Another Anniversary! Whoo Hoo 5 Years!

Hello - Happy Tuesday!

Today is my 5th anniversary as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator - it has been great fun. I have grown creatively and met some amazing people, forging some lasting friendships!

To celebrate my 5 years... the first 5 people to order at least £50 worth of products from me will get around £5 worth of goodies sent to them as a gift from me or a voucher for 5% of the value of their order off their next purchase - whichever is higher! 

The retiring list has been published and I'm sad to say many of the items are selling out fast! I can't believe 3 of my favourite, 'go to' stamp sets are retiring! Gorgeous Grunge, Papillon Potpourri and Petite Petals. So I have a couple more cards using Petite Petals to show you today!

The retiring list is available via the link on the right hand side... I'm definitely going to miss this set though.

Happy Anniversary!!!

Today I celebrate the first of 2 anniversaries this month. It is my 14th Wedding Anniversary!

I know... he would have got less for murder!

I made him a fab card before I had my op as I knew I might not be able to make one for a while after the op.

I hope you like it - he did - bless him, he says all my creations are amazing - even the ones I am convinced are rubbish!

I used the Heart punch, Petite Petals punch and stamps, the First Sight stamp set and the Flourishing Thinlits dies.

He's taking me out to dinner this evening. I'm just hoping the food is easy to cut as I'm still struggling a bit - just a tip - if you can 'dictate' an email on your smartphone... send it to yourself - then you can just copy and paste the text where you want it without doing lots of typing with your injured hand.

April Stampin' Up! Card Class - Birthday Blossoms

Hi Guys,

I hope you don't mind me delving into my archives for designs at the moment. I'm in a bit of pain with the hand still healing. I can't use my right hand much at all and certainly not for crafting or typing so thank you to my fabulous hubby for writing this!

I have an amazing friend who is prepping my classes for me and will be doing the practical stuff... so here are the cards for April!

This card... and the others all use Birthday Blossoms stamp set with the Pansy punch, this is my favourite!

I needed a little inspiration and I based the next card on one by Teri Pocock (I think!)

It's lovely isn't it?

I used the Petite Petals stamp set and punch too on this one.

The last card is this one.

It is based on a design by Sam Donald of Pootles fame... I'm proud to say we are both in the same team... she's just such an amazing business woman - I wish I had a 10th of her abilities!

So - back soon with some more from the archive!

March Card Class

Good evening! I hope you enjoyed some of the sunshine today... apparently the rain is in for the day tomorrow.

I've been knitting a jumper and got quite obsessed so I finished it in 20 days! I'm very proud - it's just a little on the large side - so I can grow into it!

I did manage to sneak in some card making at the weekend and finally designed the cards for my March classes.

The dates I have left available are the 22nd and the 27th of March at 7pm in Risborough.

The first card is this one - and you need to specify if you would like to make it in Blue or Pink.

I just love these! I used the Layering Squares framelit dies, the Sunshine Wishes thinlits, Gorgeous Grunge and Petite Petals stamp sets and the Petite Petals punch.

One has to have a little bling - and I think the Rhinestones really finish off the cards.

The second card we'll be making uses the Lift me Up Bundle - I love this and recommend snapping it up with the 10% discount whilst Sale-a-bration is on - then you qualify for a free item if you buy wood mount and only need to spend a little more if you buy the clear mount to get a freebie.

I chose the coordinating patterned papers myself... In fact I have 3 packs so I can make the most of this stamp set.

Lastly this month we're going to make a nice simple card using the Special Reason and Birthday Bright stamp sets, and the Layering Ovals framelits.

It's certainly going to be a packed class, so we're going to be working hard! I hope you'll join us! Just message me via email, text, phone me or send a message to the Knall Crafting FB page!

Butterfly Thinlits - Stampin' Up!

I know - I should have posted yesterday but I've been feeling a bit 'off'... I actually fell asleep in the studio making a card yesterday! So I had an early night.

I've been getting a few commissions lately - not that I'm seeking them out but people keep coming to find me. This was for a colleague at work for her mother.

Lovely isn't it? I love the Butterfly Thinlits, I've used 3 punches for the flowers, Petite Petals, Pansy and Fun Flower with the co-ordinating Petite Petals, Flower Shop and Beautiful Bunch stamp sets. Lots of pearls, the Heart Border punch and the Deco Labels Framelits.

You don't need lots of equipment to make fabulous cards and I'll be posting some simple cards that are stunning. Here I even decorated the envelope!

Hubby is out at band practice so I'm off for a sneaky craft now! Back soon! xxx

Celebrating Flowers with Stampin' Up!

I seem to apologise a lot for not posting... I have been so busy!

Firstly the County Council have tried to sneak in permit parking under the radar, although it won't directly affect me, I have been campaigning against it... it has been poorly thought out and I felt I needed to add my voice... and have been attending meetings round my classes.

Secondly, I went to my first craft show, in Esher, at the weekend! It was awesome! The trouble is I'm a sucker for trying new things! So as well as the paper cutting I was introduced to last week, I am now dabbling in Encaustic Art. (Painting with wax.) I'll show you some examples soon!

Thirdly I am getting ready for my birthday on Friday and our family holiday on Sunday.

Last night I had a class and had a 2 week old baby along - I do believe in starting them young and little Olivia was a treasure!

I also gave one of my customers her birthday and wedding anniversary cards!

This was the anniversary card.

I used Petite Petals, Flower Shop, Beautiful Bunch and the Bold Butterfly Framelits.

I think she liked it and I loved the sentiment from Cottage Greetings.

Well I'm off to bed. That's the trouble with starting work at 6:30am... I need my sleep!

Back soon!

Paula xxx

All White Again

Some time ago I designed and blogged a couple of cards that were 'all white'. The new studio has given me loads of inspiration and so I have 3 cards on the same theme.

I'm just posting one tonight - but it is one I absolutely adore, I have a few weddings going on at the moment so this is for one.

It's predominantly white on white with accents of Sahara Sand and some Dazzling Diamonds glitter, I used the Deco Labels framelits and sentiment from the Tin of Cards stamp set.

Butterfly from Bold Butterfly framelits,

The leaves were from the Bird Builder punch, flowers punched using the Fun Flower, Pansy and Petite Petals punches. The stamp sets were Beautiful Bunch, Flower Shop and Petite Petals.

 I'll not be around tomorrow as I have a class - though I might get to share this on Facebook!

Have a great Friday... and weekend!

Challenge #2 Paper Players

Good Morning!

Challenge #2 is actually motivating myself to get the housework done today so I have the whole weekend to help with the studio! It's coming along nicely - in spite of serious setbacks... like the fact the cowboy who started (and never came back to finish) the build left us with a roof not strong enough so we've had to reinforce it! So we had to wait for a steel to be manufactured.

But we've had news the windows and doors will arrive next week so we're looking in track for September! Whoo hoo!!!

Today's challenge is from the Paper Players using this sketch.

This is my take on the sketch and I think I have met the 'brief'.

I used a host of elements from some die sets including the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits, Wonderful Wreath Framelits and Lots of Labels Framelits, I also used the Decorative Dots embossing folder and Bird Builder and Petite Petals punches.

The sentiment is from the One Big Meaning set and the ribbon, woven through the holes is 1/4" cotton ribbon.

It's completely different to yesterday's CAS design. What do you think?

Off to start the cleaning now! xxxx

Slide on over...

...and see the last of the 3 slider cards. I'm not sure of the colours here and might tweak them but I love the idea.

 The Hardwood stamp is so versatile, here I used it for the planter. The Petite Petals stamp set and matching punch get a lot of outings and this was no exception.

Teamed up with a background made using the leaves from Kinda Eclectic and the label punched using the Decorative Label punch.

Like monday the pull is punched with the Ornate Tag Topper with Seam Binding and this time, Linen Thread added.

This week I am on a 4 day Health and Safety Course... so I hope I'll squeeze in some crafting.

Here's the tutorial to keep you busy!

Are we nearly there yet?

Oh yes we are! I am so excited that the days are getting longer and it will be light in the evenings again!

Please excuse me if I ramble on a bit but I made a spaghetti bolognese this evening and there was a bottle of red wine in the cupboard... and, well, it would have been rude not to!

I wanted to share the cards we made in our March classes. The last class of the month is tomorrow. But I do have spaces available in April and have four spaces available for the class in The Swan Hotel, Thame on the 13th of April at 7pm... so book now to save your space!

These were the cards we made this month...

This one used Gorgeous Grunge and Flower Shop with the Pansy Punch

In addition we used Petite Petals with the co-ordinating punch on this one.

The background on this one is Something Lacy and the sentiment from Petite Pairs

The sponging on these flowers is so effective! And the leaves were made using the Bird Builder punch

I'm off to make some thank you cards now for this months orders... Have a great week!

Paula xxx

Out of Office...

Yup - I'm having a couple of days away so thought I would pop up a quick post to let you know and share something GORGEOUS.

I'm sure the animals will be pleased I'm gone - and hubby won't miss the nagging... MUCH!

I was asked to make a birthday card for someone special. So I came up with this...

I don't often use DSP but I loved this free with a £45 order during Saleabration.... lots of layers and lots of sponging.

The embossing on the Vellum is adorable and wouldn't be complete without a couple of pearls... and a butterfly!

This is one of those cards where I emptied half the drawers and cupboards in the craft room... So way too many products to mention. But you can always send me a message if you would like to know what products I used.

Back with something else on Thursday!

Paula xxx

Beautiful Bokeh

The Bokeh effect on yesterdays cards was quite subtle on the pastels... so I wanted to see how it was on some darker shades... Oh My! I promised you something beautiful...

What do you think of this? I am so pleased with it and feeling all inspired!

I used Perfect Plum and Marina Mist. The stamp sets were Petite Petals, Flower Shop, Papillon Potpourri and Crazy About You. 

I just adore it and the picture doesn't really do it justice.

Check out yesterdays blog post for the video tutorial for this technique.

I'm looking to expand my team of demonstrators, so if you think you might be interested. Send me an e-mail! mailme@paulaknall.co.uk It costs you just £99 for £130 of product PLUS during Saleabration (just 1 month to go) you get to choose a kit from the Spring/Summer catalogue or 2 Saleabration items.

A Thing of Beauty

First I have a confession! I CASE'd the flower 'design' using the 3 layers from another Demo... I did warn her I would forget who... so she replied to me on Facebook and I kept the notification in my Inbox so I would remember...

... Yeah, Right! I must have deleted it! So if you are that demo - add a message so I can give you credit!

So on to the good stuff - here is the card...

Don't the Pink Pirouette and Crumb Cake make a nice combination?

I used 3 stamp sets with coordinating punches and the Pink Pirouette Blendabilities to make the flower. The new Petal Potpourri stamps and Flower Medallion punch, the Flower Shop stamps and Pansy Punch and the Petite Petals stamps and punch.

I added a Candy Dot to the middle. The sentiment is unfortunately retired and the feathers are from Four Feathers and cut out with the corresponding framelits then the floral element is accented with a little Seam Binding.

Hope you're having a good weekend! We had snow here briefly this morning... but it's gone now.

Paula xxx

Flower Shop Wood

£21.95

Flower Shop Clear

£17.95

Papillon Potpourri

£16.95

Papillon Potpourri Clear-Mount Stamp Set

£13.95

Petite Petals

£13.95

Petite Petals Clear

£10.95

Pansy Punch

£14.25

Petite Petals Punch

£11.50

Bitty Butterfly Punch

£14.25

Petal Potpourri Wood Stamp Set

£24.95

Petal Potpourri Clear Stamp Set

£17.95

Petal Potpourri Wood Bundle

£34.25

Petal Potpourri Clear Stamp Set

£17.95

Flower Medallion Punch

£15.50

Four Feathers Wood-Mount Stamp Set

£12.95

Four Feathers Clear-Mount Stamp Set

£9.95

Feathers Framelits Dies

£11.95

Ovals Collection Framelits Dies

£22.95

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