I cannot describe the heaven I have been in this weekend since around 11.00pm Friday night. Earlier in the year I subscribed to Split Coast Stampers – an online stamping community. Whilst trawling their website recently I spotted a notice inviting people to take part in their Virtual Stamping Night, which began friday. This entailed a fresh challenge being laid down approximately every hour for the first five hours Easter Standard time (EST) in the US followed by a further twelve challenges over the following day with all challenges to be posted by 8pm EST. Now this meant, since I am in the UK my challenges would start at 11pm friday and recommence 5pm Saturday with one an hour and 45 minutes to complete each challenge!
How did I do? I managed twelve out of the seventeen and yes I will be sharing them with you over the next couple of days. Here is the first to whet your appetite….
Four Chambers Challenge - Life is Beautiful
This is an old Magenta stamp called Life is Beautiful. Stamped in Black and coloured in using PrismaColour pencils.
Ok – I promise to make this a longer post tomorrow and give more details of SCS Virtual Stamp Night – such great fun!
Till then – don’t forget to stamp your place in the world.
I had a visit from a crafting friend today – the very lovely and talented Karen Eaglesham – you can visit her blog here. We chatted about the usual: children, school, husbands, politics and of course crafting. After Karen had left I was inspired to try something different – Karen and I have different crafting styles, Karen is very inspirational and imaginative and I tend to play safe and simple. So this is what I came up with – in part because I ‘discovered’ some products that I simply hadn’t used and played with yet – how did that happen? – and in part because I thought it would be good to try to step outside of my comfort zone, even for the teensiest moment and try something else.
Different Chic?
So how did I make it? I really fancied a red, white and blue colour theme but felt that it lacked something until I teamed it with the kraft card back ground, which then seemed pretty bare until I used my roller to stamp the baroque stye text – yes it is upside down but I intended it that way – honest I did! I punched real red card and stamped the Notably Ornate stamp from Stampin’ Up in white on night of navy card stock. The rosette is made using some Tim Holtz tissue tape and its hunkered down with a metallic eyelet that had been knocking around my desk for a while. The ribbon is the deliciously sumptuous satin ribbon from Stampin’ Up. I then punched out the swirls in real red and added the words using a tiny scrap of whisper white that was lying around. In fact I used several ‘scraps’ up on this card but sadly I still have a very large pile of scraps to work through! I think in the not too distant future I ought to try to make a set of cards using only scraps from my desk and scrap box – maybe we should have it as a challenge? What do you think? We will revisit this idea again I think.
Righty o, time for bed as I am back to my day job tomorrow – so till next time ….don’t forget to stamp your place in the world!
Just a quickie make so you don’t think I have forgotten how to be creative! I did forget that I had this beautiful new stamp and hadn’t used it yet! A senior moment? Quite possibly!
Hot Hydrangea
I stamped the image in Egg Plant then masked it out and used sponges to create my background with So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tobacco, Cajun Craze (might be my favourite colour!) and Cherry Cobbler, on white card stock. I then used a Yellow pen to colour the centres of some of the flowers and used my Blender Pen to pull out some of the Egg Plant ink in the Hydrangea itself. I used Versa Mark to stamp the hydrangea only onto the Pumpkin Pie card and stamped the border and sentiment in Egg Plant before mounting the lot on basic black card stock. This is so lovely in real life as I also spritzed the Hydrangea with a little Perfect Pearl which isn’t showing up too well – sorry!
Okay – till next time…remember to stamp your place in the world!
Just a quick reminder that Time is Running Out! Our Fantastic Sale-a-Bration is finishing very shortly. But it’s not too late to get your free goodies and here’s how….
Every year Stampin’ Up! gives customers, hostesses, and new demonstrators the opportunity to earn fantastic, FREE, limited-edition products they’ll enjoy for years to come.
