Happy New Year!! Happy New Products - YAY!

I've been so excited to share today with you, it's actually better than Christmas!  LOL, anyone who knows me well just knows how I really am not into Christmas ;-)  Seriously though, if you do know me then you will know that I am not fibbing when I say that this is the most wonderful time of the year for crafters with Stampin' Up! launching Sale-A-Bration, THE only sale you really need.  This year SAB is running for three whole months and there are some awesome products that you can get your hands on for FREE, it could be the Best Year Ever (which happens to also be the name of one of the suite of products in the SAB brochure!)
So, I've been really enjoying some time in my new craft room (yes, finally moved in there and getting slowly organised) with some new products.  My favourite FREE stamp set so far from SAB is 'A Happy Thing', it has an adorable bird (this is why I fell in love with it straight away - I am a 'twitcher' and a happy thing to admit it).  Here he is on a 'fancy fold' card I have designed for my January classes.. tweeet! The DSP is from the Best Year Ever suite and is also available FREE during SAB (your get 12 sheets of 30.5cm x 30.5cm paper), love those fresh colours.

The other image stamp in the set is a lemon... now at first I was like 'what the heck will I do with a lemon?'  Well, you heard the saying 'When life gives you lemons'... so, I decided to just make a card or two and see how I got on.. hahaha, once I started I couldn't stop!!

Now I have a stack of lovely cards with juicy lemons.  I absolutely love that sentiment 'Love Life' too.. it's so ME darling. Did you notice that these images are coloured in?  I used my new Blendabilities markers to colour them all in and the best news ever is that you can also choose a Blendies assortment FREE during SAB!

Hope you like my projects, you can click the images on the right to take you straight to the SAB on-line brochure and you can place orders direct with me via my on-line shop or if you want a paper copy of the brochure and the new Seasonal Catalogue then catch me at one of my classes where you can also place orders in person. Love Stampin' Up!... Love Life :-)

Issy's All Day Spring Retreat!

Hi, I'm really excited to invite you to join me for a full day of crafty fun this spring.  I've been looking for a gorgeous venue and I am delighted that I have found one ... chandeliers, oak panelling, gilded mirrors and a chaise longue in the loo! But, wait it's not all about the decor of course, you will be having a full day of creativity over three long classes; a card making class, a 'memory keeping' class and a home decor project class.  You will receive a generous goody bag filled with Stampin' Up! crafty goodness on arrival and refreshments will be served throughout the day.  This day is limited to 15 places only... be quick!

This really is going to be a lovely way to retreat away from all that spring cleaning! - you deserve a treat, so book your place now.  Just visit my Classes & Events page for further details of how to book and pay.

Spring in my heels

In the bin!

Autumn / Winter... you're so last season!!  Move over, make way... it's Spring / Summer and we have a new catalogue (even if the weather outside is still frightful!)
As if it isn't enough that we have amazing Free products to offer you with SAB, the NEW Seasonal catalogue has launched this morning.  Chock full of gorgeous new products I can't wait to get going with them.

The first stamp set I have fallen for is 'Butterfly Basics', it has 11 stamps in the set and is available in all three types; Wood, Clear and Photopolymer which is brilliant.  There is a fabulous Thinlets dies set which co-ordinates with the set (see how I cut out the butterfly) and this is available with the stamp set as a bundle saving you a massive 15%.  Click the link to the right to download the PDF version of the catalogue immediately!

I'm demonstrating this stamp set at my next class with a sweet tag top easel card. This is a bit of a twist on the regular easel card and I love it!  I have to thank Dachoula, a French demonstrator for the layout inspiration as I received a swap from her at Convention this year in Brussels - you can see her swaps on her blog here. If you want to learn how make this card, then book a place at my January class, hope you can make it.  If you don't live nearby and still want to learn how to make it and would also like a Spring/Summer catalogue then please drop me an email and I'll post you a tutorial and catalogue (£1.50 to cover p&p).

