It's so exciting!

**** THIS POST WILL REMAIN AT THE TOP UNTIL 30 SEPT****

September is a super-exciting month here at Stampin' Up!

There are TWO exciting happenings I need to share with you.

The first is the launch of Seasonal Catalogue for Autumn/Winter 2012/13.

Pages and pages of lush-ness, I promise. My favourite item so far is the cookie press stamps for making festive cookies, plus ready made packaging to give them in!

By the way, if you'd like to come and see some of the awesomeness in person I am hosting a Premier Night with my Downline Lauren where you can touch, see and play with some of the new products. An exciting thing about this catalogue is the number of ready-made present-type items that would be perfect stocking stuffers etc.! Come and join us on Wednesday 5th September 7.30-9.30pm at Aldershot & Fleet Rugby Club (GU12 4BP). If you let us know you're coming in advance we will ensure you have a goodie bag and make & takes, all for FREE!

If you cannot attend but would like a copy of the catalogue I can do that free of charge, just contact me via the email at the bottom of this post.

The SECOND exciting happening is the Retired list has been released. There are some fab bargains there, including designer fabric for just £2.60 and some stamps are reduced by 40%.

Don't be alarmed that all the ink pads are on sale. Stampin' Up! are reformulating them with solid foam instead of felt. If you like the currrent format and want to expand your colour collection, this is a great opportunity as many are discounted!

Here is the retired stamps list.

Here is the retired accessories list.

I will be placing orders each week so you can make the most of the bargains as they are only available while stocks last! Do contact me if there's anything in particular you are after or if you have questions. I'd be happy to help!!

blueangelcrafts at gmail dot com

Party Invitations

Today I've got invitations to share with you made for Munchkin's birthday party, which is coming up in a couple of weeks. I used the set Owl Occasions, which is super cute and has images for parties, Christmas and other occasions too! I used some of the new In Colors: Primrose Petals, Gumball Green and some older colours too: Island Indigo, Baja Breeze, Early Espresso.

I added some googlie eyes to the owl which I had left over from my Halloween kit - even though I used the eyes on the projects there was over half a pack leftover! The base was Crumb Cake and stamped in Woodgrain. Bakers Twine in Island Indigo finished off the design. Munchkin was thrilled with them and wanted to send them straightaway but I pointed out that really she needed to help me write inside them first so they have more meaning for the recipient!!!

Owl Treats

Tonight I am meeting up with some ladies that are Stampin' Up! Demonstrators like me. And where demonstrators meet = swaps!!

 

Shockingly I finished mine yesterday, which is practically unheard of. They were based on a tutorial I saw on Pinterest by Stamp With Heather. Ironically there is no stamping involved!

 Sandwiched inside is some yummy Moam sweets.

To make the owl you need: 2 x 2.5" circles, mine were in Cajun Craze. I punched a half circle out of the top of each using a 1.25" circle punch. 2x Very Vanilla 0.75" circles for eyes with Early Espresso circles/pupils from the Mini Punch Pack. The Soft Suede section was made with half a circle in the same size as the base. I then ran this through the Big Shot using a heart embossing folder, which will be returning in the NEW main catalogue.

The feet were punched using Boho Blossoms and Crumb Cake cardstock. The beak was using the Pennant Builder punch and the heart was from the Owl punch. So loooooots of punches were used!!

Here is the finished basket of owls ready to go tonight! Looking forward to seeing y'all later!!

If you'd like to join my team, contact me for a no pressure chat: blueangelcrafts at gmail dot com

Woodgrain

Today's card is based on one by Pink Backaroo Designs, Erica Cerwin.

I got to try out my new Woodgrain embossing folder on the Early Espresso cardstock base. I then stamped the Very Vanilla panel with French Foliage in Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie. Once the stamping was complete the whole piece was run through the same Woodgrain embossing folder.

A tiny scrap of Orchard Harvest DSP and some bits of spotty ribbon and Victoria lace finished off the card. I guess I could have added a sentiment but I wasn't feeling like there was one I liked enough to add.

