Cards and scrapbook inspiration using Heirloom Arrangements

When I saw the Heirloom Arrangements kit (165007) from Stampin’ Up!® I knew it had so many possibilities that I had to have it. The cards are gorgeous but I knew I wanted to make a scrapbook page too. So read on to see two cards and a scrapbook page made from this versatile kit – and none of them follow any instructions.

Make scrapbooking easy with card kits - yes, card kits!

Since Stampin’ Up!® took over the troubled Close to My Heart scrapbooking business earlier this year, I have started scrapbooking again after a break of many years.

Happily, the takeover and launch of a new range of exciting Stampin’ Up!® scrapbooking products coincided with three new babies in the family, giving me LOTS of photos to scrapbook.

Having said that, it's a myth that you need children and small babies to justify scrapbooking; you can scrapbook your holidays, days out, family occasions, and even your day-to-day life.

But I have pledged to create two albums by Christmas, so am sticking with the baby and toddler theme.

How to turn around lots of pages quickly? Kits!

And not just Stampin’ Up!®’s fabulous new scrapbooking kits. I have a few part-finished Stampin’ Up!® card kits so decided to see if I could use these to make quick and easy scrapbook pages.

Short answer: yes you can!

For the Guys All-inclusive kit from Stampin’ Up!®

I couldn’t let the week go by without showing you the projects I made with one of our wonderful new kits, which launched on Tuesday. This one is called For The Guys and it’s an absolute must for anyone who struggles with masculine projects as it’s all done for you.

 

 

Best of all, you get a really handy photopolymer stamp set featuring greetings for pretty well the full set of male family members. And because it’s photopolymer and they are all in capitals, you can mix and match to make Grandad or Granddad from Grandpa plus Dad. 

 

I had a very quick play with this set at the weekend and made one of each card design. These kits are designed to be copied exactly so that’s what I did... but I’m sure nobody would mind if you bought one and did your own thing, too. 

 

I love the fact that we now have something which is totally perfect for the new stamper, at an affordable price, and which includes stamps, ink, clear block and even adhesive. The kits like this one, which include stamps, are just £18. Those without stamps are an even more affordable £11.25.

These fab kits are also ideal for gifts and again, you won’t have to supplement your gift with a block, ink pads etc.

Take one on holiday and you won’t have to worry about forgetting anything, either. Just pack some scissors and you’ll have everything you need to keep you busy on a long journey or a rainy day. 

See how easy it is to make the projects in this kit in this video:

 

This kit is ideal for Father’s Day and beyond so if you are in the UK and would like to order this (or any other kit or product), please visit my store and, if you use the June host code HVTHW7HM, I’ll 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 

 

Hydrangea Hill Kit By Mail

I really love hydrangeas. I remember seeing them everywhere when we used to visit Brittany in northern France, and we have one outside our front door. What I particularly like is the way they fade so beautifully. They’re beautiful in bloom, but as they dry to a crisp, they remain just as beautiful in my view, and look lovely dried.

The stunning Hydrangea Hill Designer Series Paper is a celebration of hydrangeas and the star of the show both in these projects and in my Kit of the Month for April.

I am currently offering monthly kits of hand-selected products, which co-ordinate with each other to save you time and money, as you can get part packs instead of investing in full packs which you may not manage to use. My kits are one-time purchases; no subscription required, so you can just hop in and out as the mood takes you.

For April, I couldn’t resist Hydrangea Hill because I know how many people love our gorgeous purples. I have made some projects with the kit to show you what you could do if you simply add Basic White Cardstock and your own greeting stamps.

 

 

This is a simple M-Fold card which looks much harder than it really is. I have a tutorial for this fancy fold here.

For the main image here I have cut out some flowers from the Designer Series Paper; it’s a bit fiddly but if you don’t have the stamps, it works pretty well. If you’d rather stamp, the Hydrangea Haven stamp set coordinates perfectly. Alternatively, you could use the retiring stamp set, Beautiful Friendship, which also features a gorgeous hydrangea stamp. 

 

To show the versatility of the kit, I made a 3D project, too. Each month I try to include something which can be used for gift packaging and this month it will be one of the retiring Mini Pizza Boxes. 

 

I’ve covered the sides with Mercury Glass Acetate Sheets, and the top with the Hydrangea Hill Designer Series Paper. It’s a really simple project, but looks effective because all the colours go together so beautifully. 

 

 

These are just two of the projects I’ve made with the kit. Everyone who purchases this kit from me will receive access to an exclusive PDF of more projects to copy or simply use as inspiration. Last month, a group of ladies who purchased my March Kit By Mail got together on Zoom to make their projects and, by all accounts, had a wonderful crafty time!

