Thursday, 10 October 2013

Season of Style washi tape Christmas card



Another of my Creative Tour projects was this card. I made the trees using the Perfect Pennants die. One was embossed using the Fancy Fan embossing folder – the other was Whisper White covered in washi tape.

Stamps: Greetings of the Season
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler (textured), Whisper White, Early Espresso Core’dinations
Ink: Black Stazon
Accessories: Perfect Pennants Die, Season of Style washi tape, Fancy Fan embossing folder, Brights candy dots, Expressions Thinlits


Told you I’d bought a lot of pegs! Here are two more, decorated with Season of Style washi tape (it’s so easy!) and topped with a monogram. The theory is that they will stand up and act as place cards. They do stand up, honest – just not on this particular surface.

Stamps: Morning Post Alphabet, Merry Little Christmas
Cardstock: Whisper White, Old Olive
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive
Accessories: Apothecary Accents dies, Season of Style Washi Tape 

Wednesday, 9 October 2013

Expressions Thinlits and Washi Tape napkin holders



Staying with the clothes peg theme (well, I did buy 50!), here’s another of my Creative Tour creations. Not sure what to call them… I suppose they are a kind of napkin holder. They would make your Christmas table look pretty festive anyway.

I happened to have some Ikea napkins in Old Olive (somehow I keep being drawn to that colour, even after all these years), so I dressed them up with a doily and a Cherry Cobbler “merry”. The pegs are just decorated with Season of Style washi tape. Very easy to church out lots of these!

Accessories: Season of Style washi tape, Expressions Thinlits, Paper Doilies

Monday, 7 October 2013

Tag a Bag gift bags with Chalk Talk tag



Bit behind in posting this, but August’s gift to my Virtual Hostess Club members was this little goodie bag, made using the Tag a Bag gift bags from page 158.

I teamed the bags up with the oh so fab Chalk Talk stamp set and fastened them closed using a clothes peg, decorated with Mosaic Madness paper. A bit of a mish-mash of products, but quite cute I thought. Inside they each had a chocolate treat and a tea bag, so they could sit down with a cuppa and enjoy their Autumn/Winter catalogue.

Stamps: Chalk Talk
Cardstock Whisper White
Paper: Mosaic Madness
Ink: Black Stazon
Accessories: Tag a Bag Gift Bags

Saturday, 5 October 2013

Caturday - Twinks


It’s Caturday and I’ve realised I never showed you this fab picture of Twinks having a mad moment, climbing the cat shelter roof!  To give you an idea of how high that is, you can just see Pasca at the bottom left of the photo, sitting on the porch roof, which is standard doorway height.

Daughter says that Twinks is a lovely, quiet, calm young cat, but this photo and...




...this photo tell a completely different story.

I kind of want Twinks to stay at the shelter for a while. As much as I would love for her to have a home, she has forged a beautiful friendship with Dennis, the lonely boy who is still a bit scared to be loved and is not quite ready to leave the shelter. Daughter has a great photo of Twinks and Dennis curled up together, padding on each other’s tummies. Must get it from her for next week.

It’s Caturday all the time at the new Woodland Nook blog, which I seem to have taken over. Because I just don’t have enough to do, right?

Friday, 4 October 2013

Wetlands ornament - and a £25 sign-up offer



First of all, I am desperately trying to fill my Epic Day of Crafting, as unfortunately someone has had to drop out. I have three places left, so if you want to spend a fun day making  beautiful things, please click the link at the top of the page. 

Also, I have more information about that tempting £25 Starter Kit, but first I wanted to show you this little beauty. 

It was made under the expert tutelage of my friend/downline Kelly, with whom I spent a lovely crafty afternoon during the summer with a couple of other friends.

We were playing around with Wetlands (current favourite stamp set and possibly my biggest seller so far!) and I showed her some little wooden hearts I’d purchased recently.

I’d painted a few of them in white undercoat and sanded them down. I’ve experimented with stamping on them but not quite had the results I wanted yet.

Kelly to the rescue! She pressed one half into a Pool Party ink pad and the other into a So Saffron ink pad and smeared the ink around with kitchen roll. Next she stamped the lovely sandpipers across the centre to create this beautiful scene.

Soon we were all making them! And now we’re all arguing about who gets to make these as a Convention swap or team gift! It may have been Kelly’s idea … but I bought the hearts… LOL

Stamps: Wetlands
Ink: Pool Party, So Saffron, Black Stazon
Accessories: Pool Party Seam Binding Ribbon, Linen Thread, wooden heart (not SU)

Now for the Starter Kit offer. Take a look at the table below to compare it with the standard Starter Kit. You’ll see that this deal is aimed at those people who are serious about starting a business, but perhaps already have quite a lot of SU supplies (*cough cough*). You can turn those hoarded supplies into business tools for just £25 when you take up this offer. 

However, you don't get masses of craft supplies with this one - it’s merely a cheap way into running a business. 

Check out the table to see which kit will suit you best. If you decide it's the standard Starter Kit, act fast before this offer starts, as the Standard Kit won't be available during the special offer. If you want to join during the offer, wait until Monday. 

And when you decide to join my team, all you have to do is click this link. Simple as that. 



Thursday, 3 October 2013

Christmas note pad with Season of Style washi tape



A little notepad is handy to have in the run-up to Christmas. I have a dedicated “Christmas book”, listing all the people I send cards to and any presents. This little book would be ideal – it’s just a cheap one from Wilko, with the cover cut off and replaced with this crazy, washi-striped front!

Stamps: Happy Day
Cardstock: Whisper White, Red Glimmer Paoer
Ink: Old Olive
Accessories: Season of Style Washi Tape, Apothecary Accents Dies, Brights Candy Dots

Tuesday, 1 October 2013

Special offers for everyone!


At Stampin’ Up!® we like to look after everyone, so October sees great offers for customers, hostesses and new recruits.

Best of… Sale-a-Bration


Another new stamp set to celebrate our 25th anniversary, this time featuring some of the best Sale-a-Bration images from the past 25 years. This stamp set will be available until March 31, 2014, or while stocks last, and is only available in clear-mount, at £13.95. A bargain, I think you’ll agree.

Party more, get more!

Hostesses can clean up this month, with a special boost to their hostess benefits. A party of £250 or more will earn you an extra £25 of hostess benefits! So, a £250 party will get you a whopping £65 of freebies!


Sign up for £25


Yep, you read that right – you can sign up for just £25! This is a very limited time offer, running from 7th to 21st October. Full details will be released soon but it seems this will be a smaller Starter Kit, with business supplies, aimed at those who are keen to start running a business, who probably already have a rather impressive collection of supplies!

Please get in touch if you’d like more information about any of the above!

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.