A quick post today to share some fun little Halloween treats that I've been preparing for a fundraiser that I'm attending next week. A friend of mine is raising funds for the Outspan School in Uganda where she sponsors a student and she invited me along to do a little crafting with the children and raise a few pennies.

We will be making a selection of sweet treats and fun Halloween favours, some of which I've shared with you before, such as these fun Halloween chocolate characters, with their Merry Everything Note Tag punched tags:

Some broomstick pencils, made with fringe scissor toppers:

Along with some pumpkin lollipops, made with the oval punch and some bird punch leaves:

A fun selection of treats that I'm sure we will have lots of fun making.

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Ornate Tag Topper Punch

Merry Everything Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Extra-Large Oval Punch

Bird Builder Punch

Fringe Scissors

It's Sunday and you know what that means: time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! This week it is the turn of the incredibly talented Sandy and she has a great theme challenge for you:

This is rather timely for me, as both of my Juniors are returning to school to begin a new academic year tomorrow following the long summer break, so it was a great opportunity for me to make a couple of cards to tuck into their schoolbags to wish them a good day. Here's my first card, using this week's Freshly Made Sketches layout:

I made this card for Rebecca - very pink and girly, but hopefully sufficiently grown up for a 10 year old about to embark on her last year of Junior School. This is a big year for her as she will be Head Girl too and whilst she was voted into this role by her peers and I know she will do a great job, she sometimes lacks confidence in herself so a card to remind her that she's amazing (to me at least!) will be just what she needs for day one.

I used a Whisper White notecard and covered the front with a piece of English Garden DSP, then stamped a little panel of flowers with some Old Olive ink and the Cottage Greetings stamp set and coloured them with my Stampin' Write markers. I stamped my sentiment banner in Mossy Meadow onto Pink Pirouette and finished with a baker's twine bow and punched Bitty Butterfly and a few pearls. I also stamped the inside (and remembered to take a photograph of it!):

I couldn't possibly make Rebecca a card without making one for Ben too, so here's my second card which uses the colours over at the Friday Mashup and the sketch over at As You See It:

For this card I used a Crumb Cake notecard base, and stamped the dino footprints from'No Bones About It' in Early Espresso, before adding my sentiment tag complete with an Into The Woods wooden leaf embellishment and a fussy cut Marina Mist triceratops, complete with googly eye. Wondering where the dinosaur's tail went? Well, it continues over the page - look:

Isn't that fun?! The sentiment is from the same set, although I selectively masked it to say 'day' instead of 'birthday' which is more appropriate for my card. The 'No Bones About It' set is just great for boys cards, with so many design possibilities. I love the idea of little surprise notes in the children's school bags and it's definitely something I don't do enough of, so this year I will defintitely be making more of an effort.

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I look forward to seeing what you create for Sandy's theme challenge in the gallery this week.  

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Card One: 

Cottage Greetings Clear-Mount Stamp Set	English Garden Designer Series Paper	Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes	Bitty Butterfly Punch	Hexagon Punch
Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad	Old Olive A4 Cardstock	Blushing Bride A4 Cardstock	Rose Red A4 Cardstock	Old Olive Baker's Twine
Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Many Marvelous Markers	Pearl Basic Jewels

Card two: 

Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Crumb Cake Note Cards & Envelopes	Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Pad	Wild Wasabi A4 Cardstock	Marina Mist Classic Stampin' Pad
Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad	Early Espresso 1/4" Cotton Ribbon	No Bones About It Photopolymer Stamp Set	Note Tag Punch	Into The Woods Elements

It's the start of the working week (for some!) and today I'm sharing one of the cards I made at last month's technique classes featuring the stamp set 'You've Got This':

The layout for this card is inspired by the one in the annual catalogue that features this stamp set. For my card I chose a base of Rich Razzleberry and a mat of Sahara Sand, then stamped the hatched background stamp image onto a piece of Whisper White  in Sahara Sand, having stamped off once first, and then overlaid this with the outline of the flower in Rich Razzleberry. This is a really versatile set - there is so much you can do with the flower stamp in terms of colouring (or not), fussy cutting (or not!) and the background stamp is one of those that will be useful for all kinds of projects. I wrapped a piece of Sahara Sand trim tightly around my layers before adhering to my base card and stamped my sentiment and punched it out with the note tag punch and tying it to the lace with some linen thread. I added a few pearls and my card was finished. The ladies in my class loved the simplicity of this card and how it could be recreated in lots of alternative colourways to achieve a different look.

My card was made with a specific friend of mine in mind. The lovely Pip Todman, of Queen Pip Cards, is a fellow SU! demonstrator who I presented with at Stampin' Up!'s European Convention in Brussels last October and has been working very hard to achieving some goals in her SU! business this year. She still has a little way to go but I wanted to send her this card to let her know I was thinking of her and send a few words of encouragement - I do believe 'good things are going to happen' for Pip this year and I am looking forward to celebrating with her when I see her in Brussels again in November. Do pop over to Pip's blog via the above link and leave her some Stampin' love, or better still if you live in or around Ash Vale or the surrounding Hampshire area, do check out Pip's classes - she would love to welcome you along! 

