Join me for a boys' Birthday Bash - Stampin' Up Artisan blog hop

Hello and welcome to Thursday aka Stampin' Up Artisan Design Team blog hop day (I know, that's a bit of a mouthful isn't it!) All the team members around the world have been working hard to inspire you as usual, so make yourself comfy and let's start hopping!

IT'S A BALLOON BASH!
It was my youngest son's birthday this week and he turned 14 (I have no idea how that happened but he assures me it's true!) I've been busy packaging up his presents with gorgeous Birthday Bash designer paper and the fabulous Balloon Bash stamp set. Come and see:

What a lovely lot of exciting goodies - and in my son's favourite colours too! It's so easy to create a coordinated look because Stampin' Up offers card stock, inks, markers, designer paper and accessories in the same colours :)

I used one of the designer papers as ordinary gift wrap here - although there's nothing ordinary about this fab retro design! The tag was punched out using the Angled Tag Topper punch, stamped with balloons from Balloon Bash and given a popped-up #happy birthday greeting at the bottom.

This is one of the simplest ways to wrap a relatively flat gift - simply wrap it, seal the ends and add a decorative belly band - mine was an off-cut from the first gift. I stamped another image from Balloon Bash to decorate the top.

Here's another favourite wrapping idea - a piece of designer paper, Fastfused on each side and folded in half to form a pouch. The flap is a separate piece of contrasting paper scored and glued to the back of the pouch.

It's that HB image again! This time I stamped it, cut it out and attached it with dimensionals so that the flap tucks under it to keep the pouch closed.

No gift set is complete without a card to write a birthday message in!

This one is a simple easel card - but with a difference! I added an orange flap to conceal my cutesy message so that when my son's friends come round for the sleep-over at the weekend, he won't have to hide the card with embarrassment! The flap also tucks under the stamped image to keep the card upright for display.

When you untuck it...

... the card folds nice and flat for posting. Of course I didn't  have to post mine - although we do have Puppy Post in our household!

I hope you've enjoyed browsing through my son's card and gifts. He loved everything, particularly those # greetings! Now it's time to hop over and take a look at the always-inspiring Allison Okamitsu's work. Just click the button below.

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE THIS GIFT SET NOW!
Click on any item to be transported to my online shop!
Don't forget you'll get a free Sale-a-bration item for every £45 you spend

Balloon Bash Photopolymer Stamp Set £23.95

Birthday Bash Specialty Designer Series Paper £11.50

Tangelo Twist 3/8" Satin Stitched Ribbon £7.95

Tangelo Twist Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95

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.

How was my son's birthday? Well, his sister, who he adores and who is currently at uni in Manchester, popped in for breakfast and present-opening via Skype and later, after a 'pretty decent' day at school, I whisked him off to our favourite café for a fancy high tea. When his brother and his dad had finished work, we settled in for more presents, curry and a game of cards. So, all in all a very happy birthday!

See you tomorrow for a round up of the latest Stampin' Up bargains!

A special birthday

One of my girlfriends celebrated her birthday recently and so we all went out for a meal and showered her with gifts! I found a pretty scarf for her which provided all the inspiration for the gift presentation. Come and see:

How's this for a burst of tropical colour?! Those fabulous flowers are from Stampin' Up's Secret Garden stamp set - and there are coordinating framelits for those that don't enjoy fussy-cutting.

The background was made using my acrylic block kissing technique (as seen in this video tutorial.)
I had a bag in the same Crushed Curry colour as I used for the card base but it had a shop logo on it...

... so I made a panel for the front and back to cover it using one of the papers from the Regals Designer Paper stack - it is SO useful to have designer paper in every single Stampin' Up colour!

Have you spotted the matching tag?

I stamped it using the same technique as the card and cut it down to 2" wide, carefully cutting around the sticking out flower. Then I was able to use the angled tag topper punch to turn it into a tag, and tied it to the bag with sumptuous stitched satin ribbon in Midnight Muse.

Would you like to see the scarf that gave me the inspiration?

