Melanie's

It's a girl

2011-10-28T13:13:00.000+01:00

Woohoo, a few weeks ago now my nephew and his lovely girlfriend gave birth to an adorable baby girl, Poppy. So Aunty Mel had to make something special for this little one, after all I am her great Aunt ;-)

So I was on a mission to create something different and this is what I came up with.

Yep a Nappy Bike. Now in this photo, which was a quick one to show someone, the sock where a mess. So since taking this I fiddled with the wheels and also the socks on the handle bars. They where so much neater, once I had done. Here are a couple more pics to show what a state it was in. Sadle didn't take any before I gave it to them.

As you can see one tyre needed tightening. I just loved it and so did they. Also a card was in order which I used two of Papertrey Inks stamp sets,

I loved how this all came together, using a new in colour from Stampin' Up! Pool Party, just loving that colour right now. Its so refreshing.

P.S. forgot to add the bear was one from Build a Bear shop, love that place, can't go past without a look in at all the adorable bears. Hope you like.

Making your own backgrounds

2011-10-11T13:02:00.000+01:00

Well hello there peeps! Been a little while since I last blogged but hey what's new?

I haven't been idle, quite the opposite in fact. What with working and running after family members (yes kids you know who you are ;-) mwah!). I have finally got something to share with you. I cased a couple of cards the other week using stamps from another company, I know shocker but I do love other things as well. Anyway, I thought I would show you them.

This first one, I have made my own background using the snowflake from Winter Post. The card is Melon Mambo and then stamped using real red, fabulous in real life. Notice the colour of the silhouette from Welcome Christmas? Yep its one of the fabby new in colours, which I am just loving right now, Pool Party, also the card along the bottom is the same colour. Then finished off the the tiny tags, love those too.

My second card is along the same lines as the first, I created my own background. OK this one was a little time consuming, but hey I was having a chill out day, well hour or so to be exact. Again the colour of the base card is that of Lucky Limeade, stamped on using Tiny Tags and Old Olive ink. I think you will probably work out the other stamp sets use, but if not they are, Contempo Christmas (senitment), and Notably Ornate for the frame. A strip of DSP is added underneath and of course you can't go wrong with a bit of BLING on anything.

Now you have seen what I have done why not dig out a stamp set and have a look at those unused stamps in sets and see what you can come up with? Don't forget its not only limited to patterns but to words too. Enjoy and have fun!

It's Here and its LIVE!

2011-10-02T15:11:00.000+01:00

Yep its here the brand new catalogue from Stampin' Up!

Fabulous new products too. If you want to see more click on the photo on the left and you should be able to view online, but if like me, you like to browse one over a cup of coffee or tea and like to stroke those gorgeous pages filled with more scrumptious goodies, then you can always have one delivered to your door. If you would like one, please email me on melanie.reid2@ntlworld.com the price is just £4.50 per catalogue.

The hostess offers have changed too, no more having to place a VERY large order to get that exclusive hostess stamp set you had your eyes on. Nope you can use the NEW hostess rewards programme. It's fabbbbuuuuulous darling!

Also I have one more place for the Stampers group left which is due to start mid month. So if you want to have some scrummy goodies delivered to your door each month, you simply order goodies to the minimum value of £25 (plus postage at cost). Then one month out of the six you will be a virtual hostess where you reap all the hostess rewards. What is better than that?

Ever thought of becoming a Stampin' Up! demo? You don't have to run it as a business you could be what we call a hobby demo and have that discount just for yourself. If you want to know more please email me and I will give you all the details.

Hugs

Melanie

Something a bit different...

2011-09-11T19:49:00.000+01:00

... well not for me, but for my blog it is. Not done any real sewing in ages but just couldn't resist doing something once I received my Fabirc on Friday. This is going to be something new coming up next month in the Stampin' Up! new catalogue, so watch this space as I have loads of projects in mind. Its just finding time to actually get them done. It took me most of the afternoon inbetween other things (like son's homework) to get this done.

Its a mug organiser. Isn't it sweet. There are actually little pockets on the inside of the mug too, its tied at the sides with some of the luxury satin ribbon. It is in shades of pink and you know what that means, yep, darling daughter has her eyes on it. Really enjoyed making one of these so may have to make another. Would make nice gifts for Christmas.

I will have new Stampers clubs starting too in October, if you want to know more details please get in touch, melanie.reid2@ntlworld.com and I will send you all the details. Places fill up fast. So if you want to have your self some stamping goodies delivered to your door each month, then please sign up, they are a fabulous way to build up your stash.

Well I hope you have enjoyed this post with it not being card related.

Helllloooooooo!!!!

2011-08-24T11:46:00.000+01:00

Helllooooo! Remember me? Sorry I have been rather absent over the last well errrr lots of months really. Working in my new job has been rather time consuming so not much has been getting done with the crafting situation. I have tried every week to get into some kind of routine but other things just take priority with home life. Kids have been on their summer break too which can be hard work. Those with teenagers will understand.

Any how over the last couple of weeks I have made a start on some Christmas cards, woooooppppeeeee!

So I will show them both to you (I haven't just made two but a few of each). When you see them you will see they are time consuming.

First of all, let me appologise for the light, Mr. Sun decided to pop behind a cloud as I took the photo's. Here is Mr. Santa with attitude (Magnolia), love him don't you? I have used copics (21 in fact) to colour him in. Cardstock is all SU. Sentiment is from Lily of the Valley. Flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts. Not sure if I have attached those quite right as they are new to me but I used silicone glue. If your an expert and reading please let me know how do you attach yours?

This one has yet to be finished, needs some bling on there. But its in progress and inserts all need to be done and popped in. Just loving Santa this year. Again all cardstock and papers are Stampin' Up!

Right better go and do some more colouring, done my back in yesterday so have no choice but to rest, what a shame!

Enjoy!

Challenge using own stash

2011-05-10T17:44:00.001+01:00

Afternoon peeps, Today starts the peeks of the release of papertreyink's monthly stamps. A few of the girls who like to set challenges over on ILWS forum, came up with the challenge to case a card shown during the peeks with your own stash. I have manged to get a couple made today and thought I would share.

All card and inks are from Stampin' Up! Stamp sets are PTI. the green card should have some kind of dry embossing on it but I forgot as I got carried away with a letter I had just received. More about that later. The flowers in the background have a filter of vellum over so that they are not too bold against the letters. Fab idea, sadly not my own ;-(

This one was actually on one of the design teams blogs, sorry can't remember and haven't time at the moment to find it, little one needs PC for homework, groan. Again all card, ribbon, brads, embossing folder and inks, Stampin' Up! Stamp set and felt PTI. I must look for a tutorial on how to ruffle this gorgeous ribbon.

Right onto some other news, well as most people know times have been tough for many families, well today I just got news of a job I applied for. Yep I got it, so excited and nervous all rolled into one. I haven't worked since I had my daughter, well apart from voluntary work, which has been 14 years. I choose to have time out to bring up my kids, but now as they are more independant I thought it was time to get back out there. I am very proud as it was the first job I had applied for and got it. I think after a long period of time like this you tend to doubt your abilities and whether or not you could cope with a job. But it feels right, right now, so I am going for it. At least if I need some peace during holidays I can go to work, hee hee. Right that is all for now.

Nana and Me!

2011-05-04T09:20:00.001+01:00

Well today peeps I have a couple of scrapbook layouts to share with you. I wouldn't really call myself a scrapbooker, as such, as I have only done a couple layouts and they are only simple ones. Here is one of my recent ones. The photo was actually took on my hubby's phone in a very dark room in the back of the pub at Beamish Museum. I think it was a lovely photo of my daughter and my mum (who is 81 would you believe).

The 'Nana' and 'Me' are chipboard letters that I ghave painted using inks and daubers. Then on the nana I have used Baby blossoms stamp set and stamped the little flowers to blend in with the Springtime vintage papers. The 'Me' after inking was then covered using crystal effects, then sprinkled with dazzling diamonds to give it some bling. The ampersand was very plain just using card, so I covered with gems. The bottom paper has been distressed using the distresing tool. I must say I am not a fan of distressing and tearing paper, but I thought this looked ok.

My second layout I did a while ago in one of my classes, a very simple layout as you can see.

Again all cardstock and DSP are Stampin' Up! The flowers are actually felt die cuts with brads on top. Beamish is one of our favourite places to go. Most of it is set in 1913, here Fallon is having a go at one of the school day sports, Hoop Rolling. Its a metal hoop with a stick, this one is actually attached to the hoop but back then it was just a stick and a hoop, and I think they where made out of cane rather than metal. Its fab to watch everyone having a go, as its a skill only some can do. Hope you enjoy my simple layouts.

Come fly with me......

2011-04-26T10:45:00.001+01:00

.....Let's fly, let's fly away. Don't you just love that song? Its one of favourites too. OKay I know two blog posts in almost one day. But don't get too used to it, you know what I am like at blogging.

Before I go on and show you my creation I just want to say a HUGE thanks for all your comments on yesterday's post. It really, really means a lot to have such wonferful talented people pass such lovely comments on my creations. BIG hugs to you all!

Ok on to today's project (or last nights). Remember the ship in a bottle? well my idea came slightly from this but also from a post from Michelle Wooderson did with one of the sets I have used.

Someone has come along and knocked over the jar, releasing the plane. You could use this for a male birthday. kids and even babies. Just alter the colour combo. I hope you like the idea.

Stamps-PTI, Cardstock and papers- SU.

One for the Guys....

2011-04-25T14:45:00.001+01:00

..... OK its been far too long since I last posted. I know I am really, really bad. I just don't seem to find the time these days, to take the photo's then write up everything and finally click post. But today I have decided to blog about something us crafters seem to struggle with when making cards, MEN! Yep that three letter word that just send a shudder down your spine when your asked to make a card for one. A coupld of weeks ago I set a task to make some using stash we already have, I set a challenge to some of the ladies on ILWS to make a MAN'S card using what we already have. Took me a couple of days as I was plastering at the time, yep another feather to my bow, lol. Anyhow, here are a couple that I made.

and also

Some simple colour themes and a choosen stamp set or two and voila. Hope you likes 'em.

Stamp sets are PTI and the card and inks are all SU.

General swaps for Convention!

2010-11-19T10:49:00.000Z

Wowzee where is the time going these days. Christmas will soon be here and am I ready, nope not a chance. I still have heaps of Christmas pressies to get. Going shopping tomorrow, so fingers crossed I complete that task in one day.

Anyway I wanted to share with you some more of my swaps I made for convention.

This is one of them, I used artistic etchings for this. I just love this set and used it a couple of times on my swaps which you will see. I ruffled some taffeta and put along the bottom. Now to do this its very simple. Simply find a little thread at the end, about the middle and pull it as if you where pulling it out and ruffle as you go. Then just adhere the ends to the back. Simplzzzz. I also used one of the new border punches. Loving that too.

Here is another one I made, I did use the large circular motif in this set on the black and embossed it in clear, not too sure if you can quite see it in the photograph. The Eiffle Tower was embossed using white embossing powder. Love the effect on this card. Its so sophisticated and girlie. I have also made birthday cards the same but instead of the ribbon I used the silver hodgepodge, which again gives it a bit of class.

This one was actually a case from the main catalogue, but instead of using ribbon down the middle I used the border punch. The flower is the boho blossoms punch with one of the new rhinestones in the centre. The stamp set is called On a pedestal. I love this set too, in fact I am working on some Christmas cards using this set. Watch this space.

Right think I have bored you enough for now, will try and get back again with some more. This is before I start showing you my lovely swaps. Oh they are STUNNING!

In a whirl!

2010-11-12T16:29:00.000Z

Where oh where does time go. This time last week I was having a ball with loads of fellow demonstrators at convention. WOW it was fabulous. I swapped cards etc with loads of talented demo's. I will get round to taking some photo's of my swaps that I received. But for now I am going to show you some of mine.

My first one was for a Card Candy swap, we had to choose a set and make some embellishments that could be used to stick onto projects,

I choose Ornate Flowers with tiny tags as a sentiment. I tried to make it a wedding theme, so stuck to Pretty in Pink, Rose Red and Wild wasabi. Love these new colours.

My second one was for a 3D swap. I had a bit of a hard time with this. I wanted to create something that was not only 3D but also could be used as a business tool.

As you can see I have used a LOT of product and a LOT of ribbon in it. The real red satin ribbon around the kite is machine stitched and pleated as I sewed. Then the designer papers (brights) where cut into sections and had to be stuck down individually. The tail I wanted little bows but couldn't work out how to put them on, then I had a brain wave to hand stitch them and place a button onto the back, this gave it some weight too. Each kite had to be measured for all the cutting bits, so it took me a whole week to make 10. Something I don't want to make again in a hurry.

I then made loads and I mean loads of general swaps, but my all time favourite was my little cute stocking and candy cane. I just loved making these and they are so simple.

Basically, its just two stocking places together and stitched around the edges. I then stuck a piece of ribbon on the top so that you could hang it up. Then punched two edges of card, stuck to top and trimmed. Then popped in the candy cane. So simple. Think I am going to make some for my tree this year.

Well better go and see to my Christmas Cake, its been baking slowly in the oven and smells scrumtious.

November/December Offer!

2010-11-01T11:49:00.000Z

Wow what an offer this is. A FREE reel of lovely ribbon when you buy one of these bundles. These are not available to buy individually.

Gifted Bundle - Gifted stamp set and Jolly Holiday Designer Paper 124051 £35.70 (wood mount) or 124052 £30.70 (clear mount)
Welcome Christmas Bundle - Welcome Chrsitmas stamp set and Christmas Cocoa Speciality Designer Paper 124063 £36.90 (wood mount) or 124064 £31.90 (clear mount)
Season of Joy Bundle - Season of Joy and So Swirly wheel 124055 £36.45 (wood mount only)
Delightful Decorations Bundle - Delightful Decorations Stamp set and Ornament Punch 124058 £37.45 (wood mount Only)

Choose from on of these ribbons FREE.

Mistletoe Ribbon Originals 116792 Retail Value £11.50

Sleigh Bells Ribbon 116795 Retail Value £8.50

Riding Hood Red 1 1/4" Striped Grosgrain 113099 Retail Value £10.25

Real Red 3/4" Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon 115608 retail Value 10.25

If you would like to order any of the above please email me at melanie.reid2@ntlworld.com We also now take credit cards should you wish to pay this way.

Busy Busy!!!

2010-10-28T14:09:00.000+01:00

Gosh where have the weeks gone? I just seem to get lost in my workload and don't find time to blog what I am up to. Well here is the low down on basically what I have been doing. Next week I am off to a Stampin' Up! convention. So that means making loads of swaps. I will show them later as I know a few peeps read my blog, when I do blog, lol. So I have had my working head down and been crafting non stop for about the last three weeks. I do have something I can share with you today though.

Now what is it you ask. Well my lovelies, its a mini calendar book. It measures 3 x 3 inches and can quite easily be carried in your handbag. Now this isn't at all my idea, one of the very talented ladies from PTI made one and I just had to have a go. If you do a search for Lisa Johnson or poppypaperie typepad you should be able to locate all the instructions on how to make it. Now when I received my stash from across the pond I only ordered one calendar, DUH!, I know I want more but can't justify the postage for more right now, so I had a go at making some of my own. This is what the inside looks like

I have used a mixture of PTI and Stampin' Up! I just so love the designer papers from SU, I am actually using them instead of stroking them and putting them back. I hope you enjoy what I have to share. Don't forget if you want to order anything from Stampin' Up! you know where I am. We take credit cards now, what a BIG bonus. Until later Happy Papercrafting.

STOP PRESS, STOP PRESS**

2010-10-01T08:31:00.000+01:00

Woohooo, the new catalogue has now gone live and I can tell you, you are just sooooo going to love it. AS well as all the new Colour changes there are some new fabby punches, as well as the scrummy new ribbons.

PLUS gorgeous papers and also some wonderful stamp sets.

There is also an extra PLUS side to the stamps, most sets now come in clear mount. Which means NO MORE WOODEN BLOCKS, yeah!

I would just like to clarify the clear mounts are not what you think. They are still the same rubber and gray foam but they cling to acrylic blocks. Stampin' Up! wanted them this way so that they don't loose any quality to the stamps. For those of you who have them, will know just what I mean by the quality.

If you haven't yet purchased anything from Stampin' Up! and would like to know more about the products or even see them in action. Please get in touch.

If you would like to view the online catalogue please click on the link to the left (catalogue picture) it will take you right there.

Stamper's 6 Group!

2010-08-15T10:23:00.001+01:00

This post will stay at the top. So please scroll down for further posts.

I have a new stampers 6 group starting in August. If you are interested here is the pitch

There are 6 people with in the group, who commit to spending £25 per month (plus p+p) for 6 months.

During these six months each person takes the role of being the hostess. This is the beauty of these groups, you DON'T have to have us all in your home. So when you become hostess you get to choose at least a level one gift plus £15 of FREE merchandise from the catalogue/mini/or sale leaflets that are available to order from at that time.

If you don't already have one you will get a catalogue and any mini brochures that come out within that 6 month period.

Occasionally I pop a little something in with your parcel.

This is a fabulous way to increase your Stampin' Up! goodies without breaking the bank each month. If you are interested or have any questions please email me on melanie.reid2@ntlworld.com

I look forward to hearing from you.

August Offer!

2010-08-03T15:59:00.000+01:00

WOw what can I say Stampin' Up! have a fantastic offer this month. Its on the two step stamping sets.

In case you can't read the small print, here are the details of the sets.

Loads of Love, pg31, 104606, £18.95 - £15.16

Big Bold Birthday, pg35, 109439, £23.95 - £19.16

Trendy Trees, pg 39, 113258, £12.95 - £10.36

Greenhouse Garden, pg 43, 113824, £22.95 - £18.36

Something Sweet, mini pg 8, 117688, £23.95 - £19.16

Tiny Tags, mini pg 15, 118091, £18.95 - £15.16

Bird on a Branch, mini pg 18, 113266, £14.95 - £11.96

If you would like to order any of the sets then please get in touch. I was hoping to show some samples this week, but I have come down with a throat infection and I am not too well at the moment. So I am taking to my bed for some peace and quiet to get better quicker.

OFFERS!!!!

2010-07-31T09:55:00.000+01:00

This post will stay at the top until the end of July! please scroll down for other posts.

This first offer is from Stampin' Up! themselves. For all hostess's who place an order of £250 or more receive an EXTRA £20 in FREE merchandise.

This is a fabulous time to have a party or even do a book order with a few friends (want to know more about that then please email me). This offer is only available until July 31st.

I do fully understand that not everyone would like to place an order of this amount, so in all here is an additional offer from myself.

If you place an order of £35 or more you will get to choose a FREE inkpad from the new colours that will be available on October the 1st, when the new catalogue comes out. This will be posted out to you sometime in October 2010.

This offer of a free inkpad is from myself and NOT that of Stampin' Up!

You can see the new colours in This post.

Stop the clock.......

2010-07-19T10:14:00.003+01:00

..... Please. Where does the time go. I wish someone would invent a machine to make time stand still for a while. Maybe then I will catch up. There is always something that gets in the way when you have plans to do something else.
Anyway back to business. A month or so ago a lot of demo's got together to have what we have named, 'National Demo Support Day'. This was a day where we all made a card or two to send to our lovely team that are behind the scenes that keep Stampin' Up! ticking over for the UK. They are the ones we run too when we need help or to answer queries or just to have a moan too. They are lovely people and I am hoping come November when we go to Convention that they will be there to give them a hug or two. Chris and Eileen are just fab. I don't think they know exactly how much we care about these guys. Anyway, back to the cards. I made two cards, one for each of them so they didn't fight, lol.

They are both the same layout but using different designer papers. The first one is using the lovely cottage wall papers. I have also used the Vintage vogue stamp set on the vellum butterfly. I just love these at the moment (you will see more as I have another project with them on to show.) The second card is using the 'To the nines' designer papers. Also 'Lovely as a tree' stamp set and also 'Thank you Kindly'. So if you are reading this Eileen or Chris, mwah to you both. Your the best Support team ever.

Another project I have to share is one I have made to go up in my home. I got the idea from Jenny Moors who is an awesome lady and demo. She is an inspiration.

These are my 3D butterflies again using the lovely Cottage wall desinger papers. I have made curly antennae's and used my own gems for the bodies. This is all mounted in a box frame which I purchased from Wilkinson's.

Here is an angled shot so you can see the butterflies a bit better. I know I keep saying this but I really must get to grips with my camera and learn how to use it better. I just never seem to find the time.

Another thing I would love to share with you all, not craft related sorry. Is that last week, we had a leavers assembly for my little boy (well not so little now). The theme for them was the Oscar's. Anyway all kids where nominated for various things and none of them knew if they won until the night. Anyway my son received one for the most improved with maths. I must say he is a whizz at his mental maths. I also think he really excells this subject more than any other.

Here he is getting his award. They moved so quick so sorry for the blurry photo, plus I stumbled on my bag that was in front of me, that was without wine honest. I am so proud of the way he has worked this year, as not only has he improved on everything he has done fabulous with his literacy that he has struggled with for the last four years. And its only been this year they have done something about it. Plus the fact I have worked so hard with him at home with extra studies.

Sorry for the rambling, think this makes up for the last few weeks.

Helloooooooo.......

2010-07-05T09:25:00.000+01:00

....remember me? I am soooo sorry for not updating my blog over the last few months. It just seems that family life has just well and truly taken over, plus the fact I have been very busy with various things. Anyway I thought I would pop on to say hi to my followers and update with a few things.

At the moment, well for this month we have a brilliant offer on for hostess's to earn extra spends in the catalogue. I will put some more info on in a moment when my printer decides to wake up. I will also have a personal offer on of my own, again I will tell more in a moment or two. So I will go and sort out printer as its having a moment and be back soon with those offers and I may even show a card or two. Yep I have still been creating, I just need to remember to photograph things before I pass them on as gifts etc.

EXCITING NEWS!!!!!

2010-04-08T10:07:00.001+01:00

WOW you are just not going to believe the news I have to share with you. If you are a Stampin' Up! fan you may well know that in the US they have in colours. Which have not been available for us here in the UK. Well all that is about to change come 1st October. Stampin' Up! announced yesterday that the colour families are going to have a renovation. Oh they are so scrummy. All the families we have at the moment are sadly going to be no more. They are changing to colour collections.

As you can see we are keeping some of the colours from the families but sadly quite a few are going. The news ones come from some of the US's in colours and there are a few NEW additions to all across the board. With this good news also come sadness. As I have said before there are quite a few going.

The good news about this though is that you still have a further six months to stock up on any of your favourites. I know I am going to miss quite a few myself, but I am just so going to love what is coming.

If you want to place an order please don't hesitate to contact me.

OK better go and take kids out. They are on their Easter break now, so things are a bit noisy around here.

Blog Hop! Treat Anyone?

2010-03-28T10:00:00.003+01:00

Thank you for coming from Karen's blog onto mine. I hope you like what I am about to show.

Oh BOY, I just lurve this set. There is just so much you can do with this and I think its fab for kiddies of ALL ages. I have a few cards to show, but it need not stop there. You can incorporate these into your scrapbook layouts and also make 3D objects from them. I ran out of time to make some to show, but keep watching as I feel there will be loads of these around for a while.

My first card is basically showing you the stamp set, Something Sweet and also the Treat cups that you can purchase to use with them.

I have made this with my son in mind as he just loves gumball machine and always gets one every Christmas amongst all his presents. I have created a pull up tab on the inside to allow the treats to be taken out without tearing into the card itself. I have kept to the brights colours apart from the blue which is brocade blue.

As Easter is just around the corner what better way to celebrate with a lovely card with some choccy inside.

Don't ya think she is sweet. All made from Stampin' Up! punches, I suppose you could make various characters using the round tub as the base for the face. My daughter has her eyes on this one, better watch out.

My third is aimed at the guys, what better way than fish. Yep I have turned it into a shaker card and added my own background by just drawing a simple scene on a piece of card. Sticking the fish to it, and then adding the micro beads. If you look closely you will see some bubbles stamped with stazon onto the dome.

My last one if for all my readers who make the sunshine. I love sunflowers, so just had to make one and add some citrus sweets, boy are they sour. Don't know how my kids eat them.

Well I hope you have enjoyed what I have had to share today. Now please pop on over to Frenchiejo's blog for some more super projects.

Sneak Peek!!!

2010-03-27T17:41:00.005Z

OK I know I am a terrible blogger, things have just been manic this month and bloggin has had to take a back seat. I have had so many things to do and complete. Thankfully they are all done apart from one small job that is happening tomorrow. Quite a few of the Stampin' Up! demo's here in the UK have got together to do what we call a blog hop. Where you start at one point and read their post and then jump onto the next and so one. In ALL of these posts you will get to see some wonderful sneak peeks of some of the stamp sets and accessories that are coming up in the new mini catalogue. Which you can order from on the 1st April. I must say they are lush and I am just loving my pre-orders that I got.

I am going to show you a small card I have made some of my customers and friends which is part of the sneak peek, sssshh this one is extra, wink wink.

Isn't it lovely. I just love the vintage feel of it and there is more than just three stamps in the set. But that is ALL I am showing you at the moment. You will have to call back and do 'The tour' tomorrow.

Boxed Scrapbook page

2010-03-05T14:51:00.004Z

Well hello peeps, hope everyone who is reading is enjoying the sunshine. We have had a few glorious days, not that I have seen much of it. My little boy has been home most of the week poorly. Glad he has gone back to school today, so I can play catch up before the break up for the weekend.

