A visit to Hobbycraft and a peek at my Smash Book

I don't often share my shopping 'hauls' but I was recently asked if I would mind popping into one of my local Hobbycraft stores in Chingford (I was last there for the big opening day before Christmas) to check it out. It would have been rude to refuse ;o) (currently sighing at that picture, what a lovely sunny day that was... *sigh*)

There were lots of new scrapbooking things in store which made me very happy!

a good display of Promarkers - very important!

some new things I'd never seen...

and lots of lovely Smash Booking stuff (yay!)

 

That branch didn't have my stamps though - boo! We'll have to put that right ;o) Here is a little of my haul that day...

 

and I know, thats a baby themed Smash Book (no, there are no pitter patters of tiny feet, just Fuzzybutt's tiny paws!) but I loved the colour and when I flicked through there are very few actual baby themed pages, the few that there are I can easily cover over with paper / pictures / doodles etc... I loved those die cut letters, especially B's one with the robots and that stamp was just £1 (seriously...)

Here is a little peek at what I've done so far with my Smash Book, one of my favourite quotes, with a Dylusions stamped image coloured with Pentel watercolour pens and some washi tape...

I love using my Smash Book for things that won't make it into my scrapbooks!

I really do have a gold sparkly / shiny thing going on at the moment,  along with my neon obsession, of course :o)

Now I must be off, I've got a train to catch! 

Thank you for dropping by today

Sarah x

More MyMemo Love & Rico Giveaway Winner!

Last week I posted all about my fabby new client Rico and their ranges of products and promised a giveaway of these lovely goodies! You can read that post here if you missed it.

Random.org picked out Sazzle as the winner - congrats! - please email me here with your address and I'll get your goodies in the post to you!

I also promised to show you a few more bits from the range, so here they are...

A close up view of the MyMemo smash style book showing the inside pages - these are 3 versions, brown (this one) pink and blue. This one is ideal for doing a daily diary type journal which is what I'm attempting to do! I'll show you some next week :o)

 

 Just some of the delish Washi Tape - swoooooon!

 My favourite punch and stamp...

I've also been asked for stockists, please bear in mind that this range is quite new, although I previewed it back in February I only received samples in April and it started shipping about 2 weeks ago so I will update you as I can. I've spoken to Cullen Crafts who have it on order and due in hopefully next week - keep your peepers peeled! and I've been told that 'My Mum's Craft Shop' have some in stock or on order, I've not seen it on their website so you may need to call them or look out for it. Details of more stockists in all areas of the UK and online are being collated for me, I'm expecting them any day now and I'll post the details here as and when I receive them.

Now after a busy day of designing and writing, I'm off to make some cupcakes - B (the man who previously didn't like cake!) has become obsessed! :o)

Thanks for dropping by today!

Sarah x

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Family History Update with Ancestry.co.uk

Today I'm so excited to share another family history update, so much has happened since I last posted!

Firstly, I mentioned in my previous update that I wrote to my aunt in America who I never knew about, well about a week later I had an email from one of her daughters, my cousin, we connected on Facebook and she has put me in touch with more cousins I knew nothing about! I'll be sharing more info on that later as some of the information is a bit confusing at the moment and I need to work out who's who etc... My aunt also replied to my letter a few weeks later telling me a bit about her life in America and asking me about my life and sending me a photo, it was so nice and I have replied to her with a more in depth letter (my first one was very brief)and some pics.I hope to have a nice Scrapbook page of that story to show you soon!

Secondly, I wanted to share one of my Smash pages to show you how I'm researching and keeping all my info together. I'm using a Smash Book (like a less organised scrapbook or less arty art journal - if that makes sense!) these have become so popular recently and a friend of mine bought me one for Christmas (I also recently started working with Rico Design who have a great range called 'My Memo' which is very similar) so I was keen to get stuck in and give it a whirl, it works perfectly for this, I can stick in all the bits I've been sent, all my info, doodle and take notes and there is a pocket at the back for anything I haven't had chance to categorize or get to yet.

 I have also started working on the first few scrapbook layouts using the photos that have been sent to me from family members, I'm only doing these once I have enough info to add some journaling or a bit about them to the layout and I'm scanning all the pics first so I can do more than one if necessary, digi scrap them and send them to other relatives etc... and I'm keeping all of the originals  in my Smash Book so they are easy to reference. 

I'd love to see / hear about how you organise your research if you'd care to share with me.

