Stampin' Up! Creative Tour Swap

Wow - what a fantastic night I had last night! I attended the Stampin' Up! Creative Tour in Ipswich with 50 lovely demonstrators. We had inspiration, crafting, laughter and freebies - what more could you want?

A huge part of Stampin' Up! Events is "swapping". This is where you make a batch of identical card fronts or 3-d items to exchange with fellow demonstrators so you end up with lots of ideas showcasing different stamps, styles and techniques. These were the swaps I made using the Santa's List Stamp Set :- 

I wasn't sure about this set when I saw it in the Stampin' Up! Autumn Winter Catalogue - but having seen some great samples I bought it and I am so glad I did! He is such a cheerful Father Christmas!

The image was stamped in Basic Grey ink onto Naturals White card and cut out using the using the Big Shot & Circles Collection Framelits.  The layers were also cut using framelits - a second circle in Smoky Slate, and a Basic Grey piece using Apothecary Accents.  A second piece of Naturals White was run through the Big Shot using the Pretty Print Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. I love this folder - is it just me or does anyone else wonder what it says?.

The card base is Basic Black with a Melon Mambo mat - I love the pop of colour.  The sentiment is stamped in Basic Grey and accented with a Melon Mambo punch from the Itty Bitty Punch Pack - a Rhinestone Basic Jewel finishes it off - after all Christmas cards need a bit of sparkle! The "tail" was punched using the Hexagon Punch.

The edges were all sponged with Smoky Slate ink to give an aged look and the finishing touch was some paper piercing using the template from the Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack - you can see the piecing better in the photo below.  The layers were popped up using Dimensionals to finish the card.

Hope you like it?  I received some fabulous swaps in return which I will share with you in the next few days. 

Here is a list of the Stampin' Up! supplies used to make today's card:

Stamp Sets: Santa's List

Inks: Basic Grey, Smoky Slate

Cardstock: Basic Black, Basic Grey, Smoky Slate, Melon Mambo, Naturals White

Big Shot: Circles Collection Framelits, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Pretty Print Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Punches: Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Hexagon

Other: Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack

If you would like to order any of these products please either email me or give me a call on07530 368466 and I will be happy to help. 

Birthday cards with Stampin' Up! Sweater Weather DSP

Are you all loving the Stampin' Up! Autumn Winter Catalogue?  Every time I look at it I find something else I HAVE to own!

Today's cards use the Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper. I must admit when I first saw this paper I wasn't overly convinced but I now LOVE it - so versatile.

Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper by Stampin' Up!

I needed a couple of quick masculine birthday cards and this paper was perfect for them.  The first card uses a sentiment from the Sassy Salutations Stamp Set stamped in Chocolate Chip ink onto Naturals White card. The background "splatters" are stamped using one of the stamps from the FABULOUS Gorgeous Grunge Stamp Set - it just adds "something" to a card. The sentiment was then cut out using the Ovals Collections Framelits. The edges were all sponged using Sahara Sand ink.  A piece of Crushed Curry card was run through the Big Shot with the Stylish Stripes Textured Impressions Embossing Folder and added to a Chocolate Chip card base. Three pieces of Sweater Weather DSP were artistically arranged (!!) and the sentiment popped up using Dimensionals. A Linen Thread bow finished off the card.

The second card was made much along the same lines although it uses a sentiment from the Occasions Alphabet Stamp Set and the Pretty Print Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. It was finished using a Crushed Curry button from the Regals Designer Buttons and a knotted piece of Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon. The layout was inspired by a sketch from the fabulous Mojo Monday Blog - I love using sketches when you want a quick layout!

Here is a list of the Stampin' Up! supplies used to make today's cards:

Stamp Sets: Sassy Salutations, Occasions Alphabet, Gorgeous Grunge

Inks: Chocolate Chip, Crushed Curry, Sahara Sand

Cardstock: Naturals White, Chocolate Chip, Crushed Curry, Sahara Sand

DSP: Sweater Weather

Big Shot: Ovals Collection Framelits, Stylish Stripes Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Pretty Print Textured Impressions Embossing Folder,

Other: Regals Designer Buttons, Very Vanilla Seam Binding, Linen Thread

If you would like to order any of these products please either email me or give me a call on 07530 368466 and I will be happy to help. 

Order Now from the Stampin' Up! Autumn Winter Catalogue

The Stampin' Up! Autumn Winter Catalogue is here! Packed with gorgeous products for Autumn, Halloween and Christmas - what will you order?

We have new stamp sets, ribbons, papers, punches and framelits! There is a FABULOUS Season of Style This and That Journal which is a must for organising Christmas, an 8"x8" Seasonal Stripes Album with Journaling Tags and Banner kits for the all important events.

So what are you waiting for? If you haven't had a copy yet contact me and I will pop one in the post.

New Year, New Laptop and My Little Valentine!

Well hello! I am sorry it has been so long without an update - I have been without a laptop for 2 months which has driven me mad. I now have a new laptop with Windows 8 which is also driving me mad!

Anyway enough waffle! Stampin' Up! are celebrating their 25th Anniversary in 2013 and they have some fantastic promotions and offers for us, starting with this one!

From today until 21 January when you purchase the brand-new My Little Valentine Stamp Set  Stampin' Up! will give you the Sealed with Love Simply Sent Kit for FREE!

The four-piece stamp set costs £9.95 and has been created exclusively for this promotion. It will not be available again after January 21!  The set is only available in clear-mount and the stamp images are shown below (not actual size):

My Little Valentine Stamp Set by Stampin' Up!

The Sealed with Love Simply Sent Kit (shown below) is worth £8.25 and can be found on page 35 of the Autumn Winter Catalogue.  The kit contains 10 notecards, 10 double sided envelopes, 20 printed paper buttons, 10 pieces of Real Red / Whisper White Baker's Twine (a colour exclusive to this kit) and 24 Stampin' Dimensionals.

Sealed with Love Simply Sent by Stampin' Up!

Why not spread a little stamping love this New Year and order this exclusive stamp set? Email me on nicky.dexter@btinternet.com and I will be delighted to help you.

Simply Scrappin' with Merry Moments!

Good grief! Where has October gone?  Sorry I haven't been around much but I'm back!

I wanted to show you how versatile the Simply Scrappin'® kits are. Each kit contains 8 sheets of 12" x 12" card stock (in four different colours), 6 sheets of double-sided 12x12" paper (3 of each design) and 3 sheets of card stock stickers.  

There are four kits in the Annual Catalogue and one in the Autumn / Winter Catalogue. 

Today I am using the Merry Moments Simply Scrappin'® kit from the Autumn / Winter Catalogue pictured below:

Merry Moments Simply Scrappin'® by Stampin' Up!

Aren't the colours lush? They are Basic Grey, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla  Fantastic for Christmas crafting but also lovely for male cards.

I wanted to show a couple of projects using this kit so I split it into two and today's post shows the 6" x 6" Scrapbook I made with one half.

Four sheets of plain cardstock (one of each colour) were cut down into 6" x 6" squares to give sixteen pieces.  A "spine" was then scored down each piece at 1/2" using the Simply Scored™ Scoring Tool and two holes punched through the cardstock.  The scrapbook was tied together using a length of 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon in Old Olive.  

The pages inside were all decorated just using the papers (3 sheets) and card stock stickers from the kit. The stickers are fabulous quality and the adhesive is initially respositionable (for about an hour) so if you change your mind and want to move a sticker - you can! 

The corners were rounded using the Corner punch. I added photo mats in Very Vanilla card but you don't need to do that.  Here are some of the pages, 

And the back!

This would make a fabulous gift for Christmas - either as an empty scrapbook or complete with pictures. The kits cost £18.95 and you could make two complete scrapbooks this size by just adding some ribbon.

Here is a list of the Stampin' Up! products used to make today's project:

Merry Moments Simply Scrappin' Kit

Cardstock: Very Vanilla

Punches: Corner

Other: 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon

If you would like to order any of these products please either email me or give me a call on 07530 368466     and I will be happy to help.