InspireINK Blog Hop | Just Because with Free as a Bird

InspirInk Blog Hop Header Stampin' Up! team blog hop

Hello! Welcome to StampinByHannah and the InspireINK blog hop for April 2020. This month, with everything that’s going on, we thought it time to take it back to basics and create some Just Because projects that you could send to your loved ones, a friend, or even a colleague to let them know they’re not alone.

Just Because card using Free as a Bird from Stampin' Up! for the InspireINK Blog Hop with StampinByHannah

Earlier this month I sent my mother in law this card, along with a bunch of printed photos of Niamh. I also made one for my mum, which I shared a week or so ago.

I love a simple card, one that you can whip up in a hurry and get it in the post, and while this one is coloured with Blends, it was made fairly quickly. The Free as a Bird stamp was stamped in Memento Black ink, and then coloured with Pool Party, Flirty Flamingo, Crumb Cake and Mossy Meadow Blends pens. I rarely use this “properly” and tend to just lay down flat colour rather than using lots of pens and blending, however if you had the time you could really go to town on this image.

Cute bird Just Because card using Free as a Bird from Stampin' Up! with StampinByHannah

The other reason I continue to love the Free as a Bird stamp set is the lovely background images. Those leaves, stamped in Pool Party ink on Pool Party card stock, just does something that makes my heart happy.

I finished this card with a sentiment from the Well Said Stamp set, keeping things simple so that it would travel well through the post.

Check out the rest of the InspireINK Design Team and their Just Because projects and I hope to see you again soon

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Hannah McCurley

Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator

Inspire.Create.Challenge 049 | Thank You Free as a Bird

Hey folks! It’s time for another Inspire.Create.Challenge project today, and this time we had a colour combination to work with. Now, for all I set the challenges for Inspire.Create I never seem to be organised enough to set a challenge that I can actually see a project for, and I have to admit that when this challenge appeared in my diary I did do a bit of a double take at the colours! But, it is a challenge for a reason…

Thank you card using Free as a Bird from Stampin' Up! with StampinByHannah

So, the colour combination at work here is; Basic Gray, Mango Melody, and Pool Party… sorry girls!

I am still loving the Free as a Bird stamp set, but I realised that I hadn’t actually made a card with the single bird stamp! So, here we are. I’ve stamped it in Smoky Slate rather than Basic Gray because I’m a very bad demonstrator and my Basic Gray ink is retired Archival and so doesn’t work with Blends. But all the classic inks do.

Free as a Bird coloured with Stampin' Blends by StampinByHannah

I’m not very good with my Stampin’ Blends, but I am trying to practice, and so I’ve used Pool Party Light and Dark to attempt some colour blending on this bird. I’m happy with it, although it is pretty subtle. The beak is actually light Pumpkin Pie (because I don’t have the Mango Melody Blends… again, bad Demo!)

Free as a Bird Thank you card with Nested Stitched Labels from Stampin' Up! with StampinByHannah

The Free as a Bird stamp set also comes bundled with these fabulous Nested Stitched Labels dies. They add a little extra something to every card with their unusual shape and fun stitched edge, I can’t get enough of them!

Please hop over to the Inspire.Create.Challenge blog for more inspiration using this strange colour combination from the fabulous Design Team, you can also share your makes with us there too!

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Hannah McCurley

Repeat stamping with Free as a Bird

Hey folks! If you’ve been visiting my blog for a while you’ll know that I’m a big fan of techniques, but I haven’t really shared any for a while. Time to correct that then, today’s card uses repeat stamping to create a panel using Free as a Bird.

Repeat stamping using Free as a Bird from Stampin' Up! with StampinByHannah

I also love the Free as a Bird stamp set (and the coordinating Bird Ballard suite), and for all I really like the birds in this set, its the little stamps that really make my heart happy. I shared THIS card using the little flower stamps a couple of months ago, and it’s taken me far too long to use them front and centre on a card again!

Simple stamping with Free as a bird from Stampin' Up! with StampinByHannah

Really this card is pretty simple, just some stamping, an embossing folder and a couple of layers of card stock. I think that this type of card are my favourite to make too, simple but effective.

Repeat stamping is a simple technique, the only thing you need to remember to be successful at it is to stamp the larger images first and then fill in the gaps with the smaller ones. It is of course, also easier using Photopolymer stamps as you can see exactly were you’re stamping. Here all the stamping is in Memento Black ink, and the card base is Pretty Peacock

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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!

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Hannah McCurley

Free as a Bird Friendship Card

Hey folks! I love the card I’m sharing with you today, it’s just the perfect mix of detailed and simple stamping, and I can see me making this one again and again with tweaks here and there already! However, this particular version of this card is perfect to send as a Friendship card, a just because for your bestie, or a thinking of you for a friend in need.

Free as a Bird Friendship card using Stampin' Up! products with StampinByHannah

This is a really soft card, but by changing up the colours you could really make it pop! Maybe switching a layer for some gold foil, or colouring the birds, would totally transform it into something that would look very different.

