Hurrah for the weekend and what's more, the start of the half term holiday for the James juniors! They each have at least a week off (one has two!) so we are looking forward to a rest from our full-on daily routine. I managed to get some time this afternoon to make a card for this week's sketch challenge over at The Global Design Project:

I decided to add another Christmas card to my stash - here's my card:

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

Presents and Pinecones - For my background I used a piece of the Presents and Pinecones Designer Series Papers, another of the packs that is available with the 'Buy 3, get 1 free' offer this month - you can read all about it here. This is a great sketch to really make a feature of a piece of designer series paper; check out the Global Design Team's creations for some inspiring examples of this.

It's That Time of Year - I used the large sentiment from 'Time of Year', one of the sets exclusively available to hostesses from the annual catalogue, for my focal point, stamped using the Emerald Envy ombre ink pad to co-ordinate with the lovely greens of the DSP. I also stamped the holly from this set on a piece of Whisper White and fussy cut it before adding to the edge of the rectangle to balance my sentiment and banner. This is such a great set with options to create a number of sentiment combinations for different occasions and great if you want your sentiment to make a statement on a card.

All That Glitters -  I decided to use a piece of red glimmer paper for the panel behind the sentiment to add a little sparkle to my project. I then cut a few different banners, but was struggling with the fact that they were masking out too much of the lower portion of my main sentiment. I decided to stamp onto acetate to allow for some transparency to the sentiment below and decide to use some red glitter embossing powder for a final glittery pizzazz - job done!

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. 

That's all from me; I'll be back tomorrow with this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Presents & Pinecones Designer Series Paper	Emerald Envy Ombre Stampin' Pad	Time Of Year Photopolymer Stamp Set	Red Glimmer Paper	Real Red Glitter Stampin' Emboss Powder
Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Window Sheets	Bunch Of Banners Framelits Dies	Emerald Envy A4 Cardstock
Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock

Happy Monday everyone! No creative post from me today; with only 4 days left this month, I thought it was a good time to remind you of the two offers that will finish at the end of this month:

• Earn Additional Stampin' Rewards with a single order or qualifying party sales  You can earn an additional £25 in Stampin' Rewards when you place an individual order for or reach qualifying party sales of £250 or more during the month of June. Don't forget these Stampin' Rewards can also be used towards a starter kit if you choose to join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator - making the starter kit even better value! If you would like to host your own Stampin' Up! party and take full advantage of the extra rewards, then please do get in touch! 

• Earn Free Stamps in June’s Promotion for New SU! Joiners.  As a demonstrator on my team, you will belong to a friendly team where you get to be the first to see and order products from upcoming catalogues. You also get to earn a discount on the products you already love – with no risks or penalties if you don't meet your quarterly minimum.  During the month of June when you join, you also earn two free stamp sets of your choice (they’ll be added to your starter kit). These can be any stamps at all from the new catalogue - so if you choose wisely (think alphabets and large sentiment sets!) these two stamp sets alone could be worth £91 or more. The Starter Kit is £99 for £130 of free product of your choice. My team is a mix of both hobby stampers and business demonstrators and I love and appreciate them all.  If you would like to take to me about becoming a demonstrator and joining us, please do get in touch for a no obligation chat about the benefits. Alternatively if you know this is the deal for you, don't delay and click here to join today!

Back tomorrow with a new card project; until then, happy stampin'!

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

For my card today I decided to use one of the new hostess sets, 'Pun Intended', along with some new paper from the Playful Palette Designer Series Paper Stack:

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

News Flash - You Are Awesome - ... and so are the extra Stampin' Rewards you could get if you hosted a Stampin' Up! party in June! The 'Pun Intended' stamp set has lots of fun images, including a bee, a light bulb and some super-punny sentiments. This set is exclusive to hostesses - and with an extra £25 of Stampin' Rewards for all party sales of £250 or more, you will have more than enough rewards for to get your hands on this stamp set or any of the other fabulous new hostess sets or other new catalogue goodies. I'm in love with this retro camera; here I've stamped it in black and punched out two circles to give a 3D look to the lens - I have lots more ideas for it though, so stay tuned!

Playful Palette - The Playful Palette suite contains lots of lovely products, including a designer series paper stack that includes papers with three of five of the new in-colours. It also contains some great black and vanilla patterns, such as the one I've used to create the background panel for my card today.

