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I have rejoined stampin up - stamps, cardstock, papers, brads, ribbons, buttons and more.

http://stampinupscrapper.blogspot.com/

Au Revoir

as most of you now know Polka Dot Crafts is closing it's bricks and mortar doors on Saturday July 24th , we have lots of gorgeous stash and the good news is it is all half price! - bargains galore!!!. We will still run our monthly crop at Froncysyllte Community Centre, they will re commence after the school holidays in September - if you want to go on our mailing list for crop and future class dates please email claire.stampinup@yahoo.co.uk and i'll send the details of events as they happen.

Time is

going too quick - where did the half term go to? - we had a busy week out shopping, out for lunches, the odd barbque and lots of crocheting - my wool arrived and I have started making a blanket, I thought that a double was a bit much to embark on straight off so I am working on a single size, I think it is going to take a while! at the moment it would make a nice scarf!.

We only have the brown pack of Bloom and Grow fabric left now and we are down to the last couple of Wild rose kits - I have added today some great value grab boxes to the web, there is one for stamps , embellishments, alphabets and also some button and ribbon grab bags. Page kits are also four for just £10 - you get a random selection of four - all different and contain stash to make a layout or two - great for taking to crops.

The sun has got his hat on

but will it stay on for the bank holiday weekend?- fingers crossed it does- we have all manner of things planned for the two lots of birthday celebrations, starting tonight with a bowling party - I may need ear defenders with a bunch of nine year olds!.

New in today Fabric- this is no ordinary fabric , it is printed with the patterns from the My Mind's Eye Bloom and Grow Range and each pack contains 8 fat quarters in coo-ordinating colours and patterns- there are three colourpacks available - pink, blue and brown - it is hard to pick between the - each pack is £22.50.

There is just one of each of the Wild Rose kits left from Monday's post - if you are pondering one get it quick before they all leave the shop!.

Busy Week

last week seems to have gone in a blur - lots of new bits on the shelves including a whole new batch of Wild Rose stamps and papers- the new spring fling papers are stunning, a zingy orange with turquoise and a bit of pink thrown in the mix for good measure - they will look great on cards or scrapbook layouts - we have more of the ever popular candyfloss papers , everyone loves the teapots! and we also have the Japan range, pastel blues, pinks and white. I have made three different kits using these papers and each one contains one of the new stamps, I am currently getting the stamps ready for the web but I was in a kit kind of mood today so I have done those first and at just £14.99 they are great value as each kit contains around £2o of product, we like to make your pennies stretch as far as they can!. Saturday was crop day and it was great to sit and scrap in between making tea and eating cake!- the weather has been gorgeous so yesterday invloved sitting on the balcony and practicing what is fast becoming a new love in my life - crocheting! so far I made granny squares for a small balnket and I am now embarking on a bigger blanket using a cotton - not sure what I will do with them but while the sun is out it keeps me busy. We also have two birthdays in the house this month the youngest member is going to be 9 and the elest member well shall we say is getting older! - I have a bowling party on Friday evening for a bunch of 9 year olds organised, party bags to pack ( thanks to the cricut they are decorated!), a Stig cake to find and a barbque to do tonight - J decided this morning before school it would be nice to have tea outside tonight - fingers crossed the weather holds.

More Dies

have arrived the long awaited Caged Bird from Tim , packs of embossing folders, and some really cute dies such as the butterfly, birdhouse & flower layers - I can't wait to get cutting! - we also have some more of the 6 x 13 chipboard packs which great for using with the xl dies to make surdy boxes or for making books with the great aleration on the edge dies.

Nappy Cake

a what I hear you ask! - a Nappy Cake made for a mum to be - it is made in the style of a wedding cake but with lots of rolled up nappies (and i mean lots!) - this cake has three tiers with a rolled up fleece blanket running through the centre and a couple of extra surprises inside for when it is opened up. I have hung little mittens, bootees, vests, bottles, dummies and other things on with traditional nappy pins and decorated it all with ribbons, hearts and paper buttons & topped with a very cute giraffe (picture taken before it was wrapped in clear cellophane witha big raffia bow) If you fancy a cake for as a gift we do make them to order.

From lots of these

to this!

gone

several blog posts seem to have vanished into thin air or maybe they never published? - how odd - well we haven't left the country!. Lots has been happening, more stock arrives weekily just waiting on some more sizzix dies to replenish the shelves - June's bumper birthday bonanza issue of Craft Stamper is in with a free stamp of a black cat. Some of you seem to be having problems regisitering to buy on the website (please keep trying it seems to have blips at the moment - maybe it is fed up of the rainy weather!) - I have reported it to our ever patient web guy, if you have any issues please email us. Our next crop is May 22nd and it will be held at Froncysyllte Community Centre but I will be bring goodies along to sell - cash is fine and I can also take cards, if you want a spot just let us know it is £5 for the whole day including refreshments, biccies and sometimes cakes!.

