Hostess sets only available until September

I'm off to see Van Morrison tonight... so just a morning of finishing up my workload before a 2 week break, a BBQ (if the weather holds off) and then a trip to Newmarket races!

For those of you that don't know already, the new Stampin' Up! main catalogue will be released on 1st October.  That does seem like quite some time, but during September the retiring products will be available for the last time, and that includes the Hostess only sets which are at the front on the current catalogue (pages 8 to 12).

You can only get your hands on these products if you host a party and your sales are over £150, but that doesn't mean you actually have to have a party as such, you can just share your catalogue with your friends and collect orders that way... contact me today to find out more.

Today I have a card to share with you that uses the Ain't Love Grand stamp set available with hostess pounds.  This set has some really lovely stamps which can be used for a variety of occasions.

For this card I have created a card base from Regal Rose card stock which I have folded back on itself and then placed the image panel on the fold.  A simple fold that makes a big difference to a card.

To create the balloon I stamped directly onto patterned papers from the Brights Collection DSP pack and then cut out the panels and adhered these onto the balloon image stamped onto Whisper White card.  I then coloured in the basket and hearts using Stampin' Write markers.  Note that instead of the sentiment that comes with the image I have not inked this and instead used a sentiment from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.  It's easy to select parts of an image when using the markers rather than ink pads, and gives more used for a single stamp.

To finish the card I have added strips of DSP punched with the Scallop Trim Border punch and a few hearts punched using the owl punch.

Missing you on Valentines Day... and every day

Well Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

Valentines comes a close second to Christmas on my occasions calendar as sadly it’s that time of year when those who are not here are on my mind slightly more than normal L.  So today I have my very last Valentines card for 2012 to share with you ...



It's made using one of the stamps from the Ain’t Love Grand stamp set (hostess pounds only), I have teamed Pink Piroutte with Chocolate Chip... so it would work for a male or a female really.

I have punched out 3 hearts using the bird punch and then run these and the pink central panel through the Square Lattice embossing folder and then adhered these to the Chocolate Chip base panel.

The image has been inked on Whisper White card stock and coloured with blender pens using markers and then mounted onto a piece of DSP from the ‘Brights’ paper pack and then mounted on a further piece of Chocolate Chip card stock.

The sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set and punched with the Word Window punch. 

The great thing about this card is that the image can be inked so that the banner is blank and you can either insert a sentiment (quite a few of the Teeny Tiny Wishes fit) or hand write your own.



Valentines balloon for him or her

Just back from Cambridge... and realised my scheduled post didn't work this morning.  So...

Today's Valentines offering would work for a male or a female and is a take on one I posted earlier this week (see here).  It uses the Aint Love Grand stamp set which is available with hostess pounds if you hold a workshop - check out details on my Home Parties page.

I've stamped the image onto DSP and cut out the sections of the balloon and then stuck them onto the image stamped on the Whisper White panel then the rest of the image has been coloured with markers using blender pens.

Materials:

Designer Stack Paper (DSP) - Brights - 'Real Red' and 'Regal Rose' striped and dotty;

Scalloped border punch;

Square Lattice embossing folder - for the white strip across the middle which has been punched with the border punch;

Sentiment - Teeny Tiny Wishes;

Hearts - using the heart die from the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet set and also run through the square lattice embossing folder.

And another challenge entry to the Dream Valley Challenge - 'Valentine'

Valentines countdown

Ooh I've had an eventful last couple of days.  After getting stranded in the snow on Sunday night and having to be rescued by the AA (and the police!) I finally got to Cambridge in the early hours and then yesterday I had allsorts of trouble getting the keys and access to my new house!

Finally I have managed to move in and get some bedding and a few bits to make it feel a bit more like home... however with no internet and almost no phone signal there I am now frantically trying to blog before I get stuck into today's workload... it's going to be a very long week!

So, as promised here is the first Valentines card to share with you.  I will be posting Valentines ideas daily until the 14th so if you don't like this time of year, close your eyes (maybe?)?



The card base is Basic Black and I have teamed this with Real Red and Whisper White ... I was asked to make this card, featuring a Mole for someone's other half - something to do with a nickname, but I didn't ask anymore :).

Materials:

Designer Stack Paper (DSP) - Brights - 'Real Red' striped;

Scalloped border punch;

Square Lattice embossing folder - for the white strip across the middle which has been punched with the border punch;

Perfect Postage punch - I've cut into the punched shape to create a smaller sentiment panel and stuck this on with dimensional sticky pads;

Sentiments - Teeny Tiny Wishes and Aint Love Grand (hostess only);

Hearts - using the heart die from the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet set and also run through the square lattice embossing folder.

I hope Mole likes it ...