Loupy Lou and Bobo are finally here!!

Well.... they are finally here!! Introducing Loupy Lou and Bobo you can find my little fairy and elf collection here at The Craft Barn. Hop on over and you can see the rest of my designs. While you are there check out the designs by the newest Kadoodle designer Carol Staples. Many of you will know Carol as she has been a tutor at The Craft Barn for many years. Carol had drawn 'Ma & Pa Iggly'. They are such great characters for humorous cards. I laughed until my sides hurt when she was telling me about the Iggly's so go and check them out!

For this card I followed last weeks sketch over on The Saturday Challenge. The designer papers are 'My Mind's Eye'. I cut the square and the scalloped square using my Nestabilities and the photo corners are Quicktuz. The stamp is 'Home Sweet Home' from my new collection at The Craft Barn. Here I have stamped and coloured (with my Koi watercolours) the image a few times and decoupaged some of the elements. I finished it off with a self adhesive pearl for the door knob. It's a simple card but I quite like it.
I do hope you like Loupy Lou and Bobo.
Hugs
Sandra xx

Sketch Saturday #40

Hi folks!!

Lots happening today, I'll be posting again a little later about the launch of my new collection, Kadoodle Loupy Loo & Bobo, at the Craft Barn.

But for now here's my DT card for the Challenge over on Sketch Saturday. This week we are being sponsored by The Craft Barn who have kindly given some Paper Artsy mini stamps as this weeks prize. Hop over to the Sketch Saturday blog for lots more details and to be inspired by the wonderful creations by my fellow DT. Not forgetting Susan, our fabulous Guest DT who has come up trumps again with this weeks sketch designed by Jo.

For this card I needed to use a smaller image which meant I had to abandon my usual style of cutting closely around the character and adhering with glue gel. It would have been impossible to cut out all those tiny flowers! I couldn't resist a bit of dimension so the little bird is adhered with dimensional glue gel. The images themselves are Precious Moments. I just adore these. I was lucky enough to get these from the US via ebay. I have coloured them using my Koi watercolours. The designer papers are Paper Adventures and I have used pastel green glitter board for the matting and layering. My Martha Stewart border punch had finally made an appearance. It's been sat on the side for a couple of weeks. I'm very naughty..... I think I just like 'getting' hot products. It then takes me an age to use them.

I stamped the dotty border with a HOTP stamp. The corner flourish is my fav Cuttlebug die (can you tell) and this time I have cut pink funky foam. The sentiment is a metal embellishment that says 'That face!' which I thought was quite apt and I have finished the card of with some self adhesive pink pearls.

That's all for now folks!

I'll be back soon.

Hugs

Sandra xx

Gorjuss Girls

Hi folks!!

I know, I know.... I don't do yellow... normally, but I just love these hot and spicy shades in the K&Co Mira kit. For this card I followed the sketch on the Truly Scrumptious Challenge blog. I am also entering this card to Cute Card Thursday and Charisma Cardz Challenges as they have both set the theme of animals.

I have already mentioned the papers I used for this card. The oval and scalloped oval were cut using my Nestabilities. The flower, which is made of tiny beads and has a resplendent jewelled brad in the centre, the leaf branch and the sentiment are all K&Co embellishments. I cut the photo corners using a Quickutz die. The black ribbons and red brads are from my stash mountain. I coloured my Gorjuss Girl and kitty with Koi watercolours. I know the combination and shades of colours may not be to everyones' taste... but I think they are cute ;o)

That's all for now folks!
Hugs
Sandra xx

Mojo Monday meets Colour Create

Hi folks!

Here is my crafty offering for tonight. Two challenges have been covered by this card. I followed the fab sketch on the Mojo Monday Challenge blog and the colour combination over on Colour Create. Pink and grey are the flavour of the week with the option of cute and cuddly. Well I don't think you can get much cuter than this teddy with his armful of flowers.

The designer papers are DCWV and the pink cardstock is co-ordinations. I adhered a contrasting white strip of paper behind the pink panel under the bear; stamped the grey swirls on; folded it back and held it securely with the five little grey brads. The square and scalloped layer are die cut with my Nestabilities. I used my Cuttlebug to emboss. I coloured the teddy with my Prismacolour pencils, Sanasodor and paper stumps. The flowers I painted with my twinkling H2O's and cosmic shimmers. Not sure if you can see or not but I did some feather cutting with a pair of sharp scissors all the way round the furry edges of the teddy.

