Circus birthday scrapbook page

And yes, yet more mileage from the Pennant Punch and Polka Dots embossing folder! This is one of the projects we were given to make at a Stampin’ Up!® training session last month. I’ve changed it slightly from their design because I really wanted to use the new Pennant Punch.

It’s a 6x6 scrapbook page and quite simple to make. You cut a piece of the striped paper from Big Top Birthday to the same width as your photo. The sentiment panel is created using the Curly Label punch – you punch it again from Real Red, then cut it in half and layer behind the white.

The clown is stamped and coloured in using Watercolour Wonder™ crayons. And the linen thread is secured behind the white layer and the end hidden by the flags. The bunting on this occasion is created with the circle punch – just cut them in half and stick them down.

Stamps: Under The Big Top

Cardstock: Real Red, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight

Paper: Big Top Bithday

Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Basic Gray, Lucky Limeade

Accessories: Pennant Punch, Big Shot, Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Curly Label Punch, circle punch (I forget which one – but it doesn’t really matter), ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon – Daffodil Delight, Linen Thread

All products by Stampin’ Up!®            

Polka dot Christmas

Another simple Christmas card... and another way of getting mileage out of Pennant Parade and the Polka Dots embossing folder!

Here I’ve even used the scalloped bunting created with the punch to make a little tab for the greeting.

Stamps: Pennant Parade

Cardstock: Real Red, Old Olive, Early Espresso

Ink: Real Red, Old Olive, Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight

Accessories: Pennant Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punches, scallop edge punch, Big Shot, Polka Dots embossing folder, Basic Rhinestones

All products by Stampin’ Up!®            

Going dotty over these products

Yet more bunting and polka dots – I think I’m going to wear these products out!

The challenge here was to get the whole piece of Whisper White embossed, when it’s actually larger than the Polka Dot embossing folder. So I embossed one half and then carefully positioned it back in the folder, ensuring the raised dots went back into the indentations in exactly the right place. It worked!

This is a square card measuring about 12.5cm (can't remember exactly). Anyway, the point is that we now sell square envelopes to fit this card. Yay!

Stamps: Pennant Parade, Sincere Salutations

Cardstock: Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White

Ink: Pool Party, Wisteria wonder, Lucky Limeade

Accessories: Big Shot, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Scallop Edge Punch, Pennant Punch

All products by Stampin’ Up!®            

Bring out the bunting (again)

Another simple bunting card for you – this punch is such a hit with those who are enjoying the bunting trend as it eliminates lots of cutting out.

Here I’ve used some of the new In Colors and the Pennant Parade stamp set. I’ve stamped the bunting onto cardstock of the same colour as the ink, then punched out the simple triangle with the punch. A strip of cardstock was scalloped and then run through the Big Shot with the Polka Dot embossing folder. I’d saved a piece of Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon from a recent SU training session (was still waiting for my order when I made this card) and tied it round with linen thread. Very easy card to make.

Stamps: Pennant Parade

Cardstock: Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White

Ink: Pool Party, Wisteria wonder, Lucky Limeade

Accessories: Big Shot, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Scallop Edge Punch, Pennant Punch, Ruffled Ribbon – Lucky Limeade, Linen Thread

All products by Stampin’ Up!®            

Oh what a circus!

OMG! As the young people say.

But seriously, how totally fabulous is this? Regular readers will be able to tell at a glance that I didn’t make this – I just don’t have the patience for all that cutting out.

Very regular readers will probably have worked out that this is the work of Kelly, a friend and former downline. She’s super-talented and spent quite a while at my kitchen table squirreling away at this card, refusing to tell me what she was doing until it became obvious. Look at all the paper piecing! She’s stamped and cut out the ball (in two pieces), the clown’s hair, his trousers, the seal’s podium... she has the patience of a saint!

Stamps: Under the Big Top, Party This Way

Cardstock: Concord Crush, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White

Paper: Cheerful Treat

Ink: Basic Grey, Concord Crush

Accessories: Curly Label Punch, ½” circle punch, linen thread, blender pens

All products by Stampin’ Up!®            

Two little love birds

Oops, I thought I’d posted this on the blog ages ago! It’s the little confetti box we made at my catalogue launch at the beginning of the month.  As the day was about products and not techniques, I saw no need to reinvent the wheel and recycled a template I’ve used before. You can see it here.

I used the new Cheerful Treat Designer Series Papers, which are absolutely gorgeous – but only available to hostesses so, if you want to get your hands on it, you know what to do! Either book a party or get together with your friends to place an order of £150 or more.

The image is from the oh-so-versatile Easy Events and features two little lovebirds. I punched it out separately to remove the image, then used the sentiment on the tag at the top.  The image is coloured with blender pens and ink pad lids – and it’s a very quick and easy one to colour.

To get the hole in exactly the right place, first punch the circle out of scrap paper. Then stick the scrap circle to the box, where you want the hole to appear. Hold your punch upside-down over the circle and punch.

Stamps: Easy Events

Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Wisteria Wonder, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White

Paper: Cheerful Treat (hostess)

Ink: Basic Gray, Bashful Blue, Pink Pirouette, Lucky Limeade

Accessories: Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, 1 3/8” Square punch, ¾” circle punch, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Whisper White

All products by Stampin’ Up!®            

Layered Christmas tree

Turn your bunting upside down and you have a Christmas tree! Here I’ve layered three shades of green, all embossed using the Polka Dots embossing folder. The Pennant Parade stamp set features a little Christmas tree pot so you can get more mileage out of your stamps and the punch. Clever, eh?

The rhinestones were coloured with a red Sharpie before I added them to the centres of the tiny flowers.

Stamps: Pennant Parade

Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler,  Whisper White, Pear Pizzazz, Lucky Limeade, Always Artichoke

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Pennant Punch, Modern Label Punch, Basic Rhinestones, Big Shot, Polka Dots embossing folder, Itty Bitty Punches

All products by Stampin’ Up!®            

Roll up, roll up...

How cute is this? This was one of the fabulous projects we were all given to take away and complete at a Stampin’ Up!® training session recently. They even gave us this fab stamp set, too! It’s called Under The Big Top and it features lots of images on a vintage circus theme.

This gorgeous project is a little circus wagon which holds a set of co-ordinating mini cards. Love it! The wagon is made from Scallop Envelopes die-cut out of Real Red cardstock and joined together.

Stamps: Under The Big Top

Cardstock: Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, Whisper White

Paper: Big Top Birthday

Ink: Basic Gray, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise

Accessories: Watercolour Wonder™ crayons, various circle punches, wide oval punch, silver brads, scallop edge punch, 1/8” taffeta ribbon – Daffodil Delight

All products by Stampin’ Up!®            

Oh Christmas trees...

How about another Christmas card from this versatile stamp set?  Pennant Parade is not just for bunting – turn those triangles upside down and you have very effective Christmas trees!

Stamps: Pennant Parade

Cardstock: Real Red, Early Espresso, Old Olive, Whisper White

Ink: Old Olive, Real Red, Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight

Accessories: Big Shot, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Scallop Edge Punch, Pennant Punch, Itty Bity Punches, Basic Rhinestones

All products by Stampin’ Up!®            

Cheerful tree(t)

Happy Saturday everyone! It's been a full-on week, so I'm glad it's the weekend and here's a bright and cheerful card to celebrate.

Easy Events has to be the single most useful stamp set in the new catalogue. There are stamps in the set for all year round, and you can mask off the greetings – or even trim them if you’re feeling brave – so that you get even greater versatility.

Here I’ve stamped the tree in Basic Gray and coloured it with blender pens and ink pad lids. The stamp says “sending you love” but I find I need birthday cards more than anything so masked off the sentiment and stamped “happy birthday” from the cake stamp, masking off the cake.

Instead of the little heart on the tree, I thought a flower would be nice, so used the Itty Bitty Punches to create a tiny flower. I gave this dimension by holding it in the palm of my hand and pressing a rubber-tipped pencil into it, which lifts up the petals without causing me pain. It’s topped with a Basic Rhinestone for a little bit of subtle bling.

The paper is from the gorgeous Cheerful Treat collection, which is only available to those lovely people who hold a Stampin’ Up!® party. Holding a party is great fun – all you have to do is lay on a few very light refreshments (we don’t want to distract them from the stamping goodies on offer!) and find the guests. They don’t have to be crafters: remember, we were all non-crafters once, everyone has to start somewhere!

If you’d like to book a party, please get in touch. If you’re not in the area, I can probably find you someone within my team who is close enough to help you. You can even hold a virtual party – if  you  is gather together £150 of orders from your friends you will still qualify as a hostess and earn yourself the freebies! And if you’d like to join my next Virtual Hostess Club round, please let me know as I will be beginning to compile a list shortly. There are more details here. 

Stamps: Easy Events

Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Concord Crush, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White

Paper: Cheerful Treat

Ink: Basic Gray, Lucky Limeade, Soft Suede, Concord Crush

Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Itty Bitty Punches, Basic Rhinestones, Word Window Punch, Blender Pens

All products by Stampin’ Up!®            

Extended pillow box

Isn’t this cute? And perfect for those bars of chocolate which won’t fit in a normal-length pillow box!

I first got this idea from a French* demonstrator after receiving an extended pillow box from her in a swap earlier this year. It really is very simple – all you do is die-cut two pillow boxes and join them together with Sticky Strip! Then you just have to make sure you’ve covered the join with something – here I’ve used the oh so very lovely Cheerful Treat Designer Series Paper which is available to hostesses who hold a workshop with sales of £150 or more.

The snail is pretty cute for a vile mollusc/garden pest/thing of nightmares – made even cuter by the paper piecing. I stamped him once on Whisper White cardstock and then again on different scraps of Cheerful Treat paper, which I then cut out and stuck onto the white cardstock.  I love the way the swirls of the Bashful Blue piece seem to look particularly shell-like... even in an unrealistic blue!

* Oops, apparently she was German, not French. 

Stamps: Easy Events

Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Melon Mambo, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White

Paper: Cheerful Treat (hostess)

Ink: Basic Black, Melon Mambo

Accessories: Big Shot, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Pillow Box die, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8” Circle punch, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch

All products by Stampin’ Up!®            

A little birdie...

What a fab card! And I can say that because it’s not one of mine. Imagine my surprise when I was sorting through my birthday cards from earlier this year and found this beauty... which uses one of the new stamp sets in our new catty! It came, of course, from a far-off land... Canada to be precise, where the Stampin’ Up!® catalogue comes out earlier than here so they get their hands on some products sooner. (Although sometimes it works the other way round and we get them first!)

This was made by my talented cousin Leslie, who introduced me to rubber stamping in the first place, about ... oooh... well over 15 years ago! You can’t see from the image but card background has been sprayed with Champagne Mist shimmer spray and it looks gorgeous!

Stamps: Aviary

Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Basic Black

Ink: Basic Black, Pear Pizzazz

Accessories: Pear Pizzazz Stitched Poly-Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, Champagne Mist shimmer paint, Scallop Edge Punch, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Big Shot

All products by Stampin’ Up!®            

Blue skies in October

I love these papers and I love bunting! Bunting is a key trend right now and you can make your own very easily using the new Pennant Punch and some Designer Series Paper, as I demonstrated at my catalogue launch party at the weekend.

I can’t lay claim to this clever design – I found it on the internet – but I had fun making my own using my trusty brayer.

To make the background, first I punched out some scallop circles from scrap paper. I fed them back into the punch to punch again, making them into smaller, cloud-like shapes. I used the Two-Way glue pen to stick them temporarily to my Whisper White background and then brayered over the top with Bashful Blue ink.

Stamps: Easy Events (sentiment)

Cardstock: Lucky Limeade, Basic Black, Whisper White

Paper: Cheerful Treat (hostess)

Ink: Lucky Limeade, Bashful Blue

Accessories: Pennant Punch, linen thread, Scallop Circle Punch, brayer

All products by Stampin’ Up!®            

Join my team and get a fab free gift!

Here’s exciting news if you’ve ever toyed with the idea of being a demonstrator: a FREE gift if you sign up during October!

Everyone who joins the Stampin’ Up!® family during October* gets a FREE In Color Kit worth £27.95. This contains FIVE INK PADS in the new In Colors, plus an assorted pack of In Color cardstock.

This fab free gift comes on top of the already excellent value Starter Kit, which costs £119 and is worth more than £250. It contains everything you need to get started in your business.

I am lucky to have a really lovely team of demonstrators, who are all willing to help each other and share ideas. We're always happy to have new people join us at our quarterly meetings. 

The great thing about Stampin’ Up!® is that it’s so flexible – whether you want to start a business from home to supplement the family income, help fund your hobby, or just share your passion for stamping with friends, you can fit being a demonstrator around your life. One of the most surprising benefits of being a demonstrator is the friendships you form with like-minded people. And one of the joys of being a demonstrator is having the opportunity to introduce people who think they aren’t creative to the joys of making their own beautiful projects. And then of course there are the free products – because demonstrators get Hostess Benefits on their own orders, too - and the sneak peeks!

If you think it all sounds too good to be true, please believe me when I say THERE IS NO CATCH. Why not drop me a line today and I’ll call you for a no-obligation chat?

* Paperwork must reach the High Wycombe office by 3pm on 31^st October

Today's the day!

Today’s the day! The day that the new Stampin’ Up!® Idea Book & Catalogue goes live! Which means that not only can you view it online, via the SU website, you can order anything you like from it through a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator like me.

There are loads of lovely, lovely things in the new catty – it’s hard to know where to begin. But I’m loving the fact that there are lots more stamps to colour in because I know lots of you enjoy the therapeutic powers of crayons and markers.  And I’m very excited that we now have FABRIC to match some of our Designer Series Papers. I am rubbish at sewing so I will be looking into exploring other options with the fabric, such as running it through the Big Shot! Talking of which, there are some new Big Shot dies which are very exciting, too!

And, of course, we have five new colours to play with – our new In Color collection which will be available for a limited period of two years, starting today. There's the beautiful cool Pool Party, the restful Wisteria Wonder (for all those of you who were missing the lilacs!), a lovely blue called Island Indigo, the crisp and clean Lucky Limeade and the colour like no other; Calypso Coral.

Check them out in this display board I created using the Beautiful Butterflies die and an extravagant amount of pearls! Yes, there's a typo on it - but I've corrected that now, just not for the photo.

Cardstock: In Color 2011-2013 assortment
Accessories: Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies die, Elegant Bouquet embossing folder, Basic Pearls, Boho Blossoms punch, Modern Label punch

All products by Stampin’ Up!®