Sarah Hurley - Illustrator & Craft Designer

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

Mid Week Madness!

2012-01-11T18:22:00.002Z

So this week has been kind of a crazy one so far (details another time!) but I'm so happy that today I got the last package of my CHA samples in the post - yay! I will be sharing them just as soon as I can, although as a little sneaky preview I will show you all of these cute Instagrams of Fuzzybutt that I used for one of them...

To celebrate finishing ahead of schedule, I treated myself by wearing my most impractical sparkly shoes today...

Now I just need to tidy my studio (I compromised today by just shutting the door, I couldn't face it! lol)

I've also been getting the last few bits ready for the first Craft Academy lesson tomorrow - excited!

Sarah x

Just a few days left!...

2012-01-09T18:00:00.000Z

...to get hold of the January issue of Making Cards magazine featuring a set of cute Woodland Whimsies cards made by me!

The set was made using my Woodland Whimsies stamps (coloured with Promarkers) and Kuretake papers.

You have until the 12th January (when the new issue goes on sale) to get hold of a copy from your local craft shop or online direct from the Making Cards website.

Thanks for looking!
Sarah x

My Basically Bare Resolution Tag Album

2012-01-06T17:30:00.001Z

Yesterday my New Years resolution Tag Album mini was featured over on the Basically Bare blog (yay!) here are some pics...

The Front Cover

The Inside Pages

And in more detail...

To see all the details of how I made it please pop over to the Basically Bare blog - here! where I explain in more detail.

I also want to say a big 'Thank You' for all of the messages, comments, tweets etc... I've had regarding Craft Academy (the post below if you missed it!) we are all so excited to get started and we're so glad you all are too! :o)

This weekend I will be back working in my studio - my first proper craft session since before Christmas and I can't wait!

Have a fab weekend!

Sarah x

The Craft Academy launch!

2012-01-04T17:37:00.000Z

I mentioned yesterday that today I would be telling you about something new and exciting, and today is the day, it's finally here! I've been working on this for ageeeeees with my Design Team, we've all been so excited and dying to tell! but we had to make sure we were fully prepared first as this is a HUGE project!

Today we launch The Craft Academy! This is a brand new website that will provide weekly inspirational projects and tutorials for all kinds of crafts including card making, scrapbooking and altered art as well as introducing you to other crafts, these will range from beginners projects to advanced. We have a number of fab sponsors helping us along the way providing us with their expertise also and we have a couple of developments to still be announced in the next few weeks including a new product range to accompany this (eeek, too excited!), so keep an eye out for all the news over on Craft Academy or here on my blog!

Also running alongside Craft Academy is the Crafty Kids Academy the same concept but for your little (and not quite so little) ones, there will be projects for all ages from teeny weenys to teens, as well as competitions, challenges and giveaways so they can craft along with you. (These projects are fun for adults too so pop over and check them out!)

For more info please pop over to the Craft Academy and Crafty Kids Academy websites and take a look - the first 'lessons' will be posted next week and we hope you will come and join us!

Sarah x

A New Year, A New Start...

2012-01-03T19:46:00.002Z

I love new beginnings, spring cleaning, organising, throwing out old things, re-focusing on goals and making plans, exciting times! New years resiolutions are the perfect way to do this.

Last Year my resolutions were:

To cut anyone toxic from my life - I think I pretty much achieved this and on doing so made room in my life to become closer to other people who are true friends, so glad I made this one!

To spend more time creating - I definitely did this!!!

To be Brave - I tried my very best and think I managed it pretty well

To be ME all of the time, not conform - yup!

To enjoy the moment - this one I struggled with the most and I will be working on it again this year, I've always been a 'whats next' type of person but I need to enjoy the here and now too

To concentrate on Change - (my one little word for last year) - well a lot of things changed so I guess this one is done too! :o)

And now for this years resolutions...

To be nicer to myself - a difficult one for most people but this year I resolve to cut out the doubting voices in my head, be more positive and not berate myself for little mistakes or when things don't go to plan, just change the plan!

To continue to be Brave - something to be reminded of on a daily basis - a great tool for me has been the Brave Girls Club daily emails - it gets my day off to a great start!

To start making a quilt - I've been collecting vintage fabrics for a quilt for years and still haven't started - this year is the year!

To get our home looking the way we want - this is something we constantly get distracted from in the busyness of everyday life but I'm determined to finish it before we get married next year

To enjoy the moment - I will master this this year - definitely!!

and my one little word for this year is...

I need to BELIEVE in myself, trust in my own decisions and not question myself and BELIEVE that things are happening for a reason even if they don't quite fit the plan - plans are adaptable and if things don't go quite right there is usually a good reason.

I know this is going to be a fantastic year and I can't wait to see what happens along the way!

if you've made a NY resolution post please leave me your link, I love to see what others are doing, it's so inspiring :o)

I hope you'll pop back tomorrow as I'm launching something brand new and exciting that myself and my design team have been working on for ages - we are literally bursting to tell! (so much so that I've posted a sneaky peek on my Facebook page today if you'd like to take a look) full details tomorrow - promise!

