Focus on fringe cont ....

Well here is the layout today, I have just about completed it, and also made another layout with the gorgeous Season of Style papers, now just to add some photo's and journaling :)

The second photo is a little dull but you get the idea. I used one of the Tag a Bag chevron decorated gift bags as a pocket on this layout and made a large tag to fit inside it, you can put additional photo's on the tag or hidden journaling :) Here's a little sneak peak too, on both layouts I have used an up and coming sale-a-bration item, see if you can spot it :)

Configuration Boxes ....

Hello, I just wanted to do a quick blog post before Christmas, today has been a pretty calm day for me compared to the last few months !!! I have had builders here every day, and it has been nice (since they finished work on Friday) to have the house to myself. Peace at last, which has been lovely these last few days on the run up to Christmas. Of course the house still looks like a building site, but at least there are no builders here, except for Craig who is now waving his paint brush around !!! So over the weekend I had a couple of exceptionally nice days, Saturday with ladies Christmas lunch and Sunday with some crafting pals. I invited a few friends round and said that I would provide these wooden houses which were left over from one of the retreat classes. Everyone brought loads of bits and pieces with them, and we all went to town in making our own unique projects. I haven't quite finished mine yet, but here it is so far ..... just out of interest if you google configuration boxes, you can see some amazing ideas :) enjoy.... not sure about all of the elements yet i.e. Santa :)

Focus on Fringe ....

Or Tassle, depending on what you call it. I was thinking about my Season of Style page the other day, and wanted to make one of these flowers. I like to make them out of felt, but have made them from paper before as well, so I started with a 2" strip of card, folded it in half down the length and then snipped along the closed edge to make the "fringe". Of course this can be used for quite a few applications, and I have tried to use it a few times on my page to demonstrate this ... flower, Christmas tree, fringe over photo mat and of course it makes great grass.

Convention Swaps ....

Just wanted to add my last post about convention as I haven't shared any cards!!! Here is a photo of the swap I made and also a photo with some of my favourite swaps on it.

Beautifully Baroque.

I hope the photo's not too small for you to enjoy :)

Season Of Style ....

I just didn't want anyone to miss out on these gorgeous papers from Stampin Up! If you happen to have missed them they are in the seasonal catalogue and I just can't get enough of them. Robyn and I have been covering the SU Kraft Gift Boxes with the papers as she always makes her own Christmas gifts and the boxes are the perfect size for so many things. I am going to try to scrapbook with them tomorrow just so that you can see them used for another application, but I have seem them put to all sorts of uses :) here's a layout I have started :) I have updated the photo to one of Robyn's gift boxes as she has given them out now :)

Convention Part 2 ....

One of the most exciting things about convention is all the sneak peaks we get of all the wonderful up and coming Stampin Up products and of course the prize patrol's and giveaways, we received so much stuff but we cannot show photo's until the products are released, we can however show pictures of projects that we make so I will get cracking and post some things soon :)

Convention ....

Phew what a few days I have just had at the Stampin Up! European Convention 2013 in Manchester :) The convention began properly on Friday and Saturday but you could sign in and register early from 6.00 p.m. on Thursday evening so a lot of us arrived on Thursday afternoon. I met up with a lovely group of ladies from my up-lines team and we spent the afternoon at The Christmas Market in Manchester. It was fabulous and covers lots of the streets and squares, there was a great atmosphere and some wonderful stalls, food and beverages :)

I'd definitely recommend it :)

Halloween ....

Well this is a bit of a late post for Halloween, but if you could see the state of our house at the moment, you would understand. In the first two weeks we had a whole new central heating system installed which meant most of the floor boards on the landing and in three bedrooms were pulled up and there was dirt and dust everywhere. My sanctuary has been my bedroom (the only one they left alone) and thankfully our lounge has been left without too much damage so we can sit in peace in the evening and watch T.V. Towards the end of this work we found out we need a re-wire, so there has been little point in putting anything back to normal, we can't get electricians in until 2nd December so my hubby has decided to start on the kitchen "as there is going to be loads of mess anyway" !!! So it has taken me about two weeks to do this layout, purely because most of my crafting supplies are still in boxes (very depressing) I've used the Witches Brew DSP from the current seasonal catalogue and the coordinating Washi Tape....


I'd planned some different black flowers but forgot until I had stuck these to the layout :(

Stamp a Tag Bundles ....

Please click on the poster to view it clearly

 

Make these gorgeous gift boxes with the latest bundle offers from Stampin Up!

