Invitation to Mini Catalogue Launch Party

Hello!

Here is a quick post to invite you to my Mini Catalogue Launch Party on Saturday 2nd April.

It starts at 1pm and finishes at 3pm and you will get so see some of the fabby new products from the new Mini.  I cant tell you anything about the actual products until the 1st April (otherwise I would have to shoot you!) but I LOVE them.

As we are having our monthly Crop in the morning its going to be a brilliant day, lots of fun and crafting with a lovely bunch of ladies. The Crop starts at 10am and we have a technique club too!

So if you fancy coming to see everything, please do - you will be made more than welcome.  There will be refreshments (and chocolate!) with some prize draws and other little goodies...

Jan
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Thank You Cards for Customers

I have had a lovely crafty weekend.  Yesterday, I did a Craft Fair at our local church, St Peters at Felkirk and today I have been having a proper play with all my new toys to get ready for my Mini Catalogue Launch Party. YEY!!!  Also, here's a picture of the cards I made for all the ladies who placed an order with me this month.

The little square envelope near the bottom of the card opens to reveal a little message. 

I stamped the outline flowers from Fast and Fabulous (which is a level 2 hostess set) in black Stazon onto Shimmery White card and then stamped the petal overlay in Rich Razzleberry ink.  To intensify the colour I used my aqua painter and reinkers then added a little glitter to the centre of the flowers.

The edges of the cardstock were punched using the Scallop Edge border and corner punches and then to add a little colour to the rest of the image I masked off the bottom left and top right corners and used my spritzer tool and Stamping Pastels in Certainly Celery and Bashful Blue.  Its a subtle effect but looks quite effective.

The little envelope is made using a punch, which I haven't used before but I do quite like, but I wish now that I had used vellum cardstock instead of Rich Razzleberry.

Hope you had a nice weekend.
Jan

Craft Fair Crafting

Hi there!

I have been beavering away getting some items ready for my next craft fair on Saturday (26th March) and here is a gift box I decorated using some handmade punched flowers.  I bought the boxes off the internet around christmas time without realising just how big they were going to be - they are 9" square and about 3 1/2 inch deep! So they have taken some decorating!!!

The pansies are made by punching out two butterflies from Shimmery White cardstock, spraying them until they are totally covered in water and then using an aqua painter to add tiny drops of reinker to the edges.  The ink instantly mixes with the water and spreads like magic over the card.  I used Melon Mambo to the outer edges and then a tiny drop of Daffodil Delight to the centre.

I left them to dry, drew thin 'veins' to the centre of each shape and then curved the shapes with my bonefolder before adding a brad through the centre.  They look so sweet and watching the ink spread is amazing!!!  But be warned, if you are going to try this - its VERY messy!

Heres a close up of the flowers.

The little carnations were made by punching out 6 scalloped circles out of Whisper White card, wetting them and then screwing each one tightly.  Then carefully open them up, layer them all one on top of the other and punch a hole through the centre for a brad to be added.  (You have to be REALLY careful not to tear the card as WW card doesnt like being wet).  Then I screwed the layers tightly and left to dry.

I have made some more flowers using this technique but I cant show you them until 1st April (I used some items from the new Mini Catalogue - I just couldnt resist).

Right, have to get more crafting done (tee hee!).  If you fancy bobbing over to the craft fair its at St Peters Church, Felkirk, South Heindley from 10am to 4pm, on Saturday 26th March.  Its a beautiful little church near Royston & Wakefield and is worth a trip just to look inside. 

I will post some pictures over the weekend showing the stand and also some more little projects!
Jan
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Basket

Its been a really busy week at work and I have had lots of things to get ready for so I haven't been able to do that much in the way of crafting.  I did have a workshop on Thursday night though (hi Kim *waves*) which was brilliant - and we were joined by the lovely Chrissi!!!

Here is a photo of the make and takes that were made.

Its a lovely little gift box which is made from a square of card only measuring 7.5".  You can also make a cute little gift card out of the remaining piece of A4 card!  Thank you to Sara for her instructions (here).

I also made a 12x12" version which is stunning!  I think I may have to make a couple more for the craft fair I am doing on the 26th March...

The 12 x 12" card was scored at 4" on all sides and then scored diagonally from the each corner to the point where the first score lines cross.  All score lines were creased to give nice sharp edges.  Then holes were punched in each corner to for ribbon to be threaded through later.

I coloured the stamp from the Just Believe set using markers in Pretty in Pink & Pear Pizzazz and stamped onto Shimmer White card (this card is on offer until the end of March -30% off) repeating the stamping twice onto each of the four pieces.   The stamped card was mounted onto mats of Pear Pizzazz and put to one side.

Squares of Pear Pizzazz DSP were put on each corner and the stamped mats secured with glue (remembering to put them so they show the right way up when the box is finished!).  A square of DSP was also put on the inside (bottom) of the box.  To finish, ribbon was threaded through the holes of the corners of the box, pulled tightly and fastened in a bow.

Recipe
Cardstock - Pretty in Pink 12x12", Shimmer White, Pear Pizzazz
Stamp set - Just Believe
Designer Series Paper - Pear Pizzazz
Accessories - Whisper White Satin Ribbon, Crop-A-Dile.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend.
Jan
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Technique Class and Competition!

Hi there!

We had our crop and technique class yesterday and it was brilliant - thank you for coming ladies!!  Its always lovely for us to all get together so we had a proper chat and loads of time to craft.

We did a couple of baby wipe techniques using reinkers - and both of them had the WOW factor.   The first technique was making an ink pad out of the babywipe (and this really is my favourate) with the second, using  a baby wipe to make a striped sunset background.  The ladies found this a little fiddly, and VERY messy (note for next time - take some disposable gloves!!!).

I showed the ladies the techniques and then left them to have a play with all the goodies.  As I was chatting so much I didnt get my finished items done at the time so completed them at home later.

Heres the card I made.

And heres the 6" x 6" scrapbook page.

As its almost 2 years since I joined Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator, I am going to have a little competition where you can get your hands on the Punch Bunch set from the recent Sale-A-Bration promotion.  The two people in the photo are me and my little brother Tim - he is SO not going to be impressed when he sees this LOL.  Hes not so little now (about 6' actually).  To be in with a chance of getting the stamp set, all you have to do is guess how long ago the photo was taken and post your guess in a comment on my blog.  The nearest guess in years will get the stamp set!

The competition closes on the second anniversary of me joining SU, which is the 7th April. Please note - if any of our family decide to cheat and post, I will find out where you are and set my Mum on you - you have been warned...

Recipe
Stamp Sets - Garden Whimsy and Tiny Tags (on the card)
Cardstock - Whisper White, Regal Rose, Elegant Eggplant
Ink - So Saffron, Regal Rose and Elegant Eggplant (Rich Razzlebery on card)
Accessories - Scallop Edge and Scallop Corner Punches, 5/8 Organza Ribbon, tag punch, Basic Rhinestones (coloured using permanent marker) Boho Blossoms punch and flower brad. 

Leeds Regional Training Day and Swaps (Part 2)

I am sorry for not posting the pictures as I promised on Saturday.  I had quite a busy day yesterday so just didnt have the time.

Anyway, the Leeds Regional Training Day on Saturday was INCREDIBLE!!! 70 demonstrators in a flashy hotel frantically swapping, stroking and cooing over all the new products which are coming in the Mini Catalogue.

I cant tell you any juicy details just yet, but I cant wait to get hold of them.  As demonstrators, we get to see and can even pre-order the new products - its one of my favourate things about being a demonstrator, well that and getting freebies, and discounts and...!!!  Sorry, I am going off on a bit of a tangent arnt I?!

Here is the second swap I promised to show you.

I used the same stamp set, Sense of Time, plus the 'For You' stamp from the Fresh Cuts set.  I stamping the clock in Cajun Craze ink onto Very Vanilla cardstock, and added the 'For You' image in Not Quite Navy ink.  The bottom dial was covered in Chrystal Effects and left to dry overnight before a gold brad was put through the centre.

As there were so many swaps to do, I decided to keep this design simple so it was basically just matted and layered with the Photo Corner Punch which I used to accent the corners of the clock.

The More Mustard cardstock mat was run through my crimper (only for about 3cm) but I did like the texture. Then I stamped the sentiment and wrapped a strip of Twill Tape around the mat before securing the clock image.  Nice and simple but the colours are fab and it seemed to go down really well with everyone.


Recipe
Cardsock - Very Vanilla, Cajun Craze, Not Quite Navy & More Mustard
Stamp sets - Sense of Time & Fresh Cuts
Ink - Cajun Craze & Not Quite Navy
Accessories - Photo Corner Punch, Chrystal Effects, Gold Brad, Crimper & Twill Tape

Thanks for stopping by and if you want to see the special offer I have on at the moment for buying the starter kit, click here.
Jan x

Stampin' Up! Training Swaps

I am going to the Leeds Stampin' Up! Training Event today, so I think I am safe to post the pictures of my swaps as all the ladies going will be far too excited to look on here!!

The events are held by Stampin' Up! to support demonstrators and provide training and information on new products and techniques.  Its also a great time for us all to meet up and chat about crafting!!!  The training days are only open to demonstrators, but we come away with some fabby ideas and info to share with you all!

Most of the ladies going to the events make 'Swaps'.  This is where each person makes a number of copies of the same card or item.  When we all meet up, we swap one of the cards we have made with each other so we come away with examples of lots of differenct cards.  Here is the first of one design of swaps I made (there are about 70 of us going and I got a bit bored of the same design).

To start, I stamped the clock from the Sense of Time stamp set in Chocolate Chip ink onto Neutrals Ivory card.  I stamped another clock image onto a post it note and cut it out to create a 'mask' which was placed over the clock stamped onto the neutrals card.  Then I randomly stamped the cogs from the stamp set around the clock, overlapping in places.  The mask protects the image underneath, so when I pealed the mask off it looks like the clock is sitting in front of the cogs.

For the dial at the bottom of the clock image, I stamped another dial, cut it out and mounted it on a dimensional then used Chrystal Effects over the top.  It was left it to dry overnight before piercing a hole through the centre and adding a gold brad.

To make the sentiment, I only inked the part of the stamp with 'Live for Today' using my markers and stamped it onto Crumb Cake cardstock.  I used the Oval Large punch though the clock face image and mounted the 'Live for Today' on dimensionals behind the clock face - literally, giving it more depth.

The rest of the card is just matted and layered with a piece of Designer Series Paper and a brad to finish off. 

Recipe

Stamp Set - Sense of Time

Cardstock - Neutrals Ivory, Soft Suede & Crumb Cake

Ink - Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake

DSP - Neutrals Paper Stack (Crumb Cake)

Accessories - Gold Brads Chrystal Effects Oval Large Punch

I will post my second card swap tomorrow and will also share what I can from the day.

Jan

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March Frenzy and Thank You Cards

Is it March already - WOW!

I have a couple of things to show you today and one of them is the cards I made for my lovely Stampers 10 Ladies.

The butterfly from All a Flutter and the dragon fly from Natures Nest were both stamped in Crumb Cake ink onto squares of Neutrals Ivory cardstock and mounted onto a piece of Soft Suede card.  This was then mounted onto a mat of Early Espresso cardstock.

I wrapped a length of twill tape around one end of the mat and then some wrapped linen thread over the top, finishing off with a button from the neutrals collection. This was then attached to a 6x6" square Crumb Cake card blank.

There were two versions, one which was distressed as I know some of my ladies love the distressed look.  Here is the other version.

The sentinemt is from the Sense of Time stamp set, which I seem to be using quite a lot lately.  So which one do you prefer?

Here is the other item I want to mention.  Its the March Frenzy promotion from Stampin Up!  The list pages refer to the 2011 Idea Book and Catalogue and as you can see, some of the items are up to 30% off.

Item	Page	Description	Discount	Retail  Price	Sale Price
109679	40	Fast Flowers Stampin’ Around Wheel	20 %	£6.50	£5.20
109685	48	Neighborhood Stampin’ Around Jumbo Wheel	30%	£8.50	£5.95
110528	61	Friendly Set	30%	£16.95	£11.87
107559	69	Spot On Stampin’ Around Jumbo Wheel	20%	£8.50	£6.80
109675	70	Baroque Border Stampin’ Around Wheel	30%	£6.50	£4.55
110524	75	Cheer & Wishes Set	30%	£16.95	£11.87
121717	87	A4 Shimmery White Card Stock	30%	£7.50	£5.25
106555	87	A4 Glossy White Card Stock	20%	£6.25	£5.00
117167	89	Greenhouse Gala Designer Series Paper	20%	£8.75	£7.00
113659	93	Hidden Garden Blossoms Rub-Ons	30%	£8.50	£5.95
111325	99	Styled Silver Hodgepodge  Hardware	20%	£25.95	£20.76
120963	102	Stampin’ Pastels New Color Kit	30%	£11.25	£7.88
102845	102	Blender Pens	20%	£7.95	£6.36

This is the printable version of the promotion which also shows images of the items.  All of the items are limited in quantity at the discounted price - approximately 1,000 of each are available, so if you would like any of them, email me know to place your order.

Jan
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