You've Got This! Box Frame Card For A Special Friend.

Yesterday was my very good friend Sam's birthday and it called for an extra, extra special card. There are two times a year when I feel I want to go the extra mile with my creations and those are when I am making a card for Sam - why? She makes the most amazing cards she spends hours on them and they are always stunning with lots of attention to detail. She informed me she had spent 35 hours on my birthday card this year - I will share that another day. I wanted to create something very special for her as I really appreciate the cards she creates for me, there is nothing like receiving a handmade card that you know was made especially for you. So this is what I came up with.

A full frontal view

The right hand panel in more detail.

and the left hand panel. 

and finally a picture of the way I assembled the back. This card was inspired by a beautiful card by the very talented Diana Gibbs - you can find it here http://goo.gl/CfBSEl who used You've Got This! stamp set to create her card. To make the frames I followed a tutorial from a very special lady's blog, she never fails to inspire me - Amanda Bates of The Craft Spa blog and you can find her tutorial here http://goo.gl/VsiGCQ and finally I have had this tutorial pinned for a while now but this shows how to add the joints details on the back http://goo.gl/BzAExD. I am pleased to announce Sam loved her card so I can relax now until Christmas! If you make one of these cards please do send me a link so I can see your creations.

 Until next time, take care. Nic

Gosh it has been a month to the day since I last posted, life took over I am afraid however I have been working on some creations to share so I will go ahead and do that now.

I really fancied this stamp set - No Bones About It - when the new catty came out but it didn't

make my final cut, boy did I regret that once I started to see everyone's creations with it. As you know I have a son so I suspect this set will get a lot of use when School starts again, Luke has already requested one for a very special friend. Here is a peak at the inside....

I really need to practice taking more photos. I love the sentiments that come with this set. I am also slightly smitten with the colour combo of Lost Lagoon and Mint Macaron. I love how bringing out some new in colours allows us to use colours we have overlooked for ages or never used. Thanks for visiting and hopefully I will be back much sooner this time round. Nic

Hello there - have you got wet today? Its hard to believe its June sometimes! I thought I would share with you a quite simple little bundle of makes  I designed for a recent class. I have been working with a small group of ladies who have additional needs and the projects below were what they made in their first workshop with me. We used glue to put them together and boy was everyone and everything sticky at the end, I think they were really proud of their makes though.

We used the Owl Builder punch to create a little gift that they could give away or keep. I rolled out the Berry Basket blanks in advance of the class and they stamped them with the Woodgrain Stamp then stuck them together. We also got to play with the Bow Builder Punch which we decorated our baskets with.

We made a couple of small note cards that fitted nicely into the basket along with a little book mark.

Which is your favorite? I really like the cheeky chappy on the Blackberry Bliss! If any of these products have taken your fancy you can visit my shop at http://nicbaker.stampinup.net/

Thank you for visiting me please do leave me a comment if you have time to tell me you have been. Good night. Nic 

Hi there - do you have a favorite stamp set yet from the new catalogue? High on the list for me is Sprinkles of Life and today I thought I would share with you a few makes I have made with this set and the Tree Builder punch. You may have noticed I used one of the little stamps from this set on yesterdays card, I think this set is  fast becoming one of my most used but will it beat Gorgeous Grunge? only time will tell!

I am also a big fan of the Cherry on Top papers and this card was the first one I made when I received my new goodies. It features the new in colours ink, card and lace ribbon, I think it was a case of how much new product can I use to make a card?!

This was one of the cards we made at one of the Card and Cuppa sessions I run, its quite basic as its a drop in session for people of all abilities .

Last but not least here is a little bag with a flap that we made at my Launch Class, I followed a tutorial by one of the  Stampin' Up! Artisan Team the very talented Teneale Williams. 

If you would like to find out more about how to buy Stampin' Up! products or even how to become a demonstator yourself then please do contact me.

Thanks for reading. Good night,

Hello - I thought I would pop in and share a card with you that I  started off casing from the annual catalogue but ended up adding a few extras! When I looked through the catalogue for the first time the Cherry On Top Cotton Paper Assortment jumped out at me straight away and said buy me!

I made this card to showcase the papers and to get a feel for them also to use as a sample at my Catalogue Launch class, On the day I displayed out all the new products I owned from the new catty and stood beside them a few samples I had made using the products. Normally when I run a class I place the items we are making on the table so the attendees can see what were making. However this time I decided to inject a bit of fun and left them to guess. When I announced this card was to be one of them I had a big cheer as they all loved it and said it reminded them of a Hula hoop skirt! Needless to say the papers ended up on their wish lists! Well I am going to go and get a well deserved rest now after a day spent on the sports field today at Luke's sports day oh and I am pleased to announce I didn't come last in the parents race! Good night.

Its a late one tonight! Phew its been a busy week, I thought I would just drop in and share a photo of a card I made before the new catalogue launched but during pre-order for demos. I was looking for inspiration for a card to make for a Card and Cuppa session I was helping to run and was flicking through the catalogue and came across one that I  thought was lovely plus I had most of the products as it was carrying over so I cased it. Here it is!

To make the card I have used the Six Sided Stamp, the matching punch, a bit of Gorgeous Grunge -this stamp keeps appearing on my cards its definitely one of my go to stamp sets thank goodness it   carried over! I have used Papillion Potpourri and the matching punch  to add the butterfly as I didn't have the  framelets they used in the catalogue  at the time. Have you got a catalogue yet? If not please do message me and I will arrange to get one to you. As some of our team members are fond of saying its a really great craft magazine as well as a catalogue its full of inspiration! Right I had better get some sleep as its Luke's Sports day tomorrow and I keep being told there is a Mummy's race - I think I will definitely come last! wish me luck!

Good intentions...... and a Brand New Catalogue!!

Good Evening.... As you can maybe guess from my post title I am perhaps a tad annoyed with myself! I started this blog with good intentions and told myself (and you guys!) I would blog three times a week however life happened and it got lost by the wayside. So I am here to tell you I have now made myself a weekly schedule which includes all the weekly tasks I need/ want to complete and I have allotted set days for each one so hopefully I wont miss a post again ....

So whilst I have been away lots has happened in the world of Stampin' Up! We had regional training in Telford which I attended with some fellow demos from the larger team that I belong to. Most of us traveled down for two nights as we like to make the most of it. On the Friday it was a fellow demos birthday and a few of us met up to have a most delicious afternoon tea in a really lovely Tea room where Julie is very fortunate to run her Card and Cuppa craft sessions. With very full bellies and a little squiffy as we all had some Prosecco too to celebrate, we checked into our hotel. We met again in the evening for more food and more prosecco. For those that know me I am sure that will read wrong as I generally don't drink alcohol. Needless to say when I mentioned a problem with my room and bed the next morning everyone's first reaction was 'are you sure it wasn't the Prosecco?' Hmm

We had a very uplifting, enjoyable, craft and action packed  day training at The Telford International centre. We got to try out and see lots of new products and just generally catch up with all things Stampin' Up! in advance of the new Catalogue launch. Later we all met up at a really lovely hotel for a beautiful meal it was quite special to sit round the table with sixteen other demos and enjoy each others company.Sunday came round all too soon and with very full bellies, hearts and minds bulging with ideas we traveled home to our loved ones.

As you will probably know we recently had a very big day in our calendar when the 2015 -2016 Annual Catalogue launched to take a look at what it has to offer please press the link over on the right of my page and the catty will open - warning - you may be gone a while as its even more gorgeous than ever! If you would like a paper copy of the catty please do contact me and I will get one to you.

Nic

PS - For those of you have visited me before you may have noticed the blog has a new look, its courtesy of my very talented friend Sam who I cant  thank enough!