No sew easy!!!

The new 'IB&C' is packed full of fantastic ideas and products for 2011-2012, and I have struggled to contain my excitement, at all new things to play with, but there was one new product line, that has been causing me some concern......even invading my dream space.......and that is the fabric!!

Yes!- the quality is fantastic, and it so matches SU ink colours, Buttons, Ribbons, card stocks, and even the 'Designer Series Papers'. but with all this good stuff going on, I was petrified- even though I have had a sewing machine since I was 12years old, I still can't sew a straight line! Panic was setting in, then late on Saturday Night when I couldn't sleep I did a bit of googling, and came across the idea of a 'No sew' Pin cushion, well I gave the idea a few tweaks in my head and pushed it to the back of my mind......as yes I had dusted off the old faithful sewing machine and had started something else.....so late last night when I got so far in the other project, and I needed to get some advice, I whipped up this little beauty!!

And the fabric-122337 Timeless Portrait £8.95
Coordinates with Timeless Portrait suite

(p. 64–65 of the new 'IB& C')
And with the SU colours-Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla

The Designer Fabrics are Uniquely designed, and are made from 100% cotton. Each includes three coordinated designs, with each piece measuring approx. 68.6 x 45.7 cm.This little pin cushion took not even a 15cm square of the lovely 'Cameo' print fabric, a bit of wadding, a circle of stiff board, my trusty staple gun and a frame that I had loitering!!Adorned with a couple of ribbon roses and some 'Tempting Turquoise' Buttons, this would make a lovely gift, but mine is sitting prided of place on my craft room shelves!!!

Not only do we have fantastic new products in the new 'IB& C' we also have a fantastic New Starter Kit too!! Maybe you have been thinking about buying the Starter Kit and becoming a Demonstrator???

It's a great time to join 'Stampin' Up!', as a new demo, I am more than happy to email you some information or I would love, to give you a call & chat through the opportunity without any obligations!

The starter kit is £119 and the contents have increased!!

It now includes a 'Colour coach' & a 12x12" Patterns Stack which makes the contents worth £250!!!

WELL IT GETS EVEN BETTER........

For this month not only do you get the

BRAND NEW KIT for £119, of which parts can be changed-

to suit your personal taste!!

You will ALSO get a new IN COLOUR bundle of 5 ink pads and some card stock FREE in addition to your already great value Starter Kit!

This is a totally fantastic offer!!

And I would love you to join my team...

and Share our love of crafting!

Please email me sally-johoughton@hotmail.co.uk

Or send me a Text 07891605129,

I look forward to hearing from you! xXx

Face of thunder!!!

A quick post today as the next 24hrs are going to be filled with excitement and 'OOhhh's' and 'ahhh's' for us demo's, but more on that lower down this post!

Today's make is a layout, I was inspired to do by an ultra cute pic of Matt, usually he has the nickname of 'Sunshine boy', but when he saw me photographing it first thing yesterday morning for my blog, his cuddly cute-ness turned into a 'FACE OF THUNDER', So I post this as he angelic has one of last few lie-ins of the school hollies, and he doesn't see that he is wide on the web for all to see!The layout is cased from a previous SU catalogue, do you recognise it?? it has had a few product changes but the colours and actual placement are the same.

I did some computer generated journalling, and printed it onto our 'Whisper White' card and the title was cut in 'Pumpkin Pie' using the 'Timeless Type' dies & the 'Big Shot'. I think this is the big he dislikes the most, as while glaring at me he read it, and then stomped off, but it's from the heart!

The hearts were all stamped from the 'Simply Said' SU stamp set, this one I punched out with the 'Heart to heart punch' it was smaller than the image, but I liked the shape. A small flowery button and a bit of linen thread add texture too.

A little punching of 'Old Olive' card under the photo, using the 'Spiral Border' punch. You can just see another of the strips of the 'Brights- Designer series paper' as well.

