Stampin' Up Watercolour Winter Workshop

On Saturday I had a lovely group of ladies join my Christmas Post workshop. This workshop was designed to keep postage costs to a minimum, as often whey you make a special card with lovely embellishments, the postage can be very expensive - so all of the cards we made are flat without and ribbons, buttons, gems, brads ect!!

The colours we used at this class are Cherry cobbler, Old Olive, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla.

We started the class by stamping a full sheet of A4 to make our own back ground paper - "One Sheet Wonder".

The Watercolour Winter stamp set made a lovely background, ready to be cut up to make our cards.

The plain bases were embossed and stamped to add some interest without dimension.

The stamped card was cut up for the cards, I managed to make 9 cards from one sheet of A4 card!

The cards were finished with a selection of seasonal sentiments and matching punches.

Everything was stuck "flat" to the card base ready for a basic 1st or 2nd class stamp.

The ladies also got Very Vanilla envelopes in their kit and some of them were decorated to match the cards.  I have a few more cards from this class I will share tomorrow, as this has been a rather long post.

Angela x

Rainbow Ribbon

I spent last night with a lovely group of ladies re-visiting one of the stamp sets they bought when I did a workshop using the lovely Greenhouse Garden stamp set.This is a "two-step" stamp set and the group decided they would like to have a refresher class using it. 

I showed the ladies how they can create their own custom ink pad colours using Stampin' Up! re -inkers and a baby wipe. 

The cards are very "clean & simple"  we used Regal Rose card for the base with  Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist and Regal Rose re-inkers, the detail is stamped with Basic Grey ink.

There was quite a lot of cutting out of  flowers and we made a matching gift box with a tag as well.

Look at the gorgeous "rainbow ribbon" - it seemed a shame to waste the ink left on the baby wipe and as I only had a small length of Whisper White satin/taffeta ribbon left I thought I would see what happened when I placed it on the ink. The result this gorgeous ribbon that perfectly matches the flowers!!

Here is the set we made altogether.  Why not get your friends together and book a workshop with me and I will share some "wow" techniques using Stampin' Up! products.  

The NEW Autumn and Winter Seasonal catalogue from Stampin' Up! will be released on 1st September for customers to order from, as a demonstrator I have the privilege of ordering before it is released - what an order it was too!!  I know you will love the new products - email me to find out how you can get your copy.

Angela x

Special Birthday Wishes

On Friday my sister celebrates her 40th Birthday - this is a remarkable  achievement for someone who on more than one occasion has been so very ill she was not expected to survive the next few hours!!  The love and care she has been given by my Mum is the key to her survival and we are planning a party with family and friends on Friday - the same day as the Olympics open in London!!  I guess there are not many people  (my Auntie - same day) who have had a "countdown" to their birthday!!  

So on to my card - it has to be a "special one", so I decided to have a go at a stair stepper card - they are so easy and look very effective, I plan to make more cards like this one!!

I have used Poppy Parade, Whisper White & Not Quite Navy for my theme and spent many hours making paper roses for the bunting, these are left over so I have used them for the card.

Arty angle, so you can see the depth of the card, I will make a quick box tonight for the card, so the flowers are not crushed.

A close up of the flowers, You can just see the glitter inside the Night of Navy flower, the patterned paper is from the gorgeous Everyday Enchantment pack - available again during July. The sentiment is from the Perfect Punches stamp set.

I made a box with the exclusive Stampin' Up! Milk Carton die, adding some pearls and crochet trim with another paper flower.  I bought a charm for her bracelet and it will fit nicely in here.

I know I'm going to be busy decorating the garden, so I  am posting my card today - I can hope the sun will come back out!! I have a couple of Birthday banners I have made as well - hopefully I can take some decent pictures once they are hung up??

Angela x

Convention Swap 1

This is one of my general swap's for convention, I decided to make a card front using the NEW cute Polar Party stamp set.

 I really love these colours together - Pool Party, Pretty in Pink and Whisper White.

I stamped the little penguin and coloured it with the marker pens in Peach Parfait, Pool Party and Pretty in Pink, I added a little Dazzling Diamonds for the snow too.

I punched out the image using the extra large oval, layering it with the decorative label punch. I used Shimmery White card and embossed it with the polka dots embossing folder, the gorgeous snowflake is punched in Shimmery White card using the Doily Triple Layer punch, with a gem for a bit of sparkle.

I decided to make the layers look like a wrapped parcel with some of the gorgeous scallop dots ribbon in Pretty in Pink.  The sentiment is from the NEW Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set, punched with the Word Window punch and layered with the Modern Label punch.

Back soon with more convention makes!!

Angela x

All Ready to Go!!!!

I thought I would just share a sneak peak from my first "all day" class tomorrow!!  It has been another extremely busy week, with a few days away for half term and last minute preparations for tomorrow.

I wouldn't like to give too much away!!!

The new antique brads and lace trims are gorgeous!!!!

It is a Christmas themed workshop so hopefully the ladies attending tomorrow's workshop will make a good start on their Christmas preparations!!

I'm off to get the rest of my things ready for tomorrow and an early night!!  Hope I remember the milk for tea & coffee tomorrow - it's praying on my mind as its out of sight in the fridge!  The only other thing I could do with is a truck as I have so much to take along?????

I will share some pictures from the workshop and the projects we made over the next couple of days.

Angela x

Greenhouse Gala Class

Last week I held the first one of my new classes based around the beautiful Greenhouse Gala papers.  I designed cards, scrapbook layouts and a matching bag in a box for inspiration.

We did have some stamping using the Ornate Flowers stamp set and the co-ordinating Ornate Blossom background stamp. 

The sentiments are from the perfect Punches stamp set - along with the co-ordinating punches and a little bit of bling!

This bright card was so quick and easy to re-create with the Big Shot, simply putting a piece of the paper in the Square Lattice embossing folder and layering it with the Eyelet Border punch.

A gret card to use up some of the "off-cuts" and scraps of paper.

The flowers were cut out and stuck on to Whisper white card, then it was embossed using the Square Lattice embossing folder.  The ribbon was ruffled along double sided tape.

It was lovely to see so many different cards and bags made from the same kit - I know my ladies enjoyed working with their kits and of course having a few extra goodies to take home with them!!

I have my October classes planned, we will be making a variety of cards, small treat bags and boxes suitable for  either Christmas or Halloween the choice is yours!!  If you would like to purchase a kit to make the projects at home I will be including instructions for the boxes and treat bags - £15.00 delivered to you.  I will update my blog with the kits as soon as I can order some of the kit contents from the new catalogue - so many lovely new products coming soon!!!

Angela x

Simply Stampin' Challenge Week 14

Its time for another new challenge this week at Simply Stampin' we have a fabulous colour challege for your inspiration. 

I will admit when I first looked at the colours I had no idea how to use them all together but I love this card!!

I used Night of Navy for my card base and inked up the monsters from the Make a Monster stamp set and coloured them in Peach Parfait and Rich Razzleberry, adding a boarder of faux stitching in Rich Razzleberry.  The sentiment is from Perfect Punches, I used the marker pens to colour the stamp, a bit of crystal effects on the eyes to give them araised finish.

We would love to see your cards again this week, if your needing inspiration for these colour take a look at the fabulous creations from the design team here.

Angela x

Simply Stampin' Challenge Week 13

Good morning, Saturday comes around faster every week - there were some fabulous "male" cards entered into last weeks Simply Stampin' challenge, thank you to everyone who joined us.  

This week we have another fabulous sketch for your inspiration and as always the design team have made some stunning creations, you can see them here. I do love using a sketch as a starting point for my design and this was a really easy sketch to follow.

I used some Crumb Cake for my card base with some gorgeous Elegant Soiree papers and Pacific Point card and ribbon for my accent colour. I added faux stitching around the card and I think I will be adding this to a few more cards!! Not very much stamping this week only the sentiment from  the new level 2 Something to Celebrate stamp set in the mini catalogue a few tiny pearls to finish.

We would love to see your cards at Simply Stampin' this week, you can rotate the sketch for you design if you wish, don't forget to include at least one Stampin' Up"! product on your design.

Angela x

A Special Baby Card

There have been a few safe arrivals of baby boys lately!!  This is the special card I made for the teachers at school to give to the teaching assistant in Philip's class who left ot have her baby at Easter.

I made a keepsake box for the card as it is quite large as it had to have enough space at the back of the card for everyone to sign it.  There is seam binding around the lid of the box with a flat bow and a pearl, to echo the same theme on the front of the card, I layered the sentiment with various punches and more pearls, stamping some of the smaller images from Bundle of Love stamp set over the designer paper.

I have used Very Vanilla and Crumb Cake for this card as I needed it to be suitable for a girl or a boy. I have also left spaces for photo's of the new baby to be added, with just a small tag to decorate the edge of the photo.

I have used the All in the Family stamp set for this page, stamped in Chocolate chip ink on to Very Vanilla card.

This is the sentiment from the Baby Bundle stamp set, stamped with Chocolate Chip ink on to Vwery Vanilla card and layered on to Crumb Cake card with a scallop boarder trim edge.  The gorgeous ruffle was made by pulling a thread from the seam binding - it ruffles perfectly every time.

Another image from the Baby Bundle stamp set, with just a simple pearl for decoration.

I need to make a few more baby cards for my box and I will be using the Baby Bundle stamp set - this is a set I got FREE  along with 4 other sets!!! - If you want to find out more about how you can get FREE stamp sets and a discount on all of your Stampin' Up! products then contact me to find out more.  I will share my new baby cards soon.

I am off to finish cutting the kits for my "Hot Shot Big Shot" class this week - I still have a couple of spare places, if you fancy joining me, I will be sharing lots of tips and tricks to help you get the most from this must have craft product, the Stampin' UP! exclusive dies are fabulous too!!

Angela x 

Simply Stampin' Challenge week 5

Saturday again already???

Its been a strange week, with so many bank holidays and school back but only for a few fun days to celebrate the Royal Wedding with the children it would seem.  Philip took part in a Prince and Princesses' day, Key stage 1 held their own Wedding celebration at the local chuch, then returned to school for a celebration lunch including a wedding ckae!!  Then everyone had a "red, white & blue" day with party food and games on Thursday!! 

So on to this weeks challenge at Simply Stampin' - we have a colour challenge this week. I have to admit I didn't think they were colours that would work together for me but I'm pleased with the way it turned out and I have made another card using these colours I will share later in the week.

The Owl punch came to my rescue again and I made a really simple card with the perfect polka dots embossing folder, the sentiment is from the Party This Way stamp set and I layered it using the word window and decorative label punches, of course I added a couple of gems for that little bit of sparkle!!

We would love to see your creations using this colour challenge this week, there are some beautiful cards from the other mamebers of the design team again this week, you can see them here.

Angela x



Cards for Men

I always struggle to make suitable cards for men, so when I saw the new 12x12 paper stacks in the Stampin' Up! catalogue I knew the neutrals would be perfect for so many occasions.  The papers are double sided and there are 2 sheets of each colour and pattern for £15.95 making them teriffic value!! 

I have used Basic grey for my card base and some of the lovely striped paper, I have added a line of faux stitiching at one side.  I have put some of the jumbo pewter eyelets along the edge of the card & I added a punched star adding faux stitching and sponging ink around the edges.  The sentiment has been stamped directly on to the paper.

For this card I have used more of the Basic Grey paper with a length of Basic Black taffetta ribbon.  The sentiment is from the On a Pedestal stamp set, I have used the new fancy label punch, edging it with a Basic Grey Stampin' Write marker pen. Really quick and simple to make!!

Winter has arrived here again!!!!  We have had a lot of snow since last Thursday and it looks like it will be here to stay as it is so cold and the snow showers keep on coming down!!  This morning around 10 am the car still showed  -7C, it has not been above freezing all day!! So I am planning on staying home and wrapping some Christmas presents and finally catching up with some of my favourite blogs this week.  I have been busy making various things for some Christmas fairs and I have had Philip home for almost 10 days as he has been unwell, so that has taken up most of my time.

Angela x