Welcome to the Blog hop!

Welcome to Stampaholix and the In Love with Stamping Forum Sale-a-Bration Blog hop!

Today this blog is linked to 14 other Stampin' Up! Demonstrators' blogs and the aim of the game is to show you some of the lovely cards and gifts you can make with one of the four free stamp sets available to you for another month or so.

I had a hard time deciding which set I was going to showcase today, but in the end, the Happy Moments set (#118664) was the one that inspired me most and this was my creation.


Its a tiny 4" square black cardstock pizza box filled with 6 3x3 notelets and envelopes. Did I ever tell you that red, black and white is my favourite colour combination of all time? Well if not and you visit me again - you will see that one cropping up again and again!!

This set has SEVEN stamps in it, the birdcage and bunch of flowers you can see above, a pile of pressies and a birthday cake, and 3 greetings (happy birthday, thank you and for you)

The cards are whisper white bases with a basic black and real red topper highlighted with the red gingham ribbon. The images were stamped onto whisper white with basic black and real red classic ink and in the case of the bunch of flowers stems and leaves coloured in with a handsome hunter marker from the rich regal set of Stampin' Write markers. These were then punched out with the small tag punch, and layered on to a a black tag punched with the large tag punch. Finally, they were attached to the base with a twist of gingham ribbon and a crystal brad.

Now if you click on her name ---> or the logo below, you will be taken to Bekka's blog for the next instalment.

When you get to the end of this journey why not visit In Love with Stamping and find the other loop for even more inspiration??

Help for Haiti

Would you like to help victims of the earthquake in Haiti while indulging in your favourite hobby?

Well you can do just that - thanks to Stampin' Up!

Every sale of the gorgeous Greenhouse Garden stamp set will mean that SU will donate £1 to the disaster relief effort in Haiti.

SU has a history of making this type of donation and SU customers in the US , Canada and Australia are also having the same offer. Click on the picture for a better look at this set - then contact me to place an order.

ExStitch@aol.com

Coming Soon - Blog Hop!

My fellow demos on the fab In Love With Stamping forum are doing not one but TWO blog hops featuring project ideas using the four Sale-a-Bration stamp sets on the 24th January.

"What is a blog hop?" I hear you ask?

Well its set up by a group of bloggers who link up to each other's blogs. With the ILWS ones its usually to highlight a promotion or a new catalogue or even just seasonal ideas.

There will be 15 blogs to visit in each hop and you will usually be brought here via a link from another blog and I will link you to the next one in the chain. Its all a bit of a surprise for you as none of us really has any idea what the others will be doing for their samples so make a date in your diaries to pop back here on the 24th (although you MAY find mine up early as I am off to LA on the 23rd for CHA!)

Don't forget - its easy to get your hands on these lovely stamp sets - just place an order for £45 or more (excluding P&P) and you get the one of your choice.. spend £90 and you get 2, £135 and you get 3 - and £180 would get you all 4 sets PLUS the usual hostess benefits of a free stamp set (or pad of designer papers), and £15 worth of freebies from the catalogue...

Check out the online catalogue (link over there ----->)or get in touch with me for a real copy...

New Year Sale-a-Bration!!

Happy New Year to one and all - and welcome to one of the high spots of the Stampin' Up! year - the Sale-a Bration promotion - your chance to get your inky paws on up to FOUR limited edition stamp sets for FREE!!


Every year Stampin' Up! gives customers, hostesses, and new demonstrators the opportunity to earn fantastic, FREE, limited-edition products they'll enjoy for years to come.

Here's how Sale-A-Bration works - there are 3 ways of gettting free stamps during this promotion) - these are:-

1. Spend - When you spend £45 on Stampin' Up! merchandise, you'll receive a free Sale-A-Bration reward. There's no limit--for every £45 you spend, you can select another FREE Sale-A-Bration reward!

2. Host - When you host a workshop of at least £300 (before shipping), you'll receive a free Sale-A-Bration reward in addition to all of the regular hostess benefits

3. Join -During Sale-A-Bration, anyone who joins as a demonstrator can choose any stamp set--a value of up to £38.95--from our current Idea Book and Catalogue in addition to the sets which come as part of the Starter Kit.

The Sale-A-Bration promotion starts on 30 December 2009 and runs through 28 February 2010, so don't miss your chance to earn free products!

