Party Panda does his bit for hugs and friendship challenges-

hi all

hope this first week and a bit, of the new year,  hasn't proved too onerous and everyone is now fully in the swing of everything,  including Stampin' Up's annual Sale-a-Bration campaign.

and if you have never heard of it - a little explanatory video here

'Sale-a-Bration'  

 yeah and don't we all love a freebie or even more than one!
Clink on the link on my side bar to look at the brochure on line

Copies have already gone out to all my customers but if anyone else would like one please just get in touch.

which brings me to my card here, it uses this adorable Panda from the Party Panda stamp set in the brochure.!

No, you can't  buy the stamp set   but you can earn it for free with a qualifying spend of £45 as part of this year's SAB event..

My card uses a couple of other stamp sets, (Hedgehugs  from the current Spring/Summer seasonal catalogue and the sentiments,  both the stamped wording and the Real Red die-cut feature word are from the Sunshine Sayings stamp set and matching Sunshine Wishes Thinlits Dies, respectively.  Both of these are available in the current Annual catalogue.

.. and their combined totals  £18:00,  £21:00 and £ 24:00 meant I certainly had enough to treat myself to those lovely Pandas.

and if you were wondering - the little hearts were easily punched from tiny off-cuts of red the card stock using the fun Cookie Cutter Builder punch - so definitely not just for Christmas - and with Valentine's day coming up - why not make your own card confetti and fill an envelope with them -.!  Now there's a thought.. uhm..

well I thought new year - new card challenge,  so shall be joining  in with CASology challenge no 282 where the cue word there is 'Hug'

and  the January 2018 challenge at Happy Little stampers where Friendship is the theme there, so hoping this fits the bill on both counts.

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used

Just click on the items below to easily access the non-SAB items you can buy in my on line store .  Or if you wish me to place an order for you, or have any questions please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Shimmery White A4 Cardstock	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad	Hedgehugs Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Basic Gray Archival Stampin’ Pad
Sunshine Sayings Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Sunshine Wishes Thinlits Dies	Big Shot	Cookie Cutter Builder Punch

Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

with best wishes til next time and happy Stampin' !
Jan x

who hoo nearly time for Valentines day

hi all...

well, unusually for me I knew exactly what I wanted to make,  to enter these challenges:  SU! Only Challenges  #challenge no 167, where yes, you got it -
It's time for Valentines, be it a card, a treat, a 3D item.Yes, the choice is yours.
Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge where XOXO is your prompt!
The Card concept where love and romance is the theme - and the overall colours and hearts inspired my own CAS style card.

So,  armed with some suitable coloured card - and of course that just has to be Real Red in my book, combined with Shimmery White card stock,  (my go to choice at the moment, for  card bases) and an off-set topper ....   yes I made a card...

and it came together so quickly.

The lovely die-cut heart and and 'love' from the Sunshine Wishes Thinlits Dies, one of the sentiments from the Bloomin' Love stamp set, a bit of bling by way of Stampin' Up!'s Basic Rhinestones, a card base and an off-set topper of shimmery white card stock, and it was done.

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used

Just click on the items below to easily access them in my on line store

Or if you wish me to place an order for you, or have any questions please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Shimmery White A4 Cardstock	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Big Shot	Magnetic Platform	Sunshine Wishes Thinlits Dies
Fine-Tip Glue Pen	Bloomin' Love Photopolymer Stamp Set	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Rhinestone Basic Jewels

.. and don't forget everyone,  it is Stampin' Up!  Sale-a-Bration time - any combined spend of £45 earns you a free item from the special Sale-a-Bration brochure.

well this weekend sees me off on a shopping spree to a really lovely place - Blake House Craft Centre. Described as 'Shops, food and fun for the whole family. It is a lovely unique collection and range of all sorts of shops. Everything from handmade jewellery and miniatures to fabric supplies, yarns and antiques, all found in the original farm buildings of what was once Blake House Farm, near Braintree.

and with a full range of workshops and classes, and a fabulous restaurant to indulge your self in - sounds like a lovely way to spend the day, am thinking.

so til next time - and what ever you get up to or wherever you find yourself, have  a lovely weekend and happy crafting

Jan x

Love is in the Air - challenges x 2

hi all

well not sure if I am on my own here,  but I  always start out with good intentions as regards entering  one of my makes for to a few of the card challenges on the go,  at any one time..

and to add here my heartfelt thanks to all the Design teams members who put in all the time and effort to ensure we have fun entering..

but then having made a card - that's where I fall down -  - it rarely fits with the guidelines  of a particular week's card challenge.. so I realize that's where I am going wrong!.

so this time I did it the other way around! looked at some challenge sites first!!

and for some inspiration hopped over to take a look at these  -  the current challenge over at TGIF challenges - #TGIFC91 -   where Love is what's needed here and it  doesn't just have to be about Valentines - just love in general ..

  ...and for my layout I used this week's  fab clean and simple sketch over at Freshly Made sketches #271

and between the 2 was inspired to make the card below.... albeit a bit of a dark photograph!
and so have linked my card to both.

It's unusual for me in that it is just a one layer card using Stampin' Up!'s Shimmery White card stock, (which I hope you can see as it really is very shimmery!)  with a hand masked decorative panel as the focus.
 

 

I made this by first die-cutting one of the small hearts from the Sweet and Sassy Layering Framelits set and used this as a mask  so I could stamp my various hearts, flowers, vines etc around it..

Once that was done I used the waste left from the cut out and used that as a stencil and  sponged inside to softly colour  the inside space I had originally masked off...

I used the scrap pieces of 'Real Red' card stock for my 2 borders and the die-cut words.. The addition of 3 enamel hearts from the Brights Enamel shapes pack to finish,  and it was done.

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used

Just click on the items below to easily access them in my on line store
Or if you wish me to place an order for you, or have any questions please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Shimmery white Card stock	Real Red Card stock and stamp pad
Big Shot - Die cutting Machine	Magnetic Platform
Hello You Thinlet Dies	Sunshine Wishes Thinlet Dies
Sweet and Sassy Framelit Dies
For the various hearts, flowers and vines I used items from a number off different stamp sets ..	Bloomin' Love Stamp set Swirly  Bird Layering Love Endless Thanks Jar of Love
'Brights' Enamel Shapes	Fine Tip Glue Pen

 
.. and don't forget everyone,  it's Stampin' Up!  Sale-a-Bration time - any combined spend of £45 earns you a free item from the special Sale-a-Bration brochure..

Well it will soon be 'V' day and although not like me to be ready in advance - for once am #feelingsmug#  and hoping there will be one in return preferably with copious amounts of chocolate to go with!  Yep, I live in hope!

and to finish - a little photo - to possibly make you chuckle - well it did, me...

Til next time
Happy Stampin'

Jan x