Is it a car, is it a plane, no its a pirate ship...

Now I know that when you think of Stampin'Up! you think of cards.  Well I was given a challenge at work the other day by my boss.  To start with I took the "book" card in for everyone to look at and sign.  My manager the said. "can you do a pirate ship?"  At first I thought she was joking and took no notice of the request.

Anyway, on my way home a week last Friday I got to thinking she might not have been joking.  So I got on the internet and searched a well known site for Pirate ship images and patterns and a fair few came up.    I picked one out that I thought was an easy shape and cut it out from the cardboard we get with our 12x12 papers. 

Once I had the basic shape I covered the ship in the wood pattern paper from the Natural Composition Selection of papers.  I then  punched out cannon holes on the side of the ship using the 1" punch.  I must admit I thought I might break my punch but it went through with a little bit of pressure. I then made the cannon hole surrounds by punching out the 1" circle and then went around that with the 1 1/4" punch. From there I designed steps at the rear of the ship, a deck at the front of the ship and a seat (you can just see them in the picture),  Through the seat I made a small hole and put through it a wooden skewer (not SU lol) and secured it to the bottom of the boat with a glue dot.

It looked a bit bare so I punched out some bunting using the Howlstooth and Saringbone DSP from the Autumn/winter catalogue with the Petite Pennants Builder Punch.  I found the flag on the internet and printed that off.

I took it into work last Monday but my manager couldn't get into the office due to the snow so it wasn't until Wednesday that she saw it.  Well to say she was pleased was an understatement. It was for her 5yr old to take into school and she loved it.  Here is the final result:

When she came in the following day she told me her son was amazed by it and wanted to make some cannons, a crows nest and wheel to go on it.   It made my day on a day what turned out to be a very sad one for me.

I hope you like my creation.  I'll be back soon with some more cards as I have lots to make over the next 2 weeks as my daughter turns 21 in a few weeks time and her boyfriends birthday is next week.

Hugs 

Tracy -x-

Products used:

Petite Pennants Bulider punch

1" and 11/4" Circle punch

Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP

Natural Composition Speciality paper

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

Hello everybody,

I wish you a very belated Happy New Year.  I'm sorry that I haven't been around for a while but with Christmas, work and family life, it can get a bit hectic at times and sometimes something has to take the back burner.  But I'm back now and I hope to bring you some lovely creations with all the gorgeous products Stampin' Up! are going to bring us this year.

For those of you who have been buying Stampin'Up! for a while will know all about Sale-a-Bration. For those of you who have never heard about it you're in for a treat.  During Sale-a-Bration you have the chance to earn FREE, EXCLUSIVE stamp sets and products.  Yes you did read it right they are FREE and  EXCLUSIVE, you won't see them in a brochure anywhere.

So how do you earn the stamp sets I hear you cry?  Well it's easy, from the 22 January - 28 March, for every £45 you spend you get the chance to choose a free item from the Sale -a -Bration brochure (if you would like one sending out let me know and I'll get one in the post to you immediately)  Alternatively you can click on the icon on my home page and it will take you to the brochure itself.

Now, I must admit it does look a bit spaghetti junction however, but I have been sent a more easy on the eye layout...lol  Here it is

Some of you eagle eyed people will have noticed that there are come products from the main catalogue This is not a mistake it just allows you to get something different from the stamp sets.

So what are you waiting for, get in contact to book your workshop, invite a few friends along and lets have some fun earning the FREEBIES 

I'll be back shortly with some creations I've made so don't forget to pop back to see what I've been up too.

Hugs 

Tracy x

Hello everyone,

Only 8 weeks til Christmas, has anyone completed their shopping yet?  I've got a few presents but not all of them.  I can't believe the year has gone sooooo quickly.  My little man is walking now and looks a lot older than 15 months.

Anyway, I've got a really simple card to show you today.  It was a thank you card for my ladies when they craft on a Saturday.   I try to show my appreciation to them for supporting me and my business.

I just love the new Tulle ribbon, don't you.  It always keeps its shape and is so easy to work with.  I made these cards a while back and the sentiment is from a now retired set, Flight of the Butterfly.

Sometimes the simpler cards are the most effective and I hope you agree that this card fits that category?

Well til next time people stay safe and well.

Hugs
Tracy -x-

Wow, where has the month gone, it seemed only yesterday that I was posting about my last class and here.  Mind you, I've done 2 fairs and have been quite poorly with bad tonsillitis, so it must be nearly a month...lol.

