Creative Tour Make and Take

I have shared some of the swaps that I received at last week's Creative Tour and today it's the turn of one of the Make and Take's that we were given. We always have the choice of making the projects there and using the supplies provided or taking them home and making them later. This time around I opted to finish off the project at home as I was too busy having a lovely time chatting to some of the other demos.

I don't have the same stamp set that they used on the original Make and Take (Thanks and Hello) but have a set (or two) that I thought would be suitable. Anyway, here's a photo of the note cards and their matching envelopes.

The "happy" comes from the Happy Day stamp set

The "hi" comes from the Regarding Dahlias stamp set

The two matching envelopes

Stampin' Up! supplies used:

Stamp sets : Regarding Dahlias, Happy Day and Papillon Potpourri
Ink : Midnight Muse and Raspberry Ripple markers
Card stock : Crumb Cake, Whisper White and Daffodil Delight
Accessories : White Baker's Twine, Crumb Cake Note Card Envelopes (13 cm x 9.2 cm), Brights Designer Buttons, Bitty Butterfly Punch, Gingham Garden Designer Washi Tape, Glue Dots and Dimensionals

I have as yet to finish the second Make and Take. Yep we were given two to do and a FREE Stamp Set. I love going to the Stampin' Up! organised events, these are just one of the great benefits of being a demo. If you are interested in signing up as part of my team, I would love to talk to you about it. Let me know.

Christmas Stamp-a-Stack

Today I am holding the first of two Christmas Stamp-a-Stacks. This is not scheduled to post until after the start so that there is no spoiler for the 12 people attending.

Here's a quick series of photos of the room, people's stash and what is going to be made.

I guess you can call this the calm before the storm!

I had originally planned that everyone would cut their own card stock. I quickly changed my mind when I realised that everyone had a stack of card stock that contained 35 sheets. There are 15 cards to be made but with all the matting and layering plus inserts that means there would be a heck of a lot of cutting going on. As a result, errors could be made and more card would then be needed. I therefore decided to cut and score and make up the five packs for each person.

The box on the top of each pile is one of Stampin' Ups! wood mount stamp cases. It makes a great holder for the envelopes, dimensionals, basic rhinestones, and ribbon.  Everyone will get to decorate theirs to hold all their finished cards and envelopes.

These are the cards that everyone will be making together with my sample box all decorated.

I hope you like my samples and if you do, and fancy coming to the next Stamp-a-Stack, there is still time to book onto the one that is being held on 9 November. Please note that there will be completely different cards in a different colourway in November.

Swaps from Creative Tour

I'm still busy cutting and preparing all the supplies for Saturday's class but I found time last night to take photos of some of the swaps that I received at Wednesday's Creative Tour.

Swapping is a major part of a Stampin' Up! event, people spend a lot of time and creative juices designing and making their swaps so it's only fair that you get to see some of them. I've split them into two groups - Christmas and Non Christmas. Apologies for the shadows, but I took the photos with the kitchen lights on because it was dark out. I'm not happy with these photos so I will retake them when I get a chance.

Ideas for Christmas

L to R. Maggie Poland and Yvonne Bevan

Maggie's card was made using the Tape It stamp set and Yvonne made hers using MDS to make the background papers and wreath.

Top: Angela Cormier, Bottom : Eimear Carvill

Angela used the Evergreen stamp set and Eimear used Simply Stars and Merry Little Christmas. Eimear's cute button was made using the Simply Pressed Clay coloured in Old Olive.

Non Christmas Cards

L to R. Lisa Cornwall and Natalie Heppel

 Lisa used the Hello Lovely stamp set and Natalie the Six Sided Sampler stamp set.

L to R. Julie Halls and Bridget Speller

Julie has used a number of old favourites, namely Four Frames, Petite Pairs and Gorgeous Grunge. Bridget embossed her card using white embossing powder and the World Treasures and Timeless Talk stamp sets.

Kim Gibbons Fee

As well as making swaps, Kim also had a display of fabulous projects she made using the halloween themed stamp sets. I have no idea how many skeletons she must have cut out for her swaps.
 
These are not the only swaps I received. I have another 14 or so, but I'm saving them to go on my display board for Saturday.

I am getting excited about tomorrow's Christmas Stamp-a-Stack. There's still lots of prep to finish but I'll be posting photos and details of the projects over the weekend.

Stampin' Up! Creative Tour

I spent last evening with some fabulous demonstrators at the Reading/Wokingham Creative Tour event that was organised by Stampin' Up! I got to meet lots of fellow demonstrators and also some of my fellow Stampin' Star team members.

