Just Kiddin' Around

 Hello & welcome to my blog,

My name is Alison & I live in beautiful Melbourne, Australia. For those of you who have previously visited my blog & are now returning, thank you. For those of you who are here for the first time, welcome!

 Here's a little bit about me. I love creating cards & gifts for my loved ones & this blog will show you how to create something special for those you love. I blog twice a week, once on a Sunday where I mainly showcase a stamp set or dies, embossing folders, projects & sometimes special DSP and Wednesday evenings when I highlight a technique, fun folds or tools & tips. I would love to hear from you if you have any questions or suggestions & my email address for that is craftedbyalison@gmail.com.

Today's post is all about having some fun. Stampin' Up® have a gorgeous bundle called Kiddin' Around which has a stamp & die but they also have a suite which includes this bundle plus it has DSP & some bling. This is in the Jan - Apr '24 mini catalogue which ends in just 2 days!! Eeeek! I used just the DSP from this suite to highlight how easy it is to create with DSP, even if you don't have stamps or dies to match. I spent some lovely time in front of the TV fussy cutting super cut images which I have now teamed up with some bags & boxes from my stash as well as creating a card. When you're fussy cutting you need really good scissors to give you a neat finish. If you would like the same snips I used then click here to purchase them from my online shop. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them.

Here's 3 projects I made showing different ways to use the fussy cut images...

I'll start with a sweet little treat bag...

When I saw the cute little wizard I knew they'd be perfect on the Star Treat Bags so I simply cut a piece of Daffodil Delight cardstock to fit & adhered it to the inside of the bag. I now had a background of yellow stars. The wizard was then adhered with green glue to the corner of the bag & the whole thing was completed with some retired Resin Stars. One of the quickest & easiest creations I've ever made! This is now ready for whatever treat or giftcard suits the recipient. It could also be used as a lolly bag (if my kids were little or I had Grandkids) & would work perfectly with different images from the paper on each gift bag. If you don't have the star punched bags then these images would also work well on plain treat bags with some blending behind each image.

The second project is also a treat holder. 

I used one of the Square Pillow boxes as the base, diecut a circle of DSP using the Beautiful Shapes dies then adhered the bookworm girls onto it with liquid glue & dimensionals. The sentiment is stamped in Granny Apple Green & was then diecut with the Cheerful Daisies dies. It is from the Heartfelt Hellos stamp set that was available during Sale-A-Bration. Here's the box before it was assembled...

and a closeup showing the opening. The tiny hearts were also fussy cut from the DSP.

When I was creating this pillow box my thought was that it would make a great gift card holder for my sister-in-law who is an avid reader.

So now for the last creation...

I know that this paper screams kids when you first look at it but on one of the sheets there are a selection of background settings to play around with. One has a scene with a fallen log spanning a stream. As I had already cut out most of 4 sheets of DSP, I knew there was an image of a boy fishing. My immediate thought was to create a card for my avid fisherman husband. His birthday is next month & he loves a fun card. I used Garden Green for the card base then trimmed the setting to fit. The sentiment is stamped in Calypso Coral using an old stamp set, Celebration of Tags. The matte for it was created using the retired Candy Canes dies which I threaded a piece of retired Calypso Coral Scalloped Linen ribbon through before adhering the sentiment. This was then raised using Foam Adhesive Strips. The boy was raised with dimensionals. Fun fact... Foam Adhesive Strips actually have a little bit more height than regular dimensionals so it allows you to create different heights on your creations.

The greeting inside comes from Party Puffins stamp set, a fun set from the 2022-23 Annual Catalogue. It is stamped in Terracotta Tile while the little fish is stamped in Crumb Cake then coloured in with light Sahara Sand & Pool Party blends.

Here is a pic of the DSP with all the gorgeous, fun images & the reverse background pages. It's such a fun pack but it's retiring in a few days so if you want to add it to your supplies, click here.

That's all the projects I have for you this week. I hope you enjoyed them. Now I'd like to share some of the latest news from Stampin' Up®.

