Thursday 28 February 2013

Inking Embellishment Techniques

Welcome to my Thursday embellishment feature.
 
This week was my monthly team get together. I love the variety in all our crafting styles and getting together to do a shoebox swap to try out new techniques and crafting styles. The two cards I made this week are perfect for sharing as an embellishment feature.

This first card was Sandy's design. We used one of the fabulous Paper Daisies and inked it with a dauber to match the Coredinations embossed background (embossed with the Fancy Fan folder). I use these Daisies a great deal in my crafting. They are perfect to stamp on or ink to match your card or scrapbooking page. I love simple matching solutions as not having perfectly matching embellishments is a crafting bugbear of mine.
 
 
 This second card was designed by Charlotte and uses her favourite messy crafting technique of inking and spraying. I have always been a bit hesitant to try spraying as it seems to imprecise. I am, by definition, a straight lines and precise crafter. However, seeing Charlotte's lovely results I am daring myself to push my boundaries a bit (see the spraying on Tuesdays post as an example!). Inking and spraying is a fab embellishment technique (which could even be used in conjunction with the paper daisies above) as again it creates a perfectly matching background or feature. To create these sprays Charlotte has mixed water with the various Stampin' Up! reinkers in a Stampin' Spritzer and you simply spray your cardstock. Once dried you can stamp your images over the top (for this card
we used Flowering Flourishes with Papillon Potpourri).
I love both of these cards and I love trying out new techniques. If you'd like to find out more about joining my team and getting started with Stampin' Up! please get in touch or read more here.

And don't forget there is less than a month left to place your Sale-A-Bration orders. I have a few dates left for your Sale-A-Bration workshops so get in touch to book a date (poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 01983 609249).
 
-XXX-
 

Tuesday 26 February 2013

Try It Tuesday: Simple Squares

 
Here is this weeks Try It Tuesday layout. I found a page on Pinterest that I loved and decided to give it a Stampin' Up! makeover. The original page is here. I used this layout as the basic reference point for my 12"x12" page changing the details to fit my dimensions.
 
I cut 7cm squares from the beautiful Birds of a Feather Designer Series Papers which I then daubered with Primrose Petals ink around the edges. The base Whisper White cardstock I sprayed and splattered with pink ink and then glimmered with a spray of Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz.
 
I created the circular embellishment with my Circles #2 Die and the large Scallop Circle Punch. I stamped the 'S' with my Notable Alphabet stamp set. The bunting I created with a length of Pool Party Bakers Twine and folded circles punched with my 1" punch.
 
I love the simplicity of this page and I love how the subtle colours pick up on the colours of the photo. This picture was taken when Summer was 6 days old, all tucked up asleep in my dressing gown. I only have a few photos of me and Summer from the first few days so I cherished the opportunity to scrapbook one of them.
 
Thank you for stopping by today. Please get in touch (poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 01983 609249) for any more information on Stampin' Up! and their products. Happy to help in any crafty way I can.
 
Happy Crafting
-X-

Thursday 21 February 2013

Thursday Technique: Emboss Resist on Canvas

 
This is a card I taught at my recent February Card Class. This was our new technique for the month. We used a piece of the new Canvas Creations cut using the Labels Framelits. This is a variation on the Emboss Resist technique using canvas as the base material.
 
Here is a close up of the embossing technique.

To recreate this you need to emboss your chosen image in white or clear embossing powder (dependin on the effect you are looking for) on to the canvas. I embossed this lovely floral image from the Serene Silhouettes stamp set.

Once you have heat embossed your image (warning, this may take slightly longer due to the canvas. Instead of a raised embossed image you will find the powder is soaked in to the canvas instead) you can start sponging your ink in to the canvas to make the image pop. I chose Raspberry Ripple, Calypso Coral and Daffodil Delight for my three 'sunset' style colours. If you are quite heavy handed with your sponging you will find your embossed image pops out from the background. The lighter you ink the less contrast there is with the embossing.
 
I love this textured image and how the inking reveals the embossed image. It is a great technique to try if, like me, you enjoy using your heat tool and embossing powders.
 
Thanks for popping by today.
-X-



Tuesday 19 February 2013

Happy Tuesday Makings

My return to work has thrown my crafting schedule right out the window. I love scrapbooking and telling my family stories on paper with pictures. But sadly with Summer and work and classes to prepare for, sometimes my scrapbooking gets pushed to the bottom of the list. So I am sharing a Try It Tuesday card today instead. I decided to search Pinterest for some inspiration this time. Sometimes if I have a bit of a creativity block I will type in a stamp set name and look through all the inspiration on Pinterest to get me started. I came across this card by a talented German Demonstrator and set about recreating it.
 