Here’s how Sale-A-Bration works:
Spend
When you spend £45 on Stampin’ Up! merchandise, you’ll receive a free Sale-A-Bration reward. There’s no limit–for every £45 you spend, you can select another FREE Sale-A-Bration reward! To start earning free, exclusive Sale-A-Bration rewards, click on the catalog above and make your list.
Contact me today to schedule your Sale-A-Bration workshop.
Host
You’ll receive a freeSale-A-Bration stamp set when you host a workshop of at least £300 (product sales before handling and shipping)—this is in addition to all of the regular hostess benefits!
Join
During Sale-A-Bration, anyone who joins as a demonstrator can choose any stamp set—a value of up to £44.95—from our current Idea Book and Catalogue!
The Sale-A-Bration promotion starts on 30 December 2010 and runs through 28 February 2011, so don’t miss your chance to earn free products! Talk to me today to book your workshop or learn more about this promotion. I have a full-colour Sale-A-Bration brochure full of beautiful project ideas you can make using these limited-edition Sale-A-Bration sets. You can also view the Sale-A-Bration brochure online by clicking the Sale-A-Bration link on the right hand side .
…and here’s one straight from the brochure…
Ok, thats it for now, don’t forget to leave a message and so till next time….don’t forget to…Stamp your place in the world!
So first and foremost – I am proud to announce the commencement of my first Stamp Classes entitled – Simply Stamping! How cool is that? I am so pleased to be collaborating with CraftWorld at Hillington in Glasgow. You can get more information about the classes and how to book your place here. But I can assure you it is the most excited I have been for a long time! Well at least since my last box of goodies arrived from Stampin’ Up anyway!
The Lake district was beautiful and I did promise some pics so here are a couple of my favourites:
The beginning of our walk around Grasmere, Rydal and Loughrigg
We stayed in a lovely place called The Wild Boar Inn near Crook which is so picturesque and authentic. There are lots of lovely old touches to this Inn, from the fireplace as you enter the main hallway to the old fashioned toilets and the amazing slate wall in the restaurant, and thats before I get started on the food which is simply divine!
Looking back towards Rydal from Loughrigg Terraces
Having totally stuffed our faces at the Inn we felt it only appropriate to try to walk off our excesses. Which was fine except that I havent been walking for such a distance for a very long, long time. Well, really I dont have to walk anywhere in my craft room – I simply swivell on my chair and most things are in reach….So you can imagine after the first three miles I was about done in! I did complete this epic journey however and followed it up with a well deserved cream tea! Well I thought it was deserved…
I did also manage to hobble to Lakeland Plastics in Windermere as well where I found some adorable mini cupcake cases that I had an idea for….and it didn’t involve cupcake mixture. I will return to this topic in the near future with my thoughts and hopefully a demo for you – watch this space!
Right thats me done for today – Yes I know – no cards! I apologise for this. I have been so terribly busy getting the laundry etc up to date before I head back to work that I have to confess to having had no time to craft today what so ever…but there is always tomorrow….
Until then don’t forget to Stamp your place in the world. xxx
So its Valentine’s Day! And what a romantic day it is too! No I am not going out with my beloved for a lovely romantic meal but I am being whisked away later in the week to a delightful hotel where we spent our very first ‘weekend away’ shortly before we moved in together all those years ago….
Actually, it’s not so many – around eight in reality – but it was a fantastically romantic time as when we arrived it was heaving down with rain but when we awoke the next morning the rain had turned to snow and there was a wonderful blanket covering everything! Ahh!
This time it’s snowed before we have gone and we are taking one of the boys with us – so not quite so romantic but it will be lovely none the less and I will share piccies if I get some really good ones.
Did I make my Valentines Card for my Beloved? Yes, of course I did. I began it a couple of weeks ago and was going for something eclectic and off the wall with a slightly altered feel to it and with a love message etc. Then my eldest boy came home at the weekend and asked me to make him a Valentines card for ‘this girl I really like’. I made two, one more formal and one a little whimsical. My beloved very much preferred the formal and traditional card so I had to hurry back to the drawing board and here’s what I came up with….
