Happy Birthday Mum!

 Stampin' Up! Sheltering Tree joins forces with Awesomely Artistic!

For those of you who have followed my blog for sometime, you'll be familiar with my mentions of Pollyanna, a lovely story and wonderful film about a young girl.  In the film she talks of finding something everyday to be glad about.  Well I'm glad for several reasons today not least as it's my wonderful Mum's birthday.  Happy Birthday Mum!

Stampin' Up! Sheltering Tree & Awesomely Artistic for a special birthday card

 I'm also glad as I've brought back to life a stamp set that a friend was ready to throw away.  She managed to lose half of her Stampin' Up! UK Sheltering Tree set and decided that without the blossom part and swing etc it was useless, but me being the Magpie that I am rescued it from her to show that it was still useful.  I used it first on my last post with a wintery scene for a Christmas card which was easy with a bare tree, but today I've matched it with another stamp set, Awesomely Artistic, to give the bare tree life with leaves! 

A touch of vellum under my sentiment banner from Endless Birthday Wishes continues the theme of delicate and soft and the grass and flower heads were in this part of Sheltering Tree.  A ruler and marvellous marker allows you to add faux stitching in shades of pink pirouette and rose red and lots of tiny pearls for those that my Mum has freely given in the form of wisdom throughout my life. 

You can add butterflies, but I'm sorry these were made with the ever so popular Beautiful Wings Embosslit that Stampin' Up! did, but has sadly now retired.  

Mine and my daughter's pearls of wisdom are now passing back to my Mum as we teach her to use the internet and so this post has had to wait until today as she does now peek at Stamping Scene! 

Hope you have a wonderful day Mum!

Hugs

Zx

Christmas Card Club - Let it Snow on a Sheltering Tree

You know it's a bad day for taking pictures when it's raining, cloudy and the battery is flat in your camera!  However I've managed to get a picture of my card for Christine's challenge in our fortnightly Christmas card club.  'Let it snow' was the challenge and I've used a part of the Sheltering Tree Stampin' Up! set  and to create the sound along the ground one stamp from Work of Art.

I used a brayer to add different shades of blue to some whisper white card stock and then stamped the tree silhouette twice allowing some shadowing with the craft white.  I've cut an aperture in my card base and added a layer of vellum before adding my picture behind.  On the vellum I heat embossed with white craft ink some of the snow using another stamp from Sheltering Tree.

My sentiment is from the Alphabet Rotary stamp which is versatile obviously because you make it say what you want.  Some Everyday Chic Designer washi tape adds a touch of silver with silver foil card to add a banner and a frame for my scene using two oval frame lit dies together to create the frame.

Don't forget to pop by the other members of our Christmas Card Club and let's hope the sunshine is back soon.

Zx

Eureka Challenge - Christmas in July
Christmas card challenges - Anything goes

Christmas in July in Zoe's Stampin' Craft Loft

I love Christmas and as a Stampin' Up! demo I should really be in control of my cards and decor in that I'm ready for second class posting of cards, decorations up in early December and gifts and treats wrapped beautifully and a gift in themselves just because of the gorgeous wrapping! Oh how I wish...... Reality rolls in and even though I promise myself I'll be ready this year it always seems to be last minute.com in this house!

But I've started as usual with resolve to achieve it and held my annual Christmas in July class last Saturday.  We had such a fun time making cards, gift bags and these two super projects; a festive plaque to adorn your home and a box card the dimensions of which were taught to me by my lovely downline Linda.  The box card works well with any stamp set you may choose and can be decorated simply or ornately.  For the class we went for simple elegance and everyone agreed that it was enough in amongst the busy day of other projects.

If you fancy using some chalk paint, waxes and other products visit www.facebook.com/osaandjoy  to find out more and order products. Catherine is a very helpful and knowledgeable lady.

Card Club with Stampin' Up! Watercolour Wings

Last week I shared a couple of the projects from my monthly card club and promised I'd be back with more.  This was another card we made using Stampin' Up! set Watercolour Wings.  I love these colours of pink pirouette, rose red and mint macaron. This gave me a chance to use the new 'knicker' lace as I call it and share some lovely embellishments with my ladies.  The flower in the middle is from a set of 20 In Color Blossom Accents.  You can use them to decorate cards and other projects and could also turn them into earring studs to name but one project.

The base layer is made using the new 'thick' whisper white card stock that we have asked Stampin' Up! to produce and it's here at last.  You can then add matting layers in the traditional whisper white and add definition by embossing them with lovely folders like this one which is called Boho Chic and is part of the suite of products used in the other cards and gift bag made during the class.  There is also another smidge of my life time supply of silver thread adding as you know my need for bling!

Have a great week and I'll be back soon with show and tells of my Christmas in July Class last weekend.

Zx

Musical Thank You

 My weekend is progressing with great success!  I've been learning to play the Cornet for a couple of years and was invited at the back end of last year to join my children and play in the Banovallum Brass Junior Band! A daunting prospect for me, but I have to say I love it and even when the children can't go along I'm happy to sit with the other children and have a go!

Friday evening was a first for me when at the tender age of 49 I played in my first concert and had my Mum and Dad attend. Nervous doesn't get close to describing how I felt!  However it was enjoyed by all and it was fantastic to be part of an activity with my children.

Sadly our professional teacher taught his final lessons this morning before he goes on to other projects.  I made this card for him to thank him for his time and patience in teaching me and of course Olivia and Charlie.  We will miss him, but hopefully, Gareth, you'll pop back and visit us.

