Happy New Year

A tentative Happy New Year wish to you all. Here’s hoping it brings some much-needed normality back into our lives. Here in Derbyshire we have just gone into Tier 4, which is another way of saying ‘lockdown’. Hopefully there will be an end in sight soon – but meanwhile, there’s always crafting!

Merry Christmas

 

Just a quick post to wish you all a very merry Christmas. 

It won’t be the same this year but I hope you can make the best of it. Thank you all for your support over the past year, for your comments and shares, for attending my classes and for shopping in my store. I’ll be back with some more projects for you soon.

Christmas or not? Coming Home

The Coming Home stamp set is not just for Christmas. Sadly, you can no longer buy this versatile set as it has sold out in Europe but if you have it, don’t put it away until next winter, you can use it all year round. 

I don’t normally show retired products but, frankly, I have nothing else I can show you right now as all my other creations are under wraps until my Twixmas Party on 30th December! Got to leave some surprises for my ladies!

 

So here are two projects I made with Coming Home, using the same design to create a Christmas card and a new home card. I coloured the images using Stampin’ Blends and created the background using the new Blending Brushes from the upcoming Jan-June Mini Catalogue. 

I’m really enjoying my Stampin’ Blends lately. They are definitely something worth pursuing as practice is key. For these cards, I used Petal Pink for the house, Pool Party for the door and windows, Crumb Cake for the roof and Mint Macaron for the tree. 

For the new home card, I used Pool Party on the roof, too. In fact, if you have limited supplies, you could even colour the trees in Pool Party, so you then only need two colours of Blends.

The background is ‘sponged’ using the new Blending Brushes. These are fab.u.lous – they look like spongy pads but are actually very fine but dense brushes which make beautiful soft backgrounds. I’ll be demoing them at my Twixmas Party which is free to attend and open to all my customers and team. 

The Coming Home stamp set may have sold out but there are still plenty of other bargains to be found in the Year-End Sale and Clearance Rack. Please head on over to my store and, if you use the host code SX4NGWRH, I’ll send you a little thank you gift in January! 

To make it easy for you, please shop using this link. 

 

Sneak peek Friday - Berry Blessings Sale-a-Bration stamp set

I had a berry nice time (sorry) creating these cards using the brand new Berry Blessings Sale-a-Bration stamp set and the Sweet Strawberry set from the Jan-June Mini Catalogue.

This set is part of a larger bundle which includes some fabulous Designer Series Paper. Sadly, I couldn’t bring myself to cut this up for these projects so just stuck to the stamps for now.

Each of the images has a background and a foreground so you can use the much-loved ‘two-step stamping’ method, stamp the outline and colour in, or simply stamp with the bold images. 

 

For the blueberry card, I got so carried away with my stamping that I ended up with enough for two. I stamped in Granny Apple Green and Pacific Point, then immediately regretted it as I couldn’t find any ribbon in my stash to match! But I think this Seaside Spray and Linen Thread goes pretty well, don’t you?

A variation on the blueberry card uses just blueberries in the background, with a few cut-out leaves and blueberries on top of the greeting, which is die-cut with the ever-popular Tasteful Labels dies. 

For the raspberry card, I played around with a few colour combos before settling on Melon Mambo for the background images and Rich Razzleberry for the outline on top. Again, this left me with a ribbon issue, but I compromised with some Magenta Madness and linen thred. It was a little bright so I toned the card down with a Blackberry Bliss base and greeting (which is taken from the co-ordinating Sweet Strawberry stamp set from the Mini). 

What do you think? Will these be on your wish list for January and February? I think they provide a welcome splash of summery colour for the dark winter days. 

Did you know? Stampin’ Up!® demonstrators get an extra month of Sale-a-Bration, when we can earn free DSB stamp sets and Designer Series Paper on our December orders. This is just one of many perks of being a demonstrator. You don’t have to run a business; it’s all about getting the best value for your money, so why not get in touch using the info at the top of the page, or via my website, and I can answer any questions you may have.

Cat card using Summer Days host stamp set

 

Today is Cat Herders’ Day apparently. Who knew we get a whole day to ourselves? I spend a lot of time herding cats and it’s time we had our futile efforts recognised.

