Summer Fun - MilkCoffee DT

Good morning peoples,

I can't believe it, but it's Thursday again... I'm certain we're on 3 day weeks or something! lol.

There's a new challenge going live over at MilkCoffee, and the theme is Summer Fun. Oh yes please! I've had enough of the rain already, summer would be loooovely!

And while I'm waiting for that to happen, I thought I'd let Tiffany help me imagine how lovely it would be to spend a sunny day at the seaside :-)

Isn't she fab? I coloured her with my Promarkers, and added lots of sparkle to her bikini with my Sakura Gelly roll pen (I LOVE that pen! I can't seem to stop using it, lol). It doesn't show on the photo, but it adds a lovely glisten and makes it look like she's really having a fun frolic in the sea.
The papers were a recent magazine freebie...

Now, I'm very much looking forward to seeing your summery creations!

Have a great day,

Sammy-x

Anything goes - Rhedd and Rosie's DT

Good morning  Bloggaroos!

First of all, a dentist update - or rather - a depressing lack of one!
The other day, annoyed at how long it was taking for my appointment with the specialist to come through, I contacted the dentist to see if they could tell me what the hold-up is.
Turns out, they are busier than expected, and there's a good chance I won't hear from them until the end of July, at which point I'll receive my letter telling me when my appointment is, likely around three months from then! so chances are, it'll be October before I'll get anywhere!
Considering the fact that I have been in a lot of pain since February, I am needless to say not particularly happy about this!

Oh well, C'est la vie, no?

Now, on to better things. namely, the new Anything goes challenge going live at Rhedd and Rosie's this morning!

I used a digi from our sponsor Stitchy Bear, and prepared this for you all:

I started off with a blank pen pot from the MDF man, and covered it in white gesso. I then decorated with some LOTV papers, my Promarker-coloured image, and some lovely embellishments from my stash.
There's actually a lot of sparkle on the image, but it hasn't shown up in the pictures, I'm afraid.

I included some gem swirls from the Hobby House, and Joy Crafts butterfly die cuts.

I painted the inside blue to finish it off and add a little contrast, et voilà!

I managed to keep hold of it for all of about 10 minutes after taking the pictures, before my daughter whisked it off to her room. She happened to be tidying her bedroom at the time, and needed something to put her pens in, so the timing couldn't have been more perfect!

Well, that's it from me this morning. Hope you're all well (and not in pain!) and have some nice weather coming your way.

Have a fantabulous day.

Sammy-x

Say it with Flowers - Sweet Stampin' DT

Good morning all!

It's Saturday, which of course means a new challenge over at Sweet stampin', and this week the theme is Say it with Flowers. this was rather good timing, as I wanted to decorate a binder for my LOTV flower stamps.

I decided to use an as yet unused sunflower stamp, and teamed it up with some gorgeous G45 French Country papers, matted with core'dinations card.

A Hessian ribbon, some flowers and butterflies, and a die-cut corner as embellishments to finish it off.

Isn't that paper just gorgeous?

So, that's my flowers... There are plenty more to be found over on the challenge blog, and I'm sure you all want to come play along with this one, no? There's a £10 Ribbon Girl voucher up for grabs for the winner!

See you there!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Sammy-x

Zentangle - Crafting with Dragonflies DT

Hello everyone!

Another new challenge over at Crafting with Dragonflies today, and it's one I have to admit I was dreading for a while! Most of you will know my aversion to doodling, and I can now confirm this includes Zentangle.

I know a lot of people love it, but I simply don't like to doodle, in black and white or otherwise, lol.

However, I put my big girl pants on, and managed to produce a little something to try and inspire you all, in the hope that those of you who are doodle-whizzes, will come and play along!

As you can see, I used an image from our sponsor Bugaboo, and used the frame for doodling in.

And I even added doodles to the inside! This should show you all how dedicated I am, lol.

Now, time for you lot to go show me how it's done! ;-)

Have a fabby day!

Sammy-x

For dad/special male - MilkCoffee DT

And another good morning to you all. You know, one of these days I'll start a post with "good evening", just to throw you all, lol.

I have a very special card to share with you all today. It's for the new challenge over at MilkCoffee, for which the theme is For Dad/Special Male. And for this card, I worked together with my very own, very special guest designer!

Most of you will know by now that my daughter dabbles in card making and other art too. But until now, my son's artistic talents have been somewhat illusive...

