Happy Birthday Mum

I saw this lovely card on my friend Peg's blog and knew this would be the inspiration for my Mum's Birthday card this year. I loved the use of the Top Note to create an accordian style card and I decided to use it to make a mini scrapbooking album card.

I used the lovely Nursery Nest Designer Series Paper and Quick accents to create this mini album. I was attempting to illustrate that this suite can be used for more than just baby cards and scrapbook pages. The accents worked really well on embellishing the pages. And I love that the pattern reminds me of stitching and haberdashery.

This is the front cover which uses the sentiment from 'Party This Way' stamped in Pear Pizzazz (to match the Poly Stitched Ribbon which closes the card):

This is the card unfolded. I used a family picture and a photo of our dog Kala. We do have a lovely new dog called Sasha but i couldn't find a single picture of her on my computer to use. I think I'll have to start taking my camera to Mum's house more to capture the two dogs together.

 

I embellished the edges of the photos with accents from the Nursery Nest set.

Thank you for stopping by today and I'd like to wish my Mum a very Happy Birthday ;0)

-XXXXXX-

My workshop makes from the weekend

Here are the two projects we made at Saturdays workshop. I loosely themed the workshop around Valentines Day but wanted to keep the colour scheme less obviously romance themed so the items could be used for various occasions.

The card was inspired by one I saw on In Love With Stamping. It was perfect for showing off the fab new Postage Stamp punch and matching Perfect Postage stamp set. The colour scheme is Rose Red and Elegant Eggplant.

The box is an upside down Petal Cone which I thought would be perfect for table settings with the addition of a name and a little gift inside.

Projects use:

Punches: 1-1/4" Square, Postage Stamp, Heart to Heart, Modern Label, Scallop Trim and Corner, Full Heart

Cardstock: Whisper White, Rose Red, Elegant Eggplant

Big Shot Dies: Petal Cone, Scalloped Heart of Hearts

Stamps: Perfect Postage, Creative Elements, Just Believe

Thanks for stopping by today and Happy Crafting ;0)

-x-

A Hostess Thank You Set

Wow where did the weekend go? It has flown by! I have managed to tick a lot of essentials off my to do list (and by essential I mean things like 1) buy a new scrapbooking album, 2) place a fab Stampin' Up! order, 3) register for an expectant parent event, 4) go for a windy stroll, 5) buy baby some lovely new clothes and booties- so maybe not all entirely essential ;0)

I also demonstrated for a lovely group of ladies locally. I regularly meet these ladies so like to come up with new ideas and show off new products each and every time I see them. I will show the make and take projects later in the week (when I get around to unpacking my workshop bag- I managed all of the above, but sadly just hid my craft tote so that I wouldnt have to worry about unpacking it in the foreseeable future!). But today I thought I would show the projects I made to present to my hostess.

I made this lovely bright set with Lucky Limeade cardstock and the fab Hostess Cheerful Treat Designer Series Paper. The desk calendar was inspired by a swap I received at convention. Unfortunately there was no name or details attached for me to give credit. Needless to say I was very impressed and I have adapted this design for Saturdays card class too.

The sentiment was from Oval All and punched with the matching oval punches. The lovely little butterflies were cut using the Big Shot and the Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die (and then embellished with a rhinestone).

 I recently treated myself to the Fun Flowers Bigz Die which I used to create this layered flower. I loved creating the contrasting layers and then finishing with a printed In Colour brad.

With Sale-A-Bration just around the corner there isnt a better time to book a Stampin' Up! workshop (who doesnt love extra crafting freebies?! Sale-a-Bration launches on Tuesday and this year we have 4 stamp sets and a set of DSP to choose free with every £45 order!). So if you would like a Demonstration on any of the above or indeed have an idea or event in mind for a themed crafting party, please get in touch on poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or phone me on 609249. I've recently just designed a gorgeous 6x6 scrapbook LO for a workshop make and take and would love to come demo this for you as an introduction to scrapbooking ;0)

Happy crafting ;0)

-XX-

2nd LO for this weeks scrapbooking class

So yesterdays layout got me to thinking about scrapbooking winter and trying to think outside the box colourwise. I had a flick through my ever growing 'to be scrapped' photo box and found these two snow pictures that I took the Christmas before last. I thought these would be a perfect starting point for a winter LO.   I then decided to mount a previously unused and brand new stampset, Creative Elements, which I received in my convention bag last year. I had seen a similar flourish used on a winter layout in a magazine and thought the contrasting Riding Hood Red and Whisper White worked well together.

