Paper Obsession

Card-making catch-up

Here's the photo that will feature on today's Journal Your Christmas page.. it's a jigsaw we found in the Christmas decorations box from last year (thanks Mum & Dad) - the boys spent a very pleasant ten minutes completing it together - without squabbling - it was a sight to behold!

The journaling part of 'Journal Your Christmas' hasn't quite happened yet.. I've been pretty busy working on samples for upcoming December classes, attending nativity plays (cue floods of tears), even doing a spot of Christmas shopping!

Anyway... perhaps I can share a few recent cards I've made..

Baby girl... made with Fun & Fast Notes and Tiny Tags stamps by Stampin' Up!

Baby boy along the same lines...

Any occasion card using Just Believe stamps and Greenhouse Gala papers (inspired by a lovely card spotted on In Love With Stamping)...

A very simple man's birthday card (the card, that is, not the man..) using the Star and Scallop Edge punches and Sincere Salutations stamps.

All the cards are made with Stampin' Up! cardstock, stamps, papers and punches - if (dare I suggest) you would like to buy any of the products I used - or fancy some Christmas Gift Vouchers to spend in the New Year - contact me and I'll be delighted to help you! ;o)

All my details are on the Seaside Stampers blog.

Have a lovely evening!

 

Sarah x

Oooops... where did the last month go?

Yep, it's been a busy one. I thought I might be away from here for a week or so.. but a whole month?!! I'm afraid 'Learn Something New' fell by the wayside too.. and I SO intended to finish the book this time!

I'll try to explain - briefly - what I've been up to..

Thurs 23rd Sept - my second ever Stampin' Up! home workshop - I spent ALL DAY getting anxious, fretting about my Make & Take etc etc.. All pointless fretting! It was a great evening, the ladies who attended were all really lovely - they enjoyed the workshop, spent some money(!) and one of them booked on to my next card-making class.

Sat 25th Sept - Stampin' Up! Open House Event at Community Wise, Eastbourne - my lovely upline Pat came down from Bromley to help out. Another successful event - we did two Make & Takes, made plenty of great new contacts and had lots of interest in my card-making classes. Hard work but I was exhilerated that we did it!

 

Mon 27th Sept - Beach Belles card-making workshop - I wasn't expecting this to be easy.. and it wasn't! The Beach Belles are a club for retired ladies which meet up in a pub on Pevensey Bay every Monday afternoon. I was asked to prepare for 12 ladies but only seven of them could be persuaded to take part. The rest were disinterested to the point of rudeness..

Sat 2nd Oct - Hailsham crop - So glad I went to this! What fun to spend a day catching up with my lovely crop friends.. and getting a few LSNED pages done too.. and I even won the raffle (again!!).

Fri 8th Oct - Card-making class - we made two cards using the SU! Vintage Vogue stamp set. My Mum & Dad came to stay this weekend and we had a fabulously busy time - and some great sunny weather!

Sat 16th Oct - My first Saturday card-making class - and we made some special Christmas cards using the SU! Delightful Decorations stamp set.

Today and tomorrow - I've been helping the children at Harry's nursery school to make bookmarks this afternoon. What fun! I love seeing the kids just get down to sticking straight away - no agonising over what pieces to use or where to stick things - I could learn a lot from them.. But the best part was seeing their pleasure in showing their mums their feathery, sparkly, stickery creations - and the pride of their mums too!

(Top: Harry's; Bottom: Charlie's)

Oh and another thing on my To-Do List.. catch up with Google Reader, which is currently up to (excuse me while I go check..).. 678 unread items!!!! Oh help..

Thank you Sian - for your comment on my Seaside Stampers blog which prompted me to get back to blogging over here.. and expect a return visit some time soon!

 

Learn Something New - keeping it simple

Wednesday 15th September:

 

Vicky Bees Toddler Group resumed after the summer holidays (well, it actually started last week but we didn't realise and missed it). It was lovely to see the ladies who run the group - they are always so friendly and welcoming - and all the mums and kids again. Every week, the children have a little crafty project to do - and the boys' efforts always adorn our fridge. 

It's good to get back to a happy routine of activity after a particularly rainy August.

Thursday 16th September:

We met up with my friend Helen and her two boys at the Bumper Bookshop in Eastbourne - I'd wanted to go for ages and it didn't disappoint. A lovely children's book shop with a great cafe, vintage books to look at, along with hand-made gifts and knick-knacks.

They do occasional craft workshops for kids in the large basement, which I only noticed as the loo's were down there and I saw a big table and lots of chairs. I asked the lady about it, said I ran card-making classes and we chatted about the possibility of me offering a workshop for children in October half term. An interesting idea!

That's all for now.. bed time!

Sarah x

Preparation is everything

Today's lesson:

You might think you're well prepared.. but you've probably still overlooked something.

I had my monthly card-making class this morning and felt comparatively at ease in the half-an-hour or so before it was due to start. I had all the materials prepared for each person, stamps, inks, punches at the ready, carpet hoovered, clutter hidden away..

Then a knock at the kitchen door.. it was one of my lovely ladies who I'd thought wasn't coming. I'd emailed her during the week and didn't get a reply, so I assumed she wasn't going to make it. [Of course I could have phoned her to check! But, to be honest, I really dislike the phone.. especially having to phone people.. it's something of a phobia. What if they're busy? In the middle of dinner, or a favourite programme?]

So Joan came through the kitchen, which quite frankly was a total mess, and I felt a bit flustered as I now didn't have enough materials prepared or instructions printed. As it happened, the class went pretty well and it wasn't a problem.. but I made several mental Notes To Self - (1) Make sure you know exactly who is coming, (2) Prepare a spare set of materials, just in case.. (3) Tidy the kitchen.. and check the downstairs loo (you never know with little boys in the house..).

Anyway.. the ladies all went away with five very lovely Christmas cards.. and they are all coming back next month.

Here's a couple of examples of the cards we made..

The reindeer stamp is called 'Dasher' and it's by Stampin' Up! If you'd like to see more, or are interested in how I made the cards, pop over to Seaside Stampers for the details..  :o)

Sarah x