Find Out About Friday - How to Make a Mottled Background using your Clear Stamping Blocks

Recently a number of people have asked me how I created the mottled background effect on the Thank You Cards I sent them - so for this week's Find Out About Friday I thought I would share that with you all.

First here is the card which sparked all the questions

The pool party mottled background stripe was fast and fun to create.  I love the texture it brings to the card and all without adding any depth - so important for cards that you are going to post.

You only need two things to create this effect - an ink pad in the colour of your choice and a clear stamping block, (the kind that do not have an adhesive layer on them).  Choose a clear block the size of the background area you want to create this mottled effect on.  If you block is larger than the area you want to cover mask off the areas you do not want to get ink on.  Make sure your block is clean before you start.

In addition to my choice of block and ink, I found that having a tissue on hand was helpful too as I am good at getting ink on me when I stamp!

To create the mottled effect take your ink pad and tap it onto your clear block making sure you get a good coverage all over.  The ink will not cover the block evenly and that is OK.  Stamp your block onto your card where you want this effect to be.  When you lift up the block you will have a beautiful  mottled background which can frame your image ready to stamp onto.

Yes that really is all there is to it :-)

To clean your block when you have finished either scrub it on a Stampin' Scrub or run it under a tap

Enjoy creating your mottled backgrounds and if you have any questions please just ask

Happy Stampin'

You Have Just 2 Days

You have just two days - today and tomorrow - to take advantage to two very special offers from Stampin' Up!

What would you do with six free packs of Designer Series Paper of your choice?  Join my team before the end of the month and that is something you are going to have to decide!  You can find out more about the amazing benefits of joining my team here.  The when you have chosen what you would like in your personalised and fully customised starter kit just click here and sign up right away.  If you want to talk anything through just let me know.

You also have just two days to get your Festive Paper Piercing Pack for free when you order the wonderful Ornament Keepsake Stamps (in either clear or wood mount, with or without the matching framelets) and the Candlelight Christmas Specialty Papers.  All the details are here and to get yours just email bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk

Happy Stampin'

Blooming with Kindness Thank You Cards

One of the things I always like to have on hand are a supply of note cards that are ready to post when ever I want to send a quick message.  They need to be flat enough not to post at the basic rate and have just the right amount of room for a short message.  I have found that the Stampin' Up! Notecards are the ideal size for this and I tend to make up a batch of them at a time.

The latest batch of one layer cards I made featured the gorgeous Blooming with Kindness and  Papillon Pottpourri Stamp Sets.  The colours are Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry and Pool Party.

These cards have been ideal for the Feeling Crafty Happy Mail Challenge - you can find out more about it here and I am pleased to say that so far I am up to date!  

Having a batch of cards like this on hand has really helped too.  So who would you like to send a piece of Happy Mail to this week? 

Happy Stampin'

Ornament Keepsakes Christmas Card

Today I am going to share a Christmas Card made using the Ornament Keepsake Framelets.  These dies match the Ornament Keepsake Stamp Set but this card has no stamping!

The Ornament was cut from Silver Glimmer Paper using two of the framelets giving this interesting hollow which has been filled with some of the Cherry Cobbler Tuille.  The ornament was coloured with Cherry Cobbler ink giving it a more dimentional feel.

Happy Stampin'

PS Dont Forget if you want the Ornament Keepsake Stamp Set and the Candlelight Christmas Speciality Papers Stampin' Up! have a special offer for you this month - check it out here but be quick as there is not long left to take advantage of this offer!

Best Wishes Owl Occasions Card

I am very much looking forward to the Owl Occasions Card Class I am running again this week - we had so much fun with the cards at the first one and what is not to love about this adorable and versatile Stamp Set.

The stamps make wonderful Christmas Cards but today I am going to show you a Best Wishes Card featuring the adorable Owl and some of the delicious woodgrain Natural Composition Papers.

To find out more about upcoming Card Making and other Classes click here

Happy Stampin'

Beautiful Glimmer Butterflies

Today I am going to share a Glimmer Butterfly Card with you.  This was one of the cards I designed for a recent team training meeting.  

The card features three lovely glittery butterflies made with the wonderful Silver Glimmer Paper.

But hang on they are not silver I hear you say ... well at our get together I shared a simple way to create these pretty coloured butterflies and it was lovely to see the creative ways that people used the technique.

