A Spoon Full of Sugar Sketch Challenge & Christmas Card #1!

Wow, the 2nd post of the day. You don't get that from me very often! This card was made following the sketch on the A Spoon Full of Sugar challenge blog. It's also a card full of firsts.... it's the first time I've taken part in a 'Spoon Full of Sugar' challenge, it's the first time I've used these papers, it's the first time I've used these stamps and..........it's my first ever Christmas card!

I started by mounting a square of Feather Boa Bazzill Bling on to a square card blank. I then layered up slices of Dovecraft Christmas Blues paper according to the sketch, matting it on to yet more Bazzill (no idea what colour this time though!). I coloured Maggie with Prismacolors and Sansodor and highlighted her star with sparkly Stickles. I tied ribbon around the whole thing and added then mounted the image onto the card with foam pads. The sentiment came courtesy of a £1 clear stamp set and was highlighted with some star shaped gems. As usual, yet more gems finished the card!

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A Monochrome Baby Boy!

This week, I was asked to make a baby card for my colleague whose daughter is just about ready to pop! She's a week overdue so time really wasn't on my side as I knew I'd need to make the card a bit sharpish. So, because of the time factor, I went for another pretty simple card.

Oh by the way, I should point out that she already knows she is having a boy - I promise I didn't just make a 50/50 stab at it!

I made the base from layered shades of blue paper and card and then added a plain white section which I stabbed repeatedly with a fondue fork! I then added some DCWV text paper which had been matted onto a scissor-cut scalloped border. I coloured the Stampendous image (Ellie!) with Prismacolors and Sansodor and mounted on to the card using 3D pads. The card was completed with the addition of a Hero Arts stamped sentiment and the obligatory gems and ribbon.

The card unfortunately looks a little distorted as it is a top folder. With all the rubbish weather, the light has been terrible so the picture also has a funny tinge. I'm sure you get the general idea though!

Hope you are all enjoying the Bank Holiday - even if the weather is a bit iffy!

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That's More Like It!

I don't think I really need to explain what I did as it is so simple, you can see straight away! The stamp is from Stamps Away and he is coloured with my Prismas and Sansodor. The flashes of colour have been embossed with the CB Swiss Dots folder.

I cannot wait until the end of the month as I will be getting a small bonus from work and so am finally going to treat myself to some circular Nestabilities. I am sick of cutting scalloped circles by hand as no matter how hard you try, you always get a little bit left over where the scissors don't quite meet up.....did you spot it?! I wish they were a little bit cheaper, then I could buy them all straight away! I would get them from the US but as they are just over the free limit, fear the import tax won't make them such a bargain :o(

I know it is a bit rough round the edges, but I seriously love this simple card and think I am going to use the basic layout for all my 'bulk' christmas cards. Obviously I'll make sure the stamp is a bit more christmas-y though!

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Hmm.....the Jury is Still Out.....

I recently followed a great link on the Elzybells blog which took me to a great tutorial on how to make 'sky'. I decided to use this technique during a play with Tilda and my new Alota fence - just like a Magnolia one, but for a fraction of the price.

I started by stamping Tilda on to plain white card. I masked her off and stamped the fence over the top. I then masked the fence off and sponged blue ink over the images. Once the masks were removed, I was left with lovely blue sky. I think this technique will need a little more work but overall, I am really pleased with the final result. The images were then coloured with Prismacolor pencils and Sansodor and then the whole panel was mounted on to coordinating DCWV paper and card. I decorated the card with Laura Ashley and Poppicrafts flowers held together with a brad knotted with ribbon. The whole card was finished with some pretty glass beads.

I keep swinging back and forth with this card - one minute I like it, the next I think it's boring....! Never happy us crafters are we?!

Hope you have a great week one and all!

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Cutting it Fine Again.....

Evening all. I found a great sketch over on Sketch Saturday so thought it would be a great chance to 'exercise' one of my new stamps from Alota Stamps. It also ended up being one of the quickest cards I have ever made which really does make a change for me as I often spend hours shuffling and reshuffling all the pieces until I get them looking right!

Firstly, I rotated the sketch -90 degrees so that it would fit the image I wanted to use. I've only just realised (now that the cards are sitting side by side in front of me on my desk) that this layout is now practically identical to the Elizabeth Bell 'Penpal' card below! Whoops!

Anyway...... As I previously mentionned, this stamp is an Alota stamp from their Country Girl range. I coloured the image with my Prismas and Sansodor and am really pleased with how it turned out. The paper is from my favourite 'Papermania Retro Floral' collection and the embossed section came courtesy of my Swiss Dots embossing folder. The mounting card is DCWV and the ribbon came from a fab little bead shop which I found just down the road from work.

Hope you like it!

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A Little Announcement........

Well...... It all started a couple of weeks ago when I received a comment on my blog from a lovely lady called Deanne. I hopped over to her blog to say thank you for her kindness, only to discover that she actually runs a fortnightly sketch challenge site for card makers and scrapbookers. Not only that, but she was in the process of recruiting design team members for the two 'disciplines'!

Now, we all know I am a bit partial to sketch challenges so I thought, "What the heck?" and submitted my entry. I kinda forgot all about it then until Saturday night when I received an email from Deanne to say that I had made the card DT!

So, I am pleased to announce that I am a DT member for Am I a Scrap Addict?

Woo-hoo! It is actually an enormous team and I will be working with some really talented peeps - I can't wait! Deanne also creates some really cool sketches so they should be great fun to work with. Mind you, the first one that she has set for 2 September is an absolute BEAST! I had an OK idea though so I have nearly finished it already. Just hope no-one else on the team has thought of it........!

I really hope that some of you will be able to join in when I post my first sketch on 2 Sept. It'd be great to see your takes on Deanne's ideas. Make sure you check out the blogs of my fellow DT-ers too - you can find them in the right hand column.

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A Lovely Award!

Aww! How cute is this award?! I have been given this fab award from two very talented ladies - Nikki and Sandra. Thanks girls - I really appreciate it :o)

The rules of the award are:

1. The winner can put the logo on her blog.

2. Link the person you received your award from.

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4. Put links of those blogs on yours.

5. Leave a message on the blogs of the girls you’ve nominated.

So, after much deliberating..... I've decided to nominate Aimee, Beth, Dawn, Jenn, Kitty, Mel and Sonja.

I LOVE YOUR BLOGS!

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Friday Sketchers.....Just a Little Bit Late!

I fear that I am a bit late with this one but, hey-ho, here is my take on the Friday Sketchers Sketch from last friday......

For this card, I coloured my new 'Penpal' stamp by Elisabeth Bell with my gorgeous Prismacolors and Sansodor...... can you tell I'm loving them?! After highlighting the girlie with white gel pen, I matted the image on some layered up Basic Grey 'Two Scoops' papers. I've had these papers for months, think they're lovely but struggle to actually use them so I'm really pleased I managed it here! I added 3 pearl brads and a couple of Laura Ashley flowers to embellish the card and finished it all off with a Studio G £1 sentiment stamp. It's a first you know...... not a piece of ribbon or adhesive gem in sight!

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Papertake Weekly Challenge

Morning everyone! Hope you are all well.

I've been a a bit disillusioned the last couple of days as I spent 4 whole days trying to make a decent wedding card for my Mum and Dad's friends. Unfortunately, I had a complete mental block which resulted in a lot of frustration and even more wasted craft stash. The harder I tried, the worse my efforts became. Why on earth did I have so much trouble? I have absolutely no idea. After getting very huffy, I rang my mum and told her she would have to do the unthinkable......she'd have to BUY a card. I know. It was awful ;o)

After all of this, my spirits were rallied somewhat when my new Prismacolors arrived! Woohoo! I got a brand new set of 48 for £12.50 from ebay - what a bargain?! Even better, I had super quick delivery too. I ordered last Thursday and they arrived from the States on Tuesday morning. I was very chuffed.

So..... once the arrival of the Prisma's cheered me up, I decided to get back into the swing of things and make a card. To help with the inspiration side of things, I nipped over to Papertake Weekly and was very happy to see they had a fab sketch from Katharina. So, here is my effort!

I used a combination of Bazzill and Papermania cardstock, coupled with my gorgeous new Basic Grey 'Cupcake' paper. The stamp is Elzybells 'Hugs' and is coloured with my lovely new Prismas and Sansodor. I used my new Cuttlebug Embossing folder on the orange panel (thanks Sheila!) and one of my sparkly new Stampin' Up 'Circle of Friendship' stamps which Aimee kindly sent me from the US. I seriously need to invest in a 1 inch circle punch for these little beauties as I am rubbish at cutting circles freehand! I finished the card with a little doodling, some ribbon and adhesive blue gems..... nothing new here then!

P.S. I'd like to say a massive thank you to Nikki for giving me so much help and advice when it came to the Prismacolors, I really appreciate it Nikki! Also, a massive hug is winging it's way to Sheila for sending me some paperstumps AND about a million stamped images! Thank you sooo much! ~x~

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Katharina's AMAZING Blog Candy

Oh my goodness - how lovely (and generous?!) is Katharina?! To celebrate 100,000 hits to her blog, she is offering the following prize....

* The winner of the blog candy give away will get the complete Whiff of Joy 'Guardian Angel Collection' by Elisabeth Bell (4 stamps) for free.

* Whiff of Joy Stamps will host a blog candy give away on the winners blog. You can choose the terms and WoJ will sponsor your blog candy with another complete set of the 'Guardian Angels'.

How utterly incredible is that?! You can enter here. Good luck!

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