Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

No projects from me this week as I am taking some time off for Christmas and to recover from a stomach bug. I hope you are having a lovely Christmas break (yes, it goes on all week in the UK!). Christmas has been postponed in our house to allow a quarantine period before we socialise with elderly relatives, so it’s still all to come here!

Meanwhile, if you are in the UK and would like to order, please visit my store and, if you use the January host code RNU3JCR9, I’ll send you a thank you gift in the following month.

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

Does your wish list come to more than £99? Please get in touch and I will help you get more for your money and unlock discounts all year round.  

 

Please message me via my website 

 

Sneak peek: Grassy Grove bundle

 

My final Christmas project of the year is this set of simple cards, which blend Stampin’ Up!® products old and new. I have used the absolutely gorgeous Blackberry Beauty Designer Series Paper which is retiring soon... in fact in Europe I believe it has now sold out.

But I couldn’t pack it away without giving it one last outing so used it to make these Christmas cards, combined with the brand new Grassy Grove bundle which is coming in the new Mini Catalogue on 4th January.

This new Mini Catalogue has lots of products which are out of my comfort zone, so I have been having fun with some of those to challenge myself – but it also has many which are right up my street so I bought some of those as well, to satisfy my cravings for projects themed around wildlife and trees. 

 

For these cards I began my creating a background using Blackberry Beauty Designer Series Paper, as many designs have quite a festive feel. The design on the left in this image even features holly, albeit in Blackberry Bliss on Rich Razzleberry. 

 

I used a panel created with the Stitched So Sweetly Dies, which are among my most-used dies, especially since I lost my favourite die from the Stitched Rectangles set! Some are cut from Basic White and some from Very Vanilla – with this Designer Series Paper it really doesn’t matter which you use and I am trying to use more vanilla because it’s so soft and lovely... plus it doesn’t go on back order quite as often as Basic White!

I stamped the trees in Rich Razzleberry, the greeting in Blackberry Bliss and the deer in Cinnamon Cider. I used the Stamparatus for this as it meant I could get the trees and greeting in the correct position each time, and also that I could die-cut the deer in advance then just stamp straight onto them, maximising my use of cardstock and saving time. 

 

For the ground, I experimented with blender pens but didn’t like the look, so eventually settled on one of the cloud images from the stamp set that comes with the No Matter The Weather Kit. Many of these kits come with really useful little stamp sets which are well worth hanging on to once your kit is completed. I stamped this in Cinnamon Cider, stamping off onto scrap paper first. 

 

 

In fact, the greeting – along with the one inside – comes from the Christmas Whimsy Card Kit – this is a stamp set I have probably used more than any other this Christmas, as the greetings are so useful. 

Finally I tied a piece of Elegant Trim around the whole card to finish it off. 

 

 

This Designer Series Paper may have sold out but there are still some amazing products on the Last Chance List and Clearance Rack. If you are in the UK and would like to order, please visit my store and, if you use the current host code TFBG2JJB, I’ll send you a thank you gift in the following month.

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

Does your wish list come to more than £99? Please get in touch and I will help you get more for your money and unlock discounts all year round.  

 

Please message me via my website 

 

Last-minute Christmas gift projects – with free tutorial

It’s around about this time of year that I begin to lose interest in Christmas projects and get anxious to start crafting with my new Stampin’ Up!® supplies. But there are still Christmas gifts, decorations and more to be made so for my penultimate craft class of the year we made a gift card holder and a couple of packages for tiny gifts. 

 

All of these projects can be made from one sheet of Stampin’ Up!® Painted Christmas Designer Series Paper (or any other designs of your choice). 

 

 

We began by making the bauble/gift holder which can be made from any size square but I went with 7" (17.8cm) to allow enough leftovers to fit the gift card holder.

This is far simpler than it looks and requires no cutting, measuring or special tools. I used this tutorial by Aussie demonstrator Fiona Bradley. 

