days!,As it starts on the 24th.
I Have been trying out the cupcake punch a lot this week from the mini catty and created a quick card in between other projects. It uses the SAB papers and the punch, the sentiment is from the create a cupcake stamp set which coordinates with the builder punch.

One sheet

2012-01-12T19:56:00.001Z

Wonder!, I am currently working on a batch of cards for a future class using the one sheet wonder technique. I have chosen circle circus as my stamp set as it was sitting unloved and uninked under my desk and after much deliberation I plumped for this years in colours as I love them all, I wish we could keep these colours for ever but sadly they are a limited run. The idea is you stamp in a random fashion all over your whisper white to create a custom background, there are no rules just lots of stamping until it looks right!. Here is the sheet I created and now I am off to cut into the sheet to make a set of cards.

Scrapbooking

2012-01-10T19:45:00.001Z

At heart I am a scrapbooker and love to create scrapbook pages. It is however an age since I created a page even though I have a huge stack of pictures waiting to make it onto a page or two!. This weekend saw the return of my scrapping and I created a 12 x 12 using the beautiful salabration papers, they really are the most lovely colour palette to work. The layout uses all su products no other stash is used at all. The scallop circles are the punch from the new catalogue and the pool party button is huge.

Class Updates

2012-01-09T07:00:00.000Z

The first class of the year is on the 20th, the only changes to class the friday class this year is that due to a rise in room hire each session will now be £10. Places as always are limited and I am looking to add to the dates in the month and run an extra class numbers permitting, please email me to book a place or to register your interest. The all day will classes will continue every quarter and the price of those will stay the same at £25. All classes include everything you need to create and finish your projects, refreshments and cake!.

Our first class uses the beautiful beau chateau papers and as the next calendar event is Valentine's I felt this class could be used for a loved one on the 14th or used for an anniverasry or wedding.

A wall hanging/oranament/love token - using the bigshot petal die, this was inspired by a christmas decoration I received from Monica - I would never have looked at the die an thought of this - very clever and so simple - I may make a few more to hang around the house.

Card using the new bigshot die from the mini catalogue and spotty scalloped ribbon from this years main catalogue, a bit of embossing and the branch from the bird die.

A card using a new sentiment stamp from the new mini and a folded tag from the two tags bigshot die. I dusted of the bird punch for this class and part embossed it for extra texture - I love the way all the products work together.

I actually now spend way less on crafting than I ever have as everything I have colour wise is a perfect match, I craft quicker as the colour coach instantly provides me with a colour pallet that works and takes all the pondering out of my colour choice, the quality is fab so the finished item always has a quality finish and the majority of products can be used in so many different ways that I don't get feel i'm using the same old thing time and time again. Oh and the stamp a ma jig lets me position my stamps perfectly so no more stamping disasters!!.

All you can

2012-01-07T07:00:00.000Z

hear in our house at the moment is the sound of punches eating there way through cardstock!.

I have never been a punch lover until I used su ones, they always seemed to not cut properly or you had to be really strong to get them to punch and I have even resorted to standing on them! but since discovering the su ones I can punch through su card like butter through a knife time and time again and my love them has grown with the launch of the mini catalogue - I thought the mini bunting die would forever be my favourite but this catalogue brings a very large scallop circle to us 2 and 3/8 inches, a postage stamp and wait for it a cupcake - the last two both have stamp sets to match which is another thing I love.

So many of the punches can be used for creating things they weren't meant for - the ornament punch makes a super fish or flower vase, the cupcake topping is a lovely cloud, the cupcake base a balloon basket, the owl is a master of disguise and can often be seen around the net as a penguin, reindeer, ghost and more so you get the idea!.

In honour of these great punches I am running a punch art class- details on the classes page to create lots of different punched things and creatures- please get in touch if you would like a place.

an apple

2012-01-05T06:00:00.000Z

a day keeps the doctor away, we have become gadget obsessed this christmas here, Santa bought the youngest member of the household an ipod touch and the teenager of the house had the funds when added up for an iphone and when we went to the shop we came home with two - I wonder who the other is for!, we are all synced by calendar, contacts , music and we can now even talk to the phone and it answers you back!, and the best thing is i am never without my class dates, something for jotting down a quick idea or browsing an su catalogue or two as they are saved to my book store for instant viewing and for showing to anyone who mentions the word stamping or crafitng, but my oh my how far mobiles have come in a very short space of time!.

today

2012-01-04T06:30:00.000Z

is the day! - the new spring mini catalogue is here and I can finally share it, it has been a long wait since november when I first saw it and it seems ages since my preorder arrived last month!.

It is a massive 24 pages filled with lots of new yummy products from su, it has new stamp sets, single stamps, papers, jewellry making supplies, ribbons, huge buttons, fabric, dies and more I have not mentioned!.

My favourite is the spice cake papers which I have used on the corner bookmark below - the colours are beautiful and would be great for boy scrapbook pages.

Do you see the flower - it is a new floral bigshot die.

Here it is

2012-01-03T06:30:00.000Z

proof that I have a kitchen, this year I made a christmas cake this is the first time I have ever tackled the cake and It was all made and decorated by me - the santa i will admit was bought as an extra - he was so cute I couldn't resisit although I did contemplate using a punch art version!.

and here is a small bit of the kitchen so you can see what I am babbling on about!

Back

2012-01-02T06:30:00.000Z

to a few things I managed to make admist the chaos of christmas week which seems like a very long time ago now!.

I did manage to decorate some of my homemade jam very simply for giving out, the papers are from my christmas themed stash which I been hoarding for a while but the jar lids are all su punches (maybe a new one there!) and of course su stamps.

I also made little chocolate favours for our christmas eve table using the two tags die and scoring it a little to create a little folded bag and then stamped circles onto a scallop with a bit of festivity stamped in the middle and my chocolate of choice for these was not cadburys - gasp I know but elizabeth shaw mints they are just perfect for fitting both.

I also made some petal cone boxes using the fab sizzix die and added a punch art santa ( googled this there are many versions he is a combo of a few) and in the box went the magic reindeer food to guide santa to the house aka porridge oats! - note santas nose it is red and very very glittery - it might just be a new product coming to a mini catalogue near you very very soon!!.

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T07:00:00.000Z

I hope 2012 is a very happy and healthy one for us all.

Out with the old and in with the new! and in the case of Stampin' Up! we are keeping our old favourites as the catalgue runs to October but January 4th sees the launch of a fantastic 23 page mini catalogue which runs until April. It is jam packed full of more of the quality items we have all come to love from su and includes all sorts of new products including more punches ( yes there is more than 1! and more than 2 and maybe there is around 3!!), jewellry making items , new papers and well the list goes on and on, please came back on the 4th to check it out.
I hope everyone had a good christmas we did here, we were very lucky to receive some wonderful gifts and spend time with family and at last enjoy our new kitchen, those of you who know of the none week saga will be glad to hear it is all done - nearly and is looking very pink!, i will take a few pics soon to prove it is done!.

Nadolig Llawen

2011-12-24T18:35:00.001Z

Just wanted to pop by and wish you all a very happy Christmas and new year xxx.I will be back in january for another year.

Countdown

2011-12-03T07:00:00.000Z

to christmas! is on , well really the countdown to will the kitchen be ready to cook the turkey!.

I had great plans for making lots of festive things but time has run away with me and we are just a mere three weeks from the big day and I am the most disorganised that I have ever been. No crafting has been taking place due to painting the kitchen , two coats so far, fingers crossed the coat I put on today dries back and it has covered so a third coat is not required. It is painted in a very vanilla colour on three walls and one wall is akin to pretty in in pink!, I finally managed to source a set of pink saucepans today! to add to the pink collection of accessories.

