Bright, fun projects

These were the other bright projects to partner the bunting card at my Stampin’ Experience. I demoed the cello bag topper and then everyone made the card.

I LOVE this bag of M&Ms. I bought the sweets at the last-minute and was so excited when I opened them and realised just how perfectly the colours match. The only thing I’d change would be the Old Olive – Wild Wasabi would be a better shade.

Eagle-eyed viewers will spot the mistake on the bag. In my haste, I stuck the topper on with the bag’s seam at the front! And I used Sticky Strip! Aaagh!

The card is one that we made at Stampin’ Up!’s Convention last November, I just changed the colours. I also invested in the 1 3/8” Square Punch, which eliminated any measuring!

Stamps: Party This Way

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Pacific Point, Old Olive

Ink: Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Real Red

Accessories: Cello bag (medium), Pumpkin Pie taffeta ribbon, 1 3/8” square punch

All products by Stampin' Up!®

Distressed about distressing?

I've updated my events page with details of a new class - Distressed About Distressing? Please take a look by clicking here.

More bunting!

I’m loving this bunting card – so much so that I made another... and another!  This was one of the demos at my recent Stampin’ Experience event. I tried to stick to a limited product list, which is very difficult when you’re used to using everything you have! But I managed it with Party This Way, Brights inks, Brights cardstock assortment and Neutrals cardstock assortment and this lovely Pumpkin Pie taffeta ribbon. Oh, and some Greenhouse Gala Designer Series Paper. Oops, there was a punch on the other project, too. But pretty limited for me, nonetheless!

I began by stamping the bunting on the Whisper White cardstock. I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig® to position them but you wouldn’t need it if you had the clear-mount version of the stamp set. Next I stamped the bunting again on various scraps of Greenhouse Gala paper. Here’s the trick: I cut out just the triangle, no messing around with the frilly bits for me! These were placed on top of the stamped images on the Whisper White.

A strip of ribbon and a stamped greeting in a constrasting colour were the finishing touches.

Stamps: Party This Way

Cardstock: Real Red, Whisper White

Paper: Greenhouse Gala

Ink: Real Red, Old Olive

Accessories: Pumpkin Pie taffeta ribbon

All products by Stampin' Up!®

Wine tag

What a poor picture! You can’t tell but this is a wine tag. It’s ever so easy to make and dresses up a bottle of wine nicely. I carefully wrote down all the measurements so I could add them to this post, but I have no idea where they are and I’m currently in the middle of a massive craft sort-out!

Basically, it’s a piece of Basic Black cardstock, scored across the width, with a 1 ¾” hole punched in the smaller section. This hole fits perfectly over the neck of a bottle of wine to create a gift tag. This was a teacher gift – teachers love wine!

The flower is made from scraps of Sweet & Sour paper, punched out with the Boho Blossoms punch, held together with a silver brad, dampened and scrunched (ouch! Do this before adding the brad next time!)

Stamps: Artistic Etchings, Just Believe

Cardstock: Basic Black, Melon Mambo, Very Vanilla

Paper: Love Letter, Sweet & Sour Speciality

Ink: Basic Black, Melon Mambo

Accessories: Modern Label Punch, 1 ¾” circle punch, Boho Blossoms punch, Basic Pearls, Silver brad (underneath pearl)

All products by Stampin' Up!®

Number line

A card with very little stamping but I really do have A LOT of paper to use up before the end of September. Why? Because, as you may or may not know, it’s usually the case that ALL our Designer Series Papers are retired to make way for new ones in the new Idea Book & Catalogue on 1^st October. Don’t worry, we will have fair warning, with a retiring list issued on 1^st September and I will, of course, keep you informed.

Hopefully it’s obvious, but this card is for someone who is turning nine. I cut a strip of numbers from a sheet of Play Date Designer Series Paper and highlighted the 9 with a scalloped circle, popped up on tiny bits of Stampin’ Dimensionals. .

To make the scalloped circle like this, punch the plain circle first, with adequate space around it and then, holding your Scallop Circle Punch upside down so you can see what you’re doing, centre it over the circle and punch again.

Stamps: Something to Celebrate (hostess)

Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Early Espresso, So Saffron, Real Red, Old Olive

Paper: Play Date

Ink: Early Espresso

Accessories: 1 3/8” circle punch, Scallop Circle Punch

All products by Stampin’ Up!®           

Pine cones a go-go

This is the final Christmas in July project and one of my favourites, because I just love trees, shabby chic and River Rock!

We stamped in Always Artichoke, but you’ll see I managed to sneak in some Old Olive cardstock! I’d invested in a 1 3/8” Square Punch for this class which certainly made preparation easier for me, and I’m loving the punch, too.

I love the background on this card. It’s stamped at random with the large pine tree from Lovely as a Tree in River Rock, then spattered with the Colour Spritzing Tool using an Always Artichoke marker.

