Sunday 27 March 2016

AAA Cards Challenge #61

Hello Friends and a very Happy Easter to you.
Hope you have a wonderful day and go easy on those eggs eh!
I'm hoping Mr Blogger has worked a treat here at scheduling my post
so fingers crossed you are seeing the latest challenge details for 
AAA Cards CAS Challenges 
at the right time!
We are looking for stenciling for this one and I've ended up 
making 2 cards although I'm not entirely happy with either!
A couple of last minute Easter cards, firstly using a stencil from 
 Memory Box, inked through with my favourite distress inks.
Having finished the inky blending process I flicked and spritzed some perfect 
pearls onto the stenciled panel before slicing into 4 sections for added detail. 
The 'sending' word die is from Simon Says Stamp, with the Easter Wishes from 
Uniko. I thought the pinked circle of vellum (from Paper Smooches) gave a broken 
egg 'feel' ... yeah??? To finish a few enamel dots and gems.


This one uses the STAMPlorations Bubble Stencil, again inked with distress inks 
and once finished I went over the area again with the same inks to cover the white 
areas but still maintain the stenciled look. Another spritzing of water and perfect pearls. 
A strip of glitter paper breaks the 2 halves of the design although I feel it's too stark. 
The eggs and sentiment are from Clearly Besotted - In Stitches II with the eggs 
heat-embossed and coloured using more Distress ink. 

There's more inspiration from my fellow teamies HERE so please
head across and follow the links to their blogs as I'm sure they'd love 
a visit. Thanks as always for stopping by and I'll be back soon.

Sarah

Saturday 26 March 2016

Less is More #269

Morning friends, it's that time again ... yes another challenge over at
Less is More and we are back around to recipe week so we'd like to see
Polka Dots on your cards for this one!

I've had a crazy week, in fact, both this one and last with helping my parents
move to a new home. They've wanted to down-size for some years now
and the the right property came onto the market recently. So after 40+ years
in the old family home they've moved to a small bungalow. Still lots to do
but once everything is cleaned and decorated it'll be perfect for them. 
 

I've just the one card for this week but hope to do better next time!


Having received this gorgeous new Doodled Flowers set from 
Happy Little Stampers I had to play with it. I've kept it quite 
'neutral' so as not to deter too much from my polka dot BG but at 
the same time showcase these stunning blooms - I hope. 

Kylie of Happy Little Stampers is our generous sponsor for this month
 and I'm linking this one up at Happy Little Stampers - Anything Goes


I hope you enjoy the Easter weekend whatever you are doing and
hopefully you'll find a little playtime with your crafty stash and join this 
challenge. Can't wait to see what you make of it.

My fellow teamies have worked their magic too so please pay them
a visit - the links are on the main blog HERE and we've another 
fantastic Guest Designer with us: Kay Wallace - ArtJournaling.
I'm sure she'd be thrilled to receive lots of LIMette love this week.

Thanks for stopping by and I'll catch up again soon.


Sarah

Friday 25 March 2016

Uniko Challenge #30 Reminder


Hi there friends it's time for a little reminder about this month's 
Uniko Challenge which runs until Friday, 8th April.

The theme is Spring / Easter and I've a colourful floral bouquet
for you today using some of the blooms from the Flower Power series
plus a sentiment from the Fontiments set which is sadly discontinued now.


Our guest designer for this challenge is Cornelia of Fun Stamping,
I'm sure you'll have come across her awesome talent around Blogland
but if not please pop along and leave some love!

All the details you need about prizes and links to my fellow teamies' blogs
are over on the main Uniko blog HERE and I hope you'll feel inspired to 
join and play along with this challenge.

Over at Timeout Challenges this week they are CASing their 
Guest Designer, Marjan, with this stunning floral beauty.
Once again I love the florals and they are always my go-to sets
so thought I'd play along again their with this one.


Thanks as always for stopping by and I'll be back tomorrow with
the latest challenge details for Less is More.

Sarah

Wednesday 23 March 2016

Just for the fun of it ...


Morning friends I'm here to play along with a couple of challenges
and at the same time I couldn't wait to crack open this brand new set
from Happy Little Stampers, which I received at the end of last week!!!

I've been busy helping my parents move house so my crafting really has
been non-existent but I found a teeny play time slot and had to work with this 
newly released and gorgeous Doodled Flowers set.


On a piece of watercolour card stock I stamped, masked and heat-embossed 
the images from the set before watercolouring with Distress Inks.
I've no idea why I selected these colours but they are vibrant and some of 
my favourites: Peacock Feathers, Wild Honey and Abandoned Coral; Oh and
a touch of Spiced Marmalade to accent the centres and details. The sentiment
is from the same set and I've edged the panel using a homespun die from
My Favourite Things ... just because it's my new favourite die!!! 

