Happy Hannuka

Hag Sameach to all my family and friends celebrating the Jewish Holiday of Hannuka the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day celebration.  According to the Talmud, olive oil was needed for the menorah in the Temple, which was required to burn throughout the night every night. The story goes that there was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. An eight day festival was declared by the Jewish sages to commemorate this miracle.

I have chosen a simple design for this card, the middle menorah has nine clear rhinestones to represent the eight candles burning and one shamash candle.

Become part of my team and be a demonstrator!

First of all do you enjoy crafting? If the answer is yes then what are you waiting for? Contact me to find out the benefits of becoming a demonstrator.

I have been preparing a few items for some Christmas fetes and just wanted to share my makes. Here is a pic of some of the stationery sets that I made with the Winters Post Stamp Set, I think they are so cute.

One of my customers recently asked me to design a a box to fit her husbands mince pies in, he's a super baker by trade. 

Here is a cute little holder filled with Christmas tags that was one of the centre pieces in a recent class, the ladies were amazed at how long it took, or didn't take should I say, just a few minutes!

pillow box mug

In the festive season I stumbled on this idea of making the pillow box die into a mug, filled it with a sachet of hot chocolate, candy cane and a packet of marshmallows. I think it's super cute and so easy to make. A great teachers present for Christmas.

Prize Draw Results

All my customers that placed an order with me in the month of October were entered into a prize draw. I would like to announce that the winner is ............Sarah M, Sarah, please contact me for details on your prize.

Money Wallet

My sons' friend had a birthday recently and I didn't have time to find a present for his party. One evening I sat down and thought how I could incorporate money into a card. This is what I came up with and I must say that I am quite happy with the results. However, I think that I need to add faux stitching to the outside of the wallet as well.

With a couple of faux credit cards with sentiments stamped on and a £5 note in the back pocket, I think its fab.

The Medallion Stamp

I just got my latest haul and couldn't wait to unpack. I always forget what I've ordered so it's a lovely surprise as I peel away the packing tape, unravel the brown paper and there it all is!

As soon as I got out the Medallion stamp I had to start stamping away. I made my customers a Thank you card then I got into thinking that I had to do something with the left over tiles from my bathroom.

Don't you just love them, my Medallion coasters, and so easy.
First I cleaned and dried the tiles. I half stamped the medallion with black stazon ink. Once that was dry I covered the whole thing in versamark, sprinkled over some clear embossing powder and heat embossed it. It gives it a more durable finish and almost looks like a thin layer of glass over the tile. Finally I covered the base of the tile with a square of felt to protect table tops from getting scratched.I finished it off by wrapping the set with some ribbon, ready to give as a gift.

Great time to host a workshop

IT’S GOOD TO BE THE HOSTESS PROMOTION Get even more FREE products when you host a qualifying Stampin’ Up! workshop 1 November – 15 December 2011. Get the Paisley Petals Set and coordinating Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper for FREE—up to a £33.90 value—when you host a £300 workshop! This brand-new stamp set and Designer Series Paper are in addition to all the other exciting and generous benefits you get as a Stampin’ Up! hostess. If your workshop sales total* is You earn hostess pounds You earn full-priced items at 50% off** You earn the Paisley Petals Set and Designer Series Paper £150 £25 --- --- £200 £30 --- --- £250 £40 --- --- £300 £50 1 item Yes £400 £65 2 items Yes £500 £80 3 items Yes £750+ £120 plus 15% of amount over £750 4 items Yes Enjoy the many benefits of being a Stampin’ Up! hostess—contact your demonstrator today! Don’t already have a demonstrator? Use our Demonstrator Locator to find one near you. *Not including shipping & handling **Excludes exclusive, hostess-only items

Every quarter our upliners hold a training day, a full day of crafting with a little bit of business talk.  I love these days, we swap cards do lots of make and takes (if we finish them because we are all busy nattering away far too much!), get to try out new products and there is the most amazing raffle.

I wanted to share with you a taster of the cards we made.

I will post some more pics of the swaps that I received.

It's such a fun day, hardly can call it work!

play time

I had the opportunity to have a little play in the peace and quiet of an empty house today, something that doesn't happen often so I grabbed it by the horns and got out my toys and started stamping!
This is what I came up with.

A little set using Natures Walk stamp set with Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake and Naturals Ivory cardstock.

Here is a selection of easy to make cards that i prepared for a class on basic stamping last week. these are really good for beginners as they are so simple but quite effective cards

Sew Lovely

I am in love with the Sew Lovely Stamp set. I am not a sewer, I dabble from time to time but I no expert. That doesn't stop me from adoring this set, especially the mannequin. 

I've been having a play with this set lately and have a few pictures for you of my attempts.

Personal Challenge

Yesterday, over coffee with my friends, I shared a card that I was commissioned to make. I was delighted with the response and by the end of the morning the girls had also placed card orders with me. The girls all stressed that there was no hurry but by the time I had got home I decided to set myself a challenge to get them all done in that afternoon so I could give them out at school pick up time before the half term break. I was very pleased with myself that I met my challenge with minutes to spare. Here's what I came up with:

They were thrilled, even with the male cards even though I do lack confidence with making cards for men!

Hamsa

Hamsa

I love Hamsa so much, I collect them and have so many now. I used to live in Israel and met my husband there. We go back almost every year and my In-Laws tend to come and visit us once an year. 

Having a bit of a block recently I just decided to have a play and see what came out of it, now i've made one I think that many more will be following.

 Hamsa is Arabic for 5, for the 5 fingers and it is a good luck blessing and wards off evil spirits.

Owl Punch and Milk Carton Die

My lovely Stampin' Up! friend and I get together as often as we can to swap ideas, technics and share each others stamps and what not that we don't have. The other day she turned up with the Owl Punch and Milk Carton Die and I spent hours turning the handle round and round on my sizzix machine and punching out umpteen hundred owls!

Although not a lot of work went into my next project it was fun to make. Actually I made it for my sons' little girlfriend and popped a little Broadsheet Alphabet neclace inside with her initial and pear pizazz seam binding ribbon.

Charity Card Making Class

I held a charity card making class last week. We had a great time chatting, sharing tips and techniques and of course making cards. I designed 3 cards and 2 projects for the evening even and they all went down well. Very simple and easy to copy designs with some delish colour schemes.

All the projects used the Hope and Strength Stamp set that was included in the price of the class as well and the cardstock and all other items needed to make these cards. The first card above used Naturals Ivory cardstock as the base card and Rich Razzleberry ribbon and cardstock. Here I inked the edges of the base card with Crumb Cake ink using a dauber and stamped off the butterfly from the set. the card was finished off with a matted butterfly also stamped in Crumb Cake.

This card was embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder on Baja Breeze Cardstock. A strip of Naturals Ivory was 'brick layered' stamped with the script stamp using Crumb Cake ink, a small length of linen thread was tied around the bottom and the card was finished off with a cut out stamped butterfly and H stamp using Baja Breeze ink.

The last card was very simple yet effective. Chocolate Chip card base, the flourish was stamped onto a strip of Blushing Bride cardstock then layered onto a slightly wider strip of Whisper White with a length of Whisper White Grosgrain ribbon tied around it before layering it onto the base card.

The last two projects were a bookmark and a tiny Top Note treat pouch with a chocolate treat inside.

I have to thank the ladies who attended for an evening full of fun and laughter. Watch this space for the next cardmaking class.

marvelous mannequins

These cards were an experiment with coordinating inks and cardstock, i think they came out ok! 

This card was inspired by my wonderful upliner, Bekka. The flowers are cut using the Flower Daisies #2 Die and finsihed off with a dab of shimmer paint. The card base is cut using the Big Shot Top Note die and made into an easle card. I covered the vintage wallpaper embossing folder with concord crush ink and embossed the top note before sticking it onto the pre folded base card. It has been finished off with a greeting in curly and cute stamp set 'congratulations' in daffodil delight ink.

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Easter Treats

Just had to quickly share these with you! My Easter Treats for the kids. They are so easy to make with the delish Top Note die, Oval Punch, Circle Punches and a celo bag inside filled with choc buttons. I can't wait to see the kids faces

Alternative Punch Art

Ever wondered what other things you can do with those Stampin' Up! punches? Well, I sat down the other day in desperate need of inspiration, so I got out my punches and started popping out shapes. I found myself making rosebuds from birds (pic to follow soon and they are now on a card I'm putting together for my Aunts' wedding anniversary) cupcakes from tabs and scalloped circles and many more.

How about you? Got any ideas, ever made something completely different from a punch?

i'm having so much fun with the scalloped envelope die, i love the versatility of it. Would  you ever imagine that you could make a box, basket, business card holder and so much more from and envelope die?

After going to the Peterborough Training Event on Sunday I'm busting with inspiration and ideas. There I met some amazing ladies and swapped some beautiful cards, all with designed with the new mini catalogue in mind.
I have to admit that this is not my own design but at least it is all my own work! I just love the beautiful wings embosslits. it's surprisingly easy to make and assemble. Here I have used Elegant Soiree papers and whisper white grosgrain ribbon and a touch of sparkle here and there with some rhinestones on the butterflies.

first post on my new blog!

Hi to anyone reading this, my first post!