Open House - here's how it went!

I had my Open House event at Community Wise on Saturday morning and, to my relief, it went well.. I can't thank Pat enough for coming down from Bromley to help me - she was absolutely brilliant! We set up our displays in the large hall upstairs and soon began to receive visitors from the Farmers' Market which was on in the car-park and inside the centre. Seven ladies took part in my Make & Take - a Christmas card featuring Dasher and the Spiral punch - and all of them produced some really lovely cards.

 At 11.30, Pat did a fantastic Make & Take, again to seven ladies, using the Vintage Vogue stamp set and Very Vintage wheel. Some of the ladies were toally new to stamping, yet they still managed to create beautiful cards.

I didn't manage to take many photos on the day - and forgot to take any of the cards we made.. so I will post pictures of those soon. Thank you to all the ladies who participated in our Make & Takes, and to those who came upstairs just to see what we were up to.. it was a lovely day and we really enjoyed meeting you!

For those of you who completed a Door Prize Entry Form - the winner of the Darling Dots stamp set was Janette - congratulations, I have emailed you and will get your prize to you very soon!

If you're interested in joining my card-making classes and NEW scrapbooking club - full details on the 'Classes - Cardmaking and Scrapbooking' page - click the tab for full details. Please contact me by email or by phone to reserve your place at least one week prior to the class date.

Hope to see you soon!


 Sarah x

FURTHER DISCOUNTS - Stampin' Up! Retired List

Stampin' Up! have today updated the Last Chance List and added FURTHER DISCOUNTS on products - only valid until stocks last, or September 30th - whichever comes first.

So what are you waiting for? 

Click on the link below to be taken to the SEVEN PAGES of retiring items and look at the pages with ticks along the right hand column to see which items have been reduced further!

http://204.228.150.61/docs/lastchance/en-GB/Lastchance_en-GB.pdf


Happy browsing!!


Sarah x


P.S. - Don't forget to check out my Special September offers - click here for details!

September Card-making Class Update

Here are a few examples of the cards made today at my monthly Friday 'Five for a Fiver' class...

Yes, that's only four! My other sample card unfortunately fell into an ink pad and is looking a little sorry for itself.. but you get the general idea I expect!

The ladies were given 4x4" card blanks in the following colours: Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry, Rose Red, Kraft and Chocolate Chip, along with smaller squares of cardstock in the same colours and pieces of Very Vanilla for stamping on.

We used the Cuttlebug and embossing folders for the middle layer and used various greetings stamps along with Dasher to create our cards. Although each lady had the same materials, every card they produced was quite unique! After a little practice, everyone got to grips with using the Stamp-a-ma-jig to align their images, using Sponge Daubers to ink the edges, and using punches in conjunction with the coordinating stamp sets.

Stamps:

• Dasher
• Punches Three
• Sincere Salutations
• Basic Phrases
• Tiny Tags

Punches:

• Scallop Square
• Scallop Oval
• Oval
• Jewellery Tag

My next class is on Saturday 18th September - 10am to 12noon and  we will be using 'Serene Snowflakes' to make two to three really special Christmas cards for your very favourite people! The price for this class is £10 and includes all tuition, materials and refreshments. To book a place, don't hesitate to call me or email me without delay.

For all the details on my classes, please check out the Cardmaking Classes page.

Thanks for reading,


Sarah x

Last Chance List.. and Special September Offers

On 1st September, Stampin' Up! released its 'Last Chance List' - it's a seven-page list of the stamps, cardstock and accessories that will be retiring on 30th September to make way for exciting new products.  Why not have a look at the List (click on the picture in the side-bar) - if there's anything you really want, it's best to order it NOW.. once it's gone, it's gone!

One thing to note: it may look as if virtually all the punches are retiring! They aren't... they are being upgraded to the new space-saving stand-up design.

If you need any more reasons to have a browse..

• There are discounts of 25% and 50% on some of these products - what a bargain! 
• I am offering FREE shipping on all orders over £25 (UK only) for the whole of September.
• I will also send you a FREE copy of the 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue (worth £5.95) if your order is over £50 - it will be sent First Class Recorded Delivery as soon as I receive them (on or just before 1st October).
• There will be price increases (unfortunately) with the release of the new Idea Book & Catalogue on 1st October. So if there's anything you've had your eye on for a while, why not beat the price rises and buy it now?