Watermelon Wonder-ful - When deciding what colour to choose to compliment my black/vanilla colour combo, I decided I would highlight the heart on my sentiment banner and wanted a red that was not too 'red', so happened upon Watermelon Wonder, one of my in-colour favourites from last year. It was the perfect colour for my card base and flagged banner too. I also added a little epoxy heart to add shine and subtle dimension to my heart, along with the final trio of rhinestones for sparkle.

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. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with 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:

The wait is over - it's June 1st and the new 2016-17 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue is here! I have updated 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 catalogue is fantastic, with so many great new products to choose from. The new catalogue is posted above and will be permanently linked via my blog if you don’t have a paper copy. If you have your paper copy and just want to go straight to the shop to place your order, click here. Don't forget to add the hostess code for June R2QV9WE6 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.

As if that wasn't enough though, there are also two fantastic promotions that make this catalogue launch even sweeter:

• Earn Additional Stampin' Rewards with a single order or qualifying party sales  You can earn an additional £25 in Stampin' Rewards when you place an individual order for or reach qualifying party sales of £250 or more during the month of June. Don't forget these Stampin' Rewards can also be used towards a starter kit if you choose to join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator - making the starter kit even better value! I still have some calendar dates free in June so if you would like to host your own Stampin' Up! party and take full advantage of the extra rewards, then please do get in touch! Which brings me on to the next 'big news' item for today:

• Earn Free Stamps in June’s Promotion for New SU! Joiners.  June 1 also kicks off a new promotion for customers to become demonstrators.  As a demonstrator on my team, you will belong to a friendly team where you get to be the first to see and order products from upcoming catalogues. You also get to earn a discount on the products you already love – with no risks or penalties if you don't meet your quarterly minimum.  Starting today when you join, you also earn two free stamp sets of your choice (they’ll be added to your starter kit). These can be any stamps at all from the new catalogue - so if you choose wisely (think alphabets and large sentiment sets!) these two stamp sets alone could be worth £91 or more. The Starter Kit is £99 for £130 of free product of your choice. My team is a mix of both hobby stampers and business demonstrators and I love and appreciate them all.  If you would like to take to me about becoming a demonstrator and joining us, please do get in touch for a no obligation chat about the benefits or call in at my open house event next week. Alternatively if you know this is the deal for you, don't delay and click here to join today!

• Save The Date - I will be holding my Annual Catalogue Open House Launch next week on Friday 10th June - if you live in or around Northampton this is a great opportunity for you to see some of the products up close, take advantage of my BOGOF sale of retired stamp sets, do a make and take and more! More details to follow in a separate post but if you would like to put your name down for this exclusive event then do get in touch!

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!

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:

So after everything I said about Delightful Dijon on my CCMC card last week, this week I've gone and used it again - out of choice! My card this week is all about our current in-colours, the 2015-17 In Colours to be exact:

I decided to create a washi tape striped inset background for my white butterfly, using the In Colour Designer Washi Tape that is an exclusive hostess gift which you can purchase with Stampin' Rewards when you host a Stampin' Up! party. I then chose the remaining elements of my card from there: a strip of white corrugated card for texture, a strip of watermelon wonder wide 1" stitched satin ribbon and for the back panel a piece of Colour Me Irresistible Specialty Designer Series Paper - I went with the Delightful Dijon because this is the only uncut piece in my pack! I finished my butterfly with a Mint Macaron  In-Colour Blossom Accent, finished with a rhinestone. I haven't added a sentiment to my card today as I wanted to add it to my stash of 'all purpose' cards, so will probably add one as I'm ready to send it.

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. 

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:

Today I have another clean and simple card for you, this time for this week's challenge over at CAS(E) This Sketch. I love playing along with their sketches, which can sometimes leave me lost at first glance but then often take me in an unexpected direction. This week's sketch is definitely one of those! Here is the sketch:

I spent considerable time thinking about how I was going to interpret this sketch and then ended up with not one but two very different creations! Here is the first one:

There are a number of key elements that make up this deceptively simple card:

A Cut Above - This great sentiment comes for the current hostess set in the Spring-Summer catalogue 'Love You Sew'. This exclusive set can only be purchased with Stampin' Rewards that are earned with qualifying party sales when you host your own Stampin' Up! party or place an individual order of £150 or more. Perfect for crafters, it includes a number of fun sentiments and craft-themed stamps and has been very popular with party hostesses throughout Sale-A-Bration. It is still available until the seasonal catalogue ends on May 31st, so if you would like to earn it for free then do get in touch to earn yours.

It's My Party - I love the bold and sassy colours and patterns of the It's My Party Suite and this card was perfect for a busy pattern, due to its simple design. What's more, the decision on which side to use was made easy - for today's card, both patterns are visible. Score! I simply cut a line across my DSP with my Stampin' Trimmer, then folded back the sides to create a 'v' in which to stamp my sentiment on the layer below.

Snip, Snip - The scissors stamp can be found in the 'Love You Sew' stamp set too and were the perfect embellishment for my split card front. I coloured them in with my Stampin' Write markers so that I could colour the handles and blades separately and positioned them'in action'.

Sew easy, sew simple! I just love this set and this sentiment makes for a perfect crafty congratulations - I shall probably make a few of these to keep on standby to celebrate my team members' achievements!

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. 

I've had a day of hair braiding, manicures and baking in addition to a few household chores today. I'm sure tomorrow will be equally fun! Back tomorrow with another very different interpretation of the same sketch; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Love You Sew Clear-Mount Stamp Set	It's My Party Designer Series Paper Stack	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Many Marvelous Markers
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

I've an extra card for you today; my spot of crafting yesterday gave me just enough time to squeeze in this fun card for this week's CAS(E) This Sketch:

I also used the colour palette over at Fab Friday, which seemed rather appropriate given the sentiment on today's card - after all, as the saying goes 'Let's paint the town red' right?

I used the hostess set 'Love You Sew' for my card today. The paint brushes and swish of paint stamp made the perfect backdrop for my sentiment; I stamped each paint swish twice on my mat of Very Vanilla and overlapped them beneath my sentiment oval in order to extend their length. I cut out my sentiment using my Big Shot and Oval Framelits and popped it up on a couple of dimensionals. A few punched hearts and an epoxy sticker on the largest heart finished my card. 

This hostess set is a great set for crafters and non-crafters alike - I just love the fun sentiments and creative possibilities. Whilst this sentiment isn't a particular 'love' themed one, I think my card could be used as a fun invitation to a loved one or group of friends perhaps. 'Love You Sew' is exclusively available to customers who host a Stampin' Up! party or place a single order that qualifies for Stampin' Rewards. Sale-A-Bration is a great time to host a party with extra hostess rewards available for qualifying party sales. If you would like to host a party, do get in touch; I have a few slots left before the end of March if you would like to take advantage of these great offers. in addition, for all of my customers who host a party between now and the end of Sale-A-Bration, I will provide them with a free 'to go' tutorial to make a set of fun cards using the 'Love You Sew' hostess stamp set. So what are you waiting for? Make the call!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Love You Sew Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Hearts Border Punch	Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack	Itty Bitty Accents Epoxy Stickers	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Real Red A4 Cardstock	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad	Blushing Bride A4 Cardstock	Watermelon Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad	Watermelon Wonder A4 Cardstock
Ovals Collection Framelits Dies	Big Shot	Magnetic Platform

It's time to shake off the January blues, today is THE day - yes, the highlight of the Stampin' Up! calendar, Sale-A-Bration is here! No more sneak peeks - the catalogue is available, the shop is live and from now until 31st March the benefits are yours for the taking. You can click on the icon above or the catalogue on the right hand side of my blog page to access the Sale-A-Bration leaflet to download a copy or go directly to my online shop to place an order - we are LIVE!

So what is Sale-A-Bration? For anyone who hasn't come across it before, it's Stampin' Up!'s annual promotion that is loaded with offers whether you shop, party or join:

Earn a free Sale-A-Bration product for every £45 you spend between 5 January and 31 March. It's the perfect time to purchase those products you've had on your wish list and earn more products for free! 

Pages 4–15 of the Sale-A-Bration brochure show products available throughout the entire Sale-A-Bration sales period (5 January–31 March 2016); Pages 16–19 show limited-time products available only until 15 February, after which another batch of limited-time products will arrive on 16 February!

Earn an additional £20 in hostess credits when you host a party and have party sales of £200 or more (this also applies to individual orders). So for party sales of £200, that makes a whopping £40 of Stampin' Rewards - more freebies! 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!

It’s the best time of year to join Stampin’ Up! During Sale-A-Bration, you can become a demonstrator for just £99 and choose £30 more of FREE products for your Starter Kit. Plus, the 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.

If you would like to host a party, real or virtual, please do get in touch; my diary is filling up fast and I would love to share these great benefits with you. 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 Spring-Summer 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. 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!

Thanks so much for popping by today - it's always nice to share good news! Check out today's creative post to see a card made featuring a lovely new catalogue product that you are going to be seeing a lot of - click here for more details!

As promised today I have a card using another of the stamps in the lovely hostess set 'Six Sayings', this time using the Halloween stamp and this week's CAS(E) This Sketch for inspiration:

I'm also linking up with this week's challenge over at Addicted to CAS since my card has a definite 'spooky' feel to it today - take a look:

I used Tangelo Twist as my card base and stamped my sentiment onto Very Vanilla using my Stampin' Write markers, so that I could colour the main word in Basic Black and highlight the 'BOO' in Tangelo Twist. I cut out the sentiment on the diagonal and backed it with a mat of Basic Black, but before adhering to my card I added in a couple of pieces of Spider Web doilies top and bottom - I just love these for adding a spooky touch to projects and a pack seriously lasts for ages!! To add to the theme, I fussy cut one of the ghosts from a sheet of the Happy Hauntings Designer Series Paper and placed him as if he was floating out of the 'O' of the 'BOO' - cute and spooky at the same time, right?! A sprinkle of black sequins finishes my card.

Another winner from the 'Six Sayings' hostess set - don't forget this set will only be available until the seasonal catalogue end on 4th January, so if it's on your wishlist then contact me about hosting a party before it;s too late!

Back tomorrow with my card for this week's new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary; until then, happy stampin!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Six Sayings Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Happy Haunting Designer Series Paper	Happy Haunting A4 Cardstock Pack	Spider Web Doilies	Metallics Sequin Assortment
Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker	2014-2016 In Color Stampin' Write Markers

Good morning everyone - another nice early post from me for a change! I had a lovely day yesterday making Halloween treats with all the little ones at the fundraiser that I attended; today it's all about music, with piano lessons and some last minute revision for Rebecca's music theory exam next week, along with completion of our holiday homework music project (I live in hope!) Anyway, enough about my plans for the day - I have a Christmas card to share with you today, for the current sketch challenge over at Pals Paper Arts:

I haven't played along with this challenge for a while - for some reason their posts stopped showing up in my blog feed - although I've sorted it now and this week's sketch intrigued me and so I had to play along. I decided to use the Christmas stamp in the new seasonal hostess set called 'Six Sayings' for my card today:

I love the saying on this cute Christmas stamp and I chose my colour scheme of Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler and Night of Navy as I thought it would work perfectly with my natural Snowflake Elements - yes, I actually left them in their undecorated glory today - no heat embossing or glitter in sight! I inked the stamp using my Stampin' Write Markers, alternating the lines for contrast, and for the Cherry Cobbler strip across the centre of my card, I also stamped it with the knit-pattern stamps from the current Project Life Seasonal Snapshot 2015 stamp set to add a sweater-feel to my card.

The wooden snowflake embellishments add a little bulk to this otherwise flat card, but at the same time this is an interesting way to use them and the use of the dark colours really allows them to stand out. As for the stamp set: 'Six Sayings' has a lovely selection of stamps that suit a variety of occasions and is exclusively available to be purchased with Stampin' Rewards to party hostesses or individual customers who place an order of £150 or more. There is still time to take advantage of the current promotion to earn an extra 3% of Stampin' Rewards on qualifying party sales before 9th November, so if this is something of interest to you, please do get in touch with me for more information.

That's all from me today; back tomorrow with news of this week's Wednesday deals and a little Halloween fun for you using another of the stamps in this lovely hostess set. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Six Sayings Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Project Life Seasonal Snapshot 2015 Photopolymer Stamp Set	Snowflake Elements	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Regals Stampin' Write Markers
Cherry Cobbler A4 Cardstock	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock