#LoveitChopit night projects with Animal Expedition

I recently discovered the #loveitchopit movement and absolutely loved the idea. It's very simple... instead of hoarding your Designer Series Paper, you cut it up into 4"x6" pieces and *gasp* USE it! Radical, eh?

So I held a Love It Chop It evening and we got to work, making 10 simple cards that look anything but, thanks to the gorgeous paper. Some ladies chose different paper but I used the Animal Expedition as I've been looking for a reason to use Animal Outing in a class. The dies fit round the images in the DSP - and for the reversed images, we just held our paper up to the window or a light for perfect positioning.

The stamps and dies are carrying over to the new catalogue but if you want this lovely paper – or indeed ANY of the Designer Series Papers in the current catalogues – you'd better hurry as they ALL retire to make way for new designs. Eek!

Fast cards with Happiness Blooms Memories & More Cards

Every month I celebrate my team achievers but this month I was REALLY strapped for time. I didn't want to make them wait longer than necessary so turned turned to the Happiness Blooms Memories & More Cards and the co-ordinating Night of Navy note cards and envelopes - I love these products! You get two of each card and some of them have glossy embossed designs, too.

These Memories & More Cards AND the Calligraphy Essentials stamp set I've used here will both be retiring soon so if you want to get your hands on them, I wouldn't delay!

Super-fast One-Sheet Mini Album

This mini album is so easy to make - and all you need are a single sheet of cardstock and some Memories & More cards (the smaller ones). 

Cut and score the sheet as shown, cutting a sliver of cardstock away where you see the bold black lines, as this makes it easier to close up. Then decorate as desired and tie closed with ribbon.

Paper Pumpkin comes to the UK... for one month only!

Now this looks interesting... I’ve heard about the Paper Pumpkin kits from friends on the other side of The Pond, and now we get to try one of them out, too. 

It’s a kit designed by Stampin' Up!® founder Shelli Gardner and features an exclusive stamp set plus everything you need to make 12 cards, three each of four designs. The cost is just £20 so well worth having.

Take a look at the video to find out more... but I'll warn you now, the contents are meant to be a surprise so you'll only get small hints!

Hello card with Accented Blooms

Well, hello! I love the greetings that go with this Accented Blooms stamp set because sometimes you just want to send a card to say "hello".

I've coloured the image using ink pads and blender pens, for speed, and teamed it up with some leafy Nature's Poem Designer Series Paper. Remember, this paper will be retiring soon, as will the main colour on this piece, Tranquil Tide, although the stamp set and punch live to tell the tale for another year.

Cat and dog treat boxes using the Gift Bag Punch Board

I used the Gift Bag Punch Board to make this cute treat box. You need to make two gift bags – one in black, one in a contrasting colour (I used Lemon Lime Twist, before it goes!). It's a snug fit but the lid does go on if you are careful.

The main image panel is attached to the Lemon Lime Twist on the top, so it slides off with the lid. 

Double-sided dog or cat

It was all about cats and dogs at my afternoon workshop on Saturday so this week I am showcasing the projects we made; two cards and a gift box... and they all featured some sort of technique.

I'd made two sets of samples; one with cats, one with dogs, so the ladies could choose which they made. Some were all about the cats, some all about the dogs, and some made a mix of the two.

We began the event by making this window card, inspired by this card by Wendy Cranford, although I added a window sheet and made the animals two-sided using the fabulous Mirror Technique.

Retiring products 2019

Please take a look at the retiring list and if there’s anything you need, you can order from my online store here or contact me to place an order.

Please use the host code: C6Y4SNP2 

Note that not all the rubber stamp set designs listed on the retiring list will be gone forever; 

some are being reconfigured into the new Cling Mount format. 

You can see the carryover sets here and below. 

Dog on a log... mog on a log

With all the promotion of Simple Stamping projects, I somehow failed miserably and went completely the other way with this one! It uses not one but FIVE different stamp sets! I can only plead guilty and say I was trying to get some use out of stamp sets before the excitement of the new catalogue kicks in.

It’s a simple masked project, using a mask across the tree stump (Foxy Friends) to enable the tree trunks (Winter Woods) to be stamped and the ground to be created using Waterfront.

The cat and dog are stamped on separate cardstock and punched out. And as for the words, they are created using the Labeler Alphabet stamp set... but I didn’t ask the ladies at my Cats & Dogs class to replicate this, they could simply choose their own greeting.

