The Sale-a-bration is here!!

This is such an exciting promotion I can hardly contain myself! Last year's was good but this year's is just fantastic. Sale-a-bration runs from today until the end of February 2010.

Here is how it works:

Customers - for every £45 you spend in the catalogue (exluding shipping) you get a FREE Sale-a-bration stamp set from the brochure.

Hostesses - hold a party during January or February 2010 of at least £300 and you'll be able to pick a FREE sale-a-bration stamp set on top of your regular hostess benefits.

Join! - Whether you are simply a craft addict or you are wanting to start your own business, if you join Stampin' Up! during Sale-a-bration during January or February you can choose ANY stamp set for FREE in the catalogue up to the value of £38.95. Such a fantastic deal and really tempting, ay?!

Drop me an email if you would like to know more or place an order: blueangelcrafts@gmail.com

Speedy card

Today I needed a card ready for in 10 minutes time. I don't usually have card emergencies but it really got my mind whizzing. I am quite pleased with the result and hope that the recipient liked it. I am becoming totally addicted to those little love note cards as they are such a dream to put together.

Tree decoration gift

I've spent a lot of time making gifts this year. Here is another adaptation from one I made last year.

It's simply chocolates with a card decoration either side and then some lovely golden elasticated thread to hang them by. I love the cute little reindeer stamp so I was pleased to incorporate it into the bag topper.

The bag of decorations was used in my Secret Santa gift (I don't think the recipient will look on this blog!). I made this hamper and included a package of the tree decorations. there was also snowman poo, mince pies, cheesey poppy seed biscuits and chutney included. I was pleased with the result and hope to be more organised to make more of these next Christmas.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Shopping Lists sorted!

Here's a little something I put together using a little notepad I found when I was tidying up. I can't resist this Simply Scrappin' kit and a little bit of Old Olive ribbon makes the notepad look really posh. A quick stamped white embossing on a piece of oval punched pink card. Nice little stocking filler and using up odds end ends that are to hand.

Gingerbread men

Not so much papercrafting but I did manage to squeeze in some lovely Stampin' Up! ribbon and thread!

I wanted to make some decorations for my tree and decided that gingerbread men would look nice but they didn't turn out quite how I imagined! I think I'd been dreaming about wooden ones that are 100% perfect. Anyway they look a million times better now they have a cute bow tie and the gold thread makes them look festive.

If you look closely at the whole tree you can see that I did do some paper-based decorations too, using my punches and a snowflake punch from the Season of Joy stamp set (my all-time favourite stamp set). In between the punched shapes are lovely minty or orangey chocolates!

Christmas Chutney

I made some chutney for gifts this Christmas and decided to wrap them more attractively than in plain jars. You can't beat the classic combination of Real Red and Old Olive!

It also meant that I could use my new FREE large tag punch that I got last month. I didn't think that I would use it much but it made decorating these jars a breeze.

The jar on the far left has a little reindeer on the top with a blob of red glitter on his nose! It made a change from the snowflake design the others had.

Red Birthday card

The festive season can feel a bit much at times so the other day I took some time out to make a birthday card. It was only when I'd finished I realised I had gone straight for festive colours: Real Red and Old Olive. Classic!

Anyway I embossed the sentiment with a stamp from the Cheer & Wishes set (pg62). White embossing powder is just genius on bold coloured card as it stands out so much better than a dark colour would.

The present on the front was created with elements from a Big Bold Birthday set (pg 35) and I filled in the little circles with red glitter. This was matted on a piece of So Saffron card - yes, a small break from all the festive colours!!

Sweet treat

I made a number of these little gift bags. They are filled with truffles (shop bought, gasp!). I used my new tag punch, 3 heart punch and the eyelet punch (pg88-9) to decorate them. I've become a bit addicted to punches recently. It's amazing how much further you can make your scraps go using a punch. The pattered paper was a scrap I found in my infamous scrap pile.

A really simple little gift but perfect for taking to people's houses when you've been invited over for a drink and a mince pie, and a bit more interesting than a normal shop bought goodie.

Simply Scrappin'

So at last I have posted some more pictures of my little one and showcased my new favourite Simply Scrappin' kit, Sunny Day (pg 78). This kit is so bright and cheery it's hard to know where to start. I love the cute patterns on the papers and the stickers are so versatile.

