Author: Hannah McCurley

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An Open Heart

Stampin' Up! UK An Open Heart Thank You Card

Today is the closing date for my July Technique class! We are making 5 cards with this wonderful stamp set, An Open Heart, featuring some wonderful techniques including playing with vellum and ink smooshing! (I’m totally in love with that technique!)

As you may already know I plan my blog ahead of time, I fit this in around some other work commitments, and so scheduling is a must! So, when I was planning this weeks worth of posts I knew I wanted to share a bright card with you using this great stamp set. I think its so versatile, and although I have used the ‘Thank You’ sentiment from the set, you could just as easily add ‘Happy Birthday’ or ‘Congratulations’ to these images and it wouldn’t look odd.

Stampin' Up! UK An Open Heart Thank You Card

The card base here is Tempting Turquoise, with a layer of Whisper White. I love this colour combination; Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive and Real Red. The stamping here is simple, taking things back to my simple stamping roots! You could spend hours colouring these images with your Blender pen or AquaPainters, (but I will show you some quick tips in my Technique class!), but I love the look of these just stamped too.

Stampin' Up! UK July Technique Class 2015 An Open Heart

What’s your favourite colour combination of the moment?

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Hannah Wilks

Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator

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Cardmaking 101 – Stamping Accessories

Stampin' Up! UK cardmaking 101 stamping accessories

Cardmaking class UK free

There are so many accessories for stamping, I thought I would give you my top picks to get you started.

Stampin’ Blocks!

There are so many different blocks on the market and I will admit to having quite a collection, however, I only use a few. Last year before I became a demonstrator for Stampin’ Up! I thought that a clear block was a clear block, that they are much of a muchness, and didn’t really matter. I was wrong! I now only use my Stampin’ Up! blocks, and not because I’m a demonstrator, but because they are the best!

There are several things I look for a in block, is it easy to hold? what about the weight? size? and durability. The blocks I use are available in a range of sizes, are a nice weight and are really durable, but the best thing about them is the hold. I’m sure you have a few blocks, and they are probably those nasty thin ones from the cheap section in the craft store?! I have some too, and why don’t I use them? because my fingers go over the edges and into the ink! I make enough of a messy without my blocks helping me out! Stampin’ Up! blocks feature a wonderful groove for your fingers to sit, keeping them out of the ink and helping prevent inky finger prints on your nice piece of Whisper White!

Stamp-a-ma-jig

I know there is lots of buzz around the crafty world at the moment about stamp positioners, in particular a very expensive one from the States, and while I’m sure its great, as a beginner its is an unnecessary expense. I have a whole video on the stamp-a-ma-jig, and I love it! Its a great way of getting nicely straight sentiments and centred images, and its only £11!

Swatch Book

I posted a video on this recently too, my custom made swatch book. I have the PDF’s available on the coordinating blog post too. I use this all the time to match colours and choose colour combinations, and its a great tool for documenting your growing ink colour collection!

Stampin’ Scrub

This is probably the one tool I get asked about most at classes and events; my Stampin’ Scrub! I love this thing! It features two sides of of washable black fibre scrub pads that are the greatest things for cleaning those inky stamps! Use in combination with Stampin’ Mist to clean and condition your stamps after each use, less waste and hassle that baby wipes with no of the nasty residue. I wouldn’t be without mine!

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Hannah Wilks

Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator

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Pootler’s Blog Hop | Watercolour Wings

Stampin' Up! UK Watercolour wings cards

Pootlers Blog Hop-001

Hello!

Welcome to the Pootler’s blog hop! I am so excited for this hop, the lovely ladies in the team have worked so hard to create some wonderful projects (I’ve had a sneak peak, so impressed!). Please take your time around the hop, the girls would love some comments too!

Thanks

When I first saw this years catalogue this stamp set really intrigued me. The image in the catalogue is very dark, but the sample is amazing! I have to say though, I wasn’t completely convinced until I saw Sarah Berry’s lovely creations at Regional Training back in May; she created a series of wonderful cards using this set and gave us some great tips too!

