Oyster Stamps Blog Hop Starts Today

Well, here we are at last, Oyster Stamps is launching its very first Blog Hop, in fact the first time the Design Members (Barbara, Linda, Martine, Pam, Paul and myself, Neet) have got together as a team.  I do hope you join in and visit each one of us as we upload our creations using our Grand Calibur and the Spellbinders Cut, Fold and Tuck Dies starting here today.

It all began with a bit of fun with our ‘boss lady’, Tracey, handing me four sets of Dies at Aintree show.  Four “Cut, Fold and Tuck” dies to do something with.  She then said she was going to challenge the team to come up with something using them.  Barbara and I chipped in and then the words “blog” and ”hop” came out into the conversation and before I knew what was happening it was taking off.

Here’s a short video to show you how these incredible dies work and a little snapshot of what I made with some of the ones I had been given to work with.  (This video went live yesterday to make sure it was working in time for the Blog Hop so it does talk about "tomorrow" which is "today".  Sorry.  Also the sound is fairly low but that is my itty bitty camera.  Please bear with me.)

Now you have marvelled at my finger nails (don’t often get them all to that length – wonder how long they will stay?) here is what I did with my dies.  It’s fun to buy more than one set of these dies as you can mix and match them - I threw mine in the air and let them land on my desk and then proceeded to make a card with a couple of them.  Now to puzzle as to which set they all belong to LOL.

It had to be a large card from me as I am always dem'ing the Grand Dies from Spellbinders so here I have used Grand Labels One and Four, CFT Angle Approach (Lg), Carnival Dream (Md) and Parisian Accents (thanks *Cindy - see link at end) for the corner pieces.

There are so many things you can do with these dies, not just restrict yourself to making cards, what about a candlestick (Spectacular Spin (L) drip tray ?  (NB please do not leave unattended when burning the candle – always take care with a naked flame or better still remove the tray when burning the candle)

A napkin ring (Floral Burst (M) to use on that table setting with the candlestick?  You could even make a placemat and put one in the corner – imagine them all in red, white and blue for a Jubilee celebration!

I used a sheet of A4 card, the Fleur de Lis border and made a place mat for my Party Setting

I even went and made a badge/rosette (Floral Burst (L) for George, one of the twins (sorry Tom, could not find your photo on my computer) which is what you could do for the kids who are having a party.  Either the child’s name or a number showing their age would be good fun and would fit in those party bags just fine.

There were so many things I wanted to make with these versatile dies – I thought a headband with one, two or three of them on the side would be rather cute, two or three brightly coloured ones on sticks to make some fun flowers.  The ideas are endless.  What can you come up with?

Once I see what the others have made I think I will get back to making more things.  Hope you do too – they are on sale here at Oyster Stamps so get them quickly as the orders will be flying off the shelves in no time.  In the meantime though, you need to follow all the wonderful talented Design Team to see what incredible makes they have all done.  Just leave a comment on every blog and at the end, 6pm Friday, 25th May, all the names of those who have commented (on ALL SIX Blogs) will go into a hat and a winner will be chosen who will receive two of the dies we have been using!

Be sure to peek in at the other DT Members  - tomorrow we are with Linda and then going on to

Sunday - Pam

Monday - Paul

Tuesday - Barbara

And ending with Martine on Wednesday.

Have fun!  And please leave us a comment to tell us what you think of our creations and our first ever blog hop!  Remember, there's going to be a lucky winner.

Links as promised:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vSpPO7o61U&feature=channel&list=UL – * Cindy Etchinaw’s You Tube video

http://www.amazingpapergrace.com/warmed-with-joy/ - Becca’s Amazing Paper Grace Blog