Friday 31 May 2013

Retirement Lists Are Here



The Retirement Lists for 2013 are here - please remember these items are only available while stocks last. I've placed an order this morning (May 31st) and some items are sold out already.

I will be placing regular orders throughout June to make sure you all get the items you require before they leave the catalogue once and for all. I will be processing my first retirement order tonight (Friday 31st May) so please call me or email me with your must haves.

You can view the retiring stamps HERE

Items with a RED DOT have 40% off
Items with an ORANGE DOT have 25% off

You can view the retiring accessories including papers, punches, dies and fabric HERE

Some items are discounted up to 50%

I look forward to hearing from you and helping you to get hold of all your favourites before they retire.

Happy Crafting ;0)
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Thursday 30 May 2013

Thursday Technique Tip- Stamping Block Backgrounds


Lots to share with you today. 

Its such an exciting time of the year to be a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator as we get our sneak peak at the new 2013-2014 catalogue tomorrow ready for the launch on July 2nd. It is going to be a late night for me tonight waiting for the sneak peaks to go live on the Demonstrator website. If you'd like to get sneaky peak access to new products as well as a fab discount on all crafty products in the catalogues, have you thought about signing up as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. You can find out more using the 'Join My Team' tab above. And today is the last day for signing up and getting an extra £25 in your Starter Kit (thats £155 for the bargain price of £99). I'd love to welcome you to the Wight Stampers.

Now, for a bit of craftiness. The card above is one of the technique based cards I taught at this month's crafty card class. It uses a technique I learned from a very talented Demo friend, Lynne, at our recent Stampin' Up! traning event in Telford.

You can create these lovely blended backgrounds using your acrylic stamping block, inks (pens, ink pads, ink refills) and a water spritzer. It is such a fab technique and it never looks the same twice ;0)  I created three blended blocks of colour and then stamped over using The Open Sea and By The Tide stamp sets.

Lynne has posted a technique video over on Youtube explaining this technique. You can find it here:

And while I am sharing videos. Here is another for you. This direct from Stampin' Up! UK showing what we all get up to at our Regional Events. Watch closely and you might even spot a familiar face ;0)



Thanks for stopping by today. Happy Crafting ;0)
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Tuesday 28 May 2013

More team makes for a Tuesday

There are just 3 more days to take advantage of Stampin' Up!'s fabulous Starter Kit offer. Until May 30th if you sign up to join Stampin' Up! as a Demonstrator you will receive an extra £25 in your Starter Kit. That is £155 of product for the bargain price of £99.

If you'd like to find out more info about joining Stampin' Up! you can see the
'Join My Team' tab at the top of the page.

I'd love to welcome you to my team and welcome you along to our monthly team training sessions. We all prepare a shoebox swap style make and take project and have a catch up over Haribo and a cuppa.
 
Here are two more of the beautiful projects we completed at this months get together.

This first card was demonstrated by the lovely Hayley. This uses the scoreboard to create the raised diamonds and then a dauber/sponge and Elegant Eggplant ink to create the suede effect (tone on tone inking over the whole surface of the card). I love the ruffled Organza ribbon too.
 
 This second card was demonstrated by Lorraine. I love The Open Sea stamp set. It makes such great masculine style cards. I love these colours together- Pool Party, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla and Chocolate Chip. Daubering has to be one of my all time favourite techniques. I love the ageing effect it has to create antique style images.
Thanks for popping by today and please get in touch with any crafty queries: poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 01983 609249.
 
-X-

Thursday 23 May 2013

Old Olive Single Layer Stamping

 Now I should probably let you know that I am still buzzing from my new website and online ordering store. I'll try not to go on about it too much ;0) But should you get the urge to have a browse of the catalogue or place an order for Stampin' Up! products you can now do so anytime day or night using the link to my site above. 

Its so simple, just register for a Stampin' Up! account online (as with other online stores), browse the catalogue and add the items you would like to your basket and then checkout. Simple! You complete your transaction with Stampin' Up! through my online store and Stampin' Up! will then email you your confirmation and tracking number, direct to you. Your products should be with you within 3-5 days (with the exception of super busy times of the year around new catalogue launches where delivery will take an extra few days).  Delivery is a flat rate of £4.95 regardless of how many items you order and the size of your delivery (and it travels all the way from our warehouse in Germany to get to you). And the biggest benefit is that, if your order total is more than £150, Stampin' Up will also give you hostess benefits which can be redeemed with your order. Who doesn't love extra freebies?

