March Card Making Tutorial

Hello everyone. How are you all today? All well I hope. I thought I would share a card making tutorial with you today. This is the card I gave to my Daughter for her Birthday at the weekend. You may also recognise it as I shared it a couple of weeks ago because it was my swap card for a recent demo only event. Let me know if you have any questions and I'd love to see your creations too. Feel free to e mail them to me or post them directly on to my Stampin with Karen Spreckley Facebook page.

 

• Create an A6 card base from Sahara Sand cardstock (cut A4 in half then fold in half)
• Using the Ruffled embossing folder, emboss the front of the card in the Bigshot
• Using Perfect Plum ink, stamp the cake from the Cake Soiree stamp set onto very vanilla cardstock
• Cut this out using the coordinating die and the Bigshot
• Apply some snail dry adhesive under where your cake will be placed, and zig zag some pool party ribbon over that. Then add dimensionals to the back of your cake die cut and place over the ribbon
• Take a 2 inch strip of pool party cardstock and apply double sided adhesive sheet to the back of it, leaving the release paper in place.
• Using a sponge, lightly apply Perfect Plum ink to the bottom third of that strip of cardstock. Using a light motion means you can build up the intensity of colour. Try to leave it lighter towards the top of the sponged area to give an ombre effect.
• Using the celebrate die from the free Sale-a-bration Celebrate You Thinlets, place it over your sponged cardstock to give the desired colouring and die cut using the Bigshot.
• Remove the release paper from the back of the die cut word and adhere to your card base.
• Job done

All the products used are available to purchase in my online store or can be ordered directly through me.

 

 

 

 

Hope you all have a wonderful day,

 

Karen

 

"If you can be anything, be kind"

 



 

 



 

More FREE items available during Sale-A-Bration

Good afternoon everyone. I hope you're all having a good day.

Those lovely folks at Stampin' Up! have just informed us that they have added EVEN MORE items to Sale-A-Bration. That's even more product that you can get for FREE when you place a qualifying. These new additions are from the current catalogues so if you've had your eye on any of them, snap them up for free now whilst you get something else from your wish list.

That's all for now.

Karen xx

"If you can be anything, be kind"

Team Training Day Card Swap

Hello everyone. Hope you are all well today?

 

On 18^th February, I spent a wonderful day with approximately 70 other Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators at an event in Milton Keynes that was hosted by the very lovely and very talented Michelle Last.

 

It’s a team training day and they are held twice a year. They are an opportunity for some of us to get together, share ideas and inspiration, attend business workshops if we wish to, craft together and generally have a thoroughly lovely day out.

When we get together in groups, we often arrange a swap activity. This allows us to make multiples of the same card, and swap them with other Demo’s so we go home with a stash of new ideas. At this event, the swaps were arranged in groups of 6 and they had different titles. The group I chose to swap in was a colour challenge group where we had to incorporate these colours into our design –

 

Sahara Sand

Very Vanilla

Pool Party

Perfect Plum

 

And here is my card (Come back on 23rd March for a tutorial)

 

And here are the cards from the other Demo’s in my swap group. I think you'll agree that they are all stunning cards –

Gilly Hunt (hi@gillyhunt.com) -

Nicky Keylock - 

Tracy Abrahams (http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/tracyabrahams/)- 

Michelle Last (http://www.michellelast.co.uk/) - 

Maureen Dunn -

And here is a photo of them all. I was especially wowed when I saw them all together as a colour collection -

I'm going to get off now, so take care all

Karen xx

"If you can be anything, be kind"



 

Retiring In-Colours – What you Need to Know

Today I’d like to tell you all about Stampin’ Up! in-colours, more specifically, bring to your attention the fact that they retire periodically and you need to act now if you love them or you’ll miss out.

Each June, Stampin’ Up! releases its annual catalogue. With well over 200 pages of crafty heaven, and a part of that book is all about colours. Stampin’ Up! has 4 core colour families – Subtles, Brights, Regals and Neutrals. These are our basic set of 40 colours that all of our products are based around.

But in addition to that, each June, Stampin’ Up! introduce 5 new In colours to the palette to ensure the range is as up to date with current trends as it can be. In colours are only available for 2 years, so at the end of every May, we wave bye-bye to a set of in colours.

So why am I telling you this in March? Well there are actually 2 reasons.

Reason 1 – If you love one or all of the in colours that are due to retire at the end of May 2018, I need to give you the heads up to get them ordered before it’s too late. Stock of these items will run out rapidly once the Stampin’ Up! retiring list is announced at some point in April or May. If you want them, buy them this month. Remember your ink refills for your ink pads. Having those will keep you going for years.

Reason 2 – It is still Sale-a-Bration until the 31^st of March so why not stock up on the items that you love and earn free items for doing just that. Win-Win!

In colour items include card stock, ink pads, ink refills for your pads, Stampin' Write markers, ribbons and embellishments. Head over to my online store to browse.

Have a wonderful day

Karen xx

"If you can be anything, be kind"

Snow bound

Good morning everyone. How are you on this snowy morning? After a few hellish commutes too and from work this week, I'm staying put today and I'm already creating. 

Something bright and cheerful. What are you all up to today? Whatever it is, stay safe and warm.

Have a lovely weekend folks. Bye for now.

Karen xx

"If you can be anything, be kind"

Planning for my team.....

Hi Everyone.

