Reason to smile - a free Stampin' Up set!

Why wouldn't you smile when you can get a gorgeous new stamp set to play with and it can be FREE with an order of £60 or more starting from tomorrow! I've thoroughly enjoyed seeing what I can do with my Reason to Smile set - here's my fourth sample:

Here I stamped two of the profile flower, using the outline stamp only, and coloured them in using Watercolour Wonder crayons, a marker and a blender pen. The background came next - green inks were dabbed over the top using a textured bit of sponge (the crayon does resist the ink a little). To make the third flower turn the other way, I stamped it on a scrap of card stock, coloured it and then cut it out with my sharp paper snips, separating the head from the stem; the stem was simply turned upside down and the head repositioned on top.

Here's a close up of those pretty flowers tied up with a piece of the gorgeous organdie ribbon that you get can get free THIS month. (Today is your last chance to get your hands on this wonderful freebie, two full reels of ribbon and a pot of fabulous brads FREE with orders of £45 or more!)

Banner sentiments are all the rage at the moment - I made mine by cutting a strip of card stock with my trimmer, stamping the sentiment using a stamp-a-majig and snipping ribbon tails in each end with a square punch.

Here's the gorgeous Reason to Smile stamp set I've been using (right) and yes, I'm a wood mount kind of a girl!

Here's what you'll need to make today's card:
Stamps: Reasons to Smile (available during August only), Thank You Kindly

Ink:  Wild Wasabi, Lucky Limeade

Card stock: Whisper White

Other: Watercolour Wonder Crayons, markers, square punch, stamp-a-majig, free brads/ribbon set

I'd be delighted to order any of these items for you and can have them delivered to your address in the UK. I'm committed to providing excellent customer service and am always happy to offer help and advice. To place your order, just send me an email or give me a call on 01280 820593. Your free brad and ribbon set will be added automatically to any order of £45 or more - and TODAY IS THE LAST DAY OF THIS PROMOTION!

It's not blazingly hot here in Buckingham but it's still pretty bright with only the odd light shower. Certainly hot enough for ice cream to still be on the menu and for a visit to the local swimming pool. I remember when my husband used to take the children to the pool; the eldest two used to take their towels along in ruck sacks on their backs and my youngest son, who at age 4 wanted to be just like them but couldn't manage a huge towel, found a tiny, transparent, toy back pack to wear on his back. There was just room to put his tiny pair of pants inside - perfectly visible because the bag was clear!

It's the launch of the new promotion tomorrow and I've used Reason to Smile to make a pretty coordinating gift set - don't miss it will you!

A dotty Reason to Smile for a male

Last week I mentioned a new stamp set, Reason to Smile, which is going to be available in August only (and you can get it for free too - scroll down to find out how!) I've been putting my set through its paces for the last couple of posts and this week I'll be showing you more of what it can do. Today, I've taken the 'flower centre' image and made this card with it:

I used my extra large oval punch to make a mask for the sentiment and then stamped the dots fairly randomly. I love these colours together and they're just right for summer - hmmm, well we WERE having a summer!

Here's a close up to show you how well this sentiment from Happiest Birthday Wishes fits into the large oval. (By the way, Happiest Birthday Wishes is a hostess set, meaning that it's available to those placing an order of £150 or more or hosting a qualifying party, but if you prefer not to spend £150 at a time and don't want to host a party you can get it by joining my Stampers 6 club instead! Click here to find out more.)

Can you see the lovely texture of the spots in the photo above? All the solid stamps in the set have the same gorgeous texture - and the reason it's called Reason to Smile is that you can get it FREE with any order of £60 or more in August, OR you can buy it in wood mount (£18.95) or clear mount ( £14.95).

Here's what you'll need to make today's card:

Stamps: Reasons to Smile (available during August only), Happiest Birthday Wishes

Ink: Island Indigo, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi, Not Quite Navy

Card stock: Whisper White

Other: Extra large oval punch, stamp-a-majig

I'd be delighted to order any of these items for you and can have them delivered to your address in the UK. I'm committed to providing excellent customer service and am always happy to offer help and advice. To place your order, just send me an email or give me a call on 01280 820593. Your free brad and ribbon set will be added automatically to any order of £45 or more DURING JULY ONLY so you have just two more days left to get your hands on one!

In a raffle at a school fair recently we won a family meal out at a local hotel and yesterday we went for it. If I'm honest, the food wasn't ragingly brilliant, but the company certainly made up for that and we had a wonderful time laughing and chatting together. I was so pleased when our waitress complimented me on the lovely manners of my children but reflected that if she'd arrived at the table a few minutes earlier she'd have been in time to see my youngest son flick his sister with his napkin. "We never flick our fellow diners with a napkin!" I said reprovingly. "She pinched my bottom!" he said indignantly. "And we never, ever pinch the bottom of a gentleman!" I added.


Tomorrow, I have one of my favourite Reason to Smile cards to show you so do come and see if you have a minute.


Hugs,

A quick Reason to Smile...

I know - I shouldn't be here! I have a hundred and one things I'm supposed to be doing but I made the mistake of just quickly looking at the Less is More challenge and this is what happened:

This is a very quick sponged and stamped scene. For the flowers, grasses and 'leaves', I've used the fabulous Reason to Smile, an exclusive set which will be available during August only. (You can get it free with a £60 order or you can buy it for £18.95 wood mount or £14.95 clear mount - email me here to order, or for more information.)

The sentiment is from the lovely Trendy Trees set - which I haven't used for ages but must play with soon - and my scallops are cut with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch. You can see the lovely texture of the stamps in this photo and the way the two step flowers work.

This beautiful dragonfly is from Nature's Nest. I have a stash of these ready stamped in Stazon on vellum, so all I needed to do is to cut him out with my sharp paper snips and colour the back of him with markers. I added a little glitter to catch some of this fabulous sunshine we're having!

Oops, I forgot to mention it's a sketch challenge at Less is More this week... and what a great sketch (right) it is!

Here's what you'll need to make today's card:

Stamps: Reasons to Smile (available during August only), Nature's Nest, Trendy Trees (sentiment)

Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Old Olive

Card stock: Naturals Ivory, vellum

Other: Markers,  Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, paper snips, stamp-a-majig

I'd be delighted to order any of these items for you and can have them delivered to your address in the UK. I'm committed to providing excellent customer service and am always happy to offer help and advice. To place your order, just send me an email or give me a call on 01280 820593. Your free brad and ribbon set will be added automatically to any order of £45 or more during July only!

Did you see the Olympic opening ceremony last night? Wow! I must confess to have felt a little cynical about the whole thing beforehand but my family and I were blown away by it. It was uplifting, visually stunning, quirky, moving, funny and incredibly impressive in turns and I thought the cauldron of fire was the most astonishing piece of design work. It all made me feel rather proud to be British!

I'll be back on Monday with a male card using Reason to Smile - hope to see you then!

Hugs,

Reason to Smile - free from Stampin' Up!

I'm still in catch-up mode but I just had to pop in and let you know about an exclusive stamp set,  called Reason to Smile, that will be available for the month of August only. You can buy it for £18.95 (wood mount) or £14.95 (clear mount) but if you place an order for £60 or more, you will get it ABSOLUTELY FREE!

I designed today's card for the lovely ladies in my Stampers 6 Club and as well as show-casing the new set, it uses some of the wonderful brads and ribbons that come free THIS month only with orders of £45 - yes, Stampin' Up are spoiling us with their special offers!

Reasons to Smile is a two step stamping set - ie you can stamp the outline images and then 'colour' them by overstamping with the solid image. You can use a stamp-a-majig to get the exact position but I like the look you get when the colour overlaps...

... like this! Aren't these flowers just gorgeous?! You can see how well the brad and ribbon goes with them too.

I do love a tag on a card. This one was stamped with a variety of the beautiful flowers in the Reason to Smile set. I've laid a sentiment strip across it using the fabulous Curly Cute set, and trimmed it with scallops cut with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch. The card base is embossed with hearts from the Adorning Accents set of folders.

And here are the cards all ready to go out with a little gift to members of my Stampers 6 Club. If you're interested in joining my club, there's a new group starting in September and there are a couple of places available. It's a great way of spreading the cost of your supplies over six months and you get free products of your choice in one of the months, all catalogues that come out during your membership free of charge, gifts and cards from me, the opportunity to get exclusive hostess items... Click here to find out more.

Here's what I used to make today's card:

Stamps: Reasons to Smile (available during August only), Curly Cute

Ink: More Mustard, Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo, Pool Party, Poppy Parade, Calypso Coral, Early Espresso

Card stock: Island Indigo, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight

Other: Markers,  Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, Adorning Accents embossing folder set, free brad and ribbon set

I'd be delighted to order any of these items for you and can have them delivered to your address in the UK. I'm committed to providing excellent customer service and am always happy to offer help and advice. To place your order, just send me an email or give me a call on 01280 820593. Your free brad and ribbon set will be added automatically to any order of £45 or more.

I've had a busy week catching up with admin and trying to sort out school uniform for next year (I know it's crazy, but they run out of sizes if you leave it - ask me how I know!) The sun has been making up for lost time here in Buckingham too, just in time for the holidays, and I have some hot but happy children who seem to be living on ice cream!

I'll have lots more projects using Reason to Smile to show you next week so do pop back and have a look.

Hugs,