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Stampin’ Up! Artisan Design Team 2019 get started

January 16, 2019 by Mikaela Titheridge 6 Comments

“You’ve been selected to be on the Artisan Design Team for 2019” were the words I heard down the phone. It was an unexpected phone call that had me squeal with excitement and shed tears of happiness. Pinch me somebody … Was this really happening?

In a matter of hours this dream really becomes reality. The first Artisan Design Team Blog Hop for 2019 goes live tomorrow and I’m filled with nervous excitement. I don’t know why, but I guess it’s because I care and I want to inspire.

Following the formal announcement at Onstage, there has been a lot of behind the scenes preparations for our January start. Stampin’ Up! introduce the new Artisan Design Team Members on the Stampin’ Up! website at the start of each year with a little write up and photo. Thick with cold, fresh home from Orlando, Jet lagged and still giddy with excitement it was my only time to capture it.

Oh my … I never realised just how camera shy I can be when the focus is on me and me alone. Yes, that may come as a surprise to some, but I’m fine in a group, but become incredibly nervous when not. You only had to see my body language when I walked out on stage in Orlando, to see just how nervous I was there, but that was in front of 7,000 other Demonstrators.

Yes, giddiness took over. I’d not seen hubby for a good week and here we were thrown into taking photos before he jetted off on a business trip of his own. Back to back business trips, but I know mine was way more enjoyable … whoop whoop!

The Final Photo …

The question is … Did we ever manage to capture something remotely suitable for the Stampin’ Up! website? Quite different from the others, but hopefully capturing my personality … yes we did. This is the incredible line up of talented Designers that I have the pleasure to be with. Already I am getting to know these wonderful ladies and so hope that one day we’d be able to all meet in the person. I was fortunate enough to meet 6 of the ladies in Orlando and already know Emma, the other UK Artisan. I’d still love to meet the remaining girls and congratulate them in person on their achievement.

So who am I? …

I’m Mikaela Titheridge and I live in Spaldwick, a village just outside of Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, UK. My greatest cheerleaders are my husband, Graham and our 8 year old son called Bertie.

I was first introduced to Stampin’ Up! by someone I got talking to in an online chat room, whom I’m still in contact with. Using the Demonstrator Finder on the Stampin’ Up! website, had me find a local Demonstrator when I first moved to this area. This gave me a crafting outlet with other like-minded people who would soon become friends.

A former Air Hostess for British Airways, I decided to take voluntary redundancy following the birth of our son, born some 10 weeks prematurely. It was this redundancy money that paid for the log cabin that is now my Craft Studio.

I’ve been a Demonstrator now for 7 years, but have loved everything crafty since being a little girl. I started papercrafting greetings cards when I was flying, seeking out every craft store I could find around the globe. Craft workshops I attended had me hooked. I’ve hosted Classes and Retreats locally in Huntingdon and at home for as many years as I’ve been a demonstrator. I share my passion to inspire others teach them how to get the most out of their products.

I’ve shared my passion with others, many of whom have chosen to join my team and earn discount from their purchases. Seeing the enjoyment that Stampin’ Up! brings, gives me great satisfaction. I’d urge you to do the same if this remotely interests you. Stampin’ Up! is a fabulous company to work with and it’s opened up so many opportunities for me. I’ve earned three Incentive Trips (Mediterranean Cruise, Alaskan Cruise and the Greek Isles) and travelled to Brussels, Amsterdam and Orlando. This multi millions dollar company, has broadened my friendship circles massively and I take what life has to offer me by sharing this. The rewards stretch further than just papercrafting products.

Tomorrow’s first Artisan Blog Hop together has me living a dream that I only ever thought would be a dream. It’s my greatest achievement within my Stampin’ Up! journey and an incredible honour that I’ll cherish. We teach our children to do their best and strive for their dreams, so why shouldn’t we? No one is popping this bubble … but join me you may.

The 2018 Artisan Design Team Members will of course be a hard act to follow. Their inspiration over the past year has been incredible and the bar has be set high. I hope you have enjoyed getting to know me a little and that you’ll pop back tomorrow afternoon to see what we have in store for you.

