A tribute to the retiring sets...

Ahoy, Matey and Matey's Map wheel:

This was one of the first SU! sets I ever purchased, when I was hostess at my first party.  I love it!

Useful for scrapbook pages for little boys, too.

This card also has the sentiment from the retiring hostess set "So Many Sayings."

Bodacious Bouquet:  I only purchased this when I joined Stampin' Up! as a Demo in October last year as part of my Starter Kit.    I will miss it!

Bundle of Joy:  Another recent purchase - perfect for Baby Shower invitations, Thank You cards, Congratulations and New Baby Announcements!

This card also features the retiring Itty Bitty Backgrounds, too, sob!

Time Well Spent:  I earned this as a hostess at my first workshop, and I used it a lot making cards for the school fete.  Must say my photography has improved!  

 

 

Oh So Lovely:  Another gorgeous hostess set

Tagger's Dozen:  So useful with our tag punches!

Festive Favourites:

All About Christmas Wheel:

Round Up Simply Scrappin' Kit

While it is sad to see so many favourites go, it means that the new Catalogue is going to be FULL of great new stuff!!!!!  I can't wait!  Please email me if you would like to be one of the first to purchase the new catalogue when it arrives on 1st April.

Bad blogger!

OK, I know its been a little while since my last post - lots of busy life stuff, plus bad storm activity here has meant no time to post.  I haven't been idle however!

Here are the cards we were supposed to be making at our Christmas Card Class last week - unfortunately, it was cancelled due to hail.  Hopefully Mother Nature will be in a better mood this week.  

The card on the left uses a technique known as "reverse masking" which is very easy, but looks effective.  The card on the right uses heat embossing - I know many of my "card ladies" have been keen to try this technique!  I've used stamps from Crazy for Christmas, Short & Sweet, Lovely As A Tree, and Occasional Greetings (just to make a change from Season of Joy!).

I'm also working on a 8 x8 scrapbook for both sets of grandparents for Christmas (Shh! don't tell!) and finally added another couple of pages today.  I've used Ahoy Matey, and Matey's Map (jumbo wheel) to make my cute little pirate baby page.  So quick!  I'm all about quick these days, LOL.

Finally, I've made a scrapbook page of my daughter using the Round Up Simply Scrappin' Kit.  I was amazed at how easy it was to put this together.  I also made the medallion embellishment using a stamp from the Wanted stamp set - it matched up perfectly with the scallop circle punch!  Ahhhh, I LOVE it when things work together like that!

Just a quick reminder - we are now in the last days of the Spring Mini Catalogue, and the November promos (rub ons and single markers) so you'd best order ASAP or you will miss out!

Finally some cards and things

Today is a pupil-free day, so a long weekend for the kids, hooray!   I did manage to carve out some crafting time yesterday (11:00pm) so I could finish my sister Bridget's box of gift cards she commissioned me to make.  In case you are reading this Bid - hope you like them!

Here is the box (apologies for the dreadful photo taken at 11:00pm):

And the gift cards to go inside.  The brief was black. white and silver.  Simple but elegant.  I used the Baroque Motifs stamp set and it worked very well with such a pared-down colour scheme.

Then I made a few cards for kids as there are a few birthdays in our family at this time of year:

With the "Ahoy, Matey" stamp set:

 Now a girly one made with "One of a Kind" - I added some bling with heat 'n stick powder and Dazzling Diamonds glitter.   I had pictured this card completely differently before I made it, but this is how it ended up!  

Finally, my eldest son was invited to a classmate's birthday party, so I made the wrapping paper and matching gift card.  The invitation had a rocket ship on it, so I went with the space theme with the only rocket stamp I have, a cute clear acrylic stamp that I got in the cheapie bin at my local scrap shop.  I can't recall the manufacturer, but when I do I'll edit and post.  Hmmm, I've said that before, haven't I?

I love making wrapping paper to go with the cards I've made!  So easy and looks great (well, I think so anyway!).  I have a big roll of butcher's paper from IKEA that I use and I also found a big roll of white paper from that chain craft shop Riot.   I never have to buy wrapping paper (or cards) again!