Sunday 1 September 2013

Step and Hop!

Hiya - If you have come here from Debbie's blog then welcome to Beyondthegreenhouse - a crafty land where magic happens and gorgeous things are made. If you are one of my regular followers then - A Big Hello. You have come apon the Stampin' Up! Blog Hop to celebrate the Seasonal catalogue going LIVE. That means you can browse and order!

So a group of Stampin' Up! demonstrators have put together some very cool projects to show the possibilities of the products featured in this catalogue.

Here goes mine......



As you can see this is a stepper card which shows off the lovely Winter Frost Designer Series Paper
by combining it with Bermuda Bay card and ink. Add some Christmas sparkle with glimmer card and the new silver 1/8"ribbon and we are feeling festive already. Personally I love a move away from the very traditional red and green colour scheme of Christmas and this seems a very fresh palette to me.

So here is what I used:
Whisper White base card
1 sheet from the Winter Frost Designer Series Paper Stack
Wishing You stamp set
Bermuda Bay card and ink
Smokey Slate card
Glimmer paper
Silver 1/8th" ribbon.
Sponge dauber
 Stampin' Up! trimmer
Square framelits dies, magnetic platform and Big Shot

I cut and folded the Whisper White card into a stepper shape (If you don't know how to do this drop me an email and I will send you a measurements sheet). I used the dauber to ink the edges for some pop, then I cut and adhered the DSP as shown below being careful to keep the pattern straight.

Using the square framelits I cut squares of glimmer card, Bermuda Bay and Smokey Slate as shown above. I also cut an oblong of Bermuda Bay to fit into the centre step.
 I stamped the sentiments and parcels on Whisper White using Bermuda Bay ink and then using the fantastic, life changing, must have one magnetic platform on the Big Shot I was able to exactly position the correct squares over the sentiments.
All that was left was to make a little bow from the silver ribbon and stick everything in place.
I hope you are inspired to have a go at this stepper card with these colours and the great stamp set. I know we will be using them at my Christmas classes! Don't forget to email me if you want the measurements sheet.
Beth is after me in the blog hop - so click here to hop, step and jump to her blog to see what Beth  has designed!

Best Wishes and see you soon.
Irene




Tuesday 27 August 2013

Winter Warmer Crafting Weekend at Westcliff On Sea

I am so excited to be able to "go public" with details of our residential paper crafting weekend at the lovely Westcliff Hotel. Michelle Philips and I have been plotting and planning a fab weekend and we can now give you the details!
First though (I'm building the excitement here...) let me tell you what our key objectives were when we decided to run this event.

1. FUN - we want everyone to have a fun time (including ourselves!). That led to.....
2. Great projects with all the tools, materials and embellishments provided and clear instruction, tuition and guidance for beginners and more experienced crafters alike. This meant that....
3. The numbers are limited so everyone will have the space and time they deserve. So....
4. A quality venue, sole use of a nice well lit room, great food and a few glasses of wine too.
5. Surprises (which I cant tell you about obviously) and prizes so everyone has lots of Wow! moments.

So, with our list in hand, we set about finding the right venue. After a bit of a search we found the lovely Westcliff Hotel which gave us exactly what we were looking for.


Westcliff hotel main entrence  

The Winter Warmer has been planned as a full weekend, starting at 6.00 on Friday 21st February 2014 and continuing until 4.00 on Sunday 23rd.
We have been able to arrange a reception buffet on Friday evening (with bubbly!) an exclusive table d'hôte dinner on Saturday night and a carvery lunch on Sunday as part of the full board package. You cant craft on an empty tummy! Tea, coffee, pastries and soft drinks to keep us going in between, bedrooms with sea views and attentive staff complete the picture.
So - what will you be making? Well I cant let out all the secrets can I? But I will tell you that we will be using dies, embossing folders, wet embossing and a whole host of stamping techniques to make gifts, cardsets and 3D projects. We want everyone to have the chance to try out Stampin' Up! products and ideas that they might not have previously had the chance to play with.
So - if you are interested in finding out more drop me an email and I will send you the information and booking sheet.
What nicer way to brighten up February than to have a Winter Warmer Weekend at Westcliff with us!!

