Last minute Christmas cards - Sweet Stampin'

Morning all,

New challenge time over at Sweet Stampin', and this time it's a two week challenge as the DT get a little time off during December. The theme this week is Anything Christmas/last minute cards.

Now I've only just started on my cards for this year (!), so quick and easy is definitely the way to go. So I decided on a design, and started churning them out over the past couple of weeks.

The design is like so:

I've made about 20 pairs of cards this way (and have gone through a terrifying amount of black card and double-sided tape!), which has at least helped me make a little dent in the ridiculous amount of Christmas charms I own...

The stamp set used is a really fab set of mini stamps from LotV, which are just perfect for doing a blackboard technique with. I just stamped a whole load of them onto a sheet of card with embossing ink, added white embossing powder and embossed them all in one go. Super quick to do it that way, though you do have to work quickly before the ink dries!
I then cut the card and paper, and stuck everything down in batches of two. It'll work with most papers, but I find the traditional red and greens look best.

Of course, after making so many of these, I don't ever want to make another again! lol.

Now it's over to you guys. You know you've forgotten a card or two (or like me, have barely even started), so this is a perfect time for you to have a play and join us for the challenge.

Have a fantabulous day,

Sammy-x

December challenge - Rhedd's Creative Spirit

Morning all,

Eek! It's December (and I've not even started my Christmas cards yet!) and therefore time for an extra long two-month challenge over at Rhedd's Creative Spirit, as the DT gets some time off for good behaviour over Christmas.

This month I took a lovely mirrored half-birdcage, and made it a little more festive. I purposefully stayed away from anything too overtly Christmassy, so it can be used as a year-round decoration too.

Tell you what though... with the mirrored back it was nigh impossible to photograph. I ended up having to use hubby and some sheets of white card to stop reflections from confusing the picture.

And now it's over to you guys. Come and play with us, we'd love to see what you make!

Have a fantabulous weekend!

Sammy-x

December challenge - altered Eclectics

Hello all,

December already, and it's dreary and miserable out. Which is why I decided my DT inspiration for Altered Eclectics this month should be bright and colourful!

I recently did a fantastic workshop organised by Art Workshops with the fabulous Marlene Meijer-van Niekerk. While the second day was pretty much my usual fare - a selection of tags - the first day pretty much had me quaking in my boots. The workshop was called Funky Faces, and we were required to draw!

Anyone who knows me is well aware that I don't, can't, draw. I don't draw, doodle or otherwise create an image from nothing without stamps and ink!

Imagine my horror when we were handed a huge board to work on and were told we were doing just that!

But after a few false starts, I managed to get the basics down, and after that it was playing with colours (and Marlene's gorgeous papers!), colours and more colours.

And this was the result:

And just so you get an idea of the terrifying scale, this is the same picture with a standard Promarker lying in front...

Considering I never believed I'd even  get past the first step, I am so very pleased I managed to actually complete this! And it is quite possibly the most colourful thing I've ever made!

Right then, it's over to you. Let us see your fabulous makes (colourful or otherwise). You have two months to play along this time, as we take some time off over Christmas.

Be back shortly!

Sammy-x

Whatever the weather - Sweet Stampin'

Morning all,

Back to my regular week at Sweet Stampin', and this week we've got a fun new theme... Whatever the weather

I decided to grab a MilkCoffee digi, and make a card with some typical British weather on it...

Looks just like it does outside. minus the giant toadstool, lol.

Over to you guys now, I hope you'll come and play with us today.

Have an awesomesauce weekend!

Sammy-x

Sparkle and glitz - Happy birthday to Sweet Stampin'!

Hello all,

I know it's not my week, but I'm butting in on Team Abi's week as well, as it's Sweet Stampin's 9th birthday! How impressive is that?!

So I had to celebrate along with the rest of the Sweeties of course, and I made this card to go along with out Sparkle and glitz challenge theme.

