DCM Little Extra Recipe....

The ingredients you need to use on your cards are:
4 brads/eyelets
3 circles
2 rectangles
and lashings of ribbon!
What sort of card you make is up to you this time - as long as you've got all those ingredients on there the choice is yours.

I do love the DCM recipes! I cut my circles in half and used them to create a scalloped edge - I hope that is not cheating!

pp BG blush, prima flowers, papermania brads, sizzix label holder and May Arts ribbon.
Sarah x

DCM Ribbons galore....

So this week we'd love you to join in and make Christmas cards using lots and lots of fabby, yummy ribbon - now that shouldn't be too hard, after all we all love ribbon, don't we?


No problems with this dare well only one - which ribbons???? I chose some Christmas ribbons for this card which I have used on the 2 tags. I love tags and making pockets on cards so this time I have included two, I know I got this idea from a blog tutorial I saw a while ago but I cannot remember which one it was, if anyone knows let me know and I will leave a link.

pp. DCWV (I know- you thought you had seen the last of these!!!!!!) ribbon and brad papermania, flowers and everything else from stash.

Also made this card for my lovely Auntie who told me about a job that was available at the Doctor's surgery she works at. I applied and got it! I start in a couple of weeks, and it will be a big change from working in a school with teenagers but I am so looking forward to something different.



pp. Melissa Frances,Sarah's blooms, ribbon and everything else from stash.

More Challenges..

This weekend Bex and the team have set loads of fab challenges on the JBforum and although I don't have a hope of completing them all I have managed a few. This one is one of my favourites, as it involves a bit of tarting! The challenge was to tart up something you use for storage in your craft space. I have had this tin on my prima shelf for ages and it's not very pretty.

I never really use orange much in my craft making but one time I will make an exception is when I am using BG gypsy papers! I love these papers and orange and red works so well with them. So here is my tarted tin!

I think that will look a lot better when it goes back on my shelf.

The next challenge was to make 3 gift tags, I love making tags as it uses up my scraps, and I have plenty of these. These I will use for my friends little ones.

Sarah x

Christmas is coming...

Something a bit different from me today, but still with a Christmas theme to it. Sue set a challenge on JB forum to make a wall hanging or sign, and this is what I came up with. My girls are a bit old for this sort of thing now but my next door neighbour's little Granddaughter is only two so I made this for her to hang on her door on Christmas Eve. I hope she likes it!!Sarah x

Happy Birthday Daring Cardmakers!

Congrats to all the girls on the Daring Cardmakers Blog! Well done to you all for keeping the dares interesting and fun!

The subject is, as in our original dare "friends", but this time the title is CIRCLE of FRIENDS and we'd like you to incorporate at least one circle into your card.

This has taken a bit of time this morning but I do love making these kind of cards!

It's a card in a sleeve and as it's my friend's birthday next week the dare was perfect for making her a special card!

Here is the circle, a bit hidden but it's there!

Sarah x

Oh Christmas tree....

"O Christmas Tree. O Christmas Tree" Want to guess what needs to be featured on your cards this week? Yes, we want to see lots and lots of Christmas Trees.

My card is a bit late for the Daring Cardmakers little extra this week. I liked the cards I did in the last post so much I decided to carry on with the same design! This one has a Christmas tree on the brad.
Sarah x

Alternative Christmas..

This challenge on JB was to create 5 Christmas cards using patterned papers that are not for Christmas.

I used some really cheap chipboard letters and kept the design really simple. I quite like the finished result.

Sarah x

Wild thing...

Hellooooo, Kathy here to set you a really Beastly dare this week! The theme is ANIMAL and you can use anything that's animal inspired - not those diddy little ones like bugs, birds and butterflies (though you can include them in your design of course) but what I'd really like to see is bigger, wilder, more fabulous or fantastic creatures

Ooh Kathy this was really tricky!!!! I don't have much that could pass for wild or beastly, so I had to delve deep into my stash, and use my quickutz(which I rarely even look at these days!).

I think you would have to agree though this little fella is pretty wild..................................NOT!!!!

Sorry I have failed miserably, no stash to accommodate this dare just a cute little penguin! Funny though I made a card that looks like something I would have made years ago with die cuts and even a bit of glitter glue!And I just realised I have used up a bit more of the DCWV paper!!!! Oh well I know that my Nephew will like this(my girls will send it to him).

Sorry Kathy I will try and do better next week!!

Sarah x

Recycling for the little extra this week..

Whenever I buy 12 x 12 papers from my local craft shop they put them in these lovely paper bags. It seemed such a waste to put them in my recycling bin so I decided that they will make great gift bags for all my Christmas pressies this year. I have altered this one for my Mum's pressie using scraps of basic grey. I think I need to add a few more ribbons to the handles, but basically I have a supply of gift bags for free now!

I made the tree by just sewing random lines with my sewing machine,and added Basic Grey letters. I didn't get a chance to do the Daring cardmakers little extra this week so I am hoping they will let me use this as it kind of fits the challenge.

Sarah x

Tempting template....

I love templates!!! I made this card with Sue's latest template on JB forum, I can't show it though 'coz I am a bit thick and don't know how to put it on my blog!!! I found these clear snowflakes in a drawer in my craftroom the other day and though I should start using them. I inked the back with white ink so that they showed up a bit more and used a pearl brad in the centre( I am lovin' these brads at the moment)

Another Christmas card I can cross of my list!

pp Basic Grey fruitcake, Heidi Swapp ghost snowflake,May Arts ribbon and doodlebug rub ons.

Old and New....

These cards are for the old and new challenge on the JB forum. The challenge was to make a card using some old papers and then a card using some new papers.

This Christmas card was made from the old papers. I bought these last year and they were one of those mistake buys. I have 100 12 x 12 sheets of various Christmas designs which I know I won't use! I picked out the best papers I could find but they are so thin!! Really not happy with the quality of this card, up close you can see where I have handled the paper!

The new paper is the Oh so lush Crate Samantha range of papers. I luuuuuurve all crate papers, they are thick, good quality and I love the textured feel and aged look they have to them.

I had to cut into a brand new sheet for this card!

I had good fun with this challenge!

Sarah x

Christmas Buttons..

Another challenge over on the JBforum !! Two of my favourite things as well - Christmas cards with buttons!!
Here are my 5

pp basic grey fruitcake, BG monograms(I've had these for ages and thought I should start using them!), ribbon and buttons from stash.

Enjoy the weekend!

Sarah

Answers on a Postcard...

This is a new one for me!!! Never made a postcard before and I have to say this is a different style for me as well. I bought this stamp a few weeks ago from a forum friend but this is the first time I have been brave enough to use it. I don't do a lot of stamping and I have so much to learn but this stamp seemed perfect for the Daring cardmaker's challenge this week.

Firstly I tried stamping this on white card but it looked too stark so I decided on this neutral cardstock instead. I didn't really know how to colour in the image(you see what I mean I have loads to learn!) so I ended up using my Daughter's watercolour pencils. I quite like the finished result of the water colours.

I also stamped some postcard images on the back but blogger wouldn't let me upload the photos today(anyone else been having any problems??)

Even though it's a postcard I couldn't resist a bit of ribbon! And I am going to post it today - NOOOOOOOO! I hear you all cry there's a postal strike for the next 4 days!! I am going to hand deliver it to a friend with a little 'thinking of you message' on the back as it's her Nan's funeral later today.

Thanks for a great dare again this week ladies, I really enjoyed this one!

Sarah x

Tags...

The challenge over on the The Arty Girlz Blog is to make a tag. I really love making tags, especially to use up all my scraps of paper and card.



The card is a huge tag in a pocket, I really love making these, although they do take a bit longer than a normal card. I also made a gift tag as I can't throw away even the tiniest bit of my basic grey papers!!!!

pp Basic Grey fruitcake, sticker Melissa Frances, string from Ikea (this stuff is an absolute bargain at around £1 for 20 metres!!) and buttons and ribbon from stash.

Paisley....

The first challenge of the month on JB forum is to create a card using some paisley.I'm not too keen on paisley patterns I think that 's because when we were growing up my brother used to have a paisley shirt and tie(in exactly the same fabric) that my Mum used to make him wear to weddings and special occasions. To top that they were lemon coloured!!!! Oh the joy of the seventies!!!!!!!

Anyway, I made this card using some mm papers which are paisley patterned. I used up some circles of bazzill from an old SA kit.

Sarah x