An Artisan Embellishment Scrapbook Page from Stampin' Up! UK Demonstrator Sarah Poulton

Good morning crafty friends. Sorry about the week long absence. Would you believe I had a case of crafters block? I should keep projects in reserve for those weeks where I just don't have the time to get in my craft room and have some fun.

You'll be pleased to hear that I am over the block now. Cannot wait to get scrapbooking some lovely pictures I took over the weekend. We went away in our campervan to visit friends. The weather was so lovely that I managed to get some great snaps.

But back to today's crafty share. I was rummaging through a big box of photos awaiting scrapping and came across this pic of my Mum and Pops at my cousin's wedding.

I wanted to create something vintage-y and wedding-y so knew the beautiful Artisan Embellishment Kit would be a perfect starting point (currently reduced as part of the Weekly Deals promotion. Available at the bargain price of £6.71). I used a Crumb Cake 12"x12" base and stamped in Crumb Cake with the Swallowtail stamp and added extra detail with the Butterfly Basics stamp set. I also inked the edges of my cardstock with more Crumb Cake. I sprayed my base layer with a little Smooch Spritz to give a little extra sparkle.

I then created my Blushing Bride layer. I used the beautiful rose die-cut in the Embellishment kit as a stencil and daubered Blushing Bride ink through to create the rose background.

I then embellished with the flowers and ribbon from the Artisan kit. I created my title using the Little Letters Thinlits Dies (cut from Rose Red).

I love how the page came together using the Artisan Embellishment Kit as my colour inspiration. It was perfect for a wedding page.

Pop over to the Weekly Deals page to see the other products available at a reduced price just for today and tomorrow. New deals will be available on Wednesday.

Thank you for popping by today. Please let me know if you have any questions about Stampin' Up! or our products. I would love to help. All items can be purchased online via my shop (or click on the links below to find out more about specific products) or get in touch directly and I can order them for you to be delivered direct to your door. I'd also love to Demo for you and your friends at a crafty party. As the hostess you earn lots of lovely freebies and you all get to make a fun crafty project too (no crafting experience necessary!)

 -XXX-

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Swallowtail Birthday Greetings from Stampin' Up! UK Demonstrator Sarah Poulton

Good morning crafters. I hope your week is going well so far. I can confirm that the coconut chocolate cake I shared in my last post was delightful. And I have put on half a stone just by looking at it ;0)

I have a quick 40th Birthday Card to share with you today. It must be a week of 40th celebrations. I made this for my Mum to give a work colleague.

I was looking for inspiration from my stamp cupboard and settled on the beautiful Swallowtail stamp. I love this large butterfly image and I haven't had it out of its box in a fair few months. This is what I came up with.

I stamped the main image on to Naturals Ivory cardstock using Rose Red ink. I then cut around the butterfly edge to give the shaped front layer of the card.

I created the birthday sentiment with the Memorable Moments stamp set. I embellished with Basic Pearls (the smaller I coloured with my markers).

For the corner stamping I used Blushing Bride and Encore Gold ink with the butterflies from the Perpetual Birthday stamp set and the roses from Painted Petals. I used my Encore Gold ink pad to add daubered gold around all the card edges. It gives a lovely antique-y vintage feel to the card.

It is Wednesday so be sure to check out the latest Weekly Deals from Stampin' Up! This week features lovely ribbons and embossing folders. 

Thank you for popping by today. You can find out more about the new Spring Summer Catalogue and Sale-A-Bration promotion by clicking here or by using the navigation menu on the left. This really is the most exciting time of the year to shop. New products and fantastic freebie rewards too. 

Please let me know if you have any questions about Stampin' Up! or our products. I would love to help. All items can be purchased online via my shop (click on the links below to find out more about specific products) or get in touch directly and I  can order them for you to be delivered direct to your door. 

-X-

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Stampin' Up! UK A Very Special Birthday

Happy Festive Sunday to you. Hope all your preparations are going well and you are all ready for the main event on Wednesday. I am about as ready as I will ever be. Just got the wrapping to do now.

I thought I would share a very special card I made this week for my good crafty friend and customer, Chris. She celebrated her 70th birthday on Friday and I wanted to create something super sparkly and special for her celebrations.

I had seen the multi colour embossing powder technique demonstrated on stage at Convention and decided to give it another dimension by using the beautiful Gold and Silver Glitters from the Autumn Winter catalogue (it gave it that super special extra something). To create this effect I stamped the whole Swallowtail image in Versamark on to Basic Black cardstock. I then poured Heat and Stick Powder onto the tips of the wings and the body. I quickly heated this and then covered with the silver and gold glitters. Once this element was completed, I quickly added the gold and silver embossing powders to the Versamark trying to create this striped effect. I think the key is to act quickly (while managing not to mix your powders and glitters!) so that the Versamark does not dry out. Overall, I was really pleased with result. I liked it better than the effect i was going for in my head (which rarely happens for me!).

To finish I Versamarked the 7 and 0 from the Memorable Moments stamp set (perfect for all Anniversaries and Birthdays) and used Heat and Stick with the Gold Glitter. I then carefully cut around the numbers and mounted with Dimensionals. I then stamped the Happy, 'th' and Birthday from the same stamp set using my Gold Metallic Encore ink pad.

I hope Chris had a lovely day and I look forward to catching up with her in the New Year to hear all about it.

Please get in touch if you have any questions or queries about Stampin' Up!, I'd be only too happy to help: poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 01983 609249. I have dates available in the New Year for fantastic Sale-A-Bration parties (lots of lovely extra freebies for hostesses as well as for customers) so drop me a line if you think you might be interested in finding out more.

Happy Festive Crafting ;0)
-X-

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-

Shoebox Swapping with my Team

 To celebrate the final day of Sale-A-Bration I am sharing the lovely projects we made at my team shoebox swap on Monday.

 

What a lovely variety of projects and techniques. I love seeing what my lovely team come up with as we all have such different styles and colour favourites.

Lorraine made the fab punch art Easter bunny topper which came with a lovely chocolatey treat too (that didn't make it to the picture I am afraid!). I love this idea. You seal the bunny over the top of a cello bag filled with Easter-y treats.

Charlotte designed the Rich Razzleberry card with a stamp set I am ashamed to admit, I had never even seen in the catalogue before this card, Lacy & Lovely (page 99). She paired the stamp with beautiful matching designer series paper. This is the beauty of crafting with my team ladies, we all own different stamps and come at Stampin' Up! with different crafty styles and interests.

The final card isn't too clear in the picture above so I have shown separately below. This was designed by Hayley using the stunning Swallowtail stamp in the Spring Summer catalogue.

I love this technique and absolutely adore this stamp now. I had overlooked it as being too big in the catalogue. But now, having used it, I have placed an order to get my hands on it myself. It is so detailed and intricate. Such a lovely card and such a stunning stamp too ;0)

As I mentioned previously, today is the final day of Sale-A-Bration. So place your orders with me before 5pm to take advantage of the fabulous Stampin' Up! freebies and to be entered in to the 'Win a Big Shot' competition.

 

Thank you for stopping by today and thank you to all for a fabulous Sale-A-Bration ;0)

-XXX-