Psssst! Want free stamps?

Free stamps? Did somebody say something about free stamps?

Well, if the thought of a dreary January gets you down, I have some exciting news which is sure to cheer you up!

Introducing Sale-A-Bration, a very exciting offer from Stampin' Up! which our stamping sisters in the USA and Canada know well and love dearly. 

And now Sale-A-Bration is coming to Great Britain so that we can share the excitement of free stamps! 

Sale-A-Bration (I'm going to call it SAB from now on, as it's not so hard to type) takes place throughout January and February, and features freebies for everyone! 

Stampin' Up! has released four exclusive stamp sets and you can earn any (or all!) of them for free. They will only be available during the promotion, never to be seen again in any future catalogues. You can see these sets in the SAB brochure, which I can email to you on request.  

So how do you get your hands on these wonderful stamps?

Customers: Simply place an order of £45 to earn a free SAB stamp set. Place an order of £90 to receive two free SAB sets... and so on. There is no limit to the number of sets you can earn and you don't have to attend a workshop to earn a free set.

Hostesses: Hold a £300 workshop and receive a free SAB stamp set. This is in addition to your usual hostess benefits, and on top of any free SAB sets you earn by placing your own order.

New recruits: During SAB, there are also extra free stamps for new recruits - making the Starter Kit even better value at £139. If you'd like to find out whether becoming a demonstrator is right for you, please email me and we can arrange a time to discuss it. 

As I expect there to be high demand for workshop bookings during SAB, please book early! But if you can't fit in a party, either as hostess or guest, don't forget that you can still earn free SAB sets by placing a qualifying order.

See? I told you it was exciting news! 

Mini stationery set

Hello. Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and you aren't too full of mince pies.

Before today's project, I'd like to offer my condolences to the ladies of Craft Central at Derby Garden Centre. The entire chain is closing down, as I discovered when I visited on Christmas Eve. I'm not sure if any of the staff visit my blog but, if you are reading, I am so sorry that you all have lost your jobs - and just before Christmas, too.

Now, on to today's project, which is my new favourite thing to make.

I started out with an Altoid Tin - this was a plain white one but you can use a mint tin, I think they sell them in M&S.

To save going into great detail again, here's my tutorial on covering an Altoid tin - click here.

So with tin decorated, I added a coat of Mod Podge matt finish to seal it all. If you can't find it you could use ordinary PVA glue (although that will give you a gloss finish) or a clear wood varnish. Or just not bother!

For the inside, I drew around the bottom part of the tin on to Tempting Turquoise cardstock, then cut it out. I had to trim it slightly to get it to fit. I then cut two slits in the cardstock so I could thread the ribbon through - this makes a nifty little holder for paper clips

Funnily enough, one of the hardest bits of this project was finding things to fit and then fitting them! I found these sticky notes in Wilko, the mini mechanical pencils, paper clips and mini bulldog clips in Staples. Can't remember where the highlighters came from - but it was either WIlko or Staples. I am still on the lookout for tiny pens - can't find those anywhere. I did buy a tiny calculator from Staples but that wouldn't fit due to the highlighter pen. If you could find a slimmer highlighter, you could get a calculator in, too. Oh, the elastic bands? Found those in my son's elastic band stash!

Stamps: Polka Dots & Paisley
Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
Paper: Petals & Paisleys
Ink: Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: 1/4" grosgrain ribbon - Tempting Turquoise, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, scallop circle punch

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Just wanted to say...

...Merry Christmas everyone!

More cake...

Yet another simple card for the children’s workshop. I’ve just realised I’ve forgotten to colour in the sprinkles on the cake! I was going to add glitter but never got round to it. I’m sure that’s something eight-year-old girls would never forget!

I coloured this image with Watercolour Wonder™ crayons and blender pens. I used Regal Rose to go with the Pretty in Pink cardstock and So Saffron to go with the Barely Banana cardstock. I put a little shadow around the edges using Bordering Blue but I don’t expect the children to do that!

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana, Perfect Plum, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Whisper White

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

The last Christmas cards...

These are the last of the Christmas projects… well, actually, there’s a bauble knocking around somewhere but I have no idea where I’ve put it! If I find it, you’ll be the first to know.

