Get your bargains in the Stampin' Up retirement sale!

Have you taken advantage of the fabulous Stampin' Up retirement sale yet? Well hurry - some items have already sold out but there are still many amazing bargains to be had!

SAY IT WITH SPEECH BUBBLES!
One of my favourite retiring stamp sets is Just Sayin', a bargain at 25% off. The coordinating Word Bubbles framelits have been slashed to half price too making this a very attractive little bundle. Come and see some of the cards I've made with this set:

With trendy word bubbles against a watercolour background, this card is perfect for a teen. And yes, no matter how grumpy they appear to be, they DO like to be told that you love them :)

This cheeky sentiment is a bit of fun for anyone's birthday but I designed this particular card for a male. The word bubble was combined with a stripe image from Gorgeous Grunge and some bright chevrons made with the Chevron Border punch. The tyre marks are from a previously retired set, Need For Speed, but a strip of washi would work just as well.

Are you getting an idea of how versatile this set is yet? Here's another speech bubble, this time sitting on a Hardwood background smeared with ink and overstamped with Gorgeous Grunge ink splats. You can make these word bubbles say whatever you like and I hope you realise that I've been very good to restrain myself!

• Just Sayin' is 25% off at £14.21 (cling mount) and £17.96 (wood mount.
• Word Bubbles framelits are 50% off at £10.48 for the pack.

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

Just Sayin' Clear Stamp Set £18.95 NOW £14.21	Word Bubbles Framelits Die £20.95 NOW £10.48	Gorgeous Grunge Wood Stamp Set £21.95
Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	Hardwood Clear-Mount Stamp Set £12.95	Border Chevron Punch £19.95

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.

The heatwave we were having seems to have cooled down considerably and I found myself complaining that I felt quite chilly the other evening. "Go and sit in the corner then," suggested my youngest son obscurely. "Why on earth would I do that?" I asked. "Well it's 90 degrees in the corner!" he said and then added, kindly: "That's a maths joke!"

Thanks for joining me today. If you fancy a little more male card inspiration, do come back and visit me tomorrow when I'll be adding a quirky touch to a classic!

Hugs,

One layer speckled Summer Silhouettes

What a pleasure it is to get stamping again after a busy few weeks and, to celebrate all the gorgeous sunshine we've been having, I stamped a little garden! Come and see:

This is a one layer card but there's plenty of interest going on! The card base is one of Stampin' Up's ready-cut note cards, which are a good heavy weight and come with envelopes. I stamped the front several times with one of the splatter images from the indispensable Gorgeous Grunge stamp set and embossed with gold embossing powder.

As well as providing some lovely texture the fab gold speckles resisted the ink I used to stamp my leaves and flowers. The stamps are from Summer Silhouettes, one of my favourite stamp sets ever which, you may be interested to know, is on special offer at the moment - but hurry, because the offer ends tonight!

• Click here to see all this week's Weekly Deals - there's a bumper crop of gorgeous goodies at amazing prices!

I finished the card with a scored frame for more texture and the beautiful Happy Birthday greeting from Butterfly Basics. I LOVE this gorgeous sentiment and am currently using it for all my birthday cards!

A great big thank you to the lovely ladies at Less is More for inspiring me to get stamping today with their One Layer Splatters challenge :)

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

Summer Silhouettes Wood Stamp Set £21.95 now only £16.46	Strawberry Slush Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	Pistachio Pudding Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95
Simply Scored £25.95	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder £3.95	Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes £5.50

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.

We spent the Easter weekend together as a family and had a wonderful time! I made a buffet style lunch this year and included a basketful of hard boiled eggs decorated with funny faces.

Naturally my daughter couldn't resist copying the expression on her egg!

Our annual treasure hunt went really well with the favourite clue being 'A silly clue' (which led to a window sill!) There was a new twist this year with some of the clues being Puppy Cards; this meant that the person who found the card had to ask Eva to Sit and Stay while they hid a treat and then asked her to Find It!

She loved being involved in the hunt and became very excited when we all cried "It's a Puppy Card!"

Afterwards, when the children found their chocolate eggs, she was given a frozen carrot and retired to the garden to toss it about!

I hope you all had a happy Easter. Do come and join me again tomorrow when I'll be having a baby moment!

Mum's Love note cards - Stampin' Up artisan blog hop

Hello and welcome to this week's fabulous Stampin' Up artisan design team blog hop! This week each member of the team is using the beautiful Mums Love stamp set and I'm really excited to see what my team mates have come up with!

HOW MANY STEPS IN TWO STEP STAMPING?
Mum's Love is one of Stampin' Up's fabulous two step stamping sets - which means that you can stamp an outline with one stamp and colour it by stamping over it with a solid version - like this:

I love the arty look you get from these two step stamping sets. Do you see how the flowers look sketched and the colour looks as if it's been dashed in with a paint brush? And using the speckle image from Gorgeous Grunge just adds to the artistic look!

