Birthday Passionette...........

Helloooooo, how's things with you? Thank you so much for all your lovely comments during our blog hop did you enjoy it? What fabulous projects along the way, tons of inspiration and of course a good glimpse of the new catalogue that's going live tomorrow!!!!!!

Guess what? Is Susan's Happy Birthday today. Susan doesn't have a blog so cannot link, but I wish she had as she is an extremely talented crafter, her work is simply gorgeous. She is also a kind and very funny person and she often keeps us entertained at our team training days with funny jokes. Susan's favourite colour is Teal and this is the card I made for her special day.

I paired Taken with Teal with Rose Red and Chocolate Chip and I have used the ever so lovely Best Wishes and More set. I reckon out of all of the catalogue this set is the most overlooked (well it was by myself that's for sure) and I just love it now. Very versatile with lovely sentiments. I have also added a few felt pieces from the NEW sweet pea felt pack. The Choc Chip striped ribbon has been coloured with markers ( I explained it a bit better in this post) and looped under the layers.

Susan I hope you will have a wonderful day being spoilt and waited on by your loved ones. Lots of love xx

Right then thank you for visiting me, I am off as I have tons to do before the Big reveal tomorrow. Hugs xx

Let's HOP !!!

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HELLO and welcome to our 2010 Mini Catalogue Blog hop. In just a few more days Stampin'Up! will be ready to launch the new Mini Catalogue which is very exciting news as it is just delicious. So a group of demonstrators got together and organized a blog hop featuring fabulous projects all showcasing brand new products. EXCITED????????? I bet you are...

So I reckon you will have arrived to my blog from this lovely and talented girlie. I love what Jo's done I think I will have to re create one of those folders.

My projects for today are focused on one of the new stamp sets in the mini. It is called Vintage Vogue and is just stunning, plus it has the benefit of a matching wheel.

I have demonstrated this lovely gift box at our Regional training in Sheffield and the Experience Event in the evening, it is really easy to make and I have a bit of a tutorial for you.

Take one sheet of A4 Bashful Blue card stock , score the length at 7cm, 14 cm, 21cm and 28 cm. Turn it portrait way and make one score at 7cm.

Next cut away the small rectangle at the end and make three angled cuts on the score lines. I have used the matching wheel to add a lovely background to my piece of card.

Add some sticky strip to the narrow flap, line both outside edges together and glue shut.

Add more adhesive to the bottom flaps and glue those down. Fill your box with your gift or treat of choice then simply pinch the sides together. You can glue the top shut or add some ribbon like I did here. To make it easier to tie the ribbon I have used a tiny clip from our clip assortment to help me. Your gift box should look like this

You are now ready to decorate as you wish. For the front I have made a made a topper from a layer of black card measuring 7cm x 5.5 cm, then a layer of barely banana cut at 6.5 cm x 5 cm, and a layer of whisper white cut at 6cm x 4.5 cm. I have used the rock n roll technique to add visual dimension to those beautiful flowers by inking in barely banana first then rolling the edges of the stamp on the bashful blue pad.
Made a matching card as well.

My colours for those projects are Bashful Blue, Barely Banana and Basic Black.
I cannot wait for you to see what the other Jo on the loop has got for you, her project is soo sweet.

All those yummy products will be available to order form 1st of April and like always I will have a Mini Extravaganza Special Offer on for those ordering from me to give you the chance to win some FABULOUS PRIZES. Thank you for visiting me today hope you'll have a wonderful day being inspired by the lovely projects on the hop, ENJOY !!. Till later Hugs xxx

Sympathy

Hello, is the weekend and I couldn't be happier, even though I am off to work in 15 minutes. The sun is shining and it looks like spring has well and truly sprung, is amazing how a few rays improve your whole mood.

However I wasn't happy at the beginning of the week when I found out that Jules grandma passed away. I know that she would have been 99 this year so a good age but still very difficult for Jules and her family. I had to make her card to tell her that I am thinking of her at this difficult times and I choose one of my favourite items from the new catalogue the two step bird punch.

A simple sympathy card that was made using Basic black, Old Olive and Whisper White card stock and the lovely bird punch. Sentiment came from the ever so useful Basic Phrases.

I also used the same punch to make some of my swaps for the training day in Sheffield.

How cute huh? So Saffron, Taken with Teal, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate, Chip, along with some gorgeous new papers and I mean gorgeous.

I am sure this punch will do well but wait until you see the whole of the new mini IT IS JUST SOOO YUMMY!!! Talk about seeing it, tomorrow I am taking part in a organized blog hop along with some of my fellow demos to showcase amazing projects all made with the new mini. Is a huge hop and I am sure you will be blown away by the amazing projects. Make sure you check us out after 10am. Till then hugs xxx

And I lived to tell the tale..

Hello guys. Phew it feels like is been ages (but then again it has been) since I last updated this blog. As you know our Stamp With us Retreat took place this last weekend and what a weekend it was!! I loved it but then I knew I would do because of what we had planned for those attending I was so giddy the week before I couldn't wait. Organizing a Retreat is never an easy job (in fact it took me till today to properly recover and get back to normal LOL) but is a job that's worth doing for sure. Seeing our delegates happy and smiling faces for the entire duration, reading all the positive comments on our feedback forms, opening emails that had warm words and high praise confirmed to us once again that what we did, we did right and everyone had a blast.

I loved the classes we presented this time round, they were varied and gorgeous and you can see a few of mine in the collages. We spoilt the delegates with pillow gifts and handmade personalized aprons and freebies, the hotel was lovely very comfy with yummy food and plenty of it, it truly was a perfect weekend with the perfect atmosphere everyone got on so well it was great to see.

I think is safe to say that we will organize another one later this year so mark 4th of September in your calendars for now and we will release the full details early next week.

So what do I have for you today? well one of my classes was based on making your own jewellery, I screamed with delight when I completed the first pair of earrings made with our stunning filigree brads.

How gorgeous are these? they are so wearable and I have lots of pairs already. They are easy to make and they will make perfect inexpensive gifts for girl friends. I went ahead and put together 6 kits that you can to make your own earrings for a cool £ 17.50. You could make 8 pairs of earrings( 4 pairs big, and 4 pairs small) with the kit and you will have loads left over.

Here are the colour combinations and for now I only have one kit of each combo so you need to be quick.

I have paired them and named them to make it easier for you when choosing. From top left we have

AQUA

CANDY

FIRE

HEATHER

OCEAN

RASPBERRY
Would you like to have them all? You can for £35 you will get to make 16 pairs in colours of your choice. Full instructions with step by step photos will be provided with the kits but you have to be quick. Email me at telemch01@aol.com with your chosen choice. Speak soon hugs xxx

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!!!

....if you do celebrate it.

We do every year in spite of not being of Irish descendancy.

You see St Pats is very special to me and hubs as it was 13 years ago when we got together at a party. I blame it on the Campari and Orange hubs blames it on Guinness.

And we do have a little bit of a anniversary going on, he never forgets and true this morning I got up to a box of O'Brien Chocs (apropriate) a cute leprechaun card, a bottle of bubbly ( I love bubbles) and.......... A SWEAR POT!!!

Now before you even think about that one I just need you to know that I DON'T HAVE a swear problem and I'm not sure what he means by it LOL.

I am sure those of you that know me will let me know if indeed I have such problem.

Anyway I got him bottle of single Malt and made a leprechaun card as well.

Isn't it cute? he is made entirely from punches and is holding a pint of Guinness !! Perfect hubs card hee hee.

Garden Green card stock stamped with the Medallion background, a variety of Stampin'Up! punches for the little guy, beer mug from the Cheers to you stamp set and a sweet sentiment that spells **Celebrate Luck Day ** as it was a very lucky day for us both.

Ok got to dash still have a million things to do before Friday thank God the Retreat kits are all packed . Cannot wait !! Till next time Hugs xxx

Monday AGAIN!!!!

Gosh here we are again!! Starting a new week. Time is flying by is mid March already I don't know where time is going at the moment. I have been busy with so many things lately don't know which one to start telling you about.

I will begin with my last post which celebrated Jo's birthday A WHOLE MONTH EARLY *insert shocked face here*. I just couldn't believe I have done that, poor Jo imagine her surprise getting a card for her birthday a whole month before. I am the biggest DODO I obviously copied her birthday wrong in my new diary at the end of last year. Oh well I guess it would have been worst if I have done it the other way round.

I spent the whole Thursday in Sheffield with my fellow demos and I loved it. I was asked by SU to give a presentation and in true Monica style I forgot to breath and for the first few minutes I probably come across like I was going to pass out, got into it eventually and I had good positive feedback afterwards so hopefully people were concentrating on what I was actually saying rather than how nervous I was saying it. This public speaking lark is not easy you now LOL. I pinched this photo from Jo ( a lovely Passionette) just to give you a laugh and show you how terrified I looked at this point LOL.

It was great I loved the whole day, we swapped as always and I took home some fabulous samples, below are a selection of the many I swapped.

Aren't they fabulous? We swap ideas at every SU Event is the best. Great way to gather new ideas. My lovely downline Jules did a wonderful demonstration on punch art and we all oooh ed and ahh ed over her cute animals made from punches. Here s a funny shot of her doing her best star jump of the day. LOL

The wonderful Maria demonstrated a wonderful box highlighting the emboss resist technique, one of my absolute favourites.


Both girls did so well. I want to thank Jo one of my lovely Passionette (I have 3 Passionettes that are called Jo in my team is your name Jo? would like to join my team? LOL) for driving all the way there and back, I really appreciated as I always drive everywhere just because I like driving, but it was nice not to have to this time, we didn't get home till 11.30 pm.

Ok what else? oh I also did some crafting actually I did a lot of crafting but none that I can show right now unfortunately. I have a male card to show which was made for the Stamp With Us challenge blog. We were meant to make a male card (yuk!!) and I did one based on my hubs hobby he is golf mad , however I won't be able to give it to him as he just recently took to reading my blog( hello honey *waves*).

Not Quite Navy, More Mustard, Old Olive and my old faithful Chocolate Chip. I made the golf ball using two punched 1 3/8" circle layers, and to add texture I used the crop o dile and punched repeatedly. The sentiment shape was cut from the large Oval scallop punch.

And talk about Stamp With Us there are only 6 more sleeps till our Retreat in Stratford, I have spent most of yesterday packing all the kits.

and I CANNOT WAIT!! so if you're coming along you have our permission to start getting very excited. We're going to have a blast. This is a very long post and I thank you for reading it till the end.

Till next time hugs xxx

Birthday Passionette...........

YAY is lovely Jo's Happy Birthday today!!! Jo is one of my senior Passionettes and a very valued member of my team, a very sweet girl with a big heart she is a good friend and I am glad to know her. Making her card was a challenge for me as she is the master of Vintage/Grungy work styles that are new and don't come naturally to me. She loves Kraft (she's the one that keeps me on my toes with her fave colours as she's forever changing them) so that's what I went with when I designed her card.

I have attempted a layered look again, and while I think is got that look of newbie at work as supposed to effortlessly put together, I am warming towards this style. I find it challenging and I think that the more I do it the better I will hopefully get. In theory anyway..

I started with a Kraft card blank and stamped the En Francaise background all over in Versamark, I then layered the Medallion background on opposite corners this time I inkded in Creamy Caramel ( I have only inked parts of this stamp for an extra distressed look) and finally I topped the background with the swirly stamp from the Whimsical words Level 2 hostess stamp inked in Chocolate Chip. My focal image was inked using markers and I have combined Taken With Teal, Green Galore and Chocolate Chip. The mated circle was then splattered this was great fun and I might show you how I did it in a future video, Shelli Gardner showed this at one of our early training Events so much fun!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Jo, I hope you will have a fabulous day and you will get spoilt rotten by your loved ones. xx

I am in Sheffield all day today today at a training Event for demonstrators during the day and a lovely Experience Event organized for customers in the evening. It should be tons of fun and I am excited to meet with my fellow demos and spend a whole day crafting, chatting and catching up, I cannot wait!!! This is what I love most about being a demo meeting up with my best crafty friends. I hope you will have a lovely day. Hugs xxx

One Sheet Wonder Video

Helloooo. I have finally managed to upload this video I talked about on Saturday. I sold a lot of Greenhouse Garden stamp sets last month and also quite a few classes and found that people were asking for a bit more details as far as stamping the One Sheet Wonder was concerned. So here it is a step by step video for those that asked. Sylvie I hope this explains a bit better hugs xxx

Enjoy it!! hugs xxx

Birthday Passionette...........

Hiya, oooh I hope you're enjoying your weekend I love mine. Yesterday was Sheila's Happy Birthday and I was nervous making her card, she is such a talented crafter her colouring is unbelievable but that's not what made me most nervous the fact that her fave colours pastel did. I love seeing them used but using them just doesn't came naturally to me. Still I set to work and made her this one here.

I worked with Pale Plum, Pretty in Pink and some of that beautiful bride's speciality papers. I adore this paper is wonderful. The stamp is from the Bloomin with Beauty set and it has been coloured using an aquabrush and Stampin'Up! ink pads. Satin ribbon a lovely frame from the styled Hodgepodge kit and a lacy border made with the eyelet border punch(from Stampin'Up!)completes the look. I am pleased with how it came out even though you will noticed my colouring is not very pastel friendly I had to go a bit stronger ooops. So my lovely Sheila I hope you had a wonderful day and I hope you liked the card.

I very rarely watch TV but over the last 2 weeks I have seen two rather good movies on SKY, Seven Pounds ( to which I cried at the end ) and on Thursday night I watched Grand Torino and cried to that as well.

Crafty day tomorrow I am making swaps for a training Event next Thursday and I will be shooting a video especially for the lovely Sylvie using Greenhouse Garden two step stamping. So come Monday it might be on here. Have a great weekend big hugs xxxx

Flight of the Butterfly

Hiya how are you all? I am missing little Luca still, it was wonderful to have them both here he's grown so much he looks like a proper boy now, with plenty of attitude and extremely independent. Geez I don't envy my sister and Bil for the task they have with him. He is still as cute as it can be and I love him even more than before, he melts my heart every time he looks at me.

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We had a fun few days and we all enjoyed it. He tried stamping and he decided he loves it which of course pleased Mimi a lot, and he also tried Hula Hoops for the first time and surprise, surprise he likes those as well. LOL

I did get into trouble with mum more than a few times as she is very careful with salt and sugar in his diet so he tends to have healthy snacks all the time, but all that stopped as soon as he entered Mimi's house we had plenty of junk and jolly good it was to, he loved it.

So it seems you like this month promotion and I am not surprised, the new punch looks fabulous and I cannot wait to get mine you will have to be quick if you want to order yours

. I did make a card last night with the Flight of The Butterfly and the matching punch again.

They are so sweet and so easy to just stamp and punch them out. I have used Regal Rose, Old Olive and Basic Black. I have also stamped a few reeds with one of the Pocket Silhouettes set to look like long tall grass. The gems are from crystal brads that I have unpicked, perfect and you can get them in different sizes.

UPDATE ON MY GREENHOUSE GARDEN

My target was 20 and I ended up selling 19. Not quite there but not far either. I want to thank you so much for your support, I know you will LOVE this set for years to come and you should do this safe in the knowledge that you helped someone who so desperately needed it. Well Done!!

I added all the names in a hat and the name I picked out for the £25 voucher is Donna R. well done my love I will send you an email straight away. Once again thank you so much. See you soon Big Hugs xxxx

HAPPY FIRST MARCH

Oh gosh can you believe it? Is March already !!!! Time is definitely flying. And if you are welsh or live in Wales HAPPY SAINT DAVID'S TO YOU !! *smile*

New month means new Stampin'Up! Special Offer, and what a super offer it is. If you own any Stampin'Up! punches you would be very excited by THE PERFECT PAIRS offer.

Click on the picture below to make it bigger and to see the sets on offer.

For the whole month of March you can purchase a selection of stamp sets and get the matching punches for just £10 a fab 20% off the original price. But that s not all if you look closely you will see a brand new punch design the big love heart, now this will only be available for this month only or until stock last so you will need to be quick because I know is going to go out of stock pretty soon. I have already placed my order and cannot wait for it to arrive and if you want to get yours email me today to order yours and make sure you don't miss out.

And as if by magic the last class I designed for Stamp With Us uses the wonderful Flight of the Butterfly set and the matching punch.

I used shades of pinks (Pink Passion, Pretty in Pink) and orange (Pumpkin Pie) grounded with a touch of Chocolate Chip. The lovely box houses 8 little 4"x4" notes and the top was decorated with a medley of butterflies pearls and fleurettes those wonderful crochet flowers.
I have added colour to the white flowers using a sponge dauber and the ink pads and topped them with a half backed pearl. I hope you will have a wonderful week see you again soon. Hugs xxx

SIGN UP NOW WITH STAMPIN'UP!

(This post will stay at the top until 1st March please scroll down for newer posts )

Hello ever wondered what is like to stamp, craft and enjoy this wonderful hobby as YOUR JOB? Well by becoming a Stampin'Up! demonstrator you will be given the chance to do just that. Make your crafting passion your main job (a very rewarding job at that), this is an opportunity that will allow you to build a career and earn a living. Of course you can join anytime you want but there's not better time then RIGHT NOW. If you sign up before the end of this month you get some wonderful FREE additions to your already fab value starter kit. That coupled with my own special offer will get you more than £300 worth of product for only £139 but you need to hurry you've NOT GOT LONG LEFT.

I found this on my travels and it made me smile, I hope you like it.

A woman walked into the office of the personnel manager of a large company and said:

“I’ve decided to come and work for your company, but there are a few things I feel you should be aware of before I start. First of all, I will only be working a couple of days a week and when I do come in, it’ll only be for about three hours at a time.”

“If I want to make plans to go somewhere with my family during such times as Christmas, New Year, Easter or school holidays I will do so without anyone asking me questions about it and if some family difficulty arises, I will arrange for postponement of my work until I can get back to it.”

“As a salesperson for this company, I will do the best job I can, but I expect the company to provide all the incentives and awards needed to encourage my customers to buy our products. Please be sure the incentives and awards are changed on a regular basis to keep up the interest and motivation.”

“With regards to compensation, I would like a percentage of everything I sell. Let’s say £30 or more per hour, plus bonuses if I do a better than average job. I also expect you to offer me a variety of awards such as gifts and prizes just for doing my job.”

“Oh, and by the way; if I decide to become a manager with your company, I will expect additional bonuses paid to me on my personal sales and the sales of all people connected to me.”

By now the personnel manager was in convulsions of laughter but managed to say, “I don’t know where you are from lady, but there is no such job in the world as the one you’ve just described!”

“Well, I beg to differ”, the woman said, “my friend has just joined party plan and that is exactly the kind of job she has"

And I am living proof that the above is true!! I have and I am experiencing all those fabulous rewards and incentives on the back of my Stampin'Up! business. INTERESTED? Would you like to find out more as well as find out what my special offer for anyone joining my team right now is? Email me at telemech01@aol.com

You can read up more about different types of demonstrators HERE, there is room for anyone in my big and friendly team. Hope to have you join us soon. Hugs xxx