New Demonstrators kit & 1-off promotion

( ** Sticky Post ~ Please scroll down for latest project ideas & inspiration ** )

The new Starter Kit is here! 

Now, every new Stampin’ Up! demonstrator can create a customised Starter Kit for just £99

Each kit contains a business supplies pack - things that every demonstrator needs to start their business. After that, the choice is yours so that you can put together a kit with any of Stampin' Ups high-quality products. You can choose what supplies you want to create a kit valued at over £175 AND postage is free!

MAY 2012 ONLY ~ Free Convention Registration Promotion For New Demonstrators

During 2012, Stampin’ Up! will be celebrating its fifth year in Europe—and doing it in a big way! As part of that celebration, during May only, new demonstrators who join Stampin’ Up! will receive FREE Convention 2012 registration -  a saving of £149!!

Please contact me for more details, I would be happy to discuss all of this with you and welcome you to my team. xx

Thumping Technique Card

Hello,

Today I wanted to share with you a simple card that shows off the "Thumping Technique"

To do the "Thumping Technique" you ink up your stamp in the normal way then you use a marker pen to tap on colour in various places around your stamp to introduce a contrasting colour.  The only thing you should remember is to ink up with the lightest colour first.

"Thumped" image

This technique produces a really pretty image.  In mine I only used two colours, but there is no reason why you couldn't use more if you want a really multi-coloured image.

Here's a video I found on You tube that explains it a bit better as I this technique is really very easy but defiantly benefits from visual instructions rather than written ~ Oh, and it's only just over a minute long and gets quickly to the point, which is nice.

Hope you find it interesting ..... xx

 
Project Ingredients

Stamp Sets : "Mixed Bunch"
Card stock : "Whisper White" & "Rose Red"
Accessories : "Twitterpated"  DSP; 3/8th" Pleated Satin Ribbon in "Blushing Bride"; Rhinestones
Colour:   "Blushing Bride" & "Rose Red" classic ink pad & "Rose Red" marker pen
Tools : Tape runner adhesive; Dimensional adhesive & "Blossom" punch

Really quick and easy card

Just wanted to pop on and post this really quick and easy card.

I punched out the paper 'ribbon' using the "Lace Ribbon Border" punch, put little bits of coloured cardstock behind the central images and stamped the sentiment using the "Curly Cute" stamp set, which really should be a staple in every crafters collection.  I added a few coloured gems from my personal stash and job done.

This would be a great "Thank You" card as it was so easy to do and would be easy to make up loads really quickly, with appropriate sentiment of course, but the "Curly Cute" has a 'Thank You' sentiment too.

enjoy the rest of your day.... xx

 
Project Ingredients

Stamp Sets : "Curly Cute"
Card stock : "Whisper White"; "Rich Razzlebury" & "Rose Red"
Colour:   "Rich Razzlebury" classic ink pad
Tools : Tombow Mono Multi Glue & "Lace Ribbon Border" punch

Father's Day Projects ~ No. 1

So Father's Day is just a few weeks away so I thought I would do a few projects that would be suitable for Father's Day but they would easily be suitable for any male in your life and for any occasion.

Today's is a faux coffee cup gift card holder.

It's made from a piece of cardstock that is cut in half length-wise and folded in half.  Then I just cut a section from about 1.5cm on the bottom edge to the top corner on both sides.  I used the "Mocha Morning" Speciality DSP, which, as the name may suggest, is perfect for a faux coffee, (or tea!), holder.

Side view with back of card on table

It was only after I had finished the card that I decided to make it into a gift card holder, perfect for a card for your coffee house of choice.

Enjoy the rest of your day..... xx


 

Project Ingredients

Stamp Sets : "Tea Shoppe"
Card stock : "Naturals Ivory"
Accessories : "Brass Brads from "Metallic" Collection & "Mocha Morning" Speciality DSP
Colour:   "Soft Suede" classic ink pad
Tools : Tape runner adhesive; Dimensional adhesive & "modern Label" punch

Cherry Scented card

Hello,

Not got a lot of time at the moment for some reason, but I did want to quickly share this card with you.

It's using the Note card & Envelope set again as I love this size but the real fab part of this card is the cherries ~ they smell!

No, really, they do smell of cherries.  Stampin' Up have launched a range of scented clear embossing powders, you can get "Vanilla", "Cherry" or "Melon" ~ now seriously, how fantastic is that!

Ooo, all shiny!

I used marker pens to ink up the Cherry stamp from the "Button Buddies" stamp set then went over the cherries with the VersaMarker pen before adding the "Cherry" clear embossing powder.  So quick and easy to add a real surprise 'WOW' factor to your crafting.

Have a great day.... xx

 
Project Ingredients

Stamp Sets : "Button Buddies" & "Sweet Cake"
Card stock : "Basic Black" & "Whisper White"
Accessories : "Cards & Envelopes Note" pack; "Cherry" Scented Stampin' Emboss Powder
Colour:   "Old Olive", "Real Red", Soft Suede" marker pens; Versa Marker pen & StazOn ink
Tools : Tape runner adhesive; Heat tool.

Monday CASE'd-book card

Monday already :o(

Well, thank god for stamping to cheer us up!

My share with you today is a card that I CASE'd, (this basically means Copied) from a foreign catalogue I had a peek at.

I changed a couple of things but it's basically the same.  CASE'ing is great when you've lost your crafty mojo and feeling a bit blank when you sit down at your crafting space - before you know it you've got something going, with a few changes to make it all your own and you're feeling inspired again - wonderful!

I used the colour spritzer tool to add a dusting of colour across the top of the card underneath the petals of the flower. I love the way it looks, it seems like pollen drifting on the air to me.  For the stem of the flower I just did a swoosh of the "Old Olive" marker pen down the cardstock.

I also made an envelope for it too, actually, I can stop making envelopes.  They can be made from DSP or cardstock and are wonderful as they can match perfectly your lovely new creation which is especially nice if you want to make a card for someone special.

Have a great day my dear blog friends.... xx

 
Project Ingredients

Stamp Sets : "Build a Blossom" & "You are Loved"
Card stock : "Naturals Ivory" & "Whisper White"
Accessories : "Designer Series Paper Pack" in "Brights" - "Old Olive" used for envelope
Colour:   "Real Red", "Old Olive"; "Chocolate Chip" classic ink pads & "Chocolate Chip" marker pen.
Tools : Tape runner adhesive , Dimensional adhesive, "Blossom Petals Builder" punch;"Simply Scored" Scoring Board & Diagonal scoring plate.

Gift bag & Mini Cards

Hello,

Late posting today as I've not been sleeping too well lately so I allowed myself a slow and relaxing day today.

My share for you is a gift bag and some little 3" x 3" cards to go with it, oh, and some hand made envelopes too.

We learnt how to make the bag at our regional training a few weeks ago.  I utilises the wonderful "Labels Collection" framelit dies that are in the current Summer Mini catalogue.

The 3" x 3" cards fit in perfectly, and I made envelopes for them all out of the same DSP using the Diagonal board for "Simply Scored Scoring Tool", that is also in the Summer Mini.

The envelopes start life as a piece of 5" x 5" DSP and scored on the diagonal plate at 2-1/4" on all four sides.  I love making my own envelopes, it gives you total freedom to make any size card you want, but obviously there are some restrictions on how small you can get if you want to put them in the post.

The flower on the gift bag was made up from a combination of dies and punches.

I was really fun to make this project, especially after all the CAS cards I've been making recently and would be a perfect Teachers end of year gift or a little present for a friend or co-worker.

If you would like to learn how to make this gift or found  out more about any Stampin' Up product, then please do not hesitate to get in touch and we can sort out a workshop in the comfort of your own home for you and your friends.

Take care...


 
Project Ingredients

Stamp Sets : "Mixed Bunch" & "Tiny Tags"
Card stock : "Poppy Parade" & "Whisper White"
Accessories : "Attic Boutique" DSP; Silver Brads & Antique Brads
Colour:   "Soft Suede", "Pool Party" &  "Poppy Parade" classic ink pads
Tools : Tape runner adhesive; Dimensional adhesive; Simply Scored Scoring Tool; Diagonal Scoring Plate; "Fun Flowers" die; "Fancy Flower" punch; "Labels Collection" die & "Jewellery Tag" punch

Saturday cuppa with friends :o)

Today I'm sharing a cuppa with you, my blog-land friends ;o)

Well, actually it's three cups, all from the "Tea Shoppe" stamp set.  This is actually long stamp but I cut the cups apart for greater versatility and, as I got the 'clear mount' option, I can always put the cups back together on the acrylic block if I want to stamp them as a group.

I used a marker pen to continue the dots from the stamped image around the sentiment out to the edges of the card.

Inside view - cute!

I used the cup that's in the "Itty Bitty Bits" stamp set to add a bit of interest to inside the card, this image is so cute and little.

Remember, if you ever want more information about any Stampin' Up product or would like to book a FREE workshop for you and your friends, please do not hesitate to get in contact.

Have a wonderful Saturday ... xx



Project Ingredients

Stamp Sets : "Tea Shoppe" &; "Itty Bitty Bits"
Card stock : "Basic Black" & "Daffodil Delight"
Accessories : "Cards &; Envelopes Note" pack
Colour:   "Soft Suede", "Pool Party"; "Poppy Parade" classic ink pads & "Soft Suede" marker pen.
Tools : Tape runner adhesive & Circle punches

Another CAS card

Today my share is another CAS card, yes I'm really in to them at the moment, but this time it's a full A6 size card.

I coloured in the centre section by ripping some cardstock and using temporary adhesive to adhere it to the "Whisper White" piece then, using a sponge, I added the colour in circular motions, going over the ripped edges.  When I was happy with the depth of colour, I then stamped the images on using StazOn ink and coloured them in using marker pens.

I also stamped the image on a piece of "Whisper White" for the inside of the card, but this time I used "Crumb Cake" ink and stamped off so that the image would be very soft.

I really love the effect when you add a small layer  of "Basic Black" card stock round your main layer.

Hope you like it too.... xx

 
Project Ingredients

Stamp Sets : "Simply Soft" & "Happiest Birthday Wishes"
Card stock : "Basic Black"; "Whisper White" & "Old Olive
Colour:   "Old Olive" classic ink, "Old Olive" and "Calypso Coral" marker pens & StazOn ink
Tools : Tape runner adhesive

Yet another 'Balloon' birthday card

What can I say, the balloons in the "Up, Up and Away" stamp set are just so cheery it's difficult to stop using them.

I also used the "Sweet Cake" stamp set for the sentiment, which I think are great and very usable.

If you look at the lower section of the card, just above the sentiment, you will see the where I've used the Crimper to add some texture to the card.

The clouds are sooo cute!

I added 'colour' to the clouds by colouring them in with a Versa Marker pen.  This just gives them a slightly deeper colour.  A Versa Marker pen is a great way of doubling up your ink colours as, as you can see from my example, it makes very colour of cardstock you have look just that slightly bit darker.

Enjoy the rest of your day.... xx

 
Project Ingredients

Stamp Sets : "Up, Up and Away" &  "Sweet Cake"
Card stock : "Pool Party" "So Saffron" & "Whisper White"
Colour:   "Pool Party"; "Soft Suede"; "Calypso Coral" classic ink pads & Versa Marker pen
Tools : Tape runner adhesive; Dimensional adhesive & Crimper

CAS Thank You card

Hello there,

I hope your day is going better than mine.  I found out that my email account has been hacked so I've spent most of the morning trying to sort that out and send messages to people to let then know what happened, I just hope that no one got a rude message from my account and they think that I send it :o/

Anyway, on to something much nicer, stamping and my share for today.

It's a real CAS, (clean and simple), "Thank You" card.  My card base if from the "Cards & Envelopes Note" pack.  it contains 20 cards and envelopes, so it's a really economical choice and I just love the size, 5" x 3-1/2",  which is just perfect if you need to make a lot of cards, such as a "Thank You" card.

The image is from the "Simply Soft" hostess stamp set and the sentiment is from the "Thank You Kindly" stamp set, which is a must-have for any crafter.

Until next time.... xx

 
Project Ingredients

Stamp Sets : "Simply Soft" & "Thank You Kindly"
Card stock : "Basic Black"
Accessories : "Cards & Envelopes Note" pack
Colour:   "Old Olive", "Blushing Bride" marker pens & StazOn ink
Tools : Tape runner adhesive

Cute "Balloon" birthday cards

Hi there,

Hope you are having a lovely Saturday.

My share for you today are a couple of cute little 4" x 4" birthday cards.  I really like this size, I think it is about as small as you can go for an actual card, anything smaller than this and really you are into note card/gift tag territory.

I threaded some ruffled ribbon through the holes in one of the circle pieces from the "perfect Pennants" die.  I think that maybe this would work better with slightly thinner ribbon, but as the ribbon is, by it's very nature, rufflie' I quite like it.

I also used the solid balloon image from the  "Up, Up & Away" stamp set, which is an adorable stamp set and so bright and jolly and perfect for cards during the summer. The above photo shows the card in greater detail and shows up the little cloud images, which are so sweet.

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday ... xx



Project Ingredients

Stamp Sets : "Up, Up & Away"
Card stock : "Pool Party"; "Daffodil Delight" & "Wisteria Wonder"
Accessories : "Attic Boutique" DSP; "Wisteria Wonder" and "Pool Party" Ruffled Ribbon.
Colour:   "Basic Gray" Classic ink & Versamark ink
Tools : Tape runner adhesive; Dimensional Adhesive;  "Perfect Pennants" die

6" x 6" Scrapbook page - Anniversary photo

Hi there,

Hope you are having a good day and are looking forward to the weekend.

A couple of weeks ago I attended a Stampin' Up regional training event and amongst my team we decided to do a special Swop for each other.  The lovely and talented Laura Meek, (click on her name to go to her blog), gave us all a gorgeous 6" x 6" scrapbook page.

It wasn't quite right for the photo I wanted to use so I recreated it and just changed it just enough to fit the image I wanted to scrap.

It's a picture of my Mum & Dad taken on their wedding anniversary, 26 years ago today, (yes, today is their wedding anniversary).  My family weren't very big photo takers so that now that both of them are gone, every photo I have of my Mum & Dad is precious and this one is especially precious as it is the only one I have of them kissing. 

I'm a big fan of journalling and actually capturing the memories but, as you can see, there is not a lot of room on this page for any, so I solved that by hiding the journalling under the photo.

I've attached the photo unto a piece of patterned DSP that I attached to a piece of cardstock that I had folded in half and sized to fit the spot left for the photo, so whilst the page is in the album you see the lovely photo, but when you take it out of the page protector you can lift the photo up and read the journalling.

Laura's original page

The above is Laura's original page, which is just lovely and I will keep in my scrapbook of a wonderful day at regional training and of the perfect inspiration for scrapping one of my favourite photo's of my beloved and much missed parents.

take care .... xx



Project Ingredients


Card stock : "Whisper White" & "Rose Red" cardstock
Accessories : "Twitterpated" DSP; "Blushing Bride" Pleated Satin Ribbon; Basic Pearls
Tools : Tape runner adhesive; Sticky Strip adhesive; Dimensional adhesive;  "Heart to Heart" punch &  "Timeless Type Junior Alphabet" dies

A "Twitterpated" birthday card

Hi there,

Another project using lots of the wonderful new items in the Summer Mini catalogue for you today.

These dies are absolutely gorgeous, you get 6 in the pack  with the largest approximately 13.3cm and they mat & layer together beautifully.  I also love the "Bordering on Romance" stamp set.  There is so much you can do with this particular outline stamp but all the stamps in this set are extremely versatile. 
I also love the "Twitterpated" DSP, you have such lovely, flowery images on one side and on the other, good solid patterns and blocks of colour, as you can see from the Basic Gray pattern used on this card, which would also be great for a man's card, especially with Father's day coming up next month.

Hope you like it, until next time ... xx


Project Ingredients

Stamp Sets : "Bordering on Romance" & "Petite Pairs"
Card stock : "Blushing Bride" & "Lucky Limeade" cardstock
Accessories : "Twitterpated" DSP; "Baja Breeze" Pleated Satin Ribbon.
Colour:   "Baja Breeze" classic ink pad & StazOn ink, "Baja Breeze", "Blushing Bride" "Basic Gray" & "Pear Pizzazz" marker pens
Tools : Tape runner adhesive; "Labels Collection" Framelits dies

Scrapbook Page - From regional training

Hello,

Hope everyone had a fabulous bank holiday weekend. I'm trying to sort out one of my rooms and it seems like I am making more mess than less!  Defiantly a couple of trips to the recycling bank for me this week.

