Are you getting ready to trim the tree?

Here is my second festive punch art, inspired by trimming the tree, I thought that the punches would make great tree lights.



All of the products used on this project are from Stampin' Up & are available to purchase through me.

Packing tape & Dazzling Diamonds

I often wonder how some of the bizarre techniques come about! This isn't bizarre but very easy & straightforward, I can see how this was easy to devise. I do however wonder what people were doing or even thinking when the devised the shaving foam technique, or the baby wipe technique or indeed the floor polish technique.

For this card you need some clear parcel tape & dazzling diamonds glitter.

The measurements for this card are
Card base Very Vanilla 3 3/4" x 3 3/4"
Layers
Real Red 3 1/2" x 3 1/2"
Basic black 2 1/2" x 2 1/2"

1 x post it note
Scallop Border trim punch
1/4" circle punch
Ornament punch
Crystal effects
Dazzling diamonds
Tombow glue
Clear Parcel tape

The alternative colour ways are Rick Razzleberry & melon mambo or pacific point & Baja Breeze.

The greeting inside the card is stamped onto very vanilla Cardstock & punched out using the oval punch with a co-ordinating mat punched using the scallop oval punch

The pictures do Not do show how dazzling these cards are.

All of the above products with the exception of the clear parcel tape are from Stampin' Up & are available to purchase through me as an independent creative coach.

Christmas Wish List ~ How would you like your Christmas stocking filled with Stamping stash?

How would you like your Christmas stocking filled with Stamping stash?

All you need to do is request a WISH LIST FORM from me, save it with your name and your wish list items and then mail if back to me. 

Then give your family members my phone number and I will do the rest!! 

I will also WRAP THE GIFTS as a bonus!!!!

Wish List forms are available from me lovellsinnorfolk@hotmail.co.uk

Festive punch art

Earlier in the year I fell in love with punch art, which is basically using uour punches for a whole variety of projects to create characters & pictures using a variety of Stampin' Up punches.
So here is the first of my festive punch art




All of the products used on this project are from Stampin' Up & are available to purchase through me.

Christmas is coming & I am loving preparing for it

Okay day three of Delightful decorations

What can I say this is such a versatile set. for the stripy bauble I have used the matching punch & the papers from the simply scrappin' kit Christmas Jingle.

The inks are Real Red Old Olive & whisper white.

I will be back tomorrow with some more samples using some of the other fabulous stamp sets from the new catalogue.

If you would like to order any of the above products contact me to place an order.

Delightful decorations, take two

I am already loving this Delightful decorations set, In this card I have used Perfect plum papers & Perfect plum designer series papers, The scallop border is cut from Elegant eggplant cardstock.I stamped 4 images of the decoration the first ornament was glued flat onto the card & the other three ornaments after being stamped in Elegant eggplant I went over the images with Versamark ink & covered the images with Clear embossing powder & heated with the heat gun which gives them a lovely shiny surface. The remaining three images are folded in half through the middle & glued back to back to make a 3D decoration.

All of the above products are from Stampin' Up & are available to purchase through me.

Delightful decorations & I can now share them with you

Whooooo New catalogue release day is officially here & I can share my excitement with you

I have been waiting to share this card with you Delightful decorations is one of the fabulous new stamp sets in the new ideas catalogue, I have also used Lovely as a tree for the branches Stamped in Old olive ink. The two decorations are punched out using the matching punch. The dotty decoration is from one of the stamps & the swirly red ornament is stamped in Versamark & heat embossed with white embossing powder using the swirl stamp from Baroque motifs, which has to be my favourite ever stamp. The Red dots are made using the Real red Stampin' Write pen & covered with Crystal Lacquer. The ornaments are both popped up using Stampin' dimensionals.

All of the above are from Stampin' Up & are available to purchase through me as an independent demonstrator.

Inky fingers

I have an aching neck from sitting at the sewing machine making bunting so I decided to take a break and get Inky and make a couple of Christmas cards. I am loving the Dasher stamp from the mini catalogue & I really hope that he will stay with us in the New Stampin' Up catalogue.

The cardstock is Kraft that is soon to be renamed Crumb cake & Garden Green. The inks are Versamark Garden Green & Creamy caramel. The stamp sets are Wondrous gift, Dasher & En Francais. The backing papers are from the great value scrappin kit called Christmas Jingle. The images are hi-lighted using the shimmer mists that are in the current mini catalogue, I have a sneaking suspicion that they may appear in the new catalogue as the are beautiful & very versatile.

The cardstock used in this card is Kraft & Ruby red. The inks are Versamark, Creamy caramel & Old olive, I love old olive it just keeps sneaking onto my cards I am so glad that it isn't one of the retiring colours at the end of September. The stamps used are Large medallion, Spotlight on Christmas & Dasher.The backing papers are from the scrappin kit Christmas Jingle. Dasher is stamped in Versamark & covered with the Heat & stick powder, heated with the heat tool & then covered in the dazzling diamonds glitter & reheated briefly. Very vanilla Taffeta ribbon is tied around the backing paper with a fake bow. The sentiment joy is from the spotlight on Christmas set & stamped in Old olive onto craft card & punched out using the 1 1/4" punch & mounted on a 1 3/8" circle of Ruby red card, I used a blender pen & the shimmer mist in Champagne to hi-light the sentiment.

It's only August & I'm on my 3rd Christmas card...........!

It's hard to believe we are only in August, the weather here is absolutely foul, but I'm quite pleased that I've managed to finish my 3rd Christmas card & I think this is my favourite so far. The card uses the Dasher from the mini catalogue & lovely as a tree from the main catalogue.

Dasher is in the Mini catalogue which is only valid until 30th September

Did you know there is a way that you can heat emboss using the Stampin' Up ink pads? Well if you first coat your stamp in Versamark ink & then coat the stamp in the desired coloured ink & then quickly stamp your image & cover with embossing powder & heat in the usual way. The Vellum is torn in strips & using shimmer paint in frost white I painted the torn edge. Vellum is very hard to adhere & is virtually impossible to do this without the glue showing through, so what I usually do is cut the vellum larger than I need & wrap the excess around the back of the panel & stick using double sided tape. The card stock I've used is Bashful blue, Whisper white & Basic black. The ink is Ballet blue. The sentiment comes from the set sincere salutations.

Have you seen the two step promotion?

For the month of August Stampin' Up are running a 20% off promotion on selected two step stampin sets. One of the sets is loads of love that I have used on this my second Christmas card. The trees are from the set lovely as a tree, which I resisted buying for months as I couldn't see the potential but I have since seen such wonderful samples I am glad I have added the set to my stash.The tree in the back of the truck is also from Lovely as a tree. The snow is made from torn strips of Vellum layered unevenly the edges are covered with crystal accents & dazzling diamonds glitter. I stamped the happy couple in the truck from Loads of love accessories on acetate using Staz on ink & stuck them behind the truck using some dst.

If you would like to take advantage of the 20% off promotion then please contact me for further details

We have snow

Whoooo we have snow, at last.
All week there have been severe weather warnings on the news & our children who are in Bracknell have been having very severe snowfall about 12" on Tuesday night & all we had was the leftovers from new years day & a very light sprinkling yesterday morning whilst I made my way to work, but this morning at least 6" had fallen.
The cats weren't too keen to go out & when they did venture into the snowy garden they only stayed out long enough to do the essential business.


Sassy the bravest of our cats ~ look at his huge tail
I went out for the bus & waited an hour & 20 minutes & the snow was falling, but no busses arrived so I phoned work & stayed at home as by this time I was frozen.

When I eventually thawed out I decided to do some scrapbooking, well 2 scraplifts actually as I loved these layouts.

The first layout was taken back in 2006 when we went on a family holiday too Brittany, we started to scrapbook the holiday when we returned but paul's Dad died 6 weeks later & it became to hard to scrap at the time, so i'm digging out the pictures & have added it too my ~scrapping to do list~


Paul in the Botanical gardens.

The Christmas portait layout is inspired by the Cover of Decembers creating Keepsakes magazine


The pictures were our self portraits this Christmas.

Alll that hard work

Well as they say the best laid plans!!!!

All the work I put into the scrapbook for my Mum as she chose to be on her own this Christmas looks like it has gone to waste. I posted the three large parcels on Saturday & they still haven't arrived & the parcel with my Grandsons presents in we paid to have 48hr guaranteed at exhorbitant cost still hasn't arrived, some 5 days later & parcelforce just dont care.

Special card

I have been asked by Paul to make some special cards for one of the guys he works with for his wife & parents,


This is the inside of the double extender card

So I used some of my Stampin' Up papers & stamps

Top tip when cutting the cardstock always start by cutting your largest pieces first

Base cardstock

One 8" x 6" base (A), two 6" x 6" front pieces (B) & two 12" x 6" extender pieces (C)

Co-ordinating cardstock

Two 1 3/4" x 5 3/4" pieces
eight 1 3/4" x 1 1/4" pieces
two 1 1/2" x 5 3/4" pieces

Patterned papers

Two 3 3/4" x 2 3/" pieces
three 3 3/4" x 5 3/4" pieces
two 1 1//2" x 5 1/2" pieces
eight 1" x 1 1/2" pieces
four 1 3/4" x 2 3/4" pieces
four 3 3/4" x 1 1/4" pieces
two 3 1/2" x 5 1/2" pieces

30" piece of ribbon
adhesive
front embellishments

Base ~ mark centre line down base piece (A) and set aside

Extending sides ~
Scoring ~ using both pieces (c) create sides as folows:- lay horizontally, score from top to bottom at 2" in from the left edge again at 4" from the edge, turn sheet 180 degrees and score 2" from edge & again at 4" on both pieces of card. Looking at the pieces the lines should be symettrical.

