Sunday 29 September 2013

AND THREE POSTS IN A ROW!


Yep that's me again just with my second entry for the Color Throwdown and Simon Says Stamp Challenges.

If anyone knows how I can add 2 photos to one post but link different photos to different challenges please can you let me know. It doesn't seem to like it when I try it so I'm thinking it's perhaps not possible.

Thanks guys - catch up with you soon.



Sarah

Card Recipe:

Stamps from Clearly Besotted - Fancy Florals
Papers: TK MAxx
Sentiment: Pink Petticoat
Buttons and metallic cord from my stash with candy dots from Stampin Up

COLOUR AND SKETCH COMBO


Phew I've managed it again - 3 challenges with one card.

Sketch is from Freshly Made Sketches #105 and the Colours from Color Throwdown #CTD261 plus Simon Says Stamp have an Anything Goes Challenge so here goes!

I'm not too sure on this one so I'm going to be cheeky and post a second one which I started last week for the Color Throwdown and Simon Says Challenges.

Arrrgh! Almost forgot I've used Snippets so this is heading over to the Playground for Pixies Crafty Snippet Playground - and I'm thrilled to have been picked for a prize there this week. Yippee - I'm one lucky lady!


Sarah

Card Recipe:

Flower is cut using Clearly Besotted Fancy Florals Die
Papers: All Pink Petticoat
Sentiment: Clearly Besotted
Button & Twine from my stash

I'M IN HEAVEN ...

Well I was yesterday and I'm struggling to bring myself back down to earth! AND YIKES it's already afternoon and I've not done any crafting yet, my parents are arriving shortly so don't know how much time I've got to play!

Some of you may know that I took off to Port Sunlight yesterday to the Happy Stampers North West Event (my first event of this kind) and WOW! What a perfect day! Beautiful weather, stunning setting and floor to ceiling crafty products, ideas and demonstrations covering goodness knows how many square metres of floor space. Yes it was busy, yes it was hot and exhausting but well worth travelling 2 hours each way in the car.

To top it all I got to meet Stephanie of Clearly Besotted and her team. She is so lovely and welcoming - just like her blog. I'm simply besotted with her amazing stamping products. And like her products her area was exquisite, pink, girlie and heaven!

So a few of you have asked to see my goodies and I did have to spend some hard earned cash - well you have to - there's simply too much temptation so here's a peak at some of the items I purchased and hopefully you'll see them 'in action' on the blog.

Right must dash one more post to submit before I can play!

Enjoy your Sunday



Sarah

Friday 27 September 2013

HAPPY DAYS...

... because it's Friday - it's almost the weekend - AND I'm off to my very first Craft Event tomorrow at Happy Stampers North West, Port Sunlight and if any of my lovely blog friends are attending I'd love you to send me a comment so that we can perhaps meet and say a proper 'Hello' instead of a 'cyber' one! LOL. I'm so excited wondering what's in store with all those fabulous suppliers under one roof, hopefully demonstrating their fantastic products.

To top my good mood I have just noticed I've been showcased at Less is More! Arrrrgh! Yes Less is More challenge have awarded me a badge, which I'll be displaying proudly on my blog (errr that is once my techi son gets home from school to remind me how to do it!) I'm tickled pink! It's the one to have and I've been trying very hard over the weeks and at last my extremely simple card has done the business! Speechless! Yippee!

Anyway onto my card for today which is a combined challenge for Retro Sketches and Colour Q. Now this should have been black, white and turquoise, which is my favourite colour ... but my printer threw a wobbly when it printed my paper so with some ferocious head scratching, tutting and a few expletives I adapted to a different shade of blue.



Card Recipe:

Image: Fancy Florals from Clearly Besotted
Papers: Pink Petticoat
Button & Twine from my stash
Gems from my Crafty American Auntie
Cuttlebug Swirly embossing folder

   


I'll let you know how I get on at Port Sunlight but may be missing out on some crafting tomorrow plus my parents are here on Sunday so may have to get up extra specially early to join in the weekend challenge fun.

Enjoy your weekend and catch up soon.

Sarah

Tuesday 24 September 2013

PICKING THE BUTTERFLIES AGAIN!


Hey Happy Tuesday,

Really quick post from me today as I'm off out for a meal with the girls shortly and need to get myself showered, changed and a bit glammed! LOL

So this is my entry to the Dynamic Duos and Paper Players Challenges - and why do I keep going for butterflies? Sorry can't help it ... they are just too adorable! I have even tried a technique which I've not used for goodness knows how many years ... wet embossing! I had all the stuff in my stash but sort of fell out with stamping a few years ago. Thankfully I'm re-acquainting myself with it and loving it!

Hope to get chance to look at your creative makes later on.




Card Recipe:

Image: Butterfly Stamp from Hobby Craft
Papers: Pink Petticoat & The Papermill Shop
Sentiment: It's a free download and I can't remember where from (sorry)
Candy dots: Stampin Up
Lattice Embossing folder - a fantastic prize from Pixies Snippets Playground
Martha Stewart Butterfly punch

     


Sarah


Monday 23 September 2013

ANOTHER LEAFY ONE!

