Fabulous Offer from Stampin' Up

Stampin’ Up! have announced a fantastic new promotion throughout June and July, hostesses can earn £20 extra in free products when their party sales exceed £250.

That means a minimum of a level 1 hostess exclusive set and £45 to spend on anything in the catalogue!!

Invite your family and friends round for a fun and crafty get together and discover Stampin' Up! in the comfort of your own home.  I will demonstrate a variety of techniques, show you how our fabulous products work and more importantly give you the chance to TRY the product before you BUY.

I would love to arrange a date, daytime or evening with you so please email me.

Gift Bag Tutorial

If you have time go and put the kettle on for a cuppa before you start to read this post as its quite long and there are a lot of pictures too. 

Take a 12" x12" sheet of paper and cut to 9" x 12"

score at 5" and 7" then turn and score at 2"

I used Pacific Point DSP

Crease the score lines and cut the score lines as shown.

Cut the 3" x 12" strip to 3" x 9"

score at 1/2" and 21/2" turn and score at 2"

trim away the outer 1/2" pieces as shown

Place sticky strip along the score lines as shown.

Fix the side panel to main the piece one side at a time.

Fold the flaps at the base and use tombow adhesive to close them

your basic bag is almost complete.

Lightly pinch the top creasing the sides into shape.

Using the crop-o-dile punch holes ready for the ribbon handles.

I used Jumbo Eyelaets for interest and to make the handle support stronger.

Take 30cm of ribbon for each handle and thread through the eyelets

tie in a knot inside the bag.

This is my completed bag with a decorative panel layered with Real Red, basic Grey and Very Vanilla. I have used the Polka Dots embossing folder on half of the Very Vanilla card so I could stamp on the plain side.  I used the All in the Family stamp set, coloured with the marker pens, the sentiment is from Just Believe stamp set, punched and layered with the Word Window and Decorative Label punch.

I would love to see what you make, please link back to my blog to say where you found my tutorial, thank you, have fun and enjoy creating.

Angela x

Simply Stampin' Challenge Week 9

Its time for a new challenge at Simply Stampin' Challenge and we have a theme for your inspiration this week

Floral Frenzy

I have made a gift bag and a matching card using some of the beautiful Greenhouse Gala papers, with some of the In Colour ribbon in Pear Pizzaz.

I used the marker pens to colour my image from the Ornante Flower stamp set that co-ordinates with the papers. The card base is Pumpkin Pie layered with Pear Pizzaz.

The gift bag is really easy to make from a single sheet of 12 x12 paper with very little waste. If you pop back tomorrow I have a tutorial to show how to make it.

We would love to see your Floral Frenzy creations over at Simply Stampin' challenge this week, the design taem have made some fabulous creations again this week, you can see them here.

Angela x

A Day at the Beach

I have been making use of some of the many photos printed and just left in a box, they have never made it in to an album!!  Lucy is 9 now and this was taken when she was 3, on a very cold January day at Redcar beach.

I have used Crumb Cake for my base and the Confetti stamp set for the background along with the gorgeous Medallion stamp - I don't think I had ever seen stamps as big as the background stamps Stampin' Up! sell.

I have picked up the colours of Lucy's clothes with my accent colours of Marina Mist and Pirroutte Pink.  The flowers are made from various circles punched and layered with a brad.  I made a fold out strip for my journaling with the new Decorative Label punch, tied with some lovely taffetta ribbon. My title was stamped with my favourite Schoolbook Serif alphabet and cut out.

Lucy lookd slighty bewildered in the first photos, as Darran had burried her pink wellingtons in the sand and she couldn't move, she obviously wasn't too bothered by this.

Angela x

Simply Stampin' Challenge Week 8

This week at Simply Stampin' Challenge we have another colour challenge for you. 

Old Olive Pumpkin Pie Daffodil Delight Very Vanilla

As soon as I saw this weeks challenge I knew I wanted to make a bright summery card using them, so I dusted off my Tart and Tangy stamp set!!

I stamped zingy oranges, lemons and limes on to my base card, cutting out some extra lemons and layering them up with Dazzling Diamonds around the edges for a bit of sparkle!! I added a length og Pumpkin Pie grosgrain ribbon around the card and used the scalloped boarder punch for both layers.

There are always some beautiful cards form the other design team members and this week is no exception, you can find them all here. 

Angela x

Friday Nigth's Class Projects

I have been having a few problems with my internet this week, we have up-graded it and its certainly no better - the speed is slower than before.  I do hope in September when the fibre optic cables have been put in place in our area we will benefit from a faster connection, cable TV and broadband stop at the house next door to us!!

So on to the projects we made on Friday night.

The papers we used are the from the mini catalogue - Springtime Vintage.

The wreath was stamped with the Baby Blossoms stamp set, with a little Dazzaling Diamonds glitter.

A band of contrasting paper was wrapped around the pocket and a large flower punched layered with circle punches and a large matching button .

This is the second card we made and it didn't take very long to put together but it is very effective and a great way to use some of the scraps we all accumulate.

The squares were punched from the Springtime Vintage papers and glued on to copier paper, then it was cut with the exclusive Top Note die - I'm so happy we now have the Stampin' Up! Big shot!!  The patchwork panel was then embossed with the square lattice embossing folder, giving the papers a new texture.  We used Baja Breeze seam binding ribbon tied and gathered and a sentiment from Sincere Salutations stamp set.

I have been busy making up some business tools ready for the newest members of my team.  I do have a spare set ready to post to the next person who joins my team so if you are thinking of signing up as an Independent Stampin' Up! demonstrator why not contact me and find out more about our successful team of Sparkly Angels.

Angela x

Itty Bitty Cards

I needed a couple of quick cards for a birthday party Lucy was going to, so as the girls were twins I decided to make the same cards in  different colour collections.

This card is from the Brights collection - Real Red, Daffodil Yellow, Pacific Point and Melon Mambo.

The Subtles version So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue and Pretty in Pink.

For both cards I used the small square punch and the 11/4" circle punch layered in a grid pattern on an A6 size card. I stamped some of the tiny flowers from the Itty Bitty Bits stamp seet in the same colours and used the co-ordinating punch for them adding a tiny rhinstone for a little sparkle. 

I quite liked the effect of the punches and I thought they  would make a Lego inspired card for some of  Philips friends.

Angela x

Simply Stampin' Challenge week 7

Its time for a new challenge at Simply Stampin' this week we have another sketch for your inspiration.  I really liked this sketch its a great starting place for a card when your lacking inspiration!!  The talented design team have again made some fabulous projects, so make sure you visit the Simply Stampin' challenge blog this week.

I'm planning on having a go at a scrapbook layout with this sketch during the week. I will post the finished layout once I get it  photographed.

 This was one of those cards I needed inspiration for - I was asked to make a card for a civil partnership in September and it had to be green.  I thought the sketch this week would be perfect for a simple design, the background was made with the So Swirly jumbo wheel using Garden Green ink over Garden Green card.  The ribbons are Very Vanilla satin and grosgrain ribbons layered up, with a beautiful frame form th new Four Frames stamp set punched with the matching punch.  I added a few pearls and the greeting is from the new Something to Celebrate  Level 2 hostess stamp set in the mini catalogue.

I still need to go and put everything away from my class last night with a lovely group of ladies they all loved the cards we made, so I will share them tomorrow, I still need to photograph them!! 

 Angela x

Big Shot Class

I have been really enjoying using the new Big Shot with the exclusive dies and embossing folders from Stampin' Up! so I thought I would share some of the projects from my Big Shot classes last week.

This little pillow box is perfect for a small gift along with a matching card. The colours of this set are Very vanilla, Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette and Concorde Crush. The flowers are cut with the Fun Flowers die in a variety of card and Lap of Luxury designer paper, some have been embossed.

This card was a last minute addition to the class, the paper was embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper folder and lightly sanded so that the white core showed through, then lightly spritzed with shimmer paint. The flowers were cut and embossed with the Flower Burst embosslit.

If you are thinking of buying a Big Shot I will arrange to come to your home and show you how to create some amazing projects using the exclusive Stampin' Up! dies and folders. This range will no doubt expand later in the year so why not get yours now.

A special offer from me - anyone buying a Big Shot from me during May can choose an embossing folder of  their choice FREE.

Angela x

Pretty Birthday Gift Set

This is one of the last minute cards I made for Lucy for one of her firends last week.  I decided to use  pretty pastel colours for the card and made a matching backpack to pop the birthday present in.

I used So Saffron for the card base with a layer of matching paper from the 12x12 DSP stack and some of the lovely Nursery Suite paper, perfect for so many occassions - not just babies!! I added a length of Daffodil Delight satin ribbon with some of the nursery accent stickers and a few pearls.

I decided to make my backpack from some of the 12x12 DSP in So Saffron as the quality is so good and it is quite thick I knew it would work perfectly for this bag, also saving time matting and layering the paper onto a card base.  I used the same Nursery Suite papers, Daffodil Delight satin ribbon for the handles, accent sticker and a Regal Rose button .

I have been busy getting my projects ready for a class on Friday night with one of my groups of lovely ladies,  we will of course be using some of the new products form the mini catalogue and the Big Shot!!

Angela x