I also heard a very interesting rumour from three separate sources, which if it turns out to be true will be a VERY exciting story to share - I'm doing a lot of research into that now. As I've heard it from many different sources, I'm guessing there's no smoke without fire! ;o)

Today you get to search the 1911 census for free on Ancestry.co.uk so I'm taking full advantage and looking up everyone I can - it's so interesting to see a bit more about how people lived, what their occupations were and look up their old addresses on google maps to see if they still exist! I hope to have a lot more to add to my tree and Smash Book today

I'll be sharing another update soon!

Sarah x

A New Client and a Giveaway!

Today I get to share some more fun news that I've had under my hat for a while (that hat is getting bigger and bigger with all the things I'm having to keep under it! lol) Today I get to tell you about a great new company, Rico Design, who I'm thrilled to be working with.

You may remember that I attended the craft trade show earlier this year, at the end of February. I only had a few hours there this year as I had so much on and all my meetings were tightly scheduled (though it didn't really work that way in the end!) anyway, while I was there I bumped into a friend of mine and wandered off course, eeek! as it turned out this was totally for the best as I stumbled across a great stand full of gorgeous papers and Smash Book type goodies. I got totally caught up in browsing and had a chat with the lovely people on the stand. We exchanged business cards and a week or two later I had a call asking if I'd like to work with the products - I didn't have to think twice, i couldn't wait to get my grubby mitts on those lovely books and papers so I said a big fat YES!

Once the products started arriving I knew I wouldn't regret my decision, the papers were just as gorgeous as I remembered and the books and accessories are truly amazing! Here is a layout I made from one of the paper pads and some accessories...

The papers are shabby chic gorgeousness and I love those fabric labels! I used lots of distressing and stitching to complete the look.

Here are the pads of papers...

  

and some of the fabric labels...

and if you love to Smash Book or journal, you will love these from their 'My Memo' range. I will show this in more detail here in the next few days - I didn't want to overload this post too much! but here is a sneaky peek of one of the books and some of the little accents... *swoon*

You may know Rico for their range of wools but you will be hearing a lot more about their papers and other bits and pieces from now on!

Last but not least, Rico have kindly sent me a few bits to give away to one of my lovely blog followers - just leave me a comment below (I'd love you to follow my blog if you'd like to but you don't have to be a follower - no arm twisting here! lol) before midnight on Friday (11th May) and I'll randomly pick a name over the weekend to win these goodies - felt stickers (like Fuzzy Felts if you're an 80s child like me - but awesomer!) some My Memo sticky journaling notes, 2 rolls of washi tape and one of those gorgeous vintage style fabric labels

Good luck everyone and I can't wait to hear what you all think of the range!

Thanks for dropping by today
Sarah x

A 'Smashing' Alternative!

When I first saw the Smash Book video a few months back I was super excited, but here in the UK we've had a distinct shortage of 'Smash' supplies, a few shops had a few bits, they quickly sold out and to get everything I wanted I would have had to order from about 4 different shops (not good for postage costs!) I was disappointed and put it out of my mind and to be honest completely forgot about them, I keep a journal and millions of notebooks full of sketches, notes and random cuttings, then about 2 weeks ago Melly sent me a link to the video with a 'saw this and thought of you' type message - of course once I watched it again I was hooked all over again! But unfortunately still had trouble finding the bits and pieces I wanted so I decided to create my own alternative 'Smash' kit, here it is....

  

 The journal itself is from Paperchase and has all these lovely printed colour pages, lines and grid and honeycombs (love this!)

 I also have a Kuretake Zig Glue Pen, a Zig Writer Pen (my favourite, use these for everything!) 2 pens, also from Paperchase in my favourite colours, Teal & Purple. I picked up some cute dotty washi tape and some journaling type stickers from a cute Ebay shop. I'm going to use this to catalogue all the inspiring things I tear from magazines etc... kind of like a 'pinterest' book and a way to journal my inspiration for when I'm designing. I'll be sharing some pages as I go :o)

Also, for all you fellow stationery fans, I have to show you this cute book and stickers I found in Selfridges, love them!

I'm such a stationery addict, I have so many books and journals and pens and keep different ones for different projects - my mum is exactly the same so I know where I get it from! LOL

Have a great weekend, I'll be putting the finishing touches to my new packaging and working on some more designs this weekend as well as some crafting - I'm making sneak peeks for the new 'Tinseltown' Christmas CD which is coming very soon! (if you can't wait some of my naughty DT have already posted a few sneaks over on the Challenge Blog!)

Sarah x