Three Birthdays and an Anniversary!

I'm celebrating three birthdays and an anniversary today!

Firstly... Happy 34th Birthday to my dear hubby Gareth...

He's a fantastic drummer and used to be in a rock band called WhiteStar before the little 'uns came along.. for now Gareth has to be content with 'pounding the skins' in my craft room/study/general junk room. Oh yes, it's loud..


Second... Happy 15th Birthday to my nephew Torin...

He is currently collecting apps for his ipod.. I stumbled across this image while looking for a picture of an ipod and thought it would do just fine for his card!


Third... Happy Birthday to my dearest upline and friend, Pat...

Pat, I hope you are having a fabulous day after all the stress preparing for your Eve Appeal event last night.. enjoy!!!

And the anniversary..? Well, today I have been a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator for exactly one year. It's been an amazing year, in which I've started running card-making classes, a scrapbook club, expanded my craft collection like you wouldn't believe (unless perhaps you attend my classes..), survived my first Convention, made many wonderful friends, in Eastbourne and way beyond.. Here's to many more years of Stampin' Up! fun.. :o)

Have a fantastic day, everyone!

Sarah x

Supplies

Gareth's card:

Colours: Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red
Embossing Folder: Perfect Polka Dots
Stamps: Basic Phrases 
Accessories: Silver Brads from Hodgepodge Hardware; Clip from Clips Assortment
Photo:  http://www.sodahead.com

Torin's card:

Colours: Elegant Eggplant, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Whisper White

Embossing Folder: Square Lattice

Punch: Spiral

Stamps: Basic Phrases
Accessories: Silver Eyelets

Photo: http://jon.blogs.com

Pat's card:

Colours: Blushing Bride, Early Espresso, Pear Pizazz
Embossing Folder: Perfect Polka Dots
Die: Beautiful Butterflies
Punch: Scallop Oval
Stamps: Sincere Salutations
DSP: In Colors 6"x6" Paper Stack (Hostess Exclusive)
Accessories: Pear Pizazz Seam Binding, Linen Thread, Button from Neutrals collection

Scrapbooking with Greenhouse Gala DSP

Oops! For some reason I forgot to share these scrapbook pages.. I did them back in November for Scrapbook Magazine and they were published in issue 52 last month. Most of the papers used were from the Greenhouse Gala Designer Series Paper pack - love the colours and patterns in these papers!

Baby Me:

The hearts were stamped on lined paper from Greenhouse Gala DSP using stamps from the Punch Potpourri Hostess set. I coloured the chipboard letters with Baja Breeze ink and added Crystal Effects for a glossy, raised effect.

@ 37:

The butterfly is also from the Punch Potpourri Hostess set (by the way, you can earn this set FREE when you host a workshop).

Chalk & Cheese:

 

The green spotty paper on the left was actually from the Jolly Holiday DSP pack - but it seems to go nicely with the Greenhouse Gala paper! These little birds were punched using the gorgeousTwo-Step Bird punch and decorated with buttons from the Brights Designer Buttons pack (£7.75 for 72 buttons).

Thanks for visiting!

Sarah x

From Clean And Simple to... Messy And Complicated?

My Clean & Simple phase was never going to last!

I got the urge to scrapbook on Saturday night, inspired by a sketch on the Pencil Lines sketch blog, and here was the result:

The layout documents a trip to the beach last weekend to explore the fishermens' huts and boats. Harry was particularly drawn to this bright yellow one. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to add some strandline treasures (including dried seaweed, fishing line and a shell) that I'd been hoarding for ages.

Supplies:

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight
Papers: Newsprint DSP
Lettering: On Board Chipboard Letters, Vintage Rub-ons, letters cut from Newsprint DSP
Stamps: Texture Jumbo Wheel
Ink: Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad, So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad
Punches: Spiral, Scallop Trim Border
Other: Crop-a-Dile, Paper Crimper, Distressing Essentials kit, Linen Thread, Sponge Daubers

Vintage Vogue cards from Friday's class

Just a quick post to share the three cards I made for Friday's card-making class using Vintage Vogue stamp set, along with the Very Vintage wheel and a few other goodies..

In this card (above) I used the Very Vintage wheel to create the background on the base card and Vintage Vogue vine stamp on the birds' wings. The colours are Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake, Perfect Plum, So Saffron, Rose Red and Certainly Celery.

This one uses the En Francais background stamp on the base card and the vine leaves were added behind the flower using the masking technique.

Finally, I used the Very Vintage wheel and Rose Red ink to create the pattern on the lower half of the card. The flowers on the upper half were stamped with Versamark ink. The main flower was stamped in Rose Red with Rich Razzleberry ink dabbed onto the edges with a sponge dauber.

The sentiments are all from the Sincere Salutations set. All three cards were inspired by projects spotted in the new Idea Book & Catalogue - available from me for the special price of £5 posted to your door!

My next class is this Saturday - we'll be making Christmas cards using the brand new Delightful Decorations stamps, along with the new Ornament punch and taffeta ribbons! If you'd like to join us, please call me or email me as soon as possible. Details are on the Contact Me page (see left side bar).

Sarah x

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