Boo Bear...

Hello all,

WOW with all this snow, it's been lovely sitting here at home with all my crafting goodies surrounding me. I've been busy making cards for a Boo Bear Card Swap that I'm hosting over at SCS. I've been hosting card swaps for the past year now, and have hosted around nine in total, I love it! :)

Anyway, I hosted the Boo Bear Card Swap whereby I bought this adorable die cut and made enough Boo Bears for everyone that participated in the swap. Five each were given to the six of us and it was up to individuals to interpret and make a card using the said die cut.

Well the due date was on Friday just gone and I've got all but one card in. The other one is on it's way, just that due to snow, I've not seen the postman for the past two days! So, when I receive all six sets in, I'll be swapping and posting them all out to the recipients so that everyone gets a selection of different Boo Bear cards back not including their own.

Anyway, I wanted to give you a sneek peak of my Boo Bear Card, and hopefully in due course, I will post the whole card up for you all to see.


Okay, I think I've teased you enough now, so I'll be off.

Until next time...

Alex

Thank You...

Hello blog,

WOW: I heard we were going to get snow by Monday, so was I surprised to see it was falling hard from the sky earlier today :) I so love seeing fresh snow on the ground, and even better when I walk in it and hear the crunching underneath my boots! lol.

Anyway, I wanted to share some cards I recently made for a few special people to say "thanks". I've used my new Stampin' Up! stamp set called "Seeing Spots" that I received as part of my Starter Kit and decided to use the different stamps in the set with different colour ink pads so that I could create three different cards. Hope you like:

First card I did, I used my two favourite colours - Bashful Blue and Pretty In Pink.


Recipe
Stamps:-
Seeing Spots (2008-09) - Set of 6 stamps. Available to buy in the current UK Idea Book & Catalogue 2008-2009 - P.50. I have used two out of the six stamps.
Circle of Friendship (2008-09) - Set of 8 - P.60. I have used "Thank You For Everything Over & Over Again".
SU Cardstock - A4 Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Pretty In Pink - P67-69.
SU Ink Pad - Bashful Blue and Pretty In Pink - P.69.
SU Ribbon - Taffeta Ribbon - Pretty In Pink - P.80.
Nestabilities - Circle.

Okay, here's another Thank You card that I've made using the same stamp set as above, just chose two different stamps from the previous card:


Recipe
Stamps:-
Seeing Spots (2008-09) - Set of 6 stamps. Available to buy in the current UK Idea Book & Catalogue 2008-2009 - P.50. I have used two out of the six stamps.
Riverting - Set of 8 stamps. Not available in the UK catalogue yet. This is a Retired Set from the US Catalogue. I have used "Thanks So Much".
SU Cardstock - A4 Whisper White, Certainly Celery and Apricot Appeal - P67-69.
SU Ink Pad - Certainly Celery, Apricot Appeal, Basic Black - P.69.
SU Ribbon - 1/4" (6.35mm) Grosgrain Ribbon - Certainly Celery - P.80.
SU Ticket Corner Punch - Only available to buy from the US catalogue.
SU Stamp-a-ma-jig - This tool is a god send!!! It helps me line up the stamps perfectly so that I could ink the outer circle with Certainly Celery, and the inner circle with Apricot Appeal :)
Nestabilities - Circle.

Okay, my last card for the night is my last Thank You card that I've made recently:


Recipe
Stamps:-
Seeing Spots (2008-09) - Set of 6 stamps. Available to buy in the current UK Idea Book & Catalogue 2008-2009 - P.50. I have used two out of the six stamps.
Riverting - Set of 8 stamps. Not available in the UK catalogue yet. This is a Retired Set from the US Catalogue. I have used "Thanks So Much".
SU Cardstock - A4 Whisper White, Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery - P67-69.
SU Ink Pad - Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery and Basic Black - P.67, 69.
SU Ribbon - 1/4" (6.35mm) Grosgrain Ribbon - Certainly Celery - P.80.
SU Ticket Corner Punch - Only available to buy from the US catalogue.
SU Stamp-a-ma-jig - This tool is a god send!!! It helps me line up the stamps perfectly so that I could ink the outer circle with Certainly Celery, and the inner circle with Bashful Blue :)
Nestabilities - Circle.

Thanks for looking, please feel free to leave a comment :)

Alex

Pouch Boxes

Hi all,

Well just wanted to post a few pouch boxes that I made earlier this week that I haven't been able to upload to my blog until now.

Just wanted to show you how you don't have to just make cards with SU products, it can be layouts or 3D items, and I'm going to try and make more non-cards for my Open House Day to show you that from a stamp set, ink and paper the possibilities are endless.

Below is a picture of two pouch boxes I made using all SU products:


Recipe
On the left hand side
Stamps:-
Loads of Love (2008-09) - Set of 7 stamps. Available to buy in the current UK Idea Book & Catalogue 2008-2009 - P.27. I have used the pickup truck, Loads of Love! sentiment and pile of hearts from this stamp set.
Loads of Love Accessories (2008-09) - Set of 12 - P.27. I have used the lady as the driver :) I could have put a man in the front seat instead.
SU Cardstock - A4 Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery and Real Red - P68-69.
SU Ink Pad - Basic Black - P.67.
SU Brad - Bashful Blue - P.82.
SU Dimensionals - To pop up the hearts and have a 3D effect - P.87.
I have coloured in with Letraset Promarkers, as I haven't yet bought the SU Write Markers - it's on my wish list!

On the right hand side
Stamps:-
Fast & Fun Notes (2008-09) - Set of 8 stamps. Available to buy in the current UK Idea Book & Catalogue 2008-2009 - P.30. I have used the birthday cake and sentiment separately.
SU Cardstock - Textured 12x12 Cardstock in Basic Black - P.67.
SU Cardstock - A4 Whisper White - P67.
SU Ink Pad - Basic Black - P.67.
Nestabilities - Circle and scalloped circle.
Promarkers - For the hearts.

Thanks for looking, I hope you like the cute boxes - to be filled with various goodies of course!

Bye for now,

Alex

Slideshow

Hi all,

Well the other day I was looking online at all my favourite blogs I visit for inspiration and I saw that some blogs have a snazzy slideshow on their blog which displays their cards or scrapbook layouts. Got me thinking that I should do that too, seeing as previous to this blog I have made lots of cards, not necessarily with SU products, but with other brands instead, e.g. Penny Black, Doodlebug, Woodware, just to name a few.

So, after clicking a few buttons here and there, I've finally got a slideshow :) The top one is just cards that I've recently made over the last few months. The second slideshow are the cards I made for Christmas 2008.

The first slideshow was pretty simple and took a little bit of time. I added cards in batches so it didn't feel so bad. However, I learnt my lesson for the second slideshow, and thought I'd upload all 33 at the one time. Oh dear! Didn't realise, that once I started I couldn't stop. It was taking forever, so much so, that I was still here till nearly 1am the other night! lol.

So, after all the sleepless nights I've had this week trying to do this slideshow, the least everyone can do is scroll down to the very bottom of the page and take a look :)

Enjoy!

Alex

Winner...

Hi all,

Hope everyone's well. Been a busy week and when I received email last night from Steph to say I've got a surprise waiting for me over at her blog, I was really excited and couldn't wait to see what was in store for me. Anyway, Steph had some blog candy up for grabs, and although I didn't win the ultimate prize of the four SAB stamp sets, I did get picked out of the remaining 184 entries for one SAB stamp set which has just made my day! :) I've won Polka Dot Punches and am soon to be receiving it in the mail. Steph, thank you so much for this, I'm really honoured to be receiving this.

Watch this space for some sample cards using Polka Dot Punches - one of the SAB stamp sets you could get free when you spend £45 between now and end of February. For more details, you can contact me via email or by telephone.

Bye for now,

Alex

SU Samples

Okay, so on Saturday I made a start on some sample cards using my new rubber stamps, ink
pads and cardstock that I received in my Starter Kit from SU. I've been dying to have a play with them, just needed to find some time. So, on Saturday I made the following cards using various SU products:

1) A simple girly card to give to someone for Valentines to show they're thought of:

Inside of card:


Recipe

Stamps:-
Occasionally (2008-09) - Set of 28 stamps. Available to buy in the current UK Idea Book & Catalogue 2008-2009 - P.18. I have used the heart stamp on the card front.
Sealed With A Kiss (2008-09) - Set of 6 - P.16. I have used one of the stamps inside the card and have stamped the circle with the heart again so that I could cut and apply on top of the original image to make it 3D.
SU Cardstock - Textured 12x12 Cardstock in Rose Red, Whisper White - P.68-69.
SU Cardstock - A4 Whisper White and Pretty in Pink - P68-69.
SU Ink Pad - Pretty in Pink - P.69.
SU Ribbon - 5/8" (1.59cm) Grosgrain Ribbon - Regal Rose - P.80.
Cuttlebug - Medium Flower Die.
Nestabilities - Circle.

2) Next I made a birthday card appropriate to give to a male:

Here's the inside of the card:

Recipe:
Stamps:-
Occasionally (2008-09) - Set of 28 stamps. Available to buy in the current UK Idea Book & Catalogue 2008-2009 - P.18. I have used the present stamp on the card front and inside.
Fun & Fast Notes (2008-09) - Set of 8 - P.30. I have used the sentiment from the birthday stamp for the front of the card.
SU Cardstock - Textured 12x12 Cardstock in Night of Navy, Ballet Blue and Bashful Blue - P.68-69.
SU Cardstock - A4 Whisper White - P68-69.
SU Ink Pad - Bashful Blue - P.69.

3) Last card of tonight that I made on Saturday is a Get Well Card:

Inside of the card:

Recipe

Stamps:-
Fun & Fast Notes (2008-09) - Set of 8 - P.30. I have used the Get Well Wishes image and sentiment.
Occasionally (2008-09) - Set of 28 stamps - P.18. I have used the flower stamp and watermarked this image for a background pattern.
SU Cardstock - A4 Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue and Whisper White - P67, 69.
SU Ink Pad - Bashful Blue - P.69.
Staz-On Ink Pad - Black - P.67.
VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad - P.67.
SU Ribbon - 1/4" (6.35mm) Grosgrain Ribbon - Certainly Celery.
SU Scallop Edge Punch - P. 86
Cuttlebug Embossing Border - With Love.
Prismacolor Pencils - These were used with Sansodor and blending stumps to colour in the image.

Thanks for checking out my blog. Please feel free to leave a message.

Alex

Monday ramblings...

Happy Chinese New Year Everyone!

Hope you're well and you all had a good weekend. I wanted to continue and make my Chinese New Year cards on Saturday so that they could get the Saturday midday post for relatives to receive them today. Anyway, long story cut short, I couldn't find my one piece of gold cardstock that I used the other day, so I couldn't make them :(

So instead of wasting more time, I did make some SU cards for the rest of the day (samples for my Open House Day in mid February) and typical, as I was clearing away that evening, I found my one piece of gold cardstock!

Sunday I started early making a few Chinese New Year cards so that at least I had some to show on here to wish my family good wishes for the coming Year of the Ox.

Here are three designs that I made:



Be back later for some SU cards that I made on Saturday :)

Bye for now,

Alex

I accept this Marie Antoinette Blog Award and wish to thank...

Hello all,

Wow, I'm really honoured and thank Sara for giving me the Marie Antoinette Blog Award :)

The rules of this award are as follows:

1) Post a link of the person who gave you the award.

2) Nominate seven other people and give a link to their sites.

3) Let the people who you have nominated know.

4) Put a log of the award on your blog.

So this award now goes to seven people's blog who inspire me (I've used seven other people to the ten I used the other day for the Butterfly Blog Award - For The Coolest blog I ever know). In no particular order they are:

1) Nikki
2) Caz
3) Jackie
4) Clair and Sharni
5) Julie
6) Kelly
7) Jennifer

Go check out these blogs that inspire me, I'm sure you'll agree they are all very talented and deserve this award. The first five are people in the UK, the other two from America :)

Bye for now.

Alex

Weekend has arrived...

Hello blog,

Am I crazy or what, it's 7.26am as I type this, I was eager to get up this morning, despite going to bed late. I need to continue to make my Chinese New Year cards so that they can catch the 12-something mail today to arrive for Monday morning - I'm hoping Royal Mail will deliver on time! lol.