I love the stamped images of the bee and butterfly from the Collage Curios stamp set. They fit perfectly within the embossed hexagons (Honeycomb Embossing Folder). This is a beautifully simple card and I love the natural-ness of the Crumb Cake and Linen Thread.
 
Just a reminder that I am still offering the opportunity to WIN a BIG SHOT. Place a qualifying Sale-A-Bration order (£45+) with me before March 22nd to be entered in to the draw. Only 8 names in the hat at the moment so the chances of winning are pretty darn good ;0) Click on the photo for more info.
 
 
And don't forget the fantastic freebies on offer till March 22nd when you place a £45 order during Sale-A-Bration.
 

 
Please get in touch for any Stampin' Up! help or to book a party or place an order (poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 01983 609249).

Happy Stamping
-XXX-
 


Monday 18 February 2013

A Bloomin' Marvellous Monday

 
Welcome to a Bloomin' Marvellous Monday post. I've had a lovely crafty day today with some crafty friends of mine. We celebrated half term with a crafty Stampin' Up! party.

To highlight the fantastic freebie benefits of Sale-A-Bration I decided to use the freebie Bloomin' Marvellous stamp set as the focus for our cardmaking project. We made the card above which is inspired by
this beautiful card made by Vicky. I love this technique of using a square punch to create a window behind which to stamp the images. We used a 4inch by 1.5inch strip of paper from the Birds of a Feather DSP to stamp the flower and leaf image on to. This was then set behind the Whisper White layer with the window. We then punched two butterflies (using both beautiful butterfly punches) to layer and finish the card.

And while we are talking about Bloomin' Marvellous. Here is another card I taught during our January card class which uses this stamp set as its focus. I love this colour combo of Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive and Perfect Plum.

 
Just a reminder that I am teaching a new class this week in Ryde at the Sew N So Craft Centre (first class Thursday February 21st 1-3pm, £8.50). Spaces are limited so get in touch with the shop to book your space. I am so excited about beginning technique classes in a new venue and hope to see you there very soon.
Here is a little sneak peak of what we will be making:

 
Happy Crafting & please get in touch to find out more about any of the products I have used or place your Sale-A-Bration order.
-X-

Wednesday 13 February 2013

Try It Tuesday on a Wednesday

 Welcome to my Try It Tuesday Wednesday Special.

I am currently cursed with a lack of natural light to take photos with. Roll on the good weather and longer days I say. Like I said yesterday, with being back at work and trying to fit it good Mum and Summer time during the afternoons, I am lacking a bit of time to fit everything in. I definitely need one of those Time Turners as used by Hermione in Harry Potter to fit more in to my day. So all in all, I would like to apologise for the lighting in these photos. Hopefully, once the rain/snow ends I might get the chance to take some lovely well lit pics again.
 
So this months scrapbooking class was inspired by the beach. Several of my lovely regular ladies have recently returned from a special cruise of the Caribbean. In honour of their once in a lifetime holiday I designed these pages for their fab holiday snaps.
 
This first page was Crumb Cake layered on to Baja Breeze 12"x12". We lightly sprayed the Crumb Cake layer with a blue spritzer (water + reinker). We then created the waves with torn strips of Tempting Turquoise, Pool Party, Baja Breeze, Pacific Point and Marina Mist. We created a Pin Wheel with the Pin wheel sizzlet and Tea for Two DSP. The hexagons were cut after I embossed lengths of Sunshine and Sprinkles Designer Series Paper with the Honeycomb embossing folder. Once embossed it is super easy to cut the shape of the individual hexagons. We finished with a title stamped in Island Indigo using the Notable Alphabet.

 
The second of our beach pages used the lovely By The Seashore stamp set as its focus. The colour scheme is Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Basic Grey & Soft Suede. We stamped the background and layered our photos on to First Edition Speciality Papers and tore the edges (and daubered the edges). The embellishments used are Linen thread, mixed Neutrals buttons and buttons from the Naturals Designer Buttons set.
 
All in all, we had a lovely class and I think we all really enjoyed creating these two beach related pages.

If you'd like to find out more about scrapbooking and Stampin' Up! I would be more than happy to help. Now is a PERFECT time to place a Stampin' Up! order as not only do we have the freebies you will receive with a £45 order during Sale-A-Bration but I am still running my 'Win A Big Shot' draw. The odds are looking good, so get your order in ASAP to be in with a chance to win ;0)

Happy Crafting ;0)
-X-

Tuesday 12 February 2013

Try It Tuesday delay

Afternoon all,

Sorry for the delay in posting today's scrapbook page. It is all ready to go but I've yet to get a good picture to share with you.

