Stampin' Up! latest: Workshop, blog hop and August promo

Apologies for being quiet the past few days, my mum came to visit so have been entertaining. We saw the baby meerkats at Tropical World, ate yummy food at Sous Le Nez and sang at OK Karaoke. And we shopped. And made some cards. :-)

So here's the SU updates ...

My first workshop went well. Thanks to my lovely friends who came round. We made the Greenhouse Garden card and then had a play. Emily and Sam got their creative brain cells out and came up with the below designs. I was very proud of them!




Tomorrow I am taking part in a blog hop with some fellow SU demos. Throughout August you can get 20% off selected two-step stamp sets. Please do come back to see some lovely things you can create with the items in the offer.

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My first workshop as an SU demonstrator

I will be holding my first workshop as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator on Tuesday, July27th.
It will take place at my house in Armley, Leeds from 7pm and everyone is welcome.
During the evening I will be showcasing SU products and giving guests the chance to create their own card.
Furthermore, there will be edible goodies to enjoy, a special discount on orders placed and a prize draw.
It would be great to get started with a bang, so please do come along.

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Ready, set, go!

All prepped for my first workshop tonight. We'll be making the Greenhouse Garden card I posted the other day. The yellow gift bag has a few card blanks, bits of DSP and a selection of ribbons in which I will be giving away as a raffle prize. Only a few people coming but they're good 'uns so should be fun.
http://makedoandgem.blogspot.com

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Trendy Trees pizza gift box

Here is a little pizza gift box I made. I'm still getting to grips with doing boxes, need to invest in a decent scoring mat and tool so I can get the folds nice and crisp. Stamp set is the lovely Trendy Trees and the colours are Rose Red, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Summer Sun and Pumpkin Pie. Thanks to Vicky for pointing me in the direction of the box tutorial.
This afternoon I'm off to prep for my workshop tomorrow and crack on with some swaps.

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First Greenhouse Garden card

Here is the first card I made with the Greenhouse Garden set from my Stampin' Up!Starter Kit.


The colours are Lavender Lace, Rich Razzleberry and Certainly Celery. I decorated the inside too, using a sentiment from On a Pedestal.
I think the colours are really great together so expect to see more of this combo!

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ILWS Super Summer Swap

I just realised I never showed you the final ILWS Summer Swaps!
Here are the cards I made ...

I used one of my favourite sets Botanical Blooms and the colours are Bashful Blue and Rose Red.
And here are the cards I received, very yummy.

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Playing with my Starter Kit

Time to show you a couple of things I have made with my Stampin' Up! Starter Kit ...

I did two cards using Trendy Trees this morning, combined with Fox and Friends. Colours include Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Always Artichoke and More Mustard. I have also used a bit of ribbon and the DSP Tall Tales, which matches these stamp sets perfectly. I also used the Two-step Bird Punch, which is one of my favourite SU items.




And here's a real quickie using the Very Vintage wheel, Vintage Vogue stamps and ribbon. The wheels are really great, especially the ink cartridges - I love little inventions like that!



I will be back tomorrow with more.

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Another card for another Julie

Here's another card for a Julie! This one I made for my SU mummy (see why she's so fab here). The colours are Bashful Blue and Night of Navy again. I'm loving this combo at the moment! Stamps from Tiny Tags and the punch is Heart to Heart. DSP is from an SU stack.
The nice UPS man brought my Starter Kit this afternoon so I had a quick play. I am particularly impressed with the ink cartrdige for the wheels - great invention! Tomorrow I will have a good session to try out everything properly so please come back to see the results.

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A cake that doesn't ruin the waistline!

I came across the most awesome thing this morning - a papercraft cake! Check this SU design out ...

The lovely Julie Davison had made a fab version so go see! Totally CASEing the idea. Give me a shout if you want the template.
Julie is also the fab person who sent me a US Stampin' Up! peacock stamp I fell in love with. I used it to make this card for her. Colours are Bashful Blue and Night of Navy.

I am now going to hang out the window and wait for the UPS man to bring me my Stampin' Up! Starter Kit!

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Mini gift box

I had a quick play this afternoon as I wanted to try out a little gift box.
Julie had made me a big one of these at my party in May and she shpowed me a mini one yesterday, so decided it was a good one to start off with.
The card is an A5 piece of Bashful Blue, stamped randomly with the flowery stamps from Tiny Tags. The sentiment is also from that set and stuck on to a piece of ribbon I found in my stash that was just right. Tied at the top with a piece of Bashful Blue Gingham Ribbon.
I'm really in love with the Tiny Tags set. When I finished my job they organised a gift voucher with Julie for me and that is what I spent it on. It's a really fab set as it's so versatile, despite being very ikkle, I hope it stays in the new catalogue.

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Scissor fobs

My mum made me this scissor fob ...



She bought the kit over a year ago but has only just got round to finishing it! Worth the wait though, it's lovely.
Yesterday I made her a biscornu scissor fob ...

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Hello from an official SU demo!

Just had all the emails through confirming my SU demo status! Yays! :-) Can't wait for my starter kit to arrive so I can play and plan my first workshop. Going to get all my chores done now so I can spend the afternoon on the demo website.
http://makedoandgem.blogspot.com

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Jam cakes

I don't do much baking. I'm not that good at it and I can't be doing with the mess. Plus I always eat too much of mix and make myself sick. Well, this evening is our WI meeting so I thought I would make the effort. I did eat a bit too much mix, but the mess wasn't too bad and they turned out ok. Not the most impressive of cakesn but they taste nice enough.
http://makedoandgem.blogspot.com

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Peacock update

Am making progress on the peacock I started before going on holiday. Got to crack on with the tail now, which will be tricky and slow going but worth it in the end. I hope!
http://makedoandgem.blogspot.com

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ILWS Summer Swap rejects

These are my first two attempts for the Summer Swap over at ILWS. Am pleased with my first attempt at sponging, but neither were quite right. Won't spoil the surprise of my final design!
http://makedoandgem.blogspot.com

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J'ai retourne

Well, I'm back now. Nicely bronzed and rested. Spain was fab, had a very relaxing time doing very little on the beach and by the pool! Here is the view from the hotel room ...

And here is what I now get to wake up to back in Leeds ...

My pussy kitten Bodd was pleased to see me I think. We had a nice cuddle this morning, although he's got used to having the bed to himself so I didn't get much pillow space!
No work this week, but still have lots to do. I have my forms to post off to become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator (yay!) and alongside that my first workshop to plan. Some cards to make for the Summer Swap at ILWS, which I will sort this morning I think. Have to unpack, do boring things like go to the bank and Post Office, sort my work out blah blah blah.
Oh, and in mega exciting news I got a letter to say I have been awarded the Clare Emery Bursary from the WI Denman College for the Elizabethan Goldwork course next April! :-) Am very excited. I strongly suggest you go read more about the Women's Institute and what they get up to.
Right, off to start my busy day. Please do give me a nudge if I'm likely to have missed anything important over the past two weeks!

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