Today it's a special day: the Colour Me...! challenge is celebrating its first birthday and so the co-creators, the lovely Hayley and Tara, are hosting a party to celebrate! As one of the outgoing designers, I was invited to choose any previous challenge colour combination and create a card for this week's showcase. I decided to go with the creative choice from week 5, which enabled me to use some of the gorgeous new 'Best Year Ever' DSP from the 2015 Sale-A-Bration offering; I also used this week's sketch layout over at Create With Connie and Mary, as this layout was perfect for what I had in mind: 

As much as I've enjoyed making Christmas cards these past few months, I am so ready for a change! The colours of the promotional designer series paper and co-ordinating embellishment packs are like a breath of spring air - take a look:

I based the colour scheme for my card on the feature colours of the Best Day Ever papers - Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry, Soft Suede and Sahara Sand, with white as my neutral - isn't it a gorgeous colour combination for Spring? I used two pieces of the same paper for my card, paired with a couple of blocks of solid colour, as the background for my card, then used another Sale-A-Bration promotional item, the 'Big Day' stamp set to create my focal point. What better than a birthday cake with a single candle for a first birthday?! The sentiment is from the same set. I stamped them both in Soft Suede, before colouring with my Calypso Coral and Coastal Cabana Blendabilities. Did you know that Stampin' Up! Blendabilities work with many of the standard Stampin' Up! coloured ink pads, in addition to Memento Black? Sometimes an alternative colour outline works really well and can give a different effect. I decided to create a little 'badge' to anchor my sentiment, using a punched circle, a number 1 cut with my retired Typeset alphabet Bigz Die (you could use the Perfect Print Bigz Number Die as an alternative) and a punched gold glimmer star. I coloured the envelope to match and I even created a fancy sentiment inside my card:

Both the Best Day Ever DSP and the Big Day stamp set are items that could be yours free with a purchase of £45 or more during Sale-A-Bration; Slae-A-Bration starts early this year on 6th January, so not long to wait now! I made this card to congratulate Hayley and Tara on their first Colour Me...! anniversary, however it would work just as well for a child's first birthday I think in this colour scheme.

That's all from me today; do pop by the Colour Me...! challenge blog and see what other birthday delights are in store. I hope you have a fun New Year's Eve planned - mine will be a quiet one - and I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

* Best Day Ever Designer Series Paper and Big Day stamp set available 6th January.

Calypso Coral A4 Card Stock	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Calypso Coral Assortment	Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Coastal Cabana Assortment	Card Stock A4 Crushed Curry
Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	2-1/2 Inch Circle Punch
1-1/4 Inch Circle Punch	Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack	Gold Glimmer Paper	Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

A quick (and late!) post from me today - I have one of the busiest weekends ever today and tomorrow. I've been putting the final touches to my class preparation for next week today and have spent the evening at the swimming pool with Rebecca as she was participating in a swimming gala. We are having a real 'girls versus boys' weekend; we each went to our separate swimming pools today (and Granny came along to watch Rebecca for the first time today too) and tomorrow Rebecca and I are travelling to London so that she can take part in an inter-school music festival with the rest of her school choir, whilst the boys have a fun day doing their own thing at home.

Anyway, with all that in mind there will be a couple of quick posts from me over the next couple of days. Today I'm sharing a gift I made for one of my customers who celebrated her birthday recently. If you follow me on Facebook, you will have see this photograph I posted yesterday of a lovely box I made using the Sweet Sorbet papers (yours free with a £45 spend during Sale-A-Bration - only 2 more days to go to plae a Sale-A-Bration order!)and my Box Buster tool and Envelope Punch Board:

Today I thought I would share what was inside - a sweet little box frame:

Just a simple stamped sentiment, decorated with a punched butterfly and a few flowers stamped and punched using the Petite Petals stamp set and co-ordinating punch. A decorated frame makes a lovely gift.

