I will be participating in another Blog Hop starting this Saturday 3rd August.
I have my projects all ready to go.
Here is a taster...

It's summer! We have had the most unbelievable weather for the UK, the temperature has been in the 30's for the past couple of weeks, Bliss. I love the heat.
So I decided we needed to do some painting. After we painted the outdoor furniture it was time to get indoors and try out the Aqua Painters.
I had a class yesterday and we practised using the Aqua Painters on 3 different cardstock to see which worked best.

Top - Watercolour Paper 140lb
Middle - Naturals Ivory
Bottom - Whisper White

We embossed an image in black on the RHS of the paper.
Middle image is stamped with dye ink and LHS is stamped with Black Staz-On

We then used our Aqua Painter to colour the images, picking up colour from an ink pad.

Needless to say the Embossed image and the Staz-On image worked the best. The dye image made the colours muddy as they blended together.

All papers worked well, with the Whisper White cardstock giving a more subtle effect.
You could get more colour and saturation with the watercolour paper and naturals ivory.

Aqua Painter on Staz-On

Blender Pen on Staz-On

White embossed on Crumb Cake, coloured with Aqua-Painter

Secret Garden embossed on watercolour paper by Michelle Jenkins and coloured with the Aqua Painter

A big Thank You to all the ladies who came to our Catalogue Launch yesterday.

We had some lovely Make and Takes from Lesley, Cathryn, Pat and myself. The ladies each took home a little Thank You gift and had a pick at some retiring products.

One of the display stands

Showcasing the new In-Colours

M & T - Pat

M & T - Cathryn

M & T - Lesley

M & T - Nicky

Some of ladies doing their Make & Takes

And the little Take Home Gift, using the Milk Carton die and current DSP 

I am frantically preparing samples for the Catalogue Launch on Saturday, please see details on LHS.
When I need a lot of samples in a hurry what better place than the Idea Book and Catalogue for inspiration.

I changed the colours but the inspiration for this card is on p 99 of the 2013-2014 Annual Catalogue.  

I have used Crisp Cantaloupe a lovely new In-Colour, Crumb Cake an old favourite and Early Expresso. The DSP is from Soho Subway, The stamp set which is fast becoming a favourite is Chalk Talk.

The inspiration is this .....

Yes, the latest from Innocent Smoothies.

and the result...is a CASE from Carolyn Lindenmayer of Qld Australia.

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful weather. I had a lovely day sitting by the River Thames watching the Kingston Regatta yesterday. Both my daughters row, so a compulsory bit of time out is obligatory. Yesterday was exceptional, I don't like it when the weather is not behaving!
I had a chance to play with the new stamp set 'Perfect Blend' at the weekend. I love this set, it is perfect to give to a friend for a pick me up.

 Using Modern Medley DSP as my background, I stamped some splotches with Gorgeous Grunge, in the new In Colour Baked Brown Sugar. I stamped the coffee cup on watercolour paper in Timber Brown Stazon. I then used my aqua painter to add colour, taking the ink direct from the ink pad. Then I added the sentiment lining it up using my stamp a ma jig on the RHS. The LHS sentiment I stamped and coloured and then cut out to add dimension. Both cups are attached with Dimensionals.  I had an empty coffee cup that I had been using  so I turned it upside down and dipped the rim on the ink pad to get the cup marks. Then some Linen Thread and a Natural Designer Button to finish.

 I added a bit of colour to this one. I love the depth of Bermuda Bay which is an old returning colour and it has joined Stampin' Up!'s Brights collection of colours.  Seam binding ribbon in Crumb Cake and 3 of the new Candy Dots in turquoise finish off this project.

I had some fun with this one. I cut out 2 masks using Post-It notes of the coffee cups. The base is Naturals Ivory card stock with some splotches from Gorgeous Grunge and on the LHS I added a strip from Soho Subway , a new DSP. I took just the word 'coffee' and repeatedly stamped it on the DSP.

I hope you like these projects. If you would like to order this set please email me at nickyjohncock@yahoo.co.uk

Gorgeous Grunge

Just the name is exciting! It is one of the new stamp sets in Stampin' Up!'s new catalogue.

I had a play with these recently and had so much fun. 

I have used some washi tape it 2 and the new set 'Tape It' in 2 of the cards. Can you tell which is which? The top two have washi tape. 

A hint - if you are stamping a sentiment or other on washi tape, it is best to use a Staz-On ink as a normal dye ink will rub off and smudge. The last one might look a bit messy, as the greeting picked up the outline of the rubber. I am sure there is a technical term for it but I can't think of it!. And that is where the grunginess of these stamp sets come into there own, we can stamp a grid or a blob on top of the mistake!

Grab Your Greetings

As if a new Annual catalogue isn't enough to entice you, Stampin' Up! has come up with another special!
We are offering 25% off three of our greeting sets. You know how the perfect greeting will just set off a card. This offer is only available until 31 July, so peruse the new catalogue and add one of these greeting sets to your order. The sets are Sassy Salutations,  Sweet Essentials and Petite Pairs!

Blog Hop

Stampin Stars Blog Hop

Welcome to another Stampin Stars Blog Hop, we're so glad you could join us. We are showcasing lots of ideas and fabulous projects from the new Stampin' Up! Annual 2013/14 catalogue. Simply use the buttons at the end of each post to keep on hopping. So grab a cuppa and have look. We love comments, so please do take a moment and tell us what you think.  Please check back regularly over the next week as more projects are added.

You may have come here from the lovely Lauren, if so a big welcome.

I am absolutely loving the Washi Tape!

 This card has used the gingham wheel down the side and co-ordinating gingham washi tape stuck to white card and then cut out with the elegant butterfly punch.

I love the simplicity of the Simply Sketched set.  This card is a CASE from Lyssa Griffin Zwolanek. The set is a Hostess Set, so if you also love this set, you will need to book a party or place an order of £150. 

Thanks for stopping by. If you see any items used in our projects that you just can’t live another second without, please contact me and place an order. I would love to hear from you.

For your next hop it's over to Cary and she has some wonderful creations for you to drool over!

Here is the entire Blog Hop List in case you get lost on the way

Fiona http://oakfieldcrafts.blogspot.co.uk/ 
Sarah P http://stampingobsession.com/
Tracie http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/thestampinelf/blog
Sarah B http://stampinsupplies.blogspot.co.uk/
Teej http://favour-itthings.blogspot.co.uk/
Joanne http://toocraftyjo.blogspot.co.uk/
Louise http://stampindelight.co.uk/stampin-up-new-annual-catalogue-blog-hop/
Lesley http://lellyjellys.blogspot.co.uk/
Kate S www.makincraft.blogspot.com
Emma http://coastalcrafter.com/
Pip http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/queenpip/blog
Julie http://the-crafty-bug.blogspot.co.uk/
Lauren http://www.craftyhippy.co.uk/
Nicky http://nickyjohncock.blogspot.co.uk/  You are here!
Cary http://2biggirlscrafting.blogspot.co.uk/
Natasha http://heartsyoucrafts.blogspot.co.uk/
Natalie http://www.natalieoshea.co.uk/blog.html
Victoria http://bluejellystampin.blogspot.co.uk/
Kim http://kimfeecrafter.blogspot.co.uk/
Nic http://www.thestickyelf.co.uk/
Kate C http://crafting-happy.blogspot.co.uk/
Katy-Suzanne http://katyskraft.blogspot.co.uk/

Best of Butterflies

JULY 1st and another very special set of stamps to celebrate Stampin' Up's 25th anniversary.

BEST OF... 25 YEARS!

  

This time  133345 Best of Butterflies   PRICE  17.95 € / £13.95  

The new catalogue is almost here. I can't wait to share with you some of the new stamp sets, the new papers and the new In-colours!

There is a Stamping Stars blog hop, where you can visit different blogs and see just what the Stamping Stars get up to. I promise there will be lots of lovely inspiring creations.
See you tomorrow, ordering for the new catalogue starts at 11am, and I will have a link up for you to click so that you can have a look inside.
For those who would like a hard copy of the new catalogue, email me and I will post you a copy. Catalogues are £3 plus postage or free if you place an order.