Stampin' Up! UK Sweet Sayings & A Sneak Peak

Good afternoon lovely crafters. Hip hooray for Friday ;0)

I got a bit carried away last night while prepping for my card class tomorrow. I decided I wanted to create a card using the beautiful Sweet Sayings printed card bases currently part of the Whole Lot of Love promotion. But I also received my fab preorder goodies from the new Spring Summer catalogue this week and had fallen in love with the Spiral Flower Originalz Die and wanted to have a go at creating some fab flowers too. 

I thought I would share a set of three cards I made last night all using slightly different techniques to create these beautiful flowers. And with only 11 more days until the launch of the new catalogue I thought it would be a perfect time to give you a little sneak peak of this fab die (and a bargain at only £15.95!).

I am feeling hugely inspired by the In Colors at the moment and just love the combinations of Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding and Strawberry Slush (a combo you'll be seeing again in the next few days). I found in my stash a complete pack of In Color Coredinations cardstock which was perfect for creating these spiral flowers. This first card uses three of the spirals to create three tightly wound  flowers. I used the Coredinations card but didn't distress at all before winding my spirals. I used a length of Pistachio Pudding Ruffle Trim around the card as well as secured under the flowers to create a leaf effect. I finished the card with the sentiment stamped in Strawberry Slush using the greeting from the Simply Sketched hostess stamp set.

From the close up you can see I added sponged Strawberry Slush ink to the flowers once completed to give a tinted edge to my flowers.

For my second and third cards I was inspired by a vintage flower tutorial I had seen online by the fabulous Patty Bennett. 

 Patty's tutorial used two colours of Coredinations cardstock together to create a distressed layered floral feature for a card. I used Strawberry Slush and Coastal Cabana for the first and Strawberry Slush and Crisp Cantaloupe for the second. Before rolling the spirals I first distressed the edges of the Coredinations cardstock with my Stampin' Sanding Block and used my bone folder to break down the fibres in the card to make it easier to roll the flowers. Once spiralled you just need to loosen the spiral a bit to give this fuller flower which you can then flatten and shape to give this more distressed feeling. I finished my flowers with a Boutique Detail and a Large Basic Pearl.

I think I have found my new favourite product in the new catalogue. I had so much fun creating these flowers and the spiral die makes life so much easier as the spirals are already cut for you (i used to spend ages punching circles and hand cutting before). The Spiral Flower Originalz Die can be ordered from January 28th (and will qualify towards Sale-A-Bration orders and freebies too!) so please add it to your Wishlist and let me know if you'd like to order. I'd be more than happy to help you with your Stampin' Up! wishlist and help you get the most out of current promotions.

And if you love the Sweet Sayings notecards, just a quick reminder, these are only available until January 27th so you'll need to get your order in quick to catch these before they are no longer available. Pop by the Whole Lot of Love page of my online store to see all the other lovely Valentines exclusives only available until January 27th.

Thanks for stopping by today this fine Friday. I hope you have a lovely crafty weekend planned. I am looking forward to my first class of the New Year and seeing all my lovely card class ladies again (and of course my Mum's lovely homemade marmalade cake she has made for us too).

Please get in touch on poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 01983 609249 to find out more about placing an order, to get a copy of our current catalogues to browse at your leisure or to find out about hosting your own fun crafty party at home.

Happy Crafting 

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