Scrapbook pages

Last Saturday was my scrapbook class and, although one item on the page is no longer available, I still wanted to show you the pages we did.   I try and vary  the colours we use so always look back to see previous pages we did.  It was a very hard decision as we have made so many...lol.

Anyway, I decided to go with the colour combination of Cherry Cobbler, Wisteria Wonder and Pink Pirouette.  I liked the way these colours went together.  The darkness of the cherry cobbler made the other two colours really stand out.

I have seen on many cards and scrapbook pages the layout as though the picture were in the middle of a sunbeam.  So I thought I'd give it a go.  I got a piece of scrap card that comes with 12x12 papers and just cut it so that I got several pieces that I numbered 1-14, these were my template for the sunbeam effect.   I then layered the pieces on the card stock I was using, drew around them and cut them out.  

Now, because I wanted a kind of monotone look with the sunbeams I used cherry cobbler core'dinations card which, when embossed using the Chevron embossing folder and sanded down, did the job very well I thought.  The next bit was easy, I just stuck the pieces down, now if you are doing this method don't be put off by how untidy it looks in the middle as this is covered up with your picture.  Initially my hubby turned his nose up but when he saw the finished product he was impressed.

As you will see this page only had one photo on it and who better to be the center of attention (well not quite but that was deliberate) than my lovely blue eyed boy, Leo.  He's getting big now, he will be 2 in a couple of weeks, how time flies.  Also on this page are the now retired bottle tops.  I'm sorry to see these go as they were so versatile.... oh well never mind,somethings got to make way for all our new stuff hasn't it ladies?

Now on to page 2. I wanted to use more than one photo on this page but still use the same colour scheme as it was a double page for my scrapbook.  So, I thought, who's cute, got lovely blue eyes and warms my heart every time I see him, no not hubby, although he comes a close second, but my little man again.

You can see from the picture that I stamped all the pieces of card in their corresponding ink.  I used the Mixed Bunch set that has remained in the catalogue to do this.  I wanted to keep it fairly simple but show how inquisitive Leo is getting.  These sets of pictures were taken a on Fathers day when we were all out in the garden.  Leo takes after his mum for following his granddad around, trying to mimic him as that's what Nicola did with her granddad down the allotments.... oh the memories :)

Finally here are the two pages together, I hope you like them?

If you would like to order any of the products I have used, except the bottle tops, please see the list below and just contact me to order.

Til next time

Hugs
Tracy -x-

Products used:
Card stock - Cherry Cobbler, Pink Pirouette, Wisteria Wonder and Cherry Cobbler Core'dinations
Inks - Cherry Cobbler, Pink Pirouette and Wisteria Wonder
Stamp sets - Mixed Bunch - Clear set
Other products - Wisteria Wonder ribbon, Cherry cobbler and Wisteria Wonder marker pens, Clear blocks, SU paper cutter
Punches - Scallop boarder punch
Big shot with Chevron embossing folder
No longer available - bottle tops

New 2013/2014 Catalogue is out now

Hello everyone,

It may only be July but Stampin'Up! have decided to launch the NEW Annual Catalogue a whole 3 months earlier than usual.  Why I hear you asking?  Well they wanted us, the distant relatives from over the pond lol,  to be on the same catalogue as our American cousins for a little longer than usual.  So, in June they launched the catalogue in the USA and Europe follow in July with 2 seasonal catalogues to follow.

There is so much more on offer including My Digital Studio which allows you to create online pages for scrapbooks and cards.  As yet I haven't had the time to try it out but the reviews already from other demonstrators is very promising.

However, I have used the new embossing folders and some of the papers from the new catalogue.  As a Demonstrator you can order select items prior to the launch of the catalogue so I thought I'd make hubby's fathers day card for last month using my new toys and this is what I came up with....

I have used the new mosaic embossing folder and punch along with some of the new designer series papers and washi tape.  To give the pattern detail I emobossed the core'dinations cardstock in Early Expresso and sanded it down.  After I'd finished it felt like velvet.  I then took some of the DSP, Soho Subway to cover the other side of the card and to punch out the mosaic sections in blue.  Having stamped the sentiment from Really Good Greetings stamp set i punched it out with the label punch and did the same in very vanilla to put round the original shape for a bit of depth.

Some of you would have spotted the Epic Day This and That Designer Washi tape on the top right of the card.  It is clearer in real life and this picture was taken when the sky was over cast, sry.

If you would like to order anything out of the catalogue, or to do this project, just drop me a line and I will put it through for you.  My details can be found at the top of the page.