Going

like hot cakes! - all the Fanciful Flight Tim Holtz Dies have now gone and only two each of the others are left.

Look

at what I collected from the parcel depot today! - yet more bigshots, these only manage a day or two on the shelves before they are gone (I think the £54.99 price tag has something to do with it!), more on the edge dies and at long last after several manufacturing delays Tim's Bigz dies - we have Tattered Florals, Elegant Flourishes, Heart & Wings, Fanciful Flight and Hanging Sign, they are fantastic (Bird Cages are to follow).You can find them here.

Spring

has sprung! - we have had several days of sun and no rain!. The caravan site has been busy this week as we have had lots of campers in buying crafty bits. I have been busy scrapping and rearranging the shop to fit all of our goodies in - it is starting to resemble the tardis when you open our door! - I made this layout using papers from one of our various page kits.

Word has it that more Tim Holtz dies are on the way and yet another re-stock of Big Shots- £54.99 inc p&p. Don't forget we can order any set of nestabilites you require and post them out to you- they are £18.99 a set and with 70 different sets there is one for every project, they work perfectly in the bigshot and you can use them to cut, emboss & stencil, my favourite set at the moment is the deckled rectangles- the wavy edge is lovely.

The Sun

is shining but I decided to scrap! - these MME papers and die cuts were calling to be used! (my new years resolution was to use gorgeous papers and not keep them forever just in case!). The photo strip is from my vintage collection, I can't resisit buying these old pictures when I see them at antiques fairs.

Updating

the web as quick as I can - the stock is arriving faster than I can catalogue it at the moment!!.

Tim Holtz On the Edge dies have been counted and added, MME is all on, new copies of Craft Stamper are there too - the free stamp this month is a very nice sunburst, the magazine is packed with inspirational articals, techniques and projects. We have had a part delivery of the new Paperie papers from Advantus- they are all double sided and are just 89p a sheet - they are next onto the web!. Don't forget if you are passing call in to the shop and say hello - we are there Mon & Fri 9.30 - 3pm and Saturday 9.30 - 4.30pm, and if you see anything you like here that hasn't got onto the web just give us a ring as we can take orders & payments over the phone too.

all on

the web - I have finally finished uploading all the new MME Jack & Jill prices start at just 40p & the accessory sheets are great value at just £1.50 for die cut stickers - all of the die cuts are cute but I love the long legged birdie and the spotty umbrella, they would be great on a handmade card. Tim Holtz edges are in the building, they just need pre orders taking out and the rest will be on the web.

It is here

The MME Jack & Jill collection - we have it all - the papers and some extras are on the website, the rest will have made it on by the end of this evening!. The papers are so nice - fantastic cardstock quality with such cute patterns, birds, umbrellas, raindrops, spots, blooms stripes, ginghams and more! - there are die cut stickers, journal cards, title cards, & alphabets - they would all be brilliant for cards, minibooks and scrapbook pages. Girls Paperie should also be landing on the doorstop this week along with our first batch of alteration dies.

This Friday we are making easel cards between 10am & 12 if you fancy popping by- we have a couple of seats spare- it is £6 for the class.

Easter

is looming! the bunny is busy getting things ready for the hunt and today it is snowing here! but as it has rained so much I don't think it will stick!.

The shop wil be open Good Friday & Saturday but we wil be shut on BH Monday.

We have some great Easter kits here , just one bargain box left and one Prima Blooming Retro kit - grab them while you can. Hopefully the new edition of Craft Stamper will be here this week along with some gorgeous My Minds Eye papers and accessories - just a taste is shown below.

Practising

using the new Martha Stewart Scoreboard - I always use a metal ruler, pencil and a scoring tool for all my projects so when I saw this board I thought it would be a time saver and remove the inaccurate measuring disasters which often happen! - it comes as a 12 x 12 board with envelope guide (I have never tackled making an envelope!) and a scoring tool. All the tools are stored neatly in the board and it has a list of where to score and how depending on your project - it is fantastic it scores deeply and gives a crisp finish it is clearly marked and I made an envelope first time and it is perfect - if you make cards, boxes , envelopes or all of them this is for you - we can order them in especially just for you at the bargain price of £16.99 - worth every penny! - here is the card I made along with my envelope. If you are a Martha Stewart punch fan we can also order any punch that takes your fancy from her range as well.

Easter

is on it's way - after a morning spent preparing dinner, cleaning the car, making a cake and what feels like a thousand other things I sat down to make this banner - it is made from chipboard and decorated with old sheet music, scraps of card, blooms and ribbons- after easter is over I will assemble it into a mini book with pictures from this years egg hunt.

We have the new deilivery of Aussie mags in more great copies of the Scrapbook Creations & the fantastic Cardmaking, stamping and papercraft.

Easter Stash

has been added to the store here , there are some gorgeous Easter themed stickers and chipboard pieces from Scenic Route , lovely pastel colours that are perfect for your cards or scrapbooks, ribbons decorated with eggs, felt bunnies & more!. Also added to the web store are new papers from Scenic Route's Ashville range- blues & greens, all are double sided cardstock quality and they are only 60p a sheet- bargain!.

Ever have

one of those days? - yesterday was one of them after a lovely crafty day in the shop preparing things for Monday's necklace class and putting out all the lovely sizzix goodies (the embossing folders are fantastic - they emboss a beautiful deep crisp design- dare I say I think I prefer them to the cuttlebug folders) - I go home to a washing machine that I knew had washed it's last wash! but DH bless him insisited on trying to fix it - after two hours he admitted defeat and drove to get a new one and a microwave as that has exploded too! (I won't go into details about the toaster fire!) so today while I am left with a pile of washing that resembles Snowden he has taken himself off for a couple of days in Ireland watching the Rugby - so in between loads I am abandoning the house work and I am going to get out my copics and colour lots of Wild Rose Stamps , I may even make some cards! - easel cards are my favourites at the moment.

Sizzix has arrived

after chasing the dhl delivery around, I finally got to collect the sizzix order from the depot this evening- no mean feat in a Fiat 500 with both the boys on board! - we managed to squeeze it in!, so we now have the Big Shot machines, Sidekicks & the Texture Boutique along with dies & embossing folders, cutting mats, crease pads & cutting mats - we have the new tim holtz alterations arriving as soon as they land! and the next batch of new releases will be with us in June - in the mean time if there are any dies you want and we don't have them in stock, they can be ordered for you as long as they in the current sizzix range.

We still have copies of the Australian Cardmaking & Scrapbooking.

Also a big thanks to everyone ordering on the website, after lots of fraught months, intermittent servers and other behind the scenes techy issues we are up and running , the post office man is used to me being on the doorstep each morning - luckily he opens up at 8.30am to take parcels.

New Classes

details are on the side bar - book early

Aussie Pics

a new batch of Australian magazines have arrived they include: Scrapbook Creations, Scrapbooking Memories , Scrapbooing Masters (scrapbook creations special edition) & Cardmaking, Stamping & Papercraft - I just need to sort pictures and they will be up on the site, they are £5.25 per copy, each one is packed full of inspirational ideas.

If you want any of the cheeky cherry stamps they are now on the website but be quick they are going fast.

Stamp Overload

We nearly didn't have enough hooks for all these gorgeous stamps to go out! - The wild rose stamps are delightful, they stamp brilliantly and the matching papers are beautiful - stamps and papers are just £3.99 and the matching brads are £2.99. Greeting farm stamps are also out- the cheeky collection is well cheeky! love the cowgirl. We also have the latest edition of Craft Stamper in with a free stamp priced at £4.25.

Limited Edition

Greeting Farm stamps are here - they are so cute , get them quick!

exciting

few days! - it has been a hectic half term and was rounded off with 2 days at the NEC, Saturday I got the day of to go and play with all things crafty - a fantastic workshop with three very talented crafers- Tim Holtz, Suze Weinberg & Claudine Helmuth (what a trio of talent) we made an altered art frame, it was the most amazing class- needless to say lots of the wonderful ranger products will soon be in use at workshops. Sunday after lots of snow which nearly halted the trip we made it back to the NEC for the trade show - we have a whole new line of gorgeous stamps coming in , perfect for colouring or stamping onto patterned paper, they would be great to decoupage with, a new line of Australian Craft Magzines- three titles in total, we are also going to be a stockist for the fantastic Craft Stamper magazine and we are going to be stocking die cutters. Our next batch of Greeting Farm stamps have cleared customs so hopefully they will be in on Friday and they include one stamp that isn't on general release until the end of march.

Phew

we escaped the snow that everyone kept telling me would arrive along with minus twelve temperatures - It feels very cold but I don't think it is that cold!. Today I am working on flower pot card kits ready for Mother's Day.

