A first, first!

As many of you know, my daughter is pony mad! And last weekend we all went to watch her at a local show, 'Baggins' her pony is a bit of a character and we were absolutely chuffed, when they scooped there first, first rosette and also a small trophy, in there first class of the day- 'Young Handler'.

By the end of the day we were all really exhausted, and even more thrilled because they had got 2 fourths in other classes, but me 'the camera happy, paper stroking mum' found time for some quick pics and here they are in a page for the family scrapbook!

Now I have to admit to being a bit of a colour cheater when it comes to scrapbooking......in that i tend to get the pictures printed in black & white, and then I can go with any colour scheme I fancy, but due to the focus of the pictures being a red rosette, I just couldn't have turned it a shade of grey!

And the rosettes, I made myself, Using the 'Stampin' Up!- Scallop Circle Punch' and a lot of folding, but they have made lovely rosette embellishments.

The paper for the rosettes came from the 'Brights- Designer Series Paper Pack', I got this when i first signed up as a demo in May and still have loads left!

The tails were cut from strips of the same paper, also I inked all the edges with the same colour ink to add a little shading.

The date tab, was made by stamping the solid heart- in 'Crumb Cake' ink & the heart phrase in 'Chocolate Chip', from the 'Simply Said' Stampin' Up! Rubber stamp set. You can also just see my pencil line for lining up!

The title was cut using my SU 'Big Shot' and the 'Timeless Type' Alphabet dies, the bottom edge of the 'Crumb Cake' matte was punched with the 'Scallop Edge Punch.

As the red rosette was the most special and important, I cut the title all in lower case, and in 'Chocolate Chip' the RED bit was then cut in upper case, in 'Real Red' and to add a bit of texture whizzed through the 'Big shot' with the 'Basket weave' embossing folder. At the bottom of the page, I stamped along it using the swirly flower and stalks set from the 'Simply Said' SU stamp set.

As I haven't added any journalling to tell the 'story' behind the photos, I am contemplating a second page, for the minute though heather is very pleased with this! I will be back tomorrow with another page, as to be fair I have done one of Matthew.......xXx

Ladybird, Ladybird.....

Fly away home......,

the desk is a mess, and the children are still home!

Yep! My desk is a mess, but with a week and a half to go of the school holidays I have had little time to craft, let alone clear my desk! Here are a couple of cards I put together this morning, I had played around making the ladybugs, with the 'Pick a petal' SU stamp set, which has been stashed at the back of my stamp drawer and not seen much light of day.

Combined with the 'Stampin' Up!' Scallop Edge Punch and embossing of the 'Whisper White' card base with the 'Perfect Polka Dots' Embossing Folder and the 'Pick a petal' stamped in 'Basic Black' and 'Poppy Parade', you can make some clean and crisp cards, that are still fun!

The sentiment for the vertical card came from the 'Hello Again' Stamp set. and the dotty frame, from 'Four Frames'.

The antenna were added with black pen to the vertical card and topped with some SU bling.

For the horizontal card, little scraps of 'Basic Black' card were snipped and again topped with SU bling, the sentiment for this card came from 'Flight of the butterfly'.

As you can see I also sponged some 'Basic Black' around the ladybug and label.....I do love sponging ink on stuff!!

Hopefully I will post again before the end of the week, I have two more little lady bugs made up, so will have to come up with a project for those, before they are swallowed up by the mess of the desk! xXXx

Is it really???!!

OK is it really the first official day of the summer hols.....yep! Is it really the millionth time my darling angels have had a noisy disagreement....yep! Is it really my craft desk under a mountain of rubbish, junk and bits of paper....yep! And it is really another Christmas project I am showing you,....yep....In July!!

Apologies for my absence over the last couple of days, yesterday was spent taking Heather riding at the beach, Saturday was lost to taking Heather to choir, and Friday well it was the last day of summer term!

Anyway as I was having a five minute clear of my desk, I came across these Christmas cards. I made last week. And yes we do have glorious sunshine outside, I just thought I would show them now before they are lost in the craft room tidy up, I have planned this week!

The main focus of both cards is the lovely A la Carte 'Dasher' stamp from SU and a very bold colour scheme of 'Real Red', 'Basic Black' & 'Whisper White'.Both cards fit a C5 envelope, so are easy to send via the post.

For decoration On the vertical card, I used the 'Big Shot' and the lovely 'Vintage Wallpaper' SU embossing folder, matting and layering the main 'Dasher' image. I added the merry from the 'Stampin' Up!' 'Tiny Tags' set,punched with the 'jewellery Tag' punch.

The horizontal card has the 'Dasher' image stamped straight on to the card blank, with decoration added in with a strip of 'Basic Black' card that has been punched along the edge, with the 'Scallop Trim Punch'.

Again ribbon was added and the merry tag secured with a pin.

If you want to get ahead with your Christmas cards, I am more than happy to order your SU goodies and have them delivered to your door, so you too can get festive over the summer season!

Hopefully I will have created enough space to 'play', whilst tidying and will be back tomorrow with a none Christmas make!

Three Deers!

No I am not referring to my friends and I, out shopping...... as according to my daughter Heather- I am 'Middle Aged'! But today's blog offering....And Sorry, but while the inspiration is there, you have to go with the flow.........so yes this is another Christmas in July post!

While all hyped up with Christmas craft I made a selection of gift bags/ boxes, the lovely snowflake card for all three came from just one sheet of the A4 whisper white card that had been given the 'all over' stamp treatment with the delightful 'Serene snowflakes Stampin' Up!' stamp set.

The chosen ink colours were- 'Night of navy', 'Pink pirouette', 'Bashful Blue' & 'Perfect Plum', and it was just a case of totally covering the white A4 sheet with the stamped images, when stamping any image to totally cover an area, it always looks best if you stamp the image going off the edge of the piece.

Once I had made up the bags/ boxes, I used the lovely 'Al la carte' stamp 'Dasher' as the main decoration, the little 'merry' sentiment came from the 'Tiny Tags' SU stamp set and the decorative label 'do not open..' & 'Santa post' both came from the 'Winter Post' SU stamp set. Some of the 'Dasher' images were cropped down using a punch and for the larger bag, it was mounted onto some 'Night of Navy' card and the 'Scallop' edge punch was used as decoration along the bottom.

If you would like further details of how these bags/ boxes were folded or would like to purchase any of the supplies used then please do contact me: sally-johoughton@hotmail.co.uk

Also was it one of those strange days were we all forget the most important things yesterday?? last night at 'creative cafe' I had forgotten my Acrylic block & 'Stamp-a-ma-jig', Anyway we got by and had fun crafting together too! I will be back tomorrow with a none Christmas related offering..........I promise xx

Manhatthan Roses

Today is the last day of the school holidays for my 'not as little, as they were folk', and it one of those day's were there is loads to do, and not enough hours in the day!

But I have pinched myself 15 minutes, to make this 'oh...so pretty' card......YES you read it correctly, 15 minutes! With the fantastic 'Manhatthan Roses' SU exclusive embossing folder, a few turns of the 'Big Shot' handle and a few other bits and bobs it really, is a quick make.

This card could very easily be tweaked to make the most gorgeous of wedding invites, and with the fantastic array of Stampin' Up! card stock colours, no colour scheme would go unmatched.....but don't you just love 'Regal Rose' pink & the luscious 'Chocolate Chip' brown?? Tell me your favourite SU colour combo via the comment section xx

The count down has started to my launch party on Saturday night, I have had responses and support from some great friends, email me to RSVP and secure your 'Make & Take' pack:

sally-johoughton@hotmail.co.uk.