April fool! - Sweet Stampin'

Morning everyone,

Just a couple of days until "gullible people believe everything they read online" day. Oh wait, that's every day! lol.
Of course I mean April fool's day, which corresponds with our challenge at Sweet Stampin' this week, where we're looking for your funny/jokey cards.

I dug around in my stash for anything that could conceivably fall under the funny banner, and made this:

I am told it's funny because it's true. It would also make me a pretty rubbish friend, because I don't drink! I'm sure I could manage the not clean house though, lol.

Now it's over to you guys. It's so miserable outside this time of year, so why not help us spread some fun and share a card to make us chuckle?

Have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

Green! - Sweet Stampin'

Morning all,

It's the 17th of March tomorrow, and I'm pretty sure you all know what that means... St. Paddy's day, of course! And in the spirit of said Irish saint's day of celebrations, Sweet Stampin' is looking for all your green creations this week.

I decided to dig out some LotV supplies, and have fun with them.

As you can see, I dug out some dies too. I must admit, they tend to be among my more neglected craft supplies, so I usually feel pretty good about myself if I get around to using them unprompted, lol! If I'd owned a shamrock die I might have used that, but as I don't, hearts it was.

Well, that's it from me, but my fellow Sweeties have created some fab cards for you, so don't forget to go take a peek.

Have an awesomesauce weekend!

Sammy-x

Crafting with Hunkydory

Hello all,

A bit of a change of pace today, as I'm not here with a DT post for a change!

I was contacted recently by Hunkydory, and asked if I was willing to review some of their products. I must admit, they had fallen off my radar of late, as I always thought of them as I had gotten to know them : Gorgeous toppers and matching papers, great for people who don't enjoy stamping and colouring. But of course, I do enjoy stamping and colouring. Very much so, in fact.

So imagine my absolute joy when I discovered they also do stamps!!!

The very first thing to catch my eye was the Just my Type set, which is simply perfect for our family full of writers.

First of all, can I just take a moment to extol the virtues of the "happy birthday" sentiment in this set? I usually make cards that are either 14x 14cm, or A6 in size, and they don't often leave space for a long sentiment. The only other smaller ones I have are cheap magazine freebies that stamp horribly.
this one stamps perfectly first time, every time! And it's a perfect, compact size.
Honestly, this set is worth it for that stamp alone!

Anyway, I made a set of quick CAS cards to see how well these stamps actually stamped.

Pretty cool, no? They all stamp lovely and crisp, especially for clear stamps. I love this set!

I also took a peek at how well the sentiments emboss, and that came out very well too. I had a piece of painted card handy, and embossed with white, which I find often leaves sentiments blurry. Not so with this one.

The next item that caught my eye, was the Bon Voyage stamp set.

Anyone who has followed my blog knows I have a weakness for anything with a travel theme, and you'll probably also remember my disappointment with a statue of Liberty stamp I bought a while ago. I loved the idea of the stamp though, so when I saw it included in this set, it was a no-brainer.

I decided to make a similar tag to the one I'd made before, just to see how it compared.

The difference when stamping was incredible. A perfect, crisp image first time. (The inability to fussy-cut her crown properly is all mine! lol) I guess if I'd have had a choice, I'd have liked the stamp itself to be a little bigger, but that's just personal preference. I also used one of the sentiments to stamp inside the pathway sign in the top left.

And of course it's probably illegal to not use an Eiffel tower stamp as soon as possible, right?

I figured it would look lovely stamped in brown, and used double sided foam tape to mount it on the gorgeous paper, which brings me to my final two products...

The Antique Chic Craft Stack, and the Perfect Paradise Luxury Foiled Acetate. Because you all know how I feel about pretty paper, and pretty paper with a vintage twist is even better!

The craft stack is gorgeous. Aside from some really lovely papers, it has several pages of the high quality toppers, die-cut elements and matching sentiments we've come to expect from Hunkydory. But my favourite part? 2 pages of gorgeous die-cut parchment images. I love them. Love, love, love.

