Ahoy there!

Now I know that one of the things that many people love about Stampin' Up! is how easy it is to make amazing looking projects with minimal artistic skill.  I have always been one of those people.  I don't consider myself to be a great artist and I am the first to admit that most of my projects are, at best, modified from other people's Pinterest boards!

So when we were given the chance to try the Undefined Stamp Carving Kit at the last European Convention I was a little apprehensive.  It took me a little time to decide what to carve, I settled on a little family of stick-men to represent my own family.  It was quite stressful carving in a huge hall with hundreds of people hurrying around you but I was quite impressed with my results and found the carving far easier than I had expected.

When I returned from convention, I bought one of the kits, and it has been sat on my desk ever since!  Not because I didn't want to use it, I was just trying to decide what to carve and didn't want to waste my rubber!  Well, inspiration struck last week and now that I have finally cleaned up the shredded rubber scraps from all over the house, my stamps are ready to share with the world.

The inspiration for my stamps had been right under my nose the whole time, well on my arm to be exact.  I have quite a large tattoo on my upper arm and it features a couple of swallows just above my elbow.  I really love Americana style tattoos, especially the work of Norman Keith Collins, aka 'Sailor Jerry', and as I don't have many masculine stamp sets I decided to merge the two and create my own tattoo-inspired stamp set.  I drew my designs onto vellum with pencil and transferred them onto the rubber by rubbing the back of the vellum with the carving tool.  Then I just got stuck in with my tools (I watched the Stampin' Up! Youtube video first!)

A single Undefined Stamp Carving Kit contained enough material to carve my lovely pin-up, swallow, anchor and nautical star and I even have a little rubber spare.  Altogether I only spent a couple of hours making the whole set and I am really pleased with the results.

My choice of stamps might seem a bit random, but that is the beauty of the product, you can make something that is just for you.  The logo of a favourite sporting team, school or club emblem, a unique celebration or occassion - anything you can imagine.  To buy your kit, visit my online store today.

Stampin᾿ Up! Supplies

Table built by craftingbecky.com

Undefined Stamp Carving Kit	Naturals Ivory A4 Card Stock	Crumb Cake A4 Card Stock	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad
Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad	Natural 5/8" Chevron Ribbon	Silver Mini Brads

Oh, Hello!

Hello!  It's been a while!

As some of you may know, as well as being an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, a mum and working part-time as a Biomedical Scientist, I am also a PhD student.  How do I fit it all in? I hear you ask.  Well, my lack of blogging for over a month shows that I am yet to find the answer to that question myself!

I might not have had time to update this blog, or send out my 'monthly' newsletter, but I have had time to enjoy Sale-a-bration and if you haven't, there's still a little time.  Up until the 30th of March 2014, every £45 you spend with Stampin' Up! will earn you an exclusive SAB product absolutely FREE!  Visit my online shop and treat yourself today.

The Stampin' Up! Spring/Summer catalogue is full off amazing products, many of which have found their way onto my wishlist and into my craftroom.  Today, I am going to share a couple of projects made with a couple of 'essential' items.

I initially overlooked these two stamp sets the first time I looked at the catalogue, but I kept seeing projects made with them on pinterest so I took another peek.  I took the plunge and bought them, and I promise you I have not been disappointed.  Teamed with my fabulous Scalloped Tag Topper punch, an absolutely essential addition to any craft stash, I have made the following cards.

A colour combination of natural white, blushing bride and crumb cake create a classic palette. Our gold sequin trim, gold bakers twine and basic pearls add a bit of luxury.  Fancy making your own?  Here's what you need -

Stampin᾿ Up! Supplies

Table built by craftingbecky.com

Gold Sequin Trim	Happy Watercolor	Hardwood	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad
Card Stock A4 Blushing Bride	Crumb Cake A4 Card Stock	Crumb Cake 1/2 Inch Seam Binding Ribbon	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad
Naturals White A4 Card Stock	Gold Baker's Twine	Pool Party 1/2" Seam Binding Ribbon	Scalloped Tag Topper Punch

Let's go to the {blog}hop!

Hi there!

Thanks for stopping by.  Hopefully, you are on your way around our fantastic Sale-a-bration blog hop.  If not, follow the links at the bottom of this post to see some amazing projects from some fantastic demos - all themed around the hotly anticipated Stampin' Up! Sale-a-bration event.

