Friday

My very first Christmas School Fair!


This afternoon, I attended my very first Christmas fair at Hunts Cross Primary.


With a Stampin'Up! demonstrator's apron on, and a Stampin'Up! table banner, I really looked the part! Thanks, Lynn, for lending me these "luxury" items, and making me feel like a "proper demonstrator"!




I had prepared long and hard for this event, and here are some of the items we were selling:




Bookmarks made using the owl builder punch (these brought smiles to many kids' faces!)















Christmas gift tags (made using the Christmas Collectibles Bundle)















Gift Card or Gift Voucher Holders (made using the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder)
















Snowflake Tree Decorations (made using the Festive Flurry Bundle)




Dress-shaped Gift Bags filled with sweets (made using the Dress Up Framelits)











Handbag-shaped Gift Bags filled with sweets (made using the Petite Purse die)






Lindt-chocolate bars wrapped up in Christmas designer papers and decorated with the Gift Bow die











And on the table next to me, I spotted some craft boxes from the annual Stampin'Up! catalogue, filled with beautiful gingerbread men made out of felt, by my talented friend, Jacqui, (www.prettyinpinkcrafts.co.uk)
who kindly organized the fair - aren't they cute?

The fair was not as busy as I thought, but I very much enjoyed the challenge of preparing for it!

And, as my two boys would say, we can always eat the sweeties and chocolates inside the gift bags which didn't sell! I think we've earned them! :-)

A very happy Christmas to you all!

xxx





Wednesday

Birthday Card Voucher Holder, and...Cake!

I  made this voucher holder for the lovely Jackie, my friend, neighbour, and loyal customer (in that order!)

It was Jackie's birthday this week, and her just as lovely daughter, Kate, and her sister, knowing how much their mum LOVES Stampin'Up! products, made sure she gets a nice surprise on the day.


And this is what the card held inside! Needless to say, Jackie was made up with the gift. What a treat! I am sure she'll have even more fun now choosing something from the catalogues!


And, to top it all off, right in time for our afternoon tea, Kate brought us some chocolate cake which Jackie lovingly made - I knew she wasn't good at just making cards only!

It was DELICIOUS- I want the recipe, Jackie!

In moments like this, I just LOVE being a Stampin'Up! demonstrator!

Happy Birthday, Jackie, and the very best of wishes!

Have you told your loved ones lately how much you appreciate them? Do it today!

xx

Materials used:
Stamp Set: Petite Pairs
Inks: Rich Razzleberry Classic Stampin' Ink Pad
Cardstock: Whisper White, Summer Smooches Designer Series Papers (retired)
Accessories: Rich Razzleberry Grosgrain Stitched Ribbon, White Creped Filter Paper, Vintage Brads
 

Monday

With Heartfelt Sympathy - Close As A Memory!


Hello!

I was playing around with the Summer Silhouettes stamp set the other day, and ended up making this sympathy card.

Elegant butterflies go well with this set, and I placed white vellum butterflies on top of the punched-out Wisteria Wonder card ones, as well as thin silver strips of Glimmer Paper to make them stand out and look even prettier.

The silver ribbon was from my own stash of ribbon.

The card edge was effortlessly created using the Adorning Accents Edgelits and matching Adorning Accents Embossing Folder on the Big Shot.

The sentiment is from the now retired Close As A Memory stamp set.

Indeed, Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal!

So true and comforting!






All materials from Stampin'Up! unless otherwise stated:
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Close As A Memory
Inks: Old Olive, Apricot Appeal, Early Espresso
Cardstock: Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder, Glimmer Paper (Silver), White Vellum,
 Accessories: 3-D Dimensionals, Adorning Accents Edgelits, Adorning Accents Embossing Foder

Tuesday

Patterned Occassions - Sale-a-bration 2013 - 'Get Well' Card

I really like the Patterned Occassions set you can have for FREE during the Sale-a-bration period with every £45 order from either of the catalogues.

So here's a card I made using this set - "recover rapidly" it says. Lots of colorful images of plasters scattered around the card, some beautiful designer paper (Summer Smooches), 1/4" stitched grosgrain ribbon (Pacific Point colour), and the sentiment inked with a couple of Stampin'Write markers (Brights Collection) - couldn't be easier!

It should cheer up anyone who's feeling poorly today - speedy recovery to you!

