Friday 30 December 2011

Emboss Resist

Hello Everyone

During some recent workshops, I had some requests to re-visit the 'Emboss Resist' technique. This is the card I came up with...



To create this effect, I first stamped the flower image , (hostess set - simply soft), on to Very Vanilla card using Versamark ink - sprinkled on clear embossing powder and heat set using a heat gun.

Next I took a dauber and daubed Island Indigo ink over the top of the image, finishing by wiping off with a tissue. Now the flower that has been embossed resists the Indigo ink and you get the effect above.

This card also uses the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch  - love this delicate effect - and three Mini Brads.

Hope you are inspired to have a go with the Emboss Resist technique. :)
Love Elizabeth X

Wednesday 28 December 2011

Birthday Owl

Hello Everyone

Today I am sharing a cute birthday card that we made during our December classes. We used a top note background and the Owl punch to make the sweet birthday owl.



The stamps come from Party this Way and Funky Four - the wings of the owl are made using the Boho Blossoms punch and the leaves made using the Little Leaves die.

I did the eyes in advance because I wanted to use Crystal Effects and it takes a little while to dry when you use a blob to make the 3D eyes. Now we have the Multipurpose adhesive sheets, I could make them all up on the adhesive sheet, so they could easily be stuck on during the class.

This card was inspired by the one I made for my niece Phoebe on her second birthday, so I though I would show you her card too....



Hope you like my cute little owl cards :)

Love Elizabeth X

Saturday 24 December 2011

Happy Christmas Everyone

Hello Everyone and Happy Christmas to each and every one of you

Today I am sharing some luxury Christmas tags that we made during our December classes. Mine are currently attached to gifts under my Christmas tree.

They have so many elements I am not sure where to start telling you about them. I will start with the die used to create the tag shapes - this is the new Two Tags die, which is another Big Shot favourite for me.




We used some lovely Crumb Cake and Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding ribbon and the beautiful Victoria Crochet Trim. Amongst the stamps are Tags Till Christmas, Perfect Punches, Four Frames, Everything Eleanor, Elizabeth and Petite Pennants.



I chose Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla and Naturals Ivory cardstock along with some matching Designer Paper from the Regals and Neutrals stacks to create these vintage looking tags.

Have a wonderful Christmas holiday and I will be back soon.

Love Elizabeth X

Wednesday 21 December 2011

Christmas Tree Gift Box

Hello Everyone

Today I am sharing a project that we made during our December classes.

It is made using the very versatile Petal Cone die and is decorated with cardstock buttons embossed using the Sweet Buttons Embosslits die.



We created the triangular box by trimming one section off one of the die before assembling.

Now as it is Christmans there has to be chocolate, so I designed a little opening so chocolates could be popped inside.



I just love all the things you can do with this die. I hope you like this project too.

Love Elizabeth X

Monday 19 December 2011

Concord Crush Christmas

Hello Everyone

Today is another purple Christmas card - I promise to share some traditional colours in my upcoming posts!

This one is in the rich Concord Crush and uses stamps from Tags Till Christmas and Serene Snowflakes. I used a layer of white card run through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing folder and added some dazzling diamonds for some sparkle.



Back soon with more Christmas ideas.

 Love Elizabeth X

Thursday 15 December 2011

Layering in Wisteria

Hello Everyone

Today's card features one of our In Colours, Wisteria Wonder. I started by stamping the super large Medallion background stamp in the Wisteria Wonder ink on the matching cardstock. Love that tone-on-tone effect.




Next I created some layers for my greeting. I put some Concord Crush cardstock through the Big Shot using the ever popular Top Note die. I then turned the die cut 90 degrees, and cut again to create the shape above. I layered with a couple of squares then a die cut circle made using the Perfect Pennants die and finished with the sentiment stamp from the Perfect Punches stamp set.

Hope you like this one. :)


Love Elizabeth X

Monday 12 December 2011

Penguin Candles

Hello Everyone

Today I am sharing a quick and easy gift to make for Christmas. I demonstrated this at some recent workshops and have loved seeing what my lovely crafting friends and customers have created with this technique.



If you have never stamped on candles before it is very easy. First stamp your image on tissue paper, (the wrapping tissue sort), colour as required, place on to your candle and cover tightly with wax paper or baking parchment. Next heat the image until the tissue melts into the wax - keep checking and heating until you can't see the tissue. Be careful with the heat gun near your fingers!

