Sunday, 18 May 2025

Sunrise Sailing Swaps!

Hello and welcome to my blog! There are many benefits of being an Independent Stampin' Up!® Demonstrator - seeing new products before they are launched, discounts and Demonstrator Events to name but a few! And one of the things we do at events is to swap. The idea is simple. You make a bunch of cards and then swap your card with someone else. It's a great way of gaining new ideas and seeing products that you might have overlooked.

I love swapping! I have the privilege of hosting card swaps by post for the team I am in. The latest one coincided with the launch of the new Annual Catalogue and the May Online Exclusive release. This week I was able to send back envelopes stuffed with fabulous cards. Just look at this handful of inspiration!

For my cards I decided to use the Sunrise Sailing Bundle, which is an Online Exclusive bundle. It comprises of a stamp set, coordinating dies and a hybrid embossing folder. I chose a rather nautical red, white and blue colour scheme using Secret Sea, Pool Party and Strawberry Slush.

I began with a layer of Pool Party Two-Tone card which I lightly spritzed with water, embossed with the hybrid folder and then allowed to dry thoroughly. This little extra step allowed the card to stretch and prevented it tearing in the deeply etched folder. The Two-Tone card stock has a white core, so after it was fully dry I swiped a sanding block over the raised, embossed lines. Hey presto! There are now white edged clouds and frothing sea foam!

The sailing boat outline is stamped on Basic White with Secret Sea ink and the hull is filled in with Secret Sea too. The detailing on the sails is stamped in Strawberry Slush and then the magic happens...the image can be die cut and embossed in one go using the hybrid folder. Superb!

I popped the boat up on Dimensionals so that it sits proud of the sea, added some die cut birds and a matting layer of Secret Sea before adding it to a top folding Thick White card base. The sentiment is from the Pattern of Friendship set which is simply stamped on a skinny Basic White banner, using Secret Sea ink.

I enjoyed making a little production line to make the cards for my swaps and I'm delighted with the cards I have in return for my efforts.

Do you need any of the products used on today's card? If you live in the UK please take a look in my online Stampin' Up! shop. You can follow the link or click on the pictures below of the products I have used today.

Stay safe and as always, happy crafting,

If you would like to order any supplies, and you live in the UK, I would love to be your demonstrator. To place an order please visit my online shop HERE and please choose me, Karen Henderson, as your demonstrator. The products I have used on today's project are linked from the images shown below.

All Star Video Class Bundles

The Video Class Bundles have 12 AMAZING video tutorials to inspire you each month. For March, we are featuring the Online Exclusive Beautiful Gallery Suite.

Click HERE to purchase.

FREE with a purchase from my online store

Starter Kit Special

Our BIGGEST Starter Kit Special is available for a limited time! From 6th May to 31st May you can pick £170 product for your Starter Kit and you pay £99.

Stampin' Rewards Program

**When shopping, remember to opt in to Stampin' Rewards on orders over £20.**

Click on the images of the products I have used today to purchase them in my online shop:

Wednesday, 7 May 2025

Beautiful Gallery Suite - All Star Video Class Bundle Blog Hop May 2025

Hello and welcome to my blog. I am delighted to be part of the All Star Video Class Group. We create a Video Class Bundle with exclusive tutorials complete with photos, video directions and a supply list that includes both Metric and Imperial measurements, and we also hop together each month sharing another project using the same suite.

This month we are using the Beautiful Gallery Suite and this is a sneak peek of the projects included in this month's bundle of video tutorials.

Here is a closer look at the sneak peek of my project in the tutorial bundle.

To enjoy the video class bundle of tutorials you have several options:

shop with me - if you order from my online store you will receive that month's bundle for free
purchase - buy the bundle for £11.50
Join my Team - team members will receive the tutorials for free

Each Video Class Bundle, containing 12 exclusive video classes is created using Stampin' Up! suites (which are current at the time they are published). We will be using products from the NEW 2025 Annual catalogue (AC) and Online Exclusive (OE) products. We also used products from the January - April Mini Catalogue (MC) for some of the earlier months

January 2025 - Marbled Elegance Suite Collection (OE)
February 2025 - Storybook Moments Suite (MC)
March 2025 - Mixed Media Suite (OE)
April 2025 - Beautiful Bokeh Suite (MC)
May 2025 - Beautiful Gallery Suite (AC)
June 2025 - Celebratory Sips Suite (OE)

Thank you for joining me today for the All Star Design Team Video Class Bundle Blog Hop for May 2025. At the start of each month, each of creates another project using the featured suite of products to give you even more inspiration. Here is my additional Beautiful Galley Suite projects.

The idea for these cards was the same. I wanted to feature this pattern from the Designer Series Paper pack and I have created two slightly different cards. The Lost Lagoon version is a regular top-folding card with a square frame (cut down from the die-cut rectangular one) to display the spray of flowers.

The Secret Sea version is a fancy fold card with the stems of flowers supported on a rectangular frame. The front of the card is shortened to show off an embossed edge on the back of the card and then there is a card/flap wrapping around it.

I love the vintage look of these stamps and papers, and to enhance that look I've added texture with tone on tone stamping aswell as the embossing with the Damask folder. The flowers are loosely coloured with Blends - I wasn't precise and I didn't blend as such. For the petals I laid down a light covering of Pool Party and then added dots in darker shades to add depth. The leaves only have dots of Old Olive. The loose colouring all adds to that vintage look.

Each time I pick up a new suite or bundle it becomes my new favourite! This time is no exception, in fact I think it will be a favourite for a long time! I love the colours and mood of the DSP and the floral images are just beautiful (as the name suggests!). I hope you feel inspired to create with it too whether it is to stamp and colour or to simply frame one of the stunning pictures. Let me know what you think in the comments below. If you would like more ideas using this suite you can purchase the tutorial bundle (along with previous tutorials) HERE.

Thank you so much for visiting today. Click on the names below to hop around and see all the other amazing projects. Enjoy! If you live in the UK you can purchase these products below.

Blog Hop List:

1.	Wendy Lee- CreativeLeeYours-USA
2.	Erica Cerwin- USA
3.	Alison Solven, Stamp Crazy with Alison (Canada)
4.	Jacque Williams - New Zealand
5.	Cheryll Miller - Australia
6.	Rachel Tessman - Stamp Your Art Out! - USA
7.	Karen Henderson - Furry Cat Designs - UK
8.	Kylie Bertucci - Australia
9.	Emma Goddard - Coastal Crafter - UK
10.	Dena Rekow --The Creativity Cave USA

(Linkup closed)

Do you need any of the products used on today's cards? If you live in the UK please take a look in my online Stampin' Up! shop. You can follow the link or click on the pictures below of the products I have used today.