A crafty gift for a crafty lady

A friend asked me for a gift voucher with a difference for her mother. Apparently her mum has “plenty of craft stuff already” (ha ha, how deluded are non-crafty people?) so she wanted to treat her to some classes – what a lovely idea.

I thought Crafty Friday would be the best “starter ” class for somebody who hasn’t experienced the full rowdiness of my evening or all-day events, but because you and I both know that you can never have “plenty of craft stuff already”, I have provided the option to use these vouchers for other events or products if the recipient prefers...

I’ve used outgoing colours Sweet Sugarplum and Soft Sky, because they go so beautifully together and I couldn’t let them leave us without one last play... or two... or three...


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Love What You Do - NEW stamp set

A mix of old and new today... outgoing colours Soft Sky (sob!) and Sweet Sugarplum and a brand new stamp set called Love What You Do.

It’s a gorgeous set and I fear I haven’t done it justice here. It’s coming up in the new catalogue next month but you can order it NOW in a special bundle just for May. Ask me for details!

Waterfront with Sweet Sugarplum

Today pink mountains... and come back Friday for orange trees. What is happening to me?

This card is a timely reminder that Sweet Sugarplum is due to retire at the end of May as it is part of the 2016-18 In Color collection. In Colors are always the first items to sell out, and Sweet Sugarplum has been the most popular colour from this batch, so make sure you don’t miss out!

Waterfront should be around until the end of May, while supplies last but still, if you really want it, I personally wouldn’t delay as that too has been really popular.

Lots of Lavender - three projects in a serene colour scheme

To showcase the Lots of Lavender stamp set at a party recently, I demonstrated these projects, beginning with this fun box which I created with the help of this fabulous tutorial from Crafty Caroline Creates. 

This pretty stamp set is FREE with a £45 order during Sale-a-Bration, which runs until the end of March. It’s a great choice as you have the option of stamping the colour, or colouring in using your favourite method. I demonstrated several colouring methods which I don’t have room to show here today and also showed the guests how to speed up stamping the leaves and stalks using my top tip, which you can find here. Fussy cutting the lavender is not for quick makes at parties, so we kept things simple for the Make & Take... 

 But here was a project I’d prepared earlier, to thank our lovely hostess, Kelly...

Mix It Up Monday with Lots of Lavender

Today sees the return of Mix It Up Monday, although the technical difficulties I had trying to create the colour combo image make me wonder if it was worth the effort! 

I used the gorgeous new Sale-a-Bration stamp set, Lots of Lavender, which seemed the obvious choice for this colour combination. It’s a beautiful two-step stamp set, which also lends itself well to colouring. 

Here’s a top tip for stamping the leaves and stems. You can position them individually if you like but, if you’re making a few cards using this stamp set, my tip is to stamp the outline image first, then lay down the leaf and stalk stamps (uninked) on top, then apply the block to them to pick them up. You’ll have all three stamps on a block ready to use over and over again. 

Mix It Up Monday: Happiest of Days fancy fold birthday card

Good morning! I have the post-holiday blues today as it’s back to work after a week in the beautiful Scottish Cairngorms. We’ve never been before but will definitely be back – we just wish it was closer than an eight-hour drive. 

It’s business as usual on the blog, too, as it’s Monday and time for another Mix It Up Monday project using a colour combination from my In Color charts. 

Today’s Mix It Up Monday project uses three shades of purple and that lovely rich green, Tranquil Tide. This should be a winning combo but I admit I struggled, probably because I need to get back into stamping after a week away. 

As you can see, it’s not your run-of-the mill card. It’s a fancy fold inspired by Connie Stewart, who produced a very helpful video, which I recommend you watch if you want to have a go at this project. Be warned, though, it uses US sizes so to save you the hassle, I sat down with a load of scrap paper and came up with my own measurements so that the card would fit in a C6 envelope and can be made using A4 cardstock.  

Whisper White/Very Vanilla cardstock: 14cm x 20cm

Score @ 4.5cm and 7cm from each end.

