And HAPPY ANNIVERSARY !  Today is my Mum and Dad’s wedding anniversary, I hope they have a wonderful day xxxx

Traditional Christmas cards today, one bright and one vintage looking.

This first vintage style card uses the Skaters from Winter post and teams them up with the Medallion background stamp, it would look great in lots of colours and it would also be easy to make lots!  The brad goes either side of the ribbon to make a flat embellishment, with just enough sparkle!

Now this card is using Real Red and Old Olive ink, a perfect match for Christmas. I have just used one stamp set for this card, Season of Joy.

Happy Stampin’

It’s so cold and grey here today I wanted to share a little bit of sunshine!

The card is certainly bright !  Regal Rose and Daffodil Delight.  This is a quick card which uses 3 punches, the oval, scallop oval and decorative label. The ribbed section is made using the crimper, a very clever tool which allows you to position the crimper where ever you want to on the page.

Happy Stampin’

Some things have been added to the retired list

page 19 New Years Celebration 116872 £22.95
page 21 Four the Holidays 116921 £13.95
page 39 Little One 116925 £26.95
page 40 Fun and Fast notes 113500 £33.95
page 48 Family accessories too 113760 £20.95
page 53 A Flower for all seasons 115592 £12.95
page 112 So Many thanks 120173 £7.95

and the following items are no longer available

page 63 Sense of Time
page 84 Red Riding Hood 12”x12” card stock
page 98 Antique Brass Jumbo eyelets and Pewter Jumbo eyelets

Let me know if you would like to order anything, I have orders going in most days.

I have a card for you today, using 2 of my favourite stamp sets that are on the retired list, Sanded and Occasional Greetings, Occasional Greetings has 40% off!

The new catalogue is fabulous…….! I’ll be putting some sneak peeks at the end of September onto my website.

It will be online to view from the 1st October, but if you’d like a copy sent to you in the post I am taking orders for them now. The rrp is £5.95 but I am selling them for £4.95 including postage.

2011-2012 Stampin’ Up! UK catalogue

Sometimes you see a project that is absolutely perfect and you just want to copy it.  Well today’s project is exactly that I found a rainbow of these wonderful owls on this website here. If you scroll down you can see how they are made, super cute!

I haven’t changed a thing!

Tonight I’m off to Joiners in Southampton for Connor’s band Fools and Scissors latest gig, very exciting!

Happy Stampin’

The owl punch has to be one of the single most versatile punches Stampin’ Up! UK has.  You can make it into a penguin like the bookmark here or a Lion. A ghost, alien, chick and even Rudolph……..watch out for those in the coming weeks!

Today I have used it just as an owl, 2 cards very similar the second just uses different stamps and punches.

Happy Stampin’

Yesterday was my Inspiring Inkin’ Stampin’ Up! quarterly team training, and it was Christmas !

36 of my team and guests had a wonderful day, of stamping, crafting, chatting, training, sharing business tips and tricks and of course eating cake too!  A big thank you to Kerry, Michele and Elizabeth who did some fantastic demonstrations and projects to wow us!

We made 6 projects, using a goody bag of products, Chipboard alphabets, satin ribbon and yummy Jolly Holiday designer series paper. We always make a technique card too for our 6×6 album, you can see some of them here.

The first 2 projects are quick and easy cards, perfect for mass production.

The 3rd card takes a bit longer as you cover the chipboard with designer paper, to get a nice finish use an emery board to distress the edge of the paper, always sand downwards or you will lift the paper off the chipboard.

We made a cute snowman box, using the topnote die.

A gift card holder again using the Topnote die, you really need this one……….!

I will be demonstrating this at my workshops in the next few weeks.

and finally a NOEL bunting, I love this and it will be part of my Christmas decorations and gift class on the 29th October.

Here are a few close up shots, I tied that bow !!!!!!

We decorated the back too

So if this sounds like fun, I’d love you to join us next time!  My next quarterly meeting is on the 15th October at Locks Heath, Hampshire, email me to find out more!

Happy Stampin’

or a Lion……..

Last Saturday was a day of classes, lots of lovely ladies, lots of crafting, laughing, chatting and cupcake eating!

One of the classes was based around the 2 Step Owl punch, we made so many different things, here are 2 of them.

A penguin bookmark

and a Lion notebook.

I haven’t forgotten to show my birthday cards from last week, I need to get them all photographed, they are lovely and they will be on here very soon.  Have a great weekend.

Happy Stampin’

Hello there, good week?  I can’t believe it’s Friday !

My working week is a bit upside down at the moment as Connor is at home on study leave whilst he is taking his GCSEs it’s amazing how much of a difference to your working routine someone else in the house makes.  The good news is, he is studying hard and I’m helping with the Chemistry and the ‘keeping the mind focussed’ !!!  All to soon he will have finished school and be off to college.

