When I was at the Tartan Stampers weekend in April one of the shoebox swaps was a gorgeous cascade card. So I decided to make my own version for a special friend's birthday.

And this scrapbook layout (still to add the photo) was based on a class taught by my friend Diane at the same weekend.

And this was my card for the shoebox swap. As usual all supplies Stampin' Up!

Free Designer Series Papers

Even although Sale-A-Bration has now finished Stampin' Up! have given us another fantastic offer again this month and from 1-30 April 2012 you can choose from one of four patterned paper packs with every order over £45 (see attached flyer for details).

Please also remember that items from the Spring mini catalogue are only available to order until 30 April so if there is something in there that you have your eye on I would order now as there is no guarantee which items, if any, will be carried over to the main catalogue.

There is also a new stampers 6 group starting in May (as well as new Summer mini catalogue) so if you are interested in joining up and earning free products please contact me at: thefineartofstampin@gmail.com.

Thank you :-)

Christmas Stamp-a-Stack

Would you like to make your own festive cards for your nearest and dearest this Christmas? Why not come along to my Christmas Card class on Thursday 17 November where you can make at least five different cards, or even more, time permitting.

All are welcome from beginners to advanced crafters.

There will be a variety of cards to make on offer - just chose the five designs you like best and these are included in your initial class fee of £12. Then if you want to make more pay the low price of just £1.50 per additional card.

The class will take place at Dip n Doodle's premises in Gallowgate Lane, Largs from 7pm-10pm on Thursday 17 November.

Please contact me as early as possible to book your place. Payment is required no later than 14 November to secure your place but please book as early as possible as spaces are limited.

Payment can be made via the paypal button below, or by cheque/cash. Please contact me at thefineartofstampin@gmail.com or on 07949 101534 to book your place.

I look forward to seeing you soon.

Also look out for details of a Christmas mini album class and a Christmas home decor class - coming soon!

Christmas Card Class 17 Nov

New Team Member

I am so pleased to welcome Alison to my team of demonstrators.

Alison's blog can be found here so do please go and visit as I'm sure she will soon be updating when her starter kit arrives.

If anyone else is interested in joining my team then now is the ideal time as you can take advantage of the in-colour promotion. As well as receiving the usual starter kit stuffed full of stamps, inks, card, paper and business supplies (worth £250) you will also receive all of the new 2011-13 in-color ink pads and cardstock (worth a further £27.95), all for the low starter kit price of £119.

If you are interest then please contact me at thefineartofstampin@gmail for more information.

ILWS New Catalogue Blog Hop

If you have just joined the blog hop here then welcome and enjoy your trip.
If you have arrived from Vicky's blog didn't she show us some amazing products showcasing new items from the catalogue.

Way back at the start of the month I mentioned that as a demo I had the opportunity to order some of the new products earlier and I showed you this sneak peek of something I had made using the new exclusive Stampin' Up! fabric.

Well this is the bag that I made. It uses two complete pieces of fabric. You get three pieces of fabric in each pack and each piece is approx 68.6cm x 45.7cm. This is the Timeless Portrait Fabric (item # 122337) and is priced at £8.95 per pack.
I also used some Basic Black Striped Grosgrain Ribbon (#115615 £10.25) for the handles.

If you'd like to know how to make this bag check back later in the week when I hope to be posting a tutorial.

Also in my pre-order were the new 2011-13 In-Colours, Pennant Parade Stamp set (p37) and the new Petite Pennants builder Punch (p119). And I used all of these to make the following birthday card. The sentiment is from the fab hostess set Happiest Birthday Wishes (p8) and I'll tell you further on about the amazing new hostess benefits that have been introduced.

The new in-colours used on this card are from L-R Calypso Coral, Pool Party and Wisteria Wonder.

However as we're talking about in-colours this might be a good time to mention the new recruitment promotion.

Be a part of the ‘In Color’ crowd!

A new Idea Book & Catalogue means new In Colors—a collection of fresh and trendy colours that are introduced each year. And during October, you can get select 2011-2013 In Color products for FREE when you join the Stampin’ Up! family!

Join in October and get the Card Stock and Classic Pad In Color Kit—containing five Classic Stampin’ Pads and an assortment of A4 card stock in Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder, and Island Indigo—absolutely FREE!