Card base: 10.5cm x 14.8cm 

DSP design 1: 4.2cm x 13.7cm (you’ll need three pieces of this size)

DSP design 2: 2.2cm x 13.7cm (you’ll need four pieces of this size)

Belly band: 28cm x 3cm (or wider - adjust the width to suit your main image)

In Color sneak peek - with Blooms and Wishes

Aren’t these new colours gorgeous? I’ve used Lemon Lime Twist (my favourite!) with Fresh Fig, Tranquil Tide and, from the current In Color collection, Sweet Sugarplum. And I think they all go together beautifully on this card, which I CASEd from Caroline Wright.

I can’t wait to start using these colours in earnest – my big box of goodies has finally arrived so I can get stuck in at last, with a sneak peek stamp set coming this way on Monday!

Window Box Thinlits basket

I’ve been sitting on (not literally!) lots of projects made with the Window Box Thinlits as I wanted the ladies as last night’s party to be the first to see them. I wanted to show the versatility of this fabulous set which, used at its simplest, makes fun hexagon boxes, but can also be adapted to produce so much more.

This little basket is simply made by cutting off some of the flaps and sides and adding a handle. It’s the perfect size for a roll of ribbon, ideal for a hostess gift.

I love this colour combination of Sweet Sugarplum, Rich Razzleberry, Blushing Bride and Mint Macaron, and will be very sorry to see Mint Macaron leave us in a few weeks.

Seriously, if you need to order anything from the retiring list, please don’t delay as they are selling like hot cakes.  In fact, as last night’s party, I put the order in there and then, so we could check availability as we went along, and unfortunately a few people couldn’t get what they wanted. For instance, the rhinestones shown here are already out of stock – the good news is, a reconfigured pack of rhinestones will be in the new catalogue.

To place your orders, simply click the image below, and head to my online store. Thank you!

Mix It Up Monday: Window Box Thinlits

This amazing card is a work of genius. I totally CASEd the design from a hugely talented Australian demonstrator called Bronwen Eastley, whose blog pointed me towards this fabulous video tutorial from Barry & Jay. As I have a party coming up where I plan to showcase these gorgeous Window Box dies, I just knew it would be perfect for this week’s Mix It Up Monday colour challenge. 

It ’s an amazing design, which folds flat and fits in an envelope. Pity I didn’t think to photograph that, but Bronwen has pix from all angles on her blog, so please do take a look. 

I chose this colour combination from the few remaining from my In Color charts because I wanted to use a touch of GOLD. Can you imagine why? For the remaining two or three people in the world I haven’t yet told, I have just promoted to Gold – this is huge news and even more exciting as it comes in my 10th year of being a Stampin’ Up!® demonstrator. 

To celebrate, I have a special offer running throughout April. Simply spend £25 with me and I will send you a special gift of “gold” and a thank you card. I couldn’t have reached Gold without the support of my amazing customers and downlines, so thank you to everyone! I won’t do a speech...

Mix It Up Monday: Sweet Sugarplum with In The Meadow

This Friday is my first Stamp Doctor event, where guests are invited to bring a stamp set or other product they’ve purchased but not used. So I have have kits on hand ready, I asked for advance notice and one lady says she is bringing In The Meadow. 

As this is one of my favourite stamp sets, I couldn’t be more pleased to have an excuse to bring it out and use it again. I have two gorgeous projects waiting for Friday, but this is the one that go away, which I’ve created for Mix It Up Monday using a Sweet Sugarplum combination from my In Color charts.

This is a fun technique with clear blocks, which I’ve played with many times before. You apply ink to the block with either markers or ink pads – I used Sahara Sand and Sweet Sugarplum ink pads – and then spray it with a little water. 

Press the wet block firmly onto Whisper White cardstock and wait for the liquid to be absorbed; you can see this happening. When it’s all soaked in, lift the block and you’ll have a pleasing backdrop to your main image. Do, however, wait for it to dry fully before stamping on top. 

Sweet Sugarplum baby card

When I create projects for Stampin’ Up!® parties, I try to hold back on using too many products, so guests aren’t overwhelmed.

