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

Throw'em at ya!!

Hmmmm my friend Deborah, says I am an 'All or nothing kind of Girl'!....well I am throwing all my takes on what else can be done with the SU 'Bauble' punch, straight at you while they are popping up in my insomniac induced mojo!

So here is today's take, have you spotted the bauble yet??!

I do admit to taking the scissors to it, just a little bit off, to make the bottom!! And the flowers...well I must not be able to sleep due to having Orchids on the brain! They were made using scraps of 'Melon Mambo'.....(yes I do love it & you get soooooo much in a single colour cardstock pack from SU!) & the smallest heart from the 'Heart to Heart' Stampin' Up! punch, to make the centres I just added some of the smallest SU bling (it is so, so sparkly, I may just stick it to my ears at convention and see if anybody notices!!).

My the stems were drawn free hand, with a 'Stamp & Write' marker. in 'Old Olive', the 'Stampin' Up!' People really are clever, to make everything co-ordinate, as the ;eaves were cut from some teeny tiny scraps of 'Old Olive' cardstock....(Hmmm if you know Deborah, at this point she would be saying ..'well she never chucks any scraps away and goes through the bin after mine!')

Here is a close up of the bauble, it was just punched out of 'Early Espresso' SU cardstock.

I have included a side on shot then you can see the dimension, I created and also how the main image goes off the top of the card blank!

To add a greeting, a frame from the 'Mini Catalogues' 'Four Frames' was stamped in 'Early Espresso' Ink, the 'Thank you' greeting is from the 'Just Believe' Stamp set and fits in the frame perfectly with the help of my trusty 'Stamp-a-ma-jig'! I used 'Old Olive' Ink for this and added a another little sparkly orchid bloom, and some ruched grosgrain 'Old Olive' ribbon to finish the card.

Please check out my blog tomorrow, when you will see more evidence of the insomniac induced punching frenzy, off to do School Holiday duties and entertain the children. xXXx

In a bit of a 'Mist'!

Yesterday I had fun playing with a canvas kit a facebook friend had given me, to complete it, I had to add spray inks, when I received my starter kit there was a re-fill of the 'Marina Mist' SU ink, so I added a few drops to a mister and had a fantastic spray ink to match the 'Stampin' Up!' Ink pads......note to self, I need more ink refills to make more colour mists!

The canvas kit called for me to colour a doily with the spray ink, but my scrap paper was left with a delicate silhouette, and it inspired me to make this card.

The card base is made from 'Crumb Cake' SU card stock, cut to fit a DL envelope. The doily is one from my stash....hmmm she hoards doilies....well the local village 'Flower, Produce & Handicraft show' have a Children's doily colouring class, and my two love to enter this, so when I see nice doilies I pick them up.....believe me not all doilies are pretty!! Anyway here is a close up of the 'Marina Mist' sprayed over the doily.
I then created a collage of items to create a focal point, across the lower third of the card base. The band of corrugated card was salvaged from some packaging, and a strip was ripped to fit across the card.

I gathered a short piece of 'Old Olive' ribbon and stuck it to the right, of the band.

I stamped the rose frame from the 'Stampin' Up! Four Frames' stamp set, with chocolate chip ink, on to a scrap of 'Crumb Cake' card and punched it out using the coordinating punch, I then splattered it with 'Old olive' ink and stuck it, so it was peeping out from under the top left edge of the band.
I stamped 'Friend' and 'Love' from the 'Tiny Tags' SU stamp set, in 'Old Olive' ink, on to 'Crumb Cake' Card stock, they were then punched out using the 'Jewellery Tag' Punch. the 'Heart from the same stamp set was stamped with 'Chocolate Chip' Ink and punched out using the smallest heart from the 'Heart to Heart' punch. This was mounted with a small foam pad on to another jewellery tag. I knotted these on to a piece of linen thread that had been wrapped around the band.

Just peeking out from under the bottom right edge of the band, is the bird frame, stamped as the rose one, and on top of this is a flower made with the 'Flower Accent'. It was stamped in 'Old Olive' ink, on to 'Crumb Cake' card stock, this was trimmed out and stuck on top of the bird label with a foam pad, the large glass pebble is from my stash, I picked a whole bag of them up for a couple of pounds, they are the ones used for putting in the bottom of bowls of flowers!

Before sticking the collage band to the card base I added some splatters of the 'Old Olive' Ink.
As my SU mum Julie would say...'here is an arty farty angle' of the completed card!

Right! I am off to re-work this in to a

Lay out for a scrapbook page.....

while the urge to mist is upon me! xxx

Laugh, love & live.....

Last year a friend gave me a lovely set of wall art, with the words Laugh, Love & Live on, I have always liked the wording and last night started out making my own little version, I hope you like it as much as I do!!

I have used the fabulous 'crumbcake' and 'topnote' die as the base. and stamped around the top edge of each, with the swirl from the 'Simply Said' stamp set.

The letters were cut with the 'Timeless type' alphabet dies, Birds cut with the 'Two step bird punch' in 'Rich razzleberry' & 'Old Olive', you may be able to see that they were over stamped in co-ordinating ink, with the 'Fine flourish' stamp, the branches were cut out of chocolate chip, using the branch, from the same punch.I added some hearts stamped from the 'I heart hearts' stamp set and punched out with the hearts punch, some were dangled from linen thread, for the centre love panel.

To finish it was tied together using some of the 'Linen thread' to give it a rustic look.

In a hurry today as I have my class and a chocolate treat yet to get!! xx

Stamping & Scrapbooking

There are a few bits & pieces that I created for my launch party that i have not put on my blog yet, and seeing as here in Lancashire, the sun is shinning and the the grass is mown, I won't be able to craft today!! :-(So here is a 12x12" page that i created a week ago, it's to celebrate the recent marriage of my brother Guy and his fiancee Helen.The wedding had a very vintage style, the groomsmen wore suits that matched the SU 'Chocolate Chip' and the brides dress was 'Very Vanilla'!

The swirly paper was made my me, with just some card and a few stamps. As my heather pointed out it really matches their wedding Stationary! i love making a patterned paper, by using stamps, in this case my trusted set of 'Stampin' Up!' Baroque Motifs' and yep! i even made the flowers too, as a tight bottomed Lancashire lass, I begrudge paying out for expensive paper flowers, when you can easily create your own!!

The same goes about journalling bits and bobs too!.....they usually come as a set and you probably only use one, if like me you just do a page at a time, but this little hidden journalling embellie was created with the fantastic Lg tag punch, the tab punch and a few hearts from the heart to heart punch, and given a Little stamp action too!There are still a few places left on my 'Vintage Vogue- Colour splash class' running on the 26Th of June,if you have never made a card before you are still welcome to attend and yes you will go home with something!

The 'Creative cafe' is up and running now too, on the 1st and third Tuesday evening of every month, if you would like more info, you could email: sally-johoughton@hotmail.co.uk or you could telephone me if you prefer to speak in person- 07891605129

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!!