Changes

Hi all, I hope everybody had a very happy Christmas and is looking forward to the new year! We've been away to Germany for Christmas with my family, and it was a minor miracle that we even got there! Our flight was at 6.35am on 23 December, and it started snowing about 5.45am... Boarding was started only to be interrupted again and then we spent the next 7 hours waiting for the snow to stop long enough that the runways could be cleared, planes de-iced and prepared for take-off. We finally left at about 1pm - phew! The kids did great, behaved themselves really very well for all those hours with very little entertainment. There was only a little snow left in Germany and it all melted while we were there. We had a lovely time, with lots of visits to and from friends and relatives, playing games and enjoying the odd glass of wine ;-) We came back yesterday, during one of the few snow-less intervals, which again was very lucky. It's still a winter wonderland here, we haven't had anything like this for years (the last deep, lasting snow I remember was in Feb 2001, our first winter outside Edinburgh), everywhere is just covered in white with about a foot of snow on the ground!

Well, the main reason for this post is to let you know about a change to my blogs. I'm no longer a Stampin' Up! demonstrator (various personal reasons), so all SU! related things in the sidebar are gone, and I've also merged my SU! blog with this blog, so there are a number of extra posts on here now. I'll be tidying up over the next wee while and then hope to resume business as usual - well, actually, a bit better than usual, I hope to be crafting lots!!! I know, I say this regularly, but I do mean it! :) My SU! blog will eventually be deleted.

Wish I could leave you with an image of some sort, but haven't got anything handy just now and really need to get off this PC to finish tidying and cleaning - just in case we have a first-foot tonight ;-)

Happy Hogmanay/New Year's Eve and all the best for 2010! See you soon!

Birthday Cards

Youngest daughter had a number of birthday parties to attend, and I was a good mummy and made birthday cards for all her little friends. I must admit I'm not particularly good at putting names and ages on cards, but I try to make them cute and kiddie-friendly. Here's the lot:

Maggie with Flowers from Sugar Nellie

Henry Mouse from Whiff of Joy, retired Stampin' Up! DSP

Magnolia image, pp unknown, Stampin' Up! flower punches

Hope you enjoy this little selection, I certainly enjoyed the change from making Christmas cards. However, I will try and post some more seasonal creations soon. Thanks for looking!

Fun Stuff

I did a workshop last Saturday, and because it was a fairly small group, I didn't just make a hostess gift, I made a wee thing for the guests, too:

It started with the party blowers - Paula had handed out some at a Stampin' Up! field training day in June, and I'd been intending to make them ever since. And then I was on a roll, bought Skittles (because they matched the blowers so nicely), put them into little cello bags and added tags tied on with ribbon. Colours are Green Galore, Yoyo Yellow and Real Red, stamps are from the hostess set Darling Dots which has got a great variety of cute little images.
Well, both gifts went down a treat and there was a lot of tooting to be heard when we first started :)

Hoping to have some Christmas cards to show soon - thanks for stopping by!

Oh Boy!

This is not good. I last blogged a month ago. Must do better. Here's a card for a change:

Youngest daughter went to a birthday party last Saturday: the wee boy next door turned 6 and he's football mad. So a football-themed card in the appropriate colours was in order. I've used a Magnolia image, Stampin' Up! Glorious Green cardstock, Papertrey sentiment and unknown brads.

Hopefully, once Christmas card production is cranked up a gear (or five), I'll have more to show on here. Feeling rather bah-humbug about the holidays this year, cannot get into the spirit of things. Maybe it's because it's still November, although the shops would like you to believe otherwise. And there is a number of oh-so-organised people I know who have already completed all their Christmas shopping which unfortunately only adds to my feelings of bah-humbug. I shall let you know when I start to feel more festive. Till then, thanks for looking!

Back from Convention 2009!

