A Tiny Treat Box and a whole Bundle of other super Stampin' Up! deals to be had!

Hello!

Today I have a quick to make, little gift box to show you. It uses the Stampin' Up! Tiny Treat Boxes which I think are just adorable! The boxes come in a pack of 25 for just £6.50/8,50€ so are great value at only 26p/€0,34 each. They are food safe and acid free. Once assembled they are 5.1x5.1x5.1cm in size (i.e. 2" x 2" x2"). They are perfect for small gifts such as jewellery, sweets or chocolates. 

I have decorated mine with one of  the gorgeous Go Wild patterned paper stack papers - I love that the little polka dots on this are actually little hexagons, not circles:

I wanted to reflect the hexagon 'dots' on the paper in my decoration/label on the top of the box - and so the Hexagon Punch and the Six-Sided Sampler stamp set were the obvious choice! I have found this stamp set and punch combo so useful and have used it on so many different projects. You can get the Stamp Set and Hexagon punch together in a bundle and save 15% too! Click here to see this and the other bundles that are available with the 15% saving.

I stamped the bar-pattern hexagon on a scrap of Whisper White cardstock with Tip Top Taupe ink, then using my Stampa-ma-jig,  I stamped the 'hello sweet friend' stamp in black Memento ink in the centre bar of it;  then punched it out with the Hexagon Punch. The black banner behind the hexagon is actually two separate pieces, punched using the Banner Punch! I do love that little punch!

The sides and lid of the box each have a 4.5x4.5cm  (1 3/4"x 1 3/4") square of the paper glued onto them with Tombow liquid multi-purpose glue. I punched a half-circle out of one of the squares using my 1.9cm/3/4" circle punch, so that it did not cover the thumb hole on the front of the box:

Here is a picture of how the hexagon label on the lid is constructed, the hexagon is on a dimensional and the two banner punched shapes are glued onto the lid's dsp square underneath the hexagon and lined-up to give the illusion of one, longer banner:

And here is how it looks like from the top:

I love how Stampin' Up! products coordinate so beautifully - in fact it was this coordination that drew me to Stampin' Up! in the first place! Not only are the colours available in ink, card, papers, accessories and ribbon etc, but a lot of their stamps have a matching punch that coordinates beautifully with them. I also love how Stampin' Up! make it even easier by providing us with bundles of products at a discount too!

Talking of discounts - this week's Weekly Deals are out today and there are some corkers in it this week... looks like I'll be putting another order in this week to get myself some of these items whilst they are available at the discounted price. Again this week's deals have a limited level of stock allocated for the discounted price in the deal - and once this allocation is all sold, then the price will revert to the regular catalogue price, so if you want to grab these bargains, don't delay, put an order in TODAY!!

Click here to see these items in more detail and to purchase them now! 

I must confess, I hadn't even noticed that there was a Smoky Slate Natural Chevron Ribbon  - how did I miss that?! It's gorgeous! I have been meaning to get some of the White Perfect Accents for a while now, as I've seen other people use them in their projects and they look amazing and my stock of ribbons is quite low at the moment, so I will definitely be adding the Calypso Coral Seam-binding ribbon to my next order too, as it will go beautifully with the Pretty Petals DSP stack papers which I recently bought. I also want to try out the metallic foil doilies too... 

Remember that if you place an order online with me before the end of July 2015 and you use the Hostess Code FQZ4JER4, then I shall send you a thank you gift in the post in August.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post today. I hope you like today's project? Do leave me a comment, as I love to hear from you. The comments are moderated by me before they are published to avoid spammers leaving links to their dodgy websites - you'd be amazed by their hilarious attempts and what they say! Hehe! So, do not worry if you don't see your comment appear straight away, I shall get to it eventually and I appreciate every one of your genuine comments, thank you!

Until next time folks, happy crafting!

Lucy x

Let yourself 'Go Wild' with Stampin' Up!'s Gift Box Punch Board!

Hello again! Today I want to show you a couple of gift boxes that I made using the Gift Box Punch Board and the fabulous Go Wild Designer Series Paper (DSP) Stack from Stampin' Up! as promised in my last blog post!