It's that time of year I guess and although we don't tend to celebrate Fall here in the UK the seasons colours are beautiful and worth celebrating. This card however is a bit of a different take on the standard Autumnal shades but that's to tie in with the ColourQ challenge which I've teamed up with Seize The Sketch.



Card Recipe:

Image: Die Cut leaf (hopefully acceptable as Calypso Coral) a gift from my Crafy American Auntie
along with the Embossing Folder which is Cricut Cuttlebug: Birds and Swirls
Papers: Paper Mill Shop
Sentiment: Uniko Studio
Button, Twine and Gems from my stash

      


Sarah


Sunday 22 September 2013

BRRRR IT'S CHILLY!

Morning crafty pals

Now are we going to have this late sunshine bonus today? I've put the packing away of summer clothes on hold just in case! Yesterday the forecast was 20 degrees so shorts and flipflops on standby THEN same old, same old, chilly DRIZZLE is what we got!

Onto my card and if we do get a bit of a heatwave there'll be nothing left of my little frosty guy! I'm rolling him down to the playground today and hopefully my chums will play nicely and not knock the little fella over.

I did intend to post this on Nessa's Frugal Christmas Challenge in the week minus the tree but it was lacking something until today! I think the tree sort of eliminates it from the challenge as it's a Christmas specific die I bought last year. Mrs A also pipped me to the post with her fabulous Christmas Snowman for Nessa so I decided to hang onto him until today.



Sarah

Card Recipe

Handmade Snowman using Sizzix Framelit Circles
Christmas Tree using Marianne Creatables
Papers: Pink Petticoat
Sentiment: Uniko Studio Freebie
Twine, Ribbon, Button, Gems and Top hat from my stash
Plus a sprinkling of glamour dust for added chill!

Saturday 21 September 2013

DID SOMEONE SEE A GHOST????

Hey me again

Just thought I'd post one more quick card for today which is my entry to the Less is More Challenge combined with CAS(E) This Sketch.

Again it's one of those where I thought I'd be stumped and duck out this week - felt??? Not sure I've got any of that and even if I have what do I do with it? Argh!

Then a little light-bulb moment following a shufty round the cupboard and hey presto! My Crafty American Auntie to the rescue. What a star! She'd only sent me some Halloween goodies and guess what ... yep made out of felt. The more I searched the more items, all from my Crafty Auntie, all felt, popped out onto the desk so I may have to post another one later in the week!

Oooh! Almost forgot - Lovely to see Lizy guest designing this week at Less is More while Jen takes some time out. Best Wishes Lizy





Sarah

Card Recipe:

Image: Felt Ghost fastened in place with a sparkly orange brad from my stash
Papers: Uniko Studio Freebie
Sentiment: Computer Generated

PRETTY LITTLE ARROWS

Crikey I'm late tonight!

BUT I have been a busy little bee in my Crafty Cupboard today as I was MIA yesterday. I took my parents to Preston hospital as my Dad had a LONG appointment. On the plus side the appointment was in two bits so we could leave for a few hours so we had a lunch and shop session at a superb garden centre then even got to do a little shopping in Hobbycraft after the appointment.

So back to my post for today and it's a combined challenge for CASology (which is a new one for me but I've noticed lots of my bloggy pals play along at this one so thought I'd have a go). The theme this week is Arrows and I hadn't had chance to play with my Uniko Studio Accent Essentials Arrow set so this challenge was the perfect opportunity.

CAS Colours and Sketches have a colour challenge this week so I've used that pallet too as it's pretty yummy.




Sarah


Card Recipe:

Image: Uniko Studio: Accent Essentials - Arrows
Papers: TK Maxx & The Paper Mill Shop
Sentiment: Uniko Studio: Flower Power
Buttons & Gems from my stash

    

Thursday 19 September 2013

BUTTON DANGLIES

Back again for make Number 2 for Nessa's Frugal Christmas card.

This time it's a freebie download from Uniko Studio where I found the dangly ribbons, a digi download from Pink Petticoat for the sentiment, some purple ribbon from my stash and a couple more buttons from my stash. The card base is pearlised and sparkled with glitter bits for added glamour. It was incredibly quick and easy to make and great for a batch of cards. I'm quite please with the effect so hope you like it too.

Mrs A has beaten me to posting a snowman one so think that one will have to wait for the Playground on Sunday...




Sarah

NESSA'S FRUGAL CHRISTMAS

Hi Crafty Pals

Are you all warm, dry and merrily crafting away so oblivious to what's going on beyond the curtains!!!

I was hoping to get some crafty play in today but no such luck - had one of those hair appointments that go on and on and on! Lovely but can't help thinking there's so many other things I could be doing!

So onto my post which I've been playing about with since the weekend and just not photographed for one reason or another until today. In case you haven't come across Nessa, one of my crafty blog pals then you should check out her blog here as not only does she have some wonderful creations but she's also running a fantastic competition for 2 weeks to make a frugal Christmas card using products that aren't Christmas specific.