We are also now able to supply Spellbinders Nestabilities- I know lots of you love these and wouldn't be without them in your cardmaking, there are over a whopping 70 sets to choose from, we can order any set you require at a cost of £18.99, they take about 5 days to arrive with us, if you want any please get in touch.

Another

month gone, let's hope February is a better month than January was.

More new stock has gone out onto the shelves, we have some lovely cosmo cricket kits at just £5.99 - they contain oodles of stash, papers, alphabets, ribbons stickers and more. Also some great recipe book kits to organise your recipes you get a naked binder lots of recipe themed embellishments, papers and cut outs - last weekend I went through all my hoarded food mags and cut out all the recipes I wanted to keep and have made one for myself! - great value at just £8.99.

A Sea of White

is what we woke up this morning- it was unexpected as the forecast had said light rain - did it matter ? ,yes it did we had a crop planned but it had to be hastily cancelled as three to four inches fell in the space of about 20 minutes making it impossible to see the roads, as the day has progressed it has melted a little fingers crossed it is gone in the morning.

Don't forget we still have the Valentine's Kit available - we also have some fantastic value bargain boxes, for just £10.00 you get a pizza box full of surprise goodies- it includes at least 10 sheets of 12 x 12 scrapping paper, 5 sheets of cardstock and a selection of embellishments - all items are from big named manufactures and the total value of each box is at least £30 - if you would like to grab a box please drop me an email polkadotcrafts@btconnect.com you can also send payemnt via paypal to the same address postage is just £1.95 on these fantastic boxes we only have 5 available so treat yourself and grab one quick.

At Last

I remembered the camera to take pics of the kit! - if you like anything on the blog just email us as you can buy via paypal - the kit is £9.99 + £1.50 p&p - you get 3 sheets of cardstock in pink, vanilla & guacamole. 3 sheets of bo bunny persuasion- stripe, blooms & my sweet, 1 scenic route loveland stickers, 1 loveland chipboard pack, 1 pack of naked man & woman chipboard!, 1 pack of naked chipboard hearts, 1 skein of embroidery floss, 2 - 1/2 metres of ribbon , bag of pink buttons & brads and also included but not in the picture is a matching ink pad and bag of blooms. You can buy the kit via the store on the right.

We also have some cute little stamps that have the days of the week on them (approx 7mm high) they are just £3.49.

oops

I forgot the camera to take pics of the Valentine's Kit - Hopefully my brain cell will remember on Friday!. The snow has nearly all gone now and the shop pavement and car park is safe to walk on - no more slipping and sliding.

I put out some lovely valentines themed stock today - although most of it can be used for other projeCts too, and they look fanatastic when teamed up with the gorgoeus Bo Bunny Persuasion range.

Naked chipboards hearts - use with ink, paint, glitter , stamps , emboss or leave naked!

Man & Woman - I made a card with them today and they hold hands!!
Great sheets of stickers and we also have the co-ordinating chipboard.

Back to it!

with a little coaxing this morning my little car made it off the drive and we headed to the shop - we are offically back and open! - apologies for missing the last Midday Monday - the next one will be on January 25th - 10am till 12 - £3 inc tea and biscuits - no formal lessons just come along and rummage in our box of stash and make a few cards.

Take one stamp class is tomorrow - we have places if you want to come along- please take care if you are visiting this Saturday although the roads are passable the car park is still piled with snow that is now melting into a slushy slippy mess.

The sale is in full swing- stock up! there are some great products on offer.

Our next Crop is the 31st of January (replaces the earlier Jan one that we cancelled due to bad weather), booking essential. I am busy putting together our Valentine's section - lots of pink and red themed goodies for making cards, mini books or scrapbook pages, we will have some great value kits available- I will pop back on monday with a picture and full details.

Then it is onto Mother's Day & Easter , guess what it will soon be Chrsitmas!.

The rest of our weekend will be spent in DIY flatpack hell - ikea have finally delivered 12 boxes today, it is the first day they could get down our road since the snow! - let's hope all the pieces are there!.

Snow

although today I think we could make it out as the road was gritted a little bit yesterday I'm not sure my little car would stay on the road without sliding down a big ditch. Apologies if you have come to the shop and we were not there - as more bad weatehr is predicted we are cancelling tomorrows crop - I will re arrange for later in the month and the shop will open again on Friday 15th Januray - the great buy one get one free sale will now of course run to the end of the month to give everyone a chance to stock up on a baragin or two before more new stock is put out.