Another idea for fabric scraps

There are some gorgeous new fabrics coming in the new Spring/Summer mini catalogue.  

With quite a few bits of leftover scraps of fabric my mum found a great way to use these up before the new products arrived... 

Do you have lots of scraps of fabric leftover... why not make a pin cushion like this:

There are lots of ways to use up scraps of fabric, my favourite so far is definitely me gorgeous marker pen case which my mum made me sometime ago... check it out here.  She really is very talented!

Check out the fabrics on pages 170-171 of the main catalogue and keep an eye out for the new Spring/Summer catalogue which is released tomorrow (1 Feb)... I can't wait to see what my mum can create from these :).

Tomorrow I will be taking part in a blog hop with some of the other Stampin' Stars demonstrators, so check back here then from 9am to check out the new catalogue and some ideas using some of the new products.

Last chance to order from Autumn/Winter catalogue

The good news is that the Spring/Summer catalogue is released on Friday (1st February), so there will be lots of new products available for purchase.  However, that means the Autumn/Winter catalogue products are only available until Thursday (31st January)!

If you would like to get your order any items from the Autumn/Winter catalogue then this is your last chance - contact me at jadedcrafter@gmail.com or telephone 07968 951957 to ensure you don't miss out.  You can also take advantage of the Sale-A-Bration offer for orders of £45 (excluding P&P).

Here's a quick card to remind you about those lovely Festival of Prints papers from the Autumn/Winter catalogue.  The papers are great for a variety of occasions...

I've used a Very Vanilla base and then adhered the DSP for the background, before adding the image from the For the Birds stamp set.

A quick sentiment inked with Versamark and embossed with White embossing powder and set with a heat gun from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set and it's done.

There are 48 sheets in each pad of the Festival of Prints DSP pack, with 4 sheets each of 12 different designs.... great for card fronts and mounting photos at a size of 11.4 x 16.5cm.  Check them out on page 20 of the catalogue:

Valentines verse

I have another of the Sale-A-Bration stamp sets to share with you today - Vintage Verses.

This is a lovely sentiment set which could be used for a number of occasions.  With Valentines Day coming next month, you may want to consider selecting this limited edition set for your Sale-A-Bration choice.

If you do not already know what Sale-A-Bration is all about - check out the details here.

My crafting partner in crime, Amy, kindly made me some samples using this set and this one is perfect for Valentines:

Amy has use Basic Green with Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla to co-ordinate with some of the Be of Good Cheer DSP from the main catalogue.  Using the Heart Punch for the main feature and one of the lovely sentiments from the Vintage Verses stamp set.

If you look closely you will see the faux stitching along the Very Vanilla strip, which just finishes this card off nicely.  

You could easily change this card around to suit an anniversary or engagement, and even for a wedding invite... love it!

If you would like to get your hands on any of the Sale-A-Bration products just contact me to place your order and for each spend of £45 you will be able to select one of the limited edition items or something from the main catalogue.

Don't forget I have my launch event on Saturday 2nd February at 2pm too...

Stampin' Up! making a difference and my story

During 2013 Stampin' Up! will be celebrating it's 25th birthday.  If you search on the web for what this means you will no doubt come across articles and blogs showing what a difference Stampin' Up! has made in those 25 years?!

So today I'm sharing my personal story with Stampin' Up! and how this has expanded into making a difference elsewhere.  

When I first stumbled upon Stampin' Up! products at a craft show I was already a keen crafter; making my own cards and to sell to friends and family.  The Stampin' Up! products were a real game changer as the colour groups meant lots of things co-ordinated and inspiration was easy to find just by searching online for images of a particular stamp set or designer series paper (DSP). I was hooked!

After losing my partner suddenly, I found myself a little lost and living in an area where I didn't know many people. So I signed up as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and got involved in get togethers and sharing my hobby with others. This progressed to running classes at my home, making use of the empty space. I think without having done this at that time of my life I could have ended up in a very different situation!  I have met many people and made some great new likeminded friends - Stampin' Up! really made a difference to my life!

I have also taken my Stampin' Up! supplies overseas and shared my love of crafting at a Children's Centre in Sri Lanka, as well as been involved in a number of charity events involving card making and other crafts.

In the coming weeks I will be embarking on my travels once more.  After quitting my job and renting out my house I will be heading off overseas again and hope to find opportunities along the way to volunteer and/or help local communities in some way.

