Season Of Joy

Christmas will soon be upon us and for once I intend to get my cards made in good time!

Here is a very simple card made using a new set called Season Of Joy - which you can find on page 21 of the new Idea Book And Catalogue.

I used Sahara Sand for the card base and stamped some of the swirls using a VersaMark pad and White embossing powder. Other swirls were stamped with the VersaMark pad then sprinkled with Heat 'n' Stick powder before heating with the heat tool. Once heated and sticky I sprinkled on the Dazzling Diamonds glitter and heated the images again to fix the glitter in place. Instant bling!

The flower snowflakes and the greeting were inked with the VersaMark pad and embossed with White powder. After adding the grosgrain ribbon I turned my attention to the snowman.

He was made by cutting some circles out of Whisper White card stock. You could use round objects as templates and cut round them with fancy scissors, or use Nestabilities die cutting templates, as I did. I stamped the snowflake on the body as for the sparkly swirls and used the edge of the stamp and a Basic Black Marker Pen along with the Stamp-a-ma-jig to position the dotty smile. Little pieces of card offcuts made the eyes and nose and the hat was made using the Round Tab Punch. After assembling the body I raised it on Dimensionals and poked two little hole to attach his arms. These were some woody stems from a Clematis plant growing in the garden!

Stamps: Season Of Joy

Paper: Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Basic Black & Pumpkin Pie

Ink: Basic Black Pad and Marker Pen, Brocade Blue & VersaMark

Accessories: Snail Adhesive, Dimensionals, Whisper White 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Heat & Stick Powder, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Crafter's Tool Kit & Round Tab Punch

Thanks for looking!

~Debbie~

Your Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

New Goodies On The Way!

The NEW Stampin' Up! Idea Book And Catalogue is now on-line and you'll find the link to it on the side bar of my blog.

The catalogue is even better value this year, at only £4.95.
If you'd like to host a party, or join a Stamper's Six Club, I'll give you a catalogue free of charge.
If you buy a catalogue and spend over £35 on your first order, I'll refund the £4.95.

As well as containing many new stamp sets and Designer Series Papers, there are card and layout ideas and lots of hints and tips. I think it's excellent value, considering most craft magazines are around £4 these days and full of adverts!

I have some parties booked and have reserved catalogues for the hostesses, but there are a few catalogues remaining of this initial batch so if you'd like one, e-mail me at Heartfelt.Stamping@hotmail.com

I have just put in my first order which includes Fun & Fast Notes (p30), a lovely all occasion set of 8 stamps for £29.95, which works out at £3.74 per stamp. There is a wheel called Fast Flowers (p31) to go with it, priced £5.50.
I have ordered a set called A Rose Is A Rose (p44) which is one of those two-step stamping sets - no colouring required! It costs £32.95 and contains 14 stamps which works out at £2.35 each - even cheaper than those by Anitas!

Do you like boho style? If so, take a look at the sets on page 49. They also went into my basket, or should I say trolley! To co-ordinate with those stamp sets I chose Spiced Cider, a set of Designer Series Papers which you can see on page 71. They're lovely Autumn-y colours - just right for this time of year. I also chose Haiku with similar colours, but slightly fresher. The papers cost £7.75 for 12 sheets of double sided heavy-weight paper, two each of 6 designs working out at 65p a sheet.

What else? Double stitched 1" wide grosgrain ribbon in Chocolate Chip at £6.95 for a 9.1m reel. That's a reasonable 76p per metre.
Oh, and a Scallop Edge border punch for £10.95, plus a Boho Flower punch at £12.50 to go with one of the stamp sets.

I chose A Little Bit Of Happiness (p9) for my free hostess set and two more sets of Designer Series Papers, Sweet Always and the very English sounding, Tea And Crumpets with my £15 free merchandise.

Now I just have to sit back and wait for them to be delivered to my door! I wish I could be more patient, but in meantime, I'm working on some new card designs using Season Of Joy (p21), for a class I hope to run very soon. If you'd be interested in joining me for that, then let me know.

If you like a challenge, I design the sketch challenges on In Love With Stamping. I used Season Of Joy to make a card for my most recent sketch. There are lots of challenges including scrapbook layouts, colour combinations and techniques.

In Love With Stamping also has a growing gallery so you can get ideas for using your Stampin' Up! stamps, punches and papers. The stamp sets are listed by name alphabetically, so you'll have no problem finding your own sets there.

Well, I think that's it for the moment. Keep checking my blog as I have lots of designs to post here over the next few days.

Thanks for looking!

~Debbie~
Your Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator