An Awesomely Artistic Dragonfly Flight from Stampin' Up! UK Demonstrator Sarah Poulton

How are you enjoying the new Stampin' Up! catalogue? It has been live for 2 months and the firm favourite product amongst my customers so far has to be Awesomely Artistic. This stamp set has flown off the shelves and I have loved seeing what my customers have been coming up with. It is such a versatile set and the beautiful dragonfly is so detailed.

So in honour of the fantastic layering stamp set I have CASED this card from the wonderfully creative Michelle Zindorf over in the USA. She uses amazing layering, inking and blending techniques with Stampin' Up! stamps to create incredible effects and cards. Her blog really is worth a look.

For this card I masked the edges with a piece of scrap paper and washi tape. I used the lines of my grid paper to mark precisely where I wanted the lines to be. I then used a Stampin' Sponge and inked Pool Party for the sky and Pear Pizzazz for the grass. I tried to get an ombre style effect by sponging darker towards the outside and lighter towards the middle.

I stamped the floral image across the bottom in Memento Black and coloured with my Blender Pens using Rose Red and Mossy Meadow.

I finished by stamping the dragonflies again in Memento Black. I then added White Gel Pen to the wings to give that extra bit of definition (I then used a non-SU silver sparkle pen over the top for a little glitter).

I am off work now for a week so hoping for lots of crafting and creating. And also lots of fun and games with the girls (*fingers crossed* for some lovely weather so we can get to the beach and splash park). I look forward to sharing my makes with you next week. I hope you all have a great weekend and enjoy whatever you have planned.

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 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-

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A Garden in Bloom Birthday from Stampin' Up! UK Demonstrator Sarah Poulton

Good morning crafters. I have a special birthday card to share today. I made this for one of my lovely crafting friends. In fact she was one of my very first class attendees. She was purchased a place at my card class as a birthday gift 5 years ago.

If you've been following my blog you will have seen the Garden In Bloom stamp set featured a fair few times. I just love the simplicity of the watercolour effect and the two step stamping. This card was inspired by this beautiful creation from Chris in the States.

I made a little mistake in my stamping and picked up my retired Pistachio Pudding stamp set instead of Mint Macaron as I had planned. But I still love the effect.

The Whisper White panel uses Memento Black ink with Blushing Bride, So Saffron, Old Olive and Mint Macaron (imagine I had used Mint Macaron to match the coloured cardstock layer).

I added the dashed line with my Black Stampin' Write marker and the birthday greeting is from Cottage Greetings.

Pop over to my online store to see this weeks fantastic new Weekly Deals.  I love the Metallic Sequins and might take this opportunity to have a bit of a stock up ;0)

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 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-

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A From Land to Sea Turtle Trio from Stampin' Up! UK Demonstrator Sarah Poulton

Good morning and how was your weekend? The Isle of Wight suffered a wet and grey weekend. Perfect weather for crafting but sadly a washout for the big events scheduled over the past couple of days. The girls and I battened down the hatches and made cake instead of braving the miserable rain. 

My crafty share today is another take on an earlier card I made featuring the stunning turtle from the From Land to Sea stamp set. I had shown my class ladies my earlier Father's Day Card made in a similar style and they requested I taught it in this month's class. I tried a different combination of colours to create the mottled water effect.

To ink the background I scrunched up my Whisper White layer and then applied the ink pads directly to the cardstock. I used Mint Macaron, Lost Lagoon (used sparingly) and Coastal Cabana. I applied each colour separately using a Stampin' Sponge to blend the colour before it dried too much. If you do each colour one at a time you can add more of the lighter colours to achieve the effect you would like.

To colour my turtles I first stamped in Memento Black and then coloured with my Blender Pens using Old Olive and Garden Green. For the sentiment I used the Happy Birthday from the Circle of Spring stamp set.

While the weather was pretty appalling over the weekend. My sisters and I had some luck when Saturday afternoon brightened up a bit. We had tickets to a concert in Portsmouth in celebration of the America's Cup. It was a lovely bright evening (if a little windy) to enjoy McBusted and celebrate with a Hawaiian shaved ice. It is a rare occasion to get all three of us together due to work commitments. It was a great evening and a fun show.

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 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-

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A Sprinkles of Life Cloud Pop Up Spiral Card from Stampin' Up! UK Demonstrator Sarah Poulton

Happy Friday. What a grey day it is here on the Isle of Wight. We have a weather warning due to heavy rain which may put pay to our lunchtime trip to watch the Red Arrows (Summer absolutely loves all things Red Arrow since we watched them perform at Cowes Week last year from Mum and Dad's garden). So what better way to celebrate a grey day than with an 'Every Cloud has a Silver Lining....' card using the Ronald McDonald House Charity Sprinkles of Life stamp set.

