SPECIAL OFFER! 20% off selected stamp sets!

If you didn't get to take advantage of my own special offer in July - don't worry! Stampin' Up has come up with an unmissable offer for August: UK customers get to snap up some of the gorgeous two-step stamp sets at a massive 20% discount. Take a look at the table below...

... Wow! Are you finding it hard to choose?

• There's no limit on this offer - you can order as many as you like
• You don't have to spend a specific amount to qualify for this offer 

This really is an unbeatable offer! To order your discounted sets, just email me or call me on 01280 820593. Once your order has been processed, your goodies will be with you within a week!

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Best Wishes and More coordinated gift set

Take a look at this adorable rucksack that I bought for a young relative. Isn't it cute?

How could I resist making a card to match? Here's a close up:

The background is made by stamping the heart from Best Wishes and More in bright colours on Whisper White and adding hearts punched with the Small Heart punch. The flower is a 1" circle of Yoyo Yellow, with a face doodled on it, matted onto a 1 1/4" circle of Basic Black. The petals were punched with the small oval punch, the edges sponged with Bashful Blue and a blue line drawn through the centres with Bashful Blue ink and a blender pen. I stuck the petals to the back of the face and popped the whole thing up on dimensionals. I matted this panel onto Creamy Caramel card stock and adhered it to a Whisper White card blank.

Supplies
Stamps: Best Wishes and More
Ink: Only Orange, Yoyo Yellow, Lovely Lilac, Pink Passion, Green Galore, Bashful Blue
Card stock: Whisper White, Creamy Caramel, Only Orange, Yoyo Yellow, Lovely Lilac, Pink Passion, Green Galore, Basic Black
Other: Small oval, 1 1/4"and 1" circle, small heart punches, blender pen, Basic Black marker

I was thinking about ways to wrap the rucksack when I came across a shoe box that my daughter's new shoes had come in. It matched the caramel beautifully so I thought I'd add bright, heart-stamped panels to the lid and sides and tie the whole thing up with a length of Ballet Blue grosgrain ribbon. Here's how it turned out:

While I was punching the hearts for the panels I was struck by how beautiful the piles of coloured hearts were - like confetti.

So I thought I'd sprinkle some in with the gift. (Wouldn't it make fabulous table confetti too - for a special anniversary or valentine meal or any romantic occasion!)

You may have spotted the little tag. It was made in the same way as the panels with a corner rounded top. I stuck a 3/4" circle of Ballet Blue card stock to the centre and punched a hole through it, then added a corresponding circle to the back of the tag. Silver elastic thread was knotted through it to attach to the ribbon. I added a flower similar to the one on the card made with the 5 petal punch and small circle punches.

And there it is - ready to pop in the post!

I was so pleased with the way the box matched this project. It's worth making a collection of boxes, tins, jars etc that you can alter to coordinate with your gifts. Of course the problem with that is that you need a new house to store them in...

Thanks for dropping in today.
If you're thinking of making an order with me, don't forget that if you are a UK customer, you can get your postage and packaging absolutely free with orders of £30 or more before the end of July. Call me on 01280 820593 or send me your order by email.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Three Minute Thursday - using Sweet Pea DP and felt

It's wonderful to invest time on a card or other project, but sometimes we just don't have that kind of time. (And I have to confess I'm not a patient crafter - when I get an idea in my head I want to see it NOW!) That's why I've come up with Three Minute Thursday - for people who want beautiful cards in minutes!

Today you even get two cards for the price of one! Both took less than three minutes.

When I first saw these beautiful stitched felt embellishments in the mini catalogue (p.13), they were an absolute must-have for me! You get 52 pieces for £6.50 and you get heaps of cards out of them. Here's how I made this card:

• Cut a piece of Whisper White card stock 9 cm x 18 cm, score at 9 cm and fold with a bone folder to make a card blank.
• Cut a piece of striped Sweet Pea DP 7.5 cm square and draw two stems on it with an Old Olive marker.
• Mat it onto a piece of Always Artichoke card stock cut 8 cm square and adhere to your card blank.
• Add felt leaves and flowers to your card front.