To celebrate, here’s a cat-themed project using the Summer Days host stamp set. Yes I stamped all of these and coloured them in using Stampin' Blends. It was quite soothing actually. Unlike herding cats!

 

 

This stamp set could be yours FREE if you host a party or place an order which comes to £150 or more. Please get in touch about hosting as I am now taking bookings for virtual parties in the New Year. 

If you’re in the UK, please shop online using the December host code SX4NGWRH (unless you're spending over £150!). And as a thank you for using the code, I will send you a handmade card and a thank you gift.

 

Free tutorials: Half-cracker gift box and triangle gift box

Well my brief “Christmas or not” series came and went; I’ve just not had time to make anything extra this week. I don’t know about you but I would rather have time off before Christmas than afterwards, so I can get all my preparations done. But never mind, it will all work out in the end, and then I get a good week and a half off to relax.

Friday was my last Crafty Friday of the year. I’m pleased to have kept this going all year, despite having to run sessions remotely. This month we made two boxes; a half cracker and a triangle box.

The half cracker uses a full sheet of A4 cardstock, and you need half a sheet of 12x12 or two 6x6 sheets, so it's pretty economical. It’s a pretty, reusable alternative to Christmas crackers, which you can refill every year and display on your festive table. Or you can simply use it as gift packaging for a small gift – my crafty Friday ladies seemed particularly keen on using it to gift a spirit miniature! That’s just how they roll...

 Download the tutorial and template for this project here 

I’ve used several different DSPs for these boxes, as I had leftovers to use up but I am particularly taken with the Most Wonderful Time papers from this amazing product medley. How I overlooked this I don’t know but I did manage to nab the refill pack before it went out of stock. 

The good news is that when I checked yesterday, the full product medley was still available and an absolute bargain at half price. Should be £65, now only £32.50 and you get stamps, dies, DSP, sticker sheets, tinsel and embellishments. A mega bargain, and a gorgeous one at that: you can order it here.

The triangle box starts with a sheet of A4 and uses less than a 6x6 piece of DSP. I have used Most Wonderful Time DSP for this project and decorated with a label cut with the Tasteful Labels dies and some trees from the Snow Globe Scenes dies. This ribbon gives it a hint of bling and goes with absolutely everything. 

This box uses Misty Moonlight cardstock (LOVE that colour) and the Trimming the Town Designer Series Paper which has now retired. My new Rectangular Postage Stamp Punch makes for a quick label, stamped with Yuletide Pasture, which is retiring soon and currently reduced. 

Download the tutorial and template for the triangle box here

When making this box, you may feel that it’s not an economical use of cardstock but all those off-cuts are a decent size which can be used to make Christmas tags... 

These tags are all made using the Most Wonderful Time products, with the addition of greeting stamps and a little deer from the Snow Globe Scenes dies. Tags are a great way to use up any leftover elements from your Christmas cards, so don’t throw anything away! (What am I saying? If you’re reading this, you’re a crafter so you won’t throw anything away anyway!)

I hope you like these projects and enjoy making some Christmas boxes of your own. If you’re in the UK, please shop online using the December host code SX4NGWRH (unless you’re spending over £150!). And as a thank you for using the code, I will send you a handmade card and a thank you gift.

 

Sneak Peek Friday: Darling Donkeys

Want a sneak peek of what’s to come in January? Of COURSE you do!

This gorgeous stamp set is called Darling Donkeys and I predict it’s going to be this Sale-a-Brations BIG hit. You get three cute donkeys (one isn’t shown here) and a selection of greetings and they’re just perfect for colouring in and creating fun cards for children and the young at heart. Lots of potential for creating your own amusing greetings using alphabet sets or dies, too!

Check out what I’ve been making...

This one uses the gorgeous Flower & Field Designer Series Paper, which is also a SAB item. I’ve already warned my ladies that they’re really going to have to manage their SAB choices carefully this year as there are so many great things to choose from and only two months to earn them this time!