And don't forget! Not long to go 'till Sale-a-bration season comes to an end - 22nd March is the date. So go on, and stock up on those freebies! You know you want them!

See you again soon!
x

All materials from Stampin'Up! unless otherwise stated:
Stamps: Patterned Occassions (free during Sale-a-bration 2013)
Inks: Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Melon Mambo, Apricot Appeal
Cardstock: Whisper White, Pacific Point, Summer Smooches Designer Series Paper
Accessories:Pacific Point 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, 3-D Dimensionals

Monday

Time to DRESS UP! - Ladies' Card


Hi, everyone!

Having made a waistcoat card last week for our imaginary dapper gentleman, I thought it was time to make one for our imaginary elegant lady - one who loves to dress up! And what better set to use for this occassion than DRESS UP (p.67 in the Annual Catalogue) - 8 stamps, perfect for ladies or young girls/teenagers' cards - lipstick, nailvarnish, handbag, necklace... the lot!

I had fun making these cards, though some of you might find my usage of the 'red' colour quite BOLD. But hey, this is a lady who's confident, energetic, full of life and vitality! And she's imaginary, remember, so I am forgiven... :-)

Let me know what you think, anyway...

Thanks for visiting, and drop by again soon! xxx

Products used: All Stampin'Up! otherwise stated:
Stamps: Dress up (clear mount), Petite Pairs (clear mount)
Inks: Real Red, Tempting Turquoise
Cardstock: Whisper White, Summer Smooches Designer Series Paper
Accessories: Big Shot Machine, Adorning Accents Edgelits, Adorning Accents Folder, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Brights Designer Buttons.

The small flower punch was from Woodware Craft Collection.



Sunday

Waistcoat Card - Dapper Dad

Hello, and welcome to this blog hop, which is all about the BRAND NEW Spring/Summer Catalogue 2013 and the lovely products featured in it!

A very special welcome to those readers who have just joined me from Emily's BLOG! Thanks for visiting.

Today I'd like to share with you a card I made this week using the BRAND NEW Dapper Dad Stamp Set from the afore-mentioned catalogue (p.14). 

As the word "dapper" suggests, this card would suit a smartly-dressed, well-turned out gentleman, and I trust you already have a few of these in amongst your own circle of friends and family who would appreciate receiving such a card! :-) 

If you're anything like me, wondering what materials to use for men's cards, which (let's face it) can be tricky to make at times, then this set is for you! There are three stamps that go with it - a bow tie, a shoe, and a watch. There's so much you can do with these three images, from Father's Day cards to retirement cards, etc.

Here' s a simple, step-by-step, "all-you-need-to-know" guide about how to make today's card:

1. Cut out the waistcoat shape (according to the measurements shown in the picture) from Polka Dot Parade Designer Series Papers. (My card, by the way, measured 14.5cmx10cm or roughly 6"x4").

2. Trim away the diagonal portions at the top of the card, to give it the impression of "shoulders". Cut a 3cm slit in the centre of the top of the card and fold back two triangles to form the collar.

3. Cut and stick down two small strips of scrap Early Espresso cardstock to form the pockets on the waistcoat. 

4. Ink up the bow tie stamp in Early Espresso Ink (though you can use any other colour you like, making sure the paper you use for the "pockets" match the colour of the bow tie, otherwise our imaginary gentleman won't be as "dapper" as we first thought he was!)

5. Stick the bow tie down, just under the collar, and add three Neutrals Designer Buttons down the centre of the waistcoat to finish.

So, there you have it. Our gentleman is now ready to go out and face the world!

Thanks for 'hopping' by! I hope to see you again very soon.

Click here to visit the next person on the blog hop (hello, Erika!), and if you want to be inspired by some more Spring/Summer Catalogue creations, why don't you go ahead and 'hop' back to the Beginning of this BLOG HOP and carry on till you've visited all 14 posts. Enjoy! :-)



Products used: All Stampin'Up! unless otherwise stated
Stamps: Dapper Dad Set (Clear Mount) - Spring/Summer Catalogue
Inks: Early Espresso
Card stock: Whisper White, Early Espresso, Polka Dot Parade Designer Series Paper
Accessories: Neutrals Designer Buttons (Early Espresso)

Monday

Create your own 'mask' card with Smooch Spritz!