I'm just spending a little time today planning for a special day that I'll be hosting for my team a little later this year.

They are a wonderful bunch of ladies and I like to show them my appreciation. I'm planning an all day event for them at my home in May/June and there will be lots of crafting and fun.....not to mention cake.

It's so lovely to get together face to face now and then to share creative inspiration with each other, and for the newer team members to have the opportunity to ask any questions they may have about anything.

If you think this sounds like something you'd like to be a part of, purchasing the £99 starter kit, and signing up with Stampin' Up! could be just the right deal for you. Click on the "Buy the Starter kit" tab at the top of my blog for all the information.

 Right, lunch break over, time to dash off!

 

Be Happy,

 

Karen xx

 

"If you can be anything, be kind"

February Card Making Tutorial

Hello everyone. How are you all today? All well I hope.

I thought I would share a card making tutorial with you today. Let me know if you have any questions and I'd love to see your creations too. Feel free to e mail them to me or post them directly on to my Stampin with Karen Spreckley Facebook page.

• Create an A6 card base from Old Olive cardstock (cut A4 in half then fold in half)
• Stamp the sentiment from the Petal Palette stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on to a small piece of Whisper White cardstock.
• Cut the sentiment out using the label die from the Petals and More Thinlets dies and the Bigshot.
• Stamp the rose cluster image from the Petal Palette stamp set using Memento Tuxedo Black ink
• Colour the image in the Daffodil Delight and Old Olive duo's of the Stampin' Blends markers.
• Cut out the rose cluster using the coordinating die from the Petals and More Thinlets dies and the Bigshot.
• Create a mat layer of Whisper White cut to 10cm x 14.3cm
• Stamp the small leaf and flower cluster in the bottom right to create a back drop for the sentiment and a few to the left where you will place your coloured piece.
• To create the tiny black splats to the background, get the tip of your Black Watercolour pencil nice and wet with your Aquapainter, the tap the pencil to create the splats.
• Adhere to the card front with Stampin' Dimensionals.
• And for a finishing touch, add a Daffodil Delight enamel shape from the Brights collection to the sentiment label.

All the products used are available to purchase in my online store or can be ordered through me.

Hope you all have a wonderful day,

Karen

"If you can be anything, be kind"

New Sale-a-bration items

Hello everyone.

I have a quick bit of exciting news to share. Stampin' Up! have just added 3 extra products to Sale-a-bration and they are gorgeous. The Springtime  papers are foiled and can be coloured using any medium you fancy, or left white if that's your preference.

The Eclectic Expressions stamp set is right up my street with those textural elements.

The Blossoming Basket bundle is a stamp set and embossing folder. That basket of flowers makes me want to bust out my Stampin' Blends pens!

Items are yours to choose free with a qualifying spend.

Take care and happy crafting

Karen

"If you can be anything, be kind"

What's on your wishlist?

Good afternoon every one.

If you're anything like me, you'll have an ever growing wishlist of Stampin' Up! products. I'm placing an order this evening so If you're local to me in Brackley, Northants, and fancy saving yourself the shipping costs, let me know what you'd like and I'll add it to my order for you.

Did you know there is going to be a second release of Sale-a-bration items that you can get for free with a qualifying spend? Well there is and customers will be able to earn them for free in a few days. But as a demo, I can get my inky mits on them earlier so that's what's going in my basket tonight.

Have a great evening folks. I'm going to be playing with Brusho crystal powders. Check back soon to see the results.

See you again soon,

Karen

"If you can be anything, be kind"

Why I love to Craft

I’m sure like lots of you, there are actually many reasons why I enjoy crafting.

I think most people have an innate need to make things and I certainly do. Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve needed to make stuff . In my Nanny’s garden I would make bricks from mud, rose perfume, insect homes. My Nanny and my Mum taught me to sew and knit and bake, and in more recent years, my passion has turned to memory keeping and paper crafting.

Mindfulness has to be my number one reason for paper crafting because whilst I’m concentrating on a project, my mind is focused on fun, rather than the serious topics that life throws in our path. My full time job is a busy and demanding one so having mental down time is really essential for my general health and wellbeing.

Modern life generally means that almost every waking moment is packed with something. People rarely experience getting completely bored anymore because there is usually an electronic device close by to provide entertainment of some description. I need to let my head escape that hubbub so I turn to my crafting supplies.

Creating something I like and that I’m proud of is another reason why I craft. And with cards, there is the added bonus that you can gift them away to someone else to let them know that you are thinking of them and that they are special. And we all need to feel special sometimes.

 

I regularly get together with other people and craft but at home when I craft, I’m alone in my craft room. My own little sanctuary from the world. I enjoy the quiet time that it gives me.

Sharing is another reason I like to craft. Not only sharing the finished items, but also sharing my ideas and knowledge with other people at my craft classes and also online by sharing photographs of what I make.

 

I’d love to hear why you craft too. Leave me a comment below and let me know what you enjoy.

 

Have a wonderful day,

 

Karen

 

“If you can be anything, be kind”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Latest Newsletter

Good afternoon everyone. Hope you're having a wonderful day whatever you are up to.

Just a very quick post to say that my latest newsletter has just gone out. If you subscribe but haven't received it yet, please check you junk or spam because e mail's can be naughty like that.

That really is all for now.....off to a meeting.

Take care,

Karen

"If you can be anything, be kind"