Here's the other card I made:

Just as quick and simple:

• Cut a piece of Whisper White card stock 9 cm x 18 cm, score at 9 cm and fold with a bone folder to make a card blank.
• Cut a piece of Always Artichoke card stock 7 cm x 9 cm and trim both long ends with the Scallop Border punch. (It should end up being about 7 cm square.)
• Cut a piece of striped Sweet Pea DP 6.5 cm x 6 cm and mat onto the Always Artichoke card stock. Attach to the card blank.
• Add a leaf and two of the large flowers layered together to the front of your card.

I made these as notecards but you could easily add a sentiment to make them work for any occasion. They'd make a lovely boxed set to give as a gift too.

Hope you've enjoyed the speedy cards today.

I'll be back tomorrow with a coordinated birthday gift. Do join me!

Circle Circus Christmas

I know, I know! Christmas in July feels wrong in every way! Except one: if you start making your Christmas cards now, imagine how much more relaxed your planning will be later in the year. Just one card a week from now until Christmas will give you twenty cards - now that's not such a bad idea!

So without further ado, here's the Circle Circus card I made:

I based it on Robyn's card here. I loved the way she used the Two Step Bird punch to make branches to hang her baubles on. I used a variety of greens to give my foliage a bit of depth and used the leaves to hide the holes that my elastic thread was threaded through. The main panel is fixed onto the matting with dimensionals and the matting is Old Olive designer series paper which I felt gave a nice contemporary feel to the card. Don't you just love the Circle Circus baubles? Hmm - I'm just thinking that perhaps heat embossing them would make them even yummier...

Supplies
Stamps: Circle Circus, Occasional Greetings
Ink: Real Red
Card stock: Whisper White, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Certainly Celery
Other: Two step bird punch, Old Olive designer series paper, silver elastic thread

Well that's my festive moment in July! Don't forget - if you want to get sorted for Christmas in advance, now is a great time to order your craft supplies as I'm offering UK customers free postage and packaging on orders of £30 or more. The offer ends in three days time so don't miss out - call me on 01280 820593 or email your order here.

Thank you so much for visiting me today - I really appreciate you spending your time with me. It's back to summer tomorrow when I'll be back with a couple of quick cards for Three Minute Thursday.
Hope to see you then.

Circle Circus box of notelets

Today I was going to show you a birthday project I've been busy with until I realised that it's probably best to keep it under wraps until the birthday girl gets it on Friday!  So if you like a coordinated gift set, do pop back to see it then.

But how about this instead:

It's a box of 9 cm square notelets made using my current obsession the amazing Circle Circus stamp set. The medallion on the box and card was made by stamping three images from the set onto three colours of card stock, cutting them out with punches, layering them together and securing with these gorgeous brads. On the card, the medallion is mounted on dimensionals onto a square of Bashful Blue card stock with pierced edges, then matted onto Night of Navy card stock. The simple box holds four of these cards with envelopes

Supplies
Stamps: Circle Circus
Ink: Night of Navy
Card stock: Whisper White, Night of Navy, Basic Grey, Bashful Blue
Other: Paper piercer, brads from the hodgepodge hardware set, scallop circle, 1 1/4" and 1" circle punches

I love the cards in soft colourways like these:

But also in more vibrant colours like these:

Circle Circus has been an eye-opener for me. I've been working with it for the last couple of weeks and can hardly believe how versatile it is. If you are looking for a hard working stamp set that'll take you all the way through into Christmas, you've found the very one!

Yes I know, I said Christmas. Well it is going to happen this year and we might as well be prepared! Why not join me tomorrow for a Circle Circus Christmas preview?
Hope to see you then.

Coordinated gift set using Circle Circus

The impressive thing about Circle Circus is that I haven't found one occasion that it wouldn't be suitable for. Today's post is about a nine-year-old boy's birthday and, yet again, Circle Circus comes up trumps!