Hugs
Tracy -x-

Products used
Inks - Whisper White
Cardstock - Island Indigo, Very Vanilla, Early expresso core'dinations
Paper - Soho Subway
Stamp Sets - Really Good Greetings
Tools - mosaic embossing folder, mosaic punch, Big shot, Decorative Label punch, Needle point embossing folder, sanding block
Ribbon - Epic Day this and that designer washi tape

Patterned Party

Hello everyone in blogger land,

I hope you are all well and busy crafting?  Today is full of sunshine but it is rather on the chilly side don't you think?  I remember how hot is was on the 16th May 1989, not like today, as it was the day my eldest daughter was born :)  So I have been up since 8.30 this morning doing her card.  I tried over the last few night but nothing seemed right, no matter what I did, so I packed it all in and went to watch some TV before I threw everything in the bin...lol.

So, despite having older things to show you I'm going to show you the card I've just finished making for her. I have a few stamp sets that have never been used and one of them is Patterned Party so I decided to use this one.  Its a stamp set that shouts fun at you with the bunting, balloons, numbers etc.  I had already chosen the colour scheme as green and purple as I feel they compliment one another.  The other reason was that, at my recent scrapbook class my sister and sister in law used this combination and Nicola commented on how nice it looked together.

Ok here is the card for Nicola's birthday today:

I have used Perfect Plum, Whisper White and Wild Wasabi card-stock.  On the Apothacary Accent Framelit I have used one of the brilliant builder brads, don't you just love them.  I personally think they make a card seem very elegant.  The whisper white card was embossed using the hexagonal embossing folder and looked a bit empty when I put it on the card so I punched out some tiny hearts and stuck then inside one of the hexagonal shapes. Just what was needed I thought.

Below is the inside of the card and I have used Bring on the Cake stamp set for the sentiment.

I hope you have enjoyed looking at my creations and if you have I would appreciate it if you could leave a comment to show you have passed by.

Hugs

Tracy -x-

Products used which can all be purchased from me, just get in touch as I'd love to hear from you,
Card -  Whisper White, Wild Wasabi, Perfect Plum
Stamps - Patterned Party, Bring on the cake
Inks -  Wild Wasabi, Perfect plum
Tools -  Big Shot, Hexagon embossing folder, Apothecary Accent Framelits, Stampin scrub and cleaner
Accessories -  Build a brad,  Elegant Eggplant spotted scallop ribbon

Hello,

How are you all doing?  I've got a couple of days off work so am making the most of them. Yesterday was a bad day as I heard that a friend is really poorly and it made me realise how important family and friends are.  I've also realised that if a friend cannot accept you as you are then they aren't your friend so its pointless worrying about it so make the most of the family and friends who do care about you and appreciate life itself.

So, to cheer myself  up, I went to the hairdressers this morning with my youngest daughter and had our hair cut.  I had to laugh at Kirsty, she went too get some money from the cash machine and wouldn't use it as it charged her for the privilege.  She was astounded that she had to pay to get her own money out.  So, guess who ended up paying, yes that's right, me...lol.   Its funny that even though they have both left  home and have jobs I still end up paying.  From there we went to see my mum so it was a really nice morning.

Anyway, enough about me, I'm now going to show  you something I've made since I was last here.  To be honest, not only have I not blogged for a while I haven't done much crafting.  I know how bad is that?  Well to get me back into swing I made a card for one of my friends at work.  She turned 30 this week so I wanted it to be a special card so decided to do a book card.    Below are the end results:

This is the front of the card.                                         This is the card open                                    
     

This is the box for the card  








As you will see the end result was pretty good, even though I say so myself as it was my first attempt at one of these cards.  I found the fiddly part was "pleating" the pages together, you really do need 2 pairs of hands.  I just love these colours, quite neutral yet so elegant.

For the outer part of the book I used paper, well its more like card, from the Speciality Designer Paper Natural Composition Speciality.   It is lovely paper and has a fabulous shine to it that isn't really picked up in my photos.   I then used another Designer Series Paper, Comfort Cafe, for the top layer of the card.  Some of you may have noticed that there's something new on my box, well you will have to wait until I'm able to tell you what it is......

