Merry Music rosette star

I saw this project on the Stampin’ Up!® Facebook page and thought it would be a great way to use up my surplus of Merry Music Designer Series Paper (you get 24 sheets in a pack!).

I made one of these for each of the ladies attending my Merry Star class, to decorate their kit bags.

The star is simple to make and the instructions are here. They're in German on the printable sheet but in English in the post. Here are my additional tips:

1. Stick to centimetres - if you try to convert it to imperial, you will run out of paper with these instructions.

2. Make one so you know how it works; I found drawing cut lines on the back of the DSP helpful.

3. Attach the two pieces of DSP together before you start concertina folding.

4. Hot glue really is the best for holding the rosette to a disc of cardstock, although strong tape could work too. When using hot glue, don't be tempted to blob a little in the centre of your disc as this won't do the job - you need a circle of glue with a hole in the middle. You'll see why!

5. When you've succesfully make one star, cut and score the pieces for a second star but don't assemble it - you can use this for further stars with no more drawing of diagonal lines; just fold and follow.

Have fun!

Mix It Up Monday: Sponged Year of Cheer DSP

Happy Monday everyone! Tranquil Tide is the star of the show again this Mix It Up Monday – I must be a fan because I’ve nearly used all the Tranquil Tides colour combinations from my In Color charts.

This weekend, inspired by Natalie Lapakko, I was playing with the Year of Cheer Designer Series Paper and experimenting with adding colour. It looks GORGEOUS with a dark colour sponged onto the background; the ink is resisted in the metallic embossed areas. The trick is to ink up your sponge then remove the excess on some scrap paper; this avoids creating blotches. 

Here I’ve created a two-tone background using Tranquil Tide and Lemon Lime Twist. I prefer the darker colours but you have to try new things. Some scrunched up Crinked Seam Binding and a Night of Navy border sets it off nicely, and it’s finished off with a Year of Cheer gold embellishment… and that is finished off with a Pearl, which I coloured ‘gold’ with the Bronze Stampin’ Blends marker. 

Caturday: Kitty

Happy Caturday everyone! While Kitty might wish you'd all go away (she's not the most sociable of cats), I'm happy you're here as it gives me chance to draw your attention to the FREE SHIPPING which will be in effect on Monday only.  A great offer, and a great opportunity to order those last-minute supplies for your Christmas projects.

Stained glass technique with Stampin' Blends

This card shows the stained glass technique, which is really easy to do with some vellum and the new Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers.

For this technique I found that Memento Black ink took quite a long time to dry so, because the images so look fine in reverse, I used my Archival Black to stamp on the back of the vellum.

Normally Archival Black and Stampin' Blends don't work well together because they are both alcohol-based so the ink will run.  This is the usual rule of thumb...

But, because I stamped the outline image on the BACK of the vellum, I could colour the other side with no bleeding, and create a lovely stained glass effect.

The White Perfect Accent is also coloured with Stampin’ Blends, for perfect co-ordination.

CAS cards with Stampin' Blends

When I saw this card from Dani Dziama, I knew it would be perfect for a Make & Take using the Stampin’ Blends. So this is exactly what we did at a party last week... the fun thing was, everybody used a different colour. 

Go here to find out about my Collect & Earn Programme for the new Stampin’ Blends

Mix it Up Monday: Pretty Pines with Tree Rings

It’s Mix It Up Monday again and time for a Tranquil Tide combination that’s subtle, to say the least. It comes from my In Color charts and I thought it was perfect to use with Tree Rings and the Pretty Pines dies.  I coloured the pine cones with some Wink of Stella to give it a bit of festive glitz. 

Don’t forget the Online Extravaganza runs all week. Please visit helenread.stampinup.net for details and, if you order through me, please use the hostess code: CNVMKKYM

Online Extravaganza

A BIG sale starts at Stampin’ Up!® today! There are THREE strands:

1. FLASH SALE, 20% off selected stamp sets for 24 hours only from 11pm today (Sunday 19th Nov)

3. FLASH SALE on 27th November (details to come)

2. Online Extravaganza, which runs until 10.59pm on 26th November

Shop online at helenread.stampinup.net and please use the host code: CNVMKKYM

Thank you!

Caturday: Ginger friend

This fluffy ginger fellow lives not far from me and we occasionally meet when I’m on the way to the post office. On this occasion he was in somebody’s drive but I could see he was determined to get out to greet me officially, so I waited patiently while he laboriously clambered a wall and came for some attention.

