14 ideas for Winterly Tree Tops – including a scrapbook page

 

Are you looking for ideas for the hugely versatile Nests of Winter Suite from Stampin’ Up!® This fabulous Suite includes the Winterly Tree Tops stamps and dies bundle, which was the basis for my Autumn Craft Day here in Derbyshire at the weekend.

Read on for 14 ideas for projects using the Winterly Tree Tops bundle and Nests of Winter Designer Series Paper.

Easter Bunny treat bags

Would you believe I have never bought an Easter stamp set before? Easter Bunny, which features in the January to April Stampin’ Up!® catalogue is my very first Easter set.

This year I was determined to make some cute little gifts and with Easter just around the corner, I thought I’d better get cracking! (See what I did there?)

Vintage-inspired Tea Boutique projects

Stampin’ Up!® products are not just for cardmaking and my customers had asked if they could decorate a notebook at our all-day Craft-Tea Day Out on Saturday.

I aim to please so came up with this lovely vintage-inspired design using the Cup of Tea Bundle and Tea Boutique Designer Series Paper. I wanted to show the versatility of the Tea Boutique paper by highlighting the more subtle designs on the reverse.

Three 3D projects using the Boho Indigo Product Medley Refill Kit

I’m back with some more Boho Indigo projects. Did you know, the Boho Indigo Product Medley was the top-selling kit in the UK last week? And the Boho Indigo Product Medley Refill took the second slot! That’s no April Fool and neither is the fact that these amazing kits are only available while supplies last!

I am not surprised they are so popular as they are absolutely beautiful and I can only hope they have not sold out by the time you read this.

As part of our Zoom class on Saturday, we made several cards which you can see here and some 3D projects.

 

We began with the covered wooden heart ornament, which would make a lovely home décor item or gift tag. How about using it as a bottle tag?

It’s pretty simple; you just draw around the heart on the back of your chosen Designer Series Paper, cut it out with scissors, apply adhesive all over and stick to the heart. Trim off any excess paper with scissors then sand/file the edges so the paper sits smoothly and neatly.

We decorated it with paper flowers, using three different methods to create them. 

 

One is simply cut from the Designer Series Paper three times then layered up, offsetting each layer slightly to create the appearance of more petals. 

The second is punched using the Small Bloom Punch, which is currently reduced to £7.20 and only available while supplies last. We punched three flowers from Very Vanilla, then a fourth from Misty Moonlight. This blue one was snipped using scissors to create a fringe effect and scrunched up before adding it to the stack. Once they are stuck together you can snip the ends of the blue petals a little more if they appear too large, then top off with a Basic Rhinestone or other embellishment. 

 

The third flower is create from a roll of Designer Series Paper. These can be made from a square of any size, but we found about 6.5cm (just bigger than 2.5in) was about right. 

 

1. From the square of Designer Series Paper, cut a spiral leaving a disc at the centre about the size of a 5p coin.

2. Freehand cut a wavy line close to the outside edge until you get to the centre. Discard the smaller, narrower piece.

3. Starting from the pointy end, roll the paper to create your flower, using the centre disc as the base. Seal with wet glue or a hot glue gun. If using wet clue, you do have to sit and hold it for quite a while but I still find that easier than hot glue for such a small item. 

We made a few flowers at this point and held one back for this lovely Acetate box to hold our cards. These C6 Acetate Card Boxes are carrying over to the new Annual Catalogue, I'm delighted to say.

The box is decorated using two strips of embossed cardstock, joined together to make one long enough to go round the width of the acetate box. There is one join at the back and the other is at the front, but covered by the tall leaf and other embellishments.

 

The third 3D project is this really simple pouch which again can be made from any size square. It’s really easy to make and Dawn Olchefske has an excellent picture tutorial here.

In my class everyone received half of a refill kit and were impressed at just how much there was in it. A full refill kit, or the full medley, will enable you make dozens of beautiful projects.

I honestly cannot recommend these products highly enough. I don’t usually do the “hard sell” because I personally find it off-putting and also appreciate that everyone has different tastes, but these are truly beautiful products and right now the The Boho Indigo Product Medley is reduced to £39, making it a fabulous bargain. For this price you receive stamps, dies, ribbons, papers, label/image sheets and embellishments. 

 

For just the consumable items, The Boho Indigo Product Medley Refill Kit remains at its original price of £21. This is still excellent value for just the papers, label/image sheets and embellishments... but when you can get the stamps and dies for an extra £18, I know I wouldn't be able to resist.

If you are in the UK and would like to order this fabulous product medley, refill kit or indeed anything else, please visit my store and, if you use the April host code TRPKSXWR, I’ll send you a thank you gift in May!

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 

 

Tutorials: Double Dutch Door Fold and Desk Calendar

Our first Crafty Friday of the year saw us use this gorgeous Flower & Field DSP from the Sale-a-Bration brochure. This beautiful paper is free with a £45 order during January and February.

 

 

During the morning, we made two projects using just two 6x6 pieces of paper (cut from 12x12 sheets). A I only had one pack to play with, not everybody received the same designs, which is quite nice as we get to see lots of variations on the different projects. 

 

We began with this fun Double Dutch Door Fold. And question of the day was “what is a double Dutch door?” Turns out a Dutch door is what we in the UK know as a stable door... and suddenly the card design makes sense!

 

I don’t do complicated fancy folds so this one was right up my street. You begin by cutting a standard piece of cardstock (A4 in most countries) and cutting it in half lengthways to create a card base. Slice off a section of the front then create the bottom doors from a separate, wrap-around piece.

 

Tell you what, why not download the tutorial here

As this was a remote class, guests were using their own greeting stamps to complete the card. Therefore I sent them a selection of die-cut and punched pieces for decoration. I used Nature’s Roots Dies to create these pretty Granny Apple Green leaves and the Small Bloom Punch for some Bumblebee flowers. The mini flower accents are created using the Confetti Flowers Border Punch. I have to say, punching lots of flowers is easier than die-cutting lots of leaves!

 

Use the piece you slice off the front of the card to create a layer for your main greeting/image panel. Waste not, want not.

 

 

Our second project was this cute desk calendar. I have to thank my downline Tracey for the inspiration for this as she made one for me for Christmas. 

 

Again this starts with a simple card base, created by cutting a sheet of cardstock in half lengthways. A second piece of cardstock creates a supporting piece and a third creates a simple box on the front for a sticky note pad and pen or pencil. You could decorate it further if you wish, but I like to let the DSP do all the hard work here. 

 

Download the desk calendar tutorial here

This side view shows how the supporting piece works. Simple but effective, and stops the weight of the pad making the card fall open. 

You can earn this gorgeous Designer Series Paper FREE during Sale-a-Bration, which runs to the end of Feburary. This is one of your choices when you place a £45 order. If you are in the UK and would like to order, please visit my store and, if you use the host code YK2NNMYW, I’ll send you a little thank you gift in February!

To make it easy for you, please shop using this link (opens in new window)

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.

 

NB: Please note orders are currently taking longer than usual to arrive, due to a combination of extra paperwork required following Brexit, lower staffing levels due to the pandemic, and an influx of orders as a result of both lockdown and Sale-a-Bration. Please ask if you require more information.  

 

Old and new combine for thank you pouches

A mix of old and new here: three outgoing products and not one but THREE new products! Can you spot them?

The three outgoing products are:
1. Perennial Essence Designer Series Paper
2. Gorgeous Grape Mini Striped Ribbon
3. You Always Deliver stamp set.

And the three NEW products are:
1. A tiny image from a new stamp set called Comfort & Hope
2. Some little flowers punched out with the new Confetti Flowers Border punch
3. Labels created with the very clever new Lovely Labels Pick a Punch.

They came from my fantastic pre-order which arrived on Friday. Feast your eyes on this little lot...

You too can order brand new products before the  catalogue goes live if you sign up as a Stampin’ Up!® demonstrator! You get lots of perks and meet some wonderful people, too. Please get in touch if you’d like more details of what you could order, or click below to get started. 
 

Cute triangle treat boxes with Christmastime is Here

 

I saw this cute project on Facebook and just had to have a go. It's by UK demonstrator Gez Carpenter, who has helpfully provided a tutorial here. 

I skipped the diagonal scorelines as I didn't find them necessary and they still turned out ok. Cute, aren’t they? I filled them with tiny chocolate Santas (from Lidl) but I stupidly forgot to include those in the photo. I say “filled”... you can only fit about three in but that’s ok because it meant there were some left for me to test!

The body of the box is made from Christmastime is Here Designer Series Paper and slides out of the Old Olive Sleeve. Again, I don’t have a photo of that - what I can I say? I can only apologise and and say, in my defence, I have been poorly!

This tip could be life-changing... when I bought the Christmastime is Here Designer Series Paper, I confess it didn’t “wow” me. It just wasn’t for me. However, I soon realised that this meant I had no qualms about cutting it up and have now used nearly the whole pack! So from now on, I may just start buying the DSP that I don’t love, because then I will be more inclined to use it!

Want a more practical tip? Ok... don’t make the outer sleeve too tight or it it will be difficult to slide the inner box in and out.

Bird Ballad wine bottle tags

Packaging a bottle to give as a gift couldn't be easier with one of these tags. It's so simple I won't insult you with measurements - just wing it, as I did.

The bird is cut out from the Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper; only the leaves, floral background and greeting are stamped. 