 

Stamp a Tag Kit, Cherry Cobbler 1" Stitched Edge Grosgrain Ribbon and 6     decorative window gift boxes all for just £17.95   (135811)

 Stamp a Tag Kit, Cherry Cobbler 1" Stitched Edge Grosgrain Ribbon and 3 extra-large gift boxes all for just £16.95    (135812)

 

 

 

Moving House ....

Well we made it, we moved to our new home on the 18th October, but it was epic. We didn't get keys until 3.00 p.m. in the afternoon and then the lorry with all our belongings in it couldn't fit down the drive so the removals firm had to park down the road, bring a smaller van and off load from the big lorry to the small van 7 times to shift all of our stuff in (not to mention a rather large number of boxes that were all marked "craft room" !!! We had to wait until Saturday for our phone and broadband, so now I am back on-line and in contact with the outside world.

There has been another great "25 Years" offer from Stampin Up, but it involves a rather extensive list of stamp sets, so I have posted this on my special offers page :) Enjoy.

Christmas Countdown ....

I'm sure you have seen this sweet tin around on a few blogs now, my upline Julie shared it with us all at our training day on Saturday. I have seen it popping up on a few blogs, but still thought I would share it, it is so cute and the Santa is made from punch art using various Stampin Up punches The gorgeous designer series papers are from the Season of Style collection.

Too Kind ....

With the colour combo of Basic Grey, Smoky Slate and Pistachio Pudding card and also Crisp cantaloupe and Calypso Coral ink pads, this lovely card was made at stamp-a-stack last week, I love the double stamping effect of the flower head and I didn't even bother to line mine up, and still feel it achieved a lovely result. A really easy and inspiring stamp set to use, hope you like it :)

Fabulous You ....

The possibilities are endless with this gorgeous stamp set, I can think of lots and lots of uses for this "Fabulous You" shoe and sentiment set at only £9.95 in cling or £12.95 in wood. Here's it's coupled with the "Label Love" sentiment set on the right.

Clearance Rack ....

Well for the first time in this country, Stampin' Up have introduced their "clearance rack" which has been popular in the States with Demo's and Customers alike. If you'd like to grab a bargain you can do so through the new online ordering option on the right hand column of my blog, or by contacting me if online ordering isn't your thing :) I have pinched this photo from my upline as I can't seem to "screen dump" a picture from my computer, but it just gives you a little "heads up" as to how to find the right page :)

 

Box Frame ....

Gorgeous box frame created at Paper Haven retreat this weekend in the Afternoon Picnic designer series paper collection. Love these papers and the sentiment set "Feel Goods"

Paper Scissors Glue Phobic ?

Maybe you just don't have the storage space or perhaps paper crafting has always been a shall I or shan't I subject for you, but here comes a fantastic new product from Stampin' Up that I think will appeal to the young and computer savvy alike .... My Digital Studio. Ever heard of digital Scrapbooking? Well this product is now available, at a fantastic price, and you can build up your "stash" by buying a bargain busting monthly kit as and when you want, direct and online. All of your gorgeous creations can be stored and shared online and you can finally do justice and make fantastic personalized gifts as you have been wanting to do for ages.

You  can YouTube some fantastic demo's and I will post more news on my new MDS page as soon as possible :)

Best of ....

And here's another very best of Stampin' Up to celebrate there 25th year .... and with the launch of the autumn winter seasonal catalogue, it had to be a best of Christmas :)

The "Best Of" Flyers are all on my specials and promotions page.

Butterfly Bargains ....

Stampin Up's latest offer .... until the end of September purchase the Papillon Potpourri stamp set and the coordinating punch at 15% off use code 135311 for clear mount stamps at £23.97 (including the punch) or code 135312 for wood mounted stamps at £26.52 (including the punch).

Anniversary's ....

Well here I am and I have to say I have been struggling to keep up of late. I have been meeting myself coming back and doing a few extra days at work to cover my colleague who has been on leave. I've hardly had any crafting time and on top of that I could be moving house in four weeks arrrrrggghhhh. Ah well only about 100 boxes left to pack, and I have made a huge dint in my efforts, (I have packed 8) !!! But today I took half an hour to make this card for my Mum and Dad's Golden Wedding Anniversary which is coming up very soon (at the end of the month). Well done mum and dad for making through 50 years of marriage and still being in love, so sweet, here's the card I have made for them, a variation on a previously loved theme, but hey, I am rather busy :)

Christmas in July (well August) ....

