Flower Power - The Paper Shelter

Good morning peoples,

Time for a new challenge over at The Paper Shelter, and this week has such a versatile theme, namely, Flower Power.

Surprise, surprise, I opted to go the shabby chic route...

The image is called Grace, and she's so perfect for shabby cards. She's also available in The Chic Bundle, which is so worth getting! It was the first I bought, and I still count them among my favourite images. And so much fun to colour!

So now it's your turn! Come and play with us over at The Paper Shelter, and you could win an amazing $30 gift voucher if you use an image from The Paper Shelter. And if you enter with a different brand image, you can still win three TPS digis of your choice (which you can then use to enter the next challenge, and so be eligible for the $30 voucher!).

Hope you have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

Pretty in pink - Sweet Stampin'

Morning all,

Time for a new challenge over at Sweet Stampin', and this week our theme is Pretty in Pink.

Now I rather like this theme, even if not all my fellow Sweeties agree, lol.

I used a  - big surprise - digi from The Paper Shelter. This one is from my favourite of their bundles. That particular bundle really works well with shabby chic cards, so that's exactly what I made!

Isn't she pretty? One of my (many) favourites so far.

That's it from me this week... Over to you guys. Don't forget to go take a peek at all the pretty pinkness over on the blog!

Have a fantabulous weekend!

Sammy-x

I definitely want to take this over to go play at The Paper Shelter, with their Face it! challenge. because her face is the prettiest of all!

I'd also like to play along with A Gem of a challenge's anything goes theme, and at the
Polkadoodles Craft challenge where it is also anything goes.

Get ready for Easter/Spring - Sweet Stampin'

Morning all,

This week we're asking you to get ready for Easter or Spring over at Sweet Stampin'.

As I don't really celebrate Easter and have no-one to send Easter cards to, I decided to go with the spring option, and what says spring more than flowers, right?

Of course, roses aren't exactly a spring flower (or so I've been told... My thumbs tend to be every colour but green!), but the sweetheart blossoms look like they belong on a tree in springtime, no?

The pretty papers and image are from Lemoncraft, and the sentiment is LotV.

Well, that's mine, but don't forget to go see what my fellow Sweeties have been up to over on the blog. And of course, we'd love to have you play along with us!

Have a fantabulous weekend!

Sammy-x

Flowers - Sweet Stampin'

Morning all,

Another week, another challenge at Sweet Stampin' and this week we're looking for flowers (I'm expecting LOTS of entries for this one, lol).

I considered going the shabby route for this, but figured I'd do something completely different (for me) and made this instead:

I watercoloured a Stamp n' Stor vase stamp, die-cut a stem, and added a Prima flower. A simple sentiment and some Enamel Accents to finish it off...

I was going to use actual stitching on the border, but have misplaced my mini sewing machine! lol.

Over to you guys,

Have a fantabulous weekend!

Sammy-x

Happy Birthday Sweet Stampin'!!

Good morning all,

It's Saturday, and a very special one at that, because Sweet Stampin' is officially 7 years old!
Now it may not be team Susan's week, but I for one wanted to join in with team Abi anyway to mark the occasion. Unsurprisingly, the theme is birthdays, which means it's a super easy one and you have no excuse not to come celebrate with us!

I was asked to make a 80th birthday card, which was perfect timing for this week's theme.

There were some pretty specific requests for this card, but I managed to get just about all of it in there (except for something to do with "cruises. That part had me stumped, lol). both the lady that commissioned it and the recipient were very pleased, which is always a huge relief!

Well, that's it from me. Please do go see what my fellow Sweeties have been up to. There's some fantastic inspiration waiting for you!

Have an awesomesauce day, and spare a thought for poor little old me, who will likely be slogging through the snow to work as you read this. Is it nearly summer yet? ;-)

Sammy-x

Wedding/Anniversary/Love- Sweet Stampin'

Morning all!

And here we are, rolling around to Saturday once again. This of course means a new challenge over at Sweet Stampin', and the theme this week is wedding/anniversary/love.

Now, this would have been the perfect excuse to make hubby an anniversary card for later this month, but I am organised for once and made it ages ago already, lol.

So I took the opportunity instead to have a play with a new paper pad I picked up recently, and also an as yet un-inked LOTV stamp to make this shabby chic wedding card:

The sentiment is also LOTV, and the flowers are of course from WoC. The rose ribbon is from the Ribbon Girl, and I think it may need to be a compulsory addition to all wedding cards from now on, lol.