Srtampin' Up! UK Watercolour Wings

Isn’t it lovely? I just love the layered nature of these stamps. The set includes two butterflies, one large and one small, over 3 stamps so you get a multi-layered image. This card I have also used one of the accent pieces to create a background and used one of the sentiment stamps. The butterfly has been die cut using the coordinating Bold Butterfly framelits dies, although the set also coordinates with the Butterflies Framelits (and Butterfly Basics!)

Stampin' Up! UK Pootles Blog Hop

I love this card! Instead of stamping the solid layer of the butterfly, I created a mask using copier paper and used my Sponge Daubers to create the butterfly. You can see this better in the video!

I created this set of three cards after making one; also using the masking technique to create the butterfly first, then adding layers. This time I only added the detailed stamp using White Craft Ink.

Stampin' Up! UK Watercolour wings video

Which card is your favourite, I have to say I think the one I created in the video is mine, I’m just loving the Watermelon Wonder colour!

Pootlers Blog Hop Forward-001Pootlers Blog Hop backward_2-001

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Please support StampinByHannah by using the Hostess code featured in the top right hand of my blog. For orders of over £150 please do not use this code, as you are entitled to your own Hostess benefits!

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Hannah Wilks

Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator

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Cookie Box

Stampin' Up! UK tag a bag cookie box

I call these Cookie Boxes, although they are really called Tag a Bag Gift Boxes, but they are food safe, and coordinate with the Tag a Bag accessory kits. I use them for all sorts of things, table bins at classes, boxes for gifts, storage for pens and gift tags and loads of other things too!

Stampin' Up! UK tag a bag cookie box

I made these for a class a few months ago, and thought they are super cute, and would look awesome in our new in colours!

Measurements:

Card stock – 10 x 2 1/2″ (25.5 x 6.5 cm)

Score on the long side at 2 1/2, 4 3/4, 7 1/4, and 9 1/2″ (6.5, 12, 18.5, ans 24 cm)

The stamps here are Flower Patch, which are a great photopolymer set that coordinate with the Flower Fair framelits. These look really complicate to line up, but if you look carefully you will find that each flower has a petal that not the same as the others and allow you to line up the stamped images with the framelits

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To purchase any of the items featured in my projects please use the links above. To join my team of Stampin’ Friends select ‘Join My Team’ or send me a message!

Please support StampinByHannah by using the Hostess code featured in the top right hand of my blog. For orders of over £150 please do not use this code, as you are entitled to your own Hostess benefits!

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Hannah Wilks

Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator

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The best is yet to come…

Stampin' Up! UK Best Thoughts

I love this sentiment, it is so true! I am loving my journey as a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, and I know the best is yet to come!

Stampin' Up! UK Best Thoughts blender pen on vellum

The flower here is stamped in Stazon Black on Vellum, and then coloured using Watermelon Wonder and Cucumber Crush using my Blender Pens. The blender pens work amazingly on Vellum, because its a very smooth surface the ink takes longer to dry which means you have longer to blend them with the blender pen. Let me know if you fancy a tutorial video on this!

The vellum is mounted on Whisper White card stock, but with the stamped image facing the card stock, giving a softer look. The sentiment is also stamped in Stazon ink but on the outside of the vellum, so its darker than the lines of the flower. The Vellum is stuck onto the card stock using Fast Fuse – Fast Fuse is completely clear and so is great for using with vellum, still I always try and apply it under a coloured section or embellishment

I love the designer series paper mount too, its a sheet from the Cherry on Top DSP stack, and the card is finished with a couple of pieces of Cherry on Top Washi Tape

Just before I go, you only have a few more days to book onto my latest Technique Class using An Open Heart – Class costs £10 – Booking closes on Monday!

Stampin' Up! UK July Technique Class 2015 An Open Heart

 

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To purchase any of the items featured in my projects please use the links above. To join my team of Stampin’ Friends select ‘Join My Team’ or send me a message!

Please support StampinByHannah by using the Hostess code featured in the top right hand of my blog. For orders of over £150 please do not use this code, as you are entitled to your own Hostess benefits!

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Hannah Wilks

Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator

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Week In Review – Classes and Workshops!

