School's (nearly) out.....

Hi everyone,

Sorry, I haven't blogged for such a long time. Ever since my husband is working from home now he sits in our study which also happens to be my craft room, so I just never seem to get much time to do crafting nowadays..... I think I have to push him out a bit more in future... ;-)
Anyway, did manage to have a go this afternoon as the end of term is looming and I wanted to do some nice cards for my children's teachers....
Here is what I created:

Card stock used is 'rich razzleberry', 'soft suede', 'melon mambo' and whiper white.
Inks: White, rich razzleberry and Versamark
Spotty ribbon in rich razzleberry

I am quite pleased with this one, it is for my daughter's playgroup teacher. She has been an absolute star this year and helped us a lot. I am forever grateful for that and thought I will make her an extra special card, different from the other ones... I hope she will like it.
Big Brother starting in a few minutes..... better post this blog now.
Thank you for looking and hope I will have some more time for crafting and blogging soon...
Hugs and kisses,
Vanessa x

Razzle Dazzle Razzleberry!

I got my new things in the post last week and guess what, 'Rich Razzleberry' is my absolute favourite! I just love this colour, it is so rich and gorgeous and seems to go with almost any colour. I am sure there will be much more to come, but have a look at some of these first....




Hope you have already ordered your new colours and like them as much as I do.
Thanks for looking.
Love,
Vanessa

A few cards...

Hello everyone,

I have been busy the last few days with making some cards. It always seems to be the same, I don't do any crafting for a few weeks and then the bug bites me again and I am doing loads... Anyway, here is a little selection of some of the cards I made. Just realised that they are all very spotty. I do love spots though, can't wait for my spotty new ribbons to arrive....
Thanks for looking.
Love,
Vanessa

11 New Products

Hello everyone,

Sorry I haven't blogged for a long time, life was just a bit hectic and there was no time to update my blog.
I am writing to you today with exciting news though. Stampin' Up! are revamping their existing colour families, starting in September this year, in time for the new idea book and catalogue due to come out on first of October. As a little taster they already treating us with 11 new products which you can order from the first of May.
Please have a look at the chart above, I absolutely adore the new colours and will put my order in today. How does 'Melon Mambo' and 'Rich Razzleberry' sound?? Wonderful if you ask me... and the spotty ribbons are an absolute must! I've been waiting for them to come to the UK market impatiently, having seen them on the US website. I can't wait to get my fingers on them and try lots of different projects.

Great weekend

Well, our little Easter basket workshop on Friday went really well and I think everybody had a great time. Thanks Ladies, for coming, hope you enjoyed yourselves....
For anyone who would like to copy the cute little baskets, my friend Monica Gale has got a lovely tutorial which you can watch on you tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dhZXCYtvxA

Wasn't it a gorgeous day today out there? John and I have been busy in the garden, weeding and raking over our vegetable patches. We even started planting, carrots, beetroot and leeks are in the ground now and courgettes and sunflowers are in the house on the sunny window sill.. Can't wait for warmer weather and more sun, at least the clocks have changed and we have lighter evenings now.
Anyway, that's all for today. Promise to post some crafty things again soon.

Take care,
Love, Vanessa xx

Easter basket workshop

Hello ladies,
I am going to hold a workshop to make a cute little Easter basket.
The workshop will be on Friday, 26th March, at 8pm at my house in Melbourn.
The cost for the workshop is £5 per person and includes all the material for the basket as well as light refreshments.
If you are interested in booking a space please let me know as soon as possible to avoid disappointment as spaces are limited.
Hope to see you all soon.
Love, Vanessa

Weekly challenge

My upline Michelle set us girls a new challenge, which will change every week. What a brilliant idea! The first one this week is this wonderful recessed window frame card. If you are interested to copy the idea, you can have a look here.
I hope you like my version of it. I used the 'sunny day' designer series paper, as well as some felt accents from the new mini. The heart is punched out with the new heart punch. Remember, this one is only available during March and only whilst stock lasts... so if you like it you have to be quick and better get your order in.

Will post again soon.
Take care,
Vanessa xx

New Mini catalogue out soon

The new mini catalogue is just around the corner (out on 1. April), but we as demonstrators have the privilege to pre-order a month in advance. So of course I couldn't resist and bought a few things ( I tell you now, the products in the new mini are absolutely wonderful, I am sure you will love it as much as I do...)

Anyway, I had a go and made a card with the new animal set 'Fox and Friends' - very good when you have young children and you have birthday parties nearly every weekend.... ;-0
More little tasters coming soon. Watch this space.

Love and hugs.
Vanessa

Another card....

This one is a birthday card, I HAD to try out my new background stamp. I absolutely love it already, I think it will probably become my favourite, although I do like the spotty one as well...









