COLOUR Q challenge #172

Last week I stumbled upon another weekly challenge and was getting all ready to assemble my cardstock for the colour combination, only to discover that a new challenge was added today !!  This challenge can be found HERE.

 

This weeks challenge was to use Melon Mambo, Summer Starfruit, Basic Gray, Poppy Parade (now retired) and Whisper White.

I have added another little sneak peak - the Honeycombe Textured Embossing Folder and new Petite Butterfly punch will be available in the Spring / Summer catalogue from 1st February, together with the butterfly stamp from one of the Sale-A-Bration stamp sets from 22nd January.

Until next time… happy craftin’.

Sandra

TINSEL TUESDAY - week 3

Here is Catherine's weekly 'Tuesday Tinsel' challenge HERE.

 

Here I have used greeting from Teeny Tiny Sentiments #129579 (W) #120024 (C) with Primrose Petals and Raspberry Ripple Designer Series Paper. The present is a small piece of DSP, mounted on to Whisper White card stock and tied as a parcel sing Bakers Twine.

 

Bye for now and Happy Craftin'

Sandra

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANE

This is a popular week for birthdays !!!  

I’ve recently chosen to do some work recently with card sketches.  By having an idea of which stamp set I would like to use, selecting a nice colour combination and then a couple of sketches to work around.

Today is the first of 3 birthdays this week, helping Jane from Bardwell, celebrate her birthday.

The lighting wasn’t terribly good here but I’ve used the new In-Colour Summer Startfruit together with DSP and stamp set available from Sale-A-Bration from 22nd January.

Pop back tomorrow for the next birthday creation this week.

Until next time… happy craftin’.

Sandra

TINSEL TUESDAY - week 2

Continuing with Catherine’s weekly blog challenge’  HERE , this was her ‘Tinsel Tuesday' sketch this week. 

 

 

Here is my interpretation to this weeks challenge. I've used the Christmas stamp from the 'For The Birds' stamp set, using Gumball Green, Cherry Cobbler and Whisper White.

 

This challenge feels a bit odd with all the Christmas decorations down and packed away since last weekend, but is such a good way to get cards made in really good time for December.  Just think ....... if you made two each week of the same design, you would have over 100 by Christmas, three each week 150 made etc.

 

Catch up again soon, happy craftin'.

 

Sandra

SHARING SWAPS

Today, several of my team and I are meeting up with some fellow Stampin' Up! Demonstrators at a training event in Peterborough, to share ideas for Sale-A-Bration which starts 22nd January.

Here is a quick look at my first design sample for swap I made with the Two-Tags die, together with the SAB Blooming' Marvellous stamp set, which you can earn for FREE with a £45 order. The final design changed slightly to add some 'bling' !!

 

Pop back tomorrow to see what else we got up to ......

Happy crafting'

Sandra

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAHAM

Today's post features a card made for Graham's birthday today.

 

Prior to finding Stampin' Up! Products, my crafting led me to fall in love with the cute animals of Penny Blacks range of stamps, whist enabling me to relax with my subtle water colouring.

 

Graham is the Bandmaster at RAF Wyton Voluntary Band where David and I used to play. We were both made Honorary members when we left, due to the 100 mile round trip, sometimes 2 or 3 times a week. Rising cost of fuel and other commitments made the decision but we enjoy keeping in touch with our friends ad enjoyed a lovely Christmas meal in December.

Pop back tomorrow when I hope Week 2 of Tinsel challenge will have been released.

Apologies if this post looks a bit different but it's a first test of the new Blogger App downloaded and created via my iPad.

Happy craftin'

Sandra

TINSEL TUESDAY – week 1

This year I was hoping to find time to join in some online craft challenges.

I was so pleased to stumble across Catherine’s blog, setting a ‘Tinsel Tuesday Challenge’ over HERE .  As it is linked to Christmas, it also ties in with one of my New Years Resolutions, so seemed like a must.

Week 1 sketch

 

Inspired by stack of trees on a swap I received from a fellow demonstrator at Convention 2012, I have used one of the Merry Mini punch trio and greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  The tub is made from the bottom section of the tree, upside down !!!

 

The ‘faux gold leaf’ was discovered by a happy accident, having given out Ferrero Rocher chocolates to my Christmas card club crafters.

  

Carefully remove the sticker on the top without tearing the foil if possible.

Smooth out most of the creases with finger tip.

 

 

 Cover the entire back of the foil with Tombow adhesive, using a scrap of card to spread.

Attach to piece of Whisper White cardstock.

 

Punch row of trees.  Cut off strip wide enough for two rows back to back.

I managed 39 trees from just one wrapper !!!!

Have fun eating up all the leftover choccies before the diets start.  Why not try with scrunched up kitchen foil or any other coloured foil from other brands of chocolates too. 

 

Happy Crafting

Sandra

HAPPY NEW YEAR & NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

Here’s wishing all my friends, family and customers a fantastic New Year 2013.

I have a number of New Years Resolutions and also Goals that I want to achieve this year.

So that you can all help keep me on track, I am publicly sharing the main ones with you :-

1.  To lose a minimum of 3-stone by Stampin’ Up! Convention in November 2013.

2.  To have all my Christmas cards made and ready for posting by 30th November 2013.

3.  To blog at least once a week !!!!

Updating my blog is a huge challenge for me, as this is always bottom of my list of jobs to do when time is short.  As several of you know, last year brought many new challenges which took up incredible amount of time when not at work.  This year, my blog will take more priority and I’m hoping that my new iPad will help being able to do ‘on the hoof’ so to speak :-)

My list of goals will be kept with me in my planner and updated regularly if any of you are interested to see how I am doing.

 

Happy Crafting and Happy 2013.

Catch up soon,

 

Sandra

MY NEW iPad

At long last …….. I am the proud owner of an iPad using monies from Christmas presents towards buying one.

I knew Dad and David wouldn’t want to go shopping, let alone in the sales crush, so I asked Stephanie if she would like a trip out on Saturday.  We had a lovely day and had a free pass’ as David told me not to hurry back as there was football on !!!  The morning finished with lunch at the Chinese Buffet … yummy.

Although David has ‘poo-pooed’ it all the time I’ve been saying I wanted one, as soon as the set up was complete, he said he might want to get one !!!!!!!!!

We’ve already had Dad on my laptop at 81yrs old but today we had him looking at more retirement properties on the iPad which I think he found even easier to use.  I can see him having one too when he gets settled.

That’s all for now, pop back soon.

Sandra

LOVELY HANDMADE CHRISTMAS CARDS

I am so lucky to receive some lovely handmade cards from some of my team, customers and other crafters.

Today I would like to share just a few of those I have received, including a couple of gorgeous Punchart which are always among my favourites.

JANE – came home from the Lake District with a pet black sheep.  She is a very talented crafter and made her punchart ‘black sheep’.  Fantastic.

ANJ – another beautiful punchart creation using the wonderful Owl punch.

MICHELLE – a different colour combination for Christmas from my SU upline.

JANET – I love small cards, perfect for Christmas.

LORRAINE – I love the simplicity of this stamp, will have to ask where she got it.

JEAN – I love the Stampin’ Up! stocking stamp and punch set.  So glad I got my hands on one as it never made it to the European market.

 

TANYA – This was such a tiny cute card.  I’ve seen this idea done somewhere on Pinterest and love it.

 

 

JUDY – she has been showing me some wonderful different versions of this card, gorgeous.

 

LAURA – lovely two-tone effect on these ornaments and that embossed frame is another firm favourite.

 

LYNN – all this effort for Christmas, very much appreciated.

Again, these are just a sample of lots and lots of wonderful cards David and I received.  Thank you all for your kind festive wishes.  We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

 

Happy crafting :-)

 

Sandra

 

 

 

TRADITIONAL BOXING DAY WALK

Today, David, his 83yr old Auntie Ellen and I took our traditional annual Boxing Day walk along the North Norfolk beach at Snettisham.  Sadly last year she wasn’t well enough but really missed it.

We always laugh with Auntie saying that we’re going for a cup of tea with the Queen when we pop into the coffee shop at Sandringham for tea and cake.

You can see from the shadows and the darkened glasses that although the wind was blowing, the sun was shining brightly.

 Auntie Ellen (85yrs old) and David

 Auntie Ellen and Sandra

Back home and I set to work stripping down the remainder of the turkey and get the stock bubbling on the cooker ready to make some superb stock for turkey and sweetcorn chowder and turkey risotto tomorrow. 

David wanted to listen to some footie on the radio so whilst Auntie Ellen and I watched some festive films, I took my cue for a quick spot of crafting.

Inspired by an idea I saw earlier in the gift shop at Sandringham, I set about sketching a project to make using the new and exclusive products you can get FREE for every £45 spent during Sale-A-Bration, which runs from 22nd January to 22nd March 2013.

With extra free gifts for hostesses during this promotion, I will be filling my diary quickly so please give me a call on 01366 726407 if you wish to be sure of your choice of party dates.

Hope you’re having a fantastic Christmas break and enjoying all the leftover food that every household seems to have at this time of year.

Pop back soon.

Sandra

MY NEW STASH !!!

It’s arrived !!!    Here is my first box of new stash from the STAMPIN’ UP! NEW ANNUAL CATALOGUE which launched on 1st October.

 

This was quite restrained for me but for 1st ‘hit’ wasn’t bad.  Items were mainly bought around the 300 swaps I will be making for SU European Convention at the beginning of November, cardstock and re-inkers from the New 2012-2014 In-Colours in Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green, Primrose Petals and Raspberry Ripple, which I think is my new favourite.
 

My biggest ever order went in for the North Norfolk Retreat Weekend that Alison and I are running in a couple of weeks.  I am so pleased to be running this weekend with one of my downline with slight OCD tendencies ….. she has done a fantastic job of working everything out in spreadsheet format and is now busily preparing our class kits, whilst I am stuck in an office job.
 

Whilst it’s exciting to use all new products, it’s a bit close for comfort timewise when SU unfortunately sent 14 of the wrong stamp set for class freebie.  Fear not, everything is in hand to still arrive in time (although fingers firmly crossed !!).

I have some lovely half-price items too but they went in the shipment to Alison so I have to wait a bit longer until I can collect those :-).
 

Some of the extra bits were the new shaped butterfly which I am loving and have some lovely ideas spinning round in my head already.  The material is for a project I have been working on for a while which was first inspired by a German Demonstrator I met at last years Convention and will be for my roomie/teamie Convention gifts.  If they are a success, the rest of the team will have in time for Christmas.
 

Please feel free to contact me if you wish to place an order or find out more about becoming a demonstrator with the fantastic offer on earlier recent post.
 

Happy craftin’ until next time !
 

Sandra

NEW CATALOGUE BLOG HOP

It’s that time of year again when Demonstrators over on In Love With Stamping get together and showcase an assortment of projects made using NEW and exciting items from the Autumn and Winter supplement and also the NEW Annual catalogues.

Demonstrators will be scheduling blog posts at 10am this morning.  If you have just joined me here then make yourself a cuppa and grab yourself a notepad and pen. I’m sure there will be some wonderful inspirations along the way. 

You may have just joined from Sarah's blog  so a very big warm welcome to you.  I hope you are enjoying your ‘hopping’ so far.

Apologies that I have been absent from blogging for a while but pleased to have joined in today,  easing myself in gently with today’s small contribution from recent class.

With so many lovely new items it’s hard to know what to play with first !!  In the Autumn/Winter supplement, Stampin’ Up! have introduced co-ordinated product bundles at discounted prices.  This means that purchasing a stamp set and dies together, you can make even bigger savings.

My first two cards feature the NEW Scentsational Season and the Holiday Collection Framelit Dies  that I created for my ‘Ink-Illicious’ classes held this Saturday in Bury St Edmunds and Sunday in Norwich. 

 

Here I have inked up brayer with Early Espresso ink and brayered the raised surface on the inside of the NEW Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions Embossing folder #127819.  Next I processed through the Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine #113439.  This pushed the ink into the crevices to create a lovely effect.  The card is layered with Very Vanilla and Soft Suede onto an Early Espresso card base.

To give a different effect, this card follows the same style but using the Square Lattice Textured Impression Embossing folder #119976 with the Christmas Tree from Scentsational Season.  The cute greeting is from Teeny Tiny Sentiments #129579 (W) #120024 (C).

I’m sure there will be a lot of this stamp set featured on this hop today.  It has been really popular with customers already.

This card features the NEW Ornament Keepsake stamp set, also available as a product bundle at a discounted price #129949 (W) #129950 (C).

The ornament has been centred on the NEW Holiday Frame Textured Embossing folder #127820 on River Rock, Very Vanilla and Early Espresso card layers.

The new 3-1/2” Scalloped Tulle ribbon was too heavy at full width for this card so I trimmed down the centre to make two pieces.  I think for this card it’s more balanced.  NEW Tulle ribbon is available in Cherry Cobbler #127841, Crumb Cake #127840 and Early Espresso #127839.

The edges of the bauble have been finished off with Tombow Multipurpose glue #110755 and Dazzling Diamonds Stampin’ Glitter #102023.

If you wish to browse the NEW Catalogues, please click on the images at the top of my blog.  If you would like your own copy in the post or wish to place an order, please feel free to contact me on 07806 616704 or by email sroberts07@btinternet.com.

I hope you have enjoyed your stop with me today.  Please continue on your way by popping across to Sharon's blog and enjoy the creations she has in store for you.

 

Happy ‘hopping’ and please make sure to pop back soon.

 

Sandra

 

OCTOBER & NOVEMBER OFFER – FREE PAPERS

Wow !!!!  I’ve just woken up to find this on our Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator website.

That’s right !!! Get FREE Designer Series Paper for SIX MONTHS when you become a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator during October or November !!

With the fully customisable Start Kit already a fantastic deal – with up to £175 products and business materials for just £99 – the deal just gets better and worth just under £60 on top.

So if you have a long wish list and fancy a package of products worth £235 for just £99, please get in touch and I will look forward to welcoming you to my team of Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators.

Click link FREE PAPERS LINK to download flyer with more information.

An offer too good to miss.  Catch up soon.

Sandra  Roberts

Tel : 07806 616704

Email : sroberts07@btinternet.com

EXCITING NEW ANNUAL CATALOGUE

At long last …. it’s finally here.  The NEW Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalogue is finally released tomorrow and it’s a whopper !!!!

All will be revealed tomorrow ………

Sandra

 

POOR LONELY AND NEGLECTED BLOG

Those who know me well know the summer has been a difficult time for me and, whilst my customers and classes come first, sadly my blog is usually is forgotten.

At the end of June, Mum was taken into hospital suddenly, not expected to last the night and then sadly died 10 days later. Dad has been living with us now for 3-months and the summer has meant putting Dad first.  It has been lovely catching up with Dad and spending lots of quality time with him.

Needless to say, my Stampin’ Up! business had to take a back seat for a while and I am so grateful to all my lovely ladies who understood the necessary adjustments and who continued to support me through both family bereavement and also a couple of recent hospital appointments myself.

Here is a photo of Dad enjoying his new mobility scooter on the seafront at Southwold during a day out with my sister and hubby.

Dad recently celebrated his 81st birthday.  Last Saturday he tried his first ever Chinese meal at the Lucky Star all-you-can-eat buffet and, being a farmer and preferring meat and two veg’, he admitted he was ‘pleasantly surprised’. 

Dad has now been living with us for 3-months and now things are settling down a bit and I’m back in the blogging habit, I plan to be blogging more frequently.

Please pop back again soon.

 

Sandra

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