I threw these cards together the other day when I realised I didn’t have enough homemade cards to go round. Next year I MUST start earlier! (Hmmm, have said that before.)

All the cards start with the same image from A Tree For All Seasons. I chalked roughly around the top edges – no masking required on these. Then I coloured the image VERY quickly with a Real Red marker and a Creamy Caramel marker. Finally, because it’s Christmas, I added some glitter to the snowflakes and the ground – what on earth has come over me?

The landscape card has a Brocade Blue base, while the square cards are on Bordering Blue – but after that they’re pretty much the same. I stamped the snowflake from Best Wishes and More on the backgrounds of all the cards – I used the same colour as the cardstock but “stamped off” (ie, stamped on a piece of scrap first to remove some ink) for a more subtle look.

I layered the images and popped it up using dimensionals – which makes the layers sit better over the ribbon.

And that’s about it really. A Ready, Set, Snow! stamp at the bottom and I was all done. Phew!

Stamps: A Tree For All Seasons, Best Wishes & More
Cardstock: Bordering Blue, Brocade Blue, Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Bordering Blue, Brocade Blue
Accessories: 5/8” Grosgrain Ribbon – Real Red, Red Gingham Ribbon, Stampin’ Glitter, Stampin’ Pastels®, Stampin’ Write markers, Stampin’ Dimensionals

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Oh Christmas Tree...

Ooh, I’d better cram in some Christmas projects before it’s too late! Here’s a variation on this year’s favourite; the Lovely as a Tree moon card. This time I used Ruby Red as the base and stamped the background stamp En Francais on top. I stamped it in Real Red but only because it was already out and I was too lazy to dig out the Ruby Red.

I masked the moon with a circle of Post-it note and chalked the background, before stamping on top with Night of Navy and adding glitter, which you probably can’t see.

The edge is made with the very wonderful Scallop Edge Punch.

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, En Francais
Cardstock: Ruby Red, Night of Navy, Whisper White
Ink: Night of Navy, Real Red
Accessories: Stampin’ Glitter, Stampin’ Pastels®, Scallop Edge Punch, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon – Night of Navy

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Yummy cakes!

This is another simple card for the children’s workshop. I coloured the image using Watercolour Wonder™ crayons but the children will be using coloured pencils. I used Soft Subtles cardstock but Rich Regals crayons and found that they worked quite well if I was sparing with them. I used Elegant Eggplant, Garden Green and So Saffron to go with the Lavender Lace, Certainly Celery and Barely Banana cardstock.

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes
Cardstock: Lavender Lace, Certainly Celery, Barely Banana, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Watercolour Wonder™ crayons – Rich Regals, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Whisper White

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Bookmark card

This is a bookmark card – a very simple one because it’s part of a kit I’ve made for a group of eight-year-old girls. They’ll have everything cut and prepared and just need to stamp and assemble. 

The piece of cardstock is cut from a sheet of A4 down to 148mm wide, using the full length of the sheet (does that even make sense?). Then it’s creased into thirds, to create three 99mm wide panels. If you want it in imperial I’m afraid you’ll have to work it out for yourself, sorry!

Then you slice off the left panel at an angle, as shown and fold the card into a Z shape, with the sliced panel at the front. Tape around the edges of the sliced panel to create a pocket for the bookmark.

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes
Cardstock: Lavender Lace, Barely Banana, Bashful Blue, Whisper White
Ink: Perfect Plum
Accessories: Blender pens, ¼” grosgrain ribbon - Whisper White, corner rounder, Crop-A-Dile™

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Clearly not a stamped project

I'm not in the habit of posting non-stamping related images but had to show you this.

I just plugged in the camera to upload the pix I took of today's projects and found poor Cobweb looking disgruntled in a Santa hat... in fact, 50-odd photos of Cobweb looking increasingly disgruntled in a Santa hat, in various states of blurriness.

That look in her eyes says "I'll get you for this later". I suspect revenge will be puddle-shaped and round the back of the Christmas tree.

How far behind am I?

Answer: very. I haven't even started making my Christmas cards yet! Other than the ones you've seen on here, of course. 

So forgive me for not posting any samples; I'm currently wading through my huge Christmas job list.

Back soon! 

Another cake!