We all chipped in and got her some jewellery to put inside the card.   I wasn't there when they gave her the card but I was told she was thrilled with everything, especially the card..... lol

I hope you like it too, til next time

Hugs 
Tracy -x-
Products used:
DSP- Comfort Cafe, Natural Composition Speciality
Ribbon
Very Vanilla card 
Big shot - Labels Collection Framelits
Stamp Set : Bring on the Cake, Delightful Dozen
Dimensionals
Ex SU alphabet for the numbers

Scrapbook class

A few weeks ago I teased you with a snippet of a photo of the finished pages for my scrapbook class last month.  Well I held my class last Saturday in which we made the pages and we all had a fabulous time.  Unfortunately my sister wasn't able to make the class due to work commitments but her and my niece came round on Monday to do the pages so they weren't left out.

Here are the pages I made:

 

The colour choices were Riding Hood Red, Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette and Whisper White.  I also used the Designer Series Paper Twitterpated which I am pleased to say have remained in the new catalogue.  You might just be able to see it but I stamped the Mixed Bunch flower as a background on the Pink Pirouette in Pink Pirouette Ink.  One of my ladies used Riding Hood Red ink and stamped on the coordinating paper and it was very effective, much more noticeable.  You will also see that I've used punches, the big shot and the scoreboard to create elements of the page.

I have taken pictures of some of my ladies layouts that show you how they have differed from the original layout but I have not yet uploaded them.  I hope to do so over the next few days so please pop back to have a look, there are some great layouts :)

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will come back soon to have another look and maybe leave a comment on what you see.

Hugs

Tracy -x-

Everything Eleanor

The other month I planned my class around the Everything Eleanor stamp set but was pushed for time so I "cheated" and bought a class from the very talented Jenny Moor.   I made sure that my ladies knew that the credit for the design was all down to Jenny and that they couldn't sell them to anyone.

Well time came to prep for my class.  The colours that Jenny has used was Calypso Coral, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla.  Imagine to my horror that, when I came to prep for class, I didn't have enough of the right card to make all the packs up.  I don't know if you're like me but when I've seen a design in one colour I can't imagine it in another colour.

Anyway, I finally managed to work out a different colour combination that I was satisfied with and luckily my ladies were very understanding and didn't mind making the box set in a different colour.  The colour scheme I went with was Calypso Coral, Pacific Point and Very Vanilla

 

The first picture is the original design and the second one is my colour combination.  Now I can't make my mind up which I prefer...lol








Here are some photos of my ladies crafting away and having fun.

If you like to join us on the last Saturday of them month then just get in touch and I'll happily talk through the options with you.  Depending on the uptake I would consider an evening class, a Saturday afternoon class or a different Saturday in the month.  Come on what are you waiting for, we don't bite...lol

Hugs

Tracy -x- 

Products used:

Stamp sets -  Everything Eleanor, Petite Pairs

Ink Pads Soft Suede, Crumb cake, Calypso Coral or Calypso Coral, Pacific Point, Baja Breeze

Card - Calypso Coral, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla or Very Vanilla, Pacific Point, Calypso Coral

Big Shot - Embossing folder, 

Accessories - Ribbon, Pearls

Punches - 1" circle, Oval and scallop oval, Lace boarder and scallop boarder

Hello everyone, aren't we having some fabulous weather at the moment?  I'm so glad it stayed nice for the Olympic games, didn't Team GB do well? and the closing ceremony was awesome. I hope the para Olympics have the same good weather.

So what am I going to show you today?  Well its a card I made for my niece's 18 birthday last month.  Just  before this I had attended one of Jules great training days where we did this card as one of the make and takes and I thought it was so unusual that it was perfect for my niece.  Here it is closed:

and this is it open:

.

You can see that it is a play on folds, similar to Origami, but it gives the wow factor to it as well.  The colour scheme I went for was all the new in colours for 2012/13.  I just love these colours don' t you?  They are so vibrant, its enough to make anyone who receives a card like this smile.   I have teamed the card with the  papers from the Sweet Shop collection... remember ladies you can only order from the Summer Mini Catalogue until the end of August and we don't know what, if anything, is going into the new Catalogue so don't delay in ordering.  The numbers and wording are die cut and the Balloons are from Party This Way.  I've used flowers from the Boho Punch to anchor the balloons down,  

The Band that holds the card together is again Calypso Coral with papers from the Sweet Shop Collection.  Some of you clever people may have spotted that there are different colours on the Party this Way slogan.  To achieve this effect I used the In Colours markers and only coloured in certain areas of the stamp.  I think it gives a lovely effect.

To  make the flower I punched out about 5 shapes using the Fancy Flower punch.  I scrunched the shapes up to break down the fibres and then added a Rhinestone Brad through the centre to secure the flower.  To keep it all together I used Calypso Coral ribbon. 

