Hello lovely readers! I hope you've all enjoyed browsing the new Spring-Summer Stampin' Up! catalogue and this year's Sale-A-Bration offering and are busy making wishlists and buying those must-have items. Today I'm sharing a card I made with my pre-order goodies back in December for my team Christmas outing. Instead of our usual team meeting, we decided in December to have our very own festive Crafternoon Tea. In addition to enjoying a lovely afternoon tea, we spent the afternoon doing a shoebox swap with each of us creating the cards cards that the others had designed, some using new pre-order items from the spring-Summer and SAB catalogues, thus providing us with lots of new samples. I am loving the new hot air balloons so I just had to feature them on my card:

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

Up & Away Balloon - The star of today's card is most definitely the layered diecut hot air balloon - isn't it gorgeous? It's made using the new Up & Away Thinlits Dies. This is a great set with three different balloon sizes, clouds and lots of basket and layering options along with this lovely detailed large balloon. 

Your Smiles Lift Me Up - What's better than a great die set? Well, a great die set with a co-ordinating stamp set! the 'Lift me Up' stamp set has some great stamped balloon images, clouds and accessories as well as five varied sentiments for everything from birthdays to congratulations and sending smiles. 

Carried Away For Free - The paper on today's card is from the Carried Away Designer Series Paper pack that can be yours for FREE with a £45 purchase. It co-ordinates perfectly with the Lift Me Up bundle - a selection of pretty balloons, skyscapes and maps in bold, bright colours. Love 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 Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Here's a picture of some of my lovely team members at our festive gathering - what a great bunch:

I love these ladies, none of whom would I have met but for our shared love of crafting and some of whom joined during previous Sale-A-Brations. Sale-A-Bration is a great time to join Stampin' Up! with one of the best recruitment offers; if you would like to know more about the benefits of joining my team, please do get in touch for a no-obligation chat - we would love you to join us!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Lift Me Up Wood-Mount Bundle	Lift Me Up Clear-Mount Bundle	Carried Away Designer Series Paper	Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock	Watermelon Wonder A4 Cardstock
Peekaboo Peach A4 Cardstock	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad

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, join or host:

Earn a free Sale-A-Bration product for every £45 you spend between 4 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! 

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. In addition, you can choose two free stamp sets of your choice - that could be worth as much as another £93 to you!

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!

If you would like to host a party, real or virtual, please do get in touch; my diary is filling up but there are still lots of slots available 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! Back tomorrow with a project showcasing some of the products from the new catalogue. Until then, happy shopping!

I had a fun family day yesterday, full of laughs and the last of the Christmas crackers. I'm back today with another couple of cards to welcome in the new year for the current challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches:

I made two identical cards, one in each of two colourways. Here's the first one, in white and silver:

And here's the second one in black and gold:

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

A Frosted Medallion - For today's card I've used both the large medallion and the sentiment from the 'Frosted Medallions' stamp set as intended for a new year's card. I stamped both in Versamark and heat embossed them in silver on the white version. I debated about whether or not I should obscure that gorgeous medallion shape with the sentiment, but in the end decided that the card looked a little naked without the sentiment and besides, I like the way the edges frame the centred oval, giving just a hint of the design beneath. The Frosted Medallions stamp set is still available as part of the 'Year End Closeouts' for just a couple more days before retiring to make way for a new range of seasonal products, so if this set appeals to you, snap it up now before it's gone for good.

Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate Panel - My vertical background panel is courtesy of the Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate - I just love this for adding layering detail to cards without bulk. Easy for a two-way card too - I just cut two pieces and flipped one (don't forget to remove the protective seal from the silver-patterned side to see it shine in all its glory).

Stitched Shape Framelits Are Returning - I finished my card with a sentiment from the Frosted Medallions set framed in a simple stitched oval. I know these have been unavailable to order due to unprecedented demand when first introduced, however good news - those who did manage to order them before they were put on hold and had theirs on backorder will be receiving them any day now and for those who still want to get their hands on them, stocks are likely to have been fully replenished by mid-January so they will once again be available to purchase - and in time for Sale-A-Bration too, wahoo! These stitched shapes just finish off a sentiment beautifully and I guarantee one you have them you won't be able to stop using them!

So which one of these colourways do you prefer? I gave the gold and black one to my mother-in-law yesterday as I know she is partial to this colour combo, but I think I prefer the silver and white one myself - so crisp and fresh. I would love to know what you think - do feel free to leave me a comment below, I read them all and love it when you share your views with me.

