Cheerful Christmas with a touch of Trim the Tree DSP using Stampin' Up! Autumn Winter Catalogue Products 2014

Good morning crafters.

How are you this fine September 1st? Where is 2014 running away to? It is now officially a downward hill to Christmas and the New Year. I am fairly certain if you pop to the shops today you'll be able to stock up on advent calendars and Quality Street. And while I am sure you'll soon see a full range of Christmas Cards popping up on the high streets, who would want to buy off the shelf when you could be creating from our fantastic new Autumn Winter Seasonal Catalogue? There is so much festive inspiration in those pages it is impossible to not want to have a go at creating your own festive makes.

Today's crafty share is inspired by a card I found on page 14 of the new catalogue.

I absolutely loved this layered embossing over a photo using Vellum. In my version of the card I have run the Filigree Frame Embossing Folder through the Big Shot using a sheet of Vellum cardstock. I then heat embossed the gorgeous 'Christmas Cheer' stamp from the Cheerful Christmas stamp set using White Embossing Powder.  I then layered the Vellum over a piece of DSP taken from the Trim The Tree Designer Series Paper Stack.

This card is made of a full sheet of A4 cardstock (Cherry Cobbler) folded in half. It needs to be a larger card to accommodate the full image created in the Vellum by the Filigree Frame Embossing Powder. I stamped the cardbase with the background image from the Cheerful Christmas stampset using my Versamark inkpad (the one I stamped with had a bit of glimmer added, but to get the tone on tone effect a normal Versamark would work too).

I embellished the hear embossing with Brights Candy Dots and Basic Rhinestones. I then created the mini pennants with scraps of Trim the Tree DSP and layered with Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine and finished with a Nordic Designer Button.

Please let me know if you have any questions about this project. You can get in touch via email: poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 01983 609249. I'm more than happy to help. All Stampin' Up! products can be ordered through my online store by clicking the product links above or the pictures below. Or get in touch direct and I'll happily place an order for you.

Happy Crafting

-X-

Cheerful Christmas Clear-Mount Stamp Set

£15.95

Cheerful Christmas Wood-Mount Stamp Set

£21.95

White Vellum A4 Card Stock

£5.95

Filigree Frame Textured Impressions Embossing Folders

£7.50

Big Shot Die-Cut Machine

£87.95

White Stampin' Emboss Powder

£4.50

Trim The Tree Designer Series Paper Stack

£6.25

Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine

£2.50

Brights Candy Dots

£5.50

Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents

£4.50

Nordic Designer Buttons

£5.50

Treat Box using Lullaby Designer Series Paper from Stampin' Up!

So, as promised yesterday, here is my matching box to accompany my Sweet Stuff shaker card. 

I created this gift box with a brand new tool soon to be released by Stampin' Up!, the Gift Box Punch Board (a bargain, like the Envelope Punch Board at just £17.95). It is a fantastic feature in the amazing new Autumn Winter catalogue.

This box measures a tiny 1.75" square and is created with a 6"x6" square of Lullaby Designer Series Paper.

I created the front embellishment with a Dazzling Diamonds Scallop Circle layered with a Crisp Cantaloupe circle. I stamped the cupcake from Sweet Stuff and then coloured with my Melon Mambo and Calypso Coral Blendabilities. I then used a little Dazzling Details for the white icing of the cupcake and glazed with Crystal Effects. The small heart was punched from Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper using the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack. I coloured the Glimmer Paper with my Blendabilities markers to match the box colours.

The new Gift Box Punch Board is amazing. It even punches these fab crossover tabs to keep the box closed (I didn't use any glue to keep this box together). It creates boxes of all sizes and gives you the relevant paper sizes and score marks.

I added the hearts as an extra embellishment detail. This heart is from the Basics Hodgepodge Clips.

Here is a view of the box unfolded to give you an idea of how the box comes together.

I have one more Sweet Stuff project to share. So pop back on Friday to see my final creation. I hope you've enjoyed my little Autumn Winter catalogue sneak peek. Fix the date in your crafting calendar. The new catalogue goes live on August 28th and you'll be able to purchase the Gift Box Punch Board for yourself.

Please let me know if you have any questions about these projects. You can get in touch via email: poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 01983 609249. I'm more than happy to help. All Stampin' Up! products can be ordered through my online store by clicking the product links above or the pictures below. Or get in touch and I'll happily place an order for you.