Hi all, I'm back from the first ever European Stampin' Up! Convention, which was held in Bad Homburg, near Frankfurt, Germany! :) And what a great time we had! I'm still feeling all warm and fuzzy inside, because it was just such a lovely atmosphere, meeting people, making new friends, sharing ideas (the swaps were GREAT!), partying, laughing, dancing - so much fun! I'm going to have to start saving my pennies very soon, so I can go to next year's convention, which is going to be held in London!
Now the plan was to upload a few photos that I took, but alas, the computer has other ideas, so this will have to come later.
On the plus side for me, I can get off the computer now and start crafting, because I've got all these ideas from convention going round in my head - hugely inspirational! - and I just want to get started :) Bye for now and fingers crossed hubby will get the PC to play ball again soon.

Become a Demonstrator...

... and get 10% off the starter kit! In conjunction with our participation in the Hobbycrafts shows, Stampin' Up! are offering new demonstrators 10 percent off the cost of the Starter Kit from 22 October-13 November! That’s over £240 worth of stamping and business supplies for only £125 - 10 percent off the regular price of £139.

The Starter Kit contains:

Four complete stamp sets
Stampin’ Around jumbo wheel, ink cartridge, and handle
Ribbon
Card stock
Love Notes and envelopes
Five Classic Stampin’ Pads
Stampin’ Pastels
Craft & Rubber Scissors
Stampin’ Scrub and Mist
VersaMark Pad
Blender pens
Adhesives
Business supplies

Contact me if you'd like to join, and don't delay, because this is a limited-time offer!

Still here!

You'd think I've got all this free time now with youngest daughter at school all day, but don't ask me how - the day just disappears and I've still not got very much to show for my efforts. I suppose school life was busy, and I've had a few Stampin' Up! events to prepare for, but really, I should have something to blog about by now! Well, no cards I'm afraid. I've started on a few, coloured some images, tried to gather ideas, but got no further. So instead, I'm going to show you a few photos from our trip on Saturday to the Trossachs. It was a beautiful, crisp autumn day, absolutely perfect! A good time was had by all, and the girls didn't start complaining about sore legs until the very end! :)

All taken along Loch Voil, near Balquihidder, where Rob Roy is buried. If you get a chance, go! It's a lovely corner of the world :)

Trendy Trees

Eventually got round to making another card for fun, using some of my new Stampin' Up! stash :)

I've used the new (and very cute IMO) Trendy Trees, the new eyelet border punch, some Pumpkin Pie grosgrain ribbon, plus the colours Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip and Really Rust.

Hope you like, thanks for stopping by!

It's Here!!!

The new Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalogue has gone live today! Click on the image above to have a look at it online, or get in touch with me if you would like to have your own copy. Likewise, please do get in touch if you would like to host a workshop or simply order some of the gorgeous products from this new book. I've just placed my order and cannot wait for it to arrive!

Forest Friends Reflection

Now here's a technique I've wondered about for a long time: reflection! I think it was demonstrated at a field training last year, which I missed, and it just looked so very complicated! :) But I decided to look it up (under Resources on Splitcoast Stampers) and give it a go, and guess what? It's not so hard! Here's my card:

Apart from Forest Friends, I've used Circle of Friendship for the sentiment, and the colours are Chocolate Chip, Old Olive and Tempting Turquoise.

Might try this at my next workshops, have got other stamps in mind for it, too. Thanks for stopping by, I'm all blogged out now and will go and make some dinner :)

Lovely as a Tree

This is a very popular set, and I constantly see people doing fantastic things with it, but I only bought it fairly recently and then wasn't sure what to do with it. So I finally gave it a go and here are two cards:

I used markers to ink up the image: Chocolate Chip for the trunk and Old Olive and Garden Green for the foliage. Think it turned out quite nicely. DP is Spiced Cider, sentiment is from Sincere Salutations.

For this one, I inked the whole stamp up with Close to Cocoa and then dabbed More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie and Really Rust markers over the top part. Had hoped for a slightly better effect of autumn foliage, but I still like it :) DP is Spiced Cider again and the sentiment is from Oval All.

I'm thinking now I could get on really well with Lovely as a Tree, there are so many more possibilities. Christmas cards.... Male cards.... Watch this space!

Thanks for stopping by!