Between January 28th and March 31st 2014, every £45 you spend with Stampin Up! will earn you a FREE exclusive product from the Sale-a-bration range.  That's not limited to 1 per customer order, it's 1 for EVERY £45 you spend.  So come back on Tuesday and visit my online store to get yours.

Whilst you are here, pop over to my Stampin Up! website to see my current classes and events.

I have been playing with the gorgeous 'petal parade', a set of 5 stamps which is available in both clear and wood mount options/  I have also been using some of the co-ordinating designer paper called 'sweet sorbet', a lovely combination of fresh spring colours - sahara sand, crisp cantaloupe, pool party, pistachio pudding and black.


I started off with a couple of cards and got my wonderful envelope punch board out for a play.  It's one of the best gadgets I have ever bought.

I then decided to have a go at decorating a candle, this is super easy, all you need is your heat tool, some tissue paper and waxed paper.  Stamp onto the shiny side of the tissue paper, trim and position on your candle.  Wrap tightly with waxed paper and give it a blast of heat until the tissue is soaked with molten wax.  I added a couple of rhinestones to mine for added glamour, but I'm not sure that would work so well if you wanted to burn the candle.

 Next, I made some of my own dsp using whisper white cardstock and my stamps/ink.  I used this as well as the sweet sorbet papers to make some beads.  I threaded them onto a length of yarn to make a lovely necklace.

After all that crafting, I was in need of a cup of tea and a hobnob (and a little look at my Stampin' Up! catalogue to see what goodies I might treat myself to this Sale-a-bration)

Now off you go to the next blog - but please come back soon x

Christmas Robin

I've just returned from the Stampin' Up! Annual European Convention in Manchester.  It was amazing,  there were around 700 demonstrators from 5 countries and we spent 2 days enjoying demonstrations from our top crafters, business sessions and technique classes. 
The classes plus display boards inspired me to build my business and engage with my customers as much as I can.  To this end I have started to publish a monthly newsletter and aim to post on my blog at least once a week.
Today I am sharing a card that I made at my Christmas workshop earlier this month. 
The card is a side step fold, and uses papers from the season of style dsp stack along with the wishing you stamp set, both from the seasonal catalogue.  Our inks are cherry cobbler and old olive.
The cutie Robin made using the ever versatile owl builder punch - is there anything it can't be used for!

O Holy Night

This is another of the cards the ladies made at my Christmas stamp a stack class.

It uses the main stamp from the "O holy night" set.  I fell in love with this set the moment I first saw it in the seasonal catalogue.  It uses the lyrics of traditional carols alongside festive sentiments in a really modern style.  The perfect combination!

I have used the winter frost dsp stack as my colour inspiration,  taking smoky slate as my cardbase, island indigo for the mat and stamped in coastal cabana and island indigo inks. 

I have finished it off with a small rhinestone and a couple of strips of the silver glimmer paper.  This is fantastic value at £4.50 for 5 12"x12" sheets.  It is super sparkly,  doesn't leave a trail of glitter every time you touch it and a little bit goes a long way!

Getting festive

Good morning! After an early awakening by the little boy I thought I would do a quick post about the cards we made at my Christmas stamp a stack class.
I had 14 lovely ladies stamping the night away.  We made 4 different designs of card,  making a total of 12 cards to kick start the festive feeling.  Homemade gingerbread men provided much needed fuel for the marathon session!

This card uses the gorgeous Joyful Christmas stamps - I love the poinsettia and have seen some amazing projects which use it - both cards and 3D items.  It's just beautiful stamped in cherry cobbler ink on a very vanilla mat.  The leaves are I  gumball green and the sentiment has been coloured with the coordinating stampin write markers.
All this has been mounted on a gumball green mat and cherry cobbler card base.
I just added a little sparkle with a few basic rhinestones.

Who wouldn't love to receive this card? it would definitely have pride of place on my mantle piece - if I had one!

As usual you can buy all the supplies for this project by visiting my online store - go to the stampin' supplies tab at the top.

Visit my store for details of current offers - 25% off 25 stamp sets until tomorrow and a special christmas offer starting on the 29th!

Feeling chilly

Here's a little sneak peek at a project that I have been making.

I love my owl builder punch. It was the first item on my wishlist and I have never regretted buying it.  These cute little penguins are so simple to make using the punch and just a few snips with your scissors - but don't they look amazing.

I used hand torn strips of whisper white cardstock distressed along the torn edge with island indigo ink and a dauber to make a snowy landscape.

Get in touch with me if you would likely to join us at our Christmas workshop and have a go at making your own!