Two-Step Stampin' Blog Hop - Part 2!

Thank you so much for dropping by.. If you're here for the Blog Hop, you've come to the right place! If you've stumbled upon me by accident, well you're most welcome!

In a nutshell, I and some lovely ladies at In Love With Stamping arranged this little event to celebrate Stampin' Up!'s August promotion - 20% off selected Two-Step Stampin' Stamp sets... click the picture to the right to find out more. The focus is on using these stamps on your scrapbook layouts.

Here's the running order of today's hop, along with the stamp sets you can expect to see in action:

1. Sarah (SarahLP) - Bird on a Branch & Greenhouse Garden (that's me!)

2. Helen (langara) - Something Sweet

3. Anthea (scrappydiva) - Greenhouse Garden

4. Caz (stampingcaz) - Big Bold Birthday

5. Rachel - Trendy Trees

6. Caroline Skinner - Tiny Tags & Loads of Love

7. Jo (Scrapbookparty) -Something Sweet


8. Kara (KaraM) - Big Bold Birthday and Greenhouse Garden

9. Sue (Frankiesue) - Trendy Trees


So here's my page...

The layout is based on a sketch from this month's Scrapbook Magazine. If you read my previous post, you'll recognise those chipboard letters.. :o) 

Here's the Bird on a Branch in more detail:

I stamped the Bird with So Saffron ink and used a Sponge Dauber to add Ruby Red to the head and tail.


And here are the Greenhouse Garden flowers in close-up:

I used the 'rock & roll' technique to darken the edges of the red flower, then added some Champagne Shimmer Paint with a Dauber to the centre of the flower (and the journaling spot.. oh, and the branch the bird is sitting on.. once you start adding Shimmer it's hard to stop!).


I hope you enjoyed your visit.. I'd be delighted to read your comments if you have a moment.. By the way, if you missed the first Blog Hop on 1st August, you'll find it here. 

OK, now your next stop on the Hop is Helen... have a lovely time!


Sarah x

A Two-step Stampin' Anniversary Card

On Friday 30th July, my hubby and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. Rather than go out for a romantic dinner for two, as originally planned, we decided to take the boys away for a camping weekend. That's a story for another day.. and another blog.. Meanwhile, here's the card I made for Gareth..

Supplies:

Cardstock - Kraft, Almost Amethyst, Very Vanilla

Stamps - Bird on a Branch, Fun & Fast Notes

Inks - Almost Amethyst, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Lavender Lace, Ruby Red, Close to Cocoa

Other - Linen Thread

Techniques:

• I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to position the flowers precisely on the branch.
• The flower stamp on the main image was inked with a combination of inks to give a variety of colours.
• I used the 'rock & roll' technique to ink up the purple bird first with Almost Amethyst, then rolled the Perfect Plum ink pad along the head and tail of the bird.
• I stamped the greeting by masking off each word in turn with a Post-it Note and using the Stamp-a-ma-jig to get each word exactly where I wanted it.
• The birds were stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock, cut out and the purple one mounted on a foam pad, overlapping the red one.

Thanks for looking!

Sarah x

Two-Step into Fabulous!

Stampin' Up!'s Two-Step Stampin' sets allow you to quickly and easily take your creativity to the next level. If you're not familiar with Two-Step Stampin' - these sets contain pairs of stamps that are used one after the other to create a finished image with extra dimension - and that 'wow' factor!

Here are a couple of cards made using Two-Step Stampin' sets - Greenhouse Garden and Bird on a Branch.

From Sunday 1st to Tuesday 31st August, you can get a fabulous 20% off selected Two-Step Stampin' Sets from the current catalogues - no limit and no minimum purchase required!

The promotion includes all of the stamp sets listed below.

Item	Page	Description	Regular Price	Sale Price
104606	31	Loads of Love	£18.95	£15.16
105709	31	Des tonnes d'amour (Loads of Love in French)	£18.95	£15.16
110662	31	Liebe, nichts als Liebe (Loads of Love in German)	£18.95	£15.16
109439	35	Big Bold Birthday	£23.95	£19.16
110548	35	Un super anniversaire (Big Bold Birthday in French)	£23.95	£19.16
113258	39	Trendy Trees	£12.95	£10.36
113824	43	Greenhouse Garden	£22.95	£18.36
117688	8*	Something Sweet	£23.95	£19.16
118878	8*	Un peu de douceur (Something Sweet in French)	£23.95	£19.16
118880	8*	Süße Kleinigkeiten (Something Sweet in German)	£23.95	£19.16
118091	15*	Tiny Tags	£18.95	£15.16
113266	18*	Bird on a Branch	£14.95	£11.9

*From Mini-Catalogue

To celebrate this promotion, there's going to be a Two-Step Stampin' Blog Hop starting HERE this Sunday 1st August!

