Night Owl Card

So, did you enjoy your long weekend? The weather here was not that great so there was only one thing for it – to play in my craft room. I got lots of scrapbooking done as well as some overdue cards! How about you?

Today I am going to show you a variation on the faux wood grain effect I shared with you on Friday. By mixing the colours up a bit, the same technique can make a beautiful sky.

This night sky was made using Bashful Blue, Not Quite Navy and Night of Navy. And who better to see in the night sky than the lovely Owl from the Owl Punch! We had a lot of fun with this technique at last month’s card making class. Each person’s sky was totally unique and I loved watching everyone create something unexpected.

At June’s Card Class we will be making cards suitable for Men and Boys – find out all about it and book you place here.

Happy Stampin’

PS - Have you checked out yesterday's blog candy yet?

Blog Candy Alert ...

Would you believe yesterday was my 500th blog post! I want to say thank you to each and every one of you my lovely readers for making this such fun. I enjoy creating projects to share with you and it’s always great to get your comments.

To celebrate the 500th post and to say thank you I would like to offer some blog candy!

A Personalised Stampin’ Up! Journal like the ones in the picture above, which I will decorate in the colours of your choice.

There are two ways you can enter (or to enter twice do both!)

1. Sign up for my mailing list. Its free and as well as getting the latest news and offers direct to your inbox you will get exclusive tutorials, projects, hints, tips and special offers. Just pop your email address in the box on the right hand side of the blog – you will also get a free tutorial when you sign up.

2. Leave a comment below telling me your favourite colour.

I will pick the winner next Monday.

Good Luck everyone! Thank you again for reading my blog.

Happy Stampin’



Fathers Day Card

Did you know it’s just three weeks today until Fathers Day here in the UK?

I am going to show you a card based on the same ingredients as the one here, adapted very slightly for Fathers Day. This is a bit like a spot the difference competition!

I have used the same basic elements of the card, changed the sentiment, flipped the lay out over, coloured in the plane and then distressed every element using the Distressing Essentials. This gives the card a very different feel but it is easy to see who its father was!

We will be featuring this stamp set at my next card making class – all the details are here. It would be lovely to see you in class.

Happy Stampin’

Scrapbook Saturday

I had a lot of fun this spring taking photos of lots of trees displaying their pretty spring blossoms. I have way too many to scrap but wanted to record them somehow in my album for this year.

Eventually I managed to choose just four of my favourites – I think that was the hardest part of this page for me! I printed them all together, but if you can’t do this you could just stuck them together on a piece of card to get the same effect and to have one element to work with on your page.

The papers I have used for this page are from the Nursery Suite Speciality Papers Pack and the base is Chocolate Chip. I love how versatile these papers are and I adore the shaped borders of two of the papers.

I have also added some Flower Brads decorated with the small pieces which you push out of the shaped borders.

All the elements on this page were from this months Kit for the Scrapbooking Club. Click here to find out how you can join this club and get a great value kit every month.

Happy Stampin’

Find Out About Friday - How to make a Wood Grain Effect Background

Since we have a long weekend this weekend I thought I would share a technique with you for this week’s Find Out About Friday as hopefully you will get some crafty playtime and be able to try it out.

You will need:

• Paper to protect your work surface – Stampin’ Up!’s Grid Paper is ideal for this
• Crumb Cake Card
• A Selection of Brown and White Inks – I have used Crumb Cake, Soft Suede and Whisper White in the sample I am going to show you
• Sponge Daubers

First cut your Crumb Cake Card to the size you require. Next open the lightest brown Ink pad that you are going to use. Holding it at an angle of between 20 and 45 degrees touch the bottom of the ink pad to the paper just beside your piece of card. Lightly pull it across the card in one complete movement. This will create a gentle streaked appearance.

Repeat this until you have a light coverage across most of the card. To keep the wood grain effect realistic keep adding the ink in one direction and don’t worry if your lines are not very straight. Next repeat this with a darker brown adding a little colour at a time. Keep repeating and adding colour until you are happy with the result.

To finish off my panel I have inked the edges with white ink.

The final thing to do is to have fun experimenting with different combinations for different looks!

Here is the card I made using a wood grain panel made in this way.

Would you like more technique tips like this? Yes? Well make sure you are signed up for my Newsletter – there is a box at the right hand side of this blog. Every month readers get technique tips such as this one as well as hints and tips on using different tools and other exclusive content. The next edition will be out early next week. It’s totally free and any information you provide will never be shared so make sure you sign up NOW.

