sweet stampin - #23 - a sketch!

The challenge over at Sweet Stampin this week is a sketch :)


and this is my card...



I used SU 'Perfect Plum' cardstock, and 'Not Quite Navy' patterned paper.
I used my SU eyelet border punch on a piece of 'Whisper White', masked off the edge then sponged the rest of the piece with 'Basic Gray' ink and finished with a faux stitched border.
The image is a gorjuss girl, so cute, and coloured with SU markers.
The sentiment is from a set of 6 small sentiments by Stamps Away, I punched it out with my SU boho blossoms punch.

Thanks for stopping by today, hope you have a lovely weekend & the sun is shining wherever you are in the world. xx

week 100!

Can you believe that Sketch Saturday has it's 100th sketch this week! :o
To celebrate, The Craft Barn are offering this weeks challenge winner SIX distress ink pads of their choice!! what a superb prize!! :)
Thank you so much to Sandy & the team for their continued generosity xx

My daughter Emma, loved the card that I made for last weeks sweet stampin challenge, she has sent it to her friend for her birthday.
So I thought that I would make her a similar style of card using this weeks sketch for her own birthday yesterday...

The base cardstock is SU 'Basic Gray', I removed a piece from the front and replaced it with a strip of acetate, the inside back section was matched with a piece of SU paper taken from their patterns pack, the colour palette is 'Real Red'. I used the same paper pack for the front of the card too (the striped paper)
The image is a miss anya one, although when I cut out the image I gave her a haircut and cut off the pigtails too, because my daughter has short hair.
The '20' sentiment is hand drawn and punched out with my scalloped oval punch.
The flowers, although not on the original sketch, were added as an extra bit of embellishment, and what girl doesn't like flowers on her birthday eh?
I finished off the card by gluing 3 tiny stars onto the acetate at each side of the image.

***

I thought you might also like to see the card that my son Jake made for his big sister :)

He did all of this himself, all I did was help cut out the bear and the letters that spell 'sister'

Happy 20th Birthday Emma!
LOVE YOU LOADS
xXx

sweetly in stitches

Back again, with my card for Sweet Stampin challenge blog :)
The theme this week is called 'in stitches'
this could mean real stitching, faux stitching, or even a humorous card, the choice is yours.
Here's mine...

I started with SU Cameo Coral cardstock, then removed a section and replaced it with a strip of acetate across the middle.
On the white scalloped pieces, I used my smallest ball end tool to dent the card stock then drag a cameo coral marker through the dents, to imitate stitching.
Then went around the card with my white gel pen for more 'stitching'
Then finished with a cute Hanglar girlie and some SU "one of a kind" stamped/"boho blossoms" punched flowers.

Please go visit my fellow design team members blogs for more inspiration, not forgetting the stunning work created by our talented Guest Designers too ;)

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend xx

sketch saturday #99

Good Morning. Time for another sketch saturday challenge :)
and this week you could win a selection of beautiful flowers to adorn your work, courtesy of this weeks sponsor, The Craft Garden.
The sketch is a bit trickier than of late, and if you like circles then you'll love it!
Here is my card this week...

The adorable Hanglar image was coloured with SU markers, then I cut the circles using SU patterned papers, the colour palette is Bashful Blue.
I did substitute 3 of the circles with stars to compliment the moon in the image.
The sentiment is from SUs 'so many scallops' stamp set.

For inspiration please go visit the Design Teams personal blogs, their work, as always, is stunning!
Thanks for dropping by, i'll be back in an hour with my sweet stampin card :)

sweet stampin #21 - colour combo

I'm loving the colour combo this week over at Sweet Stampin, Emma has chosen a beautiful palette of 4 colours, although it is fine to use 3 if you'd prefer to ...

and here's my card...

I started with a bashful blue cardstock base, I cut a square of bella bleu DSP and used a perforating cutter on the 4 sides so it looked (sort of) like stitching, then took away the corners, stuck the paper down and added a pearl to each corner.
The rest was simple to do, the flowers are made using the 5 petal flower punch and the boho blossoms punch, I inked the edges of the flowers and assembled them together.
The sentiment is from the oval all stamp set and is punched out with the scalloped oval punch.
The leaves were also from a piece of DSP in the same collection using a woodware punch.

I have sent this card to Mrs A, thanking her for the beautiful gift that she sent to me,
She has already received the card and i'm delighted to say that she loved it! :)

For more outstanding creations, please go visit my sweet stampin DT members, links to their blogs can also be found in my sidebar >>>

Have a wonderful weekend, and I hope that the sun is shining wherever you are in the world :)

xxx

Sketch Saturday time!

