Missing U

Hello!

I hope you have had a good weekend - it has been warmer this weekend with a bit of sunshine to cheer us all up before school starts on Tuesday!

I am posting a last minute card for CASology which has a cue card this week of Letter.  I had lots of ideas but not enough time.  Here is what I did make:

 

I stamped letters randomly in soft grey (Memento Ink's London Fog) and in pink.  The stamps are a discontinued set from a company called Banana Frog.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts Year Round Sentiments and the bow is by Maggie Holmes.

 

I hope you like it!

 

Thanks for stopping by,

 

Sarah x

 

 

Muse and More

Hello!  I hope you are having a good weekend.

I just wanted to post a few cards that I have made this afternoon.  There are so many fun challenges around at the moment that there just aren't enough hours in a day :)

First up is Muse - I have been meaning to play along for ages but always seem to have run out of time.  However, Bobby's fab inspiration card finally got me started!  It was also a chance to play along with my new Papertrey Ink scribble dies:

 

I loved the warm colours and dark card base on Bobby's card and the dotty swirls that she used.  I would have really liked to do something with texture paste but didn't have time to break that out today.  The sentiment is from Avery Elle.  Thanks for inspiring my card, Bobby!

 

I also had a bit of cardstock that I had stamped with Hero Art's fantastic starry background and decided to use it to make a card:

 

 

This is a really simple design - I stamped the sentiment from HA's Written in the Stars and combined with some die cut glittery stars and enamel dots.  I sprayed some Studio Calico shine spray and inked around the edge of the panel to give it a bit of definition.  I will play along one last time with A2Z Scrapbooking's August Challenge to make Encouragement cards and will link up with Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.

 

I hope you like them - I'm off to make some more :)

 

Thanks for stopping by,

 

Sarah x

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flower Power

Hello!  How are you today?

Sometimes I sit down to make one thing, get distracted by the crafting supplies on my table and end up going in a completely different direction!  That's what happened today as I should have been making a birthday card for my Dad but Bev from Uniko Studio has been making such lovely cards with the new stamps in her Flower Power series recently that I ended up having a play with mine too:

I absolutely love these flowers and yellow and grey is a favourite colour combo.  It is such a simple design and would be easy to mass produce.  I will enter it into Uniko's current challenge to make cards for special occasions and link up with Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge which is Anything Goes.

As it is a simple design I made another using the first in the Flower Power series:

 

I hope you like them!

 

Thanks for stopping by,

 

Sarah x

More Challenges

Hello!

A few more cards to share today for challenges.  First up is The Card Concept - I love the inspiration photo:

I went with the fresh green and floral elements of the photo:

I used a new die cut by Sue Wilson along with a sentiment and die cut from Simon Says Stamp.  It is a super simple design but the die is quite detailed so I didn't want to do too much more to it!  I would guess that this is clean and layered.

My next card is for Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge which is Back to School:

I used my Hero Arts number stencil and inked through with Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean and Peacock Feathers.  The speech die is from Lawn Fawn and the owl is from the Hero Arts Missing You set. 

I thought this was a quite a fun design - I hope you like it :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Sarah x

Getting to Know Me Blog Hop

Hello!

I was absolutely delighted when Beverley from Uniko Studio tagged me to take part in the 'Getting to Know Me' blog hop!  I enjoy reading about other bloggers and how they create so I hope you stick with me through my ramblings below :)

If you do drop by my blog on a regular basis you will know that I absolutely love Beverley's great stamp designs which you can find here at her store.  She showcases them brilliantly on her blog with her great CAS style and fresh colours.  Do go and visit her - I promise you will be inspired!

Bev is about to become the proud mum of twins any day now - best of luck for the happy event :)  I am looking forward to reading about her adventures as a new mum! 

Bev has also tagged the awesome Carol from Just Me:c so do go and read her post too....

Anyway, let's get on to the questions.....

1. What creative projects are you currently working on?

As I work full time and have two energetic boys keeping me busy I always have more plans for things I would like to make than time to complete them...I am sure that I am not alone in that :)  I am a member of the design team at A Blog Named Hero so I always have cards/projects that I need to make for that.  I also like entering challenges which keep me on my toes and often kick start my mojo when I am struggling to come up with an idea.  It is my Dad's 70th at the weekend so I really need to get started on his card too!

In terms of creative projects that I have just completed here are two cards that I have made this weekend:

 

This card is for Less Is More's sketch challenge and uses Uniko stamps which I have watercoloured.  I will also enter it into Uniko's current challenge to make cards for special occasions.

 

 

I don't know why I decided to make a purple card with a gold glittery bee but that's what I did :)  It is evidence of the  haphazard creative process that I describe below! I will enter it into Addicted to CAS's geometric challenge.

2. What inspires your designs?

There is so much inspiration online these days - I absolutely love visiting the blogs of all the talented bloggers out there and browsing on pinterest.  I have to be careful though as I can find that hours have flown by and I have no time left to do any creating of my own :)  I won't take up too much time listing all of the blogs that I follow for inspiration - there is a list on the right hand side of my blog if you are interested. 

I really started becoming aware of the online community through the Hero Arts Flickr Group where I started posting my cards about 18 months ago.  There are some fantastic cardmakers in that group and they are so encouraging - the creativity and comments from such generous crafters as Barb G, Barb Engler and Paperpicnic (Jayne) has inspired me to keep developing and gave me the confidence to start my blog in March this year.  It is really worth checking out the inspiration on the Flickr group and enjoying the cards of the fab crafters there :)

Like lots of you, I also get inspired by the wide range of challenges out there.  Favourites that I participate in whenever I can are Time Out, Less Is More, Addicted to CAS and CASology.  I am always so excited when one of my cards is spotlighted and I love the opportunity to go visit other bloggers too - it is always fascinating to see the different ways that we all interpret the challenge :)

3. What method or process do you apply to each creative project and how long does each project take to complete?

I am a SLOW cardmaker and my 'method' is haphazard :)  It can take me about an hour to make a card - either because I get distracted by going through my crafting stash or angst for far too long over where to put my sequins/enamel dots!  I have also been known to daydream looking out of the window....

I do occasionally sketch out a design when I know that I won't have time to make a card but when I am in my craft room I start with the stamps and/or colours that I want to use and things tend to 'evolve' from there.  I often stamp things out on scrap paper to get a sense of layout before I commit to the final design but I tend to find that my scrap stamping is better than my 'proper' stamping as I have ruined so many cards with a wobbly sentiment right at the very end :(

4. If you had to describe your 'signature style' what would it be?

I tend towards CAS and love lots of white space on a design but I also do like playing with inky techniques and texture.  I think I will go with the description 'eclectic CAS' that Bev used to describe my style - I like it :) 

5. What three crafting tools/products could you not live without?

I have a room full of supplies and gadgets - I am definitely due a clear out!  However, at the end of the day I only really need stamps and inks (just lots of them).  I am also really enjoying the great dies that are coming out at the moment and like working with stencils too.  When thinking about 3 specific tools I would go with:

Heat tool - I love heat embossing stamped images
Grand Calibur - for die cutting
Versafine Onyx Black ink - great for crisp stamped images

Are you still there?!  Thank you for sticking with me.  Before I go, let me introduce you to the two inspiring cardmakers who have kindly agreed to take part in next week's instalment of the blog hop:

Michelle Lupton of Handmade by Michelle is a super talented cardmaker!  I have admired her designs for a long time and was thrilled to join her on the design team at A Blog Named Hero.  Michelle's fab creations will be familiar to many of you as she is also on the design teams for the Addicted to CAS and Fusion challenges.  Michelle's style is definitely CAS but she also adds great warmth and texture to her designs through her use of colour and techniques.  Her blog is definitely worth a visit to find inspiration :)

My second talented cardmaker is the lovely Sandie from London Days!  Sandie is a team mate of Michelle's at Addicted to CAS and also hosts the fab Time Out Challenge (with the lovely Nonni) alongside designing for STAMPlorations, Addicted to Stamps and More and Inkspirational.  Sandie is a really fun and generous (and busy) member of the crafting community as well as an awesome cardmaker.  Her designs are CAS and are always bright and fun.  I really admire her ability to make the stamps shine and to put her personality in to her designs.  Go and check out her blog - you will see what I mean! 

I can't wait to read Michelle and Sandie's posts next Monday to find out more about them and how they create - hopefully they make more sense than me :) 

If you are still here then thanks for the time you have taken to read my post.  I would also like to say how grateful I have been for all of the visits and support I have had since I started my blog in March - I was very nervous about taking the plunge but have had lots of fun!  If this is our first meeting, I hope you will come back again and visit :)  Leave me a comment so that I can drop by your place too!

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

Make A Wish

Hello!

Just a quick post today with a card that I have made for the latest AEIHeartU Challenge.  The challenge is to use sequins and it seemed like a good excuse to use the Make A Wish set which I have just got.  I love these sweet images....

Nothing complicated on this shaker card.  I love the soft pink and grey colour combo for a new baby card.

As my shaker card features a die cut heart aperture (from Tonic Studios) I will also link this up with the great Cutting Edge blog hop being hosted by Pretty Pink Posh this weekend.

There are loads of great cards already linked up so I am off to visit!

I am also linking up at CAS on Sunday where the challenge is to make baby cards :)

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Sarah x

Time Out and Sunny Spain

Hello!

I hope you are enjoying your weekend and managing to squeeze in some crafty time :)

I have been wanting to play along with the Time Out Challenge since I saw the gorgeous inspiration card from Anita:

I love the watercoloured blues on the white embossed panel and the layered die cut.  Here is my take:

 

I white embossed a stencil and used a range of distress inks - Chipped Sapphire, Stormy Sky, Broken China and Tumbled Glass.  The sentiment is from Avery Elle and I die cut the leaves twice to give a bit of contrast.

 

I was also inspired by the table at our villa in Spain:

 

It was a lovely shady spot in the heat of the day hence the die cut leaves over my panel!  Here are a few more pics from our holidays - it feels a lot longer than a week ago :)  The villa was in a lovely secluded spot at the edge of a national park.

And the boys loved playing in the pool!

 

I hope my pictures have bought a bit of sunshine to your day.  It is cold and wet here but I hope the sun might shine again before the summer is over :)

Bye for now,

Sarah x

 

Happy Birthday, Nonni!

Hello!

Today is a special day as it is the fab Nonni's birthday :)

Nonni will be known to many of you through her wonderful blog, Korttikarkuri and her creative work at Time Out Challenges, Inkspirational and Stamplorations.  She is a really fun member of the blogging community so it is great that her friend, Sandie from London Days has set up a surprise linky party for Nonni.  You can link up a birthday card for Nonni there over the next 2 weeks.

Here is my birthday card for Nonni:

I inked through the Hero Arts Bubble Confetti stencil with Spiced Marmalade, Squeezed Lemonade, Worn Lipstick and Picked Raspberry distress inks.  The sentiment is gold embossed from Hero Arts Many Birthday Messages.

Happy Birthday, Nonni - enjoy :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

You're a Diamond

Hello!

Back with another quick post using my new (to me) Avery Elle Many Thanks stamp set:

 

 

I silver embossed the fab sentiment and covered the diamond in glossy accents and glitter.  I backed with silver glitter paper and stamped the diamond tone on tone for the background.  Given that the diamond is made up of triangles I will also link this up at the challenge at Addicted to CAS where the codeword is Geometric.

 

Whilst I had the set out on my desk I made this card:

 

This is such a versatile stamp set!  I used all of the different sized dots to create a random pattern on an angled panel and finished with one of the sentiments.  I used the first colour combo from the current challenge at Make the Day Special to create this card so will link up there - I like the blues and oranges!

That is all I have time for today.  I am exhausted after my first day back at work - is it the weekend yet?!

Thanks, as ever, for stopping by,

Sarah x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back in the Old Routine

Hello!

I hope you are having a good week so far.  I am back to work and the old routine tomorrow so I had to squeeze a little time in the craft room today :)

First up I made this card for CASology:

The cue card this week is Java which, as I don't have many coffee related images, was a bit of a stretch!  However, I do have Paper Smooches Cyber Café and that has both computer and coffee related stamps - it is really fun :)  I went with the computer related interpretation....

I have gone for a very CAS design this week and channelled my 'inner Ardyth'!  I hope you like it.

I have also made a card to play along at Less Is More's challenge which has the theme of Animals.  This is less of a CAS design but I just had to put those cute bears in a night time scene!

This card is full of Hero Art's goodness from the constellation background which was white embossed and then inked with Chipped Sapphire distress ink.  The bears have been watercoloured and are from the sweet Lil Hoot set.  The moon and sentiment are from Shoot for the Moon which I got recently from my fab blog friend, Barb Ghig - thanks Barb!

I will also link this card up at A2Z Scrapbooking's current challenge on the theme of encouragement.

That's all from me - it feels good to be back in the swing of making cards :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Sarah x

Hola!

Hola!

Finally, I am back from our fortnight holiday in Spain.  We had a great time and glorious weather but now I am freezing!  It is 20 degrees colder in the UK than Spain at the moment :(  The villa that we stayed in was in a lovely secluded spot backing on to one of their national parks so it was a great place to get away from it all and the boys had a fantastic time playing in the pool all day.  I will share a few photos in the next few days.

Whilst we have had a wonderful break I have been really missing my craft room so once I had got unpacked I headed straight in there for a play :)  This is what I made:

 

I saw that the cue card at CASology this week is Magic and I dug out this fairy stamp by Lavinia stamps which came free with a magazine.  I silver embossed her and the sentiment from Mama Elephant.  I watercoloured her wings and added a few touches of colour to her 'spell'.  I went round the edge with Tumbled Glass distress ink and layered the panel on top of some silver glitter paper.  Hopefully this adds to the 'magical' look!

 

It feels good to be playing with ink and paper again :)

 

Hopefully I will have a few more cards and pics to share with you soon.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

 

Sarah x

 

 

 

 

Over At A Blog Named Hero

Hello!

It's time for another challenge over at A Blog Named Hero and it is a really fun one:



This month we have a great collaboration with Reverse Confetti - their stamps and dies are so fresh and cool.

Here is the card that I made:

 

I white embossed Hero Art's Looped Flower background stamp on to watercolour card and created an ombre effect with Picked Raspberry, Worn Lipstick and Spun Sugar distress inks.  The sentiment is from Hero Art's Flower Garden set, white embossed on to vellum and die cut with a Reverse Confetti tag die.  The lovely flowers are white embossed on to vellum from Reverse Confetti's Petals n Posies set.  A few pops of black add some contrast.

 

Do go and check out the fab cards from the lovely Design Team!  I hope you will play along with our ombre challenge :)

 

Remember that there is a great prize from our fab sponsors:

 

 

I look forward to seeing what you create.  In the meantime, thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 

 

InLinkz.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over at A Blog Named Hero

Hello!

Today is my solo post at A Blog Named Hero.  This month we have a great collaboration with Reverse Confetti - their stamps and dies rock :)

I have made 3 cards with the gorgeous Petals n Posies stamps and dies and my favourite Hero Arts supplies.  Here is one of them:

 

I used some of my favourite distress inks - Spiced Marmalade, Worn Lipstick and Picked Raspberry along with a fab sentiment from Hero Arts Be Happy Today set.  I love the funky flowers from Reverse Confetti - they are great to layer up. 

 

I will also link up with A2Z Scrapbooking's new challenge for August which is on the theme of encouragement - I think this is quite an inspiring sentiment :)

 

Head over to ABNH to see what else I have been up to.  Whilst you are there remember to join in with our current challenge:

 

 

You can win a prize from our fab sponsors:

 

 Thanks for stopping by!  See you again soon :)