Crossing the half way point! Journaling a really important experience..

Today's layout marked the crossing of the half way point through my 100 happy days photo book. I loved the experience of being happy for 100 days, and in part that was probably due to the experiences I had in my life during those 100 days. 

 

At the beginning of February, I visited America for the first time. That alone, was a very big deal for me as it's something that's always been too far outside of my comfort zone. But what made this trip even more difficult was leaving my twin boys, not in the care of their Daddy, who unfortunately couldn't get the time off work, but to his wonderful parents. You can not imagine how hard looking after toddler twins is, particularly ones that don't sleep through the night, until you are faced with it. I honestly didn't know who I was more worried for! As things went, we all had an amazing experience, exhausting for many, but amazing none the less. I fell completely in love with America and my little niece Tabby. I can't wait to take the boys out there to meet her and experience the joy that American's have for making sure your alright!

Anyway, here is the layout

Does it look familiar? I've used the same right hand page earlier in the book, but it looks very different when the left hand side is changed.

Simply drop and drag - great results with mds!

This weekend has been a busy one! I went to my monthly scrapbooking crop in Exeter on Saturday, completing six 12"x12" pages! I was very very pleased, as my pile of to be finished layouts has been growing recently! Then yesterday i spent the day updating the website, writing documents and scheduling classes. After spending much of the day on the computer, I really wanted an easy drag and drop page for my mds album and this one was perfect! 

Even though it's simple, it's still really beautiful and most importantly fits perfectly in my album! That's 8 more photo's done!

New Classes, Dates, Times Now Online!!

I have updated the Classes and Events page to contain all the latest information, you can view it here.

As a quick guide 

My next scrapbooking class is on Wednesday 21st May at 7:30pm.

The next card making class is on Saturday 14th June at 10am.

These will both be held in Wellington, Somerset. 

The scrapbook class costs £7 including Kit and Instructions or £3.50 attendance only. The kit contains approx £5-£7 worth of product. 

The cardmaking class costs £10 class only or £28 including the wood mount stamp set to use in the class of approx £20-£25 value. Substitute the wood mount set for clear mount and receive an embellishment pack too. If you prefer you can order alternative Stampin Up products to substitute the stamp set used in class up to the value of £20 which will be ordered and be available to collect at the class.

***Special Offer***

Book both June and July's card making class for a discount cost of £18 class only, or £50 including the stamp sets. June's class features the Betsy's Blossoms Stamp Set, Retail Priced at £25.95. July's class will be featuring a brand new stamp set, launched on July 1st - making you one of the first in Europe to use it!

Don't forget i'm also running a papercraft drop in, every other Thursday in May, June and July at For Every Cloud, Bow Street, Langport. Starts 8th May, 10am-12pm and costs £3.50.

More MDS Magic - We're now over a third of the way through!

As I become more confident with MDS, I'm taking longer with each page. Today I've even added extra photo blocks to the layout! With 100 photo's to scrap, i'm trying to get more photos per page but this comes as a huge task, each photo also has journaling that goes with it! I've used the add embellishment button a lot today to add extra journaling space, but using the search function and searching 'delight in the day' I've been able to make sure that everything I've selected will always coordinate. I've also added some ribbon that I found on one of the other pages - copy and paste - voila!

I'd love to know what you think?

I can't believe i'm creating this all from the basic download - it's just £13.95!

You can get it here item 130646

Using the Hip Hip Hooray kit, in the way it's intended!

I'm really loving the Hip Hip Hooray card kit, and as you may be aware, I've been doing a lot of things - off piste, but when I first got the kit, I actually did what it was designed to do - I followed the instructions and made 20 cards.

I will add - although everything you need to create is contained in the kit....you do need scissors if you want to use the twine/cut the stickers down :) We have great paper snips here for £8.95 item 103579.

So you want to see what I created...

 Why not get yours today and have a whole load of cards on hand for all sorts of occasions!! Remember if you order this item from me during April - you get a free 8"x8" scrapbook kit for FREE!!

Shop Now 

#weloveDS #Stampinup My MDS Pages dedicated, with thanks to demonstrator support, without whom, I could not have the life I live.

Today is Demonstrator Support Appreciation Day! So in honour of the wonderful demonstrator support, who are there at the end of a telephone and email when my Stampin' Up! ship hits a mountain or a mole hill, here are my latest two pages of my MDS album. 

Notice the lovely #numbers paper created to match the & paper on the opposite page! I'm really proud of that, and i'm really proud of you Demo Support!

Stampin' Up! Really does allow me to live my life, often hitting the work/life balance I crave, if you'd like to join Stampin' Up! and get to experience first hand the wonderfulness of Demo Support ... you can CLICK HERE!