Hopefullyu this next week will see it all finished and my box of Stampin Up goodies will arrive containing some rather nice products due for release soon! and I can create some lovely things.

It is class on Friday the last one of the year, I am looking forward to seeing everyone and we will also have our end of year draw for £50 of su goodies. Excuse my lack of blogging while I finsih off the kitchen, normal serive whatever that is will resume soon!.Happy Crafting.

Brilliant Dies

2011-11-29T06:30:00.000Z

now I have the two tag die sitting on my desk still waiting to be put through the Big Shot. This selection of swaps showcase what a veratile die this is as they were all made using one of the tags or a combination of both.

The second picture shows various pillow box swaps that I have, all using the same die but to create very different looking boxes.

The two tags die costs £18.95 and can be ordered from me using code 115954

The pillow box die costs £16.95 and can be ordered from me using code 113466

Happy Crafting.

Punches

2011-11-28T06:30:00.000Z

look at these fantastic swaps that I got all punched art and showcase how versatile Stampin' Up! punches are. The little lobster is a minature work of art truly amazing, the santa is oh so cute and the angry bird is perfect for the boys who live here!.I am planning on running an all day puch art class in February (date to be confirmed) but if you are interested in using your puches to the maximum drop me an email and I can let you know when the class will be.

Lovely Things

2011-11-27T06:30:00.000Z

were what I came home with as the following pics show. First is my convention goodies, I love the bag and catalogue binder so useful for taking to classes and of course there were stamps - I did get one more set but I am not allowed to show it yet as it's release date is a little while off! - be patient!.

The next pic shows my Memento Mall purchases, pop up bins for class were a must, magnetic book marks, reuseable shopping bags - brill especially as in wales we now have to pay 5p for every bag we need from every shop including a certain fast food drive thru!, ribbon charms for my bag and a special 'Grow' stamp.

One set

2011-11-26T06:30:00.000Z

I have looked at in the catalogue over and over again is artistic etchings and at convention I received quite a few swaps that had used it. The Eiffel Tower image was of course perfect for the location! and show how the same stamp can be used to create very different projects.

catching

2011-11-25T06:30:00.000Z

up still with things around the house, still no kitchen when I joked that the Christmas turkey would be the first thing I cooked on my new cooker it was a joke now it is looking like reality!.

I have lots of things planned for the new year classes inspired by convention and some of the wonderfully inspirational talks we were given by some fantastic demo's. There were some awesome displays out in the centre for you to wander around and collect ideas from here is one I loved, how gorgeous are those wellingtons, I love them.

Swaps

2011-11-24T06:30:00.000Z

is a huge part of convention and they come in all shapes, sizes, colours and no two are the same. I am astounded by the creativity out there and the wonderful things that are done with a stamp set that maybe I wouldn't look at twice and then you see what someone else has does with it and straight away it is on my ~~wish~~ want list!. I haven't photographed all the swaps as there are rather alot, I have just grabbed a handful out of the box to show you some.

2011-11-23T06:30:00.000Z

convention pictures!. Shelli talked to convention each day and could quite often be found mingling among the crowds, she is a lovely lady and has lots of exciting things planned for the uk market, my lips are sealed at the moment suffice to say that this year is going to be fantastic!. We were lucky enough to see lots of new products and maybe just maybe bring one or two home!.

Beautiful Gift

2011-11-22T06:30:00.000Z

at convention I received the most beautiful gift from Monica a beautiful hand felted scarf which she had made herself from start to finish, the colours were perfect for me, it was beautifully wrapped in a decorated gift bag with a gorgeous personalised tag. I have tried felting and it was a disaster so I totally appreciate the effort that has gone into making such a special gift, I am not sure when she finds the time to sleep!. I can't wait to wear it and will treasure it forever.

Back

2011-11-21T07:00:00.000Z

from seeing the mouse!, what a fantastic few days I have had at the annual Stampin' Up! convention.

From start to finish it was amazing, I met up with friends old and new - hello to Angela and all the Julies!.

I watched some amazing ladies collect some truly well deserved awards in recognition of their work and progress within SU!.

It was a very inspring few days, but it is back to reality now leaving all the Disney Magic behind!.

Butterflies

2011-11-19T06:00:00.000Z

you will recognise this card as one I made a little while ago, I have been saving it for my mil's birthday card. While getting her presents ready to wrap I realised I was out of wrapping paper so I turned to my stash of ironed brown paper (can't bear to bin it, so when the su delveries arrive wrapped in it, I flatten and iron it all!) and I decided to stamp loads of Happy Birthdays all over it in inks to match the card. Voila instant wrapping!.

Lots

2011-11-17T06:00:00.000Z

of swaps were required for my trip to the Stampin' Up Convention, they have taken up a fair bit of luggage allowance! - I did two different types in between all the chaos of knocking down the kitchen walls! - a square card front and a ring made out of stamped shrink plastic. Both styles are made using a comination of the new in colours - I love these colours so much, it is such a fantastic idea of su to introduce these limited run colours to the already fantastic colour families.

Off to

2011-11-16T06:00:00.000Z

see the mouse! In less than a day I am jetting off to Paris for the annual Stampin' Up! convention.

It happens once a year and I have not been before, I had ummed and ahhed over going and then missed the deadline for registering with all the plans and work for the house so I put it out of mind.

A couple of weeks goes by and I get a very unexpected but amazing phonecall from my upline offering me a place! - she had won it in a su competition (which I had run out of time to enter!), there were two seats left on a flight out of manchester so I very quickly bagged one and I managed to book a hotel room for the trip so Paris here I come!. I made lots of swops so I can return with lots of other examples from fellow demos to display. I am not sure what to expect but I am sure it will be alot of fun and I shall update you of every little detail when I return , thankyou Monica for being so generous with your prize you have made me a very happy stamper! x.

ps - you get a bag at convention, anyone who knows me and my love of bags will know I am hyper ventilating at the thought of a new craft bag and not just any bag one that will be filled with goodies!.

Au Revoir!

Bulk

2011-11-15T06:30:00.000Z

production of christmas cards is called for at the moment so I cobbled together a 4 inch square card using the bird punch to create a card that I can assemble in between doing lots of other jobs!. The kitchen is into it's third week of building, we can see a difference in that we now have a ceiling and walls and hopefully by the end of the week we will have a floor that is either tiled or ready for tiling!.

Cards

2011-11-14T13:48:00.001Z

for christmas! - I was at the community centre yesterday supporting the cafe who was raising money for Macmillan nurses. I had a table with lots if su samples on it and for a small donation anyone could make a christmas card. Lots of people did , I was glad I had kept the card simple and offered it in two different colou combos, lots of people chose to do both!, four hours soon flew by!.

They Shall Not Grow Old

2011-11-13T07:30:00.000Z

They shall grow not old

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

From Laurence Binyon's poem For the Fallen, written in September 1914

Fabric

2011-11-09T07:00:00.000Z

is a huge love of mine but I am not a sewer, in my mind I have projects whirring but when I get the machine out and stitch they rarely look like the image in my head!, I have friends who are a whizz on a machine and there creations look stunning, mine never turn out that way and it diesn't stop me from hoarding gorgwous bits of fabric just incase!. This years Stampin' Up! catalogue has several fabric ranges in whcih made my heart skip a beat as they are so beautiful, I ordered the candy cane ones with a christmas project in mind. You get three co ordinating pieces in a pack all of the fat quarter sizing and they do of course match su colours so your buttons and ribbons are a perfect match for embellishing with.