The technique for this layout is the use of stamping on the paper daisies. A beautiful (and always matching) technique I have seen used on a lot of card and scrapbooking projects and perfect for this Crumb Cake, Riding Hood Red and Soft Suede themed page. Sadly the designer papers I used are now retired but they give a lovely contrast to the usual winter colour schemes.

I would also just like to point out that there is a rogue piece of scrap paper in the photo above. The lower left hand corner 'corner flourish' was actually discarded but somehow made it into the picture anyways.

I'm really looking forward to teaching this class on Thursday now and maybe even sitting and getting through some more of my 'to be scrapped' photos at the weekend too ;0)

Thanks for stopping by today and happy crafting ;0)

-X-

A new scrapbook class LO

My apologies for the somewhat haphazard photo of my latest scrapbook class layout (the red spots are my table cloth and not a part of the layout). I hadn't intended to post this picture. I had quickly snapped the LO to send a pic to my Mum so she knew which photos to bring for this Thursdays class. But then in a moment of inspiration (and in celebration of me finally getting a bit of papercrafting mojo back) I decided to quickly update my blog with a new photo.

Apologies it has taken me so long to update and resume normal Stampin' Up! service. I have been somewhat exhausted these first couple of New Year weeks. I think my little one has had a hefty growth spurt (and judging by the kicking she is going to be some kind of martial arts come kickboxing prodigy) which has taken it out of me a bit. But this evening I cleared a path into my craft room (I'd thrown all my Christmas journalling bits into the room and shut the door to deal with on another day!) and more specifically to my desk, I plugged in my computer and put on my new Big Bang Theory DVD boxset and I was away. And here is what I created:

My scrapbooking class ladies had asked for a winter theme so I flicked through a few scrapbooking books for inspiration and came across a LO that used the large scallop papers as a background. I loved the effect so set about using that as my inspiration. I drew myself a template onto Real Red cardstock and then a smaller one to use on the Patterned Designer Series Paper. I stamped the background with Serene Snowflakes (I'm so glad I've got to carry use of this stamp set over in to the New Year- it is still a much used favourite). I created the central dividing line using strips of paper from the Hostess Papers Cheerful Treat and Concord Crush Stitched Poly Ribbon. I then finished with the title stamped onto a top note and embellished with subtles buttons and glitter brads (and a few rhinestones for effect).

It may look simple yet this has taken me hours!! But hooray I finally got my papercrafting groove back. Check back tomorrow hopefully and I'll have the second LO for Thursdays class posted ;0)

Happy Crafting ;0)
-x-

Finishing my Christmas Journal

So here it is!! My finished JYC album for 2011. I only had a bit of journalling to finish today and then bits to tidy away for next year. But it was more challenging than I had anticipated due to feeling so far from Christmas-y (after my birthday on Jan 1st I am overcome with the urge to remove all decorations and all things Christmasy from the house. Thats the price you pay for starting to think about Christmas is August!!!)

Here is a final shot of my album cover. I made an adjustment to the cover with the Stampin' Up! Red Glimmer Paper Heart.

 The album as a whole.

 Day 23: Light the Wight

Sam and I did our tour of the best Christmas lights. I love this nativity scene in Newchurch and it reminds me of being a child and nativity plays.

 Day 24: Christmas Eve

Sam and I indulging in a little Wii playing action on Christmas Eve. We had a lovely Waitrose buffet dinner at Mum and Dads followed by a Sam vs Sophie Wii tournament. I ended the evening by nodding off while everyone else was playing. Pregnancy and eating are both exhausting activities *laugh*

 A random photo I had taken earlier in the month and included here. A pic of the Grotto the girls had worked so hard on at the RSPCA Animal Centre. It was right next to my office and I loved sneaking out to have a relax amid all the Christmas lights when things got a bit too hectic or stressful.

