Yesterday I held my first Stampin' Up party - thanks to all the lovely ladies who attended for being so kind to me on my first outing! I thought I would do a quick post today to share with you the gift I made for the hostess as a thank you.

It's a set of four notelets in a co-ordinating box, featuring the Madison Avenue and Vintage Verses stamp sets and the Sycamore Street designer series paper and designed by the lovely Monica Gale for our recent training event. You can check out her blog here - and spookily, as I've just gone to create the link I can see she has blogged her own set today; clearly great minds think alike!!!!

If you would like to receive a similar gift set, then all you have to do is get in touch with me and arrange to host your own Stampin' Up party - it's a great opportunity to get together with your crafty family and friends, make a project and receive lots of free goodies; in addition to free products of your choice depending on your party sales, you can also receive some of the lovely silver glimmer paper featured in the cards above with orders above £150. This is a great product - it doen't shed, like some glitter card, it can be coloured with the aid of ink and rubbing alcohol to match specific projects and a little goes a long way!

Come back tomorrow for some more cards on a Valentine's theme and the launch of the new Spring-Summer catalogue.

Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Madison Avenue, Vintage Verses

Paper: Pool Party, Whisper White, Sycamore Street (DSP), Silver Glimmer Paper

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Pool Party, Summer Starfruit

Tools: Bitty Butterfly Punch, Oval Punch, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Small Heart Punch, Scallop Border Punch, Apothocary Accents Framelits

Finishing Touches: 1/4" Rich Razzleberry Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon

That most romantic time of year, Valentine's Day, is just around the corner so I thought it was about time I shared with you some of my latest creations with love in mind.

So first up is a Valentine's card in classic red and white.

I used my typeset alphabet for the white 'I' and 'YOU' and set on a red mat for definition, then used a layered heart as a substitute for 'LOVE'. The fancy base heart and top hearts are stamped and cut with the Hearts a Flutter stamps and framelits set featured in the new Spring/Summer catalogue, due out on February 1st, with a solid red heart punched using a full heart punch layered in between. Lastly, a scoreline around the red mat to add definition and it's done.

I'll be posting lots more Valentine's projects during the next couple of weeks, so do drop by and check them out. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Hearts A Flutter*

Paper: Whisper White, Real Red

Ink: Real Red

Tools: Hearts a Flutter Framelits*, Full Heart Punch, Typeset Alphabet, Simply Scored

*available February 1st

As promised, I have lots more Sale-A-Bration to share with you: today, a trio of cards featuring the other flower stamp in the Madison Avenue stamp set, along with some beautiful co-ordinating papers.

Two of the cards also highlight one of the new Pretty Petites stamps, effortlessly puched out with the new Petite Curly Punch. The Pool Party and Tangerine Tango ribbons and the button are also from the Sycamore Street Ribbons and Buttons Pack - and did you notice the embossing on the third card? This is courtesy of the new Vine Street Embossing Folder; I love the subtle texture - it gives the card an 'extra' dimension.

So, 6 new products - and you could have any of them free for every £45 spent during the Sale-A-Bration promotion. Sale-A-Bration runs until 22nd March, so who knows - if you start now, maybe you could collect them all?!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Madison Avenue, Pretty Petites

Paper: Pool Party, Island Indigo, Sycamore Street (DSP)

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Pool Party, Summer Starfruit, Tangerine Tango

Tools: Vine Street Embossing Folder, Petite Curly Label Punch, Circles Die, Scallop Border Punch

Finishing Touches: Sycamore Street Ribbon and Button Pack

Having spent most of the day outdoors today buidling snowmen and sledging with my children and generally making the most of the snow and an unexpected day off school, it's nice to sit all cosy and warm and share another card set with you.

So here is the second trio of cards I made with the Bloomin' Marvelous stamp set, this time introducing the butterfly too:

A slightly more feminine colour palette I think, with the latest in-colour inks of Primrose Petals and Raspberry Ripple for the randomly stamped flowers and butterflies and some Gumball Green for the stems which I think just adds a bit of 'zing'.

I also hand cut one of the butterflies on the central card and popped it on a dimensional for added interest:

It was easy enough with my Paper Snips, but if you're not great with fiddly cutting out it can be punched in seconds with the Bitty Butterfly Punch, a new product in this year's Spring-Summer Seasonal Catalogue and available from the first of February. I have also used a mat of Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals or Gumball Green cardstock respectively and a little ribbon accent just to finish off. I really love this stamp set - and the sentiments are generic enough that they suit lots of occasions.

If you would like to recreate these cards yourself, the Bloomin' Marvelous stamp set is one of 17 items that you can obtain for free for every £45 spent during the promotional period, starting tomorrow! Please drop me a line or give me a call if you would like more information.

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: *Bloomin' Marvelous (Wood 129651, clear 129654)

Paper: Whisper White, Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals, Gumball Green

Ink: Gumball Green, Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals

Punches: *Bitty Butterfly Punch

Finishing Touches: Stitched Satin Ribbon Raspberry Ripple, Stitched Satin Ribbon Gumball Green

*Available to purchase from 22nd January.