I am off on a little trip soon and I fancied a new notebook for the journey so I set about making a paddded notebook cover that I can use on any A5 notebook. To embellishment I used the new bigshot fabric adhesive - it comes on a roll, you iron it to your fabric, die cut your shape and then iron it on to your fabric and voila die cut fabric shapes cut out and stuck down with no sewing!!- - how easy is that. I added a string of bunting and a butterfly both using dies from the new catty. I then made a book band using the flowers die and ribbons. I am kind of pleased with it not bad for a first effort with no pattern and in under a couple of hours!. It is also reversable so i can turn it insode out and have small spots if the mood takes me!.

Photos aren't brill the light here is awful this morning.

kits

2011-11-07T10:03:00.001Z

in between the on going chaos - why does a job that seemed like a fairly easy job turn into a massive one!? - still no kitchen two weeks in and still a shell of a room and the longer it takes the more little things I am finding to buy to put in it when it is done!.

Top of my list this weekend was to finish the kits for Fridays Class! - normally I am way ahead on the packing front but the chaos has held me up some what but rest assured ladies all fourteen are packed and ready to go!

all day

2011-11-03T06:22:00.000Z

class was again great fun, although our projects were all of a flirtacious nature there was a touch of halloween about the place!. I found a great cake stand for the cake - the picture is after the cake is eaten!, I wasn't quick enough to get a picture before it all went but it was yummy thanks to my mil who bakes for the class.

My helper for the day was the lovely Anita who stood in for Kathy, she did a brill job keeping everyone going and helping out where needed - she was brilliant on the refreshments and kept the ladies well topped up with teas, coffees and a biscuit or two!.

Altough everyone has the same kit it is so nice to see how some change the colours slightly and achieve a totally differnt look, we had a few wisteria wonder butterflies and some teamed the melon mambo with whisper white and created double layered butterflies, everyone went home with some gorgeous projects.

It was a nice braek from the buildoing work for me although when I got home there was alot more brushing up and brick removal to do!.

Pumpkins

2011-11-01T07:00:00.000Z

for the all day class I decorated bottles of water in a halloween theme using the new su stamps -

I made random stamps all over whisper white and cut them into baands to go around the bottle. I then made pumpkin pie hangers which were stamped with the pumpkin faces in black and added a scalloped circle topper with a sizzix alpha initial.

clouds

2011-10-31T08:09:00.001Z

of dust still surround us a week on!, progress has been made, after a week of no heating, the new boiler has been fired up and eventually it worked, after 12 years of living with an ancient boiler and radiators that stayed cold it is a huge shock to us to be warm!, we even had to turn the heat down last night!.The only issue I have is the remote boiler unit, what was wrong with the old fashioned on off and wheel turning clock thingy! - we are now all high tech and it took a good hour of internet trawling to find someone who had written plain simple instructions for setting the thing up!.

The kitchen is now an empty shell as is the old bathroom, the third skip load of rubble goes today and i have the builder for one day today and then he can't return for week! - so it will be like camping for at least another three weeks I think!.Here a couple of rubble filled pics before it was tidied and one after before the floor was removed and the walls cleared!.

dust, dust

2011-10-25T09:20:00.001+01:00

and more dust! - my house is full of it!. In our wisdom we decided this half term week to rip out our kitchen and make it bigger by knocking down half the hall and a bathroom to make one big space, simple in theory but then we thought it would be a good idea to have our central heating redone with a new boiler at the same time!.

The theory of all this has sounded good for the last few months but in reality it is very different!, I have never seen so many old bricks and I have carried most them to the skip - dh decided he would get rid of the rubble in the car back at the local skip - i am now awaiting our second skip to arrive and i think we will need a third! , his skip runs were way under estimitated.

My crafting has taken a backseat in a big way! - i am walking past my desk longing to create but i am afraid it will have to wait - although saturday is our all day crafting event, I am so looking forward to the break! - you will recognise me as the one with plaster filled dry looking hair and lots of broken finger nails! - roll on when the job is finished!. I will be back to post as soon as the hazy dust cloud lifts!!. Happy Crafting x

Christmas

2011-10-20T07:25:00.000+01:00

is the theme for next months class , I know we have had an all day christmas event but when I saw the new papers I knew we had to squeeze a few more little projects in!. Although the papers are of a christmas nature, some are very seasonal with gorgeous holly and pine cone motifs but some of them can be utilised all year round, especially when teamed up wth so saffron a non christmassy colour as some of the papers have the saffron in. All my ladies agreed they are not just for christmas! - although for class we are using Wild Wasabi and the wonderful Cherry Cobbler (makes me want to eat a pudding!) combination to create a pile of what I call bitty bit projects! , little bits of cuteness, we have tags, folded tags, petal cones, single petal cones and a couple of cards, we will be busy especially when the heat guns make an appearance!.More details are on my classes page.

Friends

2011-10-18T07:36:00.000+01:00

I met up with the lovely Kathy last week for a cofffee and a cake and she bought along a gift for me - how excited was I to be presented with more storage!. k has racks like this which I have coveted for a while but the company that made them does not do them anymore and then k sent a pic of a new rack she had which a friend of hers had made for her in a similar style but tailored to her need for lots of ribbon storage! , I passed comment that it looked good but I would like less ribbon storage and more inkpad storage and a shelf (not tham I am fussy!) and voila that is what her friend custom made for me. The quality of it is brilliant and it has a super cut out detail on each of the inkpad stands make them so easy to pull out. I now need to decide on a final home for it, a colour as I may paint it! but for now it is in its naked form!. Aren't friends fab! Thankyou Kathy x and Kathy's very handy DIY friend!.

Another

2011-10-16T21:03:00.001+01:00

class on Friday has passed and the next one is booked in for the 11th of November - details are on my class page.
It will be a christmas theme for the next one to put us in the festive mood! -but before we get all christmassy we have the all day class in a couple of weeks, everyone is looking forward to a full days crafting with lots of gorgeous things to make. We do have a slight halloween theme for the gifts and decorations as you will have seen in previous posts and I have requested a halloween themed cake for the day from our resident baker also known as my mil! - not sure we will have the haunted house which I pointed out in a maagazine but we will have some form of yummy cake halloweeny or not.
There is only about two weeks left of the fab su joining offer of the in colour kit, if you are pondering it and want any more info about joining my team (please take a look at there blogs - listed on the side bar) please feel free to email me and we can arrange a no obligation chat to answer any questions that you may have.Happy Crafting.

Sweeties

2011-10-15T07:07:00.002+01:00

more pumpkins and more halloween i'm afraid, I just love the pumpkins!. At my all day classes I like to pop some sweeties out for everyone. For this class I stamped a glassine bag with craft ink and set it with the heat gun. Then I took a band of basic black and added a smaller strip of old olive, I wrapped this around the bag after I had popped a mini bag of halloween themed haribo's in and added a cut out stamped pumpkin on a couple of dimensionals. I hope they like them.

InLinkz.com

Easy Events

2011-10-14T07:00:00.002+01:00

These little note cards measure just 3 inches square and have all been made using the easy events stamp set. I choose a colour for each card from the brights range and matched it with paper from the brights designer paper stack - fab value at only £19.50 for 40 sheets of double sided quality paper.

To go with each card I made a little envelope from the designer papers to pop each one in, this set gives youa card for any occasion.

InLinkz.com

Boo

2011-10-13T07:55:00.003+01:00

a decoration today that I have made for Halloween.