On the other hand, if you live in or around Northampton or just across the border into Leicestershire or Buckinghamshire, I would love to see you at one of my papercraft classes sometime soon. I run a variety of classes, from technique-based, to stamp-a-stack, 3D home decor and project-based classes, as well as Project Life memory keeping. My current schedule of classes can be found here or sign up to my newsletter for reminders and other news and information. My next technique classes for August feature the RMHC Sprinkles of Life stamp set and will be held on Tuesday 4th and 11th August - do get in touch if you would like to join me.

That's all from me today; I have another of the class cards using this stamp set tomorrow, so do pop back to see another take on this gorgeous set. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

You've Got This Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Pearl Basic Jewels	Sahara Sand 7/8" (2.2 Cm) Lace Trim	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Sahara Sand A4 Cardstock
Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' Pad	Rich Razzlebberry Classic Stampin' Pad	Rich Razzleberry A4 Cardstock	Note Tag Punch

Past the mid-way point - we are nearly at the end of the 'working week'! Today I'm sharing a cute little card that I made using the sketch over at Retrosketches this week, with a certain young man in mind:

 I turned the sketch clockwise through 90 degrees for my card, which is a cute little Valentine's card for someone foxy! Take a look:

I bought this little Valentine's set called 'Hey, Valentine' because it has some great little stamps in it, many of which can be stamped without their Valentine-themed sentiment and would work really well on a children's birthday card (especially the little pirate and the fish!) Today's card is my Valentine offering for my youngest James junior - I think he will love the adorable fox and the bright colours of today's card. I coloured the fox with my Pumpkin Pie Blendabilities and used a Pumpkin Pie card base to tie in the colour, highlighting around the edges with one of the lighter skin tone Blendabilities. I punched the tag out with my Note Tag punch and mounted it onto a piece of Real Red cut out with one of the Chalk Talk framelits and trimmed across the bottom to give a straight edge. I sponged hearts onto the corner of my Whisper White layer using Real Red ink and my hearts stencilling mask, to add to the Valentine's feel. A leftover piece of red satin ribbon (the current red cotton ribbon would work just as well) finishes my tag. Cute, eh? Plus the Chalk Talk Framelits and Skin Tone Blendabilties are both available on weekly deals this week so can be picked up at a fraction of their usual price. Why not treat yourself? You know you want to :-)

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hey, Valentine Clear Stamp Set	Note Tag Punch	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Chalk Talk Framelits Dies
Hearts & Stars Decorative Masks	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Card Stock	Pumpkin Pie A4 Card Stock
Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Pumpkin Pie Assortment	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Skin Tone Assortment	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Cherry Cobbler Assortment	Real Red 1/4" Cotton Ribbon

I haven't managed to blog the last couple of days as there's just been too much going on. Whilst I was intending to blog later today, I thought I would just share with you a card that I made with the ladies in my Technique Card Class this week, as it features two if the punches that are available on Wednesday Weekly Deals this week. My card was heavily inspired by this one by Inge Groot that a saw a couple of weeks ago. Here is my altered version, in the colourway that we made in our class:

The technique class featured the new Chalkboard paper and all the different ways in which you can use the lovely new chalk inks that are now available in the Spring-Summer catalogue. These inks have a fabulous soft chalk effect on the new Chalkboard paper; here we used it to stamp the tag from the 'You Brighten My Day' stamp set, yours free with a £45 spend during Sale-A-Bration, and behind this added some black and white baker's twine, some of the Best Year Ever ribbon and buttons (another Sale-A-Bration freebie) and a strip of cardstock punched with the Hearts Border Punch. All of this was mounted on a feature mat in Pink Pirouette that we embossed with the new Happy Heart embossing folder. I also made two more cards to the same design, but in two alternative colourways. This one is Aquamarine chalk in on Coastal Cabana, with Crushed Curry accessories:

Lastly, Yellow Citrus chalk ink and So Saffron, with Calypso Coral accessories:

I like that these cards are quite subtle, despite the bright appearance of the chalk ink in the pad itself - it's quite deceiving. Both the Note Tag punch and the Hearts Border Punch are on offer this week as part of the Wednesday Weekly Deals, as is the What's Up punch that also co-ordinates with the house stamp in the 'You Brighten My Day' stamp set. If this stamp set appeals to you and you would like to be able to create today's card, the following product bundle costs £47.87, includes both punches and would enable you to acquire the key supplies and get the stamp set for free:

Hearts Border Punch	Note Tag Punch	Chalkboard Paper	Aquamarine Colorbox Chalk Ink Pad
Happy Heart Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Basic Black Baker's Twine	Stampin' Dimensionals	You Brighten My Day Clear Stamp Set

All you need to add is the cardstock in the colours of your choice, a button and some ribbon from your stash. For everyone that buys this bundle from my online store this week and uses the hostess code 44JKUBHY, I will send you a separate little thank you gift from me in the post. 

