Butterfly Basics sneak peek from new Spring / Summer Catalogue 2015

One of the many benefits of being a Stampin Up Demonstrator is being able to pre order product a month before a new catalogue launches. Another benefit is that I got the Butterfly Basics Bundle free!
Above is a collage card created using elements from the Butterfly Basics Stamp Set.
The colours used are Elegant Eggplant and Pear Pizzazz.
I added Dazzling Diamonds Glitter to give it a lift.

The second card uses one of the three Butterfly Thinlets Dies that match the stamp set.I spritzed this butterfly with Bermuda Bay and Gold Ink.
The sentiment is from the Big Day Stamp Set from the Saleabration Catalogue. That means that you can get the stamp set free with an order over £45, after January 6th 2015, which is when Saleabration starts.

Festival of Trees Christmas Cards.

These are two of the Christmas Cards that I sent to my friends and family this year.
I love the pine tree stamp in the Festival of Trees set. The Whisper White Ink Pad is ideal for the snowy effect and some Dazzling Diamonds Glitter on the trees was the icing on the cake as they say.

The Nordic Noel DSP provided a quick and easy card. The top sentiment is from the Holiday Home Set. I added a bit of snow and a snowflake embellishment and all was done and dusted.

Build a Bouquet Kit.

While most other people were opening presents on Christmas Day I had fun making one of each of the flowers from the Stampin Up Build a Bouquet Kit which is available from January 6th in the new Spring/Summer Catalogue. I first sorted the kit and then proceeded to stamp the petals and leaves, using the Gorgeous Grunge Stamp Set, before constructing the flowers.
It was great fun to do and I look forward to making the other flowers and running a class in the New Year.

Bird House Decoration using the Milk Carton Die.

Another item which was popular at recent Craft Fairs was this little Bird house decoration which I made using the Milk Carton Die.
I used Crumb Cake and Cherry Cobbler Card stock with a little bit of Early Expresso and Old Olive for the bird's wing and the leaves.
I used the Hardwood Stamp for the wood effect on the bird house.
The bird was sponged with Early Expresso and Cherry Cobbler ink.
the loop to hang it up with was made with Linen Thread.

Stampin Up Notebooks.

I have enjoyed covering notebooks, recently, to sell at Craft Fairs.
I used a retired Stampin Up DSP, for the first one, called Eastern Elegance.
It is still available on the Clearance Rack for £5.29.
Email me at fhstafford@talktalk.net if you would like me to order it for you.
I used the Deco Labels Framelits,the Petite Petals Stamp Set and matching punch and the Flower Punch from the Itty Bitty Accents Set.

I used one of the sheets of DSP from the Colour Me Autumn Paper Pack to cover the second book.
The sentiment is from the Feel Goods Stamp Set.
 It was finished off withtwo small banners cut out of the Gold Vellum Papers and some Gold Sequin Trim..

The third notebook has more of an Autumnal feel.
Again I used a sheet of 12 x 12 paper from the Colour Me Autumn Paper Pack.
The sentment is from the Feel Goods Stamp Set.
I embellished it with some leaves cut using the Autumn Accents Bigz Die with one of the wooden Autumn embellishments on to. tied on with Linen Thread.

Paperie Retreat with Monica Gale

At the beginning of October I went on my third Paperie Retreat in Yorkshire at the Monk Fryston Hall Hotel. It was organised by my Upline Monica Gale. Above are a few of the projects that we made.

 I love this coffee cup stamp set and Monica gave us all one as part of our kit at the Retreat.
She picked out some colours from the All Abloom DSP Stack and used them for the note pad with part of a brown polka dot paper bag.

 I always try to remember to ask someone to take a photo of me and Monica so here we are at the Stamping Station.

Here is a photo of my two table companions Emma and Anne.

We had some laughs and helped each other out with the projects.

This is a photo of my room with the Monday evening's pillow gift. Monica always packs everything up so well. It is wonderful to be so spoilt. Truly a few days to remember.

Holiday Home Stamp Set

 The first card is one which we did on the Paperie Retreat in October. It was designed by Monica Gale. I love the colour combination of Island Indigo, Pear Pizzazz and Cherry Cobbler.
The base is Crumb Cake. We used the dynamic Dazzing Diamonds Glimmer Card Stock for the snow at the front of the card.The ribbon is Whisper White Seam Binding Ribbon.

I saw this tealight holder idea on a Blog called Creativelaedle. I coloured the houses in with the Blendabilities Pens. You can use a wax or an LED Tealight as the top is open.
The top is punched with the Scallop Tag Topper Punch.

Below are some tags that I made at a Craft Fair last Saturday.
I used our Kraft Card Stock and once again used the Blendabilities.
The background snowflakes were stamped in Whisper White using the retired Serene Snowflakes Stamp Set.

Many Merry Stars Kit.

I ordered this Kit last week after I had seen the Stampin Up video HERE
My 19 year old daughter and I had great fun making up a number of the stars while watching Disney's Beauty and the Beast DVD.
You get one large star which measures 15 inches across and 25 other stars in 5 different colours one of which is Gold Glitter Card Ctock.There are 5 sizes for each colour.

Here are the five different sizes stacked on top of each other.

The Kit is only £23.95 and includes loads of embellishments including wooden snow flakes, gold glitter words and little stars,silver sequins and gold bakers twine.
There are full instructions and the strip that connects the front and back of each star has strong double sided tape on both sides so that you can use the decorative or the kraft side.
I am doing a class at my house on Thursday, November 13th at 7.30pm.
The cost is £25 to include a full kit.please let me know by Wednesday, November 5th if you would like to join us.

Christmas Curvy Keepsake Boxes

These are the little fellows that we will be making at the Curvy Keepsake Box class at my house next Wednesday, October 29th, 7.30pm .
 Many thanks to Emma Breheny for her inspiration and to Pinterest who inspired her.
We will also be making a Gift box with the punch board of the same name.

Festival of Trees and Holiday Home.

We made these cards at a class,here, last Monday morning using the Festival of Trees Stamp set.
The first one was cased from Pinterest and tweaked slightly.
The colours are Lucky Limeade and Real Red.
The sentiment is from the Wondrous Wreath Set.
I used Stampin Up's Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details to brighten up the baubles and the tinsel on two of the trees.

The card base of the second card is Lost Lagoon. I embossed it with the Filigree Frame Textured Embossing Folder from the Seasonal Catalogue.

We made the Stepper card at the Paperie Retreat in Yorkshire with Monica Gale.
I was trying to persuade myself that I did not need the Holiday Home Stamp Set until I made this
 card.
Even Stampin Up Demonstrators cannot buy everything from the Catalogues!
I think though that I am changing my mind and so  this stamp set is now on my wish list.

Christmas Cards with Bling

The above card is cased from Monica Gale's Blog  HERE and I have tweaked it a bit
I used the Deco Label Framelits for the aperture and tied the white seam binding ribbon in a bow to the side.The white snow effect is made by using a stamp from Gorgeous Grunge and Whisper White Ink.
.

The second card is copied from Monica's Blog.I enjoyed perfecting the art of tying a double bow which Monica tried to teach me at the Paperie Retreat earlier this week.
The sentiment was stamped using the Good Greetings Stamp set which is free, until the end of this month, with an order over £200.

I won the Nature's Peace Stamp Set in the Raffle at the Paperie Retreat so it was good to use it the day after I got back.The card base was embossed with the Dotty Folder. I used Silver Embossing Powder on Soft Sky Card Stock and added three stars pinched out of Silver Glimmer Card Stock.

I used Gold Embossing Powder on Cherry Cobbler Card Stock in this card and added three stars punched out of the Champagne Glimmer Card Stock..
The Crunb Cake Base Card was embossed with a Woodgrain Folder.

The last card was cased from Julie Kettlewell of Julie's Japes fame.A winning colour combination I think.

Boxes made with the Curvy Keepsake Die

I tried to resist buying the Stampin Up Curvy Keepsakes Die to no avail. I saw such amazing creations on Pinterest that I knew I had to buy it and I am so glad that I did!
Above is a Santa version. I used the Owl Builder Punch for the buttons and Dazzling Details Glimmer Paper for the belt.
you get three Little Label Dies with the Curvy Keepsakes Die. They fit through the slot for the handle.

Amanda Fowler has given a very good video on You Tube on how to make this penguin version.
You can view the post HERE

I love this pumpkin version.I used the Happy Watercolour Stamp Set for the stripes on the Tangelo Twist Cardstock. A post I saw on Michelle Last's Blog persuaded me to get the Autumn Wooden Elements from the Seasonal Catalogue. You get 46 embellishments in 6 designs for only £4.50.
I also embossed two leaves which I had cut out with the Autumn Accents Bigz Die.

You can combine Card Stock with Designer Series Paper which is a good way of using up your stash.
Pink Pirouette is the main colour here. I added a rose which was cut out with the Spiral Rose Bigz die.
These would have fitted in with the colour and theme of my oldest son's wedding in April.

Flower Frenzy Box Card and Flower Patch Birthday Card

I made the above card today for a friend's birthday. I was going to use the Flower Patch Stamp Set with the matching Framelits but Monica sent me an SOS email yesterday asking to borrow it for a class so I had to change tack and use the Flower Frenzy Bigz Die instead.

I opened up a pack of the retired Eastern Elegance Designer Series Papers as I knew that the colours matched my friend's personality.

I used a stamp from the Label Love set for the sentiment and punched it out using the matching punch.

Here is another view of the card to show the papers that covered the sides of the card.

Two weeks ago I was asked to make a 21st card so i decided to use bright colours and the Flower Patch Stamp Set with the matching Flower Fair Framelits. The colours used are Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Blackberry Bliss and Crushed Curry.

Festival of Trees and Kraft Card Stock

I recently ordered the Festival of Trees Bundle and started off Caseing the card on the left from the Stampin Up Seasonal Catalogue to get my creative juices flowing.
I decided to add some small stars inked up with the Gold Encore Ink Pad to step it up a bit.







I stamped the background of the second card on the right with one of the Gorgeous Grunge Stamps and the Gold Encore Ink Pad again. The Washi Tape added some extra colour.
I love the way that the bauble stamp matches the tree and you can accurately place it because with photopolymer stamps you can see straight through them. 

A different colour combo this time with Pear Pizzazz, Soft Sky and Smoky Slate. I love using Washi Tape for card backgrounds.
Gorgeous Grunge was stamped using the Silver Encore Ink Pad .
The bling is from the Frosted Sequins Embellishment Pack on page 22 of the Seasonal Catalogue.
The sentiment is from the Wondrous Wreath Stamp.



                                                                                                                                                                   Last up is another colour combo based on the All Is                                                                                      Calm 12 x 12 Paper Pack.. I used the Delicate                                                                                            Designs Embossing Folder. The card was finished off                                                                                    with the Frosted Sequins Embellishments and some                                                                                      Linen Thread.

Wondrous Wreath Bundle

I love the Wondrous Wreath Bundle in the new Stampin Up Autumn/Winter Seasonal Catalogue. It is such a versatile stamp set. You can make cards for different seasons and occasions.
I cased the above card from the Catalogue on page 9 and just changed the word die from Joy to Noel.
I also added some yummy Gold Sequins.

This card was cased from Pinterest. I have just changed the sentiment and added 3 Silver Sequins.
Whover originally made this card has a very good sense of colour combinations.

This card was my own design. I wanted to make a Spring/Summer Card for a birthday or special occasion. The Flower Stamp and matching Framelit came in handy here.
The colour combo is Pool Party, Hello Honey and Blackberry Bliss.
I used the Dotty Embossing Folder for the card base.

Now we move into Autumn so I decided to pull out the Hexagon Hive Framelit which I love. You need to die cut it with a layer of Greaseproof paper to stop it sticking.
The colours are Mossy Meadow, Hello Honey and Tangerine Tango.
I finished it off with some Itty Bitty Flowers and some Gold Glitter Glue.
The Sentiment is from the Giggle Greetings Stamp Set.

Another Autumn Card with a Cajun Craze Base. The Hexagon Hive Die was used to die cut Hello Honey Card Stock. I used Pumpkin Pie and Crushed Curry Ink for stamping.
The sentiment is from the Four You Stamp Set.

Two Cards and a Pillow Gift.

One thing I love about being a Stampin Up Demonstrator is that you can enjoy making cards and pillow gifts for family and friends.
I made the above card for my daughter when she returned home from working for a year in Leeds for a charity called Caring For Life.
I love the colour combination of Strawberry Slush and Coastal Cabana.
I used the Flower Patch and From My Heart Stamp Sets and the Large Polka Dot Embossing Folder.

I decorated one of our Polka dot Paper Bags using Chalk Talk and the Gift Bow Die.
Inside was a packet of chocolate buttons.

I made the above card for my Daughter-in-Law who loves dance and has recently qualified as a Ballet Teacher. I am so proud of her achievements which have taken a lot of hard work and perseverance.
I found the stamp set recently during a visit to a Craft Shop and bought it with Jenni in mind.
The Scallop Oval Framelit and Itty Bitty Flowers were made using Stampin Up products.

Wondrous Wreath

A box of Stampin Up goodies arrived today and in it was the Wondrous Wreath Bundle.
We are going to be making the above card at my Free Make and Take this Thursday at 7.30pm
The Christmas Tree border at the bottom of the card was made using another Stamp Set called Cheerful Tags.
I used a Crumb Cake base and stamped on it in Crumb Cake Ink using the berries stamp from the Wondrous Wreath Set.

This is a much simpler card which shows you how easily you can make cards using this set.
The base is Whisper White and I used Stampin Write Markers for the sentiment.