The cloud was cut free hand and 'Tempting Turquoise' ink was sponged around the edge, and the hearts were stamped from the same set as earlier and added up the side of the photo.

I hope you like it more than Mr. Face of thunder does, speaking of which, I have heard movement upstairs, so I will move on to the ultra important SU news..................................

Well it is a very exciting time at the moment, not just for me but for you my SU customers!

The LAST CHANCE LIST goes out at Midnight tonight, which means there may be reductions on retiring stock, So don't forget about the 'Retirement Party' I am hosting on Friday night, check out Mondays post or email me: sally-johoughton@hotmail.co.uk

Also the other big thing is that Tonight I get to PRE-ORDER lots of lovely new things from the New Catalogue and also to see the new catalogue for the first time! ( I am sooo excited ust to see the new 'IN colours'!!)

If you would like a copy of your own sending direct to you, they are £4.95 delivered direct to your door (RRP £5.95). Please email me at the above address, to arrange payment. Catalogues should be with you mid-September.

Right that is all for now, I will be back in the early hours of the morning, as I will definately be unable to sleep!!xxx

A note of thanks.......

Well maybe you have guessed, but if the set is out on the desk, I do tend to play around with it for a few days and try to get a few different looks/ projects out of it.....I love it that stamps can be so versatile!!

Now on Tuesday this week, my children were lucky enough to be invited out by my Auntie & her friend, to have a private tour of the local Agricultural college's Pet & Equine departments.....Matty got to see loads of snakes and creepy crawlies, and Heather got hands on with the petting ponies, and then checked out the equine department....they had loads of fun, I thought a little set of note cards, would be a nice way to say thanks instead of the usual bottle of wine! So with the 'Pick a Petal' SU stamp set out on the desk, I had play around and came up with these.........I love cards that are just one layer and have noticed that in card shops they can be ultra expensive, so armed with my stamps I came up with these! The finished cards measure 10.5cm square. The outline images were stamped in Stampin' Up! 'Basic Black' and with a bit of playing on some scrap first, I was able to line the stamps up 'freehand'. Colour was added by using the water brush and ink from the lid of the Ink pads. The colours I choose were.....

Rich razzle berry

Tempting turquoise

Regal Rose

Pumpkin Pie

Then after making not just this set but two more....I realised I had no envelopes to fit!!! ARRRGHHH.....at this point I was nearly ready to stamp my feet and chuck the whole lot in the bin....but then I had a root in my stash and found a box of DL envelopes that were the right width, and so set about cutting and scoring them to size....and being really honest it wasn't as much trouble, as I thought and far, far easier than making an envelope from scratch! I had no envelope glue, so made a seal to fasten the little envelopes, out of a sticky bit I had cut off! I just stamped and the centre of the flower and it fits in the 1" circle punch, and I then coloured them to match.Don't you just love it...the way it all works out in the end...... ooo I just need to think of a way to fasten them together/ present them.................. suggestions please... my mojo's zapped!!

Friends xx

Over the last 24 hours I have had the pleasure of catching up with friends- last night I had a lovely surprise phone call from a friend across the Irish sea, It was great to catch up, and hear that she is settling into her new home so well xx, Today I assistted 'a school' mum friend in shopping for a new kitchen- the choice of door knobs is unbelievable!!, finishing for a girly chat and lunch xx And also my thoughts are with a very good friend, as she copes with the hassels of work, she deserves her well earned breakxxx

It has been great to know I have such good friends, and so when my Heather put in a request for a card late last night, I can understand the heartfelt love, friends can bring....one of her classmates, is moving schools and she requested a card, they could all sign, and then they wouldn't be forgotten.....weepy mummy moment xx

So here it is, using the lovely

'I [heart] hearts' stamp set from SU.

I made a little montage of hearts cut with the co-ordinating SU punches,to decorate the front of the card.

The colour scheme is 'Tempting Turquoise',

'Melon Mambo' & 'Pumpkin Pie'

The back panel, that held the ribbon tie in place, was decorated with random stamping of the hearts from the set, in the choosen colour way.

