Seaside and Sunshine - must be Summer!

Hi and welcome back to my regular Blog post.

It is amazing to think we are enjoying such a fantastic summer. I love this weather, although these days I never seem to have time to sit out and enjoy it like I used to.  However, summer makes me think of the seaside, and I have some cards to share with you today that may just remind you of the seaside.

The first set are my Thank you Cards for my customers in July. All customers placing orders with me always get a little hand stamped card by way of a thank you. This month I decided to use the Wetlands stamp set - it features 3 greetings and 3 images perfect for the English summer. It can be found on page 69 of the main catalogue. You can visit the catalogue  HERE

For my Thank you Cards, I simple stamped the image direct to Whisper White card, used the Gorgeous Grunge Stripes and Splodges to make the sand, and then used our AquaPainter to add some ink with a watercolour effect. The Thank You sentiment comes from 'Lots of Thanks'.

You can see below 2 samples of cards made at some of my recent card classes. The one on the right which uses a new colour called 'Crisp Cataloupe' was made by one of my downline team, Clara Locke - I simply love her colour choice.

My card classes have been going really well this month and next month is well booked too. If you live near Brackley, Buckingham, Towcester or Milton Keynes, please contact me for more details.

You can skip straight to my Card Class tab  HERE.

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Fancy trying your hand at 'tiling' ?

Well, tiling, but maybe not as you know it!
My card class on Wednesday is going to feature how to make a 'Tiled Effect' which you can use either as the background to the card, or as the main image.

Here is a sample of what I mean:

I was lucky enough to spot this technique as shown by the very talented Julie Davison, you can see her example here:  Julie's Example

I love Julie's cards, as her style is very similar to the type of cards I make, so I really appreciate her sharing her ideas - and that is one of the lovely parts of being a Demonstrator - sharing our love of crafting with each other.

I am off now to make the final preparation for this class on Wednesday 29th May - just a few spaces left morning and evening if you interested in joining us! 

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New Classes this week.

It's hard to believe that my card classes have come around again so quickly! This weeks classes are held in Brackley, a morning and evening session - with the same projects so no-one misses out!

I have chosen three floral designs this month, although if you changed the colours for muted browns and greens I think any of the cards would be suitable for male or female recipients.

The first is a nice clean and simple card, which you could produce very quickly, just changing the sentiment as needed. I often recommend making more of one card at a time while you have the products in front of you - this a perfect example where you could do that.

The image comes from a favourite stamp set of mine Elements of Style, which is nearly but not quite replacing my all time favourite of 'Just Believe'. 

The colours I have chosen for my sample card are Not Quite Navy and Very Vanilla. The sentiment comes from 'A Word for You'.  You may have seen from previous postings that some of our current colours will be retiring in the forthcoming colour change in July. This includes Not Quite Navy, so if this is one of your favourite colours, make sure you don't miss out as stocks will not be replenished when they have finished.

I will post the other cards AFTER my class on Wednesday so as not to spoil it for those attending.
In the meantime, happy crafting !

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Last weeks card class went down really well, we made three card projects, all of which were suitable for many different occasions.

The images for the cards featured on the right are all from one versatile stamp set called Serene Silhouettes, and the sentiment is from a set called Oh, Hello. This caused great hilarity during the class as I managed to say the stamp set name with a slightly corny Lesley Phillips accent and now I won't be able to say it in any other way !

The backgrounds of the card are all embossed with the BigShot embossing folders, many of which are exclusive to Stampin' Up! Its a great way to add texture to your card.

The trees and flowers in the photo were created using our marker pens directly onto the stamp - ideal to achieve some mixed colour on your cards.

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves at class - I am lucky enough to have a great venue called The Banyan Tree in the centre of Brackley. It has a lovely atmosphere, great lighting, and the kettle is always on! Do pay a visit, they are open Tuesday-Saturday from 9:30am.

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Card Class samples - Quick and Easy Cards.

I have had to make quite a few quick and easy cards over the last week, so I thought I would share some with you.

These cards will be covered in my Brackley card class this week (Wednesday 10th April).

All you need for these cards are 2 square punches (I used 1 1/4" and 1 3/8"); the smaller punch you use to punch out a part of your image, and the larger one to produce a coloured layer to go behind the image.

I have made my own 3x3" cards using Whisper White cardstock, as these will fit the cute Mini Envelopes from Stampin' Up!

These cards are perfect for a quick thank you, thinking of you or even a gift card to go with some flowers.


You can use a single ink pad or you could use marker pens to get multiple colours as shown on the 'Celebrate' card. 

All of the images are from the lovely Serene Silhouettes stamp set, and the sentiments are from the very adaptable 'Fabulous Phrases' set.  If you would like to join us for the class, please email me as soon as possible or use one of the Connect with me Links at the right hand side of this BLOG. To order any Stampin' Up! products, please contact me on 01280 840453.

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Extra Card Class - Wednesday 10th April

Good Afternoon,
Although it is a cold and windy day here we have managed to avoid the worst of snow for once. We still have the remnants of the last snow on our side roads... and I was so hoping that they would have melted by now.

I have a quick update for you - by request;  I have added an extra Card Class in the school holidays to be held in Brackley. It is being held at the Banyan Tree, next Wednesday 10th April, 2-4pm. It is an adult class and we will be doing 3 projects. The cost is £10 per person and everything is provided. If you place an order for £20 at the class, then you can get your class for FREE.
Do let me know if you would like to attend - this is in addition to my normal classes.

I am off shortly to run my class in Stony Stratford - am looking forward to seeing some old and new faces alike.  Thank you

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