Cutting ~ Turn vertically & mark 1 1/2" from left edge & cut from 1st score to last score, flip 180 degrees & repeat, on both pieces of card.

Folding ~ fold on all score lines, with the first fold being a mountain fold, second is a valley fold, third is mountain and fourth is a valley fold.
Now push 2 centre folds in opposite directions & concertina fold card closed. The front panel should form a 'T' shape that has been turned sideways. Do the same to the second piece of card.

Front panels ~ Working from top to bottom score 2" in from one side to create a score line thats a third of the way in on both pieces of card.

Assembling Project

Secure last scored section of left extending panel to base at the left and just up to the centre line. repeat for the right extending panel working to create the opposite side ( glue the 2" panel & the middle section of the extending panel ) . Add front panels to remaining outer edges by 'tucking' 2" section behind extending panels. Your project should now close & extend outwards in both directions when opened up.

Decorating panels

Decorate larger panels with larger sized pieces as above just using patterned papers and remaining pieces of co-ordinating cardstock.

Ribbon ~ add ribbon across front of project to tie closed at right side.

Decorate the front and internal panels with embellishments, pictures and text as desired.

All cardstock, papers & stamped images except the greeting are copyright Stampin' Up and are available to purchase through me as a creative consultant reprsenting Stampin' Up

December daily

Anyone else doing the Ali Edwards inspired December daily?

Well how are you doing? I am sure that its better than me, despite having crafted everyday for the past week I still haven't done a single project for myself. I have made cards, 20 scrapbook pages, 100+ gift tags. I have started the december daily & prepped all of the pages, printed all of the acetate overlays & put the book together, where I have been doing all of the homemade Christmas projects I have been taking the pictures & in a note book I have kept a daily diary of the happenings of our household so when I get sometime this week I can catch up on my December daily.

One thing I have learnt this year is to start in November & get my December daily ready well in advance, this year I collected all of the components together & boxed them up, but didn't do any other prep. Ali edwards is an inspiration & I have spent ages on her blog being inspired.

I am loving the homemade Christmas

The scrapbook for Mum is finally finished, here are the last few layouts. I have really enjoyed the challenge of 20 layouts from 2009. That was until we were at the crop last week chatting to Alison & she commended me on using my best papers on projects that are being given away, only or Abi to reply that it was okay as we would get the scrapbook back in time, when my Mum falls of the twig, Out of the mouths of babes!!





I have just weighed the scrapbook when it's all packed up & it weighs in at a chunky 2kg so that is going to be costly to post, ........ £8.50 to be exact......Wow

Homemade Christmas ~ Update

I have managed to complete a few more layouts for the album I am making for my Mum, I have to get it finished by Wednesday so I have been working on it all afternoon since we got back from the city with some more Christmas shopping.

Day 3 of a homemade Christmas

The creativity continues
I have managed to make a few more layouts, mainly for my Mums album.




This one is for my own album, just documenting how much I am lovin the Ltd edition Starbucks Eggnog Latte.

Oh & that reminds me Dear Santa...I have been good all year...its just a misunderstanding on other peoples part for stuff that I have said or done ; )


If you hapen to be passing a store that sells American craft albums I need a new 12 x 12 album preferably with a red spine for my seasonal layouts.
Thanks Santa
XX


Tonight I am going to play catch up on my December daily, I am loving journaling the festive month & I think this is the first time for many years that I have felt that I am in control of Christmas rather than the other way around.

Day 2 of a homemade Christmas

I hope that your all having a lovely weekend, I am still having a homemade Christmas day.
Today I am working on pages for a scrapbok for my Mum. My mum has decided not to come to us for Christmas this year & whilst I was upset when she first told me as i'm an only child this will mean that she's on her own, But she has made her decision & I have to respect that. So I decided I would make her a scrapbook, she doesn't have internet access so she doesn't see the updates I make as to what we have done throughout the year, as they say a picture is worth a thousand words.
I have scrapbooking kits & stash all over the dining table & disney movies on a perfect day. Abi is in the craft room doing some more pages to her mini books.


Here are some of the pages I have made so far.