Embossed butterflies

Hello everyone,

I recently attended a training event provided by a fellow SU demontrator, Jules.  Everytime I go to one of Jules training sessions I always come away feeling inspired and motivated to get on with things.  As with all training swaps were a must...lol.   Now those that know me will tell you that I cannot do anything simple.  I always get "told off" for giving too many colour options with my swaps, but I get bored doing repetitious cards and swaps hence the colour option.  So not to disappoint anyone I did the same this time :), and here they are ......

Here's a close up of one of the swaps.  I've used a variety of DSP from the current catalogue to make the top with matching cardstock as the base.  The very vanilla c/s has been embossed using the new stripe embossing folder and then the corners punched out with the corner punch. 

Die cut emobossed butterflies were then added to the card.  The DSP was folded so that it opened up to reveal a message.  It was kept closed by Linen thread being wrapped around a brad.  The brad was fixed on the top layer of the paper and the  Linen thread attached to the back.

I really enjoyed making these swaps and the "wow" factor that it gives.  The sentiment was stamped onto a piece of Very Vanilla card and cut to the shape of the paper.

I hope you have enjoyed looking at my project and would appreciate it if you would leave a comment.  If you would like to purchase any of the items above please do not hesitate to contact me.

Hugs
Tracy -x-

Creative Elements

Good Afternoon,

Just before christmas it was my mums birthday so I obviously needed to make her cards it was just a question of deciding which stamp set to use and what to do.   Well at convention in November we all were given the Creative Elements stamp set.  This is a beautiful set and is very versatile (you can find it on page 67 of the main catty)  Well not only did I make one card using this set but two, one for me and one for my daughter.  Here is the one I gave to mum......

For this card I have used quite a few new products from the main catalogue.  The base card is elegant eggplant, then whisper white followed by wisteria wonder, one of the 2012 In Colours.   The top layer is whuisper white and I have stamped the swirly image in wisteria wonder before embossing the left hand side with the new embossing folder.  I have them stamped the flower image in wisteria wonder and the butterfly image in the darker elegant eggplant ink.  On some spare whisper white I stamped the flower image again using versamark and elegant eggplant ink.  I them added heat and stick, heat embossed that and then added dazzling diamonds.   As you can see I mounted the flowers on top of the stamped images to give a 3d effect but have gradually reduced the flowers to show some of the original image underneath.  The Sentiment is from the hostess set Tagtastic and punched out using the large oval punch.  The wisteria wonder frame is from the new emobossing folders and cut out by hand.  I've then added the lace ribbon and bow and attached the topper to the main card.

Here is the second card I did and Kirsty chose to give this one to her Nan....

This one was a little easier than the last one.  The colour scheme is Pool Party and Island Indigo and I have stamped the swirly images in both  inks colours .  I stamped the butterfly image onto pool party cardstock in both ink colours and cut out by hand.  I then stamped the label image twice, once on whisper white and once on island indigo and cut both out by hand .  I then cut the darker label in half and attached it to both ends as shown.  The sentiment is from a set called Easy Events (pg43) and I used my markers to highlight the sentiment only and stamp a ma jig to position it in the frame.  The little flowers were punched out using the Boho Blossoms punch.  The card was then embellished with pearls.  

Mum liked them both which is always a bonus...lol.  I'm going to be re-creating these cards for my class in February.  If you would like to join me and my ladies please get in touch for more details.

I'll be back soon to show you the other card I made for mum that Nicola gave her.  I also hope to show you lots of projects over the next few weeks as I've been signed off work for another 3 months, however if I recover sooner then I can go back sooner.   |I'm already going stir crazy after 6 weeks so need to occupy myself  with something and its going to have be be crafting as I can't do much else....lol.

Hugs

Tracy -x-

Christmas presents

Hello Everyone,

Now you are probably wondering what on earth is this woman going on about christmas presents for when its only the beginning of January?   Well I'm actually going to show you some christmas presents that I made this year for some members of my family.

The first one I made was for my eldest daughter Nicola and her partner Lee.   Here it is.....

