I hope you are enjoying the festive season.

Happy Stampin’

However I am not, last week I hurt my collar bone……..a minor insignificant thing really, not sure when or how it happened, one minute I was fine, the next I had a lump and plenty of pain! A trip to the doctors so far hasn’t answered any questions and although the anti-inflammatories are helping I have been unable to do most of the things I want and need to do for over a week!

Stamping hurts, typing hurts, wrapping presents hurts, I think you are getting the message, everything I try and do hurts and it has made me more than a little cranky! Ask Brian and the kids…….!

So I’m making this a quick post using cards I made a few weeks ago and I will be back as soon as I can with some NEW things to share with you, I think that has been the hardest thing, I have new stamps and products that are still in the box because I can’t do anything with them, and they arrived last week!

So 2 quick cards today, both birthday cards, I love being able to use things in different ways, on the first card I have used the ornament punch and made it into a vase, simple, speedy and fabulous!

The second card uses the same sentiment from Curly Cute.  This time I have used an acrylic block to make a shadow background, looks like a stormy sky!

Now you have until Wednesday to place your orders with me to ensure you get them in time for the big day, I can of course send out gift vouchers for another week after that.

Advance warning, you need to make sure you are on my email – mailing list to hear first all of the information about the new products, catalogues and Sale-a-bration and perhaps a Boxing day surprise !!!!!!!  There is a link on the right hand side or email me and I will add you to the list.

That’s all for me for now, I’ll be back as soon as I can.

Happy Stampin’

I have a bigshot card for you today, we made this at one of the Diecut Divas classes, you can find out more information about them here.

Just one stamp on the topnote diecut, which was then embossed using Elegant Bouquet and decorated with a flower from the Fun Flowers die and little leaves.  Topped with a button, the stitching line is a simple white line using the Stampin’ Up! gel pen.

Remember tomorrow is the last day you can book for my Craft Away Day, you can find out all about it here.

Happy Stampin’

It’s called French Foliage and is in the mini catalogue page 15.  It is such a great set for speedy cards using a technique called one sheet wonder.  It’s actually not so much a technique as a way of stamping and if you have ever seen me at a workshop it’s my random stamping !!!!  I put a each stamp from the set on a different ink pad and stamp away, odd numbers of images are best and stamping off the paper gives a more natural feel to the card.

The splat stamp is wonderful, looks exactly like water droplets.  The banner is made simply by trimming a piece of Very Vanilla card, stamping and then bending and attaching with some dimensional foam pads.

The button is stuck on with a glue dot and I have a “thing” about buttons looking like they are stitched on…….but I never have the time or the inclination to sew them!  So I use a Stampin’ Up! white gel pen, works a treat!

Happy Stampin’

Now there is a little tale about this page, I have two copies, one in blue as above and another in pink……… you see when I was looking for the baby pictures to put on it I couldn’t find any of Kimberley, all the photos where in Connor’s boxes.  Now I know we took lots of photos when Kimberley was born, so I was a little panicked by this!  It seems that several packs of photos got jumbled up in one of the 5 house moves we have had since the children were babies and we can’t be sure exactly which one of our 2 children this is………!  Ooops !

The rest of the photos have dates on the back so we could sort out into the right piles, so for fairness sake I have made a pink and blue one and they will go into both children’s albums!

This second page is just for fun, I found the cute picture of Kimberley in the boxes and it matched the daisies and paper I had on my desk, a page in about 7 minutes!

Who said scrapbooking is difficult?

Happy Stampin’

My swaps are a variation of the ribbon brooch you can see here.

I have used manmade fabric and cut scallop circles and fun flowers using my bigshot and then melted each layer.  I need to say thank you to Clare who helped with both cutting and the first set of melting.  Each brooch has been melted about 4 times, not a quick process but I love the effect.

Then the flowers have been hot glued together topped with a big button, some with seam binding decoration others with rhinestones so each one is unique.  I have tied them to a topnote which has been stamped with French Foliage.

