Stampin Up Dragonfly Dreams

There have been some fabulous sunrises and sunsets recently with the year nearing the shortest day and this gave me the inspiration for today's card. I am using a brand new stamp set and die bundle not available till 1st January 2017 but I just know it is going to fly, excuse the pun, when it launches in the new Stampin Up Spring/summer catalogue. Dragonflies are as popular as butterflies and can add beautiful dimensions to many cards and projects.

I started with the confetti embossing folder and watercoloured in pink, purple and yellow. Once dried I used some gilding wax to bring the embossed area to life and also the centre panel. Then I sponged with blackberry bliss and dapper denim to give that dreamy sunset sky. I die cut the largest Dragonfly and mounted on dimensionsals and then die cut and cut out separately the smaller dragonflies all in black for a gorgeous silhouette.

Stampin Up products are only available through demonstrators like myself, so write my name down Jane Allmark and when ordering please use me. The Spring/Summer catalogue together with Saleabration supplement which is full of free items for every £45 spent I will send to you if you drop me a line, so you can be ready to order on 1st Jan and if you are in the GU9 Farnham area I run monthly workshop classes where you get to try out new products and make projects.

Stampin Up Dragonfly Dreams

As I was telling you all yesterday Jan 1st is the launch of the new Spring/Summer catalogue and the start of sale a Bration where for every £45 spent you can get a free product from the sale a Bration brochure. So here is the second sneak peak at the gorgeous Dragonfly Dreams bundle a combination of stamps and coordinating dies. Today is the lovely bumble bee. There are so many great things that you can add a bee to. We are all busy bees so these images can be added to many card themes. The sentiments in this set are great inspirational quotes for all us fabulous women. So this set will become a real go to for so many projects.

Now as many of you know I am not a techy person so do not have fancy links etc. There is a simple link to the Stampin Up website but you need to write my name down Jane Allmark and then when you order you can remember to use me Jane Allmark as your demonstrator of choice. Thanks for this patience as it helps my order go to me when your making your purchases.

So back to the card. Bees. I used three and then mounted the sentiment on some hessian ribbon with some linen twine, for s really natural look. The background splodge is also in this set and gives a lovely tonal background. The fab thing is it is easy to get an even rectangle or square background as the splodges are evenly sided to allow this.

Stampin Up Dragonfly Dreams

I am so excited to tell you all about Sale a Bration and the new Spring/Summer catalogue which launches on the 1st January 2017.  As it is only a couple of weeks till Christmas it is a time to relax with family and friends and enjoy the festive season. With the shortest day next week it is also a time to spend crafting and looking forward to the year ahead.

The Spring/summer catalogue is filled with some lovely products and as a demonstrator we get to see it and try some of the products before the launch.  If you would like a copy of the new brochure the. Just drop me a line and I'll send them out ready for the launch.

The dragonfly dreams is a stamp and die bundle of dragonflies and bees and is absolutely gorgeous. Take a look at the example I have made

Everything you see is from this set, the lovely splotchy background, the sentiments and of course the dragonfly. For every £45 you spend you get a free item from the sale a Bration brochure, so a perfect time to shop.  There are plenty of bargains to be had at the moment as the retiring stock is on sale too. So click the link above and when ordering use me Jane Allmark as your demonstrator of choice. Write my name down before you shop then you won't forget. Thanks for your support and custom.

Stampin Up sheltering tree christmas

well today is my birthday and I have the family round for dinner and the day off work. It is a real treat but before they all arrive I have time to put a post of probably one of my favourite Christmas cards.  Crumb cake is so natural and combined with some linen thread makes the base for this card. I stamped a solitary tree, added some snow and a single bauble. I just love it.
All products used can be found on the Stampin Up website, link above, and please use me Jane Allmark as your demonstrator of choice.

Stampin Up Home Sweet Home Christmas

well tomorrow is the 1st December and the countdown to Christmas begins.  It is a wonderful time of the year and although I have all my posted cards made there are lots of work colleagues and friends cards that always need doing. So I try and think outside the box so nobody gets the same card. The Home Sweet Home die makes the cutest houses,ngrest to be filled with treats for Christmas and can be hung on the tree. This card is made with just the window dies, alternatively backed in emerald envy and cherry cobbler dsp and fronted with the same in cardstock. Cover with some dazzling diamonds glitter, add a sentiment and a fun Christmas card is made.

All Stampin Up products are available through the link above and please choose me Jane Allmark as your demonstrator of choice. Thanks

Stampin Up Oragami Karate Card

On Monday it is my grandsons 9th birthday on Monday, where does the time go ? He is the most amazing young man and has a passion for football but an even stronger passion for karate. His instructor says he is a natural and his flexibility and joy for the sport is something to see. So I wanted to make him a karate card, but where to start. Well the joys of google and I found a tutorial for an Oragami outfit added some red bakers twine for his belt and mounted on cherry cooler cardstock. A number 9 from the framelits and voila a perfect birthday card.