You can read more about the amazing Starter Kit offer that there currently is HERE. If you’d like more information then be sure to get in contact and if you’re ready to sign up now, then click on the Join my Team link above. I’d love to share my passion with you.

Stamping Sunday Blog Hop – All My Love

January 13, 2019 by Mikaela Titheridge 6 Comments

All my Love is something that today is all about, as we celebrate our son’s Birthday here today. Now I did create a card for him using some elements from this suite, which is quite a comical card, but I thought I’d share a little something else for now. I will share his card in time as it did make me laugh, but for today, I’ll be sharing a Valentines Card and Gift Bag.

Welcome to the Stamping Sunday Blog hop, now even if you’re not someone who creates for Valentines Day, you’ll love these papers. The flowers within the All My Love suite are just gorgeous and the die cut elements create such detail. The Be Mine Stitched Framelits will die cut the hearts within these papers, which is fabulous.

Often we can add so much to a project, when in fact, less is often more. I loved how this card came together with so little from the All my love suite. A gentle watercolour wash of Soft Seafoam as a background and a cluster of hearts pulled this card together.

I just love the little detail of the gorgeous Heart Epoxy Droplets. Such subtle detail like this really pulls a project together and makes it look totally polished. Just look at the detail though in that stunning heart shaped die … Oh my word the detail is just gorgeous. There are so many different sizes of hearts in the Be Mine Stitched Framelits Dies. Now we all know that I love anything stitched, so this set was a must for me.

The Designer Series Papers in this suite are utterly beautiful. There are hearts, but there are also many with stunning flowers. The papers just sing and really don’t need any more explanation. I decided to make this cute little gift bag and really didn’t feel like it needed any more. A simple sentiment panel and some coordinating ribbon and I was done. You could make this using the Stampin’ Up! Scoreboard, but I made use of the Gift Bag Punch Board in this instance.

Lovely Lipstick is a wonderfully rich colour that I used in the sentiment and for the ribbon. With coordination at its best, the Basic Shaped Framelits go hand in hand with Be Mine Stitched Framelits.

A cute little set that I hope you’ve enjoyed the inspiration of. Now take a look at the list below and hop on over to one of the others within todays hop. I’m sure we will all be inspired with an amazing array of projects.

Have a great day … with all my love

Hop participants today

Blow out the Candles on your Piece of Cake

January 12, 2019 by Mikaela Titheridge Leave a Comment

Today I am sharing with you a card I made for a good friend’s daughter who recently turned 21. In the absence of the large Numbers, I decided to use Blow out the Candles and Piece of Cake. These sets are both great for Birthday’s, but how could I make the card appear extra special?

In the Sale-a-Bration brochure, and FREE with a qualifying purchase, is this gorgeous Foil Cardstock. Two shades of colour, I used the one that’s more Bronze like.

This foil cardstock is gorgeous and reminds me of an old car I used to drive, that had flipflop paintwork. When the light catches it, it shows colours of the rainbow, which you’ll see in the next photo. The Candles & Confetti Framelits Dies allow the foil to peep through to give the appearance of foil confetti. I very nearly covered the middle, but decided to leave it visible, as a background to the cake and balloons.

The cake and stand, from Piece of Cake, are heat embossed and coloured in using Stampin’ Up! Blends, which were also used on the Balloons. Creating the shadows on the balloons was great fun! As much as I love Dies, the Balloon and Cake punch allow for quick and simple cards, requiring nominal tools.

Just look at all that colour from the Grapefruit Grove Foil Sheet … and this is FREE with a qualifying order from the Sale-a-Bration brochure. The other colour in this pack is the gorgeous Lovely Lipstick, which is equally as fabulous.

I love the sentiments in the Piece of Cake Stamp Set and couldn’t resist but use this one on the inside of the card.

Bright bold colours and something quite different for me, but I loved creating this and really liked the end result and I hope you do too.

Hoping you have a great weekend and that you have time to get crafty. Enjoy!

