Caardvarks Micro Challenge...

The Caardvarks are holding a 24 hour challenge today.


On your card front:-
Use only black & white colors-
Create a funky greeting.

This sounded like a fun little challenge so I had a go. I kept this card very simple using just card, rub ons, buttons and a bit of doodling. I am in the process of making some cards to donate to our local Hospice for their Summer Fete, and this will go in that collection.

Hope you all had a good weekend.
Sarah x

Caardvarks Felt Challenge...

I have been playing with some left over scraps of felt, and trying out different methods of die cutting them. I found that the felt didn't cut sharply in my Quickutz, but I had better results in the big shot, paticularly using cuttlebug dies.( yet another reason to buy more of these fab dies, they are my favourite dies of all the brands I have, and the best value!)

I cut out loads of different flowers and played about layering and handstitching them. These two cards are for the Caardvarks challenge.

Also used some mm paper scraps, chalk ink, buttons from stash, mm cheeky clip, ribbon from stash and fab stamps by Heidi Swapp.


Have also treated myself to a 'Tote-ally' cool tote to go on my desk. It's really fab, and holds all my tools, glues, tape and tons more! I love it!



Sarah x

Daring SA Kits....

OOOHHH! You Lucky Daring Cardmakers!! Some lubberly freebies from SA!! What a fab dare again this week, I really dont know how you girls keep thinking up such great ideas for the dares!

So I (Jane) came up with the following template for you and the team to follow. So use your own papers (or some from your SA Kits if you already get them) to come up with your fabulous creations- and don't forget to check out the fantastic kits on offer at Self Addressed 'The kits are designed for scrapbooks, cards and mini-albums.

Being a bit of a technophobe I am not clever enough to put the sketch on my blog!(any tips would be gratefuly accepted) But you can check it out on the Daring Cardmakers Blog (see link at side) and you should definitely check out the fabby cards the girls have all made this week.

Ok, got out all my beloved SA papers and decided I could part with some from the October '06 kit. This is what I came up with;




Papers and bazzill card from the kit, the flower is cut out from one of the papers and layered a bit to add dimension, tag from cuttlebug die and ribbon and brad from stash. Little bit of stitching to finish. Very simple card really and I decided to just stick to cream and black for the colours.

Busy, busy day at work today, last day for all the year 11's to hand in GCSE course work, they were frantically trying to finish bits off and I was frantically trying to get their work in order ready for the teacher to mark. It was good to get home and sit in my craft room, relax and make this card.

Hope you all have a good weekend, think the weather forecast is good, so plenty of gardening to be done here.
Sarah x

I've been tagged..

Ok I have been tagged by Pearl and Lynne.

So these are the rules...Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to blog about their seven things and post the rules as well . At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. I am married to my first love.
2. I don't like pasta - YUK!
3. I am a serious chocoholic.
4. We holiday in Turkey every year for at least 3 or 4 weeks.
5. My craft room always looks messy!
6. I love gardening.
7. I spend too much time blogging and not enough time doing the housework!

7 totally useless bits of information about me!
Most people seem to have been tagged already so if you haven't and you want to - go ahead!

A few more cards and the Little Extra...

I have been busy making a few commissioned cards at the weekend, these were all done for my friend, and they took ages! I could never earn a living from making cards, they take me too long to make!! Still I put any pennies earned into a pot and every so often I can have a spend up on new stash.

This one was made as an alternative to the Di Hickman card I made( see previous post). I wasn't sure which one my friend would prefer, but she chose the first one I made. So this card will go in my box for another time.


English Paper Company pp, prima flowers, buttons from stash, chipboard label holder cut in my big shot and then covered in white card and inked, May Arts Ribbon and loads of hand stitching(this took hours, I really must get a sewing machine!).

For the second one I used the same set of papers(these have a lovely traditional look to them and they are really reasonable £2.49 for a 6 x 6 pack) , brads from stash and prima flowers.

And the last one is my favourite, coz it's kinda funky! I think it is ok for the Daring Cardmakers little extra this week as well;

Well, what we'd like you to do this time is to confine your colour choices to the three primary colours; Red, Yellow & Blue.

