Monday 30 June 2014

Creative Team Call Out!



Do you enjoy creating with papers and have the aforementioned qualities? If so, you could be just the person we are looking for!

What we expect from our Creative Team: 
  • A monthly blog post on the Sarah’s Cards Ltd blog using supplies from Sarah’s Cards Ltd store, which includes high quality images and text.
  • A personal blog is a bonus but not essential
  • Use of Social Media including Facebook, Twitter & Instagram to promote the store and your post
  • Exclusivity – we would ask that you are not a member of any other store Design Teams, including (but not restricted to) kit companies
  • Sign a Contract – a contract will be issued once a post has been offered detailing our expectations which you will be asked to agree to and sign before becoming a member

What we give you in return:
  • A generous allowance to purchase product from our Store for use on your blog post each month
  • A substantial store discount to use on products for your personal scrapping
  • The chance to be part of an exciting and dynamic company who are dedicated to bringing the best in Papercrafts to their customers
To apply:
  • E-mail 5 projects you feel best showcase your talents, two of which must be original submissions. We are a papercrafting store. Your submission can be a mixture of scrapbooking, pocket scrapbooking, home decor or anything else you feel showcases your talent using paper. 
  • Please keep in mind that if your application is successful, you will be photographing your own projects for our blog, your application images should reflect this. High quality, clear, closely cropped images should be submitted, as photo quality will be taken into account when new creative team members are being chosen. 
  • Provide us with links to any Social Media you are active on including Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter & personal blog
  • You must be proficient in using and publishing on blogs and Social Media
  • Tell us what you bring to the Team and why you would like to be a member
  • UK and European entrants only, please
Applications must be received by 30 June 2014 to info@sarahscardsltd.com

Saturday 21 June 2014

I don't like red...

I love it. It's true. I am always drawn to papers with red in them. Sometimes I see papers online that look red and they turn out to be pinky-red or orangey-red if you know what I mean! Pink Paislee "Pen Pals" and Simple Stories "Hey Pop" didn't disappoint. Red is not the main colour in the ranges but there is just enough in there to keep me happy. 

 This page features one of our Exclusive "Sarahscards Flair Badges". I pop a few in with every order I place. They are an absolute steal at 59p each.

For the background of this page and the next I used a sheet of Bella Blvd Freestyle Sophisticates paper. I usually order a few different colours of these papers every month too as they coordinate so well with many, many ranges. I love using them as the base for a layout. They are in the sale right now for 44p per sheet. Just make sure you leave some more for me :)
 Can you spot the subtle touch of American Crafts WOW glitter? It's on sale right now in the shop at a bargain price of £1.87. It lasts for ever, so snap some up now!

 The perfectly red house die cut is from the Simple Stories "Homespun" Snap Cuts pack.

This page features another of our Exclusive "Sarahscards Flair Badges"

There are a lot of bargains over in the sale right now. Why not treat yourself to some new stash? I'd love to hear your recommendations for papers that feature "real red" too. 
Enjoy the sunshine!


Tuesday 17 June 2014

All puffed up with MAMBI Puffy Stickers

Hello friends.  How are you doing ? I am good and all the better for talking with you.

This month I spotted some sweet puffy stickers by Me And My Big Ideas (MAMBI). I like that affordability factor too so I grabbed a couple of packets. Because I still have money in my pocket, I also bought a couple of sticker sheets. And I couldn't resist some resin embellishments. Why don't you have a look at what I worked with.


I also ordered a Heidi Swapp stencil and set about figuring out how I can use it.  Sadly my misting didn't work out this month so I used the stencil as inspiration rather than literally used it.



I decided to replicate the circle and heart out of patterned paper.  Rather than painfully trace out the stencil and cutting out, I cut out a lot of circles on the Big Shot. I then traced some hearts from the stencil onto the paper circle and then roughly cut out the hearts with a scissors.

I arranged the circles across my layout before layering with those pretty embellishments and stickers. ps: I saved the cut out hearts for the next layout!


I couldn't resist drawing and cutting out a couple of crabs for a layout about our trip to the Crab Festival in Sheringham.


Would you like to see the whole layout ?


Following a near identical recipe, I made the following layout using the cut out hearts from the first layout.


The layout in its entirety is about my son J who finally left school this summer.  He still has one or two A levels papers to do but officially he left school at the end of May...excuse the proud mummy moment.


Have you seen our DT call out ?  You can't miss it at the top of this blog.  Good luck if you have applied and I am really looking forward to meeting you. Bye for now.

Blogged with love by Ifa

Sunday 8 June 2014

{Project Life with Jen N}

We are 5 months into the year now, how are you getting on with your project life albums? I'm about 5 weeks "behind" in scrapping mine. I don't like feeling behind, so I do try to keep the attitude of something is better than nothing, and if a few weeks do get missed it will not be the end of the world. So if you are not "up to date" don't worry, don't feel discouraged, just jump back in!

I'm going to share with you the next few completed weeks from my album today.
So starting with Week 11, back in March and using supplies from
My Minds Eye Now & Then collection
Theresa Collins Daily Stories
Me and My Big Ideas white sticker book 



I took so many photos I loved this week, but one of my favourite 'photos' is top right here - the collage of selfies from my son. He had my phone and was just snapping away at himself so I took a screenshot of the camera roll to get this image. It makes me laugh!



For the next 3 weeks worth of pages I used the following box of supplies:
American Crafts Summer collection
Elle's studio Love You More patterned paper
Simple stories DIY boutique stickers
Studio Calico alphabets & embellishments

Week 12 included some mini-milestones like a first ride in the supermarket trolley, some dressing up, some teething and some napping. We didn't go far or do much but I managed to fill the pages by adding quite a bit of journalling. For example a small photo of my son napping was accompanied by some writing about how he isn't reading to give up napping just yet!


I just love these Studio Calico acetate butterflies - they're so pretty and look gorgeous layered up over papers and stickers. I added in some Project Life 3x4" cards from the Sunshine edition for the smaller pockets.



Next up....week 13. I just adore that hexagon patterned paper from the American Crafts Summer collection -such fun.  As usual I keep my embellishment fairly flat and simple for these spreads. Stickers are brilliant for this and Simple Stories have come up with the goods again with their DIY Boutique range - usable elements, words and labels in a variety of bright colours. It's like they made them just for me!








The last spread I made using these supplies is week 14. To make the overall look slightly different I left out the pink tones from these pages and stuck to the blues, greens, reds & yellows. By restricting your colour scheme like this you can get a variety of appearances from the same set of products. It feels nice to be using all these cute photos. Just simple, everyday moments, released from their digital prison on the computer and recorded!




That's all for now from me, back again soon!
Jen x

Thursday 5 June 2014

Stencils!

Tracie here, how is everyone?

 This month I have been having a play with some stencils! I do like to get value for money and as masks and stencils are so versatile they do tend to be a staple of my crafting supplies.

 It's nearly 12 months since my eldest son got married but I am still wading through the photos and have yet to complete an album, maybe if I knuckle down it can be a first anniversary present?!

 I love how the addition of a little gesso and a stencil can give some texture to a layout and this one from Teresa Collins reminded me of the falling confetti in the photo.

 

 Stencils in home decor went out of fashion for a while, but with all things vintage and shabby chic being so popular at the moment, stencils are most definitely 'in' right now.
 I found this cute little cupboard at a car boot recently

 

 Although I quite liked it as it was, I couldn't resist adding a little bit of colour, while still keeping it fairly simple.
 I used chalk paints, white as a base and stencilled in a duck egg blue.
I also painted the inside of the cupboard in the blue, and even repeated the stencil design on the inside of the drawers, the addition of the little key on a bit of hessian gave it that finishing touch!

 

 I don't know about you but I think it was £1 well spent!!

 Finally I wanted to try stencilling on fabric, for this I chose Heidi Swapp's stencil minis and a scrap of hessian.

I loved the contrast of the black against the neutral background and thought it would make a great card topper, with the addition of some buttons, washi tape and American Craft patterned papers, I was done!

 So that's all from me for now! For those of you heading off to sunnier climes, have a great time and for those of you, like me, who have chosen to stay at home, happy crafting!!