simply stampin' challenge, week 1

Okay, I am immensely excited to finally show you the first challenge, and what I created from the this week's sketch! Below is the sketch followed by my creation. To see what the other lovely talented DT members created, and to enter the challenge yourself, check out the simply stampin' challenge site!

Get Well Wishes

Stamp Set: En Francais, Fun and Fast Notes, Greenhouse Garden

Ink: Certainly Celery, Rich Razzleberry

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Rich Razzleberry, Certainly Celery, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Basic Rhinestones, Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon

Extras: Corner Chomper, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Eyelet Border Punch, White Gel Pen, Dinensionals, Stamp-a-ma-jig

For my workshops next week I was asked to show how to use the stamp-a-ma-jig so as I had it out to work on some samples I thought I'd use it for this project too! The 1 3/8" punched hole works perfectly with the medium sized flower in the Greenhouse Garden stamp set. I'm really loving the Rich Razzleberry and Certainly Celery colour combo at the moment, these two colours are just totally gorgeous! I used the En Francais stamp to add a bit of light texture to the celery background. I finished off the card with a little bit of ribbon, some rhinestones and a bit of white gel pen dot and dash line! 

I hope you enjoyed this first week's entry, leave a comment, and please don't forget to head over to the simply stampin' challenge blog and enter for your chance to win a special prize! 

Take care! 

Amanda xoxo

stampin' up mini style!

Well, I am very excited to announce today is the lunch of the new Summer Mini Catalogue! Its been really hard to keep everything in the catalogue a secret for so long now and now I can officially share it with you all! Its 31 pages just jam packed full of so many exciting new products - its the UK's largest most exciting mini yet!! So to get in with the fun and to show something of what I saw at training, I would like to suggest a few new, exciting, must have products to be introduced!

Are you a Big Shot?
If you have been a fan of Stampin' Up! for a while you will probably know how much everyone has been wishing and begging that SU would bring out the Big Shot in the UK. For those of you who have no idea what a Big Shot is I will explain the awesomeness.
Stampin' Up has teamed up with Sizzix to bring you the Big Shot, the biggest shape-cutting and embossing machine! So, why am I so excited about the Big Shot's arrival? Well, read on!

• This lightweight and portable machine is so easy to use, anyone can use it and it really does not require big arm muscles at all!
• The Big Shot is compatible with many other companies' dies which just means more choice, and as SU and Sizzix have teamed up this also means exclusive Stampin' Up! only dies too! 
• It cuts through a gigantic list of over 50 different materials, including cardstock, fabric (perfect for all you quilters out there!), cork, chipboard, thin metal, acetate and much, much, much more!
• As the Big Shot can cut up to 5 sheets of cardstock at a time it makes super light work of cutting shapes for all your projects - perfect at Christmas when you need a multitude of tags and cards! 
• And just incase cutting shapes wasn't enough to get you chomping away, it embosses too! This is a super fast way to get embossed cardstock patterns, perfect for cards! SU's embosslits cut and emboss! How sweet is that?! 

I got a chance to use it at the training day last month and really loved it! It is a really exciting bit of kit and so versatile! I definitely recommend it!

Over the next couple of days I am going to go through and blog about a few more of the really cool new products in the book! I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about the Big Shot and please check back tomorrow to learn more about the new Builder Wheel!! :D 

Have a great day! 

Amanda xoxo

nothing to show...yet!

Okay, I've been super busy lately doing a bunch of different stuff, not helped by the fact that I have really not been sleeping well lately! I need some sleep!


When I have been awake and alert enough to do things I have been mainly working on Simply Stampin' Challenge DT projects, especially ones for when I am away (so you will all have something to look forward to even while I am out of the country! Unfortunately, I have to keep it secret 'till the week it's due and therefore don't really have anything to show!


Apart from DT samples I have been working on projects for my two workshops I have next week and the one the week after. Please feel free to come along! I'll try and post a few sneaky peeks to tempt you to come along!


Finally, I have been working on ideas and projects to do at my upcoming monthly classes too! Busy times!


Take care,


Amanda x

a further classes update!

Just to update you all on my plans to hold a class, and outline again, exactly what these classes will entail. 


Each class will last for roughly 3 hours and I am intending to run them on the third Saturday of every month at my home from 11am 'till 2pm. 


Cost for the class will be about £12 and it will be payable on the day. This cost includes all the materials you will need to make several projects, my time and expertise, instructions for you to take away with you - so you can easily do the project/technique again at home, plus lots of tea and cake! 


As I said previously there won't be any commitment to come every month but if you do wish to come, you will need to book your place as I will have limited spaces! 


Each class will focus on 2-3 different techniques plus a 3d item! Samples will be made in swap format (ie a card front). Classes will discuss techniques outside of those scheduled and will also cover suggestions for layouts and designs.  


I will post the techniques and details of the 3d item for that month's class at the beginning of each month, alternatively, come along to my class for a sneak peek into the following month's class. 


Please do spread the word and you are most welcome to bring a friend along! The more of you there are, the better it will become! 


Any personal orders made during a class will not contribute towards the cost of a class.


Finally, with all this in mind, taking into consideration the business of April and Easter, and also giving myself enough time to promote and plan, I would like to announce that my first class will be held on Saturday May 21st from 11am - 2pm! 


Side Note - This will be my last activity for a few weeks as I am then heading off to the States to see family and friends and attend my cousin's wedding (very excited!)!  I will be back early to mid June - I'm waiting for my US passport to return with my name change so still have not booked my tickets! EEK! I will announce dates I will be unavailable for workshops or to place orders when I have booked my flights! I fully intend to be back, planned and ready to go for June's class on the 18th!


Thanks again to all who have expressed an interest in attending a class and making this happen! I am very excited and just cannot wait 'till May to teach you all some fab techniques! 


Please drop me a email at amanda_burditt@hotmail.co.uk if you are interested in attending! 


Have a great Monday!


Amanda xoxo

workshops, classes and clubs

Tonight was my workshop, it went really well, although as always when I demonstrate my clear stamps decided they didn't want to work for me and kept falling off the clear block! I had little love hearts dotted all the way down my card, but I don't think anyone minded too much! You have to just laugh it off don't you?! Besides from that, I had a great time and I hope they all enjoyed it too! I really am enjoying doing the workshops, its a lot less scary than I thought it would be and it is such a joy to share my passion with others! Also its great to get to know new people and see a whole different side of people that I already know too!


Workshops: So far I have one workshop scheduled at my house in April. This workshop is on Friday April 15th at 7:30pm. Please do get in touch if you would like more details about it or would like to host your own workshop! I would love to come and show you and your friends the gorgeous products Stampin' Up! has to offer and show you all how easy it is to create really beautiful designs! I have 2 workshops that others are hosting next month too which I am VERY excited about! I am delighted to be showing heat embossing, stampin' pastels, blender pens, two step stamping with a stamp-a-ma-jig and more! If you would like to see these techniques too, come along to my April workshop or book your own! I'd love to show you too! 
I know it is a little busy next month with Easter and the Royal Wedding but I hope you will find time to relax and do something creative! 


Classes/Clubs: Secondly, I am really excited to tell you that I am intending on starting up some sort of a class/club really soon! It is only in the initial thought process and planning stage at the moment but I hope to hold my first one in the near future! 
I am intending on holding them once a month in my home and while there will be no commitment to attend every month, places will be limited and therefore if you would like to come you will need to book your place! 
Each class will involve making several projects, including a 3d item. For this, there will be a fee (price is still to be decided - probably somewhere around the £10 mark) to cover the cost of materials used. As a class differs from a workshop each guest will get to make all the projects I demonstrate instead of the usual one simple 'make and take' typically done in a workshop.
It is a great way to relax and unwind and get to "play" with more of Stampin' Up!'s products before purchasing anything and also learning how to get the most out of the products you already have! Plus, I will be on hand to help if you have any questions, which is always good if you're trying out a new technique! 
If this interests you, please get in touch as I cannot begin holding classes until I have sufficient interest! I have about 4 people who have shown an interest so far but I need more! Please do get in touch, email me at amanda_burditt@hotmail.co.uk
I look forward to hearing from you soon! 


I'm sure everyone is glad it is the weekend, I certainly am! Its been a very busy week and I'm looking forward to some cleaning, tidying and hanging out in the garden enjoying the gorgeous spring weather with my husband tomorrow. We might even go out on a little adventure...how exciting hey? Can't wait! I hope you are all going to enjoy equally pleasant weekends! 


'till next time,


xoxo

just a quickie

Its been a busy day! Such nice weather urged me to get some cleaning and other stuff done today so now its late and so today is just a quick little card for you all. This is the swap I made to swap with the the other demos that attended the training last Saturday! 

Birdie of a Branch

Stamp Set: Fun & Fast Notes, En Francais

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Old Olive

Ink: Versa Mark, Certainly Celery

Punches: Eyelet Border, Two Step Bird

Extras: Clear Embossing Powder, Dimensionals

Pretty simple little card, I stamped the Pretty in Pink cardstock with En Francais in versamark and then embossed it with clear embossing powder. I punched out all the shapes and then adhered them altogether. Finally I stamped the sentiment "thanks" from part of the Fun and Fast Notes set using masking technique. 

Hope you've all had a good  day, I better get off to bed now as I have lots to do tomorrow and my workshop is tomorrow evening, don't forget, if you're in the area and interested please do feel free to come! For more details contact me! 

xoxo

simply stampin' challenge design team member

Ok, super excited! About a week or two ago I entered into the chance to become a member of a design team for Simply Stampin' Challenge. I've always looked on envoiusly at people that are on design teams and just wished that could be me one day. Looking at the other entries for the design team competition, I didn't think I had much chance, there was some super hot, super talented people and entries in there! I just found out that I was chosen!! Really excited! So as a design team member I get to make a project following a brief/challenge and submit it once a week to be shown on the Simply Stampin' Challenge site! You too can enter in the challenges and winners will be chosen each week! Very exciting!! I'm really looking forward to being challenged each week to come up with a new design, be it card, scrapbook page, 3d item, its about the challenge. And about meeting new people, making friends and seeing how others interpret the same brief! When the site goes live, I will post a link to the site, please do check it out, its going to be really fab! Can't wait! 


'till next time!


Amanda xo