The fold out leaves were made by simply cutting three strips of 10cm x 30cn white card, scoring at 10cm intervals and then sticking together.

These were also stamped along the corners and the edges, to add decoration, with the 'I [Heart] Hearts' stamp set.

Heather was really pleased when she saw it this morning, and I was lucky enough to be in school and see, that many friends had wrote messages.

So cheers to friends and friendships, may we all be blessed with good ones xx

CAS......Christmas!!!

OK I have mentioned the dreaded 'C' word again.....but teamed it with CAS, this stands for 'Clean and simple'. This is- sort of a less is more approach to your card lay outs, and can be a good approach to bulk card making!

For these cards I came up with one layout/ design idea and I just changed the ink colour, for variation! It's a great way to make each card slightly different!

Using the snowflake from the 'Winter Post' SU stamp set, I inked it up in my chosen colour and stamped it on the top 2/3's of the card blank, to get a shade variation I used the 2nd and 3rd impression from the stamp too.......this means that I didn't add anymore ink, I just stamped it again for the 2nd time and then the 3rd, again not adding ink, so the shade goes lighter.......it's amazing what you can do with ink!!

The colours I have used for these samples are from the 'Stampin' Up!- Brights' collection and are 'Tempting Turquoise' and 'Melon Mambo', but don't be held back by this....your cards can be made in a colour of ink of your choice!

The sentiment is from the SU stamp set 'Heard from the Heart', this set of stamps has lots of different sentiments and I used the Christmas one, they all have hand written look to them, and the sweeping line in and away just calls out for some of our SU bling, on both sides-the camera never really picks up how super sparkly this is! To add a bit more of a sparkle I added a tiny 'bling' to the centre of three of the snowflakes too!

To follow on from the front design, I have added stamping directly to the inside of the card......it saves the hassle of cutting an insert, decorating that and sticking it in too, but the main reason is that the 'Whisper white' card stock is perfect for stamping on so why waste the inside area?!!

I have just realised that I haven't decorated any envelopes to match, but this would be easy to do along the same lines......hmmmmm I think I will just nip and do that now! Please leave suggestions of your 'CAS' Christmas card ideas via the comments, it would be great to know what people are making xxx

Just a note.....

Hello all, this week I have lots of 'Stampin' Up!' events going on.........

• Tonight is 'Creative Cafe'- a social were crafters can get together and craft and have refreshments....the brownies are in the oven! Everyone is welcome, it starts at 6.30pm and is held at 'Delicachixs', Lane Ends, Ashton.


• Wednesday- I am demonstrating at 'Zumo- Cafe bar' (http://zumocafe.com/ for directions), at an open to all workshop, hosted by Karrie


• Saturday- 'Big Shot' event 7pm onwards, at Delicachix's. I will be demonstrating a lovely project with the 'Big Shot' and then there will be a FREE MAKE & TAKE, using the 'Big Shot' and some of the wonderful 'Stampin' Up!' & 'Big shot' products.

In preparation, for Saturday night, I am busy making lots of things with my 'Big Shot' and have enjoyed making a few bits and pieces that are not cards or layouts.

One of my latest makes is a little hanging note pad, perfect to hang at your desk and jot down SU goodies to add to your wish list!!

I had some acrylic scalloped squares in my things to alter stash, I cut a sheet of the 'Pear pizzazz- Designers series paper' to fit within the scallops and glued it to the reverse. I then added four of the 'Jumbo pewter eyelets', the top two to tie some twine for hanging up, and two to hang the note pad from.

The note pad was made using the brilliant 'Top note die', and I have a lovely little tip to share on Saturday night, to show a quicker and easier way to cut these out!