The 'Sweet' page has a title made from the cool new Sticky Cuts Sweet with Cosmo glitter(pg86). I was surprised how easy these were to use and the effect is really cool.

The turquoise page was a bit different for me. I usually have straight lines on my pages but I tried using a variety of circles in different papers to create a layered look. (apologies for blanking out the photo but it was a bit embarrassing to post on here!)

The final page is the first one I made with this kit. I got all carried away with the flower stickers and layered them up with dimensionals to make them more 3D. I also used my Darling Dots hostess set (pg10) to create one of the hearts by the journalling. That hostess set is absolutely adorable and very useful, I think.

Hope you like these pages of my lil one. Don't forget to order your own Sunny Day Simply Scrappin kit to make your own cheery scrapbook pages.

Scrapbook pages

Hoppy Birthday

All credit to Monica Gale who had a fantastic youtube video tutorial showing how to make this card. Here is my version for my father-in-law!

The cool thing is that the little frog spins around when you tip the card from side to side. I love that little frog character!! How does the mechanism work? Well I'll give you a clue... it uses two 1p coins!

New cards

Here are a couple of cards I made recently based on some designs I in the December issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine (from the USA). Lots of lovely Stampin Up products used and a scrap of patterned paper I found in my scraps drawer.

I'm loving scrunching paper. The big flowers look really boho and cool, I think. It's a really easy technique. the white parts of the flowers were made from plain whisper white cardstock that I stamped an image onto. In this case I used a flower stamp from the Simply Said kit (pg59) and chocolate chip ink. When scrunching the flowers you simply use a water spray (similar to the kind used for misting plants) and spray the water directly onto the back of the card and scrunch it up.

Scraps

Do you have a pile of scraps lying around that you mean to use up but somehow that new kit is just too tempting and you end up ignoring your noble plans to use up your scraps? Well here is a challenge: Set yourself an hour or two to use ONLY your scraps to make as many cards as you can. The only things I allowed myself to add when I was doing this challenge the other night was card blanks and a couple of reindeer and tree stickers that I couldn't resist at a stationary shop!
It's amazing what you can do when you challenge yourself. I think the cards look a bit different from my usual style but I like them nonetheless. it just shows what a bit of imagination can do!!

PS - I don't know why this photo has come out the wrong way around but hopefully you can still see what I mean.

Flower album

Although being a new mum can be tiring I have been trying to keep my creativity flowing. So here is an album I made using a great Stampin' Up! Simply Scrappin' kit. The kit contains everything except adhesive and dimensionals so it's really easy. Plus each kit gives enough stuff to make 2 of these albums plus there are leftovers that are perfect for embellishing cards.
The albums make great gifts and stocking fillers. This one is plain but I intend to fill it with photos at a later date. You could give the album blank or fill it with photos of someone special!
Although the design looks complicated it's actually quite straightforward. I am hoping to run classes on it in 2010 so let me know if you are interested!

Sewing for my little girl

At last I have found the time to show the other sewing I did the other day. Yes, cute little girly hearts on baby vests for my little one. I should really have focused on babygros instead as these little vests will get covered up but hey-ho. I cut the hearts from felt using my Big Shot and then added little embellishments. Don't worry I sewed them on really tightly!

Sewing!

Not something I usually do but as a friend just had a little boy I wanted to send a gift. Being quite huge now, I didn't fancy the shops so I thought of something I could make. I simply sewed a small piece of ribbon onto the vest using orange embroidery thread in running stitch, and then backstitched the felt letters on.

I also made some tops for our baby but as the gender is still secret, I can't post those pictures just yet!

New month, new me?!

The days have passed in a blur as the baby's birth creeps up.

Having said that here are lots of nice new projects I have made to rectify my poor blogging history. The good thing about pregnancy is that you can't sleep which gives you LOTS of time for crafting!

Before you get too excited thinking I've revealed the gender of the baby the first card is for a friend who's just had a little boy! So no sneaky preview, sorry!!

I love animal stamps and although this one isn't in the new catalogue I know it's only a matter of time before I get the new animal stamp sets and patterened paper in the new catalogue!

The Christmas card is ripped off from the NEW 2009 catalogue (pg34) except that I used bigger brown cirlces and I added diamond glitter to the red strip - every xmas card should have glitter, right?!