Lovely As A Tree

This is a card CASE'd from a design by Paula Dobson. It uses More Mustard which is not a common colour for me to use, but I'll put that down to feeling pretty Autumnal at the moment.

It started with a piece of Whisper White cardstock and sponging More Mustard ink around the edges, leaving a border at the bottom for a sentiment. Once I was happy with the sponging I got out Lovely As A Tree - one of the longest running stamp sets Stampin' Up! produce.

I stamped the tree image in Chocolate Chip ink and then inked it off to create background images, which gives depth. The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes and shows up really well on the nice bit of white space at the bottom. To finish a strip of More Mustard spotty grosgrain ribbon and a burnished copper button with linen thread separate the image and sentiment.

Check back tomorrow for another Autumnal creation!

600th Post

Good morning. Hope I am not posting too late for some of my visitors this morning. I've been having great fun using some more new products. The stamp set used is French Foliage. I started by embossing with the dotty folder on the Big Shot and then stamping the large leaves down one side. I used a new Illuminate ink which is shimmery and lovely and then embossed over the top with clear embossing powder.

Once this had cooled off I stamped some leaves, post mark and spots in Chocolate Chip and Crumb Cake ink. The next stage was to sponge over the top with Cajun Craze, Soft Suede and Garden Green ink. Quite a few stages but all of them were really quick. Once all the ink was dried I gently rubbed over the embossed leaves to remove any excess ink and make the leaves stand out more.

Next I got out Four Frames and stamped a frame and punched it out using the Label Punch which matches the stamp set. The sentiment comes from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

A bit of a different card for me with some different techniques but, as you'll see tomorrow I got a taste for sponging!

Losing my mind

I heard that when you start living with the school terms for your child that things can go a bit mad. What I didn't expect was to lose my mind in less than 3 weeks! I could have sworn I left posts for you all this weekend, but hey-ho, the rather more speedy descent into maddness has begun.

Anyway, onto today's card:

It features a bunch of things from the new seasonal catalogue. I started with a Whisper White base that I ran through my Big Shot with the new Lacy Brocade embossing folder. There are couple of great things about embossing folders, but these new ones have something else to add: they are bigger! They now cover a whole card base front which is awesome as I always found I had to trim my cards before.

 

Next was a layer of vellum and Certainly Celery Spotty Grosgrian ribbon. The main embellishement was made with the large scallop circle on scraps of patterned paper. The stamps are from the Seasonal Hostess set: Mixed Medley. This set features all sorts of images, suitable for Christmas, valentines, halloween and friend cards/scrapbook pages. I stamped the small scallop in Raspberry Ripple and punch it out with the NEW 1 1/4" scallop circle. This punch is soooo great. I'll show you more things with it soon.

 

The centre of the embellishment was from the same set and stamped in Certainly Celery to match the ribbon. This was punched with a 3/4" circle punch and raised up on dimensionals. A little flourish of linen thread tucked underneath and voila! A slight copycat of the one on pg39 of the Seasonal Catalogue... but it has come to be mine now.

 

Check back soon (if I can find time to craft this evening!) for more projects.

BOGOF Event

Missed something from the Retired List? Why not come and grab a bargain at my annual Buy one Get One Free event.

It’s simple: All my stash that has retired will be priced up at full catalogue price. Then for every £1 you spend on my stash you get an equal amount to spend in the NEW Annual Catalogue! Lots of bargains for everyone!!!

Browsing will start with all the stash laid out so everyone gets a look at what is available. There will then be shopping time from 8pm where you can buy whatever items you’d like.

Everyone who purchases will get a FREE copy of the new Annual Catalogue, released on that day!
If you can’t make it and would like a paper copy of the new Annual catalogue, let me know and I will post you one.

MONDAY 1^st OCTOBER 7.30pm

If you would like to attend, please let me know so I can decide whether to host it at home or at the Rugby club.

Christmas Tree Cut-out

Morning all! Here is a card inspired by Pinterest but using quite different supplies. I had fun re-creating this design with lovely Lauren. We started with a Whisper White card base and added a layer of patterned paper from the set Snow Festival from the Autumn/Winter Seasonal catalogue (pg10).

