Love You Lots froggy card

Oh happy day indeed! My big order came - it was sooooo exciting, especially as much of it was for me, and most of my stuff was FREE. Why free? Well, as a demonstrator, I get to earn special rewards for sales and recruiting during Sale-a-Bration - and the long redemption period means I can save them up for new catalogue products. 

There was a distinct animal theme to my order, with birds, a flamingo, llama and foxes among my stamp sets, plus another out-of-character floral set. One of my flower-loving customers, Grace, says her influence is rubbing off. And it probably is; I do think that stamping with other people opens your eyes to other styles and ideas… not to mention giving you access to even more fun products! So if you’re not hold stamping play dates with your crafty friends, why not? And if you don’t have any crafty friends, why not join a class or sign up as a demonstrator? (There’s a GREAT offer on at the moment - just sayin’.)

Anyway, today’s project is project is another Love you Lots card, as I haven’t actually had time to make anything with my new stuff yet. Hope you like the fun froggy!

Please come back tomorrow for Caturday in the morning... then another Around the World Blog Hope late in the evening. 

Love You Lots Clear-Mount Stamp Set [141801] £8.00	Thoughtful Banners Photopolymer Stamp Set [141614] £19.00	Hardwood Clear-Mount Stamp Set [133035] £13.00	Affectionately Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper [141632] £11.75	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] £8.25
Night Of Navy A4 Card Stock [106577] £7.25	Cucumber Crush A4 Cardstock [138342] £7.25	Blender Pens [102845] £9.00	Jet Black Stazon Ink Pad [101406] £8.25	Cucumber Crush Classic Stampin' Pad [138324] £6.00
Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [126975] £6.00	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad [126970] £6.00	White Perfect Accents [138416] £4.50	Gold Metallic Thread [138401] £2.75

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Love You Lots hedgehogs

How cute are these hedgehogs? They are from a brand new hostess set called Love You Lots which is so sweet that I’m sure you’ll be wanting to book a party just so you can get your hands on it! Yes, it’s a set that “money can’t buy”: you can only earn it free when you hold a qualifying party.

Here I’ve used it with the new Designer Series Paper called Affectionately Yours, which has some trendy copper elements to it (I’ve not dared cut into those sheets yet!). To create the grass, I used the stamp from In The Meadow, which thankfully carries over to the new catalogue. I created a mask to stamp around so that I wouldn’t get any grass on the hedgehogs... not that it would have mattered, really.

The greeting is stamped with Thoughtful Banners, which is a photopolymer set and therefore you can bend the stamps to fit the curve of the banner.

This was one of six cards I made on holiday using limited supplies. Well, not that limited as I did take four or five stamp sets, the DSP, cardstock and ink pads to match, and this punch... plus my usual craft kit, of course – and there are always some surprises lurking in there.
 

Love You Lots Clear-Mount Stamp Set [141801] £8.00	Thoughtful Banners Photopolymer Bundle [142330] £31.50	In The Meadow Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140754] £18.00	Affectionately Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper [141632] £11.75	Jet Black Stazon Ink Pad [101406] £7.25
Cucumber Crush Classic Stampin' Pad [138324] £6.00	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [126975] £6.00	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad [126970] £6.00	Watermelon Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad [138323] £6.00	Blender Pens [102845] £9.00
Watermelon Wonder A4 Cardstock [138341] £7.25	Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock [138344] £7.25	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] £7.25

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Mix It Up Monday: Barnyard Babies with Hardwood

Happy Monday everyone! I’m back from a glorious week in the Lake District. And I’m not just saying that because the folks back in Derby were shivering under grey skies. It really was stunning (sorry!) – the best we’ve ever known it, and we’ve been going for 20+ years!

But I won’t keep rubbing it in (unlike all that suncream I needed to use!), because right now there are more pressing matters to hand… namely Mix It Up Monday and a new set of In Color charts to wade through. There are 50 of them this year so there’s no time to waste.

Today I’m playing with Peekaboo Peach… actually, I’m going to stop right there and say that despite my best efforts, I cannot keep saying “Peekaboo Peach” out loud. It’s a ridiculous name, possibly the worst since the old days of “Yoyo Yellow”. 

But I have the perfect solution, which came to me as I was labelling up my new ink pad. I always take one of the translated labels from the bottom of the ink pad and stick that on the other end, so that no matter which way I store my pads, there’s still a strip of colour showing. I choose the translation that’s closest to the English, or the one that amuses me most. For P. Peach, I chose the French: “Pêche Fraîche”. Now isn’t that a much nicer name? No unnecessary alliteration, just a pleasing rhyme. 

So from now on, in my workshops, that In Color known as Peekaboo Peach will be known as Pêche Fraîche…  

I hope you like my Pêche Fraîche card. I haven’t used a new stamp set because my big order hasn’t arrived yet, but I thought the contented cow looked quite happy on her Pêche Fraîche background, surrounded by that must-have background stamp: Hardwood. 

I have a little confession to make: I didn’t really use the new Layering Circles Dies on this card as I don’t have them (yet). But I figured that it’s better to show you a product that’s available than one that’s not, and really the size of the circle isn’t that crucial, so just use whatever circle die or punch you have that fits the bill. 

SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

Barnyard Babies Clear-Mount Stamp Set [139328] £17.00	Hardwood Clear-Mount Stamp Set [133035] £13.00	Timeless Textures Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140517] £18.00	Tin Of Cards Photopolymer Stamp Set [138946] £15.00	In The Meadow Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140754] £18.00
Layering Circle Framelits Dies [141705] £32.00	Peekaboo Peach Classic Stampin' Pad [141398] £6.00	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [126978] £6.00	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [126974] £6.00	Peekaboo Peach A4 Cardstock [141422] £7.25
Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock [106550] £7.25	Early Espresso A4 Card Stock [121686] £6.50	Blender Pens [102845] £9.00	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush [141897] £7.25	Peekabo Peach 3/8" (1 Cm) Ruched Ribbon [141427] £7.25

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Caturday: Friendly cat

Another cat spotted on another walk – this one was so friendly that we thought it was going to end up following us home. It was spotted very near to our house but we’ve never seen it before. Great tail action there!

Picture Perfect starfish

While I wait for my big catalogue order to arrive, I thought I’d show you this card, which is a total and blatant CASE of one made by US demonstrator Kimberly van Diepen. Kimberly’s project is also the reason I bought this stamp set! I’m so glad it’s carried over to the new catalogue, as there is still lots of mileage to be had from it.

Here it’s used with Timeless Textures – another carryover set, yay! – plus a couple of items which didn’t make the cut (ribbon and doilies, although there are new doilies to be had).

Picture Perfect Photopolymer Stamp Set [140520] £24.00	Timeless Textures Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140517] £18.00	White Perfect Accents [138416] £4.50	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad [126982] £6.00
Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [126975] £6.00	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad [126983] £6.00	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] £7.25	Pool Party A4 Card Stock [124391] £6.50

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

The new catalogue is here!

The day has finally arrived, when we can start ordering products from the fabulous new Stampin’ Up!® catalogue. Click here to see the online version, or email if you’d like your own copy (£5 including first class postage, FREE to customers and hostesses).

In my opinion it’s the best catalogue we’ve ever had. I’ve never had such a big wish list and can’t wait to get my hands on some of the fabulous goodies. 

And it gets better! Sign up as a demonstrator during June and you get even more for your money in your Starter Kit!

That’s right! Every new recruit who joins my team this month will get two FREE stamp sets in their Starter Kit. That’s an added value of up to £92, depending on which stamps you choose. Drop me a line to find out more, or click here to get started straight away!