Create & Take: In a Spin

Hi bloggers, we have a fantastic Create & Take to share with you this week featuring the brand new Tim Holtz Mini Cats & Dogs stamp set. This card only featured the dogs but you could easily add both cats and dogs to this card. We've also featured the new Nellie Snellen Spinner Card die set to create some movement in your cards.

So let's get started.....

Products Needed:

Tim Holtz Mini Crazy Cats & Dogs Stamp Set

Tim Holtz Crazy Things Stamp Set

Nellie Snellen Spinner Card Die Set

3D Foam

Watercolour Pencils

Black Versafine Ink Pad

Silver Mirri Card

Holographic Dots Peel Off Stickers

Woodware Seeing Stars Stamp Set

Circle Punch

Square Punch

Maja in the Garden Scarlet 12 x 12 Paper

Authentique Durable Statement 12 x 12 Paper

Bazzill Basics Coconut Swirl Cardstock

Bazzill Basics Cream Puff Cardstock

Instructions:

1. Cut a piece of Authentique paper to measure 6" x 4.5" and die cut the spinner die into the card.

2. Stamp 2 dogs and a parcel onto white card and colour with pencils. Cut around the dogs.

3. Punch out two circles from cream cardstock and adhere the dogs to the circles using 3D foam pads.

4. Cut a piece of Maja paper to measure 1" x 3.5" and trim to a point on one end. Cut around the square of mirri card to create a faux buckle.

5. Use double sided foam around the edge of the brown paper, you need to make it double thickness so that the spinner moves along the gap with ease.

6. Sandwich two 1p coin pieces into the channel of the spinner using a round 3D foam pad and then stick the parcel on the top. The parcel should now move across the channel.

7. Stick the red card and silver buckle in place on the right side of the card and decorate with dot peel off stickers.

8. Decorate the inside of the card with a sentiment stamp from the Woodware stamp set and also some of the stars.

Scrapbook Club Sneak Peek: Fun in the Sun

Hi bloggers, today Sarah is sharing with you a sneak peek of her upcoming Scrapbook Club called Fun in the Sun. Reminisce those summer days with this bright double page layout featuring papers from the Simple Stories Sunshine & Happiness collection.

Photos:

For those of you attending this month's Scrapbook Club you will need 5 photos in total. 

The two photos on the first layout will need to be quite small, approx. 5cm x 7cm (2" x 3").

The three photos on the second layout need to be no larger than 3" x 4".

All photos used on the layouts are landscape. If you would prefer to use portrait photos you may do so but the design of your layout may need to be altered to accommodate them.

Since the layout is bright and summery, you may want to consider photos that also have bright colours in them or use colourful tints on your photos.

Sarah looks forward to seeing you all on Saturday!

Create & Take: Sunflower

Hi bloggers, we are starting the week off with a review of last week's Create & Take and is very appropriate for the 'sunny' week we have ahead of us in the South East of the UK.

So let's get started....

Products Used:

Marianne Design Sunflower Clear Stamp

Simple Stories Sunshine & Happiness Tangerine/Lemon Stripe Cardstock

Bazzill Cardstock in Beeswax and Pinecone

Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Pen

Brown Tulle

Kaisercraft Bronze Rhinestones

Versafine Inkpad - Vintage Sepia

Watercolour pencils

White Stamping Card

3D Foam Pads

Instructions:

1. Cut a piece of stamping card 14cm x 5cm and stamp the sunflower stamp onto card using vintage sepia ink.

2. Colour in sunflowers using watercolour pencils, shading where necessary.

3. Using vintage sepia ink, stamp the sunflowers along the top and bottom edges of the card blank.

4. Cut a piece of Pinecone card to measure 16.5cm x 8.5cm.

5. Cut a piece of Beeswax cardstock 16cm x 8cm; stick onto Pinecone cardstock and then adhere to card blank.

6. Cut a strip of striped cardstock to measure 18cm x 7cm and adhere across the centre of the card.

7. Matt sunflower image onto a piece of Pinecone cardstock using 3D foam pads and adhere centrally onto the card.

8. Tie a piece of brown tulle around the bottom of the card and make a knot.

9. Cover the centre of the sunflowers with Wink of Stella clear glitter and leave to dry.

10. To finish, add two bronze rhinestones to the top corners of the card.

Create & Take: Merry Christmas Robin

Hi bloggers, today we are sharing a bit of Christmas inspiration with you from last week's Create & Take and for us crafters when it comes to Christmas, it's never too soon to start making cards!

This card uses a lovely new Stampendous cling stamp set called Winter Tweets.

So let's get started.....

Products Used:

Stampendous Cling Stamp Set - Winter Tweets (CRS5092)

Crealies Nest-Lies Oval Die Set No. 43(CLNestXXL43)

Find It Traditional Christmas  - Merry Christmas Die (YCD10057)

Bazzill Basics Paper in Kisses and Ivy

Maja Design Paper - Summertime (In the Garden) Smell the Roses

Maja Design Paper - Summertime (In the Garden) Is Always the Best

Memento Black Tuxedo ink pad

Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Pen

Watercolour Pencils and brush

Stampendous Fran-Tage Chunky White Embossing Enamel

Queen & Co. Iridescent Bubbles - Red

Instructions:

1. Cut two oblongs from the Ivy and Kisses cardstock. Kisses: 14.5cm x 10cm Ivy: 14cm x 9.5cm. Stick together and then adhere to the card blank.

2. Cut an oblong from the 'Smell the Roses' paper (stripes side): 13.5cm x 9cm and stick onto the card.

3. Die cut one large oval from the Kisses cardstock anf another oval from the 'Is always the best' paper (dots side) and stick together and then onto the card in the centre.

4. Die cut 'Merry Christmas' from the Ivy cardstock and adhere to the card.

5. On white card, stamp one robin and one holly image and colour using watercolour pencils and a water brush. Cut round each image.

6. Once cut out, sprinkle a small dusting of chunky white embossing powder over the bottom of the robin and on the ivy. Heat from underneath slowly until the powder melts. Leave to cool.

7. Place elements onto card and stick down. Use sticky pads behind the robin and ivy.

8. Add bubbles to top corners of the card.

9. Add clear Wink of Stella glitter to robin and holly images.

Shop's 10th Birthday Demo Day

Hi bloggers, today we want to review our Shop's 10th Birthday Demo Day celebrations and what a fantastic day it was. With the sun shining and back to back blue skies it was the perfect day to be crafting outside!

So let's start by sharing with you what the demonstrators were inspiring our customers with....

Heidi was demonstrating the WRMK Alphabet Punch Board, inspiring everyone with some fantastic ideas to take you beyond just making banners. Heidi made some wonderful cards, albums and signs to show you just how versatile this tool can be. Take a look at a few of her samples below....

Next up is Stamping Caz who was demonstrating the MISTI alongside some Stampendous stamps to show you a range of techniques and tips for using the Most Incredible Stamp Tool Invented. Take a look at some of Caz's wonderful samples below...

Jo Wojcik also joined us on Saturday and was demonstrating the Crealies Create-A-Box dies and brought with her some fabulous samples of how you can think outside the box!! Take a look below...

Charry Wijers was demonstrating the Memory Box Stitched dies using felt, making some wonderful flowers and also Christmas characters....

We were delighted to have Pete Hughes from Sizzix join us on Saturday who was not only demonstrating some of the dies from his new collection but also providing us with inspiration using some of the other designers dies including the Tim Holtz Village Dwelling. Check out his wonderful samples below...

We were lucky enough to be joined by Sue Dix, designer of the Sweet Dixie dies and stamps and she had some great samples to share with us on how we can make the most of these dies.

For those of you who love foiling, Karen was demonstrating the Heidi Swapp Minc machine, showing you some fabulous techniques with the Minc Reactive mediums plus showing you a method for foiling a stamped design using fine embossing powder. Take a look at some of her beautiful samples below.....

Finally we had Suzie Candlin demonstrating the Cricut Explore Air machine with some of the latest Cricut cartridges. Suzie also had a Make & Take table where customers could make a cupcake wrapper and Suzie also included a free cupcake as well!

Alongside all the demonstrations we had a host of other entertainment including a Hook-a-Duck, where you could win yourself some crafting goodies by hooking the correct numbered ducks. You could try your luck at our Tombola to win some more crafting goodies! We also had a Raffle and a Candy Floss station for those with a sweet tooth. For other refreshments we had our usual Crafts U Love Cafe, the perfect spot to sit with a drink and a cake to make your shopping list!

Our card competition was announced at 1pm and once again we had some wonderful card entries. It was a tough job but we had to whittle it down to a Top 10 before our demonstrators picked the 3 winners.

Our Top 10 Shortlist consisted of:

Dee Sewell, Margaret Shelley, Mrs D Huggins, Nicky Haslam, Carol Warton, Bev Read, Zuzi, Lisa Plummer, Sheila Byrne and Maggie Mapes.

3rd Place: Margaret Shelley (Card No. 5) Winner of a £10 Crafts U Love Voucher

2nd Place: Carol Warton (Card No. 7) Winner of a £20 Crafts U Love Voucher

1st Place: Sheila Byrne (Card No. 8) Winner of a £50 Crafts U Love Voucher

Congratulations to all the winners and a big thank you to everyone that entered!

The Raffle, Tombola and Hook-A-Duck were all in aid of St. Catherine's Hospice and with your generosity we managed to raise £327.80, so a big thank you to all of you!

The winners of our Raffle prizes were:

Cricut Explore Air Bundle: Ruth

Sizzix Bundle: Jenny

Sizzix Storage (x2): Teresa

12 x 12 Joy! Crafts Spring Paper Bloc: Maisy Fox

Cricut Bag and Martha Stewart Punch: Sarah

Please note all raffle prize winners have been contacted.

We would finally like to say a big thank you to everyone that came on the day to show your support and appreciate all the lovely comments and kind words you had to say about Crafts U Love. We look forward to seeing you all at another Demo Event soon!

Create & Take: Bee-utiful Day

Hi bloggers, we are starting off the week with another Create & Take card, this one is definitely for the bee lovers! Caz designed this week's card using the new Elizabeth Craft Honeycomb and Bee die sets and also the Bee stamp set.

So let's get started.....

Products Used:

Elizabeth Craft Design Honeycomb Die Set

Elizabeth Craft Design Bee Die Set

Elizabeth Craft Design Bee Sentiments Stamp Set

Carta Bella Forest Friends Cardstock

Bazzill Basics in White, Beeswax and Raven

Black Versafine Ink

Large Sponge Dauber

Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Fossilized Amber

Crystal Glitter Glue

Instructions:

1. Take a folded white card blank and measure in 1-1/2" from the corners, draw a small dot. Join the dots from each corner and cut these corners off to create a hexagon shaped card.

2. Use a large dauber and add colour around the edge of the whole card.

3. Cut a piece of Carta Bella cardstock to measure 2" x 5-1/4" and stick across the centre of the card.

4. Die cut pieces for the bee and assemble. Die cut the honeycomb and cut in two to stick either side of the patterned paper.

5. Stamp bees onto the card. Stamp wording onto a piece of white card 1" x 2-5/8" and make a fishtail cut to create a banner.

6. Add glitter glue by dabbing onto the card with your finger around the honeycomb.