Email me (ExStitch@aol.com) to book a workshop or learn more about this promotion or a free copy of Sale-A-Bration brochure full of beautiful project ideas you can make using these limited-edition sets. If you have been thinking about signing up - I am more than happy to talk to you about the benefits of being a SU demo - and with an extra stamp set of your choice up for grabs - this might be your best time to do it!!

You can also view Sale-A-Bration brochure online.

These stamps are only available for a limited time,the free sets are pictured below.

Sorry - just a quick one to share a couple of team shots from the Convention.

This one is the Tartan Stampers (plus Joanne), all glammed up and ready to cheer our glorious leader on as she walked across the stage several times at the Awards Dinner. She got "recognised" for sales (over 15k), recruiting (at least 5 downlines promoting to Bronze 2) and she came 4th in the Demonstrator of the Year for the UK - out of over 400 Demos here in the UK, and narrowly missed out on the cash prizes given to the top 3!! Congratulations mum!!

Back row (L-R) Elaine Brainwood, Kirsteen Gill, Joanne Friend (our adopted member), Louise Gilmour, Emma Crockett,
Front Row - Dawn Silver (aka Glorious Leader!!), Moi, Annie Gilmour

And did I mention that Dawn and Elaine had managed to aquire us some blingy team logos??? Alas - guess who forgot to take her black hoody along to join the team (we were going to iron them on when we got there) - but here is Emma modelling hers at lunchtime on Day 2 aren't they gorgeous?? We were the envy of most of the other teams! Just as well we had managed to dissuade Elaine from ordering us some blingy thongs!!

Off to find my black hoody to do mine!!

Wow!! what a blast!!

Wow! Wow! Wow!!

What can I say?? Convention was an absolute blast and I had a great time from the moment I arrived in Frankfurt airport and met up with the rest of the Tartan Stampers in the luggage reclaim (how did I find them? - just followed the noise!! Our trip to the hotel was a source of great merriment and then we went off to find our rooms, then meet up down in reception to find somewhere to eat.

Our noses led us to a little Italian/ Spanish restaurant in the basement of the Kurhaus centre round the back of the hotel, they looked a bit shocked at being asked if they had a table for 10, but they set us up in the patio area outside the restaurant itself (it was in a complex so we weren't actually OUTSIDE!!) and had great fun trying out my rudimentary (and very rusty) German translating the menu and ordering. we had a great meal and the best part of it was that it only cost us 90 euros for the 10 of us!! Afterwards, we went back to the hotel to finish up our various swaps before meeting up again in the bar.

I spent most of the first part of the morning getting registered, and then entering into the swapping frenzy which was going on. I have come home with some gorgeous cards from demos in all 3 of the countries (as well as a couple of the US demos based at the US bases in Germany). I need to sort them out, but in the meantime, here are the swaps I took with me!

I must admit I nearly put them back in my bag when I saw what some of the others had produced, but I managed to get rid of them all, and have also come home with several other s so I need to make a few more!! I didn't start out intending to make so many Christmas cards but I really got into the Christmas sets, and given the time of year - I couldn't think of a better chance to use some of my new goodies like the new Medallion stamp, the red glitter (and not forgetting the Flight of the Butterfly set and punch!!)

Off to unpack and sort out the mess my two herberts have made in my clean and tidy kitchen and walk the poor neglected dog! I'll be back tomorrow with more pictures!

Off to Convention

Well - after months of eager anticipation - its finally here and this afternoon I fly off to "sunny" Frankfurt for the first ever European Stampin' Up Convention!

I'm told by Roger who has spent more time than he cares to think in Frankfurt while he was working for Deutsche Bank, that the are where it is being held is very nice and the hotel is good - but he's also said that the airport duty free is one of the best he's ever seen. That's just as well - because with a VERY late flight home, I'll have plenty of time to wander round it as I'll be heading back to the airport as soon as the event finishes on Saturday evening.

As usual, Last Minute Libby here was up until 2 am finishing off the swaps I've signed up for. I've done 10 3D items, 80 cards and 8 scrapbook pages - and here's a sneak peek of the the scrapbook page - obviously I have cut the others' names for them to add - but I thought I'd get mine finished so I could show them what theirs will look like once they have added their own photos! I intend to use mine on my display board as the guests at workshops don't always know who I am...... well that's my thinking.....

I'll be back on Sunday with more piccies of the swaps I got from the other super talented ladies.

TTFN