This kit—a £27.95 value—in addition to the many new and exciting products you’ll receive in the recently updated new-demonstrator Starter Kit (£119, valued at more than £250!) gives you the tools you need to start a successful business or simply support a hobby you already love.

If you would be interested in getting the products you love at a 20 percent discount, in addition to the many other benefits of being a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator please contact me for more information. I would love to have you join me in my growing team.

One of the other perks of being a demonstrator is that we get to go to Stampin' Up Training events. These are great fun getting together with other demonstrators and when I attended training in Edinburgh recently one of the gifts we were given was the new Under the Big Top set (p31). Co-ordinating Designer Series Papers and Quick Accents pack are also available.

I used this set to make an easel style birthday card for my friend's son's 5th birthday (and made a couple spare as well).

And the Designer Series papers are from the Just Add Cake pack (p98)

Now about those new hostess benefits! It's fantastic news. Now when your workshop (or order) totals £150 or more you will get at least £25 to spend in the catalogue. You can chose to spend the money on anything at all in the catalogue or in the exclusive hostess section. What's more you get much better value in the hostess section as these items are priced at a lower amount than similar stamp sets. So even with just £25 worth of hostess pounds you could end up with as much as two stamp sets and an exclusive designer series paper pack for FREE!

And it gets even better - if your workshop total is over £300 you can chose any item in the catalogue for half price - so you could even get a Big Shot for only £44 or the full set of Stampin' Write markers for only £45 - the choice is yours.

More details in table below. And hopefully if you click on the table it should take you to a pdf showing you pictures of all the exclusive hostess sets.

Another way to get your hands on the exclusive hostess sets would be to join my stampers 6 group starting towards the end of this month - see top of blog for more information. Places are limited so if you are interested do please get in touch as soon as possible.

My goal this year is to increase the number of workshops I do so if you live in the West of Scotland (I am based in Largs) please give me call or contact me by email if you would like to take advantage of the new hostess programme and earn lots of FREE product.

Now click on the link to Julie's blog for the next stop on our tour. I am sure you will find lots of wonderful ideas on Julie's blog to inspire you.
And in case you get lost or there are broken links just pop back here for the full list of stampers taking part in this hop.

Thank you for visiting and if you'd like to leave a comment I'd be very pleased to hear what you think of the new catalogue and products :-)

Maggie
1. Lauralou http://airingcupboardstamping.blogspot.com/
2 AlisonP www.craftyalisoninlyon.blogspot.com
3 Glittermum http://www.mygroovystampinup.blogspot.com/
4. Theresa M http://my-next-chapter.blogspot.com/
5. SarahLP http://stampingobsession.com/
6. Sassy Stamper (Elaine) http://www.thesassystampers.blogspot.com/
7. Sarastamper (http://craftingandstamping.com)
8. JJ66 http://jan-crippin.blogspot.com/
9. Evy c http://evyscraftycreations.blogspot.com/
10. DonnaM http://www.head-over-heels-by-dlm.blogspot.com/
11. Scrappydiva http://www.stampin-divas.blogspot.com/
12. Natalie http://www.natalieoshea.co.uk/blog.html
13.Dawn http://www.tartanstamper.blogspot.com/
14. Vicky www.vickylouscorner.blogspot.com
15. Maggie (maggiemae) http://thefineartofstampin.blogspot.com/
16. Julie H (The Crafty Bug) http://www.the-crafty-bug.blogspot.com
17. Elizabeth (Stash Fairy) http://elizabethscraftroom.blogspot.com/
18. Michelle (ShellieStamps) http://michellescraftypaper.typepad.com/
19. Keren. http://www.kerenbaker.wordpress.com
20. Emma (Daisydaye) http://emma-daye.blogspot.com/
21. Rachel (Rachel) http://www.stampingurl.blogspot.com/
22. Valerie (valmoody) http://stampingwithval.wordpress.com/
23. Kara (KaraM) http://karascraftycorner.blogspot.com/
24. Sarah (IOW Sarah http://www.stampinsarahiow.blogspot.com/
25. Tracey Rossos http://www.derbyshireducks.blogspot.com/
26. Patricia (Beckscraft) http://stampinbeckscraft.blogspot.com/
27. Sarah-Jane http://cardsandacuppa.blogspot.com/
28. Claire http://stampinupscrapper.blogspot.com/
29. Cupcake http://pinkycardsandcreations.blogspot.com/
30. Kimf http://kimfeecrafter.blogspot.com/
31. carolineskinner http://stampinupandbranchingout.blogspot.com/
32. Emma_H http://www.emma-letsstamp.blogspot.com/
33. Sally - Pink Sky. x http://pinkskysu.blogspot.com/
34. Carolyn http://stampaholix.blogspot.com/
35. Tina http://littlewhitehousecrafts.blogspot.com
36. Hayley (craftydevils) www.mycrafthaven.blogspot.com
37. allyf - http://serendipitypapercuts.blogspot.com

FREE Make & Take tomorrow

It's not often you get something for nothing these days but you can tomorrow!

If you like the idea of making a card like the ones above then just pop in to Dip n Doodle in Largs tomorrow anytime between 11am and 6pm. Even if you just have 15 minutes to spare why not drop in and see what's on offer.

If you've never crafted before but fancy giving it a go then this is the ideal opportunity. There will be plenty of help on hand and absolutely no obligation to buy.

I will of course be trying to tempt you with some previews from the new catalogue that goes live on 1 October.

You will also have the opportunity to reserve for purchase some of my retired sets that I will be reluctantly relinquishing. Although the retired sets can't be sold until 1 October I will be giving catalogue credit on a £1 for £1 basis on each retired item reserved for purchase on Saturday.

Yes that's right! If you reserve a retired stamp set for £20 I will give you a credit of £20 to spend in the new catalogue. Order must be placed on Saturday 1 October to qualify.

I hope you can find the time to drop in and I look forward to seeing some new faces as well as my lovely regular customers.

See you soon.

x

Open Day - Friday 30 September

Stampin’ Up! Open Day

New Catalogue Preview
&
Last Chance to Buy Retiring Products


Dip n’ Doodle, 6 Gallowgate Lane, Largs

Friday 30 September - from 11 am to 6pm


Why not come along and see what Stampin’ Up! is all about?

* Free Make & Takes *

* Prizes *

* Book a home workshop *

* Find out about upcoming classes *

* Brand new Idea Book and Catalogue available to purchase *

Just pop in any time on the day – no need to pre book your slot.

Look forward to seeing you there.

Last Chance Blog Hop

Today I'm taking part in a blog hop showcasing some Stampin' Up! products that are just about to retire at the end of this month.

If you have been following the hop from the beginning of the circle (from Alison's blog),
then a warm welcome to you! You will have just seen some fabulous projects from Ally.
If you have just popped in, don't worry, you can follow the links from here and enjoy the full blog hop circle!

This card was made for my friend's daughter's birthday and uses some of the gorgeous Nursery Suite Specialty Designer Series Papers (117165 £9.95) that retire at the end of this month.


The next three cards were made using one of my favourite Christmas sets Sparkly & Bright (115346 £16.95) and the Jolly Holiday designer series papers (unfortunately the papers are now out of stock - sorry!) If you are planning on buying any products that are retiring then I do recommend you do so as soon as possible as stocks may be running low on more items.



The Merry Christmas sentiment on these two cards is from the Occasional Greetings set (110520)which is also retiring. This has also been discounted by 40% so is available at the bargain price of £18.57 while stocks last.

This last card has been designed to attach to the front of an envelope to enclose money or a Christmas gift card.
This next card was made for a friend who was in hospital (excuse the fuzzy picture taken from my phone). The buttherfly stamp is from the Strength & Hope set (Wood: 118100 £15.95, Clear Mount 123660 £12.95) Stampin' Up! will donate £1 to the Breast Cancer Research foundation for each set purchased before the end of September.



By the time you read this I will be on my way to Edinburgh to meet up with my fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrators for some business training. As always when us demonstrators get together we make lots of cards to swap. I was very organised for once and made these cards a few weeks ago.



However when my pre-order goodies arrived on Tuesday (one of the perks of being a demo is that you get to order some of the new stuff from the new catalogue early!!!) I decided I couldn't resist making up some swaps using one of the new hostess sets (did I mention that as a demo you also get to pre-order two hostess sets as well! )

I finally finished these this morning and I'll be showing you the card in more detail next week.

Look out for more posts soon when I'll be letting you see some of the new products.
Hint: I had to dig out my sewing machine for the first time in ages!

Finally I have just set up a Facebook page and if you'd like to "like" it I'd be very grateful. Just click on the link that is (hopefully) on the sidebar on the left over there <<<<<<<<<<

I hope you have enjoyed my projects! Now it's time to continue the hop by going to visit Evy's blog here. Have a great weekend everyone!!

And just in case there are broken links along the way here is the full list of everyone taking part today:
1. Alison http://craftyalisoninlyon.blogspot.com/
2. Erika http://twintroublescreations.blogspot.com/
3. Lauralou http://airingcupboardstamping.blogspot.com/
4. Sarah http://www.stampinsarahiow.blogspot.com/
5. Theresa http://my-next-chapter.blogspot.com/
6. Rozelle http://thepapercraftsessions.blogspot.com/
7. Valerie http://stampingwithval.wordpress.com/
8. N/A
9. Emma http://emma-letsstamp.blogspot.com/
10. Donna http://www.head-over-heels-by-dlm.blogspot.com/
11. Julie (The Crafty Bug http://the-crafty-bug.blogspot.com/
12. Elaine http://www.thesassystampers.blogspot.com/
13. Sandra http://www.kraftybiker.blogspot.com/
14. Natalie http://www.natalieoshea.co.uk/blog.html
15. Kim http://kimfeecrafter.blogspot.com/
16. Caroline http://stampinupandbranchingout.blogspot.com/
17. VickyLou http://www.vickylouscorner.blogspot.com/
18. Michelle http://michellescraftypaper.typepad.com/
19. Ally http://www.serendipitypapercuts.blogspot.com/
20. Maggie http://thefineartofstampin.blogspot.com/
21. Evy http://www.evyscraftycreations.blogspot.com/
22. Niki http://www.mygroovystampinup.blogspot.com/
23. Sarah-Jane www.cardsandacuppa.blogspot.com
24. Tina http://littlewhitehousecrafts.blogspot.com
25. Sally http://pinkskysu.blogspot.com

Retirement List Updates

An up-to-date version of the retiring list can be found here.
The following items have already gone out of stock so if there is anything you were hoping to order this month please make sure you get your order in to me as soon as you can to avoid disappointment.

Stamps sets no longer available
Choo choo
Sense of time
Tart & tangy

Accessories no longer available
2010-2012 In Color Classic Stampin' Ink Refills
Wild Wasabi 12" x 12" Card Stock
Riding Hood Red 12" x 12" Card Stock
Jolly Holiday Designer Series Paper
Silver Elastic Cord
Antique Brass Jumbo Eyelets
Pewter Jumbo Eyelets
Star Punch

I've just uploaded some photos from my camera and I found a couple of projects that I hadn't shared with you yet.

This little gift bag was made using a tutorial I purchased from a US demonstrator, Inking Idaho. It was very simple to make using Poppy parade cardstock, ribbon and the square lattice embossing folder.

And this was a card made following a challenge set by Lorraine. The challenge was:
- Use three different colours of blue and a technique from one of the following: shaving cream, marbles or crayon resist.
I stamped a piece of whisper white card with a snowflake stamp and basic black ink. I then used a white crayon to highlight the areas I wanted to stay white before brayering the card with Baja Breeze ink (my first blue).

This was then mounted on Night of Navy and Not Quite Navy card.

Added some pearls and satin ribbon. The stamp sets used were Serene Snowflakes and Curly Cute (both of which are carrying over to the new catalogue).

And finally if you would like to get hold of the new Idea Book & Catalogue now then I have them on hand and ready to post.

As an introductory offer, throughout September, you can purchase the catalogue at the special price of only £4.95 including delivery direct to your door (RRP £5.95 plus P&P). Just click on the paypal button below to purchase.

That's all for now but be sure to check back tomorrow at 10am when I am taking part in the retiring list blog hop. See you soon!

Retired List

As promised here are details of the items retiring at the end of this month.
Click on the link on the right hand side to see what items are going and if you'd like to place an order please contact me as soon as possible as stocks of some items are limited.