Elegant Soiree & Hopeful Thoughts Sympathy & Get Well Cards

Here are 2 of the cards we have made in January classes.

Both use the Hopeful Thoughts stamp set which proved to be VERY popular - as well as the Elegant Soiree DSPs again. 

I purposely kept these really simple - apart from making everyone use the thin end of the markers on the very tips of the branches of the trees!! Not so easy but well worth it..... but do remember to switch back to the thick end asap... or you will be there all day!!!

Elegant Soiree Tri Shutter Album

So here is the Tri Shutter Album we made in classes during January.

I used the Elegant Soiree DSP along with the smallest and largest of the Paper Daisies ( 4 sizes x 10 each in a pack - scrummy!!) and the wonderful flourish and butterfly stamps from the SAB Bliss set - along with the SAB So Happy For You stamp set for the wording and the SAB Punch Bunch set for the rivet on the large daisy.   I really have found these 4 SAB sets so wonderful to mix and match - I already know I can't do without them!! 

The main album is in Baja Breeze cardstock with mats of Early Espresso on the front and Soft Suede or Very Vanilla on the inside  - all tied off with the GORGEOUS Early Espresso  1 1/4" striped grosgrain ribbon. ( By the way - I still have some shares left of the 11 colours in this ribbon - £11 for 11colours x 1yd - including P&P)

Here are some pictures of the inside - though I have to say that these do not do the album justice ( as anyone knows that has tried to photo a Tri Shutter Album.....) Again I have used the SAB Bliss stamp set to add a feature to the area that was blank for photos. Though then everyone admitted that it was going to stop them putting a photo over the top!!!

Elegant Soiree DSP & SAB Punch Bunch Ferrero Rocher Treat Holder

Edited to Add 30 March 2011:    I just had to do an Easter version too.... see here...Easter Bunny Treat Holder.......  perfect for Mini eggs, Ferrero Rocher or indeed anything chocolate.... yum!!!

During January I have been busy designing projects for classes using the Elegant Soiree Designer Series Paper ( or DSP for short!!) So I have lots of projects to show you using Elegant Soiree DSP and the 2011 Sale A Bration (SAB for short!!) stamp sets....

Remember that these stamp sets are exclusively available only until 28 Feb and are free when you spend £45 on SU! products. And they are just wonderful..... they work with each other so well and give you great flexibility in images, styles and wording......


So the first project I have to show you is the Ferrero Rocher Treat Holder. This uses 2 stamps from the SAB Punch Bunch stamp set - inked up in Soft Suede and Baja Breeze on Very Vanilla cardstock. The rivet is punched out using a 1" Circle Punch and the For You scallop using the Scallop Circle Punch.

This project holds 3 Ferrero Rochers and stands beautifully as a table setting decoration. I used the Treat Box Card tutorial on Split Coast Stampers ( Link here........  Treat Box Card Tutorial on SCS ) - though I altered the sizes to fit the Ferrero Rochers and I didn't create any front flap to the right - just leaving that portion to fold over/doubled so as to give the holder rigidity to stand up above the box instead of to the right as per the original tutorial.

A small piece of striped 1 1/4" grosgrain ribbon in Marina Mist finished off the holder.

Next post will be my Elegant Soiree Tri Shutter Album - this album was a very popular project in my classes last year - and as soon as I saw these papers - I knew I had to do another one using the Elegant Soiree papers ...... but the SAB Bliss set just took it to another level - with lots of oohs and aahs as a result!!!!  You will see........

SU! Petal Card Punch - Little Treat Bags - Tutorial

We had our first Craft Therapists team meeting of the year last week and I challenged myself to come up with a new use for a SU! punch;  a new technique and to use a stamp from at least 3 of the 4 free Sale A Bration stamp sets...... So no mean treat there.....

And this little treat bag is what I came up with!!! - suitably sized for the smallest of chocolate "bars".....  I absolutely love it....but hey I am biased..... though everyone else was WOWed by it too!!!

So here is the low down on how this was made....!!

• I punched 4 pieces from Baja Breeze cardstock using the Petal Card Punch to make the bag sides & the box in between.
• I folded over a tab on 2 of the pieces ( to make the little bag shape) I then stamped the SAB Sweet Summer floral spray at random in Chocolate Chip ink
• Then a New Technique......that I will call the White Magic Technique.... 
  I coloured in the flowers, leaves & berries using the Uniball Signo white gel pen ( my most used pen in the world!!). I then allowed it to dry and went over the leaves with an Old Olive marker pen and the berries with a Pretty in Pink marker - so so pretty!!! And I think very chinoiserie ( is that a  proper word???)
• I then inked up & stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock....
  The rivet greeting from the SAB Punch Bunch set in Chocolate Chip. ( then punched out as 1" circle)
  The flower from the SAB Punch Bunch set For You scallop tag stamp in Baja Breeze & Chocolate Chip
• The Twill Tape for the bag handle was also stamped using Chocolate Chip ink with a greeting from the SAB Happy For You stamp set and the Sweet Summer floral spray stamp.
  The leaves and berries were also coloured in using the Old Olive & Pretty in Pink marker pens.
  TOP TIP: use a bit of Snail adhesive to temporarily adhere the ribbon to a flat surface before you attempt stamping the greeting - easier to get the word straight when fabric is held straight in the first place!!! 
• Then a little box to hold the mini treat...
  I snipped off a flap off each of the other 2 Petal Card Punch pieces and glued the other 3 flaps together as 2 sides and a bottom - to make a little 3 sided box.
  TOP TIP: make yourself a simple little box guide to really help this glue/assembly bit - cut a 2" x 3 1/4" piece of cadstock ; with panel landscape - score at 2"; 1 1/2"; 2 1/2" and 3". Adhere using small tab side.
• I then glued the 2 bag sides onto the box front & back ( with the unstamped tab to the base)
• I finished the bag off with the twill tape adhered using Sticky Strip from the bottom, up one side, looped over to form the handle and then back down the other side & onto the bottom. 
• I then covered the twill tape ends on the bottom with one of the tabs I had snipped off before

It's Stampin' Up! Sale A Bration Time!! And FREE DELIVERY offer from The Craft Spa

Yes it is that great time of the Stampin' Up! year where we get to SaleABrate and earn free stamp sets. Simply put.......

Spend £45 on Stampin' Up! products and get a free limited-edition stamp set (c£18 value)
Spend £90 for 2 free stamp sets etc.
4 sets to choose from.
Here is the leaflet showing you the 4 sets that you can choose from Sale A Bration Leaflet 2011- but (hopefully) they are also pictured below


In addition...... spend over £70 and you will get free delivery ( normally £4.95) This free delivery offer applies until 24 Jan 2011.  This is an exclusive offer from The Craft Spa and is not associated in any way with Stampin' Up!

I will be placing an order tomorrow (1st Jan and then 25 Jan..... but orders can be placed at any time with delivery direct to you.


Or for those of you thinking about joining my Craft Therapists team and signing up with Stampin' Up!.
Choose an extra stamp set worth up to £44.95 with your starter kit. So that's over £290's worth of goods for just £119
And 20% discount on all you SU! goodies thereafter ( 30% on your 1st order)
Just contact me for more details and an order form......


So here are this years' limited edition stamp sets. Only available until 28 February 2011.

PUNCH BUNCH -

SO HAPPY FOR YOU

BLISS

SWEET SUMMER

(don't know why this image looks more faded!! Isn't in real life!!)



Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year for 2011.....

This was an idea inspired by the beautiful non-Christmas card made by Teneale Williams back in September 2010 - check Teneale's card out for a lovely wedding or anniversary card.

http://www.tenealewilliams.com.au/wp02/2010/09/17/no-longer-an-inkspiration/.

My card is made up using a Craftwork Cards 8" scalloped card blank and the Stampin' Up! Bird Punch and Welcome Christmas stamp set for the greeting.

Santa After Eight Treat Holder - The HOW TO !!!

As promised earlier in the week I am finally posting the details for the Santa After Eight holder.  Sorry for the delay... but snow is still affecting life!!!

So the box is as simple as it comes...... just .....

1. Cut a 10 x 14cm panel of Real Red cardstock
2. Score Landscape at 6 and 8 cm  ( ie 14cm across the top)
3. Score Portrait at 2 and 8 cm ( ie 10cm across the top)
4. Score, cut & adhere to form box

The punches used are detailed in the original post below but I have also attached a Punch Card Sheet for those of you that prefer something visual!!

And just in case you can't see the dimensions on the card - the white scallop trim is 3/4" x 6 1/2" ( then scallop edge punched)  and the ribbon is 6 1/4" long .

May your Christmas table be full of Santas too!!!!

Santa After Eight Treat Holder

Gosh I am getting lots of lovely comments and emails about my little Santa box... thank you one and all... I am well chuffed!! Keep them coming..... lovely comments about things I have made always make me feel SO happy......

So I will aim to get some details on here in the next few days as he really is pretty simple to make!! Though if the 2 -3 hour school runs continue this week it may be the weekend......

Newsprint DSP Mini Books

Just a quick post with quite a lot of photos....

This is the class we are doing this Saturday - though I am afraid that I am fully booked for the session.  So we will be doing 3 mini books using the combination of Newsprint DSP; Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla and  Basic Black cardstocks - with a bit of Baja Breeze on one of the projects.....

Edited to Add 30 March 2011....  I used some basics of this book with a lot of tweaks.... for my Baby Boy Mini Book using the Nursery Suite of papers & Quick Accents  - just see the inner page with the wonderful scalloped border 12x12 page!!!! 

The Notably Ornate Frame book is inspired by a design from Kimberly Van Diepen from the Holiday Helper series that Debbie McNeill offers. This was just perfect for what I had in mind.... so I followed the tutorial and made up my book... and then LOL!!! There was an alternative book at the end of the tutorial... using the Newsprint DSP.... and the similarity of the front cover is SPOOKY!!! Thanks Meg Loven, Kimberly and Debbie  - I like your taste!!

If you are a demonstrator you can sign-up to receive the Holiday Helper series at http://debbiemcneill.com/store/?p=341.

The Fancy Goods book is using a clear DVD case with the insert taken out. I bought a load of these DVD cases for clear stanp storage....and I haven't got around to sorting those clear stamps yet... so thought it was time for an alternative use.  The actual booklet is just made up of clear card protection bags.

The Road Trip book is made using a tutorial for a Scrapbook Wallet to be found in the Resources section of Splitcoast Stampers.  Hopefully a link here. http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/scrapbookwallet/

The travel related stamps I used are not Stampin' Up!

Christmas Sweet Treats

Just finished 3 of the projects we will be doing in next week's session so thought it was time to post something for a change!!

So it is chocolate treats time! We will be making a Xmas Pud punch art holder, an After Eights Santa box punch art holder and a simple wrapped chocolate bar.

So first of all Santa holding 3 After Eight mints - I will be making more of these for my Christmas Eve table!! Check out the new black 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon - I have been waiting for SU! to stock black ribbon since becoming a demo - so I am SO happy to see this! And even better SU! are now carrying all of the ribbons in black.

( apart from the 5  In Color ribbons - of which more details will be coming soon) 

What you can't really see on the photo is that Santa is also wearing small oval black boots!! Yes we finally have the smaller oval punch in the UK new catalogue too..... The arms are also made using this smaller oval punch ( along with the 1/2" circle punch for the hands and the small heart punch for the cuff)  But sadly the 1/4" punch used for the buttons is not available anymore!

And here is my favourite - my little Xmas Pud.... originally designed to hold a Ferrero Rocher but it got even better when I went to Tescos and found.... yes a chocolate Christmas pud! Perfect....

The pud is made from the 1 3/4" circle punch with part of a scalloped circle to represent the white sauce - along with "merry" from the gorgeous Tiny Tags stamp set punched out with the small Jewellery Tag punch and a berry using the 1/4" circle punch. Looks good enough to eat!!

And then finally we have the wrapped chocolate bar. I have purposely kept this VERY simple and I have also used some Christmas papers that are sadly no longer available.

But check out the scallop circle stamp in the new Perfect Punches stamp set ( page 66) - one of my favourite new sets as there are lots of different greetings that co-ordinate with the SU! punches - built for speed!!!

Better go and finish my other project(s) for the class.... My biggest problem now is that I have loads more projects  that I really want to do ( and the chocolate/treats to do them with!!!) .... but we will only be able to complete another 1 or 2 in the 2 1/2hours session....... Maybe I will have to squeeze a Sweet Treats II session in...! Or maybe I just decide which chocolates Joe and I prefer to eat - and just eat them....!!