For the card, the background design was made by pressing an ink pad directly against a piece of card stock, adding the happy birthday sentiment from Occasional greetings and stamping the 'football' circle from Circus Circus. I stamped the circles again on a spare piece of card stock, punched them out and popped them over the others on dimensionals. The panel was adhered to a Whisper white card blank. The tag was made in the same way. I added a red eyelet with my cropadile and rounded the top corners of the tag. The gift wrap was a trimmed C4 envelope stamped in the same way (although it looks a bit faded in the photo... sorry.) It was finished with a piece of Tempting Turquoise grosgrain ribbon, threaded through the tag and knotted.

Supplies
CARD
Stamps: Circle Circus, Occasional Greetings
Ink: Yoyo Yellow, Temping Turquoise, Certainly Celery, Real Red, Brilliant Blue
Card stock: Whisper White
Other: 1" circle punch

TAG
Stamps: Circle Circus, Occasional Greetings

Ink: Yoyo Yellow, Temping Turquoise, Certainly Celery, Real Red, Brilliant Blue

Card stock: Whisper White

Other: Basic eyelets, cropadile

GIFT WRAP

Stamps: Circle Circus, Occasional Greetings

Ink: Yoyo Yellow, Temping Turquoise, Certainly Celery, Real Red, Brilliant Blue

Card stock: None

Other: C4 envelope (from stationers), Tempting Turquoise grosgrain ribbon

Well, those lazy days of summer are certainly upon us now. Yesterday was spent in delightful company at a family fun day at our local cricket club. The sun shone and we relaxed in its warmth... sigh, this is the life! I hope you all had a lovely weekend too.

There's another birthday coming up this week - wonder if I'll use Circle Circus for that?!

Come back tomorrow and find out!

FTL100 using Itty Bitty Buds

Natasha has posted her 100th sketch on the Clean and Simple site - she must be so proud. I love the clean and simple approach and her sketches are always an inspiration to me. Here's this week's sketch:


And here's the card I was inspired to make:

I cut a Whisper White card base and stamped a design on it using three of the flower images and a leaf from the Itty Bitty Buds hostess set. The edge of the pink dotty designer paper was scalloped and cut to come two thirds of the way down the card.  I stuck a strip of Ballet Blue grosgrain ribbon and a large bow to the top of the DP and adhered the top only to the card base, leaving a flap which can be raised to reveal the stamped design underneath. The DP was stamped with a sentiment and a stem from  Itty Bitty Buds and decorated with flowers that were stamped and cut out.

Itty Bitty Buds is probably my all-time favourite hostess set. It's like a mini garden in a box and you could stamp with it every day and come up with something new! Remember, these hostess sets are not available to buy - they come free when you host a qualifying party or make a qualifying order. Itty Bitty Buds is only available until the end of September  so if you'd like to get your hands on a set, contact me to book a date for your party today!

Thanks for taking the time to look at my blog today. Hope you're having a great weekend.
See you soon.

SPECIAL OFFER!

As you may have noticed I'm on holiday! And the thing I love to do when I'm on holiday is... to craft! And I expect you do too. There's nothing like having some new crafting toys to play with and the time to play with them. So why not treat yourself to something gorgeous? And, for UK readers, just to make it a sweeter treat you will get the postage and packing absolutely free when you spend £30 or more until the end of July. It's easy to order from me - click here for information or simply email me your order.


And since it's lovely of you to drop in, I can't let you go without dishing up some more Circle Circus.
Here's a card with a slightly oriental feel I think: 

The circle flower image was stamped six times in Melon Mambo ink and coloured with Pretty In Pink and Rich Razzleberry inks and a blender pen.  Three of these were cut out fully and layered with just the centres of the other three, then secured with brads. The flowers were adhered to squares of Sweet Pea designer paper which were matted onto Old Olive card stock. I scalloped the edges of another piece of the DP, some Melon Mambo card stock and some Old Olive designer series paper and layered those onto a Whisper White card base. The flower squares were arranged on top and a sentiment tab tucked under the right hand square.


Supplies
Stamps: Circle Circus, Vintage Labels
Ink: Melon Mambo, Pretty In Pink and Rich Razzleberry
Card stock: Whisper White, Melon Mambo
Other: Sweet Pea designer paper, Old Olive designer series paper, scallop border punch, Old Olive brads

My goodness, I might be 'on holiday' but life seems busier than ever! I'm just off to watch my manly cricket players now and what with weddings, barbecues and shopping expeditions I'll be pretty well exhausted by the end of the weekend. Time to schedule in some therapeutic crafting time I think...
Don't forget to make time for some crafting yourself and take advantage of my special offer!
Look forward to hearing from you.

