Scored card

Here's the last of the 3 cards that I made at Christines on Wednesday. I really do like these scored cards - love the textures and the colour.

Rita's birthday

Here's the same card in a different colourway and orientation - this is for cousin Rita.
I do love my bling!

Linda's birthday

Well I am off on my jollies to Turkey soon, so I will post an extra card or two before I go, then you will have to wait for my return to view the others.
Here is the card I have made for my cousin Linda.

Birdhouses Galore!!

Here is a little village of birdhouses that my Thursday class ladies have made tonight. Aren't they sweet!

Who's been a busy bee then?

Yesterday was a busy day, I had to shop, do a craft class and then after tea, I travelled up the M1 to my SU mummy's (Julie) for a training evening, when we made a Punch catalogue.
When I got home (after dropping Lynda off at her house), I was totally cream crackered, had a coffee then went to bed - no on-line Canasta last night!!
This morning, up bright and early to go to the Community Centre in Thorpe Hesley for a craft morning with 12 ladies. What a lovely group of ladies they were. They started off very quiet and sedate, but after a short while, we were all laughing and joking together.
We made the little birdhouse and the pocket tissue holder - and had fantastic results. I think that everyone enjoyed the morning.
After this I travelled down the motorway to sis-in-law's (Christine) - just in time for a quick sandwich for lunch - cheese with caramelised onion chutney - scrumptious!! I then showed Chris how to put hyperlinks on her blog, then down to serious crafting. We played with our score boards and made three - YES THREE cards!
Here are two of them for you to look at and I will post the third one tomorrow.
Barry was eating out tonight, so I had tea with Christine, then off home for my Wednesday evening craft class. See what a busy bee I have been!
Tomorrow I have got a relaxing day withg my friend Jackie at Nether Edge. Not sure what we will do, but I am sure I will have a good time.
Til tomorrow..... enjoy

Scallop Squares

I had some leftover pieces of Bella Bleu designer paper after I had made my little chest of drawers and there was just too much to throw away, so I punched a load of scallop squares and made this card based on one of Julie's.
(I will post the drawers when I have decorated them!)

Little birdhouse

On Wednesday morning I am doing a craft class at the Community Centre at Thorpe Hesley. I don't know what crafting experience this group have, so I thought we wouldmake this little birdhouse which I found on Jo Dumbleton's blog here
Think they will love it as much as I do.

Mary's Best Wishes

This is a card I have made for Mary - our Immediate Past Lady Captain at the Golf Club - she is not very well at the moment and is awaiting a CT scan. This is just to let her know that I am thinking of her and wishing her well.

Wannabe a Stampin Up demonstrator?

Well now is the perfect time to join - Stampin’ Up! is offering a limited-time 10 percent discount on the Starter Kit to new recruits.
When you join Stampin’ Up! as a new demonstrator during the promotion period, you’ll get over £240 worth of stamping and business supplies for only £125--10 percent off the regular price of £139!
This offer is valid only from 23rd April until 7th May so act quickly and get in touch with me to join the happy Stampin Up Family.
On top of this I will personally add a pack of 6 x 6 Designer papers and a free stamp set - what have you got to lose!
Don't delay - act today - email me on katemartin@sky.com

Walkies

Well what have I been doing for the last two days?
Yesterday was a trip to Pontefract Golf Club with Jan, Joan and Glynis. We had a very good round of golf, with Jan having a score of 40+ (can't remember exactly what)
Then we came home about 6 o'clock, then it was craft class.
Today I went to the hairdressers and then went walking with Ash. It was a great day for walking and it was lovely to see Ash - we haven't managed to get together for a walk this year until today! We parked up by the Blue Bell then walked round the lake and by the waterfront tight up to the Wetlands and back again. Then we went for lunch in the Blue Bell and really enjoyed it. Off to Aldi then to have a quick shop, then back home again. As you may have gathered I haven't had time to make any cards again today, so I will make up for it over the weekend (after golf of course).

See you soon x

Sorry!

Just a quick line to say sorry for not posting the last couple of days, but I have been so busy. Tuesday I went swimming, did my craft class, went to the market, then did Barry's tea before going to the Tuesday evening Ladies golf. After our golf we have a quiz, so by the time I got home, I was shattered.

Today I played golf (competition - Medal - strokeplay) we teed off at 10:28, and after 18 holes, we had a sandwich in the Club house and a drink, then back home to make tea and prep for tonights class. After that once again I am shattered.
Tomorrow I am playing with 3 friends at Pontefract Gold Club at 10:30. We will have a bacon butty before we tee off, and possibly a sandwich when we come in, but I suspect it will be nearly 5 o'clock before I get home. Then I have to make Barry's tea and prep for tomorrow nights class! Its going to be a long hard summer!! Never mind, if the volcanic ash cloud clears, I will soon be going to Turkey, for a well earned rest!
Will try my best to make a card tomorrow night and post - honest!

