Springing Back

Just back from the USA . . . I am still slightly jetlagged, but looking forward to getting back into the swing of things as soon as possible. It seems I got back just in time to Spring forward with the move to British Summer Time this weekend (Thanks Mum for reminding me)

While I was away I managed to squeeze in some time with a  Stampin'Up! demo friend in the US and I got invited along to a few local events which were tremendous fun. It was great to witness first hand how they do things over there and I took away lots of ideas for future classes of my own.

Of course no SU event would be the quite the same without a make & take session and these were great fun too. Some of the goodies I tried out over there aren't yet available in the UK...but watch out because there could be some good stuff coming down the line very soon....

                                                                                                                                                                                    In the meantime I can share these cute little Easter projects...   A chick card (above) made using the top note die and assorted punches ...and the Easter hanging banner (below)                                                                                      

E and A 

S and T

E and R 

Completed EASTER hanging banner

As soon as the jetlag subsides I will be back with some updates on my US crafting experiences, some more projects and  some exciting information about future promotions...

But for now its nap time zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Cxx

Sale-a-brating Fabulous Freebies

I am really enjoying the fabulous SAB freebies and wanted to share this card I made this week using the free everyday enchantment papers and the Fresh Vintage stamp set. I choose to stick totally to the gorgeous in colour collection and used the marvellous markers to ink my stamp.

For this project I used:-
Calypso Coral card  smooth card
Everyday Enchantment  designer paper (SAB)
Fresh Vintage Stamp Set (SAB)
Four of the five in colour markers (Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party & Island Indigo)
Sentiment from Create a Cupcake set (p22 of the Spring mini catalogue)
Bird Builder punch
Word Window Punch


I am having such fun with my SAB freebies  and will post more in the next couple of days.

There is still time to get your hands on one or more of the great SAB sets on offer by simply placing an order for £45 (excl p&p) before the end of March. If you would like to know more about the great SAB offers check out the details in my earlier post and if I can help in any way please do get in touch.

Stampin' Away day

Today I enjoyed a rare treat . . . a Stampin' Away day with the team. A whole  creative day filled with paper, ink and bling with lots of laughter and some cakey stuff thrown in for good measure.
It was so good to create in the company of fellow Stampin' Up! enthusiasts doing what we do best . . . Inspire, Create & Share. As is usual at these events swapping is a big part of the day.

 For this day the theme was friendship and I made some handy bookmarks, pairing crumb cake cardstock with the latest in-colours. These were fun to make and I kept one for myself too.

Of course not only is it fun to make things to swap, but its always a delight to receive projects that others have made, often with the same or similar materials. The variation in designs never ceases to amaze me and just goes to demonstrate that with the right materials and a little imagination the possibilities are endless.

Today I got some gorgeous swap items. I will take a picture of them when the light is good and will upload and share them so you can see exactly what I mean.

I always come away from these events feeling energised and today was no exception. My Stampin' Away day was a great experience. If you like the sound of this and would like to come along to a future event please drop me a note

Cxx

Its Sale-a-Bration time

Let's all sale-a-brate ....

For those of you who don’t know about Sale-A-Bration it is one of THE best times in the Stampin’ Up! Calendar...and everybody wins during Sale-A-Bration...

There are of course great offers for hostesses of qualifying workshops as usual and  great offers for customers too.


 During sale--a-bration for every £45 you spend (excluding p&p), you get to choose from a range of exclusive time limited products. These products are not currently available to buy, you can only get them as part of the Sale-A-Bration promotion and this year you get to choose between no less than four fabulous stamp sets and these gorgeous designer papers  








This is in addition to any hostess benefits you may qualify to receive and it’s not limited to one set per person, you get to choose free products for every £45 you spend (excluding p&p)


And there is also no better time to join the Stampin’ Up! Team... 


I joined during  a SAB  promotion and in addition to my starter kit which was already excellent value, I  picked up lots of extra benefits for FREE  - which happens to be my absolute favourite price!


 Join my team during Sale-a-Bration and in addition to your fully customisable starter kit (already great value at £119 for £250 worth of products)  you also get to choose any other current stamp set for free. This means in total you will get nearly £300 worth of products for just £119!

  So as you can see there are plenty of reasons to sale-a-brate. If you would like to know more about

√ hosting a workshop in your home

√ organising a virtual workshop with your friends

√ joining the Stampin’ Up! Team


or you have any questions about any of the products please just let me know and we can have a no obligation chat at a time to suit you.


Cxx

What a day...

After being poorly all over Christmas I am finally feeling better and on Sunday I went up to Peterborough to spend the day with other Stampin' Up! demonstrators. The day was all about what we do 

Inspire 

Create

Share

 and included some inspirational conversations, lots of creativity - we made several projects during the day using fabulous new products...and sharing - sharing ideas and experiences and sharing our creative work. 

Before each of these get together events we all make some sample projects which we then swap and share with our fellow demos. This event we all used products form the new mini catalogue which was released last week.

For my swaps I decided to use the new fruits and flowers stamp set... and when I started out I had no idea where this would take me. These are a few of the swaps I made... 

Firstly I started out making cards using the fruits and flowers stamp set and teeny tiny wishes sentiments set, with strawberries and cherries stamped in real red ink and covered in crystal effects to really make them look juicy...I also used the heart punch, scalloped ribbon, some embossed card (using an embossing folder and my Big Shot) and some of the gorgeous ruffled ribbon. 

In the second set I just  couldn't resist adding in a few cards made using lucky limeade base card with chocolate chip textured card and the fabulously delicious Spice Cake range of designer papers

and as well as the cards I made these really cute little mini post it holders. For these I used the fruits and flowers stamp set in real red and old olive ink onto crumb cake and I chose a variety of  ways of decorating for the closures. These were such fun to make and are the perfect size to fit in a pocket , purse or handbag.

The swap items I got form my fellow demos were  amazing. I will try to take a photo of them and will upload it soon.

I returned home last evening, exhausted but invigorated and ready to get creative.

 I have great plans for things I would like to do in the coming year... 

What do you have planned?

Happy New Year, Happy New Mini

Happy New Year... 2012 is here and today sees the launch of the new Stampin' Up Spring mini catalogue which is packed with lovely new goodies to kick start your  new year creativity.

To celebrate the new mini and showcase some project ideas using goodies from the mini catalogue a group of demos have linked up for a blog hop. Sadly I was unable to join the hop this time because have been unwell all over the holidays and am still battling the dreaded germs, but you can find the start of the blog hop here with Alison . I plan to  check this out right now, I know it will be good.

If you don't already have a copy of the new mini catalogue and would like one please contact me
 or you can browse  or download an online copy

So for now its Happy New Year, Happy New mini and Happy New Hop....

Cxx

Guilty as charged...

I admit it...I am seriously guilty of blog neglect.
The craftroom makeover is still a bit of a work in progress because when I tried to bring all my goodies back in here I realised I hadn't considered some extra storage needs...for all the fabulous goodies I had bought and am planning to buy...

Preparations for the festive season have kept me super busy too and so this is really just a passing hello...I will do way better in the new year I promise.

 Here are a few of the things I have been making...

A cute little bag made using the Stampin' Up! top note die and oval punches

  Some cute little gift and treat boxes using the pillow box die

 Some treat boxes made using the milk carton die and the bird punch

 and some Santa treat holders made using the pillow box die, scallop circle die,  punches and embossing folders...all from Stampin' Up!








If you would like to learn more about Stampin' Up! products  or are interested in joining the Stampin' Up! team, please do get in touch. I am happy to help.

A slight pause

There has been a slight pause in activity because my dear sweet husband decided he wanted to do something nice for me and he stripped my craftroom and began to give it a full make over.

The idea is good and very generous and the end result will be amazing, but the process is agony. All my crafting materials are packed & stacked while the work goes on and not being able to get busy is driving me crazy.

My ideas and enthusiam are on high but productivity is stalled...Thankfully we are coming the final stretch and normal crafting service will be resumed shortly...

Meantime I am enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of the makeover. The room has had a complete refurb and I love the new colours and the floor is simply gorgeous...so nice in fact it seems a pity to bring furniture back in here. It all has a new wood smell and the sawing, drilling and banging all indicates progress so I am enjoying it all.  Another couple of days and all my goodies can come back in here and  I can STAMP my mark on my new improved workspace.

Will post pics once it is finished...and before I make it all messy again.

'Owling with laughter

I was chatting with an old friend this evening and she asked what I was doing...without thinking I said "Just sweeping up owl droppings." My friend was clearly a little confused by my reply, so in an attempt to explain I went on to say "It's okay, I've been stamping and punching owls all night..."

It took me a little while to further explain that I was not being cruel to wildlife, but had been having fun using my owl stamp and recently acquired two step owl punch.


Here is one of the cards I made today. I used the owl stamp from the Punch Bunch  set and then used the fabulous (and my personal favourite at the moment) two step owl punch. The background was made using a stamp from the Just Believe set in old olive ink...all from Stampin' Up!

If you would like to know more about any of the products used please contact me

Hello!

My name is Christa and I have just recently become an Independent Demonstrator for Stampin'Up! I am setting up this little blog as a place to share my love of stamping with you... It will take a little while for me to make the place feel like home - its all a bit new and empty looking just now...but that can soon be remedied with some stampin' fun.