A Few of My Favourite Things... November & D365 December Documented Kit Reveals!

This months kit and add ons have now been revealed! Here is a little peek at what the November kit contains...

 Here are some close ups, of the kit and the Documented365 add on...

The much awaited Documented365 December Documented kits have also been revealed!

These kits come with lots of things to make your countdown to Christmas December album, including papers, journaling cards, stamps and embellishments as well as free downloadable printables and a prompt and inspiration book, here is a little look at everything you get...

 and a couple of close ups...

I hope you'll join us in making our December albums, we will be sharing lots of peeks along the way and we'd love to take a look at your albums too :o)

You can get hold of the kits now, here in my shop and there is still time to subscribe to next months 'A Few of My Favourite Things...' kit here.

Thank you for dropping by today!
Sarah x

Introducing the newest Special Editions Stamp Designer!

Today I'm sharing some good news, you probably know by now that my 'Special Editions' stamp line is one that I created a few months ago, asking some select artists to create stamps for my range - I did this for a few reasons, firstly, it's hard to break into stamp design and I knew some talented people that I thought deserved a shot! and secondly, I wanted their stamps!! The artists selected are people whose style and work I love, whose work I think fits well with mine (i.e. not similar but coordinating)

My first Special Editions artist was Jaine - I had loved Jaine's work for a while, she works with me on my Design Team and I'd seen some of her sketches and was so pleased she was interested in taking up my (at the time, quite experimental!, offer) I'm pleased to say, my experiment paid off and I've now taken on another artist, the very lovely, Clare Brown!

You may recognise Clare as she has been on my Design Team since the beginning of my journey! Her first stamps are cute and fun and I just loved watching them come to life as Clare texted and emailed me pictures of her sketches as she went, it's been a great process! I've also seen what she has in store for some of the future sets and I can't wait to launch them over the next weeks and months :o)

Clare's first stamp sets are now available here in my shop alongside Jaine's fantastic new Christmas stamps (all in newly redesigned packaging as well!)

I hope you'll join me in giving Clare a big warm welcome to the Special Editions team, please do remember to send us your links to anything made with Sarah Hurley or Special Editions stamps as we'd love to see and perhaps feature some in some very exciting forthcoming projects! ;o)

Thank you for dropping by today!
Sarah x

Exciting News! Sarah Hurley at Paperchase...

So a couple of weeks ago I posted on Instagram, a pretty big hint that I was working on something exciting, remember this...?

and these...?

Well, the first pic was a tiny part of our production line for some very special kits, and the second shows the first pallet of stock going on to that huge lorry outside Hurley HQ, all ready to be delivered to one of my favourite retailers - Paperchase!!!

A few months back I was having a quiet afternoon of designing when my email bing-bonged (as it does about every 10 seconds! lol) I peeked up from my work to see an email from Paperchase, and not just any email, an email from a buyer, who said she loved my work and would I put some things together for them at Paperchase (I deleted my first response that said 'ARE YOU SERIOUS?! YES!' and typed a much more professional one...) the next couple of weeks I worked on putting together some pre-production samples as they were keen to get a Christmas product in the stores, we came up with this 'Make your own Christmas Card kit' from my Tinseltown Christmas range, which, as you can see, can now be found online at Paperchase (right here in fact!)

 as well as in selected Paperchase stores nationwide...

Here is Carol from my Design Team with the first store sighting in Aberdeen (she selflessly (ha!) volunteered to tour the Paperchase's of Scotland on the hunt for them!) If you spot them in store I'd love to see your pics (you can send me the links, share them over on my Facebook page or tag them with #paperchase #sarahhurley on Instagram / Twitter) if enough of you send them in I may just pick one of them out before Christmas to win a prize (it'll be good, promise!)

This has been an absolute dream come true for me, this was one of those things in the 5 year plan, never did I expect it to happen so soon, I would never have had the courage to approach them just yet, so I'm very very glad they found me! I'll be keeping you posted with updates :o)

Thank you for dropping by today and sharing my excitement!
Sarah x

Create & Craft 'Craft Clinic' Scrapbook Page

As promised, today I'm posting a picture of the Scrapbook page I made on yesterdays Craft Clinic show, this was made following the sketch in my previous post...

 

Here is a little close up... For this I used the Graphic 45 Typography range (available on the Create & Craft website)

I generally don't scrap in such dark colours so I paired them with a white background to lift the colour and make the overall layout brighter and less vintage looking. As you saw on the show, I placed my first photo wrongly (the one on the right is too high) so I made up the lost space with the metallic banner. I still have to add my journaling which I will probably do on the bottoms of each picture.

Thank you to everyone who tuned in yesterday and for your fabulous feedback, I'm so glad you enjoyed the show!

Thank you for dropping by today
Sarah x

Create & Craft - Craft Clinic Scrapbook Sketch

If you're watching todays Craft Clinic show on Create & Craft, you'll see that I get to do some scrapbooking (yay!) and I will be following a sketch, as promised, here is the sketch I'm using for you...