On top of that we took a piece of Whister White card stock a bit smaller than the patterned paper and cut out a Christmas tree shape using the Holiday Collection framelits die on the Big Shot. This made cutting the tree out super-simple and you also get the added benefit of an extra cardstock tree to use on another project! The sentiment was stamped in Garden Green from the set Teeny Tiny Wishes.

The star was cut out using the same framelit die set from Red glimmer paper. This will be returning in the new Main Catalogue due to be launched this October! Don't forget to let me know if you'd like a catalogue as I want to make sure you don't miss out!!

Such a simple but cute card. You could vary the cards quite easily to make a set using the gingerbread man, candy cane and tree shapes and different patterned papers. What to use the cut out leftovers for? Sew them into a cute garland to string up somewhere!!

Tweet Leaves

Half way through the week already! Today's card is made using a really cute individual stamp called Tweet Leaves from the Autumn/Winter catalogue (pg31). I used the rock'n'roll technique with three colours of ink: Poppy Parade, Pumpkin Pie and Soft Suede. I started with Pumpkin Pie as it's the lightest colour, then added a thick roll of Poppy Parade and then a tiny bit of Soft Suede around the very edges.

TIP: So long as you always roll in the lightest colour to the strongest colour you won't ruin your ink pads.

The image was stamped onto white shimmer card. So sweet and quick to stamp! This then had the corners rounded using my trusty corner rounder punch and was layered onto Soft Suede cardstock. The thin border allowed the colour to be seen more strongly at the corners. Scallop borders were then added to each side in Pumpkin Pie and mounted onto a Poppy Parade base. Naturally a few rhinestones are added for some bling and ta-dah! It's finished!!

Festive Photo Greetings

Morning all! Today I have a project for you that is perfect for anyone who likes taking photos or anyone who doesn't have time to make their own Christmas cards. It's a kit from the Autumn/Winter seasonal catalogue where you simply add a photo and tie some ribbon to finish the cute cards. The kit is called Noel Notes (pg17) and you get enough in the kit for 8 cards, along with envelopes, envelope liners (green stripes) and card inserts for just £12.50.

They'd be a particularly nice card for older relatives who like to have photographs of their family and is special enough to feel like a small gift. Since we had some photographs done earlier this year it's a great way to get extra use out of the USB stick we purchased.

I'd be happy to place an order for this or anything else in the Seasonal and Main catalogues. Contact me at: blueangelcrafts at gmail dot com

Nanny page

This is a page I have been meaning to create for over a year. It's a photo of my Nanny who passed away in June 2011, which I have scrapped for Munchkin's scrapbook. She won't remember her great-nanny so I wanted this to fill in that gap.

I used some retired Everyday Enchantment paper for the green part and then floral part is a retiring hostess paper set. I then raided the scraps box to make some bits and bobs layered up and cut a Top Note shape on Very Vanilla cardstock as a journalling panel.

Again, the Big shot came into use to cut the title out of Bashful Blue cardstock.. The Rose Red seambinding ribbon created a block of colour to separate the two patterned papers.

I hope that Munchkin will enjoy look back at this page as she grows up and sees what a great woman Nanny was.

A different style

This page was a challenge for me as it was quite a different style. I was keen to use as much stamping as possible on the page without taking the focal point away from the photograph.

I spritzed in Gumball Green, smeared Platinum paint, stamped off butterflies and used the swirl stamp from Creative Elements in Rose Red. The floral scrap of paper is from the retiring paper set Beyond the Garden and a few scraps from my box was also added. Over the top of this I stamped a few times using Creatively Yours stamps saying things like "made with my own two hands" and "just for you".

The journalling panel is NOT Stampin' Up! (gasp!!!!) but was a gift from a lovely friend, Lesley, for my birthday earlier this year. It gave space for journalling but also a title of sorts.

The tag for the photograph was made with Bashful Bride cardstock *shortly retiring!* and a 1/2" circle punch with some bakers twine.

