En Vogue!

Here is the third card that was part of the Vintage Vogue class on Wednesday night - it was all very distressing :)

And here is the last card which finishes off the box and four cards ensemble that was the Vintage Vogue class and is the Vintage Vogue Kit "By Mail"!

Today has been a busy day and I am off a little earlier to do a school run which involves picking up my youngest, Kian, from his school trip.  He has spent the last two nights and three days in Arundel.  With six mischievious boys in one room, I'm sure he won't have had much sleep and will be a bit tired.  Boy it's been quiet around here with just one son!  Ethan's had nobody to argue with :)!

Well it's Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK this weekend, which means hubby and the boys are off on Monday too - not too many plans apart from Kian playing in his Cup Final match.  They won the league the other week and now they just need to see if they can get the double and win the Cup too!!  The world of Under 9's football is very tense you know LOL!

Until tomorrow when I'll have some special offers on as it is National Scrapbooking Day!

Have fun!

Vintage Vogue class

Last night I taught some lovely ladies (you know who you are) the Vintage Vogue class.  You can see it is available as a Kit "By Mail" on the left hand side of my blog if you see these cards up close and fall in love like we did.  I've uploaded the photos large, so you should be able to click on them and see them bigger if you wish.

Above is the box that the four cards fit in.  Here is one of the cards:

And another one of the cards:

I'm not someone who normally likes (or can do!) the Vintage / Collage style, but these have truly won me over :)

I'll be back tomorrow with the other two cards in the set and then I will carry on sharing the Scrappers Paradise classes too. 

Fun, fun, fun!

This isn't the greatest picture but you get the idea.  This was another class at Paradise.  I had these Heart shaped boxes shipped in from the States and they came with the ribbon, the crystals, some rubons and some chipboard.  I used some Stampin' Up! papers (of course!) to cover the box and put that lovely photo of Ethan in there.  Now I just have to do another one for Kian of course and will probably have them hanging off each other in a line maybe!

I'm not sure what my problem is but I really cannot seem to get myself motivated and I don't normally have this problem LOL!  I think I am just overwhelmed by how much I still need to do.  I really don't know how I would have fitted work into the last month either - madness!

Anyway, I'm going to get off of here, I've got a class tonight and we are making the Vintage Vogue class on the left here (which you can get as a Kit "By Mail" too if you aren't joining us.

I'll take some better pictures of the cards and box and post those later too.

Have fun!

Pure Paradise

Here is a photo showing the whole of the butterfly layout / canvas from this weekend.  Everyone was given a 12 x 12" white canvas and some white cardstock and could choose if they wanted to make some wall art or a layout.

The background was sprayed with colour after using two masks to make those lovely corners, then a couple of butterflies (!) were stamped and punched to make this pattern across the page.  I wanted people to use this as a starting point for whatever worked for them.  A layout or a canvas?  Photo or no photo? 

Scrapshed was in attendance and sold the sprays in other colours too and we had a whole mixture of different projects all stemming from this idea - I loved that!  Scrappers Paradise is all about doing what you want to do and making sure that you end up with projects that you are happy with which work for you.  There truly were some fabulous ideas around.

I'll be back again tomorrow to show you another one of the classes we did too.

Enjoy the sunshine which seems to be back again at the moment.

So, I am back

from another great weekend at Scrappers Paradise :)

These weekends are so lovely, although I am working, it's like spending time with old friends.

I have laughed and laughed lots and had a great time.

Here are some photos from the weekend....

Christine & Kim

The Lovely Lorna

Most of the room

The ever funny Sally & Carol

Sue, Kirsti & Kelly

& Scissor Sisters Jackie & Sue :)

Right, I've still got some unpacking to do but I'll be back tomorrow to show a bit more on those butterflies and other classes that we had over the weekend.

Have fun!

More swaps and still Paradising!

Here is another swap from the wedding invite swap :)  This one is by Sandra.  Sandra has used vellum to print her wedding details on her invites and attached them to a stamped background using the new Old Olive Satin Ribbon.

The weather is a scorcher and I'm still in Guildford but I'll be home tonight and will show you more info on my Scrappers Paradise classes tomorrow.

Enjoy the sunshine!

Away at Paradise :)

I have been running Scrappers Paradise Getaways for over six years now.  We have a great group of ladies who come and join us repeatedly and it makes for a fabulous weekend of scrapping.

I've scheduled this post to come up whilst I'm away so as this goes live, we should just about be making this project above :)  Well I'll leave you with a sneaky peek and will share after the weekend.

Here is another swap from the Wedding Invitation swap I did - this one is made by Linden, again, very classic and classy!

Well, the weather is supposed to be great over the weekend - great weekend for being stuck in a hotel conference room all weekend LOL! I hope you are enjoying it and I will be back tomorrow with more shares :)

Have fun!

Another wedding invite and my new ribbon storage

Here is another wedding invite that I got in the swap that I did.  This one is made by another one of my lovely downline and in fact the lady that organised the whole swap too - Cate :)

Another very classic, very classy design using the new Vintage Vogue stamp set from the new Mini Catalogue.

Now onto storage.  I had all of my ribbon reels in a box which was great and has done me wonderfully until I ran out of space in the box for the new ribbon - what's a girl to do?  Buy more storage of course.  Some kind person on ILWS pointed out some ink pad storage units from www.craftracks.co.uk and in looking at those, I found the above.  So much room for more rolls :)  I'm thinking that with the addition of new ribbon in new colours in October, I might just need that extra space :)

Now a couple of years ago, I had my own craft room - what luxury!  Well, we have a three bedroomed house and for the previous few years, the boys had wanted to have bunk beds and share.  Suddenly my youngest out of the blue (after about 3/4 years together) asks if he can have his own bedroom back again?  I'd already been kicked out of my study downstairs so that hubby could have a "drum room", yes he really plays the drums and now here I was being turfed out again.....into the conservatory!  How great is that for changing the shades of my paper / card in the sun.  Anyway, that was about a year / 18months ago and I've still never settled in properly and sorted everything out and that is soon going to change.

Now that I am back working from home, I need to get it sorted out so I'm looking at having kitchen cupboards / worktop fitted out in the conservatory so that I can hide my stash LOL!  I'll be sure to post some before and after photos and see how it goes but if you've got any advice of what I should do, feel free to share it with me....and no, burning all of it isn't an option :)

I'm off to Scrappers Paradise for the weekend today, so watch this space for more details next week about the classes we ran.  Enjoy the good weather everyone!

More of the wedding invite swap

Receiving this card in the Wedding Invite Swap that I took part in recently was a bit odd.  My initial plan was to go with a black and pink theme and use scrolls too so this card made my one of my downline Victoria is very much my style - clean, simple but classically elegant - I love it!

The main thing with wedding invites is that they have to be reasonalby easy and quick to reproduce especially when you are making 100 / 200 cards of the same design.

In other news, Stampin' Up! have announced that for just two weeks (23rd April - 7th May), they are taking 10% off of the cost of their Starter Kit.  Already fabulous value, this just makes it even better value for money and if it is something that you are considering, then please get in touch.  I'll be happy to let you know how you can make the Stampin' Up! opportunity fit into what you want it to do for you.  Whether you fancy a 30% discount off of products just for yourself or whether you want to earn some money to feed your crafting habit, you can make either work for you by become a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.  Contact me now for more information!

I leave for Scrappers Paradise tomorrow and can't wait.  The ladies that come along to the event are so lovely, it is like running a weekend event for a group of friends and the weather is supposed to be lovely too!

Stamp With Us Birthday Bash - Register NOW for on-line classes!

Can you believe that we are approaching our first birthday! To celebrate we are pleased to announce that

Stamp With Us BIRTHDAY BASH

online classes will start on Sunday May 2nd & booking is now officially open! We are so excited about this round, it will be full of fantastic projects and a great opportunity to catch up with all our crafty friends!

How do you join in?

Well, all you need to do is click on the Paypal button in the top right hand corner of The Stamp With Us blog and pay £20.

What happens next?

You will receive confirmation of your payment from us within 48 hours. Before the launch of the classes, you will receive an invite from us to join us on a secured website. Once you are approved as a paying member, you are given access to the site. You should immediately see a welcome message from us and more information showing your way around the site. Don't panic - it really isn't that difficult!

What will you be getting?

Starting on the 2nd May for just over two weeks, every day something new will be added to the site. That could be one of 10 PDF "How to" classes to download, a technique video to watch or we even have online chats and challenges which is where all the members get together on the site at the same (agreed / publicised) time and we all get chatting. We have so much fun and it is great to spend time with and interact with other people who really understand the "passion for paper and card". There may well be a few surprises and prizes along the way too.

Why should you join in?

Stamp With Us online is all about sharing our passion for Stampin' Up! products, so if you love stamping or Stampin' Up!, then what are you waiting for? They are great for fellow demonstrators as we are happy for our classes to be reproduced for your classes (obviously with credit to ourselves). If you haven't got many SU products then you can still join in as all the projects can be adapted so that you can use all of your existing products.

SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? COME AND STAMP WITH US :)

The Sun & Freckles are out :)

I hope that you are all enjoying the sunshine we are having down in Southern England.  I cannot believe that my sons have got a tan in April!!!!

It's been so sunny, Ethan's freckles think it's the summer and are out in full force :)  It has been a few days of me noticing both boys growing up.  Firstly last Thursday, we were off into town for our next pair of school shoes (yes we go through more than one pair a year!) and we bought "slip on" shoes - like proper mans shoes - it scared me LOL. 

Then, at the weekend, he came down from the bath, it was reasonably late so the only real light for this photo was from the computer screen.  How grown up does he look?  I'm forgetting that he starts High School (secondary school for oldies like me!) in September and in fact in just a couple of months he will turn 11 and despite being such a great natured boy generally, the attitude is starting to rear it's ugly head - arrrghhhh!

And for those that are interested in cards, here is one from one of my downline, Cate, who recently hosted a wedding invite swap on ILWS.  Unfortunately somebody was sick and couldn't do their swap, so I jumped in and did the little blue cards that you saw at the weekend.  Here is a card from Cate just thanking me for joining the swap so late in the day.  I've had some lovely cards back this morning so I will be sharing those with you over the next few days.

Have fun!

Feeling blue

I'm definately a blue kind of girl or so it seems at the moment!  Blue and green are definately my go-to colours and above is a simple card I did for a Wedding Invitation swap on In Love With Stamping.

I love the Bride / Bridesmaid papers and brayered them with Tempting Turqoise ink to create this simple, but easily duplicatable invites.  I even used these as inspiration for my cousin's birthday card, which I'll show you tomorrow.  She's going to be 21 and that makes me feel very old considering I used to babysit for her 20 years ago!

Anyway, we are heading towards the end of the school holidays and as usual, they haven't been as bad as I expected, especially considering we were without a car Monday to Thursday and I had all these plans but thankfully, the sun has been shining and my kids have been playing out in our road with other kids for the road.  I love that we live in a closed road where there is little traffic but lots of kids of my kids' ages.  It takes me back to when I used to do the same - forever on my brothers skateboard and round other kids in the street's houses and such like.

Isn't that what school holidays are all about? - freedom, independence and playing games with fellow friends?  Can't believe that they are back to school on Monday and Scrappers Paradise will have started this time in a weeks time!  Good job I've sidelined next week for packing kits and such for it!

Hope you all enjoy the weekend, the weather is supposed to be good.  We've got football, football practice, cousin's Open House party and no plans on Sunday as yet!  Although a visit to the cinema to see Clash of the Titans might be in order - it could be a bit different to the original from what I've seen :)

Have fun whatever you are doing!

Stamp With Us Sketch challenge on Sunday

Well, I am a bit late in posting this weeks Stamp With Us Challenge which went up on Sunday!  The sketch that we had to work with is above, but I turned it upside down and

used it to make this:

I am sitting here in an empty house.  Damon's sister has picked the boys up as they wanted an excuse to buy tickets to see Diversity in Brighton and as a 40+, small children were needed as a disguise :)

But of course, on the one night this month that we are childless, is the night that hubby is working 3 hours away from home and is expected back the latest this year!!!  Typical, nevermind, plenty to keep me occupied.

Only three more days of school holidays left and then back to normality!

Enjoy!

Two videos for you today

But only really interesting for two different sets of people :) 

 Here is the Prize Draw results for the Stampin' Up! Draw....

First name drawn out wins the Level 1 or Level 2 Hostess Set.  The second name wins the £15 spending spree.  The third name wins the £25 spending spree and the last name wins the grand prize of the £50 spending spree.  So for those that were in the draw, watch the quick video and email me at natalie@oshea26.freeserve.co.uk to claim your prize.

As soon as everyone has told me what they would like, the order will go in and I'll hopefully get everything here in time to get them back out to you before the end of next week.

Congratulations winners!

Now talking of winners, here is a little video of some snapshots that I took of the game on Sunday.  So for family and other team members, here's one for you :)

 

That's it from me for today.  See you soon.

Natalie x

Busy Busy Busy

Well it's been a busy week, the second week of our Easter Holidays - two weeks down, one more to go and we are all still alive :)

The boys are absolute football nuts and have been at the local sports centre this week at a Chelsea Football Club (they are Man U fans so you can understand that bothers them a bit but there aren't any Man U kids trainings round here!) and they love that. 

It does mean that I have had a couple of hours to myself each day this week but it has been pretty frantic!  As you can see, the Retreat has launched, our next round of on-line classes have launched, Stampin' Up! decides to shake things up abit :), and Scrappers Paradise is two weeks today - arrgghhh!

I really need a couple of weeks when the kids are at school to get myself kind of organised but I'm also glad to have had the option to spend some of their Easter Holidays with them too.

The weather has been gorgeous the last two days - I even had to make the boys put suntan cream on and they've still both got burnt today (they've got TShirt marks / football shirt marks LOL!).  It is supposed to be gorgeous tomorrow too and there is no boys football on.  We are almost lost what to do without our normal weekend schedule.

Kian has the match of his career on Sunday - it's the match that decides who wins the league, so very very important and he is the Captain, so a very important job - we'll all be nerves and I hope to report back with some good news on Sunday!

Talking of Sunday, this Sunday will be a new challenge at Stamp With Us and whilst making my card together, I managed to rustle up the card above too.  I love the Window Sheets and Taken With Teal is one of my favourite colours too - I'll be sorry to see that one go, but I can already see which colours are going to be my new "Go To" colours - can you see yours yet?

Don't forget you only have until Sunday night to enter the Prize Draw - do you want to win a £100 spending spree?  Be sure to get me your order by midnight on Sunday.

Have a great weekend everyone,

Out with the old and in with the new :)

There is major excitement in the Stampin' Up! world with the announcement today of a shake up of the Standard Stampin' UP! colour families and individual colours.

This is great news for the UK as it means that we get 15 new colours AND we get the In-Colours that the US currently get - that will be 20 new colours to play with.

Now this isn't going to happen from today, but with the arrival of our main catalogue in October.  So, I am just letting you know this now for a couple of reasons.

If you are building up your colour collections, you may want to take a look at the list above and only buy colours that are staying.

OR

If there is a colour that you love which will be retiring at the end of September, you've got six months notice to fill up on your inkpads, refills, cardstock colours before you won't be able to get it again.

Here is a better look at the colours that we will be saying farewell to in September:

This is all that we know at the moment but I will be able to share more information with you over the coming months once we know more. 

However, in the meantime, we've got six months left of the current catalogue and a BRAND NEW Mini Catalogue to get excited about.

DON'T FORGET YOU ONLY HAVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT ON SUNDAY TO PLACE YOUR ORDER TO GO INTO MY FABULOUS PRIZE DRAW - SEE 1ST APRIL POSTING.

Zoe's Easter Class

I've been waiting for Zoe to update her blog with this photo so I could steal it.

This was one of the Stamp With Us classes that Zoe taught and I loved it.  It was a class that grew from a Make & Take idea into a fully blown class.  It's not too clear in this photo but the terracotta pot was stamped, the cellophane was stamped, two tags and a lovely card.

You wouldn't believe the list of things that she needed to run this class - about 104 inkpads, 17 punches and alot of patience :)

Anyway, don't forget you've only got until the end of Sunday to place your qualifying order to be in with a chance of winning one of those FREE spending sprees or FREE stamps.

Hope you all had a great Easter!

So very excited.....

When I opened up some post today to find this :)

One of the perks of working as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator is that you can work towards their Incentive Trips. The first Trip was launched and you had until October last year to earn it (you could do it five different ways!). There were 15 of us throughout Europe that earnt the Incentive Trip to Monaco and we go in June!


Having been so busy lately, I had really forgotten about it (it's still ages away in my scheme of things!) but when an envelope came through the door today with this in it, needless to say, I got very very excited! It finally seems real!


It's a letter requesting our details so that they can start booking travel arrangements and such like - yep, this is an ALL INCLUSIVE, ALL EXPENSES PAID TRIP! How excited am I now?


There are seven ladies from the UK going and they are all lovely, so I know we are just going to have such a fantastic time!


Currently, we are all working hard to acheive the next Incentive Trip to Prague and as far as I know, no-one has achieved it yet. We are half way through the year, so still six months to go. I achieved the trip two weeks before the deadline last year, so I hope to not give myself as much as a heart attack this year and do it a little quicker if I continue working hard!


Anyway, it's Easter Saturday and I am due out in a minute, just had to come on and share my excitement! We are over to friends now for the evening and off to my Mum's tomorrow for the boy's annual Easter Egg Hunt. Hopefully Monday will be a little calmer and then the boys are at football club for four days, so at least that keeps them occupied for Week 2 of the school holiday.


Hope you are all enjoying the Easter Break and not eating too much chocolate!


Have fun!

It's all go here at the moment! Win £100 spending spree!

Place an order of £45 or more with me before Midnight on Sunday 11th April 2010 and be in with a chance to win one of the following extra prizes.

For each set of 11 people ordering, you can WIN one of the following:

FIRST PLACE - A £100 Stampin' Up! Shopping Spree!

SECOND PLACE - A free Level 2 hostess stamp set of your choice including

 a new one in the Mini Catalogue

THIRD PLACE - A free level 1 hostess stamp set of your choice

 including a new one in the Mini Catalogue

FOURTH PLACE - £25 worth of money to spend as you wish

FIFTH PLACE - £25 worth of money to spend as you wish

SIXTH PLACE - £25 worth of money to spend as you wish

This means that out of 11 people, 6 will get an extra prize on top of your free stamp set. How fantastic is that? You have a 55% chance of getting something

 for nothing and who doesn't like that?

Don't forget, if you spend £90 or more - you get TWO chances to win!

The winners will be notified by email on the 12th of April. Good luck !!!

(This special offer is from me only - not Stampin' Up!)