Back soon with another creative post; until then, happy stampin'!

It's Wednesday so that means a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! This week's deals are included below - they will be available for one week only, before a new collection of deals is announced.

As always, if you want to take advantage of any of the deals on offer, you can support my business by placing your order online by clicking here or using the link to my store on the right hand side of my blog page where it says 'Shop Online' or with me in person. Don't forget to add the Hostess Code for January (you can find this under the 'Shop Online' section on the right) and be sure to make sure that you don't check the 'no contact' box if you'd like to be kept updated with the progress of you order and receive a little thank you in the post from me. 

Here's a summary of this week's one-week only Wednesday deals - click on each item to go to the online store to purchase:

Chevron Border Punch	Early Espresso 1/2" Seam Binding Ribbon	Hearts Border Punch	Note Tag Punch
Soft Sky 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon	Tangelo Twist 3/8" Satin Stitched Ribbon	Watercolored Winter Kit - Digital Download	What's Up Punch

This definitely is the week of the punch, with four great punches on offer. Both the What's Up Punch and the Note Tag punch co-ordinate with stamps that are available in the 'You Brighten My Day' exclusive stamp set, available free with a £45 order during Sale-A-Bration, so if this is a set you've had your eye on, this is a great opportunity to get even more value from your £45 spend. Some lovely ribbons and a gorgeous MDS set too.

Pop back later for a card that uses two of this week's punches, that I made with the ladies at my card technique class earlier this week. Until then, happy shopping!

I'm off to a Halloween party today with friends and I wanted to do a quick post to share with you some of the treats I made to take for the children. I found these cute mini pumpkins for the girls and slightly more scary eyeballs for the boys, and just tied them in some cellophane with the White and Tangerine Tango Two-tone Trim and added some cute tags:

I also found these cute chocolate Halloween figures that I dressed up with some covers made using the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch with a large oval punched out of the front section, and decorated with some colourful tags - I stamped the Halloween image from the 'Merry Everything' stamp set twice, once on Tangerine Tango then again on some scraps of retired Lucky Limeade cardstock and cut out the Dracula on the green cardstock and paper-pieced them together.

How cute are these? I'm entering these into this week's challenge over at Colour Q, as they were inspired by this week's colour scheme and challenge badge (I substituted Rich Razzleberry as my purple, since I didn't have and Concorde Grape):

Happy Halloween everyone! Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Merry Everything Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Note Tag Punch	Scalloped Tag Topper Punch	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
White & Tangerine Tango Two-Tone Trim	Extra-Large Oval Punch	Rich Razzleberry A4 Card Stock	Tangerine Tango A4 Card Stock
Basic Black Baker's Twine

I'm very late posting today - eek! - having had a fun day with the James juniors, amongst other things shopping for the contents for our annual Samaritan's Purse Shoeboxes. This is something we really enjoy and is a great way to encourage the children to think of others less fortunate than themselves as we are about to embark on one of the most commercial seasons of the year and to be grateful for all they have.

With gratefulness in mind, I thought I would share a little pumpkin that I made using the Curvy Keepsake Thinlit Die - this would make a perfect Thanksgiving table favour for my American readers and equally with an alternative tag would be suitable for Halloween too. There are tons of variations on pumpkins made with the thinlit die out there in blogland, but this is my version:

So simple to make: just cut two pieces of Pumpkin Pie cardstock with the thinlit, stamp the inner sections of the box with one of the stamps from the Work of Art set, then finish with some Old Olive leaves cut using the Fun Fall Framelits, some twisted tendrils, a couple of my favourite Autumn Wooden Embellishments and a tag from the Merry Everything set, all tied on with linen thread. I love this die and have made so many gorgeous boxes with it; I am hoping to be able to share some of them with you later this week.

Meanwhile, today I'm going to leave you with a fun photo that is destined for this year's Halloween Project Life page for sure - whilst out shopping today, we treated ourselves to some Halloween 'trick or treat' donuts at Krispy Kreme; sure enough, we had one of each filling:

The oozing green filling was actually quite nice, but the appearance was definitely a surprise!

Back tomorrow with this week's Wednesday Deals and my Design Team post for Colour Me...! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Curvy Keepsake Box Thinlits Dies	Merry Everything Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Note Tag Punch	Fun Fall Framelits Dies
Autumn Wooden Elements	Work Of Art Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad	Pumpkin Pie A4 Card Stock
Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad	Old Olive A4 Card Stock	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock	Linen Thread
Fuse Fast Adhesive