Try it Tuesday - A Pretty Petals Thank You

So today's project is a customer thank you card I sent out recently with a few little treats included.

I love the Pretty Petals DSP.  It's so versatile and such great value for money.  Great on cards, but also great as they are 6x6 size meaning great for Big Shot dies and 3D projects too!

I made a co-ordinating envelope using the Envelope Punch Board and the In Colours Envelope paper and then die cut the little butterfly with the new Bold Butterflies Big Shot framelits.

A simple, quick and easy card that can be done in any colour or any DSP.

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Pootlers Blog Hop - Planner Pretties

Well, how exciting is this?  My first ever blog hop! I feel honoured to be amongst such amazing fellow demonstrators (if a little nervous - mainly about potentially breaking the blog chain...or rambling too much!)  You have made it here from the lovely Karen's blog, so hello and welcome to the Little Paper Playground.

Today's project came about due to an unbelievably kind gesture an Australian demonstrator called Chloe Evans did for me recently.  I'd wanted a particular planner for some time and Chloe very kindly offered to carry one over for me in her hand luggage from Sydney airport and post on when landing here in Blighty!  It is an A5 thing of beauty which I adore and so I thought I could use it to show you the sheer versatility of Stampin' Up! products and how they can be used above and beyond cards and 3D projects.  The world really is your oyster when it comes to the planner decoration, so these could just be a little start to help get your creative juices flowing!  I've loosely based this around the Cherry on Top suite of as I just LOVE the bright and cheerful colours within it but there are so many different colour schemes available in the catalogue to choose from.

Paper Clips:

Both the Bow Builder and Owl Builder punches can be used for so many things.  My little boy, George, loves that I can make him colourful superheroes or Minions with the Owl Builder, as well as recreate sea creatures from Finding Nemo!  The butterfly clips were simply made by using the smallest die of the Bold Butterflies set and I cut them out using the Cherry on Top cardstock.   I just adhere what I create with glue dots to some large paper clips but you could, of course, choose whichever adhesive you wish.

The small clips were made using the fabulous new Project Life paper clips thinlits.  Some I have die cut from gold glimmer paper.  The others I used a brayer to ink over some vanilla coaster board and then cut them out with my Big Shot.  It makes them a bit more robust.

Washi Tape and Stamps:

Have I mentioned how much I adore the Cherry on Top suite of products?  I really wanted to show off the washi tape here.  I love using the doughnut stamps within the Sprinkles on Top set as bullet points too!  I punch them out to separate them and stick them on with glue dots so I can reposition if need be.  Be warned though, it does rather make you crave one when punching them out!


Dashboards and Dividers:

With all the beautiful stamp sets available, you could change your dashboards or pocket inserts daily with all sorts of pretty things.  You could even used the Project Life thinlits to die cut quotes to include in your planner pockets.  The dividers are really easy to make.  Simply cut your chosen paper or card to the correct size (this is actually envelope paper but I just love the new colours and pattern)  then either draw round your old ones so you have the shape.  Or, do what I do and use the Envelope Punch Board to punch out the tab parts, trim off the bits you don't need and then laminate and hole punch them.

The next thing I want to try is including 6x8 Project Life pockets into my planner so I can include photos and other lovely bits and pieces.  I will try and show this on a future blog post soon.

Well I hope you have found this helpful and thank you so much for stopping by.  Do click forward using the button below to continue the blog hop.  Next up is the fabulous Hannah who we all have to thank for working so hard to make this blog hop happen today.  Happy Hopping!

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Be the Star You Are Sweetie Wands

Within the new annual catalogue there are 30+ bundles to choose from.  These are where Stampin' Up! group two items together and price them with 15% off their total cost - yay, big savings!

One of these bundles is on page 42 and includes the Be the Star You Are stamp set and Star Framelits Dies which is what I used to make today's project.

My son, George is a big fan of the children's television programme, Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom.  Holly is a fairy with a magical wand and George decided he'd like one, so I decided to combine his wish and my favourite sweeties and, hey presto, wands for everyone!

They are so simple to make and you can quite easily make a good batch of them for a party once you get into the swing of it.  You don't have to use Skittles which I have used here.  You could use anything you wanted for the wand handle part.

The only thing George was disappointed with was it didn't make a jingle noise like Holly's so I am now in search of a little bell to add to his!

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A Sandy Sahara Anniversary

So as we head into peak wedding season, we inevitably head into a wave of back to back wedding anniversaries too.

Today's project was made for my husband's eldest sister and brother in law who celebrate theirs today.  There's something about the Something Borrowed DSP mixed with Sahara Sand that just looks screams understated elegance.

A hint of sparkle, lace trim, and look, I even managed to tie a bow with linen thread.  Ok, it took a few attempts with my shaky hands, but it looks sort of like a bow right?

I guess this could even be a lovely invite to a beach wedding *starts longing for warm sunny climes and crisp blue waters*

Love this paper and such a shame it's only available until 2 June so if you like it, grab it while you can!

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A Blooming Rosy Adventure

My job share colleague from my day job sadly leaves today.  Her name is Rose so it only seemed fitting to use Rose Red on her leaving card!  It's a colour that I have not used much.  I'm not even sure why as it is lovely,

Another thing I haven't used nowhere near as often as I should have is the Painted Blooms DSP.  It has such a stunning selection of papers and it's only available until 2 June *sad face*

The stamp set I used is one that was only available with hostess credits until recently.  It is now on the retired list so grab it while you can!

The layering was done using my Project Life labels and cards framelits - so versatile and not just for scrapbooking.

I hope she likes it.  I think it's cute.

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Try it Tuesday - Bright and Sophisticated Bedroom Banners

As someone who has very shaky hands, until I found Stampin' Up! I always struggled cutting shapes and stamping images anywhere near straight.  My Big Shot and punches are my new best friends and now do all the fiddly work for me!

Today's project came about as I wanted to make something for my line manager's little boy to say well done for getting an award for behaviour and attendance during his first year at school.  My son's room has a circus theme adorned with polka dot bunting so that inspired this brightly coloured and dotty name banner.

It might look complicated but it's quite easy, even with my shaky hands!

I used the largest and second largest banner framelits for the base, adhering the brights DSP to the basic black card stock with dimensionals.  Then, using the matching ink for each banner section, I used the Sophisticated Serifs stamp set to stamp each of the name letters out.  A bit of scallop circle punching and adhering with dimensionals and you're almost set.  The fiddly bit for me was sewing the ribbon through each banner, but I've never been much of a sewing sort, our button box is evidence of that.

Why not have a go, I'd love to see what banner creations you come up with!

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More of What Makes You Happy Cards

As soon as I saw the main sentiment on the Hello Life stamp set I had to have it.

It is such a large font and bold statement, I didn't want to add any extra fuss really.  A bit of colour using the Brights Designer Series Paper Stack and layering using the Labels Framelits to make the sentiment pop and there you have it.

I added some basic rhinestones as I fancied a bit of bling but you don't necessarily need them.

Make one or a whole rainbow, whatever takes your fancy!

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Moonlight 'For You' Notecard

So confession time folks, this card was actually made a few weeks ago but family commitments and my day job have meant crafting and blogging have been hit hard *sad face*.

The idea for this card came about after our local village team, North Ferriby United, won the FA Trophy Final at Wembley.  They play in white and green and the village was awash with it in the days leading up to and those after the final.  It made me realise that, although green is one of my favourite colours, I very rarely use it in craft projects other than at Christmas (madness I know!)

So here we are, an any occasion note card.  Slightly manly I guess but I don't mind that as I always find cards for male friends or relations difficult to come up with!

It is using the Moonlight DSP stack which is fab as you get such a great selection of DSP to play with or gaze fondly at.

The sentiment is from the 'Hello There' stamp set which is only available to purchase with Hostess Credits which can be gained with purchases of £150 or more either from individual orders or collected if you host a party and total orders go above this point.  Add a bit of laying using the Chalk Talk Framelits and a circle punch and Bob's your uncle!

