Double Challenge Entry...

Goodness me - there I am sitting down for 5 minutes and thinking I have no pressure on me to do anything and... BOOM, I suddenly realise I have a double challenge entry to post and I have to get it done today!

Thank goodness I remembered as I am feeling a little smug!

I am combining the Dynamic Duo's challenge of combining Wisteria Wonder and Perfect Plum, with the Simply Less is More challenge to use string or twine. I had seen this technique somewhere out there on t'interweb and decided this was the perfect opportunity.

You wrap string round one of your blocks - press on to your ink pad and BOSH a unique and fun stamp... you can alter the distance between and angle of the strings to create different designs.

So the background String Stamping uses Perfect Plum and the flower from Flower Shop is in Wisteria Wonder. Punched out using the co-ordinating Pansy Punch.

What do you think? Please leave your comments I do love to read them and treasure each and every one!

At it again - Stampin' Up! Latest Offers!

Well can you believe it - Stampin' Up! have two MORE offers today.

(Just click on the pictures to go to my On-Line store and see the full details.)

Firstly these little 'packaging' bundles for your Christmas gifts and save 20%...

Secondly there is 30% off selected seasonal downloads for your MDS software...

Check out these offers and take advantage now!

If you don't wish to buy On-Line then give me a call and I'll load the order for you.

Paula xxx

Thinlits Expressions from Stampin' Up!

Hi Guys,

Hubby and I had a lovely night away on Friday in the Surrey Hills - unfortunately I had no phone or internet connection... or was it a blessing? It definitely felt a little strange.

Today I'm sharing another card using Stampin' Up! Thinlits - these are the Expressions Thinlits and a little tip is to use a layer of wax paper between the cardstock and the dies - then the words just pop right out.

I apologise that the card is already in it's little cellophane wrapper - but i forgot to take the piccys before I sealed up the card.

The stamp set is Santa's List,

Doesn't the word Merry look lovely cut out of the Silver Foil Sheet?

The other words are Love and Thankful. They are just so delicate and detailed I love them... more so since I discovered Wax Paper too!

Remember you only have a few days left to order your stamp sets with 25% discount, they are available from my on-line store.

I still have dates available for parties in November and if you would like to join my team - I would love to have you on board!

Back Soon!

Paula xxx

Loving those 'Flip' Cards...

And they are incredibly simple with Stampin' Up! goodies, the Thinlits dies and your Big Shot...

Just a couple I made yesterday. I used the Thinlit Card Die sets, The Santa from The Best of Christmas, the Season of Style Designer Series Paper, Some of the lush Glimmer Paper and a little of the 1/8" Silver ribbon.

Oooh - just loving these!

And don't you just LOVE the co-ordinating Cracker made using the soon to be released Envelope Punch Board!

I used the Scallop Border Punch on the ends and the lovely Cherry Cobbler Stitched Edge Grosgrain ribbon.

Back soon!!!!

Paula xxx

You What? 25% off and a great NEW product!

I can't believe the amazing offer that Stampin' Up! have announced today... combined with the release of the NEW Thinlit Card Dies... well who wouldn't fall off their chair and spit out their tea in the excitement of rushing to place an order? Well as you all know, I have had my dies for a week or so now as a perk of being a demo, AND they are LUSHHHHHHHHHH.

So down to business. Yet again Stampin' Up! want to be sure we don't forget what a special year it is, in celebrating their 25th anniversary. So this weeks little temptation is a whopping 25% off 25 stamp sets.

Visit my shop to see what they are or click on the link on the right for a list. Even better, pick up the phone and give me a call! There is only one snag... you only have until the 28th to order so pull up a chair and go for it!

And whilst you are at it, add the NEW Thinlits Card Dies too! Remember the video I posted showing you how to make a card by making a partial cut - well these little beauties do all the work for you... Just add card stock!

There are two great sets to choose from - but if you're anything like me you might 'need' both!

So what are you waiting for? visit my On-Line shop or give me a call on 01844 342494 or 07786 860438 during the day. And I would like to say 'Hello' to Laura. I now know at least one person reads all the waffle I put on here!

Back soon with some samples for you!

Pxx

Absolutely Crackers!

Today I thought I would walk somewhere new for a change... so I wandered off down a wooded path and through lots of grassy fields - thinking 'Great clean dogs...'

I had walked quite a distance, and was on the home stretch, when I realised the route I was about to  take had obviously just been used by the numerous tractors I had seen driving round earlier - I was too near to where I had parked the car to turn back so needless to say, by the time the dogs and I had waded through the four inch sloppy mud... it was everywhere - even in my hair!

Everything got hosed down when I got home and the dogs are now drying out in their beds.

There are a couple of exciting new things coming your way from Stampin' Up! in the next couple of weeks including an Envelope Punch Board... now the rules are I can't show you new products until they are released but I can show you things made with them... so look at these little crackers!

They are super simple to make...

I have used the Winter Frost DSP and the Silver 1/8" ribbon... with my favourite - Chalk Talk... There is room inside for some treats so in these I have put Lindor Chocolates. What will you put in yours? Why not add a comment and let me know?

Hope you like - and watch this space for the launch.

 

Wedding Keepsake

I  have lots of cards I need to make in the next few days - my Mum's birthday, a couple of weddings, a get well soon... and I'm sure I've forgotten something!

Anyway - yesterday on my Facebook page I promised to share a wedding keepsake I have made for a friend - I gave it to her today as I shan't see her before she gets married.

It was almost completely CASE'd from a US Demo called Beth Beard. I loved it so much I had to have a go... though I forgot the butterfly she had added to hers!

I also made a box using my Simply Scored score board and Chalk Talk with matching Framelits (I use this a lot as you will notice!) and circle punches with Organza ribbon.

Then inside is this beautiful tag...

I used En Francais for the background, Adorning Accent embossing folder, Teeny Tiny Sentiments, sentiment with embossing powder, the leaves are from the Bird Builder punch, more Organza ribbon and the flower itself made using the Blossom punch and sponged with Raspberry Ripple.

I really enjoyed making this project and hope you like it too.

Back Soon! I have so many things to share - but must get some crafting done too!

Pxxx

Wet and Wild

It's on days like this when I am so grateful I have my crafting to keep me sane - Don't get me wrong, I just took the dogs out and discovered, on it's first outing of the year, that my waterproof coat is no longer waterproof - So I'm not housebound by the weather but it is lovely to creep off to my little haven of craftiness and forget how dreadful it is out there.

You can buy Stampin' Up! products from me either through my secure on-line store or by contacting me direct. At this time of year though it is even nicer to get a few friends together with a mug of coffee (glass of wine) and have a home party - all your guests get to make a card, I'll demo some of the products and if the sales from the party exceed £150 you earn from £25 FREE to spend in the catalogue! For October only, remember you earn an extra £25 on orders over £250 you get £65 to spend.

If you like you can hold a virtual party - I'll drop off some order forms and a catalogue - you can canvass your friends and I'll collect the orders... and you'll still earn freebies! You can't beat that! I can even open an order on-line for you with an exclusive code for you and your friends...

Don't forget that until the 21st of October only you can join Stampin' Up! for just £25 - choose up to £26.95 of product and there is no further commitment but you will get exclusive demonstrator discounts on your purchases as well as special offers! All my recruits get a little something special from me too!

And here is a little something simple I created to show you you don't need lots of fancy stuff to get started! This card was made by sponging on Whisper White card stock, The trees are from the Lovely as a Tree set and the sentiment is from Sassy Salutations.

I then cut it and matted it on some coloured card.

So simple!

Do get in touch if you have any questions or would like to have a party.

Credit where it's due!

People are often too quick to complain yet don't give credit where it's due! I took delivery yesterday of 3 thinlits - can't share a couple just yet as they are new... but I'll have some sneak peeks in the next day or so!

I was advised to use Wax Paper to help get the card out of the dies and was bemoaning the fact I wouldn't get it for a couple of days...

Amazon to the rescue - I found some from a seller called A J Every Day... ordered it at 2pm yesterday and it arrived at 9 this morning! (I did opt for express delivery)

Now that is what I call service! So all you crafters out there who can't decide which seller to opt for - there's my recommendation! So well done AJ Every Day - Here's a link to the Store Front...

AJ Every Day

That's all I have to say :-) Back later!

xxx

Pals Paper Arts - Pick of the week...

Just a quicky tonight to say a huge thank you to the design team over at PPA for choosing me as one of their picks of the week for last weeks challenge.

I am so chuffed I can't stop smiling!

I shall be posting some more exciting things this week - I just don't know where the time goes! Trying to juggle promoting my Stampin' Up! business with a full time job and a menagerie is not leaving much time to craft - but I am determined to get some bits done tonight!

In the mean time - I know what voyeurs crafters are and I know some of you are dying to see my craft space so here it is!

My craft room is also our spare room so I got a sofa bed so I can sit on it and so I had more room!

 

My wonderful hubby is a Kitchen/Bedroom/Bathroom fitter and put in these ace units for me that hide a multitude of crafting goodies!

 

 

 

Inside are all my stamps and card stock - I have had to relegate all my retired stock to the loft!

 

 

This is the little desk that houses my patterned papers, ribbon and sewing and embroidery bits - you can see my sewing and embroidery machines on top. The little plastic drawers hold most of my adhesives, embellishments and punches.

 



 

Lastly this is my table... I prefer to sit on the floor and craft so I can surround myself with everything and keep it in reach! 



I hope you enjoyed this little visit into my world and I'll be back soon!

Paula xxx

Pushing my luck!

Well that'll teach me - I have been trying to make the most of the weather before it turns and the sun was shining as I left home with the dogs... we had a fabulous walk until just under a mile and a half from home the wind suddenly picked up and the rain started...

Well I am quite warm blooded - so only had a t-shirt on! The dogs and I were drenched but we had walked just over five and a half miles and once the rotten weather starts all our favourite walks become dreadfully muddy.

Today I'm going to show you a little Tealight card I made. I have discovered the beauty of using clear embossing powder on Very Vanilla cardstock. It really looks classy and luxurious.

I used Blooming with Kindness and Label Love for this project and the co-ordinating Artisan Label punch.

I think the Bermuda Bay looks lovely with the creaminess of the Very Vanilla - and goes well with the candles!

What a lovely gift I'm sure you'll agree!

Have a fab evening, I'm off to make some more of these with co-ordinating boxes for the craft fair.

Back soon!

Paula xxx

I'm dreaming of...

... a white Christmas challenge - from Less is More this week. White on White with a Christmas theme.

I've been working on a few different Christmas designs for a fete at one of the local schools - unusually I'm making batches of cards rather than one off's.

I've been pinching ideas from fellow Pinkies and looking at some other blogs but this one is all mine!

If you want to see what else I have been up to I would ask that you PLEASE visit and Like my Facebook page - www.facebook.com/knallcrafting

I only need 9 more likes to get me to 100! Though I would obviously like many more. (Am I being greedy?)

Here is the card I designed for the challenge.

Obviously all in Whisper White I have used the Petals a Plenty embossing folder, cut a wide band that I embossed with the Designer Frames folder, punched the borders with the Scallop Trim border punch then scored them with the Simply Scored scoreboard.

The decoration/sentiment is from the Best of Christmas set and punched using the co-ordinating Christmas Ornament punch... I used the new Silver Encore ink pad - so I hope that is allowed for the challenge.

I was rather pleased with the result so I did a Very Vanilla with gold one - using the Encore Gold pad and the new gold Foil Sheet and the Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch... I almost like this more...

I also tried one in Old Olive and one in Real Red but the white and vanilla are definitely more... Classy?

What do you think? I love to read your comments! You can visit the LIM challenge blog here.

Hope to see you back here soon - I have lots more projects to share!

Paula xxx

Sunny Sunday - World Map v Open Seas and Friendship Preserves v Harvest Blessings!

I don't know about you but I have woken up to gorgeous sunshine this morning. I finally stopped crafting at 3am and discovered lots of other crafters were still on-line. Are we all insomniacs?

I did get lots done and I have 2 cards that will just make it into the challenges for this week by the skin of their teeth!

I have been doing a lot to promote my Stampin' Up! business the last few days and I am amazed at how far and wide you all are. The US, Australia, Malta, Germany, France, the Netherlands... I just couldn't say how many more - I just want to say a huge thank you to you all for following me and I hope you share my posts with your friends - that would be awesome!

The first card today is for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge, as soon as I saw the sketch an idea began to form - it uses one stamp I hadn't opened yet and one I hadn't used for a long while - and I created a masculine card... always useful!

I started by stamping the World Map on Crumb Cake card stock, then dabbed various colour stamp pads on the same stamp and stamped that on Very Vanilla. I cut out a circle with my Circles Framelits and stuck it down. I decided to put it not quite central so I could add the ship from The Open Sea.

Lastly the band is Soft Brown Sugar with Very Vanilla and the sentiment from Blooming with Kindness stamped in Baked Brown Sugar too. Here is the Sketch -

The second card is for the Pals Paper Arts challenge and will hopefully appeal to my American friends - we don't really celebrate Thanksgiving here in the same way, though the churches and schools celebrate Harvest Festival.

The two stamps I used were the 'Hello' from Friendship Preserves, cut out using the co-ordinating framelits and the pumpkins and apples from Harvest Blessings.

The image is coloured using my Stampin' Write markers in Pumpkin Pie, Pear Pizzaz and Baked Brown Sugar.

The textured mat is Baked Brown Sugar cardstock run through the Square Lattice folder which I think has a suitably rustic look. Especially when combined with the strands of Linen Thread.

Another card suitable for either gender.

I'm off to do some household chores now including de-frosting the freezer as 'someone' didn't shut the door properly yesterday (he hates it when I say 'someone' as 'he' knows it's him!).

Enjoy your sunday!

Paula xxx

All White

I love to see white cards, but I also like to add a little splash of colour.

Today's cards were inspired by one I saw on Pinterest (don't go there - I can spend hours just browsing!), the use of the dies to cut a window for the sentiment. The first is a Birthday card and I did a number of different colours afterwards - yet it is so unusual for me to make the same card twice!

The flowers are from the Flower Shop stamp set, punched out with the corresponding punch - buy them together and save 15% and the sentiment is from Simply Sketched. The Die is from Apothecary Accents.

I just added a few pearls and just loved this card on sight!

Then for all you lovely people who are already well on the way to being organised for Christmas, here is a seasonal version.

For this one I used the Northern Flurry embossing folder, the Christmas Ornament punch, some silver glimmer card cut into a snowflake using the Festive Flurry dies. The ribbon is 1/8" Taffeta in Real Red and the sentiment is from Petite Pairs.

I hope you have had a sparkly day and do visit my shop and check out all the fantastic products!

Paula xxx

A sad day!

My guinea pig was the sweetest and friendliest you could ever meet... he would come when you called his name, purr when you stroked him and call to you if he heard your voice or the opening of the back door.

First he lost his voice then a few weeks ago I noticed significant weight loss and he was drinking a lot - we tested him for diabetes but it was negative... on closer inspection we discovered a tumour under his chin.

He was still bright, happy, eating and drinking and loving being out in the garden... but we were putting off the inevitable, he wasn't eating properly, found it uncomfortable to be picked up because he was so thin and had got a bit wobbly on his back legs.

Today he made his final trip to the vet. Bless him! I so loved that pig!!!!!!!!

Of to do a bit more crying - hope you don't mind me sharing - I promise I'll post something crafty soon! xxx