As a Stampin Up demonstrator you can buy any of their products, check out the link above and just use me Jane Allmark as your demonstrator of choice.

Stampin Up Timeless Textures Alternative Christmas

Christmas time is just around the corner and with all the lovely traditional cards about sometimes it is fun to do something different. There are lots of ways to create great Christmas cards using stamp sets and techniques not usually associated with the traditional scenes in greens and reds.

Today I challenged myself to make some alternative cards in non traditional colours and I chose to use the Timeless aTextures stamp set which is really very versatile at creating gorgeous backgrounds.

A created an arora borealis background building up layers with stamping and sponging, then misting with water to give a blustery snowy feel. I embossed the sentiment and the swirl stamp to add even more texture. Love the look of this card.

The second is a girly card with gold and pink and blue combo using flirty flamingo and pool party with a touch of Bermuda bay.

All Stampin Up products are available through the catalogue link above and please use me Jane Allmark as your demonstrator of choice.

Stampin Up Paisleys and Posies Elephant and Owl Art

Stampin Up Paisleys and Posies is a wonderful stamp set with coordinating dies which allows you to create some lovely patterns and cards. I recently saw some art created using this set and a lovely owl character. So this got me thinking of other art that could be created and one of the swirls really lent itself to an elephants trunk. So I started playing around with the pieces and made this gorgeous Paisley elephant. This is still a bit of a prototype but think I can improve by maybe using coloured cardstock or maybe some of the copper embossing powder.

I love Indian art and the elephant appears quite often dyed and pieced together so part of the inspiration was from a wall hanging I have covered in embroidered colourful elephants.

If you want to but this set then click on the link above to take you to the Stampin Up website and when ordering please use me Jane Allmark as your demonstrator of choice.

Stampin Up Bella & friends firework fun

this last weekend was bonfire night with most villages and towns and many gardens having fireworks. From little sparkles to loud bangs, small display to huge pyrotechnics the Uk lit up with this celebration.

Now for all of us with pets it can be a stressful time and as many of you know I adopted a pretty spaniel cross at 7 months old 7 months ago, so this was the first fireworks that she had seen with me. As you can imagine I was a little apprehensive of how she would react particularly as I am very close to a huge display held in the park. However I need not have been worried as she slept through it all, lying close to me on the settee with the cat on my lap.

Now the Bella and friends stamp set is a replica of mynforgeous girl so I thought I would combine the fireworks event with a lovely card using this set. As always to order any Stampin Up products click on the catalogue link above and use me Jane Allmark as your demonstrator of choice.

Stampin Up Lovely as a Tree Christmas

one of Stampin Up oldest and most favourite sets is lovely as a tree and it can be used at any time of the year but Christmas works really well.

This is a simple stamping in crumb cake with a bit of thengorgeous gold bakers twine mounted on some gold. Simple yet gorgeous and a real impact. I added some wink of Stella to the branches for an added wow.

Pop over to the Stampin Up website link above to order and use me Jane Allmark as your demonstrator of choice at check out.

Stampin Up Cookie Cutter Christmas

the weather is turning chillier and there was a hard frost this morning. The heating is on and the nights are dark by 4.30pm so it is lovely to spend time crafting and thinking about the Christmas season next month.

The Stampin Up cookie cutter Christmas is such a versatile stamp set and punch bundle and it coordinates perfectly with the dsp so lots of lovely goodies to purchase in the Stampin Up store. Use me Jane Allmark as your demonstrator of choice and use the catalogue link above to take you to the website.

I have used the cookie cutter Christmas gingerbread man with the holiday Home dsp and framelits for the sweets and the sentiment. I love how so many fo Stampin Up products work together.

Stampin Up Oragami Kusudama Ornament

With Christmas just around the corner, I have been making cards and other handcrafted items for the holiday season.  I just love the start of the excitement that Christmas brings and as the clocks go back tonight and the nights will be dark now for the next few months, getting into the craft room has never been more fun.

I am always in search of ideas and like many of us use pintrest and utube to find ideas that I can use and tailor to my own style.  Today's ornament is no different. Oragami is the art of paper folding and there are various different kusudama flowers that put together make great hanging ornaments ideal for the holiday season.

This one is using six pieces of 6"x6" dsp and it is a fairly simple pattern to follow. I used a die cut stamens embellishment from the botanicals to add a little sparkle to the centre of each flower. These could be made in any dsp and decorated in any way to make an ornament. As long as the paper is square could also make smaller ones too.