Stampin' Up! Weekly Deals Week in Review

Hey there folks! hope you are having a great week, its super busy around here this week as I prepare for my team training event on Saturday! I am so excited to share some great projects with my team, I’m sure I’ll show you what we made next week!

Weekly Deals

As always I’ll start my Week In Review with this weeks Weekly Deals, these items are available on a special offer for this week only! This deal is always available, but the products change from week to week, they are always worth checking out!

Stampin' Up! Weekly Deals Week in Review

This week not only have they selected 3 great stamp sets! (I am loving that Six-Sided Sampler, there are some awesome ideas for that one on Pinterest!), but also that punch is one of my favourites! It coordinates with the Crazy About You stamp set that I just adore! I can’t live without my Fast Fuse, I am sure it will be hitting my basket this week!

What’s on your next order?

Classes and Workshops

Have you seen that I have added an extra tab under ‘Classes and Workshops’? I thought it might be nice for you to see at a glance all the classes I currently have available for the following month!

There is now less that a week until booking closes for my July technique class. This month we are using An Open Heart to make 5 (yes, that’s more cards that usual!) gorgeous cards for all occasions.

Stampin' Up! UK July Technique Class 2015 An Open Heart

I am also offering two other classes in July; a kit class, this month making the wonderful Perpetual Birthday Calendar, and a Stamp-a-Stack – making 10 easy to make birthday cards in a flash!

Check out the full details under Classes and Workshops

What have I been up to?

Well, heaps actually! I worked at the day job last weekend, so have been spending the first few days of this week playing catch-up. I have a super exciting post coming on Saturday that I have been working really hard to sort out, which is now ready to go! eeek! I am so excited about that one! As well as planning for Team Training, and starting to get ahead with the blog ready for being away for 3 weeks!

Wedding plans are also really taking shape now, less that 7 weeks to go! We’ve been on a bit of a crash diet this week, trying to get ready for that bikini on the honeymoon! I must get back to the shop to try my dress on again. My Orders of Service are arriving today so I really should get on with making the covers, but I think I’ll save that for Sunday when the madness has calmed.

Before I go…

Just wanted to make a final reminder that the Stampin’ Up! joining offer runs until the 30th June – get yourself 2 FREE stamp sets when you sign up and pay just £99! I have a full post about it HERE or jump straight to the FAQ and SIGN UP!

Stampin' Up! UK Free stamps

Have a great week!

 

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To purchase any of the items featured in my projects please use the links above. To join my team of Stampin’ Friends select ‘Join My Team’ or send me a message!

Please support StampinByHannah by using the Hostess code featured in the top right hand of my blog. For orders of over £150 please do not use this code, as you are entitled to your own Hostess benefits!

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Hannah Wilks

Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator

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Watercolour Stamping with Stampin’ Write Markers

Stampin' Up! UK Watercolour stamping markers I think you're great

I find myself reaching for my Stampin’ Write markers often. They are the same ink as the Stampin’ Up! Classic Ink you’ll find in our ink pads, but in the convenience of a pen. There are so many techniques that use these pens; from watercolouring to stamping, using them like felt tips, or just a quick ink.

Stampin' Up! UK Watercolour stamping markers I think you're great

I use Stampin’ Write makers for technique like this one quite often, they are a great way to ink a stamp with several colours; whether you are colouring a bird or flower, or just creating a great background like this one.

The Stampin’ Write makers have two tips; a fine point great for journalling in you Project Life albums, and a brush tip wonderful for colouring images or stamps.

How To:

Select a few Stampin’ Write markers; here I have used Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Bermuda Bay and Island Indigo.

Using the brush tip of your marker on its side, scribble the colour into your stamp

Once your stamp is covered in ink, spritz with water

Stamp onto your card stock (I used Whisper White for this card, but it works wonderfully with Watercolour paper too!), holding the stamp to the card stock for a few seconds to allow the ink to soak into the paper

Stampin' Up! UK I think you're great

The sentiments used here are both from the I Think You’re Great stamp set, and are stamped in Tip Top Taupe before being fussy cut with my Paper Snips and added to the card with some Dimensionals

I think my favourite is the ‘Way to Go’ card, what about you?