I made this card at our training day a couple of weeks ago. It was a project designed by the lovely Monica Gale, independent Stampin'Up! demonstrator, and a very effective project it was, too!
First, you make a mask using vellum card stock and some framelits. The one we used here was the Delicate Doilies Sizzlits L - very pretty! Position this on to some dark-coloured card with a very thin layer of glue, and spray with Smooch Spritz Vanilla Shimmer. Gently peel off the mask, and you should have a delicate doily smiling back at you!
Next, add all the layers together (Chocolate Chip cardstock, Rich Razzleberry cardstock, and First Specialty Designer Series Paper), and rip across in one go, then glue them to the card base. Make a little dimensional embellishment using the 7/8" Scallop Circle punch and a strip of Glimmer Paper, and top with a butterfly (using the Bitty Butterfly punch). Stamp the sentiment (from the Vintage Verses stamp set, free during Sale-a-bration 2013), in Rich Razzleberry ink, adhere in place using 3-D Dimensionals, and embellish further with some tiny punched flowers using the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack.
Let me know what you think. Stop by again soon for some more training day projects. Thanks for visiting!

Other materials used: Rich Razzleberry 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Rhinestone Gems.

Wednesday

Sale-a-bration 2013! Patterned Occasions


Hello again!
This card showcases the new Patterned Ocassions stamp set which can be yours for FREE, courtesy of Sale-a-bration 2013, when you spend £45 from the annual catalogue or the new Spring/Summer catalogue that's out on 1st February.
For more details of this offer and other Sale-a-bration-related news, please click here . For a list of the freebies you could be earning between now and 22nd March, click here Do contact me either by phone or email, and I'd be more than happy to assist you in putting in an order, and benefiting from this excellent promotion.
Back to the card: First, I embossed it, using the beautiful Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder on the Big Shot, then I stamped the elephant image directly onto the card in Pink Passion ink (now retired, though the current Melon Mambo ink pad would do just as well). I randomly stamped a couple of small butterflies from the Papillion Potpourri stamp set in Tempting Turqouise ink, and added a much bigger, stamped and punched out butterfly from the same set, using the Elegant Butterfly punch, and positioning it on top of the card, with some 3-D Stampin' Dimensionals, as if resting on one of the design's branches. I decorated both the butterflies and the elephant image with some Rhinestone Basic Jewels, and added some tiny, blue and pink circles (punched out of paper) to the inside of the flowers, for some extra colour. What do you think?
This other card is made using the same stamp set as the one above (Patterned Occasions), but the image is different, a cupcake instead of an elephant, and a 'Happy Birthday' greeting, instead of a 'Thank You' one. As you can see, the creations you can come up with using this multi-purpose set are endless.
In the next few days, I hope to show you some more projects I've made using some other, lovely Sale-a-bration products. Thanks for stopping by, and visit me again soon!

Friday

Elegant butterfly and Summer Silhouettes!



Happy New Year to you all!
I know it’s winter, and a stamp set like Summer Silhouettes makes summer sound like a long, long way off, but hey, that’s what creativity does to you! It makes you dream of sunny days, of bees and butterflies, of love and laughter… Before we know it, the buds on the trees will blossom again, and nature will sing its beautiful summer melody like it always does at that time of year.
I wanted to show off the Polka Dot Parade Designer Papers, so I used the Adorning Accents Edgelits and Adorning Accents Folder with the Big Shot machine to create a pretty edge on each side of the card – just big enough to see the paper through.

The vase is made using the Ornament punch (great not only for Christmas cards then!), to punch out the shape from the back of the same blue, dotted paper used on the edge of the card. Just snip off the bottom the ornament shape, and ‘Voila, you have a vase’!
The butterfly is from the Papillon Potpourri stamp set, and I raised it up using the Elegant Butterfly punch, and some 3-D Dimensionals.
In keeping with the light, fragile, and earthly nature of butterflies, I preferred using Baker’s Twine to ribbon, both on the side of the card, and on the button.
The greeting is from the Petite Pairs stamp set.
Here’s another card, using the same Summer Silhouettes stamp set, this time as a ‘Thank You’ card with a sentiment from the same Petite Pairs stamp set. The ribbon is Pretty in Pink. Inks used: Old Olive, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, and Pink Passion (now retired). Nice, if I may say so myself!