Looking for the Summer Sun

Well I woke this morning to a cold, wet and miserable morning. No Monday Club golf for me today (I am a fair weather golfer!)
So instead, to cheer myself up, I got out the summer sun card and tried to fill the room with a little sunshine.
I used the new Solid Stripes single stamp to make a chequered effect in yellow and black on whisper white. I stamped the flowers from the Vintage Vogue in black ink on summer sun cardstock, then cut them out, and stamped the scroll/leaves in black in opposite corners. I punched the branch in black using the Extra-large two step bird punch - and hey presto - what have we got - a little bit of Summer Sun on a grey wet day! Enjoy!

Something Old Something New.....

I had another Thank you card to make, so I thought that I would combine the Medallion Stamp (first time I have used this would you believe!!)with the beautiful new Chocolate chip Satin ribbon and Tiny Tags. The sentiment is from Circle of Friendship mounted on top of a Vintage Label.Not sure whether you can see, but I've used Champagne Mist Shimmer paint on the tags and the sentiment.
Quite a combination of old and new.
Hope you like it.

New Heart Punch

Remember that the new Heart Punch was only available throughout the month of March, well we have heard officially that it's still available, but only while stocks last and then you really won't be able to get hold of it again until the new Idea Book and Catalogue comes out in October.
So if you want to get one now, act fast and phone or email me on katemartin@sky.com

See you later

Always Artichoke

I started a thank you card last night, but was too tired to finish it, so I have finished it tonight and will post it tomorrow. I have used a colour that I haven't used before - Always Artichoke - and I think I like it almost as much as Old Olive. Luckily it is one of the colours that will still be with us in the Regals Collection. I think it looks very regal. Notice I have eventually used one of the little ribbon buckles from the Hodgepodge Hardware. I love these so much I am loathe to part with them. I have used the Schoolbook Serif Alphabet again and a retired stampset (I think this was the first hostess gift I earned from my first "Open House" last year) called A Little Bit of Happiness. The paper is the current Hostess gift Designer Paper.

Jenny's Birthday

Yesterday, my friend Nicky phoned to ask for a card for his friend Jenny - for today!
This morning I made this for him and I am quite pleased with it - simple but effective!

Punch Class tonight

Everyone seems to be doing Punch art at the moment, and my Thursday ladies enjoyed making Lenny the Lion so much last week that they asked could they do an Animal Punch session.
So I set to and scoured the SU demos' sites and found examples from my SU MummyJulie's blog - Gerry the Giraffe and Micky the Monkey.
#From Sarah - (a fellow Julies' Jem)at Faithcraftwe did the Freddy the Frog, Peter the Panda and Pingu the Penguin.
Here is our joint interpretation of Pingu Fishing! - Enjoy!

Bird on a branch

Today Chris (sis-in-law) as been over for the day and we have crafted together.
We both made Julie's giraffe and I made mine into a sample board for my ladies classes.
This is my get well soon card for Matthew ( a friend of Barry's) using Bird on a branch" stampset from the Mini Catalogue.

Trendy Trees

Heres a really quick card (cased) that uses the Trendy trees set with the
stamp-a-ma-jig, using the old favourites really rust, old olive and chocolate chip.

Two Step Stamping

Well I missed my game of golf on Saturday when it was absolutely glorious outdoors, as it was my "Open House" - still had a good time though - just missed the sunshine! Barry and I played golf yesterday afternoon, then when we got home, I cooked dinner, played Canasta on the laptop, then went to bed - shattered again! So sorry I didn't post a card yesterday.
Meantime, heres a card that uses the two step stamping technique plus loads of matting and layering and faux stitching.

Open House

Today I have had 20 ladies come visit my Open House, to spend time playing with the fabulous SU stampsets and more importantly, to see and play with the new items from the mini catalogue. I have had quite a few new faces come today and we have all had fun doing two step stamping, rocking and rolling, shimmering painting and generally "monkeying" around.
Here are piccies of the make and takes we did.

Countdown to NEW COLOUR collection

SU have announced that from October, we are going to have a new and different range of colours, that will be the same worldwide, so we will have the same colours as they have in the US - and how many times have you looked at some of their colours and thought "Wish we had that one over here!"?
The new colour palette is organized into four collections: Subtles, Brights, Regals, and Neutrals. You will see 25 of the current colours remaining, and fifteen new colours will be added to the core colour lines.
Several new "In Colours" will be introduced and similarly we will lose some of the existing ones.
Check the colour charts to see what the new collections look like, and what colours will be retiring.
Don't worry if some of your favourite colours are going - you have 6 months to get hold of them all!

Pocket Silhouettes

Yesterday at Christine's, we made three cards using the Pocket silhouettes stampset and Julie's instruction sheets - and here are the results. Enjoy!

More Fox and Friends plus Lenny the lion

Well I promised to upload some more piccies for you so here goes:

Lennie is made from various SU punches - this is not quite the same lion as Julies - I think it's his brother!!












And here is another Step card using Fox and Friends again

What a sweetie!

