GUEST CRAFTING AT GAYTON

Jane is one of my lovely ladies, who attends my classes and our monthly pub group, asked me last year to be a guest tutor at their monthly craft get together and I booked a T.O.I.L. day from work.

I had a fantastic half-day with some lovely ladies, guesting at Gayton, Kings Lynn.  I think nearly all their members attended and made this lovely suite of projects, with each attendee having a colour co-ordinated set.  It was lovely to see how the different colour combinations looked.

 

 

The ladies played with my Stampin' Up! Envelope punch board and were pleased to be able to make the card-in-a-box and matching envelope from just one 12"x12" sheet of Designer Series Paper.

 

As a last minute change, I took along the Bird Builder punch and various scraps of green card, suggesting they may wish to add a few leaves - they looked gorgeous and everyone had a lovely time.

Unfortunately my camera is broken - another job on the ever growing 'to do list' as I must get used to a new one before the BIG holiday. Unfortunately I didn't get to take photos of their creations but they did some stunning creations.

Thanks again for inviting me and I look forward to joining you again for another guest appearance later in the year, with a Christmas theme.

 

Happy Craftin'

 

Sandra

MONTHLY CRAFT CHALLENGE - January 2014

 

With her husband away for the weekend of 17th & 18th January, Julie kindly invited me to stay over for the weekend and join Jane,Tasha and herself crafting.

 

Having set myself challenges for my 50th year, and knowing they all do 'beading', I asked if, during the course of the weekend, they could help me meet one of my monthly challenges I set myself and so January challenge was scheduled.

 

We all had a lovely time, of course not going to bed until the wee small hours and up again bright and ready to carry on the next morning at 7am :-)

 

We started Friday evening with me sharing my card-in-a-box and co-ordinating envelope made on Stampin' Up! Envelope board, that I had made for a couple of January birthdays.

 

Saturday morning saw more research on Envelope Board projects and a joint trial session but tailored to our own changes.  Photos will follow as I decided to put on my suite of projects at a class later this month.

 

...... and now for the beading !!!

 

I do own a few beading tools, wire and beads but have never attempted anything on the scale of what Julie, Jane and Tasha have been creating over the last year.

 

Firstly, with Julie's help and patience, I made a cute little Angel threaded onto a headpin and I asked to put onto a bookmark.

 



 

Next was the dragonfly.  So now I learnt that the longest bit, is choosing the beads you want to use !!!!  This was later added to my final project below.

 

Tasha's turn next to show us how to make a 'Hand of Fatima'.  This was another lovely project which neither of the others had made previously either.

 



 

At this point, they told me I had completed everything they did in their first session so now to put together all the techniques into a bag charm myself.  Again the choosing what to do and what beads to use was the most time consuming bit, but I was determined to get finished.  I love the little fairy on the left hand strand but I'm now a little worried she is too delicate and might get damaged.

 



 

This was the end to a perfect couple of days, wonderful company, fabulous food (thanks again Julie), lots of laughter (plus innuendo's and giggles) and some gorgeous projects.  Thanks girls, this was just what the doctor ordered and timing was particularly perfect !!  I agree we really must repeat again, and yes, I'm happy to adjourn here later in year once I know the rest of David's biking dates he attends, that I don't go to.

 

Pop back soon and keep up-to-date with my next Monthly Craft Challenge for February.



 

Happy Craftin'

 

Sandra

NEW YEAR, NEW CHALLENGES & NEW ME !!

Morning crafters & welcome !

 

Those of you who are close to me will be aware I have had several challenges over the last 18-months, the latter part of 2013 in particular. 

 

One piece of sad news last year, brought a different perspective for me.  My sister and I grew up on a farm, and together with the adjoining farms, meant six girls and no boys to continue the three farms. Sadly, one of the girls passed away suddenly last year, aged just 49-yrs. 
 

Being the same age, this had a big impact that changed my outlook on life, as none of us know what is round the corner. 

2014 is a BIG year for me and I intend to make it a special one.  David and I are really looking forward to celebrating my 50th birthday this summer with a Caribbean Cruise.  Our airport hotel the night before, our house and cat sitter were all booked too with initially 11-months to wait, I'm pleased to say is now drawing closer.  

 

Planning ahead for my 50th year, I began setting myself many challenges to achieve during 2014. 

 

I have ongoing lists on my iPad, constantly being updated, in preparation of what I would like to achieve this year.  Working full time, my crafting time has almost always been mainly for my classes and with no 'ME' time, to relax and enjoy my hobby, not just as a small business.  

 

With this in mind, I set about making a list of new crafts to try, ones I wanted to resurrect and things that interested and/or challenged me.  This, together with other things I want to achieve, complete etc, list is long (someone asked if I was planning to live until I was 300yrs old !!) and although I have roughly allocated one new craft challenge per month, I am allowing myself 'creative licence' to move these around to fit in with life in general.  

 

I will also be making time to scrapbook this special year.  Please feel free to check in with me later in the year to see how it is going and to keep me on track. 

 

Here's to more blogging in 2014 than previous years :-)

 

Happy craftin'

 

Sandra 

AUTUMN / WINTER CATALOGUE

Morning crafters & welcome !

Today at 10am, I am joining up with fellow Stampin' Up! Demonstrators on 'In Love With Stamping' once again, this time show casing some products from the Autumn / Winter mini catalogue.

You may have just joined me from Sarah @ http://www.esellek.com/ and her wonderful creations. 

Today I wanted to feature traditional colours in the 'Season of Style' Designer Series Papers, available in both 12"x12" and also four designs in handy A6 size DSP Paper Stacks, an ideal size for quick card making.

This delightful little box is a 5cm cube.  Both ends of the box undo so that decoration can remain in tact and also enable you to make in advance completely and store 'flat-packed' until you are ready to use.  

Start by cutting an A4 piece of card to 21cm x 17cm.  Score the long edge at 5cm, 10cm, 15cm & 20cm (leaving 1cm spare at the end).

Score the shorter side at 1cm, 6cm, 11cm & 16cm (leaving 1cm spare at the end). 

Fold all score lines and make crisp edges using a bone folder.

Snip up from bottom to first fold line and repeat opposite cutting downwards to first fold.

Mark all sections as in diagram and cut away. 

Corner round three tabs as in photo.  

Taper edges as indicated. I'm happy to cut freehand but use a craft knife and board if you prefer.  

Apply tape or Tombow adhesive to the back of side flap on the right and secure.  This is the only adhesive you will need !!!!  

Trim a 4.5cm strip of 'Season of Style' Designer Series Paper into SIX 4.5cm squares. Attach to sides of box and top & bottom, whilst still flat.  Take care if you use a DSP with an obvious one-way design.   

Wrap piece of Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding round centre, keeping open ends free.  Thread on three Mosaic punch as in photo and tie knot.  Add a small rhinestone jewel to finish the tag. 

Pop in your gift, close box flaps and your box is now finished.  

Here is a very quick 10cm x 10cm card made with the remainder of the A4 sheet of Cherry Cobbler.  The images are stamped using Mosaic Madness stamp set in Cherry Cobbler ink.  Using a Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, stamp 'Merry' from Pennant Parade in the centre. Punch out with NEW Mosaic punch.  Holding one Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive and stamped ornament together, punch hole in centre. Tie together with a bow using Cherry Cobbler bakers twine.

Hope you have enjoyed my little contribution today.  If you haven't got a copy of our Autumn / Winter or Annual catalogue then please let me know. I have some already parcelled up and ready to address and get on their way to you. 

Now I won't keep you any longer, continue your hop here with Joyce @ http://rejoyceaboutstampin.blogspot.co.uk/ and hop round the rest of my fellow demonstrators joining in today. 

Thanks for popping by and catch up again soon. 

Happy craftin'

Sandra 

ILWS SHOE-BOX 'at home' SWAP

Morning crafters

Today I'm sharing with you another project using the beautiful Flower Shop stamp set and Pansy Punch.

I have joined up with fellow Stampin' Up! Demonstrators on 'In Love With Stamping' once again, this time for a New Catty Card Kit in a 'play from home' shoe-box style swap.