 

 

The only thing I changed from Fiona’s tutorial was to punch my corner holes after the first two folds – it’s way easier to do this when the paper is still flat. Punch through both layers when the paper is folded corner to corner, then repeat on the other two corners. 

 

We held our baubles together using Simply Elegant Trim and decorated with a gift tag made with the Seasonal Labels Dies and coordinating Christmas Season stamp set. 

 

The card is a square one made to fit some 13cm (5") envelopes from my stash. All the pieces of Designer Series Paper you need can be cut out of the remaining sheet you used for the bauble.

 

Download a free tutorial here

 

 

 Make sure any decorations you add to the front of the small square don’t overhang on the left or this will make the card difficult to open.  

 

Inside the right flap you can stick a piece of Designer Series Paper and there is just enough room for a credit card-sized gift card... if you don’t apply adhesive on the right hand side. 

 

With our leftover pieces we decorated these little Simply Classic Treat Boxes, which are ideal for table gifts or for packaging something small such as jewellery. You could even hang them on the Christmas tree filled with chocolates.

 

There wasn't a long enough strip of Designer Series Paper left to go around the whole box so I cut two 3.5cm wide strips and joined them. Once the gold trim and decorations are added you can’t see the joins.

I hope these projects have inspired you to make some last-minute festive packaging. They are a great way to use up any leftovers – and don’t feel you have to hoard this pack of paper as it is only going into hibernation. The Painted Christmas Designer Series Paper will not be available from 4th January but will return in July 2022. 

The Christmas Season stamp set and Seasonal Labels Dies are both carrying over into the new year, although will not be available as a bundle from 4th January. So if you want to make your 10% saving, I suggest you order before then. They have proved to be my most-used Christmas stamps this year and the dies will prove useful all year round.

Want to craft with beautiful projects like these? If you’re in the UK, please head on over to my store to shop. If you use the host code TFBG2JJB before the end of December, I will send you a thank you gift next month.

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

Does your wish list come to more than £99? Please get in touch and I will help you get more for your money and unlock discounts all year round.  

 

Please message me via my website 

 

Sneak peek: Five cards with the Rainbow of Happiness bundle

Do you love rainbows? Come on, who doesn’t? Well, how about a sneak peek today? Do you want to take a look at one of the fabulous new bundles coming up in the Stampin’ Up!® January-June 2022 Mini Catalogue?

The Rainbow of Happiness bundle features the beautiful and versatile Rainbow of Happiness stamp set and the coordinating Brilliant Rainbow dies.

Rainbows can mean many things to many different people. They have spiritual significance for people of various religions and cultures, they can be a sign of good luck to those searching for a pot of gold at the end and they are a sign of equality for the LGBTQ+ community. They are also pretty amazing to see on a wet day, as I did when out walking in the Derbyshire countryside on Saturday.

Whatever your reason for loving rainbows, the new Rainbow of Happiness stamp set will enable you to add more than a splash of colour to your craft projects and I made a batch of cards using this fun new set, to mark a number of celebrations. 

First of all I wanted to celebrate two of my team members who were recognised by Stampin’ Up!® for their achievements during 2020-2021. I used the Pattern Party Designer Series Paper which is only available if you host a qualifying party but had just the right colourful vibe to go with these projects. 

For the first card, picking the colours from this paper, I used Poppy Parade, Pumpkin Pie, Granny Apple Green and Pool Party to stamp my rainbow to match the Designer Series Paper behind. 

 

I added interest to the white panel with a polka dot design created using the Checks & Dots Embossing Folders and a subtle greeting from the Sweet as a Peach stamp set.

For the second team card, I needed make the card a little more masculine so stamped in shades of blue/green. I used Pool Party, Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay and, after trying several blues and not finding the right one, finally settled on Shaded Spruce. 

I used a spotty piece of Designer Series Paper from the same Pattern Party pack, so this time used the checked embossing folder. These are narrow embossing folders which means you can use them in the Mini Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine – but you can also used them with a larger piece of cardstock if you run them through twice as I did, carefully positioning the cardstock so the pattern repeats. 

Next up was a congratulations card to celebrate the birth of a baby girl. I don’t currently have much call for baby cards so I was struggling for a stamp set, but then saw this beautiful card created by Canadian Stampin’ Up!® demonstrator Tina Zinck and used that as the basis for my own version.

I used Shimmery White cardstock to add some sparkle (which doesn’t really show up in the photos) and gave one piece a wash of Pool Party ink to look a little like the sky. This was die-cut using the must-have Stitched So Sweetly Dies.

On top of this I created a pink rainbow and clouds using Brilliant Rainbow dies, and added a penguin stamped using Count on Me and fussy cut. 

Finally I wanted to make a card to support a friend who is transgender and has been receiving lots of hateful messages online purely for being her true self. I began by researching the colours of the trans flag, which is pink, white and blue – not colours I would normally use. I ended up making two cards as I couldn’t really decide where I was going with it. 

This one – the one I sent – is based on a card demonstrated by Emma Parkin-Wilson at OnStage@Home, an event for Stampin’ Up!® demonstrators. Emma’s card used Designer Series Papers behind the white rainbows but I was limited to Balmy Blue and Blushing Bride so stamped them to create my own pattern. As the stamps I used were tiny, this was quite the task!

The greeting is cut out using Tasteful Labels Dies. I keep spare labels die-cut in Basic White to hand so I can finish projects without having to pull out lots of different die sets. The card is finished off with a hint of silver in the cord and rhinestones. The result was that this really did brighten my friend’s day. 

And finally, the one that got away, which I didn’t send in the end. The rainbow is stamped in Balmy Blue and Blushing Bride with the greeting fitting perfectly in the centre. The cute border comes from the Brilliant Rainbow dies, and I still had the Checks & Dots Embossing Folders out from the earlier projects.

I hope you enjoyed these projects and will maybe consider adding this bundle to your wish list for when the Stampin’ Up!® January-June 2022 Mini Catalogue goes live in January. I have to say this is not my usual stamp set style but I thoroughly enjoyed using it and plan to make many more cards to brighten people’s days. 

Meanwhile, there are lots of fabulous products which are due to retire very soon, with some of them reduced by up to 50%. You can check them all out in my online store and, if you use the current host code TFBG2JJB, I’ll send you a thank you gift in January.

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

Does your wish list come to more than £99? Please get in touch and I will help you get more for your money and unlock discounts all year round.  

 

Please message me via my website 

 

Don’t miss these Last Chance products from the July-December Mini Catalogue

Can you believe our lovely July-December Stampin’ Up!® Mini Catalogue is coming to an end? It seems like only a few weeks ago that it was launched and we were all excited about new autumn and winter products.

From tomorrow (Wed) we enter the retirement period for this catalogue, which means it is your last chance to order your favourite items. 

 

See the list of products which are retiring here

If you click on the second sheet on that document you will also see a list of items which are  carrying over to of 2022 and will be available during the remainder of the Annual Catalogue period (until the end of April), plus those which are going into storage and will return in July 2022 for the Jul-Dec Mini Catalogue. Hopefully this will help you plan your festive projects.

Today, therefore, I would like to show you some of the gorgeous stamp sets which are on the retiring list. Some of these are heavily reduced so would make a fantastic bargain if you want to get a head start for Christmas 2022. 

 

 

Whimsy & Wonder Suite

From this suite, the Whimsical Trees stamp set is retiring, along with the Christmas Trees Dies, the Whimsy & Wonder Designer Series Paper and the Blushing Bride Frayed Grosgrain Ribbon. Only the Wonderful Snowflakes (die-cut elements) survive – and they won’t be available again until the July-December 2022 Mini Catalogue.