I hope you like this page and come back for more scrapbooking inspiration tomorrow!

Appl-icious

It's the weekend! Are you doing much? I'm recovering from a Funky Mamas disco so we will probably have quite a quiet day.

 

Today's card was the final card I created while hanging out with Julie earlier this week. We started off with a Sahara Sand base and stamped it using Early Espresso ink and my new favourite background stamp: Woodgrain.

 

Scraps of Orchard Harvest DSP were added to images of apples stamped in Lucky Limeade, More Mustard and Riding Hood Red. I'll let you into a little secret here.... I actually stamped the sentiment onto the Very Vanilla piece of card but it looked so terrible that I had to cover it up! So I stamped the words onto a scrap of Lucky Limeade card, to match the apple stems, and then punched it out using the Word Window punch. So it just goes to show, everyone makes faux pas. But to be honest I really like the unexpected addition to the design!

Have a great weekend and see you again soon!!

Shiney bright flowers

Today's card gives you a sneaky peek at another forthcoming In Color: Raspberry Ripple! Such a lush colour that you really need to see in real life to appreciate. It's gorgeous. It was recommended to me by Julie and I can't thank her enough for drawing my attention to it!

Started with a shimmery silver cardstock and then created a picture using the Perfectly Preserved stamps. Since I'm falling in love with Raspberry Ripple the main image was matted onto the colour and then finished with some rhinestones.

Again, this began as a CASE from a card on Pinterest but has morphed into something new. It was fun getting creative with the flowers in the jar as I'd not tried that before but I didn't even need to bother with a stamp-a-ma-jig as the set is so easy to use!

Come back tomorrow to see the final card I made while hanging out with Julie...

Preserved Pears

Hooray it's not long til the weekend now! Today's card was inspired by one I saw on Pinterest but it's gone under a transformation to make it my own design. I started with Island Indigo base to match the Orchard Harvest DSP. Gingham is sooo fun!

This was paired (!) with pear design paper from the same set and More Mustard spotty ribbon. There were a few bits and bobs cut out using the cannery framelits and then layered up.

I made this card when the lovely Julie came to visit. We had fun creating some designs and playing with this set. Check back tomorrow for another design!

Bank Holiday Page

Hello there! Today's post is a scrapbook page I cobbled together to display some photos I took at couple of weekends ago when we were enjoying the Bank Holiday:

 I used some patterned papers that are retiring. The stripey base is from Mocha Morning which is an awesome set as some of the papers are flocked and others have shimmery gold bits like in these stripes. The other paper is from Paisley Petals.

Here is a close-up of part of the title:

Daffodil Delight was used for the main title to pick out the yellow of the squash plant. I cut it out on my Big Shot using the alphabet set that is retiring.

To make the punched title a bit shorter I punched out a word window punch shape and then put one end of the punched piece back into the punch to trim it. It  means that you can customise the shape so it's not too long, which is handy.

To be honest with you I am not sure about this page. The pictures are really busy so I wanted a muted background but I am not 100% sure it works. What do you think?

P.S.
Many of the items in today's post are retiring. Don't forget to place an order for retiring items sooner rather than late as many items are selling out fast. As the ink pads are being reformulated they are all reduced by 25% which makes them about £3.72 each - a total bargain and a great budget way to increase your own colour collection.

September/October Scrapbook Kit

This is something new I am offering: A bi-monthly scrapbook kit. The kit contains enough stash to make a number of scrapbook pages and you will receive accessories to match along with a tutorial to make 2 12x12" scrapbook pages.

The kit contains:

6 Sheets of 12x12" double-sided Orchard Harvest DSP
4 12x12" sheets of co-ordinating cardstock
2 copper brushed buttons
1m 7/8" cotton ribbon
1m Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon
1m linen thread

All for just £15

(plus £2.50 P&P if you want it posted)

Sept/Oct Scrapbook Kit

Pick up kit £15.00 GBP Posted direct £17.50 GBP

Do let me know what you think of the kit - I welcome any feedback!