I've made this as a tent style card in Basic Black card.  The Whisper White layer has been processed through the Perfect Polka Dot Textured Embossing fodder using Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine. 

A strip of Primrose Petals DSP has been matted onto a Basic Black card layer. 

Three flowers from Flower Shop stamp set were stamped in Basic Black ink and punched out using Pansy Punch.   Here I have coloured centre by tapping co-ordinating marker pen and then using a blending tool or water brush.  Flower petals were curled upwards using a Bone Folder. 

The sentiment is from another new favourite of mine 'Simply Sketched' which can be earned for FREE by having a party.   Sentiment was stamped in Basic Black ink onto scrap of Whisper White card and punched out using the large oval.   This was then matted onto a Basic Black scallop oval punch. 

A small piece if co-ordating stitched satin ribbon has been tucked behind greeting. 

Hope you have enjoyed this little project today and I'm really looking forward to receiving 14 different card kits from otter Demonstrators.  I will share these with you once I've received and had time to make up projects. 

Thanks for popping by today.   Catch up again soon. 

Happy craftin'

Sandra 

SUFFOLK PAPERCRAFT SHOW

Morning crafters

Last Sunday I was back once again at the Suffolk Papercraft show in Bury St Edmunds. 

We had another fantastic day talking to fellow crafters, catching up with many of my regulars and also chatting with some new ladies who had not yet heard of Stampin' Up!

My 'retired stamp sale' table brought a lot of interest, snapping up some bargains. 

Today I'm sharing with you the Make & Take that visitors to my stand made.  When I first made this, I thought it looked like a Christmas Rose, although many preferred to use the 'Happy Birthday' greeting choice available. 

The stamp set used is the beautiful Flower Shop and when purchased together with the co-ordinating Pansy Punch, you can save 15%.  Please contact me if you would like to place an order.  

The show is so busy, it is not practical to have glitter !!!  However, here is a flower centre I made by using Tombow Multipurpose adhesive and covering with Stampin' Up! Gold Glass Glitter. I left this to dry thoroughly overnight and gently tapped of the excess glitter in the morning.  This looks lovely for the Christmas Rose centre.  

Many thanks to my show helpers Val & Elaina - much appreciated.  It was a very warm day and we all enjoyed your company. 

Thanks for popping by today.  Pop back soon to see the variation I have used for a share project. 

Happy craftin'

Sandra 

NEW CATALOGUE BLOG HOP

Hi 

Slightly earlier this year, but with the launch of the NEW Annual Stampin' Up! Catalogue 2013/14 last month, I'm joining fellow Demonstrators at In Love With Stamping, to bring you a 'blog hop' of some of our favourite products from the NEW catalogue.  Providing everybodys links and scheduled posts work, from 10am this morning you should be able to enjoy your hop round about 15 Stampin' Up! Demonstator blogs, each showcasing new products.

So, grab yourself a cuppa, notepad and pen to jot down products you might simply 'have' to have ready to place an order with your local/regular Demonstrator.  

You may have just joined me from Christa at http://serendipity-stamping.blogspot.co.uk/ with some lovely projects. 

My first project today shows you the five NEW In-Colours 2013/15,  Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, Baked Brown Sugar and Strawberry Slush.  

The Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die is not a new product although its new to me.  I thought I had missed it on the retirement list but was so relieved to see I could still order :-). Here I have used some tiny seed beads I had in my craft stash that were crying out to be used.  They were threaded onto a piece of silver wire and wrapped round the butterfly body, twisted to hold and then the ends trimmed for antenna. I thought this was a lovely way to showcase the new colours. 

 

When I started playing with this Big Shot Die, I thought these would make wonderful wedding place cards.  Last weekend one of my ladies attending one of my 12-hr 'Fun Days of Crafting' borrowed a couple to show her niece and now has an order for all of her wedding stationery, based around these little creations :-)
 

 With all this hot weather we've been having recently, it's strange thinking about the 'C' word.  Lots of crafters I know have already started thinking about Christmas, as its the time of year we send the most cards in one go !!

I've been busy recently making samples of Christmas cards for my local monthly Christmas Clubs.  Each month we make 8 'quick and easy' Christmas cards in a 2-hr session.  All of the Stampin' Up! Festive products are being released on 1st September in the Autumn / Winter catalogue so for my July club I made this card using the gorgeous hostess set Simply Sketched contains 3 images and 3 greetings.  The bird was simply water-coloured with a red breast to make into a robin and the leaves in the background will feature as mistletoe for next months club.   Please contact me if you are interested in earning this stamp set and other products for FREE :-)

 

These next two cards feature the Mosaic Madness suite. This has been a very popular set and is very versatile, adapting to all occasions.  Again, fitted in well for my Christmas clubs 'quick and easy' designs but is not just for Christmas and buying as a bundle is 15% cheaper. 

 

 

 

Lastly, I played with some Designer Series Paper 'Modern Medley' in Basic Black and Very Vanilla.  Don't forget my earlier post detailing the special offer for August, buy 3 packs of Designer Series Paper and get 4th for free (from standard £9.95 packs, not speciality or paper stacks, sorry).

 

These little flags or banners seem to be a very popular trend at the moment.  Here I cut strips of different widths and used the NEW Hexagon punch to trim the ends. 

 

 

If like me, you cut your pieces to size before trimming the ends, or using as a way to use up lots of scraps, just attach to sticky end of a Post-It Note to give you something to hold it with in the punch :-)

 

The greetings here are from one of my favourite Christmas sentiment sets called 'More Merry Messages' which has held over from last years catalogue and is still available to purchase.

I hope you have enjoyed my little contribution today and enjoy the rest of your 'hop' moving on to Sarah at http://www.esellek.com/.  

Happy crafting :-)
 

Sandra 

FREE DESIGNER SERIES PAPER

If you love Stampin' Up!s Designer Series Paper and the way all the colours co-ordinate with cardstock, ribbon and other accessories, then here is a fantastic offer to help you collect the NEW products from the Annual catalogue 2013/14 that released just last month.

 

Offer Dates: 1-31 August, 2013

 

Offer Details: Buy three packs of select Designer Series Paper and get one for FREE!

 

The Fine Print:

These items don’t qualify for the offer: Designer Series Paper Stack Specialty Designer Series Paper Designer Series Paper from the autumn-winter catalogue Designer Series Paper ordered through hostess benefits

 

Simply choose your favourite FOUR sets from the 11 Designer Series Paper in the Annual 2013/14 catalogue priced at £9.95 to qualify for this offer, and pay for just THREE.  There's nothing stopping you from having all four of one design !! 

 

So, if you fancy grabbing a bargain, then get in touch and I will be happy to place an order for you.

 

Happy Craftin'

 

Sandra

BEST OF 25 YEARS ...... August 2013

Another month gone, another month nearer to Christmas !!  Where is the year disappearing ?

In case you hadn't heard, for Stampin' Up!s 25-year anniversary, they are bringing back some of their favourite stamp images from the last quarter century and combining them into 5 sets, which will release one set per month—until October 2013. Even better, along with some great classic images, each “Best of” set will also include a never-before-seen image!

All sets will be available until 31st March 2014 or until stocks last and will be priced at £13.95 in Clear Mount only.  

 

 

This month is 'Best of ........ Shelli, the co-founder of Stampin' Up!

Feel free to contact me for more information or to place an order.

Happy Craftin'

 

Sandra

BRAYERING AGAIN

A repeat of a project I shared at my recent Brayering class but this time I changed the colours for my Weeting ladies.

 

Everyone had a lovely day, the sun was shining and they all loved their projects.

 

Pop back on 14th July for my Tutorial on how to create this gingham effect using your Brayer.

 

 

and some close up photos

 

 

This delightful little box has been a favourite

at lots of different classes

 

 

Happy Craftin'

 

Sandra

BEST OF 25 YEARS ....... July

For Stampin' Up!s 25-year anniversary, they are bringing back some of their favourite stamp images from the last quarter century and combining them into 5 sets, which will release one set per month—until October 2013. Even better, along with some great classic images, each “Best of” set will also include a never-before-seen image!

Continuing this theme the stamp set released for July features 'Best of Butterflies'.  All sets will be available until 31st March 2014 or until stocks last and will be priced at £13.95 in Clear Mount only. 

Don't forget Stampin' Up! do co-ordinating punches to match several of their stamps :-)

 

 

Feel free to contact me for more information or to place an order.

 

Happy Craftin'

 

Sandra

BRAYERING CLASS

At one of my recent classes, attendees enjoyed playing with lots of different Brayering techniques and textures.

 

This was one of my favourites of the day. 

 

Who would have believed that this effect could be achieved using your Brayer !!!

 

 

I loved this technique and decided to use to make 40 swaps for a training event in July.

 

I will be posting a tutorial on 14th July to share you how this was made and also my swaps for the event so please pop back and have a go yourself.

 

Happy Craftin'

 

Sandra

BEST OF 25 YEARS ......

For Stampin' Up!s 25-year anniversary, they are bringing back some of their favourite stamp images from the last quarter century and combining them into 5 sets, which will release one set per month—until October 2013. Even better, along with some great classic images, each “Best of” set will also include one new never-before-seen image!

Here is 'Best of Flowers' released for the month of June 2013, however all sets will be available until 31st March 2014 or until stocks last and will be priced at £13.95 in Clear Mount only. 

 

Feel free to contact me for more information or to place an order.

Happy Craftin'

 

Sandra

BLOG HOP - RETIREMENT LIST

Morning fellow crafters

Sadly, we've come total time of year again when Stampin' Up! sadly have to retire some of their fabulous products to make space for new and exciting products arriving in NEW our Annual Catalogue 2013/14, available from 1st July. 

Today, I am joining a few fellow Stampin' Up! Demonstrators to show you some of our Stampin' Up! items that are retiring and therefore only available until 30th June, but hurry these are only available while stocks last.  So, why not grab a cup of tea, pen and paper, as I'm sure you will find something you simply 'must have' before they disappear at the end of June.   

You may have joined me from Donna @ http://www.head-over-heels-by-dlm.blogspot.co.uk/ so a warm welcome to you, wherever you have found me.  As Demonstrators, we all love sharing their creations with you.  

It is my birthday tomorrow and we are visiting family so I packed a few products to finish my projects last night and early this morning, as time has run way with me once again. If anyone ever discovers the 36hr day, please remember to share with me :-)

My first project today features the Newsprint Designer Series Paper #121878, River Rock cardstock #111852 and using the Just Believe stamp set #116948 (W) #120453 (C), all of which are retiring products.  This stamp set was one of my favourites and I'm sad to see it retire. Of course none of my floral projects would be complete without some butterflies which I'm pleased to say are still in new cattie :-)

My next project I uses my Brayer but features retiring colours Bashful Blue, Baja Breeze and Lucky Limeade, again with the Just Believe stamp set.  I had two classes last weekend in Bury St Edmunds and Norwich.  My ladies loved playing and learning different techniques but my favourite was making check gingham with the Brayer.  Sounds intriguing, then pop back next week and I hope to have some loaded here. 

Here I have used my favourite Designer Series Paper Twitterpated #125406 to make some cute 10cm square cards.  Riding Hood Red featured in these papers, is another colour that will be retiring. 

..... and a quick close up of the butterfly layers, this time stamped onto recycled brown packing papers which come in our Stampin' Up! deliveries.  Aren't the just sweet ?

Now for some covered notebooks using the same Twitterpated Designer Series Paper #125406.  The brads with adhesive jelly dots are from the Spring/Summer catalogue so they will also be coming to an end at the end of the month. 

As Independent Demonstrators, we are lucky to have seen the gorgeous new catalogue online and I already have a looooonnng wish list of my favourite new products. 

If you have a long wish list too, either from the retirement list or anticipation of how much you will LOVE all the new products, I would love you to join my growing team, so pease just getting touch and we an cat further. 

Meanwhile, enjoy the rest of your day and continue along our blog hop today by clicking here to join Sarah @ http://www.stampinsarahiow.blogspot.co.uk/

Happy crafting :-)

Sandra