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Humming Along in the new Spring/Summer Catalogue

January 8, 2019 by Mikaela Titheridge 2 Comments

Today is my Auntie’s 90th Birthday, my Dad’s only sister, and I wanted to make her a suitably special card. School holidays and Christmas celebrations have swallowed up my crafting time. I’ve not crafted for ages and needed to reignite my mojo so was seeking inspiration. I find it hard to sit and simply make, without having had some crafting play time beforehand. Cracking the whip wasn’t going to help, I needed inspiration urgently and the inspiration for this Humming Along card came from a friend and Team Member.

Emma Kenyon shared her card in our Team Facebook group and I immediately liked the layout and use of Stamp Set. I could see it being perfect for this special card needed. Thankfully Emma gave me permission to recreate her beautiful card, that I share with you today.

I received the Humming Along stamp set at OnStage Live in Orlando back in November and hadn’t played with it, besides using a sentiment. It felt the right fit for the recipient of this card, so I got playing.

Special Touches

Gold Foil and Heat Embossing give quite a regal appearance, which I thought special for this occasion. White Shimmer cardstock gave a gentle shimmer and the perfect base for using the Stampin’ Up! Alcohol Blends Pens. You can’t quite see the shimmer in these photos sadly.

A google search of Hummingbirds gave me the inspiration for the colours, which had me using almost every colour of Blends I own. Can you believe that these birds can be just this colourful?

They aren’t wrong when they say that colouring is therapeutic and offers mindfulness – I couldn’t stop. I currently don’t own the framelits for this set, but there are some, which would have saved me fussy cutting the bird. Purchase the Stamp Set and Framelits together and you’ll receive a 10% discount. A few perfectly placed Artisan pearls and the card was complete. Not a 90 in site, but hopefully with enough special touches to be milestone fitting.

Thank you Emma for your inspiration, you not only helped me create this card, but reignited my mojo following a lengthy break. With us being back at school today, I’ll be able to get even more crafty now.

You can find this Stamp Set, along with more new colours of Blends in our new Spring/Summer Catalogue. If you’d like to receive a copy, then please get in contact. You could be earning FREEBIES during our Sale-a-Bration promotion with purchases over £45 right now.

Happy Crafting

Creation Station Blog Hop – Happy New to You

January 6, 2019 by Mikaela Titheridge 10 Comments

Happy New to You, is what the Creation Station team are bringing to you today. Yes, we are kick starting 2019 with something that’s new to us all. With a New Spring/Summer Occasions Catalogue and Sale-a-Bration brochure, there’s plenty of new products to choose from.

Firstly I’d like to wish you all a Happy New Year and to welcome you to the launch of the new Spring/Summer Catalogue. If you’ve hopped over from the fabulously talented Andrea then welcome … I’m sure you’ll have loved the inspiration that Andrea has shared with us all today.

January is a time to send lots of Thank you cards and I’m a stickler for them. I was raised to always send a thank you and we are teaching our son to do the same. With this in mind, I have decided to use the fabulously bold Happiness Blooms suite to share my inspiration with you.

These images have me thinking of the Retro images that I remember from my childhood … yes, I guess I’m showing my age here. Well these images are fabulous for creating quick and simple backgrounds of repeated stamping.

I have created three cards here from a very quick and simple, through a slightly stepped up version to a more advanced with a technique.

Teamed with my go to Thank you set, Thankful Thoughts, I have created this quick and simple Thank you card.

Three inks, a sentiment and some twine and your card could be written and in the post within the hour. Simple Stamping at its best, but it’s by no means lessening the wow factor.

The Happiness Blooms Enamel Dots and the Bitty Blooms Punch Pack are great embellishments to step it up.

Now I’m not a lover of Yellow, but boy does this card make me smile. Bright, bold and flower images that are friendly and childlike. Such a fun Thank you card and using nominal stepped up supplies. These Punches are a must for your craft room and will embellish many a project. Embellishments like this are great for covering up mistakes, which we all make.

The sentiment for this card was Heat Embossed white to give a raised look that’s a little more professional.

Want to step it up further?

This week I shared through the Stampin’ Up! Instagram site, a technique tip that I’d not used in a long while. Partial embossing offers you versatility with your embossing folders, by allowing you to leave apertures to stamp in.

