Join SU for £50, Retirement Lists, free gifts!

Oh my goodness - where to start with the news today?!

Join Stampin' Up for just £50! 

No, it isn't a typo - you really can join the gang for just £50, with a starter kit containing your choice of £55 worth of goodies, plus free catalogues and stationery! Check here for more details.

Stampin' Up Retirement Lists 2014 are here!

At this time of year, selected stamp sets and accessories retire to make room for exciting new ones when the new catalogue is released. Some of these products are being sold at discounted prices so they won't be available for long - don't let your favourites go!

The quickest way to order your retiring items in my online shop and that way you can be sure that the item is still available. Happy shopping!

Get even MORE for your money!

When you place your order today or early tomorrow you'll still get to choose one of these photopolymer stamp sets as a free gift with every £60 you order! Go for it!

With all the buzz going on here today, I thought I'd better show you an appropriate card! Come and see:

The honeycomb panel is made by sanding back embossed core'dinations cardstock. I adore having core'dinations card stock in all the Stampin' Up colours, so I'll be stocking up before that goes. It's a sad goodbye to the sweet Bug Me stamp set too. This happy-looking bee from the set pairs rather nicely with the Honeycomb embossing folder and that fabulous sentiment (just beeeee-cause!) which are both staying.

TIP: To make a trail template, doodle on a piece of window sheet and pierce along it at regular intervals. You can use it again and again!

I'll be linking this card up with CASology where the cue word this week is Bee!

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE THIS CARD
(Click on each item to find it quickly in my shop) 

Stamps: Bug Me (retiring) wood or cling, A Dozen Thoughts wood or cling

Ink: Stazon black ink, Daffodil Delight marker

Card stock: Very Vanilla smooth, Daffoldil Delight core'dinations

Other: Honeycomb embossing folder, Squares framelits, Big Shot, window sheet, piercing tool and mat, paper snips, stamp-a-majig

Click above to place an order any time, day or night,

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

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

CHOOSE ONE OF THESE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SETS WITH EVERY £60 YOU SPEND (excl. p&p)

This is what I've been feeling like for the last couple of days:

Ready to burst!

Talking of balloons, here's a top tip if you have small, bored boys in your house over half term: Sit the boys down, blow up a balloon solemnly and then let it loose - it should fly round the room making vulgar parping noises! Repeat this several times enjoying the sound of the boys shrieking with laughter and then let them take over. When the novelty wears off, you can tie a knot in the balloon and show them how to play balloon volleyball, using chairs as a net.

Sigh. Those days were much more fun than helping out with the GCSE chemistry revision!

Enjoy your weekend and I'll see you on Monday,

Peek a boo bug

It was the birthday of someone fabulous and small yesterday and I got to make the birthday card - yay! Come and have a look:

Are you aghast? Does it seem ridiculously plain for a little girls' card? Well that's because it's harbouring a secret thanks to the Peekaboo Frames Bigz L die! The card was for the little sister of my daughter's boyfriend and she loves pink and playing hide and seek... so what's under the flap?

It's a ladybird - and she loves those too! This ladybird comes from Stampin' Up's Bug Me stamp set and is romping about on some snippets of designer paper.

I popped the card in a bright envelope, made with my indispensable envelope board...

And added a speech bubble sticker to the front, cut out with one of the Word Bubble framelits.

I'll be linking today's card up with Make My Monday where the theme is Nature.

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE THIS PROJECT
(Click on each item to find it quickly in my shop) 

Stamps: Bug Me wood or cling, sentiment retired

Ink: Real Red classic ink, stazon black

Card stock: Blushing Bride, Whisper White

Other: Word Bubbles framelits, Peekaboo Frames Bigz L die, Big Shot, Polka Dot Parade designer paper (plus snippets from Retro Fresh, Epic Day and Gingham Garden),  envelope board, stamp-a-majig

Click above to place an order any time, day or night,

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

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

CHOOSE ONE OF THESE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SETS WITH EVERY £60 YOU SPEND (excl. p&p)

It was my daughter that introduced her boyfriend's little sister to the absorbing game of making houses for bugs in the garden. They found a container, decorated it with grass and twigs and gravel and searched for a ladybird to live in it. At the end of a long, happy afternoon, the little girl brought the little bug into the house. My daughter and her boyfriend exchanged glances. "The ladybird needs to go home now," they told her. She turned her big blue eyes on them. "But it's warm and safe here!" she said. It took patience and ingenuity but you'll be glad to know that the ladybird was eventually released into the wild.

See you tomorrow,

Bug Me for bees, flowers, leaves, hearts...

