Casually Crafting Design Team hop – Sale-a-Bration

Posted on 18 December 202018 December 2020 by Gillian Whitcombe

The Casually Crafting Design Team are a group of Independent Stampin’ Up! demonstrators that want to share our love of crafting with you all. We will be sharing what we love every 3rd Friday of each month. Make sure you check out the rest of the Design Team’s creative projects using the photo links at the end of this post.

Sale-a-bration

When we started this blog hop last December we never knew what 2020 had in store for us… it has been a year like no other and hopefully there will be no other like it! BUT that said I have thoroughly enjoyed hopping with this amazing group of people for the past 12 months! I am so thankful for each of them for the inspiration and craft genius they share with me on a regular basis. I am also so thankful for those of you that come here every month to see what we have made. The idea was to get me blogging regularly and although that’s only once a month at the minute I’m hoping to build on that and it’s once a month more than I was previously!

Anyway we are back to Sale-a-bration again with sale-a-bration comes celebration – for our one year anniversary, for free craft products and for the friendships this crazy journey has brought! There is so much to love in this years offering and you might well want it all!

For my project this month I’ve made a 3d project using the beautiful flower and field designer series paper which you can earn for free with a £45 spend. All you need to recreate this gorgeous little bag is one sheet of 12×12 paper and one sheet of co-ordinating designer series paper.

Flower and Field

Full disclosure, I first learnt how to make this bag, or a variation of it when I started my Stampin’ Up Journey many years ago. I watched a video by a lady called Elaine from Papercraft button. Sadly I don’t think the channel is on YouTube anymore and I’m so glad I scribbled down the directions because I have created this time and time again, sometimes with different measurements, with handles, without handles, with ribbon… and I’ve an idea for another version to try in the new year. I’ve no idea who first came up with the folds to create this but they are a genius!

For the first bag I used Cherry Cobbler as my co-ordinating card stock and I love how it turned out!

For the second bag I used Just Jade – and I have to put my hand up and say I’ve hardly used this before and WHY?!?! It’s gorgeous quite possibly my new favourite!

Pick your favourite?

So which one do you prefer? I made both of these with handles however they make super cute clutch bags as well, I’ve used ribbon for handles in older versions as well. I really can’t decide on my favourite, when I look at one that’s it and then I look at the other – I’m fickle!

I’ve listed the products I used below with the exception of the designer series paper as it’s not yet available but you could use any. Sale-a-bration stated on the 5th January and runs through to the 28th February – as a reminder for every £45 spend you get to select one FREE exclusive item!

Thank you so much for dropping by and reading my ramblings, I hope you’ve loved this months project. I also hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year! Let’s hope that 2021 brings the best of times for us all! Please don’t forget to visit my awesome demo brothers and sisters by clicking the photographs below!

Merry Christmas! Love Me x x x

Casually Crafting Design Team Photo Links

Click on the photos below to continue along this month’s hop from the rest of the Casually Crafting Design Team and don’t be shy about leaving comments we would love to hear from you!

Product List

Cherry Cobbler A4 Card Stock [121681] £8.25	Just Jade A4 Cardstock [153084] £8.25
Multipurpose Liquid Glue [154974] £4.50	Tear & Tape Adhesive [138995] £6.50
Simply Scored [122334] £28.00	Paper Trimmer [152392] £23.00

Ready, Steady, Sale-a-brate

Posted on 4 January 20204 January 2020 by Gillian Whitcombe

Hello again and a very happy New Year and a new decade! Wishing you all a marvellously crafty 2020! As of yesterday our brand new Mini catalogue launched and along with it our annual sale-a-bration catalogue!

What is Sale-a-Bration?

If you’re new to Stampin’ Up! you may well wonder what all the hype is with Sale-a-bration; well it’s definitely the most wonderful time of the year for Stampin’ Uppers! For every £45 you spend in my online store you get to select an exclusive gift for FREE! Yes you read that right for FREE!

The beautiful meercat card I posted the other day is one of the free stamp sets (The Gang’s All Meer); but it’s not only stamp sets you can redeem for free, there are embellishments, designer papers, card kits, punches, embossing folders, basically lots of choice to suit everyone.

If that’s not enough and you want MORE every year during Sale-a-Bration Stampin’ Up! makes if fabulous joining offer even more fabulous! This year for only £99 you get to select £130 worth of products PLUS a new mini paper cutter PLUS a 6″x6″ designer series paper sampler PLUS your choice of ANY stamp set offered across all current publications! If that’s enough you also get FREE business supplies and FREE shipping! All in all I estimate this to be over £200 value for £99.

Anyway you can probably tell I’m a little over excited! Today I have another lovely card to show you featuring another set that is FREE during Sale-a-Bration.

Happy Birthday to You

This gorgeous cling mount stamp set features five lovely stamps, the focal being a beautiful floral decorated cake. I’ll show you some photographs and then tell you a little about how I made it!

I started with a standard card base made from thick whisper white card stock. The embossed layer, also whisper white cardstock is embossed using the new Parisian embossing folder. I used the detailed bands dies to add some interest under the cake.