I returned to work last week and all of a sudden time is running away with me. So Try It Tuesday will have to be a Wednesday just this once. Please pop back tomorrow for two pages I am teaching tonight for my scrapbooking class.

Happy scrapping in the meantime

-xxx-

Sunday 10 February 2013

Pinkies Spring Summer Catalogue Blog Hop


Welcome back and thank you for stopping by today for Part 2 of the Pinkies Spring/Summer Blog Hop. We are showcasing lots of new gorgeous projects today, using products from the new Stampin’ Up!® Spring/Summer Catalogue. Simply use the buttons at the end of each post to keep on hopping. We love comments, so please tell us what you think!
 
Hello and welcome to the Isle of Wight for my little part of the Pinkies Blog Hop today. Thank you for joining me from my lovely upline Michelle's blog.
 
Today I am sharing with you a double 8"x8" scrapbooking layout I created using the beautiful Flower Fair Simply Scrappin' Kit. I fell in love with the whole bundle as soon as I read through the new Spring Summer catalogue. I have previous scrapbooked 12"x12" and 6"x6" and couldn't wait to try 8"x8". The album is a lovely bright Daffodil Delight print and is a ring album making moving your page protectors around within the album much easier.
 
 Here is the page I created using the Simply Scrappin' Kit. I used Tangerine Tango and Daffodil Delight cardstock bases for each of the pages and then used matching DSP from the kit. I used the ready made embellishments and ribbons to decorate the page and then added a few extra Brights buttons to create the accents at the top and bottom of the pages. I stamped the title using my Notable Alphabet stampset (stamped in Pumpkin Pie).
 
Here are the contents of the Simply Scrappin' Kit itself:
 And while we are celebrating the new Spring Summer catalogue I thought I would share a couple more of my recent makes with the lovely new products. Here is a project we made at a recent class which uses the Tea for Two Designer Series Paper and the new 1.1cm Natural Trim Ribbon. This is a craft room calendar with added post its for those ideas that need jotting down.
 
And finally a card we made at a recent workshop using the beautiful (and colourful) Sunshine & Sprinkles Designer Series Paper paired with the Sale-A-Bration stamp set, Patterned Occasions.
 
Thank you for joining me today. To continue the creativity please hop on over to Eveline's blog.
 
Happy Crafting ;0)
-X-





Saturday 9 February 2013

Blog Hop

Change of plan! The Blog Hop has been split into two across the weekend. For my contribution to the Pinkies hop, please pop back first thing tomorrow.

If you'd like to hop the first half of the blog hop please pop on by my friend Gill's blog today and have a look through the very creative projects on offer.
 
Please don't forget to take advantage of my FANTASTIC Sale-A-Bration offer currently running on Stampin' Sarah- place a qualifying SAB order  before March 22nd (gain a freebie from the SAB brochure) and gain an entry into my BIG SHOT draw. See the 'Win A Big Shot' tab above for more info.
 
Happy crafting ;0)
-X-

Thursday 7 February 2013

Make it Thursday: Pop Up Posies

Good evening and apologies for the late post today. I returned to work this week and things have been a bit hectic. And to be honest the moment I get home all I have wanted to do is cuddle my beautiful daugher (it is proving a bit of an adjustment for both of us!) and so uploading todays project has been a bit delayed.
 
Today I am sharing the fantastic new Designer embellishment kit from the Spring Summer Catalogue, the Pop Up Posies. I absolutely love this kit and designed my Open House project (above) around its contents. The card uses the kit paired with Papillion Pot Pourri (the stamped butterfly) and the new Honeycomb embossing folder. I love the simplicity of these fab embellishments and how simple they are to construct (the flowers are simply layered up and secured with a brad and you are then free to scrunch and texture the layers to give added dimension).

The kit itself looks like this:
 
And it even comes with its own lovely matching stamp for stamping the tags. This is such a versatile kit and only costs £11.95 (131295) for 9 handmade tags/embellishments PLUS the 'Just For You' stamp too. And while it may look strange to see those mini cupcake wrappers in the kit- they make the most amazing little paper daisies (complete with yellow fabric covered brads for the centre).
 
I thoroughly recommend this kit as the Calypso Coral, Pool Party and Very Vanilla floral embellishments could be used to accessorize a scrapbook page or greeting card or simply used as the kit intends to make beautiful tags for gift wrap.
 
Thank you for popping by today. I would love to help you with any of your Stampin' Up! needs or orders. Please get in touch with any queries or to place an order to be entered in to my 'Win A Big Shot' competition.
 