Sarah x

Looking Back - 2011

2011-12-31T17:10:00.002Z

I can't believe New Year is here already, and what a crazy year this one has been, as I look back over everything thats happened it's hard to believe it all happened in just one year! it just goes to show how quickly things can change. So here is my year in review...

* For the first time I had my illustration work shown at the Bologna, London and Frankfurt book fairs - a huge development and one that was just the start of so many exciting things!
* My designs and projects were featured regularly in Making Cards magazine as well as popping up in a few others from time to time ;o)
* I released 3 CD's - Oz, Wonderland and Tinseltown
* I was lucky enough to start working with some fabulous companies, Provocraft, Fuji and Basically Bare (adding to my existing clients Derwent, Letraset and Kuretake - pinch me!)
* I was asked to design a range of greeting cards - more about that next year!
* I designed some craft products for another company - more about that next year too!
* I guest designed for Punky Scraps
* My blog and website had a makeover
* I still have 2 secrets I still can't share yet - gahhhhhhhhh! lol

Of course, I can't not mention, I signed my licensing and distribution deal with Craftime - a HUGE thing for me that gave me the freedom to bring you so many more great products, you can read more about that here and here - still so excited when I think about this!! and almost ready for my launch which is now only weeks away!!!

Of course all of this has left no time for me to do any TV shows for a while now but rest assured, things are happening! details soon ;o)

My Favourite Craft Projects of the year

My Favourite Illustration Projects of the year

As for my personal life, me and B have started to plan our wedding *squeal* and working on getting our home how we want it (it was previously his bachelor pad so not really to my taste, lol) I loved spending so much time working from home with Fuzzybutt by my side and B coming home for lunch. I was also lucky enough to be able to spend time with great friends and family this year, I've definitely learned some lessons in that area (but we all make mistakes!) - overall, I have to say, I'm a lucky girl!

On a sad note, many of you read the story on my blog or twitter of the murder of my Uncle Bert, myself and my family are so grateful for your support and messages of kindness during such a difficult time. I'm pleased to say that a man was arrested and that after some delays, the trial begins in January, we can only hope now that justice is done.

I'd also like to say a MASSIVE 'thank you' to all of you for reading my blog, following me on twitter and facebook and for all of your comments and emails and of course for the products of mine that you bought and for sharing the projects you made with them, all of that is what makes my job worthwhile!

And a final 'Thank You' to the best group of girls I could ever wish to work with, I'm lucky enough to have become friends with and work with, these fantastic ladies this year - to my Design Team! The most talented, hard working and supportive people - I look forward to working with them all again in the New Year - thank you to every one of you and the unique contribution you bring!

And on that note, I wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Sarah x

A Very Merry Christmas!

2011-12-30T19:51:00.001Z

It's Home Sweet Home for me and back to work today! We made the trek north to my parents house for Christmas (not nearly as bad this year without the snow - yay!) I also managed to wrangle the very heavy Fuzzybutt into a baby sling so I didn't have to carry her the whole way - it was a huge help despite the 'crazy lady' looks I received on public transport (yes, I do realise that this hairy lump isn't a baby! lol) I did have a small crisis the night before, as we were preparing to leave, I fell down the stairs - isn't that typical! I think I was just *too* prepared, lol. no serious injuries luckily just a sprained wrist (another thing the baby / dog sling was a blessing for!) and ankle which healed after a few days of rest and tlc - I can now draw again - yay!

Now I am spending the next 24 hours getting myself ready for the year ahead, plans to be made, resolutions to be journaled and planned for and my one little word for next year to be decided upon... I've already cleared my office area, I still have my studio to do and my Christmas crafty things to pack away for another year, the Christmas songs have come off my iPod and the cards are down *sigh* and bright springy craft projects are being planned and started - exciting times ahead!

I hope you all had a magical Christmas and are looking forward to the exciting year ahead - I know it's going to be a GREAT one! :o)

Sarah x

My Favourite Tinseltown Projects

2011-12-27T16:30:00.000Z

This year my favourite product release (that I can show so far anyway!) has been the Tinseltown CD and judging by the feedback received I think it's been yours too! I love that its so versatile and I can still use it throughout the year and the colours are some of my favourites!

So today I'm rounding up my favourite Tinseltown projects from my Design Team (what a talented bunch they are!)

Clare

This tag is just so cute - I love it!

Claire C

This paper cone wreath is just gorgeous!

Claireliz

Claire done a great job of showing that the CD could still be used by Scrapbookers even though the papers aren't 12x12" - this is just one of her fantastic layouts :o)

Elaine

I love the frosty look that Elaine has created on this igloo - beautiful card!

Emma

Emma added some spellbinders die cuts to create this amazing card!

Jaine

The queen of mixed media! Jaine created these gorgeous houses from the CD

Jess

Jess's peekaboo scene card - just beautiful!

Lisa

Lisa mixed a few of the CD elements together digitally to create these gorgeous cards!

