Team Competition - Blatant Request to Vote for me

Hi.  You have already seen the entries I have made for our Team's Colouring Challenge. Well voting has now started, so I would be very grateful if you could follow this link and vote for my entries.

http://www.michellelast.co.uk/2016/10/pinkies-colouring-challenge.html

Blatant Request, I know, but I would be so grateful.

Have You Placed Your Order?

Time is running out on the Buy Three and get One Free offer on Designer Series Paper. This really is a great offer whether you are looking at Christmas crafts or day to day crafting.

All of the Designer Series Paper packs that would normally be £10 are included in the offer, including the really cute Candy Cane Lane and the elegant Presents and Pinecones, so Christmas is sorted.

Most of the papers have matching cardstock packs available which makes it even easier to get the crafting juices flowing. The fact that Stampin' Up! Take such care to make sure that all the colours across the whole range are a true match, is one of the most common comments I hear, from new and experienced crafters . It saves time and money in the long run, leaving more time for actual crafting.

Full details of the packs available can be found here: https://oldstablescrafts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/buy-3-get-1-free-reminder.html?m=1

On a personal note. This is the last week I am commuting in to London every day to work. From Monday my commute will be about 2 minutes and my full time job will be crafting. I am really excited about the change, although it is a little scary, but I am sure it is the right move.

I look forward to spending lots more time with all of you.

Happy Halloween - Colouring Techniques

I mentioned earlier in the week that I was tacking part in a Team Challenge on Colouring Techniques. I have already added two projects to the challenge, but as I was sitting in traffic today (note to self, don't try to get anywhere on the last day before half term!) I started to think about another project, so at least the time was not wasted.

I recently won a raffle prize of the Stampin' Up! Sponge Brayers, which I used for one of the projects earlier this week with a mask. But I have not had a chance to see how they would work to build up a background on their own. We have had some wonderful moons recently, so I thought I would see if I could build up a night sky, and then I thought I would make that a Halloween Night sky.

I had great fun using the brayer with Elegant Eggplant, Pumpkin Pie, Smoky Slate and Basic Grey Inks to build up the layers of colour having masked off a very pale So Saffron moon. Once I had finished building up the layers I took a Stampin' Spritzer filled with water and spritzed all over the card. The water reacts with the ink to make a mottled look, which I love.

So having created the background it was then a question of what to do with it. The only Halloween Stamps I have are the Jar of Haunts (which provided the sentiment over the moon) and the Cookie Cutter Halloween, neither of which were going to provide the right images. So it was then a question of looking at the Halloween Night Specialty Designer Series Papers and her I struck gold, or in this case black. There is a design that has rows of haunted houses, so I cut a strip of that out so that I was left with the black silhouette. This just left matting on Pumpkin Pie and Elegant Eggplant card, onto a Basic Grey card base, a few embellishments and we were done.

One tip, if you spritz card with water, it will probably curl, so you may need a stronger adhesive than you expect. I used lots of Fast Fuse on the back of this to make sure it keeps flat.

I really hope you like the card and I would encourage you to have a go at some different colouring techniques to see what happens.

A list of all the supplies I used is below. If you would like to order any of these, please click on the shopping basket or on the link to my online shop. I always send a Thank You to everyone who orders from me, these will be sent at the beginning of the following month. Remember if you are ordering more than £20 of product (excluding P&P), use the Hostess Code and you will get some extra goodies from me at the start of the next month, along with your Thank You. BUT if your order is over £150 (excluding P&P) DO NOT use the code as you will be able to chose your own goodies to add to your order free. This month's code, valid until 31 October2016, is Z9MVCK9E 

Buy 3 Get 1 Free Reminder

As you know, here at Old Stables Crafts HQ we love a bargain, so I thought now would be a good time to remind you that there are only 12 days left on the amazing 'Buy 3 get 1 Free' offer on Designer Series Paper. I mean, what is not to love about that offer?

This means that instead of each pack costing £10, they will only be £7.50. And here's a thing, there are 8 designs included in the offer, so you could get ALL of them and only pay for 6. If you need cardstock to match, then that is sorted for you too as all but 2 of the designs have matching cardstock packs with 8 each of three colours, making colour matching an absolute breeze. But of course, that is one of the many wonderful things that Stampin' Up! is known for. The other two designs do not have mixed cardstock packs, but as they are the Floral Boutique and Candy Cane Lane pack, they are easy to coordinate with Night of Navy and Crumb Cake respectively, and also match with Whisper White, so easy peasy!

Links to all of these are below, so if you need these or anything else, it could not be easier for you.

And remember, as you would be spending over £20 (excluding P&P), you should use the October Hostess Code of Z9MVCK9E to get some free goodies from me. If your order is over £150 (excluding P&P) please DO NOT use the code as you will get goodies of your own choice direct from Stampin' Up!.

Wetlands

This project was also inspired by our current team challenge, and whilst similar to yesterday's is none the less, different.

This uses the same colour wash technique, but this time it is very much in the background to add some gentle colour. The stamp set is one of my favourites from the Annual Catalogue and is the only wood mounted set I currently have. It is very special to me as it was a gift from the wonderful Michelle Last, who is our team leader, it marked the moment when I hit 'Qualified Recruit' and was her gift to me. The images are so simple, but the set can be used for so many occasions.

This project is turning a very dull and boring jotter into something pretty that you would want to carry in your handbag and not be ashamed of. As with yesterday's project, it uses Shimmery White cardstock, and this time is mounted on Pink Pirouette cardstock with a small piece of Fruit Stand Designer Series paper to set it off.

This is such an easy project to complete and it really does make something so plain, look so pretty.

Oh Happy Days

Three weeks today marks the first day of my retirement from full time work. When my husband and I moved to our home in rural Oxfordshire we knew that it would not be too long before this day came, so have been planning for it accordingly. That is not to say that we know exactly how this will work, but it is our intention to do so. For the next couple of years at least my main focus will be on running my own business here at Old Stables Crafts HQ.

As our team challenge for the next couple of weeks is to design projects using colouring techniques, I am going to be looking at a number of these this week. The first seemed an appropriate project to mark the forthcoming retirement date, so is a card using the Scenic Sayings stamp set. This card uses two colouring techniques and embossing resist.

The first thing I did was to stamp onto Shimmery White cardstock using Versamark ink and then heat emboss with clear embossing powder. I then did a colour wash using Elegant Eggplant and the Aqua Painters, waited for the ink to dry a little and then polished the ink that was sitting on the embossed image with a piece of kitchen roll. Once the card had dried, I attached one of the Seasonal Decorative Masks over the card with washi tape and then added Crushed Curry Ink with the Sponge Brayer.

I am really pleased with the result, it is not at all my usual style, but is certainly something I will be looking at doing again.

All the products I used are listed below. I would encourage you to give these techniques a go and to try some unusual colour schemes, you never know what the result will be.

Just For the Men

Every two weeks our Team is set a challenge to design a card around a particular theme and who ever takes part is given the chance to win a small prize; the current theme is 'Just for the Men'.

Now this really was a challenge for me as it was not 'male themed', but specifically 'for the men'; I have no stamps in my arsenal that could possibly be described as 'for men'. It has taken me until almost the deadline, which is tomorrow, to come up with an idea, but finally it hit me. What I think of as the B sides of the Halloween Nights Speciality Designer Papers are not particularly Halloween themed, but with a colour palette of Basic Black, Basic Grey, and Pumpkin Pie, particularly when you add the colours from the other items in the suite (Perfect Plum and Old Olive), you start to get a masculine feel to them.

With this in mind I then designed this card, pulling in a fairly generic greeting from the Scenic Saying stamp set for the front of the card.

It may not have motorbikes or trains all over it, but I think from the supplies I had available, it makes a really good card, particularly for a teenager.

If nothing else, it confirms that themed paper can be used in a generic, non-themed way, which is great as it means you can still indulge in the wonderful Designer Series Papers that Stampin' Up! are so well know for, even if you only have a very few projects for that theme. There isn't one of the double sided papers in the Halloween pack that could not be used in a generic way. Brilliant!

What do you think about the card? It was great fun to put together and only took a few minutes once I got going.

Designer Series Paper Sale - Buy 3 get 1 FREE & EVENT NEWS!

Seriously, until the end of October if you order 3 packs of Designer Series Paper (all shown below) you can add a fourth for FREE. The really great thing is that you can order whatever you want. You could order four the same, four different, two the same and two different ..... it is totally up to you.

If you are planning on lots of Christmas Projects then you may want to order two each of Candy Cane Lane and Present & Pinecones. They are both really pretty and work well for card making, scrapbooking and 3D projects.

If you are only going to make a few Christmas Projects, then you could order just one of the Christmas packs and then order some of the others to make up the numbers. The Moroccan  and By The Shore papers are particularly good for those all too difficult men themed projects, but work equally well for us girlies.

BUT WAIT, what am I thinking! Why stop at four packs when there are eight to chose from, you could order all of them and get two packs free. Just think of all the great projects you could make with them.

This week also sees the launch of our Event Series with a Christmas Workshop at Old Stables Craft HQ. We will be working on four Christmas Projects and they will use both of the Designer Series Christmas Papers below, as well as a few other goodies. Don't worry if you have missed out this time around, there will be more Workshops coming very soon.

Gosh now I am really excited!

I am always delighted to hear from you, so please feel free to contact me by following the link.

When you place an order over £20 and under £150 (excluding Postage and Packing), remember to use the Hostess Code to share in some additional Goodies.

I hope you enjoyed your visit and look forward to seeing you again soon.

Last Day for World Card Making Day Discounts!

Just a quick post today to remind you that today is the last day to get these discounts. The offer for a free Fast Fuse Refill with every Fast Fuse purchase has been sooo popular that there will be a bit of a delay in posting these out, but the offer is still valid.

I would recommend submitting orders by 10 pm so you beat the deadline.

Remember that as well as the WCMD offers, for allnof October you can also get a fourth pack of Designer Series Paper free if you buy any three. This only applies to the 12 x 12 packs at £10 each.

So fill your bag with lots of pretty things now.

World Card Making Day

Have you been waiting for it, I'm sure you have, so it is finally here!

World Card Making Day is today, 1st October, but here at Old Stables Crafts and Stampin' Up! we like to spoil you, so we are giving you not one, not two, but FIVE, yes FIVE days of fantastic offers that you simply cannot miss

From today, 1st October, until Wednesday, 5th October there are fantastic savings on some essential products.

Both 2015-2017 AND 2016-2018 In Colour A4 Cardstock packs will be 15% off, so reduced from £7.25 to £6.16
The matching Envelope Papers will be 25% off, reduced to just £7.50.
The Envelope Punch Board is also 25% off at only £13.50
The Designer Tin of Cards Kit is only £18.38, reduced from £24.50
AND if that was not enough, Fast Fuse will be Buy one and get a refill FREE. Remember, the refill is much longer, with a full 20m of extra strength stickiness.

Links to all the products are below, so hop on over to my store and get these in your basket now, remember, most orders only take 4 days to get to you, so you can order them this weekend and be playing with them next.

Please let me know if you need any help with your order, or if you want to book a class. The Designer Tin of Cards Kit is a perfect kit to complete with friends and  if you live within 25 miles of Abingdon, I would be delighted to help you with this by bringing all the inks and matching stamp set to your Card Making Party, just contact me to arrange a date.