Each year we put out a halloween tree , which is in fact a pound shop white christmas tree which the boys and I decorate with plastic spiders, skulls and skeletons an dplace on a spiders web decorated with more ghoulish decorations.

Using the new sizzix pennant die I have made a small string of bunting in a combo of concord crush, tangerine tango and basic black, the final touch is two bat owls with wibbly wobbly eyes - not too scary!.

InLinkz.com

Miseltoe

2011-10-12T07:00:00.004+01:00

this card is made using one of the stamps from the Easy Events set, you get eight stamps each with a picture and word relating to an event.

The colours I used are old olive, crumb cake and poppy parade.The colours were inspired by a christmas decoration that I bought a few weeks ago - is it me or does christmas start in september now?!.
I added some basic pearls to the stamped image, a scalloped edge with strip of ribbon and voila a really quick card, great if you have lots to make!.

InLinkz.com

Tissues

2011-10-11T07:37:00.001+01:00

I am busy prepping little bits n bobs ready for the all day craft class, for each of my ladies I have covered a pack of tissues in basic black and stamped a pumpkin onto whisper white and using the stamp a majig I positioned a witches hat and a face one each one.

InLinkz.com

Joining

2011-10-09T07:33:00.006+01:00

Stampin' Up!.It has never been a better time to joinas mentioned in a previous post, join before the 31st of October and get an extra £27.95 of product for free! , on top of the super duper starter kit for just £119 you get the in colour kit as well for zilch! - can't be bad as all your products are worth nearly £300.

Did you know that when you join you don't have to do workshops, classes or sell to any one, you can just buy fantastic quality co-ordinating products just for yourself, you may even just take the kit initially and place an order after joining to get a massive 30% of your order and then not buy again, although once you try the products and find you actually save money and use your stash because it makes crafting so effortless with superb results I am sure you will!.

Please feel free to drop me an email and I can get to you to arrange a totally informal no pressure chat.

You get all of the above and you are also able to swop items around to suit your own tastes!. Can't be bad.

Next Class

2011-10-07T07:42:00.006+01:00

is packed and ready to go, we are using the new hostess papers in the catalogue called Cheerful Treat you can buy these using your hostess pounds when you place an order for £150.00 or more. The new hostess benfits mean you get at least £25(order dependent) to spend on amything in the catalogue that takes your fancy or use them to buy specially priced hostess goodies or a mix of both.

An added new benefit this year is receving an item at 50% if your order is £300 or more you can pick anything at half price, for exoample a £300 order gives you £50 of hostess benfits and then an items at half price on top!.They say a picture paints a thousnad words, the chart below explains it a bit better than moi!

Anyway back to cheerful treats, our class projects are shown below, if you would like info on my classes, please email me and i'll get right back to you, thanks to the wonders of my ipad I have email wherever I go!.

If you live in wrexham, chester, oswestry or shrewsbury you are only a maximum of 30 miles or so from where the classes are held, we are right of the bypass and easy to find.You do not have to commit to coming to everyone or attending the full days, we are a great group who welcome everyone whatever your crafting ability united of course by our love of all things crafty.

InLinkz.com

Brooch

2011-10-06T07:25:00.001+01:00

I made a batch of felt flower brooches to go with my summer clothes earlier this year using the great fun fast flowers die and after much searching of the net I found a supplier of 100% pure wool felt at an ok price. Pure wool felt cuts so cleanly compared to the acrylic kind and is thicker so when cut it stays sturdy if you know what I mean!.

Now my summer clothes have been packed away in favour of slightly warmer clothes - although with recent weather I was a bit hasty in my wardrobe changeover I had one brooch left and I have been wearing it on my su apron to classes, one of my ladies asked if I could make her one as gift so this is what I came up with, two colours of felt to match su colours, and although su doesn't at this minute sell felt it does now sell fantastic fabrics in packs of three fat quarters of

co-ordinated designs and also avaialble are sticky sheets so that you can add them to the fabric , run through the bigshot with a die and voila adhesive fabric shapes!.

Excuse the pic, I didn't think to photograph it before I packed it up ready to post!.

Seasons Greetings

2011-10-04T07:00:00.003+01:00

in October!, the new catalogue has lots of new stamp sets in and a larger collection of single stamps, I have used one here to create a christmas card using two of the new in colours, pool party and wisteria wonder, they are wintry colors and look lovely when teamed up with the silvery bling jewels on the ribbon lace punch.

oh and have you noticed after many a moon and oodles of hours tinkering I have solved the huge gap I had on the side bar between all the gadgety things, it has been driving me barmy! -all back to normal whatever taht may be now though!!.

New colours

2011-10-03T11:00:00.001+01:00

I am so pleased to able to reveal the new in colours for 2011-2013 , we have Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder, Calypso Coral, Island Indigo and last but not least Lucky Limeade.

I love all these colours and they are a great compliment to the in colours introduced last year and the four resident colour families.

ILWS Blog Hop

2011-10-02T09:45:00.004+01:00

Hello and welcome to my blog, you will have arrived here from Sarah-Jane's blog and her wonderful projects. .

I have based all of my projects on the new sumptious 'Flirtacious' Papers, they are a gorgeous combination of Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Wisteria Wonder, and Pumpkin Pie.

The pack contains 2 each of 5 double sided designs and two fantastic sheets of amazing die cut doilies, 12 full sheets for just £11.50.

I created a tall slimline card, a square card, a post it note holder, a decorated notebook and I covered a wooden photo frame.

The Beautiful Wings embosslit die has transferred from the mini catalogue into this years big one!, they cut and emboss at the same time in your bighsot and look fantastic, instant decoration when you add a little sparkly jewel or two or three!.

The photo frame was covered in paper and decorated using the new petite pennant builder punch - perfect bunting every time - being a bunting lover this punch has firmly become a favourite.

The doilies are simply snipped apart using your su paper snips and layered together with a twine threaded button as a centre, it is popped on with a dimensional for a bit of depth.

A quick and easy project for using up the last bits of paper - a decorated notebook decorated with yet another doily - they are such great value as you get 16 die cut doilies on each 12 x 12 sheet.

Thankyou for visiting my little crafty space I hope you will come back again to see what I have been creating, in the meantime you will now hop over to here for more great projects.

InLinkz.com

Wrong day

2011-10-01T07:56:00.000+01:00

I got the blog hop day wrong!! You need to pay me a visit tomorrow to see it!!.
To celebrate the new catalogue launch there is a fantastic offer this month for those of you wanting to join su, please take a look at my joining page to see how su could work for you, if you join with me this month you will on top of the fantastic starter kit get an extra bonus of receiving for totally free an in colour pack of the 5 new ink pads and a pack of matching card, it is worth a whopping £27.95.What are you waiting for!!!.

still

2011-09-30T16:53:00.001+01:00

here but have been without my laptop and although I have posts written my ipad wont't let me sort them and add the bits I need so until it returns hopefully with a new driver and hardrive I am relying on pinching dh's machine when he is here!.

Tomorrow sees the launch of the all brand spanking new catalogue, I am so excited and cannot wait to order oodles of stash!.If you want a paper copy of the catty to peruse please drop me a mail and I can pop one in the mail.

I would also like to welcome the lovely Kathy to my Stampin' Up! team she has joined just in time to order new things and as a demonstrator you getr a whopping 30% off your first order great for stocking up lots of crafty bits, if you are considering joining please feel free to get in touch, my email is on the side bar. Now the team has increased I really must think of a name for us all!.

Please pop by again tomorrow as ILWS has a new catalogue blog hop showcasing lots of new catalogue goodies, I will have a selection of creations on display for you. Happy Crafting!

