Exciting News from Stampin' Up!

I am so excited to let you know that Stampin' Up! is having a Colour Renovation!

What does this mean for you - well starting from 1 October 2010 there will be some fabulous new colours for you and we will be saying a fond farewell to some other colours.

There will be 15 new colours to chose from:Daffodil Delight
Early Espresso
Marina Mist
Cajun Craze
Cherry Cobbler
Melon Mambo
Pacific Point
Tangerine Tango
River Rock
Soft Suede
Riding Hood Red
Rich Razzleberry
Wild Wasabi
Pink Pirouette
Baja Breeze

and Crumb Cake = Kraft :-)

The retiring colours are Pink Passion, Pixie Pink, Pale Plum, Orchid Opulence, Lovely Lilac, Lavender Lace, Almost Amethyst, Bordering Blue, Brocade Blue, Ballet Blue, Brilliant Blue, Taken with Teal, Glorious Green, Handsome Hunter, Sage Shadow, Mellow Moss, Green Galore, Gable Green, Barely Banana, Yoyo Yellow, Summer Sun, Apricot Appeal, Only Orange, Really Rust, Ruby Red, Cameo Coral, Blush Blossom, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, and Going Gray.

From now until the end of September you can stock up on all of the retiring inks, reinkers, papers, ribbons, and other accessories. Remember once they are gone, they will no longer be available. Please don't wait until the last minute. If you have any questions, I will be more than happy to help you. If you would like to place an order please email me at thefineartofstampin@gmail.com or phone me on 01475689958.

***NEW*** Mini Catalogue

Click here to view the new mini catalogue

Special offer for those close to me - if you would like to place an order by 5 April and are willing to call round and pick up your items from me then P&P will be free.
Just drop me an email or pop an order form with payment through my door :)
For more information phone me on 01475 689958.

Perfect Pair Promotion

Dates: 1-31 March 2010

Promotion details:

Buy a qualifying stamp set and receive the coordinating punch for 20 percent off! Plus, be the first to purchase the brand-new Full Heart punch—now available in the United Kingdom for one month only (or while supplies last)!

Qualifying stamp sets and punches are listed below:

Item	Page	Description	Price	Coordinating Punch Discounted Price
106598	59	Simply Said	£22.95
106812	59	Amitié (French Simply Said)	£22.95
113693	n/a*	Full Heart punch**	£12.50	£10.00

*The Full Heart punch will not be available again until the 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue.

**Full Heart punch can be purchased separately for the full price.

Item	Page	Description	Price	Coordinating Punch Discounted Price
111502	55	In the Stars	£24.95
112640	55	Sous une bonne étoile (French In the Stars)	£24.95
112622	55	In den Sternen (German In the Stars)	£24.95
113652	88	Large Star punch	£12.50	£10.00

Item	Page	Description	Price	Coordinating Punch Discounted Price
111564	43	Flight of the Butterfly	£23.95
111752	43	Sur les ailes d’un papillon (French Flight of the Butterfly)	£23.95
117404	88	Butterfly punch	£12.50	£10.00

Item	Page	Description	Price	Coordinating Punch Discounted Price
111678	58	Say It with Scallops	£14.95
111730	58	Dites-le joliment (French Say It with Scallops)	£14.95
113653	88	Scallop Square punch	£12.50	£10.00

Item	Page	Description	Price	Coordinating Punch Discounted Price
113790	58	Oval All	£14.95
114649	58	En ovale (French Oval All)	£14.95
114663	58	Ovale Sprüche (German Oval All)	£14.95
115429	88	Scallop Oval punch	£12.50	£10.00

Things to Remember:

• The Full Heart punch will not be available again until the release of the 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue.
• You can purchase the Full Heart punch separately for the full price.
• The Full Heart punch is only available while supplies last. When the inventory is depleted, it will be removed from the promotion.
• There is no limit to the number of coordinating stamp sets and discounted punches you may purchase. For every qualified stamp set you purchas, you get one coordinating punch at 20 percent off.

Just a quick note to let you know I will be out of contact for the next 8-9 days.

Sale-A-Bration Blog Hop!

Firstly let me apologise for the poor pictures taken in bad lighting conditions but I don't think I've actually been at home in daylight hours this week! (Anyone else who works in personal tax will know why LOL - roll on February :D ).

Secondly and far more importantly welcome to everyone who is joining me from Carole's blog.
Nice to have some visitors in on a cold Sunday in January.


My first project is a set of mini note cards using the Vintage Labels set (yours FREE with any purchase of £45 or more before the end of February, as if you didn't know!).

I used some Love Notes (these are little 3"x3" cards and envelopes, and they come in a pack of 20, ten Whisper White and ten Very Vanilla) and designer series paper in the following colourways: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Rose Red and Bashful Blue.
Ink and cardstock to match.

I stamped the label using white craft ink and punched it out using the co-ordinating scallop circle punch. I then used the 3/4" punch to punch out the sentiment in the middle that I had stamped on whisper white card. The eyelet border punch was used to make the trim.
Tip: When using the border punches (either the scallop edge punch or the eyelet border punch) on the designer paper I get a cleaner punched edge if I punch two sheets of paper instead of one, as the punches are designed to be use with heavier weight cardstock.

The bag was made from a sheet of A4 printer paper. The handles were made using the 1 3/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches.

My second sample uses the Good Neighbours Sale-A-Bration set
I think the houses in this are really cute.


And lastly this little gift tag uses the Good Neighbours set again. I used my Stampin' Write markers to colour my stamp with two different colours before stamping it on to whisper white paper. The flower is from the Pretties Kit (as is the pearl) and has been coloured in using a real red marker.
Some more Sale-A-Bration samples made using the Happy Moments set can be found here.

I hope you are having fun on the Sale-A-Bration blog hop today and you can find some more gorgeous samples on Clare's blog - just follow the link and thank you for visiting. Hope to see you by this way again soon :)

And finally for details of how Stampin' Up! are contibuting to the Haitian Disaster Relief fund please click on the offers tab above - thank you :)

Sale-A-Bration Blog Hop!

Look out for the Sale-A-Bration Blog Hop! passing this way on Sunday 24th January.

Love You Much - ony one month to go!

Its time to think about Valentine's Day. Love You Much is a new set in the UK catalogue this year and its so pretty. Here are some examples made using this set:

Card 1
I stamped the large heart four times and cut it out to make a large flower.
The ribbon is the res striped gros-grain ribbon coloured in using a Pixie Pink marker.

Supplies:
Stamps: Love You Much, Polka Dot Background
Card: Real Red, Pixie Pink, Regal Rose, Whisper White
Ink: Pixie Pink & Pink Passion markers, White craft ink (for Polka Dot background)
Accessories: Eyelet Border Punch, Red Grosgrain ribbon, scallop circle punch

Card 2

Supplies:

Stamps: Love You Much, En Francais Background Stamp, Its Beautiful Wheel,Vintage Labels (SAB set)
Card: Real Red, Pretty In Pink, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Real Red & Pretty in Pink markers, White craft ink (for Its Beautiful wheel), Real Red
Accessories: Eyelet Border Punch, Red Grosgrain ribbon,


Card 3

Supplies:

Stamps: Love You Much, En Francais Background Stamp, Its Beautiful Wheel,Vintage Labels (SAB set)
Card: Real Red, Pretty In Pink, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Real Red & Pretty in Pink markers, White craft ink (for Its Beautiful wheel), Real Red
Accessories: Eyelet Border Punch, Red Grosgrain ribbon,

Love is in the air...

...well on a card anyway.

This card is based on the one on page 86 of the current idea book and catalogue. The letters and heart are from the Sticky Cuts Sweet set. These are like sticky strip (if you've used that before) but cut into shapes and letter. There's a backing sheet that you peel off to add the images to your card and then when you're ready to add glitter you just peel off the red top strip and then sprinkle on your glitter...easy peasy and very quick.

I was also looking for ribbon to match so I decided to colour in my red striped grosgrain ribbon with a Pixie Pink marker - I love how it turned out. What do you think?

Supplies:

Stamps: Vintage Labels (Sale-A-Bration limited edition set)
Card: Pink Passion, Certainly Celery, Whisper white
Ink: Craft White, Pixie Pink
Accessories: Sticky Cuts Sweet, Fine Cosmo Glitter, Red Striped Grosgrain ribbon (coloured with Pixie Pink marker)

Sale-A-Bration - Happy Moments

How great are these FREE sale-a-bration stamps.
You can chose a limited edition sale-a-bration set free with each and EVERY purchase over £45. - so if you spend £45 you get one set if you spend £90- two sets free etc.

You can also combine with your hostess benefits so if you place an order of £150 or more you would receive

1. a FREE level 1 hostess set,
   
2. £15 worth of FREE product and
   
3. THREE FREE sale-a-bration sets

If you'd like to place an order please contact me by phone or email.

These are some cards I made using the Happy Moments set. Its so versatile and as you can see can be used in a variety of styles.

The first card I made using the presents stamp.
I stamped the image several times on different sheets of Bashful Blue designer series paper, and then paper pieced the image together.
I then coloured in the linen thread using a Brocade Blue marker,
before tying it round each "parcel".

Supplies:
Stamps: Happy Moments, Sanded background stamp
Card: Bashful Blue, Whisper White
Paper: Bashful Blue designer series paper
Ribbon: Bashful Blue striped grosgrain
Embellishments: Hodgepodge Hardware


Birthday Card

The dotty background piece is made by punching holes in a strip of black cardstock and then backing it with Pink Passion and Pixie Pink cardstock. Helen used this idea on her card that was part of the In Love With Stamping January challenge.

I used the mat pack to space the holes evenly and then used the Cropadile and 1/2" circle punch to make the holes. The Whisper White cardstock was edged using the Border eyelet punch. Have I mentioned how much I love this punch! I find it almost impossible to make a card without using this punch at the moment LOL.

Once again I paper-pieced the image after stamping it on Pretty In Pink cardstock. The flowers were then coloured in using Pink Passion and Pixie Pink markers.

I wanted my ribbon to match the bright colours of the card so I used my Pixie Pink marker to colour in some white grosgrain ribbon. I also coloured in some flowers from the Pretties kit again using the Pink Passion and Pixie Pink markers.

Supplies:
Stamps: Happy Moments,
Card: Pixie Pink, Pink Passion, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ribbon: White grosgrain, coloured with Pixie Pink marker
Embellishments: Flowers from Pretties Kit coloured with Pixie Pink and Pink Passion markers
Punches: Border eyelet punch, word window punch

Vintage Style Thank You card

I love this little birdcage stamp. And I thought it would go just perfectly with the Bella Bleu papers.
I made a scrunchie vellum flower (click on the classes tab above for a step-by-step guide on how to make these). I also coloured some Very Vanilla Ribbon with a Creamy Caramel marker to match the rest of my card.
All edges were inked using a sponge dauber and Creamy Caramel ink for a vintage effect.

Supplies:
Stamps: Happy Moments, En Francais
Card: Very Vanilla, Not Quite Navy, Vellum paper
Ribbon: Very Vanilla grosgrain, coloured with Creamy Caramel marker, Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon
Embellishments: Scrunchie Flower made from Vellum paper, Linen Thread
Punches: Border eyelet punch, oval punch, oval scallop punch

For You Card
Last but not least was a simple card using colours from the Soft Subtles range

Supplies:
Stamps: Happy Moments, Its Beautiful Jumbo Wheel
Card: Whisper White, Pretty In Pink, Barely Banana, Pale Plum
Ribbon: Pink Gingham
Embellishments: Soft Subtles brads
Punches: Border eyelet punch, oval punch, oval scallop punch (trimmed)

Happy Birthday Dawn

It's Dawn's Birthday today.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAWN!
Hope you have a lovely day.

Card Supplies:

Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Pixie Pink
Patterned Papers: Kaleidoscope
Stamp: Miss Anya, coloured in using Stampin' Markers