This card was inspired by a project made by a very talented French demonstrator Katia. Such a clever fancy card. You have to open it for the surprise.

It has a clever spiral pop up made from a circle punched with the 2 1/2" Circle Punch. You cut the circle in to a spiral and attach the spiral inside your card with two glue dots (one on the centre of the spiral and one on the alternative outer side of the spiral). If you close the spiral and close your card base you ensure your pop up with sit flat when the card is closed.

Once your spiral is secure you can attach your decorations. I have used clouds stamped in Encore Silver ink and punched with the Tree Builder Punch. But this style of card could be customised for any event or occasion by using pop up flowers, butterflies or any stamped image you fancy.

I punched Dazzling Diamonds Bitty Butterflies and glued them to the clouds for an extra bit of sparkle and texture.

For the front of the card I used Cherry on Top Washi Tape to create a flash of blue for the sky and added Metallic Sequins to represent rain.

Thank you for popping by today. I hope you have a lovely weekend ahead whatever your rainy day plans. 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 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-

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Circle of Spring Birthday Greetings from Stampin' Up! UK Demonstrator Sarah Poulton

Hello crafters. A bit later than planned for my crafty share today due to an unscheduled sick day for me and my family. Thankfully it all seems to have passed as quickly as it arrived and we're all on the mend.

So here is the project I planned to share this morning. A birthday card I created for a friend using Circle of Spring and the English Garden Designer Series Paper.

I stamped the Circle of Spring wreath stamp in Memento Black ink and then coloured with Hello Honey, Mint Macaron & Blushing Bride Stampin' Write Markers. I layered my wreath panel on to Island Indigo and raised with Dimensionals on to my English Garden panel.

The banner was stamped from the Endless Thanks stamp set and layered with the Birthday greeting from the Circle of Spring set. I finished with Subtles Candy Dots.

New Weekly Deals went live this morning. They are only while stocks last. So pop over to my online shop and have a look.

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 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-

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A Barnyard Babies 1st Birthday Card from Stampin' Up! UK Demonstrator Sarah Poulton

Good morning crafters.

How is your week going so far? I hope you enjoyed the lovely weather over the weekend? I had my fab ladies over on Saturday for my July card class. We had lots of fun creating and chatting.

I had a special 1st birthday party to go to on Saturday evening. My friends grandson lives on a farm and he was having a big party to celebrate his birthday. So I wanted to make a special card and knew the Barnyard Babies stamp set would be perfect.

This is what I came up with:

I used a cardbase measuring 10cm x 29.7cm. I scored the long side at 9.9cm and 19.8cm. This gives you the three panels to stamp and means the card will stand up on its own.

I then simply stamped all the animals and coloured with my Blender Pens and ink pads. I used the little banner from the White Christmas and coloured with my Island Indigo Stampin' Write marker (meaning I was able to not colour the Happy Christmas greeting). I actually stamped the banner first so I was then able to place the goat and sheep correctly with my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig. 

Just a quick reminder. My Christmas Craft Days are coming up in August. I have three spaces available for my Monday August 17th class. The class takes place from 10am-4pm at my home in Newport and is a fun filled day of crafting, cardmaking, fun 3d projects and basically everything you need to kickstart your Christmas Crafting mojo for 2015. Class cost for all materials and fun prizes is £25. Drop me a line on poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk if you'd like to book your spot.

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 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-

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A Circle of Spring Stamped Mini Muslin Bag from Stampin' Up! UK Demonstrator Sarah Poulton

Good morning crafters. What a gloomy start to a Friday here on the Isle of Wight. I'm hoping it'll brighten up for a walk later. But in the meantime I am enjoying a peaceful morning snuggle with the girls watching Wall E (and simultaneously blogging too).

I have a project to share with you today that I made with my lovely Hostess Club ladies at our get together this month. For anyone belonging to one of my virtual clubs we get together every other month for a coffee and a crafty project. And for those that join from afar the project is mailed out with your order as a thank you for being a part of the monthly club. You can find out more by clicking the Virtual Clubs tab above.

This months project was a little different. We used the Mini Muslin Bags and stamped the beautiful Circle of Spring wreath.  We stamped the wreath using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. We then coloured with the Subtles Collection of Stampin' Write markers.

I used Pool Party, Blushing Bride, So Saffron and Wild Wasabi to colour my wreath. We then created a little tag using the Triple Banner Punch.  The greeting is from the Work of Art stamp set. We pegged the banner to the bag with a Mini Metallic Clothespin.

This is such a simple little gift bag and really fun to stamp and colour. This would be perfect for an end of term teacher gift or little gift packaging idea for jewellery or sweeties. I think the Mini Muslin Bags are a great addition to any crafters stash as they can be personalised for any occasion or event.

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 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