Stamps: Autumn Days, Lovely as a Tree

Cardstock: River Rock, Early Espresso, Real Red, Old Olive, Very Vanilla

Ink: Always Artichoke, River Rock

Accessories: Always Artichoke Marker, Colour Spritzer, Basic Rhinestones, 1/8” Taffeta Ribbon – Real Red

All products by Stampin’ Up!®            

It's still Christmas...

More Christmas in July projects for you – scroll down because there are two projects again today. First up is this (I think) lovely card using Welcome Christmas.

To make this card, we stamped the wreath on a Very Vanilla panel – because the stamps we were using were clear-mount, we could see exactly where to stamp without using a Stamp-a-ma-jig®.

The greeting was stamped on a separate piece of Very Vanilla cardstock and cut out with scissors. I think a few of the ladies were hoping for a punch to do this for them but no, they had to do it by hand. It kept them quite for a bit longer anyway!

The rest of the card is simple layering with the addition of two kinds of ribbon for texture.

The final touch, again, were rhinestones but look! This time they’re red! (And one of them has shifted a bit – oops.) We achieved this effect by colouring them in with a permanent marker while still on the backing sheet. We used a Sharpie; Wilko sell small red ones individually, as I discovered to my irritation once I’d splashed out on a full pack of mixed colours!

Stamps: Welcome Christmas

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Real Red

Paper: Jolly Holiday

Ink: Real Red, Old Olive

Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, 5/8” Grosgrain Ribbon – Old Olive, 1/8” Taffeta Ribbon – Real Red, Basic Rhinestones

The second Christmassy project I have to show you today is this rather fabby decoration. I totally stole this idea from a Canadian demonstrator called Julie, who made these with her children last Christmas. As soon as I saw them on her blog, I emailed my cousin in Canada and asked her to hunt them down in the dollar store, which she very kindly did – and cleared the shelves!

Enough waffling, here’s how to recreate this effect. The same technique would work with chipboard letters.

1. Press the word into a Versamark pad so that it is completely covered on one side.
2. Sprinkle with Heat & Stick powder, tap off the excess and heat until it is all melted.
3. Sprinkle with glitter, making sure it’s completely covered, then tap off the excess.
4. Heat gently again to keep the glitter in place.

Supplies used: Cosmo Fine Glitter, Heat & Stick Powder, Heat Gun, Versamark pad, elastic cord - Silver

All products by Stampin' Up!®

It's Christmas at last!

I’m so behind with blogging but finally have my Christmas in July projects photographed and ready to show you. Please scroll down for a bonus project!

This year I decided not to try to be trendy with non-traditional colour schemes and stick to my favourites: greens and reds. There’s a reason these colours are the most popular for Christmas and that’s because they work. And, of course, plenty of opportunities for me to use Old Olive!

I also decided to try using "work stations", where the guests move around to different tables to create each project. I have been told by demonstrators in America that this isn't popular with customers but decided to risk it as we needed the Big Shot at one table and would have to be next to the wall for the embossing project so we could use the heat gun next to the one and only socket in the hall we use!

Anyway, I thought it worked really well and we didn't overrun for once, which was a bonus. Feedback from the afternoon session was that they preferred it as it was more relaxed, so I'd love to hear what the morning crowd thought. 

As for the projects, I'm starting with this card because I haven’t shown you a Top Note Die sample for a while, so am running behind on my target.

This was made by cutting strips of Jolly Holiday paper and pasting them onto a piece of backing that comes in Designer Series Paper packs. We then ran it through the Big Shot using the Top Note Die – a big favourite at the moment!

This was stuck to the card front and a piece of Old Olive grosgrain ribbon wrapped all the way round the card and double backed twice to create this funky loop.

“Joy at Christmas” was stamped twice – once in Cherry Cobbler on Very Vanilla and once in Old Olive (yay!) on Old Olive. The Old Olive cardstock was punched out using the Scallop Circle punch and the centre of the Vanilla cardstock was punched out using the 1 3/8” circle punch and popped up on the Olive.

Finally, a touch of bling! Yes, bling! A rhinestone on the end of the “y” gives it the finishing touch.

Oh, forgot to mention – and photograph – the inside, which has a Very Vanilla panel and a strip of Jolly Holiday paper for a further festive touch.

Stamps: Perfect Punches

Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Very Vanilla

Paper: Jolly Holiday

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive

Accessories: Top Note Die, Big Shot, 5/8” Grosgrain Ribbon – Old Olive, Basic Rhinestones, 1 3/8” circle punch, Scallop Circle Punch

And here’s a bonus card... I couldn’t go without posting this beautiful creation from one of my customers.  Emily bought some glass glitter at a workshop recently and, as I don’t have any, I’d asked her to tell me what it was like and how she was getting on with it. She very kindly made me this gorgeous card to show me - look carefully and you'll see that the flower centres are created from glass glitter. You’ll look at this card and think it’s lovely, with all the carefully cut-out flowers from Vintage Vogue – but when I tell you that Emily is only 10 years old, I just know you’ll be REALLY impressed! So, forget about commenting on my card, but please leave a comment for Emily!

