Been A While....

I don't know if anyone still looks at my blog these days - I have been a very naughty blogger lately. I have had a few computer problems and haven't been able to load photos until now.

I have been busy making cards for Poppicrafts, here are a selection of my latest;

If you need any ribbon or embellies get yourself over to Poppicrafts as there is a clearance sale on at the moment and you can grab some bargains.

Mr Postie has just brought me a couple of lovely stash parcels so I'm off to have a look at my purchases.

Love Sarah x

Daring Cardmakers and A little competition...

HURRAH! I managed a challenge this week! Time is just not on my side at the moment but I managed to throw together a quick card this morning for the daring cardmakers challenge this week;

Hi it's Keryn here this week and in New Zealand we're in the middle of winter. Not snow like some of you get but we think it's cold all the same. I want to see card creations using only sizzling hot yellow based colours like red, orange and yellow to send some heat out to us through the web.

Well orange is not my favourite crafting colour, but I do love the MME papers and they do feature quite a lot of bright sunny colours, so put your sunglasses on for this this one -

pp -MME

chipboard - POPPICRAFTS

flower - PRIMA

I have also made a little something for Poppicrafts. Michelle is running her last competition over at Poppicrafts and it features one of my favourite craft must haves - CHIPBOARD! We all have tons of the stuff in our craft rooms so why not take part in the challenge and be in with a chance of winning £30 of Poppicraft vouchers? All you need to do is come up with something original using chipboard.

Michelle sent me these chipboard flowers to make a sample for the comp and they are a perfect size to make a sweet little notebook with! And the best bit is these two beauties will only set you back 40p! Can you believe how cheap they are? I covered them with some MME papers and used a sizzix round die to cut out the pages and then bound them with the Bind it all (you could easily use some book rings instead) finishing off with some grosgrain ribbon (also from Poppicrafts).

I made this with Poppi in mind and of course I couldn't leave out her brother Riley so I also made him a little notebook using a pirate theme.

Why not give the competition a try - you can buy no end of gorgeous stuff with a £30 voucher!

Sarah x

Meet Pocket and Floss...

My first attempt at proper sewing - I use my sewing machine everyday on paper projects but this is the first time I have actually made anything completely with fabrics. I was lucky enough to win a kit to make these two a long while ago, I put the kit away in my craft cupboard and only very recently discovered them again, and i had great fun making these. I think I might be hooked on sewing now. They are a bit big to photograph together.

I haven't completely given up on my cardmaking though, I have been busy gardening for the last few weeks, but I finally got a chance to do a couple of challenges this week, this first card is for the Pink Elephant challenge this week which is a fab sketch. I used my new MME pretty please papers (yum!), they are lovely and needed plenty of stroking before I finally cut into them. The photos are a bit dark as I took these really early this morning.

And the second card is another sketch from Card Patterns, well worth a visit as there are some fabulous sketches on the site - oh and on their design team is a male scrapbooker/cardmaker!

that's my lot for today, I hope to do a few more challenges over the weekend.

Sarah x

Papertake Weekly..

A day off for me today which gave me a chance to do another challenge! I loved the sketch over on Papertake Weekly and used it to make a card for a colleagues Birthday. I used more of the fabulous My Mind's Eye - Bella Bella papers, they are so gorgeous and I think this is one of my favourite colour combinations too.

pp - bella bella collection - MME

stamp -Penny Black

brads -making memories

unfortunately it's back to work for me tomorrow so the challenges will have to wait until the weekend now.

Lots of Love

Sarah x

CPS 114......

This week's sketch on CPS is fabulous! I need lots of cards for the next month for family and friends so this was a perfect opportunity to make a start. I think I may use this sketch for a few more cards too.

I have been using this Hero Arts butterfly stamp quite a bit, I love all the little hearts on the wings. Don't look at my stitching too closely, I am fine doing the straight lines but not so good going around the oval! I used a really old sizzix die for the oval, I haven't used this for years, but I think it works quite well for the sketch. I finished off with some of my favourite prima hydrangeas and some buttons.

