So many reasons to celebrate today - or should I say, Sale-A-Brate?!

First up, we have a new mini catalogue, with everything you need for your seasonal and festive crafting, to take you from autumn, through to Halloween, Christmas and beyond! Here is the new mini catalogue, in all its festive glory:

Just click on the image above or in the sidebar on the right to browse the catalogue online, or contact me on 07773 421446 if you would like a paper copy posted out to you and you don't already have a demonstrator; paper copies have been sent to my regular customers. If you are as excited as me and just can't wait, here's the link to my online store - everything is available to purchase from today!

And as if that wasn't enough, we get a second bite of the Sale-A-Bration cherry this year too, with our second 2 month long Sale-A-Bration promotion! Starting from today 3rd August until 30th September, you can once again get more bang for your buck when you shop, host or join. You can click on the catalogue on the right hand side of my blog page or below to access the Sale-A-Bration leaflet to download a copy or click on the icon above or on the right to go directly to my online shopto place an order - we are LIVE!

So a reminder of how Sale-A-Bration works: for anyone who hasn't come across it before, it's Stampin' Up!'s annual promotion that is loaded with offers whether you shop, join or host. You can earn a free Sale-A-Bration product for every £45 you spend between 3 August and 30 September. There is also the opportunity to earn even bigger rewards with a £90 purchase. It's the perfect time to purchase those products you've had on your wish list and earn more products for free! Here's a link to a video from the nice people at the Home Office that lets you see each of those free products up close in more detail:

I hope that was useful and rest assured I will be sharing plenty of additional projects on my blog in the next few weeks that show these items in more detail. 

It’s also one of the best times of the year to join Stampin’ Up! There is a fabulous joining option during this year's Sale-A-Bration promotion: as usual, you can become a demonstrator for just £99 and choose £130 of FREE products for your Starter Kit. In addition to an extra £31 worth of product in your starter kit, you can select an additional one of 12 bundles FOR FREE. Here are the bundles that you are able to choose from:

There couldn’t be a better time to join the Stampin’ Up! family. Plus, the whole kit ships for free! There is plenty of choice and flexibility, whether you want to be a hobby demonstrator and just use your discount to enable you to purchase craft supplies more cheaply, or alternatively would like to build a flourishing direct sales business and sell supplies to others - it's entirely up to you. 

Hosting is also even more rewarding during Sale-A-Bration. When you host a party and reach a certain amount in sales (see the Stampin’ Rewards chart in the Sale-A-Bration brochure for more information), you can earn a free stamp set - this time the 'In Your Words' stamp set shown above. Even if your order reaches the qualifying amount on your own outside of a party, you can earn the same free stamp set too, both in person and when shopping in my online store. What's more, you can even apply your Stampin' Rewards to a Starter Kit and become a demonstrator yourself - I would love to welcome you to my team!

If you would like to host a virtual party, please do get in touch. Equally if you've ever thought about becoming an SU! demonstrator, now is a great time to do so - I would love to have a no-obligation chat with you about joining my team and the benefits.

If you would like more information on any of the above, please don't hesitate to get in touch! 

Thanks so much for popping by - it's always nice to share good news! Back soon with lots of projects showcasing products from the new catalogue and today's clean and simple post for our new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Until then, happy shopping!

Happy Monday everyone! I had a little extra crafting time at the weekend so to start the week I have not one, but two cards that were inspired by some current challenges. My first card is using Amy's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and I'm also linking up over at Time Out where the code word is 'hungry' and at Christmas Craft Creations where their theme is 'anything goes':

I didn't let myself be put off by Amy's diagonal lines and decided that some festive gingerbread was in order - take a look:

My card features two of the designs in the Gingerbread & Peppermint designer series paper set from the upcoming mini catalogue - the gingerbread cookies are cut out of one of the papers (the sentiment is from a retired set):

This suite makes me hungry just looking at it - I mean, is it too early to start baking gingerbread in July?!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on this project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

My second card uses the colours over at Color Throwdown and I went across the top row of Paper Craft Crew's tic-tac-toe board with trees/diecut/watercolour:

Following my AYSI team mate Amy's fabulous watercolour using this stamp set, I was itching to have a go at creating with a stamp called 'feels Like Home' that will be free with a £45 purchase in the upcoming Sale-A-Bration promotion. I though the Color Throwdown colours had a lovely Mediterranean feel to them, so I had visions of holiday isles as I watercoloured my simple scene. I added a sentiment cut with one of the label dies in another new set, Harvest Dies:

This set so reminds me of summer holidays abroad; such a distant memory, but whilst my own garden doesn't look anywhere near as Mediterranean, it is my happy place so will be just fine until we are able to truly travel far and wide again.

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on this project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

I hope you are enjoying my sneak-peek shares - I can't believe I'm feeling so in the festive zone when it's so warm and sunny outside, but the temptation of a box of new goodies is too much to resist!

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Ann to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge for you to work with:

I had so many great ideas for this sketch! I also loved the rainbow of purples, blues and greens on that fabulous bird on the Color Dare inspiration photo, so decided to pair them with the stamp in the Colours & Contours set for a stem of rainbow flowers - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

Colours and Contours - I coloured the infill stamp of the main flower stem in the Colours & Contours stamp set using my sponge daubers and a trio of blue and purple inks, the cut it out with the co-ordinating die. I added it to a panel cut with one of the Scalloped Contours Dies (and narrowed slightly), having stamped the sentiment directly onto this panel. I added another sentiment and additional flower from the same set to the inside of my card:

Rainbow Glimmer - The rainbow of colours that I used enabled me to use some co-ordinating rainbow glimmer paper for my horizontal strips to compliment flowers. Whilst there's only a little of it visible, I love the addition of that sparkle and glimmer:

Pattern Party - In order to allow my glimmer paper to really stand out, I chose a piece of neutral black and white Pattern Party paper for my background. The Pattern Party paper pack is a hostess reward that you can earn with purchases of £150+ and is such great value with a great variety of patterns and designs too. 

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

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

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day; I will be spending mine cooking and having a lazy day with the family. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

COLOR & CONTOUR BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£47.50)	PATTERN PARTY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) HOST DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£17.00)	RAINBOW GLIMMER PAPER (£5.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)
COASTAL CABANA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PACIFIC POINT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

The wait is over - it's May 4th and the new 2021-22 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue is here! You will find a permanent link to the new catalogue on the right hand side of my blog but for today you need look no further than the picture below which will take you straight to the new catalogue: 

The new catalogue is fantastic, with so many great new products to choose from. I've sent paper copies to everyone who has shopped with me in the last 6 months; a digital copy of the new catalogue can be accessed via the image above and it will be permanently linked via my blog on the right hand side if you don’t have a paper copy and wish to browse. If you have your paper copy and just want to go straight to the shop to place your order, click here - ordering systems have now fully transitioned from the old stock items to the new so you are good to go! Also, remember to add the current hostess code for May 6N4HU7SN if your order is less than £150 and ensure your preferences are set to 'contactable' to receive a thank you in the post from me.

There are also a couple of promotions that go live today to coincide with the launch of the new catalogue:

The first is the hostess promotion that I talked about in this post. As a reminder, you can earn an additional £20 of hostess rewards when you have party sales of £200 or more between May 4th - June 14th: 

Just because we are still experiencing some social distancing, doesn't mean we can't get together. If you would like to organise a virtual party with me, just let me know - numbers are unlimited and it can be a great way to connect with friends far and wide for a session of crafty fun! 

If your wishlist is long, you might also want to consider a cracking good join promotion that is running through the month of May too: 

It’s a fabulous time to join Stampin’ Up! From 4–31 May, new team members get even MORE FREE products in their customisable Starter Kit: new team members can get £130 £154 worth of products for only £99 + free business supplies + free shipping + all the fun being a part of Stampin’ Up! I would love to chat with you about the benefits of joining my team and being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator; as always, you can always find the link to join my team on the right hand side of my blog page; alternatively it's right here if you fancy jumping right in!

I also have a number of classes lined up in coming months featuring products from the new catalogue - the first of which are detailed below:

• May 10th: Paper Pumpkin Bouquet of Hope Craft Along
• May 24th: Monthly Class: Dragonfly Garden
• June 21st: Monthly Class: Pansy Patch

Full details for these classes can be found on my Facebook Events Page  or alternatively under the 'Events/classes' tab on my website.

That's a lot of information for one post; if I were you I would put the kettle on, put your feet up and get comfy and settle down with your new catalogue for a browse and start creating that all-important wish list!

Back later this morning with today's creative post; until then, happy shopping!

The brand new 2021–2022 Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalogue goes live tomorrow on 4 May 2021, and Stampin’ Up! is having a celebration!

Stampin' Up! is all about connecting with others and sharing our love of crafting. Now when you connect and craft, you'll also collect the rewards! Anyone who places an order of £200+ or holds a party with £200+ in sales between May 4 - June 14 will receive £20 in extra Stampin’ Rewards!!  So that means that you’ll earn £44 at least in Stampin’ Rewards with any order or party of £200+ that is submitted between these dates! Yay!!

Here are the details:

• Customer, workshop and online order types all qualify for this promotion.
• Starter Kit orders do not qualify for this promotion.  But you CAN use your host cash toward the purchase of your Starter Kit, ask me for details!
• The qualifying amount must be reached with merchandise prior to shipping and tax.
• The £20 additional Stampin’ Rewards for this promotion will only be awarded once per order/party.
• Order Deadline:  June 14, 2021; 10:50 PM (BST)

Here is a flyer with the details:

Want to host a catalogue party?

Just because we are still social distancing, doesn't mean you can't still host a Stampin' up! party! If you would like to gather virtually with some friends, I can set up a host code for you and you can have your stamping friends place orders with your host code online.  If your party reaches £200 in sales, you’ll get that extra £20 in host cash when we close out your party! If you’re interested, ask me for details!

Today I'm sharing another card using that oh-so-pretty floral die, this time using this week's Global Design Project #GDP278 sketch. Those pretty pink stripes and florals were also inspired by the pastel-striped biscuits in the good-enough-to-eat inspiration photo over at Time Out this week and I'm also having a second entry over at Addicted to CAS where the theme is hearts:

My card is all heart for sure with my white floral version - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

I used a few narrow strips cut from some left over pieces of Oh So Ombre DSP (gotta love a Sale-A-Bration freebie!) I decided to make this card a clean and simple anniversary card, so added a silver heat-embossed sentiment to the banner that also comes in the Floral Heart Dies set. I've not used this before but I really like the way it folds and the stitched detailing. A sprinking of Rococco Rose sequins separated from my Woven Threads sequin assortment complete my card:

 I love the clean and delicate appearance of this card, with the soft pinks against the white. Very romantic, don't you think?!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

ALWAYS IN MY HEART BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£46.75)

OH SO OMBRE 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£0.00)

WOVEN THREADS SEQUIN ASSORTMENT (£4.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)

SILVER STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Julie is hosting this month and our first challenge of the month is a colour challenge: 

These colours were a bit of a challenge for me originally but I thought they would work well for a birthday card for a teenage boy - and I always need those! I decided to showcase another free Sale-A-Bration stamp set today - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

'Approaching Perfection' is another of the stamp sets that you can get for free with a Stampin' Up! order of £45 or more during Sale-A-Bration - and you still have another month to take advantage of this promotion! Full of fun birthday sentiments, it is perfect for clean and simple cards. I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to create an outer border of multi-coloured candles on my base, then add a stitched square featuring my sentiment to the centre, fussy cutting the 'news flash' so that I could highlight it in red - reminiscent of a red-top tabloid:

I'm also joining in with the current challenge over at Less Is More where they are looking for 'things in a row' - in addition to the rows of candles on my card, I decorated the flap of my envelope to match too:

A detail that might be wasted on the average teenage boy to be fair, but it made me happy! This is a great set for #SimpleStamping - you could easily forgo the stitched diecut. All you need is stamps, ink and paper - #SimpleStamping at its best!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

APPROACHING PERFECTION CLING STAMP SET (£0.00)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	POPPY PARADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PACIFIC POINT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
JUST JADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

Today I'm sharing a couple of cards I made using the first sketch of the year over at Fab Friday:

It's definitely a keeper, and is a sketch with lots of possibilities - I would definitely suggest you check out the DT cards and those in this week's gallery, as there are some great crafty creations. I considered a few options, but ended up going super simple and making a couple of cards to showcase some of my favourite FREE Sale-A-Bration papers - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

I just love the colours and bold floral patterns of the Paper Blooms paper, so decided to make a couple of cards with two of the patterns. A simple Night of Navy offset mat, sentiment in a Stitched Rectangle and added a loop of denim ribbon to each:

Here's the second one that I made where I flipped the colours:

And a shot of both cards together:

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your evening and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PAPER BLOOMS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£0.00)	HYDRANGEA HAVEN PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£24.00)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SEASIDE SPRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	3/8" (1 CM) DENIM RIBBON (£6.50)

Apologies everyone - this post was scheduled to go live yesterday but didn't publish (operator error, I'm afraid!) so here it is today!

We may be in a tier 5 national lockdown here in the UK, but that does mean at least lots of time for crafting! So what better time to announce that the first of this year's Sale-A-Bration 2021 promotions is here! Yes, this year times are a-changing and instead of just one 3 month long Sale-A-Bration at the start of the year, there will instead be two, slightly shorter promotions. The second one will be in July to coincide with the launch of the new annual catalogue, but the first one is happening now and runs from 5th January until 28th February. You can click on the catalogue on the right hand side of my blog page or below to access the Sale-A-Bration leaflet to download a copy or click on the icon above or on the right to go directly to my online shopto place an order - we are LIVE!