All products by Stampin' Up!®

Coming soon...

It's Saturday, it's late, I do have loads of projects to show you but now is not the time. Will try to get them off the camera tomorrow!

Floral bunting

Springtime Vintage papers are so gorgeous, I’m surprised I haven’t been taking orders for them from everyone! They feature pretty florals reminiscent of old-fashioned wallpaper, little girls’ dress prints or patchwork fabrics.

Here I’ve used them to create bunting, which is perfect for a little girl’s birthday. Wouldn’t it be lovely to have bunting like this at your birthday party?

To make it easy for myself (because I seem to be running around like the proverbial fly at the moment), I stamped the bunting repeatedly on Very Vanilla cardstock. I dusted off the old Stamp-a-ma-jig® for this one as my Party This Way set is wood-mounted, received at Stampin’ Up!® Convention last year.  I’ve become such a convert to clear-mount stamps that I’d almost forgotten how to use the Stamp-a-ma-jig®!

I then stamped the bunting again directly onto the Designer Series Paper. In the corner, obviously, so as not to “spoil” the whole sheet! I cut out just the triangle (ie, the easy bit) and stuck it onto the stamped Vanilla cardstock. It’s the paper-piecing technique, if you want to give it a fancy name.

The Happy Birthday greeting comes from Something to Celebrate, a Level 2 hostess set from the current Mini catalogue. It’s a really useful set and I find myself using it all the time.  If you’d like to get your hands on this set, why not drop me a line to book a party and we’ll do our best to get you to a Level 2 (£300 workshop total).

Stamps: Party This Way, Something to Celebrate

Cardstock: Rose Red, Always, Very Vanilla

Paper: Springtime Vintage

Ink: Rose Red, Always Artichoke

Accessories:  Scallop Edge Punch

All products by Stampin' Up!®

Our stand at the Roundhouse

I’m so late in posting this but better late than never, eh?

This is our stand at the Fabulous Places Food & Drink Fair at the Roundhouse last weekend. Didn’t we look smart with our official Stampin’ Up!® signage? BIG thanks to Stampin’ Up! for the loan of this fantastic wall (with Velcro panel to attach display cards) and pop-up banner.

Thank you, too, to Emma Daye, a demonstrator from Grantham, for the strawberries inspiration – don’t they look great hanging from our corkscrew hazel “tree”?

Finally, a big thank you to everyone who visited our stand. It was great to see familiar faces and lovely to meet new people who will hopefully one day become as enthusiastic about Stampin’ Up! as we are.

I have now drawn a winner in the prize draw and there was such a good response that I decided there should be three winners. So here, goes:

1^st prize of a Stampin’ Up!® stamp set: Mandie O, of Ilkeston

2^nd prize of a pack of Stampin’ Up!® 6”x6” Designer Series Paper: Kelly S, of Ripley

3^rd prize of .a Stampin’ Up!® ink pad: Lisa P, of Holbrook

I’ll be in touch with your prizes soon!

Join the Stampin' Experience!

You’re invited to a free event!

I am holding a special free event to introduce people to Stampin’ Up!® 

There will be demonstrations, a Make & Take and, of course, cake!

It’s on Saturday, 16^th July in Aston-on-Trent, which is just south of Derby. Doors open at 10am for registration and the event runs from 10.15am-12.30pm.

Whether you’re a beginner crafter, experienced stamper or have never tried anything like this before, you’re all welcome. If you’re one of my regulars, why not bring along a friend to show them what fun we have paper and ink?

While the event is free, I do need to know numbers, so please drop me a line to let me know if you’re coming. The more the merrier! 

I'm back!

Hello! Remember me? Are you still there? So sorry for such a long absence, you wouldn’t believe what a busy week I’ve had. All good stuff though!

Saturday and Sunday was the Fabulous Places Food & Gift Fair at the Roundhouse. I don’t have pictures of our stand yet but will have soon, I promise. I have to say that we looked suitably fabulous with our huge Stampin’ Up! wall and banner. I’m so grateful to the company for loaning these to us for the occasion.

Lots of people visited us over the weekend – some familiar faces, some new. Hope to see you ALL again soon!

And while I’m waiting for picture of our stand, here is the Make & Take we offered – very simple, perfect for beginners as it uses Getting Started colours and a simple single stamp, Sail Away.

Can't promise there will be much blogging this week either - I'm now deep in preparations for Christmas in July this weekend. 

Stamps: Sail Away

Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Night of Navy, Whisper White

Ink: Night of Navy

Accessories: Satin Ribbon – Night of Navy

All products by Stampin’ Up!®