It's Wednesday and you know what that means: a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! These offers are valid for one week only. As always, a new collection of deals will be announced next Wednesday.

If you want to take advantage of any of the deals on offer, you can support my business by placing your order online by clicking here or using the link to my store on the right hand side of my blog page where it says 'Shop Online' or with me in person. Don't forget to add the new Hostess Code for December 99Y3W6CF if your order is under £150 and be sure to make sure that you don't check the 'no contact' box if you'd like to be kept updated with the progress of you order and receive a little thank you in the post from me. 

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

Be The Star Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Bermuda Bay Baker's Twine

Classy Designer Buttons

Simply Scored Diagonal Scoring Plate

This is a great opportunity to remind you that the Stampin' Up! Year End Sale is still underway, with more lines having been added.

There are some great bargains to be had, some of the most notable being:

Festive Designer Kraft Wrapping Paper Rolls - just £3.58 for a pack of two and versatile enough to be used all year round.

Angled Tag Topper Punch - just £12.57, a great tool to make light work of tags all year round.

Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper - just £3.98 a pack!

All this plus lots of ribbon, Christmas stamps and kits - only available until 4th January or while supplies last! You can check out the full list here. 

Back later with today's creative project; until then, happy shopping!

Good evening lovely readers! Have you missed me? I took a week off to celebrate Christmas with my family and friends. Whilst I had plenty of projects to share, my blogging opportunities have been few and far between. I hope you all enjoyed a lovely Christmas and are still making the most of the festivities. Today has seen me back in my craft room though and the first real opportunity to create with my new Spring-Summer catalogue goodies, so I now have lots of sneak peeks to share with you in advance of the catalogue launch next week!

The first is a sweet little project using the new hostess set 'Love You Sew' and showcasing some of the fabby new baker's twine that is in the new catalogue - take a look: 

I made a fun little cotton reel card from a Stampin' Up! notelet using my Envelope Punch Board and stamped it with the cross-stitch hearts and sentiment from 'I love you sew' and wound a long length of the gorgeous new two-tone baker's twine (available in a combo pack with a roll of Basic Black/Mint Macaron twine too), finished with a Melon Mambo Brights button and a bow. An epoxy pink heart embellishment and a decorated envelope finish my card.

I often make these little cotton reel cards to share ribbon and twine samples with customers as it's such a nice way to present it - the addition of a sentiment makes this into a fun card! I'm linking today's card up with the lovely ladies over at 'Less is More' where the theme this week is 'Homespun'; I think my cotton reel works! 

If you like this set, it will be available exclusively to all customers who either place a single order or who have combined party sales of £150 or more. There are some great incentives to host a party during Stampin' Up!'s Sale-A-Bration event that also begins next week on 5th January when the new catalogue launches; more information on this to follow, but if you would like to book a party please contact me now to get a date in the diary. This is such a lovely set for crafters with lots of humorous sayings, you will definitely want to add it to your collection. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hostess set - 140640 Love You Sew - available 5th January

140555 Baker's Twine Combo Pack - available 5th January

Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Envelope Punch Board	Itty Bitty Accents Epoxy Stickers
Brights Designer Buttons

It's Sunday and whilst there is no Paper Players post from me today - we are taking a couple of weeks off from our design commitments to enjoy the festive season with our families - however fear not - as promised I still have a project to share with you today! 

My December technique classes featured creating backgrounds with the salt technique. I had created the following pair of cards cased from the lovely Jen Timko just for fun:

I just loved the white, layering and beautiful and unique sky created using this fun technique:

You can see Jen's card and a great video on the technique here. In my class we made a similar card using the 'Jingle All the Way' stamp set but the real focus of our class was a 3 dimensional Christmas bauble ornament and a co-ordinating box to gift it in, all featuring backgrounds made using this technique. Here is my finished bauble:

This bauble is quite stunning in real life; the layering, silver foil and embossing and dazzling diamonds glimmer paper, along with that amazing sky, really show the Sleigh Ride Edgelits off to full advantage. I'm so sorry that these will not be carried over on 4th January; if you haven't already purchased them, place your order now before it's too late!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Jingle All The Way Wood-Mount Bundle	Silver Cording Trim	Silver 5/8" Satin Ribbon	Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper	Silver Foil Sheets
Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool (Uk)
Watercolor Paper	Aqua Painters	Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Ink Refill	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Ink Refill	Iced Rhinestone Embellishments

