Well, I don't know if I should say it, but as the children are about to return to school tomorrow we have had the most glorious day weather-wise - might summer have finally arrived? Let's hope so! We had a BBQ lunch in the garden, long bike ride and a picnic tea in the country park today - we thought we'd better make the most of the opportunity, just in case it's once again short-lived!

This week is also all about classes: I had the pleasure of running a private party yesterday evening for the lovely Maria and 6 of her friends - you can find out what they got up to on my Facebook page and if you live in or around Northampton and would like to host a similar event, do get in touch - and tomorrow is my regular monthly card class. This month we are featuring the stamp set 'Springtime Hello' and the card that I'm sharing today is a slight variation on one that we will be making in class. It is also my entry for this week's 'Colour Me...!' challenge, where in contrast the colours have a rather autumnal feel:

I wanted my card to have a natural feel, so thought these colours would be perfect for my card. Here it is:

I used Naturals Ivory cardstock for my central panel - I haven't used this cardstock before and it has a great texture for this type of card - then inked up the wild daisy stamp using my Crushed Curry, Cajun Craze and Wild Wasabi marker pens and stamped the flower. I created the script background using one of the stamps in the retired 'French Foliage' set - I inked it in Baked Brown Sugar and stamped off twice before stamping onto my panel so that it would have a very faint background effect.  Lastly, I stamped both the bee and the sentiment in Baked Brown Sugar and added a little Crushed Curry to the bee again with my marker pen. I then mounted this panel on a mat of Baked Brown Sugar and centred on a card base of Very Vanilla. I think this card has quite a vintage feel - like a botanical drawing in an old book. This set is in the current Spring-Summer catalogue and along with lots of others is one that will be retiring at the end of the month, so if it's on your wish list, you only have a little while longer to purchase it.

That's all from me - back tomorrow with another card. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Springtime Hello	Naturals Ivory A4 Card Stock	2013-2015 In Color Stampin' Write Markers	Baked Brown Sugar Classic Stampin' Pad	Subtles Stampin' Write Markers
Regals Stampin' Write Markers	Card Stock A4 Baked Brown Sugar	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock

I haven't had any time for crafting today, so I'm going to share with you a simple pop up card designed by Monica Gale that I made at our quarterly training session last month and that I made with my ladies at our recent Fresh Prints All Day Craft Event - here is the outside of the card:

I added a few layers of Fresh Prints papers onto a Coastal Cabana card base, then stamped the 'Make a Wish' stamp from the Perfect Pennants set in Crumb Cake and punched out with a 2 3/8" Scalloped Circle punch layered onto a 2 1/2" circle out of Real Red cardstock, The banner was cut from a scrap of DSP and the 'a' stamped on red card and punched out and popped on a dimensional for added dimension. To decorate, I stamped a star from 'Simply Stars' in Real Red on Whisper White cardstock, added a DSP star using the Merry Minis star punch and secured with a gold glimmer brad with a twist of gold threaded baker's twine behind for a little added sparkle.

Inside the card there is a really simple little pop up made by cutting two short horizontal slits in the liner, which is made out of a notelet:

A few more stars and a simple birthday greeting and it's done - a fun little pop card suitable for either gender. I'm hoping to get into my craft room tomorrow and catch up on my crafting, although there is a big basket of ironing competing for my attention, so might need to get that out of the way first!

Either way, back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper Stack	Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes	Perfect Pennants	Simply Stars	Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana
Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Card Stock	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad	2-3/8 Inch Scallop Circle Punch	2-1/2 Inch Circle Punch
1/2 Inch Circle Punch	Gold Baker's Twine	Basics Glimmer Brads

A quick post from me this evening as I sit with my feet up relaxing following today's all day workshop. We had a lovely time and everyone left with lots of completed projects and plenty of leftover bits and pieces to make lots more things at home. The following card, designed by Monica Gale, was one of my favourite projects:

The feature of the card is a Stippled Blossoms rose that is stamped partially off the tag; this is backed with a couple of strips of Fresh Prints DSP and then finished with a red grosgrain ribbon bow and a sentiment cut with the word window punch. A simple enough card but a great way to use the Stippled Blossoms stamps and great practice for getting to grips with your stamp-a-ma-jig. I'm on a mission to make sure all my ladies can use theirs and truly reap the benefits (much to their dismay at times, I'm sure!) of this amazing little plastic sheet and its accompanying t-piece. Thanks ladies for your patience!

My next monthly card class is on Monday 2nd June and will be featuring the 'Springtime Hello' stamp set. If you live in or around Northampton and would like to come along, please do get in touch for more details - experienced and non-experienced crafters welcome.

Back tomorrow hopefully with a special blog post for you; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Stippled Blossoms Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Scalloped Tag Topper Punch	Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper Stack	Lots Of Thanks	Real Red 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon
Word Window Punch	Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad	Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Pad
Crumb Cake A4 Card Stock

Good evening lovely blog readers! I've had a busy day today with lots of household chores and last minute preparations for an all day class that I'm running tomorrow with some of my favourite crafting ladies. Today I thought I would share with you one of the projects that we are making at our class tomorrow - a cute little tote made using the Envelope Punch Board:

This project was designed by Monica Gale and is one that I made at our last team quarterly training day. It's made using the papers from the Fresh Prints DSP stack and decorated with a tag stamped from the 'Hello Lovely' stamp set. I just love the colours and patterns in this paper stack and as a card maker these papers offer such great value for money at just £6.25 for 48 sheets. We are also making a set of thank you notelets to go inside - this would make such a nice little gift for someone. I'm looking forward to making this and lots of other projects with my ladies tomorrow; if you live in or around Northampton and would be interested in attending any of my cardmaking or project classes, you can find my current class schedule here or just contact me for more information.

That's all from me; back tomorrow with another project. until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Envelope Punch Board	Hardwood	Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper Stack	Hello Lovely
Lots Of Thanks	1-3/4 Inch Scallop Circle Punch	Pansy Punch	1-1/4" Scallop Circle Punch	Decorative Label Punch
Real Red 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon	Basics Glimmer Brads	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Card Stock	Word Window Punch
Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad

This morning I held one of my weekend project classes. They generally last longer than my monthly card classes and are a great opportunity to do something different and a little more involved. Following a successful class last December to make festive Christmas banners (you can read more about that and see our wonderful creations here), at the request of a few of the ladies who attended I decided to hold one to make a Spring/Easter banner with the other half of our banner kits. I chose a colour scheme that would compliment that of the Burlaps and Blooms wreaths that several of us made at my last weekend project class - you can see my finished wreath here. So here is my completed banner:

I chose to feature the word 'Spring' on my banner, as I am intending to leave it up to decorate for a while, but some of the ladies in my class made one that featured the word 'Easter'. We stencilled our backgrounds and letters using the now retired Build a Banner stencil kit in Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango and Pool Party with lettering in Smoky Slate.

The banner is decorated with flowers made with the Spiral Flower Originals Die and punched and die-cut butterflies. Here are some close ups of the individual banner pieces - this is the first piece, with a layered butterfly with a lightly embossed layer and some tiny ones punched out with the Itty Bitty Butterfly punch: 

Here's a close-up of one of the letters, along with a couple of the spiral flowers; a single yellow flower and a two-tone blue flower, finished with some Smoky Slate leaves cut out with the Secret Garden framelits:

This one has a So Saffron single flower and a two-tone one in Tangerine Tango and Crisp Cantaloupe, finished with an extra-large pearl, along with a bitty blue butterfly:

My banner simply served as inspiration and as is often the way with this kind of class, everyone makes theirs slightly differently and adds their own unique touch. If you hop on over to my Facebook page, you will be able to see the finished banner that Julie, one of the lovely ladies who attended the class made - different to mine, yet equally gorgeous!

If you live in Northampton and would like to join any of my card or project classes, check out my schedule of forthcoming classes here or contact me for more information.

