Good Morning !

Did you have a wonderful weekend?  I certainly did, boy am I still shattered though, but with such a big beam on my face.  Stamping with friends is sooooo good for the soul and a team meeting is 100 times better!  We always have demonstrators who run “Inspiration Stations” they focus on a product or technique and showcase lots of ideas using it.  The projects were amazing and I have so many wonderful ideas I will share with you over the coming months.  The business training was amazing, Michelle Last is such an inspiration and of course we stamped, laughed, ate cake and made lots of new friends.  Did you know that you too could attend one of my team trainings, if you are interested in joining Stampin’ Up! they are a great way of being able to find out lots and talk to a wide range of demonstrators who all run their businesses in different ways.

My next monthly evening training is Wednesday 9th February and all day quarterly training is Saturday 9th April, email me to book your place.

I must also say a huge thank you to my lovely team who attended convention with me, they surprised me with a bead for my troll bracelet, it’s super cute tiny high heeled shoe and the biggest box of chocolates I have ever seen………!

More important news, I have a stand booked at the Brighton Creative Stitches and Hobbycrafts show.   B04 please do come along and visit me and my team, we will be running Make and Takes for all 3 days, so book a place as soon as you arrive!  Click on the picture to book tickets and find out more.

Paris Mini Scrapbook Tutorial

The mini scrapbook is a variation of a toilet roll scrapbook that was popular several years ago, I have never quite got my head around the use of the toilet rolls……….and to be fair they are quite difficult to cover with paper so it looks nice.  So I measured one and designed this instead.

There are 3 pockets, one each in Very Vanilla, Basic Black and Ridinghood Red, this is to match the colours in the Love Letter Designer series paper.

Each pocket is 6 1/2″ x 7″ and is scored at 3′, 6″ with the short side at the top and 1″ with the long side at the top.  The 1/2″ flap is glued to the inside and 2 jumbo eyelets are punched into the 1″ scored area to enable the ribbon to be threaded through.

3 tags where made in the same colours each measuring 2 3/4″ x 5 1/2″, the pull tab is the round tab punch.

The whole thing was then decorated with Artistic Etching stamp set and the Love Letters papers. Pictures below of how I decorated mine.  If you make one please link back so I can see your creations!

This album is ready for the pictures from this years convention, at Disneyland Paris it’s going to be so much fun!

Happy Stampin’

Today is my quarterly team training and I always make my team and my guests a gift for attending training, usually it is a notebook of some form because I want them to take lots of notes so they can remember all the things we have talked about, shared and learnt.

This time I have made an A5 note book that sits on top of a clipboard, very cute.

Each one has an inital on it and several rhinestones, but everyone is different and there are lots!

We are making 7 projects today,based around the Love Letter Designer series paper and Brights Buttons.  In total three 3D items, 3 cards and learning a new technique.

Here is a picture of 2 of the 3D projects.

The mini scrapbook I will show in more detail later this week, but the little box is one of my all time favourites, it’s a stepper box and opens like this.

Perfect for filling full of chocolate !

I’ll be back tomorrow with more pictures.

Happy Stampin’

Exhausted, elated, amazed and very enthusiastic !!

Over the following days I will share the wonderful swaps I received and give more information about my amazing team and the fun we shared.

Today is a brief selection of highlights!

The theme of convention was “Share What You Love” and the stage was set with stamps so big you could sit on them!!!

We received an amazing spotty bag with our convention stamp sets and pins when we checked in, you will see me carrying my catalogues in this over the coming months!

5 of my amazing team of Stampin’ Up! demonstrators found out we where in the top 25 for the UK a great achievement.

Kerry Timms at 21, Hayley Gillie at 19, Amy White at 17, Jane Cutting at 10 and I ranked 2nd. I also came top in sales for the UK and 3rd in leadership.

