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

At last - the best party of the year has begun, and will last right through until the 22nd March 2013! Stampin' Up's Sale-a-bration is here and has to be one of the best times in the Stampin' Up calendar to get involved: whether you're an avid crafter or a newbie who fancies some free gifts to get you started, then read on for ways in which you can join the party!

PARTY ON YOUR OWN - During Sale-a-bration, you can earn a free gift for every £45 you spend. There are 17 different items to choose from and best of all you can order as many times as you like! The full set of sale-a-bration items can be seen below:

Better still, get together or host a PARTY WITH FRIENDS who share your love of crafting and you can get even more for your money:

WITH ORDERS OF £150 OR MORE, you will receive:

• A free sale-a-bration gift for every £45 spent
• A free pack of silver glimmer paper
• At least £25 of free products from any current catalogue too!

WITH ORDERS OF £300 OR MORE, you will receive:

• A free sale-a-bration gift for every £45 spent
• A free pack of silver glimmer paper
• At least £50 of free products from any current catalogue
• A great free sale-a-bration product bundle (Sycamore Street designer paper, Madison Avenue stamp set and Sycamore Street ribbon & button embellishment pack)
• At least one item at 50% DISCOUNT as well!!

PARTY ALL THE TIME - As if that wasn't enough, there are also great benefits to joining Stampin' Up as a demonstrator during sale-a-bration: you'll get 25% more in your starter kit than usual, that's £162.50 worth of products for £99 and you can choose what you'd like - your kit, your way. I'm quite new to Stampin' Up but I love being a demonstrator and sharing my ideas; if you'd would like to share my enthusiasm and become a member of my team, please email me at joanne@thecraftyowl.co.uk or call me for a chat - I would be happy to talk about the possibilities and where I can add value.

I've already shown you a couple of card sets made with the Bloomin' Marvelous stamp set and today I would like to share with you some of the swaps I made for a recent team training that showcase a number of additional free products: 

So what are you waiting for? All this and more could be yours! Drop me a line at joanne@thecraftyowl.co.uk and arrange to book a party or place an order today.

Keep watching my blog for lots of other great ideas and ways in which you can use the great free sale-a-bration gifts.

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Madison Avenue, Vintage Verses

Paper: Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Pool Party, Summer Starfruit, Tangerine Tango, Sycamore Street (DSP)

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Pool Party, Summer Starfruit

Tools: Scoreboard, 11/4" circle 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.

Today I wanted to give you a 'sneak peek' of some of the amazing goodies available as part of this year's Sale-a-bration promotion. Sale-a-bration begins on 22nd January to coincide with the launch of the new Spring-Summer catalogue and and runs until 22nd March. I've made a trio of cards using the Bloomin' Marvelous stamp set, which is a great set with lots of uses and I think will become a firm favourite of mine.

Using a Whisper White card base, I stamped the flower image freehand on all of the cards in a combination of crumb cake, midnight muse and raspberry ripple. On the centre card, I randomly stamped each of the red and blue flower images a few times without re-inking to add depth. A sentiment and a touch of raspberry ripple stitched satin ribbon on each to add extra interest and done! The perfect card if you're running short on time.

I'll be back soon with another set of cards using this stamp set so pop by and have a look.

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. Please contact me if you would like more information.

Stampin' Up Supplies:

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

Paper: Whisper White (106550), Midnight Muse (127546)

Ink: Midnight Muse(126860), Raspberry Ripple (126859), Crumb Cake (126975)

Finishing Touches: Stitched Satin Ribbon Raspberry Ripple (126845)

*Available to purchase from 22nd January.