This is my second post for today - scroll down or click here for my earlier creative post featuring today's card. Blendabilites may now be discontinued, but today Stampin' Up! has announced a number of additional catalogue products that you can earn for free with each £45 spend until the end of March while supplies last. Here are the details of each of the products that will form part of the offer:

Don't forget if you're ordering online to include the hostess code for March - 4AHTZQVW - and to ensure that your contact settings on the page tab headed up 'My Demonstrator' are set to 'YES', so that I can keep you informed on the progress of your order and send you a little thank you in the post.

That's all from me today; back tomorrow with a new set of Wednesday Weekly Deals and another project. Until then, happy shopping!

It's Sunday - my favourite day of the week! Why? Well, I usually get a cup of tea in bed before I start my day (and I definitely will today, as it's Mother's Day here in the UK) and it's time for our new challenge over at The Paper Players. This week the hugely talented Ann has a great clean and simple challenge for us:

I love CAS cards and decided that this week's challenge was the perfect opportunity to use my Lotus Blossom stamp that I received during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion. I also paired it with the colours over at Color Throwdown this week as I just love the purples and green of the inspiration photo - here is my card:

This set has been the most popular of all the Sale-A-Bration promotional items that you can receive free with a £45 spend amongst my customers and whilst I've used mine to demonstrate how to stamp the flower to my customers on a number of occasions, this is the first time I've actually used it to make a card - shocking! It's a great flower and perfect for CAS cards. I stamped the sentiment and my first image of the flower in Elegant Eggplant and the same for the second one, having stamped off first. I then stamped the third solid image in Perfect Plum. I used Old Olive for my stem and then stamped the first image again in Versamark, and overstamped the sentiment in Versamark too and heat embossed both of them in clear embossing powder. Try as I might I couldn't get it to show up in the photo, but this does look lovely in real life with a lovely glossy sheen and it adds a little texture to the flower. I matted my stamped panel on a piece of Elegant Eggplant cardstock and a Whisper White base, which really allows my blossom to take centre stage. To finish, I added a trio of pearls that I coloured with the darkest of my Wisteria Wonder Blendabilities (I'm not ready to part with these just yet, even though they are sadly no longer available). If the Lotus Blossom stamp is still on your wish list, you have until the end of March to receive it free with a £45 spend - 16 days left, so don't leave it too late. 

There are a whole host of amazing floral CAS cards from the Design Team this week; do pop by their blogs and take a look:

I look forward to seeing your floral CAS creations in our gallery this week. 

I am off for a morning of hockey and then hopefully home to roast dinner cooked by the men in our house! Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Lotus Blossom Photopolymer Stamp Set	Elegant Eggplant Classic Stampin' Pad	Perfect Plum Classic Stampin' Pad	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad	Elegant Eggplant A4 Card Stock
Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Versamark Pad	Embossing Buddy	Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool - Uk Plug
Basic Pearls Jewel Accents

This is my second post for today - scroll down or click here for my earlier creative post featuring today's card for our new challenge over at The Paper Players. I just wanted to share the exciting news that in addition to the 6 stamp sets, two paper packs, accessory pack and Project Life cards, oh and the Blendabilites range, from today Stampin' Up! are offering four additional products that you can earn for free with each £45 spend during the month of March only. There will be a link to the leaflet in the side bar on the right for the rest of the month - you can also click here or on the image below for the details of each of the products in all their glory:

Two great stamps sets to colour, some beautiful printed vellum and an in-colour accessory pack. A great way to make the most of the last month of this year's Sale-A-Bration promotion.

Don't forget if you're ordering online to include the hostess code for March - 4AHTZQVW - and to ensure that your contact settings on the page tab headed up 'My Demonstrator' are set to 'YES', so that I can keep you informed on the progress of your order and send you a little thank you in the post.

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

I'm just popping in to share with you a card that I made for this week's Mojo Monday challenge; I was going to share this yesterday, but was so tired when I got in from taking the James Juniors to their swimming gala I just wasn't awake enough to type! So here is this week's challenge sketch:

This is a great sketch for a feature sentiment; I built up my layers and took the opportunity to showcase not one but two of the great free gifts that you can earn with a £45 order during Sale-A-Bration: the stamp set 'Simply Wonderful', and the 'Irresistibly Yours' Speciality Designer Series Paper. Here is my card:

