Hello and welcome,

Let me tell you a little bit about me and the Acorns.

My crafting journey started with my Mum. She was always into crafts (lace making, beading, upholstery – you name it she tried it) so the house was always full of her projects. But, being young, none of them caught my attention enough for me to take one up.

Fast forward to the year 2000 when I moved to the USA with my family. I was introduced to Stampin’ Up! by a friend and I immediately fell in love with stamps, ink and paper. Being able to create my own projects using products that simply worked together and made crafting easy was a dream. Ok, so the first projects were not necessarily great but the shear fact that I made it and I wanted to make more was thrilling.

Returning to the UK in 2006 meant I had to give up my crafting for awhile. Young kids, a husband working away a lot, and no Stampin’ Up! in the UK meant I had no real time to myself or new inspiration. My Mum had by that time started a small craft group for her friends. And, I was on occasion invited along to teach them some card making using the supplies I’d brought back with me from the USA.

All this changed in 2011 when I went to a Craft Show and my Mum was excited to tell me that she’d seen a Stampin’ Up! stand. In fact, I think she was more excited than me! Two months later I’d purchased my Starter Kit.

The original intention was to use my discount simply for myself and the things I brought to share at Mum’s craft group. Things stayed like that for awhile but my Mum and her friends were always trying to get me to expand my classes to others. In the end, I decided to take part in the same craft show where I’d seen Stampin’ Up! back in 2011 and so Oakfield Crafts was born.

My first proper class was an all day one. Talk about jumping in at the deep end! Actually it wasn’t that bad because myself and another demonstrator held the classes, and people were divided between my Lounge and Dining Room. Everyone had a great time and there was great interest in future classes.

For awhile, regular monthly classes were held around the dining room table. But, after the big glitter incidence (my Mum blew at her project!) it was agreed I would be able to hold the class in the basement. At this time it was mostly used by the kids, and was a huge family room with sofa, TV etc. In later years it’s become my craft room.

With ongoing classes and Stampin’ Up! joining offers people started to join the Acorns. And, over the years I’ve welcomed many wonderful people to my team . The majority of the Acorns joined for the discount and are happy shoppers, others because they wanted to share their love of paper crafts with others. Where we don’t differ is that we all love Stampin’ Up! products. 

We have a lot of fun together.

  • There have been team trips to Stampin’ Up! events in Telford, Solihull, Brussels, Amsterdam and Florida to name a few. COVID put a stop to in person events for quite awhile. But, they are now starting up again and I am off to Vienna in November.
  • Our weekly Chat & Craft on Zoom can on occasion end up a bit silly, but we all finish the project being shared with us. It’s usually me that does the sharing but I do ask for volunteers at times.
  • Quarterly Team meetings were for awhile on zoom but are now back in person. These are all day events and those who cannot make it get to order a kit and join on zoom if they wish.

If having read all of this about me and the Acorns, you would like to find out more about joining the Acorns, you will find it HERE.