I'd like to link this one up at a few challenges:

Happy Little Stampers - Anything Goes (using their products)
Of course I had to stop there!



Addicted to Stamps & More - Anything Goes



Timeout Challenges - CASE the Guest Designer with your own twist.
So I was inspired by the floral images which are so delicately watercoloured
and that was my starting point but I've twisted it with vibrant colours. I'm hoping
my dotty blooms will represent the dotty panels on Marjan's card, below. 



Thanks for calling by to visit today and I'll be back
with a few more posts later in the week!

Off to catch up on your creations now!

Sarah

Saturday 19 March 2016

Less is More #268

Morning friends it's time to announce this week's challenge at 
Less is More and it's THEME week! 

We'd like you to create a card
using inspiration from 'What's Outside Your Window'
(you can use your imagination / dreams on this if you wish)

We've also got another guest designer with us this week; Lou from
A Devon Kitchen Table and I'm sure she'd love you to pay a visit to her blog!

So here's my cards and I've tried to go with what IS outside my window!


First up we have a lot of trellis with climbing plants in our garden
and I've tried to create the trellis using a grid stencil from My Favourite Things.
The blooms in real life are Clematis but these ones are from the 
Altenew Vintage Flower set with a sentiment from Mama Elephant: Make a Wish



Next up I wanted a monochromatic look and although my house isn't 
Lakeland stone I've used another My Favourite Things stencil to 
create a 'brick-effect' wall with a window die from Clearly Besotted.
The birds and tree stamps are from Card-io Majestix and judging by
the racket these birds seem to make outside my bedroom window at 
all hours I think there must be more than three!


Thanks as always for stopping by and I hope you'll visit my fellow
teammates' blogs to see what they've been up to for inspiration.
Have a great week and catch up soon.
Sarah

Addicted to CAS #84


Hello again friends, it's time to announce our latest challenge over at

Addicted to CAS

Our host for this one is Sweet Kobylkin and she's chosen 



Now to make this card I was so lucky to receive some happy mail
from a lovely A* talented crafter, Joyce of Cards-By-The-Sea who kindly
sent me some PTI die-cuts just because she's jolly generous and kind.
Sadly it's not easy to obtain PTI in the UK and having commented on one
of Joyce's cards using this same Peony die she popped some over the pond to me!
So I've been waiting for an opportunity to use it as I didn't want to waste anything.
What better occasion than the 'delicate' challenge this week - being a super 
delicate die-cut and I've coloured it using distress inks in delicate tones too.


Our wonderful sponsor for this challenge is Happy Little Stampers

 
with a $15 gift certificate to our lucky winner!

There's more inspiration from my fellow teamies over on the main blog
and I hope you'll find time to play along with us plus we've one super-talented
guest designer with us for this challenge ... TaeEun of Rainbow in November.

If you haven't visited her blog before you are seriously missing a trick. 
I'm sure she'd love a little friendly comment if you have the time!

Have fun and thanks so much for calling by!
Sarah

Friday 18 March 2016

Uniko Challenge #30


Hello there friend, it's time for a new challenge at Uniko and 
being a couple of days before the official start of springtime
... our theme is Spring / Easter

You have until Friday, 8th April to get your creations in
so plenty of time and here's my card.



My card is rather blue but my inspiration behind it is the clearer skys and 
lighter nights (in the UK) along with some floral delights in the garden!

I started out by heat embossing the outline florals from Beautiful Blooms II
in white Hero Arts EP then blending distress inks in Tumbled Glass, 
Broken China and Peacock Feathers, keeping the darker shades to the edges.
Having bleached the distress ink from the petals with clear water,
I've used an Altenew ink to add the next layer to the flowers, added a sentiment 
circle, die-cut from Simon Says Stamp: Stitched Circle Dies, 'Hello' from the 
All Occasion Sentiments collection and 'Spring' from Some Bunny.
To finish some coordinating sequins from my stash!

I hope you feel inspired to play along and don't forget to head
across to the main blog HERE where my fellow teamies have some
awesome creations to put you in that springtime mood!


Plus and a huge big drum-roll too we have a more AMAZING inspiration
for this challenge from the totally wonderful Cornelia of fun-stamping
If you've never visited Cornelia's blog you have been misisng a massive
explosion of talent, technique and inspiration! I do hope you'll stop by
and leave here some love.

Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back tomorrow with a new
challenge from Less is More so hope to see you then!

Sarah

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Just an Ink and a Muse Combo!


Hello friends I've a quick post today to share my card that I'd like to
link up at Inkspirational; where it's pink and grey. Plus my buddy, Anita
is the Muse this week and I simply couldn't resist 'casing / musing' her card!


I've gone with a subtle silvery/grey ink for my sentiment and blooms
rather than black as Anita did and I've flicked Hickory Smoke Distress Ink
and Picked Raspberry to my panel after a bit of inky blending with 
Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick and Picked Raspberry. The blooms are the new 
WPlus9 Ranuculus set and the sentiment is Clearly Besotted. To finish I 
just can't help myself with those pearls and gems!

Here's Anita's Muse card






Thanks for stopping by today and hope you feel inspired to play along
at these challenges. I'm off to see what you have been creating this week
and catch up on some comments! Looking forward to the final episode of 
Happy Valley later although I may have to watch it from behind a pillow!!!


Sarah

Monday 14 March 2016

First Destash!


Hi Crafty friends, I don't have a card to share with you today
but I've added a new page to the blog ... fingers crossed it works!
I'm having a sale of pre-loved stash HERE so hope you'll pop 
across and see if there's anything that takes your fancy!
Please email me with any questions and hope you enjoy the shop!

Sarah

Sunday 13 March 2016

Sunday post for Simon Says Stamp!


Hello there friends, I've not much to show you for a weekend of crafting ...
well not yet anyway! There's plenty in the pipeline but I've a little 
'green' card to share with you that I'd like to enter over at this week's
Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where it's 'A Bit O' Green!'

I'm slightly kicking myself and beating my head against the wall here
 as I have a craft room full to bursting of Clearly Besotted Products 
(being featured this week at SSS - Wednesday and I've not even used them!)
Sorry ladies hope you'll accept these gorgeous Doodle Buds from WPlus9 instead!

My inspiration for this card came from Nina-Marie HERE having watched
her superb video this week so here's my take on it.


Having inked up the blooms radomly using various 'green' shades of
Memento ink I've coated them in clear sparkle embossing powder and
heat set them. I've used my new favourite 'homespun' dies from MFT Die-Namics
and the sentiment is from the same WPlus9 set. To finish some green metallic
twine and sequiens from my stash.

I even made 2 cards using one panel of stamping but I think I prefer the 
white one on camera! IRL maybe the green one is more dramatic!



Hope you like these designs and thanks so much for calling by today.
Have a good week!


Simon Wednesday Challenge Blog

Sarah

AAA Cards Challenge #60


Hello friends, are you ready for a new challenge from AAA Cards?
This one is all about Easter and in case you need a little clue
as to the types of things we'd like to see, our photo inspiration is 
just beneath my card!


I couldn't resist being inspired by Michele Ferguson's card over at MUSE this 
week HERE and decided to create this card 'case-ing' her design and to play along there 
of course! I started out by masking the upper section of the card base with masking tape 
followed by a little inky blending using distress inks in Mustard Seed and Squeezed Lemonade. 
I've 'cracked' open a new from Clearly Besotted: Cool Chicks which I'm in love with - 
especially the mini shades stamp and faces! I've also added a few white spots to
their bellies! The 'happy' die-cut is from Hero Arts and 'Easter' from Uniko: Some Bunny!

Just to help you out more with inspiration here's our photo inspiration 


... and here's Michele's MUSE card

http://icardeveryone.blogspot.com/2016/03/muse-card-club-challenge-156.html
Our sponsor for this challenge is 
Picture
with a prize of a $20 gift certificate
As always my fellow teamies have created some fantastic designs 
so please head over to the main AAA Cards blog for all the details.
I hope you feel inspired to play along and can't wait to see your creations!
Thanks as always for calling by and I'll catch up again soon.
Sarah

Saturday 12 March 2016

Less is More #267

Hello there crafty friends it's that time again ... Saturday morning
and a new challenge is brewing over at Less is More!

Guess what though ... it's that dreaded ONE LAYER week too and our theme is
 'The sentiment takes centre stage' or the main focus of your card. 

My teamies have worked their little socks off so please pay them a visit and 
leave some friendly feedback plus we have a guest designer for this week, Irina
and her card an details are over on the main blog ...

but before you head off here's my cards ...


The focus here is 'Fabulous Friend' sentiment from Uniko: All Occasion Sentiments #3
which is inked in chalk inks then heat-embossed with Hero Arts Clear Sparkle EP.
The flowers are also Uniko: Flower Power #5 and Background Builders Vines.
To finish there's a delicate Homespun Stitched edge from MFT Die-namics along the base.


For this one I received a surprise happy letter from my super duper blog buddy
Sandie of London Days having swooned over some of her fabulous die-cuts
a few weeks ago. So she sent me the negative splatter die-cut which I've used here 
as a stencil with more chalk inks and some silver Encore pigment ink. I'f I'm honest
I'm struggling with what to do with the die-cut now but it's in my stash when I have
a light-bulb moment!!!! The sentiment is from Mama Elephant and I've added some 
sparkly sequins and extra stars from the sentiment set for added interest.


Last but not least I'm a little worried that there's a lack of white space on 
this one but I specifically bought this sweetie set from Avery Elle for this 
challenge and because I couldn't resist the images. Then as luck would have it
I went to a Sincerely Yours craft fair a few weeks ago and came across
Honey Doo Crafts for the first time and couldn't leave without buying this 
sentiment ... not that I keep my jelly and licorice sweeties in the fridge!

The images are coloured using zig clear brush pens and coated with wink 
of stella and glossy accents unless they are matt sweeties like the love hearts!

EDIT: Thanks to Sharon, my fellow LIM teamie for suggesting I link this one up at
CASology where the theme is 'laugh' this week! Now why didn't I think of that!!!




Ok I'm handing over to you talented LIMettes and can't wait to see your creations 
this week. Thanks as always for stopping by and have some one layer fun!



Sarah

Friday 11 March 2016

Uniko Revisit Pure Florals: Cosmos


Hi there friends it's time to dust off and revisit a previously released
Uniko stamp set and this month Bev has chosen the 

Pure Florals: Cosmos set

Here's my card and I've teamed it with the recently released
Some Bunny set to make another Easter card.


Here's the image of the set and you'll see the flowers are
simply awesome and great for adding colour with all sorts of mediums



Just to show that you can use the images without colouring here's another 
card as I'm slightly addicted to removing watercolour pigment with clear water!


To add a little interest to the card base I've stamped the outline flower around
the edges. The 'inner' panel is coloured using distress inks then more outline images
added just at the base. I've added water to the petals of each of the blooms with a 
paint brush to remove the colour ever so slightly and added a sentiment from 
Paradise Humming Bird with a few sequins from my stash.

As usual there's more gorgeous creations by my fellow teamies over on the Uniko blog 
HERE plus details of the blog hop and how to win the set plus a £10 eGift Certificate.
 Good luck and have fun!


Sarah

Sunday 6 March 2016

A Happy Mothers' Day Trio!


Hello there and I'm a bit late in the day for this but 
Happy Mothers' Day to all those mums out there who are celebrating!

I've managed to dodge the kitchen (well almost) today so got a
little crafty time in and I've a trio to share with you!

First up it's another one for Darnell's NBUS #6 challenge plus
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Touchy Feely!


Here I've used another NBUS set - this time from Altenew: Magnolias For Her.
I started out by blending distress inks onto the top corner of the card, fading it out 
before spritzing a little water for some added interest. The magnolias are heat-embossed
 onto vellum then coloured using my Derwent Coloursoft pencils. 
The sentiment is from Clearly Besotted: Say it In Style and to finish sparkly sequins
 from Pretty Pink Posh just because I love them!

Never-Before-Used-Schtuff (Stamps, Dies, EFs, etc.)

I'm hoping the raised vellum blooms, sequins and 'feel' better sentiment will
work over at Simon Says Stamp! 

Simon Wednesday Challenge Blog


Next up I've gone all Geometric which means I'd like to add this
over at Inkspirational - in fact the last card is also on a geometric 
spectrum but I think I prefer this one - don't you?


I started out doing more inky blending in an ombre style using distress inks 
in Blueprint Sketch, Mermaid Lagoon, Salty Ocean and Broken China.
Once I was happy with the blending I used a bokeh stencil from Simon Says Stamp
and re-inked in the various colours through the circles. A little spritz of perfect pearls
with water just because I can't stop myself then I decided to slice the panel
into 3 triangles for added effect! Just another geometric shape eh!
To finish a heat-embossed sentiment from Uniko: Simply Said Birthday plus
some Doodlebug Sprinkles and silver pearls from my stash.




Last up and I can admit I've gone crazy over Faux Mother of Pearl and
I've so many bits and pieces of various colours that I'll never 
manage to use them all - BUT it's such fun playing isn't it!


So this one is heading across to Happy Little Stampers - CAS Challenge
and having created my Faux Mother of Pearl Panel with Liquid Pearls
and Distress inks I've sliced it into squares using the MFT Die-namics
stitched square dies. A bold 'thanks' sentiment which is die-cut 3 times
from WPlus9 and some sequins from Lucy Abrams to finish it off.


Ok that's all for me this weekend and it's work tomorrow so think I 
should be making a move to bed soon! 

Thanks for calling by and I'll catch up with you again soon.



Sarah