I rattled out half a dozen of these for my husband's classroom helpers, to mark the end of term. Easy to make, easy to transport on a bike, and hopefully much appreciated.

To make a bottle tag, you don't need a tutorial, just a strip of cardstock with a hole punched in it (I used the Pretty Label Punch), and a couple of score lines to help it sit nicely around the neck. Then decorate as you wish. 
 

Mini pen holders/bookmarks

Browsing the internet for ideas, I found these really cute pen holders from The Papered Chef so adapted it for my launch party goodie bags. I wanted to make sure all my launch party guests had a pen to complete their order forms, after all!

I used the Delightful Tag Topper Punch and the gorgeous Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper but I'm afraid I don't have measurements, I just winged it (no pun intended). Without the pen, this can be flattened to use as a bookmark.

Using mini pens meant I could keep these small and stretch my Designer Series Paper further!

Free As A Bird Delightful Tag pouches

Today is the very last day you can order from the 2018-2019 Annual Catalogue, so please don't leave it right up to the deadline (10.50pm in the UK).

To be honest, I'm all about looking forward now, not back... so have another new stamp set to show you. It's just a glimpse, mind as the lovely birds from this Free As A Bird stamp set just didn't want to stay put on this project. No matter where I put them, they didn't look right, so I stuck with just the flowers.

I've also used the Delightful Tag Topper punch and the frame die from the new Smooth Sailing Dies set.

The new Delightful Tag Topper punch can be used to make all the same cool 3D items as the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, giving you loads of possibilities. 

Love cats? Nine Lives gift packaging

It's not always about cardmaking. Having all these lovely supplies at my disposal means I can make matching gift packaging, too. 

I was planning to send this card to a friend and wanted to wrap the small gift to match, so I created a box using the Envelope Punch Board and decorated it with some Call Me Clover Designer Series Paper and a punched cat. The box is a bit wonky (slipped up on a measurement somewhere) but you can't tell unless you look hard or someone points it out!

If you love cats – or dogs (or both!) – don’t miss my Cats & Dogs craft workshop in Aston-on-Trent next month. Places are going fast but there are a few left so please hurry over to the registration page to book your slot.

Centre Stage and team notebooks with Tin Tile and copper

Over the weekend it was the BIG event of the Stampin’ Up!® year... OnStage! We hold these twice a year, exclusively for demonstrators, but this was the BIG one because it’s the 30th anniversary of Stampin’ Up!®

I was there, with a group of team members, and I have some more news about the event below. 

But first I would like to share with you the gifts I made for my team... a monogrammed notebook with on-trend copper accents.

I used the Tin Tile embossing folder (because I love it), which I swiped with copper shimmer paint for a verdigris look. They are finished off with a copper monogram, some leaves from Rooted in Nature, a flower from Best Birds, some Rich Razzleberry velvet trim, copper thread and a wooden heart, sponged in copper shimmer paint. Oh yes, I used circle dies and the Artisan Textures stamp set, too.

Yes, they are product heavy – but there’s no need to hold back when creating for fellow demonstrators!

This one is a little different, as I have a man in my team, so I created a more masculine look for his notebook. I also used both initials as the “I” on its own looked a little lost.

The main event was held on Saturday, but on Friday evening there is an even more exclusive event, for demonstrators who reach certain sales and recruiting levels. This is called Centre Stage and they really treat us well at these events. We had an incredible four-course meal, some sneak peeks about the coming announcements and some great gifts. Take a look...

If you’d like to find out how you can enjoy exclusive demonstrator events, I’d love to talk to you about joining my growing team. The best thing about being a demonstrator is being able to do it YOUR way... whether that means holding classes and events, or running an online business, or simply stamping with friends. There's room for all of us!

Please click here if you’d like to arrange a no-obligation chat or, if you already know you’re ready to take the plunge, you can join my friendly team here.

Mini treat - Maltesers

These Clear Tiny Treat Boxes are lovely for displaying the tasty Maltesers inside. I was surprised how many the box would hold, too - but luckily I had a decoy box so I didn’t go hungry.

This was part of my “simple Christmas” demo where I showed the hostess and guests how easy it can be to make your own festive projects... especially if you use washi tape.

Do you like what I did with the Tailored Tag Punch? I simply popped the punched piece back in to add some little flags to each side. Not sure if I love it but it does make a change.

Glamorous gold snowflake gift bag

I love these gold and white striped bags - but you don't have to leave them as they are; you can add more to them. Here I’ve used washi tape to add some extra stripes, as well as some Delightfully Detailed Designer Series Paper, which has some really pretty borders. They come in white and vanilla (one colour on each side) but I’ve sponged them in Cherry Cobbler for a festive look.

Snowflakes in gold add some glamour, and there’s some festive bling, too. The whole thing took less than five minutes to make. Result!