I have had another great week, if a little distracted…… seen lots of customers and been busy preparing for my classes next saturday, I’ll share some of those projects with you the following week.

The card today is a twisted easel, it is sooooooooo straightforward to make but looks impressive, I took a standard 6″ x 4″ card blank with the score on the left hand side.  Score diagonally bottom left to top right.  As with all easel cards you do need to go over all the score lines with a bone folder, to ensure the creases are crisp and sit neatly. I then took a 5 3/4″ x 3 3/4″ mat layer and glued it onto the bottom triangle as shown, topped with a 5 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ Whisper White layer.

The card is decorated with paper daisies which I coloured with markers and spritzed with water to make the ink bleed.  then I folded the flowers into 4, scrumpled them a little and left them to dry.

The easel stands up but using a scallop oval punch, but it will fold flat to post.  I have used Baroque Motifs to decorate.

Here is a view from the back, hopefully it will make the instructions a little clearer.

Happy Stampin’

More from my team training yesterday, it was a wonderful day.

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’

There I said it !

I LOVE chocolate, and if you have ever been to a class or workshop with me you will know all about my love for Stampin’ Up! Chocolate Chip card, paper and ink!   I do love the real edible Chocolate too, my favourite is the very dark 70% plus although I have been known to eat the occasional Ripple or Galaxy caramel if my need was greater than the shops stock………

As much as I love Chocolate I love coffee, in which ever form (not however, decaffeinated) it appears, deep, dark, Espresso or a seriously milky latte for preference with Almond syrup and every other type in between.  So I am sure it won’t surprise you to know that  I have a new favourite Stampin’ Up! card, paper and ink Early Espresso……….it’s deeper, cooler in tone than Chocolate Chip and gorgeous!

I love Early Espresso paired with almost every one of our 45 colours but Rich Razzleberry is currently top of the pile, one of my families favourite desserts is a chocolate pavlova with raspberries and raspberry cream, this card reminds me of that Yum !!

The butterfly is stamped with the Flourish from the Bliss SAB set as it the Wide oval underneath.  The sentiment is from another SAB set and it it layered on top of the Designer paper in Early Espresso from the Neutrals Stack.

Happy Stampin’

You see I couldn’t go very long without sharing some more Bliss cards, I adore this set and I matching it with the wonderful Crumb Cake card is fabby!

The 6 petalled flower does remind me of a poinsettia and since I’m having a few weeks off thinking about Christmas…..I’ve added some pearls to make it a little more daisy like!  The colour combination is Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry, Very Vanilla and Crumb Cake.

I think I’ve gone a little bit pearl crazy just lately…….but they are such good value at £4.50 for 150 ( 50 each of 3 sizes) plus 3 strips which is what i have used for the butterfly’s body.  More Rich Razzleberry and Crumb cake, the butterfly is stamped on Melon Mambo.

I have updated my class list for the first few months of 2011, please check out the list here. Crafting with others is so much fun, we make wonderful projects, laugh, chat and of course eat cake!

Happy Stampin’

Each year the amazing cards I receive astounds me, I wanted to share these creations with you today, there are a huge variety of styles. Stamping ( of course……….), Decoupaged Fabric and paper, punching, peel offs, brayering.  So much talent, thank you very much xxx

I have lots more so do pop back tomorrow too!

So are you feeling festive yet?  I managed to get some Christmas shopping done yesterday but I’ve still got a way to go……….. At least all our snow has gone now, I know that for many of you the snow is still causing major problems, do keep safe and warm x

Today’s projects are a little gift bag and card, perfect for small items of jewellery, do you think if I leave one for Brian he would find a diamond ring for me to fill it………?  Joking aside, the bag is a perfect fit for a small jewellery box, but I actually designed it to fit our new Pendant notes.  The small cards fit inside and if you make a few of them pop them in the bag it’s a perfect gift for someone who is always tricky to buy for, we all need cards to send don’t we!  A homemade gift is always something special.

I have used the Elegant Soiree Designer paper, and the silky Satin ribbon in Very Vanilla.

For the cards I have popped out the diecut, stamped in Crumb Cake and Baja Breeze onto the card using Baroque Motifs and decorated it with a punched flower from Boho Blossoms and a rhinestone.

Happy Stampin’

Typing this, I feel like I need to be in a confessional…It has been 13 days since my last post !

I can honestly say I have no idea where the time has gone, I have been really busy but that isn’t anything new now is it!  I think I haven’t got to the website because of the travelling I have been doing, lots of workshops and a launch workshop for a new member of my team the lovely Karen along with team trainings and family stuff, phew it’s no wonder I haven’t been around much huh!

