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Monday 29 December 2008

Its Sale-A-Bration


Stampin' Up! are giving us all a great start to 2009!! We are having our own Sale-A-Bration. This event takes place in the USA and everyone gets very excited. This is the first one for the United Kingdom and we are just as excited!! The offer is from 1st Jan to 28th February and its a great way to get some free stamp sets. For every £45 spent you can choose a free stamp set, so for example if you spend £90 you can choose 2 free stamp sets and so on. If you host a workshop, there is also a chance to earn free stamp sets.
These stamp sets are exclusive to this Sale-A-Bration promotion and will not appear in any future catalogues, so hurry and act now.

Here is a card I have made with one of the free sets Botanical Blooms.



It is also a great time for anyone thinking about signing up to become a demonstrator. During the Sale-A-Bration
When you purchase the Starter Kit (£139) you are already receiving £240 worth of goodies in it but Stampin' Up! are offering you a FREE stamp set of any value from the catalogue (up to £38.95 in value) if you sign up, through me between 1st January and 28th February, I ALSO WILL MATCH THIS OFFER AND YOU CAN HAVE ANOTHER FREE SET FROM ME, ANY SET FROM THE CATALOGUE!!!!Now don't worry if you don't want to host parties etc... You can sign up with SU to enjoy a discount off the fab products. Please mail me on caroleclaxton@fsmail.net for more information about joining my team!!

Sunday 28 December 2008

ILWS Inspiration Challenge 9

Over at In Love With Stamping the challenge this week was an Inspiration Challenge, and the theme is TREES, so I just had to get my favourite stamp set out. I love the Stampin' Up! Lovely As a Tree set. It is so versatile. You can use it for any type of card. The past few weeks it has been used for Christmas cards. Now I have moved onto a general card, suitable for any occasion. I decided to use the colours, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip & Really Rust along with some designer paper from the Spiced Cider set. The sentiment is from the Best Yet Hostess Level 1 set.

I have managed to make quite a few cards today, one is ready for my challenge on ILWS on Thursday, so unable to share that with you just yet. I will share the others soon, once I can photograph them. BFN.


Carole x

Wednesday 24 December 2008

Merry Christmas...

Well, I have been busy making Sausage Rolls, Cheese Straws, Rocky Road & Boiled the Ham ready for the big day tomorrow.

I just want to wish all my blog readers a Merry Christmas and to thank you all for your lovely comments the past 12 months. Hope Santa brings you all lots of crafting goodies.

See ya soon

Carole x

Tuesday 23 December 2008

Another Wedding Card

At last I can share my second Wedding card....my friend Michelle and her partner Sean recently got married. Because of my illness I was unable to deliver it to them when I wanted but I got there today, so I am now able to share with you all, the card I made for them both. Now anyone who knows me, knows this is not my style of card making at all and I was right out of my comfort zone LOL. I find it very difficult to the do the vintage style of crafting. The photograph doesn't really show off all the inked edges very well which is a shame.

The stamp set is Baroque Motifs and was stamped onto Pale Plum card using Versamark ink. Pale Plum ink was sponged around the edges of the card before layering onto Whisper White card then Perfect Plum base card. I then broke open the Pretties Kit !! Now I love these embellishments and they only get used on very special cards. I know, it's stupid, but I bet there are a few people like me LOL. I used the largest flower from the kit and then used another stamp from the Baroque Motifs stamped in Perfect Plum for the centre of the flower. Embellished with the beautiful pearls from the kit and stamped the MR & MRS from the Basic Phrases set. I also stamped the inside of the card to make it extra special.

I just want to finish this post with wishing Michelle and Sean many many years of happiness together.

Thanks for stopping by.

Carole x

Thursday 18 December 2008

It's been so long.......

Sorry it's been so long but the lurgy attacked our house! The whole family have been struck down with the flu bug roaming around the country. DH went down with it first, followed by me then DS. We are only just starting to feel human again....so as you can imagine, I am very behind with the Christmas preparations. Been into the city today to finish buying presents and managed to get the tree up this evening. Still got all the presents to wrap though. Might do some tomorrow before going off to Thursford Christmas Spectacular. I am lucky enough to be able to go to this show each year. It sells out every year and people from all over the country come to see it.

As you can imagine there hasn't been much crafting done the last week or so, although I did manage to get my card created for my Colour Combo Challenge today over at In Love With Stamping. The colours today where, Old Olive, Pink Passion & Whisper White. Here is what I came up with.




I used single flower image from the Bloomin' with Beauty stamp set and water coloured with Old Olive and Pink Passion ink. This was layered onto Old Olive card. The base card is Pink Passion, with a panel of Old Olive designer paper (Retired but still available to buy) layered on Old Olive card. Old Olive ribbon is tied around the panel before the water coloured image is layered on top. The Birthday Wishes sentiment is from the Sincere Salutations set.

I did manage a couple of cards for challenges over at In Love With Stamping before getting the Flu but didn't manage to post them here on my blog, so here are photo's to share.

The first was for this challenge, Anything goes except layers.

This card was so quick to make. I just used an old card that I had, that had 4 square windows and used it as a template to sponge Real Red ink over to create the 4 squares on the card. I then stamped the ornament from the Hung up on the Holidays stamp set in each square with Real red ink. Two scored lines above and below and Real Red ribbon attached and created into a bow. Merry Christmas sentiment in Real Red.

The last card I have to share is for this challenge over at In Love With Stamping. Lovely as a Tree set used here and Gold Embossed. Layered onto Gold card (Not SU, but can't remember where it came from!) Another Simple card ideal for mass production.

Anyway. This has been a long post and I apologise for that. Hope you made it to the end. LOL

Back Soon....


Thursday 4 December 2008

ILWSCC18

As I posted Yesterday, today is another Colour Combo Challenge over at In Love With Stamping. If you like doing challenges come on over and have a look, there are tons of different things over there to try. Anyway today's colours are:

REALLY RUST
BASIC GREY
VERY VANILLA


I decided to make a card for my Dad's birthday, which is coming up soon. I have used the Lovely As a Tree stamp Set. I have to admit this is a favourite of mine. Just love it, it is so versatile. The trees are stamped onto Very Vanilla with Basic Grey ink. Layered onto Really Rust card stock, then onto Very Vanilla again before being placed on Basic Grey card base. The Sentiment was printed from my computer and the whole thing finished with two silver brads.

Well, thats the card sorted, just need to get a gift !!!!

Wednesday 3 December 2008

December Wedding


Just a quick blog entry today. Have a bad headache and being too long on this computer will do it no good !!! I have been trying for about a week now to get a decent photograph of this card, but the weather is so grey, I just haven't managed it. This is the best I have been able to do. It is such a shame because it is so delicate and sparkly IRL. But it needs to go into the post tomorrow so this will have to be it.

I have used the stamp set A Bit of Happiness, which is a Level 1 Hostess set for the 2008/09 season. Colours used are Cameo Coral, Blush Blossom & Whisper White. The Blush Blossom was stamped over with the En Francais BG Stamp with VersaMark ink and the MR & MRS from the Basic Phrases set stamped with Cameo Coral

Once the panel had been water colored with Cameo Coral and Blush Blossom inks, I rubbed the VersaMark pad all over the panel then sprinkled with the Heat & Stick powder. Gently heated this up then sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds over and reheated to make them stick. Then trimmed down the panel to the size I required. By doing this after applying the Dazzling Diamonds you make sure every bit of the panel is covered and all sparkly.

Anyway...better go....It is my turn to post a challenge tomorrow over at In Love With Stamping, so need to go and prepare for that. Nothing like leaving it until the last minute LOL. So there will also be a post tomorrow, be sure to come and have a look.

Bye for now...

Carole

Thursday 27 November 2008

MIL Birthday

I have been busy making some cards for my Mother-in-laws birthday. It is over a week away, but because she is in Australia, I have to make sure I post them in time. These two cards where posted off today. I am safe showing them to you on my blog as I am sure she doesn't even know I have one, so no chance of spoiling the surprise. The first card is another take on the one I did here. I turned the card around to make a tall card and used different gold colours for the rose.



The colours used are So Saffron, More Mustard & Old Olive & Mellow Moss. Stamp set used is A Rose is a Rose. The sentiment I created on my computer then printed it on Whisper White card. I also did this on my second card.



This card is from my DS to his Grandma. Colours used are Rose Red, Regal Rose & Always Artichoke. The flower is from the stamp set Garden Silhouettes, which was a Hostess set from last year, but is still one of my favourite stamp sets. The card base has been stamped with the canvas background and of course the finishing touch of the lovely new ribbon.


Thanks for looking....

Wednesday 19 November 2008

ILWS - Colour Combo Challenge 17

Today is Colour Combo Challenge day over at In Love With Stamping. The challenge is make something using Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie & So Saffron. I decided to make my own designer paper, using a stamp from the set A Beautiful Thing. This is my first attempt at this and I really liked how it turned out. I decided to cut the paper into sections to make more than one card. Using the three colours I created this card first.





The designer paper is layered onto So Saffron card then onto Pumpkin Pie. Old Olive Grossgrain ribbon was then tied around the layers. The Pumpkin Pie layer was then attached to the Old Olive base card. I decided to use some of the Flower Fusion's centred on the bow, attaching them with a So Saffron brad. These felt flowers are so beautiful, the felt is really thick and the flowers keep their shape well. But then, you wouldn't expect any less with Stampin' Up! would you...LOL.


As I had some designer paper left I decided to make another card, same colours just changed the combination of layers a little and used Pumpkin Pie ribbon.



Thanks for looking...


Carole x

Tuesday 18 November 2008


The Lovely Tara sent me an award back on the 7th November. Thank you Tara. I have been a little late in responding to this. Sorry

Rules of this award are:-

  • The winner can put the logo on their blog.
  • Link it to the person who gave it to them.
  • Nominate at least 7 more blogs
  • Put the links of the blogs on your blog
  • Leave a message on the blogs you have nominated

The blogs I would like to pass this award onto are

Sally

Jo...

Michelle O...

Haley

Bekka

Kate...

Jules

These are all fellow Stampin' Up Demo's and all very talented ladies check them out.

Friday 14 November 2008

SCS Sketch Challenge 202

I do love working from a sketch and as soon as I saw the sketch over at SCS this week I knew I just had to have a go. Here is the sketch



and this is what I have come up with.


I have rotated the sketch and used it on it's side to create this card using the cake stand full of yummy cupcakes from the Crazy for Cupcakes stamp set. The main card is created using Regal Rose card stamped with the Canvas back ground stamp using Regal Rose ink. The little squares are using the Rose Red designer papers, that have recently retired, (but are still available to buy until stock runs out) layered onto Rose Red card. The image has been coloured in using inks and the blender pens then layered onto Regal Rose and Rose Red card and the sentiment is from the Basic Phrases set using Rose red ink. This set of phrases covers just about any occasion and is a great set for when you haven't left yourself much room for your sentiment like I did here. LOL

Thanks for dropping by

Carole x


PS Sorry for all you using Google Reader, you may have more than one copy of this post as I couldn't get the sketch to show up properly.

Saturday 8 November 2008

Been Busy....

I have a table at a craft fair next weekend, so I have been busy making little gifts. I have seen over at Splitcoast stampers these little gifts of reindeer food. I just love the poem that goes with it so felt the need to make some.


I printed the poem onto Whisper White card using Red, Green & Black ink then used the reindeer from the 'A Holly, Jolly Christmas Set' set and inked him up with Close to Cocoa ink. His nose had to be red of course and I placed some Glossy Accents on top to make the red stand out even more. The reindeer food is porridge oats with glitter mixed in. I'm afraid it isn't showing up in the photo but it is there....

Here is the poem for anyone who wants to have a go at making some:


Magical Reindeer Food

Sprinkle on the lawn at night
The moon will make it sparkle bright
As Santa's reindeer fly and roam
This will guide them to your home.


I have also been making some of these beautiful little mice.

I found these mice over at Dawns' Blog and just had to make them. What do you think? aren't they just so cute. Dawn has made a brilliant tutorial on her blog and has kindly shared her template. Check out all her other tutorials, there are some brilliant things on there. Anyway better had get on..... I have another 30 of these cut out ready to make up. I am currently doing the faux stitching around the ears........ahhhhh

Saturday 1 November 2008

Tis the Season to Host a party


Host a Party with me between 1st November and 31st December and you get all the normal FREE HOSTESS GIFTS for party sells over £150............PLUS YOU WILL GET ANOTHER FREE STAMP SET.........Yes thats right ANOTHER ONE FREE!
You can have a party at home, or Craft Club or you can just email me an order for £150 or more and You still get all the Hostess Benefits.
The choices for the EXTRA Stamp Set as well as the Level One Stamp set are:-
Wondrous Gift Normally £19.95
Snow Flurries Normally £ 9.95
Friendly Normally £14.95
Seasonal Wishes Normally £15.95
Dotted Autumn Normally£12.95
Cold Play Normally £24.95

A fantastic offer just in time to Order all your Christmas Presents or Products ready to get your Christmas Cards completed and in the Post Early for once!

Friday 31 October 2008

It's Halloween not Xmas........

I know, I know.....it's Halloween and a happy Halloween to all you that celebrate. It is something that really hasn't taken off where I live, so I have been making some Xmas cards instead.
Haven't felt at all well this week, seem to have got a flu type bug, giving me aches all over and the shivers. I haven't been able to do much crafting as I just couldn't concentrate on anything. I am feeling much better today so managed these two cards.




This card is made with the snowman from the stamp set 'Perfect Presents'. He has been stamped onto Whisper White card using Ballet Blue ink, layered onto Night of Navy card. The sentiment is from the 'Occasional Greetings' set and has been stamped in Night of Navy ink.

This is the second card........



I know I'm back using the traditional colour Real Red for this one and the stamp set 'Season of Joy'. I love this stamp set. You can do so many things with it.

Thanks for looking. XX


Friday 24 October 2008

My Wedding Anniversary

27 Years ago today was my wedding day. I married a most wonderful man, so I just needed to make him a card to show him how much I care for him.



He knows I have a blog, but I'm not sure he comes on to read it, so just in case. Love you Steve XOXOX

Wednesday 22 October 2008

Golden Wedding

This is what I have been working on today. The lady who runs my sons Bowls club will be celebrating her Golden Wedding Anniversary on Saturday. What an achievement 50 years...



The card is made with the stamp set A Rose is A Rose. The colours used are Barely Banana, So Saffron, Mellow Moss and Old Olive.



As it is a special card I stamped the envelope and the inside of the card.

Friday 17 October 2008

Life gets in the way..

Sorry to my blog readers for the lack of updating. I have had a bit of a busy time and crafting has taken a bit of a back burner.

The launch of the new catalogue has created quite alot of interest with people wanting to get their orders in for all that new lovely stash so I have been very busy running my SU business plus looking after an ill dog. Unfortunately our beloved Black Lab Jake became too ill and we had to make that terrible one way journey to the vet Monday night. You know the one you dread. My son has been quite upset because he has grown up with Jake always around, but at the age of 13, Jake had had a very good active life. The problem we have now is getting our other dog Ben used to being an only dog. Something he is struggling with at the moment. I have a shadow following me around wherever I go. I am sure he will soon get used to it.

The last couple of days have been spent cutting up all the designer papers and packing for the clubs. Details Here. There is one space left on each of the paper clubs, so hurry to catch that last space.

I am hoping to get back to blogging again next week, but here is one card I can share with you made with the new stamp set Pocket Silhouettes.



BFN

Sunday 5 October 2008

World Card Making Day

Yesterday was World Cardmaking Day and over at In Love With Stamping there was a day of challenges. Now the past week or so my Hubby has been putting the electric into my crafting cabin, so I havn't been able to get to my stash easily. He completed it all lunch time today, so I headed off straight in there to do some stampin'........ I completed two of the six challenges and here is what I came up with. I am afraid it is Real Red and Whisper White again.... I do love Red for Christmas.




Just a reminder....spaces for the clubs are filling fast. For details see here.

Wednesday 1 October 2008

It's here!!!

Today is the day.........we can reveal the new Stampin' Up! catalogue. If you click on the image to the right of my blog it will take you to an on-line version. If you would prefer to have a paper copy then please email me and I will arrange for one to be sent to you super fast.

If you go to Page 70 & 71 you will see all the new lovely Designer Papers and see just what I was talking about in my earlier post about not being able to choose which ones to have. So come and join one of my clubs and get a little piece of all the papers. Spaces are filling fast.

Monday 29 September 2008

Come join my clubs

Now there are only two days left before we can start to order from the new Stampin' Up! catalogue. My WISH LIST is enormous and I am having problems in deciding what to order first. That got me thinking that you might just be having the same problem. So I have decided that perhaps setting up a few clubs might help a few people out.

The First Club is:-

DESIGNER SERIES PAPER CLUB
I don't know about you but I can't make up my mind which of the lovely Designer papers to order. They are all new and I want them all !! Just can't make up my mind LOL. So how about having a 6x6 square of every design. A total of 96 sheets. Now 6x6 is a fantastic size suitable for cardmaking and scrapbooking. All I need is 4 people to join. I will order the paper cut it up into the 6x6 sections and post out to you. By joining this club you could be the owner of every patterned designer paper in the new catalogue.

Price £18 including P&P

Second Club is:-

PATTERNS DESIGNER PAPER CLUB
This club is like the one above but for the Plain colours in various patterns. In this club you will get 72 6x6 sheets of each design in each of the colours, Bashful Blue, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Rose Red, Old Olive & Pumpkin Pie. Again I will order when 4 people have joined and I will cut into the 6x6 squares and post out to you.

Price £14 including P&P

Third Club is :-

PRETTIES KIT CLUB
Instead of buying a whole Pretties kit this club will help you own a fifth of one. 5 People join and a box of pretties will be split evenly between you all and posted out to you.

Price £5.50 including P&P

Fourth Club is:-

HODGEPODGE KIT CLUB
In the new catalogue there is a new colour Hodgepodge. It now comes in SILVER and it is beautiful. Instead of buying a whole box of the new colour Hodgepode join this club and own one fifth. 5 people join and a box of hodgepodge will be split evenly between you all and posted out to you.

Price £5.50 including P&P

Fifth Club is:-

ACCENTS & ELEMENTS CLUB
In the new catalogue there will be the Accent & Elements felt flowers. These come in 14 different sizes and 3 different colours Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red & Old Olive. I need 3 people for this club and a box of these felt flowers will be split equally between you all and posted out to you.

Price £4.50 including P&P

I hope these clubs will allow you to try out some of the fabulous Stampin' Up! goodies without totally breaking the bank and also allowing you to perhaps stretch to choosing some of the lovely stamp sets in the catalogue as well.



SPECIAL DEAL

If you join all 5 clubs the price will be £45 including P&P. (A discount of £2.50)

If you are interested in joining any of these clubs then please email me.

BFN

Carole X

Thursday 25 September 2008

Gift Bag


Now many of you will know, I set the Colour Combo Challenges over at In Love With Stamping. Todays challenge is to use Real Red, Old Olive & Certainly Celery. This is what I created for todays challenge. The stamp set I used is called Hung Up on Holidays. I just love this little set and is one of my favourites at the moment. To make this bag I have used a white paper take-away style bag and covered it with Certainly Celery card. The stars on the bottom where stamped with Certainly Celery ink. The baubles are all stamped in Real Red ink onto Very vanilla card then layered onto Old Olive and Real Red card.
I made this Christmas card using this little stamp set a good while ago now, but forgot to share with you. (Sorry).


Real Red again (Christmas and Red just go together don't they) and Basic Black, just shows you don't need everything in the Stampin' Up! catalogue to make a striking card! LOL

Sunday 21 September 2008

Look at this.........




I celebrated my Birthday on Wednesday (17th) and I received the most wonderful gift from my up line Monica at My Many Many Passions. Isn't it beautiful..........Now I haven't been able to share this with you earlier because I have been away with all the other Stampin' Up demonstrators doing some training for the new catalogue, which comes out on 1st October. (If anyone would like one then email me your details and I will arrange). We had a fab time, big waves to Michelle who shared the very long and tiring journey in the car with me, and Monica, Sally, Julie, Bekka and Jo my Stampin' Up! Sisters. We had a blast. These girls are so much fun....I love them all.



I have to apologise to all you followers of my blog for the lack of updates.....but I have been very busy getting my swaps ready for the training day and also creating a project for the demonstrator competition. The next card is my swap card. The idea is that each demonstrator brings along a card to swap with another demonstrator, by doing this you get lots of beautiful cards and loads of ideas and inspiration from each other. This is the card I created for my fellow demonstrator sisters. I made 60 of these!!! but I had loads of comments from people saying how lovely it was. So thank you all ladies.... your cards are fab as well. I will try and upload some of them later in the week.





My next card is one I made for the demonstrators competition. Each demonstrator made a project and the other demonstrators voted for the one they liked best. I really struggled with this, I am afraid. My Mojo up and left just at the wrong time. I could not create a thing I was happy with. Do you get those moments? I have about five cards strewn across my craft desk, half completed because I wasn't happy with them. This is what I ended up with. The top of the card has faux stitching on it. I stressed a long time about doing this. Anyone who knows me, knows that my style is very uniformed, normally straight cut lines etc. I don't do tearing, inking edges and all that jazz...I admire many cards like this but don't enjoy doing it myself. LOL. So I decided in the end to give the faux stitching a go. Wow, wished I had tried this technique out earlier. I loved it. All I did was pierce two rows of holes along the top of the card and then ran a red marker along the top of the holes. It looks like real stitching...... Think you will be seeing more of this technique on my cards over the next few weeks. The stamp used is from Season of Joy, which will be available in the new catalogue.






The wonderful Karin won the competition with a fab fold out folder. I don't think Karin has a blog so cannot give a link to the project. If I find I can I will add later.


My next card is one I made for a shoebox swap Monica organised for her down line. I knew we would be pushed for time, so I kept it very simple. I used the Spotlight technique for this one and the stamp set is Season for Joy. This is my favourite set at the moment as you can see.


Anyway.....sorry for such a long post. As you can see I have been very busy, but just couldn't share with you my creations until after the events, otherwise the surprise element would have not happened for all the recipients.

Off to my craft room.........see you all later.

Carole x

Tuesday 9 September 2008

Stampers 10 Club

If you are anything like me then you have a very long wish list from the current Stampin’ Up! Catalogue! When the new catalogue comes out on October 1st, I am sure like me it will get even longer!!

Join my Stampers 10 club, and start ticking off those items on that wish list and earn some extra stash free!!

Here’s how it works:

Normally when you host a workshop in your own home you need a minimum of £150 in sales to qualify for one of the free stamps and £15 worth of product from the catalogue.

In a Stampers 10 Club there are: -
  • 10 Members
  • The Club runs for 10 months, starting October to co inside with the new catalogue
  • Each member agrees to spend a minimum of £15.00 per month before postage (£3.95)
  • Each month a different club member is chosen to be hostess
  • You do not actually have to host a workshop, it is like having a virtual party
  • When it's your turn to be hostess you are guaranteed to receive a Level One Hostess stamp set of your choice FREE, plus at least £15 to spend in the catalogue
  • You get a FREE copy of the new catalogue
  • Small surprise gifts in your parcel each month.


Join my stampers 10 club and be able to spread the cost while building up your collection of Stampin’ Up! Stash, and still be able to enjoy the benefits of hosting a workshop.

If you are interested then please call me me as soon as possible on 01508 548516 or email me and I will get back to you. Look forward to hearing from you.

    Wednesday 3 September 2008

    Simply Said....




    Made this card today using a colour that I do not normally use. I have just received my Neutrals pack of card stock, colours include Basic Black, Shara Sand and Basic Grey & Kraft. Now I do not normally like these types of colours, don't ask me why, because I don't have the answer. Basic Black I have no problem with... I use this all the time to frame other colours and anyone who knows me, will know I love wearing Black. Anyway, I decided that I would challenge myself to use the colour Kraft as a base colour. I had in my mind to use pinkie colours to co-ordinate, but as you can see that went out of the window....

    I decided to use Apricot Appeal and Chocolate Chip along with the Flower Heart stamp from the Simply Said stamp set. Really pleased how the card eventually turned out, but I have just realised the photograph doesn't really show up the true Kraft colour on the card. Sorry....



    Thanks for stopping by............. x

    Monday 1 September 2008

    Going Going Gone.............

    Oh my Stampin' Up! has announced it's 2008 retirement list of stamp sets and accessories and they are available for you to buy during September or whilst stocks last at a discounted price. The list can be viewed here

    Remember the hostess sets are only available until the end of September so if you would like to book a party to enable you to earn a hostess set and some products from the currant catalogue contact me today...dates are running out fast.


    If any of the retirement stamps or accessories are on your wish list then don’t miss out, order them quick while stocks last. Give me a call on 01508 548516 or email me to Order. Any questions then please don’t hesitate to ask

    Sunday 24 August 2008

    Happy Birthday SIS

    It's my sisters birthday today. ' Happy Birthday Sis' she and her hubby are currently touring Scotland on holiday. Hope they are having a good time and the weather has been kind. Anyway I can now share with you the card I made her. When she first saw the Stampin' Up! catalogue, she fell in love with the Pick a Petal stamp set, so I just had to make her birthday card using that set. In fact I made two cards in different colours, Pumpkin Pie and Tempting Turquoise. I decided to send her the Turquoise card as I felt that came out the most striking of the two.



    I am afraid this is going to be very quick post as I have been out all day with my son at a bowls competition. I still have 100 things still to do so must shoot off. BFN.

    Friday 22 August 2008

    I can now share one of the birthday cards I spoke about in my last post. This card was made for my friend Sue's birthday, who I don't get to see as much as I would like.



    The stamp set used here is the 'In the Spotlight' and is a Hostess set. It is such a great set to use. The flowers have been stamped onto Whisper White card stock in Pretty in Pink, Apricot Appeal and Bashful Blue, the stems and leaves are stamped in Certainly Celery. The little circles have been stamped in the same colours as the flowers but raised using a dimensional. Certainly Celery ribbon has been used to make the bow tying the flowers together in a bunch. This has been layered onto Basic Black Card then placed onto Pretty In Pink card then onto a 5x5 Square white card.

    I also made this card with this same stamp set.

    My intention was to use it for an In Love With Stamping colour combo challenge until I realised I had used Certainly Celery so many times in the combo's so thought best not to use it. It is one of my favourite colours but not necessary other peoples. Anyway here I am using it along with Chocolate Chip. I am pleased how this card turned out and I am sure it will look great in other colour combo's. Think I might just try some out and see what I come up with.
    The other Birthday card I made I cannot share until after the bank holiday. It's one I made for my little sister who celebtrates her birthday Sunday, so Happy Birthday Sis, hope you have a great day.

    Thursday 14 August 2008

    Sorry......

    So Sorry I havn't posted for a while. Life has got in the way a little. It's school holidays, so DS is at home, plus he has been attending trials for a Cricket Development Team. I am proud to say he got in, but now there are three games to play in!! Also I have been busy completing application forms for jobs and attending interviews. Afraid to say though no luck on that front yet.
    However I did manage to get my card made for the In Love With Stamping Colour Combo challenge I am hosting today. Here it is:


    The challenge is to use the colours Certainly Celery, Apricot Appeal and Lavender Lace. The stamp set I used is a Touch of Nature. I just love this stamp set. I hope to get some stamping in over the weekend I have two birthdays coming up next week, so must get cracking on making some Birthday cards.

    Thursday 31 July 2008

    Challenge Card

    Well as promised here is my card I created for the challenge I am hosting over at In Love With Stamping.

    The challenge is to create something using the following Stampin' Up! colours.

    Close to Cocoa
    Bashful Blue
    Certainly Celery





    I am quite pleased at how my card turned out using these colours. The flowers are from the Heartfelt Hostess level 3 set and I have used the Poppin' Pastels technique. This is so easy to do and I think it gives this flower a lovely smoky look to it.

    Tuesday 29 July 2008

    This is a first....

    Today I have used buttons on a card for the first time ever.....



    While blog hopping I often see buttons on other peoples cards and love what I see, but I never seem to think about putting them on my own! Until today....
    I am back using my favourite stamp set 'Wild about you'. I just love this set and find myself using it so often. Todays card is using the colours Pretty in Pink and Regal Rose. The buttons and the twine are some I found while sorting out my crafting stuff. They are not Stampin' Up! but match the pinks just right. I also found some Glossy Accents, which I hadn't used before. I decided to try and make a homemade brad for the middle of the sentiment. I punched out a small circle and stamped the small flower onto it from the stamp set. Glossy Accents was then dabbed over the circle to make a dome over the image and left to dry. The result is a circle that looks like the designer brads you can buy. I have taken about 15 photo's of this card to try and show you this brad in more detail, but just can't get it to show up. Sorry. But give it a go yourselves, I am sure you will pleased with the results.

    I made another card today, but that is for the challenge on Thursday over at In Love With Stamping which I am hosting this week. So I am afraid you will have to wait until Thursday for that one.........

