Christmas is not always a happy time

Christmas can be a sad time for some people, particularly those who have lost a loved one. I wanted to make cards for friends who have been bereaved in recent months and a "Happy Christmas" card just didn't seem suitable. These cards are what I came up with, I used the beautiful peace dove from Stampin' Up's Calm Christmas stamp set. I left the inside blank to write a little note and hope that when my friends receive them it will bring a little comfort.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Decorating your home

Just to show you that Stampin Up products are not just for cards and scrapbooking here's a photo of a Christmas banner I made for above the fireplace. I used the canvas banners, these are made of thick material which will last for years and could be used for a special birthday party, wedding etc and personalised with a name. 

The build a banner kit 133507 costs £17.95 which is a bargain as you get 18 canvas banners and stencils to make dots, stripes, alphabets and more. The accessory kit which I used on my banner 132697 costs £8.95 although you could just used things you already own to decorate the banner.  You can see them on page 31 in the Autumn/Winter catalogue.

Sorry the photograph is a bit dull but it's very hard to get good light at this time of year but I hope you can see how nice it is and maybe be inspired enough to make one of your own. Thanks for taking the time to drop by my blog today when life is so busy for us all.

Clearance Rack!

These clearance items are only available while stocks last so if you have your eye on one of the bargains then click on my online store button to place your order today!

My attempt using Undefined!

Hello friends, hope all your Christmas preparations are going well. I thought I would share this photo with you, I received Stampin Up's Undefined as a prize patrol gift at convention, it is a stamp carving kit, you can carve any image you wish with it.  I drew a basic (very basic!) holly leaf and transferred the image onto the rubber and then carved it out with the tools included. This is the card I made using the image, what do you think? The possibilities are endless with this kit, you can even transfer a photo image and carve it out, use clip art, a child's drawing or your own artistic sketch, you choose.

I'll be back soon with some more Christmas projects.
Undefined carving kit, which includes everything you need to create a few stamps (depending on size) is 133402 and costs £17.95 and you can also get a refill pack once you have used up all the rubber included.

Christmas Cookies

Good morning, hope your weekend is going well. I already shared a present I received at convention, here's another one! This one was from fellow demonstrator and friend Monica Gale, I loved it! The cup contained Christmas cookies, which disappeared quickly as they were delicious. Also in the lovely gift bag was a diamanté lanyard to hang my Stampin Up name tag from.  Monica is very accomplished at My Digital Studio and used her skills to make the card that came with the present, it has a pull out piece with the recipe for the cookies on it which my husband has insisted I make for Christmas, after tasting Monica's!

Thoughtful gift!

Morning everyone, I thought I would share a photo of the lovely gift I received at convention from my upline Natalie.  The great star stamp was in the beautiful gift packaging.  The little chevron bags really do dress up a little gift, don't they? Talking of gifts I'm off in a few minutes to do some Christmas shopping, wish me luck I need to find some inspiring gifts, for men! Not my favourite people to buy for. I'll be back soon to show you some of the things I have been working on for Christmas. Have a great weekend.

Happy Home

Hope you had a lovely weekend, a little change from Christmas tonight, I thought I would share with you a card I made for our friends who recently moved into their dream home. (I took inspiration from a card I saw on an American demonstrator's blog, Mary Fish). The stamp is from a retired set and actually says congratulations on your new baby, so I used a marker to ink it up and just left off the word baby! I used the Typeset alphabet Bigz dies to cut HOME, the paper is from Gingham Garden dsp and I added a little retired key from Stampin' Up and a flower from the in colour Dahlias.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

Quick Christmas card

A quick card this evening and a quick post ;-) I was inspired by a card I saw on Shelli Gardner's blog, this Christmas card doesn't take too long to make a few for the special people in your life this Christmas but is still very effective and pretty.

Thanks for stopping by.

The beautiful swaps I received

I received lots of beautiful swaps both from UK demonstrators and some from Germany, Austria, France and the Netherlands! When we swap it's not just about what we receive (although I love that part) but it's an ice breaker, you start up a conversation about how it was made, where the person is from etc. it's just lovely to be with other people who love Stampin' Up as much as you do!  

Aren't they all lovely! Thanks for stopping by my blog today, hope you got some inspiration to create something of your own, I'll be back soon with some more ideas.

A Good time was had by all!

I got back from Stampin' Up convention in Manchester on Saturday night after a fun packed few days.  We swapped ideas, saw fantastic projects on the inspiration boards, listened to wonderful talks from Stampin' Up, watched fellow demonstrators show how to make things both on stage and at the booths but the best part for me was catching up with demonstrators I know but don't see very often and also making new friends.  When crafters get together we have such a lot of fun, we love the same things so have loads in common!  Here's a photo of my swaps, I made cards and little boxes, around 50 in total and I still ran out!

I will photograph all the swaps I received in return and show them 

to you very soon.