Welcome to my team - Stampin' Up Artisan blog hop

I blinked and Thursday came around again! Thursdays are special days when I join my Artisan Designer teamies to bring you ideas and inspiration on a fab blog hop! Are you ready to join us?

PAINTED BLOOMS NOTEBOOKS
The team were sent some gorgeous goodies from the new Stampin' Up spring/summer catalogue this month and I fell instantly in love with the Painted Petals stamp set and coordinating Painted Blooms designer paper. (I've already had to order another couple of packs of this! One to use and one to stroke!) Come and see what I made with them:

Here's an idea for a gift that would go down well with lots of ladies I know! These are just ordinary notebooks but covering them with the beautiful Painted Blooms paper, tying them up with ribbon and adding a little tag really raises them to the next level.

But, in fact, I made these notebooks as gifts for new recruits to my Stampin' Up team, The Inkredibles, so naturally each one required a coordinating card!

I love how the Stampin' Up mini stapler has such a long reach. It was easy to punch the stamped greeting out with the Ticket punch and staple it to the centre of my stamped panel.

There's a background stamp in the Painted Petals set with lines on it and being photopolymer, it's a doddle to make gingham with!

Oh Pacific Point, I've fallen in love with you again! This beautiful blue teams well with Wild Wasabi green and a few flecks of Hello Honey marker add interest.

Would you like to see how the cards coordinate with the notebooks? Come on then:

Here we go! Pinks...

... purples...

... and blue! Which is your favourite?

Now, I wonder what my teamie, the inventive Allison Okamitsu, has to show you this week? Click the button below and let's hop over and find out!

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE MY PROJECT NOW!
(Click on any item to be transported to my online shop!) 

Painted Petals Photopolymer Stamp Set £21.95	Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper £9.95	Ticket Duo Builder Punch £15.50
Painted Blooms Cotton Twine £6.25	Handheld Stapler £8.95	Pacific Point 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.

I took my lovely puppy to her first puppy training class on Monday evening but I'm afraid she didn't behave very well. She was so excited to see the other puppies and all she wanted to do was play with them. She pulled and pulled on her lead and it was all I could do to hold her. "She's quite er... busy, isn't she?" said the instructor crushingly.  Sometimes it's hard to believe that one day, Eva will become a calm and gentle lady dog!

See you tomorrow when I'll be showing you more goodies from the Stampin' Up spring/summer catalogue 2015. See you then,

Choose Happiness - Stampin' Up! Artisan blog hop

It's Thursday and that means you're in for a treat because it's time for the weekly Stampin' Up Artisan Design Team blog hop! As always we've been working hard to inspire you, so come on - let's start hopping! I've gone vintage with my project this week:

This pretty notebook and card set was made for a lovely lady who joined Stampin' Up with my team last week. (I love welcoming new members to my team, so if you've been wondering whether joining might be right for you, check out my information page here!)

Here's the card. I love the 'artwork on bookprint' style and it's so easy to achieve with Stampin' Up's new blendabilities and the fabulous Typeset speciality designer paper. This paper is thinner than usual which make it really easy to manipulate. TIP: With its variety of designs in sophisticated black and cream, it makes a stylish gift wrap too - perfect for the guys!

There's nothing masculine about this project though! Here's the notebook. The stamped images are from the gorgeous Choose Happiness set, and the intense colour comes courtesy of the Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive blendabilities. I added a little sponging round the book print too.

I adore these elegant little kraft journals with their trendy grid pages. They come in packs of two and are great fun to cover in all sorts of styles. I thought this one would make a great 'happy journal', where you write down things that have made you happy each day!

If this were my journal, today's entries would start with:

• Made a fab gift set for a lovely new member of my team
• Enjoyed a fabulous Artisan Design Team blog hop!

Talking of which, the rest of the team have some amazing creations to show you too! Allison Okamitsu is next up, so click the button below to see what she's been up to:

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

Kraft Grid Journal [135718]	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock [106550]	Typeset Specialty Designer Series Paper [133704]	Choose Happiness Clear-Mount Stamp Set [134198]	Choose Happiness Wood-Mount Stamp Set [134195]
Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Rich Razzleberry Assortment [131003]	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Old Olive Assortment [130999]	Linen Thread [104199]	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad* [122938]	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad [126953]

Place an order online 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.

