Thursday 22 March 2012

A very Jubilee Sale-A-Bration celebration

 In planning my March card class I was looking to cover upcoming topical events that I'll miss during my maternity leave. I wanted to encapsulate Mothers Day, Easter and the June Jubilee. My next card class wont now be until June 23rd so I wanted to give my ladies a good variation in seasonal cards ;0) I had memories of seeing a Union Jack stamped card many moons ago. I couldnt remember who had designed it or where I had originally seen it. However after some thorough searching I found it on Keren's blog from 2010. My memory is obviously better than I give myself credit for! I loved her original card which she'd created to celebrate the World Cup. I thought the Union Jack design would work perfectly for a Queen's Jubilee celebration, whether as a street party invite or to send to a devoted Royal Family enthusiast.

I started by stamping the Dot Dot Dot background stamp onto the Real Red strips using Whisper White ink. I stamped the floral motif from Vintage Vogue onto the Night of Navy rectangle with the same ink. I then layered Whisper White strips with Real Red to create the Union Jack. The 'Celebrate' sentiment from the exclusive  Sale-A-Bration set 'Outlined Occasions' was stamped in Night of Navy ink and coloured with my Real Red Stampin' Write marker.

The final project from Saturdays card class was this minature Easter basket. Unfortunately I didnt get a chance to take a photo of it filled with the little Easter eggs I gave all the attendees of the class (I gave the samples away to my sisters before remembering to take a pic!!). The Flirtacious Designer Series Papers were perfect for this project as they are a beautiful subtle tone, just right for Easter.  The flower embellishment was punched and layered using the Boho Blossoms punch and finished with a Subtles Collection Designer Button.
One last quick reminder, Sale-A-Bration finishes on March 30th so be sure to get your last minute orders in with me asap to make the most of the best freebie promotion of the year.

Happy crafting ;0)
-X-


Wednesday 21 March 2012

Mocha Morning Vintage Style

Here is another of our card class creations from Saturday. I knew several of my card class regular ladies had fallen in love with the Forever Young stamp set, so I set about giving them a bit of inspiration for the set. This card was inspired by a vintage Valentines Card I had spotted over on Splitcoast Stampers. I loved the use of the frame and portrait but also wanted to include the gorgeous tree and swinging girl image. A perfect opportunity to layer the scalloped circles from the Perfect Pennants die over the gorgeous crochet trim and Mocha Morning papers. The colours I've used for this antique-y vintage card are: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla and Early Espresso. I finished the card off with various sized Basic Pearls to give it that extra bit of aged elegance.

If you would like any further info on any of these items or on how to make this card please get in touch, I'd be only too happy to assist with anything Stampin' Up! This again, like yesterdays card, uses products only available in the current Spring Mini catalogue. This is only available until April 30th so make the most of these exclusive items and place your order today (and take advantage of last minute Sale-A-Bration freebies too).

I am on the final countdown at work this week. I have had to reduce my hours a bit due to pregnancy induced high blood pressure. It is an exciting time but I'm a bit terrified at the same time too. I've worked constantly since leaving Uni so all of a sudden having time on my hands is going to be strange (but that said, I've only got a few weeks in which to fill my days with crafting and putting my feet up as little Miss will be here soon enough).

Hope your week is treating you well. Happy Crafting ;0)
-X-

Tuesday 20 March 2012

Flower Pot Card

 Here is one of the cards we made at last weekends card class. I've seen various tutorials for flower pot cards around the web so decided to have a go at one. Cajun Craze is the perfect colour for creating the pot base. I then used the Cheerful Treat Hostess Designer Series Papers with the Fun Flowers die to create the layered flowers for the pot. The Lucky Limeade leaves were punched using the 5 Petal Flower punch. Each flower is embellished with a designer button.
I stamped the insert with a greeting from the exclusive Mini Catalogue Hostess set Swirls and Curls Verses in Melon Mambo ink. All items from the Mini Catalogue are only available until April 30th so if you have your eye on any item remember to get your order in with me in the next month or so (and dont forget you only have a week in which to make the most of Sale-A-Bration and get your free stamps or papers with a £45 order).

Any questions or queries about Stampin' Up! please get in touch on poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 01983 609249. Always happy to chat crafting and Stampin' Up!

Happy Crafting ;0)
-X-

Monday 19 March 2012

A belated Mothers Day card

Thats not to say I belatedly gave the Mothers Day card, I'm just late in posting a picture of it. Again, I have to thank the fabulous Vicky for the inspiration. Her blog is just lovely so I thoroughly recommend a visit. I spotted her crocus card a couple of weeks ago and loved the use of markers and vellum to create this delicate flower card. I knew it would be perfect for my Mum for the big day yesterday. So I set about recreating it with my Stampin' Up! stash.

This uses the large heart from the Heart to Heart punch punched from vellum and coloured with Wisteria Wonder and Concord Crush. The grass background is stamped using Just Believe. The basket is made with Early Espresso and embossed with the Square Lattice embossing folder for the Big Shot. I embellished with Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon and the smallest designer buttons from the Subtles collection.

