A Host of... Spirited Snowmen

Cast your mind back a few weeks... I made a batch of these... went to Team Training... and came back with some inspirational swaps...

There were definitely 2 major themes amongst the swaps I had in return... and Spirited Snowmen was one of them!!

So I thought it would be lovely today to share the creations of some of my lovely demo friends... starting with the Spirited Snowmen swaps... all four of them...

But before I begin... a quick update on the Farmhouse Christmas Box Frame, Bakers Box Light & Bridge U Fold card tutorials...  They should still be ready by the end of the weekend... but I just had to have a day off yesterday... as I have run back to back classes since Tuesday... so I was meeting myself coming backwards... and then I forgot that the tree surgeons were at ours yesterday... so I really couldn't hear myself think!! So it was a "day off" having retail therapy instead... albeit mainly for projects for classes and food!! But in the meantime... please don't hesitate to order yours here... Just scroll to the end of the post... and Add to Cart...

First up... by Joanne Wragg... and the card that duly inspired this card shared yesterday... As Craig would say in Strictly... "Gorgeous Darling!"... and I have to admit that my ladies have been loving making this card... so a Big Thanks to you Joanne...

Then we have this fabulous notebook by Sam... which lots of my lovely ladies are coveting... so I think I have a plan for these as a part gift for their orders in November... but shh don't tell them...! Also featuring the lovely snowflakes in the Seasonal Layers dies... 

Closely followed by Rebecca Deary's beautiful " what a gorgeous colour combi" card... show-caseing the Buffalo Check and the Swirls & Curls embossing folder too...

And last but... definitely not least... this spectacular card by Joyce Drake... on one of the new Silver Foil Edged cards.. and also using the Bokeh Dots that is my best selling stamp set in the Annual Catalogue!

Didn't they do well!! Proud to have these on my display lovely ladies...

Now I wonder if you can guess which was the other "major theme"... any guesses in comments or by the contact me form please!!

Spooky Starry Bokeh Dots & Trees

Quick share of a Super CAS card featuring the Bokeh Dots stars in Night of Navy with black Lovely as A Tree trees...

But before I start on more details for this card... Please don't forget to order your Watercolor Pencils Set 2 and the Blended Seasons bundle... now only available for about 36 hours ie until 10.30pm UK time tomorrow, 31 August... and yes you still get your £4.50 free Bonus Days coupon ... for every £45 ordered... to spend in September... Click here for more details... 

Moon added care of a 3/4" circle punched post it note... placed prior to masking the horizon... and then stamping that Bokeh Dots sky... and then all the masks removed...Oh and (coming very soon!) Frost White Shimmer Paint added with a Sponge Dauber to the moon... lovely shiny moon!

Could have added snow to my trees using Shimmery White Embossing Paste... or stamped and embossed white trees on the centre section... but thought it all looked spooky enough to pass as a card for Halloween instead... greeting care of Itty Bitty Greetings

Love this starry sky in Night of Navy... so reckon there will be a christmas version before September is out!

More Ombre Bokeh Dots & Dandelion Wishes

Quickly sharing the other half of my ombre Bokeh Dots & Dandelion Wishes duo...

More graduation in the colours this time to make things more distinctive... and colourful! So starting with Mint Macaron at the bottom (grass!)... Coastal Cabana in the centre and finishing off with Blueberry Bushel at the top...

Greeting from Friendly Expressions... note that I covered that "for all that you do" wording with a post it note...inked up in Memento... took the post it note off... and so then stamped just my Thanks greeting! Quicker than using a marker pen to ink up just the Thanks...

And a story for those of you that are very observant... the card blank on this one isn't a standard A6 card blank... as I came to mount the stamped panel onto a Blueberry Bushel layer... and realised I didn't quite have enough!! So I had to cut the Coastal Cabana card blank down to suit! 

Life will become a lot easier when I have built up stocks of all the new colour card... almost there!!

Ombre Bokeh Dots & Dandelion Wishes

Now this Dandelion Wishes and Bokeh Dots card makes me very happy...

Light... bright... simple... quick...

Ombre to add interest to the subtle starry background... Pool Party at the bottom... then Coastal Cabana... and finishing off at the top with Bermuda Bay... perfect combination...

With a flash of something shiny to finish... care of the Rhinestone gems on the dandelion centres...

And click here for a more special and shiny version of the card that I shared before...

Tuesday Tip - Stylish Christmas #3

So it seemed to make sense to keep the 3 cards made using Stylish Christmas together...  particularly as I have had some requests for a Stylish Christmas Class in the Post whilst I was away... so please click here to contact me if you are interested too... and I will be back to you very soon with more details and/or an invoice...

The basic Stylish Christmas Class in the Post to make 15 cards including Stylish Christmas stamps, 16 pc. cardstock, 15 envelopes & Metallics Pearls (3 designs x 5 cards each) will be £44 (£41 collected) for Wood Mount or £39 (£35 collected) for Clear Mount. I will be ordering 31st August... so delivery will be with you about 10 September at the latest...

And don't forget that if your Stampin Up! order is over £45 this month you will get a £4.50 Bonus Days coupon code to spend for free in September! So that is just £4 more for the Wood Mount option... or + £10 for the Clear Mount...

Other items used include:-

• Bokeh Dots Stamps £14 Clear 148113 or £19 Wood 148110 
• Subtle embossing folder 143706 at £9.25 
• 3 ink pads at a cost of £7 each (Real Red 147084; Mossy Meadow 147111, Sahara Sand 147117)
• Gold Embossing Powder 109129 £4.75 

As well as staples of Versamark ink £8.25, Heat Gun £28, Embossing Buddy £5.50, Tombow multipurpose glue £3.75 or Tear & Tape £6.25 and Stampin Dimensionals £3.75

So this is the last card of the trio...  Just a simple one layer A6 standard card...

With the addition of the lovely Bokeh Dots stamp set (as Jane already has that one too! So it seemed rude not to use it!!)

So Sahara Sand stamped Bokeh Dots background... with the Stylish Christmas swirl and little snowflakes also in Sahara Sand...

Hand cut Real Red stamped flower... and Tuesday Top Tip! - the previously stamped & hand cut flower being used to work out the positioning for the Mossy Meadow leaves which are stamped directly onto the card

Finished off with a gold embossed greeting to match the gold Metallics Pearls at the centre of the flower...

And an admittance for you... you can tell my Sahara Sand is a brand new one... don't think I have ever had Sahara Sand stamp this dark before... I may have to move a bit of ink around on the pad before I use it next... as it has always been my go-to-palest-ink-pad when I want subtle!

Tuesday Tips - with Bokeh Dots...

Following quickly on from yesterday's post with a few added extras and a few Tips as we go along...

Here are a couple more variants of this simple little christmas seasonal card featuring the long term favourite Lovely as a Tree along with the new favourites Bokeh Dots and Itty Bitty Greetings...

And first up... an essential tip for you... make sure you stamp your trees far enough up so that the sky area is completely filled in with the Bokeh Dots stamps... you don't want a white gap at the top!!!

Or at the bottom... Or else you will have to do this...

Though I do rather like the add of a Blueberry Bushel glittery lake!! In fact it will probably get repeated... The subtle glitter on the lake being care of the clear Wink of Stella brush pen... and do check out the textural effect of the starry Bokeh Dots stamp

And here is the same base card but with a punched 3/4" circle mask over a tree before Bokeh Dots stamping ... and finished off with Wink of Stella for the silvery moon as well as on the snowline...

Card Blank = 10.5cm Square ( US Letter 4 1/4") with Black Mat 7.9cm (3 1/8") Square and White panel 3" Square

Merry Monday - Bokeh Dots & Lovely as a Tree

So it has taken me a while to decide on my first christmas season pre-purchases from the lovely new Autumn Winter Catalogue... and I have finally ordered this weekend... so no box has arrived as yet...

But in the meantime I have some new christmassy makes with my lovely new Bokeh Dots stamps for you in any case...

So these may be simple...but effective... and they are what you get when you just mix something OLD (Lovely as a Tree) with something NEW (Bokeh Dots)... a BORROWED card layout design from earlier days... click here to see the full all-year-round range!.. and (last but not least!) with something BLUE (Balmy Blue)...

Greeting from the wonderful workhorse of a greetings stamp set, Itty Bitty Greetings...and snowlines finished off with a subtle but sparkly layer of Wink of Stella glittering... 

Oh christmas cards could be very quick & easy this year!

Shiny Sunday Copper & Ombre Dandelion Wishes

I already have quite a few Dandelion Wishes cards to share with you over the next few weeks... but I thought I should share this one earlier rather than later... as it was created and sent to celebrate a big moment in my team member, Caroline's life!!

As she finally promoted to being a Bronze Elite demonstrator... which took a bit longer than initially expected... so I am delighted that she now gets her 25% discount on all her Stampin Up supplies... Congratulations again Caroline... very proud of you...