Just as a reminder, the first 5 people ordering through my site will receive an extra special crafty gift from me in the post as a thank you for you using my online store link.

And now for some actual crafting.


Project uses: 

Cardstock: Whisper White (106549 £7.50 for 40 sheets)
Stamps:      Wordplay         (120308 - £37.95 or 120651- £29.95)
                      Printed Petals   (116679- £17.95 or 120444- £13.95)
Ink:               Old Olive          (126953 - £4.95)


Todays card share is one of the projects we completed at this month's Wight Stampers Shoebox Swap Team event. This was designed by one of my talented downline, Charlotte. We each created our own version of her lovely Old Olive card using the lovely Printed Petals Stamp Set (Page 95 of the main catalogue).

I love this single layer stamping technique. You are able to gain varying depths of colour by using the stamp on stamp off technique. If you have a piece of scrap paper beside you when you are stamping you simply ink your stamp, stamp on to your scrap piece of paper and then stamp on to your project. This creates a lighter tone of the colour you are using.

And another crafty technique, the lone flower above the M was stamped to cover a finger print! 

"There are no mistakes in stamping, only opportunities for embellishment."

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

Tuesday 21 May 2013

Online Ordering is Here

Welcome to a new crafty week ;0)

I have some super exciting news to share with you today. Online ordering is here. Today I have launched my new Stampin' Up! website with an online store facility. So never again will you be stuck with that sinking 'I forgot something essential on my order' feeling. You can now order Stampin' Up! product anytime day or night direct through my Stampin' Sarah! online store:
 

And for the first 5 people who order direct through my online store I am offering an extra special crafty surprise delivered from me direct to your door as a thank you.
 
So please pop on over to my new website today and have a look around. You'll find an event calender, up to date promotions, information and of course, the store itself.

And to celebrate this launch, here is a little bit of craftiness for todays Try it Tuesday.
 
This is a little set I made for a recent crafty party. The vellum bag was the door prize as a thank you to the ladies for coming along. I then created the box using the Birds of a Feather Designer Series Paper and Pop Up Posies Tag Kit (finished with a bit of Pool Party Ribbon) for my lovely hostess, Rachel (the box was full of crafty loveliness). I stamped the peacock feather using the Four Feathers stamp set. If you'd like to book yourself a crafty party and receive your own handmade gift, just pop by my new site and pick yourself a workshop date or get in touch directly using the details below.

 
 
Please get in touch if you have any questions or queries: poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 01983 609249 / 07830 343830.


Tuesday 14 May 2013

New Baby Boy Collage Card


Todays card is a CASE of a beautiful collage card I'd seen on Julie's Japes blog. I used Julie's card as the starting point for this weeks Try it Tuesday as it was a perfect inspiration point for my friends celebration card. I've seen so many of these square collage cards and wanted to have a go at one for a while. Last week one of my closest friends, Natalie, had her little boy Theo and I thought it was a perfect excuse to have a go (and his name would fit perfectly on this 14.8cm x 14.8cm square card).

The colour scheme is Very Vanilla, So Saffro, Pool Party and Crumb Came. The stamps I used are from Bundle of Love, Notable Alphabet and Aviary.
 
I loved creating all these mini squares to form the collage as a whole. Although it was a little challenging trying to line them all up (thank goodness for Anywhere Glue Sticks and their slight moveability when it comes to sticking things down).
A HUGE congratulations to Natalie and Ben on the arrival of Theo. I look forward to meeting him soon.
 
Please get in touch to find out more about Stampin' Up! and their products. Happy to help in any way I can. I have availability for party dates through May and June as well as a few spaces for my upcoming card and scrapbooking classes.
 
Happy Tuesday Craftiness
-X-


Monday 13 May 2013

Home from Regional Training

Well what a weekend we had! Sam and I took Summer away for the weekend to celebrate her first birthday and this coincided with the Stampin' Up! Regional Training event in Telford.  I was so excited to be asked to present at the event (well, excited and terrified in equal measure!) on the subject of Marketing Your Business.