The turquoise card is one I have made in a very large quantity. It's a thank you card as I am sure that we are going to have lots of people to thank who help us out with our new little one.

The other excuse for me not being online is that I have been doing parties. I've not really kept up the pace over the past year with parties - too many other things going on like getting married, moving house and falling pregnant. However, I am keen to hold lots of parties once I get over giving birth etc. So let me know if you'd be interested! If you feel your house is too small you can come to mine!!!

Have got to start on birth announcements but I have to admit I am lacking in ideas for this...

September

Ok so I have been a terrible blogger. It's true.
I have been making scrapbook pages using up all my lovely stash but I'm not sure my work or photography is up to scratch so I've no pictures to post.

However I am soooo excited about the new catalogue that Stampin Up! are bringing out at the start of October. I nearly passed out with excitement when I saw the promotion for September! The question is whether I can afford everything off the list that I would like to have!!!!

Email me if you would like to order or if you have any questions.

Go To Press Class

Since i have some time on my hands this summer, and since I seem to think about scrapbooking a whole lot more than actually DOING any, I signed up to this class run by Shimelle.

I did a similar class in December last year where I made a page every day for a month about Christmas. This one is all about using my printer more, so I thought I'd give it a go. Here is my first page!!

I'm really pleased that I used almost totally Stampin' Up! products, bar the flower and the string. Hooray!

Juicy summer cards

Here are a couple of juicy cards I made this afternoon. I wanted to make something using my nice patterned papers, and I certainly used some here!!

I learnt the style of card from the Stamp With Us retreat a few weeks ago, but the design is so versatile that it can be used for any occasion, not just Christmas cards.

Baby shower card?

I made this card for the upcoming baby shower we're having as a family. I'm quite pleased with it as it's quite gender neutral but still baby-ish.

To be honest I thought it would come out a bit cuter though... maybe it needs less brown?

Craft Room at last

This week crafting has been put on hold to try and organise my craft room. The best thing about moving house is that I have the whole dining room to dominate with crafting stuff.

However, it was only when I moved that I realised just how much crafting stuff I possess. Finding homes for it all has been somewhat... challenging. However, it is finally starting to take shape. At some point I hope to paint the whole room white so that I can hang up some bits and bobs and they will be a focus point in the room. Til then, I am content to just keep tidying my shelves.

DVD case labels

As diversionary tactic to avoid doing preparations for my Open House event tomorrow, I decided to make some labels for our extensive DVD collection. To keep storage to a minimum we've removed every DVD from its plastic box and put it into a neat little DVD case. The only problem is that we now have 4 cases on the go. This has meant that it's potluck which case you'll get when you pick one, although we had kept them in strict order, strict rules are not something I am good a keeping to!
So the labels... I used more chipboard and covered them with leftover pieces of coordinating paper. The labels were printed haphazardly with individual letter stamps and then mounted on contrasting paper. Ribbons and buttons were added for texture. The ribbon attaching the labels to the cases was wire ribbon so it's extra sturdy and then labels don't flap about too much. Hey presto! A simple but effective bit of organisation.

Candle gift

I made this gift last night for friends who have just had a new fireplace installed. I simply took a plain inexpensive candle and added transfers (from Stampin' Up! of course!!) and then tied a ribbon bow. To make it more of a gift I made a little base for it to stand on from chipboard and leftover orange patterned papers. The cellophane and ribbon toppers finished it off. I was really pleased with the final result. A nice, completely personal but inexpensive gift.

Confetti craftings

Yesterday I had a craft fest. I got out all those odds and ends that get put to one side for a rainy day and did something with them. Among the pile I found my Confetti scrapbooking kit from Stampin' Up! that had been sorely neglected since April when I got it. So it was put to good use. I only have half the kit but I still made 10 cards with plenty leftover. A really good value pack, you have to agree.
Here are a couple of my finished items. I even made a start on my Christmas cards but I will save them for a future post.

Things are looking good for my Open House on this Sunday so please let me know if you can attend.

Summer Challenge

This summer you can a project and submit it to Stampin' Up! and you could win a fantastic prize! First prize is a huge £150 worth of stamp sets, and second and third prize is £50 worth of stamp sets.