I played with a Crafter's Companion stamp (not hugely impressed with the quality of the rubber, same as the last one I tried. Is that a problem with Crafter's companion, or am I just super unlucky?), and some gorgeous Maja Designs papers.

And I promise there is sparkle!

Now I hope you're in a celebratory mood, and will come and join us in celebrating 9 years of staming and fun!

Have a fantabulous weekend!

Sammy-x

white-on-white - Sweet Stampin'

Morning all,

Time for another challenge over at Sweet Stampin', and today's challenge is one that so many of you are so good at, but strikes fear into my heart at the mere thought... White-on-white.

I went for a simple embossed background, and embossed butterfly on a plain square, finished off with a LotV sentiment stamped in grey, rather than black. I tried both, and the subtleness of the grey fit so much better than the stark black.

Now it's over to you! W-o-W cards can be so very beautiful, so I can't wait to see what you're all going to share with us!

Have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

November challenge - Altered Eclectics

Hello again!

Post number two today, to let you know we're starting a new challenge over at Altered Eclectics for November.

For my project, I rescued a book cover from work. The inner pages were coming loose, so it was getting thrown away, but the cover itself was a beautifully sturdy one, so I brought it home and turned it into my very first ever junk journal!

I threw literally a bit of everything in there, and used some gorgeous printables from Ephemera's Vintage Garden for the signature covers.

This was so much fun to do, I'm definitely going to have to rescue a few more book covers in the near future!

Now it's your turn. hope you'll come and join in with the fun this month.

Have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

November challenge - Rhedd's Creative Spirit

Morning all,

November already, eek! And I for one am not ready! With both offspring's birthdays coming up still before Christmas, there is so much to do, and no time at all to do it in!

Especially as we decided we wanted to have a steampunk Christmas this year. Which means making a LOT of decorations. So, for my DT project for Rhedd's Creative Spirit this month, I have a handful of decorations ready to go on the tree.

I started with a couple of sparkly white reindeer that I found at work, and decided to give them a steampunk makeover...

I also altered an MDF tree from Fernli designs, and painted a whole heap of gears with metallic paint, which will be going in the tree instead of baubles. (methinks I'm going to need some more!)

Other things that'll be hanging in the tree? Penny farthing charms, lots more MDF christmas shapes, and a couple of real pocket watches!
No tinsel for us, but plenty of gold bead chains.

Well, that's it from me for now, but I'll hope you'll go take a peek at my fellow teamies' creations, and then come and share your altered art/mixed media creations with us!

Be right back!

Sammy-x

Humour - Sweet Stampin'

Morning all,

Time for a new challenge over at Sweet Stampin', and this week we're having a bit of a giggle with our humour theme!

For some reason when I think humour, I always think Bugaboo, so I dug out one of thir digis to have a play with.

Just one paper design in the background seemed more than sufficient, and after colouring with Promarkers, all it needed was some glossy Accents on both the glasses she is wearing, and the ones containing the wine.

I decorated the inside to match too.

Do you have any funny stamps? Maybe a sentiment or two that make you chuckle? dig them out and come play with us this week, as you can never have enough laughs in your life!

Have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

Halloween - Sweet Stampin'

Morning all!

Time for another challenge at Sweet Stampin', and this week we're looking for your Halloween creations.

I went for something a little different this time, and made a set of Artist Trading Coins.

I used Distress inks, Oxide inks and Tim Holtz stamps and chit chat stickers for these. A couple of little touches with a red gel pen (check out the bat's eyes!) finished them off.

Now it's your turn! Have a play with your spookiest stamps, and come join us over at Sweet Stampin' this week.

Have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

October challenge - Rhedd's Creative Spirit

Hello again!

Back with my second post today, this time with some inspiration for the new challenge starting at Rhedd's Creative Spirit, and this month it is my turn to host the challenge.

I played with another 8x8 inch piece of MDF, only this one is only 6mm thick, so less backbreaking to lug around if needed, lol!