In the April Kit By Mail you will receive

- Half a pack of Hydrangea Hill Designer Series Paper, cut down to 6"x12"
- Quarter pack of Hydrangea Hill Mercury Glass Designer Acetate (one of each design, cut down to 6"x6")
- Half a pack of Pastel Pearls (not shown in pic)- 2 metres of Gorgeous Grape 3/8" (1cm) Sheer Ribbon
- 2 metres of 3/8" (1cm) Fine Art Ribbon
- 3 sheets of Gorgeous Grape A4 cardstock
- 3 sheets of Highland Heather A4 cardstock
- 3 sheets of Old Olive A4 cardstock

- 1 Mini Pizza Box

- Plus some retiring ribbon scraps in co-ordinating colours.

The price is £20 which includes postage to anywhere in the UK. Sadly I cannot ship outside of the UK. If you'd like to order one of these, please click here – registration for this kit ends at 10pm on Wednesday 7th April. If you have any questions...

 

Please message me via my website 

 

 

When card kits give you lemons... stamp with them!

This lemon stamp is really cute... and you’ll find it in the Simply Citrus Card Kit I showcased on Monday. Here I’ve use it to make a 40th birthday card for a (young) friend. The rough colouring effecct is achieved with a sponge dauber; I simply sponged inside the lemons, not worrying too much if I went over the lines.

Yep, once that kit is completed, you can stamp to your heart’s content with the fab little stamp set that’s included. I have used it loads since completing my kit – the sentiments are really pretty and useful, too. 

 

For this 40th birthday card, I’ve combined it with the Playful Alphabet dies, which are quite frankly, a must-have in my opinion. And I don’t say that lightly. 

I masked the line to stamp below using sticky notes. Sometimes the line doesn’t turn out quite as crisp as you'd like – and this is where the Misty Moonlight ribbon comes in!

 

 

Feeling fruity? Check out my Simply Citrus projects

When Stampin’ Up!® first launched project kits, I was sceptical. We are crafters and therefore we like to create, right? But of course, as is so often the case, I was entirely wrong and ended up doing a massive U-turn.

Now I’m a huge fan of our kits, for various reasons. They are ideal for:

✂️ Experienced crafters in a hurry (no prep!)

✂️ Taking on holiday, when space is tight

✂️ Relaxed crafting with friends

✂️ Crafting with children

✂️ Introducing crafting to newbies

✂️ Gifts

So when I went on holiday this summer, I made sure to pack a craft kit and I chose this one, the Simply Citrus Card Kit.

This is a great kit to take because absolutely everything is included; even the ink pad and clear block. This makes is the ideal kit to gift to a friend who doesn't have the luxury of craft supplies, as they can get started straight away without any additional purchases. 

You can make the projects up exactly to the kit, or mix and match as I have done here. 

And because you get a stamp set, you can make more projects when you’ve used all your consumables - more on that later in the week.

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!

Good as Gold card kit

Are you one of those people who turns up their nose at kits? Well it’s time you took another look! Check out this collection of projects. All were made using the Good as Gold Card Kit (FREE during Sale-a-Bration with a £45 order) as a starting point. 

The kit, pictured above, is designed to make eight note cards. It features eight spotty card bases with a hint of gold, plus all the elements you need to complete your cards – in three languages!

Let’s look at each project…

First we have a Thank You card, made using the kit and nothing but the kit, following one of the suggestions on the packet. What I haven’t shown (doh!) is the matching envelope. You get eight Crumb Cake note card sized envelopes with this kit, and each one comes with a gold envelope liner. 

Next up is this cute little box. Again, this uses nothing but the kit elements, but I’ve turned the scored card base into a box instead, following the excellent instructions of US demonstrator Dawn Olchefske.

But what if you want to add to the kit? Here are a couple of cards I created using limited supplies, but still with the kit as a base. First I made a standard-sized card (A5 folded in half) and embellished it using the kit elements. I sacrificed the envelope liner to create a gold layer under a section of the spotty card base. 

Finally, I made another note card, using another piece of card base as a DSP panel, matting it with Basic Black to give it extra pop. Another strip of the same envelope liner formed the gold strip. If you’re a canny crafter, you could even get a strip like this from an envelope liner and STILL use it to line the envelope, as the flap will still be fully lined. If that makes any sense at all!

And, if you’re crafting with the benefits of all your supplies to hand, which I wasn’t when I made these, you can go as wild as you like, adding stamped images, different cardstock, buttons and more. 

If you’d like to show your friends how easy crafting can be, I’d love to come and demonstrate this kit. Please get in touch if you’d like to book a party – Sale-a-Bration is rapidly running out and I don’t have many dates left, so hurry!

Supplies: Good as Gold card kit

Additional cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Crumb Cake