Yes, I've discovered another set that has all sorts of tricks up its sleeve! Stampin' Up's Bug Me, designed to make a variety of cute bugs, has served me very well in the flower, leaf, hearts department and I've already worked out several other things I could make from it too! Don't you just love versatile stamps?! Come and see the card I've made today:

There are several overlapping elements to this card: the tag, cut from my Two Tags die, run through the Big Shot with the Honeycomb embossing folder, and embellished with a button and twine...

... the flower - stamped with wings, fussy cut and given a stem drawn with a ruler and leaves stamped with more wings...

... and finally the bee - stamped using my stamp-a-majig to get everything in the right place and fussy cut. In fact, there was a lot of fussy cutting involved because the sun was shining and I needed an excuse to sit in the garden! So pleased to have been able to use this fabulous sketch (right) from Retro Sketches for my card - they always have brilliant sketches over there and I never seem to get to them in time!

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Bug Me, (retired sentiment)
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green classic inks, Stazon black
Card stock: Whisper White, Crumb Cake/Naturals White
Other: Honeycomb embossing folder, Two Tags Bigz die, Big Shot, Daffodil Delight button, linen thread, paper snips, Crumb Cake marker, stamp-a-majig
I CAN ORDER STAMPIN' UP ITEMS FOR YOU AND HAVE THEM DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR ADDRESS IN THE UK. I'M COMMITTED TO PROVIDING EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE AND AM ALWAYS HAPPY TO OFFER HELP AND ADVICE. TO FIND OUT MORE OR TO PLACE YOUR ORDER, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL OR GIVE ME A CALL ON 01280 820593.
• Get more for your money - place an order for £250 and choose £65 worth of products free! Or join SU and get £155 worth of products for just £99! Offers end 30th May 2013

It's been so beautiful and sunny for the past couple of days that it seems churlish of me to mind the slight nip in the air. I took a small comfy chair outside to do my fussy cutting in a sun trap and, as usual, I only had to stand up for a few minutes and this happened:

If you zoom in close you'll see that her ears are twitching. I am saying: "Tuppence, I think you'll find that I was sitting there first!" loudly and clearly. She is saying: "La, la, la I can't hear you!"

You'll find more nonsense over on my new facebook page so do come over and 'like' it! Have a lovely weekend and I shall see you very soon.

Hugs,

Bug Me with lots of love

One of the things I love about stamping is finding different ways of using images and today's card illustrates that perfectly. I've taken a great little set called Bug Me that you might associate with children's cards and made a graphic looking valentine with it. Come and see:

Bug Me is one of those great sets where you can build any number of cute bugs by combining different bodies legs and wings, but I decided to use the wings as hearts in my card! I think it works rather well!

Chevrons are all the rage at the moment and I've embossed these onto my card front using my new Borders score board! I love this tool - it fits into the Simply Scored base and allows you to emboss all sorts of curves and chevrons anywhere you like on your card. TIP: My top tip for using this board is don't forget to remove the protective film on both sides of the guide otherwise it will be too slippery to use! (Ask me how I know...)

I used the gorgeous colour combination at the Paper Players to make this card. I'm also entering it into the challenge at CASual Fridays where the theme is Love Songs - make a card based on a favourite song. The song I've chosen is Love Bug by the Jonas Brothers - although I have to confess it's not really a favourite of mine. Incidentally, the boys in this band used to be so pretty that they were irreverently nicknamed the Jonas Sisters in this house - although I'm entertained to see that they've manned up considerably in recent years!

Here's what you'll need to make this card

Stamps: Bug Me, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit, Primrose Petals

Card stock: Whisper White, Midnight Muse

Other: Owl Punch (for the little heart), Simply Scored and borders scoring plate, corner rounder, stamp-a-majig

I'D BE DELIGHTED TO ORDER ANY OF THESE ITEMS FOR YOU AND HAVE THEM DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR ADDRESS IN THE UK. I'M COMMITTED TO PROVIDING EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE AND AM ALWAYS HAPPY TO OFFER HELP AND ADVICE. TO PLACE YOUR ORDER, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL OR GIVE ME A CALL ON 01280 820593.

• DON'T FORGET TO ADD ONE OF THESE FREE SALE-A-BRATION ITEMS FOR EVERY £45 YOU SPEND

On the subject of bugs: can anyone explain to me why my cat, who can barely open one sleepy eye while a spider sashays through the living room thumbing its nose at her and waggling its bottom, is immediately galvanised into violent action at the sight of a small circle of light from a torch? Life! I will never understand it!

See you tomorrow,