Happy Stampin'

Top Note Thursday - the long weekend is almost here!

This week seems to be shooting by and before we know it the long weekend will be here? Do you have anything fun planned? I am hoping to fit in lots of craft time as well as a couple of outings with my camera.

Today I have some more butterflies to share with you. I am loving using butterflies on my projects at the moment – and with so many pretty butterfly stamps and dies available from Stampin’ Up! its very easy to make me a happy crafter!

It’s also Thursday so today’s project features the Top Note Die. Here it has been stamped using the lovely Vintage Vogue Stamp Set, then embossed with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder to give it a very soft almost fabric like appearance. The butterflies are from the Beautiful Wings Embosslit and the card is finished off with one of the stamps from the Four Frames Stamp Set and some Pear Pizzazz Seam binding.

This is a card I made with some ladies at a recent Stampin’ Up! Party – I hope you like it as much as they did. If you would like to book your own party and get your friends together. It does not matter if they have never crafted before. I will bring everything we need for a fun and creative time and everyone will make a card and have a lot of laughter. As hostess you would also have the chance to earn some free stamps and other Stampin’ Up! goodies of your choice, based on the sales at your party. Sound good? Even if you are not local to me we can still all party together so Email bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk and we will get a date organised for you.

Happy Stampin’

Strength and Hope on Wednesday

Today I am going to share another card made with the beautiful Strength and Hope Stamp Set. Every time someone purchases this stamp set Stampin’ Up! donate £1 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and if you purchase it through me I will match that donation. How great is that – you get a wonderful stamp set and together we fund research which could make a real difference to the lives of millions of people. We have a great total building but I would like to make it even higher so please place your order for this stamp set by emailing bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk

This card was made by stamping the elegant butterfly from the Strength and Hope Stamp Set onto beautiful Shimmer White Card in Concord Crush. The flourish is stamped straight onto the base of the card which is Marina Mist. A decorative strip using the Eyelet Border Punch has also been added along with three little pearls to complete this striking and postage friendly card.

Don’t forget to order your Strength and Hope Stamp set from me by emailing bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk and you will be making a difference as well as stamping beautiful cards and other projects.

Happy Stampin'

Lovely as a Tree - An Old Oak Tree

There are some stamp sets I go back to time and time again and which I just adore stampin’. Today’s card features two of those stamps Sets - the wonderful Lovely as a Tree and the fabulous En Francais.

First I cut a Top Note shape in Crumb Cake and Stamped the En Francais Stamp Set on it with Crumb Cake Ink. The stunning Oak Tree from Lovely as a Tree was then stamped over this with Early Espresso Ink. Using daubers I put a little colour on the tree (Pear Pizzazz and Early Espresso). Using my Distressing Essentials Kit and my Cutter Kit I distressed the Top Note layer and a layer of Pear Pizzazz Paper. I love the soft feel this has given the whole card.

To add either of these timeless and versatile stamp sets to your collection email bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk I would of course be happy to help you add any of the other items I have used as well!

I look forward to hearing from you

Happy Stampin’

Do you want to win Free Stamp Sets?

During May Stampin’ Up! are giving you the chance to win a free stamp set. All you have to do is answer a simple question to be entered and to have the chance to win. There is a new question every Monday and you get one entry for every question you answer – we are running out of Monday’s so be sure you answer this weeks for your chance to win.

I am also offering you the chance to win a free stamp set from me – giving you twice as many chances to win – again you get one entry into my draw for each question you email me answer to!

This week’s question is ‘What discount to demonstrators receive on all of their sales and purchases?’

You can find the answer here ... (in the section called How will I make money?)

Email me your answer here

Enter with Stampin’ Up! here

If you would like to get this discount for yourself email bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk and find out how to join Stampin’ Up!

Good Luck!

Charity Card Making Day - Thank You

Yesterday we had our Charity Card Making Day – and what a fantastic day it was too. It was wonderful to spend a day crafting with such a lovely group of people and to know we were raising money for a good cause.

We were using the fantastic Strengths and Hopes Stamp Set which is raising money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The funds we raised will also be going to the same charity. We don’t know final numbers yet but I am pleased with how it is all looking. In addition to supporting this international charity (which has several research projects here in the UK) we also made well in excess of 80 cards which we are donating to local Cancer Charity Shops for them to sell to raise additional funds.

I want to thank everyone who came along, you each made a real difference and I really enjoyed stamping with you. I would also like the thank the lovely Karen from my team who helped organise and run this event with me. By popular demand we are looking to run another of these days – if you want to make sure you are one of the first people to hear about it please make sure you are subscribed to my newsletter (there is a box at the top right hand corner of this blog).

I will leave you with one of the cards we made – and this one was very popular with the ladies who joined us for the afternoon. The colours are River Rock, Bravo Burgandy and Marina Mist.

Happy Stampin’

Scrapbook Saturday

Some of you may remember one of the 11 things I want to do in 2011 is to go for a walk each week with my camera.

I have been doing quite well on this and have been for a camera walk most weeks and today’s scrapbook page shares some of those photos.

Joe came with me on this walk which made it a very different experience – I am not sure he got the stopping every now and then to take a photo bit! Still we had a lovely walk and explored some very local hills that I had not visited before.

We saw lots of butterflies on this walk but it was very windy and I found them very hard to photograph since they were being blown about everywhere. To commemorate the butterflies whose pictures I did not take I used the elegant butterfly from the Nature Walk Stamp Set and created some patterned paper of my own. I have used another stamp from this set to create a border at the bottom of the page.

The other papers are from the Nursery Suite Speciality Papers Pack. I have inked the edges of all the elements on this page to soften the look and to tie everything together.

This is one of the pages I shared at the last meeting of the Scrapbook Club. Everyone is welcome in Scrapbook Club (even if they can’t make our get togethers) and you can find the details here.  Email me (bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk) to join the club.

Happy Stampin’

Find Out About Friday – The Support You Get When You Join Stampin’ Up!

Last night I had my monthly Team Training Meeting – I love these meetings as it is wonderful to see some of my team (and some other Demo friends we invite along), to chat about Stampin’ Up! and to stamp together.

This got me thinking about the support we get when we join Stampin’ Up! and the support I give my team and I thought it would be a great topic for today’s Find Out About Friday.

When I was considering joining Stampin’ Up! one of the things that was important to me was knowing there was lots of help available should I need it. Maybe you are the same.

Everyone who joins Stampin’ Up! gets

1. Access to the Demonstrator Web Site which is an absolute gold mine of information. There is information on how to use the products, how to set up and run your business and how to get the most from Stampin’ Up! There is also a forum for all demonstrators where you can go for advice and help when you need it.

2. Access to the Ready Set Stamp programme of emails and newsletters which are a blueprint on how to start your business – follow the advice in these emails and you will be off to a great start.

3. Regular Newsletters from Stampin’ Up! which contain great information that helps you in your business.

4. Access to the Stampin’ Up! Training Events – these are a lot of fun and as well as providing lots of great information and motivation will give you the chance to catch up with some of the friends you make in Stampin’ Up! The ultimate event each year is Convention which any Demonstrator can go to – this year we are going to Disneyland Paris – I can’t wait!

5. Access to Demonstrator Support – we have an amazing team who help us with just about everything and they are only a phone call or email away.

Sounds good, yes?

Well that is not everything! When you join you also join a team and the person whose team you join will also be very important in helping you get what you want from your business. Their role is to help you navigate through all the information and help you translate it into what you need to do in your business to meet your goals.

I am fortunate to have a team of wonderful people all of whom want very different things from their business. For example, some want to save money on their craft supplies, some want to pay for an extra holiday or to have a regular cleaner and some want to make this a significant alternative income. To support them all in this means I offer a range of things to help them all.

These include:

1. Regular phone and email contact. I am in touch with all of my team on a regular basis and they all know they can call me at any time if they need or want to. Its always lovely to hear from them.

2. As much or as little one on one coaching as they want or need. I am a qualified business coach as well as a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator and know that those who are looking to grow their business find this really helpful.

3. Monthly Team meetings. Every month we meet and share the successes of the team, I share business advice and tips and then we all make projects we can all use in our business. Two months out of three we meet for an evening and then on the third month we meet for a whole day of fun!

4. Regular team newsletters, packed with the latest Stampin’ Up! News, hints and tips and other things I hope will help the team.

5. A selection of business tools to help them along their way.

6. A team web space which has an archive of all hints and tips I have shared with the team, project tutorials and much more.