Tone on Tone stamping with Free as a bird from Stampin' Up! with StampinByHannah

This card all started with the back panel; tone on tone stamping using Pool Party ink onto Pool Party card stock. The tone on tone effect creates a little something extra, without being too in your face.

We're the best of friends card using Free as a Bird from Stampin' Up! with StampinByHannah

The bird are stamped in Crumb Cake ink to match the card base and layer. This is one of the huge benefits to using Stampin’ Up! products, there is no guess work; no “is this going to match” with regards to card stocks, inks, embellishments or Designer Series Papers, because YES they are going to match!

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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, and enter my Code Club Code. 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 McCurley

Hello card using Free as a Bird

Hey folks! I have a cute little Hello card to share with you today. As you know I’ve been sharing team things all week, and this is the sort of card I send to new team members along with a token gift like the notebook I shared on Monday. I also make this sort of card for new club members too!

Hello card using Free as a bird from Stampin' Up! with StampinByHannah

This card is a different size from my usual cards; as its a 4 x 4″ card base, with layers that are cut 1/8″ shorter and narrower each time. I am really enjoying using Designer Series Paper on cards at the moment, combined with these Stitched Nested Dies in particular, so pretty!

The birds are stamped in Memento Black ink and then coloured using Stampin’ Blends in Light Pool Party, Light Flirty Flamingo and Light Granny Apple Green for a subtle look.

Cute Hello Card using Free as a Bird from Stampin' Up! with StampinByHannah

Want to know more about joining my team of Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators? Check out my Joining Page or Joining FAQ’s, or you can join right now and take advantage of that fabulous Extra Extra joining offer!

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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, and enter my Code Club Code. 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 McCurley

LAST CHANCE | June Crafty Selection Box Featuring Bird Ballard

Hey folks! Very quick blog post from me this morning, just to let you know that booking for my June Crafty Selection Box featuring Bird Ballard closes TONIGHT at 10PM!

June Crafty Selection Box featuring Bird Ballard from Stampin' Up! with StampinByHannah

This months box is a fabulous mix of gorgeous Designer Series Papers and a heap of coordinating products, and of course comes with an inspiration sheet AND qualifies you to receive my June Code Club Class PDF too!

The June Crafty Selection Box includes:

  • 1/2 pack of the Bird Ballard Designer Series Paper
  • 6 sheets of coloured card stock
  • 3 sheets of Whisper White card stock
  • 3/8″ Scalloped Lace Trim
  • Bird Ballard Trinkets
  • Pearlised Doilies
  • Copper Dotted Treatbags
  • Selection of Die Cut Stitched Labels
  • 6 Envelopes
  • An exclusive project inspiration sheet; set by email
  • A fun treat from me!
  • Access to the PDF download of this month’s Code Club Class that uses the Daisy Lane stamp set
  • Postage and packing

Order yours HERE!

Shop Stampin' Up! UK Teesside North East Stockton on Tees   Joining Stampin' Up! UK Starter Kit

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, and enter my Code Club Code. 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 for regular updates from me!

Hannah McCurley

May Customer Thank You Cards with Bird Ballard

Hey folks! These should now be safe to share, particularly as I posted them last week (If you shopped with me in May, and didn’t get your card, do let me know!)

These cards were an absolute pain to photograph, and I really have not done them justice at all because the notecards are just gorgeous! But, I just had to share them with you anyway.

May Customer Thank you cards using Bird Ballard Note cards from Stampin' Up! with StampinByHannah

These note card come in THE most gorgeous tin too! I am planning on collecting a few of these tins over the coming year, not that I know what I’m going to put in them!

Stampin' Up! Bird Ballad Laser-Cut Cards & Tin

The circle in the centre was die cut out from the Bird Ballard Designer Series Paper and then layered onto a couple of other die cut circles. I did add a die cut circle on the inside of the card too to hide the glue!

Pretty bird Thank you card using 
Bird Ballad Laser-Cut Cards & Tin from Stampin' Up! with StampinByHannah

The sentiment is taken from the Free as a Bird stamp set which coordinates with the cards and Designer Series Paper.

I kept this month’s card simple, because really the note cards do all the talking! If you love the Bird Ballard suite though, do check out this months Crafty Selection Box for even more inspiration!

Check out the StampinByHannah Crafty Selection Box for June using Bird Ballard from Stampin' Up!

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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, and enter my Code Club Code. 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 McCurley

A Shabby Chic Card with Free as a Bird…

Hey Folks! I’ve got a slightly different style of card for me today (and another video… Yes! That’s 2 in less than a week!). I do love playing around with ink, whether that’s stamping, watercolouring, ink blending… etc.

Free as a Bird Card video tutorial using Bird Ballard from Stampin' Up! with StampinByHannah

I’ve been having an absolute blast crafting with my June Crafty Selections kit. This fun monthly kit contains a wonderful mix of Designer Series Paper, embellishments and more, and comes with a jam packed sheet of inspiration too!

You can get all the details about this month’s Crafty Selection Box HERE. Booking for this month’s box closes on Wednesday at midnight, and I would hate for you to miss out.

