Go spread some sunshine with a handmade card - nothing wishy-WASHI about cheering someone's day, is there?

Gosh, July? Already? Wow! Pinch punch, first of the month, no returns, white rabbits - as we used to say when I was a kid! Do you say that where you are in the World too, I wonder? I would love to know!

As it is the first of July today, I believe it is Canada Day, so, for all my Canadian family and friends and readers - happy Canada Day to you all. Hope you celebrate it well?

Today I have a bright and jolly birthday card for you that was quick and easy to make, using the gorgeous Cherry On Top Designer Washi Tape, some circle punches and not much else! Come  and take a look:

The card base is Watermelon Wonder, with a mat of Whisper White on top. I tore off a strip of each of the different washi tape designs and laid them in a criss-cross, random position on the white card layer. I then stamped the scalloped flower from the Crazy About You stamp set in Watermelon Wonder ink onto a scrap of Whisper White Cardstock and punched it out with the 1 3/4" (4.4mm) scallop circle punch, popped it up on dimensionals and stuck it onto the card.

I then punched out several tiny circles, from Cucumber Crush cardstock scraps, using the smallest eye pieces of the Owl Builder Punch, then a couple of the largest eye circles plus a 1/2" (1.3cm) circle punch circle in Bermuda Bay cardstock. Then, finally, I punched one Watermelon Wonder 3/4"(1.9cm) circle and randomly stuck them all onto the card with Tombow glue, so that they followed a vague triangle pattern, to make it easy on the eye and balance out. I wanted them to echo the multi-coloured, different-sized circles on the spotty washi tape.

The final touch was to stamp the greeting, in Bermuda Bay ink, onto another scrap of Whisper White cardstock, using my trusty, much-used and much-loved Stamp-a-ma-jig to align the words; then, punch it out with my 1 3/8" (3.5cm) circle punch and glue it on top of the scalloped flower. The sentiments come from the Crazy About You set - there are an abundance of words to choose from in that fabulously useful stamp set! I love it!

However, before I stuck down the mat to the card base and chose what greeting to use, I decided to have a play around, to see which combination I preferred. The following two photographs show what the card looks like with either a Bermuda Bay or Cucumber Crush base:

I think the choice of background colour makes a huge difference to the look of the card, don't you? Each one picks out different aspects of the embellishments on the card and puts a different emphasis on the card as well.

I also played around with the greetings too, as you can see in these rough "drawing board" photographs that I took at my crafting table:

You'll have to excuse the rather messy (and inky!) backdrop in these last two photographs, and I apologise for the less than perfect picture quality too - I hadn't intended on showing them to anyone when I took them -  but, I just wanted to show you how you can make cards for several different occasions using the exact same card design, but switching up the sentiment choice. I think they all work well, but I chose the birthday one in the end.

I think these would make a great gift,  if you made a set of several cards, with different greetings on each one and either made a box for them, or, popped them in one of the Stampin' Up! Tag A Bag Gift Bags, tied up with a pretty ribbon, with a personalised hand-stamped tag on it.

I am sure that any teacher would appreciate a set of these at the end of the school term, or, you could just send them to someone you know as a "happy mail" RAK (Random Act of Kindness) to cheer them on their way?

I love to get anything in the post that is not a bill or a pizza flyer - and proper old-fashioned snail mail is so few and far between these days, isn't it? When was the last time you received something through your letterbox that was neither a bill nor a piece of junk mail? And, more to the point, when was the last time you SENT a piece of anything handwritten or handmade in the post "just because"? Just think how much happier we could make the world, if everyone sent out something in the "snail mail" today? You never know how much you might brighten someone's day by sending them something pretty and unexpected in the post, it might just tip the balance if they are feeling down. So, what are you waiting for? Make something and send it out to someone you know TODAY. Go on, do it, today, now, and make a small but significant difference to someone's week... I think it might even brighten your own week, knowing that you have sent somebody else some sunshine too...

Until next time, happy crafting everyone. Go spread some sunshine today...

Lucy x 

P.S. Last minute edit: Stampin' Up! have added even more products to both this week's Weekly Deals  AND to the Clearance Rack! Here are this week's Weekly Deals - there are a bumper 11 items for you this week: 

My top picks from the clearance rack are the Texture Boutique Embossing Machine which is down to only £13.49 (half price!), the Mosaic Punch which is now only £5.59 (60% off!), the Jumbo Sticky Rounds, now only £1.79 and also the Kartenset hip, hip, hurra! - which although is only available in German, is a bargain at only £7.19, down from £17.95 - worth it for the ink spots, clear block and card blanks and die cuts alone, even if you don't use the stamps, I think! Bargain! Some whopping deals there - that will definitely add to this week's sunshine, don't you think?! Lucy x

Cherry On Top cookie pouch

Today I have a quick post for a quick-to-make cookie packet treat pouch using the fabulous new Cherry On Top Designer Series Paper (DSP) Stack.

The paper comes in several designs all in a really useful 6x6" (15.2x15.2cm) sheet size. There are a bumper 48 sheets in each stack - with four each of 12 double-sided designs in fabby, bright and cheery, Summery colours and gorgeous patterns. Stampin' Up! have had the simply genius idea of offering coordinating packs of matching A4 cardstock colours to go with each of the paper stacks and other packs of DSP in the new Annual Catalogue. The Cherry On Top Cardstock pack has 8 sheets each of Bermuda Bay, Cucumber Crush and Watermelon Wonder cardstock for a great price of £6.50. No more struggling to find enough sheets of matching cardstock when you are on a roll and making multiple projects with your DSP! Yey!

Here are the papers in action:

I chose the fun cup cake, ice creams and cherries sheet and the multi-coloured nibbled doughnuts designs to make these pouches which hold a cute two-pack of double-chocolate Oreo cookies which I bought from my local corner shop. I am sure that you could easily adapt the design and measurements to fit a treat of your choice though if you can't find these exact ones... 

I put a line of Fast Fuse glue along the bottom edge and along one side edge of the DSP and wrapped the paper around the snack pack, pressing down the seams gently, making sure that I kept the edges of the papers straight and also allowing enough room for the packs to slide in and out of the pouch easily. I used a small (3/4") circle punch to cut a half-moon thumb-grip hole out of the front of the pouch.

I punched two Decorative Label Punch shapes out - one in Crushed Cucumber and one in Watermelon Wonder - to make the pull tabs. I then stapled a narrow "faux-ribbon" to the top, made from strip of one of the other cute paper designs in the Cherry On Top DSP, and "flagged" on the ends using the same circle punch as the thumb-grip hole (to make a change from the usual fish-tail flags I would normally do!). I decorated the labels with punched out hearts which were left over from my recent Telford Swaps  and raised them up on half a dimensional each. (The heart stamp is from the Something To Say stamp set, punched out using the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack.)  The top half of the label tabs were glued together with Tombow and then the lower halves were attached to the cookie packs using glue dots. 

In the photographs above and below you can see that I  scored a series of lines at the bottom of each treat pouch to make it look like the sealed ends of the cookie packaging. To do this I used my Simply Scored Scoring Tool and the smaller end of the Stylus to create four score lines at 1/8th of an inch intervals. You can also see how neatly the tab top fits inside the pouch under the thumb-grip hole. There is plenty of space left on the punched labels for any message you might like to write on them for the recipient of the cookie treat pouch. If these were to be a table gift at a party, then you could maybe attach another label on the front of the pouch with each guest's name and use them for place-settings too, perhaps?

There was just enough room to glue-dot an individually-wrapped peppermint teabag onto the cookie pack, below the label, so that I could slide the cookies and the attached teabag together into the pouch, meaning that the people I sent these to, could sit down with their feet up and have a soothing cuppa and a couple of biccies on me, whilst they flicked through their lovely brand new copy of the Stampin' Up! catalogue that I sent to them!

Not got a copy of the catalogue yet? Would you like me to send you a paper copy? Then contact me and I will be very happy to send you one if you don't already have your own demonstrator... The first five people to request a catalogue, will get one of my Cherry On Top "cookie and cuppa" treat pouches, plus, an In Color bookmark sampler with their catalogue too. 

(Thanks go to my fellow Pinkie, Katy, for the inspiration for the sampler.)

Until next time, happy crafting everyone!

Lucy x

Click on the above image for more information on how to get two FREE stamp sets in June!

Pinkies Blog Hop - A sneak-peek Sprinkle of Life from the new Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue 2015

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

Thank you if you have joined me from Christa's blog - what lovely work!

For me, one of the most exciting things about every new Annual Catalogue from Stampin' Up! is the new set of In Colors - and the new ones launching 2nd June 2015 do NOT disappoint: Tip Top Taupe, Watermelon Wonder, Cucumber Crush, Delightful Dijon and Mint Macaron... Come and see what you think:

I have made some simple 3x3" cards using the new In Color A4 Cardstock, ink pads and Stampin' Write Markers with the gorgeous new "Sprinkles Of Life" charity stamp set:

The "Sprinkles Of Life" stamp set is the new charity stamp set from Stampin' Up! and for every set sold, Stampin' Up! give £2 to the Ronald McDonald House Charities®  which keeps families together and surrounded by love when their children are receiving medical treatment far from home (with over $1million contributed to date!).

Stamping these cards was a breeze as the "Sprinkles of Life" set are photopolymer stamps so alignment is easy peasey! The cute tree trunk is stamped in Tip Top Taupe. The tree leaves and the grass/vegetation are all the gorgeous fresh and bright new green that is Cucumber Crush and for the flowers I have used the ink that matches the card base - so either Delightful Dijon, Mint Macaron or Watermelon Wonder. The tiny bird's outline is stamped with Memento Tuxedo black Ink and then coloured in with my Tip Top Taupe Write Marker. I then punched out the bird using the fabulous new Tree Builder Punch and adhered it to the card with a portion of a Stampin' Dimensional to raise it up a bit and make it look like it is sitting on the branch of the tree:

The inside of the card has a matching Whisper White insert stamped with one of the 8 sentiments that come in the 22-piece stamp set - yes, that's right: twenty two stamps in the set for a bargainous £19 (25€).