The two step stamps don't have to be used in this way though and it's interesting to see the different looks you can get by using just the outline...

... and colouring by hand. Here I went for an intense, precise look with Stampin' Write markers but there are heaps of different things you could do with it:

• watercolour with an aquapainter and ink
• colour with ink and a blender pen for an airbrushed look
• leave as an uncoloured outline over a colourful background

Those are just off the top of my head!

Two step stamping sets can be used in a different way again by stamping just the solid stamps:

It's gives a 'painted' look again, but softer this time.

I stamped all these cards onto the gorgeous suede-feel Naturals Ivory card stock, sponging them first with Soft Sky and Wild Wasabi inks. A circle was cut into the panel with a 1 3/4" circle punch ready to hold the sentiment. These were stamped on Very Vanilla card stock and cut out with a 1 3/8" circle punch before attaching.

I hope I've inspired you to try Mum's Love, with all its possibilities. Now, there's plenty more inspiration from the rest of the team - just click the button below to see what Allison Okamitsu has come up with using this fabulous set!

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

Mother's Love Photopolymer Stamp Set ...	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	Pistachio Pudding Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95
Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	2014-2016 In Color Stampin' Write Markers £11.75	1-3/4" Circle Punch £15.50	1-3/8" Circle Punch £14.25	Gorgeous Grunge Wood Stamp Set £21.95

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.

Boys really are a different species aren't they (or specie as my youngest son used to say!) Last week I collected him from a fun-filled evening where he and a group of friends played 'army manoeuvres' in the woods. "How did it go?" I asked as he hopped into the car. "It was brilliant!" he said fervently. "I got kicked in the woods!" It turned out that this wasn't the highlight of the evening however. The boys had done further activities inside and "I got taken out on a stretcher!" said my son with great satisfaction.

I'd like to wish you all a very happy Easter and hope you'll join me next week for another great Artisan Design Team blog hop and more crafting fun :)

For All Things - Stampin' Up Artisan blog hop

It's Thursday and that means it's time for another round of inspiration from the Stampin' Up Artisan Design Team! I am working with some very talented ladies on this team and their ideas take my breath away week after week, so do make sure you hop all around the world to see what they've been up to won't you.

STAMP A STACK!
When I first saw Stampin' Up autumn/winter catalogue, I instantly fell in love with the stamp set I'm using today - For All Things. This set is definitely an all-the-year-rounder and makes a great companion set to Gorgeous Grunge. Come and see:

My colour palette of Mossy Meadow, Hello Honey, Tangelo Twist and Early Espresso gives this bundle of cards an autumnal feel but the leaves would also look lovely stamped in green and teamed with flowers for spring or summer.

STAMPING AND KISSING!
For the first card I used the Kissing Technique. No! my husband didn't wander in while I was making this card - it's a stamping term to describe two stamps being pressed together!

In this case, I inked up both the large leaf from For All Things and the 'speckled' image from Gorgeous Grunge and 'kissed' them together. The acorns add a bit of depth to the design - I LOVE these acorns!

MASKED STAMPING!
And I was very well behaved in the making of my second card too!

First I stamped the bunch of leaves over the watercolour background image, then I made a mask by cutting a hole in a sheet of scrap paper, held it over the stamped image and added Gorgeous Grunge speckles.

See how the two sets go so well together? This little detail made me very happy! For a bit of golden sparkle I added some sequins too, pulled off the Gold Sequin trim.

STAMPING OFF THE EDGE
The third card shows how you can use that bunch of leaves image in a different way by stamping off the edge of the panel.

I added those fabulous acorns and speckles again but you can see that this card is much more delicate-looking than the first with the large leaves.

All three cards and envelopes were bundled together with a band made of burlap ribbon tied up with Venetian lace trim. Wouldn't this be great as an informal napkin ring for a bonfire night or thanksgiving dinner?!

I hope you've been inspired by my autumnal bundle of cards. Now it's time to hop on over to Allison Okamitsu to see what fabulousness she has to show you! Click the button below:

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE MY BUNDLE OF CARDS NOW!
(Click on each item to find it quickly in my online shop) 

For All Things Wood-Mount Stamp Set £21.95	Gorgeous Grunge Wood-mount Stamp Set £21.95	Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	Tangelo Twist Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95
Hello Honey Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon £7.25	Venetian Crochet Trim £6.25	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock £7.50

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.

Tuppence is in a strop because The Suitcase has made an appearance in the hall. This is often the precursor to being bundled into The Cat Carrier - but not this time. This time the menfolk will remain at home to serve their feline mistress while I jaunt off to the annual European Stampin' Up convention in Brussels today! I'm afraid the rainbrella is at the ready - but nothing can dampen the enthusiasm of a whole bunch of Stampin' Up demonstrators, all getting together for fun and jollies! Has Brussels been warned?!

See you soon,