As well as lots of techniques and project ideas to try and share when you join my team of Stampin' Superstars you will get as much business advice and support as you want and I know you will make a lot of friends and have a lot of fun sharing your love of stamping.

Even better if you join before the end of this month (so in the next 5 days) in addition to your customised great value starter kit, Stampin' Up! will give you six free packs of Designer Series Papers for you to have fun with too!  Email bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk to find out how you can take advantage of this

Happy Stampin'

Scrapbook Saturday - Introducing Divided Page Protectors

I am so excited that Stampin' Up! have introduced Divided Page Protectors - the possibilities with these great dividers are incredible and they bring a whole new dimension to your scrapbooking.  

• Would you like to add extra photo pages to your album - well with these you can
• Would you like to work on smaller pages but keep them in your 12x12 album - well with these you can
• Would you like more variety of pages in your album - well with these you can

Need I go on!  I had a quick play with them last night and made this very simple page using photos from a mini break last weekend.  Apologies for the photo - the one downside I have found to these protectors is that they are hard to photograph without getting glare - and lets face it one it is in your album that is not something you are going to be doing.

All the papers and embellishments are from the delicious Merry Moments Simply Scrapping Kit. I love the colours and patterns in this kit.

When you purchase the divided page protectors you get 10 assorted pages which hold a vairety of photo sizes and they really do make scrapbooking effortless and quick as well as allowing you to create beautiful pages. 

I am looking forward to playing with them some more.  To order yours just email bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk

Happy Stampin'

Find Out About Friday - Top 3 Tips for Mass Producing Your Christmas Cards

As December looms ever closer for many of us it is time to ramp up our Christmas Card production.  For this week's Find Out About Friday I am going to share my top 3 tips for mass producing Christmas Cards.

1. Keep your design simple - this does not mean that it cannot be high impact, but keep the number of things you are going to do on each card as low as possible.  For example make use of punches to reduce the amount of cutting out you are going to do, or if you are using clear mount stamps and stamping two stamps in the same colour mount them on one block so you only need to ink and stamp once.  Also remember that you are going to be posting a number of these cards so you will not want to make sure they are flat enough not to cost extra to post!
2. Work in a production line style - complete one step on each of the cards, then the next etc rather than completing one card and starting again.  For example cut all your bases, then cut all your layers, then stamp all your images, then layer everything together etc - It will be quicker.  I tend to work in batches of at least 10-12 at a time.   I pick my batch size to make sure it is a multiple of the number of things I get from each sheet, so if I had four layers from each sheet and then five image layers per sheet I would make batches of 20. That way you won't get bored and you will minimise your wastage.
3. Make it fun!  That is why we are doing it after all.  Why not involve the family, give them specific jobs on each of the cards.  Alternatively why not make an event of it, get together with friends and all do your cards together - chocolate and coffee can help too.  Get the Christmas Music going to get you all in the mood and before you know it you will all have loads of cards and will have had a real giggle together too

This card illustrates all these tips - the design is simple and easy to replicate, and it can be very efficiently cut from card (the vanilla layer is 7cm wide so you get exactly 6 from a sheet of A4), it is easy to batch produce and flat enough to post.

If you are looking for a simple kit to make up with your friends check out these kits - lots of the work has already been done for you!

Happy Stampin'

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends and readers!  It has become a bit of a tradition for me that I take this occasion to document the things I am thankful for.  However when I sat down to do that this year I found it really hard to make a list, given everything that has been going on recently I am going to be gentle with myself and be thankful that today has reminded me that I need to spend time recognising all the good things in my life and to focus on them.

So this year I have made a gratitude journal.  Each day I plan to write something I am grateful for in the book.

To encourage me to write in it I decorated each of the pages

The papers are the delicious Candlelight Christmas Speciality Papers and the Natural Composition Papers.  The stamps I have used include You Are Loved, Serene Silhouettes and Blooming with Kindness.

So what are you grateful for today?

Happy Stampin'

Just 9 days to go on these two very special offers

You have just 9 days left (including today) to take advantage of two very special offers from Stampin' Up!