At the end of last year I boxed up a lot of my craft stash and had a sale for charity in order to raise money to buy bits and pieces to take with me to donate to those in need, whilst on my travels.  You will be glad to hear that I have raised a small sum of money, but that there is also a reasonable amount of stuff left for which I would be happy to receive further donations for.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you would like to stop by at my home (GU16) and take a look. Or why not come along to my next demo (see details here) and grab some bargains, all donations will be greatly received.

I will of course keep you updated with details of the cause that I decide to donate to so keep checking back in the coming weeks :).

Stamp a stack class - Sat 2nd Feb at 10.30am

My next card making class will be on Saturday 2nd February at 10.30am, priced at £10 for 8 cards.

Stock up on cards for upcoming birthdays, anniversaries and other occasions.  Come along and make 8 quick cards for a variety of occasions, 2 each of 4 designs, all with Stampin' Up! products.

You will be provided with the materials and accessories to make these cards, although it is recommended that you bring your own adhesive, scissors and any other tools that you prefer to use.

This class is designed for those who have crafted before, as we will be completing the 8 cards fairly quickly. However if you are a beginner and would like to come and give it a try, it will be possible to make at least 1 of each design in the time available and stamp the remaining cards to take home to finish if needed.

Alternatively I can bring the class to you.  Tailored classes are also available.  Just gather a minimum of 4 people and we can hold the class in the comfort of your own home.

Please contact me at jadedcrafter@gmail.com to book you place or book a private class.  

Next Jaded Crafter demo - Sat 2nd Feb at 2pm

Some of you may already know that I will soon be off on my travels again very soon.  Therefore I have arranged for my next demo on Saturday 2nd February (at 2pm) to incorporate both the launch of the new Spring/Summer catalogue and the Stampin' Up! Sale-A-Bration event.

I will be hosting this event at my home (GU16) and there will be a FREE make and take project as well as a chance to look at the catalogue and some samples using the new products.

So, why not stop by and have a look at some of the new Stampin' Up! products on offer and also take advantage of the Sale-A-Bration 2013 event, where you will get the choice of limited edition stamp sets and other products for every £45 spend.

Tell your friends, book your place, it's FREE... just let me know as soon as you can so that I can make sure there are enough make and take projects available.

If you cannot make this event but would still like to give it a go I would be happy to send you the make and take project (pre stamped for you) for you to create in your own time - please just contact me at jadedcrafter@gmail.com.  I will also be happy to accept orders and can get them delivered directly to you for the flat UPS rate (£4.95) or alternatively combine with other orders that day for you to collect from me (GU16).

Hope to see you then x

It is Bloomin' Marvelous

As I shared with you yesterday, Sale-A-Bration (SAB) is now here... so just to clarify what this means for you...

***

As a CUSTOMER: For every £45 that you spend, you can choose a limited edition item for FREE.  As well as 11 different products which includes stamp sets, designer series papers, ribbon, buttons, an embossing folder, a punch and a card kit; there are also 6 products from the main catalogue available too!

That's the choice of limited edition products or: card stock, stamp sets, buttons, simply scored diagonal plate or the essential paper piercing pack...

As a HOSTESS: You get the same, as a buying customer, but in addition, if your party orders are £150, not only do you get the normal £25 of hostess pounds, but you will receive a FREE pack of Silver Glimmer paper too.  If your party order is £300 or more, then you'll also get a FREE product bundle which includes the Sycamore Street designer series paper, ribbon, buttons and the Madison Avenue stamp set too.

Check out the SAB leaflet here for full details or contact me today.

***

There is a lot to choose from, so I thought I'd share one of the stamp sets with you today.

I wanted to decorate my journal with something simple ahead of my upcoming travels so opted for the Bloomin' Marvelous stamp set which is available during the Sale-A-Bration event.  This has 4 image stamps and 4 sentiment stamps... Bloomin' Marvelous (lol!)...

Here's what I came up with; quick, simple and hopefully it will give my journal a longer life:

Waste not want not... I've used the brown paper that comes with the Stampin' Up! packaging :)!  I've then covered my journal with the paper and then embellished the front with images from the Bloomin' Marvelous stamp set.

