Banner Blast Love

After being over-enthusiastic after my previous Valentine crafting projects were finished and showing them to my Husband I was back to the crafting table to make another card so I could have one to surprise him with this morning.  

It is a Banner Blast card made with the absolutely gorgeous cute Banner Blast stamp set and matching punch from the current Sale-a-Bration brochure.  This stamp set is available free with a £45 spend and so too is the punch if you spend again.  The stamps are perfect for my linen line along the Woodgrain panels of the card.  My Woodgrain is the background stamp (128763) from the annual catalogue, but don't forget there is the lovely new Hardwood stamp (133032) in the new Spring/Summer catalogue too.

I cut my card to be 12cm x 20cm when folded.  I found if I marked at the 5cm, 10cm and the 15cm lines I could get the diagonals evenly spaced on the 20cm card.  My panels are extra layers of card, stamped with the woodgrain and then daubed a little for some rustic wood colouring.  They are attached with dimensionals to lift them a little off the background card too.

The Chalk Talk label die cut on the front of the card has my 'You&Me' stamp again from the Perfect Pennants to match the secret chocolate box I showed yesterday.  I used some small hearts I had pre-punched with the Small Heart Punch in glimmer paper and Real Red card to add some detail and some sparkly rhinestones.

Inside there are some more hearts and sparkles too, along with a space to write a special message.

I loved playing with my itsy-bitsy Banner kit and I know this is going to be a fast favourite in my collection.  Remember, this is one of the free sets from the Sale-a-Bration period so if you fancy a few friends round for some crafting, or it's time for a treat for yourself, these great products are available until the end of March.

I hope you have a lovely Valentine's and get thoroughly spoiled

Suzanne

x

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.

Valentine Sweet Heart Suprises

I was invited to a fabulous crafting Fun Day with my fellow Stampin' Up team members last weekend and was set the task of making something to 'show-and-tell'.  Now, what a panic that set, making something fabulous enough to share with all those experienced crafters!

After a little calming down and reassurance from my wonderful upline Amanda Fowler I decided I would make the Secret Box which I had been eyeing up for some time.  Hopefully it would wow the crowd, but also I could put one of my favourite things in it, Chocolate, for a Valentine's gift!

It is fantastic.  A Box that opens up to reveal three trays to fill with goodies.  The main sections are made from A4 card so no need for 12"x12" cardstock for this one either.

Chocolate, mini soaps, mini chocolate eggs for Easter, the ideas are endless! 

To make the box I was following a tutorial on Split Coast Stampers from Heather Perraux.  The measurements and template are all there on the tutorial along with step-by-step videos on how to put it together.  

I followed the template guide with my Simply Scored Tool and used the additional Diagonal Plate to create the diagonal lines to easily follow where to cut for the main two outer pieces for the box.  For a project like this where you have a template and measurements, the Simply Scored tool just makes it so much easier and quicker to complete.

Tip:  Make sure if you are flipping you card round to make the diagonals on your card that they are going the correct way!  I found the diagram easist to follow on the tutorial for the scoring and folding and the video easiest for the sticking and finishing.

I used the My Digital Studio Love Letters designer papers layered on Smoky Slate and Very Vanilla cardstock for my decorative background.  The sentiments on the Circles (using the Circles Framelits Collection) were from the 'Perfect Pennants' stamp set available in the Spring/Summer Catalogue.

I love the 'You & Me' for a Valentines theme and also I have inked and cut the 'Life Doesn't Have To Be Perfect To Be Wonderful' to split it across the 3 tray fronts inside.  This stamp set is available as a Digital Download Stamp Brush Set so if you love the project is not too late to recreate it for yourself. Just download your stamp set and background papers and get folding and sticking - go on, give it a go!

For more details and to purchase either the tools or products I used you can follow the links to them here

Simply Scored 122334

Simply Scored Diagonal Plate 125586

Circles Collection Framelits Dies 130911

Perfect Pennants Brush Set - Digital Download 137042

Love Letter Designer Series Paper - Digital Download 124012

Of course, a gift, needs a card to go with it. Well here is a Valentine Pop-up suprise card to match. The dimensions mean that this card folds flat to allow it to fit into a C6 envelope if you need to post or send your valentine's messages.

