It’s Here! 2014–2015 Annual Catalogue

Well today is the day that we’ve been waiting for – new catalogue launch!!!  Well maybe not quite all of us… My son Thomas turns 9 toady – happy birthday darling!  Here is is on his brand new bmx, sporting a new helmet too.  Massive thanks to Nan & Dots, Nana &a Gramps, Auntie Kat, Uncle Colin, Amilie & Albie and Uncle James & Auntie Claire.

Can’t wait? Click on the image below

Today I am going to share two card I made using some new products alongside some stamp sets we know and love already.  One of the most exciting new products for me is Stampin’ Blendabilities.  They are an alcohol marker and they are so easy to use.  The card below shows how you can achieve a lovely smooth gradient of colour.

The papers are from a new stack called Moonlight, they are just gorgeous!  The card stock is the brand new in colour called Hello Honey.  Here’s a close up of the vases – love them!

For my second card I have used one of my favourite sets, Flower Shop along with it’s coordinating punch.  The card base is Tangelo Twist, another new in colour for this year, as is the gorgeous new satin ribbon.

This picture shows the kind of detail and shading you can achieve, I am really enjoying using the blendabilities!

Right that’s all for today, I will pop back when I get a minute to add full product details but I need to get packed for tonight’s scrapbook club.  I also have some news to share about an exciting new business I have started.

Saying Goodbye..... get your orders in fast!

This post will stay at the top of my blog until the end of June so scroll down to see more posts.

I can't believe it's already time to say goodbye to all the retiring items!  Some of the items have upto a 40% discount on them so you will want to check the lists out soon before anything sells out!  The links for the retiring lists are below then click the link to be taken directly to my online store.

Check out the retiring stamps here

Check out the retiring accessories here

Now go to my online store to complete your order.

Scrapbook Sunday

I had meant to post this yesterday but Saturday well and truly got the better of me!  I had some things to do in the morning and then laundry, playing with the kids, dinnertime, bedtime stories and before I knew it bedtime for me!  To be honest it looked a bit hit and miss that I'd manage to blog today too, I'm squeezing in a late one before a huge pile of ironing - I HATE ironing!

So anyway here is my layout, it’s the one I designed for our monthly scrapbook session.  Georgina (my downline) and I had decided that we wanted to showcase the fringe scissors and I think my layout does them justice.

We used some dsp from the fresh prints stack and added in a pop of So Saffron, Bermuda Bay, Wild Wasabi and Pistachio Pudding for the garden elements.  In the next picture you can see the sweep of Coastal Cabana flowers running up the trellis.  The spotty pattern from the stack  worked almost perfectly with the petite petal punch, I’ve just shaped them a little and adhered with dimensionals.  You can also see how I have snipped into my ‘grass’.  Some people went for the manicured lawn look but my friends will know that my garden is far from that!

The trellis was formed using two strips left after using the chevron border punch and interlocking them, I stamped the Crumb Cake cardstock using the hardwood stamp.  The leaves came from the Secret Garden framelits which are retiring at the end of June click here for more details about the retired list.

This flower is one of my favourite things to do with the fringe scissors, I love the texture that it gives the page too - it's nice and chunky!

I hope that I have inspired you.  Come back soon!

Fresh Prints Thank-You

Hello, today is just a quick post as I am getting ready for my monthly scrapbook club this evening.  I really enjoy these sessions and can’t wait to share all the new Profect Life goodies with the group!  If you are local to Northampton and you’d like to join us then check out the Clubs & Classes tab for more details.

Onto the project, this was designed by my lovely upline Monica for a recent team training event, don’t you just love the cool closure on the box!  We used the scalloped tag topper punch and a brad.  The card is one of our pre cut & scored Notecards, these come in a pack of 20 with envelopes for £5.50, that’s only 22.5p per card with an envelope too – bargain!

Even though I have been a demo for 5 years now it still pleases me how well everything co-ordinates!

Don't forget to check out the retiring lists, things are selling out quickly!  Click here for more details.

Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

Telford Swaps and a Sneak Peek–a bit delayed!

Good Morning! My Telford swaps were scheduled to publish on Wednesday but for some reason it didn’t work, instead I have combined two posts.

I will also be back a little later today with lots of exciting news about the retiring list and the new catalogue – watch this space!

Onto business; whenever groups of demonstrators get together we like to swap.  It’s a great fun way to get loads of inspiration and new ideas!

I went for a more masculine card this time and used ‘Geometrical’  from the Spring/Summer Seasonal Catalogue.  Sorry for the poor picture quality!

Here’s all 40+ of them, can you spot the one I made a ‘mistake’ on?

So you might be saying “what about the sneak peek?” Well, I was asked to do a product demonstration at the Telford training event, best of all it was using a BRAND NEW stamp set, I’d get to plat with it before anyone else!  Here I am on stage with Michelle (left) and Joanne (right), thank you for the photo Monica!

My camera has deleted the pictures I took of my projects at home but I have a some taken by the lovely Alison – thank you! The top card in the picture below is the one I demonstrated on stage, the rest are others that I played with during the design process.  The stamp set I was showcasing is called Traveller and will be available in the upcoming 2014-1015 annual catalogue.

I am putting a tutorial together showing how I made these cards, I hope to put it on my blog early next week so come back soon.

Lots of updates!

Hello!  It’s been a while since I have been able to update my blog, so I have lots of company updates to share with you.

First there have been lots of new items added to the clearance rack, there are some AMAZING offers.  The range on offer includes items from the last seasonal catalogue, dies, patterned papers, kits and accessories there is so much that I can’t list it all here, click on the banner below and you will be taken to the clearance rack on my online shop. 

The next bit of news I have to share is a great deal that is running till the end of May, again it’s only available while stocks last.  For every £60 order placed you get to choose a free photopolymer stamp set, if you click on the image below you will be taken to my online store.

Stampin’ Up! have put together a video explaining all about photopolymer stamps and how ours are different to  others on the market.

The last thing to share with you is that weekly deals have been extended, click on the image below to find out more.

So that’s all for now, I will be back soon with some lovely crafty goodness for you.  I was honoured to be asked to demonstrate at a recent Stampin’ Up! event, I was sworn to secrecy but can share that I had lots of fun playing with a brand new stamp set!

Project Life, Exciting News!!!

Just a quick post, I have some really exciting news to share! 

The following is an excerpt from stampinup.com

We are so so so excited to let you know we’ve partnered with the amazing Becky Higgins to bring you the real deal—authentic Project Life products, now in exclusive Stampin’ Up! colours and designs. If you’ve somehow missed the Project Life craze and are wondering what it’s all about, we’ll fill you in: it’s a super simple, totally affordable way to get your photos into albums: you just slip your photos into Photo Pocket Pages and add designed cards. It’s a back-to-basics approach to documenting your life. In a nutshell, it’s all about spending more time making memories and less time scrapbooking them.

We’ll offer a complete Project Life product line in the new annual catalogue, available beginning 1 July. You’ll also be able to order a selection of Project Life products a few weeks earlier than that! We’ll let you know more as the date nears.

Want to know more? Click HERE for a quick video...

MDS Monday and a challenge entry

Hello.  Today I have a digital entry for the colour q challenge blog, this week is a really fresh combination that I just love!  Click on the picture below and it will take you to the challenge post.

So at the top of this post you got a sneak peek of part of my entry.  It’s the school holidays so my time is otherwise occupied but I love that my crafting can now be digital too meaning no tidying up afterwards!  I’ve used MDS and created a scrapbook layout featuring my beautiful niece on our holiday to Grandad’s last summer.

The inspiration for the layout actually came from a page designed by Bekka for our quarterly team training session, what do you think of the ‘panel’ effect?  I'll share my make from training soon.  If you want to have a play with MDS don't forget you can get it for free, most of the elements I've used are on the trial, and you can switch things up anyway.  If you've had your trial the full version is only £13.95 and it comes packed with pre loaded stamps, punches, dsp and embellishments.  Click on either of the pictures below to download MDS now.

Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

That’s all for today, I hope I have inspired you!

Scrapbook Saturday and a new weekly deal

Hello!  It’s the Easter Holidays here so I’ve been busy having fun with the little ones and not had as much time for crafting as usual, I also missed an amazing new deal that Stampin’ Up! are running, make sure you read to the end of the post to check it out. 

So, back to the crafting… a couple of weeks ago I held my all day workshop so I have lots to share from that.  As it’s Saturday I thought I’d share a scrapbook page.  Everyone had half a pack of the gorgeous Watercolour Wonder  DSP, and I designed a page for inspiration.  I used the pretty floral papers but this pack also has lovely blue and green prints and more geometric designs.  Here’s a close up of some of the detail, I’ve used the gorgeous organza ribbon and stuck it down ruffled, a touch of washi tape and flowers stamped and punched out with the coordinating pansy punch.

Here’s the full page, my photo will go on the crisp cantaloupe mat and I think I will leave a bit of a border for a bit of impact.

If you want any of the items used to create this page then just click on the item below and you will be taken straight to my online shop.

Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

I've also been busy playing with my sewing machine recently.  I've never followed a dress pattern before but I really wanted to give it a go.  This is what I created

I learnt a LOT of new skills and as well as having fun doing it I now have a very happy 3 year old!

Now more about the deal that Stampin’ Up! launched this week.  Every Wednesday in April Stampin’ Up! are offering a range of products at specially discounted prices.  Here’s the offering for this week

129372   Secret Garden Framelits Dies was £20.95 NOW £15.71

130101  Dress Up Framelits Dies was £20.95 NOW £15.71

132193  Festive Flurry Framelits Dies was £20.95 NOW £15.71

129383  Needlepoint Border Textured Impressions Embossing Folder was £7.50 NOW £5.63

123113  Flower Garden Textured Impressions Embossing Folder was £7.50 NOW £5.63

121809  Framed Tulips Textured Impressions Embossing Folder was £7.50 NOW £5.63

115971  Blossom Party Originals Die was £15.95 NOW £11.96

118869  Recipes by Design Digital Kit (digital download) was £6.95 NOW £4.17

If you want to grab any of the deals you have until 10.59pm on Tuesday 14th April, click on any of the item pictures below to go to my online store and grab your bargain!  You can order to be delivered straight to you (£4.95 shipping) or if you are local to me you can use the hostess code 2H4FMWTQ and your items will be delivered to me free of charge.

Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

Quite a long post for today!  Come back soon for more crafty goodness!