I’ve added a couple of bits to this months kit to create this card, in particular the Free and a Bird stamp and die bundle. I just can’t get enough of these birds, the are stunning simply stamped on their own, but really start to sing when they are coloured. This time I’ve used Blends, but I have a plan to watercolour them soon too!

Shabby Chic friend card using Free as a Bird from Stampin' Up! with StampinByHannah

The Stitched Nested Labels Dies are definitely a new favourite in my craft room. They’ve started to appear on a whole lot of projects, and I can see them being a staple for a long time to come!

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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, and enter my Code Club Code. 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 McCurley

Introducing StampinByHannah’s Crafty Selection Box!

Hey Folks! It’s a properly exciting day here at StampinByHannah as I introduce to you a brand new crafty kit to you, my Crafty Selection Box! I’ve been toying with the idea of a monthly craft kit for ages, and well, I’ve decided that its been an idea long enough and it’s time to release it to the world!

StampinByHannah Crafty Selection Box June 2019

So, each month I’ll release a brand new Crafty Selection Box! Each kit will include a fun selection of card stocks, Designer Series Papers, Embellishments and more, and will of course use Stampin’ Up! products.

This month’s kit uses the gorgeous Bird Ballard Suite. I am totally in love with this one, the Designer Series Papers are just stunning, and there are some fun embellishments in there too!

Stampin' Up! Bird Ballard Suite Crafty Selection Box with StampinByHannah

The June Crafty Selection Box includes:

  • 1/2 pack of the Bird Ballard Designer Series Paper
  • 6 sheets of coloured card stock
  • 3 sheets of Whisper White card stock
  • 3/8″ Scalloped Lace Trim
  • Bird Ballard Trinkets
  • Pearlised Doilies
  • Copper Dotted Treatbags
  • Selection of Die Cut Stitched Labels
  • 6 Envelopes
  • An exclusive project inspiration sheet; set by email
  • A fun treat from me!
  • Access to the PDF download of this month’s Code Club Class that uses the Daisy Lane stamp set
  • Postage and packing

Each month’s Crafty Selection box will cost £25 and you can choose from a monthly rolling subscription, or a one off kit.

There are a few items that you might want to think about adding onto your kit:


Payments are collected by PayPal. However, this doesn’t mean you need a PayPal account, just a Credit or Debit card.

This month’s kit is available today, and ordering will close on the 19th June at 10PM. Once this date has passed I will then order the required items from Stampin’ Up! and should have the kits out to you before the 28th June.

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Shop Stampin' Up! UK Teesside North East Stockton on Tees   Joining Stampin' Up! UK Starter Kit

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, and enter my Code Club Code. 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 for regular updates from me!

Hannah McCurley

Pootlers Team Blog Hop | Free as a Bird Thank You Card

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Hey folks! It’s a special day here today, the first Pootlers Team Blog Hop of the new Stampin’ Up! Annual catalogue! I absolutely LOVE taking part in these blog hops, the girls always work so hard to create some fabulous projects to inspire you with some of the new stamps and goodies in the catalogue. I also coordinate these hops, and with the recent birth of my daughter I did consider not running the hop this time, but, they are so much fun I couldn’t miss one!

Thank you card using flower stamps from Free as a Bird from Stampin' Up! with StampinByHannah

This time I thought I would share a fun way of using the Free as a Bird stamp set. This stamp set is one of my absolute favourites in the new catalogue, and it forms part of just the most gorgeous suite of products. Bird Ballard includes a bright and fun pack of Designer Series Paper, pretty lace trim, some lovely embellishments and just the most beautiful tin and notecards. I’ll list all the goodies in this suite at the bottom of this blog post.

Pretty watercolour Thank You card using Free as a bird and Bird Ballard from Stampin' Up! with StampinByHannah

This card was inspired by my friend Stacey Marsh and a card she made using another new stamp set, Sailing Home. I just really liked the diagonal stamping, here I’ve used the pretty flower stamps from Free As A Bird and stamped in Stazon ink onto Shimmer White card stock

Then each flower was (very) loosely watercoloured in either Rococo Rose for the large flowers, or Mint Macaron for the smaller ones.

Rococo Rose Thank You card using Free as a bird from Stampin' Up! with StampinByHannah

I did actually originally stamp the sentiment straight onto the card, but it just didn’t quite have the right impact. So, I stamped it again onto a scrap of card stock the same width as the stamped panel and popped it up on some dimensionals.

Now, I love this stamp set, but I do have one issue… it doesn’t have coordinating dies! So, that flower was fussy cut. But, it does actually cut out quite easily, or it does when you only cut one anyway!

Thank so much for checking out my blog today, I would be so grateful if you would check out the projects the other ladies have created for the Pootlers Team Blog Hop. Just click on the images below to be taken to each of their blogs, and I hope to see you again very soon!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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Shop Stampin' Up! UK Teesside North East Stockton on Tees   Joining Stampin' Up! UK Starter Kit

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, and enter my Code Club Code. 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 for regular updates from me!

Hannah McCurley