A Little Bit of Happiness

Hi there

I just thought I would share with you a few of the cards I have made with the "Little Bit of Happiness" stamp set. This is a level one hostess set from Stampin Up. You can earn this set for free if you host a party or place an order totalling £150 or more from me.

I love the versatility of this set of 4 individual stamps. They can be used for many occasions and look very different depending on which colours you use for them. These first few cards are simple single layer cards but as soon as I get more time I am going to decoupage a few for a whole new look again.

I hope you enjoy them

Garden Whimsy Class 2

Well today is the day of my first evening class. We are making a card wallet containing 4 greeting cards. The wallet dimensions come from Jenny over at Stamping Moments. We are using the gorgeous Stampin'Up "Garden Whimsy" stamp set.

Pocket Silhouettes Bag

Hi there

I thought I would share with you the little bag I made after seeing Jenny's brilliant tutorial over at Stamping Moments HERE Jenny's example is simply stunning and her tutorial is excellent so I thought I would give it a try.

Mine is very much plainer than her example but I am still really pleased with it for a first attempt. I used my new "favourite" colour Stampin'Up cardstock combination of Almost Amethyst and Barely Banana. I just love the delicate look to these two colours. I used the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set and coloured directly to the stamp with my SU markers. The sentiment "Best friends listen to what you don't say" comes from the Garden Whimsy set and is one of my all time favourites.

Pocket Silhouettes

Hi there everyone

I had one of my ladies tell me yesterday that she is now checking my blog every day to see if I have posted any cards and that she is disappointed if there's nothing new to see. She made me realise that I do NEED to post more often and share my new cards with you on a more regular basis.

So, Jenny(down the lane)especially for you, here are two little creations I made over the weekend. I hope you like them.

Valentine

Just a quick post today to share with you the card and gift box I have made for my husband for Valentines day. I have now stuffed the little box full of After Eight special collection sweets which are his favourites.

I hope he likes the surprise....We do not usually bother with Valentines Day but couldn't resist making a card with the gorgeous heart image from the Sale-A-Bration Polka Dot Punches stamp set.

By way of a quick reminder, the Sale-A-Bration promotion has only two weeks left to run. If you want to earn a free stamp set for EACH £45 you spend with me then please do not delay. The promotion ends on 28th February and orders will need to be submitted by then.

Card Wallet and 4 Matching Cards

The project for my evening card class on 20th February is a card wallet containing 4 matching cards. I got the original design idea from the amazingly talented Jenny over at Stamping Moments HERE
My class will also be using the Garden Whimsy set that Jenny used but I thought I would refresh myself as to how these are made, before my class next Friday. By making a couple of wallets, purely for practice for myself, I am also making something that will be Christmas or Birthday gifts to give someone this year
I decided to try a technique I haven't really used before which is the Resist technique. I used the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set and the images do lend themselves very well for this technique.
I stamped my first images in Elegant Eggplant onto whisper white cardstock. I then stamped a different flower head from the set using a Versamark ink pad and covered with Stampin Up clear embossing powder and heated it with my heatgun. I allowed it to cool slightly and then, using my brayer inked with So Saffron, I went over the whole piece of card. I did this a few times until I was happy with the depth of colour and then I took a piece of soft tissue and wiped over the white areas where the embossing powder was, to remove any hint of ink on those areas. I am really impressed with the finished effect of this technique and will certainly use it more in the future.
These pictures show the wallet and the 4 cards I made for inside.

Mini Photo Album

My good friend Vikki is going in hospital for an operation at the beginning of next month.

I have made her this mini album complete with 12 photos of her gorgeous little boy so that she will have them to look at when she is stuck in hospital and bored out of her mind.

Live Your Dream in Barely Banana

Hi there

I thought I would actually share a card with you today rather than more of my storage ideas.

I have used one of my favourite Stampin Up sets which is "Live Your Dream" This time I have veered away from my usual pinks or purples and gone with Barely Banana and So Saffron Stampin Up markers and cardstock teamed with Whisper White and Mellow Moss.