I stamped my sentiment in Island Indigo then added the flower stamp from the same set and a punched Itty Bitty flower finished with a candy dot centre. I layered this central circle to echo the colours and layers on the base of my card and used the central section of the base layer to feature the beautiful 'Irresistibly Yours' Specialty DSP. This white paper with its pre-embossed glossy white patterns could easily be overlooked in the Sale-A-Bration catalogue, yet when you colour it, it really brings it to life. For my card today, I chose to sponge mine with Crisp Cantaloupe ink to show the embossed flowers - isn't it pretty? the stamp set or the DSP could be yours with an order of £45 - or since you get to choose one free gift for each £45 spend, why not splash out and treat yourself to both? Sale-A-Bration runs until 31st March, so you have plenty of time to take advantage. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Irresistibly Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper	Simply Wonderful Clear Stamp Set	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Big Shot Magnetic Platform	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine
1-3/4 Inch Circle Punch	2" Circle Punch	Crisp Cantaloupe Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Crisp Cantaloupe	Pistachio Pudding Classic Stampin' Pad
Card Stock A4 Pistachio Pudding	Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad	Island Indigo A4 Card Stock	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Sponge Daubers

Today's card is for this week's sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch, where Chrissy has this rather intriguing sketch for us to work with this week:

Whilst musing the best way to create a pattern with diagonals that had a readable sentiment and used a design that was different from the designers' inspiration (some lovely plaid patterns there), I remembered this lovely card by Heather Klump that I saw on Pinterest the other week and I decided to combine both inspirations to come up with my card today. Here it is:

Using my stamp-a-ma-jig, I carefully stamped rows of love hearts from the 'You Brighten My Day' Sale-A-Bration set in Strawberry Slush, Pink Pirouette and Pool Party, aligning them to re-create the diagonal pattern of the sketch. I used a silver foil 'you' cut with my Big Shot and my 'Hello You' thinlits, popped up on rolled glue dots, for the final piece of my sentiment. 

I love this card - another pink and pretty affair this week! Looking forward to my first Project Life class of the year this morning and catching up with some of my lovely ladies who I haven't seen since before Christmas. Back with you tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hello You Thinlits Dies	You Brighten My Day Clear Stamp Set	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack	Paper-Piercing Tool
Stampin' Pierce Mat	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Strawberry Slush	Strawberry Slush Classic Stampin' Pad	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad
Pink Pirouette Classic Stampin' Pad	Silver Foil Sheets

Friday already - where did that week go?! I've had a lovely day today, with lots of people coming and going for my informal open house to showcase the best of this year's Stampin' Up! Sale-A-Bration offering. Today's card is one that I designed for this week's challenge over at Fusion where they are celebrating their first birthday - I used the photo inspiration but not the sketch, instead using the sketch over at Retrosketches this week for my layout:

The photo inspiration was the perfect opportunity to make a card with my new Chalkbox Chalk inks and blackboard paper, along with the 'Big Day' stamp set - yours free with each purchase of £45 or more during Sale-A-Bration. Here is my card:

On a base of Pink Pirouette, I added a few layers including another of the great patterns from the 'Stacked with Love' DSP stack. I stamped my chalkboard using Rose Coral chalk ink on blackboard paper, stamping the banner separately in pink and stepping up on dimensionals. I added a side tag, stamped with a sentiment from 'Simply Wonderful', another Sale-A-Bration set. I stamped the cake on pink cardstock and coloured with my Blendabilities pens and popped this up on glue dots. I also decorated the inside (but forgot to photograph it - doh!) The chalk inks have a lovely finish on the smooth blackboard paper that give a rather realistic finish.

I hope you like today's card; my technique class next week is featuring chalk inks and by popular request from my class ladies today this will be one of the cards that we will be making! If you live in or around Northampton and would like to join me for one of my classes, You can find my 2015 updated class schedule here. Crafters of all abilities are welcome so whether you've stamped before or fancy trying out a new hobby, do get in touch to find out more. We would love you to join us! Back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Chalkboard Paper	Rose Coral Colorbox Chalk Ink Pad	Stacked With Love Designer Series Paper Stack	Big Day Wood Stamp Set	Simply Wonderful Clear Stamp Set
Basic Black A4 Card Stock	Pink Pirouette A4 Card Stock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Pink Pirouette Assortment Stampin' Blendabilities Markers	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Smokey Slate Assortment

Given that today is all about the start of Sale-A-Bration and the launch of the new Spring-Summer catalogue, today's card had to celebrate that! You can read the full scoop on my previous post here, but right now I'm sharing a card made with 2 of the 3 co-ordinating products that can be yours free with each £45 purchase and a new punch from the Spring-Summer catalogue that is sure to be a hit! I used the sketch layout over at As You See It for my card today:

Here is my rather 3-dimensional card today - check out those bows:

A simple card base of Sahara Sand, stamped with the 'Best Day Ever' stamp from the stamp set of the same name (the hearts are also from the same set) and decorated with some ribbons from the 'Best Year Ever' accessories pack. Instead of tying bows with this lovely silky ribbon, I decided to finish this otherwise simple card with some overstated punched bows, made using the new Bow Builder punch - how cute are they?! These are just perfect for decorating little treat boxes and gifts and are made in a jiffy - check out this video from Stampin' Up! that shows you just how easy they are to make:

How clever and easy is that?! I can see us all getting through a whole bunch of glue dots with these - don't forget to add those to your order!!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Best Day Ever Photopolymer Stamp Set	Best Year Ever Accessory Pack	Bow Builder Punch	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad
Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana	Calypso Coral A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Crushed Curry	Sahara Sand A4 Card Stock
Mini Glue Dots

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 andfrom 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 6 January and 31 March. This includes the Blendabilities assortments in the annual catalogue -woohoo!