You can download this simply by clicking on it and right clicking to save (it won't take you off anywhere to download it from another site!) If you pop back tomorrow I will pop up a picture of the page I made on the show that corresponds to this sketch/

I hope it helps! and thank you for tuning in today, I hope you enjoy / enjoyed the show :o)

Sarah x

A Little Sneak Peek...

I've been manically prepping all week for tomorrows Craft Clinic on Create & Craft and before I head off to bed (early start tomorrow!) I wanted to share a quick sneaky peek of my prep...

I've been asked to work with some different products for the show, some of which I'd never used before so that was very exciting! there will still be some things similar to my previous shows, all my faves are in there, colouring, scrapbooking and card making, I hope you can tune in!

Thank you for dropping by today.
Sarah x

New Create & Craft Show!

Just a quick update today, I have a date for you for a new Create & Craft show, I've been asked to work with some new brands and products and had a bigger hand in planning my show which is SO exciting! I'll be on for 2 hours doing a Craft Clinic, showing you something a little bit the same as what I've done before but some things that are quite new too - I'm super excited! I hope you can join me on the 11th November at 11am, I'll be cramming my two hours full of tips, techniques and projects, I'm prepping for it as we speak!

I'll have some more dates and times for you soon :o) 

See you then
Sarah x

Halloween Time! Altered Alarm Clock

Today I'm sharing a project I actually made a few weeks ago but thought I'd save up for today! When the sneak peeks came around earlier this year of all the new company releases, my eye was immediately drawn to the Tim Holtz Alarm Clock, I had so many ideas for them that I ended up buying a few when they were released (oops!) My first one though, is this one...

Halloween is one of my favourite holidays and I love to make projects for it (even though we don't really do as much for it here in the UK!) For this I used the October Afternoon Witch Hazel line (one of my faves!) the back of the clock I covered in the black star paper before cutting and layering my gravestones and witches and pumpkins and cats to build up my Halloween scene inside...

The edges of the clock I decorated with foliage cut from coordinations distress card using one of my favourite ever Sizzix dies, the Tim Holtz Autumn Gatherings die, reminds me of crunching leaves!

 

I also used the Sizzix mini daisy die - these little dies are great as it cuts out all the petals individually and you can build it up as much as you need with Pinflair glue! I added some Stickles for sparkle too

 The little 3D spiders and webs are from some older Jolee's Boutique stickers that I had hoarded away

I used a combination of Pinflair glue and Glossy accents to layer everything together before adding my flying witch to the outside...

 Here is another little peek inside...

I loved making this and can't wait to start on my next Clock, I have another idea (or 10!) in mind already...

Thank you for dropping by today!
Sarah x

The Lookbook Magazine Volume 4!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Today I'm sharing the newest issue of the Lookbook, packed full of frighteningly good crafty inspiration from my lovely Design Team! Pop the kettle (or your cauldron!) on and click below to have a read...

We would love to hear what you think of the issue. All of the products used in the projects shown are available here in my shop.

As ever, a massive thank you to my lovely design team who made such fabulous projects for this issue, without them, none of this would be possible! We look forward to your comments and feedback.

Submissions for volume 5 are now open! To have your Sarah Hurley project considered for inclusion, please send us a photo of your project here.

Thank you for dropping by today
Sarah x

Happy 3 Years! How it all began...

Well, yesterday was the 3rd birthday of my company, although I was doing a few bits before then, dabbling a little bit, it was on the 27th October 2010 that I thought to myself 'I can actually DO this!' I stopped job hunting for a nice stable admin job and put my heart and soul into growing my business. You might think 'so?' but for me, at that time, that was a huge deal. At the time, I was as down as it's possible to get, certainly as down and out as I've ever felt, I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel and I actually remember saying to mum on the phone late one night 'if this is my life, I don't want it' I had recently gone through an awful lot of bad stuff and was in severe depression, most days I couldn't even leave the house - hard to believe knowing me now, right? Even I don't recognise the person I was back then! Now I realise sometimes you have to fall apart a little so you can put yourself back together a better way.

I'm sharing this because I want anyone out there feeling the same way to know that you CAN do it! You can achieve anything you set your mind too. It may take longer than you'd like, there will be setbacks (just because I haven't shared them all doesn't mean they haven't happened! I just try to keep my blog positive) not everything goes perfectly, there will be disappointments and rejections, some days you will still feel down and miserable and wish you'd gone for that nice steady job instead, you might feel alone and sad, there will be days when you feel noone understands you or everyones against you - in my 3 years, I've been let down, I've been copied (lots!) I've been ripped off, I've been bullied and slated and had rumours made up about me (had to check I wasn't still in high school *sigh*) things that were promised haven't worked out BUT it all came good in the end, I've achieved more than I ever thought I could, these things still happen, but you develop a thicker skin and learn to ignore the bullies and copiers and haters (who said let your haters be your motivators? do it! it's true!) and your success cushions the disappointments, you learn from your mistakes and build on them, people judge you by what you do in the end, so get the dream moving, prove yourself, be kind, work hard, take a risk and put yourself out there - one of the great things about starting from nothing, is you have nothing to lose! I'm so pleased I took a risk, because if I hadn't, I wouldn't be where I am today, and today, I'm happier than I ever thought possible, my company is growing amazingly, I'm working on super exciting projects, I get to write, draw, create and imagine all day long, I work with fantastic people and have the daily support of my lovely OH (and Fuzzybutt too of course!) it truly is my dream come true and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it.

I'd love to hear how you made (or plan to make!) your dream come true, I wish you all lots and lots of luck and success - you can do it!

Thank you for dropping by today
Sarah x


p.s. a big thank you to my lovely friend Di who gave me the courage to share this, she's a fantastic motivator and encourager and just a lovely positive person! :o) x

Project Life - Week 4

It's been a while since I shared my Project Life spreads so today I'm catching up! Here is a look at my week 4...

I used a mixture of Simple Stories Urban Traveler collection and Basic Grey Capture with a few bits from one of 'A Few of My Favourite Things...' kits. That week I traveled a lot, between home, the Create & Craft studio, up to Durham to see my family, home again to Essex via Norfolk to meet up with my other sister, so the travel line fitted perfectly! Here is a close up of the left page...

I used some embellishments from my kit and Freckled Fawn - the wood veneers I coloured with a Hero Arts neon pink dauber and a mint green Promarker. Here is a close up of the right page...

I love the little Basic Grey 'you are my rainbow' die cut, it worked perfectly for this very rare pic of me and my sister (we live too far away to get many!) because we have a long standing joke of calling each other different things stemming from a Rachel Zoe Project episode where she called her assistant 'her blessed jewel', so here, she is my rainbow! This side also features the first ever pic of me with Taz and Kerri (another of my sisters) a very special moment for me to document! This picture of my nephew is so cute too and gave me a perfect excuse to use the moustache die my friend bought for me as it matches his t-shirt! and there is a sneak peek of a little character down there too who is featuring in a big exciting project I'm working on (eek!)

This close up shows one of the funny moments of my weekend at my sisters, I'm so glad I remembered this to get in my album!

I used this luggage tag and label to fit with the travel theme, this pic was taken on a moving train, the scenery was just so pretty as it whizzed past! The cork geotag was from my 'A Few of My Favourite Things...' kit, I love this embellishment so I'm glad I have a few more to work with!

I'm a little behind on my Project Life right now as things have been so chaotic here, but I have a crafty weekend planned this week so I'll have a major catch up, I've missed it too much!

Thank you for dropping by today!
Sarah x

This is whats happening... an update!

Today, I thought I'd catch you up on some behind the scenes news here at Hurley HQ! Since the launch of the trade shop last week, we've been inundated with new subscribers, browsers and customers, totally thrilled for everyones support (thank you so much!) and we are busily processing and packing your orders. To those of you who have pointed your local craft shops our way, we are very very grateful.

The last few weeks we have been in the process of reorganising our house to fit in more and more stock and packaging (and staff!) we are also looking locally for a premises of some kind, perhaps an office or unit so that we  can continue to grow, it won't happen overnight, but we are getting prepared. This week we have also started interviewing people for the Creative Assistant position I advertised recently to work here at Hurley HQ, we are very excited to add someone to our team and we'll let you know just as soon as we have made our decision!

Behind the scenes we have been preparing the largest amounts of stock we ever have to go out to some of the UK's largest retailers, that is VERY exciting but comes with a big learning curve as we deal with supplier handbooks, labelling requirements, packing requirements and tight deadlines! We have also been photographing and preparing lots and lots of new products, I design, draw and write in every free moment I can find and some exciting contracts are being negotiated and signed.

It's been super hard work, long hours, no sleep, but I'm loving it, although for me this is scary stuff, I must admit that when I started this company, it was only ever supposed to be a little hobby type business for me, I never planned for it to grow very big, I had no 5 year plan or growth plan or even a business plan, I just knew I wanted to write and draw and make pretty things and share them with people. I was working through one of the most stressful, sad and painful times of my life and I wanted to just do something I enjoyed, something that gave me a little bit of joy and something to give me a reason to get out of bed in the morning, the fact that the thing I enjoyed grew into what it is now is completely overwhelming to me, and of course, I couldn't do it without the support of all of you lovely peeps, I don't think I can express adequately how grateful I am for that, but trust me, I am!

Now, it's time for a very quick dinner with B, a quick snuggle with Fuzzybutt and I'll be back to labelling boxes into the wee small hours, another pallet of stock is being prepared to go off this weekend (eek!)I'll be back once I'm all done, to share some crafty stuff :o)

Thank you for dropping by today!
Sarah x