Monday 29 July 2013

CASE-ing and on a roll

I just found out that CASE doesn't stand for showcase but for Copy And Show Everyone - as in when you see a lovely card, gift tag, box or anything and make your own version. I'm very happy to have been inspired by fellow crafters work - its one of the great things about my fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrators that they are all great at sharing their ideas. So here are three items I have created today based (loosely or closely) on other peoples creations. Once I started I was on a real creative roll.


 
I think this is based on one of Amy Sheridans swaps (organised by my friend Donna Keene). I originally thought it was from Michelle Philips but apparently not! Anyhow - apologies if I am misrepresenting the creator, I've changed the sentiment (love this label punch and all the stamps that work with it!) and swapped the colours round too (Coastal Cabana and Baked Brown Sugar - yumm!) but kept to the mosaic madness embossing folder and punch. Lovely.
 


Now

 Now these three pictures show a kind of box card - not really sure what its called properly! - but I hope you can see that the frog is stamped and then punched out using the postage stamp punch which is also used to make the aperture. The Boho Blossoms do double work on the front and on the inside. Just something a bit different and made following an idea from a swap from a German lady at last years European Stampin' Up! Convention in Mainz.
 
And following those two I started trying some ideas that incorporated bookmarks . This one is really summery and uses stamped vellum to hold the bookmark. So Saffron is such a lovely soft yellow which really tones beautifully with the paper, giving me the urge to read and read all day in the dappled shade beneath a tree, with some kind soul bringing me chilled homemade lemonade and perhaps a little scone with clotted cream and strawberry jam...... Dream on!

If you would like to make any of these items with me, give me a call and we can book you into a class and get you creating and CASE ing.

P.S. I've also just learned that ISO in a post means In Search Of..... Oh well , we all live and learn!
 

Friday 19 July 2013

Studio News

Well - am I a lucky crafter or what? Not only do I have a cute studio - with air conditioning - but I now have super duper storage for all my stash. Drawers and boxes and shelves all made specially for paper, card, punches and inkpads.

 This is what it looked like "before" - yes I know I'm such a messy crafter!











And this is what one wall looks like now! Can you see that I have each colour of Stampin' Up! cardstock in its own drawer, labelled with a butterfly punched out in the corresponding colour. When I have finished this post I am going to print up the names using safmat to go on each drawer. It makes life so much easier - and no more scraps box(es) because I pop any usable bits back in the right drawer straight away.
 

I also have two walls filled with these Really Useful storage units. A very flexible system which has literally swallowed up my stash of craft materials.
My husband and I put the units together on our Ruby Wedding day so it is fitting that this
is the first creation from my newly organised studio which is Beyond the Greenhouse.
 

 

Wednesday 15 May 2013

Lots of boxes

G'Morning!
Very windy but bright here today. The dogs ears were being flapped about as we ran down the side of the field at 7.30 am. I'm off to the hairdressers in a few moments to get beautified (!!) and just have time to share these lovely pictures of the boxes that Aleysha and I made last week.

This one was a papier mache box that we prettied up with stamping, designer series paper, ribbon, embossed panels, butterflies and pearls. It was made to hold Aleysha's client record cards in her beauty rooms and has already been admired by her ladies.

 
These are the milk carton die gift boxes. So cute! By making them ourselves we were able to get a unique look and tie the colours and themes together. I am sure they will fly off the shelves!

 
Have a great day!
Irene

Tuesday 14 May 2013

Little Boxes

Dont you just love boxes? I spent a happy few hours yesterday with a clever crafter in Beyond the Greenhouse land (aka my delicious garden studio) making boxes for her to present samples in her beauty salon. By making them ourselves we could ensure that they toned with the theme of her salon and are really distinctive. Her palette of colours is grey and pink with splashes of burgandy and fuchsia so we used Wisteria Wonder, Rich Razzleberry, Primrose Petals and Pink Piroutte - running them through the Big Shot with the milk carton die and then adorning them with a selection of belly bands and butterflies. A few diamonds added bling and some customised tags finished the look. I cant wait til she sends photos of them in situ which I will post of course for us all to ooh! and ahh!! over. I get the feeling that this is one lady (or should I say another lady) who has added Big Shot to her wish list. I was at a workshop last week where the hostess earned a half price item and was able to get her Big Shot for 50% - and of course because it was bought from a Stampin Up demonstrator she has instant access to advice and ideas. I always offer a free training session to everyone who buys their Big Shot through me - I take all my dies, impressions folders, sizzlets and framelets for us to really explore the possibilities of the machine. It is very reassuring to have someone talk and walk you through what to do when you get your own Big Shot. Do pass on the word that with Stampin Up demos you get full customer support!
 Is there anything right at the top of your wish list?
 Do share! Mine currently has the Big Shot doctors bag at the top of it. So smart and easy for taking your machine to classes or crops.

My friend Michelle is currently in the USA visting Pam (an American SU demonstrator) and having a great crafty time. She was a little nervous about going (on her own!) but I am sure going to classes and meeting with the every enthusiastic SU demonstrators will be totally fantastic and I cant wait to see and hear all about it. Michelle is a member of the Butterfly Belles and along with another of our team - the lovely Linden - we spent a great 36 hrs at regional training in Telford last weekend. So many great ideas and sneak peaks of the new products that I have to (unfortunately) keep secret for the time being! But I will share as soon as I can - promise!! If you are reading this but are not yet an SU demonstrator then why not take the plunge, join the Belles and join in all the fun. Actually its a brilliant way of getting your Big Shot and a whole load more stuff - £160 worth actually - for only £99. Dont miss out - phone or email me today.....the possibilities are endless.

Look out for those pictures soon. Meanwhile I will leave you with this beauty that I made as roomie gifts for the girls at Telford - M&S scented candle inside that matches the paper beautifully. Email me for instructions if you too love boxes!


Wednesday 1 May 2013

This and That

Finally Spring has sprung! The garden beyond and around the greenhouse is a riot of cowslips and the birds seem to be making up for lost time with a wonderful dawn chorus this morning. Its the first of May and silly as it might be I always wash my face in the morning dew on this day every year (normal face cleansing will resume later!) because this is guaranteed to keep you young! Hmmmm it seems to be working I think!!

So, on to matters creative. I spent a fab weekend crafting with friends old and new and am now bursting with ideas. Thank you Monica for your inspiration. The ladies at one of my regular classes have asked if I can teach them some of the different techniques for stamping and using ink pads so I am busy working on projects to show two part stamping, stippling, spritzing and heat embossing. We may also have time to use masks to make positive and negative sponged backgrounds. Everyone is getting an Elements of Style stampset to use in class and keep afterwards. Its such a classic I cant wait to show the vesatility of this lovely 5 stamp set. The class is on Monday 20th May , 10.30 - 1.00 in Bicknacre Village hall. Want to be part of it? Give me a ring!

 I will post some pictures when I have completed my samples.

The other "breaking news" is that the This and That smashbook bundle is available from TODAY.

This gorgeous bundle of journal, papers, date and event stamp, stickers and Washi tape is ideal for virtually instant scrapbooking of a holiday or special event. Lovely for kids to keep a great record of a holiday, wonderful for friends with a wedding or anniversary celebration coming up but mostly just a fab present to yourself! Check out the bundle by clicking this link.

http://www2.stampinup.com/home/en-GB/promotions_gb

Now give me a call or email and I can order you one with the 15% discount on the bundle.

I hope you are feeling as inspired as I am - so its off to the studio now to prepare for my two events this week and make those samples.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Irene

Tuesday 26 March 2013

Spring is here!

OK - that is technically correct but the chill wind and snow on the ground tell a different story. But never mind - if you cant work in the garden just yet it gives you time to create wonderful cards in the warm studio! Papaya Collage is the stampset I am using a lot at the moment and here is my latest creation.
I pretty much followed an idea from the lovely Stampin' Up! Ideas book and catalogue (Wow - I love the ideas that they put in there). The card is for a couple who are getting married next week. When the bride and groom are - shall we say - older and have been living togther for some time it seems a bit daft (to me) to go all white dresses for a card so I thought this would be a refreshing change on their matrimonial mantlepiece! You maybe cant see it well in this photo but I spritzed the embossed, scrunched and daubed green card to give it a bit of bling (I'm not totally unromantic!) I double layered the bitty banner sentiment and used pencils to give the roses a subtle colour. The bird was coloured using Stampin pens and i was very pleased with the way it blended. What do you think?
Some of the ladies at one of my regular classes have asked that I do a stamping techniques class and i am thinking that this stampset might be an ideal one to bundle up for that class. Watch this space for details.
Must dash now but keep yourselves warm and safe and I will post another design just as soon as I can

Monday 11 February 2013

Love is in the air...

And dont we need a little love right now??!!
February doesnt inspire me to do very much at all outside with squelchy mud, drippy bare branches and overflowing ditches everywhere. So its a good job that St Valentines day is plonk in the middle of the month to give us something to celebrate. A bit of romantic nonsense does us all good from time to time and for creative papercrafters its just the ticket to get a really really special one of a kind card made.
Here in 'Beyond the Greenhouse' land (currently blanketed in snow by the way) I am running a couple of Open House drop in sessions on Monday 11th February and again on Wednesday 13th from 10.00 til 2.00 so you can paly with different stamps and embellishments and make a super unique card for your darling. (Give me a ring for directions if you have not been here before) £2.50 per card.

To give some starting points for your creativity how do you like these designs?

The first two are in my current favourite colour palette of sahara Sand, Very Vanilla and Crumb Cake. Romantic but not too feminine (I dont think my man would really appreciate too much pink!)
Arnt the stamped then dies cut hearts nice? They are from the Hearts A Flutter bundle from the Stampin' Up! Spring Catalogue.

This one is in the same colour family but a bit more layered and blinged. Again I have made good use of the Hearts A Flutter stamps and dies. I spritzed in Smooch Spritz vanilla shimmer the sentiment and the wings (from Amore) with to make them gleam and added the gorgeous pearls for balance. Not a hint darling really but pearl earrings are very acceptable as a gift!!

This is a little chalkboard that I made using the frame from Papaya Collage and simply cutting a black insert before stamping it with Craft White. I made a little stand at the back so it stands like a little easel.
And finally here is a lovely simple card which uses my next favourite colour - Pool Party. I used a piece of the Sycamore Street DSP ( which I got FREE when I placed my last order because we are still in the Stampin' Up! Sale-A-Bration) and its lovely. The inks I used were Sahara Sand and Summer Starfruit. Doesnt the ruffled ribbon in Pool Party look beautiful - its really classy! Just like me!!

Please send me a picture of your Valentines creations!

Have a great day on Thursday.


Sunday 3 February 2013

Blog Hop

Good Morning Crafters! Are you here because of the Stampin' Up! Blog Hop? Great  Just a word of caution - we are trying this ambitious blog hop for the first time so please excuse us if some of the links are a bit wobbly! Fabulous Monica Gale is trying to help everyone become an IT genious as well as a crafting Diva and we will sort it all out but it may take an hour or two! Do come back if the chain isnt working!

 I hope you enjoy all the fabulous projects that we have made showcasing the products in the Stampin' Up!Spring and Summer catalogue for your delectation. We have each taken a page of products (I have chosen page 23)  to concentrate on and have listed what we used and how we made the items.  As you read each blog post you will see a link to the next person in the chain and can hop hopitty hop from blog to blog. The person before me in this blog hop is Isabelle - click HERE to go straight to her blog post.


