Get ready for the party

This is one of the sketches sent last week by Mary, and now you can see why I smiled when I opened it. Mary Hall is a very talented and respected illustrator and you can read her full profile on the link to the right. I am delighted to have her on the Sugar Nellie team, I cant wait too for more sketches as I am now sure that these will be a great addition to the range.

GET READY TO PARTY....................over on Split Coast Stampers, SCS, we will be waiting for you to join us in the NEW YEAR, the time difference will interfere with chat but I am sure that we will all over lap at some time.
www.splitcoaststampers.com

SUGAR BOWL will also open on the first, Gayle has been working hard along with her chosen team of helpers. Good luck girls, I cant wait to see what all the challenges are about.
www.sugarbowlblog.blogspot.com

The way forward...........

.................is it more cute kids?
How many ranges of children's stamps can we cope with?
When do we stop?
Are our artist all different enough?

When someone sends me an email about how its their dream to have their artwork made into stamps, what should I do, without giving away the ideas for the future, do you the stampers think that the world of stamps have now got enough child themed stamps. It is only 18 months since Funkykits were one of the first online stores to bring Magnolia stamps to the UK. Since then there have been several new child based stamp companies. When is there too many?

Well I would love to buy you all a coffee and a big tray of muffins and sit down and chat about this............. what's coming next?

I ask myself that question every day, sometimes I have to take a new look at things when an artists moves on to another company, I have a little panic about loosing them but am proud to have found them and pleased to have been right in recognising their talent and the ability to make their work into great stamps. But when one door closed another one always opens, there is so much talent out there, illustrators who have a little blog and dont even know the first thing about rubber stamps. When I stumble upon them in my travels and see somthing new, thats the exciting bit for me.

I was uplifted the other day when Mary sent her first batch of sketches in, I love them, they bring a smile to my face and I cant wait to see what else she comes up with. As time goes on I am more focused on what I want in a stamp. But what do you want?

Answers on a postcard please..........................or leave me a comment..............or pop in for a coffee and I will order the muffins in ...........orange or banana?

Are you in USA, fancy a stamped images swap http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=12489973#post12489973

twas the night before Christmas.....

The house of sugar is now closed for the holidays, online orders at Funkykits will be dealt with when someone is in town but the store is closed for the next three days and everything we need to do can be done from home now that my Internet is working :) No the fabby Internet chap did not come out, although he would have if I had asked because hes nice like that, no it was a simple case of plugging the phone line back into the modem !

I have been really bad at taking pictures of all the lovely cards and gifts which we have been sent, but today I found this http://balloobear.wordpress.com/, Jo sent us this card and it is stunning and a great way to make one stamp work for Christmas too.

I am waiting to be let in the back door of SCS so that I can start setting up our own little sweet spot, I hope to be joined by many Sugar Babes in January and I am sure it will all be a big BIG for me to start with but I am keen to learn. I have no idea who is who in the world of SCS and I am sure that I will take everyone as I find them and as each and every stamper is important it is great to venture over there and be totally blind as to who is a "celebrity stamper". There is a swap going on with images if you want to take a look, Sugar Nellie do not allow the sale of stamped images as you know but swaps are OK in small numbers :)

Best wishes for tomorrow, have fun , take pictures and enjoy.

A sugar free Christmas

I doubt it! I have already been gifted a box of my favourite chocolates, all mine no sharing, and a huge fancy wrapped package that I believe is tablet ( a Scottish fudge made with lots of sugar), so if I am high on Christmas day it will be with an over load of sugar.

I still have no Internet at home, it does not seam fair to call on the helpful computer chap the day before Christmas eve, but until he sorts it out I am lost.

But today is my last day at the house of sugar and I have a lot of emails to write, I want to thank everyone for the lovely cards they have sent this Christmas, more arrived today and I love them all.

I have a desk full of artwork for future stamps, you are going to love them :) We look forward to 2009 with a spring in our step and lots to look forward too. We hope you join us on our travels along the inky road of rubber stamps.

Good luck to the girls over at the Sugar Bowl, I will try to jump over and see whats going on and I am sure one lucky winner will love that prize :)
www.sugarbowlblog.blogspot.com

My candle is burning and a lovely Cinnamon fragrance fills the room, its feeling a little bit like Christmas, once I clear the dinning room table of all my craft stuff we can have dinner!

take care and catch you again soon

Sweet smell of cinnamon

...............well there would be if we had a match!