Long

2011-09-23T07:47:00.001+01:00

Time no see!, I am here, today is our crafty card class , looking forward to a crafty couple of hours with a lovely bunch of ladies. I am busy craeting lots with the new catalogue bits that as a demo we could pre order, only 7 days to go until the new catalogue is official, I feel awful wishing time away.Lots of other things are going on mainly having part of the house decorated, today is the day my new wall paper goes up, I do hope I like it! The old wallpaper was very bold and so is the new one but in different way!. Happy Crafting x

Sneaky Sneaky

2011-09-14T07:21:00.000+01:00

peeky! - a little taste of something I have been working on - can you see anything new? - all will be revealed on October 1st when the new cataologue is live - if you would like a copy sending to you please drop me a mail and for just £4.95 including delivery it will be on it's way!. I can't wait for everyone to see just how lovely all the new things are.

Thewre are two places left on my all day event on 29th of October 2011- please see my classes page at the top of the blog for more details.

Nappies

2011-09-12T10:14:00.000+01:00

I had another order for a Nappy Cake which means lots of nappy rolling!. The lady who ordered it provided all tgh things she wanted on it and we already know it is a little boy so pale blue was a must but I wasn't sure of a co-ordinating colour until I saw the orange tiger teething ring and a couple of the dummies were rather bright too so I opted for Pumkin Pie, it makes a lovely contrast. For the cake bands I rolled the baby tees wheel onto bashful blue and added orange glitter to decorate the tees and highlight the other bits of pumkin pie thast I used. As we won't know a name until the baby arrives I added the tope note die to the front and the words Baby Boy which were cut using the big shot and the perfect type dies. The pictures show it before it made it's trip to the florist who wraps them for me and adds a very sumptious bow to the top - I do hope the recipient likes it.

Remember the stampin up retired list only runs until the end of the month so if you have your beady eye on a bargain grab it fast as things are starting to sell out - please email me with your order and I can check availablity for you.

Rainbow

2011-09-07T22:30:00.000+01:00

After all the tidying and looking at things in a spectrum of colours it made me think of rainbows and off I went down a rainbow crafty path!. Soon we will have all new papers from Stampin' Up! and I have very few bits left in my stash so I decided on a rainbow theme to only craft with card - no papers! - initially it proved hard with lots of card shuffling taking place and then I pulled out my embosslits butterfly die and cut a set in six colours. They are very simple but effective cards and best of all used up some left over card as well.

More Sorting

2011-09-06T23:30:00.000+01:00

Having recovered form the cardstock sort out I tackled my buttons!, the new unit has some trays which I ordered handy inserts for perfect for my buttons and brads, the brad draw is lacking a bit but after seeing thenew catalogue I think it may be full soon!.

Men's Cards

2011-09-05T00:00:00.000+01:00

I thought it was time to tackle the dreaded men's cards, there are so many pretty things out there in the crafting world and having a house full of men I tend to use pretty things and flowers! but everyone needs a handmade card for a man every now and then so our next class is men's cards!.

I have used the lovley Marina Mist, Crumb Cake and Whisper White for the Sail Away cards and the Motorcycle cards use Wild Wasabi, Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Whisper White. I have added twine and some metal library clips for a more masculine touch. Next class is on September 23rd at 10am.

Crafty Space

2011-09-03T19:31:00.001+01:00

After pondering paper storage for what seems like forever, I finally took the plunge and purchased a proper paper unit for my cardstock and paper as it was under my desk in a box and a pain to get at.

It had a good discount and after waiting for over a month it finally arrived - I am missing two deep trays for papers but at the least the rest is here. I thought it would come assembled but after class on friday I was greeted by five rather large boxes which yelled flat pack to me!.

I set about unpacking it all and after a panic that I was missing bits when they were just hiding in another box I set to work with my trusty screw driver and assembled it all myself while dh sat watching! - his excuse was he was working! - he did shift it into position as it was bit heavy!.

The next issue I had was wether or not to put the card out in colour families or follow the colour coach rainbow guide, I opted for the rainbow look.

I printed out the name of each colour onto acetate to pop on the front of each one, the only colours not on trays are my whisper white, very vanilla and in colours they all have there own draw.

It ahs slotted in right under the worktop with a small gap which I have utilised for the new style punches, the older style sit nicely on a rail on the wall.I now need to sort out my buttons to go in a tray which has a very handy insert.

Catch them

2011-09-01T20:56:00.000+01:00

Quick before they are gone!

I am talking about stamping up products, it is that time of year again when it is out with the old and in with the new.

We will be saying goodbye to lots of products which is always sad but they are being replaced by lots of truly scrumptious new products which I can see being firm favourites amongst you and how do I know, because I have seen the new catty and it is fantastic.

Products that are retiring can be found here and are only available while stocks last so when they are gone they are gone, there are discounts of upto 40% , email your orders ASAP, I am offering free postage to blog readers placing an order of £50 or more which saves you an extra £4.95.

Who Stole

2011-08-31T19:00:00.000+01:00

a week of my time? , I can't believe how fast the last few days have gone, I have barely spent anytime crafting , my time has been spent out and about with the boys making the most of the all but last week of the holidays.

We have had a few good days visting museums, eating pizza, going to the cinema and generally spending time together.

We spent an evenong picking plums from our tree which this year has provided us with 60lbs worth - it is a small tree and there is still a pound or two out there waiting to be picked but I ran out of jam jars and was fed up of making jam as our damson tree for the first time ever also provided a good crop of fruit, i think the last count was 37 jars of jam on the side that we had destoned, stirred, tested , set and bottled! and the freezer is also quite well stocked!.

I did make it to my desk to decorate the first jar leaving my kitchen for a new home!.

The letters spelling Jam are the perfect type sizzix ones from su - I think they will be a feature on all the jars when I get around to the decorating stage.

It is craft class this friday, looking forward to catching up with the lovely ladies attending, it seems like an age since the last one!.

Today is also a very exciting day as the retired list comes out of products that sadly won't appear in next years catalogue but it does mean you can stock up at bargain prices - check back tomorrow as I will post a link them for you and I also get a look at the new catalogue - demo perk but you can pre order your catalogue to make sure you have it for the 1st! - please email me to reserve a copy!.

Punch, Punch, Punch

2011-08-22T07:21:00.002+01:00

I love SU punches, they punch so easily, stack if you want them too to save space or sit nicely on a rail (my preferred way to store them). I love the way they can be used with so many of the stamps, I love using them to layer and add dimension to my projects but I also love using them to make embellishments, you may remember an earlier post where the owl and bird punches became a penguin and rudolph!, now I have more to add to my collection, a frog, sheep and a fish!.

Even better they were made using bits from my scrap bags! - they would make lovely card toppers.

Challenge Winner

2011-08-21T08:19:00.003+01:00

clair was drawn out of the hat for the first colour challenge on ILWS from the peeps who joined in and as promised a little gift was sent. A bag with a few little su bits in the colours of the challenge of course, I love the top note die folded over to make bag toppers, not sure how the sweets ended up upside down!

. The next colour challnge info is here, it would be lovely if you got a chance to join in.

New Ideas

2011-08-19T17:57:00.000+01:00

and catalogue book is probably being printed as I type!.
October the 1st sees the launch of the brand new catalogue - as demos we get a copy early (ask about joining details!).

