Blog Hop! Treat Anyone?

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!!!

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

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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.

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!!!!

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.