Convention Team Swaps

Evening all!

Remember me? I used to write this blog! Life has been a bit busy recently, and I've not had much time to keep in touch on here.  I'm due to start a new job soon too, so that will take a bit of getting used to after working where I currently work for the last ten years. It's all exciting stuff though, I'll let you know how I'm getting on.

This evening, I'm in Manchester for the 2013 European Stampin' Up! Convention, and it's my first one ever! I've been a demo for about two and a half years now and I've not managed to go to convention yet.  I was a couple of places short of booking on last year, and left it too late and it was full.  Living in Leeds, I had no excuse not to be the first in the queue this year as it's just a train ride away. I can't wait to share some pictures with you, and tell you all about what I get up to.

There was a few things we had to make to bring with us.  Team swaps, general swaps and a gift for our room mate if we're sharing a room.  I'm sharing with my friend and downline Kylie.  Today I'll be sharing pictures of the team swaps I made.

It's always tricky deciding what the perfect swap will be, and it took me ages to decide what to do.  I decided to make candles, with a Christmas image from My Digital Studio (MDS).  This seemed like a great idea, and I made the first one.  It looked great.  Off I went to Ikea, to buy enough for the 32 ladies who have opted in to the team swaps.   I realised then, that my idea may not have been such a good one after all!  I bought the 32 I needed, as well as a few extra, and by the time I had lifted all 50 candles on to the till, I was bright red and wondered what all the people in the queue behind me thought I was doing with all these candles! The man right behind me congratulated me on my dedication to lifting them all.  Then I realised I had to transport them all to Manchester! Oh well, it was too late to change my mind.

I printed the image from MDS onto normal printer paper, to make sure I had the size right.  After a few adjustments, I was happy with my image, and I then printed the image onto tissue paper which had been taped onto a piece of card with masking tape.  I then cut out the image and used a tiny bit of glue on each corner to stick it lightly to the candle.

 I then wrapped a piece of tissue paper around the candle and gently heated the image using a heat gun.  The heat melts the candle just enough to melt the tissue paper into the wax giving a smooth finish.

 I love this technique and it can be done with any stamped image or printed image. I then wrapped the candle in cellophane and tied a small length of Linen Thread to secure the cellophane then tied a length of the lovely Cherry Cobbler 1" (2.5cm) Stitched Edge Grosgrain Ribbon around into a bow. 

 

I really hope my team like their gifts, and I can't wait to see what lovely things they have made.  It's been fun seeing everyone's updates on our Facebook page, seeing the hours they have spent crafting away, and the excitement building!

Here's a picture of the swaps altogether...see why I realised how heavy they were going to be! The next picture of the candles in the box is just over half of the full lot! My suitcase was very heavy, and one of the wheels broke as I got off the bus in Manchester, and had to drag it down the street to the hotel.  Thankfully I don't have to take them back with me to Leeds!

Papillion Potpourri Card 1

I can't remember how long I have had these cards to share on here.  These were part of a project we made at one of the quarterly team training events, and I never got round to posting them.  There's five cards to share, all using the Papillion Potpourri stamp and the Elegant Butterfly punch. 

This first card uses Calypso Coral card stock with the Natural Composition speciality designer papers. A background was stamped on the card stock with Calypso Coral ink with the Papillion Potpourri stamps.  Two butterflies were stamped onto Very Vanilla card stock in Calypso Coral and Early Espresso ink and punched out with the Elegant Butterfly punch. 

A piece of the Crochet Trim was tied around the front panel, and had a piece of Linen thread tied around.  The Mr & Mrs sentiment was stamped with Tiny Tags, and punched with the Jewelry Tag Punch and attached to the Linen Thread.

I have lots of the Natural Composition papers left in my stash, I'm going to get them out and have another play with them soon.

Stamp-a-stack Christmas 4 - Merry Minis

I hope you've all had a good week, I've not posted much for a few days. An update on the broadband situation-it works, but I have discovered it's very slow, and when using my phone it's quicker to have the wifi switched off and use 3G instead! That's no good is it? I'll have to do a speed test and do some call centre ringing again.

So here's another post (from my phone!) from the Christmas Stamp-a-stack class from a few weeks ago.

