September Christmas Card Making Class

First of all, apologies for not posting for a while, stress levels in our house have been at an all time high over the last 2 weeks with 'A' Level and GCSE results.....however we are very proud parents....Alex did really well and will be heading off to University of East Anglia to study Law, India achieved superb results in 11 GCSEs so is now set to study Spanish/Chemistry/History and Maths at 'A' Level.....and me...well I finish work on the 29th September, which will be very sad after 13 wonderful years, and along with 200+ others I am actively look for another job!!

In between though I enjoyed 3 crafty evenings with my ladies making cards from the August Christmas Class, and have also worked with India designing Septembers class.  A few ladies asked for more tips on Stamping so this is what we will be making in our September class.

 All the cards use 'Lovely as a Tree' set and the colours used are Crumb Cake/Early Espresso/Night of Navy/Bashful Blue and Whisper White.

 Stamped in Versamark and embossed in white with dazzling diamonds....

 Direct to paper technique for the blue background and dazzling diamonds added...........

 Direct to paper and embossing.......

This card was cased from a talented demo called Julie McCartney and again dazzling diamonds have been used - sorry my photography isn;t better....  Dates to be confirmed, but will be during September, please email me on alisonwilkins656@yahoo.co.uk if you are interested in attending......

Finally less than a week to the 'RETIRED LIST' watch this space for info on which products will be going from the catalogue and grab that last chance to get them at a bargain price!

Happy Birthday!!......Dad

Today is my Dads birthday, and I am hoping he will have a lovely day, I am sure it will involve going out for Fish and Chips with my Mum...a firm favourite!!!  This week was also my nephew Chris's birthday, he was 25 and is a super lad and always looks great!  As I mentioned earlier I can sometimes struggle with male cards and I have made and sent these lovely 2 men the same card....which shows some versatility as there are 54 years separating them!  I found the idea on You Tube ForLoveofPaper

Cardstock used is Basic Grey, Marina Mist Designer Series Paper and Marine Mist 5/8" satin ribbon. The buttons were made using the Embosslits Buttons Die from the mini catalogue. Hope you like it!

Stampin' Up! August Promotion..

Well, Stampin' Up! continues to amaze, surprise and excite me.....back from my hols, logged into the website and another promotion, this one running from 1-31 August.  If you place an order with me for £75 or host a workshop with sales of £250 you will receive this fabulous free gift

Your gift includes a beautiful, exclusively-designed cosmetic bag, along with Rich Razzleberry 1-1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, and a 24-piece Clip Assortment. (the ribbon and clips alone would cost £18.20 without the free bag!)

In addition to this as a special offer from me, I will pay your postage on any order over £75 - worth an additional £4.95 . Please contact me at alisonwilkins656@yahoo.co.uk to place your order and receive this fabulous freebie!!

Back from Holiday...and lots of cards to make!

Hi, Sorry for the delay in posting, we have just returned from a sunny and very hot week in Spain! It was great to have some family time with us all together for once, and very relaxing.  I loved all the colours around us and hopefully may be inspired in the near future to use some in a colour combo for a card.  This is the view from our roof top.  The resort was called Desert Springs in Andalucia.

Back to reality now and I have suddenly realised that I have 3 cards to make for the next few days, the first being a '21st' for our close friends son James.  I struggle with male cards and of course all the ones for the week are for men....this is what I designed for James, keeping it very simple, using Crumb Cake, very Vanilla, Night of Navy and Riding Hood Red cardstock, and the square lattice embossing folders. Numbers cut using the Sizzix Alphabet set from the Mini Catalogue, and sentiment stamped from the Perfect punches set ( a real favourite of mine!). Linen thread used as an accent.  Hope you have a wonderful day James!

Back soon with news of Stampin' Up!s fabulous August promotion

Christmas Card Making Class

Crafters start planning for Christmas early......so you could say I am a bit behind with it nearly being August!!However, inspired by my Stampin'Up! colleagues I am running a monthly Christmas Card Making class this August, then in September, October and November.  In each class we will be making 8 Christmas Cards ( 2 each of 4 designs plus envelopes) so if you want to attend all 4 you would have 32 handmade cards by November.   Each class is £10 to include materials and refreshments.   These are the cards we will be making in August using the Delightful Decorations and Contempo Christmas Sets

 I will use different stamp sets for each class. Please email me if interested and I can let you know times/venue , my lovely crafty ladies are booking up fast!

Christmas Training Swaps...in July!

Yesterday was our quarterly Team Meeting in Peterborough, and our theme as it's July was Christmas!!  As daft as it may sound to non crafters, if you are making all your Christmas Cards, it is nice to have an early start to them.  I really look forward to these meetings where I meet up with fellow demonstrators who are so inspiring and lovely, and so very generous in allowing you to share their ideas. We take with us 'swaps' so that we can share our projects and as promised I would like to share mine with you.

 I made 43 like these, using the Jolly Holiday Designer Papers, and Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive Card Stock , the stamp used on the outside is from the 'Winter Post' Set.

 A closer peak at the little card holder...........

Opened up, you will see the slot, punched with the 'Word Window' punch, measured to take a standard gift card.  Decorations on the inside stamped from the 'Winter Post' and 'Season of Joy' set.
I had such fun making these, and they can easily be adapted for any other special occasion or birthday whether it be male/female or childrens.   I am now inspired by other ideas which I will hope to incorporate into my Christmas classes.....hope to be back soon.

Multi-pocket envelope scrapbook!!....

Hi I have had a few comments asking for the You Tube Link.....simply type Multi Pocket Envelope Scrapbook in You Tube and the video I followed was by FollowThePaperTrail..Apologies for not including this before - Enjoy! x
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Hi, Sorry for the delay in posting...I have been busy preparing class kits and then my swaps for our up and coming 'Passionettes' meeting in Peterborough!  I am really looking forward to seeing my fellow demos and swapping ideas, our theme is Christmas in July, so that should be fun.  In the meantime a very quick post with a little scrapbook that I have made using the lovely SpringtimeVintage papers from the current mini, teamed with the seam binding ribbon and some jumbo eyelets. Card stock is Rose Red and Certainly Celery. The idea was cased from You Tube, so credit goes to the lovely Laura who came up with the original. However here is my quick version.

I love the fact that it will take 4 tags that you could put photos or messages on, yet still fit in an envelope!