It was such an exciting opportunity to stand up on stage and present my take on the topic in front of 300+ Demonstrators from around the country and I received such lovely feedback from all the ladies I met on the day. I'm hoping my ideas inspired a few people and helped a few Demos have the confidence to give Facebook or blogging a go. A few years ago I decided that should opportunities arise to challenge myself and take me out of my comfort zone, then I should take them. This was by far the biggest challenge of recent years and I am so pleased that I said yes and did this presentation.

And to everyone who has been in touch I thank you wholeheartedly. Has really given me a boost to hear from so many Demonstrators both new and established *Stampin' Up! hugs*
 
And now for a bit of craftiness. Here are some of the lovely things I have to share with you from Saturday. The crafty tote was made for me by a super crafty Demo friend Lynne (who also did a fab on stage presentation!). The wrapped bundle is my Prize Patrol prize (one of the many benefits of being a Demo and attending Stampin' Up! events is the chance to win fab product prizes- mine is a bundle of silver in celebration of Stampin' Up!'s 25 year anniversary!). The notebook is one of our Make and Take projects and the floral tub was a gift from my Upline Michelle as a celebration of my presentation (and it was full of lovely Mint Aero Bubbles!)
 
Here is a close up of the notebook Make and Take project that was part of the days craftiness. I love this artsy layered look which is created using the Clockworks stamp set.
My silver prize:
My handmade nametag using the Notable Alphabet stamps, lots of rhinestones and the butterfly punch.
And lastly, here is a beautiful swap I received from Rose, a Demonstrator friend. This is a shrinky plastic keyring made using the Swallowtail stamp (who knew it would shrinky dink down so small!?). Rose and I had a good catch up over breakfast in the hotel. Its one of my favourite things about being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, meeting up with team mates and friends at events.
 

If you think you would like to join Stampin' Up! as part of my team and come along to future events with Stampin' Up! you can sign up to my team directly by clicking here and if you sign up before May 30th you will receive an extra £25 in your Starter Kit order (so for the bargain price of £99 you can choose £155 worth of product in your kit- more info here). With the new catalogue around the corner and Convention announced as being hosted in Manchester this year, there is no better time to join Stampin' Up! and become a Wight Stamper.
 
If you would like to stay more connected with Stampin' Sarah and keep up to date with Stampin' Up! please like my Facebook page.
 
Thanks for popping by today and stop by tomorrow again for more creative inspiration.
-X-


Tuesday 7 May 2013

Try It Tuesday: Stamped Vellum Scrapbook Page

I was procrastinating on Pinterest recently and came across this beautiful layout. I decided to have a go at CASing the project using papers I had to hand. I loved the feature of the Perfectly Preserved stamped jar on vellum to create a vase full of matching flowers.

I used this as one of our pages for my April scrapbooking class and it was lovely to see how the ladies adapted it for their photos. Julie used a photo of a beautiful dessert flower and changed the floral highlights on the page to pink to match her page. It looked lovely ;0)

The papers we have used for this are: Tea for Two & Floral District Designer Series Paper. These have been layered on to Crumb Cake and Night of Navy cardstock. The flowers were punched from So Saffron using the Boho Blossoms punch and finished with Basic Pearls (which I have just noticed are wonky in my photo- typical!).

I was really pleased with how it turned out. And i loved scrapbooking this photo of my grandparents too.

If you fancy giving scrapbooking a go why not pop along to one of my classes. The next class is booked for Monday June 3rd. Alternatively, why not
check out the AMAZING new This and That journalling and scrapbooking product range from Stampin' Up! I am offering an extra special gift for the first 10 people that place orders from this range. Get in touch on 01983 609249 or poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk to find out more.
 
Happy Crafting
-X-

Sunday 5 May 2013

A little something different

 
Last night my family, some family friends, Sam, Summer and I all went along to a newly opened restaurant local to us in Ryde (Isle of Wight) called The Three Buoys. We took my Dad there for a birthday treat. This a brand new venture for a friend of my sisters and her husband and as the restaurant only opened officially on Friday we went along to show our support (the restuarant is named for their three young sons! Such a clever play on words!).

My Mum and sister has seen this card on Pinterest and thought it would make a perfect congratulations/good luck card for the couple starting out in their new business so I set about recreating it for them to give yesterday evening. The card is one sheet of A4 Whisper White folded in half. I then created layers using Baja Breeze & Marina Mist to give the card added dimension. The top layer is made from Baja Breeze embossed with the clouds folder in the Spring Summer catalogue. The lower half is Marina Mist (I dragged a Whisper White Craft ink pad over to give the effect of the sea and then drew the crests of the waves using my White Gel Pen). I used some offcuts of Early Espresso Coredinations cardstock which I crumpled and sanded for the posts and tied Linen Thread around the top. The Gull was created using the Bird Punch and a dauber with Crumb Cake ink. All in all a perfect good luck card for a restaurant by the sea.

