Guardians of the Hearth

If it was the same time last year I would have been a day too late but thankfully this year is a leap year. Hooray! So I'm safe to get my monthly Visiting Teaching visit in, just in the nick of time :) I'm off out tonight to see my wonderful sisters and this is what I made for them. Inside is a copy of this month's message "Guardians of the Hearth." A message very close to my heart about the vital role mothers and women play in the development of families and society. I made a front cover for the hand out in Chocolate Chip Card and decorated it with a print out of the title punched out using the scalloped circle punch and these gorgeous embossed butterflies, which were made using the Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die. I'm a sucker for a butterfly and even more so for anything embossed so I suspect this cute little die will be getting a lot of use. Here's a pic of the whole handout.

Fresh Vintage Fabulous

The 'Fresh Vintage' Sale-a-Bration stamp set is my absolute favourite from the Sale-a-Bration selection this year. I love the vintage style and how beautifully they coordinate with the 'Every Day Enchantment' DSP(also a Sale-a-Bration exclusive). The best bit about this set though is that it was completely free! Each year Stampin' Up! throw Sale-a-Bration where you can get free things just for shopping with us. This year all you have to do is spend £45 to choose one free stamp set and you can choose another for every £45 you spend! Check out the link on the left to see what other exclusive stamp sets you can get, remember these are only available until the 31st of March so contact me today to take advantage of this great offer:)

Here are two variations on a theme. The card is a CASE from the SoShelli blog but I thought I would try it as a scrap book page as well just to show how easily and effectively you can transplant elements from a card to a page. I'm really enjoying trying out stamps on my scrapbook pages, they add a whole other dimension. I've stamped other images from the set onto card stock and then cut them out to use as embellishments. Look at my little one standing there all by herself, bah! Who needs a mother! Not her it would seem ;)

Supplies: Card stock: Sahara Sands, Everyday Enchantment DSP, Stamps: Fresh Vintage, Accesories: Scalloped Circle Punch, Antique Brads, 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon Early Espresso, Ink: Chocolate Chip. Sticky Strip and Snail Adhesive.

Little Additions Part 2

Another page I promised and so another page I have delivered, again using the gorgeous 'Little Additions' stamp set and paper's from the 'Nursery Nest' Designer Series Papers. I suspect that this will be a favourite scrapping theme of mine for years to come. I see my little one all day every day and then can't stop myself from looking at her pictures once she's gone to bed. Will I ever get bored? At the rate she's growing up and changing, I doubt it ;) These are petite pages for a 6 x 6 album but I like how that size makes such a dominant feature of the photograph.

Supplies: Card stock: basic Grey, Marina Mist, Whisper White. Ink: Marina Mist, Basic Grey, Daffodil Delight. Taffeta Ribbon: Marina Mist. Nursery Nest DSP & Quick Accents.

Little Additions

I wanted the 'Little Additions' stamp set the instant I saw it. Not only is it perfect for baby themed cards and pages but also; with all the furniture stamps, I imagined it would be great for 'New home' cards as well. This was my first dabble with the set. I CASE'd it from last summer's mini catalogue as I'm trying a new approach to my pages in an attempt to keep them cleaner so to speak:) This is also the first page I've had a chance to make in well over a year and it was very therapeutic. As much as I enjoy card making. Scrap booking is where my heart is. I love the idea of making a record of my families day to day life. A journal in pictures. I hope we will enjoy looking back at these pages as a family for years to come.

Supplies: Cardstock; old olive, melon mambo, tempting turquoise, daffodil delight. Punches: scalloped circle, 1 1/4 circle, 1 3/4 circle. Stamps: little additions. Inks: melon mambo, old olive, daffodil delight, tempting turquoise.
Check back tomorrow for another little additions page.

Wishes of Love

I have been truly blessed to be surround by so much love in my life; More then I ever could have wished or hoped for. Love is a constant work in progress. A verb rather then a noun. Something that needs working on and adding to every single day, or else it can just wither away and die in the drought of indifference. It has been hard for me to allow these blessings into my life after all, the more you have the more there is to lose. I have come to see what a wonderful thing it is to have something to lose because now I have something to fight for and to live each day for.

