ILWS MINI BLOG HOP!

Good morning everyone and welcome to the 2011 Mini Blog Hop in celebration of Stampin Up!'s new Mini... And what a treat you are in store for this morning with over 50 very talented demonstrators sharing projects with you and showcasing their talent.
I am very excited to be a part of this and I hope that you have enjoyed your journey this morning! We are now on group 3 of 4 and if you have joined me from the lovely Victoria's blog welcome and aren't her projects fantastic! (as always!)
I have decided to share with you 2 cards this morning that use the new embossing folders for the big shot! Each of the projects that I am sharing today will use the Big Shot! (£87.95). It would be rude not too! The embossing folders are very simple to use and I am sure that you will agree they effect is amazing.
 I have made the first card use basic black and whisper white and my new favourite tool the spritzer and great value too! (£9.95) - it is great very simple to use and the effect is really good - you can have large spots or a fine spray of ink depending where you position the pen!
The first using the Manhattan Flower folder (£6.95) and I am sure you will agree the effect is lovely very elegant and simple to make a beautiful image on the card. I have inked the edges and then stamped happy Mother's Day on the panel from Occasional Greetings (£30.95)in the bottom left hand corner in perfect plum. I have mounted this on perfect plum card spritzing the edges and also inking them and then mounted this onto a whisper white card blank again inking the edges and spritzing too. Very simple yet very effective,

The second card that I will share with you is using another of the embossing folders Elegant Bouquet (6.95). For this card I used the folder in a landscape position and coloured the centre of the flowers in black. I have stamped the sentiment in the top right of the card and spritzed the edge of the panel. I have mounted the panel on basic black and the again on whisper white that is spritzed and has the edges inked. The card blank is basic black.To finish the card I have added pearls to the right hand side main panel and then to the bottom left on the card blank (£4.50)

The final project that I am sharing today is using the Top Note die (£18.95) and I have made a very quick mini book using the top note cut in crumb cake as the cover of the book. I have added a panel to the front in whisper white and black and spritzed the white in black. I have used the stamp set tiny tags with this project (£21.95) and the tag punch as well (£8.95) as the size really lends itself to a smaller project. I have again spritzed the front of the book and throughout the pages and added small stamps to each page. I added whisper white pages to the book and have spritzed and stamped these also. Very simple but again very effective... The top note is so versatile and has to be my favourite purchase from this catalogue.

I hope you have liked my projects and will enjoy the mini catalogue to place your order please email or phone me... You will now continue on to Carol's blog who again has some lovely projects to share with you today! Thanks for stopping by Debbi xxx

HOORAH! it's here...

Well the 2011 Mini Catalogue is finally here and what a treat you have in store... The products are amazing and there are so many great stamp sets to chose from! Oh yes and I nearly forgot Stampin' Up! have finally introduced the BIG SHOT! to the European market and they have of course done this with some great EXCLUSIVE dies... Click the picture to be taken straight to the link for the catalogue!

I am not going to post you a card today I am completing the ILWS Blog Hop tomorrow and will be along bright and early with a couple of creations for you - but make sure you have a large brew as there are 4 groups to the hop and there will be some amazing projects I am sure!

So thanks for looking and I hope you enjoy looking through the mini! If you would like to place an order or attend my mini launch and use some of the products please email me for further details - thanks for looking and I will be back tomorrow with some mini creations and will be back later today with a couple of Mother's Day cards that I have been asked to create - Debbi xxx

Just Believe...