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To purchase any of the items featured in my projects please use the links above. To join my team of Stampin’ Friends select ‘Join My Team’ or send me a message!

Please support StampinByHannah by using the Hostess code featured in the top right hand of my blog. For orders of over £150 please do not use this code, as you are entitled to your own Hostess benefits!

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Hannah Wilks

Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator

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2 Free Stamp Sets!

Stampin' Up! UK Free stamps


Stampin' Up! UK Free stamps

 

But which ones to choose?

I know I have mentioned this months fantastic joining offer from Stampin’ Up! but I thought I would pop in today and talk about it properly.

We all love a bargain, and I think the Stampin’ Up! Starter Kit is the greatest bargain! To start with you get to choose £130 worth of items from the brand new Annual Catalogue, and pay just £99! and then you get 20% discount on all future purchases for the life of your demonstratorship

Then there is the wonderful friendships, inspiration and community you get just by being a part of our group! Not only are you joining a close group of friendly crafters, but also a wider community of inspiring friends from around the world. I run a private facebook group for my team, but you will also be a part of Pootles team group too, and Stampin’ Up! private forum – Stampin’ Connection where stampers from around the world discuss and share, bringing you instant project ideas, encouragement and friendships

I know what you’re thinking, but I’d have to sell stuff. Well, no, not really. To continue to receive that great 20% discount (and get sneak peaks and the chance to attend some awesome Stampin’ Up! events) you have to sell £270 of catalogue priced products each quarter. When you take off your discount, thats only £75 per month! and Stampin’ Up! don’t mind who buys either, whether its you or a friend, customers or your mum!

Convinced? Shall I tell you more about the offer this month?

Stampin' Up! UK Team Gift
I always send a little something to those who join my team. This month’s team gift includes a note book covered in Cherry on Top DSP, with matching bag, a Swatch Book, and something secret!

Well, this month is awesome because not only do you get all of that (and more besides!) but Stampin’ Up! will also throw in 2 free stamp sets of your choice! Awesome!

But what do you choose? This is where I though I would help!

When I’m looking at free stamp sets, I tend to choose more expensive ones, that I wouldn’t necessarily buy for myself. Last time I had free stamp sets (yes, that’s another perk of being a demonstrator, you get free stuff, all year round!) I grabbed the Big News stamp set, in Wood Mount, that would have cost me £40!

So, what would I choose from the New Catalogue? There are some great sentiments sets, I particularly love Happy Happenings, and Me = Grateful. Or what about some lovely images; I am having great fun playing with the Watercolour Wings stamp set, or what about Awesomely Artistic, Lovely as a Tree (always a classic) or Barnyard Babies!

Take a look through the catalogue today, and pick your two favourites!

Let me know what you’re favourite stamp sets are in the comments box below, and join my team by using the link below too!

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To purchase any of the items featured in my projects please use the links above. To join my team of Stampin’ Friends select ‘Join My Team’ or send me a message!

Please support StampinByHannah by using the Hostess code featured in the top right hand of my blog. For orders of over £150 please do not use this code, as you are entitled to your own Hostess benefits!

Sign up to my newsletter here – http://eepurl.com/2if59

Hannah Wilks

Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator

 

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Birthdays are like hairballs….

I made this card with a special friend in mind, actually I bought the stamp set with her in mind! I know I’ll get plenty of use out of it, actually, I have already used another one of the stamps for a Thank you card.

Stampin' Up! Giggle Greetings

I need to work out the white balance on my camera when trying to photograph Watermelon Wonder, for some reason it turned everything else pink! However, you get the picture!

I love this stamp set, its only a set of four stamps, but they are such cute images and great sentiments, I couldn’t help myself, and I’m so glad it’s still in the Annual Catalogue. Have you got your copy of the latest Annual Catalogue yet by the way? If not (and you’re in the UK) I’m still sending them out, so just leave your details HERE!

