Let's all Smile!

Just a quick post this morning to show you a couple of cards I made recently with the Reason to Smile stamp.  This set is available FREE with any customer order of £60 or more during AUGUST only.  It is is full of lovely blooms to play with and create items with a Spring/Summer feel.  Well if it's not sunny outside we can still think it in the inside!

I made both cards easily in one sitting.  I used the In Colurs for the first card - Pool Party and Island Indigo - and a very simple stamping technique.  The scallop circle punch works really well framing the flower and I attached it with the Deisgner Brad leaving it free to spin round on the card.  I used two colour stamping on the feature flower, inking with the lighter Pool Party and then inking half of the stamp with the Island Indigo for a two-tone effect.  I added a little ink to the edges of the scallop by just running the markers in the matching colours (I was trying to resist getting my daubers out !).

The second card was in the Perfect Plum and Elegant Eggplant combination of colours I used back at Easter.  I just wanted to get the scallop ribbon out again and use it as it is one of my favourite ribbons at the moment.  I used distressed edges on the flower panel to match in the artistic effect of the stamp (it has a texture to it to make it appear like the image has been watercoloured).  A little Tiny Tag sentiment to finish it off and that was two really quick easy 'Thank You' cards.


To place an order or find out what workshops are currently scheduled, email me at craftyinkbuds@sky.com

A Reason to Smile

It’s another reason to smile from Stampin’ Up! this month of August. Another offer of free product!  This time a free exclusive stamp set with a £60 spend (one free set per customer only).  Don't want to miss out on this lovely set? You can purchase the set for £18.95 in wood or £14.95 for clear mount too. It is a beautiful 2 step stamping set and you can watercolour it for a lovely alternative look.  Who doesn't love flowers!



The offers just keep coming.  I just love the Stampin' Up products and it just gets more exciting each month.  Watch this space for news of new catalogues and products coming soon.


To Place an order, email me at craftyinkbuds@sky.com

Cherish the ones you love

I have been meaning to make this Beautiful Wings frame ever since I got the lovely little Embosslit die and finally I have done it!  It took a dear friend and customer, thank you Charmaine, to inspire me to finally do it!  This is so simple and such a lovely gift idea - shhh, don't tell anyone it only took me half an hour to make.

It's still birthday month here in the house with still yet more family birthdays to celebrate and now with the births of two more family members this month too it is set to continue for years to come! 

For the birthday makes I have gone back to the beginning with my Baroque Motifs set.  This was one of my very first purchases from SU and I have gone back to my favourite blue hues too.  The stamp effect on the first card - a two-tone effect is created by colouring with a lighter shade (Marina Mist) and then using the marker in the darker shade of blue (Pacific Point), colouring the edges.  The card stock is a mixture of Bashful Blue and Marina Mist.  I also stamped images onto the DSP paper to tie in the different elements.

 Again, Baroque Motifs with the lovely large stamp from the set being used as a background.  I used a mixture of DSP to cut the XL Tags. DSP papers were 'Beau Chateau', 'Nursery Nest' and 'Cheerful Treat'.  A great way to make use of scraps, I knew I was keeping them for a reason!  I made a tidy finish to the ruffled seam-binding ribbon by cutting slits in the paper border and feeding the ends through before securing with glue dots. 

The third card was a lovely bright Melon Mambo card using the 'Cheerful Treat' papers again (I will be sad to see these Hostess papers go with the end of the catalogue in September). 

This is a simple Punch, Stamp and Stick card - I love it though!

Next order Date: Tuesday 31st July AM.  To Place an order, email me at craftyinkbuds@sky.com

Perfectly Pink

Just a couple more cards which seem to have been following the pink run I have been in the last few weeks.  I have the first card which was using my favourite Beau Chateau papers again - I just love them!  The mini bird houses are from the square punch and the mini heart.  I am loving the vintage style still and have created the flower from the Petal flower and Baby Blossom punches.  Of course, not forgetting the Victoria Trim to finish off the look. 
I am not sure why the photo has distorted the card and the edges do not look straight, but they are!

In Blushing Bride this time, this card started out as a simple card I was going to make as a swap.  As I added to it, I realised I needed to make 44 swaps and perhaps it would be best given as a birthday card.  It turned out so lovely I dressed it up as a card for my Mum as it was her birthday.  The embossing from the Vintage Wallpaper - familiar with you all now I am sure as I have been using this a lot too lately - was wiped with the Whisper White craft pad to soften the pink and give it an extra dimension.  The rose centre in the flower was the new pleated ribbon rolled round and secured with a craft dot - lovely and so easy!

 
To Place an order, email me at craftyinkbuds@sky.com

Fluttering Butterflies

I have just had the most exciting day with the rest of my upline at a team training day today and feel totally inspired by the creations of many that I have seen.  I have also been busy crafting leading up to today, but just haven't seem to have got round to posting here the cards and items which have been finding their way in my moments of craftiness.  So now I have prepared you to expect a flurry of posts as I catch up the next couple of weeks.

The first cards I want to share with you are a collection of birthday cards.  I especially love the way the Very Vintage stamped wheel provides a lovely subtle background on the crumb cake card stock (my crumb cake ink pad needed a little refill so the colour was a little more 'faded' than I intended). 

The butterflies on both cards are cut and embossed with the big shot embosslit 'Beautiful Wings' and the background very vanilla is embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper emboss folder which I just cannot get enough of at the moment!

I have added pearls and buttons and extra embellishments here as I could not help myself once I started getting creative with these two cards.  The antique brads compimented the whisper white craft I used for the faux stitiched effect (using the piercing tool).  Of course there was daubing involved with crumb cake too - I think my daubers are nearly all worn out with the amount I have been using this technique!

Now I love the trinket keys on these cards, but before you fall in love with them too, they are not currently available as they were in the Spring Mini Catalogue which have finished.  Let's hope SU bring them back in the next catalogue though!

Don't forget to check back for my next flurry of posts......

More Enchantment From SU!

Yet another offer from Stampin' Up! for July (July 1st-31st July) - they are really spoiling us!  For this month only Stampin' Up! are offering the limited edition pack of 30 brads and 2 spools of delicate organza ribbon in Lucky Limeade and Calypso Coral (9.1 metres on each roll). This is your free gift worth £15.95 when you spend just £45 on any customer order.  These brads are so very pretty and a perfect addition to your summer cards or projects.

That's not all.  Remember the Everyday Enchantment papers recently avaiable as part of the sale-a-bration product special?  Well, as they were so lovely they have re-introduced them for this limited period, and until stocks last. These are available to purchase for £9.95.
Here's a reminder of the lovely designs:

I am already sending my order in as I absolutely loved the designs and even better now I can get the brads and ribbons to match too when I spend £45!  Watch out for a July full of enchantment!

To get these great deals for yourself, email me at craftyinkbuds@sky.com

Last Few Days to Join the Paper Party

It's just a few more days to join in the paper party.  Here is the wonderful selection of papers you can choose from.  Buy 3 papers from these and you get to choose a 4th paper pack for FREE! 

How will you possibly be able to pick from this selection? I am loving the Twitterpated and Attic Boutique papers from the Summer Mini which are included in the offer! Remember Mini Catalogue items are available for a limited period only.

To Place an order, email me at craftyinkbuds@sky.com

Father's Day Makes

We had a fabulous day out as a family yesterday, but I wanted to show you all the cards we had to celebrate!  The ideas all came from other crafters from pinterest posts so I cannot claim the designs to be all my own work.  I did make some changes and embellishments as once the creative juices were flowing I started adding bits here and there.

The first card is a simple punched card and layering card.  I used the little leaves die for the Big Shot to make this card.  Colours were the Certainly Celery from the subtles with Early expresso, but I also added in the Pool Party and Calypso Coral from the new In Colours for a light summery feel. 

This card design I found on line with just the background cutout images (the leftover cuts from using the die), but I added the cut leaves images over the top as a shadow effect with the colours mixed round.  As my die has had some use the foam cushioning has lots of indentations which left a patterning on the background images, but I think this looks quite like the natural detailing on a leaf.

The second card was from a boat design I have seen posted around.  I used a bowl to draw round for the base and then just created triangle shapes - No punches or Big Shot required here!  This is a simple design that just works as it uses the DSP papers, buttons and brads to embellish.  I used the recently retired sale-a-bration papers for this one as I still have some to use up.













The best 'til last!  The Pirate Boat. The Boat I made from the top note die for the big shot and I made 3-D with a little nip and tuck and a layer between the two top notes to make it stand off the paper .  I also made the sea waves 3-D with a little Dimensionals to lift the layers.  I loved playing around with this one for a fun card and it would be great for a young birthday boy card too!

To Place an order, email me at craftyinkbuds@sky.com

Sweet Tweets!

I have been busy with my newest edition of stamps - Aviary - for the family birthday run.  I don't know about you, but in our family we have all the birthdays come at once so having crafting kit to hand to produce lovely handmade cards is such a bonus.

The Aviary set is one I just could not wait to get hold of since the new catalogue was released and luckily for me during the last Sale-a-bration period demonstrators were able to earn a free stamp set so it was top of my list!  What more reasons do you need to become a demonstrator yourself than free stamp sets and product?

I just love the cute birdies in the set. Even better, there is a co-ordinating DSP paper - Nursery Nest - which makes it so much easier to create lovely cards or items.  As this card was for my niece all it needed was some ribbon and sparklies to make it all girlie and job done.

The second card was for another little one for a 2nd birthday.  Less stamping needed, but a little help from the stamp-a-ma-jig to get the line (created with the cage stand stamp laid horizontally).

To place your order for any of these items or a catalogue, email me at craftyinkbuds@sky.com

I'm Back ! - So Much News to Catch Up On!

Wow - what an amazing month of May!  I have been away a while due to wedding madness taking over.  So many wedding items to make for my lovely day and I did it!  I was so pleased with my crafting results and received lovely comments all day for my efforts including special mention from my new hubby in his speech.  I have lots of photos to share later, but there is so much to catch up on for Stampin' Up news they will just have to wait.  I hope you sitting comfortably with a cuppa as this is going to be a long post.

There's been so much happening over at Stampin' Up it is almost as exciting as my wedding - well....almost!  Whilst I have been away the new Summer Mini Catalogue launched and I can't believe it has taken me until to tell you all about it.  Don't wait too long to go take a look, as with all the mini catalogues, the products are only available for a limited period and there really are some lovely sets to get your hands om.  There's not only new stamping sets, but new tools too!  I can't wait to get get my hands on a scoring pad tool and play!

To View a Copy of the Mini Summer Catalogue online- click here

If you just can't wait to place an order and take advantage of the current offers? - Just email me at craftyinkbuds@sky.com

Well, not content in enticing you with a new mini catalogue of product, Stampin' Up have launched two offers during June and July. 

For June it is time to join in the 'Paper Party'.
Whether you are a scrapbooker or a card maker or love playing with paper to enhance your 3D items - during June, get a FREE package of Stampin’ Up!’s exclusive Designer Series Paper—a £9.95 value—when you buy three from selected packs! See here for the included designs.

Choose from a wide variety of designs and colours available in the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog and 2012 Summer Mini Catalogue.  For more details click here.  What a great way to club together with crafting pals and arrange to buy 3 between you and get a 4th pack free!  A minimum of £29.85  works out at £7.47 each for a pack of DSP papers, each containing 12 sheets!

And for June thru to July inclusive, to show our hostesses our love, Stampin' Up! are offering £30 extra in FREE products when you host a £325 party or more!   With sales starting at £325 for example, you would receive a whopping £80 hostess pounds and also have 50% off 1 item of your choice (normally £50 hostess pounds plus 1 item of your choice at 50% off). With a brand-new mini catalogue, there’s never been a better time to party that celebrates your and your friends’ creativity!

Even more good news....... If you love the products so much and you are looking for a part-time business opportunity then this news will interest you - Stampin’ Up! have launched a new lower priced starter kit. The new kit costs £99 and is fully customisable with any items from current catalogues, including the Summer Mini too! You can sit down with your catalogues and browse to your hearts content, choosing £130 worth of products for the £99 you pay! It's never been a better time to buy as you will also receive a business kit worth £45 that will help you get started with your business.  

So you are thinking of joining - then drop me an email and I can arrange to call at a time convenient to you to talk you through what it involves. If you do then decide to join, you will join my team and you will also get me to help support and guide you during your Stampin’ Up! journey, but also join a fabulously strong up line group of truly inspirational crafters to help guide and support you!