~ Lazy Sunday ~

Tonight's blog is mainly just chat so if you are looking for some crafty inspiration, I'm sorry!

Yesterday we had a much needed lazy, family Sunday! We have had a run of busy weekends which saw us dashing half way round the country meeting up with friends, going to weddings and Ally Pally so yesterday it was great to just relax, just the 3 of us!

We popped to a local shopping centre in the morning to get a few bits and pieces and had lunch in Marks and Spencer where Hannah's 2nd tooth fell out just as she was tucking in to her cheese toastie. She now has a lovely, cute "gappy" smile.

The afternoon was spent pottering about in the garden. We have been growing a few veggies this year and for the last few weeks we have been enjoying home grown carrots. Yesterday D and H pulled a few from the ground to have for dinner and one of them was huge! This must be the biggest carrot I have ever seen!I did manage to fit in some crafting. I took this photo mid crafting session to show how untidy I get, this was after only about 15 minutes so you can imagine what it looked like an hour later. The floor was covered in stuff too!!

Does anyone else make a mess, surrounded with stash and end up with a tiny space to work in just big enough for a 12 X 12 layout??!!

Okay, shop stuff ~ I've been busy today placing lots of orders including an initial order for Little Claire stamps. I know lots of you have been waiting for me to get these in so as soon as they arrive I will let you know via this blog and the website.

Thanks for popping by and don't forget to leave a comment, to say Hi!!

Sarah

~ Ally Pally And Fancy Pants!! ~

I don't think The Big Stamp And Scrapbook Show quite knew what had hit it when our coach arrived at Ally Pally! We really did have a great, if tiring day.

At around 7.30am on Sunday 34 very excited ladies and one token gentleman boarded the coach, many had never been to AP before and didn't quite know what to expect. Excited chatter filled the coach as we made our way up to London. We arrived around 11am and 34 ladies descended from the coach and climbed the steps ready for some serious stash shopping. In between numerous stops for coffee we watched demos, browsed the stands, "oohed" and "Aahed" over the papers, rubber stamps, craft tools and everything in bewteen!! At 4.15pm the coach set off for home. Bags were emptied out to show our newly bought goodies to the rest of the coach and there was endless chat (amidst laughter!) about demos and new techniques seen. A "craft swap" was great fun, where participants put an item they had bought (worth approx £2) into a bag and then pulled something out in exchange! A truely wonderful day!! Thank you everyone who made it such fun!

Onto other stuff.......Look what has arrived in the shop today....... New papers from Fancy Pants "Little Sprout" range! Beautiful colours and everything from flowers, to stripes, to swirls....And "Rough and Tough" Perfect papers for layouts featuring boys! All are double sided and there is a co ordinating sticker sheet!
And, my favourite of all the new papers, the gorgeous "Dancing Girl" papers. Designed with little girls in mind but many are adaptable for a variety of themes. Again, double sided and a co ordinating sticker sheet.
That's it for tonight, I'm off to choose photos to match new papers!! Hope to be back in a day or 2 to show you some layouts using these new Fancy Pants Papers.

~ SALE NOW ON! ~

If you are looking for a bargain (or two!) pop along to the shop next week as we are having a SALE to make room for some new stock! Lots of 12 x 12 papers reduced, prices starting at just 20p! Rubber stamps, flowersoft, Christmas embellies, flowers all reduced and much, much more...!

Also, keep an eye out for our special promotions and offers over the next few weeks...you will not want to miss them!

~ DEMONSTRATION DAY ~

Just a quick post....Next Demo day in the shop is on Saturday 17th October!!!!
The very talented Maggie will be with us from 10.30am-3.00pm.

Everyone is welcome!! If you have never visited us before and need some directions just pop a comment on here and we will get back to you.

Look forward to seeing lots of you there!

~ Finally.... ~

...Finally I can upload pictures from my camera to the pc, so we can have photos on the blog again!! How gorgeous are these Christmas papers from My Mind's Eye? They are just flying off the shelf so grab some while you can.

I know many of you are loving the Creative Cardmaking Magazine which Maisie May Crafts are a stockist for. This is their first Special Editon magazine. Due to the huge success of the magazine since it launched earlier this year, they have decided to publish 4 special editions each year. This first one focuses on Christmas and wintery cards and is packed with gorgeous free papers and ideas and inspiration. At £4.99 it's great value!

The new issue arrived at the shop today, the normal monthly one, it's on sale date isn't until Friday 25th but we've got it in already.

Thought I'd share a few cards with you as well...the first is from the black and white class last week. I love the shape of this card, started as a square card blank and we sliced the corners off, you will notice I used my beloved inverted corner rounder from Woodware again. This next card is using the Snow Village stamp and My Minds Eye papers. The stamp should hopefully be back in stock later this week as I placed an order today for it (as so many of you have been asking for one) and some lovely new wooden stamps as well.

Hope everyone is having a good evening and fitting in some crafting time!

I hope to have news of our next Demonstration day in the shop soon so watch this space!

~ Layouts to Share ~

Happy Bank Holiday Monday!

Just a couple of scrapbook layouts to share with you today...the first I did a while ago, of my nephew using the die cut shaped cardstock from My Mind's Eye. A very simple layout but one of my favourites.

The second layout is of H and her cousin, Scarlett. They are really 2nd cousins but explaining the relationship to a 3 year old and 6 year old is far too complicated! Scralett lives in Paris and so we only get to see her a couple of times a year, usually when we meet up in Ireland. This photo was taken of them having lots of fun playing Hide And Seek with Scarlett's Grandad.
I have used Fancy Pants Kraft Kuts 2 forest paper and ledger paper, American Crafts Thickers letters, ric rac ribbon, rub on letters and buttons. The forest paper was great for cutting out the little trees to embellish the journalling spots (which I made using scallop circle nestabilities and my cuttlebug).

I haven't got much planned for this last Bank Holiday before Christmas, weather isn't looking too great this morning so maybe we will just go for a walk, relax in a coffee shop with the newspapers and a latte and then home for some crafting ~ whatever you have planned for today ~ENJOY!!

~ Christmas Is Coming! ~

Sorry I haven't blogged lately ~ with it being H's 6th birthday a couple of weeks ago, a party for 20 children to organise and relatives staying for the last 2 weeks I just haven't managed to fit everything in!

I know it is still August but with the children back to school next week and lots of lovely new Christmas stock arriving at the shop almost daily it is clear that CHRISTMAS is coming!! The 12 X 12 papers from the My Mind's Eye range called "Colourful Christmas" is perfect for both scrapbooking and cards. New stamps from Hero Arts arrived today ~ including clear sets, wooden stamps and their new "Cling"stamps and felt embellishments. Habico Christmas decoupage sheets, chipboard embellishments and stickers for Christmas are already proving popular.

For those of you thinking "But Christmas is ages away yet!" its not all Christmas as I've also restocked the K & Co albums, nestabilities and some lovely buttons and photo corners from American Crafts, Floradoodle felt flowers and papers from My Mind's Eye "Ooh la la"

Last but not least...lots of gorgeous new ribbons available by the metre!!

The new issue of Creative Cardcaking Magazine arrived today (containing free Kanban papers). I sold out of the last issue so I would advise you to pop in and get your copy soon!

Think that's about it for now~ sorry there's no photos of the new stock, my laptop is playing up and won't let me load any photos!!

Still a few places left on the coach to Ally Pally and the Big Stamp and Scrapbook Show ~ get in touch if you want to come along ~ only £25!

Have a great evening!