Making your own gift packaging is Sweet (Sorbet!)

First of all, I must just say how overwhelmed I am by the amazing response from my "So Very Grateful For The Pinkies Blog Hop" post over the weekend! WOW! Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to leave a comment, I was really touched! Also, as so many people have asked me how I made the shadow box card, I will endeavour to get a tutorial up on my blog at some point this week! So, watch this space, as they say!!

In the meantime, I thought I'd share some ideas for gift packaging that I have recently made. These will be given out as free thank you gifts to my class attendees who book a place for themselves and a friend of theirs, who is new to me/my class. Both the attendee AND their new friend get to choose a gift from my special basket as a thank you from me for the introduction. At my next evening class, one lady will be bringing FOUR of her pals with her, so she will be getting to choose FIVE gifts and her four pals will each get one gift too! I am really looking forward to meeting them all and I can't wait to see which gifts they all choose!

Anyway, here is the photograph for you to see:

I made the tags by stamping on Whisper White Cardstock with the gorgeous "Petal Parade" Sale-a-Bration stamp set (available for FREE when you spend £45 until 31st March 2014) using the  following colours: Crisp Cantaloupe, Pool Party, Sahara Sand and Pistachio Pudding. I then used my trusty Envelope Punch Board to shape the tops of the tags and also to round the bottom corners.

 

I punched a pretty flower-shaped hole in each tag using the "Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack" and threaded them with with either Coastal Cabana Ruffle Stretch Trim ribbon or the Crisp Cantaloupe Twine (the latter is from another fabulous Sale-A-Bration freebie set: the Sweet Sorbet Accessory Pack, which has three generous reels of different colour twine and some printed cork stickers! Love it!). The 'thank you' sentiment comes from the "So Very Grateful" stamp set and is stamped in Jet Black Stazon ink. I carefully swiped my Write Marker brush tips around the edges of the sentiment banners to add a bit of definition, before sticking them onto the labels with Stampin' Dimensionals, to give a bit of height.

I took the inspiration for the tag colours from the utterly beautiful "Sweet Sorbet" Designer Series Paper that is also available for FREE in the Sale-A-Bration offer - which I have really fallen in love with! It is my "go to" paper at the moment and I am already sad that it will only be around until the end of March -boo hoo!

 

 The peachy-coloured gift envelope and its co-ordinating belly band are both made using the "Sweet Sorbet" papers and again, I used the fantastic Envelope Punch Board to whizz it up in a jiffy! I adore my Envelope Punch Board - it is just SO versatile and you make make so many other fabulous projects with it too: boxes, gift card holder cards, crackers, mini albums - all sorts! It is an amazing piece of kit!

Think you don't recognise the gift bag on the left of the top photograph? Well, it started life as one of Stampin' Up!'s "Tag a Bag Gift Bags" - three scores, three cuts, a little bit of glue plus a small rectangle of cardstock, to strengthen the base, was all it took to transform the flat paper bag into a pretty, three-dimensional, free-standing gift bag! Da-naaa! Easy! Bit of ribbon and a tag and you're done!

 

If you want to have a go at making your own gift packaging then it is really easy using the Stampin' Up! products I've mentioned above, as they all coordinate beautifully!

 

All of them (and more!) are available to order through me. You can place an order direct with me (via phone or email) or, if you prefer, you can buy them via my online shop 24hours/7days a week. Shipping is only £4.95 direct to your door, regardless of the size of you order! AND don't forget that for every £45 spent (before shipping) during Sale-A-Bration, you earn one FREE special Sale-A-Bration item, too!

The hardest part is deciding which of the 13 gorgeous Sale-A-Bration goodies to choose first!! Good luck! ;O)

Right, I am off to make some more gift packages and plan my shadow-box card tutorial I think...

Until next time, happy crafting everyone!

 

Lucy x

So Very Grateful for the Pinkies Blog Hop!

Thank you for joining us on another Pinkies Blog Hop! We're showcasing lots of gorgeous projects using products from the new Stampin' Up! ® Spring/Summer catalogue. Simply use the buttons at the end of each post to keep hopping!

 

 
Welcome to those who have come here via Erna's blog hop post.

Gosh, there are so many fantastic new things in the new Spring/Summer Catalogue! I have found it really hard to choose which to showcase here for the Pinkies Blog Hop... I eventually decided to show you a card that I made recently as a team training day swap:

 

 I used the fabulous new stamp set called "So Very Grateful", stamped it in Jet Black Stazon ink onto Whisper White cardstock and then coloured the flowers and leaves with Stampin' Up! Write Markers... The card is 3"x3" in size.

 

Here is the card front:

 

 

 The card base is in Raspberry Ripple, with an Old Olive layer under the Whisper White layer. The markers I used were the same colours plus Primrose Petals, Blushing Bride and Pear Pizazz. However, all is not what it seems - in a good way! With a bit of clever scoring with my trusty Scoring Tool, a quick punch out using the Full Heart Punch and a bit more stamping and colouring with my Stampin' Write Markers, a dab of Tombow Glue and ....

 ...Ta-daa!! As if by magic the flat card turns into a shadow box! The style of the flowers reminds me of tattoos for some reason, so that is why I added a little Happy Birthday banner across the punched out heart - to resemble the scroll across the heart that you see so often on classic "pin up" 1950's type tattoos (am sure there's a proper name for that style of tattoo, but I can't remember it!). The sentiment comes from the "Remembering Your Birthday" stamp set - I used the omitting technique to just get the words I wanted from the stamp onto the cardstock.

Here's another photograph taken from a different angle to show the shadow box construction a bit better:

Almost every person who I gave this card to "oooooh-ed" out loud when they realised that it moves when you open it and the inside turns into a box!! I love cards that move and do things - I call them mechanical cards...but I am sure that's not the right word for it! (Someone will correct me, I'm sure!!)

While I was playing with the stamp set, I couldn't resist making a few more things with it and as the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch is another one of my favourite things from the new catalogue, I thought I'd use it too - it is SO versatile, you can make so many more things with it than just tags... Here are a couple of bookmarks I made - this time using just one colour of ink (Strawberry Slush) and an aqua painter to make a mono-chrome, softer look, topped with, um, well, the topper punch and a little bit of matching Strawberry Slush Ruffle Stretch Trim... 

Well, that's it for today. Hope you enjoyed my Pinkies Blog Hop Post, be sure to come back soon to see some more projects that I have made with some of the other gorgeous new catalogue items... in the meantime, please click the "next" icon below to go to the lovely Sarah's blog hop post: 

Happy crafting!

Lucy :O)

 

 



New toy alert!!

Oh my gosh! I have an amazing new tool which I absolutely ADORE! It is the brand new Stampin' Up! Texture Boutique Embossing Machine... and I love it!

"So what is it?" I hear you cry! Well... here are a few facts and figures to explain:

• It allows you to dry-emboss textured patterns onto your card/paper using the Textured Impressions Embossing Folders from Stampin' Up!
• It is lighter and smaller than a Big Shot (but, unlike the Big Shot, it does not cut)
• Because of its size and lightness it is easier to transport, so you can emboss anywhere!
• It is a bargain at only £26.95 (the product code is 132657)
• It even comes with its very own cute mini screw-driver so you can put its handle on when you get first get it out of its box!! (Love that!)

I took mine with me to my card class yesterday and the ladies all loved it (so much so that several of them ordered one straight away!) We used the machine to make of our three card projects and I gave them a choice of several embossing folders to use on their cards. I think their favourite folder design, by far, was the Decorative Dots one (which you can get for FREE if you spend £45 as it's one of the SALE-A-BRATION items!).

In fact if you buy the Texture Boutique and three embossing folders for it, during the SALE-A-BRATION period, you would qualify for a FREE item from the SALE-A-BRATION brochure - one of which is the Decorative Dots folder! Bargain, or what, hey?!

Here's another look at my card class sneak peek photo from my last post, which shows you the gorgeous textured dotty pattern that you get with the Decorative Dots embossing folder:

A little word of warning though: Stampin' Up! only have a limited initial supply of these fabby machines and once those supplies have been snapped up, they won't be getting any more in until the launch of the new Annual Catalogue in July... so don't delay, place your order with me today to avoid disappointment and what I imagine would seem a very long wait! :O)

That's it for today, I'm going off to play with my favourite new toy again!! Be sure to come back tomorrow, though, as I'm taking part in another Pinkies Blog Hop and I will be showing you a couple of projects I've made using some of the new products from the Spring Summer 2014 Catalogue...

So, until tomorrow, happy crafting everyone!

Lucy x

February Card Class Sneak Peek!

Hello!

I am SO looking forward to starting my new classes - thank you so much to those who have already booked a spot on the February and March classes! Can't wait to see you all, stamp with you and have some fun...

Here are a couple of  sneak peek pictures of two of the up-coming class projects that we will be making in February... hope you like them! If you want to see the whole project(s), then you'll just have to book a place on my class!! ;O)

 

 

 

 

There is still time to book a place on my Feb. 6th morning class - if you are very quick! Just contact me before 8pm today (Wednesday) to let me know! If you can't make it to that class, then how about the evening class on the 26th Feb.?