Partial Embossing Tip

Create a shim out of the cardboard from the pack of your Designer Series Paper pack. You’ll need two layers for a greater impression. Basically, wherever the cardboard touches, is where the embossing will appear and where it’s not, will be embossed free. The options with this are endless.

Well I hope this burst of happiness from the Happiness in Blooms suite has helped to brighten your day and that you’ll feel inspired to get creative.

Next up in the hop is the lovely Denita, who I’m sure will inspire you further …. so enjoy!

I look forward to inspiring you further throughout the year, so be sure to pop back between our hops to see more.

Happy Crafting.

Happy New Year to new Stampin’ Up! Products

January 4, 2019 by Mikaela Titheridge Leave a Comment

Happy New Year to you and what a way to start the year than with lovely new Stampin’ Up! Products.

The last of our Christmas Decorations are down and I now just have to finish gathering together the cards and write our Thank yous. We return back to school next Tuesday and I’m itching to get crafting. The new Spring/Summer Catalogue and Sale-a-Bration Promotion launched yesterday and there’s so many gorgeous products in there.

January always starts with the launch of a Spring/Summer Catalogue and a commencement of our Annual Sale-a-Bration Promotion. FREE Stampin’ Up! Products can be earned with every £45 spent and this year, there’s an even greater offering.

SHOP

Welcome to Sale-a-Bration, our most exciting promotion of the year, when you get to earn FREE Products with qualifying orders.

Spend £45 (before p&p) and choose a FREE Stampin’ Up! Product from the Sale-a-Bration Brochure. There is no limit, as for every additional £45 you spend, you’ll get to choose another FREE product or upgrade. Yes, earn even bigger rewards when you spend £90 (before p&p).

Additional items get added on 15th February, so watch out for those too.

View the New Spring/Summer Occasions Catalogue

View the Sale-a-Bration Flyer for FREE Products

HOST

Earn even more for FREE. When you host a qualifying party during Sale-a-Bration, you get £20 more in free products! You can even put that money towards the cost of your very own Starter Kit to become a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator.

JOIN

Sale-a-Bration is all about MORE, more free, more rewards and more fun! Well Stampin’ Up! have this year offered us a bumper starter Kit, but not just one, but two options and you’ll not want to miss out on them.

Fully Customisable Starter Kit – You get to choose exactly what wonderful products you’d like to receive in your starter kit and have it posted to your address, postage free.

Do I have to Demonstrate if I become a Demonstrator?

Stampin’ Up! allow you to simply be your own best customer if that’s what you’d like … obtaining a minimum of 20% discount. There is no need to Demonstrate if you don’t want to, but the opportunity is there should you wish. Follow the career plan of Stampin’ Up! and earn Extra Income from a growing business. Earn income based on your commissionable sales and recruiting, with a flexible schedule to suit you and your lifestyle, plus incentives and bonuses to work towards if you wish.

Inspiration and Support – A free Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator magazine with tips and techniques is delivered direct to your door once a quarter and you’ll receive weekly emails offering assistance direct from our Home Office; Access to a thriving online community of stampers and paper crafters from around the globe, plus an open invitation to fabulous Stampin’ Up! Events and a dedicated Team Facebook Page to engage with your fellow team members.

I offer as much or as little help as you’d like and will help you get the best out of your Demonstratorship.

I look forward to sharing inspiration from the new Spring/Summer offering and Sale-a-Bration offering over the coming weeks/months.

Here to help you achieve the best from this Promotion.

Stampin’ Creative Blog Hop – Be Mine, Forever Lovely

December 29, 2018 by Mikaela Titheridge 15 Comments

Today is the last Hop of 2018 for the Stampin’ Creative and one when we share some sneak peeks from Spring/Summer Catalogue. Today I share the All My Love Suite, complete with Forever Lovely Stamp Set and Lovely Flowers Dies.

I couldn’t resist but use these beautiful products for this last hop and you’re about to see why. The flowers in the Forever Lovely set are just beautiful and the die cut equivalent of the Lovely Flowers Edgelits are even more so. I couldn’t resist but create a simple little Valentines card, a Note Card and a little Sweet Treat Holder.