As a Stampin Up demonstrator you can order products by lclicking the catalogue link above and using me Jane Allmark as your demonstrator of choice.

Stampin Up how to straighten cutting plates without using oven

People are always asking how do you straighten the big shot cutting plates, especially the new ones which are thinner and with the base plate seem to bend like a banana in no time at

these photos show the process. Straight finished plate, bent starting plate, then process of ironing and the two bent plates I started with.

all. The older style were thicker and a lot of people would put them in the oven weighted down, but this does not seem to work with the new ones.

Well I have the answer for you which I have used with all the plates I've owned the old and new ones.

What you need is a hot iron, ironing board, cotton tea towel and pair of oven gloves. Put bent plate on ironing board and cover with tea towel. Iron backwards and forwards for several minutes and then using the oven gloves press firmly on top. Turn the plate every few minutes. This process will take 5/10 minutes per plate but straightens them perfectly.

Stampin Up using dsp for backgrounds

There is a fantastic offer on at the moment with Stampin Up. Buy 3 dsp (designer series paper) and get a fourth free. There are some absolutely gorgeous designs to choose from including Christmas papers and they really make a card have that professional edge.

Now there is a lot that you can do with papers but I have just chosen to use them as the focal background and then add a sentiment and an embellishment.

As always if you click on the link above it will take you to the Stampin Up website and when you order please use me Jane Allmark as your demonstrator of choice.

The first card I have used the dsp as the background and then added the rose garden framelits as a mask and used night of navy to sponge the background and then the chalk pen to out tiny dots on the rose. This makes the rose really look three dimensional and I love this effect.

The second card uses the fox punch with night of navy cardstock as a little embellishment in the corner and a sentiment.

The dsp papers I used for these cards are the floral boutique 141663 which are 12 double sided sheets of 12"x12" for £10

Until the end of October you can buy 3 packs of a whole host of different designs and get a 4th free. A great offer but limited till end of the month, so take advantage while you can.

Happy crafting and catch up again with another technique card soon.

Stampin Up jelly babies. Thinking outside the box with gingerbread man from Christmas cookie cutter bundle.

this is a fun card ideal for a kids card, birthday or to just to use the embellishment as a topper for a gift bag containing jelly babies.

So who doesn't like jelly babies and what is your favourite? Well mine has to be blackcurrant as they only ever seem to put one or two in a bag.

This card uses the gingerbread man from the cookie cutter Christmas bundle stamped in bright fruity colours to mimic favourite flavoured jelly babies. Combined with the little jelly gems from the Home Sweet Home set to make a lovely kid orientated card. Or for anyone who loves jelly sweets.

Getting the most from stamp sets is a must and this shows that a gingerbread man can become a jelly baby with a little colour.

These fab set are available through Stampin Up by clicking on the catalogue above and when you do order please use me Jane Allmark as your demonstrator of choice. Thanks

Stampin Up jingle bells and Christmas twine

I really love the Christmas products with Stampin Up check them out on the catalogue link above. Embellishments are a lovely way to make a card look really special without taking too much time and the little jingle bells in red and silver and the Christmas twine in red, green and gold compliment each other perfectly.

The first card I used the Jacob's coat technique and a retired stamp set and added the gold twine and 3 little silver bells.

The second card was a piece of the candy cane lane dsp with red twine and red bells and I die cut the merry with the coordinating stamp and die set which you can get in a bundle saving 10% and makes the lovely little houses. Again check out the link and if you order please use me Jane Allmark as your demonstrator of choice.

Stampin Up Home Sweet Home

Stampin Up have the most amazing bundle called Home Sweet Home. It is a stamp set and thinlets to create the most adorable houses. The ideas are limitless and you can create a whole village. Fill them with treats, or a battery tealight. Just gorgeous.

How cute are these. Click on the link at the top of the page to go to Stampin Up website to order these cuties and use me Jane Allmark as your demonstrator of choice.

Stampin Up masking template techniques

This is a fabulous technique by using a mask template. I cut his one using a sharp blade and a steel ruler with heavy cardstock and then took as many blue ink pads from pool party through to night of navy and then using a spong dauber worked my way round the card building the layers. I like the way it builds to form gorgeous points inside and out.

A fun technique and by taking a small circle mask and sponging in dapper denim or a darker colour it tidies up all the loose ends and makes it look neat and ready for a sentiment.

Stampin Up

Sad day as can no longer use my blog on ipad

Am having to use my android phone to post this. Unfortunately my ipad no longer supports blogger so please bare with me while I try to sort this problem out. Will hopefully post soon.

Stampin Up Merry Mice

I saw this wonderful card on pintrest by Patsy Waggoner in MN and thought I would CASE it. Now case for those that don't know is to copy and share everything and that is the ethos of Stampin Up. I have recreated the card with my own twist and I just love it.