The lovely Gayle sent a very heavy gift in the post, a huge yummy Christmassy Cinnamon candle in a jar, thank you Gayle its lovely and would smell beautiful on the desk if I could find a light! I will ask the next person who enters the house of sugar if they can light my candle for me ;) * sings come on baby light my fire* ha ha ha

We have been sent lots of lovely things this past week and I have picture to load on of gifts and thank your from Sugar Babes, you are all so very thoughtful when at a time of year you will have more than enough to do for your nearest and dearest, but still you think of us, bless you sweet stamping hearts. A big thank you also to girls who send us pictures of their cards, we love the fact that you love sugar nellie, we are very proud of our little stamp company, I hope that you all join in with the challenges over at the SUGAR BOWL and enjoy the fun and games with the teams/sweeties. I leave it all in Gayles hands, www.sugarbowlblog.blogspot.com


Marlene is off to the sun, what no crafting over Christmas! Have a great time Marlene and we will catch you when you come home.

I have no Internet at home again, bad under ground phone lines so I have a lot of catching up to do, a prize to sort out for the SUGAR BOWL and picture to find for SCS banners, OMG I cant do technical stuff.
I am off for a few days myself to collect #1 sugar babe from Glasgow and bring her home for Christmas. Then she will have to put her apron on and cut up rubber as there are a few things happening in the new year that requires a delivery of rubber.....................

Funkykits so live on SCS as the online retailer for Sugar Nellie world wide.
Imagination craft have a few craft show to attend in the UK in January
Papercrafts have an advert running in Craft Stamper with the first phone in order line for those who miss all the sugar because they do not have a computer.
Gorjuss girls arrive in the house of sugar.

I hope that the last minuet rush to provide your family with the Christmas they expect does not stress you out, after all Christmas is what you make of it, big and flashy or small and peaceful, the choice is yours. Take care.

Goodbye UKS.......

This is the first card I have seen made with the new stamps from Leanne, this character is called Annie and I think you must like her :) shes so sweet and Gayle has made a lovely card here for her friend, see Gayle's blog as she has some Sugar Bowl news.

*****************************************************************

Sugar Nellie was conceived and born on the UKS forum, born of the frustration at having to work with a poor stamp supplier.

We received an amazing amount of support in all shapes and forms from girls who knew that we were a small company, but supported us and with that we were able to grow and this has been our story so far, just the first chapter.

Funkykits will end its sponsorship of UKS at the end of this year, they has been a sponsor since before Sugar Nellie came along and because they have the only licence to sell online, they themselves have grown in a time when many online craft stores are cutting prices in order to hold there heads above water, many have already called it a day, FK have become stronger and we are both looking ahead to 2009 with some exciting news and changes.

There was a boom in small stamp companies in 2009, some much smaller that others but as time moves on I notice that the good are getting better and those who did not quite give the stampers the quality or service they can expect in a time when customer is Queen, have begun to fall by the wayside, it is sad to put your heart into something that does not work but the key word there is HEART, if you do it for love, it has far more chance of working for you, if you do it for a quick buck because it's the fashion you are loosing out before you begun.




Together, Sugar Nellie & Funkykits, have found a new place, where the grass is greener, the field is bigger and there are so many new faces for you to get to know, share, learn and hopefully make new friends. I am hoping you join in with faces old and new, and get to know myself and the team at Sugar Nellie a little bit better.

2009 sees Sugar Nellie become a Member Company of Split Coast Stampers http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/
.................YEEEEHAAA

I would like to thank all the sugar babes who live on UKS for all the support which has been amazing and ask them to join us on SCS. Load up you gallery with your beautiful cards and lets show the world what sweet little stamps we have here at Sugar Nellie.

We will be on SCS in the new year. Just in time to show off our Gorjuss Girls :)

And two from Tiets, Snowflake and Rope Swing, both from the new Sweet Art Ebony range by Elisabeth Bell, aint they grand? Thank you Tiets:)

Be creative

Marlene and Tiets both have new stamps to play with, I cant wait to see what they do with them. But here they have used something old and something new. Tiets has used Luca and Winter Nellie, our first stamps by Eva and still very popular today. Marlene has used Carefree a new design by Elisabeth Bell. I received a box of card from booth girls this week and they are all stunning. I also had a lovely gift from Erika, what a thoughtful girls she is and such a beautiful crafter. Thank you all girl for the lovely packages you send me, they make me very happy.

Gayle has chosen her team for the new SUGAR BOWL blog, jump over and have a read. A big hello to the new girls and it looks like being lots of fun.:)

Christmas Post

I hope by now that most of you have posted you cards and gifts for the season ahead. (give your self a pat on the back, well done, you are on track to a perfect Christmas..hahaha)

In the UK we have one postal system and it works OK 99% of the time.
But having had a long chat with Tracy over at Funkykits about general matters to do with posting and the changes that will be made in 2009, unlucky Dutch girls have three postal systems and a nightmare when it comes to delivery times and lost packets. The USA is about 2 weeks normally and with the pound being so bad we have a lot of international customers taking advantage of the exchange rate while its so good for them.