Three Minute Thursday - using Circle Circus

Haven't got time to rustle up a card? Of course you have! Here's another card that took just under three minutes:

It's a one layer card using a favourite colour combination of mine - Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive. Here's how to make it:

• Cut, score and fold a 9 cm square Whisper White card base
• Stamp the circle flower image from Circle Circus in Rich Razzleberry ink, stamping off to get colour variations
• Add leaves using the tiny leaf from Vintage Vogue and Old Olive ink
• Use Old Olive ink to stamp a sentiment from Sincere Salutations
• As a final touch round the top right hand corner with a corner rounder.

If you've been looking at my blog for the last couple of days you'll have seen a variety of projects made with Circle Circus. Isn't it versatile? I'm loving it! And I certainly haven't finished yet. I'll be back tomorrow with more Circle Circus cards and A SPECIAL OFFER - Don't miss it!

Going square with Circle Circus

Just because the images in the Circle Circus stamp set are circular doesn't mean that you have to use them as circles. Sometimes you just want squares - and you can have them! Look:

This card was made using one of the large stamps in the set. I stamped it four times in Real Red ink on Whisper White card stock then used the small tag punch to cut them out. The top of the tags were snipped off to leave four squares (actually they're not quite squares!) which are mounted onto Bashful Blue card stock. The sentiment was positioned with the stamp-a-majig before adhering the panel to a Whisper White card base with dimensionals. I love the way the flower of the sentiment echoes the flowers in the main images.

Here's another card using square images that I based on this card made by the talented Robyn - I love her cards!

This image is stamped nine times in Brilliant Blue ink on Tempting Turquoise card stock and I love the effect it gives - as if light is shining from behind it. I snipped the circles into squares, which was easy because of the geometrical nature of the design, and mounted them onto a panel of Brilliant Blue card stock with Tombow glue. I positioned the sentiment with my stamp-a-majig before sticking the panel onto the card base.

Supplies
HELLO  CARD
Stamps: Circle Circus, Tiny Tags (sentiment)
Ink: Real Red
Card stock: Whisper White, Bashful Blue
Other: Small tag punch

THANK YOU  CARD

Stamps: Circle Circus, Pocket Silhouettes (sentiment)

Ink: Brilliant Blue

Card stock: Whisper White, Brilliant Blue, Tempting Turquoise

Other: None needed

I hope you've enjoyed seeing Circle Circus go square! Before I leave you, I thought you might like to see the little gifts we took into school yesterday to say thank you to my son's fabulous teachers.

They are beautiful, perfumed mini roses. They're wrapped in brown paper lined with white tissue. The edges of the brown paper were scalloped first with the scallop border punch - an idea borrowed from my lovely friend Caroline who has lots of good ideas! Thanks Caroline! I tied 5/8" grosgrain ribbon round the tops and attached a little tag with elastic thread. Here are some close-ups of the tags:

I used markers to colour the apple stamp from Tart and Tangy, moistened it, then stamped it. The image was punched out using a 1 3/8" circle punch and mounted onto coloured card stock punched out with a 1 3/4" circle punch. The tags were designed to coordinate with these cards from an earlier post.

Well, I've probably rambled on enough now. Are you still there?! And anyway, surely it's time to eat ice-cream... it's the holidays!

I'll be back tomorrow for Three Minute Thursday, my new, weekly series for the time-challenged card maker. Hope to see you then.

Circle Circus box of cards

One of the things I love about the Circle Circus stamp set is that it is perfect for any occasion. Take this card for example:

It's suitable for male or female in quite a varied age range. And because it's a versatile design, I thought it would be perfect as a set of cards to give as a gift. So I set to work to make one!