Anyway, today I held my monthly class and a couple of my lovely ladies couldn't make it for one reason or another so I held it at my house instead of the hall I usually have it at.  As last month was a scrapbook month it meant this month was cards.  I asked my ladies at the last class what they would like to cover this month, as I think it is important to go with my ladies views, and they wanted another Christmas Class.

Well I'm all for doing Christmas cards as it helps me get ideas for my cards too, I just need to make sure I don't send my sister and sister-in-law the same one...haha.   So the stamp set we went for this week was Joyous Celebrations from the new Autumn/Winter catalogue.  My ladies also bought the embossing folder and punch that are shown on the same page.

OK so what did we make, well we did a little bag, using the fantastic new Bigz die in the main catalogue, and 6 wonderful cards (well that's what my ladies said).  So here they are in one shot and I'll then show you them individually:

The first thing my ladies did was the lovely little bag you can make with the bigz die.

I used paper from our wonderful 12x12 selection Be of  Good Cheer, you get 2 bags from one sheet.  I can't believe the gorgeous 12x12 papers we have this time.  I have received the wood effect set (sry can't remember the catty name but you will know which ones) and OMG they are just lush, the shine on them is fantastic.  Anyway back to the bag and you will see there is no stamping from the Joyous Celebration but I did use the stamps from Tags til Christmas which I think is a must seeing as Christmas is nearly upon us.  I have also used the Sweater Trim from the Autumn Winter catty and, I hope you agree looks great on this project.

Here are the 6 cards we made today:

 

You will see that I have used several different techniques and products, some new some old, to make these cards.  For those of you who have the new catalogue you will see that I have "cheated" a little and CASED a card from the catty.  Now its not that I couldn't come up with a 6th idea but I just love this card.  Its so simple yet so effective.  However, instead of using the Itty Bitty Frames dies I have cut the "label" by hand with cutting a "V" either end of the card.

Well, I hope my absence has been worth the wait.  I promise I will be back soon with new projects to show you.  Until then take care of yourself and pop back soon and please leave a comment.

Hugs

Tracy -x-

Products used:

Stamp sets – Joyous Celebrations, Tags til Christmas

Big Shot – Oval Embossing Folder, Framelits Dies, Bag bigz die

Inks – Gumball Green, Raspberry Ripple, Early Espresso 

Papers – Be of good cheer, Festival of prints designer series paper stack

Punches – Decorative Label, 1” and 1 ¾” Circle Punch, 1 ¼ and 2 3/8 Scallop punch, Large oval punch, Boarder punch, 2 ½ “ round punch

Accessories –Self Adeshive Rhinestones and Pearls, Round treat cups, BakersTwine, White gel pen, Dazzling details silver sparkle, Big shot long plates, Brads, White Stiched Ribbon, Tulle ribbon (cherry cobbler), Vintage Faceted and Naturals designer buttons, Sweater Trim

Adhesive Paper – Festival of print designer series paper stack

Tools –  Paper trimmer with scoring blades

               Bone folder

               Snail Adhesive

               Tombow Glue

               Stampin’ scrub

               Stampin’ mist cleaner

Ex stampin up – Crop-a-dile

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-

Its finally here......

Yes ladies, albeit 3 days late, I have some great news to tell you ..... The NEW 2012 - 2013 CATALOGUE is here.  OMG is it big, there are nearly double the amount of pages with lots of new stamp sets, the new In Colours, Designer Series papers.  Not only does it have all of these fabulous products but wait until you see all of the big shot products that we now have.  We are almost in line with the USA, how cool is that!!!!!

If you would like to view the catalogue there are several ways you can do it.  Firstly, you can click on the picture of the catalogue in the right hand column and you will be taken on a virtual tour of the catalogue.  However, if like me you like to drool over the pages then there are a few options available to  you:

Firstly you can order a copy directly off me for the cost of £5

Secondly, place an order of £45 or more and receive a copy FREE

Thirdly, join my S6 or S10 club, due to renew in November and, with your first order you will receive the catalogue

Finally, host a workshop and get a free catalogue when the booking is confirmed.

If you are interested in hosting a party, placing an order or would just like a catalogue sending out then I would love to hear from you so drop me a line either by phone or e-mail.  You can also get in touch with me via Facebook

I'll be back soon to tell you about my hectic life since my return from my holiday to Turkey last week.

TTFN

Hugs
Tracy -x-