I also have to share with you a picture of my gorgeous amaryllis plant, it was a present from my parents-in-law for Christmas. It was basically just an ugly root in a pot and look at it now... Isn't it just amazing...!!! I just love the colour. Very bright and intensive. I might get inspired to do some card making later.... ;-)

Mother's Day is just around the corner...

Hi everyone, with Mother's Day at the end of this week I thought I better get going and create a few cards. Here is my first attempt. I do love the houses from the SAB 'good neighbour' set. It is very versatile. Will have to do a few more cards though as my sister in law 'ordered' 2 cards for her Mums.... Will post more later.
Love as always,
Vanessa x

Spring is in the air

The weather has been absolutely lovely today and put a spring into my step. I bought myself a lovely lime green mac at the weekend and I can't wait to wear it now. It still has to get a bit warmer though... Can't wait for spring to arrive.

Anyway, the mild weather has put me into the mood of pastel colours and I made these two cards with that in mind.
I also ordered some more paper from the soft subtle colour family, so there will be more pastelly cards coming soon. Watch this space..... ;-0

Valentine's Day cards

With Valentine's Day only a week away I thought I will show you two cards I made the other day.
For the big one I used the new heart punch (just ordered it the other day and I am loving it...) I also 'glazed' the hearts with 'crystal effects' - it just gives that extra special effect. Just right for your loved one...


















Also used the eyelet border punch and the bird in the cage is from the gorgeous sale-a-bration set 'happy moments'. Remember girls, sale-a-bration is coming to an end this month. So if you want to get your hands on any of the lovely free stamp sets, you have to hurry. Contact me if you have any questions or want to order anything.

That's all for today.
Love as always.
Vanessa x

Happy Birthday to my hubby!

It was my lovely husband's birthday the other day and I made him a so called 'spinning card' - yes, the heart spins from left to right and it is very easy to make. You can see the instructions here.
The paper and stickers are from the simply scrappin' set 'sunny day', I think the colours are so lovely and happy, just right for a cheery birthday card.
John loved the card and I think you could adapt the design easily for a special Valentine's Card.
Anyway, all for now. I am off to bed now, I am so very tired at the moment, must be the weather.. ;-)
Love,
Vanessa

Happy Baby card

This one is a card for a friend of mine who just had a gorgeous little baby boy. I used certainly celery, bashful blue and whisper white card stock. The flowers are from the 'simply said' stamp set and I used the Signo gel pen to highlight the flowers in white. I copied the idea from a lady called Jenni. She has got a lovely blog, it is in German but worth checking out as she always has lots of great ideas.

For this lovely card I used chocolate chip, rose red and old olive card stock. The giraffe is from the 'Wild about you' stamp set. The background flower from 'All wrapped up' is stamped on with Versamark. The button I used is from the new Designer button set 'Playground'. Hope you like it.

More crafty things from the training day.

Here are some more of the things we did at the training day. All projects were made using the new stamp sets from the sale-a-bration catalogue. As you can see, the stamp sets are very versatile and the best of all, you can get it for FREE if you spend more than £45 from the new catalogue or book a workshop. Please contact me if you are interested.

That's it for now.
More crafty things soon.
Love and hugs.
Vanessa x

SU training day in Peterborough

Last weekend I went to a SU training day in Peterborough, hosted by the lovely Monica Gale who is one of the best demonstrators in the UK.
We had a lovely day full of stamping and crafting and socialising. One of the things we did was this beautiful photo/scrap album which I wanted to share with you. It was made with the simply scrappin 'sunny day' kit. It's very easy to do, if you interested to do one, please let me know and I can give you the details. Alternatively, if more people are interested, I could offer a scrapbook class one evening or at weekends. Let me know what you think.
Love.
Vanessa x

Haiti Disaster Relief

From now until 28 February, 2010, you can partner with Stampin' Up! to make a difference in the lives of those who continue to suffer from the effects of this devastating earthquake.
Stampin' Up! will set aside £1 from the sale of every Greenhouse Gardens stamp set and donate that money to the Red Cross’ International Response Fund. The Red Cross is already well-established in Haiti, and this money will be used to provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need.

The beautiful stamp set 'Greenhouse Gardens' costs £22.95 plus p+p, please contact me if you are interested in buying one.

Hugs,
Vanessa

sale-a-bration

Sorry I haven't blogged for such a long time.... Life just always seems so busy. It doesn't mean I haven't been doing any crafting though... ;-)

Anyway, it's the time of year again, it's SALE-A-BRATION time! Which means that from 30. December 2009 until 28 February 2010 you can earn FREE stamp sets from the sale-a-bration catalogue with every £45 you spend (net sales before shipping and handling).
Also, if you host a workshop during that time and the net sales of the workshop are £300 or more, you earn one FREE sale-a-bration stamp set in addition to the already generous hostess benefits.

So ladies, what are you waiting for? Call me if you want to book a workshop or place an order.