This is a beautiful set (and the one that we received at Convention this year!) and I haven't used it as much as I should have... I decided to join one of the swaps on ILWS this is one that I was involved in last year and it was great - the idea being that you pick a stamp set and then recreate the card shown in the catalogue using that set.
I have shown the page in the catalogue with the stamp set on and the card that I have made.
I have chosen to use the colours crumb cake and chocolate chip with whisper white ribbon. I have used a 9x9 card blank in crum cake and inked the edges in crumb cake ink I have stamped the image in the bottom left hand corner of the card blank. To this I have then added a strip of whisper white ribbon and underneath this I have added a smaller strip of chocolate chip ribbon and added to this the detail of two of the tiny pearls. I have stamped the sentiment above the ribbon in chocolate chip. This is a subtle change to the colours used in the catalogue and I like them together I think that the white ribbon really stands out well.
I hope you like the card and thanks for looking - Debbi x x x

Two Step Stamping...

Good Morning blogg Hoppers! I hope that you are enjoying your morning and seeing lots of inspiration on your journey... Thank you to Sarah for organising the blog hop for us this morning. If you have joined me from  Sheryls blog welcome and I am sure you liked her project as much as I did...
This morning I am sharing with you a first for me a 12x12 scrapbook layout that is showing you the stamp set Trendy Trees and Tiny Tags. I have scrapped some of the photos that were taken at the stampin' up convention last year in Frankfurt where we had a fabulous time and I met some lovely people.
For my page I have started with a piece of white textured paper and inked the edges in rose red I have added a length of striped ribbed to the left hand side of the layout and tied a knot in this. I have added the title to this and punched this out and mounted it again adding two tiny tags and a brad to decorate. It is stuck with tombow and the circles are mounted with dimensionals.

I have wheeled two strips of funky trees in chocolate chip and inked the edges of this with old olive. I have added 7 photos across the page and secured these with double side tape. Randomly placed across the photos are trees that I have used the rock and roll technique with and punched these out mounting these on rose red card, I have stamped them in close to cocoa and then rose red and old olive - some of the trees have been stamped off. For trees I have used the stamp-a-ma-jig so that the tree tops are in exactly the right place. This is a great tool to use and means that for sets where there is two step stamping involved - your stamping is going to be spot on - something that I need!
The tiny tags that I have added I have stamped in rose red and basic black to make them stand out. I have attached them with the clear rhinestone brads and the tag behind is stamped with the vine stamp in old olive.
I hope you like my layout - not very experienced at scrapbooking but I have had a go!
So now you continue on your journey to Gems blog and again I am sure you will love what she has created for you! Have a great Sunday everyone and enjoy the blog hop!
Thanks for looking and your comments are appreciated - Debbi x x x

FANTASTIC PROMOTION...

The promotion that Stampin' Up! has on in the month of August is 20% off some of the most popular two step stamping stamp sets...are included in the promotion are listed below

Item

Page

Description

Regular Price

Sale Price

104606

31

Loads of Love

£18.95

£15.16

105709

31

Des tonnes d'amour (Loads of Love in French)

£18.95

£15.16

110662

31

Liebe, nichts als Liebe (Loads of Love in German)

£18.95

£15.16

109439

35

Big Bold Birthday

£23.95

£19.16

110548

35

Un super anniversaire (Big Bold Birthday in French)

£23.95

£19.16

113258

39

Trendy Trees

£12.95

£10.36

113824

43

Greenhouse Garden

£22.95

£18.36

117688

8*

Something Sweet

£23.95

£19.16

118878

8*

Un peu de douceur (Something Sweet in French)

£23.95

£19.16

118880

8*

Süße Kleinigkeiten (Something Sweet in German)

£23.95

£19.16

118091

15*

Tiny Tags

£18.95

£15.16

113266

18*

Bird on a Branch

£14.95

£11.96

The sets that  I do have a couple of these ;-) and will be posting examples of them over the next couple of weeks so have a check back to see what I create!
Tomorrow will see a blog hop that we have organsised from ILWS - check back at 9.00am to take a look at what we have completed. Mine will be a 12x12 scrapbook layout and this is a first for me for a couple of reasons 1) two step stamping using trandy trees and the stamp-a-ma-jig and 2) 12x12 layout!
Thanks for looking - Debbi  x x x

National Stampin' Up! Demo Support Day...

Many of you know that I am an SU! Demonstrator and on ILWS a couple of weeks ago we decided that we were going to send thank you cards to Demo Support - Chris and Eileen. The idea being that we all posted them to be in the post on the 9th June so that they would hopefully all arrive on the same day! Going off the thread we had going it is estimated they they would have received about 50 cards each. Chris and Eileen are the people that we contact if we have any queries in relation to our Stampin' Up! business whether that be the people, products or orders that we are making. They will always find the answer that you need and respond quickly to emails and phone calls. So I sent them cards to say a massive thank you for the support that they have given me since I signed up as a demonstrator and all the help that they gave when I signed my first downline earlier this year. 

These are the cards that I made Chris's is made in Rich Razzleberry and for the lovely Eileen I used Melon Mambo - I used the thank you verse from curvey verses and I have stamped in the same colour as the card that I used I hope you like them! Have a lovely weekend and will post Father's Day cards tomorrow!... Thanks for looking your comments are appreciated Debbi x x x 

Are you sitting comfortably??...

Welcome to the ILWS Blog Hop for the new products that Stampin' Up! have released, on your journey today you will be seeing projects that are created with the three new colours that have just been released - Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo and Soft Suede. So you will see the card, the inks, the DSP, the ribbon and the velum. I am sure that you will enjoy your journey around the very talented Stampin' Up! Demonstrators blogs that have taken part and also hopefully have lots of inspiration to make some projects of your own - In todays hop there are three loops and here is where you will start loop one! Loop two will start with Papercraft Clare and Loop three will start with Stamping Caz - in total we have 46 people taking part so I hope you have some time to spare on this lovely Sunday morning... On with the journey!

So if you are returning to my blog from Carole's welcome back! and if you are beginning your journey - Enjoy...




The first project that I am sharing this morning is a set of three cards that I have made using the Its a Beautiful Life stamp set and of course the colours Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo and Soft Suede - I have used both ink and card in these colours and with the three cards swapped over the combination I have used to put the card together! I have stamped the back of the card with the same colour ink as the card. On the panel in the middle of the card I have again stamped in the same colour of the card but stamped this off so that the colour does not have as much depth. The elements to the card are in the thirs colour. I have stamped the flower from the same set and cust this out placed a brad through the middle and attached this to the card with a dimensional. I have stuck the ribbon with snail and added this to two sides of the panel and the sentiment is from the same set and I have inked the edges of this.
INK - rich razzleberry, melon mambo, soft suede
CARD - rich razzleberry, melon mambo, soft suede
RIBBON - rich razzleberry, melon mambo, soft suede
STAMP SET - Its a Beautiful Thing

The second project I have done today is casing a tutorial that Jo has done (her blog is mainly flowers) - great tutorial and easy to follow - a card holder and a set of cards! I have made the holder using soft suede and made the fastener using a length of ribbon that simply slips over the top of the box to hold it secure. The panel for the front of the box has three hearts stamped on very vanilla, this is matted onto soft suede then, rich razzleberry and melon mambo. This is then attached with dimensionals and syuck to the box with snail. I made 4 cards to go in the box and have made these using rich razzleberry and melon mambo. I have stamped the panel that is very vanilla using the speckle stamp from bird on a branch, stamped off with the same colour of the card. I have then stamped three hearts and cut them out, two are stuck with snail and the middle one is attached with dimensionals. I have chosen this simple design to try and not take away from the depth of the colour using the heart stamped on very vanilla card.

INK - rich razzleberry, melon mambo, soft suede

CARD - rich razzleberry, melon mambo, soft suede

RIBBON - rich razzleberry, melon mambo, soft suede

STAMP SET - i (heart) heart, bird on a branch

I hope you like my projects and your comments as always are much appreciated you will now hop along to the very talented Monica's blog again enjoy! and see you again soon x x x Debbi

One for the Men...

The latest swap I have completed over on ILWS is a card that we can use for men... I am sure you will agree that it is so hard to come up for a card for a men, but if you were asked to make a card for a female friend or relation it would take you about five minutes! and you could probably make a couple LOL. Anyway after much blog hopping I came across stampinpretty - her cards are amazing and I adapted one of her male card to suit me.
I have stamped the medallion stamp in basic grey and then chopped this in half. I have inked the edges and then mounted this onto taken with teal card stock. I have punched out the middle of the medallion stamp and added this to the card sticking it down with dimensionals. I have punched out a happy birthday using the window punch and stuck this using the glue pen. I have also added shimmer paint to the edge of the card to add a subtle shimmer to the card.
STAMP SETS medallion, happy moments
INK basic grey, taken with teal
CARD STOCK whisper white, basic grey, taken with teal
ACCESSORIES window punch, 13/4 circle punch, shimmer paint, dauber

Sheffield Training Swap Swap!

When we got back from demonstrator training in Sheffield one of my good friends Deb O'd had the great idea that we do a swap incorporating our favourite and just changing the colour combination that we used. There were 5 of us that signed up and we had to have them in this week. I have made this one by Kelly Austin and she has used the Bird on a Branch... She used the combination bashful blue, basic black and stamped on whisper white.
I have made the card in the same way but changed the combination to taken with teal, basic grey and stamped on whisper white. I think that you will agree Kelly has done a great job! One of the great things about being a demonstrator is the swaps that we get involved in - this is only one that I am in this week. My second being Cards for Men - more on that later though.
To make the card I have stamped the image in basic grey on whisper white with the flowers of the tree stamped in taken with teal and I then rounded the top corners, this is then mounted on taken with teal card stock which also has the corner rounded at the top. I have used the stamp from love you much to stamp the sentiment and then punched this out using the window punch I have stamped on taken with teal. I have added a brad to decorate - as on the original and a piece of grey taffeta ribbon stapled to the card blank to decorate the left hand side of the card.
I hope you like the cards and the colour combinations chosen - more crafting to be shown later! Debbi x x x

ILWS CHALLENGE NIGHT...

Last night saw the ILWS Challenge Cup where we were split into four teams Giraffes, Lions, Owls and Monkeys. The fun started at 7.00pm and we were all set ready to craft! The first challenge was posted and it was to incorporate the babywipe technique into your card. I managed 3 cards for this challenge and surprised myself as I have never done this technique before and was not really sure what to do as I don't have reinkers! So in true crafter style - I just squished the lid and loaded my babywipe with colour. For this technique I just rapidly wiped my piece of whisper white card with the babywipe - I hope you like them! I have used Lovely as a Tree and Bloomin with Beauty as the stamp sets.

The second challenge was something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. So for this old - fun and fast notes from starter kit, new - dot, dot, dot borrowed - card candy and blue was bashful blue card and ink. Quickly stamped some images and made the cards up inking the edges to add definition to the layers. I hope you like these cards - this was a fun challenge trying to find something crafty you have borrowed - when in a rush and it also have to matches!
Challenge 3 was a real challenge for me - punch art - not my cup of tea at all but I gave it a go - made a flower using the three heart punch and matted and layered it and added the stamp from Bloomin with Beauty. Some people made loads and managed to have up to 10 added - my lowly two did help the team though

Challenge 4 was a little easier - doodling your project had to incorporate The first one I did was a quick wedding picture and I added a frame around the photo and also stamped using vintage vogue available in the mini. The cards I just added a quick faux stitch to each layer and the card blank. For these cards I used circle circus, with rose red and black.

Challenge 5 was an inspiartion challenge - so difficult as it was very late and I was so tired I found this very hard. I think I did ok though!
It was a very eventful night and a lot of fun! make sure you take part in the next one - one final point to make it was a very close race in terms of the number of cards loaded - but the giraffes were just a neck ahead! and we won! HHOOORRRAAAYYY

Sale-a-Bration Blog Hop...

Over on ILWS we have organised a sale-abration blog hop so that you can see the wonderful creations that can be made with the limited edition stampsets that are available until the end of February. There are four sets to collect and you qualify for one when you spend £45.00 or more from the catalogue... Email me debbi_corfiemailto:debbi_corfield@hotmail.co.uk to place yours today!

For those of you who have hopped on from Vannessa's blog welcome I hope you liked her projects.

My first project is using two of the sale-a-bration sets that are available whimsical words and vintage labels. I have made a bagalope decorated using the small wheel watercolour joy, for this I have used taken with teal ink, I used a brown envelope so that I could then incorporate craft card and also used whisper white card. The decoration for the front of the card is stamped on whisper white in taken with teal ink, the edges are inked and this is mounted on craft card and then again on taken with teal cardstock. I have rounded the corners of the card stock. (I have never used my corner rounder as much as I have this week - I think you will be able to tell!) I have topped the bagalope with cardstock and added whisper white ribbon to the top. I created the fastening with whisper white ribbon and the tag is also tied with ribbon. For the tag I used one of the stamps from whimsical words are also stamped a frame around it using on of the stamps from vintage labels.

My second project is a set of cards that is made using each of the cards from the Happy Moments set. The first card that I did was using the flower stamp I did this in taken with teal and double mounted this on whisper white and taken with teal. I inked the edges and rounded the corners. I also stamped the first layer of the mount with the flower stamp.The second card was using the birthday present stamp where I have coloured the image and then decoupaged a second image using dimensionals. I have rounded the corners and added ribbon to the side of the card. There is also a piece of DSP added to the card to bring out the whisper white. I love the striking colour of brilliant blue and with how bad our weather has been of late its nice to see some colour! The third card that I made was using a craft card blank and I stamped the birdcage stamp onto cardstock using the craft ink pad. I punched the cage out using the small tag and punched out the larger tag to mount it on in whisper white. I stamped the trees along the bottom of the card from the final set good neighbours also stamped in whisper white. I inked the edges of the card and have stamped the sentiment in basic black. The final card is using the same materials as I used for my make and take at my SAB openhouse on Tuesday I stamped the cake and then cut a second one out and painted the image I stamped the base image in black so that the colour of the cake stood out. I added some of the SU! gold thread to the side of the card and the image is mounted on a piece of regal rose card stock the sentiment is stamped also in regal rose, I have inked the edges and rounded the corners. The card base is bashful blue and I think this makes a lovely contrast with the depth of regal rose.

I hope you have liked my projects and I am now sending you on your way to the lovely Sara's blog I know you will enjoy what she has created - I always do!

Thanks for stopping by your comments are appreciated and don't forget you only have until the end of February to place your order - Enjoy the rest of your journey! Debbi x x x
Thanks must also go to Helen for getting us all organised - another talented demo!

New Catty Sawp

One of the recent swaps I was involved with on ILWS was an inspired by the new catty swap for Stampin' Up! This was back when the catalogue was released of course but I have only just got around to snapping a picture of the swap I completed - I decided upon my favourite set to use Winter Post but then looking at the card I had to create decided that I had picked the hardest card in the whole catalogue to recreate - I kept looking at the card and for many days did not get anywhere so I decided to break the elements of the card down - firstly I cut all the cardstock to size and then the DSP. I had to use a sheet from a retired set as I didn't have ant DSP from the current catalogue that was anywhere near the shade that I needed (oopps the DSP was from Ski Slope) Once I had done that I cust all the very vanilla cardstock to size and began the stamping - I have to use several stamps a total of five from the set as you will see and there were also several inks I used Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Brocade Blue and Old Olive. The edges of the card were distressed also.

Once I had completed the stamping and put the card together I was pleased with what I had created but this card caused me some anxiety let me tell you! And I do remember posting on the forum - seriously have you seen my card and Monica had a little giggle! I am sure she was not the only one.

I hope you like it and thanks for looking Debbi x x x