As you can see it is of gorgeous baby Leo.   I've used a box frame and painted it white with Gesso (none SU) and them stamped on the frame in Basic Black and Real Red ink.   The swirly pattern is from a stamp in the Creative Elements set and the flowers are from the ever popular Greenhouse Garden.  To decorate inside the frame I've used the Flower Daisies and Fun Flowers Die and the Medium Sizzlits dies for the letters.  The capital letters of his name have been mounted using the 2 different size Tag punches.  The embellishments used are the adhesive Pearls and a couple of clips from the clip assortments, buttons and antique brads. 

Now below is another present only this time it was for my youngest daughter Kirsty and her partner Alex.  Unfortunately I didn't take a picutre when it was completed this is the "designing" stage but you will get the jist of what I did as its very similar to Nicolas.  

This picture was taken of them when they were in Paris last year.   The difference between the two frames were that I only put the swirly pattern on Kirstys and I've used the Heart to Heart punch and letters from the chipboard Alphabet Soup selection to embelish it.  I've also used buttons, antique brads and filigree brads in the centre of the flowers.

These were given after all the other presents had been opened when we were at mum's on Christmas day and both girls loved them, in fact Nicola got very emotional :) 

I hope you've enjoyed looking at my projects this time.  Please leave a comment as I love to read them.

Hugs

Tracy -x-

Launch of the New Spring Mini Catalogue !!!!

Good Morning ladies,

Firstly I'd like to wish you all a Happy New Year and hope 2012 is a good one.

Now we have some exciting news from Stampin'Up! and that is the launch of the new Spring Mini catalogue.  It is the first time Stampin'Up! have launched a mini so early.   To view the new mini online simply click on the picture on the right hand side of my home page, or if you are like me and prefer to have the catty in your hand, then drop me an e-mail with your details on and I'll get one in the post to you :)

  

 Stampin' Up! have really stepped up and spoilt us this time as they have introduced lots of new products including the Simply Adorned jewellery range that has pendants, charms, bracelets etc.  The quality of these items are just brilliant and can be found on pgs 7 & 8, they come in boxed packaging so would make a lovely gift. The lockets are clear so a picture/project can be placed both sides and being hinged the image can be changed regularly.  Stampin' Up! have also introduced new punches and stamp sets inlcuding a cupcake stamp set and matching punch (pg22).  I can't wait to make some projects from this set and will post them as soon as I do. 

You may also have spotted a second punch on this page, its a new, larger scallop circle punch, great for layering projects on your cards.

I hope you enjoy looking through the mini as much as I do and remember, if you would like to order anything please get in touch.

Til next time take care

Hugs

Tracy -x-

Happy New Year

I can't believe its New Years Eve, where has the year gone? I bet like me you've had your ups and downs but the best thing to come out of 2011 for me is obviously the birth of my grandson who is now 5 months old and a little bruiser.   He has grown sooooo much, if you keep reading you might get a glimpse of little man.

I haven't been well for a while hence not posting but I'm hopefully on the mend and will try and post more often  in 2012 :)  I've got quite a few things to show you but for the time being I'm going to show you the christmas cards I made this year.  I was determined not to make a different one each time but several of the same design but I still ended up making several different ones...lol.   Here are a few pics to show you what I did....

The stamp sets used were Polar Party and Beautiful Seasons, these must be my most fav christmas sets.   As you can see I even braved it and did some colouring in using the blender pens and inks..... lol.  I've used lots of products to make the cards so if you'd like to purchase any please get in touch.

I'll be back soon to announce whats happening in January and to show you some cards I made for my mums birthday this month.    Until then have a very Happy New Year and a prosperous 2012.

Oh I nearly forgot, here is the promised pics of my beautiful grandson and gorgeous daughter taken christmas day evening down at my mums.  He was so well behaved considering he's usually in bed around 7pm and we didn't leave mums until gone 10.

Happy New Year everyone

Love and hugs

Tracy -x-

Box Frame class 2

Good morning ladies,

I'm finally catching up on my sleep from convention last weekend, its only taken all week to do...haha

Yesterday I  held my monthly crafting class and this month we made the box frames again as most of the ladies hadn't done it previously.   It was such fun as the new ladies didn't know what to expect, they thought they would be making a frame from cardboard not a 3D project.  However, all of them throughly enjoyed the class.  Here are some of the pages out of the frames to prevent the glear off the glass :-

This one is Emily's, its a picture of her and her brother and is a christmas present for her nan, lovely thought don't you think?  Colours used for this one were Early Expresso, crumb cake and pretty in pink.