I am offering a special catalogue pack for you so that you can get your hands on the new catalogue as soon as it is out! - for just £5.95 including the postage (or collect from class) you will receive the new catalogue of course! and a special new catalogue pack which includes a decorated notebook and pen for jotting down all those new product must haves and a few bits and bob surprises so you can put your feet up and soak up the wonderful inspiration.
Please email me to reserve your copy (you can pay by cheque/paypal).
As mentioned before being a demo I get to see it early which means I can plan classes with new products for October! - I can't wait.
I have been sorting through my stash for the last week in prepartion for some new storage I have on the way, and I can across an odd bag of scraps from a previous class so I very quickly made a couple of birthday cards using the party this way stamps and papers.

Colour challenge 2

2011-08-13T15:00:00.000+01:00

Two weeks has passed since I posted the first colour challenge on ILWS and here is the next one. I pulled out a random card and it was Marina Mist, turning the card over the top colour combo was to add Crumb Cake and Cajun Craze. Now the first two I love but Cajun Craze is a colour I have yet to use but I found a piece of card in the regals mixed pack and set to work.

I created a background with the Marina Mist and Crumb Cake by sponging onto whisper white and added the Sail away stamp from the mini catalogue in Cajun Craze,thank goodness for my marker set as it means I have every colour of ink.
My boat scene was then triple matted in the colour combo colours, I added the celebrate sentiment from the level 2 hostess set in the mini again,and to add a bit more detail stitched with some twine around the one corner.
A very different kind of card for me and really out of my comfort zone but I quite like it and love the fact the colour challenge is challenging me to create with colours I would't normally use.
Pleae pop along to In love with Stamping ( a lovely stamping forum) to take part, as always a little gift will sent to one entrant picked out of the hat after the closing date which is 27/8/11.

Life is

2011-08-12T08:25:00.001+01:00

Like a box of chocolates!, except this box is nearly full of paper goodies, ribbons and a couple of chocolate!.

The box started life as a box of choccies but they have long gone and while tidying my cupboard I came across the empty box, I tend to save packaging that I may be able to reuse but I also have a dh who works in packaging and brings home many different samples which I hold onto incase they come in useful!.

So I decorated it with in colour designer papers (free level one hostess gift) and filled the inside with punched out shapes in card and paper and some ribbons.

To decorate the front I used more punches, the large blossom and Boho blossoms the sentiment is from my new favourite set cute and curly.The sentiment is one of congratulations as the box of goodies was for my downline vanessa as a small gift to congratulate her on her recent recruitment

Not just for paper

2011-08-05T09:10:00.000+01:00

I do love a bargain and when I spotted a Betty Jackson skirt for just 99p in a catalogue returns store it was destined to come home with me. After trying it on I thought it looked a bit plain so I got out my trusty big shot and a pile of material where amongst it I found a nice small floral pattern and some black fabric and decided to cut out some Fun Flowers (bigz die) to decorate it with, I cut out a selection and layered them together, added some running stitches with some embroidery floss and finished of the centres with a Perfect Plum soft subtles designer button and voila.

I am going to wear it with a black t-shirt and I am now wondering whether or not to add some bigz butterflies to it in the small floral print to match.

The big shot and it's steel dies can cut a multitude of materials so you can decorate all manner of things, they aren't just for pretty papers!.

I am eagerly awaiting the latest su delivery - it is scheduled for monday but I have my fingers crossed it will arrive today as it made it to the warehouse in the early hours of the morning and they don't deliver on a weekend.

Also I would like to congratulate Vanessa on recruiting, she is one of my lovely team and has now started her own - I still need a name for us! if you would like to join su please take a look at the joining page.

Happy Crafting

Next Class

2011-08-03T15:44:00.000+01:00

My next crafty class is on Friday 2nd September - 10am till about 12.30pm. We will be making three cards and a book mark using the Just Believe Set and Newsprint designer papers. The colour theme is basic black, very vanilla and cherry cobbler.
The cards are all different styles, there is an easel card, a side by side card and a card with a giftcard holder built in.

The date for the next quarterly crafting day 29th October 2011 - we won't be doing christmas this time!- I am hoping to use new catalogue products!.
I hope everyone has October the 1st marked on their calendars - I know all the new things will be lovely and there will be lots of them.
Don't forget to get your orders in in order to get your hands on the gorgeous trio of free gifts, I am eagerly waiting the arrival of the ups man with the first batch.

Freebies

2011-08-01T07:05:00.000+01:00

that's right FREEBIES - Stampin' Up! are giving away three free gift items this month with each order of £75 or more placed before August 31st 2011.

Each qualifying order automatically receives (no codes needed!) a whole reel (approx 9.1 mtrs) of the gorgeous Rich Razzelberry (sounds like a Willy Wonka sweet creation!) striped grosrain ribbon worth £10.25, a set of 24 cute little metal clips worth £7.95 and if that wasn't enough a cosmetic bag - now this has no price on it as you cannot buy them and if you are a bagaholic like myself then it is priceless! - It would make a great little bag for keeping all those little crafty bits n bobs in and it has the most gorgeous stripy lining.

So a whole trio of freebies could be yours - just email your order through to me and if you place it before the 5th of August I shall throw in free postage too saving another £4.95.

Happy Crafting

Colour Challenge

2011-07-30T18:25:00.000+01:00

I have started a bi- weekly colour challenge over at the fantastic ILWS forum.

The colours will be randomly picked from pulling a card in the Colour Coach which always gives an excellent choice of colour combos.

The first card out for the first challenge is 'Daffodil Delight' if you read back a few posts you will see for me yellow is a bit of a no no - but I didn't cheat and pick another card! I stuck with it and the challenge colours I chose from the card are Daffodil Delight, Night of Navy and Old Olive.

I grabbed my inks and mounted my latest stamp set 'Greenhouse Garden' - this is a two step stampin set that I have overlooked in the catalogue until I saw what my lovely downline Ruth has created with it and I set to work creaitng a one sheet wonder which I used to make a card and a decorated notebook.

The last day to upload your challenge is 12/8/11- please post in this thread with a link to your creation and after the closing date I will pick a name from all the entrants and pop in the post a little su gift.

I hope you take a look at ILWS and join in the fun. Happy Crafting x.

Nappies

2011-07-29T17:45:00.000+01:00

it has been a while in our house since we used nappies but this week has seen a bag full of them, no new arrivals here but a work collegue has a new grandson and having seen previous cakes that I had made, requested one at rather short notice but I wrapped and wrapped and created the cakes and decorated it with lots of baby things - I used the su baby tees wheel in old olive on bashful blue card bands. The new grandma was thrilled with it after the final wrapping (the local florist wraps them in cellophane for me and adds rather large bows to the top!) and I now have another order for another one! - it will be blue again but I have a few weeks to prepare the next one so it allow me time to be a bit more elaborate.

Dying Ribbon

2011-07-27T19:49:00.000+01:00

I made a button bracelet and card for a friend this weekend, it was nice to not be working in christmas colours after prepping the xmas class for what felt like weeks!.

I settled on a combo from the brights range and when i'd made the little gift bag I felt it needed some ribbon to pretty it up but believe it or not I had no brights ribbon to match so I set about dying some of the white organdy with some su markers - it worked like a dream using the brush end to put the colour on, it dried quickly and as I couldn't decide on what colour I was able to use all three -so simple and quick - you can have any ribbon to match any su colour in a second.

Ho,ho,ho

2011-07-25T16:02:00.000+01:00

What a fantastic day Saturday was, it was the Christmas in July crafting event.

