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Saturday 28 September 2013

Sharing What You Love

This is the sentiment from Stampin' Up! themselves, but this week certainly felt true to this for me.  Firstly I wanted to thank those of you that came to my recent Open House event.  Without the support of customers I would not be able to enjoy SU products and so I made some 'Thank You' cards to show my appreciation.  I left a note inside attached with a post-it note so that the cards could be re-used by the recipient.

The cards were made with the Mosaic Madness stamp set and in the In Colours 2013-2015 selection of colours.  The 'Thank You' is from the Four You stamp set.  I really like the sizing of this and the style of the writing in this set, I wish my handwriting was as artistic as this!  I had a few cards to make, but a little stamping and punching whilst I watched some TV and I had a efficient little production going.  The Mosaic emboss folder gives a great background grid and I then just layered my mosaic tiles in a pattern as I wanted them with a mix of the colours.

Another card for you, this time with Christmas in mind.  Yep, it really is time to start planning those Christmas festivities.  Every year, if you are like me, you say you will start it early so as not to have the big rush on, well now is THAT time to start.

This card was a demo card to show a number of methods and techniques so has quite a bit going on.  There are of course the Mosaic Madness layered in there.  They are mounted on foam pads to raise them off the Label Love stamped images behind them.  I wanted to show that although the Label Love has sayings on the stamps, when layered in this manner they can be used for other occasions too.  The labels are punched with the co-ordinating Artisan Label punch and I then punched the coloured card and cut it in half to create the borders round the labels. 
To create the wavy emboss lines I used the Simply Borders plate for the Simply Scored board.  What an effective background and I think it ties in well with the label styling too.

The flowers were meant to be a little poinsettia-looking by using the Boho Blossoms punch and using just the smallest and medium sized flower shapes (2 of the medium size and then a small one on top) with a pearl to finish. The little 'Very Merry' label to top the middle of the card is from the Very Merry Tags stamp set and punched with the small scallop circle punch (7/8" 2.2cm).

Two cards that hopefully show you how to use your existing, or possible purchases, from the main catalogue as well as the Autumn/Winter seasonal sets to make cards for all occasions, including the festive season.

To place an order, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, just drop me an email at craftyinkbuds@sky.com. Remember you can now order online at anytime here and check out the clearance rack whilst stocks last.

Saturday 21 September 2013

Best of 25 Years and Christmas Selection Stamps


Is that the jingle of reindeer bells I can hear?  The Christmas best of stamp set is brings back the fabulous Dasher, my very first SU purchase for my first handmade SU Christmas cards!  What a wonderful familiar face.  Take a look at what else there is ..............
















Click here to see them bigger.

There is also a new Christmas-themed collection of single-stamps available!  A collection of fantastic value as there are 8 different stamps to choose from, 6 of which co-ordinate with existing punches or dies.  These are available for a limited period until 31 January 2014.



















Click here to see them larger.

Order them from the online store or through me.  These are great value, clear-mount stamps so you will need to have the correct sized acrylic block for them (as indicated on the item list) or purchase these separately. They are sent in a cello bag rather than a case (Clear-mount cases can be purchased on code 119105 for a pack of four).

To place an order, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, just drop me an email at craftyinkbuds@sky.com. Remember you can now order online at anytime too.

Friday 20 September 2013

New Demonstrator Website for Online Ordering - Coming Soon - Clearance Rack!

For those of you that missed it, you can now order online with me directly through the Stampin' Up! website.  Anytime!  Yes it is 24/7 so if you are late night crafting, or early morning crafting (?) and realise you have run out of that essential embellishment, just pop online and raise an order to your account for it to be posted to you directly. What could be simpler!

Just click on the link at the top right of my blog page here (or click on 'SHOP' if you are accessing my blog already through the Stampin' Up! web page).  First time round you will need to setup an account.  Make sure you select me as your demo and check my name is appearing at the top right on the shop page.

The news for the online shopping today, just as you are getting started, it is getting even better!  Yes, they are going to be releasing the Clearance Rack soon too.  We all love a bargain right?  Well you will be able to order retired and discontinued items at huge discount.  These will be available through the online store so that you can order them quick as stock will be limited.

Of course, you can still order directly through me and we can chat about what you might need and ooh and aahh over the catalogue together too. To place an order via email, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, just drop me an email at craftyinkbuds@sky.com

Suzanne
x

Tuesday 17 September 2013

Summer Sunshine Siesta

It is Summer still right?  Well the weather outside as I sit here looking out of the window doesn't seem to think so.  I think the sunshine may be taking a little siesta, let's hope it wakes up to give us one last burst! I thought a little Summer Silhouettes were needed for today to help brighten up everyone's day.  Today's cards are some of the lovely samples I took with me to the recent Sandown show and are all based around the Summer Silhouettes stamp set (trickiest one to spell, I just cannot get it right. I am thankful for spell check today).
As a Pinterest user it is so hard sometimes not to pick up on other's ideas and CASE them for your own cards.  I do believe though that it is a great way to start the creative juices flowing for your own unique designs when you can start looking at what other people have done.  This first card, is exactly what started off my Summer Silhouette stamping session.  It is based on a card design by another demonstrator, Julia Carmichael of PaperIntoLove.

I love the inclusion of the border design as this was something I had not incorporated into my designs when using the set.  The colours of Pistachio Pudding, Crisp Cantaloupe and Coastal Cabana were perfect for the "feel better soon" theme of the card.  The actual sentiment I used from the Express Yourself hostess set. A simple layering of the flowers in the set and the additional Beautiful Wings butterfly make this clean card, quick, easy and elegant.

Next was some Pistachio Pudding.  I don't know if I have said this before on my blog, but this catalogue I bought the In Colours 2013-2015 designer paper stack and I am really liking the new designs and the colours.  I have used the papers lots already on my cards and as you get four sheets in every colour there is no need to be thinking you need to use it as sparingly.

Here I have used the paper as a background to a simple single layered card showing the designs in the In Colour collection again.  This was another get well wishes card.  I have used the Stamp-a-ma-jig tool here to create "get well" and "feel better soon" stamps.  The Stamp-a-ma-jig tool is just great for lining up when playing with lettering, numerics and sentiments in this way.  If the words are not quite right for what you want to say, why not make up your own saying true to your own words?
Last is the Strawberry Slush - a lovely vibrant colour without being too pink or too red.  See now the lovely ruffled ribbon just popping out across the bottom border which dress this card up.  The label for this one is from the Label Love set.  This stanp set has instant sayings and labelling for projects when used with the Artisan Label punch, a really great little decorative saying set.

Now if you love the Express Yourself set here, remember it is a Hostess set.  You can order it if you host your own workshop and you get a great set at a value price (subject to sales).  You don't have to have to invite loads of people, why not just host a coffee morning?

If butterflies are what you are looking for, remember also that the Butterflies Bundle offer running currently finishes at the end of the month.  That's only two more weeks to grab yourself the fabulous 15% discount!

To place an order you can now order via the online store (see top right of this page) or of course still email or contact me direct. You can also book a workshop in your home or come to a class I have arranged. Just drop me an email at craftyinkbuds@sky.com.

Monday 9 September 2013

Stepping into September

Wow!  September is here, we really are on the countdown for Christmas now!  It has been all busy here as usual with lots of news to share with you all again too. SU seem to be keeping us Demos on our toes with offers, news and new releases of exciting features, more to be revealed as you read on here. 

First of all a big thank you to all of you who came to my Open House on Sat 31st Aug.  We had plenty to share and everyone went home pleased with the card they made and their freebies earnt with their orders from the new catalogue.  Well, all orders have already been delivered so by now I expect they are being well played with at home!

Thank you to all the wonderful ladies too who stopped by at the Sandown Stitch and Craft Show on Thursday 5th Sept.  I had a great day there and really enjoyed stopping and talking to everyone to learn how they craft and what products they like.  We had demos on the stand, a class running in the classroom at the centre and Make and Take sessions  running throughout the day on stand too.  The ladies all loved the products and everyone was so complimentary of the samples on show too.

For my demo at Sandown I was using the Festive Flurry stamps and Dies combo to make this beautiful card.  You may have seen the peek of it last month for the catalogue launch.  The card is a simple layered look with Coastal Cabana (In Colours 2013-2015), Pistachio Pudding (In Colours 2013-2015) and Pool Party (Subtles) colours.

I think the card background of the Northern Flurry emboss folder makes this card really look special and the 'Merry Christmas' from the carryover Greetings of the Season stamp set looks really elegant on it.  The silver ink is the fabulous metallic silver Encore ink pad we have in the new Autumn/Winter catalogue, this is going to get some use this Christmas and even better, it comes in Gold too!


What a finish though, the Frosted Finish embellishment.  It just gives the card the polished sparkle it needs with the looped silver ribbon to mount it on too (quicker and easier than a bow!).  There's more Festive Flurry to come, but if you love this card and want to come along and make your Christmas cards early then take a look at my Events & Classes page (top tab on this blog) to book yourself a place.  You can come and stack your Christmas cards to give beautiful unique cards like this this festive season.  There's still time to book on the first Stamp-a-stack class on the 21st September.

Now, what news does SU bring us, well I can hardly keep it from you now can I.  SU have launched the Online Store in the last couple of days.  What does this mean for you?  You can shop with me directly online and browse the products 24/7. To Shop with me when returning to this blog just click on the image to the top right of this page 'Click here to SHOP ONLINE with me' or click Shop Here now and then when you see my new SU website, just click on 'SHOP'.  Make sure it says Suzanne Tilney at the top of the page and then go through and setup your account with me and start shopping. Simple!

Of course, you can still contact me directly via the phone and through email if you wish to discuss anything before placing an order or you just want to call or chat anyway.  As this is all setup, in the future I will be able to offer you codes (Hostess Codes) to enter when you order online which give you specific offers through me - it might be free product with an order or it may be a draw to win the the hostess benefits for orders between a given promotional period - this is great news for you all!

Other exciting news is the launch of My Digital Studio (MDS), but I will leave that for another post as there is just so much more to tell and I don't want to overload you with too much excitement at once!

To place an order other than through the online store, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, email me at craftyinkbuds@sky.com