Watercolor Wings home decor artwork - Stampin' Up artisan blog hop

Hello and welcome to another blog hop brought to you by the official Stampin' Up Artisan Design Team. It's my last outing with the team but many of my team-mates will be continuing to inspire you each week so make sure you bookmark their blogs won't you!

BUTTERFLIES ON THE WALL
This week the whole team will be featuring the fabulous Watercolour Wings photopolymer stamp set so you really are in for a treat! My own project was inspired by those wonderful home decor pieces in the shops at the moment - no need to buy those when they're so simple to make at home! Come and see:

I used the smaller butterfly from Watercolor Wings to create this artwork. Forget two step stamping, you can layer these babies up in five steps, which makes them very detailed indeed :) You can even add extra detail with markers as I did here to truly customise your butterflies.

You'll need a frame with a recess, sometimes called a shadow frame. Mine was from Marks and Spencer, but I know Ikea do inexpensive similar frames. Colourwise, it's best to stick to a theme - for example, my butterflies all started with a Crushed Curry base and I've built them up with blues, greens and oranges.

In this close-up you can see how each butterfly is resting on a die-cut. I used the small, lacy butterfly from the Bold Butterfly framelits to cut these out of Typeset speciality designer paper.

SPECIAL OFFER

Buy the Watercolor Wings stamp set with the Bold Butterfly framelits and save 15%!

Watercolor Wings Photopolymer Bundle £32.50

So what do you think?! I hope I've inspired you to make your own piece of butterfly artwork for your home or to give as a gift. Now it's time to see what the rest of the team has been up to. Click the button below to carry on the blog hop with the fab Allison Okamitsu!

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE THIS HOME DECOR ARTWORK!
Click on any item to be transported to my online shop!

Watercolor Wings Photopolymer Stamp Set £23.00	Bold Butterfly Framelits Dies £15.50	Typeset Specialty Designer Series Paper £11.75	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad £6.00
Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad £6.00	Cucumber Crush Classic Stampin' Pad £6.00	Tangelo Twist Classic Stampin' Pad £6.00	2014-2016 In Color Stampin' Write Markers £13.50

My shop is open 24/7 so you can buy Stampin' Up products from me any time, day or night.

If you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

BUTTERFLIES ON THE NOSE!
Before I go today, I just have to share this stunning photo by Candice Sedighan whose work has been inspired by her wonderful Golden Retriever, Champ.

How adorable is that?! No matter how many sit-stays we practise, I can't imagine Eva sitting still, gazing soulfully into the distance while I take a photo of her with a cheeky butterfly on her nose! See more of Candice's amazing photos and find out more about her here.

I'll be back tomorrow for the very last time so do pop in to say goodbye won't you.

Hugs,

All wrapped up - Stampin' Up Artisan blog hop

Hello and welcome to another Thursday blog hop brought to you by the official Stampin' Up Artisan design team! We've all got packaging on our minds this week so if you're looking for ideas, make sure you visit all of the designers around the world by clicking the button at the end of each post :)

BAGS OF FUN!

I always keep a stock of the Stampin' Up gift bags as they're so useful, especially when teamed with the Tag-a-Bag accessory kits. This year there are some new dotty glassine bags which are food safe and a bit like greaseproof paper but much prettier! Come and see some of my ideas for using them:

COOKIE MONSTER

My youngest son came home with his school report last week, justifiably proud of himself, and that made me think of making this little cookie treat:

I had a bit of a lightbulb moment when I realised the glassine bags fit perfectly inside the kraft bags and those kraft ones are a good, heavy quality too so they keep everything nice and firm. I used a circle framelit to cut windows in the outside bag so you can see the cookie in the glassine one.

There are sticky strips in the Tag-a-Bag kit and by using the one on the edge with one of the Coral strips, I got a nice striped edge! This was decorated with a tag and paper clip from the kit as well as some punched stars. 

PARTY WHIRL

Those glassine bags are just as useful on their own! 

This little treat bag could safely house homemade fudge, toffee or coconut ice, or you could fill it with small favours and hand it out to party guests.

My bag is closed with some of the sticky strip from the Tag-a-Bag kit and decorated with a pinwheel made with designer paper and attached to a wooden skewer. The label was stamped with the word 'Goodies' from the Stamp a Bag stamp set.

AND RELAX!

The bags are just as useful for wrapping non-food items with a high fat content, like candles or this gorgeous, fragrant, handmade soap. 

I opened out my bag first and cut it to size before using it to wrap the soap tightly. The circles cut from the Cookie Monster kraft bag above were used to create a shaped 'sleeve' - don't you just love it when nothing gets wasted!

To decorate the package, I wrapped the soap in the linen thread which comes with the Tag-a-Bag kit and added one of the heart-shaped labels. The delicate little stamped flower on the label comes from the Stamp a Bag stamp set.

These glassine bags have SO many uses and I've just scratched the surface here. Click the button below to check out the rest of the Artisan blog hop for more fab ideas from the rest of the team - starting with the amazing Allison Okamitsu :)

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE THIS CARD NOW!
Click on any item to be transported to my online shop!

