Welcome To My Blog

Hello and welcome to my crafting blog. If you are new to visiting me, thank you for stopping by! This is my personal space where I talk about the latest creations that I've made using various crafting products.

If you are looking for a commission or inspiration on a particular card or occasion, please scroll down and take a look on the left hand side at the "Labels" column where it will list cards by occasion and by Stampin' Up! stamp sets in alphabetical order for easy viewing. Just click on one of the titles to view the various cards and boxes in your chosen category.

If you would like me to make a specific card for a special someone or occasion, please email me for more details.

Enjoy your stay, and if you have time, please leave a message to let me know you've dropped by :)

Alex

Tuesday 31 March 2009

Chipboard Promotion for March...

THIS POST SHALL REMAIN AT THE TOP UNTIL TUESDAY 31 MARCH.
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR NEW POSTS.

Hi al
l,

Thought you might like to know what exciting offers Stampin' Up! have for you this month! How would you like to get your crafty mitts on chipboard for a whooping 25% off the Idea Book & Catalogue price :) Yes, that's 25% off four different chipboard products which includes alphabets, frames and accents. This high quality, acid free, chipboard is designed to co-ordinate with many of SU's stamp sets and accessories. Decorate with stamped images, Designer Series paper, Hodgepodge Hardware and many more.


I know you'll need a magnifying glass to read the poster above, so either click on the image or read the great offer below:
  • On Board Batch of Blooms - P.78, was £11.75, Special March Promotion £8.81.
  • On Board Loads of Letters - P.78, was £10.25, Special March Promotion £7.69.
  • On Board Blossoms & Basics* - P.94, was £11.75, Special March Promotion £8.81.
  • On Board Lots of Letters* - P.78, was £10.25, Special March Promotion £7.69.
* These two chipboard sets are from the 2007 retired accessories list and therefore quantities are limited to stock on hand and available while supplies last.

If any of these chipboard products catch your eye, please feel free to email me for more details. These are great accessories for both cardmaking and scrapbooking and the possibilities for using these products are endless. Here are a few examples of what you can do with them below:
  • Use chipboard as it is for an au natural look.
  • Cover chipboard with Designer Series Paper.
  • Heat emboss chipboard to add extra interest to your project.
  • Add glitter to chipboard for projects with an impressive sparkle.
  • Stamp directly onto chipboard, or cover the chipboard with cardstock or Designer Series Paper first and then start stamping.
  • Layer chipboard on top of chipboard for extra depth and dimension.
  • Try accenting chipboard with Hodgepodge Hardware, ribbon, Rub-Ons, Accents & Elements, and more.
  • Use chipboard scraps creatively! You can create a number of fun accents, such as flower stems, arrows, circle accents, frames, etc.
  • Don’t be confined to your chipboard’s original shape. Combine chipboard pieces or trim them how you like to create new, interesting shapes.
  • Use punches to add interesting accents to your chipboard pieces.
  • Use chipboard letters as monograms on cards, scrapbook pages, gifts, gift tags or wrapping, etc.
  • Accent the title of a scrapbook page by using chipboard to accentuate the first letter or a certain word.
  • Create a brag book using one chipboard letter for each layout—it could be an alphabet book for a child, or a book all about your favourite things.
  • Use frame chipboard pieces as focal points on projects, and combine with flower chipboard or letter chipboard pieces.

How exciting is this!


Bye for now,

Alex

Monday 30 March 2009

Field Training Day - What a lot of lovely cards!

Hi all,

As promised here is a picture of all the swap cards I received from Friday's Field Training Day. As you can see there are a variety of styles and layouts, colours and stamp sets used.


These three cards below are the Make & Takes that we made during Field Training Day. How lucky were we - we each received a brand new stamp set called "Forest Friends" so that we could make our Make & Take cards! What a lovely surprise!!! :) This set is available to buy from the Mini Catalogue from Wednesday 1 April. The new striped grosgrain ribbon is so soft and gorgeous! What a lot of fun we had that evening :)

You can click on the left hand side to view the new Mini Catalogue as a pdf file. Or email me if you'd like a personal copy to flick through in your leisure.


Bye for now,

Alex

Sunday 29 March 2009

What a Lovely Weekend...

WOW: I loved the Stampin' Up! Field Training Day on Friday. It was so much fun and I got to meet lots of lovely other SU Demonstrators :) We all swapped our swap cards that we made and I loved seeing everyone elses too (shall post a picture of them all soon). It was really good to see the variations in cards and luckily there were plenty of cards with different stamp sets, layouts and colours - no two cards were the same :) It was very inspirational and a great evening and start to a relaxing weekend.

