Another challenge....

This challenge was to make a card using red, white and blue. I use this design quite a bit for male cards and as it's my nephew's Birthday soon I made him this card.

And this one was a doodling challenge;

This is a LO of my Daughter Lolly. Another self portrait that she has played about with on photoshop.

There are a couple more challenges left but not sure I have time for them!
Sarah x

All Challenged Out!!!!............

Over on the Just Bex forum there have been some great challenges released so I have been busy trying to complete as many as possible in 24 hours!!

The first card had to have a sentiment stamped on it so i used a little round Birthday stamp and mounted on a brad in the middle of a bloom. This card also ties in with the Daring Cardmakers dare this week to make a card with beads on it. I have sewn 3 pearl beads on the ribbon.

The next challenge was to use a paper rose bud. I didn't think I had any of these left but found a few red ones in the bottom of a box. These were one of the first things I ever bought for cardmaking and I have long since stopped using them!

Next one was to use a bloom.

This one was to use flower punches or die cuts

This one to make a card using die cuts.

Theses challenges are such fun, and I have managed to build my stock up quite a bit now.

I have a couple more to complete.

Sarah x

Feel the 'Luuurve'.....

we'd like you to put some LOVE into your cards this week. Wedding, Anniversary, Engagement or simply to say "I love You" - there are lots of opportunities to get lovey-dovey and slushy, so get out all the romantic stash out and show us what you can do. After all, you know what they say;"All you need is Love, Love, Love".

For the little extra I used my favorite style at the mo, sewing together scraps of paper. It's amazing how many scraps we all accumulate isn't it?I used small scraps of 7 Gypsies papers, some covered chipboard letters(queen & co) and a hand cut chipboard heart covered in BG paper. Working in a school it's amazing how much chipboard I can find from packaging of A4 lined paper! I have tons of it! Must make a few mini books for pressies!

This next card is for a teacher I have worked with for quite a few years who is retiring this week. I had a moment of madness the other week while watching the QVC craft day(blush!) I bought the special value! I wanted the stamps in the pack, but it came with 100 sheets of HOTP papers so I used some for this card. The paper is really thin so I had to be careful stitching it! The papers are not really my style but they are ideal for the lady this card is for.

The last card is another one for the 'Luurve' theme that I made for a joke to send to Hubs. It looks quite big in the piccie but is only about 10 x 10cm and made entirely from scraps. I just love those Lynx adverts and thought this would make him smile.

Thanks for the great little extra Daring Cardmakers! You have inspired me as always!!

Sarah x

A Little Recipe...

Here is a card I made using a recipe by Melissa Phillips.


Make a card containing my favorite things:
Buttons
Polka-dots
ribbon
chipboard
a heart
Anything extra that you add is fine, but the card must contain these 5 items.

I used a template by Sue (on the JB forum),which is fabby;

pp Basic Grey Blush, handcut chipboard heart, buttons,flowers and brad from stash, stamp from Autumn Leaves.

It's very wet and rainy here today, so a good chance to do a spot of crafting!!

Sarah x

Tagged.....

I'm so glad this dare came up today!! I have been saving clothes tags from my daughters' purchases(and there are plenty of them!!!!) for a while after I saw a card that Gillian made some time ago using various clothes tags. Thanks for the inspiration Gillian! Today I got to use one!!!

This card is for my eldest daughter's boyfriend who will be 18 soon. This dare is perfect for him as he works part time in a men's clothing store. He is also in a band and starts music college in September so I wanted to try and create a card with a music theme. He is one cool funky dude so it had to have a modern feel to it as well. This is what I came up with.

pp and epoxy sticker Love Elsie - Roxie ( love, love , love this paper range and it's perfect for teenagers - it seems to have their personality all over it if you know what I mean!), 'wild' tab, chipboard numbers and label holder by Heidi Swapp and brads by mm. Used loads of ink to give the papers a distressed look, and sanded the label holder as well.

Think it will be Ok, but my daughter Lolly will soon let me know if it is not cool!!Teenagers!!!Huh!!

Enjoy the weekend!!

Sarah x

Love Elsie....

Here is another LO for a competition on the Just Bex forum. I got these fab Love Elsie papers today and they were perfect for a LO of my daughter Lolly. Really funky and bright - just like her!

She took this photo of herself and then played about with it on photoshop, and it really captures her image perfectly. For the competition the photo had to be cut into 3 pieces and I kinda like the way it looks.

pp Love Elsie - Roxie, various chipboard letters, and Love Elsie

epoxy embellishments, Rhonna Farrer stamp. I distressed the edges of the paper with an emery board.

