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

Sign up at a discount!!

Have you been dithering about joining the Stampin' up! family?

Well how about grabbing a piece of this month's special offer - take the plunge and sign on the dotted line and not only will you get the already fabulous value starter kit with just under £250 worth of Stampin' Up! goodies, you will get it for a measly £125 - yes literally half the retail price, because for a month - between 22nd October and 13th November SU are offering new demonstrators their starter kits at a 10% discount (usual price is £139!)

This is the company's suggestions of what you get in your starter kit - but you can personalise it a fair bit - you can change the suggested stamp sets and wheel for ones of your choice of the same or lower value, you can choose what colour of inkpads you get - and you can also choose your own cardstock colours. When the big box arrives, you can dive in and start creating straight away!




Go on - you know you want to - go ahead and take the plunge!! Get in touch if you want to discuss the benefits of joining my team of craft lovers!

Would you like some sneak peeks?

As I'm lucky enough to be a demo for Stampin' Up , we were allowed not only to get our sticky (inky??) paws on an early copy of the new catalogue a month ago, we were also allowed to buy some of the new sets so we could make up some samples for our displays. Jo, one of my fellow demos on the fabulous In Love with Stamping website organised us into a swap so we could get hold of samples using all the available preorder sets. Mine arrived with me on Tuesday and here are some of the gorgeous cards created by me and 4 of the other demos (we were in groups of 5)just to whet your appetite!



Here is the first set featuring L-R and top to bottom Tree Trimmings (see below for details of the class I'm offering using this stamp set)#116722 - £10.95, Autumn Days, #115452 - £19.95, Good Friend #113740-£22.95, Circle Circus # 115778 - £23.95 and Animal Stories #116716- £12.95 - aren't they gorgeous??





Here is the second set - again left to right - top to bottom

Autumn Days (yes its a Christmas card - how clever is that?? and featuring another new set called Spotlight on Christmas #111694 - £18.95), Animal Stories, Circle Circus, Good Friend and Tree Trimmings.




For the first time ever, we were allowed to get hold of some of the new sets which you can earn by hostessing a Stampin Up Workshop. These are very special limited edition sets which can only be earned by hostesses who reach qualifying sales targets. To get a level 1 set, you need sales between £150 and £299.99 and there are 4 stamp sets and a designer paper pack to choose from, you can get a level 2 set for sales over £300 (choice of 3), and a Level 3 set if your workshop sales are over £500 (choice of 2). Here are some samples using the level 2 and level 3 sets.



Group 3 - Queue Up (L3), Garden Dreams (L3), Itty Bitty Buds (L2), Rustic Rooster (L2) and Whimsical Wings (L2)

And here is the final group again the hostess sets Whimsical Wings, Itty Bitty Buds, Rustic Rooster, Garden Dreams and the one in the lower centre is Queue Up.

I have my own order for more of the new goodies already submitted so hopefully I will have a delivery early next week. There are lots of lovely new punches to be had, as well as gorgeous new papers - and some stamp sets too - watch this space!

It's finally here - and a Blog Hop as well!

Well maybe not quite here just yet - its 6 hours or so to go until the new catalogue launches - but woo - hoo I can't wait to submit my first order from it. I asked for SU stuff for my birthday on the 21st Sept, so I have a nice little amount to spend on the new goodies.

Anyway - to mark the launch of the new catty, Stampin' Up have asked 3 very talented UK crafters (none of whom have any connection with Stampin' Up prior to this!) to come up with some designs using the new products. They were sent a box of the new goodies with strict instructions that they were NOT to be opened until 6pm this evening. They have 6 hours to do their stuff and they will be doing a grand reveal on their blogs at midnight. If you want to join in the fun and see what they produce why not pop along to see what they have made.