Well we are getting on with doing some gardening this weekend, yesterday I stained the table and chairs so it looks as good as new again and today I think I will get the mower out and cut the lawn. Gotta make the best of this sunshine while it lasts.

Enjoy the rest of this bank holiday weekend!

Lots of love

Sarah x

Remember me?...

Ok I have been a norty, norty blogger!! I've had no time for any cardmaking as my Hubby has been to hospital for an operation so I have been spending lots of time pampering him. Thankfully he is on the mend now so I can sneak a few quiet moments in my craft room.

So today's card was made using the lovely Kathy's sketch on her sketch blog. If you haven't tried one of her sketches yet you really should take a few moments to visit, as they are really versatile.

I used some Bloom and grow Papers by My Mind's Eye, this is still one of my favourite collections at the moment, I even like the orange papers! I also used my new border punch by fiskars - Apron Lace. I had a bit of trouble locating this little beauty but it was worth the searching. I finished off with some flowers cut out of the papers and a couple of my favourite little flower buttons from Poppicrafts.

Hopefully this weekend I will get to to make a couple of challenge cards!

Love

Sarah x

Daring Cardmakers Hide and Seek...

OK so don't faint - 2 posts in 2 days is unheard of on my blog lately! I am continuing on my mission to make a few cards just for the fun of it, and what better way than with Daring Cardmakers. It is such a long time since I joined in with one of these challenges but this weeks was right up my street, to incorporate a hidden message onto your card.

This one is for my Mum (you'd never have guessed would you?) as it's her 70th Birthday soon. Using more of my new stash of papers (which are fabulous), and a few primas.

pp - MME Bela Bella -Bellezo collection

hydrangeas - Prima

buttons -BG

Flower button brad- Poppicrafts

Chipboard - Scenic Route

Thanks for the challenge Ladies, I had fun with this one!

Lots of Love

Sarah x

2 Sketches....

I've been busy catching up with family and friends over Easter but now I am home and at last have had a bit of spare time to make a card for my favourite sketch blog 2 Sketches 4 You. It's such a long time since I managed to join in but I am on a mission to make some cards just for fun and this is my first one;

Totally inspired by the fantastic Berdien who is the Queen of butterfly inspired cards, if you have not visited her blog (where have you been?) then take a look at her wonderful creations here. Everything she creates is just beautiful.

Aren't these papers just gorgeous? I have treated myself to quite a few new packs of papers lately and this one is probably my favourite, the colours are just my cup of tea.

pp - MME - Bella Bella - French Flea Market collection

stamp - Hero Arts

buttons - Basic Grey

Lastly, but by no means least, I would like to say a huge Thank You to everyone for their lovely comments on Tag You're It ! this week, they mean so much to the team. I know we will all miss our lovely followers, but I hope we can still keep in touch through blogland.

Lots of Love

Sarah x

Skinny Ribbon challenge...

Michelle at Poppicrafts is having a competition - I struggled with this one I have to say - make a card using skinny ribbon (maximum width 7mm) as the main focal point of your card. Well I love ribbon and for me the thicker the better - 25mm is my favourite so when Michelle sent me this 5mm ribbon to make a sample for the competition I did panic a bit!! Eventually I decided to thread it through a series of holes to make a flower. The other DT members have been really inventive you can see what they came up with here. So do you want to win a £20 voucher to spend at Poppicrafts? Just post a card for this challenge on your blog and leave Michelle a link. Think how much ribbon you could buy with that!

I have been busy making some DT cards for Poppicrafts, I wasn't sure about this one perhaps it's a bit too green but I did love this chipboard butterfly, I embellished it with some of the tiny buttons and of course some of the fabulous blooms.

More basic grey papers on this card, with some 10mm ribbon and more blooms and delicious buttons.

My favourite card was this Easter one, inspired by a card that Michelle sent me recently, I love these little heart buttons, they come in such a wonderful variety of bright and cheerful colours, and of course my favourite 25mm satin ribbon (moss green - yum!)and some skinny ribbon too.

pp - variety of Basic Grey

Buttons, ribbons, blooms and brads all from Poppicrafts

We don't have much planned for the Easter break here, a bit of gardening and of course some crafting, and maybe even a little bit of chocolate! Whatever you are up to have a very happy Easter!