Sarah x

Ab Fab......

This time we have a Word Challenge for you to play with. So the word we want you to take inspiration from this week is FABULOUS.




One of my favourite words!! There were so many different opportunities for cards using this word but it's my eldest daughter's birthday very soon so I made a card for her sister to give to her.

scraps of patterned paper, various chipboard letters (some covered with pp), mm rub ons and metal embellishment, silk flower from WHS and button and ribbon from stash.


I used my new precision file kit from Basic Grey to cover the chipboard letters with and it is 'fabulous'. Definitely worth investing in if you use a lot of chipboard.

Going to have a look at everyone's Fab creations now.

Sarah x

Ooh Lucky Me!!....

Nice little parcel from the US today with some yummy goodies in it!!! I'm not much of a stamper but I love these stamps so I thought I would treat myself! Lots of rub ons and a few mm bits and pieces, and a great file set by basic grey for finishing chipboard,distressing etc. This was all beautifully wrapped with a thank you note and 4 extra little packs of embellies.

I tried out the alphabet stamps on my first file divider for the challenge on the Just Bex forum. I think I need a new black ink pad though!

Sarah x

Pretty in Pink....

A couple more cards for challenges on the Just Bex forum. The first challenge was to make a card in a shape other than square or rectangle. This is what I came up with;

It took me too long to make a template for this card!! I used paper scraps and plenty of hand stitching, and a little charm to finish. Not sure if this shape really works for a baby card :oS

The second card is for a challenge set by the lovely Jo. Basically to make a card with a pink card blank and only embellish it with black, white, pink and cream colours.

Ok, I used a pink card blank and stamped it with Rhonna Farrer swirl stamps coz I don't have many pp's (Spot the little white lie?!!), and then used various blooms layered with ribbon and finished with one of my favourite fabric covered brads.

Sarah x

You're not the (em)boss of me .....

Embossing.Dry embossing with a light box or with a die cutting machine.Using embossing powders or triple embossing.Using pre-embossed papers.Embossing with found items.Just have fun playing!

My card doesn't have too much embossing on it as I couldn't bear to put a whole chunk of this pp through the embossing folder! I love this Crate paper range! I embossed one strip in a cuttlebug folder and the flower centre in my quickutz.(piccies are a bit rubbish as the light is bad here today!)

This card is also for the JB forum challenge 'no reason at all', a card to just send to someone at any time. I am trying to catch up with some of the past challenges.

pp crate brunch collection, retro flower punch, cuttlebug swirl embossing folder and plenty of hand stitching. I used an emery board to distress the embossing and paper edges.

Fab dare yet again, and some wonderful cards made by everyone as well.

Enjoy your weekend!

Sarah x

Another challenge...

Another Just Bex Forum challenge, to make a craft organiser, there will be more challenges to add to this folder in the next couple of weeks. I used blond moments pp,cardstock, primas, ribbon from stash and BG letters. Another fun challenge!

Sarah x

My First Ever LO....

I have attempted another challenge over on the Just Bex forum. You had to create a card and LO with the same sketch. Well, I am no scrapbooker, so this is my first ever layout. Gosh they use a lot of paper don't they? This is 8x8 size and I think the photo was probably a bit big as I didn't have room to really add any embellishments or journalling. This is a piccie of my precious nephews. I used crate paper cowboy.

The card is made using the same sketch. pp crate avenue, blooms and primas, and pearl brads.

I am having so much fun doing these challenges!
Sarah x

Something Old...

This week we have a recipe challenge for the Little Extra. There's an old rhyme that tells brides what they should wear on their wedding day to be sure of good luck, it goes:
Something Old Something New Something Borrowed and Something Blue

For my card I used;

something old -I have had these papers since I first started card making.

something new - Ribbon

something borrowed - technique from Lythan ( drawing on buttons!!)

Something blue -navy tag

Another fab little extra Ladies!

Sarah x

Altered Frame...

Another challenge over on Just Bex forum completed! I am having fun doing these! This one was to alter a frame. I had this old frame in the loft ( can you tell by the amount of dust on it?), I painted it with black acrylic paint and then used strips of red card on the front. Embellished it with a heidi swapp chipboard heart covered in buttons, a metal ace of hearts, and may arts ribbon.
This is for my eldest daughter (she's a bit of a rock chic!) and she gave me strict instructions for what I could and couldn't use. She doesn't like primas or Blooms(strange girl!) so I couldn't use any of those.
I've never done anything like this before and I'm pretty pleased with the result. It's great to be able to recycle things as well!