This one used the Merry Minis stamp set and punches, a co-ordinating set. They are cute little images of Christmas trees, stars and baubles, three of each. It's a set that's mostly aimed at Christmas, but I think it could be used all year round, especially the stars and one or two of the trees. The baubles could even be used as fairy lights.

Crumb cake card stock was inked around the edges with the White Kraft ink and the daubers, and then a strip of the Festival Of Prints DSP was placed at the side of the card. The Apothecary Accents Framelits Dies were used to cut the Whisper White card stock, with the rounded shape cut off one end. A Bronzed Button with some linen thread tied around the holes was placed on top. The Merry Minis had been stamped in Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler and Baja Breeze, and were placed across the card. The Merry Christmas sentiment is from Petite Pairs.

Stamp-a-stack Christmas 3 - Snow Flurry

Morning,

How are you all today? After a sad weekend, as I had to take my old cat Rusty to be put to sleep on Friday, I'm looking forward to a brown box of Stampin' Up! goodies when I get to work. There's nothing like a delivery from UPS to cheer you up is there! It's actually not a very exciting order, it's just a few bits and pieces for my next few classes, but there are catalogues in the box! I managed to get my hands on one of the new Annual Catalogues when I called to see Kylie on Saturday, so I've barely left the house all weekend! I'll be doing a post soon about how you can get hold of a Catalogue, watch this space. I've also got the new In Colour ink pads, pens and card stock arriving, so I'm looking forward to getting to know and use them.

Rusty had not been too well for a while, and I did a post about him to wish him get well wishes a few weeks ago.  He was 18ish, and my family had him as a kitten and then he came up to live in Leeds for his last few years.  He will be missed.

Right, onto the card I'm sharing today...

This is the third from the Christmas Stamp-a-stack class I went to last week. It's made with the Festival of Prints paper stack again, and the main feature of this card is the snow flake made with the new Snow Flurry Bigz Die and the Glimmer paper. Another new product is the Brushed Bronze Deisgner Buttons, and the 1-1/4" (3.2cm) Scallop Circle punch. Linen Thread was put through the button and a Merry sentiment stamped using Tiny Tags and punched with the Jewelry punch was threaded on. A strip of Crumb Cake Taffeta ribbon was placed behind the snowflake.

I really like the glimmer paper, it's paper embedded with the glitter, rather than the glitter being stuck to the surface. This means it's really easy to work with and there's no mess everywhere! The glitter stays on the project, not everywhere else.

Close up of the Snow Flurry die cut in the Glimmer Paper
and the Brushed Bronze Buttons

Catalogue information for the Snow Flurry Die

Happy Birthday Mum

Morning,

Happy Birthday Mum! I hope you're reading this, and like your card. 

My Mum has been eyeing up every card I've posted on my blog for the last couple of months! I keep telling her she'll have one that won't have been seen before, else it won't be a surprise!

You might recognise these cards, I've done a couple of versions of it before.  I made it at a Stamp-a-stack class that I attended, then made baby cards using the same design.  It was one that I have used at two card classes, in Leeds and Bradford. 

Both cards used various strips of paper from the subtles paper stack.  The were cut into 3cm lengths, and cut into the flag shapes.  The letters were stamped using the Just Perfect Alphabet stamp set, ad punched with the 3/4" Circle Punch.  The Square Lattice embossing folder was used to partially emboss the bottom section of the card.  Curly Cute was used the stamp the Happy Birthday sentiment, in the first card using the Rose Red marker to only colour half the sentiment, and in the second card, the ink pad was used to colour the whole stamp.

Papers / Card Stock - Subtles Paper Stack, Whisper White, Crumb Cake

Stamp Sets - Just Perfect Alphabet, Create A Cupcake, Curly Cute

Embellishments - Linen Thread

Tools - Big Shot, Square Lattice Embossing Folder

Inks / Markers - Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, Marina Mist, Certainly Celery

Regional Training - Swaps

Today, I'm attending a Stampin' Up! regional training day in Leeds.  I've never been to one of these events before, so I'm really looking forward to it. There was a number of things we had to make to bring with us, and I'll be sharing these over the next few days.

As with many of the training days, we had to bring along swaps.  It's a great way to meet and chat with other demonstrators, and share ideas and techniques.  For today, I made 50 swaps, this is the most I've ever made before.  I didn't start off too well, when I went to Kylie's (my downline) last week, I realised I'd left all my card stock at home.  It turned out ok though, and after some discussions over what I could do without it, we came up with making these pillow boxes, using the Pillow Box die with the Big Shot.  I used the Twitterpated and the Beau Chateau papers, and the Apothecary Art stamp set, with the new Labels Collection Framelits dies.  To finish them off, I added the Stampin' Glitter Dazzling Diamonds and some Linen Thread tied around the box.  It was obvious I'd been using the glitter, it was everywhere, all over my face, jumper, and all over Kylie's house! In the photos below, not all of the boxes have Linen Thread tied around them, I ran out and had to order some more at the last minute.  Lesson learnt, make sure I check my supplies first!

For the Twitterpated papers, the colours used for the Apothecary Art label were Pear Pizzazz, Riding Hood Red, Island Indigo, Blushing Bride and Baja Breeze.

For the Beau Chateau papers, I used Soft Suede, Marina Mist and Pink Pirouette for the labels.

Papers / Card Stock - Twitterpated, Beau Chateau, Whisper White, Very Vanilla

Stamp Set - Apothecary Art

Embellishments - Dazzling Diamonds, Linen Thread

Tools - Big Shot, Pillow Box Die, Labels Collection Framelits Die, Paper Piercing Tool

Inks / Markers - Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz, Island Indigo, Blushing Bride, Soft Suede, Pink Pirouette, Marina Mist

Card Class - Bunting

A few weeks ago, I held a bunting themed card class at Dock Street Market, Leeds.  We made four cards, all with a bunting and flags theme.  It was a fun class, and with the Queens Diamond Jubilee coming up, I thought it would be a good theme for all those summer cards.

Here's one of the cards we made that evening.  I'd seen a similar card on Pinterest, and liked it so much.  (As I'm writing this post, I've noticed that the card in the photo doesn't have the clouds that were made from the Cupcake punch, I'll take a photo of the finished card and add it later - oops.)  I like how the Bashful Blue and the Certainly Celery card looks like sky and grass.  The papers used for the bunting flags are from the Nursery Nest, which I got free last month for placing a £45 order.  The Pennant Parade stamp was stamped in Basic Gray ink onto the papers and then punched with the Petite Pennants Builder punch.  Bows were tied with Linen Thread, and attached the the edges with the mini glue dots.  The sentiment was stamped with Rose Red ink, from the Sincere Salutations stamp set.

Papers / Card Stock - Crumb cake, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Nursery Nest
Stamp Sets - Pennant Parade, Sincere Salutations
Embellishments - Linen Thread
Tools - Petite Pennants Builder Punch, Cupcake Builder Punch, Eyelet Border Punch
Inks / Markers - Basic Gray, Rose Red

Party This Way balloon card

Morning,

Todays post is just a quick one.  I'm trying to catch up with the backlog of posts from the last few weeks.  This is a card that I used for the card class I held in Bradford a few weeks ago,and was based on a layout of one of the cards I made at a Stamp-a-stack class.  The colour combo is Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder and Lucky Limeade, and the balloons are from the Party This Way stamp set.  Linen Thread was used for the strings of the balloons.  A cute and easy design and layout, I'll be using this one again soon.

 



Hello Baby!

Inspired by a card that I made at one of the Stamp-a-stack sessions (which can be found on an earlier post here), I recently needed to make a lot of baby cards in bulk.  There are babies appearing everywhere at the moment, and I can barely keep up with the rate that I need to make and send cards! So I decided I needed a design that I could make quickly, and I thought of the bunting card.  I made 6 cards of each colour, so I'm fully prepared for any more babies that are on their way!

I used Crumb Cake cardstock, with Very Vanilla and Baja Breeze / Pretty in Pink ink and papers from the Subtles Paper Stack.  The 3/4" punch fits nicely around the Just Perfect Alphabet stamps.  The "baby" sentiment is from the Pennant Parade stamp set.  Inside, I stamped the words "One little baby...many happy hearts!" from the Curvy Verses set, which was one of the first Stampin' Up! sets I purchased.  The Square Lattice embossing folder was used with the Big Shot to emboss a section of the card, it just adds an extra bit of detail that makes it look that bit more special.