I really enjoyed letting my girly side out to play for this...

And now it's your turn. come play with us!

Have a fantabulous day! And if you happen to find yourself in the Holt Park area of Leeds this morning, I'm having a massive book sale at the shop this morning... Had so many donations in recently, I need to shift some because we're out of room! lol.

Sammy-x

Sunflowers

Hi all,

I do love it when I am inspired, and just so happen to have what I need sitting on my desk!

The inspiration came in the form of the current As you like it challenge, which is to use your favourite flower. It just so happens that I picked up a set of absolutely gorgeous Inkylicious sunflower stamps at the craft fair I was at on Saturday.
As soon as I saw them, they dropped straight into the basket. Sunflowers are my favourite, because they just make me so happy to look at. I love the warm colours, and this trio was such a joy to colour. Sooooo relaxing!

The background was one I already had on my desk too... I was playing about with the distress stain marbling effect a few weeks ago, but this one didn't come out the way I wanted for what I was working on at the time. I did like the background though, so kept it aside, and it just worked perfectly with my sunflowers!

Also, one of these days I'll learn how to put sentiments on straight! lol.

I'm still debating whether to make this a gift tag, or to mount it on a card. I have the feeling it would look pretty cool on a black card base...

ETA:
I went ahead and added it to a black base. I'm rather pleased with it! I think the contrast really makes it pop.

That's it from me for now, running off to join in with As you like it! :-)

Don't forget to enter my candy! And have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

Vintage or shabby chic

Good morning folks!

Sorry about my tardiness this morning... My brain seems to think we're a day behind. Good thing I figured it out before I'm due at work!

The challenge starting over at Sweet Stampin' this morning is Vintage or shabby chic. Just my kind of thing!
I did intend to make one of each, but time ran away from me, so I'm afraid you'll have to make do with this shabby chic creation:

The stamp is from Sweet Pea Stamps, and I coloured her to match the gorgeous Kaisercraft Fairydust papers.
As I'm wont to do, I highlighted certain parts of the image with my Sakura stardust pen, which of course is refusing to show in the photo. You'll just have to take my word for it that the dragnflies are shimmery and sparkly, honest!

And that's my shabby chic creation. I hope you'll come and play along this week!

Right, must dash off to work.
Have a great one!

Sammy-x

Flowers - Sweet Stampin' DT

Goooood morning ladies and gents,

New challenge time at Sweet Stampin' today! The theme is a super easy one... Flowers.

I decided to go with an image containing flowers, floral papers and flower embellishments too!

Image and papers are both LOTV, as is the sentiment.

Do come and play along this week. I know you all have something floral in your stash, so break it out and come play with us!

Have an excellent weekend!

Sammy-x

Sunflower

Hi all,

I thought I'd pop in with a make I just finished (and I mean just... The glue isn't dry yet!), which was inspired by the current challenge over at As You Like It.
The theme is "Your favourite flower", and as soon as I saw Sarah's gorgeous card (because I am totally with her on the sunflowers), I knew I wanted to squeeze in a little time to play along.

I also happened to have a piece of card on my desk, which I had used to swipe up some leftover Distress paints from my craft sheet a little while ago, which I figured would make a lovely background for something. As the colours were yellow, green and purple, I figured this was it!

So I got to work, and mounted everything on a piece of thin wood that will be the front of a mini album one day. This is what I ended up with:

I really had some fun with my distress inks, stains and paints. I did originally have different, more realistic, leaves on there, but I decided that I didn't like them, so changed them for some of the tattered leaves I cut with the Sizzix dies instead.

It's quite funny how sunflowers have come to be my favourites, because before I started crafting, I hated them! I think the G45 French Country papers are to blame. That pad was so gorgeous I just fell in love with them. Now I just love to have sunflowers around me whenever possible. They bring a touch of warmth to the day, and frankly... Here in Leeds we need all the warmth we can get!

Anyways, that be my contribution to the challenge. I just love that even when Mr Mojo is doing his best to hide, AYLI can usually kickstart the creativity. Nothing like being encouraged to play around with your favourite things, I guess.

Right, I must be getting ready to go to choir practice, but I shall do some visiting tomorrow.

Have a fantabulous one!