Here's my swap card that I made for those that took part in the swap:

Cheers To You


Recipe (All SU items are available from the current Idea Book & Catalogue 2008-2009).
Stamps:-
Cheers To You (2008-09) -
Set of 6 stamps. P.33. I have used the beer mug and sentiment stamps.
SU Cardstock - A4 Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Very Vanilla and Whisper White. P67 - 69.
SU Ink Pad - Basic Grey. P.67.
SU Markers - Barely Banana, Apricot Appeal, Only Orange, Bashful Blue and Night of Navy for the Sentiment.
SU Blending Pen. P.85.
VersaMark Pad. P.67.
SU Punches - Scallop Square Punch. P.87.
Stamp-A-Ma-Jig. P.85
Dimensionals.

Hope you like the card. Please feel free to leave a message as I love to read your comments :)

Bye for now,

Alex

Friday 27 March 2009

Yay it's Friday...

Hi all,

Hope you're all well... have been very excited about today as for us Stampin' Up! Demonstrators, there's been a number of Field Training Days held in various places up and down the country this week and tonight is the venue nearest to me! It's going to be an exciting time as I've made 20 swap cards to share with the other demonstrators, and in return I'll get some lovely swap cards back :) I'll also get to meet lots of other demonstrators that I've chatted to so much online but have never been face to face with so that's scary but exciting at the same time!

Remember, you've only got a
few more days left to take me up on the fab Chipboard Offer at 25% off. Then from the 1st April onwards take a look at the new Mini Catalogue and what great stamp sets and accessories Stampin' Up! have to offer. Click on the side bar to the left to view :) Enjoy!

I'll post back with news and perhaps my swap cards over the weekend sometime, until then have a good Friday and an even better weekend!

Alex

Tuesday 24 March 2009

Baby Twins...

Hi all,

Well Sunday just gone was Mothering Sunday here in the UK. Apart from making Mother Hau a Mother's Day card, I was busy making a commissioned baby card to celebrate the birth of twins. I was given details such as to use blue and pink and their names and then it was up to me to come up with a finished card.

Here it is below, hope you like.

Bundle Of Joy


Recipe (All SU items are available from the current Idea Book & Catalogue 2008-2009).
Stamps:-
Bundle of Joy (2008-09) -
Set of 7 stamps. P.28. I have used the teddy bear.
SU Cardstock - A4 Pretty In Pink, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery and Very Vanilla. P67 - 69.
SU Ink Pad - Basic Grey and Certainly Celery. P.67.
SU Gingham Ribbon - Light Pink and Light Blue, P.80.

SU Punches - Tag, Small Tag and Scallop Edge Border Punch. P.86.
Prismacolor Pencils, using Sansador and blending stumps.
Sentiments - Computer Generated with custom colour settings to represent Certainly Celery.
Cuttlebug Embossing Folder - Argyle.

Bye for now,

Alex

Monday 23 March 2009

What a busy weekend...

Hi all,

Just wanted to say that I had a lovely weekend and held two successful workshops on Saturday morning and afternoon. Thank you to the lovely ladies that came, all the cards were made by using the one stamp set called "Simply Said" (Set of 11 stamps). I wanted to show the ladies how versatile one stamp set can be and with a bit of creativity, how you can make so many different card designs. Just changing the colour cardstock, ink pads, ribbons and layout can really make all the difference and give you so many new and exciting cards!

It was lovely to see everyone's cards looking so unique and individual to each person, as all the ladies were able to change/adapt certain parts to their card, e.g. choosing which side of the double sided designer series paper to use for card one, or what colour to colour in their flowers for card two or whether to stamp certain parts in either chocolate chip or bordering blue for the third and final card for example.

Below is a picture of the cards we made for the workshop:


Card One
Recipe (All items are available from the current Idea Book & Catalogue 2008-2009).
Stamps:-
Simply Said (2008-09) -
Set of 11 stamps. P.31. I have used two out of the eleven stamps for this card.
Sincere Salutations (2008-09) - Set of 8 stamps, P.62. I used "Birthday Wishes".
SU Cardstock - A4 Pretty In Pink and Whisper White, P67, 69.
Patterns Designer Series Paper - Bashful Blue, P.71.
SU Ink Pad - Pretty In Pink and Barely Banana, P.69.
SU Taffeta Ribbon - Pretty In Pink, P.80.

Stamp-A-Ma-Jig was used to stamp the two little flowers on top of each other.

Card Two
Recipe (All items are available from the current Idea Book & Catalogue 2008-2009).
Stamps:-
Simply Said (2008-09) -
Set of 11 stamps. P.31. I have used a different stamp to the previous card.
SU Cardstock - A4 Barely Banana, Bashful Blue and Whisper White, P67, 69.
SU Ink Pad - Basic Grey. P.67.
SU Stampin' Write Marker Pens - Various colours chosen by individual crafters.
SU 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon - Very Vanilla, P.80.
SU Punch - Scallop Edge Border, P.86.
Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to align the flowers in a repeated pattern across the whisper white cardstock three times.

Card Three
Recipe (All items are available from the current Idea Book & Catalogue 2008-2009).
Stamps:-
Simply Said (2008-09) -
Set of 11 stamps. P.31. I have used a number of different stamps to the previous two cards.
SU Cardstock - A4 Bordering Blue, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, P67, 69.
SU Ink Pad - Bordering Blue and Chocolate Chip. P.68, 69.
SU Stampin' Write Marker Pens - Bordering Blue.

SU Punch - Scallop Edge Border, P.86.
Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to align the flowers and hearts on top of each other.
Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time, bye for now,

Alex

Thursday 19 March 2009

Mothering Sunday...

Hi all,

Been busy this end making a few Mother's Day cards for friends and family. Here's a selection I've recently made:

Send A Celebration and Occasionally


Simply Said


Simply Said with Occasional Greetings


Recipes to follow at a later date...

Bye for now,

Alex

Tuesday 17 March 2009

New Blog Award!

Hi all,

The lovely Aimes has nominated me for a blog award :)

Isn't it adorable...


Thanks so much for brightening my day! Be back later with more cards from me... and a link to seven other people who deserve this award :)

Until then,

Alex

Monday 16 March 2009

Happy First Birthday...

Hi all,

Just wanted to post a new card that I've been making this evening. I have a friend who's celebrating their daughter's first birthday on Thursday, so wanted to make something for her.

Hope you like.

Baby Card - Wild About You


Recipe (All items are available from the current Idea Book & Catalogue).
Stamps:-
Wild About You (2008-09) -
Set of 8 stamps. Available to buy in the current UK Idea Book & Catalogue 2008-2009 - P.28. I have used three out of the eight stamps.
Cheer & Wishes (2008-09) - Set of 6 stamps, P.58.
SU Cardstock - A4 Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Pretty In Pink - P67-69.
SU Ink Pad - Certainly Celery, Regal Rose, Pretty In Pink, Barely Banana and Pumpkin Pie. P.68-69.
SU Scallop Edge Border Punch - P.86 and Scallop Square Punch, P.86.


Thanks for stopping by, please leave me a message if you have time as I'd love to hear from you.

Alex

Saturday 14 March 2009

Stampin' Up! Workshop...

Hi all,

Well, I don't know where the time has gone to, but it's only a week to go until I hold my new Stampin' Up! workshop. I'm so excited to be able to hold a workshop for some lovely enthusiastic ladies and I can't wait for their creative energies to follow and multiply as we start creating three beautiful cards using the stamp set "Simply Said" that is currently available in the current Idea Book & Catalogue.

I have decided on three cards based on this stamp set and will over the next few days begin to cut up all the cardstock, gather together the ribbons and punches etc and begin to get prepared for the big day :)

Card Number One:

Card Number Two:


Card Number Three:

Hope you like the sneak peeks of the cards we'll make next week.

Until then,

Alex

Friday 13 March 2009

Busy Bee...

Hi all,

Well, hope you're all well and looking forward to the weekend. As you know, I've been rather busy making an assortment of greeting cards so here are just a few to show you.

Baby Girl Card




Thank You Card - Outside

Thank You Card - Inside (Normally only insert one layer of whisper white cardstock to the inside of a card, but there's lots of people that will be signing this one, hence the double layer).


Happy Birthday Card


Another Baby Card

Another Birthday Card


Hope you like!

Bye for now,

Alex

Wednesday 11 March 2009

A Few Birthday Cards...

Hi all,

Hope you're all well. Been busy this end doing a little crafting as I never have a supply of cards handy for people's birthdays. Have made a fair few, but they take forever to photo them and upload, so over the next few days I'll post more, but for now here are two I've recently made, one for my Aunty who's the big 5-0 tomorrow, and one spare for the cupboard :)

Hope you like, please feel free to comment as I'd love to hear feedback from you all.


Penny Black Birthday Card


Big Bold Birthday - I love chocolate and blue, if you hadn't guessed already!

Recipes to follow at a later time.

Bye for now,


Alex

Saturday 7 March 2009

Another Blog Award...

Hi all,

WOW, what an honour to be presented with another blog award by Sara, please click here to visit her blog.

I will proudly display this with all my other blog awards and will pass this onto five other people who support me and leave encouraging comments on my blog.

I would like to pass on this blog award to the following people:

1) Carole
2) Steph
3) Kate
4) Nikki
5) Aimes

Thank you to everyone who visit my blog and return time and time again. Leaving a comment really does brighten my day and I love to read your thoughts on my work so that I can improve on each and every creation that I make.

Bye for now,

Alex

Wednesday 4 March 2009

Big Hello Kitty Fan :)

Hi all,

WOW: Been a busy week here. What with news from Stampin' Up! about a Chipboard Offer and a Mini on the way in April :)


Anyway, I've had a little time to make a birthday card for someone special and thought I'd upload it here for you all to see. You might not know, but I'm a huge Hello Kitty fan. Have been since I could
talk lol. Well luckily for me, the birthday girl is a Hello Kitty fan too, so I made this card especially for her.

Thank you Steph for sending me the Hello Kitty die cuts :) Below is a card and pillow pouch box using all Stampin' Up! cardstock, ink pads, stamps and ribbon.



Hope you're all well. I'll post back another time with the recipe.

Bye for now,

Alex