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!

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)

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)

Good morning everyone! I am playing catch up slightly due to a busy week. I hope you are enjoying your weekends and if you're in the UK are enjoying the return of the sunshine, even if it's windy enough to lose your hat! 

I just wanted to let you know that BONUS DAYS ARE BACK! Do you remember this promotion from last year? It was so successful, Stampin' Up! have decided to repeat it this year. 

For every £45.00 you spend between 1 July and 3 August (before delivery), you’ll get a £4.50 Bonus Days coupon that you can use between 4 and 31 August. Our new annual catalogue has been out for a month now, so I'm sure you will still have long wish lists; this is a great opportunity to shop from it and make savings when you shop again in August with your coupons! 

There are some details in terms of small print that you need to take note of, as follows: 

• Promotion period: 1 July –3 August 2020
• Redemption period: 4–31 August 2020
• An email address is required to participate in this promotion; Bonus Days coupon codes can only be delivered via email.
• If a participant earns multiple codes from a single order, they will receive one e-mail with multiple codes. If they earn multiple codes from multiple orders, they will receive separate e-mails for each code earned.
• It is strongly recommended that you both save emails containing their Bonus Days coupon codes AND write down the coupon codes in a safe place. Codes cannot be resent if the email is lost, and lost codes cannot be recovered.
• Bonus Days coupon codes can be redeemed for any product, excluding Starter Kits.
• There is no limit to the number of coupons you can receive per order or throughout the duration of the promotion.
• There is no limit on the number of coupons you can use on an order during redemption.

With redemption of any coupons earned coinciding with the launch of the new Autumn Winter catalogue too, you will have the perfect excuse to put them to good use! In the meantime, happy shopping!

The wait is over - it's June 3rd and the new 2020-21 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue is here! I will be updating my links on the right hand side of my blog and you will find a permanent link to the new catalogue there, 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 12 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 June NSKDEXBA 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.

Here's a quick video that Stampin' Up! have produced given a quick catalogue walk through of some of the highlights to wet your appetite:

 There are a number of items that are already on backorder and the main things that feature in the new catalogue that are not available on launch are the new die cutting machines - I will let you know as soon as these are going to be available to purchase. Most items are ready and waiting to be bought though!

As mentioned previously, this year's catalogue launch is online over on my Facebook Page. This is a great opportunity for you to see some of the products, take advantage of my BOGOF sale of retired stamp sets, and have some fun even if you don't live in or around Northampton! Click here to browse the BOGOF list.

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 throughout the month of June: 

Just because we are socially 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 June too: 

 I will write more about this another time, but the deal is simple: for £99 receive £130 of products of your choice and in addition any stamp/tool bundle FREE. Yes, any of the stamp/punch bundles on p.168-169 or stamp/die bundles p.173-179 in the new catalogue - so potentially another £55 of free product - what a great deal! 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:

• 15th June - Blossoms in Bloom
• 6th July - Lovely You Bundle
• 27th July - Arrange A Wreath Bundle

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 tomorrow with a new project; until then, happy shopping!

The brand new 2020–2021 Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalogue is going live on 3 June 2020, and Stampin’ Up! is having a celebration!

Anyone who places an order of £200+ or holds a party with £200+ in sales during the month of June 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 June 3 and June 30! 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 30, 2020; 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 £250 in sales, you’ll get that extra £25 in host cash when we close out your party! If you’re interested, ask me for details!

Do You Need A Copy Of The New 2020-2021 Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalogue?

If you have placed an order with me in the last 6 months, then your catalogue is on its way to you, if you haven't received it already. If you are not a current customer of mine but would like to be and you live in the UK, email your address to me at joanne@thecraftyowl.co.uk and I’ll get your copy of the new 2020-2021 Stampin’ Up! catalogue in the mail ASAP!

Join In The Fun!

I am having my own kickoff celebration this week to celebrate the launch of the new annual catalogue over on my Facebook Page. If you are a UK customer and don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like to join us, please click here to join in the fun! There is a 'Buy one, get one free' BOGOF sale of retired product happening, along with lots of info, fun, shares, quizzes and giveaways - you'd be mad to miss it!

Let me know if you have any questions.  Back soon with another project; until then, have fun making your shopping list!