The Gift Box Punch Board is such a fantastic tool. With it you can create a variety of sizes of gift boxes, up to 4" (approx.10cm) on each side. It is really easy to use and all you have to do to create gift boxes  is to punch and score your piece of cardstock/DSP - you don't even need to glue it together if you don't want to, as it has a clever, integral punch that cuts a little curved notch out of the box flaps to allow you to close them securely. It comes with clear instructions and measurements are printed onto it too.

Stampin' Up! Gift Box Punch Board 135863 £18.00 now £13.50 for a limited time 

What is even better about the Gift Box Punch Board is that it is normally only £18, better still is that there are a limited number of them in the WEEKLY DEALS this week (until Tuesday 14th July 2015) at a bargain price of only £13.50 - wow! That is a good deal! There is only a limited stock of these at this price though, so if you want to grab yourself a bargain, you will have to be quick!

Here is one of the boxes I made recently for my Go Wild Inspiration Station at our team training day. It is the largest, 4x4" (10x10cm) sized square box, made from Basic Black cardstock (12x12"). And I have decorated it with the Go Wild DSP stack (the stripey Tip Top Taupe and Whisper White Pattern) and a Tip Top Taupe Bow made using the Gift Bow Bigz Die (129977) and the Amazing Birthday Stamp Set: 

As I wanted the bow to go on the top of the box, I decided to make the opening slightly different from how I would normally do it. The front side of the box is actually what would conventionally be the top opening of the box, but, I glued down three of the triangular "lid" flaps (as you would when making an envelope) and covered them with a strip of the Go Wild DSP:

I then cut a semi-circular  thumb-grip hole with my 1" Circle Punch and glued another similar strip of the DSP to the triangular flap of what is now the lid of the box:

The above photographs show how the strip of DSP is cut and glued onto the front side and the lid's triangular flap to enable a "hidden"opening. The half-circle thumb hole shows how you open the box and allows you to easily open it too. The box is self-closing, there is no need for additional glue to keep the lid closed.

This final image shows the box fully open. You will see the concertina folds which attach the lid to the rest of the box. You could cut these triangles away, but, I think it makes a stronger box if you don't. On the other sides of the box, the equivalent concertina triangles have been glued shut and then glued onto the corresponding inside side of the box. It really is quite sturdy and would easily hold a fairly heavy gift inside it. 

It is more complicated and takes longer to explain how to make a box with the Gift Box Punch Board than it actually takes to make one! It really is a simple process though!

Stampin' Up! have made a fantastic video showing how to use the Gift Box Punch Board - click here to see it!

Here are another couple of boxes that I made using the punch board and the Go Wild DSP. I have left the lid openings in their "normal" position for these two boxes and used the integral clasp-making punch to create the curved notches which allow the box lids to stay closed:

This one is 2x2" (approx. 5x5cm) square and made with the lovely black and white animal print DSP from the Go Wild Paper Stack. The "Surprise" stamp comes from the Amazing Birthday Stamp Set and is punched out using the 1 1/4" (3.2cm) Circle Punch; the gold circle is a 1 3/8" (3.5cm) circle punched out of the Gold Foil Sheets.

As you can see above, I made a matching 3x3" card and decorated the envelope with an extra piece of the lovely graphic chevron design of Go Wild DSP to go with this last box.

Well, that is it for today. I hope that I have inspired you to go try out the Gift Box Punch Board AND the Go Wild DSP Stack. Click here to go and order them from me today, whilst the board is still on special offer! Remember to use the hostess code of FQZ4JER4 for every online purchase you make with me between now and the end of July to receive a thank you gift in the post  from me during August. (You will need to un-check the "no Contact" option for me to do this!)

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to read my post. Until next time, happy crafting everyone!

Lucy x

Go Wild with some Tip Top Stampin' inspiration from me!

Hello,

Today I have some photographs of our team training day to show to you. I love being part of such a friendly, welcoming and inspiring group of talented and creative people! It was such a fun day and it was so nice to see some dear friends again and meet some new ones, all whilst having the opportunity to craft and be inspired together for a whole day.