I think I can honestly say that we all had a fabulous time. Lots of gossip, swaps, make and takes and some great inspiration too. There was even a sneak peek of some new product coming our way but that's the only thing I can say about that part! We were all sworn to secrecy.

I made swaps to take with me and also made some gifts for my downlines.  I was also very lucky to receive two gifts - one from Esther, one of my downlines, and another from Natalie, my upline or as we like to say my Stampin' Up! mum.

From top going clockwise, goodies from Esther, Natalie and me.

I've already shared the treat pouch that I gave to my downlines (the bottom one) - check out my post of 2 September.

The little gift from Esther is a Tea Bag Holder (on the left) and the other hides a large chocolate coin (yum). Here's a photo of them both with no cello bag.

I love how she's used one of the small punches from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack to punch the holes for the Primrose Petals Stitched Satin Ribbon to go through.

The gift from Natalie is a home made cookie so I've not taken it out of the cello bag - I'm sure I will be enjoying it later with a cup of tea. The gift tag that she made, uses the Christmas Star from the Christmas Single Stamps that became available on 17 September. I have to admit that I have this stamp on order (it should be arriving later today) so I hope to post some different projects made with this early next week.

I will be posting photos of some of the swaps tomorrow (maybe even later today depending on how the day goes). I am busy preparing for Saturday's Christmas-stamp-a-stack. I have 12 lovely ladies attending so I've got 12 packs of Stampin' Up! goodies to finish preparing.

Clearance Rack now available Online

Yippee, the Clearance Rack went live in the Online Store this morning. You can save up to 80% on discontinued stock. There's lots of card stock, designer series paper, and embellishments to be had at fantastic prices.

Items are only available while stocks last so your best bet is to purchase them online. That way you can make sure you will receive the goodies you want. You will be able to purchase items through me but there is no guarantee that they will still be available by the time that I place the order. Not that I'm slow, but if you live close to me and want to take advantage of the free shipping I only place orders once a week to combine orders.

Did you know that there are MDS updates every week? Check out the latest updates online too. There are new releases every Tuesday so don't forget to check them out.

I'm off now to do a spot of crafting. I've just spent the morning helping my mother clear out one of her rooms so things here are starting to fall behind. Tomorrow I have the Reading Creative Tour and I've just remembered that I have as yet to made a name badge. All the swaps are done and labelled so it's not too much of a last minute panic just yet! You never know, I might even have time to do a spot of crafting that I can share with you in the morning.

In Love with Stamping Blog Hop

Thanks for stopping by. Today I am taking part in the In Love with Stamping (ILWS) Autumn/Winter blog hop. If you hopped here from Veronica, welcome. I love the dove in the Calm Christmas stamp set.Welcome too if you are just starting here. As always, details of where to hop to next is at the bottom of this post.

I spotted a layout that I liked on one of the card challenges and thought I'd use it for the project for the blog hop. In fact, I thought I'd be cheeky and enter the card into the challenge as well. After all, nothing ventured nothing gained.

So, here's my project based on the above sketch.

Stampin' Up! supplies used:

Stamp sets : Snowflake Soiree and Greetings of the Season (both carried over from Autumn/Winter 2012)
Card Stock : Whisper White and Pool Party
Designer Series Paper : Winter Frost Specialty
Ink : Island Indigo, Pool Party and Smoky Slate
Accessories : Frosted Finishes Embellishments

I hope you like my card. As always, please feel free to leave comments, I love to hear from people.

Next stop on the hop is Vicky, you can check out her lovely project by clicking on the link to her blog Vicky-Lou's Corner.

Alternatively, click on either of the following buttons to hop forwards or backwards.

Should you get lost, here's a complete list of everyone taking part. Please note, most people will have scheduled their posts for 10.00 am so if you are hopping before then not all the blogs will have been updated.

1) Laura - www.laura-creativeideas.blogspot.co.uk

2) Leanne  - www.beautifulimpressions.co.uk
3) Margaret - http://makingpapercrafts.blogspot.co.uk
4) Ruth - http://pearsonifiedcrafting.blogspot.co.uk
5) Sarah - www.esellek.com
6) Sandra - www.kraftybiker.blogspot.com

7) Joyce - http://rejoyceaboutstampin.blogspot.co.uk

8) Dani - http://creativedesignsuk.blogspot.com.es
9)Donna - http://head-over-heels-by-dlm.blogspot.co.uk
10)Katie - http://stamping-katie.blogspot.com
11)Veronica - http://vronstampin.blogspot.co.uk
12) Fiona - http://oakfieldcrafts.blogspot.co.uk - YOU ARE HERE

13) Vicky - http://www.vickylouscorner.blogspot.co.uk

World Map

It's getting a bit late in the month so I figured I needed to get on and make a project for entry into a challenge. I have a couple in mind - tomorrow's is another one.

Today, I decided to take part in the CAS- Colours and Sketches Challenge＃43 that was posted yesterday and this time around it is a colour one.

I love Island Indigo so I could not pass this one by.

I decided you use the new World Map background stamp for my project and here's what I came up with. Please note that the image differs from the one in the printed version of the Annual Catalogue, but the image shown in my online store is correct.

I made a second card using some of the scrap cut-outs from the first card, so I thought I would also show you the two cards together.

Stampin' Up! supplies used:

Stamp sets : World Map and Chalk Talk

Ink : Pumpkin Pie and Island Indigo

Card Stock : Island Indigo, Crushed Curry,  Pumpkin Pie and Very Vanilla

Accessories : Circles Framelit Dies, Oval Framelit Die and Extra Large Oval Punch.

Tomorrow I am taking part in the In Love with Stamping blog hop so please check back in the morning and see what else I have been up to. In the meantime, please feel free to leave comments about today's project.

September's Thank You

As promised earlier, here's the project I have been working on this morning. It's the Thank You card that will be going out with all of September's orders (with some variation on the colour theme).

Here's the inside.

I have always thought that the flower from the Oh Hello stamp set would look cute on a tag and now that I finally have the Chalk Talk dies, making a tag is so easy. The die set has both four different sized tags and three different "holes/slots" to make the shapes into a tag. I could of course have simply punched a hole but I like the finished effect of the slot as it is just the right size for some Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon to be threaded through.

Stampin' Up! supplies used:

Stamp set : Oh Hello and Regarding Dahlias
Ink : Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive Stampin' Write markers and Basic Black ink pad.
Card stock : Rich Razzleberry and Whisper White
DSP : Polka Dot Parade (Rich Razzleberry)
Accessories : Chalk Talk dies, Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon, White Baker's Twine, Dimensionals

That's it for today. I'm off now to help my mother - she has decided that she wants to move house and downsize! We are only at the early stages - the house is not even on the market yet, but we have a lot of house to downsize so the sooner we get started the better.

Christmas Single Stamps

A quick post this morning, I will be back later with a project.

Stampin' Up! have just released 8 fabulous single stamps all with a Christmas theme. Order yours now - they are available until 31 January 2014 or while stocks last.

All of the stamps are available in clear mount only and the flyer provides details of the appropriate size block needed.

Don't forget that these stamps come in a cellophane wrap and not the usual box.  My offer of buy four single stamps through me and I'll send you a Stampin' Up! clear mount storage box for FREE is still running. So, if you purchased a stamp from the previous set of single stamps and want to add another (or more) to your collection let me know.

Open House

A huge THANK YOU to those of you who came along to yesterday's open house. I hope you had fun and enjoyed making the Make and Take.

I had over 20 people visit, many of them arriving in the first 30 minutes so I have to admit that it was a little busy at times. So busy that I did not manage to take any photos during the event. Luckily, I did think to take some just before everyone arrived.

My display board - apologies for the wonky card (top left)

A banner that I made using the Festive Flurries bundle and the Build a Banner Simply Created Kit

Me thinks I have too much stash - my retired goodies for sale. Down to one box now!

My craft room neat and tidy for once

The Make and Take was I think a success - we used the Best of Christmas stamp set, with a few other goodies and the card looked like this.

Everyone also got to add a matching insert to their envelope but for some reason I forgot to take a photo of the sample and it's now disappeared. If anyone who came could please take a photo of their envelope and email it to me,  I will add it to here.

Stampin' Up! supplies used:

Stamp set : Best of Christmas
Card Stock : Whisper White, Island Indigo and pack of Note Cards and Envelopes
DSP: Winter Frost Designer Series Paper Stack (ideal for card fronts)
Ink : Island Indigo
Accessories : Christmas Ornament Punch, Silver 1/8" Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, Envelope Liners Framelits Dies (project not shown, sorry), and Dimensionals

All in all a good day, and I'm pleased to report that my Mum got home safe and sound, albeit in a recovery truck (her car broke down on the drive).