The box is a mini pizza box (I know, I keep on making them but they are just so handy!) made from Whisper White card stock, stamped with some of the Circle Circus stamps in Pretty In Pink, Rose Red, Melon Mambo and Bravo Burgundy. I was going to use Rich Razzleberry as my darkest colour but Bravo Burgundy caught my eye and I LOVE it with the pinks - will definitely use this colour combo again. Once I'd put my box together, I tied it up with a length of Bravo Burgundy grosgrain ribbon and added a tag. To make the tag, I stamped an image from Circle Circus in Melon Mambo, added a sentiment from One of A Kind in Bravo Burgundy, then cut the whole thing out with a 1 3/8" circle punch. This was layered onto a 1 3/4" circle punched from Bravo Burgundy card stock, a hole punched through the tag and silver elastic thread used to attach it to the ribbon.

The box opens to reveal...

...three cards of the same design, different colours.

For three very different people!

Supplies for the cards
Stamps: Circle Circus, Occasional Greetings
Ink for the pink card: Bravo Burgundy, Melon Mambo, Rose Red, Pretty In Pink
Ink for the green card: Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Garden Green, Certainly Celery
Ink for the blue card: Night of Navy, Not Quite Navy, Brilliant Blue, Tempting Turquoise
Card stock: Whisper White, Bravo Burgundy, Always Artichoke, Brilliant Blue
Other: None

I haven't included measurements for the card or box, but if you'd like them just drop me an email and I'll be happy to send them to you.

Now I must be off - it's the last day of term today and I'm being called upon to produce a celebratory meal. I can hear those tummies rumbling as we speak! But I haven't finished with Circle Circus yet. If you'd like to see more, please come back tomorrow when I'll be going square with circles!
See you then.

Circle Circus One Sheet Wonder

Hi everyone! I'm back fresh from an inspirational get together with the Pink Ladies Stampin' Up group. I love being a part of this lovely group of ladies - and there are some amazing crafters among them! Thank you for a great day ladies!

Last week, I was working with the Circle Circus stamp set to make items to bring along to our get together and today, I'm going to show you some projects that were made from just half a sheet of A4 Whisper White card stock, stamped with a design using a few of the fabulous circle images in this set. (In fact it should be called a Half Sheet Wonder!)

Look at all the items I decorated using that A5 piece of card stock!

This card was made by sticking strips of my design and some coordinating designer paper from the Sweet Pea stack onto a piece of Whisper White card stock, then trimming the edges. The panel was matted onto this fantastic orange designer paper from the Sweet Pea stack, then mounted onto a Chocolate Chip card base. The paper has a subtle plant design on it which I love - you can click on the picture to see it more clearly.

I added faux stitching with a paper piercer and a Real Red marker, stamped a sentiment from Occasional Greetings and finished with some Real Red grosgrain ribbon.

Here's another card with a matching gift box set made from the Half Sheet Wonder.

I think these hot Moroccan-inspired colours suit the Circle Circus stamp set. The stamped panel is mounted on that gorgeous orange paper again. The flowers are cut out of the image you can see stamped in Pumpkin Pie on the main panel. I stamped it in red, cut the flower out and pushed a Pumpkin Pie brad through the centre. The box and card bases are Chocolate Chip and both are finished with 1/4" grosgrain ribbon in Real Red.

I still had plenty of that Half Sheet Wonder left so I rustled up another card with it using the FTL98 sketch on the Clean and Simple stamping site.

I cut the stamped image into three equal-sized rectangles, sponged their edges with More Mustard ink, then mounted them onto a Chocolate Chip panel. A panel of that gorgeous orange designer paper was adhered to a Whisper White card base and the Chocolate Chip panel fixed on top. The card was finished with a sentiment from the Trendy Trees set, stamped onto a scrap of the same designer paper.

The Half Sheet Wonder was a bit like the magic porridge pot really. There was still loads left! I thought I'd made enough cards so  I used some mini post-its to make a tiny note pad.

I made a cover for the post-its with Real Red card stock and adhered a panel of the Half Sheet Wonder to the front. The little tag was made with the Word Window punch and I wrote the word 'notes' on it. The edges were sponged with More Mustard ink and it was fixed it to the pad. The clip was from a stationer and I added grosgrain ribbon to it in Real Red and Pumpkin Pie. It's easy to make a matching pen if you can find these clear-barrelled ones. Just pull out the top of the pen and insert a tube of card stock stamped with your design, replace the top and you're done!