I have just used the Large Heart Punch and Small Heart Punch for decoration and the colours are Cherry Cobbler, Real Red, Shimmery White and Glimmer Paper.  The background paper too is First Edition Speciality Paper which is still available as a digital download.  The sentiment on the Decorative Label Punch is from the Delightful Dozen stamp set.  There are lots of templates and tutuorials for these pop up cards online and they are so so easy.  Once you have made one, you will want to make more trust me.  A hint that there are some more to come......

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.

Pretty Petals All Around

Just a quick post from me today as we are getting ready to be battered by the storm outside.  This card was one I have made recently, but it is my favourite.  I am sure you can see the inspiration from my previous posts, the wreath kit and my other cards with the Petite Petals.

The idea came to me one morning as I woke and I knew I was going to have to make it before I lost it in the muddled mummy memory bank.

The card is on Whisper White layers, but the best bit in the middle is the Vellum window created with Stampin' Up!'s Vellum Cardstock.  I have seen so much of the new vellum embossed papers we have around and it inspired me to dig out my pack of the special cardstock to have a play.  The Chalk Talk saying in the middle is white embossed which was my creative moment when I thought of this as the idea.

The best bit about the wreath too and the Petite Petals was I was using up all my off-cuts of strips of card.  I just inked and stamped a row of each colour flower and design on a strip and then punched away whilst catching up on some TV viewing - perfect!  I had some Little Leaves prepared too with the small Sizzlit die for the Big Shot to add the leaves around the wreath.

Here's another view of the card so you can see I layered it and used some dimensionals to give the top layer a lift from the vellum.

There is a lovely banner of heart embossing across the bottom of the card too using the Adorning Accents Emboss Folders.

Talking of embossing, did you know Stampin' Up! have released a new tool and I have only just got round to telling you all about it!  It is so exciting!  There is the new Texture Boutique Tool which allows you to emboss with embossing folders, but without the bulky Big Shot cutting machine.  It is much smaller, lighter and transportable for those catch-up crafting sessions on-the-go.  The best bit, it is only £26.95 so not too heavy on the purse either!  If you like the embossing on my card, why not treat yourself with some love this Valentine and give yourself a treat or just send your hubby to my online store to order yours. 

Texture Boutique 132657

Before I go, here is another card of Petals.  See the vase?  It is one of the Delightful decorations stamps with the bottom modified slightly to give it a flat base.

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.

Simply Bloomin' - Burlap and Blooms Wreath Kit

There is a Spring in my step, the bulbs are poking through the ground with a promise of what is to come and I am ready to Sale-a-Brate with a garden of blooms this coming Springtime!  I had such a lovely time this weekend sitting down with my Burlap and Blooms Simply Created Wreath Kit from the new Spring Summer Catalogue 2014 (pages 14 & 21).

The kit includes a chipboard wreath (33cm), die-cut designer paper for creating the 15 flowers which adorn the wreath, approx 6.4m of burlap ribbon and 61cm of linen thread, 4 designer buttons and 2 brads!  It is simple to put-together with clear instructions provided - all you need is some glue!  

The larger flowers are made up of circles of paper which just need a simple glue together.  The 'ruffle' flowers are so easy!  The strips are pre-cut for you and even have their own glue strips attached ready. You just need to roll them up - how easy is that!  I would suggest using a strong glue such as used with a glue gun to hold your burlap firmly on your chipboard and also to add the flowers - you don't want to have any wilting flowers or any dropping off before the end of Spring!

I love the colours.  Even the sunshine came out to allow me to photograph this is full glory!

The kit is a perfect project for your own home or to gift to another.  Why not share your crafting, by getting together with some friends, siblings or your Mum to assemble your kits together with some good chat and time out?