Note the sentiment has been inked and stamped onto the Cotton Ribbon which is in the Autumn/Winter catalogue and onto which you can stamp directly.  The great news is that this product will continue in the Spring/Summer catalogue too.

I've carefully masked the flower image in order to place the leaves behind them... just restamp the image onto a post it and cut out and stick over the first image and then stamp the image you want to appear behind over the top.  Remove the post it afterwards - it is as easy as that!

So, if you want to get your hands on the lovely Bloomin' Marvelous stamp set now available during the Sale-A-Bration event, you can get it FREE with an order of £45 (excluding postage).  Check out the other limited edition products too.

I will be having a launch event for the new Spring/Summer catalogue and the Stampin' Up! Sale-A-Bration event on Saturday 2nd February at 2pm... more details on this tomorrow.

Sale-A-Bration 2013

Sale-A-Bration starts today!

This is Stampin' Up! biggest promotion of the year and runs through until 22nd March 2012.  Basically it means you can get FREE products :)!

For those of you that have not experienced Sale-A-Bration before here's what it's all about:

• For every £45 you spend on Stampin' Up! products (before shipping), you'll get a FREE Sale-A-Bration gift.
• There are stamp sets, a card kit, Designer Series Papers and more, you can even get card stock.

And don't forget if you place an order before the end of January you will be entered into my prize drawn to win the lovely Alphabet Occasions stamp set - see full details here.

Contact me before the end of the month to place your order and if you live near me (GU16) you can also save on postage (normally £4.95), as well as take advantage of the Sale-A-Bration offers for purchases of £45 :).

Chinese New Year is almost here

Chinese New Year starts on 10th February this year!  And for those born in 1928, 1941, 1953, 1965 or 1977 it is likely that you will too be celebrating the year of the Snake?

I had to find some alternative images for creating this years cards as snakes are not something that Stampin' Up! includes in any of it's stamp sets; not surprisingly as they are exactly cheery looking characters!

Here is one of the cards I came up with...

It's impossible not to use red and gold on a Chinese New Year card so of course I have opted for Real Red card stock for the background.  I've then embossed a strip of Gold Mirror card (non Stampin' up!) with the Square Lattice embossing folder and added this to the base before fixing the image, printed on Whisper White and cut out with one of the Labels Collection Framelits, with a co-ordinating border panel.

I still have a bit of time for commissions so if you would like to order any handmade Chinese New Year cards from me please get in touch at jadedcrafter@gmail.com.

Valentine offer reminder

Don't forget about the Sealed With Love Simply Sent kit that you can get FREE if you purchase the My Little Valentine stamp set before 21st January (Monday).  

Sealed With Love Simply Sent kit (normally £8.25)

Little Valentine stamp set £9.95

If you would like to take advantage of this offer or order any other products from either of the Stampin' Up! catalogue's, just contact me at jadedcrafter@gmail.com.  And don't forget I am offering you the chance to win my favourite stamp set when you place an order during the month of January :).  See further details here.

If you miss the above offer, you can still purchase the Sealed with Love Simply Sent kit for the normal RRP of £8.25 until the end of the month, along with any of the other products from the Autumn/Winter catalogue.

B is for...

...Baby of course!

And here is a cute little baby card made using the Alphabet Occasions stamp set that I am offering as a prize in my January draw, just place an order with me during the month of January to be in with a chance of winning (details here).  

The card is a Bashful Blue base, and I have adhered a panel of Very Vanilla which has been embossed with the Square Lattice embossing folder using the Big Shot machine.

The DSP is from the lovely Patio Party paper pack and then I have added the cute little baby from the Happy You stamp set (hostess only) without the sentiment and punched this out with the Curly Label Punch. The border was created from 2 Curly Label punch shapes cut form Bashful Blue card...

...finally a button from the Naturals Designer Buttons pack to finish, tied with linen thread.  I always like buttons on baby and cards for men, what do you think?

I would love to see some other ideas using my favourite Alphabet Occasions stamp set, there are so many choices for these lovely sentiments. I just love 'em!

Crafting fix

Hi all, sorry for the gap in posts recently.  I have been away in the US for a few weeks and only returned to the UK last week.  If you're interested do have a look at my travel site (here) to see what I got up to.

I wasn't able to take any of my Stampin' Up! stash with me to the States as it was a case of prioritising my clothes and Smash book first, plus to be honest I didn't expect to have time to make any cards.