Back tomorrow with a card to share; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Spiral Flower Originals Die	Beautiful Butterflies Stampin' Up! Bigz Die	Secret Garden Framelits Dies	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Pool Party A4 Card Stock
So Saffron A4 Card Stock	Daffodil Delight A4 Card Stock	Tangerine Tango A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate	Card Stock A4 Soft Sky
Card Stock A4 Crisp Cantaloupe	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin Ink Refill	Tangerine Tango Classic Stampin' Ink Refill	Pool Party Classic Stampin Ink Refill	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Ink Refill
Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder Die	Bitty Butterfly Punch	Sponge Daubers	Basic Pearls Jewel Accents	Large Pearl Basic Jewels

Today I'm sharing some of the cards I made using the Happenings Simply Created Card Kit that features in the Spring-Summer catalogue. The kit contains everything you need to make 15 cards, including envelopes and costs just £13.50 - that equates to 90p per card, which is great value for a hand-finished card. It doesn't include inks or stamps - you can use the 'Says it All' set suggested in the catalogue, or you can use whatever sentiment sets you already own. I used a selection of stamps on my cards, and added in a few additional items on a few of them too. So here's my first card, which is made up following the basic design that is included with the kit:

I then added in some co-ordinating accessories just to change things up a little on some of my cards - I created some embossed sections using the new Arrows embossing folder and the Hexagon embossing folder:

I also used some punches to create shapes that mirrored the patterns of the die-cut accents to add some interest:

These kits would be great for a beginner or someone who hasn't stamped before, as a gift for someone or even just when time is short and you want to create a whole bunch of cards in one go, but that can be varied such that each is unique. If you would like to buy the Happenings Simply Created Kit or any of the other items I've used on my cards, just click on the links in the table below to go straight to my online store or give me a call if you're local to me and I can place the order for you. We are using these kits in my classes this week and I can't wait to see what my ladies will come up with. I managed to decorate all of cards and still have some embellishments left over to decorate a gift box to hold some of the cards I made - come back tomorrow to see a video tutorial showing how I made it using a new tool that I'm sure you will find useful!

Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

I've had quite the busy weekend and today I had my first weekend project class of the year. I love weekend project classes; they allow a little more time than we have at our monthly card class to do something a bit more involved. Today we made the Burlaps and Blooms Spring Wreath - such a lovely welcome nod to Spring after the cold of winter and the wet weather of late. So without further ado, here is my completed wreath:

This wreath comes as a kit (minus the chevron ribbon) and with the aid of a hot glue gun contains everything you need to put it together. There are several different flower types that form part of the decoration. Here are some close up shots that show the detail - here's the large bloom made up of individual petals:

 Here's one of the fringed flowers on a large flower base:

And lastly another fringed flower with a one of the layered flowers secured with a silver brad:

Isn't this wreath just so pretty? If you'd like to see the wreaths that the ladies at my class made today, do pop on over to my Facebook page to take a look (feel free to give me a 'like' at the same time!); they look similar to mine, but both have their individual touches that make their wreaths unique.

Half term is over so James Juniors are back to school tomorrow - normality (or at least, as 'normal' as it gets!) returns! I'll be here tomorrow with a fun card; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Yay - it's the weekend! We don't have any special plans this weekend, but sometimes that's a nice way to be. Homework, swimming lessons enough of a dry spell to get outside and shoot some hoops this afternoon and some time spent doing jigsaw puzzles - what could be nicer? Today I'm sharing another of the cards we made at this week's card class, featuring the items that can be yours free with a £45 spend. This card uses my favourite of the Sale-A-Bration stamp sets, Petal Parade - here is my card:

This card is a CASE of this one made by the talented Mary Brown; I loved this card when I saw it - the layering and the fussy-cut flowers really make it something special. In addition to which, it features three great Sale-A-Bration items (Petal Parade, Decorative Dots TIEF and some of the lovely baker's twine from the Sweet Sorbet accessory set) and one of my new favourites from the Spring-Summer catalogue - the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch. For my version of this card I wanted to use different colours and a pop of colour on my sentiment banner and offset my tag at a more jaunty angle. I hope you like it!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Pool Party A4 Card Stock	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad	Pistachio Pudding Classic Stampin' Pad
Summer Starfruit Classic Stampin' Pad	Scalloped Tag Topper Punch	Happy Watercolor	Basic Black Classic Stampin' Pad	Petal Parade Clear-Mount Stamp Set
Sweet Sorbet Accessory Pack	Decorative Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Well, that was a week! One of my busiest and I sure am glad it's the weekend. Tonight I thought I would share with you one of the cards we made at my classes this week. All the cards we made featured Sale-A-Bration products that could be yours free with an order of £45 or more. Today's card is another featuring the 'You Make Me Happy' stamp from the 'See Ya Later' stamp set:

We stamped the sentiment onto the centre of our 'sun', which we constructed from layered circles and either triangles created with the new triangle punch or banner pieces using the banner punch (my sample shows triangles). I cut a tiny cloud out of an offcut of silver foil and added it to the front on a dimensional to add interest, and added a strip of This and That washi tape below the embossed panel just to bring a little colour and create definition.

If you would like to be the proud owner of this stamp set, then pop on over to my online store via the product links below to place your order. If you live local to me in Northampton and the surrounding area, why not come to one of my monthly card classes or my weekend project classes? My full class schedule can be found here; you don't need to have any previous knowledge or experience, we are a friendly bunch and all are welcome. Do give me a call if you'd like to know more.

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

Stampin' Up! Products Used:

Daffodil Delight A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad	Calypso Coral A4 Card Stock
Card Stock A4 Soft Sky	Epic Day This And That Designer Washi Tape	2-1/2 Inch Circle Punch	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Circles #2 Originals Die
Silver Foil Sheets	Triangle Punch

Evening lovely blog readers! So big news of the day: my voice is (almost) back! Great news for me, not so great for my youngest when he announced he had lost his trainers following his PE lesson just 3 days into the new term - but that's a story for another time!

Today I'm going to share the last of this week's class projects: a gift card holder, once again made with the Envelope Punch Board. I've seen a few holders made in this way on the internet, but I adapted mine slightly to enable me to make it from half a sheet of A4, using metric measurements. So here is the finished gift card holder from the outside:

No apologies for once again using the Flowerfull Heart stamp (I still love it!), this time overlaid with 'love' cut from gold foil using the Expressions Thinlits die (don't forget these are only available to purchase until the 1st February). There's also another sneak peek of new product available in the Spring-Summer catalogue that launches on 28th January; did you spot it? Yes, it's the lovely gold washi tape which I paired here with Very Vanilla to make my pocket. There are lots of silver and gold items in the new catalogue, so if this is your thing, stay tuned - there will be more to come. The flap closure for the gift card holder is the bit you need the Envelope Punch Board for - it makes the two notches that enable the holder to stay closed and keep the gift card firmly in place.

When you unclasp the flap, this is what you see inside:

The insert is attached to the opening flap so that it slides out of the pocket as you open it and presents the gift card. I designed my gift card holder with a wedding or engagement gift in mind - vouchers or money seem very popular gifts these days, but you could easily adapt it for a birthday or other occasion. One thing is for sure - when it's as easy to make as this, there's really no excuse for a simply sticking a voucher in an envelope or worse still a carrier bag (believe me, it happens!!)

That's all the projects from my classes this week - I hope they've inspired you to go and be adventurous with your Envelope Punch Board. If you live local to me in Northampton and would like to attend any of my Stampin' Up! papercraft and card classes, you can find the current schedule of my card and project classes on my website here; please contact me for further information regarding location and any equipment you will need to bring. Classes must be booked at least 2 weeks in advance of the class date.

Back tomorrow with a Sale-A-Bration sneak peek; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Envelope Punch Board	Flowerfull Heart Wood-Mount Stamp	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad	Hearts Collection Framelits Dies
Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Magnetic Platform	Standard Cutting Pads	Expressions Thinlits Dies	Cherry Cobbler A4 Card Stock
Gold Foil Sheets	Sassy Salutations Clear-Mount Stamp Set