I've had a few blog-free days this week - so much going on with the end of the school term and Christmas preparations, blogging has had to take a bit of a back seat - however today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary so I'm back with it and this week we have a great colour combination for you:

My card this week is all about the reindeer - take a look:

I decided to make a feature of the reindeer antler paper and vellum from the Winter Wonderland designer series paper, with a little gold glimmer paper, a few gold sequins, corded trim and one of my favourite reindeer paper clips to finish off my little layered tag. A little bit of layering but still easy enough to make for those last minute Christmas cards and a great way to use up that rather tricky heavily patterned paper.

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's colours; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too! Due to the Christmas festivities, this challenge will run for two weeks instead of one, so lots of time for to squeeze in an entry!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

It's Wednesday and you know what that means: a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! These offers are valid for one week only. As always, a new collection of deals will be announced next Wednesday.

If you want to take advantage of any of the deals on offer, you can support my business by placing your order online by clicking here or using the link to my store on the right hand side of my blog page where it says 'Shop Online' or with me in person. Don't forget to add the new Hostess Code for December 99Y3W6CF if your order is under £150 and be sure to make sure that you don't check the 'no contact' box if you'd like to be kept updated with the progress of you order and receive a little thank you in the post from me. 

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

And Many More Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Brights Sequin Assortment

Cherry On Top Cotton Paper Assortment

Pretty Petals Designer Series Paper Stack

A fun stamp set and lots of colour today! 

Back later with today's creative project; until then, happy shopping!

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! This week it is the turn of my good friend LeAnne to host and she has the following colour palette to get our creative juices flowing this week:

This is a special week for us as we say goodbye to our guest designers Jodi, Amy and Lisa. We are grateful that these lovely ladies have shared their considerable talent and creativity with us for the last 6 months and we wish them well on their respective journeys. We will miss you!

For my card this week I was inspired to use yet more of the lovely Home For Christmas paper and designed my card all around the holly. I also used the sketch over at The Global Design Project for my layout:

Really simple, allowing the holly patterned paper to do all the hard work on this one. The sentiment is from 'Oh What Fun' and the sentiment piece cut using the Tags and Labels Framelits. I added some Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon and highlighted the berries on my holly with pearls coloured with my retired Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities. I also created a second version of this card whilst I had everything out on my desk, using the same sketch but this time using the similar but slightly different colour palette over at Paper Pals Arts this week:

I used gold foil to make my sentiment banner stand out and fussy cut some holly from the dsp in place of the stamped sentiment and also added a flatter, more post-friendly bow with a scrap of ribbon I found in my stash:

Here's a close up of the label detail:

I really like how the gold gives a different effect.

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

I look forward to seeing what you create with this colour combination this week. We are hoping to put our Christmas tree up today - it's time to really get our Christmas preparations underway!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Home For Christmas Designer Series Paper	Oh, What Fun Photopolymer Stamp Set	Big Shot	Tags & Labels Framelits Dies	Pearl Basic Jewels
Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad	Mossy Meadow A4 Cardstock	Gold Foil Sheets	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Cherry Cobbler A4 Cardstock

It’s the end of the year, so Stampin' Up! is having a clear out and making room for new products - and they are offering us some great savings while they do it! More products have been added to the clearance rack and select items from the autumn/winter catalogue have been discounted (products on the Autumn/Winter Retiring List are now discounted up to 40 percent.) During the Year-End Sale, you can find ALL discounted products in one location in the online store: under the Year-End Sale category. So don’t fret if you don’t see the category “Clearance Rack” on the online store right now - it has been integrated into the Year-End Sale.

Key details of this promotion are as follows:

• Promotion Dates: 10 December 2015–4 January 2016.        
• No minimum purchase required.
• No refunds or exchanges on Year-End Sale items.
• Items offered during the Year-End Sale are while supplies last.
• Non-Year-End-Sale items can be added to their online or demonstrator orders.
• Year-End Sale orders are eligible for Stampin’ Rewards with qualifying orders.

You can find a link to everything that is available in the online store here or give me a call to place your order over the phone or if you live locally in Northampton to save on postage.

