The Gang's All Meer head to the mountains

How’s the isolation going? These socially irresponsible meerkats decided to self-isolate in the mountains, ignoring all government advice to #StayHome.

They don't need to stay two metres apart as they are in isolation together... however, they are now stuck in the mountains as flights are grounded so they can't get home.

Don't be a meerkat! But do grab The Gang's All Meer stamp set while you can as TOMORROW is the last day of Sale-a-Bration! 

Tip: Mix those stamp sets! I used The Gang’s All Meer with Snow Front to create this fun scene.

Sale-a-Bration third release

Yes, MORE Sale-a-Bration freebies to earn! Working on the theory that you probably have everything you want from the exclusive SAB collections by now, there's a whole new selection of products now available with a qualifying spend. Choose from these fab products if you spend £45 or more, or £90 or more for the punch or dies.

Remember, crafting is the perfect isolation activity!

And if you shop at my store using the host code A9JXEPUT, I'll send you a little thank you gift when I can next get to the Post Office.

Distance crafting - with Honey Bee and Golden Honey DSP

I am so proud of all the oldies and non-techies who are rapidly learning to use technology so they can keep up with their activities and families. This past week I’ve had several people who are not at all comfortable with technology join me on video conference calls so they can continue to enjoy craft classes.

This was my first demo by video. Only three people were able to join me (it was a rubbish day and time, to be fair) but it went swimmingly, with everyone able to chat to each other, too. I think this bit is extremely important – it’s great watching Facebook Lives but it is a bit one-way.

Kits to make these cards will soon be winging their way to customers – and best of all, they can still make it even if they don’t have the Honey Bee stamp set because everything but the greeting is made from Designer Series Paper. I will die-cut the beehive for them, and they can fussy-cut the rest from the DSP, using their own greeting stamp to finish off.

They can keep us apart but they can't keep us from crafting!

A taste of honey with Pigment Sprinkles

I’m mad for the Honey Bees at the moment, and have recently rattled out about a dozen projects using this fab bundle. But I don’t have time to show you them all, so here are the two we made at last week’s Crafty Friday session.

If you, too, love these products, I advise you to plan your purchases wisely. While the Honey Bee bundle is available throughout the current Mini catalogue (January-June), the Designer Series Paper is a FREE Sale-a-Bration item, so only available while supplies last, or until the end of March, whichever is the sooner.

The honey effect in the top card was achieved with the Pigment Sprinkles by sprinkling them onto dry Designer Series Paper and then spritzing with water. You get a more blended look by wetting the paper first, as you can see in the sample on the right...

How to step up from Simple Stamping with The Gang’s All Meer

I’ve had enormous fun with these meerkats throughout Sale-a-Bration so far, but now I think it’s time to move on. The set has proved really popular, being chosen by the majority of my customers for their free Sale-a-Bration item. And the ladies who attended my Cuppa & Card sessions all enjoyed making these two #simplestamping projects.

The same basic card design can be stepped up or down, according to your time, your supplies and your skills. Take a look at the evolution of this project... 

And, to a lesser extent, this project...

Both series use the same card sketch, but add or remove elements according to the time restraints and the crafting audience.

Two explosive colour effects with Pigment Sprinkles

You're either going to love this or hate it. And it’s the same with the Pigment Sprinkles I used to make this vibrant card. You'll either love messing around with the pigments, seeing what different colour combinations you can create and how to get different effects ... or you’ll hate the mess!

I began by heat embossing in white the main cake image from Happy Birthday To You then sprinkled with various colours of pigment. When you spritz the powders with water, the colours just explode.

You can see more powders on the card base itself; to get this less blended effect, I just added less water... one quick spritz and I was done.

I learned the hard way to COVER EVERY SURFACE. Despite wiping my surface down thoroughly, I was getting pink on my hands for DAYS. In fact, the pink smudges on the greeting panel are what you could call “a happy accident”.

Meerkat Week: A totally tropical finale

Bringing Meerkat Week to a close is this totally tropical card which we made at Crafty Friday at the beginning of the month. I sponged my background and then stamped the meerkats on top, which is why they have a slightly blue tinge to their faces, but the ladies are no fan of sponging so chose to brayer theirs instead.

This really would look better if the meerkats were masked first using a sticky note. You can brayer or sponge your background, but if you’re sponging, you have to be very careful not to disturb the mask: sweep the sponge away from the mask instead of towards it. Brayering is more forgiving as you are rolling the mask down with each stroke of the brayer. 

 

Meerkat Week: Simple or stepped up?

