View from my............

.............sunbed!!!!

Hello guys, OMG!!! Sorry it has been so long since I have update you all, I have tried for 4 nights in a row to publish this post and Blogger was having none of it. I am hoping is not going to be so late next time. Anyway here s a view from my sunbed and I apologise if you are experiencing snow at the minute where you are( couldn't believe the forecast back home when we've seen it on the news)
This has got to be the biggest resort I have ever stayed at( 808 rooms and hotel is fully booked, eek!), butbecause it covers such a huge area it feels very intimate and not busy at all. My days are spent half at the beach snorkelling and the other half around the pool and every day I make sure I get a 30 minutes session on the water slides( those are massive and so much fun, very fast and I ve ended up with my bikini bottom up my bottom several times LOL, not entirely sure you wanted to know about that)
I have a few cards to share with you today, first one is one I have made for my BIL s birthday before we left.

Extremely quick to make, I took inspiration from his favorite footbal team *Juventus*. Basic Black, Yoyo Yellow and Whisper White. Added some black gingham and a punched out star. Five minutes but I love it, really striking.
My second one is one of a batch I have made and brought with me to give me something to blog about while on holiday. I took a few colour combos from the SU catalgoues and scribbled a few layouts and made them all the night before I left. If only blogger would let me upload them.
Choc Chip designer paper, Old olive stripy from the Haiku collection, Basful Blue overstamped in Versamark with the Baroque Motifs and the outline of a Rose is a Rose stamped and embossed in clear powder over Rose Red card stock( just like the card on the cover of our current catalogue). Now I love this combo but I am not convinced the card I have ended up with totally works. I would have liked a bit of green around the rose I think. I have added some glitter glue to the rose as well and that didn't come out well at all in the photo. White taffeta ribbon tied in a bow finished off my little beauty that s not so beautiful. I will try and better it once I get home so might see it again in the future. Ok got to dash I have a date with my hubby. He is taking me out for dinner LOL
Hugs Monica xxxxx

Birthday Passionette !!!

Helloooooooooooooooooo!! OMG!! I have had a nightmare getting our wireless network up and running but fingers crossed I think I ve cracked it. I am not going to tell you just how fabulous everything is here in Egypt and how lovely it is to feel the sun on my back. The Sea is amazingly clear and the fish are soo brightly coloured, BLISS!! ok,ok sorry that s it, I know I ve ended up making you a bit jealous but I can promise you that I will enjoy it like you were here with me. PROMISE!!!
Now this post was intended for posting yesterday, because Debbie one of my fabulous downline celebrated her birthday but it wasn't to be!! and of course I have made her a card. Sorry photo is a bit off as I didin't take it in my usual spot so lighting was a bit of an issue.Debbie s favorite colour is purple so I have found myself yet again falling in love with this colour. Purples and lilacs are never colours I reach for when making * just because* cards, but every time I make one I realise how much I love purples. And I also love this SAB set *Botanical blooms* so lovely and you can earn it absolutely FREE when you place an order of £45.00.
Perfect Plum card base, Basic Black, Old Olive *Haiku* papers black gingham ribbon and a ribbon slider filled with glitter from the Styled Silver Hodgepodge tin. Happy Everything stamp set was used fro the sentiment and the leaves from the SAB set have been stamped in perfect plum and outlined with glitter. The flowers have been stamped in Basic Black and watercoloured using the markers. Debbie I hope you had a fabulous birthday and I hope you liked your card.
Now my lovelies here s something for you my blog readers, from now till Sunday the 8 th of February if you place an order with me now matter how big or small I will offer you FREE postage. Fab or what? Just email me( telemech01@aol.com) with your order choice and your address (no need for address if you re a returning customer), and I will have your order sent directly to you. Off I go now hugs to you all. Monica xxx

Flowery....

... thank you, is the card for today!!
Hello how is everyone? Well I hope and if you re not hang in there January is nearly finished and it will soon be February a much better and happier month. I had a really nice email last week from a lovely and very talented lady who's name you will all know for sure, I am talking about Julie Hickey. It was a nice surprise to hear from her and she ended up doing me a favour, so to show my gratitude I have made her a card.

I have used one of the stamps from the level 3 hostess set **Window dressing** and I would just like you to check my stamp alignment out here LOL, I love that Stamp a ma jig , is fabby. My combo is a girly and a firm favorite of mine but one I have not visited for a very long time. Pretty in pink card base stamped with the leaf from the Sale a bration set Botanical Blooms, Chocolate Chip patterned paper, the gorgeous Certainly Celery ribbon is from the Fairytale collection( on the retired list now) then a piece of pretty in pink taffeta was overlapped and tied in a bow. My bloomin vases have been coloured using my markers colours used, Pretty in pink, Regal rose, Barely Banana, So Saffron, bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, old Olive,Lavender Lace and Cameo Coral phew!! LOL

The sentiment from Pocket Silhouettes was stamped using the SAMJ onto two ovals cut on my Expression( I want oval punches Stampin'UP!!!!!!!). Julie thank you and i hope you like my card. Hugs

Now I have got 5 more places onto my second ribbon share.

You will get a least one meter from each style and colour StampinUp carry in their catalogue. So for £25.00 including postage you could get yourself the whole selection, which you can then admire, feel and stroke lovingly. Email me if you re interested and I will add you to the list. Ok now got to go as I am flying Sunday morning, so got to pack. See you all soon Hugs M xx

My first..

......of many cards I will be doing using the free Sale a bration sets, that can be earned with a order of £45.00 until the 28 Th of February. The set I have used here is the Botanical Blooms and I had a bit of fun with my markers as I have decided to watercolour the blooms rather than using the set as a two step stamping. The cute origami box is one I have made using a tutorial from SCS but next time I think I will just make an easy box and add the sides, the origami method takes a bit of time. It ended up so cute, perfect for so many gifts, and this will be filled with something yummy. Check out the fancy corners they were made with my scallop edge punch from SU, also see how I have used two colours on the sentiment stamp? those clever markers allow you to add 2 or more colours to one stamp>

I have also made a card to go with it. Again a layout found on SCS that I have scribbled out on the back of an envelope so I cannot find it now, but if you seen it let me know and I will add a link to it( I do remember that it was a card with green and pink colours). The colour combo is Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive and a bit of Choc. Chip. I am constantly amazed at how well Choc Chip goes with everything, I go through loads of packs of this colour I just love it!!!! Sentiment from Circle of Friendship another of my firm favorites, round sentiments work so well on any layout and I love to layer them for even more interest, SU punches do a fab job for this kind of layering. The bloom and leaves were stamped straight onto a long narrow piece of Whisper White and coloured in using the following markers, Summer Sun and Only Orange for the blooms and Cert. Celery, Yo yo Yellow, Old Olive and Gable Green for the leaves. Can you see how bright those images are? you don't need to spend loads and loads of money on expensive colouring mediums, those markers are highly pigmented and give super results. Now the flowers and leaves on the box were done on watercoloured paper, still lovely and bright but because water was used to blend the colours together, the effect is different, I love my markers they are so versatile and come in every single colour SU does so easy to coordinate.

I have not been crafting for myself at all this week as I have been busy with DT work and UStamp projects as well so I am sharing stuff that was supposed to be shared while away, hmm I will have to get cracking LOL. Hope you had a super weekend Hugs M xx

ps. My ribbon share is FULL but I have started a second one as I had more interest, need some yummy ribbon? get in touch and I can fix you up with some. xxxxx

January class!!

Hello dear blog reader. WOW!!!! What a response to my last entry, I thank each of you so very much it was lovely to see those comments and nice to have confirmation once again that WE are all different and that's what makes the world go round. The bride to be has been in touch, she loves the designs and will sit down with her fiance (who works away during the week) this weekend and look into it further, I will keep you informed of the outcome.


Had my first class on the 10 th of January, and this is what we made.
A cute desk top calendar and a matching card.

Crazy for cupcakes stamp set and Sweet Always designer paper, Regal Rose, Choc Chip card stock. Cupcakes were coloured using markers, and the frosting on the big cupcake was made using salt, water and flour with a few drops of reinker( really cool, I might do a tut. on this). they were well received and we had a laugh like always, really love my classes and I know my ladies do as well.

I have finally organized a ribbon share. To join simply email me at telemech01@aol.com with the title ribbon share. Join this and you will get AT LEAST one metre of every single ribbon in the StampinUp catalogue and have all your projects coordinate, elegant wide grosgrain, narrow grosgrain, double stitched grosgrain, silky taffeta, sweet gingham, gold and silver cord, get it all sent to your door for a cool £25.00 including postage, plus I will send you a little gift.

Last week I told you I have some exciting news, well I am off to find some sun. I will be spending two weeks here.(ps. if you ve been here let me know what you thought). It all happen very suddenly as we didn't planned to go on hols right this month, but I was at the risk of loosing some paid holiday from last year so we had to. I am excited of course, but this meant a lot of work organizing various things, and I want to say big huge thank you to ALL my ladies in my Stamper 10 clubs for bringing their orders forward, without their help I would have not been able to go, so if that s you reading this, I am very greatful to you, thanks. I am frantically working on projects and I will have scheduled posts to share with you while I m gone but I am also sneaking my markers and a few stamps in my case (DH doesn't know) and you never know I might even post a card I have made on my hols, you will know if I did as it will have sand all over it. LOL Take care hugs M xxx

Samples...

Hello to you all, last week I have received an email form a lovely lady asking me if I would design some wedding invites samples for her using StampinUp products. The brief was clean and elegant without anything *gushy*, frilly or frivolous. Now I was quite nervous , I think is very hard when you design for other people and in fact I don't expect her to choose any of them as THE final design , but what I hope I achieved is something close to the brief and I hope that from here she can take some inspiration and add or take away elements to suit their taste. Another thing when designing invites you have to consider is time, as we all know card making is not fast and when you have lots of them to do it can become a nightmare, again I have done 3 different style some more involved than others time wise but I think your invites are very important is the first glimpse your guests get of your day before the event to come .




The couple share a love for the outdoors so this sample in earthy tones is very elegant. My favorite too. Chocolate Chip Old Olive and the Baroque Motifs stamp set embossed in white powder. Baroque Motifs again, simple stamping on this one, the easiest to reproduce time wise, Bashful Blue Chocolate Chip, and taffeta Choc Chip ribbon.My final one is a close design to the invites I have designed for my nieces wedding 4 years ago. Mr and Mrs stamp set in Elegant Eggplant and stamped in Lavender Lace, some tiny crystals for extra sparkle and Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon to keep it all in place.
What do you think? I would like to hear which one is your favorite if you have time to leave me comment. Hugs to you alll Monica xxxx

A card...

.... again!!!! LOL

Hello, I hope you are well, I have just finished preparing for a class so I am winding down with a blog post before I hit the pillow. It recently occurred to me that I am more of a stash collector then I am a stash user. I am sure you know exactly what I mean, you sit down and look through your stamps to find out which one asks you to be used this time, then as you have a good rummage you come across sets that have been living with you for a while but you never ever used. So you think to yourself, aww you poor little neglected thing of beauty, I will break your packaging open and I will let you dance over my ink pad and then I will make you kiss my whisper white card stock and then I will turn you into a pretty!!!!! .
Ok , ok I know I now sound like I have positively lost the plot lol. But .........Today I found my never used level two hostess set * Cause for celebrations* and this is what I did.

I found a cool colour combo on SCS, and this time is Rose Red card stock, Kraft and Basic Black. (The kraft patterned paper comes as a hostess pack for reaching level 1 qualifying sales.)

Simple enough card so I won't bore you with details what s a bit different is the way I have used my crop o dile to punch through in places, revealing the underneath colour, effective and yet so very quick to do. There is also a jumbo eyelet set in the middle of the solid bloom with a crystal brad set into it and NO RIBBON!! not even an inch now that is WOW!!. Is also very different for me and I have surprised myself with it, to top it all I have sort of cased myself if that makes sense, I took inspiration from the card I did for Gogo in December, scroll down a bit to see what I mean. Anyway I m off to bed now have a lovely weekend. Hugs M xxx

A card !!!!

and a colour combination!!!! Hello my lovelies, I am finally getting back to normal and catching up with my crafting, I have managed a card for a challenge over at ILWS the other night . We had to use Regal Rose, So Saffron and real Red. I have used my Pocket Silhouettes stamp set and stamped the image in So Saffron then I have added some Real Red with a Real Red marker. This card was made to welcome one of my newest Passionettes, 4 of you singed up already since 1 st of Jan. and there are a few more waiting to join me so keep an eye for more thank you cards from me, if you want to join SU as a demonstrator yourself email me and I will give you all the scoop. Regal rose card base, So Saffron card stock Real Red card stock, Regal Rose grosgrain ribbon, scalloped border punch and the piercing mat from the tool kit, gold brads ere used to make this little beauty.

I have another card I have made for one of the monthly challenges I set for my Stampers 10 groups.

It was a colour challenge (sorry about the bad picture) and the colours I have used are Choc Chip card base, Pumpkin Pie designer paper and felt flowers, Tempting Turquoise card stock and grosgrain ribbon, Rose Red brads and marker, Old Olive felt flowers and marker. The beautiful sentiment from the Occasional Greetings was inked using markers in coordinating colours. Talking about Stampers 10 I have 4 places left for one starting in January and 6 places left for one starting in February. If you don't know what a Stampers 10 club is and want to find out more please read here. Then email me to secure a place before they go. I have a private online social group for all my clubs so along with helping you build a nice collection of SU stash I also provide you with fun challenges and cyber stamping events as well as live chats. All this while earning free stamp sets and interacting with like minded folk. Is FUN!!!

I have some exciting news to share so *I will be back* soon. LOL

Hugs M xxxx

The fabulos Gogo kits!!

Hello all, in all my pre Christmas rush I have totally forgot to share my December Gogo designs with you, now if you are a subscriber to those kits already you will agree with me that they are just getting better and better and if you re not yet then you need to go straight across and subscribe to one NOW!! you will understand what I mean. Decembers was another corker and I was responsible for making a video class on using stamps on your layouts, now you know I am a bit rusty at scrapping but stamping is what I know best so I was comfortable doing this, I turned bunting into Christmas trees and a border into a candy cane!!! LOL. Kept the layout simple( the video needs to be less that 10 min.) but thanks to the speed features I managed to condense it a bit. Here's my designs, firstly some home decor

So easy when everything coordinates beautifully. Everything apart from the glitter was included in the kit even those yummy rub ons.

A couple of cards, I especially loved the stamp in this kit a very unusual wheatervane, perfect for graduations and those moments in a man s life like a change of job or even direction will be keeping this one for a long while.

A a lady suitable one

Loved all those circles, very funky.Made a desk top calendar as well. Love the added dimensionAnd my layout for the class followed by the video.I love those kits, a lot of people asked me why I still design for Gogo since I am so busy with SU, truth is I absolutely love getting those kits every month, I love being challenged to work with something that is not been chosen by me and the most important factor is that all the product I get in those kits is brand new on the market and I get it all coordinated in a kit form. LOVE IT and so will you, now go subscribe and then let me know what you think. Here s the video enjoy Hugs M xxx

BE GLAD..

... is a SALE A BRATION !!!!! Hello my dears, for ten years SU have been holding those very popular events and it was natural that our time will come too and it did!!
It's time to Sale-A-Brate at Stampin' Up! and free product is what it's all about!
During Sale-A-Bration--1 January – 28 February--Stampin' Up! gives customers, hostesses, and new recruits the opportunity to earn fantastic, FREE, limited-edition stamp sets they'll enjoy for years to come.
Here's how Sale-A-Bration works:
Customers When you spend £45 on Stampin' Up! merchandise, you'll receive a free Sale-A-Bration reward. There's no limit--for every £45 you spend, you can select another free Sale-A-Bration reward! Order from ME during this time and you will get a free gift with every order (gift depending on the value of your order)
Hostesses When you host a workshop of at least £300 (before shipping), you'll receive a free Sale-A-Bration reward--in addition to all of the regular hostess benefits! So get in touch with me and book your workshops now, I am planning to step up a notch my SU business this coming year so if you wish to attend a workshop with cool demonstrations from me, for you and your crafting friends BOOK NOW to avoid dissapointment, also ask me how you can be a virtual hostess without hosting the actual workshop but still enjoying the wonderful free benefits. And of course do it during the Sale a bration for even more free stuff ( I LOVE FREE STUFF!!!!)
Recruits During Sale-A-Bration, anyone who joins as a demonstrator can choose any stamp set--a value of up to £34.95--from our current Idea Book and Catalogue! Join ME and my fabulous team of Passionettes and I will match this offer so you will get another stamp set absolutely FREE. Great time to became a demo and you don't even have to be a full time business one if you dont want to, you can join just so you get a fab discount on those amazing SU products. Ask me how on telemech01@aol.com .

To see all the free sets that can be earned view the Sale-A-Bration brochure online. (View Stampin' Supplies for projects in the Sale-A-Bration brochure.)

I also wanted to share something else I will be involved in this year, one of my clever Passionette will be helping people like me and you with reaching goals and making dreams happen for 2009.This looks fantastic and I am so very excited as I hope this will help me stay on track this coming year , so go check out Bekki's post here to find out more about it. Hugs Monica xxx

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!!

to each and everyone of you that reads this blog of mine. I wish you a better 2009 filled with joy and accomplished dreams and lots and lots of crafting time. Made this card yesterday for a cyberstamping challenge I hosted for my Stampers 10 groups, colours are Cameo Coral, Mellow Moss and So Saffron. Hugs Monica xxxx