Next we have Rachels.  Rachel decided she only wanted to do a 6x6 frame to match the one she has done previously, so cute.  The colours used on this one are Rich Razzleberry, pretty in pink, bashful blue and Wild wasabi.

Finally this is the one my sister did, shush its a christmas pressie for our mum, and its of my lovely grandson Leo.  This picture was taken about 3 weeks ago when he was only 14 weeks old, he's growing soooo quickly its frightening.  The cardstock used here was Island Indigo, Daffodile Delight and Basic Black.  You may have noticed the special paper at the bottom of this card, thats from the Mocha Morning Speciality DSP, isn't it just lush?

The other ladies didn't quite finish their projects in time but all have assured me that once they have they will wing a picture to me so I can show you all the finsihed products. 

If you would like to order any of the products listed or come to one of my classess just get in touch using one of the methods at the top of my blog.

Thanks for visiting, I'm off to start on my Christmas cards so I'll be back soon with more projects to show you.

Hugs

Tracy -x-

Stampin' Up! convention 2011

Hello ladies,

I have just returned from the annual Stampin' Up! convention and boy was it a fantastic experience.  The journey started last Wednesday evening when I stayed at a fellow demonstrators home, Zoe who was kind enough to drive us to Disneyland in Paris.  We left early Thursday morning and picked up another 2 demos before heading for the tunnel.  We arrived at the hotel at 7pm and thats when the fun began.

Friday started with a nice breakfast at the hotel and then off we headed to convention.  On arriving we were presented with a gorgeous black embroidered bag (which I will show you later), free stamp sets and the itinerary for the event.  We were then allowed to go into Mamento Mall where we were able to purchase exclusive items for demo's that attend convention.  It was like christmas had come early...  I spent ooodles and ooodles but don't tell the hubby : -)  After a day of inspiring classes and talks we had the awards dinner.  This recognised the demonstrators who had acheived certain milestones in their career, unfortunately I wasn't one of them but my upliner, Victoria, was.  Congratulations Victoria.

Saturday saw another day of inpiration and demonstrations that boosted everyone's enthusiasm in the room.  It was so uplifting to see lots of European demos together and the swaps were gorgeous.  Saturday evening was our time so we spent it roaming round Disney Village and of course I just had to buy something for my gorgeous little grandson, so I got him a Mickey Mouse and its only just a little bit smaller than him...lol   We arrived home safely Sunday evening and it was sooooo good to be home. 

Of course with going to convention meant swaps were needed so I decided to use the pillow box die and wanted to put a little chocolate bar in as a surprise.   So I foolishly bought the chocolate bars before making the boxes and guess what.... yep thats right, they didn't fit !!!!  So, not being one to be beaten by a chocolate bar, I decided to make up one box of each design and then give the actual swap out as a flat pack to make up at home and the chocolate bar seperately.  Well the amount of demo's that kept trying to take my sample  was hilarious and trying to explain the different chocolate bars was even more funny, my fellow demo and friend, Shazza, was laughing sooo much.  

I made 20 of each colour and the materials used were:

Concord Crush, Poppy Parade, Lucky Limeade, Garden Green and Cherry Cobbler c/s

Victoria crochet trim, Very Vanilla and Old Olive satin ribbon, Elegant Eggplant scallop ribbon, Pear Pizzazz polly stitched ribbon.  I just loved using the new ribbon and trim, they are soooo gorgeous, a definate must have in my opinion.

Doily triple layer punch, big shot, pillow box die, crimper and pearls. 

Sorry its been such a long post but it has been a while.  I'll try and post some pictures of the convention tomorrow.  If you would like to purchase any of the products mentioned above I'd be happy to place an order for you.  I can be contacted on 07891476636 or by e-mail tracy6636@hotmail.com

Til next time, take care

Hugs

Tracy -x-