Lilys stampin up elegant butterfly scrapbook page

Here's my eldest daughter Lily's lovely scrapbook page inspired by the Stampin Up butterfly punch - just realised I promised you this post for yesterday and then didn't publish it! 

I love her colour scheme of Crisp Cantaloupe & Baked Brown sugar - and how she has coloured the flower trim with crisp cantaloupe ink  to coordinate - must have been watching Mummy at work! 

Lily has used the Stampin Up Elegant Butterfly punch (have you ordered your 15% off stamps & punch bundle yet?) along with a retired butterfly punch and layered them together with a touch of burlap to add texture and coordination with the Natural Composition Paper which serves as her base layer. The flower was punched with the Blossom punch and she has coloured the simply pressed clay button in the centre of the scrunched blossom too - what a talent! 

I love all the subtle little details - the bakers twine bow, the distressed and inked edges and the little notebook style sentiment - but most of all I love her smile! 

If Lily has inspired you to use any of the products we've showcased today then shop online at my Stampin Up shop by clicking the Shop Now badge below .. 

Back tomorrow with some projects to get your crafting fingers twitching as well as a sneak peek at Lily's big sister Hannahs 18th birthday surprise! Have a great Sunday :)

Stampin Up new Christmas stamps & clearance rack sale

As it's only 14 Saturdays until Christmas (!!) Stampin Up have a fabulous new offer for you today to get you into the Christmas crafting spirit .... Stampin Up have unveiled a fabulous new range of Christmas Single Stamps! Let's take a look ...

Click here to take a closer peek - that star is definitely going straight to the top of my wish list!

The festive season will be here before you know it, and these Christmas-themed single stamps may be just what the budget-conscious stamper needs. There are eight different stamps to choose from, six of which coordinate with Framelits dies or punches. Only available until 31 January, 2014, these won’t be sent in our typical cases or packaging; they’ll be packaged in cello bags.This offer is available for clear-mount stamps only and they won’t come with a Clear-Mount Block, you’ll need to buy a block separately if you don’t already have one. The recommended block sizes can be found on the flyer.

And pssst - shall I let you into a secret? The amazing Stampin Up Clearance Rack sale starts Tuesday 24th September! There will be great discounts & deals on retired products which can only be viewed through my online store! Pop the date into your diary - there will be more information coming soon!

Back tomorrow with another idea for you :); have a great day!

Quick & easy gift tags using Stampin Up punches & Sketched Birthday stamps

A quick and easy Gift tag idea for you today using Stampin Up blossom punch for hand made flowers & sketched birthday & morning post stamps for the tags. 

The tag itself was made using the now retired Two Tags die - I couldn't bear to part with mine as I find it so useful - but you can hand cut a luggage tag shape from card as your base or use one of the delightful tags in the Tag a Bag Accessory kit. The little flower is punched using the Blossom punch and then layered and scrunched with  a brad to secure it together.

This present was destined for my eldest daughters friend Hannah who celebrated her 11th birthday last week - the initial H is from the Morning Post stamp set and was stamped in Primrose Petals and then embossed with iridescent ice embossing powder using the Stampin Up heat tool giving it a rainbow glitter sparkle. The balloons and banner were stamped from the sketched birthday set and then hand cut - we get so spoilt with Stampin Up coordinating punches and stamps that hand cutting seems such a chore! 

Then to top it all, a  lovely ruffled flower was made using layers of card die cut from the scallop circle die using my Big Shot and again together with an antique brad. 

She was tickled pink with the packaging and inside was a This & That journal, Epic Day stickers, Rotary Stamp and Epic Day designer series papers for her to record the events of her special day and many more to come :)  

Simply sketched stamps w 130423 £21.95, c 130426 £17.95 

Morning post alphabet stamps w 132042 £41.95, c 126592 £33.95

Blossom punch 125603 £15.50             Scallop circle Bigz die 113468 £16.95 

Tag a Bag Accessory kit 130153 £7.25

This n That journal & accessories

A scrap book page designed & made by my daughter to look forward to tomorrow - my girls love borrowing my Stampin Up punches and as they are so well made I don't worry about them damaging them! Keeps them quiet for a few precious moments! 

Stampin Up My Digital Studio Simple Scrapbook page & magazine article fame!

Exciting start to the day - my subscription copy of the September/October DoCrafts creativity magazine dropped through the letterbox this morning and there on page 50 was a full page article on my classes and clubs - my 5 minutes of fame! 

Here's a quick snapshot of the page, not great I know, but gives you an idea! The magazine is stocked in most major supermarkets and high street newsagents so grab yourself a copy and a cup of tea and have a read! 

And of course if you'd like to join us at the classes either in person or online then drop me an email at lisa.barton@hotmail.co.uk and I'll send you details - you'll be very welcome!

