Celery trees

I was playing around at my Contain Yourself 2 workshop (well, everyone seemed to be coping quite nicely so I took the opportunity to stamp a little!) and made this. It uses exactly the same pieces of cardstock and ribbon as the card from yesterday but I used Trendy Trees instead. LOVE that set!

It does illustrate how you can adapt a card idea to suit the products that you already have. This is what makes the Idea Book & Catalogue so useful - you don't have to copy the ideas exactly, you can change the colours, the stamp set or even turn a card on its side. Why not have a go at changing an idea around from the catalogue?

Stamps: Trendy Trees
Cardstock: Perfect Plum, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Ink: Perfect Plum, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Accessories: ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Certainly Celery, Stamp-a-ma-jig®

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

Take time to smell the flowers

Hello Again is a fabulous set. I admit I only bought it because it was so cheap (less than a tenner!) but now I love it. It’s cute and funky!

We used it at my Contain Yourself 2 workshop to make two of these cards each. It’s a great way to use up all those long strips of cardstock in your scraps box which you think you’ll never get round to using. A strip of Certainly Celery at the top; a strip of So Saffron at the bottom and who cares about the middle bit because it's covered up and nobody can see it!

Stamps: Hello Again
Cardstock: Perfect Plum, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Whisper White
Ink: Perfect Plum, So Saffron
Accessories: ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Certainly Celery, Paper Snips, Stampin' Dimensionals

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

I'm in love with another tree stamp set

I really like the clean and simple look of this card. Love the Certainly Celery card base, too, which is a shame for those who attended my Contain Yourself 2 workshop as I accidentally cut them out of So Saffron. I have NO idea what I was thinking and unfortunately I didn’t have time to cut new ones out of Certainly Celery. But they looked lovely in So Saffron, too, so I think all was well.

And something forgot to say yesterday: a BIG thank you to Pam and Jenny for doing the washing up after the workshop! It was much appreciated.

Stamps: Trendy Trees
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Rose Red, Whisper White
Paper: Perfect Plum Patterns
Ink: Certainly Celery, Perfect Plum, Rose Red
Accessories: Striped Grosgrain Ribbon – Rose Red, Stamp-a-ma-jig®, Stampin’ Dimensionals

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

I'm back with another Circle Circus card

Oops, sorry I’ve been neglecting my blog. I’ve had a few email issues, camera battery issues and daylight issues! I’ve also been busy helping some lovely ladies join my Stampin’ Up!® team.

Lots of crafters are now realising what fun it would be to become a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator – make sure you don’t miss out on the fabulous 10% off deal which runs until 13th November. Send me an email if you want to find out more.

On to today’s project... this was one of the cards we made at my Contain Yourself 2 class, where everyone covered a tin and made six cards to go inside. I was really worried that I was overstretching things so bullied them into working fast... and most people finished early! It helped that we made two of each card and, of course, all the supplies are already cut up and ready.

The colour scheme for the evening was Rose Red, Perfect Plum, Certainly Celery and So Saffron, which I think go really well together. I really like this card made with Circle Circus. I like all the Rose Red circles peeping out from behind the main image and I think the Whisper White greeting, stamped in our new Craft ink pad, really stands out.

Stamps: Circle Circus, Trendy Trees
Cardstock: Rose Red, Perfect Plum, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Paper: Patterns – Perfect Plum
Ink: Rose Red, White Craft
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8” circle punch, 1 ¼” circle punch, Paper Piercing Tool, Mat Pack, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Certainly Celery

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

What's stopping you from signing up?

Have I ever mentioned how much fun it is being a Stampin’ Up!® demonstrator? That you’ll meet like-minded people, make new friends, learn fantastic new techniques and... wait for it... get paid for it, too?

Have I ever mentioned that being a demonstrator is so flexible that you can work at it as much or as little as you like? That you don’t even have to do workshops if you don’t want to? But that the rewards are there if you do have the time (and the inclination) to turn it into a successful business?

Have I ever told you that the Starter Kit contains more than £240 of stamping and business supplies? And that you can change some of the supplies to suit your personal tastes? That it’s a mega-bargain even if you never plan to demonstrate? That it’s a no-risk investment because, no matter what happens, you get to keep the kit?

Have I ever told you that you have until the end of your first FULL quarter to meet your first sales target? So that, if you signed up during November, you would have until the end of March?

Have I ever told you about all the extra rewards you can earn with Stampin’ Up!? That you earn the same benefits on your own orders as a hostess does, so lots of freebies could come your way? And have I ever mentioned the chance to earn 15 free stamp sets in your first six months?

I’m sure I must have ... but I know I haven’t told you this: if you sign up before 13th November, you’ll get 10% off the Starter Kit, making it an even bigger bargain at just £125!

What’s holding you back? Why not email me today and see if I can allay your fears?

Hmmmm.... chocolate

Gift ideas don’t have to be difficult or time-consuming. This is just a bag of chocolate balls with a tag. I wouldn’t buy the chocolates again because many of them were chipped so the brown of the chocolate was showing through and they don’t look nice but this would look good with mint imperials or toffee bonbons instead. As for what happened to the chipped and smashed chocolates... do you really need me to tell you?

Stamps: Say It With Scallops
Cardstock: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Scallop Square Punch, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Pumpkin Pie

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

The buckle card...

So... the Buckle Card, as demonstrated at my catalogue launch. I’ve wanted to demo this card for such a long time but only now do we have the necessary Word Window Punch in our catalogue. And we’re all thrilled!

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE our new catalogue? My wish list is dangerously long. I’m chipping away at it but still covet so much more.

But back to the card. It’s really easy actually; you just make a standard card, then slice part of the front off (save the piece for another project!). The punch a Word Window, vertically, in the remaining flap.

Next you make a flap – or “buckle” - to slot inside the Word Window. The is the only important measurement – this buckle should be narrower than the Word Window.

If you make an inner piece to go inside the card – mine is Old Olive, unsurprisingly - this can be stuck on top of the end of the buckle/flap to cover any joins.

One thing worth knowing is that the Word Window Punch will NOT like it if you try to punch through two layers of cardstock. It will, however, happily punch through a sheet of Designer Series Paper and a sheet of cardstock. So, if you’re using paper and cardstock, go for it. If you’re using two sheets of cardstock, punch one layer then overlay the second layer and use that as a guide to punch again.

Of course, you don’t need a second layer or cardstock or DSP at all – you could always stamp the front.

Stamps: Animal Stories
Cardstock: So Saffron, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Paper: Tall Tales
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Chocolate Chip, Word Window Punch, corner rounder

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

The painless way to get a full set of markers

Do you love markers? Do you only dream of owning the full set of Stampin’ Up!® Stampin’ Write markers in their handy storage box?

You can buy each colour family for £24.95 for 12 markers – £2.08 per marker. But if you want the lovely storage box so that you can store them easily and horizontally to keep both tips inked evenly, you have to buy the full set in one go for £99.95... until now.

Yes, I have a cunning plan. All it needs is four people who all want the full set of markers in the box and are willing to spend £24.95 a month for four months. I’ll even pay your shipping!* It’s
a perfect plan for those who aren’t able, or can’t bring themselves, to fork out £99.95 all at once. And, when you receive your final set of markers, you’ll get the box to put them all in, too!

* Free shipping is offered by me and only applies to the markers, not to any other items ordered. If postage is required to your home, this will be charged at cost for recorded delivery.

Too early for Bold Brights!

I do like this Circle Circus stamp set. It’s so versatile as you can use it to make pretty girlie cards or geometric masculine cards. Or even funky teenage cards. You get the idea.

This is an unusual colour combination for me – in fact, I’m typing this early in the morning and it’s hurting my eyes! But I do like it a lot.

Stamps: Circle Circus
Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Brilliant Blue, Green Galore, Whisper White
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore, Brilliant Blue
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8” circle punch, ½” circle punch, Mat Pack, Paper Piercer

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

Elephant box

Not my finest hour but it was fab in my head, honest! I need a handle and don’t have any of that fabulous striped ribbon yet (order going in today though!). It probably wasn’t a good idea to stamp Creamy Caramel elephants on the tissue paper either – when it’s scrunched up, they just look brown and smeary.

But ignoring all the faults of the box, check out the fabulous paper used here. Isn’t it gorgeous? It co-ordinates with Animal Stories, the cheeky new set I’ve used. And some of the sheets in this paper pack are so fabulous that you could frame them and put them on your wall!

Stamps: Animal Stories
Cardstock: Summer Sun, Whisper White
Paper: Tall Tales
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: 5/8” Grosgrain Ribbon - Chocolate Chip

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