Sammy-x

Floral inspiration for Buckwells Crafty Challenge

Hi all,

It's been a crazy few weeks for me, so I hope you'll forgive me for being MIA. My parents were visiting before, and this last weekend I was at the Country 2 Country festival in London, which was beyond awesome!!
And yesterday my wisdom teeth were finally removed. Those of you that have been around here a while might remember that I first started suffering in February last year. It's taken our wonderful national health service until now to actually do something about it! What can I say; You get what you pay for!
But it's finally done now, and you have no idea how relieved I am!

Now then, on to the reason I'm here this morning... my mid-month inspiration for Buckwells Crafty Challenge! The theme this month is flowers, which is a nice easy one for most of us, so I hope you'll come play along!

I used the digi "Dani" from our sponsor A Lil Digi Heaven, and teamed her up with some pretty floral papers.
And this was the result:

I hope you'll all come and play this month!

Please bear with me for a few more days while I get myself back on my feet so to speak (and can start eating solid food again, lol), and I shall come visit you all soon.

Have a great day,

Sammy-x

Favourites of 2013

Hi all,

We got back from Scotland last night. We had a lovely Christmas, really enjoyed seeing my family and had a relatively straight-forward trip home (except for being stuck at the top of Glen Shee for an hour and a half!). I know I'm woefully behind on all things blogland (sadly, I didn't get much chance to log in while I was there), but I hope you'll all forgive me!

I also hope you've all been having a wonderful holiday! And if Santa's been, I hope he's been good to you!

Now, I fancied doing a post today, but as I've only just returned, I've obviously not had a chance to do any crafting yet... (My post earlier was a scheduled one, which just isn't the same!)  However, while browsing blogland, I found that both Kath and Enfys had done a "review of 2013"-type post, and I thought this was a great idea!
I guess for me it was especially interesting to see  how my style and techniques have changed during this time. I only began card making in the summer of 2012, and didn't start my blog until July this year. August saw me start stamping, and the rest, as they say, is history.

So, here's a review of some of my favourites of each month, near as I can tell. And as you can see, it's not just the card making that has improved somewhat... The photography is also substantially better now! lol.

January:

At least, I think it was January when I made this. It is part of a set of 4 I made after seeing a very similar design in a magazine. They were rather a lot of fun to make, and a great way to use up scraps!
Hmmmm... I may well try this again now that I have a die cutting machine and don't have to cut them all by hand!

February

My favourite from this month was my first ever attempt at steampunk. Even though I don't make them all that often, I have a huge weakness for steampunk designs.

March

Another steampunk design for March. Most of the supplies from this and the previous card came from a Docrafts goodie bag!

April

For April I chose the card I made for my twin nieces. They turned three and are very much in that age bracket where anything princessy is a go!

May

For May, I have a travel-themed card. I adore making cards with this theme, though I don't actually know anyone that ever goes anywhere, lol.

June

June's card is my husband's birthday card, and another steampunk one. It was also my first attempt at a different type of easel card.

July

July. Shortly after my first ever visit to the LOTV shop! I wasn't yet brave enough to get any stamps, but I instantly fell in love with the colours of this mini masterpiece, so naturally had to make something with it! It's also one of my earliest attempts at the shabby chic style.
My blog had been active for a week or two at this point...

August

One of my first ever LOTV stamps! This may not have been the very best of my cards that month, but I so adore the nautical theme! It is also one of the very first cards with a stamp I coloured myself!

September

My favourite card of September, and my favourite Christmas card to date! This one ended up going to my son's 1-1 teacher, who is a huge fan of pink, and I'm so glad she loved it!

October

Not a card, but my first ever mini album was definitely my favourite project of October!

And this would be my favourite card. I am so pleased with how it came out. The colours and the hessian... Loved making this one!

November

I had trouble choosing November's favourites, so chose a boy's and a girl's one!

December

And for December it has to be the first real commission I'd worked on. It has my favourite vintage feel, and is the first time I really feel like I might just be getting the hang of this shabby chic thing!

So there you have it! Sorry about the long post... I was going to split it into two posts, but I got carried away, lol.

If you've posted up any "favourites", please let me know so I can come and see!

Have a great day my dears!

Sammy-x

Operation Tidy craft space...

