Psssst! Want free stamps?

Free stamps? Did somebody say something about free stamps?

Well, if the thought of a dreary January gets you down, I have some exciting news which is sure to cheer you up!

Introducing Sale-A-Bration, a very exciting offer from Stampin' Up! which our stamping sisters in the USA and Canada know well and love dearly. 

And now Sale-A-Bration is coming to Great Britain so that we can share the excitement of free stamps! 

Sale-A-Bration (I'm going to call it SAB from now on, as it's not so hard to type) takes place throughout January and February, and features freebies for everyone! 

Stampin' Up! has released four exclusive stamp sets and you can earn any (or all!) of them for free. They will only be available during the promotion, never to be seen again in any future catalogues. You can see these sets in the SAB brochure, which I can email to you on request.  

So how do you get your hands on these wonderful stamps?

Customers: Simply place an order of £45 to earn a free SAB stamp set. Place an order of £90 to receive two free SAB sets... and so on. There is no limit to the number of sets you can earn and you don't have to attend a workshop to earn a free set.

Hostesses: Hold a £300 workshop and receive a free SAB stamp set. This is in addition to your usual hostess benefits, and on top of any free SAB sets you earn by placing your own order.

New recruits: During SAB, there are also extra free stamps for new recruits - making the Starter Kit even better value at £139. If you'd like to find out whether becoming a demonstrator is right for you, please email me and we can arrange a time to discuss it. 

As I expect there to be high demand for workshop bookings during SAB, please book early! But if you can't fit in a party, either as hostess or guest, don't forget that you can still earn free SAB sets by placing a qualifying order.

See? I told you it was exciting news! 

Mini stationery set

Hello. Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and you aren't too full of mince pies.

Before today's project, I'd like to offer my condolences to the ladies of Craft Central at Derby Garden Centre. The entire chain is closing down, as I discovered when I visited on Christmas Eve. I'm not sure if any of the staff visit my blog but, if you are reading, I am so sorry that you all have lost your jobs - and just before Christmas, too.

Now, on to today's project, which is my new favourite thing to make.

I started out with an Altoid Tin - this was a plain white one but you can use a mint tin, I think they sell them in M&S.

To save going into great detail again, here's my tutorial on covering an Altoid tin - click here.

So with tin decorated, I added a coat of Mod Podge matt finish to seal it all. If you can't find it you could use ordinary PVA glue (although that will give you a gloss finish) or a clear wood varnish. Or just not bother!

For the inside, I drew around the bottom part of the tin on to Tempting Turquoise cardstock, then cut it out. I had to trim it slightly to get it to fit. I then cut two slits in the cardstock so I could thread the ribbon through - this makes a nifty little holder for paper clips

Funnily enough, one of the hardest bits of this project was finding things to fit and then fitting them! I found these sticky notes in Wilko, the mini mechanical pencils, paper clips and mini bulldog clips in Staples. Can't remember where the highlighters came from - but it was either WIlko or Staples. I am still on the lookout for tiny pens - can't find those anywhere. I did buy a tiny calculator from Staples but that wouldn't fit due to the highlighter pen. If you could find a slimmer highlighter, you could get a calculator in, too. Oh, the elastic bands? Found those in my son's elastic band stash!

Stamps: Polka Dots & Paisley
Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
Paper: Petals & Paisleys
Ink: Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: 1/4" grosgrain ribbon - Tempting Turquoise, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, scallop circle punch

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Just wanted to say...

...Merry Christmas everyone!

More cake...

Yet another simple card for the children’s workshop. I’ve just realised I’ve forgotten to colour in the sprinkles on the cake! I was going to add glitter but never got round to it. I’m sure that’s something eight-year-old girls would never forget!

I coloured this image with Watercolour Wonder™ crayons and blender pens. I used Regal Rose to go with the Pretty in Pink cardstock and So Saffron to go with the Barely Banana cardstock. I put a little shadow around the edges using Bordering Blue but I don’t expect the children to do that!

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana, Perfect Plum, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Whisper White

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

The last Christmas cards...

These are the last of the Christmas projects… well, actually, there’s a bauble knocking around somewhere but I have no idea where I’ve put it! If I find it, you’ll be the first to know.