So with that in mind, please order early if you want a little sugar under your tree, why put it off until tomorrow and risk not getting it in time, if you know what you want order it now because I hate to have any disappointed Sugar Babes out there.
Funkykits have had a backlog of orders since last weeks new releases, I am told that everything will be update by end of business today, giving those sweet little packets time to get anywhere in the world right? well that all depends on your postal system.
To be fair, the post office is the only business on the UK high street that is having a boom time this year, no cut price offers there, lines out the door and no entertainment while you wait.

As we find ourselves busy too, getting stock ready for both Funkykits and Imagination Craft (who have three shows in the UK come January, I will list those nearer the time.) and to have to work around holidays etc its a time of year we though would be QT but you keep us all busy :)
had better get on with my list of jobs today, no rest for the wicked right.............. but hey Santa, I have been good *wink*

Sugar overload

B:Quixotic; http://www.quixoticcards.blogspot.com/ recieved

B:Miranda : http://mirandasscrapcards.blogspot.com/ recieved

B;Ethel http://thepaperquilter.blogspot.com/ recieved

B;Deb; http://countrylovincardmaker.blogspot.com/ recieved

B:Madge; http://madgesty-lovetocreate.blogspot.com/ recieved

posting out you GUEST DT packs :)


Leanne Ellis candy all three packs ready to go :)



Dutch Candy, OOPPPS I should have linked to your comment as there are a lot of girls with the same name....OK I will send to Daan, all 3 Conny and 2 Angelique.............ready to post.

I am missing adress from tanja and Maudy who left a comment for the candy too.

candy for our lovely followers thank you girls I have all your addresses now

Snow much fun

Marlene in not likely to see a white Christmas unless you are talking white beaches! So I expect that the nearest she got to snow this year is colouring in Snowmen, don't you just love the teal colour, its so yummy and great with brown, everything goes with brown its my favourite base colour, maybe that it why I love the sepia toned colouring in , and with some you now getting ready to stamp Leanne's images, I will be watching carefully to see changes in the way colours are put together.

I am told by Tracy over at Funkykits that the character Annie, is great to colour with pro markers and the proof of that can be seen in Papercraft Essentials Stamp Supplement out in January.

Marlene have a fantastic holiday, recharge you batteries, because Sugar Nellie are going to keep you very busy in 2009 :)..........you and me both!

Tiets has a new toy, I don't know that particular machine,I look forward to seeing new die cuts on her cards.

Remember to pop over to their blogs,{ links on the right} and see what goes on in the world sugar babes.

Have a great day.

Five lucky followers

http://debby4000.blogspot.com/
http://sbrockie.blogspot.com/
http://craftysons.blogspot.com/
http://dawnmariegs.blogspot.com/
http://teaghens.blogspot.com/

These five followers are having a wee (Scottish word for small) candy bag of goodies from the House of Sugar, our early Christmas pressie to you. I have managed to get a selection of lovely charms from Funkykits, they do plan to put them online............sometime. Email your address girls and a reminder to our guest DT group B to have there addresses in so we can send out some of the newest stamps for you to play with.

SinterKlaas!

I believe that today there are celebrations in Netherlands. So let me give a gift to the Dutch Sugar Babes.............
Daan
Conny
tanja
maudy
Angelique

please email your postal address to info@sugarnellie.com I am happy to send you some sugar :)

This week I decided to give up my day job in the new year to work more with Sugar Nellie, we have so much happening in 2009 that I can not juggle all my work, something must go and I will hand my fancy apron { beautifully made and purchased from Etsy}, to Kate :P

Gayle will manage the Sugar Bowl along with the help of other sweeties :)

Marlene and Tiets will be joined by guest DT for two more releases.

Imagination Craft will take Sugar Nellie to the shows in the UK.

Funkykits will continue to retail exclusively online world wide, that will keep Katie and Tracy busy.

everything else is a secret.................ssshhhhh............time will tell.

Until then the beans stay in the cupboard.

happy Sinterklass to you all :)

Tiets has her own club

Did you know that?

Yesterdays card was designed by Tiets and on having a little read of here blog, link on the right, she also has her own craft community on the web, great if you speak Dutch, but I dont. Sorry girls I would have loved to come in and say hello but cant, so today i want to give a great big HELLO to all the girls over in Holland who take in

http://www.clubs.nl/community/default.asp?clubid=270971

I notice you have new wallpaper, last time I looked it was a gourjuss girl, OMG how weird was that! Memebers of Tiets club please leave me a comment I have some rubber to give to my Dutch Sugar Babes :)

Jingle bells......

Dashing through the snow

In a one horse open sleigh

O'er the fields we go

Laughing all the way

Bells on bob tails ring

Making spirits bright

What fun it is to laugh and sing

A sleighing song tonight

Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells

Jingle all the way

Oh, what fun it is to ride

In a one horse open sleigh

Jingle bells, jingle bells

Jingle all the way

Oh, what fun it is to ride

Today it snowed, it was beautiful, clean, crisp and white. As I was "dashing through the snow" in my "one horse open sleigh" ( darling daughters red fiesta), off to work in my day job where the class I was to teach was cancelled because of the weather, leaving me free to do other things, like look at all the lovely sketches that have been sent to me over the last few days from our illustrators.

Mrs Bell herself may not have any time to jingle as she is just so busy now, but we have some darling Sweet Art Ebony spring idea sketches on our desk, thank you Elisabeth.

Suzanne is moving house and with Christmas to fit in there somewhere, is going to be very busy too. There is a buzz about the Gorjuss Girls and I know a few stampers that can not wait for the New Year to come around.

Leanne is up to date with her designs and all six new stamps will hopefully be with Funkykits tomorrow :)

........and there is all magazine work that we are doing for Craft Stamper. Usually November is quiet but not this year and it does not look like December will be any quieter either.

But our Christmas tree is up and the "bairns" are still on track with the doors of their advent calender for now, its only the 2nd!

I see that our "followers" are growing in numbers and as I have a few new stamps to give away I am off to see who has wish lists on their blog :) do you feel lucky?

We need you.......

......over at Gayle's blog, where she is looking for some sugar addict to join in with the new blog which goes live on 1st January 2009, http://www.littlebirddesign.blogspot.com/


As I put up my Christmas tree at home tonight and as my two smaller children begin to bounce off the walls with excitement of things to come, I hope that there is a little peace in your house, time for a little bit of card making at least.
Take care and stay warm.

almost there

In the house of sugar this week we have been packing up stock ready to launch the new releases from Elisabeth Bell and Leanne Ellis for December.

Funkykits have decided to open up pre orders for Gorjuss Girls as soon as the art work is ready and dispatch will be very early in January. We will have to work around seasonal holidays but we are planning to have them with FK before the end of this year{OMG that is only 4 weeks away}.

Here is another peek of a Gorjuss Girl waiting to be turned into one of your favourite stamps. :)

Gorjuss Candy will be included in one of the pre order, what a surprise that would be, not quite Willy Wonkas Golden Ticket but for a small Scottish stamp company it is a great give away.

Guest Design Team; Group B will have their stamps before Christmas, have you all sent your names and addresses to info@sugarnellie.com ?

Have a great weekend sugar babes.

Candy Draw Time......

Drum roll please................ WOW what a lot of you entered this candy draw..........


Leanne's candy give away goes to...........

Quixotic said...
Ohhh yummy blog candy!! :) Would be over the moon to win, but I don't know if I could save it till Christmas day, in fact I'd say fat chance...!
November 21, 2008 5:56 PM

hope you enjoy our candy gift to you, now will you leave it under the tree? We might not send it until last posting day.


And as a bonus I let my two younger children pick tickets and these two runners up will receive a set of six Leanne Ellis stamps too :)

Debbie said...
Oh Wow what fab candy I would love to be included, Hugs Debbie x
November 21, 2008 12:31 PM
BallooBear said...
Wow great Candy...I will leave a message on my blog nowJo

congratulations girls. {email your details to info@sugarnellie.com }

Over at papercraftplanet they are running a little competition, here is the first posting

Here it is -- our First Day of Christmas!. That has special meaning here on Paper Craft Planet -- it means it's DAY ONE of our 12 Days of Christmas Contest!
You can start the season off by winning a great prize! Here's how: Create a card with a tree or a bird on it

SO if you have a partridge in a pear tree, load it on up to their gallery. you have to be in it to win it! Here is one from Marlene, stunning as always.

Gorjuss girl

Tracy must be in her bed because I have not heard the squeels from the up in the Scottish hills as she opens her email and find that we have sketches of the first Gorjuss Girls :) In the office we call it "a tenna moment". All I will say is that there are six for the January release and they are fantastic, we are so lucky at Sugar Nellie to have such great artists on our team.

It will soon be time to draw for Leanne's beautiful goodies, you have to be in it to win it and there are a lot of new faces about, candy brings out the sweet tooth in everyone.

I am playing with a few ideas for the Gorjuss give away, I might think of something a bit different than .....leave a comment. ;)

Can I smell rubber?

The art work is starting to arrive and the next thing will be rubber, we have a few new designs to launch and some top up orders to dispatch, I expect that they will all be available in the next week from www.funkykits.co.uk

I am thinking that these will be the last new stamps for 2008, and anything else can wait for the new year, Gayle will have the blog up and running and it will cause a bit of a buzz if there are new stamps at the same time.