But when I create projects for personal use, then there’s no holding back. This is why this card uses not one, not two but three stamp sets. Can you guess what they are?

I am not a big fan of pink, but Sweet Sugarplum is just right for baby girl cards, and this gorgeous paper from the Succulent Garden DSP pack is ideal. Mint Macaron is the perfect, gentle green for this  job... just be aware that it’s part of the In Color pack which is retiring at the end of May, so stock up now if you’re a fan!

So, the stamp sets. I know you’ll have worked it out but, just in case, the sheep comes from Barnyard Babies, the clouds from Lift Me Up and the sentiment from Bookcase Builder.

All-Day Craftathon: Window Shopping workshop

I thought I’d skip Mix It Up Monday this week in favour of showing you what we made at the All-Day Craftathon at the weekend. The day was split into three classes, beginning with this one featuring the Window Shopping Bundle.

All the guests received the Window Shopping stamp set in their kit, which is tremendously versatile; in fact we used it in every class throughout the day. 

We began by making this fun box. It’s a slight variation on the hexagon box as it opens at the side, Pac-Man style...

You do this by cutting and reassembling the box pieces as shown below, then joining the two halves together at the side. You can download a tutorial here. 

Three tags go inside, using a tiny strip of the gorgeous Succulent Garden Designer Series Paper, which featured in all three workshops throughout the day.

And there’s a matching card, too. This is made simply by sponging colour onto the front of the card base, then overlaying the die-cut piece. Simple but effective.

This completed our morning activities, so we paused for a buffet lunch before moving on to the second class, which I’ll show you tomorrow...

Celebrations Duo embossing folder with Blooms & Wishes

I was delighted to see that some of my team members had promoted to Silver, so created these pretty cards - with a hint of silver glimmer paper - to mark the occasion. I used Blooms & Wishes combined with the fab new debossing folders, Celebrations Duo (p40, Spring/Summer catalogue). These are really fun as they work in the opposite way to our usual embossing folders, which allows you to stamp on top and around the image.

For the perfect sentiment, ”so proud of you”, I used Marquee Messages. Finally, a touch of bling!

And for one of my new recruits, a similar version using Color Enamel Shapes...

Mix It Up Monday: Beautiful You

This stamp set is causing a stir as everybody wants it! It’s from the new Spring/Summer catalogue and is called Beautiful You. I kept things really simple as I’m a bit crafted out at the moment. 

I just stamped the image in black then stamped with the paint stroke to colour it in – it’s very simple… and perfect for today’s Mix It Up Monday project using another colour combination from my In Color charts. 

Dragonfly Dreams sneak peek

This Mix It Up Monday I have another sneak peek from the Spring/Summer catalogue for you. This time I’ve used the gorgeous new stamp set, Dragonfly Dreams, and the matching Detailed Dragonfly Thinlits dies.

The dotty stamp in this set is just perfect for creating a faux bokeh look to your projects. Here I’ve stamped and stamped off repeatedly in Sweet Sugarplum, So Saffron, Soft Sky and, finally, in Versamark so I could emboss it in white on top.  

The dragonfly is created using three stamps - one for the colour of the wings (So Saffron and Soft Sky), one for the black detail, and one for the colour of the body (Soft Sky). It’s very subtle, even in real life, so I don’t expect you to see this clearly in a photo taken outside in the depths of an English winter. 

The colour combination, taken from my latest set of In Color charts, had the potential to be a little too subtle and pastel for my liking, so I was very glad of that pop of black. 

Dragonfly Dreams Photopolymer Bundle [144728] £42.25	Basic Black A4 Card Stock [121688] £7.25	Card Stock A4 Soft Sky [131292] £7.25	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] £8.25
Sweet Sugarplum Classic Stampin' Pad [141395] £6.00	So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad [126957] £6.00	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad [131181] £6.00	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708] £5.50
Versamark Pad [102283] £7.75	White Stampin' Emboss Powder [109132] £4.50

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