I threw these cards together the other day when I realised I didn’t have enough homemade cards to go round. Next year I MUST start earlier! (Hmmm, have said that before.)

All the cards start with the same image from A Tree For All Seasons. I chalked roughly around the top edges – no masking required on these. Then I coloured the image VERY quickly with a Real Red marker and a Creamy Caramel marker. Finally, because it’s Christmas, I added some glitter to the snowflakes and the ground – what on earth has come over me?

The landscape card has a Brocade Blue base, while the square cards are on Bordering Blue – but after that they’re pretty much the same. I stamped the snowflake from Best Wishes and More on the backgrounds of all the cards – I used the same colour as the cardstock but “stamped off” (ie, stamped on a piece of scrap first to remove some ink) for a more subtle look.

I layered the images and popped it up using dimensionals – which makes the layers sit better over the ribbon.

And that’s about it really. A Ready, Set, Snow! stamp at the bottom and I was all done. Phew!

Stamps: A Tree For All Seasons, Best Wishes & More
Cardstock: Bordering Blue, Brocade Blue, Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Bordering Blue, Brocade Blue
Accessories: 5/8” Grosgrain Ribbon – Real Red, Red Gingham Ribbon, Stampin’ Glitter, Stampin’ Pastels®, Stampin’ Write markers, Stampin’ Dimensionals

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Oh Christmas Tree...

Ooh, I’d better cram in some Christmas projects before it’s too late! Here’s a variation on this year’s favourite; the Lovely as a Tree moon card. This time I used Ruby Red as the base and stamped the background stamp En Francais on top. I stamped it in Real Red but only because it was already out and I was too lazy to dig out the Ruby Red.

I masked the moon with a circle of Post-it note and chalked the background, before stamping on top with Night of Navy and adding glitter, which you probably can’t see.

The edge is made with the very wonderful Scallop Edge Punch.

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, En Francais
Cardstock: Ruby Red, Night of Navy, Whisper White
Ink: Night of Navy, Real Red
Accessories: Stampin’ Glitter, Stampin’ Pastels®, Scallop Edge Punch, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon – Night of Navy

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Yummy cakes!

This is another simple card for the children’s workshop. I coloured the image using Watercolour Wonder™ crayons but the children will be using coloured pencils. I used Soft Subtles cardstock but Rich Regals crayons and found that they worked quite well if I was sparing with them. I used Elegant Eggplant, Garden Green and So Saffron to go with the Lavender Lace, Certainly Celery and Barely Banana cardstock.

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes
Cardstock: Lavender Lace, Certainly Celery, Barely Banana, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Watercolour Wonder™ crayons – Rich Regals, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Whisper White

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Bookmark card

This is a bookmark card – a very simple one because it’s part of a kit I’ve made for a group of eight-year-old girls. They’ll have everything cut and prepared and just need to stamp and assemble. 

The piece of cardstock is cut from a sheet of A4 down to 148mm wide, using the full length of the sheet (does that even make sense?). Then it’s creased into thirds, to create three 99mm wide panels. If you want it in imperial I’m afraid you’ll have to work it out for yourself, sorry!

Then you slice off the left panel at an angle, as shown and fold the card into a Z shape, with the sliced panel at the front. Tape around the edges of the sliced panel to create a pocket for the bookmark.

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes
Cardstock: Lavender Lace, Barely Banana, Bashful Blue, Whisper White
Ink: Perfect Plum
Accessories: Blender pens, ¼” grosgrain ribbon - Whisper White, corner rounder, Crop-A-Dile™

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Clearly not a stamped project

I'm not in the habit of posting non-stamping related images but had to show you this.

I just plugged in the camera to upload the pix I took of today's projects and found poor Cobweb looking disgruntled in a Santa hat... in fact, 50-odd photos of Cobweb looking increasingly disgruntled in a Santa hat, in various states of blurriness.

That look in her eyes says "I'll get you for this later". I suspect revenge will be puddle-shaped and round the back of the Christmas tree.

How far behind am I?

Answer: very. I haven't even started making my Christmas cards yet! Other than the ones you've seen on here, of course. 

So forgive me for not posting any samples; I'm currently wading through my huge Christmas job list.

Back soon!