Sunday, 29 September 2019

MY CARD MAKING ALPHABET

I've had a little break from hacks, before I go back to them, over the next few weeks I thought we'd try something else.

Recently, I saw a post of the Alphabet of Crafts, it got me thinking and I wondered if I could come up with an Alphabet of Card Making,

Starting tomorrow, I'm going to have a go, let me know what you think.




Talk soon


Sue x

Friday, 27 September 2019

MORE SWAPS

Here are more of those wonderful swaps I received when a group of demonstrators got together to showcase the new products in the Holiday Catalogue.


Thank you to Leonie Stuart, Donna Gray, Jenny Haywood, Carolyn Boylan & Raelz Cheetham.

If you haven't seen the Holiday Catalogue and would like a copy  and live in Australia and don't already have a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator I would be happy to send you one. Just email your details to sueallensimplycraft@bigpond.com.


The Hostess Code for September, is V7ECRJU6 please use this code if you place an order under $250.

Our tutorial bundle for September is available, here's a sneak peak.



This Tutorial Bundle has been put together by 12 demonstrators (including myself) from various parts of the world. It comes in PDF form and you can get yours free with any order of A$78 or a copy can be purchased by contacting me sueallensimplycraft@bigpond.com for A$20.


You can receive one free tutorial just for signing up for my Newsletter.

Talk soon




Sue x

Wednesday, 25 September 2019

SO MUCH LEFT OVER

When there is so much lovely Designer Series paper around, how many of you buy so much but don't use it.



I'll put my hand up to that.

Using it is now on my to do list, so I started with this.

Back in 2017,  Stampin' Up! had the most beautiful Specialty DSP, Year of Cheer, I fell in love with it and bought heaps and being a very sturdy paper it makes great cardstock, you know I love simple,  how simple could this be?


Obviously not all DSP can be used this way, but when it can, WOW is it effective.

There are more amazing papers in the 2019 Holiday Catalogue, if you would like a copy o live in Australia and don't already have a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator I would be happy to send you one. Just email your details to sueallensimplycraft@bigpond.com.

Talk soon


Sue x

Monday, 23 September 2019

TO EMOTIONAL A DAY

I haven't even started this blog and I'm already crying, it's going to be a very emotional day for me. Two of the biggest and hardest things in my life happened on the 23rd September.

I arrived in Australia and I lost my beautiful Mum.

It's 50 years ago today that the Fairsky docked at Wooloomooloo in Sydney. 6 weeks and 2 days after we left Southampton UK. As a 13 year old, I didn't realise Australia was so far away. Such a brave move by my parents, Dad had his 51st Birthday  on the boat, Mum was 45. I don't think I could have made such a huge move at that age.

It was a rough voyage, the boat nearly went down in the Indian Ocean, apparently a P and O ship was one one side of us and an Australian Destroyer one the other. 





So different to the ships of today.

It was worth every scary moment, we were lucky to have distant relatives here that helped us settle from day one, I'll be eternally grateful to them.

Every 23rd September, since 1969 we have celebrated our arrival, that was until 5 years ago, when I lost my Mum, her timing wasn't good but Bless her she had 45 years in England and 45 in Australia, how about that?.


I am so grateful that Mum and Dad took that risk all those years ago, I love going back to England but Australia is home.


Love and miss these two gorgeous people.


Talk soon


Sue x

HACK OF THE DAY ON HOLD

Sorry just having to put Hack of the Day on hold for a while, should be back next week.

Talk soon

Sue x

Sunday, 22 September 2019

CHRISTMAS CARDS GALORE

I recently showed you a card i made for a swap I joined in with a group of other demonstrators, we did this when we were able to pre-order form the Holiday catalogue, we wanted to showcase the new products.

 Here are some of the cards I received.


A huge thank you to Michelle Wells, Sandra Mastello, Vicky Wright, Kristina Delbridge & Lesley Thomson.

Talk soon


Sue x 


WHO'S GETTING READY FOR CHRISTMAS?

Stampin' Up! have had some amazing stamp sets over the years, one of my favourites is Night of Bethlehem, it's not current but I will keep using it.

Being a patchwork person as well as a paper crafter, I love samplers, so out came my Night of Bethlehem stamp set and this is what I came up with.






Sadly the lighting isn't too good with this photo but I am so pleased with the sampler and can't wait to hang it at Christmas.

I did have to use a couple of images from other sets, again retired, Wise Men from Afar and the Joy came from Cheers to the Year.

But with samplers, you can use whatever you like, crafting in any case is personal taste.

I kept this simple using only Black, White and Crumb Cake with the odd touch of Daffodil delight,though I did use Gold Foil to back the borders.

I have another one to show you soon, I would love to see your samplers.

The frame size is 12" x 12" if you would like cutting details please email me at sueallensimplycraft@bigpondcom.


If you would like a copy of new Holiday Catalogue, live in Australia and don't already have a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator I would be happy to send you one. Just email your details to sueallensimplycraft@bigpond.com.


The Hostess Code for September, is V7ECRJU6 please use this code if you place an order under $250.

Our tutorial bundle for September is available, here's a sneak peak.






This Tutorial Bundle has been put together by 12 demonstrators (including myself) from various parts of the world. It comes in PDF form and you can get yours free with any order of A$78 or a copy can be purchased by contacting me sueallensimplycraft@bigpond.com for A$20.


You can receive one free tutorial just for signing up for my Newsletter.

Talk soon




Sue x





Product List

HACK OF THE DAY 22nd SEPTEMBER, 2019

Embossing powder can be messy and get on parts of the card we don't want it on, rub over the surface of the card before stamping with an Embossing Buddy.

Talk soon

Sue x

Product List

Saturday, 21 September 2019

HACK OF THE DAY 21st SEPTEMBER, 2019

Decorative masks are a great way to personalise backgrounds.

They can be used with ink pads or texture paste for an alternative background.






Talk soon

Sue x



Product List

Friday, 20 September 2019

HACK OF THE DAY 20th SEPTEMBER, 2019


You can make your own embellishments by popping drops of nail polish onto wax paper, depending on the colours used, they can resemble gems or pearls.

Talk soon


Sue x

Thursday, 19 September 2019

HACK OF THE DAY 19th SEPTEMBER, 2019

Little mistakes on cards can always be covered up with an embellishment.

Talk soon


Sue x

Wednesday, 18 September 2019

HACK OF THE DAY 18th SEPTEMBER, 2019


To give a lovely smell to cards, before  sending them, dust lightly with talc.

Talk soon

Sue x

Tuesday, 17 September 2019

HACK OF THE DAY 17th SEPTEMBER, 2019


When colouring large areas with watercolour pencils, rather than colouring the image first, then spreading it, pop some colour onto a tile then use an aqua painter to apply it. it gives a lovely watery effect.

Talk soon

Sue x

Monday, 16 September 2019

A HANDMADE CARD


This popped up the other day on Facebook, thankfully no many but sadly some people don't appreciate what goes into a card




and, maybe we don't appreciate the time we put in to making a card, we should.

Here's a sneak peak of our September Bundle and how you can obtain it.



12 designs are included in the bundle, It comes in PDF form and you can get yours free with any order of A$78 or a copy can be purchased by contacting me sueallensimplycraft@bigpond.com for A$20.

You can receive one free tutorial just for signing up for my Newsletter.


Talk soon


Sue x


Talk soon


Sue x




HACK OF THE DAY 16th SEPTEMBER, 2019

When inking up stamps, it is hard sometime not to get ink on the rubber edges, this then transfers to your project.

Use a sharp craft knife to cut away any excess rubber around the image, but not too close.

Talk soon

Sue x

Sunday, 15 September 2019

HACK OF THE DAY 15th SEPTEMBER, 2019

Ribbon bows are a great embellishment on cards but some people have great trouble tying a bow, then why bother? a knot can be just as beautiful.

Talk soon


Sue x

Saturday, 14 September 2019

HACK OF THE DAY 14th SEPTEMBER, 2019

Tearing the edge of paper or cardstock can give a great effect on your card but sometimes the tear doesn't go the way you thought it would.

Using a wet paintbrush (just with water), paint the line or shape on the paper, pull paper apart with your hands to give a lovely feathered edge to your shape.

Talk soon


Sue x

Friday, 13 September 2019

WHO DOESN'T LOVE A WEDDING

Recently a friend asked me to make her a couple of cards for two weddings she needed to attend on the same weekend. Nothing too fussy and too traditional.

I don't have any actual wedding stamp sets, just a few sentiments, I must invest in some. So after some thought this is what I came up with. There is a mix of current and retired products here but I was quite happy with the results, though my husband thought they weren't weddingy enough, what do you think?





Hopefully the Brides and Grooms will like them.

Talk soon




Sue x



Product List

STAND ALONE DIES BLOG HOP SEPTEMBER, 2022

Welcome to my small part in the Stand Alone Dies Blog Hop, this was certainly a challenge most die sets I own have a matching stamp set. The...