Can you believe there was more of my Half Sheet Wonder? Well there was, but I was feeling wistful for other colours by this stage so I saved it for another time!

It was great fun making these projects and I'm still teaming with ideas for using this versatile set. I hope you can join me tomorrow for some more Circle Circus fun!

FTL 99 with Sweet Pea and Autumn Meadows papers

I meant to post this yesterday but Life happened! Anyway, better late than never as they say (although the person that said it has obviously not tried taking a sponge cake out of the oven after an hour and a half...) But I digress - today I'm taking inspiration from the FTL layout on the Clean and Simple site. Here's Natasha's sketch:


And here's my take on it:

I don't quite know how this card came into being - I sort of blinked and it happened! (I think I could do with a little nap!) I used one of the Sweet Pea designer papers from the mini catalogue and cut it so that this lovely flower was in the centre. I cut another flower out of another piece of the paper, drew a line with an Old Olive marker and a ruler and popped my cut out flower on the end with a dimensional. The corners of the panel were rounded and it's bordered on the left with a strip of one of my favourite Autumn Meadows papers which reminds me of a weathered potting shed. Once my panel was mounted onto a Whisper White base I finished the card with a flamboyant knot of Chocolate Chip stitched ribbon and a sentiment from Occasional Greetings.

Supplies
Stamp: Occasional Greetings
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Card stock: Whisper White
Other: Sweet Pea and Autumn Meadows designer paper, Chocolate Chip stitched ribbon, corner rounder, Old Olive marker

What a busy old time of year this is! We've had plays and musical performances, fairs, charity events, parties and presentations... My youngest son has gone off on a camping weekend with his cubs group and, with the weather having taken a turn for the worse, it was fun and games packing for that! We are expecting a rather bedraggled little cub to return to us so we shall have hot cocoa and cuddles waiting for him!

Tomorrow I'm getting together with the Pink Ladies Stampin' Up group of which I am a member. I've been working on some projects for that using the fabulous Circle Circus stamp set. I've had a wonderful time with it - each idea that I've had has quickly led on to another - so I'm really looking forward to showing you what I came up with next week.

Until then, thank you for spending time here with me and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Three Minute Thursday - using All a Flutter

Like many UK mums of school-age children, I am currently living the chaos that is the last week of term. So what do you do during busy times when you need a card fast? (My husband's flippant response to this was to tell me to go and buy a card. I didn't hear him of course - all I heard was blah, blah, blah! I will never, repeat NEVER buy a card!)

Anyway, my solution is the three minute card and, because I think it's a useful idea, I'm making it a regular feature on my blog. So here's introducing Three Minute Thursday! Today's three minute design uses the gorgeous All a Flutter butterfly stamp from the mini catalogue (see it on the side bar.)

I confess I had the Whisper White card bases already cut, but stamping and colouring this design took precisely two minutes so I added an extra one for cutting, scoring and folding the base. The sentiment was stamped using a stamp-a-majig, the butterflies stamped randomly in the same colour. I used that same colour again to colour the butterfly body using a blender pen, then used two other colours to colour the wings. That's it!

Supplies
BLUE BUTTERFLIES
Stamps: All a Flutter, Sincere Salutations
Ink: Night of Navy, Tempting Turquoise, Pretty In Pink
Card stock: Whisper White
Other: Blender pen

BROWN BUTTERFLIES

Stamps: All a Flutter, Happy Moments

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie

Card stock: Whisper White

Other: Blender pen

It doesn't seem possible that it's Thursday already! And so very nearly the school holidays! Some of you may be wondering whether I'll still be here in the holidays and the answer is yes I will. My classes stop during the holidays but I am happy to do parties for you, take your orders and help with your crafting queries as usual. Also, if you are thinking about becoming a Stampin' Up demonstrator yourself, I would love to hear from you - I'm looking for enthusiastic crafters to join my team! Either call me on 01280 820593 for a no pressure chat or email me for details.

Thank you for popping in to visit me today.

See you soon!