Happy Crafting

-X-

Lullaby Designer Series Paper

£9.95

Envelope Punch Board

£17.95

Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper

£4.50

Sweet Stuff Clear-Mount Stamp Set

£17.95

Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Melon Mambo Assortment

£10.95

Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Calypso Coral Assortment

£10.95

Dazzling Details

£2.25

Crystal Effects

£5.25

Basics Hodgepodge Clips

£6.25

Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack

£15.50

Easter Garden Chocolate Treat Holder

Good morning and welcome to another crafty Easter Treat morning here at Stampin' Sarah! How is your week going? Only 2 more work days and then a long weekend to look forward to. I have my fingers crossed for some lovely sunshine over the weekend so we can all make the most of the 4 days off.

So today's crafty make is a table decoration or Easter gift (this could easily be packaged in a cello bag with a label as a simple gift).  I created this little treat holder using a glass tealight holder from IKEA. I purchased a number of them for my all day Christmas Crafting Extravaganza. You'll find the stamping tutorial for my earlier project here. You could easily substitute the tealight holder for a plastic cup for the same effect.

I used my Stampin' Up! Fringe Scissors to create the grass effect. I cut a length of Pistachio Pudding cardstock and then after fringing I wrapped this around the glass (securing with Sticky Strip to make sure it didn't slip or fall off). I decorated with tiny flowers punched using my Itty Bitty Shapes Punches and embellished with Basic Pearls. I finished with a length of Whisper White Organza Ribbon and filled with chocolatey treats.

And don't forget today sees another set of products appear in the Stampin' Up! Weekly Wednesday Deals. Click the picture below to link straight through to my Online Store and this weeks promotional products.

You can order any products through my online store by clicking here or by clicking any of the product links above. I will also happily order any products for you. Just drop me a line on poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 01983 609249 and I'll happily assist.

Happy Crafting
-X-

Blessed Easter Greetings

Good morning crafty friends. 

Thank you for joining me this fine March day. As you are reading this I will be dashing around like a madwoman trying to get all the last bits ready for our new arrival tomorrow. Wish me luck! ;0) 

I have been busy planning and crafting lots of lovely seasonal projects to share with you over the upcoming weeks and Easter has been the centre of all my craftiness. This little card was inspired by this card I'd seen on Pinterest. I love the bold colour combination (Daffodil Delight, Old Olive and Melon Mambo) and how it felt very Spring-like. So I set about giving it a go myself.

I used a Melon Mambo card base and a Quatrefancy Speciality Designer Series Paper layer.  I then coloured the Blessed Easter stamp (a steal at just £10.95. And it can also be separated like in this post so that the image and words are separate allowing use of the tulips all year round) using my Brights Stampin' Write markers. I always make sure to 'huff'' (don't know how else to describe this, I guess breath over my coloured stamp says the same thing) over my stamp before stamping when I colour like this just to ensure it is moistened enough to give a good stamped image. I finished with coordinating Brights Candy Dots just for an extra little embellishment.

I made a whole stack of these cards in preparation for this months Hostess Club orders. I have an Easter themed gift to include with the orders and wanted a card to match. Having a new baby has definitely made me plan and organise my time a bit better. That and having a lot of time on my hands due to my massively expanded belly and inability to move from the house for very long at a time.

Thanks for joining me today. Please pop back on Wednesday where I will be sharing a fab tutorial for making a crocodile gift box. Here is a little sneak peak.

I would love to welcome you in to one of my hostess clubs. I have spaces available in my upcoming Stampers 10 club starting in April. You would need to place an order of at least £15 per month for 10 months and receive the hostess benefits one month and any extra freebies/promotions that I can share between the club on a month by month basis, as well as a little extra handmade gift from me with your order each month (plus a copy of any new catalogue that goes live during your 10 months, which would include both the main Annual Catalogue and Autumn Winter Catalogue for this new April club).

For more information please pop by the 'Virtual Clubs' tab at the top of my blog. I would love you to join in and to welcome you with a little hello to the club gift. If  you think you'd be interested in signing up, please get in touch on poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk and I can provide a bit more information.

Please get in touch with any questions about Stampin' Up! or today's project. I'm always happy to chat craftiness.

Happy Crafting

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Stampin' Up! UK My Digital Studio Summer Love

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2014 and a whole new year of crafty inspiration. I hope you have had a suitably fantastic festive season and that your New Year has started well. 

