Sign Up Now - Christmas Card Class 12th November 2011

Come and be a Crafty Bug at my Saturday morning card classes. 

Classes are held at my home from 10am - 1pm

Special Christmas Class - 10 for 10

12th November

Make 10 Christmas Cards and 10 Gift Tags for £10

(using Tags til Christmas / Welcome Christmas)

Here's a little sneaky peek of some of the cards and tags you could be making!

Advance booking is required - please contact me

07786266722

craftybugjules@yahoo.co.uk

All supplies, except glue, included in the price - please bring your own glue, both wet and dry, and anything else you cannot craft without.

If you would like to attend but the date / time are not suitable to you, please do let me know.  

If I have enough interest I will add additional dates and times for all classes, but I need to know that people are interested.

Alternatively I can bring the class to you!

Just gather a minimum of 5 people and we can hold the card class in the comfort of your own home.  The same pricing applies.

New Product Card Class - Forever Young

Hi everyone,

I have a five posts over the coming days to show you the cards we made at my last class.

I wanted to showcase some of the new products so used the Pennant Parade stamp set and Pennant Builder Punch, along with Forever Young, Parlour Prints, Button Buddies and the wonderful new Lace Border Punch.  Of course there were some of the new In Colours and DSP thrown in for good measure!

This first card is one I CAS'd as I simply loved it when I received one in an online swap.  It was designed by Michelle Bryant over at Michelles Crafty Paper

I kept with the same design and stamp set, but changed up the colours.  The one I received was made with Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black and Very Vanilla, I decided to go with a colour I hardly ever use - Cajun Craze, along with Basic Gray and Confetti Cream. 

It's a center step card, which once you have the measurements and a handle on the cutting and scoring, is actually really easy to create. 

The side panels were stamped with Parlour Prints in Basic Gray, using some scrap paper to mask off the surrounding areas.  Then the center panel was layered with Basic Gray and Confetti Cream and stamped with the tree image from Forever Young.  The sentiment is from Petite Pairs.

The beautiful border across the bottom is the new Lace Border Punch, and the medium sized Basic Rhinestones fit right in the centers.

I will definitely be picking up Cajun Craze again as I've fallen in love with it's warmth and depth :o)

Thanks for dropping by - check back for the other four cards during the week!

xxx

The Details: 

Card / Paper - Cajun Craze / Basic Gray / Confetti Cream

Stamps / Ink - Basic Gray / Forever Young / Parlour Prints / Petite Pairs

Embellishments - Basic Rhinestones

Tools - Lace Border Punch / Trimmer with scoring tool / Bone Folder / Tombow Glue / Stampin Scrub and Mist

Training Swaps

Hi All,

A few weeks ago I popped on down to Southampton to join in with the lovely Amanda Fowler's team training day.  There were lots of other demos there so I needed to make 33 swaps...........  I really needed something that was going to be quick to do, so I decided to use the new Two Tags Die and make magnetic bookmarks!!!!

I used three of the new In Colours - Island Indigo, Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder, and added Elegant Eggplant into the mix as well.
The butterfly image and the little flowers on the bookmark base are from Flight of the Butterfly.  The butterfly's were punched with the Butterfly Punch and added with glue dots, then Rhinestones made the body.  Inside I added strips of magnetic tape so that when placed over a page in a book they stick together and it won't fall out.

Maybe you could make some of these to give with any books that you buy for Christmas gifts this year! 

Here are all of them together - I even made a few extra so my mum and two of the girlies at work could have them :o) 

The Details:
Card / Paper - Wisteria Wonder / Pool Party / Whisper White
Stamps / Ink - Flight of the Butterfly / Elegant Eggplant / Island Indigo
Embellishments - Basic Rhinestones
Tools - Big Shot / Two Tags Die / Butterfly Punch / Glue Dots / Magnetic Tape (non-SU)

Baby Shower with Button Buddies

Oh my, oh my - has it really been nearly three weeks since my last post????  I'm not quite sure where the days have gone to..............

