Happy Birthday Pops!

Evening All! Just popping by to share the cards and present packaging which I made for my Dad’s birthday, which he celebrated today. We’re just back from a family meal, and I’m hoping he’s opened it all by now, so I’ll be safe in showing it to you all. You might spot a couple of products in here that you’re not familiar with, but more about those later! First up, here’s his card from myself and Darren.

I’ve used the hostess set Happiest Birthday Wishes from the 2011/12 IBC to create the decorated more mustard panel, along with a focal birthday sentiment from Delightful Dozen. I coloured the sentiment using Soft Suede, More Mustard, Pool Party and Pear Pizzazz markers, stamped onto Very Vanilla cardstock and layered onto a Pear Pizzazz oval.

I’ve used some soft suede taffeta ribbon and finally, layered it all onto some brand spanking new DSP, which will be available in the NEW MINI CATALOGUE, which launches on 4th January – be sure to contact me if you’d like a copy posting to you!

I made a coordinating gift card box using more mustard cardstock, pear pizzazz ribbon and DSP, and decorated it with the tag from Happiest Birthday Wishes. The box is a template by Lauren Meader, cut using my trusty CraftROBO, which has been taking a hammering this last week!

My brother texted me this morning to ask me to bring along a card from him too, so I popped back into the craft room and knocked this one up, using the Petite Pennants stamp set and co-ordinating punch and the Happiest Birthday Wishes stamp set. I’ve used the Just Add Cake designer papers and used the colour scheme from those papers to create the card.

Happy Birthday Pops! I hope you liked your cards and pressies, only a few more years and I’ll have to make one covered in BIG numbers .

I’ll be starting my ‘12 Days to Christmas’ tomorrow – with a project a day up until the big day. Until then…

Birthday Wishes…

Morning! here’s my final post using lots of retiring products. I’ve got two cards for you today, the first uses the motorcycle, which those of you who struggle with masculine cards will be pleased to hear is staying (whoop) in the new book. I’ve covered a marina mist cardstock base with the classic stars jumbo wheel in marina mist ink. I’ve added a strip of Newsprint DSP (I don’t know what I'll do when we lose this one, it’s one of my all time favourites!) which has been edged using the spiral border punch. I’ve added layers of night of navy and basic black cardstock and the motorcycle is coloured with night of navy and marina mist markers. The sentiment is from the level 1 hostess set Afterthoughts inked using a night of navy marker. I’ve added an embellishment using the star punch and a brad from the hodgepodge hardware.

The second card features the funky four stamp set and play date papers. I’ve used the colour scheme in the papers to create my card – real red, so saffron, tempting turquoise, chocolate chip and old olive. The sentiment is from the level 2 hostess set something to celebrate.

That’s the end of my retiring products cards, I'll start with some sneak peeks from the new catalogue on Wednesday, and I’ll have some sneak peeks for Christmas Club later today.

A Tree-mendous Birthday

Hey folks! I’m back with another project featuring retiring products. Don’t worry – it’s not Lovely as a Tree that’s leaving us (thank goodness – I think this was the first SU set I ever bought, and I hope it never goes!). Instead I’m focussing again on the accessories which are retiring.

We have the Woodland Walk DSP, early espresso satin ribbon and a brad from the Hodgepodge Hardware set. The colours are garden green, early espresso and the cream cardstock is actually the naturals ivory cardstock, which is a fantastic weight for card bases. The tree was stamped in early espresso and then watercoloured using early espresso and garden green inks.

The sentiment is from Plane & Simple which will also be retiring on 30th September. I’ve stamped it onto naturals ivory using early espresso and punched using the word window, then layered onto a modern label punch in early espresso. I’ve again used the distressing kit and French Foliage on this card.

I can’t claim this one as an original idea though, my mojo left the building last week when I was in the thick of everything else, so I CASED this one from the fantastic Teneale Williams.
Well, that’s one thing off my to-do list this week anyway, as it’s Darren’s Dad’s birthday next week and he requested a card, voila – one masculine card at the ready! I’ll see you on Friday with another card featuring retiring products, until then I hope you find some inky time!

Death by DIY…

Monday already?? but what happened to the weekend? and last week for that matter? I hope you all had a good week, unfortunately I barely made it out of our stairwell as I was painting all of the woodwork with 3 coats of satinwood  - it looks ever so bright now though. I’m hoping we might actually finish in there at some point in the next couple of weeks!

Given the never-ending DIY and housework I’ve had very little inky time of late, but I thought I’d pop by and show you the card and gift box which I made for my downline Elaine, who celebrated her birthday on 31st July.

I used the ‘Because I Care’ level 1 hostess set with a colour combination of concord crush and pear pizzazz. The concord crush layer is stamped with the head of the hydrangea from the set using concord crush ink. The box is a modified version of Lauren Meader’s ‘Disc-covered’ template, the papers are from the level 1 hostess paper stack.

That’s all I’ve got to share for today – I have the sneak peeks of the projects for this weekend’s classes coming on Wednesday, and the reveal on Saturday. I’m hoping for a little more time in my craft room later this week so that I can start inking up some of my lesser used sets!

Until Wednesday….

Birthday Fox

Hey folks, we’re past the middle of the week already, and I've barely made an impression on my ‘to-do’ list. the decorating is still rumbling on at home, meaning that I’ve got limited inky time at present, although i did manage a MAJOR tidy up of my craft room on Sunday (believe me, it needed it!). My lovely downline Rebecca celebrated her birthday on Sunday, so now that she’s received it I can show you her card and pressie.

I was playing around with some of my ‘other’ stash the other weekends and broke out my Papertrey Ink anniversary set for this one. A very simple colour combination of Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Whisper White and Real Red, the paper is also from PTI. and I made a matching gift ‘picnic basket’ using the ‘pack a picnic’ template. I hope you had a fab birthday Bec and liked your pressie .

I need to take some more piccies this week – then I can share our shoebox swaps from last week’s team training session, and I’ve got another downline birthday card to make too – it’s all happening in July! Not to mention, I need to design the samples for my August class – where we’re beginning our Christmas preparations using the ‘Welcome Christmas’ stamp set.

I guess I’ll be seeing you soon!

Plane & Simple

Fantastic – it’s Saturday, which means that it’s the weekend, not that I can see much inky time looming nor the opportunity for R&R unfortunately! Today I’ll be busy with my ‘Cards for Dads and Lads’ class, which features the plane and simple stamp set from the mini catalogue. Here’s the group shot of the projects which we’ll be making – 3 cards and a gift box.

the colour combination is very simple and looks fab for masculine cards – Basic Black, Very Vanilla and Crumb Cake, with some newsprint DSP. Here are the projects in a little more detail

hopefully the ladies will enjoy making them! I’ll be back next week with some sneak peeks of the projects for my first session of ‘The Christmas Club’.

Happy Birthday Mum!

Morning all! It’s a week since my Mum celebrated her birthday and I’ve just realised that I completely forgot to show you her card.

I have to admit that when I got a spare 5 minutes to sit down at my desk last week, my mind went completely blank, and my mojo left the building. So I cased a thank you card which I made earlier this month, using vintage vogue, added a sentiment from curly cute and some of the gorgeous beautiful wings embosslits. It’s a simple colour combination of Basic Black, Whisper White and Rose Red, with the vine heat embossed using white embossing powder. The paper is the sweet and sour specialty DSP – one that still hasn't left my desk yet, so it’s likely that you’ll see some more creations with it fairly soon. In the meantime though I’ve got the kits to make for my class this weekend, the ceilings to paint and then the designs to finish for my first ‘Christmas Club’ session. Busy busy busy!

A Quick Reminder

Happy Friday folks! Just a quick reminder that bookings for my ‘Cards for Dads and Lads’ class close today. If you haven’t already booked your space and would like to attend, please email me ASAP to book your space.

Sneak Peeks

Hey folks – it’s Monday in already, I’m not too sure where the weekend got to. Once again we’re in decorating mode, trying to complete the work we started over Easter on the landing, hallway and stairs – so much for a week’s leave! It’ll mean limited inky time this week, although I’ve got a workshop on Saturday and then a training event organised by my Stampin’ Up! mummy at Peterborough, and for once I've already made my swaps. I’ll share those next week along with some of the ideas that I receive back. In the meantime, here are the sneak peeks of my forthcoming class, which features the plane and simple stamp set. we’re focussing on one of the most difficult genres (in my opinion) – masculine cards.

If you’d like to join us, the class will be on Saturday 23rd July from 1-4pm. there are spaces still available, but you need to pre-book by emailing me. There are three options – class only (£12.50), class & clear mount stamp set (£26) or class & wood mount stamp set (£29). Class kits and instructions will be available here shortly. Well, that’s all for this morning – the sander and filler are calling. See you later in the week!

Hopping by…

Morning all and welcome to my stop on the ILWS colour coach blog hop. If you’ve started from the beginning (Anthea's Blog)  then hopefully you’ve arrived from Jane’s blog. However If you’ve started here, then simply follow the link at the end of my post to Val’s blog, then continue on around the loop, and you’ll eventually end up back here! There is also a second loop running which starts with Emily.

For my samples I chose a simple masculine colour combination of Whisper White, Marina Mist and Night of Navy – all of which are from our ‘getting started’ colour collection. I used the circle circus stamp set to create a one sheet wonder on A4 whisper white cardstock in my two ink colours, and then cut the panel into lots of smaller pieces to make the following collection of cards.

It’s a really simple technique for generating a number of cards on a theme with a limited selection of supplies, and can be used with lots of our stamp sets – I’ve used it previously with greenhouse garden and serene snowflakes. Here are the cards in a little more detail.

Hopefully you’ve reached this far! Now it’s time to hop on over to my lovely friend Val’s blog and discover what she’s been creating with Rich Razzleberry – yum!

I’ll be back soon with some sneak peeks of my upcoming ‘Plane & Simple’ class.

Until then

The Longest Day….

Hey folks, it’s Tuesday already and the longest day of the year, which means it must be Dawn’s birthday . Dawn is one of my lovely customers who has become a good friend. To celebrate her birthday I’ve made her a card using her favourite colours, chocolate chip and old olive, and I've added a dash of regal rose to make it a more feminine combination. the stamp set is Vintage Vogue – one of my all time favourites as its so versatile. so here’s the finished card, along with a coordinating gift bag made using instructions on Amy Celona’s blog.

I hope you have a fabulous birthday Dawn! and that today at work doesn’t feel like the longest day…..

I'll be back soon with some more cards that I managed to finish at the weekend.

Birthday Bash with Fox & Friends

It’s the weekend – hooray! and better still, it’s a BANK HOLIDAY weekend, which hopefully means an extra day in my craft room this weekend, that is if Darren doesn’t make me do some more DIY….
In the meantime, I’ve got my ‘Birthday Bash’ class today, where we’re making a selection of kid’s birthday cards using ‘Fox & Friends’ and ‘Party This Way’ in bright bold colours using a few funky folds, so here they are…..

The second project of the day features ‘crazy for cupcakes’ and we’re making a card reminiscent of a cake shop window, and a matching cupcake box, which, if everything goes to plan, will contain cupcakes that is assuming I don't munch them all on the way to class….

And finally we’re making a flip album to record birthday party memories, using Celebrations DSP.

After all that I think I’m going to need a large tub of jelly and ice cream and perhaps even some fizzy pop I’ll hopefully be back later with some photos of the lovely ladies in my class – if they’ll agree to pose for some!
Tomorrow I’ll be starting my samples for my next class, which is on 18th June and features the ‘Occasional Greetings’ stamp set – we’ll be making cards for all occasions. If you fancy joining us for that one, be sure to email me to book your place.

Birthday Fox & Congratulations

Morning All! and Happy Birthday to one of my Crafty Foxes, Nicola, who celebrates her birthday today. Here’s the card that will hopefully have arrived on her doorstep before she sees this post!

I've gone for a vintagey look with a crumb cake base, newsprint DSP, a riding hood red layer and basic black satin ribbon. I've stamped the vine image from Vintage Vogue in the background of each panel using the corresponding ink colour, then cut out some of the flowers from the set and popped them onto the very vanilla panel and finished with some basic pearls. I have to admit that by the time I’d finished prepping my class this week, my mojo had up and left me with a heap of things still to do. At which point I reached for my idea book and CASE’d this gorgeous creation by an Australian demo Teneale Williams – this lady has SOOO much talent and her blog is well worth a visit if you have a few days to spare drooling!

Now – why the congratulations I hear you ask? Well one of my downlines, Rebecca, just achieved her second ‘Stampin Start’ – a huge achievement and I’m very proud of her . For those of you who haven’t heard of Stampin’ Start, new demonstrators get the opportunity to earn FREE stamps based on sales and recruiting in their first 6 months as a demo – up to a maximum of 12 sets. So to recognise her achievements I made her this card

The colour combination is Perfect Plum, Pear Pizzazz and Bashful Blue. the whisper white panel is stamped with the flowers from the Growing Green stamp set. The DSP in the background is from the subtles paper stack – which I must say is fantastic value for money – I'm barely half way through mine and I’ve used it loads! I’ve finished with a pear pizzazz twill ribbon and a sentiment from the Perfect Punches set stamped in pear pizzazz and cut out using the modern label punch. I CASE’d myself this time – altering this card that I made back in December.

Right, enough nattering, I’ve got to get my nose back to the grindstone now as I’ve still got a few preparations to make for tomorrow’s class. Have a great weekend

Birthday Bash Sneak Peeks!

Morning all! Just a quick post to share the sneak peeks of my projects for this weekends class, featuring fox & friends, party this way and celebrations DSP.

I’ve really been enjoying using all of the bright colours – I'd usually consider myself to be a ‘neutrals’ girl, but Pacific Point is fast becoming a favourite! I’m awaiting the delivery of my new alphabet and numbers dies from the catalogue, so that I can put the finishing touches to some of the projects, then I’ll be on to class prep for the rest of the week. Be sure to pop by on Saturday for the ‘reveal’! And don’t forget, if you haven’t already done so, please enter my blog candy competition for a chance to win some goodies.

See you soon!

Happy Birthday Darren!

Morning All!
Today my gorgeous boyfriend celebrates his birthday, so I thought I'd pop by to show you the card that I made for him - I would have shared yesterday, but I didn't want to risk him taking a sneak peek!! I've used some of the nursery suite DSP (proving it's not just for baby cards!) and used the colours in the paper: chocolate chip, pear pizzaz and baja breeze.

Right - I'm off to spoil him with his pressies now, then I guess we'll be out and about for the day, followed by a yummy meal at Gino's Italian restaurant this evening, so limited inky time for me. Be sure to visit after 10am though, as I'm taking part in the In Love With Stamping blog hop to celebrate the launch of the new mini catalogue, there'll be lots of ideas to tempt you into purchasing some of the lovely new goodies!

See you later!

Regional Training Swaps

Morning All!
as promised, I'm back to share the swaps that I made for today's Stampin' Up! training session in Leeds. For those of you who are wondering what swaps are, when demonstrators get together we tend to make a batch of card fronts (generally all the same) and then swap them with other demos, such that you go home with a batch of samples showcasing new ideas & techniques and potentially stamp sets to add to your wishlist!!

I have to admit that I get bored when making these as it's a tad repetitive (particularly when you're making 40 of them!) and reasonably time consuming, but I think the end result is pretty and very feminine. I've used the same colour combination as on the card I shared yesterday and added the whisper white organza ribbon instead of the blushing bride twill.

Recipe 

stamp sets: happiness shared, perfect punches cardstock: whisper white, blushing bride & pear pizzazz 

ink: black stazon, pear pizazz & blushing bride accessories: basic pearls, whisper white organza ribbon

I'm looking forward to catching up with all of the other demonstrators going to the event (70 in total) and also getting my hands on some of the new goodies from the forthcoming mini catalogue!

Tomorrow I'll be busying myself with designing this month's 'Easter Egg-stravaganza' class. If you'd like to come along there are still a few places left , it's on Saturday 26th March from 1pm-4pm, email me to book your place. Sneak peeks of the class will follow next week. Well, that's all for today, no doubt I'll be buzzing with ideas when I return this evening. See you soon!

December Design Team Challenges

Morning all
just popping by to share a couple of my entries for this month's design team over on ILWS. The first for this month was the colour combo challenge of real red, tempting turquoise & old olive, my colleague's daughter turns 18 later this month, so I combined the two to make this stand-up card, using my craftROBO, the playdate papers and the funky four stamp set.

The next challenge which I attempted was the technique challenge, which this month was to create an entry with no layers, although some embellishments were allowed. I have to admit struggling with this one as I'm a matting and layering kind of girl and adore using papers, but back to basics I went, creating these two cards with little more than 4 rubber stamps, versamark ink and embossing powder - it just goes to show that we dont NEED lots of stash - we just want it!!

Well, that's all I've got time for today I'm afraid, but if you fancy playing along, then why not hop on over to ILWS and then leave me a comment here sharing your entries! I'll be back tomorrow with my last three submissions.

Linz
x

I've not been idle, I promise!

Evening All!
Well a couple of days ago I promised some piccies of my recent design team cards from the ILWS October challenges, so I thought I'd better get around to actually posting them!  the first one is my sketch challenge entry, here's the sketch we were given to work with

And this is my entry, which having used masculine colours (yum - crumb cake, chocolate chip, sahara sand and early espresso) with the circle circus stamp set, happily doubled for Darren's Dad's birthday :) Happy Birthday Jim!!

Then I made two entries for the colour combination challenge, which this month was Real Red, Whisper White and Basic Black - three of my favourite colours together as they make a real statement! I'm still desperately trying to use up scraps of retired papers and ribbons, so out come the 'Day and Night' papers, and here's what I came up with for one of them

I can't show you the other until next week as it's a birthday card for my friend Emma and I don't want to spoil the surprise as she sometimes pops on here!


Well, that's all for this minute, i'll be back tomorrow to show you my entries for the 'Halloween' challenge and the limited supplies challenge. Hopefully the UPS man will be visiting me then with a box full of goodies from the NEW CATALOGUE - I cant wait to get my hands on the new punches!!


Keep your eyes peeled, as later this week i'll be posting some prize draw offers, so that you too can share in the excitement of the new catalogue.


Until tomorrow, ttfn
Linz
x

Happy Birthday Mum!

Hey Folks, well we're once again half way through the week, and I don't quite know where time is going to! My mum celebrated her birthday last Tuesday, and last-minute.com I was making her card, before heading out for a family meal.  I played with one of the new SU colours, Rich Razzleberry (one of my favourites so far) and the vintage vogue stamp set, and this is what I came up with.

It's been a busy couple of weeks, with preparation for a craft fayre last Saturday, and making swaps for our team training in Peterborough on the Sunday (piccies to follow). This week I need to finish preparing for my class this coming Saturday, and finally I have a couple of design team challenge cards to complete and upload - so hopefully lots more crafty pictures to come soon!

Until the next installment, have a fab week!

L
x

One for The Men Class

Hey folks
I cant believe quite how quickly the month has flown by! I have another class this weekend, this time focussing on cards for the boys - a card type I have to admit I usually struggle with. This week we're making a gift card holder, gable box, and two cards featuring the 'to the nines' speciality designer papers and trendy trees stamp set.

I still have a couple of places left, so if you're interested in joining us email me to book your pace. The class is this Saturday, 26th June, between 1pm and 4pm and costs £10 (including home made chocolate brownies!!).

Then I guess I'll be pressing on with making Christmas swaps - I know, Christmas already? but you can never be too prepared!! And I need them for next month's passionettes team training.

On a positive note, I'm back in my craft room, with my new desk and shelves all full - I'm just waiting for a shelf above the desk, and wheels on one of my units, and it's all finished! (then i'll post some piccies).

Well, i think that's all of my blabbering on for now!
Have a good remainder of the week


Linz
x