Hi all,

Don't forget to enter my candy here

I've not been around much these past couple of days, as I've been busy trying to organise my desk (and floor! lol) in order to be able to make cards with less hassle trying to find stuff! I'm not getting anywhere fast, but hey... Had loads of fun organising all my ribbons today :-)

Anyways, I have a card.

I'm thinking it's all fairly self-explanatory... The pearls (originally white from Hobby House) were coloured with a Promarker to match, and the wings, centres of all the flowers and the butterflies on the sentiment are all covered in Stardust Stickles. It's actually super sparkly! Shame the photo hasn't picked it up :-( 

The edges of the paper and card have been inked with Walnut Stain distress ink.

Recipe:

Image - "Summer Garden Angel" - LOTV
Medium - Promarkers
Paper - "Bear necessities" - LOTV
Sentiment - LOTV


I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

The Ribbon Girl - Lovely Lili - add sparkle
AUD sentiments - Feminine
I love Promarkers - All that glitters
The Hobby House - Pearls
Brown Sugar challenge - Anything goes
Totally Papercrafts - Use glitter
Delightful challenges - All that glitters
Hobbycutz - Glitter and sparkle
Penny Black and more - Anything goes

Hope everyone is fantabulous today!

Be excellent to each other!

Sammy-x

Crafting with Dragonflies challenge #14

Hello all,

I'm scheduling this post and fingers crossed it will do as it's told...

It's time for the next challenge at Crafting with Dragonflies, and this fortnight we'd like you to make your own flower embellishments!

Our  sponsor is

And they will provide the winner with two digis of their choice.

I have to admit I found this one tricky... I ended up making three cards before I settled on this one. However, it's an incentive, as I am now determined to learn how to make lots of different flowers!

Anyway, here is my card

The petals were cut from pearlised card and arranged with the image on top to hide the joins. I fancied doing a black and white, but wanted a pop of colour too, so out came the turquoise Promarker. The ribbon and card candi were both coloured with the same pen.

Recipe:

Image - "Present Trio" - LOTV
Medium - Promarkers
Paper - Brocade paperstack - Make and Create
Card Candi
Black and white card, ribbon from stash
Sentiment - Jayne Nestorenko

Now it's your turn! Make us some flowers. They don't have to end up on a card (in fact, I just remembered seeing a pin with a tutorial for gorgeous huge tissue paper flowers... must go dig that out and give it a try!), unless you want them to. mostly, I just want to see what you all come up with so I can steal your ideas appreciate your creativeness!
Don't forget to check out the rest of the Dragonfly DT team's creations. Trust me, there's some beauties.

Much love,

Sammy-x
(who should, all things going according to plan, be fast asleep in bed as it's the wee hours of the morning!)

Floral...

Hi all, sorry if I've been a little quiet. I've been very busy crafting and hubby's been working from home since Thursday, so very little peace to get on with blogging! lol.

I was super lucky to win one of Marianne's birthday candies the other week, and she sent me a LOTV floral sketch pad. How perfect is that! Thank you again Marianne, I love it!

So without further ado, my first card made with said gorgeous pad.

I chose the purple/turquoise colour combination, as we'd been out shopping on Friday, and as we were walking through Wilkinsons, I saw a basket full of purple and turquoise pillows, and all I could think was "I love those two colours together!"
I added a bit of a rustic feel by giving the (milk?) container the flowers are in a brownish tint, and throwing in some gorgeous burlap ribbon I also found in Wilkinsons (in the Christmas wrapping isle...), as well as the obligatory distressing of course :-)
I had the perfect little satin bow to add, but of course I wanted to add some ribbon too and didn't have any in the right colour... Promarkers to the rescue! One strip of white satin ribbon + one turquoise Promarker (same colour that's used on the image) = turquoise ribbon! :-D

And a peek at the inside:

So there you have it, first card with the sketch pad. The card the images are printed on is insanely smooth! Just gorgeous!

Recipe:

Image - LOTV sketch pad 
Medium - Promarkers
Paper - Papermania "Enchanted" and Fizzy Moon
Sentiment - LOTV
Flowers are from The Works
White and Kraft card, ribbon and bow from stash.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Bearly Mine challenges - Anything goes
Crafty Ribbons - Anything goes with ribbon
The Crafting Cafe - anything goes 
Challenges 4 everybody - Anything goes
Allsorts Challenge - Ribbons and bows
Cards Galore - Flowers


Have an awesomesauce day everyone!

Sammy-x