The rules are simple:

• Projects must be created only from products in the current UK Stampin' Up! Catalogue 2008-2009
• Only one project per person will be accepted
• Projects can be cards, home decor, scrapbook pages or 3D items
• The project must be summer themed
• Projects must be unique and created for the competition only
• You must include a list of products used in your project
• You must submit your full details when submitting your project (name, address, email and phone number)
• Projects will not be returned as they may be displayed on the Stampin' Up! website or at Stampin' Up! events.

The deadline for submissions is 31 August 2009.

If you need any more information or have any questions let me know. Have fun crafting this summer and good luck!!!!!

Sad news

I have just heard that one of my favourite magazines is to stop being published. I have read Memory Makers for years. I rang to say I'd moved house and they said it didn't matter at Aug/Sept is scheduled to be that last edition printed.

It's just so sad. What has happened to it?

More Christmas in July

More Christmas goodies from last weekend. The obligatory poo-jokes will now come out, as you can see there is some snowman poo!!! Rather like my magic reindeer poo that I made last Christmas.

The other photo shows a card I am proud of. It's an acetate card. I had never made an acetate card and was not sure about it, but I am really pleased with the result. I also enjoyed making the ribbon on it all glittery. Extremely festive!!!

Now I really must start my own Christmas cards. i went into my craftroom yesterday with that intention, but then I saw some boxes of 'stuff' that I had not unpacked yet from moving house and started unpacking that. 2 hours later I was shattered (but more tidy) and no cards had been made! Hey ho, maybe today will fare better.

Christmas in July

One of the major themes of the weekend was Christmas. We had a great laugh pretending it's Christmas and it felt very surreal to wake up the next morning and realise it's not even NEARLY Christmas! Here are some Christmas cards that we made using one of the Simply Scrappin' kits from Stampin Up! The kits are fantastic value as I made these cards with less than a quarter of the pack and so I have lots more ready to go when I get Christmas cards going properly.

NB. Apologies for the weirdness of the photos - I don't know why the computer keeps turning them the wrong angle when they're uploaded because they are the right way around on My Pictures!

Gifts

Here are some more pictures from the last weekend. The package with the butterfly on it was a gift from the 'pillow fairy'. Although I didn't stay over for the retreat I was presented with this the next morning. It looks so sweet! It's a candle on a tile. The tile has been stamped with a Fresh Cuts stamp in brown Staz On ink.

The other photo shows a project we made on Sunday. It's a box set of hand scrub and foot scrub. We even had a demo of how to make the scrubs before we constructed our boxes. I can't wait to make some more of these as gifts this winter.

Retreat

It has been a long while since I went on a craft retreat... since October 2008 in fact. So I was really excited about this one. It was run by Natalie O'Shea, Mrs Wonka & Monica.

We all had a great time. This the the first class that Monica ran on Saturday. We used some lovely colours and the crayons, which was a nice gentle start!

I was really proud of the 3D flowers as I had never made mine look good before. The secret is... water.

Birthday Cards

It's that time of year when everyone seems to have something to celebrate. Today I've focused on birthday cards. I enjoyed playing with my new stamp set and using pens, pastels and aquapainters to colour the images. Nothing like a bit of glitter too!

June Already

Have had a whirlwind going on around me which has meant I've not posted. Since my last post I have got married, moved house, been ill for a month and had my 20 week scan on my bump! So apologies for not posting sooner but you can see that I've had some things going on that have distracted me.
The good news is that I am back on form. So this past week I have done lots of crafty projects that I'd been putting off for too long. My goal this summer is to make as much as possible as I am sure when the baby comes I won't have much time to dedicate to crafting for a few more months. It wasn't until I moved house and got myself a HUGE crafting room that I realised just how much craft stuff I had accumulated. It's a lot.
Having said that I am keen to book lots of parties as I think it'll be healthy to get out the house and have some time with adults before I lose my marbles. I've already got a few days booked so hurry if you want

Field Training Card Making

I went to a very fun field training on Friday night in High Wycombe. Not really anything of interest to share with you, dear readers, but these are the cute cards we made. I love this new stamp set called Forest Friends, which is in the new mini catalogue, available from 1st April.
My favourite is the bambi card because the reflection technique had me stumped for quite a while!! Can't wait to share this at a class!!!