So how does Sale-A-Bration work? For anyone who hasn't come across it before, it's Stampin' Up!'s annual promotion that is loaded with offers whether you shop, join or host. You can earn a free Sale-A-Bration product for every £45 you spend between 5 January and 28 February. There is also the opportunity to earn even bigger rewards with a £90 purchase. It's the perfect time to purchase those products you've had on your wish list and earn more products for free! 

It’s also one of the best times of the year to join Stampin’ Up! There is a fabulous joining option during this year's Sale-A-Bration promotion: as usual, you can become a demonstrator for just £99 and choose £130 of FREE products for your Starter Kit. In addition to an extra £31 worth of product in your starter kit, exclusive to Sale-A-Bration, you will also receive a free stack of our Regals, Subtles, Neutrals, Brights, and 2020—2022 In Color Designer Series Paper along with your Starter Kit! There couldn’t be a better time to join the Stampin’ Up! family. Plus, the whole kit ships for free! There is plenty of choice and flexibility, whether you want to be a hobby demonstrator and just use your discount to enable you to purchase craft supplies more cheaply, or alternatively would like to build a flourishing direct sales business and sell supplies to others - it's entirely up to you. 

Hosting is also even more rewarding during Sale-A-Bration. When you host a party and reach a certain amount in sales (see the Stampin’ Rewards chart in the Sale-A-Bration brochure for more information), you can earn a free stamp set! Even if you reaches the qualifying amount on your own outside of a party, you can earn the same free stamp set too, both in person and when shopping in my online store. What's more, you can even apply your Stampin' Rewards to a Starter Kit and become a demonstrator yourself - I would love to welcome you to my team!

If you would like to host a virtual party, please do get in touch. Equally if you've ever thought about becoming an SU! demonstrator, now is a great time to do so - I would love to have a no-obligation chat with you about joining my team and the benefits.

As if that wasn't enough, today also sees the launch of the new January-June 2021 mini catalogue - full of gorgeous new products:

Just click on the image above or in the sidebar on the right to browse the catalogue online, or contact me on 07773 421446 if you would like a paper copy posted out to you and you don't already have a demonstrator; paper copies have been sent to my regular customers. If you are as excited as me and just can't wait, here's the link to my online store - everything is available to purchase from today!

If you would like more information on any of the above, please don't hesitate to get in touch! 

Thanks so much for popping by - it's always nice to share good news! Back soon with lots of projects showcasing products from the new catalogue. Until then, happy shopping!

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the amazing Claire to host this week and she has a timely Clean and Simple challenge for you to work with:

Back to school is still a few weeks away here in the UK, but I'm all for getting organised! Hopefully the Juniors will be returning to school properly; this is a big year for us, with one about to embark on GCSEs and the other moving schools for the start of year 9. So I have a couple of cards to share with you today, each made with them in mind. Here's the first one, that was inspired by the current sketch, colours and photo over at Sugar Pea Designs:

I used the sweet image of a young lady reading a book whilst sheltered under a tree from the annual catalogue hostess set, 'Summer Days', and coloured with my Blends in the likeness of Miss Rebecca, before cropping with my (retired) Circle Framelits and mounting on a Night Of Navy card base, with a Cherry Cobbler banner piece tied with some twine from my stash. The sentiment on the front of my card is from the 'Rooted In Nature' stamp set and I used another stamp from this set to complete the inside of my card:

My second card uses this week's Freshly Made Sketches layout from Jen B where I challenged myself to embrace the diagonal and got creative with my diecut sentiment - take a look:

I added a 'd' from the 'adventure' die and added it to the 'inspire' die in the Sweet Silhouettes set and combined with a 'be' from the Rooted In Nature set to create my sentiment and backed it with a black strip for a chalkboard effect, then anchored it with a stamped and punched red apple that I added a couple of clear epoxy dots too for a little shine:

And I finished off the inside with an inspirational quote from the 'Silhouette Scenes' stamp set: 

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's projects for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

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

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day; we have no special plans today and the weather is looking pretty poor, so I think it will be baking and board games for us! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SUMMER DAYS HOST CLING STAMP SET (£12.00)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	STAMPIN' BLENDS NIGHT OF NAVY COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS CHERRY COBBLER COMBO PACK (£8.50)
SOFT SUEDE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS BALMY BLUE COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS GRANNY APPLE GREEN COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BRONZE & IVORY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN BLENDS SMOKY SLATE COMBO PACK (£8.50)

SWEET SILHOUETTES DIES (EN) (£33.00)	ROOTED IN NATURE CLING STAMP SET (EN) (£39.00)	APPLE BUILDER PUNCH (£17.00)	HARVEST HELLOS CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SOFT SUEDE CARDSTOCK A4 (£8.25)	GARDEN GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)