Must get some sleep now, my twins were up at 5:30 this morning (technically yesterday) if they do the same today... I've only got a few hours sleepy time before they get up. Eeeek!

Nite folks!

Hugs
Sandra xx

My New Kadoodle Designs Available Soon!

Introducing Loupy Lou and Bobo, my New Kadoodle rubber stamp designs that will be available exclusively at The Craft Barn. This collection will be launched on Saturday 28th February with free demos by Lexie Wilson at The Craft Barn.
This stamp is aptly named 'huggles' I thought it would be perfect for this weeks Charisma Cardz Challenge which is 'Hugs and Cuddles' and also the Cute Card Thursday Challenge of 'Signs of Spring'. I followed the wonderful sketch over on Cutie Sunday.

The designer papers are by 'My Mind's Eye'. Such gorgeous colours, I think you will agree. The circle and scalloped circle are cut using my Nestabilities. The embossing has been created using my Cuttlebug. I cut the flowers from some of the patterned paper. I added MM brads after shaping the flowers. The flourishes are Quickutz Revolution dies. All the elements are adhered using dimensional glue gel. I coloured the characters using my trusty Koi watercolours and a touch of Art institute glitter for Loupy Lou's wings. I finished off the card with a few faux pearls in the corners.
Hope you like Loupy Lou and Bobo... lots more of these stamps in the range.
Hugs
Sandra xx

Sketch Saturday #39 sponsored by Emma Lockley

Hi folks!!

Emma Lockley is sponsoring the Sketch Saturday challenge this week. Another chance to win a fabulous prize. Hop over to the blog for more details. Jo has come up trumps again with a fabby sketch for everyone to use. Thanks Jo, you are a st*r.

For my card I couldn't wait to ink up this little beauty from Whiff of Joy, she is part of the new spring set. Hasn't she got just the most adorable expression on her cute face. I have coloured her with my Koi watercolours, highlighted with my white signo pen and added a touch of glossy accents to her shoe. The shapes have been cut using my Nestabilities. The papers are from my Cosmo Cricket bundle that came from QVC... still have so much of this to use up, may take a lifetime! The ribbons are American crafts. The fancy corners are a Cuttlebug die. The ladybirds and 'love' are all buttons and I have removed the shanks. The panel directly behind the image I have stamped with an egg stamp that I have had for a long time. I think the company is Serendipity. I used the masking technique to make it look a bit like a border.

Don't forget to check out the wonderful cards my fellow DT have created, you will not be disappointed.

Hugs

Sandra xx

Introducing Rosabella flower

Hi folks!
Has anyone seen my mojo anywhere? This card and gift tag took an absolute age to make last night and I'm still not happy with them. I think it's the colours.... let me know that you think.
To make the card I followed the sketch over on Mojo Monday, loved the sketch as soon as I saw it. May have to use it on another project to do it justice. Paper take weekly has the challenge of 'a matching set' so I made the gift tag to go with this one.


For these projects I have used K&Co and DCWV papers. The sentiment is an epoxy sticker from K&Co (I have tonnes of these to use up). The shapes were all cut using my Nestabilities and embossed with my Cuttlebug. The image is another one of my Rosabella designs which I'm hoping to launch as a digital download range soon. She has been coloured using a mixture of promarkers, koi watercolours and good old glitter... a fairy can never have enough glitter! The projects have been finished off with some gems.
Take care
Hugs
Sandra xx

A Multi Challenge Card

Hi folks!
For this card I have followed the sketch over on Friday Sketchers and incorporated the theme of 'Spring has Sprung' which can be found on The Saturday Challenge blog. I thought this little Hanglar girl would be perfect for the theme, and so the card evolved. It Also had a lot of Glitter and is quite 'blingy' so I thought it would be perfect for this weeks 'All that Glitters' challenge over on The Pink Elephant.

The papers are DCWV, from Nana's kids stack. The design had some really cute little pink ladybirds on it. The papers are glittered and quite sparkly but I couldn't catch that on the photo. I used my Nestabilities to cut the oval and scallop. I then embossed the oval with my Cuttlebug.
The flowers are Prima with some added punched flowers in the middle and finished off with a brad. The flourishes off the flowers are a Quickutz revolution die.

I coloured the little Hanglar with mixed media. For the flesh and green tones I used Promarkers, her cheeks are chalked, the pink tones are koi watercolours but I felt they looked a bit flat so I covered with translucent glitter. All except for the pink heart and the black dots to which I added glossy accents. The Key is coloured with a silver galaxy marker and I made the highlights with a white uni-ball signo pen.

I finished the card off with a Papermania butterfly (freebie from magazine) and some pink gems.

You should have seen the state of my craft table when I had all that lot out!! :oO

Have fun crafting!

Hugs

Sandra xx

Sid meets the Colour Create Challenge

Hi Folks!
There's a great challenge over on Colour Create this week. Hop on over there to see their inspiration photo. The scheme this week is red, white and blue and the option is 'Holidays & Travel'.

A union flag beach towel instantly sprung to mind when I saw this challenge and the large backdrop is just that. I also thought my image of Sid relaxing in his deckchair would also fit the bill. He has been coloured using my Koi watercolours. Hope you can see from the photos that I used quite a bit of red on his skin - I think Sid had been out in the sun for too long! The bucket, spade and seagull are all Quickutz dies. They have also been water coloured.

I added glossy accents to Sid's shoes and the bucket and spade. The Stamped sentiment is from my stash (think it 's either HOTP or Heidi Grace) It's been matted onto silver mirri board and adhered over some knotted string... from my kitchen!

The bottom right hand corner looked a bit plain so I hunted through my stash and surfaced about an hour later with this sandcastle sticker. It's a transparent sticker so I stuck it to some white card and adhered with glue gel to add dimension.

It made a refreshing change not to use a square card. I realise I've used more colours than red, white and blue... but they we're my main inspiration.

Hope you like it.

Hugs

Sandra xx

Sketch Saturday #38. Sponsors - 'The Craft Barn'

Hi folks!

Saturday has rolled around again and Jo had provided another wonderful sketch to play with over on Sketch Saturday. This weeks sponsors are The Craft Barn. I am thrilled to say that the winner of this weeks challenge will receive Dan & Daisy, both part of the Kadoodle range (which is exclusive to The Craft Barn) and both designed by me! I hope you like them :o) Please be sure to check out all the wonderful designs by my fellow DT, another mixed bag with inspiration for everyone.

I had a comic strip in mind when making this card. I wanted Daisy to be thinking about Dan ( like the comic strip thought bubbles) and of course she had a huge crush on him, hence the heart shapes and all the doodles.
The patterned paper is Hot Off The Press. The notepaper down the side I cut using a Sizzix die from cardstock. I doodled the Daisy & Dan messages onto it before adhering to black card using glue gel to add dimension. The blue circle is cut from funky foam using my Nestabilities. The heart and scalloped heart are from the Doodlebug Cricut Cartridge. I then embossed the white heart using my Cuttlebug. Both the characters have been coloured using my Koi watercolours. I finished the card off with tiny hand tied bows for Daisy's plaits, a button in the shape of an apple and some red gems.
This card took quite a while to make but I had a picture in my head as to what it should look like. I'm quite pleased with the results.
Hope you are able to join us in this weeks challenge.
Hugs
Sandra xx

Hanglar & Stanglar - Love

Hi folks!

It's been ages since this little beauty has been inked. Isn't she adorable! I followed three challenges to make this swirly girly card. The Sketch is from Ismaki, A Spoon full of Sugar is calling for 'Doodle-do's' or swirl stamps and the first challenge over on The Pink Elephant is 'Pink, Black and White' I'm sure they won't mind some flesh tones and hair colour too.

The papers are from Basic Grey Two Scoops range. I have used my Nestabilities to cut the centre rectangle and scalloped rectangle. I have also embossed the white panel using my Cuttlebug. The swirl stamp was a freebie from a magazine. I have coloured the image with my Koi watercolours and highlighted the heart with glossy accents and sprinkled some glitter on. Hopefuly on the second picture you can see that I have decoupaged her arms and heart. I tried this out having been inspired by the talented Debby. You need to hop on over to her blog, her creations are amazing. I think maybe I should have decoupaged the little Hanglar girl's face and hair, but I'm pleased how it turned out. The letters are a Quickutz alphabet and I finished off the design with some black brads.

