Tuesday 30 December 2014

Sneak peeks!

Hello there! I’ve been enjoying a lovely break at Christmas but it’s coming to an end now and I have been easing myself back into work mode by preparing some samples using the gorgeous new items from the Sale-A-Bration offering and the Spring/Summer Catalogue which both launch on 6th January. I will be posting catalogues out to my online shoppers in the next couple of days.

I am really looking forward to using all the new stash, with nice spring and summery colours after creating with Christmas colours for the last 4 months! Are you???

So I promised sneak peeks and here is one using a Sale-A-Bration stamp set that you can earn exclusively for FREE from 6th January. If you are not sure what Sale-A-Bration (or SAB) is then do not fear I will reveal all on 6th January.
 I also thought I would share this lovely new little bow punch with you! I love bows and this cute punch is going to be very popular on my projects in the next few months.
So just 2 little sneak peeks for you today! I will be back with more later in the week, maybe I will reveal what the bow is attached to!

Don’t forget, if you would like items from the Current Autumn/Winter Catalogue you have until next Monday to get your hands on these items!
Julie
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Sunday 28 December 2014

Bye Bye Christmas Stamps

Hello there! Long time no blog! I have been enjoying the festive period and spending lots of time watching TV on the sofa with my boys as well as eating far too much and doing lots of Lego! I did indulge in a little bit of crafting last night, doing some Project Life of our Cruise from May.

Now I don’t know about you but come the beginning of December I am fed up of Christmas cards and Christmas stamps usually. After all I start creating with items from the Christmas catalogue in August! This year I have LOVED the Christmas offering and think it was our best yet. Some of the items are carrying over and will still be available but lots of the items will leave us on 5th January. This is your 9 day warning! I thought I would share my favourites that will no longer be around!

The Bright and Beautiful Stamp set will no longer be available shown in the card below. This looks beautiful embossed, the detail is stunning.
 One of my favourite sets from the Christmas brochure is the Holiday Home stamps and framelits, its so so reasonable in price too. These will NO LONGER be available, and I am quite sad about that as I think the houses have been fab, not just for Christmas but for new home cards too.

 Another fave, and a very popular item with my customers was the Endless Wishes stamp set which I must have used for around 100 Christmas cards this year. Oooo another point to note is that the gorgeous ribbon on these cards will also leave us on 5th January too!
 
 And finally White Christmas! What a lovely stamp set this has been and I think this card and others like it have been pinned and re-pinned so much on Pinterest! I have loved feeling like a little artist when using this set and it is amazing value at £13.95. 

It’s also rather an appropriate set to end my blog post on today as this is what the weather looks like today from my house
Hope you have all had a lovely festive break and I look forward to sharing new goodies with you very very soon!
Julie
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Wednesday 24 December 2014

Merry Christmas to all my readers and customers

Good Morning! Happy Christmas Eve! I LOVE Christmas Eve, I think it has such a special feeling to it, the anticipation, the excitement and the family time. We still have cleaning up around the house to do but pretty much everything is done so its a big team effort this morning and then this afternoon we can relax! 

I have been so lucky to receive so many beautiful handmade cards from customers and team members and each and everyone is displayed with pride around my home. I just had to put these 2 little house ones here next to my house lamp.
A few more cards displayed in my dining room.
My Mother-in-Law loved the hand made boxes and bags so I made this one for her present from the boys.
Yesterday afternoon I we all had our Christmas haircuts at home and whilst I was having my colour put on I made use of the time and put my details on the back of the Sale-A-Bration brochures for 2015. I am so excited by this years offering and will be making lots of things with the new products over the festive period.
Taking of new products, my big pre-order arrived a couple of weeks ago! Now before you gasp with how much I got, I have to say that a LOT of the stamp sets/bundles I got for free as part of the Annual Awards from Stampin Up.
 I got it all out on my desk, but I don’t know what to start with first. Although I have already started using the fantastic new travel themed Project Life
 I am so looking forward to sharing these products with you on my blog and in classes in 2015. 

I would like to end by wishing you all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS with your loved ones and thank you for supporting my Stampin Up business throughout 2014.
Julie
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Monday 22 December 2014

Missing in Action!

Apologies for being missing over the last few days. On Friday afternoon myself and my little family drove down to London as I was so lucky to be offered a ticket to the Strictly Final by Mark (the winner of the Super Fan Quiz). If you watched the show you will have seen I fought a good fight and just lost out on a tie break question and Mark kindly and unexpectedly offered me his other ticket! To say I was over the moon was an understatement!!! 