Marlene and Tiets will appreciate that there will be no big rush and the next batch of Guest DT members will receive their packs over the holidays too.

We are busy working with Craft Stamper at the moment and if you don't already read this UK magazine, you are missing seeing your favourite sweet Sugar Nellie stamps in print. There are a few features coming up next year and a special give away :)

Have a cozy day from all at the cold and frosty House of Sugar.

Candy worth shouting about

The very talented Leanne has an etsy shop

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5664123

and I have one beautiful pieces of art to give away. Something unique, beautiful and a fitting prize for a crafter. This candy comes with its own set of first edition rubber stamps. All 6 of Leanne's new stamps will be added to this candy box, and I ain't stopping there, much more in the box but lets keep that a secret so that maybe if you win, a surprise awaits you, but would you keep it until Christmas day?

I will be drawing the lucky winner on 28th November, one winner, one BIG prize, no one does candy as sweet as Sugar Nellie. :)

You need to be in it to win it, add your comment here. Good luck.

and finally

I am delighted to introduce you to Mary Hall, I have lifted some of Mary's cutest artwork from her site,( I know this is naughty so please do not lift it from me)

Visit http://www.maryhall-illustration.co.uk/ and view her style, I am sure that there is going to be many great stamps designed from Mary, welcome to the Sugar Nellie family Mary.

I am sure you will agree that the three new illustrators make Sugar Nellie complete, all with their own style each one different and each one a talented artist. The start of 2009 is going to be lots of fun with so many new ranges I think it might be a difficult choice for any Sugar Addict.

************************************************

Gayle is looking to launch the new blog at the new year so there will be one big party here at the House of Sugar.

But we are not finished with 2008 yet! More rubber on the way to top up Funkykits and hopefully, fingers crossed the very busy Elisabeth will have time to complete the artwork for more fantastic stamps for Sugar Nellie.

How many stamping days until Christmas?

Forums

I have spent a day at home with a sick child, one day off work and a house to clean, the plans changed with one phone call from the school. So down went the cleaning tools and the rest of the day was spent on the computer while sitting on the sofa nursing mini me.

I ventured around the usual blogs, visited UKS which has become so quiet it hardly warrants a daily visit. SCS is vast and full of fabby ideas and inspiration, but today I found

http://www.papercraftplanet.com

how new this forum is, I do not know, but I did take the time to log in and have a look around, found a very small Sugar Nellie fan base, only four others of which I "knew" two. *waves to Alison and Caz. Shows you how small we are in the big world of rubber stamp companies.

Where to you chat with fellow crafters, link to your fav forum.

BIG news time

I now have all the contracts back from our three new stamp illustrators, to be fair to these girls I like to introduce them one at a time.

Today I want to tell you about Suzanne, I approached Suzanne last year but as a small new business could not commit to her as we would have liked BUT this is now our second year and I am happy to invest in brilliant exclusive illustrators, contracts are signed, the sketch pad is out and I am sure that you want to see some "GORJUSS" things that Suzanne does.

Gorjuss Art is very well know in the digi world and with some exclusive stamps about to enter the inky world of card making I am sure it will bring a smile to your day, especially Tracy over at Funkykits who is thee biggest Gorjuss fan :) * I can see her doing the happy dance*

We have some fabby candy to give away in the build up to these new stamps, but for today , go have a look at Suzanne Woolcott's Gorjuss Art.

http://www.gorjuss.co.uk/

Another one from Elisabeth

I cold and frosty winter is ahead for us here in Scotland, and this little sweetheart can be stamped all winter, snowflakes and frosty glitter will surely be used on many a card featuring this soon to arrive Elisabeth Bell illustration.

I am hoping to have one more batch of new stamps before the end of the year, some from Elisabeth and others from Leanne. Maybe something rubbery will be under your tree this festive season :)

Dutch fun

Good luck to all the girls attending Cards at the Castle, maybe one day we will go too. I have been to Scrap a ganza a few times and now I love to do more cards, we have many lovely Dutch customers and even with very slow postal system they always come back for more, thank you girls have lots of fun tomorrow at the castle.

Job offered to............

............after much blog hopping again, I am offering the SN challenge/competitions/tutorial/promotional/inspirational and all that jazz blog to


Gayle http://littlebirddesign.blogspot.com/

Congratulations Gayle you now have a job on your hands and we don't even pay peanuts but we are going to be sending you a ridiculous amount of sugar for yourself and for prizes too.

I know you will give Gayle your support and to get things started I would like your ideas for the new blogs name and any ideas on what you would like to see. This new blog is going to be the sprinkles on to of the sweet sugar nellie cake. It will also replace the forum which will close soon as it was only ment to be temporary.