Forever Lovely Embellishments

Create stunning floral embellishments by carefully snipping the delicate Lovely Flowers Edgelets. Carefully cut out the various flowers and you have many embellishments to use as shown below.

A simple and very delicate little card that came together ever so quickly. Scalloped edge and a simple sentiment, beautifully embellished. The Hearts from the Be Mine Stitched Framelits were created in a Glimmer paper for a gentle sparkle.

Let the paper sing when it’s as beautiful as this and keep it simple. I created a little envelope that held a little love note inside.

The Linen thread wraps simply around the floral centrepiece to the front of the envelope and has a very simple sentiment on a tag. You couldn’t get much simpler really.

Finally a little sweet treat for your Valentine and one that takes the much loved Ferrero Rocher in this pretty little cone. The top edge of the cone was finished with a stitched scallop edge for that added detail.

You can make 4 of these pretty little table favours from one sheet of Designer Series Paper. Tissue paper tops the cone with a pretty ribbon bow. A cute little treat.

I hope you’ve found this set forever lovely and will be putting them onto your wish list for 3rd January when the Catalogue Launches. Not only will you be able to purchase these then, but with every £45 order places (before Postage and Packing), you’ll earn a FREE Sale-a-Bration item. The offering of FREE Gifts and the enhanced Starter Kit really shouldn’t be missed.

I can’t wait to see what the other girls have come up with for their sneak peeks, so take a look and prepare yourself for some amazing inspiration.

Enjoy the hop and Happy New Year to you

Blog Hop Line up

Peaceful Noel Christmas Twist and Pop card

December 28, 2018 by Mikaela Titheridge Leave a Comment

Christmas is always a busy time and I can’t believe that I’ve not had a moment to post this creation. We made this Twist and Pop card recently in class using the popular Peaceful Noel Suite. This was certainly well received and the ladies surprised at just how easy it was. Open up to see it pop.

From the offset these cards looked any other regular card, but open up the Merry Merlot card and hear them WOW. This Twist and Pop card is certainly something that will WOW most recipients and they try to figure out the mechanism of it. I’ve made this a few times now for special occasions, my father-in-law’s 90th Birthday was the previous occasion. Men like the mechanics of this card.

I loved the simplicity of this stamp set for all the little elements. Simple Stamping at it’s best. Random stamping with overlaying can be difficult for some, but once into it, it feels quite relaxed. I wasn’t sure about the colour Merry Merlot when first introduced to it, but it teams so well with Copper and Shaded Spruce.

Random stamping over a scrap of white cardstock was a great way to pull the theme together. Die cutting the letters of Noel out of this and we had the perfect focal point.

Speed Stamping

I then challenged my ladies to a spot of ‘Speed Stamping’ … Random stamping over a white card base for a background. Use Sahara Sand for Holly leaves? Who said they had to be Green? It was fun to have a speed session to show just how quickly a stamped card like this could come together. Some found it easier than others to be random and speedy, but we giggled.

Although this Twist and Pop card was made a few months back and Christmas is now a few days behind us, I hope you can find inspiration from this creation of mine. I also hope that you did indeed have a great Christmas and that you’re looking forward to the New Year and a new Spring/Summer Catalogue.

Don’t forget to check out the last of the End of Year Clear out Sale and the Clearance Rack before the end of the year. Some items from the Autumn/Winter Catalogue are carrying over, but not all, so make sure you buy what you want before it’s too late.

New Spring/Summer Catalogue

The new Spring/Summer Catalogue launches on 3 January, along with the commencement of our annual Promotion, Sale-a-Bration. Sale-a-Bration is a time when everyone can earn FREEBIES with every £45 spend. Host a party and you’ll earn greater rewards and purchase the Starter Kit and earn even more. I joined during a Sale-a-Bration period and it really is the best time to join for additional supplies, so prepare to draw up that wish list.

Don’t have a Demonstrator and would like to receive a copy of the Catalogue? Then get in contact and I’ll happily furnish you with a copy.