It is the first all day event I have done and it won't be the last!.
Although the sun was shining we were surrounded by all things festive, crafty b had made us crowns from recycled Christmas cards which got a wow from everyone, I will be making them for our household this Christmas for sure.
One of my lovely ladies made us mince pies, my mil made yummy cake and in-between eating, talking, laughing and joking we crafted!.
We made twelve cards and a gift box with a holder for a gift card. Everyone who attended had on there work station a bottle of water with a personalised hanger, a notebook and pencil decorated in jolly holiday papers, a bag of penguin choccies and a jam packed kit full of crafting goodies, there was plenty to make the projects and some more left to take home.
For each attendee there was also a handstamped envelope and decorated peg which held details of an su colour, these were called put during the day and every time someone had the colour they could get up and choose a prize from a large selection, at the end of the day one colour was choosen to win a level one stamp set.
We also had a make and take station for creating the punch art reindeer and penguins.
Thank you to everyone who came along,and also a big thank you to Kathy who helps me out doing all the teas,washing up, clearing up and helping in class, she is brilliant and I couldn't have managed without her.
If you would like to receive details of thenext event please drop me an mail and I will add you to the list and let you know details nearer the time - the nect one will be in October sometime and willbe showcasing a selection of new catalogue products.
I shall leave you with some pics!

Make and Takes

Big shots at the ready!

Festive Inspiration

Punches galore

Work Area

Class on display

You could hardly see the table once we got going!

Our Buffet - my diet has started today!.

Time to join

2011-07-24T10:29:00.000+01:00

Stamping' Up!?.

July is a great month to become part of Stampin' Up!'.

Why I hear you ask!

Well the Starter Kit offers you £240 of products and you can make it personal to you as you are able to pick the sets/colour card/inks you want (to set values), which is great if you have already own some stampin up items.

Even better all this costs just £119. As an added benefit you get demonstrator discounts up until and including December if you join in July with no obligation to sell or purchase anything again .

If you simply want to get the kit, it's OK!

And there are more reasons to join now:

Receive a copy of the new catalogue a month before customers in September absolutely FREE.

Pre-order products from the new catalogue during September - not available to customers until October.

You can personalise your kit with items from the Main Idea Book or the Mini Catalogue.

You can substitute like items for equal or less value. Wood-mount stamps can be replaced with Clear-Mount and vice versa as long as they are equal or less value.

There is no penalty if you drop your demoship you get to keep all of the discounted product in your starter kit - really!.

I am happy to welcome into my team any kind of demo:

What kind of Demonstrator would you like to be?

You don't have to choose, you can be any of the following:

DISCOUNT DEMONSTRATOR: Likes the idea of buyings stamps for themselves at a discount and may sell to friends, family, work colleagues and neighbours.

HOBBY DEMONSTRATOR enjoys doing clases and workshops and earning extra money when it’s convenient, works alot some months and very little or none, other months.

CAREER DEMONSTRATOR sees Stampin’ Up! as a viable business with long-term career potential; pursues management and wants to move up the su career ladder.

Your demoship is flexible and can be run to suit you and your needs.

I started to just buy quality products for my card making as the su colour range of co ordinating products made it perfect for me to make cards in bulk for resale (su has an angel policy, you need to stamp them with an su copyright stamp - in the catalogue!), I soon took the plunge to launch classes as well and now hold regular classes and have a team of other su demo's - from small acorns!.

Please feel free to drop me an email with any questions you have or if you are wanting to snap up a box of full of goodies at a bargain price.

claire.stampinup@yahoo.co.uk

Clipboard

2011-07-21T10:57:00.001+01:00

Hello, another christmas project, while trawling for more punch art inspiration I fell across a picture from here where the notebook is a santa using a few punched shapes, embossing folders and card. In the cupboard i have a stack of clipboards waiting to be used and I thought I could adapt the idea to fit the clipboard. I had to cover the base of it first as my a4 card was to small to cover it all but I think it has worked out ok and is a different kind of gift.

early bird

2011-07-20T07:57:00.000+01:00

posting today!, we are having a Marie Curie fundraiser today in work to launch them being our choosen charity of the year and you have to wear something yellow. Now my wardrobe does not contain anything yellow at all, it is not beacuse i dislike it as a colour butin the early 90's my whole house was yellow and I think i over did it as it is not a colour I ever turn to now in terms of decoration or clothing so I had a dilemma as I couldn't even rustle up a yellow accessory!, so at 6am this morning i was cranking the handle on the bigshot with the fab flowerz die and a bit of old felt and with the aid of my trusty glue gun I stuck the perfect accesory in marie curie colours to a headband for my hair!. The centre of the flower is a su button sewn on with thread. Happy Crafting.

Punches

2011-07-17T11:10:00.000+01:00

I love my su punches and I am amazed at how creative people are with them and how they can look at say the ornament punch and it says fish to them!, they don't speak to me in that way! but I have been looking at lots of different ways to use them on the internet and have cased these from various different sources and combined elements to create a rudolph and a penguin. If you have a chance take a look around and you will see how versatile they really are.

'Rudolph' uses the bird and owl punch while 'Penguin' uses the owl and the large oval punch, apart from a bit of card, glue and a few minutes of time that is all you need - I have stuck my finished ones onto pegs to add to gifts or bags at a later date.

We will be making these little guys as a make and take next saturday at our christmas all day event but if you really like them and would like to see them on your christmas projects this year you can order them from me - I am offereng a special kit for these where you will get a set of colour instructions step by step to create your critter and a pack of card pieces so you can start creating as soon as your order arrives!.

Owl punch £15.50

Bird Punch £15.50

Oval Punch £14.25

My offer is free p&p on your order saving £4.95 + free kits. You can order one, two or three of the punches depending on what you may already have but remember you do need all three to create the two projects. Please place your order by 23rd of July 2011 - paypal accepted. Happy Crafting.

Christmas

2011-07-13T18:25:00.000+01:00

Is coming! It is feeling very festive in my crafty space at the moment, the kits are nearly packed except for a couple of die cuts I have forgotten to do so that is my job for tonight if I am not to busy watching the apprentice!. Sadly I did not win the euro millions jackpot last night, just imagine how many stamps and bits of card that would have bought!. This is my first post using my iPad and I haven't grasped how to add a photo yet from my iPad, I am not sure how or if you can add pics stored on the pad itself, if anyone knows please let me know!.

All is

2011-07-08T09:31:00.000+01:00

well!, the difference a week makes, we went to see H earlier in the week and he is looking so wel and progressing at a rate of knots daily!, in fact we are hoping he will be allowed home later on today as now he just needs lots of rest and time to recover fully. I had to make a card for him and I let g pick the papers so apologies for the non su papers - I did however manage to use the owl punch, buttons, twine, ribbon and I broke out my new timeless alphabet sizzix dies from su to cut the letters - guess what?, it is my new favourite item! - to be honest I love alpha stickers and have quite a decent hoard of them under the desk but can you believe it none to match the papers so I got the bigshot out and in less than a minute a perfect set of letters to co-ordinate.

I cut loads of shapes using dies but always see alphas as a bit fiddly - no idea why but I can see these dies being used on lots of things - they cut beautifully (as do all the dies) and as the name says they are a timeless font that will look good on a card as they are not to big and also work well on a scrapbook page or mini book as they are not to big - maybe it should be renamed the perfect alpha! - I can see my alpha stickers heading towards g's craft box soon!. As a special offer for the rest of the month and to celebrate a happier heart this week I am offering the Timeless Alpha with free postage (save £4.95) and a mixed pack 24 pieces of card to get you started on a cutting frenzy! - you can even choose which colour family you would like (save £6.25). To order just drop me a mail claire.stampinup@yahoo.co.uk

Class date is confirmed for 29th July 2011.