Anyways, Papers + toppers + ephemera can only mean one thing to me. Mini album!

For the cover I used one of the beautiful foiled papers, and decorated with a topper, parchment ephemera and some bits from my stash.

On the inside I wanted to keep it simple, so used the same simple layout on each page, using gold mirri card to mat the pockets to go with the gold foil in the papers and topper. I then added one of the die-cuts from the pack onto each pocket.
I also cut a piece of acetate to size, and added it as an extra page. The sheets come in gorgeous designs, with gold on one side, and silver on the reverse. They also cut cleanly without tearing. You really need to see this in person to appreciate it properly, but I absolutely LOVE it!

And lastly, the left-over strips of paper make excellent bookmarks! especially when combined with vellum die-cuts.

So there you have it. Lots of pretty products, and lots of crafting fun for me. I'm really happy to have re-discovered Hunkydory, and that birthday sentiment stamp I mentioned is already my go-to!

Have a fantabulous week everyone!

Sammy-x

Disclaimer: Though I was given these products in return for a review, this in no way influenced my opinion of them.

Dragons - Sweet Stampin'

Morning all,

In honour of St David's day, the theme at Sweet Stampin' this week is Dragons!

Now I just so happened to need a dragon birthday card, so it worked out perfectly...

I blended the galaxy background with Distress inks and used a white pen for the stars, then added a dragon (complete with gold Stickles for his eye) and heat embossed the happy birthday sentiment in silver.

Over to you! Our Sweeties have lots of dragons over on the blog for you, from fierce to the most adorably cute ones you can think of, so there's inspiration there for everyone. We do hope you'll come play with us this week!

Have a fantabulous weekend!

Sammy-x

March challenge - Altered Eclectics

Hello again,

Altered project #2 for today, is my piece for our March challenge over at Altered Eclectics.

Just like my other project, this one really didn't go to plan. I was going to do a set of individual writing-themed Mdf ATCs to go with the box I made. Several frustrated days and many aborted attempts later, I instead ended up with this:

The ATCs are there, but both the theme and the colourscheme have radically changed, and I ended up attaching them all to each other to make a wall decoration instead. And you know what? I kinda love it!
The MDF ATCs are from Fernli Designs, and I had loads of fun with some stencils and my gorgeous new Distress oxide spray inks (which I may or may not have insisted hubby get me for my birthday...). I did the backgrounds with the sprays, then used regular Black Soot and Brushed Corduroy distress inks with the stencils.

Of course this colour scheme doesn't fit with a single room in my house, but I'm determined to make it fit, lol.

Enough waffle from me, it's over to you. Come share your projects with us over at Altered Eclectics, and don't forget to see what my fellow teamies have been up to if you'd like some more inspiration.

Have a fantabulous day!

Sammy-x

March challenge - Rhedd's Creative Spirit

Hello all,

You ever have one of those months where you seem to be suffering from the reverse Midas touch, and everything you do turns out the opposite of what you wanted?
Well, that was me this month, which didn't bode well for my March challenge project for Rhedd's Creative spirit!

Well, this MDF ATC box almost went completely wrong, after some paint that said it was white (in big, unmistakable letters, no less), turn out to be a rather unattractive shade of grey once it dried.
To cover up, I decided to go with a pale yellow hued paint instead, as trying to make it pristine white would have taken too many coats and I'd have lost all the detail. I then added some more colourful touches with pigment powders, and a generous helping of Finnabair's metallique wax.

So not the pale, delicate, barely-there colourscheme I was hoping for originally, but I think it works!

I also adore the wings, which are from a pack of Tim Holtz ideology wings I picked up recently, and the stripy stencil I used is my current favourite, from AALL & Create.

And now it's over to you. Check out the gorgeous projects over at the blog which my fellow teamies have prepared, and then why not come and play with us?

Be right back with project #2 for today,

Sammy-x