Grateful Leaves

Hello and Happy Monday! It's been a busy weekend and I he been working hard on a Scrapbooking kit for you. I'll show you that tomorrow...

 

Onto today's card:

It's based on a card I saw on Pinterest (of course!) made by cardmaker2 on Splitcoast Stampers.

 

My version uses French Foliage leaves and I stamped them on white shimmer card in Certainly celery, Lucky Limeade, Gumball green and Garden Green. Don't recognise the name Gumball Green?! Yes it's a little preview of one of the new In Colors for 2012-13!!!!

The background card is Pear Pizzazz (so sad it's going in a couple of weeks :( ...) and I spritzed it with Chocolate Chip ink for interest. The main stamped image was matted on Early Espresso and a sentiment was added from Apothacary Art. Indeed you're right, you can't purchase this set but I'm here to reassure you it WILL be in the new main catalogue! The card was finished with a Very Vanilla satin bow, which I was glad to use as I'll miss all the satin ribbons.

The weekend has been fantastic: warm weather, BBQ, cycling trips, running, lie-ins and family laughs!!! Hope you've had a good weekend too.

New Class Schedule

Due to Munchkin starting pre-school I'm now able to offer morning classes too! Check out my new schedule for the coming months:

Festive pages Class £9 per person

You will get enough stash for AT LEAST a double page spread. Along with some Festive refreshments. You do not need any scrapbooking experience or even any photos in mind.

Tuesday 4^th December 7.30pm
Wednesday 5^th December 9.30am

Christmas Card Stack Class £15 per person

This class is a great one for getting a large number of cards made, plus some motivation to make more! You will get enough card and self-adhesive die cuts/accessories to make at least 12 cards and get to take the rest of the stash home that you haven’t used at the end!! Each month will be different designs.

OCTOBER: Monday 8^th October 9.30am, Tuesday 9^th October 7.30pm
NOVEMBER: Monday 12^th November 7.30pm, Tuesday 13^th November 9.30am
DECEMBER: Wednesday 12^th December 9.30am, Thursday 13^th December 7.30pmm

Can’t attend a class on the dates set? Get a group of you and at least 3 friends and I’ll run the session as a private class at your place or mine. Contact me to organise a date!

Goodie bag contents

Carrying on the theme of the Premier night, here is what I put inside the goodie bags for my guests. The bags, bakers twine, tags and googlie eyes all come in the the set and then I stamped an image. You can buy the stamp set and bag kit as a bundle and save some £ too.

This one was filled with marshmallows and some had mini marshmallows and chocolates too.

Really quick and easy. My two year old LOVED helping me prepare them (and taste all the contents too!). We made 10 in about 20 minutes. A great idea if you want small gifts for neighbourhood kids or classmates.

Munchkin started preschool!

Yesterday was Munchkin's first day of preschool. Here she is in the morning in her uniform, complete with a lovely knitted cardigan from Grandma!

 Here she is carrying all her stuff and refusing to let anyone help her with her "handbags".

 On the way in we didn't get a backwards glance!

She quickly settled in to explore her new surroundings. Our baby is growing up fast.

 

P.S. Scroll down for a crafty post today.

Jar o' Pears

Here is the second make and take that everyone tried at the launch party on Wednesday. This one features Perfectly Preserved stamps and Cannery framelit set along with Orchard Harvest DSP. Such a simple card but it was fun to try the framelits and add them together.

Again this was a Julie Kettlewell design. Isn't she clever!

Festive Make & Take

Last night was the Premier Night for the new seasonal catalogue! We had a lovely time sharing the contents of the new seasonal items and ideas. Lots of happy smiling people!!

Here is one of the Make & Takes that we made. It was designed by Julie Kettlewell and shows off how cute the Scentsational Season stamp set goes well with the Holiday Collection framelits dies. Even better you can buy the stamps and framelits together in a bundle and save over £5!

Along the centre of the panel is 7/8" cotton ribbon that has been stamped in Real Red with the star motif that comes in the set. Such a simple addition to the ribbon, but it makes it instantly festive!