Here is a lovely picture of the top 3 demonstrators in the UK, from left to right, Paula Gorry UK Stampin’ Up! country manager, Michelle Last my good friend and now the UK No1, me 2nd place, Monica Gale 3rd place and Shelli Gardner CEO and Co-founder of Stampin’ Up!

To my complete amazement I was honoured with the Heart of Stampin’ Up! award this year.  This award is given to people who embody the spirit of Stampin’ Up!’s Statement of the Heart as they make a difference in people’s lives.

“To love what we do and share what we love, as we help others enjoy creativity and worthwhile accomplishments . . . in this we make a difference.”

This award is so special, you are nominated by other demonstrators and Shelli selects the winner, I can’t remember all the wonderful things she said I was so shocked when she called my name I fell off my chair!

This is a picture of Shelli and I with my beautiful necklace, I’m not taking it off!  I have to confess this picture was taken 2 hours after the award was given, I was such a blubbering wreck, shaking and all sorts so the pictures taken at the time are not good!

I am inspired, full of enthusiasm and excitement for the coming year, convention was soooooo amazing, wonderful presentations, projects and classes.  The best bit was sharing that with so many of my team, and we would love you to join us.

Next year convention is being held on the 18th and 19th November in Disneyland Paris !!!!!

I huge thank you to all of my customers, hostesses and team for your support over the past 3 years, this is the most wonderful job in the world.

I’ll be back tomorrow.

Happy Stampin’

Saturday was lovely I have a couple of picture to show you made by some of my very talented team.  First up to show us an amazing moving card was Elaine, it looks so tricky but she made it look easy, and the best bit was she gave us all 8 pages of detailed instructions with pictures.  If you are coming to my April Mini-Madness class we will be making a card using this technique.  Check here for details of the class.

Jane then demonstrated a great technique using the Heart to Heart punch, it made a lovely card.  Jane kindly packed up kits for everyone to make this card.

You can visit Elaine’s blog here and Jane’s blog here.

Here are some pictures of the day.

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

This week I have 2 Inspiring Inkin’ Stampin’ Up! team meetings.  On Wednesday we had a shoe box swap and on Saturday we have a full all day training.

Today I’m going to share with you the wonderful projects we made at the shoebox swap, so what exactly is a shoebox swap?

The idea of a  swap is for everyone to get together and assemble the “sample card” that is displayed by each swap participant. We set up stations with every one’s Shoe Box Swaps on a table and we make each other’s card and we all go home with a shoebox full of assembled cards!

Each person makes one completed sample card and puts all the materials for 12 (cardstock-pre-cut to size, stamps, inks, markers, punches, embellishments, etc.) used to make more of the same card in a Shoe Box or small box. They have to be demonstrable cards (meaning it would be something you would do in a workshop or class) using at least two accessories and layers.

We all made 7 projects, these 6 lovely cards using wheels, paper piecing, ribbons, craft ink I’ll be stealing lots of these ideas!

Some of the cards had stamped insides too !

This is my card

Now there is one project missing…..it had chocolate in it, but I have been good and not eaten it!

It was Hayley’s Easter treat and she has kindly agreed to share the instructions so my stampers 10′s and Technique clubs it will be your 3D project for this month! It is super cute and of course I will include the chocolate!  All my club meetings are in the next 10 days so I’ll share it on my website after that.

Thank you to my wonderful team for a fab evening and I’ll see you all tomorrow.

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

Wow, thank you so much for all your posts and emails and facebook messages whilst I have been away in Germany at the 1st ever European Stampin’ Up! convention.

I had an amazing time, was inspired, learnt so much, shared, created, laughed, cried, met some amazing people and made many, many new friends.

I will post my swaps and lots more photos over the coming days, unfortunately my camera did not like the lighting levels so my lovely team who travelled with me, Jane, Elaine and Stella are coming to my rescue and bringing me copies of their pictures tomorrow at our team meeting so I’ll be able to show you some great pictures.

Stampin’ Up! has a huge array of awards and I am thrilled to say I was 3rd in the UK in both recruiting and leadership, my team means the world to me and these awards are wonderful.  I also received stamp sets and pins for my sales and achieving the incentive trip to Monaco next June.

The highlight was the Demonstrator of the year award, Jane my first ever downline had been very shocked to see she had received a pin at registration for demonstrator of the year which meant she was in the top 25 for the UK as they called out the names, we where thrilled to see that her first downline Amy was 25th.  As the names where called the surprise on Jane’s face was wonderful, top, 20, top 15, Jane is 10th in the UK, I am so proud of her and her team, she couldn’t have done it with out them xxx

I am thrilled to say I placed 3rd in the UK, here is a picture of the top 3 demos in the UK, Shelli CEO and Co-founder of Stamin’ Up!  is on the right of the picture and Monica and Julie on the left.

I would like to say a big thank you to my family, my team and my wonderful customer-friends, you all enable me to craft everyday, I have the best job in the world!

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

Wow my Stampin’ Up! team  - Inspiring Inkin’ have had a wonderful October, lots of lovely ladies have joined throughout all levels of my team and Stampin’ Up! have a special offer to make it even better for you!

Until the 13th November you can get the starter kit for just £125 that’s 10% off the normal price for £240 of products.

And if that wasn’t a fantastic bargain I am offering a special bonus if you join my direct team between the 1st November and the 13th I will give you a stamp set of your choice or £35 of products of your choice free.

You will find lots more information about me and my team here, here and here.

I would love to talk to you about how you can start your Stampin’ Up! journey, please email me.

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

I hope you are having a lovely weekend, the sun is shining through the window and it’s quite warm here, I’m making the most of it.

Well I’ve finished my swaps for convention, cards and 3D items, I have my outfits sorted, I’ve almost finished my website posts for whilst I’m away.  I do however, still have a list of jobs that fills 2 sides of A4 so I don’t think I’m going to be getting much sleep for the next few days………

I have a card to share with you today made by one of my lovely team Vannessa, it is such a wonderful mixture of orange and purple I love it!

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

I love spending time with my team and every quarter we have a whole day together, we spend lots of time stamping, chatting, laughing and generally having fun, but we also have some time to focus on business topics and skills. We learn so much from one another, I am so lucky, Inspiring Inkin’ is a fabulously active team of people who love what they do and share what they love with others!

As a team we have challenges and rewards and awards, I reward my team with all sorts of items, stamp sets and lots of SU! crafting goodies too along with chocolate cake! I have however been thinking about some special awards for some time, and my wonderful friend Ronda inspired me to take action with some great ideas and this is the result.

Today it is my very special pleasure to give out some awards to my team members who have started teams of their own, these are gifts from me to reward them because I know how hard they work in supporting their teams. I wanted to give them something that was personal to them that wasn’t crafting and that we could build on. So when they sign up their first recruit they will receive one of these:

Inside each little bag is a bracelet and 3 charms,

The first is a dragonfly because they are such amazing creatures, they work hard to change from bug to beautiful and it shows determination and a will to succeed. ( Look up the life cycle of a dragonfly and you will see how amazing these creatures are!)
The second is a star, because they are all my stars and they can all be counted on to shine!
The third is a bead for their first recruit.

They will recieve more charms from me when they promote and recruit, in fact some of my team have lots and lots of beads on their bracelets already, I’ll have to think about getting them a second one !!!

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

I am often asked why is my Stampin’ Up! team called Inspiring Inkin’ there are lots of reasons but the main one is I am inspired by my team on a daily basis, they are wonderfully creative and love sharing the Stampin’ Up! products and opportunities with all those they meet. A close second is my own personal passion to inspire everyone to get ‘Inkin’……..especially your rubber stamps!

The Inspiring Inkees are a team spread from the Shetland Isles to the tip of Cornwall, it’s definitely the very best team and really friendly too. I am in regular contact with my team by phone, email and letter and I am available to them whenever they need me. In addition I have a team website, that is password protected, within it is an online live chat facility for team training sessions, challenges and lots of fun. My class planners and techniques are all available for the team to download and use with their customers.

Within my team I have business demonstrators who are building teams of their own and working on building a business that ultimately will allow them to give up thier 9-5 job and hobby demonstrators who join for the discounts and the social aspect of being part of a team. Most of my team are some where in between, enjoying the income, discounts, workshops, classes, events and the fantastic products that Stampin’ Up! sell.

I have lots more information about joining my team here and here.

Joining Stampin’ Up! was one of the best decisions I have made, why not join me and become an Inspiring Inkee too.   Email me and I’ll call you for a chat.

My card today was inspired by a card Amy made and she brought it along to a team training day we had in July, our quarterly team days are an opportunity for all the team to come together and share and learn from one another. We have business training, sharing good practise, team support and stamping, lots and lots of Stamping!!!!

Winter Post Card

Stamps : Winter Post, Best yet
Inks: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Real Red, Bashful Blue, Brilliant Blue
Accessories: Love notes envelope, Dazzling Diamonds, Sponge Daubers, Tombow Glue, Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon, Designer Paper – Ski Slope.

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

Today’s share is from the wonderful Lorraine who is an Inspiring Inkee, one of my downline team.  She is in the Oxford area.  Her blog is called the Stampin’ Grove.

Lorraine has made some lovely projects on her blog but this one particularly caught my eye.  The colours are stunning, it’s a great use of the stamp set.  Fantastic!

Many moons ago in my ATC ( artist trading card) heyday I made a tiny version of this to keep ATC’s in, this one is soooooo much better as it takes standard size cards !

To find out more please check out Lorraine’s blog here.

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

This was my hostess gift to Elaine to say thank you for hosting us on Saturday and my make and take.

I have a new favourite colour combination Sage Shadow and Chocolate Chip so have designed my project around that, a very simple notebook.  Of course I needed to take the hostess a little gift, so have made a label for the bottle of wine, to match!

The tag is a luggage label attached with both Double stitched and Grosgrain Chocolate Chip ribbon.

For both projects I have used just the main Rose image and stamped in Sage Shadow first then the outline in Chocolate Chip, to get the glossy finish I over stamped in Versamark the background image and then clear heat embossed. The rose is then cut out and matted onto Naturals Ivory card, then Chocolate Chip and Sage Shadow card.  The note pad is covered with Kraft cardstock and a scalloped layer of Sage Shadow over Chocolate chip gives the final embellishment at the bottom.

Stamps : A Rose is a Rose
Inks: Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, Versamark
Cardstock: Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, Naturals Ivory, Kraft
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Paper Piercer

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

I have spent today with 8 of my Inspiring Inkees at Elaines house for a BBQ and stamping day.

We had Inspiring projects and lots of chat and laughter, business building, training, sharing and having a wonderful day.  Lunch was amazing, thank you Elaine.

Here is a picture of my lovely ladies and me, from the back left Vannessa, Stella and Jane then middle row Tessa, Amy, me and Lydia and front row Elaine and Michele.

I’ll share the projects tomorrow.

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

I apologise right now for this post sounding a bit like an Oscar ceremony winners thank you, but that is exactly how I feel today!

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

A lovely card from Deborah

Deborah has used a card blank in Almost Amethyst with a Blush Blossom Mat layer which has been paper pierced in all 4 corners.  The girl is stamped in Chocolate chip and then  water coloured and matted onto a Almost Amethyst layer.  The Ribbon is Whisper White dyed to match Barely Banana using an inkpad and dauber.  The sentiment from Best Yet has been matted onto an Almost Amethyst Oval scallop punch which has the scallops punched.

Gorgeous Thank you Deborah!

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

A lovely card from Michele

She has taken some of the Summer Picnic paper and made a lovely little tree folding Scallop circles and a piece of Chocolate Chip card to make the trunk.  Michele has sponged the grass with Old Olive and also the sentiment, which she has matted onto a Scallop Oval in Old Olive.  The little bunny is from Forest Friends stamp set in the mini catalogue and the cutting out is amazing!!  It is popped up on some dimensional foam pads.

It’s fab Michele, thank you.

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

I hope you have got your sunglasses ready for this Sunday Share………..it’s very bright!

Now this card is my very first Challenge card………..The challenge was set by the wonderful Vannessa over at our new Inspiring Inkin’ Challenge blog.  Many of my team love to take part in challenges and they wanted to complete Stampin’ Up! only challenges on a site that was purely for fun!  Vannessa kindly said she would set it up and it looks wonderful!  You can visit it here.

Now the way challenge blogs work, bear with me because I have only just learnt……….is a challenge is set and people make cards within the set criteria, this time it was a sketch and a second challenge of using a colour you don’t normally use!  This is why my card is so loud!  I have used Only Orange, Yoyo Yellow and Green Galore.  I Have never used the Only Orange and only once Yoyo Yellow so it was definitely a challenge for me.  But that is the fun of it.

I hope you will join in with us, if you make a card there is a way of linking your picture on your blog to the challenge blog so we can all see it, all the details are on the blog and if you get stuck please email me.

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

This week has flown passed and I am still rushing around packing for a trip this weekend and my hopsital visit on Monday.  I wasn’t sure I would get time to post let alone make any cards……..

And then as always my lovely team of Inspiring Inkees to the rescue!

On Tuesday Michele came to visit with a card and some goodies for my hospital visit including marshmallows which have now been eaten……..Oops………. yesterday I recieved a card from Jane and today one from Deborah, do you know they all say very similar things, look after yourself and don’t do too much!  They know me sooooo well!

So I’m going to post their cards over the coming days, and one from me on Sunday, I shall be back posting later next week so please don’t desert me!

This is such a simple but stylish card, Jane has used a Whisper White card blank and matted a piece of Sweet Always paper on the top 2/3rds wrapped some Regal Rose 5/8″ grosgrain ribbon around with a fab knot and topped off  a sentiment from Best Yet, hostess level 1 set onto a circle of Regal Rose and a scallop of Pumpkin Pie which she has pierced around the edges.

Wonerful I love it, and thank you so much for thinking of me.

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

Scrapbooking is the theme of my share today,

The first page I have to share with you is made by the lovely Caroline, one of Inspiring Inkin’s newest team members, she has used 3 stamp sets and made a beautiful page.  You can see it here.

And then a page from one of my oldest team members………..Jane will kill me for saying that !  

Tee Hee, well she did join my team first that makes her the oldest doesn’t it……….!  

This great page showcases our Stampin’ Up! wheels and her lovely daughter!  You can see it here.

That’s all for me today, back at school and work this week, so the whole family has got that oh no it’s Monday tomorrow feeling…….

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

Lots of my lovely team have promoted during March so I’ve had a busy time making cards for them all.  Hopefully they have received them by now.  For these cards I have used Playful Petals which is rapidly becoming one of my favourite sets from the new mini catalogue.

I have taken a base Whisper white card stamped the stalks and leaves in Black Stazon and coloured with a Certainly Celery marker and a blender pen.  The flower heads I stamped onto a separate piece of Whisper White, coloured with markers Pretty in Pink and So Saffron and blender pans and then cut out and mounted onto the card using dimensional.  I have used the sentiments from Fresh Cuts and  Cheer and Wishes, cut out with the Oval and Scallop Oval punches.

For the next 3 cards I have taken a base card of Certainly Celery, added a strip of Tea Party Designer paper and a scalloped edge of So Saffron. I have stamped the leaves and stalk directly onto the card in Black Stazon on and then stamped and coloured the flower heads as before.  The sentiment is from Cheer and Wishes and I’ve punched it out of So Saffron card and added some little doodle dots with the white gel pen.

I have 2 more promotion cards to share which I’ll share tomorrow

Happy Stampin’

Amanda