Sarah x

At last some cards!!!...

Well a couple of cards anyway!! I have been busy making some stuff with the gorgeous parcel of stash sent to me by Michelle at Poppicrafts. What a treat I have when these parcels arrive, stuffed full of ribbons, flowers, chipboard, brads and every embellishment you could think of.

This first card uses just about all of my favourite things;

I managed to get this lace Martha Stewart punch, I love it and want to use it on everything at the moment. I used my most favourite satin ribbon - this comes in just about every colour you can think of, some flowers (obviously!) and more cute pins.

Next one is my first attempt using Nesties;

I need more practise using these - and as I haven't got the embossing mats yet I had to improvise using a sheet of funky foam! More gorgeous flowers and these sweet little leaves and of course no card could be complete without some ribbon.

And lastly for today I made this Pamper kit for Michelle, filled with lots of pampering kinda things, and obviously using more luscious ribbon and flowers.

It does feel good to be blogging some cards again! I'll be back in a few days with more DT stuff I made for Michelle.

Sarah x

It's Party Time!

Today is a really special day for all of us at Tag You're It! as it's our first Birthday! And in celebration we are having a bit of a party - and you know what happens at parties - PRESENTS!

This week the team are giving away several presents and all you have to do to be in with a chance of getting a lovely pressie popping through your letter box is to make a Birthday themed tag. How easy is that? The theme this week is Party time - make a tag to celebrate! Here is mine;

And here's the pressie I am giving away;

Pop over to the Tag You're It! blog to see what fabulous creations my teamies have come up with .

I am waiting for Mr Postie to arrive as I am expecting a lovely parcel from the Glitter Pot, lots of lovely goodies just fell into my shopping cart - how did that happen? I have treated myself to lots of lovely new papers and a few stamps too. Well I had to have a little present on our Birthday now didn't I?

I can't wait to see what you all come up with.

Lots of love

Sarah x

Cute as a Button...

Gosh my blog is fast becoming a tag only blog!!! I really must try and find time to take photos of cards before I send them off! Well surprise, surprise(sung in my best Cilla accent!) I have another tag to share with you today!

This weeks challenge on Tag You're It! is set by my fabby team mate Dawn. Now Dawn really does like to challenge me - this week she chose 'Cute and Cuddly', in fact it was such a challenge that Dawn had to provide me with some images to use! I settled for the Forever Friends image eventually, and I had to use my daughter's water colour pencils to colour it with - another challenge in itself. The photo doesn't really show up the colouring very well - probably just as well as it is quite messy!

I did get to use my new Basic Grey buttons though - aren't they pretty? I love coming into my craftroom I have a shelf full of jars of ribbon scraps, flowers and buttons all colour coordinated and it always reminds me of a sweet shop full of jars of brightly coloured sweets, sherbet pips, bon-bons, cola cubes, mint imperials, midget gems......... the buttons do look good enough to eat don't they?

This week we have a fabulous prize to give away - these lovely sugar nellie stamps from Funky Kits, so if you haven't joined us and made a tag yet - why not have a go this week?

Fingers crossed we have some sunshine this weekend, I have heaps of gardening to do!

Sarah x

A little Recipe...

Well time has just been passing me by for the last few weeks, I don't seem to have time for anything much except working! Sadly crafting has been put on the backburner, but as from next week I will have more free time and I am going to craft to my hearts content! I have missed joining in with challenges, so I fully intend to make a start on a few of those next week.

Friday is Tag You're It! challenge day and this week it was my turn to set the challenge, I have chosen a little recipe;

1 piece of ribbon

2 buttons

3 brads or eyelets

Any theme is allowed, and other stash items but the tag must include these items.

I realised after I took the photos that it looks as if I have only used one button - in fact there are two, I have layered them on top of the flower. I used my new stamp set from Papertrey Ink (around and about) which I love.