I'm not going to go into any detail right now, but will be back with a link to my tutorial on the 15th!

See you then!

Have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

October challenge - Altered Eclectics

Hey all,

October today, and another new challenge starting over at Altered Eclectics.

I have another special project today... this is an MDF block of wood that I went to town on at the recent Art Workshops workshop with the fabulous Autour de Mwa.

I had lots of fun playing with pinks and purples, and I just love the AALL and Create stencils I used on this.
This slab is 8x8 inches in size, and almost two inches thick. Darn thing almost put my back out lugging it home on the train! lol.

I'll be back in a moment with another post, but in the meantime, go take a peek at the fabulous project my fellow teamies have made, and don't forget to come and play along!

Brb,

Sammy-x

Spots - Sweet Stampin'

Good morning all,

Saturday again, and time for a new challenge over at Sweet Stampin'. This week our theme is a really easy one... Spots!

 I chose some pretty spotty paper, and made this birthday card.

                                       

There's unicorns absolutely everywhere right now. Including my blog, it seems (keep your eyes peeled for another - pretty spectacular - unicorn in a few days!).

Now, I'm sure you all have some spotty things hidden away in your stash, so break them out and come and play with us!

Have a fantabulous weekend!

Sammy-x

Balloons or bunting - Sweet Stampin'

Morning everyone,

Hopefully blogger will play nice and actually post my scheduled post this time, as at the time this is supposed to go live, we will be busy playing Tetris with our car to fit our daughter's stuff in as we pack her off to uni! It's gonna be so quiet around here! But we will miss her loads.

It's new challenge time at Sweet Stampin', and it's a fun one this week! We're looking for creations featuring Balloons or Bunting. (and stamping too, naturally!)


I had some trouble choosing, so I went with one of each!

I went for two completely different styles. My balloon card is a messy, inky, grungy fun card, and the bunting one - as you can see - lacy and girly and pretty pastel colours.

Loving the Polkadoodles stamp I used on the second card. I have a weakness for tea-themed stuff (and, of course, tea, lol), so this one was was absolutely coming home with me!

That's it from me, but my fellow Sweeties have some more lovely things waiting for you over on the blog.
Hope you'll come and play with us this week!

Have a fantabulous weekend!

Sammy-x

September challenge - Rhedd's creative spirit

Hello again everyone,

My third post of today, and this time I'm here to let you know that there's a new challenge starting for September over at Rhedd's Creative Spirit.

This month, I have a mixed media journal cover to show you. And it's not just any journal cover. It's one I made under the expert tutelage of the fabulous Abs - better known as Autour de Mwa - at a recent workshop with Art Workshops.

This was so much fun to do! We started with the board journal blanks, and kept on layering and adding elements. I had a lot of fun working with colours I'd not often pick (I'm always a little scared of yellow!), and using elements and images I often see people incorporate but never do myself. It can be really freeing working outside your comfort zone, I think!

So to play along with us at Rhedd's this month, why not try something outside of your comfort zone? It can be so much fun, and you never know, you might discover something you absolutely love!

Have a fantabulous weekend!

Sammy-x

September challenge - Altered eclectics

Hello all!

September already, and of course time for another challenge over at Altered Eclectics. This month I altered a small box with a seaside theme.

I used crackle medium to weather the paint, and turquoise sprays followed by brass mica spray for colour and shimmer. I absolutely adore the seahorse key. It is quite possibly one of my single most favourite craft items I've ever owned!

I hope you'll come and play with us this month!

Be right back with one more post for today!

Sammy-x

Keeping it neutral - Sweet Stampin'

Morning all,

It's new challenge time at Sweet Stampin', and our theme this week is Keeping it neutral. So we'd love to see you use neutral colours on your creations.

I used my neutral colours, as well as a LotV stamp, to make a retirement card for my dad.

Apparently though, rather than relaxing, he's been kept extra busy by my mum with jobs around the B&B instead...

