Sarah Hurley - Illustrator & Craft Designer - Crafts, Illustration, Inspiration & Vintage

The End of a Busy Week!

2012-02-24T19:40:00.001Z

Well, Friday has once again sneaked up on me! This week has been another super busy one and I feel like I've barely had chance to catch my breath let alone blog or craft.

At the beginning of this week I visited the UK craft trade show Stitches in Birmingham, I had just a few hours there Monday and a lot of show to see and people to meet up with! Of course I had to make a teeny bit of time to go and see Tim demonstrating his new Distress Markers and the Distress Stains...

After my meetings I made the most of the couple of hours on the train home to catch up on some sleep! Tuesday I spent the whole day catching up on emails, phone calls and other bits of work that had come in on Monday - why is when you spend a day away from everything twice as much happens?!

Wednesday I was able to take a day to go and meet up with Emma at our second home, Selfridges in London, we shopped, gossiped and had lots and lots of coffee before heading home (with just one little yellow bag, such self restraint! ;o) )

Thursday was spent on book research, magazine write ups, a new work proposal, some product design and a bit of illustration, with lots of tea drinking in between of course! and today I had some errands to run (luckily my Mother in Law came to help - what a star! and B was home early to help too, yay!) and this afternoon, back to work again, although I do plan to take this evening off to snuggle and watch a film with B and Fuzzybutt, hopefully then they will forgive me for working most of the weekend! I can't wait to get back in my studio, my little fingers are itching to craft!

Finally, Melly has some fab projects to share over on her blog today with the new Easter Tea Party Kit - I hope you will pop over and take a look!

I hope you have a lovely weekend, I'll see you next week with some crafty projects, guest blogging and some news!

Sarah x

More Steampunk Projects!

2012-02-22T18:34:00.001Z

Today I'm sharing some more wonderful DT projects with the new Steampunk CD...

Clare

Clare made this lovely card...

Jaine

Jaine has been working on this fab Tag Album, to see all the pages pop over to her blog, I love it!

Elaine

Elaine made this card using papers and elements from the CD with embossed card and distressing - gorgeous!

You can get hold of the Steampunk collection here in my shop!

I'm sure I'll have more projects to share with you soon, my DT seem to be loving this collection! I'm still waiting for my printer cartridge to turn up as I have no ink to print it out myself - I'm always the last to get to play with my new collections! lol.

Thanks so much for dropping by

Sarah x

Another CHA Project - The Adventures of Fuzzybutt!

2012-02-20T17:00:00.000Z

Last week I was featured over on the Basically Bare blog for two days showing another of the CHA projects I made for them with their new release 'Tiny Tabs' album - this was actually my favourite one to work with as it fits my Instax pictures perfectly!

You can see part one of my post here and part two here - it shows lots more details and pics!

Thanks so much for looking!

Sarah x

The Big Reveal! - The New Steampunk CD!!

2012-02-17T17:45:00.000Z

As promised, today is the BIG reveal - we have been working excitedly behind the scenes to get samples ready to show you today (a big thank you to my lovely DT who have come up with some fabulous projects!) and here are all the details...

You can get the CD on pre-order here or a download version straight away here

And here are a few of the DT projects for inspiration...

Nat made this gorgeous Scrapbook Layout...

Claireliz made this gorgeous altered button tin...

Nikki made these gorgeous cards using the papers from the CD with her Tim Holtz Dies...

and Melly Made a Scrapbook page...

and a card...

I hope you love it as much as we all do!

Unfortunately noone guessed the theme correctly in my little competition yesterday so there are no winners to announce :o( but I have made the mini kit available to buy here if you just want a little taster, here is a preview of the mini kit...

(Please don't buy both the mini kit and the CD as the elements in the mini kit are on the CD!)

Thanks so much for looking, I hope you all have a fabulous weekend. I'm hoping to get some time in my studio, I haven't had any time to craft for over a week and I'm missing it terribly! I will try to tuck myself away there for a few hours tomorrow with a cup of tea and an old film and get some pretties made to share with you next week.

Sarah x

Sneaky Peeks!

2012-02-16T20:00:00.001Z

As promised, today I'm sharing the sneaky peeks with those of you who don't use Facebook, here we go...

(you can click on the images to make them bigger...)

sooooo, any guesses on the theme?? ;o)

Just leave me a comment with your guess. I will be picking one winner from any correct guesses to win a mini preview kit from this new collection!! (it will be sent as an instant download within 24 hours)

please submit your guesses before 3pm GMT on 17th February to be entered, winner will be announced tomorrow on the reveal post!

