20% OFF Two-Step Stamping Sets

Please scroll down for newer posts, this post will remain at the top of this blog for the entire month of August.

(click on the picture to make it bigger if you're having trouble reading it).

During August (1st to 31st) Stampin' Up! are offering 20% off some of their Two-Step stamp sets.


Two step stamping is one of my favourite techniques and you can be so creative with little effort.  Over the month of August I will share with you some projects, using some of the sets on offer, so be sure to call back and check them out.

This is sure to be a very popular offer, so if any of these sets are on your 'Wish List' contact me now to purchase them.

Mambo Olive Trendy Trees

This little card is created using one of my favourite stamp sets 'Trendy Trees'. It is such a versatile set that can be used for male or female cards and is one of the sets that has 20% off this month.

Today I have used the retiring Creamy Caramel as the base card with Melon Mambo square of card layered onto Chocolate Chip card. I then stamped the trees, using Chocolate Chip, Old Olive and Melon Mambo Ink onto a strip of Whisper White card and placed in the centre of the Melon Mambo square. The sentiment is also from the 'Trendy Trees' set and has been stamped in Chocolate Chip. A small Old Olive button finishes everything off. 

If you would like to own your own Trendy Tree stamps, remember you can purchase them for this month only for £10.36 plus P+P (normal price is £12.95 plus P+P).  Contact me to order or for more information. Also please don't forget, retiring colours will disappear on the 1st October, so if you have any favourite colours that are retiring, you need to stock up over the next two months.

Supplies:
Stamps: Trendy Trees
Card: Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Melon Mambo, Whisper White
Ink: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Melon Mambo
Accessories: Old Olive Button from Earth Elements button pack, Linen Thread

Fantastic Hostess Offer

This post will remain at the top of my blog for June and July.

Stampin' Up! have a fantastic offer on for June and July. Any person hosting a workshop in their home, during June or July will receive an additional £20 of freebies as long as the sales totals are £250 before P&P.  So make sure you get in quick, dates are going fast.  Email me to book your workshop date.

Floating Snowflake Xmas Bauble

As promised, here is the tutorial for the Floating Snowflake Xmas Bauble, that I demoed at the training event. Here is the bauble finished.

You will need the following Supplies:

Clear Glass bauble
Stampin' Up! Icicle Rub-ons
SU Medium Window Sheets
Felt tip pen (Not permanent as you need to be able to remove from window sheet)
Scissors

Firstly, take a Medium window sheet and using the felt tip pen draw a circle the required size.  My baubles where 6cm and I found that the inner of my Stampin' Up! mini glue dots was just the right size (approx 5cm)

After drawing your circle, you will need to draw a little tab, like in the photo below. (Sorry about the inky fingers in these photo's, I did the inking tutorial first LOL)

By adding this tab you have now drawn a bauble outline on the window sheet. Cut out the bauble and you will be left with the shape with black lines left from the felt tip pen.

Take a soft cloth or some Kitchen Roll and clean off the felt tip from around the edges of your shape. (This is why we must not use permanent marker)
You will then have a clear bauble shaped piece of window sheet.

Next, choose which rub-on you wish to use and rub-on to the centre of window sheet shape. As you can see mine isn't very central..LOL

Now is the time to place the snowflake into the bauble. Gently roll up the window sheet and place through the top of the glass bauble, making sure the little tab is at the top and the last to enter the bauble. As the sheet drops into the bauble it will un-ravel and become flat inside.

The little tab becomes an anchor, as it just pokes up into the neck of the bauble, and this keeps the window sheet upright inside the bauble. Replace the top onto the glass bauble making sure the little metal prongs sit either side of the window sheet. You now have a beautiful bauble that has a snowflake that floats inside.

Again, I do hope you have enjoyed my tutorial, and will enjoy making your own versions.

A note of warning:  If you wish to make this decoration using the Stampin' Up Icicle Rub-ons, please note these are in the mini catalogue Item no 116804.  The pack contains two sheets, 1 each in Silver and Whisper White and priced £7.50.  Items in the mini-catalogue are available until 30th September, so be sure to order yours before this date as there is no guarantee they will be available in the new 2010/11 catalogue.   If you would like more details, please contact me.

Handmade Glitter Xmas Baubles

My demonstration at the Peterborough Training was Glitter Xmas baubles. I have had such fantastic feedback from those who attended, I thought I might try and do a tutorial for you all.

Here are the baubles.  This one is glittered with a snowflake rub-on

And this one has a snowflake floating inside a clear glass bauble.

I think we will make the glitter Bauble first.

You will need:

Clear Glass bauble (I had difficulty in finding mine a couple of weeks ago, but now there are many more available)
Stampin' Up! ink refill in your choice of colour (I used Not quite Navy)
Stampin' Glitter - I used the Turquoise colour from the Fine Cosmo set
Small spoon - I found a medicine spoon was quite good.
Stampin' Up! Icicle Rub-Ons

First take the top off the glass bauble, this comes out easily, by squeezing the two little wires together and pulling. Next drop about 15 drops of ink into the bottom of the bauble.

Start to swirl the ink around the inside of the bauble. Now I found the best way was to let the ink pool into one area, then rotate the bauble very slowly, making sure all the ink covers.

Gradually the ink will cover the inside of the bauble. If you need more ink, add a few more drops. When you get to near the neck of the bauble, have a couple of sheets of kitchen roll handy and be careful.  You will be getting to the stage where your bauble is nearly upside down, to get the coverage you require, which means excess ink will drop out.  (I know from experience LOL)

Once your bauble is covered evenly inside by the ink, tip it upside down for about 5 to 10 minutes to allow the excess ink drain out.  I found a polystyrene tray that had some pears in from the supermaket a great holder.  I put kitchen roll in the try then tipped the bauble upside down on it.  The kitchen roll mopped up the ink and could be disposed of easily. This is important, because if you leave alot of excess ink inside, you will end up with leakages while being stored, until all the ink has dried up.

Once the ink has drained, then we can glitter.  I found it easier to position the bauble upright in the tray
and I also found it easier by making myself a little paper funnel.

Add glitter to the inside of the bauble, you don't need too much, as you can see from the photograph above, approx half a teaspoon is enough.  Place a pad of Kitchen roll over the opening of the bauble and shake the glitter all around the inside.  Take a look at your bauble turning it around to check that all places are glittered, if not just add a tiny bit more glitter and shake again.  Once complete your bauble will end up looking like this

Then you can decorate your bauble. I choose to use, the Stampin' Up! Icicle rub-ons, but you can let you imagination run away with you and decorate how you wish.

I found the easiest way to use the rub-ons was to do each, arm (not sure if this is the correct word to use LOL) of the snowflake in turn.  Because the bauble is round you have to rub the snowflake on carefully.

Here is the completed bauble

Here is a bauble in a different colourway. I used Perfect Plum reinker with the Orchid colour glitter.

I do hope you have enjoyed my tutorial, and it would be great to see any baubles you create. Leave a link in the comment box and I will pop over to have a look.

Tomorrow, I will share with you the tutorial to make the floating snowflake bauble.

Christmas in Peterborough

Today I have had the pleasure to spend the day with my fabulous mentors Monica and Bekka, along woth some wonderful fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrators and my special friend Michelle, who kept me company travelling to the training event.
Thank you all for such a great day, I just love these get togethers.

The theme today was 'Christmas' yes thats right, CHRISTMAS! but as we crafters know we do have to start early to get everything complete that we all need to do for this special yearly event. I was honoured to be asked by Monica to Demo at this event, and my remit was to demo the beautiful Icicle Rub-Ons from the mini catalogue. So I have been a busy designing projects for today, which has proven to be quite a challenge in 30+ degrees. LOL.

I will share my projects with you early next week.

But for today, Here are the swaps I made for todays event.

23 of these where made and swapped with all the wonderful people attending and I recieved some awsome projects in return. Thank you ladies and gentleman (you know who you are) :-)

Here is a closeup of my swap.

The trees and Father Christmas have Dazzling Diamonds on them, but I am afraid the photograph isn't showing them up very well.

Supplies:
Stamps: A Holly, Jolly Christmas, Swirling Stars Wheel
Card:Kraft, Whisper White
Ink: Old Olive, Real Red, Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Accessories: Pewter Jumbo Eyelets, Real Red Satin Ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds

I will be posting my demo projects over the next few days, so do call back to have a peek.

New look to my blog.......

Sorry I have been a bad blogger, but life has just got a wee bit hectic. I am sure you can all relate to this. Also the whole family one by one has been struck with a very bad summer cold and with the heat we have had the last few days it has made us all feel pretty bad. But we are all on the mend now, thank goodness.
Crafting has been going on behind the scenes but I am unable to share this with you just yet. Sorry.

But one thing I can share with you all is my blog makeover. Now I have wanted to do this, for such a long time but didn't have any idea what I really wanted. I have always admired the work that Michelle Laycock does over at Laycock Designs and when she released some Pre-made designs for sale on the 1st July I fell in love with a design on there. Origionally it was just a header, but Michelle has also designed a background, signature and facebook badge to match for me. Thank you Michelle, I am just loving my new look.

I will be back to blogging again very soon, so please do call back.

Testing the siggy!

write your post here!

The POSTMAN left me this today...

This morning my postman knocked on the door with a parcel for me.  Taking it from him, I was wondering who on earth was sending me something.  On opening it this is what I saw.

My wonderful upline Monica sent me this gift to say a big thank you for helping her to achieve the Stampin' Up! Incentive trip to Monaco.  Pop over to Monica's blog to see all the wonderful things that Stampin' Up! did for her and all the other achievers.  They did some fantastic things and recieved such wonderful treatment, I am so jealous.
Now I know you are wanting to know what was inside that fabulous little box..well

Yes some of the Macaron's that Monica posted about here, don't they look lush. They have travelled very well considering, they have come from Monaco to Yorkshire by plane then Yorkshire to Norfolk by post.  Thank you Monica, you are such a wonderful person and always thinking of others. Thats why I love and admire you so much and so pleased you are my Stampin' Up! Mum. x

If you too would like to have a chance of earning a trip like this, then contact me today for more details on becoming a Stampin' Up! demonstrator.  You could be on the next trip.

Now if you'll excuse me, I am now off to make a cuppa and taste these treats before the men of the house come home..LOL

Why I love being a Stampin' Up! Demo

Yesterday I had the most wonderful day at the Needham Market, Cardmaking and Scrapbooking Fayre, meeting tons of wonderful fellow crafters.  My wonderful downline Clare, was there helping me and we had such fun together.  Here is the stand all set out.

We met so many wonderful crafters yesterday, and that is why I love my job.  Crafters are wonderful, friendly people, who are so willing to share so much with others and I get to share the fabulous Stampin' Up! products with them.

During the day we ran a Prize Draw, and I am pleased to announce that the WINNER is.............

MARY HUGGINS from Harleston.

Congratulations Mary. I will be sending out the prize to you tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to chat with us yesterday it was great to meet you.

If you are visiting my blog because we meet yesterday, do please leave a comment and say Hello.