Mixed Bunch

Anyone that knows me via Stampin' Up! will know that if I attend any training events I very very rarely do the make and takes at the time of the training.  I always bring them home and they never seem to get started let alone completed.  Well at the recent Leeds training I actually started on the kits and managed to make the card and the little milk carton, I left the scrapbook page until I got home.

The card was very simple  but effective.  I used the so saffron ink to ink around the flower to contrast with the card

Next came the milk carton which was made using Certainly Celery card and, whilst it doesn't use the stamp set, it uses the twitterpated papers from the designer series papers in the mini catalogue.  However, you could stamp around the main part of the milkcarton using the stamps if you wanted too.

Now a couple of days ago I decided I wanted to finish all  of the projects from Leeds so I got the scrapbook kit ready to go but couldn't find the instructions that went with them.   I know I bought the home with me but for the likes of me couldn't find them.  So I asked my upliner, Victoria, if she had a photo of the finished project and she did but hadn't uploaded it yet.   Being the impatient person I  am I then asked on In Love With Stamping if anyone else had the destructions or a picture they could share with me.  Luckily I got a quick reply from a lady called Nicola and she linked the information sheet for me.

Great I thought, I'm ready to go ....not.  A couple of things happened in my personal life that made it so I wasn't in the mood to craft, you know how it is don't you.   Anyway, I finally got the page finished and, whilst I still wasn't 100% committed to crafting I enjoyed doing it and felt better in myself as well.

The picture is of me and my daughters and was taken on 11 March 2012 my grandson's christening day.  If you haven't worked it out yet I'm the little short one in the middle...lol  Both girls take after their dad for both height and being skinny, two things I can honestly say aren't me...hahaha  I'm not sure if you can see it close up but the top right and bottom left corners have been stamped with Baja Breeze with one of the large flower stamps from the Mixed Bunch set and a smaller one on the blue flower.

I think it is such a pretty but simple layout, I just love it.  Making these projects has steered me on to wanting to make all those that I brought home before but I have my nieces cards to do for the weekend so will concentrate on them first.  I've done one already but can't show it yet as she goes on FB and will see it so you are just going to have to wait  a little longer.

OK, take care folks and if you would like to leave a commnent I'd appreciate it and/or like my FB page via the link on the left hand side.

Hugs
Tracy -x-

Vintage Vogue and Greenhouse Garden

As I've already said on numerous occasions I  recently attended Regional training in Leeds and one of the tasks we had to do was make our own name badges.  This has never been requested before and, to be honest, I kept forgetting all about it despite several reminders from my fellow demo's.

You may have read that I didn't finish my swaps until 11.30pm on the Friday night before training on the Saturday so the last thing I then wanted to do was design a name tag.   I had in my mind what I wanted to do so I was half way there, I just didn't have enough time.

Anyway, Saturday morning arrived and I was up bright and early so that I was ready for when my lift arrived.  Having done what I needed to do I had 10 minutes spare so I thought, I'll try and do my badge, if it goes wrong I'll just take the one from convention last year, I know it was "cheating" but what was a girl supposed to do in a hurry!!!!!!l

I decided to use the Framelits Die ( have I told you how much I loooovvvve these dies!!!!) along with Vintage Vogue and Braodsheet alphabet set.   I cut the two largest sizes out in Perfect Plum and Very Vanilla.  I stamped my name in Perfect Plum Ink onto the Very Vanilla.  I was going to use the Stamp a ma jig to line them up but decided I didn't have the time so I just went for it.  To my utter amazement they all came out in a straight line....yay.  To decorate around the edges I used the foliage stamp from Vintage Vogue and the little flower from Greenhouse Garden.

I was very pleased with the end result especially as it only took me 5 minutes to make so at least I wasn't the odd one out at training....lol

Thanks for stopping by, a full list of products will be shown below this post.  Take care until next time

Hugs
Tracy -x-

Products
Big Shot and Framelits dies
Stamp sets - Vintage Vogue, Greenhouse Garden, Broadsheet Alphabet
Inks - Perfect Plum, Rose Red
Cardstock - Perfect Plum, Very Vanilla
Accessories - Adhesive pearls

Scrapbook Club

Today was my monthly craft class and this month we did 2 scrapbook pages.  I alter the months from cards and scrapbook pages so that everyone gets to do their favourite hobby but also gives them variety from just doing one type of crafting.  As we were a small group today I decided to cancel the hall and hold the club at my house.  It was really nice and everyone finished sooooo much quicker it was unbelievable.

I gave my ladies 3 options of a layout, all quite similar but just a few changes here and there.  The third option I gave them was my actual pages and here they are:

Sample 1

  Sample 2

My Layout

Now you will see from the ones my ladies did that they took certain elements from each layout, including my final one.  It always amazes me how a group of ladies can start off with exactly the same materials yet make something different.  Here are my ladies works of art: 

The first layout was done by Steph, then we have  Teresa's, next comes Kelly's and finally we have Tracey's layout.  I'd like to thank my ladies for a lovely morning and I hope you all enjoyed yourselves.

If you would like to join in  my on my next craft class, or to purchase any products listed below, then please do get in touch for the details


Hugs
Tracy -x-

Products used:-


Stamp sets - Polar Party, Serene Snowflakes
Card Stock : Pacific Point, Marina Mist, Sahara Sand and Whisper White
Inks : Basic Black, Pacific Point and Basic Grey
Markers
Punches: Doily Triple Layer, Lace ribbon Boarder
Big shot and products - Framelits, Two Tags
Baja Breeze pleated satin ribbon
Rhinestones
                                  

Tea Shoppe

As I type this I am sitting in my garden enjoying this lovely weather.  I hope it continues over the next few days as I'm not back at work until Monday.....yay

Now over my last couple of posts I've been promising to show you the swaps I made for Leeds training last weekend.  However, I forgot to take a picture of all the swaps together but luckily I kept two back for my friends that couldn't attend so can at least I can show you two of the colours.

I love the framelits die so couldn't resist using that again for my swaps.  I also like the Tea Shoppe stamp set from the summer mini so I came up with the idea of creating a pop up card using these two elements.  Little did I know what I was letting myself in for !!!!

To start with I'll show you the top of the swaps.  These were done last and, I must admit, not as nice as I wanted them to be but I just ran out of time.  Anyway here are the tops -

The colour combinations I went with as the main card were all from the bright family and consisted of Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Pacific Point and Melon Manba.  The ovals on the top matched the Double Sided Paper in the middle and all products will be listed at  the end of this post.

Ok so everything looks nice and easy so far doesn't it?   Then I went onto the next stage which was the embossing section.  If you are like me you will have a lot of items, be it SU or some other brand, that you don't use that often so I wanted to use something that I tend not to use but have most of the colours and thats the embossing powders.  So brain box here decided it would be good fun to heat emboss 64 cakes from Easy Events and 64 cups from the Tea Shoppe set.  That wasn't the painful bit, that came when I had to cut them all out so that I was able to create the inside of the card to look like this:-

This is the sentiment, again from the Tea Shoppe set that was stamped on the bottom half of the card 

It took me nearly 3 days to die cut all the card and dsp, emboss the images and then cut them all out.  My fingers were not only numb at the end of it but had a permanent dent in them as well....lol.  Well  I think everyone that received one of my swaps liked what they got which makes it all worthwhile :).

Thanks for stopping by my blog and I would love it if you would leave a comment.

Hugs
Tracy -x-


Products used:
Stamp sets - Tea Shoppe, Easy Events
Inks and cardstock  - Daffodil Delight, Melon Mamba, Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango
DSP- Twitterpated, Sweet Shop, Beyond the Garden, Paisley Petals
Punches - Extra Large Oval, Oval Scallop
Big Shot and Framelits Dies
Accessories - Heat Gun, Gold, Silver, Melon Manba and Wild Wasabi embossing powders, Versamark Ink, Paper Trimmer

Love and Sympathy

Phew what a hot day today has been, not that I'm complaining of course just wish I was out in it...lol  Mind you I am only at work until 12.30 tomorrow then off until Monday so I hope it stays like this a little longer.  My phased return to work is going ok so that's good.

At the weekend we had regional training at Leeds and the night before we were meant to go I had a text from my downline, Marcia, saying she might not be able to make it as she had had a bereavement in the family.  Obviously this was quite understandable but I wanted her to know that I was thinking of her at this sad time in her life and the only way I could do that was to send her a card expressing my condolences

Now none of us like making sympathy cards due to the sheer nature of having to make them but I have had my eye on the Love and Sympathy stamp set for a while now.  I think it is such a beautiful set that's new to the 2011-2012 main catalogue and you can use the image on its own to create a different style of card..