A huge thank you to the many girls who offered their services, ideas and help.

Welcome to the house of sugar....

Leanne Ellis.

While blog hopping I found Leanne and although not the normal safe Sugar Nellie style I believe that this is a great step forward, something different and something trendy. She does lots of different work but these three are my favourites and this is the direction we will take with the new range of stamps. I can see many possibilities for this style of stamp and I am really excited by her joining the house of sugar. I hope to share with you the sketches of the new stamps when they are ready but for now, a big welcome to Leanne.

Wednesday tick list

Blog candy going out to Erica for some fabby work on her blog...tick

Blog candy for those who guessed Maggie.......Tammi. Lynn Anderson, Heather,Kathy, Glitter Monkey, Gayle and Macpurp. [those in red have been posted]

*whispers*Kathy in USA I must admire your Basic Grey challenge entry, beautiful card love those tiny buttons :)

All new contracts posted...................tick.

Exchange rate checked, WOW you girls across the pond have a great exchange rate, now is the time to buy sugar as the rate has not been this good in years, bad for us as everything in USA is now 25% more expensive than last year.........tick

...............and I have received one contract back, I will be back later to introduce our first new artist for 2009 ;)

In the house of sugar

Today I am back doing a few hours work for SN, the last delivery of Christmas stamps have arrived and that is the last batch this year. Funkykits have already had their delivery but correct me if I wrong ..........Santa with tree is sold out. None left, all gone..........finished. Another stamp in short supply is Daisy, is it any wonder she is such a darling and Elisabeth has more beautiful designs to come.
I must make a choice with the new blog and who will be blog mama, so many to choose from sorry if again I am taking too long but it's all your fault for making my job so much harder. Many of you already run blog and to be fair I do like to give others a chance, no reflection on your abilities but it is good to share, to much sugar can I believe be bad for you!

New designers, almost there, I am waiting for paperwork and then I can introduce you to a lovely British illustrator and after having a peek at her own blog you might get an idea of what she will be doing for Sugar Nellie.

Have a great day if you can, a little colouring in and a little house work makes for a shorter day.
Welcome back Marlene, sounds like we all should have taken a trip to the show.

Monday

The DT have been busy this weekend, blog links on the right, please leave a sugar comment on their blogs.

*********************************************************************************

Thank you all for your great support, the sad bit is that I can only choose one. That will leave more than a few of you disapointed, I dont like to disapoint and I hope you dont take it to heart. Give me a little time yet to think it over there is a lot going on tonight and I have a few emails to deal with first.

WHO is the favourite character......................its Maggie!

For those of you guessed right before the cut off, email info@sugarnellie.com with your addy for little candy. :)

Linda first drew Hamish and Maggie last year and added more at the start of the summer, Linda is having a break from illustrating but we hope she will be back very soon as her characters are very much loved in the house of sugar.

BUT considering that Sweet Art Ebony arrived in the house of sugar early summer, she is hot on the heals of Maggie. I took the time to visit Elisabeth's galleries tonight and she has made a great job of putting all your beautiful cards in one place.

for Sweet Art Ebony visit http://www.zhibit.org/elisabethbell/sweet-ebony-cards-2

for Honey & Pip visit http://www.zhibit.org/elisabethbell/honey-pip-cards

Elisabeth has some more fantastic designs for us and I am sure they will be in the house very soon, two peeks just to tease you. But we are already working on designs for next year;)

Job offer!

I am on overload at work and no computer wiz kid.
So I am looking for one sugar addict to run a creativity blog for Sugar Nellie with challenges, competitions, give aways and tutorials.
So you need to have lots of computer time and know your way around the blog land. Make the page your own with banners links and tags. You will be free to do as you see fit under the watchful eye of the house of sugar and we will spoon feed you sugar to keep you happy.

interested..................leave me a link in your comment post to your blog and I will have a lookie.

One year later............

It is one year today since the first Sugar Nellie stamp was sold on Funkykits. WOW what a year it has been, there was a little message from Tracy over at Funkykits to remind me that one year ago the first stamp to sell was sitting nellie. The original range was illustrated by Eva and not long after she was joined by Linda, at the start of 2008 we launched Rachelle and then in the spring Elisabeth. All these girls have their own characters and the variety of carefully chosen illustrators has been a successful move fro Sugar Nellie.

And can you guess which is our most popular character? I will give you candy if you get it right. (candy give alway now closed as so many of you got it right) I will give you the answer later, off now to write down all the names who did get it right.

Things are all about to change, I am almost ready to tell you but you need to wait just little bit longer :)

Congratulations to all our stamp designers, well done all our creative DT, and a BIG thank you to you, our customers for you support.

ETA Rachelle has had a little addition of her own, :) congratulations to the Miller family on the save arrival of your son.

Creative Design Team

A huge thank you to the guest on the DT for the past release from both Elisabeth Bell and Soft Centres, girls you have done wonders in creating cards with you kit. Remember to stop by their blogs to see what they have all been up too.

Intresting readings

There have been many comment on the subject of a stamp club/kit. I am still interested in reading your opinion so please leave your comments on the last post.

I can say the there is no hanglar news :(

There will be no papers in the kit I agree, papers are something we all have too much of.

Should the "kit" stamps be available at a later date one by one? or exclusive only in the kit.
I don't want to leave anyone out so what about a new collection being split into a small kit and the rest being available one by one?

Should the kit be viewed before commitment? Would you like a different illustrator for each kit?
Monthly or quarterly? Should it be limited in numbers, closing date for orders etc

Tomorrow sees a new contract going out in the post, one of three I hope to conclude before the new year. Once the paperwork is in place I will tie the carrot on the string and begin to dangle :)
I will have blog candy like no other to give away and that's before the stamps arrive. Keep tuned and don't miss out, something yummy could be under the tree for you this year. You had better be good.

Sweet sugar WAR!

Word on the blog land grape vine is that Maddy has kept Calvin's Sugar Nellie stamp and has used her!
http://madimaginations.blogspot.com/ ..................go have a giggle and look at those darling fimo creations.

Congratulations to all in USA, a new start for you all, better things to come. They can not get any worse and its great to be able to say its the first man in the white house who does not have grey hair! (Scottish humour)

Have you all finished your Christmas cards yet?.............hurry up because I have something exciting to tell you :)

STAMP CLUB
What are your views on a stamp club, we are working with Funkykits putting ideas forward as to how we can improve/expand the service. With three new illustrators on the horizon and a regular new monthly release date, I am now wondering about making some of the stamps available as a kit. many options are open to us but I would like your feedback, what do you like and don't like about kits/clubs..........................answers will not be published so tell it as it is :)

Samples galore

The post man had lots of packets, both from Marlene and Tiets, lovely cards and sweeties. Thank you girls they are all lovely and I am sending some to the Birmingham show :)

busy weekend crafting

The design team have been busy making lots of lovely Sugar Nellie creations. Marlene & Tiets have been joined by Karen, Gayle, Sarah , Vicky & Dawn. All our girls do a fantastic job and are we appreciate you all, thank you.

Next week I would hope to introduce you to our new Scottish illustrator. Having met her in Glasgow while at the show and we have a few things to wrap up yet, I approached her last year but was unable to commit to such a well know artist in her field. The support you have shown and success of such a small Scottish stamp company in its first year has allowed us to open the doors to more illustrators, some are named others are not. Either way we will continue to bring you something different, professionally illustrated and beautiful to colour, in other words "what every stamper wants". Those who have had a peek are excited, this just confirms my opinion that we are going in the right direction .

What we do has a knock on effect to others involved with Sugar Nellie, some of our illustrators have moved on to other projects fueled undoubtedly by the publicity received when we launched them as rubber stamp designers, magazine feature for crafters who inspired to be published, demonstration and design team work , no matter how small a company we are our passion and commitment to open door for others if we can is just something we choose to do. Our love of this hobby and our drive to bring you something better is a huge amount of fun and most of the time highly enjoyable. Enjoy your weekend and finish off your Chirstmas cards as there is something new coming our way :)

Erica is amazing

Yes some of us have come across her work before but if you are new to Sugar Nellie, pop over to
http://blogje-van-eer.blogspot.com/2008/10/finallymy-project-o.html
and see the amazing project, its just darling.

I think its time to send some candy to Erica, a few animals to challenge her a little :)

Ethel all group A have their stamps group B will be sent something new, maybe even a new collection by a new designers dependant on the time scale.

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Sarah has been busy and here is here card, I love the colour and he sentiment, pop over to her blog for more details. Thank you Sarah it is beautiful, thanks for sharing.

Guest DT

I had the lovely Dawn on the phone asking what do the DT have to do? You all must have your stamp packs by now. All we ask is that you make some cards with your sweet sugar nellie stamps, post them on your blog for others to see with brief outline of what you used etc. have fun, do you stuff and enjoy the challenge and have some more fun :)

Once all the fun is over if you would like to post one card made with each stamp we sent to you, we would be very grateful and use your creations as samples for displays etc. You might even spot one of your cards at a show!
Remember to take a look at the blogs listed on the right to see how the DT are being creative with sugar this week. Karen Bruce is doing a demo at Papercrafts tomorrow, using her beloved Sugar Nellie stamps and pro markers, good luck Karen.

Birmingham NEC

Are any of our Sugar addict attending the NEC in November? You might want to pic up a little sugar at IMAGINATION who will have all your favourite stamps on their stand.
Harvey Baker Design Ltd/Imagination have the contract to take Sugar Nellie on the road to all the shows they attend, Sue tells me that this is about 24 shows a year! So watch out at a show near you, Sugar Nellie will be there.

Which local shows do you attend?......................me just Glasgow!

Pumpkin Fun

Thanks to Tracy at Funkykits for this pic sent to her by Mikael in Sweden, talented in food art it is most possible that this a Mikael Kruse original. It is not many things in life that make me laugh but this is my type of humour. Hope it inspires you to be a bit more creative when you carve your pumpkins this week. Enjoy :)


Get well soon to Beckie Dryer who is unable to attend a demo at Papercrafts this Saturday, but Karen Bruce guest DT member for Sugar Nellie and Erika Gunter from Funkykits DT will step in and make it a colourfully sweet demonstration. Take care Beckie we will see you in the new year.

Silence is deafening

I have heard nothing from Marie over in Sweden, I have tried to be patient but its not something I am good at. I am so sorry to disappoint you all, I had thought that we would have these beautiful stamps in September but now we say goodbye to October and still nothing. I really do not know where we stand, I had such a lovely time with them in their home in Sweden I have no reason to think anything is wrong other than the total lack of contact and before you ask NO I will not jump on a plane and so see whats "not" happening!

But I will share with you the lovely new designs that Marie offered me and I thought we would be able to bring them to you. Wet and windy about sums up the weather in the UK at the moment, I hope it is not so bad with you.

Time to think

Good bye Glasgow, its a long way home.

Firstly a huge thank you the Jacqui who work her little socks off at the show, I could not have done it without you.

Thank you for all the visitors, pressies, cards and kind words on the stand.

And can I give out a medal to those businesses that take stands at shows all over the UK and beyond, it is so much hard work it does not compare to anything else I do. Some bring their caravans along and stay in those, parked up in the show grounds in howlin gales ( in Glasgow this weekend there were gales and flooding).

We spent 4 days telling the Sugar Nellie story, new addict are now busy stamping and colouring. We met so many lovely stampers and a few real characters in there too. A giggle it was and we have many stories to tell.

Good news for those of you who are not able to come to Scotland, Sugar Nellie will be at a show near you next year :) Details to be confirmed but they will be there.

New artist, still to be signed but I met with S & G in Glasgow and will be delighted to tease you all with whats to come when the time is right.

But it is back down the sugar mines today, Funkykits have a few sell outs and are shouting for more.
The design team have been busy and I will post some pics later, if you cant wait, blog links on the right.
Remember our guest DT Karen and Gayle both have stamps the rest to post today.
I had better go and get myself to the house of sugar and catch up with my work.

Have a great day.

daisy daisy give me your answer to..

.....folks going crazy over the love of you.....
Yes the stampers here in Glasgow love Daisy. She is so cute who would not?
Soft Centres too are popular and now they all have names.
Funkykits have stock so I expect they will be online this weekend. Watch out for their news letter in your mail box.

A big thank you to the girls who came by our wee stand today, between visitors and putting the stand back together again and again we were kept busy. Friday we will change it all about and make it a bit easy for stampers to see our cute rubba.

The samples have been very much admired and thanks to Marlene, Tiets, Tracy, Erika and Karen we have a fantastic display. :)

Rubba arrived very late as we were leaving the House of Sugar, I am sorry to say girls who were in the topper swap will be getting a new stamp in their return envelope but not until I return on Monday.

Marlene and Tiets, you have stamps coming your way and for the guest DT, both Karen and Gayle have some and the rest will be posted on Monday.

Little darlings

This is the last three new designs to be released this month. That makes 14 new stamps in total arriving at the house of sugar before the end of the month. We are delighted to end our first year with these darlings and can not believe the year that has passed in the world of rubba. As we are always planning ahead we have a lot to tell you when the time is right, no point in giving you too much sugar at one time. :)

Not long now and all the shops will be full of festive cheer and there will be no ignoring the forthcoming day, Christmas is all things to everyone, for most it is a family time with young children, for others it is a time of heart break as the reflect on the times that have passed. Whatever Christmas is too you, we send you good wishes and a hug if you need it as we all take a deep breath and start to prepare for December.

As crafters, I am sure that you are well on your way to finishing you cards, but there are all sorts of things you can make with your stash. We would love to see things other than cards that you have taken the time to create, as we all love to craft, what better excuse if there than "I am making this as a gift" for ignoring the housework and stilling crafting on a Sunday, Monday,Tuesday......................