Papers and buttons - BG Sultry

Stamps - Papertrey Ink

Flowers and ribbon - Poppicrafts

Brads - from stash

The sun is shining and it looks as if it will last the weekend so I will be tacking the garden this weekend, along with a bit of cardmaking too.

Sarah x

Time for Tea...

I really loved making my tag this week for our challenge on Tag You're It! Firstly I love cupcakes! And this week The Cutting Cafe have sponsored us and we got to use one of the fabulous downloads - yep - Cupcakes! Well this download business is completely new to me but it was very simple.

Our lovely Kath set the challenge this week - Time for Tea.

If you join in with the tag challenge this week you will have a chance of winning 3 of the brilliant download sets of your choice from the Cutting Cafe - What a prize!

Also I have at last finished my stash ban - oooh it was getting so difficult and I so wanted these BG Bittersweet Papers. I just love them and want to use them on everything at the moment. Ooh and I got a huge parcel of loveliness from Poppicrafts - the new blooms are just gorgeous - trust me you need some! I am very lucky to have all of them, and I just want to put them on everything at the moment, don't they look cute on the cupcake?

I must say it is so nice to have the odd parcel dropping through the letter box every now and again.

Well I look forward to seeing all your wonderful tags this week,

Sarah x

Wings.....

That's the challenge this week for Tag You're It! set by the lovely Carol. Hmmm not something I usually use on my cards so this was a challenge for me. I found a little chipboard butterfly in my stash so I covered it with a scrap of paper and used a few pearls for the body. I kept my tag simple this week;

stamp - Stampin' Up

bloom, button and ribbon from Poppicrafts

Butterfly from stash

why not join in with the challenge this week?

Sarah x

A couple of cards at last!.....

I have actually managed to sit down and make a couple of cards today! Things have not been going to plan here, I had an incident with a needle and my big toe which meant a trip to A&E recently, let's just say my toe was kebabed! So a tetanus jab was needed and it made me feel quite poorly for a couple of days. Oh well I am back on track now and I had some free time today to make a few things.

I have lots of challenges to catch up on so I started to day with a couple from JB forum, The first was to use Kraft card;

and this card was for a challenge to keep to the same colours;

Right I have lots to catch up on so I'm off to get started on my Mother's day cards.

Sarah x

Diamond are a girls best friend....

What a fantastic challenge Anne has set on Tag You're It this week "diamonds are a girl's best friend" interpret how you like but please include the bling!

I have used this lovely stamp which I bought from a forum friend and then forgot I had - but I think it works really well for this challenge. The diamonte buckle came with some making memories ribbon, and then I just added some bling to the image. Black ribbon from Poppicrafts.

we have another fabulous prize giveaway this week from Scrapz, so definitely worth getting your bling out for this challenge ladies.

No cards to show today, I haven't had much spare time this week to make anything.

enjoy your weekend,

Sarah x

Better late than never!

What a rubbish team mate I am - I was late making my tag for the challenge this week on Tag You're it!, mainly due to the toothache which I still have, been to the dentist and he says I have no decay so it might be an infection. Well anyway it still hurts like hell. So here is my tag for this weeks challenge set by the lovely Dawn which is swirls and circles;

A bit pink me thinks - but never mind. ( poor quality photo due to a dark day here)

I haven't done a lot of crafting this week as I don't think I mentioned that I have TOOTHACHE, so I will share a few photos of recent stuff made for Michelle at Poppicrafts;

A little Mother's day card made using gorgeous Fancy Pants felt, FP pin, blooms to go and these lovely little spacers which I have never used before but I really like them.(all from Poppicrafts)

More felt on this card and my most favourite epoxy brads by Imaginisce and Fancy Pants Key Lime papers.

This cute card was made using the bargainous button selections that Michelle stocks , lovely bright selection of colours(and can you believe only 59p for 25 buttons!) and teamed with grosgrain ribbon;

And lastly these cute little Easter buckets (I love altering these ) one each for Michelle's little ones. I have used doodlebug papers and stickers finished off with assorted 5mm grosgrain ribbons and more gorgeous imaginisce epoxy brads;

That's all folks!

Sarah x