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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Frosted Medallions Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies	Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad
Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder	Gold Foil Sheets	Silver Foil Sheets	Basic Black A4 Cardstock
Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock

Well hello! Have you missed me? I hope you've all enjoyed a wonderful Christmas and best wishes for a very happy new year! I had a very busy Christmas season and had to take an extended blogging break; sometimes some things just have to give and for me my blog was one of them this past few weeks. Anyway, now I'm back and here with a card to welcome in the new year. I'm also entering a couple of challenges: the Paper Craft Crew are looking for a black-tie gala inspired card and the peeps over at CAS-ual Fridays are working with the theme of 'Celebrations':

I decided that today the owl should return in more ways than one - take a look at my card to see what I mean:

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

A Dapper Owl - The star of today's card is the super-sparkly, rather dapper Fred Astaire-esque owl that is tripping the light fantastic as he welcomes in the new year! The Owl Builder Punch was one of my first Stampin' Up! purchases and I love how versatile it is. I used the owl punch to make the very first new year card that I blogged way back in 2013 when I first began blogging (you can see that card here) so it seemed fitting that I should use an altogether more elegant owl to kick start 2017. This card also heralds the start of a new weekly feature of mine: each week I will be creating a card that features a different owl or character made with the Owl Builder Punch. This is a fun way to demonstrate the versatility of this popular Stampin' Up! punch, so be sure to tune in each week for your owl inspiration. Today's owl sports a gold glimmer waistcoat and a top hat and bow tie courtesy of the Snow Friends Framelits. The walking cane is a simple strip of glimmer paper and a circle punched with the owl builder punch. Along with my Large Number Framelit numbers, today's owl is seriously sparkly!

It's A Celebration - My starry background is courtesy of the fireworks in the 'It's a Celebration' stamp set in the current seasonal catalogue; I stamped them in Versamark and heat embossed in silver and gold for a dramatic background reminiscent of the night sky.

Yes, Let's Celebrate 2017! - I finished my card with a sentiment from the 'Confetti Celebration' stamp set - ot just for birthdays, this set works for lots of other kinds of celebration 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. 

That's all from me; I'm off to spend the day with the extended James family to welcome in the new year. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Owl Builder Punch	Snow Friends Framelits Dies	It's A Celebration Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Confetti Celebration Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Embossing Buddy
Versamark Pad	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder	Gold Glimmer Paper	Gold Foil Sheets
Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! Before I get into my post, I must just give a shout out to the lovely Linda, Hannelie and Colleen who have been the most awesome guest designers with us for the last six months; these ladies have done a fabulous job and I will miss your contributions and do hope you continue to play along with us from time to time. Thank you for sharing your designs and creativity with us! Whilst we are sad to see these ladies leave, it also means we will have some new guest designers joining us too; watch out for more news on this with my mid-week reminder post on Wednesday to see who will be joining us to kick off 2017!

Meanwhile, it's the turn of the lovely Jaydee to host this week and she has a glamorous colour challenge for us to work with:

All the sparkle of silver and gold, paired with brilliant white! I decided that a glamorous stocking was going to be my focal point today and I also used Amy's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches for my layout - here's my card:

My card today is another one with lots of layers and a variety of foil and glimmer paper to add lots of sparkle: my diecut stocking is gold foil layered with gold glimmer and a white glimmer top with embossed holly decoration, I layered a silver foil doily behind and added a piece of silver foil acetate between my white cardbase and mat, which I embossed with my favourite embossing folder of all time, Softly Falling, for added detail. I used my Stitched Shape Framelits for my sentiment square (you will be pleased to know theses will be available to order again early January in time for Sale-A-Bration - yay!) and chose a sentiment from the Christmas Pines stamp set to complete my card as this seemed the most appropriate, which I also heat embossed in gold.

This is the kind of stocking I imagine someone like Joan Collins to own (or maybe Donald Trump, since he seems to be a fan of all things glitzy and gold!) - either way, definitely all about the luxury! I'm more of a traditional red and white girl myself :-)

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:

I look forward to seeing what you create with this colour palette this week. This morning I will be recovering from a Christmas night out yesterday and this afternoon we are officially decorating the James household for Christmas. My wreath is made and hanging proudly on my front door already, so with the tree up and the rest of the decorations in place, I'm sure it will start to feel like Christmas is well and truly on its way!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hang Your Stocking Photopolymer Bundle	Christmas Pines Photopolymer Stamp Set	Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies
Gold Foil Sheets	Metallic Foil Doilies	Gold Glimmer Paper	Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper	Versamark Pad
Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder	Embossing Buddy	Heat Tool (Uk)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock

Happy Monday everyone! I've had a busy start to my week with deliveries and appointments but did manage to catch up with a couple of friends for a festive afternoon tea, which was lovely. I have a quick card to share with you today  - this one is from one of last month's classes where we were using the Santa's Sleigh bundle. This was our warm up card and features the traditional colours that the Paper Craft Crew are challenging us to use this week:

I got out the washi tape and set to work - here's my card:

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

O Christmas Tree -  The tree framelit in the Santa's Sleigh Thinlits set makes for an elegant Christmas tree, and does double duty when the negative space is used creatively too. On this card the focal point is the absence of the actual tree, as opposed to the tree itself. 

Warmth and Cheer Washi - Here the tree is decorated with Warmth and Cheer washi tape, simple strips of colour onto the Crumb Cake card base. Perfect within the Garden Green top layer, to add to the feeling of foliage.

And A Star - I finished my card with a stamped sentiment, tied twine bow and a metallic gold star.

A great simple card, easy for mass production - and don't we all need those at this time of year!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Santa's Sleigh Dies Thinlits	Santa's Sleigh Photopolymer Stamp Set	Warmth & Cheer Designer Washi Tape	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Baker's Twine Trio Pack
Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock	Garden Green A4 Cardstock	Metallic Enamel Shapes

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of our fearless leader the wonderful Nance to host this week and she has a fun wintery theme to get your creative juices flowing:

Use a snowflake (or two!) on your card. I decided that I wanted to feature the large frosted medallion snowflake from the stamp set of the same name on my card this week and this week's Mojo Monday sketch gave me the perfect layout - here's my card:

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

All About The Layers - My card this week has 9 layers in total, rather a lot even by my standards! Can you spot them all? They are, in order: Pool Party card base, Sugarplum square panel, vellum square, Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate, silver foil, Fancy Frost Specialty DSP, Sweet Sugarplum circle, a vellum circle with the frosted medallion stamped in Versamark and heat embossed in white and lastly the word 'joy' cut out of silver glimmer paper with my Wonderful Wreath framelits. A lot of layers indeed, yet I think they all play a part in contributing to the balance of the card design.

Glitter, Glitter - I used lots of elements to add sparkle to my card, from the Fabulous Foil Acetate, to the glimmer paper and sprinkle of Fancy Frost sequins, along with a rather fancy bow in silver (current) and Pool Party (retired) glitter ribbon beneath my snowflake. This card is definitely not practical for posting, but will make a nice special one to be hand delivered. The snowflake/glitter combination means I am linking up with CAS-ual Fridays too where these are both the order of the day!

A Contemporary Colour Combination - you may recognise my colour combination this week as the one our very own lovely Nance used for her pines card last week - you can see her card here. This isn't a colour combination I would ordinarily choose for a Christmas card, and I did start out using just white, silver and Sweet Sugarplum, but I felt it needed something more. I decided to add in the Pool Party as it looked so great on Nance's card and voila - an altogether brighter card, so thank you Nance! If you like this colour combination, feel free to save it:

So only one main snowflake on my card, but it is a big one! That said, I did use the snowflake background stamp from the Pretty Pines stamp set on my card base to add a little background decoration, so there are lots more there 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 '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:

I look forward to seeing what you create with our theme this week. We are off for our usual Sunday morning of sport, followed by a spot of lunch and then we are going to watch a basketball game this afternoon - go Northampton Neptunes!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; I'll be back soon with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Frosted Medallions Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Fancy Frost Specialty Designer Series Paper	Fancy Frost Sequins	3/8" (1 Cm) Glitter Ribbon Combo Pack	Christmas Pines Photopolymer Stamp Set
Versamark Pad	Heat Tool (Uk)	Embossing Buddy	White Stampin' Emboss Powder	Silver Foil Sheets
Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate	Silver Glimmer Paper	Vellum A4 Cardstock	Wonderful Wreath Framelits Dies	Sweet Sugarplum A4 Cardstock
Pool Party A4 Cardstock	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad

I've been busy with my Spring-Summer pre-order and my Daily December memory keeping class today. More about that tomorrow, but for today I just want to make sure you're aware that Stampin' Up! has today launched its year end closeouts, with a combination of clearance rack, retiring and current products, some available at as much as 60% off. There are lots of bargains to be had, so why not pop across to my online store and treat yourself - don't forget to support my business by using this month's hostess code YMY44Q6R when you place your order.

Back tomorrow with Daily December news - untile then, happy shopping!

Wednesday already?! Where does the time go! Firstly today I have a reminder for you: today is the last day you can take advantage of 25% off selected stamp sets as part of the Stitched From the Heart promotion - you can read full details, including the sets that are on offer, in my previous post here. For today I have another card that uses Sandy's sketch over at The Paper Players this week, but one that is quite different to my Design Team card from Sunday and that includes one of the stamps from the current offer sets:

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

Book A Party, Earn An Owl -  One of the hostess sets in the current seasonal catalogue is 'Cozy Critters', which includes a sweet fox along with this adorable owl, which co-ordinates with the Owl Builder Punch for easy assembly. This stamp set is exclusively available to customers who either host their own party or place a single order of £150 or more and has been incredibly popular. This set will only be available until the 3rd January and will not be available on the retired list or clearance rack; I don't have any slots left for pre-Christmas parties now, but if this set is on your wishlist you still have time to place a qualifying order and grab yours with your Stampin' Rewards. 

Woodland Trees - I used that panel for an embossed piece again - this time the Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. Difficult to see in the photograph, but I brushed the debossed areas in between the trees with my clear Wink of Stella, along with the owl's oversized hat and co-ordinating scarf - this card is so, so sparkly!

Not Just For Tags - The sentiment and background snowflake are from the versatile Tin Of Tags stamp set. This stamp set co-ordinates with the Tin of Tags kit in the seasonal catalogue, however can be used for so much more besides and are perfect in a layered stitched circle on a card. This set is available for today only at a discounted 25% - £14.25 instead of £19. Why not buy one with a Tin of Tags kit (£20) and give someone a pre-Christmas gift that will not only provide some creative respite in the run up to the big day, but result in a set of beautiful handcrafted tags to add the finishing touch to their gift packaging:

I know I would appreciate a gift like this at this time of year!

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'm also linking my card up with one of the other teams that the lovely Sandy designs for - Stamps, Ink, Paper - where the challenge is embossing, dry or heat. 

I'll be back tomorrow with news of another great set of pre-Christmas offers from Stampin' Up! which you won't want to miss; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Tin Of Tags Photopolymer Stamp Set	Cozy Critters Photopolymer Stamp Set	Christmas Pines Photopolymer Stamp Set	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies	Layering Circle Framelits Dies
Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush	Soft Sky A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Owl Builder Punch
Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad	Pink Pirouette Classic Stampin' Pad	Pink Pirouette A4 Cardstock	Rhinestone Basic Jewels

A reminder that today is the last day of Stampin' Up!'s Online Extravaganza! Ending tonight at 10.50pm GMT, you can save up to 40% on select products. Today is also the second and final 24-hour sale featuring special offers available for today only:

Select items (those marked with an asterisk), including those that will be on the future autumn/winter catalogue retiring list, are available only while supplies last.

The all-important details for the promotion are as follows:
• You must use the bundle item codes provided. Discounts will not be applied if individual item numbers are entered separately. 
• Some bundles are exclusive to Online Extravaganza and will not be available after the promotion ends. 
• There is no minimum purchase required in order to receive the discounted price. 
• Additional products from current catalogues may be purchased on the same order.

Here is the full list of deals this week:

You can download a PDF version of the deals list by clicking here.

Today's specials include the ever-useful Magnetic Platform - if you own a Big Shot and don't have one, i would definitely recommend it, I use mine daily - the Flurry of Wishes bundle and the bell punch, which has 40% off and is a bargain at just £9.60.

You can see some of my favourite Flurry of Wishes cards in previous posts here and here - but for today I wanted to share a card with a difference that I made with the bell punch, also on offer today. Inspired by this card made by Amanda Bates, I just had to make my own clean and simple version of a gingerbread topiary - take a look:

What no bells? Did you spot it - the upturned bell with the end trimmed makes the perfect plant pot! My sentiment and candy cane stick was stamped with the border stamp in the 'Candy Cane Christmas' set and the bow punched with the Holly Builder Punch. The house I fussy cut from the Candy Cane Lane Designer Series Paper and brushed the snow on the roof with my clear Wink of Stella for added sparkle - and the best bit? There are 56 whole houses in a pack of Candy Cane paper - that's a lot of cards!  

Some great deals there - don't miss out!

Happy shopping everyone!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used on Today's Card:

Bell Punch	Candy Cane Christmas Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Candy Cane Lane Designer Series Paper	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Holly Berry Builder Punch	Pearl Basic Jewels	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush