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

Merry Christmas (so very nearly)

Christmas wrapping complete, house clean, and fridge stocked.  All the activities this last couple of weeks has centered around cards, wrapping and tagging and I just haven't had a chance to post all the wonderful projects I have completed.  I didn't want to miss one last opportunity to say Happy Christmas to all my customers and share with you so a quick flurry of photos for you here.

I love the Big Shot Northern Flurry emboss folder and I have used it for as many of my projects as I could so it features here for most of the cards.  The first is based around a design which was shared at our team training.  The DSP paper design fits perfectly in the bauble shape and a quick large pearl finishes it off beautifully.  A tip here is to make sure you cut the bauble first otherwise you will flatten your embossed snowflakes otherwise.

I have had a lot of fun with the emboss powders too this Christmas. I love the excuse at Christmas to use silver and sparkle so I embossed the sentiment and the middle bauble. I was playing around with colours this year, but kept the dark blue background to match the grosgrain ribbon.

I made this third card for a close friend.  I just love the Snow Flurry die for the Big shot.  I have used it for card toppers and for present dressing this year.  I could not resist dressing it with rhinestones and pearls for that extra special affect.

The ribbon bow was actually to cover a mistake as my paper cutter blade was a little old and damaged the edge of the card.  I came up with this ribbon design which can be flattened for posting - brilliant!

The next flurry of cards are all using the Snow Much Fun.  Regulars to my blog will know I have been playing with this set for a while.  Time to make those cards for the special people in my life so I used it again.  Out came the blender pen to colour the friendly little snowmen and all were dressed with ribbons and the Northern Flurry emboss folder again.

Extra sparkle for my son's card to his Daddy. I used crystal effects on the tree, but you cannot see this on the photo.

For the label I used the Decorative Label punch to cut twice and create my own custom label shape.

 

My favourite, this card is based on a card I had seen by another demonstrator (sorry I don't have the details to hand, but will add later).  I swapped it round slightly and made some design changes to use different papers and die shapes for the frame.  The DSP is the Howlstooth from Halloween and cut with the Top Note die.  The bow is made from small pieces of the tulle and with a piece of scallop ribbon to make it into a bow shape.

 

Lastly, my Christmas petal cones.  I made these for gifts for a Christmas fayre I had a stall at.  These are fantastic stocking fillers.

Merry Christmas to you all and I look forward to another year ahead crafting and sharing creations with you all.

If you are interested in joining in a crafting workshop in the New Year make sure to get in contact and register your interest.