Ok so I had already made this card yesterday, but it sure has a lot of red on it!! I will try and make another card in one of the other primary colours or perhaps all three.

Large flower and paper from this month's SA kit (which is ohhhh so lovely!!) This is actually half of a card blank covered and mounted on a square card, primas, Heidi Swapp chipboard numbers, May Arts ribbon, mm brads and doodlebug rub ons.

I will definitely use this design for some more cards I think my Daughters' friends will like these.

Hope you had a good weekend,

Sarah x

Funky Felt....

This week it was Gillian's turn to set the dare;

So here's the dare, Make a card and include some felt,
the theme & style are entirely up to you.

OK, had to go and buy some felt from the sewing shop in town and the colours were a bit limited. So I decided to use some of my new SA kit to brighten up the card a bit.

Funky bits used; Heidi Swapp Birthday stamp, bling bazzill card, chipboard flowers, SA kit papers, buttons and brads from stash. I cut the felt out with dies in my big shot.

Leah also had a go at this one.

Blonde moments paper, felt flower (cut in the big shot), prima daisies, mm brad, ribbon from stash and friend die cut.

Sarah x

Di Hickman Sketch..

I have been working on a few commissioned cards this week, for one I have used the Di Hickman sketch for this week. Now that it's finished I am not sure if it has too much black on it. I like it, but when somebody else asks me to make a card for them I always worry it wont be suitable!! I may make another one and then let them choose which one they like best.
Used Crate paper avenue(really love this paper!) blooms, prima, covered brad, cuttlebug die for the tag and a little bit of bling.

Just look what my Postie brought me today!!!! This is from Jody in the U.S. and it works out so cheap compared to the prices over here. I think the spotted organza was less than 20p per yard including the postage. I buy loads of ribbon from Jody but I think this is my favourite so far, can't wait to use some!

Enjoy the Weekend!
Sarah x

Home Sweet Home...

The little extra this week for the Daring Cardmakers was to make a 'new home' card. Thanks girls for a nice simple midweek dare, the last couple have been challenging but fun!
I bought a new box of card from The Paper Mill Shop at the weekend, and they had this nice neutral coloured card so I stocked up with some. I used this for the base card, along with cardstock scraps, cuttlebug house and tag dies, scalloped circle punch, handcut circle,May Arts spotted ribbon and keyring attachment(salvaged from a keyring my daughter threw in the bin!) The tiny key is from Carolyn's.

I seem to be getting really good at salvaging! Teenage Daughters buy so many accessories they get fed up with I'm always finding little bits and pieces to re use.


Thank you to everyone who left a comment about the scrap box Leah made for me, she was thrilled to read all your lovely compliments!

Sarah x

Ideas..

Spent Sunday doing various different things(including a trip to the Paper Mill Shop) and enjoying the sunshine. In the evening I altered this notebook that was given to me at Christmas(the cover was not vey attractive). I often jot down little ideas when they pop into my head or draw little sketches to use in the future. Most often I use these for Christmas cards as I have so many to make. I have so many scraps of paper with little ideas on I thought I could use this notebook instead.

Items used are Super fabulous BG pheobe papers, ribbon and blooms from stash and a really big brad. I won some of these large flat brads in a cardmaking competion but had never used them until recently, but I now cover them with matching paper and I quite like this effect.

Now I just have to get around to transferring all my ideas into the book.
Hope you all had a good weekend.
Sarah x

Super Scraps!!.....

While I tidied up my craft room yesterday(which took hours and still looks untidy!) Leah(my youngest daughter) made me a little pressie.

I keep all my scraps of card in a battered old shoebox, and it does look a bit of a mess on my desk, so Leah found a new box and altered it for me!!!! :oD It's made with lovely summery colours and looks great now. Have a look at the before and after piccies;







Now I just have to sort out all my scraps and transfer them. She even made handles each side so that she could tie ribbon around them, it took her hours to complete. She's such a clever little bunny!

Every time I look at this I just can't help smiling!! :o)

From one celebration to another...