I've just gone through the list again and there are great bargains to be snapped up! For example:

• Selected packs of 12x12" Textured Cardstock are 25% off.. 24 sheets for £6.94.. that's just 29p per sheet!
• Selected Stampin' Around Wheels and Cartridges are up to 50% off... reduced from £7.50 to just £3.75!
• Masses of ribbons are now 25% off... get in quick and grab a bargain!
•  The Tag Punch is 25% off and the Small Tag Punch is 50% off.. both were £12.50, now only £9.38 and £6.25 respectively!

Items are already selling out so if you'd like to make an order, just call me or email me and I'll be delighted to help you! Click on the Contact Me page for my contact details.

Retiring Stamps and Colours - Blog Hop

Hi there, and if you came from Hayley's blog, welcome to your last stop on this morning's Blog Hop! For those who may have arrived here from my other blog, Paper Obsession, thank you so much for popping across - I'm delighted you made it!

So today we're highlighting some of the beautiful colours and stamp sets that will be retiring at the end of the month (boo hoo.. we'll miss you!).. if you want any of the products feautured, you'll need to get in quick.. once they're gone, they're gone!

First I'll show you a New Baby card I made using the gorgeous Nursery Necessities stamp set. I love this set so I have to admit I'm really sad to see it go!

This card was totally inspired by one I saw in the 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalogue.. I just adapted it with my choice of stamps and colour scheme. I made the paper frill by cutting a long strip of Cameo Coral card (approx 2cm wide) and scoring alternately at 2cm then 1cm intervals, repeating along the length of the strip, then folding concertina-style. I stuck the frill down with Sticky Strip tape and tied Linen Thread around it.

Colour Scheme:

• Close to Cocoa (A6 base card and stamped greeting)
• Cameo Coral (frill and stamped elephant)
• Apricot Appeal (lower half of card and elephant's ear)
• Barely Banana (stamped moon and stars)

Stamps etc:

• Nursery Necessities stamp set
• Sticky Strip double-sided tape
• Linen Thread
• Corner Rounder Punch

My second project is a scrapbook page featuring a photo of my little boy, Harry, as a baby. I love scrapbooking with black and white photos as you have so much freedom in choosing your colour scheme!

I chose the lovely Barely Banana, Ruby Red and Basic Black. My Barely Banana cardstock was A4 size - to make it 'stretch' to a 12x12" layout, I trimmed the long side of two sheets to 11.5 inches, then cut the second sheet to the correct width and stuck it below the first one. I used the Striped Grosgrain Ribbon both as a design feature and to cover the join!

The black letter border at the bottom of the page was created using the Stampin' Around Nursery Letters wheel (also retiring) - I got it straight using the fantastic Stampin' Around Wheel Guide. The stars are part of the Nursery Necessities set I used in the New Baby card above. I cut out the larger one using the coordinating Stampin' Up! Star Punch.. easy!

My journaling labels were made using another retiring stamp set, Frames with a Flourish, stamped in Basic Black and Ruby Red ink. Such a versatile set both for cards and scrapping! The title letters are On Board Loads of Letters - bare chipboard letters which I inked with Basic Black ink.

Do you like the hat pin with pearls and clear beads? I made this up using the Pretties Kit I got last week - and this is retiring too (I can't quite believe it)! This kit consists of a tin crammed full of alterable white flowers, halfback pearls, round pearl beads (in cream and white), clear beads, rhinestone brads, hat pins and silver spacer beads. The kit is £23.25 but when you see how much is in it, you'll realise it's great value.

Colour Scheme:

• Barely Banana
• Ruby Red
• Basic Black, Whisper White (not retiring)

Stamps etc:

• Nursery Necessities stamp set
• Nursery Letters Stampin' Around Jumbo Wheel
• Stampin' Around Wheel Guide
• Frames with a Flourish stamp set
• On Board Loads of Letters
• Pretties Kit
• Basic Black Striped Grosgrain Ribbon (3.2cm)
• Star Punch
• Spiral Punch

I hope you enjoyed the Blog Hop.. and got a better idea of some of the beautiful products that are available just til the end of September. If you've seen anything you'd like to buy, please don't hesitate to contact me or any of the other girls on the blog hop - we'd be delighted to help!

Thank you so much Debbi for organising the Hop - if you didn't reach me via the Hop but would like to see everyone else's work, now's the time to pop across to Debbi's blog where it all starts. Thanks for joining me!

Sarah x