I stamped the cake image three times. One I coloured fully with the blends markers (colours listed below). The second I cut the full flowers out of, coloured them and using my fingers (or a bone folder) I curled them slightly before adhering to the main cake with tombow multi purpose adhesive. Using the third stamped imaged I cut out only the central area of the flowers, coloured and shaped them and then added them on top of the last layer. I finished each flower with a gold glitter enamel dot.

Using the fine tip glue pen I added a layer of dimension to the cake stand. Note this takes a while to dry so if you are after a card in a hurry skip this part. Finally I stamped the sentiment on whisper white and fussy cut it before layering onto my cake.

I then assembled the rest of my card, adding dimensionals to the back of my cake topper and there you have it!

Stampin’ Up! Products used

Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock [140490] £7.75	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] £9.00	Whisper White C6 Envelopes [106588] £7.00	Happy Birthday To You Cling Stamp Set (English) [152308] £0.00
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708] £5.50	Rococo Rose Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack [149572] £8.50	So Saffron Light Stampin’ Blends Marker [149555] £4.25	Granny Apple Green Stampin’ Blends Markers Combo Pack [147274] £8.50
Parisian Flourish 3D Embossing Folder [151474] £9.25	Detailed Bands Dies [149549] £35.00	Paper Snips [103579] £9.25	Paper Trimmer [152392] £23.00
Gold Glitter Enamel Dots [152155] £7.50	Multipurpose Liquid Glue [154974] £3.75	Stampin’ Dimensionals [104430] £3.75	Fine-Tip Glue Pen [138309] £6.50

I hope you enjoyed today’s project, if you’re visiting please leave me a comment to let me know you’ve dropped by!

If you would like to come along to one of my classes you would be more than welcome. They are currently twice weekly in Portaferry, Co. Down! All skill levels welcome! Next class is this Tuesday at 7.00 pm!

Have a fabulous weekend, until next time!

Gillian x

All images (c) Stampin’ Up!

Casually Crafting Celebration Blog Hop

Posted on 27 December 201917 January 2020 by Gillian Whitcombe

Hello and a huge welcome to the first Casually Crafting Celebration blog hop! To kick off our new hop and in preparation for Sale-a-Bration 2020 we have chosen the theme of ‘celebration’ for this hop.

The Casually Crafting Design Team are a group of Independent Stampin’ Up! demonstrators that want to share our love of crafting with you all. We will be sharing what we love every 3rd Friday of each month. Make sure you check out the rest of the Design Team’s creative projects using the photo links at the end of this post.

The Gang’s All Meer

For the celebration theme I opted for the new stamp set ‘The Gang’s All Meer’ which I think celebrates friendship which for me is what Stampin’ Up! is all about, AND there are five meercats on the front one for each of our Design Team members (except for this month – we are only four). Apart from being a super cute stamp set it also comes totally FREE with a £45 spend during Sale-a-Bration which starts on the 3rd January.

It’s always exciting getting a new stamp set and inking it up for the first time and I’ve really challenged myself to stay ‘casual’ with this card and made it easy for you to recreate should you wish to do so. The style of card is called a ‘Joy’ fold, even the name fits in with celebrations!

I hope you like my card and my interpretation of our theme this month. Don’t forget to click on the photographs below to continue hopping and see what the rest of the Casually Crafting Design Team have come up with!

Thanks again for hopping by! See you soon!

Love Me x

Casually Crafting Design Team Photo Links

Click on the photos below to continue along this month’s hop from the rest of the Casually Crafting Design Team and don’t be shy about leaving comments we would love to hear from you!

Stampin’ Up! Products Used

Card Stock A4 Pear Pizzazz [131290] £8.25	Card Stock A4 Blushing Bride [131287] £8.25	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] £9.00	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708] £5.50
Paper Trimmer [152392] £23.00	The Gang’s All Meer Cling Stamp Set (English) [152294] £0.00	Pool Party Light Stampin’ Blends Marker [144595] £4.25	Granny Apple Green Stampin’ Blends Markers Combo Pack [147274] £8.50
Soft Suede Light Stampin’ Blends Marker [146874] £4.25	Crumb Cake Light Stampin’ Blends Marker [144582] £4.25	Flirty Flamingo Light Stampin’ Blends Marker [147031] £4.25	Petal Pink Light Stampin’ Blends Marker [146866] £4.25
Stampin’ Blends Color Lifter [144608] £4.25	Paper Snips [103579] £9.25	Multipurpose Liquid Glue [154974] £3.75	Stampin’ Dimensionals [104430] £3.75

Sale-a-Bration is coming SOON!

From the 3rd January for every £45 spend across all our publications you will be able to select one free special edition gift from the Sale-a-Bration catalogue. Yes – you read that right! What’s more you can join my team for the normal price of £99 but during Sale-a-Bration you get so much more! This year you will be able to pick ANY stamp set from the annual or spring catalogue for free, in addition you will receive a FREE mini guillotine and a paper sampler. The paper sampler contains 48 6″x6″ sheets of new designer series paper that is in the Spring catalogue! For more information or to join my team click the here

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