One of the best things about being an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator is being part of such a lovely family of like-minded people, who don't look at you oddly if you "oooooh" over a piece of patterned paper or pretty ribbon... or "ahhhhhh" over lovely buttons... or if you relate everyday items to Stampin' Up! colour names: "I saw a lovely Bermuda Bay handbag the other day", or, "Her skirt was a lovely flowery pattern in Mint Macaron and Night of Navy"!

I volunteered to do an "Inspiration Station" for our team training on Sunday and chose to showcase the Go Wild Designer Series Paper Stack papers. Everything I made for my display used the Go Wild DSP and its gorgeous colour palette of Tip Top Taupe, Whisper White and Basic (or Memento Tuxedo) Black - with a little bit of gold here and there, for a touch of bling where necessary! Here is a photograph of my display table:

I wanted to show that you can make all sorts of things with a limited colour palette and that Tip Top Taupe, black and white can be both masculine or girly, depending on how you use them! I LOVE the Go Wild DSP. It is a great mix of animal print patterns and quite graphic designs that are reminiscent of African batiks etc. There are 48 sheets in a pack - 4 each of 12, double-sided designs that are 6x6" (15.2x15.2cm) square. I found that a little bit of paper can go a long way and I made all of the above (and more) and still have several full sheets and usable off-cut scraps left over for future projects. A bargain for £7.25 I reckon! There is also a Go Wild Cardstock Pack of 24 A4 sheets of cardstock in Basic Black, Tip Top Taupe and Whisper White (8 sheets of each of the three colours) for £6.50 to go with it too.

The picture below is of a collection of cards that were inspired by and CASED from a card design in the Stampin' Up! 2015-16 Annual Catalogue (on page 105), but using my black, white and taupe colour palette; plus a box made using the Gift Box Punch Board (which, incidentally, is discounted this week in the Weekly Deals for 8th to 14th July 2015!)

I really loved the card on page 105 of the catalogue and have wanted to CASE it ever since I first saw it. (CASE meaning to "Copy And Share Everything"). The original uses a softer colourway with what looks to me like Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede with Silver Glimmer Paper.  The larger card in my photograph above is a copy of that card layout, using some of the Go Wild DSP punched out with the Hexagon Punch;  Gorgeous Grunge and Six-Sided Sampler stamp sets stamped in Tip Top Taupe ink;  the Bold Butterfly Framelits and Gold Glimmer Paper, Gold Glitter Glue and the fantastic new Gold Metallic Thread for a bit of glamorous sparkle.

I decided to theme my swaps to my table display and chose to make a 3x3" card front, similar to those in the photograph above.  I totally forgot to take any photographs whilst I was making them all though and only remembered to photograph them on Sunday after I had already given some away - oops! Here is a photograph of what were remaining when I finally remembered to take pictures of them:

And here is a close up of three of them:

I used a selection of the DSP designs to use for the hexagons, but kept everything else the same for each card. The first step was to stamp the splattered dots from the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set with Tip Top Taupe ink onto a square of the new Thick Whisper White cardstock. A DSP hexagon was then glued on top, using Tombow Multipurpose glue. The Metallic Gold Thread was then looped and stuck onto a dimensional on top of the DSP hexagon. Then, the little strip of Gold Glimmer Paper was stuck onto the same dimensional (and pressed down well!). The Basic Black filigree butterfly was then glued on top of that, using a glue dot. The final touch was to squeeze some Gold Glitter glue onto the butterfly for it's body and leave it to dry. A simple but effective card I think - and it didn't take too long to make them either! I shall definitely be making some more of these - I really like them. I might even try them with different DSP and other colours... hmm...

Well that's it for today, apart from showing you what is in this week's Weekly Deals. There are more items than usual in this week's deals and there are only limited numbers of the items at these discounted prices. Once that stock has been sold, the items will still be available, but at the normal, full catalogue price - so hurry up and grab them quick if you want them at a discount!

It is a bizarre coincidence that the Gold Glimmer Paper that I used in the projects above, is in this week's deals... a great opportunity to re-stock I think, don't you? I love it and a little goes a long way with this gorgeously sparkly, glittery paper! I couldn't be without my Magnetic Plate for the Bigshot to cut out my butterflies either (so useful for all the framelits and thinlits - an absolute must-have in my craft room!) - as is the Gift Box Punch Board - what a bargain that is this week! Get one now if you've not got one - it is SO versatile, I love it!

Stampin' Up! are really spoiling us this week!

If you place an online order with me between now and the end of July and you use the hostess code FQZ4JER4 when you place the order and do NOT tick the "no contact" option when you order, I will send you a little gift in the post as a thank you. Please remember to not use the "no contact" option though, if you want to receive the thank you gift from me.  If you do use the "no contact" option, you will miss out, as I won't have access to your details and I will be unable to send you your thank you gift! 

To start shopping with me, click here

Well, that is it for today, do come back later in the week as I have LOTS more photographs of my Inspiration Station projects to show you - including a Project Life layout I made especially for the day and a very cute gift box too!

Until next time, happy crafting and don't forget, you don't always have to "go wild" with lots of bright colours to make some interesting and beautiful cards, gifts or packaging! ;)

Lucy x
  

First play with my Watercolour Wings stamp set and a Colour Challenge!

I have totally fallen in love with my brand new Watercolor Wings stamp set which arrived this week. I adore butterflies and this set is just so versatile and full of potential! The butterflies are simply stunning... swoon!

This gorgeous two-step stamp set comprises of a total of 15 stamps, for you to make several designs of two differently-sized butterflies, three sentiments and a couple of dotty patterns. As it is a photopolymer set, it is really easy to line up the different "layers" of the butterflies (without the need for a Stamp-a-majig!). 

Here are the stamps in the set:

Watercolor Wings Photopolymer Stamp Set 139424 £23.00/31,00€

You can buy the stamp set on its own, or as a bundle, with the Bold Butterfly Framelit Dies, which will save you 15%. (140232 £32.50/44,00€) They also co-ordinate with the Butterfly Thinlits too. However, today I decided to just use the stamps on their own to make a card:

The colours used are Calypso Coral, Night of Navy and Tip Top Taupe. I love how the stamps are designed to look a bit patchy on purpose to give a water-coloured look, with no need for a paintbrush! I inked up the more solid, base stamp of the larger butterfly with Calypso Coral and then stamped it off first onto my grid paper to give it a paler look on the Very Vanilla card layer. Next was the edged-wing stamp which was straight-up Calypso Coral; then the spots and splodges wing pattern stamp was inked with Night of Navy. The butterfly bodies and antennae plus the trios of dots in the background of the card were all stamped in Tip Top Taupe.

I chose the colours to go in the Always Playing With Paper Challenge #38 colour challenge which asked for coral, navy and kraft inks. I think that Tip Top Taupe falls under the Kraft category, don't you?

 Of course I couldn't leave the inside of the card undecorated, could I? 

I had such a fun afternoon playing with this glorious stamp set. I even stamped up the smaller butterflies in the same colour-combo too onto a 5cm wide strip of Very Vanilla Cardstock too. Aren't they gorgeous? I haven't decided yet whether to make this panel into a bookmark or to add it onto a card base - I am waiting for my Ornate Tag Topper Punch to arrive (which I bought at a reduced price in last week's Weekly Deals) so I think I might use that when it arrives and turn it into a bookmark. I think it would make a beautiful gift tag too - decisions, decisions... what to do? See, I told you this stamp set was versatile, didn't I? And as usual I have more ideas whizzing around my head than time to make them all!

Hope you have enjoyed seeing my first projects made with this fabby-tastic stamp set, I am SURE that you will be seeing many more butterflies here in the next few weeks and months. I think it will become one of my "go-to" stamp sets for all sorts of occasions and it will definitely feature in a class or two I think, so watch this space!

Well, that's it for today, I'm off to make some more butterflies in different colours... Until next time, happy crafting everyone!

Lucy x

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