Click for Lousette Ashton's blog
Click for Suzanne Torr's blog
Click for Jenny Cocks' blog

Best of all all 3 of them have got blog candy to give away - visit their blogs before lunchtime tomorrow and leave them a comment and you have a chance to win a stamp set, an inkpad and a punch. Each of the girls have 2 prizes to give away - one for early birds (you need to visit and comment between midnight and 1 am to be in with a chance of these ones) - and one for those who need their beauty sleep - leave your comment between 1 am and 1pm tomorrow.

Go on - you never know you might get your own new goodies for free!

Tree trimmings class coming soon

Here is a sneak peek of a class I am running using some of the scrummishness from the new 2009-10 Idea Book and Catalogue. Whilst I would love to take the creative credits - the class was designed by the very talented Andrea Walford, a Canadian SU demo who designs some lovely classes and workshops. I have several more of her classes in the pipeline so keep an eye out on here for them.

Its a gorgeous set of 4 Christmas cards and a storage/ gift box using the new Tree Trimmings stamp set (116722 - £10.95), the brand new 1 1/4" striped grosgrain ribbon in Old Olive (117385 - £8.95 for 9M) and one of the new sets of Designer Paper - Merry Moments (117366 - £7.75), along with old faithfuls like Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla cardstock, Real Red and Chocolate Chip ribbons, Gold cordand the scallop edge punch.

I'll be offering the class as a real live class at my home for £15.00 at 2pm on Saturday 24th October, which will include light refreshments, or as a "Class by Mail" where you will get the class kit and your own set of the Tree Trimmings stamps for £25.00 including postage and packing within the UK (you will need to provide your own adhesives, greetings stamps and scallop edge punch).

Alternatively, if you would like to make all of your own christmas cards this year, why not order the Stamps, Striped Ribbon and Designer Paper from me for £25 (plus £3.95 P&P) - that's a discount of £2.65 on the goodies, and I will throw in the narrower ribbons and cord and the instructions as a free gift!

If you would like to join in the fun, please get in touch on ExStitch@aol.com or 07973 969153 for more details

Hope to hear from you soon!

New catalogue anyone??

There's only just over a week before the brand new 2009-2010 Idea Book and Catalogue goes live!

Hopefully the catalogues I have ordered will get here sometime this week, and as soon as they arrive, they will be winging their way to those of you who have held a workshop for me, ordered one already or have given me orders worth over £150 during the last catalogue. Those of you who buy a catalogue in advance will get the price of it refunded on your first order worth £50 or more!

I have been flicking through the advance copy which came with my Demonstrator pre order goodies - and I have got a wish list as long as my arm! There are quite a few old friends still in there, but there is some lovely new stuff which really needs to come and live at your house!!

There are of course brand new sets of stamps to be had, including some really lovely hostess sets - but there are also some LUSH new designer papers in there, several new punches, and a whole load more accessories including storage for the stampin around wheels... but I'm not allowed to tell you anything else until the 1st October!!

There is still time to order the retiring items - see the last chance list on the Stampin Up website - some items are already sold out but come midnight on the 30th September, all these items will be gone forever. Give me a ring on 07973 969153 or drop me an email on ExStitch@aol.com if you want to place an order.

Watch this space for pics of items made with the new sets in the next few days!

Happy stamping!

Last Chance Saloon

Today was the big day when we all learned which stamps and accessories featured in the 2008-9 Idea Book and catalogue would be discontinued.

I'm gutted that two of my personal favourite sets, Summer by the Sea and Carte Postale have got the chop, but the good news is that there are some lovely new sets coming our way on the 1st October so watch this space for a new piccie appearing on the right side!

Anyway - a couple of things you should all know.....

1. Unlike last year, the retired list will not feature in the back of the new catalogue. You have until the 1st October to get your hands on the discontinued goodies, and with limited stock remaining, its very much a case of first come first served - once they are gone - they are GONE!!

2. There are also a few bargains to be had!
For the first time, there are some price reductions on retiring stamp sets and accessories. Yes, some last chance items are available with a hefty reduction you too can have a set of the gorgeous Carte Postale at 25% off and some items are actually 50% off eg the lovely For Father set

Check out the list or download a PDF of the list complete with the reduced prices on the Stampin Up website and get in touch with me to order.

If you haven't got a paper copy of the retiring catalogues check out the online versions here

As an incentive - I will send anyone who orders £50 or more worth of goodies (excluding P&P) this month a FREE copy of the 2009-10 Idea Book and Catalogue when it launches on October 1st (normally £4.95 + P&P), and of course - don't forget that these orders get you stamps on your loyalty card! You get a tick in the box for every complete £10 spent with me, and once you have collected 10 stamps, you get a Classic Inkpad or pack of A4 cardstock of your choice absolutely FREE!

Purse-onally perfect!

This is an absolutely gorgeous class I found online from a fellow SU demonstrator from the US called Inking Idaho. This lady produces the most wonderful 3D items using the SU products and they nearly always include things like cards as well.

This is my take on a lovely project of heres - unfortunately the papers and stamps she used in her original version are not yet available in the UK (but here's hoping they will be coming in the new catalogue!). I did mine using Rose Red cardstock and Designer Series Paper, and the gorgeous " A Rose is a Rose" stamp set.

This first pic is of the little handbag box for the set of 4 cards..... isn't it lovely? The little pocket on the front is fully functional and would be great for keeping stamps in.

This is a photo of the 4 cards I made to go inside - they are loosely based on Becky's but as I don't have the same stamps they aren't quite the same... I LOVED doing the flowerpot card.

And here's a shot of the full set - now I just need to find the envelopes which will fit inside the box - the Euoropean C6 ones are a bit too big.

On to other news re Stampin' Up!

The background stamp offer for hostesses is still on this month - host a workshop with sales over £250 and you will get a free background stamp of your choice, but the big news is that SU in Europe are running a fantastic competition - create them a "Summer" themed project using exclusively SU products and you could win £150 worth of SU goodies - go on it's got to be worth a try - and you could see your work featured on the SU website in the future!

Here are the rules so get your creative juices flowing - and good luck! Do get in touch if I can get you any products you may need!

Summer Design Challenge Rules
Projects must be created using only Stampin' Up! products.
Only one project per participant will be accepted.
Projects can be cards, home decor, scrapbook pages, or 3D items.
All projects must be summer-themed.
Projects must be unique, and created for the Summer Design Challenge. Do not just recycle your old projects.
A list of products used must be included with the project submission.
Full contact information, including your full name, demonstrator ID (if you are a demonstrator), address, phone number, and e-mail address must be included with the project submission.
Projects will not be returned as they may be displayed at future Stampin' Up! events or on the Stampin' Up! web site.

The June Stampin Up promotion!

How would you like to own a Stampin' Up! background stamp (worth £14.95)of your choice - for FREE?

Well during June and July you can do just that thanks to the new offer from Stampin' Up for these months. All you have to do is hold a Stampin Up workshop with your friends and have sales of at least £250 (excluding postage and packaging) at it. Then when you come to choosing your free hostess goodies of a free limited edition stamp set, and £25 worth of merchandise, you can choose one of the seven background stamps shown on page 56 of the catalogue absolutely FREE.

Go on - what do you have to lose?

Get on the phone and ask your crafty mates to come round for a fun afternoon or evening with a demonstration of Stampin Up! products followed by a fab and fun Make and Take project where you can jump in, get inky and try out the goodies for yourselves. I have a car and can travel to most parts of Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

Watch this space for details of some fabulous classes featuring Stampin Up's amazing range of products coming your way soon - I'm planning some lovely card, gift and scrapbook classes in the near future.

Stampin Up May Promotion

Do you like the fabulous Designer Series double sided papers Stampin Up! do?

If so here's a chance to grab yourself a bargain - the May offer is a buy 3 get one free on all the papers available in the catalogue. Choose any 3 packs of 12 double sided papers and get a 4th one of your choice absolutely FREE.

You can check the available packs in the online catalogue on the link to the left but if you would like a real life paper catalogue to browse through (and don't forget - its not just a catalogue - it has some fabulous ideas for using SU products as well) - you can have your own personal copy for a payment of £5.25 (including P&P) and I will give you £4.95 off your first order.

There is also an irresistible offer for the scrapbookers among you too. In May there is a special offfer a a Demonstrator starter kit aimed at the scrapbookers. You can sign up as a Demo for £99 as opposed to the normal starter kit price of £139 - you do of course get slightly less product to play with in that - but you don't have to stick to scrapping products afterwards - you are treated the same as any other demonstrator.

If anyone is considering signing up please get in touch (ExStitch@aol.com) for more info on what is involved.

I have an offer for any potential new demonstrators who sign up under me - you can choose an A4 card pack, a Classic Inkpad and a set of stamps to supplement your starter kit.

Stampers 6 and Stampers 10 starting up.

How do you fancy a FREE catalogue and FREE goodies from it as well as FREE exclusive stamp set(s)?

Well you can and here's how.

Simply join one of my Stampers X groups.

A Stampers 6 group consists of 5 members who each guarantee to spend a minimum of £25 (excluding postage) each month in the catalogues for 6 months. All members take it in turn to be the Hostess which means that one person each month can have £15 worth of free goodies from the catalogue as well as one of the special Hostess stamp sets which you can't buy for love nor money. You choose exactly what you want to buy and when, and your only commitment is the minimum spend (plus postage) each month.

A Stampers 10 works the same way, but involves 10 members each spending £15 a month (excluding postage) for 10 months.

The above figures are minimum spends there is nothing stopping you spending more if you want to , but you must spend the minimum. All members of the group get a free copy of the latest Stampin' Up catalogue(s) to drool over and plan their spending. If you are interested please email me on ExStitch@aol.com for more details.

Come on - what's stopping you? Stampin' Up have some gorgeous Christmas themed stamps so what about starting to make your Christmas cards now? Watch this space for some ideas on how to use the brand new Winter Post and Scandinavian sets to make your own unique Christmas greetings.

My first cards!

Be gentle with me!!!!

These are the first cards I've made using the Stampin Up products. I joined a card swap on Dawn's team - and I didn't realise that we were only allowed to use SU products to create them. I only had the contents of my starter kit plus a couple of stamp sets and tools I already had to work with - so not a huge selection of product to choose from.

Anyway - I chose to use the Simply Said stamp set for my first card, and I used Whisper White, Basic Black and Real Rose cardstock to create this, along with Real Rose and Basic Black inkpads. I finished off with white grosgrain ribbon and the gorgeous scallop edge punch, and a couple of dimensionals.

The second card uses the fabulous Carte Postale stamp set. I "stamplifted" this design from one on Split Coast Stampers and started by stamping a background on Whisper White cardstockusing pale pink ink (which doesn't show up on the scan....). Then I stamped the swirl in Not Quite Navy ink, the Bonjour in Old Olive and the bird in Really Rust. The bird was cut out and mounted onto the base using dimensionals, and the whole thing mounted onto Not Quite Navy cardstock and attached to the base card of Old Olive and a strip of Really Rust (gotta love those Earth Elements colours!) decorated with the faithful scallop edge punch.

I'm beginning to like making cards - so I'm off to recreate a few of the ones in the catalogue now ready for my display

Welcome to my new venture!

Well after nearly 2 years of dithering, I finally got round to signing up as a Stampin' Up demonstrator. My upline is the lovely Dawn Silver from Aberdeen - and just in case you were wondering how someone in Kent and someone in Aberdeen got together - I've known Dawn via UKScrappers since 2005 and met her in real life at our first ScrapaGanza in Holland in 2006. I won't tell you how many times we have met since (always in Holland) but I'm delighted to be a member of her expanding team.

I have used the gorgeous SU inkpads and tools for several years, but until now have avoided getting into the stamps - but I couldn't resist any longer....

Watch this space