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 £50 of hostess credits - more freebies!

Sale-A-Bration is a great time to join Stampin' Up! In addition to your £99 starter kit and additional £31 of free product, you can choose one of the following options: either one of the great new project kits from the Spring-Summer catalogue or 2 of the Sale-A-Bration promotional items. Plenty of choice and flexilibity, whether you want to be a hobby demonstrator and just use your 20% 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.

As if that wasn't enough, today also sees the launch of the new Spring-Summer catalogue - full of gorgeous new products, including the bunch of flowers on the front cover, which is one of the new kits:

How gorgeous is that?! Just click on the image above on 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. 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 with some of the gorgeous new Sale-A-Bration products - click here for more details!

Welcome to my Sunday posting for The Paper Players where today Anne-Marie has a fun challenge to kick start us into the new year:

I also used Narelle's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches for the layout of today's card. So "Everything Old is New Again" - use a recycled or re-purposed item on your project. So many possibilities! Here is my card for this week's challenge - can you see what my re-purposed item is?

I used the lovely bird stamp from one of the exclusive 2015 Sale-A-Bration stamp sets called 'A Happy Thing' which is perfect for colouring with Stampin' Up! Blendabilities. I'm not sure what bird this is supposed to be, but to me it looks like a kingfisher, hence my colouring with Pumpkin Pie and Bermuda Bay (yes, I know - a new colour coming in the Spring-Summer catalogue) Blendabilities. I cut my coloured image out with one of my circle framelits and mounted it on a window frame in Island Indigo. Did you identify my re-purposed item yet? It's my 'designer series paper' - the patterned paper is actually the inside cover of the Sale-A-Bration promotional wrapper that is attached to the outside of the new 2015 Stampin' Up! Spring-Summer catalogue! Take a look at the photo below and you'll see what I mean:

The moment I saw this paper I thought it would make a useful 'DSP' and it was perfect for the large expanse of background for today's card as the subtle pattern wouldn't detract from my stamped image and the blue-green colourway was perfect to suggest a watery scene for my bird. So not only does the new Spring-Summer catalogue have a ton of great new products for you, it comes with some free 'DSP' too! I have started distributing catalogues to my customers in readiness for this week's launch; if you are reading this and you don't have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like to be added to my customer mailing list, then please do get in touch.

I'm off to start de-Christmas-ing the house; before you go off in search of items that you can recycle on your projects this week, do visit the other design team members to see what interesting ideas they've had this week:

I look forward to seeing your projects featuring recycled and repurposed items in the gallery this week. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

* 'A Happy Thing' stamp set - available 6th January - 31st March during Sale-A-Bration. Bermuda Bay Blendabilties - available 6th January.

Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Window Frames Collection Framelits Dies	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Pumpkin Pie Assortment
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Alcohol Marker Color Lifter	Island Indigo A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Soft Sky	Pumpkin Pie A4 Card Stock
Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Smokey Slate Assortment

I've had a fun day today, amongst other things transforming my kitchen table into a table tennis court and hosting a craft party for an enthusiastic group of ten year olds this afternoon. But enough about my day; I managed to make a quick card yesterday for the current challenge over at CAS(E) This Sketch:

This is such a simple sketch layout with so many possibilities and it was perfect for a simple 'I love you' card featuring one of the stamps from Pictogram Punches:

I used a Whisper White card base and created my bottom panel from a piece of Real Red cardstock edged with the Hearts border punch and overlaid this with a piece of Crisp Cantaloupe cardstock that I first dry embossed with the new Happy Heart Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, coming shortly in a few days time with the new Spring-Summer catalogue (I fussy cut the edge following the line of the hearts). I stamped my sentiment in Crisp Cantaloupe above the layered section, then using Real Red ink I overlaid a new 'love' stamp onto the heart - this stamp is from an exclusive Sale-A-Bration set called 'You Brighten My Day', available free with every order of £45 or more between January 6th - March 31st. It fits perfectly and makes the heart 'pop' a little. To finish, I added a thick baker's twine bow. 

I hope you like today's card. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

* Happy Heart TIEF and You Brighten My Day Stamp set available 6th January.

Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Card Stock	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Hearts Border Punch	Crisp Cantaloupe Classic Stampin' Pad
Card Stock A4 Crisp Cantaloupe	Crisp Cantaloupe Thick Baker's Twine	Pictogram Punches Clear-Mount Stamp Set