We drove passed the Elstree Studios on Saturday morning on our way into London. We took the boys shopping in Central London for a couple of hours and then we went to meet my friend Myles whom I met on the first round of the Super Fan Quiz.
 We only got a short time together but I treated him to a spot of lunch and we had a lovely time chatting and catching up and I introduced him to my boys. So pleased we got to meet through the Strictly process as we get on so well.
 It was soon time to head back to Elstree and to get ready for the Final as we had to be in the Production Guest queue from around 3.15pm. This is the queue for the public who had been queueing   since very early in the morning and had been successful and came back later with their posh clothes on and stickers to say they were in! The 2 ladies just in front of my camera were actually Karen Hauer’s Mum and Sister from New York! I had been chatting away a little bit with them and was completely oblivious!
So here we are in the queue, very excited to be able to see the show. I honestly cannot thank this lovely guy enough for allowing me to attend with him! Shortly after this photo we had our phones taken from us so I have nothing else to really show you. We were directed into the marquee for guests of the stars and staff and had a drink in there and were ushered into the studio about 4.40pm
 My first reaction was how sparkly everything was and how much smaller the studio looks than you think from the TV. We had to be involved with some parts that were pre-recorded such as the opening sequence and it was amazing to see the huge scale production that goes into bringing the TV show into our homes. We had good seats and loved every minute of it and the atmosphere was electric I have to say. I have never done so many standing ovations! After the show we were also invited to be part of the audience around the sofa on the Red Button special where Zoe Ball interviewed the finalists, that was an unexpected bonus.
 We finally got our phones back after the show and I got Ross to take this photo of my wristband that allowed us extra access to the guest marquee. If you were looking for us on the show we were on quite a bit and some of my friends spotted us straight away. Here we are were the red arrow is on the opening sequence from Claudia and Tess. 
Everyone who we met was so so lovely and I have to say Claudia was so funny. Her and Tess did a little rehearsal before the show and Claudia spoke about her daughter who was in a burns accident at Halloween. She said she was doing really well and was going to be fine and then went onto introduce 6 nurses who cared for her daughter whilst she was in the Burns Unit. The whole audience applauded this lovely gesture, what a wonderful woman and how great of the BBC to give them tickets! 

Hoping to be back with some crafting for you very shortly!
Julie
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Thursday 18 December 2014

I Love Lace

Good Morning and Happy Friday to you! Today I am not sharing Christmas makes. To be honest I have been making Christmas cards since August and by this time in the year I am MORE than ready for some new products! I am happy to report a rather large box of new Spring/Summer and Sale-A-Bration products arrived last week for me to come up with some lovely makes for you all.

Today I am sharing a make from way back that I never shared with you. We made this at one of my Stamp a Stacks before we got all Christmassy!
 The card blank is Lost Lagoon with a layer of Smoky Slate and then the I Love Lace background stamp stamped in Lost Lagoon. Look at the detail on the stamp, I just love it! So beautiful!
 The For You is one of my favourite sentiments at the moment from the Tag Talk stamp set punched out with the Label Bracket punch and then mounted onto a Smoky Slate flower punched from the Blossom punch.
Hope you like my non-Christmas make?

Julie
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supplies

Wednesday 17 December 2014

Weekly Deals

Hello there! I woke up this morning to so fantastic Weekly Deals this week, punches, framelits. markers and accessories!!!
These deals are live until next Tuesday 23rd December and it is probably easier for you to order on my ONLINE STORE if you want to treat yourself. I am always happy to place a group order and have it delivered here if I can get enough people ordering.

I thought I would share a few makes with you using some of the items that are on offer this week. First up we have the very useful Banner Framelits. Set of 6 layering Framelits down from £22.95 to £17.21.
Then the ever popular Banner punch a bargain at just £8.63
The Window Frame Framelits are up next down from £22.95 to £17.21
And finally one of my favourite punches at the moment, the Ticket Duo Builder now only £11.63
 Today I am catching up on jobs and hoping to carry on with some Project Life work that I have been doing, plus I still need to finish my personal Christmas cards!

Yesterday I was on Facebook and spotted this post on a fellow US Demo’s page and it rang so true with me as this is happening to me quite a lot

The other day I was helping my friend place an online order for product. We walked through the process together on my computer here at my house. And when we finished, I discovered that she showed up as a "NO CONTACT" order on my side of things. If she was someone I didn't know, I would NOT be able to send her a thank you. A "NO CONTACT" order is just that... I get no contact information on my end.

I was surprised, but I realized how EASY it was for us to just check "no" when a pop-up window appeared during the ordering process. We were in a hurry. Plus, the way it was worded...by checking YES, it seemed like she would be put on some sort of mailing list.

Of course I know Jenny, so I was able to thank her anyway. But it made me wonder about all the orders I get online where I get no contact information. I truly hope that those who have ordered from me in the past know that by checking "no", I cannot email to thank them.

So to those of you who have placed online orders with me that I haven't personally thanked - I hope you are reading this. I really do appreciate your ordering from me. Thank you so much for supporting me in my business. Please know, too that if you have any questions or concerns about your products, I am here to help you. Call, email, text or message me so we can get things taken care of. I want you to be a happy stamper.

Are you one of my NO CONTACT’s??? I would love to know who you are so I can send you a little thank you card.

Julie
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