You can go straight to my online store now to order your kit and have it delivered straight to your door

Burlap and Blooms Simply Created Wreath Kit 133333

Remember, it is S-A-B time too so go on, treat yourself!

To 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.

It's S-A-B Day! Sale-A-Bration is here and the new Seasonal Catalogue!

Today has arrived and the Sale-a-bration is well under way!  This is the biggest day in the Stampin' Up! year.  There is so much to be Sale-a-brating!  To start with is the Sale-a-Bration free products - 13 of them to be exact.  There are ideas, bundles, free stamps, designer papers, embossing folders, punches AND digital products.

So what is S-A-B?  It is the time in the year when you can ....

SHOP and earn FREE PRODUCTS 

You can PARTY and get MORE TO SPEND

If you host a party or place an order with sales of £250 (or more) you get an additional £25 hostess rewards on top of all the other rewards and freebies!

 You can also JOIN MY TEAM

As a Demonstrator you can earn discount on all your Stampin’ Up! purchases, earn extra product, and all with the opportunity to earn some extra income. You will get lots of inspiration to make your own hobby more creative or build a successful business.  All this, and make new friends too!

It's never a better time to SHOP, PARTY or JOIN the Stampin' Up! family. Want to see it for yourself? You can see all the details including the amazing products you can earn for FREE in the Sale-a-Bration leaflet CLICK HERE.

Now there is MORE!  The NEW SEASONAL CATALOGUE also launches today.  A whole new catalogue of seasonal products to choose from.  To view the new seasonal catalogue just CLICK HERE.

I hope you see something you like.  I am busy enjoying my new products and will be back shortly with some projects to show, and hopefully, inspire you!  So be sure to come back tomorrow!

Suzanne

x

To place an order, book a your SAB party 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.

Stampin' Up! Sale-a-Bration is nearly here....................

It is only a few days left to the start of the best time in the Stampin' Up! year, Sale-a-Bration!  It starts on 28th January and during the Sale-a-Bration you get to choose a free item from the Sale-a-bration leaflet with every £45 you spend.  There are 13 items on the leaflet so it is a great time to fill up your order form and earn yourself free products too!  Everybody loves something for free right?

Stampin' Up! do not just have this amazing leaflet for you to enjoy with free products, the new Spring/Summer seasonal catalogue is also coming out.  This springs into action on 28th Jan too!  It is also brimming with new products and tools you will want to get your hands on!  

Today's card is a sneek-peek of one of the products in the Spring catalogue, Petite Petals.  If you are loving the Flower Shop from the annual catalogue, then this is the 'petite' version.   It has a set of flowers just in a smaller version which work perfectly with your bigger blooms too.  Of course there is a matching punch and even better, it is a bundle offer to buy the stamps and punch, a saving of 15%.

I don't know about everyone else, but we have all been suffering with winter sniffles in this house and it seems all the family at various times in the last few weeks have been the same so today's inspiration was some get well wishes for all.

I have used Elegant Eggplant and Perfect Plum for the card and mat colours and then I have just worked with a simplistic design of a white polka dot emboss with a Framelit Label cutout. I attached my top layer with Dimensionals to raise the frame and give the shadow contrast.  The 'feel better soon' is from the hostess set Express Yourself.

Now, me being me, having created a simple card, I could not leave it alone at that and started to play some more.  A theme in the Spring Catalogue, without giving away too much, is water colouring so I decided to add a little bit more colour to my flowers with a Blender pen and some more of the Elegant Eggplant.  I also added some small pearls to the centre of the flowers.

I didn't stop there though, I then tried to add a colour wash over the sentiment just using some graduation with the blender pen again.  I am not sure if this works or just looks messy, what do you think?  I'd love to know your thoughts or suggestions on it.

Suzanne
x

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.

Wishing You Birthday Parcels

A new year, new good intentions, time to have a tidy up and change around in your craft room? I am sure, like me, you probably have had a shuffle round already and promised yourself you are going to keep it tidy at all times this year!  Well it might be tempting to pack away your seasonal stamps to the back of the cupboard or bottom of the pile and think that they are to hibernate for the next 11 months, but wait, there may be some to use all year with a little re-designing and colours!

This is exactly true of the Wishing You stamp set from the Seasonal Catalogue 2013.  If you remember the lovely stack of presents stamp in the set, well here it is in it's new guise as a colourful stack of birthday gifts.

I have used the Brights collection of markers to colour the parcels individually and then have stacked them within a Framelits Label.  I needed a birthday saying to match so with the markers again I have coloured just the saying "Happy Birthday to you!" from the Label Love stamp set.  

Now, what party would be complete without a birthday banner?  I have used the Pennant Parade and matching builder puncher to make mine.  The pennants were a little large for the card so I snipped them to a custom size for a perfect party show.

I had challenged a new team member to use this stamp set for a birthday card project.  It was her first stamp set purchase with her starter kit before Christmas, but could not resist having a try at a card myself.  I cannot wait to see what she designed when we meet next and share our creations.  I am loving the bright colours on my card and the frame round the present stack!  

Have you found any alternative uses for your seasonal stamps?

Items I used were:

Wishing You 

Pennant Parade (128697)

Petite Pennants Builder Punch (122361)

Label Love (130619)

Framelits Label Collection (125598)

Suzanne 

    x

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.

Alphabetized Sayings

I have been busy working through a list of Birthdays to prepare cards for since my last post.  I don't know about you, but each year when writing out the calendar the list is getting longer of Birthdays, Anniversaries and other Occasions to celebrate!  With that, it is all good to be celebrating more of these occasions than less of them, I am just not sure how I am going to fit in all that crafting in between eating cake and wrapping presents!

After the last post and mention of Valentine's it got me thinking about the month ahead already, and instead of making a birthday card as I should have been, I started on a sweet valentine of my own.

This background stamp is the Alphabetized stamp (130435).  A single stamp with a complete letter set to play with and all encased in a swirly design for an instant card front.  I have seen cards play around with the lettering on this one and the catalogue has a card with the 'Hi' picked out.  I just wanted to play around with the word 'Love', but as the letters are placed all over and not in order, I came up with this one using just the 'i' and the 'u' and a cute Small heart punch (117193) in the middle.

The 'i' and 'o' are punched in a circle and then layered onto a real red Petite Curly Label (129405) each. I have then borrowed the 'Love' from Pennant Parade (128697) to create the extra tag.  The tag was punched using the Artisan Label Punch (130920) and punching a custom label shape with it.  I had a play with my punches to see which would work and fit the word on best.  There are quite a few other punches in the catalogue which can be customised for different additional shapes and labels.

The Alphabetized stamp is more versatile than just as a background too, I originally bought it as I liked the type case on it and with the Stamp-a-ma-jig you can ink individual characters to place them and make your own words up.  I already have another idea in mind with the stamp for another valentine card (not that I will be sending more than one valentine of course!).

Alphabetized Stamp (130425)
Pennant Parade Stamps (128697)
Small Heart Punch (117193)
Petite Curly Label Punch (129405)
Artisan Label Punch (130920)
3/4" Circle punch (119873)
Baker's Twine (124262)
Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon (126875)
Basic Rhinestone (119246)

Colours: Real Red, Basic Grey, Smoky Slate, Cherry Cobbler (heart)

We are getting closer to the Sale-a-Bration and the launch of the Spring-Summer catalogue on 28th January, how exciting!  If you are an existing customer already and would like copies then I will be happy to post these out to you if you get in touch.  If you do not have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator already and would like these I can pop a copy to you too.  Please just drop me an email with your details.

To place an order, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, just drop me an email . Remember you can now order online at anytime too, just click on the link on my blog homepage.

Mosaic Madness Ripples

Rain, Rain, Go away!  Well at least if it is rainy there is an excuse to be inside crafting!  Today's card is made with the Mosaic Madness stamp set from the Annual Catalogue 2013-2014.  This set with coordinating emboss folder is just super for clean and simple layouts.  