Missed out on the Easter Giveaway...don't worry...there's always a way to get free stuff with my selected stamps!

Selected Stamps? What's that?

Well, where have you been? Each month I highlight a particular stamp set and at the end of the month, everyone who has purchased that stamp set in the previous month, gets a free gift. To get a free gift this month, all you need to do is purchase the Hip Hip Hooray Card kit (Item 134998 £17.95) during April. You can get this through contacting me or buying online HERE.

This month, for a bargin £17.95 you get three stamps, a clear block, a small inkpad, 20 cards and envelopes, paperclips, twine, instructions and 5 sheets of stickers. Even after you've made all the cards, following the instructions there are left over stickers...and well, then there's the waste...

Waste not want not....

This is a scrapbook page I made using the waste from the stickers sheet! 

In the top left corner i've cut out the stripy banner, and in the bottom right corner i've used one of the lined speach bubbles for my journaling and then put a calypso coral outline bubble around it. Can you also spot where else I've used the hip hip hooray kit in this layout?

Also on this layout i've used the high tide designer series paper (Item 132992 £9.95) which is a beautiful set of 6 double sided papers on a nautical theme. You can see them Here.

This month, as you will already have plenty of cards to be creating, your free gift will be an 8x8" scrapbook kit! It will come with instructions, so is a great way to get started!

Why not go and shop now!

Loving all things Stampin' Up!

I only became an Independent Stampin' Up! demonstrator in October, but it's changed my life! Doing the 100 happy days challenge has really shown me how it has become part of everyday life but it's an enhanced life, full of creativity and friendship! I'm sure there will be many more Stampin' up! pages to come, but these are the first four from my photo book!

If you'd like to create your own photo book, it's really easy with our My Design Studio package! This photo book template comes free with the basic package, all you need to do is add photos and text! 

You can purchase and download the software here at a bargin price of just £13.95!!!

Two double MDS Layouts for my photo book

Continuing on from yesterday's introduction to my first MDS photo book, here are the next four pages that I've done. I really am loving how easy it is to add photo's and the designer pages are so fresh and perfect for this project!

Creating my first MDS Photo book

MDS or My Design Studio is Stampin' Up!'s digital software package, until now I've mainly used it for promotional material for stamp in somerset, but after attending Pinkies Training in Birmingham, I decided I really did need to make more use of it!

Earlier in the year, I took part in #100HappyDays. A challenge to take a photo of something that makes you happy each day, for 100 days. It's actually much harder than it sounds, particluarly when flying through timezones make you confused which day is which, and thats before a day with two year old twins flies by before I even notice! Anyway, with a little bit of artistic liscence, I completed the challenge. I now have 100 photos, with comments of my ordinary everyday life. This got me thinking, how amazing would it be to re-visit it in 10 years, or even for future generations...

100 photo's would be too many to scrap in a traditional way, I just don't have time. But a digital photo book, when all I have to do is drag and drop and add the journaling...now I think I could find the time for that!

I shared on Facebook last night, the cover of my album

but now I can start sharing the pages with you! They may change before the final print, and the order will undoubedly change to mix up the colours, but you get the idea!

Keep checking back for further updates over the coming days :)

FREE INKPAD Easter Eggstravaganzer!

Easter is such a great time, it's fantastic to have a long weekend to catch up with family, friends or even those things you've been meaning to do....like place your Stampin Up! Order! Why not take a nice break, head over to www.stampinup.co.uk check that Katy Freeman is your named demonstrator, and if you spend over £25, before postage, I'll be in contact to ask which colour inkpad you'd like as a free gift! The inkpad will arrive separately, direct from me - so don't add it to your Order!

Selected stamps

Where did March go? A big Thank you to all who purchased the petite petals stamps last month, your card making kit will be on it's way to you in the next few days! This month the stamps I've chosen are slightly different...

...the stamps come as part of a kit!

So not only do you get three great clear mount stamps, you also get a clear block, a stampin spot ink pad in Basic Grey...and...a kit to make at least 20 cards, with envelopes, instructions, stickers, string, paper clips and stampin dimensionals!

The complete kit, item 134998, costs £17.95.

The kit has been designed to enable you to create without having to purchase anything additional, but I would suggest a pair of scissors are handy to cut the string (and stickers if your like me and can't bare to waste so much on layering!!). At WI last night, in between chatting, eating a delicious strawberry roulade, and without scissors I made a good start on the cards. I will show you them once completed!

Since this month, if you purchase the stamps, you'll already have a card kit, I will this month be sending out a kit to make an 8" x 8" scrapbook page! So what are you waiting for, you can order it here.