I have kept the card very simple, which is hard for me, and  have used the colour combination of Very Vanilla and Wisteria Wonder with a slight hint of Old Olive marker in the main image.  To create the main image I have embossed the oval folder in Wisteria Wonder and then punched out the image with the extra large oval punch having stamped it onto Very Vanilla.  On the inside of the card I inked up the stamp with the markers, stamped onto a piece of scrap paper and then onto Very Vanilla cardstock to create a lighter image.  I have then overlaid the sentiment onto the flower.

Marcia loved the card and I hope it brought her a bit of comfort to know that ppl care about her.  I'll be back soon to show you my swaps from Saturday's training but thought this was a nicer card to show at the moment.  As always all products can be purchased from me, all you need to do is get in contact.

Hugs
Tracy -x-

Products:
Stamp set - Love and Sympathy
Cardstock - Very Vanilla and Wisteria Wonder
Ink - Basic Grey
Markers - Wisteria Wonder and Old Olive
Big show and embossing folder
Extra large oval punch

New Summer Mini Catalogue Launch

Whey hey its time to tell you about the new summer mini catalogue that Stampin' Up! have launched today.  To say its a fabulous catalogue with a lot of new items that, if you're like me will want everything all at once, then that would be an understatement.

We have new stamp sets, big shot dies and embossing folders, scented, yes I did say scented, embossing powder, score board and much much more.  To view the on-line catalogue just click on the icon on the right hand side and the link will take you directly to it.

To see how the scoreboard works just watch this short video

This scoring board also has separate plates that fit snugly on the original board to allow you to use metric measurements and the other board to create diagonal scoring so that you can easily create your own boxes, envelopes and much more.

As a demonstrator we were lucky enough to be able to purchase some good prior to the release of the catalogue.  This is what I have made so far, it not only shows how the Framelits Dies on page 9 but also how the Apothercary stamp set on page 17 fits 4 of the plates beautifully.   I wish this was a scratch and sniff post as you would be able to smell the vanilla and melon embossing powders on the first two images.

                 Open                                                                               Closed

If you would like to order anything from the new Summer Mini Catalogue please get in touch and I will happily place an order for you.

I'll be back tomorrow to tell you something exciting about the new starter kit so be sure to come back and have a peek !!!1

This post will remain at the top of my blog for the time being so please scroll down for newer posts.

Everything Eleanor

Good afternoon everyone, 

Oh my what a busy weekend its been.  Yesterday I was at a Stampin' Up! regional training event in Leeds and what a fab time I had.  It was lovely to see some familiar faces and join in with the swaps.  I'd just like to say thank you for all my swaps they are just gorgeous, you ladies are certainly talented.  Obviously I made some to swap back and I will show them in my next post.

Now you may remember that last Wednesday was my eldest's birthday and in my last post I showed you the card from us, well today I'm showing you the card I made for her Sister to give to her.  I had a bit of crafters block when it came to making this  card, you know the moment when you can't think of anything to do and all your ideas just aren't right, well that was me.  Not only did I have crafters block but only a few hours to make the card so I was beginning to panic a little.

I've always liked the Everything Eleanor stamp set from the main catalogue so bought it a little while ago but had not yet used it so I thought that would be the set to use.   I wanted a nice bright card so the next thing to help me in my quest to make the card was my trusty colour coach for different colour options.  I liked the combination of So Saffron, Rose Red and Wild Wasabi so that is what I went with.  I think the end result shows just how valuable the colour coach is for moments when we just cannot think of a colour combination ourselves.  It just goes to show that Stampin' Up! sure do know their stuff!!!!!

You can see there are a lots of elements on the card but it does not overpower it.  For those of you with eagle eyes you will have spotted the brads from the Jelly Bean Sweet Shop brads in the summer mini catalogue, these are just adorable, a definitely must have in my opinion. You can also see from the picture below I even embellished the inside of the card as well as the envelope, just like I did on the last one.

As you will be aware you can purchase from me any of the items listed below to make this card, all you need to do it get in contact with me by either e-mail or phone.   I will be back soon to show you one of the swaps I did for training yesterday.  Until then take care and happy crafting :)

Hugs
Tracy -x-


Products:-
Stamp sets: Everything Eleanor, For my family, Up Up and Away
Inks: So Saffron, Rose Red
Card: So Saffron, Rose Red, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White
Punches: Oval Scallop, Extra Large Oval, Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, Oval, Word Window, Modern Label
Accessories: Adhesive Pearls, Rose Red Seam Binding Ribbon, Jelly Bean Sweet Shop brads, Paper snips for the cutting out

Bordering on Romance

Sorry I haven't posted for a couple of days but this week saw me return to work after 51/2 months off.  Thankfully I am on a phased return and even though I have only worked 4 hours each day since Monday I've felt too tired to do anything so its been a real effort to get some cards done that I needed for yesterday and here is one of them, the other I'll share with you tomorrow :)

Yesterday was my lovely daughters birthday so obviously I needed to make her a card.  I was pondering on what stamp set to use and I remembered I had bought the lovely set Bordering on Romance but hadn't used it yet. I even took the brave decision to use my Aqua Pens and do a bit of "adult" colouring in !!!!! As Stampin' Up! inks are water based I stamped the main image in Stazon to prevent any "bleeding" of colours. Now I have never been one for colouring in as I always do a botch job but I was very pleased with my outcome on this card.  I'm sorry the picture isn't quite straight but, as usual, it was taken in a "need to get going" moment but I think it picks up all of the detail perfectly.

As you can see I have used many products from the new Summer Mini catalogue (which you can view by clicking on the image on the right) and enjoyed every minute of making this card.  It's great how the new Edgelits dies and matching embossing folders work so well together, Stampin' Up! really spoil us with their wonderful products don't you think?

The colour theme is Lucky Limeade and Wisteria Wonder in card/ink plus Rose Red ink and the paper is Speciality Sweet Shop DSP.  Now for those of you who are eagle eyed you may have noticed two things with this card?  Firstly the second layer of the Framelits dies is actually the reverse of the spotted paper, I've done this to show the de-bossed side as the white dots are actually raised and the second thing is that I've used the "waste" from the edgelits along the join of card and paper after all us crafters don't waste a thing do we????.  Here is a close up -  

I even put a little decoration on the inside of the card and envelope.

I think she liked it, although not as much as the money and new outfits we had bought her...lol

If you would like to purchase any of the items used to make this card just get in touch, a shopping list is at the end of this post.

Many thanks for visiting my blog and if you would like to leave a comment please do as I always enjoy reading them.

Hugs
Tracy -x-


Shopping List:
Stamp Sets: Bordering on Romance, For my Family, Happiest Birthday Wishes (hostess set)
Card- Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White
Inks - Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade, Regal Rose, Stazon
Big Shot 
Big shot accessories - Framelits - Labels Collection, Edgelits - Adorning Accents, Embossing Folders - Textured Impressions Adorning Accents and Designer Frames
Punches - Modern Label, Extra Large Oval
DSP - Speciality Sweet Shop
Accessories - Adhesive Pearls, Glitter Brads (Subtle)

Up Up and Away

Hi there,

How you all doing?  I said I'd be back soon to show you the card I did my nephew for his birthday, well this time I will be showing you card that my youngest gave to him.  Its quite funky and I used the Spots Embossing folder to add texture and interest the scene. It's a technique called inlaid embossing that I first heard about on reading one of my fellow team mates, Louise's blog and is so easy and so effective.

I have used the Cupcake punch from the Spring Mini to create the clouds.  This punch is currently not available unless it is a new product in the main catalogue in October so, if you didn't get it during the Spring Mini and want it you will have to keep your fingers crossed I'm afraid.

The "hill" were cut freehand as were the balloons and then mounted on the card with dimentionals.  The colour combo is More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Garden Green and Lucky Limeade.

This set is so versatile as it can be used for most occasions and both adult and children's cards.  I also liked the way the sentiment fitted nicely in the balloon shape.

Well that's it for now but I'll be back soon with more prjects to show you.  Remember you only have to contact me to place an order for any of the products needed to make this card or any other items you many need from either of the current catalogues.

Hugs

Tracy -x-

Products used:

Stamp set - Up Up and Away

Spots Embossing folder

Big Shot

Card Stock - Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Lucky Limeade, Garden Greeen

Markers - Real Red, So Saffron

Inks - Basic Grey, Lucky Limeade, Baja Breeze, Cajun Craze

Need for Speed

Hi All,

Today's post is another card I made for my nephew who was 15 yesterday.  He has grown up sooooo much and, next to my husband, must be the tallest member of our family.   He loves ice skating and supports our local team, The Panthers, but other than that he's not really "into" anything so making a card for him is quite limited.  So I decided that at some point in his life he will like cars and, as luck would have it, Stampin' Up! now do the fabulous set, Need For Speed and this is what I came up with:-

The image I tried to create was the car moving so I stamped the car image on a scrap piece of card and cut it out.   Once I had stamped the first image onto the card I then put the template over the main image and stamped again without re-inking my stamp.  I then lined the the template over the last image therefore creating the shadow effect. This technique is known as Masking, you can use it to make images look as though they are behind others..   I stamped the image in Stazon ink then coloured it in using the blender pens. The rosette was made with Twitterpatted papers, Pleated Satin Ribbon and the scoreboard from the new Summer Mini.  I used the Brushed Silver card along with Basic Black and Whisper White.  I even stamped on the inside of the card above the verse.