Here is a card that I have cased from Jan (with her permission I might add!) I just changed the colour of the flowers and to get at the sweeties, I perforated a panel at the back. The petals are made from the large oval punch, and the opening is the 1.3/4 inch circle punch.




















Well I'm off to Chris's (sis-in-law) now for a day of crafting. Have another card to post later today, so do come back after 7 tonight!!

New item - Bird Punch

Here is a card made using the absolutely delightful Bird punch, found in the new Mini Catalogue. I have used Taken with Teal, Summer Sun and Old olive cardstock, plus "Bride" designer paper that I have brayered using Taken with Teal - which I think is very effective. Isn't he sweet!

More from the Mini Catalogue

Yesterday morning I helped serve hot drinks, cakes and biscuits to the cold and hungry fellas who played in the Club Captain's Drive-In. It was a bitterly cold, albeit sunny morning, and the hot drinks were gratefully welcomed. Donations from this will swell the coffers of my charity this year (thank-you Tony)which is Bethany House Trust, Millhouses, Sheffield.
At 1:16 Barry and I set off for our round of golf, Barry playing in the men's comp, myself playing in the Ladies Summer Stableford. It was still bitterly cold with an icy wind blowing, and we invited Hazel and Ann, who were playing behind us, to join us to save time. Barry gave in to the elements after 9 holes and went home, Ann, Hazel and I plodded on. We didn't have an exceptional game, but the company and conversation made up for both the weather and standard of play! I ended up with 29 points, which is not exceptional, but on checking everyones scores, it turned out to be the best of the day, so I felt a little better.
Went home after a drink in the clubhouse, and prepared a very late dinner for Barry and I, watched my favourite Corrie, then went into the craft room.
Spent an hour or two making cards, was too tired to photo them, so I went to bed, totally shattered!
Today I have taken photos of the cards I made yesterday - here they are





















These two are from the Fox and friends stampset in bashful blue and whisper white, they would make lovely little boys cards.

What's this little Easter bunny bringing?

This little bunny is a swap that I got at the Regional Training Day in Sheffield.
He has a Galaxy Bubble bar in the middle, you can just see it in the second picture - and I haven't eaten this yet either!!

Easter basket

Look at this pretty little basket with mini eggs inside! Chris B brought all the Thursday Class ladies one of these and I have resisted opening it still. She tells us there is a little surprise there when we have eaten the eggs. Will let you know what it is.





















My apologies for the rubbish pictures, but I have tried numerous times and this is the best I could get.

Captain's Drive Out

Today is the day that the immediate past Captain drives out and tomorrow the new Club Captain drives in. I was invited to play in both, but as there is a ladies' competition tomorrow, I could only take part in the Drive Out today. Tomorrow afternoon, I will play in our first Summer Stableford. Today I played alongside the Tigers Captain and the Rabbits Captain, for some reason the Seniors Captain didn't play - I think he was ill.
Anyway between the three of us I won with 30 points and the two fellas got 29 points, so I was quite happy with that.
I was worried that the weather would be cold and wet, but after a damp and overcast start, it turned out to be a pretty good morning.
Had lunch at the Golf Club, then came back home and had a lazy afternoon. Am now going to go in the craft room and start preparing my make and takes for Saturday's Open House.

New Customers

I have recently been contacted by two ladies who used the demo finder to get in touch with me. They were both specifically looking for SU products that had been recommended to them by other crafters. I invited them (seperately) to join me this morning to see and try these out for themselves. One of these ladies (Karen) happens to be a relative of one of my crafting ladies- it's a small world isn't it. The other lady (Jane) is going in hospital shortly and wanted some punches specifically to finish off some cards she plans to complete whilst recuperating, so wants them pretty quickly. Needless to say, both ladies were impressed by the products, so I ended up with a nice little order courtesy of the Demo Finder on the SU website. Nice one eh!
Went to Barnsley this afternoon to fetch some refreshment's for the half-way house for the Club Captain's Drive in on Sunday. Hope that he has better weather than I had for mine!!
Came home, made tea, then went shopping with brother. After that settled down to watch my favourite soap "Corrie" and made a card using the new "Vintage Vogue" stampset and the "Very Vintage" wheel from the Mini Catalogue. Cardstock and inkpads used were Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie and Close to Cocoa. I coloured the flat back pearls with the summer sun inkpad and think that they match up lovely!

THE MINI CATALOGUE IS NOW OUT!!

Well it's April 1st and the new Mini Catalogue is now available, so you have no excuse.
Click on the picture in the sidebar and make yourself a coffee, grab a biccie and put your feet up whilst you have a leisurely browse.
If you would like a copy of this, feel free to email me on katemartin@sky.com and I will be happy to send you one.
There are lots of lovely new products in here and I am sure you will have a hard time deciding which ones to order first - I know that I did!
Meantime, I had better get busy and get some more samples made ready for my Open House Mini Catalogue Launch next Saturday (10th April).
Feel free to come and join in the fun!
See you later!