Sketched Dots Tag A Bag Gift Bags £3.75	Kraft Tag A Bag Gift Bags £3.25	Tag A Bag Accessory Pack £7.25	Stamp A Bag Photopolymer Stamp Set £15.00
Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack £15.50	Brights Designer Series Paper Stack £20.00	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad £6.00	Subtles Stampin' Write Markers £27.50

My shop is open 24/7 so you can buy Stampin' Up products from me any time, day or night.

If you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

Thanks for visiting today. Do come and join me tomorrow when I'll be rounding up the latest Stampin' Up special offers :)

Personalised teen birthday - Stampin' Up Artisan blog hop

It's Thursday so that means it's time to whizz around the world to see what Stampin' Up's fabulous Artisan Design Team have been up to! Are you ready to be inspired?!

CELEBRATE A SPECIAL DATE
I've been thinking about teen birthdays just lately and have come up with something that can easily be adapted to suit teenagers of either gender with virtually any interest. Come and see:

A little bit of no-fuss personalisation! Personalising the date is a great way to make a teen feel special. I used the Day to Day stamp set for mine and I can highly recommend this useful stamp set for cards as well as scrapbook projects.

The rest of the greeting is from a great little set called Words of Truth. I stamped these on a lined paper from the Schoolhouse designer paper pack for a bit of extra interest.

Once you have your teen's special date stamped you can add an image which reflects their interests (I've added a bicycle here but the possibilities are endless!)

I punched my bike out of another of the great papers in the Schoolhouse pack using the extra large oval punch. To create a badge-style embellishment, I punched three more ovals out of Pool Party card stock and glued them in a stack with the bike on top.

Have you noticed the stars? These were cut out with one click of the Confetti Stars border punch and are such a quick way to embellish your projects!

I hope this idea comes in handy for those tricky teen cards. And now it's time to carry on with the blog hop!  Click on the button below to visit the rest of the team, starting with Allison Okamitsu :)

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE THIS CARD NOW!
Click on any item to be transported to my online shop!

Schoolhouse Designer Series Paper £10.00	Words Of Truth Wood-Mount Stamp Set £21.00	Project Life Day To Day Photopolymer Stamp Set £23.00	Daffodil Delight A4 Card Stock £6.50
Pool Party A4 Card Stock £6.50	Tangelo Twist Classic Stampin' Pad £6.00	Extra-Large Oval Punch £16.00	Confetti Stars Punch £20.00

My shop is open 24/7 so you can buy Stampin' Up products from me any time, day or night.

If you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

Today's card was a prototype for my eldest son who celebrates his birthday on the last day of July - the same date as Harry Potter no less! Once he'd read that, he felt a special affinity with HP and once was so convincing about blurred vision that I whisked him off for an emergency eye test. When I saw him lurking wistfully around the Harry Potter glasses display in the waiting room, I became quite thoughtful and was remarkably calm when the optician told me anxiously that she had tested and tested again and could find nothing wrong with my son's 20/20 vision!

I'll be back tomorrow with more crafting fun. Do come and join me :)

Over the rainbow love and sympathy - Stampin' Up artisan blog hop

Hello and welcome to another exciting blog hop brought to you by the official Stampin' Up Artisan design team! Each Thursday, you'll find inspiration from around the world as you click through the hop so don't forget to make it a date in your diary!

NOTES FROM OVER THE RAINBOW
I was absolutely thrilled to be sent the new photopolymer stamp set Over the Rainbow as it was most definitely on my wish list! Come and see how I've used it:

Isn't this a wonderful sentiment to send a little cheer? Rainbows are such a magical sight and they really do make us feel hope :)

There are lots of brush stroke images in Over the Rainbow and I used the long one to create a rainbow using markers from the In colour collections. Sequins from the Brights Assortment add a touch of sparkle.

My next card would make a perfect love note!

Wouldn't it be fun to tuck it into the lunch box of someone special?! The happy-looking sunshine is bound to turn that frown upside down!

And what about sending some good luck wishes:

Exams, driving tests, interviews... A good luck card is perfect for reminding our loved ones to breathe on those stressful days! The sketchy heart in Over the Rainbow makes a great four leafed clover - and you could bring it out on St Patricks day too!

I gave all my cards a decorative edging with the wonderful wide black and white stripe design from the Everyday Chic washi pack. Above this, I added some of the gold metallic thread, wound round twice and secured with FastFuse at the back.

TIP: make a tiny notch each side of the panel with the Medium Star punch to keep your thread straight.

I hope you've enjoyed my ideas for using this wonderful set. I know the rest of the team has lots more to inspire you, so click the button below to see what the lovely Allison Okamitsu has been up to!

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE THIS CARD NOW!
Click on any item to be transported to my online shop!

Over The Rainbow Photopolymer Stamp Set £19.00	2014-2016 In Color Stampin' Write Markers £13.50	2015-2017 In Color Stampin' Write Markers £13.50	Brights Sequin Assortment £4.50
Gold Metallic Thread £2.75	Everyday Chic Designer Washi Tape £7.25	Medium Star Punch £14.50	So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad £6.00

My shop is open 24/7 so you can buy Stampin' Up products from me any time, day or night.

If you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

Thanks for joining me today. I'll be back next week with more crafting fun :)