We were in the north east of England last weekend and as we were driving through Newcastle city centre, I spotted the city's Artisan restaurant which has been cleverly developed round an old biscuit factory. "Hey look!" I said excitedly to my husband, pointing at the logo. "It's me!" He glanced over. "What do you mean?" he said. "A biscuit factory?" Hmm. I think it's safe to say that (a) my husband isn't quite as excited about my Artisan Design Team status as I am and that (b) he's perhaps a little concerned about my biscuit consumption!

There'll be lots more crafting fun here tomorrow so do come back and visit me then.

Beyond the Garden notebooks

On my blog yesterday there was a card I'd made using the beautiful Beyond the Garden designer paper and today I have some coordinating notebooks to show you.

These notebooks are sold in supermarkets and are really useful for shopping lists and notes but frankly wouldn't win any beauty contests... but with a bit of a make-over they turn into something you'd be more than happy to keep on display on a hook in the kitchen or by the phone or, with a magnet glued to the back, on the fridge!

To make them, you just peel back the black tape at the top, remove the soft cover and replace with card stock topped with designer paper. I use Sticky Strip for this job so that I can be confident the notebook won't come apart. The little label on the front is from the Notably Ornate stamp set. I stamped it in Basic Black and embellished with a leaf from Bright Blossoms and my favourite little flower punch from the Itty Bitty punch pack centred with an adhesive pearl.

Since I've covered everything I used, I won't type out a supply list today as I do normally - time during the holidays is at a premium and apparently there are Poffins to be baked... watch this space!

It's Three Minute Thursday tomorrow - see you then for a fast project!

Designer paper covered notebooks

Remember when I did a stall at my youngest son's school fair? Well I haven't finished showing you the things I made for it yet! Here are some notebooks I covered with yummy designer papers:

I adore these Sweet Pea papers!

Ooh and I love the Cottage Wall papers too!

And this woodgrain paper from Autumn Meadows pack is fabulous! Do I really have to choose?

Well then it has to be these gorgeous papers from the Sweet Pea stack! (And at only £19.50 for 48 sheets  of 24 quality double-sided designs, it's crazy not to! That's a mere 40p a sheet! You can order your stack by clicking here.)

I'd like to say thank you to everyone who sent birthday greetings to my husband. We had a lovely evening and a divine dinner. He opted for steak with all the trimmings, while I enjoyed a smoked haddock fishcake served on spinach with a lemon butter sauce, crispy French fries and a salad of bitter leaves, tomatoes and olives. Oh yum! At the end of the meal my husband sat looking all Italian with a manly double espresso while I entertained him by mmmmmmm-ing my way through a wickedly indulgent chocolate sundae. There aren't enough birthdays really are there...?

Do come back tomorrow and I'll show you some more of my summer fair offerings.
Thanks for visiting me today!

FTL 94 challenge and teachers' appreciation gifts

The FTL challenge on the Clean and Simple Stamping site this week is a favourite style of mine and, since my head is currently full of apples, it took no time at all to work out what I was going to make.


It was very speedy to produce this card...

... and  whip up a matching notepad and pen to make a little teacher appreciation gift. This paper, from the Sweet Pea designer paper stack in the mini catalogue, has to be one of my all-time favourites. I think it looks great with that pop of black. Yes, that's the apple from the Tart and Tangy set - I know, I'm obsessed with it! But they're such graphic images, I love them! (And you get four fruits for £10.95 so it's pretty well rude not to!)

Supplies
Stamps: Tart and Tangy, Trendy Trees (sentiment)
Ink: Basic Black
Card stock: Basic Black, Whisper White
Other: Earth Elements and Basic Black markers, 1 3/4" and 1 3/8" punches, Sweet Pea DP stack

While I'm here I thought I'd show you some simple, one-layer notelets made with Tart and Tangy.

I used Real Red and Old Olive on Whisper White card stock for these. Doesn't the cherry look fabulous with the Sincere Salutations sentiments! I think the invitation would be perfect for summer barbecues and parties and it would be easy to produce lots of them in a short time.

I won't be going to any barbecues or parties this weekend because it's the weekend of the Desperate 2 Dance show. All three of my children belong to this brilliant street dance company which offers the annual opportunity to perform in a real theatre. The children each have their four costumes ready, they're practising their moves and they are so excited! Me too - I know they'll be sensational and I'll need loads of tissues to hand!

Thanks for popping in today. Sorry about all the apples. I promise I've got it out of my system now and the next post will be an apple-free zone!
Have a wonderful weekend!