Some Pretty Petals projects CASED from the Stampin' Up! Catalogue and some pretty good deals to be had too!

Today I have another couple of versions of the Six-sided Sampler card that is on page 105 of the Stampin' Up! 2015-16 Annual Catalogue, similar to my recent CASE that I based my team training swaps on.

Here is the original card that is in the Catalogue. I think it is so pretty:

And here are the CASED versions I showed you recently, that I made for my Inspiration Station based on the Go Wild Designer Series Paper (DSP) Stack. (The second of these photographs shows my 3x3" swaps.):

I so love the layout of the Stampin' Up! card and I really wanted to try it in other colourways. I recently bought a stack of the 6x6" (15.2x15.2cm) Pretty Petals DSP, which, like the Go Wild stack has a matching cardstock pack to go with it. The DSP Stack has 48 sheets of gorgeously patterned papers (4 sheets each of 12 double-sided designs) for a bargain £7.25/9,75€. The Pretty Petals A4 Cardstock Pack has 8 sheets each of Calypso Coral, Old Olive and Mint Macaron (so 24 A4 sheets in total, for £6.50/8,50€) - perfect for making multiples of your projects and for getting the most out of your paper stacks too!

I have been itching to use the Pretty Petals papers ever since I got it, but haven't had a chance until now - here is what I made yesterday:

Aren't those patterns just gorgeous - and I've only used a few of them in these two cards. I decided to just use three punched hexagons of the paper on the Mint Macaron card - mainly because I couldn't decide which of the remaining gorgeous patterns to use for the two extra hexagons - there are so many fabulous combinations and they all look good!

I used the Silver Metallic Thread, Silver Glimmer Paper and Silver Glitter Adhesive on these ones, instead of the gold, as per the black and white cards above. I also used Very Vanilla as the mat layer on the card, as the Pretty Petals DSP is vanilla-based instead of white-based. I love how muted and vintage these look with the use of the Very Vanilla and I wonder why I don't seem to use Very Vanilla more often in my projects? Silly really, as it gives such a nice, soft look, don't you think?

I am going to use these as one of my next class projects. I will make an Old Olive version when I demonstrate to my class attendees how to make them, so that they can choose which of the three base colours they prefer. I might even offer them the option of making the Go Wild black/white/taupe version too!  I love how just one example shown in the catalogue, has inspired so many versions of effectively the same card, but with such different outcomes. Just goes to show how versatile Stampin' Up! Products are and how beautifully they coordinate with each other!

Which one is your favourite? I'm not sure I can decide!

Here are a couple of close-up shots to show you the butterflies in more detail - I have used the Bold Butterfly Framelits SO much since I got them, they are so pretty and so useful:

I love how the Silver Glimmer Paper, Glitter Adhesive and Metallic Thread shine so prettily in these photographs. They really are that shiny in real life - sometimes it can be hard to capture just how shiny they are in photographs. It was such a dull and gloomy day yesterday; I had to resort to using my daylight lamp when taking these pictures, rather than my usual preference of diffused, natural daylight. A happy "accident" perhaps? - They do say that things happen for a reason! Hehe!

Talking of happy things - today we have a new set of Weekly Deals out! Again, there is only a limited stock of each item, so once that item's allocation has sold out, the deal price will no longer be available and the item will revert to its normal, full catalogue price.  So hurry up and place that order if you don't want to miss out on the discounted prices! I think that there are some fantastic products this week. Come and take a look:

I have the Stars Framelits and have used them so much - and not just for Christmas projects. Having seen what is in this week's deals, I have had an idea for a card that uses the Stars Framelits and the Every Day Chic Designer Washi Tape, plus the Metal Rimmed Pearls... so come back soon and see what I come up with!

To buy any of these Weekly Deals items click here and you will go to my online shop. Remember to add the host code of FQZ4JER4 (for this and any other online purchases from me before 31 July 2015) and I will send you a thank you gift in the post in August. To get your gift, you will have to make sure that you un-check the "no contact" option, otherwise I will not be given your contact details and will not know to whom or to where to send your gift! If you have any questions, please do contact me to ask and I shall be happy to help!

Thank you for taking the time to visit and read my blog post today. I do hope you have been inspired to go and do some crafting yourself. Do leave me a comment, as I would love to hear what you think of today's projects.

So, until next time, happy stamping everybody!

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
  

Watercolor Wings decorated notebooks for another 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!® Annual Catalogue. Simply use the buttons at the end of each post to keep hopping!

Thank you if you have joined me from Sarah's blog - what lovely ideas!

I have totally fallen head over heels with the Watercolor Wings stamp set - I am a huge fan of butterflies and the two-step layered butterflies in this set are just beautiful. I love their slightly sketchy, textured look and have discovered that there are endless ways of combining ink colours to produce a myriad of designs.

Today, however, I am keeping it simple and using just two colours in my projects: Perfect Plum and the new Mint Macaron. I adore how these two colours go so beautifully together. Come and see what I have done with them:

I decided to decorate two hardback notebooks by covering them with some of the Mint Macaron Envelope Paper, stuck down with Fast Fuse (so quick and easy to do!). I then stamped a large butterfly directly onto the larger book's cover with the larger butterfly layer pieces from the stamp set. I cut out a filigree butterfly from Perfect Plum cardstock with the Butterfly Thinlits using my trusty Bigshot (and a bit of wax paper to release it easily) and applied tiny dots of Tombow glue to the back of it to stick it down securely:

For the smaller notebook I used my Chalk Talk Framelits to make a double-layered label, wrapped a little of the gorgeous Mint Macaron 1" (2.5cm) Dotted Lace Trim around it, overlapping two pieces ever so slightly to make it appear wider. I then stamped one of the smaller butterflies from Watercolor Wings onto Whisper White cardstock, cut it out with the Butterflies Thinlits' smallest butterfly shape and then adhered it to the ribbon with Stampin' Dimensionals:

I think it looks really pretty, don't you? A good mix of vintage and feminine whilst still being clean and simple.

This last photograph shows the inside of the larger notebook. I decided to stamp the inside cover with the words "There is nothing in the caterpillar that tells you it is going to be a butterfly" taken from the Butterfly Basics Stamp Set. I also stamped some of the stylised flowers from that set onto the first page of the book and the front cover too, to keep it from being too plain! I love how these two stamp sets and the two butterfly thinlits sets coordinate so beautifully. Even better is that they are available in bundles with a 15% saving - thank you Stampin' Up! for that!

That's it for today, don't forget that you can get two FREE stamp sets if you join my team before the end of June 2015, I welcome both hobbyists and business-minded stampers and am happy to help answer any questions you may have about how to join and what to expect. If you join my team you will also come under the umbrella of the Pinkies team and together we offer a huge pool of knowledge, experience, inspiration, ideas  and friendship. I love being a demo and being a Pinkie too is the cherry on top of that!

Thank you for taking the time to view my post today, please click on the images below to hop onwards to the next person, Christa's, blog, or, back towards Sarah's.

Hope you come back to see me again soon:  next week I will have another project to show you, using the same colours and stamps that I have used today' to make a pretty gift set of cards which would make an ideal teacher thank you present! 

Until next time, 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