The card is done with soft sky, early espresso and very vanilla and uses retired Stampin' Up! stamp set Musical Medley and the recent Saleabration set  For Being You.  Although not ever so clear in my quickly taken picture this morning, there are versa mark musical markings on the base layer and then I created two triptych style borders with the French Horn stamp.

I'm pleased to say that Gareth liked it! I hope you do too!

I'll be back to tell you why else my weekend is proving successful soon.

Zx

Stampin' Card Club - Watercolour Wings Makes

Earlier this week I hosted my monthly card club in my craft loft.  We made two cards and a gift bag with the new to Stampin' Up! UK gift box punch board.  Aren't these colours gorgeous in the Bohemian Designer Series Paper! The pack includes Bermuda Bay, Blackberry Bliss, Island Indigo, Delightful Dijon, Rich Razzleberry and Very Vanilla.  The paper coordinates with a Bohemian card stock pack which includes 8 sheets each of three coordinating colours including Bermuda Bay, Delightful Dijon and Rich Razzleberry.   There's also an embossing folder Boho Chic and a stamp set Bohemian Borders for you to build up some amazing patterns and colour combos.

The gift bag is really simple to make with the gift box punch board which comes with very clear photograph instructions.  We used a whole sheet of 12 x12 paper and scored an extra line to make the turn over border at the top.  The gift box punch board also allows you to punch holes in just the right places to add ribbon handles if you wish or to not add holes and add handles attached inside the bag.

We also made a matching card and embellishment for the bag using the new Watercolour Wings stamp set which comes in photopolymer giving you a lot of stamps for your money.

That reminds me there is also Bohemian Washi tape to add to this lovely bundle of coordinating products. It makes crafting so easy when you don't have to think about matching!

Almost the weekend and let's hope the sun continues to shine on us all!
Zx

Alphabet Rotary Stamp let's you create your own message

Shake off the Monday blues with a fun shaker card!

Many of products on this card have now retired from the Stampin' Up! UK catalogue, but I wanted to share it as it shows another sentiment you can create with the Alphabet Rotary Stamp.  It's fun and easy to use and you can  see my previous post using it on a Christmas card with Stampin' Up! set Lovely as a Tree.

Have a great week!
Zx

Shop Online in my Stampin' Up! Online Shop for the Alphabet Rotary stamp and more, but remember to add the Stampin' Rewards code BDFKZ2TH when you've nominated me as your demonstrator.  Spend £20 or more and I'll send  you a thank you gift the month following your order.

Christmas Card Club - Lovely as a Tree from Stampin' Up!

Our Christmas card club challenge was set by Margaret all the way down under in Sydney for this fortnight. She asked us to use the theme of Christmas trees.  Often being Mrs last minute.com I didn't read this challenge before I read the last so you can see Christmas trees also on my last club challenge using Festival of Trees , but this time I've used an old Stampin' Up! favourite Lovely as a Tree which has been in the Stampin' Up! catalogue for over a decade.

I embossed the lone fir tree top in silver and punched it out with the 2"circle punch and then 'smudged' the edge gently with smoky slate ink.  I matted it onto a scallop circle of silver foil card which I texture embossed with the decorative dots folder.  Everyday Chic washi tape made a simple background and I also added some of my lifetime supply (I ordered 5 rolls thinking it only had 4.5m per roll which in fact it has 45m per roll!) of silver thread on which I threaded sequins from the metallic assortment.

You can create all sorts of sentiments with the Alphabet rotary stamp just by rolling the letter bands to create the words you require.

A great new addition to the Stampin' Up! card stock range is the new Whisper White Thick A4 card stock in 270gsm so you can now make white card bases that stand up!

Do please pop by the other ladies in our challenge group and see their challenge offerings for this week.  You can find them all in my sidebar.

Enjoy what's left of the weekend.
Zx
Challenges
Sweet Stampin' Challenges - Christmas in July

Shop Stampin' Up! now in my Stampin' Up! UK online shop 

The Tantalizing Stampers take Stampin' Up! to the Sincerely Yours Shows

Life is never dull in this household. Nor is it lacking in things to do! With lovely Lizzie Taylor and Carrie Bates from my Tantalizing Stampers team we had a stand at the recent Sincerely Yours Papercraft Show at Newark Show Ground.  My gorgeous daughter and trusty supporter, Olivia, was also on hand to help and we loved meeting so many old friends and making new ones.  

We provided a workshop on the Friday along with other stall holders and we look forward to seeing more of you at the Show on Sunday 11 October when we aim to be offering another paid for workshop during the show so watch this space. We'll also be at Portsmouth on Saturday 31 October for the same show with some spooky displays for you.

Our stand was buzzing with browsers looking for bargains in our Retired Stock sale, make and takers and also lots of lovely people commenting on our display which was made by us and included inspirational swaps from demonstrators all over the UK which we got from a Stampin' Up! UK demonstrator event back in May.  It's great to share ideas and offer lots of different styles for all to see.

Our make and take using Stampin' Up! set Awesomely Artistic, what a great name!, was popular and simple to achieve. You can see it above and it also featured a couple of the gorgeous new Stampin' Up! In Colours in the form of Tip Top Taupe and Watermelon Wonder.  Found your favourite yet? 

Thank you to all who visited us at Portsmouth and Newark Shows we look forward to catching up with you all again soon.

Zx