Mothers Day Make

Here in the UK we celebrate Mother's Day at a different time to many countries and so I made my card last week for my lovely Mum as we celebrated yesterday.  It was a lovely sunny day, my parents came for lunch and Olivia surprised me by popping home from university for the day and of course she and Charlie bought me some beautiful flowers. Some arrived by post which is always exciting on Friday and more yesterday with a fun and special card.  

My card was a big hit with Mum and I'm so pleased. It is bigger than many I make, but I know my mum loves to make bigger cards so I used a sheet of A4 for the base. I added several  matting layers which I embossed using different folders.  The first was just a tad smaller than the card base and I used one of the Stampin' Up! Petal Pair folders which are long and thin. I first embossed one end placing the folder just under half way down the card from the top and then again the same placing it from bottom up.  The next layer was smaller and embossed with the Subtle folder which is I have to admit not easy to see in the catalogue or on this picture, but the one above shows the linen effect it produces.  The next layer is again a tad smaller than the previous one and is embossed with the Tufted folder.  It made me think of a quilted pin cushion and fitted in with the Stampin' Up! set images of the Needle and Thread set.  I created a faux embroidery hoop using the Swirly Frames set and used my layering circle dies to cut out the image.  Next I built up an arrangement of the faux embroidered flowers. Needle and Thread is a Stampin' Up! DisINKtive set which gives a 3D impression and allows it to look like individual embroidery threads.    You can see more examples on my stampingscene scrapbook post and cards I made for onstage using the Needlepoint Nook suite and here. 

I also used a couple of the leave dies from the Stampin' Up! spring catalogue Wonderful Floral framelit dies.  One of them embosses at the same time as cuts but to create a deeper emboss you can also use the embossing mats from page 221 in the annual catalogue to create a deeper impression.
Quick Tip I die cut vellum leaves and then removed the vellum from the die carefully. I put Versamark ink on the die and replaced the vellum leaves.  I then used the embossing mats to push the ink onto the vellum leaves before adding copper embossing powder.  Once you've heated it it highlights the veins of the leaves.  You can see it peeking out at the bottom of my floral arrangement.

If you celebrated Mothering Sunday yesterday with your mum or without I hope it was a day of special memories. 

Perhaps if you received some spends for your craft you might like to look at the new Stampin' Up! Storage which launched today. 

You can order any of these pieces and that gorgeous grid paper in my Stampin' Up! Online Shop

SHOP NOW

Thanks for checking in.

Zoe x

Stampin' Up! Sneak Peeks

Stampin' Up! has great catalogues with awesome products, but it is always exciting when as a demonstrator you get to see them earlier than everyone else. It was even more exciting for me when I got this new bundle of product loveliness earlier than thousands of other demonstrators across the world as I was one of a very small group who were asked to present this suite called The Needlepoint Nook at the UK recent #Onstage2018 event in Birmingham.  

This is full of bells and whistles as it was one of three cards which differed in the detail they each received. This as you can see was 'the works'.  The papers are just stunning and were created when embroidery patterns designed by Stampin' Up! were embroidered and then photographed to give that fabulous effect of threads and beauty that embroidery has to offer. 

You'll be seeing more of this suite for sure, but I'm pleased that this card of mine has been well received by Stampin' Up! and my fellow demonstrators.  

You'll be able to spy more sneak peeks soon, but also get your hands on our spring catalogue.  If you'd like to be added to the list of recipients of a paper copy to browse at your leisure please contact me at zoetant@live.co.uk

Thanks for stopping by 

Zoe x

My Beautiful Girl with Needlepoint Nook Suite

I was invited some weeks back to be a presenter at the Stampin' Up! UK Onstage event at The Vox, in Birmingham.  I was given a suite of products from the Spring 2019 catalogue to share with over 500 UK demonstrators and a brief about other information to give including my tips for demonstrators for their business and using this suite.