Your turn. we're looking forward to seeing what neutral creations you come up with.

I'll be back in an hour with a couple more posts, but until then, have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

Sports - Sweet Stampin'

Morning all,

It's time for a new challenge over at Sweet Stampin', and the timing for this week's theme - sports - couldn't have been better, as it was my rugby playing brother's birthday this week.

I searched for a suitable stamp, and in doing so came across Splash Crafts, who do some really fab digis, including the great rugby themed one I used below.

The papers are Docrafts Wellington papers (my first ever paper pad!). I may have taken a liberty or two when colouring the rugby ball, as it is a 6-nations ball and should therefore be coloured in several colours. But I figured my brother would appreciate it more if I used the only colour that matters...  ;)

There are some amusing memories attached to my brother's rugby escapades. Such as the black eye he managed to acquire just in time for my wedding. You can imagine what my wedding pictures look like...

Over to you now. Why not make a card for that sporty person in your life? Black eyes totally optional. and if you're stuck for ideas, my fellow Sweeties have come up with some great ideas, and beautiful cards, so please go check them out.

Have a fantabulous weekend!

Sammy-x

Twofer geometric fun

Hello all,

Playing along again with the Twofer challenge today. I love the theme this month - Geometric shapes - and I immediately had so many ideas.

For my cards I made a Hallowe'en card and an anniversary card for my husband.

I remembered a had a packet of Joanna Sheen signature dies, which were all geometric shapes, so I chose the hexagon die, and immediately began cutting Tim Holtz Hallowe'en paper hexagons. 36 of them!!! It was a little slow going, with only the one die, but as I wanted to make a patchwork background with them, I set to. Then after cutting, I did some faux stitching around the edges of each hexagon (why no, I really didn't have anything better to do, honest!). Finally I assembled them into a background, trimmed it, and mounted on a black card blank.
I picked a Tim Holtz ephemera card for my image, but I thought it was too stark white in comparison with the papers, so I covered it in a layer of vintage collage medium, which aged it just perfectly. A couple of Halloween sentiments and a button with golden thread finished it off.

I am very pleased with the result (I'd better be, after all that effort!). It's not often I make Hallowe'en cards, as sending them isn't a thing here in the UK, but I have a neighbour a few doors down who is completely nuts about Hallowe'en, so I thought she might like it.

My next card uses the same hexagon die, which I used to cut hexagons from black card. I also have a Tim Holz die that cuts smaller hexagons, so used that to add bookprint hexagons to the center of each of the black ones, before mounting them onto a bookprint background with foam tape, and adding an appropriate sentiment for our upcoming anniversary.

I went with the bookprint theme, mainly because our mutual love of books is how we first connected twenty years ago. The book used is one of Clive Cussler's, an author we both love. Don't worry, it won't stop us from being able to read it again, as this was a second copy that I rescued from being thrown away at work. They seem to think that yellowed pages are a bad thing! *sigh*

So, that's my Twofer this month. If you want to go play too, just click the link below.

Twofer card challenge

That's it from me for today.

Have a fantabulous day everyone!

Sammy-x

Travel - Sweet Stampin'

Good morning all!

As this goes live, I'll be busy getting ready for our charity craft fair today, so wish us luck!

In the meantime, there's a new challenge starting over at Sweet Stampin', and the theme this week is travel. Another of my favourites, and trust me when I say there's some brilliant inspiration waiting on the challenge blog!

I myself went with a New York theme, using the Statue of Liberty, and made a Tim Holtz-inspired tag.

Yes, I even looked up which "route" goes to New York (the shadow fell strangely, but it's a 7, honest!), so I didn't add a random number and got one of my american friends pipe up "nice try, but that one runs through Arkansas", lol.

Now I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, but I must admit it took some doing!

Problem was the stamp. it was, in a word, awful! I'd bought it not long ago from a small independent online craft shop in the UK. I like supporting such shops, as even though they can't often beat the "big guys" on price, the service tends to be great and you know you're helping out someone who can use the help, rather than someone who already has a high-paying job working for a big firm.

However... In this case, when the stamp set arrived, it turned out to be cheap, super soft silicone from China. (the sleeve had a sticker on it in Chinese). Trust me when I say it wasn't even close to reasonable value for money. It took about half a dozen attempts to stamp something I could work with, and even then I needed to touch it up with a pen in many places.
I had no idea this was what I was going to get, and there was no hint of it on the website, but needless to say I will be avoiding that shop from now on!
I know there have been quite a lot of heated discussions about this kind of thing recently, but until now I had never come into direct contact with any of these products. I have no idea if it is a stolen design or not, as I'd never seen it before, but on quality alone it's an epic fail. It made even magazine freebie stamps look good! lol.

Anyways, enough ranting from me! Time for you all to go check on my fellow Sweeties, and then please come and play along with us.

Have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

August challenge - Rhedd's Creative Spirit

Hello again,

Back with post number 2, to tell you about the new challenge over at Rhedd's Creative Spirit. As always, anything altered art goes, and the team have put together some fantastic projects for your inspiration.

For my project, I played with a couple of Tim Holtz Burlap panels. I couldn't make up my mind whether I wanted to do a seaside or vintage themed one, so I did both!

The sea themed panel was achieved with crackle paste, distress paints and a lighthouse napkin, and embellished with various suitable bits and pieces. I have to admit I'm hopelessly in love with the Tim Holtz Typography letters, and will probably have to stock up on them before I run out and find they've stopped selling them! lol.

Some Glossy Accents make the water look rather inviting...

I love how well the crackle paste and the paint come through the napkin, without hindering the actual image.

The vintage panel also uses crackle paste and Distress paints, as well as a Stamperia rice paper clock and a handful of suitable embellishments.

I really enjoyed making these!

I suggest you go check out what my fellow teamies have made, and I hope you'll come and play with us this month!

Have an awesomesauce day!

Sammy-x

August challenge - Altered Eclectics

Morning all,

It's August and the sun is shining (which makes a nice change from the past few - very soggy - days!) and there's a new challenge starting at Altered Eclectics.

This month I decided to play on a small-ish canvas, and have fun with some mixed media supplies.

And a teaspoon...

My apologies for the lighting on this picture. I have a new all-bells-and-whistles camera, and I haven't quite cracked it yet. The dismal weather this past week hasn't helped either, and the result is rather grey, instead of white!

I highlighted the letters, heart and tops of the pebbles with Finnabair's silver metallique wax. Not only do these waxes look amazing, but they smell absolutely gorgeous too. Seiously, I can't stop sniffing this canvas!

In other news, I was a bit of a silly goose the other day and decided to have a dizzy spell just as I was cutting some card. I don't have any kind of paper trimmer, I still cut everything with a knife and ruler, and long story short; a hospital trip to patch my finger up was required.
It should all heal nicely, but in the meantime I have this huge bandage on my finger, and it definitely gets in the way when trying to craft. I'm also not allowed to get it wet, which creates all kinds of other problems.
Oh well, when we have our charity craft fair on Saturday, I can charge them extra, as blood, sweat and tears literally went into making the stuff, lol.

Anyways, enough waffle. Go take a peek at what my fellow teamies have been up to, and come play with us!

brb,

Sammy-x

Rough it up - Sweet Stampin'

Morning all,

It's new challenge time over at Sweet Stampin', and this week we're looking for you to rough it up, so we're looking for textured or distressed items.

It probably won't surprise anyone that I went the shabby chic route.

The wedding cake digi is from Splash Crafts, who I discovered while looking for a specific image for a commission. They have a pretty great selection of digis, and I recommend checking them out!

I added some roughness by distressing the edges of the paper and image panel, and added a little more texture with lace and shabby pink Frantage.
Some flowers, pearls and a Tim Holtz sentiment, et voila!

