Dreamy Signs

zoe tant stampin up demonstrator

I forgot that I hadn't shared this cute sign with you which is made with a miriad of products some of which are now retired, but it's nonetheless a fun item and appeals to young and old although Olivia has had her eye on it!  Lots of lovely ribbons and beads from the pretties kit adorn this sign and I also made some beads and buttons myself to get the colour that I wanted.  To make the buttons all you need is a circle punch, crystal effects, cardstock and a cropadile.  Punch out half a dozen circles and stick them together either with crystal effects or TOMBOW or TOMBOY as one of my lovely ladies renamed it at a class this week!  Once dry you can punch holes through using the cropadile and then if you choose you can glaze with crystal effects.  It isn't a quick accent as it takes time to dry, but they can be all shapes and sizes if you choose.

Here I made a fan to show off the pretty DSP that we had in last years mini.  It was from the paper stack which is retired, but now we have all those fabulous paper stacks in all the colour collections including the in-colours and if you buy 3 you can choose a free stamp set. 

The rhinestone brads look fab wherever you use them and here they fit just perfectly with the Fleurettes, which are not our cheapest accent, but can be used for papercraft, sewing and jewellery projects.  I also made my own beads in a similar way to the buttons. Take long tapering strips of DSP and roll them from the widest end and stick at the end with a little TOMBOY! Then slip them onto a bamboo skewer and paint them with several coats of crystal effects to glaze and harden them.  Be sure to let them dry between each coat.

A little bit of 'smudging', technical term distressing just softens the edges and makes it a really dreamy project.  Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's really cold here today so I'm off for a cuppa to warm up before I set to on more chores. 

Thanks for stopping by.....

Hugs Zx

Easy gifts with Stampin Up Journals

 stampin up demonstrator zoe tant

As promised here is the journal that I decorated for Olivia's friend Tia.  I used greenhouse gala dsp along with chipboard letters which I coloured with a marker pen and then covered them with crystal effects and sprinkled some gold fine galaxy glitter onto them prior to it drying.  The Eiffel Tower is from current set Artistic Etchings and the chic girl is from a retired US set in my stash.  Sweet little butterflies in the side border are a stamp from Sweet Summer one of the fab SAB sets available for free from Stampin' Up! with a qualifying order.  I'm really loving the basic pearls which don't appear to be basic at all, but in fact are very pretty and so easy to use and excellent value at just £4.50 a pack.  Mixed ribbon down the sprial add fun to this gift.  I'm delighted to report that Tia loves it!

More soon.

Hugs Zx

Special Gifts!

Wow where did December go!!! Life has been so busy with preparing for workshops, craft classes for children, doing all those fab parent things like nativity plays and carol concerts and of course the general prep that is required for Christmas!!! It's been so busy in this crazy household not least because of the car accident I had a the end of November and we still don't have our car back, then someone kindly put a bb gun out of their car window whilst I was driving behind them and it's been a little more than frantic helping Santa with the ever changing lists of my children, but all in all we've had a super duper Chrimbo and sincerely hope you have too!

I've finally got some time to load some pics of the yummy notebooks that I gave to some special friends recently. I've used the SU on board journals and decorated them front and back with designer series papers, ribbons, onboard letters and buttons to name but a few of the accessories.

They've gone down a storm and those who received them have daughters eyeing them up. I'm relieved I put initials on them for my friends otherwise I fear they would be borrowed on a permanent basis.

I've also received some fabulous gifts in the form of handmade cards from my lovely customers. Some of these will be making an appearance on The Stamping Hamster Blog so please do take a look. Thank you to everyone who sent cards of any sort. In particular the handmade ones have made me appreciate why I love being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator so much. It's a real joy to see what everyone has made. I love them all!

I hope that Christmas has been a special time for you all and that the New Year brings you joy and prosperity. I will be back soon, but in the meantime have fun.

Hugs Zx

New Baby

On 24 August I became an aunty again. My brother and sister-in-law are now proud parents to Elliott and new baby Will. I made them a card to celebrate the event and here it is.

I used on board chipboard letters and coloured them with bashful blue and chocolate chip. My base card of bashful blue is layered with bashful blue DSP, close to cocoa and choc chip cardstock. The Nursery Necessities and Wild About You sets are great for new baby projects and I also used the word window punch to add the 'welcome little one' sentiment.

I hope they liked it and hope to catch up with them all really soon!

More soon.

Hugs Zx