Same stamp set, same colour scheme, same colouring technique… different card. And, if you look carefully, you’ll see that I stamped a single small cake on the inside of the card, too. This is not like me at all! You never know, I could be stamping envelopes next!

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes
Cardstock: So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Rose Red, Whisper White
Paper: Patterns Designer Series Paper - Chocolate Chip
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Whisper White, 5/8” Grosgrain Ribbon - Chocolate Chip

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Cakes for all ages

Yum! Those cakes look tasty – and make a great birthday card for all ages. I coloured the image using Watercolour Wonder™ crayons, which are just fabulous and so easy to use and blend with blender pens. I’m not sure if you can see on this picture but I outlined the whole image using Bordering Blue, to give it some shadow. It’s a look I really admire when other stampers do it but am still working on it myself!

And this card saw off the last of my narrow Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon - it was very well-loved while it lasted. And it lasted a long time – don’t forget all the ribbon we used on Chocolate Night!

Oh, forgot to say, there's glitter on the top of the cakes - I wasn't sure about it but my daughter convinced me to try it. 

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes
Cardstock: So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Rose Red, Whisper White
Paper: Prints Designer Series Papers - Close to Cocoa
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Chocolate Chip, Stampin' Glitter

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Same kit, different card

Remember this? It was one of our World Card Making Day projects in October. I had a few pre-cut kits left over so fished it out to see if I could some up with something different from the same pieces of cardstock. This was the result – and I had a piece of Chocolate Chip left over. I don’t love it but it’s okay.

Stamps: True Friend
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Versamark®
Accessories: Poppin’ Pastels, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Chocolate Chip

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Tic-Tac tube

This test tube is filled with Tic-Tacs – you can get a whole small box into one tube. This tube also fits a small box of mini Smarties. Jelly beans and chocolate raisins fit, too, although not many of them.

For a more “grown-up” gift, you could use different coloured peppercorns, herbs and spices, fancy sea salt, seeds etc. Just remember to label them or tell the recipient what’s inside!

Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes
Cardstock: Elegant Eggplant, Pixie Pink, Whisper White
Ink: Elegant Eggplant
Accessories: 1 ¼” circle punch, 1 3/8” circle punch, Scallop Circle Punch, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Elegant Eggplant

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Leaves of green

I’m not so sure about this one. I like the idea but don’t think the words show up as well as they could – I should have used a darker ink.

I’ll tell you what’s great, though… the Paper Snips! I’m really bad at cutting out detail but these scissors are fantastic and make it easy even for someone like me!

Stamps: Best Wishes and More
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Paper: Prints Designer Series Papers - Certainly Celery
Ink: Certainly Celery
Accessories: ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Whisper White

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Birthday birdie

This is a really simple card to show beginners that cardmaking doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming.

I love this stamp set – the bird is really cute and there are images for all occasions in there… as well as the words to match!

Stamps: Best Wishes and More
Cardstock: Brocade Blue, Rose Red, Regal Rose, Whisper White
Ink: Brocade Blue, Versamark®
Accessories: 5/8” Grosgrain Ribbon - Brocade Blue

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Stamping the blues

I do like this cute little card, all in blue. Hmmm… wonder if something like this will be on the agenda at the Winter Blues class?

The paper is the new Patterns Designer Series Paper in Bashful Blue. It’s actually the same piece, torn across, and one piece flipped over to reveal the pattern on the other side.

Stamps: Best Wishes and More
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Whisper White
Paper: Patterns Designer Series Paper - Bashful Blue
Ink: Bashful Blue
Accessories: ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Whisper White


All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Test tube treats

Test tubes, eh? The new craze among British Stampin’ Up! demonstrators! Who would have thought it?  

But look what a cute little gift/stocking filler they make when filled with small sweets! 

The tag is stamped with a single cake from Crazy for Cupcakes. I inked it with a marker so that I could stamp just the one. I then stamped the greeting on Barely Banana cardstock before punching it out – holding the punch cutter side up so that I could see where to punch.

I bought the test tubes on ebay and this one is filled with sherbert pips.

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes
Cardstock: Barely Banana, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: 1” circle punch, Scallop Circle Punch, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Whisper White

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

A birthday box

This little box is the first project I’ve made for a Birthday Party in a Box I’m putting together for the daughter of one of my hostesses. I love this stamp set – and it’s just perfect for a group of girl stampers!