And as for our meal, well is was just lovely. I am a big fan of eating out and seafood so the combination came together perfectly at Three Buoys. The food was on the pricier side but my Asian Battered Sea Trout with Asian Coleslaw and Sticky Soy Dip was worth every penny! And don't even get me started on my luxury Mojito. I'll definitely be returning for brunch and to try their afternoon tea too. If you are local to the Isle of Wight or just thinking of taking a trip here one day, I'd consider giving the restaurant a visit.
 
Hope you are all having a lovely Bank Holiday and getting time to enjoy this beautiful weather.

Happy Crafting
-X-

Friday 3 May 2013

Two fancy frames for a Friday

 
Happy Friday!
 
Only a couple of hours and it'll officially be the weekend. Hooray!! I'm excited to be demo-ing for some good friends tonight. I have a lovely Swallowtail card planned for the ladies. What a perfect way to start the bank holiday.
 
Today I am sharing two of our April card class projects. The first uses the Oval Framelits from the Spring Summer catalogue to create this peep through frame. Perfect to mount the dress created using the Dress Up Framelits and the Vanilla Flower Trim. The black oval inside the card was stamped in Whisper White with the En Francais background stamp.

I could use these Flower Trim flowers on all my projects at the moment. I just absolutely love their versatility.
 Our second card uses The Open Sea ship stamped in Chocolate Chip and coloured with inks and blender pens. This was then set on to a Brushed Gold frame embossed (and cut around) using the Designer Frames folder. The Happy Birthday sentiment is from the Itty Bitty Banners stamp set.
Wishing you all a very Happy May Day weekend. Lets hope the sun shines for the bank holiday.
 
Happy long weekend craftiness ;0)
-XXX-

Wednesday 1 May 2013

Exciting New Product Line: This and That


Good morning and what lovely news I have to share with you today! A sneaky peak (and chance to order!) of a new product range from the new 2013-2014 Catalogue.

Introducing..... This and That!
 
This range is inspired by the Smash books which have been huge over the past couple of years. It brings together a love of pretty papers with true scrapbooking in the fashion we all loved as kids (cutting, glueing, sticking, collecting tickets and bits and bobs).

This new product range includes a fancy journal, rotary stamp, 3 rolls of washi tape (LOVE this!), 12 sheets of coordinating patterned papers and 4 sheets of stickers. All of these new products will be available in the new Catalogue launching July 1st but Stampin' Up! are giving you the chance to get your hands on them exclusively during May.

 
And even better if you want ALL 5 items you can buy the complete bundle at 15% discount. What a bargain!

With my love of scrapbooking and Stampin' Up! this was my absolute dream bundle of products. So as you can imagine, I was up till midnight waiting to put my preorder in. Now just counting down the days till my order arrives (and of course I will be sharing pictures and creations as soon as it is delivered!)
 
 This would be perfect for a general scrapbook for keeping gift tags, tickets and bits and bobs in. Or it could be used for scrapping a special holiday, special occasion or special memories.
 
I would be more than happy to chat to you about this fantastic new product line (as well as all of Stampin' Up!'s lovely other products!). Please drop me an email or give me a call for more info: poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 01983 609249 / 07830 343830. And please check out my Promotions tab above for more info on other special promotions I am running this month.
 
Here is more info on what is included in the bundle (click on the picture for more detailed info).

 
And finally to make up for the lack of a Try it Tuesday feature yesterday (my usual blogging time was taken up with my monthly scrapbooking class!) here is a layout we created yesterday.

This uses the fabulous Floral District Designer Series Paper coupled with the fabulous Circle Circus stamps. We also used the Delicate Doilies Sizzlets and Builder Brads to create the matching embellishments. The colour scheme for this layout was Rose Red and Rich Razzleberry. I love this super summery layout. I just need to add a title and it'll be perfect!
 

 
Thanks for popping by today. Please leave a comment so I can pop back and see your lovely crafty creations.

Please get in touch for any further info on Stampin' Up! and to place your orders. Always happy to help.

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