New Year's Day is my birthday so I spent the day doing lots of lovely things yesterday. A crafty friend popped in yesterday morning with some lovely flowers, then my Mum cooked my favourite spinach and pesto lasagne for lunch, Sam treated me to a trip to see The Hobbit, and then the day was rounded out perfectly with Sherlock in the evening. All in all a perfect day of fun and family.

I'm a bit sad that the festivities are all over for another year now. But there is certainly a lot to look forward to in 2014 so I should probably start getting organised and ready for Poulton-Williams the 2nd. Sam and I should really agree on a name for her too ;0)

This morning I was seeking a little creative inspiration for some of my December photos of Summer using Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio software. I was looking through some of the Designer Kits I had purchased and I came across the absolute perfect kit called 'Summer Love'.

Within the kit was this photo layout all ready designed within the software which I thought would be perfect for some of my outdoorsy pictures of Summer enjoying the winter weather on the beach, feeding the ducks and playing with our dog Kala. It really is as simple as opening your photo files on your computer and then dragging and dropping in to the template. And voila, your page is finished. I always like to add a few embellishments of my own. But the templates are designed to give you a perfectly finished page with a few clicks. Perfect for a starter scrapbooker or for getting to know the software a bit better.

I just love the simplicity of My Digital Studio, whether starting a page or card from scratch, or whether using one of the predesigned templates for a quick and easy crafty make. I am always left feeling very inspired after I've browsed through all the lovely embellishments, stamps and digital papers within the software. I cannot recommend MDS highly enough. 

If you visit the MDS page through my online store (click here) you can find the full version available for download (a bargain at £13.95) or you can download the free trial version for 30 days. The trial version is perfect for having a go at creating digital cards and scrapbook pages and getting to know all the features of the software.

Please get in touch if you have any questions about todays project or My Digital Studio, about placing an order or about Stampin' Up! in general. You can contact me on poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 01983 609249.

Happy Crafting

-X-

Stampin' Up! UK Joyful Christmas Gift

Good morning and welcome to a crafty Wednesday here at Stampin' Sarah! Hope you all had a lovely Bonfire Night. As the weather was a bit changeable, Summer and I opted for a night in with indoor fireworks at Mum and Dads. She was fascinated by the sparklers so it was a big success (and the drive home got her to sleep which is always a big plus!).

Today I thought I would share a hostess thank you gift I made for my friend Hayley who hosted a Stampin' Up! party at her house in Southampton on Saturday. I had seen lots of variations of this idea across Blogland and Pinterest. I loved the idea of making seasonal coasters for upcoming festivities. I searched online for cork coasters and also purchased two shades of Stazon ink to colour the image with (I could have used a spray sealant with Stampin' Up! inkpads but as I wished to demo the technique it wouldn't have left enough time to dry the coasters).

I began by stamping the Poinsettia image from the Joyful Christmas stamp set using Black Stazon on to the 4 cork coasters. I then used a sponge dauber to ink the red on to the image.  I finished by stamping the leaves in green and then added a touch of sparkle to the centre of the flowers.

I was really pleased with the result and thought these would make perfect little gifts for a neighbour or friend. And if you package them up using the current Stampin' Up! packaging promotion they will fit easily in the post of through a letter box with a lovely handmade touch. Please click here for more information on the fantastic packaging bundles featuring Stampin' Up! gift boxes, ribbon and gift tags. Or to order the bundles directly through my store, please click on the photo below.

The last image is a close up the packaging for the coasters which uses:

Decorative Window Gift Box (132146 £4.50)

Cherry Cobbler Chevron Ribbon (130012 £8.25)

Burlap Ribbon (132140 £6.95)

If you place an online order for any Stampin' Up! products through my online store remember to add the code below and I will add your name to the draw to win the hostess benefits for the month's combined orders (with a minimum of £25 in hostess freebies):

V99TUSS2

Please get in touch if you have any questions about todays project or My Digital Studio, about placing an order or about Stampin' Up! in general. You can contact me on poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 01983 609249.

Happy Crafting

-X-

A Love-ly watercolour card

Good afternoon and a big welcome. Hope you all had a lovely (crafty!) weekend.

I thought I would post a quick crafty share this afternoon. This project was designed by my lovely downline Hayley for our team shoebox swap last week.

I love this trend for watercoloured backgrounds and was intrigued to know how she'd created this one. It had a lovely metallic sheen that the photos don't quite capture. Anyways, she introduced us to a new (sadly non SU) product called, Gelatos. These are watercolour crayons that give this fab blended background. They work perfectly with our beautiful Stampin' Up! colours and cardstock.