A shout out to my friends in Australia where they have Christmas in July, when I went to training this week, it made me think of Christmas even though it is only August. Julie Kettlewell my SU "upline" had a training event on Tuesday and we made these lovely samples .....

Julie demonstrated a great little stamp set that is appearing soon in the new seasonal catalogue, with one pack of crumb cake card stock and a couple of markers, using this design, it is possible to make 48 cards for £22.10. If you wish to add the designer paper and bakers twine that's an extra £8.75. Great price to make hand made Christmas cards.

Trollied ....

So although I love the way SU punches stack together so well, it seems every time I need a punch, it is the one at the bottom of the pile. So a while ago a friend of mine (Debbie Reid) showed this trolley on facebook, she bought it from Ikea, and I thought, I have to get me one of those, although I was shocked by the price, I expected it to be around £20 at Ikea but it was a wee bit more than that !!! Anyway here it is full of my lovely punches, I am so in love with it right now LOL ;)   

August Offers ....

August offers from Stampin Up! and a pretty exciting time for us demo's as we can pre order for the up coming new seasonal which will be out next month, so watch this space for some sneak peak projects :)

New Products ....

And a few more samples from the new catalogue from Julie's stamp a stack group last Friday, the gorgeous colours are Bermuda Bay and Crushed Curry to name a few and the gorgeous stamp sets, Label Love, Mosaic Madness and Wildflower Meadow.

Label Love and Mosaic madness come with coordinating punches and wildflower meadow has a coordinating embossing folder.

Bargains Galore ....

Stampin Up really are on a role this summer, there is so much going on at the moment, of course tremendous excitement about the new catalogue launch, but at the same time there are a number of great offers available, take a look at my Special Offers Page to find out about them "The Best Of" offered available while stocks last and this new greetings offer available until the end of July ....

New Annual catalogue Launch ....

 

Well here it is and here is the link to the New Annual Stampin' Up! Catalogue.

http://su-media.s3.amazonaws.com/media/catalogs/EU/20130701_3nv82G1a_AC_en-EU/index.html

 

The link will remain permanently in the right hand column of the blog, but just for quick access as I'm sure we are all excited about the launch today, you can follow the link quickly from here :) So grab a cuppa of your favourite brew, and happy browsing.

Label Love ....

Well with only 8 days to go until the new annual catalogue goes live, I am sure there will be lots of posts of the fabulous new Stampin Up products, but my first investment from the new catalogue has had to be the Label Love stamp set and the new Artisan Label punch which matches it perfectly. I have tried to find a bit of time this weekend to make a few samples as I have a new catty launch party next week, so here are a couple of simple cards made with these New Items :) Can you spot the other new item that I have used?

It's the Mosaic embossing folder on the pool party card to the left :)

New Products ....

Well I'm sure if your a Stampin' Up fan you will be well aware that we are building up to the new catalogue launch. It goes live to the public from 1st July and I got my hands on a copy this week. I was able to pre order a few things last week, and will try to get some samples on here asap so that you can see some of the lovely stuff that could be yours in the not too distant future ;) What I have been surprisingly impressed with is a new clay moulding product, you buy the moulds (set of 2 buttons and flowers) and then a packet of white clay, it is so easy to use and the beauty of it is there are a number of ways to colour it to coordinate beautifully with all of your other SU products. It is totally Fab and if you like to add resin, plastic or any other flowers to your projects, you are gonna love this, here is a Youtube link as of course they already have it in America but by watching this I am sure you will have loads of ideas on what to do with your clay when it arrives :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY6BMaJeScg&feature=player_embedded

I am doing an offer on orders of £50 from the new catalogue, free postage and a free gift ......... and I will post a link to the new catalogue as soon as we are allowed :)

Life is hard ...... sometimes

but blogs are supposed to be uplifting places to visit aren't they? so rather than dwell on how difficult some relationships are and how they have come to that point, I will show you a lovely layout I have made this week, that has made me very happy. I love these papers "Random Collection" by crate paper. They were actually part of a kit I received at Scrapstars, it was to make an off the page project but the paper pack was so large, I had loads left over, enough to create 2 gorgeous pages actually, but here is my favourite :) 

2013 Retirement Lists ....

Here follows the link to the current annual catalogue retirement list, you only have until the end of June, so if any of the items on the list are still on your wish list, you should order them now, first come first served, once they're gone, they're gone :) There are two lists one for stamps and one for accessories or everything else :)

http://su-media.s3.amazonaws.com/media/lastChance/2013%20EU%20Retired%20List/Stamp_Availability-UK.pdf


http://su-media.s3.amazonaws.com/media/lastChance/2013%20EU%20Retired%20List/Accessories_Availability-UK.pdf

Dapper Dad ....

