I have had a busy start to my week: the James Juniors are back at school after an enjoyable Easter break so today has been spent catching up on correspondence, spending more time making my swaps for Onstage later this week and planning for my week ahead, which includes the fist of this month's Technique Classes tomorrow - more on that later this week.

Today I want to share a home decor project that I will be making at my 'Crafternoon Tea' event that I am holding at Bell of Northampton in Kingsthorpe on Saturday 7th May, featuring the Botanical Builder Framelits Dies and the 'Hello Life' stamp set:

All instruction and materials will be provided for the session and each person will leave with a decorated 9” x 9” frame to keep. Check out this close-up of the gorgeous flowers: 

Once you’ve completed your project, you can tuck into a scrumptious afternoon tea for two with scones and cakes alongside a large selection of sandwiches stuffed to bursting with egg mayonnaise, chicken and horseradish, cheddar cheese with chilli jam and many more scrumptious fillings freshly prepared by Tea and Cake @ Bell.

The session will run from 10am-2pm on Saturday 7^th May and cost £56 for two people. Buy it for yourself or as a gift! Why not treat yourself and your mum, friend or daughter to a voucher for an indulgent afternoon tea and crafting session! There are still spaces left for this event - I would love you to join me! If this is something that appeals to you, click here to make your booking online.

I'll be back tomorrow with a 'sneak peek' of the card that I will be making in my drop-in Coffee and Card Session at Bell's on Wednesday this week between 10-12 noon. Until then, happy stampin!

I'm back! No blog post from me yesterday I'm afraid: I have been battling a dreadful cold this week and with my busy days a few early nights have been in order. Today I'm back with another of my technique class cards using all three products from the Botanical Garden bundle, this time a clean and simple thank you card. I made this card early last week before last week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches was published, so I couldn't quite believe it when I saw both the sketch and Amy o'Neill's FMS Design Team card, that bears many similarities to mine - spooky how that happens sometimes! Here is the card I designed for my class:

This card is all about the vine; it can be used in lots of different ways (here's another example on an earlier card here) but one thing is for sure, it makes such a beautiful edging for a card. On this card it is cut into the front piece of my extra thick Whisper White card base and a piece of Botanical Gardens Designer Series Paper adhered to the back panel beneath it to show through when closed. The focal point of my card is another flower cut using my Big Shot and the Botanical Gardens framelits, but the other things that make this card special are:

Suite Sayings Sentiment - One of my favourite current sentiment sets, Suite Sayings, has a wide variety of sayings and this one is perfect for a thank you 'just because'.

Awesomely Artistic Grunge - I added a little back splatter using the grunge stamp in the Awesomely Artistic set to add a little more colour and soften my card, without obscuring too much of the all important 'white space' that adds so much to a truly CAS card.

A Trio of Embellishments - I actually managed to use three separate embellishments to my card: a White Perfect Accent for my flower middle (coloured black with my Sharpie), some strands of looped gold twine and a vellum leaf. Each of them adding a subtle detail without overwhelming.

Here's visual summary of key products used to make today's card for easy reference:

I hope you like today's card. I'll be back tomorrow with a card for this week's new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Botanical Blooms Photopolymer Bundle	Suite Sayings Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Botanical Gardens Cardstock Pack	Big Shot	Precision Base Plate
Big Shot Die Brush	White Perfect Accents	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad	Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad	Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad
Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Gold Metallic Thread	Vellum A4 Cardstock	Awesomely Artistic Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Good evening lovely readers! I have had a busy day with the second of this month's technique classes this morning and a Spring concert for one of the James Juniors this afternoon. Today I'm sharing a card I made for this week's challenge over at TGIF Challenges that was also one of the cards I made with the ladies in my card class this morning. I haven't played along with the TGIF team for a while and I couldn't resist this week's sketch:

My card features all of the products in the Botanical Gardens bundle offer (buy all 3 and save 15%) - Botanical Gardens Designer Series Paper, Botanical Blooms stamp set and Botanical Builder Framelits Dies - and features a fun technique. Here is my card:

Today's card is a celebration of the Botanical Gardens product suite, but there are three things that really make it special:

Customised Designer Series Paper - The paper I used for the background on my card is one of a number of patterns in the Botanical Gardens Designer Series paper pack that can be customised using the Botanical Blooms stamp set. Many of the leaves and flowers can be stamped with veins and stamens in the colours of your choice to create a variety of different looks. I had great fun adding detail to my background and this best thing is, this can be different every time. 

