Christmas Organiser ......

I have decided to try and paln ahead and get myself organised for Christmas this year, so I have altered a  kraft journal to make a place to keep all those little things you sometimes forget!!

I have used Real Red card and ink for the base layer and stamped the gorgeous Medallion stamp at the corners, you would not believe how big this stamp is!!!  I have added a punched eyelet boarder in Very Vanilla with some Old Olive designer paper, and a length of the beautiful wide grosgrain ribbon in Chocolate Chip fastened with a rhinestone brad and two of the Tiny Tags punched out and threaded onto silver cord.  I Dasher is stamped onto Very Vanilla card in Chocolate Chip ink, layering it with Old Olive & Real Red card.  I then went a bit mad with my ribbons, filling the spirals with Old Olive & Real red stain ribbon and Old Olive grosgrain ribbon.  It's not like me to be so generous with my ribbons - hope it's not the start of anything serious!! I have added some punched tabs to divide the book and help me to find my all important "To Do" lists!!

Making this book has inspired me to make a start on some Christmas cards, I will share them soon, just a few finishing touches to complete my firsts cards of the year, phew!!

                       

Paper and String .......

With every delivery from Stampin' Up! there is some lovely brown packing paper - I have so much I struggle to find a good use for it other than recycling.    This week I decided to have a try at making some paper flowers with my punches.

I have used several of the circle punches to make this flower, scrunching the paper before putting a clear rhinestone brad through the centre.  The background is stamped with a flower vine from the Tiny Tags stamp set in the gorgeous new Soft Suede ink, layered up on Soft Suede card.  I have tied a couple of the Tiny Tags punched out with some linen thread, the leaves are from the Bird and Branch punch. Sprayed with shimmer mist made using the lovely shimmer paints currently available in the mini catalogue until 30th September.

I have made this card using the same colours as before.  The Very Vintage wheel has been used over some Very Vanilla card to create the backgorund.  This flower uses the scallop circle punch, I have put 9 in my flower scrunching them before putting a rhinestone brad through the centre. Another Tiny Tag tucked into the leaves made with the Bird and Branch punch and a length of linen thread wrapped around the card.  Sprayed with White Frost shimmer mist, for a little sparkle.

I still have a huge piece of this lovely brown paper, so any further uses for it would be very helpful!!!  There may be a little surprise in the post for the best idea!!!

It has been so cold here today, more like late October than August bank hoilday!!!  So much for our vist to the Maize Maze, we hid out at the cinema - it was warm and dry there!!!  Fingers crossed the sun shines on Wednesday as I'm planning to try and get to the Maze then????

We are on to the last week of the holidays, this time next week the new clothes will be all laid out ready for the morning rush to begin again -  only this time Philip will be at school all day!!!  what will I do without my "baby"????? 

                                 

Birthday Planning ......

I thought I would get ahead and make up some suitable cards for Philip's friends as there will be 60 children in his year group.  I thought this would be a qucik card to make up a batch of, they are suitable for girls and boys - nice and simple!!

I have used the monkey from the Fox and Friends stamp set with Chocolate Chip ink - its not been out for quite a while. It is currently available until 30th September - there's still time to get yours!!  The grasses are from the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set, stamped in Old Olive, Mellow Moss and Creamy Caraamel.  I have used Chocolate Chip with the School Book Serif Numbers stamp set and the scalloped circle is punched in Pumkin pie.  I used Kraft (soon to be called Crumb Cake) for my base card, matted with Certainly Celery.

I'm off to finish the rest of this batch of cards, before heading out for the afternoon.

                            

Bella Bleu Gift set .......

I have made a few of these beautiful mini gift bags since |I was at Julie's All Day class, I think this has to be my favourite though as it uses the gorgeous Bella Bleu papers!!  I have been "looking" at them for sometime now as I didn't want to cut them all up!!

The quality of the papers from Stampin' Up! makes them perfect for making 3D items like this as they are alomost like card.  I have used the bella Bleu paper for my bag, once I had cut out all of the pieces I sponged chocolate chip ink over them to give the edges a slightly "worn" look before assembling them. The button is from the Latte button colletion, tied with linen thread.

I have made a set of cards to put inside using some of my off cuts of  Bella Bleu papers (no waste here!!). The card bases are made from Kraft (soon to be Cake Crumb) card, I have used various punches and stamps to make each card individual.  The inside pocket is the perfect size for a gift card.

                                                          

Greenhouse Garden Again ......

I keep finding new ways of using this stamp set and have not put it away since I bought it!!  It was also the set we used at my class on Saturday - I will be adding the dates of my planned autumn classes in the next few days.

I have stamped a sheet of card with Melon Mambo ink using only one of the stamps from the set, the lighter shade is created by stamping again before re- inking the stamp.  It is a bold colour scheme with some of the lovely Melon Mambo ribbon (only available far another few weeks) an eyelet punched border and some of the lovely tiny tags fastened with linen thread, really quick to put together but so effective!!

There is still time to take advantage of the discounted sets on offer this month - e-mail me to place your order soon.

                      

I'm Having a Clearout ......

I have finally got round to having a clearout of my craft room most items have only been used a couple of times  - click here to bag yourself a bargain. I will be adding more tomorrow.

Thanks for looking,

     

Two Step Stampin' Promotion - Greenhouse Garden .......

I thought I would share another card from the Two Step stampin' promotion as there are only a few more days left for you to take advantage of this fabulous offer!!!

I have made this card using the Greenhouse Garden stamp set.  The colours are Bashful Bue, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Pale Plum and Perfect Plum.  I have stamped a white card base with Bashful Blue flowers, then matted a stamped piece of white card onto Bashful Blue card.  I have cut out some of the flowers and "popped" them up with diamensionals, adding some of the stripped grosgrain ribbon also in bashful blue, the sentiment is punched our using the oval punches again!! The centres of the flowers are glittered with dazzling diamonds to add a little sparkle.

Now is the perfect time to add to your stamp collection and take advantage of the current offer from Stampin' UP! - of 20 % off selected stamp sets, e-mail your order while there's still time!!

                                                 

Loads of Love ......

My card today is made with my new Loads of Love stamp set. I decided I did "need" this set and took advantage of the 20% discount currently offered on selected two-step stamp sets by Stampin' Up!

I have coloured the image with stampin' write markers and blender pen, adding crystal effects to the windows. I used the tag punches for the greeting with a doodled boarder. I coloured the whisper white gorsgrain ribbon with a marker pen to match the pink hearts.  Nursery letters wheel with Night of Navy ink for the card background. A really quick and simple card, I know I will use this set a lot as Philip is car mad, It has sentiments for so many occassions along with an extra acessory stamp set!!

                       

I have had several e mails and requests today for the instructuions for the gift bag I have made, so I thought I would post the link here for anyone interested. The link to Adela's fabulous blog is here.  The templates are in full colour with step by step instructions and as it is a download it is almost instant!!!  I have purchased several different templates, so I will share some more designs with you soon, I'm just finishing another craft clearout and general tidy up so I can start to make a mess again??
 Hope you have fun creating your bags!!!
                                   

Trendy Trees Gift Set ......

Today I have a gift set I made using the Trendy Trees stamp set. I think you will be seeing a few more of these bags - I have another set finished so I will post that one next week sometime!! I just love making these bags!!

I made a bag with a set of cards & envelopes to go inside, perfect for a last minute gift!! The colours are Taken with Teal (only available until the end of September), Old Olive, Chocolate Chip and Pretty in Pink, I have used these colours as are they are the colours from the Sweet Pea designer paper stack I have used to make the gift bag.

The bag is a fair size when complete, you could put some chocolates or jewellery inside??

The Trendy Trees stamp set is on offer during Agust and is just £10.36, if you would like to place an order for this set please contact me for further details.

We had a lovely day yesterday - we drove to Whitby to catch the North Yorkshire Moors Steam train, stopping off along the way at Grosmont so Philip could see more steam engines before continuing to Pickering. We got the last train back to Whitby as the weather was beautiful, making a nice change!! We stayed for fish & chips in Whitby and a walk along the harbour, the evening sun was beautiful as we watched the mist hanging along the bottom of the cliffs along the bay.  Fingers crossed for some more sunny days, Lucy wants to go to the Maize Maze??

                                     

Your Next Stamp Challenge 23 ......

It is time for a new challenge at Your Next Stamp, it is starlet Kerri's turn to set the challenge and she would love to see Bold  & Bright cards.   I have used one of my favourite stamps - Shopper Fhiona, after all its one of my favourite pass times!!!

I have used some pretty paper from my stash, I just loved the  lilac & limes and it really does look brighter in real life!!  I have embossed the scallop behind Fhiona and cut her out usuing diamensionals to layer her up, adding some soft ribbon for the large bow.

Sadly this is my final design team card for Your Next Stamp, I have enjoyed my time on the team and feel very lucky to have worked with so many talented ladies.  I would like to say a big thank you to Karen for inviting me to join her team and also to Simonne, as she helps to keep us all organised and is always happy to help!!  I'm sure the new Starlets will continue to share some fabulous designs and I would like to wish everyone continued sucess at Your Next Stamp!!!!    I will play along with the new challenges on the other side!!!

                               

Cupcakes ......

I have been busy making some cards for a lady who has just opened a new cake decorating shop, she has some beautiful accessories for cupcakes too!!  I took Lucy along so we could get more supplies for her favourite treat.

This card is made using Crazy for Cupcakes stamp set, coloured with markers and a blender pen.  The colours are Close to Cocoa, Sahara Sand and Bashful Blue, I added a couple of tags from the Tiny Tags stamp set - 20%off until 31st August - tied with linen thread.  A puched star doodled with a button from the Latte collection and it is finished  - nice and quick!!!

I will share some of the other cards later this week!!  Thanks for stopping by

                      

Summer Wedding ......

A really simple card to share today, I was asked to make a last minute wedding card for a friend.

I have used the wedding cake stamp from the Fun & Fast Notes stamp set the image was coloured with the markers and blender pen. I  punched it out with the largest circle to make the scalloped border and have punched small circles gluing them to the back of the image to make a quick scalloped mat. For the background I have used the jumbo wheel So Swirly with So Saffron card & ink these wheels make fabulous backgrounds in no time at all - So Swirly is definately my favourite!!!  The tags are from the Tiny Tags stamp set - discounted for the month of August - punched with the matching jewlery punch. Finishing off with some lovely striped grosgrain ribbon in So Saffron.

Hope you like it, I will be back soon!!!

                            

Birthday Wishes .......

Philip has been to another Birthday party at soft play this week.  I made this card for his friend Charlie who was celebrating his 4th Birthday.

I have used the All in the Family stamp set with the matching accessory stamp set for the footballs and I have stamped "Charlie" with the Just Perfect Alphabet stamp set. I added faux stitching on the white card to create a boarder.  I used the large circle punch for the sweet treat cup, then I made a sliding door so you can take the sweets out with out damaging the card.

I used the larger Schoolbook Serif numbers to stamp 4 on the sliding door, this shows once the sweets are removed!!   I'm sure the sweets won't stay in there too long!!!

                                            

Birthday Wishes .......

A quick post this morning to share the card I have made for my friends daughter - Happy Birthday Anya!!!!

I have made this card with the Schoolbook serif alphabet and number stamp sets.  I love these sets they are so useful for making personalised cards and scrapbook pages.  I have covered them with crystal effects and sprinkled dazzling diamonds over to give them a little sparkle.  I love using the All in the Family stamp set too, so many different combinations and uses - perfect to make a football card for a girl!! The footballs are stamped from the All in the Family accessory stamp set, I have punched them out and popped them up with diamensionals.

Will be back soon with more cards to share, once the shopping, cleaning and washing are done - ooh the excitement!!!

  
                            

Helping Hudson, Templates & Tutorials .......

Earlier this week I came across the story of a little boy called Hudson who is in need of specialist equipment to help him and his family overcome some of his complex mobility needs - you can read more here and here.

I decided to buy a set of the tutorials that a group of Stampin' Up! demonstrators have generously put together to help raise funds for Hudson.  The set I bought is Bags, Boxes & Gifts, there are 10 fabulous tutorials included in the download, with clear instrctions and photographs.  I have made the "Fridge Calendar", it is so quick and easy to make following the instructions given, I had by chance picked up a 2011 calendar (yes they are in the shops already??) the other day not really knowing what I was planning to make so this was perfect timming!!

I changed the colours and stamps as I thought this would make a good addition to a future class I'm working on at the moment.  The colours are Close to Cocoa (retiring soon - buy some now before its gone forever) Pretty in Pink and Whisper White.  I used the lovely Very Vintage wheel across the card before punching the borders with the eyelet border punch, the butterfly is stamped in Close to Cocoa and cut out and coloured with the markers and blender pens.  The edge of the wings are glittered with Dazzling Diamonds, I added a scalloped circle and some Chocolate Chip ribbon to finish it off.  I just need to pick up some magnetic strips for the back of the calendar.

I'm planning to make a few more as I think they will make great gifts - Teachers, Grandma's, Aunties, friends.......

You can purchase the tutorials here and see some of the other fabulous tutorials available too!!

The work these talented ladies are doing to help Hudson and his family is amazing, I can fully understand his need as I mentioned the other day my own little boy Philip has been assessed for the very same "Kid Walker", it will make a huge difference to Philip he will finally gain some independance, which will be of great benefit to him as he will be starting full time school in September.  Philip got his "Kid Walker" on Thursday!!!!

We are surprised at how quickly Philip got his new walker, so now its lots of practise, hopefully the rain will stay away so we can get outside, I will take a picture and pop it on my blog in the next few days, his beaming smile say's it all!!
             

Your Next Stamp Birthday Bash Blog Hop ......

Today is a very special day as Your Next Stamp is celebrating its very 1st birthday with a Birthday Blog Hop!

The YNS Starlets are being joined by some fabulous friends for this hop, and together we are showcasing some fantastic new release stamps as well as some firm favourites! These new stamps are available to buy from today from Your Next Stamp, along with all your YNS favourites.

If you'd like to participate in the hop and you didn't arrive here from Andrea's blog, please CLICK HERE to return to the start of the hop at Karen's blog, as I'm sure you don't want to miss out on all the fun we have for you today!The hop starts today (Thursday, August 5th at 08:00 EST) and ends on Wednesday August 11th at midnight (EST).

We have not one but two grand prizes for you to win - two lucky winners will be drawn at random to each receive a $25 gift certificate to spend on YNS stamps! WOW! As the prize is so fantastic, we are going to make you work a little to enter, LOL! Each Starlet and Guest Starlet have a letter hiding in their blog post. All you need to do is gather these letters, rearrange them to form a 3-word phrase, and then email this phrase to Karen. All correct entries will be entered into the grand prize draw. So make sure you hop around every blog and remember to leave a comment at every stop too.

I have two secret letters for you  ....    A   Y

All that cake must have affected Karen as she has gone a little crazy and is holding a 20% off sale for the duration of the hop - the crazy part is that everything will be reduced by 20%, including items already on sale! I'm not sure when (or even if!) this will happen again, so make sure you hop on over to the YNS store once you've completed the hop and fill your basket!

I have used the super cute Sleepover Fhiona stamp set - I love this one!!!   I have stamped the background with Real Red ink using the flower from this set, the image has been sut out and layered with diamensionals after I have slightly curved the edges to give the cushion a rounded look. I have stamped and layered up the large popcorn stamp using my circle punches, the bowl has a lovley glossy finish as I covered it with crystal effects.  The borders are punched using the eyelet border punch mounted onto the Real Red card with some matching grosgrain ribbon, the sentiment is also from this set and again I have used my oval punches, I don't know what I did before I had them!!!  The base card is Bright Blue, I thought it gave it a lovely crisp look to the card.

So now it's time for you to hop on over Cabio's blog as she is the next stop on our hop, but don't forget to grab my hidden letter first and also leave me a comment!

Thanks so much for hopping with us today! I hope you enjoy our birthday celebrations and new stamps!                        

Your Next Stamp Challenge 22 ......

We have another new challenge for you today at Your Next Stamp, this week it is Karen's turn to set the challenge, she would like to see "Birthday"  cards/layouts.

I have used one of my favourite stamps Cupcake Fhiona, with of course lots of sparkly glitter!!!  The papers are from the Sweet Pea pad from Stampin'Up! with chocolate chip (my favourite kind of cake!!)  I have punched the star and added a button with more sparkle around the edges, the sentiment is from the Circle of Friends set.  I'm sure this will come in handy with all of the party invitaions Philip has!!!

If you hop on over to the Your Next Stamp challenge blog you can see the beautiful cards from the very talented Starlets, or visit their personal blog for more details of their wonderful creations!!

Don't forget to pop by tomorrow as there will be a Birthday Bash blog hop to celebrate a brand new release from YNS anf YNS 1st Birthday!!!!!

                    

Two Step Stampin' August promotion with Tutorial .......

You might want to go and make a cup of tea before you start as it is a long post, but I think it is worthwhile to show the stunning effects you can get from a Two Step stamp set and it is very easy to achieve fabulous cards in hardly no time at all.

I have used the beautiful Greenhouse Garden stamp set again along with the Tiny tags stamp set available from the mini catalogue - both sets are included in the current promotion.  The colours are Real Red, More Mustard and Basic Black, I have used Very Vanilla card for stamping on. You will need a stamp-ma-jig to line up your stamps perfectly, but it can be used with any stamp especially when masking images.

1.  Start by inking your solid flower in the lightest colour, randomly stamp over your card.

2. Take the clear window sheet from the Stamp-ma-jig and line it up square with the corner, the take your inked stamp and stamp directly on to the window sheet.

                    

3. Now take the clear window sheet and lay it over the solid image to line up the second stamp.

4. Carefully remove the window sheet keeping the handle in place and stamp your second image.

5. Continue stamping the second layer, you can see the stunning detail easily achieved using two step stamping.

6. I finished the base card with the smaller flower using the same two step technique and then I randomly stamped another flower center  in More Mustard to fill in between the flowers - it reminded me of a corn field with bold poppies.

Now your background piece is ready to be cut down to size and layered up on your card base.  I used real Red & Basic Black along with some gorgeous real red stain ribbon finished in a flat bow from the mini catalogue. I have stamped the card base with More Mustard and the same flower centre.

                                          

Two Step Stampin' Promotion - Greenhouse Garden .......

Details of the august promotion and discounted stamp sets can be found here.

Today I have a card using the beautiful Greenhouse Garden stamp set this set is currently £18.36  (usually £22.95)  during August for the Two Step stampin' promotion!!!  It is a perfect set for summer Birthday cards.

This is a card I made for my friends Birthday using Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, More Mustard and Old Olive. I used one of the stamps to randomly stamp the background of the Pumpkin Pie card base, then  randomly stamped some whisper white card with flowers using the stamp- ma- jig to put the second layer/detail on the large flower has been cut out and layered with diamensionals.  I have added some Pumpkin Pie ribbon tied in a knot, the sentiment is from the Oval All stamp set, using the matching punches to layer it up.

I will try to post a tutorial of how to stamp these flowers later this week, it is so very easy and the effect is beautiful!!  If you would like to order any of the sets currently on offer please get in touch.

                         

Helping Hudson, A Wheely Great Cause .......

This morning when I was having a quick peep at Sara's blog I came across a moving apeal to help a young boy in Austrailia called Hudson.  I was extremely touched by the plight of this little boy as my own son Philip has just been assessed for the very same "Kid Walker".

Hudson is 2 ½ but unlike most children his age, he has had a tough little life! Doctors realised he had an incomplete brain before he was born and as a newborn he was discovered to be legally blind

Hudson has recently been diagnosed with both Cerebral Palsy and Epilepsy! His mobility has been hindered severely by his disabilities, however his family and friends wish nothing more than to give him the chance to get moving on his own. Hudson needs a special Wheelchair/Walker, called a Kid Walker. This device will help get him mobile, allow him to play with his brother and sister, interact with other children his own age and give him independence in his day today life!

Today is the launch day of the event and it runs right through to 22 August. So what's it all about? Well, through the simple purchase of some fun -filled paper craft tutorials you can help give freedom to a little boy! Each bundle on sale has 10 fun-filled tutorials for just AU$10! And there are six themes to choose from: Bags & Boxes, Christmas, Kids’ Birthdays, Projects for Men & Boys, Punch Art & Scrapbooking. There’s even a FREE bonus bundle if you buy four or more! All proceeds go directly to help Hudson.

The tutorials have been kindly produced by Stampin' Up! demonstrators from all over the world and feature products available in the Austrailian catalogue, so not everything will be available here.  I'm sure this will not cause too much difficulty to us in the UK as I know stampers are very creative and will substitue the featured products with their own favourite products to make these fabulous projects their own.  I will make up some of the projects once I recieve my tutorials later this week (there is still some tweeking happening!!).  You can buy the tutorials here.

The team are also running daily challenges and giveaways but please note that only Australian residents are eligible for prizes.

Here in the UK we are so very lucky to have our NHS as they have partially funded Philip's new walker along with Education as it will be used for school.  This walking frame will give Philip the chance to play football or catch a ball these are things he has never done beofre - he is 4 years old!! I will be able to let him walk ahead with out the constant fear of him falling and hurting himself.  The walker will also be of great benefit throughout the school day as he may manage to carry a library book or his lunch box???  Who knows what improvements this will bring but I know it will change his life, please help if you can to give Hudson the same oppourtunity.

If you'd like to know read more about the fundraiser or help spread the word, then please pop over to http://helpinghudson.blogspot.com/