Well after my early Christmas crafting yesterday, Saffa dared us to make a card for a celebration from another culture. I'm sure these dares get harder every week!! I searched the interweb for various different religious festivals but the obvious ones had already been covered, so I decided to go with America's Independence day - 4th July. As far as I know this is celebrated widely across the U.S. and it was an easy card to make!!

Items used; cardstock from stash, sizzix stars die, mm rub ons, and alphabet brads(think these were from Spare Parts).

Not too sure what I will do with this card now it's made though, I don't actually know anyone personally who celebrates July 4th! Oh well, I will put it in my card box with all the others, you never know when it might come in handy. :oD

Must tidy up the craft room now, just gonna have a quick look at the new SA kit first as it's just arrived!

Have a great weekend!

Sarah x

Christmas has come early?!!...

Spent most of the day just pottering in my craft room yesterday with the intention of tidying up. I ended up making more mess than when I started! I was sorting through my Basic grey and came across a pack of 'fruitcake' papers which I hadn't opened. Once the pack was opened that was it - I had to make something. Christmas cards are my favourite things to make and I spend up to 5 months of the year on Christmas projects, usually I make my cards first which leaves plenty of time for any orders I may get.

The fruitcake papers are so festive, I made a few tags which I can either use on cards or gift bags. I decided that I will try to incorporate some kind of metal embellishment onto each Christmas item I make this year. I tend to buy loads of bits and pieces on ebay throughout the year and have a large box full of unopened making memories stuff that I rummaged through to find several metal bits and pieces. This is what I came up with;

I wanted to create a random, shabby sort of effect.
Items used are cardstock from stash, lush fruitcake papers, ink, ribbons from stash and mm metal embellishments.
A good start to my Christmas collection! I really enjoyed doing these even though it is far too early!! Today I have to go get my haircut and then I will definitely tidy the craftroom! Well maybe I will have a go at the Daring Cardmaker's dare first!

Sarah x

Little Extra Recipe..

5 circles..
1 flower..
3 squares..

This was the recipe for the midweek extra this week, and this is what I came up with;

White cardstock, sizzix circles, handcut circle, ink, Heidi Swapp ghost flower, brads from stash, scraps of patterned paper(mm), scalloped scissors and doodling.
I put the squares inside the card and cut a scalloped edge to reveal them, there are 3 card circles and two round brads. I took inspiration for this from a cardmaking magazine.

I got my daughter to pull one name out of a pot, and the winner of the blog candy for correctly guessing that my Art Attack card was inspired by Clarice Cliff is;

Rhi

Quite appropriate really as Rhi set this fantastic dare!!Here is a piccie of the package I put together;

I hope you like pink!! Please email me at noel.hastingstown@tiscali.co.uk with your address details and I will get this little lot of to you asap.

I am on the lookout for a pair of large scallop scissors , anyone know where I can find a decent pair ?

Thanks,

Sarah x

CPS 9..

I made a quick card for the CPS sketch 9 this week. The sketch is very versatile, but I decided to keep it really simple this week.

Items used are cardstock from stash, gorgeous crate avenue paper, large prima,black daisy, button and ribbon from stash. The stamp was from The paper mill shop and a bargain at 99p. Just finished this off with plenty of ink.

Sarah x

Happy Easter?

Hope you all had a Happy Easter!! Mine was good and not so good. I spent a couple of days visiting my Dad whose health seems to be deteriating quite rapidly after suffering a stroke a few months back. So it was great to see him but tinged with sadness seeing him demoralised by the effects of the stroke.
I returned home to find that someone had sabotaged 4 trees in my front garden. I am very lucky to have a very large front garden that runs the length of my driveway. Included in the garden are several trees, 4 of which are probably well over 100 years old and very beautiful. All four of them have tree preservation orders on them which means they cannot even be pruned without first applying for permission from the local council. Within the last few days somebody has drilled holes around each trunk and inserted copper piping into them which in turn was filled with some type of poison. The holes had then been plugged back up with soil to try to camoflage the piping.
We are pretty sure who has done it, and are leaving it in the hands of the local police and council. Apparently you can be fined up to £20,000 for trying to destroy a tree with a protection order on it. I feel pretty upset that anyone would think they had the right to come into my garden and purposely try to destroy parts of it! I can only hope that we have discovered this in time to save the trees.

