Stack of Thank You cards and product peek !

Hello! It is so nearly 2014, and it is hard to believe we are about to start a new year already.

I have been busy making Thank you cards both for the children to send, and also to the latest members of my Monthly craft club* which starts 1st January 2014.

It also means I can try out a new product which will be available at the end of January - a great 'ready to go' kit with everything you need to make a minimum of 8 cards. By adding a few card blanks and cutting up some of the cards, I have already made 12.... still with product to spare. You don't even need a stamp, as 3 different messages are included - in English, French and German!

What's better - this kit can be yours for FREE with any £45 purchase from our catalogue!

So here are my finished cards....

I just about fitted the 12 cards in the photo - you can also see the envelopes which also have gold liners inside. I used some of the gold liners to punch out the little banners.

 Here you can see the little preprinted banners - I used the English and the French titles.

Above is a close up of one of the cards - you can see I have punched out the top banner using some of the spotty card and the gold inserts. The 'For You' message is one of the three preprinted messages included.

Finally a closer view of the envelopes, and one of the finished cards. Everything on this card is included in your kit - the twine, gold side banner, thank you message, white banner, card and envelope!

Sale-a-Bration starts 28th January - watch out for details including my Launch Party
*For details of my Monthly club click HERE

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Birthday Card orders

Hi there
I have had great fun recently with some card orders I have received. Making personalised cards was how I first got started with cardmaking (over 13 years ago), and it is lovely that to this day I still have orders from some of my original customers - so THANK YOU - you know who you are.

I would like to share two cards with you today from earlier orders. The first is a boys card, and I could not wait to make use of our new Thinlets Card Dies for this - the perfect card blank for boys. Here is the front of the card.

When you open the card out, the front window flips round to reveal the message on the reverse.

The little arrows are also die cut - these dies come from the same set as the Thinlet card. As it was a 9th birthday card, I added 3 lots of 3 embellishments to make up the 9. As it was Fletchers birthday earlier this week - I hope he liked it. I used the Designer Series Paper stack in Midnight Muse to match the card base, and the little 'brads' are in fact Candy Dots also in Midnight Muse. The 3 stars are punched out of our stunning Silver Glimmer Paper.

The second card was slightly more tricky... not in terms of design but just the brief that I was given. It was for a lovely 50 year old man, and had to incorporate 'leather' and be quite butch. After racking my brains, I used the 'faux leather' technique with clear embossing powder to create the leather look background, and belt. The silver glimmer studs were added to give a butch, manly look.  Here was the result which went down very well apparently!

You can just make out the 'leather' look here

That's all til next time. x

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Christmas Presents - Stampin' Up! Style

Could not resist posting on Christmas Day !

I hope you are all enjoying a lovely festive day with friends and family. I am hoping my family have opened their presents, as I am about to share some of them with you.

 

These are 3 of the boxes that I posted to some of my family. Each box was made with my scoreboard, and (secretly) is just made from the white card that supports our designer series paper packs which I stamped prior to cutting and scoring. Each box also has a matching tag and contains enough envelopes for the enclosed cards.

Here are the contents: all made with my latest favourite stamp set 'Backyard Basics'. All the images have a matching die which makes cutting them out so easy. The sentiments were assorted; Thinking of You, Thank You, Birthday Wishes etc.

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I then tucked them into their box, together with the matching tag. It was only then I thought about posting, knowing how busy Royal Mail are... I wanted them to arrive intact. Then I had an idea... our empty wood stamp boxes.... PERFECT.

Here is the finished product, complete with a little tissue paper. I hope they like them!

Wishing you a lovely Christmas break.

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Wishing you all a very MERRY Christmas

Merry Christmas !
Thanks to each and every one of you who have been following my BLOG since the middle of the year. I am so lucky to have a following and I really appreciate all of you who follow me, comment or just enjoy reading my postings.

Here is a little Christmas Card for you to show my thanks.
Happy Christmas and all the best for a peaceful, healthy year in 2014.

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Christmas Decorations

Hi, it's getting very close to Christmas now.... so a final chance to post a few of my Christmas items and presents.