All will be revealed tomorrow!!

Sarah x

A New Kit - Easter Tea Party!

2012-02-15T18:22:00.000Z

Today I'm sharing the details of a brand new kit! my DT have been making some gorgeous projects with it and I can't wait to get some time in my studio to make some too! It's called Easter Tea Party...

Here are some of the papers (there are 16 papers in total - you may want to click to see them bigger)

and here is the Embellishment sheet (you also get a sentiment sheet and 4 digi stamps)

And finally, a couple of projects from my lovely DT...

From Jess, a gorgeous card using the papers and a digi stamp, with a stamped Versamark image over the top

and from Lisa, a cute Easter treat bag...

You can get your kit here!

There is another paper preview over on my Facebook page if you would like to see, along with more gorgeous projects with the Love Letters kit which I've posted over the last few days and the start of some sneak peeks of a brand new CD (I posted one little peek yesterday and will be posting another one up soon so keep an eye out!) more about that tomorrow!

Thanks so much for popping by :o)

Sarah x

Happy Valentines Day!

2012-02-14T17:37:00.003Z

Wishing you all a very Happy Valentines Day!

I hope you will pop back tomorrow for details of a brand new product and some sneaky peeks of something coming later this week...

Sarah x

Craft Academy Promarker Project & a Free Valentine Digi Stamp!

2012-02-09T18:42:00.002Z

Today is my first day back to work this week after spending a few days up north with my parents and little squishies - I had a meeting up that way and thought it would be fun to combine some family time, so we baked, crafted and had some fun :o) Now I'm back in very snowy Essex, and I think we have more on the way - brrrrr!

Today is also Craft Academy day and this weeks lesson (sponsored by Letraset) is from Clare, who has done a fantastic introduction to Promarkers - a complete step by step tutorial using my Valentine digi kit (you can get yours here) and this digi stamp which is free to download - just click here!

Here is my card following the tutorial...

and a close up...

Thanks so much for dropping by - I look forward to seeing your projects with the digi stamp!

Sarah x

A Basically Bare Valentine

2012-02-08T17:30:00.000Z

Another Valentine card today, and this one is one that was featured over on the Basically Bare blog on Monday...

I used the Basically Bare Lovely Lockets set - perfect for Valentines cards! with my Love Letters Digi Kit. You can see all the details here.

Tomorrow I'll have another project for you and some news on what I've been up to this week!

Thanks for dropping by!
Sarah x

Sharing more Love!

2012-02-07T17:30:00.000Z

Another Love Letters card to share with you today, this one I think is my favourite of all the ones I made, I just love the cute couple (you get them as digis too so you can personalise them)

I think I might make this one again for B (but colour the girls hair in orange so it looks like me!)

Thanks for visiting today!

Sarah x

Love Letters Card

2012-02-06T17:30:00.000Z

Today I am sharing a card made with my 'Love Letters' digi kit. I was so excited to finally have the chance to print everything it out and hide out in my studio with it for a bit - this week has been so busy that Sunday was the first chance I had!

The only extra I added was the kraft Tattered Florals die cut behind the cupid!

Sunday was also the day we woke up to this...

eeeeek! about 6 inches of snow, and it is SOOOOO cold! We built a little fort in the living room from blankets and pillows and snuggled with Fuzzybutt to keep warm, here she is all cosy...

Give that little girl a blanket and she's happy, she can snuggle anywhere :o)

Thanks for dropping by today, I hope you are warmer than us!

Sarah x

CHA Project for Basically Bare

2012-02-02T22:43:00.002Z

Earlier this week one of my CHA projects was featured over on the Basically Bare blog, you may remember I showed you a tiny peek at this album...

I made this with the Basically Bare Polly's Pockets Album which was one of the new CHA releases and lots of lovely October Afternoon papers.

You can now see all of the pages here on the Basically Bare Blog. This one was so fun to work with! I'll be sharing another one soon.

Today was filled with more writing, designing and planning, all my samples are chased up and should be here soon, then I have to check and proof them all and finalise any changes before production.

I noticed today that the pile of notebooks and journals I keep on my desk for daily use has grown, there are now 7 plus my diary, I also have a few more occasional use ones and some sketchbooks in a crate at the side of my desk for easy reach. I thought maybe that was kind of excessive but after posting that on Twitter and Facebook I realise I am not the only one! Lists must be a creative thing I think, and I do love pretty stationery! It was great to hear everyones 'system' though, if you get chance, look at my facebook page and have a read :o)

Thanks for dropping by today!