 

 

Want more details about my classes? - Then click on the Classes and Events tab above, where they are all listed, along with a bit more information too.

 

If you book a place on one of my classes and book a space for a friend, who is new to me, too, then BOTH you AND your friend will get a FREE GIFT from me at the class, as a thank you! I've been busy wrapping and decorating some Stampin' Up! goodie bags for those who have already booked classes for them and their "new" friend(s)... Hope you like them, ladies!

It's not too late to amend your bookings if you want to receive one (or more!) of these little beauties:

 

 I do love the chevron patterned Tag A Bag Gift Bags and the Sweet Treat Bags - if you want the latter, then hurry hurry as they  are only available to buy until 14th February! Don't forget you can order them (or anything else from Stampin' Up!) on my online shop! If you haven't bought from me online before then you just need to create an account and choose me as your demonstrator and off you go! Any problems or questions, please do ask me and I'll be happy to help!

Right, that's it for today, as I've got bags to pack and CAKE to buy for my class tomorrow!! I am soooo looking forward to it... the class that is, not the cake... well, yes, the cake too, but not just the cake... I'm looking forward to the class as well!!

Until next time, happy crafting...(and cake for you, too, I hope?!)

Lucy x

SALE-A-BRATION & THE NEW SEASONAL CATALOGUE ARE HERE!!!

Exciting times! Sale-A-Bration is here again!! AND the new Spring/Summer Seasonal Catalogue is live too!

For every £45 you spend on Stampin' Up! products (before P&P) you get to choose one of 13 special goodies for FREE out of the fabulous Sale-A-Bration brochure - until 31st March 2014! It is also a great time to be a party hostess too, as with all qualifying parties, you can get an extra £25 Hostess Pounds to spend on products for FREE!

AND - if you join my team during Sale-A-Bration, then you get to choose even more products in your £99 Starter Kit!

See the Sale-A-Bration brochure here

The new Seasonal Catalogue is packed with scrumptious new products, so I am sure that you will be earning yourself some Sale-A-Bration freebies quite easily! (It is ALL gorgeous!!)



See the new Seasonal Catalogue products  here



If you would like me to send you a paper copy of it and/or the new Sale-A-Bration brochure then please contact me and I shall be happy to send you one in the post.



STOP PRESS!! If Sale-A-Bration and a new catalogue were not enough excitement for one day then here's more exciting news - there is a fabulous new tool available to add texture to your cards and projects: the Texture Boutique Embossing Machine

Can't wait to get my mitts on that! Lighter than a Bigshot and uses the same Sizzix embossing folders to add texture to your card stock - for a bargainous £26.95! (product code 1326570).

Well, that's all for today... I'll be back soon to show you some of the things I've been making with the gorgeous new products...

Happy crafting!

Lucy :O)

Gingham Garden Washi Tape and butterfly peg magnets

Hello!

First of all I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who took the time to go around the Pinkie's Autumn/Winter Seasonal Catalogue blog hop last week - weren't all the projects fantastic? Wow! I must admit I've found it hard to think of a new blog post to follow all that!!

 

I would also like to thank everyone who has kindly left a message on my blog posts - it is so lovely to hear your comments and I feel humbled by all the praise last week, thank you...

 

And now, onto today's post: Washi Tape decorated clothes peg magnets...

 

For a long time I've been wanting to make some of these and I really enjoyed making them! They are super quick and easy and I think that a set of them would make a fabulous gift for anyone for any occasion - not just for Christmas...

 

Come and have a look:

 



I used the three lovely and bright designs in the Gingham Garden Designer Washi Tape set from Stampin' Up! I think they are really cheery, don't you? It was easy to stick the washi tape onto the front of the pegs (or clothes pins, as I believe our friends in the United States know them as?). I trimmed any excess washi tape off using my trusty Paper Snips -what would I do without those little, sharp-tipped beauties, they are an essential piece of kit!

 

I used the 1" Circle Punch and the 1 1/4" Scallop Circle Punch for the 'flowers' and picked Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Gumball Green and Midnight Muse card stock.  I stamped the Papillon Potpourri butterflies and punched them out with the Bitty Butterfly punch. I bent the butterflies' wings and attached them onto the 1" circles with a glue dot. The circles and scallop circles are attached with Dimensionals and I used my hot glue gun to stick a small flat disc magnet to the back of each peg (just behind where the embellishments are). They were so quick to make - it honestly takes far longer to write about how they were made, than to actually make them! I'm not sure I can be parted from these three though- I will have to make some more for Christmas presents I think - and these three will live on my magnetic notice board in my craft room...or maybe my 'fridge... Hmm... think I'm going to need to make several more at this rate!! Good job you get a lot of Washi Tape on each roll!


Don't forget that the Papillon Potpourri stamp set and the Bitty Butterfly Punch are available as a bundle with 15% off until the end of this month (30th September 2013):

 

There is another punch that matches the larger butterflies in the Papillon Potpourri stamp set (shown above), called the Elegant Butterfly Punch and I think that it is one of my most-used punches...I have them both and use them time and time again - they are SO useful - afterall, who doesn't like a pretty butterfly or two on a card or gift?


Today I have been making some swaps for next Wednesday's Creative Tour organised by Stampin' Up! which will be in Woking, near Reading here in the UK... I am so excited about going, as the Stampin' Up! demonstrator events are always fantastic to attend... with lots of freebies, a make and take project or two, lots of beautiful handmade things to inspire you and usually some very exciting announcements too.... so, watch this space, as I shall report back next week and tell you all about it! If you join my team, then you too could come to a future event like this - the European Convention is in Manchester in November - join now and you could come with me!

For now, I shall leave you with a little teaser showing you some of the lovely goodies that I have used to make my swaps today... I can't show you the end results though, as they are top secret until Wednesday, when I shall take them to the Creative Tour and hand them out to other demos in exchange for the swaps (card fronts or 3-D items) they have made....

Exciting stuff, swapping Stampin' Up! swaps! I can't wait to see what fantastic projects other people will have made... I am so excited!

 

 

 

 

Bet you can't guess what my swaps will look like! - All I can say is that they will add a little bit of Wintery sparkle to Christmas...  ;O)

 

Until next time, Stampers!

 

Lucy x

 

 



 

 

Pinkies Blog Hop!

Pinkies Stampin' Up! Seasonal Catalogue Blog Hop...

Thank you for  joining us on another  Pinkies Blog Hop. 

We’re  showcasing lots of gorgeous projects using products from the 

new Stampin’ Up!® Autumn/Winter Seasonal Catalogue.

Simply use the buttons at the end of each post to keep on hopping. 

 

 

If you have arrived from Sarah's blog, a big hello to you...

 



 

 

Firstly I would just like to say that I am sooo excited to be taking part in my first ever blog hop! Whoop whoop!! There are so many fantastic, yummy new products in the new Stampin' Up! Autumn/Winter Seasonal Catalogue, that I have found it very hard to narrow down my choice of what to show you today, so, I hope you like what you see here; I have certainly enjoyed creating the projects!

 

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to challenge myself to make Christmas 2013 a wholly hand-made Christmas... I make all sorts of things - cards, jewellery, stained glass, crochet, sweets, jam, chutney - you name it I've probably made it at some point over the years! I've always been a crafter, for as long as I can remember! However, as I'm not exactly the most organised person I know, I jumped with glee when I saw the new Season of Style This and That Journal in the new catalogue - this could be the key to completing my gargantuan self-challenge!! No more easily-lost scraps of paper with scribbled lists on for me this year... just this beautiful journal with pre-printed pages in useful sections, some coordinating Designer Stickers and a rotary stamp to help me keep organised and on track to completing my hand-made presents challenge! Here is a photograph of the inside cover of the journal with a set of the stickers that I have tucked inside the useful pocket and a piece of the yummy new 1" (2.5cm) wide Cherry Cobbler Stitched Edge Grosgrain Ribbon tied to the binding to make a book mark:

 







 

I bought one for my sister for her birthday too and  I decorated the front of hers, but I've yet to decorate my own one though!







 

I love the way that Stampin' Up! coordinate their products so beautifully. The Season of Style Designer Series Paper matches this journal beautifully and as I'll have lots of hand-made gifts to give this Christmas, I thought I'd better make a start on some pretty packaging for all those gifts... Here are just a few ideas for some gift boxes/bags - all of which are really simple, quick and easy to make:

 

 



 



I have used the Season of Style DSP, the same Cherry Cobbler ribbon as above, plus the textured 12x12" Cherry Cobbler cardstock to make these and embellished them with the help of the Very Merry Tags stamp set, a few of Stampin' Up! must-have punches, the really cute and dinky Old Olive Simply Styled Embellishments paper clips (which are also from the Autumn/Winter Catalogue) plus I've added a little bit of sparkle with a Vintage Faceted Button and some Dazzling Details glitter glue... I think my favourite is the bucket gift bag with the Rudolph tag - the Cherry Cobbler Candy Dot nose matches the polka-dot pattern on the paper perfectly, don't you think? He's so cute!

 

 





 

 

 Anyway, that's enough from me for one day! Please pop back again soon, as I plan to show you more of things that I make in my hand-made Christmas quest - and will show you how to make some of the boxes and gift bags too. Do you fancy joining me in the hand-made Christmas challenge? Do let me know if you do! 

 

 

 

 

So next stop is Caroline's blog, 

why don't you take a peek at what lovely things that they have created?  

Thank you so much for visiting!

 

Lucy

Hello Butterfly!

I love butterflies - not only are they beautiful, they also symbolise hope and change - and one of my favourite, most used ever, stamp sets from Stampin' Up! is the Papillon Potpourri set which has seven butterflies (and a pair of antennae!) in it. True to form, good old Stampin' Up! has, of course, provided us with a couple of punches to match them too... yey!

 

At the moment there is a special offer on where you can save 15% if you buy both the Papillon Pot Pourri Stamp Set and the Bitty Butterfly Punch together as a bundle before September 30th 2013...

 

 

Below is a photograph of three simple, quick and easy to make, 3x3" (7.5x7.5cm approx.) cards which I have created using one of the small butterflies in the Papillon Potpourri set and the Bitty Butterfly punch that are in the special offer. I have stamped the butterflies on the scallop circle and then once more on another piece of Whisper White cardstock. I punched the second one out, bent the dainty wings and attached it over the first image with a glue dot, so it looks like a real butterfly has landed on the card to say hello!



I have stuck to a colour pallette of the 2012-2014 In Colors of Rasperry Ripple, Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green and Primrose Petals - they all go beautifully together, don't you think? It always amazes me how by just switching the colours around on the same card design layout you can produce such different looking cards! (The "hello" is from the really useful Four You stamp set...which I have used a LOT since I bought it!)

 

Tomorrow afternoon (Saturday 14th Sept. 2013), I am having a table at the Farthinghoe Village Fayre, with my good friend Jenny McCormac and we shall be offering the above card design as a "Make & Take" - so if you live locally and want to see just how quick and easy it is to make a beautiful card with a coordinating stamp set and punch, please do pop along to see us, we would love to see you. The fayre runs from 2pm to 5pm and we will be in the marquee!

 

STOP PRESS!! EXCITING NEWS:

 

 

 



I am  very excited to announce that tomorrow I am also taking part in my first ever "Blog Hop" with some of the members of the Pinkies (the team of Stampin' Up! Independent Demonstrators that I'm part of). We shall be showcasing some of the gorgeous new products from the Autumn/Winter Seasonal Catalogue - so, be sure to pop back here tomorrow to take a look! I can't wait to see what everyone has made... :O)

Lucy

Rolling Marbles - a beast of a technique!

A little while ago I discovered a great technique for making a patterned background, that I had not tried before and I must say that I love it! It involves the use of a plastic tub (the old-style wood-mount stamp containers from Stampin' Up! are ideal!) a handful of glass marbles, a few drops of Classic Stampin' Ink Refill and a LOT of fun! I have to say it is one of my all-time favourite techniques for making really interesting backgrounds...

 

Here are a couple of cards I've made using the giraffe and the lion from the fabulously versatile Zoo Review stamp set - hope you like them!

 

 

I used the colours Soft Suede, Old Olive and Crumb Cake for the rolling marble background to give it an African savanna grassland feel - perfect for the lion and giraffe to hide in! I coloured the magnificent beasts in with a blender pen and the same colour palette plus a little So Saffron and Pumpkin Pie, then roughed the edges slightly with the Stampin' Distress tool, Finally I  sponged around the edges of the Naturals Ivory cardstock to soften the look and wrapped a little Natural Linen Thread around the card before assembling it together!

 

Here is a closer look at the magnificient King of Beasts:

 

Over at SUO Challenges they have a challenge (#79) for showing your favourite technique on a project using only Stampin' Up! products...hopefully these cards will qualify as they use two of my favourite techniques - the rollling marble background technique plus the use of blender pens to 'water colour' paint in stamped images...

Shaking marbles around in a case is great fun - although can be a little noisy if you are teaching several people how to do it and they are rattling their boxes vigorously whilst giggling at the fun of it all!

I love the Zoo Review stamp set and have several more projects to show you over the next few weeks, so please do come back and visit my blog again soon and please feel free to leave me a comment and let me know what your favourite paper-crafting techniques are in the meantime.

Top tip: don't lose your marbles - you never know when you might need them to rustle up a cool card or two!!

Lucy

 



Hi there, welcome to my brand new blog! I am very much looking forward to showing you some of the things I make and do as an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator...

Lucy :O)