Back tomorrow with a card (or two!); until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Sweet Sorbet Designer Series Paper	Chalk Talk	Spiral Flower Originals Die	Calypso Coral A4 Card Stock	Crisp Cantaloupe Classic Stampin' Pad
Whisper White 5/8 Inch Organza Ribbon	Envelope Punch Board	Perfect Pennants	Petite Petals Clear-Mount Bundle	Stamp-A-Ma-Jig
Tangerine Tango A4 Card Stock	Brights Stampin' Write Markers	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad	Tangerine Tango Classic Stampin' Pad	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad
Subtles Stampin' Write Markers	Bitty Butterfly Punch	Basic Pearls Jewel Accents

There are 10 days left until the end of Sale-A-Bration. Lots of you have taken advantage of the extra hostess benefits on offer to host a party or received one or more of the great free gifts on offer with every £45 spend. Today I thought I would take the opportunity to remind you of the benefits of joining Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator during Sale-A-Bration:

• The starter kit will be £99 and includes products of your choice up to the value of £150 - this is a whopping £51 of extra product!
• You will also receive a business supplies pack including annual and seasonal catalogues, order forms, etc.
• You will receive a 20% discount on every order you place
• You will also receive a 30% discount on the first order you place over £150 within the first 30 days of sign up
• You will receive 2 free months of Demonstrator Web Services
• If you reach £225 sales within the first quarter (ending 30th June 2014), you will maintain your demonstrator status until 30th September. If you don't, your demonstrator status will lapse, but without penalty; you have no obligation to purchase anything other than your starter kit if you don't want to.
• If you join my growing team, you will get to benefit from my knowledge, help and support in addition to that of one of the UK's most successful teams of demonstrators and the considerable resources provided by Stampin' Up itself. You will receive your own team welcome pack from me, along with your own complimentary copy of my demonstrator software Product Table Builder worth £35 

Here's part of the welcome pack I sent to one of the lovely ladies who joined my team recently, designed to co-ordinate with a card I made for the Mojo Monday challenge recently (you can read more about how I made the card here):

In addition she also received a handbook and other items that will be useful as she grows her Stampin' Up! business. Whether you want to feed your own crafting habit by having access to discounted craft supplies, or would like to earn a little (or a lot!) extra income and run your own business, I am here to support you in any way I can.

You have just 10 days to take advantage of the enhanced Sale-A-Bration sign up offer: contact me on 07773 421446 or [email protected] if you would like to know more or alternatively sign up here today!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies used:

Simply Celebrate	Kaleidoscope Designer Series Paper	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Stamp-A-Ma-Jig	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine
Magnetic Platform	Perfect Pennants	Card Stock A4 Bermuda Bay	Card Stock A4 Crushed Curry	Card Stock A4 Strawberry Slush
Strawberry Slush Classic Stampin' Pad	Basic Black A4 Card Stock	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Chevron Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Squares Collection Framelits Dies
Versamark Pad	Black Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool - Uk Plug

So, who's loving Sale-A-Bration 2014? All my customers are for sure - it's the best time of the Stampin' Up! year, with a free gift each and every time you spend £45 and so much to choose from. You can click on the 'Sale-A-Bration' icon on the right of my home page for a complete overview of all the gifts on offer, however today I'm going to share with you one of my favourites if you are short on time, but still want cards that are high on impact: the Good As Gold card kit. The kit comes complete with everything you need to make 8 cards with co-ordinating gold-lined envelopes, even pre-stamped sentiments; here's what the finished cards will look like straight out of the kit:

Pretty, right? As is often the way though with Stampin' Up! card kits, the packs are very generous and include lots of bits and pieces, but with a few extra envelopes and card bases, you can make your card kit go even further. Here's an example of a slightly altered version of the basic kit card:

I simply cut the card in half and used it as a piece of DSP, picking out one of the feature colours (in this case Tangerine Tango) and using it for a card base. The pre-stamped tags in the kit come in 3 different languages and you could simply stamp your own additional tags, but since I think everyone is familiar with 'thanks' in both French and German, I figured I would just use the additional pennants in the kit. The stars are those punched out from the gold pennants that come in the pack and the gold banner is cut from an offcut of gold foil and you can even cut down the envelope liners and make two from one, to insert into a standard SU! notecard envelope. I also added some leftover baker's twine from a Tag a Box kit.

I made 10 cards out of my kit, but if you really wanted to stretch your kit, you could easily make 16 cards with a few extra bits and pieces. Here's my full collection of completed cards: 

I'm using my cards as thank yous to pop in with my next customer orders; when I went to make my carrier bag labels too, I decided to create my tags using the same colour scheme: 

If you would like to get your hands on a Good As Gold card kit, you have only 13 more days to place a £45 order to get this or one of the other Sale-A-Bration items free. So what are you waiting for? Follow the links below to place an order in my online store or contact me if you live locally - I'm always on hand to help.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Good As Gold Card Kit

Angled Tag Topper Punch

Card Stock A4 Bermuda Bay

Tangerine Tango A4 Card Stock

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

Firstly, I would like to say thank you to everyone who left comments on my blog and Facebook pages in the last couple of days about my new Box Buster from The Crafty Owl tool - I'm so glad that you are all finding this tool useful. Please feel free to share with anyone and everyone you know who likes box making and has an Envelope Punch Board; it takes all the guesswork out of box making! I have another Box Buster video tutorial for you tomorrow, but meanwhile I want to share my card for this week's challenge over at The Paper Players, where Ann's theme challenge this week is to make a 'Thankful for Spring' thank you card. I decided to combine the challenge with the one over at the Fusion Card Challenge, where I used the colours in the photo and the unusual sketch layout as the inspiration for my card:

I've invested in a few new sets of flower stamps lately, so was a little spoilt for choice, but decided that the lovely Sale-A-Bration Petal Parade stamp set would work perfectly with the sketch layout. Lots of my customers have chosen this item as their free Sale-A-Bration gift so I'm keen to share ideas with them on how to use it. Here's my card:

I chose a base od Summer Starfruit, then added a Whisper White layer that I had stamped with the Petal Parade flowers. I then added a top layer in Pool Party with a circle cut using my Circle Framelits to reveal the flowers beneath. I added my simple 'thanks' sentiment to the white layer beneath the curved edge of the top layer and added the Petal Parade border stamp for definition. To finish, I added some of the Summer Starfruit Sale-A-Bration baker's twine, first punching some little notches out of the Pool Party layer with the point of my mosaic punch to ensure the twine sits flat and evenly across the front of my card.

I hope you like my card; check out the links above to see what the respective design teams have created for these challenges for some great inspiration and ideas. Back tomorrow with another Box Buster video tutorial; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Petal Parade Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Sweet Sorbet Accessory Pack	Lots Of Thanks	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Summer Starfruit Classic Stampin' Pad
Summer Starfruit A4 Card Stock	Pistachio Pudding Classic Stampin' Pad	Basic Black Classic Stampin' Pad	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad	Pool Party A4 Card Stock
Mosaic Punch	Magnetic Platform	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Circles Collection Framelits Dies

Good morning blog readers and crafters! Back nice and early this morning with the second of my video tutorial posts showing you how to make any size box using your Envelope Punch Board and my new Box Buster tool. I've started early on my Easter treat boxes, so today's box shows you how to make this cute box:

The finished dimensions of today's box are 100mm x 75mm x 15mm. It was designed to fit a specific Easter treat - but you'll have to watch the video below to find out what it was! My new Box Buster from The Crafty Owl tool is just great for that - you can easily create a box to fit your chosen contents, without any hassle or wasted paper - you just measure the thing you want to put in the box, input the dimensions into the Box Buster tool and it does all the hard work for you: it will tell you exactly what size paper you need and where to make your first and second punch markings.

Today's project was worked out in millimetres, but the Box Buster tool will let you construct your box in either millimetres or inches - you choose! Here's the link to today's video tutorial:

Wasn't that SOOO easy?! Keep following this week as there are more box tutorials to come, showcasing a variety of box types with handy hints and tips for making the most of your Envelope Punch Board and my new Box Buster tool.

Back soon with another project; until then, happy stampin' (and box making!)