I said I would post some more things from the quarterley training day a while ago, and here is one of the projects Julie had in store for us. Our whole day was "Male" focused and we were all asked to make our swaps male themed. It is an area a lot of people struggle with and Julie ensured we made some lovely male themed projects through the day. I have actually just ordered the Dapper Dad stamp set as after using it, I feel it's a great one to have in your collection. :) 

This n That ....... 15% off ....

                                   A new product launch from Stampin' Up!

If you've seen a smash book before, then you'll already know what the This and That range is designed to do. It's a fantastic product and I happily completed my first one last year. It's a much more relaxed and back to basics approach to storing your memories and memorabilia. Think of the old sugar paper scrapbooks that we used to stick clippings and tickets in. Well that is much more of what the This n That range is about. Stick it in, scribble, doodle, journal enjoy .......and what's more for the month of may stampin up are offering this great bundle package at 15% discount but only if you order the whole product bundle, so take a look and youtube the demo, whats more the range includes Washi tape, a must have for any crafter at the moment :)

131268	Epic Day This and That Journal	13.50 €/£9.95
130814	Epic Day This and That Designer Series Paper	13.25 €/£9.95
131463	Remember This and That Rotary Stamp	6.95 €/£5.50
131271	Epic Day This and That Designer Stickers	5.95 €/£4.50
131269	Epic Day This and That Designer Washi Tape	5.95 €/£4.50
133905	Epic Day This and That Bundle Includes the five This and That products listed above. Only available in a bundle until May 31.	38.76 €/£29.24 15% Off Retail Value!

Clockwork .....

Well Saturday was our quarterly all day team training event and we had to make the dreaded swaps !!! I am not used to having to produce so many cards at once so it is a challenge for me, and to add to this my upline Julie also asked us all to make our swaps on a male theme. I know this put a lot of people out of their comfort zone and i was convinced everyone would opt for clockwork, but not so. Anyway because i was also doing an inspiration station, I didn't quite finish my swaps, and just thought the ladies could add whatever they wanted to make the card suite an occasion, but I did put an upgraded version on my swap on the table I used for my inspiration station :) so here it is .... 

Tea for Two ...

Happy to still be here having survived the crazy wind the other night! Robyn text me saying I think we might wake up in Oz, I think she was right but thankfully all was in tact round the house and garden, well the Arbour had blown over and the BBQ was well down the garden but all seems ok. I may have mentioned that I have been busy crafting in preparation for my Upline Julie's training day tomorrow, Lesley and I are doing a scrapbooking inspiration station, but we have thrown a couple of other things in for those who don't scrapbook. I know it's not until tomorrow, and following the event I will be able to post all the other projects I have made, but in the meantime, here is a birdhouse I have re-vamped in the gorgeous Stampin Up Tea for Two papers.



Not sure about the large flower on the front, but i had made it at the weekend and it was lying on my desk so i thought, yeh go on !!!



Oz - Graphic 45

I have been on a scrapbooking frenzy lately, and have been doing a lot of Stampin Up scrapbooking in preparation for an inspiration station I am doing at my upline's all day training event in April. I don't want to post photo's until the day has passed but last week I had a lovely scrapping day with my friends Lesley and Kathy. Lesley and I had been planning to follow Charlie Jones Magic of Oz youtube demo for some time, and finally got around to it on Wednesday. Oz is one of my all time (old time) favourite movies, and I loved this album when I saw it. It was nice to take a break from what I had been doing and do something totally self indulgent and just for "ME". With the scraps of paper left over from the album I made this 12 x 12 layout .... not quite finished but almost there.

In Colours .... and updates

Well it seems we have been told about some of the colour changes for the forthcoming catalogue in June. I know it's a while away but a lot of people have been worrying about there favourite 2012-2013 in colours and the possibility that they may be going to loose gorgeous colours like Pool party and Wisteria Wonder, well the good news is they are going to be absorbed into the main colour families i.e. Subtles, Neutrals, Brights and Regals. Here's a little chart which shows the proposed changes .... Thanks Nicky Worrilow for posting this on FB......

Easter Blossoms

I love this stamp set but its the first time I have used it since I bought it several months ago! I daren't guess how long probably just after I signed up and had to have half the catalogue all in one go, and then it takes you months to get any pleasure out of your purchase's. I will do better honest :) here are a few very simple cards similar to one I saw on google ...