Monday, 30 January 2012

What's this? Bling?!


Valentine’s Day looms and this card would work for that occasion or for a birthday. It uses the Perfect Postage stamp set from the Spring Mini, the co-ordinating punch (which, as you can see, fits on top of the existing Scallop Square Punch) and what’s that? A bit of bling? Yes, the new Glimmer Paper from the Spring Mini, too!

Now you know me and glitter – they do not go together and one of the reasons is that I always end up with it everywhere. The glimmer paper completely eliminates that problem. I saw a few people at the Stamp-a-Stack having a surreptitious rub of the paper, to see if the glitter would shed. They found, just as I did when I did the same, that it just doesn’t budge! Highly recommended at just £3.95 for two 12x12 sheets – unless you have a total bling-fest, the pack will last and last. Oh, and you can put it with just about any red and it looks fine – here it’s with Cherry Cobbler, but I’ve also used it with Poppy Parade and it looks great next to Real Red, too. Not tried Riding Hood yet but that’s probably not such a good match.

Stamps: Perfect Postage, It’s Your Day
Cardstock: Rose Red, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler
Ink: Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: Ruffled Ribbon – Pool Party, Boho Blossoms Punch, Small Heart Punch, Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Postage Stamp Punch, Scallop Square Punch, Basic Pearls, Big Shot, Polka Dot Embossing Folder.

All products by Stampin’ Up!®

Saturday, 28 January 2012

Charming card 2


Here’s the second Charming card from the Stamp-a-Stack. This one uses a colour combo from the Color Coach: Daffodil Delight, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso. How to get those squares so perfect? Easy: use a punch!

Stamps: Charming, It’s Your Day
Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight
Accessories: Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Basic Pearls, 1 3/8" square punch

All products by Stampin’ Up!®

Friday, 27 January 2012

Charming card


This is probably my favourite card of the Stamp-a-Stack, as I love the colours so much, although I admit I do like them all. It uses the Charming stamp set and the gorgeous new velvet ribbon from the Mini catalogue.

Can’t say much more as there’s a  cat on my knee,  “helping” me to type! Biggest wrist wrest I’ve ever used!

Stamps: Charming, It’s Your Day.
Cardstock: River Rock, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, River Rock
Accessories: Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Modern Label punch, Word window punch, basic pearls, velvet ribbon

All products by Stampin’ Up!®

Thursday, 26 January 2012

Spice Cake button card


Here’s the second Spice Cake card we made at my Stamp-a-Stack, although this one has almost no stamping on it at all. I totally copied this idea (but not the colours) from a card I saw at Convention, which is one that Shelli Gardner received from a demonstrator for her 50th birthday. No idea who made it which is a shame  because how cool would it be to have your card shown at Convention by none other than Shelli herself?

It’s a great use of those huge buttons, which can seem a little daunting at first glance. And the papers are shown off beautifully, too, simply by punching them out with the 1¾” circle punch. The sentiment is from It’s Your Day – everyone at my Stamp-a-Stack received this set in their goodie bag. I hope they like it and find it useful.

Stamps: It’s Your Day
Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz, More Mustard
Paper: Spice Cake
Ink: Soft Suede
Accessories: Mini brads, velvet ribbon, linen thread, Corner Rounder, Spice Cake buttons

All products by Stampin’ Up!®

Wednesday, 25 January 2012

Spiced Paisley Stamp-a-Stack project 1


I know you want to see them, so it’s back to the Stamp-a-Stack projects today. This one uses the new Spice Cake Designer Series Paper and just a hint of the Spiced Paisley stamp set. The larger images are stamped on the card base in Versamark, to create a subtle background, and the smaller images are stamped and stamped off in More Mustard on the Very Vanilla tab.

The main panel is the Spice Cake Designer Series Paper, which is just lovely. It’s finished off with some of those cute tiny brads and some gorgeous ruffled ribbon. If you changed the ribbon to linen thread or denim jean ribbon, you could make this less feminine. In fact, Angela T turned her paper over to reveal the green stripes and left the ribbon off completely, for a perfect masculine card.  

Out of interest, if you purchased the Spiced Paisley stamp set (clear-mount), any standard Designer Series Paper, the ruffled ribbon, some mini brads and a corner rounder to make this card using your own ink pads and cardstock, it would come to £45.05... a magical figure which would earn you a free Sale-A-Bration item!

Stamps: Spiced Paisley, Happiest of Birthdays (hostess)
Cardstock: Pool Party, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla
Paper: Spice Cake
Ink: Soft Suede, More Mustard, Versamark
Accessories: Mini brads, ruffled ribbon – Pool Party, Corner Rounder

All products by Stampin’ Up!®

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

Sale-A-Bration starts today!


Today’s the day! Sale-A-Bration has begun – click here to see the fabulous brochure! There are five items in it – four stamp sets (all available in wood-mount or clear-mount) and a pack of Designer Series Paper. They’re all beautiful and suited to very different styles. I’m particularly loving the Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Papers, and the Fresh Vintage stamp set, which co-ordinates with the new Postage Stamp punch.

This card shows off quite a few of the designs in the Everyday Enchantment paper pack and is an idea shamlessly copied from Michelle Last. I punched the pieces of Designer Series Paper using the new Postage Stamp punch and then lined them up (badly) on a Sahara Sand card base. One of my favourite stamp sets at the moment is Curly Cute, so I used that to stamp Thank You at the bottom (I figured I’d made enough birthday cards recently, I ought to switch to a different theme). The flower is die-cut using the new Blossom Party die from the Spring Mini and Poppy Parade cardstock. The centre of the flower is a Designer Printed Brad in Calypso Coral. Simples! Actually, the hardest part was lining up the little squares – in the end I gave up on aiming for perfection and went for “charmingly handmade”.

Stamps: Curly Cute
Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Poppy Parade
Paper: Everyday Enchantment (SAB)
Ink: Soft Suede
Accessories: Big Shot, Blossom Party flower die, Designer Printed Brads – In Color

All products by Stampin’ Up!®

Monday, 23 January 2012

Join the Sale-A-Bration!!!!


Taking a break from my Stamp-a-Stack projects for a moment, I must remind you that tomorrow is the start of something fabulous: Sale-A-Bration!!!!!

Those of you who have been Stampin’ Up!® fans for a while, will know just how exciting Sale-A-Bration is, because there are freebies for everyone!

Here’s how it works

There are five exclusive Sale-A-Bration (SAB) items this year; four fabulous stamp sets and a pack of absolutely gorgeous 12x12 Designer Series Paper.

Customers get a free SAB item for every £45 they spend. So, spend £90 and get two, and so on. There are no limits to the number of items you can earn.

Hostesses get an additional SAB item if their party reaches £300. This is on top of the generous year-round hostess benefits.

New recruits can choose an additional catalogue stamp set from the main Idea Book or the Spring Mini to add to their Starter Kit. The Starter Kit costs £119 and contains products worth over £250, so this deal makes it an even bigger bargain! Why not get in touch to ask me some questions; I won’t pressurise you and you really have nothing to lose.

I will post a link to the SAB brochure tomorrow but, meanwhile, here is my first SAB project, made using a SAB stamp set and some Mini catty products.  The stamp set is called French Vintage and it’s a set of five really elegant stamps, one of which co-ordinates with the new Postage Stamp punch from the Mini. The set also co-ordinates with the SAB Designer Series Papers, which are called Everyday Enchantment – but more of those another time.

This little bag is made from Designer Series Paper – I used Spice Cake because I love this Pool Party pattern. I got the idea for the cute little bag from US demonstrator Angie Juda over at http://www.chicnscratchlive.com.

I don’t have the In Color markers (won’t make that mistake again – getting them next time!) so, to colour the image, I inked it up in Pool Party and then cleaned off the stems and flowers using a cotton bud. Then I reinked those bits using a Chocolate Chip marker. Sounds harder than it really was.

SAB runs from tomorrow until 31st March, so there are plenty are opportunities for you to earn free products. To maximise your freebies, why not book a party? I still have some dates available and can’t wait to show you and your friends just how exciting creating with Stampin’ Up!® products can be!

Stamps: Fresh Vintage (SAB)
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip textured, Very Vanilla
Paper: Spice Cake
Ink: Pool Party
Accessories: Chocolate Chip marker, 1 ¾” circle punch, large scallop circle punch, ruffled ribbon – Pool Party, eyelet border punch

All products by Stampin’ Up!®

The small print

This is my personal blog and my sole responsibility as an Independent Stampin' Up!® demonstrator. All images are © Stampin' Up!® All content including photographs, projects and text are © Helen Read, unless otherwise stated. Please feel free to copy my ideas for your personal use and inspiration - if you are a SU demonstrator you may use these ideas for your events but please give credit where it is due. Please do not use my ideas for monetary gain, competitions or publication. The images on this blog - including blog buttons - should not be copied and used elsewhere on the internet or on CDs.