Happy Home

Hi all

I'm bidding a fond farewell to one of my favourite stamp sets, Happy Home, with today's project. It's retiring at the end of the month but it's still available in my online store both as a stamp set on it's own or as a bundle price with the Hearth and Home framelits. You'll save 15% on the total price if you purchase the bundle.

I made a birthday card for a male friend, you could easily make it more feminine by adding some ribbon or flowers.

The banner shape is a sneak peek :) it's coming very soon! The new catalogue launches 1 June and I'll be adding the link on here but if you'd like me to send you a paper copy just let me know and I'll mail one out to you.

Esther xx

My Friend - #GDP033

Hi all

Global Design Project #033 | Colour Challenge

Time for a challenge! I was really excited to see the colours chosen for the challenge on Global Design Project this week and couldn't resist joining in.

It's such a sophisticated combination. These colours would suit male and female projects and any occasion so of you're just starting out on a stamping journey these would be great to add to your collection.

I used the Bloomin' Love bundle in my project which you'll actually find in the Stampin' Up! retiring section. The good news is that it's not actually retiring (phew!) it's the bundle price that's retiring and you can currently enjoy 15% off the stamp set and coordinating die set when purchased together.

Price now: £31.25

Price from 1 June: £37

Esther xx

Flowering Fields Sketch challenge for #GDP026

Hi all

I'm back with a sketch challenge! These are always a joy to take part in and also great to see all the beautiful projects other people come up with too.


Global Design Project #026/ Sketch Challenge

I used the Hello You Thinlits dies for the sentiment which I layered up to create a more 3D effect.

The DSP layer is offset to show the Basic Black underneath.

Here's how to make it:

1. Basic Black A4 cut in half length ways (at 10.5cm) and scored at 14.9cm
2. Whipser White layer 14.9cm x 9.5cm
3. 2 strips of Bohemian DSP 1.5cm x 14.9cm
4. Adhere the 2 strips of DSP to Basic Black Card base
5. Stamp Flowering Fields in Blackberry Bliss, colour flowers with Delightful Dijon marker and the leaves with Gold Wink of Stella
6. Cut 4x Basic Black Hello sentiment and 1x Bohemian DSP using Big Shot
7. Adhere layers using Tombo and glue onto stamped layer
8. Attach the stamped layer with dimensionals.

Flowering Fields is part of the Sale-A-Bration offering and FREE until the end of the month with a £45 purchase!

Stampin' Up! It's a good day, training fun!

Hi all

I had a great day today at a Stampin' Up! training event yesterday organised by my upline Fiona and Pip for our respective teams.

These events are always super fun because you craft with your buddies and play with all the new things that have come out :)

As some of you already know, it is customary to 'swap' at any SU gathering. This means making a card front or 3d project that you then swap with the other demo's meaning you come home with lots of their swaps which equals lots of ideas and inspiration!

Here's mine

I made no secret of the fact that I loved the Hearth and Home framelits at Christmas and was so happy to see they made another stamp set to match it for the Spring/Summer catalogue. You can get them both at a bundle price too if you haven't already purchased the dies, saving you 15%. 

To me it looks like just the kind of view you want to find outside your window, with the lovely blue sky which I am not seeing outside my window today!

I created the 'sky' and 'grass' by sponging the whisper white card after I had stamped the image. I wanted I mottled look which was easily achieved with the sponging.

I squeezed the Mossy Meadow inkpad (when shut) which gave enough ink in the lid to water colour the tree. Some of the Early Espresso from the tree mixed in with the green but I rather like that as it gives dimension to the image.

I'll be posting pictures of the swaps I received, so be sure to check back for those.

If you have any questions do let me know and if you'd like to be part of the fun, this is a great time to join Stampin' Up!

During Sale-a-Bration you can choose £160 of SU products for only £99 AND receive discounts on your orders AND join in special demonstrator only events. Join during January and receive all the benefits until the end of June!

Esther xx

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

The new Stampin' Up! Spring/Summer catalogue has launched today!

Hi all and a very happy New Year!

You may not recognise the stamps and dies used to make the New Year card above and that's because they are from the BRAND NEW Spring/Summer catalogue, launched today! Exciting, right? 

I love Christmas but it's always refreshing to head into spring crafting with all the beautiful colours. 

Scroll down for the ingredients list for the card. But for now, let's talk new catalogue AND Sale-A-Bration.  SAB for short.

If you haven't heard of SAB before you are going to love it because it means FREE stuff, yay! For every £45 you spend in any SU catalogue you can choose a free item from the SAB brochure.

We also have fantastic joining and hosting offers.

To view online:  http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/stampwithesther/catalogs

Shop - We have a fantastic line-up of FREE goodies to choose for EVERY £45 you spend across the current catalogues.

Join - Join Stampin' Up! during SAB (5 January-31 March 2016) and you can choose £160 of products for only £99! 

Contact me for more details or visit the website

Host - Need another excuse to get together with friends? Just host a qualifying party during Sale-A-Bration and earn £20 more Stampin’ Rewards! You can even apply your Stampin’ Rewards towards your Starter Kit.

If you would prefer a paper copy of the catalogue, let me know and I'll get one out to you. As ever, don't hesitate to ask if there's anything I can help with.

Esther xx

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Spotlight on Christmas and Sneak Peeks - week 1

Hi all

The Stampin' Up! Autumn/Winter catalogue launch is only 3 weeks and 1 day away! It launches on the 1st of September and you are all going to love it!

It's never too early to start planning your Christmas projects. So whether your thing is gift packaging, memory keeping, home decor, card making or all of them! There is something to get you excited in the seasonal catalogue.

So let's dive in with the first of 3 projects I'll be sharing with you over the next three weeks.

Today's project features the Happy Scenes Stamp set and Hearth & Home framelits. With this beautiful window die you can create endless wonderful scenes. My card isn't strictly Christmas which I think shows it's versatility as a stamp set to use year round.  It's available as a bundle price saving you 15% when you purchase the stamp set and dies so be sure to look out for these deals throughout the catalogue when it launches.

Bundle price £31.25 item number 140853

These products were used in addition to the stamp set and dies above.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

If you would like me to send you a catalogue I'd be happy to do so.

Esther xx

Teenage birthday wishes - Stampin' Up!

Hi all

Can't believe that my little Nephew (who is in fact taller than me!) is going to be 13 this week. Obviously that calls for a card. He always opens his cards from me with a 'I hope this is handmade' Well of course!

Here's how to make it:

• Create a standard A6 card from Smoky Slate card 
• Score the front panel in half and fold back, creasing the fold with a bone folder
• Cut a piece of DSP to fit the front panel then use the other side for the inside of the card 10x14.5cm
• Cut 2 circles using circles framelits one from Whisper White and the other Bermuda Bay
• Stamp candles in Bermuda Bay, Watermelon Wonder and Cucumber Crush then the flame in Daffodil delight. I find using a piercing mat under your card will give a sharper stamped image when working with photopolymer stamps.
• Cut the 13 from Cucumber Crush using File Tabs die and glue with fine line of Multi Purpose Liquid Glue
• Put Glue on Bermuda Bay circle on half the circle and glue to front panel
• Add the stamped circle with dimensionals
• Stamp Birthday Wishes in Cucumber Crush trim to size and create fishtail ends with Paper Snips, adhere to stamped image with dimensionals

I glued a piece of Whisper white on the back to add my message and stamped greeting.

Esther xx

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Stampin' Up! magnetic platform - video tutorial

Hi all

My first video! The magnetic platform is just £25.30 this week but the bonus deals do have limited supplies. Price will go back up to £36 next Wednesday 15 July.

Here's what I used, and thanks for stopping by.

Esther xx

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Stampin' Up! Catalogue Kick Off Party Fun!

Hi all

I had a great time on Saturday celebrating the brand new Stampin' Up! catalogue in style. I definitely had a house full and was very grateful that my Mum was on hand to serve the cakes and make the drinks!

We made 3 projects:

One of the above cards

Tag

and a chocolate bar

One of the main attractions was my 'shop' with every retired stamp set, ribbon, inks, buttons and more for sale. The best part? Every £ spent my ladies got for FREE out of the NEW catalogue! As you can imagine this was very popular, the only difficult part was choosing. We want it all, right??

Esther xx

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Stampin' Up! Miss you already...

Hi all

This weekend I took part in a challenge to make a card using our favourite retiring Stampin' Up! stamps. This isn't easy as I have many favourites!

I'm not even sure if my Four Feathers Stamp set or Just Sayin' set will make it onto the  BOGOF pile at my catalogue Kick Off Party on Saturday!

The good news is, if you love them too and don't already have them you have until tomorrow to purchase them. Just Sayin' is also reduced in price, yay! After the 2nd June they'll be gone for good...sniff.  

2nd June is pretty special because you can:

• Order from the current catalogue
• Order from the retired list
• Order from the Spring/Summer catalogue
• Order from the NEW catalogue

I will post the link to the NEW catalogue tomorrow so be sure to check back for that! 

Esther xx

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Stampin' Up! regional training -team goody bags

Hi all

Today is one of my favourite days of the year, Stampin' Up! regional training. It's my chance to meet 100's of other demo's, play with new products, craft and get lots of business tips.

There's 2 things us demo's like to make for these kinds of events:
1) swaps...I will blog about these next week :)
2) team gifts, which I'll show you now!

A little something to keep them going, chewing gum, a little box of chocs (obviously) and a bottle water because crafting is thirsty work...

I used Birthday Bash DSP and Amazing Birthday, notice how versatile Amazing Birthday is? I cut the 'birthday to you' part of just left the 'happy' for the gift bag tag and I think the images are pretty generic. I love to get extra mileage out of my stamps.

I'll be back with more from training very soon...

Esther xx

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Stampin' Up! Weekly Deals time and a brand new project!

Hi all

This week's deals have something for everyone in there, whether you need adhesive, embossing, dies or ribbon  there's a great selection.

I've chosen to showcase the Deco Labels Framelits today. These dies are a sure fire way to step your projects up to the next level and produce high quality hand crafted gorgeousness in no time at all.

Everything you need to re-create this card is shown below and the Weekly Deals are right below.

Happy stamping! (and saving £'s) :)

Esther xx

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Colour chalenge - Celebrate Today

Hi all

I took part in another colour challenge this week, challenge is definitely the word as it's a colour combination I wouldn't have chosen myself!


CAS Colour and Sketches Challenge #112

I thought the colours would be great for a boy's birthday card, this may be because I'm a mother of boys that both love the colour orange.

Thanks for stopping by!

Esther xx

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

There's always something to be thankful for

Hi all

Today I'd like to show you a card I made inspired by a few things. First of all I wanted to include the Pansy punch because it's in this weeks weekly deals (yay!) and the sentiment 'There's always something to be thankful for' seemed to resonate as we enter into Lent. The colour pallet was inspired by Hello Honey, also in the weekly deals.

The sentiment comes from the You brighten my day stamp set which you can order FREE for a limited time during Sale-a-Bration when you place a £45 order.  The stamp which is part of a set of 9 is designed to co-ordinate with the Note tag punch but as I didn't want the tag border I inked my stamp with a Stampin' write marker.

I used the Flower Shop stamp set which co-ordinates with the Pansy punch for a quick, sophisticated effect.

This week's deals, click on the image to shop.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Esther xx

Free Stampin' Up! goodies!

I've just realised, thanks to a hectic first week back to reality, that this is my first post of 2015!
So Happy New Year to you all :)

Last week I had fun launching the brand new Spring/Summer catalogue and Sale-a-Bration. I held an open house to mark the occasion and I gave away a cute little 'grown up' party bag to all my lovely guests.

These were made with the brand new Mini Treat Bags Thinlits dies, let's just say...I'm in love! If you've ever had a Stampin' Up! parcel delivered to your home then I'm sure you'll recognise the brown paper to be the brown paper used as packing in the boxes. Recycle, re-use!

Look at all the other cool dies you get in the set:

Other items used:

Big Shot 113439

Bermuda Bay sequin trim item 137910

Painted Bloom cotton twine item 137873

Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper item 135315

Whisper White card item 106549

Melon Mambo ink pad item 126948

Cheerful Critters stamp set item 137932

1/4" circle handheld punch item 134364

I did promise FREE GOODIES in the title and this is how.

Sale-a-Bration (SAB) - earn a free item from the SAB brochure for EVERY £45 you spend. Offer valid 6 January-31 March 2015 so lots of opportunity to earn free stuff. 

See the SAB brochure here.

There also great joining and hostess offers so be sure to check them all out here.

I love questions and comments so go ahead!

Esther xx

Weekly deals - 3rd December 2014

Hello all

I have some fabulous weekly deals to share with you all today:

Perfect for all you embossing fans. The Texture embossing machine would make a great Christmas gift for the crafter in your life (or you!) and affordable enough to add an embossing folder or 2. 

The Lucky Stars embossing folder is one of my all time faves and I use it on so many projects.

I think it looks especially beautiful on this Curvy Keepsake box which I made from vellum. The tags come with the Curvy keepsake die which makes it super simple to make a quick and elegant gift. I popped a battery tea light in this one which shows off the vellum and the stars really well.

Other items used were:

Blackberry Bliss ribbon

Blackberry Bliss ink pad

Itty Bitty Accents punch set

Teeny Tiny Sentiments stamp set

Whisper white card

Silver Glimmer paper

Happy stamping!

Esther xx

Training day - swaps

Hi all

I had the privilege of spending a lovely day crafting with my my wider Stampin' Up! team this weekend. Organised by my fab upline, Fiona and another very talented demo who runs her own successful team, Pip.

It's customary for demo's to  exchange 'swaps' and I received some very beautiful projects which will serve as inspiration to me and my customers.

This was my swap.

I love the bright colours of the All Abloom dsp stack and I popped chocolates inside too!

This design was shown to demo's in America at their catalogue launch and I used the dimensions provided by BJ's Stampin' Spot here.

All Abloom dsp
Banners framelits
Large oval punch
Strawberry Slush Stampin' pad
Daffodil Delight & Whisper White cardstock
Finishing Touches Edgelits
Stamping Sponges
Six-Sided Sampler Stamp Set

Esther xx

March class projects

I cannot believe how glorious this weekend has been with all this sunshine!

To make my weekend even better, I spent Saturday morning crafting with lovely ladies at my March class. Thanks to those of you that came along :)

Here's what we made:

And what you need to make them:

Butterflies:
Black, Pool Party and Whisper White Card stock
Stazon back ink
Rhinestones
Bitty Butterfly punch
Perfect Pennants & Sweet Essentials Stamp sets
Sweet Sorbet DSP (order this free with £45 spend)*

Treat pouch:
Whisper White card, Silver Glimmer Paper
Crisp Cantaloupe & Pool Party Ink
Sweet Sorbet DSP (order this free with £45 spend)*
Petal Parade Stamp set (order this free with £45 spend)*
Banner Blast Stamp Set (order this free with £45 spend)*
Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack
Banner Punch (order this free with £45 spend)*
1- 1/4 Scallop circle punch
Glue Dots

Ship:
Real Red, Midnight Muse and Whisper White card
Real Red and Midnight Muse ink
Fresh Prints Designer Paper stack
Mini brads
Deco Collection and Circles Framelits
The Open Sea & Happy Congratulations stamp sets
Big Shot

*Earn one Sale-a-Bration item for every £45 spend. Hurry! Offer ends 31 March 2014!

Contact me with questions or to order. You can also shop any time here

Esher xx

I like you

Sometimes it just has to be pink and sometimes you just need a bit of glitter and today was one of those days.

It's amazing how some pretty colours can really cheer up your day.

This card doesn't have many elements but I've added some fine details which I think make all the difference.

This is what I used:

Stamps: Hardwood & You're lovely (SAB item free with £45 spend)

Ink and Card: Whisper White, Coastal Cabana & Strawberry slush

Tools and accessories: Big Shot Machine, Deco Labels dies, Decorative Dots Embossing folder (SAB item free with £45 spend) 2-way glue pen, Dimensionals, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, adhesive pearls & Organza Ribbon.

You can order any of these items by contacting me or shop 24/7 at your leisure right here.

Esther xx

Deck The Halls

Well, we are almost at the end of the school hols, my boys go back on Tuesday so just one more day left before the madness of homework, lunch boxes and lost PE kits. I have to say I'll be sorry to see the end of the holidays but I'll just have to take my mind off it with lots of crafting.

Those of you that receive my newsletter will have seen the project I'm posting today. As promised, here is all you need to know about it.

Stampin' Up! Supplies used

Stamps & Punches

Christmas Messages

Christmas Collectibles and punch bundle

Card, DSP & Inks

Cherry Cobbler and Whisper White Card Stock

Season Of Style Designer Paper Stack

Old Olive and Cherry Cobbler Ink

Tools, Dies & Embelishments 

Cherry Cobbler Bakers Twine 

Cherry Cobbler Chevron Ribbon

Circles Collection Framelits

Big Shot

Stampin' Trimmer

Rhinestone Basic Jewels

Dimensionals

Snail Adshesive

Have a great day!

Esther xx