This first post is to show you some Christmas Decorations. Some of you may know that I work in a bookshop when I am not crafting, and we always try and make decorations for the shop using recycled (usually books) items.
This year I was inspired by team member Elaine posting a video in our Stampin' Up Demonstrators group called the Pink Ladies/Lads. Here is a LINK to her video, she was kind enough to let me share with you. 

Here is the result:

Each bauble is made up of 5 individual flowers, each of which consists of 6 'petal' sections. They can be made in all sorts of sizes, as all you need are cut out circles (use either a punch or a die). Just some quality Tombow glue and a string to hang up is all you need to finish.
Here they are in one of the doorways:

Wishing you a very happy Christmas.

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50th Birthday Card

Well, it makes a change from all my Christmas postings! I was delighted to be asked recently to make a 50th birthday card. It's always lovely to do birthday cards at Christmas time - even if only for a change from the Christmas colours and sentiments.

Here is the finished card, which is A5 in size:

 

As you can see, it was for Karen to celebrate her 50th Birthday. I thought some pretty flowers and a script background would suit Karen perfectly. The large flowers are from 'Flower Shop' and the small flowers and the leaves are from 'Secret Garden'. Both sets have either a matching punch or die, which makes cutting them out a breeze.
I used our Circle Framelits to create the aperture, with the background stamped with the text from 'En Francais' a huge background stamp and perfect for this.
The number 50 is quite thick, as I used multiple card layers and number dies and layered up the two numbers. You can see that and the flowers in more detail below, although the glitter I added to the centre of the flowers does not show up in the photo.

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Karen has opened her card, so it's fine to share with you. I hope you like it. Feel free to leave me a comment, click on any of the quick links below, or pop to my online shop to order any of the items.

Flower shop Stamp set
Matching Pansy Punch
En Francais Stamp

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All I want for Christmas is........

Hopefully something from Stampin' Up! 
Stuck for ideas? Need some help? Let me help you.  Click on any product to order direct.

Here are my Top 5 Suggestions......

Envelope Punch Board - for all crafter's who struggle getting envelopes to fit! Not only does it make envelopes, tags, crackers and boxes, it includes 2 punches on the board itself, plus printed instructions. Measurements in metric and Imperial. NOTE: This may not be in stock in time for Christmas Delivery.

Envelope Punch Board £17.95

 A Stampin' Up Gift Voucher

Any amount, starting from £5.00 Valid for 12 months

Can be made up to any value from £5 + ! Redeemable only through me, but can be redeemed over a period of time, not just in one go. Ideal for those with a LONG wish list.... Order via email with the recipients name, and amount, plus your address and details for posting.

A Class Pass
Can be used for any of my standard classes for up to 12 months after issue. You can state the number of classes, or the value if you would prefer. Standard Class costs are £12.00 from January 2014 for classes in Brackley.

 

UNDEFINED - Carve your own stamps

For those artistic people who want to create their own designs - the perfect Christmas Present - a 'Design and Carve your own stamps kit' called Undefined. Everything you need to create up to 4 stamps, and refill kits available. Tools include sharp instruments - not recommended for young children without a supervising adult.

 

Included in the Stamp Carving Kit:
* 2 carving tools
* 3" x 4" rubber
* 3" x 4" foam
* 4 wood blocks (various sizes)
* 1 Island Indigo Stampin’ Write Marker
* 3 postcards
* Instruction sheet
* Stamp image templates

See lots of samples HERE

Buy the Stampin' up! Starter Kit for just £99 and you will get an amazing £130 worth of products of your choice, plus £45 of catalogues and business supplies.

Online application necessary. CLICK on this LINK

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Christmas Gift Ideas :)

Well it's the last day for ordering from Stampin' Up! today for guaranteed Christmas delivery. You can order online, email or phone me if you want to catch this evening's order. Last time for ordering is 9pm. 

Watch our for my BLOG post later this evening with my TOP 5 Crafters Christmas List!

If you miss the deadline, why not consider buying either yourself, or a friend or family member a gift voucher.  These can be for classes, products or a combination of both.