I'll be back bright and early on Saturday morning for my part in the Pinkie team's Spring Summer celebratory Blog Hop.
 
Happy Crafting ;0)

Tuesday 5 February 2013

Try It Tuesday: A Very Jubilee Tea Party

Just a quick thank you to all who popped by my Open House on Saturday. Summer drew the prize for me and she picked the winner of the lovely Stampin' Up! product bundle as.... Angie Pay. Well done Angie and thank you again to all who popped by for a bit of Spring Summer craftiness.
 

Here is this weeks sketch inspired page. I found a sketch I wanted to try on Pinterest which is designed for a rectangular layout. I decided to use this sketch as my inspiration and resize it for 12x12.
My page focuses on our Jubilee celebration tea party last summer. I wanted to capture the details of the day (and all my sisters hard work in preparing the cakes and decorations!). I am not usually one for scrapbooking pages without people in. But I often see pages devoted to tv shows or films or things someone loves in the moment and I think they are brilliant. I often get caught up in only scrapping people but sometimes it is nice to capture the context too. I have previously scrapbooked the Jubilee weekend for Summer's album so it was nice to capture a different angle for my own album.
 
I would have liked to have incorporated flags or bunting onto my layout but decided anymore embellishment would have made it too busy. I love the simplistic embellishments made using the Rosette Bigz Die (created to fit with the red, white and blue theme). And if I am honest, I created the whole page to use my lovely new Paper Doilies and Tea Time Trinkets charms from the Spring Summer Catalogue.
 
Page uses:
Cardstock: Whisper White 12x12, Pacific Point & Red Glimmer Paper
DSP: Summer Smooches
Embellishments: Rosette Die, Brights Buttons, Paper Doilies & Tea Time Trinkets
Ribbon: Real Red 3.2mm Taffeta Ribbon, Midnight Muse 1cm Stitched Satin Ribbon
Other: Labels Collection Framelits
 
If you have any questions about my page, the products used or if you'd like to find out more about my current 'Win A Big Shot!' promotion, please get in touch on poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 01983 609249.
 
Thanks for popping by today and happy crafting
 
-XXX-

Friday 1 February 2013

Spring Is Here!

 
Welcome to the Isle of Wight and my little section of the In Love With Stamping blog hop to celebrate the launch of the new Stampin'  Up Spring Summer Catalogue. You should have hopped here from Michelle's blog.
 
I have been giving little sneak peaks of the new products for a little while now and I am super excited to be able to share everything fully now. If you popped by here yesterday you will have seen my technique idea blog post about puffy hearts, well here is the finished Valentines project. I am 100% sure my other half won't be reading by blog anytime soon (nor rooting around in my craft room) so I don't mind sharing his card here. I am back to work after my 10 months of maternity leave this week so I have had to be a bit more organised with my makings. When I saw the beautiful More Amore DSP and Fabric I knew it would make a perfect Valentines card.
 
I layered my three puffy padded hearts onto lace and ribbon from the absolutely beautiful Artisan Embellishments kit (I am having to order another kit as I have used my first on all the projects I have been sharing this week- it is so versatile as I used it for a scrapbook page, a birthday card and now a Valentines card!). The greeting is stamped from the Wacky Wishes Hostess set from the main catalogue (and cut using the Apothecary Accents Framelits).
I finished my card with large pearls and an itty bitty heart button.
 
While we are hopping I thought I would also share with you a couple of projects I made for a Hostess thank you at a recent party. I do not know how I missed these fab Kraft Gift boxes in the main catalogue. But upon ordering them they are just about my new favourite gift box. I covered this one with Tea for Two Designer Series Paper and wrapped with the gorgeous new two tone ribbon (Pink Pirouette/Rose Red). This was then filled with a mini taster box of products from the new Spring Summer catalogue including buttons, brads and ribbons (and a few added extras too!). 

Here is the thank you card I made to match the gift box which again uses the Tea for Two DSP, the fab Honeycomb Embossing Folder and the gorgeous new Flower Trim (another thing to add to my next order as I have been endlessly using the first 1.8m I purchased!)


Thank you for hopping by today. I hope you enjoyed my projects. Please continue the hop by popping over to Clare's blog.
 
Just a few reminders for my regular readers. My new catalogue Open House is tomorrow between 10am-3pm. I will have a copy of the new catalogue for all attendees as well as a goody bag prize draw and my extra special Sale-A-Bration promotion announcement for anyone placing a qualifying order with me before March 22nd (more info tomorrow).
 
Happy Crafting ;0)
-X-