More 5 Ways.....

Welcome back!

I'm thinking I should call this post 5 ways Wednesday!, but as I've already shared 3 of those 5, I feel that would be cheating a bit!  Perhaps that could be a new feature on my blog? let me know what you think.

The card I'm sharing with you today makes use of the stamp set from the bundle this time, and I've used the doily stamp to decorate my sentiment panel, and as the recipient of this card loves orange, I couldn't resist using some of that fabulous butterfly paper,  It comes in 12 x 12 sheets that are double sided, gorgeous colours on one side and black and white on the other, if you love a spot of colouring there are a couple of sheets in the pack which are just crying out for some colouring pencils or pens! To make it even more of a must have, some of the sheets have the right size of butterfly on the coloured side to match the punch that co-ordinates with the Butterfly Gala suite, Stampin Up! does it again! and what's even better is it could be yours for free with a £45 order during saleabration, I'm already hoarding 1 pack for stroking!! (only a crafter would understand that!)

And the final of the 5 ways, (that I've come up with so far....there will be more!) was for my swaps for team training at the weekend, I spent most of the weekend in bed struggling with a nasty cough and temperature but dragged myself to team training, being careful not to breath on anyone, and these were the swaps I quickly made on the morning of the training, I've used the doily die again to create a kind of lattice fence effect behind the adorable cat from Nine Lives, and made some grasses using the Bouquet Builder dies, as my cat likes to hide in the long grasses which grow in my wildlife area in my garden in the summer and it made me think of her.

And just for cuteness appeal here she is...... meet Bella,  she likes to 'help' with my crafting and usually lays across my projects on my desk, I have to keep an eye on her as shes a ninja paper chewer!!

That's all from me for today,  happy crafting.

Julia x

Technique Tuesday

Welcome back!


As you can see I still haven't learned how to rotate a photo when I post it on my blog, It is the right orientation when I save it and then it does this! Any one who knows how to do that, please drop me a line!!
I'm sharing this card today to show you how you can make your own laser cut style papers using our fabulous new Doily Builder Thinlits, they pair with the Dear Doily stamp set but are just as useful on their own.  Ive used one of the larger doily dies here, it has a separate edge die if you want to cut it out, or you can just use it to take out the pattern on your card stock as I have done here.  It creates a lovely lacy effect if you randomly die cut on your card stock panel.  You will also notice that there is also a decorative edge to the sentiment, that's using another of the dies from the set, it cuts a decorative circle frame and pairs perfectly with the stitched circle framlit I've used here for the sentiment.  Don't you just love it when Stampin Up! thinks of these things. 

I think that stamp set and the dies definitely tick off my 5 ways rule  (If I can't think of 5 ways to use it, I don't buy it!) ..... laser cut style paper, tick...
frames, tick.... decorative edges for my sentiments, tick.....     check back later in the week to see how I finish off that 5 ways list!

Don't forget that if you buy both the stamp set and the dies as a bundle you make a saving of 10%, and while saleabration is on top up your purchase with a few essentials and you can choose a free product too!

That's all from me for now, happy crafting.

Julia x

Saleabration

Welcome back,

Today I thought I would share a simple card made with one of the new Saleabration stamps.

This card was quick to make, and I love this stamp as I can see a multitude of uses for it, It looks lovely which ever way you orient the stamped image. For today I wanted to keep it simple and have just stamped the image and water colored it using our watercolor pencils. Although these have the same names as the inks, don't expect the colors to match perfectly to the inks, they compliment the colors rather than an exact match.  Unfortunately my photography doesn't capture the middles of the flowers perfectly, I added a wink of stella to give a bit of sparkle to an otherwise simple card.
I hope that you like it, don't forget you could earn this stamp set for free with a £45 order.  If you're tempted drop me a message, I think that this image would be fabulous for mothers day, Easter or just a spring card, so many options!

Happy stamping

Julia x

Top Tip Thursday

Hi again,
I thought I would share my top tip with photos for those of you who do a lot of batch stamping.   I absolutely love my Stamparatus and the new Cling mount stamps are true to their word and stick like glue to it.
When I'm making a batch of cards that have sentiments or images on die cuts I like to cut first and then stamp meaning less waste cardstock trying to guess the margins needed to cut around the image.  However, this can mean trying to stamp on a fiddly and small piece of card, making it difficult to hold down with the magnets not getting in the way.

So, the solution I found was to die cut the shapes from my cardstock.......

Then to put the waste cardstock back into the Stamparatus, holding it down with the magnets....

 Re insert the die cut piece into the hole it came from in the waste cardstock.....

 Stamp using the Stamparatus, with the die cut reinserted you can get a perfect placement of your stamps, and should it not come out perfectly the first time not have to worry about lining it up for a second go.

This works with any shape and size as long as you save the scrap you cut from.

I hope that helps some of you, happy stamping
Julia x

Happy New Year

It's been a bit quiet on my blog for the last few weeks, Christmas happened and time disappeared!

I'm back today with some products from the new Spring/Summer seasonal and to tell you all about Saleabration.  Stampin Up!  are nothing if not generous and if you place a £45 order with me during Saleabration you can choose an item (or more if your order is bigger) for free from a selection of stamps, papers, ribbons, and there are some fantastic choices.
 Stampin Up! are also offering you the chance to join my team, and for a limited time get £170 worth of Stampin Up! goodies of your choice all for £99, there is also an exclusive offer to add to that order and get an amazing craft tote to carry all your stash.  If you think you might be interested in getting a big chunk of your wish list at a hugely reduced price, drop me a message and I'd be pleased to talk to you more about it.

I thought I would share with you today some of the new products I have been playing with since receiving my first order of new stash, there are some fabulous sets available, and for those of you who like punches there are a couple of bundles that were high on my wish list.  Although I am a fan of my trusty Big Shot, there are times when you want a quick fix, for me crafting on the go in the Big Yellow Camper space is always at a premium and Mr Big Yellow Camper objects to tripping over the Big Shot! so punches are a must have crafting item.

First on my list was the amazing Butterfly Gala with it's matching punch.
I particularly like the fact that the 2 sizes of butterfly are joined to make punching them out easy and quick.  I added some dazzling diamonds glitter to the wings, although try as I might I can't get the sparkle to show on the photographs, but trust me they are gorgeous with that sparkle!

Apologies for the fact this photo is at the wrong angle, I haven't mastered rotation yet!

I 

Next on my wish list was another bundle of stamps with a matching punch.

This set is called 'A Piece of Cake', the punch cuts out the cake stand and the cake and there are endless possibilities for birthday, anniversary, wedding cards and more with this set.  I've used the stamps to make a background for the card and then added a greeting from another set 'Amazing Life' which I think pairs up beautifully.

I'll be back later in the week with more ideas for using the new sets, but in the meantime if you would like to have anymore information on the products used or to order from me, don't hesitate to get in touch.

Happy crafting!

Julia x