Stampin' Up! Christmas Cards

Well it's been a busy few weeks, I've had a few classes and am really enjoying my stamping again. I've even had time to make all my own Christmas cards this year!

I hope you don't mind me sharing?

This one is really simple and uses the Softly Falling embossing folder, stamped images from Seasonal Bells and the snowflakes are from one of the Christmas Stocking Thinlit Dies. The sentiment is a retired one. Sometimes I like to dig around in my old stuff and use things.

You can see I used Dazzling Details on the snowflakes... you can get the same effect using Glitter Card.

This one also uses Seasonal Bells and the matching punch, it also uses Lovely as a Tree which is the oldest stamp set in the catalogue... because it is so timeless!

Going through my files I found a short video I took of the sunset in North Wales one day in August, I thought it was so beautiful I did a Screen Shot to share with you! Hope it brightens your day!

Back soon!

Paula xxx

Lovely as a Tree 3D special

I've tried to get a little ahead of myself and as yet I have the Flowering Flourishes classes on Monday and the 12th November... But towards the end of November and early December we're doing something a little bit different!

Here are what I am planning.

First off everyone will make one of these Tea Light Screens (Get your battery operated tea lights now if you are planning on coming!)

Whilst the screens are drying we'll make this simple card with a little sponging and some Candy Dots...

Next this card with a little texture from the Woodgrain embossing folder and some more Candy Dots

Then we are going to use the Envelope Punch Board to make this super cute box, decorated with Burlap Ribbon, Linen Thread, Washi Tape and leaves cut using the Autumn Accents Bigz Die.

I LOVE the acorns and just had to add some sparkle with the Gold Glimmer Paper here.

Lastly we are making another box with the Envelope Punch Board, Decorating it with Lovely as a Tree, more elements from the Autumn Accents Bigz Die and more of that Linen Thread.

Tucked away inside are these cute cards...

It's going to be a packed class - so if there's anyone who would like to do it on a Saturday or Sunday daytime to avoid a potentially late night... just give me a shout!

Told you it was going to be a special class!

Hope you had an awesome weekend!

Paula xxx

Tea Light Screens

I am so excited - can't believe that this time next week I will have spent the day exploring Brussels before heading to the convention centre to register for Stampin' Up! European Convention 2014.

Eeek! I can't contain myself and I have made 2 different swaps and a pillow gift for my roomie!

Today I wanted to share some screens I made for Electronic Tea Lights. NOT for use with naked flames... before someone sues me for burning their house down!

I used Vellum and the Lovely as a Tree and Holiday Home stamp sets.

I did get a little carried away!

Here's a little tutorial!

Here's some I did last year too!

Back to Basics - Reflection Technique 1

On Saturday I promised you another Back To Basics video showing the technique for reversing or reflecting an image - there are two ways I have used and the first uses the sheet from the Stampamajig.

Here is a card I made using this technique -

The stamp set was Lovely as a Tree

Here is the video!

Back soon with another reflection technique!

Paula xxx

Lovely As A Tree

£24.95

Lovely As A Tree Clear-Mount Stamp Set

£19.95

Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

£10.95

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

Guess what?

Yeah - I found another Christmas Card I want to post.

But before I do... there is a lot of excitement surrounding Christmas, the chance to eat well, over indulge, spend time with family and friends. The whole kaboosh. But I would like you to all just take a second amongst the jollity and frivolity to think about those less fortunate than ourselves.

There are people who don't have a Merry Christmas, who have lost people close to them, have no family, have family they are not close to, experienced tragedy and even those who you think are having a great time - who struggle at this time of year with depression or other problems. It is not the great time of year for everyone - yet there is no escape and their noses are constantly being rubbed in it, making the whole experience even more distressing. Spare a thought for them... and if they aren't having a great time and don't want to join in, let them have the space they need to deal with Christmas in their own way. Don't make it harder for them than it has to be, sometimes they truly don't share your Christmas Cheer, they aren't being a Humbug - this time of year is genuinely really difficult, uncomfortable or painful.

And now back to that card I mentioned...

This is a complete CASE of a stunning card made by a fellow Pinkie - Suzette. You can visit her blog here.

She is a phenomenally creative lady and I love her work! You may remember the little jars with the Marshmallows... Yup they were her idea too.

Anyhow, here is the card -

How classy is that?

Here is a close up of that cute embellishment - these will be retiring when the seasonal catalogue finishes at the end of January - so grab them while you can!

I used the Lovely as a Tree and Wishing You stamp sets, Woodgrain embossing folder and the Simply Styled embellishments.

And I hope YOU have a Happy Christmas!

xxxxx

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.

Monochrome

OK - so it's Saturday and I am still up bright and early to get all my housework done! I just wish the weather would improve as I really need to sterilise the water system on my camper before I go away next weekend and I don't want the system freezing with the fluid in.

I have an admission - when I was young (and anyone around in the 70's will relate to this) I wanted to be a Mod, so I used to draw targets on my jeans with chalk... and rub them off really quickly if I saw any Rockers. I was worried about being beaten up... as a child who suffered bullying at school, thinking about it it couldn't have been any worse but I had an element of self preservation even then!

So I think this would be a fabby card for any of those old Mods out there with the Black and White theme.

The tree from Lovely as a Tree is lovely and symmetrical so I think it works well on this card. The clean lines appeal to my OCD too.

I held the two pieces of card together with a post-it note to stamp the tree in Versamark then heat embossed each half separately.

I hope you love it as much as me. I used the stamp from Pretty Petites that was free during Sale-a-Bration. So I'm afraid you missed the boat! It is punched with the Petite Curly Label that is still available and backed with a Curly Label.

Back again soon... maybe even tomorrow if I get a chance to fit in some more crafting this evening! xxx

CAS Colours and Sketches Challenge

Lovely that you have joined me again today, and thank you to all the extra people who are joining in these challenges.

We would love you to join us if you haven't yet, just click on this link here to go to the blog.

I struggle sometimes using 3 colours on a card, but here is my card for this week.

Quite a masculine card with that bit of Real Red to brighten it up.

I used the Lovely as a Tree set and the Rock and Roll technique to colour the edges.

I embossed the River Rock card with the Woodgrain Embossing folder and sponged it lightly with Soft Suede.

I hope you enjoy this weeks challenge and I look forward to seeing what you share with us!

Paula xxx

Sponging for Fab Friday Challenge

Tuesday already! Had a great time with Blaze, one of my Border Collies, at his obedience class last night! He throws himself into everything so enthusiastically and without a hint of finesse. Bless!

Here is my next tree card as alluded to yesterday. The Fab Friday Challenge is a colour challenge so it is nice sometimes not to be constrained by a Sketch. I have used the Lovely as a Tree set and two techniques. Firstly I stamped the tree at the front, stamped the same image on a post it note, cut it out and masked the tree so I could stamp the other trees. I then used a sponge dauber to add foliage to the trees in the background. I also used a blender pen to add some crumb cake to the trunk of the first tree.

I matted the image on Perfect Plum, on top of Twitterpated DSP in Baja Breeze and the little embellishment is a Wild Wasabi leaf, punched out and matted on a Perfect Plum small Scallop circle.

This card is completely different to my usual offerings so I hope you like it!

Please do leave a comment.

Paula xxx