My intention this morning was to make this a quick post but now that I’ve started it might just be a bit longer than planned.

I’m off to the USA today for a whole month! I’d like to say that I’ll be on holiday but no such luck because the trip involves two college tours (for Michael) and a trip to help Jenny pack up her dorm room. Her first year at college ends 1 May and I’m immensely proud of her. She has adapted to college life (with a few amusing hic-ups along the way) and has also managed to have some of her work from Merrist Wood transferred. This means she is academically now at the end of her second year.

I was planning on taking a couple of Stampin’ Up! kits with me to the USA, but because we are travelling with hand luggage only, I have decided that I’m going to have to leave one of them behind. I don’t normally do kits but there are two new(ish) that I’ve had my eye on. I’ve decided not to take the Happenings Simply Created Card Kit, so I opened it last night to have a quick play.

My tip is to stamp the banners before punching them out. It is much easier to stamp them while they are still part of a larger sheet and the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig is a great tool to make sure that the images are straight.

The kit comes with a sheet with a few printed ideas on it, but I like to come up with my own. Who says you can’t cut up some of the pre-printed elements to make some fun shapes. The card above left has part of a circle, and the tag bottom left has been altered too.

The kit contains supplies to make 15 cards but with a bit of imagination all the “scrap” can be utilised too and far more cards can be made.

I think that this kit is great for both new card makers and those of us who have been crafting for years. It’s a great go to kit if you need to put together a quick card or two, or if you are just starting out and need a little bit of help with ideas.

Well, I guess I ought to go get some packing done. I will have some exciting news to share on Wednesday although I hope to get another post in before then.