Melly

Melly created these fabulous paper baubles from the papers on the CD - I will be doing these for my tree next year!

Nikki

Nikki's poinsettia card is just so elegant - beautiful work!

And finally, my own favourite project has to be my Calendar - a whole year of Tinseltown cuteness!

Thanks so much for looking, don't forget you can see all of the Tinseltown projects we made over on my Facebook page or in our brand new Inspiration Gallery!

Sarah x

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T08:30:00.000Z

Merry Christmas!

It's finally here :o) Have a fantastic day

Sarah x

My Christmas Playlist

2011-12-24T10:30:00.000Z

It's nearly here! I'm such a child at Christmas, I'm still the first one up waking everyone up to see if Santa has been - I've been a good girl this year so I'm fairly confident ;o)

To get in the Christmas Spirit I am sharing my Christmas playlist - these have been on my iPod every day!

Christmas 2011 by Sarah Hurley on Grooveshark

I hope you enjoy my Christmas playlist and have a fantastic day getting all the final bits and pieces ready for tomorrow - don't forget to leave something out for Rudolph as well as Santa!

Sarah x

Flying Robin Christmas Card

2011-12-23T17:00:00.000Z

In case you missed it, yesterday was my turn over on the Basically Bare blog and we featured my Flying Robin Christmas card...

The little chipboard robin bobs around in the apeture when the card is standing up so he looks like he's flying around - cute!

To see the full step by step on how to make this please pop over to their blog and take a look!

Sarah x

A Cricut Nativity!

2011-12-22T18:00:00.000Z

One of my favourite projects this Christmas season has been my Nativity scene frame that now sits in pride of place on my mantlepiece - I know this will be a feature of my Christmas decorations for years to come!

Supply List - Cricut Expression 'Winter Frolic' Cartridge - Provocraft, Tinseltown CD - Sarah Hurley, Frame (from any homeware store), White Acrylic Paint, Promarkers - Letraset, Precision Pen - American Crafts, Distress Stickles (Broken China), Stickles - Stardust - Ranger, Coated Card - Rymans, Sticky Dots

This was really simple to make, all the pieces you can die cut from your Cricut Expression (on to white and colour in like I did or using up your scraps!)

Firstly I sanded the frame and painted with two coats of acrylic paint - I made the paint quite watery as I didn't want a completely even finish, I like the Shabby Chic look!

I then set that aside to dry and covered the back part of the frame in snowfall paper from the Tinseltown CD, I cut the hills from a scrap of brown card and added those in front. I then die cut all the pieces from the cartridge (I cut most of these around 2.8 but depending on the size of your frame you may want to change this - the squares on the mat will help you see what size you should be cutting, it makes it so simple!) I cut everything from white card then coloured with my Promarkers.

Once the shapes were all dry I layered them together using Sticky Dots (they are great for sticking down the fiddly little parts of die cuts!) and added features using an American Crafts precision pen in brown.

I then arranged them onto the backing to get the look I wanted. Once I was happy I glued them all into place and tucked the back back inside the frame. I then added the Christmas Trees and the Angel to the frame. I used Stickles to make the Angels cloud and wings sparkly and to add baubles to the Christmas Tree. I then printed the banner and added to the top - done! Such a fun project :o)

I hope your Christmas preparations are coming along nicely, not long to go - eeeeeeek!

Sarah x

Steampunk Bird Tag

2011-12-21T16:26:00.000Z

This week Basically Bare featured my Steampunk Bird Tag on their blog, and I wanted to share it here too for anyone that may have missed it...

I made the base of the tag look like rusty metal using a copper paint dabber and the fab Letraset Alcohol Inks and used Basically Bare elements and Kuretake Pens to create my mechanical bird, there are also some Tim Holtz elements in there too - how I could I make a grungy project without them!

You can see the full details on how I made this here on the Basically Bare blog.

Thanks for looking!
Sarah x

Kuretake Tree Angel Decoration & Planning Ahead!

2011-12-19T18:03:00.000Z

If you pop over to the Kuretake blog today you can open door number 19 on their Advent Calendar which is a step by step tutorial by me on how to make this Angel tree decoration, including a download of the face I designed so that you can make your own! :o)

Today I have been working on a super exciting project due to launch in the first week of January - my Design Team are involved on this one too and they all loved it so I'm sure you will too!

I've also been making lots of plans, I love to plan and set goals it makes me happy and excited for the year ahead! so I've spent the day surrounded by journals, diaries, planners, file cards and folders of things making sure I'm all set. Another great reason I love to make plans is, sometimes it can be a bit of a downer once Christmas is over, but if you've planned a year of exciting things to look forward to, plans to set in motion and goals you can't wait to achieve then you don't feel that way.

B is home for Christmas now too so he has been working with me and helping as well as catching up on lots of little DIY bits and pieces around the house, it feels good to get everything ready for a fresh start in the New Year - exciting times ahead! Of course Fuzzybutt is super excited to have her daddy home, her tail hasn't stopped wagging all day :o)

I'll be sharing another project tomorrow so I hope you will pop back!

Sarah x