I stamped in Stazon Black ink onto shimmery White Card Stock, and then remembered I wanted to heat emboss this ready for water-colouring, so I pulled out my Stamp-a-ma-jig to ensure correct alignment and stamped over it again in Versamark, and heat embossed in Clear Stampin’ Emboss powder. I added water to the cat, and dropped Tip Top Taupe into the water with a paintbrush. I did a little bit of blending, but really not very much.

The layers are matted off set towards the top, something I think just makes this card just a little different, cute huh!

 

Stampin' Up! UK July Technique Class 2015 An Open Heart

 

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To purchase any of the items featured in my projects please use the links above. To join my team of Stampin’ Friends select ‘Join My Team’ or send me a message!

Please support StampinByHannah by using the Hostess code featured in the top right hand of my blog. For orders of over £150 please do not use this code, as you are entitled to your own Hostess benefits!

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Hannah Wilks

Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator

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Cardmaking 101 – Types of Stamps

Stampin' Up! UK Cardmaking 101 types of stamp

Cardmaking class UK free

I can’t believe we are already at week 3 of my Cardmaking 101 series; saying that, I have a heap of posts in the planning for you! I can see this series lasting a while, please feel free to drop me a message or leave a comment if you have any card making questions, and I will do my best in answer them in a future Cardmaking 101!

This week I thought it might be helpful to discuss the different types of stamps. Now, before we getting into the post proper, I just want to remind you that I am a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, and so I will be discussing there products!

Wood Mount Stamps

Ok, so Wood Mount – this refers to Red Rubber stamps mounted onto wooden blocks. There are some real advantages to these stamps; the main one being that the blocks are pre-mounted, no scrabbling around searching for the perfectly sized block each time – they are already there! Stampin’ Up!’s Wood Mounted stamps arrive as a sheet of red rubber stamps, a series of wooden blocks, and a sheet of stickers. Before you can stamp you must pop the stamps out of the sheet and work out which stamp matches which block (I’ve made this sound complicated, its really not – its usually pretty obvious which stamp goes with which block). The stamps are pre-glued, and you peel the backing paper off the stamps and stick them onto the blocks. The stickers are then stuck onto the other side of the wooden block for identification.

I love my wood mount stamps, however, they are more expensive, and they take much more space to store – although they do sit next to your clear mount stamps on your shelf.

Clear Mount Stamps

Like Wood Mount stamps, Clear mount are our classic red rubber. I am totally a red rubber girl – I just love the quality and feel of red rubber stamps. Clear mount stamps require Clear blocks to allow you to stamp, you mount and un-mount them at each use. Stampin’ Up! clear mount stamps also come with a sheet of stickers, however, I find that they affect the cling if not perfectly applied to the stamp meaning that the fall off the blocks half way through stamping! So I tend to just put the sheet of stickers inside the slip cover on my stamp cases and leave them there! Saying this, I am a Clear mount person – I love the red rubber, and the value of the clear mount wins every single time!

Photopolymer

Stampin’ Up! Photopolyer stamps are fantastic! They are the same quality as the classic red rubber, but allow you to see through the stamps for perfect alignment every time! I recommend Photopolymer for layering stamps and sentiments. Some sets are available only in Photopolymer, however, more and more sets are available in all three options. Photopolymer stamps are generally packaged in our DVD sized clear mount stamp cases, although if there are lots of stamps they sometimes come in the bigger Wood Mount cases, but they still sit nicely with your other stamps on the shelf. Photopolyer stamps are a great price, and come between two sheets of Window Sheet. Be warned though, Photopolymer stamps have a habit of ‘wondering off’ your desk and into the bin as they get stuck to things and can be difficult to see! Photopolymer also tends to stain over time, particularly if you use red/pink ink, this doesn’t affect the stamp and will not transfer to your next project.

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To purchase any of the items featured in my projects please use the links above. To join my team of Stampin’ Friends select ‘Join My Team’ or send me a message!

Please support StampinByHannah by using the Hostess code featured in the top right hand of my blog. For orders of over £150 please do not use this code, as you are entitled to your own Hostess benefits!

Sign up to my newsletter here – http://eepurl.com/2if59

Hannah Wilks

Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator