Stampin' Up! Peace and Calm

Just a quick post today, I wanted to share some projects that I have made using Nature's Peace - from the new seasonal catalogue (view here)

I love the style of this stamp, it's big but definitely not a background stamp.  I love being able to an entire card front or home decor item in a single stamp.

The colours I have chosen are inspired by the All is Calm Suite, using my favourite of the new in-colours, Lost Lagoon.

I've used white embossing powder and my heat tool to decorate one of our Petite Cafe bags - it's the perfect size for the candle, and is food safe if you wanted to use them to send an edible gift.

The take-out boxes is so easy to put together and a great size for your gifts.  Again, it's food safe, which is an added bonus.  I've layered the striped crumb cake and satin lost lagoon ribbons to decorate.

If you would like to start creating your own Christmas cards, gift packaging and gifts, visit my online store or get in touch.

If you are local to the Leeds area, why not join one of my classes.

I'll add my product table a little later, as I need to get back to work!

Stampin Up UK exclusive Hostess Offer

Stampin' Up! know just how important our hostesses are and they like to show it.

They always offer great benefits to anyone who invites us into their homes and clubs and allows us to create, share and inspire them with the amazing products that Stampin' Up! offer.

Stampin' Up! are going one step further this autumn.  To show you how much we appreciate our hostesses every hostess will receive an exclusive stamp set when they hold a qualifying party between 28th of August and 31st of October 2014*.

It's not a little stamp set either.  With 19 cute greetings, covering a wide variety of different occasions, this set would be a great addition to anyone's stash.

As an exclusive hostess reward, this stamp set is not available to buy so if you would like to see "Good Greetings" on your shelf, contact me to book your event.  Don't worry if you are not local or don't want to have a party at home , I have a virtual party option for you.

*The minimum order required to earn your Good Greetings is £200 - but if you don't want to spend that much, I am offering you the chance to win the stamps - simply place an order with me via email or through my online store during the promotional period using the hostess code 7YMQRBKV and you will be entered into a random draw.

Stampin' Up! Nordic Noel Sneak Peek!

Do you want a sneak peek at some of the new catalogue goodies from Stampin' Up!?  These products are not available to customers until August 28th, but one of the major perks of being a demonstrator is that we get to see the catalogue and order new products in advance.  You could get your hands on these and more seasonal products in your starter kit if you join Stampin' Up!  Until the 28th of August, you even receive an extra £20 to spend  - you can choose £150 of products and receive a great business pack worth £45 all for only £99 including shipping.  What a bargain!  Contact me today if you would like to join the team!

Now to the crafting!  When I hear the word Nordic, I think of 2 things - Christmas.... and Ikea.  Today's projects combine the two.  With so much snow, indigenous reindeer and, of course, Santa's workshop, how could the thinking about the Nordic nations fail to conjure a festive feeling.

Stampin' Up! have managed to capture the spirit of Scandinavia with the Nordic Noel suite featured in the new seasonal catalogue.  With a warm and inviting colour palette of Baked Brown Sugar, Garden Green and Real Red (and hints of Calypso Coral and Soft Sky), the Designer Papers have me reaching for a blanket and a tin of Danish Butter Biscuits, and I love the coordining designer buttons, they look like they could have fallen off an elfs jacket.

 The Cheerful Christmas stamp set is simple, with a lovely sentiment and beautifully decorated baubles.  I think they look lovely on pillar candles and would make an ideal festive gift or decoration for your home.

The brand new curvy keepsake box thinlit die creates beautiful gift packaging in minutes.  The little boxes are perfectly sized for a sweet treat, and comes with a variety of dies to make matching gift tags.

 

The Nordic Noel Suite is only one of the ranges featured in the Stampin' Up! seasonal catalogue.  I will be showing you more over the next few weeks so come back soon.

Stampin᾿ Up! Supplies

Table built by craftingbecky.com

Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Tombow Multi-Purpose Adhesive	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine
Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents	Gold Baker's Twine

My Project Life

I love looking through old photo albums with my mum and dad.  Every photo has a little slip of paper next to it, saying when and where it was taken.  We reminisce about holidays, trips and family celebrations over a cup of tea.

Looking through these pictures makes me happy and sad at the same time.  Happy that there is a record of the special moments in our family's life but sad that, despite taking thousands of photos on my phone, digital camera or tablet, I haven't got a single album in my bookcase.

I snap away, every day, capturing cheeky grins and flick through the pictures when my husband gets home.  But I don't do anything with them.  Nothing brought this home to me harder than when my mobile phone was stolen and I lost every photograph that I had taken of my son on the day he was born. 

I also realised that my vast collection of digital images didn't really mean anything to anybody but me, because the stories that go with them are in my head and heart.  This made me feel a bit melancholy, I won't always be able to narrate my digital slideshow, then how will my children or grandchildren connect with these images?

So when Stampin' Up! partnered with Becky Higgins to create an exclusive range of project life products, I vowed to make my memories a priority and to keep a record of the special moments we share.  So that, in years to come, we can all look back on the happy days we enjoyed together.

 Project Life is quick and easy.  Your pages can be as plain or embellished as you like and the journaling cards are available in several different themes to tailor your album to fit your theme.

I use an app called "free prints" which allows you to choose photos straight from your phone to be printed and posted to you.  The prints take a couple of days to arrive, but are great quality and the perfect size for project life - I do trim some of the down to fit the smaller pockets, but the 6"x4" prints are ideal for the larger slots.

My first album is for my little boy, since he is the main thing I photograph!  I have been choosing photos to document our summer - a trip to the seaside, rides on steam trains, meeting the gruffalo, a trip to visit my parents in France, lots and lots of ice-cream.  Nothing huge and momentous, just some of the little special moments of our {Project} life.

I'm completely hooked already, and have ordered the "Love Story" cards and accessory pack to make my brother and sister-in-law a wedding album and have also ordered a seasonal set which will be revealed in the seasonal catalogue on August 28th.

If you are local to me, I am running a Project Life starter class in October - see my events page for details.

If you would like to have a go yourself, visit my online store which has an entire section devoted to Project life or get in touch - I'd love to hear from you.

Stampin᾿ Up! Supplies

Table built by craftingbecky.com

Happiness Is Project Life Card Collection	Happiness Is Project Life Accessory Pack	Project Life Corner Punch	Project Life Day To Day Photopolymer Stamp Set
Project Life Point & Click Photopolymer Stamp Set	Project Life Journaling Pens	Snail Adhesive	Variety Pack 12" X 12" Project Life Photo Pocket Pages

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