Spring Sampler - even the name of this stamp set makes you feel better! With its 24 neat little stamps this is an ideal set to use for mini cards, tags and labels. All Spring is here - lambs, frogs and ducks even wellies and rain showers! Check them out on page 23 of the Stampin' Up! 2013 Spring/Summer catalogue. Here are some of the things I have made to show the versatility of this great little set! Please let me know which is your favourite and send me pictures of your creations!

These four tags were super quick to make and would also be a great little gift.


Products used: All Stampin'Up! unless otherwise stated
Stamps: Spring Sampler (images)
Inks: Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, Gumball Green and
Card stock: Very Vanilla
Accessories: Bakers twine
Next I played with the umbrella stamp from the set and made a cute little post-it booklet. The stamp is a perfect size for the  1 "circle punch and looks bright and breezy in Pumpkin Pie, toning very nicely with the colours in the Sale-A-Bration Vine Street papers and the beautiful Pool Party cardstock. I stamped the perky brolly on the post-its too and used a modern label punched from Pool Party to make the closure. I inked the edges to give the whole project a bit of extra pop! Love inked edges!
Products used: All Stampin'Up! unless otherwise stated
Stamps: Spring Sampler
Inks: Pumpkin Pie
Card stock: Pool Party
Accessories: Modern label punch, circle punch
Next I made a quick bookmark for Felix - five whole years old and great little reader! The jolly frog fairly jumps off his lilypad and I love the bold F stamped in Gumball Green.
Products used: All Stampin'Up! unless otherwise stated
Stamps: Frog from Spring Sampler, F from Letter It alphabet set
Inks: Gumball Green
Card stock: Very Vanilla and Certainly Celery
Accessories:Scallop Circle punches (both sizes), Two Tags Bigz die and Big Shot

 And how about this for a great Easter card? I stamped a chick in Summer Starfruit (actually it might be a duckling but both herald Spring!), an Easter egg in Gumball Green, a basket of eggs using the In Color Stampin' Write markers and the sentiment in Gumball Green all on Very Vanilla cardstock (this has to be the most versatile colour in the world....) and inked the edges in Summer Starfruit.
I punched them using the Petite Pennants Builder punch and the 1 1/4" square punches and also punched the same shapes in Baja Breeze, used dimensionals to make them stand out and popped them on a piece of Vine Street Designer Series Paper. A brad and simple length of So Saffron Taffeta ribbon finish it perfectly
Products used: All Stampin'Up! unless otherwise stated
Stamps: Spring Sampler, Teeny Tiny sentiments
Inks: Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green, In Color Stampin' Write markers
Card stock:More Mustard
Accessories: Petite Pennants Builder punch , 1 1/4" square punch. So Saffron Taffeta ribbon

I do hope you have enjoyed seeing these projects. Thank you for visiting beyondthegreenhouse - do become a follower and see all my other projects. I am now sending you on to Aurora who is next in the blog hop Click HERE to see what she has made!


Saturday 2 February 2013

The Open Sea

Sometimes its really difficult to make a card for a man! So I was really pleased with the effect I was able to achieve using this lovely stamp set "The Open Sea".
I stamped the background - a kind of script that looks like the manifest or log from a boat in Marina Mist on Pool Party card. I also inked the edges. I inked up the edges of a piece of Sahara Sand card with Crumb Cake ink using those little sponges to get a very soft aged look (I did the same with the two cut outs in Very Vanilla and the base card also in VV). Anyhow - I wanted it to look as though it had been round the world a few times so I added the "splodges" from the French Foliage stampset and love, love, love the effect. The world and sentiment were also stamped with Crumb Cake, the envelope was stamped with the sailing boat on the front and generously inked. A couple of dimensionals and three toning brads completed the balance of the card.
 
 
I am sending this card to my big brother who has had some health issues recently and has been using his time to gain extra skills in yacht mastering. I found a wonderful book for him on the history of sea charts so just had to make a matching card to send him best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Do you ever make very specicific cards for special people? Cards that you could never ever find in the shops? I would love to see your creations. Do send me pictures!


Thursday 31 January 2013

Rock and Roll

After getting totally sidetracked in my aim to make a series of cards and tags from the Nature's Walk stampset I have again become distracted by the lovely technique known as Rock and Roll in the stamping world.
But before we explore how to do it and what it looks like let me just stand up for the beautiful Natures Walk images! I have been using them and will - promise - show you some more of the cards and altered art projects that showcase them. They stamp very well with the fine and delicate lines of the images reproducing exactly to give a very satisfactory end result. This is where Stampin' Up! products really shout quality: once you have stamped with SU rubber stamps you will not want to use any inferior products ever again.
OK - now to Rock and Roll! This is a way of getting a great effect where two colours of ink are used simultaneously on the same stamp. In my opinion it works most effectively with a solid image on your stamp and I have been using it with the little heart from the Spring Sampler set from the new Stampin' Up! seasonal catalogue on the tag here.

Isnt it cute? And shows just what can be done quite quickly with a very simple stamp.
 Here is how you go about it: I used two shades of blue ink - Baja Breeze being the paler one and Midnight Muse the darker. You can use any two colours that tone or compliment each other but do ensure that one is clearly paler than the other. Start with your paler colour and ink up the stamp in the usual way - tap tap tap - then open your darker ink pad and carefully roll the edge of the rubber image so it catches the ink. Be fairly cautious to start off with. then stamp your image. If you were too delicate in you rolling there will only be a slight edge of the darker shade, too bold and there will be hardly any of the pale ink showing. I advise cleaning the stamp ( handy dandy Stampin' Scrub at the ready!) between each inking or you may transfer some of the dark ink on to the pale pad which would be a shame. Pale ink on the dark pad (when you roll) doesnt show so you will not ruin your lovely ink pads. I really like the slighly shabby mottled look so do give it a try.
To make tag in the picture I stamped three hearts using the Rock and Roll technique on Very Vanilla cardstock then cut out the tag shape using one of the apothecary accents framelets dies on my bigshot. I trimmed off the semi circle from one end and then rounded the corners off before inking the edge with Midnight Muse. The greeting was stamped in Midnight Muse using a stamp from the Sale-A-Bration set.  I added ribbon and a securing brad and topped it off with a bit of bling in the form of three rhinestones!

Card Organiser



If there is one thing that a card crafter should make its a card organiser! I routinely make two of every card I create - one to use and one to keep for future reference. Not that I like mass production - quite the opposite - churning out a production line gives me no pleasure at all - in fact I dont do it! ( Even at Christmas two or three of the same design is my limit. I ring the changes with different papers, colours, punches and stamps)




 The card organiser is a way to stay ahead of the game - its a birthday/anniversary book and filing system combined.
I'm not going to write out all the instructions here - its a 4 hour project- but I will explain the pictures. Drop me an email if you need more detail or would like a pack so you can make your own.

It uses 6 sheets of Designer Series paper - in the example here I mix and matched with colours that toned well with the Pool Party covers and the Rich Razzleberry accents.

The cover is decorated with the owners initials - in this case my darling daughter-in-law Ruth - double or shadow mounted in Pool Part and Summer Starfruit. These are then set on two labels framelets.

Each month has its own page with a perpetual calendar to write the birthday names on. We overstamped them in our all time favourite Crumb Cake - each month getting an appropriate image. October got Feathers as you can see here.








I love to teach a new technique at each of my classes and we played with Rock n Roll inking on the tag. The flowers from the Sale-A-Bration stampset are perfect for this - we used Raspberry Ripple and Midnight muse. 

And you can keep on adding bits to the spine to your hearts content. We added ribbon, beads and tags.


 I bound it all together using a Zutter Bind It All machine but book rings would work equally well.


If you make one please send me pictures! I love to be inspired by your creations!

Tuesday 8 January 2013

Getting a bit sidetracked

 




Well I should have known that to boldly say (= blog) that I was going to post a picture every day with the stampset of the week was setting myself up for trouble! So many things have cropped up to divert me, sway me off course or just plain use up my time that I have hardly had a moment in my haven of creativity beyond the greenhouse.
Let me tell you about mud. Actually I am thinking that a great PhD thesis title would be "Mud and its influence on the life of country folk". You can do the math - two dogs, 4 hens, me, two walks a day (actually the hens dont come on the walk but they do run around their area) - so thats 36 foot falls a day in and out of the house/garden. The dogs get hosed off and my wellies stay in the utility room but even so this sticky claggy mud just migrates ..... I think I might be in danger of actually wearing my kitchen floor away with so much washing and steam mopping!

So basically I am blaming mud for not making cards and so having no pictures to post.

Until today!

Ta dah!!!

 
I'm not totally pleased with this Happy New Year card - I was searching around for something to balance out the space between the ribbon (which I did like) and the stamped bird. What do you think?
 
 If I'd have thought of it I would have put a row of 3 brads or a button and 2 brads - some rounded elements anyway - to reflect the eggs along the bottom. I used Lucky Limeade, Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand ink and Crumb Cake. I added a touch of colour with blendable pencils and random stamped the green base card with the Lily of the Valley stamp from the Natures Walk set. Edges throughout are sponged with Crumb Cake and I added a bit of texture to the Very Vanilla by sponging it here and there. If I had thought of it (doh! again!) before I had stamped and added the ribbon I could have spritzed it with sahara Sand for a more dramatic effect. Thats actually one of the great things about papercrafting that you can keep evolving a design. Perhaps I will regret saying this but I will have another go tomorrow and post a picture of that so we can compare.
 
I need to head back out to my cosy studio now and get cracking with swaps for Monicas training on Saturday. I want to show the lovely stamps and papers that are part of the saleabration promotion from Stampin Up! this month. You can choose one free - yes FREE- product when you spend £45 on regular Stampin Up products. Spend £90 and get two choices etc. And dont forget if you are feeling like" New Year, New Me!" why not become a hobby demonstrator - that is spend £90 on a whole kit of lovely Stampin Up products worth over £130 - and either just use your demonstratorship (is that actually a word or did I just make it up?) to buy goodies for yourself at a great 20% discount or start a nice little business demonstrating, running classes and selling in a way that suits you.
The Butterfly Belles would love to have you join us so give me a ring or drop me an email and we can have a chat about whats involved.

Thursday 3 January 2013

Jollying Up January

Wasn't Janus the Roman god of doorways? Two faces - one looking back and the other forward - to keep eyes on the past and the future.

 So January is a great month for sorting out and making plans in life generally but more specifically here in Beyond the Greenhouse land for getting to grips with your crafting stash.
Now dont tell me that you dont have a stash! A collection of papers, cardstock, ribbon or what ever that is waiting patiently for you to get creative. Well January is a great time to look through your beautiful things and bin anything that is crumpled, dirty or just plain not to your liking. Then we can get down to making lovely things and having a good time.

I dont really do New Years Resolutions as such but I think that I can get creative in January - and therefore get Jolly - by using a different Stampin' Up! stampset each week and really explore what the set will do. I will post a picture every day (gosh thats a big ask ... forgive me if I slip a bit) and you can see how creative I can be. I need to make Thank You cards and New Years cards (for the people who I missed with Christmas Cards - sorry ) so that will be my theme for this week. I am planning to really push the creativity by using a new stampset called Nature Walk.

 
It doesnt scream Thank You or Happy New Year and is a very versatile stampset that coordinates well with Fine Feathers (which I might just sneak in as well!) Isnt it beautiful? I hope it will make the recipients think of Spring and new birth and the longer days ahead.

 Janus looking forward you see!

So off to the studio (nodding to Janus on the way out of the door) and see what I can create and I'll show you tomorrow!