Paper Obsession

A new Folksy shop!

Yes, I've opened a Folksy shop, named after my beloved (but sadly neglected) Paper Obsession blog! At the moment the shop is an outlet for my Stampin' Up!-based craft and scrapbook kits but eventually I hope to add some hand-made goodies and expand my product range!

If you'd like to pop over for a visit, I'd be really pleased to receive any feedback. If you like Stampin' Up!'s Designer Series Papers but don't necessarily want to buy a whole pack of 12 sheets, along with whole packs of matching cardstock and whole rolls of ribbons.. one of my little kits could be a solution. At least that's my aim!

At the moment I'm offering teeny little A6 scrapbook kits, complete with chipboard covers and book rings, along with packs of 6"x6" papers, cardstock and ribbons (no covers with these ones). Is there a different format you'd like to buy.. 12"x12" for example? What sort of mix of cardstock, papers and other embellishments would you like to see?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.. thank you!

 

Sarah x

 

A Kitchen Makeover.. and a Scrapbook Page

I discovered Sarah's Modern Country Style blog when researching 'country style' for a commission I was asked to do for Scrapbook Magazine. I'm glad I did.. her blog is gorgeous... craft projects, home decor, even fashion.. and it's always great fun to read!

I thought I'd share the story of our home-made kitchen makeover as part of Sarah's Paint, Please Link Party. Since we moved into our Eastbourne home just over a year ago. Despite a whiff of neglect and a hastily applied slick of Magnolia paint, we could see the house had the potential to be something far more beautiful!

So here was the kitchen just before we moved in, plastic wood cladding, mould and all..

And just after the damp-proofing works created chaos..

Our initial plan was to rip out everything from this kitchen and start from scratch. My dream? Country farmhouse kitchen - real wood units painted a creamy white - wooden butchers' block workshops - flagstones on the floor... all somewhat beyond our budget! And once all the boring-but-essential repairs were complete, we realised our budget was not much more than zero.

Back to the drawing board.. and I found I was secretly pleased.. and relieved.. that we weren't going to trash those painted wooden cupboards that had been there for decades. Under the tatty lino we found some half-decent floorboards.. and an area of quarry tiles where we imagined there used to be a fireplace.

So instead of tearing everything out and replacing with cheap copies of what we really wanted, we set about making do with what we had.. building new wooden cupboards where they were needed..

sanding and varnishing those floorboards..

begging and borrowing lengths of worktop.. painting those original cupboards (Celadon by Homebase - Santuary range).. retiling the splashbacks..

I say 'we'.. it was of course my dear hubby Gareth who did most of the work..

I merely project-managed and provided artistic input.. ;o)

For a while, we had the walls painted white.. but I knew it wasn't right - the white tiles were disappearing into the background. Not good at all! I had a notion that a slightly dusty shade of pink would be just perfect. So off we went to Homebase with a die-cut butterfly in Stampin' Up!'s Blushing Bride for inspiration.. and we returned with a tin of Mademoiselle by Crown.

Wow, did it look PINK going on those walls!! But once it was dry, I knew it was a good decision.. and even Gareth has admitted (secretly) he likes it.

[Damn that mobile phone charging on the worktop..]

[Love my sink here so I can look out at the garden instead of a blank wall!]

[The fridge is now where the sink used to be.]

[The cupboard that Gareth built, along with a nice bit of worktop to fill in the gap and sit the microwave on. I LOVE my wooden painted cupboards!]

So that's about it.. a mixture of country cottage and 1950s diner? Oh, and finally.. a couple of sneaky peeks of the scrapbook layout I made documenting our kitchen makeover..

 

[It's not published yet.. will be in issue 58 of Scrapbook Magazine..]

Thanks so much for visiting..

[... and if scrapbooking and papercrafts are your thing, you might like to pop over to my sister website Stamping Obsession.. that's where most of my crafty projects end up these days!]

 

Best wishes,

Sarah xx

Introducing... Stamping Obsession!

Hiya folks,

It's been a bit quiet over here lately (to say the least..)! That's because I've been busy (read: totally consumed) working on a new website.. called Stamping Obsession! Who knew websites could absorb so many hours.. and days.. and even weeks!!!

As you may know I'm a Stampin' Up! demonstrator.. and have been for just over a year. Anyway.. my idea was to offer Stampin' Up! products in a slightly different format.. as well as the normal way, of course! :o)

Some time ago I realised that, even though my customers loved Stampin' Up!'s gorgeous Designer Series Papers, they don't very often buy the coordinating cardstock.. or ribbons.. or buttons. Which is a shame really, as the products are designed to fit so beautifully together.

It occurred to me that most of my customers couldn't justify buying a whole pack of cardstock in each colour to match their chosen Designer Series Papers.. or a whole roll of ribbon.. or several packs of buttons. More product than they would ever use..? Or simply too expensive!

So I thought it would be a good idea to put together kits containing just the right amount of products... Designer Series Papers - cardstock in coordinating colours (12x12 or A4 - you can choose!) - a selection of ribbon - buttons - and other embellishments as appropriate!

I've called them Crafty Kits and they will be available on a monthly subscription basis.. with some lovely subscriber benefits... or for individual purchase, subject to availability. As well as a box full of yummy goodies, you'll also receive a PDF of Crafty Kits Project Ideas.. so you won't be short of inspiration.

The first Crafty Kit is based on Springtime Vintage Designer Series Papers and is available for order RIGHT NOW!

If you'd like to find out more, please hop across to Stamping Obsession where you can find out all the details! To keep up to date with all the latest news and special offers, you might like to subscribe to new posts by RSS or Email.. or to my Newsletter!

I hope to see you at Stamping Obsession soon.. it's a work in progress so any feedback would be welcomed with open arms!

Happy crafting,

Sarah :o)

Everyone loves a hand-made card!

First of all.. thank you SO much for your kind and heart-felt comments on my previous post.. I'm really grateful for your comforting words. I'm still trying to find an extra couple of hours in the day to do as much blog-hopping as I'd like.. so apologies if I haven't yet thanked you personally.. I'll get there.

On to a more cheery subject.. hand-made Christmas cards! Sometimes, when time is running short.. as it always is.. I wonder why (oh why) do I insist on making all my Christmas cards?!! But then, when I receive one that's been hand-made with love and care, I remember it is worth the extra effort! Knowing how much I appreciate a hand-made card, it's nice to think that others enjoy the ones I make for them, too.

This one's from Pat, my Stampin' Up! 'mummy' and friend from Bromley. Love the striking colour scheme.. want that Dec 25th stamp! (and I had to laugh at your message inside the card.. ;o))

This next one's from Linda, a kind-hearted lady and friend who attends my card-making and scrapbooking classes.. she also makes the most wonderful chocolate brownies! The stamp was from Time to Sow and the ribbon from Stampin' Up! Love how she stamped on the ribbon and used the green hand-made paper for the background.

This one is from Jacky - as if you couldn't tell! I mean WOW!!!! The layers, the detail, I LOVE the delicate colour scheme and the beautiful colouring of the stamp.. breathtaking! Thank you so much for this card, Jacky - it's so amazing to savour and touch all of its little details.

 

In fact, I was so inspired by Jacky's card, I 'borrowed' elements of its design in a card I made for both my Mums & Dads..

This one was for Mum & Dad Piggott. The deer stamp is 'Dasher' by Stampin' Up! and the colours are Pear Pizazz, Blushing Bride, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White. The one for my parents was the same but I alternated the pink and green colour scheme.. and forgot to take a photo of it.. but you get the idea.

I think I'll do a separate post to document my boys' Christmas creations.. let's just say it'll take til next Christmas to get the glitter out of the carpet..

Happy Christmas Eve Eve!!!

 

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

Journal Your Christmas!

It's started... and I'm doing it for the third year.. but this time I'm really keeping it simple! My very first JYC album was 12x12 size - and I so struggled to keep up.. last year I thought cutting the size to 6x12 would help - but I still found it hard to complete a page every day (I know it doesn't really matter, but I do hate those gaps where there should be pages!).

This year..? I've gone for an A5-size mini-album which I'll bind myself using the Bind-It-All. My pages are alternating in colour - Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive - and I'm using Stampin' Up!'s Jolly Holiday Designer Series Papers. So far, my pages consist of a 6x4" photo stuck to the cardstock with just a scrap of designer paper underneath, and the date. I haven't done any of my journaling yet, so I'll share those pages when they're finished! (I'm not really following the prompts this year - it's more of a daily diary at the moment.)

Meanwhile, here's my cover:

Apart from the green felt Thickers, everything else is by Stampin' Up! I coloured the bare chipboard letters with black ink (a messy process..).

And here's Poppy getting in on the act:

By the way.. our snow disappeared completely on Friday night.. now we just have frost.. which is almost as pretty as the snow!

Let it snow...

Yes.. we have snow! Here in Eastbourne!!

It started yesterday morning, just as I was beginning to explain the workings of my Christmas Planner project to the ladies at Scrapbook Club. We carried on regardless, while I kept a wary eye on the state of the road and gave updates on how it was settling.

Here they are, hard at work..

[If you'd like to see what we made, do pop on over to my Seaside Stampers blog for all the details!]

Thankfully, they all finished the project and the snow stopped long enough to enable them to get home again afterwards.

In the afternoon it was play time..

 

We've had some more snow this morning so there'll be more fun and games in the white stuff later, no doubt.

Have fun!

Sneaky peeks

I can't resist sharing just a little of what I've been up to last week (well, apart from preparing for and attending Stampin' Up! Convention, that is..)! I have three layouts coming up in issue 62 of Scrapbook Magazine (not the next one but the one after that) - two in the Activity Pack and one in the Designer Gallery. I was asked to use some lovely yellow and orange masking tape and some Doodle Dewdrops.. so, naturally, I needed some new stash to coordinate with them.

I can't show too much but these sneaky peeks will give you an idea of the stamps (Punch Potpourri, Tiny Tags by Stampin' Up!) and papers (Greenhouse Gala, also by Stampin' Up!) that I was working with:

If you'd like to see more cards and layouts using Stampin' Up! products, hop on over to my Seaside Stampers blog.. and by the way,there's a fab promotion just starting which you might just be interested in!

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