I think this card has a nice "Spring" feel to it.

Nestabilities Storage idea

There is no stopping me now with this new years resolution for sorting out my craft room mess. I have now come up with a storage solution for my growing collection of Wizard Nestability dies. I understand my storage idea would not suit everyone but it will work for me.

I have them made into like little books and they are stored on their sides in a box at the moment but the rings are there so that I can hang them up on cup hooks below my bottom shelves ( in the space that is usually wasted)

There are six dies in each shaped set so they each have their own plastic wallet and I can flick through my little books and just take out the one I need each time.

Card Scraps anyone ?

Well as I said yesterday, I am persevering with my craft room clearout and I try to achieve something definite everyday. Yesterday saw me struggling to know what to do with regard to all my C6 and smaller offcuts of card. My A4 and A5 are already taken care of as I have four Magazine holders laid on their back on a shelf ( I have one holder per Stampin Up colour family)

Well last night I had a bit of a brainwave and came up with this idea.

I had one of those little record card plastic boxes ( it had lots of recipes in it that I did years ago but they will be going to a new home with some nice lady who has TIME to cook)

I cut 48 card dividers and attached a tab label to the top of each piece with each colour name written on it( the Stampin Up tab punch is just the bees knees and I am using it sooooo much) I then cut up some plastic cd wallets that were lying around and attached them to the back of each card. So now I have a custom made little storage system for ALL my card scraps. The bigger C6 sort of sized pieces just slot in behind the card dividers but the tiny bits ( I dont part with any off-cuts) are all secure in the attached little plasitc wallet.

The beauty of this is that I can start to check my scraps box now when I am doing a project and go straight to the colour I want to use and see if I have a piece big enough, rather than cut into a larger sheet.

I am so pleased with this and I am convinced it will make me more economic with my cardstock and ultimately it plays an important part in my craft room clean up too.

Beside the Sea

Well we have even more snow today so a perfect opportunity to stay safely indoors in my craft room.
I have undertaken to completely over-haul my craft room this year and clear out absolutely everything that I no longer use. I have to say that since I became a Stampin Up demonstrator I tend to use nothing else....which means I have drawers full of craft supplies that need to go. I am one of life's hoarders so do not usually find it easy to part with things but I am being really ruthless in my quest for a clean and tidy craft space.
Because I find all this sorting stuff so boring and tedious I have decided I am going to just do it at a snails pace and craft too as I go along. So I have made a couple of cards this morning and a little box/bag.

I am now back sorting out my cardstock scraps. I have the A4 /A5 stored in magazine binders on a shelf so I can see every colour. The C6 sized pieces are in a Index card box. My problem is how should I store the smallest bits that range from 1/2" strips up to 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 pieces. I have a couple of those origami style boxes with the pieces stood in at the moment but I don't think this is the best way for a permanent solution.
I would be grateful if ANYONE has any suggestions

Here is the card

Loads of Love Just Moved Card

Thought I would just share with you a card I made last night. Anyone who knows me would see that this card is a mile away from my usual style and colours. I was really amused that I went with such rich colours but I do like the end result so will use the combination again.

1st Class

Well even though the weather was against me in a big way today, my first Stampin Up class went ahead as planned, albeit with only 3 ladies instead of the expected 5.

The first picture shows the three projects we made and the picture above shows the classroom set up before creativity began.

If anyone is interested in actually doing this particular class, I am willing to re-schedule a further date for before the end of this month to suit individuals needs. Please email if you have a particular date in mind.

My next class will involve making a folder containing four cards and envelopes to give as a gift set( Stampin Up sets Garden Whimsy / Loads of Love will be used). The first date scheduled for this class is Friday 20th February. This is an evening class from 6pm to 9pm approximately.

Again, if you are interested in this class but would like a different date and/or time then please do email me to ask.

1st Class brings Snow, snow and more SNOW

Well today was the day of my 1st scheduled Stampin Up cardmaking class at home.

When I picked this date little did I know that we would have THIS much snowfall overnight.

Unfortunately 2 ladies were unable to get here due to the weather conditions but the other 3 ladies were more local and all managed to walk here.

Stampin Up Sale-A-Bration

Just a quick reminder that Stampin Up's Sale-A-Bration promotion is still running and will continue until 28th February. For every £45 you spend ( before P+P) you will qualify for one of the four free stamp sets available.

I had a play with my sets yesterday and here are a few cards that I came up with. All four sets can be used in different ways and I know I will use them time after time.

If you are interested in placing an order please email me.

Live your Dream

It is my Mother in Law's Birthday on Saturday and I just thought I would share with you the gift bag, box and card that I made for her yesterday.

The box is the Origami Box with cover from Splitcoast and it was so simple to make. I will be making a few more of those as they look lovely and are really quite sturdy when completed.

All three items use the Stampin Up "Live your Dream" which will always be one of my favourite sets I think.

A Little Bit of Happiness

I have not had a lot of time for stamping in the past month as we have been busy finishing off our decorating ( we started this in May....but it was always going to be a long job as we totally gutted our lounge and dining room and also had a whole wall taken down in the lounge)

It is now finally finished and I had the carpets fitted on Thursday. The house has been in total uproar for the past two weeks especially, as we had to virtually empty the downstairs area so I have spent the weekend trying to get it all straight.

I have also started my major Craft Room clearout so it actually looks horrendous at present as I have soooooooo many sheves / boxes with things out whilst I sort which things are going.

In amongst this total madness I have actually made a couple of cards using the Hostess Level 1 set "A Little bit of Happiness. I have had this set for a couple of months at least and only mounted it this week. As in the previous post.....I have only managed to make two very simple cards so far but I just know I will keep coming back to this set as it is really so lovely. There are 4 stamps in total and I love this long, horizontal look. The one with the hearts will be so good to use for Valentines or Anniversary cards.

Well I need to get some more of these boxes sorted out now as I have no room to move in here until I remove some stuff.

Fun and Fast Notes

I thought I would share with you a couple of cards I made yesterday with my christmas gift from my sister.

The stamps are from the gorgeous Stampin Up set " Fun and Fast Notes. I love this set as there are 8 stamps in the set ( or 16 if you count the sentiment with each image as a seperate stamp) and you would be hard pushed to find a set of stamps that are as comprehensive as this collection. The set includes 8 images and sentiments for : Christmas, Wedding, Get Well, Birthday, Congrats, New Baby, and Thanks.

These cards are just simple little cards as I have been pushed for time this past fortnight. I can't wait until next week when I will definitely have a bit more time for stamping as I want to play some more with this stamp set .

Altered box for Cuttlebug embossing folders

Hi there I just thought I would share with you my very first craft project of 2009.

I altered this 6 x 6 box ( I have been hoarding it for about 5 years)

I received the Christmas Card from a fellow card maker ( thank you so much Kath) and it totally inspired me to get crafting in 2009

I was so taken with her card design I had to use it to brighten up my little box. And I now have a little custom decorated box in which to store all of my Cuttlebug Embossing folders.

Now where to find some more little 6 x 6 boxes . . . . . . . . . .

Stampin Up Sale-A-Bration is here

Happy New Year

I have been missing for a couple of weeks but am now back and with some exciting news.

Stampin Up are giving us all an opportunity to join in their amazing promotion for the New Year.

From now until 28th February everyone can take advantage of their "Sale-A-Bration" offer and earn free stamp sets.

• As a customer you can earn a free stamp set for each £45 you spend( there are 4 great sets available)


• As a hostess you can also earn a free set for any workshop order value over £300 (before postage).


• If you are interested in becoming a demonstrator yourself during the Sale-A-Bration period you will also be able to claim a free stamp ( to the value of £38.95) from the main Idea Book and Catalogue

You can view the online Sale-A-Bration leaflet HERE

If you have any questions or would like to order from me during this exciting time then please email me ( link on the right hand side of my blog)

Test tube gifts

I have another little gift idea to share with you today. These are little plastic test tubes which I have filled with Hot Chocolate Drink and Marshmallows in the double holder and Raspberry Flavoured " Millions" chewy sweets in the Pink single one.