The sheets are held in place with a bit of 'Tempting Turquoise' ribbon, and a piece of elastic was secured under a fifth eyelet, to create a loop, to hold a pencil.I hope you like it, if you have any questions about how to make this or any of my other projects please email me: sally-johoughton@hotmail.co.uk I am happy to help, or if you are in the area, attend one of my events, it would be great to meet you and share our love of craft xx

'oooOOOO' I nearly forgot.....On Saturday, they will be advanced booking and a sample preview of the....

Christmas in July class!!

To be held on Sunday July 24Th.

Chariot at 7.30pm please!!

Today has been one of those day's were I have been here, there & everywhere- apart from at my craft desk......that is until an hour ago!!

Tonight Johnnie & I, are at a 'Toga' party for a family friends 18Th, so I have been mooching around the shops, trying to put together a Roman-esque outfit, I hit it lucky on the Gold bangles as ASDA were having a sale!!

Anyway I wanted to create a card, that was suitable for a trendy lady, who is now 18 and came up with the colour combination of- 'Melon Mambo' and 'Basic Grey' 'Stampin' Up! Classic Ink pads', 'Whisper white' card stock with a touch of 'Tempting Turquoise' grosgrain ribbon.

The stamp set is 'Just believe'

I cut the numbers using my 'Big Shot' and the numbers from the 'Timeless Type' Alphabet die set, from a few scraps of 'Melon Mambo' card stock. The frame was stamped once in each colour and layered up to create an area, on which to stick the numbers.

A bit of stamping to the insert and the envelope, I felt gave the card a pretty finish.

Right got to dash, my chariot is waiting, it's just a shame Russell Crowe, isn't going to be there!!

Flowers in a book!!

I am a hoarder, and quite often, spy things- while out shopping, that I have to have because they will come in for something at a later date, well I tell myself that anyway!! Giant pink paperclips were one of these purchases, and today I gave them a little 'Stampin' Up!' make over!

I created some bookmarks!

Now I purchased these along while ago while perusing the things that fasten paper together aisle at a stationary shop, stashing them away till today! I used the fantastic 'Stampin' Up!' 'Colour Coach' to determine what shade of SU pink they were closest to- it was 'Melon Mambo'! I turned over the swatch card and looked at the suggested colour combo's at the top were a selection from same colour group, the brights- 'Daffodil Delight' & 'Tempting Turquoise'.

I decided to through 'caution to the wind' and use a few small pieces from the 'Stampin' Up!' 'Designer Series papers- Brights', I have been amazed by how many projects I have used this pack for and still have loads of full sheets left- providing excellent value for money. Using my the two smaller 'Fantastic Flowers' SU exclusive 'Big Shot' die, the flowers were quickly cut out, and then it was just the job of assembly!!

Each bloom was topped with a Button from the brights collection and fastened in place with linen thread, a circle of co-ordinating card was added to ensure that the thread didn't pull through the paper.The larger flower, was stuck to the back, with some foam pads and the top flower had it's petals curled upwards, and they were finished!!

Something pretty, to adorn my latest read xx

Butterfly wish jar

Hello all, well the weather is all bright and breezy here in Lancashire, so here is a bright, butterfly make.......

It's a play on the 'Jam jar' save the dates I made for my sister last year, but with a few tweaks! I am a 'confessed' jam jar hoarder and this make, is a quick and easy way to make the easy option of giving money for a gift to seem more thoughtful, than slipping it in a card!

Using the 'Flight of the butterfly' Stampin' Up! stamp set, the 'stamp-a-ma-jig' and the butterfly punch, this really is quick & easy to make. The butteflies are two step stamped using either melon mambo or tempting turquoise ink and then black to add detail. They are stuck back to back and dangled from the lid with cotton thread, so as the jam jar moves they flutter!

To help with the shake theme, a little bit of heart confetti was created with the 'Heart to Heart extra Large punch' and a few scraps of 'Melon Mambo' card stock.



And the small and large tag punches are perfect for providing space to write a greeting, and instructions on how to make a butterfly wish!!! I do admit, that it is very girly...but watch this space, I am working on a more boy-ish none butterfly or floral version!!