So another card featuring my 3 favourite stamp sets in the Annual Catalogue... Bokeh Dots with Dandelion Wishes... and Friendly Expressions...

But as it was for a special event this time...

The Bokeh Dots image stamp was inked up in 3 different colours to achieve an Ombre effect... starting with Pool Party at the bottom... then adding RETURNING Coastal Cabana  in the centre and finishing with Bermuda Bay at the top...

I started off my series of samples using Sponge Daubers to achieve this effect in a smooth fashion... but actually I just went at it with ink pads for the one you see here... as it gave a more distinctive colour variation...

And finally the dandelion trio and greetings were stamped & embossed using Versamark & Copper Embossing Powder 

Simple but effective I think... and all the more special with the shine of the Copper Foil and Copper Embossing Powder! And finished off with Copper Trim...

And what do you think of my piece of architecture!!?

Simple Saturday Dandelion Wishes

Here is the other card in my simple little Dandelion Wishes duo to spread Get Well Wishes...

Click here for the first card with the step by step details... this version just using the starry Bokeh Dots image instead of the dotty image used before...

And here are the 2 cards side by side... note that the stamped white mat is smaller on the trio card... I will re-make like that...

And I have to admit that Dandelion Wishes and Bokeh Dots are still my Top New Favourites... and proving VERY popular in these parts! I just love it when you can make such a stunning card so simply!!

Dandelion Wishes & Bokeh Dots

Well these 2 stamp sets go together like... Batman and Robin...!

But before I start...don't forget that today is the VERY LAST DAY... to get your 10 free ink pads extra when you order your Demo Starter Kit... OR order 3 paper packs and get a fourth for free.... Click here for all the details...

So back to the card... such a simple little beauty...

Bokeh Dots background in Balmy Blue... I used the left hand image for this card...

Dandelion Wishes dandelion trio and greeting in Memento Black

White stamped panel mounted onto Balmy Blue card...  definitely liking this blue...

A few of my favourite... Stamp Sets...

Thought it was about time I sat down and came up with some Top 10 lists for you... always hard for me to decide... as I have to balance products to be used in different classes, my personal tastes (that may or may not be used in classes!!) and products that will be great all rounders for everyone...

So today it is time for 10 of my Favourite Stamp Sets... which doesn't include any to be found in bundles... as I will do those another day!! Product and project photos shared for you too...

First up, Dandelion Wishes . Anyone that knows me knows I have a think about dandelions... and so do many of my crafty ladies...so we can't wait to get this into action... Available in Wood Mount & Clear Mount

 

Followed closely by Bokeh Dots... what an amazing duo of Distinktive backgrounds... still very en vogue Bokeh and teeny tiny stars.... so useful... Again available in Clear Mount & Wood Mount

 

And a video here for you about the range of Distinktive stamps too... 

And then by Itty Bitty Greetings... as I wouldn't be without a teeny tiny greeting stamp set in my life... both personally and for my classes... such a great all rounder greeting set... and a lovely update on the retired Teeny Tiny Sentiments... available in Wood and Clear Mount...

 

Then Handwritten... a background for virtually every occasion you can think of... such an all-rounder product... again Wood Mount & Clear Mount...

Accented Blooms - read more about this one here...

  

Calligraphy Essentials - see and read more about this one here ... but available on its own or with the great Calligraphy Essentials Project kit (as pictured) or as per this video here...

 

Then Wonderful Moments... many images and words for which I have a void in my stock... and reminiscent of Beautiful You that has been so popular around here... Just available in photopolymer...

  

Enjoy Life... something completely different... but you know how I like my silhouette images... thanks to fellow demo Connie Fitzgerald for its creation... available in photopolymer...

Bubbles & Bubbly... not me really...but I know this will be loved by many of my class ladies...as they are self confessed relaxers in baths... especially with candles and/or a glass of bubbly from time to time for the ultimate in pampering! I personally prefer a shower!!! Available in Wood Mount & Clear Mount...

And finally Treehouse Adventure - dont think this will be bought in any great volume unless you have young boys- but I love it!! I always allow myself one stamp set that grabs my heart.. and yes this is the one... Takes me back to my childhood living on the edge of a forest... and spending hour after hour making and chilling in treehouses... again photopolymer only...

 

So that is my Top 10 in stamp sets... off to make the hard decision for the bundled products next... I may be gone a while as we are spoilt with 33 of them to choose from...