Good Morning...

A little break from the Christmas crazy that seems to be taking over us all today with a little peek at a new stamp set coming up in the Seasonal Catalogue which goes live on January 5th.

Balloon Builders is a cool little collection of balloon shaped stamps, you know the kind of balloons clowns make things from?

As soon as I saw this in the catalogue I knew it would be on my wish list. There some fab  

samples in the catalogue to inspire you but straight away my head said wedding card. The horseshoe balloon reminded me of confetti you throw at weddings and so last night I put ink to card and this is what I came up with.

I stamped the horseshoe in Pink Pirouette and Sahara Sand to allow the gold embossing to really shine.

This shows the embossing much better and the texture and shine is second to none. 

I hope you enjoyed the little break form Christmas and if you want to know more about how to get theses stamps for yourself and even better still at a discount then please get in touch. I would love to hear from you and even better welcome you to my team x

Project Life catch up...

Apologies from the start but this post is a little picture heavy compared to my usual.

It's been chaotic here beyond belief and while we have still benn enjoying the fun that Pax gets up to, managing to blog about it has gone to pot.

So here is a catch up of the Elf antics and how they have been recorded in the album. 

Thank goodness for Project Life when real life gets busy

Day 4 Pax tries to get the goodies on top of the fridge

Day 5 Pax went on an adventure and got stuck in the tree! Thankfully Caiden is a top reader and managed to read the note Pax left and found him just in time.

Day 6 Pax decided to have some fun in the night and bounced all the way downstairs like and andrex puppy! 

Day 7 Pax found Caiden's art box and decided to cheer up the bananas!!!

Day 8 Just what a busy Mum needs.... Pax decided it is too warm here and wanted to play in the snow again like he does at the North Pole. Only thing he found was flour so we woke to flour angels.

Be sure to keep popping by to see how the album develops. Hopefully time will be plentiful this week. 

More Elf adventures...

Pax is proving to be a very lovable little Elf. Caiden is excited every morning to come downstairs and see what has been going on and even more excited to help me record his adventures in his own little album. 

Stampin' UP! and their Project Life kit have made it so much fun to save the memories. 

A little bit of washi tape and the photo is added to the layout in seconds. 

Here is the double page ready to pop back into the album.

Pop by again tomorrow to see if the lovable little chappie carries on behaving!

Good Morning... 

Another fun filled night with our little visitor and this time I got to share the fun of recording his adventures with Caiden as he helped me put this page together.

A simple layout today using just the top 2 pockets in a four pocket page from the Project Life pack. 

I used 2 of the smaller matte cards with the left hand side one acting as a background to the photo. 

Caiden, who is just 5 1/2 (isn't that half important when you are that age lol) added the little stickers to the picture. He was adamant that he did it all by himself and I think he did a pretty good job. 

Just show's how simple memory keeping can be and with Project Life from Stampin' UP! it is even easier as the packs all co-ordinate with our regular products.

Be sure to pop back tomorrow to see how we fill the bottom pocket. 

Good Morning... and it's most definitely a 

day!

Ciaden has been a little down with his Dad being away for so long but Pax the Elf seems to be helping. 

The look of pure amazement on his face says it all and I'm loving how easy it is to pop the picture into the days layout. 

Project life really is making this a fun adventure for us both. I'm loving the ease of putting it together daily and Caiden is loving the adventures and having something to show Daddy when he gets home.

I don't know why I left it so long!!!

Pop back tomorrow to see more of Pax's shenanigans! 

Something New...

Starting something new can be quite daunting and that's just how I felt when I ordered my first Project Life kit from Stampin' UP! I have been a demo now for sometime and knew that the kits they put together would work but this was my first attempt at this type of memory keeping.

I have 'scrapbooked' over the years and recently completed an album for my Dad's 65th so why so nervous?

I can say now I honestly don't know. 

I decided to scrap the adventures of our new visitor PAX, the elf on the shelf. 

The beauty of this system of memory keeping is that you can prepare the pages ahead of time if you wish and just add details or you can do each page as you go.

I opted to put the pages together all at once and add pictures and journalling each day. 

Here is the opening page of our album and each day I will be sharing with you the adventures of Pax and my little boy Caiden. 

If you would like to know more about the products used or how to Project Life your own memories then please leave me a comment. 

Be sure to pop back tomorrow to see what Pax gets up to when he returns from his nightly visit to Santa to report on Caiden's behaviour!

Festive Frenzy....

Hello and welcome to another Blog Hop from the Stampin' Creative girls. You will have arrived here from the lovely EMMA. Such lovely projects x

I can't believe where the year is going and with the Nutty one having been away for the last 6 weeks I feel time is getting away from me. We still have 4 weeks to go before he is home, so with the stress of dealing with everything from renovations to homework and housework by myself,  crafting time is very much therapy and very much needed. 

Even the youngest members of the family need to feel special at the dinner table and here is a little place setting just for them. I used the Snow Place stamp set and matching framelits to create a little trio of place mat, cutlery pocket and napkin holder. I laminated the place mat so little spills won't ruin the fun. 

Of course no dinner is complete without a cracker so here is one made using the Envelope Punch Board. Each cracker holds 3 small chocolates, Just enough to fill any little holes left after dinner(!)

Finally something new I have discovered and am loving recently... Pocket Letters. This is a fun way to swap little goodies and art. Each pocket letter is made up of 9 ATC sized cards which you design and decorate then place into the pockets. Behind each card is a little gift and this can be crafting goodies or edible! 

I have used Project Life cards and accessories along with Lost Lagoon cardstock and the Snow Place stamp set again. 

This set will soon be on it's way to my swap partner. If you would like to find out more and join in a swap or two then pop over to OUR GROUP on facebook 

Hop on over to EIMEAR for some more fab projects x

Stampin Creative October Blog Hop

Hello.... Boy are the evenings drawing in now. 

Here we are again with another blog hop from the Stampin Creative.

This months theme is Fancy Folds and I know you will have enjoyed a fab creation from LOUISE. Such a talented lady. 

I decided to try a fold I have never done before and to add to the excitement I pulled a stamp set I haven't inked yet either.

Here is my Waterfall Card using Gift from the Garden. 

I always thought these were harder then they are and I will definitely be making more as they are so effective.

A simple mechanism allows you to reveal the images one by one.

I kept to a simple pallete of Watermelon Wonder, Soft Suede and Wild Wasabi to ensure the Fancy Fold was the feature of this card.

I hope you enjoyed this fold and be sure to try it yourself (it's not that scary - honest!).

Now hop on over to PIP for some more fab creations

Squishy Bag fun...

It's day 2 on the 30 day Challenge so here is a card I have designed for this weekends class. 

We are focusing on techniques with Stampin' UP!  reinkers and this is a card which uses those and very little else. 

As you can see it creates a very soft background with little effort but be warned a whole lot of mess!

I call this the 'Squishy Bag' technique but I'm sure there is a more technical name for it out there somewhere lol.

I will be back tomorrow with a tutorial and a different colour way for you.

I used Whisper White for the card above while the card below uses Glossy White. Both cards were created at the same time with the same bag so it shows the different look you can create just by changing the cardstock used.

Enjoy your day and be sure to pop back tomorrow for a tutorial and different card

Happy New Year.....

No I haven't gone a little mad or overslept by 3 months lol... 

Today is the start to the new Stampin' UP! year. A fresh set of goals to achieve, new friends to be made and along the way a tonne more fun to be had.

A new goal for me is to blog more and as if she had read my mind my lovely upline MONICA set a challenge for our team to blog for 30 days in October.

Here is a recent card I made for a swap with fellow demos and it is especially meaningful as I look back on 3yrs of being a demonstrator.

One of the things I love about being a demonstrator is the fantastic support and encouragement you get from your upline, fellow team mates and other demos. There is a real sense of friendship and love within our crafty family and each and everyone I meet in my Stampin' UP! journey really do make me happy.

Join me tomorrow and for the rest of the month as I challenge myself and hopefully bring you a little inspiration along the way.

Stampin' Creative Blog Hop - Sneak Peek

Hello and welcome to another monthly hop by the Stampin' Creative crew. This month we demonstrators were lucky enough to get a sneak peek of the upcoming Seasonal Catalogue and we wanted to share with you some of the lovely products coming your way.

In just a few days you too will be able to get your hands on all the delicious craft goodies that are sure to make your Christmas one to treasure. In the meantime enjoy what we have put together fro you. You will have joined me from the lovely Emma who I am sure you will agree has wowed us all. 

I have chosen the stamp set Snow Place and the matching framelits to create today's projects

Here is a simple card using the larger snowman from the set. As you can see he is die cut to perfection as are his matching accessories. The background is embossed with one of our new larger sized embossing folders called Softly Falling. It creates a wonderful gentle snowfall effect. 

This card sees some of the other cute characters pop by to join the fun. I popped the top hat onto dimensionals to give a little depth.

Finally this fun little frame which has been inspired by fellow demo Sally Jo, who has wowed me with some lovely work recently.

Here are close ups of the individual sections so you can see the detail a little better.

I hope you have enjoyed today's projects and don't forget to leave a little comment so I know you have been. 

On now to the very talented Mikaela. 

You've Got This...

Good Morning...

Today I wanted to share with you a quick card made using the stamp set You've Got This from Stampin' UP!

At first glance it looks a complicated image to stamp but using a mask (well 2) it is a fairly quick and simple process. I will be doing a photo tutorial in tomorrows post to show you just how easy it is to get this lovely effect. 

My card was stamped in Tip Top Taupe, a new In Colour from the 2015-2016 collection from Stampin' UP!

I hope you enjoyed and please pop back tomorrow to see just how I created this look.

Stampin' UP! Watercolour Wings....

Good Morning...

Today I wanted to share with you a card I did at a recent Techniques class. 

I was inspired by a card I saw HERE. It's amazing how a different colour palette can change a card almost beyond recognition. 

I'm in love with Watercolour Wings from Stampin' UP! at the moment and love being able to create so many different butterflies just by changing the combination of inks and stamps.

At first glance this looks like a simple card but the magic is soon apparent when you open the card and an array of butterflies pop up. 

I used the new In Colours from Stampin' UP! to create the colour palette. It's so easy when they put the colours together for you. No more faffing over which colours to put together!

The small butterflies are from the Perpetual Calendar Stamp Set and were stamped in second generation to soften them, allowing the main butterflies to shine.

A close up of the butterflies as they pop from the card.

I hope you liked, and if you want to know more about creating cards to wow or the products used please do get in touch and let me help.

Stampin' UP! WOW swap...

Good Morning....

Hope you are well and enjoying some lovely sunshine still.  

It's been a while since I was at the Stampin' UP! regional training but I realised I hadn't shared with you the project I created for a special swap. 

The Stampin' Creative crew who I blog hop with every month decided to meet up and share a WOW swap. We were a small group of 10 so I had plenty of time to dedicate to my swap.

I chose to CASE a project on pg 75 of the current Stampin' UP! annual catalogue. I wanted something that could be displayed by desks to give us all the little encouragement we sometimes need. In the catalogue they used pieces of wood for the top and bottom sections but I didn't have those so improvised with our wonderfully handy Hardwood stamp. Other stamp sets used were Everything Eleanor and Feel Goods.

Inks used were Rose Red and Soft Suede.

A few pearls and some linen thread completes the project. 

Here is the same hanging using Island Indigo. I hope like me you find both colour ways pleasing

Stampin Creative New Catty Hop

Good Morning and welcome to another hop around the Stampin Creative girls world of creativity. You have joined me from the lovely EIMEAR

It's been a funny month weather wise but when I created this project it was a gorgeous suny day and I was definitely feeling the tropical love!

I am so in love with this little set, Garden In Bloom which can be found on pg 119 of the new catalogue. It is a set of 20 stamps and includes the cutest bumble bee ever!

I used Wild Wasabi, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie and the new Watermelon Wonder inks to give a totally tropical feel. 

As you can see I stamped the Watermelon Wonder in second generation using the solid little flower stamp then used first generation to over stamp the outline. This is a lovely way to get various shades of the same colour ink and works really well with the deeper colours. 

I was also careful to NOT line up the images too perfectly as I wanted a more relaxed style to the card and gift box. 

Here is a little peep at the very simple but gorgeous butterfly which is also in the set. It can be stamped simply like this as an outline or filled in using 2 or 3 step stamping to create a more intricate butterfly. 

The sentiment comes from the set too and I just coloured the stamp using my Stampin' Markers. I have inked the rest of the sentiment seperately and stamped it inside the card. A lovely way to get an insert for your cards.

Right, it's now time for you to hop on over to the lovely EMMA and see what she has created for us.

Have a lovely hop and do leave a comment about today's creations.

Stampin' Creative Blog Hop - May

Hello and welcome to another months blog hop brought to you by the Stampin' Creative crew.

This month we are focusing on sneak peeks from the new Stampin' UP! catalogue that will be going live to you all on Tues 2nd June. 

We demonstrators are lucky to get an early 'bite at the cherry' and have been able to order some of the new goodies for the last month. With that in mind we thought you might like to see what we have been creating. 

You have joined me from the lovely CARO who has been having fun I'm sure you will agree.

Recently we had a training day at Telford with over 350 demonstrators attending and I was very lucky to be asked to create some of the display items for the day. I was given 2 kits to play with and this is the one I chose to share with you today.

It is the Sweet Stack Project Kit (on page 152 of the new catalogue) and was so lovely to put together. 

All you need is in the kit and it makes a lovely display piece or 'office cake' for all those birthdays which seem to come around. Each box can hold a little something too so good to gift small items. 

The banner can be changed to say anything you like so ideal for baby showers, birthdays, leaving do's etc. 

I have also been having fun with the lovely new In Colours and a personal challenge to myself to work on my clean and simple cards. This is something I have been struggling with for a while and like all struggles it is easier to avoid than face but I took the stamp to the ink and faced the fear lol.

Here is a card using the new colours of  Cucumber Crush,Watermelon Wonder and Delightful Dijon.

The lines of colour are stamped using Work of Art and I added a simple bold sentiment from Perfect Pennants stamped in Staz On.

Please let me know if you think I am on conquering my fear and mastering the art of Clean and Simple.

Next you can hop over to PIP and see what fun she has been having with new goodies. 

Stampin Creative Blog Hop

Hi and welcome to another Stampin Creative Blog Hop. Can you believe it has been a month since the last one? 

You will have joined me from the lovely  KIM who has provided us with more lovely inspiration using the retiring In Colours 2013-2015.

I made some gifts for a recent retreat and used the In Colours for each guest so although they all had the same they looked a little different.

Here is one of the gift sets in Coastal Cabana.

I stamped the butterflies on the card in 1st and 2nd generation of Coastal Cabana and Baked Brown Sugar to give varying tones. 

The fry box and tag were both stamped tone on tone and a decorative butterfly added to bring the set together.

Here is the same set in Strawberry Slush. I think it looks completely different don't you? Each set had their own personality which the ladies loved. 

Finally I CASED this lovely card from a friend of mine and very talented Demo in Ireland, Lillian. 

I used the bunny from Baby you've grown.

The inks used to brayer the card included Pistachio Pudding and Coastal 

Cabana alond with Marina Mist and Pear Pizzazz. The mat layer was Baked Brown Sugar layered onto a Pistachio Pudding Screen card.

I stamped the tree in Baked Brown Sugar and Strawberry Slush which I think gives a very summery feel to the card - shhhhhh don't tell the Nutty one but this is his anniversary card for next week when we celebrate 8yrs of  meeting!

I hope you like my creations with the retiring 2013-2015 In Colours and I hope you have plenty to stroke in your cupboard as for the first year ever I am going to miss each and every one of them.

Now over to MIKAELA to se the beautiful things she has for us today xx