Wishing you all love and happiness on this valentines day and thankyou to all the friends and family that I have that share their love with me everyday of my life

Done and dusted.

Saturday was my first workshop. Naturally I wanted everything to be perfect; for me to be confident, capable and cool: the atmosphere to be light hearted and fun, and for everyone to be as hooked on Stampin' Up! as I am. Well I'm pleased to say I can tick most of those off of the list, apart from the confident and cool bit... that's going to take a bit of work. My hands were shaking so much one of my guests even said "what are you so nervous about? Its only us!" and she was right. I was surrounded by friends and family, who just wanted me to do well. They enjoyed my demonstration and loved getting a chance to play with all the inks and stamps to make their own valentines cards. The best bit was that all of them wanted to book a workshop AND I signed up my first recruit :))) So that's the hard bit over with. Onwards and upwards and hopefully my hands won't shake so much next time!

Valentine Favours.

I've been a busy bee this week. It's either famine or feast when it comes to crafting in my house, but an upcoming 'holiday' always induces a flurry of activity. These are my little Valentines day favours. I made them out of one of my favourite DSP sets (sadly no longer available.) But the tags are made using stamps from the 'Marry Me' set in the spring mini. I LOVE this set and think you can use it for so many more occasions then  just weddings. What I also love is when you have stamp sets that co-ordinate with punches and this co-ordinates with the Decorative Label Punch, which makes creating these lovely tags even easier :))))

Cookin' Up a Treat.

Today was a fudge kind of a day so this evening I made up some PEANUT BUTTER fudge. It is such an easy recipe, and so tasty. If you want to give it a try here is the recipe:

Peanut Butter Fudge:

Pour 3/4 cup of evaporated milk and 2 cups of sugar into a large heavey based saucepan and bring to 230 F.
Take off the heat and add 1 cup Marshmallows/Fluff, 1 cup Peanut Butter, and 1tsp Vanilla extract. Beat until well combined and pour into a 9"x9" tin lined with cling film and allow to cool. Chill in the fridge then cut into squares.

Try not to eat it all at once. I dare you!

Spring Wreath

I have seen some gorgeous wreaths on the internet recently and thought I would give one a go. The rosettes are easy to make and look so cute. Now to decide where to put it....
   The count down continues to my first workshop on Saturday. I'm a little nervous but also really excited to get started. I've been cutting out card and getting everything together. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the predicted snow doesn't arrive and prevent anyone from actually getting here!

Stampin' Up! Sale-A-Bration 2012!

When the weather outside is frightful and your New Year's resolutions have all come undone, what better way to lift your mood then to treat yourself to some lovely new craft things AND get FREEBIES to boot :D

From Jan 24th - 31st March 2012 Stampin' Up's Sale-a-bration will be in full swing. For every £45 you spend you can choose 1 FREE stamp set or designer papers from the selection available. It isn't limited to one set per purchase either if you spend £90 you can choose 2 free items etc etc. I love this time of year and can't wait to get my hands on some of these limited addition sets they are gorgeous!

Also if you decide to join Stampin' Up! as demonstrator during the Sale-a-bration you can pick any stamp set in the current catalogue in addition to your started kit. How great is that.

For more information check out the link on the left or send me a message.

All You Need Is Love.

I have been pondering for days, trying to decide just HOW to start my Blog. Should I start with a project or an introduction, should I start at the beginning and work from there, it seems like a good place to start. So here I am. My name is Sophie, I am married to my best friend and we have a ten month angel who has taken over my heart and my life. Prior to her arrival my heart belonged to all things 'crafty' and recently I joined the company Stampin' Up! as an Independent Demonstrator. This Will give me the opportunity to share that love with the people around me. Being a firm believer in LOVE and with Valentines day fast approaching I have dedicated my first project to matters of the heart. It's a quick and simple card and I was able to make it with a baby hanging off of me... so anyone can do it!

Supplies: Broadsheet Stamp set, Real Red ink pad, Real Red card stock, Blushing Bride Designer Series Paper, Very Vanilla card stock, Very Vanilla satin ribbon.