So we blended the Metallic Gelatos and then created matching embellishments using the Expressions Thinlits and the Bitty Butterfly Punch (I love this punched peek a boo feature of the card!). The Bermuda Bay background layer was embossed with the Pretty Print Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. To finish we tied a button with Linen Thread and glue dotted within the middle of the buttefly.

A really lovely new technique (although I'm sure this'll get expensive when I have to buy the whole collection of Gelatos!! *lol*) and a beautiful card too.

If you have any questions, please get in touch on poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 01983 609249. Or to browse my online store please click below and click the 'shop' button in the top right corner.

Pop back tomorrow for the hostess code for October and news on Stampin' Up! promotions for the month too.

-XXX-

Scrapbooking Made Easy with My Digital Studio

Here is another quick and easy scrapbook page I created with the fantastic new software from Stampin' Up!, My Digital Studio.

For this I used a template within the programme and simply dragged and dropped my photos in to the template. It is as simple as that. The software is so easy to use and creates beautiful pages, cards, mini books, albums, tags... you name it, you can create it within My Digital Studio. Using all Stampin' Up! colours, papers, stamps, shapes, punches and embellishments.

The software is available through my store and costs ONLY £13.95 for the download (directly downloaded to your computer) or you can take advantage of the 30 day FREE trial. Again this is available through my online store.

And it doesn't end there, there are lots of additional affordable downloads available through my store to add to your MDS collection (the downloadable version comes with lots of usable kits, layouts, papers, stamps and punches). So if there is a must have stamp you need for a digital creation you can purchase it online and download it straight to your computer.

If you'd like to find out any more about MDS or Stampin' Up!, please get in touch directly on poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or visit my online store to see more of the products available.

Happy Crafting

-X-

A little bit of Label Love

Good morning and hello to all readers & crafters. I hope you've had a lovely weekend ;0)

Sam, Summer and I are off on a mini adventure at the moment with our motorhome so I have scheduled some craftiness for you this week.

My first crafty share of the week is this Very Vanilla & Basic Black Thank You card I made recently for a party hostess.

This uses the Deco Labels Collection Framelits (page 186 of the main catalogue) as a focal feature which I embossed with the Fancy Fan Embossing Folder (Page 191 of the main catalogue). I then cut three small pennnants using the lovely Modern Medley Designer Series Paper and wrapped a short length of Basic Black ribbon around the Label layer (this satin ribbon is now retired I have come to realise, however, there are other lovely Basic Black ribbons available on Page 173). To finish I stamped the Just For You label from the Label Love stamp set and added a little bit of rhinestone bling.

This is a simple but effective card as a quick and easy thank you note. I loved trying the monotone effect on this card as I usually prefer to craft with all the brightest colours of the rainbow.

Don't forget if there are any crafty essentials or must-haves that you'd like to get your hands on, you can now shop online 24/7. All items ordered will be shipped directly to you and you can even earn hostess freebies if you spend £150+ (who doesn't love freebies?!) And I'll also be posting a little extra something to all people ordering through my Online Shop throughout September. 

For an extra chance to win freebies, add the Hostess Code below to your order and at the end of the month I will be totaling the month's freebies and offering them to one lucky winner.

QN7Y7WBX

Thanks for stopping by today. Pop back tomorrow for another quick crafty make.

Happy Crafting

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Online Ordering is Here

Hello and welcome to a very exciting day here at Stampin' Sarah!

My Online Ordering Stampin' Up! Website is now LIVE. You can use my new site as a one stop shop for my blog, current promotions, updates and of course, ordering your products direct online! The address for your favourites bar is:

http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/stampinsarah/

And to celebrate the launch I am offering an exclusive free draw for all customers placing an order with me in September using the Hostess Code:

QN7Y7WBX

Enter the code above when placing your online order and qualify to win the total Hostess Pounds (a minimum £25 prize to spend on anything in our current catalogues!) for the combined September order. 

And as if that is not exciting enough, I will also be offering a small extra incentive gift direct from me plus a handmade thank you card to all customers ordering through my site in September.

For further information or to chat about Stampin' Up! please get in touch on poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 01983 609249.

Happy Crafting

-X-

New Colour Bundles

Stampin' Up! have released information today on some fantastic new colour bundles.

Having worked with these lovely new colours for a couple of months now I am loving the changes to the Stampin' Up! colour families and am delighted to share these bundles with you this morning.