Well, the other day I had just printed out the adorable "I want to be like daddy" digi to use for this DT card, when Sean came up to me and told me he loved the picture and please could he colour it! I'd chosen this digi especially, because Sean really is just like his dad. We're always saying Sean's his "Mini Me", lol.
Now, Sean is 11 and has Aspergers, and although he often draws, colouring is usually limited to a few quick scribbles of colour (think average 4-year-old), as he never has the patience to colour carefully, never mind between the lines!
But I let him have the image, thinking if necessary I could always print another. We went through my papers and he chose a few nice ones that daddy would like, and he set to colouring to match. And I was so impressed with the result! He even did some shading!

Now is that brilliant, or what!?
Mum did all the cutting and sticking (happily, he has a phobia for sharp knives. This gives me peace of mind for now, lol), but the colouring and everything else was Sean. And I'm so proud!

Naturally, this card will be presented to daddy next week, and I am absolutely certain he is going to love it!

So there we go, it simply had to be my DT card for this week's challenge, and I hope you'll all go check out the rest of the DT's work too. And of course come and play along!

Have a most excellent day!

Sammy-x

Back in time/vintage - Rhedd & Rosie's DT

Good morning everyone!

I must once again apologise for my absence. We spent a few days in London over the half term holidays, and I'm afraid I'm still recovering (or at least trying to!) from that. The kids had a really great time though, even though it was pretty wet and miserable for the most part!

Anyways, on to the new challenge at Rhedd & Rosie's! The theme this fortnight is Back in time/vintage, which is one I always enjoy, but I think I kinda surprised myself here by not sticking to my usual palette of browns for the vintage theme! lol.
In fact, I fancied doing something completely different, so did a centre step card, which I hadn't done for over a year!
And, there's absolutely no stamping whatsoever either! *shock*

Now, I couldn't stay away from all my favourite things, hence the lace and flowers and general shabby chic feel...
The image was from a vintage flip pad I picked up in the Works last time I had a voucher to redeem. It has both portraits and flowers, and is well worth the 99p even without a voucher! lol.
The dies I used to frame the portrait are from Crafts Too, and I picked up the butterfly pegs in Samuel Taylors. Flowers are of course WOC, and the lace is from Hobbycraft, and probably my favourite lace I own. I will likely cry when I run out! lol.
And I can't for the life of me remember where the resin roses are from. But I loves them :-)

Now, my fellow teamies have created some stunning eye candy for you all, as always, and there's a fab prize up for grabs for the lucky winner!

So pretty! I'm just imagining all the pretty shabby things I could make with those gorgeous papers! So off you go and join in, you know you want to!

Have an awesomesauce day!

Sammy-x

June Challenge - Rhedd's Creative Spirit DT

Good morning everyone!

Is it really June already? Really? It just doesn't seem right... I'm sure someone is actually stealing every other day away, thus making time go twice as fast as it should!

But if it is June, I guess that means it's time for my DT piece for Rhedd's Creative Spirit! As always, it's Anything altered art goes, and I decided to do something a little different this time.

I found a set of plain wooden photo frames in our local charity shop. They had had some holes made in them (very obviously not part of the original design. The holes are rough and uneven, but I thought it added to the charm...) and they were held together with hemp rope. All in all it was a terribly nice set of frames, and something that I would personally have loved to have hung up on my wall when it was new.

Unfortunately, it seems these frames are far from new... The wood was unvarnished and had started to splinter a little. And it was terribly mucky! However, I figured that with a little TLC, it could get a new lease on life!

So I took the lot apart, and set to sanding...

After giving it a good sanding down to minimise the splintering and get rid of the worst of the muck, I gave it a coat of gesso. I then mixed up some very pale blue paint (when I say very pale blue, I mean it's very pale, lol) and gave it a coat with that. After that dried, I stamped a gorgeous leaf stamp all around the frames with grey ink. I'd wanted to use that stamp for precisely this kind of thing from the moment I first saw it!

Finally, I tied everything back together again with grey satin ribbon, to complement the grey ink.

Here's a close-up.

This is quite CAS in design for me, but I am very pleased with it! I designed it with my mother in mind (it's her birthday coming up...), so I hope she'll like it!
As you can see, the frames are currently empty, but I have ideas for pictures that should go in there!

Now then, time for you to go check out the gorgeous creations made by the rest of the team, and I hope you'll all join in with us this month!

Look, we have another fab prize:

Have a super day!

Sammy-x