Another Good Friend

I am really liking Good Friend from the new Stampin' Up! catalogue - which will go live in less than a week, on 1 October! - and I made another card with it:

It uses a More Mustard base, Pumpkin Pie cardstock, More Mustard, Really Rust, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa inks, a Ruby Red brad and the scallop edge punch. I've shortened the birdie's legs this time, which suits it quite well, I think :)

Thanks for looking!

Poor Neglected Blog

I can't believe it's been over two weeks since I last blogged on here! Can't say I've been particularly busy, other than maybe making up Stampin' Up! sneak peek samples, which have been posted here (and will be added to in a little while).

I did spend a pleasant Sunday afternoon recently colouring a few Tildas, and have made two of them into cards now, yay!

This is a little Halloween Tilda which I received in a swap last year and thought I must finally do something with! She's coloured with watercolour pencils and a waterbrush, and the background panels have been stamped with Papertrey Ink stamps (Polka Dot Basics and Round-and-About Sentiments) on Stampin' Up! cardstock in Only Orange and Lovely Lilac, with a Gable Green base. Lots of inking round the edges for a Halloween-y, grungy effect.

This one I'm not so sure about (Note to self: must remember to choose papers first and then colour, rather than just merrily enjoy some therapeutic colouring and then wonder what on earth to do with this!!!). Watercoloured again and using a wide mish-mash of supplies, it's a little busy and I've now gone off the colours. Never mind! :)

Well, that's it for now, will go and find a challenge to join in with. Thanks for looking!

Sneak peek #3 - Itty Bitty Buds

Last, but not least, here are a couple of cards made with one of the Level 2 Hostess Sets:

Itty Bitty Buds

This is another set that is great for creating custom backgrounds as well as focal images, there's a great selection of different blooms, leaves and stems - it's a set I can see myself using lots!

Well, this was the last of the sneak peeks for now. Just over two weeks now until the new catalogue goes live, so if you've seen anything you like, please feel free to get in touch! Thanks for stopping by!

Sneak Peek #2 - Tree Trimmings

Christmas is fast approaching, so here are a few Christmas cards, made with:

Tree Trimmings


These first two cards also use papers from the new Simply Scrappin' kit called Christmas Jingle.

It's impossible to see in the photograph, but these baubles have actually been heat-embossed with clear embossing powder, which gives them a lovely shine and a little bit of dimension, too. I'm sure they'd also look lovely embossed in either silver or gold - guess what's on my list for next month's order?

Sneak Peek #1 - Good Friend

Stampin' Up! demonstrators are lucky people! We were able to pre-order a few of the new sets that will be appearing in the new catalogue (out 1 October!) and have a play with them! And I'm going to show you a few cards that I've made with the sets that I ordered. First up:

Good Friend

Isn't that bird cute? And the flowers are so versatile: use them as focal images or make your own backgrounds with them. This is going to be a fun set to play with! :)

Thanks for looking, second sneak peek to follow shortly.

Cupcake Craft Challenge

I was making this card and also looking at challenges online, and did I not find that it fit in perfectly with the current challenge over at Cupcake Craft Challenges? It's a colour challenge: red, white and blue - perfect!

I've used a kraft base, some of my old Costco polkadot paper, light blue card, Stampin' Up! ribbon, markers and sentiment, brads and red flowers from stash, and punched blue flowers. Love the colour combo and love that sweet image, even though I've had it for some time now. Definitely one of my go-to stamps!

Thanks for looking :)

Couple of cards

Just want to share a couple of cards I made recently, but never got round to posting:

This is completely CASE-d from the current IBC, simply with a change of colours, and no pin. I quite like it in those colours, too.

And this is for a colour challenge my SBS26 has got running, of turquoise, red, white and craft. It's also my FIL's birthday card, and it was CASE-d from here.

The creative juices aren't quite flowing at the mo, so I'm trying to get inspiration by using other people's work and adapting it. Hope to have something more original for you again soon :)

The Last Chance List is here!