You could of course work your way through the DSP stack and keep the template the same and just alternate the colours.

Quick and easy whenever you need one!

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Try it Tuesday - Scrapbooking Stampin' Up! Style

Some 8/9 years ago I used to attend a local craft group.  I was the youngest there by at least one, possibly two, decades and a complete rookie in comparison to the other ladies there.

I used to sit in awe marvelling over their intricate craft projects, particularly the scrapbooking crafters in the group.  It seemed such a brilliant idea to savour memories in such a lovely, crafty way.  I just saw it a bit of a faff and too time consuming to attempt it at the time as I was just starting out on my crafting adventure.

Having two small children, we try and capture moments as often as we can, on our phones, tablet or camera.  It just seems then that nothing is done with them.  They're downloaded onto the computer where they just stay.  They hardly get printed off.  Not like when I was younger and my mum would regularly go and get film and disposable cameras developed to then sit and put them in albums with little notes below them.  It must have taken her ages to do and I take great comfort in those albums now she's not here.

When I was searching for things to put in my Stampin' Up! Starter Kit I came across their Project Life products and had a light bulb moment.  Here was my opportunity to do scrapbooking without having to make the actual scrapbook.

It is sooooo easy to do.  You can basically make it as fancy or as basic as you like.  You just buy an album, the pockets you would like, the project cards and accessory packs you might like and away you go!

Researching online it would appear a lot of people do an album per year and do something week on week.  That is not really practical for us at the moment so we tend to do something when we have had a day out or for holidays.  Even our toddler George loves it as all the tickets and bits and bobs he has collected we can keep and document.  I have even bought the framelits for my Big Shot so once his nursery paintings have been on the wall for a bit, I can take them down and crop bits to put in the album to show him when he's older.

So simple, so much fun and really therapeutic!  Why not have a go?

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Big Shot Bonanza - Balloon Framelit Bookmarks

Bedtime stories with a toddler can be quite eventful.  You start the book, they want to make shadow puppets with their reading lamp.  You continue the book, apparently Postman Pat is stuck in the delivery train and it is imperative he is rescued before lights out.  After said toddler is back in bed, the book is now boring and Peppa Pig books are best as they have more pictures!

Endless books on the shelf and most not fully read.  So I decided to have a play and make some bookmarks so my husband and I know where we got up to in each story that sounded interesting but we've as yet not finished.  Hence we have today's project - bookmarks with a twist

I purchased my Big Shot with my first Stampin' Up! order as my half price product.  The first thing I put in my basket to go with it was the Balloon framelit dies.  From a very early age I have loved balloons.  Which is quite strange when I don't like loud noises and we all no they can make an almighty bang when they burst.  My little boy is a bit of a balloon fiend too so it made complete sense to make balloon bookmarks!  These can either be clipped to the page using the paper clip on the back of the balloon.  Or, alternatively, leave the balloon inside the page and then let the ribbons dangle outside of the book so you can see what page you are up too.

As I was using the Best Year Ever Designer Series Paper (currently free with a £45 spend during Sale-A-Bration) I needed a bit more depth to the balloon really so it didn't end up a squished mess.  With all Stampin' Up! DSP packages, you get a sheet of heavy card at the back to keep the paper straight.  Just right for the job I thought!  I merely stuck the DSP onto the backing card with Snail adhesive then ran it through the Big Shot with the relevant framelit on it.

The measurements for all the different pieces are as follows:

Balloon - a piece of DSP/Card measuring 7cm x 7cm
Bow - a piece of DSP/Card measuring 3cm x 3cm
Banner - a piece of DSP/Card measuring 7cm x 3cm

I adhered the bow and banner to the balloon with dimensionals.

The ribbons and buttons are from the Best Year Ever Accessory Pack (also currently free with every £45 spend during Sale-A-Bration)  Each length of ribbon is 30cm, looped in half and then stuck onto the back of the bottom of the balloon with Glue Dots.  The balloons are optional of course.  I just personally thought they'd help weigh the ribbon down and be easier to find while looking for the page with only a dim night light on!

Fun for young and old to make!

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