Sarah x

Sue's template

This card was made using using Sue's template on Just Bex forum. iI used my blog candy win stamp. pp mm, primas and brads.

Turkish Delight...

This card is my first for a challenge over on Just Bex forum. The challenge was to incorporate a handmade flower on your card front. I made a petal template and then handcut petals in card and paper. I used a souffle gel pen on 3 of the petals to create a pattern(hopefully with an Eastern look) and also on a big brad(these pens seem to write on anything!) and stuck pp on the other 3. I cut the cirle in the middle and then trimmed around it with small scalloped scissors. This took 3 attempts but got there in the end. I handstitched the top and bottom to add a bit of detail. The sentiment is Turkish for Thanks! I will be taking this over to Turkey with me when I go on Holiday in July. It's for the lady that looks after our villa all year for us.

Hopefully it has an Eastern look about it!

Sarah x

OMG!!!!.......

I am so excited , Oh must stop hyperventilating long enough to type this post! My lovely postie delivered me a parcel of goodies this morning from Simply cards and Papercraft magazine, I am one of the winners from a cardmaking competition! YIPEEE!!! I sent a valentine card off months ago and forgot all about it until my prize arrived. My card has been published on page 68. I didn't bother taking a piccie before I sent it, so I can't show you my card. They sent me loads of Letraset goodies, so I will have fun playing with these.

Aren't I a lucky girl?

On to this weeks dare.

Hi it's Keryn here and it's my turn to set the dare this week. This time I asked my family for ideas for this weeks dare and the best amongst a lot of ideas including power tools etc, etc was Lachlan's ideas for Space. It's been his topic at school this term. (Lachlan is seven and in Year 3). To make in a little easier on you all I've called it Celestial to also include horoscopes as well as planets, spaceships, stars, suns etc. How you use these items is up to you

I needed a card for my friend's son so I went with the star theme. No surprise there then, all my cards seem to have stars on at the moment!

pp mm,Queen & co chipboard letters, Heidi Swapp chipboard star, doodlebug rub ons.

Enjoy the weekend!

Sarah x

Caardvarks Challenge - Mix it up.....

The Caardvarks challenge at the moment is to use patterned papers from 3 different manufacturers on the same card. It's not as easy as I thought it would be to find papers from different ranges that colour co-ordinate well.

For this card I used crate twirl, BG gypsy and making memories Brooke pp, hand cut into petals and held together with a brad and centre made from a cuttlebug die and prima flower. I also used my new bargain buy scalloped scissors from the Paper Mill Shop which cost 99p! Lots of doodling and inking to finish. Plus a few doodlebug rub ons.

Might have another go at this challenge as it did encourage me to get out loads of pp which I had forgotten about.

Sarah x

Ooh La La!!!!!.........

Look what my saucy postman just delivered!! Loads of sexy underwear!!!

OK - so my postie didn't actually buy these for me, but a girl can dream cant she? ;O)

Got these from the US, so much cheaper over there, and the choice is so much better. Obviously with so much choice it is very confusing so it is much better to just buy one of every colour !!!
Well that's the excuse I am going to use when my husband asks why I bought so many anyway!


Now I just have to find a home for these little babies! Hhhmmmm... didn't actually think about that when I bought them........

A Sticky Situation....

"how's about a dare where you can't use any adhesives at all...
You have to put them away...
No tape, no gluesticks, no Xyron, no modpodge.... and all other sticky things....
the only things you can use are things like staples, stitching, brads, eyelets, pins.... that sort of thing to attach all the bits to your card."


This little extra was certainly a challenge!

I went for something very simple and quick in the end and I quite like the end result. I used a large flower die that I have had forever (only used a couple of times!), a cuttlebug die cut and attached these with a button. The stem is just eyelets.(wouldn't recommend doing this without a silent setter or crop a dile!) Finished off with doodlebug rub ons.

pp Crate twirl, button mm, eyelets mm and doodlebug rub-ons.

I made the next card yesterday.
It is for my Darling Dad, and it took quite a bit longer to make. I hand cut the pocket( I think you can get a die for this,must have a look on the interweb), and then hand stitched the details, finishing with a couple of brads. My Dad has been really ill since he had a stroke earlier this year, and his health is still deteriorating so he is in my thoughts all the time. I don't get to see him that often as he lives a long way away, but I will definitely be delivering this card by hand.


pp from Previous SA kit, Bazzill card, mm rub ons.