Starry eyed wreath

Just home from running a private class for three lovely ladies who wanted to make a Christmas wreath.
For this I started with a piece of thick card measuring 30cm x 30cm (12" x12") and I needed to make it a wreath circle. Mmm, I looked all over the house for something large enough to draw a circle...just the thing a vinyl LP! Yup we have lots of those and it was just the right size, now for the inner circle. Ah, yes the lid off the biscuit tin! Lol :-)
Once I'd spent ages cutting out the circle shape 3 times we were ready to go. Each wreath was wrapped in chevron ribbon in Smoky Slate. A hot glue gun is necessary and unless you want to get stuck to the table use a silicone mat too! Once completely wrapped the ribbon ends get stuck down and a loop hanger added. All the stars were cut using the star framelits on the Big Shot. I made the ribbons curly by twisting them round a bamboo skewer, spritzer them lightly with water and then drying it using my heat gun. Reminds me of when I was little and my mum used to curl my hair using rags though not bamboo skewers!
Well my ladies had fun making this and I loved designing it and teaching them.

Stars in Your Eyes!

My classes this month continue with getting ready for Christmas and I'm just in LOVE with the 'Bright and Beautiful' stamp set and matching framelits.
In this class we will be doing one card and little gift box which is more technical and two simple easy to create cards.

 

How adorable is this giftbox?  It would be perfect for any number of small gifts from more expensive items like a piece of jewellery to just a handful of sweeties!  I think a couple of tealights will be a super little pressy that will fit snug inside! 

The two simple cards will be quick and easy to make and they feature the 'Festival of Trees' stamp set which also has a matching punch and makes quick card making such fun.

 mmmm... think you might have seen these before?  Well check out the Seasonal Catalogue as I've simply 'CASEd' (Copy and Share Everything) these two designs straight from there (page 24).  Just to prove that the designs in the catalogue are easy and fun to make.  So, if you can join me in Retford for this class on Monday 6th October then please book your place as soon as possible and if you can't then I hope that my creations inspire you to get creative yourself.  Don't forget you can buy all the supplies I used on these projects from my own Stampin' Up shop.

Bright and Beautiful stamp set: 135026 (wood) £29.95 135029 (clear) £22.95
Stars Framelits: 133723 £22.95
Curvy Keepsake Box Thinlits Die: 135853 £29.95
Lucky Stars Textured Embossing Folder: 134817 £7.50
Festival of Trees stamp set: 135059 photopolymer £13.95
Tree Punch: 135859 £15.50
Bundle - buy both together and save 15%  137640 £24.95
Filigree Frame Textured Embossing Folder: 135818 £7.50

Christmas in August

It's never too early to start making your Christmas cards, so my next card making class in Retford is all about doing just that!

We will be making three fabulous cards and a matching gift bag for one of them.  All the projects will be using brand new stamp sets from the new seasonal catalogue which launches on Monday 1st September.

To attend this class you need to book a place and can do this by contacting me before Monday 1st September.  Places are limited, class costs £10 per person and includes all materials, tuition and refreshments.

So many smiles

I realise that I haven't blogged for quite a while... sorry :-)

The last few months have been hectic beyond belief for me, but things have calmed down a bit now.  I wanted to share this latest project with you as it's what we'll be making in our next class in Retford.

I've been asked to include a scrapbook page in classes a few times and so I decided that a nice way to do this would be to create just one special page and offer a box frame option.
So, here is my completed page 'naked'.  The gorgeous girl with a curl is my lovely friend Sarah's daughter Sally.  When I saw this photo of Sally I just melted, she is so beautiful and this just captures her sunny spirit.

Here is the page in a plain pine box frame, I love that I could use the Spiral Flower Bigz die and really make the flowers stand up.  I also loved using the new 'in-colours' and here is a sneak peek of some DSP called 'moonlight' (my fave is the honeycomb *wink*).  Did you spot those little tiny flowers on the garland?  They are from a new itty bitty punch set - another sneak peek.  I chose the sentiment 'So many smiles' from the Petite Pairs stamp set because it just describes the photo (not sure that the sentiment actually shows up very well in these photos).