There are some great bargains to be had; until tomorrow, happy shopping!

Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a great sketch for you:

I'm still making Christmas cards and wanted something quick and easy that packed a punch, so I decided to go with the only piece of Holiday Fancy Foil Vellum I haven't used - the Christmas trees - and the 'Your Presents' stamp set:

I layered my vellum over a base of Mint Macaron, then added a panel of Whisper White edged in silver glimmer paper with my popped up presents, stamped in Real Red and decorated with either the 1/8" striped ribbon or a bow from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits. I stamped my sentiment from the same set, punched this out with a 1 3/4" circle punch and popped it up on a dimensional so that it balanced out the gifts.

Do visit the other Design Team members to see how they interpreted this week's sketch; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

It's Wednesday and you know what that means: a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! These offers are valid for one week only. As always, a new collection of deals will be announced next Wednesday.

If you want to take advantage of any of the deals on offer, you can support my business by placing your order online by clicking here or using the link to my store on the right hand side of my blog page where it says 'Shop Online' or with me in person. Don't forget to add the new Hostess Code for December 99Y3W6CF if your order is under £150 and be sure to make sure that you don't check the 'no contact' box if you'd like to be kept updated with the progress of you order and receive a little thank you in the post from me. 

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

Crushed Curry Baker's Twine

For The New Two Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Precision Base Plate

Stamp A Bag Photopolymer Stamp Set

The deal of the week this week has to be the Precision Base Plate - essential for all Big Shot users to get the best cut on those intricate dies and thinlits and reduced to only £16.50 for one week only -  the perfect Christmas present for the seasoned crafter. 

Back later with today's creative project; until then, happy shopping!

Today's blog post is something of a public service announcement: with eighteen days until Christmas and just 6 days until you can place your Stampin' Up! orders in order to guarantee delivery in time for Christmas - last date for orders guaranteed to deliver before Christmas is Sunday 13th December - I wanted to share with you two of the most popular kits in the Stampin' Up! range that make the perfect Christmas present. 

The first is the Tin of Cards Project Kit that features on the front of the annual catalogue. Here's a picture of everything that's included:

The kit contains blanks and envelopes to create 16 cards and comes with a lovely card organiser storage tin and dividers to keep them in when you're done. Add a Tin of Cards stamp set, a couple of ink pads and some adhesive and you are good to go! Or if you're an existing crafter with supplies, you could use any ink pads and stamp set to achieve great results. Here's a picture I took of my finished set:

Those helpful people at the Stampin' Up! Home Office have even produced a little video showing you how easy this kit is to put together - you can see it here:

My favourite kit of all though has to be the Watercolour Wishes Card Kit. Whether a seasoned crafter or someone who has never stamped or even crafted before, this is a fabulous all-inclusive kit that contains everything you need to create 20 unique cards with pre-watercoloured designs. Check out the kit contents:

The kit has envelopes, card blanks, die cut pieces and flowers, sequins, dimensionals, wooden embellishments, a roll of washi tape and an acrylic block, two mini ink pads and a 12 piece stamp set - and it comes in a beautiful gift box all ready to gift. All this for £31.50; this kit really does make the perfect gift! There will be lots of embellishments left over and the ink pads and stamp set can be used for lots of other projects when the kit cards have been completed. 

Here's a photo of just some of my completed kit:

I love to sit and make up my kits with my good friend Barbara; they are so quick to make and have full colour instructions that are so easy to follow. It always makes for a pleasant couple of hours!

If you needed further convincing, then here's another video with more detail:

If you would like to order either of the above kits, please click on the links below  to order from my online store or if you live in or around Northampton, please email me or give me a call - I will even gift wrap for you if you wish!

Christmas shopping with Stampin' Up! is easy - and who wouldn't love to receive such a lovely gift in their Christmas stocking??!

That's all from me today; back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy shopping!

Links to my Stampin' Up! Store - Watercolour Wishes Kit:

Watercolor Wishes Card Kit

Multipurpose Liquid Glue

Links to my Stampin' Up! Store - Tin Of Cards Project Kit:

Tin Of Cards Project Kit	Tin Of Cards Photopolymer Stamp Set	Jet Black Stazon Pad	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad
Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad	Multipurpose Liquid Glue