I'll be back soon with the third card I made for my nephew.  Thanks for stopping by and looking at my projects.  If you would like to purchase any of the products please get in touch.

Hugs

Tracy -x- 

Products

Stamp Sets - Need for Speed, For My Family 

Card stock - Basic Black, Whisper White. Brushed Silver 

Punches - Scallop boarder, 1" and 3/4" round punches, Round Tab

Scoreboard 

Twitterpated paper

Inks -  Stazon, Real Red

Blender pen

Black Marker pen

Silver Brads

The Open Sea

Hi All,

This Friday is my nephews birthday and he'll be 15, it only seems like yesterday when he was a babe in my arms, how time flies.   Male cards are usually difficult to make as normally we are stuck for ideas but this time Stampin' Up! have come to the rescue as there are some lovely stamp sets, both in the main catalogue and the Summer mini, that are aimed at male cards.

The set I have used is The Open Sea from the Summer Mini.   I just fell in love with this set as soon as I saw it. I think it is so versatile as not only can it be used for birthday cards but for  fathers day cards, friends or family leaving to go abroad, sailing  adventures and more.  Here is what I made:-

I'm impressed with myself at how the distress look has come out as I'm not used to tearing paper on my images, although it does look better in real life as the picture has not picked up how the River Rock card adds to the aged  and distressed look.  I just need to add the happy birthday sentiment and job done.

If you would like to order any of the supplies to make this card please get in touch either by phone or e-mail.

Thanks for looking and happy crafting

Hugs
Tracy -x-

Supplies
Stamp set - The Open Sea
Card stock - Marina Mist, Cherry Cobbler, River Rock
Ink - Marina Mist, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake
Punches - 3/4" and 1" round circle
Accessories - Vintage Brad, Piercing tool, Mat pack, Bakers Twine in Island Indigo, Dimentionals

Summer mini wreath and some exciting news!!!!!!

Hi everyone,
I hope you are all ok?  Sorry I haven't been around for a while but I've had lots to do and am getting ready to start back to work after being off for quite a while. Its a bit daunting but I'm looking forward to it as well.  As you know the Summer Mini launched on the first of this month and, if you're lucky enough to have a copy, then you would have seen the brilliant scoreboard or watched the video in my previous post.  Well I have been playing with this over the last few days and decided to decorate a polystyrene circle to create a wreath and this is the end result .....

As you can see I have used a lot of new products from the Summer Mini.  To start with I have used the scoreboard and Twitterpated papers for the rosettes.  The 3 large ribbon topped rosettes were made using the double sided sticky paper from the main catalogue and the pleated satin ribbon.  The colours I used were Riding Hood Red, Blushing Bride and Baja Breeze.  I've done a little bit of spirelli by punching out one of the flowers using the Boho Blossom punch and Bakers twine in Pool Party.  I have also used adhesive Rhinestones, Pearls, flower brads and buttons from the main catalogue. The wreath was covered using black and white Striped Grosgain ribbon.  I stuck the rosettes onto the wreath using various adhesives and small pins.  The bigshot Circles die was used to cut the sticky sheets and card that held the rosettes together.

Now for some EXCITING NEWS........   not only have Stampin' Up! given us a fabulous Summer Mini but they have made some changes to the starter kit.....  they have reduced the cost to just £99, yes you did read it right, just £99 AND you are able to choose any items up to the value of £130.  BUT that's not all, you'll also get the business kit (worth £45) absolutely FREE.  This is not a one time offer, its here to stay, how fab is that?

If that's not enough then you'll be pleased to learn that, should you sign up as a demo during the month of May you will be entitled to a FREE ticket to the Stampin' Up! 2012 Convention in Mainz, Germany this November, that's a fantastic saving to you of £149.   All you need to fund is your  accommodation and travel costs  

So if you are interested in joining my team please get in touch on 07891476636  for a chat or e-mail me at tracy6636@hotmail.com.  So its a win win situation for the month of May, choose your own products to the value of £130 for just £99 AND a free trip to Germany.