 

The sentiment on the inside of the card - from Curvy Verses.

Half of the cards lined up, ready to be added to my box of cards.

 

I hope that everyone that received one of these cards recently liked them.

Bunting card

Here's the fourth card from the Stamp-a-stack session. I know I say on most of these cards that I enjoyed making it, but I did enjoy making this one too.

Strips of the Paper Stack and First Edition Speciality designer paper had been cut already, so we just had to cut them into the flag shapes. The letters are from the Just Perfect Alphabet stamp set, another set I own, so I'll be replicating this card very soon. We used the 3/4" circle punch to cut around the letters. The Crumb Cake card was partially embossed with the Square Lattice embossing folder through the Big Shot, I like this technique, it makes the card a bit more interesting than if it was left plain.  The sentiment is from one of the Hostess sets - Happiest Birthday Wishes. To finish off the card, bows were made with the Linen Thread.

Paper / Card - Paper Stack 2011-2013 In Colours, First Edition DSP, Very Vanilla

Stamp Sets - Happiest Birthday Wishes, Just Perfect Alphabet

Embellishments - Linen Thread

Tools - Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Big Shot, 3/4" Circle Punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Inks / Markers - Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo

Celebrate Sale-a-bration

Afternoon all,

I hope you are all well this lovely sunny spring afternoon.  I've just found the first daffodil in my garden, so that's pleased me.  I've got a Stampin' Up! workshop this evening, I'm really looking forward to it.  Hopefully, everything is packed ready to go, and so far, I've not forgotten anything.  I've got a few crafty things I've been working on that I'll be putting out on display this evening, I can't wait to show you on here what they are. 

 

On Tuesday, I attended a team training event run by Julie Kettlewell and other members of her team.  There were a few new faces around the table, so it was nice to meet them, as well as hear stories of how well other demonstrators are doing.  It's great to know how they run their workshops and classes, and knowing that they love Stampin' Up! as much as I do is a relief that I'm not the only one obsessed!

As well as the business training side of the get together, we also get hands on and do a bit of crafting.  As we've still got a month of Sale-a-bration left, we used the Outlined Occasions stamp set.  Julie loves the bunting cards as much as I do, so we made another bunting themed card.  We focused on the 2011-2013 In Colours, and just used the markers for these two cards.

 

We made a fancier version of the card, using the Everyday Enchantment papers, and added extra bling with the Rhinestone Jewels and ribbon.

I love these cards.  It's amazing the difference a few extra products can make to a card, to add that extra wow factor.  If you fancy having a go at making these cards, you can get your hands on all the products you need for just £46.25 for the first card.  That includes a pack of the In Colour card, the In Colour markers, a pack of Whisper White card stock, The Itty Bitty punches, a Basic Gray ink pad, and you'd get the Outlined Occasions stamp set for free.  For the second card, for another £45.20, you'd receive the Word Window punch, the Large Oval Punch, a pack of the ruffled ribbon, a pack of Rhinestone jewels and the linen thread, and you'd also get the Everyday Enchantment papers for free.  If you are interested in making these cards, please let me know.  If you've already got some of the items, you can always swap and change to another product.

We also made a gift bag at the training session.  It's a style I've never seen before, and I was impressed at how simple it was to make.

Don't forget, these papers and stamps are only available until the end of March, so get in touch if you'd like to get your hands on them. 

Cheers to You

Evening!

Thought I'd share with you a card I made this evening. Unfortunately, the stamp set Cheers To You and the papers Elegant Soirée are retired, but I'd been asked to make a card by a colleague for his brother, and this set seemed perfect. In the inside, I've put a panel of Very Vanilla cardstock, as the Soft Suede can be dark to write on.
I hope he's pleased with it.

Card / Papers - Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Elegant Soirée (retired)
Stamp Set - Cheers To You (retired)
Embellishments - Linen Thread, Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter
Tools - Spiral Border Punch (retired), Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch
Inks / Markers - More Mustard, Basic Grey