I do hope you’ll have a few minutes between Christmas and the New Year’s rush, to sit down with a cuppa and browse your catalogue. Here’s to a New Year!

Happy Stampin’

Detailed Deer mini Sprig Wreath Hanging

December 20, 2018 by Mikaela Titheridge 2 Comments

The last classes for this year finished just over a week ago, when we finished off by making a mini sprig wreath hanging using the Detailed Deer Thinlits. I like to end the year on making something thats anything but cards and this year it was this little plaque.

The Sprig Punch has been a firm favourite of mine, having designed the illuminated wreath back in August, so for this project, I thought we’d create a mini one with a difference.

This mini sprig wreath sits on a wood plaque that I’ve given a white wash over to make it look more frosty. The wreath itself is made from three shades/textures of Green Cardstock before being glued to the plaque. This ribbon gives the illusion of being a double bow, when in fact, it’s just a loop of ribbon, with a bow stuck over the top. Effective don’t you think?

I wanted the deer to look a little less flat, so sponged the crumb cake cardstock with soft suede ink and switched the antlers for gold ones. I mean, who wouldn’t want to bling up their antlers if they were a deer?

There really isn’t a lot to this plaque, but the ladies all loved it. It was a wonderful little project to finish the year on and quick enough that they could go home and create yet more for gift giving. I know I have a few made up that are for gifts.

Switch the words around to create the sentiment of your choice and finish off with this luxurious ribbon. I adore the two tone colour of this with Merry Merlot and Copper.

Sprig Wreath Tutorial

If you were to buy your Sprig Punch online from me, you could not only create one of these, but you could also create a larger, illuminated wreath that I’m offering a Tutorial for, for FREE. Live overseas or already own the Punch? The PDF Tutorial is available on it’s own. Click the image below to find out more.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my year of papercraft classes. I have a lovely group of ladies who come most months, if not all and I look forward to all of my classes. A fun, yet relaxed environment that offers papercrafting to all levels, ages and abilities. I am still updating my Classes and Events tab, but if you’d like to attend one of my classes, then I’d love to have you join us.

Finally, make sure you check out the discounts in our Year End Closeout Promotion and also our updated Clearance Rack. There’s lots of amazing offers there to be had.

Supplies used:

Year End Sale and my Gift to you

December 5, 2018 by Mikaela Titheridge Leave a Comment

With 2018 slowly drawing to an end, Stampin’ Up! have today announced their Year End Sale of Retiring Items. All Items are available While Stocks Last.

Stampin’ Up! have published their list of Retiring Items from the Autumn/Winter Seasonal Catalogue. This Year End Sale list of items that won’t be carrying over into 2019 is now up and running and will deplete quickly. Check out the list to see if your Seasonal favourite is on there and you can get yourself a bargain.

All of these discounted products could help you increase the size of your Starter Kit that can also include items from the Spring/Summer Catalogue as well. Yes, us Demonstrators are now pre ordering from this new catalogue, so you could be including these items in your Starter Kit also if you wished. Some items on this list are reduced by as much as 50%Don’t forget to use my Club Code at Check out on all online orders placed to receive a little gift from me the following month.

View the Year End Sale List HERE

If you live locally, I am happy to add any orders to mine to help you save on Postage, but either way, don’t delay.

The NEW Stamparatus’ Bag is now available to order

Do you have the Stamparatus’ image positioning tool? .. or is this on your Christmas wish list? Well in time for Christmas, Stampin’ Up! have brought out the all new Stamparatus’ Bag, which is the perfect way to carry and protect your much loved tool. It individually stores the various elements of this amazing tool and has room for extra pieces too.

Don’t currently own this but considered adding it to your Christmas list? Well you could include the Bag and Tool itself and I’ll throw in a FREE Simply Shammy as a gift from me to help you keep all of your stamps clean as you go. This offer applies to orders placed in December or in January, so no matter if someone buys this for you as a gift, or if you’re spending Christmas money on it in January, my gift to you still applies.

Get those orders in soon, as the last day for ordering for Christmas Delivery is 13th December.