Saturday 23 August 2014

Stampin' Up! Nordic Noel Sneak Peek!

Do you want a sneak peek at some of the new catalogue goodies from Stampin' Up!?  These products are not available to customers until August 28th, but one of the major perks of being a demonstrator is that we get to see the catalogue and order new products in advance.  You could get your hands on these and more seasonal products in your starter kit if you join Stampin' Up!  Until the 28th of August, you even receive an extra £20 to spend  - you can choose £150 of products and receive a great business pack worth £45 all for only £99 including shipping.  What a bargain!  Contact me today if you would like to join the team!

Now to the crafting!  When I hear the word Nordic, I think of 2 things - Christmas.... and Ikea.  Today's projects combine the two.  With so much snow, indigenous reindeer and, of course, Santa's workshop, how could the thinking about the Nordic nations fail to conjure a festive feeling.

Stampin' Up! have managed to capture the spirit of Scandinavia with the Nordic Noel suite featured in the new seasonal catalogue.  With a warm and inviting colour palette of Baked Brown Sugar, Garden Green and Real Red (and hints of Calypso Coral and Soft Sky), the Designer Papers have me reaching for a blanket and a tin of Danish Butter Biscuits, and I love the coordining designer buttons, they look like they could have fallen off an elfs jacket.


 The Cheerful Christmas stamp set is simple, with a lovely sentiment and beautifully decorated baubles.  I think they look lovely on pillar candles and would make an ideal festive gift or decoration for your home.




The brand new curvy keepsake box thinlit die creates beautiful gift packaging in minutes.  The little boxes are perfectly sized for a sweet treat, and comes with a variety of dies to make matching gift tags.
 

The Nordic Noel Suite is only one of the ranges featured in the Stampin' Up! seasonal catalogue.  I will be showing you more over the next few weeks so come back soon.

Sunday 17 August 2014

My Project Life

I love looking through old photo albums with my mum and dad.  Every photo has a little slip of paper next to it, saying when and where it was taken.  We reminisce about holidays, trips and family celebrations over a cup of tea.

Looking through these pictures makes me happy and sad at the same time.  Happy that there is a record of the special moments in our family's life but sad that, despite taking thousands of photos on my phone, digital camera or tablet, I haven't got a single album in my bookcase.

I snap away, every day, capturing cheeky grins and flick through the pictures when my husband gets home.  But I don't do anything with them.  Nothing brought this home to me harder than when my mobile phone was stolen and I lost every photograph that I had taken of my son on the day he was born. 

I also realised that my vast collection of digital images didn't really mean anything to anybody but me, because the stories that go with them are in my head and heart.  This made me feel a bit melancholy, I won't always be able to narrate my digital slideshow, then how will my children or grandchildren connect with these images?

So when Stampin' Up! partnered with Becky Higgins to create an exclusive range of project life products, I vowed to make my memories a priority and to keep a record of the special moments we share.  So that, in years to come, we can all look back on the happy days we enjoyed together.


 Project Life is quick and easy.  Your pages can be as plain or embellished as you like and the journaling cards are available in several different themes to tailor your album to fit your theme.



I use an app called "free prints" which allows you to choose photos straight from your phone to be printed and posted to you.  The prints take a couple of days to arrive, but are great quality and the perfect size for project life - I do trim some of the down to fit the smaller pockets, but the 6"x4" prints are ideal for the larger slots.

My first album is for my little boy, since he is the main thing I photograph!  I have been choosing photos to document our summer - a trip to the seaside, rides on steam trains, meeting the gruffalo, a trip to visit my parents in France, lots and lots of ice-cream.  Nothing huge and momentous, just some of the little special moments of our {Project} life.

I'm completely hooked already, and have ordered the "Love Story" cards and accessory pack to make my brother and sister-in-law a wedding album and have also ordered a seasonal set which will be revealed in the seasonal catalogue on August 28th.

If you are local to me, I am running a Project Life starter class in October - see my events page for details.

If you would like to have a go yourself, visit my online store which has an entire section devoted to Project life or get in touch - I'd love to hear from you.