However I was very excited to find that there was a crafter close by to share her card making skills with me and something I haven't tried before... parchment.  

Here is a bookmark that I made first:

And then I moved on to a card:

I'm wondering if it would be possible to incorporate Stampin' Up! stamps into parchment as I really enjoyed having a go at creating these delicate projects.  Thanks to Penny for introducing me to this...

I've got a few Stampin' Up! projects to share with you so do check back over the next few days.  In the meantime don't forget that I'm offering you the chance to win an Alphabet Occasions stamp set if you place an order with me during January.  Full details can be found here.

To place an order

Please scroll down for scheduled posts :).

If you would like to place an order for direct delivery, the normal UPS postage charge of £4.95 applies, please email me and I will have your products shipped to you as soon as possible.

Happy birthday Lee

Like me, my sister loves the colour purple... so for her birthday I of course had to include this on the card I made for her!

I've used a Wisteria Wonder base and coupled Rose Red and Perfect Plum along with Shimmery White card along with the Perfect Postage Stamp set.

I've also embossed the Rose Red Perfect Postage punched shapes and used Versamark ink and White embossing powder to add some variety to the card.

Happy Birthday Lee, I hope you have a great day :) x

Comfort Cafe bags

Have you seen the gorgeous Comfort Cafe suite of products in the main catalogue?  I couldn't resist asking my mum to create me some new bags with the fabrics and this is what she came up with:

Notice the little key fob in the first photo?  Mum has also used up the leftover scraps of other Stampin' Up! fabrics to create the heart shaped pockets on the front of these bags... 

Aren't these great!  If you would like to get your hands on some of these lovely fabrics just contact me in the usual way at jadedcrafter@gmail.com and order before the end of the month to be in with a chance of winning the stamp set that I am offering in my January draw.

Stampin' Up! Valentine offer

Between 3rd and 21st January Stampin' Up! are running the My Little Valentine promotion and a new stamp set:

The promotion means you can get the Sealed with Love Simply Sent Kit FREE—a 10,95 €/£8.25 value—when you purchase the brand-new My Little Valentine stamp set shown above.  This four-piece set was created exclusively for this promotion and will not be available again after 21 January!

The Simply Sent kit that you can get free for ordering the stamp set contains:
• 10 notecards, 5 each of 2 designs 8.6 x 11.6 cm
• 10 double-sided envelopes 12.1 x 8.7 cm
• 20 printed paper buttons
• 10 pieces Whisper White/Real Red bakers twine each 25.4 cm. (colour exclusive to this kit)

Plus 24 Stampin Dimensionals.

And don't forget that if you place an order with me before the end of the month you will be entered into a prize draw to win an Occasions Alphabet stamp set - check out the full details in yesterdays post here.  

January draw - win an Occasions Alphabet stamp set

One of my favourite stamp sets is the Occasions Alphabet set from the main catalogue.  It has 26 different stamps with little messages on for each of the letters of the alphabet.  I just love using this set for scrap booking as well as making cards - just check out the Occasions Alphabet label on the right hand side of my site for some of these ideas.

If you place an order before the end of January you will be entered into a draw to win this stamp set for yourself.  In addition, Sale-A-Bration starts on 22nd January, meaning for every £45 purchase you will receive an exclusive stamp set, and if you place your order with me, for each £45 spend you will get a extra entry into my January draw.

Contact me before the end of the month to place your order and if you live near me (GU16) you can also save on postage (normally £4.95), as well as take advantage of the Sale-A-Bration offers for purchases of £45 :).

New Year news

Happy New Year!

There is lots happening in the Stampin' Up! world in 2013 so here is what you need to know for the New Year:

22nd January - Sale-A-Bration starts.  This means that for every £45 you spend in the catalogues you will receive a free exclusive product from the Sale-A-Bration catalogue.  There will also be a special offer on the demonstrator starter kit during this time so maybe you would like to take advantage of this and stock up on your crafty stash for the New Year.

1st February - New Spring/Summer catalogue launched.   

Workshops - these are FREE and you will also get your own copy of the Stampin' Up! catalogues and hostess rewards if your party sales reach £150.  Why not get a group of friends together for a couple of hours of creativity.  See more details here.  I have a few dates available in January, so if you are local to me (GU16) contact me now to book your workshop/party.