I have had card classes, workshops, and even done a craft session for a local youth centre, so my time has been taken up with prep work along with doing the Mon to Fri 9-5...............

I intend to remedy the situation now as I am posting all of recent creations for you to peruse over the coming days.  I hope you enjoy them xxxx

This is a card I made for my friends Jenny and Richard.  They are expecting their first baby, a little girl, in November, and this past Saturday was the baby shower.  Now I have been to a few baby showers before, but this one really was the best fun.  Jenny's friend Kelly had arranged it all, providing afternoon tea with scones, clotted cream and jam, plus biscuits, cakes and drinks..........  Plus she's arranged for lots of games, a pass the parcel, nursery rhyme quiz and one where you had to feel all these items in a bag and try and guess what they all were.  It was fab!!!!

Anyhow, I made a card for Jenny using the new Button Buddies stamp set, and jumped at the chance to use the "For Your Shower" stamp from Teeny Tiny Wishes!!!!

The base is Rose Red, with a layer of Whisper White that had been run through the Big Shot with the Lattice Square Embossing Folder. 
The circle layers were cut from the Circles # 2 Die and also the 1 3/4" Circle Punch.  The rattle images was inked in Rose Red and topped off with a Pretty in Pink Designer Button to add some contrast.
The sentiment was punched with the Word Window punch and the layer of Rose Red with the Modern Label punch.  I added some of the gorgeous Mini Brads to either end and popped it onto the card with Dimensionals.

I love the Button Buddies set, it really is fab for some quick card makes.  I have used it for some cards in my recent class, so watch out for those on my blog in the next few days.

The Details:
Card / Paper - Rose Red / Whisper White
Stamps / Ink - Button Buddies / Teeny Tiny Wishes / Rose Red Ink
Embellishments - Mini Brads / Designer Button
Tools - Big Shot / Circles # 2 Die / Square Lattice Embossing Folder / Word Window Punch / Modern Label Punch / Dimensionals

Shine a Light..............

Hello,

I have been having so much fun recently making lots of candle gifts.  Most were for show at my catalogue launch party, but I did a couple of different ones (stupidly didn't take pictures!) for a couple of lovely girlies at work.  They loved them............

First I decided to make some gift boxes to pretty up basic tea lights.

These boxes, once I got the dimensions right, were quick and easy to assemble.  You could make them from any colour card stock and with so many different packs of Designer Series Paper, the options are endless.

I used Pretty in Pink and Wisteria Wonder card for one, with Flirtatious DSP and the sentiment, inked in Wisteria Wonder on Whisper White card, from the Oval All stamp set.  This was mounted on a Scallop Oval of Wisteria Wonder.  The 1/2" Circle Punch was used to punch the end tabs to enable you to pull the tea lights out.

The other box was made with Real Real and Wild Wasabi card, with DSP from the Just Add Cake pack.  I used the ornament image from Tags til Christmas stamp set, inked in Real red and punched out with the Ornament Punch.  This was tied to the box using Linen Thread.

I then moved on to stamping directly on candles.  I thought this was going to be quite tough and time consuming, but I was so wrong!  This is the most simple thing ever, and really quick too.

I got plain white pillar candles, some tissue paper that matched the white candles, and then basic grease proof paper from the kitchen drawer.

It's best to use bright, vibrant colours, and solid images for this technique as they show up best.

Stamp your image onto the tissue paper and then roughly cut around the edge, don't leave too much excess.

Lay this onto the candle where you want it, and then wrap a piece of grease proof paper around the candle so you can grab the ends and wrap it tight.

Use a heat gun and go over the image that you can see through the grease proof paper.  As it sticks to the candle you will notice the image take on a glassy appearance (you will notice a change).  Once it's changed all over it should be done.  Gently peel back the grease proof paper and your image should have melted into the candle!  If an area is still loose, just re-heat gently a second time.