Thanks for looking.

Hugs
Sandra xx

The Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge.

Hi folks!
This week over on The Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge the theme is recycling. For this card I recycled some ribbon that came from a gift box that was given to my daugther. I was saving it to use in her hair, luckily she likes mummy's card. Looking at it now, I should have ironed it first! I have used my Rosabella & Drake image again. They have been coloured with Prismacolour pencils, Sansodor and paper stumps. I have used some Cosmic Shimmer watercolours for their wings and finished off with some glitter. I used my deckle edge scissors to cut the layered heart from mirri board. Would you believe that the papers are a freebie download from the Papercraft Inspirations magazine. I don't usually use the freebie papers as I find they are quite thin and shiny. However I noticed that you can download as many free sheets as you like from their website. Which means you can choose what to print them on. I've printed mine on the same Linen card that I use to stamp on and they have come out beautifully.

Hope you are having a great day.

Hugs

Sandra xx

4 in 1 Challenges

Hi folks!

Here's a quick card that I made for my Nephew today. Have popped it in the post so I had to resist all those lovely dimensional layers I tend to use. I have followed the Friday Sketchers Sketch; Lili Of The Valley Challenge this week is, 'one for the men'; Cute Card Thursday has the thee of metallica (for this card I have used brads and Gold Mirri board) and finally the Basic Grey Challenge is 'Let's Mix It Up'.... we need to use at least 2 of the BG ranges. I have used Archaic papers and Boxer brads.

As mentioned above the papers are Basic Grey. I cut the circle using my Nestabilities and embossed it using my Cuttlebug. I used my Koi watercolours to colour the Character, who is SK8R BOY designed by the talented Evelina Wikberg. The Numbers are cardstock stickers from the BG Archaic range.

Thanks for looking!!

Hugs

Sandra xx

Sketch Saturday #37 and Simply Cards & Papercraft

Hi folks!
Hope you are all well and keeping warm. Please excuse my lack of blogging this week. I had a V.I.P. crafting buddy visiting, the super talented Christine Dark *waves* Crafting was put on hold and 'Project Clean Up' took over. ( I think we passed the inspection ;o)

It's DT week over on Sketch Saturday and Jeanette is looking after us all with a wonderful and very versatile sketch. Denise from Whimsy Stamps, is this weeks sponsor and will be sending the lucky winner two of her February new release stamps. Hop along to the Sketch Saturday Challenge blog to see the wonderful cards made by my fellow DT and Denise.



I knew the colours I wanted to use for this card straight away and was pleased when I found these Bo Bunny papers in my stash. They work perfectly with my 'Toadstool Drake' image. He has been coloured in with my Koi watercolours and his wings have been glittered. I cut the circles using my new 'We R Memory Keepers' circle cutter... which I have to say I'm really impressed with. I used my Cuttlebug to emboss the cream circle and chalks to highlight the detail. These little wooden ladybirds have been in my stash for years so much so that the adhesive dot at the back wasn't sticky! My trusty glue gel soon sorted that out.

********Stop Press*********Exciting News*********
Issue 55 of Simply Cards and Papercrafts magazine is out today and I've designed a card, using my Kadoodle squaw for the supplement. It's actually on the cover too... and page 5.... and page 82 (can you tell I'm excited!?!) I can't wait to show my little girl, Isabelle, as I've used her photo for the matching photo frame.
Please let me know what you think.
Take Care
Hugs
Sandra xx

Friday Sketchers meets Colour Create

Hi folks!
Just a quickie from me tonight as I really need to get some shut eye. For this card I followed the sketch on Friday Sketchers and the colour requirements of Pink, Green and Brown on the new Colour Create Challenge (hence the pink and brown ladybug....artistic license?)

I'm still using up those Basic Grey papers. I've used my Nestabilities Label One dies. I had a shot at colouring with my promarkers, not too sure about the results. More practice needed methinks. I could not resist glittering her wings. Not forgetting to introduce 'Rosabella & Ladybug' another one of my Rosabella fairy designs.

That's all from me tonight folks!

Hugs

Sandra xx