Almost new catalogue time....

Morning all,

It's down to hours now until the new catalogue goes live.....but that also means it's your very last chance to get some of the retiring items too !

Today's card mixes the new with the old. I have used two of the new In Colours, Tranquil Tide and Fresh Fig and a new Happy Birthday die ( think this will be very popular) but paired it with the So Succulent stamps. These stamps are perfect fo backgrounds and are reduced to £15.20 - but if you want them you've only got until this evening !

Lots of my customers have been contacting me with their wish lists - now I just need to find time to go and write mine lol !

Julie x

Our Anniversary

Morning all,

I've had a VERY busy crafting weekend but more about that later in the week.

Today's card is one I made for Hubby as we celebrated our 20th Wedding Anniversary on Wednesday....

Sorry no time to chat today, I have some special cards to write...Enjoy the Bank Holiday

Julie x

Weather Together

Yes, Friday , so nearly the weekend and a Bank Holiday weekend too !

Let's hope we get some nice weather - I have a very important list to finalise 😉 and would love to sit out in the sunshine while I write it . Let's hope I don't need the umbrella featured in today's card.

Weather together is another bundle that is worth buying now as you will only be able to get the items separately in the new catalogue......

The sentiment is from Birthday Blossoms which is a lovely set too .

Enjoy the weekend and may all your umbrellas be crafty ones lol !

Julie x

Jar of Love

Morning all, got to be quick as just getting ready for today's classes and I have a treat for my ladies, I'm letting them  use some new products ! After all it won't be long til the new catalogue goes live on 1st June. Have you done your list yet ?

Today's card using the Jar of Love stamps which I'm pleased to say does feature in the new catalogue but not as a bundle with the framelits so if it's on your wish list it's cheaper to get it now.

Pretty isn't it and can you tell I'm loving the new fold designed by Amanda ?If you pop over to The Craft Spa she now has some fantastic tutorials for sale so that you can recreate her masterpieces, well worth a look!

Better get packing my bags

Julie x

Birthday Blossoms

Morning all,

Hope you all had a good weekend ? I actually managed between the showers to cut the grass , do a little weeding and visit a local garden centre for some inspiration. I love cutting the grass it makes such a difference doesn't it ? And yes I do do stripes lol !

Today's card uses the Birthday Blossoms and retiring ( but reduced) Balloon Adventures stamps.

The colours are Bermuda Bay, Flirty Flamingo, Smoky Slate and the new Powder Pink and were very popular in my classes.

Come back on Wednesday for another card using this colour combination 

Julie x

Happy 50th!

Morning all,

I'm back with a quick post as I realised due to my birthday on Monday my posts had switched from the normal days of Mon, Wed, Fri and I hadn't stuck to my New Years Resolution of posting 3 times a week. 

Must be the  Taurean in me, but when I say I'm going to do something, I do ! Hubby calls it stubborn but always looking for the positive I like to think of it as focus and determined lol !😉 Although, I can be very stubborn- just don't tell him I admitted it !

Today's card is using up some more retired paper - I need to as there is lots in the new catalogue I would like.....

And the birthday boy is a Wolves fan as well so he will appreciate the colours.

You know that saying - "you know you're getting old when ........" Well, my auntie sent me a card for a big birthday .....but I've still got 2 years to go !!!!

Off to find the wrinkle cream

Julie x

Affectionately Yours Designer Series Paper

Morning all, Friday again .

It's been a bit of a wet week here but yesterday there was an improvement and I managed to take my photos outside in the sunshine.

The card I am going to show you today is similar to one I have made previously but this time I wanted to showcase the gorgeous Affectionately Yours Speciality Designer Series Paper. At the time of writing this is still available AND reduced to £8.23 !

The smaller prints are just perfect for the blind and balloons but the pack also has some much bolder, multi coloured prints too, including everyone's favourites, the ones with the copper foil.....

Hope we get to see the sunshine again over the weekend but my phone tells me rain 😢

Enjoy , despite the weather !

Julie x

Oops I'm running behind on my blogging this week - but I do have a good excuse !

Yesterday, it was my birthday and I had a lovely day. In the morning I enjoyed some time with my Card and a Cuppa ladies at the tea room and then had visitors during the afternoon and a nice meal out in the evening.

Also the day before we travelled up to spend some time with my eldest at Uni and had a lovely wander around the pretty town of Bakewell and enjoyed the Spring sunshine.

I  was overwhelmed by all the gorgeous cards, gifts, flowers and messages I received - I'm such a lucky girl ! So a big thank you to everyone that made my day special. 

And look at these for a beautiful selection of handmade cards........

So special and very much appreciated 

Julie x

Berry Burst

Happy Friday !

One of my lovely class ladies has a special birthday today so I decided that called for a bit of new product !