The bundles detailed above help you to get your hands on cardstock and inks in all ten of the new colours at a bundled discounted price. Bargain!!!

If you'd like more information or to place an order for new colour product, please get in touch on poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 01983 609249.

Thanks for stopping by today. I am super excited to share more Christmas crafting with you over the next week. I am sitting on my hands trying not to give more of the projects away before my Christmas crafty days this weekend. Be sure to pop back next week for project and gift ideas as well as tutorials and crafty tips.

Happy Crafting ;0)

-X-

A couple of quick cards for the weekend

 

Good morning crafters!

It looks to be a lovely weekend here on the Isle of Wight. The sun is out and shining (and its only 7am!).

I was going through some files on my computer this morning and found a couple of cards I haven't yet shared with you. I am currently buried in Christmas preparation for my big all day Christmas Day next weekend so new projects are top secret for a little longer.

The first share today is a 'Thinking of You' card I made for a friend recently who had some sad news. I have had the Stampin' Up! Hopeful Thoughts stamp set sat in my stamping cupboard for a little while and never inked it up. It is such a lovely stamp set for creating those sadly essential sympathy or get well soon cards. I created the card above using a Stampin' Up! Naturals Ivory cardstock base and then layering with (now retired) DSP. I then coloured directly on to the tree stamp with Old Olive and Chocolate Chip and created the two tone inked image. I finished the card by layering this on to an Old Olive layer and creating the floral embellishments with my Itty Bitty Shapes floral punch and Rich Razzleberry (topped with Basic Pearls).

The second card is a beautiful layered card one of my downline designed for a recent shoebox swap. It uses a scored Perfect Plum base which we then sponged over with the same tone ink to give a suede effect. We then layered Whisper White cardstock cut with the Adorning Accents Edgelits (and embossed with the matching folder) and ruffled Organza Ribbon. We punched Whisper White butterflies and raised these with dimensionals. The final detail was to add Basic Pearls to the scored lines and the three butterflies.

Thanks for popping by this morning. I hope you have a lovely crafty weekend planned wherever you are in the country. I'm off to have a bit of breakfast and dive back in to all my Christmas-y preparation. Projects to be shared very soon ;0)

Please get in touch for more info on Stampin' Up! or to find out about signing up as a Demonstrator yourself or hosting a Stampin' Up! party.

Happy crafting 

-XXX-

Lots of exciting offers for August

Happy Friday to all.

Only one work day to go and it'll be the weekend. And how lovely that the beautiful weather has returned just for the weekend. Lots happening here on the Isle of Wight this weekend from summer fayres to visiting friends so hopefully it'll be a busy (and fun!) one.

So lots of craftiness to share with you today. With a new month brings lots of new crafty announcements. The first of which is August's 'Best of...' stamp set. And this month Shelli (co-founder of Stampin' Up!) takes centre stage with the Best of Shelli. I am super excited about this set as I just love all the images within it. As with Butterflies and Flowers, this set will also be available through to March 31st next year. But best order yours now to avoid disappointment in case they sell out.

And even more exciting, Stampin' Up! have also announced an exclusive Designer Paper promotion for August. Order 3 packs of paper and get a 4th for free. This includes all the £9.95 beautiful packs of papers from the Annual Catalogue (Speciality Papers & Paper Stacks are excluded from the offer). To take advantage of this, please get in touch today on poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 01983 609249.

And finally, here is a bit of crafty creativeness for your Friday morning. This is one of the cards we made at our July card class. When i first got my hands on a copy of the Stampin' Up! catalogue I fell in love with the Wetlands stamp set. I adore the sketchy designs of the seashore birds and the accompanying sentiments and grassland stamps. It is such a beautiful and versatile stamp set.

We created this card using an Apothecary Accents mask secured with post it notes. We then used a sponge to ink Tempting Turquoise and Soft Sky ink for the sea and sky and So Saffron and Crumb Cake for the sand. We then stamped the grass in Wild Wasabi and the birds and sentiment in Baked Brown Sugar. We then mounted the Whisper White layer on to a card base cut from the beautiful Natural Composition Speciality papers and tied with (still one of my all time favourite) linen thread.

Thank you for stopping by today. Please get in touch with any questions or queries or to place an order or book a workshop. I can be contacted on poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 01983 609249.

Have a lovely sunny weekend wherever you may be.

Happy Crafting

-X-