Greenhouse Garden

I just can't believe how fast this year has flown! When I started this blog I was going to try and post something once a week......having failed dismally at that I think I need to make it a New Years resolution to try harder ;-) I know it might be a little early for making New Years resolutions but with only 4 weeks to Christmas it'll be here before we know it!! As per usual I expect my sister has already done all her Christmas shopping and wrapped everything up.....me on the other hand, well I'm normally still racing round to get bits and pieces done on Christmas Eve :-) I figure I have to be organised at work so I can't be organised at home too! That's my excuse anyway!

So, this is the notecard holder we made at my event on 5th November. The holder itself was inspired by one made by the very talented Jenny Moors, who makes the most amazing stuff and is an extremely talented lady.

For the decoration on the front and back cover I used the Greenhouse Garden stamp set, which I stamped in Rich Razzleberry and Pumpkin Pie. I also used the music notes standard wheel in So Saffron to create a little more interest to the background. Sorry the picture isn't great...I'm working on my photography skills, but I think you can get the general idea!

Thank you

Just a quick post to thank all the lovely ladies who came to my workshop at Blunden Hall in Farnborough yesterday - thank you all so much for your positive feedback, I really appreciate it. A special thank you also to Doreen for making all the teas and coffees and doing the tidying up once everyone had left - I couldn't do it without you, you're an absolute angel!

 

Will be back soon with some photos of the projects we made.

Simple and Elegant

Another of the cards we made at Southwood Golf Club. This one is very simple and uses some of the Stampin' Up! punches which fit together so well.

I'll be holding another event at Blunden Hall on 5th November 2011 from 1pm - 5.30pm, where we'll be making some last minute Christmas card and gift ideas. If you'd like to join us then please contact me as spaces are filling up already. I'll post more details very soon.

Cutie

After creating a smaller layout using Circle Circus I had a little play with working on a 12" x 12", which I have to say is the size I prefer to work with. I'm not totally convinced I did it justice and may revisit this set a little later in the year. I have to say special thanks to a friend for the gorgeous photo of her grandson which she kindly let me use. He really is a cutie.

Skill

This has to be one of the quickest layouts I've ever done and was a total CASE of one my friend Debby was doing whilst sat next to me at our monthly crop. 
If you live in the Mytchett area and fancy coming along to join us you're more than welcome. Our next crop is tomorrow and you can find us in the community centre.

I will be holding an afternoon of Stampin' Up! crafting on 5th November 2011, 1pm - 5.30pm at Blunden Hall in Farnborough. The cost is £20 and for this you'll be making some Christmas card and gift ideas, have a free entry into a raffle prize draw and light refreshments also included. If you'd like to know more about this then please just contact me for details.

Circle Circus 8 x 8

What's happened to our summer!!! I've finally got a few days off work and had hoped to have some sunny days out - I should have known better than to plan it round a bank holiday ;-)

Here's an 8" x 8" layout using the verstaile Circle Circus stamp set. Colour combo of real read, baja breeze and basic black.

 

Not long now until the new 2011 - 2012 Idea Book and Catalogue launches - which also means the last chance list is on it's way! The last chance list is a list of all the items that will be retiring from our current catalogue and won't carry over into the new catalogue. The list will be available on 1st September and works on a first come first served basis, so if you've had your eye on a particular stamp set and see it on the list grab it while you can, as it won't be available to purchase again after 30th September.
If you would like to pre-order a 2011 - 2012 catalogue please email me with your details.

Butterflies

Here is the first of the three cards we made at Southwood Golf Club. When I made the original sample I used the En Francais background stamp over the whole card base, but after a little tinkering this ended up as the final result. I used a lot of the Stampin' Up! punches to showcase how well they all work together - along with three of the embossing folders.
The colours are Old Olive, Baja Breeze, Basic Black and Soft Suede on Very Vanilla.

Then, just to show it in a different colourway, this time using Real Red, Baja Breeze and Basic Black on Whisper White.

Those Eyes

I finally made it to Debby's for a lesson in photo editing and loading to blogger - all I need to do now is start creating enough things to publish posts a bit more frequently......would be easy if work didn't keep getting in the way, but as it pays the bills I won't complain too much.
Turns out that Debby also had a lesson during the photo editing - one that I'm sure she'll be keen not to repeat.... let's just say it's far too easy to delete 20 mins worth of work in the blink of an eye (or click of a mouse!), and realise a split second too late just what you've done ;-)

I know I said I needed to get away from one photo layouts, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow!
The colour combination here is Early Espresso, Baja Breeze and Pear Pizazz, used with the DSP Greenhouse Gala, and as I'm typing this I've realised that the Y in 'eyes' is the wrong way round....doh! Oh well, as I said...sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

First Demo Swap

Well, it was a very busy night at Southwood Golf Club last Friday, but it was a really nice evening, and I have to say a special thank you to Doreen my lovely hostess and helper for the evening, and Blossom for laying on a wonderful spread which everyone thoroughly enjoyed tucking into after working so hard completing their cards. ;-)

I hope to have photo's to show you very soon.....after a visit to my other lovely helping hand for another blogging lesson!

In the meantime, this is a very clean and simple card using the Pocket Silhouttes stamp set and one I used as my first ever swap with other demos.

Southwood Golf Club Card Making

This is one of the cards we will be making (with a little tweak!) at the Southwood Golf Club in Farnborough on Friday 29th July 2011.
The cost is £10 and for that you will get kit contents to make 3 different cards, along with instructions on how to make each one.
The evening will run from 7pm until 9.30pm with light refreshments and cake included in the price. I always like people to relax and enjoy themselves, so there is no pressure or stress to get things done quickly, you can go at your own pace and I'll be on hand to help you make the most of the Stampin! Up products you'll be using to create your own little masterpieces.

If you live in the area and would like to come along then please email or call me to book a place. Bookings close this Friday (22nd July).

Einstein

I really must get away from 1 photo layouts! I do do multi photo layouts - honest :) This layout is of my son a few years ago with one of his pet ferrets - Einstein! This is quite a simple layout using plain cardstock in Garden Green, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Whisper White and Basic Black.
I like the photo to be the main focus of my page, and using plain cardstock very simply allows the photo to stand out, on closer inspection you then hopefully start to notice the other detail going on around it.

Thanks for visiting and please do feel free to leave me a comment. I'll have some more cards to share with you shortly, so I hope you'll come back very soon.

DSP Elegant Soiree - Hever Castle

Back to my favourite DSP from the current catalogue - Elegant Soiree. I love the muted colours in this set. I've raised my photo on dimensionals and left an opening on the right hand side, so that I can tuck in some hidden journalling.

I've just had a madly busy 2 weeks at work and so had planned to have a nice relaxing weekend doing nothing, but that plan went out the window when a friend emailed to ask if I could make 40 house warming invitations for her....to be sent out this week! That took care of my whole day yesterday, but I'm very pleased with the final result and I'm hoping when she collects them she likes them as much as I do.

Take That were fab on Friday night - they certainly know how to put on a show. I'm rubbish at taking photos, so didn't even bother to try and get any after my first attempt resulted in the back of a bald head....not belonging to any members of Take That I hasten to add! I'm hoping my sister will share some of hers with me.

Back soon with details of the 29th July at Southwood Golf Club.

My Favourite Colours

Whilst trying to decide on what I would do for my first full day event, I started off with this colour combination of old olive and tempting turquoise- a completely different colour scheme to the one I ended up using! To be honest, these colours are much more within my comfort zone, but as I was going to create a scrapbook page as well I couldn't make everything the same colour!!

I'm going to be doing a mini event which is being hosted by a very dear friend on the evening of Friday 29th July, so if you live in the Farnborough area and might like to attend please contact me. More details to follow soon!

Card Swaps

As a demonstrator I get to attend training events, which are a great source of inspiration. Although there is no pressure to do so, we are encouraged to participate in ‘swaps’. I find this element of the events very inspiring and useful, and as everyone has their own unique style I love that when you receive a swap you are more often than not provided with something you hadn’t thought of before.…  or see a different way to use something.

These are a couple of the cards I’ve created and given as swaps at training events. The first, which I also used for a ‘make and take’ is using the stamp set Pocket Silhouettes. The second is using one of my favourite sets Vintage Vogue, plus some of the Stampin’ Up! punches.

I hope you like them!

Circle Circus

Well....after finally being encouraged by my very talented friend Debby to create this blog, I had hoped to be able to post a bit more often than once a week, but work and life rush by so fast I'm even having issues managing that! I keep being told it's an age thing.... don't you just love it when people tell you that! LOL
I had a lovely day at Mj's crop at Thatcham yesterday. I had previously been asked by Mj if I would be happy to do a class, which in all honesty was a bit nerve wracking, as all the ladies who attend this crop have been crafting for quite some time and produce some beautiful work. I love to walk round and gain inspiration there - there's always something new to see and be inspired by.

This is the layout the ladies followed. Originally I created this page after teaching another group of ladies how to make the tagbook at the bottom of the page, and wanting to show how minibooks can be incorporated onto a page, as well as being a standalone project. I've used the DSP Love Letters papers and the stamp set Circle Circus as well as a bit of bling, which unfortunately you can't see too well - but I'm sure you get the general idea.

Thank you to all for the lovely comments left for previous posts, they're very much appreciated.

Elegant Soiree DSP

Just a quick post today, as I'm way behind on my washing and tidying up after a lovely day out with friends yesterday. Why is it weekends always seem to be over almost before they actually start... or is it just me ;-)
For this very simple page I've used the Elegant Soiree DSP cut into 1.5" squares and made into a patchwork effect background, on top of which I've matted and layered a 7" x 5" photo, finishing the page off with a flower and some stitching.

Beautiful Butterflies

I thought I'd share where I got the original idea for the cards I created for my event. I have to say that I'm a scrapbooker first and a cardmaker second, so I suppose it makes sense that I'd create a page and then find an element on it that I could transfer onto a card - rather than the other way round!

I started out looking at a PageMaps sketch, and then as is usual with me I sort of went off on a tangent! After attending Regional Training in Fareham back in February I had some samples I'd managed to get using the Big Shot and two of the new exclusive Stampin' Up! dies, but I only had the samples in Real Red, (no prizes for guessing what they were!) so the colours are not my usual choice, but I was really pleased with the final result.

First Event Makes

OK, so I'm now flying solo (well sort of!) with this blogging lark. I say sort of because my lovely friend Debby kindly photographed and edited my pictures for me - oh yes, as well as saving them in draft format for me, as my blogging lesson had to be cut slightly short due to the fact we ended up talking for far too long!

These are the cards and scrapbook page that I made for my first full day event. The ladies who came on the day did a fantastic job making theirs, and we had some lovely variations going on, which is after all what it's all about - take the initial design and either copy or put your own 'stamp' on it. I hope you like them.

First Full Day Event

My friends have finally persuaded me to enter the world of blogging! This is a big step for me as I'm not even on facebook - maybe one day I'll make that leap too, but for now one thing at a time is more than enough to cope with!

I recently had my first full day event, which turned out to be a lovely, relaxing and creative day for everyone. We also had an unexpected visitor who certainly made us all sit up and take notice. The girls thought I'd laid on a little added extra and were slightly disappointed when it turned out he really was from the local constabulary and had just popped in to say hi!

As everyone had such a nice time they've persuaded me to have another event in October.