Then I'm going to try and do some sample cards today using my new rubber stamps and limited ink pad colours to create some hopefully beautiful cards to show off later. I have a view to have an open house day in mid February sometime, so I'm trying to get prepared to make some goodies/samples for all to see. Again, when I know - sooner rather than later, I'll let you all know the exact date and time. It will definitely be before the last date in February as we're currently got Sale-A-Bration going on, which for every £45 you spend, you're entitled to choose a free limited edition stamp set from a selection of four (see Sale-A-Bration post for the pictures of all four stamp sets). Now's an even better time to put your feet up, grab a drink (alcohol optional) and look through the catalogue and mark out your wish list!

I'm going to sign out now, cards are waiting for me to be made...

Bye for now,

Alex

YAY: My new blog header.

Okay, so after emailing Kirsty back this morning saying what can I do now? She's only gone and had a fiddle with html codes etc and here it is - a new snazzy blog header in the right place :) Thanks so much Kirsty - you are a star!

Hope you like my new blog header.

Bye for now,

Alex

Blog Award...

WOW: How lovely to come home from work today to find a comment on my blog saying that I’ve been recognised for my new blog! It’s very much appreciated, and I thank you Jo for giving me the award… I’ve only had this blog for two weeks, but it’s been fun posting about the new adventure I’ve just started - being an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. I love typing my little news and uploading new cards that I’ve been creating using Stampin’ Up! products. I’m glad there’s people out there taking the time to read my blog and looking at my cards I’ve been creating so far. Keep on returning to see my new creations… I love to read your comments!

Jo has given me a blog award!

It’s so sweet of her, and it’s nice to know there are people out there who read my blog!

The idea of this award is to pass it along to ten others, as follows:

1. Post the award logo on your blog.
2. Add the link to the person who nominated you.
3. Nominate ten other blogs and post their links as well.
4. Let those people know that they received the award.

So here goes:

1 - Carole
2 - Monica
3 - Steph

4 - Sara

5 - Kirsty

6 - Marion

7 - Nina

8 - Nicci
9 - Lauren
10 - Nichole

So there we go! I could have gone on, but ten is the limit! The majority of the blogs above are from other people in the UK that are Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrators. However, the last two are American bloggers who are a great inspiration to me. There are so many fabulous blogs out there, follow the links above and you'll get to see a small selection!

Thanks for stopping by,

Alex

Stampin' Up! have an offer you can't say no to...

Join The Sale-A-Bration!

It's time to Sale-A-Brate at Stampin' Up! and earn yourself a free product or two!

During Sale-A-Bration, between 1 January - 28 February Stampin' Up! are giving YOU the chance to earn fantastic, FREE, limited-edition stamp sets you'll enjoy for years to come.

Here are the stamp sets up for grabs:

1) Botanical Blooms (Set of 7 stamps)

2) Yummy (Set of 3 stamps)

3) Congrats (Set of 7 stamps)

4) Polka Dot Punches (Set of 4 stamps)

Here's how Sale-A-Bration works:

Customers
When you spend £45 on Stampin' Up! merchandise, you'll receive a free Sale-A-Bration stamp set - see pictures above. There's no limit - for every £45 you spend (before shipping), you can select another free Sale-A-Bration stamp set! So, if you purchase goods to the value of £90 (before shipping) you'll earn yourself two free stamp sets and so on.

Hostesses
When you host a workshop of at least £300 (before shipping), you'll receive a free Sale-A-Bration stamp set in addition to all of the regular hostess benefits!

Recruits
During Sale-A-Bration, anyone who joins as a demonstrator can choose any stamp set - a value of up to £38.95 from the current Idea Book and Catalogue! - See link to the left hand side.

Don't miss your chance to earn free products! Get in touch with me today to book your workshop hosted in the comfort of your own home, or learn more about this promotion. Want a copy of the full colour Sale-A-Bration brochure full of beautiful project ideas you can make using these limited-edition Sale-A-Bration sets? Send me an email for more details. You can also view the Sale-A-Bration brochure online by clicking on the picture to the left hand side.

Get ready to Sale-A-Brate!