If you would like any of the products mentioned above please don't be shy, get in touch and I'll happily order the products for you.

Take care until next time

Hugs

Tracy -x-

Products used:Medium Sizzlits Timeless Alphabet dies and Alphabet Simple Numbers

Big shot with 

Scoreboard plus Diagonal plated

Punches- Boho Blossom, Fancy Flower, Decorative Label

Card- Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder, Pool Party, Island Indigo

Inks - Lucky Limeade, Wild Wisteria, Pool Party

DSP - Sweet Shop

Accessories - Rhinestone Brads, Linen Thread, Adhesive Rhinestones, Piercing tool and Mat Pack

Markers - Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Wild Wisteria, Island Indigo

Oh dear I've done it again.... lost track of time and not posted for a while.  I don't know what happens to make me not post, must be something to do work, children, grandson and life in general... how dare these things interfere in my crafting..lol  Seriously though you should start so see quite a few posts coming this way in the next few weeks as I've got to start prepping for a craft fair I'm taking part in on the 30 September in Nuthall.  Luckily I've got lots of ideas from my upline, Victoria, so its just a case of knuckling down to do them.  The only trouble with that is I'm not too keen on repeating things so its going to be a challenge for me just to do that....wish me luck!!!!

Anyway, enough about me, here's a card I made for my gorgeous Grandson, Leo, for his first birthday last month.  I knew what I wanted to do so I thought it would be relatively easy but no, I decided to expand on the theme I had in mind.   The card I wanted to make was meant to be similar to one I made at one of Jules training events which was to create train carriages from punches and stamp the animals from Fox and Friends.  Here is the one from Jules training, isn't it just sweet....

How could I go bigger with this I hear you asking?   Well I decided to do a four fold card and make the inside the train carriages.   To do this I used the Top Note die with the Big Shot and cut out 3 shapes, I then cut them down the middle with one side just slightly more than half and embossed them with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  For the animals in the carriages I used stamps from Elebration, Fox and Friends and Easy Events.  The colour combination is from the Subtles collection and is Bashful Blue, So Saffron and Wild Wasabi.  I've also used coordinating paper from the Subtles paper stack and Whisper White.  

So here is the finished card for our little man....

I was soooo pleased with the end result as its both colourful and fun to look at.  As you can see Leo has all his animal friends on board ready to go celebrate his birthday.  But wait a minute, where's Leo?   

Here he is....I thought it would be fun if the front of the card had Leo "looking" through the leaves to find his friends :)  The verse went on the last page to finish the card off.

I think he liked the card but he was so spoilt on his birthday with lots of lovely new toys I think cards were the last thing on his mind !!!!

Thank you for stopping by and reading my blog.  I would like it if you left a comment for me to read if you don't mind?   To purchase any of the items used to make this card please get in touch and I'll happily order them for you or anything else from the catalogue.  Oh and don't forget, if you spend £60 or more you'll get the Reason to Smile stamp set absolutely FREE.

Til next time, take care. 

Hugs

Tracy -x-

Products used:

Stamp sets : Fox and Friends, Elebration, Easy Events, Petite Pairs

Big Shot with: Perfect Polka Dot embossing folder, Alphabet Simple numbers, Top Note Die

Card: So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Wild Wasibi, Whisper White

Subles Paper Stack

Punches: 2 Step BirdPunch, 1/2" and 3/4" circle punch, Scallop Square, Word Window

Accessories: Snail glue, Bright Brads, Flower Brads. Bakers Twine Island Indigo, Piercing tool and mat pack, Dimensionals

Big shot project

I recently went to Jules training in Leeds and had a fab time.  Whenever we go to training we do swaps with other demo's attending the event.  This time there was a slightly variation on the products that we could use for our swaps.  This was because we are nearing end of our SU year (end September) and we do not know what stamp sets are retiring, so the briefing was to create a project and not use a christmas image but you could use a verse.  

It's funny but for once I didn't have think about this too much.  My idea was to use the Milk Carton Die and big shot to make it look as though "Santa" could be seen going down the chimney.  I then used the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet die to cut out the NOEL that went around the sides of the carton as you can see from the picture below.  I added the "roof" tiles by hand...lol

The cardstock used was Confetti Cream as its sturdier than the very vanilla.  The holly was used by punching out the small oval and then punching chunks out of it. For those eagle eyed of you out there you may have noticed that Santa's jacket is sparkling.  Now how did she do that I hear you asking?  Well I took my Shimmer Mist spray and mixed it with some Iso-Propyl Alcohol (not SU) then sprayed my Real Red card.  I did this outside so as not to cover everything in shimmer spray...lol.  