With this candle, after stamping the image, I embellished using Clear Rhinestone Brads of varying sizes to match the flower sizes.

It was stamped all round, about 6 images in total, but here you can just see two. The Island Indigo worked brilliantly.

I then went to town and tried it with other colours, did a bit of rock n roll technique with the butterfly's, and even some masking with the hearts images.

As you can see, the Delicate Doilies images don't stand out quite as well.  The images are quite delicate, as the name suggests, and I also used lighter colours with Calypso Coral and Pool Party.

The tall pillar candle with the I (Heart) Hearts images, was inked in Real Red, Poppy Parade and Cherry Cobbler. The butterfly images from Butterfly Prints was inked in Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry.

Don't you think these would make great, inexpensive, gifts for friends and family this Christmas????

Why not give it a try and let me know how you get on, or even better, send me a picture of your gorgeous candles to craftybugjules@yahoo.co.uk

Just be safe with those heat guns!

Julie xx

Flower Power

Hi Everyone,

Do you ever get fed-up of flowers that you buy, to brighten your home, fading away?  I know I do............

So I decided to create some flowers that will last so much longer!

Using the Flower Daisies # 2 Die and the Big Shot I was able to create these lovely, bright and refreshing Gerberra.  They are one of may favourite flowers, and now I never have to worry about them drooping on me!

I used the Big Shot and Die to cut out two of each size flower to create one flower.  I did this twice over in Rich Razzleberry and again in Melon Mambo!  Love those brights........... and the smallest flower was cut in Daffodil Delight.

I sponge daubed all of the petals to give it a bit more dimension, and then used a piece of Fimo baked in the oven to mount them onto.  This was then glued onto a garden stake bought from Robert Dyas.

I cut the stakes to different lengths before popping them into a tall vase.  They will stay bright and stand tall, and they never need water!  Get and make some to brighten your living room :o)

I hope this helps to inspire you to use your Stampin' Up! products to make something other than a card. 

Julie xx

A Kaleidoscope of Butterflys...............

I have another item to share with you that I made for my launch party on 1st October.

Today it's my Stampin' Up! colour sampler.  A group of butterfly's really is called a Kaleidoscope, which to me seems so fitting.  They are also know as a Swarm (sounds more like wasps!) or a Rabble (I have an image of lots of chatty women)............

There are so many colours that I really wanted a way to show them off.

I used a 12" shadow box frame so that I could pop the butterfly's up on Dimensionals and fold some of the wings out to make it pop out of the frame.

Sorry about the photos, there is a bit of reflection going on.

I used the Beautiful Wings Embosslit with my Big Shot to get lots of variation in shapes and sizes of butterfly, and I embellished with Basic Rhinestones and Dazzling Diamonds on a selection of them.  

I tried to create a nice rainbow effect going across the base which is Textured Whisper White and Bashful Blue.  It seemed to me a bit like sky!

There are so many colours to choose from.  Which is your favourite?  Leave me a comment to let me know!

Julie xx

Catty Launch Display Creations

I set to work a few weeks ago making a whole host of paper crafting items to showcase everything you can do with the wonderful Stampin' Up1 products.

These butterfly pegs were based on a swap I received at Regional Training in September.  I modified them slightly by getting smaller pegs as I thought they would make great memo board clips.  You can't see, but I also added a small round magnet on the back to they will stick to a fridge.

I stamped the Parlour Prints background stamp onto Whisper White in Island Indigo, Perfect Plum and Old Olive, then cut to the size of the peg so I could cover the front and back.

I then stamped the circular image from the new stamp set called Delicate Doilies in each colour and punched out the centre section with a 1 3/8" Circle Punch.  This was mounted onto the peg and topped with a butterfly created using the Beautiful Wings Embosslit and Big Shot.

I used a 2-Way Glue Pen to add some Dazzling Diamonds to the embossed area.  I love a touch of sparkle!

These will now be adorning my notice board to keep all of my letter and reminders in place :o)

I decided I also wanted to show off the lovely new Designer Series Papers, so I covered some notebooks.

The bottom notebook is covered with one of the patterns from the Timeless Portrait pack.  This is the gorgeous new In Colour - Island Indigo and Very Vanilla.  There are 11 other patterns in this set and all of them have a vintage feel.  The other colours used in the pack are River Rock, Basic Black and Cherry Cobbler.  It is part of the Timeless Portrait Suite that includes a stamp set and fabric!

The middle notebook is covered with one of the pattern papers from Just Add Cake.  It such a versatile DSP pack which uses eight different Stampin' Up! colours.

The top notebook is covered in DSP from a pack called Cheerful Treat.  This is a pack you can only get as a hostess.  The new Hostess Pounds really allow you to get much more of what you want for FREE.  The hostess pounds come into effect with a workshop total, or individual order, of £150.  You get £25 hostess pounds for this size workshop or order, and this pack of DSP is only £8 hostess pounds, so you would still have £17 to spend on other goodies!  How great is that?

I did line the inside of the cover with a co-ordinating piece of card to cover the folds and stuck down edges, but forgot to take a photo of that.

These are really quick to make and would be brilliant in different sizes to add in as stocking gifts this Christmas.

Launch Party Make and Take 2

Hi,

Time for my second make and take from the weekend!

I was still thinking about Christmas and how often a bottle of wine (or any alcohol) makes a good gift for co-workers or neighbours.  So I decided to make a bottle git tag, though when I made this one I went with nice bright colours to suit the weather at the time.

It also showcases one of the gorgeous new In Colours - Calypso Coral!!!!!  

I cut the base from Calypso Coral wide enough to allow for the Scallop Circle Punch opening to hang over the bottle top.  The scallop is Baja Breeze.

The next layer is also Baja Breeze, and although you can't really see it in the picture, it's a folder tab to write a greeting inside.

This was simply glued onto the Calypso Coral base.

The flowers are Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral and Daffodil Delight DSP Stack.  I have run them through the Big Shot with the Fun Flowers Die, and then added a 1/2" Circle and a flower punched from one of the Itty Bitty Punch Pack.  All secured with a brad, which means you can then move the layers about to get them how you like.  I used Red Stocky Strip to secure the flowers to the Baja Breeze layer as it really doesn't budge, and any other glue wouldn't hold as well due to the brad fastening added some bulk.

I loved this quick and simple project and so did all the crafty gals at my open house.

Now who to give that wine too????  Maybe a present for myself :o)

Launch Party Make and Take 1

My goodness the weekend went by so fast!

Gorgeous sunshine, my other half returned home from a business trip and I'd missed him loads, lots of lovely ladies came for my open house catty launch event, I spent time with my mum, plus a pub lunch with my best mate...........  A brilliant weekend!

I had organised two make and take projects for my catty launch event.  Today I'm showing you the first one.

I went with a Christmas theme, which seemed silly on the day given the 28 degree heat outside!

I used one of the gorgeous new In Colours - Lucky Limeade, along with Chocolate Chip and Cherry Cobbler.  A perfect combo for Christmas cards.

The Cherry Cobbler layer was embossed using the Lattice Square Embossing Folder and Big Shot.  It gives a lovely quilted effect.  The ribbon on the side is the wonderful new 1/2" Scallop Dots Ribbon in Chocolate Chip.  I used the new Pennant Parade stamp set and Petite Pennants Builder Punch.  This is a fabulous stamp set with lots of sentiments that fit inside the pennant shapes, there's one that looks like a waffle cone for ice-cream, this little tree and then a plain and scallop pennant for bunting.........  So many ideas going round in my head!

I stamped the tree in Lucky Limeade and the pot image in Cherry Cobbler and Chocolate Chip.  I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to line them up nicely and then punched them out with the Large Oval Punch.  I added a second tree image on top with Dimensionals.

The sentiment is from Curly Cute stamp set inked in Lucky Limeade again.

This card is nice and simple, and would be great to make in batches for Christmas time.

I will show you the other make and take project later in the week, so check back for that, or sign up for email alerts or follow me for updates :o)

Have a good Monday!

The Details: 

Card / Paper - Lucky Limeade / Chocolate Chip / Cherry Cobbler / Whisper White

Stamps / Ink - Pennant Parade / Curly Cute / Cherry Cobbler Marker / Chocolate Chip Marker / Lucky Limeade

Embellishments - 1/2" Scallop Dots Ribbon

Tools - Big Shot / Square Lattice Embossing Folder / Dimensionals / Sticky Strip / Tombow / Trimmer / Stampin Scrub and Mist / Stamp-a-ma-jig / Petite Pennants Builder Punch / Extra Large Oval Punch / Paper Snips

New Catalogue Blog Hop

Wowsers!  What a day I had yesterday - after weeks of preparations and then two evenings spent setting up the lounge and conservatory, the launch party finally arrived!

I had a fabulous day with lots of lovely ladies popping in the check out the new catalogue and take part in two projects :o)  I hope a fun time was had by all, it was certainly fun for me.

Over the coming days and weeks I will be sharing with you projects from the launch party, plus other crafty creations I made for the event!

But today - it's New Catty Blog Hop time...............  If you arrived here from Maggie's blog, then I hope you loved all she had to share with you.  There are 37 hops on this blog in total.  Hopefully all of the links will be working so you can get round in one big circle, but if you get stuck along the way there is a full list of all participants blogs at the bottom of this entry :o)

This first card was made for a new catty online swap.  I went with the Posy Punch stamp set which is a new hostess set, and simply gorgeous.  I teamed it up with one of the new In Colors called Lucky Limeade, which is just luscious............  and we also have a staring role for the new Lace Ribbon Border Punch.  This punch is brilliant, with so many elements to it.  I went with weaving 1/8" Daffodil Delight Taffeta Ribbon through the centre, the cutouts in the flowers are the perfect size for this ribbon.

I made 10 of these to send out for the swap, and I got some brilliant cards back which look great on my sample boards.

The second new catalogue item to show you isn't a card.  I made these for the Regional Training I attended recently.  They are Mini Post-It Keyrings - perfect for making notes and reminders!

I went with a Christmas theme and used a new stamp set called Tags til Christmas.  All of the stamps in this set work perfectly with a whole range of the Stampin' Up! punches.  They will make your Christmas wrapping so much easier!

This is a picture of the 45 key rings I made - and it didn't take that long, about 4 hours (and I was watching tv and being distracted at the same time!)

Here's a close up!  I just loved this sentiment................

I went with Real Red card stock and ink, and then Old Olive for the Scallop Square punched piece.  Finished off with a book ring and tied with 1/8" Real Red Taffeta Ribbon

My last item to share with you today uses the wonderful and fabulous NEW Designer Fabric that Stampin' Up! have added to this years catalogue.  There are five different packs and each comes with three designs of fabric.  I have used Timeless Portrait which has the colours Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla.  

Having been to a recent team training event I have seen that there are so many things you can do with the fabric which don't even involve picking up a needle and thread, so please, if you are not a sewer, don't be scared of the fabric!

I have used it in my Big Shot with the Fun Flowers Die to cut layers of flowers in the three different designs.  I have then layered them up and stitched them together (though you could hot glue them!), added a Designer Button and a fastening to make a gorgeous brooch.

I made 18 of these for yet another training event (it's a busy time of year!), and they went down really well.  I found it made a nice change to move away from making a card and doing something a bit different.  It inspired me and got me thinking about all sorts of other things I could do with Stampin' Up! products..............  

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I really hope you have enjoyed seeing the things I have been creating with some of the NEW products for 2011-2012.........  If you like what you see then sign up to follow me and you will be notified whenever I post something new.

From here you can head on over to Elizabeth's lovely blog.  She is simply fabulous so will have some wonderful things to wow you :o)

Enjoy the Blog Hop and your sunny Sunday

Julie xxx

1. Lauralou http://airingcupboardstamping.blogspot.com/
2 AlisonP www.craftyalisoninlyon.blogspot.com
3 Glittermum http://www.mygroovystampinup.blogspot.com/
4. Theresa M http://my-next-chapter.blogspot.com/
5. SarahLP http://stampingobsession.com/
6. Sassy Stamper (Elaine) http://www.thesassystampers.blogspot.com/
7. Sarastamper (http://craftingandstamping.com)
8. JJ66 http://jan-crippin.blogspot.com/
9. Evy c http://evyscraftycreations.blogspot.com/
10. DonnaM http://www.head-over-heels-by-dlm.blogspot.com/
11. Scrappydiva http://www.stampin-divas.blogspot.com/
12. Natalie http://www.natalieoshea.co.uk/blog.html
13.Dawn http://www.tartanstamper.blogspot.com/
14. Vicky www.vickylouscorner.blogspot.com
15. Maggie (maggiemae) http://thefineartofstampin.blogspot.com/
16. Julie H (The Crafty Bug) http://www.the-crafty-bug.blogspot.com
17. Elizabeth (Stash Fairy) http://elizabethscraftroom.blogspot.com/
18. Michelle (ShellieStamps) http://michellescraftypaper.typepad.com/
19. Keren. http://www.kerenbaker.wordpress.com
20. Emma (Daisydaye) http://emma-daye.blogspot.com/
21. Rachel (Rachel) http://www.stampingurl.blogspot.co.uk
22. Valerie (valmoody) http://stampingwithval.wordpress
23. Kara (KaraM) http://karascraftycorner.blogspot.com/
24. Sarah (IOW Sarah http://www.stampinsarahiow.blogspot.com/
25. Tracey Rossos http://www.derbyshireducks.blogspot.com/
26. Patricia (Beckscraft) http://stampinbeckscraft.blogspot.com/
27. Sarah-Jane http://cardsandacuppa.blogspot.com/
28. Claire http://stampinupscrapper.blogspot.com/
29. Cupcake http://pinkycardsandcreations.blogspot.com/
30. Kimf http://kimfeecrafter.blogspot.com/
31. carolineskinner http://stampinupandbranchingout.blogspot.com/
32. Emma_H http://www.emma-letsstamp.blogspot.com/
33. Sally - Pink Sky. x http://pinkskysu.blogspot.com/
34. Carolyn http://stampaholix.blogspot.com/
35. Tina http://littlewhitehousecrafts.blogspot.com
36. Hayley (craftydevils) www.mycrafthaven.blogspot.com
37. allyf - http://serendipitypapercuts.blogspot.com

Exciting New Stampin Up Year Begins!!!!

Wow, it's finally 1st October and the arrival of the NEW Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalogue.

You can download a pdf version HERE

And a new month also means a new promotion, and this months it's a great time to sign up as a demo!

Check out the details HERE

I'm hosting my first every Catalogue Launch Open House Event today!  I'm so excited, and my home now looks like Stampin' Up! has just taken over.  I have make and take stations, competition areas, samples to view, loads of 3D projects I have been working on...........  it's been a hectic few weeks!

If you live anywhere in the Basingstoke or surrounding areas, then pop along anytime between 10am and 4pm. Check out the Launch Party page!

I have loads of projects and new products to share with you over the coming weeks, so pop back and see what I have been up to!

Tomorrow there is a huge New Catty Blog Hop going on from 10am so make sure you check it out.

Have a great weekend, and maybe I will see some of you later on :o)