 

Yes, if you haven’t already heard, Sale-a-Bration is only running during January and February but stop! This is GOOD news for two reasons:

1. It only features stamps and Designer Series Paper, which don’t have any supply issues as they’re sourced in the UK (so no delays caused by Chinese New Year).

2. There will be ANOTHER Sale-a-Bration in July and August - yay! So you actually get a whole month extra of SAB. (We demonstrators get two whole months extra as SAB has started already for us – so if that’s a benefit you want to enjoy, please contact me via the email address in the side panel or click here if you are on a mobile and can’t see it.

This cheery yellow card uses the Dandy Garden Designer Series Paper which I know you’re going to love. Delicate dandelion clocks provide a subtle background to this sitting donkey.

And this card is an almost copy of a sample in the Sale-a-Bration brochure. It uses the Cinnamon Cider In Color DSP but I’d run out of Bumblebee DSP so made my hay bales using the Stacked Stone background stamp instead.

What do you think? Are the donkeys going to be on your SAB hit list?

 

Giant Year-End Clearout - save up to 50% on selected retiring items

Last chance to buy selected retiring items from Stampin’ Up!®’s August-December Mini Catalogue. Certain items are reduced so head on over to my online store to see, or check out the full list of retiring, carryover and returning items here. 

If you’re in the UK, please shop online using the host code here (unless you’re spending over £150, in which case don’t use the code!). I will send a thank you gift to everyone who uses the code; December gifts will be send in early January. 

Here are my top 10 picks, but remember, they’re only available while supplies last so could well have gone already!

Thank you for supporting my business and for using the host code!

 

Christmas or not? In The Pines watercolour card

If you’re like me, you'll still be making Christmas cards like an elf on strong coffee, so this post is for you as it features a fun Christmas card idea.

But if you're one of The Other People, who has not only made their Christmas cards but – worse! – maybe even written or POSTED them, then this blog post is also for you as it shows you a fun tree-themed card idea using one of my favourite stamp sets, In The Pines. 

 

 

This is the first in a very short series of blog posts on the theme of “Christmas or not’... showing cards designs which can be used for a variety of occasions.

This beautiful card idea came from Julie Kettlewell of the Paper Haven, who told me that she got the idea from Artisan Design Team member Nina.

I loved it and sat down to make it immediately. You know how I love a messy watercolour technique. And trees. Put them together and we have a project which is so far up my street that you can see my front door.

It’s simply a case of stamping onto wet paper, in this case Shimmery White. This gives you a lovely washy look to the images, and you can then spread the ink around a little more using a paintbrush or water painter.  

 

Watch Nina's video here

When it’s dry, you can splash it with Whisper White Craft ink but be careful! I ended up with a Jackson Pollock-esque streaks on my project and lovely little snowflake dots all over everything else... the table, my phone, my clothes and my hands. 

In Nina’s video, she squeezes ink onto a clear block to use it for splashing. I prefer to use an old embellishment container so you can put the lid on and use any leftover ink again and again.

 

 

For the Christmas version, I added a tiny star to the top of the tree from the All The Trimmings Embellishments pack. Leaving this off keeps the card neutral, so you can use it for pretty much any other occasion. I’ve stamped “thank you” from Beautiful Autumn, because that’s the type of card I needed.

 

But it would also make a great masculine birthday card for a man who loves the outdoors. Or you could send it to me because I love trees, as may have already mentioned.

 

Both are finished off with some gorgeous Linen Thread, which never goes out of style. I hope this never retires as I use it all the time!

Now a warning: don’t delay!

In The Pines and Beautiful Autumn are both retiring soon so if you want to get either of them, please don’t delay. Shop the retiring list tomorrow (Tues 8th) as some items will be reduced (In The Pines is full price but Beautiful Autumn will be reduced, in the UK at least) and there are some mega bargains to be had. All products will only be available while supplies last and shipping may take longer due to Covid and Christmas, so I strongly urge you to do your shopping tomorrow to avoid disappointment.

If you're in the UK, please shop online using the December host code SX4NGWRH (unless you're spending over £150!). And as a thank you for using the code, I will send you a handmade card and a thank you gift.