Get SIX FREE packs of Designer Series Papers of your Choice

When you join my team this month you will get a Free pack of Designer Series Paper of your choice worth £9.95 every month for six months.  This is in addition to the incredible value of the starter kit and is THE best value offer I have ever seen Stampin' Up! make for joining the fun - you pay just £99 and get products worth £189.70 plus business supplies worth £45, making a total of £243.70 Incredible.

In addition to that you will be getting a discount of at least 20% on all the goodies you purchase, the chance to make money just for sharing your crafting with friends, a whole group of friends who understand your love of crafting and you get to make a difference for others and for yourself.

Click here to join straight away or email bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk to find out more

Get a FREE Paper Piercing Pack

Stampin' Up! will give you a Free Festive Paper Piercing Pack when you order the Ornament Keepsake Stamp Set and the Candlelight Speciality Papers.  This fabby Paper Piercing Pack is worth £7.25 brings adds loads more creative possibilities to this already wonderfully versatile stamp and paper combination.  You can find the full details of this offer here.  To claim your Free Festive Paper Piercing Pack email your order to bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk

Happy Stampin'

Christmas Candy Cane Holder

Can you believe that Christmas is only just over a month away!  It seems to be coming round really quickly and I don't know about you but I don't feel ready yet - still lots of crafting to do.  Today I am going to share a cute candy cane holder which turns a candy cane into a lovely gift which would be ideal as a table decoration, to give to friends, neighbours and teachers.

Subscribers to my newsletter will be getting a tutorial on how to make these in the next edition of my free email newsletter which goes out later this week.  The tutorial will only be available to those who are subscribed when the newsletter is published so to make sure you don't miss out enter your email address in the box on the top right hand side of this blog (if you are looking at this on a reader click this link to visit my blog).  

Subscribing is free and your details will not be shared with anyone else.  Each newsletter has hints and tips as well as details of any special offers - some of which are exclusive to subscribers.  There is one of those this month too so please don't miss out and make sure you are subscribed today

Happy Stampin'

Serene Silhouettes Sympathy Card

Sadly last week I needed to send a couple of sympathy cards.  I always find these hard to make, so decided to copy a design I showed you yesterday and just to change the colours, the embossing folder and which image I used from the Serene Silhouettes Stamp Set.

I decided to add some glimmer paper but did not want it to be too bright, so I started with the Champagne Glimmer Paper and added some Soft Suede Ink to give a nice bronzed look.

Which of your cards would you remake for another occasion?

Happy Stampin'

Serene Silhouettes Get Well Soon Card

A few days ago I needed to send a get well soon card so decided to try out my new Serene Silhouettes Stamp Set.  It is one I earned for free from Stampin' Up! - got to love this job!  What is more with Stampin' Up! anyone can earn free stamp sets - email bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk and let me tell you how.

The images in this stamp set are wonderful and I am sure you are going to see a lot of it as its very versatile.  

The background was made by inking the inside of the Fancy Fan Folder before running the card through the Big Shot.  The sentiment is from Perfectly Penned.

Happy Stampin'

Scrapbook Saturday - Petite Pocket Mini Book with Comfort Cafe Papers

I have something a little different for you for this week's Scrapbook Saturday - a mini book.  It combines some of my current favourite things - the lovely Comfort Cafe Papers

and the adorable Petite Pockets Die

How would you like to get a pack of these adorable papers for free?  Well join my team this month and this could be one of six packs of Designer Series Papers you get for free.  Email bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk for more details

Happy Stampin'

Find Out About Friday - Simply Sent! iPhone App

For this week's Find Out About Friday I am going to introduce you to an exciting new card making application that Stampin' Up! have just launched .

Simply Sent! is a FREE iphone app which brings Stampin' Up! card making to your phone!  You can  create an e-card from a template or completely from scratch, you can include your photos and even add words in lots and lots of different fonts.   There are patterned papers, buttons and other embelishments you can add and when you are happy you can send your card by email or even post it on Facebook or Twitter.  They also make fantastic mini Scrapbook Pages!

Simply Sent! is intuitive and fun to use - and the possibilities are endless!

To get this free Application visit the iTunes Store and search on Simply Sent! or click on this link.  Once you have downloaded it you will soon be sending cards and scrapbook pages!

Happy Stampin'

What would you do with six free packs of Stampin' Up! Designer Series Papers?

The possibilities are endless, so what would you do with six free packs of Stampin' Up! Designer Series Papers?

