Last Christmas Card

Hi everyone!

Just a very quick post today as I am battling a streaming cold and my brains not working very well (what do you mean 'no change there, then' lol).

Its a 'joint' card I made for me & Ian - I cant bear the thought of him spending money on shop bought cards!

The card is an A5 gatefold using a sheet of A4 Basic Black cardstock with panels of the stunning Mocha Morning Designer Series paper on mats of Basic Black and then Brushed Gold card. 

I inked up the tree and Joy images with Versmark, stamped them onto Basic Black card and then heat embossed with Gold Embossing powder.  This was matted on more Brushed Gold card with gold and antique brads (the ribbon with the antique brad is Crumb Cake Seam binding ribbon).

I dont know about you, but even now when I see a solid stamped image I always think its not going to come out right for me, theres bound to be a bit in the middle which is missing.  But nope, it came out perfect - FIRST TIME.  I just love SU stamps!

Right, thats enough from me, I'm off for a lay down (again).

Hope you have a lovely night tonight, whatever and whereever you are going.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Jan
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Club Gifts for my Lovely Ladies

Hi everyone!

I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas?   Mine has been lovely - we did the family stuff Christmas Day and have chilled out the rest of the time.  I bought Ian a really nice camera so hes been practicing taking lots of photos (its a cunning plan - he takes the photos, so I can do some scrapbooking!!!)

So far I havent done any crafting but I can feel my fingers starting to twitch when I walk by my craft room, so it wont be long before I am in there...

Anyway, here are the cards & gifts I made for my lovely Stamp Club ladies.  The card has the cute little penguins on from Polar Pary - I was determined not to buy this set as I only bought two Christmas sets last month and hadnt even opened them let alone inked them up - but resistance was futile...)

And here is a little gift box, which could also double as the card if you like.  Again, I used the tree & the Polar Bear from Polar Party (the Polar Bear is covered in Dazzling Diamonds!).  The sentiment is from Perfect Pairs.

This is the side view.  Inside each one, I put samples of the Glimmer Grads - my ladies love sparkle - and a little magnetic book mark that I brought them back from Convention in November.

I only have one more Christmas item to post on my blog, the card I made for me & my Hubby - and I will do that in a couple of days.  So come back soon to see it - even I love it!!!

Jan
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At Last - I'm Back!

Sorry I have not posted for a while, but all the crafting I have done lately has been for ladies who see my blog and I wanted to make sure that they had their cards / gifts before posting them here!!!

Here are the cards I made for our team, Joanne, Sara, Hazel, Chrissi & Maureen.

I made up my own background stamp a few weeks ago using scraps of rubber from stamps I have bought and attached them to a spare wooden block. The stamp was used to create the cracked background for the skaters - I love how this turned out, its much better than I thought it would be.

I used Winter Post (for the first time!) and started with the snowflake, stamping it on Crumb Cake cardstock with Versamark, sprinkling on Heat and Stick powder, adding Dazzling Diamonds and then heating again to set.

Mats of Very Vanilla and Early Espresso card were torn diagonally and distressed, then I positioned them roughly in place to work out where to stamp the stag.  Once the stag was stamped I secured the distressed card mats to the card blank and the Post Card image was stamped in Early Espresso ink. 

The skaters were stamped onto Very Vanilla card and then inked up my 'cracked' background stamp with Versamark and sprinkled clear embossing powder over before heating.  To emphasise the cracks, I rubbed over the top with Sahara Sand ink on a sponge dauber.  The ink doesnt stay on the embossed areas, it just soaks into the card between the cracks, leaving a lovely effect. 

The edges of the Early Espresso mat I used behind the Skater image has been punched using something BRAND NEW!  I cant tell you much yet - but if you bob back soon, I can explain...

I had to keep the card relatively flat for posting so I just mounted the Skaters on Dimensionals.

To finish the card I stamped the postmark image on to the Very Vanilla card, decorated the insert AND the envelope (which I nearly always forget to do).

I also decorated a little box to match and added a bookmark.  Theres a little gift in the box too but I dont want to spoil the surprise if they havent opened the box yet.

Well, Im off to do some more cards - I really ought to make my Hubbys card didnt I? 

Hope you have a wonderful, special and safe Christmas!

Jan x

Langsett Barn Craft Fair

Hi there
Sorry for not posting anything crafty but the things I have been making lately have been cards and gifts for ladies who look at my blog!!!

I will post them as soom as I know that the ladies have recieved them, but I just wanted to let you know about a craft fair that Me, Sara & Joanne are doing tomorrow.

Its at Langsett Barn. Here is a link to the location for directions.  We havent been before, so it will be nice to do a fair at a different location - plus we will be able to have another natter - LOL.

Hope you get the chance to bob along!

Jan
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Beautiful Wings

First of all, Id like to apologise for not having the time to sort out the Class Bundle yet.  I have been on a course all week in Derby and although I knew there was an exam to sit - I didn't know there would be homework too (I haven't had to do home work for nearly 30 years!!!). 

The other thing that's kept me busy is that we have had all the work to the bathroom, so real life has got in the way lately. Thankfully, all the hard work in the bathroom is done now.

I had bought some new items to make the bathroom look nice and picked a lovely aubergine colour to accessorise the room, but its a really difficult colour to match up and after I put everything in place, there was a gap which NEEDED something else. 

I had been given a photograph frame a few years ago but I just couldn't find a nice enough picture to put in it so to save traipsing around the shops to find something, I improvised a bit - after all, a photo frame doesn't have to have a photo in it!

I used a piece of Elegant Eggplant cardstock and trimmed it to fit the frame, then cut a mat of Whisper White card to sit inside.  The butterflies are die cut & embossed using the Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die and they were then sprayed with shimmer mist to add a little sparkle.

The butterflies were just positioned on the Whisper White card and Basic Rhinestones added for some bling.  It the only bit of crafting Ive done for at least a week (shhh, I still haven't started making my Christmas Cards!!!).

Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Jan

Candy Boxs for Customers

Hi there!

Hope you are enjoying the weekend, despite the weather!

I'm having quite a bust one as Ian is still doing all the work in the bathroom whilst I have been doing classes & getting other (far more important) crafting stuff done.

Yesterdays class was brilliant - although we surpassed ourselves for running out of time by only getting half of the projects done!  But that was mostly down to me nattering on about Convention - Tee Hee.

I will be offering a class bundle and tutorial on my blog in the next couple of days if you would like to purchase one.  More details will be posted soon (I need to take some more photos and sort out postage costs) so bob back soon for more details.

In the meantime, here is a picture of the little gift I made for my customers last month.

These boxes are the cutest!  You get two out of an A4 sheet and are perfect for wedding favours.

I used the Candy Wrapper die to make the box out of Real Red card and filled it with some chocolates.  Then all I did to decorate was wrap a strip of Holly Berry Designer Series Paper round the box, stamp a sentiment from the Tags Til Christmas set (thanks for the loan Maureen!) and mount on a mat of Old Olive card.  So simple and if you are wondering how long they took - 12 took 40 minutes and that included cutting them out & filling with chocolate - simples!

Thanks for stopping by - don't forget to bob back soon for the details of how to purchase the class bundles.

Jan
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Tags Til Christmas Class

Hello!

I wanted to invite you to my next class and show you some of the items we will be making.

The stamp set we will be using is called Tags Til Christmas (surprise, surprise!!!) but the items we will make will be great to use all year round by just changing the stamp set.

Intregued to see the items in real life?

The class is to be held at the Doghill Community Centre, Shafton, Barnsley on Saturday 3rd December from 10am until 1pm.  The class costs £10 and includes use of equipment, all supplies needed for the class, refreshments, and hire of the room.

There is lots of preparation required for the class so you need to contact me ASAP to book your place.

Jan

Ps.  If you cant make it to the class, I will be producing a kit for purchase after the class.  The kit will include all the cardstock, ribbon, embelishments and full detailed instructions with photographs. (NB. No stamped images will be included),  So watch out for more details coming soon.

Card Candy Swaps from Convention

As I promised, here are the photos of the Card Candy Swap I took part in when I went to Convention.

This is the one I made using Forever Young.

This one was made by Hazel Ford, my lovely downline, using Faith in Nature.  

Its absolutely stunning isnt it!?

Heres the one Sara made, Sara is my SU Mummy.  She used Polar Party which is soooooo cute!

And this one was made by Jeannie Kupsh,  She used Tags Till Christmas

This set is called Simply Soft and the candy was made by Emily Thompson.

Hayley Regan  made this set using I {heart} Hearts

Here is Sarah Poulton's Card Candy.  She has used Button Buddies

Carolyn Exwood used Winter Post 

Here is Abi Bundy's.  She has used a set called Every Little Bit.

And how cute is this!?  Monica Gale used the Owl Punch to make the cutest candy.

Swaps from Convention

Hi there

Well, I think I have just about caught up on my lack of sleep over the weekend.  But I cant believe that Convention has been and gone :-(

Whilst I was away, my hubby decided to sort out a problem we had with our shower.  We had noticed a couple of months ago that the cubicle may have been leaking as there were some strange marks developing on the landing wall so he decided to investigate whilst I was in France.

He was right, we had a massive problem which resulted in having to remove the wall between the bathroom and the landing!  He has been so busy sorting it out, but were getting there now and have replaced the shower with a bath (which I prefer anyway) and have a separate bathroom & landing again!!!

Anyway, enough of real life, back to Convention!  Here's a photo of the one I made - thank you Sara! (I had a problem with the photos I took and Sara rescued me last night by taking some for me LOL).

To start, I had a play with a technique that I really don't do enough.  I'm not really sure what its called but I used a non stick craft sheet and swiped ink pads (Riding Hood Red, So Saffron & More Mustard) onto the mat and then spritzed the sheet with water.  Then you put your card onto the sheet (this is quite messy, but you get some great results).  You then use a heat gun to dry the card and repeat the inking if needed.

Now, one thing with Whisper White is that it DOES NOT LIKE GETTING WET!!!  It is designed to be really absorbent to soak up ink and if it gets too wet it goes all bubbly and the fibres can come off.  However, I found out that even thought this happened on a couple of the sheets after getting it too wet, once it dried the texture it left was really nice.

Once all the sheets were dry, I ran them through the Big Shot using the Leaves #2 die.  This gave me leaf shapes in mottled coloured card.  To make the leaf toppers, I ran some Riding Hood Red cardstock through the BS again with the Leaves die to give me the same leaf shapes and glued them, slightly off set, to the mottled leaves, adding some Linen Thread, tied around the stems.  The 'Paris' image was stamped in Riding Hood Red ink onto So Saffron card and then punched out using the 3/4 circle punch.  It was glued onto the leaf and then covered in Crystal Effects.

I made my own backing paper using sheets of Whisper White card and randomly stamped all over the sheet with images from French Foliage using the Baby Wipe technique (inks used were Riding Hood Red, So Saffron & More Mustard).

Then I cut strips of the backing paper and mounted them onto a mat of Riding Hood Red, scoring lines, really close to the edges (not sure if you can see it though).

The card blank was So Saffron and I stamped the En Francais background stamp on one corner (masking off the rest of the card blank) and then used the 'splashes' image from French Foliage to the rest of the card front.

To finish, the strip with the backing paper was adhered to the bottom section of the card blank and the leaf topper added.  I didn't put a sentiment on them as I thought that if the ladies wanted to use them at a later date, they could add their own making them specific to the event.

Thank you for stopping by, I will be posting some photos of the Card Candy swap in the next day or two

Woo Hoo! Convention News

O.M.G. Convention was AMAZING!!!

And just look who we bumped into...

Here is a photo of the craft bag we recieved when we registered.  And inside were our free stamp sets!

Here is the binder with a loose leaf copy of the Ideas Book and Catalogue - and its orange!!!

The swaps I took part in were fab, and I will post some pictures soon, including the ones I made.

We went as a group, Me, Sara, Joanne and Hazel.  It was Hazels first Convention and I was a bit worried that she might not enjoy it as much as I know we would, but she has already decided to start saving for next years!!! Its in Mainz, Germany on the 2nd and 3rd November 2012.  So, come on, join my team and you will get the chance to come too.

Sara revieved and award for Leadership, and also won more freebies in the Prize Patrol (your name appears at random on screen) - well done Sara, you truly deserve it.  You are such an inspiration and I was so proud of you when you walked on stage to meet Shelli.

Here we are, all glammed up for the awards night.

 

Mmmm, what else can I tell you about everything that happened, well...

- we got masses of inspiration and different ideas for using SU products in ways you could never imagine

- the Incentive Trip (an annual FREE trip) was announced - its in Salt Lake City, where the Stampin' Up! office is located!!!  I wont tell you what Joanne said when she heard this!

- recognition for some of the amazing demonstrators across europe,

And the best bit.

LOTS and LOTS of NEW PRODUCTS coming in the New Year!!  I am surprised that there were no reports of an earthquake in Paris on the news on Saturday morning.  When they announced what we were getting, the room absolutely errupted with frantic shouting, clapping and everyone screaming with excitement.  Honestly, I nearly fainted!

Im not going to spoil the surprise, you will just have to wait a while longer!  

But its worth the wait. LOL

Jan

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Have I Told You I'm Going to Convention...?

OMG - I cant believe its here.  I'm travelling to Convention - TODAY!!!

Had a manic day yesterday trying to get all my work done, and almost made it too.  Then had visitors last night so didnt get any more swaps done.  Oh well, Im sure I'll manage...

All thats left to do today is to nip round to the neighbours to warn them of the wild parties my Hubby will be having whilst Im away LOL.  Hardly likely, as hes planning major work in the bathroom while I am out of the way!

I wont be able to access my blog for the next few days but I promise I will post loads of pictures as soon as I get the chance. 

Anyway, as I mentioned the other day, heres a photo of one of the thank you cards I made recently (one of 70!).   The stamp set is called 'Bundle of Joy', not quite what I was calling it by the end of my marathon cardmaking session, but it is a sweet set.

As you can see, I didnt make it easy for myself - but I did manage to experiment with lots of different colouring mediums.  To speed the stamping, I put the tiny stamps onto one clear block and just went around the outside of the card blank, leaving the centre blank as they are going to include a photo.

I marked out the size for a 6" x 4" photo to sit on the front of the card and then secured punched shapes from my Photo Corners Punch (this is retired but was perfect for what I wanted!) and secured them in place.

The little flowers on the right hand side photo corners were just punched out using the 4 petal flower from Itty Bitty Shapes punch with basic pearls added to the centre.  To finish off I stamped 'baby' and 'thanks (so much) from Tiny Tags and punched them out with the Jewelry Tag Punch.
For the colouring I tried lots of different items (with varying results to be honest).
- Copics and Flexmarkers were lovely for shading but the ink bleeds through, spoiling the underside.  The shading took forever and the colours were slighly off.
- SU Watercolour Pencils have lovely bright colours, but it did take a while to get the blending done!
- SU Water Colour Crayons were quicker than the pencils and they are really easy to use, but the sheen they leave on the card looks a little odd (but thats just me being picky!)
- by far the best were the SU Marvelous Markers - really quick and the colours matched perfectly!!

By the time I was about half way through, I had reduced the time to make them from over an hour to 45 mins, which doesnt sound much - until you have to bake 70 of them!

Right, thats me done.  Im all packed and ready to go!!!
See you when I come back.
Jan
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Fab Dabble Day

Have I told you I'm going to convention?

Only 4 more sleeps before we set off and I am getting so excited!

Lots of stuff still to do, including my swaps, and having a quiet word with the neighbours to let me know if any parties are held at home whilst I'm away. Mind you, this is unlikely as my hubby's planning major work in the bathroom!!!

Yesterday, I went to Jeans' Dabble Day at Beighton, which was fantastic - as usual.  Thank you again, Jean.

The projects we made were lovely, and here they are.

This was my favourate, I have seen these letters all over recently, but didnt have a clue how I would use them.  We basically, got EXTREMELY messy using texture paste, PVA glue, tissue paper, acrylic & crackle paints.

Then we made this card.

The last project was making a box which opens to make a Christmass banner.  Here is the front (sorry the photo is a bit wonky!)

And this is the back.  There are two little pockets on the back which hold cute little tags, too!

Thanks to Julie for the fab designs - they have really got me into the mood for Christmas!!!

Ok, need to shoot, I have lots to get done today, but will be back in the next couple of days to show .you the thank you cards I made recently and my little customer gifts.

Jan
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Stampers Club Starts in November

Fancy getting some of the Stampin' Up! Hostess Benefits without the hassle of inviting everyone to your home?
Join my Stampers Club to build your stash a little at a time.

What you need to do
You would commit to a ten month membership, agreeing to spend £15 per month, plus delivery, from the catalogue (That’s £3.75 per week - the price of a magazine!) More is allowed, and if you know that you will want to spend at least £30 per month, then you can take two slots.  Delivery is only 50p per slot for club members!

What are the benefits?
• You will receive a free catalogue from me when the club starts
• You will be entered in to a free prize draw each month for goodies from the catalogue
• For one month during your ten month membership (two if you take two slots) you will receive £25 in free products, including the chance to purchase some EXCLUSIVE Hostess items at fantastic prices!
What I will do
I will collect all the orders, payment and if possible, additional orders leading up to the day the order goes in to help you get the maximum benefits.  If you do want to hold a workshop when its your month to be the Hostess, I will gladly come and demonstrate some of the gorgeous products for you!


When does it start?
The club starts this month - so if you or someone you know who would like to join please email me now. Internet access is not essential for membership.
Please email me ASAP to book your slot - time is running out to grab your place!  Ive only got three places left...
Jan
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Poppy's Card

Hi everyone!

As I promised the other day here is my new 'Great Neice's' card.

The card is an A4 sheet folded to A5 and I ran a sheet of Whisper White card through the Big Shot machine with the Polka Dots and Square Lattice embossing folders.  I wrapped a length of Whisper White ribbon around the join in the embossing and mounted it onto the card blank.

I used the 'Bundle of Joy' stamp set which is really cute and allows you to build up your images from just the pram on its own to having a baby plus lots of other items inside.  Here I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to position Poppy in her pram and used my watercolour crayons to colour the image in.  I used some thin circle dies to cut the image and a mat of Pretty in Pink card out and drew some faux stitching on the pink mat.

The sentiment was stamped onto Whisper White card and coloured the little hearts in before punching with the Decorative Label punch.  I used the same punch to cut some Pretty in Pink card, cutting both shapes in half (one lenthwise, one widthwise) and attached them to create a border around the sentiment.

I had some scraps of ribbon to use up so to finish off, I tied a button around a couple of strips of the ribbon and secured to the satin ribbon.

Well, I have to crack on so Ill bob back soon.
Jan
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My New Display Book

Hi there

Hope you have had a nice weekend?  Mines been lurvely!  

Today, I went to see my lovely neices new baby girl, Poppy May - I'll share the card I made for her soon.  She so cute (and a bit loud and wriggly!!!).

Yesturday I went to Amanda's with Sara, Joanne, Hazel, Bev Kim (Hi ladies ***waves***) and we shared out lots of new goodies from the new Ideas Book & Catalogue we had each bought.  .

Thank you for sorting everything out again Amanda!!!

And here it is - my new Product Display Book!!!

Yes, I know its pink - not orange.  But, it does match my Filofax so that's my excuse - plus, I think people seem to think I have a bit of a problem with orange so I thought Id pick a different colour for a change.

Here is a picture of some of the fabby new designer series papers - Mocha Morning (the one on the right is stunning in real life).

And here are some of the brads - the glitter ones are so bright - but my favourite are the Antique Brads (top left).

I'm sorry for the poor quality of the photos but its quite late and I am just on a break from making 70 thank you cards!  But, you know what you have to do to see this folder full of gorgeousness, contact me to book a workshop and see it in the flesh!

Jan
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French Foliage

Oh, I am getting SOOOOO excited - at this time in three weeks, I will be in France getting ready for the Stampin' Up! European Convention.  My hubby has convinced me there will be no parties at home whilst I'm away (but unfortunately, I cant promise not to party myself!!!).

I have started one of the organised swaps but have no idea what Im going to do for the rest - and being as I have just been asked to do a commision for 70 thank you cards, I really ought to get my finger out!

Here is a card I made recently using the French Foliage stamp set.  I bought it ages ago and havent used it but I had so much fun making this card, I might just use it for my Convention swaps.

I used the babywipe technique again which is perfect for the leaves.  The reinkers I used were Bravo Burgundy, Lucky Limade, Garden Green, Tangerine Tango and More Mustard.

I stamped the leaves and 'splashes' onto Whisper White card to make the backing paper and matted it onto some Lucky Limeade card. A length of Whisper White satin ribbon was wrapped around the backing paper & Lucky Limeade mat before attaching it to a Bravo Burgundy card blank.

Two Top Notes were cut from Bravo Burgundy and another in Whisper White card (I trimmed off the stitched area from the WW shape) then stamped the splashes and text onto the edges.  The sentiment  is from 'Heard From the Heart' and was stamped in More Mustard ink onto the Whisper White Top Note before aligning it onto the Bravo Burgundy one.

To finish off, I cut out a couple of leaves and mounted them on dimenstionals on top of the WW Top Note.

The colours are lovely - the Bravo Burgundy card looks really rich against the Lucky Limeade.

Thanks for stopping by.

Jan
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Thank You Cards

Yey, the boxes I made for the Craft Fair at the weekend came home with me (maybe because I didn't put the prices on them (tee hee).  Quite happy as I did like how they turned out - plus I can take them to workshops & show off the fabby papers!

We had THE BEST time at Elsecar.  The other exhibitors were so nice and we had a massive table (well, 4 x 6" ones actually).  Lots of our customers and friends came for a natter so the time went really quick.  Saturday was manic - I only just had time to sneak a sandwich for lunch and the rest of the time we were demonstrating, chatting or selling things!

As most of my customers now have their thank you cards for their recent orders, I thought I would put a little picture of them here.

Actually, I had lost the photo id taken, so I ended up having to ask my Auntie Val to send me a picture!

The card stock is Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip with Pear Pizzazz for the branch and a tiny heart for his beak in Peach Parfait.  The DSP is from the 2010 In Colours Paper Stack and I used Pear Pizzazz for the owl and Peach Parfait as a mat.

The sentiment was made using the baby wipe technique - dropping spots of reinker onto a folded baby wipe to create a custom ink pad!  Really impressive when its done and so easy.  The 'Thank You' sentiment is from Curly Cute and to add a bit of interest, I stamped it up the side of the card blank.

The reinkers I used were Early Espresso and Pumpkin Pie.  I wanted to use slightly darker ink than the colours I used on the card to give a little more contrast on the card.

Hope you like him - I have hardly used the owl punch since I got it!!!

Jan
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Elsecar Craft Fair

Well, my hubby, Ian, has finally managed to recover from his 8 day migraine and is starting to get back to normal, thank god!

Its been a fab day today as I have been at Elsecar with my 'partners in crime' Sara & Joanne at another two day craft fair.

Sold lots of stuff, met some lovely people and was so busy chatting that I never even had the time to walk around to see all the other crafty items for sale.  But, we're back again tomorrow so I may get a few minutes to walk around.

We are doing a little make & take and have a prize draw so if you are in the area, bob to see us for a natter. Entry is free too!!!

Some of you may remember I decorated a little round box for the Blog Hop on the 2nd October - well, I had another play last night and made a couple more to match. Here they are all together.

This one is my favourite.  Its the smallest of the three nesting boxes, but the flower was so easy to make & looks so nice.

Its just a strip of Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon which has been snipped at intervals of about 1" and then heat applied using a heat gun.  The heat makes the edges melt and curl (obviously you have to be careful when doing this - as soon as the melting starts to happen, you move along the length of ribbon).

Then when you have melted the edges of the full length of ribbon, punch a circle of card and cover it in sticky strip.  Starting at the outer edge of the circle, attach the ribbon onto the sticky strip and working in towards the centre of the circle, keep feeding the ribbon around. To finish off, I attached a Circle Ice brad and lightly inked the edges of the flower.  If you want more detailed instructions on how to make the flower, just drop me a line.

Here are the three boxes stacked.

I really like how these came out (and I'm hoping that they don't sell tomorrow at the craft fair - tee hee!).

Well, have to go, my hubby has my tea ready, so off to chill & get ready for tomorrow.
Jan
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What did you think of last weeks Blog Hop?

Weren't there some gorgeous projects!?  I was so inspired after seeing everything the other ladies had made.

I was hoping to get my (BIG) order of goodies this week, buts not going to be here until Tuesday - when I am in Birmingham!  I also have another smaller order coming soon (just for me!!!) as another lady ordered the SU Starter Kit in September so I have another promotion (Woo Hoo).  That means a £100 product bonus, a certificate and pin.  She has only just started making cards and it worked out cheaper for her to join and get the kit & discount than buy everything she wanted.

Hope you have been having a good weekend.  My Hubby has had a problem this week with a persistent migraine so hes struggling at the moment, bless him - but after a trip to the doctors on Thursday, he could set up business as a pharmacist with all the tablets hes been given!  They haven't really kicked in properly yet and he has to go for a CT scan but I'm hoping hes back to his usual self soon.

Ian even hopes they will find his brain in there too!

Anyway back to crafting.  Here is a card I made for my Auntie Val & Uncle Bern's Pearl wedding anniversary a few weeks ago.

Auntie Val does the most beautiful parchment work you will ever see, honestly, its incredible.  I only tried working with parchment once, a few years ago, but I just don't have the time or patience to do it properly.

The card black is an A4 sheet of Shimmery White with a layer of Melon Mambo attached.  The top layer is also Shimmery White which was stamped in Melon Mambo Ink using images from the Wedding Sweet stamp set (My Auntie Val loves bright pink, so it just had to be Melon Mambo!).


The butterflies were cut and embossed using the Beautiful Wings Embosslits die and the sentiment stamped in Melon Mambo ink onto Shimmery White card, before being punched out using the Extra Large Oval and then matted onto Melon Mambo card (which has been die cut using the Lots of Tag Sizzlits 4 pack dies).

I punched the two of the corners of the top layer using the Scallop Trim Corner punch before assembling the card then added some pearls to the butterflies to finish.

Hope you enjoy your weekend, and thank you for taking the time to bob over.
Jan
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Forever Young for the New Catalogue Blog Hop

Hi there!

Sunday 2nd October is the day we have our Blog Hop.  All the links are planned to be live from 10am on 2nd Oct - however, if you have any problems with the links, just bob back a little later and I am sure they will be running like clockwork.

A group of Stampin' Up! Demonstrators who use the In Love With Stamping Forum have decided to do some projects using some of the brand new products from the 2011-2012 Ideas Book & Catalogue.

Hopefully, you will have come here from Sara's blog.  Sara is amazing and I am so lucky to have her as my Stampin' Up! Mum!!!

At the begining of September, demostrators got to see the new catalogue on-line before customers could see it (just another of my favourate perks of being a Demo!) and we also got a list of items we could purchase to allow us to be ready for when the catalogue went live.  

As soon as I saw the set called Forever Young - I just loved it.  The tree is so pretty and I love the vintage look.  I had bought some of these boxes a few weeks ago for our next craft fair so I just had to have a play.

The Designer Series Paper I used to cover the box is called Timeless Portrait (which is part of the matching Product Suite along with FABRIC!!!).  The edges of the box and the Designer Series Paper were inked with sponge daubers in Island Indigo ink (one of the new In Colours for 2011) and I used Crystal Effects around the top rim of the box and added some Champagne Glass Glitter.

The tree image is stamped onto Very Vanilla cardstock in Basic Black and then die cut before being mounted on dimensionals onto a mat of Basic Black card die cut with the Scallop Circle die.  To finish I used Very Vanilla satin ribbon, loosely pleated directly onto the edge of the lid using stick strip.

Here is a picture of all the stamps in the set.

The new catalogue is now available online and I also have some catalogues, so if you would like to get a copy, contact me now for details.

Well, thank you for stopping by, I hope you are enjoying our little tour of inspiration!  I will now pass you on to Evy, who will provide even more ideas whilst your travelling through our little cyber space blog hop.

Have a great weekend.
Jan

Ohhhh I cant wait unit tomorrow. Its my New Catalogue Launch Party ***PLUS*** we can start to order from the catalogue WOO HOO!

As a demonstrator, we not only get to see the new catalogue before everyone else - we are also able to order selected items from the catalogue during September.  This gives us the time to make samples in plenty of time for the 1st October when its all systems GO!

Here is the invitation for my New Catalogue Launch Party.

I posted the invites out to most of my customers and my past hostesses and now I am inviting you too.

As those attending are getting some freebies, I have to know if you are coming to make sure I have everything ready, so please email me now to book your place.

There will also be the opportunity to purchase some of the retiring stamp sets - so if you are looking for a bargain...

Ok, off to prepare everything now.  Hope to see you tomorrow?!

Jan
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Dabble Day

All I can say about yesterday is WOW!!!

I was asked by the lovely Jean, from Busy Bees in Woodhouse Sheffield to do some demonstrations for her Dabble Day in Beighton, Sheffield and it was fantastic.  Jean, thank you SO MUCH for letting me demonstrate for you and to all the ladies there on the day ****hello!****

Jean holds the Dabble Days every couple of months and I took my Mum to the one she had in July, just to get a feel for what happens.  We loved that one, and was honoured to be asked to be a demonstrator for the September one (and rather nervous too - shhhh!).

But, I had no need to be so worried, the day was brilliant.  I demonstrated how to make this bag.

I forgot to take a photo of the bag with the flower made from the Sizzix Fun Flowers but you can see the idea here.  The card for the flowers, front & back of the bag are stamped using the Very Vintage wheel in Crumb Cake ink with Rich Razzleberry ink sponged around the flower petals. 

The handles were made using the 1 1/4" Rich Razzleberry Striped Grossgrain Ribbon/  The handles are secured in place with brads, which are covered with tabs punched out of Rich Razzleberry cardstock using the Decorative Label Punch.

I made a similar bag here, but for the Dabble Day I wanted to simplify the design.  The ladies did a brilliant job making thier bags and the day was manic.  I was totally buzzing by the time I got home and just wish I could do the next one - unfortunately, its the Saturday before I go to Convention so I wont have the time to plan everything.  Just hope that everyone enjoyed it and I get the chance to do another.

I need to get everything ready for my New Catalogue Launch Party now, so thanks for bobbing over to see me.  Ill post details of my party in the next couple of days.

Jan
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New Catalogue Launch Party

Good morning!

Are you ready for the weekend?  I certainly am - its my first one 'off' for ages.  I have lots of stuff to prepare for though so I am planning in front to try and get organised.  I am doing a Dabble Day for Jean at Beighton, Sheffield next Saturday so have some card to prep then I have some bits to do for the launch of the new Stampin' Up! catalogue (woo hoo!!!).

New Catalogue Launch Party

I will be sending out formal invitations to all my past hostesses and customers - but if you would like to come along and see all the NEW goodies, email me so I can reserve you a seat.

Where & When

Doghill Community Centre

Shafton

Barnsley

10am to 1pm



There will be a free prize draw, previews of some of the new fa*** (oops, I nearly gave the game away there!!!) plus the most amazing change to the hostess benefits - you WILL NOT BELIEVE how good the new benefits package is for hostesses!!!

As I have some items I need to prepare for people who are coming to my launch party - I need to know if you are planning on coming.  Please email me to let me know so I can get things ready for you.

I will also be putting some of my old Stampin' Up! stamps up for sale!  So put the details in your diary and contact me ASAP so I can send you full details and directions.

Jan
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Update on Last Chance List, Photo Frames & Trinket Box

Im glad this week is over and its the weekend - had lots of traveling around for work so Im glad for a bit of a rest.

Have you had the chance to look through the Last Chance List yet?  The items are starting to sell out now so click here to see the ones that are still available.  The items no longer available are:

Choo Choo

Sense of Time

Tart and Tangy

2010-2012 In Color Classic Stampin’ Ink Refills

Wild Wasabi 12″ x 12″ Card Stock

Riding Hood Red 12″ x 12″ Card Stock

Jolly Holiday Designer Series Paper

Silver Elastic Cord

Antique Brass and Pewter Jumbo Eyelets

Star Punch

Afterthoughts [w]

Cute by the Inch [w]

These items are sold out and the rest of the products on the list can only be ordered before 30th September.  So if you have your eye on something, dont leave it too late, email me now to order. 

I thought I would show you the trinket box and a couple of matching photo frames I made for the Elsecar Craft Fairs (the next one is on 15th & 16th October!).

The box is one I bought from a local craft shop and I covered it with Springtime Vintage DS Paper.  I had a piece of Rose Red cardstock left over from cutting out a Top Note mat and attached it to the box top - only attaching on three sides - to allow a photograph to be slotted between the layers.  A long strip of Rose Red Seam Binding ribbon was gathered and attached around the top of the box lid. 

The butterflies are die cut from Whisper White card using the Beautiful Butterflies die and then run through the big shot in the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder.  They are then inked with Rose Red ink, mounted on dimensionals and basic pearls added to finish.

The two photo frames were made using acrylic frames and were just covered in the Springtime Vintage DSP.

Before I attached the DSP, I measured where it would fall on the frame and marked the centre front and ran it through the Big Shot using the Top Note to give me a nice apparture.  A peice of Rose Red cardstock was secured behind to show through the apparture and then I just added more butterflies.

Hope you are doing something nice at the weekend.
Jan
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So Excited!

Hope you are having a nice weekend?

I went to a Regional Training Event yesterday afternoon in Leeds organised by Stampin' Up! and was soooo excited by what we saw and did, I couldnt sleep properly last night - I was so giddy!!!

Unfortunately, I am sworn to secrecy as there are still other events organised around the country so I dont want to spoil all their surprises.  All I can say is I cant wait to show you what goodies are coming in the new Ideas Book & Catalogue.

As I am so fired up with excitement, I have booked the room for my New Catalogue Launch Party.  Its on Saturday 1st October from 10am to 1pm.

There will be a make and take, prize draw and demonstrations of some of the new products.  So put the date in your diary, come along and bring a friend!

Anyway, enough of my excitement - here is a couple of photos of the swaps I made to exchange with the other demonstrators in Leeds.

This is one of the general ones. 

And here is one mounted onto a Chocolate Chip card blank which also shows the dimension of the embossing.

I had planned to do something without any stamps as we wernt exactly sure which ones were going to retire.  Instead I gambled on the fact that embossing folders & dies would stay in the new catalogue.

To begin, I tore Neutrals Ivory card into an oblong shape and then took my Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and inked up one site in Crumb Cake ink before running it through the Big Shot.  I did exactly the same using the Square Latice embossing folder on a slightly larger mat of Crumb Cake card and then mounted the Ivory card on top.

The butterflies were cut out using the Beautiful Butterflies die in Crumb Cake and Neutrals Ivory card and then embossed in the Perfect Polka Dots and Manhattan Flower folders and layered up.  The butterflies were decorated with either Basic Pearls or Basic Rhinestones and then added to the bottom corner.

The last layer is a Chocolate Chip mat trimmed slightly smaller than a C6 card blank so the ladies can mount them if they like at a later date.

Ok, got to go now and look at the goodies we're getting soon - I think I may need to have a little word with the bank mananger...!

Thanks for visiting,
Jan
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Ps.  For those who attended the Elsecar Craft Fair in August and were interested in our offer for the Starter Kit - I will still honour the offer until 24th Sept ****for ONE person ONLY****  For more details contact me ASAP.  Once its gone, its gone...

Last Chance to Get Them!

Its a sad day today.

Stampin' Up! have issued the Last Chance List which tells us which stamp sets are not going to be in the new catalogue.  There are some old favourates in this one too - I am so sad to see them go, but they are making room for some fab new sets coming in October.

Here is a link to the Last Chance List.  Dont forget, once they are gone, thats it - you wont be able to order them any more.  So dont leave it too late to get in touch, email me now to get your order delivered.

Delivery is £4.95 regardless of the amount of your order - and if you have some friends who also want to order, let me know as we can split the cost of delivery if its all going to one address.

Birthday Pressies

Crikey, I have been so busy this week - but none of it involved crafting (booo).

Lots of travelling around for work and then out to a barbecue on Saturday.

Yesturday we spent the day at Cadwell Park watching the British Superbikes in action.  The weather wasnt too bad but it was so windy, heaven knows how they managed to wrestle their motorbikes around the circuit!

As I havent done any crafting, here is a picture of the items my friend Hazel made me for by birthday, and just look at the colour ORANGE!!!  They look gorgeous on my mantlepiece (I keep forgetting to take them down...)

Thank you, Hazel - they are stunning!
Hope you have had a great weekend and thank you for taking the time to visit.


Jan
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