FUN DAY OF CRAFTING

With hubby away for the weekend with his British Legion Riders Branch friends, yesterday I spent my second ‘Fun Day of Crafting’ with fellow crafters at my home in Northwold.

Crafting for 12-hrs from 9am to 9pm is a girl’s ideal way to spend the day, specially with none of life’s usual interruptions like the telephone, family, children etc.   With bacon butties consumed, decisions had to made as to theme and colour of their first project.  It was lovely being able to hold another class at home and being able to give everyone the versatility and choice to personalise their project as they wished.  I lost count of the number of trips up and down my stairs but the exercise was good, working off the Chinese buffet from the night before.

I’m looking forward to my third ‘Fun Day of Crafting’ on 19th May.  Ironically this was the first date booked, having another event booked whilst hubby at the BMF, that got cancelled.  Not to lose the opportunity of an empty house for the weekend, my 12-hour ‘Fun Days of Crafting’ were born !! 

These projects were first inspired last year by fellow Demonstrator Victoria, sharing one she had made for baby Grace on our In Love With Stamping Demonstrator forum.

 

This is Jo’s frame – it was her birthday on the day (5th May) and her husband had paid for her craft day for her birthday.  It was unfortunate that the friend who should have been joining her had tonsillitis.

 

This is Natalie’s frame – she has recently signed up as a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator, through a contact she made online.   We only met recently at the Sincerely Yours show in Thetford on 1st April .

  

This was Kathy’s frame – she made this for her daughter.

This is Susan’s frame - made for her home.

Unfortunately I don’t have photos of all the frames that our guests created back in November 2011, at the Mablethorpe Crafting Retreat Weekend with Emily and myself, but here is a selection.

 Julie’s Christmas frame

Jane’s Christmas frame

Mandy’s frame

Andrea’s frame

   

Carol’s frame

….. and a few more from the February 2012 Crafting Retreat Weekend.

This is Tracy’s frame – she is a US Stampin’ Up’ Demonstrator.

This is Debbie’s frame – made with her family name.

I cannot remember who’s these next two belonged to but if you see this and get in touch with me, I will add your names.

 

I hope you have enjoyed seeing these beautiful projects.  I like to ensure that guests have the same surprise element when attending Crafting Retreat Weekends and similar special events, hence not publishing these photos until today.  They have been extremely popular will everyone who has attended.

With a couple of ladies attending my next ‘Fun Day of Crafting’ group on Saturday 19th May having already made projects above at previous Retreat Weekends,  they will be creating an alternative project using lovely NEW products from the Stampin’ Up! Summer 2012 Mini catalogue, hence, I am now able to share this wide selection of individualised projects with you.

The remaining projects will be posted after 19th May so please pop back then to see what else my guests created, together with a tutorial.

That’s all for now, hope these have given you some inspiration for handmade gifts.  I know my customers have enjoyed and are busy making more for Christmas presents already.

Happy craftin’

Sandra

FRIDAY NIGHT FUN & LAUGHTER

One of my Thetford Stampers 10 members, Judy, asked about delivery of her order as she had no forthcoming appointments in my area to be able to collect as usual.  She wondered if I was going to be visiting the Norwich area anytime soon, or perhaps going to the Chinese buffet that my hubby and I like.

Well, what else was I supposed to do, in the interests of maintaining good Customer Service of course, but to oblige and rustle up a car full of fellow crafters to meet her for a Chinese buffet.  After all, hubby was away for the weekend and everything was ready for the following days class !! We had a really enjoyable evening, so many funny tales, I think our squeals of laughter were perhaps a bit too noisy at times for the other diners, so apologies to them, but we did have lots of fun !!

Two of the funniest moments were tales of Judy’s parrot Elvis, that kept us amused for some time, and who, at 16yrs old had escaped out of an open door and after returning a while later had later laid an egg, realising Elvis was in fact a ‘she’.  Elvis is now 23yrs old.

Then there was Alison’s tale of her forthcoming house move, downsizing but having been to auction that day and buying several items of furniture at very good prices, had not thought about how she was getting them home !!  Luckily her friend has a van and he is collecting some time this week, hopefully some being delivered to her craft room at the new house to save moving them twice.

Thank you all for an excellent evening, one I feel must be repeated again.

Sandra

 

 

NEW SUMMER MINI BLOG HOP

Hi fellow crafters and welcome to today’s Blog Hop.  From 10am this morning, around 40 Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators are showcasing products from the Summer 2012 Mini catalogue which you can order from TODAY. 

Grab yourself a cuppa and have some fun ‘hopping’ round for some wonderful inspiration.  You may need a pen and paper to jot down some of your favourite products along the way and start your wish list.  Don’t worry if you have a long list, with TWO great offers from Stampin’ Up! at the moment, it has never been a better time to sign up as a Demonstrator – for just £99 - and earn some of your favourite products for FREE.  Why not contact me on 07806 616704 or email sroberts07@btinternet.com to take advantage of the offers or find out more information.  Details will remain at the top of my blog for the merry month of May.

You may have joined me today from Alison’s blog  HERE, one of my team of Stampin’ Up! downlines.  Didn’t she have some wonderful projects.  

My first project to share with you today is the card I made for a recent swap with my fellow Demonstrators over on In Love With Stamping.  Here I have used the new Blossom Punch #125603 to punch the main flower and used the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing folder #117335 to add texture to the petals.  The leaves have been punched using the Bird Builder punch #117191.  The Designer Series Paper is from Twitterpated Suite which features DSP, Buttons, ribbons and materials.

Here they are all ready before posting.

One of our dear Demo Support staff, Eileen, has been very poorly lately and I was creating these when I heard the news.  Here is the card I sent to her to wish her a speedy recovery.

Next I wish to share with you projects from my recent all-day class, an ‘Introduction to Scrapbooking’, where attendees received class kits containing a lovely assortment of products from the New Twitterpated Suite to create some pages for their 6” x 6” scrapbook album.  These are one of my favourite DSP collections and have something to suit everyone’s taste.

The front page for my album was inspired by a 12”x12” scrapbook page designed by the lovely Monica at a recent training session in Peterborough.  Using my selection for my class kits, I adapted the design for my 6” x 6” album and used completely different products, incorporating new products from the Summer 2012 Mini.  Monica’s design used the self adhesive die-cut strips from Tickets and Tags Simply Scrappin’ kit #122373 but I have used various strips of co-ordinating cardstock and Eyelet Border punch #119853 and Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch #119275.   The centre mats have been created by using two sizes from the Framelits #125598. Numbers have been cut using Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine #113439 using the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet Dies #115951. The new Pleated Satin Ribbon in Red Riding Hood Red #125569.

 

My next double page provided my own inspiration for the cards above.  Using the beautiful DSP with Red Riding Hood Red & Whisper White cardstock and textured using Perfect Polka Dots Embossing folder detailed above.

   

The next double page features the beautiful floral paper from the Twitterpated Suite.  Here I have used the Island Indigo and Blushing Bride co-ordinating cardstock.  The Red Riding Hood Red also features within the paper and has been used to create this lovely carnation using the Blossom punch #125603 and mounted onto two strips of Island Indigo cardstock that have been cut and embossed using the Adorning Accents Edgelit Dies #125595 and Adorning Accents Textured Impressions Embossing folders #125601.

  

My last share today features another quick and simple double page layout.  Both of these are identical pages, just placed in album with one upside down !!  Here I incorporated the Pleated Satin Ribbon in Blushing Bride #125570 and the Twitterpated Designer Buttons #125579.

   

Some of my class ladies (and gent) have allowed me to take photos of some of their adaptations and I will be posting more over the next few days.   With lots of new products to play with, I am looking forward to finding some time over the Bank holiday Weekend to do some more creating.

I hope you have enjoyed stopping by here, if so, I would love you to leave me a comment.

Please continue your tour by clicking on Pat's blog www.pinkycardsandcreations.blogspot.com
for some more lovely New Summer 2012 Mini inspiration.

Hope to see you soon.

Happy craftin’

Sandra

STAMPIN’ UP! NEW STARTER KIT – Just £99

 

Stampin' Up! have just launched a fantastic BRAND NEW Starter Kit for new Recruits. For just £99 you can fully customise the kit to suit your own requirements. With a total value of £175, you can choose £130 of product from the **NEW** Summer Mini Catalogue or the Main Catalogue, with £45 of business supplies.

During 2012, Stampin’ Up! will be celebrating its fifth year in Europe--and doing it in a big way! As part of that celebration, during May only, new demonstrators who join Stampin’ Up! will receive FREE Convention 2012 registration--a £149 value!

This is a fabulous opportunity to start for just £99. I would love to have you as part of my team so if you would like more information please call me on 01366 728407 or 07806 616704 or email me at sroberts07@btinternet.com.

Sandra

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