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Good evening lovely readers! I have finished editing my next video tutorial but have bumped it to tomorrow so that I can fit in a quick card that I made for this week's Paper Craft Crew challenge. here is this week's sketch layout:

Here is the card I made using this layout:

I went with a 4" square card for a change and a Crumb Cake base, then took a strip of Whisper White that I lightly sponged in Soft Sky across the top with Wild Wasabi across the bottom, then stamped the bunny minus the sentiment in Chocolate Chip and coloured him with Crumb Cake ink and a blender pen, before adding a candy dot for his tail. I matted this section on a strip of Chocolate Chip and then added a fringe of Wild Wasabi to the front of the card to make it look like the bunny was hiding in the grass. The new fringe scissors are great for creating grass in an instant and add a lovely texture. I then finished by wrapping some Early Espresso baker's twine around my card and tying in a bow. I stamped the sentiment onto an oval of Crumb Cake cardstock and finished with two co-ordinating banners, stamped using the Banner Blast stamp set and punched out with the matching punch. Both of these items are available free with a spend of £45 or more during Sale-A-Bration - contact me or visit my online store if you would like to place a £45 order and receive these gifts for free.

I've had a busy day today so am off to bed for a well-earned rest; back tomorrow with the second in my 'Any Size' box tutorial series. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

One last quick post from me today - call it an early post for tomorrow! I saw the current sketch over at Retrosketches and was really keen to have a go as I managed to squeeze in a little extra crafting time this afternoon, so thought I would combine it with the challenge over at Addicted to CAS this week:

Now I don't have a current coffee stamp, but I do have a cute little stamp that was part of one of last year's Sale-A-Bration sets that I knew would fit the bill. Here is my card: 

I used coffee as the inspiration for my colour scheme too, with my base card of Early Espresso picked up in the co-ordinating baker's twine. I coloured my coffee cup in red to give a pop of colour and embossed my card base with the Decorative Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder to add texture and interest.

That's all from me; I'm off to catch up on a little late night TV. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Good evening blog readers! My busy days continue as this week the James juniors are off school as it's half term. Today has been a day of piano and singing practice, book reading and review writing, nail painting and telling the time problems, with a little basketball and a couple of baskets of ironing thrown in! Crafting time is in short supply this week, so today I'm sharing with you a stepped up version of a card that we made in my Sale-A-Bration card class this month. This card was a CASE of this one by Mary Fish, although I tweaked a few things, primarily the colour scheme as I wanted to use the Pistachio Pudding DSP from the Sale-A-Bration set. Here is my card:

I stamped the image twice, once on Whisper White for the label, which I cut out using the Big Shot and Deco label Framelits and once on Summer Starfruit, which is the piece that I used to cut the flowers from. I paper-pieced all four of the flowers on this card and coloured the leaves and stems with a Pistachio Pudding marker, then finished with a few pearls. I think this would make quite a nice Easter card too, with an alternative sentiment.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Good evening blog readers! Today I'm going to share a scrapbook page with you that I made at a recent team training event and designed by the lovely Bekka Prideaux. It features a number of the Sweet Sorbet paper designs and the Petal Parade stamp set - both items that can be yours free during Sale-A-Bration with an order of £45 or more - some new Spring-Summer items and a somewhat overlooked item in the annual catalogue (more on that in a moment). So here is my scrapbook layout:

I decided to use one of my summer holiday photos of Rebecca and Ben as the centrepiece; I have so many amazing photographs from our holiday that I have yet to do something with, so this seemed a good opportunity to start. They are participating in one of my favourite activities at a Disney theme park - no not a roller coaster, but the ritual eating of a Mickey ice-cream bar (I am rather partial to these!) - and the concentration on their faces is a concerted attempt to get them eaten before they melt in the extreme heat!

The bright colours and patterns in the papers make a great background for my photo. Did you spot the 'hidden treasure' from the annual catalogue? The photograph is mounted on to one of the Simply Fabulous Simply Sent cards, with another attached to the Scallop tag Topper Punch piece behind for hidden journaling. These cards are great for quick cards but can also be used for journaling or as a photo mount. Lastly, a fringe cut using the new fringe scissors adds texture and draws the eye in to the focal point.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: