Jems Monthly Blog Hop May

Yey! Welcome to a new monthly blog hop by our team of Stampin' Up! demonstrators. You might have hopped here from Sam's blog - in which case - Hello! I'm Kylie!

This month's theme is 'Retiring Products'. Earlier this month when the retirement list was published (the list of all the stamps and accessories that won't be in the next catalogue) I piled up all my stamps that will retire and I pulled out a few that I'm quite attached to - I want to get some more use out of them before deciding whether or not to sell them on!

Flowering Flourishes was one such stamp set. I love this set because it creates the perfect, simple but very effective backgrounds. Add a sentiment and you have a gorgeous card in minutes! It's a favourite of mine for wedding cards and invitations too. Today I want to show you three cards using Flowering Flourishes to create different backgrounds.

Please note this stamp set has already sold out in all formats - however I will be reluctantly parting with mine in my preloved stamp sale on 5th June - please see my events page for details!

The first card is simply stamped in basic grey and white craft ink on a basic grey card base. The sentiment is from another retiring stamp set 'Perfect Pennants' stamped in white craft ink. I've added some butterflies which I had punched from scraps of card that I had practised my stamping on! The addition of Rhinestones gives it an elegant finish!

For my second card I have heat embossed the background with clear embossing powder then sponged over the top with Lost Lagoon ink (One of the retiring 2014-16 in-colours) and more stamping over the top with Lost Lagoon and another Perfect Pennants sentiment.

Another heat embossed card for number three - this time gold embossing powder over Blackberry Bliss (this colour I'll miss a lot!) which I think looks quite classy and luxurious!

Hopefully someone I know will buy it off me so I can borrow it back occasionally! Haha.

Now it's time to click the NEXT BLOG button below to visit Julie's blog - the next one in the Jems Blog Hop, but I hope to see you back here soon!

List of demonstrators participating in the Jems Blog Hop this month:

Sharon Glynn
Sarah-Jane Rae
Julie Dix
Sarah Lavelle
Amanda Bates
Karyn Davies
Julie Kettlewell
Allie Jolliffe
Samantha Webster
Samantha Carlton
Kylie Henshaw - YOU ARE HERE
Julie Wade
Sarah Lindsay
Karen Watts
Gill Arnold
Yvonne Hunt
Kate Martin
Tracy Hill
Lucy Brown

Stampin' Up! Owl Punch ideas

Hello. This post is for all the owl fans out there! I have been demonstrating Stampin' Up!'s fabulous owl punch a lot this year - it's not a new product but it's certainly a favourite and many of my customers now own one!

I made this display picture to take to my parties and events to show people some of the fun ways they can use the owl punch. You can make pirates, pigs, tulips, reindeer, robins, and more! My favourite are the graduate owl, the bride and groom and the hen!

I took my inspiration from pictures I found online, so feel free to search for many more ideas.

The owl punch is only £15.50 = great value for such a versatile piece of kit. What have you made with yours?

Gift Vouchers available now!

I am selling Stampin' Up! gift vouchers of any value from £5 upwards - perfect for a birthday, thank you or any occasion you want to treat a friend or loved one to some craft supplies of their choice!

The vouchers come packaged in a beautiful handmade holder free of charge. Collect from me or I can post to you or the recipient directly (postage cost applies). Contact me to order!

Monthly Card Class - May

Here are the cards we made in May's monthly card class...

I didn't have a particular theme for this month's class, but as usual I wanted to showcase different stamps, accessories and techniques.

This card features the pretty Birthday Basic papers, and the Cupcake Builder Punch and Create a Cupcake stamp set. This stamp set is retiring at the end of June!

The crumb cake card is based on a design I found by a German demonstrator on her on her blog Stampin Club.  It uses one of the Gorgeous Grunge stamps to create a spritzed effect background, then we used washi tape and itty bitty  punched flowers to decorate. The sentiment is from Label Love.

A very simple but effective card and a favourite among the ladies at the class! The bow is made using the envelope punch board. There's loads of YouTube videos and tutorials out there for different ways to make bows if you want to google it, but I used this easy to follow tutorial for my bow.

Our fourth card was another simple but effective card using only 2 colours - Island Indigo and Soft Sky. The stamp is Flowering Flourishes - one of my favourites!

I host these regular classes on the second Thursday of every month at my house and they are becoming more and more popular. I have ladies who come every month and hate to miss one, and also I have new faces come along. Everyone is welcome and it's a really relaxed, friendly evening! See my classes and events page for details of upcoming classes.

Monster Hugs 6th Birthday!

A quick post today to show you the birthday card I made for my niece. I had some of these cute monster hugs left over from the valentine promotion and I used the Sale-a-bration banners stamps and punch too.