My projects at the top of this post are made with the Whimsical Trees bundle, while the one above is from the catalogue uses the bundle, the Whimsy & Wonder Designer Series Paper and, from elsewhere, the Gold Holly Leaves, which are also going into retirement until July. 

 

Arctic Bears

The Arctic Bears bundle is gorgeous and, while I do have it and have used it, I haven’t managed to photograph my projects yet, so enjoy this one from the Mini catalogue. Both the Arctic Bears stamp set and coordinating Polar Bears dies are retiring – and in the UK both are heavily reduced so are a chance to grab a bargain. 

 

  

Holly Jolly Wishes

The Holly Jolly Wishes stamp set is a standalone set and well worth adding to your craft stash, especially from tomorrow when it becomes an amazing half-price bargain at just £10. It features lots of festive greetings, from the fun to the more elegant and serious. 

 

Sweet Stockings Suite

This entire suite is retiring, and some of the items are reduced in the UK. This includes the Sweet Little Stockings Bundle, the individual elements of Sweet Little Stockings stamp set and Stockings Dies, the Matte Decorative Dots, Jolly Felt and, for year-round crafting, Pool Party Striped Grosgrain Ribbon. A must-have set whether you love cats, dogs, guinea pigs or just the stockings shown here. 

 

Snow Wonder

Both the Snow Wonder stamp set and the Snow Time dies are retiring, along with the bundle (stamps and dies). If you like more tradiational, elegant images, this is definitely one for you. 

 

Here are some more picks from the retiring list – I’ve chosen 10 stamp sets you can grab for a tenner each, and five products which are under a fiver!

 

 

If you are in the UK and would like to order, please visit my store and, if you use the December host code TFBG2JJB, I’ll send you a thank you gift in January.

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

Does your wish list come to more than £99? Please get in touch and I will help you get more for your money and unlock discounts all year round.  

 

Please message me via my website 

 

Painted Season gift projects – with FREE tutorials

Some of you are way more organised than me and already have your Christmas cards made – and perhaps even written them. Therefore, your thoughts will be turning to gift packaging. 

I made these gift wrap ideas using the beautiful Painted Christmas Designer Series Paper from Stampin’ Up!®. 

 

As you may guess from the fact that pine cones feature in all of my project photos, this Suite is absolutely right up my street – the designs, the colours, everything. Finally, those pine cones make sense!

 

The large bag is a great design which I borrowed from UK Stampin’ Up!® demonstrator Julie Kettlewell at The Paper Haven. 

 

 

 

It requires two full sheets of 12x12 Designer Series Paper but produces a bag which is big enough for a book or box of chocolates. Hopefully the recipient will like the bag enough to use it again next year, too.

Download a free tutorial here

 

I decorated the bag with a gift tag made using the Christmas Season bundle. 

The tag can be as simple or as detailed as you like. I love the pine cones (obviously) so stamped these onto Crumb Cake cardstock to really make them stand out.

 

The half-cracker gift box is a brilliant little design which can be used as novelty gift packaging or as table crackers which can be used year after year. 

 

 

Regular readers with good memories will recall I made this half cracker gift box last year, too but it’s such a good little box that I wanted to repeat it at an event this year using this gorgeous Painted Christmas Designer Series Paper... after first checking that none of this year’s ladies had attended last year, of course!

 

Download the cracker tutorial here

 

Again, I made a gift tag using the Christmas Season stamp set and Seasonal Labels dies, which are available as a bundle. This time I used a smaller label die and the smaller of the two pine cones from the set.

I had two packs of this beautiful Painted Christmas Designer Series Paper which enabled me to create a matching cracker box to go with each bag. But if you mix and match they look beautiful, too. 

 

If you are in the UK and would like to order, please visit my store and, if you use the November 2021 host code P6VRQPMJ, I’ll send you a thank you gift in the following month.

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

Does your wish list come to more than £99? Please get in touch and I will help you get more for your money and unlock discounts all year round.  

 

Please message me via my website