#Simplestamping with Accented Blooms

My new(ish) Cuppa & Card sessions at Dawson's Café in Borrowash are a great way to meet new people... and I’ve already signed two of them up into my team. Not a bad start to the year.

This month we used the lovely Accented Blooms stamp set, which is really popular not just because of the great images but because there's a co-ordinating punch. Who doesn't love a co-ordinating punch?

I kept things simple (#simplestamping is the best!); the first card is just stamped in Gorgeous Grape and the colour pulled from the edges using a Blender Pen. The second card is a little more complex, with the image coloured in using ink pads and blender pens.

Wet on Wet watercolouring with Accented Blooms

Look closely at the punched "Hello" panel on this card and you’ll see two shades in action. I inked up the whole stamp using Pumpkin Pie, then added some Poppy Parade around the bottom with a sponge dauber. I love the ombre effect it creates and it’s ever so simple to do.

The image itself is embossed in white then coloured in using a wet on wet watercolour technique – always fun... if a little unpredictable! Once it had dried, I went back and added some stronger splashes of colour.

Behind the image I’ve stamped some Artisan Textures splatters, just because I could and to break up the large expanse of Very Vanilla.

Accented Blooms Mother’s Day card

I made this card for my Mum for Mothering Sunday, which was a week or so ago here in the UK. It uses – as do so many of my projects this month – the Accented Blooms stamp set which I’ve coloured in using ink pads and blender pens.

I’ve fussy-cut the image and overlaid it onto two stitched squares in Granny Apple Green and some Nature's Poem DSP. TWO stitched squares? Yep, you read that right.

There’s a really simple way to create stitched squares using the Stitched Rectangle Framelits and I’m sure you’ve already worked it out for yourself; you simply cut each shape twice to make exactly the size and shape of rectangle/square you need. The corners aren’t as perfect as when you just cut once but nobody's going to notice, I promise you!

Happiness Blooms celebration card

I love celebrating my team’s achievements – and reaching 10 years as a Stampin’ Up!® demonstrator is a huge deal. I was delighted to make this card for my downline Alison as she celebrated this milestone. Again, I used one of the “special” Happiness Blooms Memories & More cards – one of the shiny embossed cards that really help the project to stand out. It’s teamed with a special stamp set which is exclusive to Stampin’ Up!® demonstrators and allows us to celebrate our teams.

EVENT: #loveitchopit

Devised by Australian Demonstrator Kylie Bertucci, #loveitchopit is a fantastic concept. Like all the best ideas, it’s very simple: you cut up your Designer Series Paper when you receive it, so you aren’t tempted to hoard it and can start using it instead! 

Please join me for this fun event, where you will receive half a pack of Animal Expedition DSP (other options available) and make 10 easy cards.

Happiness Blooms Memories & More Card - quick and easy!

Sale-a-Bration has eclipsed everything for the past three months but now it’s time to take a look at some of the other gorgeous products on offer in the Spring/Summer catalogue. It won’t be long before these are retiring, so now is our chance to stock up on any favourites.

Something I particularly love is the Happiness Blooms Memories & More Card Pack. These packs are really versatile; even if you’re not a scrapbooker, you can use them for many other projects. Think of them as a pack of Designer Series Paper that somebody has already cut up for you.

Team them with the co-ordinating note cards and envelopes and you can have great cards in seconds. An absolute boon for the time-strapped crafter!

Bloom by Bloom mini pizza box and cards

Sale-a-Bration is over now, which means I now have time to show you the rest of my All-Day Craft Event projects. This was our morning project - a mini pizza box with four small cards inside (two of each design). 

Everyone’s kit contained – among other items – the Bloom By Bloom stamp set, a roll of Night of Navy Baker's Twine and some Butterfly Elements, which made it a very relaxed occasion as nobody had to wait around for stamps. The Butterfly Elements are no longer available as they were a Sale-a-Bration item, but the Frames Elements (146906) contain leaf sprigs and hearts, so would do a similar job.

Together, the box of small cards would make a lovely gift, or you could use the cards and use the box for a different present.

New Storage now available

Happy April! And I have a brand new product announcement for you: you can now purchase storage for your beloved Stampin’ Up!® products. Best of all, they are modular... so you can

1. Arrange them to suit your workspace. Stack ’em or arrange them side by side, it’s up to you.

2. Buy them in sections and add to your storage as your craft collection grows or as your budget allows.

Take a look...