Fuss-free Flowers - I just love the Botanical Builder Framelits Dies for limitless floral creative possibilities, yet the two things that really make these fuss-free can't even be seen on this card: the Big Shot Die Brush and the Big Shot Precision Base Plate. Both perfect for working with intricate dies, they really do enable these flowers to pop out easily, no wax paper required. You may think you don't need these items, however whilst you could use a standard or magnetic platform, you will definitely get better results using these tools. My customers keep telling me this too, so impressed are they with the results.

A Free Sentiment - The sentiment on my card is from the Sale-A-Bration set 'Botanicals For You'. This stamp set co-ordinates with the other Botanicals products and is available free with a £45 spend before the end of the month. The Botanical Gardens bundle costs £46.75, so if you buy the bundle, you can get this set for free too - bargain!

Here is today's visual summary of the key products used and top tip for easy reference:

I hope you like today's card; I have two more to share this week using this product suite that were also makes in my technique class today, so stay tuned for those. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Botanical Blooms Photopolymer Bundle	Botanical Gardens Cardstock Pack	Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock	Botanicals For You Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Big Shot
Precision Base Plate	Big Shot Die Brush	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	White Perfect Accents	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad
2-1/2" Circle Punch	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Rhinestone Basic Jewels	Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad	Hello Honey Classic Stampin' Pad
Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad

I have a day of back-to-back classes today, with my second technique class of the month (I know and only 2nd February!) and my monthly Project Life memory keeping class in store, so a nice early blog post for you today! I have a fun card using this week's sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch and the challenge over at The Friday Mashup to use a zoo animal on your card:

I thought the CAS(E) This Sketch layout was perfect for an idea I'd had using the Playful Pals stamp set and co-ordinating Pyramid Pals Thinlits Dies - take a look:

I had this idea of an animal in the bush/jungle peeking out amongst the greenery so I decided on an elephant and having stamped and cut out the elephant pieces in Smoky Slate, I adhered him to my bright orange background before adding my Botanical Builder leaves and my sentiment cut with the Greetings thinlits. Isn't that fun? I have visions of this elephant trampling greenery for miles around as it rampages through the bush. I envisaged my animal as living in the wild, although clearly elephants can be seen at the zoo too. This is my first outing with the Playful Pals set but I know that I am going to use of lots more - there are so many creative possibilities with a set like this! 

That's all from me today; back tomorrow with this week's weekly deals and another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Playful Pals Photopolymer Bundle	Botanical Builder Framelits Dies	Botanical Blooms Photopolymer Stamp Set	Greetings Thinlits Dies	Big Shot
Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad	Garden Green A4 Cardstock	Cucumber Crush A4 Cardstock	Tangelo Twist A4 Cardstock
Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad	Smoky Slate A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock

It's Wednesday - hurrah! Today I have a card for this week's challenge over at CAS Colours and Sketches where they have the following sketch to work with:

I turned the sketch through 90 degrees for my card today and used the large sentiment from the 'Botanicals For You' Sale-A-Bration set, paired with some Botanical Gardens Designer Series Paper and yes, another of those flowers made using the Botanical Builder Framelits Dies - I just can't get enough of them! Here's my card:

I just love the different flower combinations you can make with these framelit dies! Whilst I do have something different to share with you tomorrow, rest assured you haven't seen the last of these yet!

That's all from me today; I'll be spending the day in my office - I'm hoping for a productive one! I'll be back tomorrow with a card for this week's new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Botanicals For You Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Botanical Builder Framelits Dies	Big Shot Die Brush	Botanical Gardens Designer Series Paper	Big Shot
Ovals Collection Framelits Dies	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	White Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool (Uk)
Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock	Hello Honey A4 Cardstock	Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock
It's My Party Enamel Dots