This week

2011-07-04T07:59:00.000+01:00

life looks good! - apologies for lack of posts - before our life was turned up side down and at one point inside out I had manged to complete my blog hop projects and pop my blog hop post on a schedule and thanks to my lovely friend Kathy Friday's class went ahead was planned.

Life can be quite normal one minute and one phone call later turns on its head but waking up today we have alot to be thankful for. My young cousin had a bad accident with a car and was rushed to the Walton Centre a week last Sunday - until early in the week we didn't know if he would survive and if he did how he would be, we took each hour as it came but the body is an amazing thing and he has inner strength that yesterday has seen him sitting outside in the sun . He is able to walk and talk and by some miracle has no other injuries at all apart from a fractured skull - we hope in time he will make full complete recovery but so far it has been nothing short of a miracle.

Next class details will be up when I have the date confirmed.

Hoppity Hoppity Hoppity

2011-07-01T09:00:00.002+01:00

welcome to my little part of the In Love WIth Stamping Blog Hop - you will have arrived from here from the lovely Sarah's blog and her fantastic projects.

I love the colour coach (122228 - £13.50) - all SU colours of course work brilliantly together and the colour families are a fantastic starting point for choosing colours but sometimes when I am waiting for inspiration to strike I head towards my trusty coach to pick a colour combo I wouldn't maybe have normally used! - personally I find the coach works for me a bit like a sketch which I often turn to when planning a card or scrapbook layout - I start off following it perfectly and then head off on a different route and that is why it is a brilliant tool , you use colours you maybe wouldn't have used and it gets you started on the creative path and you may stick to the path or veer off a little!.

I picked my starting colour by randomly pulling out a card - I got Sahara Sand - not a colour I use too often as I am very loyal to crumb cake! but I pulled it out of my stash and then looked at the colours the coach recommended, you get two suggestions of three colours, I opted for the creative combination which gave me the power pair colours of sahara sand and pacific point and a third colour of cajun craze now this is where I veered off the path slightly as the Saharta sand and pacific point made me think of the Blueberry Crisp Papers (117392 £8.75) that I have sitting under my desk that haven't to date even been unwrapped!.

Now su being su they are all of course a perfect match, I was so pleased and inspired with my colour choice that I created four cards, decorated envelopes and a box in record time!.

My trusty coach

Four Cards and a Box

Bigz Butterflies Die & Flower Embossing Sizzlit - swipe ink over the raised card to colour your image and make it stand out.

Two more cards.

Cards in the box and box lid

Decorated lid - navy ribbon managed to sneak in1 - I did admit to veering of the path ever so!!.
I hope you have liked looking at my projects, please hop over now to Elaine to see her great ideas.

Blog Hop

2011-06-28T22:05:00.000+01:00

I am taking part in a blog hop on friday morning - inactual fact I will be at Craft Class with my lovely group of ladies creating some lovely su projects but my post is scheduled to appear in true Paul Daniels style 'just like that', well fingers crossed it does!, please hop back to see. Happy Crafting.

Altering

2011-06-23T22:00:00.000+01:00

a storage unit today in between attending sportsday and getting my class after next prepared.

This lovely desk unit was given to me by the lovely Kathy (blog coming soon - she makes the most amazing cards) - I love it when friends have a clear out! and throw it my way , in this case a boot full and a back seat full - and yes Kathy I do have plans for the big crate full of empty candle jars!.

Back to today's project and although it was ok as it was I decided that it would be very uselful to keep things neat in when I have classes so after lots of pondering about inking it or painting it, I decided to keep with the wood and cover sections with the wonderful party papers, by not altering the wood it means I can cover it with any of the papers when ever the mood takes me for a different look!.

Longest

2011-06-21T18:50:00.000+01:00

day today and the official start of summer - here we have oodles of rain!.

We were away this weekend for a wedding so no crafting for me except for a last minute dash on Friday to complete the wedding gifts and decorate the gift box that housed them before we headed off on Saturday morning. I took a selection of scrapbooking items along with an album I had prepared before hand so while everyone was bopping away or playing on the casino I sneaked away to print off photos , add them to the book and embellish it.

I was able to then add it to my box gifts after we had breakfast yesterday and the bride had a record of the day to look at. It was a really nice mini break but back to earth with a bump yesterday catching up with hosuework and washing!. I plan to get cracking in the crafty front on Thursday afternnon as I have booked a day of wrok to coincide with Sport's Day - hopefully the sun will shine!. Todays pics are of my gift box and a wedding pic - her dress was gorgeous with lots of sparkly bits.

Classes

2011-06-13T18:13:00.000+01:00

Our next lot of class dates are confirmed - the regular craft class is taking place next on Friday July 1st, we will be making a very cute bag filled with little notelets and a matching cars, all stamping in this class will be done using the baby wipe technique.

There is also an extra class on Saturday July 23rd - this is an all day class and is Christmas themed - Christmas in July - nothing like being organised!! - it is a full day and includes a buffet lunch - full details and mpre pictures can be seen on the classes tab at the top of the blog. Please rememeber to book a place so that I have enough kits and food!.

Another

2011-06-12T17:23:00.000+01:00

week has nearly passed and what a wet old week it has been, normally we head off to Cosford Air Show this time of year but when we awoke this morning to torrential rain we decided not to go, j & the boys headed of swimming (not outside!! to the pool) and I popped round to a friend for coffee and two lots of cake!. I used my time wisely there though as she has a fantastic craft room in the garden so me and the big shot were busy while we chatted a good hour or two away!

Please take a look at my side bar (scroll way down - I still can't fix why it has gone so long ) to see my lovely downlines blogs - there is Vanessa in South Wales and Ruth in Mid Wales so if you arein these areas and want a party or to purchase Stampin' Up! please get in touch with them, both blogs are full of fantastic inspiration and they are both lovely people - I wondr if we should now have a team name? any ideas?. I have a picture or two to share today off the last craft class before everyone decended!.

where

2011-06-06T11:53:00.000+01:00

did the last five days go to?, time is flying by!.

I am busy making sure that I have everything packed up for friday's class and make sure that I don't forget everything, it is lucky that the centre isn't far from home and I can dash back and too quite quickly!.

I am also back to work tomorrow after the weeks break - I would rather be at home cutting bits of pretty paper!. No pictures today as I have a desk covered with half finished projects, I really must finish them before embarking on the next one!.

The latest SU order is also on it's way from Germany packed full of goodies - looking forward to unpacking it and repacking it for sending it out. Happy Crafting.

Scrappin' it & Stampin' it!

Card Class

scrunchy

Another bag

Little Notes

still no

More

Trinkets

Happy Post

Still cooking

End of

More cake

Let them

Last One

More

Elementry Elegance

Sale a bration

Lovely Crafting

One sheet

Scrapbooking

Class Updates

All you can

an apple

today

Here it is

Back

Happy New Year

Nadolig Llawen

Countdown

Brilliant Dies

Punches

Lovely Things

One set

catching

Swaps

More

Beautiful Gift

Back

Butterflies

Lots

Off to

Bulk

Cards

They Shall Not Grow Old

They shall grow not old

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.

Fabric

kits

all day

Pumpkins

clouds

dust, dust

Christmas

Friends

Another

Sweeties

Easy Events

Boo

Miseltoe

Tissues

Joining

Next Class

Brooch

Seasons Greetings

New colours

ILWS Blog Hop

Wrong day

still

Long

Sneaky Sneaky

Nappies

Rainbow

More Sorting

Men's Cards

Crafty Space

Catch them

Who Stole

Punch, Punch, Punch

Challenge Winner

New Ideas

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.