January Sales ....

Hi there, I hope you are enjoying the Christmas season. I normally do a post around this time of year titled "It's the most wonderful time of the year" I love that song and it just makes me laugh at the cheesiness of it :) I also use that as a title for my blog post because I consider the Sale-a-Bration promotion that Stampin Up hold each January (through March) to be the best offer of the year, it is simply the SU version of the January sales, but what is even better is that it coincides with a new seasonal catalogue launch. What better time for Stampin up to offer us a Sale-a-Bration free item for EVERY £45 we spend. So starting 4th January, grab yourself a free item (from the Sale-a-Bration brochure) for every £45 spend from the full annual catalogue or the brand new Spring Summer seasonal ....... I can't post links to the full brochures yet, but here are some sneaks of the front covers .....

Cookie Cutter ....

Really love these stamps and the coordinating punch, the punch cuts out Santa, the Eskimo and the gingerbread man, but then when turned upside down, the "legs" cut round the reindeer antlers allowing you to use it on the reindeer stamp as well. I apologise for not adding sentiments to these very quick cards I made today .....

Image courtesy of google

Presents & Pinecones DSP ....

Just another quick post with these gorgeous designer series papers, although you can't see much of the papers in this layout, I do love them. At first glance in the seasonal catalogue, I had overlooked them as I thought there were a lot of yellows in the papers that didn't appeal to me, but when you actually get them, and see the beautiful greens blended together, they really inspired me :) I know I will be making more layouts with these ....

The green wreath / boarder round the outside is made using a stamp from the Foxy friends set.

Pretty Pines Thinlit Dies ....

While I love the copper metal pinecones in my last post, I have to mention these gorgeous dies. I think they are worth every penny because I can never see them dating, I love the clear embossed image created on the pine cones themselves, and then the lovely "spruce" twigs, which could be used on loads of cards and layouts ....   here's a gift card wallet that we made at team training.

Foxy Friends & Pinecones ....

I always planned to make some Christmas cards out of my Foxy friends stamp set from the summer. I think stamping the fox or his friends in grey creates a nice wintery alternative, and he looks so cute with the Presents & Pinecones designer papers. I almost ruled these papers out when I saw all the yellows in them, but the greens are fabulous, and look gorgeous with Christmas projects....  also don't miss these cute pinecone metal embellishments in the current seasonal ....

Merriest Wishes ....

well back to Christmas with only five weeks to go it will soon be here. I love this stamp and die set, but have had little time to use it, so made a card last week that I have been meaning to get on the blog ...

and also just because I wanted to showcase one of my favourite dies from the coordinating die set Merry Tags, I have copied this card from pinterest and the very talented Janneke de Jong .... loving  the reindeer :) 

Halloween Night DSP ....

Just had time for a little crafting today, we were almost snowed in! but fortunately I was able to get out and join my crafting buddies. I wanted to use my Halloween papers from Stampin Up before the season had completely passed, so here's a layout using photo's from our Halloween party and also using the papers to scrap something completely different, a beautiful wall painted by various artists in Scarborough. I also thought they would be great for scrapping a male themed layout :)  

I had an idea about making Ghosts in a chain like the old "paper chains" we used to make when we were kids, anyway, I ended up cutting through the crucial part that would keep them "holding hands" but I decided I still liked their shape so I stuck them on, but I think they need embellishing a little. The second layout with the brick wall paper also needs a chunky Title.

Warmth & Cheer designer series papers ....

Made Christmas cards today with some friends, and although I haven't had time to photograph them all (I will add more later) here's my effort at Amanda Bates "card with more front" which she taught me a couple of years ago, I'm sure you can find more on Amanda's blog at the Craft Spa. I've used the current paper stack from the seasonal catalogue ....

Ways with Washi courtesy of Pinterest on the left, simple die cuts on the right.

easy middle boarder plus die cut Snowflakes

Stitched Shaped Framelit Dies ....

An exciting new product from Stampin Up being given an early release pre next years catalogue, get your hands on yours between 1st - 30th November :)

as an added bonus Stampin Up have put a 25% discount on a number of stamp sets in the current seasonal catalogue, which will coordinate beautifully with these dies ....

