Cards I Made Today

Hello!

I am totally behind with lots of chores so the obvious thing to do was make cards today :)  There were a few challenges that I wanted to play along with - starting with CASology.  The cue card this week is Story and I spent ages going through my stamps to find something that would work....

 

One of my favourite stamp sets is Ocean Bound by Waltzingmouse Stamps and it includes this fab quote from Dr Seuss.   I like the combination of that storybook combined with the ship sailing on the deep blue sea, off on an adventure!  I inked the bottom of the card in a range of distress inks from Chipped Sapphire through to Tumbled Glass.

I will also link up with the Anything Goes challenge at Simon's Wednesday Challenge.

Next up is my card for this week's Muse Christmas Visions where the fabulous Tracey McNeely has made the inspiration card.  I really loved her card and couldn't miss the chance to play along.  Here is what I came up with:

I loved Tracey's quirky, paper pieced trees and beautifully inked sky so these were the elements that I used in my design.  I used a row of trees die by Memory Box with patterned paper and a Mama Elephant stitched landscape die.  The sky is inked with Tumbled Glass and Peacock Feathers and the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

I hope you like today's cards!

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

Goodbye Amber!

Hello!

Our Uniko teamie Amber from Bella Rose Cards is leaving us today and we couldn't let her go without saying goodbye!  Amber is a talented cardmaker whose designs are full of bright colours and creativity.  She also loves polka dots so I decided to make a card that combined some of these elements:

I used the fab polka dot polaroid frame from Strike a Pose along with a sentiment from the same set.  The balloons are from Balloon Bash.  I added a bit of Wink of Stella to some of the dots and also a bit of pale grey ink around the bottom and edge of the frame to add some dimension.

Head over to the Uniko blog to see more farewell cards from the DT.  Amber has been with Uniko for a long time and been a source of fantastic inspiration - we are sad to see you go!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Sarah x

  

Time Out #32

Hello,

Another Thursday and time for our next challenge at Time Out!  This week it is the popular CASE with your own twist challenge and we have a fabulous inspiration card by Deepti from Dee's Art Utopia to get your creative juices flowing. 

Deepti is a very talented cardmaker and is now a stamp designer too - check out her new stamp range Dee's Artsy Impressions over at Stamplorations.  Her blog is full of inspiration, just like this card
:

 

There are so many gorgeous elements to work with on this beauty - the patterned paper, the chalkboard effect, fabulous florals, colours, layout etc.  Here is my first CASE of Deepti's card:

 

 

I was inspired by the colours and checks in the patterned paper and reflected them in my gingham butterflies from Clearly Besotted.  I thought the black base in Deepti's card added real drama so I added a band of black cardstock at the bottom and white embossed a sentiment from Stamplorations.

 

I look forward to seeing how you will be inspired.  The talented DT each have their own twist to share with you at the TO blog and we are joined for this challenge by a wonderful GD, Maura who constantly produces stand out cards.  Check out her inspiring gallery over at Splitcoast Stampers.

 

I will also link up at the Anything Goes Challenge at Simon's Wednesday Challenge.

 

Thank you, as always, for stopping by :)

 

Sarah x

 

 

Vintage Bird Cage

Hello!

Just a quick card today with a vintage style card that I made featuring a birdcage from Paperartsy which hasn't seen much ink.  I pulled it out when making my purple card yesterday and decided the sketchy style of this Paperartsy design would work better with a more vintage look:

 

I inked the image in coffee archival and then watercoloured a background using distress inks.  I added a script stamp from Kaisercraft - stamping off first to get a lighter impression.  The sentiment is from WPlus9.  It isn't my usual style of card but I like it as a variation on the card I shared yesterday.....

No challenges to link up to....I made it 'just because'!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Sarah x

Crafty Catch Up

Hello!

Thank goodness for a long weekend!  We went out for a lovely walk today and a bit of fresh air blew a few of the cobwebs away.  That got me back in to a crafty mood and this is what I came up with:

 

I wanted to play along with the purple challenge at Inkspirational and embossed this beautiful birdcage from Clarity Stamps in purple embossing powder.  The little birds are from an Avery Elle set and the sentiment is from Simon Says Stamps.  I also added a little silver birdcage charm to play along with this week's challenge at Less Is More to use metal.  When I had done, it looked a bit stark so I inked through a stencil in Milled Lavender and so I will link up at Simon's Wednesday Challenge too.  Finally I will play along at Addicted to Stamps where the birdcage and purple birds inspired me.

Next up is a card made for this week's Muse Christmas Visions - I love the deep red base and festive focal point of Betty's beautiful card.  My take is pretty literal:

I used a favourite from Waltzingmouse Stamps on a stitched circle die from Simon Says.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

Our walk was at Yorkshire Sculpture Park - this is one of the sculptures we came across amidst the beautiful countryside.  I thought you would like it:

Thank you for stopping by - I really appreciate your visit!

Sarah x

Dad card

Hello!

I hope you have been enjoying your weekend.  I have had a difficult week with lots on at work combined with a reaction to some antibiotics which has left me feeling pretty grotty.  Thank goodness for a bank holiday weekend and some family time!  It is half term for the kids so although I am not off with them, life will be a bit simpler next week :)

Unsurprisingly, I haven't been particularly creative over the past few days so only have this card to share with you:

This card is loaded up with Hero Arts goodness including the sweet elephants, palm die and sentiment.  Even the stencil lightly inked in blue in the background is Hero's tweed stencil!

I stamped the elephants on grey card and added a bit of pencil shading - it was a cheat's way of colouring :)  The palm die cut was cut twice with the slightly darker green just visible to provide a bit of definition.  The Happy die cut is stacked up several times to provide a bit of substance. 

This will be the perfect card for my youngest to give to Dad on father's day in June.

I will link up at Addicted to CAS where the code word is Animal, at the May Anything Goes Challenge at A2Z Scrapbooking and at the die cuts and punches challenge over at Happy Little Stampers.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope to be back with more to share soon :)

Sarah x

Uniko Challenge Reminder

Hello!

Just a quick post to remind you that the Uniko May Challenge is underway.  This month there is no excuse for not playing along - the theme is Flowers :)

Here is my second card:

 

I used the Uniko Beautiful Blooms II for this week's card and combined it with a sentiment from the fabulous Fontiments set.

The challenge is open until next Friday (29 May) at 9am GMT so you still have a week to play along.  You can use any stamps although we do love to see your Uniko creations :)

There are prizes up for grabs too.  Check out the details along with the fabulous inspiration from the DT on the Uniko blog.  We are delighted that Carol from Just Me: C and Jane from Purplejet Loves Crafts are joining us as GDs for this challenge!

That's it from me for today.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x


 

Time Out #31 reminder

Hello!

Have you had time to get grungy with us at Time Out yet?!  There is still a week left of our grunge with the optional twist of embossing challenge left....

Here is my take:

 

I inked through a Memory Box grid stencil in soft blue and grey inks in the background and used various grunge stamps I have including a smudgy circle from Hero Arts and some splatters from WPlus9.  I added a die cut label and embossed sentiment from Simon Says.

I always think grunge works well for male cards and that is what I have focused on today. And hopefully there is enough white space to ensure that I have kept it CAS!

Check out what the rest of the fab DT have come up with along with our super talented GD Ksenija from Sweet Kobylkin.

There are prizes up for grabs with this challenge from Stamplorations - check out the TO blog for more info.

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you take Time Out to play along with us!

Sarah x

Where is the sunshine?

Hello!

I am glad that this week's challenge theme at Less is More is hello sunshine because it is the only way that I am going to see any this week.  It is still cold and wet here :(

This is the card I made to cheer myself up:

I used my WPlus9 dies and sentiment.  The sunshine is layered up several times, covered in glossy accents and sprinkled with glitter.  I let the die cuts do all of the work on this one.

I will add this as my 3rd entry to Happy Little Stampers dies and punches challenge.

I hope you are enjoying some sunshine :)

Sarah x

Knotty Hearts

Hello!

I have 2 cards to share with you today for current blogland challenges.  First up is a card for the new challenge at CASology where the cue card is Wedding.  I was totally inspired by DT member Hazel's gorgeous design to create a 'tying the knot' card:

 

I gold embossed this fabulous rope knot stamp and sentiment from Waltzingmouse and cut round them.  The white panel is popped up over some patterned paper.  I don't know of anyone getting married this summer but at least I am now prepared :)

To continue the hearts theme I made this card for Simon's Wednesday Challenge which has a sugary colour combination:

I used the heart die and sentiment from Simon Says:

 

It is a really simple design with minimal stamping.  I will also link up at Happy Little Stampers challenge to use dies and punches. 

 

Thanks for stopping by :)

 

Sarah x

 

Birds and Bells

Hello!

Just a quick post to share a few cards which I have made for some of my favourite challenges.  First up is Addicted to CAS where the code word is Birds.  I didn't need any more of an excuse to break out my new sketchy bird stamps from Stamplorations designed by the fabulous Shirley Bampton.  Here is my CAS design:

I watercoloured the bird with distress inks and added a sentiment from Stamplorations Noteworthy sentiment set.  As my card features Stamplorations goodies I shall join up at their Anything Goes challenge which is always running and at Addicted to Stamps where the theme is Clean and Simple.

Next up I have made a card inspired by this fabulous creation from Chriss Blagrave at Muse Christmas Visions.  Here is the inspiration card:

I love the unusual colour combo and the bold die cut sentiment.  This is my take:

 

I die cut some bells from Lil Inkers from white cardstock and embossed them a few times with copper embossing powder to give them a metallic look.  I combined it with a die cut sentiment (also from Lil Inker) which was stacked up on a few layers.  I coloured the base layer of card with copper ink to tie the colours together.  I hope you can see how I was inspired :)

That took a bit longer than I planned!

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

Special Birthday Surprise!

Hello!

Today is the lovely Sandie from London Days birthday and lots of friends are taking part in a birthday linky party hosted by Kylie at Addicted to Stamps!  Sandie is a fabulous stamper, card designer and blogger.  Many of you will know her from all of the design teams that she is on along with the kind comments and encouragement she leaves across blogland.   We couldn't let her birthday go by without a celebration :)

Here is my card for Sandie - I hope she has got it....

I created a heart mask and stamped through it with the some lovely Uniko floral stamps.  The sentiment is gold embossed on vellum and a few enamel dots to finish. 

The linky party runs until the end of the month so it would be great if you could join in the birthday celebration.

Happy Birthday, Sandie!  I hope you have a great day x

Sarah x

PJ Party #3

Hello!

Here is my final card playing along with the May PJ Party at Waltzingmouse Stamps.  This is for Challenge 3 - Old Pyjamas:

I used the cowboy from Back in the Saddle and a sentiment from Free Spirit - Sentiments.  The rope frame is from Clarity Stamps.  I simply inked along some torn strips of paper to create the landscape and added a masked moon.  I hope you like the sepia tones!

That is me all partied out for May - I'm off to check out the other fabulous creations in the galleries!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Sarah x

Uniko Challenge and Happy Birthday!

Hello!

Today is our new challenge over at Uniko Studio and it is extra special as we are wishing the lovely Bev - designer and owner of Uniko - a very happy birthday!  As a mum to sweet twin boys, designer of fabulous stamps and wonderful cardmaker I am always amazed at how Bev fits it all in - combined with being a sweet person too :)

I hope you had a wonderful birthday, Bev!

The theme for the May Uniko Challenge is Flowers and this is the card that I have made for Bev:

 

I do love the Beautiful Blooms II - they are so elegant.  I stamped and masked them in a circular design framing the sentiment from the Simply Said Birthday set.

The challenge is open until 22 May and you don't have to use Uniko stamps to join in - although they have some fabulous floral stamp sets which it would be great to see!  There are prizes up for grabs too so check out the details on the Uniko blog along with more fabulous inspiration from the DT.  This week we are joined by the super talented Carol from Just Me:C and Jane from Purplejet Loves Crafts as our Guest Designers.  They are both wonderful designers and people I visit regularly for inspiration - I always come away smiling and full of ideas :)

Anyway, that's enough from me.  I look forward to seeing your creations for our Uniko Challenge.

Sarah x




  

PJ Party #2

Hello,

Here is my second card for the PJ Party over at Waltzingmouse Stamps.  This card is for Challenge 1 - Man of the Moment.  I have used stamps from Ocean Bound and Tying the Knot:

It is a really simple design but I love that anchor image and the clean blue and white colour combo!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sarah x

Waltzingmouse PJ Party

Hello!

A quick post from me to play along with the fun Pyjama Party over at Waltzingmouse Stamps! 

This card is for the Bedtime Story Sketch:

 

I used my favourite ever woodgrain stamp stamped in brown ink on kraft for the tags which are also from Waltzingmouse.  The sentiment and wheels are from Waltzingmouse's Ocean Bound set and the rope borders are from Tying the Knot.  The middle tag is popped up. 

Here is the sketch that I was using:

 

I have a couple of other PJ party cards to add so will be back soon!

Sarah x

Time Out Challenge #31

Hello!

The weeks are flying by and we are back again with a brand new challenge at Time Out....the theme is:

Grunge with the optional twist of embossing

Here is my card:

I was inspired by the theme to use some of my fabulous Stamplorations stamps - Trendy Leaves and Grateful Beyond Words.  Stamplorations are sponsoring our challenge this time with a $10 gift voucher for the winner and a $10 gift voucher for a randomly drawn entry which uses the twist.

I'm not sure how grungy my card is but I love the grungy look of Shery's textured images and sentiments!  I masked off the central panel and stamped the leaves in a range of greens before adding the bold sentiment in the middle.  A very simple, one layer card.

The rest of the DT have lots more grungy inspiration to share with you too and I am delighted to say that we are joined by the talented Ksenija as our Guest Designer for this challenge.  Ksenija has an amazing blog - Sweet Kobylkin where she shares her fabulous CAS style.

I hope to see you will take Time Out to play along with us too!

I will also link up at Stamplorations May Challenge - Stamps and Leaves. 

and at Craft Stamper's May - Take a Stamp Challenge

Thanks, as always, for stopping by,

Sarah x

Birthday Fishes!

Hello!

Happy Tuesday to you - I hope your week has got off to a good start :)  This is a super quick post from me to share a card that I have made to play along with this week's Less Is More Challenge which is Water and a One Layer Card.

Here is what I came up with:

 

The cute fishes are from Mama Elephant's Cosmic Stars set.  I watercoloured them and added some bubbles using Winnie & Walter's Big Bang Confetti set.  The sentiment is from Paper Smooches.  I masked the fish and inked through a stencil from Create A Smile to create my water effect. 

 

I will also link up at AAA Cards 1st Birthday Challenge - I have loved playing along at AAA in its first year, it is a really fun challenge blog with a great DT.  Happy First Birthday :)

 

Thanks for stopping by - I really appreciate your visits!

 

Sarah x

Uniko Studio Release Day Blog Hop

Hello!

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the two lovely mini stamp sets that Bev from Uniko Studio has designed for us this month!  The florals and nautical stamps cover lots of occasions and have fabulous clean lines which make them wonderful to work with.

I have a few more cards to share with you today as you hop along with us.  First up are a couple of nautical treasures:

 

Here I paired the sailboat with a background sea stamp from Hero Arts which I inked up with one of their ombre inkpads to create variation in colour.

 

I white embossed the compass stamps from the set and washed over them with watercolours.  I die cut a square frame and popped it up over the sailboat.

And also a couple of cards made using Flower Power #7:

I stamped and masked the lovely flowers in pinks and yellows and popped a die cut curved panel over the top with a sentiment from Uniko's All Occasion Sentiments #1 set.

 

I stamped the stem and leaves several times to create a long stalk for the sweet flower and popped a sentiment from Uniko's Fontiments Birthday set over the top.

I won't keep you any longer as you will want to see what fantastic designs the rest of the DT have to share with you today.  Head over to the Uniko blog to hop along and remember that one lucky person will win this month's release for leaving a comment!

Thanks for celebrating the release with us!

Sarah x

Stars and Chevrons

Hello,

A super quick post from me with a few cards that I have made to play along with some of the current challenges before they close:

 

Here is a card that I made for CASology where the cue card is 'Shape'.  I die cut the star and popped it up over a Hero Arts starry background which had been white embossed and inked with Chipped Sapphire.  I coloured a little hero figure from Mama Elephant and added a simple sentiment underneath him.  I will also link up at Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge to use dies/punches.

 

This was a super quick card which I will link up at Simon's Wednesday Challenge to feature a sentiment.  The sentiment is from Mama Elephant and is embossed on vellum.  I layered it over some patterned paper from My Minds Eye.

 

That's it from me for tonight!  Do stop by tomorrow for Uniko Studio's release blog hop :)

 

Sarah x

Introducing Nautical Treasures

Hello!

I am back with a few cards that I have made with Uniko Studio's fabulous new nautical stamp set.  It is a mini set but so versatile :)

I do like nautical stamps and the focal ship image in this set is great to work with.  Here I have paper pieced the sails in patterned paper - the blue and green checks work perfectly for a CAS male card.

However, on my next card I have gone for a more sepia/vintage look by stamping the compass in coffee archival ink on white card.  I distressed it with Antique Linen and Frayed Burlap distress inks and tore the card.  The torn card is layered up over some patterned kraft paper and the ship was stamped and cut out on kraft.  Obviously the sails were stamped on white card and a bit of distressing has taken the sharp white off them.

Hopefully this gives you a feel for how the set can look clean or vintage and appeal to 'boys' of all ages.  This ship is so classic that it will also play nicely with lots of other stamps that you will have in your stash. 

Here are all of the images in the set:

 

I have other ideas to share with you tomorrow too on release day but for now there is lots more inspiration from the rest of the DT :)

Remember to stop by tomorrow for the release day blog hop!

Thanks for your visit,

Sarah x

A bit of christmas crafting!

Hello!

Have you seen the fab new challenge from Muse - Christmas Visions?  It is their first challenge this week and it is a totally stunning card from the talented Kimberly Weiner.  I don't often get time to play along with the original Muse challenge but I have been feeling guilty that I haven't made a start on my Christmas cards (!) and this was the perfect inspiration!

Here is my card:

 

I was inspired by the blue and gold colour combo and poinsettias on Kimberly's card.  I gold embossed the large poinsettia from Penny Black on vellum and on blue card and layered them up.  I added splatters in gold and blue along with a gold embossed sentiment (not sure where from).

 

Here is Kimberly's glorious card:

 

 

I will also link up at Addicted to Stamps where the current challenge is Holiday and at Merry Mondays where the challenge is to use embossing on your Christmas card.

 

Well, now I have got started hopefully I will be making a few more Christmas cards :)  Don't forget to stop by tomorrow where I will have more cards made using the new stamps from Uniko Studio!

 

Sarah x