LOVE it! (In fact it was quite hard to give away!)

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

Stamps: Secret Garden wood or cling, Simply Sketched (hostess set) wood or cling

Ink: Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Midnight Muse

Card stock: Whisper White, Crushed Curry

Other: Secret Garden framelits, Big Shot, Designer Paper Stack in Regals, Acrylic block E, aquapainter, Angled tag topper punch, stitched satin ribbon in Midnight Muse, 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 AN EXCLUSIVE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET FREE WITH EVERY £60 YOU SPEND

We're gearing up for a bank holiday weekend here in the UK so fingers crossed for some sunshine. I'll be back on Tuesday with the first in a series of projects made with a fabulous, summery stamp set. Have a lovely weekend and hope to see you then,

Welcoming baby with Storybook Friends

The New Baby theme over at Less is More today was just the thing to get me out of winter mode! Out came the lovely fondant colours and my favourite new punch and this is what I came up with:

The tag on this card was cut out with one click of my gorgeous new Scalloped Tag Topper punch. (I'm teasing you a bit with this because it's not available to order yet, but it'll be available on 28th January when the new spring/summer catalogue comes out - and Sale-a-bration will start then too with all its fab freebies!)

The beautiful Pool Party cord tied at the top of the tag is from one of the freebies - a pack of embellishments. I embossed the bottom of the tag with 'kisses' using one of the Needlepoint embossing folders and added a frolicking lamb from the Storybook stamp set, coloured with my Stampin' Chalk marker and cut out with my sharp paper snips.

Of course I had to make a baby girl version too:

The Sale-a-bration accessories pack contains three different colours of cord, including Crisp Cantaloupe which I think is lovely for a baby card.

Doesn't this sentiment sum up what every mum feels when her baby is born? I think it's perfect! It's from That's The Ticket, which has seen quite a bit of use from me lately and has a coordinating punch so you can just stamp, punch and go.

UPDATE: I've also been reminded to also link this card up with the Addicted to CAS challenge where the cue word is New - thanks Kylie!

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

Stamps: Storybook Friends, That's The Ticket

Ink: Pool Party/Crisp Cantaloupe

Card stock: Whisper White smooth and core'dinations plus scrap of Pool Party/Crisp Cantaloupe for the punched heart
Punches: Owl punch (for the tiny heart), Ticket punch, Scalloped Tag Topper punch (coming soon!)

Other: Stampin' Chalk Marker, Pool Party/Crisp Cantaloupe cord (free Sale-a-bration gift), paper snips, Needlepoint embossing folder, Big Shot

You can order from my online shop 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.

There's nothing very springlike about Buckingham today - it's cold and damp and dark. I'm going to see the Hobbit later with my boys but first I'd better do a little cooking as my eldest son has just come downstairs saying: "I have to eat right now or I'll DIE!"

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll see you soon,

A Gorgeous Grunge autumn birthday

Not all of my friends understand about crafting - can you relate to that?! One of the things I most love about being part of Stampin' Up is that I've made lots of really lovely friends who completely understand the excitement I feel about a new stamp set or the way a piece of designer paper coordinates with some ribbon! It's a great reason to join - and until 21st October joining only costs £25! Click here for more info.

One of my Stampin' Up friends celebrated her birthday last week and, since she invited me to her birthday meal, it would've been rude not to bring along a handmade little something! Come and see:

Note how the Gumball Green Christmas paper and washi tape works brilliantly with Pumpkin Pie and browns for a lovely autumnal look!

I don't know if I'll ever get tired of making cards with washi tape, Gorgeous Grunge and a topper of some sort, like these beautiful leaves from the Gently Falling set:

It's so easy to make them turn autumnal using markers directly on the rubber before stamping.  All the splatters are made with my Gorgeous Grunge stamp set - much easier than really splattering ink! Oh and have you spotted my favourite embellishment of the moment? Yes it's the candy dot! These come in all the fabulous Stampin' Up colours and I can reveal to you that I nearly had to be sedated when they came out!

This is the coordinating tag I made for the little gift box. I used the same stamp sets and washi tape and cut the pretty shape quickly and easily with the Curly Label punch.

I know what you're thinking... So what was in the box?

Well, my friend and I share an addiction to enthusiasm for good, dark chocolate, so that's what it had to be. In fact she got quite a stash of it so we need not worry for her sanity any time soon!

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

Stamps: Gently Falling, Gorgeous Grunge, Express Yourself

Ink: Gumball Green, Summer Starfruit, Pumpkin Pie, Early Espresso

Card stock: Naturals Ivory, Very Vanilla

Other: Markers, Season of Style washi tape/designer paper, Pumpkin Pie 1/8" taffeta ribbon, linen thread, candy dots, Curly Label punch, paper snips, stamp-a-majig

You can order from my online shop 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.

Customers placing orders of £250+

will get a whopping £65 worth of freebies during October!

If you'd prefer to spread the cost of your crafty stash, but still get

freebies as well as handmade gifts and cards and complementary catalogues,

why not consider joining my Stampers 6 club?

When I had my first baby, my lovely daughter, I knew absolutely nothing about practical parenting. I would have crossed crocodile-infested waters and protected her from The Hooded Claw but it took a long time for me to learn to carry at all times the armoury of wipes, changes of clothing, toys, snacks etc required to take a mum and tot smoothly through a day! My daughter's babyhood was punctuated with my mistakes.

Once, for example, on her second birthday, I invited all her little pals and their parents round to celebrate and proudly brought in the gorgeously rich, dark (adult!) chocolate cake I'd made for the occasion. For some reason, I assumed none of the tots would be eating cake but they all did and, well, let's just say that their parents reported that none of them were interested in sleeping for some considerable time afterwards!

Have a great weekend and I'll see you very soon.

Hugs,

A Summer Silhouettes gift set

Summer Silhouettes caught my eye the minute I saw it in the new catalogue, but I didn't realise quite how much I'd fall in love with it. It's what's stopping me from making all the Christmas cards I should be making right now! Last Friday, one of my girlfriends was celebrating her birthday and Summer Silhouettes felt like just the right set to use for her gift packaging. Come and have a look:

I love the way you can layer these stamps...

... can you see the way the images glow through each other like a watercolour painting?

I stamped the plant and trellis images directly onto my card base and layered a frame on top, cut with one of my Labels framelits. I adore the sentiment from A Word For You with its flourishing start and finish!

I decorated a length of cream paper to match the card and used it as gift wrap. (The roll of paper Ikea sell for their child's easel is a good shade of cream and a good weight for this.) Stamping gift wrap is great fun and is a great way to get a coordinated look. I tied the gift up with Old Olive grosgrain ribbon - this has retired now, but there's a new and rather gorgeous version in the new catalogue that comes with a line of stitching down the centre for extra texture.

As a finishing touch, I made a matching tag for the gift using one of the Labels framelits and repeating the stamping.

Here's what you'll need to make this project
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, A Word for You
Ink: Raspberry Ripple, Old Olive, River Rock
Card stock: Very Vanilla
Other: Labels framelits, Big Shot, Itty Bitty punch pack, Old Olive grosgrain ribbon (retired), Lucky Limeade bakers twine, 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, France, Deutschland, Nederland or Osterreich. 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 +44 (0) 1280 820593.


While I was getting ready to go out with my girlfriends on Friday, my daughter had disappeared out on a date and the boys were having dinner under the tender care of their father. I was just gathering together my purse and keys when I heard my youngest son say: "I've finished now - I'm just going upstairs." I was very proud to hear that my teachings had not fallen on deaf ears however, because my eldest son was having none of it. "Oh no you don't!" he said. "If you've finished you're supposed to entertain me with interesting anecdotes!"

Enjoy your Monday and I'll see you tomorrow!

Timeless Portrait chocolate box and card

Do you remember me showing you the Timeless Portrait designer paper on Saturday? I love this range with its vintage feel and I'm particularly fascinated by the cameo motif. Come and see a box I made using one of the papers.

This paper reminds me of an expensive silk scarf a friend of mine once had! I like to team a patterned box lid with a plain base and I love the way it looks with the satin ribbon in black. The coordinating tag is made with Basic Black card stock, a scrap of the designer paper and a die-cut tag that is fast becoming a favourite of mine. The box was made as a thank you gift and is full of Lindt truffles - yum!

Naturally I made a card to go with the  box of chocs! I loved the black swirls on this paper and cut it so that  it would work on my 9cm square card. It's worth taking a closer look at designer paper because papers that you think are intended for scrapbooking only can often turn out to be brilliant used in smaller pieces. Have you noticed that the sentiment from Thank You Kindly almost looks a part of the paper design!

Supplies needed for this card:

Stamps: Thank You Kindly

Ink: Basic Black, Crumb Cake (for sponging the edges of the paper)

Card stock: Crumb Cake, Basic Black 

Other: Lots of Tags sizzlits die pack, Basic Pearls, satin ribbon in Basic Black, paper snips, stamp-a-majig

You can buy any of these supplies from me and I can have them delivered to your address in the UK. Just send me an email or give me a call on 01280 820593. SPECIAL OFFERS: If you order today your name will go into a draw to win a full-sized classic ink pad in Rich Razzleberry. If your order is over £25, you will also receive a free Christmas House tutorial. 

I'm a little bit car-lagged after our journey to Norfolk. We live in the very heart of England - you can't really get further from the coast! It took us just under two and a half hours to get to Brancaster because we set off at 6.30am, but it took three and half to get home with all the other traffic! On our way back we passed this surprising field:

I've never seen anything like this before but I found it a great inspiration for a card! Are you curious? Do come and see me tomorrow and all will be revealed!

Have a good day today,

Things are starting to go...

First of all today I really want to alert you to the fact that things are already starting to sell out on the Last Chance List. If there's something you'd love on that list, do contact me quickly as I'd hate for you to be disappointed.

Of course, it's not only products on the Last Chance List that are retiring: items in the mini catalogue are only available until the end of this month (although a select few may carry over to the new Idea Book and Catalogue) so do have another look and make sure you don't miss out on your favourites.  One of my own favourite sets from the mini is Baby Blossoms - a gorgeous 2-step stamping set. I love stamping retro-style, shabby-chic florals with it - like this:

The roses in this set look wonderful stamped in pink or red but I thought I'd branch out today and go for glorious orange blooms. And I rather like the look! What do you think?

The polka dot label is gorgeous and coordinates perfectly with the large oval punch - so you could punch the centre out to make a frame if you wanted to. Alternatively the sentiments from Sincere Salutations, like this one, fit beautifully within the oval.

Supplies needed for this card:

Stamps: Baby Blossoms, Sincere Salutations

Ink: Tangerine Tango, Cajun Craze, Pacific Point, Pear Pizzazz, Wild Wasabi

Card stock: Whisper White, Wild Wasabi

Other: Markers, stamp-a-majig, paper snips

You can buy any of these supplies from me and I can have them delivered to your address in the UK. Just send me an email or give me a call on 01280 820593. 

While we're talking about Baby Blossoms, here's a very quick tag I made using a scrap of folded Whisper White card stock. It was stamped with a spray of flowers and leaves then punched with the 1/8" hand held punch (retiring, £6.75) and threaded with gold elastic cord (also retiring and available in silver as well, £3.95). The beautiful 'for you' is from a very useful sentiment set called Occasional Greetings (also retiring) which, at 40% off, is an absolute bargain at £18.57!

Click here to view the Last Chance List - full of stamps and accessories, some at up to 40% off, available only while stocks last.

Today is the last day of the school holidays and I feel a little sad that tomorrow all my children will be up early looking somehow strange with their holiday tans in their new, smart uniforms. The house will be quiet, doors won't be left open, I won't be hugged just as I'm about to stamp a tricky bit...

But I expect I'll get loads done and they'll come back buzzing from school, so I'm sure I'll have cheered up by tomorrow!
Hope to see you then,