I have repeated a group of the flowers inside each card and on the front of each envelope, as, you can't have a naked envelope, now, can you?!

I cannot decide which of the colourways is my favourite - I like them all, for different reasons. I think perhaps I am edging towards the Watermelon Wonder one at the moment... but, I the Delightful Dijon is growing on me!! I must confess I wasn't sure about the dijon to begin with, but I really like the colour now and it goes really well with so many other Stampin' Up! colours too... 

Which one is your favourite? Do let me know in the comments below...

There are so many other lovely stamps in the "Sprinkles Of Life" set: there is a cloud that doubles up as a scoop of icecream, or, the top of a cup cake; in the same shape there is a bunch of pretty flowers for you to colour in;  there is an apple, a candle, raindrops, cupcake sprinkles and loose leaves; plus an icecream cone cup and a wicker basket too, as well as the 8 gorgeous (and useful!) sentiments... and these shapes match the fab new Tree Builder Punch too... I have SO many ideas for many, many different projects... so do come back and maybe you'll see some more ideas here sometime soon! I think I could base a whole day class, just around this one stamp set actually! Hmm... Now there's an idea... ;0)

Thank you for taking the time to look at my blog hop post today. I hope I have inspired you to make something with the new items once the catalogue launches on 2nd June! If you would like me to send you a paper copy of the New Catalogue, please contact me.

Until next time, happy stamping - and hopping too!

Lucy x

 

 

 

New Catalogue is just around the corner!

Not long now until the new 2015-2016 Stampin' Up!® Annual Catalogue launches on 2nd June 2015! Here is a picture of me with my copy of it - I am not allowed to show you the inside of it yet... but believe me when I say it is jam-packed with all sorts of AMAAAAAAAZING, yummy, gorgeous Stampin' Up! goodies - some returning products and many brand spanking NEW goodies!! Squeeeee! It is so exciting!!

I have gone through my copy and stuck bits of sticky notes on the pages to mark all the "oh-my-gosh-that-is-lush-I-neeeeed-it" items... good job I have a good supply of sticky notes in my craft room, eh? 

I have learnt over the years that you don't need to buy it all in one go, the catalogue lasts for a whole year, so you can pace yourself and spread your purchases over 12 months!! (Although I expect there will be many "got to have it now" wish lists being written in the next week or so!) 
There are also several ways of getting stuff for free, by hosting a party and earning "Stampin' Rewards", by joining my team and earning free goodies that way etc. I have heard a whisper that there will be an exciting joining offer between 2nd and 30th June 2015, so watch this space for more information on how you can get your hands on free stamp sets!

One of the many privileges of being a demo, is that you can get your mitts on selected items from new catalogues before they are available to customers as sneak peek pre-orders.  I recently went to the Stampin' Up! UK Regional event in Telford with 349 other demos and the swaps that I designed and made for the event featured some brand new products -  some of the new 2015-2017 In Colors cardstock and inks and also a new stack of 6x6" (15.2x15.2cm) designer series papers called "Cherry On Top"... here are a couple of photographs to show you - can you spot the lovely new products that I used?

These card fronts are 3x3" and show that a little bit of designer series paper (DSP) goes a long way! Don't you just love the patterns? I think my favourites are the doughnuts and the balloons and I just love how some of the doughnuts have little bites taken out of them! Nom nom! The DSP includes several of the new In Colors (Watermelon Wonder, Crushed Cucumber and Tip Top Taupe) - mixed with old staples of Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Hello Honey, Pool Party and Whisper White - which goes to show how well  the yummy new In Colors coordinate with our existing colours. I think that the Cherry On Top papers will become a firm favourite - and they are a steal at only £7.25 (9.75€) for 48 sheets! Great for scrapbooking, Project Life journalling as well as card-making and treat box/bags too don't you think? They are so bright and jolly! Just seems a shame that you will have to wait until 2nd of June to buy some for yourself really... ;0)

If you would like me to send you a paper copy of the new catalogue, then please contact me. There will be a link to the new catalogue as soon as it goes live, so do keep an eye on here for it!

Don't forget that you only have until 2nd June 2015 to purchase any of the retiring products before they are gone forever - many have already sold out, but there are still many bargains to be had as many of the items are discounted. Don't lose out as once they are gone, they are gone! Click on the "retired list" icon on the left had side of this blog page to go to my shop to see them.

Anyway, that is all for today... all this talk of doughnuts is making me hungry!

Until next time, happy stamping!

Lucy x