 Day 25: Christmas Day

I had seen Paige use cards and jokes from a Christmas Cracker in her JOY album and I loved the idea of using these as page embellishments. So I kept a few of the bits from my Christmas Day cracker and used them on this page. The photo is a bit dark but it is of my dog Kala playing with her Christmas tube of treats ;0) Sasha has one also but she can't quite be seen in the background.

 Days 26 and 27: Sale Shopping

I was beginning to run out of steam by this point and was winding down my page detail. These pages are about things we bought in the sales. Slightly more exciting than the reality of most of Christmas week which was mainly me falling asleep on Mum's sofa ;0) In fact my hidden journalling details that I spent 4 whole days just sleeping mainly (and watching DVDs inbetween!) How lazy am I?

So here is our lovely fancy new camera and the bags of baby clothes I'd picked up in the sales ;0)

 Days 28, 29 and 30

Simple and plain page. I decided to use some of my favourite papers from my Christmas 2011 stash for this and let them speak for themself. Not really much to report as I was shattered for the entire week. Watched a whole load of films though....

 Day 31: New Years Eve

Sam and I spent the evening at Mum and Dads for a curry New Year. Mum and I had planned lots of lovely curry dishes for us all to share and tuck in to. The plan had been i would go round early in the day and we'd prep them together. Sadly I fell asleep on the sofa and when I woke up Mum had already done most of the work. Oops! But it was lovely all the same.

I didnt think there was much chance of making it to midnight so Sam and I headed home for an early night. But the cold drive home woke me up. We ended up watching the 50 Greatest Magic Tricks and waited till 12am where we let off HUGE party exploding cannon things (my poor Henry hoover had a fair amount of work to do in the morning) and watched the amazing London fireworks on TV.

 January 1st- My Birthday

Not a great pic but I couldnt flatten this one out for a better picture. I created this page within a birthday card i received. I used bits of every wrapping paper I received presents wrapped in to create this mini LO. I wanted to capture all the lovely pressies I received. I also scrapped the cinema tickets as I was very indulged for my 31st- we all went as a family to see Mission Impossible 4 and then after a bit of gentle persuasion, Sam took me to see Sherlock Holmes in the evening (one of my favourite pastimes as a teenager was spending afternoons in the cinema watching multiple films). The shiny stars and hearts on the page were from the exploding cannon from the night before ;0)

And the last page in the journal is this plastic zip wallet where I have put all my gift tags and photos and bits I couldnt fit elsewhere in the journal.

 And a final mention to this lovely card (safely tucked inside the plastic wallet) that my Mum made for my birthday. Love this technique ;0)

So thats it for another year. I love having a daily project to complete through December but do love packing all my christmas bits away again. Happy to return service as usual crafting from here on in. Currently working on this months scrapbooking and card class projects. Come back soon for more info on those.

Thanks for coming along for the JYC journey and happy crafting ;0)

-x-

The very first Spring Mini is here ;0)

Happy New Year Blogland!!

I hope you all had a lovely festive season and are well rested this side of the New Year (doesnt take so long to get back into routine does it?).

Well for my first post of 2012 I wanted to share the exciting news about the very first Stampin' Up! Spring Mini catalogue which went live yesterday.  If you click above or on the photo below you'll be linked straight through to the catalogue to see all the lovely new products. All these exclusive Stampin' Up! products are available from now until April 30th. And with Sale-A-Bration just around the corner, what better time to host a craft party for you and your friends to get added freebies with your Mini Catalogue purchases. If you'd like any further info please drop me a line on poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 609249 to find out more.

There is so much to share about the mini and so many lovely new products to talk about. I am over the moon that Stampin' Up! has launched the Simply Adorned range here finally. It is a fantastic range of custom designed jewellery (Stampin' Up's exclusive line of chains, charms, baubles) which can be personalised with your own mini stamped projects and works of art. Then there is the fab new postage stamp punch and the gorgeous red glimmer paper and the large scallop punch. And thats just a couple of things off the top of my head. If you'd like to get hold of a copy then just get in touch and book a workshop or come to a class and I'll happily provide you with copies for you and your friends.

I've nearly completed the final pages of my December Journal which I will post soon. Got one more photo to print and stick in and it'll be ready to share. Normal service of Stampin' Up! projects to resume very soon. In the mean time, take a look at my class dates that are upcoming and see if you might like to come along and create with some of these lovely new products.

Happy Crafting ;0)

-X-