I found this quite hard as everything I wanted to play with WAS Christmas SPECIFIC! Anyway I've had a sneaky peak around some blogs for inspiration and this is what I've come up with - I've gone button mad! AND if it's ok with Nessa I'm going to enter not one but two frugal makes!

Here's number 1 ...



I found some freebie Christmas paper from Quick Cards Made Easy - does that count if it's free I wonder? Some snippets of silver ribbons and I've emptied the button box looking for blues, whites and silvers with a couple of added gems for extra glitz. The sentiment is a digi download from Pink Petticoat and although you can't tell from the photo the front panel is adhered with 3D foam pads for added dimension.

Sarah


Wednesday 18 September 2013

A NUTTY BIRTHDAY


And here's my second card for the CAS(E) This Sketch Challenge.

If you read my blog on Sunday you'll know that one of my favourite Digi Stamp Companies is closing this month and I seem to have gone mad for their products so here's another one using Clearly Digi Stamps.



Sarah

Card Recipe:

Image, Papers and Sentiment: Clearly Digi Stamps - Birthday Critters
Gems from my stash plus glossy accents for added definition

DID I SAY I LOVE BUTTERFLIES?


I think I mentioned last week that I was addicted to butterflies ... well it's becoming an obsession! LOL. I'm finding myself looking for opportunities to add a butterfly! What's all that about???

Anyway this is my first of two entries for the CAS(E) This Sketch Challenge. So armed with my Clearly Besotted and Uniko Studio stamp sets I went for the 'traditional' sketch look in line with the 'sketch'.




But then I decided to do a fun card so check out my next post for that one ...

Sarah

Card Recipe:

Image: Butterfly Addition Stamp Set from Clearly Besotted & Natural Treasures 1 from Uniko Studio
Sentiment: Clearly Besotted
Card Stock: The Papermill Shop
Pearls from my stash and glittery brad from Stampin' Up

Tuesday 17 September 2013

OOOH YUMMY CITRUS COLOURS

Care sunglasses may be needed!

I've made this card for the Dynamic Duo Challenge and although they are bright I'm loving these colours. It really isn't that long since my summer holiday but the nights are drawing in so fast and the days have been a bit wet and bleak so these colours remind me of summertime zing.

This is also my second entry for this week to Pixies Crafty Snippet Playground and if you read my post yesterday I mentioned the special 2 week prize draw that Di is running so check it out here if you fancy playing along.

Have fun and catch up with you all later ...



Sarah

Card Recipe:

Papers: TK Maxx, Pink Petticoat, Clearly Digi Stamps
Cutting Die: Butterflies from Clearly Besotted
Sentiment: Pink Petticoat
Bakers Twine & Gems from my Stash and Candy Dots from Stampin' Up

Monday 16 September 2013

FLOWERS ON THE TRELLIS


Hello Blog Pals ...

Now I know it's Monday and yes ... I'm late for Pixies Crafty Snippet Playground but hope the gates won't be locked! To be honest I've been struggling with this card which is also for the ColourQ challenge and it's the second one I've made.

I'm not too sure about this one really as the 2 red type colours seem too close to distinguish from each other so hopefully you can spot the difference on the photo. I did use some paper snippets printed with the RGB colours from Stampin' Up for the Primrose Petals and Razzleberry and Pink Petticoat for the yellow and turquoise colours.

So back to the Playground and Di has a special prize week running for the next 2 weeks where 3 cards are needed over the 2 weeks so fingers crossed I may have another one for posting tomorrow.




Sarah

Card Recipe:

Cutting Dies: Joy Crafts: 3 x flower set, Memory Box: Piestra Tile, Sizzix: Flourish
Papers: Pink Petticoat and Stampin' Up
Sentiment: Uniko Studio (Flower Power 1)
Brads & Candy Dots from Stampin' Up

Sunday 15 September 2013

FEELING MORE POORLY ...


And here's the second one for Less is More...



Sarah

Card Recipe:

Image: Clearly Digi Stamps - Silly Citrus
Sentiment: Pink Petticoat
Twine from my stash, base of card embossed with a Mini Mosaic Folder

FEELING POORLY

Back again as I've just made two cards to enter the Less is More Challenge which is a one layer card week and the theme is Get Well.

While thinking about how to play this one yesterday I received a notification that one of the companies I have bought digi stamps from in the past (Clearly Digi Stamps) is to close at the end of this month :-( and I've only recently discovered them so extra sad ...

BUT every cloud has a silver lining and first of all they have a 25% offer on all products until the end of September and not only that Laurie Wilson of Doodle Pantry Digital Shop contacted me to explain that any illustrations she produced for Clearly Digi Stamps will become the property of Doodle Pantry from 1st October and will be available here.

So with a touch of sadness I decided to buy a couple of the digi stamps and adapt them for my get well card and I was torn between the 2 images so I'm entering them both! Here's the first one ...

   


Sarah

Card Recipe:

Image: Clearly Digi Stamps - pre-coloured images from 'Dangles'
Sentiment: 'Feeling Down?' is Computer Generated
Twine from my stash
Plus first blog post using my brand new Stampin up candy dots!
Glossy accents for definition