On my Soapbox!

Well hello everyone and welcome to my bit of the second Pootlers' Blog hop!

If you're following the blog in order then you already know that the Pootlers are Stampin' Up! demonstrators who belong to Sam Donald's team.  If you've arrived in the middle of things, you can go back to the previous blog or on to the next one by using the buttons at the bottom of the page.  

The theme of the hop is the new SU catalogue, which came into play at the beginning of this month.  (There's a link to the PDF version at the bottom of the page if you haven't seen a copy yet...)  I've used Timeless Elegance DSP and a stamp from the Homemade for You stamp set, both brand new in the catalogue to decorate this little flip-top box (which holds a cake of soap).  The Sahara Sand and Very Vanilla cardstock, Sahara Sand ink, and Sahara Sand lace trim are returning favourites.

To make a box the same size as this one (which measures 2 x 2 x 1 inches) you'll need a piece of card 7 1/2 x 4 inches.

Score it on the long side at 1 1/2 inch, 2 1/2/ inches, 3 1/2 inches  and 5 1/2 inches.
Score on the short side at 1 inch and 3 inches.

The tutorial on how to put it together is here-

So there it is! Thank you for visiting and on you go to the next blog!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

In the bag!

Hi everyone, and welcome to my blog!

Have you had a good look at the new catalogue yet?  One of my favourite "new" products is  the Gift Bag Punch Board.  It's such an easy way to wrap small gifts and make them look professional.  The bags cost a lot to buy in the shops so having the means to make them quickly and inexpensively is a real boon.

The board offers the means to make bags in three sizes (Small, Medium and Large) but with a bit of thought you can quite easily make an Extra Large size - still not enormous but easily big enough to hold a pack of notelets with plenty of room left over.  I used paper from the new Backgrounds DSP (Neutrals) and I cut two pieces 7 1/2 inches by 6 inches for this size.

Here's how I did it -

Easy-peasy!  Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this project - I love hearing from you.  See you again soon!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Resistance is ...

Hello and welcome to my blog.

Today's card is based around a "resist" technique, where the stamped image is heat-embossed before the colour is added - in this case, I spritzed on some SU re-inkers diluted with water.  I'm rather pleased with how it turned out.  I showed it to my husband and he just couldn't work out how the effect was managed - he was very impressed!

It's an easy technique;  you just need to remember to use a paper that can stand getting wet (I used Watercolour paper) and allow plenty of time for it to dry properly.  

Here's the tutorial - 

I hope you enjoy trying this one for yourself.  Please leave me a comment and let me know how you get on!

See you again soon!

Taking Note

Hello everyone – thank you for visiting, so glad you did! Last week the new Stampin’ Up! Catalogue opened for business and I can finally get to tell you about some of the lush new products that we have for you. As demonstrators we get a sneaky peek of what’s going to be on offer and we can order some things in advance (one of the perks of being a demo!*) so I’ve been playing with the Bohemian Designer Series Paper. 

This is going to be my new favourite, I can tell! Today’s project - a holder for a pad of sticky notes and a pen – was inspired by similar holders that I’ve seen on Pinterest and YouTube and would make a nice quick gift for a teacher or someone who works in an office. 

Measurements are – Cardstock 7 ¾ x 5 1/4

Score at 3 1/4, 3 5/8  and 4 1/8.

I always send my customers a small gift as a thank-you for shopping with me - so if you purchase through my SU store in June, you might get one of these...

*Speaking of the perks of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, this month (June 2015) there's an extra incentive to join.  As well as the usual discount on the starter kit, if you join SU before the end of the month you can choose two stamp sets (any value) absolutely FREE.  You can find out more here.


Thank you for visiting - hope to see you again soon!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Lip-Lip Hoorah!

Hello and welcome to my blog – thank you for stopping by.  I am happy that you’ve taken the time to visit and I hope that you find something here to interest you.

I love crafting with paper, but I also love learning how to make new things, and today’s project is a two-in-one – as well as the sweet little box that holds the tin of lip balm, I also made the lip balm. 

The tins I used fitted very nicely into a 1 ½ diameter hole so I made my boxes accordingly.

The measurements were – 

Cardstock 10 inches by 4 inches

Score on the long edge at 1 inch, 3 inches, 4 inches, 6 inches,7 inches, 7 ½ inches, and 9 ½ inches – these last two score lines will help form the holder for the tin

Score on the short edge at 1 inch and 3 inches.  Also score at ½ inch and 3 ½ inches part way at the end of the card where the holder will be (the 7 ½ and 9 ½ inch points)

The tutorial explains how to put it all together. 

The lip balm is very simple to make;  to fill two 15 ml tins you need 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of coconut oil and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of beeswax.  Melt the beeswax over hot water, and then add in the coconut until that’s melted as well.  You can also do this in the microwave – try 30 seconds at a time.  Once the beeswax is melted, the coconut oil won’t take long so be careful!

 If you want it to taste nice, put in a few drops of flavouring (the sort you use in cooking; I used lemon in mine) and if you want it to be tinted, add in a bit of lipstick.  I also pierced a Vitamin E capsule and added that to the mix – it acts as a preservative as well as being good for the skin.  Mix it all together and pour into whatever container you’re using. 

PS I’m getting quite excited because the shiny new Stampin’ Up! Catalogue goes live today.  If you shopped with me between January and June this year (and left your contact details) you should have received your free copy from me.