Free Stampin' Up products? Don't you go missing out now!

I'll be on holiday while my family are all home together but I just had to pop in to remind you that Sale-a-bration ends tomorrow... don't miss out!

GO SHOPPING IN MY ONLINE SHOP NOW!
Don't forget you'll get a free Sale-a-bration item for every £45 you spend

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.

Now, I may be on a break but there'll still be plenty of inspiration here on Thursday as I've scheduled my project for the Stampin' Up Artisan Design Team blog hop. The team are trying something new this week as we're all creating something with the same set!  Isn't that fun?! Don't miss it will you!

And if you're looking for a last-minute Easter treat project, how about my cute little bunny boxes?

These are so easy to make with designer paper and the extra large oval punch and are designed to hold just a few mini eggs. There's even a video tutorial!

I'm getting lots of TLC after my horrible chest infection. This morning I came downstairs to find this:

Orange boats prepared by my cute daughter! See that little label on the 'sail'? It says HMS Vitamin C! That's what I need - not just vitamin C but also giggles! 

Have a wonderful Easter and I'll see you soon with a full report on our Puppy Easter! 

Another look at the Easter bag with rabbit ears!

When a friend of mine asked me if I could come up with some quick Easter gifts for the children, I immediately thought of my bunny bags from last year, made using Stampin' Up's chevron paper bags. Come and see:

These chevron bags are only £3.75 and they come in a gorgeous dotty design too! It's so quick and easy to give them ears, fill them with treats...

... and tie them closed with the heavenly chevron ribbon which comes in a range of gorgeous colours!

There's even a video tutorial to show you how it's done!

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE THE BUNNY EARED BAG 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

Subtles Backgrounds Designer Series Paper Stack £19.50

Chevron Tag A Bag Gift Bags £3.75

Blushing Bride 3/4" Chevron Ribbon £8.25

Extra-Large Oval Punch £15.50

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.

They say you're never too old to learn and it appears to be true...

Here's Tuppence the cat, 85 in human years, doing a bit of swatting up on her history! No, not really! Actually, my youngest son had been sitting there with his history book and had just got up to get something only to find his warm spot had been filched by the cunning feline!

Have a great weekend won't you - and don't forget that Sale-a-bration ENDS on Tuesday, so don't miss out on those freebies!

See you next week,

For Peeps' Sake - it's nearly Easter!

The spring bulbs are showing off their colour, the sun is shining and there's even a touch of warmth in the air... it's time to crack on with those Easter makes and Stampin' Up has everything you need! Come and see the card I made with For Peeps' Sake:

It doesn't take long to make a whole bunch of this simple design! I started with the washi tape, then coloured the egg stamp with markers before stamping above it. The sentiment was stamped above that in sunny Daffodil Delight, and then I added a border of happy-looking flowers below the washi - using a stamp from the Nature's Perfection set which you can choose for free in the Sale-a-bration promotion.

It's often the details that lift a card and in this case, a snippet of cotton ribbon stapled to the panel  and topped with a bakers twine bow does the trick!

That free flower stamp from Nature's Perfection is perfect for creating stamped designer paper too as you can see in this version. I prefer the simple border personally - how about you?

• You'll find For Peeps' Sake on p.34 of the spring/summer catalogue along with some more great ideas for using it!

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE THIS CARD 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

For Peeps' Sake Wood Stamp Set £22.95	Stampin Write Markers - Subtles Collection ...	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95
Sweet Sadie Designer Washi Tape £4.50	Marina Mist 1/4" Cotton Ribbon £5.50	Painted Blooms Cotton Twine £6.25

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've been a bit of a poorly pudding with a chest infection over the last week but I still managed my puppy duties of course, wrapped up well, and was thrilled to see the partial solar eclipse on Friday. The photos OH took didn't come out at all except (she said smugly!) the one I suggested he took through the lens of my sunglasses.

See that thin crescent shape in the centre? That's all you can see of the sun as the moon passes in front of it. I found this so exciting but... hello? Hello?! Where have you gone?! Come back!!

I'll be back with more crafting inspiration tomorrow - and there'll be no eclipses in sight, I promise!

Secret panel easel card for Easter using For Peeps' Sake

I was so pleased that you liked the special easel card I made for my son's birthday (see it in this post.) It had a 'secret panel' concealing any gooey message I was compelled to write *wink* so that he didn't have to be embarrassed if anyone looked at his card display! Several of you asked for a tutorial so I've come up with a step-by-step Easter version using Stampin' Up's cute For Peeps' Sake stamp set. Come and see:

I used one of the envelopes from Stampin' Up's pre-cut notecards and envelopes set (it's 13 x 9.25 cm) so I cut my Whisper White card base 8.5 cm x 10.5 cm (which is the bottom of an A4 sheet.)

I used the scoring blade on my trimmer to score in half at 10.5 cm and also at 5.25 cm...

... which produces something that looks like this! But what about that secret panel?

Here we go! A So Saffron panel, cut 8.5 cm x 10.25 cm, scored 1cm in at the bottom edge and 2.5 cm in from the top edge.

That little semi circle, cut in the top with a 3/4" circle punch, is to make the panel easy to open. I ran some Fastfuse along the back of the 1cm tab and attached the secret panel to the bottom of the card so it opens on a sort of hinge.

Now it was time for the main attraction - that fabulous sentiment stamp from the For Peeps' Sake!

I coloured the rubber with Stampin' Write markers from the Brights collection and stamped onto a scrap of Whisper White card stock.

This stamp coordinates beautifully with the Ornate Tag Topper punch which makes a great shape for the pop-up section of the easel card.

Now to attach the topper!

The front of the easel tucks behind the top tab of the secret panel and the topper fits over the top to hold it open...

... like so! I didn't want the holes to show though so I made some pretty flower decorations using the flower from the Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack.

Adding a bit of shading to the flower with a marker of the same colour adds depth to the flowers and they're finished neatly with candy dots.

Here's the finished card again - isn't it fun?! I do hope you have a go at this idea and let me know how you get on :)

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE THIS CARD 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

Brights Stampin' Write Markers £23.95	For Peeps' Sake Wood Stamp Set £22.95	So Saffron A4 Card Stock £6.25
Ornate Tag Topper Punch £19.95	Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack £15.50	Brights Candy Dots £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 are all getting very excited about Easter here as all the family will come together again. I love the rituals we have in place for each of the holidays. At Easter we have a treasure hunt which I lovingly prepare and of course there's the Easter tree, twigs which we put in a jug of water and watch them miraculously come into leaf, decorated with handmade pretties. This year, we've decided to have an extra ritual - a game of hide and seek where each member of the family hides and Eva-pup comes and finds us. She can't be rewarded with chocolate eggs of course (chocolate is toxic to dogs) but I'm sure I can rustle up some egg-shaped meatballs!

Let me know if you have any egg-cellent ideas for Dog Easter won't you! Meanwhile, don't forget to join me for another amazing Artisan Design Team blog hop tomorrow! See you then,

Watercolouring with Love is Kindness by Stampin' Up

After a wonderful Mothers' Day at the weekend, it occurs to me that Easter is hurtling towards us like a runaway train! There are some wonderful Easter ideas in the Stampin' Up spring/summer catalogue and tomorrow I'll have a tutorial here for an Easter version of my secret panel easel card that some of you have been kind enough to admire!

With a change of sentiment, the beautiful tulip image I used on this thank you card would make a great Easter greeting. It's a single stamp called Love is Kindness and I adore it!

It's perfect for colouring - here I've watercoloured it using an aquapainter and Rich Razzleberry ink. I love the shades you get as you layer the ink :)

The stamp comes with a sentiment attached but I cut mine off - it's easy to do this with sharp scissors and makes your stamp so much more versatile. This time, for example, I added the 'thank you' from Painted Petals, stamped in delicious Blackberry Bliss ink but a 'Happy Easter' would work beautifully too!

• Good Friday falls on 3rd April this year
• Click here for more inspiration using the tulips from Love is Kindness

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE THIS CARD 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

Love Is Kindness Wood Stamp £7.95	Rich Razzlebberry Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	Blackberry Bliss A4 Cardstock £6.25
Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad £4.95	Aqua Painters £12.95	Rhinestone Basic Jewels Embellishments £4.50

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.

I adore Mothers' Day and am always utterly spoilt by my wonderful children. My eldest son was at work and my daughter at uni but, after a bracing walk with the pupsicle, my youngest son arranged me on the sofa, plied me with herbal teas, set up displays of flowers for me to admire and snuggled in to watch a film with me. Later, my daughter popped in via skype to make me giggle for half an hour and then my eldest son returned from work laden with chocolates! What a lovely lot they are!

I'll be back tomorrow with that Secret Panel Easel tutorial - don't miss it!