The Blog Hop will showcase many of the stamps included in the promotion used in a scrapbooking context. I hope you'll pop along and see how these brilliant stamps can be used on your scrapbook pages.. I can't wait!

Inspired by... a sparkly birthday card

I tend to hoard my birthday cards for years.. especially those ones which have a design I love (thinking 'I'll make something like that one day..'). Well, last night I actually did!

Here's the card I was inspired by...

And here's my interpretation...

Supplies:
Stamps - Baroque Motifs, Fun & Fast Notes (for the sentiment), Bird On A Branch (for the flowers on the butterfly)
Punches - SU! Butterfly (trimmed to change its shape slightly) and a tiny non-SU! butterfly
Cardstock - Whisper White, Rose Red
Ink - Versamark
Embossing Powder - Stampin' Emboss Black
Glitter - Pink (non-SU magazine freebie)
Sequins and black adhesive pearls - from stash

Techniques:
The swirl was stamped on Whisper White cardstock with Versamark and embossed with black embossing powder. I used my new (and fantastic!) Stamp-a-ma-jig to get the swirl exactly where I wanted it.


The panel was layered on to Rose Red cardstock and again on to an A6 folded card of Whisper White.


I punched the butterfly from Rose Red card, folded and trimmed it a little, before adding the stamped flowers and a little glitter.

I added some iridescent flower sequins and some glitter glue for a bit of sparkle. :o)

One thing I learned... I need an Embossing Buddy! This is an anti-static thingie that you rub across your paper before embossing to stop the powder sticking where you don't want it to. Add it to my list...

Thanks for reading!

Sarah x

My first card-making class!

Well, after lots of nervous anticipation and frantic last-minute advertising, I held my first card-making class on Friday. Although it was not a sell-out, my ladies spent a very pleasant couple of hours making some beautiful cards and trying out a variety of stamps, punches and techniques. They were delighted with what they'd made!

I didn't think to take my camera with me to photograph their creations, but here are the cards I demonstrated for the ladies to make themselves:

Supplies:

Stamps - 'Fun & Fast Notes' set
Cardstock - Earth Elements colour family, Very Vanilla
Ribbon - Very Vanilla grosgrain
Ink - Black Staz-on
Colouring - Stampin' Pastels
Punch - Scallop Edge

The image was coloured by dabbing gently with Stampin' Pastels, which coordinate perfectly with the Earth Elements cardstock colours.

Here's the second card we made:

A close-up of the details...

Supplies:

Stamps - 'Bird On A Branch' set
Cardstock - Earth Elements colour family, Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink - Basic Black, Ruby Red, Cameo Coral
Ribbon - Black & White Gingham
Punch - Butterfly
Other tools - Paper Piercer



The class included full tuition on all the techniques used, along with all materials needed to make each of these cards, including envelopes and protective cellophane card bags.

The next class is on Friday 9th July and we'll be playing with the Sweet Pea collection of papers and stamps (click on the Mini-Catalogue button on the right to see the Sweet Pea collection - it's gorgeous!).

If you'd like to join in next month, please get in touch - leave a comment here or email me on slpiggott73@gmail.com.

Hope to see you then!

Sarah x

Welcome to my new obsession.. Stampin' Up!

Welcome to my new blog! As you'll see, it's all about my new venture into the world of Stampin' Up!

I was introduced to Stampin' Up! (or SU as I'll be calling it) by my scrapbooking and cardmaking friend, Pat, some months ago when I was still in Croydon. She became a SU demonstrator back in January and has been enjoying wonderful success with her cardmaking classes. I've been thinking about becoming a demonstrator myself for quite some time - and now we've achieved our dream relocation to Eastbourne, the time feels right.

So here I am.. a new Stampin' Up! demonstrator, living by the seaside and doing what I love.. playing with paper, stamps and ink.. what could be better?!!

I took delivery of a thrilling box of goodies yesterday.. and here are a couple of cards I made this afternoon.

Stamp set: Basic Phrases
Punch: Extra Large Two-step Bird
Cardstock: Very Vanilla; Summer Sun; Pumpkin Pie

Stamp sets: Basic Phrases; Bird On A Branch
Punches: Butterfly; Scallop Edge
Cardstock: Very Vanilla; Chocolate Chip
Ribbon: 1/4" Grosgrain - Very Vanilla

I'm off to a crop in Hailsham tomorrow so I'll be back soon to share what I make there.

Thanks for looking!

Sarah x