I used the in colour emerald envy and real red and die cut the mouse using the circle framelits dies to make the 'O' 

The in colour envelope dsp is great to use as backgrounds a little thinner than standard dsp but works just as well and coordinates the watercolouring. As always I used the fabulous aquapainters and my ink pads by squeezing the ink pad so a little pools in the lid.

To tie everything together and being Christmas I used some glitter to add some sparkle.

Merry mice is available through Stampin Up link above and when you order pleae use me Jane Allmark as your demonstrator of choice.

Stampin Up double Z fold card using Fairy Celebration and bronze embossing

I just love the double Z fold cards and combined with the fairy celebration stamp set and some bronze embossing powder it makes for a fantastic scene card.

 I embossed all the flying fairies in bronze embossing powder and then using the aquapainter and using in colours watercoloured the images.

The background was a masked circle in peekaboo peach, dapper denim & sweetsugarplum sponged lightly to create an aurora borealis background.

Using the lovely as a tree bronze embossed the oak leaves and washed in sweet sugarplum.

Stamped in black the twinkles and sentiment and then used some sparkle on the twinkles.

The effect is stunning and all products used are from Stampin Up. Check them out by clicking on above link and when ordering use me Jane Allmark as your demonstrator of choice.

Stampin Up Double Z fold Christmas cards

There have been a lot of posts recently using the double Z fold cards so I thought I would have a go with some for Christmas.

The cardstock is cut at 11" x 4.5" and scored at 5.5 and 2 3/4" and the band is 1" wide and scored the same.  Decorate with dsp of choice. I chose the new in colours envelope paper which is a little thinner but works really well for this project. The second card I just used some retired dsp from my stash.  Really doesn't matter what you choose just coordinate it with whatever images you are going to put across the card.

This one is using the lovely merry mice a set I adore and then fussy cut and stuck down.  Love these little characters as they lend to be watercoloured with the aquapainters.

This second one is using the Christmas cookie cutter reindeer and I kept this simple just using black ink and keeping the single colour tone. I added a sentiment banner with a little ribbon to just add an extra dimension.

So have a go with this Z fo,d and see what you can create.

All products are Stampin Up and the link as at the top of the page. When ordering please use me Jane Allmark as your demonstrator of choice.

Stampin Up Masking technique

I just the live the gorgeous Stampin Up ink pads as they coordinate with all the lovely cardstock and dsp, but the are also super for blending and adding fabulous background appertures to stamp on.

This is using peekaboo peach, sweet sugarplum and rich razzleberry. Choose a stamp to add the silhouette I chose the hostess set fabulous flora. A quick mount and you have a fabulous card.

I cut the mounts with the Stampin Up oval framelits, but you could use circles, squares or intact any shape you want.

Thus one is using a circle again by blending colours you can get a lovely evening sunset sky. The effect is quite stunning and is quite easy to achieve.

This one is using the negative image from the butterfly thinlet die. So you can see the options are endless and the effect is always beautiful. This time I used the gorgeous grunge lines to add effect before removing the mask.

So have fun and see what you can achieve, Stampin Up products are available through demonstrators like me Jane Allmark only. So click on the link above and use me as your demonstrator of choice at checkout.

Have a fun day.

Stampin Up In This World

It's funny how sometimes a fabulous stamp set just jumps out at me and has many possibilities that I have to just go ahead and purchase it.

Well the Stampin Up In this World is just one of those sets and I think it is one that is being overlooked. So here is a few ideas that may just get your creative juices flowing and make you go ahead and buy it.  If you do then click the link above and go to the Stampin Up official website order and then choose me Jane Allmark as your demonstrator of choice.

 Ok so the first card is made taking the lovely butterfly stamp and cutting five out to make a hexagon. I used the aquapainters to watercolour picking up some crumb cake which I used in the background, dapper denim and peekaboo peach, two of the in colours. I love the sentiment too and I think it makes a fab card.

 The lovely door by cutting it open and the. Stamping the chair behind it makes for a lovely card with a bit of a difference. Again the aquapainter came into its own. I must admit I use them all the time as you can get some lovely subtle or bright tones even on normal cardstock as these examples are.

Another butterfly card stamped directly onto cardstock and watercoloured. I love the hexagon shape and the subtle blue tones by using various blue tones of ink pads. Again all products used are Stampin Up so whatever craft stash you need Stampin Up has it.

 This one uses the door, chair and key and background stamp. The sentiment this time I cut up and out across the card in a random fashion. I love this card and is great for those difficult masculine cards.

So a few ideas using this fun set and I am sure there are many more. Just have a go and let your creativity flow.

Happy stamping and thanks for dropping by.