WOW - What a weekend

Stampin' Up! ONSTAGE

Stampin' Up! runs biannual demonstrator events where we get to see and play with new products.  It's  lots of fun as it a great time to meet up with old friends and make new ones and for me I love meeting up with my team which is usually spread across the UK and The Netherlands.  At these events we share ideas in the form of 'swaps' and the card above was my general swap that I shared with others there.  I also run a friendly Facebook group for demos from various teams and those of us going to the UK event took part in a swap also. I'll share that one with you later this week. 

The night before the main event team leaders who have reached a certain level are invited to attend an additional event known as Centre Stage and there we get some great advice on moving forward with our team as well as a lovely dinner and this time we received a fab t shirt which you can see me modelling below.  We also received a very nice stamp set from the 2018 Spring catalogue which you will see in due course.  I'm a tease I know. 

 The weekend continued when Martin and I drove from Solihull where Onstage took place down to London as we were invited to attend the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall.  We had the most amazing grand tier seats and were then also invited to the reception after the show.  If you saw the event on TV you'll know that Mel C, Alfie Boe, Emilie Sande and Lesley Garrett all sang and a personal highlight for me was to see the Royal Marines Band play and the drum routine was brilliant.  It was an awesome evening, but very moving too and we both felt very honoured to have been invited.  I was so pleased to be there as Women in the Forces were celebrated in this 100th anniversary year of the WRNS.  I loved my career in the Royal Navy and it was wonderful to revisit the memories this past weekend.

I'll be back soon with more swaps and pictures from the weekend.

Thanks for stopping by Zoe x

Chocolate, Candy Dispenser - Thinking Outside of the Box - Design Team Blog Hop

Hi and welcome to the first ever blog hop from the Design Team that has it all Wrapped Up otherwise known as Thinking Outside of the Box.  We'll be sharing different boxes and wrap designs with you over the coming months.  We've had a few teething problems with our first run, but hope you'll be patient as we get into full stride. 

If you have come from Yoshiko's blog you'll have seen what a fabulous design she has shared along with the rest of the group this month we are sharing our versions of a chocolate, candy or sweetie dispenser.  Each designer has done a FREE tutorial for you to use.  I've made my box petite, just 7cm tall,  and have used one of may current favourite colour combinations of Lemon Lime Twist, Smokey Slate, Whisper White and Black.  I've used the Snowflake Sentiements stamp set from the Stampin Up Winter 2017 catalogue and my trusty Stampin' Up! paper trimmer.  

Continue the hop by clicking on the next button and go and see Annette's fabulous design.  

Thanks for joining us and do visit again. 

Thanks Zoe x

1. Shannean Moncrieff

2. Tanja Kolar

3. Yoshiko Endo

4. Zoe Tant   -   You're here

5. Annette Elias 

6. Dena Plummer Rekow

7. Sharlene Meyer

8. Beate Wacker

9. Aude Barbara

10. Barb Stewart

Christmas Card Club - Make it Round

Here we go with our latest Christmas Card Club Challenge set by Valery.  She asked us to Make It Round, so here is my take on her theme.  I used my stampin' up! layering circle dies and the stitched shape framelits.

First I made a card base using the largest scallop circle die.  I cut and scored a card base in early espresso card. I made sure that the die was just over the fold at the top so that is didn't cut two circles, but a folded circle shaped card base.  I then added two rectangles one to the inside front and one to the outside back circle.

I added a stitched circle layer, followed by a foil snowflake and then a smaller stitched circle which I had stamped and embossed with copper powder using the fir branch stamp from Stampin Up Merry Patterns.

The sentiments are stamped in early espresso ink and a flourish from Stampin Up Snowflake Sentiments and some basic pearls as the finishing touch.

My tip for today is to invest in an embossing buddy which removes static and finger oils from your card stock before you stamp in versa mark for embossing hence avoiding unwanted specks of embossing powder on your design.  

I hope you'll visit our club members to check out their 'Make it Round' designs.  You can visit them easily by heading to the page detailed above Christmas CC.  

Best wishes for the week ahead and do pop back as I have some very exciting news to share this week.  

Hugs all  Zoe xx

Stampin' Up! Thailand Achiever's Blog Hop

Welcome to our final achiever's blog hop named Thailand.  We're sharing some favourites from the winter catalogue this time and I've got a card to share that has lots of sparkle and uses a handful of products including Snowflake Sentiments and Merry Mistletoe stamp sets and the fabulous snowflake embossing folder called Winter Wonder.  Regular readers know I love a bit of bling and this has a handful of basic rhinestones with a large silver faceted gem certainly satisfy that need and a couple of strips of silver glimmer paper.  

I've stamped in basic grey ink on a thick whisper white card base then added the embossed snowflake layer which is basic grey card too.  A simple message is added in basic black ink.  This is a simply created card perfect for making lots to send to all your friends.  

Enjoy the hop and the inspiration from lots more demonstrators from around the world of Stampin' Up!. 

You are currently with me, Zoe Tant from the UK.

See you soon and thanks for visiting me.  Zx