Now that the Open House is over and done with things will, I hope, get back to normal here. I still have three classes this month - next weekend is the regular monthly classes and there are some spaces still available. The following week is the Christmas Stamp-a-stack. This class is now full but there are some spaces still available on the other one which is being held on 9 November.

I am going to try to be more regular with future postings. I have learned that it's simply not possible to do it on a daily basis because non-crafting life has a habit of getting in the way. I'm aiming for every other day but you never know it might be a little more frequently.

A Hybrid Card

I spent most of the weekend sorting out my craft room and preparing for next weekend's Open House, but I also found time to play with MDS. My niece will be turning 13 this week and I usually make a card to send her.

The card that I've made was not made 100% on MDS, but is a hybrid as I've added a hand stamped and punched image. I have made two versions, one to send and one to keep to show people. I've not made up my mind which one I'm sending yet but I guess I need to because it needs to go in the post tomorrow.

In case you are wondering which bit is from MDS, here's a large clue!

Here's details of the Stampin' Up! products used :

MDS : Celebrate Every Day
Card Stock : Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie and Island Indigo
Ink : Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive Ink Pads and Pumpkin Pie and Island Indigo markers
Accessories : 2-1/2" Circle and 2-3/8" Scallop Circle Punches, Basic Rhinestones and Dimensionals

Have you downloaded your FREE version of MDS yet? It really is lots of fun and as you can see from the above, which was printed on my home printer, the colours are fab and match in with the inks.

My Digital Studio (MDS)

I am so excited that we are all finally able to access and use My Digital Studio (MDS). I have been able to play with it for the last couple of months and have been having lots of fun with it.

If you want to try it for FREE go to my Online Store and check out Item No. 130910 (free shipping of course as it's a download). The FREE trail lasts 30 days and you can at any time purchase the full basic package for £13.95 (Item No. 130646).
 
Want to see what's available? Check out the MDS Trial Content by clicking here - Trial Content. For the full version (contains trial version plus more) click here - Full Version Content

A great place to start is Mydigitalstudio.net - it is full of great information and forums. The website also has all the technical details such as details of the system requirements for the downloads. I would recommend that you check this out before starting the downloads to make sure your computer meets the minimum system requirements. The software needs to be downloaded to a MAC or PC, sorry it does not work on an iPad ( a commonly asked question that I thought I'd address here).

Quick hint - if you try out the Trial Version and decide that you want to purchase the full version I would recommend that you download the full version within the 30 days - this is simply to avoid having to do the whole download from scratch. My trial version took 3 hours to download simply because we have a very slow BT Internet connection and I did not want to download the whole thing again plus more - who knows how that long that would have taken!

So, what have I been up to? Well.... the blog hop buttons were done on MDS and I've shown a couple of other projects. But, here's another that I've been playing with over the weekend.

This time I thought I'd put a male card front together.

I plan on having my MDS available at the Open House next weekend so that people can check it out for themselves. If you haven't already let me know that you are coming don't forget to do so as I'd hate to run out of goody bags and the Make & Takes too.

STOP PRESS - ONLINE SHOPPING and MDS (My Digital Studio) ARE NOW AVAILABLE

I am thrilled to announce that the Online Shop is now live and My Digital Studio (MDS) is available too. This is so exciting.

You can now shop online anytime of the day or night from the comfort of your own home and have your goodies delivered direct to you. If you still prefer the personal touch, don't worry I'm not going away-where and you can still order through me and what's more you will still be able to take advantage of free shipping if you live close to me.

So what are you waiting for, click on the Shop Online button in the left-hand side margain and it will take you direct to my online Store. Go check it out and see how easy it is. All you need to do is sign up for an account - don't forget to check that you have chosen me as your demonstrator (my name should be in the top right hand corner) - and you are ready to go.

Please note that because I am not registered for VAT it is not possible to use my online store for deliveries outside of the UK. If you live in the Netherlands, France, Germany or Austria and would like to place an order with me you will need to place your order direct with me.

More details about MDS will be coming soon.

Today's projects have been made using some of the scrummy products from the Autumn/Winter Catalogue.

The new Expression Thinlets Dies are fab. There are three dies in the pack and I decided to use the Merry to finish off my box.

What's more, with a bit of careful planning and placement of the die on the card stock you are using, you can use the negative part too. I made sure that I saved the centre of the "e" and the centre of the loop on the "y" and simply glued these to the base card once I'd added the main text using dimensionals.

Stampin' Up! Products used:

Card stock : Cherry Cobbler Textured 12"  x 12" (item no. 132129), Old Olive
Designer Series Paper : Season of Style (item no. 132340)
Accessories : Expression Thinlets Dies (item No. 132171), Cherry Cobbler 1" Stitched Edge Grosgrain Ribbon (item no. 132135),  Tag a Bag Gift Boxes (item no. 130927), Basic Rhinestones (item no. 119246).

Item no. 132171

If you are interested in purchasing this item please click on the image and you will be taken straight to my online store. Those of you making a purchase using the online store this month (until 30 September) will receive a small hand made gift and card as a thank you.

Stampin' Stars Autumn/Winter Blog Hop

Welcome to the Stampin' Stars Autumn/Winter Blog Hop. If you are just starting here, welcome. If you hopped here from Pip's blog, welcome too, I love the project that she shared. If you need to hop back then click on the button below, and it should take you right there.

Details of where to hop to next is at the bottom of this post. I've also included a list of everyone taking part (with links to their blogs) just in case you get lost.

I have a couple of projects to share with you today. The first is a card that I made using some of the new Season of Style Designer Series Paper and the Joy to the World stamp set.

I used the Apothecary Accents framelits to cut out the greeting before I added it to the Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive base card.

Stampin' Up! Supplies used:

Stamp set : Joy to the World
Card stock : Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White and Old Olive
Ink : Cherry Cobbler 
Designer Series Paper : Season of Style
Accessories : Apothecary Accents Framelits, Dimensionals and Basic Rhinestones

The second project that I woud like to share, is a little gift/treat pouch. It too has been made using some of the Season of Style Designer Series Paper.

Closed pouch with the belly band around it

With the belly band taken off so you can see them separately

The belly band around the pouch has a label that was stamped using the Label Love and Ornament Keepsakes stamp sets.

In case you are wondering, the Ornament Keepsakes stamp set is one that has been carried over from the 2012 Autumn/Winter catalogue but it is not in any of the current catalogues. Details of this and the other items carried over from 2012 can be found by clicking on the Carry Over image at the top of the right hand side-bar.

The Old Olive label was punched out using the Artisan Label and the Cherry Cobbler centre piece was punched out using the 1" circle punch.

Opened pouch and yes there is some chocolate in it.

The pouch was made using Cherry Cobbler Textured 12" x 12" Cardstock, so you are able to make 4 pouches from each sheet of card stock.

Stampin' Up! Supplies used:

Stamp sets : Label Love and Ornament Keepsakes
Card stock : Cherry Cobbler Textured Card Stock, Whisper White and Old Olive
Ink : Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive
Designer Series Paper : Season of Style
Accessories : Artisan Label and Word Window Punches, Real Red Candy Dot, and Basic Rhinestones

The idea for this pouch was CASED from Dawn Olchefske at DOstamping with Dawn. She has a great video on how to make these and I have to admit that they are dead simple.

That's it from me today. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear from you. Your next stop is Di's blog featuring the fabulous Festive Flurries, and you can hop there by clicking on the button below.

Autumn/Winter Blog Hop – 2 September 2013 live from 10.00 am

Fiona                      http://www.oakfieldcrafts.blogspot.co.uk - YOU ARE HERE

Di                           http://www.kingdomcards.co.uk/blog

Joanne                    http://toocraftyjo.blogspot.co.uk

Cary                       http://2biggirlscrafting.blogspot.co.uk

Gill                         http://2biggirlscrafting.blogspot.co.uk

Cayleigh                 http://cayleighscards.blogspot.co.uk

Louise S                 http://stampindelight.co.uk/blog

Nic                         http://www.thestickyelf.co.uk

Christine                http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/diamondstamping/blog

Katy-Suzanne        http://www.katyskraft.blogspot.com

Pip                         http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/queenpip/blog

Best of... for September is Best of Christmas

I know it's only September, but time is flying by and my thoughts are now turning to Christmas. I have my first Christmas Stamp-a-stack class later this month. It is proving to be very popular and there are only 2 spots left.  

There is another Stamp-a-Stack in November where we will be making a completely different set of cards. More details can be found on my Events & Classes page. So, if you are interested in attending let me know ASAP.

This month the Best of ... stamp set is the Best of Christmas. I have already ordered the set as I am planning on using it to make my own christmas cards but some of you who come to my regular classes may get to play with it too.

I have just finished making my projects that I will be sharing on tomorrow's Stampin' Stars blog hop so don't forget to check back then and see what we have all been up to. I will have my blog posted early but all the links will not be working until 10.00 am.