This time of year is pretty manic in my house. Not only do I have all the preparation for Christmas but two birthdays to shop and make for too.

My Mother’s birthday is 24 December (Christmas Eve) and we usually celebrate with a chinese takeaway. This is very much a family tradition going back to when I was little. This year was no exception and in the end, there were 10 of us crammed round my kitchen table because I’d already set up the dining table for Christmas lunch.

I used some of my sneak peek products from the 2016 spring/Summer Catalogue to make Mum’s birthday card.

I used Crumb Cake and Blushing Bride ink and cardstock.  The heart is cut from Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper using one of the Bloomin’ Heart Thinlits Dies.

I also used my Precision Plate and the new Big Shot Die Brush. I have to admit that I didn’t rush to purchase the plate but now that I have, I love it. A few things you need to know about it though (i) only use it with full intricate dies (do not use with framelits), (ii) you may need to run it through the Big Shot twice, (iii) place your die closer to the side of the plate and not the middle and (iv) don’t place the die constantly in the same place.

The banner and flowers on the inside of the card and on the envelope come from the co-ordinating Bloomin’ Love stamp set.

The scallop square is the largest square from the Squares Collection Framelits. I thought that the scallops sets the heart off nicely. A bit prettier than a plain square.
Details of the products that I can give you details for are as follows:

Copies of the 2016 Spring/Summer Catalogue are going in the post on Tuesday to customers and class attendees. If you don’t already have a UK Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator and would like to receive a free copy of the catalogue please email me with your details.