Happy Halloween

Boo!

Hello everyone

Just a quick post today to wish you Happy Halloween.

If you would like details of how to make this project just drop me a line.

Check back tomorrow for details of a project I am very excited about – raising funds for Children In Need – that is assuming we survive the fancy dress dinner we are going to tonight.

Happy Crafting

Bekka

Let it Snow!

It has been an eventful morning so far. I woke up this morning and the garden was covered in snow, OK so it is only a light covering but hey it is snow!
Ideal to get us in the mood for what comes next – its not often the British Weather co-operates like this! Earlier this week I mentioned that I had been working on a project I was not able to share yet ... well I can now!

I was very flattered to be asked to be a Guest Card Designed on Its a Creative World – a fab blog which provides daily ideas for crafty things to do – if you have not checked it out before it is well worth a visit, but I should warn you that there is a photo of me there.

I shared some Christmas Cards with the readers there so here they are for you too. Now I don’t know about you, but there are lots of people I would like to send handmade Christmas Cards too, but time is short, so I need my cards to be easy to make in bulk, look good and not take too much time! I also like to be able to vary the design without having to invest in too many different supplies.

This first set of cards is made using the Season of Joy Stamp Set from Stampin’ Up! I have also used Stampin’ Up! Cardstock in Taken with Teal and Rose Red – I love this combination - its festive, slightly different, and oh so rich, warm and cosy looking. Both cards were made by embossing the tree image in silver and then cutting it out and matting it on a contrasting panel. The tree panel was then mounted onto a larger co-ordinating decorated panel.

For the first card the panel was made by randomly stamping and embossing another stamp from this set. A Stampin’ Around Wheel was used to create the pattern on the cardstock for the second card. If you have not used these before they are a fantastic fast way to get a continuous pattern, ideal for this time of year. I also added some Chocolate Chip card.

A quick dash of ribbon and each of these cards was complete.

The second set again uses the same colours of cardstock with the addition of some serious bling! The images are from a set of stamps called Flaky Friends. These were coloured with co-ordinating marker pens (one of my favourite things to do in front of the TV) and then were covered with Dazzling Diamonds Glitter (not done in front of the TV!). Each was then matted and mounted onto a contrasting coloured background that had been stamped with Versamark ink. Again I added a little ribbon or some more glitter and the card was done. These are even more sparkly in real life - you can blame my photographic skills.


The final card I would like to share with you is just as quick and I love how it has turned out. It uses the same technique as I used for the picture in the post below.

I wanted to try and make a card using non traditional colours. I stamped the tree image from the Season of Joy stamp set and some Snowflake images with Versamark ink on Regal Rose Cardstock. After I embossed them with clear embossing powder I used a dauber to rub Elegant Eggplant ink all over the cardstock in small circular movements. The finished panel which appears almost suede like was then matted on Taken with Teal card, mounted onto Elegant Eggplant card and then onto a Regal Rose Card base.

If you would like more detailed instructions please just ask

Happy Crafting

Bekka

PS Have you made your Christmas Wish List Yet - dont forget my Christmas Wish List Service all the details are here

Where did the week go?

Gosh! Has it been a week since I last posted – the time has absolutely flown by. Things have been really busy and I have been very touched by all the people who have stopped by and asked for copies of the instructions for the Christmas Planner. I hope you are all enjoying making them.

I have been busy working on a couple of projects that I can’t share yet – it’s all very exciting and I am looking forward to sharing them with you later this week. I spent Friday evening with a lovely group of girlies who were new to stamping *waves to them all * we laughed lots as we made cards and calorie free cupcakes. Don’t forget the Birthday Stamp Special offer only runs until the end of the month so if you are thinking of ordering – contact me NOW – I would hate you to miss out. Yesterday I spent the afternoon with some other Stampin’ Up! Demo’s from the Midlands. What a smashing bunch they are. We made all sorts of things. I will share some pictures of these creations soon.

The picture at the top of this post is something I have wanted to make since I saw something similar on another blog. This would make a lovely Christmas Pressie for a friend and it was fun to make. I used Bashful Blue and Chocolate Chip - I love blue and brown together. I took a strip of Bashful Blue Card and stamped the flower from the Season of Joy Stamp with Versamark Ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I then rubbed Chocolate Chip ink all over the panel in small circular movements. I love the texture this gives, shiny blue flowers on a background that reminds me of suede. I then mounted this on Bashful Blue card. I also added the word friendship from the Wonderful Words Stamp Set stamped in Chocolate Chip. A quick scalloped edge and some Double Stitched Chocolate Chip Ribbon with a layer of Bashful Blue Taffeta Ribbon on top and a length of Chocolate Chip ribbon and it was ready to put in the frame. The finished picture is 14cm square.

To finish here are a couple of quick snaps of a set of invite cards I made to cheer a friend up. Again this idea would make a lovely personal low cost Christmas gift. The invitations could be for anything – going for a walk together, sharing a cup of coffee or something more adventurous if you want! I often treat my other half to tickets to the show of his choice and this would make an interesting way of presenting it.

Back with more exciting things later this week

Happy Crafting

Bekka

Christmas Wish Lists

Thank you for all the lovely comments about my Christmas Planner. Something very exciting has happened – it has been picked up by Organised Christmas.com and featured here on Christmas Planner.com I am very flattered and wanted to say a big hello to all of you who found your way here from there.

Now one of the sections in the planner was for your wish list. I want to encourage you to make a wish list for yourself – I don’t know about you but I am not a very good actress and find it really hard to hide my disappointment when someone gives me something I don’t want or need. I really don’t want to hurt their feelings as I know they have gone to a lot of trouble and effort to get me something. Writing a wish list and letting people know about it is a great way of avoiding that happening – the only trouble is some of the surprise and magic goes if you know who is getting you what

So for those of you in the UK I also wanted to tell you about an opportunity I am offering for Christmas – the chance to get the things you want from the current Stampin’ Up! Catalogue and still have a lovely surprise on Christmas Morning. How can that work I hear you ask ... well I am offering a Christmas Wish List Service. You make a wish list from the catalogue and email it to me a bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk along with your name. You then give my contact details to anyone who asks what you want for Christmas. Between us we will then arrange your Christmas gifts which I will ship, gift wrapped and with a handmade tag ready for them to give you on Christmas Day. How good would that be – stress free shopping for your loved ones, a gift you will adore and a nice surprise all at the same time? So send me that email with your wish list and I will add you to my wish list service.

Back soon with more Birthday and Christmas inspirations!

Happy Crafting

Bekka

PS - I have some spaces available in a Stampin' 10 Club and a Ribbon Dozen Share - if you are interested or would like details let me know as soon as possible

The Christmas Countdown has Started ...

UK Special Offer Alert – read to the bottom of the post to find it!

How would you describe your approach to Christmas? Are you wonderfully organised and have everything planned for the next Christmas before the end of Boxing Day, or do you spend the whole year thinking its ages away and then end up rushing round like a mad thing on Christmas Eve?


I guess most of us are somewhere in between, but I do have to confess to always being surprised when December arrives and then finding I have left everything to the last moment.

Well this year I would like things to be different. A good friend pointed out to me that Christmas is only just over 10 weeks away (thank you Stacy!). Now that sounded very close to me! So I decided that I needed a plan and that if there was to be a plan there had to be somewhere pretty for it to live so that I would be happy to look at it often.

So here is my Christmas Planner for this year – it is made with elements of the scrummy I Wish kit from Stampin’ Up! The papers are delicious and did you spot the textured card? So lovely to work with and to touch... The elements that come in the kit made this very easy to put together, and I have most of the kit left to make more projects with. If you want to see the full kit it is on page 73 of the catalogue – just click here or on the picture of the catalogue on the right of the blog.

The planner itself is made from one piece of carstock, folded to create the pockets, then stamped and decorated.

In these pockets I have created a range of inserts – Christmas Card Lists, Shopping Lists, To Do Lists, and of course a wish list of everyone! I also have party planner, meal planner and gift list inserts but forgot to take photos of them ...

The planner folds up so that I can carry it round with me and I have added some ribbon to make sure I don’t loose the plot, I mean plan.

If you would like instructions for the planner please send me an email - bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk

As I mentioned in the first post on this blog I will be offering you a number of Christmas Projects over the coming weeks to help you have a special, wonderful and crafty Christmas.

To encourage you to join me on this journey, and to help you get in the mood, I have a special offer for you. If you are in the UK and place an order with me for the I Wish Kit, I will send you some co-ordinating goodies and a collection of special project ideas that I have designed to be made from the kit.

Happy Christmas Crafting

Bekka

PS: Dont forget that the birthday offer is still running - you have until the end of the month to order selected stamps at 20% off - check out this post here

World Card Making Day

Tomorrow is world card making day – a special day for card makers globally to celebrate the creativity of handmade cards and the pleasure they bring people.

Stampin’ Up! Is joining in the celebrations by offering you 20% off Simply Sent Card Elements and Simply Sent Card Kits from 4th to 11th October.

The Simply Sent Card Elements can be found on pages 74 and 75 of the new catalogue. They contain a mix of cardstock, patterned paper, ribbon, buttons, and self adhesive die cuts. You can make loads of cards from these beautiful sets alone, but why not combine them with the matching stamp sets (which although they are not included in the promotion are good value and have many uses) .

The Simply Sent Card Kits were £49.95 in last year’s catalogue and have been reduced to £39.95 in the new catalogue. If you order them between 4th and 11th October they will be just £31.96 – that is a staggering discount of over 36% on last year’s price. These kits contain 6 stamps, cardstock, Stampin’ Spots assortment, Stampin’ Pastels Assortment, ribbons, brads, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Glue dots, envelopes and more all packed up in a lovely box. They can be found on page 93 of the catalogue. Just think what a nice Christmas Pressie they would make for a crafty friend...

If you would like to take advantage of these offers get in touch straight away – the offer closes on 11 October.

Happy Crafting

Bekka

PS - dont forget this months other special offers

Would you like a Bargain?

October is Stampin’ Up!’s 20th Birthday in the US and 1st Birthday in the UK. To celebrate they have a very special birthday offer.

If you spend £20 on anything from the new catalogue you can buy selected stamp sets at an amazing 20% off! The stamps on this special deal are all Birthday Stamp Sets – I don’t know about you but I seem to make a lot of Birthday cards!

The selected sets are

Crazy for Cupcakes (Item number 111618) page 32. This set is great value at its normal price of £20.95, but if you qualify for this offer you can get it for just £16.76 The card at the top of this post was made with this set.

Birthday Best (Item number 105455) page 33. This is a slightly smaller set, again featuring a cupcake and a balloon is normally £10.95 but if you qualify for this offer is only £8.76 – yes you read that right less than £2.40 per stamp!

Cheers and Wishes (item number 110542) page 58. This is a great set of 6 greetings not only for birthdays but many other occasions as well. Greeting include, Congratulations, Warm Wishes, Happy Anniversary, You’re Invited and of course Birthday hugs and wishes. Regular readers of my personal blog will have seen this set a number of times!

To see any of these stamp sets click on the picture of the catalogue.

If you would like a paper copy of the idea book and catalogue send me an email – they are £4.50 including post and packing which is redeemable in full when you place your first order of £50 or more with me. If you would like to place an order please get in touch with me as soon as possible – this offer is only available until the end of October and promises to be very popular!

I will be posting other samples made with these sets through the month so check back to see more examples.

And if that was not enough – Saturday 4 October is World Card Day and there is another fantastic 20% offer available on Simply Sent Card Elements and Simply Sent Card Kits – these offers will only be available between 4 and 11 October. Check back tomorrow for more details.

Happy Crafting

Bekka

The waiting is over

The new Stampin' Up! Catalogue is now live and available on line


Click on the picture to see the on line version



I think you may also need this ... email me to get a printable version.





If you would like a paper version of the Idea Book and Catalogue they are available in the UK from me for £4.50 including post and packing. I will also refund this in full when you place your first order for over £50 with me.



Now get yourself a nice drink and sit down and enjoy



Have fun



Bekka