An amazing find

Morning all, did you enjoy the extra hour in bed this morning ?

I think I could do with more than one extra hour in each day though, it's that time of year where I have so much I  need to make - and other things I'd like to make too ! Yesterday I spent all day in my craft room and started by making some simple Christmas cards to send to support a good cause....

But the highlight of my day was in the afternoon when I came across this little tiny stamp !

It's from the Number of Years set to make 40th etc and had been missing since January !!! These little photopolymer stamps are easily mislaid and as I didn't know I'd lost it until the next time I came to use the set I had absolutely no idea where it was. I had searched my desk , the floor etc but as they can stick on to things it could have ended up anywhere and I lost all hope of ever finding it again .

But it turned up .....on the edge of the carpet behind the radiator, an area I'm sure I'd checked before so who knows if it had been there all the time or it fell off something else to settle there recently ?

Either way I was so excited !

Simple things please simple minds

Julie x

Peace this Christmas

Morning all ! This is a scheduled post again so hopefully it has worked this time.

Today's card uses the same colour combination but this time for Christmas using the Peace this Christmas stamp set. I actually got this stamp set last year but it carried over and I have used it lots. The little baubles are from Carols of Christmas

I just love that snowflake, but then I love all snowflakes !

How are you doing with your Christmas cards ? I've got a little collection now but still plenty more to go and I'm determined not to be last minute this year. We'll see .......

Julie x

Daisy Delight

Oops, very late today as the gremlins appear to have struck again ! As I have had classes all day I had scheduled a post for you for this morning - but I've no idea why it didn't appear !

Anyway, the card I wanted to show you is CASED from one I saw by the very talented Monica Gale....

Same colours as last time

Love the Daisy punch with the petals slightly curled, thank you Monica for the inspiration !

And just a reminder that the wood papers are amongst those on the buy 3 get one free offer - but it is only until the end of this month.

Julie x

Painted Harvest Hedgehog

Hi all, 

Today's card is one I've  seen several times on the Internet and I'm not sure who had the original idea , but it is a fantastic one and too cute not to give it a go !

What do you think ? Isn't he sweet ? And once again it shows how versatile the Painted Harvest stamp set is - not just for sunflowers !

The colours are Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla and Calypso Coral.

Hope you have a good weekend -   I must start making something with all the bits I've been colouring lol !

Julie x

Stampin' Blends

As promised I'm back today to show you the first project I made when I got my new Stampin' Blends pens.

I am definitely not an expert at colouring and this was my first try at using the pens but I was very pleased with how easy they were to use - and now I could quite happily sit and colour all day long !

I just love the fact that they are proper SU colours and you don't need 10 different pens of the same colour to get shading.

I have had these pens for a couple of weeks now but they will be available for sale from 1st November - a must have for your crafty stash !

Julie x

Introducing Stampin' Blends

Hi all,

Sorry I'm a bit out of routine again with my blogging this week, but I have been playing with some new toys !

One of the perks of being a demonstrator is that we are able to pre order new products before they are launched - and that alone is worth being a demonstrator for lol !

So last week I received my new Stampin' Blends, a range of new alcohol markers - in proper Stampin' Up !  colours !!!

And I can now announce that they will be available to purchase from 1st November

They can be bought as a whole set ( lovely present from Santa😉) or individually - but don't blame me if you get addicted lol !

Pop back tomorrow and I'll show you my first attempt at colouring.

Julie x

Christmas class

Morning all and happy weekend ! Looks like we are going to be treated to some unseasonal weather so I hope you are able to enjoy it.

Yesterday I held my All Day Christmas Class and it was a lovely day - we even had the Christmas CDs on lol ! During the morning most people chose to make one of these home decor pieces....

Just love these little houses ! We then had a break for lunch at a local tearoom and then it was back for more crafting. Most people made a selection of cards during the afternoon and hopefully they went home with plenty of ideas to use their stamps and dies

I think everyone enjoyed it as I've been asked if I can sneak in another full day event before Christmas!

After a quick clear up of the craftermath I dropped my bags off at home and then dashed to pick my eldest up from the station as she is home for the weekend from Uni. We then went out for a meal together last night so you can see why I had no time to blog yesterday !

Enjoy the weekend, 

Julie x

Hometown Greetings

Happy Wednesday to you ! It's a bit strange for me as I have no classes today as we have changed days this week but it has in fact worked out very well as I'm expecting an exciting delivery of new toys later .....all will be revealed another day !

I absolutely love today's card but can take no credit for it , it is completely CASED from Amanda at The Craft Spa ........

Gorgeous isn't it ? It was quite amusing when I asked Amanda for permission to CASE, she said yes ( as I knew she would, she is always so generous sharing her makes ) and then I confessed that I was actually asking for 'retrospective planning permission ' as the houses had already been 'built' lol ! But only because I knew Amanda was unavailable at the time I wanted to make them -   normally I would ask first !

She has a fantastic tutorial on how to make this card so pop over to her blog www.thecraftspa.blogspot.co.uk and get building  !

Off to watch out for Mr UPS !

Julie x

Painted Harvest birthday

Morning all, did you enjoy the Blog Hop on Saturday ? Some great makes as usual.

Just a reminder that the offers to celebrate World Card Making Day finish tomorrow so let me know if you want anything

Today's card is one I sent to my SU sister , the lovely Kate. Hope you enjoyed your special day Kate !

I've used Painted Harvest but in blues this time, this stamp set looks good in all sorts of colours

I bought some new storage for my craft room at the weekend and so now I need to de clutter (again!) and be ruthless this time. Do you keep things 'just in case ' and then never use them lol ?

Suppose I'd better make a start

Julie x

Trick or Treat ?

Morning all and welcome to the Jems October Blog Hop !

The theme this time is Trick or Treat and I must confess I'm not really into Halloween but I like a challenge and it was the perfect opportunity to ink some new stamps....

This is my little card using the Spooky Cat bundle ......

And the cute Lemon Lime Twist little stars are from the Detailed Santa dies - not just for Christmas lol !

And then I decided to decorate one of the new pizza boxes to match...

And I added a false layer as a trick inside .....

But because I'm nice really, I did add a treat of some chocolates underneath .....

Hope you like my take on Trick or Treat and continue on to the talented  Uma who is a Halloween expert !

Julie x

Training swaps

Happy Friday to you !

I'm back with a swap I made for a recent training event - I love a bit of sponging !

Really enjoyed using the new embossing folder and the punch is so useful too, I've used it loads already.....

I think it would look lovely as a Christmas bauble in this shape with a few additions ,  what do you think ? Another one for my to do list !

Pop back tomorrow as I will be taking part in the Jems Blog Hop and I'm sure there will be plenty to inspire you 

Julie x

Card Front Builder dies

Morning all, sorry I'm a bit behind with blogging this week .....so much to do , so little time ! But I do promise to be back both tomorrow and Saturday !

Today's card uses the gorgeous little house dies again but also the really useful frame from the Card Front Builder dies and this can be used for other occasions too......

This is an A5 size card and the sky is sponged with Soft Sky ( of course lol)  with a moon masked with the 1 inch circle punch. And I love the crinkled Seam binding ribbon - because it is supposed to be creased I'm happy to leave it , where as normally any creases in my ribbons I iron out with hair straighteners, OCD I know lol !

Back tomorrow with another card in this combination

Julie x

October offers

October already ! And yesterday Hubby picked up a brochure from the supermarket advertising all the Christmas food to order !!

Time is flying by but Stampin Up has launched some great offers for October, the first of which is to celebrate World Cardmaking Day and is only available from now until 10th October, some bargains as items are reduced by 15% !

 Some nice ones aren't there ?

Julie x