So on to today's project - a quick & simple scrapbook page created in My Digital Studio - a 15 minute project as compared to my normal scrapbooking page time of around 1-2 hours! There may be a chance I will catch up with myself at some point! 

This page shows my youngest daughter on a recent shopping trip with Daddy (Mummy never lets her go on these rides!). I've added some lines for annotating the page and enjoyed re-colouring some of the papers and elements to suit my colour scheme as well as placing the embellishments where I wanted them after moving them around many times until I was happy! 

If you're considering the free 30 day trial of My Digital Studio then take a look here at the frequently asked questions - lots of information to help you make your decision - but so far so good here - I love MDS!

See you again tomorrow!

Introduction to Stampin Up My Digital Studio & how to make a simple post card in MDS

My Digital Studio is an intuitive digital design software featuring Stampin' Up!'s exclusive artwork, colors, and templates. At the touch of a PC button you can design your own photobooks, cards, calendars, and more--which you can then print using your own printer or save to DVD, e-mail, or upload to the Internet. 

There's lots of information and inspiration to be found at MyDigitalStudio.net where you can learn how to design and print beautiful projects. 

If you'd like to have a play before committing to purchase you can try the MDS 2 software for FREE with a 30-day trial version. Click here to download from my online shop and start designing today! Simply look for My Digital Studio on the left hand menu then click MDS free trial :)

Every week new downloads are added featuring new stamps, papers, punches, embelishments for you to purchase & use to keep your designs fresh and exciting.

Here's a little postcard project I made for new customers - it took just 10 minutes using My Digital Studio!

Check out the overview video I posted last week here, or follow this link to see My Digital Studio in action with some beginners video techniques & tips!

Back tomorrow with a simple My Digital Studio scrapbook page and more information which I will hope will convince you to give it a go - you won't regret it!

Have a great day!

Handmade Autumn Fall wreath using brown packaging paper, burlap & ribbon + handmade flowers video tutorial

Today's project shows how versatile scraps can be and how they can be used for all sorts of home decoration and accessories. My handmade seasonal wreath can be re-decorated in accordance with the time of year using whateveer materials you have to hand. My inspiration came from the picture on the front cover of the September issue of Country Living magazine.

I started with a flat back polystyrene wreath and wound strips of burlap around the wreath overlapping each piece slightly so there were no gaps. I then handmade six different styles of flowers using different techniques – see my YouTube video below for a step by step tutorial where I walk you through how to make all 6 different styles of handmade paper and fabric flowers featured on my wreath.

Video tutorial on how to make 6 handmade flowers perfect for a wreath

http://youtu.be/ZIGsbGMqTPM

I used Autumnal themed paper, burlap, neutral seam binding, natural cotton strips and even the brown paper packaging that my craft products are delivered in! 

I die cut the assorted leaves using a gold/champagne colour glimmer paper which just adds a little bit of glamour and bling!

  

I also made a little goodie bag using the muslin bags – I can’t get enough of these and am using them for party bags, gift bags, treat bags, Christmas advent countdown bags as well as even storing some of my own possessions in them – stamped with what’s inside of course! 

I hope you’ve enjoyed my Autumn inspired projects & thanks for dropping by!

Owl invitations using Stampin Up My Digital Studio and Pinkies blog hop sneak peek!

Here's a recap of yesterdays owl invitation 

and as promised , here's the inside of my owl invitation made with Stampin Up products ..

Here's a close-up of the text .. 

How did she do that I hear you asking? Well I'd like to introduce you to a brand new Stampin Up product just released ... 

What is My Digital Studio? I'll be going into more detail next week about this new product but in a snapshot My Digital Studio is Stampin’ Up!’s line of digital products, also known as MDS. 

MDS enables you to digitally create on a PC (as opposed to creating & crafting with physical paper) a variety of papercraft projects, decorations & accessories including photobooks, cards, calendars, stationery, business cards, individual scrapbook pages, banners, signs & notices using all the Stampin Up stamps, colours, embellishments and effects in a digital form! 

Stampin’ Up! regularly adds to an ever-increasing library of supplies that can be downloaded that are perfect for seasonal projects, important events, or everyday creativity.

What's even better is that Stampin Up generously offer a 30-day free trial of the MDS software!

Here's a short video from Stampin Up outlining the benefits and features of My Digital Studio

Like the look of it? Download your free 30 day trial by 

clicking the link here to my shop, then selecting My Digital Studio on the left hand side 

then selecting MDS free trial. 

So if you like the sound of that remember to pop back next week when I'll be explaining in more detail what MDS is all about and showing you some of my latest digital creations! 

In the meantime, I have a treat in store for you tomorrow - it's time for another Pinkies blog hop showcasing the talents of the Stampin Up Pink Ladies team that I am in - we have loads of projects made from the new products in the Autumn/Winter catalogue lined up for you to enjoy over the weekend. 

Here's a sneak peek of my project  .. can you guess what it is? See if you're right tomorrow! Bye for now!