Now it's your turn to go take a peek at my fellow Sweeties' lovely work, and then play along with us too. just don't forget to use a stamp! (yes, digis are perfectly ok too)

All being well, I should currently be in Middlesborough on my way to a workshop with the adorable Autour de Mwa, courtesy of Art Workshops. It's going to be brilliant!

Have an awesomesauce weekend everyone!

Sammy-x

Twofer...

Morning all,

What? A post from me that's not DT related? Yes, you're not seeing things. Or, I should say, maybe you're seeing double.
You see, I discovered that the fabulous Darnell has started a challenge blog, called Twofer Card Challenge, and I just had to play along!

The idea is that you make two cards, using the same stamp or die, with different designs and for different occasions. There's a new theme every month, and this month it's Beverage.

This theme was most serendipitous, as I'd just picked up a couple of craft magazines that came with a variety of alcohol-related stamps, dies and embossing folders, so I figured I'd have a play!

This is what I came up with:

I settled on one celebration card, made using distress inks and four of the stamps I just acquired.
The second card is a friendship card, which features the same champagne bottle (as well as a few others) and the wine glass stamp, but has a more clean design.

I think Darnell would be proud, because apart from the Distress Inks and white base card, everything I used was NBUS! Even the green card I used to mat, which had been languishing in a box since I bought it last December...


I'm really excited to be playing along at the Twofer Card Challenge this month!

That's it from me for now. Hope you all have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

Christmas in July - Sweet Stampin'

Morning all,

It seems ridiculous to be thinking Christmas while we're in the middle of a heatwave (which I am absolutely loving, by the way), but if you're anything like me, the sooner you get started, the less likely there will be last-minute panic making just before Christmas, trying to get as many made as possible before it's officially too late to send them.

So, with that in mind, why not make a start, and then come share your efforts with us over at Sweet Stampin'?

I decided (surprise, surprise), to dig out one of my Tim Holtz stamp and die sets, and this was the result:

It's a little hard to tell, but there's so many lovely layers to the tree, and I had some fun with a sparkly pen and some glossy accents too.
Looks better than my real tree usually does! lol.

Your turn, but first, don't forget to go get a little more inspiration from my fellow Sweeties!

Have a great weekend!

Sammy-x

July challenge - Altered Eclectics

Hello all, me again,

I've come to share another piece of altered work today, this time for Altered Eclectics.

I was given a little wooden trinket box by a friend recently, and was asked to give it a make-over. This is what I did:

I painted it with chalk paint, and decoupaged a pretty napkin onto it. Isn't it cute?

This is what it looked like before:

Now it's your turn. We're looking for your lovely altered projects over at Altered Eclectics, so go take a peek at what the DT have been up to, and then come and play along!

Have an awesomesauce day!

Sammy-x

July challenge - Rhedd's Creative Spirit

Hello all,

Goodness me, it is July already! Of course this means we have a brand new challenge over at Rhedd's Creative Spirit, where as always anything altered art goes.

This month I worked on a mixed media canvas, and went for an industrial look.

It's that time of year again, where the charity I volunteer for is having a craft fair to raise extra money for our needy kids, and this canvas is one of many items that'll be put out for sale at the end of July. we made over £200 last year, so let's hope we can beat that this year!

In the meantime, please do go see what the rest of the team has been up to, and come play with us at Rhedd's!

Have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

Food and drink - Sweet Stampin'

Good morning all,

It's time for the latest challenge over at Sweet Stampin', and this week we're looking for anything to do with food and drink. just remember to stamp too please!

I made this card with a lovely Polkadoodles stamp:

I just love that stamp, and can see her becoming a favourite!

Over to you! we're looking forward to seeing your delicious creations over at Sweet Stampin', and don't forget to visit the Sweeties for lots more inspiration.

Have a fantabulous weekend!

Sammy-x