I have put a brooch back covered with felt on the reverse again hot glued……..I can’t sew!!!

I hope they like them……I am so looking forward to sharing with the the swaps I get in return.

Happy Stampin’

These are the samples I made to show her. All three cards have a Brights colour scheme running through them, each card has a little bit more detail and embellishment on it.

This first card is Old Olive and Daffodil Delight, the tortoise is stamped in Stazon and coloured with watercolour pencils.  The shell is then made glossy by using Crystal effects, which I left overnight to dry.  The button has a sliver of card put through for the string, a great tip for colour co-ordination.

Card number 2, this time Tempting Turquoise and Rich Razzleberry, the peacock feather was stamped coloured and made glossy as before.  This time there are 2 buttons and a Rhinestone for added sparkle.

and finally the Dragonfly card, the same colourway as the previous card. I have used Designer paper as before but this time overstamped it using the sanded background stamp.  Each dragonfly was stamped and cut out, watercoloured and then when the crystal effects was put onto the wings I added a little dazzling diamonds for added sparkle!  The crinkled ribbon is easily achieved by placing sticky strip along the length of the ribbon and pleating and folding as you stick it down.

Thank you so much for all your comments about my Brooches, I am so pleased you love them as much as I do!  There is still time to enter the prize draw, see the post below for details.

Happy Stampin’

These are the 3 cards they made, all showcasing our fabulous buttons.

And a close up of each one.

And the final 3D item they made was a button bracelet, I have been making these for a long time as a friend and store owner Anna has been designing and making button jewellery forever and has shown me lots of tips and tricks!  I haven’t made much jewellery for a while and when I decided to focus the training on buttons I knew I just had to make some jewellery with the team.

I was then reminded of the bracelet idea via a post from an American Stampin’ Up! demonstrator Patty Bennett here, she in turn got the idea from Jill Olson, isn’t this so great we all share from one another!

The buttons Patty uses are bigger than the ones we have currently in the UK, but we just used a few more ! These are modelled by the lovely Kimberley.

I have used a clear stretchy thread as I wanted the buttons to be the star of the show, but you could easily use our stretchy silver or gold thread.  You could put rhinestones or pearls in the centre of the flower buttons too, that would make it very sparkly!

I’ll be back tomorrow with the mini scrapbook details.

Happy Stampin’

Have a lovely Christmas Eve, I hope Santa puts presents in your stocking not Coal………!

Happy Stampin’

Things are going fast, I have an order going in tomorrow ( Saturday 17th) evening if you would like anything and can collect it from me I will pay your postage.

If you need it sent direct and the order is over £30 I will pay half of the postage, so postage will be just £2 direct to your door via UPS.

I will keep my website upto date with items that are no longer available.

Paypal or payment direct into my bank account is fastest or of course if you are local pop a cheque or cash through my door. If you email me I’ll send you the details.

Attached is a PDF of the updated list, there are ticks in the right hand side to show the extra reductions.

Please be aware I have an all day class tomorrow so it will be the evening before I get back to you.

Here is a pretty card, it’s super quick and uses retiring Chocolate Chip ribbon (boo hoo) and the cute little Soft Subtle buttons.

Click on the link below to see the full pdf of the reductions.

Last chance further reductions

Happy Stampin’

I have stamped it first in Black Stazon and then again using bleach.  I make a bleach ink pad using some folded kitchen roll placed onto a plate then squirt a little bleach onto it, spread it evenly.

I use my Stamp-a-ma-jig to make sure I line up the 2 images, having cleaned the stazon off the stamp ink up the stamp on the bleach and stamp over the first image.  Make sure you CLEAN your stamp straight away by first rinsing it under the tap and then clean it on your stamp ‘n’ scrub.

The button has a piece of Spiced Cider designer paper punched out and stuck onto the back of a clear button.  The card front is stamped using Sanded background stamp, and inside is the same with a few scraps of paper to finish it off.

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

Scrapbooking in a day is speedy, it’s a different way of scrapbooking to many as traditionally we scrap around the photos and when we scrapbook that way it can take hours………days even to finish a layout as we re-live memories with each picture. Scrapbooking in a day means you can have a whole album ready for your photo’s and journaling, I love speedy!   Then I can take my time adding the photos at a later date.

The pages are on Blush Blossom, teamed with Cameo Coral and Chocolate Chip.  I have used the Flight of the Butterfly stamp set and co-ordinating Butterfly punch too.

Here are a couple of close up’s.

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

Karen asked for a Christmas theme and this is the card we made., the tree is both water coloured  and highlighted with the gel pen, and the little white thread on the button is the white gel pen too!  A little tip I learnt from one of my lovely downlines, Amy.

The sentiment if from Seasonal wishes, another set on the last chance list, don’t delay!

Stamps : Scandinavian Season and Wheel, Seasonal Wishes
Inks: Bashful Blue Chocolate Chip
Cardstock: Versamark, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: White embossing powder, button,white gel pen

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

Stamps : Sincere Salutations, Touch of Nature
Inks: Chocolate Chip
Cardstock: Pale Plum, Chocolate Chip, Mellow Moss
Accessories: Pale Plum button, Linen Thread, Double stitched and grosgrain Chocolate Chip ribbon, Mellow Moss and Pale Plum markers, Dazzling Diamonds

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

Cardstock at 6″ x 12″  scored at 2″, 4″,6″,8″ and 10″ Cut 2 lines between the 2″ and 10″ score lines, each line needs to be 2″ from the top and bottom edge.  This will give you 2 rectangular sections for the front and back of the card, and 12 2″ square boxes to decorate.

I have lain the card down for this shot to explain the way to fold the card.  The top and bottom score lines for the squares go Mountain, Valley, Mountain.  The middle section is Valley, Mountain, Valley, it really does sound and look far more complicated than it is!!!

Give it a try.

Stamps : Best Yet, Touch of Nature
Inks: Old Olive
Cardstock: Old Olive, Haiku Designer Series Paper
Accessories: Fire Rhinestone Brads, Designer Buttons

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

Debbie came to visit me a few weeks ago to find out more about Stampin’ Up! and becoming a demonstrator, she attended done of my class and we had lots of fun making cards.  I encourage all of my prospective demonstrators to ask lots of questions and come along to my meetings or classes to find out more.

Whilst we where talking she explained that one of her passions is making soap.  I love to find out more about all sorts of crafts and soap making is really interesting, there are several different types of soap so she was kind enough to send me some in a lovely little box.  Thank you Debbie.

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

Jane designed this first card, well something very similar……….you see I was busy chatting ( not like me at all !  ) and stuck my ribbon on too central then the mat layers didn’t fit so I adapted the design……..I’m really pleased with it and the technique, I will be demoing this technique at my workshops during July.

Stamps : Wow Flowers
Inks: Green Galore
Cardstock: Green Galore, Whisper White
Accessories: 1/2″ circle punch, White grosgrain ribbon, Stampin’ Pastels, Sponge Daubers, Paper Piercer, Scallop circle punch

This is a bookmark designed by Vannessa, it showcases the wonderful Season of Joy, a Christmas stamp set that’s not just for Christmas!!!  I love the Summer Sun, Cameo Coral combination, just right for a summer holiday read.

Stamps : Season of Joy, One of a Kind
Inks: Cameo Coral, Summer Sun, Old Olive
Cardstock: Cameo Coral, Summer Sun, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Round Tab Punch, Boho Blossoms Punch, Brads, Paper piercer

This card was Amy’s make and take with a difference, she gave us all a bag of bits, cardstock, designer paper, confetti white card.  Black Stazon ink, watercolour crayons and the choice of 2 stamp sets, Scene in a Garden or the one I chose Soft Summer.  The ribbon embellishment uses a loop of Linen thread to attach the button, simple and stylish.  Love it!

Stamps : Soft Summer
Inks: Black Stazon
Cardstock and Papers: Confetti White, Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Summer Picnic DSP
Accessories: Button, Linen Thread, Bashful Blue Double Stitched Ribbon, Watercolour wonder crayons

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

You all know I have the best Stampin’ Up! team of demonstrators my Inspiring Inkees and of course the most wonderful friends who are also my customers.

Well yesterday through a combined effort of sales and recruiting and lots of hard work by both me and my team, I achieved an all expenses, yes all expenses paid trip to Monaco during June 2010 !

Wow, I am thrilled, it is the first ever European incentive trip for Stampin’ Up! and will be very special. The location is wonderful, ever since I was a little girl I have dreamt of going to Monaco, I am a ‘Formula 1 Grand Prix nut’ and one of my ambitions is to walk the Grand Prix track because I don’t think an F1 team will lend me a car…………..!

If you would like to see the venue please click here.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you

to every one who has been part of my Stampin’ Up! story!

So now onto some cards…………….Fresh Cuts

This is a card using my favourite Chocolate Lime combo, I love it! I have used the Fresh Cuts diecut note cards ( 15 in a pack and they are 4″ square) Pop out the diecut petals and stamp the background stamp in Chocolate Chip. Stamp the small flower image also in Chocolate Chip onto a piece of scrap Whisper white cardstock and cut out. Put a Certainly Celery Brad through the centre of the small flower and pop onto a dimensional foam pad and stick to the centre of the card. Back the diecut petals with a 3 3/4″ square piece of Certainly Celery.

For this card I took the petals from the previous card and stamped over them with the background stamp in Night of Navy, then using a sponge dauber covered the whole of each petal with Bashful Blue ink. I cut a 4″ square card blank from Whisper White and stamped the leaf stamp in Night of Navy all around the edge and then sponged Bashful Blue. Now to the slightly more fidly bit! Punch out a 5 petal flower from Night of Navy card and stick each diecut petal onto the flower, I found the tombow wet glue the best for this. When it’s dry attach to the front of the card and top with a Bashful Blue button with a bit of Linen thread tied in a knot to finish.

If you would like to become a demonstrator and have the opportunity to earn an income whilst having fun and even earn trips like this please email me. Stampin’ Up! has a generous reward package for all it’s demonstrators with discounts, free stamp sets and other incentives.

Another big thank you to Brett who took my new photo, do you like my top? Chocolate Chip, Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie!!!

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

To make the flowers you fold a tag in half vertically, taking the right side over on top of the left side ( which ever pattern of paper is inside will be the one shown) and then keeping the fold on the right hand side you fold the top half back making a diagonal crease going from the bottom left corner to the centre fold.  Layer the petals onto a 1 3/8″ circle overlapping them slightly, like teabag folding to make your flower.  

As always actually folding the paper is much easier than reading the instructions………..

My card is pretty much the same as the one shown in the magazine, I have used Tea Party designer paper from the mini catalogue, the patterns showing are 2 sides of the same paper.  Almost Amethyst is the main card blank and So Saffron as the sentiment layer scalloped with the edge punch they also make up the centre of the flower where I have punched out using the Boho Blossoms punch.  All finished off with a Rhinestone brad and some wonderful Button Latte from the Mini.

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

I tuck the phone in between my shoulder and chin ( which is probably not good for my neck…..!) and did some crafting.

I have used the new Washington Apple Designer Series paper matted onto Pumpkin Pie Textured cardstock, this gorgeous pattern is the 2 sides of the same sheet.  I just cut an extra strip and flipped it over.  The Designer buttons (Latte) are also from the mini catalogue, and they are sat on diecut Blooms and finished with a little silver cord.

Happy Stampin’

Amanda