I have a fabulous project to share with you today. Something I have been working on for a little while. I have made a 12 x 12 scrapbook page of my mum (who is 80, can you believe that) and my two darling kids (yeah I know they look like angels, don't kid yourself though).

I know its safe to show this as mum doesn't have a computer so won't see it, besides she is coming here tomorrow for a fab weekend, and we are going to give it to her then. This will be for mothers day, I know its early but we have to share her with the rest of the family ;-)

I want to show you a couple of close ups of the butterflies (loved making these, ok I am no David Bailey)

As you can see I have made them 3D. That is why the whole thing is in a box frame (I got mine from Wilkinson's for £6)

Now to make these wonderful darlings, I used Bella Toile background stamp, stamped onto vellum and heated to dry the ink. I then used my butterfly punch to punch out the butterfly shape. Did this with card too, making that a base. Stuck the vellum onto the card along the body only. Placed gems along the body and folded up the wings as if in flight. The antennae's are made using thin strips of card, wrapped around my pricking tool and then stuck to the back of the base card. This was then stuck onto the project. Don't you think they look great. Everyone has commented on it who have seen it in RL. Can't wait to give it to mum tomorrow.

Right better get moving as I have projects coming out my ears at the moment. Plus a few commissions I have been asked to do, and then ALL the swaps I am in. Don't think I should sleep for the next three weeks. Enjoy!

Stampers 6

2010-02-20T11:20:00.001Z

This post will stay at the top until middle of Feb, please scroll down for more posts.

I have a new stampers 6 group starting in February. If you are interested here is the pitch

There are 6 people with in the group, who commit to spending £25 per month (plus p+p) for 6 months.
During these six months each person takes the role of being the hostess. This is the beauty of these groups, you DON'T have to have us all in your home. So when you become hostess you get to choose at least a level one gift plus £15 of FREE merchandise from the catalogue/mini/or sale leaflets that are availble to order from at that time.
If you don't already have one you will get a catalogue and any mini brochures that come out within that 6 month period.
Occassionally I pop a little something in with your parcel.

This is a fabulous way to increase your Stampin' Up! goodies without breaking the bank each month. If you are interested or have any questions please email me on melanie.reid2@ntlworld.com

I look forward to hearing from you.

Scrapbook pages

2010-02-18T14:00:00.005Z

Well hello peeps, bet you thought I had vanished. Sorry for the lack of posts this month, but I have been ever so busy and this week the kids are on half term. So that means nothing gets done. So the last few weeks I have been busy getting ahead of myself and being organised. So we can have some family time. Well right now I have a housefull of teenagers playing on the Wii. Yep noise doesn't even cover what its like here. But at least they are having fun in the warmth.

Anyhow, I have some things to share. I have recently took part in a scrapbook swap, which when I get the pages, I will share with you what we all have done. I have enjoyed making them so much I have continued to do one with each stamp set I have used within my classes, that I run at home.

Last week we did one of Jenny Moors tutorials, which I can highly recommend as they are so detailed and very clear instructions. These are great for beginners. I extended the class so it ran over two weeks, as we only have two hours to complete everything.

Its a Joy fold card this is it closed

This is it slightly open. I loved making this having not made one before. Colours used Apricot Appeal and Pumpkin Pie, along with old olive ink.

I then took it a step further and made a 6 x 6 scrapbook page.

The first one was sticking to the colour theme as above, I did get a bit heavy handed with the ink, not that you can see from the photo. The second one was using Rose Red and Regal rose as the colour theme. But on this one I used the Greenhouse Garden flower to create the background. I like this version better, but then again I am biased as I just love this set.

This weeks class we used On a pedestal. Loving this set too. As I am showing mainly scrapbook pages I haven't took a photo of the other projects we made. But here is the page we all made.

The blank white squares that you see would actually be a photo of your choice. I just left them blank, so I have samples for my book that I am creating. I hope they give you some inspiration for scrapbooking rather than just cards. Right better get back to the rabble, back soon.

Queue up! Queue up!

2010-01-29T08:54:00.000Z

I have recently took part in a scrapbook swap, so much so that I am really enjoying making this size. Anyhow as a little thank you I made a nice card to whom is hosting the swap. I could share with you until I knew she had received it.

As you can guess from the title I am using the set Queue Up. It is a hostess level 3 set, which you need to have sales of £500 or more. I know I would never reach that myself, so I was glad we had chance to buy the set to demo with. The cups are coloured in with the markers and I have hand drawn the little steam lines above the cups.

The sentiment on this one is from 'A bit of Birthday cheer', I think the one I sent was from 'Thank you Kindly'. I love both of these sets as I mainly send birthday cards or thank you's.

The paper is from Kaleidoscope, I love the brightness of these papers. I think you may see a lot of them.

Love you much!

2010-01-28T09:41:00.005Z

Today I have three projects to share with you. All from the stamp set 'Love You Much', hence the title. I never know what to have as my titles for my posts. Anyway. Here is the first one we made

This is a shaker card in the middle, but by the photo it looks like the birds have some seeds. These are so easy to make. The circular window is made from the 1 3/4inch punch and I have used the window sheets for the glass so to speak.

The second project we made a treat pouch, this is called a diaper fold. I made this using a 6 x 6 inch piece of double sided paper. This was actually from one of the hostess gifts from the last catalogue, sorry you can't buy that one. We do have some fabulous other papers you know ;-)

The flower was from my own built up stash from years gone by. Trying to use stuff up to make room for new things I have coming this week.

This is the last project we made. 6 x 6inch scrapbook page. The reason why we made it this size, is so they can keep it as a sample layout in a folder that we may be making pretty soon. Well ok once I have worked out all the sizes for it. The photo corners are made using the eyelet border punch. I think it gives it a feminine look. Again the papers are from the hostess set from last catalogue. I just love those small clips too.

For each week, I am going to try and do a layout using what ever stamp set we are using in class. So if you are into scrapbooking or just wanting to learn, keep checking back each week.

Also if you are in the area and would like to attend a class, please get in touch and I can give you more details.

Off to quickly skim the house, so I can do some more crafting.

Haitian Disaster Relief

2010-01-23T13:01:00.002Z

Hi everyone. I have something real important to share with you guys.

As most people know (unless you have been locked away in a cupboard), an earthquake struck Haiti with a mangitude of 7.0. Leaving in its wake devastation so overwhelming that the Haitian people can only look for help from the rest of the world. Stampin' Up! have been great in putting together this week 5,000 hygiene kits at their head office in the US. You can read the full story Here

In addition to this Stampin' Up! are donating £1 from each set of Greenhouse Garden that is sold from now until 28th February. This may not seem a lot to some but to those people every single penny donated is a penny to help them recover from this awful devastation.

In addition to this I will match it and donate a further £1 to the red cross.

Trendy Trees

2010-01-22T10:26:00.004Z

Boy was that quick? I have three cards to show you. All using Trendy Trees and A Bit of Birthday Cheer.

This is the first card we made. I wanted to show how to make a recess window and I also wanted attempt the dreaded 'MEN's ' cards. I know we all struggle for men, so I think these would just do nicely. Not sure on the bow, maybe a knot next time.

The designer papers are Spiced cider. Which I think look far better in real life than in the catalogue. The shades for those papers are really rust, old olive, sahara sand (can only be bought in the neutrals pack), close to cocoa. I stuck with this colour theme and added Very vanilla cardstock for stamping onto. The buttons are from the earth elements set.

The second card again uses the same papers and colour theme for the additional cardstock. I have pricked in all four corners, not sure if you can make it out or not. Very basic, quick and simple.

The third card again was simple to make. Unfortunately the paper I used for the grass is now retired but I wanted something with lines on to give a nice effect and this was the only one I had. I punched out three circle scallops and stuck them to the bottom of the tree but rotated the stripe pattern. Then I trimmed down to the VV cardstock. The button is tied around the ribbon using linen thread, which I am soooooo loving at the moment.

I hope this gives you some ideas for men, I know they are difficult and can really challenge us from time to time. I am hoping to do more in the future, so keep watching.

Ok that is it for today, I am now off to do some scrapbooking for a swap I am doing with some other nice demo's. Keep watching as I will upload those when I receive them to show some alternatives to cardmaking.

Wet Day!

2010-01-22T10:04:00.002Z

Morning peeps. Sorry for not posting this week, but its been another busy one.

I do have some projects from my Wednesday night class to show, but need to take some pictures when it brightens up a little. Its rather dull and miserable here today, but thankfully ALL our snow has now gone, yeah!

Just want to thank for all the comments on my injuries. I am recovering nicely, although still a few bruises but getting there. I have actually got a free day today. So I am going to spend it wisely and do some of my own crafting. But first I will go and set up the camera and take some pictures to share with you of the projects we made this week.

Will be back soon!

Black 'n' Red

2010-01-15T08:58:00.004Z

Morning guys, sorry for being missing again. I had all intentions of blogging each day this week but I slipped and fell down the stairs on Tuesday evening and its left me with black bottom and being so sore I haven't been able to get comfortable. I am starting to feel much better now. Anyhow I have a couple of cards to share with you.

I have used Greenhouse Garden again, (I love this set at the moment), I used real red and basic black for the flowers. The designer papers is from Pink Flamingo, another of the bright papers. Which are totally scrummy in real life. The sentiment is actually from a retired set, seasonal wishes. The bow isn't actually tied either, its looped, then twisted round then the brad opened up and placed over the middle, then put through the hole where I wanted it and opened the pins out. Fabulous idea that I picked up from another demo 'Monica'. She does some awesome stuff.

The second card was way, way out of my comfort zone. I had printed off some sketches from several places to sit and just play around with. I don't normally do these because basically I never have the time to sit and play.

Why I used a black base card I don't know. Maybe because it was there on the table, so I built around this. I used the designer papers Nouveau Chic which has sage shadow and apricot appeal in the colours, along with basic black and gray. So as I liked bright colours, i picked out the Apricot appeal to use behind the papers, and the contrast sage shadow for the circle. The greeting is from the set Occassional Greetings. Can you believe I have had that stamp for over a year and have only just inked it. The flowers, well this is a great way to get them to match your project. I used a white flower from the pretties kit and inked it using a Stampin' Up! marker. The backing is punched using the petal punch, then put to gether with a fabulous gem brad.

For today I am hoping my cotton bump arrives so I can get on with anotehr project I have in the wings, its to do with sewing. I may share when its made, depends on how it turns out, lol. In the mean time I am going to go play with some paper and card. Bye for now!

SweetCake

2010-01-09T11:04:00.003Z

Gosh can't believe I have managed to blgo three days in a row. I have yet another share for you peeps today. Another of my favourite size card, not quite 6 inches this one. Its like A5 square, if that makes sense. I have had this set for a while and it hadn't been used, so I thought it about time it was inked.

The stamp set is called 'On a Pedestal'. Isn't it nice. I inked this up using my SU markers, so that I could get different colours on one stamp. Then you huff on it before stamping. The designer paper is Kaleidoscope which is nice and bright, my kind of stuff. The sentiment is from circle of friendship.

This is the inside, which I think just finishes the card off. Colours used are Green Galore, Summer Sun, Tempting Turquoise and whisper white.

Can you believe we have had yet more snow over night, we are just so not used to all this. I haven't drove the car in such a long time. I am one of those drivers that just won't in this icy weather. I would rather walk. I do get in the car and let hubby drive but if anyone saw me, by the look on my face they would think I had been kidnapped, lol. I must look so funny. The kids have gone sledging today, so I will get a little peace while they are out. So I am off to go and play in my crafting corner. Hubby will be home tomorrow and we like to spend the day together, so there may not be anything to share tomorrow. Stay warm and safe everyone ;-)

Money, Money, Money

2010-01-08T08:22:00.004Z

Oh don't ya just love that song. Now I will be singing it all day in my head, lol. I have a quick project for you today, something that I bought ages ago now but as my darling son got one too for Christmas. I decided to decorate mine. I have had to stand it on Chocolate chip card, so you can actually see it properly.

It is one of those money boxes that add up for you as you put in your cash. I decorated it with the Planter box rub ons. You get one sheet of white and one sheet of Chocolate chip flowers. I used the chocolate chip on my daughter box as she got a pink one. They are really striking and so simple to use. Unlike some rub ons I have had. You can use them on so many different things to jazz up a little, including tiles.

Well I am just about to go and walk in the cold cold snow. Don't know what the temperature is here today but we have had another 2 inches of snow throughout the night. Roll on summer if we get any. Catch you all later.

2010-01-07T17:24:00.006Z

At last Blogger is playing nicely, I have two cards to share with you today, both using the Greenhouse Garden stamp set. This first one is nearly a 6inch square cards, which I must say are my favourite size at the moment. The background has been created using En Francais background stamp in Certainly celery and then the medallion in Apricot Appeal (my favourite colour, well I do like them all). I then sponged over some pumpkin pie on the edges and a little here and there. I have done similar over the strip across the centre but just used flowers instead of the medallion. I have also put a little glitter over the flowers, its does make them stand out in real life, I wish I could take better photo's.