My project  today is a scrapbook page that was part of our 'Make n Takes' at Stampin' Up's regional training recently.  I actually bought my kit home to make as, for me, scrapbooking is all about the journalling and that is something that cannot be rushed.

The photo is really rubbish.  There has been no sunny days lately so I had to take the photo inside and no matter how I tried I kept getting loads of glare on the photo, so I had to take it at this very weird angle.

I even tried putting it into my scanner, but it only scans at A4, so not that helpful, but at least this image shows the detail of the page nicely, especially if you open the image in a new tab or window.

The photo is of my son when he was little intensely investigating some flowers, I think there may have been a bug of some kind on them which was holding his attention.  Even though we lived in the center of London, he was always happiest when we were surrounded by nature, luckily we lived near Kensington Gardens so we spent many many happy hours in there.  Even though he is grown he is still happy to wonder round the park with his Mum, though our park now has wild deer, rabbits and parrots, so it's a bit different that a central London park.



 

Project Ingredients

Stamp Sets : "Mixed Bunch"
Card stock : "Baja Breeze"  "blushing Bride" cardstock;  textured "Pear Pizzazz" & Watercolour paper
Accessories : "Twitterpated" DSP; "Lucky Limeade" bakers twine; various buttons & Wire clip from "Clips Assortment"
Colour:   "Baja Breeze" classic ink pad &  "Pear Pizzazz" marker pen
Tools : Tape runner adhesive; Dimensional Adhesive, 5-Petal Flower" punch; "Fancy Flower" punch; "Blossom" punch & "Scallop Border" punch.

Regional Training General Swop card

Finally back with my general swop card that I made for our regional training event in Reading last weekend.

All done and ready to go.

It's a side stepper card, when folded flat it measures 4" x 4"

Front view

I had a lot of fun making them, I think this is such a cute size of card and fits perfectly in a 4 /4" square envelope.

Side view

I used quite a few of the products out of the new Summer Mini Catalogue.  That's one of the great things about being a demonstrator, you get to purchase items out of the new catalogues a month early.

I also used the new "Twitterpated" DSP, which is so pretty yet has good colours and patterns for male cards too so a great investment if you want to get maximum usage out of you paper.

 
Project Ingredients

Stamp Sets : "Bordering on Romance", "Tea Shoppe" & "Chamomile" Regular wheel
Card stock : "Baja Breeze", "Island Indigo" & "Whisper White" card stock
Accessories : "Twitterpated" DSP & "Island Indigo" bakers twine.
Colour:  "Blushing Bride"; "Pear Pizzazz" "Basic Gray" & "Baja Breeze" classic ink pads & Versamark ink pad
Tools : Tape runner adhesive; Dimensional Adhesive, "Labels Collection" Framelit die; "Adorning Accents", "Modern Label" punch & 1" Circle punch.

Regional Training Team SWOP card

Last Saturday I attended the Stampin' Up regional training event in Reading.  It is usual at such an event to make swop cards, so that you can swop your card with the other attendees and get loads of inspiration cards in return.  I will be sharing some of the cards I got in a couple of days, first I am going to share with you the card I made that we swopped within our team.  Basically we decided to make special cards just for each other.

This cards is actually a "stepped-up" version as my team swop card didn't have the ribbon and I only used "Baja Breeze" on the flowers to colour them in.  This one I sent to my Aunty Joyce as a birthday card.

I used the new stamp set "Apothecary Art", new DSP "Attic Boutique" and also both the new edgelits and framelits dies.  I have been having way too much fun with these dies and I've cut out loads of things, just not sure what I'm going to do with all these cut out bits that I now have sitting on my craft desk.

I'll be back tomorrow with my general swop care,  until then, take care... xx

 

Project Ingredients

Stamp Sets : "Apothecary Art""
Card stock : "Soft Suede" & "Whisper White" card stock
Accessories : "Attic Boutique" DSP; "Very Vanilla" Satin Ribbon; Basic Pearls.
Colour:  "Baja Breeze"; "Soft Suede" & "So Saffron" classic ink pads
Tools : Tape runner adhesive; "Labels Collection" Framelit die; "Adorning Accents" Edgelits die & "Adorning Accents" Embossing Folders