I made a simple acetate box with card top and bottom for the pink one. For the double one I used a template from over at Lisa Somerville's blog ( her work is incredible, go take a look at her creations here )

Christmas Welcome gift

Hi there

I thought I would share with you a little gift and card that I have made this morning. It is a very simple gift to make but I like the idea of matching card and bag.

Stampin'Up! makes this soooo easy with all the matching cardstock, ink pads and ribbons and it's one of the reasons I love their products.

Christmas Day table

I am feeling so pleased with myself today.

I hit upon the idea of these mini pillow boxes for on my dinner table on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. They are just the perfect size to hold an After Eight mint. I shall be having these instead of crackers this year.

Mini matchbox storage

I have seen lots of these matchbox storage towers used as advent calendars and set out to make one of my own. However once I had the basic tower built I decided that it was too nice to only use as an advent one so I have decided I am going to have it on my shelf in my craft room to store mini embellishments.

I made a folded origami box for the top ( I made the bottom of the box smaller than I usually do when I am making a gift box as I need the lid to lift off very easily so it does not pull the bottom of the box up off of the platform bit) This gives me an additional storage area for other little bits and bobs. Obviously I still have a few extra embellishments to add to the side panels for decoration but I just wanted to share it with you asap.

If anyone knows of a REALLY CHEAP blank and empty matchbox supplier here in the UK I would be thrilled if you would let me know. I paid £2.10 for the 24 matchboxes I needed and although this is not massively expensive for such a cute finished article, I am at a loss as to what to do with the 960 matches that were inside lol. I just know that I am going to want to make lots of these little drawer sets so any advice would be gratefully received.

Season of Joy Red version

And here is the Red version

Season of Joy

Hi there

I thought I would share this morning's creations with you . I fancied making some Z - Fold cards so have made 7 so far today.

I think these will all be for my neighbours ( I try to make all of my neighbours cards using the same stamp set and each year I make a note of which image I have used so the designs change every year)

I have got a couple of calendars to put together this afternoon so I am determined to have a productive day today.

Season of Joy

Well I have been on a roll again today. I made 12 Christmas cards (mainly just one design but different colourways) before lunchtime and then this evening I have made a further 8 Christmas cards in this design ( with added extra of white ribbon on the left side). Can you tell that I am now feeling quite desperate in my bid to get my cards made lol.

The only drawback of being a card maker is that everyone expects a handmade creation these days. I just KNOW that I would get looks of horror if I were to try and palm people off with shop bought cards now.

Oh well 20 cards completed today to go with my 10 mug gift sets I made yesterday.....now that is not a bad achievement for just two days

How many days do I have left ha ha ha.............................

Stocking filler gifts

Here is a picture of what I got up to last night. The inspiration came from various blogs and galleries on the Internet.

I went out yesterday and bought a selection of mugs in Asda. Last night I made 10 of these gift sets with chocolate drink, marshmallows, bar of chocolate and scallop covered Elizabeth Shaw chocolates. They are for my family and friends as stocking filler pressies but they would also be perfect as standby gifts for unexpected visitors.

Bright, white world today

Well we certainly have snow today. It all looks rather beautiful and I am just glad I don't need to go anywhere today.

I now have a perfect opportunity to get cracking with my christmas cards. I made some lovely stocking filler christmas gifts yesterday and will upload a picture later.

Silent Night

Thought I had better get a move on with some Christmas cards.......otherwise I can see I will be the one and only card maker who hasn't sent any handmade creations this year. I usually have ALL my 100+ cards made and posted by the end of November but time has got the better of me this year. This is a quickie card to start me off, using one of my all time favourite SU sets "Silent Night"

So for the rest of this week I will be frantically making all those that need posting and getting them in the mail by Monday next week. And then I will have to concentrate on the more intricate "Family and Close Friends" cards and gifts that are just ideas buzzing around in my brain at the moment.

Guess who is going to be up til midnight or later on Christmas Eve this year ?