This is the inside of the card too

I used a centiment from Oval All. The next card is an A6 in size, same as before.

Again the inside

Using the curvy verses set. I love this colour combo, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper white and Apricot Appeal. Hopefully blogger will let me play again tomorrow, so I can show you something altered. Until then have fun.

SNOW!!!!

2010-01-07T10:04:00.003Z

BRRRRRRRR isn't it cold and I bet most of you in the UK have had some snow. I know we have had it for nearly three weeks now. It did start to go and then bang we got a load more this week. Fallon's school is closed but Jordon's isn't. He is one unhappy bunny.

Well I do have a couple of projects to share with you, well I actually had them on Monday but when I went to take some photo's I had run out of battery on my camera. So now I have some I will take some pictures later when it brightens up a bit. The sun is just coming out nice and strong now. (fingers crossed it will melt all the snow) Well I can dream can't I.

OK off to do a couple of job in the house and then I will get started with taking some pictures.

Back soon.

Just to let you know I haven't forgotten, blogger won't let me upload my photo's. I guess those who cannot make it into work today are all updating blogs, lol. I will try a little later to see if they will let me play.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-30T14:02:00.001Z

Gosh where has the last couple of months gone too? I hope you hadn't thought I had fell off the face of the Earth, lol. Sorry for being absent, I am not the best blogger in the world, life can sometimes be very hectic here.

Just wanted to pop on and Wish all my friends, family and customers a Merry Christmas and I hope you all have a fabulous New Year.

Now that all the Christmas prep is out of the way I am starting to get organised a little on doing some more crafting projects. I know my blog has slid by the way side over the last couple of months, but I am going to make it a New Years resolution to blog a bit more, even if its just little ole me waffling away.

Also there is another reason why I am here today, to share with you one of the BEST offer's ever that Stampin' Up! do each year. That as some of you may know is Sale-A-Bration. Here are some details for you, and as normal if you want to know more or place an order you can contact me on melanie.reid2@ntlworld.com I look forward to hearing from you.

Here is how Sale-A-Bration works;-

SPEND - When you spend £45 on Stampin' Up! merchandise you get to choose a stamp set FREE, YEP you heard me, FREE. So if you spend £90 you would get to choose two FREE stamp sets.

HOST - Host a workshop of £300 net sales and choose one free set from the Sale-A-Bration(you don't have to have one in your home, you can also do a book party, if you want more info please email me and I will explain). All this is in addition to the hostess benefits.

JOIN - Join Stampin' Up! during Sale-a-Bration and choose a FREE stamp set (excluding hostess sets) from the idea book and catalogue (valued up to £38.95)

If you would like to see the Sale-A-Bration sets click Here to view them.

Its here!!!!!!

2009-10-01T12:29:00.002+01:00

Well its finally here. The new catalogue. If you want to view please click on the picture of the catalogue to the left. I must warn you though there are some scrummy stamps and punches in there though. You may need a coffee or something stronger to sip while your browsing ;-)

I already have my wish list written and its VERY long!

If you would like to place an order with me, not a problem, I take cheques, postal orders, Paypal and even bank transfers. Please get in touch on melanie.reid2@ntlworld.com

Enjoy your browsing!

LAST CHANCE ---- HURRY!!!

2009-09-30T13:05:00.003+01:00

This will stay at the top so you can see what sells out. Please scroll down for new posts.

Before they all go. Stampin' Up! have released the last chance list which is basically what it says, last chance to buy retiring products while stocks last. Here to view the complete list. There have already been a few sell outs which I will try and keep updated the best I can:

All wrapped up, item number 104036

Happy Hearts, 100319

Be Happy, 107009

Mixed Bouquet, 105755

Flaky Friends, 101850

As much as I hate to see some sets go there are some gorgeous scrummy sets and also some fabulous new things coming up. Just watch this space for news on those. Also the NEW catalogue will be out 1st October, if you would like to reserve your copy please email me for price. Don't worry if you are in my stampers groups, your have been reserved for you.

Justice for Pleural Plaque Suffers - long post

2009-09-23T13:44:00.003+01:00

Sorry this post is not really craft related but it is something that is so close to my heart. I believe these men involved should be treated fairly and the government should stand up and help these men. As some of you know I lost my brother 'Alan Clark' to this horrible disease. He was one that has campaigned for all those men out there and their families to get compensation. Please read on

'GMB has been at the heart of the campaign to get justice for the victims of the work related disease Pleural Plaques. I’m writing today because I need your help in getting justice for sufferers of this terrible disease. A petition has just been launched which calls for victims of Pleural Plaques to be fairly compensated for their injuries – you can sign it at: http://unionstogether.org.uk/justicePleural Plaques are scarring of the lungs caused by heavy and prolonged exposure to asbestos. Employers have long known about the dangers of asbestos. But instead of providing the protection required to safeguard their staff, many simply decided to turn their backs on their workers, and hope they could get away with it.Until a few years ago, workers with Pleural Plaques were able to claim compensation. Crucially it meant that a company had admitted liability to exposing a worker to asbestos. But in October 2007, the law lords outrageously scrapped this precedent – meaning that thousands of people with Pleural Plaques would not be entitled to a single penny, whilst insurers profited to the tune of £1.4BN. A truly disgusting decision and a real abdication of duty. Now thousands of working men and women suffer from entirely avoidable disease, and those who are diagnosed today aren’t even entitled to compensation. The petition calls on the Government to do the right thing for victims of Pleural Plaques and restore the compensation. The Law Lords decision that the lung scarring caused by asbestos isn’t worthy of compensation is clearly wrong. The whole process was dubious – one lawyer on the payroll of the employers’ insurance companies had the audacity to claim that Pleural Plaques were a “good thing.” As if a lawyer knows the reality of suffering from lung disease caused by asbestos. The reality is that Pleural plaques are a sign of deep scarring to the lungs. Real physical injury, caused by long-term exposure to asbestos. And it causes significant mental anguish as well. Pleural Plaques victims have a dramatically higher chance of developing Mesothelioma – a lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Many victims describe this as a ticking time bomb that infects their lives with fear – imagine living with the knowledge that your lungs had been irreversibly damaged by asbestos and you might be diagnosed with terminal cancer at any time. And tragically, I know of at least one sufferer who couldn’t live with the fear and took their own life. You can make a difference. We want the Government take action to reverse the Law Lords’ judgement and restore justice to those who deserve it – whose only ‘crime’ was to work with or near asbestos. The Scottish Parliament and the devolved administration in Northern Ireland have already done this – with your help we’ll get Whitehall to stop dragging their feet and get this sorted in England and Wales too. We are calling for justice for these working people who need our help. Please sign the petition http://unionstogether.org.uk/justice – and then ask your family and friends to sign it as well. Together we’ll send a powerful message to the Government – justice now.

Thank you for reading!

Sorry nothing today...

2009-09-16T12:47:00.004+01:00

... my little girl is home sick, so I am playing nurse. I was hoping to get something done today to show, I did start colouring some images yesterday but you know when you get that 'DAY!' when nothing is going right, well yesterday was one of those days. So today I am going to do some relaxing, well as much as I can inbetween sick duty.

I managed to play a largish order for some stamps yesterday from PapertreyInk. Boy I love there stamps but for it to be visable in ordering, you really need to put in a big order. The postage can be a bit extreme for just a few sets. So I have those coming sometime, hopefully soon. Plus some other stamps I am going to try, Pink Cat Studio and also some Manga stamps from Funky Kits. Oooo I just can't wait for them all. Hopefully I will have something to share tomorrow, all being well with my little darling.

FOR SALE!!!!

2009-09-14T16:41:00.002+01:00

It is with deepest regret that I am selling all my cartridges for my cricut. Now if you have one of these cute little machines and don't have many cartridges, then look no further. I am selling these purely because my cricut has died on me and I don't want to buy another because I don't use it very much. So here is the list of what is available:-

Accent Essentials

Paper Doll Dress Up

Walk in my Garden

Mini Monograms

Celebrations

Christmas Cheer

Tear Drop

George and basic shapes

Alphalicious

Tags, Bags, Boxes and more

Fabulous Finds

I would like £30 for each cartridge, this includes P+P (within the UK only) first class signed for. If your international you will need to email for postage as it would be more expensive.

Please email melanie.reid2@ntlworld.com if you are interested in any of them.

Little Peeps!

2009-09-14T10:12:00.000+01:00

I have had this set for a while and haven't used it until now. My darling daughter has had her eyes on it though. For those who have children and are into crafting will know what I mean. I love my bright colours, so I though to use Rainbow Sherbet DSP.

Don't these stick people look cute, reminds me of LS Lowry, painting those match stick men.

Temping Turquoise, Apricot Appeal and whisper white cardstock. Rainbow Sherbet DSP, ribbon.

Enjoy!

Time......

2009-09-13T09:59:00.000+01:00

....for some relaxation me thinks. The kids are at school, hubby is at work and its my ARRRRRHHHH!!!!! time. Just thought I would share another creation I have made.

Its using Sense of Time stamp set. Very basic layout and I have used one of my hodgepodge items. I know shock horror, I have used an embellishment. But these are so nice, I just couldn't resist. The card is real red, very vanilla and Kraft (which will be in the new catalogue, ssshhh). I love Kraft cardstock and its becoming one of the most popular colours for this season. I think I may be using this a bit more ;-)

Challenge!!!!

2009-09-12T09:47:00.000+01:00

Well each week I get together with my ladies for a bit of craft and chat. Usually more chat than craft. Well last week, while chatting, I was making some samples and one said, she would like to see me just make a card at random using things SHE picked. So anything for a laugh, I agreed.

She picked a set and two colours. Live your Dream, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum and very vanilla. I wasn't allowed to use anything else. So this is what I came up with

Sorry about the photo, I am terrible at taking them. Should really go for some lessons. There was no backing paper, so I made my own using one of the stamps and my stamp-a-ma-jig.

Anyway, this has got me thinking. If you would like to see something made from your choice of stamp set (providing I have it of course, I have quite a few but shush don't want hubby to know) and colours from Stampin' Up! just leave me a comment and I will see what I can come up with. I think this could be a whole lot of fun, and If I pick your challenge, the card I make will be posted to you. I will contact you for addy, so no need to leave any details on the blog comments.

OK I am off to spend some time with the kids as they are home for the weekend.

Chrimbo......

2009-09-11T09:38:00.000+01:00

......Is just around the corner. I know its a daunting thought but it will soon be here, 15 weeks to be exact. So I have made a start on my Christmas cards, didn't know where to start at first. So i checked out some sketch's and found the MojoMonday's Blog and took the first one I came to. I have never done these before, so its something I would like to keep doing. Mine is only a very simple take compared to the most advanced.

Stamp set used, Loads of Love and the accessories. Chocolate chip card, Holiday Treasures DSP. I used the paper piecing technique for the truck with some card to match the papers. Enjoy!

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby!

2009-09-10T09:10:00.004+01:00

Oh don't you just love that song, lol. Well actually it should be red, red, red, red! A friend of mine and her hubby are celebrating their Ruby Wedding Anniversary, Yes 40 whole years of marriage. Boy I will never get to that. Its such an achievement. Here is a card I have made them, just hope Royal Mail do there job and deliver it before they get back from their jollies.

I have used Real Red, So Saffron and whisper White cardstock. The designer paper is also So Saffron. The stamp set is Bloomin' with Beauty. Ribbon Real red grosgrain.

New Baby!

2009-09-09T11:59:00.004+01:00

Well my niece finally parted with her baby and gave birth to a lovely baby girl. We all knew want she was having, hence the colours choosen on the nappy cake in a previous post.

So as my pre-order stamp stuff hadn't arrived I needed to make a card double quick. Here is what I made,

Both sets are now on the last chance list, Bundle of joy and Wild about you. The colours are Pretty in pink, Regal Rose, Rose Red and Whisper white.

I need to get it in the post today as she has just got home with new baby. I have some more cards to share but need to upload them. I now have to prep for tonights class and my NEW goodies have just landed along with my copy of the NEW catalogue, yippeee, I can see me working really quick now ;-)

Silhouettes?

2009-09-08T01:30:00.000+01:00

Another of my favourite sets has to be Pocket Silhouettes. Its only small but the projects you can make are stunning (well its Stampin' Up! products aren't they ;-) )

I run a small class of crafters in my home and I made these three cards for our class. Now I cannot remember if one of the layouts was cased from another person's card or whether it was a sketch that I followed. As these where done some time ago now. So sorry for not given credit to that person.

This first one may of been a sketch from MojoMonday, but not 100% sure on that.

This second one I just wanted something simple and also to use my new nesties at the time.

This third one could be the one I cased, so if I did and you are reading, sorry but I just can't remember. That's one of the problems of nearly being 40, you loose your marbles. Hubby says its with having kids, lol. Anyway I am at the end of my scheduling blog posts for today, better get on with some creating. Back soon.