Part of my presentation was to share a project that showed why I loved the Needlepoint Nook Suite of products and I decided that the best way was to share a scrapbook page or two of my amazing children.  This is the page I did for Olivia and you can see the page I created for Charlie on my #onstage2018 30th Stampin' Up! birthday post.

You can see in the bottom right hand corner the stitched image underlying the stamped and die cut flowers and this is a new exciting feature of the new Needlepoint Elements framelits dies.  It adds a stitched pattern.  You need to use it on the Bigshot and so to make this possible I cut the base of my page in half and then used tear and tape to adhere the pieces together on the back  leaving the backing tape in place.  On the front I covered the join with the designer series paper from the suite also called Needlepoint Nook just like the suite.

I've used the Stampin' Up! Celebrate You dies to add part of my journalling, the Make A Difference alphabet stamp set for the 'are' which is embossed with copper powder and also the Friendly Expressions set from the Stampin' Up! annual catalogue for the 'you make me proud'.  You might notice the pretty label punch on which this sentiment is stamped and adhered to has a stitched edge and this is another die in the suite which you can use to add a stitched border to the punched shape or to add a stitched frame on your project.

The Needle and Thread stamp set is a new photopolymer DistINKtive set that means that the actual strands of the embroidery are visible when stamped.  The set was designed by Stampin' Up! who teamed up with an expert embroiderer. Once the design was embroidered it was photographed and the image was recoloured to the Stampin' Up! colours and printed for the DSP.

I hope you like it.  It will be available to order from 3 January 2019.

I'll be sharing more of my projects using it very soon.

Thanks for stopping by.

Zoe x

#Onstage2018 - Stampin' Up! 30th Birthday Celebrations for Demonstrators

As this posts I will have just sat back in my place having shared these lovely new products coming out in the new year with approximately 560 Stampin' Up! UK demonstrators at our twice yearly conference. Today is a special conference celebrating Stampin' Up! 's 30th birthday and I'm so excited to be part of the presentation team.  I had a suite of products to play with and share some of my top tips for demonstrators to help you my lovely readers get the most from your crafting.  The suite is called Needlepoint Nook and although at first sight is very girly and fabulous for those of you who love embroidery I also wanted to share that it can be linked with other products to produce a perfectly masculine project too. I set a challenge in my presentation which in part was to step outside of your comfort zone and so felt it only fair for me to do the same.  I love scrapbooking, but am always a little bit overwhelmed by the idea of it and it takes me time to actually do it, but when I do I love it.  I also was tasked with sharing a 'why I love this product suite' so what better way to share it than to share pages feature the loves of my life my kids!!  This is the page I made for my son Charlie.  It's a shot from our cabin balcony on the Alaska cruise which was this years Stampin' Up! incentive trip.  I used papers, colours, buttons and stamps from the suite which also coordinates with  the Pretty Label Punch up on the top right banner embellishment.

I used other embellishments like the mini wooden stars and trees that have been a popular part of the Festive Farmhouse Elements from the current winter catalogue, that sadly may have sold out by the time this posts. I coloured them with Stampin' Blends and adhered easily with tombow wet multipurpose glue.  If you put a blob on a silicone mat and then use a cocktail stick to add small amounts you can avoid a splurge when you add the button or laser wood cuts.

As the stamp set is based on embroidery/sewing I used my sewing machine to add some detail to my navy matt layer.  I printed the journaling and used a sponge to add some connecting distressing or smudging for want of a better word.

The sunglasses are stamped from the Stampin Up set Pocketful of Sunshine and die cut with the Pocket Framelits.  I coloured the lenses in with a black stampin blend and then once thoroughly dry added a very thin coat of our fine tip glue to give the shine of glass.



If you like what you see then ask your family to contact me to arrange gift vouchers for you this Christmas to spend with me in the New Year.  Make sure you get the gift you want this Christmas.  

Thanks for checking in and send me good wishes that I got off the stage OK with my crutches. I'll be back with more of my projects very soon.

Hugs Zoe x