Stampin' Up® has a number of ways to purchase their lovely products. You can look through their physical catalogue or browse through the Annual catalogue online  but there are also some products that are only available exclusively online that don't appear in any catalogues. These products are called the Online Exclusives & are only online. Check out the online exclusives in my online store. Stampin' Up® adds more product items to the online shop so don't forget to keep checking the store to see what's new. There are some lovely new products now available including kits, embellishments, stamps, dies & embossing folders. Something for everyone! If you would like a copy of the catalogue please send me a message at craftedbyalison@gmail.com or on my Facebook page, craftedbyalison. 

NEWS & REMINDERS: 

1. Stampin' Up®'s Mini Catalogue & Annual Catalogue runs until the end of April - that's only days away! There are lots of lovely things that will be retiring soon. I have been able to access the digital copy of the new catalogue & now have a physical copy & it's very different to any other catalogue that I've seen from Stampin' Up®! They have changed the front cover from featuring cards or supplies to a casual stamping picture as well as a radical change to the layout of the contents. There are still lots of beautiful pics of the products & ideas aplenty, it's just set out differently. I think you'll love it. If you would like a copy of the new catalogue which launches on May 1st, then send me a message at craftedbyalison on Facebook or email me at craftedbyalison@gmail.com & I'll send you one. 
2. Don't forget the Online Exclusive products with new products added and available now Check out my online shop here. 
3. Stampin' Up® have a great range of Kits including crafting, card making & gift giving. Click here to check them all out in my online shop. As Stampin' Up® have so many beautiful kits available I will be featuring a different kit in each blog so that you can see the range. 

This week's kit continues on with the 'kids' feel, it's a really cute kit called Frog & Friends.

It's super cute & perfect for creating with your children, grandchildren or anyone young at heart. It comes with everything you need to create 6 animals for a cup & ball game. If you feel that you'd like to add this to your list then click here to purchase one from my online store.

While you're there, don't forget to check out the Last Chance lists which are all of the items that are retiring but also includes things that are currently in bundles or suites and have a saving included that will be split up into individual items in the upcoming catalogue.

A lot of demonstrators use the special Host Code for their customers but I'm trying it this year as a new idea to see if this is what you, my customers would like to use. If you shop with me then don't forget to use this month's host code ZN9NWFMS. This will allow me to pass on any hostess benefits to customers when the sales reach the required qualifying amount.

Lastly, there have been lots of new items added to the clearance rack plus there is a so make sure you check them out using the link above to my online store.

If you would like to purchase any of my creations that I feature in my blogs they can be found in my FaceBook shop at craftedbyalison or you can order something unique. 

If you would like me to send you a copy of the current Annual catalogue or the new one when it's released then please message me via my FaceBook page, Crafted by Alison or send me an email at craftedbyalison@gmail.com.

My next blog is on Wednesday & I will be a technique called Spotlighting. In Sunday's blog I will be sharing a card sketch. In the new catalogue which launches in just 4 days time! there are 22 different card sketches on page 22 that Stampin' Up® have provided for inspiration. If you struggle with the layout of cards then next week's blog will be the one for you. I'm really looking forward to sharing them with you. 

I hope you can join me for both of them.

Well, that's it for another week. I hope you enjoyed this post & come back for more next week. Til next time, take care & keep creating! XX Alison.

Shop with me

Stamps, Dies & punches

• Kiddin' Around bundle
• Just Kiddin' suite
• Beautiful Shapes dies
• Cheerful Daisies dies

Cardstock, DSP & paper goods

• Basic White Thick cardstock
• Basic White cardstock
• Daffodil Delight cardstock
• Garden Green cardstock
• Kiddin' Around DSP
• Square Pillow boxes

Inks & Markers

• Granny Apple Green Classic Stampin' pad
• Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' pad
• Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' pad
• Subtles Stampin' Write markers collection
  

Embellishments

• No current items used this week

Adhesives

• Multipurpose liquid glue
• Dimensionals
  
• Mini Dimensionals
  
• Foam adhesive strips
• Mini Glue Dots

Tools

• Paper Trimmer
• Take Your Pick tool
• Paper Snips scissors
• Stampin' Cut & Emboss machine
• Embossing Heat tool