Well I am trying to get back on top of my world this week, the kids are off school for half term and I have  plans to catch up and spend some time with my family so I’m not actually working that much.  Then there is the madness of next week, I have 2 workshops and then on Thursday I’m off to convention with 300 other European Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators, 18 of my team and I’m so looking forward to seeing so many of my demonstrator friends, I have the small matter of 220 swap cards and team gifts to finish first.  I must say a big thank you to Kelly and Steph who have been great helping me make the swaps!

So some lovely things for you to see today, this is a little baby gift set, the box is a perfect size for a babygrow and some little socks.

The colour combination is Daffodil Delight and Marina Mist.  Here is the card in close up!

I promise to be back tomorrow!!!!

Happy Stampin’

I’m so sorry about that title……but I couldn’t resist it!

This monotone card is great for showcasing our fabulous wheels, this one is called So Swirly ! A scalloped edge, a little ribbon and a sentiment from Oval All and we are all done!  Speedy crafting!

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

You may remember a couple of weeks ago I went to the Newbury show, well I had a crazy weekend with the family before the show, including a very late night in London as my son went to an Ozzy Osborne concert.  I put out a request for chocolate on my facebook page and the wonderful Lynne who was attending the show brought me this…… Beautifully decorated, dark chocolate , yummy !

Isn’t it beautiful, I must say I feel very restrained that I took a picture of it before I devoured it!  Thanks Lynne you are brilliant.  So if you are on Facebook, do add me as your friend, I post different things there to my website  xxx

Then these lovely flowers arrived with the lovely Julia, it was the last day of club before the summer, they are such beautiful flowers, I think they are stocks, does anyone know?  I need some in my garden, they smelt so beautiful and lasted for ages.

I’m a very lucky lady, thank you!

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

A couple of weeks ago I did a workshop for the wonderful Susan and her friends, It was a huge workshop with 15 people, we had lots of fun, stamping and laughter !  I was a little nervous because they were all very talented crafters, but they loved the Stampin’ Up! products.

When I spoke with Susan about the type of projects she was interested in, she explained she liked Giraffes………..Having been to Susan’s house ‘liking Giraffes’ is a bit of an understatement, the most wonderful display of Giraffes of every type, size and material adorn her home.

I made some cards for her as her hostess gift using the Giraffe from the Fox and Friends Stamp set, but I wanted to make her something using punch art.

I found this card here on Splitcoast Stampers forum and it inspired my Chocolate bar cover below!

I am very pleased to say she loved it !

I would love to come and do a workshop for you and your friends and family, do get in touch and book one soon!

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

My friend Liz had a baby boy on Tuesday, his name is Bailey, big congratulations !!!!

This is the card on it’s way to her, I can safely put it here as she is way too busy to visit my website at the moment!

The little bags are part of the present, some Choccies and English Rose bath melts for Liz, Bailey has got to wait for his pressie till I see him!  But rest assured it has stamping on it and I will post it here soon.

I think it’s important to make sure that new Mum’s have a little something to congratulate them, after all they did all the hard work!!

Below is a close up of one of the tags and the inside of the card, stamped immediately after the front of the card so I got a soft look from the ink.

Stamps : En Francais, Medallion, Whimsical Words, All in the Family
Inks: Bashful Blue, Ballet Blue, Night of Navy
Cardstock: Whisper White, Ballet Blue, Night of Navy
Accessories: Stamp-a-ma-jig, 1 1/4″ circle punch, 1 3/8″ circle Punch, Scallop Circle punch, Scallop Oval punch, Oval Punch, Blender pens, Double stitched ribbon, Paper Piercer, Silver cord, Cello bags

Finally a quick request, I have a workshop booking for Teresa Jones and I cannot get through on the telephone, it is really important that i speak with her, I have written to her as I don’t have an email address, so Teresa, or if you know Teresa please call or email me.  Thank you x

Happy Stampin’

Amanda

I wish you all a wonderful 2010 filled with health, happiness, friendship and fun!

If you are here visiting the Inspiring Inkin’ blog hop please scroll down one more post to see the projects.

I have new Stampin’ Up! classes and clubs for the spring you will find all the details here and here. My first class for this year is Fun with Flowers and it’s a great way of banishing those winter blues!

My card today is my Stampers 10 project for December, I have several ‘virtual clubs’ these are groups who order each month for 6, 8 or 10 months and during one month they are the hostess and recieve the hostess benefits ( stamp set and free product).  I always like to give my clubs something special and these clubs recieve a project pack from me each month including all the card and paper they need, they just add glue and stamps. You can find more details about these virtual clubs and my wonderful Stampin’ Technique clubs at the bottom of this page here.

This is an easel card

Happy Stampin’

Amanda