The base is Wild Wasabi with Early Espresso. If we'd had more time we might have added some of the delicious smelling Sugar & Spice or Peppermint scented embossing powder.

If you missed out on the night and would like a copy of the new Seasonal catalogue email me for a free copy: blueangelcrafts at gmail dot com

September Scrap club

Last night was scrapbook club. I LOVE this monthly class. Such interested talented people attend!

This layout was based around the journalling box. We learnt to brayer an ombre background, this one was in Poppy Parade.

The patterned spotty background paper comes from the specialty papers Mocha Morning. LOVE these papers and I'm sad that they are retiring :-( This was paired with Concord Crush and Crumb Cake. The title was stamped using the Broadsheet Alphabet stamp set. It's great as when it's in clear as you can stick all the letters in a row on a long block and stamp the whole word in one go.

If you'd like to join us for scrapclub next month we are meeting on Tuesday 2nd October.

Retiring: Greenhouse Garden

Apologies for the delay in posting, I'm not coping well with the technology without DH around to assist!

Here is a swap I received at Natalie's training in July. I am sorry to say I can't remember who created it, but I love the two step stamping on it. This is a set that is retiring and is only now available while stocks last!

Many items have already sold out, including:

Round Tab Punch
Hear to Heart punch
Eyelet border punch
Large tag punch

Replacement cutting blades for the fiskars trimmer
Jumbo wheel storage box
Cropadile
Timeless Type sizzlits dies
pillow box die

Decor standard wheel


Textured neutrals card 12x12"
Textured regals card 12x12"
Tempting Turquoise card 12x12"
Concord Crush A4 card

Poppy Parade ink pad
Peach Parfait ink pad
Daffodil Delight ink pad
Perfect Plum ink pad
Cajun Craze ink pad
Red Ridinghood Ink pad
Pink Pirouette ink pad
Neutrals ink spots

Medallion stamp
Fox & Friends (wood & clear)
A to Z stamp

If you'd like to place an order from the retired list, don't wait! You might be disappointed.

Leadership training!

Did you notice there was no post on Saturday?

I was a bit distracted by Leadership Training. 84 demonstrators from around the UK met up to share their passion - Stampin Up!

We were lucky enough to have make & takes, guest speakers and freebies! Very fun indeed.

Here is a photo of us having a talk from lovely Michelle Last:

 One of the bonuses of any gathering of Demonstrators is that we do swaps! I got this whole box of inspiration:

A new set I am looking forward to playing with is Perfectly Preserved. Stampin' Up! have brought out bundles of stamps with matching framelits that you can buy at a discount and this is one of them!

Aren't the images cute?! Below are some swaps I received made with this set:

This first card was made by Sarah Pigott who made this cute card paired with the Pool Party card and patterned paper.

This next swap is super sweet featuring the apple image. It was made by Elaine Harding on Crumb Cake cardstock.

To go along with the stamp set and framelits is a gorgeous Designer Series Paper set called Orchard Harvest. Since it's September I've already got that warm fuzzy feeling that is full of apples, chutney making and cosy nights in and this paper captures that perfectly.

 Below is a swap made by my upline, Natalie O'Shea. It shows you 4 of the lush designs and is such a cute idea.

 This next one reminds me what a giggle training is! I didn't realise these were Jenny Moors' swaps - I thought they were too posh and must have been made for her team!!

They are a cute little business card holder tin but could equally be used for a small gift. What a neat idea!!

So as you can see there has been plenty of inspiration. If you are considering becoming a demonstrator or would like to know more (no pressure, I promise) I'd be happy to meet up for a chat or even on the phone. Contact me at blueangelcrafts at gmail dot com

Check back again soon for more ideas!!!

Halloween favours

A couple of weeks ago my friend Fiona and I met up to have a Winter Mini catalogue fest with some new products. Here are a couple of creations. We used the Cracker die to cut out our basic boxes and then got to work decorating them!

On the left: Fiona's creation! A Basic Grey base with patterned paper and googlie eyes.

On the right: my creation. Peach Parfait base with some punches and a coloured in witch.

Hope you like these and they inspire you!!