Free Stampin' Up! gift this August

As if you needed an excuse to buy more Stampin' Up! goodies, this month you could get a fantastic free gift with your order or workshop!

When you place a £75 order, or host a £250 workshop, you’ll also receive a free gift from Stampin’ Up!

It includes a beautiful, exclusively-designed cosmetic bag, along with Rich Razzleberry 1-1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, and a 24-piece Clip Assortment.

This offer is only available this month, so get your wish lists sorted and credit cards at the ready and get in touch to place your order!

And don't forget, if you host a workshop you can earn freebies from the catalogue today, so why not get your friends round for a crafty gathering this month?

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Bag lady

Hello! Just a quickie to prove that I am still alive!

I've been working on all sorts of different bits and pieces recently, mostly little things to keep me occupied of an evening without too much thought or stress!

The patchwork bug has well and truly bitten me so I have been playing about with shapes and different fabrics.

Here are three bags for life that I decorated.



The hexagon flower is my favourite. The fabric was a bargain from Samuel Taylors in Leeds.

I had a few issues making the diamond one and it's not exactly perfect, but with the button and a few beads I think I pulled it off!

And the hexagon border one is pretty successful too I think.

These will be on sale at our next Buns & Roses craft stalls - we have two coming up and have sold quite a lot of goodies on the market stall so we're trying to restock!

I am also working on a quilt. A bit ambitious but I am using a Japanese folded patchwork technique and each piece is finished and quilted as you make it then stitched together at the end, so it's not too bad.

Other works in progress include something for my dad and step-mum for their new house and to celebrate their wedding and pieces for my embroidery certificate.

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What's this? ... A card!

YES! I have a card to show you. It's from a little while ago, and is only a quick and simple one that I CASEd from the amazingly talented Vicky at Crafting Clare's Paper Moments.



For this one, I ran with the idea of inking on to a clear acyrlic block and using that to create a spot of colour direct on the card blank. It's easy - just rub the ink pad on to the block then stamp it down!

I then drew on a stalk and added some yellow flowers, punched with the Boho Blossoms Punch out of Greenhouse Gala DSP. I secured them with Rhinestone Brads and finished with a sentiment from Sincere Salutations.

Now that I finally have all my craft stuff set up properly in my new room I really must make some new cards. Problem at the moment is I keep getting distracted too easily and want to try out lots of new things!

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I'm OK

Just becoming even more rubbish at updating my blog! Yikes!

It's been over a week, so what has been happening?

Well, I have been doing a lot of work for starters! It's now more than a year since I became self-employed and *touch-wood, fingers-crossed etc* all is well.

I have also been busy with the WI, as ever. Buns & Roses needed a new venue, so I'm pleased to say we found a fab new home, and I have put together my first issue of the West Yorkshire News monthly newsletter as Editor.

There has been crafting time too, and even a day trip to York! Myself, Hayley and Helen had a day out to visit the Quilt Museum and York Minster, both of which were amazing and full of inspiration.

I even had a go at a little bit of quilting myself. I got into my head an idea to do a series of pieces, entitled "I'm OK". It came from an exhibiton I saw a long time ago, where the artist had written home to friends and family during his travels, simply saying "I am still alive". My goal is to do these little bits regularly, in whatever craft form I feel inspired by at the time, as a reminder to myself that I'm OK.

So this is the first, using some fabrics I bought at the Quilt Museum. It's a rather rough-and-ready attempt at quilting (I did it all by hand, in bed, while watching nature programmes on iPlayer!).





Oh, I have also bought myself a Filofax, as my little WI diary just did not have enough room for everything that's going on!

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Going crazy ... for patchwork!

Last night was our Buns & Roses workshop on crazy patchwork. We all made purses using lots of bits of different fabrics.

I made this one in advance as an example to people.







I must admit this was my second attempt, as when I was making it I was a little worse for wear and tried to use small pieces of fabric that were too fiddly to turn and stitch. I got annoyed and started over, but this one turned out pretty good!

Last night I made this one ...



So now I need to finish it off!

They're the perfect size for business cards, and very handy for a few bits like hair grips and bobbles too.

I've some crafting time pencilled in for the weekend, so hopefully I will have more to show next week.

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Extra! Extra! Earn even more free hostess rewards in June and July

Stampin' Up! have done it again - they've brought us yet another fabulous offer!

Between June 1st and July 31st, hostesses can earn £20 worth of EXTRA FREE PRODUCTS.

How? Simply by hosting a party with product sales over £250.

Yep, that easy! Just by getting your friends round and having some fun getting creative with me and Stampin' Up! you can earn loads of freebies.

And of course, the £20 is on top of all the other goodies you would normally receive!

Here's the figures ...





For more check out the Extra hostess rewards page. Then give me a call or send me an email to book your workshop!

Hurray for freebies!

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A big load of Big Shot cards

Well, I have made it back for a quick blog again!

Not sure where I'm up to with letting you know about my life, but I have just moved house, so that has been providing me with much stress and hassle the past few weeks. And little time for crafting.

But I have had to make a few new cards, and the Big Shot came in very useful for saving me time!



I managed to make these four very quickly. Well, once I had dug everything out and stopped faffing about!

I have also mastered the art of making more of one of the same card at each time - economies of scale and all that!



Here I used the Fun Flowers die, which is simply marvellous. They are a really good size so you can use them as the main focal point. They're also perfect for brooches from fabric or felt.



And the Beautiful Wings Embosslit makes the sweetest little butterflies!

I teamed the butterflies and flowers with Springtim Vintage DSP, and added the Top Note die embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots folder for added dimension without taking away from the main focus.

Weekend is here again already, and this time I'm off to our Buns & Roses WI 80s party tonight, and the Embroiderers Guild meeting tomorrow. Then I shall attempt to chill out and watch the racing!

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A motorcycle card on a motorsports weekend

Is somebody stealing time at the moment? I think so! At least, mine is going somewhere!

Actually, I do know where its gone - I have moved house, had loads of work on and many things to do for the WI.

I was in London for a couple of days to visit the National Federation of Women's Institutes HQ and also for a spot of tourism - I went to the National Portrait Gallery and the Sherlock Holmes Museum.

I managed to get (almost) everything in my new house with the help of my lovely friends.

Work has been crazy busy and is keeping me out of trouble.

And the WI seem to keep finding things for me to do as well!

All this means not much crafting has been going on. I can't even remember the last time I made a card! Hopefully next week when I have my craft space set up again I will be able to rectify the situation.

Now, in honour of the motorsport weekend (both Formula 1 and MotoGP this time!) here's a card using the Motorcycle stamp.



I also used the Big Shot and the Top Note and Swirls Scribbles dies. The sentiment is made from Basic Phrases.

All my cards are now for sale at Leeds Kirkgate Market as part of the community stall, where Buns & Roses WI are selling lots of goodies. If you're local, do go in and buy our goods!

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My niece's birthday

Apologies, as usual, for not blogging very often. I am in the process of moving to a new house, while also juggling work and WI duties. It's all very hectic but good fun! Still, hope things calm down soon.

Earlier this month it was my niece's birthday, and although I forgot to send a card from myself, I had made one for my mum to give to her.

She's such a little cutie, hopefully I'll get to see her soon and make up for forgetting to send a card (although I did speak to her on the day).

Anyway, here's the card.



I used the cute Fox and Friends stamp set, which was the first one I bought when I discovered Stampin' Up! I gave them little party hats which are the point from the Star Punch, with a little Rhinestone on top for a bit of bling.



The sentiment is made from Basic Phrases and the DSP is Play Date - great for kids.



And to finish, some Flower Brads.

I will do my best to find time over the weekend to schedule some posts so you lovely followers don't have to go without!

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Getting ready for Christmas!

At our Julie's Jems training session this week we were all about the dreaded C'word .... Christmas! It's only five months away, and considering I try to make all my gifts I really should start thinking about it now!

At least we got a couple of cards and a gift box done, so I can say I have started my preparations!



Here's one of the cards we made. In fact, they were both the same design but the other one didn't have the ribbon and Rhinestones.

We used the Ornament Punch to make the baubles from the Jolly Holiday DSP, stuck them down and stamped the sentiment before running it through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder.



Hopefully you can see the quilted effect here.



We also made a gift box using the Pillow Box Dies. The two boxes were just slotted into each other (one was also embossed using the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder) and this time we used a strip of the DSP to decorate and a bauble from the COntempo Christmas stamp set.



I might keep things simple this year and just make the same card and gift for everyone and mass produce these designs!

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Buns & Roses at the I Love West Leeds Festival

On Sunday, Buns & Roses WI took part in the I Love West Leeds Festival, this year in Bramley Falls Park.

It was a beautiful sunny day and we were there to sell our wares on our craft table and help the kiddies make name plaques for their doors.



Here's Helen, Hayley and me at our stall. Doesn't it look amazing?! We sold quite a lot of stuff, mostly thanks to the wonderful Liz, Secretary at the West Yorkshire Federation of Women's Institutes, who did a great job promoting the WI.





Here you can see everyone hard at work creating their plaques. We had lots of amazing helpers on the day and it was hard work, but enjoyable.

You can see my plaque hanging below the sign in the second picture. It's now on my office door at the Federation.





And here are some that the kids made, hanging to dry in the sunshine. They all got really into it and there were some very clever and creative uses of the stash we provided.

The I Love West Leeds events are going on throughout the month, so if you're local then do check out the festival website.

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Butterflies and leaves and a spot of interior design

Just time for another quick update this morning! I cannot believe it's Friday again, and now we're in July. Time flies!

Yesterday I decorated my office at the West Yorkshire Federation of Women's Institutes.



How good does it look now?! I'm so pleased with it. I chose green for the WI and purple as it's my favourite colour. These are also the colours of the Suffragettes, but Wimbledon too unfortunately, which I hate!

I painted a few lines of Jerusalem on the wall: "I will not cease from mental fight, Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand, Till we have built Jerusalem, In England's green and pleasant land".

I'm rather pleased with my painting skills and it's a lovely place to work - I can see out to the canal too and watch the boats go by. The pictures and quote on the wall remind me of all the work the WI has done in the past, and how much more there is to do.

I actually have a card to show today as well! Just a quickie, and apologies for the bad picture as it had already been paackaged for sale!



I used the Beautiful Wings Embosslit and the Leaves #2 die, coupled with a random piece of DSP.

Nice and easy and good for any occassion!

Stil plenty going on to keep me out of trouble, so I best keep at it!

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