Christmas gift voucher

Don’t forget you can order Stampin’ Up! gift vouchers for any amount. If you’re not sure what you want for Christmas, point your family and friends in my direction and I’ll sort out vouchers for them, so that you can have a lovely post-Christmas spending spree.

Each voucher will come with a card similar to this, at no extra cost.

This one is held together with a removable band, which I’ve decorated with that cute little snowman from the Happy Winter set. To read how to mask the snowman and create a night sky, click here.

Stamps: Happy Winter
Cardstock: Bordering Blue, Brocade Blue, Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Night of Navy
Accessories: Stampin’ Pastels, Scallop Edge Punch, Scallop Square Punch, Real Red marker, Basic Black marker, Red Gingham Ribbon

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.

Christmas tree - stepped up

This is a more detailed version of Thursday’s card. It uses the same masking technique but has the addition of a background stamp on the top four fifths of the Bordering Blue panel. I also trimmed the front of the card short, so that I could add a strip of Night of Navy and a scalloped edge of Real Red.

This card, too, has glitter on the tree branches, but I don’t know if you can see it in the photo. If you click on it, it should give you a larger view but I'm not making any promises! 

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, En Francais
Cardstock: Bordering Blue, Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Night of Navy, Bordering Blue
Accessories: Stampin’ Pastels, Stampin’ Glitter, Red Gingham ribbon, Scallop Edge 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.

Sorry!

I do have a project to post but haven't had time to sort it out yet - but it IS on its way, honest!

Christmassy tree

I’m loving the masked moon behind this gorgeous tree. I got the idea from one of my downlines, Tracey, at the Papercraft Show in Derby and I’m afraid I’ve been exploiting it ever since!

What's so great about the Lovely as a Tree stamp set is that it's so versatile. You can use it all year round for birthdays, thank yous, etc - even those difficult cards for men! - and then wheel it out again in December for elegant Christmas cards. 

This is a really simple card which I demoed at a workshop earlier this week. Again, it uses the masking technique.

To create the moon, use any reasonably large (1” or more) circle punch to punch out a sticky note, then stick it to your cardstock. Using sponge daubers, chalk around the circle to create a night sky. You only need to chalk halfway down your piece of cardstock.

Then remove your circular mask to reveal the moon. Stamp your tree on top using Night of Navy ink and you’re almost done.

To make it more Christmassy, use a glue pen at various points on the branches and add some glitter.

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree
Cardstock: Real Red, Night of Navy, Whisper White
Ink: Night of Navy
Accessories: Stampin’ Pastels®, Sponge Daubers, 1 ¼” circle punch, Stampin’ Glitter

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.

Little Snowy Christmas

I have a workshop tonight where several of the guests will be non-stampers, so I have the challenge of keeping the projects simple enough not to overwhelm the newbies, with some techniques thrown in to keep the seasoned stampers interested. Hmmm….

This will be one of my demonstrations. I want to show the newbies that you can make cute Christmas cards for very little outlay – just by stamping in black, using a very small stamp set and colouring in the image.

You can step it up some more, like I did here, with a simple masking technique.

Stamp your image on cardstock as normal. Then stamp it again (you don’t even need to reink) on to some scrap paper and cut it out to create a mask. If you’re planning to make a lot of these, I’d sacrifice some cardstock to make a sturdier mask.

Use some temporary adhesive to attach your mask to your image stamped on cardstock, then chalk around it to create a blue sky.

Remove the mask and colour in the scarf and buttons with a red marker. Then, if you like, you can add a snow line with a black marker.

For extra detail, I punched out the image using the new Scallop Square Punch and mounted it on a square of Night of Navy.

Hmmm… but I’m thinking this would look nice stamped straight on to a white card blank, to keep it really simple. Will probably have a go at that one day…

Stamps: Happy Winter, Basic Phrases
Cardstock: Real Red, Night of Navy, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Stampin’ Pastels®, Sponge Daubers, Stampin’ Writer markers (Basic Black and Real Red)

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.

A red Christmas tree

Sorry for the lack of posts – I was planning to post yesterday but wasn’t well. And I’ve been so busy I haven’t had chance to do any stamping for ages so I don’t know where my next blog post is coming from!

Christmas cards don't have to be red and green! Here’s a fairly simple Christmas card which wouldn’t be too hard to make in bulk. This was one of the projects at our World Card Making Day back in October.

The only technique which needs explaining is the glitter trick. All you do is take an ordinary silver brad (any colour works but silver sparkles the most) and carefully cover it in a Glue Dot®. Then dip it into a pot of glitter and hey presto! You have a glittery brad. Make sure it’s fully covered or your brad will remain sticky, like this one did – which is why it’s no longer quite as glittery as it was.

Stamps: Season of Joy
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Ruby Red, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Ruby Red, Bashful Blue
Accessories: Black gingham ribbon, silver brads, Stampin’ Glitter

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.

Chocolate Night

Just to let you know that there are now only three places left for Chocolate Night! 

The event is on Friday, November 21 at  7.30pm in the Duffield area. 

You will make two chocolate-themed/coloured cards and two chocolate-themed gifts - with chocolate refreshments! The cost is £9.50, which includes all materials and equipment - plus the ever-popular prize draw. 

Stamping, chocolate and fun - what else is there?

If you want to join us, please email me asap for a registration form.

Thanks! 

Mini accordion album

This is an accordion album which could also double up as an elaborate card – it’s ideal for sending to family with pictures of the children inside, or for sending from a group of people, as there are lots of places to add messages.

To make it you start with a single sheet of 12x12 cardstock. 

Score it and cut it as shown. That’s scored horizontally at the halfway point, then three vertical scores at 3”, 6” and 9”. Slice off the corners – I didn’t measure these, just cut one corner off on one side, then a longer cut, angling two sections on the other side.

Next, tape it as shown. You really do need Sticky Strip for this because it’s narrow and very, very strong. But you don’t want to go overboard on the tape or you won’t be able to get your tabs in!

Now fold up the lower half – this gives you the basic shape of the album. But don’t stick anything down just yet, especially if you’re going to stamp on the inside. It’s a good idea to stamp the outside before sticking, too, as you can open out the album again to get it nice and flat. Something else which I forgot to do before taking this picture is punch out a semi-circle from the third front panel, so that you can get your fingers in to pull out the tab. You can use any circle punch for this.

Finally, decorate your album. I made four pull-out tabs to insert in each panel, each with a ribbon at the top to pull out. These are blank in my photo – you could use these blank spaces to add photos. Alternatively, if you’re sending this as a card, you can use these spaces for messages – or a combination or photos and messages.

Avid readers (I flatter myself!) may recognise the front of this album. I used the same design on a small Christmas card, which you can see here.

And that’s it. If you’re really keen, you could decorate the back, too! If you want the album to stay closed, to keep in a handbag, you could add ribbon to tie it together – but don’t forget to wrap one piece all the way round the album, or the back will pop open like a hospital gown!

Stamps: Season of Joy
Cardstock: Old Olive, Real Red, Very Vanilla
Ink: Old Olive, Real Red
Accessories: 1 ¼” circle punch, Round Tab Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Stampin’ Write markers, red gingham ribbon, 5/8” grosgrain ribbon – Very Vanilla, ¼” grosgrain ribbon – Real Red; jumbo eyelets – pewter, rhinestone brads, Crop-A-Dile™, staple, sticky strip

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.

A special Christmas offer for hostesses

While any time is a great time to book a Stampin’ Up! workshop, right now is even better. In addition to the already generous hostess benefits, workshop hostesses can earn an additional free stamp set!

What a great Christmas present for our valued hostesses. Simply book a workshop between now and the end of the year and, if your workshop reaches £150, there’s an extra stamp set in it for you.

This means that a £150 workshop will earn you:

• A Level 1 hostess set
  
• £15 of free merchandise
  
• PLUS a free stamp set from the list in the table
  

So, if you want to take advantage of this wonderful offer, please email me as soon as possible, as dates are filling up fast!

Easy gift set

This little gift set is very easy to make – and uses one of my favourite designs; the stamped circle layered on the scallop circle.

The notepad is just a cheap one from Morrisons (I think). Look out for pads with nice coloured binding, then slice off the front close to the edge and replace it with cardstock.

The rest is self-explanatory, I think! The pencil topper instructions are here. The little round one in the middle covers an Elizabeth Shaw after-dinner mint, as seen here. 

Stamps: Season of Joy
Cardstock: Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Whisper White
Ink: Bashful Blue
Accessories: 1 ¼” 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.