Yes, it's that time again! Sketch Saturday time :)
This week i've made a father's day card for my Dad off my son, Jake.
Yes I know it's early (fathers day isn't until June 20th) but the sketch somehow made me think of piles of books, and as my Dad loves to read as well as doing puzzles, I just had to make a card for him. His birthday was last month so fathers day sprung to mind. Here is the card...

I started with SU 'not quite navy' cardstock, then layered a piece of paper found in my stash that I also used a few weeks ago, and now I know the name of it! It's called 'memories' and is from paper pizazz by HOTP.
Then I set to work making the larger books that are behind the main image, these are just pieces of vanilla cardstock that I drew thin lines on to resemble pages, cut to shape, sponged the edges and gave them a 'not quite navy' book cover. Hope they do actually look like books to you too lol
The smaller books (stacks) are from a Magnolia stamp and coloured with SU markers, as was the Edwin stamp, also by Magnolia, except his tshirt is paper pieced from the same text paper as the background, then sponged to make it a little darker.
The 'wisdom' paper is from a book of definitions made by HOTP too. I simply cut it out, sponged the edges and layered it onto 'close to cocoa' cardstock.
Added little edwin on top, hand wrote the greeting, et voila! finis!

Back to the challenge though, this week we are sponsored by Simon Says Stamp!
who are once again giving our challenge winner $25 to spend in their store :)
fab prize!
I can almost see you reaching for your papers and stamps right now! ;)

while visiting the blog, why not have a wander through the DT blogs too? these ladies never fail to inspire me with their tremendous creations. Links can also be found over there >>>

Back soon!

It's a sweet stampin man's world!

Back again! ;)
This weeks theme over at Sweet Stampin is 'It's a man's world'
we want you to make a card for a man/boy please.
I've made a card for my father in law, whose birthday is next week...


and the inside...

I have used 'more mustard' & 'very vanilla' SU cardstock.
The pints of beer images and sentiment are from the 'cheers to you' stamp set, also by SU.
The paper is by Dovecraft, and the Happy Birthday sentiment is from a SeeD's set.
The word DAD is hand drawn, coloured & glittered.

This month I get to choose a Guest Designer for the month of April, so I asked my friend Julie Allain if she'd like to join us, and was delighted when she said YES! :)
Julie is a SU demo and makes the most fabulous cards, please pop over to her blog to see for yourself, she is a very talented crafter.

Not forgetting the talent that is in abundance with my fellow Sweet Stampers, the links to their blogs can also be found in my sidebar over there >>>


Enjoy your weekend/Bank Holiday.
Happy Easter everyone xx

SS#97 - Terrys fab sketch :)

This week is DT week over at Sketch Saturday, and it's the turn of Terry to delight us with a sketch. I loved working with this one, thanks Terry hun xx


The DP is by Stampin Up and is from their patterns book, colour is Real Red.
The sentiment is also SU, from their 'oval all' stamp set, it's punched out using their scallop oval punch, the flowers are the large flower from a stamp in their 'one of a kind' stamp set then punched out with the boho blossoms punch.
The image is of course a Tilda, and i've coloured her with SU markers and a blender pen.
Now, she couldn't just sit in mid-air could she? so she is sitting on a footstool (poufee, or is it spelt pouffe?) I drew it myself then coloured it with a Bashful Blue marker. Tilda herself has foam pads behind her so that she is more 3D.

Please stop by the blog to have a go at this challenge yourself, you could win a plethora of crafting goodies thanks to our sponsor Desi's Creaties.
We also welcome Marcea to the team as our Guest Designer for the month of April, her work is fabulous so you're in for a treat ;)
And of course, not forgetting the stunning creations made by my friends and fellow DT members, you'll find links to their extremely talented blogs in the sidebar over there >>>


Thank you for dropping by, i'll be back in a hour with my Sweet Stampin DT card :)

Thank you ValeryAnne designs

You are going to fall in love with this...



Isn't it gorgeous?... and it's all mine!
This stunning creation is the handywork of an Alien....honest! ;)

(Can I just say, I did plan to type up this post yesterday but I didn't feel very well last night so had a night off the computer, sorry Mrs A as I said i'd post yesterday)

To see better photos than mine please go to It's an Alien life's blog, although I don't think any photo can truly do justice to this beautiful and skilled piece of work.
The real silk fabric is amazing, the design & colours are stunning, Mrs A tells us that it's almost 40 years old, and was given to her by her MiL when she worked in a clothes factory. This makes it all the more special to me as I had my 40th birthday earlier this month.
I tell you, the skill that this lovely lady has with a sewing machine is second to none in my opinion, I'm completely in awe of the beautiful work she makes.

Thank you so much Mrs A! xx