Sarah x

Balloon Card

2012-02-01T17:51:00.001Z

Today I'm sharing a bright and springy card with October Afternoon and a Jenni Bowlin Stamp...

I stamped the girl with the balloon onto kraft card and added a button and some twine over the star shaped balloon (the star still peeps out from underneath - I love stars so didn't want to cover it up completely!) I used some October Afternoon papers I had left over from my CHA projects - I think they are from the Sidewalks and Farmhouse lines, I used more stars from a sticker sheet and one punched with a fiskars punch.

Today has been a busy day of designing, writing and chasing up print samples, paper samples and other product samples - hopefully they will be here soon and I can start showing you some sneaky peeks! The next product is being launched soon though, my lovely DT are working on samples now - yay! In the meantime look out for more digital stuff - I've been very inspired recently so there is a lot to come! :o)

Now time for a quick dinner with B before I retire to my studio for the evening, I have a magazine project to work on, the Craft Academy project for this week to finish and some Desperate Housewives to watch (I've started watching it from the beginning again! lol) I also have the latest issue of Vogue to flick through but I think that might have to wait for the weekend!

Sarah x

I {Heart} Derwent Inktense!

2012-01-31T17:42:00.000Z

Today I'm featured over on the Derwent blog (yay!) with a Valentine project using Inktense Pencils and Inktense Blocks, here is a little preview...

You can pop over and see the full project here - where I give some tips and tricks for colouring and stamping with inktense.

Thank you for dropping by today! :o)

Sarah x

New Today! - Love Letters

2012-01-30T18:11:00.000Z

I promised you something brand new today, and here it is! A brand new Kit released today called Love Letters...

Just in time for your Valentine cards and projects! The kit has 12 papers, an embellishment sheet and lots of Digi Stamps - you can see more details and get your kit here...

And a big 'Thank You' to Jaine who made this fab card to showcase the kit for me today...

I'll be sharing some more fab DT projects with this over the next few days...

Thanks so much for looking!

Sarah x

Sneaky Peek...

2012-01-29T18:11:00.002Z

Just a very quick post today, yesterday I shared a tiny sneak peek over on my Facebook page of something new coming next week, and today I'm sharing another here...

More details tomorrow! ;o)

Sarah x

Tag Album Inspiration

2012-01-26T17:34:00.002Z

Today is Craft Academy day! and this week post was all about Tag Albums - I love these because they're so quick to make and can be used as a complete project or part of a bigger layout / album / book/ They are the perfect size for Instax and passport pictures too :o)

I made another one for this post, filled with some of my favourite quotes...

You can see more details and pics of each page over on the Craft Academy website, you can also download the template to make one of your own if you don't have any tags to hand - I made this one using the template and some paper scraps.

Today I felt super inspired and spent pretty much the whole day writing (fuelled by cups of earl grey) love it when that happens!

Thanks for looking
Sarah x

Basically Bare CHA Sneak Peek!

2012-01-25T18:31:00.001Z

Just a very quick post from me as I'm rushed off my tiny trotters!

I just wanted to share with you a little sneak peek of one of my CHA projects for Basically Bare :o)

I will be showing this in full on the Basically Bare blog next week - you can see the album I used here on the Basically Bare Blog.

I really musn't show anymore or I'll be in deep deep trouble and if they cut off my chipboard supply I will cry!

Sarah x

Scrapbooking with my Cricut

2012-01-23T17:55:00.001Z

Today I'm sharing a scrapbook page I made using my Cricut Expression - this was an idea I had a while ago and finally got round to last night - I loved making it :o)

Supply List - Once upon a Princess cartridge, Woodgrain Paper (light - Dream Street, dark - Crate Paper, textured - Coredinations) Cream bazzill Cardstock, Studio Calico Chipboard Butterflies, Miscellany Frame & Woodgrain Alpha Stickers - October Afternoon, Bird Paper - American Crafts, Twine, Acrylic Paint, Brown Journaling Pen, embroidery floss, Instax Picture

First I cut a square of the Light Woodgrain paper approx 8" x 7.5" and stuck it to my cricut mat. I lined up 9 Hearts on the screen and autofilled them to the paper - it evenly spaces them and fits them to the page - a brilliant feature!! I then cut 3 smaller hearts from the darker woodgrain paper.

I backed four of the hearts with the bird paper from American Crafts - this was my last sheet, I need some more of this, fast! its such a great paper from a few collections back. I stuck my completed square to my Bazzill Card Stock. I hand stitched the darker hearts in the remaining gaps with embroidery floss. Lightly sanded the coredinations cardstock and added my instax picture. The frame I painted with cream acrylic paint before adhering on top.

As a finishing touch I added the butterflies from Studio Calico to the top corner, I stacked two of them and added a button and some twine. Then I used the woodgrain alpha's and my brown journaling pen for my title and journaling.

I love the fact that despite only using one small picture the rest of the layout doesn't detract from it, the focus is all on her (my little sister)

I can't wait to try some more experiments with the autofill to see what other effects I can make on my layouts!

Thanks for dropping by today :o)

Sarah x

Friday Feeling

2012-01-20T17:21:00.001Z

I have to say, the end of this week didn't come quickly enough, ick! But now its Friday and I'm looking forward to a weekend of relaxing with B and Fuzzybutt, I have some things to think about, some potentially difficult decisions to make and whole list of things to do - I'm looking forward to getting things clear in my mind again.

Today the second Crafty Kids Academy lesson went up - a colouring-in page download. I love to colour in, always have! so hopefully your little ones will love it too, I'd love to see the finished pictures so please feel free to share.

Update

Today was sentencing day for my uncles killer, I'm relieved to say he got life, with a minimum of 21 years. We are pleased that justice has been done. You can see the details here.

Thank you again for your lovely messages of support.

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by, lets hope next week is a brilliant one to cancel this one out!

Sarah x

Home Sweet Home Card

2012-01-19T17:17:00.003Z

Today I'm sharing a sweet 'Home' card I made late the other night, I love housey things and ended up colouring in about 20 of these little houses! Now I just have to find projects for them all!...

Another bright and cheerful card, and a great excuse to use *that* background stamp again - I'm obsessed, I love clouds, you may see this on every project I make ;o)

I've been swamped with design and illustration work as well as other bits and pieces going on *sigh* so have had very little time to craft, my mojo is also being slow in returning, although I'm sure it will be back soon!

Also, I must mention, today there is a fab lesson from Jaine up over on the Craft Academy site - I can't wait to have a go myself!

Sarah x

A Quick Cheery Card

2012-01-17T16:17:00.002Z

After blitzing my office and studio clean following the manic CHA phase, (they are so tidy! though I'm guessing not for long, lol) I couldn't wait to start some crafting again, my mojo seems to have gone off with my boxes of goodies to CHA though, so I only managed a quick card...

It did give me an excuse to break out my Promarkers again though, and I used lots of bright colours and papers (from Echo Park) to cheer myself up :o) I can feel my mojo floating back to me slowly...

I love this stamp set from Basic Grey / Hero Arts - I'm sure you'll be seeing more of it soon!

Thanks for dropping by
Sarah x

Justice for Uncle Bert - An Update

2012-01-16T18:20:00.000Z

I'd like to say a big 'Thank You' to everyone who has left me blog comments / tweets / facebook messages / emails / texts etc... after the murder of my Uncle in February last year - it really means a lot to me and my family (as they see them too) your support during such a difficult time has been amazing.

There have been many delays in the trial, meaning its been almost a year now before the trial has finally happened, but today I'm relieved to tell you he pleaded GUILTY. This has put an end to months of heartache and means we can hopefully finally get justice. Now we just have to wait for sentencing which will be happening on Friday.

I haven't been able to tell any of the details due to the upcoming trial, but I'm pleased to say the whole story can now be shared and can be read here.

RIP Uncle Bert

Sarah x

First Crafty Kids Academy Lesson

2012-01-13T17:42:00.000Z

Firstly, a big 'Thank You' for the blog comments and emails yesterday regarding Craft Academy, we're so pleased to have such a great reaction to our very first lesson! :o)

Today is the very first Crafty Kids Academy lesson...

We hope you will pop over and take a look. The lessons come as PDF's with picture and written instructions - this weeks crafty kids lesson has a little paper download as well to get started!

Thanks for dropping by, I hope you have a great weekend!

Sarah x

First Craft Academy Lesson!

2012-01-12T18:36:00.000Z

The first Craft Academy lesson is up - eeek!

Paper Piecing is one of my favourite techniques so I had fun putting this together!

I hope you will pop over to take a look, and join in :o) and I look forward to seeing your projects.The first Crafy Kids Academy lesson will be posted tomorrow.

Sarah x