I have combined the Rasperry Ripple of the luxurious stitched satin ribbon with Smoky Slate grey which joined our colour collections this catalogue.  The Smoky Slate is so classy and subtle on this elegant card.

Sometimes we all need a little inspiration from others to help get the creative juices flowing and as I am often limited on time to craft due to family commitments I often take a sneek peek at others creations to get me started when I sit down to craft.  It is only right to credit the originator of this card design Michelle Last, another fantastic demonstrator from Stampin' Up!  If you have time, just click on her name here for a link to her beautiful blog of creations.

If you have been watching my previous posts you will have seen me use the Express Yourself stamps already.  This time it is Happy Birthday for this card, but the card design could be for thanks or other occasions too.  The Raspberry Ripple is lovely for a Valentine project too.

For this card I used:

Mosaic Madness stamps
Mosaic emboss folder
Stitched satin ribbon (raspberry ripple)
Rhinestones
Express Yourself (hostess)

I hope you like the card

Suzanne

x

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.

Birthday Cake Celebration with Washi Tape

Well Happy New Year!  My first post since the Christmas ended and we entered 2014.  I have been busy with the tidy up after Christmas and also finding my crafting feet again after putting them up over the Christmas period.  This post brings you all, my blog readers and customers, best wishes for a fantastic New Year ahead!

Todays post is a card I made for my niece using the Birthday Cake stamp (130390).  She has grown up so fast and I cannot believe she is well into her teens now.  Last time we spoke I showed her the Washi Tape from SU as she uses this tape in her artwork project folder so for her birthday card I just had to make her card with the Gingham Garden washi tape (129314).

I simply wrapped a piece of card stock with the strips of washi tape in the three designs to give a background to my stamped image.  I thought the colours though on the tape were a perfect pick-me-up post Christmas and I followed these in the stamped Birthday Cake.  I coloured my birthday cake image using marker pens to pick out the different colours I wanted to use and it allowed me to make my flames on the candles.  I love looking at the single stamps on offer as it is great to have one that you can play with and colour differently - everybody loves a bit of birthday cake so this one was a great addition.

I wanted some natural elements on the card so added a piece of doily and the naturals ribbon. I am not too sure the ribbon works, possibly a little heavy, but I had stuck it down before I changed my mind so I went with it.  

Looking ahead we have February coming, the month of love  so I am sure we are going to be seeing a lot more love hearts being used on cards in the next few weeks, mine included.  I bought my Large Heart punch (119883) some time ago so I am all prepped and ready to go, but don't forget there are other heart punches available; the Small Heart Punch (117193) and if you already have the Owl Builder Punch (118074) or are thinking of buying it, that has a lovely little heart to play with too!  My heart here carries the 'Happy Birthday' sentiment from the Hostess set Express Yourself (130336).  This set is a fantastic choice if you are Hosting a party - 12 all-through-the-year expressions for just £14 of Hostess Pounds (for a set value of £21.95).

The list for my card if you are feeling inspired:

Birthday Cake stamp (130390)

Gingham Garden washi tape (129314)

Express Yourself (Hostess only - 130336)

Large Heart punch (119883)

Tea Lace Paper Doilies (129399)

Natural Trim (129287)

I mentioned Valentine already and Stampin' Up! have some great products for Valentine wishes.  If you click here it will take you to the details of stamps, simply sent cards and treat bags and ideas for sending little packages of love.  The Monster Hugs are to wrap around a chocolate or treat and are so cute for little ones to gift at school or nursery, or for us adults with young hearts too!

There is also a beautiful selection of stamps made for love to add to your collection, just lovely. 

These valentine products are available now until 27th January 2014.

Thanks for dropping by and don't forget to come back as I have more cards and projects to post too! For those of you that are regular to Stampin' Up! you will also know Sale-a-Bration is coming, come back to see some sneek-peeks of the free products you can earn!

Suzanne

x

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 by going straight to my My Online Store.