7. Incentives and recognition when they do well and support when things don’t go to plan!

So as you can see when you join my team of Stampin’ Superstars there really is a lot of support available.

Contact me on bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk or 07990 837 990 to find out more about joining Stampin’ Up! and the support you would get when you become a Stampin’ Superstar. I look forward to talking with you soon!

Happy Stampin’

Top Note Thursday with a Birthday Card

Last weekend one of my friends celebrated her birthday and we all went to one of our favourite restaurants to celebrate.

This is the card that I made for her.

The base is Shimmer White Card Stock and the image is from the Just Believe Stamp Set. The colours are Wild Wasabi, Blushing Bride and Concord Crush. The butterflies were made with the Beautiful Wings Embosslit – I don’t seem to be able to get enough of these wonderful little butterflies!

Lots of pearls finish off the card

and the matching gift tag.

To purchase any of the products used to make this card email bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk

Happy Stampin'

Pop Out Owl Card

Today I am going to show you one of the cards that the ladies who attended the Owl Punch Card Class last Saturday enjoyed making the most.

When you first see the card this is what you see – this wonderful smart owl looking out at you

And then when you open it up ...

He pops out with his party hat on!

I hope you enjoy the card as much as we did! If you would like to know how to make cards like this email me for details of how you can take this class by post.

Happy Stampin’

Owl Punch Card Making Class

Now many of you know how much I love owls and how excited I am that we have the wonderful 2 Step Owl Punch available here in the UK. Well it seems I am not alone! Last weekend’s card making class featured this wonderful punch and lots of the ladies who came decided that they would have to have a punch to take home with them. Most of the others had one already!

I could not resist using my punch to make little Owl Tags to go on the punches. Isn’t the owl adorable?

Everybody’s owl punch got plenty of use – we made 5 cards and a bookmark during the class. Here is one of the cards.

It also features the branch from the Two Step Bird Punch and the leaves design from the Confetti Stamp Set.

My next card making class is on Saturday 25 June and our theme is cards for men and boys. Join us to make a collection of cards suitable for the boys both young and old in your life!

The class costs £25 including the Plane and Simple Stamp Set which is yours to take home at the end of the class. Please specify Clear Mount or Wood Mount when booking your place. This class can also be taken without the inclusion of the stamp set for £15. To book just click below.

Men and Boys Card Making Class

With Wood Mount Stamps £25.00 With Clear Mount Stamps £25.00 Without a stamp set to keep £15.00

Happy Stampin'

Win Free Stamps!

During May Stampin’ Up! are giving you the chance to win a free stamp set. All you have to do is answer a simple question to be entered and to have a chance to win. There will be a new question each Monday and you get one entry for each question you answer.

This week the question is ‘How much is the Stampin’ Up! Starter Kit and what is the retail value of the products received?’ So to help you here is a picture of it. You can find out the answer to the question here

You can enter here

Would you like to double your chances of winning? Well by emailing me your answers to the Weekly Stampin’ Up! questions you could also win a stamp set (offered by me and not by Stampin’ Up!) You will get one entry into the draw for each question you answer – so as well as entering on the Stampin’ Up! site don’t forget to email your answers to bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk

So would you like to get a grab a bargain and get creating?

Happy Stampin'

Little Additions make a New Home

Recently one of my friend and her lovely hubby moved into a new home. Moving house is always both exciting and stressful and I wanted to send them a card to celebrate arriving in what sounds like is going to be a wonderful home for them both.

This Concord Crush and Crumb Cake Card features the Little Additions Stamp Set which can be found on page 20 of the Mini Catalogue which you can download here. I love how versatile this stamp set is – so many possibilities for so many different types of cards! Email bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk to order you set today.

Happy Stampin’

Scrapbook Saturday

Today I am going to share a page I made for last month’s Scrapbook Club. I really enjoy putting together the inspiration pages for this club - sitting down with a collection of coordinating products and scrapping away! I also love putting together the kits in the first place.

As well as documenting my dislike of having my photo taken this page features some stamping and lots of lovely butterflies.

The stamp set is Just Believe and the Butterflies are from the Beautiful Butterflies Die and the Beautiful Wings Embosslit.

The Scrapbook Club members get a carefully selected collection of papers, cardstock and embellishments every month, you can read all about it here. If you would like to join just email bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk

Happy Stampin’