Stepping it up!!

When ever we attend our SU mum's fabulous training events, Julie always shows us a quick and easy card for workshops and then a stepped up version, well today's card is a really 'Stepped-Up' version of the black and whisper white card I featured yesterday, using the 'SALE-A-BRATION' 'Fresh Vintage' Stamp set.

Its larger in size too!!

Measuring in at 8x8"!!

I made this to give, to Deborah yesterday,

for her 21st Birthday!! ;-)

I gave the numbers, which were die-cut with the 'Big Shot'

and the 'Timeless Type' dies-

a sprinkling of the 'gold antique glass glitter'

I created some paper flowers, using the very vintage looking 

'First Edition Newsprint- Designer Series Papers'

I added a double bow using my last piece of crochet trim and

the lovely 'Crumb Cake- Seam Binding',

with an 'Antique brad' for embellishment.

It doesn't show up to well, but I gave the flowers a squirt,

with some watered down,'Champagne shimmer paint'.

Here you can see that the inside got a little stamp action too, and as the card was a little too big for an envelope,

I decorated a brown lunch sack for it!

I hope you like this 'Stepped Up!' card, I love that you can get so much use out of stamps! I will be back tomorrow with another make that features, the 'Fresh Vintage SALE-A-BRATION' stamp set and the lovely 'Simple Adorned' 'Stampin' Up!' jewellery line. 

xXXx

A bit of bunting......

At half seven this morning, the sky looked promising there was a hint of blue sky and sunshine, and when seeing a Heather off to a friends birthday celebration, at 8am (yes! I was up and dressed, this Sunday morning!!!) I thought they may have been blessed with some sun.... now looking out of the window, its dull, grey and damp, so lets hope the card brought some sunshine!!

It's a take on a lovely card we made, at the recent 'Julies Jem's' training event, Julies 'Baggy Book' showcased 5 different card using the new 'Pennant Parade' SU stamp set (wood mounted 122740- £20.95/ clear mounted 122742- £16.95), and all I did for my version is add, 'Ella' & '8', using my SU 'Big Shot' and my 'Timeless Type' dies.

Here you can see the dimension of the little flower embellishments. It was created by simply rubbing the end of the bone folder in the centres of the punched 'Boho Blossoms' flowers, whilst they were on the 'Foam SU Mat'. The colours are all the New 'In Colours' apart from the colour I have renamed as 'Indigo Pool' which is really 'Island Indigo'!! And the offer to get these free, when you sign up as a demo, finishes at the end of the month, email me for details: sally-johoughton@hotmail.co.uk And if you don't want to do workshops the 'Starter Kit' is packed with loads of really usable stuff, and you can pick your own stamps to the cost of there suggestions too, all with a massive saving off the catalogue price!!

The inside was given, a tiny bit of simple decoration, using a nifty punch trick, have you worked out how yet? Email me for details xx

The sentiment is short, sweet & sassy- for a small persons birthday, and a little SU bling, really makes it pop!!

So what are you up to today?? The reason I was up early, is that Heather was choosen to attend a very different kind of party.....she has gone to do some serious outdoor activities....Archery. Absailing & A 30ft Leap of Faith!!! (I cant hold scissors as my hands are shaking......at the thought of my 10yr old doing such amazingly brave stuff with her friend, who is only 8!!)

I know they will be supervised, but mums cant help but worry! xXx

Pennants for Sail!!!

A few years back, before I had discovered the joys of 'Stampin' Up!', I can remember trawling round a craft show, and stopping to look at a stand, whilst there a lady with a personality bigger than myself, started telling me that she would never buy a rubber stamps, unless she could think of at least 7 ways to use them!

I have always liked the idea of getting your moneys worth out of your craft stash and this new set out of the NEW 'IB& C' is fantastic for versatility! Its called 'Pennant Parade' (122740 Wood mounted £20.95/ 122742 Clear mounted £16.95) and when used with the matching punch-'Petite Pennants Builder' (122361 £15.50), it makes mini bunting a 'doddle'!

But hey! Us crafters want to get more out of it than that,

don't we???

Well here is my take on a card for a young boy!!

I did a bit of folding to give the card a '3D' effect.

I was a bit punch crazy too, but they do take the hassle out of cutting fiddly shapes like the circle for the sun, for the rays I used the end, of the pennants builder punch & the boats were made out of ovals, cut in half length ways. Even the waves were cut with a punch too, can you guess which??

I have included a picture from above, that shows that the banner was given a little dimension, and that the sails of the boat were not stuck completely down, but just to the masts which were made from half a cocktail stick........a Cheese & Pineapple moment!!

This is a side on view, then you can see the fold, The whole card will fit nicely into a DL envelope too, which would be cost effective to post.

I hope you like my pennants make, I have a few more makes planned to show the versatility of this set & and I will offer free P&P (in the UK) to anyone who purchases both the stamp set & matching punch, from myself, until Midnight on Saturday 8th October!

Email me: sally-johoughton@hotmail.co.uk

I look forward to hearing from you

Sally-Jo 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 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

Long time no see!!!!!!!

Hello, sorry about the lack of posts, my craft 'Mojo' left me and I have been busy doing 'Mum' stuff while Heather and Matty, are on their summer Hols!

Last night though, it came back to me in a flash of inspiration......well I had been jigging over a Layout with the 'Just Believe' Stampin' Up! stamp set for a bit, and when I finally put stamp to paper it all just came together!

When I had finished the 12x12" base, I had a look through my box of photo's and came across this one of 'Foxy....sunday name Foxglove!' she is our beautiful 'so grey- she is white' pony, she taught Heather how to ride, and 'Baggins' that wheelie bins and blue garden plants won't kill you! Anyway if I told you were she was when I took this photo, of her with heather and Matty...you would think I was crazy....well, yes, I am! And yes, she was in the living room!
I used some more of the 'Marina Mist' ink refill, diluted and misted over the card to add colour to the 12x12" textured Whisper White card.A few splats were add, by flicking the plastic tube in the spritzer accross the page.....
WARNING>>>MAKE SURE YOUR SURFACES ARE COVERED AS IT GOES FURTHER THAN YOU THINK!!!I felt that the base page needed something to draw the eye from the decoration at the bottom, to up and across the page so added a few butterflies from the 'Strength & Hope' SU stamp set.
I then created a wide matt for the photo using the same butterfly, by stamping it in 'Basic Black' around the edge of a piece of the textured white card, I also dragged the ink pad around the edge of the card to define it.
For the title, I die-cut the lettering using the 'Timeless Type' alphabet dies. I stuck the title to a piece of 'Whisper White' card that had been die-cut, using the 'Top-Note' die and then folded in half.

To add more texture to the letters, I embossed them using the 'Square Lattice' embossing folder, I also added a little stamping to the die-cut!And the reason for folding the 'Top-note' die cut in half...well it gave me a little area to add some journalling...well I don't want the whole world to knew that i had a pony in the living room! ;-)Don't forget about the fantastic offer from 'Stampin' Up!' if you place an order for £75 or over, or host a workshop with sales totalling over £250 before P&P, you get the fantastic cosmetics tote, ribbon and clips, so everyone gets a chance of this offer I am placing weekly orders myself, so email me to find out more. xxx

Top note crush!!!

Yes I have a crush.........well two actually...................One with the lovely SU exclusive 'Top Note' die and the other with the fabulous 'In colour'- 'Concord Crush', you know the one that is so delicious that it can't decide if it blue or purple!!!

They are both in regular use, and feature prominently on my blog, but wants the point in liking something and having it and not using it!!

I teamed them together with the lovely 'Just Believe' Stampin' Up! stamp set, to make a lovely gift for a hostess, a few weeks ago, and gave it away before taking some piccies to post on my blog, so this morning while prepping for today's workshop, I took time out to make one for myself.

The 'Concord Crush' ink was sponged around the edge, and the large frond from the 'Just Believe' stamp set was added over the top using basic black ink.

I added the word 'Notes' cut with the 'Timeless Type' dies.

The pages are cut, from just copier paper, so when I run out, I can just cut some more!Got to dash off to a workshop in the 'Trough of Bowland', that's the great thing about 'Stampin' Up!' we can come to you!!

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

Does it feel like summer??

Today is the first day of summer, but as I look out the window, all I can see is puddles of rain!!

A couple of weeks ago, Heather and Matthew's school, had a float in the village festival, it was all themed around the circus big top and was really bright and cheery, Matthew dressed as a strong man and Heather as the ring Master, I had took a few snaps, but it was so bright it was hard to get a shot, LOL....we are never happy with the weather!!!

Anyway here is the page i created! To make the background,I used the star punch to make a mask, and then inked through it,to create a random star pattern 3/4 of the way down the page.The pictures were stuck, on a 1/4 of the way down, at 'Jaunty' angles and the over hang trimmed off. Next job was to make some kind of title....now when I had first signed up to demo a few weeks ago, Julie- my SU mum and up line mentioned that one of her jem's had used the four labels stamp set and the co-ordinating punch, to make bunting. Now I haven't seen that bunting, but with that idea in mind I went on to create my bunting, using the same ink colours that I had used for the stars-Pacific Point, Real Red, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo & the in colour 'Pear Pizazz. I made a score line about 3/4 of a centimetre, down from the short edge and used some wet glue to fix the flags to a piece of string.
The black title letters were die cut, using my 'Big Shot' & the 'Timeless type' alphabet dies, a little journalling was added to the bottom and a quick doodle around the photo's and my page was finished.

I hope you like it as much as my children do!

Tonight it is 'Creative Cafe' at

'Delicahix's'

Lane Ends, Ashton, Preston.

Bring your own craft project &

craft alongside fellow grown-ups,

Refreshments provided.

Email me to secure your place: sally-johoughton@hotmail.co.uk