I designed the box by stamping the image first and then working from there. My new grid paper made it easy – and as long as you keep the sides the same width as the base, you should have no problems putting your box together.

I shred my own tissue paper in a paper shredder - I'm far too tight to fork out for the pre-shredded stuff!

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes
Cardstock: Almost Amethyst, Perfect Plum, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Perfect Plum
Accessories: ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Whisper White, Stampin’ Writer markers

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Snowflake box

Sick of Christmas stuff yet? Sick of Old Olive and Real Red? I’m not, as you can tell!

I demoed this little box at a workshop last week – it went wrong, as these things do from time to time (ok, a lot of the time) and I forgot to put the ribbon join under the snowflake, which would have been far more sensible.

It’s the same box template as Saturday’s sample but with the sides pushed in and the front and back stapled together. Obviously, you need to remember to put your goodies inside before sealing!

Click here for the template - it's very easy, just made from a sheet of A5 cardstock. 

I made this with one of my new stamp sets, Best Wishes and More – it’s a fab all-occasion set with a flower, leaf, bird and snowflake plus a few greetings, too.

Stamps: Best Wishes & More
Cardstock: Old Olive, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Old Olive, Real Red
Accessories: 5/8” Grosgrain Ribbon – Real Red, Red gingham ribbon, household staple

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Christmas box

A little 5-10-15-20 box for Christmas. Very easy for tiny gifts, you could always squeeze and seal the top (click here for example) and hang them on the Christmas tree. For the box template, please click here. 

The handle of the box is made by scalloping the edge of a piece of cardstock, then turning it round and scalloping the other edge, too. 

The box is made from Mellow Moss cardstock with a very simple embellishment. Not a very exciting project but it’s all I have until I find a window of daylight to take some photos! It’s soooooo gloomy at the moment, and very frustrating as I have several projects ready and waiting to show you.

Stamps: Happy Winter
Cardstock: Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, Whisper White
Paper: Wintergreen
Ink: Always Artichoke
Accessories: Rich Regals brads, Scallop Edge Punch. 1/4" grosgrain ribbon - Whisper White, 1 ¼” circle punch, 1 3/8” circle punch, Scallop Circle Punch

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Chocolate Trees

I’m certainly getting my money’s worth out of Lovely as a Tree this month. It’s such a beautiful set – and our class attendees clearly agreed as we sold several sets at Chocolate Night!

The moon masking technique makes all the difference to this card. It’s just a sticky note punched with a 1” circle punch, stuck on the card then sponged around with Stampin’ Pastels. The sticky circle mask is removed before stamping the trees on the top in Chocolate Chip.

The word “celebrate” was stamped on Creamy Caramel then punched out with the Round Tab Punch. On my sample here, I used the old Prints Designer Series Papers in Close to Cocoa but our guests were lucky enough to get the new Patterns Designer Series Papers in Chocolate Chip. I also used the wide Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon on this same, while our guests uses Caramel Gingham Ribbon, which was a much better fit in the small space.

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree
Cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Very Vanilla
Paper: Prints Designer Series Papers - Close to Cocoa
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Round Tab Punch, 5/8” Grosgrain Ribbon - Chocolate Chip

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

What's in the box?

This is the second 3D project from Chocolate Night. It’s a clever little box containing a bar of chocolate. The clever bit? You pull the ribbon (you don’t even have to untie the bow) and the chocolate comes out.

You can make them to fit any bar of chocolate, or packs of seeds, sachets of hot chocolate, popcorn etc. Just make your box slightly larger than the contents and punch two holes in the top. You do need loads of ribbon, though - thread the ribbon through both holes, then use the chocolate to push it down to the bottom of the box. Tie a bow at the top and trim.

At last you get to see some of the Patterns Designer Series Paper – this one goes really well with True Friend.

Stamps: True Friend
Cardstock: Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla
Paper: Patterns Designer Series Papers - Chocolate Chip
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Versamark®
Accessories: 1 ¼” circle punch, 1 3/8” circle punch, Scallop Circle Punch, sticky strip, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon – Chocolate Chip

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Another chocolate project

This is one of the 3D items we made at Chocolate Night. Well, I say “we”, I didn’t have a hand in this at all! I was on the card-making table and Alison was on the 3D table.

So I can safely say without bragging that I think this is a gorgeous project – because Alison made it.

Inside the mug there is some shredded paper, plus a sachet of hot chocolate, a small bag of mini marshmallows and a large chocolate coin.

The tag makes much use of the corner rounder, with some of the lovely new Patterns Designer Series Papers in Chocolate Chip.

I love the way she has stamped the star on the twill tape – a great touch.

Stamps: Season of Joy, Basic Phrases
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Paper: Patterns Designer Series Paper – Chocolate Chip
Ink: Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Twill tape, taffeta ribbon – Very Vanilla, 5/8” Grosgrain Ribbon - Chocolate Chip, corner rounder

All craft products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

First taste of chocolate

Last night’s Chocolate Night was a great success – although the lady who came to lock up the hall would probably disagree as we over-ran by an hour. Oops.

We made four projects; two cards and two 3D items. Everything was made in Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel and Very Vanilla – the most delicious of all the Stampin’ Up!® colours!

This is the card that inspired my little pink notebook of the other day. It’s actually quite a time-consuming card to make, as we soon discovered!

Just to recap, we stamped the image twice – once on Very Vanilla, and once on Designer Series Paper. On my sample you can see the retired Prints Designer Series Papers in Close to Cocoa. On the night we used a similar spotted design from the new Patterns Designer Series Papers in Chocolate Chip.

We coloured the icing using my brand new Watercolour Wonder™ crayons. I love these and they were first on my list when I earned £100 of Stampin’ Up! freebies recently. I’ll show you more of my new goodies over the coming weeks.

To colour the icing, we just “scribbled” a little with the crayons, around the edges of the image, then blended the colour using a blender pen.

We decided the finishing touch was probably a Malteser – created using a ½” circle punch, with a swish of the white gel pen to create some reflection.

Finally, we added glitter on the sprinkles – just to “girly it up” a bit!

Oh, and the Vanilla cardstock is dirtied around the edges with Stampin’ Pastels, using sponge daubers.

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes
Cardstock: Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Paper: Prints Designer Series Papers – Close to Cocoa
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: ½” circle punch, Stampin’ Glitter, Stampin’ Pastels, sponge daubers

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Have your cake and eat it

So, when I was rooting through my box of things to alter, which I’ve been squirreling away for years, I found another mulberry notepad – this time in hot pink.

It was just crying out for a fairy cake, I thought, so I stuck one on the front. This was actually inspired by one of the cards we are making at Chocolate Night tonight although, naturally, tonight’s card will be in shades of brown, as will all the projects on the agenda.

First I stamped the image on to some Designer Series Paper and cut it out with my FAB new Paper Snips. Next I stamped the image again on to Whisper White cardstock. I stuck the pink paper case on to the white image, then cut out the cake completely, cutting off the candle.

I coloured the sprinkles with blender pen and ink pads (Tempting Turquoise and Pixie Pink).

Next, to cover the bottom of the candle, I stuck a ½” circle of Pixie Pink cardstock over the top, to represent a cherry… or something else that’s round and sits on top of cakes. A line of white gel pen gave it some life.

Finally, I used some white liquid appliqué (which I haven’t managed to find in the shops for years – if anyone knows where I can get some more, I’d be very grateful) all over the topping, heating it with my Heat Tool to puff it up.

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Pixie Pink, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise, Pixie Pink
Accessories: Petals & Paisleys Designer Series Paper, ½” circle punch, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Tempting Turquoise, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Whisper White, White gel pen, white liquid appliqué (not Stampin’ Up!), notepad (not Stampin’ Up!)

All products by Stampin' Up! unless otherwise stated. Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Rub-ons!

This little book was a doddle to decorate. It came covered in mulberry paper – don’t ask me where I got it from because I’ve had it for years. Well, I can tell you – I bought it in Reams in Matlock but it was so long ago that it seems highly unlikely that they’ll still have them... I don't even know if the shop is still there. 

So clearly, I’ve been hoarding this book for a long time, waiting for a reason to do something with it.