I made the fold using a tutorial from my amazing friend and team mate Amanda Bates at The Craft Spa. This card is so quick and easy and perfect for using up scrap bits of paper ...

I have used the new Berry Burst colour and you may even spot a portion of a new punch coming very soon.

I have taken a picture from the underneath so you can see the dimension....

And to show it folds flat for a standard C6 envelope....

Thank you again Amanda for sharing your clever ideas ! And pop over to The Craft Spa and see what Amanda has done with this fold ....it's almost everything and the kitchen sink lol.

And then this afternoon I have been creative with some real flowers instead and made 2 bouquets ready for more birthday celebrations with friends this evening.... 

Bit of Berry Burst there too I think ? Better get scrubbing the ink off my fingers

Have a lovely weekend

Julie x

Special reason

Hello all,

I had a lovely, if very busy, day yesterday with my Wednesday ladies. I normally have a morning session and then repeat it again in the afternoon but every once in a while we all get together all day and go out for lunch too.

Yesterday, it was the High Tide class and the ladies all made a stunning frame like this and a selection of cards....

Everyone loved this stamp set but a lot of the chatter centred round the Succulent dies and stamps and I ended up ordering several !

The card I'm going to show you today is using another retiring set called Special Reason and is one I CASED from my very talented Stampin' Up! Mommy Julie Kettlewell at The Paper Haven......

Very vibrant colours too, the retiring Cucumber Crush and Watermelon Wonder teamed with Pool Party and Night of Navy

I must confess to not being a big fan of Cucumber Crush but it has started to grow on me a little now it's retiring - does that happen to you ?

Julie x

Oh so succulent

Morning all,

Don't know where the sunshine has gone today ? It's very dull here but on Sunday I sat in the garden with my shorts on and even got a little sunburnt !

Today I have a very quick card for you using more retiring products and colours. I love making my own patterned paper and this time used the succulent stamps which are reduced and still in stock at the moment. The colours are Watermelon Wonder, Night of Navy, Crumb Cake, Cucumber Crush and Pool Party......

This card literally took me a couple of minutes, just very quick random stamping but I like that the succulents can be flowers as well if used in different colours.

I've got to do my cutting for tomorrow's class now and it doesn't look like I'm going to be distracted by any nice weather

Back soon 

Julie x

Jems May Blog Hop

Morning all and welcome to the Jems Blog Hop !

This month the theme is 'Something for the Men' and I must confess to being much keener on all things girly and pretty, so it took me much longer to think about what I was going to make.

I love all the floral stamp sets and have been making some pretty things with a NEW stamp set called Daisy Delight.....and as it was sitting on my desk.... I thought I would give it a go...... bear with me, it's not quite as mad as it sounds....

This is the stamp set and I'll show you some of the pretty things another time but today I've tried to create something more masculine....

Well, what do you think ? I've also used the beautiful new Wood Textures paper and Copper trim.

Not sure if you can see the shine of the copper embossing powder ?

And a few more little bits using the same set. For those that are interested in the colour combination it is Sahara Sand, Soft Sky, Early Espresso, Copper and the gorgeous new Tranquil Tide.

I enjoyed using different textures and the Copper Trim is great because it opens out like netting.

Okay, so I didn't actually use the Daisy image but I did use 7 stamps from this set and I hope I've showed you that it can be used for something less flowery too - I'm a great believer in making my stamps work hard and love it when they do more than what it says on the tin !

Enjoy the rest of the Hop

Julie x

Balloon Adventures

Morning and happy Friday !

Today's card features more retiring products , the Balloon Adventures stamp set and the Hello You thinlits and at the time of writing both were still available....

And the Balloon Adventure stamps are reduced too !

Pop back tomorrow because it's the Jems Monthly Blog Hop again  -  I know, where do the months go ? Lots of photos for you tomorrow and maybe a sneak peek ........

Julie x

Eastern Palace

Morning all,

I just wanted to let you know about a new product suite Stampin' Up! have released. It's called Eastern Palace and its from the NEW catalogue ! Yes, that means it's available NOW before the rest of the catalogue is released!

There are two comprehensive bundle options available and they include 3 of the new ink pad colours ! Perfect for those of you that can't wait for the 1st June

These products are only available as bundles until 31st May, so let me know if you are interested.

Julie x

Botanical Builder bargain

Happy May Day !

Hope you are enjoying the Bank Holiday! I have actually scheduled this post in advance in order to get a little more organised so I'm not actually sure what I will be up to today, but looking forward to getting up slightly later !

Today's card is made using the Botanical builder dies , which at the time of writing were still in stock AND reduced from £30 to £21, a bargain.

These are really beautiful and ideal for making home decor pieces - they might just sneak into my keep pile....

There is also a matching stamp set called Botanical Blooms which is reduced to £11.25 so you could grab yourself some real bargains !

Enjoy the holiday and let's hope the sun shines

Julie x