    Monday 28 July 2008

    Update on Cabin....

    Allot of people have been asking for a peek inside the cabin. I have had to wait for Hubby to kit it all out with cupboards. Then it needed two coats of sealer inside before the carpet was laid. Then I decided I wanted more cupboards so hubby had to add more this weekend. So for all you peeps who have been waiting patiently here it is.....








    Hubby still has to connect power into the cabin, otherwise it's ready to go.... but boy has it been hot inside there the past couple of days...so not much crafting has taken place, but lots of sorting out of craft items.

    Saturday 26 July 2008

    A Scrapbook page...

    Now believe it or not I also scrapbook!! but since becoming a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator back in February, I have tended to concentrate on card making, so I am ashamed to say I haven't produced a page since Feb........... until today.
    Over at In Love With Stamping there are weekly challenges and Michelle has a Scrapbook challenge today. Her challenge is to get those circle punches out and create a page using circles. I just couldn't resist doing this. While tidying up and moving my craft stuff into my cabin, I came across my sons school photo's. All waiting to be scrapbooked!!! Well I thought Michelle's challenge just suited the school photo. So here is my creation........





    I used some scraps from the Stampin' Up! Primary Colors Simply Scrapping kit along with lots of card stock from the Bold brights colour family. Loads of different sized circles layered on top of each other with a Gold brad in holding them together. The circle layers have then been layered onto the page. I really enjoyed doing this challenge and may just have the scrap booking bug back..........

    Saturday 19 July 2008

    Teachers gifts...

    Well the school breaks up for the summer holidays next Tuesday, so today I have been making teacher Gifts. I made these little boxes and filled them with Roses chocolates. Yummy Yum !!


    But when I showed my DS them, he announces that his teacher doesn't want chocolates. What!!!. My first reaction was, well she is getting chocolates or nothing. But then when I thought about it, perhaps she couldn't eat chocs, so decided to make some small 3x3 thank you cards to match the box.


    The little box was made from instructions from the UStamp site here. Mine is in Real Red card stock. The band around the box is Whisper White card, stamped with the Spot On jumbo roller in Real Red ink. Real Red ribbon is tied around. The box is finished off with sentiment from Circle of Friendship set stamped in Real Red onto White card, punched out then layered onto a scallop of Real Red card.
    The little 3x3 notelets have been made with the same materials as the box, so they all match nicely.

    I have been busy making other things today as well, but the light turned so bad because of the rain we have, I couldn't photograph them. Hopefully I will be able to get some tomorrow.
    BFN
    Carole x

    Wednesday 16 July 2008

    Congratulations........

    To Monica over at My Many Many Passions, who has won a place on the UStamp dream team. Monica is my upline for Stampin' Up! and I am so pleased for her. So pleased that I made this card to send to congratulate her. Hope you like it Monica.



    This card is also for the new Color Combo challenge over at In Love With Stamping. The challenge Colours this week are, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel and Real Red. I am afraid I went mad with this card and have used 4 different stamp sets no less.
    The card base is Chocolate Chip which has been stamped with the Polka Dot Background stamp in Chocolate Chip ink. Then I stamped a panel of Creamy Caramel card with the CONGRATULATIONS sentiment from the Cheers and Wishes set and the Polka Dot background with Chocolate Chip ink. Chocolate Chip ribbon was tied around the panel before adhering the panel to base card. I then stamped the My Dear Friend sentiment from the Occasional Greetings set onto Very vanilla card using Chocolate Chip ink and layered onto Real Red card. The flowers are from the Two Cute set and are stamped in Real Red ink onto Very Vanilla card and have a Red Circle Rinestone brad in the centre.

    Tuesday 15 July 2008

    Andy Warhol’s Four Monkeys Inspired

    One of the challenges over at In Love With Stamping is to create something using the Andy Warhol's Four Monkeys as inspiration. This is what I came up with......... except mine are Lions not Monkeys LOL...




    I used the Wild About You stamp set, which I have to admit is my favourite at the moment. The colours used are Green Galore, Real Red, Brilliant Blue and Only Orange.
    Very quick and simple to make but I love it. I was going to put a sentiment in the middle of the card, but have decided to leave it blank, because I think it would make an ideal toddler birthday card, and having the number of the birthday would finish the card off just right.