Appuldercombe Antique and Craft Fair this Sunday

The time is upon me!! My first craft fair with my cards and Stampin Up bits and pieces. I have been busy making notice boards of SU goodies and signs to price everything up. I am incredibly nervous for some reason. But i know once I get there and get going I should be fine. I am having a layout run through tomorrow dressing a table and making sure I have everything I need for the show.

If anyone plans to come along please pop by the craft marquee and see me. I am running a little draw for a 'Happy Moments' SU stamp set for people registering their details with me on the day ;0)

Hopefully I'll have pictures to post next week (along with my layout for the WCC Challenge for Week 10). Happy Bank Holiday weekend ;0)

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Wight Craft Circle Scrap With Us #9

So here is my first go at joining in on the Wight Craft Circle Scrapbooking challenge. #9 challenge was to scrap using circles. So I dug out some old holiday photos of my sisters last night and set about having a go.

The learnings from last night are: must buy more bits and bobs for my stash as when it comes to accessorising I felt a bit limited (i feel some spending coming on at the craft show this weekend ;0). But was able to work wonders with a little bit of Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon and some old card stock (with the odd button and gift tag thrown in for good measure). Its a simple layout but I'm really pleased with the effect.

And its my first page to add to my non-Australia scrapbook ;0)

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Inspiration needed....

Well its all been a bit quiet from me crafting wise recently. I seem to have developed a bit of a head cold which has left me with an incredibly fuzzy brain. Everytime I try and sit down and craft I end up frustrated and unhappy with my results. Which all in all has left me rather despondent!!

So I have given myself a few days off to recover and hopefully my inspiration will return. I have a few things coming up that I would like to get my crafting mojo back for. I have my Dad and my sisters birthdays coming up where i have card ideas in mind. Appuldercombe on the 2nd May where I have a craft stall to promote my Stampin Up and sell cards that Mum and I have been making over the past few months. I also have my first SU workshop to prepare for. I have decided to use the Mini Catalogue as my focus for the demo but I am still undecided on my Make and Take Project. And just to confuse myself a little bit more (and for no other reason than just the fun/challenge of it) i have been trying to come up with some card examples using Barely Banana and Apricot Appeal as I love both of these colours and will be sad to see them go with the Colour Renovation. But at the same time I have been drawing a bit of a blank when it comes to actual cards to make with these colours as a focus (I find they lend themselves brilliantly to baby cards but havent been able to come up with another style using them!).

Right, back to getting better i think. My Mum and I are heading to the Creative Stitches and Hobbycrafts show at the weekend in Liverpool and I am willing myself to be on top form for that ;0) Keeping my fingers crossed that my creative block passes asap.

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My very first attempt at scrapbooking (sort of)

On Saturday I joined the lovely ladies of the Wight Craft Circle for their monthly crop. I was so nervous about going along (and getting completely lost on my way to the Sherbourne Centre didnt help) but I had no need as they were incredibly welcoming and friendly. I had a lovely day attempting scrapbooking. Although my pages were more fancy holiday album than real scrapbooking I am certainly inspired to start a proper scrapbook. And having seen the ladies lovely albums I realised how memorable and touching using just the select few photos can be as opposed to my usual stick every picture going in and hope for the best approach. It certainly made me look at my huge stack of Australia holiday photos in a completely different light.

Here are the pages I completed using the limited materials I had taken along with me:

Using: Sunny Day Simply Scrappin' Set (Page 78 of catalogue)


The page above is a little 'Small World' tribute as Sam and I specifically visited Phillip Island for its connections to the Isle of Wight. As well as a lot of shared place names we also came across the Isle of Wight Hotel! ;0)

Photos below taken on the Queenscliff-Sorrento ferry as Sam and I left Geelong on our way to Phillip Island.

I couldnt quite get the lighting right taking photos of these pages. Its a shame these photos havent shown up clearer. But these were taken at my lovely friend Sarla's 30th in Geelong. She gets a page all to herself in my holiday album ;0)

And then my favourite page of the day was put together using a page from the Pink Flamingo Design Paper Series. I absolutely love pelicans of all shapes and sizes (prize for the hugest of this species definitely goes to these huge Australian birds). Between myself and Sam we took hundreds of photos at the pelican feeding near Phillip Island. It was a hard task filtering out the best ones but I think I managed to capture how much i love these birds.

My weekend of mini catalogue stamping..

Here is the card I designed for a mini catalogue launch swap with the Pink Ladies (Michelle's Stampin Up downline). I chose to give the Something Sweet stamp set a go (without sweet treat cups). I then had to reproduce the card 15 times (which was a challenge considering how quickly I ran out of YoYo Yellow cardstock. I had to improvise which can be seen in the second photo- overlaying the YoYo Yellow onto Real Red).

I used:

• Real Red and YoYo Yellow Card Stock & Inks
• Inks: Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore, Pink Passion
• Something Sweet Stamp Set
• Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint
• Dazzling Diamonds Stampin Glitter
• Window Sheet (for the sweet machine globe)
• 1 3/4 inch circle punch

New Baby Card

Have a few lovely friends expecting at the moment which got me to thinking about 'New Baby' cards. Decided to have a little play last night with my new 'Fox and Friends' stamp set. I created this card (one of my favourite cards I've made in a while actually).

To make this card I used:

• Fox & Friends Stamp Set (mini catalogue)
• Card stock: (main) Almost Amethyst & Whisper White. Animals (with matching ink): Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Blush Blossom & Apricot Appeal
• Greeting: Fun & Fast Notes Stamps (Lavender Lace Ink)
• Tea Party Designer Series Paper (Spotty- used for Greeting background)
• Whimsy Jumbo Wheel for main card background inked with Versamark
• Finished with Whisper White Satin Ribbon

Colour Renovation

Here is a big exciting announcement for the upcoming October Stampin Up catalogue. Stampin Up are having a colour overhaul called the 'Colour Renovation'. They are redesigning their colour families to reflect the international 'In Colour' trends. So not only will we have 15 new core colours, each year (for a limited 2 year run for each set of new colours) Stampin Up will be releasing 5 'in colours'.

The new colour palette is organised into 4 collections: Subtles, Brights, Regals and Neutrals. You will see 25 current colours remain, and 15 new colours will be added to the core colour lines.

The new colours can be found below along with a list of colours that will be retiring (plenty of time left to stock up on inkpads, re inkers, and cardstock).

Watch this space for more information on the 'In Colours'.....

Two more gift boxes

For these gift boxes I used the Stampin Up Simply Sent Kit that I received with a subscription to Papercraft Inspirations. I created a sheet of decorated A4 card using the Happy Day Stamp Set (exclusively with the kit) and the flower stamps from the Simply Said stamp set. I used inks from the Regals colour family on Bashful Blue card. I then used my template to create two gift boxes.

For the cards I used: Always Artichoke Grosgrain Ribbon, Clear Rhinestone Brads, Regal Rose Love Notes (exclusively with the kit), Bashful Blue Card, Confetti White Card, Always Artichoke Ink Pad, Regal Rose Ink Pad

I finished each of the gift boxes (containing two cards each) with a length of whisper white grosgrain ribbon and a mounted design showing the Happy Day flowers design on each of the cards.

For the Family....

Here are the Easter gift boxes I made for Mum, Dad and my sisters. I used a gift box template and some old scrapbooking glittered cardstock. I then accessorised with matching cardstock and the Oval Scallop punch and the Just Perfect alphabet.

Easter pressies

Here are some of the little Easter pressies I rustled up for my partner's nieces and nephews. I used: Brilliant Blue & Pink Passion Ink Pads with Just Perfect Alphabet & Garden Whimsy Stamps. I created little tags to tie around cellophane wrapped mini eggs and wrapped rabbits.

Bit quiet on the crafting front....

Its all been a bit quiet from me recently. I have been neglecting my cross stitch a bit so decided to take a few nights/weekends break from cardmaking to catch myself up on a cross stitch design of a turtle I am working on (pictures to follow after the weekend).

I have my first craft show booked in on the 2nd of May, however, so I cannot postpone cardmaking for too much longer ;0) For anyone local, I will be demonstrating with Stampin Up products on my stall at the Appuldercombe Craft & Antique Fair.

I'm hoping to get on with some serious crafting this weekend with the extra 2 days off for Easter. Plus I've finally put in my mini catalogue order so will have lots of new products and stamps to play with in the next couple of weeks.

I'll have new photos to upload on Tuesday after Easter of all the Easter gifts I have been busy making too......

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Reading Training Inspiration

Inspired by the Reading Training I had a go at making the mini box with 4 little notecards in last night using the new Mini Catalogue stamp set Vintage Vogue. I loved this notecard set when it was demonstrated and have been eager to find time to give it a go.

To make this I used:

Vintage Vogue Stamp Set

1 Greeting Stamp from Happy Moments Stamp Set

Whisper White Card Stock

Bashful Blue Card Stock

Rose Red, Regal Rose, Elegant Eggplant & Brocade Blue Ink Pads

Whisper White Grosgrain Ribbon

4 Love Note Cards

Tea Party Designer Paper Series