April's Card Class: Easter Cards and Gifts

Thank you to the ladies who attended my Easter card class last week! Just a quick post to share what we made:

So here are the cards:

(This one was inspired by a card I was very kindly sent by Scraphappy Jackie to put on my display board.. thank you Jackie, your cards were wonderful!)

..and here are the Easter basket and gift bags:

The toppers on the gift bags were made using the new Top Note die in the Big Shot (I LOVE my new Big Shot so much!!).. the pink one was then embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. The rabbit stamp is from the Forest Friends stamp set.. a perfect Easter bunny I think!

Tea, Cake & Craft Party make and takes

So here's what I got the ladies making at the Tea, Cake & Craft Party last Saturday..

Cards.. using Springtime Vintage Designer Series Papers, gorgeous Seam Binding, the new Four Frames stamp set and coordinating Decorative Label punch:

Scrapbook pages... using all sorts of Designer Series Papers, along with brand-new Beautiful Wings Embosslits - the ladies were able to choose whatever papers they fancied to suit their photos, and came up with some fabulous layouts! Here's my example:

Gift bags... made with a piece of A5 sized cardstock, scored, folded, punched and stuck together, then decorated with punched out flowers and ribbon:

Thanks for visiting!

Sarah x

Tea, Cake and Craft Party update

A belated update on the Tea, Cake & Craft Party (now I've recovered..)! We had 20 lovely people here, drinking tea, eating the most scrumptious home-made cakes (a HUGE thank you to all who made cakes for the occasion), and of course crafting!

 The calm before the storm..

Another massive thank you to those wonderful ladies who helped out by making teas, washing up the mugs and generally making sure everyone was happy.. you truly made the event a success and I could not have coped without you!

 It was a very busy morning but the feedback I've received from those who attended has been really positive so I'm absolutely delighted that all the work was worth it. We raised approximately £85 for The Eve Appeal - pretty good I think!

There were around ten ladies for each session, making cards, scrapbook pages and finally little gift boxes. It was lovely to see how people used my designs for inspiration, adding their own touches.. or totally went their own way.. fantastic!

The winners of the Prize Draw were...

Janette - 'So Happy for You' stamp set
Eve - Set of six hand-made cards in a box (see picture below)
Claire - Body Shop Coconut Shower Cream (courtesy of Helen Ridley, Body Shop Consultant - thank you Helen!)

Here are those cards that Eve won..

 ..and their little gift box..

The butterfly stamp is from the beautiful Strength & Hope stamp set. Stampin' Up! are donating £1 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation from every purchase of this stamp set.

I'll be back soon with more crafty pictures from Saturday..


Sarah x

Mini Catalogue Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to my blog! If you came via the Mini Catalogue Blog Hop, you'll have come from Sharon's 'My Ink Pad'..

I've been crazy busy these last couple of weeks preparing for my Tea, Cake & Craft Party which should be happening right about now! So I thought I'd show you a couple of projects we'll be making today using products from the wonderful Mini Catalogue.

First, here's a scrapbook page I made using the beautiful Springtime Vintage DSP:

Want a closer look?

Love that Seam Binding ribbon! I've also used the new Four Frames stamps plus the matching Decorative Label punch; Strength & Hope butterfly on the background; and Beautiful Wings Embosslits for the tiny butterflies.

I do love that Springtime Vintage DSP - as soon as I saw it I had the notion of making some bunting with it. Here it is in progress..

Note the Seam Binding again.. this one is Rose Red. And here's the finished article hanging proudly on the mantelpiece!

Next is a card I made using the lovely Sweet Stitches DSP along with those Beautiful Wings Embosslits again.. well they are cute, aren't they!

Also using the Sweet Stitches DSP.. a little box for pins. :o) It's actually a little box I bought from Ikea ages ago with the idea of altering in some way.. and at last I've had a go! The button is one of the Big Designer Buttons in the Sweet Stitches range.

OK, that's it from me! Your next stop on the Blog Hop is Jayne at Mad About Stamps... have fun, and thanks for visiting!

Sarah x

At last.. the Mini Catalogue is here!

It's been a long wait, but finally I can show you the brand new Stampin' Up! Mini Catalogue... along with a few special offers... and a couple of the projects I've been working on these last few weeks! To view the Mini, just click on the picture in the side bar.. or get in touch with me and I'll send you a copy.

If you're coming to my Tea, Cake & Craft Party tomorrow, you'll be receiving a copy of the Mini in your goodie bag, along with information on the kits and other special deals I'll be running over the next few months.. details are also here!

Tomorrow there's going to be a Mini Catalogue Blog Hop, in which I and my lovely friends at In Love With Stamping will be showcasing a whole host of projects made using the new Stampin' Up! products. Pop back here tomorrow at around 10am and spend a while getting to know the new Mini and being inspired by all the wonderful new goodies we have to play with!

Meanwhile, I'd like to show you a few things I made at a training event I attended a couple of weeks ago (thank you Natalie - we had such fun!)

This little pillow box was made using the Big Shot and Pillow Box Die, embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. The little butterflies were die-cut with the Beautiful Wings Embosslits Dies (exclusive to Stampin' Up!) - you'll be seeing a lot of these.. I love them! This would make a gorgeous little wedding favour box.. and so easy to make!

And here is a small gift bag made using the SU!-exclusive Top Note Die. The label on the front was made with the new Four Frames stamp set along with the perfectly matching Decorative Label Punch. You know, I'm really starting to enjoy making little boxes & bags!

I took these cards (and 12 others..) to the training day to swap with the other ladies there. We'll be doing a similar design at the Tea, Cake & Craft Party tomorrow! The papers are from the Springtime Vintage DSP pack.. if you like all things vintage and Cath Kidston (and I do), you'll ADORE these! The ribbon is Seam Binding - soft, silky and available in four colours - Pear Pizazz, Rose Red, Baja Breeze and Crumb Cake.. it's lush!

Tomorrow, I'll be showing a couple of scrapbook pages, more cards and some home decor projects as part of the Blog Hop so I hope you'll check back as there're sure to be masses of beautiful work on display!

If you would like to place an order, just give me a call or email me and I'll be delighted to help.

Sarah x

One week to go til Tea, Cake & Craft Party..

.. and I may be starting to panic just slightly.. There'll be around 15 people coming, a mixture of ladies from my card-making and scrapbooking classes, friends and mums from Charlie and Harry's schools who have little or no experience at crafting. So it's going to be fun, I hope.. and all for a great cause!

I'm afraid I haven't been able to post many projects lately as almost everything I've been making has involved goodies from the new Stampin' Up! Mini-Catalogue, which is under wraps til 1st April. I can't wait to show you.. the Mini is packed full of gorgeousness, it really is FABULOUS!

I will be emailing my mailing list over the weekend about the Mini-Catalogue - how you can get a copy sent to you, a very special offer for the first week of April, news of a Mini-catalogue Blog Hop I'm involved in.. and a chance for you to give me some feedback, if you wouldn't mind.

Meanwhile.. thank you to everyone who attended Scrapbook class on Thursday - I was thrilled to see how you rose to the challenge of making two or three 12"x12" layouts in three hours, each using the same kit of Play Date DSP. The results were beautiful to see!

I eventually finished the layout I was working on too, and here it is:

The layout is a 'scraplift' from Carolyn on In Love With Stamping (thank you Carolyn for the inspiration!).

For the daisies I used the flower stamp from Punch Potpourri (a Level 1 Hostess set), punched out with the matching Boho Blossoms punch. The chipboard letters are from On Board Alphabet Soup - coloured white by pressing into a Whisper White Craft Ink Pad, then covered in Dazzling Diamonds glitter using the 2-way Glue Pen.

Next class is Card-making on Thursday 7th April - we'll be making Easter cards.. although if you would prefer them to be birthday cards, they will be easily adapted! Please see the Card-making Classes page for more details and contact me now to book your place.

Thanks for visiting!

Sarah x

More Scrapbooking with Play Date papers

Here's the second layout I'll be using in this month's Scrapbook Club...

And here's a closer view:

I've used Play Date Designer Series Papers, along with matching cardstock and chipboard shapes from the On Board Mix & Match chipboard shapes set (£8.95 for three 12" x 12" sheets with over 100 pieces). I inked the heart and tree by pressing them into the ink pads, then topping up the colour using sponge daubers.

The blue letters were die-cut using Cuttlebug Red Tag Sale dies and the other letters were stamped using Just Perfect alphabet.

If you'd like to join in with Scrapbook Club this month, please check out this page for all the details.

Also, don't forget the Tea, Cake & Craft Party on Saturday 2nd April - tickets are selling fast and places on the Make & Takes are limited.. so if you'd like to come, please get in touch as soon as possible to book your place and buy your ticket. Tickets include a free Mini-catalogue, make & take, tea, cakes, and chances to win a fabulous prize, so you really won't want to miss out! Click on the picture at the top of the page for all the details.

See you soon!

Sarah x

Edited to add: In case anyone happens to revisit this page, after comments received about the title, I decided to alter the layout to include the word 'tree'. Apparently, at first glance, it looked as if I was being rather rude to poor Harry.. ;o) So I have changed the photos to show the new improved layout!