The reason arrived in the form of rub-ons. I used to love rub-ons as a child – but in those days they usually featured Winnie the Pooh or animals. Rub-ons have grown up and are now funky embellishments for cards and scrapbook pages. I really like the look of white rub-ons on a photo in a scrapbook page. They are perfect for any surface which is hard to stamp on – like this mulberry notepad.

They always work well on glass, textured cardstock, metal, wood… you name it. These funky flowers came from the Hidden Garden Blossoms pack – and the good news is that you can currently buy these at 20% off!

To qualify for the discount, just spend £20 on any other Stampin’ Up! products, and you’ll get the rub-ons for £6, instead of the usual £7.50.

Also in the offer is textured cardstock – the perfect companion to rub-ons. Spend £20 and you can buy as many mixed packs of textured cardstock as you like at £7.40 instead of £9.25.

Not sure if I’ve explained that properly - here's what Stampin' Up! has to say (click on the image to enlarge it):

So, you only have to spend the £20 once to qualify for the discount on both types of product. The offer runs until the end of November. 

Each pack of rub-ons contains two sheets – in this blossoms pack, there’s a white sheet and a Chocolate Chip sheet, In the Cherished Memories pack, there’s a white sheet and a black one. Oh, and you get the obligatory "lolly stick" applicator, too. 

Supplies for the notepad: Hidden Garden Blossoms rub-ons, ¼” grosgrain ribbon - Chocolate Chip, ¼” Grosgrain ribbon – Whisper White.

All products (apart from notepad) by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Christmas gift voucher

Don’t forget you can order Stampin’ Up! gift vouchers for any amount. If you’re not sure what you want for Christmas, point your family and friends in my direction and I’ll sort out vouchers for them, so that you can have a lovely post-Christmas spending spree.

Each voucher will come with a card similar to this, at no extra cost.

This one is held together with a removable band, which I’ve decorated with that cute little snowman from the Happy Winter set. To read how to mask the snowman and create a night sky, click here.

Stamps: Happy Winter
Cardstock: Bordering Blue, Brocade Blue, Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Night of Navy
Accessories: Stampin’ Pastels, Scallop Edge Punch, Scallop Square Punch, Real Red marker, Basic Black marker, Red Gingham Ribbon

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Christmas tree - stepped up

This is a more detailed version of Thursday’s card. It uses the same masking technique but has the addition of a background stamp on the top four fifths of the Bordering Blue panel. I also trimmed the front of the card short, so that I could add a strip of Night of Navy and a scalloped edge of Real Red.

This card, too, has glitter on the tree branches, but I don’t know if you can see it in the photo. If you click on it, it should give you a larger view but I'm not making any promises! 

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, En Francais
Cardstock: Bordering Blue, Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Night of Navy, Bordering Blue
Accessories: Stampin’ Pastels, Stampin’ Glitter, Red Gingham ribbon, Scallop Edge Punch

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Sorry!

I do have a project to post but haven't had time to sort it out yet - but it IS on its way, honest!

Christmassy tree

I’m loving the masked moon behind this gorgeous tree. I got the idea from one of my downlines, Tracey, at the Papercraft Show in Derby and I’m afraid I’ve been exploiting it ever since!

What's so great about the Lovely as a Tree stamp set is that it's so versatile. You can use it all year round for birthdays, thank yous, etc - even those difficult cards for men! - and then wheel it out again in December for elegant Christmas cards. 

This is a really simple card which I demoed at a workshop earlier this week. Again, it uses the masking technique.

To create the moon, use any reasonably large (1” or more) circle punch to punch out a sticky note, then stick it to your cardstock. Using sponge daubers, chalk around the circle to create a night sky. You only need to chalk halfway down your piece of cardstock.

Then remove your circular mask to reveal the moon. Stamp your tree on top using Night of Navy ink and you’re almost done.

To make it more Christmassy, use a glue pen at various points on the branches and add some glitter.

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree
Cardstock: Real Red, Night of Navy, Whisper White
Ink: Night of Navy
Accessories: Stampin’ Pastels®, Sponge Daubers, 1 ¼” circle punch, Stampin’ Glitter

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Little Snowy Christmas

I have a workshop tonight where several of the guests will be non-stampers, so I have the challenge of keeping the projects simple enough not to overwhelm the newbies, with some techniques thrown in to keep the seasoned stampers interested. Hmmm….

This will be one of my demonstrations. I want to show the newbies that you can make cute Christmas cards for very little outlay – just by stamping in black, using a very small stamp set and colouring in the image.

You can step it up some more, like I did here, with a simple masking technique.

Stamp your image on cardstock as normal. Then stamp it again (you don’t even need to reink) on to some scrap paper and cut it out to create a mask. If you’re planning to make a lot of these, I’d sacrifice some cardstock to make a sturdier mask.

Use some temporary adhesive to attach your mask to your image stamped on cardstock, then chalk around it to create a blue sky.

Remove the mask and colour in the scarf and buttons with a red marker. Then, if you like, you can add a snow line with a black marker.

For extra detail, I punched out the image using the new Scallop Square Punch and mounted it on a square of Night of Navy.

Hmmm… but I’m thinking this would look nice stamped straight on to a white card blank, to keep it really simple. Will probably have a go at that one day…

Stamps: Happy Winter, Basic Phrases
Cardstock: Real Red, Night of Navy, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Stampin’ Pastels®, Sponge Daubers, Stampin’ Writer markers (Basic Black and Real Red)

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

A red Christmas tree

Sorry for the lack of posts – I was planning to post yesterday but wasn’t well. And I’ve been so busy I haven’t had chance to do any stamping for ages so I don’t know where my next blog post is coming from!

Christmas cards don't have to be red and green! Here’s a fairly simple Christmas card which wouldn’t be too hard to make in bulk. This was one of the projects at our World Card Making Day back in October.

The only technique which needs explaining is the glitter trick. All you do is take an ordinary silver brad (any colour works but silver sparkles the most) and carefully cover it in a Glue Dot®. Then dip it into a pot of glitter and hey presto! You have a glittery brad. Make sure it’s fully covered or your brad will remain sticky, like this one did – which is why it’s no longer quite as glittery as it was.

Stamps: Season of Joy
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Ruby Red, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Ruby Red, Bashful Blue
Accessories: Black gingham ribbon, silver brads, Stampin’ Glitter

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Chocolate Night

Just to let you know that there are now only three places left for Chocolate Night! 

The event is on Friday, November 21 at  7.30pm in the Duffield area. 

You will make two chocolate-themed/coloured cards and two chocolate-themed gifts - with chocolate refreshments! The cost is £9.50, which includes all materials and equipment - plus the ever-popular prize draw. 

Stamping, chocolate and fun - what else is there?

If you want to join us, please email me asap for a registration form.

Thanks! 

Mini accordion album

This is an accordion album which could also double up as an elaborate card – it’s ideal for sending to family with pictures of the children inside, or for sending from a group of people, as there are lots of places to add messages.

To make it you start with a single sheet of 12x12 cardstock. 

Score it and cut it as shown. That’s scored horizontally at the halfway point, then three vertical scores at 3”, 6” and 9”. Slice off the corners – I didn’t measure these, just cut one corner off on one side, then a longer cut, angling two sections on the other side.

Next, tape it as shown. You really do need Sticky Strip for this because it’s narrow and very, very strong. But you don’t want to go overboard on the tape or you won’t be able to get your tabs in!

Now fold up the lower half – this gives you the basic shape of the album. But don’t stick anything down just yet, especially if you’re going to stamp on the inside. It’s a good idea to stamp the outside before sticking, too, as you can open out the album again to get it nice and flat. Something else which I forgot to do before taking this picture is punch out a semi-circle from the third front panel, so that you can get your fingers in to pull out the tab. You can use any circle punch for this.

Finally, decorate your album. I made four pull-out tabs to insert in each panel, each with a ribbon at the top to pull out. These are blank in my photo – you could use these blank spaces to add photos. Alternatively, if you’re sending this as a card, you can use these spaces for messages – or a combination or photos and messages.

Avid readers (I flatter myself!) may recognise the front of this album. I used the same design on a small Christmas card, which you can see here.

And that’s it. If you’re really keen, you could decorate the back, too! If you want the album to stay closed, to keep in a handbag, you could add ribbon to tie it together – but don’t forget to wrap one piece all the way round the album, or the back will pop open like a hospital gown!

Stamps: Season of Joy
Cardstock: Old Olive, Real Red, Very Vanilla
Ink: Old Olive, Real Red
Accessories: 1 ¼” circle punch, Round Tab Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Stampin’ Write markers, red gingham ribbon, 5/8” grosgrain ribbon – Very Vanilla, ¼” grosgrain ribbon – Real Red; jumbo eyelets – pewter, rhinestone brads, Crop-A-Dile™, staple, sticky strip

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

A special Christmas offer for hostesses

While any time is a great time to book a Stampin’ Up! workshop, right now is even better. In addition to the already generous hostess benefits, workshop hostesses can earn an additional free stamp set!

What a great Christmas present for our valued hostesses. Simply book a workshop between now and the end of the year and, if your workshop reaches £150, there’s an extra stamp set in it for you.

This means that a £150 workshop will earn you:

• A Level 1 hostess set
  
• £15 of free merchandise
  
• PLUS a free stamp set from the list in the table
  

So, if you want to take advantage of this wonderful offer, please email me as soon as possible, as dates are filling up fast!

Easy gift set

This little gift set is very easy to make – and uses one of my favourite designs; the stamped circle layered on the scallop circle.

The notepad is just a cheap one from Morrisons (I think). Look out for pads with nice coloured binding, then slice off the front close to the edge and replace it with cardstock.

The rest is self-explanatory, I think! The pencil topper instructions are here. The little round one in the middle covers an Elizabeth Shaw after-dinner mint, as seen here. 

Stamps: Season of Joy
Cardstock: Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Whisper White
Ink: Bashful Blue
Accessories: 1 ¼” circle punch, 1 3/8” circle punch, Scallop Circle Punch

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Glittery flower

This little card was the Make & Take for my workshops this month – and probably next month, too, if no guests overlap! It’s a 9cm square card cut from Certainly Celery cardstock and stamped with Season of Joy.

I used a glue pen on the swirl and added glitter – I’m not a huge fan of glitter so this was a little out of my comfort zone!

It’s inspired by a project I’ll show you shortly – an album with a very similar cover.

Stamps: Season of Joy
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Very Vanilla, Ruby Red
Ink: Old Olive, Ruby Red
Accessories: Stampin’ Glitter

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Recycle those old CDs

This mini album is made from old CDs. In fact, I’ve only just noticed it on the photo but you can just see the centre of the CD on the front cover. Oops.

I covered two CDs with PVA glue, very thinly, using a foam brush from Wilko. Then I covered them with Designer Series Paper and trimmed with scissors. Yes, scissors. To get the edges nice and neat, I lightly sanded them with sandpaper.

I repeated the process with textured 12x12 cardstock, to make the inside (not shown).

The same technique was used to cover the chipboard circle. I inked the chipboard letters with Tempting Turquoise and attached them with Glue Dots®.

The Crop-A-Dile™ made short work of the holes. However, they weren’t quite big enough to take the jumbo eyelets (they’re okay on paper and cardstock but CDs are notoriously inflexible). To solve this problem, I just punched again and again, round the edges of the hole, to make it slightly larger. The resulting hole wasn’t very neat but it didn’t matter as the jumbo eyelet covered the imperfections.

I haven’t made the inside pages yet – still sourcing old CDs! – but won’t bother to eyelet them, just cover the pages and punch the holes.

Cardstock: Old Olive textured 12x12
Paper: Petals and Paisley
Ink: Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: On Board Lots of Letters, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Tempting Turquoise, jumbo eyelets, book rings (Staples)

All products by Stampin' Up! unless otherwise stated. Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Easiest album in the world!

This is the easiest album in the world. All you do is take a sheet of 12x12 cardstock and cut it into three strips, each one four inches wide. Score them down the centre and tie them together with linen thread. The edges won’t sit neatly so you can either trim them, or ignore them.

For this one I added some tabs using the Round Tab Punch and decorated the pages with Lovely as a Tree and Really Rust ink. I added some Fall Flowers Designer Series Paper on one spread. I will put proper pictures in this one when I’ve taken some!

For the front cover, I used the masking technique to create the moon against the night sky, as I did on this card, inspired by one of my downlines, Tracey.

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Daily Flexible Phrases
Cardstock: Really Rust, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White
Paper: Fall Flowers
Ink: Really Rust, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Linen Thread, Round Tab Punch, Stampin’ Pastels

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.