Happy Stamping Times

One thing I love most about being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator is the opportunity to share my passion of papercrafting with others either at a fun party or giving back to the community at the Welcome Club which I attend every couple of months to make simple cards with some of the regular and new attendees who come along for coffee and to meet new people.  I was there late last week and as it was St David's Day we made cards with the pretty You're Inspiring Stampin' Up! set and used some of the fabulous Gingham Gala papers.  It was a simple card, but easy to do.  Some of the ladies did their own take on my simple design which was great and I love to see what folk do when they experiment themselves with the kit.  We just stamped the Daffs and coloured them in with pencil crayons.  You can't beat #simplestamping

I love the arm peeking in. This lady was shy, but her card was lovely and she was happy to share it for the photo. 

At Sue's party we used one of the Saleabration level 2 free gift stamp sets. It's called Painted Seasons and it is what is known as a DistINKtive stamp set due to the process of design and manufacture it creates a 3D looking image with light, shade and definition.  I love it and am sad it is only available until the end of the month.  It really covers the Seasons and whatever colour you use it is perfect.  At the party we stamped in Blackberry Bliss which I know is a favourite Stampin' Up! colour of Sue and her friends.  There is also a little star or two of Rich Razzleberry.   We used painters tape to mask a border across the card and then stamped to create the pattern.  We removed the tape carefully and then added a strip of card with our sentiment.  We also added some Petal Pink rhinestones that look fabulous with the Blackberry Bliss.  I CASE'd (copy and share everything) the design from the talented Chris Smith and added my own twists.  

There were smiles all around and everyone loved the Painted Seasons bundle.  

If you'd like to host a Stampin' Up! gathering where you can offer a fun couple of hours to your friends, crafty or not as we can all have a go, then please do contact me. If you aren't in Lincolnshire then one of my more distant team members can probably offer you and your friends a stamping party too. Just let me know and I'll make sure you are put in touch with someone.  

You can see other examples of the Painted Seasons bundle here and here. 

If you love Stampin' Up! products as much as I do and have a wishlist as long as your arm or £90 or more then consider joining my team and hosting your own parties or classes or just enjoy being a discount shopper with a minimum of 20% discount on all our products.  For more information look on my Join Stampin Up page or contact me at zoetant@live.co.uk.  There are bonus goodies to be had until the end of this month with two options for joining. 

I was brave 11 years ago and took the plunge and have had nothing but fun ever since. You can too, you just need to join.  

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Crafting

Zoe x

Christmas Card Club - Christmas Trees

Another fortnight another Christmas card club challenge. Shaz chose trees either indoor or outdoor. I've gone with some outdoor from Rooted in Nature one of Stampin' Up! 's new catalogue sets. I've shared this set before and you probably now know that I love it. I like this card but having chosen a white background i've struggled to get good pictures so I hope you'll see them ok.  I've used the glitter splatter technique and you can find out how to do that in my Totally Techniques blog hop post.  

I stamped the trees which come in a pair and a single if that makes sense ie two stamps having inked them using two shades of green.  I coloured the trunks in basic black using my stampin write marker directly onto the stamp.  I also added a sentiment heat embossed with gold powder onto the stitched frame lit die cut in whisper white.  The sentiment is from Snowflake Sentiments which first appeared in last winter's catalogue, but is a returning stamp set in the new Stampin' Up! catalogue.  I've added a matt layer of a die cut oval in spruce green a new colour coming with the colour revamp.  

The splatter technique is fun and easy to do with some tombow (ova glue) and water.  It really looks like snow falling and adds a my favourite touch of sparkle.  The finishing touch is a real red ribbon bow and a matt layer of real red card.  

All these goodies will be available to order from 1 June so don't forget to inquire about a catalogue or visit my online shop.  The retiring list with some reductions is available until May 31 so don't miss out on products you've had your eye on as once they are gone they are gone! 

Thanks for checking in and I hope the sun is shining with you. We've more work to do shredding all the prunning we've done and are hopefully the rain will stay away that is forecast for later today. 

Happy half term week to all.

Hugs Zoe x

SHOP NOW

Totally Techniques Stampin' Up! Demos Blog Hop

The Eclipse Technique

Stampin' Up! set We Must Celebrate is sooo cute.  I couldn't resist using it for our Totally Techniques blog hop this month which is the eclipse technique which is very trendy at the moment and also a lot of fun to create cards or home decor pieces with it.  You've just arrived from my team mate Annette's blog and her fab take on this fun technique so welcome to the UK. 

All the stamps on my card are part of Stampin' Up!'s We Must Celebrate set including the sentiment.  I used colours pear pizzazz, wild wasabi, and early espresso, black memento  ink pads and coloured the cute creatures with my Stampin Blends using old olive, pumpkin pie, ivory, bronze, smoky slate and crumb cake.  

I die added some tear and tape to the back of my whisper white card which helped, even though it got cut, to keep the letters in place after I'd die cut them using the Stampin Up Large Letter dies.  It was then also useful for adhering the drop parts of the letters to the base card of early espresso.  I decided that is was easier to get faces where I wanted them after cutting rather than before, but you can work it which way suits your design best.  Once stamped and coloured the white outline was stuck to the base card and then each letter was carefully raised with mini stampin dimensionals.    I stamped the sentiment, separated the two words and then free hand cut them out and added them to early espresso card to free hand cut again.  They too are adhered with stampin dimensionals.  Here's a Stampin' Up! video to show you how to do the basic technique.  

You can also see another example of this technique using designer series paper with no stamping by visiting this  stamping scene post of mine.

Thanks for stopping here to look.

Zoe x

Now it's time to continue with the hop and see the other creations. Your next stop is Kelly over in the USA.

Blog List

1. Nadine Weiner - Germany

2. Shannean Moncrieff -Australia

3. Annette Elias - The Netherlands

4. Zoe Tant UK - You are here

5. Kelly Acheson - USA

6. Marine Wiplier - France

7. Satomi Wellard - Japan

8. Lynsay Mahon - Canada

9. Barbara Meyer - Austria

10. Paula Dobson - New Zealand