Field Training at High Wycombe

Sorry i have not been around normal life has been hectic and this is the first time i have got chance to come and update my blog!
Well last friday was Field Training evening at High Wycombe.. What a fab evening i had,i cant say the journey was good but it was well worth it.
I met some wonderful demonstrators and 3 of my fantastic downlines came too, we all had a BALL!!!
Here are some of the photos taken of the evening.
This first picture is of Monica, me and the wonderful Pam, she works for Stampin' Up! in the USA and it was a pleasure and an honour to have my photo taken with her.
She was very inspiring and the make and takes that she showed us were just beautiful and fantastic.

Second picture of me and the wonderful Paula, she is such a fantastic woman and always on the end of the phone or email, she is a trojan for Stampin' Up! in the UK and i love her enthusiasm, her drive and ambition and i am very grateful to her for all the invaluable advice and help she has given me... Paula love ya babe!!

Here is a picture of me and Monica, a great inspiration to me and a great friend, she is always full of life and great to chat too on the phone....!if you ever get the chance to meet her do she is FAB!We share a lot of things in common, not just Stampin' Up, we both love making cakes and we share the same birthday too!

During the make and takes i thought i would take some pics of my downlines to show that they were very good and did what was asked of them regarding their make and takes. Here girls see you can do these demos.. no slacking....!! lol
First up is Alison... cheeky, funny and a whole load of fun.....

Second comes the wonderful Germaine, intently concentrating on her project. Her attention to detail is fantastic and the only woman i know who has the best craft room ever...!!

Last by no means least, Carolynne, sensible, kind and caring.. she needed to be sensible sitting next to Alison to keep her inline!!

Well thats it for now.. I am going to do some crafting and will be back soon with some creations...
Take care and happy stamping.....
Michelle.....xxx

Feeling a little blue.......

Hi everyone...
Well yes i am feeling a little blue.. I am a little sad that these lush designer prints are being retired from the current catalogue....
They are so lovely and come in an array of colour ways including old olive, rose red and this lovely brilliant blue.
They are so great as they coordinate with all the card stock and ink pads and ribbons.
Here are a couple of projects i threw together at the weekend.



Here is a close up of the pretty little bag, simply made a 4 1/2 inch square base box and wrapped the paper round and trimmed to suit. I love the scalloped edge at the top easily done with the corner rounder. The stamp set used is Be Happy one of the retiring sets from the current catalogue. I think it looks really stunning in the brilliant blue ink.



This is the cute post-it-note holder i made to go with the bag.
A regular pub coaster was used and covered with the designer paper. The tab punch to make the pen holder, the pad was stamped with the 'smile' stamp from the Be Happy set with watermark ink on each page. A touch of ribbon and a small pen and you have a perfect gift.



RECIPE:
Stamps: Be Happy
Ink: Brilliant blue, versamark
Card: whisper white, brilliant blue, designer papers in brilliant blue
Accessories: jumbo eyelets, whisper white and not quite navy ribbon, scallop,tab, circle, and three for you flower punches, corner rounder, pub coaster, post-it-note pad.Silver brads, white waxed thread
Thanks for looking and i hope i have inspired you to have a go and make a gift.
Cheers and happy stamping....
Michelle...xxx

Saying goodbye.......

Hi everyone...
Here is a collection of gifts using the retiring papers and coordinating stamps....
Petals/polka dots & Paisley.
I think this is a lovely set of stamps and papers, they are very girly and pretty, real me!
There are 3 gifts quite simply made and a great gift for a crafting friend or relative.
A hanging post-it-note holder, a brag book and a tiny box with a special gift inside of a set of 3x3 cards for the person to have a go and make there only mini cards to send.
I really enjoyed making them and they were very quick to do, a couple of hours for all 3 and you are done,a unique gift i am sure and will be greatfully received.


This is a close up of the post-it-note holder. Just take a piece of chipboard and cover with designer paper, i have stamped over the background using versamak ink and the paisley stamp to add a bit of interest, then using pastels rubbed over to add the colour. Stamp the word notes with the headline alphabet, the post-it-notes were a bargain from Tesco and i punched with the crop-a-dile and added a large eyelet, a splash of ribbon and some embossed card.



Second picture is the brag book, there are many tutorials on different blogs for this and here is my version. Using the same colours as before so that it all matches beautifully.



This is what the brag book looks like inside. The pages fold over so plenty of places for photos and journalling too.



Now comes the cute box, see again using the same colours, they are just so lush i love them and sad to see them go, but excited at what the new catalogue holds...



This is the small card kit that i made to go inside the box. A set of 4 mini cards with all the elements to make 4 fab cards to send to your friends.



RECIPE:
Stamps: polka dots & paisley, headline alphabet
Ink: old olive, tempting turquiose
Card: old olive, tempting turquoise, pink passion, whisper white, scraps of pinks and taken with teal.
Accessories: old olive, tempting turquoise and always artichoke ribbon, love notes, various punches, chipboard, post-it-notes, jumbo eyelets, crop-a-dile, silver brads, three for you punch, petals & paisley designer prints.
Well will be back real soon with a sneeky peek from the new catalogue...
Have a good weekend and happy stamping

Scrapbook Challenge 4

Hi everyone, i hope you are all well, i am still suffering with a cold and an awful cough but i am gettin better.. or so i keep telling myself..
The weather has not been great either with constant downpours of rain. So what better excuse to do some crafting.
Every other Saturday is my turn to do the Scrapbook Challenge over on ILWS
This was my 4th challenge and this week i challenge you to scrap a different size to what you usually do.
I have done 6x12 this time, a great size for quick and easy pages, there are several different companies on the market that now do all sizes of scrapbooks so the choice is yours really.



I have made my scrapbook page into a wall hanging and it now has pride of place in my craft room.
RECIPE:
(All products Stampin' Up!)
Stamps: Headline Alphabet, polka dot & paisley
Ink: Tempting turquoise, old olive
Card: whisper white, tempting turquoise,old olive, designer prints petals & paisley, scraps of pink passion
Accessories: Hodgepodge hardware, always artichoke and old olive ribbon, stampin dimensionals, three for you punch, silver brads, chipboard, 6x4 photograph

Instructions:
Take a piece of chipboard and cut to 6x12,cut a sheet of whisper white card the same size and adhere to the chipboard, take your sheet of petals & paisley with the words 'together' and cut to 5 3/4x11 3/4, mount this on to the white.
Stamp 'forever' onto old olive card using your headline alphabet and old olive ink. Cut round leaving a small border, then mount these onto tempting turquoise and cut again, fix stampin dimensionals to the back and place on your page. Punch 3 flowers from the three for you punch add silver brads and place on page.
Trim photo to 3 3/4x5 1/4 and mount onto tempting turquoise card. Place this onto your page and tie round the old olive ribbon. Stamp the word 'happy' from the polka dot & paisley set, cut and fix inside a frame from the hodgepodge hardware, attach to page over photo. You could also write some journalling if you wished. Finally attach the 2 hangers from the hardware to the top of your page and tie some ribbon to hang your finished page.
Thanks for looking and happy scrapping.....
Michelle....x

Going..going...gone...!!!

Well i return to blogging all refreshed from a weeks holiday.. Back now to some serious business and stamping.....
First though with the up-coming release of the 2008-09 Stampin' Up Catalogue available from 1st October the retirement list is now up and items available.
Stampin' Up! have also reduced all the items on the list so its an ideal time to purchase them before they are all gone. I will update the list of sell outs when they occur.
To view the full retirement list please go HERE
This is a numerical list so you can browse your catalogue also while viewing the retired list.
If you would like to purchase any of the retired products please email me.
As an extra incentive i am also offering 10% off any of the retired products during the month of September.
I will be back in the coming days with some sneeky peeks of stamp sets available in the new catalogue.
Boy its great to be back i have missed you all..
Cheers and happy stamping......xxx