Valentines Card for my Beloved
Its a CASE (of course it is – did you really think I could come up with something so lovely at such short notice?) of one I found here – many thanks to Fubsyruth for the inspiration at such very short notice!
So what am I so excited about? This….
Sweet Summer SAB in spring colours
This is my first ‘own design’ collection using the Stampin’ Up Sweet Summer stamp set from the Sale-a-Bration freebies! Since we have had some pretty cold, wet and miserable days lately and then snow today, I wanted cheerful colours and these couldn’t get more cheerful! There is a PDF available for this card recipe here and the stamp set is FREE! for more detail see here.
How can you get this Fabulous set for Free? Well let me tell you…..simply place an order with me for £45 or more and the set is yours – FOR FREE! couldn’t get simpler. But this offer finishes 28th February and these fantastic stamps will no longer be available. Not seen a Stampin’ Up catalogue? Simply click on the links on the right hand side and you can view the current Ideas and Product book. Once you have made your choice simply email me at stampdelicious@gmail.com or give me a call and I will get your order processed and don’t forget to tell which of the Fabulous Sale-a-Bration sets you would prefer FOR FREE!
Okay, I think that is me for today….take good care and don’t forget, stamp your place in the world!
My Goodness how time flies! Has it really been a week since the last time I posted? Surely not….
Well, Yes actually it has been a week, but it has been a very busy week. My youngest boy has endured a hospital visit – ingrowing toe nail, very painful, won’t go on! and my eldest boy has developed a bad cold, but sympathy is needed as he is in first year at Uni, enjoying it far more than he should, too many parties, and far too much going out in this awful weather with insufficient jackets or jumpers on. Actually on second thoughts, there will be no sympathy – I have suggested often enough that he will catch a cold if he doesn’t wear more clothes…..
On the crafting front….time has been limited but I am working on a Simply Stamping course that I will be delivering at my local craft store, Craft World in Glasgow. It will cover basic stamping techniques including what stamp pad to use for what and why, repetition stamping, spritzing, and stamping with water colour paper amongst many other techniques. I am really excited about this as I clearly remember having loads of stamping questions when I started out – actually I still do have questions! I feel pretty sure that it will be a learning session for me too as the ladies that are coming are seasoned crafters and will definitely be able to teach me a trick or two! This class will be great for Card makers and Scrap bookers alike as it focus’s on the techniques more than the makes.
So what have I been making? Well I was trawling through Splitcoast Stampers the other day and was totally inspired by a card by a lady called Mary Brown. I loved this so much I had to CASE it, the link to her card is here and here is my version.
Bliss Made easy with fantastic bow
I have used slightly different materials, the stamp set is still the Bliss one that is available for FREE! (click there for more details) but the thing I really wanted to nail down was Mary’s way of tying bows which is pretty fantastic and simple! most importantly it’s simple. Click here for Mary’s very easy tutorial on tying bows.
So what about these FREE STAMPS then? Well yes! We all love free things don’t we? Don’t we? Of course we do! Until 27th February, each and every time you spend £45 with me you will receive a free stamp set of your choice from the Sale – A – Bration catalogue, and I can tell you these are simply fabulous stamps. Give me a call or drop me an email and let’s get you some FREE STAMPS before time runs out! These stamp sets WILL NOT be available any other time than right here, right now!
My very favourite has to be the Bliss set although the Sweet Summer one is coming a very close second….Watch out for a lovely card set coming onto the blog this week made with the Sweet Sumer stamp set.
Butterfly Bliss
Bliss for youPerfect BlissSimple Bliss
This final card is a CASE from a card I saw on Splitcoast Stampers which I can’t now find to reference – so if this is your card, please let me know so that I can reference it properly. I loved the simplicity of the background, just embossed, and I used Perfect Pearls to give an iridescent feel to the lovely Bliss butterflies.
Ok, off to craft a little longer before I really have to knuckle down and get some ironing done…..
So till next time…remember to Stamp your place in the world!
Stampdelicious 