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Wednesday 22 October 2014

Top Star! Star Framelits Fold Out Card

I always admire those card layouts that make a difference and love filling up my crafting resources with saved templates and measurements to try. This card is a layout I have tried before, but never on this scale!  It was my lovely hubby's birthday yesterday and it was a BIG one so I needed a BIG card.

I did have a template, but not the measurements to work from, but I didn't let that stop me.  A few waste sheets of card later I had managed to work out my measurements to utilise as much of a sheet of A4 (Night of Navy) that I could to make this fold out card. It measures a whole 21cm across the bottom and 14.5cm high to the mid fold line (top of card when it is standing).

My layers were in Bermuda Bay and Pool Party and of course, there is the fantastic Silver Foil card there to make the star shine out.  I wanted to make the '40' stand out and cut this using the Perfect Print Numbers Bigz Die in the Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper. As the card was for hubby who is not a sparkle and glitter kinda guy this was plenty of glitter for him!  The die is getting a lot of use right now with Advent workshop planning so do come back and check on Christmas classes coming up to see more of it.

The 'Birthday Wishes' came from my trusty 'Four You' stamp set which has the four most used sayings for throughout the year.  You can also see my background stamping in Pool Party which has the 'celebrate', ' cheers' and a few 'hugs & kisses' in there too to dress up the other panels. These are from the Good Greetings set which is FREE with hostess sales until the end of this month.


The main idea for the card was to feature the layered Star which shows just how effective the Star Framelits are when layered. I layered my stars and the numbering with dimensionals to get the raised layers. The numbers are a little fiddly, but I have worked out the small strips around the dimensionals are just about the right size to cut to make little pieces to raise the numbers.

I then used mostly punched stars using the small star punch from the Itty Bitty Accents punch pack to decorate around the card - this is a must for Christmas projects! It is just the right size for any offcuts from other punched or die cut pieces I have so I am getting very economical with my scraps. This is a blessing as my scraps box was getting so full I could not close it!

For the measurements for the card I will try and put together some instructions for next time.

Now, once I had a BIG card, I needed a BIG envelope. Not to panic, envelope board to the rescue.  I took a 30.5cmx30.5cm (12"x12") sheet and cut it to 30.2cmx30.2cm. I then just lined up the edge of the paper to the furthest point on the board (the furthest edge after the numbering stops). I followed all the instructions as you normally would and the finished envelope measured 22.5cmx17.8cm. A generous fit to ensure my star was still intact on the day!

Everything was super-sized this birthday including the huge carrot cake I managed to bake and decorate in-between card making. Baked to order for one very happy birthday boy. Job done.





All this birthday activity and there is still Christmas planning to do.  Stampin' Up! have now given us more Christmas products to choose from.




You can take a look at the supplement which is now available on my catalogue page Click here.

More stamps to co-ordinate with the Star Framelits and more Stars before your eyes with the Many Merry Stars Simply Created Kit.


Suzanne
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Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.
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.

Monday 13 October 2014

Flower Patch Top Note Gift Box


Something non-Christmassy for you today. This lovely little box is one I crafted with a lovely crafting friend last week and is so simple to put together. I could not resist decorating it with some flowers from the Flower Patch stamp set after having a play with this set and the matching dies. They are gorgeous! What a lovely bunch they make on the front of this Top Note box.

The box top and base are simply made from the Top Note Die for the Big Shot.  I have used the slightly sturdier Under The Tree DSP from the Aut/Wint catalogue as I loved the Kraft colour of this and the pattern for the background for this project.  The small box inside which opens out is made from the new Kraft cardstock from the main catalogue.

Make Instructions:
  • Cut a piece of card for your internal box, 5 1/2" x 8" (14cm x 20.3cm)
  • On the 8" Long edge, score at 1", 3 1/2", 4 1/2" and 7"
  • On the Shorter 5 1/2" edge, score at 1" and 4 1/2"

  • Fold on all score lines and then cut the fold lines up until the 1" score lines on all sides
  • I then slim down the tab pieces which are going to fold in to be stuck so that they are neatly finished and not visible on the completed box edges

  • Now you are ready to stick your box together.  I would always recommend the Sticky Strip when sticking a 3D object as this has a lot of strength and is permanent so will allow you to put heavier items (more chocolate!) in your projects.
  • When putting the box together, remember one side will be your opening lid. I made sure I stuck the base of the box together first then I folded the lid over the base and stuck it together whilst in position to make sure the lid fitted over the base when complete.
  • To cut the Top Note outer pieces for the box, cut 2 pieces of cardstock (I used the Under the Tree DSP) to 3 1/4" x 5"
  • Use the Top Note die to cut both pieces (remember as it is an Original die it can cut multiple layers at once).  Line up one of the 5" edges to just cover the right hand finish point of the Top Note (see photo).  Note, the left hand edge will be left straight and uncut by the die.



  • You can stick the two outer layers directly onto the box top and base, but for mine I created a spine for the box to wrap round the mid section to join the two outer Top Note pieces.  To create this I cut a piece of matching cardstock 4 4/16" x 2 9/16" (sorry my original was a metric 11.2cm x 6.6cm).  I scored the long edge at 1/4" on each side (or 2cm each side)

To make the Flower Patch Flowers I used the Flower Patch Stamps with matching Flower Flair framelits from page 154-156 of the main catalogue. This is a bundle set which was a birthday treat for me. 

I have copied the colour combinations from the catalogue using Costal Cabana, So Saffron, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pear Pizazz, Old Olive and Hello Honey ink colours for the base flowers which I stamped and then cut with the matching Flower Flair dies.  I then used some Crushed Curry Emboss Powder on Bermuda Bay and Calypso Coral card to create the flower centres.  The flowers are then layered onto the box front with dimensionals.

Don't forget to wrap your ribbon tie round the box first before sticking your flowers on!  I used the Organza Ribbon which is still a firm favourite and looks so elegant with the flowers.

The weather outside is certainly watering the garden, but there are not too many signs of flowers in our garden at the moment. I think a trip to the garden centre to invest in some spring bulbs is needed and I might just stop for a warming cup of tea whilst I am there.

Suzanne
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Products I used:

In a new and improved version of my blog I am now adding a little picture of the products so you can see them when they are listed out.  Please note though that where I have used a bundle offer I am listing the individual product codes and not the code for the bundle.  This is to give you the best view of the products and flexibility to buy separately.  If you do want the bundle saving remember to swap the codes for a bundle saving. These images will take you directly to my online store for the product.

Sunday 12 October 2014

Put it in the paper! Join my team to be in paper heaven with the Pick a Pack of Paper Offer

Another offer I have yet to tell you about.  Here I am playing with my paper stash and I am keeping it all to myself, how selfish of me!

Join my team between OCTOBER 1st-24th and you can pick your starter kit £130 of products, plus business supplies for £99.  So what's new I hear you ask?  Well this month, if you join you can ALSO get SIX packs of designer paper absolutely FREE. 


The benefits of joing Stampin' Up! just got even better!  If you decide to join, not only will you get the starter kit and the free paper you will also......
  • Receive a minimum of 20% discount on your own orders
  • Find out about all the Stampin’ Up! promotions early 
  • Get first view of all new catalogues and pre-order products before everyone else
  • Participate in opportunitites to earn FREE stamps, FREE products and receive cash BONUSES!
  • You will receive one FREE pack of paper each month after joining when you place a demonstrator order
Stampin’ Up! is has a place for everyone to enjoy.  If you love a discount (Yes,Yes,YES we do!) or you would like to build a business or maybe you would just like to share the products, and oodles of possible projects with friends and those you love to craft with. There is something to love, create and share for everyone and I would love to share what I love with you when you join my team.

Worried you will you need to meet high sales totals straight away?  Wrong! Your first minimum of £225 for the first quarter you are a demonstrator will not need to be met until MARCH 2015 - that is a whole 6 months away! 

It's a step you may be ready to take already, or you may be just thinking it over and have lots of unanswered questions about what being a demo involves.  Just contact me for a chat and we can go through the details.  You can call me to find out what being a demo is really all about on (07876) 247678.

Or, if you are ready and raring to go, you can click JOIN THE FUN here and it will take you to my online page where you can select 'Join the Fun' from the title bar.

Saturday 4 October 2014

OFFER OFFER OFFER ! - Stamp, Stock and Save


haVE YOU SEEN THE NEWS?

Fantastic News! You can stock up on your Stampin' Up! supplies with whopping discounts right now. All the ink pads have 15% off, as does mixed colour families of card stock, Whisper White card stock and standard envelopes too. The new adhesive Fast Fuse is also discounted along with 5 sets of stamps.
I love a discount, and it couldn't have come at a better time.  The perfect time to plan those Christmas projects and stock up on all the card, envelopes and bag yourself some discounted stamp sets too if you fancy.
You can see all of the prices and the stamp sets just take a visit to my online shop. Once there just click on Stamp, Stock and Save on the left hand side bar to see the full list of products.

The offer period is until Monday 6th October - that's this Monday!  

Don't forget too that if you party this month you can get the FREE Good Greeting stamp set (subject to hostess sales of £200).

To place an order, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, just drop me an email at craftyinkbuds@sky.com.