Color Me Happy with Stampin’ Blends

Just playing around with my new Stampin’ Blends and the gorgeous Color Me Happy stamp set. The above is CASEd from an idea by Stesha Bloodhart and the one below is an All Things Stampy original (shocking, I know).

These alcohol markers are such fun to use – take a look at my Collect & Earn Programme to see how you can build up your collection!

 

Reserve your Stamparatus from today

This brand new tool from Stampin’ Up!® will change the way you stamp forever. No more imperfect images or fiddly stamp positioners, just precision stamping, as many times as you like.

You may have seen similar tools to this on the market, but the Stamparatus is different; it has TWO flaps, which can easily be removed and repositioned, giving you FOUR stamping surfaces.

Remove a flap and move it down the hinge and you have a simple way to create repeat images.

The purchase price is £44

Due to what is likely to be huge demand, and in the aim of eliminating backorders, the Stamparatus will initially be sold in a different way to normal.

The Stamparatus will be in the next Annual Catalogue in June 2018 when you can order it in the usual way but you can get one EARLY by reserving it later today (Thursday) for February delivery. Here’s how:

1. Create an online account

You MUST have an online customer account to reserve a Stamparatus. If you don’t have one, you can create one at my online store here.

2. Reserve your Stamparatus

Visit the Stampin’ Up!® website (or the SU site for your country) from 9pm UK time today – the Stamparatus link will be on the front page – and click RESERVE. The Stamparatus will be added to your basket - DO NOT REMOVE it unless you wish to cancel, as you will not be able to add it again during this reservation period.

There are THREE reservation periods:

3. Receive an email

You will be sent a confirmation email but please note you will not be charged until the Stamparatus is shipped in early February.

4. Modify your order

You will receive an email in late January/early February, when the Stamparatus is ready to ship. You will then have the opportunity to add to your basket, to take advantage of Sale-a-Bration, which gives you a free item when you spend £45. Shipping and handling at £4.95 will also be added.

This short video explains some of the fabulous features of the Stamparatus...

Log slice ornaments with Carols of Christmas

I didn’t make swaps for OnStage this year, but made these gifts for my team members who attended. I kind of guessed they’d be popular so planned a class around them so you too can join in the fun!

Come along and find out how to make the Mini Pizza Boxes turn green and much more...

OnStage 2017 - a global gathering of Stampin’ Up!® demonstrators

My haul of goodies from OnStage2017 - there were SU pens, too!

It should be Mix It Up Monday today but you know what? I’ve decided not to let that rule my life any more, and not worry too much if I don’t manage to create a project with all 50 colours from my In Color charts. 

I thought today you’d be far more interested in my OnStage2017 experience. This is where demonstrators around the world gather to share ideas, business tips and, most exciting of all, see new products from the upcoming Spring/Summer catalogue and Sale-a-Bration brochure! Yes, of course we received both publications and a good haul of products from them, too! Plus, we get to order from them early, as a special On Stage treat!

My name label for the day featured my achievements from the past year. The numbered badge was for Prize Patrol!

More than 450 demonstrators attended the UK event, at the National Conference Centre in Solihull, and thousands more attended events worldwide, including the main OnStage Live event in Salt Lake City in the home of Stampin’ Up!® in Utah, USA.

It was a chance to recognise the top achievers and I was honoured to be invited to walk the stage for my promotion to Gold earlier this year. This was more daunting than I expected as I didn’t realise there would only be TWO of us walking the stage for this achievement! The video MIGHT be on Facebook.

Not quite one Big Shot each, but three stations like this around the room

It’s also a great opportunity to catch up with demonstrator friends from around the country – people we didn’t know until Stampin’ Up!® came into our lives – making the event like a hug reunion.  

In addition, there were demonstrations, product spotlights, display boards, gifts and, of course, Make & Takes. Here are the Big Shots, lined up and ready for action. Oh, what a shame you can’t see the fabulous dies we used... 

10th anniversary cupcakes - one for everyone!

And because Stampin’ Up!® will soon be celebrating 10 years in Europe, there were extra treats, too... and more celebrations to come in the year ahead.

It's our 10th anniversary year in Europe

Demonstrators are given titles based on sales and recruiting and everyone awarded Silver Elite and above is invited to a special evening celebration the night before On Stage. This is called Centre Stage and was attended by around 50 demonstrators, including me and my downline Tracey. We were treated to a three-course meal, plus special gifts and we had the chance to share business ideas with other leaders. Plus - and this cannot be under-estimated as a perk - we received our catalogues early! And another valuable perk is that we get to register early so can skip the HUGE queues for check-in on Saturday morning!

A three-course meal and special gifts at Centre Stage

I can’t share any spoilers yet but trust me, there is LOADS to love in the two new catalogues. Whether you like floral, fun, funky or innovative, you’ll find something you’ll need. Yes, I said “need”.

My team at the end of a tiring day! They'll kill me. But then they don't read my blog so serves them right...

Caturday: Crate of Kitty

When I ordered a crate of cats, I naturally assumed it would contain more than one. Always read the small print, folks!

Mr T gets comfy in a plastic crate... but I honestly have no idea where this crate even came from. Bizarre.

Carols of Christmas gets the Lemon Lime Twist touch

I LOVE Lemon Lime Twist and think it looks great against the starkness of Whisper White and Basic Black. Here’s a project using the trees from the Card Front Builder dies set; all I did was die-cut the trees from a Whisper White panel and offset them to reveal the Lemon Lime Twist beneath. No waste and you get four trees from one roll of the die. 

On the same colour theme, I created a 3D package, designed to hold a roll of ribbon. This time I did die-cut two sets of trees; one in white, one in black. The cunning trick here is the border; if you look closely you can see the join where the two sections of the border die meet. This is a bit hit and miss and I have to confess this isn’t my best effort. If you’re particularly fussy, you could cover the join with some ribbon or other embellishment. 

The inside of the package was created with a pocket made from Merry Music Designer Series Paper; it may seem extravagant but it’s thinner than our usual paper so perfect for the job and also you get 24 sheets in a pack, so plenty to go round! And I like that it subtly adds interest to the project, like the fancy lining of an expensive jacket.

Hearts Come Home Crafty Friday projects

Crafty Friday was a packed one last week, so it was a challenge getting this card – more complex than our usual Crafty Friday projects – completed in time.

It’s inspired by the hugely talented Sandi MacIver, who created this beautiful project. For this CASEd version, I watercoloured the houses and trees but decided for Crafty Friday to switch to Whisper White cardstock and colouring with the new Stampin’ Blends for speed. I loved how everybody’s project turned out differently, so am kicking myself that I forgot to photograph them.

For the border, we mounted the Merry Music paper onto some cardstock and then cut out the centre to create a frame. But the middle bit wasn’t wasted, oh no...

We cut this into two 2" strips to create some cute matching tags. (I only managed one, hence the photo!)

Mix It Up Monday: Color Me Happy with Stampin' Blends

It’s Mix It Up Monday again after a short break. Sorry about last week – I was I’d been away for the weekend and just didn’t get time to make a project. 

For this one, I turned to my In Color charts to find a colour combo that uses shades which match my growing collection of Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers. Daffodil Delight and Pool Party; I have those so stamped myself a load of flowers from the new Color Me Happy stamp set, masking as I went so the flowers wouldn’t overlap.

Something else you can use your Blends for is to colour embellishments, such as the Pearls, which I’ve coloured here with Daffodil Delight, opening up a whole new world of possibility!

Caturday: Reggie

Apparently Reggie always looks cross. Could it be because his brother, Ronnie, moved in with my friend Kelly and now he doesn’t have his playmate (sparring partner) on hand all the time? Or is it just his face? Handsome fellow, all the same.

Painted Harvest with Woodland Embossing Folder

I love the clean crispness of this card, which I blatantly CASEd from the talented Monica Gale. The Woodland Embossing Folder has been around for a while now but it always worth adding to your craft supplies if you don’t already have it.

I used a splash of copper foil below the greeting and echoed this with my very last piece of copper trim. Might have to get some more...


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Stampin' Blends are here!

Stampin’ Blends are here! These are quality alcohol markers which come in 12 Stampin’ Up!® shades (not all shown here).  They’re easy to use and give your colouring project the wow factor as the colours are vibrant and the markers easy to use.

Download the brochure to take a closer look

Check out my first efforts below...

I made a big batch of these cards to thank this month’s club ladies, and I can honestly say, colouring them was really easy and quick. And I say this as somebody who isn’t a big fan of colouring! (There, I said it.)

The markers are available in 12 colours, each with a light and dark shade. You can buy them singly, in packs of two, or the full set (the price is the same regardless, £4 per marker). 

Do you need the light and dark? I’ll let you decide that. Below you can see how I’ve coloured the birds in just the light marker (on the left), just the dark marker (in the centre) and using both. As you can see, you can still get some shading using a single marker, but the shading is more pronounced (and arguably easier to achieve) using both.  

Want to find out more? 

Download the brochure to take a closer look

Or drop me a line if you have questions!

Want to find out about my Stampin’ Blends Collect and Earn programme? 

Join my mailing list to be kept informed!