                                     the 2 samples above were made at Julie's team training

Little Break ....

apologies for non crafting posts recently. I have just had a sneaky late week in the sun, taking my mum and dad away with us too and I'm back and with a card class to prepare for next weekend. I hate to be last minute and yes a whole week is last minute to me, so wish me luck and inspiration. :) but first I have to get through our annual Halloween party tomorrow night !

Detailed Santa ....

Love this die and it makes a great shaker card, here's one we made at my card class a few weeks ago and a couple of other easy makes with my favourite dies from last year, Sleigh Ride .....

New product here, the copper foil card

Merriest Wishes ....

Just had chance to play with these new stamps and lovely coordinating dies "Merry Tags Framelit Dies" (141835) but I still have ideas in my head especially for the dies so watch this space. Had a fun class last weekend, here are a couple of cards .....

Buy 3 get another one free .... DSP

October promotion .... 4 packs of paper for the price of 3! Yes so its £30.00 for 4 packs instead of £40.00!

 There are some FAB designs amongst the ones available in the promotion including the new Candy Cane Lane from the Autumn/Winter catalogue. If you have  thing for papers then this offer is for you!

Bella and friends ....

Here's another set that I haven't used yet from the full annual catalogue, and I did say I would give us all a break from all the Christmas samples, so here are a couple of cute cards made with the Bella and Friends stamp set.

I have also finally used my In Colour paper stack and for the first time and my Ruched Ribbon in Sweet Sugarplum.

By The Shore ....

Just returning from your summer holidays? Sick of all these Christmas posts already, well I did say I still had several things to share from the full annual catalogue, and these papers are one of them. I ordered them ages ago, and don't know why I haven't gotten round to using them, I love all things "sea" themed, and enjoyed making this scrapbook layout with the papers and Swirly Scribbles dies, and the card with the papers and Layering Love sentiments :) I still have loads left to make another layout, and that is from just a half pack of paper as I have sent the other half of it on to a friend.

Jolly friends ....

I am so surprised at how I have fallen for this stamp set. "Cute" is not normally me, but I couldn't resist this reindeer when I saw a sample card in the seasonal catalogue. As soon as I started to use the set (Stamps and Punch) the ideas just flew out, and I know this is just the start of many of my Christmas cards this year.

Peace This Christmas ....

One of the first sets that I bought from the new seasonal catalogue because I just loved the swirly script of the two sentiment stamps, and also thought it could be quite versatile. I started by making this simpe card, and then I stamped some background A4 sheets to create my own "papers". These are the resulting cards, hoe you enjoy them ....

New Autumn / Winter Catalogue Launched ....

Well here it is and for all you Christmas fiends "It's the most wonderful time of the year"  well not quite :)  So we can finally release images and a link to the new seasonal catalogue. I have been working on some samples and have a class this weekend to launch the new catalogue, so watch this space for some Christmas makes. I'll try not to bombard you as I still have makes from the annual catalogue to share :) Enjoy your browsing ......

http://su-media.s3.amazonaws.com/media/catalogs/2016%20Holiday%20Catalog/Holiday16_en-UK.pdf

Northumberland ....

I've wanted to visit Northumberland for a few years now. It was put on my radar by ladies I had met through crafting, who were always posting fantastic photo's of themselves walking there dogs on the beach, or general scenery around the area they live in. Finally we made a visit last month and had a wonderful week exploring the area. I would highly recommend it, and it was so nice to be able to pack up the car and not have to travel to the airport. There's so much to see and do in Northumberland, and I took some great photo's for my scrapbook :)

Pop of Pink ....

Feeling all fired up on the scrapbooking front today. I just had a whole weekend away scrapping and managed 11 layouts in one weekend !! Wow, that is a massive record for me, and I have continued today by finally using these gorgeous Stampin Up papers, Pop of Pink and also making a simple card with a bit of sparkle :)

Thoughtful Branches ....

Hello there, today is an exciting day as it's the first day you can get your hands on the new and limited edition Thoughtful Branches bundle. This bundle is only available this month so don't miss out on this lovely stamp set with coordinating dies, watch this space for samples to follow.


There are also 9 coordinating dies.

Samples made at team training, thanks Julie Kettlewell