As most of you are probably aware, the new Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalogue will be out on 1 October! In preparation for this, Stampin' Up! have now released the Last Chance List - a list of all items that are retiring from the current catalogue. These will be available only while supplies last*, so don't delay if there is anything that you have your eye on! As an additional incentive, some items have been reduced by 25% or even 50%, so go on, hurry and grab a bargain! Click on the image above to view the full list.

All of the current hostess sets are retiring as well, so this month is your last chance to earn one of them by hosting a qualifying workshop by 30 September!

Please note: as of this morning, two items have already sold out! These are:

All Wrapped Up

Happy Hearts

So what are you waiting for? Feel free to get in touch via the email link in my profile.

And watch this space for sneak peeks of some of the lovely new Stampin' Up! products :)

* EDIT: and only until 30 September, you won't be able to order them after that date!

Flights of Fancy

Here's a card I made for the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - the theme is WINGS. And there on my table was my new-ish Magnolia stamp which I got at the beginning of the summer and which still had not seen any ink. Perfect timing! :)


I dug around for some paper and came across this beauty in my favourite colour scheme. I think it's by Flair Design. Watercoloured my image to match and added some stickles to the wings. Also used some brads, buttons, flowers and ricrac from my stash (manufacturers unknown). Sentiment is from Papertrey's Beyond Basic Borders.

I'm also going to share another card. I completely CASE-d this card (scroll to bottom of post) that I received in a swap from my lovely and very talented SBS26 sister Kate. Love that card and thought the layout was great, and finally got round to making my own card with it:

It's quite different, with very little stamping (SU! sentiment), but I like it :) Sorry for the dark photo, I don't know what happened there, thought I edited it properly... Thanks for stopping by!

Stamptacular Scallops!

I'm on a roll! I'm finally catching up on my cardmaking, and I'm loving it! I made a card today for the Stamptacular Sunday Challenge which is asking us to use something with scallops on our cards. Easy, peasy, I love scallops! Now, some of my non-crafty friends who might read this will probably doubt my sanity, but I hope the rest of you understand when I say that the colour combo of this card was inspired by my youngest daughter's outfit today! She's 5 yrs old and has quite a knack when it comes to choosing clothes. So there she was, looking rather cool and grown up, and all I could think was "kraft, aqua mist and true black, and I'm going to make a card with those colours!" And here it is:

It's very simple, a kraft base, stamped with black polka dots (Papertrey) and embellished with some black gingham ribbon; aqua scalloped rectangle cut with nesties, focal image and sentiment (Papertrey) stamped in black, and some aqua gems added. Not my usual colours at all, but it's rather grown on me. Thanks for stopping by!

Tilda and Friends - Teen Terrors

I always check out the challenges at Tilda and Friends, but hardly ever get round to completing them. For this week, however, I already had an image coloured in that was just waiting to be made into something! The challenge is to make a teen inspired ATC, and as mum to a teenager-in-waiting, the image of a shopaholic teenage daughter does indeed conjure up terror! ;-)

I used a kraft base with white ink around the edges, Cosmo Cricket "Girl Friday" paper, dymo-ed sentiment, Sugar Nellie image (watercoloured) and a flower and button from stash. Hope you like, I'm quite pleased with it :) Thanks for looking!

Got more!

Nearly forgot to post all these little creations:

They are little bookmarks that go over the corner of a page. There are different versions out there, these follow the instructions from our Stampin' Up! demo magazine and use a square of designer paper (mine is 5x5"). You fold this in half and then in half again, so you end up with a square a quarter of the size of your original one. Unfold and cut one quarter out along the fold lines. Fold the two flaps back down and adhere to make a little pocket. Then you're free to embellish, just try and keep the embellishments fairly flat, so the bookmark slides into the book easily. I also saw these bookmarks here, which ultimately inspired me to give them a go, and I had great fun making them :) They're really quick, cute and use up scraps very nicely.

Thanks for looking!