Please feel free to contact me by email or phone to order products or vouchers. 
Jenny McCormac: EMAIL or phone 01280 840453

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New location get's the 'Thumbs Up!'

I am so pleased that the first of my classes at our new location was a great success.  It was a class based on the really popular Envelope Punch Board and took place last Saturday (7th December) where we made envelopes, tags, boxes and crackers!
Here is a photo of the class in action:

Plenty of space and daylight lighting

A great venue for our classes

There were a lot of projects to get through, here is one of the sample crackers we made, and a little peek underneath at the projects one of the ladies had ready to take home with her....

The class included the Envelope Punch Board which the ladies got to take home.
I am repeating this class next week, due to its popularity - I have spaces left on Wednesday evening 7-9pm 1th December. Do let me know if you would like to book: You can EMAIL me here.

Some exciting news if you like a bargain: VISIT THIS PAGE

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New Location for Regular Classes

Hello
Just a quick update to show you the new venue I have organised for my regular card and craft classes. The new location is just 50 yards away from the old one - so still close to the Courtyard Coffee House for those lovely coffees.

It is above the Jems Stationers shop in the Market Place, Brackley. The entrance is round the back of the shop, just turn left after the shop, keep the wall on your left hand side. and take the first entrance to the rear of the property, through the wooden fence/gate.

There is a porch way, and you can enter the door and go straight upstairs to the studio. It is up the stairs so I am afraid it is not suitable for wheelchairs or those requiring disabled access. I will endeavour to hold some Saturday or Sunday classes at another location, so that I can accommodate all of my lovely customers in one way or another.

View towards the entrance door

The room lighting is via daylight light bulbs, and there is a separate cloakroom, plus a fridge and kettle. There are plenty of sockets and lots of space. I do hope you like my choice of location. I really wanted to keep it in central Brackley to avoid additional transport for most of my local ladies.

I will have to increase the cost of my classes, as this new location has better facilities and is more expensive. All standard classes will be £12.00, or FREE with an order of £22.00. I will cover the cost for December, so this new price will not take effect until 1st January 2014.

Make sure you check my class list HERE for full details and updates. Please let me know what you think of my new location - I always welcome feedback.
Thank you

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The Perfect Christmas Present - 10 months of Stampin' Up! goodies

Would you like to be one of the first to find out about Stampin' Up!s new promotions?
Then you can - if you join my Monthly Club which starts January 2014

One of the perks of joining my Monthly Craft Club is that you will receive FREE advance copies of all Stampin' Up!s  new catalogues, plus all the news as soon as it is available.

You will also get a minimum £25 of FREE products in your selected month during your subscription. Details below, or visit my CLUB PAGE on this BLOG for full details. 
To join in January, just EMAIL me and I will send you all the details.  Would make the PERFECT Christmas present too!

Monthly spend of £15 or £25 is required, minimum subscription 6 months(£25) or 10 months(£15).

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Special Classes - FREE Envelope Punch Board

This Weeks Special Class - Tags, Boxes and Envelopes (Brackley NN13)

Yes, but that's not all. Come to one of my two special classes running in the next 10 days and you will get the BRAND NEW ENVELOPE PUNCH BOARD to take home with you after class.

TAKE ME HOME!

Tealight holder for 4 tealights, plus matching tag

This board (in my opinion) is the easiest envelope maker currently on the market - it shows you what size paper you need to cut, where to score it and it will cut the notches and round the flap corners all for you! Not only that, but you can make 66 different envelope sizes, similar numbers of boxes, plus cards, tags, and crackers.

 

 

 

 

Little card with matching envelope and liner

In my class you will be shown the following projects and how to make them from scratch:

2 sizes of cracker to make (more sizes available)

Cute gift holder for standard gift card

I hope you can join me for one of the 2 classes. It is a fabulous product. If you can't attend class you can still order your envelope punch board through me at £17.95.  Place an order over £20 and I will include some class instructions for you.  Click HERE just to order or EMAIL me to book your class.

Class dates: Saturday 7th Dec 1-3pm and Wednesday 11th Dec 7-9pm cost £22 p/person

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