Yes it's arrived - Sale-A-Bration, the best time of the Stampin' Up! year begins today!

Sale--Bration runs from today, 28th January until 31 March 2014 and there is so much to celebrate - you can read all about it by clicking on the brochure in the side bar of my blog, but the key things to know are:

FREE GIFTS: For every £45 you spend during Sale-A-Bration, you get a free exclusive Sale-A-Bration gift - and there are 13 to choose from!

MORE FREE GIFTS: Get £25 more to spend on any Stampin' Up! products with a qualifying party*

EVEN MORE FREE GIFTS: If you decide to join Stampin' Up! during Sale-A-Bration, you can choose £150 worth of products for only £99 (instead of the usual £130). All this in addition to a 20% discount on future product purchases, the ability to order new items in advance of everyone else, along with the wider benefits that joining a company such as Stampin' Up! has to offer. Also, if you join my growing team of Stampin' Up! demonstrators, you will receive additional benefits, including a FREE copy of my Product Table Builder software to help you make the most of your online sales opportunities - this is an exclusive benefit to those who sign up to be a part of my team (worth £35). My team is a mix of those who are hobby demonstrators and those who use Stampin' Up! as a business to earn them additional income and are a great bunch - everyone is welcome and I would love you to join us.

The best way to see these products is to attend my February classes, which will feature Sale-A-Bration products, or give me a call on 07773 421446 and arrange to host your very own Stampin' Up! party. To whet your appetite, I made a short video showcasing lots of the Sale-A-Bration products - they look even better close up than in the brochure, so why not click on the link below and take a look:

I hope that got you all excited - don't forget, please get in touch via [email protected] or call me on 07773 421446 if you would like to get your hands on some yourself or click on the links below to hop on over to my online shop! 

Today also sees the launch of the Spring-Summer catalogue, featuring some lovely new products - please check out today's other post for more information on my favourite things!

Lots going on today so back soon with more creative delights; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Sale-A-Bration Products available free with a £45 spend:

Petal Parade Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Sweet Sorbet Designer Series Paper	Decorative Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Sweet Sorbet Accessory Pack	Good As Gold Card Kit
Banner Blast Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Banner Punch	You're Lovely Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Twisty Treats Kit	Heartfelt Banner Kit
See Ya Later Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Hooray For Parties Digital Ensemble	One Big Sale-A-Bration 2014 Digital Ensemble

*An extra £25 of hostess credits will be earned for all qualifying party sales of £250 or more.

I know lots of my lovely blog readers have already purchased and are benefiting from the Product Table Builder application that I developed with my 'Dearly Beloved' (husband!) to help independent Stampin' Up! demonstrators worldwide to create links in their blog posts to the products used in their online DBWS store, and are finding it a great time-saver.

I use it every time I do a product 'make' post - it really takes no time at all. Some of the feedback I've received from happy Stampin' Up! Demonstrator customers includes:

"I LOVE it - well worth the investment!" - Monica Gale, UK

"It's easy peasy ... seriously easy! Amazing value for money!" - Carole Bryson-Wood, UK

"An excellent tool. "- Helen Ding, UK

"Thanks again for your great program!" Sabine, Germany

"The Product Table Builder is a great tool. I'm looking forward to using it on my blog." Dörthe Thiele, Germany

"It's a great program and does exactly what I want to do on my website! Saves a lot of time and very easy! "- Lindsay Tindal, UK

"What a great tool!" Colleen Vassos, Canada

For those of you that either missed my original post or haven't come across it via another SU! demonstrator, here is the link to my YouTube video which shows you what it's all about and just how easy it is to use:

Today is the last day that the Product Table Builder from The Crafty Owl will be available at the introductory price of £20. From tomorrow, it will revert to its standard price of £35. So what are you waiting for - if you fancy a bargain, get shopping today!

Click here for the link to my shop to purchase. Back soon with another creative project; until then, happy stampin'!

Evening all! I've been busy in the kitchen today icing biscuits that I baked yesterday in readiness for end-of term teacher gifts later in the week. More to do tomorrow and I will endeavour to share some pictures later in the week, but for today something fun! A little while ago I entered a competition to create a video advertising a Stampin' Up! event or product. The winners were announced at this year's European Convention and whilst I didn't win, today I thought I would share with you my entry as it features - yes, you've guessed it - the Stampin' Up! Gift Bow Bigz Die!

This really is a great product, as there is so much you can do with it, including, but in no way exclusively, make the most beautiful bows. In addition, as with all Stampin' Up! dies, it will cut cut not only cardstock, but other materials too: cork, coaster board, fabric, felt and lots more. The inspiration for my video came from Bryony the elf, who features in one of my favourite Christmas movies, 'Arthur Christmas'. She is an ace gift wrapper whose catchphrase is "there's always time for a bow!". Here she is doing her thing:

And here I am, doing mine:

Did you spot the 'make' that I haven't shared with you separately? It really is so easy to use the Gift Bow Bigz Die to make so many different projects. I still have more I would like to share with you; I just need more hours in my day to make them all!

I hope you enjoyed today's fun video - back next time with more creative inspiration. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Big Shot Die-Cut Machine

Standard Cutting Pads

Gift Bow Bigz L Die

Sticky Strip

Just a quick reminder to let everyone know that the Clearance Rack has been updated and there are now lots of items available, some with as much as 80% off. There are packs of A4 cardstock from just £2.49, lots of ribbon and even the Holiday Stocking Bigz Die if you wanted to make some last minute Christmas stockings!

So, what are you waiting for - click here to go the clearance rack in my online store and grab a bargain whilst stocks last!

For my second post today I have something very exciting to share with you: if you're a Stampin' Up! demonstrator who, like me, enjoys writing a blog and sharing your creative ideas, read on! 

Since having had a DBWS online store earlier in the year, I've been listing the products used in my daily blog posts and linking them to the corresponding product in my online store. There are a few different ways in which you can do this, but if you do it manually 'the long way' it's very time consuming. I investigated other tools in the marketplace that are designed to make this job easier, but found them to be generally quite expensive.

So I set to work with my genius of a husband and created our very own Product Table Builder! The Product Table Builder from The Crafty Owl is designed specifically to build product links to a demonstrator's DBWS online store and feature the Stampin' Up! products you use in the projects you blog. The Stampin' Up! Product Table Builder from The Crafty Owl is highly customisable to provide you with the correct look and feel for your blog. You have complete control over the following aspects of your product table:

• Include a border around the completed table to ensure if stands out in your blog post.
• Include a border around each product so it looks more like a button.
• Control the colour of the borders so that they fit your existing blog themes.
• Change the size of the product images to use more or less space in your post.
• Increase and decrease the number of table columns so your product table fills your blog post.
• Advanced options also allow further customisation including border links, CSS inclusion and other advanced features.

If you look at my earlier blog post, you will see two examples of tables that have been built using the Product Table Builder from The Crafty Owl - here's a screen shot of what it looks like on the screen:

 If you would like to see the Product Table Builder in action, please check out this video that shows exactly how it works, from the easy installation to using it to link the products you use in your blog posts to your DBWS online store:

 The Product Table Builder works in conjunction with your unique Stampin' Up! demonstrator ID and can be used with UK, US, European or South Pacific stores/catalogues. It has also been tested and proven to work with a wide range of the most common blog platforms.

I can honestly say that this little piece of software has totally revolutionised my blog, saving me a considerable amount of time in building product links into my Stampin' Up! blog posts. Today I am pleased to be able to offer The Product Table Builder from The Crafty Owl to you to purchase at an introductory price of £20 during the month of December. This is an introductory offer that is valid for the month of December 2013 only; from 1st January 2014 it will be on sale at the standard retail price of £35.

If you would like to purchase a copy of The Product Table Builder from The Crafty Owl, please click on the link below or the button on the right hand side of my blog to order yours:

The Product Table Builder from The Crafty Owl runs on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 (not Windows RT). It will not run on iPads, Mac Books or other Apple products. It will not run on Android Tablets or Windows RT devices, e.g. Windows Surface.

If you have any questions, please drop me a line at [email protected] or leave a comment below and I will be happy to answer them. As with all other content in my blog and on my website, this product has been developed by me independently of Stampin' Up! and is not endorsed by Stampin' Up! in any way - just wanted to make that clear!

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin' (or product table building!)

Good morning lovely readers - no blog post yesterday as I had some very important last-minute work to finish, but do not fear - today there will be (at least) two blog posts to make up for it!