A simple card is taken to the next level with the addition of a few extra supplies. I swapped the Delightful Tag Topper Punch for the Stitched Nested Labels dies, added some Noble Peacock Foil Sheets, some 2019-2021 In Color Faceted Dots, a tone-on-tone cactus background and, of course, a little gecko friend. Which one do you prefer?

Colouring around your image using the light Pool Party Stampin' Blend makes your images really stand out. It’s a bit scary, but give it a try! 

Meerkat Week: The Gang's All Meer striped celebration

I’m so proud of my downline Christine, who promoted to Bronze Elite this week – an impressive achievement for someone who joined “for the kit”!

To celebrate her achievement, I naturally sent her a card and a gift, using my set of the moment, The Gang's All Meer. I shamelessly CASEd this project from Amy Koenders because I love the bold striped background and added some coloured flowers using the In The Tropics dies.

Create this fun background by colouring in the white areas on some striped Golden Honey Designer Series Paper wiht your chosen Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers. Initially, the bees on the other side will show through the paper, but once the ink has dried fully, they will disappear to leave clean coloured stripes.
 

Meerkat Week: The Gang's All Here treat holder tutorial

 

I was wandering around B&M Bargains the other day, like you do, trying to avoid buying a load of stuff I didn’t need because it’s cheap… when I spied a Christmas reductions shelf. Whaaat? It’s February already!

Unable to resist a bargain, I found some tubes of mini packs of Love Hearts which are just perfect for Valentine’s Day treats! There was no price on them but the tubes of other Christmas sweets and chocolates had been reduced to 49p so I grabbed three packs. But when I got to the checkout, it turned out they were reduced to 10p! If the shop wasn’t so huge I’d have dashed back for more.

Anyway… this is what I made with some of them. I adapted a Hershey’s Nugget holder because

a) you can’t buy these in the UK and
b) if you can, please don’t tell me where because I’ve tasted them and have no desire to repeat that experience.

Download the tutorial here
 

Here’s another version, which holds a pack of mini doilies (still on the Clearance Rack last time I looked). No tutorial for this as it’s just a standard card base cut down to a square, with a piece of ribbon tied around it!

If you're cutting your meerkats out and intend to add hats, there's no need to fussy-cut around the tops of their heads. In fact, leaving a tab of cardstock gives you something to attach your hat to. Which doesn’t matter such much when gluing flat, as I’ve done above on the circle, but is very helpful on the popped-up meerkat on the first little treat holder. 

Sale-a-Bration swap card with free products

Swapping is a big part of being a demonstrator – and it’s a great way to pick up fabulous new ideas, often with stamp sets you don't own.

I joined a swap recently with the broad theme of both Sale-a-Bration and new products from the Spring/Summer catalogue. I went down the SAB route and made this project using not one but two SAB items: the Power of Hope bundle and Lily Impressions Designer Series Paper.

Now I need a design a project that uses all those die-cut rectangles I have left over from the centres of these cards!

I wanted to give my lady black hair but knew that would disappear into a shapeless blog, so I coloured her hair with Blackberry Bliss instead. Black hair never looks completely black anyway, does it? It reflects the colours around it. 

Co-ordination Products are released today!

More new products? Yes indeedy! These are all designed to help you get more out of some favourite current stamp sets. But be warned... they're only available while supplies last!

Take a look at what you can purchase, then check out the video at the bottom of this post. My favourite is the Sending Flowers Dies set, because you can use it with so many different stamp sets.

See the products in action in this video

Sale-a-Bration Week: Do The Impossible

Which one would you send? I made three versions of this card for my Stampy Buffet last weekend, so I could showcase all three main image designs in the Do The Impossible stamp set. It was well received and some people made more than one design to send to friends.

To turn it into a birthday card, I added a greeting with Itty Bitty Birthdays, which I knew would be of more use to the ladies attending.

Where's the Sale-a-Bration product? That's the Stone Embossing Folder which is half of a bundle you can earn free during Sale-a-Bration. It gives the card a lovely texture.

 

Create an especially neat flag by using the Tailored Tag punch. Simply poke one end of your cardstock strip into the punch to get the flagged end. 

Sale-a-Bration Week - The Gang's All Meer (again)

 

Another day, another meerkat project... this time from my Stampy Buffet and inspired by Amy O’Neill. It's a quick and simple project in cheery Daffodil Delight, with some Night of Navy thrown in so I could justify using the Baker’s Twine. Always thinking, you see!

They’re coloured with ink pad lids (Soft Suede, Sahara Sand and Crumb Cake) and blender pens. Nothing fancy!

Don't try to tie the twine around the little flags – just tie a bow and stick it on with a glue dot. Simples (see what I did there? No? Perhaps you’re not from the UK? In which case just Google “meerkat simples”)