A High Tide Night of Navy 'Just Because' Card from Stampin' Up! UK Demonstrator Sarah Poulton

Good morning and a very happy (rainy) Monday to you all. It is blowing a real hooly here. We've just opened our front door to find two ducks have taken up residence is a substantial car park puddle as well as seeing our beautiful local red squirrels sheltering in the trees (hanging on for dear life in this wind more like).

So on that note I have a lighthouse card to share today. I adore the High Tide stamp set and especially this sentiment. I've been talking to crafty friends recently about how we should all send more 'just because' cards. People expect cards on birthdays and Christmas but think about the delight we all feel receiving a lovely piece of handwritten  post unexpectedly. I've decided that from time to time I will post a card to a loved one just to say hello. This card will be the first one in box of cards to send. I love the sentiment and the little ray of sunshine it may bring to someone.

For this card I decided to keep it all tonally one colour. I simply used Night of Navy and Whisper White. When inking I created different shades by stamping off on to a scrap piece of paper before stamping on to my Whisper White. This is a simply technique for giving different variations of the same colour and adding depth to your stamping.

The High Tide Stamp Set has the two stamps for creating the layering and shadowing on the lighthouse. I love the 3D effect it gives the stamped image as well as the gorgeous detailing around the top of the house.

Please let me know if you have any questions about Stampin' Up! and their products. I would be happy to help. All items can be purchased online via my shop or get in touch directly and I can order them for you to be delivered direct to your door. I'd also love an opportunity to Demo for you and your friends at a crafty party.  As the hostess you earns exclusive free products and all guests get to create a fun crafty project to take home too! Get in touch if you'd like any further information.

-xxx-

A Big on Birthdays Celebration from Stampin' Up! UK Demonstrator Sarah Poulton

A very Happy Sunday Crafters.

Whats happening where you are? I've had another busy weekend of patchwork and party prepping. I've been getting messy and having some fun with watercolouring getting ready for a Stampin' Up! party on Wednesday. I'll share those projects later in the week.

Today's crafty share is a card I made for my Mum's birthday last month. I adore the Succulent Garden Designer Series Paper and paired it with the Big on Birthday stamp set.

I used a Sweet Sugarplum cardbase to match the gorgeous Succulent Garden 3/8"Ribbon. I used the fab new Watercolour Pencils to colour my stamped flowers and I blended with my Blender Pen.

Please let me know if you have any questions about Stampin' Up! and their products. I would be happy to help. All items can be purchased online via my shop or get in touch directly and I can order them for you to be delivered direct to your door. I'd also love an opportunity to Demo for you and your friends at a crafty party.  As the hostess you earns exclusive free products and all guests get to create a fun crafty project to take home too! Get in touch if you'd like any further information.

-xxx-

Beautiful You Paper Piecing from Stampin' Up! UK Demonstrator Sarah Poulton

A very happy Sunday my crafty friends. I thought I would take some time out of my Sunday afternoon patchwork piecing schedule to share a set of paper pieced cards I created with some crafty friends last weekend.

If you've been on Pinterest recently you will have come across a multitude of cards created with the Stampin' Up! Beautiful You stamp set. I wasn't a big fan of this set from the  pictures in the catalogue until I saw all the creative things people have been making with it. And then once I'd seen the different paper piecing variations I knew I had to treat myself to the stamp set to have a go myself.

Paper piecing is my all time time favourite stamping technique and this stamp set lends itself perfectly. I began by cutting my layers of Whisper White and DSP from the Blooms and Bliss Designer Series Paper set. Once I had decided on my floral layers I then kept the offcuts of DSP for the stamping of the dresses/hats. I used Memento Black ink and stamped the elegant ladies once on to my Whisper White layer and then again on to my DSP scraps. I chose to turn my DSP over and use the coordinating papers on the other side (and I deliberately chose prints that would look like lovely elegant dresses).

Once you have stamped the image again on to DSP you simply take a sharp pair of scissors and cut around the dress elements from the image. Once cut you simply adhere on to the Whisper White stamped image giving you a simple but effective patterned fill on your stamping.

I love the simplicity of the technique and I felt the images were enough without making too much additional fuss on my cards. So once I had stamped the matching sentiments I simply added a hand doodled frame to each card and voila they were complete!

I am in the middle of so many crafty projects at the moment. I am hoping to share some progress pictures very soon. I have recently started a new charity Stitch Along for Mind and I am loving trying a new style of cross stitching. Once I've finished the colour I am stitching I'll take some pics to share. Similarly I am alternating the SAL with piecing together lots of patchwork hexagons for a quilt for my daughter's birthday (it is a real family affair as Dad is cutting paper patterns, Mum is tacking them and then we are all getting stuck in to stitching the hexagons together- a month till her birthday- wish us luck!!!)

Please let me know if you have any questions about Stampin' Up! and their products. I would be happy to help. All items can be purchased online via my shop or get in touch directly and I can order them for you to be delivered direct to your door. I'd also love an opportunity to Demo for you and your friends at a crafty party.  As the hostess you earns exclusive free products and all guests get to create a fun crafty project to take home too! Get in touch if you'd like any further information.

-xxx-