Here are all my swaps finished and in the box ready for transit.  Now I have to say that, were it not for the help of Steph, my sister in law, I would not have got these swaps finished, so a big Thank You from me Steph.

r

  

If you would like to make projects like this and more then get in touch about my classes that are held on the last Saturday of the month. More classes can be added to suit demand.  My next class is on 25 August 2012 and will be a scrapbooking class.

Thanks for dropping by and looking a at my posts, I do appreciated it, especially if you leave a comment :)

Hugs 

Tracy -x- 

SU materials used:

Timeless Type Junior Alphabet die

Big shot

Shimmer mist

Card Stock - Real Red, Confettie card, Garden Green, Basic Black, More Mustard and Whisper White

Clips Assortment

Punches: Circle from Itty Bitty Buttons, 3/4" Circle punch, Small Tag Punch

None SU products:

Iso Propyl Alcohol

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.

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

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.

Hi,

How's everyone doing, enjoying the April showers!!!!! Today I'm going to show you a card that I've made for a friends birthday and, believe it or not, I'm about a week ahead of myself for once. Mind you it does have to get to Plymouth to a very special friend, and here it is:

The colour combination is Cherry Cobbler, Pink Pirouette, Wisteria Wonder and Very Vanilla c/s, vellum paper and the stamp set is Creative Elements.  I've used the square scallop die to cut out the vellum and then embossed it with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder.   The Wisteria Wonder card has been stamped all over using the flower from the set in matching ink to create the background.  I have then stamped the flower out again 3 times in Cherry Cobbler ink and cut them out, each time cutting slightly more away to create a 3d flower using dimensionals.

The adhesive used to secure the  vellum to the card was discreetly placed under where the flower was to be situated so that it was hidden.   The Fabulous Foliate wheel was used alongside the wheel guide to ensure I got a straight line as I usually end up going from one corner to the other...lol  I don't tend to use my wheels as much as I should but, as they create wonderful boarders to projects, I might just start using them more :)

Well I hope you like what you've seen today and if you have please leave a comment.

Oh I forgot to remind you that you only have 10days left to order from the spring mini catalogue and, if your order is over £45, earn a free pack of papers.  If you need anything get in touch and I'll gladly put your order through,

Hugs

Tracy -x-

Products used are from SU unless otherwise stated:

Creative Elements stamp set

Wisteria Wonder, Pink Pirouette, Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla card

Wisteria Wonder and Cherry Cobbler ink

Pearls

Vellum Paper

Big shot in conjunction with the square scallop die and vintage wallpaper embossing folder

Fabulous Foliate Wheel and holder

Wheel guide

Snail adhesive and dimensionals

Fiskars paper cutter

Hello Everyone,

I hope you all had a good Easter break.  The weather wasn't brilliant was it but I hope it didn't spoil your plans too much.  We didn't go anywhere as hubby was working yesterday and my back is tempreamental at the moment.  However we did see all the family so that was nice.

Anyone that suffer from a bad back, knee etc will say that either a  cold or hot pack helps with the pain.  For me its the hot pack that helps ease my back a little.  If I'm walking for a long period of time I will invest in one of those heat pads you can buy from the supermarket and that fit around you.  However, these can be very costly and you can only use one once.  

Since my back has been painful my mum loaned me a heat bag that you could put in the microwave, heat up and sit with it on the area of pain and it gave short term relief.   Unfortunately the one my my gave me split and all the filling came out.   Ok so was I not only appauld by this I was upset as it was my mums. 

So what could I do about it?  I know I thought, I'll make a new one out of the fantastic fabrics Stampin' Up! are selling, so I did.   However, before I made it I researched what I needed to go into the bag so that it could go in the microwave and heat up as it should.  I finally settled on using Cherry stones with a little lavendar oil and here is the end result:

Now because it was meant to be for my mum I wrote out a little message using the bigshot, timeless jnr alphabet set and embosslits dies.  At the time I did not have a sewing machine so all the sewing was done by hand.  Believe it or not its still going strong today but I need to make Mum another one now I have a sewing machine as this one is now well used

Just so you can see there is a slight difference in the colours due to the amount of use its had but my sewing is holding out well :)

If you would like to purchase one of these heat packs, machine sewn honest,  please get in touch as prices vary depending on size, personalization etc.  I have all the materials in the current catalogue and the spice cake fabric  that is currently in the spring mini catalogue.

Hugs
Tracy -x-