We all had a lovely Mothers Day here on the IOW yesterday. My day started with a surprise card and box of choccies from my soon to be born daughter (she is already writing from the womb would you believe? Although suspiciously the writing looked remarkably like her Dads!). Then bump and I drove over to Mums for a Mothers Day feast with my whole family. My Dad has a smoker and cooked the most gorgeous smoked salmon to accompany out buffet lunch. I just cannot get enough of smoked salmon during this pregnancy (I think she has expensive tastes). I then promptly snoozed the afternoon away on Mums sofa. It is a tough life being 7 months pregnant ;0)

Hope your week has started well. Thanks for stopping by today.

Happy Crafting ;0)
-XXX-

Saturday 17 March 2012

Sale-A-Bration Scrapbooking Part 2


As you can see the Sale-A-Bration papers and stamps have been a big motif in my crafting recently. And upon digging out my bird punch I have been enjoying using the bird as an embellishment on my layouts too.

Again this uses Peach Parfait, Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral and Pool Party as the theme colours matched with the Everyday Enchantment papers. The stamps used for the background are the Sale-A-Bration Fresh Vintage stamps.

I've been meaning to create a layout with a bunting embellishment on for months and just never gotten around to it. I love the effect of this free falling bunting on the layout. And it went down well with my class ladies too (although it was a little bit fiddly to get the flags to stick to the linen thread)

If you would like to order any of these exclusive Sale-A-Bration products please get in touch directly as Sale-A-Bration only runs till March 31st and then these products will be retired for good. Take this opportunity to get hold of a free stamp set of pack of paper with a £45 order by either calling or emailing me on 01983 609249 or poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk.

 Thanks for stopping by today and happy Saturday crafting to all ;0)
-X- 

Friday 16 March 2012

Sale-A-Bration Scrapbooking


Here is the first of our Stampin' Scrappin' layouts for this month.  I used the current In Colours and the Sale-A-Bration Everyday Enchantment papers as my inspiration. I love how the Aviary stamped images and the punched bird match the tiny birds incorporated in the paper design.

The more colourful the layout the more I love it. So this months class was fun for me to design as it used so many big bright colours: Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Calypso Coral &  Peach Parfait. The page was embellished with a few basic pearls and a strip of Daffodil Delight ribbon.

I'll share the second layout tomorrow. In the mean time, happy crafting to all ;0)
-X-

Saturday 10 March 2012

Another 6 sided milk carton gift box

 I know I recently posted a picture of one of these lovely 6 sided milk carton boxes. But I've been so enjoying making them for my hostesses to thank them for hosting a workshop that I decided to post another example today.
 I decided to make a matching set. The card uses Outlined Occasions (a free Sale-A-Bration set only available till the end of March. If you'd like to get this set for free just place an order before March 31st for £45 or over). It also uses thin strips of free Sale-A-Bration Designer Series Paper (Everyday Enchantment). The colour scheme is Island Indigo and Lucky Limeade (current In Colours). I embellished with Basic Rhinestones and butterflies cut with the Beautiful Wings Embosslit.
 I embellished the gift box with a giant Pool Party button and tags cut with the Jewellery Tag punch and stamped with Tiny Tags (and attached with my old favourite, Linen Thread). I used the smallest Beautiful Butterfly to stick to the button to tie the embellishment in with the card.
This is the finished box. I cut the base from Pool Party and used Everyday Enchantment papers to surround the box. The ribbon is Ruffled Lucky Limeade.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend and happy crafting to all ;0)
-X-

Friday 2 March 2012

Elegant Eggplant Birthday

 Here is a card we made at last month's card class. This was inspired by a card I had seen on Pinterest by a talented Canadian Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.  It uses the Flirtacious papers (Wisteria Wonder compliments the Elegant Eggplant card base perfectly) and the Creative Elements stamp set. To create the butterfly we used the rock n roll technique using Wisteria Wonder and Elegant Eggplant ink pads.
You'll notice the reappearance of my favourite mini flowers punched with the Itty Bitty Punch Pack and embellished with the tiny pearls. This card also uses my newest purchase, the Designer Frames Textured Impressions Embossing Set (for the Big Shot). I love this aged vintage look around the frame (I sponge daubered with Elegant Eggplant).

The ribbon is Very Vanilla Satin and the Elegant Eggplant sentiment (from Curly Cute) is stamped onto a Crumb Cake panel.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend planned. I'll be catching up with old friends and hopefully working on the baby's room a bit more ;0)

Happy Friday Crafting
-X-

Thursday 1 March 2012

Sale-A-Bration Celebration

I so wish I could take credit for todays creation. However, this is another of the incredibly talented Vicky's cards from over on her Crafting Clare blog. The moment I saw this I fell in love with the design. Not only does it use my favourite colour of the moment, Pool Party, but it uses a favoured technique too (a technique I hadnt tried until I noticed Vicky use it- creating a post-it mask and sponging the uncovered area).


This card is simply stunning and uses a combination of techniques from clear embossing, sponging, colouring and finally using the mat pack and paper pricking tool to create the faux stitched effect. Here is a close up of the clear embossed sentiment and sponged panel.

This uses the 'Celebrate' from Outlined Occasions which i have then embellished with minature flowers punched from the Itty Bitty Punch Shapes pack (Pool Party and Pacific Point) and tiny Basic Pearls. So simple but so effective.

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you'll pop back tomorrow for the final card of the week ;0)

Happy Crafting in the meantime ;0)

-X-