Summer

2009-09-07T01:21:00.001+01:00

I know we haven't had much of it this year but then when do we?

I hope we get some sun soon, probably when the kids go back to school. Thankfully time is nearly here. Oh! Do I sound desperate for some peace and quiet?

A couple of months ago, I organised a swap on my Yahoo group that I run. There are some fabulous ladies on there, very talented. Anyway the theme was holiday. So I choose a summer one (well a girl can wish can't she, lol).

I have used Summer by the Sea stamp set along with Typeset Upper case, the papers are Junior Varsity. This was then posted off to my lovely swap partner, Pat.

2009-09-06T01:06:00.001+01:00

Yes two days in a row, fingers crossed mr blogger works with the scheduling, lol.

At the same time I made the nappy cake I made two bags for my Great Nephew(3) and Great Neice (8). Now this was a hard task for Elvi as she is disabled. I wanted to make her something she could admire but also something she could use too. Her dexterity was my main concern because I had never met her until the day of my brothers funeral. (That is a long story so won't go into that now). Anyway I made her this

Now I just love this Daisy stamp, she is one of my favourites, just wish Stampin' Up! did stamps like this ;-) Tha background is created with Doodle that, again its one of my favourites but sadly its on the last chance list, boohoo. But I know there will be other stunning sets available to buy when the new catalogue is launched next month.

The second bag was a bit of a brain teaser as I wanted to create something boyish for my dear Great Nephew, who is just a so typical boy. So I followed my main design for Elvi's bag but mase the front and back in the shape of a football. Then each hexagon was cut and stuck down separately.

I filled both with bubbles, sweets and some handmade gifts. I know they both really enjoyed receiving them.

Cake Anyone?

2009-09-05T12:57:00.006+01:00

Yes I can't believe it either, I have finally got the photo's off the camera and are going to share them. I know its taken me a long time to do this but with everything else that has going on things have just been left to slide. I have now decided its time to pick myself up and dust off those cobwebs and get crafting, after all they say its a great tonic.

About a month ago I made this lovely cake from nappies for my neice who was due on 27th August, she is still hanging on to that bump of hers, just hope its not too much longer for her. Anyway here is the cake and a few shots of the animals, sorry for the lighting, I really need to learn to take better pics.

Sorry but I wrapped it all before I took photo's,duh!

These are the animals I had stamped and cut out, they are from Wild about You.

I will have another posting for tomorrow if mr blogger lets me schedule it for then. Until then have a great day.

Update and some sad news

2009-08-19T16:30:00.003+01:00

Sorry for being missing for absolutely ages. As some of you know my brother was very ill with a rare type of cancer. He has fought a very brave fight but has sadly lost his battle and died on August 3rd. Because I live a half an hours drive away it was a bit tough running back and forth to visit him in the hospice. He was there for five weeks, just goes to show how he fought, as when he was originally admitted the family was told he only had days left. He surprised everyone on that score and kept going for the five weeks. It was only the last couple where he became bed ridden and needed them to help with everything. On the last week, each time the phone went I was just expecting to get 'That' phone call. Then when we did I was just so numb, I didn't know how to react.

My first thought has been my mum, who is nearly 80. You just don't expect to bury your own child. She has coped so well and is coming to stay with us for a while at the weekend.

Well the funeral was a real shocker. We didn't expect so many to turn out. There was that many they couldn't get them in the church, there where crowds all outside. Mum thought they where just waiting for us to go in before all of them. We knew my brother was well known in the industry as he was a very BIG union man and fought for all the men. Their right and also their familes to help them get the compensation that they rightly deserve when they too where diagnosed with asbestosis, or related illnesses.

He has made a documentary about the industry and his life and most importantly his condition and the rights men and their families should have. We are hoping it will get shown on National TV, but we have to wait on that one.

He will always be in our hearts and we will never forget him, just because he isn't here now. He's in a good place with my late father looking after them. now that would be fun to watch, lol.

Just wanted to share what has been happening in my life lately.

I am hoping to get back bloggin soon, as soon as I get caught up with life at home. You know housework and the likes. Everything has been neglected lately. So until than thanks to all who have sent lovely wishes to me and my family.

* Stampers 6 *

2009-07-10T10:54:00.000+01:00

As most of you know I am a Stampin' Up! demonstrator in Darlington. Now in July I will be setting up a New stampers 6 group. If you are interested here is the pitch;-

When you sign up you commit to spending £25 per month (plus £3.95 p+p)

During one of those months you get to become the hostess and receive not only a level one (sometimes it can be level 2, depending on sales) gift but also £15 in free merchandise from the catalogue or the mini.

Occasionally you will find a little gift from me too in with your parcel.

This is a fab way to help build up your stash and gain freebies without having to hold a party.

If you think you are interested and have any questions, please email me on melanie.reid2@ntlworld.com

Where did May go???

2009-06-09T10:46:00.003+01:00

Well here we are in June, where oh where did May go. I know we have been rather busy gutting and re building one of the childrens rooms. It took forever but since I mainly done most of the work and hubby stood and watched. Yes I have one of those that does not partake in any DIY unless under force. We had stripped it back to the bare wood floors and also took all the skirtings off and replaced. It doesn't sound like a massive task but when I work alone it can be sometimes difficult. But I got there in the end and now all new furniture has arrived and been put in its rightfull place. It looks fab. Kids love it so much, we hardly see them.

I have been doing a few projects but haven't had time to photograph anything as yet.

I did take time out to go on a copic tutorial day with Maddy and Rachel, check out their blogs some great stuff on there. If you can manage to get on one of these workshops, I would really recommend it. Maddy is so sweet and Rachel makes gorgeous cakes. OK so ours was shop bought but it was fab all the same. I will have to take a picture of my now finished card later today. But first I want to do a few jobs while its quiet in the home.

Keep Watching!!!!

Scrapbook in a tin

2009-05-06T14:37:00.019+01:00

Well I am not too sure how this is all gonna turn out. My photography is lousy, I really need to take a course but then when do I fit it in?????

Here goes

This is the project I have made based on the card in the previous post. I have left all the photo's off until I get them all from my mum. Plus the lid still needs to be finished with a title. Again I can't decide until I pick the pictures. Hmm.

Well If you want to download the PDF check out ILWS in their tutorials section. Or you can try and follow the ones I will have here.

1. Take your main colour card (perfect plum), compass, pencil and ruler. Set your compass so that you can make a 5 ½” circle. Using the same centre point make another a fraction bigger that the 5 ½”.

2. Cut out on the outer circle, not on the inner one.

3. Using your corner rounder. Take off the guide. Line it up with the outer corners touching the inner circle and punch. Move it along so that one corner matches a corner that has been punches already. Continue in this way until finished. Don’t worry if at the end the scallops are uneven. You can hide this with ribbon or an embellishment. Practice on smaller circles if necessary.

Once finished, you can rub out any pencil lines that are left. Repeat these steps for as many pages as you want.

4. For the decorative section. Make another circle of 5” in diameter on white or cream card. You can do this as we did before with a compass and a pencil/circle cutter or even a Cricut. For every main page you will have two of these, one for either side. If you have 4 pages you will need 8 decorative panels.
5. For the decoration I used two background stamps, En francias and sanded.
En francais I stamped using perfect plum.
Sanded I used Mellow moss.

6. To make it looked aged. I used a kitchen sponge cut up and close to cocoa ink pad. Just dab the sponge onto the ink pad and then onto the cardstock.

Do this with as many pages as you want. You can also do the edges of the main pages.
7. Adhere on to one side of a main page. With the second side you will need take a bit more time positioning the page, so that the text is straight with the one on the other side.

8. For the decorating of the pages, this is all optional. I choose to match a card I had cased from another ladies blog. As I wanted an aged look for the photograph’s I am going to use.
Firstly I cut strips of perfect plum card 1 ¼” (3cm) wide. Lay one over your page where you would like it to be. Take a smaller circle, (mine is 4 ½” in diameter), lay this over and mark your strip of card in pencil. This is then your cutting line. Cut, age with ink (optional) adhere to page.

9. For the next step, again cut strips of card 1” (2.5cm) wide. To make curved edges use a template as we did in the previous step. Decorate as you wish. I used faux stitching and a length of ribbon. Adhere to your page.

10. For the picture section, cut one 7 x 9cm (perfect plum) piece of card, one 6.5 x 8.5cm (mellow moss) piece of card. Mat and layer them together. The picture should measure 6 x 8cm. (this is not shown yet as I am waiting on some family pictures)

11. Using foam pads cut them into strips and place around three sides as shown. Mount this onto your page.

12. For the pull out tab. Cut strips of card (very vanilla) 2 1/8” x 3 ½” long. Punch out a tab punch and adhere to the top. I decorated mine with stamp sets ‘totally tabs’ and the journaling lines stamp from ‘Live your dream’.

The next steps depend on how you want to put your album together.

1. Punch holes in the side of your pages and hold them together with book rings, ribbon or even wires from a bind it all machine.
2. Place into a decorated film tin. I have used this option and made it to match my pages. Again it is left blank for me to add some embellishments and a title.

Measurements for my circles for the tin lid are; perfect plum scalloped circle 6 ½” and 6 ¼”. Make as you did in step 3. For the cream card Measures 5 ¾”. All these sizes depend on your tin that you use.

Cased card with a twist

2009-05-06T14:29:00.005+01:00

I have a couple of posts to share, hopefully the second will be done today at some point if not tomorrow.

The first is a card I cased a couple of weeks ago but with a family bereavment and other family issues I haven't been able to get things finished. You will see what I mean in my next post.

Anyhow, back to this card share. I cased this card from Julie Buhler's blog weeks ago now. You really need to check out her blog its fab. This is my interperation

I just loved how it went together and thought, HEY I can turn it, like you do. So here is it turned

I then went on to create something else which is 3D. Will be back in a mo with some instructions on what I made. Enjoy!

Bit of an update on life

2009-04-22T08:05:00.003+01:00

Sorry for not blogging at all this month. But there has just been so much happening and I can't see things settling down just yet. Many of you have sent lovely comments and asked how my brother is doing. Well he is hanging in there and has now been put on steroids to try and build him up a bit. This is to see if he would be well enough for Chemo. I didn't know there where different kinds of chemo for different cancers. Anyway he is doing the best he can considering and has talked about going fishing, personally I don't think he could manage it unless he had quite a few helpers. Don't think I would volunteer, lol, thinking pictures here as I can be very squeamish.

We have also had two lots of more bad news. A good friend of ours has just lost there father. He was very old and frail and it was expected. But it still hits you hard.

Then the other was my hubby's mum, she sadly passed away on Monday. So we are having to go up to Scotland this week for a few days. This was also expected as she has been poorly for a while. But again it still hits you very hard. My children have never experianced anything like this, so it makes it a little bit harder to explain what the next few days will have in store for them. I know they will be fine as they are both mature enough to handle this situation.

So for today just grab your nearest and dearest and give them a BIG hug.

I am working on a tutorial for ILWS and hopefully, if camera doesn't play up. I will have it on my blog too. This should be around the 4th May. So happy stamping/crafting.

BLOG CANDY CLOSED

2009-04-01T15:24:00.001+01:00

It will be my little boy's birthday come 1st April and he will be 10, gosh how the years have flown by. To celebrate I have put together a little kit of Stampin' Up! goodies. What a way to celebrate.

Here is what I am offering:

1/2 meter of each of the 1/4" grosgrain ribbons. White blooms from the pretties kit. Felt blooms in all 3 available colours. Metal frames/buckles and other embellishments from the retired hodgepodge kit. Glass beads, brads and pearls from the pretties kit. 5 x whisper white envelopes. 12 sheets of the Tea Party paper size 6 x 6" (this is new and not available to customers till 1st April). 8 x A5 sheets of card to match the paper. Polka dot punches stamp set (no longer available to buy through sale a bration) and a mini catalogue. All of this in an undecorated A5 silver tin. OK apart from the stamp set as it won't fit.

Ok to get your little mits on this lot you will need to leave a comment and tell me. If you where 10 again (I know we can dream) how would you like to celebrate it?

Also If you have a blog can you pop a link on to lead back here. The more the merrier as mum always says ;-)

I will choose a winner on the 1st April. If I can work out the random generator other wise it will be out of the bag. OK I am blonde what can I say, lol.

Blog candy winner

2009-04-01T12:49:00.002+01:00

I have tried all morning to upload the winner of the blog candy. And the winner is..........

comment number 6 Aunty Sue

Here is her comment "Hi and Happy Birthday to your son. Well if i was 10 and can think back that long all of 40 years. I would have a night at the pictures with my girlie friends then go to pizza hut for our tea at the trafford centre where there is lots of yummy shops. Off to post a link to your blog from mine."

So if you can email me your address to melanie.reid2@ntlworld.com I will get them in the post to you.

We haven't decided yet on what we are doing at the weekend but it does look like we will be going to ruff and tumble at some point. He would like to take his friend with him who is a girl. Nope its not a girlfriend as such but someone he just cares about. His words not mine, lol. Oh what its like to be 10 again.

Well must crack on as I have a class to prepair for and a birthday card or two to make.

Mother's Day!

2009-03-23T09:50:00.006Z

Hope all you mum's out there had a faberooney day yesterday, I know I did. My kids bought me some rubber stamps although they never knew till yesterday, lol.

Anyway I would like to share a project I made for my mum. she is nearly 80 and is very fit and active for her age. I think that is what keeps her so young.

This is a Tote that I purchased through Here. Her tutorials are fabulous. I did have to enlarge some of the measurements to fit our A6 cards. I used cardstock rather than designer paper. I also used one of the background stamps to make my card look like designer paper. This one I used the paisley stamp.

Onto the cards.

For these cards I used the Tea and crumpets designer paper. The stamp set is birthday best. This is one of the cheaper sets from Stampin' Up! but the quality is fabulous all the same. I have used pretty in pink, and always artichoke cardstock.

Again I have used tea and crumpets DSP. Chocolate chip cardstock and Always artichoke. The stamp set is Crazy for cupcakes. I used the stamp-a-ma-jig to just stamp two lots of the cupcakes, side by side. This really is a great piece of kit. I have embellished it with chocolate chip and pretty in pink taffeta ribbon. You get heaps on a reel for only £5.50

This last one is using the same DSP. Chocolate chip and So Saffron cardstock. The stamp sets used where again Crazy for Cupcakes (my all time favourite) and the hostess stamp set Best yet. This is available for free if you order products of £150 or more. Obviously the more you order the higher the free merchandise you would also be allowed to get for FREE! If you want to know please get in touch.

Just a little update on my brother. He had a heart attack last Thursday and was taken to hospital. They have since unblocked the artery that has caused the problem. Hopefully he may of been sent home late yesterday but as its a tad too early to ring him, I don't know if he has yet. He seems to be in high spirits considering everything he is going through. Thanks again for all your well wishes, they do mean a lot.

Update

2009-03-17T13:24:00.004Z

Thank you to eveyone who has sent some lovely emails and also replies to the posts. Just want to do a quick update on my big bro. He has been diagnosed with mesiothelioma which is a rare cancer. It is caused by working with asbestos years ago. Not many people know much about the disease but from experiance its not nice at all. Fibres can get into your tissue and grow and turn into cancer, not sure how but it can take 20-30 years to come out. Some people lead a horrible life after diagnosis. He has yet to visit the top man to see if there is any treatment but I know when my father had it, there was nothing they could do as it was too far advanced, but that was 12 years ago. So I am hoping as medicine has come along way since then. That there is hope of treatment.

Well I am trying ever so hard to get back into things. I have just received a delivery of a couple of new sets from the new mini, plus the new mini books have arrived too. So I going to try and create something.

I am also working on putting some nice blog candy together for some very lucky person. So keep watching.

Where oh where is my mojo?????

2009-03-11T16:26:00.004Z

Ever had one of those weeks when your mojo just goes. Well I am having one of those weeks. In fact I have never felt on top form since we came back from Scotland a few weeks ago. Sadly when we came back, we had some bad news that my BIG brother was in hospital, really poorly. Anyway to cut a long story short he has been diagnosed with cancer as he has tumours in his stomach. They have taken some biopsy's last week but we are still waiting on the results. He has gone down dramatically since Christmas. Loosing a lot of weight. Hopefully when he gets the results they can then start on some treatment but the doctors are hush hush until they get these results back as to what type of cancer it is. As he worked with asbestos years ago, we are almost sure its got to do with this. But nothing has been confirmed as yet.

My mum has been really down and I really feel for her and I am trying to stay strong and focused for her, just in case she needs me. Please keep them in your prayers.

So this is why I haven't been posting very much the last couple of months. I am trying to get back into everything but its just so hard to concentrate on anything else.

So if anyone see's my mojo on their travels please send it back home as I really could do with the therapy of crafting right now.

Another Stampin' Up! OFFER

2009-03-11T16:18:00.004Z

Have you ever wanted cheaper craft goodies?

Have you ever thought about running a crafting business?

Well this month Stampin' Up! are having special on their starter kits. If you sign up to become a demo between 12th-25th March you would get the starter kit for just £125 instead of £139.

Don't worry if doing demo's are not your thing, or even doing parties in peoples homes You can still be a demo but what we call a hobby demo. If you would like to know more about this please email me melanie.reid2@ntlworld.com and I will give you more details.

Here is the flyer.

Just look at all you get for £125, All this retails at over £240 (this is including all the business supplies too).

New Products coming....

2009-03-02T16:14:00.003Z

.....VERY SOON. Check them out, click on the link at the right hand side to view some new products that will befcome available from April 1st to30th September 2009.

I am sure you will just lurve something that is in there. I already have my catalogue and will be ordering some later this week. I must say my list has nearly everything on it, but then I just lurve everything Stampin' Up!

I ask a lot of my customers what they like about Stampin' Up! and the majority always say its the way everything co-ordinates. With having four colours families you are never short of colour combo's. They are just fabulous. So what are your thoughts about Stampin' Up!

March OFFER

2009-03-02T15:55:00.005Z

Sorry its been a while since I last blogged. There has been just so much going on through February, holiday, kids half term and then a very sick member of the family was in hospital. I am trying to get back into things but for the moment, I feel a little out of sorts with the shock of things.

Anyhow for March Stampin' Up! Offer it's 25% off chipboard. For all your scrapbookers its a fabulous offer, but its not just for scrappers. Card makers can use it too and also those of you who do altered art. I just love using the stuff.

If you would like to place an order with me please don't hesitate to get in touch. Details are on the right hand side.

Something to share

2009-02-11T10:53:00.005Z

Gosh where has January gone? It seems like it was only here yesterday. So much has been going on and things preventing me from blogging. But today I have managed to get a card made and even took pictures with my camera (I have so got learn how to use this thing). OK the light isn't brilliant today as we have had dark clouds and a few snow showers. Not coming to much though, thankfully. But I have tried my best and played with setting too on the camera. Anyway here is the card I want to share with you all. Its technique is called the Split Negative. I learned how to do this many years ago but had forgotten all about it till it was refreshed by another Stampin' Up! demo here in the UK. Thanks Monica for sharing a wonderful technique.

I have used elegant eggplant as my main colour (card and ink pad) also whisper white and also white embossing powder. This is all mounted on some Lavendar lace cardstock. Whisper white taffeta and one of my own brads for embellishments.

I have also stamped inside on the insert.

I have used the small baroque border with the Elegant eggplant ink pad (yep no ink cartridge). You can do this for small pieces of work but I would recommend the cartridges for larges sections. Well I better get back to crafting as I need to get a few things done today. One being my son's Valentines present, for a girl he really likes ;-) Bless him he is only 10.

Dials anyone?

2009-01-12T09:14:00.000Z

As some of you know I am part of the tutorial team on In Love With Stamping forum(see link to the right). It was my turn to write one for today so here is what I did.

Materials
Cardstock in two colours
Brads
Pencil/Ruler/scissors
¼” and 1 ¼” circular punch
¼” square punch
Craft knife
One of the following methods of cutting; Nestabilities circles, compass and pencil, coluzzle with circle template.
1. I have chosen to work with nestabilities for this project, but you can use a compass and pencil, coluzzle with circular template. Just adjust to accommodate.
Choose 3 sizes, large (9.5cm), Medium (7.5cm), small (3.5cm) all approximate.

2. Choose your main colour and cut out the three circles from step 1.

3. On the back of all three, find the middle by using your ruler and a pencil. (Work in pencil as it can be rubbed out as you proceed.) Make a cross.

Where the lines cross, using a pricking tool punch a hole. This will be for the brad to go through later on.

4. Using a piece of contrasting card cut a strip 2.5cm (1”) wide. To round the edges use your 1 ¼” circle punch. Slide your strip of card through the punch. Centralise it on the end and punch out.

5. To get the length, place under your large circle and pencil the edge. Place it back in the punch and punch a tiny bit away from the marked edge.

6. For the hole, place it under the large circle again but on a pricking mat and prick through the hole of the large circle.

7. To make windows on the strip for each dial. Use a scrap piece of card the same width as your strip (2.5cm/1”). Draw a line along the centre and using the ¼” circle and the ¼” square punches make some windows.

8. To make your windows in your strip, take your brad and push it through your strip. Take the small dial and place that on top. Using a pencil mark the side but on the strip. Do this for all three dials.

9. Remove all dials off the brad and strip. You will now have guidelines for all the dials (these can be rubbed out later).

10. Using your template you made in step 7, place which ever window you want showing over the relevant dial, within the guidelines for that dial and trace. If you don’t like it, you can erase it and choose another.

11. Once you are happy punch/cut them out.

12. Put it all together and Voila!

13. Now you have the basics you can decorate using stamps, rub-ons, peeloffs, even doodling.
You can even experiment using different shapes; making them smaller for different projects, use less or more layers.
The only limit is your imagination.

New cards but not SU

2009-01-11T11:57:00.005Z

Well I have managed to take some photo's of the cards that I made but I am not too sure what is going on with my camera. I have Fuji finepix S9600 and for some reason I can't get the camera shake off, even when its just resting on the table and no one is near it. HUH? Any ideas anyone?

Well here is the cards as promised, they are using the new magnolia elves, I think they are ever so cute.

I have left this one blank for the greeting as I am not sure what and who it will be going to and for what reason.

Here is the one of the elves, don't you just love them. OK I had better get on as I have a tutorial to write for ILWS for tomorrow. Oh yes I like leaving things till the last minute. I just hope my idea works, other wise its back to the drawing board, literally.

Desk Top Calendar

2009-01-07T15:49:00.006Z

I have been getting into the swing of things this week, even though my throat is still very swollen and sore. Just wish it would go away.

Today I decided to make a desk top calendar as I am always looking for my calendar and its in another room. I know you have one on the computer but when your busy beavering away its handy to have.

Sorry for the quality of the photo but I think I have adjusted a setting on the camera and don't know which one, typical. I must learn on how to use this properly.

I have used Sweet Always designer papers with matching cardstock, plus pocket silhouettes stamp set. I have seen these on quite a few blogs and they use the tree for all seasons stamp set. Unfortunately I don't have that set, yet, its on my list though ;-)

I have decided this is what we are doing in class tonight as its the first night back since the holidays. So something nice to break them in gently. I have made some cards but I have used Magnolia images will try and get those photo's taken this week, camera willing, lol.

Ta ta for now!

Sale a Bration!

2009-01-02T13:52:00.001Z

Yippeeeeee!!!!!!

It is here for the first time in the UK.

During Sale-A-Bration--1 January – 28 February--Stampin' Up! gives customers, hostesses, and new recruits the opportunity to earn fantastic, FREE, limited-edition stamp sets they'll enjoy for years to come.Here's how Sale-A-Bration works:

Customers When you spend £45 on Stampin' Up! merchandise, you'll receive a free Sale-A-Bration reward. There's no limit--for every £45 you spend, you can select another free Sale-A-Bration reward!

Hostesses When you host a workshop of at least £300 (before shipping), you'll receive a free Sale-A-Bration reward--in addition to all of the regular hostess benefits! You can also become a virtual hostess, ask me how for more details.

Recruits During Sale-A-Bration, anyone who joins as a demonstrator can choose any stamp set--a value of up to £34.95--from our current Idea Book and Catalogue!

To view the sets online visit Here , If you want to know the stampin' supplies list click Here

Any questions please don't hesitate to email me melanie.reid2@ntlworld.com

Hello!

2009-01-02T13:44:00.003Z

Sorry for not bloggin for what has been weeks now, but there has just been so much going on and each time I go to do some blogging I have been side tracked or something has cropped up.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year. Me, I spend most of it asleep as I have had this dreaded virus for the last two weeks. It has been one awful virus, I can tell you. But I won't go into detail as it just wasn't nice.
I hope Santa was good to you all and brought you lots of crafting items. I received loads of crafting stash from my hubby and also a puppy dalmation. Oh she is sooooooo sweet, but its not the one that you have to take out for walks, no, this one is for my Nintendo DS. I have wanted a real one but we just don't have room, so hubby bought me one of these instead. So when I am really busy, I don't have to worry about taking her out for walks, lol.

My kids really enjoyed them selves and I only managed to get a couple of photo's as I was just so out of it.

I am hoping to get back into the swing of things and maybe post a bit more from next week but on Monday my little boy has to go to hospital to see a consultant about his ears. He has had a problem for just over a year and the week before Christmas I had to take him to see our GP. So I had had enough and told him I want him referred as it was not normal for gunk to come from his ears and for him to be in so much pain. So off we will be trotting on Monday. I hope it is something they can do there and then, just to relieve the poor mite of deafness and pain.
Well I better get organised as I need to post soem details of an offer from Stampin' Up!

Back soon!

Bad Blogger

2008-11-10T16:17:00.002Z

Well I was hoping to get some projects shown this last week and everything has just become so hectic here. I have a new part time job, plus I am preparing for Christmas like many of you. I spent yesterday afternoon Christmas shopping to buy only one gift after three hours of browsing. My feet ached. I think I should just do it all online, but finding what my darling son wants is hard. The best way is to take him to toy shops and to just watch what he goes for. He is unusual as he never asks for anything. Not like my daughter, lol.
I am currently working on some projects for a Christmas Extravaganza Evening I will be holding on December 3rd. More details and some sneek peeks of projects will hopefully appear over the next week or two. So until then happy stampin'.

I'm back and some offers!

2008-11-03T10:02:00.003Z

Hey! I am back, the flooring is looking good too. But my poor aching fingers are still a bit sore. Yep that is what happens when you are using cement and grouting. Not something I want to repeat in a hurry. It was a long job which took ALL week but its done and I can try and get back to normal this week. Just got a few jobs of cleaning first and of course putting ALL my craft stuff back in its home.

But I have some amazing offers for you from Stampin' Up!

The first one is if you place an order of £150 or more you not only get the hostess benefits but you also get to choose another FREE stamp set from the list below.

109467 pg17 Wondrous gift £19.95

107930 pg20 Snow Flurries £9.95

110528 pg 56 Friendly £14.95

110536 pg 60 Seasonal wishes £15.95

109324 pg 91 Dotted Autumn £12.95

105979 pg 91 Cold Play £24.95

This offer runs from November 1st till December 31st.

**************************

The second offer is 20% off Rub-Ons and also textured cardstock when you spend £20 on any Stampin' Up! products.

113659 pg 77 Hidden Garden Blossoms rub ons £6.00

113660 pg 77 Cherished Memories rub ons £6.00

113634 pg 68 Bold Brights 12 x 12 textured card £7.40

113635 pg 68 Earth elements 12 x 12 textured card £7.40

113636 pg 69 Rich regals 12 x 12 textured card £7.40

113637 pg 69 Softsubtles 12 x 12 textured card £7.40

113638 pg 67 Neutrals 12 x 12 textured card £7.40

This offer runs from 10th to 30th November.

If you would like to order anything, not just offers please get in touch on melanie.reid2@ntlworld.com

Ok off to get those pesky jobs out of the way as I desperately NEED to get some crafting done.

Stampers Club

2008-10-31T17:22:00.001Z

I already have a Stampers 6 club on the go but have had a couple of more enquiries with joining in on the next one. I am aiming to start the next ones in January but if I fill another 6 places, I will start as soon as possible.
With a Stampers 6 club we have 6 members
It runs for 6 months
Each month every member commits to ordering a minimum of £25 worth of product plus P&P
Each month one of the members is selected as a "virtual" hostess and received the hostess benefits which will be a minimum of a Level 1 hostess stamp set and £15 worth of free products. This is guaranteed but it could be more.
You will receive a free copy of the catalogue.

Stampers 6 is a great way of building up your stash each month without
breaking the bank.

If you would like more information, please mail me on melanie.reid2@ntlworld.com

I would like to say at the moment all those that have been in the stampers 6 have gained a level 2 in the hostess sets and also had £35 to spend in merchandise FREE for that one month.

This is all without having to hold a party at home.

Nothing Crafty....

2008-10-27T16:35:00.003Z

...... this week. I am sorry but we are now laying the new floor and everything has had to be boxed up and moved to other rooms. This is a total nightmare for me, not just my goodies are packed away but the mess too. Plus we choose the week the kids where on half term, how much bad planning is that? But so far they are keeping out of the way and amusing themselves. They are pretty good like that. My knees are going to be sore tomorrow and I am only a few rows done. We can't do it all in one go as we don't have the room to move the furniture to. That is the downside of these old terraced houses. Hubby is mixing the plaster for the adhesive and I have the short straw of laying the things, grrrr, if they are not straight, guess who gets the blame? Yep me! But so far, I have done some skimming and got them straight, so I am well chuffed on that. One for the ladies, none for the men, lol.

New Stash and life

2008-10-21T14:44:00.003+01:00

Thought I had better do a post to say why I am really quiet lately. Last week I have the children off sick, one at a time. Then I have managed to get an ear infection, just when one starts to clear up the other one has flared up. So I am now on not only drops, but antibiotics and also nurofen for the intense pain and swelling. Its not nice at all. In the meantime I have had a lovely delivery of new stash,

My hubby has bought all this for me for Christmas and him being so nice he has let me have it ALL now!

I am currently trying to work on my Christmas scedule too, some new classes and also learning how to use my camera. As I don't use it to even have its potential. I am hoping to have some Christmas events at my evening class on a Wednesday and there are some fab ideas that are coming into shape. Won't say too much just yet. I have quite a few swaps that I am working on this week too, been waiting for new stuff to arrive, not all Stampin' Up! I am afraid to say, but we don't have any halloween stamps in our catalogue this year, which was very disappointing being a demo. So I have had to buy some from elsewhere to do my halloween projects for the kids.

Talking of which they break up at the end of the week for half term. Can you believe it. So we are hoping for some nicer weather to get out and about. I will try and show some cards this week when I get some time to myself. Until then have a nice day!

Shoe Box Appeal

2008-10-14T16:23:00.007+01:00

As promised I have taken some photo's of the items I have made and also altered. I have used up some old stock of papers, that I thought would be appropriate for little girls and boys. We have also found out where they will be going and this year it will be Romania.

One for the boys and one for the girls.

Included in the boxes are decorated notebooks, decorated pencils, colouring book, box of crayons and some lolly pops. The sweets have to be boiled so I thought they would be nice to be decorated, giving that special touch.

This is a box made and decorated to hold the crayons. I bought a big pack from the £1 shop and split it into 2 giving 40 crayons per pack.

Next where the colouring books I made using my BIA.

Out side and inside. I know how much my own children love to colour in and they love the stamped images I have of children. The children these go to can colour them in and make little scenes around them. We are not allowed to put any words on any of the projects with them going over seas. So I thought these would be really appropriate.

I would so love to be a fly on the wall when the children who get these receive them, just to see their faces light up with joy. Just like both of my own children did when I showed them what I had done.

Just for Fun!

2008-10-09T17:19:00.001+01:00

The Recipe For Melanie

3 parts Sweetness

2 parts Friendship

1 part Imagination

Splash of Playfulness

Finish off with an olive

What's the Recipe for Your Personality?

October Offers from Stampin' Up!

2008-10-07T18:37:00.002+01:00

Whoops I forgot to add these to my blog at the beginning of the month. There are two offers that are availble this month. One runs out on the 11th, this was to celebrate World card making day. Which was last Saturday.

If you buy the Simply sent card elements you get them for £10 instead of £12.50, also the simply sent card making kits are now £31.96 instead of £39.95

The second one is to celebrate Stampin' Up! 20th Birthday.

If you spend £20 you can choose one of the following sets at 20% off

111618 - Crazy for Cupcakes - page 32 - £16.76

105455 - Birthday Best - page 33 - £8.76

110524 - Cheer and wishes - page 58 - £11.96

Sorry for the delay in posting these offers up.

!!! OFFER !!!

2008-10-04T14:27:00.003+01:00

**For the month of October only.**

If you would like to purchase any of the following, I am offering a discount of 10% on selected items only.

This offer is my own offer and NOT one from Stampin' Up!

Silent Night Stamp set @ £14.36

Ink pads - Basic gray, bashful blue, ballet blue, Apricot Appeal, Barely banana, Night of navy @ £3.83 Each

If you are interested in purchasing any of these products or any from the current catalogue, please email me on melanie.reid2@ntlworld.com

Postage is £3.95 on orders up to £80

Silent Night

2008-10-04T14:01:00.015+01:00

1. Stamp your image (church stamp from Silent Night), using basic gray ink pad. I choose gray as its not as bold as black.

2. Colour in your image. I used a mixture of ink pads and markers. A little white gel pen on the trees to indicate a little snow, brrrrrrr.

3. Dry off using your heat gun. Using a versamark pen, go all around your image and colour it in. Don’t do the open trees in the background.

4. Pour over clear embossing powder. With it being clear it’s hard to show in a photo. Heat using your heat tool. Don’t worry if you miss bits you can over with your pen and repeat the embossing process. Put to one side for now.

5. For the moon you need to either punch out a circle or cut your shape out. I am going to use my moon stamp to show how it’s used but it’s the same for a punched out circle.
At the top of the post it note (where the sticky is on the reverse), stamp your image. (Or punch out your circle). Cut it out.

6. Place the mask where you want it on your project. Using your second colour (bashful blue) and a piece of kitchen sponge. Stipple the colour around the moon.

7. Remove the mask and sponge on your first colour (barely banana). Just go outside of the moon shape to give a natural glare coming from the moon.

8. Keeping the moon clean, re place the mask back over the moon. Using your third colour (ballet blue), sponge around the edge and blend into the bashful blue as you go.

9. Cut down your image, so that it is ready for matting and layering. Now using the Night of navy ink, place colour all around the edges of the sky section only.

10. Remove the mask and sponge a little of the Apricot Appeal in the centre. This will give the moon a little more depth.

11. If you have a moon stamp, you can stamp it now using your stamp-a-ma-jig. If you have just used a punched out circle, leave as it is. Both versions look just as good. Mat and layer onto your cardstock. I choose Apricot appeal, basic black and night of navy.

First sample showing a plain moon the second with a stamp. Enjoy!

Inspirational!

2008-10-03T14:44:00.003+01:00

Most days when I have a coffee, I tend to go blog hopping. I normally skim through a lot of blogs and never leave many comments. I know shame on me for not telling others how GREAT their work is. But there is one particular blog that has caught my eye this week. You may of already been a fan, but I have only just discovered Michelle's fantastic work. So much so I wanted to have a go at one of her tutorials. Check it out Here. Don't you agree how fab it is. There are many more tutorials on using brayers etc

I have stamped and water coloured the church stamp from Silent night. I then used a versamark PEN, not ink pad. Coloured all over the image with it and clear embossed it. I then choose a few ink pads, barely banana, bashful blue, ballet blue, night of navy and apricot appeal. I tore up a kitchen household sponge and used that to stipple on the colours where I wanted them. to build up the colour of the sky. I then used my stamp-a-ma-jig and a stamp from Magnolia to create the image over the moon. Cardstock is Apricot Appeal and Night of Navy. I hope you like it.

New catalogue

2008-10-01T12:41:00.003+01:00

Whoa the new catalogue is finally launched today and there are some fabulous stamp sets in there. Plus loads of other surprises.

If you haven't yet got yours, you can either click on the catalogue and it will take you to an online viewing of it. Or you can purchase a copy direct from me for £4 including postage. £3 will be refundable off an order of £50 or more.

I will also be starting another stampers 6 soon, so if you are interested please drop me a line and I will explain how it works.

I am working on some new projects at the moment in between seeing builders and running as a taxi service for my children. So please keep checking back.

No posts today

2008-09-26T16:35:00.003+01:00

Sorry for no posts yesterday and today. I have been extremely busy making some small items for a shoe box appeal, that my daughter school is organising. So far I have altered some lolly pops, decorated some note books and also some packs of pencils. She needs them all by Monday, so I have yet still some things I would like to get done. Like some colouring books and I have a lovely idea for that. These will be issued to the Samaritan's for their purse appeal. Basically its a show box filled with goodies for children. Now these could be the first Christmas present a child has ever received. I was shocked at reading that. We just take Christmas for granted and sometimes don't think about the 3rd world children.

Hopefully if I have time I will take some pictures of what I have done.

Bind It All book

2008-09-24T13:05:00.004+01:00

For today I have been busy writing some instructions for my craft class this evening. They will be making a simple book using the Bind-It-All and index cards.

These days the index cards come in different sizes. If you can't get hold of index cards you could just cut up some printer paper to what ever size you need.

The papers used are from Cutie Pie collection. This set will retire at the end of the month and will remain available while stocks last. I have also used certain celery grosgrain and the stamp set is from one of the new ones from the new catalogue. Its called True Friend. I have used my markers to ink up the image before stampin'. Then I used a dauber with bashful blue ink pad to create a subtle colour around the edges.

You could also attach ribbon to the rings of the binding to decorate it further.

I received my delievery of catalogues yesterday and all I can say is WOW. Some scrummy looking stamps, not to mention the new decorative papers and scrapbooking kits too. Plus the new scallop edge punch that I am sooooo excited about. Can't wait to order one of those ;-)

If you would like to order a catalogue they are £4 including postage. I take cheques or you can pay by paypal. Please email me first if paying by paypal for details.

Trinket Box Tutorial

2008-09-23T11:02:00.010+01:00

Remember this box, well I have been asked how I made it. So I thought I would write a little tutorial on how I did it. It wasn't my original idea, and I can't remember whose blog I got it from to give credit, I am sorry.

Take a sheet of 12 x 12 cardstock and cut in half to 6 x 12 inches.
Score at 3, 6 and 9 inches along the 12 inch edge.
Turn 90 degrees and score again at 1.5 and 3 inches
You now need to cut out three larger panels, indicated by a 'X' on the photo.
On the bottom panels you need to cut up to the first score line, again indicated by black lines on the photo.

From the section cut away, cut a small piece of card 3/4" x 1.5" score in half length ways and fold. This will be your joining piece on the box. Place DST on to both panels.

Stick this little piece to the inside of the box on the middle panel. Then stick the other side to the other end of the box, to join the sides together.

Fold up the bottom part of the box and stick together using DST
Cut two squares out of cardstock measuring 3.5 x 3.5 inches. Also one square out of decorative paper 3 1/4" x 3 1/4".
You can use a corner rounder or a ticket corner punch to decorate the corners at this stage.
Place the paper on top of one of the cardstock squares.
Adhere the squares to the top and bottom of the box. Remember to place the one with the decorative paper on the top part of the box.

You can now decorate the top. I wrapped ribbon round and tied at the side to close the box.

Scallop Box

2008-09-22T08:36:00.005+01:00

Would you like to know how to make this?

Uncovered

Covered

It is an scalloped box that will hold A6 cards and envelopes. Great idea for a gift. I chose a Christmas theme because I have just given them as some gifts.

If you want all the instructions check out ILWS. Or you can click Here these should take you there. Hope you have fun making one of these, any questions please just email me. Details on the right.

Note: If you click on the above here, you will need to join the forum. If however you don't want to join and still would like the instructions please just email me with your details. I can send it either PDF or word format. Please say which one you would like.

Christmas part 2

2008-09-19T13:30:00.000+01:00

Who said big bold birthday had to be only for birthday's? I have used this set to create a couple of Christmas cards, colours used, real red, old olive, certain celery. The designer paper is one that is retiring at the end of September. I have also used the pricking mat that comes in the tools wallet.

This card uses the Lovely as a tree stamp set. I am not sure the picture shows the glitter that is on the tree to simulate snow. This is very quick to make if you are pushed for time. Colours again are real red, whisper white and old olive.

12 days to go!!!!!

2008-09-18T14:19:00.002+01:00

Yes it is only 12 days to go before the New catalogue is launched in the UK. I have some on pre order and when I have checked today they are in 'Picking'. Meaning they are getting ready to leave the warehouse. I am sooooo excited as are other demo's.

If you would like a copy of the catalogue please get in touch and I can reserve one for you. I am not sure on the cost yet, but I can't see them being no more that £4 including postage.

If you are in my stampers clubs one is already reserved for you, so don't panic.

Have you checked out my offer for next month yet! Its on the right hand side. Basically every time you spend £5 with me through October you will receive a raffle ticket. At the end of the month I will draw one number and they will receive a NEW scallop edged punch. These are similar to the Fiskars one with the holes in, only ours won't have the holes, but they are easily put in with a punch. I like that idea best as you can have them with or without. Also there will be some fabulous stamp sets not to mention some new designer papers.

Oooooooo can you feel the excitement!

Christmas Cards

2008-09-18T13:22:00.001+01:00

One of the things I have been asked to do in my craft classes are ideas for Christmas cards. I have done quite a few lately as I do need to get mine made as I have 100's to make and send. So over the next couplf of days I hope to share some with you.

This is using two stamps sets, Hung up on the holidays and Occasional greetings. The cardstock is Whisper white, real red, chocolate chip and Old olive. I have used a nestability die to make the rectangle and a cuttlebug small folder for the snow scene. I used a white gel pen to highlight some areas on the embossing folder. A sticky gem was then placed on the bauble.

Trinket Box

2008-09-17T13:07:00.002+01:00

Sorry its been a while since I last blogged but I have not only been very busy but been a bit unwell to boot. Hopefully the doctor will get me back to an even keel over the next couple of weeks, just need to run some routine tests.

This is the project that I will be doing at tonights craft class. It is made out of a sheet of 12 x 12 cardstock. I choose Real red. I have seen this done on quite a few blogs and I think it makes a lovely item to pop in a small gift for a special occassion. As I do jewellery, I have made a few for my Daughter to give to her friends for Christmas.

The sentiment actually comes from a new stamp set that will be in the new catalogue called Seasons of Joy.

I am soooooooo looking forward to the new catalogue that will be available on October the 1st. I have been like a child waiting for Santa to arrive as we have had a few sneak peeks of what is to come. There will be the ever famous scallop border punch for starters, not this will only cost £10.95 Plus there will be loads of other new stuff. I don't want to tell you too much as I don't want to spoil any surprises.

Well hopefully I can now begin to share some of the things I have made lately, thanks for being patient.

Going, Going, GONE!

2008-09-02T11:30:00.002+01:00

Yes you guessed it, we have a retirement list for the UK catalogue.

There are a few things that will probably go like hot cakes and some may well be there next week or the week after. All I can say is, if you want anything on this list to order as soon as possible because its basically first come first served.

Hopefully clicking on it you will get to see it at a larger size. If not you can always email me and I will forward a copy by email. If you would like to order anything please just get in touch.

Me email address is melanie.reid2@ntlworld.com

Hello!

2008-08-19T13:57:00.003+01:00

Sorry for not bloggin anything lately, but with the kids home and having to entertain them, going for days out and also getting ready for a busy Month next month, things are a little hectic. I have three fairs next month not too mention classes and also kids will be back at school, yippeeeeeee. Can't wait for the last one. They are now both at the stage where they are bored as soon as they get up. What happened to the days where you got up and found loads of things to do. I can certainly find things to do, but not my kids.

We have had some great days away, forbidden corner, Alnwick castle, Alnwick gardens, Beach, the park. Took some great photo's too, so hopefully I will get back into scrapbooking.

I have some creations planned for the coming months, so please keep checking back. I have a great tutorial lined up for September on ILWS, check out the link on the right hand side. Plus I need to make a start on my Christmas cards, I know its only August but I have loads to be made and put in the post and if I don't start now well, they will have to be purchased. I know, I need my hands slapped if I do that, lol.

Want a free catalogue?

2008-07-30T18:28:00.003+01:00

If your answer is yes then check out your local Morrison's. I noticed they have Septembers issue of Crafts beautiful with a FREE copy of the Stampin' Up! catalogue.

This catty is absolutely fab for inspiration. If you get one and would like to order from a local demo or even organise a party in your own home, then why not check out In Love With Stamping forum. They have a demo locator on the site.

If you want to order through myself please contact me by email.

August Offer

2008-07-30T09:47:00.003+01:00

Stampin' Up! have a great offer for August. If you like papers you will just love these. Buy three packs of the designer papers and get a fourth FREE. Yep

You will find the papers on pages 72 and 73 of the UK catalogue. If you would like to order these or anything from the catalogue please contact me, my details are on the right hand side.

Blog candy

2008-07-24T10:33:00.003+01:00

Hello everyone. Just to let you know a friend of mine is having some blog candy for her first birthday of her BLOG please visit and check it out.

Also there is another lovely lady who is having blog candy every day this week Here to go see. Please check out some of her wonderful cards too. Awesome!

Bag in a Box

2008-07-23T10:07:00.004+01:00

Well I got up Monday morning all set to do all sorts of jobs and I was ill. My poor daughter was so worried she called daddy to come home as I just couldn't move from the bathroom. I also missed her leavers assembly which I am so upset about. Thankfully a friend has taken it all on her camcorder. Hopefully she will give me a copy.

Anyway yesterday I felt a bit better so I got on with some jobs. I decided to start making some teachers gift, I know I am way behind.

I made these ones for the male teachers,

and these for the female teachers.

Both are filled with sweets in a plastic bag that has been sealed. I had seen these on so many blogs I thought I would give them ago. I think they make gorgeous gifts. I am going to make some for Christmas.

Anyway today I am going to rest as I just don't feel right again. Feet up and making the most of the peace because from tomorrow the kids are home for 6 weeks. Yes its our summer holidays, although I don't know where the summer is.

Hopefully I will get some more crafting done this week.

Sorry for being missing

2008-07-20T14:41:00.003+01:00

Life has just been manic here this week. I meant to come on last Sunday to let you all know how the fair went. As for Jewellery sales I only sold one set but a few said they didn't know I was going to be there.

However I did meet a few nice ladies that enjoy crafting too. One has got back in touch to order some SU goodies. Hi Ann if your reading.

At the beginning of the week I had to catch up on all those boring house chores and then the kids where off school because of the council workers union where on strike. Then Friday and Saturday I went to Graphicus for their open days to pick up some bargains. I managed to buy some Maya Road lunch tins that will hold 5 x 7" cards. So I am going to make some for Xmas presents.

My kids break up next Wednesday for the summer hols, so I guess it will be all hay wire as to what we do each day. In the UK its not known for a really good summer, only that of rain. So when its fine we will be making the most of it and going out. Right must go and check on Dinner.

I have got an award

2008-07-12T15:37:00.002+01:00

I have never had one of these before so its an honour to receive one. Thank you to Carolynne for nominating me. Here is her fantastic blog, please go and check it out.

Ok the rules for this award are

1. The winner can put the logo on their blog.

2. Link the person you received your award from.

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4. Put links to these blogs on yours.

5. Leave a message on the blogs you have nominated.

I have a hard choice deciding who to put on here as I check out loads of fantastic blogs from all over the world.

hmmmmm

1. Helen http://allthingsstampy.blogspot.com/

2. Debbie http://heartfeltstamping.blogspot.com/

3. Jackie http://jackiescards.blogspot.com/

4.Michelle http://michellescraftypaper.typepad.com/

5.Elaine http://www.elainemork.blogspot.com/

6.Janette http://www.cardsandchat.blogspot.com/

7. Jenny http://www.stampingmoments.blogspot.com/

I could go on and on as there are loads of great ideas and one idea can be made totally different on another's blog, AMAZING! I hope you enjoy looking ;-)

Preparations

2008-07-12T15:27:00.004+01:00

Well tomorrow is the day of the fair, I hope I am ready but I know I will of forgotten something.

I have just set up my rough guide of my table minus the SU books as I have packed those.

This is what it will roughly look like but I do have to set up a section for the make and takes that I am doing too. I have made a basket with the sour cream holders, filled with a little surprise. I will be charging a small fee for these and the money will go to the charities that I mentioned in a previous post.

I have also decorated some Elizabeth shaw mints and put them into a bucket, these will be handed to people towards the end of the day.

I hope the weathermen are correct for once and it stays dry, not bothered about the sun, but it would be nice if it could pop out and say hello now and then. I know there are going to be firemen there with a fire engine, now I hope my son wants to go and see that ;-)

Will try and report tomorrow about how it all goes.

Melanie's

It's a girl

Making your own backgrounds

It's Here and its LIVE!

Something a bit different...

Helllloooooooo!!!!

Challenge using own stash

Nana and Me!

Come fly with me......

One for the Guys....

General swaps for Convention!

In a whirl!

November/December Offer!

Busy Busy!!!

******STOP PRESS, STOP PRESS********

Stamper's 6 Group!

August Offer!

OFFERS!!!!

Stop the clock.......

Helloooooooo.......

EXCITING NEWS!!!!!

Blog Hop! Treat Anyone?

Sneak Peek!!!

Boxed Scrapbook page

Stampers 6

Scrapbook pages

Queue up! Queue up!

Love you much!

Haitian Disaster Relief

Trendy Trees

Wet Day!

Black 'n' Red

SweetCake

Money, Money, Money

SNOW!!!!

Merry Christmas

Its here!!!!!!

LAST CHANCE ---- HURRY!!!

Justice for Pleural Plaque Suffers - long post

Sorry nothing today...

FOR SALE!!!!

Little Peeps!

Time......

Challenge!!!!

Chrimbo......

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby!

New Baby!

Silhouettes?

Summer

Cake Anyone?

Update and some sad news

***** Stampers 6 *****

Where did May go???

Scrapbook in a tin

Cased card with a twist

Bit of an update on life

**** BLOG CANDY **** CLOSED

Blog candy winner

Mother's Day!

**Update**

Where oh where is my mojo?????

Another Stampin' Up! OFFER

New Products coming....

March OFFER

Something to share

Dials anyone?

New cards but not SU

Desk Top Calendar

Sale a Bration!

Hello!

Bad Blogger

I'm back and some offers!

** Stampers Club **

Nothing Crafty....

New Stash and life

Shoe Box Appeal

Just for Fun!

October Offers from Stampin' Up!

!!! OFFER !!!

Silent Night

STOP PRESS, STOP PRESS**

* Stampers 6 *

BLOG CANDY CLOSED

Update

Stampers Club