That is just one of the decisions you will be making if you join my successful team this month.  Each month for your first six months, in addition to all the other benefits of being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and of being in my team,  you will get a pack of papers of your choice to do with as you choose.  

You could create wonderful scrapbook pages, you could make fantastic cards, you could make beautiful projects to decorate your home, you could make stunning gifts for your friends and family.  You could use them for your personal pleasure or to grow your new business and boost your profitability.

When you join my team you will have the chance to make money sharing what you love to do, you will be able to make new crafting friends (and lets face it they are the best kind!), you will have a lot of fun, you will get new ideas and inspiration and you will be able to make your crafting pay for itself.  The rewards of being in the team are proportional to the time and effort you put into it so you really can achieve what you want to achieve.

A little gift box I made recently using some of the wonderful Designer Series Papers from Stampin' Up!

To find out more about joining my team and making money sharing what you love email bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk and let chat about how Stampin' Up! could work for you and what you would do with your six free packs of Designer Series Papers!

Happy Stampin'

Ornament Keepsakes Christmas Card

Tomorrow is the next meeting of the Feeling Crafty Christmas Card Club.  Each month we get together and make 10 post friendly Christmas Cards - you can find the full details here.  To help me get in the Christmas mood I thought I would share a card featuring the gorgeous Ornament Keepsakes Stamp Set.  I adore this stamp set and how versatile it is. 

Today's card has a modern and fresh feel to it, the colours are Gumball Green, Pool Party, Cherry Cobbler and Midnight Muse.

If you would like to join us and make some Christmas Cards or to purchase a Christmas Card Kit just email bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk

Happy Stampin'

PS - Dont forget there is a special offer on this stamp set just this month - you can find all the details here

Owl Occasions Card Class

On Saturday I held the first of my Owl Occasions Card Classes.  We made a combination of Christmas and Non Christmas Cards and today I am going to show you one of the non Christmas cards we made.  I love how this stamp set not only features a cute owl but can also take you through the whole year.

This card was made by colouring direct onto our stamps and is very post friendly.  It would make a great birthday card or even a party invitation.

If you would like to take this class you still can - on Thursday 29 November.  Details of all the upcoming classes are here.  Booking is essential for all classes and to book your place just email bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk

Happy Stampin'

Material Monday - Candlelight Christmas Pocket

I love the Candlelight Christmas Fabrics - the colours are patterns are just so beautiful and they are not just for Christmas.  Having seen one of my lovely team demonstrate how to use fabric as if it is paper at Convention I decided to have a go and came up with this lovely (almost) no sew fabric pocket.

How cute is that!

Having stuck two pieces of fabric together back to back using the multi purpose adhesive sheets, I ran it through my Big Shot using the Petite Pockets Die.  I then cut out a couple of coordinating flowers using the Blossom Party Die and attached them and a button (from the Naturals Button DesignerCollection) to the front flap of the pocket.  Along with adding a loop of thread to the flap this was the only sewing I did.  The pocket was then stuck together using sticky strip (the strong red adhesive tape).

This little pocket is now in my handbag keeping my lip stick and lip balm together and easy to find!

Knowing I can use my Stampin' Up! fabrics in many of the same ways I can use my paper and card has given me so many ideas.  What would you do with yours?  To purchase your Stampin' Up! Fabrics just email bekka@feeling-crafty.co.uk

Happy Stampin'

Hello Friendship Preserves

You may have spotted that I am really loving using the new Natural Composition Papers - they are fantastic and today I am going to show you another card featuring them, along with one of the stamps from the Friendship Preserved Stamp Set.

For these little Pool Party Cards I have inked the edges of the Natural Composition Papers with Whisper White Ink which has really accentuated the beautiful embossed patterns on the papers.  The greeting, which does fit inside the smallest of the window framelets has been punched out and mounted onto a punched out decorative label shape and again all the edges have been inked in white.  The ribbon is the delicious Midnight Muse Stitched Ribbon - so soft and easy to use, it gives an nice texture to the card.

I made a big batch of these cards as swaps for a recent team training and they would make great Happy Mail Cards.  How are you getting on with your Happy Mail Challenge?  You can find the details of the Feeling Crafty Happy Mail Challenge here.

Happy Stampin'