So today we're having a short break from Christmas projects as it's the first of December and the launch of Stampin' Up's 'Whole Lot of Love' promotion - stamps and products designed with Valentine's Day in mind, but can be used for lots more besides. You may have noticed that Valentine's-themed projects didn't feature in the current seasonal catalogue, hence this special promotion to enable you to be prepared in good time for the big day. There are some great products in this set, ranging from cute (Monster Hugs - adorable! - available from 9th December) to practical (pre-cut card and envelope sets) and romantic (check out that Eiffel Tower!) to beautiful (the Flowerfull Heart - a keeper that would look just as beautiful on a birthday card for someone special). Here are the images for each set:

Aren't they great? I'll have some samples to share using a selection of these products in the not-too-distant future, but meanwhile in keeping with the theme I thought I would share this card with you that I made using the 'love' Thinlits die: 

If you're a fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator and you attended our recent European Convention in Manchester, you may well have seen this card already. It was one of the projects I entered for the Convention Design Competition and whilst it didn't win, it was on the display boards for everyone to enjoy. My other project was 3D, but I chose this card as my second project as it's very clean and simple and typical of my papercrafting style. I am in love with these thinlits and also like how they can be used not only with the word itself, but you can use the relief too - no need to throw away this piece, a real two for one! I created an ombre background in the relief - I love this technique and think it looks great when done in inks with a brayer or sponged, but also like the clean look it gives with this kind of project. A few extra pieces and a small diamante just finish it off.

One of the funniest things that happened at Convention was that I attended an early Friday evening workshop and left my two downline team members who were attending Convention with me to browse the display boards. When I met up with them later, they both said to me 'You should come and see this card on the board - we love it and think you will too.' And the card? Without them knowing it was mine, they led me to this card! What can I say? Great minds clearly think alike! It did give me a lovely warm feeling inside though - love you, my little Crafty Owls!

Check out the product links below if you would like to have a go at either recreating my card or purchase any of the lovely new Valentine's products.

Back tomorrow with another creative project; check out today's other post though if you're a Stampin' Up! demonstrator - your life is just about to get a whole lot easier ....

Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used (for love card):

Stampin' Up! Whole Lot of Love Products (Monster Hugs available from 9th December):

Love You More Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Love You More Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Follow My Heart Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Follow My Heart Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Flowerfull Heart Wood-Mount Stamp
Sweetheart Treat Bags	Sweet Sayings Cards And Envelopes

Today is Digital Download Tuesday so I'm doing a quick digital-focused post with a link to both this week's and last week's weekly digital downloads (I forgot to post last week's links with all of the Digital Scrapbooking Days offers going on):

If you look at this week's downloads, you will see a new and exciting development for those of us new to MDS - online project classes! Three have been added to the store today, with a new class to be added on every last Tuesday of the month. These classes will vary in price depending on what is included in the accompanying brushsets and they are great as a means to learn both beginner and more advanced techniques. Here's a quick look at the brushsets for the first three classes to be released - click on the images for more information:

Theses video classes are not meant as a replacement for the many technique-based videos available free of charge at MyDigitalStudio.net, rather they will supplement these. Instead of focusing on one technique only they will cover a number of different aspects through the creation of a variety of projects. To access these classes, you simply purchase via my online store then download your file and log into MDS as usual.

Lastly, follow the link from my Facebook page (it would be great if you 'liked' my page first if you haven't already!) or go directly to the My Digital Studio Facebook page here and enter the competition to win the November bonus class absolutely free!

Back shortly with today's creative post; until then, happy digital stampin'!

I hope you've all been enjoying Digital Scrapbooking Days this past week Daydream scrapbook kit:

Once again, check out today's post at MyDigitalStudio.net to see what the MDS designers have created using this kit. Lastly, if you missed any of this week's daily deals, you are in luck: for today only, each of the offers of the last 8 days is available again today! Just click on the images below to go to my online store to download your copies.

It's nearly the end of the Digital Downloads Offers week - we are at Day 7 already! Today's 50% off kit is the Autumn Traditions Kit:

Check out today's blog post at MyDigitalStudio.net to see how the designers have used this set to create Thanksgiving dinner invitations and a lovely autumnal scrapbook page. If this leaves you inspired enough to want to create your own items using this kit, just click on the image above and hop over to my online shop to download your copy today whilst there is 50% off.

Back later with today's creative post. Until then, happy (digital!) stampin'!

I've had a busy day today and have another tomorrow, so a couple of short and sweet posts from me today as I may not be able to squeeze in a post tomorrow before my next class this week. So, firstly, today's digital scrapbooking day 50% offer - today it's the turn of the Be Brave Pocket Cards:

There are a couple of very different layouts using this set over at MyDigitalStudio.net, so if you need some inspiration, pop over and take a look. Remember, the set is only available at half-price for today only, so click on the image and pop over to my online store if you would like to purchase it.

Back shortly with today's creative post!