I'm back

I cannot believe for how long I haven't posted on here! The summer holidays have not been conducive to crafting and blogging, and the first two weeks of school have just flown by as well. However, since all three girls are now at school full day, I'm intending to get into a regular stamping and blogging groove, so watch this space :)

I've recently stumbled across Clean&Simple, a blog with cards that are just that, clean and simple. Hugely inspiring, I really love that style, and I've tried to make a couple of cards, inspired by Natasha's fall-to-layout #41 and by this card here.

Not sure about this card, looks a little stark and like it's missing something after all. But I'll go with it for now.

Images Copyright 1990-2009 Stampin’ Up! ®

Stamp Sets: Tart & Tangy, Live your Dream

Colours: Real Red, Basic Black, Green Galore

Other: Real Red grosgrain ribbon, scallop edge punch, white chalk ink

This one is much more my cup of tea, love the colours on that DP! Colouring was done with inkpads and a waterbrush.

Images Copyright 1990-2009 Stampin’ Up! ®

Stamp Sets: Crazy for Cupcakes

Colours: So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie

Other: Washington Apple DP, Pumpkin Pie brads

Thanks for looking!

Where has the time gone?

I can't believe the first two weeks of school are already over! My little one started with great enthusiasm and has settled into P1 wonderfully. She goes in every morning with a great big smile on her face and a cheery wave to me, it is so lovely to see! I mean, my older two settled well, too, but there was a degree of apprehension on their faces for the first few weeks - not with youngest daughter :) I suppose she's seen it all with her big sisters, but it's great nonetheless. Eldest daughter is very happy to be back at school with her friends - I can't believe she's in P7 and will be off to high school next year! Middle daughter is not quite so happy about being back at school, I think she's a little daunted that she's not in the Infants' anymore, but with the older kids. Youngest daughter will be going full day from Monday, she's very keen to have her lunch at school, and I will have hours and hours of time to myself. Anybody mentioning housework? I thought not ;-) Well, yes, it will have to be done, but there will be so much more time for crafting as well, and I WILL make use of it. Enough of the chitchat, though, here's a little project I made:

It's a wallet for some stamped images I'm sending out, using Papermill cardstock and plain paper, Doodlebug patterned paper, Stampin' Up! sentiment and oval punches and some ribbon I bought at Michael's last year. Hope you like, thanks for stopping by!

PS: Hop on over to my Stamping Stuff blog, I'll be posting some more projects over there.

Back to School Soon!

Yup, the girls are going back to school this coming Tuesday, and apart from youngest daughter, they are less than enthusiastic. Youngest daughter is excited, because she will be starting "big school" and will be in the same school as her big sisters, have a proper school bag, wear school uniform and all that. She is showing her school shoes off to everybody who might (or might not) want to see them, telling everybody she's got her school hair-cut and so on. I'm looking forward to them all going back and getting into routines again, but I'm probably going to have a few tears in my eyes on Tuesday as well, as my "baby" takes her next big step... Tissues will be at the ready!

A friend requested a few cards made for her friends' children who are starting school, and this is what I did:




They're very similar to cards I did last year, only this time I've used the Sizzix people instead of stamped images, and crayons instead of books. I still think they're quite cute :) I was cursing over the fiddly bits though - I mean, I don't mind cutting out or colouring in fairly intricate detail, but when it comes to tiny pieces of card and glue, my stubby fingers just don't cope and I get rather frustrated ;-) But, the shirts had to have collars, and the tie had to have a hint of tartan, so there we go!

Before I go, here's something I've been pondering: I may not have the world's biggest stash, but I do have a ton of stuff and lots of things never get used. First thing is I'm going to try and have a clear out of things that I'm fairly certain I will never use again. But since I'm not really very good at that, I'll still be left with a lot of stuff. So the idea is to use that stuff and not buy any more. Two exceptions: I'm going to indulge myself in one last Papertrey order and I'm going to keep buying the Stampin' Up! stuff that I need. Other than that: nothing! Which means I'll even have to steer clear of new Christmas papers :( Okay, pondering seems to be over, I'm doing it! Updates on my progress will follow...

Hope you're all having a great weekend, thanks for stopping by!

Super quick post

Just popping in to upload a card that I made for a sketch challenge that our SBS26 group is running - this is for you, Priscilla! :)

It uses Doodlebug patterned paper, Cuttlebug embossing folder, some Prima flowers, and Sugar Nellie image, coloured with watercolour pencils. Hope you like :)

Rushing off now to finish packing, we're off on holiday today for a fortnight, yay! The weather forecast doesn't look promising, I just hope it's wrong and we will get some dry weather at least! Fingers, toes and everything else crossed :) Thanks for stopping by, see you when I get back!

I know, it's been a while since I last posted, we've had quite an eventful time of it here, and not in the good sense. On top of all the things that happen in the last few weeks before the summer holidays, eldest daughter was supposed to go off to school camp last Monday, woke up feeling unwell and was sick an hour before they were due to leave. Middle daughter had also been sick, so we were fairly certain it wasn't nerves. So I had two sick children at home, one for Monday and Tuesday, one for the whole week, I had a workshop to prepare for plus I was feeling rather off myself. I ended up spending most of Thursday, Friday and Saturday in bed and helped my weight loss campaign along by simply not eating... However, we are all back to normal now, it's the summer holidays, and I hope to be posting a couple more times this week before we go away for a fortnight. So without further ado, here's a card I made for a challenge that our SBS26 group is running this month:

Images Copyright 1990-2009 Stampin’ Up! ®
Stamp Sets: Crazy for Cupcakes
Colours: Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Pumpkin Pie
Other: Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, Flower Fusion blooms, scallop edge punch, Sweet Always DSP, Watercolor Wonder crayons

Thanks for stopping by!

Giggly, girly card - just because...

I was tidying up my craft table the other day (although you wouldn't know it now...) and when I got to a pile of scraps, I thought why not use them to make a card?

As it turns out, the scraps are just one of many bits on this card, I had to, of course, add the image, and the ribbon wasn't just lying about, and neither were the flowers or the brads :) But I felt good using up some small bits rather than cutting into something new, and as it happens, I'm rather pleased with the whole card. I just love pinks and greens and white together, must be my all-time favourite colour combo! :)

Well, the gorgeous weather from my last post has long disappeared, today it has been raining non-stop, and it's not particularly warm either. Which is annoying, because we have no central heating at the moment, the pump seems faulty and keeps tripping a fuse, so we had to switch it off completely, and I am frozen! It's supposed to get fixed today, and I'm waiting to hear from the company to say when exactly and how much. Meanwhile, youngest daughter is waiting impatiently, wanting to go to McDonald's for her birthday lunch! Poor thing, the house is cold, she can't go outside to play, and she hasn't had any lunch yet (unless birthday cake counts) - not much of a birthday so far! ;-)

Hope you're all having a brighter and warmer day, thanks for stopping by :)

Sizzling Hot!

I made a challenge card, yay! When I saw the latest challenge over at Daring Cardmakers, I thought of Just Beachy, a set from the mini catalogue that I've had a while now, but never inked up. Perfect opportunity!

The challenge asked for hot colours, like yellow, orange and red, and that's exactly what I used :) Only Orange for the card base, the sun background and the flip flops, Real Red for the car, brads and ribbon and Summer Sun for the fishes at the top. Very simple, but it's really growing on me, and it does make me feel like summer - unlike the weather here in Scotland at times...

Thanks for looking!

Bits and Bobs

It's been a while... Things are busy round here, today has been one of precious few days that didn't involve lots of activities and rushing around, and I'm starting to feel like my batteries are slowly recharging.

Did a workshop on Wednesday, and here are a few bits and bobs I made for it:

Hostess gift

Door Prizes

Make and Take

For this card, I used Tart & Tangy and Occasional Greetings stamp sets, Real Red, Old Olive, Bashful Blue and Whisper White cardstock, Real Red ink, Real Red and Old Olive markers, red gingham ribbon and a silver brad. I love the fresh look and will be making more for teacher cards - only two more weeks of school!

Thanks for looking, hopefully be back sooner! :)