Buy One Get One Free

Good evening,

Here's details of the retired Stampin' Up! products that I have left from my recent sale, which I am doing a Buy One Get One Free promotion on. 

For every product you purchase, you will get to choose products from the current Annual Catalogue for FREE! 

For example, if you choose £15 worth of retired product, you get to spend £15 on anything you want from the Annual Catalogue. 

For local collection/pickup, postage will just be an additional £1.00 and for further afield in the U.K., postage will be £3.50 to cover postage and packaging to your home. 

Please email me at mycardsandcrafts@hotmail.co.uk or contact me on Facebook at 

www.facebook.com/mycardsandcrafts

Embroidery Cake

Good morning

Here's another card that we made at the Cards and Sewing workshop on Monday. This one included showing the ladies the different technique of doing one round of stitching and then doing another round over the same stitches. I love this technique as the messier the better in my opinion!

The fabric is from a retired collection from Stampin' Up!, and the sentiment is from Lift Me Up. 

Machine Embroidery - Bird Card

Good morning,

I've been having a play recently combining my two passions for card making and sewing. I was approached by a fellow local crafter Emma Jennings, who runs Material Girl Horbury (website) at the possibilities of running a joint class. I jumped at the opportunity and started to think that simple projects we could do. 

This card is quite a leap for me. I like to copy, CASE (copy and share everything!) and use templates. I'm get stuck when I have to come up with my own designs and I use Pinterest ALL the time! I don't have the time or energy to play around with my stamps, I just want to create cute projects that someone else has had the creativity to produce.   This card was made with scissors, no template and I just went freestyle and cut out something that vaguely looked like a bird. The fabric is a retired fabric from Stampin' Up! from a few years ago that I still had in my stash. I double stitched around the bird twice, using my fabulous Janome TXL607.  I like the effect it gives and it doesn't have to look too perfect.

Retiring Project Life Card Collections

Good evening,

I've got half an hour to kill before setting off to my Watercolour Pencils workshop so I thought I'd do a quick blog post about the retiring Project Life card collections and Accessory Packs. 

These are only available until the end of the month, so you may wish to stock up if you already own one if the collections, so you can continue your albums with the same cards, or if you fancy a change, why not try out a new collection before they have gone forever. 

The cards are so easy to use, just choose what design you want, the cards come in both landscape or portrait and they come in various sizes depending on which collection you choose. Just slip them in the pocket pages to add colour, design or journaling space to record your memories. 

Here's the selection of card collections and accessory packs still available. 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Please get in touch if there's any that you'd like to order before they retire. 

x

 

Why I run Project Life workshops

Good evening,

I hope you've had a lovely day. I've just climbed into bed, after a long day at work, and then home to preparing for a Watercolour Pencils workshop tomorrow evening. 

My post today is to share with you why I love holding Project Life and Memory Keeping workshops. It's made a big difference to my business, and also to the friendships I have made with the ladies who come along. It also allows non crafters to join in, and get involved with something that anyone can do. 

Business

As I mentioned above, running memory keeping workshops has increased sales, and also attracted new customers to my classes. What really matters to me when I receive an order form is that I have inspired someone to buy a product that they want to have themselves, that they think they can use and will produce beautiful creations. I'm really excited to share with people the many different ways that they can use their products, and love seeing their Project Life albums come to life over time. 

Friendships 

When ladies bring their photos to a Project Life workshop, they are not just bringing an image. They are bringing stories and tales, memories and names. I always look at their photos and ask about the event or moment, and sit back to listen. We've had laughs, giggles and even tears! One of my ladies on Saturday was talking about her beloved dog, who passed away. It's important that these memories are recorded and kept, and written down to pass to future generations, or for ourselves when we are older and memories are hard to recall. 

Crafters and Non Crafters

Memory Keeping can be what ever you want it to be. I bring along all my inks, dies and a selection of stamps for the ladies to use in their pages. They can do as much or as little crafting and embellishing as they choose. There's no right or wrong way to do it, it's their pages to keep simple or glam up to their liking. It's a perfect hobby for non-crafters, as all you need is some photos, pocket pages and a card collection. 

 

Don't forget that the Project Life products will no longer be available after the end of this month so please head to 

www.alexspence.stampinup.net to place your order. 

Please call back tomorrow, I'm going to be sharing the card collections and accessory packs. x

Project Life

Good afternoon,

Don't you just love Bank Holiday weekends? That extra day off really makes a difference. In my "proper" job, I get up around 05:30 each morning, so it takes its toll! I don't have as much time for crafting in the evenings, I'm too knackered! This is one of the reasons why I love pocket scrapbooking, as it's so simple to sit for half an hour and achieve something memorable. 

This week I am going to blog everyday (that's right, I've written it down so I'll have to stick to it!) about why I love Project Life, memory keeping and pocket scrapbooking. Stampin' Up! are ending their partnership with Becky Higgins and Project Life at the end of May, so there's only a month left to purchase the lovely products that are still on sale. 

I went to see my sister, her boyfriend and niece yesterday, and my Mum and Step-Dad came up from Bedfordshire too. I brought my Project Life album to show them my pages, and I had recently started one of my niece. For me, the most important thing is getting photos printed off, and the important memories written down. My niece loved flicking through the pages, touching things and in years to come, she'll love hearing the stories over and over again. 

 

 

 

Later on we went to the park, and for the first time I got to push her on the swings, and she had a great time! I took lots of photos and I can't wait to get these printed off to put in my album. 

 

As I said earlier, the Project Life products from Stampin' Up! are retiring at the end of this month, so please do get in touch if you'd like to order any of them before they are gone forever. 

Come back tomorrow to read all about why I love running memory keeping workshops. X

Balloons and more balloons

This is one of the cards that my ladies made at the recent Crafternoon Tea at Rich and Fancy tea rooms in Horbury, Wakefield. The two stamp sets used were Balloon Celebration and Balloon Adventures (this is on the retirement list and is reduced to just £19.20 from £24.00). To purchase either of these stamp sets please visit this link

Shop Online

 

  

 

 

 

 

Pinapple

Hiya,

Here's the second card from my August Pinapples and Flamingo class. This one was nice and simple, it's always good to have a quick card for my ladies to have a breather. I would normally have said that they could enjoy a chat and a cuppa but I was so engrossed in the class that I forgot! What a terrible host!

Anyway, let's get back to the card. For the card blank I used some retired card stock - Naturals Ivory. The Pinapple was stamped in Emerald Envy and Crushed Curry. The heat gun was used to dry off the ink, before the Versamark ink was stamped using the "My heart smiles just thinking of you" from Suite Sayings, and then black embossing powder was applied and heated using the heat gun. 

 

  

 

A strip of washi tape from the Pop of Pink Designer Washi Tape was stuck to the right of the card front and a couple of sequins from the Gold Sequin trim were stuck on. 

  

 

 

 

 

Trio of Flamingos

Good afternoon! 

I hope you enjoyed my last couple of posts on my July card class.  My next couple of posts are going to be about the card my ladies made at my recent card class in August. The theme for this class was Flamingos and Pineapples. You can't have failed to spot that they are everywhere this summer, and when I first read through the Annual Catalogue back in Telford I wasn't too sure about the new trend. But after using the two stamp sets "Pop of Paradise" and "Pineapple" I love them! 

The first card that I'm sharing from the class was created with the Pop of Paradise stamp. I thought I'd try to teach my ladies a new technique called "masking". This is where you stamp an image, and then mask out the area where you have just stamped, using scrap paper (post it notes always work well) and then stamp the same image in a different place. The scrap paper hides the original image so it's not stamped on twice. I did this on the card blank using the Flamingo stamp, and stamped off the ink each time to get a lighter shade of Melon Mambo ink. 

 

The Flamingos were mounted on a piece of DSP from Pop of Pink, and then onto a Basic Black card blank.

  

 

We also used a technique called "Embossed Resist". The sentiment image Thinking of You was stamped in Versamark Ink onto Whispee White and then Whisper White embossing powder was applied. The heat gun was used to set the powder. Melon Mambo ink was then rubbed onto the image using the sponge. The heart image was then cut out using the paper snips. 

 

Lastly, a piece of the gold thread was wrapped around the top corner in a spiral, and then the heart was fixed to the card using the Dimensionals. A couple of sequins from the Gold Sequin Trim were fixed to the card to add a bit of bling!

This card was cased from a lady called Emily Campbell and her blog can be found at http://tinykiwicards.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/onstage-auckland-2016.html?m=1

Third Swirly Birds Card

Good morning,

Today I'm sharing the third and final card from my July card class. It's another one using the Swirly Bird stamp set and Swirly Scribbles Thinlits dies. This one has the colour combo of Watermelon Wonder, Peekaboo Peach, Emerald Envy, Mint Macaron and Daffodil Delight. The sentiment stamp is from Suite Sayings. 

 

 

This scribble was created with two stamps. The lighter full circle was stamped into Peekaboo Peach, stamped on to grid paper and then stamped onto the card so it had a lighter image. The swirl was then stamped onto the card after the first application of ink. 

 

 

This was another cased card (There's just so many lovely creations out there to case!) from this blog. http://songofmyheartstampers.typepad.com/song_of_my_heart_stampers/2016/05/swirly-scribbles-fun-dimensional-rose-cards.html

If you've enjoyed seeing my creations with this stamp set, why not see what you can come up with. It costs just £23.00 for the stamp set in photopolymer (141749) and £24.00 for the dies (141497). There is a bundle where you can purchase both for 10% discount, meaning they cost £42.25 (142353). If you fancy purchasing these, head over to my online shop, which is open 24/7.  http://www2.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx

 

 

 

Swirly Birds Kite Card

Good evening, 

I hope you're all keeping well. I can't remember the last time I wrote a blog post without apologising for not posting very often! Hopefully I should be posting more regularly now that I have moved house. There's still loads to do but I do manage to fit in some crafting so that's nice. I have also started classes again, at Ossett Arts, in Ossett Town Hall, Wakefield, West Yorkshire. They are monthly at the moment, usually on the first Wednesday of the month, at 19:00. 

I try to use one main stamp set or product at each of my classes and the first class I ran in August was based around the Swirly Birds stamp set and Swirly Scribbles Thinlits dies. I love this set more than I thought I would when I saw it in the catalogue initially. Pinterest is full of ideas and there's so many different ways the use the set.

The first card I'm sharing with you is a kite card made with the Swirly Birds stamps.  The colour combo for this card is Peekaboo Peach, Flirty Flamingo and Pool Party. 

I used the Tree Builder Punch to punch out a cloud shape, and used this as a mask with the Stampin' Spritzer and Pool Party ink refill to create the sky background. The sentiment is from Thoughtful Banners and comes with a co-ordinating punch called Duet Banner. 

 

I love the paint splatter stamp that is included in this set. It was stamped once, and then again in a slightly different position without putting it back on the ink pad so there was a lighter image. 

 

You can just see the Wink of Stella glitter on the kite and bows. 

 

I cased this card from Pinterest from a lady called Marisa Gun http://dzinesbymeg.typepad.com/dzines_by_meg/2016/06/osat-blog-hop-summer-lovin.html

I hope you like it, the ladies at my class certainly did. 

I'll be posting another two cards that we made at the class over the next few days so keep your eyes peeled x

Swirly Birds Wreath Card

Morning,

Here's the second card that my ladies made at my monthly card class in July. The Swirly Birds stamp set has been used again, but on this card it also requires the Swirly Scribble Thinlits dies. 

The wreath/nest was die cut using the Big Shot with Crumb Cake card stock. The flowers and leaves were stamped in Peekaboo Peach, Flirty Flamingo and Emerald Envy and were die cut with the matching Thinlits dies. The bird was stamped in Soft Sky but was "fussy-cut" using the Paper Snips. The sentiment is from Thoughtful Banners and punched out with the Duet Banner Punch. 

 

A closer view of the bird, flowers and that lovely paint splatter stamp. 

 

 

This picture really shows off the Wink of Stella glitter marker. 

 

 

 Apologies to the original designer of this card, I found it on Pinterest and now can't find it.

Check back soon to see the third card in this set. 

 

Oh Happy Day Card Kit

Hello there!

Apologies yet again for the lack of posts on here recently! I'm in the middle of moving house, and currently staying with family as I sold my house in Leeds 4 weeks ago and we're just waiting for the house we are buying the be ready. It can't come quick enough, and I've already spotted the perfect built in cupboard in the dining room for my stamps!

Seeing as it is a Bank Holiday weekend, I came down to visit my Mum & step-dad in Bedfordshire. We invited my step-sister Victoria over yesterday, and we had a mini card kit class in the dining room.  

I had a play with the new Oh Happy Day card kit, which is in the new Annual Catalogue, available from the 1st June 2016. It's a gorgeous bright kit, and makes 20 unique cards. You even get 13 photopolymer stamps and a Basic Black Archival Stampin' Spot in the kit to keep when all the cards are made up. The cards are so easy to make, with printed due cut elements, glittered chipboard shapes, coloured doilies and twine to embellish the cards. You can go "off-piste" with the cards if you choose, but I liked following the clear instructions which made it easy to produce gorgeous looking cards. 

My Mum & Victoria had a play with the Watercolour Wishes Card Kit, available in the current catalogue (140406) which is £31.50 and also makes 20 cards. I love these kits, simple, easy and all you need is glue. They make perfect presents for anyone, even non-crafters as they are so clear to follow. I'll share some more pictures of their creations later.