I have to say that really ruined my weekend.
Hope you all enjoyed your Easter weekend. :o)
Sarah x

Ooh, forgot to mention I have a card to share for CPS 9 but the light is too bad to photograph it now, will post it tommorow.

Art Attack Blog Candy!!!......

I dare you to make a card inspired by a work of art.

Oooh very clever dare Rhi!!! I have a terrible migraine today but wanted to get this card made before the light was too bad to photograph it. (sorry it's not a great photo!!)

This is inspired by a piece of work called 'Geometric Flowers 'and is created by an Artist of the Art Deco era.

That's all I am going to tell you!! I will put together a little blog candy package(sorry no photo yet!) leave a comment with the Artist name and I will pick one correct answer randomely out of a pot(sorry no hats!!) next Wednesday 11 April.

One last clue - the colours are typical of this artist.

Very quick simple card made with cardstock, buttons and embroidery thread from stash.

Good Luck!!!!!

Sarah x

Sketch This card..

I bought loads of blooms last week, so this sketch was a great opportunity to use some of them.
I wasnt sure about the green bloom when I saw it but it does go really well with crate paper Twirl. I think the card turned out quite funky!

I used Twirl crate paper(love crate paper!), Sarah's blooms, MM ribbon, ric rac, prima flower,doodlebug rub ons and lovely fabric covered brad from Spare parts.
This card is for a friend who buys loads of my cards, it's her birthday in a couple of weeks.

This is a great sketch, I will definitely be using it again!

Star Challenge..

I recently found a new card challenge blog called 'Caardvarks', thought I would give the new challenge a go.
NEW CHALLENGE: ***STARS***
It's that time! A new challenge! It's all about stars this time around. Stars are hot right now! Make a card with star(s) on our cardfront!

I have made a lot of cards with stars on lately, so one more can't hurt!





I used papers from the March SA kit,bazzil cardstock,letters and paperclip from Spareparts and eyelets, brad and ribbon from stash.

Happy Easter.

Vintage............

We'd like you to make a card with a vintage theme, or maybe a modern card but using some vintage elements, so some of those gorgeous "vintage" style rubber stamps would be wonderful, or you could use old paper, photos, an old buckle, some old beads, bits of old lace - the whole history of the world is your oyster for this one!

Me thinks that Vintage is best left to the likes of Gillian Hamilton who is the queen of vintage craftiness!


Still a dare is a dare and this one was really hard work for me. My stash just doesnt accomodate Vintage. This is the best I could come up with, and it is really put to shame by the Daring cardmaker team's gorgeous cards.

These papers are the only thing I have that was remotely suitable, and the buckle was salvaged(along with 3 others) from a pair of my daughters old school shoes! (salvaged to look of disgust and groans from my daughter of "you are soooooooo... 'minging' Mum").

7 Gypsies papers, cardstock from stash, loads of brown ink, Sarah's bloomer, prima daisy, mm ribbon, really big brad covered in matching paper sanded and inked, and 'minging' buckle!

Really out of my comfort zone here, I look forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with.

CPS 8....

I have 2 weeks holiday for Easter(one of the great things about working in a school, only working with 15 and 16 year olds you kinda need the break as they can be quite stressful!! Sometimes it's very a rewarding job too!!). This weekend got lots of gardening done, so this morning I thought I would have a go at the latest CPS #8 sketch.

Well two and a half hours later (yes, I really spent that long making one card!) this is what I came up with;

Now you are probably thinking two and a half hours for that! But the flowers took ages as I hand cut them, sanded the edges, inked them, layered and doodled them. Plus the stitching was done by hand.

Items used; my precious Pheobe papers, Fruitcake paper, 7 gypsies rub ons, white cardstock, ink, mm cheeky clip (they are really called that!) and ribbon from stash.

The photo doesn't really do the colours of this paper justice.

I should be getting a few stash parcels this week, was very naughty at the weekend and ordered loads of bits. :o) Finally managed to get my hands on a pack of Crate paper Avenue, cant wait for that to arrive, also ordered loads of Blooms, and got a few bargains on Ebay.

Better go and do some housework now Ggrrrrrrh!