I did a little matching gift card, also using Polar Party stamps, Stazon ink and Island Indigo, Pool Party and Daffodil Delight markers. Happy candle stamping!

Love Elizabeth X

Thursday 8 December 2011

Pennant Christmas Trees

Hello Everyone

Another non-traditional Christmas card coming up today. I went for Melon Mambo for this one along with one of the lovely papers from Cheerful Treat, which is the designer paper choice for our hostesses.



The die cut scalloped circle comes from the Perfect Pennants die, the trees use Pennant Parade and the Petite Pennants punch. The greeting is from Curly Cute. Hope you like it :)

 Love Elizabeth X

Tuesday 6 December 2011

Island Indigo Christmas

Hello Everyone

Today's card was made using one of our A La Carte stamps called Something for Christmas. I love the little baubles and I used the marker-to-stamp technique to get the variation in colours. I also added some Basic Rhinestones for a bit of Christmas bling.



I used a half a Scallop Circle die cut shape on top of the Island Indigo cardstock. I then used some matching designer paper, (Timeless Portrait DSP), and punched a beautiful Lace Ribbon Border punch.

Hope you like today's project.

Love Elizabeth X

Saturday 3 December 2011

Sparkly in December

Hello Everyone

Here we are in December - where did the year go? I turned around and it had gone! LOL

Now if you are in the UK and anyone asks you what you want for Christmas - why not have a Stampin' Up! gift voucher so you can buy crafting goodies from your wish list? I am offering vouchers which can be ordered by email or phone. Do contact me if you would like further details.

Today I have a sparkly Christmas card to share. It uses one of my favourite new stamp sets - Polar Party! Now I don't usually do cutesy - but I LOVE these little penguins and Polar Bears! Sweeeet!



We did all the circles of Whisper White with the Circles #2 die, plus one punched with the 1 3/4" Circle punch. The images were stamped in Stazon and then coloured using markers.

The greeting is from Petite Pairs stamped in Pacific Point to match the cardstock.

We finished by putting Versamark ink over the Polar Bear circle, we covered it in Heat and Stick powder and heated, then sprinkled on Dazzling Diamonds, (the best glitter ever IMO), to get a fabby sparkly look.

Hope you like it :)

Love Elizabeth X

Wednesday 30 November 2011

Top Note Gift Card Holder

Hello Everyone

Today I am sharing another of the projects we made during our November classes. This idea originally came from my lovely upline Amanda, and I changed the stamps and papers to come up with this idea.

The nice thing about this design, is that it is a card and gift card holder in one.

We made it using the new zingy Lucky Limeade cardstock and co-ordinating Designer Paper and the stamps are from Tags till Christmas and Oval All.



I managed to take some scissors to my reel of fabby Cherry Cobbler Scallop Dots ribbon - isn't it pretty?


Love Elizabeth X

Sunday 27 November 2011

Petal Cone Tree Hanger

Hello Everyone

When the Petal Cone die appeared in our latest Stampin' Up! catalogue I was SO delighted because there are so many things you can create with it.

During November we made some boxes to hang from the Christmas tree.



We made them in Riding Hood Red, and used co-ordinating DSP plus Garden Green DSP from the Regals Paper Stack to decorate.

The sentimest are from Tags Till Christmas and the Tree and Pennant are from Pennant Parade - we used the Petite Pennant Builder Punch to punch them out too. 


I can't wait to share some of the other ideas for this die - hope you like the first one.

Love Elizabeth X

Thursday 24 November 2011

Roomie Gifts

Hello Everyone

I thought today I would show you the AMAZING roomie gifts that Hayley made for me. Hayley and I shared a beautiful room at the Sequoia Lodge at Disneyland Paris for the recent Stampin' Up! European Convention.

I brought back lots of goodies which you can see I laid out on my sideboard to show my team when they came over for a training evening. You can see some of the make and takes we did, my fabulous convention bag and some of the stamps I got to bring home.



So here are my roomie gifts...Hayley used the beautiful Mocha Morning Speciality Designer Series Paper. She SO knows my taste - this is my favourite DSP in the catalogue. She also included lots of Antique Brads, Victoria Crochet Trim and ribbon embellishments - aren't I a lucky girl?

So let me take you through - from left to right you can see my decorated water bottle, (very useful as the French heat their rooms to a very high temperature - it was boiling in there!). In front of the bottle is a mini scrap book - she made one for everyone in the team and it is beautiful - then the three matching packages held Cadbury's chocolate stars. Once again - a spot on gift for me! I LOVE Cadbury's chocolate and I found another star on the bedside table each night!



The gift box behind got a little battered in my hand luggage on the way home, but it did it's job and protected my main gift and a simply stunning creation. Let me show you my ornament in close up...




Now when you are sharing with such a talented friend, it is very challenging to come up with a nice roomie gift for her - but I did my best. This is a look at what I made for lovely Hayley....you can see we have very similar tastes - more Antique Brads and Victoria ribbon! I chose the Beau Chateau paper.


I also want to tell you that Hayley was a fantastic roomie - not only that but she did an AMAZING job presenting at convention. As well as being very interesting and giving us some fabby tips about workshops, she made us laugh and I know I would love to go to one of her events. Her customers are lucky to have such a great demo.

Thank you Hayley!

I hope you liked seeing our little makes - back soon with more projects.


Love Elizabeth X

Monday 21 November 2011

On stage at European Convention!!!

Hello Everyone

Well I am back from Disneyland Paris, the venue for the 2011 European Stampin' Up! Convention. Can you imagine? My two favourite things - Stamping and Disney all together! And with some of my favourite people too - my fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrators!



The theme for this year's convention is grow and above you can see the main stage - I took this picture during my rehearsal time. I had been asked to present a Wow! project on the main stage. Oh my goodness - I was so honoured and excited to be asked - but nervous to be presenting to such a talented audience! And then I found out I was being introduced by Shelli Gardner (Stampin' Up! co-founder and CEO) - so no pressure then! LOL

Here I am waiting to go on stage (wearing Island Indigo you notice!) ...


...and here is the hall filling up with demonstrators that I am going to be speaking to soon.....

I apologise for the dark photos - my camera wasn't quite up to the distances...but thank you to my lovely roomie Hayley for taking these for me...


There was a camera man at my side so I was also being filmed up on that big screen - and remember the camera is adding 10 pounds - mostly to my chin it seems! LOL



So, I hear you asking, what did you make? Well I made a pretty Scallop Square Origami Christmas ornament - that those of you who have been to my recent workshops have seen - and those who have their workshops booked will see shortly. 



So enough about me - here are some more pictures from convention: I will start with a couple of the many boards of inspiring projects on display...





Next - here are some 3D projects - and see that little strawberry basket & gift card? I made that! (And no I didn't just put in on there before I took the photo! LOL)


Here are some of my lovely team -


Half of El, (sorry about that El!), Hayley, Elaine, Amanda, Rhoda and me...

Now we learned about all sorts of exciting things that are coming up and I will be sharing the news over then upcoming weeks and months. I CAN tell you that you will certainly be wanting to host a workshop during the first quarter of 2013 - apart from that, my lips are sealed! LOL 

We also had our awards dinner - which is like Stampin' Up! Oscars - we all dressed up in our finery - but with a little twist here and there - after all we were at Disney... here is Hayley, (best convention Roomie EVER), our lovely upline Amanda and me. I got to walk across the stage and recieve an award - Hayley was ranked 8th in the UK and Amanda was 2nd! So you can see I am in very talented company here!



And when the convention was over - there was still excitement to be had - we headed off to the Disneyland Paris parks to play...

Here are Michele and Elaine - two Disney newbies who are now Disney converts...


...and Amanda and me - both fully paid-up members of the 'how-many-times-can-I-ride-Thunder-Mountain' club!


The whole event was absolutely wonderful and I am still bubbling with excitement at all that I have to share with you ...but I will finish with my convention swap card.

It uses the Simply Soft hostess Stamp set and Victoria Crochet trim.


I hope you enjoyed this VERY long post - back soon with more projects and updates.

Love Elizabeth X

Sunday 20 November 2011

Pool Party Christmas & my Secret

Hello Everyone

Now I have gone to convention, I can tell you something I have been keeping a secret since June..... I am demonstrating on main stage at European convention!!! I was SO honoured to be asked. I will share pictures and the project that I demoed when I get back - but I had to tell you! Woo hoo!!!

Well I am still at Convention today, but by the magic of scheduling I can still share a card with you. :) This is a card we made during our October classes and features the fabulous new colours - Pool Party and Island Indigo.

We stamped the ornaments, (which come from Tags for Christmas and Contempo Christmas), and punched out with the ornament punch. I actually did a re-design after taking this photo - we made a 3D version of the Island Indigo bauble.



The strip of vanilla cardstock is stamped using the Serene Snowflakes stamp set and the greeting is from Curly Cute.

I taught the girls how to make this perfect bow using the 'fork' technique - we used Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon.

Hope you like - back in a couple of days with all the pics and projects from European Convention. See you then!

Love Elizabeth X

Thursday 17 November 2011

Everything Eleanor in Razzleberry

Hello Everyone


Well today you can wish me Bon Voyage as I am off to Stampin' Up! European Convention at Disneyland Paris. I am so excited as I am both a HUGE Disney fan and of course a HUGE Stampin' Up! fan - so to have my two favourite things together is just wonderful!

I am leaving DH behind to look after the house - which is fair enough as he often has to work away - although not in Disney! LOL

Today I am sharing a project using the beautiful Everything Eleanor stamp set, (currently a Stampin' Up! UK exclusive).


This stamp set features my favourite swirl of all time! I really like the flowers too. The not-stamped-straight greeting is from Petite Pairs, (whoops - oh well, I hear that straight is over-rated! LOL)

I finished the card with a strip of Rich Razzleberry done with the Lace Ribbon Border punch, with three little Basic Pearls on the top. Love this border punch.

Love Elizabeth X

Tuesday 15 November 2011

Fabric Display

Hello Everyone

I posted a fabric project the other day - but had a few more on display at my launch party. I thought you might like to see how I showed my new fabric samples. I will give you a close up of the various projects in future posts - but here is my fabric tray.


Here is another view...look closely and you can see the fabric has matching pegs to hold it on...love Stampin' Up! co-ordination! By the way, those pieces of hanging fabric are just a sample size - you actually recieve three pieces each of 68 X 45 cm (27 X 18").


OK - so just one project in close up today - and it's the tea cosy! I cut the fabric using the smallest pennant from the Perfect Pennants die, the top flower was made using the Flower Burst embosslit and the bottom one using the Fancy Flower die. The letters are cut again with the Big Shot and the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet dies. I used a mixture of fabrics (and it is the model's own teacosy! LOL)



Very appropriate for a tea-loving English girl! Hope you like it!

Love Elizabeth X

Saturday 12 November 2011

Scallop Circle Christmas Card

Hello Everyone

I love making cards with the Scallop Circle die and the Big Shot. This is a quick one I made featuring the Pennant Parade stamp set and the Petite Pennant punch.



The greeting comes from Contempo Christmas. Hope you like this quick and easy card.

Love Elizabeth X

Wednesday 9 November 2011

Christmas Mini Book

Hello Everyone

Today's mini book was originally made by a fellow demo Michele, (thank you Michele), at a training event. I decided to decorate it using the fabulous new Tags Till Christmas stamps.



The colour combination I used was Pretty in Pink, Concorde Crush, Perfect Plum and Wisteria Wonder. Below you can see the scalloped circle created using the Perfect Pennant die. The Lace Ribbon Border makes a great embellishment as you can see.


Do you like the stamped twill tape? I stamped it using Concord Crush ink and a flower from Itty Bitty Bits.


The greeting in the middle is a single A la Carte stamp called Something for Christmas. Isn't it pretty?


Many thanks to Michele for the design - it was so much fun to decorate.


Although Tags til Christmas is designed to make fabulous festive tags, you can see it makes so much more. Hope you like it!

Love Elizabeth X

Sunday 6 November 2011

Fabulous Fabric

Hello Everyone

When I saw the new Stampin' Up! catalogue for the first time, I was excited, but a little nervous so see we were getting the beautiful co-ordinating fabric choices. "Oh no - am I going to have to sew?" LOL

Well for those of you talented ladies who know one end of a sewing machine from the other - you will love this fabby fabric - but for those like me - you can STILL play with fabric and be happy with what you have made.

Now as I said, the best thing that Stampin' Up! offer is co-ordination between projects. So I started by using the beautiful Timeless Portrait Designer Series Paper to embellish a box...



Inside the box, is a matching brooch, made with the matching Timeless Portrait fabric. I cut it using the Fun Flowers die and the Big Shot - love it!



I think this would make a sweet gift - in fact I did make one for one of my lovely customers and good friend  Tracey. Now if you look at page 7 of the UK Stampin' Up! catalogue - you can see a picture of Tracey, being quoted about how much fun it is to host a workshop. We were both so excited to see her in there!


Back soon with more lovely new catty projects.

Love Elizabeth X